This 17,000-mile Renault Dauphine will cost up to £10k

Fancy a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive classic but don’t want to go down the Porsche 911/Volkswagen Beetle route? You’ll be wanting this – a glorious 1957 Renault Dauphine with only 17,000 miles on the clock.

It’s genuinely affordable too, with a guide price of between £8,000 - £10,000 when it goes under the hammer at the Bonhams MPH September Auction later this month.

And what a brilliant-looking thing it is. The Dauphine employs plenty of classic 1950s design cues and just works in the brilliantly beige paint you see above. When did four-door saloons stop looking this good?

Out back is an 845cc four-cylinder engine that made a hefty 27bhp and 49lb ft of torque when new. At which point the Dauphine would have hit a top speed of 70mph and could just about manage 0-60mph in around 37 seconds. Not rapid, then. What a shame it’s not the even lovelier Dauphine Gordini with its lofty 36bhp and 81mph top speed.

Still, there’s another reason for keeping an eye on this thing when it goes to auction, because apparently its first owner was an as-yet unnamed French Count. Oooh, the mystery…

Images: Bonhams