It’s a buyer’s market for classic cars – these are the best for all budgets

 When the word “happy” finds itself in the same paragraph as a description of a car-owning experience, you would most likely expect the name of a Top Gear presenter to appear at the end of it rather than Dr Thomas Gilovich, a professor of psychology at New York’s Cornell University.

Dr Gilovich is not a car person, however. He is a happiness person, having spent decades studying the connection between money or things and happiness. If it makes you feel any better, he and his researchers say there’s not much of a connection between the two.

Instead, he says that it’s experiences that make you happy.

Classic cars give you experiences on top of ownership, given that the vast majority of modern cars are practical, samey objects.

I have only occasionally laughed out loud while driving cars, one a 1967 Mini Cooper on a twisty Pennine road back in the 1980s, another a 2005 Renault Clio Renaultsport 182 on the Anglesey race circuit.

Those were two automotive roads to happiness, but the best, most sought-after 1960s Minis are now unaffordable to most, and the focused Clio not to everybody’s taste, especially if you value your fillings. So, what other classics are both useable and will make you happy to own and, more importantly, to drive?

Right now, it’s a buyer’s market for classics. While some are cheap and some are still relatively pricey, with the market only likely to go one way – that’s upwards – there’s every chance you will get back what you paid.

Here is a selection of some of our favourite happy classics, with prices to suit a variety of budgets. Enjoy!

Simple to run and repair, parts readily available, flies-in-the-teeth fun as an open-top Roadster, practical as a GT coupé and with a sound like nothing else. Most collectables are the earlier chrome-bumpered models; later rubber-bumper cars are cheaper but not as appealing.

They are mechanically tough if maintained, but definitely from an era when tinworm wasn’t shy of eating cars from the inside out. You’ll find a run-while-you-restore car for less than £3,000, a useable daily driver for £4,000 and a good condition Roadster or GT for less than £6,000.

As an alternative, consider the Triumph Spitfire. “Truly happy cars. Simple, easy to work on and cost next to nothing to run,” says auctioneer Nick Wells, a classic car specialist at Dore & Rees.

£5,000 to £7,000: Fiat 500, Citroen 2CV

Carolyn Betts-Roddick, 56, from Norwich, has owned her 1970 Fiat 500F since 2015. “I love her to bits. Great fun to drive, such a cheeky car, friends and family say it’s the perfect car for me,” she says. “It has the special power to make everyone smile, laugh and wave as you go by. They are so little compared to the cars on the road these days, but very agile and nippy. And surprisingly roomy inside. Well, in the front anyway.”

Like the 1940s-born Citroen 2CV, the Fiat 500’s brief was to provide basic affordable transport, each reflective of their heritage. The 2CV was designed for the needs of French farmers, the 500 for madhouse Italian towns and cities where every journey was a race, albeit in slow motion.

Their common factor was a tiny twin-cylinder engine, the distinct sound – a cross between warbling and flatulence – funny in itself. A daily-drive 2CV will cost less than £6,000, a city-conquering Fiat 500 from about £7,000.

Issues: Not much to go wrong with either, other than rust.

Upsides: You’ll never believe that going so slowly could be so much fun.

£7,000 to £12,000: Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9

The nimble Peugeot 205 GTi lent itself to clichés, especially the 1.9-litre version, “pocket rocket” being the most apt. The Volkswagen Golf GTI had set the tone for “quality” hot hatchbacks, the Ford Escort XR3i for the mass market. But the 205 GTi was a game-changer when it came to cornering as if on rails, as the cliché goes.

Even a trip to the supermarket can be a hoot. It says a great deal when experts sense a future classic and buy one, as did Nick Wells, car specialist at auctioneer Dore & Rees: “My 205 GTi makes me happy. There’s the nostalgia element, but it’s fun, nippy, easy to maintain, and I don’t have to worry about costs.”

£9,000 to £25,000: Jaguar XJS

Chartered surveyor Edwin Jones, 64, from Cheshire, a Jaguar Drivers’ Club member, spent a year looking for the right XJS, taking the plunge after a lifetime of admiring them.

“Driving it brings a huge smile to my face and takes me back to the days of driving my in-laws’ XJS in the early Nineties,” he says. “The comfort, elegant styling and driving experience add up to make it a thrill to be behind the wheel. Admiring glances make it all very special. I can’t see me parting with it for a long time.

“My XJS is a 1993 4.0 facelift model in Signal Red and has covered 61,000 miles from new, cherished by its previous owners, covering only 3,000 miles in the past 18 years.”

Not so long ago the XJS was generally unloved, although today it’s very cool. And it’s likely that the niggles and faults prevalent in Jags of the era have all been sorted out. The V12 and straight-six engines are pretty-well bombproof, almost silent, accompanied by a slushy automatic gearbox.

Performance isn’t electrifying, but this is a car always with something in hand. Daily drivers are priced on par with some pretty dull runarounds: bag a good one for £9,000, with collectors’ items at £20,000-plus, indicating that the only way is up for the values of the XJS.

Issues: Fuel consumption, rust behind bumpers, electrical problems.

Upsides: Effortless, comfortable, quiet, oh-so cool.