Welcome to the section of the magazine that focuses on cars from the 1990s and 2000s, cars which are often accepted as classics already, or which soon will be.

Have you ever bought a car at auction? If the answer is ‘No,’ then you could be missing a trick because the classic car auction catalogues are brimming with bargain priced future classics these days. Admittedly, auctions have traditionally been a bit scary and we appreciate that the whole bidding process can be a little daunting if you’ve not done it before. However, there’s an awful lot of hand holding with the specialist classic car auction houses. Moreover, lots of the sales are online anyway, so you won’t need the once obligatory fake sheepskin jacket and can bid from the comfort of your sofa.

Controversially perhaps, I’d argue that buying at auction can be safer than buying a car from the classifieds. While you can still go and view the car in the metal before bidding and even get someone to start it up in most cases so you can hear it ticking over, there’s no pressure to make a decision on the spot like there is when buying privately, for example.

Instead, you can pore over videos and extensive photographs from every angle, read the auctioneer’s description over and over again so you don’t miss anything, and at the end of all that, choose to do nothing at all if there’s something that doesn’t meet your approval. Moreover, you can often ring up the auctioneers, get them to talk you through the lot, go through the paperwork and get a pretty unbiased opinion as to whether it’s any good or not. There’s no travelling all over the country, or vendors to upset if you walk away. Unfortunately there is no test drive either as vehicles are sold as seen – there’s no comeback – and you’ll need to tot up the buyer’s fees and VAT. Remember though, you’ll be paying rock bottom, so it could well be worth the risk. But perhaps the most enticing thing of all about buying at auction is the fact that it will introduce you to a selection of cars from yesteryear you didn’t even know you wanted. Just take a look our selection overleaf if you don’t believe us.