Geneva Show: MOTOR's top 7 classics

Carmakers love to market their heritage and many at this year’s Geneva show rolled out prime examples of legendary old-school hero cars.

Ford MKIII GT40

With Ford’s GT40 road car resurrection in full swing, an ultra-rare 1969 Mk III – supposedly one of just seven built - shared the Blue Oval show space with its most recent heir apparent, which was recently unveiled at the Detroit motor show.

Ford Escort Mexico

The Blue Oval decided to publicly reveal its new Focus RS with its spiritual forefather, specifically a beautiful 1974 Escort Mexico, created in the early '70s as a road-going homage to success in the London-to-Mexico Rally and producing just 63kW from its 1.6-litre four.

Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth

The trifecta of fast classics on the Ford stand was completed with a car familiar to lovers of old ATCC Group A racing, a mid-’80s Sierra Cosworth, with this example one of the hard-core RS500 versions boasting an outrageous 150kW/277Nm (for its time) while weighing a feathery 1220kg.

Mercedes-Benz 280 SL

Famed for its ultra-powerful and super-pricey tuner cars, Brabus showcased its new Brabus Classic restoration division with one incredibly sexy Mercedes-Benz 280 SL W113 ‘Pagoda’, an example said to have clocked up over half-a-million US dollars in resto costs.

McLaren F1 GT Longtail

The British racing and road car powerhouse used the reveal of its new 675LT to roll out an original road-going Longtail homologation special, this factory-retained 1997 F1 GT example said to be one of just three ever built. The first time it had ever been publicly displayed, it's estimated to be worth 23 million pounds!

Koenigsegg CC8S

You mightn't think the Koenigsegg qualifies as a classic, but having made its first appearance back in 2002, it's of the same vintage as the final AU Falcons! This mint example shared stand space with Koenigsegg's wild new Regera and Agera RS.

Land Rover Defender

Oops, our mistake, this is actually a new car. Land Rover used the Geneva show to farewell its iconic Defender with the Heritage Edition models, released to celebrate more than 50 years of continual production.

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