7 Best Car Nations

Finland

Really, snow bound Finland, with no car manufacturers and a tiny population, they make this list? Of course, because what they don’t have in machinery, they make up for in meat. Even if some of the names sound like the product of speech impediments, per head of population, Finland has produced some of the greatest drivers ever. In F1, Finland has given us World Champions Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, and Kimi Räikkönen, and when it comes to the pantheon of rally stars, it seems more the case who isn’t Finnish. Maybe not surprising when you consider that sliding a car around is all part of daily Finnish driving, and ‘folk racing’ is part of many people’s weekend there. But don’t take just my word for it, let Top Gear tell you all about it:

France

The country that gave us the words ‘Grand Prix’ was also the country that took up the car, and motorsport, with the greatest alacrity. Whilst the Brits were languishing behind the ‘red flag rule’, the French were risking life and limb with crazy city-to-city races. Then they brought us such revolutionary cars as the Traction Avant, DS and CX from Citroën, followed by sweet handling hatches, from the Peugeot 205 GTi of the eighties to the Citroën DS3 of right now. Chuck in a few awesome drivers in the mix, such as Alain Prost and Sébastien Loeb, and it’s clear that France should be on this list.

Italy

Ahhh, yes, Italy… other countries bring science to our World of wheels, but Italy brings art and soul. 1911 when Alfa Romeo first started competing. The red racing lust has continued right up to the present day, with the tifosi still the most ardent F1 fans. It’s only the lack of ability to combine quality with passion that holds Italian cars back, and that keeps Italy from the top of this list.
Even the names get the pulse pumping, Alfa, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini. And this blood red racing lineage go backs a long way; it was in

Great Britain

Of course the spiritual home of the sportscar must be here. The tradition of fun lightweight two seaters continues in Britain, with brands such as Ariel, Caterham and Noble keeping up the small co output. At the big(ger) bucks end, some of the coolest brands of the planet are made in Britain. Range Rover, Jaguar, Aston, Rolls, Bentley, you know the names. And it’s difficult to know which industry feeds which, the high-end road car biz, or the racing industry. Of eleven Formula 1 teams, eight are based in England, and the country has produced more F1 drivers champions, ten, than any other nation. Only the lack of current big mass market brands stops the UK creeping higher. Oh yes, on final thing we should say, Great Britain produces the biggest and best car TV show, so let’s finish with the Top Gear team waving some Union jacks.

Japan

Whilst the USA brought us mass market motoring, Japan perfected it. The whole World was given ankanban’ and ‘lean’. It’s these behind the scenes things that help propel them from a bombed out shell of a country not so long ago, to a car producing industrial power-house. At street level, the car is an obsession spawning a vibrant customizing scene and, of course, Japan brought us the concept competitive drifting.
object lesson in how to provide a quality product, for a normal price. Whilst most of the countries mentioned so far have producers that create stunning an innovative, it is Japan that is the master of actually bolting things together well. The almost spiritual ideals embodied by their working practices reverberated across the automotive industry, and now car makers have to take heed of such concepts as ‘

The United States of America

Yes, it pains me to say it (Jupiter is British, old chap), but the US does indeed beat Britain on the list of World’s greatest car nations. It has to, because it is America that has brought us the idea of the car for the ordinary person. The Model T changed the World, that is undoubtedly true, and then from the forties onward, Detroit introduced  luxury and performance to the mass market. The muscle car is a noisy visceral icon of dramatic performance, making up for what it lacks in refinement with a helpful dollop of V8 power. 

This spirit is continued with the types of motorsport that have been taken up. Not for US the sports of gentleman racers, no, the gritty World's of American motor-racing were born on the dirt of cinder tracks, and illicit races from the stoplights. Drag racing and Indy carts are an awesome spectacle, and NASCAR pulls in the biggest crowds of any motorsport, anywhere in the World.

But what really pushes the US so near the top of the tree are its legions of grass-roots car nuts. Nowhere else in the World can ordinary car fans exercise their hobby to this extent. A combination of open spaces, low-prices, an after-market that goes on for ever, and a pervasive car culture make the United States one of the best places for cars.

Germany

Yes, the number one spot has to be Deutschland. Whilst the typical cars of other nations maybe Benz Motorwagen chugged around Mannheim back in 1886, it set us on the path to the wonderfully car-soaked World we now are so happy to live in. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, and VW are all produced in huge numbers, and coveted for their engineering and prestige. Travelers climb into taxicabs all over Western Europe and say, “hmm, nice, a Mercedes”. An ordinary diesel taxi!? That’s good branding, but it’s no marketing trick, it’s the result of 128 years of engineering progress.
refined, sporty, mass-produced, or high quality, the typical German car is all of those things all at once. And let’s not forget, it was a German who invented the car. When the 

Then Germany has some of the winningest F1 drivers, and has the good sense to keep speed limits off of their glorious Autobahns. To drive the ‘bahns is one of motoring’s great experiences (Jupiter has recollections of winding his old Toyota Avensis up to a breathless 115 mph cruise, only to have an Audi S8 approach lane three to the rear, doing at least 40mph faster, flashing his lights to get the slow-coach Brit out the way). Germany also hosts the absolute greatest driving experience available to the ordinary soul, which is to say the experience of ponying up just 20 euros and hitting the Nurburgring. For every Jupiterian, doing the ‘Ring is something that must occur at least once in a lifetime, as is owning a German car.