Not 2 Grand goes shopping …
By now you know what we’re all about – getting the most from a meagre motoring budget – which is all well and good, but we need to show you exactly what that means. That’s why we picked up our camera and headed down the M5 to Bridgwater to go and see Steve, or should we say, Lord Brasic.
The good Lord is a car trader, and handily he focuses on the kind of metal that can largely be bought for around £1,000, though his budget does stretch up, as the P38 demonstrates, but we’ll get to that later.
If you shop about and if you’re willing to travel, the sub £2000 car world is your oyster. You can get pretty much any car you like for that kind of money, it’s a fact we live to prove (as we will in coming months). However, if you need wheels fast, places like Lord Brasic’s unassuming Bridgwater yard are a goldmine. When we went down, he had a wealth of metal available – something for everyone. From the humble, frugal run-around through to bigger load-luggers and even the odd classic, it was all there. So, we fired up the camera and had a closer a look at what was on offer.
The first car to fall under the scrutiny of our lens was the imposing metallic grey P38 Range Rover. This is a car we’ve talked about on Not 2 Grand before, and one that is still on our ‘list’. This one was especially tempting, given that it was in remarkably good condition, it had less than 100k on the clock and the troublesome air suspension that normally condemns P38s had been binned off in favour of traditional springs. Okay, so the 4.0 petrol engine might not be kind on the wallet, but if you buy a P38 with economy at the top of your list, you’re doing it wrong. This is about being a brute, and for just under two grand, it was hard to ignore.
After the P38, things got altogether more classic and more Germanic. Yes, we found a Mercedes-Benz. Though to be honest, the Lord’s yard was full of them. This 190E was the cream of the crop for us though. With MOT until 2019 and three sets of keys along with a load of service history, it represents a perfect daily-use classic. And with only 115k on the clock, it’s hardly broken in. Plus, you could easily get an old Merc like this on a classic policy, making for cheap motoring indeed. All yours for £1,395.
Want a bit more performance? For a grand, you could have had a rather lovely Mondeo ST24. It had a bit of a ding on one wing, but other than that it was tip top. Loads of MOT, that glorious V6 engine, manual transmission and soon-to-be-classic status (seriously, these things are thin on the ground). All yours for less than a grand.
Finally, and with a face only a mother could love, we had a look around the silver Ford Scorpio. Again, this is a car we’ve talked about on Not 2 Grand, and it’s a car we love, despite its face. Mainly because you don’t have to look at it when you’re in it. Instead, you’ll be lost in world of what must be the comfiest leather known to man. The 2.3 engine with just 66k on the clock is smooth and powerful without being as thirsty as the 2.9 Cosworth and auto ‘box makes for easy driving. This is the ultimate in wafting, and it could be yours for just under two grand. Bargain.
These cars represent a cross-section of motoring, something for everyone if you will. They’re all interesting, they’re all fun to own and they’ll all turn heads for the right reasons. And what Lord Brasic is offering here is a collection of cars that represent the middle ground of sub-£2k motoring. As you’ll see in coming months, cars like this, while great, are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a whole world of brilliant bargain motoring out there.
Not 2 Grand
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What’s this all about?
Adrian Flux sponsors motoring entertainment website, www.not2grand.co.uk, exploring the joys and trials of owning cars which cost no more than £2,000. Here’s found Chris Pollitt to talk about the Not Two Grand way of motoring:
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