Each great motoring civilization has its national icon. For the Great British, that car is the original Mini Cooper.

If you asked anyone in 1994 — motorcyclist or otherwise — if the number 916 held any significance, they’d have probably shrugged. At the time, it didn’t mean anything to anyone outside of the Sacramento area code. But later that year, Ducati announced its new superbike, and since then the number 916 has been synonymous with two-wheeled Italian perfection.

In a recent made-up poll, nine out of ten newborns were able to correctly identify the Mercedes-Benz 300SL by name. One, a child obviously destined for greatness, even uttered the words "Thank you, Max Hoffman." But we'll get to that later. The 300 SL "Gullwing" is such a memorable car that we could think of no better way to kick off our Icon series.