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The Best Luxury Sports Cars Under $60k

You don't have to spend six figures.

If you're into your fancy cars you'll know that rides like the Bugatti, believed to be one of the most expensive cars in the world, will set you back about $2 million. If you've got a little more than that to spend you could always go for the Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita, which comes in just shy of $5 million.

Though for the rest of us, spending not millions but even hundreds of thousands of dollars on a luxury car is more likely to be a pipe dream, or at least a long term goal. Lucky you can get some pretty schmick vehicles for less than you might think. Here's our round up of the best luxury sports cars under $60,000 (start price, on-road costs extra).

Alfa Romeo

The new Alfa Romeo sedan range recently launched in Australia. There's five models in the collection, with the entry-level model, the Giulia starting at $59,895. Designed, engineered and produced in Italy, the Giulia sports sedan offers a new level of standard equipment to the midsize luxury class. You can expect leather upholstery, alloy wheels, bi-Xenon headlamps, keyless go, stop/start technology, satellite navigation, dual-zone climate control, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. Not bad for less that $60k.

Fiat

With a starting price of just over $40k the Abarth 124 Spider looks like it should cost a lot more. Designed and built for 'thrills and performance', key features include rear-wheel drive, a sophisticated suspension set-up and a four cylinder turbocharged 1.4 Turbo engine as well as Brembo brakes, Bilstein shock absorbers, leather-and-microfibre sports seats and a chrome quad tip sports exhaust as standard. Fancy!

Mazda MX-5 RF, $38,550

Mazda

The anticipated hardtop version of the Mazda MX-5 is finally here. Called the 'RF' (for Retractable Fastback), it's the ideal affordable model for those wanting an open air drive. Push button operated, the roof can be opened and closed at driving speeds of up to 10km her hour and takes 13 seconds from start to finish. The brand believes that the existing soft top roof showcases the romanticism of the car while the new automatic roof of the RF gives the car a sleek, sporty edge.

Volkswagen

Although it looks a little like its humble brother, the Golf hatchback, make no mistake -- the R is a blazingly fast sports car. It can get from standing to 100km per hour in five seconds flat -- which is just a split second behind a Porsche 911 -- due to the punchy 206kW 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, twin clutch transmission and all-wheel-drive. The new version, due in July, is upgraded to 213kW. It's fast enough to race on the track and amiable enough to go to the shops.

Toyota

The 86 range of models was launched in 2012, with huge success. Toyota was determined to return to the brand's sporting roots with great handling and performance without the hefty price, creating something that people have wanted, but didn't exist -- a compact, light, basic sports car in the same league as some legendary sports cars. 86 comes in in two grades - GT and GTS - both powered by a newly developed 2.0-litre flat-four engine.

Mercedes Benz

If the mark of someone who's made is a Merc then this might be the easiest way to keep up with The Joneses. Keyless go (actual car keys are so 2003), blind spot assist, panoramic electric sunroof, Garmin navigation and 18-inch AMG 5 twin-spoke alloy wheels make this model look just as fancy as it's much more expensive brothers and sisters. It goes pretty fast, too.

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