The main thing is passing your test and getting out and about - once you're not spending all day on an Italian car forum the car you have (or how much it cost) should seem unimportant compared to the freedom of your own car and to getting some driving experience.
I couldn't agree more with that! Adam get passing and buy a shed, then you can take it round the triangle!
Imagine if you had a 5k panda then something happened to it… you would be gutted!
You should just buy a faded pink corsa b, it wouldn't matter if you smashed it up. It's a better first car for 3 reasons.
1. Assuming you don't roof anyone else in a crash, if you write it off, you can afford not to make claim. (which will hugely change your EK9 plans if you have to tell insurance companies about a previous incident)
2. You really like faded red paint.
3. In a crash, you will carry on JC's tradition of destroying awful motors.
Passing your test and getting on the road is the most exciting part of your early driving career, powerful fire breathing cars can wait until you've gained more experience!