Best Classic Cars – Top 20 Timeless Cars

Although we can all appreciate and admire the latest supercars and sports cars with F1 and fighter jet technologies, they still have decades ahead of them before they develop the seductive character of cars that are 50 years old today. After all, classic cars wouldn’t be demanding such astronomical prices if they had nothing to offer.

Now we will list some of the best classic cars of all time, covering virtually every era, continent, and type. That includes muscle cars like the Dodge Charger, luxury cars like the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, pre-war cars like the Bentley 8 Litre, and a whole slew of sports cars like the Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

Best Classic Cars of All Time

I love classic cars because they represent a time in history and a level of craftsmanship so admirable till date. For classic car enthusiasts, the thrill of finding and restoring vintage vehicles that have beaten time is exhilarating. It cannot be more lucrative and time saver for vintage car lovers with this run-down of 20 best classic cars that have withstood the test of time.

1. AC Cobra 427

And based on the original AC Ace’s success, which came out in 1961, the model development continued until, in 1965, Shelby decided that the small 4.7l V8 wasn’t cutting it anymore and jammed a huge 7.0 in its place. That resulted in a car the size of the original Mini, weighing one metric ton and packing 435 horsepower. 

Unfortunately, the AC Cobra was way too expensive at the time, and out of 100 designated road-going chassis, only 55 were assembled and sold. Naturally, some of those were destroyed, and today, the remaining AC Cobras are selling for over two million dollars, and rightly so.

2. Jaguar E-Type Series 1

The Series 1 E-Type is arguably the best-looking classic car ever; at least, that’s how Enzo Ferrari described it, and certainly one of the best classic cars of all time. Moreover, when the E-Type first came out, it was one of the fastest cars on the market, plus it cost a third of the price of an equivalent Ferrari. That’s not to say the E-Type is slow by today’s standards, with a mid-six second 0-60 time and a top speed of over 140mph.

To make matters even better, a total of over 33,000 Series 1 E-Types were made in both convertible and coupe versions, so there are plenty of them to pick from even today. And although the later versions got a V12 engine, the series 1 with a 4.2 straight six is the one to have; plus, you can find them for under $100,000.

3. Aston Martin DB5

Aston Marting always made the most elegant cars, and the DB5 is the epitome of what the brand stands for. That being a GT car with world-class performance that isn’t shoving it in everyone’s face. And not only is the DB5 fast and beautiful, but it’s also one of the biggest automotive movie stars made famous by the intelligence agent Bond, James Bond.

Back to the technical side of things, the DB5 hides a 4-liter straight six under the hood with dual overhead cams and between 282 and 325 horsepower. All that power is good for an 8-second 0-60 run and 145 mph, which may not sound all that impressive today, but let’s not forget that this is a big grand tourer from the early sixties.

4. BMW 507

A very small number of car models can say that they almost bankrupted the manufacturer because they didn’t sell, but somehow those models always turn out to be the most iconic once a couple of decades pass. And such is the story of the BMW 507. BMW projected they could sell 5,000 507s a year but ended up selling only 252 in the entire four-year production run.

Still, that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that the 507 is the most beautiful BMW ever made and the most expensive BMW ever sold. As a matter of fact, the small production run only adds to its exclusivity, together with the fact that the 507 got the first-ever BMW V8 engine. That V8, truth be told, isn’t too exciting with only 150hp, but not everything is measured in horsepower.

5. 1967 Porsche 911S

The Porsche 911 is possibly the most recognizable sports car ever made, and with an almost 100-year-long production with the same basic design, that’s not surprising. And what better way to experience the 911 if not with the original? But since the initial versions only had 110hp, the one to get is the 1967 911S with 160hp out of the 2.0 flat-six engine.

Still, if 160 horsepower doesn’t sound like much either, there are plenty of engines to choose from, going from the 2.2l all the way up to the 2.7 RS with 210hp. Furthermore, you can pick between coupes and Targa convertibles. Unfortunately, the production numbers are a little disappointing at just over 2,000, with many of them converted to competition cars.

6. Ferrari Testarossa

The Ferrari Testarossa is the epitome of 80s excess in terms of both design and power. It’s also the last Ferrari GT with a mid-mounted engine, and what an engine it is. The Testarossa gets a 4.9l flat 12 engine with 390 horsepower. All that power will push you to 62 mph in just over 5 seconds, and keep pushing until you reach 180 mph.

Those performance figures are still impressive today, and with almost 10,000 units built, the prices are still fairly reasonable. The average price today is roughly $150,000, but only ten years ago, there were plenty of examples selling for a third of that amount. That means the Testarossa is not only a classic but that its time is yet to come making it an investment as much as a fire-breathing supercar.

7. Lotus Elan MK1

“Simplify and add lightness” is the famous quote and motto of Colin Chapman, the Lotus founder. That motto is reflected in every Lotus car ever made, and the resulting lightness combined with small but powerful engines is what makes Lotus cars so special, including one of the greatest ever, the Elan.

