Throwing in a vote for the Saturn SL2. I’ve had two, and they are great.
1948 Ford pick up.
My nominations:
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Acura Integra (1994-01). Demonstrably better than any compact out there today - the best version of the best FWD road chassis ever. They get 30+ MPG, OEM parts are cheap and not many are needed. The steering and handling of these cars is simply better than any other sedan. They aren’t frustrating for the experts and aren’t intimidating for the novices. Commuter, road trip cruiser, backroad burner, track star, all in one sensible package.
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Mazda Miata (1990-05). Mazda took a very big gamble and designed an all-new chassis for the first new sportscar since the TR7. It paid off; they sold a million of them. Driving a Miata is pure fun - the balance is perfect, the turn-in is great, you can exit facing any direction you want, the engine always wants to be turning faster than it is now, there’s no isolation or slack anywhere in the steering or chassis, and you cover 55 miles in an hour on twisty back roads without ever exceeding 60. I owned one for three years and it needed nothing beyond tires, belts, and oil and filter changes.
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Chevrolet Caprice (1977-1980). General Motors got scared during the oil crisis and didn’t fool around. They drew up a full-sized car that was lighter than their compacts had been yet was the same size inside as their full-sizers used to be. The resulting haymaker left Chrysler quivering flat on the canvas and Ford desperately trying to diversify out of the ring. The Caprice was quicker, faster, cleaner-handling, smoother-riding, better ventilated, more ergonomic, and more economical than any other American car that year. It ended up slimmer than the Camaro and Corvette of those years and thus faster with the same engines. GM’s reward was selling more cars than everyone else combined for a few years. That they managed to blow it from there is one of the saddest stories of industrial mismanagement there is…
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Tesla Roadster (2008-). Soon, you’ll be able to divide electric cars as “pre-Tesla” and “post-Tesla”. It’s the first production electric car to be able to handle normal use without major adjustments in the way you drive - you don’t have to plan ahead for a recharge on a 100 mile round trip, you don’t have to plan your freeway merges like Ike Eisenhower trying to invade Normandy, and the manufacturer plans on continuing to make electric cars after this one. It’s also the first electric car to have a performance “killer app” - it will take any cheaper production car in a roll-on drag race.
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Lotus Elise (2005-on for the US). They have stopped depreciating, which has to be unique for a car that’s still available brand new. The best description I can give for it is that it’s a Miata that accelerates like a Viper up to 90 or so.
unless you actually need to, you know, carry stuff. 950 lbs of battery in a two-seat car is a brute force solution. and if you don’t have a 240 VAC circuit near the car, “refueling” it from “empty” takes two days.
No, no major adjustments at all.
Ford F-150 pickup. The gold standard in trucks.
My father just bought a few months ago a Nissan Leaf. I won’t argue best/better, and the range is a problem for most people. But man is there some low-end power/torque on that sumbitch. You won’t go far, but it is fucking fun to drive.
Disclaimer, I only got to drive it once – but I’ve been in it in side-passenger seat with people who know how to show it to me (yeah, yeah, Frank Booth).
950 lbs of batteries plus 120 lbs of motor and controller in a two-seater is not that much more of a brute-force solution than a 500 lb gasoline engine with accessories, 100 lbs of cooling and oiling equipment, a 100 lb multi-ratio gearbox, and 150 lbs of gasoline. It would take a long time to refuel a gasser through a coffee stirrer; it’s just that it’s more likely that you’ll be trying to recharge without decent equipment in an electric. The cargo capacity and total weight are both in the general vicinity of a Miata.
I had a 94 Corolla!
Goddamn door handles…
I’m pretty happy with my 2011 Prius. Time will tell, of course, but there seem to be a lot of earlier model years on the road. Huge gas mileage, seats four comfortably, heated leather seats, and I can fit an 8 ft. 2x4 in it.
So, if you were going to, say, finish your basement, you’d have to make 200 trips to Home Depot? 
C’mon people, the answer is obvious here.
It’s the Volkswagen Beetle.
21,529,464 of them sold, and each and every one looked just like the other 21,529,463.
That’s more like it. I can’t believe how many people are nominating ordinary, boring cars as being the “BEST car ever”. While I have never driven any of them, and probably never will, I have to believe that the BEST car ever is something like a Bugatti, Ferrari, Pagani, Lambo, Roller or car of similar ilk.
best at WHAT? the ones you list might make you feel funny in your pants, but they are rather unreliable and horribly expensive to fix.
http://www.sportscarcompany.com/detail-1963-jaguar-xke-roadster-used-3047083.html I drove one of these when I was young. it was a great car.
And they were all pieces of crap. Cramped, no effective heater, no trunk space. They ran, but they never ran right. It was a marketing marvel but a disaster of a car design.
A car that can’t go through a car wash is of very little utility. The Bugatti isn’t even the fastest car despite it’s price. Ask yourself, what is the point of driving over 200 mph if you are not a professional racer on a closed course? Egotistical POS and not the best. By your criteria there is some race car out there that is a one of a kind that is somehow “best”. So let’s get real and address the intent of the OP.
Ditto. Yea, go to your local Bugatti dealer for an alignment. Good luck.
Best cars? Look at what stays on the road long after they should have been gone. Toyota Camry circa 1990. Ford Explorer, circa 1995. Toyota 4Runner circa 2004. In the third world countries there are still Toyota FJ’s running. A lot of old Honda’s are doing well. All are very utilitarian, practical and efficient.
The original Batmobile. If it’s prepared.
I nominate the 1932 Ford V-8. I think it’s one of the most elegant designs in car history, and as the beginning of the great flathead era, it was also a triumph of engineering. Simple, practical, and powerful.
Well, no. Flat windscreen versus curved windscreen. Big tail lights, small tail lights. Different rear bumpers. Round rear glass, bigger curved rear glass. There was evolution, man! 
Best car from the 1960s, a 1966 Chevy Impala. Roomy, powerful, could be equipped with more options than any European car available at less than half the cost.
Best from the Seventies, certainly not American and Japanese cars were reliable but still had some issues to work out. I’ll go with a Mercedes-Benz diesel.
The 1980s. Toyota Cressida 1977-1992. Large but Japanese.
Nineties. The 5th generation Honda Civic 1992-1995 was an exceptional car but the Mazda Miata trumps it. That car has no flaws as long as your don’t need a trunk.
New millennium. The Ford Focus wagon had more cargo capacity than most SUVs but got more than twice the mileage.
We’re not far into this decade but I’d vote for one of the Cadillacs. Ford & Chevy have some great cars but Cadillac has all the luxury manufacturers beat for the 1st time since the Fifties and it costs less.
A difficult one. Best or most important?
If F1 were allowed you’d have to look no further than theLotus 49, or the MP4/4
But if we are talking pure road cars, then perhaps the original mini?
Or the game changingGolf GTI Mk1? the first true hot hatch.
Or the truly indestructible Toyota Hilux?
I think my heart is taken by either the E-type Jag, the Lancia Stratos as mentioned previously or a lovely big blown Bentley., perhaps the Blue Train Special?