Late Classic or earlier P38 - ideas/comments welcome.

Hi all,

Newish member - long time visitor !!

I had my brothers Classic for a while - was a nice car.

Am in the market for a RR now and fluctuating between a later Classic or earlier P38. Any suggestions from experienced owners would be welcome.

Budget is £2,500 , I will not be interested in off roading , yearly mileage less than 10K , not that concerned about fuel cost so would not bother with LPG ( and alleged associated problems ).

Petrol or diesel is another question - I am not bothered about the V8 mpg but would a diesel be more reliable ? I don't mind getting my hands dirty so DIY repairs could be tackled.

From what year were the Thor engines installed ?

Any comments to help me decide a course would be appreciated.

Thanks

Alex

Hi. And welcome. Without wishing to put any-ones hackles up... honest.... you`ll get a lot of opinion,but no firm answer here!
I`ve a P38 diesel and think it`s next to ideal... for me... given my own tastes `n` opinions..
For main road maners I think the EAS on the P38 is great..others disagree.. (cue Somerset) Since you`re up for getting stuck in any repairs costs are halved before you start.
Probably a little luck is needed in any 2nd hand car purchase (probably..DEFINATELY!). If you`re in no great rush to buy , try petrol `n` diesel variants of earlier & later models, then take your time getting a good `un of your choice. There`s a fair number of all sorts out there.

Plenty to choose from in your budget, and if your up for DIY.... lots of err....... 'opportunities'! with Rangie!
entirely depends where your interests and sense of asthetics lie; P38 is a lot of motor for your money, but usually also a loto of hassle.
DIY on them is doable, but an awful lot of the niggles with them are electronic, so if you're idea of hands on is twiddling old fasioned spanners rather than multi-meters and test-boxes..... well, you either learn quick, or give up!
Last of the line classics aren't much better, to be honest, they got a lot of electrickery along with thier air suspension and stuff.
Not quite so much 'integration' making them a tad more DIYable, but then they had trouble squeezing so much technology into an old shell, so there's relay blocks and conectors and wires spread about the place, pretty much on a 'stuff it where it'll fit' basis, that can make life a bit frustrating........
I've been running last of the coilers, '92 models for the last five years; a lot less electrickery to worry about, but eve so, when a Halfords travel shorted and took out a fuse....... I spent a month, looking through all the books and 'revisions for later models' trying to find where they could possibly have hidden the damn thing, before resorting to tracing wires..... still failing to find the darn thing, and resorting to running a new fused feed! so I'd hate to have a 'major' problem on a later model!
But, your call.
Chucking a googlie at you though; if you're idea of DIYing is more traditional spanner-spinning; lot to be said for the slightly earlier models; less electrickery, and whats there tends to be lower tech.... just fixed the speedo 'sender' unit on mine; its a reed switch next to a magnet on a shaft in a plastic box! And most of the known niggles are a lot more spanner-solved.
Budget wise, you can pick up a useful coiler for under a grand, in fact thats near top book for one, and within budget, have a lot of scope to get your mits mucky tackling all the usual suspects, like the sills, wheel arches and boot-floor to make it structurally 'sound' before tackling whatever else takes your fancy, by way of renovation on the engine or suspension and stuff to give you a car with a far better 'life' and reliability than you'd get looking newer, or to 'mess' with it, however takes your fancy.
Which is my thinking behind buying the older models, and may be worth a thunk.