Cars have been around for a very long time, and due to how many car brands and models have been produced since their introduction to society in 1886. People all over the world love cars, and are very opinionated on the subject. I have decided to weigh in with my personal list of the top 10 greatest cars of all time.
10) Lancia Fulvia
The Lancia Fulvia was Lancia’s first foray into the world of rally racing, and it would help to kickstart Lancia’s successful rally career, with an overall 73 championship wins. The Fulvia was also one of the first cars to incorporate a front-wheel drive system, making it unique and revolutionary. In addition, it had amazingly smooth handling, which is equally impressive today as it was back in 1963.
9) Volkswagen Golf Mk. I
The Golf was launched in 1974, with the purpose of replacing the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. This also helped to bring Volkswagen back into the limelight and rejuvenated the brand. It defined an era of car manufacture and would shape the style of cars that would follow.
8) Mini Cooper
The Mini Cooper revolutionized rally racing, with its front-wheel drive and hydro-suspension, giving it incredibly smooth handling, and making it vastly superior at maneuvering around wet or icy roads. It was during the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally Championship that the Mini Cooper had its big breakthrough, where it dominated its competition. The Mini Cooper would go on to have over thirty international rally victories and four championship wins.
7) Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro was a fierce rally competitor, with it engaging in a neck-to-neck battle with the Lancia 037 during the 1983 World Rally Championship (though, it still did lose to the Lancia 037). Other than that, the Quattro revolutionized German sports car engineering and was the first Audi to implement the Quattro all-wheel drive system, with BMW taking a page out of Audi’s book and making BMW xDrive. The Quattro is highly regarded for its performance, handling, and amazing all-wheel drive system.
6) Porsche 959
The 959 was incredibly ahead of its time. It would go on to inspire countless supercars which would follow in its footsteps, and it was also one of the first high-performance supercars to utilize all-wheel drive. It was Porsche’s first real supercar, as it was made to be a Group B rally car, and it would even go on to win a 24-hour Le Mans championship.
5) Lamborghini Miura
The Lamborghini Miura is easily the most revolutionary and game-changing car, as it is often seen as the first supercar, with a top speed of 180 mph, a mid-engined two-seater layout, and a four-liter V12 engine capable of putting out over 350 horsepower. It also held the record for the world’s fastest production car for a long time. Naturally, this would cause many other car companies, namely Ferrari, to try and outdo the Miura.
4) Lamborghini Countach
Though the Countach is often seen as clunky, slow, and heavy, which it kind of is, it is still one of the greatest cars. The first thing one notices about the Countach is its beautiful exterior design, with its hidden pop-up headlights, butterfly doors, air cooling ducts by the doors, inverse frunk (front trunk) hatch, and mid-engined layout. Sure, the steering may be a bit difficult and the gear shifter may be stiff, but nonetheless it is an icon, and it had 400 horsepower at a time when other car companies were struggling to create cars that could push 200 horsepower.
3) Ferrari Enzo
The Enzo is a car born from Formula One, as it has many technologies developed during Ferrari’s time in Formula One. It was made as a tribute to a former Ferrari great, the F40, but above all, it was a tribute to Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Ferrari. It was because of the Formula One-based technologies that made the Enzo one of the most technically advanced cars of its day, which made its interface extremely efficient, and revolutionized the way car companies would design their interfaces.
2) Porsche 911
The 911 had experimental air-cooling technology that was incredibly impressive for its time, as it was successful at keeping the car cool, while also keeping it lightweight and compact. It also had a distinct and iconic design, with it being easily identifiable, not only in its cosmetic exterior appearance but also in its unusual interior layout, with a rear-engine 4 seater layout. What’s unique about this is that rear-engine layouts were usually unused, for it could give the car poor weight distribution, and make it a bit awkward to drive, but the Porsche 911 does not have this problem. Of course, there is also the 3-liter flat 6 engine, capable of about 380 horsepower, and a top speed of over 200 mph, which would help it to go on to win numerous 24-hour Le Mans championships.
1) Ferrari F40
Few supercars around the time of this car’s inception were as fast as the F40. This car’s backstory is a Frankenstein of multiple inspirations, as it was created to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary, created to salute (and challenge) the Porsche 959, and it was based on the design of the Ferrari 288 GTO. The F40 was the first road car to do over 200 mph, and the last car personally commissioned and looked over by Enzo Ferrari. It had intense acceleration, perfected steering, smooth road handling, extreme braking power, sheer raw driving excitement, and a twin-turbocharged 2.9L V8 engine capable of over 470 horsepower.
