The best affordable sportscars to buy in 2025
The UK car market is so great for car enthusiasts that a tight budget is no excuse for driving a boring car. Here, you'll find a host of affordable sportscars for well under £5,000.
In the interests of variety, we've played fast and loose with the 'sportscar' genre, so as well as finding lightweight convertibles to the traditional mould, you also find big V8s and coupés that stretch the conventional definition. Better still, we've done all this without uttering the words 'Mazda' or 'MX-5' because that would be too obvious. Either way, life's too short to drive boring cars and here are ten reasons why you don't need to.
BMW 330Ci Clubsport
We couldn't pretend the standard E46 BMW 3 Series was a sportscar, but the 330ci? That was more like it. It came from an era when a BMW badge meant something, the '330ci' telling you that this was a fuel-injected coupé with a glorious 3.0-litre straight-lurking under the bonnet. The 330's performance feels entirely modern – it'll keep a modern hot hatch well within its reach – but the way it delivers it is gloriously old school. Creamy smooth, its six cylinders give the car plenty of torque low down, and the performance only builds as you surge towards the redline. It's a welcome contrast to the mid-range-or-nothing delivery of contemporary turbocharged cars.
Clubsport versions are even rarer than the M3 and carry a certain amount of cache. That said, they're much closer to the standard 3 Series in ethos – no bad thing – only with less sound deadening (we approve), a shorter gear knob and a boot spoiler.
Fiat Coupé 20V Turbo
The Fiat Coupé 20V Turbo comes from a golden era of coupés; almost all the big manufacturers had an offering, yet the Italian machine set itself apart from the background noise of the competition, which is easy to understand when you see it. Its wide grille, frog-eye headlights, tight body shape, wheel arch slashes, and beautiful chrome filler cap meant some crowned it the 'baby Ferrari'. Its Pininfarina badges were misleading. The legendary house designed the interior and built the car, but it had nothing to do with the exterior design. Chris Bangle, of BMW fame, handled that.
While Bangle's BMWs got better with age, we're not sure the same is true of the Fiat, but we're willing to forgive it because, in five-cylinder turbocharged form, this thing is a rocket. The Coupé was fast in its day and remains fast today, with a five-cylinder warble complemented by its turbocharger's spooling 'whoosh'. Under the skin lurked a Fiat Tipo platform, but the Coupé was much better to drive than its humble underpinnings would lead you to expect.
Lexus SC430
Let's deal with the doubters head-on and answer the question – is the Lexus SC430 a sportscar? In all honesty, probably not, but then the lines between GT and sportscars are so murky. It's not the only car here that's tricky to pigeonhole, so we won't. Instead, we'll focus on the SC's stonking V8 motor.
Driving a V8 on a budget is never a head-over-heart choice; they're expensive to run and expensive to fix, but the Lexus' should be all good on the latter because its V8's reliability is legendary, with some examples trotting over the million-mile mark without issue. The SC430 isn’t great in corners, but it's perfect as a point-and-squirt sportscar with loads of power. And when you're not in the mood, raise the electric hard-top and bask in refinement to match that of a luxury saloon. Even the SC's poor ride, a glaring failing in its day, is improved with modern tyres.
Mercedes CLK500
The Mercedes CLK500 resides in the same GT-end of the sportscar spectrum as the Lexus, but think of it as an ‘AMG lite’, and you'll not be disappointed. While its engine hasn't been brushed by Affalterbach's magic, it's still a thumping great V8 that gives this sharp-looking coupé the feel and performance of a German hot rod. Top tip: look out for a post-facelift car that, for a mere facelift, gets a generous boost in power (a third more horses than the car it replaces) for performance that is rapid even in modern terms. All without turbocharging.
The CLK has sporty pretensions, but the weight of its engine – not to mention the weight of all the luxury toys crammed in its cabin – means this is not a light car. But, as a consummate mile-muncher that can also be fun, it's hard to argue with, particularly when prices start from less than £5,000.
