McLaren F1 or Toyota Prius: what are the 20th century’s most influential cars?

Deciding what was the most influential car of the 20th century isn’t the work of a mere 700-word column such as this. Fortunately, my friends at our sibling title Classic & Sports Car have done a thorough job so I don’t have to.

For their June 2026 issue, they took a shortlist of 10 cars from each decade of the 1900s and asked a five-strong judging panel of experts – all of whom I like and admire immensely and which included our own Steve Cropley – to vote for one car from each decade, then to pick an overall podium for the century.