We got an interesting query into Motors this week. A reader had managed to secure a very special number plate, 10 D 10000 and since this was such a special plate, wondered what sort of car he should get to honour it? He wanted a car, that he could pass on to future generations of his family and that in 50-100 years time would still look good and would be a future classic?

Obviously it would have to be a brand new car and presuming that he doesn’t quite have the means to buy a Ferrari 458 or Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which you could probably assume someone will take a fancy to in a hundred years from now, we are left with some more mainstream cars.

So it got us thinking, what would be the mainstream cars that you can buy today that would be future classics? Here are my thoughts and we would love to hear what you think.

Fiat 500 Abarth
You could probably say that any of the current Fiat 500 models will be future classics, but for us we would want the Abarth version, which is fun as you can get in a package this small. 135hp might not sound a lot, but in something this size it is plenty. This will be a cool car for a long time to come.

Fiat 500 Abarth

Toyota iQ
Another small and innovative car, which hasn’t sold well in Ireland because of price, but is really clever. Future generations might look back and consider this to be quite a large car, rather worringly.

Toyota iQ

Porsche Cayman S
Most Porsche fans might not agree, but this for me is probably the best driver’s Porsche on sale today and this is something which might finally be recognised in the far away future.

Porsche Cayman S

BMW 123d Coupe
The 1-Series Coupe is a massively under-rated car and this 123d Coupe is a brilliant driver’s car. We think that this will be a model that will be coveted by collecters in the future.

BMW 123d Coupé

Renault Clio RenaultSport
I spend hours trawling the internet looking for Renault 5 GT Turbos and I think my grandkids will spend similar hours looking up their brain internet for this magic little car.

Renault Clio RenaultSport

Audi TT
You might say that the first-generation of the TT will be the classic, but this one is bound to look good in decades to come.

Audi TT

Land Rover Defender
This isn’t likely to be around for much longer if emission laws and safety laws have their way. This already harks back to 50 years ago, so in a hundred years time this will be like a Model T Ford. But it is marvellous.

Land Rover Defender

MGTF
Ok, it is rubbish, but in a hundred years time you can pretend that it is 120 years old.

MG TF

Mazda MX-5
Probably the most likely of all the car here to be still working properly and still superb fun in a hundred years from now, the MX-5 has already become a classic after 20-odd years of production.

Mazda MX-5