Peugeot 406 V6
The Peugeot 406 V6 is the kind of car we should all drive once if only to remind ourselves how adept Peugeot used to be at setting up a front-wheel drive chassis. It was surprisingly agile in corners and rode with a subtlety alien to most modern car owners. Like the Fiat Coupé, the two-door 406 was branded a 'mini Ferrari', but its subtle lines were more in keeping with the Maranello's 456 than anything mid-engined and, unlike the Fiat, its Pininfarina badge meant it was actually designed there. It's just a shame the plasticky interior couldn't hold a light to the effortless style of the exterior.
But we're here because of the 406's V6 engine. It gave the Peugeot the muscle needed to make full use of its excellence, with low and mid-range torque that made for effortless progress and a top-end bark that encouraged you to explore the rev range's top end. V6 models also got worthwhile upgrades like variable-ratio power steering, Brembo brakes and sports seats that, despite being unbranded, hailed from Recaro.
Nissan 350Z
If there was ever a car that demonstrates the increase in prices over recent years, it’s the Nissan 350Z. Even though it has crept into 'just out of my budget' territory it's still a car to be considered affordable, especially considering the bang for your buck.The 350Z's 3.5-litre V6 engine is a belter, fairly powerful with 312PS (229kW) but tractable with power available from down in the revs.
A few years ago, you could pick one of these up, even in the more sought-after GT spec, for less than £5,000. Today, a relatively low-miles manual gearbox example will set you back closer to £7,500 but this is still fantastic value for money. The parts market for the Nissan 350Z is also very cheap, making them exceptionally easy to maintain. You can get that VQ engine trumpeting nicely with an aftermarket exhaust, too.
Toyota MR2 Mk3
If you’re looking for something to provide all the thrills you’ll ever need over a sunny weekend, then the Toyota MR2 Mk3 is the perfect solution. It's widely known these little Toyotas are Lotuses in all but badge. The revvy 1.8-litre VVTi provides more than enough power for the lightweight body and the nimble handling make it an utter joy to drive.
If you can stretch your budget to near the £5,000 mark, you’ll have a very low mileage, more reliable facelift example.There are plenty of models for under the £3,000 mark and if you manage to find one with a hardtop, you have a reliable fun car for 365 days of the year.
Audi TT 225
When the Audi TT concept first appeared at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, it was a huge success, but as with most concepts, the audience expected vast changes to the production car. Audi surprised us all by basically putting the concept design straight into production as is, resulting in a beautiful, simple and futuristic little sportscar.
The Mk1 did come with the option of the lusty 3.2-litre VR6 engine with a DSG gearbox, but the 225PS (165kW) 1.8-litre model is the more affordable option. The 225PS version had a larger turbocharger and an additional intercooler than the 180PS (132kW) version, which makes all the difference. Somehow the design still looks contemporary, and prices are now at the perfect level to take a punt on one. You can find a great example with a manual gearbox for under £4,000.
Porsche Boxster
The early Porsche Boxsters were quite often ridiculed for being a 'hairdresser's car', but that’s just a short-sighted dismissal of what is a very good car. The 3.2-litre engine is the superior model, but staying true to the affordability theme, the 2.7-litre Boxster can provide decent bang for fewer bucks.
With the similar fried egg lights of the 911 996, the looks are ageing quite well and the driving experience is still as exciting now as it was 20 years ago. We would recommend keeping a bit of that budget to cover some inevitable maintenance costs, but that’s the price you’ll have to pay to be able to tell everyone that’ll listen that you own a Porsche.
Alfa Romeo GT V6
They may be pretty rare, but if you manage to find the right one, then it's the coolest car you can possibly bag for the budget. The Alfa Romeo GT is a gorgeous car and sounds as good as it looks when it’s paired with the 3.2-litre V6 Busso engine.
No, Alfa Romeos are not known for their reliability and we wouldn’t recommend daily driving this car, but a manual gearbox, the Busso engine and those looks are a combination that you won’t be able to replicate with anything else under £10,000. It’s one of those cars that’ll be £30,000 in a few years and we’ll all be gutted we didn’t take the plunge at this level.
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