Europe gave the world some of the coolest cars of all time, especially back in the golden days. Most of the classic European cars look like sculptures made by the hands of some of the most skilled artists of all time. After all, cars of the Old World were mostly penned by skillful designers, and European cars were nothing short of art.

While European classics have been the darling of automobilia collectors, some managed to fly under the radar and stay underappreciated. While almost none of these underappreciated cars are world beaters, this doesn't mean they are not good cars. Yes, they may be overshadowed by other greats of their time, yet if you are in the market for a European classic, some of them are really strong contenders, especially if you are on a tight budget, want a project car, or just starting a car collection. These are 10 European classic cars that no one is buying, but everyone should consider.

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10 Fiat X1/9

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Via: Mecum

Debuting in 1972, this little Fiat coupé is one of the first affordable mid-engined cars. It was designed by legendary design house and coachbuilder Bertone and received very well by the public at the time.

It was regarded as a baby Ferrari, apart from the performance, because it was powered by a 1.3-liter—later upgraded to a 1.5-liter—inline-4 engine; the performance is not great as baby Ferraris go. It just crawled its way to 0-60 mph in 15 seconds, with a top speed of 105 mph for the 1.3-liter and 115 mph for 1.5-liter variants.

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Via: Fiat

While the engine only produced 85 horsepower at most, this car is light with pretty much perfect weight distribution, so it handles phenomenally. It also has independent suspension and anti-roll bars at the front and the back. Steering is light and precise, so you can just throw your Fiat X1/9 into every corner.

This is a pretty cheap car to buy, too. But if you are seriously considering a Fiat X1/9, you should do proper research because this is an aging Italian classic, so expect rust and problems with temperamental electronics.

9 Volkswagen Scirocco

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Via: Volkswagen

Styled by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, the first generation of the Volkswagen Scirocco is a truly great hatchback. The styling is sleek and timeless, the ride is good, and it was replacing the Karmann Ghia coupé. The Scirocco was essentially a more sporty version of the Golf that came with just three doors and GTI flavor.

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Via: Volkswagen

The Mk1 Scirocco GTI used the same 1.6-liter engine as the original Golf GTI. This peppy little four-banger gave this car very respectable figures back in the day. A 0-60 mph time came in just 8.5 seconds, with the car accelerating quite happily to 113 mph—not bad for a 110-hp engine. This car is rarer and cheaper than a Golf GTI, it weighs just 1,763 lbs, and it is very fun to drive, without being a risk to your driver's license.

8 Saab 900 Turbo

Even the non-turbo 900s are great cars; it was produced for 26 years without any major change, and it is very hard to beat. But when you strap one with a turbo, you get something truly special. As classic performance cars go, a Saab 900 Turbo is hard to beat. It's cheap, reliable, and built like a tank with great performance.

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Via: Saab Heritage

Saab was one of the pioneers of turbocharging engines, and they knocked it out of the park with the 900 Turbo. It was the best-selling turbocharged car at the time, and it is very easy to see why. These cars are bulletproof, the engines can see 400,000 miles with regular maintenance. However, if you want to trade longevity for performance, you can tune these bad boys to ridiculous levels—but you can still enjoy it with its stock tune of 158 horsepower.

7 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

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If you want a sleek-looking classic car and don't want it to nickel-and-dime you to death, the Karmann Ghia is just what the doctor ordered. Yes, it looks like an Italian sports car, because it is styled by the famous Carrozzeria Ghia and hand-built by Karmann, and it is just spectacular. But don't let its looks fool you because it is anything but fast.

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Via: Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia might look very pretty, but it is not much more than a Beetle underneath. In fact, apart from the slightly different chassis, the underpinnings are identical. This means if you pray hard enough, 0-60 will come, eventually. But there's an upside to this.

While the performance is lacking because the puny air-cooled engines could only produce 60 hp at best, this car is surprisingly cheap to buy and keep running. The Beetle engines are really easy to work on, and parts are very cheap and fairly abundant. Just don't damage the body, because they are all hand-made, and it's very expensive to fix.

Related: These '80s European Sports Cars Are Now Worth Nothing

6 Porsche 914

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Via: Porsche

The Porsche 914 is probably the most unloved air-cooled Porsche of all time. It was the cheapest offering from the German marque at the time, and Porsche enthusiasts really don't like cheap cars. But the 914 is a really good car and one of the more sensible choices. If you are in the market for a convertible classic, you should consider one.

