Market Watch

Rapid, luxurious and economical, BMW’s F06 640d M Sport Gran Coupé is also great value. Words: Guy Baker Photography: Various Sleek, elegant and purposeful, BMW’s F06 Gran Coupé looks expensive, but you can now buy a decent 640d M Sport from as little as £13,000. More balanced than the 6 Series Coupé, and much more fun than a 5 Series, the 640d is both fast and frugal. It also sounds great (for an oil burner) and handles sweetly for such a large car.

Predicting smart buys in the current market is getting tricky. Rising inflation, soaring energy prices, military conflict and reduced consumer spending are all exerting pressure on values. Higher interest rates may also divert cash that might otherwise have been spent on old cars into savings, and the next couple of years may see values of many classics soften further. So, with a deep breath and fingers crossed I’ve chosen five cars that look like they could be Smart Buys for 2022.

Dropping a six cylinder engine into the suburban Triumph Herald was a genius idea. But in practice the first 1962 to 1967 incarnations of the Triumph Vitesse weren’t all that quick, producing only 70bhp, a top speed of 90mph and sixty in a glacial 17.5 seconds. On the road though they do feel a bit brisker thanks to tipping the scales at a featherweight 920kg – or 17.cwt in old money.

In its day the fresh-air Ford XR3i MkIV was the best front-wheel-drive, mass-produced four-seater cabriolet in the world. Ford of Europe’s first convertible in 20 years arrived in 1983, when just 45 were registered in the UK, but by the late Eighties, production was running at 20,000 units a year. Although you could have it with fuel injection, the sportier XR3i version wouldn’t be available until the MkIV facelift of 1986.

Wrong car, wrong time, sums up the troubled history of the glorious Citroën SM. France’s staunch nationalism desired a grande routière to follow the defunct Facel-Vega marque, yet Citroën would have made more profits concentrating on a range of smaller, family cars as an antidote to the rising costs of petrol. The carefree world where you drove from Paris to Saint Tropez before lunch was changing fast.

I was there to witness the Volvo 850 T5-R miracle. A press car appeared in the BBC Pebble Mill car park – where those early-Nineties series of Top Gear were filmed – and Clarkson and I took it for a spin. We ripped through Birmingham, front tyres fighting for grip and out onto the M6, laughing out loud at the amazing, incredible urge. That day we both sensed that this was a seminal moment in Volvo’s history. A break from its sensible heritage with a large helping of Swedish mischief.

When it comes to buying a 996 you’ve got options, even if your budget’s at the lower end of the scale. But don’t hang about – people are wising up to the car’s immense value for money… Porsche 911 996 at 25Volume defines the 996 marketplace: the number available out there is far greater than any 911 before it.

We’ve had the option of an all-wheel drive 911 for over 30 years, with increasing variants for every generation since the 964. How does the market favour those models over their 2WD brothers? Is there a difference in the market between 2WD and 4WD? Sales debate“In short, yes,” says Jonathan Aucott of Avantgarde Classics, who mainly trades in air-cooled 911s. “But the question is, what is the model?” he adds.

BMW’s striking G29 Z4 M40i comfortably delivers M car performance with the reassurance of a manufacturer warranty. Words: Guy Baker Photography: Various. Market Watch BMW Z4 M40i G29MW’s G29 Z4 M40i is the nearest thing you can buy to a contemporary Z4M Roadster. And with M car performance, impressive handling, rakish good looks and a plush spec it delivers in all the key areas.

The unmistakable boxy silhouette of the Saab 900 has arguably become one of the most iconic shapes to come out of Scandinavia’s automotive industry, perhaps along with the Volvo 850 estate. Brought in to replace the Saab 99, the 900’s primary guise was as a four-door family saloon. However, not wanting their customers to miss out on the brisk Nordic weather – or perhaps more likely to appeal to warmer, overseas markets – the 900 also spawned convertible variants, such as this one.

Coventry’s game changer holds steady in the sub £20k market, having bounced back from a lockdown plateau. MARKET TRENDS JAGUAR XJ6 SI-SIII (1968-1987)The XJ6 galvanised Jaguar’s strategy for more than five decades – and while the full name plate may have died with the X350 series, it left a legacy of affordable three-box luxury for enthusiasts to enjoy.

Mid-engine supercar with Italian connection cops a cruel execution DRIVEN TO EXTINCTIONIf you want a supercar that straddles the lines between exotic, sophisticated, and pragmatic, the main option you once had in Australia is on the way out. If you can still find an Audi R8 in a showroom by the time you read this, it’ll be one of the last. But it’s not for a lack of success. The R8 wasn’t a sales giant here, but nor was it by any means a failure.

The iconic yet practical supercar that would define Porsche presents a rewarding ownership opportunity for the enthusiast – if you buy the right example. Total 911 shows you what to look for… Porsche Index: 930 Turbo. Written by Kieron Fennelly. Photography by Damian Blades. Want to buy yourself a 930 Turbo?

Fraught, frustrating and yet utterly fabulous, there was nothing quite like the ownership experience of a second-hand Jensen Interceptor. THE INSIDERSMy first clear consciousness of Jensen Interceptors began on my walk to school in the mid-Seventies in Leicester. At an agreeable Edwardian house in Stoneygate lived a bright blue example, registered 1 BLU. On frosty mornings I’d hear the distant rumble of its idle from the next street as its owner warmed it up.

BMW’s low-profile G30 540i xDrive M Sport Saloon is quick, readily tuned and much better value than an M550i or M5. The eye-wateringly expensive £102,000 G30 M5 and £72,000 G30 M550i xDrive might grab most of the 5 Series headlines, but the understated G30 540i xDrive M Sport has all the power and grip you’ll ever need – and is far better value.