It’s tough to pick just three classic cars, because one could list so many, and for several different reasons – from performance, to design, to place in motoring history. But for the purposes of a read that may inspire you to consider who makes your top three (in an incredibly tough competition!), I present you with my three favourite classic cars.
Ferrari 250 GT short-wheel base
As you may have picked up from previous pieces, I have a soft spot from my youth for Ferraris, and this particular one tops my list. The 250 GT is simply one of the most epic V12s ever built! Characterised by a 3,0-litre Colombo V12 engine, The 250 series was one of the company’s most successful early lines (between 1954-1964), and the Grand Tourers took all that power and performance and accommodated it into an aesthetic that, for me, is just everything. The 250 GT is my favourite classic car.
Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
The Mercedes 300SL Gullwing has to be one of the brand’s most iconic vehicles ever made, and nearly 70 years since its release, it still raises the heart rate of every motoring enthusiast. Hitting the roads in 1954, the gull-winged coupe was radical in design, and years later has maintained this element of radical, while also managing to retire into the motoring halls as a timeless classic. In 2020, a rare ‘57 Gullwing went on auction and sold for R20 million!
Aston Martin DB5
Another Grand Tourer! A year before Ferrari was finishing the release of their 250 models, Aston Martin released their luxury GT. Following on from the DB4, the DB5 saw Aston Martin’s 3,9-litre straight-six morph into an all-aluminium 4,0-litre beauty, but performance is not what allows this classic model to live on in the modern era as an important piece of motoring history. The DB5 was, of course, the “James Bond car”. Now obviously the mods of Bond’s machine were quite different from the standard grand tourer available to the consumer, but nevertheless there is a nostalgia and excitement attached to seeing a DB5, as it was the first classic car I became aware of, through cinema.
