Becoming the Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the most coveted automotive honors around, and for good reason. No other automotive brand goes as far as Motor Trend to fully evaluate and track-test vehicles for the Car of the Year award — and we’ve been doing it since 1949. While a separate Import Car of the Year winner was named from 1970 until 1999, the consolidated Car of the Year award has recognized automotive excellence from every corner of the industry.
Revisit previous Motor Trend Car of the Year winners in this special feature.
2016 Car of the Year Winner: Chevrolet Camaro
Before we started, had you asked any of us nine judges if the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro had a snowball’s chance in Hyundai’s desert proving grounds of winning our 2016 Car of the Year honors, almost all of us would have said no. Most of us would have been surprised to even see the Camaro as a finalist.
Had we stopped and thought about it a little harder, however, we might have reached a different initial conclusion. Why’s that? Because the sixth-generation Camaro is based on General Motor’s awesome Alpha platform architecture, the same structure that underpins the Cadillac ATS and CTS, the latter being our 2014 Car of the Year. Additionally, we’ve long felt that the ATS has been a burbling V-8, a smart transmission, and an interior upgrade away from KO-ing the BMW 3 Series. Especially as you can absolutely make the argument that GM’s core competency is the small-block. Long story short, we have a history of loving the wondrous-to-drive, lightweight, aluminum- and high-strength-steel intensive Alpha platform. But man, have we been waiting for the General to offer a small-block with a manual transmission.
Boy howdy, did they ever deliver. Guest engineering judge Theodore said of the new sixth-generation Camaro: “Quite an accomplishment. Bravo!” He wasn’t only talking about the V-8-engined SS. Chevy also sent us an RS version packing a 335-horsepower, 284-lb-ft of torque, 3.6-liter V-6 and GM’s new eight-speed automatic transmission.
Is this the best production ponycar the world has ever seen? Without hesitation, yes.
2015 Car of the Year Winner: Volkswagen Golf
While we admit that the 2015 Golf won’t make the average freeway-goer take much notice, the devil’s in the details. With crisply sculpted bodywork that’s nearly an inch lower, two inches longer, and a half-inch wider than its predecessor’s, the new Golf looks sleeker and sportier than the car it replaces. There are no superfluous lines, no gimmicky details; this makes the Golf one of the few cars in its segment that is able to appeal visually to both younger and more mature demographics. “Exquisite execution of lines and surface,” said our guest judge in design, Tom Gale. The interior is equally impressive, with refinement and attention to detail apparent everywhere — from the revamped 5.8-inch touchscreen display, to the supportive seats and clear instrumentation, to the cloth-lined door pockets normally found only in higher-end vehicles. We also appreciated classic touches such as the golf-ball-styled shift knob and available tartan upholstery in the GTI.
If a trend toward smaller vehicles has shown anything, it’s that buyers want the same tech-laden features, the same build quality, and the same upscale design and feel of their larger cars in their smaller ones. The 2015 Volkswagen Golf is a quality car, a fun car, a grown-up car — a C-segment vehicle that can instill pride of ownership without breaking the bank. And that’s why it’s the 2015 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
2014 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Cadillac CTS
By most calendars, a decade isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things — except on the automotive calendar, where it is nearly an eternity. Aside from some extreme cases, a decade encompasses at least two vehicle generations. It’s the average amount of time a typical consumer keeps a newly purchased car. It can also be the difference between also-ran and champion.
Examine our 2003 Car of the Year competition, if you will. The Infiniti G35 won by offering an unbeatable combination of style, refinement, handling, and value. We put BMW on notice: The Japanese have done it better. The Cadillac CTS, meanwhile, was barely mentioned, and praised only for its bold new design.
Welcome to 11 years later. In the intervening time, the CTS evolved into a champion in its own right, and was named Car of the Year in 2008. Again, we put Germany on notice: America’s coming. In neither of those victories, though, did either car face down its competition for the title. That’s what makes this year different.
