5 classic cars that’ll make the perfect Father’s Day gift
Father’s Day this year is on Sunday 18th June. What are you going to get the old man? Socks? Forget it, he’ll have enough. A classic sportscar that he always dreamed of owning? Now we’re talking.
Shop carefully and you could pick up something similar to one of these dad-friendly but very different machines that we hand-picked from this week’s collector car auction, the H&H Classics sale at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on 14th June. He’s bound to love something here.
1980 Triumph TR7 convertible
For the ‘70s dad…
Prices from: £12,000-£14,000
Did any dad lust after a TR7 when it was new in the 1970s? Perhaps not, but half a century later BL’s distinctly wedgy shock-of-the-new sportscar is not without its ’70s charm, especially in (less wedgy) convertible form. And it always was a much better drive than an MGB of the time. If you want the last of the TR line this example has a lot going for it: 21,000 miles, time-warp condition and all original (apart from the wheels shown; the originals come with the car).
2002 Mercedes C32 AMG
For the power-crazy dad…
Prices from: £12,000-£14,000
Is the E46 M3 a bit too obvious a choice in the early noughties super-saloon class? The less shouty, more Q-car answer came from Mercedes in the form of the C32 AMG. The 350PS (261kW) sedan scorcher wasn’t just faster than its BMW rival, but is also a lot rarer. Top speed? Officially 155mph but the first owner of this one had it derestricted for a theoretical 180mph. And the first owner was? Former works Ferrari, BRM and Aston Martin driver and six-time F1 winner Tony Brooks. He kept the car until his death last year.
1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible
For the pipe and slippers dad…
Prices from: £12,000-£14,000
All dads love Jags – it’s the law – and of several in the H&H Duxford sale we have gone for this one: a beautiful metallic blue with beige leather XK8 convertible. Handsome and refined in equal measure, pretty chilled will be the dad able to cruise around with the top down in this. As XK8s go this one ticks boxes: four owners, 46,000 miles, eight Jaguar main dealer service stamps, new MoT with no advisories and complete with roof cover, tools, spare wheel, original book pack and two sets of keys.
1985 Caterham Super Seven 1700 Super Sprint
For the would-be racer dad…
Prices from: £15,000-£18,000
Every dad secretly craves a blast on a favourite road now and then and none better to deliver it than a Seven, the four-wheeled motorcycle built for driving thrills that was Colin Chapman of Lotus’s brainwave and then picked up and run with so brilliantly by Caterham. This one’s definitely a Caterham (built 1985 but registered for 1967) but with classic Lotus 7 Series 3 looks, headlights and wheels aside. Ford’s redoubtable 1,700cc crossflow four-pot sits under that evocative bonnet. The odo shows 17,700 miles and the car has recently been recommissioned and comes with an MoT to May 2024. Nothing to do then – apart from watch out for the oversteer.
2003 Smart Crossblade
For the hippy dad…
Prices from £16,000-£18,000
Can you imagine your old man tooling around in this? True, a tiny two-seater without doors, roof, windscreen or any sort of weather protection won’t appeal to all, but as a second/third beach runabout few cars make more of a statement. Power? Courtesy of Brabus but still only 70PS (52kW). Originally the Crossblade was purely a design statement by then Mercedes-owned Smart, but people fell for the show-car in such a way they were persuaded to build 2,000 of them (this is number 1,176). The Crossblade sold out then (famous owner: Robbie Williams) and these days is a sought-after classic. Just make sure your father has somewhere to keep it under cover.
Images courtesy of H&H Classics.