Classiest car ever

[danthecapriman]

How about some Soviet Iron?

 

GAZ Chaika

 

GAZ 13 Tschaika by Tobias Nordhausen, on Flickr

 

Or maybe a ZIL limo?

 

1972 ZIL-117 Limousine (U.S.S.R.) by Alden Jewell, on Flickr

[LightBulbFun]

Anything named after a light bulb must surely be outside the scope of this thread.   However, your Mazda interior is top work there Joey and captures the Lotus-ness that was the design brief.   I like it! 

 

In the meantime I have been merrily contributing and sagely agreeing with the majority of this post, all the while overlooking that this IS actually Autoshite.  

 

So, there should only be one choice....

 

Panther-De_Ville_mp480_pic_24224.jpg

 

I have a Lightbulb from 1893 surely that would of been for the "classy" back then? 

 

Seriously tho you dont know how annoying it is when trying to find a Mazda "LightBulb" of some kind on ebay only to get inundated in car parts...

[Cardinal Wolseley]

 

The understated elegance of the Singer Vogue Estate, for those that have it but don't need to flaunt it.

[John F]

 

 

Or possibly...

 

 

(with bonus handbrake 20p action)

[pshome]

Hence I take the liberty to win this thread with ease.

 

 

Finding myself googling "lagonda for sale" every so often, then concluding that the virtue of saving money for retirement is grossly overrated, next checking length of garage (15 cm short) and width of driveway (that tree will have to fall) i can only fully approve this.

[egg]

Nice thread. Classy discussion. I'll nominate a couple.

 

GS Birotor

 

 

Panhard 24 (sans whitewalls, natch)

 

[egg]

I was tempted to add the Swallow Doretti or Morgan Plus 4 or Aston DB2/4 or Jowett Javelin, but I'll have the 404 Coupé instead.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

a couple of you are almost right but the colours were too garish!

 

and of one needs space for ones faithful hounds

 

[bolognasal spray]

is that a velux window??

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

 

Probably been owned by members of the entire social circle... fashionable, sylish, shit and rubbish... All areas are covered with a thousand other uses to satisfy even the weirdest class of person.

 

All classes covered = classiest.

[barrett]

Class is a funny old thing, isn't it? It's virtually indefinable - you got it, or ya don't.

 

As Junkman helpfully pointed out earlier, nothing built in America could ever be considered classy. Americans simply don't have class, even though every now and then they make a good stab at approximating class. Peel back the veneer and underneath you'll find a bloke in a t-shirt and jeans eating a hamburger. No thank you. It should be obvious that nothing built in Japan or Australia could ever be included here.

 

Equally, I'm afraid this applies to cars with American engines, which excludes Godron Keebles and Rovers, I'm sorry to say - although as a Gordon Keeble is made of plastic, it is already exempt. Nothing classy about that. On a similar track, nothing with eight cylinders is classy, nor is anything with only four (or fewer - Panhards, classy? Not a chance!). Six or 12, those are the only options.

 

Two-seaters can't be classy either, guys. Nor can convertibles or roadsters. Only a coupe (a true coupe - two doors, two windows per side and at least an attempt at a rear seat) or a saloon can have real class. Anything smaller, or sans roof, suggests cadish behaviour or Playboy-ism. This, by the way, excludes all Ferraris and Maseratis (except the Quattroporte I, which is only just acceptable). Lamborghinis are built by a tractor-maker and are therefore terribly declasse, which I hope goes without saying.

 

The OP was quite right in that Lancia is pretty much the classiest marque in Italy, and the Flaminia is just about the pinnacle of sober good taste. Aurelias are not in the running though, as they are just too 'busy' to drive. Ian Flemming likened the experience as akin to being in a washing machine. As much as I like the Flaminia Berlina, I do think the coupe just about beats it. A very strong contender.

 

On paper Britain seems to have the edge on classiness, but in fact the options are more limited than one might first think. Of course Jaguars are the very opposite of class, being designs specifically for Flash Harrys and spivs. Bentleys are cad's cars and are therefore excluded, which is a shame because the unusually stylish Korentinental would otherwise be a front-runner in this race. Rolls-Royce is a special case - in period they probably would have been in with a chance, but 30 years of wedding hire and 'aspirational footballers'  have tarnished the brand completely.

