The Most Beautiful Car Ever

[Archean]

I was wondering which will be most beautiful car ever made ........ hmmmm ..... Fulvia ? Montecarlo? Stratos? 458? F40? F1? 8C beautiful but loudly useless ...... I guess we can have a little poll about it. Just for the fun of it nothing more

 

[Archean]

A friend of mine suggested to add the pictures of the listed cars, for which I am pleased to oblige

 

[Archean]

Remaining pictures .....

There you go

 

[yangly18]

had to go with that lamborghini gallardo balboni, eye candy fo sho

 

[Archean]

it is a beautiful machine and it looks much better than Porche's Panamera (which jezza thinks is a sort of mangled ape or something like that lol), anyway i just realized that i made a mistake while starting this poll; and that is I've forgotten to add the end date because i finished making the list i went for dinner and when i came back i just clicked ok to start the poll ..... oh well lets see where this goes

 

[captaincranky]

Spinning the Oldies.......

If you were going to include the early XKE Jag, it seems a rather startling omission to not include the 1963 Corvette split window coupe.

The "Lancia Fulva" is absolutely not the most beautiful car ever, in fact it sort of looks like a refined version of the "Corvair".

 

[Archean]

Well i liked Fulvia for what it did, i.e. it won an world rally championship, corvette 1963 is nice; infact I think Mura is whole lot better looking but I somehow ended up listing instead.

 

[captaincranky]

Of Men , Mice, and the Transgender Automotive Experience.....

Well i liked Fulvia for what it did, i.e. it won an world rally championship,

Both Steffi Graff and Martina Navratilova have won countless tennis tournaments, yet neither one could be considered "the most beautiful woman tennis player ever". That would (arguably) be Anna Kournikova, who could stink out an entire arena with her service game, but yet not have a hair out of place at the end of her loss of the match.

How does this pertain to Automobiles you ask? I'll tie it all together for you forthwith!

Martina Navratilova became a spokesperson for Subaru, doing commercials related to the "Forrester". Which promptly resulted in the Subaru earning the colloquial nickname, "Lezbaru".

 

[dividebyzero]

1935 Duesenberg Model SSJ La Grande (Body by Union City)
1936 Duesenberg Model SJN (body by Rolleston)
1932 Auburn Custom Eight Boattail Speedster
1930 Mercedes-Benz Count Trossi SSK
1960 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
1967 Ferrari 206/246GT Dino
1954 Jaguar D-Type XK-SS
1963 Chev. Corvette Stingray 327/360hp "Fuellie" (nod to the captain)
1970 Dodge Charger R/T SE Hemi (unabashed mopar nut)
............and your winner is (drum rollllllllllllllllllll)
The pinnacle of automotive excellence and friend

Honorable mention to the Austin Healey 3000, Bugatti's, Mk 2 Jag and the '57 Chrysler 300C -the real one- for the dual quad 392.

 

[red1776]

to many automotive works of art to choose from, but here is the best of the 50's
http://www.getchevatgan.com/images/fun/cadillac/1959-Cadillac-Eldorado-1280.jpg

...and the best of the 70's
http://www.nashnut.com/bm08-70charger1.jpg


.....and this one is for Cap
http://www.kgcphoto.com/Stuff/subaru-forester-4.jpg

 

[Archean]

Both Steffi Graff and Martina Navratilova have won countless tennis tournaments, yet neither one could be considered "the most beautiful woman tennis player ever". That would (arguably) be Anna Kournikova, who could stink out an entire arena with her service game, but yet not have a hair out of place at the end of her loss of the match.

How does this pertain to Automobiles you ask? I'll tie it all together for you forthwith!

Martina Navratilova became a spokesperson for Subaru, doing commercials related to the "Forrester". Which promptly resulted in the Subaru earning the colloquial nickname, "Lezbaru".

I humbly disagree with regard to Fulvia, its a beautiful car, much better than charger ........ beside in most american cars if you try to go round a bend at higher speed you gonna hit a tree anyway (as Eric Banna found out while filming for his film 'Love the Beast' ).

