[ CHASING CARS ] Nigel Boothman’s hot tips
Can this under-the-radar road rocket finally match its price to its performance?
Values for the Tuscan Speed Six of 1999-2006 have been all over the place recently. Sometimes, this can be a sign that a car is moving from the doldrums towards the recognition its fans think it deserves. For example, the year-2000 car in our photos showed only 28,000 on the odometer with 23 years of single ownership behind it. In metallic charcoal with red hide inside, and that V777 HOT registration included, it looked a lot of fun for £20,812 at Hampson’s March Bolesworth sale. Especially when a pampered 25,000-mile car had blown through its top estimate to sell for £35,500 with Mathewson’s a month earlier.
That must have surprised the crew in Pickering; they failed twice to sell a 2001 car with a good history and 43,000 on the clock in the autumn of last year, despite a low estimate of only £19,000. More recently, Manor Park Classics let a smart blue one with a running fault go for £11,788 as a project, while Iconic Auctioneers sold its Tropical Green example for £19,125 (est £15k-£18k) at the NEC Restoration Show. This was a one-owner car with its original Panasonic CD stereo… but was on its second chassis and third engine after 152,000 miles.
‘A 4.0-litre Tuscan S could beat a Lamborghini Gallardo to 60mph (3.7s) and 100mph (8.1s)’
Here’s the crunch. Owning a Speed Six will not be like owning a 20-year-old Audi; you have to re-adjust to levels of engine life and chassis rust related to Sixties exotics. Yet people value and cherish those, and use them too, so it’s all a case of how the Tuscan is regarded. It remains shockingly quick; it weighed 1100kg – 150kg less than the lightest Boxster – but made a stonking 350bhp that rapidly moved up to 380, 400 and eventually 440bhp; more than a 911/996 Turbo. A mid-range 4.0-litre Tuscan S could beat a Lamborghini Gallardo to 60mph (3.7s) and 100mph (8.1s) and had a wilder, more exciting interior. So wild, you might be tempted to a third comparison – this is more than Blackpool’s Lamborghini, it’s a pound-shop Pagani.
What holds these and other recent TVRs back is the company’s demise, and despite glimmers of hope, the continued lack of a reboot and a new model. Yet the Tuscan’s dazzling looks and unrivalled adrenaline rush may be enough to ensure the best examples soon rise.
An old Mercedes favourite is now a present-day banker
Where do you look for value among classic Mercedes? G-wagens have gone silly, with £20k the starting point for a rust-free Eighties or Nineties one. Rare performance specials like the 500E, 190 2.5-16 Cosworth EVO or AMG SEC coupés are well off into six figures. Yes, there are bargains aplenty from more recent Mercedes that are still depreciating, but what if you’d prefer something that doesn’t have a limp-home mode, five different ECUs and flaky air suspension? I’d turn back to an old favourite – the R107 SL.
This one, a 1981 380SL, slid through Brightwell’s Online Sale in February for £7488. It’s not difficult to buy an edgy SL for this money, but it’s tricky to find one with 72,000 miles, original books, tool kit and a matching hard top. Someone had been conscientious enough to MoT it – not necessary for a Historic Vehicle – as recently as November 2025. Previous MoTs reveal passes back to 2007 and no failures on anything scary, but scant use – less than 1000 miles in 20 years. So it just needs driving, and some summer sunshine would show off that Thistle Green Metallic paint very nicely. Black hide inside and a low-fat 3818cc V8 under the bonnet felt like the perfect spec to me.
This one was a great buy, but why this generation of SL? First, they have a long-established following with splendid specialists and good manufacturer support. Second, the best ones still attract proper money – see the 30,000-mile 1985 280SL that Iconic sold at Race Retro in February for £41,063 – this market isn’t collapsing any time soon. They’re also more affordable than the ‘Pagoda’ W113 generation while the preceding 190SL is priced beyond its boulevardier abilities. You’d be happier leaving our 1981 SL in a supermarket car park too, wouldn’t you? The R107’s closest rival is its successor, the excellent R129, but in the UK they’ve been hit by a lack of ULEZ compliance. Legions of ratty ones are also keeping prices low.
Finding a well-kept 1971-’89 SL is still a safe way to park some cash while enjoying sturdy luxury and effortless cruising power. And time moves on – after being so slow to age, they’re starting to turn heads just like the classics they really are.
Front-drive Citroën has irresistible pull – at this price
Just £4862 for this 1953 Citroën Traction Avant 11BL is about a third of what it should be worth in a well-adjusted world. Yet that’s what it reached in a no-reserve sale with Historics at Ascot in March, which didn’t even touch a rather roomy estimate of £7k-£12k. Those wide margins reflect the general feeling around Tractions at the moment – they ought to be solid five-figure cars, but some of them slip through the net for the price of a rubber-bumper Midget. Why is it happening?
There are different layers to the answer, of course. They’re pre-war cars in origin and appearance, even if the road manners and daily-driver ease of use defy this, but the pre-war market has taken a big hit. Then there’s the left-hand drive, for this one, which should be an irrelevance but still unsettles some people on the chilly side of the Channel. Additionally, French-built Tractions can suffer by comparison to Slough-built cars because of the leather seats and timber dashboards fitted to English ones. To me, a cheerful basic interior with a shiny tin dash and stripey grey cloth is the essence of Gallic motoring and has more charm. If you want veneer and cowhide, buy a Wolseley.
Also against the Traction is its long production run, so there are many to choose from and only the concours cars or most unusual examples – cabriolets, special bodies, some with six cylinders – soar beyond the low figures we’re seeing for saloons. In fact, there is a Traction out there for almost any role. There are Familiale models with three rows of seats, a Commerciale with a hatchback rear, a six-cylinder limousine, a close-coupled coupé, various open cars and two choices of dimension for the basic saloon – BL (Lègere) like this one, for nimble hacking through city traffic, and the wider, longer B – Normale – for shoulder room and open-road comfort.
What they have in common are virtues that seem to go under-regarded in today’s market – ride quality, pleasant rack-and-pinion steering, easy gearchange and a classless appeal. Finally, club support is immense and anything you can’t buy here will be available in France. Rusty ones need dodging, but this car was sound. Some lots look such good value you can’t help yourself, and if I’d been there… yes, I’d have made the next bid.
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