Fiat X1/9

Marcello Gandini, the Bertone designer behind the Lamborghini Countach, shaped this small Fiat, and it brought a mid-mounted engine and a targa roof to everyday money from 1972. Gandini gave it two luggage spaces, one in the front and one in the rear, so two people can actually travel in it. The 1.5-litre cars built from 1978 are the stronger buys. Rust is the number one killer: check the floor pan, inner sills, windscreen surround and wheel arches, and the coolant pipes in the central tunnel, where leaks can rot the car from the inside.