Being cool is totally subjective. It depends on the audience and personal taste. It’s the reason a ’64 Porsche 911 might draw a bigger crowd at a Cars and Coffee than the brand-new Lamborghini parked next to it. For us at MotorTrend, the range of what we’d call the coolest new vehicles on sale today is wide indeed. But each of the cars on this list is guaranteed to draw quite the audience, whether at an ORV park, a track day or a nighttime car meet.

Ford Mustang GTD

Named for the GTD class the Mustang GT3 races in, the Mustang GTD is more than just a street-legal race car. Unshackled by regulations, it makes more than 800 horsepower, approximately 250 more than the slower GT3 race car. Active aero and various other trick bits of engineering outlawed in professional racing all serve to make the GTD a purposely absurd proposition. Almost as absurd as its price tag, which is north of $300K. Almost every Mustang is cool, but few in factory trim would gather a crowd like the GTD.

Selected by Thomas Rosquin, Eric Tingwall

Volkswagen ID Buzz

Adored by many and awaited with anticipation by just about all, the ID Buzz van brings back the iconic shape and style of the old VW Bus, with callbacks to the now ridiculously valued first-generation specifically. Priced as a premium people mover with plenty of excess style, the Volkswagen ID Buzz is the kind of throwback everyone wants to see. Like the original Bus, the Buzz starts with a rear-drive model, so it should be efficient in addition to looking good while hauling all your people.

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Selected by Ed Loh, William Walker

Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato

What’s cooler than a Lambo supercar? A Lambo supercar designed to throw rooster tails and get airborne. Similar to the also-cool 911 Dakar, the Sterrato is a factory-built Huracán rally machine with the lift, extra lights and body armor to fit in off-road. All that kit can be put to excellent use, and there are few cooler feelings than drifting a dirt path in a Lamborghini wedge.

Selected by Scott Evans, Christian Seabaugh

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

EVs have been fast for a long time now, but they haven’t been necessarily fun. The Ioniq 5 N is both — and in a way no ICE SUV can be, as a bonus. A Hyundai electric SUV outrunning the fastest SUVs from Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche might not be too surprising these days, but that same Hyundai SUV busting down a track sideways without a thought probably is. The 5 N’s chassis balance and willingness to rotate is no electronic trick, though it’s got plenty of those to play with on top of everything else, if that’s what you want. Drift mode, synthetic “engine” sounds and faux transmission “shifts” with paddle shifters can all be layered on in various combinations through an overly complicated interface. But the coolest part is the Ioniq 5 N doesn’t need any of them to put a smile on your face.

Selected by Scott Evans, Alex Leanse, Christian Seabaugh

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Toyota Tacoma (4x4 Manual)

The last manual 4x4 truck on sale in the United States is the Taco. By itself, this is a pretty big deal. Modernity hit the new Tacoma rather hard, with sharp new lines, more powerful engines and even a less cramped back seat. But Toyota, in its old-school ideology, kept the third pedal option alive without charging more for it as a special option or only allowing it to be in the base trim. The manual is instead a celebrated part of the middle of the lineup. Having a Taco is cool, but you know someone is a connoisseur if you get in their new Toyota Tacoma and find a shifter with an H-pattern.

Selected by Ed Loh

Ineos Grenadier

For a certain kind of adventurous enthusiast, a vehicle driving like crap on the road just means it's that much more hardcore off it. The Ineos Grenadier, with its solid axles, is exactly that kind of vehicle, with the capability and customization that such enthusiasts pine after. As the Land Rover JLR won’t build, the Grenadier is a brand-new vehicle that nevertheless brings old-school off-road sensibilities back into the new-vehicle fold.

Selected by Erik Johnson

Lucid Air

A world-beating sedan in just about every metric, the Lucid Air has extreme performance, deft handling and sublime comfort to warrant a “best car in the world” moniker. The Air Sapphire version ran the quickest quarter mile we’ve ever seen in our own testing, beating out far more expensive and impractical machines. Yet despite it all, what really makes the Air such a cool car isn’t that it can flash from 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds or glide through corners. It's that seeing one is like seeing an old-money limousine from some utopian future. It’s always an event.

Selected by Alex Kierstein, Alex Leanse, Scott Evans

Toyota GR Corolla

Toyota’s golden era was defined by the “three brothers” performance cars, including the MR2, Celica and Supra. That golden era has largely returned with a new trio, including the punchy yet controllable GR Corolla. Pumping out 100 hp per cylinder from its turbo inline-three, blowoff wooshes accompany forward thrust unlike any non-WRC-spec Corolla has ever wielded. Despite being only the second-fastest hot hatch on the road, the GR Corolla is at the top of the food chain in many ways thanks to its AWD abilities once the pavement runs out. All the better now that the fun locking differentials are standard equipment.

Selected by Kristen Lee

Ford Mach-E Rally

Speaking of when the pavement runs out, the Mach-E Rally is about the fastest $61,000 will take you off the tarmac in a factory passenger vehicle. Capable of giving you every bit of the $360,000+ as-tested Hurácan Sterrato’s dirt driver bliss, it’s yet another EV crossover decked out to put a smile on your face. It’ll outrun the Porsche 911 Dakar in the quarter mile and potentially throw up even larger dirt rooster tails thanks to its chunky EV weight and 700 lb-ft of torque. With the added wing, extra lift and special wheels, seeing one on the road might even give you the feeling of seeing a pre-livery rally machine out on test.

Selected by Scott Evans, Christian Seabaugh

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Rivian R1T Quad

A new class of EV supertrucks has arrived, and even before the second-gen R1T enrolled, we named its predecessor the valedictorian. With a raft of upgrades including new motors, the R1T of today would leave the nearly identical first gen in the dust. Even the new base Dual Motor R1T is a seriously quick truck with its 3.4-second 0–60 blast, and it will outhandle things no pickup truck should be able to. The Tri-Motor cranks up the crazy, and the Quad rips the dial off entirely. Capable of accelerating quicker to 60 than you would if you fell off a cliff, the Quad is still more interesting than being a mere one-trick pony. It's actually a practical workhorse, with a serenely cozy interior and shocking off-road capabilities. While the other supertrucks attempt to intimidate with their looks, the Rivian R1T matches a friendly face with world-conquering performance.

Selected by Scott Evans, Christian Seabaugh

Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition

Bullitt, Smokey and the Bandit, Gone in 60 Seconds and many other movies have made their hero cars legendary. In particular, the Initial D manga, anime, video games and movies did that and more with the AE86 Corolla its protagonist used to become a downhill touge master. As tributes go, the Trueno Edition Toyota GR86 certainly isn’t bad, especially considering its role in simply keeping the collective public attention on the sublime lightweight low-cost sports car. As affordable cool cars go, for roughly $30,000, you can’t do better than a track terror like the GR86.

Selected by Justin Westbrook, William Lewis

Cool cars, according to the MotorTrend staff

• Ford Mustang GTD
• Volkswagen ID Buzz
• Huracán Sterrato
• Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
• Toyota Tacoma (4x4 Manual)
• Ineos Grenadier
• Lucid Air
• Toyota GR Corolla
• Ford Mach-E Rally
• Rivian R1T Quad
• Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition

Photos by Alan Muir, MotorTrend Staff, Manufacturer