Tick the bucket: the iconic cars we all need to drive once

We’ve all got bucket-list cars. Our suggestions are suitably varied - and not always entirely predictable

Autocar

9 November 2019

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There are some cars in the world we at Autocar strongly suggest you drive at least once.

We polled the whole team and asked them for the cars they reckon every automotive enthusiast needs to sample – or the cars they themselves have never driven and so wish they could. And some of the answers may surprise you…
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Chrysler Imperial Crown Convertible

While few people will have the budget, the patience or the sheer quantity of parking to own a slab of classic Americana, everyone should experience a car from the US’s 1960s golden era at least once. My personal nomination would be the Chrysler Imperial, both because the ultra-lux model was more technically advanced than contemporary Cadillacs and Lincolns with torsion bar front suspension.

And more specifically because my friend Kirk has just purchased a spectacular ’65 Imperial Crown Convertible and let me have a go during a recent trip to Michigan.
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Chrysler Imperial Crown Convertible: Interior

Steering is comically vague, performance is leisurely despite a 7.2-litre V8 under the vast bonnet and handling is relaxed. But nothing has more presence or feels more effortless at a respectful pace. There’s just the small matter of 10mpg… MIKE DUFF
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Bugatti Veyron

There are a lot of supercars that I have not driven and, to be honest, I’m not heartbroken about that. I drove McLaren F1s and Ferrari F40s and Jaguar XJ220s when they were new, so perhaps it’s the turn of younger scribblers to scare themselves in today’s hypercars. But there is one that I haven’t driven and which I’d like to drive just once. It’s the Bugatti Veyron.
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Bugatti Veyron: Interior

I never got the chance when it was launched and haven’t tried hard to get in one since because I didn’t think it was my cup of tea. However, so many people whose opinions I respect (including Gordon Murray) have told me that it’s a must-do experience that I now desperately want a go in one. COLIN GOODWIN
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Saab 9000 Turbo

Saabs rarely made sense to enthusiastic drivers. They were big and, on first acquaintance, often ponderous. But there was a good reason why London’s Heathrow airport long-term car park was full of 9000 Turbos in the mid-1990s: there’s nothing quite like a Saab for covering long distances effortlessly.
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Saab 9000 Turbo - interior

A combination of serious shove, a low-mounted driver’s seat and a rear beam axle tuned for stability meant that carving up the M1 motorway in hellish weather was almost restful. No need for constant adjustments at the wheel and old Saabs would cut through standing water without a twitch. HILTON HOLLOWAY
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Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ (1963-67)

This Zagato-bodied Alfa is the epitome of the compact, lightweight, race-oriented coupé.
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Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ (1963-67): Interior

Zagato’s slinky low-drag spaceframe-hung alloy body carried the 158bhp 1.6 twin-cam, five-speed mechanicals of the Giulia saloon to produce – I imagine – a riotously rapid car of terrific agility, and all within a small, agile and glamorous package. RICHARD BREMNER
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Lamborghini Miura

By most accounts, Miuras are fairly horrible to drive, particularly the early ones. But that’s what I want to drive because while what a car looks like is usually of no consequence to me relative to what it is like to drive, there is no other car whose appearance has so consistently retained the power to remove my breath every time I see one.
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Lamborghini Miura: Interior

And I know once I’d driven one, the spell would be broken – but just looking at it is like opening a book and only reading the introduction. One day I’ll find out how this story ends and if it’s badly, so be it. ANDREW FRANKEL
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Land Rover Defender

The Land Rover Defender isn’t for everyone. Plenty don’t warrant a repeat performance, on the road particularly.
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Land Rover Defender: Interior

But if you can spend some time with one, in the company of some experts, in terrain you wouldn’t imagine a car can get through (mud that would suck your boots off, water at chest height) and drive, winch and tow your way through it, you’ll see the best of it. And have a ball. MATT PRIOR
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New Ford Transit

Next time there’s a piano to shift, hire a Ford Transit and treat yourself to a great driving experience. Make it a new Transit, mind. The docile diesel will remind you how tough it’s going to be removing such engines from future load luggers.
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New Ford Transit: Interior

You’ll be amazed by the suspension’s tall tyres and generous suspension travel – and how it refuses to kick you up the backside over sharp bumps. You’ll like the handling, too. Best of all will be the visibility, out-commanding any Range Rover. You’ll soon be wishing you drove one of these full-time. STEVE CROPLEY
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Any three-wheeled Reliant

This is an easy one. You only need to look at a Reliant three-wheeler to know that it is entirely wrong. However, actually driving one is not only enough to induce terror, you will instantly appreciate the value of having a wheel at each corner.
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Any three-wheeled Reliant: Interior

I only drove a Regal once and that was more than enough. It really did feel unsafe at any speed and dangerously unstable when still. Noisy, frightening and hard to handle, but this isn’t a stripped-out racing 911SC. Reliants are rubbish. At least this is conclusive proof that Morgan know what they are doing. JAMES RUPPERT
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An old Saab

It’s been seven years since the plug was pulled on Saab, and perhaps it was for the best. Over the last years of its life, the Swedish firm lost its way – its knack for innovation and idiosyncrasy stamped out by parent company General Motors. Yet drive the early stuff and you’re in for a treat.
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An old Saab: Interior

The two-stroke 96, with its rally-bred handling and column gearchange that offered clutchless shifts thanks to a free-wheel device. Then there’s the whizz-bang thrill of the 99 Turbo that brought forced induction to the masses. And there’s always the novelty of that ignition between-the-seats layout… JAMES DISDALE

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