2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Tesla Model S
The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. But it’s also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius. Oh, and it’ll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile, perhaps the most accomplished all-new luxury car since the original Lexus LS 400. That’s why it’s our 2013 Car of the Year.
Wait. No mention of the astonishing inflection point the Model S represents — that this is the first COTY winner in the 64-year history of the award not powered by an internal combustion engine? Sure, the Tesla’s electric powertrain delivers the driving characteristics and packaging solutions that make the Model S stand out against many of its internal combustion engine peers. But it’s only a part of the story. At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel.
2012 Motor Trend Car of The Year: Volkswagen Passat
If Car of the Year juries were seated like criminal trial juries, Volkswagen’s lawyers might have used up their peremptory challenges dismissing the lot of us. They’d claim we had been poisoned by the launch coverage of the company’s supersized Yank-tank B7-generation Passat. Harsh auto-show lighting made the car look like a freshened version of Chevy’s little-loved Impala; early punditry slammed the interior as drab, plain, and cheap-looking; and news that the moaning I-5 we loathe in the Golf-class cars would be the mainstream engine seemed like strike three. Making things worse were VW’s concurrently announced plans for world domination, which, combined with the above impressions, seemed to suggest that VW was saying “Vee unterschtand zat to sell lots of zees cahs to you fat Dummkopfs, zay need to be bland like Camry.”
Unlike GM and Ford, which are consolidating regional platforms and introducing world cars, Volkswagen’s larger new Passat will sell only in North America and China. The car and the strategy raise serious questions: Can an American-born-and-bred Passat be German enough to please the VW faithful? Can anything with a VW badge pry large numbers of people out of their Accords and Camrys? Can such conservative styling turn the heads of the legions on their way to Hyundai? Out on the test track, in the high-desert sunshine, three Passats spanning the range of powertrain and trim levels did their best to answer these questions, presenting evidence in each of our six criteria and gradually whittling away at our editorial preconceptions. Let’s read the court testimony.
2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chevrolet Volt
As one of the consultant judges on this year’s COTY panel, Chris brought the deep insight and professional skepticism you’d expect of someone who’s spent his entire working life making cars. But our 2011 Car of the Year, Chevrolet’s ground-breaking Volt, has blown him away.
“This is a fully developed vehicle with seamlessly integrated systems and software, a real car that provides a unique driving experience. And commuters may never need to buy gas!” Like all of us on the staff at Motor Trend, Chris is an enthusiast, a man who’ll keep a thundering high-performance V-8 in his garage no matter how high gas prices go. But he nailed the Volt’s place in automotive history: “If this is the brave new world, then it’s an acceptable definition.”
In the 61-year history of the Car of the Year award, there have been few contenders as hyped — or as controversial — as the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt started life an Old GM project, then arrived fully formed as a symbol of New GM, carrying all the emotional and political baggage of that profound and painful transition. As a result, a lot of the sound and fury that has surrounded the Volt’s launchhas tended to obscure a simple truth: This automobile is a game-changer.
2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Fusion
In 1964, Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year award went to the entire Ford lineup, recognizing its combination of design, engineering excellence, and performance. In 1970, we gave the nod to the Ford Torino, which could be ordered in a wide variety of configurations. Forty years ago, buyers could choose from economical, six-cylinder-powered sedans to the dragstrip-ready 429 Super Cobra Jet fastback. These legendary winners had one thing in common: bandwidth. In the 1960s and ’70s, this term wasn’t yet part of popular lexicon. Today, the 2010 Ford Fusion’s impressive bandwidth as a model range was one of the many factors that helped it earn the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year award.
Want an economical midsize sedan that doesn’t cost much, yet won’t bore you to tears? Need to please your greener side with a high-tech hybrid? Fancy a near-sport sedan with AWD, 18-inch rolling stock, and the latest infotainment and electronics? Depending on which model you choose and how many option boxes you tick, the Fusion can be any of the above. Arthur St. Antoine calls the Fusion “a compelling sweep across one of the market’s most hotly contested segments.”
