The Most Iconic Classic Cars
What is the most iconic classic car to have ever been made? It is a question that will never have a definitive answer. Everyone has a different opinion, some will use statistics, some will have personal reasons as to why they love their favourite car. The following cars I’m going to talk about are some of what I consider to be some of the most iconic classic cars of all time.
Classic Cars
Jaguar E-Type
The Jaguar E-type is easily one the most aesthetically pleasing classic cars, in fact Enzo Ferrari himself said it was “the most beautiful car in the world”. The bullet-like shape makes the car appear seamless, with its long bonnet and the short rear overhang. When the car was first released it was able to reach speeds of 150 which was extraordinary for its time.
The most astonishing thing about this car is that when it was first released it only cost a mere £2,250. The highest priced Jaguar E-type that has been sold was $1,207,813. 67,300 Jaguar E-types were produced throughout 1961 when the series 1 was released up until 1975 when the ultimate series 3 was released.
Aston Martin DB5
When you think of Aston Martin your mind quickly wanders to one specific thing, James Bond. It was the DB5 model that was famously coined as “James Bond’s Car.” The car was released in 1964 and boasted 282 brake horsepower and a top speed of 145mph. The car first debuted at the World Fair in New York and two DB5’s were put on show underneath a banner that read “the most famous car in the world.”
The car is so famous that in 2018 Aston Martin produced 25 replicas of the original model used in “Goldfinger” the first James Bond film that the car was featured in. The replicas were equipped with some of the gadgets that James Bond had in his DB5. The cars began to be delivered back in December of 2020. One of the replicas sold for a whopping £3.3 million.
Mercedes Benz 300SL Gull-Wing
The Mercedes Benz 300SL Gull-Wing was recognised as “instantly iconic” for its unique styling, and its stupendous performance. When the car was first released back in 1955, it was the world’s fastest production car. The 300SL boasted an incredible 240 horsepower along with a top speed of 150 miles per hour.
The Gull-Wing didn’t go out of production until 1964 and throughout its pproductin time 3,258 cars were made — 1,858 of these were the roadster model. The Mercedes Benz 300SL Gull-Wing was so iconic that it was voted the “sports car of the century” when the millenium ended by Auto Motor Sport magazine. Original models of this car are now selling for over £1.5 million.
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ferrari back in 1987. The car is especially iconic as it was the final car that Enzo Ferrari personally approved before he died in August of 1988.
Some interesting points about the car is that it didn’t have a stereo or any leather on the interior. Instead, they used alcantara. This was to make the car lighter. Interestingly enough, the car also didn’t come equipped with any driver aids such as power steering, traction control and anti-lock brakes.
Ferrari had only intended on making 400 vehicles but due to the overwhelming customer feedback, they ended up producing over 1,300, which is over 3x the intended amount. If you were to try to purchase one of these cars today it would set you back around £1 million.
Bugatti Veyron
The newest car on this list is the Bugatti Veyron. It was initially released in 2005 and broke records with its unbelievable high performance 1001 horsepower. The cars statistics will make you gasp this cars comes as standard with a colossal 8.0 litre W16 engine, and 4 turbos and at mass capacity, the car takes in 47,000 litres of air in a single minute, that’s as much air as a man breaths in 4 whole days.
The Veyron held the title of the world’s fastest production car for several years until it got taken over by the SSC Ultimate Aero TT, which was made by americans. However, it didn’t take long for Bugatti to take back the crown. In 2010 Bugatti created the Veyron Super Sport, which had 1,184 horsepower and a very specific maximum speed of 267.856 miles per hour.
Lamborghini Miura
The origin of Lamborghini is actually a very interesting story, Ferrucio Lamborghini originally built his empire by manufacturing tractors, and it was with his disposable income that he bought his first ever Ferrari. It wasn’t until the clutch broke on his personal Ferrari that he realised that he could provide all of the clutches for Ferrari.
Ferrucio met with Enzo but Enzo essentially laughed in his face and told Ferrucio to stick to building tractors, what a mistake that was! Although the Miura wasn’t the first Lamborghini that was made, it was the first ever mid-engine supercar. The shape of the car was revolutionary, it’s silhouette provided brute force as well as voluptuous curves. It also said that the headlights were inspired by women’s eyelashes.
Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 is often referred to as the “world’s most famous endurance race car,” however, it was never originally called a GT40. It was actually a modified version of the Lola Mk6 and the 40 referred to the fact that the windscreen was measured to be just 40 inches from the ground. Henry Ford attempted to buy Ferrari in the early 1960’s and was nearly successful until Enzo Ferrari changed his mind in the final stages.
There was a whole film made about the situation named “Le Mans 66’” . It is said that Henry Ford gave instructions to his racing division to “go to Le Mans and beat his ass” in reference to Ferrari. The GT40 had a top speed of 164 mph, but unfortunately in the first two years Ford was unsuccessful in beating Ferrari, but after those two years, the Ford model managed to sweep the competition by taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.
Conclusion
Like I said in the introduction, everyone will have a different opinion about these cars, but when you look at the back story and statistics, it is nearly impossible to say that these cars aren’t remarkable. Hopefully you learnt something about these cars, and maybe you might begin to reconsider what you think to be the most iconic classic car.
