Hello - newbie alert

Hi all,
I've just joined and am currently considering buying a GTA. I would prefer a turbo, but am considerring an atmo as I have seen one at what I consider a rather good price, so could be going for that as my first French car.... Up until now I've basically had German cars, so am a bit wary about a GTA, at least rusting bodywork shouldn't be an isssue.

I live in Lincs (nr Lincoln) and am not that young but have only been driving a few years, so I'm going through cars quite quickly to make up for lost time.
I've always liked the look of the GTA's but I didn't think I could afford one and am rather surprised at how cheap these cars can be had for (within my price range).
I have a few cars at present, one or two of these need to be sold to make time and space for a GTA, as I do most of the work on my cars myself, usually with the advice or assistance of my brother-in-law who is a mechanic.

My current fleet, 4 German, 1 GB:
1999 BMW Z3 - recent impulse buy - for sale all ready.
1993 Range Rover Classic - 3.9 v8 lpg - standard apart from gas
1990 VW Scirocco - lightly modifed (TSR engine, bigger brakes etc)
1986 VW Scirocco (restoration project, heavily modified and in pieces)
1986 Porsche 944 - uprated suspension, 4-pot brembos and an oil leak - for sale to make space

Chris

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the forum by the way.

Keep the Mk1 Scirocco... Tim Stiles, nice bloke, had many a chat ooo 20 years ago... I haven't had one for many a year, but mine was the proverbial shed with a monster engine ha-ha+ it really was a complete shed, enjoyed every minute of all those upset boy racers gunning at the lights. I still have the engine and Golf GTI Mk1 close ratio box. I bored and stroked to just shy of 2ltr if I remember correctly, gas flowed head, cam etc all on a budget. Exhaust was off a Audi 2ltr sport and went straight up, cut and hung a little low

Thanks for reminding me good memories

Welcome Chris.

I'm sure you'll find driving a GTA great fun and quite different to most other cars to drive. You'll find the interior plastics a bit flimsy mind compared to those German cars but it's all part of the French appeal!

Good luck in your search, it's always worth asking about anything you're not sure of before buying anything, there's lots of people on here with experience of most things concerning GTA ownership! You might even find any given car you look at might be known on here.

[stephendell]

They are certainly great value at the moment.

£3K should buy you a good Atmo and £4K a Turbo.

There is no need to pay any more unless you are looking for a true concours car (£6K-8K), an A610 (£6K-10K) or a Le Mans (£12K-18K)

A bargain so hopefully the only way is up!

Whichever you choose they are both just as enjoyable in slightly different ways.

There are always plenty of cars for sale and as Juzz says we know most of them so if you have a particular one in mind just let us know and I'm sure you'll get some good advice.

Cheers for the welcome guys.
I'm currently waiting for someone to get back to me about a cheap atmo, which I have decided would be worth spending a bit of money on should it need it. The possibility of an engine conversion has also crossed my mind should I decide it needs more powah, but thats getting a bit ahead of myself; and I really need to get at least one of my 'roccos sorted first.

Mfaulks - they're actually mk2 Sciroccos. The major project is going to have a 2l 16v fitted (with 4x 38mm bike carbs) which should be good for 180bhp+ and under 900kg
Currently though its engine-less and a collection of parts waiting for a miracle, or me to get a week off work - I can't see either happening soon.

Hi Chris, I've had over 50 cars in the last 20 years, out of those only 2 have I owned for more than 3 years - My GTR Skyline (7 years) and my GTA (coming up 19 years) so thats a good indication of how I feel about them. Atmo and turbo's both have their good points, the atmo being easier and cheaper to maintain (but considerably worse on fuel and prone to poor running problems), the purists also consider it better to drive with better handling due to the laggy delivery of the turbo engine upsetting the balance. Turbo engine has the benefit of modern (well ish) fuel injection and is a good bit quicker once on boost, gives at least 10% better economy to boot. If you don't mind a bit of modifying you can improve the turbos power delivery with some well chosen mods (hybrid turbo, more boost, exhaust) and these will net you a genuine 220-225 bhp for about a 1k spend. The atmos respond well to exhaust manifolds, cams and triple carbs but these parts are expensive and will only see you around 200 bhp anyway.

