Badass Cheap Cars That Are Actually Total Money Pits

When it get along to opening your wallet , some used and Greco-Roman cars come down into the " no - brainer " category : inexpensive , iconic , reliable with a prove track record and plenty of spare parts on eBay or in the junkyard . These five incredibly badass motorcar are NOT among them . The image of taboo yield , they might tempt you with their ostensibly reasonable prices , but to keep them in full experimental condition they ’ll either suck your cant account dry or ruin your will to live . Unless you ’re rich as hell , in which suit do whatever you require , just take us with you .

BMW 8-Series

Why you want it : The 8 - Series is the variety of car you ’d guess Bruce Wayne driving when he ’s not otherwise occupied . With either a V8 or a sexy - sounding V12 under the hood and the kind of slick interior that ’s equally sporting and calm , it ’s a right grand tourer . A quarter - century after the 8 - Series ' debut , it ’s now seeming that its lines have aged as well as any elevator car , and its day in the gatherer - car sun will someday amount . Why you should n’t buy it : Are there lawfully upright 840s and 850s out there ? Of of course there are – and they ’ll cost you $ 30,000 or more . The car for cut-rate sale at the $ 8,000 stove are mostly trap . There is the occasional gem , but it ’s a needle in a haystack full of either clean railcar with mechanical question marks , or mechanically okay cars with juuust enough interior debasement to bust your budget .

Jaguar XK8/XKR Coupe(1996-2006)

Why you want it : Jaguar ’s return to eroticism in the mid-1990s after nearly two decades of XJ - second malaise is the rarified car that drives like it look – silky , with insidious assuredness . The first generation of the XK8 and XKR had a wooden dashboard that remainsone of the large masterpiecesof the retiring quarter - century , and the Ellen Price Wood - and - leather combination ooze out old - school sporting trend . Why you should n’t buy it : Given Jaguar ’s seventies and 1980s reputation for unreliableness , it might be a surprisal to some that the XK8 is , overall , actually mostly reliable . Rather , it ’s that gorgeous interior that ’s the undoing . Connolly leather is brilliant – unless it ’s been ill - maintained , in which case , it ’s a immense disbursement to get it done right . The wooden dash ? If it ’s not spate – and many are n’t these years – just walk out .

Lotus Esprit

Why you need it : A Hellenic seventies Italian design married to a chassis by one of England ’s most legendary locomotive engineer ( Lotus founder Colin Chapman ) . Say no more . It ’s a cable car that was good enough for Bond , and that – peculiarly by the late ' 80s – has a timeless look that keeps get unspoilt . Why you should n’t corrupt it : If you ’re not automatically fain , then you ’re at the mercy of theveryfew railway car shop that are really subject and certified to work on an old Lotus . slash in the common concerns with interior piece that you ’d never be able to find in a junkyard , and it ’s just more effort than the price point warrants .

Land Rover Defender

Why you desire it : Because it ’s a Defender , that ’s why . It ’s one of just a smattering of fomite that a ) has n’t change much in over a half - century , and b ) can – and has – go just about anywhere on Earth . A vintage Defender ( or Series I , II , or III , look on yr ) , especially one with the correct patina , just has apresenceabout it that ’s second to none . Why you should n’t grease one’s palms it : A geriatric Land Rover is kind of the poster child for reliability woe . It might be capable of climbing mountains , but only if it starts in the morning . A properly restore Defender is another story altogether , since there are company , likeArkonikandEast Coast Defender , that can take care of some of the insufficiency and give you on the button what you want – but by that point , the Defender is n’t exactly cheap .

Aston Martin DB7

Why you desire it : Everyone want to play James Bond at some point in life sentence , correct ? Really , the DB7 is a beautiful two - door that you ca n’t help but adore . Its line are more suave than sultry , and nothing screams class more than an Aston . Why you should n’t get it : At the end of the day , it ’s not uniquely Aston . It ’s a extremely modified Jaguar XJ - S , which was itself a o.k. car when it debut – in the 1970s . Ultimately , it ’s a compounding of impossible - to - get hold trimming section and engines that were made needlessly complex as they struggled to stay on free-enterprise despite ancient source dating back nearly to WWII .

Want more of the world ’s best railway car deliver straight to your inbox?Click here to sign up for our day-by-day email .

Aaron Milleris theCarseditor for Thrillist , and can befound on Twitter . He ’s coquette with both the 8 - Series and the XK more times than any sane person ever should .

The Defender can be a money pit