Car magazines need to show they are serious about cars, and so they publish serious lists and hand out serious awards about which cars, trucks, and engines are the best of the year. We certainly appreciate the lists and awards, especially because our favorite marque usually ends up on many of those lists or receives many of those awards.
Road & Track magazine took a little detour from serious awards recently to have some fun looking back on cars the editors thought were—well, cool. It's no surprise to us that our favorite marque ended up on that list; in fact, four BMWs were among Road & Track's 51 Coolest Cars of the Last 50 Years—and one more had a BMW engine.
Once you see the BMWs and the BMW-powered car that made the list, you won’t be surprised, because each one belongs there. We might argue that a few more Bimmers were among the coolest cars of the past half-century, but we need to give credit where credit is due and after all, there are only 51 slots.
The first BMW on the 51 Coolest Cars list, going in chronological order, is the 1972 BMW 2002tii. There had to be a 2002 on the list, and by sticking with a 1972, it would have round taillights, which does make it cooler than the 1974 tii. A little cooler, anyway.
With a Jet Black body and powerful inline six M engine, the next cool BMW on the list was the 1988 BMW M5. The first of the four-door M cars was either a beast or a beast of burden, depending on how it was driven and was perhaps, BMW M’s first and best sleeper super sedan.
Right there with the M5 on the Coolest Cars list is the 1988 BMW M3, and how could BMW’s pocket racer not be on the list. The street version of the most successful racing touring car ever gave many BMW enthusiasts their first taste of what BMW Motorsport was capable of. Very cool.
The next car to make the Coolest list with BMW M Power was the 1992 McLaren F1. Though the F1 was not built by BMW, Paul Rosche’s S70/2 6.1-liter V12 produced 627 horsepower and made the McLaren million-dollar supercar the fastest production car of its day. Almost 25 years later, it probably is still the fastest normally aspirated production car out there. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Fast forward to 2014 to get BMW’s final entry on the list of the 51 Coolest Cars of the Last 50 Years: the revolutionary and economical plug-in hybrid sports car—the BMW i8. Its combination electric motor and three-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine driveline produces enough power and torque that the car is very fast and very quick, and without dropping fuel mileage into the single digits. As interesting as the powertrain is, it’s the i8’s styling that gets it onto the Coolest list. As any i8 owner can tell you, it’s almost impossible to stop at a gas station or park anywhere without having people come up to say how cool the car is, or drive on the highway without people in other cars taking cellphone photos and videos. That’s pretty cool.
The four BMWs and the McLaren are in good company. Here is the full list of Road & Track’s 51 Coolest Cars of the Last 50 Years. R&T has also posted the list with excellent photos at http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/features/g4278/51-coolest-cars-of-the-last-50-years/. —Scott Blazey
Gurney Eagle-Westlake MKI
1967 Mazda Cosmo
1969 Lola T70
1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
1967 Ferrari 330 P4
1967 Ferrari Dino 206GT
1967 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
1966 Alfa Romeo Spider
1965 Matra Djet
1965 Shelby Cobra 427
1967 Shelby Mustang GT350R
1965 Jaguar E-Type Coupe Series 1 4.2
1964 Lincoln Continental
1970 Citroen SM
1970 Chaparral 2J
Dodge Daytona/Plymouth Superbird
1972 De Tomaso Pantera
1973 Lancia Stratos
1978 Pontiac Trans Am
1977 Lamborghini LP400
1977 Ford Bronco
1977 Lotus 78
1972 BMW 2002tii
Ferrari F40 and Ferrari 288 GTO
1986 Mercedes-Benz W124 Hammer
1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1
1985 SAAB 900 SPG
1987 Buick Grand National GNX
1987 Ruf CTR-001 Yellowbird
1988 BMW M5
1988 BMW M3
1989 Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO
1982 Porsche 956
1992 McLaren F1
Dodge Viper GTS
1995 Mazda Miata
1997 Thrust SSC
1997 Panoz Esperante
1991 Mazda 787B
1992 Williams-Renault FW14B
2013 Caterham Seven
2005 Lotus Elise
2006 Corvette C6.R
2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302
2014 BMW i8
2014 Corvette C7
2013 Tesla Model S
2006 Ford GT and Ford GT40
[Photos courtesy of Road & Track.]
