Uncle Ron

Sadly not - that was what prompted me though. It's this thing I'm after.. I'll keep my eyes peeled but they are rather rare!

Cheers Mat, much appreciated! Yeah bonnet wasn't great at all - first time that particular bodyshop had done anything that wasn't spot on but I was piling miles on - knew it'd need doing again so was waiting for the right time which never came. It is a nice spec despite the lack of nav - sold already by the looks of it. If you happen to come across a JCW challenge (the F56 1 of 50 job), let me know as I quite fancy one!

Hi folks, Random one but if anyone is at Nottingham today or can watch LiveOnline (I don't have it set up as mostly live in classic car land), could you help me with a price for my old car (BU64 TWX) Mini Cooper SD Blue Grade 2, going through the Black Horse bunch. It's my old car so it's pure vanity/curiosity but if anyone is able to help out I'd be super grateful! Cheers Ron

Italian cars are what I love - I've had a GT Junior in the past and have a 208 GT4 tax break special at the moment. Dream would be an old giulia spider! I think this is it for people like us - enthusiasts. In 10/15 years when you can't drive yourself anywhere because the car does it itself, there will be a yearning for a great chassis paired with a manual gearbox and a great engine.. Also, just in case you weren't taking the proverbial, there's a one owner Daf 44 on carandclassic now.. 17000 miles "still on its original tyres" - reduced from £8750 to £5750

Cheers guys, Mikey - there are definitely some good businesses in this space doing very well, it's going to be a tough nut to crack, you're spot on about prep, the guys building brands have got great shots of well detailed cars. I'm fortunate to have a couple of ex Mac mechanics and bodywork guys on hand for getting stuff up to scratch so we'll see how I get on. Wheeler dealers definitely to blame for all of this. Fingers crossed I never end up with one of their "restorations" on my hands!

Cheers! Will definitely be specialising, but whether that's Italian or German stuff remains to be firmed up. You make a good point about stock moving slowly but I'm going in eyes open. Iconic cars will always have a buyer, and there's never been more buyers than there are now - if the economic situation were to change that may all come to a grinding halt though so we shall see! - you'll definitely find me at the NEC in November and probably the rest of them - off to Race Retro at Stoneleigh on Saturday for the auction..

It's for classics - there's loads of youtubers making a great success of supercars and new cars but very little for classics. Figure I'll have a stock of classic cars, each of which will have a following of its own, just happens all the motors I make content for are for sale and the content is to make the shop window bigger. For a couple of grand and some time editing the level of quality you can get to is pretty staggering.

Well - they should both come in useful if you do want to sell cars. Currently deep into YT video creation lessons to create some cool content to support the stuff I'm selling!

This is a scary thought - one is enough to keep me awake at night - best of luck to you! May I ask what the other two are?

Thanks gents.. @metcars - I'm under no illusions that this is going to be the hardest part, particularly to begin with, hence initial small stock (some of which I already have). Some bought at auction, others picked up out of private classifieds or watching the forums. Buying at sensible prices will be tricky but there's always someone who needs to sell something quickly. Having owned a lot of the kind of thing I want to sell, I've got a few reliable people who can help bring things up to where they need to be if they aren't quite perfect. I'm also not averse to importing. Open to any ideas though as this is going to be the hardest aspect of it. @betginge - thanks, I had considered other areas of the market (selling only 'first cars', VW up/Fiestas/Corsa Ds etc for example) but the margin:hassle/admin ratio doesn't stack up for me, volume brings other headaches (mainly increased costs). That might all change in six months mind! The classic auctions are a funny one, there is some stuff in there that goes for silly money, but equally there's often stuff that goes for significantly less than what it retails at, really does depend on getting the right people in the room and some are better at that than others. COYS had a sale at Olympia at the weekend and a lot of the stuff went a good way under the lower guide (probably due to the 17.5% buyers fee!) - yet the headline is "record price for Dino" or something similar. It's going to be an interesting few months, but I hope I can bring something new to the table Alex

Evening chaps, Have been snooping for a few weeks and thought I'd pop my head up over the parapet and say hello. I'm in the process of starting up a classic (and "modern classic") business in the Midlands. Have been collecting for years and fortunately have worked up a bit of capital to get going. My background is in marketing mostly, having worked for a certain Surrey based supercar manufacturer in their global marketing team I'm hoping I can bring a bit of innovation to the classic world in that area. Knowing my stock will likely be lower turnover than most of you guys (from what I've read) the aim of the game initially is to keep the costs as low as possible and start to build a bit of a brand online and in the mags. I've found a little unit approx 2,000 sq ft for not a lot of money at all and I'm going to aim for 8-10 quality examples of interesting things, and my feeling is that while a lot of the classic market is saturated there is still room to make a mark, particularly with some of the more recent stuff (E36 M3s, Alfa 156 GTAs et cetera) where there is room for growth and a strong enough demand. Focus will be on continental stuff initially because a: they're desirable and b: I can afford to stock a few of them! Might look to pick up some of the higher end stuff when it comes my way but we'll see how we go. Anyway, just thought I'd say hello - be nice to get any "you're mad getting into that" out of the way early on! Alex PS any of you guys have any thoughts about a firm specialising in track special/lightweight/stripped back versions? I'm thinking GT3s, R26r, Mini GP - I think in years to come as we move towards autonomous vehicles, they will only become more desirable and if you can be a strong player in that niche you could do well.