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Top Gear’s James May has picked out what he thinks are the 13 most influential cars of all time. The list is bold, controversial and bound to cause arguments, and that’s just the way ‘Captain Slow’ – as he’s fondly referred to by Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, wants it.
The list is a part of ‘The Cars That Changed the World’ and it’s one of the highlights at the London Classic Car Show which is scheduled to take place next month.
While May is convinced he has got them right, a few people are bound to disagree and that his choice will cause arguments in every pub in the land. He has split the list into two groups of six, the first half dozen being displayed in what’s called ‘The Halls of Obviousness’ with the second half dozen found in ‘The Chambers of Bloody-mindedness’. As for the 13th, which May says is the most significant car ever made, has its own special display area at the car show.
“You could probably guess the identity of the six in the Hall of Obviousness without reading another word,” says May, “but the other six are less well known. I believe they are just as significant historically but they’ve simply been forgotten or misunderstood. But the 13th is certainly the car that looms largest in my motoring life – the biggest inspiration,” He adds.
The six ‘obvious’ cars along with James May’s comments are:
1886 Benz Motorwagen: “People will argue about this, but the Benz Motorwagen was the first true car as we would understand it.”
1908 Ford Model T: “The brilliance of the Model T is the way that it was made, rather than the car itself.”
1938 Volkswagen Beetle: “It became the world’s best selling single-platform car, even though the early models were pretty horrendous to drive.”
1959 Austin Mini: “An original Mini is incredibly uncomfortable and a bit hairy if you crash it, but also fantastic to drive.”
1964 Ford Mustang: “In the first six months of its life it was the fastest selling car in history. It’s the car that democratised style and performance.”
1997 Toyota Prius: “It was the first mainstream car of my lifetime that caused people to rethink the basics of how a car should work.”
And the six Bloody-minded choices are:
1901 Waverley Electric: “At the beginning of the 20th century, electric car outsold petrol-powered cars in parts of America. They were clean, quiet and didn’t make ladies’ skirts grubby.”
1906 Cadillac Model K: “The real hero of the mass-produced car story isn’t Ford’s Model T but the Cadillac Model K.”
1933 Standard Superior: “It is widely accepted that Josef Ganz, a respected Jewish engineer, came up with the basic layout and philosophy of the Beetle.”
1972 Honda Civic: “The original Civic was a compact, lively and fuel efficient car that was well made and almost faultlessly reliable.”
1980 Lada Riva: “The Russian-built, Fiat 124-derived, Riva did more than any other to put communism on wheels.”
2009 Bruno ExoMars Rover: “Autonomous, self-sustaining and suitable for use on other planets, it is surely the world’s most advanced all-terrain vehicle.”
As for the 13th and the most significant car, we would have to wait for the London Classic Car Show to begin because that’s when it will be taken out and put on display.
