Top 10 Cheap Classic Cars To Invest In Right Now
Alfa Romeo Alfasud
The Alfa Romeo Alfasud is a small family car produced from 1971 to 1989 by Industria Napoletana Costruzioni Autoveicoli Alfa Romeo-Alfasud S.p.A, a new firm founded by Alfa Romeo and Finmeccanica. It was headquartered in Italy’s impoverished southern region as a part of the government’s labor policy.
The car was introduced to the public at the Turin Motor Show in 1971 and quickly garnered accolades from journalists for its exceptional styling. The Alfasud is regarded as one of the most successful models of Alfa Romeo, with a total of 893,719 units sold from 1972 to 1983.
Commonly referred to as the ‘Sud’, it revolutionized the small car segment and also delivered one of the finest front-wheel-drive cars in automotive history. It saw two redesigns, first in 1977 and another in 1980.
The four-door saloon was powered by a 1,186 cc Boxer water-cooled engine that featured a belt-operated overhead camshaft on each cylinder head. It also came with a sophisticated suspension system for a car in its class: MacPherson struts up front and a beam axle at the rear.
Other unique features include rack and pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes. The design of the engine allowed the cars to have a low bonnet line, giving them a low center of gravity and making them very aerodynamic.
Because of its design features, the Alfasud has superb performance for its engine size, as well as levels of handling and road-holding that won’t be equaled in its class for another decade. Some of its controls were eccentric, the lights, wipers, horn, heater fan, and turn indicators were all operated by pushing, turning or pulling the two column stalks.
BMW E30 3 Series
The BMW 3 Series is an entry-level luxury car produced by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG since May 1975. It succeeded the 02 Series and has been manufactured and marketed in six generations.
The first generation was only offered as a two-door sedan, but the model range has since grown to include the five door, hatchback, five-door station wagon, four-door sedan, two-door coupe and two-door convertible body styles.
In 2013, the convertible and coupé models began to be badged as 4 Series, so the 3 Series lineup no longer includes both trims. The 3 Series holds the distinction as Bimmer’s best-selling model, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the German automaker’s total annual sales.
The BMW 3 Series also bagged multiple awards throughout its production run. The M variant, known simply as M3, was unveiled in 1988 together with the E30 M3, which was originally produced in the two-door sedan body style.
The BMW M3 made its debut on the E30 platform. The E30 M3 was equipped with the S14 four-cylinder mill, which thumped out 235 horsepower in its final version. The 325iX model became the first in the 3 Series range to use all-wheel drive. The saloon iteration of the E30 was replaced in 1990, but the cabriolet and the estate models were retained until 1993.
Toyota MR2
The Toyota MR2 is a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced in Japan and sold worldwide by Toyota from 1984-2007 over three generations: the W10 from 1984 to 1989; the W20 from 1990 to 1999; and the W30 from 2000 to 2007.
Conceived as a small, lightweight and economical two-seater, the MR2 featured simple design elements, including transverse-mounted inline-four engines and MacPherson strut front and rear suspensions. The name MR2 stands for either “mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-seater” or “mid-ship, run-about, two-seater”.
The MR2 was based on a 1976 Toyota design project with the objective of building a car that would be fun to drive, yet still deliver good fuel economy. Design work started in 1979 when Akio Yoshida from the testing department of Toyota began evaluating alternatives for drive technique and engine placement.
Yoshida went for a mid-transverse engine placement and the car was called the 1981 prototype SA-X. From the original design, it evolved into a sports car, and subsequent prototypes were tested both in Japan and in the U.S.
All three generations of the MR-2 met the Japanese government’s regulations for engine displacement and exterior dimensions. The car was released at about the same time as the Nissan EXA, the Honda CR-X, the VW Scirocco and Fiat X1/9 from Europe, and the Ford EXP and Pontiac Fiero from North America.
Toyota unveiled its SV-3 concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1983. The car was launched in Japan in the second quarter of 1984 under the name MR2. It became the first mass-produced mid-engined car from a Japanese automaker.
Citroen GS
The GS is a small family car produced by Citroën for the 1970 to 1986 model years in sedan and wagon body styles, through a single generation. The car was given a facelift in 1979 and was sold as the GSA in hatchback and wagon body styles from 1979 to 1986.
The GS was named the European Car of the Year for 1971 and was lauded for being technologically advanced, with class-leading aerodynamics, comfort, and safety. Its direct competitors in Europe included the Ford Escort, Fiat 128, Vauxhall Viva, and the Renault 6.
When the GS was launched by Citroen on August 24, 1970, it featured a ‘Berline’ body style which is basically a 4-door saloon with three lateral windows. It had a fastback design with a Kamm tail. The aerodynamics provided the best drag coefficient of any car at the time.
Outstanding aerodynamics enabled the GS to maximize engine output, but it nevertheless drew flack for being underpowered. Citroën engineers addressed the problem by introducing a larger 1,222 cc engine as an option in September 1972.
