1 DEFENDER

DESPITE the arrival of the new model, the prices of the classic Defender keep on rising. £7500 is enough to get you a scruffy but solid example which will give you years of service if looked after properly and offer significant scope for improvement and modification. The earliest 90, 110 and Defenders will be in this price range, as will the Tdis and high-mile utilitarian Td5s. Buy a good one and it will be a better investment than money in the bank, and a lot more fun.

PATRICK CRUYWAGEN, LRM Editor: “I’d put my £7,500 into a really nice short wheelbase Series IIA station wagon with the Safari roof. It’d have to be a seven seater. They are lovely but incredibly rare, as the 12 seater 108 was exempt from car purchase tax when they were new and the seven .”