It might refer to an automobile that embodies its manufacturer's heritage and culture, or to an exceptional model that has no resemblance to anything else with the same badge. Alternatively, it might allude to something quite else. Whatever the criteria, we feel that 50 manufacturers have created automobiles that are iconic in some sense, such as their broader cultural effect or the way they embody their maker's beliefs. Here they are, in alphabetical order and as voted on by Autocar employees. You are free to disagree with our selections, but we hope you are happy with at least some of them.
AC Cobra
There is much more to AC than the Cobra, although it is by far their most well-known model. It was created by Carroll Shelby, who believed that there was nothing wrong with AC's Ace sports car that couldn't be solved by fitting a small-block Ford Windsor V8 engine (or, subsequently, a big-block FE) under the hood.
The resultant Cobra was both a powerful road vehicle and a highly successful racer. Production began in 1962 and has continued in stops and starts over the decades, but a new Cobra (pictured) is scheduled to be on sale later in 2023.
Alpine A110
There is much more to AC than the Cobra, although it is by far their most well-known model. It was created by Carroll Shelby, who believed that there was nothing wrong with AC's Ace sports car that couldn't be solved by fitting a small-block Ford Windsor V8 engine (or, subsequently, a big-block FE) under the hood.
The resultant Cobra was both a powerful road vehicle and a highly successful racer. Production began in 1962 and has continued in stops and starts over the decades, but a new Cobra (pictured) is scheduled to be on sale later in 2023.
Alfa Romeo GTA
The GTAm was the most interesting derivation of the GTA, which was a sleek coupe version of the considerably boxier 1960s Giulia saloon. Originally known as the 1750 GTAm (although, despite the name, powered by a 2.0-litre twin-spark engine), Autodelta constructed it in extremely few quantities as a homologation special, designed just to allow Alfa Romeo to use it in Touring Car racing.
For its time, it was one of the best vehicles of its kind, winning the 1970 European championship with Dutch driver Toine Hezemans (born 1943). The next year, Alfa Romeo won the European Manufacturers' title with an even faster variant, the 2000 GTAm, which had 240bhp instead of the previous 210.
Austin Seven
Austin has created countless noteworthy vehicles throughout the years, but if we had to select one - and we literally just did - it would have to be the Seven. In some ways, this was a smaller, British counterpart of the Ford Model T: a cheap and basic but 'good' automobile that was affordable to purchasers who may otherwise have had to settle for a considerably less desirable cyclecar. The Seven, built under licence in Germany, was BMW's first production vehicle. Despite its basic origins, it was extremely adaptable and excelled at both racing and record breaking. The production of the Seven halted in 1939, although it is still popular (as a road and racing car) with vintage.
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Austin-Healey 3000
The 3000 was the final and best of the 'huge Healeys' co-developed by BMC and the Healey sports car firm. It was derived on older 100-series cars and powered by a 2.9-litre version of the BMC C-Series engine, which is more frequently found in big saloons.
In addition to being the pinnacle of the 'hairy-chested sports car' on the road, the 3000 was one of the most fearsome rally cars of the early 1960s, and it performed well (although less effectively) in long-distance sports car races.
Bentley Arnage
If one automobile reflects the whole history of the Bentley brand, it is the Arnage. It was named after a corner on the Le Mans circuit where Bentley won the 24-hour race five times between 1924 and 1930, and was powered primarily by a 1959 version of the 6.75-litre L-Series V8 engine.
However, it was also a totally contemporary vehicle, launched around the close of the twentieth century and surviving into the first decade of the twenty-first. Its spirit persisted in the subsequent Mulsanne and continues to do so in the current Flying Spur.
BMW M3 E30
BMW has been building M3 performance saloons since 1986, and each has been spectacular in its own right, but the original E30 model has a mystique that, we believe, has never been replicated since. It was the only one in the series with a four-cylinder engine (of either 2.3 or 2.5 liters), and if you think that's disappointing, you haven't heard one roar at full speed. Even in road-going form, it was a fantastic racer, winning Touring Car championships all the way to World level, and one of the most thrilling (and best-sounding) rally cars of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
