Author’s note
Over the years this lineage of COTY has had significant changes. The once community voted event is now at the mercy of a random kid in New Zealand. And so has it had weird moments, the fall of Drivetribe for one and indeed, the BMW XM stripped of its title. And forgetting to put to Valhalla in this year’s title image. Anyways, once again time forbids the length of this article, I’ve tried to make the car choices a bit less obvious, hopefully this year, it’s a bit more interesting…
Enjoy
HATCH OF THE YEAR- Kia EV3
Massive range for a relatively cheap price. Who’d have thought? Volvo won this with the EX30 last year, but that’s over the top futuristic, no speedometer, center control and all, this is what the EX30 should have been, the same, but with an actual interior, and what’s more, even more range- up to 600 km. Apparently. Probably not.
SPORTS CAR OF THE YEAR- BMW Z4 Handschalter
A manual Z4. I suppose the world was waiting for this anyway. There’s not much to say, it’s the same as the old car anyways, just a bit better. A manual Supra you can buy your way into. Nothing against the Supra, mind.
OFFROADER OF THE YEAR- Toyota Land Cruiser 250
They’ve gone all retro on this one. Joining the Mercedes G-Wagen, Jeep Wrangler, Land Rover Defender is the new Land Cruiser. And arguably, the one out of the list most likely to be used. And while the price has hiked, so it competes with different cars. Perhaps one of the few cars of 2024 which have lived to the hype.
GT CAR OF THE YEAR- Aston Martin Vanquish
The year Aston beats Ferrari. For perhaps the first time in history, they’ve made a car prettier, faster, more powerful than anything else in its class. Part of Aston’s new philosophy that every car should be the most powerful in its class- We all scoffed at first, but they’ve really done it. And its just. So. Pretty.
INTERIOR OF THE YEAR- Rolls-Royce Droptail Arcadia
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact Droptail, they all have jaw dropping interiors, one of them even has a Vacheron Constantin in it- My favourite watchmaker. But these are car awards. And if I was gun to head to choose, this is perhaps the best spec yet.
SUPERCAR OF THE YEAR– Aston Martin Valhalla
We mocked the Valkyrie. Somehow, that got to production, now, as they turn the Valkyrie down, now, Valhalla. An Aston Martin with Nurburgring record potential. And they said that wasn’t possible.
HYPERCAR OF THE YEAR- Pagani Utopia Roadster
They chopped the roof off one of the most beautiful cars on sale. Need I say more?
CONCEPT OF THE YEAR- MG Cyber GTS Concept
MG has been doing good things. They’ve given us cheap EVs, and indeed, petrol cars for the everyday consumer, and given us some rather tasty cars as well in the form of the revival of MG’s X power and the Cyberster convertible sports car. And now, a preview to a coupe version, a concept likely previewing a future production car then, Cyberster Coupe… you’ve already seen it.
SPECIAL EDITION OF THE YEAR- Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger and Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger
Not one, but two cars. Perhaps the best modern spec recreation yet, I like this one a lot.
MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR- Noble Automotive
The manufacturer that we thought was dead comes back again, manual again, now with a Ford sourced V6 and for less money than before. The M500 would have been supercar of the year, but it’s more than that, it shows there are supercar manufacturers not interested in Hybrids, or silly priced multi million dollar products, here is a manufacturer that knows what enthusiasts really want. And in today’s world, where Lotus makes 3 Tonne electric SUVs, that’s a rare thing. Congratulations Noble, you’ve done it again.
CAR OF THE YEAR- Kimera K39
No car revealed this year has got me quite as excited as the K39. Kimera has built the 037 restomod, which they’ve now evolved into their own car, the 038. And the K39 to me is another step on. They’ve taken one of the coolest rally cars, and built their own company off it. Besides, just look at the car. Phwoah, look at that. It’s going to Pikes peak next year… Wahey
And that’s the end of this year’s COTY. Hopefully a enjoying and interesting COTY is the world where electric SUVs seem to be taking them all. Since you’ve read this far, here’s a little bonus: Over the past two years, I’ve been posting COTY on the 31st- as late as I can get away with. This year, it’s come a bit earlier. Apologies. On a brighter side of things, I think I might return to writing 2 or 3 things here again. I shall be back next year
Thanks for reading
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