FinalGear's Most Beautiful Cars Results! pt1

[teeb]

Hello! Huge thank you to everyone who entered. And here are the results! Quick fact : we have 160 separate cars in total. So just a couple then!

In part 1, I'm going to go through all the cars that got 10 or less points. I'll give you a photo of each, and a short snippet of info. Don't worry, you'll get more photos and info for the higher-scored cars!

Anything in "speech marks" is a comment made by one of you, anything else is my own work. You'll get a couple of entries a night, hopefully - as much as I'd love to give you all of them at once, there's only so fast I can work!

Ready?

One point cars.


Cars go from left to right along the row, then start again left to right on the next row down

Aston Martin Lagonda - An extreme interpretation of the 1970s 'folded paper' style. Not conventionally beautiful, but has it's own appeal. The first production car in the world to have computer management - the money spent on electronics in it came to four times the budget for the car!
Audi TT 2nd Generation - "Puts Audi's signature grille into a beautiful coupé shape!". And wins one point total, for the convertible and coupé combined. The 2nd generation TT was launched at the Brandenburg gate, in Germany, complete with a 2:5:1 scale sculpture. Trust me, that's big.
Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite - "I dunno why, but i really love the Frogeye, maybe its because im weird" - I wouldn't say that, this car's appeal lies in the fact that it looks like it's smiling. All the time.
Bugatti Veyron - The fastest production car in the world it may or may not be, but there's no denying the fact it's not the best looking car in the world. It got one point total, possibly out of sympathy.
Chevrolet Bel Air -"A shining example of america in the 50's over-doing it. smooth curves and chrome make this car turn heads, even when its a bucket of rust today." The designer of the Bel Air said, "The Bel Air is a new direction for Chevrolet, cos I got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said you're moving in with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air."
Cadillac Eldorado (1959) - The name Eldorado was taken from the name of a special show car, designed to celebrate Cadillac's Golden Anniversary. The name was chosen by a secretary in the marketing department. In 59, the Eldorado Brougham was brought out, costing $1 more than the standard model, and they were hand-built in Italy.
Mazda 787B - The 787B was a sport prototype racing car built by Mazda. It's unusual feature was it was powered by the always-humorous Wankel rotary engine. In 1991, a 787B finished first at the 24 hours of Le Mans, making it the only Japanese car ever to have done so.
Dodge Challenger 1st generation - The first-generation Challenger was Dodge's late entry to the 'pony car' segment. Designed by Carl Cameron, the car was well-recieved by the public, but the press criticised it. It sold 80,000 units in it's first year alone, so it can't've been that bad.
Scion tC - tC stands for "touring coupe". In reality, the tC is a cross between a Toyota Avensis chassis and a Camry engine. It's claim to fame is being the cheapest car available in the video game Midnight Club 3 : DUB edition remix.
Toyota MR2 2nd generation - The 2nd generation MR2 is sometimes called the "poor man's Ferrari", relating to it's visual similarity to the Ferraris 355 and 348. Well, if you've gotta copy someone...
Prodrive P2 - Technically, this is a concept and shouldn't belong here. Based on the Subaru R1 keicar, it's designed by Peter Stevens - the same man who designed the McLaren F1. It also has 340 bhp, and with the backing of a major manufacturer, could be put into production for £40,000. There are no plans to do so, though, sadly.
Peugeot 205 - CAR Magazine's Car Of The Decade in 1990, the 205 was designed by Pininfarina, and is frequently credited as 'the car that turned Peugeot around'. The design was so well-recieved, it never recieved a facelift in it's 15 year production run.
Pontiac Grand Prix (1963) - John De Lorean (yes, he of DeLorean infamy) had a large hand in the development of the Grand Prix. The 1963 model came with new sheetmetal, giving it a squared-off roofline. A V8 came as standard.



2 points!


