Kin,
These things are always so subjective and down to individual taste ( or the lack thereof) that I'm sure we'll all have differing opinions- and that's good becuase I guess that's what the intention is. Anyway, to start the ball rolling, my two penn'orth:

I was really pleased ( but not surprised) that the XK and the 356 were there. Needless to say it was great to see the Aero and the +8
I thought quitea few of the more modern inclusions were very lucky indeed ( bordering on the miraculous) to make it especially at the expense of cars such as the orignal Toyota GT, the little Opel GT and perhaps an Alpine Renault. Also, no Ferrari and how they could leave out something like the 300 Gullwing ( original model)

Curiously enough- perhaps because I've always thought it was a car which didn't get the acclaim it in many ways deserved, I was chuffed to see the Daimler SP250 Dart made the list

G

I agree, deffo subjective and down to individual taste.

I am not even sure some of those cars listed could even be considered as greatest Nostalgic may be....but certainly not greatest.

Fully agree

+1

I agree with Kin, I am old enough to remember many of my friends putting Midgets and Spitfires (Dribble-smoulders) in ditches due to the inherently terrible handling. I was in a late VW Beetle 1303S and they had trouble keeping up with me often - I am no god of driving thats for certain.

How they had the balls to name the Triumph after the aircraft and get away with it is almost offensive.

Depends on the condition of the Midgets. I owned Midgets from 18 through to 21 and my Dad had a 1303s which I used to drive quite often. If your friends were putting Midgets into ditches and could not keep up with the Beetle then either the Midgets were worn-out or you were the better driver. Mind you the 1303s was pretty good round corners but the handling of a looked after Midget is really special. I had a completely knackered GAN1 which was definitely in the "putting into ditches" category followed by a pristine GAN3 which was a revelation.

(Not too sure what the SLK and TR7 were doing in the list)

Brian

The words: Panther and Kallista killed the credibility for me.

My thoughts mirror G's. MSN seem to roll out a variation of this Top 50 every 6-12 months and I am almost sure it is an SEO exercise. This list seems less well thought out than the last one, which was poor itself.

Nice to see the Plus 8 and Aero 8 but definitely among some unusual suspects.

I'd agree about the Midgets. Ok, there were the inherent issues derived from the fact that it utilised a lot of parts which were already[ there anyway but that didn't stop them being responsive, fun to drive cars if they were sorted I think this is particularly true of the ones fitted with the 1098 'A' series.
Anybody who drove one seriously knew what to do( apart from check the 'A' posts extremely carefully!)

For example ( but not exhaustively) : decent head and manifolds ( Downton if the cash would run to it- especially when Richard Longman was there); bin the Armstrongs, red top servo, change Lucas fuel pump for Bosch, oil cooler, get rid of plain wheel bearings for something decent like Timken rollers etc
I never did change the SUs for a Weber- Im just an old sentimentalist

It probably IS nostalgia clouding my judgment but I had two, using them as road cars and for some competitions and I luvved 'em On the other hand, a while after my second Midget, I had an AutoCavan 1600 Beetle for six months and that was a great car!

I'll stop now because I know you must all be bored to death!!

G

Sorry I'm putting this post up as a reply to Kin's comments but I couldn't think where else it might go. I'm also sorry if I'm going off thread a litle here

Everyone's comments about subjectivity etc set me thinking about some of the really excellent designs that just never seemed to get the credit they deserved. This one- and I know it is a pre-war car- does, IMHO fit into that category. It should certainly have a place in the heart of Morgan owners:

My all-time favourite pre-war sports car - The Squire Vanden Plas Sports Tourer What a shame it was so short-lived.

Brian, I know you and I have discussed how much we both rate Adrian Squire's work ( Adrian Morgan Squire to give him his full name!) but whenever I see a picture of this car I just never cease to think what a great design it is.

A view shared by others if rumours are to be believed

Regards,
G

Didn't know about the 'Morgan' middle name G, do we know why he was named thus?

I've been Googling about him and came across this site which I found interesting: Squire

I remember a replica offered in the late 80's (from memory), which was a reasonably accurate facsimile of the Squire, though with IFS and disc-brakes. Powered by an Alfa Romeo engine, it was made by either Vicarage, or someone similar, but I have not been able to find anything about this on the web. Only a Squire that is apparently supposed to be an SS100 Replica of some sort - what an abortion of the original design.

It seems that we are on our own in our enthusiasm for this marque, but if anyone knows more please let us hear from you.

B


P.S. Found one of the replicas here (third car down), don't know where it is now?

The problem I have with lists is that often there are racing cars rather than just road cars. This always bugs me a bit because it's a different skill making something for the road and then maybe going racing later, rather than making something for the track and it being seen as 'the best car ever made' (I'm looking at you 250 GTO).

I once did my own list of my 50 favourite road cars with nary a race special in sight - I thought it was rather good...

Difficult to be enthusiastic about something you know nothing about!

The photo posted is attractive but to the untrained eye looks very similar to a myriad of cars from that era. This isn't to say it isn't nice but rather I'd love to be informed as to what makes this more special than some of the others?

Fair point Your Honour and the fault is mine because I couldn't find a better one.
The best one I have come across ( which does do the car justice) is to be found in Jonathan Wood's book, " Morgan- Performance Plus Tradition" (2004)Yeovil: Haynes Publishing p38
My puny IT and desktop skils don't run to scanning that pic butif anybody has access to it and can do so, it makes a very interesting comparison with the traditional Morgan shape

For additional info, the car had all metal construction, hydraulic brakes, a supercharged 1496cc DOHC 4 cylinder Anzani engine and a Wilson pre-selector box. Tested top speed was 100mph, so no slouch in the performance stakes.

Cheers,
G

I'm a big fan of the SS100 in terms of pre-war because Jaguar from the start made something as quick as anything but at a more competitive cost. Set the tone for everything since and IMO the new XK is quite possibly the best value sports car on sale. (Not that I have £75k kicking about but hey - just look at it next to a Vantage.)

In terms of other stuff I really like Voisins, Alfa 8Cs (Tazio Nuvolari being a hero of mine), Talbot Lagos and Bugattis (well, who doesn't?). Can't forget the Bentley Speed Six either...

Caught in the classifieds:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1845199.htm

Absolutely stunning. Wondrous. Beautiful.

Looks very nice, but
"precision built by ... using original parts where possible"

So a few bolts then???

Cheers,

No such thing as an 'original' T35 though, that's probably got more 'original' bits than a lot of 'genuine' ones.