The automotive world has produced certain vehicles so extraordinary, so groundbreaking, that keeping them in private garages feels almost criminal. From the tire-shredding legends like the Shelby Mustangs to the achingly beautiful curves of the Jaguar E-Type, and even relatively recent masterpieces like the Ferrari F50, these machines represent the pinnacle of automotive artistry and innovation.
Get ready to explore ten automotive treasures that deserve to be preserved behind velvet ropes, where enthusiasts can marvel at their significance. Our collection spans the spectrum from high-octane performance legends to everyday heroes that changed the way we drive – each one a testament to an era when cars weren’t just transportation, but rolling works of art worthy of preservation.
Toyota 2000GT
Before the 2000GT emerged, Japan was about as famous for sports cars as Switzerland is for beach resorts. But Toyota’s collaboration with Yamaha produced an automotive masterpiece that made the world’s jaw drop faster than an Italian supercar’s clutch. This wasn’t just a car – it was Japan’s declaration that they could play in the same sandbox as Europe’s finest.
Packing either a 2.0 or 2.3-liter straight-six under its impossibly long hood, the 2000GT didn’t just match Porsche 911s in performance – it matched the Jaguar E-Type in turning heads. With production numbers so low they make rare seem common (just 351 units), these rolling sculptures now command price tags north of $1 million. It’s the kind of car that transformed Japan’s automotive reputation from “reliable appliance maker” to “serious sports car contender” faster than you can say “paradigm shift.”
First-Generation Ford Mustang
The original Ford Mustang might not be the hardest classic to track down, but this automotive revolutionary deserves spotlights and plaques like a four-wheeled Mona Lisa. When it galloped onto the scene in 1964, it didn’t just introduce a new car – it birthed an entirely new category that had rival automakers scrambling back to their drawing boards.
Its formula proved intoxicating: a hood long enough to land a small aircraft paired with a abbreviated rear deck that screamed speed even standing still. But what really set hearts racing was what lurked under that stretched bonnet – a growling V8 that turned this pony into a thoroughbred muscle machine. The Mustang wasn’t just another new model; it was the opening chapter of Detroit’s most exciting story, launching an era when American muscle flexed its way into automotive legend.
DeLorean DMC-12
Despite being about as athletic as a three-legged sloth, the DeLorean DMC-12 managed to transcend its performance shortcomings to become an unlikely automotive icon. Thanks to a starring role as Doc Brown’s temporal taxi in Back to the Future, this stainless steel oddity with its skyward-opening doors transformed from automotive failure to pop culture phenomenon.
Under that brushed metal skin lurked a PRV V6 engine that managed to turn out an underwhelming 130 horses – barely enough to hit 88 mph, let alone travel through time. The 2.85-liter powerplant proved about as exciting as lukewarm coffee, mustering a mere 153 lb-ft of torque. The company’s build quality matched its performance figures – abysmal – and by 1983, DeLorean had vanished faster than Marty McFly in a temporal displacement. Yet somehow, this mechanical mediocrity’s failings only added to its charm, making it less of a sports car and more of a rolling piece of ’80s memorabilia.
Ferrari 250 GTO
If automotive royalty had a crown jewel, the Ferrari 250 GTO would wear it proudly. With only 36 examples ever crafted and price tags that make luxury mansions look like bargain-bin purchases (we’re talking up to $70 million), this isn’t just a car – it’s a rolling masterpiece that belongs behind museum glass.
Born for battle in the FIA’s Group 3 Grand Touring category, this prancing horse packed a Tipo 168/62 Colombo V12 that sang an Italian opera under its sculpted hood. But perhaps most fascinating was the exclusive club of original ownership – you couldn’t just walk into a dealership with a fat checkbook. Getting your hands on a 250 GTO meant passing a personal inspection from Il Commendatore himself, Enzo Ferrari, along with his American lieutenant Luigi Chinetti. Talk about an exclusive club – even modern-day billionaires can’t buy that kind of automotive pedigree.
