misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,367
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May 16, 2018 12:46:48 GMT
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Bear with me on this. We're not long back from a week and a half on Corsica - road trip diary coming probably never, but who knows - and that meant a lot of time on French autoroutes, rural backroads, and of course Corsica's wild and diverse landscape. Which meant we saw lots and lots of French tin - some stunning, much more utter turdulence. Which got me thinking about iconic French vehicles. Citroën wins hånds down with the Traction Avant, 2CV, H van, DS, SM, Mehari, and so on. They're also the only company ever to advertise on the actual Eiffel Tower. Renault, well, they have the 4, 5, Twingo and Espace. Plus the mental Avantime.
Peugeot seem to have spent over a century churning out forgettable dross with only the 205, 504 and hot versions of the 106 and 306 springing to mind.
So, that's France covered. Who else has so many proper icons?
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mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,365
Club RR Member Number: 84
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May 16, 2018 13:15:02 GMT
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Contentious!!
Yes, Citroen have produced some out-there and iconic vehicles, but the utterly legendary status of the 205 (biased owner) elevates Peugeot. Not forgetting the stunning 304, 404 & 604, the 605 (Ronin), rally weapon 205 & 405 T16 etc.
Is fewer better icons better than lots of reasonable icons??
I'll start the BMW ball rolling with E30 M3, Z1, M1, E28 M5, Batmobile CSL, pre war 328, 507...
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May 16, 2018 13:48:55 GMT
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For the UK, Morris took the distinction of being the first manufacturer to produce over a million units (of the Minor), which makes it fairly iconic, in this country at least. Obviously, VW had quite a hit with its Beetle (probably the best-selling car ever, worldwide). Interestingly for some, Fiat's 124 was produced in numerous variants, including Lada and some other Eastern European and even Asian (Kia) versions based on it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_124 |
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886 
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 16, 2018 13:59:39 GMT
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Initially I'd maybe say VW, but actually there's only the Beetle, Golf and Bus that can be described as iconic, there's just many variations of those vehicles over years.
Same with Porsche, most of the iconic vehicles are just variations of the 911.
Are we ruling out 'special' manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini etc as they have an unfair advantage.
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Last Edit: May 16, 2018 14:00:33 GMT by b3nson
'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,367
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May 16, 2018 14:55:42 GMT
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I don't think ubiquity and iconicism go hand in hand. When I think about iconic FIATs, it's the original 500 that springs to mind, then the Panda. There might have been a million variations on the 124, but it's not an icon, is it? The Minor is, though.
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50bhp
Part of things
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May 16, 2018 15:22:03 GMT
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I would say the 124 is an icon, just not particularly in Britain. Throughout Europe and the rest of the world the 124 was probably one of the first cars anyone had experienced. Ditto the 127.
I would say Lancia have a high ratio of Icons in their back catalogue. If you ignore the more recent badge engineered efforts there is a lot to like.
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markbognor
South East
 
Posts: 9,970
Club RR Member Number: 56
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May 16, 2018 17:03:05 GMT
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Chevrolet? '57 Bel Air - what a lot of people imagine as 50's fins and chrome.  Corvette - "The American sports car"?  Corsair - the one that changed the focus from performance and styling to occupant safety and manufacturers responsibility?  Suburban - Dawn of the dominance of the SUV? |
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Last Edit: May 16, 2018 17:04:47 GMT by markbognor
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May 16, 2018 17:03:22 GMT
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Ford springs to mind. Ok, they have an advantage of being an international brand, but first of all they have all the pre- war cars. Most people instantly think hot rod = Ford. Then there's the Mustang, Anglia (in all its iterations) Escort, Cortina, Sierra Cosworth, Aussie Falcon, Transit.
Maybe they're a little lacking in the Icon department since 2000.
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May 16, 2018 17:12:17 GMT
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A damn good thread and a difficult question to answer. How do you measure icon-ism? Overall production numbers, popularity, motorsport success? Everyones going to have their own ideas based on their own view of what makes an icon. My favourite manufacture is BMC/BL. The morris minor, mini, 1100 1300 range, moke, P5, quite afew jags. My bias view would be that they are icons, mabie they're not. The only other manufacture that stands out to me is Ford. Probably the most iconic car brand, with more than enough icons around the world.
