14 of The Cheapest Cars With Butterfly Doors

Butterfly doors are synonymous with exotic super cars. They represent luxury, high-performance and often—a hefty price tag. But did you know that there are some cars with butterfly doors that you can buy for cheap?

When I discovered how cheap (relative to its MSRP) you can get a BMW i8 for, I started researching for other cars that not only have butterfly doors, but are affordable to buy—and better yet, look cool.

I found examples of some real gems in the list below—with accurate pricing.

Let’s face it, some of these other lists online think a Ferrari Enzo is affordable (what are they thinking?!).

We'll be starting this list off from most cheap to not-so cheap.

Toyota Sera ($8k)

The Toyota Sera first debuted in 1988 as the Toyota AXV-II concept. The car was pretty much showcased in an almost production-ready form.

One of the most noteworthy features of the Toyota Sera is of course the factory butterfly doors.

Having been only in production for about 6 years, Toyota managed to produce a total of 15,852 Toyota Sera’s. In addition to that, the Toyota Sera was built solely for the Japanese market, making it a rather rare vehicle to find for sale elsewhere.

Luckily for us, the Toyota Sera was modeled off the Toyota Tercel and Toyota Paseo back in the 90s, meaning that it was relatively cheap and not sought after by enthusiasts.

Finding a Toyota Sera for sale nowadays is a trivial task, but at the time of this writing, I managed to find a North American importer that has one for sale at $8,750:

At that $8k price point and with those butterfly doors—this one’s a bargain!

Renault Twizy ($10k)

We have ourselves the first of two Renault appearances on the list, the Renault Twizy. This two-seater electric microcar was designed with European commuting in mind.

Having only a max speed of 50mph, this car was not going to win you any races, but it’s doors could certainly give you some style points around town.

Over 29k Renault Twizy’s were produced and sold across Europe and it was actually the top selling plug-in electric vehicle of the region in 2012.

You can find yourself with a Renault Twizy for a cool price of $10k.

The only problem with the Twizy is that if you’re in North America, you’ll likely have to import it as there are none here for sale.

Bricklin SV-1 ($16k)

Now here is what you call a hidden gem, the Bricklin SV-1.

This car was not only noteworthy for its gull-wing doors, but also for it’s bodywork, which was built from acrylic resin bonded to fiberglass.

With a production run of 2 years and with just under 3,000 vehicles produced—this is one of the rarest on the list.

Although it’s rare, the Bricklin SV-1 could be found for a price of about $16k according to a listing on Classic Car Bay:

And really, the pricing on this is fair. It’s a now defunct car with rare parts belonging to a 50-year-old defunct company.

But hey–if you want to stand out from the crowd—this one is for you.

Autozam AZ-1 ($23k)

Next up we have one of the coolest Japanese kei cars out there, the Autozam AZ-1.

Designed and manufactured by Mazda under the Autozam brand, this tiny sports car came with the iconic gull-wing doors.

In total, Autozam produced a little under 5,000 AZ-1’s and, surprisingly, it’s becoming more available in North America these past years thanks to Japanese car importers.

Having recently gained traction in car culture with the likes of big YouTuber’s like Doug Demuro reviewing this car—this one is becoming more and more expensive.

At a recent selling price of $23k, however, it’s still a relatively affordable car with some sweet doors.

Although if you’re any taller than 6 feet—good luck sitting in this one.

Smart Crossblade ($37k)

Of the smallest cars on this list, this one might be the coolest and quirkiest you can get with butterfly doors—if you can call them doors.

The Smart Crossblade is essentially a roofless and doorless Smart car. You see, the “doors” are actually just safety bars that let you enter and exit the car by rotating upwards.

Limited to just 2,000 units (with less being built), this one is special! I’m a bit partial to convertibles, but this one looks like it'd be a lot of fun to drive around.

You can find yourself sitting in a rare oddity at only $37k.

DeLorean DMC-12 ($52k)

Next up we have what Hemmings called, “the stainless-steel expression of the Eighties’ Zeitgeist.”

This is the DeLorean DMC-12, otherwise known as the car from Back To The Future.

