25 classic drop-tops for less than £10k

Feel the wind in your hair

We’re heading into summer, and although the UK’s weather system is hardly reliable, us Brits are among Europe’s biggest buyers of drop-top cars – that’s optimism for you!

Here we’ve found 25 cabriolets, convertibles and roadsters you can buy for less than £10,000, all based on cars for sale at the time of writing.

There’s a little something for everyone, from a nostalgic ’60s gem to a sporty modern classic. Which one would you choose?

1. MGF

The MGF had to be something special – it was the first outright new sports car to wear the famed octagon since the MGB bowed out in 1980.

With a zesty 1.8-litre K-Series engine and Hydragas suspension, it was a sports car to rival those developed by other manufacturers on much bigger budgets.

Like most MGs, there’s a thriving club scene and plenty of shared knowledge, which means ownership is relatively simple – leaving you to enjoy the breaks in the wet weather. We found one in Norfolk on 75k miles for just £2500.

2. Alfa Romeo GTV Spider

The Alfa Romeo GTV 916 took a long time to reach production – its design was signed off in the late ’80s – but in the mid-’90s it was a revelation. Front-wheel drive was no hindrance to its sporty appeal thanks to a zingy four-cylinder and big-hearted V6.

The four-pot is best suited to the chassis – in this form the car’s handling was described as class-leading by at least one major magazine – but with the roof down the Busso V6 is a sonorous delight.

You can pick up good-looking examples of both for our budget, but we were particularly taken with a 1999 four-pot in blue that’s done 90,000 miles, for sale in Herefordshire, priced at £3000.

3. MG Midget

The MG Midget, from the very beginning, offered the ultimate diluted sports car experience – no frills, a revvy engine and light weight.

Low cost, too – it was all about delivering the biggest grin for the money.

Those founding principles still hold true, whether you go for a rubber- or chrome-bumpered variety. We found a 1978 example in Leicester, that’s done 78k miles, for £7995.

4. Mazda MX-5

The Mazda MX-5 was a sensation on its launch – it offered all the dynamic pleasures of British sports cars with none of the drawbacks, and quite rightly sold spectacularly well.

It’s still in production today, albeit in a much more sophisticated and larger form. The original is arguably the best. Not only is there a purity to the design and dynamics, and it is great fun, but it also a large, faithful following, just the kind of supportive community that really helps classic car ownership.

And the best bit? It’s got pop-up headlights, of course. We found a 1992 1.8 in Nottingham that has done 85k miles for £3000 that, according to the vendor, has received a full mechanical fettling and a respray – it was snapped up within hours of being posted.

5. Jaguar XK8

The Jaguar XK8 has to be one of the biggest classic drop-top bargains around at the moment.

It might not be quite as potent as its supercharged sibling, the XKR, but it’s still got a smooth yet hefty V8 upfront that, with Sport mode engaged, delivers autoroute-commanding in-gear acceleration.

It also looks beautiful too, a winning blend of historic references and silky modern style. Its relative anonymity compared to the XKR means that these are great value.

We found a 77k-mile example for sale in Kent for just £5000 – not a great deal of money for true luxury living.

6. Saab 900T 16S

The Saab 900 Convertible wasn’t supposed to happen – it wasn’t really on its maker’s radar.

For a car that only became a convertible due to the persistence of the American importer and innovative use of marketing funds, the 900 nails the brief when it comes to stylish yet offbeat summer wheels.

For our budget we found a relatively high-mile (129k) 1991 model with an automatic gearbox in a stunning shade of red for less than five grand. Its unique design has made the 900 a favourite among the North London fashionistas – we can well imagine turning up to a trendy car boot sale in Islington in one of these.
 

7. Triumph Vitesse

The Triumph Vitesse took the fundamentals of the four-cylinder Herald and transformed the humble saloon into a six-cylinder sports car.

With the Convertible you got full access to a rorty exhaust note with the roof down. The Giovanni Michelotti-penned looks manage to be both cute and sportingly aggressive, thanks to the rakish slanted headlight look.

While the Vitesse has seen big results at auction for exquisite models (at more than twice our budget), you can still find usable cars below £10k. We found a 90k-miler in Crewe that needs some cosmetic TLC, but is apparently otherwise in fine fettle, for £7500.

8. Renault Caravelle

The Renault Caravelle delivers such a delightful injection of classic French chic that even taking in its gloriously curvaceous exterior gives you cause to dream of floating through tiny Continental backroads.

Power comes from a Dauphine-sourced four-cylinder engine that provides around 37bhp, though 40bhp more was available thanks to Amédée Gordini.

You won’t find one of the latter’s tuned examples within our budget, but a later Renault 8-based example (with 48bhp, then 55bhp) just might be available. We spotted a powder blue, 61,000-mile 1965 model for sale in Hampshire for £9850.

