100 Greatest Cars (The Winner)

[Overheat]

Its official: the McLaren F1 road car is the greatest automotive achievement of all time, as voted by the readers of 4Car. And I promise you, the fact that the F1 was also my own nominee for top spot had absolutely nothing to do with the final outcome. Honest.

You're a remarkably discerning lot, it has to be said. While I've had the enormous privilege of having driven the F1, I'm pretty sure that's not true of the vast majority of those who voted for it. So you were voting strictly on the basis of your knowledge of how significant this ground-breaking car really is, which is pretty impressive. And all these years later, the headline figures still amaze - three seats with a central driving position like a Formula One car, a 627bhp V12, 240mph and about one million dollars to you, sir.

As with so many of the finest things in life, it's existence is owed to the commitment and talent of a driven individual. In this case, its designer Gordon Murray. A veteran of Formula One race-car design, Murray set out with one purpose: to build the best road car of all time. "The F1 was created as the purest driver's car, compact and above all ultra-lightweight," he says. "It also embodies the most advanced engineering, intricate and elegant detailing and peerless quality."

Its chassis and bodywork are constructed from immensely strong, yet incredibly light and frighteningly expensive carbon fibre. So strong, in fact, that when the first prototype crashed in Namibia during testing, despite numerous rolls, the driver walked away unscathed. Meanwhile, no stone was left unturned in Murray's pursuit for perfection. Electric fans assist the creation of downforce, Kenwood created a premium sound system weighing just 8.5kg, the engine has no fly-wheel and the clutch is carbon fibre. When the car was still in production, each F1 took 2,250 hours to construct, obviously at huge expense.

Our own columnist Jay Leno owns an F1 (along with a mind-blowing selection of other hardware). So what does he reckon? "Well, the F1 is the greatest car of the 20th century," says Leno. "It sounds odd to say that but of all the cars from the year 1900 to the year 2000, the greatest of them all is the F1. There's a great deal of satisfaction in that when you drive it, knowing this is the best, the fastest. The weight of it feels German and the handling feels British."

The first time that I achieved 210mph-plus without the help of British Airways was aboard a McLaren. And I was there on the day that Andy Wallace (a brilliant driver and raconteur extraordinaire) set a road car speed record of 240.1mph at VW's test facility at Wolfsburg early in 1998. To say that this car changed the way I viewed the art of the possible is huge understatement. I'm with Leno on this one - Murray's achievement in creating a lightweight, shatteringly fast supercar that could be enjoyed by three people is an achievement unlikely to be matched, ever. Did I mention the engine bay lined with gold (for its heat reflecting properties) or the onboard toolkit made of titanium (for extreme strength and lightness)? Quite sensational.

So it's no surprise to me that you voted the McLaren F1 to be the greatest car of all time. Because, quite simply, it is.

Gavin Conway
Editor, 4Car

[andyhui01]

I have to agree with everything that dude said, it deserves to be number1.... btw, what happened to the koenigsegg?.. it didn't make the list at all

[Overheat]

yes it did - it was Number 49

[general]

btw RX7 was 50 something.
How does the engine transfer torque to the gearbox without a flywheel???
ANy Idea??
Indeed it's more remakable than anything.It costs 25,000 pounds to service (sorry no pound symbol)

[andyhui01]

I don't understand what you mean... the RX-7 has a flywheel and clutch just like any car... and 25k pounds to service , my cousin had an RX-7 for 8years and I don't think it ever costed him 25k pounds to service... if you talk about normal servicing, it is exactly like any other car, changing to engine oil (about 4l), gearbox oil and rear diff oil....

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

I think the 25k refers to the MacF1

[andyhui01]

so why did he bring the RX-7 into this?....

[bihus]

Originally Posted by andyhui01

so why did he bring the RX-7 into this?....

To confuse you...

Anyway, a car made with no compromises, IS the best car in the world. I like 4Car, and now I know that their readers also love cars, and know about cars. It's obvious this voting would bring some odd placings, but on the overall, I think it's a fine list.

