The April '06 issue of Automobile Mag is their 20th Anniversary and they rank the cars that "changed the game forever". The MINI makes that list, here's a scan of the MINI portion http://www.wraight.com/MINI/automobile.pdf

The other cars on the list include:

Acura NSX
BMW M3(E46 the best of 'em all)
BMW M5
Chevrolet Corvette
Chrysler 300C
Chrylser Minivan
Ferrari F40
Ferrari F430
Honda Accord & Civic
Jeep Cherokee
Lexus LS400
Mazda Miata
Mercedes 300E
Porsche Boxster
Nissan 300ZX Turbo
Porsche 911
Volkswagen GTI (original)
Subaru Impreza WRX

 

http://www.wraight.com/MINI/automobile.pdf

 

They are CUTE

 

Kinda funny that they show a MINI Cooper and then talk about the MINI Cooper S

 

Given the lofty goal of authentically updating the classic Mini, that they actually pulled it off is pretty darn impressive! It could have gone wrong (and so often does) but this time they actually seemed to get it right! Actually, they (Rover/BMW) wouldn't have had a clue if they hadn't had a mark to hit...the Mini.

Strange about the pic/article/caption mixup....I'm so not surprised.

 

I own four of the cars on that list Yay me!

 

Thanks Ian, I copied yours back into my post, dunno what the diff was..

 

I'm kind of surprised they don't have the k-car on the list. My old AP-body duster was one of the best cars made in the early 90's.

 

Ford Model T
Stanley Steemer?
65 Ford Mustang...
57 Chevy Bel Air...
And on and on.....

Don't know about you, but this seems awful biased towards newer cars... Is the list just new cars in the last 20 years that changed the game forever?
No Viper?
No New Thunderbird?
No 05 Mustang?

How does the F430 "change the game forever", seems like yet another hyper-expensive car than almost no one will drive.

And while the NSX is a great car, I don't see the supercar world folloing the idea of well balanced 6 bangers...

Sorry, I just don't see the list as very good....
(But it's nice the Mini's on it, but it should be the original Mini, not the new one!)

I guess I'll have to wait for my issue, and see what they were thinking about.

Matt

 

I just got the issue inthe mail today, and yeah, apparently it was just cars they've reviewed in the last 20 years, since it was the magazine's 20th anniversary. I was a little surprised to see no Mustang listed as well. My next car will be a new Mustang GT (I've owned two other Mustangs in the last 20 years as well).

-Keith

 

I own two of those on the list. I knew they were in the top ten without magazine editors telling me.

 

Thats the GREAT thing about America ... you don't have to agree with what anybody wrote ... just ignore them.

 

The f430 is an incredible car to drive. And, for what you get, it is not that expensive. Trust me. I drove the 360 CS and then the 430 convertible back to back. The 430 was far and away a better car and it cost less. Think of it like the change from the DB7 to the DB9. One was outdated and the new one was pure magic.

 

But if you limit the selection to the last 20 years, that eliminates the original Mustang, or any other Mustangs you'd actually want to drive/own. We're talking 1985-2005 here--a time characterized by insipid cars from Detroit and some great cars from Japan and Europe.
And give me a break over the New Thunderbird--that was almost as bad as the Pontiac Aztec as a car. Ford killed that retro-crud early for a reason (why the Aztec lasted so long is still one of the great modern wonders of the world.)
And the 20 year time frame removes Classic Minis from the list.
IMHO the MINI is not exceptional as a modern-retro car, but the fact that it captures a spirit and feeling of cars of former times at such an affordable price and with such impressive design, engineering and support is what makes it stand apart from the New Beetles, New Mustangs and other modern-retro cars not on the list.
And the reason the NSX is on the list is that it was the first time Japan actually produced a car that not only felt like an Italian thoroughbred, and looked like one too, but went and handled as well as any blood-red car you could buy for much more down.

Enough, I've had my say. I'm just glad to see the MINI is still topping charts after 6 years in the same clothes. Not bad,
phil

 

The guy who wrote the MINI blurb, Ezra Dyer, is absolutely awesome.

mb

 

Yes, that is the top 20 cars in the past 20 years....

 

Its surprising that they did make the error of the Cooper pic with an S writeup. Especially since they make a distinction between the two in the paragraph.

So what though, the MINI wins either way!