The 50 Best Cars of the Complex Decade

Year: 2003
What it is: Nissan's luxury brand comes of age.
Complex Says: Infiniti's cars had always been nice, but they couldn't hold a candle to ze Germans. When the G35 showed up, the game changed and people were frequently cross-shopping Infinitis with Benzes and Bimmers. The G35 was a refined, powerful, and reliable car that did wonders for the brand's image and sales.

Year: 2009
What it is: Mercedes quality at Korean prices
Complex Says: People still can't believe that the Genesis sedan is a Hyundai. It's drives like an E-Class, it's equipped like an E-Class, but it's priced more like a C-Class. Somehow, Hyundai has, over the course of just a few short years, gone from a company that was the last resort of those who couldn't afford Hondas to one that was stealing customers from Mercedes and Lexus. Wow.

Year: 2002
What it is: The spearhead for subcompacts in America
Complex Says: The Ford Fiesta, brilliant little car that it is, seems to have gotten all the press for the resurgence of the subcompact in America, but if you ask us, all those laurels should be heaped upon the Honda Fit. Despite its tiny footprint the Fit manages to have a decent amount of rear leg room, tons of head room, and great cargo capacity. Combine that with the fact that it's all in a fun package and we certainly have a fantastic car. In fact, it's so good that Honda has been forced to stop selling the Civic in Japan. The little Fit just cannibalized its sales.

Year: 2005
What it is: Ford's making desirable sedans again.
Complex Says: Ford's volume sedan game was killer for decades and decades. Somewhere in the '90s, the blue oval lost its way, though. The 2005 Fusion was a return to excellent sedans that sold like hotcakes, despite the fact that it looks shockingly like a Gillette Fusion.

Year: 2008
What it is: A massive coupe that seems to say "here I am, kneel"
Complex Says: The "personal luxury car" used to be a noteworthy market segment of vehicles with the size of large sedans, the trappings of luxury, and the bodystyles of attractive coupes. Although there are very few of these left, the Brooklands coupe is certainly one of the most striking.

Year: 2011
What it is: Bleeding-edge technology is coming out of Detroit, once again.
Complex Says: For a while, it seemed that the big three had abandoned hope of being technological leaders, but with the post-recession resurgence came the Chevy Volt, which went on to win a heap of awards from the motoring press and set a new benchmark in the wars for the hybrid-buyer's dollar.

Year: 2003
What it is: A reason to buy obnoxious 28-inch rims
Complex Says: First off, let's take a moment of silence for the company that has passed. ... The Hummer might not have been received so well by the public (or the environment), but it has no doubt made an impact on car culture. The one-of-a-kind boxy beast didn't do it's papa justice, but quickly became a staple in rap videos, complete with subwoofers, enormous rims, and all.

Year: 2006
What it is: Race car handling at a reasonable price
Complex Says: No more Miata=Gay jokes. Nope. None. It's cliché, trite, and a disservice to an excellent sports car. Before the Miata these sorts of cars were made of questionable English wiring. The Miata put them all out of business by simultaneously out-performing them and being truely reliable. It's a car that has trained more professional race drivers than any other and it deserves your respect.

Year: 2005
What it is: Nothing but pure performance
Complex Says: The Evo has always had a terrible interior, but that's the least of our concerns. The all-wheel Evo is nothing short of fantastic to drive on tarmac, dirt, snow, gravel, and even slush. If it's on the ground, this Lancer can take it.

Year: 2006
What it is: The alternative supercar
Complex Says: "Supercar" conjures up images of Italian exotics, but there are alternatives to be had. IN the case of Swedish Koenigesegg, there are excellent alternatives to be had. The CCX makes the 458 seems pedestrian. That's all we need say.

Year: 2010
What it is: Hybrid fuel economy without hybrid suckiness
Complex Says: VW's TDI engine returns hybrid-like MPGs without consuming all of the fun of the car. In fact, we find the diesel Golf to be a bit more fun to drive than the gas one due to the mountain of torque. Diesels aren't slow, smelly, or dirty anymore.

Year: 2012
What it is: An American car with German solidity
Complex Says: Ford of Europe made the Focus, and it has been an instant success. It's fun, smooth, practical, nimble, solid, loaded with features, and stylish.

Year: 2009
What it is: Crowdsourced automotive design works
Complex Says: Not only is this one of the most badass factory off-roaders ever built, it represents an entirely new business model for the auto industry. Crowdsourcing works. Crowdsourcing even works for automotive design. How cool is that?

Year: 2006
What it is: A surprisingly reliable mid-engined Ferrari
Complex Says: Ferraris have always been fast and stunning to behold. Before the F430 they were also temperamental and likely to simply stop working for no real reason. The F430 was the first Ferrari that could be reasonably expected to start every time the key was turned. How novel. The Scuderia variant (pictured) brought it up to race-spec and was a totally insane car.

