Why 2001 Was an Awesome Year For Cars? We Look Back At It 20 Years On!

The year 2001 was an eventful year. There were the unfortunate events of 9/11 and the Queen’s Plane Crash to some of the brighter events such as the Super Bowl and other events such as George Bush. How about cars though? The year 2001 was probably one of the most exciting years for cars. There was the launch of the new Lamborghini Murcielago, the new Mercedes SL, the Aston Martin vanquish, and the new Ford Thunderbird.

It may have not been a year for the most beautiful cars since things like the Buick Sail and the Reva G-Wiz were launched that year, but it was a year that paved car design and car technology for the next decade. There were a lot of bad cars launched that year such as the E65 BMW 7-Series but there were also a lot of quirky cars such as the Lincoln Blackwood or the Renault Avantime. It was a year full of imaginative cars, many of which have become classics.

It was also a year for new technology. BMW released their i-Drive system in the new 7-Series that year and Mercedes added the folding metal roof to their SL model. Lamborghini also launched the Murcielago, which was the first properly new Lamborghini made with Audi. This meant it was far more usable than the previous Diablo and also more reliable.

What was our favorite car of 2001 though? This is a hard one, so let’s take a deeper look at some of the cars launched that year. Our favorite doesn’t have to be the fastest, the best looking, the most expensive, etc. There are many truly terrible cars launched in 2001 that we actually quite like for some bizarre reason.

So Many Quirky Weird Cars Arrived in 2001

picture via: wheelsage.org

The year 2001 was a strange one for cars. There were just so many quirky cars, and you have to ask yourself what were the manufacturers thinking? Especially when these cars were launched literally on the back of a global recession. Some of these cars did work but most of them failed completely.

The first quirky car was the lincoln Blackwood which as we all know was flawed from the word go. It was a luxury pickup truck that totally removed the point of a pickup truck. It had a trunk instead of a bed that was tiny. You literally could not fit anything in there. Furthermore, the truck it was based on was the F150. The F150 was the best-selling truck at the time because it served a purpose. People didn’t buy trucks back then for luxury. They got them so that they could be a workhorse. There were faster trucks available like the F150 Lightning and later on the RAM SRT-10 but ultimately, they were more of a weekend toy. However, the difference between those two trucks and the Blackwood was that they could be used quite easily as a normal truck.

Then there was the Ford Thunderbird. A car ruined by the bean-counters. It could have become a Corvette rival quite easily and it still would have probably been in production today. Instead, the Thunderbird was a weird 2-door retro rival to the new Mercedes SL. Of course, it was nowhere near as good as the SL with the early cars being massively underpowered. It initially only had 252hp which for a car that big is nothing. It was eventually upgraded to 280hp but that still wasn’t enough. Ford did make a supercharged concept of the Thunderbird with 390hp, similar power to the Ferrari 360 at the time. For some bizarre reason, they never launched it.

The Thunderbird initially was selling well, but by 2005 sales had collapsed and the Thunderbird was axed for good. A wasted opportunity by Ford, who at the time were making terribly built cars.

In Europe, things were even stranger. There was the new Renault Vel Satis which was a really strange-looking car by Renault. It was comfortable and somewhat practical, but it was literally a wagon, a sedan, and a hatchback all rolled into one. However, it wasn’t as weird as the Renault Avantime. This was a GT made by Renault, and it was based on the Espace MPV. It didn’t sell well at all since it was absolutely massive and there really wasn’t any point of it. It sure was comfortable but it was also pointless.

Renault also launched the Clio V6 that year. That was a small hatchback with a 227hp 2.9 liter V6 fitted in the rear. The rear seats were taken out just for this engine which was nuts. It was a proper go-kart and it looked awesome too. It was though a completely bonkers car, full of imagination.

How About The Exotic Cars of 2001?

Apart from all of the weird and wonderful stuff of 2001, there were also many exotic cars. We start with the R230 Mercedes SL which was the first new SL Mercedes in over a decade. It featured the folding metal roof seen on the smaller SLK model, and it also came with an array of new engines and trims. The SL was an exotic Grand Tourer that looked awesome right until it was replaced by the R231 generation SL in 2011. It was a car much loved by celebrities, entrepreneurs, and other high-profile figures all around the world.

Then there was the Maserati Coupe. An Italian GT that was properly exotic. It had a 4.2 liter Ferrari/Maserati V8 under the hood with 385hp. That was similar power to the Ferrari 360 of the time. It was a quick car but it was mainly made for comfort. It did also feature an F1 style flappy-paddle gearbox. The Coupe wasn’t the only GT launched that year though. There was the Aston Martin Vanquish which was the bigger brother to the DB7 Aston Martin.

The Vanquish was a nice car but it was heavily criticized due to its 6-speed automated manual transmission. It was the same F1 style gearbox seen in Ferrari and Maserati cars. It was terrible and the clutch always used to break. It was though a proper gentleman’s car and it put Aston Martin right back up there with the likes of Ferrari.

The ultimate exotic car of 2001 though was the Lamborghini Murcielago. The replacement for the decade-old Diablo, it was a fire-spitting supercar that was ready to really rock up the industry. It was an AWD 6.2 liter V12 monster with 580hp and a 0-60 time of 3.8 seconds as well as a top speed of 208 mph. It was quick, it was ludicrous and it turned heads everywhere it went. It was a proper supercar that wasn’t made to do Nurburgring lap records or be used every day. Driving one is an occasion and nowadays, it is a sought-after classic, especially the manual models. It was a car that rivaled the much more expensive Pagani Zonda since Ferrari or Porsche did not have anything to compete against that car.

What’s Our Favorite 2001 Car?

Well, it has to be the trusty XV30 Toyota Camry. That car has sold well into the millions, and it is a comfortable, affordable, and reliable sedan. What more could you want? It seats five, it’s very safe and it is literally indestructible. The Camry is a top car and it’s loved massively by everyone. The Camry was a game-changer and the XV30 Camry was just so spacious and practical. What a car!

Just kidding. Forget the Camry. It’s literally the most boring car ever and it would make anyone fall asleep. Even an excited toddler. It may have been popular, but it was purchased mostly by people who didn’t care about cars.

Our real favorite is the Lamborghini Murcielago. Suprise Suprise. It truly is one of the greatest supercars ever, and that 6.2 liter V12 sounds insane. It was literally a spaceship, and those scissor doors were completely exclusive to the Murcielago. It was a wild car that used the same V12 from the likes of the Miura, Countach, and Diablo. Properly old-school and properly fun, if only they made cars like that today.

 

Featured image credits via: astonmartin.com