[Raven18940]

*shrugs* not very impressed with a car I'll never have the priviledge of driving.

[YipMing]

no idea.

What the McF1 has is a flywheel that's "minimal". An aluminium plate that's just thick enough and large enough to tranfer the torque. So it has to eliminates the use of secondary vibrational couples that eliminates vibration. Making it necessary for the engine to be at a 60 degree V angle and also really well build (absolute precision, carefully balanced, etc). With such an expensive car, such a thing is feasible.

Normal cars probably won't take the vibration kindly. But McF1 being a supercar, it's very acceptable.

BTW, WRX is 21st. Hehehe

Edit: Changed a few terms to more proper ones..

[zeroSignal]

Meh. Never was a huge fan of the McLaren F1. It just won because most of the readers know it to be the fastest car in the world. Or was the fastest car in the world.

[general]

nope dear it's the pinnacle of engineering tech in a car.25k pounds to service.you should know what it's like to drive

[zeroSignal]

A lot of cars since the McLaren F1 have reached and surpassed it's engineering. It was the pinnacle of automotive engineering, oh about 10 years ago. I'm kind of dissapointed that people are still so 'hung' on the F1. There are many cars that are better. And by better, I don't mean faster. I'm sure that most modern-day supercars, with some fiddling could easily beat the F1s top speed.

Personally, 241 or 242 mph does not make much difference to me. I think that the Koenigsegg CC-R is a far better supercar then the F1.

A car's quality is not gauged by the price of it's service. That sentence you said makes no sence.

I don't know what it's like to drive. I probably never will, and if I had the chance to drive it, I know I'd definetly go for it. However, it's not the best.

Oh, and slightly off topic - capitalization & punctuation are both very good things. And what's with you calling everyone 'dear'?

[Viper007Bond]

I'm okay with it having #1. It was a car designed with no cost worries involved. There were no compromises and it shows.

[Raven18940]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

I'm okay with it having #1. It was a car designed with no cost worries involved. There were no compromises and it shows.

It's not as no compromises as you might think. It was designed to be a everyday supercar and actually has a luggage space. But the biggest compromises were in the suspension of all places. Have you ever seen one go around a track, they have a lot of body roll, almost as much as my car. It's road holding is only .86 G, slalom a mear 64.5, and the braking from 60 only 127 ft. Those are not impressive numbers, the new vette can do better in the corners. It's almost like a sports sedan with a jet engine strapped to it.

I'm also a fan of the Koenigsegg, and aren't they supposed to come out with a new 800 or so hp version. Then there's also the new twin turbo Saleen S7, that's a piece of engineering for you. Just goes to show you what happens when you strap turbos to a big v8. WHOOOOOOOOSH!

[jayjaya29]

Hmm well, it was a fun list.


But thinking about it now, the F1 kinda deserves it, it was definitely ahead of its time performance wise. And the car looks so sexah.

[jeffy777]

The mighty McLaren, I guess it's not much of a surprise. I wonder how different the list would look if it was the Final Gear Top 100?

[YF19pilot]

Actually, I don't recall the Saleen S7 appearing on this list. Where'd it go? That should have at least come in 2nd next to the F1, if not take 1st.

[ESPNSTI]

The mac F1 is not my personal #1, I think I consider the Ferrari Dino as my favorite.

[SiR_dude]

*Goes into English mode*

Originally Posted by zeroSignal

A car's quality is not gauged by the price of it's service. That sentence you said makes no sence.

The second "it's" should be "its"..service does not belong to the price, whereas the quality does belong to the car. And it's sense, not sence.

Sorry, just had to point that out - especially since you mentioned someone else's capitalization and punctuation mistakes

Originally Posted by Raven18940

It's road holding is only .86 G, slalom a mear 64.5, and the braking from 60 only 127 ft

Correction - "it's mere". And how can you call yourself a "fan" of the Koenigsegg, and ask about the 800 or so horsepower car that they are coming out with? The CCR has 806hp (or something like that) and that's fairly old news

Not trying to make you feel bad or anything...