 

No marque connected to BMC or Rootes can count (a 'corporation' can never be classy), so that's Wolseley and Humber out the window. What's left? Aston Martin is out because of the 007 connection - sorry, if you think it lends class, then you ain't got any.

 

However, there was one car built by A-M which ticks pretty much every box. A marque with a near-impeccable historical record. A big straight-six lump, wrapped in arguably the most beautiful four-door saloon body ever. It's elegant but not brash. Understated, but with remarkable road presence. It was designed as a car that would be equally appealing to drive or be driven in. 

 

I have given this a lot of thought, and I'm afraid this is the answer. Nothing will convince me otherwise.

 

As for the Wedge from the '70s, the less said the better. That awful Dudding man with the big collection just about sums up the target audience there. Terribly vulgar.

[Sigmund Fraud]

[lesapandre]

a couple of you are almost right but the colours were too garish!

 

and of one needs space for ones faithful hounds

 

b-49.jpg

Perfect for buying sheets of chipboard in the local diy on a sunday.

[lesapandre]

I must say you are probably right. I love big saloons that drive like sports. The Mercedes 560SE I had was like that..incredible machine.

[HMC]

[Twiggy]

 

Brilliant - PMSL at this one !

[Tamworthbay]

Nice, but nowhere near as nice as your very own Panhard.

[quicksilver]

Some lovely stuff here - Gordon-Keeble, Facel Vega, 130 Coupe, P1800ES and SM all feature in my dream garage but why has no one nominated the Jensen FF yet? On the subject of Lagondas, for once the man of junk couldn't be more wrong. Those wedges are just vulgar and Barrett is right, the Rapide is the classy Lagonda.

 

Majestic Major is a good shout but for class in a smaller glass, how about a Conquest?

1953 Daimler Conquest by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

 

Or for the rakish gadabout, a Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine

1954 Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

 

This is proper old money class though. A scruffy round the edges Volvo brick with an expensive plate that's been in the family for generations. If you've got it, don't flaunt it.

1991 Volvo 240 Torslanda by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

[LC Torana]

This thread still going?  I've already told you the answer.

[martc]

How about some diversification? - these show other cultures view of class. Those that know would say cool, those that don't what?

 

 

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

Old money is not an automatic qualifier for class.  Having, or appearing to have, Old Money does not automatically confer class, though the two are often found together.

 

Class is effortless, stylish, timeless.  While I do agree with the comment made by Barrett, I don't find the vehicle chosen to be particularly classy.  In period, I would, but Aston Martin is now forever coloured by footballers and folks living well beyond their means in an attempt to mimic the world's worst secret agent.  AM has fallen prey to the very same problems as RR and what once were truly classy vehicles are now attracting the sorts of people who have no class whatsoever.

 

I chose the Peugeot partly in jest, partly in all seriousness.  It is a discrete, understated, vehicle to look at.  Most don't actually know what it is, may will dismiss it as 'just another car' and not even as 'just another old car'.  They occupy a space outside of current tastes and fashion and quietly get on with the job of being pleasant to look at and to be in.  Rather like a nicely made suit.  There's nothing ostentatious about them, they have no need to shout about their credentials and even though some were given a diesel engine this doesn't really detract from the whole package enough to make them seem cheaper.

 

This is also why things like the DS, SM, and countless German cars cannot qualify as classy.  Stylish, undoubtedly, but classy certainly not.  British cars very rarely can be seen as classy, they stray too often into the territory of stodge or flash, no matter the intentions of their designers and owners.

[Amishtat]

[Amishtat]

Or maybe this

[Saabnut]

The rolls-royce does not qualify, as per my comment about scrap metal yard owners above...

 

Oi! It is a Bentley, and everybody knows the Bentley Boys were class!

[Sudsprint]

Some serious omissions perhaps

[treehugger]

How about

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Century#/media/File:1967_Toyota_Century_01.jpg

[anonymous user]

Or maybe this IMAG0845.jpg

Definitely not, vulgar when made, perhaps a charming anachronism now

[richardthestag]

The rolls-royce does not qualify, as per my comment about scrap metal yard owners above...

 

unless it is LHD Brown with a tan roof, on French plates with yellow headlamps

 

else market trader or scrapman

[Sigmund Fraud]

Lamborghinis are built by a tractor-maker and are therefore terribly declasse, which I hope goes without saying.

 

Doesn't the same apply to a certain Mr D Brown's engineering company ?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

See, that is class.

Some Classy Lagondas