 

[captaincranky]

I humbly disagree with regard to Fulvia, its a beautiful car, much better than charger ........ beside in most american cars if you try to go round a bend at higher speed you gonna hit a tree anyway (as Eric Banna found out while filming for his film 'Love the Beast' ).

First of all, I had nothing to do with nominating the Charger.

What I said was, that the Fulvia looked like a glorified, perhaps refined, Corvair, which to me it does. Some people never get my associations, but google "Corviar" and see what you think.

What the Corvair was, was Detroit's attempt at a Chevrolet Volkswagon. Tragically, it suffered from drastic oversteer at highway speeds, and being a flat motor (like a Volks), it had external pushrod covers sort of like a Harley Davidson, but the Harley motors hardly leaked at all by comparison. So, people were saddened by the fact the motor couldn't even be modded to power an experimental aircraft, which the Volkswagon mills will.

And last, American cars were never designed to go around corners in the first place. Banna should have known that. They were designed with soft suspensions so that when we hit a bump we wouldn't feel it. Our a**es were "smaller" back then, not the lavish 6 to 8 inches of cellulite we have on average today. And when I say "smaller" please note the quotation marks. Now the cars can be sold with a firmer ride since our a**es have gotten so big that we wouldn't feel it if someone hit us in one with a thrown brick. After all one of our bums now takes up 2 airplane seats.

The American automobile had a manifold design objective, (highlights to follow).

1. To have fins higher than last year's American car

2. To rust out in 5 years tops

3. To have a large enough back seat to accommodate a Roman orgy.

4. And last but not least, to be able to burn all the tread off the rear tires with one press of the accelerator.

Now I ask you, how would cornering ability factor into any of that?

 

[Archean]

As far as i remember (and i've checked it around on net as well) Fulvia was launched in 1963 as well; so it is highly unlikely that they could have duplicated Corviar's styling/design ..... probably a conincidence I would say.

Well there are few american cars which can go around in corners, i.e. Corvette but then you got to be bonkers to buy it; and also CTS if i remember correctly which went around nurburgring pretty quickly which is a proof of its cornering abilities

Thankyou for your input sure as hell improved my info as well

 

[captaincranky]

As far as i remember (and i've checked it around on net as well) Fulvia was launched in 1963 as well; so it is highly unlikely that they could have duplicated Corviar's styling/design ..... probably a conincidence I would say.

The Corvairs "lifespan" was (I think) model years 1960 to '63) I'm basing the "look-alike" idea on the cupola type of cabin (Windscreen shape) and the strong, high body dividing line line running completely around the vehicle. The Fulvia's grille style was ripped from a European model asthetic although I can't say just who. The small nozzle type of grille inlet appears on Alfa Romeo to name just one.

Well there are few american cars which can go around in corners, i.e. Corvette but then you got to be bonkers to buy it;

And fairly well heeled to be able to insure it.

Thankyou for your input sure as hell improved my info as well

Threads like this that offer subjective but not contentious dialog are always great fun, so thank you as well.

 

[dividebyzero]

I humbly disagree with regard to Fulvia, its a beautiful car, much better than charger ........ beside in most american cars if you try to go round a bend at higher speed you gonna hit a tree anyway (as Eric Banna found out while filming for his film 'Love the Beast' ).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is it beautiful because of it's initial impact?, It's technological or groundbreaking design ?, Is it a fashion icon ?, it's styling evocative of a better time or place ?, If the frame of reference to subjective, then the determining factor in your original thread question is....what, exactly?

Is the F40 so different in visual stying cues that it's fundamentally different from the F50, or the 599, or the 458, or the 360 Modena ?
Does the beauty of the Miura mitigate the electrical problems that beset the model or the fact that power-shifting the trans in the non split-sump version lunches the gearbox?

Personally I find beauty in the sound of a Chrysler big-block starter motor-the sound of a coffee can half full of rocks being shaken vigourously, the vibration coming through the ground from a well tuned 426 running open headers...

BTW The car that Eric Bana crashed is of Australian manufacture- a 1973 Ford Falcon XBGT351....and he walked away from it unscathed. The crash happened during a competitive car rally, and not during filming.
How did James Dean do with his Porsche Spyder ?....
and Princess Diana I believe was in a S class Merc....

