What is the prettiest car ever built?
The Jags are great, but for sheer prettiness an early Alfa Duetto is hard to beat. But this does beat it - the fantastic Ferrari Dino 206SP:
This is about the best picture I could find on the net, but even this really doesn't do it justice. It makes a roadgoing Dino look almost ordinary.
Still trying to associate 'pretty' with cars, but I am getting there.
Certainly Coventry Climax's suggestion of the XK120 Coupe with spats is the closest yet.
That is PRETTY. The problem with the adjective is it has feminine connotations, nice to look at but maybe a bit girly. Nothing wrong with that, pretty girls do it for me every time, but for cars it gets harder. We might just accept a Lambo Miura as pretty, but certainly not a Countach. Ditto a Dino and not a Daytona. But even there am I confusing pretty with sexy?
If we allow the pretty girl analogy to add a bit of bling jewellery we could even accept an Austin (or Nash) Metropolitan, a Bugatti Type 55 or even in it's clean simplicity; a 1904 'Curved Dash' Oldsmobile. The Alfa that Valve Bounce suggested, or even the Lotus Elite (thanks Pre 80s TVR) fit too, and the XJ13 nearly qualifies on looks alone but the aggressive V12 intent behind it may mitigate against the purely visual implications of pretty.
For now, I can only add a sporty Austin Seven with a neat boat-tail and cycle wing body, but then again, am I crossing the line between pretty and cute?
Help !
Chris M.
As I feared at the outset, a lot of the cars posted so far are stunning, but just don't fit my mental definition of "pretty". The Elite does for sure, but the others tend to be handsome, sexy or stunning more than pretty.
So I second the Elite with all its dainty delicate beauty and clean lines and cuteness.
For me, pretty cars tend to have steel wheels (not exclusively), simple lines, a dipping nose and sloping tail, big doe eyes, a conspicuous lack of over-adornment and (again not exclusively) a roof.
Here are some more that I would define as pretty:
AC Ace (though even that is marginal in my mind)
Alfa Giulietta Sprint
ASA 1100GT
Fiat Samantha Vignale
MGA
Porsche 356
An impossible question, obviously, but prettiest has to be a Lancia Fulvia 1.6 HF, or an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint. Most handsome, on the other hand, is a Lancia Flaminia GT or a Ferrari 330GTC. Or an Aston DB4 Zagato. Or maybe the Embiricos Bentley... I told you it wasn't easy! If only I knew how to upload pictures I would dazzle you with my impeccable taste.
I have to agree with Elliott, pretty is a hard one to fathom. I mean, I'd never call this Aston pretty, but is it good looking? I'd have to say yes!
I'd never call this Aston pretty, but is it good looking?
It would be if you got rid of the ghastly bodykit... ;)
I think this is a pretty car
Definitely the term "pretty" has beaten me when it comes to cars. Some cars are stylish or good looking or stunning to look at, but can't, after several days of racking the old grey matter, find or think of a car as "pretty".
Sorry Russell, drawn a blank on this one.
Yep Russell, you chose a difficult adjective with 'pretty'.
James's three Italians may just fit, and the MGA even better, but the Porsche is just plain, a squashed VW, and the AC even in clean ACE form is still too tough and macho looking to qualify.
The Aston V8? No way!
A huge barge of a thing on a good day, and yes even worse with the later bodykit which both dates it and makes it look ugly.
No, we are all going to struggle with 'pretty'. The best one mentioned so far that fits is the Ferrari 206 'Dino' and I would go further to add the more common first generation 246, but definitely not the later 'chairs and flairs' version.
Chris M.
Ferrari 250 GT SWB. No competition....
(I'll take mine in dark blue, with tan leather interior please)
