18 of the best 4x4 classics | Classic & Sports Car (2024)

Grip and grins in equal measure

From small hatchbacks to supercars and limos, four-wheel drive technology is everywhere in modern cars.

But plenty of classics came equipped with 4WD, too.

Whether you’re looking for an all-weather hack, the perfect classic car to tow your classic boat, or just love the no-fuss appeal of plonking your foot down at the lights without leaving in a cloud of vaporised Goodyears, there’s a four-wheel-drive classic for you.

1. Willys MB Jeep

One of the Allies’ key WW2 weapons, the original 60bhp Jeep was as nimble as a mountain goat, and thanks to its functional design, about as ugly.

Original war-era Willys MB and Ford GP jeeps in mint condition are now worth a lot, but a later French-built Hotchkiss (or much later civilian Jeep CJ) gives you much of the same feeling for less outlay.

2. Porsche 959

Fast forward 40 years from the MB Jeep’s heyday and the benefits of all-weather traction had helped turn the 911 into a supercar.

The 959 owed plenty – particularly its styling cues – to the 911, but its part-air, part-water-cooled twin-turbo flat-six was borrowed from the 956 and 962 endurance racers, and its 197mph top speed made it briefly the world’s fastest car.

3. Porsche 993 turbo

By 1989, Porsche was offering four-wheel-drive transmissions on the new 964-generation 911, badging it Carrera 4.

But the 911 turbo didn’t get the all-paw treatment until the 1995 arrival of the 993 turbo, a 408bhp junior 959.

4. Land-Rover

Next to the original Jeep, the most iconic 4x4 of them all.

The Land-Rover has now been in production for more than 70 years and over that time has come in dozens of combinations of engine, wheelbase and body style.

5. Range Rover

Rover began developing a bigger, more comfortable Land-Rover in the 1950s, but it was 1970 before the finished Range Rover, complete with 3.5-litre aluminium-block V8, was in showrooms.

Unlike modern Rangies, the original was still pretty basic, featuring a four-speed manual gearbox and hose-out interior, but that doesn’t stop restored cars achieving high prices today.

6. Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen

Britain wasn’t the only country to see the sales potential of a car with the WW2 Jeep’s go-anywhere capabilities.

The original Geländewagen (cross-country vehicle) first appeared in 1979 and is still on sale in 2022, although the concept has changed somewhat – the Mercedes-AMG G63 has 577bhp and can do 0-62mph in just 4.5 sec.

7. Toyota Land Cruiser

The Land Cruiser name was born in 1954, though the first car to wear the badge could trace its origins to 1950 and the Korean War, when Toyota was commissioned to build four-wheel-drive vehicles for the US army.

The Land Cruiser name is still going strong today, but the most iconic version is the J40 (pictured), built between 1960 and 1984.

8. Jensen FF

The little-known FF looks at first glance like any other Interceptor (you can recogniseit by the two, rather than one, side gills), but it hides some radical thinking under its 5in longer skin.

A Ferguson four-wheel-drive system made it the first car not designed to go off-road to employ that technology, and there were anti-lock brakes, too, two decades before they reached ordinary cars.

9. Audi quattro

The expensive Jensen FF wasn’t a success and it was 1980 before the idea of a four-wheel-drive GT made another big splash, both on the road and on the rally stages.

The quattro mated a permanent four-wheel-drive transmission to a turbocharged inline ‘five’ that produced 200bhp in early 10v models, and 20bhp more by the time the 20v version bowed out in 1991.

10. Lancia Delta Integrale

Though it snatched back the WRC manufacturer’s title from Audi with its rear-drive 037 in 1983, Lancia knew the future was four-wheel drive.

First came the Group B Delta S4 and then, when Group B was banned, the mighty Group A Delta Integrale, first in 185bhp 8v guise, and eventually, 215bhp in the Evo II. Lancia duly took six consecutive manufacturers’ WRC titles from 1987.

11. Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R

While Lancia’s Integrale was making a big noise on the WRC stage, Nissan’s revitalised GT-R was causing a similar fuss in the Touring Car world.

That was particularly so in Australia, where the four-wheel-drive, straight-six Skyline proved so fast it was effectively banned after 1992 by rule changes brought in to keep the local Holden and Ford fans (and manufacturers) happy.

12. Nissan Sunny/Pulsar GTi-R

Back to rallying, where Nissan employed some of the GT-R’s thinking on the front-wheel drive Sunny, or Pulsar, as it was called in some markets.

The turbocharged 2-litre GTi-R’s Hannibal Lecter bonnet scoop looked scary in your rear-view mirror, but the car was no threat to its Group A rivals. That hasn’t stopped it becoming a cult machine for Japanese car fans, though.

13. Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4x4

On paper, the advantages for the four-wheel-drive Saph over the earlier rear-drive model, or the even earlier in-yer-face whale-tail three-door Cossie, were hard to spot.

Autocar recorded 6.6 secs to 60mph, down almost a full second, but the magazine made it clear that across country, especially in bad weather, the four-wheel-drive version was leagues ahead.

For its next trick, Ford dropped a front-drive Escort’s body onto the Sierra’s floor to create the Escort Cosworth.

14. Subaru Impreza

Subaru raised eyebrows with its turbocharged Legacy four-cam turbo, which Colin McRae drove to back-to-back British Rally Championship wins in 1991 and 1992.

But it’s the smaller Impreza that became the icon. From discreet early UK-spec Turbos and estates to wild JDM STitwo-doors, there are thousands to choose from, though rot and nightmarish Max Power mods have claimed their fair share.

15. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Not a Subaru fan? How about its Mitsubishi arch rival? The Lancer Evo looks broadly similar and was designed to do the same job – namely, win rallies – but instead of a boxer ‘four’, you get a conventional inline ‘four’.

Not as fun to listen to, then, but arguably more fun to drive – and with massive tuning potential if that turbo kick ever starts to feel ordinary.

16. Lamborghini Diablo

Though Lamborghini had already built the mighty LM002 jeep, a four-wheel-drive system wasn’t ready in time for the Diablo’s 1990 launch.

Then again, if you talk to Lambo engineers, they’ll admit none of the car was… The four-wheel-drive VT arrived in 1993, its centre differential with viscous coupling allowing up to 25% of the V12’s 492bhp to reach the front wheels.

17. Audi S8

Sleepers, Q cars… whatever you call them, if you’re making a list, Audi’s original S8 has to be on there.

Based on the blandly handsome aluminium-bodied A8, the S8 came with a 335bhp V8, and four-wheel drive, the only clue to the performance being a set of alloy mirror caps, a couple of tiny S badges and those gorgeous Avus alloys.

18. Audi TT

If the S8 is one of the world’s most anonymous performance cars, the TT has to rank as one of the most distinctive.

A clever re-skin of the Mk4 Golf, the TT initially came with a choice of 180, or much faster 225bhp turbocharged 1.8s that can reach 60mph in 6.1 secs. These are solid-gold future classics.