Thursday 18th August 2011

The 100 Greatest Cars Of All Time...

...According to the Americans. This one'll get you wondering

---

Mini's 2nd place we get...

Jam is Jelly. Pavement is sidewalk. State school is public school and public school is private school. And a petrolhead is a gearhead. There is, it is safe to say, a small but significant cultural and linguistic divide between the US and Great Britain.

And the gap isn't just limited to the semantics of language; we love our cars in very different ways, too. There could perhaps be no better way to illustrate this than the list of '100 Greatest Cars of All Time' that's just been compiled by our colleagues across the pond at Inside Line.

It is, they tell us, the "definitive list to end all 100 Greatest Cars lists". It's been compiled to reflect a vehicle's direct contribution to American car culture, and is unashamedly biased towards enthusiast cars.

...But 40th place for this? Really?

But it is also a fascinating insight into how our friends across the water see cars differently. For example, we more than agree with the Original BMC Mini's place at No 2 in the list, the inclusion of the 911 in the top five, and the appearance of the R32 Skyline GT-R. We can also understand the plethora of Cadillacs, US-market Fords and other American-market offerings, but there are some distinct oddities in there.

Where, for example, is the McLaren F1? How come the Buick Grand National and GNX outrank the Porsche 959? Why, in the name of all that is holy to car enthusiasts, is the 1990s Honda Civic Coupe there? Okay, so it is perhaps explained by the car's popularity as a basis for tuning, but come on - 40th place? Crikey...

Still, different strokes, as they say. You can have a pore over the full list here.

Iconic Viper comes in at 39...	...while the Datsun 240Z makes the top 30
The Oldsmobile 88. Some cars just mean more to Americans...	...whereas other US metal has a global reach
The inclusion of the Lotus Seven we understand...	...But the presence of the Camry is beyond us

[MattDell]

I used to respect Edmunds...

[Arrive Alive]

I wouldn't know where to begin with taking issue with that list.

[anything fast]

its a biased list, but what do you expect?? if it was a british list it would be full of old jags and the like.. come one there are some really great cars on the list but the Toyota Corola? Hey??!! Plus look how high the Mini Scored, so not all bad I guess..

[toasty]

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

[Y282]

toasty said:

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

• does little dance*

no, much as i love mine even i'd have to take issue with that.

it's BLUE e36 M3s, everyone knows that.

[hesnotthemessiah]

toasty said:

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

They got the M5 (E28) right but the wrong M3 (should have been the E30). IMHO obviously. But then again they are Americans I guess.

[anonymous-user]

I'm pleased with second place.

[Rawwr]

MattDell said:

I used to respect Edmunds...

Me too but I really lost respect when he did Noel's House Party.

[Prev]

No mention of a Land Rover in sight....

[Rawwr]

toasty said:

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

Indeed. For me - and please don't shoot me for this - the E36 M3 is way down in the order of greatest M cars. E34 M5? E39 M5? E46 M3 CSL? M Coupe? blah blah blah

[DrTre]

Arrive Alive said:

I wouldn't know where to begin with taking issue with that list.

At the end and then holding the delete key down?

[Turbobanana]

I guess many of them have never heard of some of Europe's most iconic cars, possibly due to punitive emissions laws precluding their sale in the US. IIRC, didn't Bill Gates have to err.. "pull some strings" to get his 959 licensed in California, for example.

It would be interesting to compare the Top 100 in various countries: UK, USA, Japan, etc, to reflect differing tastes and cultures.

[jagnet]

58. Nissan Leaf
69. Jaguar XK120

Really? The Leaf is that far ahead of what was the fastest production car of the time? Even by their own definition of greatness, a car which has been available for just one year and sold less than 5k in the US in that time has had a greater contribution to American automotive culture than the XK120? Maybe that says more about American automotive culture than it does about the cars.

[captain ash]

Gotta love the quote on the Jaguar XJ6

"Maybe the only good car Britain produced during the '70s and '80s."

[Zod]

toasty said:

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

bizarre - especially when you consider that the Americans got a detuned version of the E36.

[Schmeeky]

58. 2011 Nissan Leaf: The first mass-produced all-electric car from a major manufacturer. The Leaf proves it can be done.

Just because it's the 1st and proves it can be done doesn't make it one of the all time greats..


38. 2004 Toyota Prius: The second-generation Prius proved gas-electric hybrids can be good business and good cars.

Good cars? So what's it doing in a list of all time greats?


Some bizarre choices here, to say the least!

[Riggers]

captain ash said:

Gotta love the quote on the Jaguar XJ6

"Maybe the only good car Britain produced during the '70s and '80s."

And yet they also include thee Lotus Esprit. A British car made in the 70s and 80s. Go figure...

[leon9191]

Not one single Alfa Romeo in that list.

[Y282]

Zod said:

toasty said:

Out of the choice of M Cars, they chose the E36 M3. Interesting.

bizarre - especially when you consider that the Americans got a detuned version of the E36.

didn't they essentially get a 328i in drag?

[2volvos]

If the reason behind the list was the influence on American car culture then the dear old Mini is defintely punching above its (low) weight. I can't believe that Americans think the Mini has had more influence on their car culture than a '64 Mustang or Model T...Not that I'm complaining, good on them.

I spent a lot of time in the US in the early 90s and there was nothing cooler than seeing an old Brit car amongst the Hondas, Rabbits and BMWs that seemed to be taking over.