12 £20k ’80s classic cars for sale now

’80s excess for less

The 1980s saw a step-change in motoring – this was the era in which everyday cars started to stand a chance of not rusting away or failing to proceed on a regular basis. There was also greater choice, more performance and much-improved aerodynamics.

This era hasn’t escaped the classic market and ’80s cars have grown in value over the past five years.

However, you can get a slice of ’80s classic action without breaking the bank. Here are our 12 favourites that were on sale in the UK, at the time of writing, for less than £20,000.

1. Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit (£11,250-20,000
)

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit represents an era a far cry from the new models.

Beautiful today’s factory-fresh models may be, yet there’s a certain refined, subtle elegance about the Silver Spirit that’s oh-so-endearing.

Its slab-sided yet inoffensive lines are unlikely to attract unwanted attention, making these models all the better for quiet, refined and gentle wafting.



Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit (cont.)

The inside is luxury in the old-school fashion – sumptuous leather, real wood trim and just the occasional hum from the big V8 up front. Carbonfibre and Sport modes don’t even enter into it.

You, however, could enter into your own Silver Spirit from as little as £11,250. We found a 1986 car in dark metallic grey in Buckinghamshire that’s described as being in reasonable condition for use as a daily driver for that figure, though stretch to the upper ranges of our budget and you can get a really nice one. We found a 1984 example in dark grey over Light Oyster on 58k miles for £20k in the West Midlands.

2. Volkswagen Golf Clipper (£6495-£20,000+)

The Volkswagen Golf Convertible didn’t follow the same design leap as the rest of the Golf range when it jumped from Mk1 to Mk2. Instead, subcontractors Karmann continued with the Mk1 shape right up to the introduction of the Mk3, pumping up Giugiaro’s original design with ever-more steroidal bodywork additions.

They may not have been as dynamically pure as their tin-top brethren, but on the right street, these drop-top Golfs would draw more stares than any Ferrari. 

Volkswagen Golf Clipper (cont.)

Prices for the very best cars, particularly special editions, have nudged past our upper price limit. Fear not, though, because you can get a true icon of ’80s motoring for a lot less than you might imagine.

The 1986 GTI Convertible we found in Buckinghamshire is in white but lacks the later beefed-up bodywork (which will be a bonus to some), and sits on 156k miles for £6495.

At the other end of the scale, we found a fully restored 1989 Clipper in Nottinghamshire on 121k miles for £13k.

3. Saab 900 Turbo (£7-18,000)

The Saab 900 Turbo offered boosty performance and a very special driving experience – from the way it looks to its interior ergonomics, there isn’t anything quite like one.

They’re hardy machines, too, with many examples piling on the miles over the years. It’s a combination of attributes that has contributed to a strong following, long after Saab stopped trading.

Saab 900 Turbo (cont.)

However, despite it being hot among enthusiasts and fashionistas alike, the Saab 900 Turbo is still attainable.

We found a 177k-mile 1989 convertible in Cornwall for £7250 in reportedly cherished condition, though for ultimate ’80s-ness, it’s hard to ignore the Carlsson-bodykitted example in white we found in Northern Ireland. With 77k miles on the clock, this 1988 drop-top could be yours for £17,500.

4. Porsche 944 (£7-20,000)

The Porsche 944 is the largely unsung hero in the marque’s long and illustrious history. While the 911 is very often seen as the definitive ’80s Porsche, it was the 944 that had the lion’s share of the sales and helped prop the company up for much of the decade.

That didn’t stop the model descending into the throwaway cheap sports car realm – we can remember the days when a grand bought you a 2.5 Lux automatic. Its stock has improved since, and those bargain-basement 944s are now long gone.

Porsche 944 (cont.)

The cheapest 944 2.5 in, as far as we can tell, decent condition we found was stickered at £7500 in Suffolk, having covered 140,000 miles, while we found a slightly sprightlier 944S in white on 138k miles in Hampshire for £11,499.

