50 of the best looking cars

Drop-dead gorgeous

The British-born GTO Engineering Revival is an exact, hand-crafted replica of the classic Ferrari 250 GT SWB. Its V12 engine is sensational, but we fell in love long before that. Has any Ferrari – or any car – ever been more beautiful?

Style is subjective, of course, so you won’t agree with all 50 cars on our list. But let’s all start by agreeing on this one. Right, moving on…

Jaguar E-type

There can be few arguments here. Enzo Ferrari called the E-type “The most beautiful car ever made”, and he might have a point – even from the man who signed off the SWB. From its long, flowing bonnet to its tapering tail, the 1961 Jaguar is one of motoring’s great pin-ups.

Ford Mustang

The Mustang is one of the fastest-selling cars ever – Ford shifted a million in just 18 months. One major reason for the pony car’s success was its styling. Sleek and muscular, the Mustang just looked right. No wonder the latest model is essentially a retro-remake.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

Another classic Ferrari – and we’ll make no apologies for that. The curvaceous 250 GT Lusso was designed by Pininfarina. It has a timeless elegance that today’s aggressive supercars simply can’t match.

Audi Quattro

Nobody could call the original Audi Quattro beautiful. But its squat, purposeful lines will resonate with anyone who grew up in the 1980s – especially fans of Group B rallying. We particularly love those blistered wheelarches, also seen on the E30 BMW M3 of the same era.

Citroen DS

The letters ‘DS’ are pronounced ‘Déesse’, meaning ‘goddess’ in French. And there is something otherworldly about this most famous and elegant of Citroens. We can scarcely imagine how futuristic it looked in 1955.

Citroen SM

More dramatic-looking than the DS, the 1970 SM is a car full of odd shapes, intersecting lines and quirky details. It takes time to appreciate, but there’s no doubting its presence. It wouldn’t look out of place in an art gallery – or a 1970s sci-fi movie.

Porsche 911

For a car rooted in the humble Volkswagen Beetle, the Porsche 911 has done rather well. It’s silhouette is instantly recognisable and each generation has its loyal devotees. For us, the legendary Carrera 2.7 RS is the best looking 911, thanks to evocative decals and its ducktail spoiler.

Datsun 240Z

Before the 1970 240Z, Japanese manufacturer Datsun was known for making dull, A-to-B cars. This sleek, muscular coupe changed all that, with classic sports car proportions and a more than passing resemblance to the Jaguar E-Type. Later Z-cars grew increasingly bloated and less pretty.

Toyota 2000GT

The 2000GT is a worthy candidate for the best-looking Japanese car ever. Only 351 were made, and an open-top version featured in the James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. Today, rarity and beauty mean the 2000GT commands six-figure prices.

Ford GT40

The GT40 was conceived for one reason: to defeat Ferrari on the racetrack. Its voluptuous styling was simply a fortunate side-effect. Just 40 inches high (hence its name), this fast Ford is best enjoyed by the vertically-challenged.

Ford GT

Ford looked to the GT40 for inspiration when designing its latest supercar. The GT is a brilliant blend of modern aero and retro curves – with its mighty 600hp V6 engine proudly displayed beneath the rear window. If we won the lottery tomorrow, the GT would be near the top of our wishlist.

Alfa Romeo SZ

Nicknamed ‘Il Mostro’ (The Monster), the SZ is perhaps misunderstood. Its bluff, brutish lines look like nothing before or since, while the glass canopy-style roof is pure concept car. Hard to imagine there’s a humble Alfa 75 under there.

Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

Even with its iconic gullwing doors closed, the 300SL is one of the great automotive beauties. Muscular and yet delicately detailed, the Gullwing was the fastest road car of its day. Good examples are worth around £1 million now.

Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

By comparison, the recent CLS Shooting Brake is quite affordable. Yet this dramatic estate car still stops us in our tracks. The sweeping tailgate doesn’t do wonders for luggage space, but we’d be prepared to pack light and arrive in style.

1963 Buick Riviera

Many American cars major on muscle and in-yer-face appeal. But the Riviera is something else. Understated and effortlessly cool, with a trademark ‘Coke bottle’ kink in its hips, it still looks modern today. It stood in marked contrast to the flamboyance of the 1950s era.

