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British sedans in the US

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wkilleffer

wkilleffer

Jedi Knight
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Hello,
I'm a new poster to this board. My question involves British sedans in the United States.
Eventually, I would like to own a British sedan, and maybe not one of the more popular ones. There are certain sedans that seem to attract alot of collector attention, and as a result, the price and status of the car goes up. I'm looking for something that either hasn't attracted much collector attention, or is unlikely to ever be considered extremely collectable.
One car I have in mind is the Hillman Hunter. Looks like they were made with very little change until the early 80s. Also like the Hillman Avenger and its American badged counterpart, the Plymouth Cricket. The Morris/Austin Marina would be ok too, except that not many of them seem to exist anymore these days due to rust. There are others of this stripe and vintage that would make acceptable alternatives.
Another concern is that our area (Chattanooga, TN) now has to go through emissions testing. So, any car like this would either have to be 1974 or earlier, or a legal import that could be made to pass the test. Most BMC engines seem to be fixable as far as that goes.
If you own or have owned a car like this, I would like to hear from you. Any other advice or suggestions would be welcome.
Thank you,
William
 
One answer... British Saloon Car Club of Canada - https://www.geocities.com/motorcity/7967

There are lots of American members too, and lots of leads on British saloon cars (sedans) through the club. Yes... they are getting fairly scarce on this side of the Atlantic, but there are a fair number of survivors out there, it just takes a little looking around.
 
Welcome, William:

By all means, have a look at Sherlock's link.

There are a number of choices for Brit-sedans, but "survivors" in this catagory are getting harder to find in the US. Many of these cars were unloved from the start and they were either scrapped or used to donate parts for more desirable cars.
As you say, rust is the nemisis of ALL these cars, so look carefully!

Some good ones include: the Austin America and similar MG 1100 (often parted-out to provide engines for Minis). I had an America and it was quite nice, but repairing the hydro-suspension could be next to impossible these days.
A basic Mini would be a great choice and these aren't too hard to find. There are still plenty of Mini 1000s in North America (most went to Canada, but many were legally brought in to the US). There are a bunch of different variants on the Mini (most with different nose-work) including the Wolsley-Mini, the Riley Elf-Mini and the Mini-Clubman (I had one of these). I can't think of the last time I saw a Marina....I drove one once. Decent, about like the Cricket.

I also had a Plymouth Cricket (as you say, same as the Hillman Hunter...and Sunbeam Avenger). I used mine for street and rallys and even won an overnight rally in the thing until it got totaled by a drunk who hit me in his van. Some of these cars donated engines to Sunbeam Alpines. The tooling for these cars was sold off and they are still being built in Iran! (I saw one there).

The rear-engine Sumbeam Imps are an alternate to the Mini....and far less common.
Other Rootes cars: the older Hillman Minx and Sunbeam Rapier have nice British styling but parts are rare. And the Humber Super Snipe has a great name, if nothing else!

Ford: both body styles of the Ford Cortina. I had the new-style body Cortina....roomy and peppy.
The rwd Ford Escorts were very keen, but never legally brought to the US.
And early Ford Anglia (late 40s / early 50s) are great-looking but rare, as are Ford Prefect. There are still some of the newer Anglias (like the one Harry Potter "flew in") around.

One car that seems pretty easy and cheap to find is the older Jaguar XJ-6 sedan. Too big for me, but a lovely car. The older Jag sedans (like the 3.4 and 3.8) are very rare or cost a fortune.

Morris Minors are nice and parts are pretty easy to come by due to the similarity to Spridgets.
Older rwd Austin sedans (like the A-30, A-35, A-40 and A-55) have great styling but are marginal for using on busy modern roads. The engines are related to the MGB, so a newer 1800 MGB unit will fit but the brakes would need upgrading too (especially on the early cars).

The Triumph Herald shares many parts with the Spitfire so these cars are often parted-out, but if one is found, spares are pretty common. The similar-looking six-cylinder Triumph Vitesse is a faster and more desirable (GT-6 engine). I have never seen a Triumph 2000 sedan in the US...the only one I can think of is Paul Newman's old vintage-racer. Older cars from this company includes "Standards" and "Vangards"...super rare now.

