Don’t buy Britain’s bestselling car! Buy one of these nine used classics instead

Ford sold 55,488 brand-new Pumas in Britain in 2025, ensuring it topped the bestsellers chart once again. To put that figure into context, it’s the equivalent of Oprah Winfrey recreating her infamous “You get a car!” episode for a capacity-attendance at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. With several hundred Pumas going spare to reward the stewards tasked with funnelling a stampede of screaming Mancs to the car park.

For the £26,580 a base spec Puma currently asks, you can do far, far worse. There’s a thrummy little turbo engine, a slick manual gearbox, the sweetest handling of its (very dull) class, and a curious ‘MegaBox’ boot.

Yet you can also do far, far better. Admittedly by swerving the comfort of a box-fresh car and a mollycoddling warranty. But maybe, like Oprah’s audience in the early Noughties, you’re feeling lucky…

Ford’s history of people-pleasing bestsellers is vast. Between its 1908 launch of the world’s first mass-production car – the Model T – to the Puma of 2025, there’s rarely a year its products haven’t studiously lined our streets and car parks.

Given the 'Stang’s current status as a last-of-the-last V8 throwback, it might be a surprise to learn its ancestor once topped sales charts. Launched in 1964, the Mustang swiftly became the fastest selling car in history, Ford shifting one million of the things within 18 months; Mazda took 27 years to sell that many MX-5s.

Happily that means plenty still occupy the classifieds at reasonable prices by the standard of classic cars. This V8 lived in California until a decade ago, so logic would dictate it’s a bit less crumbly than most, too…

You’re taking a big leap ignoring a fully warranted, dealer guaranteed Puma to fling your 20-odd grand into the used car market. So how about a nice efficient car from another mainstream brand, to ease you into it? Renault is on a roll right now, after all, acing everything from the electric hatches and crossovers to its reinvention of Alpine.

Okay, so the wackadoodle Sport Spider represented less of a commercial and critical success than the new R5, infamously launching alongside the lighter, lither and, um, Lotus-badged Lotus Elise. But which is going to drop jaws most next time you roll into a cars and coffee?

Here’s something we weren’t expecting to find. The fact V10-powered BMW M5s and M6s occupy classified sites for “not that much, actually” isn’t a surprise: TG’s serial silly car buyer Mark Riccioni has plenty of tales to tell about their potential to burn through cash. But just look at how well the once-controversial Chris Bangle styling of this M6 has aged, the F1-educated 5.0-litre engine up front representing the mere tip of its vast iceberg of appeal.

And good heavens, we’ve found one with a six-speed manual conversion. It’s a feasible Puma alternative for the brave, too: with back seats and a boot just six litres shy of the Ford’s (MegaBox notwithstanding), this could actually provide everyday transport. Just keep a recovery helpline top of your Favourites list.

A nostalgic Top Gear buying guide inspires a nostalgic, “how hard can it be?” attitude. In the case of buying a TVR for the price of a crossover and it completing every journey you ask of it, the answer is almost certainly “very”.

But just look at it! The early Noughties Tuscan melded old-school TVR attitude with a fresher design that borrowed fewer visible bits from Fiesta or Cavalier parts shelves. This Speed Six version called on around 360bhp from its 4.0-litre nat-asp engine, enough to hustle its scant 1,100kg to 60mph in under four seconds. We dare you…

Prefer your British muscle car to carry itself with a bit more decorum? And scare the living you-know-what out of you just a little less often? Allow us to direct you to one of the last Jaguar XKs to roll out of the Midlands before the F-Type fully picked up its baton.

Some argue that an end-of-line XKR drives more sweetly than an early-days F-Type V8, too, and doesn’t its Ian Callum-sketched silhouette look downright glorious today? Lots of Fs occupy the ads for our £26,580 budget too, but they’re mostly softer V6 versions, whereas this XK runs a full-fat 5.0-litre supercharged V8 with over 500bhp sent to only its rear wheels. It may be gentler than a TVR, but it still needs caution.

Let’s stop being silly – briefly – and point you towards a genuine Puma alternative. The joy of cruising the classified ads is getting a lot more metalwork and engine for your budget than buying new. Thus we recommend, with many caveats, opting for a Maserati Levante instead.

Is it the prettiest or most dramatic Maserati of all time? A long way from it. But it ought to slip into your life much easier than a broken BiTurbo or track-limited MC12 Corsa. A bigger boot than the Ford, bougier leather seats, and a more sonorous V6 engine mated to four-wheel drive and a smooth auto ‘box. This is full-strength SUV motoring for the price of a baby crossover.

Hold on tight, because this is as close to genuine buying advice as TopGear.com dares get. The W204-gen C-Class in 6.2-litre V8, C63 AMG halo form is a high point in Benz history. So much engine squeezed into so little car is always a delight, but this is a Merc that properly took the fight to M Division and came close to walloping the M3 from its perch.

Available in coupe, saloon and estate iterations, it can also tick off all the family car tasks a Puma can while making a significantly greater noise (and yes, using several tankers’ more fuel) in the process. With a sensible savings pot for when big bills land, this is a savvy used buy for those feeling a little bold.

Or how about the classic way to scare a family of four? The turn of the century was a golden era for highly tuned Japanese performance cars, and we could have squandered the rest of our day choosing which generation of Subaru Impreza or Mitsubishi Evo to grace this list with.

Soaring values helped cut the risk of that, though; spending ‘just’ 26 grand on a car like this is getting trickier by the day. All the more reason to leap in feet first and take a punt on an Evo VIII like this, then. Just watch for rust – while keeping in mind those pesky servicing bills.

There was only ever one way we’d conclude this list. Decent enough as the current Puma may be – and a sales smash compared to the car that foreshadowed it – enthusiasts like us will only ever get misty-eyed for the original Puma coupe. Whisper it, but a stock 1.7-litre car is sweeter handling on your favourite back road, yet it’s the gnarlier, rally-inspired Racing Puma that’s destined to be a future classic held in vacuumed pods to prop up its value.

The buyers’ checklist is long and arduous – these things rust from the inside out and use parts rarer than rooster gums – but find a cared for one and you’ll have one of the tautest looking and neatest handling Fords of the lot in your garage. (Please garage it…).

No MegaBox boot, though.