Video: The 7 best road cars of the 1960s

22nd March 2024

Simon Ostler

When you think of the most beautiful cars ever made, many or perhaps even all of the cars you might think of were built in the 1960s. That makes this list incredibly difficult, because how can you possible narrow down the best cars of the ‘60s into a list that isn’t 100 cars long?

We’ve tried to do that here, by picking out just seven of the very best road cars we think were built during the 1960s. The likes of Jaguar, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Porsche, Lancia, Ford, Aston Martin, Rover, Renault and so many other brands were all busy putting together some truly memorable cars over the course of ten years that saw the birth of the 911, the Mustang and the E-type.

Design in those days was informed by style and beauty rather than safety, and while we certainly appreciate the advancements that have kept so many of us protected on the roads in the years since, there’s no denying that cars in those days had an elegance you just don’t see nowadays.

There was plenty of variety, too, you of course had the likes of the Jaguar E-type, which has become one of the most famous sportscars of all time, but it was interspersed among far less renowned but no less brilliant cars like the Renault 4, which stayed in production until 1994.

Then you have the Porsche 911, which made a brief debut as the 901 in 1963 before an enforced name change conceived the three most famous numbers in motoring. With a distinct style that remains fairly unchanged this day, there was no way the 911 wasn’t going to make it to onto this list.

Like we said, this might be one of the most difficult lists we’ve ever put together, so there are probably plenty of cars we haven’t included that will be in your top picks. Let us know which cars you would choose.