Top Gear’s Top 9: the best old cars STILL on sale

On sale since: 2013 (7 years)
Still the best for: meshing clever EV engineering and brave style

BMW’s i range hasn’t set off a sales avalanche. The i8 sports car has been killed off (boo) and the i3 isn’t getting a direct replacement. But thanks to battery tech evolution, it’s now got twice the range it offered when first released, while its carbon fibre construction is way more advanced than the much newer Mini Electric or Honda e. Then again, they’re actually selling quite well.

On sale since: 2012 (8 years)
Still the best for: affordable, reliable rear-drive kicks

The Toyo-baru twins were what true sweaty-palmed car enthusiasts had been begging for since the Porsche Cayenne and BMW X6 gave liking cars a bad name. Small sized, respectably lightweight, revvy rear-drive coupes with manual gearboxes, that put handling above soft-touch plastics on the priority list. By the skin of their teeth, enough sweaty-palmed car enthusiasts bought enough of them for Toyota and Subaru to make sequel versions, which are due to be revealed soon.

On sale since: 2012 (8 years)
Still the best for: drag racing supercars on YouTube

The Model S has enjoyed plenty of tech upgrades both in the cabin and under the floor, in the shape of bigger, more power-dense batteries, and ever-more stomach-unfriendly acceleration. The basic car dates back to 2012, the year London hosted the Olympics and Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier after deliberately falling out of a balloon, but these days it’s faster, goes further on a charge, and it makes fart noises when you press the indicator stalk. Ahh, progress.

On sale since: 2011 (9 years)
Still the best for: anyone who wants to buy a city car

Believe it or not, the tiniest Volkswagen has been sitting on the front row of VW’s family photos for almost a decade. In that time, many have tried to overthrow its blend of cuteness, space and spectacularly over-engineered manners, but nothing has succeeded. There’s even been an electric one, and a hot hatch GTI version. Since it’s still the best in the biz, hopefully VW lets it stick around for a while longer.

On sale since: 2008 (12 years)
Still the best for: America, F*** yeah!

Back in 2008, the year Barack Obama became Mr President, Usain Bolt sprinted into the record books as the world’s fastest man and a chap from Stevenage called Lewis Hamilton won his first F1 title, the reborn Dodge Challenger was unleashed with a 6.1-litre, 425bhp V8 and we thought ‘crikey, that’s quite a lot of power'.

Fast-forward to five Hamilton F1 titles later, and the Challenger has morphed into an 800bhp+ legend of the new muscle car age, with variants like the Demon and Hellcat making us even more upset it’s never been officially sold in the UK.

On sale since: 2007 (13 years)
Still the best for: proving Darwin’s evolution theory applies to Godzilla

While US buyers had to wait until summer 2008 to get their hands on the new ‘not-a-Skyline’, and Brits had to hang on cruelly until 2009 for the R35, this generation of GT-R actually hit the streets of Japan in December 2007. It’s been blowing our tiny minds ever since, and is now taking on the third generation of Porsche 911 Turbo launched in its lifetime.

On sale since: 2000 (20 years)
Still the best for: a botox-free facelift

This one’s a bit of a cheat, because there’s not a lot left of the original, genius design left in today’s Atom. It’s still Honda powered of course, but now boosted by a turbo.

The trademark exoskeleton chassis has been redesigned to give more elbow room, the seats are more supportive, the lights are better… it’s been upgraded just about everywhere. What’s never changed is the sheer thrill of piloting one of these manic road-legal go-karts. Atoms have deservedly been at the top of the British lightweight pack for two decades now. The only way to eat more insects in a single day is to visit the jungle with Ant & Dec.

On sale since: 1996 (24 years)
Still the best for: pure sports car handling

Where there was once a Rover K-series engine, there’s now a Toyota heart. Where there were once cute round headlights, there’s now an angrier insect-y face. And where there was once world-class steering, handling and balance… there’s still world-class steering, handling and balance.

On sale since: 1973 (47 years)
Still the best for: basic driving thrills

Caterham’s been building Sevens since before the Volkswagen Golf existed. And if you count the Seven’s previous life as a Lotus, then this British icon has been scampering along B-roads since 1957, which makes it as old as the frisbee. Like our friend the Ariel Atom, it’s been continually evolved with more up-to-date engines, suspension and tyres, but it’s never come over all sensible and sprouted a roof that doesn’t leak, or a cupholder. Long may it rain over us.