What's the best-looking car that you have owned?
Discussion
Although a lot of my dream cars (Ferrari 355/Lamborghini Gallardo/Aston Martin/Jaguar F-Type/993 Porsche/E46 M3) are beautiful cars, I m not sure if styling has ever been a major factor over function/value/the driving experience in my car buying history, although there are certainly some modern German/Japanese cars that I would rule out buying on looks alone and I m not sure if I have ever bought a car that I hated the look of.
So, on that basis, what is the best-looking car that you have owned?
Top 3 for me.
My first performance car, a laser green Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6. I do love a hot hatch and Ford and Renault have made some great-looking hot hatches as well but I m not sure if any have ever really surpassed the 205 GTi for me. True, it doesn t look modern (maybe that s a good thing?) but it does look quite timeless, admittedly looks slightly better on the 15 inch 1.9 alloys and even though it was pretty subtle, it was perfectly judged and never looked better modified IMHO. The S2 106 Rallye/GTi/306 GTi/Rallye were also great looking cars but perhaps a bit too close to the lesser models, so the 205 was still the high point stylistically in Peugeot hot hatches for me. Despite mine being in banger territory when I owned it (early 2000s), it was everything to me at the time, I'd wanted one since I was 8 and despite my crappy minimum wage office job, it still never failed to raise my spirits and make me feel like a winner when I walked up to it at the end of the day!
On that theme, a close 2nd in hot hatch terms for me was my first company car, a Trophy Blue MG ZR 3 door. Granted mine was only the 1.4 but with the side skirts, front fogs and 17 inch (yes 17 inch!) alloy wheels, it looked like the top spec VVC version and getting the keys and walking up to it for the first time was such a special experience. 17 inch wheels doesn t seem like such a big deal now (my mid-spec Golf has 18s and my wife's SUV 20s) but I had never owned a car with bigger than 14 inch wheels at the time and 17s just felt so "baller"!
At the same time as I had the MG, I bought myself my first nice car a 1 year old NB Mazda MX5 Nevada (just a special edition, so had the bigger 1.8 litre engine but not the 6 speed box/LSD that you got in the Sport model). In retrospect, I think that the NA/NC MX5s look better and I would have enjoyed a Boxster S/S2000 more to drive but it did look lovely in Cerion Silver with dark blue hood and leather (and I got them to fit front fog lights to mine as part of the deal). To be honest, I probably enjoyed looking at it more than driving it but being a sports car, it probably edged the 205/ZR on looks.
Honourable mentions go to my E30 325i Convertible and Corrado VR6. Both were really cool cars and more rewarding driving experiences than the MX5 but I'm not sure if I loved the rear end styling on the BMW (loved the front) or the front end styling on the Corrado (but it looked amazing from the rear ¾)!
My wife and I have also owned an original new Fiat 500, an R56 MINI Cooper and a mk4 Golf GTi between us, which are all fantastic pieces of design that have aged really well but I'm not sure if I would go as far to say they were the best-looking cars that I have owned.
So, on that basis, what is the best-looking car that you have owned?
Top 3 for me.
My first performance car, a laser green Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6. I do love a hot hatch and Ford and Renault have made some great-looking hot hatches as well but I m not sure if any have ever really surpassed the 205 GTi for me. True, it doesn t look modern (maybe that s a good thing?) but it does look quite timeless, admittedly looks slightly better on the 15 inch 1.9 alloys and even though it was pretty subtle, it was perfectly judged and never looked better modified IMHO. The S2 106 Rallye/GTi/306 GTi/Rallye were also great looking cars but perhaps a bit too close to the lesser models, so the 205 was still the high point stylistically in Peugeot hot hatches for me. Despite mine being in banger territory when I owned it (early 2000s), it was everything to me at the time, I'd wanted one since I was 8 and despite my crappy minimum wage office job, it still never failed to raise my spirits and make me feel like a winner when I walked up to it at the end of the day!
On that theme, a close 2nd in hot hatch terms for me was my first company car, a Trophy Blue MG ZR 3 door. Granted mine was only the 1.4 but with the side skirts, front fogs and 17 inch (yes 17 inch!) alloy wheels, it looked like the top spec VVC version and getting the keys and walking up to it for the first time was such a special experience. 17 inch wheels doesn t seem like such a big deal now (my mid-spec Golf has 18s and my wife's SUV 20s) but I had never owned a car with bigger than 14 inch wheels at the time and 17s just felt so "baller"!
