Cool, affordable cars

[By-Tor]

I've been bitten by an "old car bug" lately and as soon as we have our new house, I'll get an old Porsche 911 or 928. Haven't decided yet.

But there are lots of affordable (but desirable) cars that I would just LOVE to own if I had enough space and time to maintain them. Being in Europe, I'm sure my favorites are entirely different than the guys who were born and raised in the US.

We all know vintage watches are cool, so are the vintage cars.

Well let's start...

Ford Capri II/III 3.0S / 2.8i


This was my first car. It had Recaro interior and Essex 3.0 engine. It didn't produce a lot of HP but because the car was very light it was very fast (by the standards back then). Handling wasn't from a real sports car but fast enough to win 99% of the street races. Kinda European Mustang, really.


Opel Monza 3.0 GSE


This was a coupe-model of the Opel Senator. It was very, very rare. You were able to buy a BMW or Mercedes for the same price so it's only natural that Opel's expensive coupe wasn't very popular. Opels don't have much prestige, but Monza was pretty good looking and massive, and because of its rarity it would be nice to have.


Audi Coupe MKI


This was the "poor man's quattro". For a casual observer it looked like quattro, although it was powered with just 2.0 liter 5-cylinder engine. Not a fast car but it had the looks. Genuine, original quattros are sick expensive in Europe right now, in the 30K range but you can buy these Coupes for about 2K.


Corvette 1985 - 1996


You can buy a nice old Corvette like this for about 5-7K now. What there is not to like? 5.7 liter V8, nice sounds, timeless design, etc. Lots of car for the money.


BMW 8-series


Definitely one of the coolest BMWs. Some design details from Italian sports cars and M1. A nice one can be bought for about 8K. Just imagine how expensive this car was when new, it cost like 120.000 Euros back then! I did a bit of research about this, and the maintenance costs aren't as bad as people think (if you find a good example). I will def. own one of these eventually.


BMW 6-series


Why doesn't BMW make cars like this anymore? This had all the "vintage BMW spirit". Old cars were much better looking. Not to say the new 6-series isn't cool, but I would respect an old 635 CSi driver a lot more.


BMW M 535i (E28)


I owned a E28 528i and I loved it. Loved it!!! M5 model of this is ultra-rare but there are a few nice M535's out there. E28 is def. my all-time favorite 5-klasse. Maybe it's nostalgia but I'd love to own one of these again.


Peugeot 504 Coupé


The coupe version is extremely rare car, designed by Pininfarina. Very pretty. It's probably not very "affordable" though (because of its rarity). I don't know what it is with these old Peugeots, but I love them. 205 GTi is quite legendary rally car too.


Mercedes 420/560 SEC


Finding an all-original SEC is bit of a challenge these days. Bubba and Luke have often installed tasteless aftermarket garbage (spoilers, smoked lights, etc.) on these beautiful cars and completely ruined them. But damn in original shape this is a classic Merc if anything is.


Jaguar XJ6 1996-> models


You can buy one of these for just a few grand. And nobody could even tell if it's from 1995 or 2010. It's timeless and the interior is just second to none. These have pretty bad reputation as unreliable cars with sky high maintenance costs, but if you can do things yourself I don't think it's that bad, really. I'd love to own one in British Racing Green.




Post your favorites. I'm sure I can come up with many more too.

[cornerstone]

Only just this week I saw a Jaguar Sovereign sedan and commented that you can't tell it's age at all. They can be 20 years old and look brand new. But as you say, crap to run.

[By-Tor]

Yeah, if you have to use official Jaguar service you're soon in financial trouble. I don't know the parts costs, but most hobbyists can make repairs themselves.

Actually I have no idea if XJ6 is exceptionally complicated car to maintain or not.

[Ronin]

Although they seem to be going up in value, can't forget about the 2002.

[Watchmeister]

I had an '86 535 and loved it - a gift to myself for finishing grad school. One of my best friends has that M5 from the same year and he still has it in pristeen condition. Although not necessarily a cool car, my favorite workhorse is the E39. I bought one years ago for less than $10k and it now serves as the spare car. It has more than 125k miles and runs like a champ. Still fun to drive as well.

[jchurch]

I would love an XJR or XJ8 those things are really nice.

[HauteHippie]

This one's probably debatable, but I still have a soft spot for the late 1980 L82 "Stingray"...

[jchurch]

A guy who lived by me had one of those and used to drive it on the weekends quite a bit. I like the older camaro like 72 and earlier, you know the first two looks and love the first generations of the corvette lol but not really cheap. Also those early speedsters are sexy looking but again not really cheap lol.

[HauteHippie]

I bought a '80 L82 after finishing a master degree (seems like a common thing to do)... it was a project car that turned in to an endless money pit. What a piece of crap. But I still loved driving it... when it was drivable.

[By-Tor]

I had an '86 535 and loved it - a gift to myself for finishing grad school. One of my best friends has that M5 from the same year and he still has it in pristeen condition. Although not necessarily a cool car, my favorite workhorse is the E39. I bought one years ago for less than $10k and it now serves as the spare car. It has more than 125k miles and runs like a champ. Still fun to drive as well.

Well, E28 wasn't really "cool" when it was new, either. In Europe it was considered as the "old man Beemer". Especially the 518 model... it was really slow and boring. But for me, E28 always had a lot of appeal. It was the last one that still looked like an old, traditional Beemer. The American version is much uglier (imho)... they had XL sized bumpers which ruined the lines a bit.

