100 Cars That Matter

In 1987, a modified Porsche 911 from the little-known tuner Ruf beat the best supercars of the day as it became the fastest car in the world.

The 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 was a road and race car that dominated racing in 1929 and 1930.

The 1963 Aston Martin DB5 was a strikingly beautiful and powerful car, but it earned its place in history with a starring role in several James Bond films.

The 1992 Acura Integra GS-R fulfilled the fledgling automaker's performance mission and introduced buyers to accessible power at high revs.

The original Acura NSX proved supercars could be livable and reliable.

The 2005 Bugatti Veyron set the course for a revived Bugatti, a course that included big power and world speed records.

Honda blazed a trail in 1986 with its Acura luxury brand that Nissan and Toyota soon followed with Infiniti and Lexus, respectively. Although the Legend and Integra went on sale in the mid-1980s with the brand’s genesis (no pun intended), it wasn’t until the 1990s that both took off and...

They called it “King of the Hill”—and when it emerged in 1990, the Chevy Corvette ZR-1 would forever reformat what drivers thought about GM’s ever-evolving sports car. In the 1950s, the Chevy Corvette staked out a new performance frontier for General Motors. In the 1960s...

The second-generation Honda CRX Si dialed things up and paved the automaker's future.

The 1960 Chevrolet Corvair was developed for consumers who wanted affordable, fun cars. While it was killed by Ralph Nader's activism, that lead to much-needed safety regulations.

Inspired by its NASCAR racer, Buick turned the pedestrian Regal into a modern muscle car for the 1980s complete with a turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6.

The Elwood Engel-designed 1961 Lincoln Continental set the pace for luxury in the 1960s and to this day is the Lincoln that resonates most with classic car enthusiasts.

A 220-horsepower Yamaha-tuned V-6 and sporty suspension tuning made the 1989 Ford Taurus a real American sport sedan.

The Ford Explorer changed the face of the auto industry and defined what a Sport Utility Vehicle is.

Also-rans and wannabes would come and go, and some remain today, including the Chevrolet Camaro. But the Ford Mustang is the original pony car—a car that would define an entire segment in the years to come. The story began with Lee Iacocca, who championed a new kind of personal-luxury car...

Carroll Shelby raised a family and chickens, and nursed a leaky heart valve in Texas in the 1950s. He also raced cars and his body bore all the signs, scarred skin and busted bones. From those humble beginnings 36-year-old Shelby was already well on his way to becoming a globally known automotive...

In the late 1980s, post-K-car Chrysler was desperate for attention. The good fortune of the decade had begun to dwindle and the automaker knew it needed something big to turn the limelight back on its aging products. Enter the Dodge Viper. Chrysler made more than a splash in 1989 when the Viper...