What is the most beautiful car ever?

[Piscivore]

Knock yourself out.

How about Checker Cabs?

 

[RoboTimbo]

I nominate the Nash Metropolitan.

 

[Just thinking]

Hey ... you want to talk Nash?

And don't forget that Clark Kent drove one on the Superman TV series.

 

[Roadtoad]

Truly, the most beautiful vehicle designed for the road:

The Kenworth T2000.

 

[Blue Mountain]

Truly, the most beautiful vehicle designed for the road:

http://www.trucker.com/extimages/paper\11761\75799731.jpg

The Kenworth T2000.

How many Nash Metropolitans per mile does it get?

 

[gumboot]

And while HMMWVs are nearly perfect, I would like that touch of luxury offered by air conditioning and doors that actually close.

Doors? You pampered hippie! Next you'll want a roof, boot space and phat rims.

Next you'll be demanding a quality sound system and a GPS unit.

 

[Roadtoad]

How many Nash Metropolitans per mile does it get?

I'm not sure. It tends to eat them and spit out the bumpers as it rolls down the highway.

 

[bruto]

I gotta give a hat-tip to ...

1) Old Bugatti > 57SC Atlantic

2) New Bugatti > Veyron

I went to a museum exhibit a few years ago in Montreal on the art of the automobile, and they had one of those Bugatti Atlantics there. It's even more impressive up close. What the pictures don't convey is that it's very small.

In case it's not obvious, it's also made of aluminum, with standing seams joined by rivets. This is the car that Captain Nemo would have driven when he visited the City of Lost Children.

One-offs probably shouldn't count, but there were a number of gorgeous art deco cars, especially French ones, done by a company called Figoni et Falaschi, which I find particularly appealing.

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/coachbuilder.aspx?cbID=29&carID=9206

I have a fondness for the "coffin-nose" Cord, too.

I forgot to add, I also think that one of the most harmoniously and beautifully designed mass produced cars was the 1939 Ford.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Several have already mentioned the best of the best.... The old Bugati 57SC.

I was also real fond of the postwar European look.

As to the American cars - aside from the classic Cord 810 which I just like 'cuz I like it, I think the '56/'57 Corvette (before they went to dual headlamps) were the best.

ETA: I knew I'd seen something recently about someone coming up with a Bugati that was to be auctioned.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rare-bugatti-on-show-ahead-of-auction-1251737.html

 

[SirPhilip]

James Bond Wept

The Veyron looks like it was designed by a first year automotive design major getting a grip with Catia with a gun to his head. In other news, technically, the two most beautiful modern cars in the world:

The Mercedes/McLaren Stirling Moss

The Mercedes/McLaren SLR

 

[Starthinker]

Oh, you can't get better than this...

http://www.starthinker.com/images/100_4802.JPG

 

[wardenclyffe]

Starthinker, I'm guessing that's a '70. How close am I?

Ward

 

[RoboTimbo]

Odd bumper for a 1970. I like the dual mirrors, though. Turn signals look like 1970.

 

[Gravy]

Plenty of beauties here. I particularly like the '54 Kaiser-Darrin that Steve S posted. Never seen it before.

IMO a few dozen cars from the thirties are among the most beautiful ever. The 1937 Talbot Lago "Teardrop" is devastatingly sexy.

 

[HistoryGal]

Then, of course, there's THIS smartass' assessment...

I wonder what it means that my mother owned two of the cars on that list.

She still misses the Edsel. . . .

 

[rsaavedra]

Aston Martin has made one of the most beautiful cars ever, the Aston Martin Vanquish V12:

The Shelby Cobra is also among the nicest ever, imho:

 

[bruto]

Plenty of beauties here. I particularly like the '54 Kaiser-Darrin that Steve S posted. Never seen it before.

IMO a few dozen cars from the thirties are among the most beautiful ever. The 1937 Talbot Lago "Teardrop" is devastatingly sexy.

[qimg]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3326725579_2140977ed6_o.jpg[/qimg]

Another winner from Figoni et Falaschi.

 

[ElMondoHummus]

Doors? You pampered hippie! Next you'll want a roof, boot space and phat rims.

Next you'll be demanding a quality sound system and a GPS unit.

Whaddevah. Here's the only HMMWV option that matters:

 

[Gravy]

Then, of course, there's THIS smartass' assessment...

Oh, man, there's some funny writing there. An excerpt:

Malcolm Bricklin, he of the Bricklin SV1, wouldn't be satisfied until he had forced every American to walk to work. To that end, in 1985, he began importing the Yugo GV, which turned out to be the Mona Lisa of bad cars. Built in Soviet-bloc Yugoslavia, the Yugo had the distinct feeling of something assembled at gunpoint. Interestingly, in a car where "carpet" was listed as a standard feature, the Yugo had a rear-window defroster — reportedly to keep your hands warm while you pushed it.

 

[ElMondoHummus]

Time to talk about the redheads.

I've always had a thing for the Ferrari F40.


But in new cars, the Ferrari California looks pretty damn good:


... as well as the F430 Scuderia:


Man, those are some awesome lookin cars. I sooooo need to discover that I have a secret billionaire relative looking for someone to inherit. Either that, or strike oil or a gold mine or somphin like that. Damn great cars.