What is the greatest car ever?

Goudy

There's a recipe for great cars.

First, they have to conceived or designed by one person, better still they've got to be a bit mad or drunk and never pen anything quite so good ever again.

Next, it needs to be a bit of a sales flop or for whatever reason few were made, as greatness can be diluted. Would we know about Alfred the Great, if there were lot's of Great Alfred's in the same period?

Final, it needs to be flawed in some way, like not actually being a very good a being a form of transport, impossibly fragile, unreliable, undriveable, etc.

So I'd choose an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale that pretty much covers all the bases and you'd be hard pressed to find a better looking car.

agrinnall

k6chris wrote: »

Austin Maestro Vanden Plas (in beige)

Damn it, mine was blue so just missed out :beer:

NBLondon

Car_54 wrote: »

Having said that, it's a puerile question unless you define what's meant by 'best'.

bertiewhite wrote: »

It all depends on why you think a car is great - performance, looks, usefulness etc. etc.

Exactly.... Best as in most desirable? Best as in best engineering/design? Best as in best at doing what it was designed to do? Best as in best-selling? Best as in biggest influence on the industry?

I'd say Jaguar XKSS hits the first few criteria but VW Beetle for the last two. As for the last on it's own - Classic Mini? Range Rover Classic? Renault Espace?

NaughtiusMaximus

The model T Ford, the first mass produced car and the first car you didn't have to be super rich to own.

They could be converted by a competent mechanic into light trucks, tractors and snowmobiles, were designed to also be used as a stationery power source for a lot of farm machinery in use at the time There was also an armoured car variant, a version which could run on rails and the engines were used to power both boats and planes.

Try doing all that with a Ferrari.

uknick

Best car in the world is any car I'm about to sell; at least that's what I'll tell anyone who comes to see it.

gord115

Jimmy or maybe Alan.

Car_54

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

were designed to also be used as a stationery power source

Was there really a demand for power to drive shredders and pencil sharpeners?

wymondham

Original Mini, not the awful BMW one...

Car_54

wymondham wrote: »

Original Mini, not the awful BMW one...

Is that the awful one with the proper windows, and door handles, and that doesn't come to a halt when it rains?

prowla

There is no such thing as a greatest car ever because different cars suit different tasks.


Ferrari aren't doing so well in F1 at the moment.