Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 18 January

Chrysler Crossfire Roadster, £4970: Based on the Mk1 Mercedes SLK, so with rear drive and a 215bhp 3.2 V6 (as well as a supercharged SRT-6), the Crossfire found a small but keen audience when new. We were taken with this 2007-reg convertible (there was also a coupé) with 78k miles.

Prindiville electric Hummer, £25,000: A Hummer H2 could barely manage 10mpg but this electric lookalike will do 40 miles on a full charge and scoot around London without attracting the congestion charge. Scoot? Actually, it’ll do only 35mph tops but this 2012 example with 200 miles looks the bizz.

Mazda MX-3, £1995: Twenty years ago, you could stroll into a Mazda showroom and buy a small coupé with a 1.8-litre V6. Although it had only 128bhp, it enabled 0-62mph in 8.6sec and was as smooth as silk. We hope this 1997 P-reg one with 96k miles still feels as good. 

Auction watch

Ford Cougar: The hammer fell at just £950 on this 1999 Cougar 2.0, a 55,000-mile car with one previous owner. Was it a deal? Well, it has full service history and it looks bright. The exterior is relatively unmarked and the interior has scrubbed up really well. The engine has been steam-cleaned and lacquered and the bonnet slam panel and the inner wings look fresh. It’s a nice car but a shame it doesn’t have the more muscular 2.5 V6 engine. Still, at this distance (the Cougar was launched in 1998 and killed off in 2002) you can’t have everything. 

Get it while you can

Mazda 3 2.0 Sport Nav, price new- £22,165, price now - £18,490: We like the Mazda 3. In fact, it came close to nudging the new Ford Focus off that car’s top slot in our mega-test recently. We praised our 2.0-litre test car’s pin-sharp throttle response, well-weighted controls, and honest-feeling, firmly sprung chassis that gives great body control and good grip. So be silent as we mourn its imminent passing. Later this year, it’ll be replaced by an all-new 3. Time, then, to sniff out a few runout deals. We tracked down a 2018/68-reg 2.0 Sport Nav showing just 10 miles for £18,490, which is £3675 less than new. 

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: New year, new car. Find me a £30k car that’ll put a spring in my step.

Aston Martin DB9, £29,690: I’d imagine that if anything were to reinvigorate someone in the new year, it’d be this swanky Aston Martin. Its 451bhp 6.0-litre V12 offers plenty of grunt and it sounds amazing when given the berries. Inside, the interior comes liberally dressed in the finest leather and, even if you’ve put on a few Christmas pounds, there’s plenty of room to spread out. The exterior styling still looks suitably seductive, despite being 13 years old. Plus, it must be getting close to the bottom of its depreciation curve at just £29,690. Max Adams

Ariel Atom, £31,500: So what must a car that’s guaranteed to put a spring in your step contain? It must be an entirely passionate purchase, for one, with no care given for practicality or sensibilities. It must be bloody fast, it must look a million dollars (and cost substantially less) and it must stick to the road like glue. Oh, and it should be open, too, the more open the better, so that everyone can see you. This is wind-in-the-hair fun with the knob turned up to 11. There is only one car that combines all of these qualities and will rejuvenate the most jaded of palates: ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Ariel Atom. Mark Pearson