2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Nissan GT-R
Yes, we are fully aware of the GT-R’s best-known nickname, “Godzilla” — so called because the automotive press found previous generations as ferocious and all-conquering as Japan’s fire-breathing monster. But following a full week of intensive evaluation in Nissan’s new sports car, we here at Motor Trend now lay claim to a more suitable GT-R moniker — Ichiban. From Japanese, ichiban translates to “number one.” In Motor Trend vernacular, however, it simply denotes: 2009 Car of the Year.
Every September, it seems a few editors comment, “This is the toughest field I can remember.” Sure enough, as this year’s testing drew to a close, several staff members expressed those same sentiments.
2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Cadillac CTS
News flash to automakers in Japan and Germany: The eagle has landed. Again.
If you were one of those who wrote off General Motors as a dying dinosaur — after all, it’s been a decade since any GM car took home the Golden Calipers (the Chevrolet Corvette won back in 1998) — prepare to rewrite everything you think you know about what’s in the General’s store. With this bold, savvy, uncompromising showpiece of a sedan — the all-new Cadillac CTS — GM has leapt straight from the rabble’s side of the velvet rope into that coveted, highly selective inner sanctum marked “World’s Finest Cars.” For that remarkable achievement, and for making us grin like lottery winners every time we drove it, the CTS is our enthusiastic choice for Motor Trend‘s 2008 Car of the Year.
2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Toyota Camry
Every day of every week, on average, Americans buy more than 1200 of them. Since its debut in 1983, over 10 million have been sold worldwide — five million of those homegrown in the horse country of Kentucky. Without benefit of fleet sales or incentives or dancing girls behind the showroom glass, it’s easily the best-selling car in the United States — and has been for nine of the past 10 years.
The redesigned, sixth-generation version has even become something of an automotive rock star: Stories circulate of buyers chasing loaded transport trailers to the dealership in hopes of grabbing one before it’s snatched up by some other lucky groupie. Maybe now those buyers will have to don helmets and shoulder pads: The new Toyota Camry is our choice for Motor Trend‘s 2007 Car of the Year.
2006 Motor Trend Car Of The Year Winner: 2006 Honda Civic
Our photographers had zoomed in on our 2006 Motor Trend Car of the Year winner before we’d even voted. “When you drivers passed our photo locations on the test route,” said one, “depending on the car, some of you were visibly pushing harder than others. But every single time the Civic Si came toward us, no matter who was driving it, we’d hear the engine screaming at the redline, the tires yowling for grip, and then the Honda would flash by, the driver grinning like Cameron Diaz on payday. We got it all on film.”
It’s true: At the flamboyant wheel of Honda’s brand-new bottle rocket, we dropped our professional poker faces, lost our journalistic composure. An 8000-rpm redline, a light-switch six-speed, and Terrell Owens moves will do that to you. But this new Honda is more than just one great performance bargain. The 2006 Civic lineup encompasses four new models: the sizzling Si, the sleek Coupe, the elegant Sedan, and the 50-mpg Hybrid. Each one is a winner. When we sat down to vote, it wasn’t even close: out of 12 judges, 11 voted Civic.
2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Chrysler 300
From the evening mist appears a gleam, the shimmer of tailored chrome, the diamond-glint of jeweled headlamps. A silhouette materializes, broad-shouldered, muscular, yet equally cool and elegant — like a champion athlete dressed for awards night. Heads turn. Conversation halts in anticipation. The valet unclasps the velvet rope.
And into the spotlight rolls the all-new, rear-drive 2005 Chrysler 300 four-door sedan, a suave and splashy new arrival from the DaimlerChrysler corporation and our enthusiastic choice for 2005 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
Allow the paparazzi its flurry of flashbulbs while we share a few revealing quotes from our logbook. “Bold. Brash. Beautiful. Bentley meets Boyd Coddington — love the hot-rod look.” “Far exceeds its competitors in style, fit and finish, and daring. Ballsy, with a big payoff.” “Extremely compelling combo of power, responsiveness, room, and refinement.” And this comment that sums it up best: “The rejuvenation of the great American full-size sedan.”
2004 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Toyota Prius
We love horsepower, naturally. And responsive handling — the more gs, the more grins here at Motor Trend HQ. Sexy sheetmetal? Always gets our attention. We’ve never denied our affinity for luxurious amenities, either.
Above all, though, we are admirers of brilliant design and engineering. Which is to say, design and engineering that advance the state of the automotive art without forcing users to relearn what they already know about the automobile. Having completed weeks of testing and over-the-road evaluations, our editors agree that, in this year’s highly diverse and competitive field, one entry shines more brilliantly than any other. The all-new Toyota Prius, a roomy, feature-packed, and user-friendly gas/electric hybrid capable of delivering an astonishing 60 miles per gallon in city driving, is the 2004 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
2003 Motor Trend Car of the Year Winner: Infiniti G35
“Superb powertrain, maybe the best available in this price range.” “Dynamically, this thing is a winner. So capable, so confidence-inspiring.” “The best-looking new sport coupe on the road today.” “Balance, poise, good driver feedback — finally, a real driver’s car from Infiniti.” “The G35 will keep the folks in Munich working overtime.” “These cars rock….”
These comments come from the Car of the Year test logbooks that rode along with the Infiniti G35 Sport Sedan and Sport Coupe during our multiweek evaluation process. There are pages more of these observations, and although the words are different, the sentiments remain the same: These are terrific machines.
2002 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Thunderbird
Forward revived more than an American icon when it boldly resurrected its unique Thunderbird sports/personal car for 2002. It also, as events would have it, reprised an historic Motor Trend Car of the Year win. Our forefathers here named the ’58 T-Bird — the first of the larger, four-seat versions — as Car of the Year, hailing “the overall concept…that combines safety with performance and comfort with compactness.”
For 2002, we’re happy to bestow that honor again, recognizing today’s Thunderbird for how it combines heritage with modernity and pleasure with practicality.
2001 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chrysler PT Cruiser
They say there’s no such thing as something new. They say inexpensive cars are boring to look at, and that practical ones are equally boring to drive. They say fun cars need to be expensive (although that’s no guarantee an expensive ride is any fun). They say this, they say that. One thing is obvious to us: “They” have never seen, driven, or enjoyed Chrysler’s amazing ’01 PT Cruiser. Consider the just-discussed criteria employed in choosing Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year-particularly such factors as Design, Daily Liveability, Value, Special Features, and, of course, the Fun Factor-and it’s easy to understand how and why the PT Cruiser captured the gold in this year’s huge 21-car competition. And it captured our automotive-enthusiast hearts, as well.
The PT Cruiser is another shining example of how an ingeniously conceived DaimlerChrysler concept vehicle becomes a production reality. The first hint of its heritage-inspired, “tall sedan” profile was seen in the Plymouth Pronto concept, first shown at the Detroit Auto Show in January 1997. Principal Exterior Designer Bryan Nesbitt then translated the look into a two-door coupe, giving it more of a chopped, street-rod flavor in the process; the result was another styling study, the Pronto Cruiser, which first broke cover 14 months later at the Geneva Show. Considering the crowd and media reaction, it was obvious DaimlerChrysler’s design team was onto something, and they worked hard to ensure the look of these concept vehicles was accurately translated to the final package. When attendees of the ’99 Detroit Show were told the car would, in fact, be built with a base price of less than $16,000, the PT’s future as a marketplace hit was cast. Today, the production PT clearly melds the four-door-plus-tailgate body style of the Plymouth Pronto concept and the smooth, raked, fender-flared, rod-inspired flavor of the later Pronto Cruiser.
2000 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Lincoln LS
Among all the impressive entries in this international competition, none left a more notable mark in its class, pushed the boundaries further among its peers, and turned the heat up on its direct competition more than the Lincoln LS. In creating this all-new entry-level sport/luxury sedan, the division strove to create not only a distinctive new car, but also a whole new direction for itself. Leaving its American luxo-cruiser tradition behind like a pair of green polyester slacks, Lincoln designed the LS to compete head-to-head with European sport/luxury sedans. That’s a tall order, and a mission that no domestic company has before been able to fully achieve.
In truth, Lincoln went out on a long limb to build the LS because — put bluntly — it’s a car that had better draw new, younger, customers to Lincoln dealerships since it likely won’t appeal to many existing Town Car, Continental, or Mark VIII owners. Still, such a bold attempt to overhaul a company’s image usually falls short of the goal.
1999 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chrysler 300M
It’s quite appropriate that, as Motor Trend begins the celebration of its 50th anniversary, one of the most evocative American nameplates during that span should reemerge, flanking a car that will propel us into the next millennium with equal doses of performance and pizzazz. Despite wearing a moniker that first appeared in ’55, the ’99 Chrysler 300M is one of the freshest statements to come out of Detroit in years. It’s a solid testament that America really can build a machine that masterfully blends performance, luxury, styling, and value into a five-passenger sedan shape. It’s a car, quite simply, we have long awaited. We’re proud to commemorate or 50th year as an integral part of the American automotive scene by naming the Chrysler 300M as Motor Trend ’99 Car of the Year.
This hard-fought award is open to every new or significantly changed ’99 car or minivan that’s classified as a domestic vehicle by the EPA and on sale by Jan. 1. From an intensely focused process that involves weeks of all types of road and weather driving, exhaustive track testing, and overall living with the various models, the Motor Trend editors choose one vehicle as the most significant new car of the year. This year, the all-new stunningly styles, fun-to-drive, value-priced Chrysler 300M was the overwhelming winner.
1998 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chevrolet Corvette
It’s a grand annual tradition. It’s Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year competition, our lengthy reenactment of “Twelve Angry Men,” but with less smoking, more driving, and a great deal more swearing.
Our competition is open to every new or significantly changed car or minivan that’s classified a domestic vehicle by the EPA. The evaluation process begins months, and occasionally even more than a year, before the celebratory issue goes to press. Our staffers get early exposure to the ’98 models, investigate the new machines, talk to engineers and product planners, visit factories, and get their first stints behind the wheel. By the time Car of the Year decision time nears, we’ve spent a vast amount of time with these vehicles, driving, testing, prodding, and researching-and testing some more. By process of elimination, the field is narrowed to a reasonably sized bunch of finalists that would be on sale by the Jan. 1, 1998 deadline. This final group ventures forth from our Los Angeles office on a multi-day mass comparison flog that takes in a wide range of driving conditions-and offers our judging staff plenty of opportunity for spirited discussion of the candidates.
1997 Motor Trend Car Of The Year: Chevrolet Malibu
Malibu is a golden model name that resonates powerfully in the memories of not only Motor Trend staff members but also millions of people nationwide.
As 1960s rug rats, many of us rode on the back seats of rear-drive Malibu models, scribbling pictures of Rat Fink or playing license-plate poker. Later as teens, many of us owned a used version of this ubiquitous GM born in ’64 as the uplevel version of the all-new Chevelle line. That year’s offerings were designed (as were all Malibus yet to come) as honest, high-value, youthful transportation, with a wide range of options to fulfill the varied lifestyles of its customers.
1996 Motor Trend Car Of The Year: Dodge Caravan
It turns out that making history is easy. At least it is in this case. Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year award has been in existence since 1949, and during that nearly half-century, we’ve scrutinized every new domestic car to hit the market-place. We’ve driven thousands of cars over the years, but never before have we selected a vehicle quite like the Dodge Caravan. For the first time ever, we’ve awarded a minivan Motor Trend’s Car of the Year.
It seems fitting that the company that created this segment should drive home with MT‘s Golden Caliper award. Particularly when you look closely at the magnitude of accomplishment Chrysler has made with the brand-new Dodge Caravan. Point after point, the Caravan redefines the boundaries of what we’ve come to expect from a family vehicle.
1995 Motor Trend Car Of The Year: Chrysler Cirrus
Selecting the Car of the Year is far from a simple task. The rigorous examination process involves a cadre of dedicated staffers, several top-secret test venues, and a big stack of gasoline cards waiting to be run up to their limits. In addition to generating reams of empirical data on acceleration, braking, and handling performance, we micro-inspect every aspect of the vehicles’ inner and outer limits-opening, closing, entering, exiting, sitting, reclining, loading, unloading, feeling, touching, looking, listening, probing, and prodding. From the overall design theorem to the details of the finished product, each car is evaluated with an eye toward just how well it performs oits intended task.
We considered every all-new or substantially changed ’95 EPA-domestic car and minivan that will be on sale by Jan. 1, 1995, looking for the most significant vehicle in the market. Viewed from both an industry and buyer’s perspective, we weighed technological advancement, value, and performance. After all the data were analyzed, and the heated debates put to rest, one new car stood above the crowd. Perhaps surprisingly, the winner wasn’t the fastest, best handling, or even the lowest-priced vehicle in the mix. But the accolades roared nonetheless. On the merit of its superb design, top-notch quality, and outstanding value, we enthusiastically proclaim the Chrysler Cirrus Motor Trend‘s 1995 Car of the Year.
1994 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Mustang
Ever since its April 17, 1964, debut at the New York World’s Fair, the Mustang has symbolized power, performance, and personality. Thirty years later, a smartly restyled and significantly upgraded new Mustang continues to fan the flames of automotive passion.
Over the past 10 or more years, the versions of this pony-car benchmark were defined by the people who bought them: The GT was for hardcore enthusiasts, and the base car was for those interested in sporty looks at the more affordable price. These roles were softened for the fresh-faced platform, however. The Mustang is available in coupe and convertible configurations, and in GT or “base” models, (Ford insists there’s no base model, just a Mustang and a Mustang GT. Press materials, however, refer to the six-cylinder car as the base model.) The GT’s rough-hewn aggression has become civil without diminishing its authority, and the six-cylinder is an order or magnitude better than the four-cylinder version it replaces. In total, the new Mustang line makes a powerful statement.
1993 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Probe GT
Ford’s new Probe GT’ is a landmark car. For Starters, it’s the first car from the company’s joint venture with Mazda to attain full domestic status, according to the EPA. Thus its inclusion into the ’93 Car of the Year field, where no Probe has gone before. It also happens the existing competition with its fine road manners and clean styling. More important, the Probe compares just as solidly with its imported competition; this car stands on its own merits in either context, which isn’t something that can always be said domestic offerings. One other distinction: The Ford Probe GT is Motor Trend‘s ’93 Car of the Year.
The price for such capability is a small one — the highway ride is taut but agreeable, and the tires inform you of changes in road surface in a conversational tone. All perfectly in keeping with the Grand Touring role Ford engineers envisioned for the new Probe. Long-range comfort for front passengers is a strong suit, with supportive seats and room to spread out. Compact people fit nicely in the rear compartment, and full-size adults can handle short stints in class-average comfort.
1992 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan
Motor Trend‘s 1992 Car of the Year is the Cadillac Seville Touring Sedan. General Manager John O. Grettenberger and his audacious band of engineers and metal-benders have crafted a precision-handling performance-orientated American luxury/sport sedan without a peer in the United States. Frankly, we’re probably as proud to award them the famed caliper trophy as they are to receive it.
