Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 21 February

VW Scirocco 2.0 GT TDI DSG, £13,495: An automatic diesel? Doesn’t sound great – except that this 168bhp motor develops 258lb ft at 1750-2500rpm, a narrow band that the DSG ’box milks well. You don’t really notice the nose weight when cornering hard, either. It’s an unsung, 45mpg hero.

BMW 320i M Sport Coupé, £7500: The E90-era coupé of 2007-13 is a classy but understated motor with some great diesels and petrol sixes. However, our attention was seized by one with a 168bhp 2.0-litre four-pot. It’s a 2011-reg M Sport manual with 51,000 miles and full BMW history.

Mini Coupé JCW, £7999: New, it was a bit of a lemon, and used, it probably still is. Except that, what with there being so many hatches knocking around, it looks refreshingly different. It’s good value, too: our find is a 2012-reg with 38,000 miles, a full service history and stacks of kit. 

Future Classic

Suzuki Swift Sport 1.6 3dr, £8995: A warm hatch from a small Japanese maker. Surely not the ingredients for a future classic, except that under the bonnet of the old Swift Sport is that rare thing: a naturally aspirated petrol engine. It’s a 1.6 producing, from 2014-17, 134bhp. With the Swift weighing just 1045kg, that translates to 128bhp per tonne – or about the same as the Peugeot 206 GTi. Will we regard the little Suzuki in the same light? That’s a stretch but it is almost as fun to drive and it’s a last-of-breed. Around £9000 buys a very low-mileage 2017-reg.

Auction watch

No classic car auction is worth its salt without a sprinkling of MGBs. Prices for early chrome-bumper models are getting silly but fortunately there are always the later, and much maligned, rubber-bumper cars for less money. Launched in 1975, they sit a little higher than the earlier model – they have thicker anti-roll bars to contain body roll – but a clever paint scheme can make them look better proportioned. Just before Christmas, a late 1981 LE roadster in good condition and with 78,000 miles went through the ring and changed hands for just £2912. 

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: Find me a family SUV I can be proud of for under £10,000, please.

Max Adams: You want a car to be proud of? I give you the facelifted L322-generation Range Rover, complete with many improvements over the older version and a great 3.6-litre twin-turbo V8 diesel. What’s more, this 2007 top-spec Vogue SE has TV screens in the headrests to keep the children distracted in the back, making mine the perfect family car. What’s your choice, Mr P?