Jay Kay's excellent BMW and Volvo 850 are up for auction

Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay has quite good taste in cars, we’re sure you’ll agree. Especially after you see the seven cars from his personal collection that are going up for auction next month at the NEC.

Sure the McLaren 675LT, with over £50,000 worth of MSO options and less than 2,000 miles on the clock, is pretty cool. So’s the Bullitt Mustang, the limited-edition E30 M3, the old Merc SL and Porsche 911 Targa. But none have got us quite as excited as these two.

First, a dark-green 1996 Volvo 850 R Estate – possibly the most hardcore road-going Volvo ever, and one of the best Q-cars there’s ever been. Inspired by the brand’s success in the BTCC, the follow-up to the T-5 and T-5R has a 2.3-litre, five-cylinder engine with 250bhp, giving 0-60mph in 5.8 seconds and a top speed approaching 160mph. The gearbox is a five-speed manual, driving the front-axle via a standard limited-slip diff.

This one’s a Japanese import – like the Renault 5 GT Turbo we showed you yesterday – with just 41,000 miles on its odometer. And it’s just had a load of work done, plus a fresh MOT. Silverstone Auctions expects it to fetch between £15,000 and £18,000.

Then comes something even better. Another car from the mid-Nineties, a BMW 8 Series. Mr Kay is only the second owner of this 850 CSI, its original owner having bought it for £72,486 in Bristol back in 1996. Today, Silverstone estimates it could fetch up to £100,000 thanks to its exceptionally low mileage – just 12,000 – and original spec. The only non-original bits are the Alpina wheels, and they look ace anyway.

But what excites us is the drivetrain. The 850 CSI, of which BMW only sold 138 in the UK, came with a 380bhp N/A V12 engine and six-speed MANUAL transmission, making it worth every penny of its substantial estimate.

November 10 is the day to stick in your diary. Will you be bidding?