Icons On Four Wheels Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jaguar E Type

So many cars produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s valued functionality above all else, and then along came the E Type with its sexy, curvaceous body. The car was based on the Jaguar D Type, a racing car which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for three consecutive years (1955-1958) and enjoyed some success on the track itself, finishing fourth and fifth at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours. Even though the engine was great and the car featured technical innovations like independent suspension and disc brakes all round, the E Type will always be remembered for its looks, and this iconic design was recognised by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, when in 1996, they added a 1963 E Type Series 1 roadster to their permanent display.

Answer: Ford Model T

The Ford Model T began life as a hand built car, the same as all cars of the time, and in its first month of production in 1908, just 11 cars were made. By 1910 though, Henry Ford had perfected his ground breaking production line and Model T's were coming off the line every three minutes, with production time per vehicle down from over 12 hours to a little over 90 minutes. Henry Ford's most famous quote is probably, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.", but interestingly, between 1908 and 1913, the only colours available to prospective buyers were grey, green, red and blue. Black Model T's were not available until 1914.

Answer: Scarab

The Stout Scarab never achieved the popularity of the cars it inspired such as the Dodge Caravan or Renault Espace due mainly to so few being built. Just nine Scarabs were manufactured and the mid 1930s price of $5000 (£3600) put off the majority of potential purchasers, despite it being such an innovative car. The Scarab featured swivelling second-row seats and a removable card table, both of which were an automotive first, and aside from these luxuries, the Scarab also broke ground in the engineering department too.

A version of the Scarab suspension was used on the Lotus Twelve in 1957 and the mounting of the engine and transmission was later copied by Lamborghini in its 1974 Countach model.

Answer: Lamborghini Miura

Legend has it that the Miura was developed in secret by Lamborghini engineers as owner, Ferruccio Lamborghini was more interested in making tourers such as the company's 350 GT model. He relented and allowed the Miura to go into production after being convinced it could be unveiled as a PR stunt at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, where it was met with much praise.
The Miura was produced between 1966 and 1974, with just 764 being made before it was replaced by the Countach.
While the Miura is regarded as the first road going supercar to use the mid engine, two seater layout, the first production model to actually use this design was the Rene Bonnet Djet, a French made sports car first produced in 1962.

Answer: Tesla Model S

Every automotive manufacturer is either building or investigating electric cars but it was the Tesla Model S that made the motoring giants sit up and take notice of what could be achieved.
The Model S has gone from strength to strength since its introduction, with new innovations such as an advanced driver assistance system introduced in 2014, and the "Enhanced Summon" feature (which allows the car to navigate its own way through a parking lot to its owner) being introduced in 2016.
Worldwide, the Tesla Model S was the highest selling plug in electric car in both 2015 and 2016 as well as winning countless awards and plaudits, including one from the American independent consumer organization, "Consumer Reports" where it set a new benchmark in testing by scoring 103 points out of 100.

Answer: Volkswagen Beetle

Although it is not a beautiful vehicle, it certainly has a quirky cuteness to it, and the Beetle is hard to beat for long lasting popularity. Between its launch (under the guidance of Adolf Hitler) in 1938 and production ceasing in 2003, over 21 million Beetles were sold around the world.

The model is so popular that it has been used in many racing classes, including the Baja 1000 off road race and drag racing as well as spawning its own series, the Beetle Challenge championship in UK. Then there is of course one of the most famous cars in Hollywood, Herbie, the VW Beetle which first appeared in the movie "The Love Bug" (1968).

Answer: Willys Jeep

The original war time jeep was built by both Willys and Ford, but Willys were fastest off the mark when the war ended, marketing the CJ-2A model in 1945, developed directly from their WWII jeep.
This ground breaking vehicle was named by President Eisenhower as "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII" and General George Marshall called it "America's greatest contribution to modern warfare."
The name "jeep" is often said to be derived from the Ford version of the vehicle, which was the Ford GP, but the term was used by the armed services possibly as early as WWI to denote both new recruits and untested machinery or vehicles.
In 1936, the "Popeye" cartoons by E.C. Segar featured a character called Eugene the Jeep who was able to go anywhere and solve seemingly impossible problems, so it is clear that while we may not know the origin of the word "jeep", we can be certain it wasn't a bastardisation of GP.

Answer: Toyota Prius

The Prius burst onto the motoring scene to much derision but proved all the doubters wrong by launching the green motoring revolution. The original model was available only in Toyota's home country of Japan, but in 2000 after three years of strong domestic sales, became available in the rest of the world.
Sales of the Prius passed the one million mark worldwide in 2008 and since then, the numbers have continued to impress with two million sold by 2010 and three million by 2013.

Answer: BMC Mini

The Mini defined an era, so synonymous was it with the swinging sixties. As BMC merged with Leyland to become British Leyland and later became Rover Group, support and sales for the Mini never wavered and this car, which was such fun to drive, was produced from 1959 to 2000 when Rover was bought by BMW.
BMW, realised what an icon they had in the Mini and retained the name for their new small car, which continues to sell well.
Well known stars who fell in love with the Mini's charms in the 1960s included all four of the Beatles, Twiggy, Peter Sellars and Enzo Ferrari.
The car was also one of the stars, perhaps even the main star, of the classic 1969 movie "The Italian Job", also starring Michael Caine.

Answer: Citroen 2CV

The 2CV takes its name from a rather clever play on words, with CV in French being pronounced as "chevaux", the French word for horse and this was the perfect name for a vehicle intended to replace the horse for rural French families. The design brief for the car was incredible as it was stipulated that the car must be able to carry four people and 50kg of goods at 30mph (48kmh), across muddy and unpaved roads.

It was suggested at the prototype stage that the 2CV should be able to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field without them breaking and also manage close to 80mpg (2.9 litres per 100 km). Amazingly, the designers at Citroen managed all this and the 2CV which was manufactured between 1948 and 1990 became a true icon.