Maintenance is affordable with specialists, although the V8’s fuel consumption is, well, noticeable, along with an appetite for brake pads. It’s heavy, which is why the early 4.2-litre model isn’t so quick; the 4.7 is more convincing.
Avoid the clunky MC Shift automated manual in favour of the ZF six-speed automatic, which best suits the Maserati’s lavish grand tourer ambience.
Price range £13,000-£75,000
Couldn’t live with the looks of the latest M2? Then go for this, the original, which is still a brilliant driver’s car. The earliest versions, with the 365bhp N55 engine, begin at £25k for a dual-clutch automatic or a little more for the rarer manual.
The Competition version, on sale from early 2019, provided 405bhp from BMW’s S55 motor and had sharper handling. Prices for these begin at £31k, but worry not if this is beyond your budget, because both versions are brilliant drives.
More brilliant still is the collectible CS, with 444bhp and many desirable tweaks, for which you need around £70k. All three are cast-iron classics.
Price range £25,000-£85,000
The oldest reborn A110s are now six years old, and this Alpine’s reputation as a superb driver’s car has barely diminished since. It’s almost a Goldilocks choice: not too expensive, not crazy fast but fast enough, not too big, not expensive to run and amazingly economical.
If you like driving rather than creating a visual and aural splash, this is the car. It looks pretty, too. Problems are few (the infamous failing fuel pump was fixed, eventually, with a recall), which is just as well, because service is patchy.
It’s better than a Cayman and unlikely to disappoint, although the infotainment is rubbish.
