2013 VW Golf, 2013 Land Rover Range Rover Earn Top Gear Awards

Top Gear magazine—the print version of the famed BBC TV show of the same name—recently released its list of “vehicle of the year” award winners, and there are a few that actually can be purchased on this side of the Atlantic. On the other hand, probably not too many will be, given that the honorees available in America include only:

• 2013 Land Rover Range Rover—Turning a big loss into a big gain—and achieving the title of Top Gear Luxury Car of the Year—was the 2013 Land Rover Range Rover. As U.S. drivers will be able to find out for themselves a bit later this year, the SUV icon dropped 700 lbs. of curb weight to be acclaimed as “one of the best, most comprehensive cars ever built.”
• 2013 VW Golf—The next-gen model of the 2013 VW Golf won’t arrive in U.S. dealerships until 2014, but it will launch in Europe later this year “as a quiet triumph, a car that doesn't shout loudly, but turns out to carry not a big stick, but a Swiss Army Knife of abilities.” Oh, it also was Top Gear’s All the Car You’ll Ever Need Car of the Year for 2013.
• 2013 Ferrari F12—The striking new Ferrari is the fastest one yet, boasting a 730-hp V12 engine that allows the publication’s Super Car of the Year to go from 0-60 in about 3 three seconds and reach a terminal velocity of some 210 mph.

2012 Top Gear Awards: Not for U.S. Consumption

As enthusiasts know, European customers have access to some mouthwatering machines that aren’t available in this part of the world, and among them were the following Top Gear trophy winners:

• BMW 320d Touring—Although Top Gear called its Family Car of the Year a “beacon of rational, old-fashioned common sense” for its versatility and diesel-boosted fuel efficiency, the 320d Touring also has the Ultimate Driving Machine cred you expect in a station-wagon version of the 2013 BMW 3 Series.
• Ford Focus ST Estate—While the 2013 Ford Focus ST will likely capture its share of awards in the United States, Top Gear took advantage of the fact that the Blue Oval offers a Focus ST station wagon to European drivers, and presented the latter car with its Hot Hatch of the Year honors.
• Dacia Duster—Never heard of it? You’re certainly not alone, as the Bargain of the Year from Top Gear is an entry-level crossover from a Romanian brand that belongs to the Renault-Nissan group; it does bear a distant relationship to U.S. models like the 2013 Nissan Juke and 2013 Nissan cube, however.
• Fiat Panda 4x4—Although it’s unlikely to impress fans of the 2013 Jeep Wrangler, the magazine’s SUV of the Year does presage a coming Chrysler Group relative, since the Panda shares its platform with the new 2014 Fiat 500L, a slightly larger, four-door model of the original.
• BMW M135i—The hotted-up M version of the 135i, sadly no longer available in this country, edged out the 2013 Porsche Boxster for the Sportscar of the Year crown, with the magazine exclaiming that: “The BMW just seems to have more of the things that make up a car that appeals to Top Gear. It’s ever-so-slightly humdrum looking, but has the pace to make Supercar owners wince!”

2012 Top Gear Awards: Show Stoppers

Naturally, the three hosts of the TV program Top Gear—Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hamilton—all had their say in the magazine’s year-end awards. But it will come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen the show that they each had different ideas about the No. 1 car of the year.

Clarkson chose the Toyota GT86, which is known to U.S. drivers as the 2013 Scion FR-S. And the 2013 Subaru BRZ. But whatever you call it, Clarkson also reported that: “I like the GT86 because it’s come barreling into the bottom end of the marketplace with a big dirty smile on its face and a suggestion in the way it stands that it wants to have fun with your middle parts.”

It was the McLaren 12C Spider for May, who explained: “Some would want to be admired for their courage in mastering a Ferrari GTO or that demanding Lamborghini Aventador, but I say cobblers to that. I can challenge myself by learning to play the violin. This is a good-time car and I want a good time. I get it.”

Hamilton’s Car of the Year “is a machine so unlikely ever to be a real, material presence in most of our lives that it may as well be a unicorn.” It’s not, though; it’s the Pagani Huayra, showcasing the kind of looks—and performance—that make the latest Ferrari lineup look almost mundane in comparison.