Here are some ‘lightweight’ performance cars for under £15k we found this week

Colin Chapman’s ethos of ‘simplify, then add lightness’ reached its ultimatum with the Lotus Elise - perhaps the brand’s most iconic model of all time. They were sold in such huge quantities that, even now, storied S1 examples can be had for well under the £15k budget. Though this slightly dearer alternative could pose the more tempting proposal.

The VX220 has so much driving pleasure to give… if you can get over the badge. Which is what most buyers do. Vauxhall’s attempt at making a competitor to the Elise was not quite as successful as it had hoped on the sales charts, so a number of 2.2-litre non-turbocharged examples exist. Just make sure it’s yellow. Or blue. And lost the Vauxhall badge by accident somewhere.

Over the last few years, more and more people have started to accept the Renault Clio ‘182’ as one of the great performance bargains of the modern era, and it’s absolutely deserved. The reason is simple: the 182 sips petrol prudently but throws incredible amounts of adrenaline the other way through its dual mid-mounted exhausts.

What? Another Lotus? How unpredictable. Though you probably weren’t expecting us to place this particular Lotus in this week’s listings. While MK1 Elans are way out of budget, MK2s aren’t. With the essential pop-up headlights and British Racing Green paint characterising this 38k-mile M100, the only improvement would be a mechanic whose job is to permanently take residence in the passenger seat. For obvious reasons…

A tasty track-converted 1998 Peugeot 106 Rallye is currently searching for a new home, with the front passenger seat even being retained to keep it somewhat usable as a daily. This was one of the last truly great driver’s cars made by the French marque before it entered into the dark ages of vanilla, from which it only just returned with the release of the 208 GTi.

You may think we’re just being biased, but an indisputable fact is that one of Britain’s specialities is lightweight sports cars. And it has been for years on end now. The Triumph Spitfire is yet another seal of approval, and while it’s not difficult to find one for as little as three or four thousand pounds, check out this immaculate all-white example for a smudge under 10.

Yes, another British sports car. Stop rolling your eyes. In all seriousness, how can you not like a TVR Chimaera? A lumpy V8 sitting proudly between a body which weighs just over a tonne (or two, after an English Breakfast). It’s small, it’s loud, and it has bountiful amounts of character. Plenty to wax lyrical about during your weekly visit to the workshop, then.

Despite its strong foundations inadvertently turning the MR2 into a goldmine for kit car conversions, the original car itself is rarely appreciated for being the ideal low-slung, low-weight sports car it has always been. A great injustice considering sought-after non-F355 ‘t-bar’ editions - like this one - are still found in abundance across the web.