What sportscar would you give to your 21 year old?

[eclectic]

MX5?

[ASCII Man]

Go Rotary!

The 2nd generation Mazda RX7 is quite good for beginners and not very expensive.

[Don Vito]

RX7 might be not so expensive to buy, but defenetly is more expensive to repair than more traditional engines. How about buying a TransAm or a Camaro. Those engines are very difficult to broke and if one manages to break it, it should be much more cheaper to rebuild than a Mazda Rotary.

[Smokey 6 litre]

Im a 17 year old and i'd give myself a GT40 if i could afford it, i'll settle for a Triumph Herald please dad.

[GTV27]

I glad that others have suggested a 105 alfa before me (strength in numbers?), but if you're looking at a classic sports car, they are great for all ages, although for an inexperienced driver, the later Alfetta GTV might be a sounder choice (less inclined to oversteer).

An Alfetta GTV was the first car I ever owned (coincidently, I was 21 at the time). It was great, if a bit more expensive to maintain than my mates' cars. It had a bigger rear seat than the 105 too, important at that age!

[dretceterini]

I think a 2 liter 105 series car might actually be cheaper to maintain than a Alfetta GTV. Personally, I'm not a big Alfetta fan, but my good friend and all time American Alfa nut Pat Braden (who appsed away last August) loved them...

[GTV27]

Sorry to hear about Pat - he will be much missed

Rubber couplings along could swing the cost argument away from the Alfetta - but they are great cars (and this is coming from a dedicated 105 fan)- more or a grand tourer than an out and out sports car though.

[TimD]

I must confess that an Alfetta GTV6 has always been on my shopping list, but in the British climate, the rust has a 0-60 acceleration time all of its own...

There are very, very few nice ones left, sad to say.

[simon drabble]

having had one I would agree with Tim's comments. I was very relieved when I sold it! But the noise was superb!

[D-Type]

I'm surprised nobody has said Lotus or Caterham 7

[eclectic]

Can you do that within budget? Insurance for a 21 yo would be very hairy on a Caterham!

[dretceterini]

Caterhams (or Lotus 7s) are great fun, but not exactly practical...A Mazda Miata (MX5) would be a good modern, fairly reliable and inexpensive choice...

[Lee Janotta]

Caterhams are about as practical as motorbikes, and half as sexy.

Miatas are great... For girls. You'd need to add a turbo kit, a roll bar, and some other go-fast bits for a male driver not to look rather light in the loafers.

[John Turner]

Much variety here, although 21 is a bit young for some of these vehicles both from a safety and insurance point of view. Yes, I know I am taking this far too seriously, so how about this? Provided the 21 has had 2/3 years driving experience, I suggest a BMW 2002, preferably a Tii. You'd get change from £8000 which you could put towards insuring it under a limited mileage classic car policy. As Eclectic says, engine and drive is in the right place, and I would add that it would probably be less fickle than an Alfa for a relatively impecunious 21 year old. Oh, sorry, I'm trying to be sensible again!