Champagne car, lemonade cash | Six of the Best

The ready availability of formerly very expensive and sophisticated cars at bargain basement prices is one of the more pleasing quirks of a bustling market economy (helped along by the frequency with which carmakers are minded to replace their wares). Not all luxury or performance cars sink to the bottom of the barrel, of course – some achieve greatness or were simply too expensive or coveted to begin with – but those that do provide the shallow-pocketed with access to all manner of ageing loveliness. Case in point: the E63 6 Series, which has propped up the grand tourer market for yonks. Do you need to be a tiny bit brave to buy a 20-year-old 4.4-litre V8 for less than £5k? Yes. But that’s all part of the fun. 

Frying pan, meet fire. If the 6 Series is a paid-up member of the bargain basement, the L322 Range Rover is the treasurer, chairman and bar manager. That’s because it was a) very popular in its day and built for a decade b) has a reputation for going wrong in numerous ways c) is costly to run and maintain even if it doesn’t. But it is also regarded with great affection by Land Rover aficionados and its frequent appearance on a certain farm-based reality TV show has reminded everyone else how good it still looks when driven between hedgerows in the Cotswolds. Here’s one in black in quintessential 3.6-litre TDV8 format with 135k on the clock. Fun, we can assure you, while it lasts. 

If you prefer your champagne from the less ostentatious end of the market, how about the comparatively rare Passat CC with the even rarer kicker of a narrow-angled 3.6-litre V6? ‘A classic in the making’ says our vendor, maybe a little too optimistically – but we wholeheartedly second the notion that this would be an ideal way to transport four people to a ski resort and back. The CC did without the R36 badge, but you’re getting basically the same 4Motion-equipped package, which includes 0-62mph in a pleasingly succinct 5.5 seconds. This one looks good in silver and its odometer is yet to crack 100k. Tescos’ Finest Champagne perhaps, but eminently quaffable. 

While the arguments for and against very cheap Porsches mirror those made elsewhere for similarly expensive brands, they tend to be made more vehemently because it’s usually proper enthusiasts doing the arguing. Some won’t ever be persuaded to put down the barge pole, but the rewards for doing so are obvious enough: you get a pedigree sports car for peanuts. Behold the Boxster currently making its way through the click-gauntlet of PH auctions. Is it the perfect example of a 986? No, the presence of the five-speed auto puts paid to that idea. But with a £6,000 guide price and no reserve, someone is still going to end up with an iconic flat-six roadster for lemonade money. 

If you’re inclined to think a slusher and having the wind in your hair would go better with something sturdier and slightly more practical, how about the swept-back, folding-roof pleasure of the R320 SL? Okay, it’s not got the physical presence of the preceding R129, and for pocket change you can’t have the sonorous AMG V8 or the silly-grade V12 – but the V6 is (vaguely) punchy enough and you get the same impression of three-pointed star classiness. Obviously, you’ll want to check for rust in any Merc of this era, and this SL isn’t going to mark you out as a connoisseur like a well-kept R107 would. But you’ll have paid 5 per cent of the cost, too. 

It’s probably safe to say that in 2024 no one is going to mistake you for an aristocrat in an old XJ – even an eccentric one. But we’re allowing this one into the pantheon of the luxury penny pinchers because it’s a long-wheelbase car and is therefore the car best equipped to actually let you drink fizzy wine on the go. Also, it is a seldom-seen example of the Super V8, which (we think) means you got the XJR’s supercharged V8, but without the accompanying requirement for sharpened handling. Which ought to mean the Daimler floats about the place very contentedly on its 17-inch wheels. True, this example needs ‘some light cosmetic attention’ but we’re glossing over that. We’ve got our champagne goggles on, after all.