52 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 2 1 AUGUST 2019
Δ for it. A lot of the time, it actually
feels like a quite extraordinarily
grown-up A110. For all its ridiculous
speed, the LT is never about speed for
the sake of it. It is about the sensation
of driving, an ultimately immersive
automotive experience where the
fe e l of t he s t e e r i n g w i l l a l w ay s c ou nt
for more than the power of the
engine. This is a car for connoisseurs
and the fact that it’s most easily
enjoyed on a race track and not
the environment we’ve chosen for
it shou ld not m a rk it dow n he r e.
Because even driven quite modestly
compared with its capabilities, it is
s t i l l s ubl i me. Fe e l i s fe e l a nd p oi s e i s
poise whatever the pace.
So now you want me to put them
in order. It seems redundant to say
how tough a process that has been,
b e c au s e it ’s w h at e v e r y one s ay s a nd ,
besides, picking the winner was
actually dead easy. But ordering
the remaining four? Not so much.
Frankly, I could argue the case for
any one of them in any position from
five to two and did so, frequently,
before concluding thus.
The BMW comes fifth, which puts
it in the top 10% of our 50 favourite
c a r s on s a le. It ’s s o go o d t o s e e it s
identity restored: we always used to
know what and who the 3 Series was
for, and I take great pleasure in being
a ble t o do s o a ga i n.
Ne x t up i s t he 911, not on l y a mor e
broadly capable car than the 991 it
replaces but a more enjoyable one, too.
And I expect this is just the starting
point. More than any other, the 911
h a s s ub s c r i b e d t o t he le s s i s mor e
approach and I’m itching to drive
a standard Carrera with a manual
transmission to see if it remains true
to that philosophy. If so, it could
r a n k h i g he r s t i l l ne x t y e a r.
The Fiesta is an outstanding
third. Put an affordable hatch on
a road in company like this and
y ou’ l l s o on f i nd out w h at it ’s m a de
of, and the ST simply refused to
b e c ow e d. It k e p t up a nd it k e p t u s
engaged and amused. It did all the
t h i n gs y ou w a nt a f a s t Ford t o do,
and bravo to the Blue Oval for that.
It is easily the best car of its kind.
The LT comes second,
consolidating its win last year inour quest to find Britain’s best
driver’s car. Were money no issue
in this contest, it would have won.
But t he A lpi ne ’s c a s e at ba r e l y a
quarter of the LT’s price is impossible
to ignore and, agonise over the
remaining order as I did, the identity
of the winner was never in doubt.
Last year, we named the A110 as our
favourite car under £50,000 and
now it has done it again against every
car on sale. Right now, it’s hard to
imagine what kind of car is going to
be required to beat it.
ANDREW FRANKEL
BMW 320d provides
so many smiles per
gallon on the road
The 911 keeps getting
better in a way that
Darwin once detailed
Fiesta ST brims with
throttle-adjustable
can-do character
5
2
4
3
You could buy four
A110s for the price
of the 600LT Spider