Official GTP best car ever in the world (final poll).

[wee_man]

So I've finally managed to get round to doing it. If some of the cars descriptions are a bit weedy, blame that on teh nominees. Anywayz vote away.
The cars:
AC Cobra
Audi Quattro
BMW 3 series
Citroen DS
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevy Corvette
Ferrari F40
Ford Model T
Ford Mustang
32 Ford
Lamborghini Countach
Landrover Defender
Mini Cooper
Nissan Maxima
Nissan Skyline
Pontiac Firebird
Porsche 911/993
VW Beetle
Willy's Jeep

The first car and it's reason is teh AC Cobra.
AC Cobra
Nominatted by Gil
'It was the best of British Coachwork and the best small block available at that time. Teamed together to make one of the most memorable, high-performance cars of all time.' I'm adding that it did dominate a lot of sports car and GT racing when it first appeared and for some years afterwards.

 

[wee_man]

Audi Quattro
Nominated by Giles Guthrie
It revolutionised high performance motoring. Previously, everyone thought that 4WD was for tractors and Land Rovers, but Audi developed a simple 50/50 torque split 4WD system with diffs in the centre and at the rear, to allow all four wheels to turn independently.

Installation of a blown version of the 2.2l 5-cylinder engine gave gobs of power, and the whole lot was dumped into a shortened version of the 80 chassis. It was then clad in a coupe body and sold at approximately £20,000, which was comfortably below the price of cars like 911s and 928s, but it offered equivalent performance. To the violent pace it added a modicum of style and luxury.

Then Audi took it rallying and transformed the way that rallying as a sport worked.

The Quattro also created a legacy of high performance 4WD machines built to low budgets, that remains to this day.

 

[wee_man]

BMW 3 series
Nominated by MMMPWR and advanR
a small but very nible family saloon which sporned a huge offspring of many more. Most noticably is the M3, which combines sheer performance with praticality.

 

[wee_man]

Citroen DS
Nominated by GTJugend
It was way ahead of it's time, with many inovations which can still be seen around today.

 

[wee_man]

Chevrolet Camaro
Nominated by Miata13B
The Camaro was a brief project that turned into a facination of American muscle cars. Chevy and GM Big wigs did not feel like getting into the Street rod catergory. Until one day They went to a race where they saw the Mustang in action tearing up the competition and they learned this is where the sport car industry was going. Chevy build the Camaro in less then a year I beleive (could be wrong, but it was a short time). They wanted a platform that would out-perform the muscle cars that were being produced by everyone else. Their solution, to be able to use every motor in their lineup. Some personal favorites include and not limited too. . . the 350 / 302 / the feared 502 / and 454. The Z28 badge is religious to Chevy lovers everywhere. A small block to take the Chevy race team to victory against the Mustang.

 

[wee_man]

Chevy Corvette
Nominated by Shob The Bob
Started a new breed of cars and has continued to set the standard for the way sports cars should be. It has lasted 51 years in production, and has also had very successful racing periods (most notably the past few years). You gotta give props to an American company that takes on Ferrari and wins...consistently. There is also no other American car quite like it, and in the American market, the only rival that has come close (coming close) to beating it (performance streetwise) is the mustang. In a class of cars usually dominated by European exotics, the corvette has remained a high-performance, well priced car that Americans can be proud of.

 

[wee_man]

Ferrari F40
Nomination by Famine.
This car represents the design pinnacle of all road vehicles - and if you bear in mind what Pininfarina have done since then (the F50 and the Enzo count heavily in the against column, with only the Peugeot 406 Coupe in the for column) you can see that they think so too.

The car was the first verified 200mph+ production road vehicle (the Panther 6 claimed it, but only 2 were made - one replica and one prototype which crashed; the Ruf CTR2 Yellowbird made it, but was never a production car), and yet manages to be the only one of the 200mph club cars which is driveable off the track (although the side windows hamper getting car park tickets and paying on toll roads). In fact, not only is it driveable in public - it's actually USABLE in public, unlike the McLaren F1, XJ220, EB110, XJR15, GT40, Veyron (allegedly), Enzo, Carrera GT, Murcielago, Diablo and any of the homologation specials. No-one had done a 200mph road car before - so Ferrari used an existing road car (288GTO) to create a track-capable road car, rather than the road-legal track cars we see in all the other 200mph cars.

Coming in at 1 metric tonne (roughly 2200lbs) and with only 378hp from a tiny (comparatively) twin turbo-charged V8, the F40 is clearly also an exercise in creativity. Weight must be saved - performance could not be sacrificed.

