The first few rays of warm sunshine have heralded the arrival of spring – and with it, your thoughts might be turning to buying that fun sports car you’ve always promised yourself.
And if they weren’t, perhaps they should, because now’s a great time to take the plunge. Some of the most enticing sports cars from the 1990s and 2000s are now available for very tempting prices, bumping along the nadir of their values before they start to become perceived as classics – and those prices start to rise.
Be in no doubt: these are great cars, from a great time. I often think the 90s were the decade that gave us ‘peak car’ – a near-ideal combination of modernity, build quality, feel, performance and character. So sports cars dating from this era are to be prized, and surely they’ll be all the more so very soon.
The most obvious pick would be a Porsche Boxster. The first-generation Boxster is still surprisingly common, which is a testament to both its popularity and its durability. However, it’s also cheap, which is a result of a reputation for some quite expensive engine problems
The thing is, these issues have been known about for a while now, and fixes have been developed for most of them, which means they’re less onerous than they once were. The market hasn’t yet caught on, though, which is why good early Boxsters can still be had for significantly less than £10,000 – a bona fide bargain given how much prices for everything else have risen.
Let’s not forget this is a pukka Porsche with the performance and handling chops you’d expect, which was widely lauded as one of the best sports cars on the market when it was new. Yet if you get lucky, £6,500 can still buy you a tidy example, like the 88,000-mile 2000 3.2 S with a full history that I found.
Too costly for you? How about another 90s icon – the first-generation Audi TT – instead? These are even more affordable, with prices for daggy examples as low as £1,000. Spend just a little more, though, and you can get yourself into a good one – how about £2,350 for a 76,000 mile coupe with the more sought-after 222bhp engine and a full history?
TTs can’t stay at this price forever – they’re design classics that became a bit of an icon in their time, and still look great today, all signs of a car that’s bound to rise in value one day. So if you’ve always fancied owning one, now’s the time – while they’re still ridiculously cheap.
The same could be said of the Maserati 3200GT. Here’s a car that boasts all the luxury and style of a high-end Italian grand tourer – yet you can pick a good one up for ten grand.
Admittedly, 3200GTs can take a while to warm up to, with an overly firm ride and surprisingly sharp steering. But get one out on a motorway for a long schlep, occasionally flexing your right foot to feel the kick in the back from the twin-turbo V8, and you’ll soon fall in love.
Of course, these cars can be ruinous if not well maintained, so it’s a false economy to spend too little. Aim instead for a car that comes with stacks of history and has had a recent timing belt change. I found just such a car, a 2001 with 90,000 miles on the clock, for £10,980 – which feels like nothing for a car so effortlessly stylish.
But what if what you really want is brute power, noise, and exhilaration – sheer drama, in other words? Then you should have a look at a TVR Chimaera. Unexpectedly, the Chimaera has actually dropped in value in the last few years, making it even more of a bargain than it once was. In fact, I used to own one, and took a two grand hit when I sold it a couple of years back.
So why am I recommending one? Well, prices can’t really fall much further, and now that they’re this low, the Chimaera looks like sensational value.
I’d suggest having any prospective purchase inspected by a specialist before you part with any cash – TVRs are built differently to most other cars, and it pays to check them thoroughly given the potential for chassis corrosion.
Get a good one, though, and you simply won’t find a car that delivers as much of a pure, guttural thrill for the money, whether we’re talking about the ululating V8 exhaust note, the lively handling, or the voluptuous styling.
So whether it’s a lithe German roadster, a Bauhaus design icon, a stylish Italian grand tourer, or a British muscle car that you fancy, go out and grab a bargain to enjoy this summer.
