Mallard (and the rest of the A4 class, though that blue is my favourite livery on any of them) will always be the best for me, but I do love steam locomotives. It's utterly beautiful whilst also being extremely good at its role, and that's the definition of design I believe in.
So much of modern design, particularly vehicles, is missing _something_. Maybe it's the lack of hand-rolled panels and everything being slightly too perfect, or maybe we've just lost a bit of that pizazz over the past 100 years.
Best of lists are always tough. In this case, is it: most iconic, most effective, most influential? I feel this way about film lists, too. The most interesting conversation is not what is the best picture, but which & how parameters are weighted: novelty, craft, cultural zeitgeist, etc.
Well chief designer was a Brit but yes that is a fair point. I went with Concorde, rationalizing that the flag is more an evolutionary agglomeration than a conscious piece of design. It's a weak argument I know.
Hers is quite a story. I think my favorite part of it was when she refused to marry her future husband until he had also won an award for lapping Brooklands at over 100mph on a motorbike, something she had already achieved. (Another lovely detail is that she used her racing motorbike to cross the country from airbase to airbase installing her orifices on Spitfires.)
In this bracket my choice invariably comes down to the Spitfire versus the Mini, and I always favor the Spitfire, as the Mini reminds me of the terrible parking
So much of modern design, particularly vehicles, is missing _something_. Maybe it's the lack of hand-rolled panels and everything being slightly too perfect, or maybe we've just lost a bit of that pizazz over the past 100 years.
The winner is Claude
EDIT Agh now Range Rover v Mini? What do you want from me!?
Wisdom says underground but the heart screams Spitfire.