The Best Cars Ever Made
The greatest cars of all time. We tell you their stories.
The World's Greatest Cars. In Detail
From Bugattis to Ferraris and Porsches to Dusenbergs, the team at Sports Car Digest have decided to create profiles of some of the best cars ever produced. We didn't rank the top 100 cars ever because we don't want hate mail but we dive into the details and history of these historic, rare and desirable machines. Some of these cars are historically significant, some are about pushing the automotive technology of their time, while others are just the pinnacle of the driving experience - engaging, fast and fun. On this page we take a look at some of the most memorable sports cars of all time, all of them iconic and recognizable to any car-obsessed fan reading this site. These are the cars that get our blood flowing here at Sports Car Digest, from vintage racers to classics to the latest supercar offerings, we realize that there are myriad discussions debates over which ones are the most memorable, the most celebrated and the most remarkable. Ignore the debates and refrain from picking an overall winner. Just sit back and celebrate.
Recent Iconic Car Profiles
We tell the stories and provide the ultimate guides to the most amazing cars ever made.
Ultimate Cars. Profiles
The greatest cars, the greatest brands, the best drivers.
Written by: Glen Smale. Images by: Glen Smale & National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access...
Founded in 1906, Lancia is one of the foremost Italian automobile manufacturers and a world leader in engineering. Over the...
Before After. Rear cover of Paul Skilleter’s book on Jaguar saloons. Jim and Lisa Hendrix are committed fans of all things Jaguar. Nearly everything automotive inside and outside their garage is a Jaguar, with the notable exception of the Sunbeam motorcycle, but it has a Swallow sidecar mounted. The Hendrix...
The 1950s was one of the most prolific periods of automobile design. Aircraft technology developed during the war, aerodynamics, and...
Large and imposing, this Pierce-Arrow Model 48 commanded attention when it arrived back in 1916, and still does today over...
If you had to pick one of the most misunderstood European automotive brands imported to the United States, chances are Fiat would rise to the top. Though much of their brand name and recognition has improved in North American markets since their introduction of the new Fiat 500 (2007), back...
Pat Dennis and Lotus Chassis #39, Bud Okon’s Chassis #30. Most people know that “snake eyes” means a high risk...
When Porsche first unveiled the 911, we lived in steady but gently progressive times. The 1960s was a turning point...
All images: © Porter Press International If there is one manufacturer that has dominated the endurance racing landscape over the first two decades of the 21st Century, then it is certainly Audi. The German automaker burst onto the endurance racing scene in 1999 with its R8R, in open Spyder format,...
Photo credits courtesy of Fantasy Junction Automotive history offers a bounty of well-made sportscars. Tracing back to the earliest years...
Ferrari has always been a leader in high-performance engineering and design. Although many of their most innovative ideas were often...
The Triumph Motor Company made a name for itself after World War II by producing interesting sports cars that performed well against their competition, despite having to design them on very limited budgets. After becoming a part of British Leyland, Triumph took a chance with a dramatic new design, advertised...
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Bugatti’s most iconic car, the Type 35, Club Bugatti France organized a tour...
Ettore Bugatti was a man who did not fear setting himself a hard task. It was not just Bugatti’s exceptional...
Though not well-known in North America for performance cars, Renault has always been a leader in clever engineering, leveraging platforms for a wide range of uses and innovating mechanical features with cost-conscious production methodologies. This methodology continues to make Renault one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. Largely...
In the 1930s, it was not unusual to bring an older late-model luxury car back to the dealer, manufacturer, or...
Full disclosure: I am a serious fan of Alfa Romeo automobiles. I’ve owned Alfas built from 1961 to 2017. My...
Leslie R. Henry wrote an article in Automobile Quarterly (Volume VII # 3, Fall 1968) simply titled “The Lincoln.”His opening paragraph says a lot about Lincoln cars up to that time: “Some enthusiasts speak of them with passion. Others find them interesting. But no one seriously interested in fine automobiles...
Very few machines are more engaging than an Italian automobile built during the post war era. Literally every Italian manufacturer...
It never gets old looking back on one of the most famous pioneering efforts in the evolution of the automobile,...
First, the name “Dino” Throughout Ferrari’s history, one name remains emotionally charged: Dino. The name’s origins hark back to early 1932, and the birth of an eagerly awaited son, Alfredo, to Enzo Ferrari and his wife Signora Laura. Duly named after both Enzo’s late father and brother, the infant was...
It was probably 50 or so years ago when I first saw a Marcos. It was a 1/43rd scale model,...
The iconic Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa reigns as one of the most beautiful creations the industry has ever seen. The...
