Break out the union flag and grab some Pimms (but not if you’re driving) – it’s time to celebrate the best British used cars.
Watch the news and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the UK’s a broken island with no redeeming features – but one thing we can do very well is design world-leading automobiles.
From superminis to supercars, as well as various motorsport disciplines, the UK remains a hub of motoring design excellence – so here are our favourite British cars. We’ve compiled a list of every British-built car at the bottom, too.
Range Rover Evoque
As well as having one of the longest official names in the world, the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque (we’ll just go with Evoque, if that’s OK) is a small SUV that packs a premium punch in a package that won’t leave you wincing if you drive it in town. The latest Evoque’s available in fuel-sipping two-wheel-drive versions or you can grab one of the four-wheel-drive models which really can go much further off-road than you’d think, thanks to Land Rover’s clever 4x4 tech.
Find a used Range Rover Evoque at Motorpoint or read our Range Rover Evoque review
Mini Hatchback
You didn’t think we were going to do a list of the best British cars and leave out the iconic Mini, did you? Designed in Britain, built in Oxford and, erm, bankrolled by Munich, Mini hasn’t put a foot wrong since relaunching in the early noughties. The brand’s staple car is the three-door hatchback, which matches perfect proportions with a fun driving experience, punchy engines and an interior to make you go ‘ooo’. Rear-seat access is a bit tricky, but there’s a five-door version if you don’t mind trading slightly clunky looks for more practicality. Just be prepared for your less funny mates to tell you ‘it’s not really Mini any more is it… it’s big’. Yes, it is a lot bigger than an original Mini, but it’s also a lot, lot safer…
Find a used Mini Hatchback at Motorpoint or read our Mini Hatchback review
Jaguar F-Pace
Our list wouldn’t be complete without one of the best driver’s SUVs currently on sale – the Jaguar F-Pace. It’s a stunning large SUV that still feels like a proper Jag. That means it’s posh inside and packed with tech, while sharp controls and composed suspension encourage you to drive it almost like a sports car down a twisty road. The boot’s cavernous too, so if you’re after a British-designed family hauler, then you can’t do much better than this Solihull-made SUV.
Find a used Jaguar F-Pace at Motorpoint
Range Rover Velar
We know, the full-size Range Rover should be on this list, but the mid-size Velar gives you most of the same experience for half the cost. Like the proper Rangie, the Velar is a warship-sized SUV that gives imperious visibility of the road ahead – and makes the parking tech something of a necessity rather than a luxury. The seats are soft and sumptuous, the touchscreen is slick and the Velar’s more powerful engines are shared with the bigger car.
Shop used Range Rover Velar cars for sale or read our Range Rover Velar review
Jaguar F-Type
The Jaguar F-Type has just bowed out of production, but we’ll let it stay for a bit longer because it’s so darn pretty. A long bonnet, curvaceous haunches and a dramatic roofline are all classic sports car clues – and it’s got the power to match. The range kicks off with a 300hp 2.0-litre engine but, if you can stretch to it, the F-Type is best with a stomping V8 soundtrack. The top-of-the-tree F-Type R produces 575hp and hits 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds.
Shop used Jaguar cars for sale
Lotus Emira
Next to the electric hyperships that are the Lotus Eletre and Emeya, the Emira is a gloriously old-school proposition. It’s a sports car that looks as good as any Italian supercar, and yet is quite compact and weighs a relatively light 1,405kg. Which means that it doesn’t feel underpowered if you choose the standard 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine – although a 3.5-litre V6 is also available, and probably the right choice. What’s more, Lotus hasn’t forgotten how to make a car with astonishing handling.
Aston Martin Vantage
Aston’s baby sports car has grown up and got a hairy chest. Recently, the brand’s chairman, Lawrence Stroll, decided that Astons would have more power than the opposition. That means the Vantage now has a hypercar-bothering 665hp, a 202mph top speed and a 0-62mph time of 3.5 seconds. Wow. But perhaps more impressive is that the Vantage is dynamically stronger than ever before, not quite as clinical as the Porsche 911 and possibly a little more entertaining.
Vauxhall Combo Life
Vauxhall still has a manufacturing presence in the UK, even if its Ellesmere Port facility no longer makes its best-sellers like the Corsa and Astra. Now, the Cheshire plant makes vans for the whole of the Stellantis empire – that’s the Vauxhall Combo, as well as the Citroen Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter, Fiat Doblo and Toyota Proace City. Get one with windows in and you’ll have a car that’s more versatile than the biggest Swiss Army knife. Not sexy, no, but plenty of space for junk in the trunk.
Shop used Vauxhall Combo Life cars for sale
Bentley Continental GT
Britain’s luxury cars are among the best in the world, whether you choose one with a Range Rover, Bentley, Aston Martin or Rolls-Royce badge on the bonnet. The Bentley Continental GT is a supreme cruiser and makes any journey opulent. It’s supercar-fast, too, with a hybrid V8 engine getting the bruising Bentley from 0-62mph in under four seconds.
Rolls-Royce Phantom
If sincere opulence is what you crave, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is the pinnacle. Few superlatives are enough for how luxurious the Phantom is, nor how quiet and refined. The Phantom is still hand-built, and any coach lines are drawn by hand, too.
Cars made in the UK
- Aston Martin – Vantage, DB12, Vanquish, Valkyrie (Gaydon); DBX (St. Athan)
- Ariel – Atom, Nomad (Crewkerne)
- BAC – Mono (Liverpool)
- Bentley – Continental GT, Bentayga, Flying Spur (Crewe)
- Caterham – Seven (Dartford)
- Citroen – Berlingo (Ellesmere Port)
- Gordon Murray Automotive – T.33, T.50 (Dunsfold)
- Jaguar – XE, XF, F-Type (Castle Bromwich), F-Pace (Solihull) (ceasing from November 2024)
- Land Rover – Discovery Sport, Evoque (Halewood); Velar, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport (Solihull)
- LEVC – TX (Coventry)
- Lotus – Emira, Evija (Hethel)
- McLaren – Artura, GTS, 750S, W1 (Woking)
- Mini – Cooper/ Cooper S, Convertible (Oxford)
- Morgan – Super 3, Plus Four, Plus Six (Malvern)
- Nissan – Leaf, Juke, Qashqai (Sunderland)
- Peugeot – Rifter (Ellesmere Port)
- Rolls-Royce – Phantom, Cullinan, Spectre (Goodwood)
- Suzuki – Swace (Burnaston)
- Toyota – Corolla, Corolla Touring Sports (Burnaston); Proace City Verso (Ellesmere Port)
- Vauxhall – Combo Life (Ellesmere Port)