 

[Archean]

Ok ....... I've gone through that and yes that was launched in 1960 so i guess someone from Lancia may have taken notice of it ....... and similarities are not that overpowering but you can feel them.

DBZ mentioned Dino over there - its a beautiful car just like Mura. Anyway, i remember ferrari didn't gave its badge to dino as it was reserved for V12 models only at that time.

Funnily, Lancia Montecarlo was a beautiful car as well; I think it looked prettier than Fulvia; but had a major flaw, i.e. it would hit a tree or a pole or anything nearby, whenever you tried to brake ..... because it had none lol

 

[Archean]

BTW The car that Eric Bana crashed is of Australian manufacture- a 1973 Ford Falcon XBGT351....and he walked away from it unscathed. The crash happened during a competitive car rally, and not during filming.

Thanks.

Regarding James Dean accident a head on collision is usually a result of the organic bit behind the wheel's errors to put it mildly. And same is true for Dianna incidence, a Drunk driver .... nothing to do with car i'd say; and they haven't invented a car yet which can stop if it is going to hit something like a concrete column or a wall or another vehicle for that mater :/

If you want to hear a deep earth shakingly rumbling sound ... try a AR 8C (4.7L V8, 450 hp), I am sure you can hear it from many miles ;-)

Among many others i am sure.

 

[captaincranky]

We're Goin' Up Around the Bend....(John Fogerty)

A former goalie from the Philadelphia Flyers (hockey) by the name of Pellie Lindberg failed to negotiate a turn in Somerdale NJ on (what'r the odds) Somerdale Rd., down the block from an old girlfriend's house. Somerdale Rd hooks to the right, as I recall, and Pellie failed to take notice of that, Killed himself and the two "models" he was riding with. The car was a brand new Porsche. It's really hard to say if the car would have made the turn at the hundred or so miles an hour he was traveling had he been sober, but needless to say, it didn't, what with him drunk and all that.

But I did take an evil sort of pleasure in derisively renaming that section of Somerdale Road, "Lindberg's Crossing", 'cause he sure was flying when he hit it!

A "Flyer", flying, crossing, Lindberg, do you notice the rich fabric of irony the accident wove?

So then, was this Porsche one of the most beautiful cars ever? Well, not so much, at least after one of our local sports heroes got done with it.

 

[dividebyzero]

+1 cap.

I shall kidnap the Lindberg reference for future anecdotal retelling-with due credit given.

 

[red1776]

okay, I got it. the most beautiful automobile in history
the 1937 Cord 812
http://assets.speedtv.com/images/easy_gallery/921641/1937_cord_812_beverly_m.jpg

 

[captaincranky]

Not to mention the world's biggest white walls!

 

[red1776]

Not to mention the world's biggest white walls!

I had a set like that on my 68 caddy. had to special order them from a company in Florida. I have had pizza cutters wider than those tires.
i was a great car, it seated 6 comfortably...and 8 uncomfortably.

 

[dividebyzero]

Aye, a design classic in more ways than one. Engine based on an aircraft powerplant made by Lycoming (288.6 Cu. in.). The coffin nose was originally supposed to belong to the Duesenberg ( E.L.Cord's Union City Body Company were Duesenberg coachbuilders) and adapted by Gordon Buehrig and Paul Laurensen.

 

[captaincranky]

Jeez, I learned something here. I thought that the "Cord" was a repro' of the Dusenberg, now I come to find the the Cord is a repro of the Cord also (?) Now I just found that the first repro' carried a >> Corvair << power train. Oy!

 

[red1776]

Aye, a design classic in more ways than one. Engine based on an aircraft powerplant made by Lycoming (288.6 Cu. in.). The coffin nose was originally supposed to belong to the Duesenberg ( E.L.Cord's Union City Body Company were Duesenberg coachbuilders) and adapted by Gordon Buehrig and Paul Laurensen.

That's interesting, i can see a lot of similar lines between the Cord and the Duesenberg.