Features

JC introduces our Cars of the Year:

Most new cars are exactly as you expect them to be. They go, stop, and sound like you had imagined before you ever turned the key. But occasionally you trip over a car that does something surprising, something that you really weren't expecting at all.

The Toyota Aygo is one such car. On the face of it, a boring urban runaround, built simply to make money.

But at the recent Top Gear magazine-sponsored MPH shows in Birmingham and London, we played 33 games of football with six of these cars. And not one broke down.

They were crashed into one another - a lot - they did myriad j-turns and handbrake turns. They lost door mirrors, bonnets, bumpers and whole panels, but they kept on going. It was truly extraordinary to witness.

But for me, the biggest surprise of the year was the Bugatti Veyron. I was expecting just another supercar but, as you'll see from my recent column, it's much, much more than that. As a piece of engineering, it is unsurpassed.

And it has what we call the X factor, that indefinable magic, that inbuilt star quality, that 'something' that separates the brilliant from the talented, the competent and the merely very good.

The Bugatti is the best car of the year. It's also very probably the best car ever.

The winners
You've seen what Jeremy had to say, now find out why the cars (and people) below are a cut above the rest. Just click on each of the links to find out more.

Car of the Year Bugatti Veyron
Car of the Year Toyota Aygo
Best Roadster Mazda MX-5
Best Hatchback Honda Civic
Best Grand Tourer Aston V8 Vantage
Best Luxury Car Mercedes CLS
Best Limousine Mercedes S-Class
Best Super-saloon Audi RS4
Best Sports Car Porsche Cayman
Best SUV Range Rover Sport
Best Supercar Ferrari F430
Best Executive Lexus IS
Men of the Year