The 10 Best-Looking Modern Cars – CarBuzz

What makes a beautiful car? We pondered that in our story on the ten most beautiful cars of all time, and concluded that no list will ever satisfy everybody, so we can do our best to assemble the best-looking cars to our eyes, based on purity of line and proportional perfection. So many factors influence design, and while we acknowledge functional requirements such as aerodynamics and practicality, we wouldn’t put a car on this list unless it’s also stunning to look at.

While we could put these cars in a different order, we’re sure you’d agree that they are all icons of design in some or other way, and that the winner is worthy of the title. What do you think about our list, and are your favorites on it? We kept the number to 10, so we honorably mention the ones that didn’t quite make it – but could easily have.

Related

10 Best-Looking Cars Revealed In 2024

From hypercars to luxury sedans, these are the coolest and most striking designs of the year.

12 Bugatti Chiron

Years: 2016-2024

Quick facts:

The Bugatti Veyron was VW boss Ferdinand Piëch’s pet project, with the brief to rewrite the history books, with no road map on how to get there. The engineers simply had to figure it out. After a prolonged gestation period and huge budget overruns, the Veyron was indeed a record breaker, combining unheard-of performance with Bugatti luxury and refinement. It also necessitated a successor using most of its hardware to break the project into the black.

So, the Chiron isn’t an all-new car, but managed to move the internal combustion engine’s goalposts even further along with its 1,578-hp quad-turbo W18 engine. But, importantly, the Chiron was also beautiful, finally pulling together all the strings into one cohesive design with striking eight-pod headlights, a low, aggressive stance, peerless detailing, exotic materials, and active aerodynamics. It’s a beast, but it’s also a beauty.

Related

Bugatti Tourbillon Vs. Bugatti Chiron: 7 Biggest Differences Between Bugatti’s Newest Hypercar And The Legend It Replaces

The Bugatti Tourbillon represents a new era for the brand under the stewardship of Mate Rimac, and it’s shaping up to be a special one.

11 Bentley Continental GT

Years: 2003-2011

Quick facts:

The idea of a more affordable Bentley that appealed to more buyers started with the Concept Java show car of 1994, but that more staid and traditional design never went into production. Instead, Bentley delivered a masterstroke with the 2003 Continental GT, which was a truly modern Bentley without sacrificing the brand’s luxury and performance focus. Many critics still prefer its quad round headlights to the latest Bentley’s bigger inner ones that can look awkward, making the original Conti a remarkably ageless design that still presents as elegantly as ever today. It also put Bentley on the map under the VW Group and was a big sales success, singlehandedly saving the company. That’s quite a resume.

Add CarBuzz to your Google News feed.

10 Ford GT

Years: 2016-2022

Quick facts:

Whereas the first-generation 2004-2006 Ford GT designed under J Mays recalled the GT40 Le Mans car of the ‘60s, the second-generation GT penned by Chris Svensson was a far more progressive, forward-looking design. It was unveiled 50 years after the GT40 won the 1966 Le Mans. Essentially a modern-day Le Mans car, the 2016 GT focused on aerodynamics, which dictated the entire design, including the teardrop profile and the openings in the bodywork guiding air toward the rear using a variation on the theme of flying buttresses. Svensson managed to create a cutting-edge supercar with recognizable GT40 and GT styling cues, made even more menacing and intimidating by its low height and near 79-inch width. It’s certainly the most memorable new Ford in recent history.

9 Maserati GranTurismo

Years: 2007-2019

Quick facts:

One of the reasons Maserati could keep the first-generation M145 GranTurismo on the market for 12 model years was its timeless design. Conceived as a four-seater coupe and convertible, the front-mid-engined layout dictated a long hood and an elongated shape that was given time to settle into naturally elegant proportions, not some truncated, stocky supercar. It was a big, comfortable GT, and all the traditional Maserati styling cues are present, such as the big oval grille and trio of fender vents. It simply has no bad angles, though it has to be said the coupe’s purity of line trumps the convertible’s.

Related

Stunning Special Edition Marks The End Of The Maserati GranTurismo

Don’t despair, as a replacement is just around the corner.

8 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

Years: 2018-2024

Quick facts:

We could have put any number of beautiful Astons here, as you can tell from the numerous honorable mentions, but the DBS Superleggera made it. Most Aston blend aggression and elegance very well, but the DBS manages to look even more purposeful, helped by C-shaped DRL and a trio of big air intakes in front, the center one the iconic Aston grille, and those trademark hood vents on either side. The theater continues down the sides with the pronounced side sills, the front fender vents that are open behind the wheels, and the wide haunches. It looks especially pleasing in red with a black roof.

7 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37

Years: 2020-2022

Quick facts:

The Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 is remarkable more for its innovative plug-in hybrid powertrain that uses superconductor technology, but it also happens to offer an extremely striking design alternative to the Aventador it’s based on. That might have something to do with the green-gold paint color of the promotional cars, the bronze alloys, but the fact remains that the more dramatic interpretation of the Aventador form factor is an unqualified success, imbuing the car with a typically Lambo aggression, but with enough styling elements foreshadowing upcoming fighting-bull cars to remain interesting and visually very arresting. Today, of course, all Lambos feature some sort of electrification, so this forerunner wasn’t only a neck craner, but also prophetic.