The rwd Rover 2000 was an early "safety car" but rust hit these cars especially hard. Land Rovers are neat and have a good following.

The Nash Metropolitan uses many Morris Minor / Sprite parts so there are good parts sources out there.

For GM cars, the choice is Vauxhall. They actually made a car called the Chevette, related to the American version. Lots of nice old Vauxhalls sedans were made but almost none in the US.

A London taxi (many are diesel) might be a nice choice and they are roomy. There are places on the internet that specialize in these.

That's all I can think of from memory...there are lots more, I sure.

G'luck in your hunt.
 
There are some cars out there for sale, but you have to be patient. There's a Morris Minor Traveller in my local paper this weekend for instance, and LBCs are rarely seen in that particular paper. You should join the British Saloon Car Club (I am going to), it would be an excellent place to start.
 
I appreciate the advice given here. Even if all I really end up learning is that my idea may not work in reality.

Right now, I own a 1983 Jaguar XJ6. Like one of the replies here, I'm finding it to be a bit large and not the most practical. Yes, I think there is a certain practicality to my idea of driving an older sedan. My Jag has some trouble with rust and suffered from engine neglect at the time I bought it. It's still not perfect, but it got about 21 MPG on the highway at 70 mph, and I was putting at least 200 highway miles on it per week. There are some other problems. The biggest issue is that when something goes wrong on my MGB, it's never been terribly expensive. But if even something small goes wrong on the Jag, it can be heart-stoppingly expensive. All this is why it's for sale or trade.

One problem is that where I live has never been a British car stronghold. We have MG's, Triumph's, A-H's and Jag's, but I've never seen neither a Hillman nor an Humber even at our annual British car show. An MG ZB 1100 (?) showed up last year, but that's still a bit elegant compared to what I'm looking for. There are a couple of older Jags in the paper (one has been lumped), but not even a single MGB.

It's starting to look like I might have to change focus a bit and consider a Morris Minor. Seems like there were scads of them made, they're easy to work on, parts are generally available. Seems like their value as collector cars might make them too expensive for me, though.

Failing that, I'd be willing to get a classic Mini or one of its many variations, for many of the same reasons. Their smaller size is a bit off-putting, though.

This is a car that I might not drive every day, but want to be able to drive most of the time. For some reason, the practical Ford Taurus/Chevrolet Lumina's of this world just don't cut it right now. They might be a better choice, but I would rather have a bit more fun. These classic cars also get more attention, which would be great if I chose to apply magnetic ads to the sides for the business I'm working on.

No, this isn't a midlife crisis. If it is, I'm in ttrouble as I'm only 31!

Thank you again for the advice. This is a great British car resource.
-William
 
I have never seen a Cricket. Not too many survivors. I'm an English Ford guy. Cortinas are around, cheap, and reliable. Austin Americas (Think Austin 1100 w/1275)are around too, but a lot have automatics. I just saw a nice one in CA at a dealer. Morris Minors are around, but the Travellers and Convertables are high priced.
 
In general, there were less British saloon cars sold in the United States compared to Canada (Canada being a Commonwealth country). For those willing to shop in Canada and ship a car below the border, there is plenty of supply up here. There are a fair number of 1960's Austin Cambridge's/Morris Oxford's here, Vauxhall's were also sold in Canada right up to 1973, also the Austin 1800 Land Crab was only sold in Canada, and there are other examples.

One friend of mine in Michigan has often purchased British saloon cars from Canada through his contacts in Ontario, some of the cars he has purchased are ones that were never sold in the United States.
 