Okay, so it hasn't advanced the human race much - being based on a former model and utilising Formula One technology, rather than the bespoke nature of cars like the Veyron and McLaren - but it was still the first, it's still the best-looking (if no longer the quickest) and if you want to drive it to the shops, you can. Try reversing a McLaren F1.

 

[wee_man]

Ford Model T
Nominated by Evo
Well, first of all, it revolutionized manufactuing for being the first mass produced car and introducing the idea of the assembly line to the world. Secondly, this manufactuing process made the Model T the first car that was affordable to the masses. The Model T was also a rugged and reliable machine for it's time, and could perform many tasks from city dwelling family car to farmhand. And like many good cars, it had a very long production run, from 1908 to 1927, producing 15,000,000 units. This is the second most cars of a single model ever built, only behind the Volkswagen Beetle. The Model T also made Ford the giant it still is today, and made Henry Ford one of the most influential people of the 20th century.

 

[wee_man]

Ford Mustang
Nominated by Gil, GT4, and wee_man
It's a classic, which I think everyone knows about and would love to own (well that's what I think anyway). Had a very long production run. One of the very first muscle cars.

 

[wee_man]

32 Ford
Nominated by Cano
Being the first car to have a mass-produced V8 in america, the venerable flathead, this car started what today is called hot rodding. (well, it was the model T, but this car really got the ball rolling, with V8 power). the look is AWESOME, and today is the most sought-after body to build a hot rod. produced only that year, it is absolutely unique and started a breed of fords that would make history as icons of hot rodding. after the 32 ford, hopping up a car became almost necesary and plain easy. we can say that this car was the car that started the V8 craze in the united states, and it dominated street racing and many other racing forms absolutely, till chevy got its 265 pushrod engine out. in 1955. that is more than 25 years later. in that time, the flathead V8 was THE engine on the streets, and the 32 ford was THE car to have and to hot rod. the fact that today there are millions more "32s" replicars speaks volumes of the car's nature and popularity. and the demand increases. its simply because this one was the car that started, practicaly, what we now know as hot rodding, and revolutionized looks and performance in those years in EUA.

 

[wee_man]

Lamborghini Countach
Nominated by Ultrbeat.
Lets' face it, the Countach is as brash as the '70s decade in which it was born. Where its predecessor (the Miura) was as sexy as a Parisian
waitress (or waiter), the Countach is as sexy as Jason King. Yep, the '60s was a tough act to follow.


The first Countach appeared on Bertone's stand at the Geneva Show in 1971 - the same year that "Hot pants" were invented, yuk. All the exciting
bits were squeezed into the rear end and difficult to get at - just like the car. Gandini styled the Countach and it was called the LP500 (Longitudinale Posteriore 5-litre). Only one was built and it had a 5-litre 440bhp engine.
Production did not get underway until 1974. The production LP 400 Countach was now fitted with the smaller 4-cam, 4-litre, 375 bhp engine. Later Countach milestones were the 1978 LP 400S, the 1981 LP 500S and in the 1985 the 5.2-litre Quatrovalvole (455bhp). Here we test an early LP 400 Countach.


That very first Countach LP 500 had a semi-monocoque chassis but the production LP 400 cars had an intricate tubular steel spaceframe. This is an immensely strong structure with dozens of steel tubes welded together in such a way that they only have to deal with compression and tension loads; tricky bending moments are at a minimum. On this main chassis, a lightweight steel superstructure supports the handmade aluminium body panels.
The upward opening doors are hand-fitted to each car. I don't know how to describe the styling. The Miura was an impossible act to follow but whether the design anarchy of the Countach was the way to go, I know not.
From any angle it looks mad, only to look madder as the later cars evolved big arches and spoilers.

It was really the ultimate supercar.

 

[wee_man]

Landrover Defender
Nominated by Roo.
It's been around since 1948, I believe. You can attach a 3 ton load to it and it'll pull it with ease. The British army have used it for years and never replaced it with anything else; they've never needed to. Keeps on going on and on and on without complaint. Very rarely gets stuck in anything. It's completely classless - everyone from celebritys to farmers use them. You can bounce around a field all day and drive home without worrying about bashing it up.

 

[wee_man]

Mini Cooper
Nominated by Loudmusic
In 1958 it went into production and it was in production until 2000. That makes 42 years of production - 5.5 million units...! It was sold all over the world and loved by everyone. It was cheap, economical adn in particularly the Cooper was quick. Thanks to a fantastic chassis, in it's day in British touring car racingit could be seen, beating Ford Galaxies.