Related

Say Hello To The 820-Horsepower Lamborghini Sian

Lamborghini’s first-ever hybrid supercar has landed, limited to 63 units at $3.6 million a pop.

6 Koenigsegg Gemera

Years: 2025

Quick facts:

It would be unkind to characterize some of the Koenigseggs in the company’s short history as derivative or unremarkable in terms of styling, because their prices and capabilities more than make up for any apparent styling deficiencies in cars so purely made in a form-follows-function fashion. So it’s shocking that by far the best-looking Koenigsegg to date is its first four-seater, the upcoming Gemera. The dramatic visage and the huge front and side intakes are recognizably Koenigsegg, and the blacked-out, visor-like glasshouse soon dispel any doubts. But the longer form factor has stretched the shape into an extremely elegant car that’s both functional and good-looking. It demonstrates that a car can be both a Koenigsegg and drop-dead beautiful at the same time. On top of it all, it’s also a plug-in hybrid and also happens to be the quickest Koenigsegg ever, capable of getting to 60 mph in less than two seconds.

Related

BREAKING: Koenigsegg Gemera Swaps 3-Cylinder For Optional 2,300-HP V8

And A LOT of torque to boot.

5 Ferrari Monza SP1/SP2

Years: 2019-2023

Quick facts:

A new ‘Icona’ series of Ferraris started with the one-seater Monza SP1 and two-seater SP2 in 2018, of which only 499 were built in total at close to $2 million a piece. These stunning windshield-less speedsters ooze dynamism and aggression, yet are extremely elegant and minimalist in design, with visual weight pared back and a low frontal area due to a scant 45-inch height. Lacking a windscreen, the highest points are those headrest fairings falling gently away toward the back. Illegal on US roads due to lacking a windscreen frame, these rare beauties will forever be the preserve of wealthy individuals’ private collections. The mechanicals are essentially those of the 812 Superfast – a 799-hp 6.5L V12 connected to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Related

Official: Ferrari Monza SP1 And SP2 Break Cover In Italy

The two cars will be the first in a limited-edition special-series called ‘Icona.’

4 Lexus LC

Years: 2017-present

Quick facts:

More a GT than a sports car, the Lexus LC has curves in all the right places, with a long-hood design typical of classical sports coupes, a subtly rising wedge profile, muscularly swollen haunches, and truly exquisite detailing. Slightly less dramatic and featuring fewer controversial slashes and lines, it nevertheless stayed faithful to the Edward Lee-styled 2012 LF-LC concept car it’s based on, huge silver-bordered spindle grille and boomerang DRLs and all. The best engine is the charismatic naturally aspirated V8 in the elegant coupe body that features the cleanest lines, but the responsible LC also comes as a V6 hybrid and a convertible. It’s not the last word in sportiness, but who cares, if you look this good?

Related

Why The Lexus LC 500 Is A Modern-Day Classic

There are better cars out there but we wouldn’t buy any of them over the LC.

3 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Years: 2007-2010

Quick facts:

To dismiss the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione as a cynical marketing exercise because it was essentially a reskin of the first-generation Maserati GranTurismo – another car on this list – would be unkind, if only because it is absolutely gorgeous. Centro Stile Alfa Romeo brought out their finest to style the curvaceous 8C, and while it’s essentially the spiritual successor to the 1989-1991 SZ and RZ, it references the styling of ’50s and ’60s Alfa Romeos, and derives its name from the eight-cylinder 1931-1939 8C and six-cylinder 1948 6C 2500 Competizione. Having the intoxicating soundtrack of a Maserati-derived F136 naturally aspirated V8 engine built by Ferrari doesn’t hurt, of course, even if test-drive reactions were mixed. In total, 500 coupes and 329 Spiders were made. This highly collectible Alfa Romeo is a rare and covetable piece of rolling Italian sculpture.

2 Honorable Mentions

​​​​​​

These just missed our list, but could just as well have been included, if we could choose more than ten:

• 2004-2016 Aston Martin DB9
• 2020-present Ferrari Roma
• 2011 BAC Mono
• 2021-2022 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail
• 2019-present Apollo Intensa Emozione
• 2024 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale
• 2019-present G16 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe
• 1998-2006 Audi TT
• 2019-present C8 Audi RS6 Avant
• 2020-present Maserati MC20
• 2022-present De Tomaso P72

1 Dishonorable Mentions

Serious contenders for the ugliest-ever list of modern cars:

• Pontiac Aztek
• SsangYong Stavic/Rodius
• Subaru Tribeca
• BMW XM and iX
• Reliant Robin
• Aston Martin Lagonda Shooting Brake
• Chevy SSR
• Nissan Cube
• Fiat Multipla
• Chrysler PT Cruiser
• 2015-2022 Toyota Prius
• Tesla Cybertruck

Sources:
Source A (hyperlinked), Source B (hyperlinked), Source C (hyperlinked, etc)