It’s been said before, but for posterity’s sake, let’s say it one more time: We may very well be watching the shades of darkness closing in on the real Golden Age of automobiles.
In times past, a list such as this would feature almost exclusively cars that are long past classic car status, with a few proven new comers thrown in just to keep things interesting. Because an all time list is more than just a list of the podium finishers in the power, acceleration, and lap time segments. There’s the much more difficult challenge of choosing cars deserving for their significance within their historical context as well as our own. Of recognizing cars that broke the mold in their day and yet have retained their charisma through the ages. Of finding cars that have made a real impact on the layman drivers of the world, set a course for a new design language, introduced a new technology, or revised our concept of what is beautiful.
The fact is, though, is that we have lived among the future titans, and never before have so many relatively new cars been so deserving of a place among the all time greats. Obviously, the task of comparing nostalgia to newness is impossibly subjective. So, here are a few caveats to assuage the would-be naysayers out there about our damn good list:
1. This is a list of the best Sports Cars of all time. Not performance cars. Not the most beautiful cars. Not the best selling or most popular cars. Sports Cars.
2. A Mustang, an M5, and mini are not technically defined as Sports Cars. A Sports Car is a performance focused vehicle with two doors and usually two seats, although 2+2 configurations are acceptable beneath the subcategory of luxury-minded vehicles called GT (Gran Touring) cars. Believe me, we wanted desperately to have a Mustang whoop up classic Ferraris on our list, but it just wasn’t feasible, or fair. And if muscle cars can’t do it, neither can your hot hatches and performance saloons.
3. There are many highly deserving cars of such a distinguished pedigree that we could arguably include two or three (or four) specific iterations of the same make and model. But in the interest of including the widest range of cars, and not shamelessly plugging one specific fan-club, we’ve not ranked individual production years. Nor have we included highly successful successors to (all) of our picks, much for the same reason. If we did, let’s just say, every Ferrari between the 250 and the 599 would be on our list.
Finally, each car has two additional links, chocked full of all those numbers you all want, like engine size, horsepower, available performance figures, and enough high-res photos to wet your palates, and your dreams.
And so, without further adieu, we give you, the 50 best sports cars of all time!
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