Expert Buyer

They’re an obvious choice if you’re seeking open-sky motoring on a budget, but are more expensive later cars the ones to buy? We have the answers…

MGF & MGTF

It’s crazy how much of a bargain these terrific little roadsters are. Perfectly usable examples can still be picked up for under £1000, and decent specimens of the fruitier VVC cars can be on your drive for under £3000. Considering their zippy performance and snappy midengined handling more than rivals a well-sorted Mazda MX-5, that’s fantastic value.

The later TF offers more performance and slightly easier maintenance (it has standard, rather than Hydragas, suspension), so it’s no surprise that they often command higher values, and more readily end up in dealers’ portfolios. But MG expert, Russell Storer, of MG Mecca (see panel for details) recommends your money is better spent on one of the better-built cars from the BMW era (1995-2000). ‘They started cutting corners with the later cars. Some have nasty plastic fittings and the springs can be way too stiff. The early Hydragas cars are much nicer to drive, and better built in my opinion.’

As interest gradually gathers momentum, Russell reckons that it’s the very earliest cars which are likely to pick up in value the most, together with limited-edition cars such as the Trophy 160: ‘Good examples sell quickly because they’re such good value,’ he says.

Demand is weaker for average examples, due to over-supply and the easy affordability of better examples. Not many are going under the hammer at classic auctions; most of 2017’s consignments weren’t exactly stellar examples and bidders were self-evidently largely unmoved. But as values begin to tickle upwards, perhaps some of the more alluring cars could start wriggling their way into 2018 catalogues.