What are some real no fuss reliable classics that are easy to work on and live with, with enough creature comforts that you can daily drive them, good parts availability etc? I'm open to literally anything from any manufacturer, and any genre of vehicle as long as its cool and fits the above criteria basically. I don't really need to drive that far or commute for work but I would like to use my car when I want to and not have a heap of down time. Was leaning towards an old 300D but they're dog slow by modern traffic standards and I'm not sure about parts availability.
>>28900679>good parts availabilitychevy and ford. there's a stupid amount of aftermarket support for them. chryslers are usually built better than them, but expect to pay out the ass for stuff unless you can get it through fellow members on mopar forums and even then with mates rates they can be pricey.
>What are some real no fuss reliable classics that are easy to work on and live with>they're dog slow by modern traffic standards and I'm not sure about parts availabilityYou either get slow piece of shit that can be driven more than wrenched or you get something "fun" that you wrench on more than you drive.Parts availability depends where you are fromIf you are in Europe old Mercedes might not be a problem.>I'm open to literally anything from any manufacturerI am not sure you are, given that you already dismissed 300D.It would be better to start with a short list of cars that potentially interest you and then research reliability and parts availability.If there is a "classic" car that you remember seeing a lot of during childhood but nowadays almost none of them are around, there is probably a good reason.You can still find VAGs from 1990s on road, even from late 1980s. Can't say the same for Opels or Fords. But again, that could be a regional thing.There was a time I was looking at R129, seemed like an alright choice for something fancy while not needing to drive that often, but then I realized most of the cheaper ones are salvage titles imported from US and freshened up here locally, in other words total melons.Does it snow where you live? A lot of classic cars I look at have "never driven in snow" which is codeword for "if you drive this car when there is salt on the road there will be nothing left of it the next day".That impacts daily drivability.So basically, start by figuring out what do you actually want or would be okay with having, then check if anyone locally is actually selling it and then look at some "common issues" videos and check if there is official support from the manufacturer (probably not for most).
>>28900691I'm still pretty tempted by the 300D its just that we got the n/a one only here and zero to highway speeds is measured in days. That stresses me out a bit.
>>28900691nah never snows. Live in Australia for context. So USDM is basically off the table.
>>28900692>>28900697Alright, I can't really help you in any relevant capacity as your market is very specific, I just know it through memes consisting of mostly domestic Falcons and Commodores and JP imports. Australia sounds like a harsh market for spare parts, but again, I just know memes.Buying a classic car is going to be a hassle. Maybe not so much the car itself, but navigating the market to find something optimal.It would be best to ask other Australians for actually relevant information.But the general tips are that you should sit down and write down all the things you expect or need out of the car,then a list of all the cars that are interesting to you, cross compare which cars satisfy both lists and then start the real research.I assume by "literally anything from any manufacturer' means that you don't care if it is FWD/RWD, coupe/sedan/ute, SUV, compact/large etcin which case it might be easier to find something if you look across a broad range of categories, there is bound to be something up.
>>28900697>So USDM is basically off the tableI think some 80s aussie ford models shared some parts with the fox bodies over in the US. But that might be too new for you since you said classic.For a while, ford, holden/gm and chrysler all sold a US model factory converted to RHD as their highest tier offering, above the local models. iirc ford was the galaxie and US fairlane. GM had the chevy bel-air, impala, and pontiac parisienne. chrysler had the dodge phoenix.pic related i bought most of the shit for it from rockauto. can't imagine how much it would've cost to buy it from local resellers. And to think that most people that own cars like these often just pay a shop to fix it up for them...>>28900700>Australia sounds like a harsh market for spare parts, but again, I just know memesto give you an idea, a lot of the time buying an oe supplier part (e.g. denso, aisin for toyota etc.) for bigger/more significant items like water pumps, off rockauto and paying the 30 bucks for shipping can still be cheaper than buying a local aftermarket part by a non-insignificant amount. often by 30-40 bucks.
>>28900705Yeah it seems viable, I guess there might be some downtime while I wait for overseas parts. Body panels might be an issue. Can't imagine there are too many Phonenixes rolling around these days. Don't think I've ever seen one in the flesh. Just don't crash I guess. I wish all the old valiants here hadn't totally rusted away.
>>28900714>Just don't crash I guessI do want to do some hooning up and down mountain roads...but if i do crash, i guess someone will find me with a steering column through my sternum. take pics and upload it to documenting reality kek.there's a surprising number of valiants on carsales. lowest priced one i could find was 22,500 though...But yeah, unless you're good friends with a body guy or have the tools to look after that yourself, it may be preferable to go after one that might be in really good shape interior and exterior-wise, but poor mechanically.
>>28900723>22,500oh wait...there's a manual one going for 15k. dunno why it's so cheap though.
>>28900697>AustraliaAnswer is R31 Skyline. Dead reliable. Parts availability is large, guys in the community will often give stuff for free. Endless discussion online for 20+ years so every potential problem has solutions and walkthroughs. Extremely comfortable if not running ebay coilovers.
