Best Italian Car (Mini Wins Best British Car)

Okay, so our next stop is going to be Italy in our persuit of unoffically finding the world's best car. Rules are going to be as this:

- Nominate the car of your choise. Please explain why you nominate the car, what makes it stand out against the competition, etc. Include a photo as well, as it would be nice to see the cars we are talking about.

Rules for the cars accepted are that they must be from the given country, or come from a company of that nation's origin. Ferrari, Lamborghini, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, etc are all included. They can be trucks, cars, SUVs, vans, MPVs, etc.

- The nomination period will last for two days, afterwards there will be about a day or so for voting to occour.

- The top five models will move on to be voted uppon while the next nation is introduced, and that round of nomination begins.

...Things may change, as I'm trying to be flexible with this. If you have problems, bring it up, or PM me please.

-----------

First things first, please vote for the final automobiles chosen from the "Best British Car" thread. The choises are:

- Ford GT40
- Ford Transit
- Lotus Elise/Exige
- McLaren F1
- (Origional) Mini
- Vauxhall-Lotus Carlton

The winner will be announced after the nomination round for the Italian cars has been completed.

----------

I'm going to nominate my pick for best Italian car in just a bit, but feel free to do so yourself.

----------

REMEMBER, YOU HAVE UNTILL JUNE 22, 2006 TO VOTE FOR "BEST BRITISH CAR," SO PLEASE VOTE NOW!

You should create a seperate thread for Italian cars.

Just have this one for the British cars.

I'm tempted to go for the Lamborghini 350 GT, it was the car the started the Ferrari/Lamborghini rivalry which has in turn caused some remarkable machinery to appear from Italy. On the other hand I'm tempted to go for the humble Fiat 500, it was the original supermini.

I agree with daan though, you should have a poll for the fianl voting of the British cars in a seperate thread.

British: GT40. like I said earlier, blend British and American engineering, get it up and running quickly, and dominate. It happened with the P-51, and it happened with the the GT40.

Italian: can't say...yet.

I'm with Daan and L4S on the seperate thread for voting. Not that it stopped me, went with the F1 again.

As far as Italian cars go, its a hard choice, so I've got a few.

Fiat 500
Helped put an entire nation into cars, a classic piece of design that is to be reserected soon. Arguably beat the Mini to the punch as far as micro-cars went, it even spawned race varients.

Lancia Integrale
One of the finest 'real world' drivers cars ever made, looks and sounds supurb, it may be fragile but in the right hands on the right road its still more than capable.

In rally trim it still stands as the most sucessful rally car in the WRC.

Ferrari 250GT SWB
Quite simply one of the most stunning looking cars ever made, its looks, handling and speed are enough to qualify it for nomination.

On top of that it was a sucess in motorsport as well, but you also have to remember that Ferrari's model range before the 250 was in the doldrums. With the 250 Ferrari re-invented and re-discovered itself, one could argue the 250GT SWB is a large part of what made Ferrari the company we know today.


Regards

Scaff

I'll keep the seperate thread thing in mind next time around, but for right now, I'm sticking with it. So please vote and nominate for the Italian topic.

----------

My nomination:

The Alfa Romeo Giulia:


To me, the car has the best combination of Italy in one package. The style is revolutionary and still looks good to this day, engineering on the car was ahead of it's time despite the fact that it was easy to build and operate, and it all came together in one appealing package that defined European sports coupes for decades.

Pretty much, it is too simple to just nominate a Ferrari or Lamborghini in this situation. Alfas are the everyman's sports cars, and still are to this day.

Well my pick may be a little cliche because it's a Ferrari but I think it's the most important car Ferrari made in the last 25 years and it brought them out of a serious slump. I was torn between the 250 or this and I went with this. The 355.

Some stats:
0-60 in 4.6 seconds
1/4 miles in 13 seconds
top speed 180+mph
weight 2975 lbs
V8
380bhp@8250RPMS
268ft-lb@6200RPMS

It also featured a semi-monococque chasis and unequal double wishbones all around. It also was the first Ferrari to come with paddle shifters.

What really makes the car special is that it pulled Ferrari out of a nearly 20 year slump. The other 300 series cars were quirky, unreliable, and didn't live up to the Ferrari name. Granted the 348 was a really nice car but you had to keep it running before you could enjoy it. The 355 thrust Ferrari back atop the exotic world and helped proudly showcase Ferraris new technologies.

Best = Fiat 500 (As live4speed said 'The original supermini')
Fave = Ferrari 288 GTO (Are you allowed to have sex with cars?)

Only two days to vote for the best British car?!?!

Ferrari F40



It's simple: the F40 is the best Ferrari ever manufactured. I really and honestly think that time will demonstrate that.

The vehicle did 0-60 in 3.6 seconds (same as the current Carrera GT) using a 478hp 2.9-liter V8 turbo, and its 201mph top speed made it the fastest car on Earth at debut. This car has more presence than any car ever manufactured, and it's truly and absolutely the exotic vehicle to end all exotic vehicles.

