Hi guys, I'm a 16 year old lad, i know your all thinking Vauxhall Nova Ricer kid!!! but no, I'm not that way inclined. In the UK we are able to drive from the age of 17, what yes is a year away, however I'm thinking of a first car for drifting, you may also now be thinking 16, thinks he is Mike Luney, but i can drive, and have also attempted drifting in a 1.8L Ford Capri (Private land of course ) i had a few slaps on the wrist from the car, but i started to get some slides going. I have had alot of experiance of car control from Go Karting at 80mph plus, and if i know anything that is twitchy it is them buggers. Cutting a long story short, my dad used to drive a Vauxhall Chevette, and i love the buggers, as they are RWD and pure british beef, i'm thinking of getting one for a project car as it will cost me about 1k-2.5k for a decent one, i have this money from savings so i will have about 3k to mess with it for a bit. My question is, would a Chevette be a good project/drift car aswell as a car for the 17 year old curb hugger used for 'shop runs'? Bit of alot of information to grasp there, but tyres are no longer an issue to to the Free Tire thread stickied a few above this one I'm thinking something along the lines of this eBay - Vauxhall Chevette in my opinion, it is just beautiful. Could i have a few pointers from a few of the experianced drifters by how much it would cost to get this sideways, and are the Chevettes any good for tire-smoking action? Thanks guys, JamesVX.
Hi mate, First of all, i dont claim to be an experienced drifter, but i have some idea what i'm doing i guess. You're going to struggle on insurance on anything powerful and RWD so a Chevette could be very cool! You may find it pretty underpowered though, but if you can insure one it could be a good bet. I'm sure a few people will come on and advise a Volvo 340, which isnt as cool but could also be a good choice. I'm guessing an engine change will be out of the question due to insurance? But as a first RWD car i personally think thats pretty cool. You could stick a more powerful engine in it in a few years when insurance is a bit less. I'd say go for it, its RWD so i'm sure you can learn some good lessons in it! Good luck! James
Thanks for your quick reply, yes, i wouldn't be doing a block swap too soon due to insurance being on the lines of a new Ferrari Enzo FXX, but the 1.2 can always be tweaked with I know a guy with a Volvo 340 with a Twin Cam slapped in it, but i find them very ugly cars, and at least with a Chev you dont see many around and they look beautiful with the classic Rally Rims, so keeping its historic values still alive, i'm hoping to get it sideways after some experiance. With the Chevettes small build and lightweight (I'm guessing?) it could be a nifty little car. I haven't been able to find a quote yet for insurance, but i'm guessing it wouldn't be too bad as it would probably be on Classic Car insurance? I'd be sure to get it moving though, but if i was to change the engine, it would be in years to come, not sure on the mods i could do to a Chevette as i haven't looked it up yet but thats all in time to come.
For most Classic Car policies you have to be over 25 ... and it also needs to be a second car. Good luck tho .. old school Chevette would be great.
Dammit! thats a bugger, however there is someone else on here with a Chev, costing 300 a month to insure, all mods declared and he is 20? maybe it depends on where abouts you go.
hold on .. you think £300 a month is a good thing ?! ... that is £3600 a year !! Classic policies will be like £300 for the year !! ... at your age you're just gonna have to bite the bullet i guess and pay a ridiculous amount. I guess the alternative is have it as a track car only.
Personally, I would not (and did not) bother. It's a proven fact that any RWD car you'll be able to insure by the time you're 17 will either be shit, cost an absolute fortune to insure in comparison to a french bread hatchback or in the case of a Chevette, both. Will it be fast? No. Will it be cheap to buy/run/stop rusting to a crisp? No. Will insuring it being cheap/easy? No Will it be great out the box for Drifting? No. Will insuring the car with the necessary modifications to prevent the owner from wanting to slit his wrists be a pain in the arse? Yes. Will it make a good alternative to something Modern, FWD and French as a first car? Not a chance. I was one of those 'RWD or bust' type of people when looking for my first car and bought a e30 316i Touring thinking that it was perfect, mostly down to it being RWD. In the real world it was slow and unremarkable. I replaced it with a 205 XS just before I passed my test and haven't regretted it a single bit. I've had far more fun messing about with it than any of the RWD cars I've driven in my short driving career. The moral of my story is that a good FWD car will ALWAYS be better than a shit RWD car, and while there are quite a few options for good FWD cars that are easily within reach for a new driver, from what I've found the same can't be said for RWD cars... At the end of the day, if you truly want a Chevette go for it, but go for it because you want the car, not where the driveshafts are.
i beg to differ my e30 316 was the best car in the world, even with an open diff it would still come out with enough balls in the dry.
This is DRIFTWORKS, so i think you may be wrong on that point Lower power cars just mean you have to have the balls to go in fast.
