You know those dreams you had when you were younger about all the luscious cars you were going to buy the moment you could afford them? Unfortunately, reality usually bites and though you may have the money now, you spend it on boring things like houses, children, and more sensible cars. However, you do not have to spend the earth to get hold of the seriously desirable supercars which you used to desire so much, and here’s our choice of the ten best you could get for less than £20,000, complete with links to cars available on Auto Trader. Please click on photos to enlarge them. Please note that links with each car to available used-cars give distances from central London with results – For your area, click on the links, then enter your postcode at the top of screen and click ‘Find It now’
Lotus Esprit V8 - from around £20,000
It was not until 1996 that the Esprit became the car it always should have been. The installation of a race-bred 3.5-litre V8 turned it into a determined Porsche 911 rival, despite the basic design being 20 years old. The shape is definitive supercar, lean, low and angular, while the tight cabin makes you feel like an F1 driver. As will the performance, with 350bhp flinging the old wedge to 60mph in 4.8 seconds and on to 175mph. The gearbox is horrible and the clutch heavy, but handling is delectable and the steering is among the best ever. 10-year-old ones are just sneaking under £20k and will both shake and stir.
Click here to find a used Esprit V8 (from around £20,000)
Lotus Esprit V8 - from around £20,000
Maserati Ghibli - from around £10,000
If you don’t know what it is, you’ll think we’re mad. If you do, you’ll think we’re barmy – but, everyone, hold on. This is a very fast car with a ferocious 284bhp 2.8-litre V6, that offers head-banging performance by the bucket load. Hydraulic computer-controlled suspension bites and grips hard and, although the steering lacks feel, the Ghibli’s ability will still leave you mesmerised. But it’s a mechanical liability, right? Maybe not. Avoid dogs or cars with electrical faults and the basic integrity of the Maser will be evident. Cosset it and your £13k buy will rouse you and leave others standing, bewildered and in awe.
Click here to find a used Ghibli (from around £10,000)
Maserati Ghibli - from around £10,000
Vauxhall Lotus Carlton - from around £15,000
BAN THIS LETHAL CAR!! screamed the tabloids in their usual intelligent, well-informed manner in 1991 – so how satisfying would it be to stick two fingers up and actually own the most infamous Vauxhall ever? Lotus bolted two turbos onto the straight six engine, enlarged it to 3.6-litres and tuned it to 377bhp – repeat, 377bhp. So, 60mph in 5.1 seconds and a 186mph maximum were available at a canter. Lotus also sorted the handling and fitted surely the baddest body kit ever to grace a saloon car. It remains a mind-blowing drive, a real honed brute, and owners are absolutely fanatical. Avoid the fakes and join the club for under £20k – if you’re lucky; of the 950 made, only 284 were officially sold in the UK… so it even has supercar exclusivity!
Click here to find a used Lotus Carlton (from around £15,000)
Vauxhall Lotus Carlton - from around £15,000
Ford Escort Cosworth - from around £15,000
Take one MkIV Escort, fit Sierra Cosworth running gear and 227bhp turbocharged four-pot, change over 50 per cent of parts, make it twice as stiff as standard and employ top designer Peter Horbury to create the most outrageous set of wings and spoilers ever. Result? The world’s greatest Escort. The first 2,500 cars were homologation specials, so used an enormous turbo that was great when on boost but a pig when off it, which was often. The 1994 model featured a smaller, more driveable turbo but was no less of a bruiser. As with the Lotus Carlton, owners are possessive and fakes abound, but you should be able to break the hearts of original owners for around £15k.
Click here to find a used Escort Cosworth (from around £15,000)
Ford Escort Cosworth - from around £15,000
Nissan Skyline GT-R - from around £5,000
Computer games were brought to life for the first time by Nissan’s Skyline, which reached its zenith in the late ‘90s with the mad GT-R R34 variant. With more electronica than an 11-year-old’s bedroom, it fired up the road with sledgehammer pace and barely deviated from this pace when the corners came. Officially, the 2.6-litre twin-turbo V6 had 276bhp, in reality it produced a lot more, with 500bhp available if you were brave with the ECU upgrades. Perhaps it lacks the involvement of a thoroughbred, but you'll need some serious hardware to keep pace with this warlord. And it’s all yours for the price of a new Primera 1.8.