Unfortunately, only 9,000 cars were built during its production run and parts for these are hard to come by. Coupled with its unique exterior styling, influence on pop culture and it’s iconic butterfly doors, I would say that $52k for a DeLorean is pretty reasonable.

Renault Sport Spider ($55k)

The Renault Sport Spider was a roadster introduced in 1996 by Renault in order to have sportier models in its lineup.

Only about 1,800 units were built and it came with two interesting options—butterfly doors and an optional front windshield.

You won’t find any of these option combinations on any modern production car. Your closest bet would be the Ferrari Monza SP1 or SP2, and this means you’ll be in very good company.

Unfortunately for us North American folks, you’ll have to find an example somewhere in Europe and transport it over.

The going rates for these seem to be in the $50k range, with the most recent example I could find going for $55k.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage ($60k)

There’s nothing classier out there than an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I mean, James Bond drove one of these bad boys in the 80s.

Although Aston Martin’s don’t come with butterfly doors, I had to include some of them on this list.

Instead of butterfly doors, Aston Martin’s sometimes come with swan doors.

Swan doors do not rise vertically like a butterfly or scissor door, but instead they open up like a traditional door at a slight upward angle.

Since they usually sit low, the swan doors give you enough room to clear any curbs or obstructions you may have parked next to.

And at $60k you can get a V8 Vantage that makes you look like you’re worth a million bucks.

BMW i8 ($60k)

One of the most underrated cars in modern car culture has to be the BMW i8. You get the supercar looks, ahead-of-its-time tech, and (arguably) supercar acceleration all in one package.

The key features that stand out with the BMW i8 are its curves and its butterfly doors.

Unfortunately, it’s plagued with some stigma around its 3-cylinder engine, but being that it’s a hybrid, you can still hit 0-60 mph relatively quickly at around 4 seconds.

For just $60k, the BMW i8 offers you the ability to turn some heads in traffic for a somewhat affordable price.

Tesla Model X ($60k)

At the same price of $60k, you can also find a used Tesla Model X with some very unique doors.

Built from the ground up as a fully electric vehicle, the Tesla Model X boasts a large interior space, a full panoramic windshield and what they call the “falcon doors”.

Falcon doors are essentially like gull-wing doors, but instead they have double hinges that allow them to open in the air as tight as possible to the car’s body.

Although it has four doors, only the rear two doors open in the gull-wing style. The front two open as any other traditional door.

You can find many early model Tesla Model X’s for around the $60k price mark as you see below.

Aston Martin DB9 ($65k)

We’re introducing another Aston Martin on this list with the DB9. Like it’s V8 Vantage brother, the Aston Martin DB9 also comes with swan doors.

For just $5k more, you can find yourself in this 4-seater with a V12 (as opposed to just two seats and a V8 in the Vantage).

Think of the Aston Martin DB9 as the grand tourer and the V8 Vantage of a true sports car.

Aston Martin Rapide ($65k)

For the same price of $65k and the same generation of model year, you can also get yourself an Aston Martin Rapide if the DB9 is too small for you.

The Aston Martin Rapide also comes with swan doors, but unlike the DB9, it actually has usable rear seats—the ones in the DB9 are more like a storage bench.

The cool thing about the Rapide is that it has 4 doors and they're all swan doors.

After this price point, there really is nothing on the market that will satisfy your butterfly door needs.

McLaren 12C ($105k)

The McLaren MP4-12C (or just 12C) was the first sports car that McLaren put into production since the McLaren F1, which ended production back in 1998.

Being that it’s a true supercar and had some of the latest Formula One tech, this car carried a hefty price tag upon release.

As it’s now approaching it’s 10-year mark, the McLaren 12C finds itself heading downwards in terms of its depreciation.

You can get the full supercar experience, and butterfly doors, for a fraction of the cost of many of its competitors.

Some of the early model year 12C’s are sitting right around the $105k price mark.

Aston Martin Vanquish ($130k)

The final car on this list is an Aston Martin Vanquish, and you guessed it, it has swan doors.

Being that it’s one of the newer Aston Martin models, this car has yet to depreciate like its other Aston Martin counterparts on this list.

You can get swan doors without sacrificing the latest tech, which you won't find on all of the earlier Aston Martins on this list, all for a cool price of just $130k.

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