Year: 2003
What it is: The ur-hot-hatch begins anew
Complex Says: The VW GTI has been the go to car for people who want a fun car but don't want to compromise. The 2003 lived up to its predecessors by offering an enticing combination of speed, fun, efficiency, space, doors, etc. It's honestly the perfect car for just about everyone.

Year: 2008
What it is: No more old man sedans from Jag
Complex Says: Jags were starting to look a little long in the tooth before Ian Callum got his hands on the company. Now, the Jag isn't just great fun to drive and incredibly comfortable to sit in, but it's the looker of the mid-size luxury segment. Put this thing next to a 5-Series and just try to look at the Bimmer.

Year: 2011
What it is: Segment-dominating refinement from an unlikely source
Complex Says: How did Hyundai suddenly get this good? Just a few years ago, Hyundai was making terrible vehicles that only sold because of cheap pricing. Now, it's selling cars that people buy because they are better than the competition from Toyota and Volkswagen. It was a real paradigm shift in the industry.

Year: 2002
What it is: A Bentley for Audi prices with a VeeDub badge
Complex Says: The Phaeton is one of the most sadly under-appreciated vehicles in the country. Americans simply weren't capable of reconciling the $90,000 price tag with the VW badge, despite the fact that the car was basically just a mash up of a Bentley Continental and an Audi A8. It was an absolute steal for anyone more concerned with content than showing off.

Year: 2004
What it is: If it's good enough for James Bond...
Complex Says: Beauty. That's the primary selling point of the DB9. It is fast, it does handle well, and it is a supremely awesome place to spend a few hours, but that's all beside the point. The point is in the image above.

Year: 2006
What it is: Repeat after ze Germans, "Four-door coupe"
Complex Says: Yes, we know that the term "four-door coupe" is somewhat silly, but it's here to stay and it all started with the CLS. The swoopy, sporty, and stylish sedan set the design world ablaze and has influenced the roofline of just about every sedan that has been made since.

Year: 2006
What it is: Flying buttresses and a V12
Complex Says: The Ferrari 599 served admirably as the Marque's flagship and spawned a number of stunning variants. Despite the roaring engine and F1-grade technology, the car's most intriguing feature was the "flying buttresses" that made up the C-pillar and channeled air to the rear lip spoiler. It has since shown up on more of Castriota's designs and looks like it might spread to the rest of the industry within the next few years.

Year: 2006
What it is: Controversial, but good
Complex Says: Yes, we know that we put one of Bangle's Bimmers on our 50 Best list. Aside from the controversial styling, the 2006 3-Series was simply a fantastic car. It hit all the right buttons for its market segment and did it in a way that proved that BMW was, yet again, one step ahead of the competition.

Year: 2011
What it is: The most versatile and fastest mid-engined Ferrari ever made
Complex Says: Now only has the 458 been praised for being fun to drive, sexy, and inspiring, but it's praised for being comfortable and useful in the real world as well. For a small fortune, one may have his cake as well as eat it.

Year: 2011
What it is: F1 with turn signals
Complex Says: The BAC Mono is basically just an F1 car modified to be drivin by normal humans and allowed on public roads. Sounds perfect.

Year: 2009
What it is: A simple formula involving a company's largest engine and smallest car
Complex Says: It has worked in the past and will continue working in the future. When a company puts its biggest engine in its smallest car, good things happen. Combined with a manual tranmission and revised suspension, the V21 Vantage wasn't just a good thing, it was a great thing.

Year: 2008
What it is: U. S. A.! U. S. A.!
Complex Says: With the CTS-V GM proved that the American auto industry is once again a force to be reckoned with. The CTS-V puts ze Germans to shame and is quite easily the fastest thing around the 'ring with four doors.

Year: 2005
What it is: American performance, now with refinement
Complex Says: The Corvette has always been a difficult car to handle. It's always been an exceedingly fast car in skilled hands, but under an amateur's control, it's often been wrapped around a tree. The C6 generation of Corvettes is refined in just about every way. Through some transmission trickery, they even avoid the dreaded gas-guzzler tax.

Year: 2004
What it is: The car that ate the whole hybrid market
Complex Says: By the time the second generation Prius came out, it was clear that hybrid cars were going to be a big thing. What very few would have projected was how wildly successful the new Prius would be. It got to the point that people didn't talk about hybrid cars anymore, they spoke of Priuses (Priusees? Prii? Priusides?).

Year: 2003
What it is: A collaborative hypercar with really, really cool wheels
Complex Says: Mercedes and McLaren had some good times together as F1 collaborators. Luckily for us normal, road-going people, their collaboration also spilled out into the street in the form of the $500,000 SLR McLaren. It's extremely fast, incredibly high tech, and has awesome wheels, just like an F1 car.

Year: 2006
What it is: Audi's take on mid-engined exotica
Complex Says: Many people claimed that this was just a re-badged Lamborghini that cost less money and disliked it for that. While the vast majority of parts were different, if it were that we'd see no reason to complain. That said, the R8 isn't just a fantastic supercar with a manual option, it's dolice and comfortable when needed. It's just an incredibly versatile vehicle.