1971 Buick Riviera ‘Boattail’

By 1971, Buick had got some of that flamboyance back. The famous Riviera ‘Boattail’ looked like it was carrying an upturned rowing boat (in a good way). A brave and instantly recognisable design – and now a sought-after classic.

Lancia Fulvia Coupe

Italian car fans go weak at the knees when they see a Fulvia Coupe. Small, delicate and beautiful, it has the air of an Italian exotic, without the stratospheric price tag. Look at those skinny roof pillars – conceived in the days before crash tests…

BMW 2002 Turbo

If we owned a 2002 Turbo, we’d apply the optional reverse ‘TURBO’ lettering to the front spoiler – an unsubtle hint to other drivers to move out of your way. This compact coupe is all about latent aggression, like a turbocharger just waiting to spool-up. We love it.

Land Rover Series 1

Functional beauty doesn’t come any finer than the original Land Rover. With flat aluminum body panels, exposed hinges and absolutely no frills, the Series 1 was designed to work. Its basic design lasted more than 60 years.

Range Rover

Another vehicle that placed function before form, the Range Rover is the forefather of the modern SUV. Unlike many of the cars it inspired, the RR’s design is relatively subtle, with a ‘floating’ roof being the main concession to style. The interior was remarkably basic, too.

Bugatti Royale

One vehicle that could never be described as ‘basic’, the 1927 Bugatti Royale is one of the most luxurious and exclusive cars ever. Only six were made, and the Coupe de Ville seen here is a triumph of decadent old-world glamour. Nothing announces your importance quite like a Royale.

Cord 810

Pop-up headlights? In 1936? The coffin-nosed Cord was also ahead of its time for being front-wheel drive, while its sporty design spurned the excessive chrome of many contemporaries. The 810 was named the ‘most beautiful American car’ by American Heritage magazine in 1996.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado

OK, we said style is subjective. But if you like yours supersized with plenty of apple sauce, the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado is the car for you. It marked the peak of America’s love affair with tail fins (the 1960 Eldorado was more restrained) and remains a symbol of an age of optimistic excess. It also looks best in pink, obviously.

Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

Inspired by a mako shark that designer Bill Mitchell had caught while fishing, the space-age Corvette Sting Ray is the most stylish iteration of ‘America’s sports car’. The first (1963) models had a split rear window, and are the most collectible today.

Lamborghini Miura

Take your pick between this and the Jaguar E-Type as the most beautiful car ever made. The Miura is widely acknowledged as the first supercar, with show-stopping styling to match its prodigious performance. The modern Lamborghini story starts here.

Lamborghini Countach

What started with the Miura continued with the Countach. Its name roughly translates from Italian as ‘Wow’, which seems appropriate for the wedge-shaped supercar that adorned so many bedroom walls. The original LP400 Countach has the purest design, but we’d have ours with the optional park-bench-sized rear wing. When in Rome…

Porsche 928

The bulbous 928 was originally intended to replace Porsche’s iconic 911. And while it failed in that regard, it’s shark-like styling has aged gracefully. Pointy at one end and bulbous at the other, there’s no mistaking a 928 for anything else. Those exposed pop-up headlights are a 928 trademark, too.

Audi TT

Successive versions of the Audi TT have merely been variations on a theme. But the original car, launched in 1998, was genuinely ground-breaking. Its Bauhaus-inspired design was eye-catching yet unmistakably German. Its smart interior broke new ground as well.

Rover SD1

Bet you didn’t expect to see a Rover in the top 50? However, while its predecessors were serious and statesmanlike, the SD1 is every inch the budget Ferrari Daytona. It looks best in white-and-red UK Police ‘jam sandwich’ spec. Or maybe that’s just us…

Honda Insight

Another surprise entry, perhaps? The Toyota Prius might be the most popular hybrid, but the original Honda Insight is unquestionably the most stylish. Its teardrop shape is sculpted by aerodynamics – right down to those Citroen-style covered rear wheels. Already a cult car, the Insight is a surefire future classic.

Shelby Daytona

We were going to nominate the iconic Shelby Cobra (visible in the background of this pic), but the Daytona – essentially a Cobra with a sleek coupe body – pipped it to the post. The Daytona had curves to compete with any Ferrari, while meaty side-exit exhausts hinted (not very subtly) about the American V8 muscle under its hood. Only six were made.

