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The 100 Best Cars of All Time

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  • FREDERICKFREDERICK Member Posts: 228
    When I speak of elegant 4-doors I look more to the classic Town Cars built for the true gentleman with top hat in hand.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Isn't it interesting that in the old days of cars, (1900-1925)that the closed cars were considered the most elegant and the open cars were generally viewed as either cheap or frivolous? I think this was because closed cars were virtually hand-built, like a closed horsecoach, and made of wood framing with metal painstakingly laid over. It wasn't until they figured out how to stamp large pieces of steel accurately (perfected by the Budd Company) that closed cars became economical to build.

    Even though they are treasured today, most people dont' realize that the old coachbuilt bodies were pretty loosy-goosy and fell victim to the stress of the road. More works of art than cars, some of them.
  • reBMWreBMW Member Posts: 26
    is there consideration for styling exercises and their influence on subsequent production as a best 100? if so, i would toss out the ferrari modulo as sufficiently significant to gain a toe-hold. i recognize it is was only a styling exercise but the lines demonstrated by that exercise had sway for many years in leading edge automotive design round the world.
  • reBMWreBMW Member Posts: 26
    'held sway' not 'had sway'
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Yes, sure, I think if it could be shown that the styling of a production car or a prototype had a significant (and positive) effect on car design worldwide, that would certainly qualify...I'm trying to find a picture of that car to show people...
  • reBMWreBMW Member Posts: 26
    one can view some picures of the modulo at http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ut1j-tndu/disp_512s.modulo.html
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Hey, thanks for the post!
  • PulpfictionadoPulpfictionado Member Posts: 9
    Mazda RX-4
    240Z
    nissan 300zx (last version)
    Gullwing Benz
    BMW Alpina B10 bi-turbo
    Ferrari Testa Rossa and F40
    426 hemi 'Cuda, General Lee
    Ford Fairlane, 64-1/2-70, 94- Mustangs
    Shelby Cobra
    Eliminator, Models A & T
    67-71 Cougar, pre 1980 T-bird, + SC
    GMC Syclone
    any 50s 'Lac
    any 60'6 Buick/OLds/Pontiac
    Any Impala
    Pre '83 Caprice
    any Bel-air Pre 80 Nova
    Any 'Vette
    current STS
    any MC
    60-72, 96- Camaro/Firebird
    KITT
    any 911
    and of course, D baddest of all ...

    '70 Chevelle Malibu SS 454
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Gee, I was really enjoying the list until I hit "pre-80s" T-Bird...did you mean "pre-60s"?? Then it got good again, then I held my breath and ran past "caprice" and "impala" as fast as I could, felt better at "vette", didn't know what an "MC" was or a KITT, then 911 (ahhh) and 454, that's pretty okay....(don't you just love it when people grade you? Geez, some host......)
  • pure911pure911 Member Posts: 40
    my list:
    Porsche 911, 356 and 550 spyder
    BMW 3-series, 2002tii, 507
    Ferrari 206/246 Dino, TestaRossa, F50 (the list can go on forever)
    Lamborghini Muira, Countach
    Lotus Esprit
    Aston Martin DB 5
    Austin Healey 3000 series
    MG B series
    Mercedes Gullwing
    Deloreon (maybe?)
    Ford Mustang 64-66
    Ford Thunderbird (the original!)
    Willey's Jeep
    Datsun 240z
    Jaguar E-type
    Honda Civic (the original, changed car market forever)
    Corvette (C1, C2)
    Ford Pinto (the biggest mistake ever, and showed how horrible American car companies were in the 1970's)


    that's all I can think of now....
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    well, if you'd let me peel off the Delorean and the Pinto as your idea of being darkly comic, I'd say that was a list I could certainly live with for some of the best cars ever...all of them (aside from the two noted) excelled in some way (engineering, marketing or styling)IMO.
  • pure911pure911 Member Posts: 40
    well, I put those in to show how bad (American) cars can get...but they you can take them out!
  • nazonazo Member Posts: 1
    somebody, please, tell me i'm not the only one who thinks a checker, manufactured in Kalamazoo, belongs on anyone's classic car list.
  • reBMWreBMW Member Posts: 26
    you are. :)
  • dranoeldranoel Member Posts: 79
    The Checker was certainly a bullet-proof car, a great people/luggage mover, a hard working vehicle, but I don't believe it belongs in this list.
  • 440x440x Member Posts: 3
    Thought I would share this,saw ad on a MOPAR site.
    Wanted:1970roadrunner,must be 383 at,airgrabberhood,must have three speaker dash,am,fm,must be bronze in color,no rust,ever.and must have Power windows,only low millage cars please.Have 74 vega and 2,500 to pay.
    Car must be 100miles from my home,no junk please.
  • akjbmwakjbmw Member Posts: 231
    Wot, no delivery required?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    So he wants no junk but is willig to part with his? No fair!!

