25 tempting Italian classics for sale now

Step out in style

Here in the UK, spring is on the way, the sun is starting to peek out from the winter gloom and the roads are clearing of salt. Time to start thinking about your 2023 classic motoring?

Few cars are as fun and frisky as those built by the Italians – and not just the sporty roadsters. Even hatchbacks and saloon cars tend to have an up-and-at-’em driving style that rewards, whether you are clipping apexes on a spirited drive or simply heading to the shops.

Of course, naysayers will point out fragility and reliability concerns, but the passage to classic status is a great leveller – all classic cars, wherever they’re from, require patience and love as they get older.

So why not go for one that pays back that love with characterful engines, stunning looks and a driving experience that’ll have you plotting just about any excuse to go for a drive – even when you’re on one already.

We’ve collected 25 Italian classic cars for sale at the time of writing that will bring the dolce vita to your driveway for less than £50,000.

Images are for illustration purposes only and are not the cars mentioned in the text

1. Alfa Romeo GTV 2000

The Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 is part of the celebrated line of 105-series models that blended sharp handling, gorgeous Giugiaro looks and zesty four-cylinder engines.

The early cars have accelerated past our price limit, but the later GTV 2000 from the 1970s is still available for less than £50,000. 

We found an ex-South Africa right-hand-drive example dating from 1973 in Wiltshire, UK. It came to England in 2021, has a smidge over 15,000 miles on the clock and is priced at £37,895.

2. Fiat 130 Coupé

Fiat’s product offensive in the early 1970s was spectacular, with loads of models, at all levels in the automotive food chain.

The highest, however, was the 130 Coupé. Cutting a dash with stunning, crisp Pininfarina styling and matched to a bespoke Aurelio Lampredi-designed V6 (the man behind some of Ferrari’s finest engines), it was the height of luxury, a grand tourer par excellence. It was so good Enzo Ferrari had one as a daily driver.

We found one from 1973 in dark violet, boasting a manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential. It was built for the Spanish market but is now in London, it’s covered 88,000km (c55,000 miles) and has a £25,000 price-tag.

3. Lancia Beta HPE

To most people, Lancia may be best known for the Delta Integrale, but the car maker was about so much more than that: innovation, daring designs and luxury, too.

The Beta HPE is a good example, being a stylish two-door estate with an engaging twin-cam engine. Of course, mention the model and there’ll be complaints about rust, but if a Beta has survived this far it’ll likely have been treasured and therefore has a good chance of being rust-free, or as near as possible.

We found a 1983 Volumex model in Oxfordshire, UK, in a pleasing shade of metallic brown on 33,000 miles. There are a few jobs to do for the exterior and interior, but at £16,995 it looks like a fun, drivable project.

4. Ferrari 400i

The Ferrari 400i spent years being lambasted by critics who couldn’t countenance an automatic Ferrari.

However, over the past few years the car’s reputation is beginning to be restored to what it should always have been.

These are elegant grand tourers with beautifully judged, crisp Pininfarina styling. You also get a wonderfully emotive V12.

Any Ferrari for less than £50,000 is a challenge, but if you’re up for a project then we’ve found one for much less. There’s a 1983 400i in need of refreshing to the external aesthetics for sale at £28,750. Said to be in good mechanical condition, it’s done just under 19,000 miles and can be found in Essex, UK.

5. Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider

The signature Alfa Romeo for a generation, the Spider signified a carefree youth, with wind-in-your-hair vibes.

The model itself is beautiful and, because it shares the same mechanicals as the 105-series saloon, it drives as well as it looks.

It’s also great value compared to similar curvy roadsters of the same era, and there’s a good collection of specialists who’ll be able to help you keep it on the road.

We found a 1969 1300 Junior Duetto that originally called South Africa home. Now it is for sale in Lincolnshire, UK. Freshly restored and looking stunning in white over red leather, it just slips under our top budget with a £49,995 asking price.

6. Autobianchi A112

The Italian alternative to the Mini blended a downsized Fiat 128 platform with, to begin with, a 903cc Fiat 850 engine.

Though 1.3 million A112s were built over 17 years, they’re a rare sight in the UK.

We found one for sale in Northamptonshire, and it’s a fourth-series model dating from 1978 with an Abarth 1050cc engine, which was good for 70bhp – a lot for something weighing around 700kg.

Finished in black and with 85,950km (53,400 miles) under its wheels, it’s listed at £7995.
 

7. Maserati Biturbo Spyder

One of the most unfairly maligned cars ever made? It often appears on ‘worst car ever’ lists, but while the early models had teething problems, once fuel injection arrived many of the issues vanished.

However, the negative impression stuck, which is a shame because the sharp Zagato-penned lines of the Spyder version have only got better with age, and the performance from the twin-turbo V6 engine puts any comparable BMW E30 convertible in the shade.

We found a 2.8-litre model (which means around 250bhp) for sale in Yorkshire, UK, in a fetching shade of white. This 1989 model has done 50,000 miles and was up for sale for £30,995.

8. Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v

While the prices for Evoluzione versions of the Lancia Delta HF Integrale have rocketed into the stratosphere, fuelled by demand from the US market, the earlier 8v and 16v models are still available for less than our £50k budget.

Admittedly they’re a long way from the £10,000 values of around a decade ago, but they’re still relatively affordable compared to the Evo models.

Not only are they arguably finer to drive than the Evos, they’re the ones that actually did most of the World Rally Championship title winning that adds so much cred to the Delta.

We found a Bordeaux metallic 16v dating from 1991 for sale in Lancashire, UK. Sitting on just under 100,000 miles, it carried a £35,850 price-tag.

9. Fiat/Bertone X1/9

The 1970s was the era of the wedge – the styling trend was most associated with supercars, but the X1/9 brought mid-engined motoring to the masses.

This head-turner offered crisp handling, engaging engine response and a style that elevated any high street to a fashion catwalk. It ended up being on sale for more than a decade, with Bertone carrying on production once Fiat decided to move on. 

We found a 1986 example in a fetching shade of red for sale in Hampshire, in the south of England. It’s done 35,000 miles, has had a bare-metal professional respray and has apparently benefited from lots of mechanical fettling. It’s priced at £13,950.

10. Iso Lele

The Iso Lele combined Gandini styling with a good, honest Ford V8 to provide an exotic grand tourer that’s sure to turn heads – if only for people to wonder what it is.

Just 285 of these handbuilt cars are thought to have been made, of which only 50 were in right-hand drive – and we’ve found one.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the 1973 example we’ve discovered in Hampshire hasn’t moved since 2002, so this is very much a project car. If you fancy taking it on, you’ll need £22,000 (well, to start with).

11. Alfa Romeo 75 Cloverleaf

For some, the 75 is ugly. For others (including your writer), it’s a fantastic example of brutalist styling, an endearing chin swipe of Italian styling flair.

It’s also notable for being the last rear-wheel drive Alfa saloon until the Giulia launched seven years ago. Its transaxle gearbox layout means that it’s a sublimely balanced chassis, plus there’s that glorious Busso V6 engine.

It’s that combination we’ve found in Sussex. The 1988 car has been given what amounts to a restomod treatment, with a rebuilt and enhanced engine, a shorter-ratio Twin Spark gearbox and limited-slip differential, and extensive chassis tweaks.

Finished in red and sitting on black alloys, it’s yours for £27,995.

12. Ferrari Mondial

The poor old Mondial hasn’t always had the biggest following,  but if you look past the armchair warriors you do get an intriguing package: an exciting Ferrari V8, gloriously ’80s looks and a usable GT layout.

For all the griping about the Mondial, it should be remembered that without this volume seller Ferrari might not have survived the 1980s.

Deserving of reappraisal alongside its true rival, the R107 Mercedes-Benz SL? We think so. 

We found a 1987 drop-top in the classic combination of red with a cream interior in London. With just 20,310 miles on the clock, it would make a characterful way to enjoy the summer for £45,000.

13. Lancia Beta Montecarlo 

Pininfarina’s Paolo Martin did a stunning job with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo. Originally intended as a replacement for the Fiat 124 Coupé, it used the 2-litre Twin Cam from that car and placed it into a mid-engined layout. The result was a rakish coupé that looked fast standing still. 

We found a black 1982 example on 61,000 miles in London. Coming fresh from a £10,000 refreshment, but in need of some light aesthetic attention, it has a £17,950 price-tag.
 

14. Fiat Coupé 20v Turbo

This Chris Bangle-designed coupé stunned the world when it first appeared. Its looks blended retro touches with sharp-edged futurism to create a car that was highly popular in the 1990s.

While the model shared its engine with the Delta Integrale of the same era, performance took a great leap forward with the warbling five-pot lunacy of the 20v Turbo. This was no wild child, however, because not only did the Viscodrive limited-slip front differential stop it understeering into oblivion, but the interior is actually ergonomically useful for humans. 

We found a metallic-burgundy example in Kent, UK, that has done 60,400 miles. This 1998 example is fresh from a £4000 refreshment and is priced at £7500.

15. Maserati 3200GT

Now celebrating 25 years, the 3200GT marked a return to curves for Maserati.

Giorgetto Giugiaro’s design cleverly referenced historic Maserati motifs as well as pointing the way forward for the brand. The engine was truly special, the final evolution of the Biturbo cars – a 365bhp twin-turbocharged V8 that provided eye-popping in-gear acceleration.

We found a light-metallic blue example dating from 1999 in Middlesex, UK. Sitting on 55,000 miles but with only 16,000 on its rebuilt engine, it’s yours for £15,900.

16. Alfa Romeo Alfasud

The Alfasud was a model that should have transformed the fortunes of Alfa Romeo – it featured ingenious mechanical innovations, engaging front-wheel-drive handling and Giorgetto Giugiaro styling.

Sadly, politics meant these cars were never built as well as they should have been, but if any Alfasud has made it this far, it’s likely to have been cherished.

We found a green 1984 example for sale in Lancashire, UK, wearing a £9900 asking price, that’s currently done just under 50,000 miles.