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Via: Porsche

Now, the prices for 914 have somewhat risen, because everything air-cooled is worth more for some reason. But the prices are still rising, so it's a good investment. But what's the point of a car you couldn't drive? Well, you could and should drive the 914. Yes, the car is powered by Volkswagen-sourced four-bangers that barely made 100 hp, but you are driving a convertible, mid-engined Porsche that handles like a dream. Put down the roof, get on some canyon roads or mountain passes, and you will be reminded of how fun it is and how it makes every trip special. This is what classic motoring is all about.

5 Sunbeam Tiger

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Via: Bonhams

Now, if you are a fan of Carroll Shelby and desire owning a Cobra, but realize there's no way you can realistically afford it, then, welcome to the club. But don't lose all hope just yet, because the AC Ace is not the only British roadster that got Shelby's TLC. There's also the Sunbeam Alpine. Now, admittedly, this is not a cheap car. The prices are rising quite rapidly, but it is your best bet in period Shelby ownership.

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Via: Bring a Trailer

British manufacturers are hard to beat when it comes to producing little roadsters, and Carroll Shelby knew a thing or two to make them fast. Ford's Windsor V8 felt right at home when strapped into a British roadster, and the Tiger remains an obtainable dream for many Shelby fans.

4 Volvo 480

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Via: Volvo

Volvo is known for its safety. They go to great lengths to make automobiles safer for everyone. So, it's fairly surprising to see them make a wedge-shaped car that's pretty sporty. But it was the '80s and excess was the name of the game, so Volvo played along rather nicely.

Volvo 480
Volvo

What they came up with was the Volvo 480. It was a surprising design back then because previous Volvos were very angular. It's pretty interesting now because underneath the pop-up headlights there was a rather competent hot hatch.

Yes, it understeered a little bit, but Turbo versions made good power at the time, and it is a very practical, reasonable classic that you can have for very little money. It's one of the most underrated European cars but to be honest, you should buy one purely because it is a Volvo with pop-up headlights.

3 Fiat 600

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Via: Wikimedia Commons

The Fiat 600 is the predecessor and bigger brother of the most iconic Fiat of all time, the Fiat 500. Essentially a bigger version of the two, it was a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive family car. It was the first of the long line of funky-looking rear engine Fiats, and it redefined the meaning of the family car. It came in many body styles and there's a Fiat 600 for everyone.

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Via: Wikimedia Commons

The Fiat 600 is not a powerful car. It is powered by a 21-hp engine. It's very light at 1,345 lbs, but this low weight is not enough to make this car fast. The announced top speed is 60 mph, but we doubt you'll ever reach that. But no matter what, the Fiat 600 is a wonderful little car that everyone should know about.

2 Volkswagen Corrado

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Via: Volkswagen

Volkswagen's forgotten halo car, the Corrado was once a great beast. It was powered by legendary Volkswagen engines such as the supercharged G60 and VR6.

The Corrado was conceived as Volkswagen's first sports car, but lagged behind the Golf GTI in terms of sales for some very obvious reasons. The first was the price. The Corrado was more expensive than the Golf GTI and had the same engine options, the manual gearbox was not very precise, and it was front-wheel drive.

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Via: Volkswagen

But it is not all too bad. Nowadays, you can buy the Corrado for fair prices and have yourself a great coupé that can rival BMW and Mercedes models of the same era. The driving dynamics of the Corrado are great. It is very precise, as you would expect from an FWD car; the whole range of engines are very reliable, and you will have a rare European classic.

1 Porsche Boxster 986

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Via: Porsche

Automobile writers love to talk about the flaws of the Porsche Boxster 986. We love to tell you how underpowered it is and how the IMS failure is so common that it is a Russian Roulette to buy a first-generation Boxster. Well, not really because this is one fabulous car, and it deserves a lot more love from the automotive community.

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Via: Porsche

The Boxster is a great roadster, it makes good power for everyday use, it is reliable, the chassis is fantastic and, in turn, it is the best roadster you can buy for the money; even we can afford one.

Yes, the infamous IMS is real and catastrophic. But it only affected 5% of all Boxsters, and most of the affected cars are updated with better parts. Nowadays, the 986 Boxster is the perfect weekend and road trip car if you fancy open-top motoring.