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CLASSIC CARS TELL a story of bygone years. They are romantic and conjure up wistful feelings.
Classic cars become a part of the owner’s life – sometimes because they ploughed so much money into the car that they can’t afford to do anything else, but let’s not dwell on that. Owning a piece of automotive history can bring a lot of motoring pleasure and admiring glances.
Here, we’ve rounded up five classic cars, from the top-end dream car to the distinctly affordable.
1969 Mercedes-Benz SL 280 Pagoda, €100,000
This stunning Pagoda is an original right hand drive car and comes with either a hard or soft top. Its 3.8-litre petrol engine is mated to an automatic gearbox and it is finished in a retro brown with red leather interior. The perfect car for those looking to make a stylish statement in a desirable car.
1974 Volkswagen Beetle, €74,950
Go bananas in this lovingly restored Volkswagen Bug. This car is in immaculate condition and perfect working order and features a stunning leather and wood finished interior. It is such an icon of the automotive world that it has been the main star of six Hollywood movies! So, give some love to this bug.
1983 Porsche 911 SC, £43,950 (€52,575)
The Porsche 911 is the sports car par excellence. And just look at this example. It is stunning. This left-hand-drive 911 SC (Super Carrera) ticks all the right boxes from the clean, red bodywork to the Fuchs wheels. These models were only produced for five years and are increasingly hard to find.
1968 Jaguar MK II 340, €18,500
The Jaguar MK II is a stylish luxury saloon, one of the cars of its kind ever made. This particular example is finished in an eye-catching Carmen Red and sits atop stunning large chrome rims. Tweed blazer is mandatory when driving.
1955 Vauxhall Cresta E, £12,000 (€14,301)
The Cresta E was a prestigious Vauxhall model when it was first launched back in 1954 and was technically more advanced that most other British cars on the market at that time. It has a monocoque-construction and straight six engine and owes many of its styling features to its American GM relations.
This car has a reconditioned engine and has – according to the ad – never been welded or filled at any time. It is a very well preserved Vauxhall Cresta E.
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This is getting way too complicated for me! I quit!!
It’s simple, they screw us and we take it
Its simple – the idea of 17 different nations all having the same currency is daft
You cannot have ONE currency and 17 FINANCE MINISTERS!
Mmmm its begining to look an awful lot like Declan Ganleys proposal to federalise the EU debts using the ESM as the vehicle to facilitate this.
Correct Sean. Also looking an awful lot like Ganley was right when he said there would be no money left in the ESM by the time Ireland required the second bailout.
I don’t agree Sean. The fact that knowing that the EFSF and ESM will be able to intervene and buy bonds directly will probably push the yield down even without them actually having to do anything. That will make it possible for countries to actually use the markets instead of the bailout mechanisms.
If you look at the recent short-term Spanish bond issue it was actually oversubscribed from buyers. Yes, Spain paid a premium because the markets knew that they have no other choice currently but to pay that price. If however the Spanish can simply turn to the EFSF/ESM and sell their bonds to them at a lower yield then the markets will ultimately have to follow because they have to buy and sell bonds to make any money. There the markets will offer the lower rates and the EFSF/ESM won’t actually have to do anything.
@ Jim Walsh
Your analysis is somewhat skewed.
Firstly EFSF and ESM do not have the €750 billion being brandied about, this is an imaginary figure because they are just sums that have been promised by EZ member countries including Italy and Spain! Where is it going to come from if it is actually needed?
Secondly, you sound very simplistic when you assume that the markets will offer lower rates because of (a non existent fund?). That is precisely what was expected when we had this phony €100 billion bailout for Spanish banks 2 weeks ago, rather the markets rightly saw through the charade and the Spanish bond rates has not reduced but topped 7% this week .
By the time the markets see that this an unholy cross between a sham and scam- it will all start again.
Jim. 750bn is nowhere near enough to bailout Spain and Italy. It will not solve the crisis only buy more time.
Not at all… Italy payed 20% of Spain’s bailout at an interest of 3% … To pay this Italy borrowed from the ESM at 7% … Basically it has put both countries over the edge and now Italy’s closer to boiling…. European union fail…..
This is just a precursor to the American dept crisis… The real crash the dollar bust
750bn would be enough to bailout Spain for this year, but not Spain and Italy.
Spanish banks borrow over 300bn a month from the ECB, and have 3 trn in debt.
This is a big step forward but a long way from resolving it. Look at how Greece has nearly swallowed half of that 750 already and it is only 1/14 the size of these two and its banks and private sector have low debt, as opposed to Spain/
Italy did not borrow from the ESM at 7% – they borrowed on the open markets at 7%
The whole thing is going to burst in 3 years time
What date?
I predict this will go ahead and the morning headline will be ‘costs drop on borrowing’ followed by an evening headline of ‘costs rise after morning rest-bite, markets unconvinced’. Whatever they do the markets keep coming back at us harder, we really are slaves to the markets.
We are slaves to the market but it is a point as well, that half gestures like this, can’t be expected to solve anything.
The crisis is because of the euro. You cannot have a monetary union without a fiscal union. And you cannot have a fiscal union without political union.
The parliaments of Europe will never agree to political union
They will also never agree to fiscal union. The principle power a parliament has is control over the finances. They will never hand over this power to Brussels
The euro crisis could be over in the morning if the ECB was allowed to buy up sovereign debt. But Dr Merkel will not give them that power. She will only give them that power when there is a fiscal union. And a full fiscal union, if there ever is one, could take years
For example the Bank of England has bought up a THIRD of UK sovereign debt. That is why Britains yields or interest rates are down at 1.5%. If Spain had its own central bank, it could mop up all their govt debt and have the same low yields
The markets ate sure to look for a way to exploit this if it becomes reality. Is it possible?
The question is will it become reality? All 17 countries will have to agree to this scheme. Will the triple AAA countries agree if they think it will damage their ratings?
Sorry that last comment should have been directed at Too Trueleft and not Sean.
That piggy bank is looking awfully small right now.
*sorry not directed at you. General comment.
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