    I actually owned two Checkers...oddly enough, there is a collector market for them, so they are indeed "collectible"...but "best" I personally don't think so. They were pretty awful to drive...you'd bang and slide and roll around amid a defeaning din of rattles and shakes. But their simplicity was a virtue, I suppose. Mostly they were useful during their lifetime for their interior room, otherwise, no better or worse than your average Chevrolet.

    I'd say more of a "cult" car than one that ever achieved any real greatness of design or engineering or styling. If there was a Best List for taxicabs, that's different...I'd put it on there with Mercedes.
  • edchenedchen Member Posts: 31
    Neither list has a Mclaren F1.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    good point...certainly worthy.
  • tdiaz339tdiaz339 Member Posts: 10
    Don't forget to mention one of Chrysler's greatest engines: The 225 slant six and the 318 V-8, these engines will run forever (almost)
  • bobbobbobbob Member Posts: 4
    the ford mustang is definitely the best sports car of all time as far as I am concerned. as far as best cars i think it should be near the top of anybody's car list whether you like it or not. as far as the best year well of course the 1965 year was the best for the stang because it got the whole thing started.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Certainly the early 60s Mustangs are still one of the best buys in modern collectible cars...calling them "sports cars" makes my eyebrows pop up a bit, not being the type who would dare fling one of these re-bodied Ford Falcons into a high speed turn, but they are certainly "sporty-looking" and a lot of bang for the buck...you get reliability, good performance with the V-8, nice styling, and almost complete assurance that your investment will increase while you drive. How can you beat it for $10-15K for droptop pleasure?
  • carnut4carnut4 Member Posts: 574
    Just watched Dan Rather do a report on those 64-70 Mustangs. Never realized the gas tankwas inside the trunk-and has ruptured and sprayed the interior in guite a few accidents, burning many to death. They made quite a big deal out of it. What do you think, Shiftright?
  • badgerpaulbadgerpaul Member Posts: 219
    I seem to recall that all Fords of this era used the top of the gas tank as the floor of the trunk. If this had been a big danger I think we would have heard about 30 years ago.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Ah, media nonsense. Who would listen to a word Dan Rather said if he wasn't connected to the networks? Cars are dangerous by nature, just ask the 40,000 people a year in the US who die in one. Statistically, there are far more things to worry about than the gas tank on one's old Mustang. Did you know that 20,000 people per year are injured by refrigerators, and that 100 a year die from choking on ball point pens? (True, I looked it up in Fatal Statistics).
  • carnut4carnut4 Member Posts: 574
    Hey refrigerators. That's a good one. How much horsepower, and how fast were they going? Weren't they equipped with front-rear-side airbags and antilock brakes? Good God! Joan Claybrook and Ralph baby-how could you let this happen to thse poor consumers? Just imagine YOUR kids going off the road in un unsafe refrigerator!!
  • subbymansubbyman Member Posts: 3
    1942 Ford GPW. If you know what one is you would understand.
  • den15den15 Member Posts: 1
    The original, has to be original, just a beautiful car! Why was'nt it on the list? Did you forget? You are forgiven!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    It is on the list, but it's on the racing car list, which makes more sense. It's a little too brutal for me to call it beautiful, but it is clean and purposeful and I like the basic style.
  • pat84pat84 Member Posts: 817
    The MGB was the only car on that list that I actually owned. I especially liked the disintegrating choke knob that was perpetually on "back order". I drove with a set of vice grips attached to the choke cable on the dash. With dual side-draft Webber single barrel carbs, even with the vice grips at max, it required commercial ether from a pressurized can to start on cold mornings. Did I mention the self- engaging hydraulic clutch, or the disintegrating synchronizers -I learned to double clutch on that car. In order to properly understand the word "masochist" get an MGB. It belongs on the list engineering disasters. I used to figure one weekend of maintenance a month to keep it running.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well, you probably bought a clapped-out one that suffered the fate of most MGBs...being inexpensive cars,they fell into the hands of people who did not have the wherewithall to maintain them at the time. Now with collectors being more affluent, suddenly MGBs run well! I was in the same boat as you in college...I could hardly afford to keep my MG running, but years later I found out they were pretty good cars if you took care of them.
  • speedshiftspeedshift Member Posts: 1,598
    Am I the only guy who never had any real trouble with my MGB? (I know, define "real trouble".) Mine was worn when I bought it, and it left me stranded only once in several years of daily driving. And I didn't spend much time maintaining it, no more than I spent on my American beaters.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    You will find that most bashers of MGs have never owned one.
  • jshuffield2jshuffield2 Member Posts: 3
    I guess if you live in Europe the list would be accurate. If you live in the US, I don't think so. A big percentage of those cars were not even imported to the US. Am I not correct? There should have been a lot more US built cars on the list. Also, many of the cars on the list were very limited production runs, very expensive or both.
  • jpstaxjpstax Member Posts: 250
    A friend of my cousin did everything he could to his father's Checker (short of totalling it) to make him get rid of it. NO girl would date the poor kid because the car was the laughing-stock of everybody at school. So he purposely put dents, scratches, etc. in it. His his father finally got the message, and traded what was left of for a nice new Chevy.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Some cars are best left to the wrecking yard. They were built as utilitarian machines, to be driven by the working man and used up. This is their purpose and their destiny, and there's no sense trying to turn a rhinestone into a diamond. It just doesn't work.

