Up to £30,000 | Lotus Esprit
An argument about what actually constitutes a 'supercar' would go on until long after combustion-engined wedges are even available to buy new. So consider the genre roughly defined here, not least because it’s much more fun to chat about cars that you could get a loan for, rather than not needing another mortgage. We’ll kick off with the original four-cylinder supercar (there, we said it), the Lotus Esprit. In many aspects, it nails the brief: mid-engined, rear-drive, two-seat, beautiful to look at and pretty glorious to drive as well. Rare, too. Not until the V8, however, did it really get supercar levels of performance. Still, for the price of one or two options on a new exotic, an Esprit is offering up plenty of style, speed, and sense of occasion, even with a humble four-pot turbo. This S4S is a unique (very pretty) spec, comes with loads of history, and is for sale at £1,250 under budget. Pop-up headlights for the win.
Up to £40,000 | Dodge Viper
And for those that believe a supercar can only be called as such with a large displacement, multi-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, behold the Dodge Viper. Nobody would call its 8.0-litre V10 exotic, or sophisticated, or tremendously melodic, but it guarantees excitement like little else. Truthfully, this is an engine that comes with a car as adjoining equipment, so wholeheartedly and unashamedly does raw combustion dominate the Viper experience. And if a supercar should be demanding of all your concentration for every mile, then look no further. The interior might look like something from a pre-school, and parts for a 30-year-old Yank tank might be hard to come by, but what a statement. A wonderfully daft machine, just as an old school supercar should be. This one is UK-supplied, interestingly, sits on just 25,000 miles, and has been recently recommissioned after some time spent in storage. The cobwebs, both yours and the car’s, will be blown away like never before.
Up to £50,000 | Audi R8 V10
For a more modern take on the V10 drop-top, the Audi R8 continues to look like very good value indeed. Slowly but surely, the price of good V8s is creeping up, as the market realises just how much they offer for so relatively little. It’s the V10 you’ll want though, complete with 525hp, for the full supercar experience. The 5.2 is the very opposite of the Dodge’s, revving beyond 8,000rpm and thrilling to listen to. Amazingly, too, £50,000 now buys an example of the facelifted first-gen R8, meaning an S Tronic DSG rather than the nasty old automated R Tronic manual. So that’s an 8,500rpm, atmospheric V10, a dual-cutch transmission, 200mph potential and a great bit of Audi design, for the price of a Golf Edition 50. Obviously, you’re going to have to budget for the running costs of a car that would have been at least £120,000 in 2014, but the R8 still looks like conspicuously good value - a premium market badge that maybe deterred some remains a boon for savvy secondhand buyers. Refurb those wheels, get CarPlay in, and away you go.
Up to £60,000 | Mercedes-AMG GT S
Nobody could accuse AMG of not giving the first GT its all. As well as the dual-clutch ‘box in a transaxle, an electronic limited-slip diff and an interior design that aimed to evoke the V8 layout, a smorgasbord of models were introduced during the GT’s life. From relatively humble 476hp beginnings, the AMG hot rod spawned convertibles, special editions, four-wheel steering ‘ring missiles, coilover'd GT3 wannabes and 700hp-plus exotics. All got the mighty 4.0-litre V8, all looked fantastic, and all were characterised by a kind of rigour and discipline that AMGs weren’t really known for a decade and a bit ago. Far from being just a ripsnorting hooligan, this was a serious (and seriously capable) super sports car. Another one that blurs boundaries a bit with its front-engined layout, but an AMG GT like this one is always going to get attention; with that giant bonnet stretching out in front and people gawping, it’s gonna feel like a supercar alright. Just a 17,000-mile, £62k supercar…
Up to £75,000 | Aston Martin Vanquish
Time for a V12. To this day, nothing quite says power, panache and performance like a dozen cylinders under the bonnet. The sound and the smoothness mean an experience like no other, cool and cultured when required while also (hopefully) screaming its way through higher revs as well. We all know the Aston Martin 5.9-litre V12 was a 21st-century icon; maybe it didn’t howl quite like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, but it was always such a fine match for Gaydon’s supercars that it really ceased to matter. The twin-turbo 5.2 that replaced it was a mighty achievement for a forced induction V12, though it’s inevitably just a little less charming than the atmospheric unit. And if it’s charm you’re after in a modern Aston Martin (for a fraction of the cost of a new one), then the old Vanquish will do the job superbly. Still handsome, still very fast, still immensely likeable. Much like a lot of models of the VH era, sure, just sort of… better, in a Vanquish. The spec on this one is sombre, sure, but four owners have driven fewer than 40,000 miles, it was serviced just before Christmas, and a warranty is included in the £75k asking price. It was £207,410 new. Super, indeed.
