General Comments:

Wonderful under-rated classic, which has been reliable and great fun to drive. However, you do need to be prepared to tinker quite a bit to keep it running well.

The age of the vehicle means just about everything has been replaced or reconditioned on mine. Beware buying a cheap one; a proper full engine rebuild will cost you $10K (AUD) - I know!

I get positive comments on the car almost every time I take it out. With power steering and auto, it's easy to drive on a daily basis, comfortable, and the performance is respectable. I've fitted electronic ignition, extractors and high compression pistons, so it goes well - but it's not about speed, it's about looking cool and a bit vintage when cruising.

Other necessary mods are an extra cooling fan for hot days, and Datsun half-shafts, so the back-end doesn't twitch.

Faults:

Drive shafts replaced at 86000 miles.

General Comments:

It is very comfortable, and one can travel long distances every day. It has one of the best V8 sounds to go with it.

The first year I had the car, I drove nearly 42000 miles and that without any fault at all.

I can strongly recommend the Stag, if you are looking for a usable classic, and want to travel around Europe.

Faults:

Having owned the car for 15 years, we have enjoyed the experience.

Having bought a car in very poor condition, we have been surprised with the reliability. Considering the car is now 35 years old, it has been a good reliable daily driver.

We have replaced the radiator, brake master cylinder, diff, water pump, fuel pump, starter motor.

The motor has now blown a head gasket, which we will get repaired. But we have decided to make it a week end driver.

The body is showing its 35 years with rust in the doors, boot lid and front LH wing. The interior is in need of refurbishing. Electrics are by LUCAS. So they are rubbish. We have slowly removed LUCAS and and replaced with Bosch.

General Comments:

A real head turner.

This is a typical British car. A good design let down by poor detail and manufacture. It was designed for the USA market, but with a small 3L V8 it never really was accepted.

We have had so much fun with this car.

It has NEVER overheated (a perceived problem). Run the car regularly and check the fluid levels, and all is fine.

The note from the exhaust is the best you will ever hear.

Supplied with a hard top, a soft top and 4 seats, it is truly a very versatile car.

Faults:

Battery died after a prolonged period of non-use; rheostat that controls the instrument display brightness failed; odometer reset failed. All to be fixed next service.

General Comments:

Wonderful package.

Stags were unquestionably the archetypal bad BL car when new - they were shoddily built in every way. Panel fit was poor, paint finish was muddy, and worst of all, the engines were famously unreliable.

This last was what killed the car at the time. Owners and enthusiasts have since established what the problems were. The alloy heads / iron block combination gave rise to electrolytic corrosion in the waterways. The water pump is mounted above the engine, so if you lose even a small amount of water, it stops going through the pump and doesn't circulate. The capacity of even a well-sorted factory-fit cooling system is marginal for a car of this size.

All this can be fixed. You need a 50:50 anti-freeze : water mix all year round, not just in winter. You have to pay attention to the water level not just in the expansion bottle, but also in the radiator itself. The later high-pressure cooling system, and perhaps and auxiliary fan, can then cope with even very hot days.

And then you're sorted.

Stags don't really rust. Well, they do, but in an honest way; aside from the sills, they don't rust in places you can't get at. If you can't see rust on a Stag, then chances are, there isn't any.

The engine noise is just awesome. It's somewhere between a rumble and a rasp which just gets better as the car picks up speed. There may only be 146bhp there, but there's 170 lbs/ft of torque, so the car can really pull.

Handling is so-so. The wheelbase is long, and with rear-wheel drive, the back end tends to want to overtake the front. It is perfectly adequate for posing purposes.

The ride is smooth and comfortable. You can drive 300 miles in a Stag and get out not feeling tired. The only issue perhaps is the noise level - with the roof up, this is a noisy car at speed, between engine, road, and slipstream noise. Be prepared to invest in a good loud stereo.

Technically it has 4 seats, but in reality adults get uncomfortable in the back after about half an hour. It is perhaps a 3-seater, or a 2+2.

Stag owners tend to keep their cars a long time. The reason becomes obvious when you drive one.

I will never sell mine, except as a p/x for a really good Jaguar XK140 DHC.