100 FAVOURITE CARS - PART VII

Count the Kia Soul as one of GoodCarBadCar.net's current favourite cars, certainly. But as far as The Good Car Guy's 100 Favourite Cars of all time, no Kia stood a veritable chance. Every single Hyundai was passed over, as well. GMC? Ignored. Hummer, Isuzu, and Geo make nothing worthy of a list of this magnitude. Fortunately, this leaves plenty of room for high-end machinery. On the opposite end of the Kia Soul's pendulum sits the first vehicle in today's edition of 100 Favourite Cars, cars 61-70.

LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO: Exotic cars, the cars you never see in all your life, should look like something you'll never see in all your life. That statement is embodied by the Murcielago.... and its V12 engine.
LANCIA FULVIA COUPE (GEN1): The problem with the Fulvia concept of 2003 wasn't that it lacked design quality. No, the original Fulvia was so simply stunning that a predecessor was bound to disappoint.
LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER (L322): Being labelled as the best vehicle on Earth comes with expectations. Imagine how much stronger those expectations would be if the Range Rover had the potential for reliability.
LEXUS LS400: Acquainting a continent with a new luxury brand and its S-Class/7-Series competitor should be a huge challenge. This car made Lexus the kind of brand that would outsell Benz and BMW in total sales.
LEXUS SC400: The SC400 was and is the only Lexus design Jaguar's Sir William Lyons could ever be proud of. Long, low, and wide; the original V8-engined SC was high-value luxury and pace. With space and grace.
LINCOLN CONTINENTAL ('64): Only a few years after the loopy Cadillac Eldorado, Lincoln adopted an understated art deco feel for the Conti and wowed everyone.
LOTUS 340R: Because the Elise wasn't completely stripped to the bone, Lotus felt another step was necessary. Behold, a true bare-bones Lotus.
LOTUS ELAN ('62): Tiny in every dimension, the Elan's best quality was "less". Though likely not a star in modern crash test safety, the Elan is the vehicular equivalent of an Olympic triathlete; a lean and lithe multi-faceted athlete.
MASERATI 3200GT: "Rediscovering mojo", aka "getting groove on for another run at life", is difficult. For an automaker to do so, a 3200GTesque vehicle is a big help.
MASERATI QUATTROPORTE (V): New Subaru Legacy commercials mock the "sedan" - the Accord, Camry, Fusion group - while trying to sell you... a sedan. The Quattroporte puts the words "four" and "door" in its name and will never be taunted. Nay, never.

100 FAVOURITE CARS
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
71-80
81-90
91-100

FUTURE EUROPEAN AUTO INDUSTRY

With news that Porsche has eventually succeeded in wresting victory from the jaws of defeat (otherwise known as the state of Lower Saxony), the future of the European automotive industry is.... confusing. In ultra-simplistic visual form, the images below show the Porsche group with Volkswagen and its underlings as well as a possible Fiat group, with the GM Europe additions and Chrysler LLC group, too.

FIAT WANTS MORE THAN CHRYSLER - GM EUROPE'S VAUXHALL, OPEL & SAAB TOO

Quick alert for early morning readers. It's becoming more than just rumour and innuendo. Fiat wants to grab hold of more than just Chrysler LLC. General Motors Europe-based brands are also now part of a future Fiat conglomerate. In other words, Fiat wants to become the GM of yesteryear.

Mergers and acquisitions like this would make Fiat gigantic. Brands under the umbrella would include, in one form or another: Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Ferrari, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Opel, Vauxhall, and Saab. Fiat is already big in commercial vehicles with names like Iveco likely meaning something to you. Fiat used to play around with Piaggio and Vespa scooters, too. Famed ski resort Sestriere is an Agnelli family stronghold. Various ventures nd tie-ups help Fiat make an indelliblible mark in wildly varying segments of the economy all over the world.

But a Fiat that includes brands like Saab and Chrysler? This'll be news worth watching. Catch the CNN story here.

evo LAPTIMES FROM CADWELL PARK

Blasts from the past dig deep into your being. Even as the National Hockey League comes closer and closer to total parity - where any of the 16 playoff teams could feasibly win the Stanley Cup and the wealthiest franchise in the league is on the verge of missing the playoffs for the third straight season - I tell my hockey addict friend that I have a yearning for the good ol' days of dominance. "Remember when we were kids and teams clinched their playoff spot? It wasn't a few games shy of the season end." I want a blast from the past. 

When an iPod was a Sony Walkman. When cranking a manual window lever required great effort and built up my forearms. Ah.... when the hot hatchback was not just hot; but wild. evo, a Brit car mag looks back to the hot hatch past more than just about anybody I know. Contrasting an all-time great with some newer and smaller hatchbacks may not be obvious, but it looks fun. And fast. Cars involved included the sub-Saturn Astra, aka Vauxhall Corsa; the successor to another all-time great, the Renaultsport Clio 197 Cup; and the predecessor of the Ford Verve/Fiesta. Oh, and the Lance Delta Integrale. Here are evo's laptimes from the Woodland Circuit at Cadwell Park. Other evo-related posts are available here.

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Vauxhall Corsa VXR 888 .... 53.3 seconds

Renault Clio 197 Cup .......... 54.1 seconds

Ford Fiesta ST185 ............... 55.5 seconds

Lance Delta Integrale Evo .... 55.8 seconds

evo's Jethro Bovingdon concludes: "If you're looking for a new car, then the Fiesta just gets our vote. Maybe what we really need is a car with the indulgence of the ST, the control of the Cup, and the performance of the 888. If it could have even a tenth of the character and sense of occasion of the Integrale then we'd really have a new hero."

evo.co.uk