Rare 90s sports car that Richard Hammond says ‘is a classic waiting in the wings’ can be bought for less than £7,000
PETROLHEADS can snap up a modern classic sports car for less than £7,000 – and possibly make a profit on it in a few years time.
The very cool Volkswagen Corrado, built by the German manufacturer between 1988 and 1995, was described as “really rather special” by Richard Hammond when he took one for a spin on an episode of Top Gear.
In the 2003 episode, Hammond discussed little-known motors that could one day be considered classics, and might go up in value as a result.
He said: “What you need is a car that’s not yet a classic but that one day will be; a kind of classic waiting in the wings, if you will.
“This scheme has the whiff of genius about it, what you’re looking for is a car that’s young enough to still be good to drive and reliable but old enough to have been forgotten.”
Hammond believed the Corrado VR6 is a prime example of this, highlighting its unusual looks and brilliant performance.
He said: “I think it’s really rather special, even though under the skin it’s a bit of a mongrel.
“It’s been kind of cobbled together from bits of old VW, so we’ve got Passat in the rear suspension and a bit of Mk2 Golf at the front.”
It was a complete flop; it was too expensive and nobody bought it, which means it’s quite rare.
Richard Hammond
Under the bonnet, the Corrado VR6 has a 2.9-litre V6 engine that Hammond says “sounds fantastic” and produces 190 bhp, helping it reach 60 mph in 6.7 seconds.
Hammond added: “Its looks and performance go some way towards making it a future classic, but there is another factor that’s even more important.
“It was a complete flop; it was too expensive and nobody bought it, which means it’s quite rare.”
From new, the Corrado VR6 was priced at over £20,000 and few were sold – with just over 1,000 currently left on the roads in the UK.
Despite their scarcity, they can still be picked up rather reasonably – with one example found on Autotrader coming in at under £7,000.
It seems, 20 years on, Hammond wasn’t quite right about the Corrado VR6 being a motor to keep hold of as a future investment – but it might just be a slow riser.
Volkswagen Corrado VR6 specs
- Transmission: Manual
- Gearbox: 5 Speed
- Drivetrain: Front wheel drive
- Power: 190 bhp
- Top Speed: 146 mph
- 0-60 mph: 6.7 secs
Indeed, few cars are seen as good investments, but there are a handful that experts agree on could rise in value in years to come.
James Russell, a specialist who runs a car dealership called The Motor Grid, recently spoke to Sun Motors about modern classics.
He said: “I believe that anything really that falls into the 90s and early 2000s to 2010 fits within the modern classic era.
“I think that’s kind of the era when a lot of the combustion cars were near their peak, so there’s a massive wave of epic cars that fit into that category.”
When asked to name the quintessential modern classic car, James picked the Lotus Elise S2.
He added: “It pops into my brain I think because they were so iconic in their era.
“And now they’re snowballing into excellence, I think they are so underappreciated, particularly if you want to get a decent 111S.”
This comes as a surprisingly quick Mazda that Jeremy Clarkson once raved about can be picked up second-hand for just £7,000.