12 sub-£30k V12 classic cars for sale

Big-hearted beauties

Twelve cylinders was the ultimate prestige for manufacturers – it represented the top of the model range, promising effortless torque, smooth running and plenty of power.

In some cases the V8 models were just as potent and refined, but taking it up to 12 was deemed necessary as a point of prestige. Of course, once these cars entered the secondhand market the depreciation was as fierce as the fuel bills, but for aficionados there’s nothing like a V12.

It used to be the case that such was the downward trend, you could pick up all sorts of overly endowed exotica for less than £30k such as the Ferrari 456. However, with numbers thinning out and the onward march of electric, there’s been a drastic fall in the number of new V12s, meaning used prices have risen. We couldn’t even find an automatic Ferrari 456 for under £30k.

But don’t worry! We’ve still found 12 ways to splash the cash – and premium unleaded – for less than £30k. Which one would you choose?

All examples given were pre-2000 and available to purchase in the UK at the time of writing.

1. Mercedes-Benz CL600 (£12,995
)

The Mercedes-Benz C215 was a return to a curvy form after its boxy C140 predecessor. A variety of powerplants was offered, but the V12s perhaps best represented the nature of the car.

While you could buy the ultra-rare CL63 V12 or the rampantly torquey CL65 from AMG, the 362bhp on offer from the CL600’s 5.8-litre 12-pot was the very picture of smoothness.

Mercedes-Benz CL600 (cont.)

However, owning one is not always easy. These cars were touching £100,000 at the turn of the millennium and as is often the way, parts prices don’t depreciate at the same rate as the rest of the car.

But this era of Mercedes-Benz is among the last of the elegant models, before the more brutal styling of the early 2000s started to make itself known.

It’s part of the reason values for these graceful super-coupés have been on the ascent for some time now. We found a 2000 example finished in Champagne and located in Devon on 65,000 miles for £12,995.

2. Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage (£26,950)

The Aston Martin DB7 promised so much on its launch, but its supercharged ‘six’ didn’t quite match up to the stylish form penned by Ian Callum.

The introduction of the V12 Vantage in 1999 elevated the car to new heights, with plenty of torque, vast reserves of power and a turbine-smooth delivery.

The engine has its detractors due to its origins, but we’re not one of them – there’s plenty of blood and thunder for fun and frolics, yet lots of flexibility for when you want to cruise.

Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage (cont.)

The arrival of the V12 brought other improvements, with regards to the styling and choice of gearbox – while the manual is the best option, the automatic is a good match for the V12’s nature.

Arguably the DB7 makes for a purer, more comfortable GT than the newer DB9, which is why values have grown so much over the past year.

We found a lovely looking 1999 Solent Silver automatic in Surrey, that’s done 41,000 miles, for £26,950.

3. BMW 850i (£27,950)

The BMW 8 Series E31 was hyped by the press as the car to take on the Porsche 911, but when it made its debut the long-legged GT stylings didn’t find favour among scribes.

Their loss! The 8 Series has emerged from its frowned-upon status to become recognised as the desirable super-GT it always was. You had the choice of a V8 or V12, and with the larger engine you had 300bhp and 333lb ft of torque under your right foot.

BMW 850i (cont.)

Inside and out the styling has a wonderful retro-futuristic feel. It is not quite as swoopily sexy as its main inspiration, the Porsche 928, but it’s hard not to feel like you’re in a Blade Runner spinner as you take in the angular cabin. You’ll never tire of the headrests, either.

The V12 is smooth and swift, and just the thing to whisk you across the Continent blissfully.

We spotted a Mauritius Blue example from 1991 on 40k miles for £27,950 in Hampshire.

4. Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (£29,995)

The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph represents the crossover point between the old world and the new; it was the last car designed alongside a Bentley (the Arnage), and wouldn’t use the venerable old 6.75-litre V8.

In the end it was on sale as Rolls-Royce said goodbye to Bentley altogether, as BMW took over. Still, at the time it was a very special car – the first V12 Rolls-Royce since the 1939 Phantom III. 

Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (cont.)

Mated to a five-speed gearbox, the BMW-sourced 5.4-litre V12 was designed for smoothness, rather than all-out punch. Despite this, the Seraph does handle rather well for such a big beast.

It also represents the last of a certain type of Rolls-Royce styling – the cars that came next took a rather different tack, which wasn’t to all tastes.

We found a 1998, 48,000-mile example in Scotland. Finished in Silver Pearl, you’ll need £29,995 to make it yours.

5. Jaguar XJ-S/XJS (£14,000)

The Jaguar XJ-S/XJS was for many years regarded as the poor relation to the E-type, but it’s now rightly seen as providing a truly excellent GT experience, just as it was created to do.

Its gentle curves hide an exceptionally potent car that delivered in-gear thump to rival sportier and lesser-cylindered cars from BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

The key to it all was the 5.3-litre V12, which allied true performance with silky smoothness. As time went on, displacement and performance grew.

Jaguar XJ-S/XJS (cont.)

The styling, often and unfairly criticised for so long, simply gets better with age. We’re unlikely to get cars that look like this ever again; much in the same way we’re never going to get lusty V12s any more.

The good news is that despite ever-increasing popularity you can get into a great example for a lot less than you might imagine: we found a good-looking 1985 car in Sage Green on 39k miles in Yorkshire for £14k.

But you can get in for about five grand less in some cases, although condition will vary; minters will be touching £30k.

6. Mercedes-Benz S600 (£14,995)

The W140 S-Class was the car that changed everything for its maker. It cost a billion Deutschmarks, its development was hit by setback after setback, and it was released into the eye of a global recession that made its large proportions and even larger purchase price out of step with the times.

Mercedes-Benz would never be the same again – the accountants would hold sway over the engineers; we all know how that ended up.

Mercedes-Benz S600 (cont.)

Mercedes’ 140-series wasn’t originally meant to have a V12, but German corporate pride wouldn’t allow upstarts BMW to release a 7 Series without riposte from Stuttgart.

That response was the super-smooth M120 that produced a potent 389bhp to 402bhp, enough to whisk this gargantuan machine to 155mph and beyond, if the limiters could be disconnected.

It’s also the basis of the Pagani Zonda’s outrageous powerplants. Can’t afford one of those? Well, you can get a slice of M120 V12 power for £14,995 courtesy of a left-hand-drive example dating from 1997 on 82k miles in Devon.

7. BMW 750iL (£19,995)

The BMW E38 7 Series wasn’t the first of its kind with a V12 – that fell to its immediate predecessor, the E32.

However, the E38 is the car that really brought BMW to the same level of appreciation as its great rival – the way it rides and cossets is the equal, if not better, than the S-Class equivalents.

Then there’s the way it looks. It’s a high watermark in BMW saloon design and its elegant, restrained looks stand in stark contrast to Munich’s more recent products.

BMW 750iL (cont.)

The 5.4-litre M73 V12 was built for refinement rather than outright punch – the Mercedes-Benz equivalents outgunned it in that regard.

The BMW instead measured out its superiority in turbine-smooth delivery; so creamy it was used in the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.

We found a 35k-mile 1998 car on Merseyside, finished in Oxford Green, for £19,995, but that was the exception – you can make your V12 dreams come true for more than half that for six-digit-mileage cars.

8. Toyota Century G50 (£10,999)

The Toyota Century might not have the cachet or svelte looks of the other cars here, but it’s arguably the most refined – and that includes the Rolls-Royce and the Jaguar.

Heresy? Not a bit of it – this is the pinnacle of Japanese luxury motoring. The first and only front-engined, rear-wheel drive V12 Japanese production car was also Toyota’s V12.

The Century is all about the rear passengers. The back seats recline, and there’s a hole through the front passenger seat so that executives can stretch out in style. 

Toyota Century G50 (cont.)

The Century was a true bespoke product. Think seven layers of paint, lace curtains and massaging seats, plus a lot more.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, it’s a delight to ride in, and the super-smooth 5.0-litre V12 is almost silent in operation.

