Best Car Ever? Discuss

[Hendry]

Watched some of that James May's Cars Of The People where he chose a fucking VW Golf as the car. Kinda got me thinking, on a similar theme and thought it would be an interesting and enlightening debate.

 

Best car ever? What do you reckon?

 

So youre looking for a mix of:

- Value for money

- Stylish

- Practical

- Powerful

- Economic

- Running Costs

- Refinement

- Comfort

- Nice Interior

- Well Equipped

- Reliable

- Good To Drive

- Handles relatively well

- Rustproofing

 

Now choose a car which isnt necessarily the best in every or even any of those categories but is the best all rounder or combination of all the criteria. 

[twosmoke300]

Mk6 escort ! Bought one yet ?

[Timewaster]

Mk6 escort ! Bought one yet ?

2/14 Could do better.

 

405 TD Estate.

[Wack]

Without a doubt the best car I've ever owned was a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX hatchback , it was also the cheapest to run car I've ever owned, bought it at 4 years old from an underwriter who go stuck with it for £7000, had it 2.5 years and sold it for £7100.

 

I loved that car, fast enough to be fun but not STi fast  1st 2nd banned, cat C cat B cat A

 

it also went exactly where you pointed it , to this day I regret selling it

[dollywobbler]

Nissan Primera P10. If you ignore the bit about rust-proofing...

[somewhatfoolish]

A Ziebarted Renner 4 GTL

[Tayne]

Horsey Horseless.

[Captain Furious]

Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia from circa 1984.

[Pete-M]

Range Rover V8 or, yes, a fucking Golf.

 

I reckon the Range Rover is the greatest vehicle ever built - although not in P38a or diseasel form.

 

The Golf has to have lots of options and a decent sized engine. Mine has enough toys to make it a very pleasant place to be and enough poke to mean it's not boring. 4wd means it handles well

 

Having said that, the best real world sensible car is probably still a Focus.

[jonathan_dyane]

Primera P11 GT, it's an astounding car. Whenever I get behind the wheel of anything else it drives like shit.

[xkjagnz]

Saab 9000 turbo 5 door hatchback

[riek]

E39 5 series

[BorniteIdentity]

And next time on Autoshite - What is the best THING?

 

https://youtu.be/VvkB8NGbh-Q

[cros]

For me it has to be the FX3 shooting brake. Well proven design, bomb proof mechanicals with rod brakes and efficient OHV engine mean it's easy to fix. Regarding longevity, though most Golf parts are still available they don't grow on trees but the Austin's do.

[spartacus]

BMW e28 M5.

[Lacquer Peel]

2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

[MorrisItalSLX]

Volvo 960 or 850R Estate

[djimbob]

Ford transit = most models, but the smiley banana especially, except the rust, fails pretty miserably on that I'm afraid

[richardthestag]

Golf

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Hond Civic , obviously the Type-S.

[MarvinsMom]

lexus LS400

 

thread over - i win.....

[mercrocker]

This is the best all-rounder I owned.   In fact, had it been built by VAG they would all be creaming over it.   If it had been built by Honda I would probably still have it.   If it had been built by Ford you wouldn't get one now for less than ten grand.

 

Mine failed miserably on the rustproofing bit but anybody could have improved on Citroen's efforts at home themselves on that score.   With the 1300cc and 5 speed box it was capable of surprising motorway ground-coverage and was fun to drive round town and on B roads.    When I was doing up my first house I slept in it, carried home brown furniture in it and it still scrubbed up for visiting friends in posh houses.   

 

It takes two cars to replace this - my 190E and the Minor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why can't they design stuff like this nowadays?

[MarvinsMom]

 

Why can't they design stuff like this nowadays?

 

crash testing and accountants......

[Bear]

For years, I believed the Mk II Golf GTi 5-door, in 8V digifant form, was simply the best "car" ever made.

 

Fun to drive (by modern standards they're brilliant, particularly if they're non-PAS but then people whine about parking), practical, comfortable within reason, economical, solidly built.

