A car for the next 20 years.

I think so, as a second/low mileage car certainly. Younger generations may see it differently, but while I certainly don't mind EV's for family/urban/high mileage uses, for fun they leave me cold. I grew up wanting exotic sounding engines with >4 cylinders and that remains the main thing I want in a car.

I still can't quite believe that the European vehicle manufacturers only objected far too late to the total move to electrification. It should have been phased in with commercials and high mileage company cars being forced (with tax incentives) - as that's where the carbon is burned - and cars being a case of tax incentivisation, not the big stick. The automotive market did a poor job of defending itself, the focus on it compared to the more relaxed approach to aviation and domestic heating (woefully under-paying for their emissions in both cases) was and is out of kilter with its impact. 

They can only get better - I think the approach of a mass market EV for family/work duties (avoiding very high end ones like the plague given the depreciation), and a petrol toy for the weekends, will be very popular!

I'm keeping our fleet for as long as it's reasonably possible.

I'm hoping the L200 will see me through to 2030, which it should with regular care and maintenance and I'll see what sort of vehicle I need/want/is available at the time.

The L322 is as much vehicle as we need for everything, but I wouldn't have it as the only car. I'll keep that as long as possible. Mate of mine has one over 200k and Sam's Motor and Machine from YouTube has another high milage example, so high milages are perfectly possible with relative reliability subject to maintenance.

The MX5 needs to be used more and we hope to do so.

I do fancy another Series Land Rover (IIA) to be specific which will be a forever car (zombie apocalypse proof) and I've not given up on sports cars completely, but it isn't financially possible at the moment and I'm not in any rush.

Anything I do buy won't be new or too recent as there isn't anything that takes my fancy.

I can't see me wanting to replace the Benz anytime soon (only 57,000 miles and nicely run in) and it is mostly used for longer trips, so an electric replacement would be pointless.

If / when the time comes to go electric, I shall still have the Alvis as the perfectly analogue antidote to modern motoring. So I agree with Ed, get the proper driver's car you want and keep it long-term.

I struggle to think of something I’d buy and keep for 20 years, but that’s because I don’t know what the options will be in 5-10 years and it would have to be something special as a second or ideally third car.

Lots of fleet musing going on in the Martin household at the moment, including an EV, but only as a 3 car garage solution with the EV as a (Lindsay’s) company car.

When I bought the 430d one of the things on my mind was that with decent maintenance I should be fairly able to get it to 200k miles which would take me to at least 2030 at which point I've assumed it'll be worthless anyway.

I occasionally have a look at EVs I see on the road out of passing interest but I can't think of any apart from the Jag i Pace that actually looks nice enough for me to want.

Stephen Bayley's column in the latest Octane makes the point that EV design is crap and that we appear to be past the peak of car design.

Its the only area I see some hope with electric. Without the need for all the cooling for an IC Engine it does give designers some scope for creativity. Clearly Tesla missed this by a country mile. I really can't understand why their designs are so gopping  given a clean sheet of paper. Still, we have the new Renault 5 to look forward to. I quite liked the Honda E and Ioniq 5. Where Bayley does have a point is that all these designs appear to be an homage to something in the past rather then anything new and groundbreaking. 

A Scimitar Restomod would be a fantastic car. 

I was actually contemplating one a while back as a bit of simple fun - I really like the shape.

BMW 3.0L straight six petrol engine and manual gearbox would be obvious choice unless it's too long.

V6 Jag engine and gearbox from S Type is another. A TVR mate put that combo in his S Series to replace the Ford running gear.

It's a good idea, you need to make this one happen!

Dead easy - the underpinnings and drivetrain from a BAC Mono......

I have one on watch in Aberystwyth. No engine or box and a few other bits missing, sat in a barn. £350.

Yes, absolutely.

I've had my M3 for almost 15 years and will keep it until it goes pop. 
I intend to keep my current Cayman for at least that long, unless Porsche replaces it with a similar petrol-powered manual Cayman that I prefer. 
And I will keep my GR Yaris (or its similar petrol-powered manual replacement) for the long term too.

Still love all of them, and driving each of them reveals the strengths of the others.

The GTS suits me better than the 981 GT4 did. It's a better and more usable road car in my opinion and I also prefer the subtler looks, most of the time. The engine is really well matched to the car too, and it feels more playful than the GT4.

I reckon it would be pretty good on track as well, certainly good enough for my intended use, given that I haven't been on track since 2018...

It's not as sweet to drive as my old 987.1 Cayman S though. I think it would be even better on a set of 19"s rather than the 20s, and the standard -20mm Sports PASM suspension drop versus the base 718 cars is possibly just the wrong side of firm on a bumpy B-road. It probably helps the handling at the expense of ride.

I’m with you. I don’t per se mind electric cars - the i4 I tried back in 2022 was very impressive. But they aren’t very interesting.

We’ve had Mrs RT’s Fiat 500 for knocking on for 11 years and we both still enjoy driving it. It’s getting a bit creaky in the suspension department but apart from that, it’s just fine. Can’t see it being replaced any time particularly soon absent a change of circumstances. Likewise, I remain delighted with our Mini Cooper, which we’ll have had for two years come August and can see that being a keeper for the foreseeable - it’s great to drive, very fit for purpose and still not due its first MOT until next year. The Macan is a great car but I suspect not one I’ll keep very long term just because the itch to change will turn up sooner or later and I already keep looking at Cayman/Boxster GTS 4.0s…. We own all of them outright nowadays, so no particular looming event horizons from a finance perspective.