Gone in 2024 but not forgotten | Six of the Best
Some truly iconic cars went to the great scrap yard in the sky this year - we sound Last Post for the fallen
Audi R8 GT, 2023, 2k, £179,995
The cull of interesting cars was always likely to gather pace in 2024. The industry’s preoccupation with lengthy life cycles means that 2030 - and even 2035 beyond - now looms very large on the horizon. Happily, the market’s reluctance to embrace electrification for its own sake has meant a stay of execution for some combustion model lines - but the writing was always going to be on the wall for big, multi-cylinder engines. Among them, it’s quite possible we’ll feel the loss of the 5.2-litre V10 most keenly - especially in Audi R8 format. We hardly need to recount the story of Ingolstadt’s hand-built sports car here, and nor do you need a six-figure pile to get one. But the run-out, rear-drive GT, limited to just 15 examples in the UK, was a worthy sign-off. It makes for a worthy forever car, too.
Jaguar F-Type, 2022, 21k, £47,800
While not wanting to get bogged down in the logic of its decision to go all-electric before it strictly needed to, it is true that we could’ve almost featured nothing but Jaguars here, so brutal has the cut off been. Of the models disappearing from shelves, there’s a very good shout for the F-Pace SVR being the choicest secondhand cut. But we’ve chosen instead to tip the PH posterity cap at the F-Type, which is ultimately the car we’ll be saddest to see go. Yes, because of its 5.0-litre V8 and route-one way of doing things - but more for its devilish sense of style and dash. Comparatively low cost also makes it a fine choice (especially in middleweight P450 format) although really it should be about preserving Jaguar’s old-school spirit in the face of new-school change. If not now, when?
Bentley Continental GT Le Mans, 2023, 152 miles, £399,950
Minor deviation from the brief here because clearly the Continental GT isn’t going anywhere. Indeed, in some respects, its hybridised replacement is an improvement over its big-selling predecessor. But the winding up of the W12 is a defining moment in Bentley's history. To a much greater extent than most other engines covered here, the monster VW Group 6.0-litre unit became synonymous with Crewe-built cars, and a key component of the GT’s popularity with customers over two decades. Of course, its longevity has delivered secondhand buyers plenty of choice, and it’s possible to pay as little as £12k for an early example. Although it’s a mark of the model’s enduring reputation that a Le Mans limited edition version with only delivery miles on the clock might conceivably be worth £400k. Either way, 21st-century hero status is assured.
Hyundai i30 N, 2024, 3k, £33,000
Bentley learned well the salient lesson of its flagship; hence the level of performance and prestige it has targeted in its petrol-electric replacement. But no established carmaker has grasped the EV nettle quite as successfully as Hyundai. The Ioniq 5 N uses petrol-powered hot hatches as a stepping-off point for something innovative and new - but also traditional in its fun-first outlook. And that’s exactly how the i30 N arrived on the scene: with a burly petrol engine, pumped-up styling and a wry, you-know-you-want-to grin plastered across its chassis. Predictably, British buyers fell on it en masse and it embarrassed more than one venerable rival. Accordingly, you’ll pay top dollar for lightly used 24-plate. But you’ll quickly see what all the fuss was about.
Lexus LC500, 2019, 23k, £52,000
If the i30’s stay seems all too brief, Lexus’s ‘Luxury Coupe’ appeared ripe for retirement almost as soon as it launched. It was huge for one thing, and hugely expensive for another. And the flagship model came with Toyota’s atmospheric and atavistic 5.0-litre V8. However, despite very modest sales, it managed to cling on for the better part of a decade - and now, of course, comparative rarity feeds into its one-for-the-connoisseur status. The V8 can also be had in the equally rare groove RC F we drove the other week, but if extraordinary kerbside presence is your thing, then look no further: the LC500 still looks like it just rolled off a Tokyo show stand. Expect immaculate build quality and the balance of a ten-year warranty. And to pay roughly half what the car would have cost when new.
Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, 2023, 581 miles, £239,950
The flip side of the V10 coin and arguably the bigger loss in terms of brand significance. Audi will survive the dent to its prestige (the naturally aspirated unit always seemed slightly at odds with the rest of its lineup anyway) but for Lamborghini the engine provided the perfect soundtrack to its look-at-me way of doing things. Moreover, by the end, the car around it had finally matured into a marvel worthy of the engine in its middle. It was so tangibly good that its maker shook up the Etch-A-Sketch in the final months and produced something truly wild in the off-road-capable Sterrato. Naturally, you’ll pay less for a straight-up Huracan Evo (and probably get more out of the exceptional RWD Tecnica) but if you want to do bold and brash in truly inimitable fashion - and have a spare lower field to tear up - there are few better ways to go about it.
* fabulous though I’m sure that would be too
* fabulous though I’m sure that would be too
The B-segment now only has the Polo GTI and MINI Cooper S, while the C-segment has the Golf GTI, Civic Type-R, Cupra Leon, Octavia vRS and Focus ST (not for long) if you don't include the 4WD stuff. And some of those are not exactly cheap these days.
The Alpine A290 is a small sign of hope, but the future isn't looking exactly rosy for affordable, fun, practical cars.
The B-segment now only has the Polo GTI and MINI Cooper S, while the C-segment has the Golf GTI, Civic Type-R, Cupra Leon, Octavia vRS and Focus ST (not for long) if you don't include the 4WD stuff. And some of those are not exactly cheap these days.
The Alpine A290 is a small sign of hope, but the future isn't looking exactly rosy for affordable, fun, practical cars.
Just supposing you were going to buy one of the cars with your own money, keep it for a couple of years and then get as much of your money back as possible?
It's the Lexus every time! Isn't it?
Just supposing you were going to buy one of the cars with your own money, keep it for a couple of years and then get as much of your money back as possible?
It's the Lexus every time! Isn't it?
If you done like the Lexus then it’s no every time! Isn’t it?
I’m not much a fan of the R8, the OG and facelift was too mk2 TT (I had a TTS) interior wise and not bespoke enough IMO. The V10 Plus was a lovely thing to drive though. It’s the opposite with the new shape. Don’t like the styling but I do the interior. The Lexus is a lovely looking thing but I’d take either gen of R8 over it.
I do like a hot hatch though, I’ve not driven one since my 306 GTi 6 years so overall I think I’d take the i30N.
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