The variety of automobiles that have emerged from the world’s factories is awe-inspiring, mind-boggling, and often amusing.

 

But if you had to pick one car from among this vast crowd that would bear the title; “The Greatest” —could you?  Could anyone? 

 

Every year at the Pebble Beach resort in California and other top end car shows around the world, some of the most beautiful, elegant, and expensive cars are brought together for the concours d’elegance.

 

Ultimately, prizes are awarded based on such criteria as beauty and historical accuracy of a restoration. But what if the judges were asked to fan out and search for the greatest car or most significant car to ever sit atop four wheels?

 

Would any of these pristine automotive treasures even come close to meeting the requirements?

 

In 1999 a jury of automotive experts from 32 countries—among them journalists, museum curators, and historians—were asked took look back over the previous hundred years and pick the single car that most deserved the title “The Car of the Century” or the Greatest.

 

With few guidelines, over 700 cars were recommended from the thousands of nameplates that span the history of the automobile. The experts then pared this to 100. The internet allowed the public to vote on 25 finalists. They looked at automotive styling, engineering, innovation, and ingenuity to pick the most significant, influential and memorable vehicle.

 

Among the finalist were the Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Coupe, the Citroen 2CV, The Ford Mustang, and the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.  The Jeep, the Jaguar XKE, the Ferrari 250 GT, and the Corvette Stingray were also in contention.  All cars that would round out anyone’s fantasy collection.

 

It fell to the 135 jurors to pick the top five and ultimately the greatest car of all time.  It was a daunting task.

 

“Greatness comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s those who push the envelope and are unobtainable but to the rarest few, in other cases it’s those who hit the mainstream and make it possible for the masses to own an automobile. I don’t think I’ve ever faced a decision that was as difficult,” said automotive writer and juror, Paul Eisenstein.