Saluting the best of the rest | PH25 Footnote

Couldn't see your preferred sports car in the PH25 results? Right this way...

Obviously, when called upon to identify the finest sports car of the past 25 years, we knew the PH community would rise to the challenge. But even the supremely optimistic among us did not anticipate the sheer volume of votes we received. For this, we are, as ever, eternally grateful. We were also thankful that a clear winner emerged: the Series 1 Lotus Elise garnered 27 per cent of the total vote. A worthy recipient had it triumphed by a single ballot, of course, but it was all the more gratifying to know that Hethel’s lightweight icon was held in special regard by so many PHers.

Which isn’t to say that no other car stood out. As evidenced by yesterday’s top 12, the brace of Porsches was very much in the running, as were the Honda S2000 and Mazda MX-5, models that both owe a significant debt to the quintessentially English way of building sports cars. Who could argue too with high finishes for the Caterham Seven 310 R, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and TVR Sagaris? Legends all - a noun that could be accurately applied to the Alpine A110, Audi R8 and BMW M2 Competition which rounded out the leading pack (and if it can’t yet be said about the new Toyota GR86, then trust us, confirmation is very much in the post).

Needless to say, there were arguments elsewhere. This we did expect. Thanks in part to the industry’s carefree approach to model descriptions in general, ‘sports car’ is more a grey area than it is a clearly defined segment and we adopted a fairly inclusive attitude when it came to the shortlist. Predictably, this was too broad for some - and too narrow for others. And, of course, just much too short for many. This, too, we knew to take on the chin: tapering the likes of the Porsche 911 or Lotus Elise or Mazda MX-5 to one generation was always going to provoke lively discussion among serious enthusiasts - but when the alternative list was deemed unworkably long (and would almost certainly have resulted in splitting the vote anyway) we had to nail our colours to a particular mast, come what may. Them’s the breaks.

13. Jaguar F-Type (2013) - 6.12%
14. Alfa Romeo 4C (2014) - 5.45%
15. TVR Tuscan (1999) - 5.36%
16. P orsche Boxster Spyder (2019) - 5.29%
17. Vauxhall VX220 (2000) - 4.33%
18. Lotus Emira (2022) - 3.82%
19. Toyota MR2 (2000) - 3.22%
20. BMW Z4 M (2006) - 2.91%
21. Mercedes-AMG GT (2015) - 2.89%
22. Lotus Evora (2009) - 2.67%
23. Abarth 124 Spider (2016) - 2.49%
24. Ford Mustang Mach 1 (2021) - 1.96%
25. MG TF (2002) - 1.87%
26. Bentley GT Speed (2021) - 1.74%
27. Nissan 370Z (2009) - 1.72%
28. Audi TT RS (2016) - 1.42%
29. BMW i8 (2014) - 1.40%
30. Toyota GR Supra (2020) - 0.97%
31. Morgan Plus Six (2019) - 0.78%

The upside to that approach is that, beyond a mostly foreseeable top 12, the list provided a fascinating overview of where precisely PHer affections have accumulated over the years. Granted, in some cases we’re talking differences involving tens of votes rather than hundreds, but who beforehand would’ve predicted the Alfa 4C finishing eight places higher than the Lotus Evora, or the Jaguar F-Type seeing off the Porsche Boxster Spyder? A shout out, too, for the Vauxhall VX220 in 17th (a well-deserved mid-table finish for a car that shares so much with the ultimate victor) and for the MG TF, which cheerily absorbed all the derision directed at it by not finishing at the foot of the table.

With regard to the tail-enders, most deserve a kind word. Some contenders admittedly suffered from being square pegs stuffed into round holes. The Bentley GT and Morgan Plus Six and even possibly the BMW i8 would likely have fared better in categories more ideally suited to their various talents; we included them because we hold them in high regard generally and had no forthcoming place to put them. Ditto idiosyncratic cars like the Mustang Mach 1 or Nissan 370Z - not Europe’s idea of a sports car perhaps, but there are half a dozen more famous models above them that we’ve had less fun in.

But that fact speaks more to the strength of the results than it does their weaknesses. It could never be a definitive or even particularly objective rundown of comparative ability, because who among us could claim to have driven them all? Chiefly the vote was about delivering a well-deserved winner, which it did in fine style. But it was also about celebrating the sports car as a genre, and while some contenders are rightly prized over others, no model on the shortlist failed to score a nod - which means that some PHers out there like them very much indeed. Further proof, were it needed, that it takes all sorts - and that PH is all the better for it. Something to think about tomorrow when we kick off vote number two: hot hatches. MG ZR, anyone?

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rassi

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281 months