Podcast: Autosport selects the greatest competition car of all time

The first issue of Autosport magazine appeared on 25 August 1950 and as part of our celebrations this year we have selected the greatest machines from each of the major international categories.

Our panel of experts debated the most successful and important grand prix cars, sportscars, rally machines, touring cars, Indycars and junior single-seaters in the previous episodes.

• Autosport at 70 - choosing the greatest cars
• What's the best grand prix car of all time?
• What's the best sportscar of all time?
• What's the best rally car of all time?
• What's the best touring car of all time?
• What's the best Indycar of all time?
• What's the best junior single-seater ever?

The winner from each episode progressed to the grand finale, which also includes some wildcard entries. The Porsche 911, successful across a wide range of categories, was added to the list, along with the great cars from NASCAR and Formula 5000, as well as some more recent contenders.

Comparing competitors across different eras is always a tricky task and doing so across different genres was even harder. The main judging criteria in previous episodes had been the level of success each of the cars enjoyed, how far they changed motorsport with their innovations, and how exciting they were to watch, but other elements were added for the finale. Should some categories be weighted more strongly than others?

Chief Editor and host Kevin Turner is joined by Technical Editor Jake Boxall-Legge, Autosport magazine Deputy Editor Marcus Simmons and Historics Editor and Editorial Assistant Matt Kew to try to tread the line between personal favourites and objective game-changers when it comes to one of the classic motorsport debates.

Although Autosport - and Formula 1 - is 70 years old, we talk about the cars that helped shape the sport before the advent of the world championship. The earliest cars date back to before the First World War, though most of the final candidates come from the fast-moving and dramatic contests of the 1970s and 1980s.

As well as this podcast min-series, we are celebrating our birthday with features from the Autosport magazine archive, covering seven decades of incredible motorsport moments and interviews, on Autosport.com.

An Autosport 70 special magazine, featuring the cars we selected, as well as the greatest drivers and competitions from motorsport history, will be released in November.