St Valentine’s Day is nearly here again. When you demonstrate to your other half just how much you adore them by showering them with overpriced, wilted flowers, inappropriate, wrongly-sized underwear and cheap cava.
This will be followed by a ruinously expensive set-menu meal in an overcrowded restaurant, surrounded by dozens of other uncomfortable looking couples desperately trying to find something to talk about before the surly staff sling you out to make way for another batch of lovers on the verge of an argument over whose stupid idea it was to go out on the 14th anyway. But if your lack of personality, less than Hollywood looks and, by now, empty wallet fails to do the trick, perhaps the car you drive them home in will. MSN Cars picks some of the sexiest cars for the most romantic day of the year.
Ferrari 250 SWB California Spyder
Well let’s start with an obvious one shall we? Let’s face it, you really can’t go wrong with something knee-high, red and Italian with a prancing horse on the bonnet. A Ferrari obviously implies you’re loaded but a new one will only help you pick-up glamour models as everyone will think you’re a footballer. But the California is one of the most elegant Ferraris ever made and was built in response to the demands of wealthy Americans who wanted an open version of the 250GT to enjoy the West Coast sunshine, hence the name. Just 108 were built between 1957 and 1962 and all differed slightly in their specifications but every one offered at least 280bhp from a three-litre V12. A California owner is guaranteed to have good taste and very deep pockets as it will set him back over £600,000. The car will also strike a chord with any young lady who has seen classic 80s flick Ferris Bueller’s Day Off so she’ll think you’ve got a reckless side to you as well.
Jaguar E-Type
Arguably the sexiest car ever produced, the E-Type epitomises the days of mini skirts, free love and Swinging London; days that have sadly passed. Designed by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, the E-Type was a revelation when it was unveiled in 1961 for its sensational styling, 150mph top speed (at least in the specially prepared press cars), and sophisticated suspension and braking, all at a price well below that of the competition. In fact it is so good looking that it’s currently the star of an exhibition at London’s Design Museum. It had a string of famous owners including Stirling Moss, Peter Sellers, Twiggy and let’s not forget the Austin Powers 'Shaguar'. That phallic bonnet may invite unfair jokes about the size of your manhood but the E-Type had the performance to back up its looks and was racing success from the outset. Sadly, like most of us, the E-Type became bloated and lost its looks over the years and will probably break down on the way home, leaving you to wait for the RAC while your date gets a taxi home.
Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
If an 80 year old man who just happens to be dating three 20-something models simultaneously, and lives in a Hollywood mansion filled with dozens more, tells you a car is the sexiest ever made then it’s probably worth listening to him. Legendary Playboy Publisher Hugh Hefner claims just that about the 1955 Mercedes 300SL, known as the 'Gullwing' because of the top hinged doors which open like a pair of bird’s wings. As well as those fantastic doors the 300SL was also the first production car to use fuel injection rather than carburettors and as such was actually more powerful than the 300SLR racer on which it was based and in which Stirling Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia. It was only produced for two years so the Gullwing is incredibly rare, worth over half a million dollars. Those wide sills and tiny doors will also provide a stern test of your date’s ladylike qualities; will she slip in demurely, knees together or flash her knickers, Jodie Marsh starlet style?
Porsche 911
Tricky one this, the 911 has been hanging around for so long and gone through so many incarnations, choosing the right one to impress the opposite sex can be a minefield. The classically glamorous 60s models are probably best left for the fairer sex; think Jacqueline Bissett, Steve McQueen’s long suffering girlfriend in Bullitt. Go for a 70s version and you probably won’t arrive for the date at all, having exited the road backwards at the first greasy corner. Turn up in a whale-tailed, pin-striped interior, red braces 80s one and well, she’ll think you’re a bit of a merchant banker really. Which leaves the current 997 which, thanks to over 40 years of continuous tinkering by those amazing backroom boys in Stuttgart has been transformed from an engineering dead-end into a driving paragon. In fact the Porsche really is a dream date itself; pretty, refined, dependable and exciting enough to keep you up all night.
Maserati Quattroporte
Only the Italians could make such a prosaic term as 'four doors' sound sexy and only Maserati could make it look so stunning. Easily the best looking saloon and perhaps the best looking car on the market, the Quattroporte goes as well as it looks thanks to a 400bhp V8 under that sculpted bonnet. Italy’s playboy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has one which beats Tony Blair’s Jaguar hands down and naturally Jean Todt, Ferrari Managing Director has one as his company car. The Quattroporte is the latest in a long line of sexy saloons from Maserati, stretching back to the original in 1963. In the words of a friend of mine: "I bought a Quattroporte last year and as soon as I squeezed behind the wheel my almost complete invisibility to women ended." And of course being a luxury saloon it has room for four should you be feeling particularly amorous and a cavernous back seat covered in fine Italian leather, which is a doddle to wipe clean.
