Most Beautiful Cars Ever Made…So Far: Chapter Two
remember that I do not know about every car made ever and that these are cars that spring to mind.
This week I will be mentioning 5 of the most beautiful supercars (meaning mid or rear engine cars) ever made. There will be a follow up on last week’s front engine rear wheel drive cars and also on this one. Comment about cars you think are truly gorgeous which I did not mention. Also remember that I do not know about every car made ever and that these are cars that spring to mind. The rules are the same as last week which means only cars that were sold to the public even if there were only a handful of them.
Copyright © 2000-2018 Mecum Auction, Inc. All rights reserved. Link: https://www.mecum.com/lots/CA0815-219862/1969-lamborghini-miura-p400-s/
1. Lamborghini Miura (all versions).
No surprises here. This is the first “true” supercar and it is a stunner. I’ve always loved Lambos (except the Countach, Diablo and Uracco, fuck those things) even though they are extremely expensive. The colours they came in are equally amazing and I believe that Lambos should be wow show-off colours like bright green or orange. Bitches should see you from a mile away. Lambos are actually hypercars with the exception of the new ones. As Jeremy Clarkson once said the difference between a supercar and a hypercar is this; a supercar is designed to handle g-forces and to be driven by Jackie Stewart, a hypercar is designed to handle g-strings and to be driven by Rod Stewart. Sir Rod Stewart actually had a beaut of a blue Miura as seen below.
Tim Scott ©2013 Courtesy of RM Auctions. Link: https://www.rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/PA14/Paris/lots/r115-1971-lamborghini-miura-p400-s-sv-specification/180959
Specs and Facts:
It is the first mid engined production car ever and cost an enormous $20k when it came out in 1966. Anywhere between 761-764 were built (I’m not a leading expert on the subject so forgive me, some say 741) from 1966 to 1973. All of them had 4 litre V12’s that were mounted transversely with 4 three barrel 40mm Weber downdraft carbs. The best version, the P400 SV (of which 150 were built between 1971-1973) had 10.7:1 compression, better suspension and thicker body panels than the first Miura’s. It made 283kW/380hp at 7700 RPM and 388Nm/286lb.ft of torque at 5500RPM. It weighted 1300kg and could do 0-100km/h in around 6.5ish seconds. An orange 69 P400S sold at Mecum Auction in 2015 for 2.53 million Dollars (including auction fee) which is more than any SV ever sold. Orange is a special colour for them because the very first Miura was painted orange.
A very cool story on the 1320video channel.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9zf5IE0Jo
Richard Hammond and Jay Kay driving Miura’s.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSj7GFLDhew
© Stuttcars.com 2011-2018. Link: https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche/9624/
2. Porsche 964 3.6 turbo (Bad Boys 1 movie car)
I am a 911 turbo fan and although all of them are great cars, I believe this is the only truly beautiful one. I even prefer it over the iconic 959. Yes, I might be a bit mad but there is always a car we want that we can’t actually explain why logically. It had a flat nose killing off some aero, which I don’t mind since there are more to cars than aerodynamics. The 3.6 turbo s flachbau however, had more power and a sleeker nose for better aerodynamics. The s option was $60k on top of the $100k standard price while the flachbau nose was free if chosen (even though I don’t like it I would have picked that front end just to get more for my money, 60k for 20hp in 1994 is fucking insane.)
© Timeless Tokyo ― Dubai ― Cracow. Link: https://tmls.eu/1994_porsche_911__964__turbo_s_004_2822-kopia-2/
Copyright: FavCars.com. Link: http://zombdrive.com/images/1992-porsche-911-9.jp
Specs and Facts:
The 3.6 turbo made 265kW/355hp at 5500 RPM and 520Nm/384lb.ft torque at 4200 RPM from you guessed it, a turbocharged 3.6 litre flat six with 7.5:1 compression. That is basically the same power as a 3.3 turbo s but at lower revs (more immediate, usable power). It was one of the fastest production cars at the time going from 0-100km/h in 4 seconds dead and doing the standing quarter in 12.4 seconds. Very impressive by even today’s standards especially since it’s only rear wheel drive. It had a top speed of 180mph. Between 1993 and 1994, 1437 3.6 turbo’s were built and 93 turbo S versions in 1994. Only 76 of the 93 3.6 S cars were flat noses and all of them were originally painted Polar Silver.
Let Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey (aka Martin Lawrence and Will Smith) tell you everything you need to know about a 3.6 turbo.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Y0vFOsVIA
© 2018 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Link: https://blog.caranddriver.com/ford-says-gt-supercar-to-hunt-ferraris-lamborghinis-and-mclarens
3. Ford GT (2005 and 2017).
Some would say that it is more British than American since they helped the yanks out with a lot of the suspension and brake work but screw those guys. This thing is as American as a bald eagle eating a cheese burger. According to Jeremy Clarkson it is also one of the top 5 prettiest cars of all time (GT40 race car was actually first but let’s just say this road version is in his top 5) and he owned a 2005 GT which had an interesting alarm system. Now the new 2017 version is out and costs $450k! WTF right? I’m not gonna lie, as good as the new Ecoboost V6 is, I still believe it should have had a V8 in it. I know downsizing has to be done but why did they have to kill their heritage and drop the V8. The looks of the new GT does make my black heart melt in awe of its beauty. It sounds just as amazing and Ford has finally made a dual clutch transmission to keep up with the competition. The original GT40 won Le Mans from 1966-1969 (even when they had to downsize their engines to 5 litres in 1968) beating Ferrari. The 2005 Ford GT was faster than its target car the Ferrari F360 Challenge Stradale. I’d bet the new GT is faster than the 488 GTB.