Some detail differences - Early '89 cars on have better wiring, and no oil catch tank , slightly different instruments (orange lettering instead of red) and generally suffer fewer electrical problems. All suffer from niggly problems - non working fuel gauges, dodgy speedos( - never take mileage as gospel), being the most common. Parts are getting hard to get hold off and are expensive - especially body parts and GTA specific parts. On the plus side the gearboxes and engines are very strong and give few mechanical problems if properly maintained.

My advice, would be buy the best one you can afford - they are not brilliantly put together and don't wear neglect well. I've looked at plenty of very cheap ones but you can spend 2-3k in parts before you even blink on a rough one. Cracked headlamp glasses for instance will cost you £300 a side fitted.

On the upside they are fantastic to drive, especially with a few well chosens modifications, look like nothing else on the road - and have a great owners club! Also fantastic value for money at the moment

[mettersl]

Hi Chris,
I love mine and think they are really different and exceptional value for money. I get people stop me when I'm driving and ask about it and last night I struggled to get out of a lengthy conversation about GTA's after I made the mistake of taking it to a meeting with me.
One word of warning, although the body is composite, it contains metal parts and these weren't well rust proofed. These metal parts can rust so have a good look at sills, seatbelt mountings, front and rear chassis rails, rear sub frame, rear turrets, rear wheel arch pockets (square box above the wheels) rear wishbones and the jacking points.
If you fancy an A610 add front wheel arches, battery tray, Power Steering pump mounting tray and front sills to the list of places to look.
Plastic body parts can develop small blisters and most cars have some of them. These are normal, but can look unsightly and are expensive to get rid of. Metallic cars seem to be worse in this regard, but its only cosmetic.
I agree with Tony, a good one is better value for money than a rough one unless you have a room full of spares and lots of time.
Have fun

Lee

[phildini]

Yeah I love them.....

Just to let you know - Chris_h is now skattrd ...
Sorry for any confusion, but skattrd is my regular forum username which has now been activated here.

Anyway, thanks for all the encouragement guys.
I'm still waiting to hear back about a cheap atmo down south, but really need to shift my Porka and Zed before getting another car - 6 is just too many

"6 cars is too many"
getting into Renaults will be much more exciting for you.
Others are well into double digits of cars................

My Advice for a first car make sure its got an MOT and is a runner

Please heed my advice, I have taken on two non runners and I have spent a lot of money and lots of time and still dont have either one of them to drive yet. This is due to unkown problems of cars which have have sat for a very very very long time with no known history.

Please dont take that as a negative but If I was buying again it would be as prescibed above

si21

My Advice for a first car make sure its got an MOT and is a runner .......

si21

I've bought cars without test before, but old, simple cars (Triumph Spitfire, Scirocco) and got them back on the road ok, but French electrics scare me, so I'm not entertaining anything that isn't road legal

The last time I heard from the seller of the atmo I mentioned previously was when I asked him about the situation with tax/test ... That is now 7 days ago, so its looking like a no go. It did sound too good to be true if it was road legal.

once you've advertised the fact there's a cheap atmo down south..... Mr D will have hunted it down.....

if you don't get any joy call mr D he probably has a car or ten he could sell to you

[mettersl]

Hi Chris,
Have you contacted John (Eatmyplasticarse) as he was looking to sell his?

http://www.renaultalpineownersclub.com/ ... highlight=

When I saw it last year it looked sound and roadworthy, I didn't look at it too hard, but it seemed to be OK and worth a look?

Its in Harlow so not terribly far from you

Lee.

Just to let you know - Chris_h is now skattrd ...

Is that Skat with a K or Scat with a see - just checking could be a very unpleasant mistake