Question of the Week: What’s the top Car to Come Out of the 2000s?—WINNER’S UPDATE
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
Our question this week was: What’s the best car to come out of the 2000s?
Thanks to everyone who participated! It’s hard to believe that the year 2000 was 26 years ago, but then again, the 1990s were only ten years ago. Right? RIGHT?! Anyways, the S197 Mustang, the Honda S2K, the Ford GT, and the Carrera GT finished in a dead heat this week, so we turned to the thumbs to break the tie. With a cumulative 25 likes as of this writing, the Ford GT is this week’s winning nomination. BaT member @Ranchero65‘s comment nominating it was also the most liked by the community, but @2caddiesandaMach1 was the first to it:
“Simple: Ford GT. I do believe many shall agree.”
What was old was new again, and the 2005 to 2006 Ford GT cemented itself into automotive canon. Today, GTs typically command more than double their MSRP—and even more for the right example. Congratulations, 2caddiesandaMach1! Be sure to check your email to snag the prize.
Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread:
“Has to be the C6 Z06 / ZR1. Monsters that were actually attainable for the “average” person.”
Image: Car and Driver
Even then, the ZR1 was the most expensive production Corvette ever at the time.
“Its name is Latin for “to go before.” Before the Cybertruck. Before the multiple Hyundai Ionics and Fiskers and eGolfs. Before the Tacans and plug in Jeeps and Ford Lightning. Before the i3. Before the Bolt and before the Volt. The humble Prius reached our USA shores in 2000 and carmaking has never been the same.”
Image: Car and Driver
Fun fact: In 2011, Toyota officially recognized the of Prius as Prii. The runners-up were Prius, Priuses, Prium, and Prien.
@ant writes:
The auto section of the local newspaper ran a giant photo of a silver Honda S2000 in late 1999. Nine-year-old me cut it out, and it’s surely still archived in some folder in my childhood closet. That newspaper cutout is most likely in the same folder as the brochures for the Integra (I drooled over the Type-R extensively) collected from the dealership when I was eleven in 2001, as my dad shopped for a new car. His eye was on the CL Type-S, but he wisely found a low-mileage late-90s model for less and bought my mom a new Honda Pilot in 2003 that’s still being driven today. I was always more attracted to much older cars even as a kid, but I’m realizing more every day that those years ARE classics today. All that context to elect the 2007-2008 Acura TL Type-S.
The intro today mentions tech, performance, reliability, and a little bit of analog, and that’s what I got out of that car when I picked up a used but pristine example in 2016. The design has held up so well that they still look just right ten years later, but more importantly, it was fast (by my standards) and taught me the mountain roads. It’s the first car I ever bought, coilovers and summer tires for teaching me that brakes and tires matter first in the corners. My ex-wife kept it, but the next one I own will have a 6mt.
“S197 Mustang. The New Edge was starting to get stale by it’s last model year (2004), and when the S197 was revealed, it completely changed things.”
The early S197 Mustang was part of the rebooted muscle era of the ‘Aughts, and it was a popular choice this week.
@TD1966 says:
“The Honda Element. I think 2000 to 2010 era of automobiles was really good. Most makes offered a manual transmission. Minimum electronic stuff. No tablet stuck to the dash yet. A lot of fun drivers. We have an Element, an 06 Xb, an 03 Miata, and an 06 Mazda3. All manuals.”
“2004-2007 Volvo V70R. Six speed manual, turbo, 300 hp, AWD, 0-60 in 5.4 sec, three suspension modes, spaceball shifter, and room to carry kids, gear and have fun getting there.”
Spaceball!
“E46 m3 hands down, especially in Laguna Seca blue👀”
“2004 –2006 Porsche Carrera GT racing-derived V10, manual transmission, carbon fiber monocoque. A car that split the decade in half.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-porsche-carrera-gt-3/
Undeniable.”
“Lotus Elise! Sub-2000 pound weight, Toyota drivetrain, and analog everything. My early 2005 model even has crank windows, which confounds younger folks looking for the switch. We’ll never see a production car like it in the US market again.”
“Terminator Cobra. Embarrassed cars costing five times it’s MSRP.”
In addition to saving the Mustang in the 1990s, John Coletti also chiefed the Cobra “Terminator” Mustang.
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations once again to our winner, 2caddiesandaMach1. We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
In recent years, cars from the first decade of the 21st Century, especially those from the early-to-mid years, have become increasingly popular on the site. And while they get plenty of attention, they often get short shrift in conversation. That’s what led us to this week’s question:
What’s the best car to come out of the 2000s?
The first decade of the new millennium gave car folks plenty to get excited about—retro-nostalgic designs, affordable roadsters, zingy four-pots, and 500-horsepower sedans, to name a few of the prevailing trends of the era. The 2000s are often regarded as a sweet spot where tech, performance, and reliability coexist, while clinging to every last trace of analog feeling.
Some cars encompassed the positive qualities of the decade better than others, and the list is seemingly endless. So we’ll get right to it this week:
What’s the best car to come out of the 2000s?
Tell us about it in the comments, and give a thumbs-up to any other nominations you deem worthy. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
Honda S2000. Easy.
Timeless sports car design. Legendary motor and gearbox. Bulletproof reliability. Not bogged down with unnecessary tech.
I might be misquoting Peter Egan here but I remember him writing, in reference to a classic British sports car of course, that the paint was the only thing on this car that didn’t make it go, stop, or turn.
Certainly the S2K does more than go, stop, and turn, but it’s as close to that aesthetic as one can get.
My Dad and I both own an 04. His has 260k+ miles. Mine only has 112k.