PH Top 100 Cars of All Time...

[300bhp/ton]

OP changed. In order to complete the list below, please go to this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... and submit your nominations before 26th Aug 2011!

Results will follow in this thread after the scores are in.

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Taking inspiration from this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And sticking to the same idea and ethos as Insideline:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to American automotive culture."

But lets change it to:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to British automotive culture, taking into account other World markets"


For a car to "qualify" it needs a justification as to why - and remember, this is about automotive culture, not handling and horse power


I think we need to complete some potential candidates first, then set about putting them into some order. So here goes:




Potential Candidates & nominations:

Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
Willis	Jeep	1940s	Without it the Land Rover would never have existed
Land Rover	Series		The vehicle that not only conquored Britain, but much of the World also from Afriact to Australia
Subaru	Impreza Turbo 2000	1995	The car that kept rallying as an interest to millions and offered near supercar accleration for average erners.
Honda	Integra Type R (DC2)	-	For those in the know, it's the ultimate FWD drivers choice
Peugeot	205GTI		Arguably one of the best hot hatches ever
MG	B & B GT		Offering real world sports car thrills at affordable money and running costs, an icon today
Ford	Escort MKI & II		Showing that a boring familiy car doesn't have to be quite so boring after all
Jenson	FF		Often forgotten or unknown, but showing that AWD and ABS where possible before the masses
Nissan	Skyline GT-R32	1993	Not known as Godzilla for no reason.
Austin	Allegro		A fine example of modern car configuration and maximising interior space in a non performance orientated car
Land Rover	Freelander	1997	Arguably one of the first capable soft roaders and certainly responsible for opening up this market sector in the UK
Jaguar	E-Type		Sex on wheels
BMW	e46 3 Series		The car BMW managed to sell as a mass market and fleet car, out selling many others. Yet somehow retaining it's prestige image, performance and often price. Genius.
Porsche	911
Mazda	MX-5
Ford	Transit
Vauxhall	Nova
Ford	V8 Pilot
Lotus/Caterham	7
Lotus	Elise

Top 100 in order:

Position	Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
1	Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
2
3
4
5
6
7
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100

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Friday 19th August 08:58

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Friday 19th August 10:27

[Dracoro]

I would say the Fiat 500 is the original and blueprint, not the mini

You'll get a lot of that

Anyway, I would subdivide the 100 into categories of, say, 15 or 20. So, sports cars, practical cars (hatches/estates), luxury, super/hyper cars etc. A bit like the Evo categories at the back of the magazine.

I would also recommend that varying models are disregarded else porsche fanboys (and others ) will have varying evolutions of the 911 in the list. There "should" be just the one.

Anyway, I don't think you're going to get anything like a consensus and there will be a lot of debates(i.e. internet arguments ). I would suggest having a thread per category, then a poll of, say 30 or so cars, the top 15 getting into the cut. Merge the results of the half dozen or so categories into this one.

[Hub]

Just get people to strictly list a top 10 cars each, then... er... someone can add up the votes!

[sat1983]

911 has got to be in the top 3

[300bhp/ton]

Dracoro said:

I would say the Fiat 500 is the original and blueprint, not the mini

You'll get a lot of that

Anyway, I would subdivide the 100 into categories of, say, 15 or 20. So, sports cars, practical cars (hatches/estates), luxury, super/hyper cars etc. A bit like the Evo categories at the back of the magazine.

I would also recommend that varying models are disregarded else porsche fanboys (and others ) will have varying evolutions of the 911 in the list. There "should" be just the one.

Anyway, I don't think you're going to get anything like a consensus and there will be a lot of debates(i.e. internet arguments ). I would suggest having a thread per category, then a poll of, say 30 or so cars, the top 15 getting into the cut. Merge the results of the half dozen or so categories into this one.

Trouble is, spilling it into categories sort of dictates the number of that type of car. Supercars and hypercars are great, but few have really had a huge affect on motoring culture. There's a few exceptions like the F1, XJ220, F40, GTO, etc.

But then you've the myriad of 348's, SV's, Nobles, 928's and so on. Often great cars in their own right, but not really having a huge cultural impact on motoring overall.

[cheesyblob]

300bhp/ton said:

Taking inspiration from this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And sticking to the same idea and ethos as Insideline:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to American automotive culture."

