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In 1964, the seminal British AC Ace roadster received a whopping lump of Ford V8 in cooperation with Carroll Shelby. Legend has it that when Shelby demonstrated the cars he'd tape a $100 bill to the dashboard and challenge the passenger to grab it whilst under full throttle. Few managed.
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Its purity of style and eager handling meant that the original 'Duetto' Spider became hugely trendy after its launch in 1966. Its image was boosted further when a young Dustin Hoffman drove one in The Graduate.
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Alfa Romeo's sweet little Alfasud hatch defined hot hatch handling for a generation of enthusiasts. A little Italian magic, then.
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Before WWII, no car was faster or more advanced. Two superchargers were bolted onto its double overhead cam engine, and it had totally independent suspension. The result was a Le Mans winning car and they change hands for £millions these days.
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The concept of being able to drive a car straight down a slipway and into a river has intrigued generations of engineers, but the Amphicar was one of the few to actually work (sort of).
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Enjoyed fame as the first Bond car, but with its beautiful profile and searing performance, the DB5 would have become an English icon even without the silver screen.
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Hailed as perhaps the best Aston Martin of all time, the DB9 is as stupefyingly quick as it is beautiful.
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Nobody really believed that such a pure piece of design could ever make it to the production line. The TT did, and instantly became one of the most desired cars of the decade.
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This hugely accomplished luxury saloon brought aluminium-bodied chassis design to the mainstream. Recently voted the 'coolest car' to own by a London survey group.
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Brought rally-bred four-wheel drive and turbocharging to an ordinary mainstream range, with sensational results.
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As Chris Harvey writes in his Encyclopaedia of Classic Cars: "The eccentric little Austin Seven taught so many people to drive that it became a national pet." The single most popular British car prior to World War II.
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An unsung hero, the comfortable Maxi was an evolution of concepts pioneered by the Mini and pre-dated modern MPV-like versatility: seats folded flat and you could even make a bed in the back.
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Hardly needs introduction as a design icon, but the original Mini's transversely-mounted front engine freed up a remarkable 80 percent of the tiny car's length for interior space. Groundbreaking stuff.
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The 'Frogeye' Sprite's friendly face, roadster style, affordable price tag and user-friendliness endeared it to drop-top enthusiasts.
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