The Lotus Elan was available as both a convertible and a coupe plus a 1.5 and, later, a 1.6 twin-cam engine. There is also a plethora of special performance editions like the S2 and S3, all of which are extremely popular entries in vintage rallies. While it might sound weird that a car with 105 hp competes in rallies, it’s not so much once we mention that the Elan sprints to 62 mph in just 7.4 seconds which is faster than the 325 horsepower Aston Martin DB5 we mentioned earlier.

8. Lamborghini Miura

Performance, historical significance, and scarcity are not the only things that make a car classic; although the Miura isn’t lacking in any of those aspects, it’s also an interesting story. And the story is that the Miura was never supposed to exist since Ferruccio Lamborghini never approved it, but that didn’t stop a group of Lamborghini engineers from building it in secret.

And the fact they did gave us the first ever mid-engine supercar as we know it today, it gave us the fastest production car of its time with a top speed of 174 mph, and it gave Lamborghini the foundation on which all future cars were built. Everything about the Miura was bespoke, from the transverse V12 engine to the steel chassis, and with only 764 built, its average price today is $1.5MM.

9. Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe

Although the Mercedes 300SL is most recognizable for its gullwing doors, it’s got a lot more interesting components under the skin. For example, mechanical direct fuel injection, a tubular chassis, a 240 horsepower straight six in 1954, a world record top speed for production cars of 163 mph, and a folding steering wheel.

The 300SL was also offered as a convertible but not alongside the coupe, and the convertible was nowhere near as impressive as the coupe. And even though 1,400 coupes were built, a number much higher than some we have seen so far, it’s not uncommon to come across examples selling for over $5MM, which is another testament to the 300SL’s greatness.

10. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud MK2

After so many cars where the main focus was horsepower, we come to one where the power figures were never disclosed and were advertised as nothing more than “adequate.” Of course, the only manufacturer who could get away with something like that is Rolls Royce, which puts comfort and utmost luxury as the number one priority, and horsepower figures are considered, well, vulgar.

And the Silver Cloud of all models is possibly the most beautiful one, with a sweeping tail resembling the original British tailcoats. Inside, the Silver Cloud gets wood everywhere and bench seats that are covered in leather. If all that don’t sound enough for an $800,000 car, just know that it was enough for Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and John Lennon.

11. Bentley 8 Litre

The Bentley 8 Litre has to be one of the greatest pre-war cars ever, and it certainly is one of the greatest Bentleys. The 8 Litre is Bentley’s first grand tourer, so in a way, it could be considered the earliest predecessor to the modern Continental GT. Originally the 8 Litre was offered as a rolling chassis, much like all luxury cars were at the time, with the factory builds coming from the Mulliner coach builder, a name still present on modern Bentleys.

The engine in the 8 Litre is just that, 8 liters of displacement from a straight six engine with dual spark plugs per cylinder and overhead camshafts, and four valves per cylinder. The top speed of this two-and-a-half-ton behemoth was 125 mph which is impressive for 1930, to say the least.

12. 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

The Dodge Charger is yet another movie star made famous by one of the greatest car chase scenes ever in the movie Bullitt and later on in the TV series The Dukes of Hazard. But that’s not to say the Charger is nothing more than a movie prop; on the contrary. If nothing else, the Dodge charger is the first car to break 200 mph in NASCAR.

And although it was available with the slant six engines, the one that everyone wants is the second generation R/T (Road/Track) that came with the 440 Magnum or the 426 Hemi engine. For our European readers, that’s 7.2 and 7.0 liters, respectively. Both engines made plenty of power to justify the mean looks and the villainous hidden headlights.

13. Alfa Romeo GTA

The Alfa Romeo GTA is the polar opposite of the previous car on this list, with only 1.3 or 1.6-liter engines and no more than 115 horsepower. However, that fact also means the GTA is lightweight at 750 kilograms (about 1653.46 lbs). That means the GTA has 225 horsepower per ton, which is more than a modern Porsche Panamera GTS, the latest Toyota Supra GR, and even the Porsche 993 Turbo.

Still, the aspects in which the GTA shines the most cannot be described with words and numbers. But the average price tag of $220,000 for this tiny sports car from the sixties will convince you enough to at least avoid judging it until you get the chance to try one out.

14. Lancia Stratos

Typically when you think of a purpose-built mid-engined race car, you imagine it going down the Mulsanne straight or around Imola, but in this case, you would be wrong. The Stratos is a Group B homologation special with a designated chassis that looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie even today with its curved windshield, but it didn’t; it came out all the way back in 1973.

The Stratos is a short-wheelbase, rear-wheel drive monster that gets its power from a 2.4l Ferrari V6 with 200 horsepower in the road-going version. That same car weighs less than one ton or just over 2,000 lbs. Unfortunately, there were only 492 built as per Group B homologation regulations, and today they are going for $500.000.

15. Lamborghini Countach