Daily Globe British Values, Global Perspective
There are certain cars – not necessarily expensive sports cars or even the best, most reliable or useful cars – which we all admire. Here we count down the ten most familiar, well loved and longed for cars around…
Mini Cooper Ever since Michael Caine uttered the immortal line ‘you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off,’ we’ve longed for our own super-sweet, utterly cool Mini Cooper. No other car is so recognisable or so adored by drivers here and all over the world.
Jaguar E-Type Sensuous lines, come hither eyes and the ability to go like no other, the Jaguar E-Type is the car most men would sell their wives for. Sports Car International magazine named it the best car of the 1960s but many would argue it’s the best of all time.
VW Beetle The re-launch of the Volkswagen Beetle in the late 1990s disappointed many a fan of the original bug which was produced from 1938 to 2003. Uncomfortable seats, a lack of speed and roaringly noisy engine are among the problems which has seen the Beetle named among the worst cars of all time. But still we love them.
Porsche 911 No Porsche manufactured since has lived up to the 911. But perhaps it’s simply because few cars can better it for driveability or design – Porsche consistently adapted the design to appeal to everyone from curve-loving 60s swingers to 1980s city boys.
Aston Martin DB9 Few new cars have captured the public imagination like the DB9, launched in 2004. Practically perfect in every way it lives up to previous DB incarnations and then some. A basic model may cost a similar price to a three bed terrace in South Wales but you know which you’d rather…
VW Microbus Just packing up a bag, strapping your surfboard to the roof, loading The Beach Boys in to the tape deck and chugging down to Cornwall with all of your mates. It’s every kids dream and, judging by the prices fetched by campers to this day, for many the dream doesn’t fade.
Citroen 2CV Only less recognisable than a Mini or a Beetle, the 2CV is as French as baguettes, frogs legs and Chanel. A French village is indeed incomplete without a rusting 2CV or two. Girls love them, men tolerate them. If only because James Bond drove one in For Your Eyes Only.
Morris Minor Traveller Once the preserve of countryside vicars and greying old ladies with fox terriers, the wood-framed Moggy Minor Traveller has, somehow, never been cooler. Whatever it is that makes us long for tweed and spotted dick has turned the Traveller from style-death to chicer-than.
Ford Escort MK1 Whilst modern Ford Escorts might be frowned upon by the chav-hating kids of the noughties the MK1 and MK2 models of the late sixties and seventies were everyman car perfection and remain a triumph of car design as far as retro-lovers and rally drivers are concerned.
VW Golf GTI MK2 If there’s one car which sums up the original boy racer it’s the MK2 GTIs which rolled off the production line from 1984. Still picked up and souped up to this day there’s just something about a white, convertible MK2 with rally lights…
