Lamborghini Miura
There's an exclusive group of models that can make a solid claim as the first supercar ever, and the Miura is one of them. Fast, dynamic, exclusive and utterly beautiful from every possible angle, the Miura’s design has stood the test of time and remains one of the most influential cars ever to go on sale. Created by icons Giotto Bizzarrini, Gian Paolo Dallara and Paolo Stanzani with styling by Marcello Gandini, who was the head designer at Bertone during the mid-1960s, the Miura went from a vision to a ready-to-produce head-turner in just four months. The resulting car, first shown to the public 1966 Geneva Motor Show, was an immediate showstopper and firmly cemented Lamborghini's place in the dream car landscape. Even today, almost 60 years later, the Miura’s design is just as relevant and serves as inspiration for many designs, making it Lamborghini's most prized bull in our eyes.
Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing
During the middle of the 1950s and early 1960s, nothing politely exclaimed “Look Ma, I made it!” quite like pulling up to The Ritz or Beverly Hills Hotel in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. While some beautiful cars relied heavily on their looks to win over the motoring world, the Gullwing backed up its stunning curves with world-beating engineering. First displayed in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York, this sleek-bodied, race-inspired silver bullet almost immediately became an icon of the automotive world, being voted “Sports car of the Century” back in 1999. Combining technical proficiency with a masterclass in design by Rudolf Uhlenhaut and Friedrich Geiger, there are few cars that shine quite as brightly as the Gullwing. Mercedes-Benz have created some truly breath-taking machines since the 300 SL was born, but no other model has remained as adored and as instantly recognisable as this one.
Aston Martin DB5
Think of the DB5, and it’s almost impossible not to imagine a certain British secret agent at the wheel, but the beauty of Aston Martin’s most iconic model runs far deeper than its antics on the silver screen. It would take a whole five iterations of the earlier DB4, including multiple facelifts and technical improvements, before Aston Martin decided the new model was deserving of the DB5 moniker. Boasting a fresh 4.0-litre engine, the DB5 is perhaps the most handsome car on our list of icons, oozing charm from every angle of both its exterior and spacious leather-cladded interior. Despite its onscreen appearances helping to fill the order books, the DB5’s production run lasted only from July 1963 to September 1965 – barely more than two years. In that time a grand total of just 1,022 were built across all variants, making the DB5 an exceptionally rare and desirable addition to any collection.
Ferrari 250 GT Lusso
No list of beautiful cars is ever complete without a Ferrari, and of all the achingly beautiful machines Maranello produced during their golden era, many will agree that the 250 GT Lusso as the prettiest of them all. Positioned within Ferrari’s lineup as a do-it-all sports car, the 250 GT Lusso delivered race-derived performance and engineering with the comfort and luxury of Maranello’s more up-market offerings. Its bodywork is as elegant as they come, with its lines effortlessly drawing the eye from that captivating front-end to the cut-off rear. While many iterations of the 250 exist, from the Berlinetta to the GTO, all of which possess immense beauty in their own way, it is the 250 GT Lusso that remains the favourite among celebrities, designers and adoring car enthusiasts all over the world.
Jaguar E-type
Born from the racing successes of the D-Type, a car many regard as one of the world’s best-looking racing cars, the E-Type had some rather large shoes to fill. Every car on this list sparked a roar from the eager crowds at their respective motor shows, but the E-Type’s unveiling was almost met with an empty turntable and utter silence. Luckily, this was not the case, and Bob Berry famously drove the launch car flat-out for 700 miles from the factory in Coventry to Parc des Eaux-Vives in Geneva, arriving just 20 minutes before it was revealed to the world. From its elongated clamshell bonnet, faired-in headlights and a centred twin exhaust, the E-Type was truly unlike any other car that existed in 1961, and would set the tone for Jaguar in the decades that followed.
Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato
This might be considered a wild card, but the Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato is a car everyone at the Classic Driver firmly believes ranks among the most gorgeous ever built. As Lancia prepared their factory for the arrival of their new Flaminia GT, Carrozzeria Zagato was tasked with creating a sportier variant that retained the essence of a Lancia. The resulting sports car boasted a design typical of the Milanese coachbuilder, with its lean, aerodynamic and functional bodywork. While some were raced and rallied, the elegant coupé came into its own as a favourite among discreet business owners and high-flyers seeking to strike a balance between standing out and blending in. It is believed a mere 599 examples of the Flaminia Sport Zagato were produced, making it one of the rarest Lancias in existence. As far as we're concerned, the Flaminia Sport Zagato represents a high watermark from a time when the brand was releasing stunner after four-wheeled stunner!
Porsche 911
If you were to pull up to just about anywhere, be it a busy café, elementary school, nightclub or country club, you can guarantee a passer-by will break the ice with a “I like your car, it’s a 911, right?” That’s the power of Porsche’s most famous creation: it's a car that turns non-car lovers into enthusiasts in an instant. The combination of its uncomplicated design, simplistic yet sonorous engine note and capacious interior instantly made it a sports car for the everyday driver, invariably turning them into life-long Porsche aficionados. At 61 years old, many other designers have been tasked with expanding on Ferdinand Alexander Porsche’s early 1960s masterpiece, with each generation taking on a new character as trends and legislation change, but if you ask us there's no competing with the original 911's timeless purity of design.
