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Best looking cars of all time

pdplot

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Seeing that Maserati 300S brought back memories of sports car races in the 1950s and 1960s which, IMO were the pinnacle of beautiful sports car design led by the Italians and yes, Jaguar. Sports racers after that were clumsy and horrible looking with wings, fat tires, spoilers epitomized by that ugly Porsche 900 plus whatever. Here's my list of favorites:
Sports Cars: 1934 Squire, Bugatti Type 57, 1938 Talbot Lago, early Ferraris 4.1 4.5 America, California, 275 GTB, Daytona and GTO, Maserati 2-liter and 300S, Lancia Aurelia, Jaguar XK120 (but not 140 and 150), C, D and E Types, Scarab (maybe the best sports racer of all time), Alfa 8c 2900 and Sprint Speciale, BMW 507, Aston Martin DB3S, AC Ace, early 4-cylinder Austin-Healey. In sedans/convertibles, 1940 Lincoln Continental, 1940 Ford convertible, first series Packard Clipper, 1964 Pontiac GTO, 1965-68 Corvair, Jaguar 3.4, various Knife-Edge Rolls and Bentleys, 2nd series MG Magnette. There may be more but I can't think of them right now. Anyone disagree? Other entries?
 
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Why a short cockpit 120 and not (specifically) the 140?
Odd.
 

GregW

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Jaguar XJ-13
 

NutmegCT

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Racing? 1937 Auto-Union Stromlinie:

1937 Stromlinie.jpg

Sedan? Way too many to choose, but ... 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K cabriolet:

1937-mercedes-benz-5.jpg
and dozens of others!
 

Roger

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Any such list that doesn't include the Lotus Elite type 14 is desperately lacking!

BTW, Bugattis type 57 had many body styles. Which do you mean? Any or all? Talbot Lagos likewise.
 

DrEntropy

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Roger said:
Any such list that doesn't include the Lotus Elite type 14 is desperately lacking!


:thumbsup:
 

Boink

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pdplot

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Remember - looks only. The XK 140 and 150 were better cars than the 120's but the coarser-looking grille ruined the front end of the 140 and the 150 looked like a lady who ate too many creampuffs. I was referring to the Talbot coupe that was the inspiration for the XK 120. I include the XKSS with the D type. Lotus Elite? Clean design but if I include that, I have to include the Siata 208S, Fiat V8 and Cisitalia.
 
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Ah, but the 140 with the bigger grille cooled a helluva lot better. Cockpit size made the car.
Agree on the 150.

My dream is a 57 XK140MC Roadster (and don't call it an OTS...that came about with the E, but earlier were three variants...Roadster, Fixed Head and Drop Head coupe).
 

LarryK

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Loved the 120, but really was more comfortable in the 140 MC Coupe we had. Like XKEs but only comfortable in V-12 Coupe and late V-12 OTS, windshield top was level with eyes. Never experienced anything else.
 

Grantura_MKI

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This is for all a English car forum, so I will have an MG Airline Coupe.
There are many European vehicles that I have had the pleasure on putting hands on that I will not mention them.
 
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pdplot

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Jaguar XK120s had bad brakes, notchy gearbox and overheated. Plus I could never see over the high steering wheel. The 140s were indeed better cars. Back in 1955, a girl at the U of Pennsylvania from Hartford had a 140MC. She was very popular.
 

glemon

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I will add that I think, kind of like baby ducks imprinting with their mother, our ideas of beauty are imprinted into our psyches at a fairly young age. You like the cars you saw growing up, that doesn't necessarily mean new cars, as the pictures of and actual cars a decade or more old are pretty common. I was born in '61, I find cars of the 50s and 60s that I saw and read about growing up are the ones that really appeal to me.

I can appreciate pre-war cars but they don't really stir my soul like an e-type or Healey 100 or Lamborghini Muira. The cars mentioned so far would tend to bear that out given the demographics of the posters here.
 
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JPSmit

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"I will add that I think, kind of like baby ducks imprinting with their mother, our ideas of beauty are imprinted into our psyches at a fairly young age."

agreed. and it leads to some rather odd choices later in life. :grin:




Burning-Man-Rubber-Duck-Mohawk-Art-Car-1.jpg
 
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pdplot

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I'm not so sure I agree with that theory. True beauty should be timeless even though it has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Why else do people love operas written almost 200 years ago? Does anyone born in 1890 actually think the Wright Bros. plane looks better than a P-51 Mustang or an F-80? Form follows function and that's the problem ultimately.
 
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I'm not so sure I agree with that theory. True beauty should be timeless even though it has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Why else do people love operas written almost 200 years ago? Does anyone born in 1890 actually think the Wright Bros. plane looks better than a P-51 Mustang or an F-80? Form follows function and that's the problem ultimately.

Then your own arguments are deflating your thesis.
Does anyone born in 1890 actually think the Wright Bros. plane looks better than a P-51 Mustang or an F-80?
Does anyone actually born in this century think the 120 is better than a 140?
Both the Wright Flyer and the 120 were steps to a goal. Those steps are actually still being laid out, in both cases.

As far as form and function, even a Stearman was better than a Wright Flyer. A 120 was far better in form and function than an SS-100.

To me, the failure of cockpit size, lousy brakes, overheating, all detracted from appearance.
 
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pdplot

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Function has led us to where we are today. Those grotesque Porsches and others from the 1980s on are the result of designers and engineers creating state of the art racing machines without regard for aesthetics. I'm saying that Italian and Italian-inspired design in the post WW II period led to the pinnacle of automotive design. That's why a Cisitalia was chosen as an exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art. As for performance, a modern sports racer with wings, downforce attachments and wide tires will run away and hide from a 1960s Ferrari or Maserati. I'm on the fence about the looks of the McLarens, the Pagani Huayra, latest Lotuses, etc.
 
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I never got on the fence. I found that a Maserati that takes $25K in parts for a brake job kept me out o the yard, away from the fence to even get on.
 
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