18 unfairly overshadowed classics

Great cars that don’t get the credit they deserve

Behind every iconic classic car there’s a talented sibling that could have been a contender if only its big brother or sister had stopped hogging the limelight.

Here are 18 classics that have spent so long in the shadows they’re at risk of suffering vitamin D deficiency.
1. Porsche Boxster

Porsche stifled the mid-engine Boxster’s power for years, worried that it might steal sales from the more profitable, but less agile 911.

And it had every right to be worried. Even Porsche ambassador and WRC champ Walter Röhrl confessed he’d rather take the two-seater given an empty winding road and the pair to choose between.
2. Lamborghini Urraco

Ask most people to name a classic mid-engined Lamborghini from the 1970s or 1980s that isn’t a Countach or Miura and their face will likely be as blank as the cheque needed to cover a V12 resto.

But Lambo built a slew of V8-powered pocket supercars, starting with the Urraco in 1970, and ending with the last Jalpa (an updated version of the also forgotten Silhouette) in 1988.
3. Vauxhall VX220

A Lotus by another name, the VX220 was the result of Vauxhall teaming up with the Hethel boys to create a halo car, just as it had done a decade earlier with the Lotus Carlton.

Based on a stretched Elise platform, the striking VX featured friendlier handling and a grunty 2.2 Vauxhall engine (or thumping 2.0 turbo) for more accessible performance than the real Lotus offered. Shame about that badge, though.
4. Ferrari Dino 308GT4

The trouble with making the most beautiful car ever is that your next one is likely to look ugly in comparison. Ditching its trademark Pininfarina curves for then-fashionable creases really drove a wedge between Ferrari and fans of the Dino 246.

The much-faster, V8-powered 308 was universally praised for the way it drove, but Ferrari switched back to Pininfarina for its next car, the stunning 308GTB.
5. Dodge Charger

Repeated pop culture exposure has made the handsome ’68-’70 Charger one of the most unforgettable Detroit muscle cars.

What is forgotten is that Dodge produced an entirely different Charger in the two years before that. A fairly elegant fastback, it was offered with a range of V8 engines including the legendary 426 Hemi.
6. Maserati Merak

Confused with the similarly styled Bora, and often forgotten altogether in the rush to praise 911s and Ferraris of the same age, the stunning Merak deserves more love.

Unlike the Bora it features two tiny rear seats and a Citröen V6 instead of the two-seater’s V8. They cost half as much to buy, but are more than half the car.
7. TVR Chimaera

Often dismissed by hardcore fans as a soft option, the Chimaera struggles to muscle into a spotlight hogged by its aggressive Griffith and outlandish Cerbera siblings.

But the Chimaera is the most useable of the lot, reliable – thanks to a relatively mildly tuned Rover-derived V8 – and cracking value.
8. Lotus Elan M100

You need to be pretty sure your engineers can deliver the goods if you decide to resurrect the name of your most loved model for your latest one.

Lotus’ 1989 Elan certainly delivered plenty of cross-country pace from its front-wheel-drive chassis and Isuzu engines, but it sold in tiny numbers and was soon forgotten when the Elise arrived – a car that really could have carried the Elan badge off.
9. Mercedes SLC (C107)

The stretched-wheelbase 107 with the weird windows (those slats are there to allow a smaller side window that can be rolled fully down) is basically a tin-top SL with an extra dose of practicality.

It even spawned a homologation special, the rare 450SLC, and notched up success on the WRC rally stage. But they’re mostly forgotten today, and almost half the price of the roadster as a result.
10. Rover P5

Think Rover P5 and you likely picture the (comparatively) slinky coupé version with an engine bay stuffed full of ex-Buick aluminium V8.

But most examples sold were actually the upright saloon version and the V8 didn’t supplant the straight-six until almost a decade into production.
11. Ford Cortina II Lotus

The original Lotus Cortina had been a huge hit both on road and track thanks to its new twin-cam-topped Kent engine and coil-sprung suspension conversion (which was dropped when weaknesses became apparent).

Wider, heavier and slower, the Mk2 version was more useable but less exciting, driving or parked: it was built alongside Ford’s ordinary Cortinas, and looked just like them.
12. BMW M535i (E12)

Stories about the 1984 E28 M5 being the first BMW supercar conveniently forget that it had already produced a handmade, motorsport-derived hot Five: the E12 M535i.

Admittedly it didn’t get the M1’s 24-valve ‘six’, but its 12-valve 3.5 still pushed it to 140mph – and the driver firmly into its cool corduroy Recaros.
13. Fiat 600

Everybody loves the impossibly cute 500, meaning its 600 big brother rarely gets a look in.

But the 600 arrived in showrooms two years earlier and featured mod cons such as synchromesh and water-cooling for better cabin heating. And without the 600, we wouldn’t have the crazy Abarth 850TC.
14. Bugatti EB110

Overtaken in the Top-Trumps sense shortly after launch by the mighty McLaren F1, and in Bugatti’s own timeline, by the obscene-in-every-way Veyron, the EB110 deserves more love than it gets.

The four-wheel drive, quad-turbo V12 machine – engineered by a team led by ex-Lambo legend Paolo Stanzini – could reach speeds of up to 221mph in SS trim, but only 139 were built before Bugatti went belly up.
15. Peugeot 309 GTI

It’s difficult to get 10 seconds into a conversation about hot hatches without someone wheeling out a 205 GTI reference – see what I mean?

But spare a thought for its excellent 309 GTI big brother, which featured the same torquey, 130bhp 1.9, gorgeous 8-hole alloys and fully independent suspension as the top 205, but with a longer wheelbase for less spiky handling.
16. Volkswagen K70

The ’74 Golf represented a radical shift for Volkswagen thanks to its water-cooled engine and front-wheel drive.

Or did it? VW had actually trialled both four years earlier with the little-loved, NSU-engineered K70 saloon, which would become a template for the future Passat.
17. Mercury Cougar

A roomier, more luxurious Mustang, the 1967-70 Cougar featured the same running gear as its more famous brother, including the option of high-revving Boss 302 and asphalt-melting 428 Cobra Jet V8s.

There was no sexy fastback option, but the hideaway front headlights and pulsing sequential tail lights (cribbed from the Thunderbird) more than compensated. More expensive than the ’Stang when new, they’re great value today.
18. Alpine A310

Barely more than 1m tall, the gorgeous A110 casts a double decker bus-sized shadow over the rest of Alpine’s output. Which is why, despite a huge 13-year production run and wins in the rally and racing world, the A310 that followed is largely forgotten.

See an early car with the full-width, front-light setup and you might want to forget it. The ’76-on facelift cars were more conventionally handsome.

Great cars that don’t get the credit they deserve

1. Porsche Boxster

2. Lamborghini Urraco

3. Vauxhall VX220

4. Ferrari Dino 308GT4

5. Dodge Charger

6. Maserati Merak

7. TVR Chimaera

8. Lotus Elan M100

9. Mercedes SLC (C107)

10. Rover P5

11. Ford Cortina II Lotus

12. BMW M535i (E12)

13. Fiat 600

14. Bugatti EB110

15. Peugeot 309 GTI

16. Volkswagen K70

17. Mercury Cougar

18. Alpine A310