The 20 best cars of the 2000s

Retro Motor team

December 10, 2024

Noughties and nice
© Land Rover
We don’t want to alarm you, but it’s nearly a quarter of a century since we celebrated the turn of the millennium. Westlife were number one in the charts and moviegoers were enjoying The World Is Not Enough at the cinema. But rather than take a wistful look at popular culture of the time, we’re here to celebrate some of the best cars of the noughties. These are the supercars, sports cars, SUVs and superminis that defined the decade. It’s by no means a definitive list, but it’s a good starting point.
Audi A2
© Audi
The Audi A2 has already appeared on Retro Motor, under the heading of ‘Great Motoring Disasters’, so what’s it doing headlining our list of the best cars of the 2000s? Well, it’s an alphabetical list, so there’s that. But also, the A2 arrived in 1999 as Audi’s lightweight, aerodynamic and fuel-efficient car of the noughties, complete with an aluminium body, a service flap instead of a grille, and remarkable fuel economy. Yes, it was too expensive and sales fell short of expectations, but the A2 was a fascinating look into a future that never came.
Audi R8
© Audi
We remember reading David Vivian’s review in issue 106 of Evo magazine. One line still stands out: “There are faster supercars but we can’t think of another currently in production that takes a demanding road apart with quite the surgical precision and cool-browed composure of Audi’s hugely desirable R8. The outcome we doubted we’d ever witness. Audi humbles Porsche.” Faster and more outrageous versions of the Type 42 followed, but the 4.2-litre V8 was the original and, in many ways, the best R8.
BMW M3 CSL
© BMW
The BMW M3 CSL was one of the finest driver’s cars of the 2000s. Based on the excellent E46 BMW, the Coupe Sports Leichtbau featured the same S54B32 six-cylinder engine, but with the power boosted to 360hp. This, combined with a strict weight-loss diet and a quicker-shifting version of BMW’s SMG II transmission, helped to deliver a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds and a Nordschleife lap time of just seven minutes and 50 seconds. As our Tim Pitt said on Retro Motor, it’s arguably the greatest M3 of all.
BMW X5
© BMW
Wait, what? We’ve overlooked some other performance BMWs to include the X5? Well, yes, because X5 rewrote the rulebook for how a high-riding SUV should feel on the road. BMW may have sold Land Rover to Ford in 2000, but by then it had used its ownership of Rover to discover everything there is to know about building the best 4×4 by far. It combined this with its expertise in delivering ultimate driving machines to create the first SUV that actually drove like a performance saloon. In the early noughties, the X5 was the SUV to be seen in.
Bugatti Veyron
© Bugatti
It needs no introduction, does it? The Bugatti Veyron isn’t just one of the best cars of the 2000s, it’s arguably one of the greatest automotive achievements of the modern era. Named in honour of the racing driver, Pierre Veyron, the Bugatti was the realisation of Ferdinand Piëch’s dream of building a 400kph (249mph) hypercar with the usability of a Volkswagen Golf. It arrived in 2005 with an 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 engine producing 987hp, enough to propel the record-breaker to 253mph. Other hypercars have gone quicker, but few will deliver the shock and awe of Piëch’s masterpiece.
Ferrari Enzo
© Ferrari
In 2002, the 660hp Ferrari Enzo represented the pinnacle of supercar development. It was essentially an F1 car for the road, right down to its use of composite materials, advanced aerodynamics and top speed of 217mph. It was also a fitting tribute to the company’s founder, who had died 14 years earlier. Just 400 were built, each one featuring a chassis made entirely from carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels. It was also the first Ferrari road car to feature carbon-ceramic disc brakes.
Fiat 500
© Fiat
It’s amazing to think that the current Fiat 500 is, aside from some cosmetic updates and a new mild hybrid engine, the same as the one the world fell in love with in 2007. Even more remarkable is the fact that time hasn’t diluted its appeal; the 500 remains desirable long after rival small cars have gone out of fashion. It was designed by Frank Stephenson, the chap who penned the new Mini for BMW, and who said at the time: “The Mini works because it looks great and is fun to drive, but it also has real substance. The 500 will be the same. A car you fall in love with straight away.”
Honda Jazz
© Honda
The Honda Jazz isn’t a car you’d fall in love with straight away. Indeed, it’s everything the 500 isn’t. But that’s not a reason to exclude it from our list of niceties from the noughties, because the Jazz’s rather staid image masks what was one of the cleverest cars of the era. It may have had the footprint of a supermini, but it was spacious enough to rival a family hatchback, while the ‘Magic’ rear seats made it hugely practical. It also achieved the highest overall rating in Euro NCAP supermini crash tests.
Lotus Elise S2
© Lotus
European crash regulations meant that the original Elise was unable to venture too far into the new millennium, but Lotus didn’t have the cash required to create a new one. General Motors stepped in with funding in return for a GM-engined version, which became known as the Vauxhall VX220 in the UK and Opel Speedster in other European markets. Like the S1, the S2 Elise was the most focused sports car this side of a Caterham Seven or Ariel Atom. Early cars came with a Rover K-series engine, but this was later joined by a pair of Toyota units.
Mini
© Mini
BMW pulled a blinder by keeping the rights to the Mini name when it sold what was left of Rover to the Phoenix Four. It meant that the Germans owned one of the most recognisable car badges in the world, which they have used to great effect to create an incredibly strong brand in its own right. Everything started with the One and Cooper, which were joined by the Cooper S, before the Mini spawned everything from a convertible to a five-door, a Clubman to a Countryman, and some other oddities BMW would probably rather forget.
