The best way to spend £30K: Under the hammer
Is £30,000 still enough to buy an exotic classic? Or even one that may appreciate? To the auction catalogues!
Not perfect, but certainly tempting
When it was new, the 456 was a £180K, 190mph, V12 thoroughbred. So the sight of a glorious yellow (Giallo Modena) manual example, with only one owner and 31,000 miles for an estimate of just £28,000 - £32,000 had my eyes popping out of their sockets.
Sadly, this 456 is not an unsullied field of golden daffodils: it's a left-hooker Japanese import with a patchy history, and an interior in a shade of blue that's best described as 'brave'. Still, mighty tempting...
Low miles and a low price? Must be a Mondial!
As is another prancing horse - this one a 12,000-mile Ferrari valued at a mere £30K. There is in fact only one model from Maranello that these statistics could possibly apply to: the unloved old Mondial. Even today, nobody likes a Mondi it seems, but for £28,000 this immaculate example will surely sway some opinions. It's a 1987 car and looks absolutely stunning in Rosso Corsa with Crema leather.
But personally, if I were in the market for a four-seater Ferrari, it'd be this 1974 308 GT4 at an estimated £30,000. Bertone's wedge profile is finally being appreciated by the Spangles 'n' Space Hopper generation (so my era), and GT4 values are rising fast. It's not just the shape either: one Ferrari specialist I know reckons it's the best mid-engined classic Ferrari to drive by a country mile. The sale car is an older restoration but looks to be in fine nick.
Braces and filofax at the ready!
Plenty of Porsches are up for auction at the NEC, too, many set to sell at below my £30K price point. You might not expect to find a 993 at that price - they've been on a rapidly accelerating trajectory of late - but they're still achievable at reasonable prices, just. Two Tiptronics pique my interest, a 1995 coupe at £28,000 - £32,000 and a 1996 Targa at £25K-£30K. Neither is in concours condition ("scope for aesthetic improvements" is the auction jargon I believe), but both seem eminently usable.
It'll also need to be one of the less-favoured versions of the 930 to come in below £30K these days. For instance, this 1981 911 SC Targa, with optional Sport Pack and in fab-looking Grand Prix White, appeals at an estimated £30,000.
LM2015 camping?
Haven't Aston DB9s become very cheap all of a sudden? This 2005 DB9 coupe has an estimate of only £26K-£30K. For a 450hp V12 capable of 190mph with less than 50,000 clicks on the clock, that's got to be good going, although worryingly this car has a couple of rust spots on the door and bonnet.
Another English jewel long overdue for an uplift in value is the Bentley Continental R. If this 1997 example goes for its lower estimate of £30,000, it'll be a bargain for someone - especially as it sparkles in Peacock Blue with Sandstone leather, and has just 57,800 miles from new.
I can't resist one peculiar NEC post-script: a 1969 Rover P5B Coupe converted into a caravanette, offered with no reserve. According to the auctioneer, it's recently been "treated to new wallpaper". Pure class.
993 Porsche would be a lovely thing to own, however the prices have got a bit silly IMO, and being able to get on the bottom rung of ownership with a Tiptronic for £30k doesn't add up from a psychological "worth" perspective.
Neither does the Mondial, despite the mileage, however after a passenger ride in one many years ago, I've always seen them as an ugly, yet nice sounding, crock of sh!te. The 456 is lovely though.
£30k doesn't seem to buy much these days, and car prices have risen beyond inflation (new and classic) over recent years, and way beyond salaries.
With hot hatch prices blasting through the £30k barrier, and upto then beyond £40k in some instances, everything seems to have got a bit silly of late.
Ford prices have gone truly weird, Sunbeam Lotus's have finally shot up and HS/HSR Chevettes have all but vanished.
Or I have a weird yearning for a TR7 but again it would have to be mint and I would turn it into a Sprint.
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