With its understated Italian tailoring by Bertone combined with five-seat practicality, the Alfa Romeo GT is a true cake-and-eat-it two-door coupé.
The Bentley Continental GT arrived in 2003 as the first car on Volkswagen’s watch, and shared precisely zero components with any of its predecessors.
It was based on the advanced E60 5 Series platform of the era and designed by Adrian van Hooydonk under Chris Bangle.
When the E46 M3 CSL launched in 2003, people wondered how, at £58,455 in the UK, the lightweight special could be worth £17k more than a standard M3.
‘Stunning American design with proven German engineering,’ said the Chrysler Crossfire press blurb. ‘Route 66 meets the autobahn,’ it continued.
Ford’s follow-up to its legendary GT40 first saw the light of day in 2003 as a celebration for the Blue Oval’s 100th anniversary, though production cars didn’t make their way to buyers until the following year.
During its 40th-anniversary year in 2003, Lamborghini launched the Gallardo, the second model conceived under Audi ownership, the first with a V10 and the last ever offered with a manual gearbox.
Designed by Ikuo Maeda the Mazda RX-8 drives as well as it looks, but it’s also a technically interesting car, with aluminium double-wishbone front suspension.
Developed as a joint project with McLaren, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren harked back to the two-seat roadster famous for Stirling Moss’s 1955 Mille Miglia win.