The study carried out for the unfortunately named luxury motor insurers, Hiscox, found that the roar of a Maserati did the best job in the primal instinct department but that ordinary cars, such as the Volkswagen Polo, actually turned women off.
Celebrity psychologist David Moxon did the research. Moxon told me this week, "We saw significant peaks in the amount of testosterone, particularly in women. So we can confidently conclude that the roar of a luxury car engine actually does cause arousal." You beauty, I say.
Now, to ensure readers get the best possible chance in the rumpy-pumpy department we asked a panel of international experts to nominate the sexiest cars ever made.
Mick Walsh is the editor in chief of Classic & Sports Car magazine, the true auto porn mag for serious old car voyeurs (www. classicandsportscar.com). Walsh says these five "always get my automotive juices going, even when they are sitting silent".
Top of the list is the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C-2900 Mille Miglia. "From all angles this pre-war Italian beauty is as voluptuous as (Gina) Lollobrigida (actress and one-time love interest of Juan Manuel Fangio). Its hand-beaten aluminium body work is moulded sweater-girl style around Vittorio Jano's magnificent chassis and Grand Prix derived engine."
Walsh puts the Jaguar D-type next, then the Ferrari 250 GT SWB which he reckons is miles ahead of the rare and more valuable 250 GTO. Fourth is the Ferrari P4 Prototype -- "simply the sexiest sports racer ever" -- and finally, the Lamborghini Miura.
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RM Auctions boss Ian Kelleher (www.rmauctions.com) knows a bit about sexy cars. He sold the James Coburn 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder for a world record $13.6 million. He loves the 1965 Ferrari 250 LM: "a beast in a beauty's clothes". Number two is the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4. "To this day the 275, remains one of the most universally attractive, sexy and neck-twisting cars. A pure delight to drive and a guaranteed ego-booster to own."
Then it's the 1934 Packard Twelve Runabout by LeBaron. "Perhaps the single most attractive, desirable and rare Packard in existence. These LeBaron-bodied Packards were works of art, combining the mighty 12-cylinder engine with a true piece of artwork in its coachbuilt design. Number four is the 1961-62 Aston Martin Zagato. "The penultimate closed Aston Martin, it featured truly unique and sexy coachwork, supplied by the geniuses at Zagato. They remain coveted as one of the most beautiful, yet performance-driven British sportscars ever built."
Finally, he plugs for the 1938 Bugatti Atlantique. "The most rare, beautiful and striking of all Bugattis ever built, only two completely pure and genuine examples remain with one being owned by Ralph Lauren. With its striking outside riveted body, no other car can claim such fantastic design innovation mated to the beautifully designed and purposefully engineered motor. They are one of the most valuable cars in existence.
Mike Goodbun's magazine Classic Cars celebrates 35 years with this month's issue featuring the best (and worst) cars of 1973. The website (www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk) is pretty neat, too. Goodbun is hot for the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C -- "a brash, risque, smoking, 7.0-litre sex symbol, bordering on explicit in a Sharon Stone/Basic Instinct kind of way".
Next on the list is the 1966 Lamborghini Miura. He also votes for the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, then the 1967 Ferrari 330 P4. "Nipped in at the waist and with curves in all the right places, this mid-engined V12 race car is simply the best-looking Ferrari of all time." Finally, the 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. "Undeniably retro, but undeniably sexy as a result."
Sandra Kaji-O'Grady is head of the School of Architecture at the University of Technology, Sydney. Not surprisingly, then, she goes for the BMW Gina Light Visionary Model, the fabric-covered roadster in the BMW Museum in Munich. The skin is made entirely out of textile fabric that's pulled taut around a frame of metal and carbon fibre wires. You can actually move and change the skin's shape beneath the fabric. Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWwebTV.
Next the Citroen SM, with a Maserati V6 engine (a proven testosterone winner). She says her next choice, the Citroen DS, is seen at its sexiest when driven by Amanda Donohue as the pagan snake-worshipping witch Lady Sylvia Marsh in the 1988 Ken Russell movie, Lair of the White Worm. Next a vote for the Jaguar E-type hearse from Harold and Maude and any 1970s VW Karmann Gia.
As one of Australia's only true international collectors, Perth's Peter Briggs also ranks the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic number one. Then another vote for the Alfa Romeo 8C, a new vote for the Talbot-Lago Teardrop by Figoni et Falaschi, the Mercedes-Benz SSK and finally the Ferrari 250 GTO.
Bonhams & Butterfields Rupert Banner has similar tastes to Briggs with his list being the 1928 Mercedes SSK Trossi, the 1930s Talbot-Lago T150 CSS Teardrop, the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, the 1967 Ferrari 275 NART Spyder and the 1994 McLaren F1.
source:theaustralian.news
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