5 Budget Sports Cars You’re Probably Too Late To Get A Good Deal On – SlashGear

Finally, we’re taking a trip across the pond to show it’s not just the U.S. market where once-affordable sports cars are appreciating out of reach. There are a lot of examples to choose from here, but the ripest pickings are among fast Fords. The value of the brand’s motorsport-derived halo cars has exploded in recent years, with the most recent example being a Sierra RS Cosworth RS500 that sold at auction in February for £592,250. That’s almost $720,000 for a Ford sedan once worth less than a tenth of that.

It’s a similar story, albeit with fewer naughts on the end, with the Focus RS Mk1. Launched in 2002, this rally-bred hatchback carried a retail price of about £20,000 ($14,000 at the time). Prices fell to around £9,000, according to Hagerty, but have since recovered to start at around £20,000.

As always, mileage is key. That £20,000 ($24,000) gets you an example with 95,000 miles on the clock, while a factory-fresh RS with just 21 miles to its name sold in 2022 for £75,000 ($91,000). Lastly, if you’re thinking about buying one in the U.S. you’ll have to wait until 2027, when the first examples hit their 25th birthday and are eligible for import.