But lets change it to:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to British automotive culture, taking into account other World markets"


For a car to "qualify" it needs a justification as to why - and remember, this is about automotive culture, not handling and horse power


I think we need to complete some potential candidates first, then set about putting them into some order. So here goes:




Potential Candidates & nominations:

Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
Willis	Jeep	1940s	Without it the Land Rover would never have existed
Land Rover	Series		The vehicle that not only conquored Britain, but much of the World also from Afriact to Australia
Subaru	Impreza Turbo 2000	1995	The car that kept rallying as an interest to millions and offered near supercar accleration for average erners.
Honda	Integra Type R (DC2)	-	For those in the know, it's the ultimate FWD drivers choice
Peugeot	205GTI		Arguably one of the best hot hatches ever
MG	B & B GT		Offering real world sports car thrills at affordable money and running costs, an icon today
Ford	Escort MKI & II		Showing that a boring familiy car doesn't have to be quite so boring after all
Jenson	FF		Often forgotten or unknown, but showing that AWD and ABS where possible before the masses
Nissan	Skyline GT-R32	1993	Not known as Godzilla for no reason.
Austin	Allegro		A fine example of modern car configuration and maximising interior space in a non performance orientated car
Land Rover	Freelander	1997	Arguably one of the first capable soft roaders and certainly responsible for opening up this market sector in the UK
Jaguar	E-Type		Sex on wheels
BMW	e46 3 Series		The car BMW managed to sell as a mass market and fleet car, out selling many others. Yet somehow retaining it's prestige image, performance and often price. Genius.
Porsche	911
Mazda	MX-5
Ford	Transit
Vauxhall	Nova
Ford	V8 Pilot
Austin	Maxi	The first ever British 5-Speed, 5-Door car that also had an OHC engine when Ford was still using OHV in some Euro-market cars in the 1990s. Seats folded in many ways including in to a double bed. Much more compact, spacious and comfortable than a Cortina.

| || || || ||
|| BMC || ADO16 ||Did pretty much everything the Allegro was supposed to do and actually did it well, unlike the Allegro. Actually outsold the Mini in most of its years of production

Morris	Minor	A Utilarian car that could be fixed by anyone. Sold in it's millions, and even after the end of production millions of people still bought Marinas brand new with very similar mechanicals.
MG/Rover	200/400/25/45/ZR/ZS (R8+R3)	Introduced the 16V 1.4K-Series with 103HP, Compared to the 75HP of the current VAG 1.4. In 1989. Very reliable and still very common.

Top 100 in order:

Position	Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
1	Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
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25
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100

[kambites]

I'll nominate a few:

Benz Patent Motorwagen - first purpose built car; pretty much where it all began
Austin Seven - First affordable British car; first mass-market car to use current control layout
Cooper T43 (If we're not restricting it to road cars) - First rear engined F1 car?

[cheesyblob]

kambites said:

I'll nominate a few:

Benz Patent Motorwagen - first purpose built car; pretty much where it all began
Austin Seven - First affordable British car; first mass-market car to use current control layout
Cooper T43 (If we're not restricting it to road cars) - First rear engined F1 car?

Good calls.

[lazyitus]

TVR Griffith - proper British V8 open top sportscar. One of the very last of this genre, ever.

[Vocal Minority]

Personally I would say the Fiat 500 wasn't. - Engine in the back, rather than transverse engine in front and front wheel drive.

In no specific order for me, just as they come to me.

1. BMC Mini - for reasons states above and universally agreed with.

2. Land Rover Series 1- The quintessentially British Car, enormous contrubution to aid situations, used by militaries around the world, and becoming a Hollywood poster boy for vehicles for the tough stuff. Great ambassador for British Industry - and the Series 1 was the grandaddy of them all.

3. Ford Model T - Truly accessible motoring for the masses. Contribution to car culture, business and manufacturing.

4. Jaguar E-Type - A style and design icon. More than being just 'sex on wheels' it set the styling benchmark for a decade, and is still seen as a yard stick for how pretty a car is. Use this entry to get an honorable mention to the Jaguar XK - One of the great engines.

5. Porsche 911 - No car design has endured as well and with such a cult following for so long.

6. Lamborghini Countache - Truly dreadful as a car, but as a poster it influenced tens of thousands of young minds and their idea of what a car is, and a car should be. As a revolutionary design its influence was almost seditious, and I think Lamborghini would rather like the sound of that,

7. Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 - The rally bred perdformance saloon has set itself apart, plugging the gap, faster than a hot hatch, more affordable than the M5s. And the Subaru, whilst maybe not the first, really kicked the trend off.

