While hanging out with Rodney in his shop, surrounded by some epic cars—a Zagato Abarth 750, a few Lotus Elans, an MG Twin Cam, some TC MGs, a Shelby 350R, and BMW 2002 race cars—it’s really quite the place to talk cars. I’m a huge fan of the Miura and consider it the prettiest car of all time, and probably also the most significant, but Rodney had some differing opinions about that.
“The Miura is certainly beautiful, no question about it,” Rodney began, his eyes scanning over the lines of a Lotus Elan nearby. “But when you talk about significance, I think you have to look at the broader impact. London changed with the Mini. The Mini wasn’t a car; it was a social event. And the E-type, to a slightly lesser extent, it was a social thing nobody had ever seen a car like the E-type. There wasn’t anything like it. The E-type was fucking global. The Mini was even more global. The Mini changed people’s lives, people who didn’t know anything about cars. The E-type changed anybody’s life who’d ever looked at a car. The Miura was a fucking expert novelty that only sold 700 or something. Totally different. Now, equally significant in design and engineering, that chassis was earth-shaking. But you had to be a fucking car guy to even read that.”
He continued, emphasizing his point, “The Mini made car ownership accessible to the masses. You didn’t have to be wealthy or well-connected. It was affordable, practical, and incredibly influential. Every pop star and every model in the world ended up with a Mini in the 1960s.”
He acknowledged my favorite, the Miura, with a nod. “The Miura was a marvel, no doubt. It’s a masterpiece of automotive design and engineering, a true pioneer with its mid-engine layout. It shook the high-end sports car world but didn’t impact culture like the Mini or the E-type.”
Wrapping up our conversation, Rodney concluded, “So while the Miura might be the pinnacle of car design for enthusiasts, when you talk about social and cultural significance, it’s hard to beat the widespread impact of those other cars. They didn’t just move people; they moved the entire culture forward.”
Sitting in Rodney’s shop, among the relics of automotive history, his perspective added depth to the debate about what makes a car significant. It wasn’t just about the specifications or the performance but how deeply a car could influence the fabric of society. While I still love the Miura, I did leave that conversation with a different perspective on what makes a car special.