At German Autolabs, we love our classics. One of the best things about Chris is that it can easily be installed in any older car, bringing modern technology to beloved old-timers. Since Chris was designed with love in Germany, here’s our tribute to Deutschland’s great automotive heritage. Make sure to vote for your favourite / disagree with us at the bottom.
10. Volkswagen Golf Mk1
It’s no surprise to learn that the sharp, clean lines of the original hot hatch came from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro’s ItalDesign. This is a man who gave us pin-up cars like the Maserati Ghibli and the De Tomaso Pantera. He also crafted a host of Alfa Romeos so beautiful, they’re classified as adult entertainment in several countries, the epitome being the heartbreakingly lovely Alfa GT Junior.
The Golf Mk I differed from the Italian show ponies in one crucial way: it worked. A lively engine, direct chassis and rewarding steering were married to infamous German reliability. It’s a testament to the construction of these brilliant little cars that so many are still on the roads.
9. Audi Quattro
There’s one reason why the Audi Quattro came to dominate the World Rally scene in the 1980s: All Wheel Drive. Differentials in cars are used to adjust the power delivery to each wheel. Audi’s masterstroke was to develop a centre differential which allowed torque to be delivered to both the front and rear wheels.
Not only is this system compact and well-engineered, it can be finely adjusted on the fly to send power to the wheel with the most grip. This evolution eventually became known as a Torque-Sensing, or ‘Torsen’, system. A special mention has to go to the outstandingly 80s LCD instrument cluster, which resembles the bastard lovechild of Tron and an Amiga 500. Vorsprung durch Technik, mate.
8. Mercedes-Benz G-Class
One word that doesn’t always spring to mind when discussing German engineering is bling. Yet the G-Class is without doubt one badass bit of tinsel. A quick scan of the client list should tell you everything you need to know. Queen Rania of Jordan. Various interminable Kardashians. Many, many rappers. What exactly is it about the G-Class, or G-Wagen if you’re stuck in the 90’s and refuse to accept Mercedes’ constant name-changing antics, that remains so popular?
Well for one it’s the only SUV on our list, and the only one that would make it even remotely close. There’s just something universally appealing about the rugged, unashamed boxiness of the G-Class. It’s reminiscent of a slab of brutalist architecture. Built in Austria by enormous contract manufacturer, Magna Steyr, the G-Class was originally suggested to Mercedes by the Shah of Iran who was a significant shareholder in the company. Like all good 4x4s, the G-Class has a significant history in military campaigns and unlike almost every other car, can also lay claim to being a popemobile. Amen.
7. Audi TT
What kind of a list would it be without a little controversy? The inclusion of Audi’s little roadster on this list almost resulted in fisticuffs at the German Autolabs office. Is it art? Is it an ugly bag of panels? Is it a futurist classic? Is it Robocop’s helmet?
One thing we could all agree on is that the TT inspires conversation. When the original model appeared, it inspired quite a few crashes too. High speed direction changes often ended up in the direction changing very dramatically indeed, to the point where Audi were forced to recall the original TT to make substantial handling improvements.
As one might expect of Audi, the TT is without doubt a technologically advanced car, available in Quattro and featuring fully independent front suspension on MacPherson struts. It was also by no means a slow car, with the first iterations churning out something in the region 240bhp. The love-it or hate-it styling was also a bold move into a roadster market that Audi had previously feared to tread.
Any car that inspires such controversy, disagreement and downright devotion is worthy of a place on our list.
6. Opel GT
The Opel GT was the moment when Germany went a little bit mad and produced a car that looked almost identical to the Chevrolet Corvette. What can we say — it was the 1960s.
The Opel GT was not a great car. The Opel GT was not even a very good car. Early road tests produced colossal understeer in cornering which was attributed to the overly-small wheels. Well, at least there was the car’s straight-line speed. Unfortunately, the GT didn’t have that either, managing 0–60 in a meagre 11 seconds. The bodywork was built by French railway carriage assemblers Brissonneau and Lotz who, in typically French way, went out of business following an argument in the 90’s.
So why is the Opel GT on our list? Because it speaks to the power of dreams. Germany just didn’t make ostentatious American-styled cars like this back in the day. It was so rare to get a car that represented more than mere drab, utilitarian A-to-B ferrying. The Opel GT promised something new, something better. The fact that Opel delivered neither is irrelevant — the GT was different, it looked amazing, and that’s what really mattered.
5. BMW 2002
Ask a child to draw you a car, and they’ll basically sketch out a BMW 2002. That simplicity of form and function is not to be underestimated — the 2002 comes from the desk of another legendary Italian stylist, Giovanni Michelotti. The little car was affordable, agile and quick off the line. In his original, widely-quoted 1968 review, Car and Driver’s David E. Davis Jr proclaimed:
“The minute it starts moving, you know that Fangio and Moss and Tony Brooks and all those other big racing studs retired only because they feared that someday you’d have one of these, and when that day came, you’d be indomitable. They were right. You are indomitable.”
Not only were 2002 drivers indomitable, but their car has aged spectacularly well. A quick scan at the prices of 2002’s show that they’re appreciating every bit as rapidly as the cars themselves. The turbo variant retains the power to reduce inattentive drivers to brown-trousered, gibbering wrecks and unmolested original 2002s rank up there with the very best of German design.
