Words: Tim Barnes Clay
Classic car investments are at an all-time high. Loads of people are pouring money into classics, as well as vehicles on the cusp of becoming something more special than they seemed before. If you’ve got £20,000 to throw into the market, we’ve picked out seven classic motors you should seriously consider investing in.
It’s a mystery how the Lancia Fulvia has managed to remain so inexpensive. On top of being one of the most beautiful cars ever made, this Italian coupe is also a rally legend; it brought home multiple Italian championships and the World Rally Championship.
The V4 engine makes little more than 100bhp, but it produces a great note that’s sure to win you over. And let’s not forget that the Fulvia was produced at the time Lancia was making some of the finest cars in the world. This machine is a genuine hero.
The tiny Triumph TR6 is perhaps the prettiest car the Triumph Motor Company ever made. The lightweight roadster was powered by a six-cylinder engine, too. That means it comes with a lovely six-pot soundtrack, which goes hand in glove with a rear-wheel driven, open top motoring experience. It might not be the fastest automobile, but it is gorgeous.
We’re all getting older, yet this definitive roadster was only released in 1989 and has since gone on to sell millions. Despite that, good ones are few and far between, and the original roadster with its pop-up headlights, simple construction, and light body isn’t only cheap, it’s remarkably low-priced. You can find a good one for under £3,000, or restore one from around £1,500.
For under £10,000 you can have one of the most iconic cars ever made, a real piece of 1960’s motoring – the Fiat 500. Nearly four million of them were manufactured between 1957 and 1975, and now they are highly desirable machines that simply don’t look out of place anywhere. Whether it’s in Monaco or a supermarket car park, the original Fiat 500 is beautiful, classy, and a bit of a bargain.
The second Fiat 500 in our list is the original 500, and not a lot of people remember that. The Topolino – meaning “little mouse” is a brilliant example of a pre-war car for ordinary people. And despite it being more expensive than Fiat planned, the Italian automaker still sold 520,000 of them during its lifetime. The earliest 500 is beautiful, it’s rare, and it could be yours for under £15,000. For such a historic car, that’s an amazing price.
Blackpool’s finest produced many great cars over the years, but the one that has aged the best is this – the TVR Cerbera. Named after the three-headed hellhound that guarded the entrance to Hades, the Cerbera obviously packed a punch.
V8 power was deployed in a body that weighed little more than a ton, and the wacky interior just adds to the madcap recipe. Some are already worth more than £30,000, but there are still plenty out there for around £15,000.
A wild card, we know – but bear with us. The Audi TT is not only a design icon, but it also qualifies as a classic (believe it or not, it’s almost 20 years since these German cars roared onto the road).
While the original TT might not be a great sports car, its pedigree in the design world assures it future classic status. If possible, you should look for a quattro model and if you really want something special then there are a few V6 versions out there too. For pure aesthetic pleasure, you should pick the coupe over the roadster, and beware of modified cars as there are a lot of them out there.
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