Changing history cars

The cars that changed the world (and one that's about to)

Cars that changed the world. It's a contentious subject - for starters, how exactly do you define a

world-changing car?

THIS IS AHELL OF A QUESTION

Cars that changed the world. It's a contentious subject - for starters, But we mightdo see some of them how exactly you define a and why they made world-changing car?history

Citroen DS

Citroen DS The DS has been much-lauded for its oleopneumatic suspension system - which, it has to be said, never achieved widespread uptake in its entirety except by Citroen itself. However, the oleopneumatic concept was used by several manufacturers - including Rolls-Royce, BMW and Mercedes-Benz - in order either to improve ride quality or to offer a self-levelling suspension system.

What was more, the DS's rotating headlamps - which were linked to the steering and changed direction to shed light around corners - were a precursor to today's systems, now becoming commonplace on a huge variety of different models.

Land Rover

Land Rover While the Land Rover wasn't the first off-road vehicle, it was the first to be offered in production quantities to the public at large. In that, it offered people who lived in inaccessible areas a much easier way of getting around, not to mention giving farmers a welcome dose of easily-accessible utility. It also spawned the 4x4 segment of the new car market, which today is one of the most popular.

Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius Seemingly loved and hated in equal measure, the Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid car, and became the poster boy for the type. Today, almost every mainstream manufacturer has a hybrid of some sort in its range, and that popularity owes itself to the success of this forebear.

Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini Miura Widely acknowledged to be the first mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car, the Lamborghini Miura set out the template for what we consider to be a supercar today. The latest headline-grabbing hypercars from McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche can all trace their layout back to this model. It also happened to be one of the most sensationally beautiful cars ever built, proving that the car wasn't just the conveyance - it could be an object of desire, too.

Austin Seven

Austin Seven Not only did the Austin Seven mobilise much of Britain, but it was also built under license as far afield as America, Germany and Japan, helping to kick-start several automotive industries in the process. Partly for that reason, it's also thought that its control layout of three pedals, a steering wheel and a handbrake became a worldwide standard for manual cars, even though it wasn't the first car to feature this setup.

Lancia Lambda

Lancia Lambda Legend has it that a rough sea crossing on a large ship inspired Vincenzo Lancia to attempt to build a unitary body for his next model, the Lambda, and in doing so he created a form of car building that transformed the industry.

Unibody construction (the term 'monocoque' is often used incorrectly) is stronger and lighter than the traditional body-on-frame form that was used at the time, so it's no surprise that today it has become the default choice for almost all cars.

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S Electric cars have languished for decades at the bottom of the automotive industry, derided for their awful performance, poor range and often comedic styling. However, the Tesla Model S is modern, stylish, fast, practical, and has an entirely usable range. It is, in short, the car that's made electric cars a realistic proposition, and it looks set to herald a sea change in the way we view electricity as an alternative fuel.

Austin/Morris Mini

Austin/Morris Mini It was not the first front-wheel-drive car, of course but the Mini was the first car that took front-wheel-drive, mated it to a transverse engine, and showed just what that could achieve. With compact dimensions, enough space inside for four people, and a chuckle-rousing driving experience, the Mini provided cheap, practical, economical and fun transport for mililons. And, more than that, it turned out to be the template for almost every family car we see on the road today.

Ford Model T

Ford Model T Your car owes its existence to the Model T. That's no exaggeration, because if you own a mass-produced car - and we'll wager that if you own a car, it'll be one that's mass-produced - it'll have been built on a highly sophisticated version of the production line devised by Henry Ford for the Model T. Ford's vision brought the joys and practicalities of motoring to the masses, a proliferation which has resulted in a car becoming a part of life for people the world over.

Benz Patent Motorwagen

Benz Patent Motorwagen Of course,the car as we know it today could not exist without the internal combustion engine - and the man who first teamed the two up in a purpose-designed vehicle was Karl Benz. This was the result. You wouldn't really recognise it as a car, with its tiller steering and only three wheels - but with its 954cc engine, capable of less than one horsepower, a car it most certainly was.

But there's one more car that didn't quite make this list...

Toyota Mirai

Toyota Mirai Toyota will soon launch the first ever production fuel-cell vehicle. Like the Prius, Toyota's other entrant in this list, the Mirai is not the first to use its ground-breaking fuel-cell technology, but it is the first to make it widely available. Fuel-cell vehicles are thought to offer many solutions to the current problems surrounding internal combustion engines, and if that proves to be correct, the Mirai could just be one of the most important cars of our time. So while it hasn't changed the world just yet, it might be about to.

Audi R10 TDI

Audi R10 TDI For bringing diesel power to racing When a top Audi exec first heard the R10 he thought something was terribly wrong. In fact its diesel engine was so quiet, the sound he heard was actually the tyres slapping the road. Like it or not, since its 2006 debut, only diesels have won Le Mans.

Thrust SSC

Thrust SSC For going faster than sound It might look a bit shonky compared its successor, Bloodhound, but in 1997 it travelled at 763mph, becoming the first car to break the sound barrier. It’s held the record ever since, which tells you just how incredible that number actually was.

