Alpine A110: TG mag's Sports Car of the Year

That six people of such wildly varying tastes, preferences and indeed driving abilities all agreed that, yes, the Alpine A110 should be named 2018’s Performance Car of the Year, speaks volumes about how universally appealing this thing is. From the way it looks to the way it drives, the A110 unites us in a way that very few cars have this year.

We’re in awe of its poise and balance, admire its precision and delicacy, and appreciate its design and engineering. Because what we have here is a lesson in the benefits of lightweighting. More so than any Lotus or Caterham, you might argue, because in those cars it’s so obvious where the weight has been saved, where the compromise is.

In the Alpine, there’s none of that. It’s got air-conditioning, satnav and electric windows, yet thanks to a ground-up design that obsesses over the details, it weighs almost 25 per cent less than the equivalent Porsche or Audi. So it doesn’t need lots of power, fat tyres or big brakes. And it doesn’t have them, either.

A triumph of fun over speed, of engineering over brute force.

Read Top Gear's full review of the Alpine A110 here