Projected power output increased from 55 hp to 60 hp, but it was the boost in torque that really underscored the more potent engine, and which allowed the bigger engined variants to raise the second gear ratio as well as the final drive ratio, thereby increasing the car’s speed per 1,000 rpm from 14.3 mph to 15.2 mph.
Visually the GS had little similarity to other cars on the market, until the Citroën CX was developed in 1974. The GS was available in three trims: GS Club, G Special and GS Pallas with full upgraded upholstery, tinted glass, side mouldings, and wheel covers as standard features.
Fiat 126
The Fiat 126 is a city car that was unveiled at the Turin Auto Show in October 1972 as the successor to the rear-engined Fiat 500. Some of the cars were built in Bielsko-Biała as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000. The Fiat 126 was replaced in 1993 by the front-engined Fiat Cinquecento.
The 126 employed much of the same layout and mechanical underpinnings as its Fiat 500 predecessor with which it shared its wheelbase, but sported an all new bodyshell that looked like a scaled-down Fiat 127.
Fiat increased the engine capacity from 594 cc to 652 cc towards the end of 1977 when the cylinder bore was enlarged from 73.5 to 77 mm. Projected power output remained the same at 23 hp, although torque was increased from 29 lb·ft to 32 lb·ft.
The 594 cc was still offered in early 1983. A subsequent power boost took the size of the engine to 704 cc in the new ‘restyled’ model Fiat 126 Bis, with 26 hp of motive power. By 1979, a total of 1,352,912 cars had been built in Italy.
The 126 continued to be produced by FSM in Poland, where it was manufactured as the Polski Fiat 126p from 1973 to 2000. Even after the launch of the 126 Bis, the original model continued to be built and sold for the Polish market. It was also built under licence by Zastava in Yugoslavia.
In 1984, Fiat decided to give the 126 a facelift which included a new dashboard and plastic bumpers. This model was named Fiat 126p FL. During the early ’90s, a German company produced convertible versions of the 126 Bis. Two models were available: the ‘POP 650’ and the more upscale ‘POP 2000’.
Ford Capri
The Capri is a fastback coupé produced by the Ford Motor Company between 1969 and 1986, The car was penned by Philip T. Clark, one of the designers of the Ford Mustang. The first Capri was unveiled at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969, with sales commencing the following month.
Using the mechanical parts from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and conceived as the European version of the Mustang, the Capri turned out as a very successful car for Ford, and sold almost 1.9 million copies during its production run. It was produced in Europe at the Dagenham and Halewood facilities in the UK, the Genk factory in Belgium, and the Cologne and Saarlouis facilities in Germany.
Several engines were used throughout the lifespan of the Capri, including the Essex and Cologne V6 at the top of the range. The Taunus V4 and the Kent straight-four were used in lower spec models. Ford did not replace the Capri with an official model, but the 2nd generation Probe was effectively its successor after the latter’s 1992 launch in the European market.
The Capri was developed in an attempt by Ford to replicate in Europe the success the company had with the North American Ford Mustang. During the early development stage, the car was named Colt, but Ford failed to use the name because it was trademarked by Mitsubishi.
The Capri Mk I is a fastback coupe that was offered in a variety of engines to make the car affordable for a wide range of prospective buyers. The Capri II was introduced on February 25, 1974. After selling 1.2 million cars, and with the 1973 oil crisis, Ford decided to make the Capri more suited to everyday driving by using a shorter hood, a larger interior, and the adoption of a hatchback rear door.
The Capri Mk III made it debut in March 1978 and came with new styling cues, including the black ‘Aeroflow’ grille, quad headlamps, and the ‘sawtooth’ rear lamp lenses. The Mk III also featured improved aerodynamics that resulted in improved performance and fuel economy over the Mk II.
Rover SD 1
Rover SD1 refers to both the code name and the production name assigned to a series of executive cars produced by British Leyland, under the Rover marque. It was manufactured through its Austin Rover, Specialist, and Rover Triumph divisions from 1976 to 1986.
In “SD1”, the SD stands for “Specialist Division” and “1” refers to the first car conceived by the in-house design team. The SD1 can be regarded as the final British Rover, being the last Rover-badged car to be roduced at Solihull, and also being the last to be penned largely by former Rover Company engineers.
Future Rovers were produced at the former factories of British Motor Corporation in Cowley and Longbridge. The new cars were designed with ease of production in mind and relied mostly on Honda engineering.
The SD1 employed live rear axle because surveys revealed that while automotive journalists were impressed by revolutionary designs, the buying public wasn’t, unless the results were superb.
Rover planned to use its 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine, but the management of British Leyland ruled that the redesigned variants of Triumph’s 6-cylinder mill were to power the SD1 instead. The Rover V8 engine was used and the 3-speed automatic transmission was the BorgWarner 65 model.
