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Ten Erotic Sports Cars From The 60s and 70s

by Simon Martin
1 December 2013 9 Comments

Men develop their lifelong obsessions at an early age. My own, and I suspect many blokes approaching their mid 40’s, include Northern Soul music, 70’s porn and how sporty cars looked in the late 60’s and 70’s...

It seems to be a fairly indisputable fact that men develop their lifelong obsessions at an early age.  My own, and I suspect many blokes approaching their mid 40’s, include Northern Soul music, 70’s porn, classic Vespas and how sporty cars looked in the late 60’s and 70’s.  So, here is a list of what I consider to be the most beautiful cars, largely of that era.  As the 80’s dawned cars became less interesting to me as either aerodynamics took over or the designers seemed to forget about two-seaters and coupes in favour of tarting up standard saloons and hatchbacks.  Yes, if you read on you will be absolutely entitled to call me a complete fucking hypocrite but the Mexico gets in.

Fiat Arbarth 124 Rally

Younger car buyers may have seen Fiat as a bit of a mass market shitbox-monger until the recent release of the cute little 500 but go back a few decades and this little fella was quite the thing of beauty.  I bet it didn’t work though and rusted through after 5 minutes parked up in Whitby.

Renault Alpine A110

Not to be confused with later Alpines which were more angular and generally hideous. This, like the Fiat, was from a time when all you needed was a shit load of spots, fat wheels and flared arches to be cool.  A fact ably demonstrated by the orange Mini in the same picture.

Volvo P1800

Yes, it’s Simon Templar’s motor but possibly not as you’ve seen it before.  Volvo’s have generally been too long and heavy to be decent rally cars, but I think I’d rather be in one of these rather than a Fiat if I was to hit a tree at speed in a Swedish forest.

Lancia Stratos

In some ways this is always seen as an obligatory entry in any discussion of older rally cars but the window design alone books its place for me.  It’s a genuine design classic that you can get fed up of seeing.

This, like the Fiat, was from a time when all you needed was a shit load of spots, fat wheels and flared arches to be cool.

Ford Escort RS Mexico

Iconic design and a real thing of beauty.  I recall a bloke near us having a Mark I Escort and he jacked up the back and had lighting underneath it, presumably so you could check out the transmission I guess.  It didn’t catch on.

Alfa Romeo GTV 1750

This is so pretty you could kiss it.  Any car list has to have an Alfa on it, not just because they are beautifully designed cars but so that Seat owners can realise they bought the wrong car.

Ford RS200

A bump into the 80’s here I’m afraid, and I include it not necessarily because it looks good, although I think it does, but because I think it was a massive missed opportunity for Ford.  In 1984 the Ford Capri was well past it’s sell by date and Ford were crying out for a sporty number to attract the more discerning young man.  Hot hatches were the order of the day but as they found out with the Puma some 13 years later, there was a demand for little sporty things that were not just family kid carriers with stripes.

Datsun 240z

The prettiest thing that Datsun/Nissan have ever produced, although the re-launched version is actually really nice too.  In fact, other than that they seem to make about 15 interchangeable 4×4 soft roaders these days.  The rally versions had huge knobbly tyres and they have a huge cult following in the US.

Triumph TR6

Had to get a British Classic on here somehow, and to be honest I think this is more of a hill climber than a rally car but it’s got a number and big fuck off wheels and arches going on so it’s in.

Sunbeam Alpine

Not to be confused with the early 80’s Talbot Sunbeam but it was made by the same group. Generally seen as an underpowered sixties chick wagon whose looks to it plenty of TV and film work at the time.  You may recall it from such boys classics as early Bond films, Get Carter and McVicar, all chic driven but the V8, Tiger version had much horses.

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image descriptionCOMMENTS

Bob 11:24 am, 4-Jan-2012

Once again Ferrari are acting like the dicks that they are and have said no to the new Stratos, shame, but not really a surprise apparantly their support was limited to 1 model but the good news is the company behind the new Stratos (that won't now be made) is going to re-do the Alpine A110 as their new car.....God I love cars!

Simon Martin 11:48 am, 4-Jan-2012

Hi Bob. Hawk made a Stratos which was on Top Gear, it sounded like a legend but slid all over the track under Stiggy. So they are attempting an Alpine eh? Can't wait to see it.

Bob 5:46 pm, 4-Jan-2012

Not sure if your allowed to put links on these comments, so if you go to Jalopnik you can see the article on the demise of the new Stratos and hopefully the birth of the new A110.

Steve 7:59 pm, 4-Jan-2012

Who edited this? This is lazy writing/spelling vs content in other sections. You've even got a picture of what appears to be a 'big wing' Ford Escort RS2000 replica with Mexico number plates on. 2/10. p.s., it's Abarth.

Simon Martin 11:12 am, 5-Jan-2012

Jesus Steve it's a typo in a short list article. It's still a pretty car no?. Are you correcting the whole of the internet? I suppose someone has to so it might as well be you. Bob, I found the link, that's a very pretty A110. http://jalopnik.com/a110/

Rogue_Leader 7:47 pm, 20-Jan-2012

Newsflash: cars aren't erotic. Top Gear is three civil servants, well over the hill, pissing public money up the wall. Sorry.

Simon Martin 9:58 am, 23-Jan-2012

Newsflash: Headlines are generally not written by the author. Not that I mentioned Top Gear other than a car appearing on it but far from pissing money up the wall it makes a large profit for the BBC.

BeeCee 8:45 pm, 27-Dec-2013

The Ford Mexico was a great motor. It was built by Ford AVO but unlike the RS1600 you didn't need to service it every couple of thousand miles. I had mine for three years and sold it in '76 with 60k on the clock. BC

Cool Jerk 11:22 pm, 6-Feb-2014

The RS200 wasn't intended for the roads. I think something like 500 were made for Group B rallying in the 80's, but one of them was involved in a horrendous accident that led to the end of Group B. Ford then sold the remainder as a limited edition.

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