There is a kind of car that does not need to make a case for itself. It does the case-making in the metalwork, day after day, year after year — and one day you realise you have not thought about it in months because it has not given you a reason to.

We chose 'the everyday iconic' as our tagline because it describes what we actually have on the forecourt, which is not what every premium dealership claims to have on theirs. We do not have a Pagani. We do not have a Group B rally car. We do not, this morning, have a Ferrari.

We have an M135i in Misano blue. We have a Mercedes C-Class in a colour you would not have asked for and would now refuse to part with. We have a Volvo XC90 that looks like furniture and has the same effect on a long drive — you are at the destination before you remember setting off.

THE LIST

The cars that earn the description, in our view: the BMW M135i. The Z4 sDrive 20i. The Mercedes E-Class in any AMG Line trim. The Volvo XC90 from the second generation onwards. The Mini Countryman in Cooper trim. The Toyota GR86. The Mercedes GLA in 220d AMG Line Premium.

What they have in common: they are quietly extraordinary. They have been engineered with care and built to last. They reward the owner who pays attention without demanding it. They are cars you will keep longer than you planned to. We sell those.