Despite not being officially imported to the UK, several have come in under diplomatic imports. We found a black example in the north-east from 1998 on 56k miles for £10,999.

9. Daimler Double Six/Jaguar XJ12 S1-III (£11,995-£24,995)

The Daimler Double Six and Jaguar XJ12 were part of a long lineage of beautifully rendered luxury saloons; Sir William Lyons proclaimed it the finest Jaguar ever.

With excellent ride quality and brakes and, in the XJ12’s case, the only V12 mass-produced four-door saloon title to its name, it rightly came to symbolise classy executive travel.

Though it was claimed to be the fastest four-seater in the world (with a 140mph top whack), the bigger praise came for its whisper-soft 5.3-litre V12. Meanwhile the Daimler Double Six upped the luxury even more through some nifty badge engineering.

Daimler Double Six/Jaguar XJ12 S1-III (cont.)

The good news is that while most classic Jaguars have accelerated in value quite dramatically, the XJ12/Double Six remains remarkably inexpensive – well, to buy at least. Which is an important point.

We found a 1973 Double Six SWB on 53k miles in Heather (otherwise known as pink) in Berkshire for £24,995, while there was a 1992 Double Six on 69k miles for sale in London, priced at £11,995.

10. Mercedes-Benz SL600 (£19,995)

The Mercedes-Benz R129 might not yet have the ultra desirability of its W113 and R107 predecessors, but it’s well on the way, with early V8s and rare AMG versions waving goodbye to the teens and 20s and heading upwards, price-wise, from there.

The 600SL/SL600 used the same M120 V12 as the aforementioned W140 S-Class, but perhaps more so than in the saloon, in the R129 it represented an even greater indulgence.

Mercedes-Benz SL600 (cont.)

Journalists said that it didn’t drive a degree better than the V8 to make the extra expense worth it, but aficionados love its more refined cruising capabilities.

Indeed, the mental image of a long trip to Portofino in the sun with the refined buzz of all twelve cylinders up front is hard to resist. We found a 1995 Azurite Blue example on 82k miles in Sussex with a £19,995 price-tag.

11. Jaguar XJ12 XJ40 (£19,950)

The Jaguar XJ40 didn’t take the V12 engine from the XJ12/Double Six for a long time. Because its engineers had allegedly made the XJ40’s bay difficult to get a V8 in on purpose, it took a significant re-engineering effort to shoehorn the V12 in.

In the meantime the XJ12/Double Six had been doing a fine trade in Series III form, particularly in the USA. Nevertheless, in 1993 the venerable V12 was made to fit, now in 6.0-litre form.

Jaguar XJ12 XJ40 (cont.)

Sadly the XJ40 had suffered from a long gestation and poor initial reliability, which allowed rivals such as the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class to steal a march on the Brit; the introduction of the Lexus LS400 did more damage in the USA.

The car would soon be replaced by the X300 in 1994, giving the angular XJ40-based car just a couple of years to make its mark. As such it’s exceptionally rare, and the only one we found was, at the time of writing, heading to the UK on a boat from Japan. A 1993 car, it’s finished in red and is on 28k miles – it’s yours for £19,950.

12. Ferrari 412 (£20,000 – and the rest)

The Ferrari 412 used to be the car that was pointed at and laughed at by the cognoscenti.

But now its stock has risen as the car has grown into its Pininfarina skin, and the concept of a cruising Ferrari isn’t seen with the same horror it once was.

There’s much to enjoy – the sound of the Colombo V12, the smell of its interior that only cars bearing that yellow badge have, and a thoroughly pleasing driving experience.

Ferrari 412 (cont.)

In fact, such is its reputation turnaround, we couldn’t find any for below £44,000 that were in running condition.

So we decamped to a well-known, non-specialist auction website and found a 1989 example largely in blue for £20,000. We say ‘largely’, because a significant proportion is a familiar shade of brown due to corrosion.

Unsurprisingly, it’s said to be in need of extensive restoration – just how brave do you feel? At least we’ve given you 11 other hopefully less alarming options…