Democratising greatness
James Elliott, editor in chief
PROBABLY THE MOST frequent topic of conversation in the Octane office is the current conveyor belt of ‘brave’ cars. By that I mean the high-spec, high-performance, Top Marques fare that is at the bottom of its value curve and which will provide sensational value for money… right up until your new status-mobile throws a piston or blows a fuse. Of course, there have always been plenty of cars in this category – Jaguar, Rolls and Bentley have made an artform of depreciation – but never in my motoring lifetime has there been such a smorgasbord of desirable high-performance halo cars to take a punt on for buttons. And make no mistake, it will be a punt if you shop in the same shallow waters as I frequent.
Maserati 3200, 4200 and Quattroporte, Porsche Cayenne and 996, Bentley Continental GT, a host of blunderbuss AMG Mercs, supercharged V8 Jaguars… All yours from a few thousand pounds and a gutsy roll of the dice up to £20,000.
When Aston Martin launched its Vantage as a model rather than a variant, it was hard to imagine it would ever slump to such financial doldrums. But it is well on the way, sitting in the next tantalising price bracket upwards along with the likes of the Audi R8. The fact that Vantages are not quite as lowly valued as the cars I mentioned above, though they may yet get there, offers the bonus that higher values usually mean lower mileages, which is crucial in this game when you are gambling your mortgage against a cambelt.
Clas
