Throwback bargains: £10k classics from 2003 and what they cost today

Bargain sports cars you should’ve bought 15 years ago

“There’s never been a better time to take cash out of your house (or just get a loan) to invest in several summers of sports car joy” – or so we said back in 2003.

In fact, we’d clearly been at the investment manuals: “Convince a mortgage firm it’s for a new bathroom, spread it over 25 years and you’ll barely notice the repayments at all”. 

Sounds easy, right? But how would your hard-earned cash have fared if you were sensible enough to follow our advice 15 years ago and buy one of the £10k sports cars we recommended?

We rifled through the archive, dug out the binders and crunched the numbers to find out. The results make for very interesting reading.

Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider

Average price then: £6000

A true drivers’ car with bags of style, the first car in our feature was a plucky Italian that we recommended in no uncertain terms: “If this is for hairdressers, pass me the crimping irons.”

Indeed, 15 years ago we reported that few cars handled with such finesse as the diminutive Alfa Spider, with “sharp, perfectly weighted steering”, “a slick gearchange” and a “beautifully balanced chassis” – all matched with a 2-litre motor that “loves to rev”.

Quite the package, then, and one that you could pick up with plenty of change from £10k.

Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider (cont.)

Average price now: £16,000

If you’d followed our advice and bought one back in 2003, you’d probably be very happy today – and not just because you’d spent 15 years enjoying the Alfa’s “frisky accelerator, happy gurgle from the twin carbs and raspy exhaust note.”

Even accounting for inflation, values have gone up nicely. Provided you’d managed to fend off the rot that plagued many an Alfa’s lower structure, you’d be sitting rather pretty now.

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 71% rise adjusted for inflation
 

Daimler SP250

Average price then: £10,000

“Ignore that Jagger-esque grille,” we promised in 2003, “and the SP250 is a tempting package.”

Behind the early-’60s machine’s “guppy front” lay a meaty 2.5-litre V8 motor that offered “smooth, refined torque in all gears” accompanied by a “fabulous exhaust rasp”, which more than made up for any deficiencies in the steering and spongy brakes.

Daimler SP250 (cont.)

Average price now: £32,000

Picking up an SP250 in good condition for £10k was just about possible 15 years ago, provided you moved fast when you saw an advert – and, if you had struck lucky, you’d likely have no regrets today.

Values for the British two-seater have only climbed since 2003, with the best examples heading towards the £40k marque – no doubt helped by the fact that just 500 or so are registered on UK roads.

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 105% rise adjusted for inflation

Triumph TR3A

Average price then: £9500

Another emphatic recommendation came in the shape of the simple but brilliant Triumph TR3A – a car which paired a tractor engine with a simple chassis to make it “the greatest pound for pound performer of the 1950s.”

“Robust and exhilarating” to drive, we praised its accessibility, its understatement – “slipping unnoticed into modern traffic” – and its ability to dart cross country like a true rally weapon when asked.

Solid yet supple, the TR3A sold in big numbers for Triumph, which meant picking one up for £10k or less was perfectly possible in 2003.

Triumph TR3A (cont.)

Average price now: £20,000

Prices have climbed steadily rather than skyrocketed, but the TR3A would still have been a sound investment, with a 35% rise in value over the past 15 years, even taking inflation into account.

Good if you were in it for the money, even better if you used one as your daily driver, given its “mammoth grip” and potent performance. As we surmised in 2003, “simple really is best.”

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 35% rise adjusted for inflation

Lotus Elan SE

Average price then: £9000

Elan by name but not by nature, this GM-built revival of the famed model was nothing if not controversial: front-wheel drive, powered by a Japanese engine and fitted with a bulging shell at odds with the lightweight and slender Lotus approach.

That being said, in 2003 we reported that “on the open road the Elan is everything you’d expect from a Lotus.” In fact, we reckoned it was the “one Lotus you could jump into and drive to the Nürburgring without troubling any recovery services.”

“Swift without being electrifying,” what it lacked in verve it made up for in reliability.