VW Beetle

VW Beetle For being Europe’s Model T When Adolf Hitler asked - or rather, ordered Ferdinand Porsche to design a simple, inexpensive car for the people, the Beetle was his answer. It put millions of ordinary citizens on the road, and inspired the rear-engine layout of Porsche’s later 911.

Bugatti Veyron

Bugatti Veyron For being the Concorde of cars Was a 253mph road car really necessary? Of course not. You could ask similar questions of the moon landings, or of the Taj Mahal. But this wasn’t about meeting a practical demand - it was about mankind showing off to the universe. And it worked.

Nissan Qashqai

Nissan Qashqai For inventing crossovers There was a much simpler time when a saloon was a saloon and a hatchback a hatchback. Then the Qashqai came along and suddenly everything borrowed a bit of everything else, and the global carscape changed forever. Was it for the better?

Audi Quattro

Audi Quattro For bringing 4WD to rallying Before this thing came along, rally cars had been joyously swinging their back around every corner until the rear wheels found enough grip to push onwards.

Backs still swayed when four-wheel-drive arrived, just at much higher speeds‌

Toyota Hilux

Toyota Hilux For being indestructible Car manufacturers spend millions of pounds making sure their cars don’t fall apart or break down. But all they really need is to take a good look at a Hilux, which - as TopGear proved on telly - is the toughest vehicle this side of a Chieftain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk

Google Streetview Cars

Google Streetview Cars For mapping Planet Earth At the last count they’d covered over five million miles and collected 20 petabytes of imagery. They’ve revolutionised route planning and helped us find some of the best roads in the world. And yet traditionalists say you can’t beat a map. Nonsense.

Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Cherokee For being the first proper SUV The SUV had existed as a loose concept since the Thirties - then there was the Ford Bronco - but the 1984 Cherokee was the first to really nail the recipe of off-road toughness, pooch-in-the-back practicality plus an important dose of leathery poshness.

Reva G-Wiz

Reva G-Wiz Because we must learn from our mistakes‌ While the Mini demonstrated all that was good about small cars, the G-Wiz did precisely the opposite. Not only was it ugly, poorly made and badly designed, but it would almost certainly kill you in a crash.

Unfortunately this was proven to be true.

Ford Mustang

Ford Mustang For bringing power to the people It bought style and performance to the people. In the first six months it became the fastest-selling car in history, and by 18 months over a million had been built.

That was in 1964‌ and it’s only just coming to the UK in right-hand-drive.

Lunar Rover

Lunar Rover For driving on the Moon It changed the world by leaving it on a rocket. Some 250,000 miles later it landed on the Moon aboard the Lunar Module - on three separate missions - and began exploring the surface, helping astronauts cover more miles and collect more rocks.

Cooper T43

Cooper T43 For shaping modern F1 When the T43 finished the 1958 Argentine GP - with Stirling Moss in charge - it became the first ever mid-engined car to win an F1 race. It might have had the physical presence of a housefly, but it was the inspiration for the cars we have today.

Ford GT40

Ford GT40 For beating Ferrari with muscle After Enzo blocked a deal for Ford to buy Ferrari, Henry Ford II ordered his racing division to build a car that could destroy the Italians at Le Mans. In 1966 he got his wish, when three GT40s crossed the line in flying formation‌ in first, second and third.

Bugatti T35

Bugatti T35 The Type 35 was Bugatti’s most successful racing car ever built. Manufactured in France between 1926 and 1930, it won over a thousand races, including the Grand Prix Championship in 1926, after setting 47 records in the two years prior to that. In its hay day the Bugatti Type 35 was winning an average of 14 races a week.

CitroĂŤn Traction Avant

Citroën Traction Avant 1934–1957 Traction Avant is French for “front-wheel drive.” This was the first unitary bodied, front-wheel drive production car in the world. The Traction Avant pioneered front-wheel drive would transform first European then the world’s mass production market.

Fiat 500

Fiat 500 Like the Beetle and Model T, the Fiat Cinquecento (500) was built around the world (but usually under license, rather than by Ford or VW’s direct overseas production method). And while it did help to put the Italian masses on the road like its American and German counterparts it was the first true city car, as it measured less than three meters.

It was also nimble, light, and fuel-efficient due not only to its diminutive powerplant (initially a 479cc inline two-cylinder) but also to its aerodynamics (its coefficient of aerodynamic drag was about 0.38, quite low for a family car).

Porsche 918

Porsche 918 This is where hybrids begin to get exciting. As all modern cars face the same environmental constraints, it was only a matter of time before a sports car was designed to use a hybrid drivetrain (and there are now at least two others). But the 2013 Porsche 918 was first.

It uses 4.6L V8 and two electric motors, one each per axle to help the car along, for a combined output of 887hp. It is capable of close to 350km/hr and can accelerate to 100km/hr from a complete stop in about 3.0s. It also achieves a combined fuel economy of 11 L/100 km or nearly double the Porsche Carrera GT’s economy.

And of course...

THE WORLD’S BEST SELLING CAR

Little Tykes Cozy Coupe

Little Tykes Cozy Coupe For being everyone’s first wheels You might think the world’s best-selling car is some bland Toyota or a hillbilly pickup truck. But nope, it’s actually the Cozy Coupe - the plastic contraption that gave a billion kids their first fix of driving, and most likely their very first crash.