The 17 Most Iconic Car Designs of All Time

Shapes that survived six decades of facelifts, sitting next to ones that lasted a single model cycle.

1. 1
   Volkswagen Beetle

   The rounded people's car whose silhouette stayed recognisable for six decades.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Jaguar E-Type

   The 1961 roadster Enzo Ferrari reportedly called the most beautiful car ever made.
   954pts
3. 3
   Mini

   Alec Issigonis's 1959 city car that fitted four adults into ten feet of road.
   930pts
4. 4
   Porsche 911

   A rear-engined shape refined for sixty years without ever being redrawn.
   891pts
5. 5
   Cadillac Eldorado (1959)

   Peak tailfin: chrome, rockets and two metres of rear overhang.
   848pts
6. 6
   Fiat 500

   The 1957 Cinquecento that put postwar Italy on wheels in under three metres.
   818pts
7. 7
   Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

   The 1963 split-window coupe that gave America its own exotic profile.
   734pts
8. 8
   Audi TT (1998)

   A Bauhaus exercise in circles that reached production almost unchanged from the show car.
   636pts
9. 9
   Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

   The 1954 Gullwing whose roof-hinged doors were a structural necessity turned into an icon.
   520pts
10. 10
    Ford Mustang (1965)

    The long hood and short deck that invented the pony car look and sold 400,000 cars in a year.
    382pts
11. 11
    Citroen DS

    The 1955 French saloon whose aerodynamic body looked like it had landed rather than driven in.
    382pts
12. 12
    Lamborghini Countach

    The wedge with scissor doors that defined the supercar poster in the 1970s and 80s.
    382pts
13. 13
    Ford Model T

    The car that made mass production visible, in any colour so long as it was black.
    382pts
14. 14
    Toyota 2000GT

    Japan's first supercar, a 1967 coupe that proved the country could draw as well as build.
    382pts
15. 15
    Range Rover (1970)

    The original two-door that invented the idea of a luxury off-roader.
    382pts
16. 16
    Land Rover Defender

    The flat-panelled utility shape barely altered from 1948 to 2016.
    212pts
17. 17
    Ferrari 250 GTO

    A 1962 racing berlinetta now among the most valuable cars ever sold.
    212pts