Cheap supercars?

Depends on your definition of "supercar" and "cheap", I suppose.

I found: E36 M3, MKIV Supra, G35, IS300, RX-8 GT and an S4 each for under $15,000.

http://benchraceblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/somewhat-grownup-edition-lets-pretend.html

NSX is one of the few cars I think fall in this catagory, that and all C5 Corvettes. Those prices in the link seem dated. E36 M3 can be had for almost half that.

The most supercar you can get for the lowest price is the Lotus Esprit. Look at a V8 twin turbo and no one will think it is anything but a supercar. They are not "cheap" by our standards, but compared to the prices the Italians command, they are a relative steal.

MkIV supra is too expensive, and you don't get much more than a MkIII, which is about 1/100 the cost.

I've seen clean, well maintained Esprit SE's in the 15 large range. That's not bad at all and with a good tune up and a chip will put 300 HP down to the wheels. Even S4s', the top 4 cylinder, are below 30 now.

He said "trouser-tenter"

HeHeHeHe

Miata+LSx...

C5 Z06. Nothing will touch it for the price.

a $10k Evo VIII pretty much destroys most of those cars in most performance categories......is it a supercar?

And really...IS300, G35? Those things are a dime a dozen (and the IS300 is not terribly swift in stock trim).

+1 on the Esprit though.....I always thought they were the hottest of the supercars (think Richard Gere in Pretty Woman) that could make all the ladies look over. And now that I could probably get one, I have to restrain myself by saying "one British car is enough" ten times fast.

I should mention those prices are Canadian, though our dollar is nearly on par these days.

C5 Corvette is a good one. And I love the MK3 Supras as well. Been tempted a few times.

But I wonder about the Esprit. A friend with a Europa once told me there's no such thing as a cheap Lotus.

Miata + LSx would be awesome.

At this point I consider anything with rear-wheel drive and a manual transmission to be "super".

Dr. Hess wrote: I've seen clean, well maintained Esprit SE's in the 15 large range. That's not bad at all and with a good tune up and a chip will put 300 HP down to the wheels. Even S4s', the top 4 cylinder, are below 30 now.

What are earlier Esprits going for? Are there any common swaps for the normally aspirated fours?

Porsche 928 certainly fits this title

Pontiac GTO

I'll have to agree with a Esprit. 5 years ago I was saving really hard to buy one in cash but then reality set in. Like any super car replacement parts are a PITA to find and when you do they will be pricey. I bought a Silverado instead.

That being said I still want one for their panty dropping ability and the fact that they look like secks.

What chick would't want to be like Julia Roberts?

$19,400

One of the worst sounding cars I've ever heard was a Mondial with used-car dealer plates on it.

depends on era - 80s 911 at the bottom of the depreciation curve - ferrari 328 - 348, mondial, maserati merak or indy +a bunch on esprit, lambo silhouette, jalpa, but probably getting spendy by now. Dating myself, when I started reading the car rags there were 9k testarossas (from the 50s), tired cobras for 10k in the back of auto mags.

I've never thought a Mondial looked like a real Ferrari. Maybe it's the cheapo black bumpers. That whole combo is just wrong aesthetically, which is tough for a Ferrari. I'd much rather do this for 4 grand less:

348ts

Maybe a bit over the top, but no mistaking it for anything but a Ferrari. I always thought these were the best (albeit last) of the more outrageous, angular, louvered Ferraris. I know the 355 was a better car, but it's pretty boring to look at in comparison.

irish44j wrote: a $10k Evo VIII pretty much destroys most of those cars in most performance categories......is it a supercar?

Where? I've barely seen any for double that price.

348s are, indeed, cool. But something is very, vey wrong with a 348 for $16k. The floor on those is in the high 30, low 40K range these days.

jg

Yeah, 16K for that car is insane.

$30K for a 308QV ain't bad. Link.

I'd probably still rather the equivalent 911, though, if I had that kind of money to blow on a car.

DeLorean, 1981, Immaculate - $15000

Well forgive me, I don't exactly shop Ferraris often :). I just did a search for Ferrari under 25k and that was the only one that popped up that wasn't a Mondial. I've always loved 348s, but probably not enough to spend 40k on one.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a dick .

Here in Australia, 348's still sell for $100K+ :

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?N=1216+1246+1247+1252+1282+4294966380+4294954992&keywords=&tsrc=allcarhome&Nne=15

Luke, that is due to that huge Italian community around Melbourne, 3rd biggest Italian city by population in the world