Perchance to dream… Had Shakespeare been around today, chances are he might have been referring to his next car rather than to the next life.
After all, who doesn’t spend half their waking hours scrolling through car ads, imagining themselves at the wheel of something they can’t afford, such as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?
It passes the time but leads nowhere – so instead, scroll through these 30 choice motors no dearer than £30,000.
Agreed, it’s a significant sum, but many of them are less than half that and some cheaper still. Dream on…
Aston Martin Vantage
Although the V8 Vantage never graced the 007 franchise, it still looks like something Daniel Craig might have driven in Casino Royale in 2006, had the DBS V12 not got the gig instead.
No worries: today, used DBSs start at around £60,000, while for half that you can get into a Vantage with the later and more powerful 4.7 V8 rather than the launch 4.3
Audi R8
The noughties poster car still stirs the blood. The 5.2 V10 is the one people want, but prices start well above our £30,000 ceiling, so the 4.2 V8 it is.
Fret not, though, because back in 2007, when it was launched, Autocar’s testers voted the R8 4.2 the best car they had driven all year. Budget for a clutch every 20,000 miles.
Audi RS6 Avant
Shoehorning 10 cylinders into a family car is, of course, bonkers. The C6-gen RS6 may have delivered supercar performance, but the price was supercar levels of technical complexity.
Our find is a private-sale car, giving you a chance to quiz the owner in detail about its history.
Bentley Continental GT Speed
Prices for early Contis have been low for a long time, but signs are they’re firming up. These cars end up on all sorts of forecourts, but we favour a private purchase.
Cars with high mileages are common – but are ok if you combine with minimal keepers and a full Bentley service history.
BMW i8
Autocar once put an i8 up against a Porsche 911. The 911 just edged it, but we accepted that people might have preferred the i8’s futuristic design and technology.
Those attributes remain and, better still, prices now start at £25,000. They’re reliable things, so concentrate on the condition of the body and doors.
BMW M2 Competition
Autocar awarded the M2 Competition four and a half stars and declared it one of the best driver’s cars of 2018.
In these times of obscenely expensive cars, that you can get one in rare and desirable manual form for just under £30,000 – or a little over half the model’s new price before the inevitable extras (which, incidentally, our find has) – is a cause for celebration.
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