Best car for £10000?

[Powdernick1]

Im a first time buyer living in the south of france, i have some of the best roads to drive right in my back yard. so im looking for something punchy out of the corners, the roads around here are very twisty and quite steep. What are people's recommendations. Does age have a big affect on performance, e.g a 1990 opposed to a 2000 car.

[Ult-Jim]

I can't suggest anything under 10k, but if your based in South France, i'm half way between Cannes & Nice if you want to see more, K series R500. Was on the route Napolean at 8 am this morning dodging the bikers, caravans and tourist traffic on the way towards Castellane, had to take plan B out towards Greolieres to avoid the summer rush and hit clear roads, that worked well. May go for a morning blat tomorrow after joining my 20 mile early morning lika brigade cycle, have a small issue to investigate. Must hurry though, my Ultima GTR is waiting for me to tear up the hot heat wave UK tarmac later next week!

Edited by Ult-Jim on Saturday 20th July 22:12

[BertBert]

I suspect that performance of even low-end caterhams (which it'll have to be for 10k) will be fine for fantastic roads in S France.

Are there problems with what you can register in France as it'll be older? More 1990 that 2000.

Bert

[johnvthe2nd]

Ult-Jim said:

I can't suggest anything under 10k, but if your based in South France, i'm half way between Cannes & Nice if you want to see more, K series R500. Was on the route Napolean at 8 am this morning dodging the bikers, caravans and tourist traffic on the way towards Castellane, had to take plan B out towards Greolieres to avoid the summer rush and hit clear roads, that worked well. May go for a morning blat tomorrow after joining my 20 mile early morning lika brigade cycle, have a small issue to investigate. Must hurry though, my Ultima GTR is waiting for me to tear up the hot heat wave UK tarmac later next week!

Edited by Ult-Jim on Saturday 20th July 22:12

so, apart from letting us know how lucky you are, what was the point of your post?

[LRdriver II]

lol, was just thinking that . seemed a bit naff that post especially with the Ultima comment.. cool story bro moment

for 10k you can buy an ex academy car which would suit you.. lightweight, narrow tires and very drivable in that ethusiastic way.
But they may not be the nicest cosmetically, but if you replace the rollcage with an FIA rollbar and stick a normal seat into it, then its a great car.

[Powdernick1]

Interesting idea Some thing I hadn't thought about, I'll bare it in mind.

P.s I have rented a classic caterham to take over the cols in isola and then over col de bonette. Awesome

[rubystone]

Powdernick1 said:

Interesting idea Some thing I hadn't thought about, I'll bare it in mind.

P.s I have rented a classic caterham to take over the cols in isola and then over col de bonette. Awesome

There are very few cars around for sub £10k and as Bert says, if you are going to register it in France, there are big issues with cars over a certain age....

PS do we have a Gangsta Rap chap in the house with all this 'bro' talk? ultjim was just sharing his passion with us. He could be ultra 'flash' if he wanted to be...

[Ult-Jim]

Apologise for my inappropriate answer at the beginning. That will teach me to start typing after a few drinks in the evening following an excellent days blat. What I did want to express is that I am always interested to meet like minded Seven type car enthusiast in South France. As has been suggested, an older academy car may be in the price range, more than enough for the mountain roads, although French registration is a difficult one.

[Powdernick1]

Thanks Ult-JIM, there is nothing like texting whilst drunk. I think I would keep it uk registered, if for no other reason than it will be easier to sell on when I upgrade. I will defiantly look in to the academy cars. I when I do finally manage get one ill be sure to send you a message. A tandem blast up route Napoleon looks fun.

[wsingleton]

Just came across this thread and appreciate it's a few months old but hoping that someone will pick it up.

I'm very lucky in that my parents live in the South of France near Draguignan in the Var and I've been looking to buy a Caterham to keep down there for when I visit them which is 5 or 6 times a year and would probably be more if I had a Caterham down there!

I was looking to buy a UK registered car but keep it in France - there are several stumbling blocks I've come across with this set up:

UK insurance only covers a 3-month Continental cover (that I've found)
Insuring the UK registered car is not possible with the following specialist French insurance companies because:

SAUZEAU - they require the car to be registered in France after a 90-day period
CLAVEL - they were willing to insure on the basis that the car was > 10 years old and that I could also supply insurance papers for another car that I have insurance on. Unfortunately I don't own another vehicle.

I have read that it is very difficult to register a UK Caterham in France (as most of the cars will not pass certain European standards). That said, I've seen both French and UK registered Caterham's down there.

I'm really keen to hear from Ult-Jim or Powdernick1 or anyone with any useful information as to how they've solved Caterham ownership issues in France.

I don't own a Caterham yet but have a test drive booked in with Caterham South on the 27th of this month.

This is my first post here so apologies if I've broken any rules - saw this post late and wrote this in an excited hurry!

Edited by jeansanspeur on Sunday 8th September 01:17