Classifieds' Car Of The Day: Renault's Scintillating Sport Spider

You could be forgiven for having never heard of this mid-engined, rear-wheel drive Renault. It could have been a real adversary to the Series 1 Lotus Elise, but it didn't turn out that way.

Keen to increase its sporting credentials, Renault needed a racy new car, so it built the the Sport Spider. What they came up with was disarmingly simple: a strong aluminium chassis, plastic composite body and no roof. Some were even sold minus a windscreen.

Renault pinched the 2.0-litre, 16-valve four-banger from the Clio Williams and bunged it behind the basic cockpit, giving the Spider the ideal mid-engined configuration for optimum weight distribution. In the Spider the engine makes 148bhp, but with only 930kg to haul around, it'll do 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds.

It has racing pedigree, too. The Spider was conceived with competition in mind, so the French manufacturer created the Renault Spider Cup race series especially for the car, replacing the Clio Cup from 1996-1999. It was in these motors that touring car legends Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato cut their racing teeth.

Despite all that, the car was never a big seller - the cheaper, lighter Elise certainly wouldn't have helped its cause. Only 1650 were made, with just 60 right-hand drive versions making their way to the UK. That rarity means they don't come up for sale often, and when they do, the asking prices tend to be pretty massive. This one is up £24,995, not far off the original £25,950 list price.

You'd have to be mad to buy one when a lighter, quicker Series 1 Elise is significantly cheaper, right? Not so. With our boring caps on we can point out that the rarity makes this a much better investment, and on a personal level, this is way cooler.