9. Triumph TR7

The Triumph TR7 might not have had an easy ride when it was new, but opinion has changed – the car is now warmly regarded by a new generation of fans who appreciate its rakish looks and, most importantly, its pop-up headlamps.

It’s even featured in a Lady Gaga video, though it hasn’t quite become a favourite among the fashionistas.

That means you can still pick one up for not a lot of cash. We found a five-speed manual car from 1980 in Hampshire on 83k miles for £5395 with a private seller. It needs a little TLC, according to the vendor, but with the weather improving, it’d make a nice summer project.

10. Triumph Stag Mk2

How about another Triumph-badged option? The Stag was memorably compared to the Mercedes-Benz R107 SL when new, and while prices for the latter have hit the stratosphere, Triumph’s V8 drop-top is still available for much less than its historic German rival.

Buying a Stag is no longer a risky purchase, with nearly all of the car’s foibles attended to by a dedicated and passionate fanbase.

Most Stags have passed the £10k barrier but we found a couple within, including a Mimosa yellow automatic in Surrey for £9950 – so if the burbling V8 rumble doesn’t alert people to your arrival, the eye-popping paintwork will. 

11. Fiat Barchetta

The Fiat Barchetta was so much more than the sum of its parts – it might have been derived from the lowly Punto but the chassis was tuned to perfection for lively yet precise B-road handling, while the looks are truly exotic.

It’s such a shame that Fiat never saw fit to make a right-hand-drive version, but if you can deal with that this is a great little summer runabout. Who knows, if/when Europe opens up, this would be great for a little Continental road trip.

We saw a metallic blue example with 92k miles for sale in Lancashire at £5300.

12. Morris Minor 1000 Convertible

The Morris Minor is one of the country’s most popular classic cars, with fantastic club support and a warm reservoir of love among the general population.

Taking the roof off only adds to the experience – it’s hard not to imagine bimbling along country lanes taking in birdsong and the natural world.

It’s frugal, too – you can get 40mpg out of the four-cylinder engine. We found a lovely-looking 1965 example on 70k miles in North Yorkshire, with a £7500 pricetag.

13. Triumph Herald 13/60

The Triumph Herald 13/60 was the final flourish of the Herald range – the front more closely resembled the Vitesse and the engine was enlarged to 1.3-litres to provide a very useful 61bhp.

It was a deeply popular car, which was a problem for its maker – Triumph made a loss on each one sold.

All convertibles are scarce, but we found a last-year-of-production example in a lovely blue-green for £6750 on 87k miles in Sussex.

14. MGB Roadster

The MGB Roadster is the quintessential British classic drop-top – and it represents great value for money. They’re still engaging little cars to drive, with stupendous club support and well-known mechanicals.

Buy a good, well-preserved one and it’s as simple and straightforward as classic ownership gets, with plenty of parts available.

Our budget will definitely get you into a rubber-bumper example, but if your heart is set on a chrome-bumper model, you can just about get into a nice one for less than £10k. We found a good-looking 1971 example in Devon for £9950 that had just received fresh suspension and a new mohair hood, stickered at £9950.
 

15. BMW E30 Convertible

The BMW E30 Convertible has a sharknose style that’s difficult to resist. Much like Mercedes’ SL Pagoda, there’s an elegant simplicity to its Boyke Boyer-penned exterior.

Values for all E30s have risen and where once six-cylinder E30s were cheap as chips, now you’ll struggle to find a great example under £10k.

While we did find a six-cylinder 320i manual in Surrey on 128k miles for £8900, you’re more likely to find quality four-pots for under our target figure, especially if you’re looking for a lower-mileage example.

16. Peugeot 205 CTI

The Peugeot 205 GTI is an icon among hot hatches, and adding fresh air to the mix only brings its zesty performance to light even further.

It’s not quite as dynamically pure as the tin-tops, but with a rev-happy engine, crisp steering and cutely pert looks it’s hard not to be won over by this tasty French fancy.

We found a 1.6 and a 1.9 for under our budget, about half what you’d pay for a really nice 205 GTI. Our choice would be the 1.9 CTI on 83k miles in Hampshire we found for £6600 with a 10 months’ MoT and only a few minor body marks to deal with.

17. Reliant Scimitar GTC Automatic

The Reliant Scimitar had evolved into a cruiser par excellence by the time of the SE6 – and in 1980, the much-planned Convertible finally hit the market, three years after Ogle Design was tasked with coming up with a roofless take on the recipe.

Power came from a 2.8-litre Cologne V6 purloined from a Ford Capri, and initially the car was well received, with 340 finding homes in the first year of production. Sadly demand fell away after that, with just double digits sold over the next five years.

That means any surviving example is worth a look, and will certainly turn heads at shows. We found a 1980 model in Cumbria on 103k miles at £8250.
 

