A Porsche 997, an E46 M3, a Mercedes W124 estate. Twenty-year-old cars that are cheaper to own than you fear, if you buy the right one from the right man.
Somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five years old, a good car stops being an old car and becomes a modern classic: analogue enough to be involving, modern enough to start every morning, and cheap enough to be a second car rather than a project. The window for the best of them is now, before the prices finish rising and the good examples disappear into collections.
Five that make sense
- Porsche 911 (997.1 Carrera), 2004 to 2008, €35,000 to €55,000. The last 911 with hydraulic steering and the first with a properly modern interior. A manual Carrera in a plain colour is the best all-round classic Porsche you can buy. Have the bore scoring checked by a specialist.
- BMW M3 (E46), 2000 to 2006, €30,000 to €55,000. A straight six that revs to 8,000 rpm, a manual gearbox and a body that has aged perfectly. Avoid the SMG. Check the rear subframe mounts and the rod bearings.
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class estate (W124), 1985 to 1996, €12,000 to €30,000. The last Mercedes built without a budget. An E320 estate with a good history will do another 300,000 kilometres and carry everything you own.
- Honda S2000, 1999 to 2009, €25,000 to €40,000. A four-cylinder that revs to 9,000, a gearbox to teach the Germans, reliability to embarrass everyone. Prices rising fast.
- Range Rover (P38 or early L322), 1994 to 2009, €10,000 to €35,000. Only with a specialist on speed dial and a budget to match, but nothing else does what it does with the same dignity.
Buy the history, not the mileage. A car that was driven and serviced is worth two that sat in a garage being admired.
How to buy
Find the specialist for the model before you find the car; every modern classic has three or four garages in each country that know it inside out. Ask them what to look for and what a good one costs. Then look for the car with the fattest folder of receipts, the owner who talks about it with affection and the specialist inspection you pay for yourself, around €300. Walk away from anything with a story about a lost service book. Pay a fair price for a good car rather than a bargain price for a bad one; the difference will be spent in the first year either way.
What it costs to own
Budget ten to fifteen percent of the purchase price a year for servicing and the parts that will need replacing: suspension bushes, cooling systems, the things that perish with time rather than mileage. Insurance on an agreed-value classic policy is cheaper than for a new car. Depreciation is nil and may be negative. A €40,000 997 costs perhaps €5,000 a year to keep properly, which is less than a new 911 loses in value every six months.
Living with it
Drive it. Weekly, if you can, because cars that sit develop problems that cars in use do not. Keep it dry, keep the battery on a conditioner in winter and keep the folder of receipts growing. In ten years you will sell it for what you paid or more, to a man who reads this article, and the pleasure in between will have cost you less than a lease on something forgettable.
Questions we get asked
Should I buy a project?
No. A project costs three times the estimate and is finished when you no longer want it. Buy the best car you can afford and improve it slowly.
Is left- or right-hand drive important?
Buy for the country you live in. Converted cars and imports are worth less and harder to sell.
What about a classic as an investment?
The gains in the last decade will not repeat. Buy for the drive; treat any appreciation as a refund on the pleasure.
