Surprisingly cheap Grand Tourers | Six of the Best

With the clocks now forward, the weather (hopefully) warming up and summer holiday planning afoot, it’s hard not to daydream about European road trips. Taking a car to the continent may be more faff (as well as more money) than ever, but done properly there really is little to beat a great driving tour. A top-tier GT is the ideal car for the job, of course, quiet and comfy enough for the long slog through France while also sufficiently thrilling when the tarmac gets twistier. And if it announces your arrival at the overnight stay in some style, then all the better. It’s exactly the kind of car that Jaguar’s reputation is built on, that its latest model hopes to fortify, and which this sort of XKR perfectly encapsulates: fast, suave, and supremely satisfying. £30k is top money for the second-gen model, but good XKs are becoming desirable after too long in the doldrums. Bring on those autoroutes. 

Before we get to yet more cylinders, a curveball. Yes, before you say anything, it will undeniably take longer to do hundreds of miles across Europe in an electric Audi than a V8 Jaguar, even with 270kW charging. Moreover, it might not be much cheaper to charge an EV rapidly along the way than fuel a big engine either. Nevertheless, the Audi e-tron GT remains a fine choice: massively fast – nothing here will beat it from a toll booth – supremely refined, and capable of cornering at incredible speeds. While looking a million bucks, too – certainly more arresting than the Taycan with which it shares so many important bits. French service stations are nicer than British ones, too, so decent espressos and pastries every couple of hundred miles doesn’t sound too bad. Finally, like all the great GTs in this list, the Audi has depreciated significantly; expect to part with nowhere near the original £112k sticker when it goes under the PH hammer next week.

While that Top Gear race against the train was a perfect advert for the DB9’s grand touring abilities, it was no real surprise to find it perfectly suited to the task. It was an Aston Martin, after all, another British brand with a legendary reputation built on brilliant sports cars and tourers. The Vanquish had already set out its 21st-century stall in fine fashion, which the DB9 followed up expertly: perhaps even more debonair, certainly with a swankier interior, and with almost as much power from the glorious V12. The perfect DB7 replacement, and desirable to this day thanks to how it looks and sounds. Early cars weren’t the best to drive, but that improved, and this 2007 example looks to have the Sport Pack wheels. Even if the full SP isn’t included, there’ll be aftermarket upgrades. Plus it’s Pentland Green, for heaven’s sake – don’t be surprised if it’s very easy to forgive a Pentland Green DB9 quite a lot. 

For so long what was to all intents and purposes an S-Class Coupe was called the CL. Back in the ’90s, the two-door model typified all that was best about a great era for Mercedes-Benz: beautifully built, stoically stylish, bursting with tech and a pleasure to drive. Subsequent CLs were not so universally worshipped, even with some epic engines. Only when Mercedes had rediscovered its mojo did the S-Class Coupe name from the ’80s return, the C217 arriving in 2014. As in previous decades, the two-door Sonderklasse showed off the latest in M-B tech in a very handsome body, complete with a strong engine lineup as well. This S500 gets the 4.7-litre turbo V8, which means both 450hp and an official 32mpg. Who said stylish can’t be sensible as well? There’s a full service history with almost every conceivable extra included. Benefits of being just 10 years old…

But if the Mercedes is a tad too, well, German for your road trip exploring, then grand tourers really don’t come any more charming than the Maserati GranTurismo. It too has a 4.7-litre V8 engine, but instead of turbo torque and parsimony you get 7,500rpm and a sound to die for. This won’t cruise quite so effortlessly as some of the others, but the Maser will be fabulous on smooth and sweeping tarmac when the opportunity comes; a transaxle layout was good for weight distribution, and going without forced induction or four-wheel drive made that overall mass lower. Then you’re going to arrive in one of the best-looking 2+2s of the 21st century, here jazzed up with the best wheels and red leather. Persuasive, right? Especially at £28,990. Unlikely to be drama-free; very likely to be absolutely worth it. 

Back when it launched, the 8 Series didn’t quite hit the spot, a bit too tech-obsessed while forgetting about being a great BMW as well. Not what was needed when Mercedes had just launched the best SL that ever there was. But the E31 improved as it went along, culminating in the wonderful 850 CSI, and these days the design alone is reason enough to recommend it. Hard to believe something this sleek and with such presence is now more than 35 years old. The budget won’t stretch to a CSI, though it does buy a really nice 840Ci, the V8 with basically the power of a standard 850 V12 and a bit less fear factor. This one is not only very rare as Individual Glacier Green, but is also one of the very last 8 Series ever made in 1999. A bit of BMW history that looks better than ever.