MSN: Top 20 Cars That Changed The World

[Rupert]

MSN Autos: Top 20 Cars That Changed The World

(in alphabetical order)

9. Ford Model T - First ever car built on an assembly line.  In the 1920s 50% of all the cars on the planet were Model Ts.  It was available in any color you liked, as long as it was black.

Oh, hahaha, because they only them in black! That's a new one! Boy, I haven't heard that before!

NOT.

[SVT666]

The Ford Model T was generic?  It was generic because half the cars on the planet was a Model T.  It's the most influential car of all time.

[Byteme]

Name me another rear wheel drive, front engined, simple two seater convertible sold in the USA and engineered after 1980 other than the Miata? 

Mercury Capri.

[cawimmer430]

What a weird list.

I mean:

10. Ford Model B V8 - Brought the V8 to the masses.  Every other manufacturer was forced to follow suit, and America's love story with the V8 began.

Yep. That sure changed the world!!!    

[TBR]

Right, but name me another lightweight British simple two-seater sold since the MGA (no space; that's MG MGA) went out of production in 1961/2/3 (one of those).

Oh, yeah: MGB, big Healeys, TR4, TR6, Spitfire, Bugeye, Midget...

Not to mention a coupld of Italians (Alfa and Fiat Spiders), at least one Japanese (Datsun), some Germans (914, at least)...

I found the choice of the MGA out of all of the above cars to be odd.

How many are older than the MGA? I think that was the point.

[TBR]

Mercury Capri.

FWD

[Byteme]

FWD

True, but it [points out that's as close as one can get with alternatives. 

The Miata was and is a brilliant concept. If my wife and I had been childless we probably would have had a couple of them in our garage.

[Galaxy]

The Ford Model T was generic?  It was generic because half the cars on the planet was a Model T.  It's the most influential car of all time.

I would say that the Mercedes-Benz Patentwagen is the most influential.

[Rupert]

How many are older than the MGA? I think that was the point.

Big Healeys, MG T-series, Jag XK120, 356... And etc.

Really, it was the T-series that brought the cheap sports car to the States.

[nickdrinkwater]

I really hate these lists.

Subaru? AMC Eagle?

No it wasn't.

Jeep Super Wagoneer was the first.

It's not about being first, it's the first that mattered in these cases.  No one gives a fuck about a Jeep Wagoneer.

[AutobahnSHO]

It's not about being first, it's the first that mattered in these cases.  No one gives a fuck about a Jeep Wagoneer.

And Audi is that much highe on the care list??

[MaxPower]

I really hate these lists.

Subaru? AMC Eagle?

No it wasn't.

Jeep Super Wagoneer was the first.

Is the creation of a luxury SUV even significant enough to count as "changing the world?" 

[SVT32V]

It's not about being first, it's the first that mattered in these cases.  No one gives a fuck about a Jeep Wagoneer.

The reason it was on the list was they claimed the range was the first luxury SUV, it certainly was  not, the wagoneer debuted 7 yrs earlier. Since it sold for 20 yrs and pushed the technology for 4wd it is hardly a just  a footnote. Further it is in many ways the Father of the Cherokee that debuted in the early 80s that is the start of the real SUV trend.

Typical eurocentric thinking on your part to dismiss something from over the pond.

[93JC]

It's not about being first, it's the first that mattered in these cases.  No one gives a fuck about a Jeep Wagoneer.

No one over there gives a fuck about the Jeep Wagoneer because you never had it. Similarly the Range Rover didn't make it to North America almost 20 years after it debuted, thus it (the 'classic' Range Rover) was a comparative footnote in North American automotive history.

The fact is the Wagoneer was first, by many years. The Range Rover, like the original Series I Land Rover, was a knockoff of a Jeep.

That's not to say the Range Rover didn't do anything new (although I'm at a loss to think of anything in particular other than coil springs in place of the Wagoneer's leafs), but the idea itself had been around far earlier than the Range Rover.

Besides, the Range Rover didn't even really become 'luxurious' until the 1980s. Before that it was in most respects a very simple and crude machine. The interior panels were plastic, seats were vinyl and floors weren't covered, so you could hose it out. Hell, it didn't even have an automatic transmission (the same 3-speed Torqueflite as the Wagoneer, FYI) until '81ish.

[93JC]

Is the creation of a luxury SUV even significant enough to count as "changing the world?" 

Considering the sheer number of Escalades, X5s, Yukon Denalis, etc. I see on the roads... arguably.