4. Porsche 550
Just look at it. A stunningly beautiful minimalist dream, Porsche’s brilliant giant-killing 550 Spyder is another car from the Stuttgart firm to dominate the trophy cabinets. There’s an extra-special historic twist with the 550: it was Porsche’s first car designed specifically to compete. From the word go, the 550 did indeed dominate, claiming the scalp of the fearsome Nürburgring in 1953 and going on to record an unprecedented 1–2 at Le Mans a month later.
The 550 was given a plucky little engine designed by Dr Ernst Fuhrmann which developed a modest 110 bhp. However the rolling weight of the 550 was — you guessed it — 550 kilos. 110 bhp was therefore plenty of power to put the Spyder on top of the podium at every race track in the world.
The 550’s legacy doesn’t end with racing. One anecdote concerning the car’s aggressively low ride height resulted in German Formula One driver Hans Herrmann driving it beneath closed railway barriers. The 550 was also the car that James Dean lost his life in. If ever there was a car cool enough to deal with such a tragedy, it’s without doubt the Porsche 550.
3. BMW E30
Ivory-coloured business cards. Double-breasted Savile Row pinstripe suits. Mobile phones the size of a loaf of bread. Thatcher and Reagan. The BMW E30. Welcome to the 1980s.
The work of veteran designer Claus Luthe, the E30 followed in the mould of the BMW 2002 with deceptively simple and endearing lines. As automotive styling moved into a new era of crash safety and pedestrian production in the 2000s, their shapes began to morph into bulbous, anodyne front ends. Maybe that’s why the angular E30 still looks so good.
There’s one crucial letter when it comes to the E30: “i”. The straight-six 325i engine in early E30s is notorious for delivering one of the smoothest power bands of any engine. And it was this engine that became the bedrock for arguably the greatest series of sedan cars ever made: the BMW M3.
BMW themselves characterised the car as being “the ultimate driver’s machine”. It’s tempting to see the arrogance in such a statement, but the fact is: it’s pretty much true. In 2007, Automobile Magazine included the E30 M3 in their 5 Greatest Driver’s Cars of All Time. The E30 dominated touring car circuits for years, and the production models set standards for sedan engineering that have never been bested. For the money, the E30 is unbeatable.
2. Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
The great thing about the gullwing is that it produces a sensation of childlike glee from anyone lucky enough to witnesses the car’s great party trick: those magical doors.
The clever thing about the gullwing is that it is by no means a one trick pony. Everything about this car colludes to form an absolutely intoxicating automotive experience. The aluminium body, the chromium dash, the smell of the rich leather upholstery, the fruity burble of the 3-litre engine from which the car earns the 300 in its name. The lines of the gullwing flow in true Art Nouveau ocean-liner style and are complemented by those outrageous doors to produce a truly iconic car.
Let’s not forget: the gullwing was voted Sports Car of the Century back in 1999, and it is these sporting credentials that govern so much of what the 300 SL is all about. For a start, the SL in the name stands for Super-Leicht (“super-light”), which was no idle brag given the car’s aluminium body. The tubular chassis further reduced the weight — in fact it was this chassis that created extra-high sills, and thus necessitated the need for the unmistakable gullwing doors.
These days, the 300 SL is one of the most desirable and expensive classics for the discerning collector. Decent models regularly sell for close to a million dollars. Shut up and take our money.
1. Porsche 911
Was there ever any doubt? The 911 has for a long time been the ultimate driver’s car (sorry BMW). It’s the perfect balance of power, handling and enthrallingly raw, stripped-back race car aesthetics. From the naturally aspirated, rear-mounted boxer engine to the iconic Fuchsfelge wheels, everywhere you look in the 911 there are features that have defined and inspired the modern sports car era.
That elegant, tear-drop shape is governed by the unusual engine location and weight distribution, giving it a look that remains instantly identifiable, from 1964 to the present day. Designed by Butzi Porsche, the grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand, the original product code for the car was 901 until Peugeot, who had a patent on cars with three-digit names and a “0” in the middle (eg. 205 GTI, 306), got wind of it. Thus the 911 was born.
One of the Neunelfer’s greatest assets is its lack of flashiness. It is not a brash car. It’s a car that clearly comes from the land of Braun and Bauhaus. While the Diablos and Testarossas of this world attempted to scream their dominance and virility from the rooftops of their glass-fronted penthouses, the little 911 quietly went about its business of decimating them on every frontier. And decimate it did. The car’s list of wins is extraordinary. From Le Mans to Daytona and everywhere in between, the 911 beat concept cars, prototypes, supercharged straight-line monsters — anything you could throw at it.
The only difficulty in selecting the wonderful 911 as the winner of our list is how to choose which exact model to crown as king of kings. This is bound to inspire many a controversial remark below the line as there have been so many wonderful variations of the car over the years (the 993 deserves a special hat-tip.) But for us the winner has to be the original 1964–1969 2.0 litre car. It’s the blueprint that all subsequent 911s were based on, and it still looks absolutely wonderful in 2019. True automotive art.
One final word on the 911: Singer. The Californian company takes old 911s and “reimagines” them — their words for subtly complementing the styling with reworked arches, uprated components and interiors that wouldn’t look out of place in a coffee-table magazine. This all adds up to an immensely high-performance, stunningly beautiful car that is, in the words of Top Gear / The Grand Tour’s James May:
“A love letter to the 911”
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Want more classic German fun? Watch our top 10 in action:
- Porsche 911
2. Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
3. BMW E30
4. Porsche 550
5. BMW 2002
6. Opel GT
7. Audi TT
8. Mercedes-Benz G-Class
9. Audi Quattro
10. Volkswagen Golf Mk I
