Best British car ever: the contenders

By Greg MacLeman

| 8 Jun 2015

What is the best British car ever? It is a question every person knows the answer to, because everyone's answer will be different. It has caused many an argument between experts and friends alike and as a result, Classic & Sports Car, the world's best selling classic car magazine has decided to try and answer it, but we need your help.

Over 100 motoring experts have very carefully pinned down the shortlist to the 10 models shown below. All you need to do is pick your favourite and you will also be in with the chance of winning one of 25 pairs of tickets to the inaugural Classic & Sports Car - The London Show, London's finest classic car show.

Copy and paste www.classicandsportscarshow.com into your browser to cast your vote.

In production from 1922-1939, the original people’s car put 300,000 Brits on the road through simple, low-cost motoring. Also successful internationally and built under licence – without the Austin Seven, built as the Dixi in Germany, there would be no BMW!

The most successful racing Bentley, the sportiest vintage Bentley twice won at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans helping to create the legend of the Bentley Boys in the process. Some may have dismissed them as the world’s fastest lorries, but…

A Brit-conceived, Brit-developed and Brit-built sports-racer that officially waved the flag for the US of A at Le Mans. An out and out racer then? Not quite, the MkIII variant, however, was strictly a road car. Owners in period included Noel Edmonds.

The car that no lesser person than Enzo Ferrari declared the most beautiful in the world. Launched in 1961, capable of 150mph and costing a fraction of what similar-spec cars did, the E-type was an instant hit that has passed into legend.

When Jaguar had left-over chassis of its Le Mans legend D-type, it decided to convert them into road cars. Just 16 of these fearsome road cars were built and they were a favourite of King of Cool Steve McQueen among others.

Amazingly, this car was launched in 1957 and, in Caterham guise, can be bought in virtually unchanged form today. The reasons for its popularity and longevity are the unrivalled driver experience and handling. Pure thrills.

For many years the fastest production car in the world, this technological tour de force from F1 designer Gordon Murray and leading stylist Peter Stevens is considered by many to be the purest ever expression of automobile engineering.

Famed for its starring role in The Italian Job, the Mini Cooper S was the ‘hot’ version of the brilliantly designed and packaged front-wheel drive small car from Sir Alec Issogonis that was launched in 1959 and was still being made in 2000.

Despite its reputation today, in 1970 the Range Rover was not just a new car, it was the invention of a whole new motoring species, combining the rugged features of a practical off-roader with the comfort and appointment of a family saloon.

Usually a claim such as “The best car in the world” can be taken with a pinch of salt, but when Rolls-Royce’s 40/50 became universally known as the Silver Ghost, setting new standards in reliability and refinement, it wasn’t even questioned.