 

If I have to get clever about the thought process, I'd say the W168 Mercedes A-class LWB - immense inside with a footprint like a properly small car (under 4m - SWB is 3.6 IIRC), also comfortable. Not very well made in some areas (suspension components in particularly), harder to self-maintain, not "fun" to drive particularly (not awful, but neutral). If a communist government decreed all citizens could have one car, to suit all their needs, an A-class can be a van, a five-seater family car, a car with a big boot for luggage... it should be the Trabant for the 21st Century.

 

But there's always going to be a different interpretation, Some would say the Maxi was the best car ever made.

 

Generally I look for a manufacturer's high-point of getting it right. Driver experience, efficiency, build quality and appropriateness for the era.

 

So:

 

BMW - E39 is without a doubt the best design they ever made. Some bits are fragile, but most of them made it to 12 years old without misery. Still possible to see out of, still low, awesome handling, just... really great cars.

 

VW: Golf Mk II GTi, still. It's been downhill ever since even if the technology is leagues ahead.

 

Volvo: Gotta be the 740. But the 850 was also very, very good. I'd have a tough time choosing.

 

Citroën: Traditionalist, GSA. Modern: Xantia. Objectively: 2010 C3.

 

Peugeot: 405 and 306.

 

Mercedes: W201 190, W168 A-class. I happen to think the R170 is a great car too, but the R172 is probably better. What's interesting is that for many firms, you have to wait a couple of generations, but Mercedes got the 190 and the SLK right first time, and I'd argue they got the A-class right too, but we were at the point where hand-wringing idiots wanted cars to defy the laws of physics.

 

Probably loads and loads more.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Can I change my answer?

 

Mercedes Benz W123

[Lacquer Peel]

For years, I believed the Mk II Golf GTi 5-door, in 8V digifant form, was simply the best "car" ever made.

 

Fun to drive (by modern standards they're brilliant, particularly if they're non-PAS but then people whine about parking), practical, comfortable within reason, economical, solidly built.

 

If I have to get clever about the thought process, I'd say the W168 Mercedes A-class LWB - immense inside with a footprint like a properly small car (under 4m - SWB is 3.6 IIRC), also comfortable. Not very well made in some areas (suspension components in particularly), harder to self-maintain, not "fun" to drive particularly (not awful, but neutral). If a communist government decreed all citizens could have one car, to suit all their needs, an A-class can be a van, a five-seater family car, a car with a big boot for luggage... it should be the Trabant for the 21st Century.

 

But there's always going to be a different interpretation, Some would say the Maxi was the best car ever made.

 

Generally I look for a manufacturer's high-point of getting it right. Driver experience, efficiency, build quality and appropriateness for the era.

 

So:

 

BMW - E39 is without a doubt the best design they ever made. Some bits are fragile, but most of them made it to 12 years old without misery. Still possible to see out of, still low, awesome handling, just... really great cars.

 

VW: Golf Mk II GTi, still. It's been downhill ever since even if the technology is leagues ahead.

 

Volvo: Gotta be the 740. But the 850 was also very, very good. I'd have a tough time choosing.

 

Citroën: Traditionalist, GSA. Modern: Xantia. Objectively: 2010 C3.

 

Peugeot: 405 and 306.

 

Mercedes: W201 190, W168 A-class. I happen to think the R170 is a great car too, but the R172 is probably better. What's interesting is that for many firms, you have to wait a couple of generations, but Mercedes got the 190 and the SLK right first time, and I'd argue they got the A-class right too, but we were at the point where hand-wringing idiots wanted cars to defy the laws of physics.

 

Probably loads and loads more.

We were at the point where people didn't want mainstream family cars to roll over in extremis, that's not unreasonable.

[The Moog]

And next time on Autoshite - What is the best THING?

 

https://youtu.be/VvkB8NGbh-Q

 

Quality Partridge ... but with less cocks than the AS one. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The best (selling) car of all time. All those crazy people sure know how to have fun*.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Peugeot 504 or Ford Focus, depending on where you are.

[danthecapriman]

This is dead easy.

 

IMG_0390 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Volvo 700 or 900. unbeatable!