Motor Trend – September 2019

WORDS SCOTT EVANS,

CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH

PHOTOGRAPHS WILLIAM WALKER

M

otorTrend’s original editors

could never have imagined

what the Car of the Year award

would become. At first, it almost

seemed like an afterthought.

Buried in our third issue, the award was

envisioned as a way to recognize the most

advanced automobile of 1949. All models

were considered, and of the three final-

ists—Cadillac, Ford, and Oldsmobile—it

was the Cadillac that would make history

as our first winner for its powerful and

efficient new overhead valve V-8.

Since its humble beginnings, Car of the

Year has evolved from an award given

to an entire automaker to one given to a

specific car that most lives up to our six

modern-era criteria: Advancement in

Design, Efficiency, Engineering Excel-

lence, Performance of Intended Function,

Safety, and Value. As new types of vehicles

have been developed and have arrived

on the scene, our editors have created

SUV and Truck of the Year awards, as

well—and our competitors have ginned

up plenty of copycats, too, both at home

and abroad (should have trademarked

the award, darn it).

Ninety-two cars have won Car of the

Year or Import Car of the Year since our

founding. Some have been great, and

others—well, others were products of

MOTORTRENDÕS

MOST SIGNIFICANT

CAR OF THE YEAR