Could the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL be the most beautiful car ever built?
Total Car Score the most comprehensive automotive ranking and comparison website, is celebrating the art of the automobile by taking a look back at the top 10 best-looking cars of all time. Total Car Score issues its ranking as automotive enthusiasts and the industry’s attention focus on the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the premier event for historic and exotic automobiles took place on August 19th. The list might be “highly subjective.” But its team says its picks, “all boast signature contours that continue to influence the design of today’s cars.”
Dreaming of these beauties or something similar? They’re not a purchase to make lightly even if you have the cash. Here are the top 10 beautiful cars of all time.
10| 1973 Porsche Carrera RS
Claim to fame: Porsche 911s have had a long production run – continuous since 1963 – but this is the most popular classic model among collectors, and it was only produced for two years, in 1973 and 1974.
Recent price: $225,000.
9| 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV
Claim to fame: The last model of the Miura and the fastest Lamborghini till that point, it does 0-to-60 in 5.5 seconds, with a top speed of 170 mph.
Recent price: $900,000.
8| 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
Claim to fame: This was the real star of the 1971 police chase film Vanishing Point – which coincidentally has a scene where this car races a Jaguar E-Type.
Recent price: $104,000.
7| 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4
Claim to fame: Only 330 were ever made, but it’s considered by many Ferrari fans “the best looking and performing variant of the late-1960s V-12 berlinetta.”
Recent price: $1.65 million.
6| 1966 Ford GT40
Claim to fame: This is the only American car to be overall winner in 24 Hours of Le Mans, the oldest car-endurance rally in the world – which it won four times in a row from 1966 to 1969.
Recent price: $1 to 2 million.
5| 1965 Jaguar E-Type
Claim to fame: Enzo Ferrari – guess which brand he started? - called it ”the most beautiful car ever made.”
Recent price: $87,000.
4| 1964 Aston Martin DB5
Claim to fame: Another car with an iconic place in film: Sean Connery drove one as James Bond in Goldfinger, and it’s been in other Bond films since. (It’ll reportedly be in the upcoming Bond flick, Skyfall.)
Recent price: The Bond car sold in 2010 for $4.6 million, although a non-Bond car sold for $833,000 just a few months earlier.
3| 1963 Chevrolet Corvette
Claim to fame: Also called a Sting Ray, this year’s model was the first time a Corvette coupe was ever seen – the first generation was only convertibles - and it was the only year to feature a weirdly split rear window. (Car and Driver speculated that feature might return, but Automobile says that isn’t happening, at least not in the 2014 model.)
Recent price: $40,000 to $60,000
2| 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California
Claim to fame: You’d probably recognize this car as the one trashed in the Matthew Broderick film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - although that was a fiberglass fake, because even in 1986, the makers couldn’t even afford to rent one, much less buy it and smash it.
Recent price: $10,976,000.
1| 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Claim to fame: A two-seat sports car known for its gull-wing doors.
Recent price: Around $1 million, but prices vary. A pre-production model was recently spotted for sale at $850,000, and a 1955 with an aluminum alloy body went for $4.62 million.
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