Buy them before we do: second-hand picks for 30 November

Volkswagen Passat W8, £1700: Another smirk-inducing proposition, although you won’t be laughing when its 183,000-mile eight-cylinder motor suddenly expires. Still, it’s a rare and plush thing and you can tell everyone that your car has half a Veyron engine while you ‘W8’ for the recovery truck.

Mazda 6 MPS, £3590: The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Subaru Impreza WRX are thunderously competent 4WD Japanese saloons, but they’re a bit, well, loud. This cheaper and lesser-spotted hot Mazda 6 sends its 256bhp to both axles but doesn’t shout about it.

Ford S-Max 2.5, £3975: ‘Sleepers’ don’t get much sleepier than this: a seven-seat Ford MPV with a manual ’box and the 217bhp 2.5-litre turbo lump from the Focus ST. The only clues as to its borrowed underpinnings are some sporty alloy wheels and a lightly revised front end.

Lancia Thema 8.32, £12,750: This Thema is named for its eight cylinders and 32 valves, but the Ferrari-sourced engine was tuned more for all-round competence than outright performance. Thus, it produces just 215bhp but sounds glorious and revs to 7500rpm.

Auction watch

Lamborghini Jalpa: Here’s a nice bit of trivia: the oft-overlooked Jalpa was the last Lambo to use a V8 until the Lamborghini Urus was launched in 2018 – and we won’t be taking bets as to which one you’d stick on your bedroom wall… The Jalpa is a bit of a bargain, too. This 22,000-mile 1986 car garnered a hammer price of just £54,000, despite being one of only 35 right-hand-drive models built and undergoing a substantial recent engine overhaul. A baby Countach in every sense, it’s a fast-appreciating classic that’ll be way more fun to preserve than a pension fund.

Future classic

Seat Leon 20VT, £950: It’s a hot Seat Leon from before they all wore Cupra badges and infinitely more covetable than the Golf on which it’s based. The 20VT (that’s 20-valve, turbocharged) eked 177bhp from a 1.8-litre four-cylinder, which made for a 7.7sec 0-62mph. Not lightning fast, sure, but because the understated 20VT went without the sporty bodykit of the full-fat Leon Cupra, you’ll raise eyebrows with an exuberant standing start. This one has been around the block a few times and wears its fair share of battle scars, but at less than £1000, who’s complaining?

Clash of the classifieds

Brief: Can you find me a ‘Swiss army knife car’ that does everything for £5000?

Toyota Land Cruiser 3.0 D-4D, £4975

Jaguar X-Type 2.5 V6 Estate, £3699

Felix Page: Any car that’s claimed to ‘do it all’ will more than likely excel in no particular area. But for sheer all-round adaptability and across-the-board competence, surely we need look no further than a Land Cruiser. We’d be foolish, for example, to expect race-track thrills from its 3.0-litre turbo diesel motor, or for its ladder chassis to impress on a twisting B-road, but with eight seats, bulletproof mechanicals and an awesomely capable four-wheel drive system, it could be the only car you’d ever need.