And it's better than the Miura.

M5Power

and its 201mph top speed made it the fastest car on Earth at debut.

Click to expand...

For less than a year. Or never. It's arguable as to whether RUF sold the first Yellowbird before Ferrari sold the first F40. Otherwise, great choice.
However, my choice (which will be posted tommorow) took all the greatness of Marcello Gandini and hooked it up to a phenomenal drivetrain, which really explains nothing and could be a large number of vehicles.

Toronado

However, my choice (which will be posted tommorow) took all the greatness of Marcello Gandini and hooked it up to a phenomenal drivetrain.

Click to expand...

I never did like the Miura much - the interior is spectacularly spartan, it was notoriously unreliable (though all Italian cars at the time were - though not all of them caught fire) and, dare I say, I don't think it's that attractive. And by today's standards its performance is weak; the new Camry V6 would be only slightly slower in the quarter. My own opinion is that people look back on the vehicle with rose-tinted glasses; it wasn't really as good as people want to remember it as being.

With all that said, I've got $10 that says that the Miura wins by a landslide.

Original Mini wins the British car vote. As for the Italians...I'd have to vote for the Pagani Zonda. In a country where Ferrari and Lamborghini SEEMINGLY had the supercar world in their cold half-dead hands along comes a newcomer and rocks their world.

Voted for the Carlton again in the British poll (might as well, since I voted for it in the original thread).

For the Italian car I'm voting for the Lamborghini Muira.



First proper supercar, mid-mounted, Italian, V12. So ahead of its time design-wise. Started the running feud with Ferrari.

I'm not talking about the Miura, nor any Lamborghini whatsoever.

Fiat/Bertone X1/9, then?

Cizeta?! It's got to be that. That actually was something of a car.

Jeez this is more fun than the "guess the car" thread.

(I had no idea that Gandini did the Lancia Stratos but I just found that out while looking around - that perhaps?)

That's the alternative. I'm hoping for a certain turbocharged monster to be eligible.

Bugatti is going to be in the French discussion, it's where the company originated. There was a little talk about it in the other thread.

Toronado

That's the alternative. I'm hoping for a certain turbocharged monster to be eligible.

​

Click to expand...

Bugatti has to be French - the Italian-based brand used the French one's name and logo. The only real difference to the customer was that the vehicle was made in Italy - sort of like the Ford Windstar was made in Canada, but no-one would consider it a Canadian vehicle. Or the Subaru B9 Tribeca is made in hell and is in truth the spawn of satan.

My nominations

Nominations:


Although Poverty beat me, the Zonda is a damn fine looking car and has always been able to pull of the wild and wonderful look, while staying cool.


Don't believe anyone has nominated the Ferrari 250 GTO yet, shame on them. Considered to be the quintessential Ferrari model, the 250 GTO was built from 1962 - 64 and featured a 3.0 L V12 powerplant.

Ferrari Dino: Simply stunning. They still drive great and definately have that classic feel to them.

Lamborghini Countach: It's design speaks for itself...

Toronado

...the French car one. EB110 vs. EB16.4 sounds like a fight to watch.

Click to expand...

Except one's Italian and the other's German...... and neither are Bugattis, but thats just my bugbear

Italian Cars...

So many to choose from. The Alfa Gulietta brought great beauty to a market segment full of very bland designs. The Miura..... enough already said. The Countach or Stratos just for wow factor. Ferrari Dino, again for beauty. The 250 GTO for its looks and race pedigree. Delta Integrale for its rally dominance and road ability. Fiat Multipla for its contributions to 'Ugliest Car Ever' threads net wide (even though i love it). The Alfa 156 for doing what the Gulietta did 40ish years previously.

I'd happily vote for most Ferraris or Lambos, but my vote is for the F40 - for purity of concept, simplicity and the ability to sum up everything its manufacturer stood for. It's everything a supercar should be.

Sting

Nominations:

Although Poverty beat me, the Zonda is a damn fine looking car and has always been able to pull of the wild and wonderful look, while staying cool.

Don't believe anyone has nominated the Ferrari 250 GTO yet, shame on them. Considered to be the quintessential Ferrari model, the 250 GTO was built from 1962 - 64 and featured a 3.0 L V12 powerplant.

Click to expand...

I considered the 250 but I went with the 355 as I felt it was more important to Ferrari as we see them today. I agree the 250 is an amazing car and since I know the 355 has no chance of making it to the final five I hope the 250 does so I can vote for it then.

Easy one for me this - it's gotta be the 250 GTO, it's the most coveted ferrari for a reason.

Oh, there's so many to choose from, most of them Ferraris.

But I'm going to have to agree with M5power (for probably the first time! ) and TheCracker and nominate the F40.

TheCracker

my vote is for the F40 - for purity of concept, simplicity and the ability to sum up everything its manufacturer stood for. It's everything a supercar should be.

Click to expand...

Very well put, Dan. 👍