8. Citreon Saxo - Bear with me, there is method in my madness. Whilst the scene had been around for a while, Citroen deliberately designed the saxo to make it modifiable. As such it has been a hit with the scene ever since. Whilst it isn't precisely my cup of tea, you cannot deny the presence of this prominent sub-culture, of which the Saxo is the king.

9. Golf GTI - The best hot hatch. That is all.

10. Ford Escort - For 32 years between 1968 and 2000, the Ford Escort did the shopping, took Mum to hospital when the kids were born, and then took the kids to school. It was the first step for many on the company car ladder. It won the RAC rally, spurned the iconic RS brand, and even it's own wild child, the Cosworth. One of the great all rounders.

[900T-R]

300bhp/ton said:

Taking inspiration from this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And sticking to the same idea and ethos as Insideline:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to American automotive culture."

But lets change it to:
"Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to British automotive culture, taking into account other World markets"


For a car to "qualify" it needs a justification as to why - and remember, this is about automotive culture, not handling and horse power


I think we need to complete some potential candidates first, then set about putting them into some order. So here goes:




Potential Candidates & nominations:

Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
Willis	Jeep	1940s	Without it the Land Rover would never have existed
Land Rover	Series		The vehicle that not only conquored Britain, but much of the World also from Afriact to Australia
Subaru	Impreza Turbo 2000	1995	The car that kept rallying as an interest to millions and offered near supercar accleration for average erners.
Honda	Integra Type R (DC2)	-	For those in the know, it's the ultimate FWD drivers choice
Peugeot	205GTI		Arguably one of the best hot hatches ever
MG	B & B GT		Offering real world sports car thrills at affordable money and running costs, an icon today
Ford	Escort MKI & II		Showing that a boring familiy car doesn't have to be quite so boring after all
Jenson	FF		Often forgotten or unknown, but showing that AWD and ABS where possible before the masses
Nissan	Skyline GT-R32	1993	Not known as Godzilla for no reason.
Austin	Allegro		A fine example of modern car configuration and maximising interior space in a non performance orientated car
Land Rover	Freelander	1997	Arguably one of the first capable soft roaders and certainly responsible for opening up this market sector in the UK
Jaguar	E-Type		Sex on wheels
BMW	e46 3 Series		The car BMW managed to sell as a mass market and fleet car, out selling many others. Yet somehow retaining it's prestige image, performance and often price. Genius.
Porsche	911
Mazda	MX-5
Ford	Transit
Vauxhall	Nova
Ford	V8 Pilot
Lotus/Caterham	7
Lotus	Elise
McLaren	F1		First, only and probably the last time when engineering was taken to its ultimate conclusion for one single purpose - to put the driver in the centre (literally) of proceedings
TVR Griffith/Chimaera	1992-2003	Ultimate and last iterations of the traditional Great British sportscar; packs the genes of Cobra & Big Healey, all in one gorgeous and genuinely practical (however flawed in detail execution) package. Made Brit roadsters sexy & desirable again
AC Cobra	1962-69	For starters, we got the 70 mph limit as a result ;o)
Saab 900 Turbo	1978-'93	Proved that you could have safety & sensibility andquirkiness and excitement in an exec car that wasn't a BMW
Mazda MX-5		Revived the concept of an affordable, fun, roadster that you could use every day.
Austin Healey Sprite/MG Midget		showed that 'sports cars' aren't defined by power, speed, grip or even handling

Top 100 in order:

Position	Make	Model	Year (if appropriate)	Reason
1	Austin/BL/Rover	Mini	-	The blueprint for most small cars today. And a success at everything it did from rallying to circuit racing.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Friday 19th August 08:58

[Dracoro]

Are people really going to keep re-quoting the original list. All the time. really?...... I think it best to put down your nominations and let the OP put into the list.

[Lordbenny]

How exactly is one supposed to add a car to this list?

[cheesyblob]

Wouldn't it be easier to vote on it then make a wiki?

[300bhp/ton]

OP changed. In order to complete the Top 100 list, please go to this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... and submit your nominations before 26th Aug 2011!

Results will follow in this thread after the scores are in.