I had a grey 528i manual, I recall it had 183 hp. It was quite fast (for the 80's standards anyway). M535i and 535i were different cars. E28 M5 is extremely rare, there's only one for sale in the whole EU continent now.

@Ronin: Yeah 2002Ti is a classic. I recall it was the first BMW with a turbo.

@Chief: Stingray... what a beautiful 'Vette. Those are actually more expensive (generally) than the 85-96 model. At least here in EU.

[By-Tor]

I would love an XJR or XJ8 those things are really nice.

XK8 is beau-tiful. It's a bit too expensive to be considered "affordable" though. But damn it's nice. I could even consider buying one of these, but I'm too afraid of the old Jags.

[whoever]

the greatest car in the world...

watch the hole scene! or th ebreaking point at 3:12 and following! I watched this movie as a kid 170 times....and i never wanted to drive something else in my life....

[HauteHippie]

@Chief: Stingray... what a beautiful 'Vette. Those are actually more expensive (generally) than the 85-96 model. At least here in EU.

I suspect true here as well. I still remember paying $6K USD for mine, in the early 90s... It was in good shape, but ran for about 2 weeks at a time before needing some sort of work. Today I suspect it'd be difficult to find the same car for under $15K. Some day I'll probably buy another, fully restored. Either that or the '67 427 Stingray, which is my grail Vette.

[HauteHippie]

XK8 is beau-tiful. It's a bit too expensive to be considered "affordable" though. But damn it's nice. I could even consider buying one of these, but I'm too afraid of the old Jags.

Ditto. Love the XKR, myself. The XKR is probably my favorite car on the road right now. And I've been looking at the XF 4-door pretty seriously lately. I'd never have even considered Jaguar for a split second in years past, but they're building 'em very well now and have reliability ratings that far exceed Mercedes and BMW. I only wish the diesel models were available here in the USA, as in the UK.

There might be a sexier car on the road at this price, but if so, I don't know what it is.

[donerix]

My least expensive and most dearest to me:

'71 Cadillac DeVille Convertible:

I wish I still had it ....

[krpster]

Can't beat the good old Jeep. My first car too...just as pictured. What a tank!

[mastrmindalliance]

I was going to post the Aussie bulit Holden Monaro (late 60's early 70's muscle car - the reiteration of which was exported to the US and sold as the new GTO), but dicovered that they are now selling for 220-240g's. So, hardly affordable.

Great car though. worth a google if you like classic V8's

[KB]

Love the Stingray and always have.

to me nothing says mussel sports like that car, it looks fast when it's parked.

Now here's one straight out of left field, for some reason I have always loved the look of the '62 MkII salon Jag...

But i also love the '63 e type...probably for the same reason I love the Stingray...

The Etype of course doesn't fit in the affordable bracket anymore but when I was young i had the chance to buy one for under 10K, my father talked me out of it, he said it was too much money for an old car...now look at them!

[tomhorn]

XK8 is beau-tiful. It's a bit too expensive to be considered "affordable" though. But damn it's nice. I could even consider buying one of these, but I'm too afraid of the old Jags.

Need to hit the 2004-06 models of the XK8's. Better engines and transmissions in those years. I call the coupe version the poor man's Aston Martin. Very sexy.

I am also a big fan of the older VW GTIs. I had an '85 that was an absolute blast to drive.

[Jkay]

HOLY COW, Donerix ... my first car was a white '70 deville convertible with a navy leather interior. It looked exactly like your car.

As for inexpensive world class vehicles, my vote is for a D2 version (1998-2003) of the Audi A8 or S8 .. I will posit that it's interior is head and shoulders above any other in it's price range, including the Jags.

$80k new, and around 9k nowadays. All aluminum chassis and body, 5th generation Quattro AWD, and 360 horses ... yummy.

[By-Tor]

@Jkay: I completely forgot the A8. True, very nice car. In Europe you can buy a decent old A8 for just 2.5 - 3K. They're cheap as soap here. S8 is a bit more expensive though.

Check the prices here (and keep in mind that these are asking prices):

http://tinyurl.com/2eagyjn

Very undervalued car for sure. Maybe people are afraid of the maintenance?

And don't forget its predecessor, the V8. What a fine car it was... personally, I like the old "blocky" styling more.

[Jkay]

Yes they can be expensive but they are very owner-wrenchable if you join the Audi internet community. It's strong and helpful, like this forum.

[By-Tor]

@Jkay: You got me interested in the A8. I read a bit about the model.

That's seriously undervalued car for what it offers: 4WD, aluminum body, etc. And it's much nicer looker than the 7'er Beemer/ S-Merc from the same era. I'm scratching my head over the prices... maybe it has similar reputation as the BMW 8'er = money pit? That's the only explanation I can think of. It's still very good, modern looking car.

I'm not looking for a big sedan, but if I was that would be a great candidate.

[cornerstone]

You've got me interested in the A8 too. I've always fancied one of those. (A bit more expensive here though sadly, I look back on European used car prices and weep.) But a really great looking car for the money.

[brockelhorst]

incredible prices for what used to be my dream car when i was a kid.

when it comes to jaguar, i'd love to have one of these

especially as station wagon, so cool!