Has the affordable exotica vanished completely now?

[300bhp/ton]

Affordable might be difficult to quantify. I guess by that I'd mean the price of a budget new hatchback like the Kia Picanto. Which in 2023 is £13-16k or less. Something most average Jo's could afford if they wanted too.

And at a price point where someone could have either have bought sensible and boring, or been a bit daring.



Thinking back to some younger days. There was a period in time when something like an Aston Martin Lagonda was relative peanuts to buy, as was the Ferrari 308 GT4, Mondial and the bit cruiser automatic Ferrari 400 and 412 V12's.

Jaguar XJ-S' with their cracking V12's could be had for even less money. A Jensen Interceptor was not worth all that much. A Lotus Eclat would have come with money for you to take them away and an Excel or Europa not far behind.

And I'm sure loads of others. Today nearly all of these are worth substantially more money than they where 10-20 years ago. In some cases many magnitudes more.

But the modern alternatives just don't seem to be anywhere close to the same sort of relative pricing and affordable in the same way.

I guess an Aston Martin DB7 can be snagged for just under £20k still.


I'm not sure if it is the popularity of PCP deals, company cars or just a lot of people having a lot more money. But almost anything interesting new or used seems that you need £50,000 - £100,000 to buy these days.

Anyone else think the same?

[braddo]

Those cheap exotics were cheap because they were pretty rubbish compared to what came later. Back then, cars were improving dramatically which made the old ones very undesirable. A lot of the cheap ones were (generally) considered a bit ugly too. You might think differently but I'm talking about the market in general.

Look at the jump from Ferrari 400 to 456 to 550/575 to a 599 as an example.

Whereas today, we have passed the point where the new car is dramatically better in lots of ways. People do like the looks and engagement levels of old cars which simply are not available in today's cars, so the market is a very different dynamic to 20 years ago. It won't change for quite some yet either, but in 20-30 years it might be too much of a hassle having an ICE car if petrol is expensive and/or difficult to find.

[Easternlight]

Plenty of Bentleys and the like available for that sort of budget.







Running one on the other hand?

[soad]

Not just exotica, DC2 Type R/S2000 used to be £5k. Those were low mileage cars back in the day.

Now even leggy EP3 CTR’s command much more than that.

VX220 were mega cheap also, just look where they are now. Never mind the Lotus siblings.

[Dingu]

Supply and demand.

Over time cars become less in number as rot, crashes etc get rid of them. Then kids who used to love them, grow up get jobs and have disposable income, raising demand. Hence prices rise.

Add in some inflation and newer cars generally having more features/more reliable and you end up with fewer cars reaching such a low dip.

[samoht]

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

[Dicky Knee]

Here's one:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211282...

My heart says yes, my head says 'how much for new discs and brakes all round?'

[deeen]

£12k Corvette? https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1541477

[Pablo16v]

A lot of those cars have now gone through the bottom of the depreciation curve and the good ones that are left command good money these days so you need to look at slightly newer stuff that's still dropping in price. V8 Mercs including AMG models still seem to be within budget (SLK55 and SL55, CL63 etc). Jag XKR, Bentley Flying Spur, BMW 750 are other options I've seen lately.

[Truckosaurus]

Not especially 'exotic' but Autotrader has 23 Porsche 911s for under £15k.

Lower down the Pork Pecking Order there are also 42 Caymen and 277 Boxsters also under 15-large.

[coldel]

Its such a shame cheap Porsches come with such a big threat of engine issues, with huge bills. But thats why they are cheap I guess.

I do agree certainly that Japanese 'JDM' has gone bonkers of the last few years. A definite surge of pricing for anything out of Japan. Fast and Furious effect maybe?

[300bhp/ton]

samoht said:

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

I'm very sad I missed the Cerbera boat. My fav TVR. I recall it wasn't really all that many years ago and £8-12k would have given you a huge choice of cars.... I just wasn't in the right place financially to take the plunge. Now a days they are all easily double the money or more.

