Most Beautiful Passenger Cars on the Market Now (all five of them)

Without further ado, here are the five passenger cars with the best designs to me.

The Giulia came on the market a decade ago, making it the oldest car on this list. Designed just off the decade of peak automobile, it marked a return to form for Alfa Romeo, in terms of RWD layout, the Giulia marque, and its market positioning, with the Giulia Quadrifoglio being a compelling alternative to the F80 and G80 M3s.

Unlike its German rivals, the Giulia Quadrifoglio has a beautiful, curvaceous exterior. The front-end looks like an improved and more modern interpretation of sports sedans from the late 90s to early 2000s that came out of Germany. In my opinion, this is the most photogenic front-end design ever in a compact sedan.

The car has no shortage of character lines, as has become virtually mandatory to mask the bulk of contemporary vehicles, but these lines are mostly soft and integrate well into the curves of the body panels. The one exception is perhaps the side character line that runs from the front quarter panel to the rear door.

On its profile, the Giulia shows a sporty RWD stance with heavily raked windshield and good dash-to-axle ratio. However, perhaps owning to its compact size, the hood and trunk look a bit too high, and the trunk somewhat too short.

The rear-end of the Giulia Quadrifoglio is more modern and echoes the design of the headlight assembly perfectly. While I’m not a big fan of compact sedans, the Giulia Quadrifoglio surely has my respect.

The Vanquish is a more matured evolution to the DBS, with a new, elongated wheelbase and more grown-up styling. It is perhaps the final word in the new gaunt design first introduced in the DB11, which was in my opinion a poor departure from the sensuous DB9 generation. The DBS and DB12 pushed the design forward with bolder, more muscular elements and lines that ultimately led us to the Vanquish.

On the front, the Vanquish Volante has, as do all modern Aston Martins, a giant character grille that dominates. However, unlike the DB12, which supplements it with a mustache-like under grille that can be rather uncomplimentary, the Vanquish pushes the front grille even further, resulting in a simpler, coherent, and weirdly beautiful design.

If the front-end and hood design of the Vanquish Volante can look busy from some angles, the side view is certainly the convertible’s strong suit. Owning to its grown-up size and exotic dash-to-axle ratio, complemented by its windshield rake and low trunk lines, the Vanquish Volante looks refined, luxurious, stately, yet powerful.

Even the rear-end of the car is not too bad, though the trend of spelling out the brand name in letters can feel obnoxious to some. The unique rear light assembly design and quad oval tailpipes, however, more than make up for any badging issues.

More than BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo, Audi is the brand most associated with super wagons. The RS6 Avant has a strong record as the marque’s flagship super wagon for two decades. The C8 generation is perhaps the final word, since the C9 A6 has been unveiled as an ugly car with superfluous mechanical and electronic complications.

On the front, the RS6 Avant is dominated by the large, black plastic grille that only a few years ago would stand out in a bad way. However, with more cars going in this direction, the relatively simple design on the C8 generation no longer evokes negative emotions.

As is always the case, what set super wagons apart are the side and rear views. The C8 RS6 is the most muscular of all Audis, with a purposeful, athletic design that screams performance. While the wagon form factor and performance may in theory be contradictions, at least from a design standpoint the added visual weight towards the rear balances the nose-heavy Audi architecture. Besides, performance is always a relative metric, and in its cohort of practical cars, the RS6 certainly has its place.

If the front-end of the wagon is only so-so, the rear-end design of the C8 RS6 is a completely different story. This is hardly surprising, however, since balancing a trunk in a three-box design is much more difficult in today’s automotive world that emphasizes aerodynamics and practicality. With a strong tailgate, that issue is completely circumvented here.

The LC500 has been my dream car since it came on the market the better part of a decade ago, owning to my preference for the brand, the refreshing naturally-aspirated V8, and primarily its drop-dead gorgeous design. It is perhaps the closest a production vehicle has come to a concept car in recent memory.

The front-end of the LC500 is decidedly un-European, though it is also dominated by a character grille. This grille has been the subject of debate among fans of the brand, with some implementations apparent afterthoughts; however, it suits the futuristic elegance of the LC500 perfectly.

The side profile of the LC500 is a masterstroke, with a perfect blend of anachronistic, 90’s sensuous curves and a modern, characterful stance, largely aided by the large wheel arches. It has a superb roofline and dash-to-axle ratio. However, the convertible ups the ante with in my opinion the best profile of any modern GT, regardless of whether the roof is up or down.

What makes me prefer the convertible is the rear-end. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the floating C-pillar design, whether it’s in a Jaguar Land Rover product or in a Lexus. The LC500 Convertible does away with it and is left with a stunning, well-rounded design.

Before the LC500 came out in 2017, my dream car used to be the original GranTurismo. While Centro Stile Maserati fumbled with the just-discontinued Gen 6 Quattroporte, the M189 GranTurismo builds on the sensuous design from Pininfarina much more successfully, perhaps thanks to its decade of experience.

The front-end of the GranTurismo is that of a friendly-looking, cartoon fish, which is the latest interpretation of Maserati’s long-standing “fishy fascia”. Unlike it is with the outgoing models and the Grecale, however, the GranTurismo has a rounded grille, which is much more coherent with, and complimentary to, the sensuous curves of the vehicle. The only questionable element on the front, in my opinion, is the plastic trim piece along the lower vents.

The side profile of the Gen 2 GranTurismo is an improvement over the already gorgeous original. Thanks to a longer wheelbase, the car’s hood line now looks lower and sleeker than before. Maserati is also able to smooth out the roofline in a continuous curve, which leads to a more balanced trunk profile. In my opinion, it matches the LC500 on the side and is a notable improvement over even the original.

The rear-end of the GranTurismo is also very beautiful, though after the original I find the quad tailpipes rather mundane. It is wanting of an oval tailpipe update. The rear splitter area may also need some more work, as it makes the rear looks too high off the ground.