I am sure like many of you I get quite a few books at Christmas and some of these are motoring ones. However, in among the various serious tomes was a little gem that I think should be on every car enthusiasts shelf, titled: Fifty Cars that Changed the World under the Design Museum's imprimatur.

The write-up on the back cover states that the book: "lists the top 50 cars that have made a substantial impact in the world of design today. From the 1908 Ford Model T to the 1998 Smart car, each entry offers a short appraisal to explore what has made their iconic status to give them a special place in design history."

The short write-ups on each of the cars are quite incisive, the text is written by Andrew Nohum (the Principal Curator of Technology and Engineering at the Science Museum) and make very interesting reading, as does the choice of cars. For instance, when reviewing the Traction Avant he gives due credit to Andre Citroen, and of course Andre Lefebvre, but he also states that it "combined advanced French engineering with thelatest US production techniques, for it was the Edward G Budd Company of Philidelphia, the great pioneer of all-steel welded bodies, that produced the press tooling and body engineering scheme to make it. How this collaboration was arranged in the age of the transatlantic steamer is a story that still needs to be told, but it produced the basis for the modern family car."

Whilst this fact may be known to some of you, I had certainly never seen it in writing before and there are a number of other gems that really bring this little book to life. If there is any interest I will list the 50 cars chosen, which are really quite an eclectic collection, but nevertheless most of them have a very well argued case for inclusion.

Cheers

Brian

Well having been inundated with requests, in truth I have had one , here is the unexpurgated list of the 50 cars:

Ford Model T 1908
GN Cyclecar 1910
Austin Seven 1922-1928
Bugatti Type 35B 1924
Salmson San Sebastian 1925
Tracta 1927
Dymaxion 1933
Citroen Traction Avant 1936
Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic 1936
Tatra T87 1936
BMW 328 1937
Alfa Romeo 8c 2900B Le Mans special 1938
Cistalia Berlinetta 1946
Original Volkswagen 1946
Ferrari 125S 1947
Land Rover 1946
Piaggio ape 1948
Citroen 2CV 1949
Buick LeSabre concept car 1951
Bertone BAT 1953
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 1954
Fiat Turbina 1954
Panhard Dyna 1954
Citroen DS 1955
Fiat 600 1955
Austin FX4 1956
Lotus Elite 1957
Trabant 1957
Mini 1959
Saab 96 1960
Citroen Ami 1961
Jaguar E-Type 1961
Lamborghini 350 GTV 1963
Ford GT40 1964
Chevrolet Corvair 1965
Lamborghini Miura 1965
NSU Ro 80 1961
Bertone Carabo show car 1968
Range Rover 1970
Alfasud 1971
Austin Allegro 1973
VW Golf 1974
BMW 3 Series 1975
Lancia Megagamma 1978
Mazda RX7 1978
Audi 100 1983
Toyota Prius 1997
Fiat Multipla 1998
Nissan Cube 1998
Smart 1998

Let's see if that provokes some more comment?

So which of those would you have as your weekend car (disregard value)...........

For me - GT40 but the original Elite comes a close second.

Yes this changed the world by resulted in the fall of the Iron Curtain as this was going to be the only that the eastern bloc would get a sensible car.



Turned specsavers into a world wide franchise.




These types of list always result in some disagreement but from a design perspective the only lesson these two should teach designers is DON'T DO IT AGAIN.

Brian,
As is the essence of these things, there were some on the list which had me thinking. "for goodness' sake why that one" ( The biggest 'that one' of all being the Austin Allegro) but there were also a lot more where my thoughts were, " yes definitely " or " Well, it wouldn't have been an inital choice but I can now see why it's there"

Overall - and subject the the standard argument that some of my own personal favoutites surely ought to have been included- I don't think they've done a bad job

Cheers,
G

PS on a quick count, I calculated that 9 British cars made the list? - but maths is not my strong point

The Chief Designer at Tatra was Hans Ledwinka and to quote Wikipedia 'He invented the frameless central tubular chassis (so-called "backbone chassis") with swing axles, fully independent suspension and rear-mounted air-cooled flat engine. Another of Ledwinka's major contributions to automobile design was the development of the streamlined car body. Under him, Tatra brought to market the first streamlined cars that had been mass produced.'

The KdfWagen or Volkswagen closely resembled his first Tatra 850cc and it is alleged that Tatra's successors received a substantial legal settlement from VW after WWII for design infringement. Some people even say without Ledwinka and the Tatra, there would have been no Porsche cars








And this from a man who has just sold a strabismic Aero

I am with you on this one Gerwyn, but you can see it follows the Alfasud in the book and few would argue with its inclusion, as the first mass market success for Giugiaro (Italdesign).

Now to the Allegro, he gives a short history of how Stokes was brought in to sort out the British Motor industry. Harris Mann from Ford was brought in to design a decent and fresh-looking replacement to the 1100, but this was pulled apart by internal engineering. The final result was lacklustre in appearance, but dynamically not bad, though again the suspension was compromised by engineering.

He goes on to say:'Perhaps no one could have reshaped this crumbling archipelago (BMC/Leyland), but the Allegro, in particular, has been called the vital stumble.'

His note on the photo of the Allegro says: 'Poor old Allegro. Its general proportions were not all that different from those of the Alfasud, which everyone liked, showing just how subtle and challenging car design is.'

I'm still not sure why he included it, maybe just to emphasise his last point. Certainly when you check the photos of the two cars the proportions are very similar - quite thought provoking!

B

Brian,
I have a 'particular interest' in the Allegro:
During the seventies, we road rallied a Cooper S ( " Motoring News" series events mostly) and it was, of course a period when the Escort was, with a few noted exceptions, the clubman's car of choice.
We kept faith with the Mini not least because it was great to hear people say, 'thank God- not another escort'
That being said, we were always aware of issues such as ground clearance, sub frame munching etc and generally that we were hammering the car to bits ( we did the "Illuminations" up at Morecambe and the w/screen cracked!) so began to look around for an alternative.

Our genius(!) idea was that we could do what was basically a transplant and transfer our engine and box - mk 3 thickwall S with Jack Knight straitcuts- plus running gear into an Allegro shell. Evetually we did it, tried it out for about 4 events - and bought a Vauxhall Magnum coupe!

It was then I decided I would never make a development engineer!

G

I can remember going to the local BL dealers to see the quartic steering wheel at launch. I can also remember seeing a NEW 1750 Sport (metallic silver with red/yellow garish stripes) in the dealers at Chesterfield in (probably) 1980 which had had a full respray - the overspray was everywhere................

The Alfasud was one of the few cars which rotted better than an Allegro. What a shame. As did the FIAT 850 Coupe which was a great favourite of mine at the time.

I will always remember the many abandoned Trabant seen along the West German Autobahn system as the dear little chaps had expired due to the inability to sustain the higher continuous speed during their first ever visits to the west
My first ever car a 1962 Austin in BRG with wide spacers, straight through exhaust and racing style gear stick (323 GCG) I wonder if it ever survived the test of time?
I am full of admiration for the tenacity and longevity of this car for taking me safely over the many snow clad hills of Kintyre.