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,367
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May 16, 2018 18:05:19 GMT
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It is a difficult one to define, which is why I asked. It's not as easy as saying Ford has the most icons because they pioneered mass production - that's like saying the most iconic tyre manufacturer is Lego. I think it's maybe the first thing that pops into your head when a manufacturer or country is mentioned? Like America = Mustang, or Italy = Ferrari, or Porsche = whatever flavour 911 you prefer?
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93fxdl
Posted a lot
Enter your message here...
Posts: 2,003
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May 16, 2018 22:22:35 GMT
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Reliant has to be a good shout, various scimitars the robin and of course the supervan.
Might be taking a slightly off center view with this idea though
Ttfn Glenn
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May 16, 2018 23:20:42 GMT
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F.I.A.T! Mirafiori...!  Sweet Rally saloon! Spider!  I think you're trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson (okay that was an Alfa) Panda! .jpg) Better than a 2cv or R4 because Giugiaro, 80s and Boxyness 500  Because Lush. 500 Multipla (orig)  Because Cab-over Microcar Multipla (90s batsh1t bug-eyed people carrier)  Because unloved, but unforgettable and full of potential Chris Bangle 20v Coupé  Because Headlamps designed after Bangle's better half's bottom X1-9  Because Mid-engined affordable sportscar 124  Because un-killable Яцѕѕідп people's car. Notable mentions 126 Polski Bravo/Brava Fiorino Van Topolino Okay maybe not all A-List Icons, but those guys in Turin certainly know how to make memorable, influential jalopys. Think they're up there with Citröen for sure. |
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May 16, 2018 23:45:38 GMT
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Jaguar has to be in the running! Before they started churning out dross like the Jaguar Mondeo there weren't many models that weren't iconic.
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Bear with me on this. We're not long back from a week and a half on Corsica - road trip diary coming probably never, but who knows - and that meant a lot of time on French autoroutes, rural backroads, and of course Corsica's wild and diverse landscape. Which meant we saw lots and lots of French tin - some stunning, much more utter turdulence. Which got me thinking about iconic French vehicles. Citroën wins hånds down with the Traction Avant, 2CV, H van, DS, SM, Mehari, and so on. They're also the only company ever to advertise on the actual Eiffel Tower. Renault, well, they have the 4, 5, Twingo and Espace. Plus the mental Avantime. Peugeot seem to have spent over a century churning out forgettable dross with only the 205, 504 and hot versions of the 106 and 306 springing to mind. So, that's France covered. Who else has so many proper icons? I like your thread but do not agree with you regarding Peugeot. They have built many more beautiful cars same as Renault and as you mentioned Citroen. Many on this forum like the 205. To me it's just a nice little car in the same league as the Renault 5. It might comes down to personal taste. Mercedes has built some very nice vehicles too cheers |
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How about Nissan? Skyline, 200SX, 240Z
Honda S2000, Civic and Integra type R's
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Ford. By a country mile!
Followed by BMW.
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 Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern |
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,367
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Beautiful, yes. Iconic? No.
Remember for a moment we're all effectively car uber-geeks - other people have other obsessions. Ask a 'normal' person for an iconic Peugeot and they'll look blank for a moment, remember the 205 and then blurt that out. There's an outside chance they'll say 504 if they've been to Africa even once. But even as a self-confessed car uber-geek I genuinely cannot think of anything else remarkable by the peppermill makers.
Now Mercedes? Yes. The 500K for all the wrong reasons. The Gullwing SL. The Grosser. The G-Wagen. The W124. The Unimog. Yes. Oh God Yes.
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vanpeebles
Part of things
I am eastbound in pursuit of a white Lamborghini, this is not a recording.
Posts: 978
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BMC for me, stuff like the mini, mgb, minor etc.
But talking of icons, how about the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am, or the Knight Rider Firebird?
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50bhp
Part of things
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Having thought about this some more I am amazed that no one, myself included, has said Land Rover before now. Original Landie was of course a game changer for the UK car industry and was a global success. Range Rover moved the game on again, blazing a trail for the blending of go anywhere ability and luxury and then Discovery turned the whole market on its head again. Freelander expanded the brand to a whole new market and arguably started the trend of the modern SUV. Subsequent iterations have possibly not moved the game on as much as their originals but all have been either class leading or near the top.
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vanpeebles
Part of things
I am eastbound in pursuit of a white Lamborghini, this is not a recording.
Posts: 978
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Haha I was going to come back and post Land Rover too!
Also how about Sinclair Vehicles? Their only model was hugely iconic. The never made prototypes also looked way ahead of the time.
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