17. Lancia Beta 2000 Zagato Spider

The Lancia Beta line delivered many variants, and the Beta Spider had one of the most convoluted build processes ever.

The Pininfarina-designed bodies were delivered to Zagato to be turned into Spiders before being sent back to Lancia for rustproofing, then back to Zagato to be trimmed and painted, and then sent back to Lancia for the engine to be installed.

Despite the early difficulties, the car is a stylish, engaging experience. We found a bright red, 34,000-mile 1980 model for sale in Northern Ireland at £22,995.

18. De Tomaso Pantera

De Tomaso’s replacement for the stunning-looking but stunningly impractical Mangusta was a revelation when it was launched in 1970.

The first monocoque De Tomaso, it blended luxury with rakish mid-engined sports-car vibes, powered by Ford’s Cleveland V8. Ford bought the US rights and, in the end, more than 7000 were sold.

Running Panteras cost rather more than our £50,000 budget, so the one we found is a full restoration job.

Currently residing in Wales, the 1972 ex-Minnesota car still has its engine but is in need of a transmission and lots of bodywork attention. It’s yours for £35,000 – and then some time, elbow grease and more money.

19. Fiat Barchetta

The Fiat Punto might not sound like the greatest starting point for a fun roadster, but it delivered an excellent-handling chassis for one of the prettiest roadsters of the ’90s.

The twin-cam engine is a revvy delight and the styling is never less than endearing. The only downside is that nearly all of them are left-hand drive, which makes UK driving occasionally challenging.

We found a 1996 example for sale in Somerset that has done 168,000km (c104,400 miles). Finished in an alluring shade of red, it’ll cost you £4500.

20. Maserati Ghibli II

The Ghibli II can be seen as the perfecting of the Biturbo recipe, as the Marcello Gandini design smoothed out the edges yet retained a muscular stance, while fit and finish improved.

The Italian-market examples were largely more of a sports car, but export markets such as the UK had a gloriously torquey take on the twin-turbo V6 engine, with a 2.8-litre version to make a highly refined cruiser with a sporting edge.

The UK would eventually get a 2-litre Cup engine, but the only one we found was a 2.8-litre car dating from 1997, which means it benefits from later chassis upgrades. Sitting on just under 60,000 miles, this ex-Salvage Hunters TV show car will set you back £25,995.

21. Alfa Romeo 156

The Alfa Romeo 156 was a revelation when it was launched in the mid-1990s, a sharp move away from the origami shapes that had dominated Alfa styling for a couple of decades.

It was also superb to drive, with a front-wheel-drive chassis that was crisp and engaging, and deemed more entertaining from behind the wheel than the corresponding BMW 3 Series of the time. 

The model has languished in banger territory for many years, but the best examples are starting to be cherished as numbers thin out. We found a 45,000-mile 2.5 V6 in Cambridgeshire, UK, listed at £5000.

22. Lancia Thema 8.32

Looking for something a little different? We’ve spread our search to Italy for one of the most intriguing cars ever made – the Lancia Thema 8.32.

Under the bonnet lies a Ferrari Mondial-derived engine, which provides an earnest thrum to this luxurious cruiser.

While it won’t thrill in the corners – it’s front-wheel drive and that’s a lot of engine up front – this is a fabulous way to cross continents.

The 1987 example we spotted in Italy has been recently resprayed, and treated to an engine overhaul and fresh exhausts, and will set you back €32,950 (c£29,200).
 

23. Fiat 500

We couldn’t do a list of charming Italian classic cars without the Fiat 500. It might not be that quick – it can’t even reach the UK’s national speed limit – but every drive will be fun, an exciting and engaging experience that will have you coming back for more.

We found a yellow right-hand-drive example in Yorkshire, in the north of England.

The recipient of £11,500 worth of work 3000 miles and three years ago, this 40,000-mile classic is priced at £14,995.

24. Alfa Romeo 166

The controversial Alfa Romeo 166 celebrates its 25th birthday this year. For many the styling was a turn off, but for its ardent fans its controversial nose makes it a distinctive alternative to the usual German barges.

Its engines are soul-stirring, too – the four-cylinder Twin Spark may lack power and torque, but the trick rear suspension and the motor’s revvy nature makes it nimble to drive. The Busso V6s are a silky-smooth sonorous delight, with plenty of mid-range thump.

Prices have been rising for a while now but you can still pick up a good example for less that you might expect. We found a 44,000-mile V6 in Somerset, UK, for £3995.

25. Lancia Fulvia Coupé

The Lancia Fulvia has it all – exquisite looks, excellent driving manners and a rich motorsport heritage.

Despite all this, prices have yet to rise to the levels of its Alfa Romeo GT Junior rival, making it that rare thing in the classic car market: a bargain for a 1960s/’70s car.

To illustrate the point, we found a 1971 1.3 Rallye Coupé in Surrey, UK. This light-blue, right-hand-drive car was, like the Alfa we opened this list with, originally built in South Africa – but the Lancia is £23,500, a fair bit less than the GTV.