Alfa Romeo 147 TS Lusso 2.0

Few thought that Alfa Romeo could follow on from the success of the mould-breaking 156 saloon. The 166 executive saloon was a nice try, but it never threatened the class establishment. With the 147 hatch, however, the company scored its biggest hit to date, scooping the European Car of The Year award in 2000 and signing up thousands of converts to the Alfa way of doing things. The Italian marque has been on an upward curve ever since. As a used purchase the 147 is no different to the 156 - it's no Toyota Corolla as far as reliability goes but it's certainly class competitive.