Stag as first car - questions...

[Julian Richardson <JRichardson@domain.elided>]

Hi all,

I'm currently considering buying a Stag as a first car here in the UK
and was wondering what people's thoughts were... 

I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty (I've done quite a bit of car
work in the past), so all rumours I've read about Stag reliability
haven't put me off so far! :)


Firstly, the question is whether to go for an original Stag or one
that's had a Rover V8 conversion done on it (please bear with me
here..). Original cars obviously have the 'pure' angle going for them,
but on the other hand I've worked with Rover engines a lot (rebuilt a
Rover P6 last year) so would know a Rover-powered Stag engine well from
the start, plus there's plenty of room for improving the engine (along
with the rest of the drivetrain, of course!) at a later date. Not only
that, but Rover-powered Stags seem to be a lot cheaper in the UK than
originals. 

But, on the other hand, there's the insurance aspect - I'm not 25 until
October, but want to be able to enjoy the Stag, should I buy one,
throughout the Summer. I'd expect to be able to get some sort of Classic
insurance policy on a standard Stag without too much trouble, but I
don't know how changing the engine (& gearbox presumably) for something
other than original would alter things. Has anyone on this list been
through all of this before and could offer any advice??

Whilst I'm here, did all Stags sell with both a hard and soft top? Or
was it an option one way or the other originally? If so, is there any
difference in price between the two, and how expensive is it to either
buy a soft top at a later date or have one made if I bought a Stag that
just had a hard top??

thanks for any advice!!

Jules