Top 10 best cars to modify

This is the definitive list to end all 100 Greatest Cars lists. You'll never have to read another list, and this list is absolutely, scientifically, precisely and transcendently correct. That is until we have a few more PBRs.

Greatness, for the reason of this list, is defined by a vehicle's direct, significant contribution to American automotive culture. That does not mean that a car had to actually have been sold in America, but that its legend changed how other cars are seen in its shadow. Some of the choices here are actually racecars.

So it's a biased list in favor of cars that enthusiasts love, but it also acknowledges those everyday cars that have shaped our lives.

Still, sales success doesn't matter here, but greatness does come in batches. So these are production vehicles. No one-offs like the Batmobile or Don "The Snake" Prudhomme's Hot Wheels Funny Car. And there are no flying cars either, unless you count the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427.

So crack open a juice box and get on with it.

100. 1997 Acura Integra Type-R: Hand-ported heads, 8, 000-rpm redline, and the best-handling front-drive chassis ever. It's still the ultimate sport compact.

99. 1991 Ford Explorer: It defined the 1990s with its ubiquity and made the SUV the standard family hauler. Its rep has fallen, but its impact hasn't faded.

98. 1993 Toyota Supra Twin Turbo: Though it never sold in huge numbers, this was the first import capable of being modified to make (and withstand) 1, 000 horsepower.

97. 1968 Datsun 510: A Japanese box on wheels that could beat Porsches in SCCA races. It was a half-price BMW 2002 and a model of simplicity producing greatness.

96. 1984 Toyota Corolla AE86: The mundane rear-drive Toyota that taught the world how to drift. Its simplicity — and DOHC 1.6-liter engine — are its greatest virtues.

95. 1992 Hummer H1: Ludicrously impractical on-road and stunningly capable off. From Baghdad to Beverly Hills, it's still the ultimate SUV.

94. 1986 Lamborghini LM002: Audacious, outrageous and powered by the Countach's V12. It was the first luxurious high-performance SUV, a segment now filled with Cayenne Turbos and X5 Ms.

93. 1986 Acura Legend: It's the car that proved the Japanese could build a true luxury machine and had to be taken seriously.

92. 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII: This is the Evo that came to America and reset every performance expectation. It's the high-tech rally car for the common man.

91. 1963 Jeep Wagoneer: With its unique mix of 4x4 toughness and carlike luxury, it invented the family SUV category. In production for a full 30 years, the biggest surprise is that Jeep isn't still building it.