Up to £100,000 | McLaren 650S Spider
No arguments about this one, surely. Anything made by McLaren Automotive over the past 15 years unequivocally qualifies as a supercar: carbon structure, a high-revving, hugely powerful engine in the middle, a ride height to chisel gum off the road (yet still with a sumptuous ride), and doors that go up. Nothing screams supercar, as we all know, like doors that go up. Under new ownership and with the oversupply issues of a few years ago now largely resolved - a 750S will still cost you £200k, because the launch was managed better than the 720 - things hopefully look better for McLaren going forward. Don’t underestimate the good feeling that comes with having a F1 champion race a McLaren, either. For those on the hunt for secondhand supercar steals rather than a new jackpot splurge, though, McLaren can still offer plenty. While, incredibly, there are examples of the 650S around for little more than £70k (!), up the budget closer to six-figures, and cars like this are available: really low miles, great spec, nice options, and the kind of visual drama a front-engined car could only dream of...
Up to £125,000 | Ferrari 458 Italia
The template for all the wonderful Ferrari berlinettas of the past 15 years, the 458 Italia was a brave new dawn for Maranello - one that continues to be relevant and desirable to this day. Which is why they still command more than £100,000. For the 430’s replacement, out went F1 gearboxes, conventional interior stalks and traditional design; in came a dual-clutch, major controls on the wheel and a futuristic new look for the mid-engined Ferrari that continues to draw admiring glances. And while plenty would change for subsequent models, gaining turbos and Side Slip Control and whatnot, the influence of the 458 could still be felt. And it still felt absolutely brilliant, all the way to the F8 Tributo. Indeed, you could well argue that the 458’s way of doing things - hyper alert steering, spookily sorted tech, the best ‘box in the business - continues to characterise Ferrari supercars to this day. So, yeah, it’s pretty significant. Rosso Corsa might be a tad predictable, but with good reason. Honestly, what would you change?
Up to £150,000 | Maserati MC20
The secondhand supercar bargain of the moment (all things being relative) that we’ll continue to bang on about. The MC20 was as good as anyone dared hope a mid-engined Maserati supercar for the 2020s might be: stunning to look at, stunning to drive, just pretty stunning all-round in truth. This from a company that really had no recent experience in the sector, either. Maserati might have liked to make an association with the MC12, but that was a road-legal race car with an Enzo V12 in it. This was a clean-sheet supercar from Maserati, complete with bespoke platform, a high-revving turbo V6 and a DCT. And it was brilliant: fast, exciting, rewarding, a bit different to the norm and all the more likeable for it. While the interior was spartan and the MC20’s carbon fibre turned out to weigh a lot more than claimed, that didn’t detract from a fantastic experience (and when a Temerario is now 1,900kg, who’s to complain?) This one had £80k spent on it new, or just 5,000 miles ago, and it’s now on sale at 911 GTS money.
Up to £200,000 | Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica
Lamborghini really did save the best until last when it came to the Huracan. While early versions continue to circulate around £100,000, they were never quite the ticket when it came to a properly rousing, memorable Lamborghini experience. They looked amazing and sounded even better, but the driving experience was curiously plain. It didn’t take long for those issues to be addressed: the Performante was epic, and the Evo facelift for the standard car improved every bit of the experience. The STO could compete with the world’s very best circuits cars, the Sterrato was probably the most fun Lamborghini ever, and then there was the Tecnica: a last-of-the-line greatest hits edition that signed off the V10 in fine fashion. It had the power of a Performante, the Evo’s ease of use, some track learnings from the STO and two-wheel drive for a cherry on top. Huracans really didn’t come any better. Somehow this Verde Mantis example has been for sale at £195,000 for six months - so there might even be a deal to be done…
Sky’s the limit | Porsche Carrera GT
Need we say anything more about the Porsche Carrera GT? It is, after all, PH’s preferred supercar of the last 25 years. There were surely the obvious things that contributed to that - a sublime engine with its roots in motorsport, beautiful design, off-the-scale driver reward - but also a nice story arc to appreciate as well. Bear with. For a while, the CGT was the underappreciated supercar, deemed as too much hard work by some because of its carbon clutch, too scary by others because of some well-publicised incidents, or too common by those who care about things like chassis numbers. Once upon a time, these were sold for less than their £300k asking price. Then, slowly but surely, values climbed as people realised what an astonishing Porsche it really was. Now, with better tyres than were available in period and manual supercars hard to come by, the CGT’s stock has never been higher. This is one of the UK-supplied cars, and has had the recent recall - complete with a fresh set of Cup 2s - completed 100 miles ago. Which means it’s now capable of 7:12 around the ‘ring…
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