However, you can still get an S2 Cabriolet or 944 turbo for less than our budget. We spotted a red S2 Cabriolet on 49k miles in London for £19,950, and of the two turbos we found, we were particularly taken with the red 1989 example in Yorkshire with 129,500 miles on its odometer for £17,750.

5. Maserati Biturbo (£15-20,000)

The Maserati Biturbo might not have the best reputation, but that’s largely down the troublesome early cars. However, as the Biturbo morphed into the ‘number’ cars of the late 1980s and became fuel injected, quality and reliability improved considerably.

They are potent machines – the twin-turbocharged V6 is good for 200-280bhp depending on specification, fed through the rear wheels for BMW 3 Series-destroying accelerative thrust. 

Maserati Biturbo (cont.)

Values have started to rise as the cars have become rarer, particularly in Europe, but the UK has lagged behind in its appreciation, which means Biturbos are still great value.

We found a 1989 Biturbo Spyder in Warwickshire on just under 45k miles for £15,000. With the car celebrating its 40th birthday this year, perhaps it’s worth reappraising the Biturbo for its merits?

6. Lotus Excel (£9-15,000)

The Lotus Excel carried on from where the Éclat left off, but with the guiding hand of Toyota behind the car’s development.

Lotus was helping with the development of the Supra, which meant the Excel used a Toyota transmission, driveshafts, rear differential and more, which were matched with the 2.2-litre four-pot from the Esprit S3.

Even though it was pitched as a GT, it still had Lotus-sharp handling thanks to its 50/50 weight distribution.

Lotus Excel (cont.)

The car wasn’t a great success, and today fewer than 450 are believed to be still running. Despite such rarity Excel prices are reasonable for what is a far more usable car than the Esprit.

We found a lovely-looking red 1989 SE model in Yorkshire for £9995 that has done 107,000 miles. The same money gets you a 64k-mile white example in Northamptonshire, while we also saw a 63,000-mile Champagne Gold car in Bedfordshire for £3000 more. 

7. Mercedes-Benz SEC (£12-20,000+)

The Mercedes-Benz 126-series SEC was the height of luxury motoring in the ’80s. And the 560SEC was one of the most expensive cars in the world – the gap between it and the 500SEC in the price list could fund a fleet of Ford Fiestas.

It was the car used by many a Formula One driver, indeed, Mercedes-Benz UK still owns Nigel Mansell’s old car. With 300bhp in full-fat form it was fighting a long battle with the Porsche 928 for the title of ultimate autobahn bruiser of its day. It’s a masterpiece of engineering excellence and refinement.

Mercedes-Benz SEC (cont.)

For our £20,000 budget, a 560SEC will require some work, and start at around £13,000. Indeed, we found a Signal Red example in the West Midlands for that figure.

The very best begin at £20k and go upwards from there. However, if you’ve no need for ultimate power, the 420SEC and 500SEC are still pokey enough. We found an apparently mint 420SEC in the West Midlands on 96k miles in blue-black metallic for £16,950, and an Astral Silver 500SEC in Hampshire for £17,850 on 137k miles.

8. Ford Escort MkIV XR3i Cabriolet (£4750-18,995)

The Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet may not be the last word in vehicle dynamics, but for a certain time an XR3i drop-top was the dream car for a generation.

With 108bhp it wasn’t quite a rocketship either, but it looked good for the era, especially in white or one of the more lurid metallic shades.

Much like the Golf Convertible mentioned earlier, on the right street this will turn more heads than any hypercar.

Ford Escort MkIV XR3i Cabriolet (cont.)

The Ford market has long seen big prices for small cars, with Escort RS Turbos and RS 1600is trading for many multiples of our self-imposed £20k budget.

However, you can still make your drop-top Escort dream come true for a reasonable sum. We found a black example on 39k miles in Northamptonshire for £4750, while at the other end of the scale there was a 28,000-mile, one-owner, all-white example for £18,995.

