12 interesting used classic cars for less than a new Dacia Spring

Good news, an’ all that: there’s a new Dacia Spring, one that’s matured over its predecessor with a more girth to its dimensions and depth to its performance. It should be a fairly charming thing, not least because it’s based on TopGear.com’s reigning electric car champ, the fourth generation of cutesy Renault Twingo.

Even better? It will cost less than £18,000, which is firmly defined as ‘not much money’ on the 2026 new car landscape. But you, dear reader, are savvy enough to know that bargains already exist at that price point – and comfortably below. Bargains like this gorgeous 1982 Porsche 928, possessing a 4.5-litre V8 engine, a cushty automatic transmission and a modest (for its 44-year age) 76,000 miles on its odometer. Yours for potentially a grand less than a Spring, too…

The ‘three-car garage’ is one of those absurd notions we all love to debate but which, for those of us in the real-world who can barely scavenge a sole on-street parking spot, represents a complete fantasy. Thus combining all the elements of the dream trio (fab handling, a strong engine and seating for four) into one car feels like a more prudent way forward. For all its charm, the poor Spring won’t tick all those boxes for £18k – but this M3 undoubtedly does.

Is this a roundabout way of showing you the less cool drop-top M3 in lieu of a gnarlier coupe? We don’t care. And hearing that S54 straight-six snarl on a summer’s day, nary a roof to stifle its flow, neither will you.

Oh, you wanted a neat and narrow city car for your £18k? The original (and much lauded) Mini trundled through British town centres so the Dacia Spring could stroll. This is arguably the genesis of modern city cars; the moment that a whiff of ingenious design made choosing an otherwise miserly small car cool.

Prices for the Alec Issigonis original have shot up in recent years, but our budget can still snare you a bona fide Mini Cooper from near the end of production in the trademark red ‘n’ white, spotlit spec. Snap it up before we do.

Slightly hard to believe that the original Mini and the Audi TT overlapped in their production, huh? Both are now considered design icons that will still be discussed in 100 years’ time, however. Presuming AI hasn’t led to the crumble of civilisation by then.

The Mk1 TT you really want has a 3.2-litre V6 engine squeezed into its curvaceous snout and while that engine now feels most synonymous with the DSG transmission – and the propulsion of twin-clutch ‘boxes into the mainstream – we’ve found you a manual instead. And a car painted in rare Berry Metallic, at that. Yours for a piffling £12,500.

A ‘bargain used car’ list that doesn’t include a ludicrously affordable Bentley is a piece of content close to the point of extinction. Yet can you blame us? This is a 6.0-litre W12-engined luxury four-seat capsule with reasonably modest mileage and a plush folding roof for a fiver under the Dacia Spring’s mooted starting point.

Alright, the two cars will diverge wildly when it comes to anything resembling a running cost or maintenance bill, and keeping another £17,995 aside for ‘sundries’ might be wise with a car like this Conti GTC. But just look at it!

Back to the brief. You’ve got Dacia Spring budget but want something that plays the same role with a little more flair. Which is where the brilliance of kei car regulations steps in. We’ve written about these dinky little delights a lot on TopGear.com, but we’ll never bore of extolling the virtues of a supercar body and sports car mindset being squeezed into the footprint of a DM boot. With the running costs to match.

Okay, running a Japanese domestic market Honda S660 roadster on UK shores might mean the occasional expense (and headache) should you ever need to source spares, but it ought to sip fuel and jink through gaps with the grace of any dinky city car. All while looking like a second-gen NSX after a boil wash. It’s a proper rarity for a whisker over £15k.

While Dacia has Romanian roots, much of its modern charm comes from the certain je ne c'est quoi only the big French marques seem to emanate. The joy that flows from its Renault Twingo base is likely to do much of the heavy lifting in shifting Springs out of showrooms.

The zenith of French swagger, though – the impossibly stylish, implausibly inventive Citroen DS – can also fall into our budget. Good ones soar past £30k, sure. But if you can tolerate a minor project – “very good runner,” says the ad, “but definitely an improver” – then you can spend just four figures on one. We dare you.

Speaking of dares. How risky could a £14,995, 106,000-mile Italian supercar be? And when it looks this flipping good, how much do you truly care? The Gransport sits subtly among the highlights of modern-day Maserati, still not as lauded or valued as the Trident’s true icons yet sharper to drive (and even more baritone in voice) than the vast majority of ‘em.

A Ferrari-fettled 4.2-litre nat-asp V8 sits beneath its gorgeous lines, which were an update of the original Giugiaro design by TopGear.com contributor (and car-scribbling ace) Frank Stephenson. If you can tolerate its slightly hesitant paddleshift ‘box there’s a bargain to be had here.

It feels pertinent to recommend some bargain EVs for the same price as a Spring. Among the true electric car pioneers – yet arguably not appreciated enough in its own time – is the Jaguar I-Pace. It won heaps of awards (including from the judges at TopGear.com) yet the fact it’s no longer in production hints at a public who never bought fully into its charms. Still, at least Waymo likes them…

Prices start from a piffling £9,000 – allowing you a pair of ‘Paces for the touted price of a Spring – but we’ve opted to fully wring out our budget on this 17k mile, 2020 example in plush HSE spec. “Jaguar stepped bravely into the unknown and nailed it,” said our car testing team. “A rapid, desirable, good-looking car that happens to be powered by electricity.” What chance we say similar of the vastly more expensive Jaguar Type 01?

Another plug-in pioneer confined to history, but we’ve a hunch this carbonfibre-cored city car has a future on the classic car scene ahead of it. This was BMW at its innovative best, channelling its expertise in tech, dynamics and material choices into a quirkily styled but brilliant to drive device.

The i3 badge is back, of course, fixed to a much more conventional saloon that’s twinned with the latest 3 Series. But wouldn’t you rather spend a paltry £12,995 on this go-faster, 182bhp i3S hatchback from 2018? No?

There’s a theme here. The Honda e felt like a tipping point for EVs – the moment they became a more desirable and considered option than pure petrol – yet its high price and paltry range ensured it’s been relegated to ‘cute curiosity’ as opposed to ‘cultural icon’. Shame: its interior design is nearly as arresting as the exterior and it drives sweetly, too. If you can live with the 155-mile range of the latest Dacia Spring, you can live with one of these.

Or you can divert the cost of a healthy lease deposit towards this. One of the new Spring’s most promising facets is its Renault Twingo base – enduring you could just jump straight to the source and snare yourself one of the most appealing Twingos of all.

The Renault Sport Twingo 133 of the late Noughties was a proper miniature hero, distilling all we loved in the performance Clios and Meganes of the era into a smaller, squarer and cheaper to tax package. One still claiming four seats and some inventive solutions to swallowing luggage. It’ll hit 62mph in just 8.7 seconds, too – almost 50 per cent quicker than the Dacia – and chew up far pricier cars should you ever indulge it in a Great British trackday. A steal at £3,695.