Making a list of the best cars of all time can be difficult. Designating any such list is a subjective process. So is interpreting the word “best” itself. Is the best car the best-performing track car? Is it the most engaging driver’s car? The best car could also be the car that best read the market and foreshadowed where things were heading.
With this best cars list, we’re looking for the most influential cars, the cars that mattered. These cars broadened ideas about what a car can mean and shaped what became the modern car market. Supercars and sports coupes deserve their recognition. But so do SUVs and trucks, which are now the default vehicles most people buy.
We restricted this list to cars that entered the market from 1970 onward for ease and modern relevance. Tracing technological developments back more than 50 years can get a bit tenuous, as undoubtedly influential as inventions the Model T’s mass production process or the Volvo’s three-point safety belt were to the modern automobile’s development.
From ludicrously accelerating electric cars to exquisite but temperamental Italian sedans, here are the ten best cars to emerge since 2010.
NOTE: We want to hear from you. Feel like we missed anything significant? Leave us a note in the Comments section below!
The Best: Tesla Model S (2012)
Tesla’s Roadster got everyone’s attention. But it was the Model S that recast our perceptions of the electric car. Before the Model S, “electric car” equaled the dreary Nissan Leaf. But with sexy looks, ludicrous acceleration and enough range to function in everyday life, zero emissions became exciting and vibrant. Nearly ten years later, the Model S is still the EV gold standard — even if it can’t drive itself yet.
Original MSRP: $57,400