>>28900679Miata of course. At the moment I'd recommend the NC model, with the folding hardtop. Latest model that you can tune yourself and easily swap out the head unit. Prices haven't started appreciating yet, unlike earlier models. Worldwide parts availability. Plenty of YouTube tutorials.
>>28900794Example from CarSales.au today
>>28900697Go for ADM thenan old Falcodore might be just what you want, the parts tend to be fine and some of them are extremely reliable
>>28900794Nigga, in aussie, those faggots on mighty shill mods have raped the price of mx5s and practically any other JDM shit. It's fucked that I sold my old mk3 supra for 3 grand, and my vspec2 eunos for 7k a couple of years back in NZ, moved to aus, and couldn't buy them over here for anywhere close to that money.The true answer to OP is this.Buy an older but not too old falcon or commie. Or buy a decent condition dr31 skyrine
>>28900904Actually sorry, I forgot that the Dr is that sick coupe and only a 30. You want a pintara or whatever the wagons were called here. They're rad asf. Guaranteed if you get one of those you'll get your dick sucked by a not too bad pseudo goth chick within the year
>>28900904How far back would you go on the falcodores. I like those VS statesmans with the glasshouse roofs but idk if they're any good. I feel like its impossible to get a clean R31 with a manual these days. They've all been shitified by drifter fags.
>>28900959VN through S are all good, but they're starting to get pretty pricey too even though they'd never be as cool as a first gen commodore. The further back you go, the more you'll pay, but you CAN still pick up some reasonably cheap earlier models if you sacrifice the spec.And boomer engineers LOVE letting v8 swaps through certification just cos of nostalgia etc, so you can get away with making your base model vk way cooler later on.
>>28900679I have no issues dailying a 300SD, and I've bought parts directly from the dealer before. Any turbo OM617 will do just fine in modern traffic, too. You don't need a 5 second 0-60 to keep up with modern traffic, and as long as you have a fast car or even a bike you won't be longing for more power, either. These cars make you want to crooze. A few small tiny things are NLA, sure, but things like drivetrain parts and even patch panels are all available just fine.>>28900697>USDM is basically off the table300D and make sure it's got the turbocharger. I've actually seen people export/import 300SDs where they live. The OM617 is easily the most reliable of the era, if not among the most of all time, but I've also seen people dailying petrol models of W126 with little to no issue as well. I wouldn't worry about parts, but looking past the diesel powered models I'd look into specific drivetrains, year differences and which ones are better to own (i.e. 380 model Mercedes had either single or dual row timing chains for instance, dual row models tend to last longer while many of the single row examples have been changed at this point).
>>28901877Yeah I would love a W126 with the diesel engine but we didn't get them here, only the fully loaded petrol models. We also only got the N/A Disel W123. We did get the 123 diesel wagons with the turbo but they're prohibitively expensive. I suppose I could import one but it would likely be LHD which is annoying. I am still toying with the idea of a petrol V8 W126 if the right one comes along with the service records for the timing chains.
>>28900679Chevy 3/4 ton with a manual, th400 or 80e.Plenty of parts.Easy to work on.
>>28900679Just find something you can have AT LEAST two duplicate parts cars in addition to your driver
A friend of mine (who has multiple weird vehicles including, but not limited to, an early 90s toyota century) once said that the best way to gauge parts availability on an older car is to see how hard it is to find wheel bearings for it. It's obviously not perfect, but it is a way for you to get a rough idea off of one internet search. But as some other anons have said, there are few companies better than Mercedes-Benz at providing parts support for their old cars. You'll pay top dollar for it, but they will be there.
>>28900959>I feel like its impossible to get a clean R31 with a manual these days. They've all been shitified by drifter fags.Yeah pretty much but there is no shortage of grandpa spec autos and you can get all the gear to manual swap for under 2k.
>>28900679>Recommend reliable daily driver classicsRestomods.You're driving a classic for the styling not for the 50 year old engine, transmission, and electrics. Look for something that a boomer spent a bunch of money fixing up into a reliable daily driver before they croaked that their kids don't give a damn about keeping.
>>28900904Why the fuck would you move from NZ to Aus?
>>28902200NZ has equally fucked costs of living but at least Aus has better employment.
>>28902200That very thing is all the NZ media has talked about for the last 4 years.
>>28900679Friend had a w123 3.0L naturally aspirated diesel. Autotragic. Had to drive almoat flat out to maintain highway speeds (140km/h). Shit cars, but durable.
Australia sucks for classic car ownership. You have to pay a retarded tax, I believe 50% import duty on parts from other countries.Realistically I'd be looking at a vintage Land cruiser 70 series.
>>28902528>You have to pay a retarded tax, I believe 50% import duty on parts from other countrieslolwut. no it's just GST now affects purchases under 1000 bucks so the vendor has to pay it. above 1k it's paid at the border with any customs fees.