The second car is a mystery : see below

Acura TL Type-S - The Type-S TL gets a V6 engine, giving out 286 horsepower. The TL was designed by Jon Ikeda, and is based on the Honda Accord. The first car in the US to come with a 6-disc DVD audio system. Exciting stuff.
Mysterious BMW M5 E46 - There is no such thing as an E46 gen M5 - E46 was the code for the 3-series. So I've put up pictures of both the E46 M3, and all the M5s. Hope that's close enough.
Chevrolet Impala 1st generation - "Dont believe me? Go on, google image search "1958 impala", i'll wait...". In 1960, the Impala became the best-selling car in the States, and held that position for a decade.
Chevrolet Impala SS - The SS (Super Sport) was introduced to the market in 1961. This meant V8 power, with up to 350 bhp, and a host of other improvements - for example, upgraded tyres from the station wagon / estate version.
Citroen CX Pallas - "The DS's successor was an astonishing car by its own right. Futuristic even by today's standards." The Pallas was the luxury-trim level CX. The interior of CXs were known as 'the spaceship' - look [url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Citroen_CX_dashboard.JPG
here[/URL] to find out why.
Fiat 500 (1957) - The original Fiat 500 was crowned the 'sexiest car in the world' by Top Gear magazine last year. It only got 2 points in this poll, though. The original had only 13 horsepower. The 'sport' model put out a gob-stopping 21bhp.
Holden Commodore SV - The first entirely-Australian Commodore (all the previous ones had Opel underpinnings). The current one uses GM's Zeta platform, and the budget for this exceeded over $1 billion AUD.
Jaguar Mark II - Famous (in the UK) for being the car driven by TV detective Morse, the Jaguar Mark II followed William Lyons' motto of "grace, pace and space". A popular car amongst criminals and police alike.
Land Rover Defender 110 - The Defender can trace it's roots all the way back to the Series 1 of 1948. Before 1990, the 'Defender' name didn't exist, and the variants were referred to as the 90 and 110. Friend to farmers throughout the UK.
Suzuki Swift current generation - "Suzuki's most good looking car ever, and also one of the best looking hatches". Built in Hungary, Japan, China and India, the new Swift is Suzuki's "world car". Also known for it's ability to play ice hockey.
TVR Tuscan - "The TVR Tuscan is the closest we get to a modern day Jaguar E-type. A fairly simple, light, front engine, large capacity straight six, long bonnet sportscar. It caused a sensation when it was first shown back in 1997 and will do the same on the street today." Without either anti-lock brakes or traction control, the Tuscan can still hit 60mph in under 3.7 seconds. For an interesting take on TVR safety, read this interview with ex-TVR company owner Peter Wheeler as to why he thinks these things, and airbags, actually make the car more dangerous.

[bartboy9891]

lol, ban the person who voted for the TC.

[BlaRo]

Hmm...I probably should have voted, oops.

And you should have gone with a better Challenger than the fugly Malaise Era choked-up '72-74 version:

[Crazyjeeper]

^Yeah, I said 1970 in my entry

[teeb]

