Five V8 cars for under £10k copy

Tempting as it is to think of the V8 as a largely American confection, the truth is you too can be a bruiser on a budget as long as you don’t think too hard about the fuel bills. We’ve flicked through the classifieds and come up with five V8s you can rumble around in for around £10,000.

TVR Chimaera

It’s impossible to talk about V8 brutes without at least mentioning TVR. One could easily argue that, under Peter Wheeler’s ownership, the perpetually troubled TVR enjoyed something of a renaissance, launching a string of hairy-chested and boisterous monsters that all, at least to begin with, relied on V8 power.

The Chimaera arrived in 1992, billed as a long distance tourer version of the Griffith on which it was based. That meant (slightly) softer suspension, a little more length in the body, and a bigger boot for a weekend’s luggage.

Some suggest the Chimaera was originally intended to replace the Griffith, but with both models selling well, TVR rather smartly chose to keep the pair on sale together. In the end, they both enjoyed an 11-year production run.

Power came from the omnipresent Rover V8 which, just like the Griffith, was offered in sizes ranging from 4.0 to 5.0-litres and anything from a fairly ballsy 240hp to a faintly terrifying 340hp.

Small children everywhere loved pointing out that the Griffith’s rear light clusters were lifted from the Vauxhall Cavalier and mounted upside down, but it took them a little longer to work out that the Chimaera borrowed its lights from the Ford Fiesta.

Ultimately, the Chimaera outsold the Griffith roughly two-to-one, and that means today it’s the one most likely to fit within our budget. Panel rust isn’t a worry, thanks to the fibreglass body, but chassis rot is. Electrical gremlins can be a trial to track down, and often stem from water ingress, but generally parts availability is good, with many service items available off-the-shelf from the likes of Ford.

If the idea of being propelled by thunder appeals to you, the TVR won’t disappoint.

Triumph Stag

Ah, the much-maligned Triumph Stag. Never before has such promise been squandered by a poor reputation for reliability. While that reputation was probably well-deserved when the Stag was new, the truth is this T-topped Triumph is nowhere near as fundamentally-flawed as the history books make it out to be.

Let’s deal with the elephant in the room first. These things overheat, right? Well, that’s certainly what happened to a lot of them back in the day. And while many will tell you it’s because they were badly designed, it’s perhaps more accurate to say they were just badly built.

The problems largely stemmed from workers failing to remove the casting sand from the engine block. Over time, the cooling system eventually flushed it out for them, but that meant it collected in the radiator, gradually clogging it up and reducing its capacity. It’s at this point the overheating would start, and although not fatal by itself, the location of the expansion tank in relation to the other components caused the system to suck in air when cooling down. Left unresolved, the result is more overheating, blown gaskets, and warped heads.

But this can all be fixed. And by now nearly all Stags have been flushed to within an inch of their lives, fitted with a proper expansion system, and many sport uprated radiators and Kenlowe fans for added insurance.

That just leaves you to enjoy the Michelotti styling, the optional overdrive on manual models (an underrated set-up, in our opinion), and one of the most charismatic burbles on the planet.

Corvette C4

The fourth generation ‘vette, the C4, ushered in a new era for America’s sports car. Gone was the carry-over separate chassis, replaced by a hybrid arrangement that GM called ‘uniframe.’ The T-tops were also no more, swapped instead for a removable targa top. And while pop-up headlights were still a key feature, they were tucked away in the body’s sleeker, more modern styling.

There was a renewed focus on handling, too, centred around the introduction of a new light-weight suspension set-up that used a transverse fibreglass mono-leaf spring. That’s probably just as well, as that gave buyers something to do while waiting for the emissions-strangled engine to wake up; the L83 V8 made only 205hp from its 5.7-litres.

Performance improved as Chevy got to grips with computer-controlled fuel-injection, but for the C4, the real star of the show is the ZR-1. GM found itself the majority owners of Lotus and, keen for them to have something to do, politely enquired if they fancied the idea of developing the world’s fastest production car. The result was a quad-cam 32-valve V8 that, in its first iteration, thundered out 375hp, and the ZR-1 went on to set seven international and world records, including 24 hours of endurance running at just over 175mph for 4,221 miles.

A ZR-1 might be a big ask on this side of the pond, but a more restrained C4 should be readily available within our budget. Perhaps this wedge-shaped slice of Americana has been unfairly overlooked for long enough.

Mercedes-Benz R129 500SL

Think Mercedes-Benz SL and for many it’s the R107 model that springs to mind, particularly if they’re of an age where they can remember Bobby Ewing cruising top down on the never-ending drive to Southfork. It’s no surprise the R107 is so popular as it was in production for nigh-on 20 years, but if you want a roadworthy V8-powered convertible SL for the right side of £10k then you’ll have to think again and sign up for the subsequent, 1990-2002 R129 version.

That’s no bad thing, though, as the R129 SL represents a significant advancement over its iconic predecessor and, back in the day, was a technological tour de force. Highlights included a funky rollbar that deployed automatically in 0.3 seconds if a rollover was imminent, seats with integrated seatbelts, a fully automated electric hood that disappeared under the metal rear deck when lowered, and even a power-operated rearview mirror!

Best of all, Mercedes-Benz complemented the cutting-edge technology with a good old V8. The 500SL featured the 5.0-litre, 32-valve, DOHC M119 engine, which produced 322hp – making it the most powerful Mercedes-Benz road car at the time. Running production changes saw the V8 revised with different Bosch fuel injection, crankshaft, pistons and engine management amongst other tweaks, while post-1999 models received the M113 24-valve SOHC V8. To make it even more confusing, in 1994 Mercedes-Benz switched the naming from 500SL to SL500!

So, what type of example will 10 large buy? Think roadworthy rather than concours and you’ll be along the right lines. Granted, it’ll need plenty of upkeep but you’ll still be in one of the best V8 bargains.

Vauxhall Monaro

Vauxhall and V8 are rarely heard in the same sentence, but if you’re in the market for a full-fat, big-engined bruiser then the original Vauxhall Monaro deserves to be on your list.

In between pumping out thousands of three-cylinder Corsas and Ecotech Astras in 2004, Vauxhall took a step back, popped a brave pill and decided that what UK car buyers really needed was a V8, rear-wheel-drive coupé. A fine decision if ever there was one and with sister company Holden also in the General Motors fold, all it had to do was ship over the Monaro and swap the badge for the familiar griffin.

It was badge engineering at its finest, but with the Vauxhall Monaro packing a 328bhp, 5.7-litre LS1 motor under its bonnet, nobody was complaining. It became the most powerful production car ever to wear the Vauxhall name and its small-block Chevrolet motor catapulted it from 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds and onto a top whack of 160mph.

Simple suspension, a manual six-speed transmission and a lack of driver aids meant the V8 Vauxhall could be steered on the throttle, but it was also incredibly practical. The unstressed, normally-aspirated motor made it perfectly tractable, while the boot and interior provided plenty of space.

Unsurprisingly, it’s quite a tempting proposition to those who want something fast, loud, usable and V8-shaped and, unfortunately, that’s where the problem lies. Values are on the up and while you can still scrape an example for the right side of our budget, you’ll need to hurry up as we can’t see it staying that way for long.

Have we whet your whistle for a big old rumbly V8? Which one of our line-ups would you choose? Let us know in the comments below.