5 Old Euro Heroes You Can Still Afford – And 5 You Can’t

Buying a classic before prices rise isn’t just a chance to make some money. It’s a chance to enjoy first-hand what these cars were really like to live with in ages gone by, where comfort and refinement often played second fiddle to raw emotion, charm and a shameless pursuit of driving fun.

Last time out we focused on Japanese heroes of the 1990s, but this time we’re looking to Europe and anything pre-2005. There was so much to choose from, but we’ve picked just five great cars that you can still afford, and five more whose prices are already in dreamland.

BMW M3 (E46)

The E46 M3 was just about perfect at the time it was launched. It was compact, handled like a dream with ideal balance and just the right amount of grip, and was powered by a naturally-aspirated 3.2-litre straight-six screamer with 338bhp. It was awesome then and it still seems like a revelation today. Plus, it’s so damn handsome you can’t help but like it a little.

While there are versions of the E46 that have disappeared into the distance on price, the regular car is still pretty affordable, with great choice in the £6000-£9000 bracket. You might have to undo some tacky modifications at the lower end of the price scale, but as more are written off or broken for parts, even regular E46 M3s will one day be very, very expensive. Buy while you can.

Peugeot 206 GTi 180

Okay, so it could never live up to the 205 GTi’s reputation and was even taken to school by its contemporary rivals, the Honda Civic Type R and the Renault Sport Clio 182, but the 206 GTi 180 had film star good looks and a few modifications could sort the handling right out. These days their numbers are dwindling fast, too, as too few people see them as worth keeping on the road.

The real reason the 180 is on this list instead of a hot Renault is the price. You can still get occasional decent ones for just £1000. Any Clio 172 or 182 at that price is a wreck. While the GTi 180 may never be what you’d call valuable, prices can still only go one way.

Volvo V70 R

Who doesn’t love a fast wagon direct from left-field? The V70 R was the load-lugging successor to the 850 R, with the same spacious flat-backed wedge shape and the same kind of boosty 2.3-litre five-cylinder engine at the front. A stronger 2.4 came later. Reliable, solid and fast thanks to 236-261bhp and either four-wheel drive or a limited-slip diff on front-wheel drive cars, it was all the car you could ever need.

Good ones are just about in our four-figure range of affordability, nudging close to the £10,000 mark. High-milers swing a little lower, at around £8000, but mileage tends not to be an issue for these if they’ve been meticulously cared for. Few are left.

Alfa Romeo GTV V6

The cupboard isn’t quite so bare for the utterly gorgeous Alfa Romeo GTV, specifically the V6. A later development of the legendary Busso engine, this Italian songstress was, and is, all the reason you’d even need to buy a GTV. Outside Italy the V6 was built as a 3.0-litre 12-valve, a 3.0-litre 24-valve and finally a 3.2-litre 24-valve. It’s the latter two that you really want.

You can get them in tidy GTVs, complete with red leather and pepper-pot wheels, if you like (and you should) for a desperately tempting £4000, or up to around £6000 for an even smarter one with more maintenance paperwork. We’re not really sure how these are still so cheap, but this good fortune won’t last forever.

Lotus Elan (M100)

The front-wheel drive M100 brought the Elan nameplate back from a 14-year absence and was arguably most famous among generation Y and millennials for its role in the iconic racing game Lotus Turbo Challenge 2; the sequel to Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. It was a strange thing, built with an engine and gearbox from Isuzu after the company had been bought by General Motors.

Isn’t it a pretty thing? The markets always catch up with style where there’s substance to back it up, even if parts of that style (the rear lights) were nicked straight from a Renault Alpine GTA. It was ultimately one of a catalogue of commercial flops in Lotus’ history, and not many are still around, but before people in their 30s and 40s remember how much they always wanted one, it’s time to buy.

Audi RS2 Avant

We’re moving onto the cars you can now only dream about, and starting with a true legend. The Audi RS2 has been written about countless times; the result of what happened when Audi sensibility met Porsche’s lust for speed. All-wheel drive and a laggy but mighty five-cylinder engine slung right out ahead of the front axle meant it shifted like a race car even if it didn’t corner like one.

This totem of fast estates became an icon very quickly after it was discontinued, laying the foundations for generation after generation of fast Audi estates. Because of the RS2, we pretty much feel like all fast Audis with more than two doors should be estates. It’s just how they’re best. A lightly used one might be cheaper than its great-great-granddad, though, as typical RS2s on the market now fetch anywhere between £30,000 and £50,000.

Peugeot 205 GTI Dimma

In the 1990s there was only one way to make your 205 GTi cooler than it already was, and that was to let Dimma fit its stunning body kit. It gave the stubby little car a supremely purposeful look, blending hints of rally prowess with head-turning presence on the road. Or the McDonald’s car park. Whatever.

The point is that genuine Dimma kits were ridiculously desirable and wildly expensive, and that makes GTis with them fitted a breed apart. They’re rare enough as it is, although their value tends to tempt owners to sell more often than you’d expect. Forget about buying one unless you have about £20,000 to throw at it. Even a decent standard 205 GTi is about £10,000.

BMW M3 (E30)

The M3 that started a legend that would echo down the decades is also still the only M3 to use a four-cylinder engine. You can bet BMW is already planning its marketing strategy around it when future generations of the M3 and M4 switch back to four cylinders for emissions reasons. The E30 was so sharply designed and so capable that it blew pretty much all of its rivals out of the water; even the ones that were launched years later.

Constant upgrades and homologation specials saw various Evo versions released in limited numbers. The best of those are now in lottery win territory. But back down at the humbler end of the scale the ordinary M3 of the era has still risen to at least £50,000. Lower-mileage cars can be £80,000.

Jaguar E-Type (Series I)

Finally we come to this, a British hero and possibly the prettiest car of the 20th century, maybe ever. The Series I E-Type was tightly designed, shrunk around its chassis and 4.2-litre straight-six, but still blessed with the most seductive curves the world had ever seen on a vehicle. It was fast, exotic and desperately sought-after. The fact that the Series II was less pretty and the Series III was a relative disaster only made the Series I a firm favourite with collectors.

Prices are agonising. From a starting point of around £70,000 you could be looking at £200,000 or more for a pedigree example with a high originality factor or a strong connection with the right celebrity or race event. Damn.