Top Gear 2008 Car of the Year

Each year, Top Gear magazine, the best-selling car magazine in the UK (and sold in 21 local editions around the world, including the US and Canada-- look for the big, beautiful magazine at Barnes and Nobles or similar that costs as much as a music album, or buy the subscription here), chooses a TopGear.com Car of the Year. The new issue featuring the content is out, and teeming with wonderful cars, some of which we can buy, many we can't and, gasp, a couple of which are American. They even shot the issue here.  This year's contenders are listed below; stay tuned for reviews and individual awards at TopGear.com

Dodge Challenger: “A deeply beautiful object, possessed of a surface and silhouette that would grace any car.”

Citroen C3 Picasso: “The C3 Picasso couldn’t be any funkier if it had James Brown jamming with Sly & The Family Stone inside.”

Fiat 500 Abarth: “By all rights, the Abarth should be a complete embarrassment. But no. Despite ourselves, we adore it.”

Honda FCX Clarity: “It has been called the most important car to come along since Karl Benz emerged from his shed in the Motorwagen. But it may be more than that.”

Toyota iQ: “A milestone motor, in a different but no less significant vein to the Volkswagen Beetle or Fiat 600.”

Vauxhall Insignia: “It leaves you feeling happy – it’s pleasing to look at, a cosy place to sit and a satisfying thing to drive.”

KTM X-Bow: “Nothing exists on this car that isn’t there for a purpose: beautiful carbon and a great engine combine to make it one of the greatest things we’ve been in.”

Volkswagen Scirocco: “Sometimes you forget just how exciting VW can be. They still really want to make you smile.”

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe: “This isn’t so much a car as one of life’s grandest experiences.”

Lamborghini Gallardo LP-560-4: “There’s a sense of drama here that you don’t get with other supercars, before you’ve even engaged first year.”

Corvette ZR1: “It’s the sheer surprise of the 638bhp from that supercharged 6.2-litre V8 that impresses most of all.”

Ferrari California: “Works much better in the metal and leather than it does on pictures or on screen.”

The overall winner? Well, you’ll either have to buy the Awards issue of Top Gear magazine -- or be a devout, daily user of TopGear.com. Stay tuned.