Dodge Charger

Anyone familiar with the Steve McQueen film Bullitt will recognise the Dodge Charger. It’s the car driven by the bad guys as they pursue McQueen in his Ford Mustang – and its featureless face (the headlights rotate when switched on) – makes it all the more menacing. Elsewhere, the Charger is a classic muscle car, with a long hood and shapely hips.

Mercedes-Benz SL

The Mercedes-Benz SL has existed in various forms since 1954. However, against some stiff competition, it’s the 1973-1971 W113 SL that takes first prize in the beauty contest. Roof-down, or with its distinctive ‘Pagoda’ hard-top in place, the second-generation SL looks simply stunning. One of our all-time dream cars.

Volvo P1800 ES

Think Volvo estates are solely designed using rulers and set-squares? The sporty P1800 ES proves otherwise. The ES is a proper shooting brake (i.e. a three-door wagon) with a frameless glass tailgate. Its low roof and shallow side windows give it the air of a chop-top hot rod. Most un-Volvo-like.

Jaguar XKSS

More purposeful than the elegant E-Type, the XKSS was the road-going version of Jaguar’s D-Type racing car. Curvaceous and beautiful, this rare and very valuable Jaguar oozes competition pedigree from every pore. It’s yet another car with a Steve McQueen link, too – the actor owned a British Racing Green example.

Aston Martin DB5

Speaking of movie stars… The DB5 is, of course, famous for its role in several James Bond films. But the Aston is also a star in its own right, with timeless styling that eschews the flashiness of many Italian sports cars for dapper English charm. A car for cads, the DB5 will always be a box-office hit.

Ferrari Dino

Powered by a modest V6 engine, the Dino wasn’t seen fit to wear the Ferrari badge (although many owners added them retrospectively). Despite Enzo’s high-handedness, the car remains one of Maranello’s most beautiful creations. Today, the Dino is worth more than many ‘real’ Ferraris – a testament to its enduring appeal.

Ferrari Daytona

At the opposite end of the Ferrari spectrum is the Daytona. With a good ol’ fashioned V12 under its very long bonnet, the 365GTB/4 (as it was officially known) was pure Italian brawn. It was also the end of an era for Ferrari. Its successor, the mid-engined Berlinetta Boxer, was more of a sports car than a luxury GT.

BMW M1

Andy Warhol clearly thought the M1 was a work of art – he painted the example seen here as part of BMW’s Art Car project. Even without the questionable colour scheme, the 1978 M1 is a thing of beauty. Wedgy, low and unmistakably mid-engined, yet also curiously understated, it’s the thinking man’s Lamborghini Countach.

BMW i8

It took BMW a long time to follow up the M1, but the 2014 i8 didn’t disappoint. Its futuristic styling reflects its high-tech hybrid powertrain, while its beetle-wing doors are pure showmanship. A rival to the Porsche 911, there’s simply no contest in terms of turning heads.

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

There is a long list of gorgeous Alfa Romeos, but we reckon the 33 Stradale tops the lot. Incredibly lithe and low, it looks like the bodywork has simply melted over the mechanicals. With values in the millions, it’s perhaps inevitable that various Stradale replicas have been made.

McLaren P1

The P1 is the only one of the current crop of hypercars we’ve included here. Dominated by aerodynamics and the need to cool their ferocious engines, these rare beasts rarely manage to look beautiful. However, the P1 is a wonderful exception – a car that looks like it’s doing 200mph standing still.

Maserati GranTurismo

If this gallery was about the best-sounding cars, the Maserati GranTurismo would be right near the top. Fortunately, it’s also a bit of a looker, with classic long-bonnet, short-cabin GT proportions and a subtly menacing front grille.

Fiat 500

Style doesn’t have to be exclusive, so let’s end with a couple of popular classics. The original 1957 Fiat 500 was so cute and appealing that its design is still replicated (albeit on a slightly larger scale) 64 years later. Other ‘cute’ city cars simply look twee, but not the famous Fiat.

Mini

Another working-class hero. The Mini is an icon – a design that even people who know absolutely nothing about cars can identify. It’s also inspired a modern (BMW-built) version, of course, but we think the original is still the most stylish. And the Mini never looked better than in Cooper S-spec, tackling a rally stage at 110 percent. Heady stuff.