The 50 greatest British cars

We’re now updating these with input from our own writers, and these are the results.

We deliberately haven’t included any cars since 2021 as it can take time to judge how good a car actually is in the wider sense:

It should have re-ignited Lotus, but the Evora never rode a sales curve of any consequence despite its superb dynamic package, ample performance and an interior finally furnished to near-competitive standards.

A huge achievement, as much for business and technical terms as the car itself. A carbon tub, an unexpectedly fine ride and a twin turbo V8 of gruffly scintillating performance, but the whole failed to gel to beat its Ferrari contemporary.

The F-Type couldn’t be expected to reignite the excitement of the E-Type, but it has the looks and go for the task, if not quite the handling. The coupe is very handsome, but both versions sold slowly.

Named after the London to Mexico rally victory, power came from a 88bhp Kent Crossflow engine, with a reinforced shell and suspension it shared with the RS1600, this was the entertaining road-going version of a serial rally winner.

The car that BMW product development guru Wolfgang Reitzle was most excited to gain creative control of, and that showed in this beautifully conceived, highly sophisticated third-generation Range Rover, which Dr Reitzle was reunited with when he launched it under Ford's ownership.

Was the Sagaris peak TVR? It was a no less startling sight than its predecessors, it had the thrust to induce mild terror and the handling – just - to hold things together.

Sensational Giorgetto Giugiaro wedge made real using a steel backbone chassis, glassfibre body and Lotus’s twin cam four, later turbocharged. Superb handling and steering but fragile. The late life V8s were disappointing.

Not as effortlessly beautiful as the DB9 it replaced, but better in almost every other way. Its superb handling, pliant ride and finely furnished interior compensate for the dull steering. One of the best luxury GTs.

A millennial Caterham with even less bodywork, the Atom was the brilliant conception of Coventry University student Niki Smart. Usually Honda-powered, the Atom is ferociously fast, handles brilliantly and provides entertainment in inverse proportion to its comforts.

A great concept, ruined by Rover’s poor quality. An artfully elongated, V8-propelled Ferrari Daytona hatchback, its simple, well-developed suspension and fresh interior won it a Car of the Year award. Reputation-crushing unreliability gongs came later.

Until the Mazda MX-5 arrived, the most popular sports car of all time. Crisply handsome lines, decent performance and handling, plenty of space, robust mechanicals and a keen price kept the B alive for far longer than was decent. GT a pleasing sportshatch, too.

A handsome slice of elegant, handmade heft, launched as a six cylinder in 1967. The V8 saloon, as Aston perversely labelled this coupe, just about kept the company afloat during the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

It came several years after the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne, but the Sport was a king-size hit for JLR, rapidly becoming its best-seller and reputedly Ford's most profitable vehicle. Based on a cut-down Discovery with its separate chassis, but a decently sporting drive despite its heft.

The world’s first monocoque glassfibre car, the Coventry Climax powered Elite was fast, nimble, light and pretty. Fragile and noisy, but an amazing accomplishment for the era and from so tiny a company.

Continuous improvement over a long life yielded ever greater sales, spectacularly so in its last four years. Nicknamed Bullnose after its rounded grille, the Oxford enabled Morris to become one of Britain’s dominant pre-war marques - and make Mr Morris a billionaire in today's money.

A very international project, the car that put crossovers on every street was mainly the work of Nissan’s London and Cranfield design and engineering hubs. Sunderland built the bulk of this clever, highly influential car.

Project Cardinal was attractively styled and entirely conventional, the key to its success right-sizing, right-pricing and legendarily tight cost control, the Cortina formula dominating UK car sales for the next 20 years.

An early 2.0 executive car and the first winner of the Car of the Year award. Highlights: a steel base unit hung with unstressed panels, advanced suspension, provision for a gas turbine, many safety features and a plushly modern interior.

A progeny of Goodwood and Munich, the Ghost blends everything a Rolls-Royce should be with an unexpected and hugely satisfying dynamic strand. Quite possibly the most enjoyable limousine (for drivers) yet conceived.

Difficult to reinvent, but BMW and Rover succeeded, turning the Mini into a premium hatch of great style and quality while retaining much of the original’s character. It debuted a much-copied options system too.

Bridged the DB7 era and the advent of the new VH platform that would be the mainstay of Astons for years. Handsome, rapid and surprisingly deft, if spoiled for some by its paddleshift transmission. Relatively rare.

Started life with a V12 and all-wheel drive, but emerged with rear-drive V6 power. The shapely, attention-getting design survived largely intact, however. Stunned with its 7.9sec 0-100mph time, until McLaren’s F1 bettered it.

The same front-drive, gears-in-the-sump, space-maximising idea as the Mini, but with interconnected fluid suspension and Pininfarina styling. The world’s best small family car in ‘62, and Britain’s best-seller for 10 years.

It costs almost £1.5m, its battery pack weighs almost as much as an early Elise, but demolishes a Chiron to 186mph. Soundscape apart, the Evija serves traditional Lotus sensations, aided by hydraulic PAS and servo brakes.

First in a long line of these Carrozzeria Touring designed, superleggera constructed coupes, the DB4 was aesthetically the purest of the DB4, 5 and 6 and apart from the Vantage GT, the lightest and most agile, too.

A bit like replacing a Bakelite telephone with a smartphone, the new Defender swaps exposed rivets and a cramped cockpit for a compellingly lux utility finish and hugely enhanced ability in every dimension. So good that it seems to have stolen many sales of its sister car, the Discovery.

