wanted -165 pref auto.

[beachcomber550]

Originally Posted by mylittletony

There was a cheap early 245 on eBay until a few days ago, which could have front panels from a 164 grafted on. Converting a saloon to an estate sounds like an awful lot of work, plus untold hassle from dvla...

The amount of work you're talking about is several thousand pounds worth, is the road tax that bad?? How many years would you need of tax free to recoup the premium of a pre 74 car?

MLT - I hear what you're saying and I guess the work would cost £1000's - if I had to pay someone to do it.

Building speciality / one off cars has been my hobby for 55 years and my buisness for 35 years [ now retired ]. It's only the cost of the sheetmetal I'd be looking at.

As far as the DVLA is concerned it's a rebody [ partial ] and not subject to SVA testing and provided the work is professionally carried out to MOT standard - not an issue.

As far as premium for a '73 or earlier car, it's just a case of looking around, not ALL owners consider them to be "Classics".

In order to keep the tax free status - I would have to fit an estate back [ sheetmetal - NOT a cut and shut ] on a 164 saloon - doesn't fill me with dread - but is it worth it ?

I COULD live with a 164 saloon and a trailer, alternatively I need to abandon ideas of that georgeous front end and look for an early 140 series estate, and just work on that.

One of my hobby builds:



Current Project - redesigning chassis to take supercharged Jag V8: [ stock is straight 6 Jag ]