Power at one end, space at the other: There are seriously rapid estates at keen prices if you know what to look for

摘要

I don't know what you think of the Jaguar XF Sportbrake, but I reckon that it's a handsome old beast. The very latest superfast XFR-S Sportbrake is, however, a hardly trifling ￡82,495. But why spend all of that when there are some fairly brisk shooting brakes, as they should still be called, for not a lot of money? They'll be pre-owned, of course, but that hardly matters. There are some obvious choices when it comes to big-engined estates, and one that is priced quite fabulously is the Chrysler 300C. You can get diesels, but wouldn't you rather have a 5.7-litre V8? It will do a more than adequate 155mph and comes with all of the fixtures and fittings that you need. Scouting about, you can pick up a 2007 example with history and maybe 80,000 miles for just below ￡7000. It might not be special enough for some, but it will be rare. Well, not as rare as a 6.1-litre SRT-8, which could be double the price, especially if it has a low mileage. As such, it will be ￡16,950 or thereabouts from a dealer.