10 cars for 2026 that live in my head rent-free
Erin Baker, Editorial Director of Autotrader, shares the cars that she just can’t get out of her head this year
Words by: Erin Baker
Published on 21 August 2026 | 0 min read
Ferrari Luce
It’s the Italian supercar everyone loves to hate. Ferrari’s share price dipped eight per cent when the Luce was unveiled, but the brand hit their 2026 sales target for the model in two months, thanks to Chinese buyers and American tech bros. I can’t get the Jony Ive interior out of my mind… it’s the new interior car design we’ve all been waiting for. Something totally different. So yes, it might look like a Nissan Leaf, but it’s the first genuinely exciting piece of car design I’ve seen in 2026.
Aston Martin DB12 S
Everything you could want from a British super grand tourer and more. It looks utterly delish from the outside, as Astons always do, and the interior is the best yet, with some mad two-tone leather pairings: tan and cream, red and white, blue and orange, red and black… whaddya fancy? It’s also mad, bad and growls like the best bouncer in town. Look on my works, ye mighty, and weep indeed.
Read my full review of the Aston Martin DB12 S here!
Find your very own Aston Martin DB12 here
Toyota Land Cruiser
Got to have it in dune-brown, for all those desert sand drifts you need to pile up to escape the bad guys. Really should have some sort of escape ladder on top, too and ropes, winches, pulleys, and lots of big metal clips for stuff. This car is an insane amount of fun to drive, in that old-school rock-ability sense that waddling and wading off-roaders have build in to their suspension. You can’t see the road for the vast bonnet which is a metal brick in front of you, ploughing through the air. Storm troopers only need apply. And families with tons of kids.
Renault 5
Everyone’s already bought one, except me, and I feel I should have got first dips because my mother always had Renault 5s when I was a child. I had to live through the Eighties for god’s sake, when you had to park them on a hill so you could bump start them from October to April. There should be a discount for us early adopters. In truth, I’ve hesitated because I can’t decide which colour: yellow, green, white, navy blue and black all appeal. Local runs only, given the way the range drops in cold weather, but I’m good with that. It’s nothing after the rust and dead batteries of the predecessor. YOU DON’T KNOW YOU’RE BORN.
Fiat Grande Panda
Like the Renault 5, the Fiat Panda is back and better than ever. It’s got a bamboo dashboard, for goodness sake: what else do you require? Mine’s also got a dayglo yellow plastic frame round the screen with a Panda silhouette on it, chunky “Panda” indenting in the door panels and “Panda Made with Love in Fiat” in yellow on the blue and white seats. I don’t know what it means, but it feels like a little lover letter to me every time I get in. Bellissima.
Find out what it's like to live with a Fiat Grande Panda here
Used Rolls-Royce Spectre
In the immortal words of Kylie, I just can’t get you out of my head. I drove the first version in Napa Valley, California, baby! And the dream never vanished. Sparkling doors; starlit canopies; white, pink and gold leather; carpets that you fall into like Alice through the looking glass; silence, grace and power. We’re now on “Spectre Series II” and you can probably have more power and blah, but the original retains the purity of Rolls’ first electric car. Here’s hoping the residuals are awful and I can now get one for £350 a month plus £4k down and a 36-month contract. No? Oh.
Volvo ES90
Saloons are an almost shameful idea now; hardly even a Thing – like, Du’uh if you so much as consider one – but ooo la la, the ES90 has nestled into my memory bank and won’t exit. As smooth as a silk slipper, with incredible aerodynamics and therefore a beautiful electric range of 432 miles, it showcases Volvo’s uber strength in my view: creating large cars that are also clever and graceful. That is a very hard feat indeed – just look at every luxury brand that has tried to design an SUV that looks anything other than a pile of concrete-block poo. Yet here’s Volvo, quietly and Swedishly being cool and understated and quite brilliant. Big car, small carbon footprint, job done.
Honda Super-N
One hell of a pug-ugly car. So I’m in. As in life, so in cars in my mind: better to be blindingly ugly than bland. Of course, fans of Japanese 'Kei' cars won’t agree that this Honda is smarting in the looks department, but it’s not great is it? Which makes it cultish, like every other genius small car Honda has come out with, so buy yours now, with the sort of haste I wish I had used to acquire the disappeared Honda E, also a triumph of bravery in the design department, and equally brilliant as a result. We love the price and couldn’t give a fig about the small range – look at it: you’re hardly going to head to John O Groats.
Dacia Striker
The utter tongue-in-cheek absurdity of this car’s ambitions won me round on first sight. Dacia, home of the Jogger, has now launched a Striker. Come on! Let’s go! Vamos! Let’s go strike things with the strike force of Dacia. Dude, bargain me up with this best-value baby. I put it into AI to see how something called “intelligence” dealt with this wild-card oxymoron, and the result says everything: “The Dacia Striker is a new C-segment crossover combining an SUV, estate car, and saloon.” Why not throw in “sportscar”, “coupe” and “hatchback” for the hat trick? What it actually is, is a surprisingly handsome family car with optional four-wheel drive and 32 per cent of its materials sourced from a closed-loop (circular) supply. Looks fantastic from the back, and it had me at bronze wing mirrors.
Used Lotus Eletre S
This remains, in my mind, the greatest Lotus ever produced and one of the best-value, most beautiful, most luxurious SUVs you can own. I cannot understand why more people haven’t raved about it (I mean, if we ignore residuals and the fact Lotus’s future is somewhat dubious). The interior is jaw-droppingly stunning and creative, with a futuristic, ultra-slim dash and screen display, flares of gold, cream leather and more. It drives like a dream, too and has zero tailpipe emissions. I absolutely adore it. Thank you Lotus, and Geely, from me, even if no one else has said it, for a wedge of perfection. You have my heart and I am yours.