We also found a couple of metallic pink (Amethyst) examples: our favourite was the one wearing an original RS accessories bodykit, that has done 51,000 miles and is in Somerset, with a £12,995 price-tag.

9. Nissan 300ZX Z31 (£10-12,000)

The Nissan 300ZX Z31 saw the role of the Z car change from that of the early sports cars to more of a GT cruiser. That meant the introduction of a V6 in naturally aspirated and turbocharged form, wrapped in a rakishly angular body.

While not as loved as the early Z cars or the Z32 that followed, today the Z31 300ZX makes for a very different yet very stylish cruiser. Plus, it has that all-important ’80s feature – pop-up headlamps.

Nissan 300ZX Z31 (cont.)

It’s also very rare – we only found three for sale in the UK at the time of writing, just two of which were roadworthy.

There’s a 1988 automatic Targa on 87k miles in Oxfordshire for £9993 in dark blue, while there’s also a great-looking light blue over black 1986 example in Gloucestershire that has covered just under 45k miles. An automatic targa-roof car, it could be yours for £11,950.

10. Renault 5 GT Turbo (£12-20,000+)

The Renault 5 GT Turbo typifies the joy of the ’80s turbocharger. These days most internal-combustion engined cars are turbocharged, but you wouldn’t know it because lag has been all but eradicated.

While the yawning gap between mashing the throttle and the boost coming in was a stick to beat turbocharged cars with by journalists back in the day, it made hot hatches like the Renault 5 GT Turbo an exhilarating thrill on every journey.

No, it didn’t have the handling poise of the 205 GTI nor the build quality of a Golf GTI, but it delivered big grins by the boo(s)t-ful. 

Renault 5 GT Turbo (cont.)

It took a long while for the market to wake up to the Renault 5 GT Turbo, compared to other hot hatches of the era.

However, over the past 18 months that’s changed, with the very best cars flying past our upper ceiling. We could only find one for a fiver less than our £20k cap, a white 1986 example in Wales that has done 73,000 miles.

11. Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (£10,000)

The Pontiac Firebird might not be the first ’80s car you remember seeing on the road, but if you were a fan of Knight Rider then this will take you right back to the era.

David Hasselhoff in a leather jacket and denim and KITT, an artificially intelligent and self-aware Firebird would fight crime over four seasons. The car itself, the third-generation Firebird, ran from 1982 to 1992, with engines ranging from a 2.5-litre four-pot to a 5.7-litre V8.

Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (cont.)

The Pontiac Firebird was never officially imported to the UK, but several have crossed the Atlantic.

We could only find one for sale in the UK, and unsurprisingly it was in black, too, just like KITT. A 1987 automatic TransAm, it has a T-top roof and the correct 5.0-litre V8. It’s done 135,000 miles, has just had a new exhaust system and fresh suspension, and it could yours for £10,000.

12. Peugeot 205 GTI (£10,995-£20,000+)

The Peugeot 205 GTI is an enduring icon of the 1980s, and has transitioned from thrashed and crashed secondhand car to full-on classic; witness the big numbers at auction for mint examples.

It’s one of those cars that lives up to the hype, even after three decades. The 1.6 might not have a lot of power or torque, but the mixture of light weight, sharp steering and compliant suspension makes it a great B-road brawler.

While the 1.6 is as sharply perfect and just as energising as a black coffee, the 1.9 is a bit like adding a slug of whisky to that beverage. More power and, more importantly, more torque, means that it’s not as nuanced as the 1.6, but it’s all the more fun for it.

Peugeot 205 GTI (cont.)

The good news is that for all the reports about £30k+ GTIs, it seems you can still get a good, if not mint, example for well within our budget.

Looking around, we found a Cherry Red 1.6 from 1989 on 108,000 miles in Reading for £10,995, while £12,500 bags you a 1.9 limited-edition example finished in blue, with 104k miles under its wheels, located in Devon.