[nickdrinkwater]

The reason it was on the list was they claimed the range was the first luxury SUV, it certainly was  not, the wagoneer debuted 7 yrs earlier. Since it sold for 20 yrs and pushed the technology for 4wd it is hardly a just  a footnote. Further it is in many ways the Father of the Cherokee that debuted in the early 80s that is the start of the real SUV trend.

Typical eurocentric thinking on your part to dismiss something from over the pond.

You still missed my point.  Where is the Wagoneer now?  It's the RR that people remember as kicking off the luxury SUV trend, just as people think of the Golf GTI as the original hot hatch and the Mustang as the original pony car.   Making a new vehicle is one thing, making it an enduring success and an icon is another.

As for eurocentric thinking give me a break, if I was like that I might as well dismiss all mass-produced cars since I'd be dismissing the Model -T 

[Galaxy]

Where is the Wagoneer now?

It is now called the Grand Cherokee.

[Autobahn]

Interesting list but as MSN is a US-based site it shows some bias.

I want to add some important cars from a European POV

- 1936 Mercedes 260D - First succesfull application of a Diesel engine in a passenger car
- 1997 Mitsubishi Carisma GDI - First modern succesful direct injection gas engine in a passenger car (although you can also credit that to the Gutbrod Superior or the 300 SL some 45 years earlier)
- 1987 Fiat Croma TD - First modern Diesel direct injection car

I think these have had far more influence on European cars than the Range Rover

and while people rightfully credit Volvo with a lot of security inventions most people forget the genious of Bela Barenyi who invented a lot of what is standard today in safety equipment...
- 1959 Mercedes W111 - first safety cell and crumple zone
- 1976 Mercedes W123 - first safety steering column

btw. Barenjy also is the rightful owner of the design of the VW Typ1 which Porsche arguably "stole" from him because he missed to file the necessary patents... Very interesting story...

interestingly missing is also the Benz Motorwagen but I guess Luxury SUVs changed the world in a more significant way

[SVT32V]

You still missed my point.  Where is the Wagoneer now?  It's the RR that people remember as kicking off the luxury SUV trend, just as people think of the Golf GTI as the original hot hatch and the Mustang as the original pony car.   Making a new vehicle is one thing, making it an enduring success and an icon is another.

As for eurocentric thinking give me a break, if I was like that I might as well dismiss all mass-produced cars since I'd be dismissing the Model -T 

Perhaps people in Europe view the RR as the original luxury SUV, but that is not a given over here. The Grand Cherokee was the luxury version of the 4 dr SUV throughout the 90s, while the regualr Cherokee was the lower scale version.  It was the replacement for the Grand Wagoneer, most GCs came pretty loaded and are not inexpensive vehicles. Maybe not bling bling expensive like an RR now with ML, GL, Escalade, Navigator, X5 competition, but certainly a luxury vehicle.  It doesn't have the sales it used to but what SUV does, plus it is crowded out in its own market by the commander.

RRs were pretty rare over here and had a pretty poor reputation. The buick derived V8 was less than stellar in both reliability and power for US tastes.  Now it is probably better known.

[SVT666]

It is now called the Grand Cherokee.

They were out at the same time.  Same truck with different badges.  The Wagoneer died, the Grand Cherokee didn't.

[Galaxy]

It is now called the Grand Cherokee Commander.   

They were out at the same time.  Same truck with different badges.  The Wagoneer died, the Grand Cherokee didn't.

[SVT666]

The Commander is hardly luxury.  It's nowhere near it.

[nickdrinkwater]

The Commander is hardly luxury.  It's nowhere near it.

Nor is any Jeep, really.

[nickdrinkwater]

Perhaps people in Europe view the RR as the original luxury SUV, but that is not a given over here. The Grand Cherokee was the luxury version of the 4 dr SUV throughout the 90s, while the regualr Cherokee was the lower scale version.  It was the replacement for the Grand Wagoneer, most GCs came pretty loaded and are not inexpensive vehicles. Maybe not bling bling expensive like an RR now with ML, GL, Escalade, Navigator, X5 competition, but certainly a luxury vehicle.  It doesn't have the sales it used to but what SUV does, plus it is crowded out in its own market by the commander.

RRs were pretty rare over here and had a pretty poor reputation. The buick derived V8 was less than stellar in both reliability and power for US tastes.  Now it is probably better known.

Interesting post, thanks for the perspective.