If you don't want an old car the Magna Sports is a definate one to look at. Just because it's a Magna doesn't mean you should look past it. They're a solid car and you'd be surprised as to how quick they are. It's front wheel drive but if you've got any intention of getting through your P's you're not going to be doing too much silly stuff (ie: Drifting) on the roads anyway, right?
I recently purchased a late 2001 Verada. I've changed to this car from a modified turbo RX-7, and am also a P plater and the change to a Verada wasn't as dismal as expected. I enjoy driving around in somethign quiet and comfortable with no cop attention. Plus, it allows me to save money as it's a low maintenance car, so once I'm off my P's I can go buy myself another nice sports car.
The cop attention alone you get from an Import whilst on P's isn't worth the hassle in my opinion. There's plenty of time for mad sports cars in a few years when you're off your P's.
Something to think about. I've been there and done that and I learnt my lesson the hard way - the amount of money I've wasted on cars since I was 16 (now 19) makes me shudder, I could've put a deposit on a house already. If you want to have nice cars & a house in the future don't waste your money on an import just yet (unless you're rolling in dough for some odd reason.....)
My worthless 2c