The average motorist doesn’t care about downforce, heritage, horsepower or off-road capacity. To most, a car is a car like a fridge is a fridge. There are times when, for a plethora of reasons, a car successfully makes the leap from a basic mode of transportation to a passion and, sometimes, a cultural icon. You’ll recognize them when you’re out and about: owners wave at each other, flash their lights, stop to chat, and will pull over to help when you have a breakdown.

Here are some of the cars that have achieved cult status around the world and a few we think will get there in the coming years. We give the year of first production in brackets.