Lotus Elan SE (cont.)

Average price now: £9000

Alas, while the original Elans of the ’60s and ’70s regularly top polls as the greatest of all drivers’ cars – with prices soaring accordingly – the appeal of the M100 revival effort is less apparent.

Whether it’s the bland cabin or that front-wheel drive setup, the ’90s SE variant is not the Elan to own today, with prices the same now as 15 years ago – which, when you factor in inflation, looks like quite the loss. Sorry.

Verdict: Loser! That’s a 35% fall adjusted for inflation

MGF 1.8 VVC

Average price then: £8000

One of the youngest on our list back in 2003, the MGF was no world-beater, even back then: “Soft. Chubby. Mid-engined Metro. It’s all been said about the MGF.” 

We were, though, willing to give the late-’90s roadster a second chance. “The harder you go,” we reckoned, “the better it gets, as responses sharpen and the exhaust note hardens.”

It was focused on convenience, sure, but it could also perform like a sporty little number – which is probably about as much as you could expect from the first all-new MG to appear in more than 30 years.

MGF 1.8 VVC (cont.)

Average price now: £4000

Sadly, that middling combination hasn’t fared well in the marketplace, with values steadily falling as the years have gone by – to the point that you can now pick one up for a third of what it cost in 2003 (when you factor inflation into the equation).

And that’s a shame because, as we wrote in the original feature, “drive one long enough and its charms shine through.”

Verdict: Loser! That’s a 67% fall adjusted for inflation

Sunbeam Tiger Mk1

Average price then: £9500

No bum notes with this one: we were all praise for the two-seater Sunbeam Tiger Mk1 back in 2003, exalting its “rhythmic, rumbling bass beat that sends tremors through the Tarmac and shivers down the spine.”

Dainty it might have seemed, but this small, subtle sports car packed a V8 secret that saw it widely labelled as a budget Cobra – even if its roadholding was less assured than one might like.

It would “happily burble around all day, but plant the throttle and you’ll soon see why the prototype was tagged the Thunderbolt – it’s a hooligan’s delight.”

Sunbeam Tiger Mk1 (cont.)

Average price now: £36,000

“Not comfortable or refined enough to take on an E-type, not raw or fast enough to tackle a Cobra”, the Tiger has nevertheless become a firm favourite, with prices climbing accordingly.

If you’d picked up a relatively sorted example back in 2003, you’d be looking at a very healthy profit today – not that you’d be interested in selling it, mind. How could you live without that “antisocial blare from the twin pipes”?

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 143% rise adjusted for inflation

MG TF 1250cc

Average price then: £10,000

A stop-gap model to keep punters interested until the arrival of the MGA in 1955, our next recommendation was in essence a rebodied version of the TD.

Fitted with a sleeker skin, the early-’50s MG TF launched with a tuned version of its predecessor’s 1250cc motor (later bored out to 1466cc).

Taut and nippy in the bends, the TF was pure traditional MG – even if “performance actually lagged behind the outgoing TD”.

MG TF 1250cc (cont.)

Average price now: £22,000

TFs were already a popular choice back in 2003, but the second MG on our list has fared substantially better than the first over the past 15 years.

Prices have risen slowly but, even factoring in maintenance costs – which aren’t quite as painful with MGs as other makes due to the ubiquity of parts – there’s a healthy increase.

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 41% rise adjusted for inflation

Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet

Average price then: £7500

Although never favoured by the Porsche establishment, the 944 proved one of the German marque’s most popular machines ever – and we were big fans back in 2003.

As we recalled, “the original 2-litre 924 may have been for wimps, but a dozen years later, as the 944 S2, it had grown into a lusty 3-litre with a butch, chunky stance, thumping torque...and near supercar performance.”

Unlike most supercars, though, it was also “eminently practical” and “compact, economical and comfortable”.

Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet (cont.)

Average price now: £15,000

Alas, rear-engined Porsches are still worth more than the German marque’s derided front-engined efforts, which means that values haven’t gone the way of the 911.

