6 of the greatest cars with T in their names
The Top Gear office loves tea. It’s national tea day in Britain. Therefore we’re celebrating by… having isolated cups of tea separately in our homes. Boooo.
Therefore we’ve mildly lost the plot, and fuelled by seven cups of strong English breakfast tea, have concocted a list of the best cars with T in their name.
See, RS and GT are commonly used sporty letters. But the humble T doesn’t get much of a look in, to the point even naming a mere half dozen cars involved copious twisting of our highly caffeinated logic. So pop the kettle on and see exactly how doolally we’ve gone.
STORY Stephen Dobie
Porsche 911 Carrera T
Straight in with a classic, and a recent one too. One of the very best 991-generation 911s they made, actually, with some of the hardcore, stripped-out vibe of a 911 GT3 but with the option of rear seats and a comfortably lower price tag. Strong but manageable – tea with a slight dash of milk, if you will.
Audi TT
Of course this is here. Strongly representing the letter T in car world since the late Nineties, and here it is parked precariously on the Isle of Man TT course for extra points. A bit of a softie, on the whole: more of a brisk coupe than a pure sports car. A milky tea with two sugars, this one.
Ford Model T
The original, though probably not the best. The Model T normalised cars. It turned them into mass-production things that normal humans could own and use. Ford sold a stonking 16.5 million in its 19 years on sale and it even competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing 14th in the inaugural 1923 race. As trustworthy and traditional as a cup of Yorkshire.
Volvo 850 T5
The best estate car ever? It may well be, not least because a) it came in yellow and b) it spawned an actual British Touring Car entrant. The road car happened to be a hoot to drive too, despite being front-wheel drive. Overwhelmingly commodious, a bit like drinking tea from one of those ginormous mugs they have on Friends.
BMW 2002 tii
There’s every chance we’ll get through 2,002 teas today as we attempt to power through isolated working. Nowt like popping the kettle on to break up the day/hour/minute.
You’ll know the 2002 Turbo, but the ti and tii were the performance variants you could buy before it came along. It was 40bhp down on the halo ’02, but 130bhp still proved more than enough in a car this dinky. Pop two tea bags in your mug today for a tasty demonstration of the punch it packed.
McLaren 675LT
Alright, we may be clutching at straws with the ‘T’ thing here. LT stands for ‘Long Tail’ not ‘Lovely Tea’, after all. But is there ever an incorrect time to ogle pictures of the 675LT, not just the greatest McLaren supercar yet, but one of the greatest supercars of the modern age? And if we were celebrating coffee you’d be looking at a Vauxhall Mokka right now.
(Click HERE to read our First Drive of the McLaren 675LT)
In this colour, it could only be a green tea.