At the same time as I had the MG, I bought myself my first nice car a 1 year old NB Mazda MX5 Nevada (just a special edition, so had the bigger 1.8 litre engine but not the 6 speed box/LSD that you got in the Sport model). In retrospect, I think that the NA/NC MX5s look better and I would have enjoyed a Boxster S/S2000 more to drive but it did look lovely in Cerion Silver with dark blue hood and leather (and I got them to fit front fog lights to mine as part of the deal). To be honest, I probably enjoyed looking at it more than driving it but being a sports car, it probably edged the 205/ZR on looks.
Honourable mentions go to my E30 325i Convertible and Corrado VR6. Both were really cool cars and more rewarding driving experiences than the MX5 but I'm not sure if I loved the rear end styling on the BMW (loved the front) or the front end styling on the Corrado (but it looked amazing from the rear ¾)!
My wife and I have also owned an original new Fiat 500, an R56 MINI Cooper and a mk4 Golf GTi between us, which are all fantastic pieces of design that have aged really well but I'm not sure if I would go as far to say they were the best-looking cars that I have owned.
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 15:16
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 15:17
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 15:18
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 15:19
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 31st July 15:20
Dave Hedgehog said:
Nice! That, the RS2 and original RS6 are all fantastic pieces of design. Muscular but subtle and if you know, you know but the modern RSs (and BMW M/Mercedes AMG cars for that matter) are way too fussy/aggressive-looking IMHO.GeniusOfLove said:
My current daily smoker is a looker, although better looking as a coupe.
But nothing beats your first love
I do have a fondness for the XK (even the first gen). I always have a hard time choosing between the coupe/convertible (my E30 being another good example). I agree that the coupe usually looks better but I usually "want" the convertible!But nothing beats your first love
I also get the Panda. My dad bought a red one new in 1986 and my first car was a red Fiat Cinquecento Sporting. There were some really iconic small hatchback designs in the 80s: Fiat Panda, Peugeot 205, Renault 5, even the 3 door Vauxhall Nova, most of their modern counterparts just look like a bit of a mess!
Probably my Rev 3 MR2 Turbo in white. Mad to think that something that genuinely looked and drove like a mini supercar could be had for so little back then. 241bhp or whatever it made doesn't sound like loads now but it certainly went well enough.
I'm also very fond my 595 Competizione, I wouldn't call it classically 'pretty but I love the colour and the flair that has been added over the basic 500. The big Brembo calipers fill at the arches nicely and the quad exhaust pipes are a nice finishing touch on a back end that has a really nice 'squat' sort of proportion to it.
I'm also very fond my 595 Competizione, I wouldn't call it classically 'pretty but I love the colour and the flair that has been added over the basic 500. The big Brembo calipers fill at the arches nicely and the quad exhaust pipes are a nice finishing touch on a back end that has a really nice 'squat' sort of proportion to it.
I wouldn't say any of the cars I've owned have been particularly attractive; looks are pretty near the bottom of my priorities. If I had to pick the most classically attractive, probably the MGB Roadster. My favourite looking was probably the Corrado, at least partly because of the colour (Nugget Yellow).
Edited by kambites on Thursday 31st July 16:03
Another vote for the Corrado. The styling didn't overcome the aggro of it's unreliability, but it was a great looking car.
I'm in complete disagreement with that spindly little runt Drew Pritchard about these, I thing it's a great looking car, but as someone has already mentioned, beauty is in the eye of the beholder........
The colour and wheels help with this, and it's very much dependent on a sympathetically angled lens........
I won't get into trying to defend the aesthetics of the Evo, it's not exactly a looker!. It's qualities lie elsewhere!
I'm in complete disagreement with that spindly little runt Drew Pritchard about these, I thing it's a great looking car, but as someone has already mentioned, beauty is in the eye of the beholder........
The colour and wheels help with this, and it's very much dependent on a sympathetically angled lens........
I won't get into trying to defend the aesthetics of the Evo, it's not exactly a looker!. It's qualities lie elsewhere!
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