These supercars are cheaper than you expect
Words by Marcus Boothby
Supercars are brilliant works of engineering and design. These are cars which can hit 200mph with ease, while being able to set incredible lap times around any track. And after a track session, you can drive your supercar to the centre of London and become the centre of attention.
However supercars are expensive, with many costing well over £200,000 before you start adding options. Yet, this is where the classifieds come into play. It’s quite easy to find your favourite supercar for half the price than it originally was. With the current global crisis and potential worldwide recession, prices are bound to get even lower.
So we reckon that now is the time to buy a second hand supercar, providing you can stomach the running costs of one. Here are some of the ones we like.
McLaren 720S - Prices from £124,500
The McLaren 720S is one of our favourite modern supercars, with spaceship looks and rocket like performance. The 720S originally came out in 2017, yet can still blow punches to the recent breed of exotica. The 720S is powered by a 4.0-litre V8 which produces 710bhp and weighs about 1450kg, which means it can sprint from 0 to 60mph in just 2.9 seconds and onto a top speed of 212mph. The 720S is also one of the fastest cars in its class around any given track, with it getting close to times set by the limited run P1 hypercar.
So, how much will all of this performance set you back? Well if you buy a new one from McLaren, you’re probably going to customise it and add all sorts of options with the price going well over £250,000. But, if you don’t care about having one made to order, you can get one second hand for well under £150,000. The cheapest we’ve seen was sold for £124,500 a few weeks ago. This is easily half price of speccing a brand new one.
Ferrari 488 GTB - Prices from £140,000
Up until the introduction of the F8 Tributo, the 488 GTB was Ferrari’s entry level supercar. The 488 is probably the finest iteration of the 458 Italia platform, in terms of performance and styling. Sure, the 488 Pista is a better car in terms of raw performance, but the 488 GTB is the better overall package. The 488 GTB offers similar levels of performance and luxury as the 720S, with its 3.9-litre V8 pumping out 661bhp and weighing 1470kg. 0-60mph is done in 3 seconds and goes onto 205mph. It also won many awards in its lifetime including Top Gear’s Supercar of the Year in 2015 and Motor Trend’s Best Driver’s Car in 2017.
Like the 720S, the 488 GTB is getting cheaper and cheaper with each month passing with the cheapest example we’ve seen coming in at a mere £142,200. Granted, a cheap one will be in generic Ferrari red but for the way the car drives and looks, we say it’s worth it.
Lamborghini Aventador - Prices from £148,000
As we’re now stepping into near hypercar territory. The Lamborghini Aventador is Lamborghini’s current flagship model with mind boggling performance. When the Aventador broke cover in 2011, it wow’d everyone with it’s 690bhp V12, AWD and for the time, a blistering fast 0-62mph time of 2.9 seconds. It was and still is the ultimate iteration of what a modern Lamborghini should be.
Fast forward nearly 10 years, the Aventador still looks insane, no matter what model you choose. Even the original models are still worth buying. The cheapest we’ve seen comes in at just under £149,000, and it is a pure bargain. The Aventador is everything you want from a supercar; it has the performance, the looks and brand appeal you just don’t get in a Ferrari. If we had the funds, we’d buy one.
Audi R8 V10 - Prices from £38,950
Even when the first Audi R8 came out in 2006, it was a performance car bargain. It had enough grunt to keep up with the likes of the 911 Turbo and Aston Martin V8 Vantages of this world but, things got serious when Audi stuck in the V10 from the Lamborghini Gallardo into their flagship supercar. This happened in 2009 and now the early V10 models are a true bargain.
I’ve made the point that if you’re looking at buying a brand new Audi TTRS, you may as well consider an R8 V10. Early models had the V10 taken from the Gallardo, and also found in the RS6 at the time, meaning you have 525bhp at your disposal going through all four wheels. This matched with a 3.9 second 0-60mph time, you have yourself a proper supercar bargain. You can easily pick one up from under £40,000, but I’d suggest spending a bit more to get a car with lower miles and a slightly nicer spec.
Porsche Carrera GT - Prices from £595,000
Granted, for the price of one Porsche Carrera GT, you can buy all the other supercars listed in this article and still have leftover money to buy a brand new Mercedes S63 AMG, but then you’d be missing the point. The Carrera GT is possibly one of the best supercars made in the 2000s. It’s almost certainly one of the last analogue supercars to be made too.
The Carrera GT came out at a time where rival products from Ferrari, Maserati and even Mercedes-McLaren were producing some fantastic cars with silly amounts of performance. Sure, the Carrera GT basically had a V10 destined for Formula 1 and for Porsche, fairly unusual styling, but for many people my age, it was a desktop wallpaper car.
The Carrera GT had 603bhp from its V10 engine and a top speed of well over 200mph. Production was limited to just 1500 units, with 49 of them heading officially to the UK. However, there are currently 6 for sale, with the cheapest being £595,000. That’s an absolute steal for one of the best supercars to be made in the 2000s.