Alfa Romeo Duetto
Mention the Alfa Spider and most people will instantly think of 1967 film The Graduate; in which angry young man Benjamin Braddock - played by Dustin Hoffman - roared around in one before seducing the wife of his father’s business partner. In fact the model, launched just the year before became so associated with the film that it was actually known as the 'Graduate' in the States. A delicate little two-seater droptop based on the Giulia chassis, the Duetto featured disc brakes, a five-speed gearbox, independent front suspension and most importantly, stunning looks courtesy of Pininfarina. The real reason it makes the list though is that it helped Hoffman pull not only Mrs Robinson - as played by Anne Bancroft - but also her daughter Elaine - Katherine Ross. Mother and daughter but only two seats; decisions, decisions.
Mini
A surprising choice among such exotic fare but that is perhaps exactly the point, a Mini has always been able to hold its own in any company whether on the rally stages of Monte Carlo, the streets of Swinging 60s London or parked on the drive of a country pile. The Mini is a truly classless car, driven by rockstars and royalty. Famous owners include The Beatles, Steve McQueen, Twiggy, Clint Eastwood and, unfortunately as it turned out, Marc Bolan. Turn up in a Mini and you’ll keep your date guessing about the size of your wallet and no-one could ever accuse it of being a phallic substitute. It does mean you’ll have to display a bit more charm and sparkling wit of course. BMW have largely succeeded in endowing the new MINI with the same kind of classless appeal. This is despite the best efforts of a London based estate agent to destroy the MINI’s street cred by equipping their staff – few of whom appear to have a single driving licence between them - with a fleet of sludge green models covered in vile corporate graffiti.
Aston Martin DB5
Let’s face it, all men fantasise that somewhere inside their stoop-shouldered, round-bellied, balding body there is a dinner-jacketed James Bond waiting to leap out and seduce female double agents. However a DB5 is probably the closest any of us is going to get. Forever associated with the world’s least discrete secret agent, the DB5 first appeared on the roads in 1963 and hit the silver screen a year later in Goldfinger, alongside Sean Connery. One of the film cars recently fetched over £1m at auction in the US. Ian Fleming’s Bond had originally driven a vintage Bentley in the first books before being put behind the wheel of a DB Mark III in the Goldfinger novel. Such is the mystique surrounding the model that turning up in one is a guaranteed knicker-loosener and the machine guns, oil slick maker and smoke screen may prove useful in evading a jealous husband. And there’s always the ejector seat if she proves more trouble than she’s worth.
Land Rover Defender
Turn up in a gleaming Chelsea tractor and most women will think you’re a prat intent on destroying the ozone layer, melting the icecaps and clubbing baby seals. Turn up in an old Landie though and she’ll believe you spend your weekends planting forests, leading mountain rescue teams and birthing calves. Inspired by the WWII Jeep, the Land Rover was launched in 1948 and panelled in aluminium due to a post-war steel shortage. The car’s long association with the armed forces will do your image no harm at all or chuck a couple of bales of hay in the back and casually drop a few references to your country estate to do wonders for your chances of getting lucky. The Tomb Raider spec short wheelbase number is the butchest. Just don’t make the mistake of actually driving your date anywhere as she’ll soon be frozen, deafened and shaken to the core with very little interest in romance.
Lamborghini Miura
Quite possibly the sexiest car ever built and the one that set the template for all modern mid-engined supercars with its glorious V12 mounted behind the driver. The car simply astonished people when it was unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show clad in a swooping body designed by young designer Marcello Gandini working at Bertone, the Miura was a showstopper. Such was its impact that there are still arguments over exactly who designed it. The large round headlights with their Sophia Loren style 'eyelashes', swooping wings and curvaceous hips give the Miura the instant sex appeal of an automotive Sophia Loren that will make grown-ups of both sexes putty in your hands. Now worth in the region of £200,000 early Miuras had an unfortunate reputation for bursting into flames thanks to Lamborghini’s use of racing carburettors which filled with fuel at traffic lights. Your companion may also find herself roasted by the heat soak from the mighty engine, terrified by the way the front end lifts at speed and get her fingers mangled by the upswept rear edge of the door.
Source: MSN Autos
