THE ULTIMATE COTY COMPETITION:
EIGHT PAST WINNERS FACE OFF
their time. As we look over our list of Car
of the Year winners, we can’t deny that
most have had a significant impact on
both what we drive and how we drive.
But surely one has to have had more
of an impact than the 91 others.
In honor of our 70th anniversary, we
wanted to figure out which Car of the
Year or Import Car of the Year was the
most significant. Over a few weeks, we
whittled down our 92 contenders to
just eight—one winner for each decade
MotorTrend has been in existence.
Our picks: the 1949 Cadillac lineup,
the 1955 Chevrolet lineup, the 1968
Pontiac GTO, the 1972 Citroën SM,
the 1986 Mazda RX-7, the 1996 Dodge
Caravan, the 2004 Toyota Prius, and the
2013 Tesla Model S.
Over a whirlwind day of testing and
evaluating, we would drive each of our
eight finalists and seek to find which of
these greats is the most significant Car
of the Year. Our winner will not only
best live up to the ideals of our award
but also be the car that has had the
biggest impact on the industry. CSOur trophy started
out as a homely
looking thing, but
the Golden Calipers
played an early part
in our designs.
SEPTEMBER 2019 MOTORTREND.COM 33UCOTY I MT 70TH ANNIVERSARY