The best first cars for new drivers – driven, rated and ranked

Are you after a four-wheeled friend that won’t be some 1000cc shopping trolly with the verve and handling of one? If so, this best first cars list should be your bible.

Well, maybe not the bible. But it will certainly help you choose a motor that is both cheap to insure and offers the driving involvement a petrolhead needs.

After untold hours of seat time across several decades, days spent poring over the classifieds and comparing more insurance quotes than we care to remember, our writers believe the Mini Cooper to be the pick of the bunch. After all, its sweet combination of handling and affordability has kept thousands of enthusiasts coming back for more.

Don’t fancy one? Each car on this list has a unique selling point to mark it out from the other slabs of metal in your average car park. From superminis to hot hatches, there’s a good option here for everyone.

And if you have a bit more money to play with, try our best used cars for enthusiasts article.