18. Porsche Boxster

The Boxster was a dynamic shot in the arm for Porsche that went a long way towards reviving the firm’s fortunes in the mid-1990s. Many thousands were sold, and that strength in numbers means there’s plenty of choice out there.

Where once a sub-£5k budget got you a slightly ropey 924 or 944, you can now pick up a decent Boxster. That figure will bag you a nice 2.5, which provides a sublime chassis, but the engine isn’t quite enough to exercise it.

However, extend your budget to £10k and you have a wider choice of engines and bigger thrills – we found a 2002 3.2 S for a tenner under £10k in Worcestershire in stunning Arctic Silver with under 60,000 miles. 

19. Audi TT

Audi’s TT is a design icon that’s starting to be appreciated in classic circles – and with solid engineering and a variety of engines to choose from, there’s a model to suit all tastes.

Though you can get newer TTs for less than £10k nowadays, it’s the original shape that holds most appeal. We found a tasty-looking, special-order version in Imola Yellow with the 225bhp 20v engine for a little under seven grand, which will be just the thing for buzzing down your nearest B-road.

Some might see that price as high for a 68,000-mile 2001 example, but tatty TTs are being swept away, leaving the very best to appreciate.

20. Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet

The drop-top was a long-standing part of the Beetle make-up, with more than 330,000 built between 1949 and 1980.

It was a much more technical proposition than simply lopping the roof – the car was significantly reinforced in an attempt to boost torsional rigidity. It’s still definitely not a sports car, but every single centimetre oozes feel-good vibes. It’s up there with the Mini and the Morris Minor for mainstream kerbside appeal.

We saw a 70,000-mile 1972 Karmann Convertible for sale in Scotland, priced at £8500.

21. TVR 280/290S

The TVR 280/290S might just be for you if you like the cut of TVR’s jib, you can’t quite stretch to a Chimaera, but don’t quite fancy a model from the wedge era.

Power comes from grunty Ford V6s, which is good news for parts and servicing. It was pretty much a classic car as soon as it left the factory, especially in comparison to contemporaries such as the BMW Z1, Lotus Elan M100 and Mazda MX-5.

However, its truly old-school flavour makes it one of the most characterful and engaging cars on our list, if not the most practical – but who cares when the sun’s out? We found a 70k-mile 280S from 1989 in white up for grabs in Bangor for a shade under £7000.

22. BMW Z3 2.8

The Z3’s curvy style wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but surely hearing the serrated howl of a BMW six-cylinder in all its glory will appeal to most?

A highly popular car in its day, it is still relatively plentiful with around 9000 on the road, according to Howmanyleft? – good news in terms of shared knowledge and parts availability for today’s owners.

It’s also probably the least expensive way into a genuine Bond car these days, other than an ex-private hire MkIV Ford Mondeo. Prices haven’t gone mad either – we spotted a nice-looking example in Northern Ireland that’s just tipped over 106k miles for £4750.

23. Mercedes-Benz E220 Cabriolet (124-series)

The Mercedes-Benz 124-series might be more associated with robustly built estates and saloons, but the cabriolet added some much-needed style to the range.

This is truly elegant, prestigious drop-top motoring, though for our budget you’ll have to forego the more desirable six-cylinder engines unless you fancy taking on a project. Then again, the 124 cabrio was never about hardcore thrills – this refined four-seater is all about wafting serenely on a sunny day. It’s practical, too, and there really is room for four.

We found a 131,000-mile E220 Cabriolet in Suffolk for a smidge under £9000, with what’s described as a ‘metronomic’ service history.

24. Volkswagen Golf Clipper Convertible

The VW Golf Clipper Convertible is one of the icons of the 1980s and ’90s – especially in white and with the outrageous bodykit many of them came with.

It’s not the most dynamically pure car in our list – it is a Mk1 Golf, after all, and its lack of power steering and braking ‘performance’, particularly in early cars, takes some getting used to. However, there’s a passionate scene dedicated to these suburban heroes, with great parts supply.

Though we were tempted by a bodykit-free early example in all its Giugiaro-penned purity, it was hard to resist the 1991 93k-mile example with all the ’80s ‘shoulder pads’ that we saw for sale in Sheffield for £8990 – in white, of course. 
 

25. Mercedes-Benz SL320 (R129)

The Mercedes-Benz R129 SL is on the cusp of being the next big thing as R107 SLs rise inexorably in value. It’s already happening with the best V12 and V8 models, but six-cylinder examples represent excellent value.

For what the SL is best at – effortless cruising with the roof down – the lack of punch compared to its bigger-hearted brethren doesn’t matter. And fewer cylinders up front means the 320 handles much more sweetly, too.

We found a 106k-miler in Clapton, in a lovely shade of Tourmaline Green metallic, for £7500 in need of minor cosmetic attention to a bumper. Other six-cylinder models are available, but it’s best to go directly for the 320SL/SL320, which has the pace to match its grace.