Paul Jolly: Gorgeous Dropheads and great value at under £10,000

Clients often approach me to help with the sale of their car or that of someone else but also to help with vehicle sourcing and search work.

It is these tasks that I can often quickly assess and assist with to save clients time and money.

One such lady client decided the time was right whilst approaching her late thirties that she should invest in a sports car but with a maximum budget of £10,000. My first piece of advice was that we should also not consider anything under £5000 to avoid trouble.

It simply had to be a two-seater convertible, reliable and fun without costly servicing or insurance and hopefully not lose too much value in the future.

My candidate list looked like this, with my first thoughts being the MGB. But then my bias is towards classic cars, so not totally unexpected.

1967-71 MGB, Mazda MX5, BMW Z4, BMW 1 Series convertible, Mercedes Benz SLK, Audi TT and Porsche Boxster.

The MG sadly was dropped off the list on the grounds of simply being too unsophisticated in today’s world, with no air conditioning, centre locking or other luxuries we are all used to. No power steering either and just old technology.

The best value and most reliable, easy to live with, will be the Mazda, which is described as what the MGB should have been but never was.

The Porsche is the most dramatic and exciting, but the budget will mean an older car and may be costly to service.

BMWs have a bit of an image, but hey! Their build quality shines through, and they are performance cars with a great driving experience. Mercedes Benzes have similar quality of engineering, but perhaps the SLK suits an older image.

The Audi TT is not necessarily to everyone’s taste stylistically but represents great value with a diesel option.

There are even Mini convertibles, but everyone’s got those.

Remarkably, there is wide availability, and with some careful sifting, low-mileage cars around 15 years of age with good history can be easily found.

After the MG, my choice is the Porsche.