Have obtained grudging spousal signoff...

Prices for all three are silly. The NSX is a wonderful thing, I was lucky enough to drive one back in 2000 when I was trying to get a job at Autocar. But assuming you intend to use it, there are too many options for £65k.

The yellow FK8 is one of only 21 UK cars, but against a list price of £42k ish, rarity only goes so far. Especially when there's another one with delivery mileage on Auto trader for £53k.

And the flipper selling the new black FL5 might find, as GR86 flippers have, that the demand just isn't there. The going rate for a GR86 is about £34k (list £31k). The first cars were initially advertised for £40k.

The problem is... prices for almost all used cars are silly.
I'm waiting with interest (pun intended) to see what happens to used car sales now that the squeeze on most normal people's budgets is very real and with the rise in the cost of borrowing, although I do wonder how many people look at the total cost of a purchase, rather than just the amount per month that they will be shelling out.

You must be reading my mind, I've just been looking at this car again. It's been there at least three months now.

I've been dithering over whether a Type R (or indeed anything other than my current banger) would get enough use to justify the outlay, hence the lack of movement.

It doesn't help that there are no in-budget Type Rs for sale within 100 miles - the car in Glasgow is 400 miles away from me.

Indeed. I took a train to Redhill in Surrey to collect my 1927 Alvis and drove back to the North Cotswolds by a longer, motorway avoidance A-road route.

I got the train to Kendal to pick up mine , and had a great drive back on a mix of roads to get to know the car .

Whilst its not to my personal liking (purely from the aesthetic point of view) there is no question the FK8 it's an extraordinarily accomplished car - near the peak of hot hatch-dom and the new FL5 is only a very slight evolution from the driving perspective (arguably a bigger leap in design/interior).

Oddly - and perhaps this is a reflection of my age/priorities - where the new model is concerned I find the Civic e:HEV so much more interesting than the 'R' - the reviews are glowing and I find the tech approach Honda have take to the 'EV' very interesting and, as such, more appealing than others. As something of a 'white goods' vehicle it just seems to make a huge amount of sense and clearly hides some exceptional engineering under its, somewhat generic looking, skin.

(Note: I spend far too much time looking at F-Type P450, Lexus LC500 and similar vehicles on AT to hang up my petrolhead badge just yet!)

I agree.

I had a sit in a used one at the weekend when we called in at the Lexus garage to look at the NX and RX hybrids.

The LC is quite a big car physically and super luxurious with real quality everywhere. However it was near to £60K for a 5/6 year old car, although you would never know its age from the way the car looked and the lack of wear on the inside.

What did you think of the hybrids?

I find myself intrigued by Lexus more as a brand now - they seem to forge their own path and build vehicles that I expect would impress slowly over time rather than immediately tug the heart strings - and the dealer experience I’ve heard is second to none.

I’ve only driven 1 x Lexus, a 2014 GS. It was very nicely put together and comfortable, but the gearbox was awful, I knew within the first couple of miles it definitely wasn’t for me.

That was a while ago, maybe they have improved it…

I still think a test drive in an i30N would be a good idea. It’s in a group test against the new Type R in this months Evo and gets a great review again.

From briefly scanning the article it does seem that the 15K saving over the Type R is what one would casually remark as a no-brainer.  Though the pull of the brand is strong with Type-R