25% Of Car Lovers Agree This Luxury Brand Makes The Coolest Vehicles

Cars, by their nature, are cool and exciting. You're strapped to a seat, in a metal box, traveling at speeds people used to think would make a woman jettison her uterus — and that's just when you're heading to the store to pick up a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. Aside from the intricacy of the mechanics and the automobile's habit of continuously probing the boundaries of engineering, car makers also tend to have fun with the overall design.

We've had fan-powered cars breaking hill-climb records, jet-powered dragsters breaking land speed records, and mechanics constructing road-legal motorized sofas in their spare time. Teenage boys have adorned their walls with pictures of sleek Italian models like Maseratis, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis for decades. The rugged grunt of vehicles like the jeep helped win major international conflicts. Vehicles like Dodge Charger, 1968 Ford Mustang, and the Pontiac Trans Am were arguably bigger stars than the actors they appeared alongside. Cars are extraordinarily cool, and even the existence of abominations like the Fiat Multipla can't counteract that fact.

SlashGear asked 621 automobile enthusiasts in the U.S. which luxury vehicle manufacturer makes the coolest cars. Some huge names didn't make the list, including Bentley, Audi, Rolls-Royce, and Bugatti. The shortlist is also totally lacking in American cars, so die-hard Cadillac and Lincoln fans should probably prepare themselves before reading on.

Just over a quarter (25.44%) of the 621 petrolheads we polled identified Mercedes as the luxury car maker they believe makes the coolest vehicles. The German manufacturer's highlights include the SLR series, and the luxury S class range. The Mercedes lineup also includes the most expensive car ever sold. Coming a very close second with 25.12% is English manufacturer Jaguar, with just two votes separating the pair. Jaguar produced icons like the E-Type, the gangster-esque Mark 2, and a couple of models that have been featured in James Bond movies.

A second German manufacturer, BMW, takes third place with 20.29% of the vote. Despite coming in second, BMW does have a lot of exciting cars; its M series is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. The series has a strong racing pedigree with the standout member being the CSL, a car that dominated the European Touring Car circuit during the 1970s. In fourth place at 17.71% is Lexus which, to quote Alan Partridge, is basically the Japanese Mercedes. Then bringing up the rear is Land Rover, which used to produce serious off-road vehicles for farmers and now makes luxury four-wheel drive family cars for the rich and famous.