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What makes a great classic? It used to be simple: it was a car that stood out from either ordinary or lowly models for its engineering excellence, great performance, impressive styling or good old-fashioned desirability. The very finest - a convenient example is the Jaguar E-type - qualified on all counts.
Deciding which of today's cars will become classics is far less easy. This year around 90 million new cars will hit the road, and by most measures they're all very good. And the numbers keep rising. Even Ferrari, which once swore never to make more than 4000 cars a year, now builds more than 10,000 units, and that number is destined to climb because the marque will soon launch its first SUV.
Modern design and engineering are now more exacting as legislation becomes more prescriptive. Conformity is a necessity, so individuality and rarity sa is, well, rare. Yet despite all this, modern cars remain desirable. Our sister magazine Autocar (126 years old and counting) reports continued huge interest whenever a new Land Rover Defender, Volkswagen Golf GTI, Tesla or BMW 3 Series arrives. There's real excitement about the growing crop of electric cars, such as VW's ID Buzz (Microbus) and the three-model Jaguar EV range for 2025.
So which of today's cars will become classics? Aside from the expensive and fast candidates, which mainstream models stand out? Autocar recently launched a project with the National Motor Museum, asking readers and visitors to choose their candidates. After collating thousands of responses, here are the worthy winners in order.
10 Ford Fiesta ST
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2022 من Classic & Sports Car.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2022 من Classic & Sports Car.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring