Top Gear Magazine Awards 2007
Welcome to the Top Gear Magazine Awards. Not the result of endless 'road testing' or focus groups or even a poll of the public. No, our awards are decided by the tried-and-tested method of a long evening in the pub. And, no, we don't always agree on everything.
If you watched the last in the series of Top Gear on the telly, you may well have witnessed the boys nominating the new Ford Mondeo as their Car of the Year. Well, it's one of ours, too, but not the car of the year. To find out what that is, you'll need to buy the Awards Issue of Top Gear Magazine, but first check out the 11 contenders in our gallery.
If you watched the last in the series of Top Gear on the telly, you may well have witnessed the boys nominating the new Ford Mondeo as their Car of the Year. Well, it's one of ours, too, but not the car of the year. To find out what that is, you'll need to buy the Awards Issue of Top Gear Magazine, but first check out the 11 contenders in our gallery.
Family Car of the Year: Ford Mondeo
'Why would you choose a BMW 3-series over a new Ford Mondeo? After driving the Blue Oval's latest mid-sized exec I'd be hard-pressed to give you a single valid reason. Because this new Ford is a properly world-class car, matching the Beemer in most areas and beating it in some important ways, too. I just want it to cut into the Big Three German brands and steal some of their biased drivers. It really does deserve to.'
Bill Thomas
City Car of the Year: Fiat 500
'The Fiat 500's designers can give themselves a pat on the back for drawing what is an almost perfect modern-day interpretation of the original car. It looks cute and cheesy on the outside; inside, it's even better.
'And, best of all, it's cheap. £7,900 is a piffling number of notes for a car as cool as this one.'
Richard Hammond
Fantasy Car of the Year: Ferrari 430 Scuderia
'As you cannon out of a bend in the Scuderia, marvelling at the wall of the sound and the extraordinary grip, you are pinned to your seat, unaware that the ride height is down, or that the air is being parted more cleanly. All you care about is that you don't want it to stop. As a driving machine, I know of nothing to match this.'
Jeremy Clarkson
Executive Car of the Year: Mercedes-Benz C-Class
'The C-Class is a machine with many strengths: among them, a superb ride quality and low noise levels. It oozes class, and looks solid and smooth and honed on the road. The dash and interior fittings are beautifully made and feel solid and expensive. It's a return to form for Mr Benz. More please.'
Bill Thomas
Limo of the Year: Jaguar XF
'For the first time in my motoring life, here is a Jaguar that feels as though it was aimed at the generation after mine, rather than the generation before. At the same time, though, it does exhibit a strangely old-school British quality: one of meatiness, weightiness and solidity. It gives me a warm feeling. The XF is a good car, certainly, but more than that, it's a nice one. Niceness is a much rarer commodity.'
James May
Hot Hatch of the Year: Honda Civic Type R
'It's the most scalpel-edged of hot hatches by a mile. The one that most makes you concentrate. The one that insists you time every gearchange to the fraction, take the most exact choice of line through a bend. And the one whose controls are so exquisitely sharp that you absolutely can.'
Paul Horrell
Dream Car of the Year: Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
'The Drophead is brilliant, and you don't have to be in the driving seat to appreciate it. Because it makes you feel better about the human race that we can produce things like this. Look at it. Drink it in. This car makes no apologies, competes with nothing. It simply is. And what it is, is the best car in the world.'
Tom Ford
SUV of the Year: Nissan Qashqai
'Think about what you want from a car, day after day after wet, crappy day, and you'll always come back to the deeply reassuring Qashqai. This is a car that you can rely upon, that'll take care of you, that makes you feel like the world just that bit more manageable.'
Matt Master
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