10 top luxury compacts

If you’ve got the money for luxuries such as hide trim, cutting-edge technology and fancy paint options, you’ve probably got the money for a large car, too.

The primary benefits of small cars – that they’re cheaper to buy and run – sit at odds with extravagant specifications.

But occasionally, car makers have experimented with models that offer true luxury in compact packaging.

Not wanting to look as wealthy as you are is a very European obsession – but going without leather seats and air conditioning would be slumming it too far, right?

The manoeuvrability and ease of parking a small car are further immutable benefits in tight European cities,
no matter how much money an owner has.

It’s unsurprising, then, that all but one of our 10 luxury small cars hail from Europe.

In all cases, these are cars that were more than just a top trim tier; they offered a level of ostentation not usually seen in cars of their size at the time, and often took the name of a luxury marque usually known for producing much larger cars, or even that of a non-automotive prestige brand.

While thoroughly interesting models when new and idiosyncratic classic cars now, many were flops in their day.