Recommend a fun car for a significant birthday!

[ZeroThought]

Very long time lurker with zero posts here!

I'm interesting in peoples opinions - if you were coming up to your 50th and wanted to spend somewhere between £20K - £27K on a fun second car, what would you get? My criteria is:
- more than 4 cylinders (petrol obviously)
- low 5 seconds or less to 60
- No older than 2005
- Maximum of 70K on the clock
- At or near the bottom of it's depreciation curve so it'll either hold or possibly increase in value
- It only needs to be 2 seats (or more) but room for a medium sized dog would be a bonus
- Preferably a convertible but not essential
- Preference for a manual 'box but if it the car was only available as an auto, that wouldn't be a show stopper

I'll cover no more than 2000 miles a year in it and I have another car for daily use. I do most work on my own cars but would have it serviced and checked over by a specialist every other year and roughly 4000 miles. I'd do other servicing, fixing and improving work unless it required engine surgery where I'd need to take it to a specialist.

The obvious answer is of course a 997, but what other answers are there? I'm not intending adding yet another thread to the obvious discussion about 997s, but it is putting me off buying one, hence the 'what else' question. I've been thinking the low end of the V8 vantage market or an f -type, preferably a v8 if I could find one in budget.

Any other suggestions?

[MustangGT]

TVR
BMW Z4
Merc SL/SLC
Audi S5

Most cars would still be depreciating unless you go really old school, pre 1990s.

[ITP]

5.0 xkr is option too, room for dog unlike f-type

[kambites]

The Evora might be worth a look.

[V88Dicky]

A late and lowish miles XKR
A higher mileage F-Type R / V8S
TVR Griffith or similar (older than 2005 though but stopped depreciating)
Various Boxster, Caymans and even 911s
M4 cabriolet?
SLK 55 AMG?
Monaro? (stopped depreciating)
Ropey V8 Vantage?
Tidy DB7 but again, pre 2005
DB9 perhaps?

Plenty of choice out there

[Castrol for a knave]

370Z, though ragtops seem surprisingly rare

[Sir Kevin Stormer]

Bentley Continental

[vaud]

BMW E60 M5 (2003‑2010, V10) (will be higher mileage)
BMW Z4 M Roadster
Subaru Impreza WRX STI (4 cylinder but fun - dog might not like the cornering speeds)
Alfa 147 GTA

If 4 cylinders could be okay then a BMW 240i?

[Sixpackpert]

ITP said:

5.0 xkr is option too, room for dog unlike f-type

This. On my list for my 50th…in 2 years.

[biggbn]

For me, it would be a Morgan. Maybe the only 'affordable' car I can think of that is like having money in the bank...

[miniman]

[miniman]

[Gad-Westy]

biggbn said:

For me, it would be a Morgan. Maybe the only 'affordable' car I can think of that is like having money in the bank...

Think you’d have to go a fair bit older than 2005 though with a £27k budget.

[griffsomething]

V8 Vantage.

Beautiful. Sounds amazing. Manual. Fairly simple mechanicals.

I really see the whole 911 thing, I do, but for that money, the Aston just seems so much better looking, better sounding, more exotic.

[biggbn]

Gad-Westy said:

biggbn said:

For me, it would be a Morgan. Maybe the only 'affordable' car I can think of that is like having money in the bank...

Think you d have to go a fair bit older than 2005 though with a £27k budget.

You'll get a much more modern Morgan than 2005 with a 27k budget but it will be a four pot, so doesn't fulfill the brief on that front, or the performance one. But then, a decent older car with the big V8 or Ford V6 will provide the oomph and will be similarly solid in its lack of depreciation. I always think you'd buy a Morgan on provenance and condition rather than age....

[thejaywills]

As a Porsche lover, there are so many more interesting cars for the budget (I'd even probably go a 981 Boxster over a 997 personally)

But comes to mind around the 30k mark

DB9 - gorgeous but not a fan of that autobox - not sure if any manual converted ones will be about for the budget?
V8V - I've had two, not the fastest things in the world but a car I absolutely love. Throw on a good exhaust and it's a magnificant thing
Z4M - less special than an aston, still great cars - a bit marmite.
XKR - fairly practical, supercharged v8, what's not to love. STart well under budget and frankly are a bargain
981 boxster s - surprisingly practical, turn brilliantly, sound great
C6 corvette if you can find a manual convertible one for the price - they do come up
TVR - as raw as they come, I've never recovered from the excitement or the lack of reliability of my cerberra, I'm sure many will say they had one that was solid, I very much had a lemon. FEels like you're after something a little more practical though.
SLK55 - big engine, little car, fun times
CLK65 - theres a well specced one for sale, 4 seats, auto, convertible, 25k with 66k kms on the clock,480 bhp sledgehammer under the bonnet

Edited by thejaywills on Tuesday 5th August 21:37

[biggbn]

What does a Z3M roadster cost these days. Absolute animal of a car, and another solid investment id say.

[CG2020UK]

BMW M2 with the N55 engine might be worth a consideration.

Ridiculous fun and incredible ability.

[Mr Tidy]

biggbn said:

What does a Z3M roadster cost these days. Absolute animal of a car, and another solid investment id say.

One sold on a PH auction recently for just over £12K + fees. They must have bottomed out for depreciation by now.

Z4MRs seem pretty cheap too these days but there are some great other options, albeit some don't meet all the criteria on the OP's wish list.

[coppice]

Your over four cylinder criterion excludes Sevens. I'd suggest you have a go in one before committing to anything else . I did 5k a year for 20 years in them , buying my first one at 45 , and never regretted it a second. Every trip is an adventure, driving becomes an incredibly intimate experience and everybody loves them -so cue waves from kids and no antipathy from other road users