A matching trio of stats – 800 metric bhp, 800kg of downforce and 800 Nm of torque  - more than hint at the Senna’s mission, but fail to convey its kidney-compacting cornering power, ferocious go or the effectiveness of its powertrain. And it’s beguilingly easy to drive.

The potential of Donald Healey’s handsome 1952 motor show car was spotted by BMC boss Leonard Lord, who immediately did a deal that saw it built by Austin and exported, in ever-growing numbers, to the US.

Reckoned to the world’s first sportscar, not so much for outright performance as its robust, all-round capability. Its engine liked to rev and it handled well for its day. Stopping was a challenge, but the Prince Henry won many races.

A descendent, via the 650S, of the original MP4 12C, the 720S was re-engineered to spectacular, 5 star road test award-winning effect. 0-60mph in 2.9sec and 100mph in 5.6sec are staggering enough, but the real joy is throttle-adjustable handling and its supple, bump-shrugging ride.

The grandest of grand tourers, the rakish Continental R was good for triple-digit cruising with almost no wind noise, and 20mpg from its 4.6-litre six-cylinder. Its aerodynamically-tested aluminium body was by H.J. Mulliner.

Tiny Jensen managed to pioneer full-time four-wheel drive in combination with ABS anti-lock brakes aboard the handsome Interceptor, a technical achievement unmatched for more than a decade.

Transformed the handling of small family saloons while providing a fine blend of the essentials, performance apart. That improved with the A Series engine versions in 1952. The first British car to sell a million.

This car prompted Autocar to name a Rolls-Royce “the best car in the world’, its reliability and near-silent running earning the car much admiration. Almost 8000 were made, many surviving to this day.

A car that fuses brilliance in so many areas, from its fulsomely communicative steering, to its chassis balance, elastic ride, throaty performance and surprising refinement. It’s pretty too, and so small now.

Heavier than the DB4, but with more power, faired in headlights and a starring role in a certain film series makes the handsome DB5 one of Britain’s most famous cars and a fine set of wheels for James Bond.

Jaguar’s surprise early foray into the premium EV world was mighty impressive with its novel proportions and bespoke platform, despite making less impact than hoped for. A harbinger of Jaguar’s all-electric future, coming soon…

Originally conceived as a limited edition, the Elise has led a stellar career as the choice for the keen driver prepared to sacrifice utility for the tactile and aural joy that is this exquisitely dynamic Lotus.

A road-going version of Jaguar’s triple Le Mans winner, complete with 250bhp dry sump engine. Civilised with windows, a hood, interior furnishings and bumpers, but shorn of the D-Type’s dramatic offset tailfin.

Britain’s Model T Ford, it succeeded because it was a scaled-down car, complete with four-cylinder engine, rather than a scaled-up motorbike. Long-lived with a huge variety of bodies, including some very stylish sports numbers.

WO Bentley himself did not approve of his cars being supercharged, but forced induction was the key to the first two of a quartet of consecutive Le Mans 24 Hour victories from 1927, first with a 3.0 litre, then a 4.5.

Another high-achieving Jaguar, the XJ was an exquisite blend of low-roofed three-box proportion, perfect stance, sporting character and extraordinary refinement. And all for a modest price.

McLaren aimed to make the best driver’s car in the world with the F1-succeeding P1, and got very close to this subjective goal. Blitzing the legendarily brief in-gear times of its F1 predecessor with a 903bhp hybrid drivetrain earned it another gold star.

A product of revenge, in this case Ford’s, on Enzo Ferrari for reneging on a plan to sell his company to the Blue Oval. The car itself, though, was largely developed in Britain and after early failures scored a Ferrari-trouncing 1-2-3 in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Originally a Lotus kit car, the Seven was all about simplicity and power to weight ratios. Decades of development have produced more speed, more grip and more exhilaration and more refinement too. Among the most joyously raw motoring available.

A mainstay for farmers, the emergency services, armies, utilities, royalty, intrepid post-war explorers and as the decades rolled by, a growing band of passionate enthusiasts. A reassuringly familiar part of Britain.

The world’s first hypercar, weight-pared to the max, powered by a magnificent 627bhp BMW V12 and seating three, the driver centrally. Broke 100mph in 6.3sec and 200mph in 28.0sec and handled too, but could snare the over-ambitious. Oh, and it also won Le Mans.

Not the first luxury off-roader, and initially not that luxurious either, but hugely able both off-road and on. Evolved at a painfully glacial pace, gradually gaining extra doors, a diesel option, upmarket features and an ever-widening fanbase - especially when it eventually reached the US in 1987.

The shape, the power, the sophistication, the glamour, the speed, the six cylinders, the clever independent rear suspension, the dramatic clamshell bonnet, the weirdly narrow track – all made the E-Type glorious, the more so because of its bargain price.

And the winner is... the Mini. Mini by name, but actually pretty maxi inside. It’s a full four-seater, and could genuinely be used as family transportation, obliterating the 50s' micro-car class at an instant; that was the real brilliance of the Issigonis design.

The Mini wasn’t quite the first transverse engine, front-drive car, but it popularized a format that fundamentally altered the way most cars’ mechanicals were laid out. In the days when rear-drive cars were skittish in the wet and wandery in a cross-wind, the super-stable Mini shaped the future of Europe’s small cars. Icing on the cake? They are a hoot to drive.

Many firms can make a grand car from a large one. But to make the UK's greatest car also one of its smallest? That's its final triumph.

If you enjoyed this story, please click the Follow button above to see more like it from Autocar