‘Modern classic’ feels wrong. An oxymoron. To the casual eye, even the finest examples look like standard street furniture. Just another car in a parking lot.
Penguin Publishing gets away with the phrase. We will too.
Used to be that ‘classic’ meant old men in MGBs. Driving to autojumbles. Modern motoring press ignored the term completely. Too risky. Classic car mags avoided them too. Didn’t want their readers thinking these machines belonged in a McDonald’s forecourt.
Now things have shifted. Electric cars, clean air zones, speed cameras. They push enthusiasts from both ends of the spectrum toward the same intersection. The modern classic.
What counts?
Think of Penguin Books. These cars matter on their own. Age doesn’t matter so much as impact. The dates are vague by design.
Ed Callow runs Collecting Cars. He puts it simply:
“Modern classics are the democratised part of the collector car market.”
No strict start or end date exists. Roughly 1980 through early 2000s. Vehicles born when modern design took over. For this list, we’re sticking to post-2000 models.
Mercedes-Benz CLS (2003-2015)
Price: £2,500–£10,005
Four doors. A coupé shape. Another oxymoron on the tarmac. The sleek bodywork, based on the E-Class, looked alien when it launched. It kept the Mercedes promise of quality and prestige, though.
Every version had rear-wheel drive. Seven-speed automatic gearbox. Air suspension could be added. Inside, you got partial leather, electric seats, climate control, parking sensors, and adaptive cruise control.
They’re cheap now. Like other ageing luxury sedans, prices have dropped. But cheap means you have to watch out.
Early petrol engines? Check the balancer shafts. One dedicated owner advised avoiding them entirely. Diesel models? Watch for inlet port shut-off motor failures. Gearbox speed sensors go bad too. Do your homework.
Porsche Cayman (2005-2021)
Price: £7,500–30,000+
The 987 generation sits on every enthusiast’s wish list. Good reason for it.
Here’s a flat-six Porsche. The engine is in a sensible place. Central. Mounted where it balances the weight properly. You can drive it hard in a way that’s impossible in a contemporaneous 911. The center of gravity just doesn’t lie.
The six-speed manual gearboxes are pure analog joy. Especially with the heavy, satisfying pedals. Sure, the PDK automatic shifts faster. It unleashes the full performance potential with lightning speed.
But do you want to fumble with tiny shift buttons on the wheel? Maybe not. Is there really a better feeling than pulling the lever yourself?
Prices for these are creeping up. Not fast, but steadily. If you want the thrill without the 911 premium, now is the time to look. Before everyone else catches on.
