Toyota Auris? No thanks. I'll have a Porsche

The cheapest new car on the UK market at the moment is the Toyota Auris 1.6VVTi TR 5 door hatchback.  It costs £5,590 and, to be honest, is not a bad little car.  It'll do 40mpg and 0.60mph in 10.4 seconds and thousands of people will buy one.

But not us.  With £5,590 we'd get something much better than that.  For those of us of a certain age that insurance doesn't cost more than the price of the car and for whom rising petrol costs are slightly less of a factor than how it goes then the second hand market offers a positive wealth of glamourous and highly specced sports cars.

For the simple fact that eBay is an auction site we took a look at www.autotrader.co.uk to find the choicest Jags, Porsches and whatever else we could find for less than £5590.

First up is a real surprise.  Fancy a 6.8 litre turbocharged V8?  Granted it will only return about 15mpg but the value of used 80's Bentley's has plummeted as fast as petrol prices have rocketed.  This silver beauty - a 1983 Mulsanne Turbo - only has 104,000 miles on the clock and comes with 12 months MoT and 6 months tax.  It can be yours for £5,450.

Bentley Mulsanne Turbo

If you'd rather go for a thoroughbred sports machine but with seats for the kids and a decent boot then look no further than this 2001 BMW M3.  All you have to do is haggle £5 off the asking price and you have a 3.2 litre, 343bhp M3 for Auris money.  Whilst the seller quite obviously isn't much of a photographer he or she does have good taste in cars.  This is a serious car for just over five grand.  

BMW M3

If a Jaguar is more your thing then for this money you can afford a 4 litre, 1998 convertible XK.  This one has a service history, 1 former owner and 11 months MoT.  Another example of high fuel prices bringing precious metal prices down.  Only a couple of years ago you couldn't pick up an XK for less than 10 grand.  This one's advertised at £5,500.  It's also a worthwhile investment.  The XK is a classic piece of British design which has aged well.  Within a few years they'll start to appreciate in price.

Jaguar XK





And so to the fabled Porsche.  Sadly you can't get a 911 for anywhere near this money.  There are plenty of Boxsters for five grand but what caught our eye was this 1992 968, which is priced at £5,500.  The 968 was a continuation of the 944 and for a few years was Porsche's entry level model.  Nonetheless it was rated much higher than the 944 and is considered by many to be a proper Porsche, unlike it's predecessor.  This one is in guards red and is the performance car to buy for our budget.

Porsche 968


But there is one more car to consider.  Speedmonkey is quite a fan of fast Audis and S models in particular.  You'll have to haggle £200 off the asking price but who wouldn't want a 4.2 litre V8 S4 in silver with 344bhp and 0-60 in 5.6 seconds.  For £5750 this 2003 S4 is a whopper of a bargain.  It's got a new clutch and steering rack and 12 months MoT.  For the price of a brand new Toyota Auris we'd much rather park an Audi S4 on our drive than anything else.

Audi S4