By the Numbers: TCC's 6 Perfect 10s for Styling

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

Editorial Director BIO

Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf: Compare Cars
For now, they're the only two mass-market electric vehicles on the road. So, which one should you... Read More

• #12LEADERBOARD RANK
• 4885ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 96COMMENTS POSTED

8 2,626 views July 7, 2010

Bo Derek

Enlarge Photo

What's it take to get a perfect 10?

Back before she became a thinky conservative, Bo Derek laid it out the rules for us all. Actually it's just one rule: you don't have to be particularly talented or smart, just quintessentially, no-excuses gorgeous. Get it right, and you can even put noisemakers in your hair and get away with it.

It's been more than 30 years since the idea of perfection was distilled down to a nude one-piece and those unbeweaveable beads, but good looks are something we're stuck on here at TheCarConnection. You know we rate cars so you don't have to, right? The first stop on our ruthless numeric scorecard is styling, and for good reason. It's probably the first thing that attracted you to your current car, even if it's a Caliber or a Focus or for heaven's sake, a Yaris.

To us, a perfect 10 means having a stunning body in all its different versions--but also, it has to have timeless appeal. Something that's a 10 today, has to be a 10 in the decades to come. In some years a car clearly would qualify (a 1967 Mustang fastback, for example). In other years it might come close (the 2011 Mustang comes to mind). In some it might just fail out (1977 King Cobra Mustang II, agreed?).

Truth be told, there are some unwritten ground rules: a perfect 10 usually has to have two doors, more often than not a removeable roof. And a touch of outrageousness doesn't hurt the chances. Maybe that's why only 2 percent of the cars we wrote about for the 2010 model year earned a perfect 10 for their looks. On the other hand, though we think we're handing out those 10s with the tight-fisted clench of a Czech skating judge, British cars seem to have the easiest path--though Germany and America have some extra credits to burn, too.

To the losers we say, try again. Corvettes, Mustangs, Challengers and Camaros of recent vintage come really close, as do cars like the new Buick Regal. But to our eyes, these are the best-looking new cars on earth: