The cars Autocar writers bought and sold in 2021
Never mind the conveyor belt of shiny new test cars, these are the motors we acquired – and let go – this past year
As 2021 draws to a close, it's time to look back - not on the cars we drove, but the ones we actually bought, with our own hard-earned cash.
The last twelve months has seen a flurry of buying and selling among Autocar's staff: here are the new, nearly-new and most definitely used cars we've added to our own driveways and garages, plus a few we had to let go.
-Bought: Hillman Imp-
It was my first official day back in the office when somebody started talking about Hillmans. I’ve always liked Imps so casually opened the classified ads. Dangerous. Soon I was on the phone, and two days later I’d agreed to buy this 1965 model.
It was a historic rally car before it broke in 2000, then it sat until a 2017 restoration and has largely sat since, so it needs a bit of love. I might tweak it to be a great road car, or turn it into a historic racer. Will drive it as is for a bit first, then decide.
The engine is the standard Mk1 875cc Coventry Climax-based aluminium unit, with all the fragility that apparently entails. I’ve had it ticking over, though, and it’s incredibly smooth. I have lots of spares including another engine.
I didn’t need another project, but I’m delighted to have one. - Matt Prior
-Bought: Kia e-Niro-
After jumping from one generation of diesel Honda CR-V to another for the past 15 years or so, my family decided to take the plunge into EV ownership. After much persuasion, reassurance and only a small amount of pressure to go electric from yours truly, we test drove and eventually bought a Kia e-Niro in 4+ specification.
For us, the car offered the ideal combination of premium equipment, a good degree of practicality and, perhaps most important, a healthy 282 miles of range. The lucky dip that is the UK’s EV charging infrastructure has taken some getting used to, but we are making significant savings from electricity over diesel. - Jack Warrick
-Sold: Fiat 500-
It didn't have to go. Not really. The engine and gearbox were perfectly healthy at 88,000 miles, and even the clutch wasn’t too bad. The body and trim, after a decent clean, were in near-perfect order.
Still, it was plainly time for a change; there’s always a point at which you start missing modern conveniences. Our 500’s biggest drawback was a nearly unintelligible infotainment system (we never managed to connect a phone) and a decent set of LED headlights.
A latest-gen 500 Hybrid – better on those counts – was briefly considered but rejected. We cleared the decks by selling to a local trader we know. - Steve Cropley
-Bought: Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer-
There's no better car for £6k or less – and that would get a cared-for example.
Smooth and packing an immense surge beyond 1500rpm, this Insignia is host to the well-proven Saab balancer-shaft petrol four-pot. Elite spec brings the lot, including blistering heated seats, absolutely superb xenon lights with a 99%-perfect auto high-beam function. It’s also very refined when fitted with no-brainer Michelin CrossClimate tyres (my fourth car to use them).
A touch juicy around town, for sure, but a supreme motorway performer and the antidote to applying lane discipline. Just whoosh past the lot. - Hillton Holloway
-Bought: Audi A2-
I’ve always wanted an Audi A2, for its superb design and engineering innovations. My wife had blocked a few attempts, then this 162,000-mile 2001 1.4 SE appeared at an auction in Norfolk and I snapped it up unseen for £300.
It has been meticulously maintained as a courtesy car and is remarkably tidy inside, it passed its MOT with advisories for rear springs and a front tyre (which I remedied with a set of all-season Falkens), and I’ve fitted a Bluetooth adapter.
It’s light on fuel, lowemission-zone compliant and for some reason the kids have named it Ian. It’s the start of a bromance. - Mark Smyth
-Sold: Mazda MX-5-
I should be pleased I sold my three-year-old, 18,000-mile MX-5 for just £600 less than I paid two and a half years ago – and I am, but it’s tinged with regret. I’m missing its looks and exquisite interior, its quick steering, its spirited motor...
I’ve put the proceeds into my next favourite car – with much to spare because the residual was calculated before the current used car price madness – by settling the PCP balance on our two-year-old Volkswagen Golf 1.5 TSI Evo Match Edition DSG. It’s our second. I love its sheer comfort, an attribute I’ll try to focus on when I see an MX-5. - John Evans
-Bought: Rover 2000TC-
This Rover occupied a garage for 28 years until disinterred last summer. The engine had seized, in cylinder number three, but otherwise this 57,000-mile, one-owner car has survived amazingly well, which underlines the quality of these cars. Removing the engine for a rebore only proved how well-engineered Rovers used to be. - Richard Bremner
-Sold: Audi S1-
You tell yourself not to let emotion get the better of you when it comes to selling a car – it’s just a car, sheet metal, bits of plastic and rubber – and then it happens anyway. Regret seeps in and you find yourself missing it terribly.
The S1 definitely got under my skin, with its punchy 2.0-litre turbo engine, minutely adjustable chassis and right-size fit for the UK.
But the cash is now in a bank and I’ve swallowed the virtual key so I can’t fritter the money away, and the plan is to roll it into something else. Happy memories of an S1 will be turned into happy memories of something else. - Piers Ward
-Bought: Saab 9-3 convertible-
A wobbly £1000 Saab 9-3 convertible will never make the cut when discussing history’s greatest driver’s cars, but our scuttle-shaking Swede wasn’t bought for its ability to two-step down twisting B-roads. Instead, it was bought to provide some cheap summer family fun, which it’s done with aplomb.
In six months it has racked up 5000 miles, almost every one of them with the roof lowered and spirits raised, while its lusty and smooth 185bhp turbocharged engine has helped offset the dynamic failings of the approximate handling. Better still, with 145,000 miles on the clock it has just passed its MOT, requiring only two new tyres and a sidelight bulb. It looks like we’re in for another season of smiles. - James Disdale
-Bought: Hyundai i10-
I had dozens of car suggestions for my brother when he turned 17 – Mk2 Fiat Panda, VW Polo Dune, Daihatsu Terios (no, really) – then a neighbour let slip they were selling their 2010 scrappage-spec Hyundai i10. Not quite so overtly ‘cool’, perhaps, but it’ll net an economy figure in the high-50s, has electric windows and a decent stereo and will cost tuppence to repair after the inevitable knocks and scrapes. Not a bad little steer, either, all told. - Felix Page
-Bought: Chevrolet Corvette LT-1-
It's crept up on me, this species of Corvette, familiarity blinding me to the sensational style of Chevrolet’s third-gen sports car. The C3 Corvette lived for 14 years, its style evolving in an ever-more toy-like direction, but look at early versions and you’ll see how delicate the chrome decor of this voluptuous, ripplingly muscular car actually is.
It’s not just about style, especially when a high-performance LT-1 5.7-litre small block V8 lies in wait, its trumpeting idle suggesting fearsome power – which I’ve yet to experience. The wait for a UK registration number is deliciously prolonging the anticipation. - Richard Bremner
-Bought: Mini Cooper S-
I was prowling a BMW emporium, looking for a new bike, when my eye fell on a line of nearly new Minis. The wife has started a fair bit of commuting, so I reckoned she might enjoy the extra power and comfort of a Cooper.
We looked at a boggo 1.5-litre three-pot petrol Cooper, then tried a pokier, self-shifting S. It was a typical ‘Covid car’: two years old, just 6000 miles on the clock. The business was speedily done and our new Cooper S is proving ideal for the job. - Steve Cropley