I like the Chev for its looks, standard with some nice wheels, it looks like a rally car http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/03/chevette_hsr.jpg Anyway, the RWD would be a bonus, but it can always be modified in ways to get those wheels spinning, without spending a million squid on it. like the guy a few posts above me said, alternativly i could use it as a track car, but what im thinking is having it for a run around, its nippy, light and cheap to insure (hopefully) and then i can do mods i can afford as time goes on, when i want a new car, i'll keep the Chev and buy a Focus or Fiesta, the Chev could be a project/trackday car.
currently im in the same position i just passed my test i went through the whole rwd thing but i was hoping to get an fc egi and the cheapest quote i had was 3500 quid which is half of my monthly pay and if a rotor tip goes im buggerd if you ask me id get a shitter for a year build your no claims get a pass plus and start from there whatever your car is on your own name your paying over 1500 hopfully il get a nice 1.4 mk4 golf while i restore my mini
Yes that HSR is beautiful. The problem is the hearing aid beige one you'd probably end up with won't look anything like that . By the way, Insurance might be a little more difficult than you think. 99.9% of classic insurers won't want to insure you because of your age, and 99.9% of standard insurer won't want to insure you because of the age of the car. In the case of a track car Idea, are you completely sure you want to go with a Chevette? With a budget of £2,5k, you could have skylines, supras, RX7s, hell, even a ropey e36 M3. You wouldn't have to worry about insurance so the sky is the limit, are you sure you'd always choose a 1.3 Chevette? Speaking of insurance, how would you get it from events and back? I'm not trying to put you off or be an arse by the way. Life is too short to worry about cheap insurance quotes, running costs or if you're 'ready' for a car or not. But there are still a lot of things to consider before going aganist the grain. Just make sure you've thought everything through before doing anything rash .
An old chev like that would set you back some if its been looked after, never mind trying to find one!! Id wait a bit personally knowing how much i paid to insure my renault 19 16v ten years ago when i was 18 and that its a lot more for kids to pay nowadays. I know their rare and FWD but if i was your age again, now, id try and find a daihatsu charade Gtti. My mate had one and it was mental for what it was and insurance then was mega cheap, not saying it still is but defo a worthy buy. Get you used to turbo powerz too lol
RWD is the only way to go, starter car or not!! I was stupid enough to start out in a Pug 106, then various other FWD's until i bought my first 1800 Sierra and its just been Sierra's and Omega's since then. Then i bought an oul Chaser and im a happy man!! If your gonna start out driving and your interested in Drifting just get a RWD. Something like a chev yes or a 1 Litre Starlet. The buddy used do streeto in one with an open diff!! Just make sure its wet!! Sierra's are another great starter although im not sure how ye're insurance is on them over there!! If your gonna stick with the Chev just slam it on SL's, weld her up and enjoy yourself!! But be careful as welded diffs can eat small children and so on!
If you really look around youll find cheap insurance on a classic. My first couple of cars where classics, and i never paid over £1000 on them. My pop had a massive list of mods, all declared aged 20 1yncb and it was £850. All with LV, although i know theyre expensive now, it goes to show you will find it cheap somewhere. My 18yo brother got a quote with a chevette as a first car for £1500. Granted a french car might be more usefull but at least a chevette can be a good starting point for a first drift car, with lots of options, instead of having to sell on your FWD car before you can start 2 years down the line. C20 LET anyone?
Thanks for the replys guys, it's all very appreciated. I think i'd get something to start with, like a 1.2 Corsa Life for example, to build my No Claims and then splash out on a Chevette, and eventually do a engine swap with something more on the Jap side, I'm not sure what engines i could put in a Chev? but i'm guessing something like a Ford Zetec engine, or a 2.0L Focus, good thing is, thats my dads car, will he notice if his car is a little underpowered? Hmm this is difficult... buy the Chev, keep it for erm... ages, keep it Road Legal but with some oomph involved, or wait til i'm a little older, start with a shitty 1.0L starter car to build my no claims or should i go straight into a Chev? they are cheap to insure as they are a 1.2L and obviously i'd be stuck with the 'hearing aid' version as Joshy said, and wont be ANYWHERE near a HSE versio, so the insurance should be lower still. According to some mates who have classics, and i have now found out, there insurance is cheap cheap cheap! I'm confused like fuck, as a Chev is an old car now, so problems with the original parts may arise if i push her sideways and mash that clutch into the floor? Could someone give me some advice on what i'm probs going to spend to get it sideways, or what engine i could swap with at a later date and how much it would cost (rough amount) Thanks guys, but at the minute, I'm staying Sideways on Forza 2 in my 360bhp Silvia S13 and staying sideways on Live for Speed too