[ QUOTE ]
One friend of mine in Michigan has often purchased British saloon cars from Canada through his contacts in Ontario, some of the cars he has purchased are ones that were never sold in the United States.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you know how your friend does this from a legal standpoint? I'd like to do it for the right car, but not if it turned into a legal matter once I tried to register the car. Since it's unlikely that the county clerk's office staff handles this sort of thing very often down here in Tennessee, I want to be able to tell them that it's legal and here's what to do.
Thank you,
-William
 
There are a couple Cortinas on E Bay now. I used to own the V* shown. It still looks the same. The '67 has promise as a project. The high gade dash is cool, and its the best handling MK II GT, because its the only year with trailing arms. In '68 only lotus powered models and the 1600E had trailing arms.
 
Correct me if I'm mistaken but I don't think anyone has mentioned the MG Magnettes yet. Ours is a good reliable driver. Most mechanicals are MGA related and its a really unique car. James
 
I have 3: '56 MG Magnette, '60 MG MkIII Farina Magnette, '63 MG1100 - love 'em all!

Oh, I have a Morris Minor convertible with its own sedan parts car that are for sale - & I'm near you!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, I have a Morris Minor convertible with its own sedan parts car that are for sale - & I'm near you!

[/ QUOTE ]Welcome back, Tony! Where ya' been? Could you put up a new thread on your beautiful GRM Challenge car and its "no-show" status?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have 3: '56 MG Magnette, '60 MG MkIII Farina Magnette, '63 MG1100 - love 'em all!

Oh, I have a Morris Minor convertible with its own sedan parts car that are for sale - & I'm near you!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hello Tony,
We've met, and I've seen your Garage-Mahal, though it has been about five years.
Back in 2000, you had a white (I think) RB MGB for sale for around $2500. It needed a new exhaust and some brake work. You let me drive it around your neighborhood.
I really wanted it, but would have had to get a loan from my credit union for some of the cost, and arrange to have it towed to my then-residence in Tullahoma, TN. I got the loan, but had been experiencing quite a bit of job dissatisfaction. So, I quit the job and moved back to Chattanooga. In the time since then, I got married and my wife gave me a '74 MGB for a wedding present.
I'd love to come down and see your Morris Minors, but can't afford them right now. Gotta sell my '83 XJ6 first.
 
Long story, guys....Army has me traveling quite a bit (that's basic reason GRM car didn't get finished)...I'll start a thread tomorrow on that car

..when you're ready, Bill, I'll have a car for you!
 
I may have a line on a Sunbeam Arrow for dirt cheap up here in Calgary... It is high mileage (325K miles! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif ) and needs some sill work, but still in good running condition... I ran into the owner today (driving his Austin Marina to the grocery store), and he sounds almost desparate to get rid of the Arrow, he told that he'll just about give it away if it's going to a good home.

I'm thinking about it too, but I think I'll still hold out for that Vauxhall wagon I'm after... Not sure if shipping is worth it for that much distance, even if the purchase price is right.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I may have a line on a Sunbeam Arrow for dirt cheap up here in Calgary... It is high mileage (325K miles! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif ) and needs some sill work, but still in good running condition... I ran into the owner today (driving his Austin Marina to the grocery store), and he sounds almost desparate to get rid of the Arrow, he told that he'll just about give it away if it's going to a good home.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you know what year it is? I've found a picture of a 1967 Arrow, and that looks like the type of thing I would be looking for if I could afford it. Seems this always happens when I'm between jobs and am a bit tapped. Get me working and flush with cash and this sort of opportunity becomes non-existant.
My favorite Rootes information website has shut down, so I'm kind of flying blind here.
I'm also jealous of your friend's Marina. He must really care for his cars to still have one on the road, or Canadians don't use much road salt.
Thanks,
 
I never see British sedans around the Milwaukee area, with the exception, of course, of Jaguar XJs and the odd Sterling. There may be one or two that brave it outside for the British Car Field Day (Father's Day by the way) in Sussex, WI but the only one I have ever seen being driven around here just for the heck of it was a Bentley Continental (the original one). I was driving the 'B' and managed to get close. Gorgeous car!
 
I was chased by a Jaguar the other day on I-95 while driving by B-GT. I looked in my rearview and saw this "idiot" zooming in and out of traffic. Turns out he wanted to catch me so he could wave!
 
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