Year: 2004
What it is: An angry, race-bred, dirty toy for the masses
Complex Says: Generally when the terms "0-60 in under five seconds" and "track ready handling" are used to describe a car, said car has two doors, only two seats (two useful ones at least), and costs well above the average shopper's budget. The WRX gave us all of these things in a practical package, kicked ass on tarmac and dirt, and was priced so that an average Joe could pick one up. It's the ultimate all-rounder.

Year: 2009
What it is: Aston Martin's magnum opus
Complex Says: Aston's cars aren't always quite the fastest, or the most nimble, but they ooze cool like no other marque can. The One-77 stands far above its already awe inspiring stable-mates. It features the world's most powerful naturally aspirated engine, all of Aston's handling tech, and sheet metal that will forcibly draw drool from the corners of onlookers' mouths.
It has been said that Aston built this car now, because it was feared that this might be the last chance to make a car with such a huge engine and such a huge personality.

Year: 2004
What it is: The perfect Porsche
Complex Says: Sure, the 911 is cool and all, but the rear-engined layout is inherently flawed. The Carrera GT, on the other hand, has that perfect mid-engined layout that some automotive journalists pine for when driving a 911. It wasn't just incredibly fast, it was incredibly good looking too.
The 911 has always, and will presumably always, looked almost exactly the same. The Carrera GT gave us a new, much more exotic and striking Porsche, and we've been pining for one ever since.

Year: 2007
What it is: The return of Maserati's mojo in a big way
Complex Says: Maserati had some rough years. There were bad cars, horribly unreliable cars, terrible cars, and cars that managed "worst ever" status. But then came the GranTurismo. It wasn't just cool, it was unbelievably cool. Five years later, it's still fresh, breath-taking, and elegant. Jason Castriota, one of our favorite designers, hit one out of the park with this one.

Year: 2002
What it is: An iconic SUV
Complex Says: "Underpaid, but don't be afraid / In the sun or up in the shade / On the top of my Escalade / Maybe your girl and my friend can trade!" Even moreso than the Hummer, Escalades were vehicles rappers couldn't stay away from. Taking the place of the good ol' Lincoln Navigator, these vehicles became possibly the most popular SUVs ever in the mid-2000s. They appealed to everybody, from celebrities to trophy wives to the rich frat boy who still wanted to have a badass "truck." Not to mention, it popularized the sparkly pearl white paint job more than any other whip.

Year: 2010
What it is: A reborn legend
Complex Says: The fifth generation Camaro has been a huge success. The buzz between the launch of the 2006 concept and its 2010 release was one of the biggest of the past 10 years, and the result has more than lived up to its hype since hitting the streets. Not only has it become a cultural movie icon as Bumblebee in the Transformers series, but it has also reignited the classic rivalry with its enemy, the Ford Mustang.

Year: 2003
What it is: The gold standard in luxury motoring
Complex Says: Rolls-Royce has always been responsible for some of the most luxurious and majestic sedans in the world. However, being British, they were also a tad temperamental, especially in the wiring. When BMW bought the storied marque, a new Phantom was designed and was an immediate hit. The combination of British elegance and German engineering made this car a "must-have" for royals, nobles, oligarchs, self-made tech billionaires, and rappers. It's a modern icon to boot.

Year: 2003
What it is: Insane, ostentatious, proud, and overtly American
Complex Says: The Dodge Viper is one of those cars that young boys won't shut up about. It's the very definition of "Up to Eleven" and functions simultaneously as a road-legal race car and a giant middle finger to everyone else. We're pretty sure the new 2013 SRT Viper will make the list next time, too.

Year: 2005
What it is: The new soul of Detroit
Complex Says: In 2005, the new Mustang awed the country with its retro design. While 2005 'stangs are woefully commonplace now, it's still a cool car, and we have it to thank for the whole retro movement in automotive design. Would we have gotten the new Camaro, Challenger, or SLS AMG without it?

Year: 2005
What it is: A limited remake of an American icon
Complex Says: Race cars are the stuff of legends, and few are as legendary as the brilliant Ford GT40, which was created out of nothing more than a vendetta against Enzo Ferrari by Henry Ford. Enzo has acted like he was willing to sell his company to Ford, but was only really interested in using the Americans as a bargaining chip in his deals with Fiat. When Ford found out that he had wasted a fortune on research leading up to the purchase, he vowed to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.
He did. Decades later, for only two short model years, Ford released the GT, an almost identical, road-going homage to the original race car.

Year: 2005
What it is: The most anal-retentive automotive engineering project ever
Complex Says: The Veyron redefined the term "supercar" and forever changed the landscape of the industry. New ways of testing and developing cars were created just for this model, and every inch of the infamous Bugatti contains state-of-the-art engineering and brand new concepts. It is without a doubt the most incredible and influential car of the decade. Now you just need this dope car playlist, and you're set for the ultimate driving experience.

These are going to be worth a forture at the Barrett-Jackson auctions some day. Ettore would be proud.