3 points



Abarth OT 1300 - The first design of the OT 1300 dates from 1965. 50 cars were produced exclusively for the purpose of driving on circuits. The base of the OT is the Fiat 850. The motor is a completely Abarth product, with a rear, longitudinal 4 cylinder inline engine.
Brabham BMW BT52 - "The Brabham BMW BT52 was perhaps one of the most significant F1 designs done by Gordon Murray. After the side skirts that made the ground effect cars so efficient was banned, Murray discovered that removing the side pods completely would greatly reduce drag, and then he came up with this astonishing shape, that was dubbed "The arrow". "
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona" - Better known as the Ferrari Daytona, the 365 was designed by Pininfarina and starred in the first two seasons of 'Miami Vice' (although that was a replica). The Daytona name celebrates Ferrari's triple win at the 24 hours of Daytona with the 330 P4, and was used internally as a pre-production name. Ferrari insist that was never the real name though, and insist the car should not be referred to as such.
Ford Fiesta (new) - "No one will stay apathetic to this one." First shown as the Ford Verve concept, this new Fiesta shares it's platform with the Mazda 2. Meant to be a truly global Ford, the Fiesta will be headed to Europe, the Far East and America alike.
Honda S2000 - "I'm a sucker for a low stance and a long hood." Created to celebrate Honda's 50th anniversary, the S2000 is only available with 4-cylinder engines, and is renowned for it's high-revving engine. It also has the remarkable claim of coming first in Top Gear Magazine's Reader Car survey for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Mazda RX-8 - Another Wankel-powered Mazda, the RX-8 is the successor to the RX-7 (logically enough). It has the curious feature of secondary 'suicide' doors, making the 2+2 coupé more practical than most. The Wankel (heh) inside is 2003's International Engine Of The Year.
Mercedes Benz SL63 AMG 2008 - Currently the safety car for Formula 1 races, the SL63 AMG has a folding metal roof, and is available with a variety of engines, the most powerful being a 604 bhp V12. Despite this, like other Mercedes Benzes, it has a limited top speed of 155mph.
Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG 2006 - Coming in at an eye-watering $180,000, the SL65 AMG comes with an AMG-built 6 litre twin-turbocharged engine, producing 612bhp, and a faintly ludicrous 738 lb/ft of torque. Still limited to 155mph though.
Mistubishi Lancer Evo XIII - The third car in a row whose name I found it easier to copy-paste than type out, the Evo XIII was the first Evo to be legally sold in the US. A rally rocket, it is capable of keeping up with a Lamborghini Murcielago on a test track, as shown on Top Gear.
Porsche Cayman - A mid-engined, RWD coupe, the Cayman's roots are found in the 2nd generation Porsche Boxster. A standard Cayman S is able to go round the Nurburgring in 8 minutes 20 seconds, and a privateer effort came 4th in the 2007 Nurburgring 24 hours, ahead of at least 4 factory efforts based on 911s.
Saab 96 (1964) - The first Saab officially available in the UK, the 96 was the car that made Saab famous worldwide, due to both safety innovations and motorsport success. It came first in the 1962 and 1963 Monte Carlo rallies.
Shelby Mustang GT350 - 2,380 GT350s were eventually made, 1000 of which went to Hertz to rent out as GT350Hs - which makes a change from the Golf that's become standard fare for European rentals.
'Mormon Meteor' Duesenberg SJ Speedster - Sold for $4.455 million a bit back at Pebble Beach, the Mormon Meteor set several speed and endurance records back in the 1930s. In a precursor to Top Gear's DB9 vs Eurostar race, the owner/driver Ab Jenkins challenged the Union Pacific Railroad to a race across the Bonneville salt flats.
Volvo P1800 - Famous for being driven in 'The Saint' by Roger Moore, the Volvo P1800 only stepped into it's screen role when Jaguar decided it's E-type was already famous enough and didn't need more publicity. A P1800S has the current Guinness World Record for highest mileage - in October 2007, the P1800S went past the 4,184,294 kilometers (km) mark (2,600,000 mile).

4 and 5 points hopefully to come tomorrow.

Originally Posted by BlaRo

And you should have gone with a better Challenger than the fugly Malaise Era choked-up '72-74 version:

Originally Posted by Crazyjeeper

^Yeah, I said 1970 in my entry

My bad; I've edited the post to reflect that.

[Loz]

So i was the only person to vote for the Frogeye Sprite?

[Labcoatguy]

Figures that my two choices from Toyota and Volvo would be the first to go.

[stevanford1]

I never knew that the lancer evolution XIII was out.

[airmenair]

Only one down for me, Shelby GT350, which is odd because I didn't think anyone else would vote for a couple of the cars I had.

[Crazyjeeper]

I take it I'm on the only person reading this thread with their list open to see how their cars did.

And I'm only down 1 too. Am I the only one who voted for the challenger?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Not to be picky, but as a Shelby guy I can't help but point out that the GT350 in the image is a bit odd-looking.

Edit: must be the chin spoiler.

[argatoga]

Hmm none of my choices have shown up yet, I have more respect for people here in the forums.

[zeroSignal]

Whoever voted for the CX, you guys are awesome. Big Citroens FTW!

[WellsieTRD]

"Holden Commodore SV - The first entirely-Australian Commodore (all the previous ones had Opel underpinnings). The current one uses GM's Zeta platform, and the budget for this exceeded over $1 billion AUD."

The one in your photo is a VY-VZ serise, not VE. That one still has opel underpinnings.

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by WellsieTRD

"Holden Commodore SV - The first entirely-Australian Commodore (all the previous ones had Opel underpinnings). The current one uses GM's Zeta platform, and the budget for this exceeded over $1 billion AUD."

The one in your photo is a VY-VZ serise, not VE. That one still has opel underpinnings.

Yeah, not the car I was thinking of.



This is the one I was after, pretty mean looking, but slightly more refined (toned down) than the V8 SS version.

And who was the guy who voted for the BMW F1 car?

Anyway, great efforts so far teeb, really looking forward to the rest of the results