Used Car of the Year 2008 - Sports cars

Winner:Nissan 350Z GT Coupe ('03-)
Year: '04/54
Price: £14,560

In some ways, the 350Z is a bit of a dinosaur: it has rear-wheel drive and its 3.5-litre V6 engine produces 309bhp. It's anything but subtle and is the modern epitome of old-school.

Add aggressive styling and a raucous exhaust note and you've got a car that deserves to be given an ASBO. Brilliant.

Blows away the competition
This year, it faced aggressive, nimble rivals such as the Mazda MX-5, Porsche Boxster and Golf GTi, but beat them all because none could match the way it offers big bangs for small bucks. Yes, the 350Z isn't subtle, but you'll be having too much fun to care.

This is a car that demands concentration because, with all that power going through the back wheels, it doesn't take much for the rear to slide – even with traction control on.

It doesn't have the handling finesse of a Porsche Boxster, but it will cost a lot less to buy and run, despite its thirst for petrol.

The UK edition of the 350Z comes as a manual only, but because the engine develops so much power you can afford to be lazy with the gearchanges.

In the cabin
Despite the old-school approach to driving, the 350Z comes with modern goodies including climate control, xenon headlights and a CD multichanger as standard.

Even so, we'd opt for the GT version, which comes with heated leather seats, cruise control and an upgraded stereo, including a sub-woofer.

Limited supply means that the resale values are strong, so be suspicious of very cheap examples, and autos, because these will be imports.

Giveaways include the Japanese-size (square) numberplates and unusual specifications.

Power: 276bhp
Fuel economy: 24.8mpg (average)
0-60mph/top speed: 5.9sec/155mph
Insurance: Group 19
CO2: 273g/km
Service intervals: 9000 miles

Runner's-up
Mazda MX-5 1.8 Sport '04/04 £7890
Porsche Boxter 2.7 '05/05 £20,465
Volkswagen Golf GTi 5dr '05/05 £10,600
Mercedes SLK 200K '05/05 £15,905