What was the last truly important Cadillac? It may have been powered by a V-16 engine. The Allante is a fine automobile, but it’s aimed at a small slice of the marketplace. Some critical elements in a truly important automobile are broad acceptance from a wide range of customers, that it promise abundant stylistic and technical credentials — and that it deliver on those promises. In these and other ways, the STS is a truly important Cadillac, a truly important American car. And as an evocative and credible alternative to its foreign competition, the STS rekindles the long-dimmed Cadillac flame.
1991 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
The Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ is the ’91 Motor Trend Car of the Year. It was a decisive win, topping six of seven individual editors’ scoreboards. When you can win over attitudes like ours with a car like this, it’s got to be good. This one is terrific.
The thoroughly modern and aerodynamic exterior design was a surprisingly courageous decision on Chevy’s part, one we applaud for its solid step into the future. Flush glass and headlamps, wraparound taillamps, subdued door handles — for this model, Chevy even lays the hood ornament flat on the hood. This attention to detail is not available in other big cars at this price.
1990 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Lincoln Town Car
The hallmark of any great performer is the ability to always remain true to its character. In the case of the new Lincoln Town Car, we’re watching the curtain go up on a genuine new star. Top pick of five of the eight judges in this years Motor Trend Car of the Year competition, the new flagship of the Lincoln-Mercury lineup carries on a proven successful tradition, while setting off a new path to establish a reputation all its own. This is a vehicle that survived an era of downsizing for one simple reason: There remains in this country a loyal group of consumers who demand good, old American luxury in a full-size American car. These buyers are going to find a lot to like in the new Town Car.
Developed in just 41 months, the shortest time period of any modern Ford Motor product, the new Town Car embodies a seamless blending of the familiar and the futuristic. Its aerodynamic bodywork retains a number of traditional styling cues, but these classical overtones are integrated into contemporarily contoured sheetmetal definitely in step with the ’90s. The overall softer shaping coupled with wind-cheating touches like flush-fit glass, low-drag external mirrors, concealed drip rails, and vastly improved door and window seals cut Cd on this consummate cruiser from 0.46 to 0.36.
1989 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Thunderbird SC
Ever since the first oil crisis 15 years ago, the domestic auto companies, once smug bastions of the profitable status quo, have been forced to struggle against the ever-increasing tide of import automobiles. And for most of the last 15 years, it seemed like a losing battle. Despite their gigantic resources and bottomless well of talent, the American car companies had a woeful time bringing together features, quality, and concept to match the offerings of their burgeoning import competition. Even in the face of “voluntary” import restrictions. Big Three market share dropped ever lower, as more Americans fell under the spell of imported cars. Quality and value seemed to be an exclusively province of the foreign-built makes, while domestically produced autos offered only the solace of the red, white and blue.
Until 1989, that is. We’ve just completed our 1989 Car of the Year testing a rigorous schedule in which we put every new domestic car through its paces; and we’re happy to report that all four of our contenders are truly world class in their conception, design, construction, and value. You don’t have to wrap any of these in the American flag to make them palatable; they stand tall among the world’s autos on their own considerable merits.
1988 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Pontiac Grand Prix
Throughout much of the early ’80s, Pontiac found itself in the difficult position of having to talk about a good deal more automotive excitement than it actually managed to deliver. Things have turned around measurably during the past couple years. With the introduction of the all-new Grand Prix, the division has tined to further bolster its current lineup and strongly affect the competitive balance in the personal luxury coupe field.
In changing from a rear- to a front-drive platform, the Grand Prix has retained a number if traditional Pontiac styling cues, but several new elements have been incorporated into the basic design that bring it squarely in step with the ’90s. The look of tomorrow is most readily apparent in the SE model. Its strikingly sculpted sheetmetal endows this top-of-the-line Grand Prix with an impressive 0.29 Cd number and a degree if pure flash not seen in any of its GM-10 counterparts.
