I have become controversial. Again.
As a journalist, even a motoring one, you have to be judged not just on what you write but also by who you upset. Currently, I’m poking environmentalists with a gearstick and standing up for private transportation in the wake of the Science and Technology Committee in parliament suggesting private car ownership has a ‘best before’ date. What this means is: hurry now while stocks of interesting cars exist for you to enjoy. Don’t drive something boring when the used car market offers so much for so little money.
Let’s start with a car you definitely should not buy under any circumstances: a Mazda RX-8. Except they are pretty and quirky and we will never see their like again. Or their fuel and oil consumption. So get a functioning one and enjoy it for as long as you possibly can. They can be bought for buttons and I did see a 2004 RX-8 with a fresh engine at £2800. It’s probably better to buy a really late-model 2010 one that seems to have been looked after and is showing 40,000 miles. At £5999, the price seemed reasonable to me.
The utter frivolity of motor cars is no better demonstrated than the existence of the convertible. Now combine that with some sort of off-road ability. Just imagine how that would annoy those people who loathe cars, let alone 4x4s. Drive forward the Land Rover Freelander Softback. As the all-new Defender takes centre stage, the old-school Freelander remains the most affordable interpretation. So let’s make it worse by going for a diesel. A 1999 2.0 Di doesn’t sound good but, in the real world, makes all sorts of sense and the mileage is a reasonable 120k. It comes with full leather, decent tyres and just the three previous owners. All that wonderfulness for £995.
Then again, the whole point of a drop-top is to have huge fun. Obviously, you should get a 1997 Caterham Seven 1.6 K-Series Supersport for something in the region of £14k. If you can’t stretch to that, go for a Tiger kit car for £5k.
