The original Mini is the best British car ever built, according to a survey of Autocar readers.
It comes as little surprise that the original Mini has topped the list of all-time British greats. It’s such an iconic vehicle and represents so much more than the British car industry. The Mini is associated with Great Britain around the world and, in many ways, it was ahead of its time.
But just what constitutes a British car? Cars from Brit-owned firms – Austin, Bristol, Morgan – were shoe-ins. As were models from firms that, like Bentley and Rolls-Royce, have always been based within these shores, but now have foreign owners.
That was the easy bit; for the rest we had to dig deeper. The UK has built its share of duffers, but from them our rich motorsport tradition has alchemised gems such as the Lotus Sunbeam, Chevette HSR and Avenger Tiger.
We included a few curve balls. The Renault Mégane RS 225 raised eyebrows. It was the first complete car by British engineering firm Ricardo, which developed the chassis, brakes, steering, styling and engine upgrades.
And it is perhaps the Renault Mégane that sums up the British car industry best: the world’s most talented engineers making cars the very best they can be.
Meanwhile, the results revealed that Lotus is Britain’s most popular manufacturer of all time, with eight models in the top 100 – more than any other. Hot on the Norfolk-based manufacturer's heels are Jaguar and Ford, both with six models on the list. Aston Martin is up next with five.
Overall, the closest rivals to Sir Alec Issigonis’s original Mini are McLaren’s iconic F1 road car, which placed second on the list, and the Jaguar E-type in third.
Click through our gallery above to find out what comes where, or look through the list below for the results.
Britain's best-ever cars
100. Range Rover Evoque
99. Ginetta G40R
98. Vauxhall Astra
97. Marcos TSO
96. Honda Civic
95. MG A
94. Vauxhall Chevette HSR
93. Triumph Dolomite Sprint
92. Allard J2
91. Honda Jazz
90. Sunbeam Tiger
89. Nissan Juke
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