Most affordable/practical Exotic cars?

[XCRN]

I have seen a Lancia Beta coupe for $4800 here. Beautiful car, though parts may not be as available I would not imagine they would cost an arm and a leg.

[deevergote]

The NSX was the inspiration for this thread, but I didn't want to mention it in the first post. I wanted to see what direction everyone went.

"Affordable" is really up to the buyer, as is "exotic". You guys seem to get the idea, though!

I like the Jaguar XK8. That's one I've always admired, but didn't occur to me when creating this thread. I also didn't know it shared a chassis with the DB7. That's pretty cool!


Personally, I consider anything under $20,000 "affordable", and not an obscene amount to spend on a used car.

Purchase price is one thing, cost of ownership is another. Many cars that are "affordable" to purchase are going to be killer in maintenance and repairs.

On Cars.com right now, there are a few sub-$20k Ferrari Mondials. Probably one of Ferrari's worst cars ever, but they still look pretty rad! From what I've read, fixing one requires the sale of at least one of your paired internal organs...

A number of early 2000s Maseratis can be had for under $20,000. Not sure what the cost of ownership is on those things... probably not much better than Ferrari, though they're more practical cars overall.

Rolls Royce models from the 70s and 80s are readily available for under $20,000. Fixing them, again... scary. I even found an 89 for $9000!

There are a number of 911s going for as low as $12,000... granted, most are the unpopular and somewhat problematic 996 models...




Keep em coming!
This isn't a shopping list. I'm not looking to buy anything. Just looking to see what cool stuff people come up with.

[ThatOneAccord]

Simple. A Nissan GTR. used they can go as low as 30k if you're really looking. Or even the Maserati Gran Turismo which was considered by my family when we saw one for about 60k and that was 2 years ago. The R8 is also becoming affordable.

Porsche will always be king when it comes to used and practical affordable exotic sports cars. The resale value of those things are horrible. Unless its a 911 carrera. That's the only thing in the line up that holds its value.

Aston has some afforadabld used cars and they aren't all that hard to work on. After all they were Fords for quite a while.

The BMW M6 counts. Even the M5.

The Mercedes Benz 500SL 600SL, and SL 60 and SL 70 amg models are all quite the power house cars and still look damn good. I'm talking about the R129 models

[Macaqueistrong]

S15 Silvia. How many legit Silvias have you seen? They aren't a Supercar but I consider it an exotic.

[deevergote]

I don't believe they're legal in the US yet, as there was no US equivalent. They're exotic due to their rarity, and rare due to their legal status! Same goes for pretty much any Skyline as well, I suppose. We see those as being pretty exotic!

[cb7 calling]

The only affordable super car is the nsx. You can do tune ups, brakes, ball joints everything at your local parts store. You could buy an early nineties lotus Esprit for low 20's same for ferrari 308 from early 80s but nsx maintenance is like an accord. The timing belt interval on the lotus is 25,000 miles. Ouch. With every part on the car being un obtainable in days a week later your 400 dollar brake pads show up. That's cheap for an exotic. The ferrari cost more, and I believe you pull the motor to change the 308 plugs. I choose to compare the lotus to the nsx because the lotus is the second most affordable exotic.
The supra is not an exotic but is a super car when you double the boost.

[deevergote]

The Supra comes close, especially now... but they often fetch prices upwards of $30,000! (which some may consider affordable...)

The Lotus Elise comes in around $20,000 now for the oldest US models. Toyota engine (this is a car I actually DO intend to buy, once I move on from my current job and no longer need the Fit.)

[Tnwagn]

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/...r/1597058.html

The Bently Turbo R

300HP and 500ft/lbs of torque from a sweet Turbocharged V8. Downside for the early model years is the 3 speed automatic but it's still an awesome car to pick up for less than 30k in incredible condition. The one pictured I saw for sale in Canada for 26,000CAD. Not the most beautiful car in the world but it's straight class.

[deevergote]

That's pretty cool! Exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for
Only 300hp from a turbo V8? Man, engines have come a long way...

[Tnwagn]

Honestly, I about went to the nearest ATM and dropped cash for the thing on the spot. The only problem with the one I saw was that it was in Montreal, which isn't exactly a short drive from Nashville, not to mention the threat of rust.

Luckily, I've searched around online and there are plenty of $20K versions of this car all over the US. I think it's a sweet car for the money. Even if the engine is toast, you could throw in a smallblock V8, piss off both domestic and luxury car snobs, and be the most bad-ass person in your city all at once.

[Jking72]

what about the acura legend?

not exotic or a super car but was quite luxurious for the 90s...

very practical and affordable

[wed3k]

what about the acura legend?

not exotic or a super car but was quite luxurious for the 90s...

very practical and affordable

what about the lexus es250?

[cb7 calling]

Cb7? There is or was one with 500+ HP for sale for 6000

[mtnbikaah]

http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicl...r/viewall.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gfQ4jzUEwU

[AccordWarrior]

Affordable and exotic are mutually exclusive IMHO.

Edmunds owned a Ferrari 308 for a year as it was the sample price and offered less performance actually than a comparable Camry SE. I believe they spent approximately $2,500 for that year in maintenance. I don't think any of my vehicles have had $2,500 worth of maintenance done to them...maybe my Accord if you add up all years of ownership.

From what I've read most BMW dealerships won't service the 8 series unless they have a very competent mechanic. Porsche might get you the closest into the affordable exotic category, but you're going to pay double if not triple a normal vehicle for parts.

Plus there's the category of what defines an exotic. Is it rarity, exclusivity, or what the original MSRP is? I mean, as I showed Deev online last night I found a very early Z32 300zx with 43K on it for 15K. Is that an exotic? Surely I wouldn't consider it so, although it's quite the reasonable/practical garage queen.

There are sub-40K Lamborghinis these days, if you want an oddball model like an Espada, Urraco or Jalpa. The problem is you pay for that exclusivity. They're all pretty terrible handmade cars that don't meet modern standards for performance and they all have unobtanium parts. IMHO it appears the ones that are a little easier to obtain, like the DeTomaso Pantera (again not exactly the pinnacle of reliability, but one amazing car) are starting to creep up in value.