1987 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
Back in 1983, Ford selected the Thunderbird to serve as the harbinger of its aero revolution. It was a gamble that paid off handsomely, as every new FoMoCo model introduced since will ably attest. For 1987, a comprehensive restatement of the innovative styling theme, couples with extensive mechanical upgrades, has yielded another winner in the Thunderbird.
Coming off a stunning victory by the Taurus in our 1986 COY contest, Ford Chairman Donald E. Peterson, Ford Division General Manager R.L Rewey, and the entire vehicle design team can be justifiably proud of their achievement with the new time in the history of the event that the same manufacturer has walked off the Car of the Year honors in two consecutive years.
1986 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Ford Taurus LX
Ford is on one of those rolls that every gambler who ever picked up a poker chip dreams of. There’s a lot more to a successful car than merely designing and building it, and Ford has plotted and planned, executed, and orchestrated a near flawless concert of diverse elements to hit the biggest jackpot it’s had in years — the Taurus.
Design engineers knew from the beginning they had a winner. Marketing heads knew they had a problem. From the outset, the biggest question mark facing Taurus was, as one of our testers noted, “Will it play in Peoria?” Will Middle America, for whom the Taurus was designed, accept the radical aerodynamic look and take one bold step into a quickly changing automotive future.
1985 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Volkswagen GTI
Even if you tried not to look ahead and stumble upon the results, you can’t have missed the fact on car took wins in four of the six subjective categories. And it had strong finishes even in the three categories it didn’t win: a 4th, a 3rd, and a tie for 2nd. So we had a case of specialized strengths plus broad flexibility — domination in some areas combined with sound capabilities in all others — to produce a commendable win… for Volkswagen GTI.
Ever since the VW GTI first appeared (1976 in Europe, 1982 over here), the name has symbolized a special brand of motoring: practical and energy-conscious as the 1980s demand, yet quick and high-spirited. This was sensible fun — enthusiast driving with a low profile. To embarrass some much more pricey and prestigious hardware was a no-cost option. Relative to Volkswagen’s projections and production capacity, the GTI was the most successful model in the Rabbit line.
1984 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Chevrolet Corvette
Somewhen, somewhere, when we’re all zooming around in anti-grav land speeders and later g is a forgotten concept, it’s going to be interesting to go to the archives and see what’s been written about the 1984 Corvette. While we wouldn’t necessarily expect it to stick out of the surrounding automotive landscape as one of the great engineering mileposts of its time, we would expect it to reflect deference as one of the best of its breed for the times. Perhaps even the best. Almost unquestionably the best, if purchase price is a consideration.
After all, that’s what we’re really talking about here. The best car for the money in a given year. We’re not talking perfection: The Corvette’s video arcade instrumentation, though exceptionally comprehensive, wins a few aesthetic points around here, and is difficult to read when it’s bathed in direct sunlight. The 4-speed manual with automatic overdrive, though improved by the addition of the manual lockout feature, would be even more improved if it was a regular 5-speed such as the one that graces the Porsche 928. The car is far from light, weighing only a couple hundred pounds less than its pudgy predecessor.
1983 Motor Trend Car of the Year: AMC / Renault Alliance
It’s always good to see a winner thoroughly dominate the Car of the Year competition. Besides scotching any doubts we many have harbored, a unanimous result is usually a sign if a completely engineered automobile. The Alliance is the first new product to come from the AMC-Renault product to come from the car’s performance, the two partners seem to work well with each other. As do the various mechanical bits of the Alliance. In Europe, Renault has become the master of getting the most mileage out of available componentry. The 1397cc engine used in the Alliance has been around in various guises since 1963. A few journalist have even had the audacity to comment that the engine has been around too long. We don’t agree. Veteran design or no, the 1.4-liter incorporates advanced features like an all-aluminum cylinder head, sleeved block, and fuel-injection — not exactly that kind of fare found under the hood of you