Still, a 28% rise is hardly a bad gain in 15 years, and the 944 S2 remains arguably just as much of a steal today as it was back in 2003. 

After all, “the S2 Cabriolet does everything so well that its only fault seems to be that it’s almost too forgiving, too undramatic.”

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 28% rise adjusted for inflation

Ginetta G20

Average price then: £10,000

Our thoughts on the G20 back in 2003 have just as much relevance today: “Yes, it’s a kit car. No, it’s not a classic, at least not in any accepted sense. But think laterally for a moment and it has merit.”

Seriously quick and blessed with decent steering, “this is a car that begs to be driven hard”.

Impractical, unpolished but “very much a true sports car”, the G20 was “the ideal clubman’s racer and an exhilarating road car.”

Ginetta G20 (cont.)

Average price now: £15,000

One of the few build-your-own marques with brand cachet, Ginetta’s machines almost always delivered value for money, but the G20 was a particular winner in that it offered swift pace, proficient handling and reasonably attractive styling. Plus, best of all, you could race it.

That value, though, really came in enjoying the car – thrashing it down country lanes or around your local race track – and not, unfortunately, through building one and keeping it for investment purposes. Hardly a pity, eh?

Verdict: Still waiting. That’s the same value adjusted for inflation

Austin-Healey Sprite

Average price then: £5500

Ah, the humble Frogeye. A machine we remembered in 2003 as “both the best and the worst of Spridgets” – the oldest, slowest and “most spartan of the breed”, but also “the original of the species, uncorrupted in its minimalist purity and blessed with a wholesomely functional friendliness."

OK, so we might have got a bit carried away there, but the Sprite remains a truly entertaining car to drive. Yes, the 948cc motor’s puny, but it was “responsive, sweet-sounding and peppy enough” to keep things interesting.

Austin-Healey Sprite (cont.)

Average price now: £13,000

A proper tourer, the appeal of this Austin-Healey legend has always been in its accessibility and practicality: spares are widely available and it’s very simple mechanically, making it a relatively low cost runner – and one that excels on twisty country roads.

That prices have risen by more than 50% in the last 15 years should only add to the smile on the face of any who chose to take our advice and bag themselves a Frogeye back in ’03.

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 51% rise adjusted for inflation

Fiat 124 Spider

Average price then: £5000

Hidden in the fold of our 2003 feature was this little gem, the Fiat 124 Spider – an Alfa rival of the ’70s with elegant Pininfarina styling, at its best in chrome bumper guise.

Based on the 124 Coupé, it benefited from a lively four-cylinder motor, disc brakes on every corner and a handy five-speed gearbox – all for a mere £5k back in 2003 (at least, if you knew where to look).

Fiat 124 Spider (cont.)

Average price now: £13,000

Even though we tucked it away in a corner, the 124 Spider proved itself a very strong shout – and showed that you should always check the creases for good advice.

Besides a decent rise in value in the intervening 15 years, it remains a gorgeous Italian package that would doubtless entertain even the sternest of investors.

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 67% rise adjusted for inflation

Triumph TR6

Average price then: £7500

A cheeky refresh of the existing TR5, Triumph’s TR6 was an update in looks alone, with identical underpinnings to its predecessor – and, by and large, to the TR4 before it.

Regardless, that “handsome Karmann styling neatly updated the ageing shell” while the 2.5-litre fuel-injected straight-six continued to offer both grunt and gorgeous sounds to go with it.

Triumph TR6 (cont.)

Average price now: £15,000

Talk about getting better with age: the TR6 might not be worth mega-bucks today, but for a humble, drivable package that was in many ways the product of a cynical marketing exercise, such a firm rise in value against inflation is not bad at all.

That it continues to offer a lovey dose of old-school thrills only adds to the appeal of this ’70s legend – and suggests that we really did know what we were talking about. Fancy that!

Verdict: Winner! That’s a 28% rise adjusted for inflation