    I don't think "100 Best" should be American...if it was, the list would be a) short and b) bereft of some of the world's greatest, fastest and most innovative cars.

    The USA leads the world in many things, but automotive technology and innovation is certainly not one of them. We need the foreign cars on the list for this reason. It would be like doing a History of Art and leaving out Europe and Asia.
  • denniswadedenniswade Member Posts: 362
    Dunno if it's been mentioned already, but the first-year LS400 redefined what a luxury car can be in terms of ride, quiet and build quality. (It's also terminally boring and I hope I never get old enough to want one, but it's a great car for its defined purpose.)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think the early ones are great cars, yes...but by the 280ZX the car had really lost its way...the 240Z is the only "pure" form that deserves the credit, I think.
  • denniswadedenniswade Member Posts: 362
    Owned a '70, and loved it. Nice, simple cockpit, good handling, nice ride, lovely shifter. Wouldn't mind owning another, except that the bodies tend to recycle themselves......
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    It's hard to find a good, solid unmolested 240Z, but I do see them occasionally, and the price is right. Despite the speculation that the newly restored 240Zs sold through Nissan dealers for $25K would boost the price of the old ones, this hasn't proven to be true...even the restored ones have dropped to $15-16K, and the originals can be had in the $5-7K range in very very nice shape. That's 1/3 the price of a new 4-cylinder sport coupe, but for a big OHC six coupe with "classic" lines and a good cruising capacity. And in 4-5 years the old 240Z and the "new" year 2000 sport coupe will be worth close to the same amount of money. Not bad.
  • chris396chris396 Member Posts: 53
    His Euro prejudice shows on that list but it's still interesting. I would change the '63 Vette to a '65 FI for the disk brakes, and I would add a few others to the list. Let's expand best to include influence and style.

    '64 GTO
    '55 Chevy
    '64 Mustang
    '60 Chrysler 300 F (I love those cars)
    Willys Jeep
    VW Microbus
    '78 Trans Am (I don't care for them but they sum up the '70's for me)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I'm curious why you picked a 300 F rather than the earlier ones, which to me anyway are "purer" 300s.

    The other cars you noted are certainly among the more charming American cars...and while not technically noteworthy, you are very correct in terms of their "influence" on the market. The 1955 gave us the first really modern looking car after World War II, the '64 Mustang gave us snappy Euro styling at affordable prices, the 300F...well, as I said, I'm not sure why you picked that particular one...the VW microbus gave us the "minivan", the Willys gave us the first SUV as we know it today. Also, the '78 Trans Am leaves me cold either as a performer or a styling exercise, but I'm sure you have your sentimental reasons!
  • chris396chris396 Member Posts: 53
    I just threw the 300F in because I like it so much :~) I don't like the '74 and up Trans Am's very much, but they're the cars that come to mind when I think of the seventies.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Yeah, they do have that very strong "image"...probably we remember them as much as we do because of the advertising/movies, etc., associated with them rather than their actual merit.
  • speedshiftspeedshift Member Posts: 1,598
    The late-70's Trans-Ams were the only big-block performance cars around at that time, and one of the few performance cars period. They're over the top, but they kept the faith.
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    would be right up there...if any of it's purchasers were alive today and on-line.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Oh, there are an enormous number of Model As still on the road...estimated that 1 million are still around in some form or another. For this reason, the parts network is outstanding. You can buy any part you need, or as they say-- "you can jack up the ID plate and install a reproduced car under it from a catalog". Probably true.
  • wilcoxwilcox Member Posts: 582
    I worked for Midas Muffler back in it's heyday. And, YES, they carried Model A mufflers. We'd store them vertically in a 55 gallon drum, in a special place in the warehouse.
    Midas was quite an operation back then(sixties and seventies) before technology (aluminized mufflers) changed the muffler market forever.
    Remember the commericals where the old-timer came sputtering into the shop with his Model A? ...."Ok boys, I've brought her back in...", he would say.
    The looks on their faces, LOL, ....great marketing!
  • johnbonojohnbono Member Posts: 80
    Should be given due credit for advancing the state of the art in screaming chicken decal technology!
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