Nissan GT-R
© Nissan
Like the Fiat 500, the Nissan GT-R was launched in 2007 and remains on sale today, although it was axed in Europe in 2022. It became known as a supercar for the PlayStation generation, with Nissan adopting a digital approach to what makes a good driver’s car. Nearly 17 years later, it’s arguably more analogue than today’s crop of performance cars, not least for its fabulous twin-turbocharged V6 engine, which in standard form produces 565hp. We would say ‘they don’t make ’em like wot they used to’, but Nissan proves that some do.
Nissan Qashqai
© Nissan
The Nissan Qashqai arrived in showrooms around the same time as the GT-R. Sure, you’d rather drive ‘Godzilla’, but when the Qashqai went on sale in February 2007, it made humble hatchbacks look like dinosaurs of the car world. Forget Nissan’s claim that the Qashqai was the world’s first urban crossover – it wasn’t – but there’s no doubt that the high-riding SUV in disguise changed the shape of family motoring, spawning countless imitations. Buy an early one, store it for a couple of decades, then win the 2043 Festival of the Unexceptional.
Pagani Zonda
© Pagani
Many people harbour dreams of taking on the supercar establishment, but only a select few have what it takes to succeed. Horacio Pagani is one such man. Using his experience at Lamborghini, the Argentinian engineer set about rivalling the Italian elite using a deep knowledge of carbon fibre and incredible attention to detail. His friendship with Juan Manuel Fangio, at the time an honorary director of Mercedes-Benz, helped him to secure V12 power for his fledgling supercar company. The Zonda C12 debuted at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show and laid the foundations for two decades of exquisite excess.
Porsche Carrera GT
© Porsche
The Porsche Carrera GT made its production debut at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show, three years after its unveiling as a concept in Paris. But the story starts much earlier, when Porsche had designed a 3.5-litre V10 engine for the Footwork F1 team. When Footwork cancelled the order, Porsche set about using the V10 for a new LMP (Le Mans Prototype car), before that too was canned. Eventually, Porsche created the 612hp Carrera GT roadster. Thanks to extensive use of carbon-fibre, it could hit 62mph in just 3.9 seconds. Top speed was 205mph.
Range Rover L322
© Land Rover
When BMW bought Rover in 1994, it was too late to make any changes to the second-generation (P38A) Range Rover. Instead, it made plans to create a revised version, before realising that, such was the extent of the work required, it would be easier and more cost-effective to fast-track the third-generation Rangie. It arrived in 2001, by which time BMW had sold Land Rover to Ford, but the L322 represented a significant improvement on its predecessor, launching with German power, before gaining Jaguar petrol engines and Ford diesels. The Queen loved her 2004 L322 so much, she ran it until her passing in 2022.
Renault Avantime
© Renault
Consider some of the cars launched by Renault in the 2000s. The Wind roadster, Modus supermini, Clio V6 sports car tamer, Vel Satis oddity and Megane II bottom-shaker, to name just a few. Then there’s the Avantime. It was Renault’s attempt at convincing empty-nesters that when the Espace was no longer required they needed a ‘Coupespace’. In basic terms, it was a coupe body perched on an Espace platform, with two massive doors, a huge opening sunroof and, for its time, a rather avant-garde dashboard. It was a sales disaster, but we still want one.
Rolls-Royce Phantom VII
© Rolls-Royce
The Phantom VII arrived in 2003, five years after Rolls-Royce was bought by BMW. Make no mistake, this was the best car in the world, a position it retained until 2017, when it was replaced by the Phantom VIII. It featured an aluminium spaceframe chassis, a 6.75-litre V12 engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission, but what really shone through was the exquisite craftsmanship and sense of proper, old-school luxury. Each Phantom was built to order at Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood factory.
Toyota Prius
© Toyota
You might not be a fan of the Toyota Prius, but its influence on the eco car market is undeniable. In truth, the original Prius was outshone by the Honda Insight, but Toyota raced ahead with the second-generation model, launched in the UK in 2004 and the European Car of the Year in 2005. Sales exceeded those of the original Prius before the end of 2004, with the car going on to shift nearly 1.2 million units. Although these were the days before WLTP testing, a combined 65.7mpg remains an impressive figure and proof that excellent fuel economy wasn’t only the preserve of diesel cars back then.
Volkswagen Golf GTI
© VW
After the disappointment of the Mk3 and Mk4, the Mk5 was a return to form for the Golf GTI. It needed to be, because Honda and Ford had shown Volkswagen how to build a fun and engaging hot hatch, which is something the Golf GTI hadn’t been since the demise of the Mk2. It looked superb, aided by some neat references to the Mk1, but it was the chassis and 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that made it stand out from the pack. Brilliant fun on a B-road, yet wonderfully civilised on a motorway. We want one (and Motoring Research’s Tim Pitt has one).
Volvo XC90
© Volvo
It’s hard to believe now, but when the XC90 arrived in 2002, it was Volvo’s first SUV. Indeed, the SUV hadn’t really begun; Audi didn’t offer one, the BMW X5 had an eight-month waiting list and the Mercedes M-Class was looking seriously dated. The XC90 was a revelation: a proper, premium vehicle with smart styling and impressive safety credentials. It became the car to be seen in for ‘soccer moms’ (and dads) across Europe and North America, with 636,143 examples finding homes before sales ended in 2014. That’s a long and very successful production run.