Hi everyone,
I need some sensible (and perhaps sobering) advice.
Here's my problem....
In my search for a used car on a tight budget, I have happened upon a 1974
spitfire 1500. Every sensible nerve in my body tells me not to be so silly
and to go and put the money down on that tercel i saw earlier in the week,
but this is the first car i have seen which I am really excited about.
Perhaps it is because i am an englishman in california and it is a beautiful
reminder of home, but at the moment i am sturggling with the urge to
purchase with my heart and not my head.
I have done as much research as i can (the TVR website was so helpful!), and
have enlisted the help of a friend of mine who is a better mechanic than i
am to go and give the car a first look the car over in the flesh. I would
not buy it if there were any mechanical or body problems of note, and i
would get a professional mechnic to check it over first. But my main worry
is that if the car does turn out to be sound, then i have to decide where it
really is appropriate.... in short, I hardly drive anywhere, living within
cycling distance of work, my only major trip is a 2 and a half hour drive
(sacramento to palo alto) that i make there and back maybe twice a month. Am
I crazy to think of doing this in an (albeit) mechanically sound spitfire?
Or in other words, am i crazy to consider buying a mechanically sound
spitfire for the purpose of making that round-trip twice a month? My
particular concerns are mechanical reliability, and crash-safety (which is
why i said it was a head-versus-heart tug of war going on here!)
All honest opinions would be very much appreciated!
thank you all for your time
cheers
Joe
___________________________
Dr. Joseph Garner
University of California
Department of Animal Science
One Shields Avenue
Davis
CA 95616
USA
Phone: (530) 754 5291
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