Click here to find a used Skyline GT-R (from around £5,000)
Nissan Skyline GT-R - from around £5,000
Renault Clio V6 - from around £13,000
From £13,000 will buy the most frightening, most dramatic Clio ever, one that thrilled and scared its owner witless in equal measure. Actually, lean that towards terrifying them. The mid-engined two-seater uses a 3.0-litre V6 flinging out 230bhp, upped to 255bhp on facelifted models, but drivers will need the talent of Prost to use it all without flinging themselves off the road. But who cares when it attracts this much attention! The ultra-wide bodykit is magnificent and there’s no way this French monster won’t be credited with classic status. Like the original 5 Turbo II, it is one strictly for enthusiasts. For less than the price of a brand new Clio Cup, you’ve got to be tempted. We are.
Click here to find a used Clio V6 (from around £13,000)
Renault Clio V6 - from around £13,000
Porsche 911 Turbo - from around £18,000
No supercar feature is complete without the original everyday stormer, Porsche’s mental 911 Turbo. Launched in 1975, even back then it was doing 60mph in under six seconds and not giving up until well over 150mph – and that was with a four-speed gearbox and 3.0-litre straight six. By 1978, it was a 3.3-litre 300bhp bruiser that chopped a second off the 60mph dash, added 10mph to the top speed and even started to go round corners without wagging its tail and sniffing out the hedges quite so much. Lots are available for our budget and, so long as the service history is complete, few cars are tougher and more dependable. The world’s most compact, most solid supercar – but are you brave enough to tame a whale tail?
Click here to find a used 911 Turbo (from around £18,000)
Porsche 911 Turbo - from around £18,000
TVR Tuscan - from around £17,000
TVR has always been bold but this surely is the most dramatic of the lot. First shown in 1998 and still looking like a designer’s wildest fantasy, you enter at the press of a button and are then faced with the most fantastic cabin in the world. Entirely hand-crafted from alloy, leather and brass, it feels special in a way even some Ferraris and Porsches don’t. And, thanks to the TVR-designed straight six and V8 engines, performs like those thoroughbreds too. 60mph takes barely 4 seconds and it will go as fast as you dare, all to a booming, barking, burbling noise that takes your breath away and will be heard for miles around. Earlier cars are freely available for under £20k now, so be a man and drive a real man’s muscle car.
Click here to find a used Tuscan (from around £17,000)
TVR Tuscan - from around £17,000
Bentley Turbo R - from around £8,000
Arf, arf! A Bentley Turbo? With the 6.75-litre V8 boosted to 385bhp? Guffaw! The G&Ts will go flying, old boy! By the mid-‘80s, Rolls Royce was finally taking an interest in Bentley and confusing traditionalists with its best model in years. It whacked to 60mph in less than 7 seconds, for goodness sake! Watching it is like seeing a fat old Dame out-run Ben Johnson – and just as scandalous. Avoid anything before 1987 that ran on carbs, and try if you can to get a 1990 MkII model, which came with active suspension and a fresher dash. Models from ’92 gained a four-speed auto over the previous three-speed ‘box and many more ongoing changes mean it is advisable to buy both the best and the latest car you can afford. Be warned however: This will not be a cheap car to own!
Click here to find a used Turbo R (from around £8000)
Bentley Turbo R - from around £8,000
Alfa Romeo SZ/RZ - from around £20,000
A supercar is meant to create a fuss. This does. You could park it next to a McLaren F1 and still the crowds would flock round it, asking what on earth it is and saying that they either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground. That’s why it’s called ‘Il Mostro in Italy - the monster. Only offered in red, just 1,000 were built, all left-hand-drive. The 3.0-litre V6 looks rather limp in this company, producing ‘only’ 210bhp, but the noise it makes truly is something else and only adds to the crazy Alfa’s character. One that you will always not quite believe you own, that can just be brought for under £20k. If you’re really lucky, you may even find the open-top RZ model for similar money – but that really would be monstrously good fortune.