Fiat Multipla
While the Fiat Multipla might look like the result of a design team’s fever dream, this quirky people-mover is slowly earning its place in automotive history – not for its beauty (definitely not for its beauty), but for being brilliantly bizarre. As these unconventional MPVs become increasingly scarce on roads, car enthusiasts are finally looking past its, shall we say, distinctive appearance to recognize the genius hiding beneath those controversial curves.
Beyond its face that only a mother could love, the Multipla packed more practical innovation than a Swiss Army knife. Its three-across seating in both rows wasn’t just different – it was revolutionary, offering space utilization that would make modern crossover designers blush. Throw in windows big enough to make fish tanks jealous, and you had an interior that felt more like a greenhouse than a car cabin. Today’s SUVs might flex their “utility” credentials, but they’re really just playing catch-up to this Italian oddball that dared to be different.
Lamborghini Miura
The Lamborghini Miura isn’t just a supercar – it’s the supercar that wrote the rulebook, a four-wheeled revolution that made everything before it look like horse-drawn carriages. With a design that could make a sculptor weep and curves that seemed to bend the laws of physics, this Italian masterpiece didn’t just raise the bar – it launched it into the stratosphere.
Beneath that sculpted hood lurked a 3.9-liter V12 beast that transformed gasoline into automotive poetry. Ironically, the Miura’s existence was something of a corporate rebellion – Ferruccio Lamborghini himself initially turned his nose up at the project like a wine connoisseur sampling bargain bin plonk. But even the stubborn bull had to admit when he was wrong, and the Miura soon became Lamborghini’s crown jewel, defining both the company and an entire era of automotive excellence. Talk about a happy accident – sometimes the best creations come from ignored orders.
Lancia 037
The Lancia 037 remains the final two-wheel-drive car to win the World Rally Championship. Its achievement made even more remarkable by its 1983 victory against the titan, the four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro, makes it even more remarkable.
Lancia also produced a few hundred 037s for the road, each with the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder supercharged engine found in the earlier Fiat Abarth 131 rally cars. These engines produced 292 horsepower and 167 lb-ft of torque in the street car, the 037 Stradale, but that would rise to 325 horsepower in the Evo 2 rally version.
Mazda Autozam AZ-1
The Autozam AZ-1 is rare in its native Japan, let alone in the United States. This Kei sports car was originally a Suzuki project before the manufacturer abandoned it to create its Cappuccino. Mazda’s design team then took over the AZ-1, with the first production version debuting in October 1992.
Its power came from a small 657 cc F6A DOHC 12-valve turbocharged inline-three engine, and the AZ-1 weighs just 1,587 lbs. Its lightness made it a blast in the corners, yet arguably, its standout feature was its impressive gullwing doors!
Aston Martin DB4
While the Aston Martin DB5 is most famous for its role in the James Bond films, its predecessor, the DB4, is just as good a grand tourer. Aston Martin produced the DB4 from 1958 to 1963, and it was, in fact, a standalone car that wasn’t a development of the previous DB Mark III nor did it evolve into the DB5.
Rather than a tubular chassis, it had its platform and a new straight-six engine by Tadek Marek. This produced 240 horsepower and 240 lb-ft of torque, and the DB4’s design would form the basis for the DB4 GT Zagato and the Lagonda Rapide four-door saloon.
BMW 3.0 CSL
The striking BMW 3.0 CSL was a homologation special of the BMW E9, introduced in 1972 to race in the European Touring Car Championship. Its large rear wing on the final version earned it the nickname “batmobile,” and it is in this form that the car is most fondly remembered.
Power came from the same engine used in the 3.0 CS, with the 3.0-liter engine producing up to 203 horsepower and 211 lb-ft of torque. The CSL would become a touring car legend, winning the driver’s title in the European Touring Car Championship six times.
