Anyone fancy an Interceptor? ...
The FF varieties were high on the desirable car list for any car mad teenager back in the late 60's early 70's.
Like a lot of lazy tuned but huge engined sports cars of that era, they largely became unloved and plummeted in price by the late 70's early 80's.
I worked with a girl in the late 70's and early 80's who picked up a plain Interceptor for around £1000 and drove it into the ground, scrappy finally taking it away.
It was a right bag of nails though, leaking water everywhere and rotting in places and very tired, though with that size of engine it was difficult to know as it was still pretty quick off the mark.
Running costs were ridiculous though, things like tyres would be worn very rapidly, they were really heavy vehicles with power everything so you would take corners like a small saloon but paid for it all afterwards, and fuel consumption was around 12 mpg if you drove it carefully.
Like the Interceptor, I also worked with a guy who had a shabby DB5 that he got in the late 70's (it's hard to believe now but they too had become unloved by then) for less than £1000. He partly restored it and was refusing offers in excess of £70k by the end of the 80's when the classic car boom started to get going fueled by the Yuppie bonus money. I haven't seen him since 1988 but I believe he still has it.
And on the theme of desirable big engined sports cars, I could tell you the story of helping to push start a big block AC Cobra from the Bells of Ousely car park on the Thames at Old Windsor one lunch time in around '82 or so. It was untidy and obviously had starting problems but burbled like the monster it was once it got going.
The driver had just driven it back from France where I think he paid less than £4000 for it.....weep.