Vote for the best supercar of the last 25 years!
Time to choose your final PH25 winner - here come the big guns...
And just like that, we’re already at the final vote for PH25. Time flies, eh? Once the best supercar since 1998 has been decided, we’ll have our final famous five; the Lotus Elise, Toyota GR Yaris, BMW M5 and Caterham Seven have already been confirmed and neatly encapsulate what PH is all about. All that’s needed now is some bedroom poster exotica on top…
The past 25 years haven’t been short of supercar greatness. Oh sure, the early 1990s were pretty famous for a few very obvious reasons, but the early 21st century had its fair share of greats as well: think Lamborghini Murcielago (the first Sant’Agata supercar designed entirely under Audi ownership), the Porsche Carrera GT (that engine!), and the Ford GT (the Blue Oval’s first supercar in decades) just for starters.
Furthermore, the genre has enjoyed something of a recent resurgence as well, if we can call it that. Hybridisation has proven no impediment to drama (see McLaren Artura and Ferrari 296 GTB for proof), the Corvette has gone mid engined to offer supercar finesse for sports car money, and Maserati has swaggered into the fray with the superb MC20. Just a decade ago the notion of a Corvette with the engine behind the driver would have been as crazy as a bonafide Maserati masterpiece, yet here we are. Once again, this PH25 shortlist is nothing if not diverse.
On which note, we should probably draw your attention to where we have drawn the line (always a subject for lively discussion). You'll note the absence of Koenigsegg and Pagani and Rimac and Bugatti and any other carmaker solely in the business of building hypercars. Is that because we don't rate them? Of course not. Among them, they have produced machines of outrageous, possibly even era-defining quality. But, as has often been discussed elsewhere, they belong to a rarefied category all of their own. Ditto the likes of the LaFerrari, the Enzo, the McLaren F1, the Senna and the Porsche 918 Spyder. Fabulous, yes - but card-carrying hypercars all, and well beyond the means of at least 99 per cent of the population - or, indeed, the limits of PH's super-saver motor insurance. First and foremost, we care about the cars that we - or you - can actually drive and own in the real world without necessarily being on a shortlist in someone's draw. The list reflects that.
Or at least we hope it does. Even among confirmed supercars, there are cars of enormous value. For the sake of argument (no, that isn't a starter pistol) the Carrera GT was identified as the internal cut-off point. 'Hypercar'! some might reasonably exclaim, but on the basis that it was made for a few years and with a four-figure production run - and there was a point in time where you could buy a lightly used one for little more than £200k - we've deemed it the exception that proves the applied rule (also, it is arguably as close to a bonafide old-school supercar has Porsche allowed itself to get). Perfect science? No. But, as ever, them's the breaks.
Elsewhere, as before, we've done our best to be fair when some whittling was required. Ferrari might have been represented here many times more - the absence of several hero-grade cars, the 360 and 575 among them, was hotly disputed - but we've settled on the five which we think have come to best define the firm in the modern era. Similarly, two generations of Ford GT are present, as are both eras of V10 and V12 Lamborghini. Whether your preference is for old school and open gated or dual-clutch and tech-laden, the choices are hopefully there as you'd expect to find them.
We’ve not forgotten the home team, either, as we all know Britain has been responsible for some monster supercars since 1998. This list wouldn’t be complete without the choice of the McLaren 720S or 570S - cars, let's not forget, that challenged the supercar establishment like none before, and naturally we felt obliged to include something with that sensational old Aston V12 - so we’ve gone for the V12 Vantage S. The Noble M600 has made the cut, too. Plus the Esprit V8.
Point is, there's (hopefully) something for everyone. And that includes the Nissan GT-R which, not for the first time, provides us with an obvious giant-killer. You’ll more than likely know the process by now but, just in case, it goes like this: pick your best three supercars of the past 25 years via the vote here, panic that maybe you should have chosen a different trio, and mull it over for a week. Next Monday we’ll know the supercar that has received the most votes from the great PH public; following that, by the magic of the internet, a winner will be venerated on film. You can expect to see that in July, our final PH25 single-car production. Then there's just the small manner of the overall winner, which will be revealed at the PH25 Bicester Motion party on August 12th.
All make sense? Jolly good. Over to you then. Does the Murcielago go in ahead of a 599? Huracan or 458 Italia? R8 V10 or 911 Turbo S? Where's the MG XPower SV? Good questions all. Time for some click-based answers.
For those who love an older classic motor - where is the "Best Car > PH25 Years Old" category ?
endless potential winners; a Lancia 037, the TVR Cerbera Speed 12, Lotus Elan S1, so many possibilities... all (to date) denied a shot at a PH25 title !
Voting blind really. LFA it is.
No need to post anything other than the number, or call BINGO if you've sampled the lot.
Journo's excluded, unless you have crashed or broken them at a launch or test.
Happy to start:
1
Voting blind really. LFA it is.
No need to post anything other than the number, or call BINGO if you've sampled the lot.
Journo's excluded, unless you have crashed or broken them at a launch or test.
Happy to start:
1
Voting blind really. LFA it is.
No need to post anything other than the number, or call BINGO if you've sampled the lot.
Journo's excluded, unless you have crashed or broken them at a launch or test.
Happy to start:
1
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