Eight cylinders for £8k | Six of the Best
If ever there was a time to buy a cheap V8 just for the hell of it, it's now. Here are the front runners...
Jaguar XK, 2006, 75k, £7,995
Like death and taxes and cholesterol, the argument about which cylinder count ought to be considered the best will rattle on for as long as there are blokes sitting in pubs with nothing better to do. It endures because there is no correct answer - although there is hardly any doubt that the V8, in all its snarly glory, has more than its fair share of proponents. Of course, you’ll need six, possibly even seven figures to access the absolute cream of the crop, but where’s the fun in that? Better to spend almost nothing on a Jaguar XK, we’d argue. In this case, you get 4.2 litres of automated loveliness under a British sports car that Bond would’ve looked right at home in. It’s feel-good gold.
Mercedes CL500, 2009, 135k, £7,895
You know who else does eight cylinders well? The Germans. The car with its indicators permanently flashing on the autobahn? Dollars to doughnuts, it’s V8-powered. Burning hydrocarbons like a North Sea oil rig between Munich and Mannheim was very much the way of things in 2009 and that’s precisely the market Mercedes was chasing with the CL 500, which (incredibly) was the entry-level version of the firm’s last proper bespoke grand tourer. That means the familiar 5.5-litre unit does without forced induction, but you still get 388hp and the same again in journey-shortening torque. Still looks the part too in an AMG bodykit. A smooth operator.
Range Rover Sport, 2010, 74k, £7,495
Smooth is not a word you’d use to describe the original Range Rover Sport. It made a Lego castle look pillowy. Which does make the L320 rather colour-sensitive - a trait we’ve completely ignored when selecting this one in Cadbury (or whatever) purple. The good bit is underneath, as the car was among the first to receive JLR’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8, an engine that spent the next 15 years giving us goosebumps. Using it to push a couple of breeze blocks through the air is not economically or environmentally prudent, although eight-pot Land Rover products do have a knack for making you forget that fact when you’re not filling them up. The vendor of this example wastes little time on a description, so it’ll require some due diligence. Alongside a Trumpian disregard for other people’s disapproval.
Audi S5, 2009, 105k, £8,490
If subtlety is more your thing, you’ll be wanting an Audi. Ingolstadt has been packaging the V8 as a respectable, deceptively understated quantity for decades. At the time of its introduction, thanks to host of rear-driven rivals, the 2009-era S5 appeared about as interesting as an estate agent’s office - which was appropriate, because it was frequently the car to be found shuffling regional managers between their assigned high streets. But in 2025, its naturally aspirated 4.2-litre lump makes it and the rest of the S-badged lineup seem delightfully old-fashioned and endlessly usable in a way that some contemporaries are not. So much so that this one noses its way just beyond the price bracket, so some haggling will be required. Perhaps say you’re also considering buying an XK.
Porsche Cayenne, 2003, 124k, £7,990
But maybe don’t say you’re considering buying an old Cayenne - who would believe you? Easy to forget now that the first generation helped save Porsche, as the model has aged about as well as a sink estate tower block. But that’s just to look at; beneath its plug-ugly mug you get 4.5-litres of twin-turbo V8, and that means 450hp, which remains a very hearty output even 20 years later. It’s easily sufficient to place it at the head of this six-car leaderboard - and that’s not to be sniffed at (playing top trumps with eight cylinders is, after all, very much part of the fun). Granted, buying an old Cayenne does not speak to your fun-loving side in the way a purple Range Rover Sport does - but you will be going a lot quicker almost everywhere that isn't made of grass.
TVR Chimaera, 1997, 44k, £7,995
One day, all the truly cheap TVRs will be gone, and people will be left wondering why on earth they didn’t take the plunge sooner. Because where else is there a car that looks this good, goes this fast and drives this well for so little money? Thanks to the Chimaera’s decent popularity during the '90s and survival rate since, it’s offered an alluringly affordable entry point to V8 TVR motoring for a while now; prices are edging up, but there remain sub-£10k examples, amazingly enough. This one’s just a 4.0-litre, the smallest engine offered, but it’ll sound as brilliant as any other Rover V8 and go very well indeed. There appears to have been plenty invested in this one, but it hasn’t been used much recently and needs an MOT. Even if it does require a little bit of recommissioning, however, what a beautiful bargain V8 roadster a Chimaera could still prove to be.
Where is the Lexus LS??? Best car of the bunch by a country mile.
Where is the Lexus LS??? Best car of the bunch by a country mile.
Nice old-skool LS here. Newer ones also available.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17704929
Lots of little niggles soon add up through the year and on top of the major issues,
Air suspension is a deep, deep hole.
Fuel pumps, yep, there’s two sir!
Intermittent starting problems. . Can’t find anything wrong sir!
For something of this age and mileage unless you’re a dab hand with the spanner’s my advice would be don’t!
On the upside, it did put a smile on my face for a few years and do a lot of very capable off roading.
Where is the Lexus LS??? Best car of the bunch by a country mile.
Nice old-skool LS here. Newer ones also available.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17704929
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