Future Classics
Future classics are items that, whilst not
quite covetable enough to earn places on The List, have the
fundamental features of great design that mean that they
will be looking as good in twenty, thirty or fifty years'
time, as they do today.
Car designers have come up with some odd hybrids over the
years: there was the shotgun marriage of SUV and sports car
that gave us the BMW X6, the saloon and supercar amalgam
that is the Porsche Panamera, and the coming together of
lawnmower and wheelbarrow that produced the Reliant Robin.
Not a particularly inspiring list, we think you'd agree...click
here for more
Back in the 1980s it was hard to believe that Maserati was
the same company that had once produced supercars like the
Bora. The Italian marque's machines from the era of shoulder
pads and neon were boxy designs that appeared to have been
styled by a designer with a particular fetish for right
angles. They were also poorly built, and had little of the
handling finesse of their predecessors...click
here for more
For many years Peugeot's 205 GTI
bestrode the hot hatch world like some kind of poorly
assembled, flimsy, but ultimately indefatigable, colossus.
No manufacturer, including Peugeot themselves, could hope to
launch a sports hatch without the inevitable negative
comparison with the 205 being wheeled out of the closet by
journalists. It didn't seem to matter that the little
Peugeot had the build quality of an African kit car...
click
here for more
Fun though it might be to thrash a lightweight, no frills
sports car around a track, even the most hardcore autophile
will sometimes desire a machine that will carry him or her
across great distances, without the need for earplugs (Lotus
Elises), full waterproofs (Caterhams) or all of the above
plus a helmet (Ariel Atoms). It would also be nice if such a
machine were equipped with four seats and a decent sized
boot...
click here for more
The
average person living in the 1960s probably envisaged the
advent of space exploration as heralding a new age for
mankind, where, by the 21st Century, we would be colonising
distant planets, flying in cars through skyscraper cities,
and working ten hour weeks, all whilst wearing ridiculous
jumpsuits... click here for more
