Last time we kept it to cars costing less than £50,000, but today the list is once more open to all-comers.

Deliciously, at least for us, there are no rules here nor even any guidelines as to what should qualify. If there are fewer than 49 other cars on sale we prefer, it's in. If not, it's out. It's a list governed by the gut feeling of the road test team and the editor, and that really is it. We start at number 50 and work our way up to the best car we reckon you can buy right now - enjoy the journey:

Slideshow story - click the right hand arrow above to continue. 

Read Part 2: The top five showdown here