© 2018 Power Automedia. All rights reserved. Link: http://www.streetmusclemag.com/news/arties-party-cruiser-to-benefit-charity
Specs and Facts:
Hollywood ladies’ man John Mayer’s (slept with the likes of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift) chick magnet of choice is a 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition (a GT painted in the legendary Gulf Racing colours as seen above). The 2017 GT produces 647hp at 6250 RPM and 550 lb.ft torque at 5900 RPM which is sent through a 7 speed twin clutch gearbox. It can reach a claimed top speed of 216 mph which I believe. It weights 1477ish kg’s which is basically 70kg’s lighter than the 488 GTB.
A heavily modified 2005/2006 Ford has the land speed record for the standing mile of 293.6mph at the bumpy Texas Mile!!! A Bugatti Veyron SuperSport does 268mph over a couple miles with a 125mph rolling start on a perfectly flat runway. Here is a link to check it out.
blog.caranddriver.com/watch-a-twin-turbo-ford-gt-rocket-from-zero-to-294-mph-in-one-mile-video/
© 2018 PerformanceDrive . Link: http://performancedrive.com.au/pagani-huayra-s-roadster-tipped-geneva-debut-2203/pagani-huayra-red/
4. Pagani Huayra.
I am a huge Pagani fan. They came out of nowhere in the early 2000’s with the Zonda C12 S (there were only 5 C12’s and one is left) and hit the perfect balance of hypercar playboy looks with proper supercar engineering. The Zonda is very pretty indeed but the Huayra is even better looking imo. Mr Pagani was a bit afraid of downsizing the Zonda’s huge 7.3 litre V12 thinking he would lose customers. So he spoke with most of the Zonda owners and they said as long as it stays V12 and sounds like a V12 they will continue to buy a Huayra. They also tried to quiet down the turbo’s spooling and wasting sounds as much as possible so that actual exhaust noise will be heard more. The Huayra doesn’t have a fixed rear wing like the Zonda which made it look racey. Instead it has 4 flaps, two on the front and two on the back that deploy during cornering, heavy braking and at high speeds. Paganis’s are also some of the best made cars in the world. They only use twelve sided bolts, nothing is cast or pressed and every mechanical component to little emblems or trim pieces are CNC machined to be as thin and light as possible. They make the Huayra chassis out of carbon-fibre with little filings of titanium (carbotanium) for extra strength while not adding any measurable weight.
Specs and facts:
It is named after the Andean God of Wind. It should be a Bond car. It has a 6 litre twin turbo AMG V12 packing 522kW/730hp at 5800 RPM and it holds peak torque of 1001Nm/738lb.ft from 2600 RPM through till 4200 RPM. It can reach 230mph which is damn fast. It has a seven speed paddle shifted sequential gearbox and weights around 1350kg (many are saying 1218kg but that’s bullshit). Another facts is that I don’t like the new road race BC version cause it’s not pretty and it totally lost the hypercar/pinup poster look. Stay classy Pagani. Stay classy.
5. Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale.
A car that I didn’t even know existed until a couple days ago. This is basically the 4C of 1967. It is a full on racecar that was slightly detuned and wound down for road use. It was actually extremely fast and stupendously expensive. It cost basically the same as a Miura and since it was so highly modified and low to the ground (I’m talking zero ground clearance), it was even more impractical than the Lambo. It was just as thirsty. Its dazzling curves cannot be denied however, being one of Alfa’s (styled by Franco Scaglione) greatest designs ever.
© Copyright Bauer Media Pty Limited. All Rights Reserved. Link: https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-reviews/2015-alfa-romeo-4c-first-drive-review
Specs and Facts:
It had a quad cam 2 litre 90 degree (very uncommon for Italian cars) V8 making over 170kW/230hp at 8800 RPM and 200Nm/150lb.ft of torque at 7000 RPM. They say power varied massively due to the engines being “hand built”. Umm, how the fuck were all the other engines built in the 60’s (clue; also hand built). I’d say it was due to tuning the four downdraft carbs. It had two distributors, four ignition coils and sixteen spark plugs (twin spark style). The engine was all aluminium and fuel injected. It had an awesome 6 speed transaxle gearbox from Colotti which meant the gears were stacked closely keeping the car accelerating. It could do 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds shaming the Miura and the Ferrari Daytona. It was the production car in the standing kilometre, completing it in 24 seconds flat and eventually reaching a top speed of 160mph/260km/h. It cost $17k in 1968 and is said to be worth at least 10 million dollars today. Only 14 were sold publicly with the rest being futuristic concept cars.
All written text works are properties of MotoringHistory. Some photos have been sourced from other sites and accreditation has been provided. Link: http://motoringhistory.com/alfa-romeo-33-stradale-the-unicorn-of-milan/
© 2014: All rights protected1. Link: http://cloudlakes.com/gallery/2461400-alfa-romeo-33-stradale.html
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Comments (17)
Fun and smartly-defended list! Some great cars here, and you stuck to your guns with regard to you selection criteria. (agreed on the hyper- VS super-car thing, a well) Great piece!!
Thank you very much. Thanks for reading and commenting
Have you seen part 1?
what a mess of a list. started well, and then a few lines in I lost all respect. Anyone who puts something as boring as a pagani hyundai, which looks like a big brick on wheels, on a list and then talks down the countach, I just feel a bit sad for you.
and I love alfas, I own one of the noisier models, but the one on your list looks so dated and bug-eyed...
Ok. Did you look at the the first list.
tried to find it, but got a diluted comment or twi from it, I gather the 427 and C2 are on it...I love both. but im not keen on the Ferrari.
but this is why lists are so awesome. thanks for uploading interesting content , Brian.
Amazing cars! Very nice choices, I've never been a big fan of Pagani though! Thanks for the tag.
I really agree with your list: those models are the line between cars and art!
Can't improve upon that list. Great article!