Spanking new this issue, we consult our crystal ball to pick cars from the last few decades that will fuel our passion and attract the collectors in years to come

When does a car become a classic? Yep, that's the million dollar question and the thing that's traditionally kept the bruised digits of keyboard warriors hammering out their frustration as they drop in – uninvited usually – on various online car discussions.

From a personal perspective, it's the benchmark cars – cars that have pushed boundaries in some way or dared to be a bit different – that interest me, to an extent regardless of when they were made. Cars with soul and imagination. And thus, in my mind at least for what it's worth, these are the cars that are most likely to be granted 'classic' status – or at least become loved, cherished and collected – in the days to come.

While it's tricky to predict with any certainty which cars to go and buy right now if you want to get ahead of the curve, gut feel – and casting a shrewd eye over the classifieds – helps a lot when it comes to spotting these future classics. More often than not, they will be the models that perhaps went unnoticed or were prohibitively expensive to buy when new, the sportier variations with the more interesting specification or the tastier engines, or perhaps cars that were simply sidelined for whatever reason when new and have yet to be fully appreciated.

In truth, there's lots of scope to successfully pick a future classic and there are rich pickings to be had for the canny car enthusiast out there looking to buy something with character that's just a little bit newer with a few more creature comforts so it can be enjoyed as more of a daily driver. The prospect of this provides me with the perfect opportunity to introduce our exciting new Future Classics section this issue. Broadly speaking we will be focussing on cars from the 1990s and 2000s, with 2010 being a theoretical cut off point. That said, something which looks a bit special but was built slightly later would still sit comfortably in this section. In a nutshell, we'll tell you what potential future classics are out there, what to look for when buying one and how much to pay. We hope you enjoy the read, and maybe with the information we give, even be inspired and go out and buy a future classic of your own.