BBC Micro

Built by Acorn for the BBC's Computer Literacy Project and released in December 1981, this was the machine a generation of British students met at school. It was announced at £235 for the Model A and £335 for the Model B, though both prices rose almost at once, and more than 1.5 million were sold. Go for the Model B. It adds the serial and parallel ports the Model A lacked, and its expandability is the real draw for collectors: the BBC was built to be connected to things. BBC BASIC is built in and remains one of the friendliest ways to learn how these machines think, which is why the BBC Micro is still the British machine to own if you want to program rather than just play.