Likewise with the XJ-S. I bought one in 1999, so I admit a while back. But I paid £700 for it. And it was brilliant. But I couldn't give it away when I got rid of it 4-5 years later. Very sadly I think I took £250 for it. Wish I'd had somewhere to park it up and keep it. It drove well and apart from the aircon needing gassing it was quite tidy too.

[Shifter1]

samoht said:

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

[Shifter1]

300bhp/ton said:

samoht said:

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

I'm very sad I missed the Cerbera boat. My fav TVR. I recall it wasn't really all that many years ago and £8-12k would have given you a huge choice of cars.... I just wasn't in the right place financially to take the plunge. Now a days they are all easily double the money or more.

Likewise with the XJ-S. I bought one in 1999, so I admit a while back. But I paid £700 for it. And it was brilliant. But I couldn't give it away when I got rid of it 4-5 years later. Very sadly I think I took £250 for it. Wish I'd had somewhere to park it up and keep it. It drove well and apart from the aircon needing gassing it was quite tidy too.

Same thing with the Esprit. I remember not too long ago a thread going on the Lotus forums titled "Why is the Esprit so cheap?" or something.

[cerb4.5lee]

300bhp/ton said:

I'm very sad I missed the Cerbera boat. My fav TVR. I recall it wasn't really all that many years ago and £8-12k would have given you a huge choice of cars.... I just wasn't in the right place financially to take the plunge. Now a days they are all easily double the money or more.

I remember back in 2009 when I had my engine rebuilt(new crank/cylinder head/new clutch/slave cylinder etc) it cost me £11k. My mates jokingly took the piss out of me at the time because like you say you could buy another whole car for that money back then(I paid £20k for it(1998 model) in 2006 with 12k miles on it for reference).

Like usual for me with cars I sell them and then they go up in value!

[anonymous-user]

Shifter1 said:

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

DB7 was hardly a high point for Aston...

[Castrol for a knave]

Shifter1 said:

samoht said:

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

£20k is about right for a well maintained 928 S4. They are starting to edge a little higher. That said, that particular one, is a dog!

Having owned one for 4 years and driven a number of DB7's, the 928 is the far better car. it's designed and built from the ground up. Maintain it as one should and it will run for decades.

£18k for a DB7, even an auto, is cheap. so why?

[Shifter1]

Discombobulate said:

Shifter1 said:

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

DB7 was hardly a high point for Aston...

Neither was the 928 for Porsche right? Just ask 911 owners from the time.

[Shifter1]

Castrol for a knave said:

Shifter1 said:

samoht said:

Not completely extinct, but endangered perhaps

£18k DB7 V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208058...
£12k Conti W12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301042... 'no warranty'
£20k Porsche 928 5.0 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205095...
£7k XJS V12 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210170... 'available as soon as we've finished bodging it up'
£24k Cerbera 4.5 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204014...
£15k Maserati 3200GT https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1442896 with boomerang lights

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

£20k is about right for a well maintained 928 S4. They are starting to edge a little higher. That said, that particular one, is a dog!

Having owned one for 4 years and driven a number of DB7's, the 928 is the far better car. it's designed and built from the ground up. Maintain it as one should and it will run for decades.

£18k for a DB7, even an auto, is cheap. so why?

I'm not going to get into a Porsche quality/reliability battle. Some of it true, some highly exaggerated, as with all German cars.

But this doesn't really apply for classics IMO. It's an Aston vs a Porsche. A V12 vs a V8. Something which looks like a frog and a classically shaped beautiful classy coupe.

The 928 is hardly the sharpest drive either and I honestly could never stomach the frog look. DB7 is a way better sorted design and most people would consider it the better looking car.

I have no idea about how the 928 market is. But maybe it's a matter of the Aston being an auto. But that 928 is a slushbox too. Maybe then the Aston would cost more than the 928 if it was a manual. But it just doesn't sit right to have it the way it is above IMO.

[What The Deuces]

Discombobulate said:

Shifter1 said:

Insane! What world is a front engined Porsche with almost twice the mileage and almost 10 years older more expensive than a V12 Aston? Talk about cool-aid. The 928 is the most overpriced on that list. Just not worth that IMO.

DB7 was hardly a high point for Aston...

Arguably the car that saved Aston....