It is unlikely that most of us can picture a Simca that is not one of the econoboxes that the company exported to the US in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. It is also unlikely that most of us knew that the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon sold at US...
If you had to pick the most challenging era of sports cars development, it would have to be the late...
Credit – BarnFinds.com I saw my first Bricklin in 1974. Lit up under the Southern California sun, a local specialty...
If you’ve never seen a Lancia Stratos in person, you owe it to yourself to seek one out. The Stratos is one of those cars that must be experienced in person to fully understand its design audacity, stance, and visceral presence. Initially conceived as a concept car of dramatic proportions,...
There are three people who you acknowledge as important to the marque when you see a Rolls-Royce. There is Charles...
Since its launch in Japan in 1992, the WRX (World Rally Experimental) has taken the world by storm. The WRX...
The Barn Find of a Lifetime There is just something about a weathered, unrestored original car that is intriguing. When presented a at car show, the beat-up original car (much to the chagrin of the guy parked next to it with the $30,000 paint job) will always have a crowd...
Best of the Best Cars
We couldn't help ourselves. We decided to rate and rank some of the best cars ever made. Check out our curated list of the greatest cars by category.
Ultimate Garage Profiles
Some people have all the luck. We take a look at some of the most amazing car collections from across the globe. Museums, private collections and exhibits that are the envy of the automotive world.
Cartainers, a pioneering force in state-of-the-art automotive display and storage solutions, is launching a limited production series of exclusive containers...
For some enthusiasts of Ferraris from the 80s and 90s, the 288 GTO, F40, and F50 models create what is...
It’s part Dr. Frankenstein, part Andy Granatelli. A place where old Fiat 500s are reborn, given new life, and prepped for new owners without the rust that many have worn for decades. Meet Fabio Spelta of Affari Sbullonati “The rust is my friend.” That’s the mantra of Fabio Spelta, one...
All photos by Matt Stone Most people might believe that Japan’s automotive history dates to sometime in the 1960s, because...
Car collector Corrado Lopresto has assembled the finest field of Italian automobiles in all of Italy (and possibly in the...
Porsche Aftermarket Tuning: The State of Play There are few tuning companies in the world who are universally entrusted with the enviable (and sometimes unenviable) task of making a Porsche car better than it was when it came from the factory. E-Motion Engineering LLC, a California-based Porsche Tuning Specialist, is...
If you follow professional sports car and endurance racing, you know the name Brumos, and its now iconic red, white,...
Bob Clarke is a committed car guy to say the least. And his tastes are wonderfully varied, from hot rods...
Everybody starts somewhere. For Maserati, that beginning was epicentered at Via Pepoli 1 in Bologna, Italy, in December of 1914. Via Pepoli is a cobblestoned street that winds its way through the oldest sections of Bologna. The buildings are a typical mix of storefronts, apartments, commercial and industrial uses, with...
Bruce Meyers passed away last week at the age of 94. He lived a fulfilling life most of us can...
Around 60 years ago, Fritz Schlumpf purchased a collection of thirty Bugatti models after tough negotiations. He simply adored Bugatti:...
The Ferrari Museum in Maranello opened its new exhibition — “Ferrari at 24 Heures du Mans” — to celebrate seventy years of Ferrari victories in the world’s most famous endurance race. Visitors can look back over the 36 wins recorded on the French track, with the help of some of...
The Petersen Automotive Museum opened its newest exhibit on Saturday, February 23, 2019 that features ten race cars from the...
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles opened its newest exhibit on Saturday, February 23, 2019 featuring ten race cars...
In 2012, Sports Car Digest and Senior Photographer Dennis Gray profiled famed car collector, Jon Shirley. Ever gracious with his time, our extensive interview with Shirley touched on a variety of automotive topics, such as buying his first collector car, personally restoring his Ferrari NART Spider, his favorite cars to...
The debut Grand Basel was staged 6-9 September 2018 in Basel, Switzerland. Celebrating ‘Excellence in Motion’, the inaugural Basel edition...
The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany opened the “70 Years of the Porsche Sports Car” exhibition on Friday, June 8th,...
Since it opened on June 1, 2017, the Newport Car Museum has attracted more than 14,000 visitors and become a hit with car clubs and tour groups exploring the Northeast and especially the vacation destination of Newport, Rhode Island. The museum’s location in nearby Portsmouth, in a 114,000-square-foot building once...
The 2017 RM Sotheby’s New York City auction and exhibition was staged November 30 – December 6 at Sotheby’s York...
The Design Museum in London opened Ferrari: Under the Skin, an exhibition exploring the history and design of Ferrari. The...
Buyer Guides
Everything you need to know before buying specific iconic cars.
