So your family has got leftover money and you're looking to buy a second or third car? The average British household will spend about GBP 22,000 and end up with something like a Ford Focus. But for the same amount, you could drive to Monaco in something that makes you look like a millionaire.
Fifth Gear took a look at three cheapskate GTs that combine elegance with high-speed performance and make you look successful... and slightly try-hard. As you probably already know, if anything goes bad on these, it can turn into a financial nightmare, while they make you look wealthy, the effect on your wallet is unfavorable.
Starting with the Mercedes-Benz CL 500, built between 2006 and 2014. It was based on the S-Class of the time and can now be yours for Dacia Sandero money: GBP 10,000. Strangely, the cheapest car here is also the newest, even though the others might experience more malfunctions.
Even though it looks like a big-old thing, the CL 500 is actually lighter than a modern Audi A6, so its 5.5-liter V8 engine has an easy job of rocketing you to 100 km/h in under 6 seconds. Sold? Probably, but if you want a more exotic badge, you can have a Maserati 3200 GT for about 50% more.
Built from 1998 until 2002, this particular model features not a V6, but a tiny V8. Thanks to two turbochargers, the 3.2-liter makes a respectable 370 horsepower. What's scary is not the performance, but the price of fixing one if it goes wrong.
The final piece of temptation is the Aston Martin DB7, Ian Callum's sexy design that was supposed to be a Jaguar. While the 3.2-liter supercharged V6 may not be the most thrilling ever, this shape deserves proper respect, the kind that will get you on the grass at some car shows. You can't get that from a CL 500.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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