We don’t necessarily condone buying a car as an investment – at the end of the day, cars are there to be enjoyed, not to sit around while you hope it makes you money. That’s what fine art and property are for, right?. But it’s nice to think that if you’re buying something now, it might not lose you a massive amount of money in a few years’ time – especially if you’re picking it up on a relatively modest budget.
Each of these 10 cars either features something that’s missing from the vast majority of new stuff or some trait that gave us an early glimpse at what the future of the car might hold. They have something else in common, too – as we write this, all can be bought for a four-figure sum. We think they could all appreciate it too, but please don’t shout at us if they don’t.
Subaru Impreza WRX STI (GR)
Subaru Impreza WRX STI
The market for the compact, rally-bred all-wheel drive hoon machine has gone properly loopy of late. You only need to look at values of stuff like Delta Integrales or Escort Cosworths, or the sheer hype around the Toyota GR Yaris.
The Subaru Impreza WRX STI has been caught up in all this madness, but there is still a way in for four figures. The last to be badged as an Impreza STI before the WRX was spun off into its own model, the GR hatchback is hardly the most beloved of its family, especially in the 2.5-litre ‘Type UK’ guise we got over here. The recipe – tunable turbo flat-four, all-wheel drive – is still there, though, and it’s pretty much the only full-fat STI you can still get for under £10k. It’s already slim pickings at this price, though, so we’d act ASAP if you want in.
Renault Avantime
Renault Avantime
This couldn’t really be more different from the Subaru, but by the golden combo of being big, French, weird and incredibly rare in the UK, the Renault Avantime seems like a sure-fire future classic.
Is it a coupe? Is it a people carrier? Is it a luxury car? The answer is yes. This mish-mash of genres was clearly too much for the people of Britain, only around 450 of whom were brave enough to buy an Avantime new. Your biggest challenge, then, will be finding one, but if you do, you’re going to end up with a car the likes of which the world will almost certainly never see again. Especially if you get a V6.
BMW i3
BMW i3
‘What,’ you may be furiously typing, ‘is this doing on this list instead of one of BMW’s many straight-six powered coupes?’ Well, friend, here’s the thing. Everyone knows how good that kind of Beemer is, and their ever-appreciating used values are evidence of that.
The i3, though, with its full EV or range-extender powertrains paired with a super-light carbon tub, arrived in 2013, and felt like a car from a future which, 12 years later, still hasn’t arrived. With its funky styling and clever packaging, and construction, it feels like a car that history will look very kindly on once humanity shakes off the SUV-based mass hysteria it currently seems to be experiencing.
Peugeot 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport
Peugeot 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport
With the arrival of the e-208 GTi, it’s reassuring to know that Peugeot hasn’t given up on the genre. There’s no getting around the fact, though, that it’s electric, and so will probably never be quite as sweet to drive as an old-fashioned petrol, manual hatch.
The 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport, then, represents the end of an era for one of the best in the business when it comes to hot hatches. Thankfully, with its 205bhp turbo four-pot, front LSD and reworked suspension, the purely petrol-powered pokey Peugeot went out on a high – a high that’s now available for less than £10,000.
Mazda RX-8
Mazda RX-8
Mazda is working on new rotary engines – yay! They might even find their way into a sports car – yay! But they’ll probably feature as part of a hybrid system, and never actually drive the wheels. Not so yay.
Thankfully, though, Mazda’s last rotary-powered oddity, the RX-8, is as affordable as ever, thanks in no small part to some, erm, highly-publicised reliability troubles. If you’re prepared to run the risk, though, the recipe is tantalising: buzzy twin-rotor engine, beautiful rear-drive chassis, good looks and even something approaching usable rear seats. Just set some money aside for apex seals, yeah?
Smart Roadster
Smart Roadster
One day, hopefully quite soon, we’ll all realise that the lighter a car is, the better it is. Over 20 years ago, though, Smart realised that it came entirely out of left field with a mid-engined sports car.
This was Smart, though, makers of the Fortwo – it was never going to be some snarly exotic. No, the little Smart Roadster relied on a titchy 698cc three-pot with either 60 or 80bhp. Not fast then, but a joy down a twisty road, thanks to a balanced chassis, exploitable power and 800kg-ish weight. Only its clunky semi-auto gearbox let it down, but even that seems charming and retro in our modern world of ultra-slick automatics.
Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI
VW Touareg V10 TDI
Given a certain news story the company was caught up in back in 2017, it’s hard to fathom that VW once developed a 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V10 diesel engine. It did just that, though, the motor finding a home in the Touareg SUV and Phaeton luxury saloon.
This engine hailed from a time when diesel was everywhere in the European car market, and it was perhaps the ultimate expression of the oil-burning engine. Its 309bhp was modest by the standards of a twin-turbo V10, but naturally, it majored on torque: 553lb ft of the stuff, enough for the Touareg haul a Boeing 747, as the company famously demonstrated in an ad. It’s perhaps the least socially acceptable car on this list, but my word, we love it.
Jaguar XKR (X150)
Jaguar XKR
Bad news for James Bond wannabes everywhere: your chances of getting an Aston Martin for under £10,000 are long gone. But look, martinis are an acquired taste anyway – what if you fancy playing the Bond villain instead?
The second-generation Jaguar XK has the added bonus of sharing a platform with the contemporary Aston Martin Vantage, too, and the 4.2-litre supercharged V8 found in early XKRs made 410bhp when the Vantage had to make do with ‘only’ 380bhp. Is it quite as pretty, glamorous or Instagram clout-worthy as its cousin? No, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper, although with Jaguar now firmly out of the business of making big supercharged V8 sports cars, we can’t see that being the case for long.
Nissan 350Z
Nissan 350Z
We’re sort of over the Nissan 350Z being a bit of a punchline now. Yes, it has its flaws, but we can’t see any universe in which a handsome rear-wheel drive coupe with a brawny V6 up front doesn’t become a stone-cold classic.
Cars like this simply don’t exist anymore in the new market, and they almost certainly won’t ever again – especially in Europe. The 350Z is a reminder of a time, really not that long ago, when a proper, analogue sports car could still justifiably share showroom space with Micras, X-Trails and Notes, only now, you don’t have to shell out new car money to own one. What, exactly, is the downside?
Ford Fiesta ST (Mk6)
Ford Fiesta ST
Like the 208, the Mk6 Fiesta ST is one of the last of the old-school hot hatches – zesty turbo four-pot, front-wheel drive, manual gearbox. We don’t need to tell you about the brilliance of its chassis and its small-power, big-fun approach – that’s been done to death by the world’s motoring press.
But it feels like a more poignant choice now the Fiesta is dead and Ford is seemingly out of the hatchback game altogether. While rumours of the much-loved model’s return kicked into gear pretty much as soon as it disappeared, any future Fiesta is likely to be electric, and quite possibly some sort of jacked-up crossover, all of which flies in the face of what made the Mk6 ST so brilliant.
#Future #Classic #Cars #Buy
