CAR Magazine's Top 50 Greatest Cars

[Soup DeVille]

Here's something for you to chew on.

[280Z Turbo]

That's a lot of hassle just to avoid a manual transmission.

The best modification to a G-body would be to shred it, melt it, and stamp it into beer bottle caps.

[Soup DeVille]

That's a lot of hassle just to avoid a manual transmission.

The best modification to a G-body would be to shred it, melt it, and stamp it into beer bottle caps.

You need it for that blistering 0-60 run in 9.8 seconds.


Power you can feel.

[280Z Turbo]

What a sad time to be alive.

[TurboDan]

Seriously though, 'greatness' is a purely subjective quality that is evaluated using anecdotes and bias. This list is the print equivalent of one of those online lists that has every single entry on the list on a separate webpage and is really only there for search engine optimization and ad revenue maximization. It's a cheap, lame way of trying to make money: nothing more.

It's pretty clear that this list was written with that in mind and is, of course, heavily biased toward the UK. That's perfectly understandable because it was written in the UK and is primarily aimed at UK buyers, but like Secret Chimp pointed out the Range Rover and Jag XJ stick out like sore thumbs.

FWIW, the JC was a very, very capable vehicle that demands tons of respect to this day. It should NOT have been excluded.

[cawimmer430]

Here's something for you to chew on.

I prefer the Buick version of that thing. 

[Soup DeVille]

I prefer the Buick version of that thing. 

The GN (and GNX) was a much better car by any measure- but we were talking about Oldsmobiles!

[sportyaccordy]

What a sad time to be alive.

Coke was cheap, music was good, employment was high

[cawimmer430]

The GN (and GNX) was a much better car by any measure- but we were talking about Oldsmobiles!

Yep. I'm not to crazy about the Oldsmobiles from the '80s except the 88, 98 and Custom Cruiser. I think they're gorgeous.

[Habitual Speeder]

Yep. I'm not to crazy about the Oldsmobiles from the '80s except the 88, 98 and Custom Cruiser. I think they're gorgeous.

Aw, buddy...we need to talk. 

[MexicoCityM3]

Aw, buddy...we need to talk. 

We need to do an intervention where each of us tells Wimmer how his actions hurt us. Then it's off to rehab with him. To the unthusiast clinic I say.

[cawimmer430]

Aw, buddy...we need to talk. 

I think they're lovely. Very classy designs IMO. 

[cawimmer430]

We need to do an intervention where each of us tells Wimmer how his actions hurt us. Then it's off to rehab with him. To the unthusiast clinic I say.

Dude, those three Oldsmobiles I posted are RWD!!! RWD!!! 

[Raza]

Dammit Christian...

My statement stands.

[Raza]

Coke was cheap, music was good, employment was high

The employed were high.

[Soup DeVille]

My statement stands.

C'mon: The first production American made turbocharged car? Now that's gotta score some points.

[Madman]

C'mon: The first production American made turbocharged car? Now that's gotta score some points.

EDIT:

I've read conflicting accounts of which car was introduced first.  One source says the 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Spyder Turbo beat the 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire Turbo Rocket to market by a few weeks.  Another says the Olds beat the Corvair by a similar margin.

[Soup DeVille]

Not quite.  The 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Spyder Turbo beat the 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire Turbo Rocket to market by a few weeks.

Okay, the first REAL car...

[Madman]

Okay, the first REAL car...

Then again, I could be wrong.  See edit above.

[Soup DeVille]

Then again, I could be wrong.  See edit above.

I've always heard it was the Olds, but hey, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

[Madman]

After doing a bit more digging, it seems the general consensus out there in Internetland is the Olds came first.

Interestingly, the F-85 Jetfire Turbo Rocket used a blown version of the Buick 215, the engine that would later evolve into the legendary Rover V8.

More trivia from Wikipedia:

"In 1962 and 1963 Oldsmobile built a turbocharged version of the 215. The small-diameter Garrett T5 turbocharger with integral wastegate was manufactured by Garrett AiResearch and produced a maximum of 5 psi (34 kPa) boost at 2200 rpm. The engine had 10.25:1 compression and a single-barrel carburetor. It was rated at 215 hp (160 kW) at 4600 rpm and 300 lb?ft (410 N?m) at 3200 rpm. In development, the high compression ratio created a serious problem with spark knock on hard throttle applications, which led Olds to use a novel water-injection system that sprayed metered amounts of distilled water and methyl alcohol (dubbed "Turbo-Rocket Fluid") into the intake manifold air-stream to cool the intake charge. If the fluid reservoir was empty, a complex double-float and valve assembly in the Turbo-Rocket Fluid path would set a second butterfly (positioned between the throttle butterfly and the turbocharger) into the closed position, limiting the amount of boost pressure. Unfortunately, many customers did not keep the reservoir filled, or had mechanical problems with the turbocharger system which resulted in many of the turbo-charger installations being removed and a conventional 4 barrel carburetor and manifold installed in its place.
The turbocharger was offered only in a special Jetfire model, which was the second turbocharged passenger car offered for public sale. The Chevrolet Corvair Spyder Turbo also manufactured by GM was ahead the Oldsmobile Jetfire Turbo by only a few weeks. Only 9,607 were sold in two model years, and many were converted by dealers to conventional four-barrel carbureted form."

[93JC]

C'mon: The first production American made turbocharged car? Now that's gotta score some points.