---
title: "The 7 Sexiest Cars Without Grills (Before the Tesla Model S)"
description: "Cars don't always have to bare their teeth."
date: "2016-04-13"
modified: "2019-05-29"
authors:
  - name: "Ben Keeshin"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/ben-keeshin"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/design/2985/the-7-sexiest-cars-without-grills-before-the-tesla-model-s"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "History"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Tesla News"
tags:
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "luxury"
  - "model s"
  - "sedan"
  - "Tesla"
---

# The 7 Sexiest Cars Without Grills (Before the Tesla Model S)

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Four years after deliveries of the electric super-sedan first began, Tesla is refreshing the Model S. While that slinky, Aston Martin-esque shape remains, several tweaks bring it into line with the company's newer Model X and Model 3. New LED headlights can illuminate curves, and a new, 48-amp charger is standard. Inside, new interior trims will be available, plus a (literally) weapons-grade cabin filtration system that filters out 99.7% of airborne particulates and can, in "Bioweapon Defense Mode," create positive pressure inside the car should Bashar al-Assad's terrorizing reach northern California. The biggest change—the one you'll notice from your own sad, gasoline-powered automobile—is the new Model S' grille-less face: it's tidy and handsome. There's no radiator behind that prow: why perforate it?

Of course, it's not just electric cars that have historically forsaken grills. Some of our favorite motoring icons, front- and rear-engined alike, have done without metal grates. Sometimes, passive cooling is enough—plus, a smooth, shiny nose is chic and sleek. Need proof? Here are seven of our favorite toothless transportation options.

## 1955-1965 Citroën DS

![Citroen DS](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-citroen-ds-art.jpg>)
**Al Paloczy/Getty Images**

Among its many novel features (oleo-pneumatic suspension, anyone?), the DS was one of the most aerodynamic cars of its day, in part due to that sharp, smooth front fascia. It's a graceful look fitting for a goddess.

## 1993 Mustang GT

![Ford Mustang GT](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-ford-mustang-gt-art.jpg>)
**Ford**

Despite a thumping, gasping 5.0-liter V8 underhood, late-model Fox-body Mustangs made due with a lower air intake, with just a blue oval between those butch headlights. It's as if a some burly strongman shaved: he's still powerful, just smoother.

## 1991-2002 Mazda RX-7

![Mazda RX-7](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-mazda-rx-7-art.jpg>)
**Mazda**

The RX-7 was one of the last Mazdas to come with that wildly-spinning rotary engine. On the surface, though, it was all glassy: all the swoops of the RX-7, absent any mesh.

## GM EV-1

![GM EV-1](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-gm-ev1-art.jpg>)
**General Motors**

It's not as sexy as the current Model S, but back in the Nineties, the EV-1 was the realest electric car the country had every seen. It's bloppy, swoopy lines maximized range, which was also helped by a super-smooth fascia.

## 1950-1965 Porsche 356

![Porsche 356](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-porsche-356-art.jpg>)
**Wikimedia Commons**

A rear-engine design meant the classic Porsche Bathtub needn't mar its polished-rock lines with strakes or gaping holes. All the better to concentrate on that iconic, wide-eyed 356 gaze.

## 1955-1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

![Karmann Ghia](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-vw-karmann-ghia-art.jpg>)
**Colin Creitz/Getty Images**

Like the Porsche, the Karmann Ghia kept things [clean up](<https://www.sinkology.com/care/>) front, with only a novel-sized slatted opening over the trunk. With lines like this, any ornamentation just distracts.

## 1963-1967 Shelby Cobra

![Shelby Cobra](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/grill-less-cars-shelby-cobra-art.jpg>)
**Teddy Pieper/RM Sotheby's**

Stick with us here. While, yes, the Shelby has a classic oval grill *opening,* the metal strakes were removed in order to facilitate maximum cooling. It worked so well, and looked so boss, Ford brought back the style on their last generation GT500.

## Author
Ben Keeshin is a former staff writer for Maxim, and before that, contributed writing to the digital sides of Road & Track and Vanity Fair.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/BnKshn>)