THE ONE AT THE TOP
M3 GTR E46
One car ended every argument about the best M3, and it wore a race suit first. Ten road-going GTRs in 2001 to homologate a V8 racer, then it stopped. The straight-six everyone else got still revs to 8,000 rpm.
- Years
- 2000–2006
- Engine
- 3.2 L I6
- Power
- 333 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE THAT COST MORE THAN THE REST
SLR McLaren C199
Half Mercedes, half McLaren, all of it argued over. A supercharged V8 in the nose, a carbon tub under you, doors that open upward, and a price that bought two of anything else here.
- Years
- 2009–2009
- Engine
- 5.4 L V8
- Power
- 641 hp
- Built
- ~75
THE ONE WITH TWELVE CYLINDERS
DB9 V12
The grand tourer that made Aston a serious company again. Bonded aluminium under the skin, a V12 up front, doors that swing up and out. Its racing cousin, the DBR9, won its class at Le Mans twice in this livery.
- Years
- 2005–2016
- Engine
- 5.9 L V12
- Power
- 450–470 hp
- Built
- ~17,398
THE ONE WITH NO TRACTION CONTROL
Viper SRT-10
Ten cylinders, eight point three litres, five hundred horsepower, and side pipes that cooked the sill by your calf. No traction control, no stability control, a clutch like a leg press. The last big American car that expected you to be good.
- Years
- 2003–2006
- Engine
- 8.3 L V10
- Power
- 500 hp
- Built
- ~8,190
THE ONE THAT DID IT CHEAPER
Corvette Z06 C6
Seven litres, five hundred and five horsepower, an aluminium frame and a kerb weight under 1,450 kilos, for the price of a well-optioned German sedan. The Z06 embarrassed exotics on track days and did it with a pushrod engine.
- Years
- 2005–2013
- Engine
- 6.0–7.0 L V8
- Power
- 400–505 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE THAT SAVED LAMBORGHINI
Gallardo L140
The first Lamborghini built with Audi's money and Audi's engineers, and the first one that started every morning. A V10, all-wheel drive, and fourteen thousand built over a decade, more than the company had made in its whole history before it.
- Years
- 2008–2013
- Engine
- 5.2 L V10
- Power
- 542–552 hp
- Built
- ~8,000
THE ONE IN A SUIT
CLK 500 C209
A five-litre V8 in a coupe built for boulevards, not back roads. The CLK was the quiet one on the list, which is why the widebody came as such a shock. Autobahn pace, pillarless windows, leather everything.
- Years
- 2007–2008
- Engine
- 6.2 L V8
- Power
- 475 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE THAT REMEMBERED 1967
Mustang GT S197
The first Mustang in decades that looked like a Mustang again. A three-hundred horsepower V8, a live rear axle the internet complained about, and a price that made every other pony car nervous. It sold like it was 1965.
- Years
- 2005–2014
- Engine
- 3.7–5.8 L
- Power
- 210–662 hp
- Built
- ~1,200,000
THE ONE BUILT FOR GRAVEL
Lancer Evolution CT9A
A family sedan bred for rally stages and sold to the public because the rules said so. Two litres, a turbo, and active yaw control that sent power to the outside rear wheel before you knew you needed it. The wing was not a suggestion.
- Years
- 2003–2005
- Engine
- 2.0 L I4
- Power
- 276 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE PORSCHE KEPT ON A LEASH
Cayman S 987
A mid-engined coupe that handled better than the 911 it was priced under, so Porsche made sure it stayed under. Three point four litres behind your shoulders, hydraulic steering, and a balance that made faster cars feel clumsy.
- Years
- 2006–2012
- Engine
- 3.4 L F6
- Power
- 295–320 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE THAT WENT FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE
Eclipse GT 4G
By its fourth generation the Eclipse had traded turbos and all-wheel drive for a big V6 and front-wheel drive. Purists sulked. Everyone else bought it, because it looked like a concept car and cost like a Civic.
- Years
- 2006–2012
- Engine
- 3.8 L V6
- Power
- 265 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE WITH NO PISTONS
RX-8 SE3P
Two spinning triangles instead of pistons, nine thousand rpm, and rear doors that open backwards. The RX-8 drank oil on purpose and fuel by accident. It made no sense on paper and complete sense at the third apex.
- Years
- 2004–2011
- Engine
- 1.3 L Twin-rotor
- Power
- 197–232 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE THAT WON'T DIE
Supra A80
Three litres, two turbos, a cast-iron block that shrugs at a thousand horsepower. The A80 was slow to sell and impossible to forget. Prices went from used-car money to house-deposit money in a decade, and nobody who drove one was surprised.
- Years
- 1993–2002
- Engine
- 3.0 L I6
- Power
- 220–320 hp
- Built
- ~11,238
THE ONE WITH A SUPRA ENGINE, ALMOST
IS 300 XE10
A compact Lexus sedan built around the Supra's straight-six, minus the turbos. Rear-wheel drive, chronograph gauges, and an aftermarket that spent twenty years fixing the "minus the turbos" part. Quiet in showrooms, loud in car parks.
- Years
- 1999–2005
- Engine
- 3.0 L I6
- Power
- 215 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE YOU START WITH
Golf GTI MK5
The Mk5 is the GTI that got its nerve back. Two litres, a turbo, two hundred horsepower, and a chassis that forgave beginners and rewarded everyone else. Plaid seats, a golf-ball shifter, a badge people still argue about. Every climb starts somewhere.
- Years
- 2006–2009
- Engine
- 2.0 L I4
- Power
- 197 hp
- Built
- Not recorded
THE ONE BEHIND YOU
Corvette C6
Every list has an end, and it isn't the car at the top. A push bar, a light bar, and a V8 with nothing to prove. When this one shows up in the mirror, the story changes tense.
- Years
- 2005–2013
- Engine
- 6.0–7.0 L V8
- Power
- 400–505 hp
- Built
- Not recorded