Europe is home to some of the most desirable sports cars ever made, including supercars from famous Italian companies like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati, along with well-established automotive names from Germany and the UK.
Companies like Bugatti from France and Sweden’s Koenigsegg have recently created some of the most expensive cars ever, such as the $4.8 million Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita and the world’s priciest vehicle, the $19 million Bugatti La Voiture Noire.
Not every European sports car will set you back millions of dollars. If you’re prepared to shop around, there are sporty vehicles to be found for just a fraction of that price.
10 Lotus Elise - $12,000
British car manufacturer Lotus has been in business since 1948 and are as famous for their successful seasons in Formula One racing as they are for their road-legal sports cars. The Lotus Elise is a two-seater roadster with light fiberglass bodywork and a top speed of 150mph. The little sports car first went on sale in 1996.
Named in honor of the grand-daughter of Romano Artioli, who was Lotus chairman when the Elise was launched, used models that are a few years old can be found for as little as $12,000.
9 Porsche 911 - $9,000
The Porsche 911 is one of the most iconic European sports cars of all time, and it has been popular with drivers around the world since its launch in 1963. The 911 has undergone some changes over the years but has maintained much of its familiar exterior styling for almost 60 years.
A brand new Porsche 911 will set you back at least $100,000 but there are second-hand models on the market for less than a tenth of that – a small price to pay for a piece of automotive history.
8 Audi R8 - $35,000
Audi is one of several German car manufacturers with a reputation for creating high-end luxury vehicles, but they have also come up with a pretty impressive sports car in the shape of the Audi R8. First sold in 2005, the two-seater R8 is powered by Audi’s proprietary Quattro all-wheel-drive system, and the current model uses the same platform as the Lamborghini Huracan supercar.
Used models are only going to be 14 years old at the most, so they aren’t the cheapest European sports car on the market, but $35,000 is still good value for a German-engineered machine.
7 Fiat 500 Abarth - $4,000
The Fiat 500 Abarth may not be what most people think of as a typical sports car, but it is a high-performance version of the reinvented Fiat 500 hot hatch. The car was launched at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show and went on sale to the public later that year. Two years later a high-performance Abarth version of the Fiat 500 cabriolet was also unveiled, with a top speed of 127mph.
Drivers looking for a cheap and sporty European car could do a lot worse than spending $4000 on a used Fiat 500 Abarth.
6 BMW Z4 - $5,000
BMW may usually be associated with luxury executive cars, but their BMW Z4 roadster has also proven popular with drivers since its launch in 2002. The first-generation model was a larger version of the BMW Z3, which was the first mass-production roadster in BMW’s long and illustrious history.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the Z4 was its stylish exterior design, which was created by top BMW engineer Anders Warming. Older second-hand models of the BMW Z4 can be picked up these days for just a few thousand dollars.
5 Aston Martin DB7 - $25,000
Fans of the James Bond movies will be well aware of the name Aston Martin, and their stylish and sophisticated range of sports cars. You might assume that 007’s car would be well out of the financial reach of most ordinary drivers, but some second-hand models are surprisingly affordable.
A used Aston Martin DB7, for example, can cost just $25,000, despite its high-end performance and style. Just 7,000 DB7 models were made in the ten years between 1994 and 2004 when the vehicle was in production.
4 Jaguar F-Type - $25,000
Another British car manufacturer with a reputation for creating beautiful and well-engineered cars is Jaguar, a company that was founded in 1935 before being merged with Land Rover and bought by Indian automotive giant Tata in 2008.
One of the most sophisticated cars on the Jaguar roster is the F-Type, a two-door grand tourer with a top speed of almost 200mph, which first went on sale in 2013. A brand-new model can cost up to $80,000, but used Jaguar F-Types are on the market for just $25,000.
3 Porsche Boxster - $10,000
Teenage boys dreaming of driving a Porsche one day probably thought they would never have enough money to buy one for real. They may have been surprised to grow up and find that a second-hand Porsche Boxster would only set them back $10,000.
The Boxster is a two-seater, mid-engine roadster, originally designed by Porsche engineer Grant Larson. Launched in 1997, the Boxster has sold thousands of models around the world as well as winning dozens of awards. $10,000 is a bargain for such a high-performance vehicle.
2 Alfa Romeo 4C - $38,000
Italy is the home of stylish supercars, and while Alfa Romeo may not be as famous as Ferrari or Lamborghini, the Milan-based company has created some stunning sports cars in recent years. The Alfa Romeo 4C is a lightweight roadster with an aluminum chassis and carbon fiber bodywork, allowing its turbocharged engine to power the vehicle to a top speed of 160 mph.
Alfa Romeo announced that they were ending production on the 4C roadster in 2020, but you can still buy used models if you have a spare $38,000.
1 Audi TT - $10,000
In production for almost a quarter of a century, the Audi TT sports car is available as both a four-seater coupe and a two-seater roadster. First unveiled at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, the TT eventually went on sale to the public in 1998.
The current model has an impressive top speed of 155 mph, but it also comes with a hefty price tag of $50,000. Luckily, drivers who are willing to shop around can find second-hand Audi TT vehicles for a much cheaper $10,000.