 

[wee_man]

Nissan Maxima
Nominated by Emad
The maxima is a beautiful car, excellent engine and it's got an amazing interior. Plus, this is probably the one car that summarizes everything great about Nissan in one somewhat moderately priced package. Granted, the thing weighs like a tank, but It still has a big enough engine to provide sufficient kick, very good handling and it takes bits and pieces from the Z for performance/visual upgrades. Not to mention that it looks NOTHING like any sedan out there right now.

 

[wee_man]

Nissan Skyline
Nominated by Takumi Fujiwara & skylineGTR_guy.
For being such an alround success. Instead of trying to copy another company's car, they simply went their own way. Be it at first, the very first skylines were very simple and plain, the later models turned into very high tech and quick cars which have some superb innovative designs and ideas on.

 

[wee_man]

Pontiac '67 Firebird 400
Nominated by Milefile
Introduced as an answer to the Camaro, it out-performed it and the GTO. It's absolutely beautiful stying is the epitome of the Pontiac "split grill". They're very rare nowadays.

Porsche 911
Nominated by Rumple Foreskin
It was such a succesul and popular sports car that even though the modern one's are very expensive, some of the older ones can be cheap.

 

[wee_man]

VW Beetle
Nominated by Evo
The VW beatle was the greatest production of a single model ever, and it was a very cheap and reliable car.

 

[wee_man]

Willy's Jeep
Nominated by Der Alta
The Army set forth a list of requirments for a military vehicle and solicited manufacturers to produce a prototype that met these requirements. Willys and Ford, following an extensive road test, both on the highway and off road, were awarded the contract to produce the vehicles for the Army. Willys, however, had to modify its design to meet the Army's spec's for vehicle weight, needing
to pare off 263 pounds, off of an already bare-bones vehicle. And, they had to do this with no sacrifice of either the strength or power. An engineer, Delmar B. "Barney" Roos, had worked on the Jeep project and with his patience, determination,
and resourcefullness, disassembled the vehicle. Every bolt, every bracket was analyzed. Surplus material was cut away wherever possible. Studs, screws, even cotter pins were shortened. The sizes of clamps, nuts, and washers were reduced. The heavy carbon steel frame was replaced by one made of lighter alloy. Lighter steel was employed for the body and fenders.

Finally, the task came down to weighing the paint. It was determined that one coat would have to suffice, for a second would have meant exceeding the weight limit. The final product did meet the Army's specified figure--2160 pounds--with just several ounces to spare.

The US military's "go to" vehicle for three major conflicts. It is also the original off road vehicle for enthusiasts.

 

[Jugend]

So, you finally got the thumb out your a.. No, seriously wee_man, great work! 👍

I voted for my nominee, the DS.

 

[wee_man]

Thanks. I'm amazed to be quite honest that I eventually did it.
I thought I'd better do it at some stage. Just never had the time, as stupid as it sounds, and it didn't take me as long as I thought .

I don't know why I didn't vote for the Citroen DS. Though in theory, it should do well, but I can tell most people are going to go for stuff like the Porsche or Skylinw etc.

 

[Dave A]

Great work Wee_man, I opted for the nimble little Mini, great car especially when your out driving on country lanes.

 

[gt4]

well i voted for the one i nominated.

PS: (everyone else vote for the mustang too)

 

[TS1AWD]

Originally posted by gt4
well i voted for the one i nominated.

PS: (everyone else vote for the mustang too)

If you give me $35,000 I will.

 

[ShobThaBob]

I voted for what I nominated as well.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

Originally posted by TS1AWD
If you give me $35,000 I will.

I'd do it for 25 cents

lol I voted for the GTR.

 

[Ev0]

Props to Wee_man for finally getting this poll started!

Voted for my nomination, the Ford Model T, even though it clearly isn't the looker of the group (especially when it's right next to the Ferrari F40 )

 

[360rider]

I had to go with the camaro. Probably cuz im jsut a camaro lover.

 

[Klostrophobic]

Porsche 911/993. Landslide.

 

[1mic]

i dont know how a maxima made it???
when theres clearly better cars that were left out:
Integra
NSX
Mercedes SL
Supra
F-150
Rx7...
but out of the 1s listed on the first page
its a toughy
3 series, 911 (996), Camaro, f40...
i cant pick

 

[Mike Rotch]

Ended up voting for the 911. Cobra came within a whisker of getting the vote tho.