An estate body was considered but it failed to go beyond the prototype stage. Two similarly prescribed estates survived and are displayed at the Haynes International Motor Museum and at the Heritage Motor Centre respectively.
The SD1 was meant to be manufactured in a state-of-the-art extension to Rover’s Solihull facility alongside the TR7. It was mostly funded by the British government, who bailed out British Leyland from bankruptcy in 1975. Today, the SD1 enjoys an enthusiastic following and spare parts are in good supply.
Porsche 924 / 924 S
The Porsche 924 is a sports car manufactured and marketed by Porsche AG from 1976 to 1988. A 2+2 coupé, the 924 was meant to replace the 914 as Porsche’s entry-level model, but when 914 production was terminated early, it was retired a reincarnated 912 instead.
Though the 928 gran turismo was penned first, the 924 was the first road-going Porsche with the water-cooled, front-engine configuration. It was also the first Porsche to feature a fully automatic transmission.
The 924 was presented to the public in November 1975. Though criticized by enthusiasts for its mediocre performance, it was a sales success with a little over 150,000 cars produced during the 1977 to 1988 production run. The 944 launched in the U.S. market in 1983 was intended to replace the 924, but production of the latter continued through 1985.
Volkswagen decided in 1984 to stop producing the engine blocks used in the 2.0 924. This gave Porsche a headache because the 924 was much cheaper than the 944, and dropping it will leave the automaker without an affordable entry-level option.
Porsche then decided to equip the narrower bodied 924 with a partially detuned variant of the 944’s 163 horsepower, 2.5 liter straight four. The suspension was upgraded but the 924’s early interior was kept intact. The outcome was 1986’s 150 hp 924S.
The 924 was re-introduced by Porsche to the U.S. market with a price tag of under $20,000. In 1988, power output was increased to 160 hp, matching the output of the previous year’s Le Mans spec cars. This was attained using different pistons that raised the S’ compression ratio to 10.2:1.
Morris Minor 1000
The Morris Minor is a British car that was officially launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in London on September 20, 1948. It was designed under the supervision of Alec Issigonis.
Over 1.3 million cars had been produced from 1948 to 1972 in three series: the MM from 1948 to 1953, the Series II from 1952 to 1956, and the 1000 series from 1956 to 1971.
Initially offered as a two-door saloon and tourer, the lineup was expanded to include a 4-door saloon in 1950, a wood-framed estate called the Traveller from October 1953, as well as pick-up truck and panel van versions from May 1953.
The Morris Minor was the first British car to sell more than a million copies and is regarded as a classic example of automotive design.The cars were updated in 1956 when the engine’s capacity was increased to 948 cc.
The two-piece split windshield was replaced with a one-piece curved unit and the rear window was enlarged. The semaphore-style trafficators were replaced in 1961 by the flashing direction indicators, which were US-style red at the rear and white at the front which was legal in Britian and many export markets at the time.
The rear indicators used the same bulb filament as the brake lamp while the front unit used a second brighter filament in the parking lamp bulb. A high-end car based on the Minor floorpan and powered by the larger BMC B-Series engine was marketed as the Riley One-Point-Five/Wolseley 1500 starting in 1957.
Iterations of the Wolseley/Riley model were also built by BMC Australia as the Austin Lancer and the Morris Major.
Mercedes-Benz W124
W124 is the internal chassis-designation of Mercedes-Benz for the 1984 to 1995/96 iteration of the E-Class, and the first generation to be referred to as E-Class. In North America, the W124 was available for the 1985 to 1996 model years.
Many of the W124’s features and engineering were advanced technology at its launch, integrating innovations that have been adopted across the automotive industry. It came with one of the lowest coefficient of drag of any vehicle of the time, thanks to its aerodynamic body.
The saloon, convertibles and coupés had optional rear headrests that could be folded down remotely to improve rearward visibility. This was not offered in the T-model due to the lack of space to store the retractable headrests. However, the estate came with a ‘neighbor-friendly’ rear door which was pulled automatically in the closed-position by a sensor-controlled servomotor.
Fuel injection was standard, with the exception of the 200, which used a Pierburg or Stromberg carburetor but was not sold in the U.S. The engines integrated features that optimized performance, including the addition of an oxygen sensor in the exhaust system that works with a semi-electronic fuel injection system to make the engine operate more efficiently.
Mercedes-Benz’s 4Matic system was first used on the W124 in 1987. The estate cars came in five- or seven-seat models, with the latter having a rear-facing bench seat and an optional retractable cargo net. The 7-seat models were standard in the U.S, but the 5-seat models were not offered.
Mercedes launched a convertible variant in Europe in 1991, the 300CE-24 cabriolet, and in Japan (LHD) and the UK (RHD). The 320CE and the 300CE were introduced in 1992. These models were re-designated as the E 320 the following year, complemented by the E 220 in 1993, and the E 200 in 1994.
