The Car of the Century (COTC) is an international award that was given to the world's most influential car of the 20th century.[1] The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation.[2] The winner, the Ford Model T, was announced at an awards gala on December 18, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.[3]

1st place: Ford Model T

The selection process

An elaborate and formal process for deciding the Car of the Century was devised. It started in October 1996, when a list of 700 cars was offered by the COTC organising committee as candidates for the award, which their experts had selected from recommendations made from within the car industry and from car clubs.[4]

In February 1997 a list of 200 eligible cars was announced at the AutoRAI motor show in Amsterdam, having been selected from the 700 by an honorary committee of experts who were all independent and highly respected and experienced automotive experts.[5]

The next step was for a jury of 133 professional automotive journalists [6] from 33 countries, under the presidency of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu,[7] to reduce the list to 100, and the result was announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1997.[8]

The elimination process proceeded with an Internet-based public vote [9] to select 10 cars, and for 25 cars to be selected by the jury of professionals. In the event, 9 out of the 10 cars selected by the public were also amongst the 25 selected by the journalists (the AC Cobra being the extra car selected by the public), so 26 cars were announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1999, as the nominees for the next round.[10]

2nd place: Mini
3rd place: Citroën DS
4th place: Volkswagen Beetle
5th place: Porsche 911
The 26 nominees
MakeTypeYearCountry
ACCobra1965–1967United KingdomUK/US
Alfa RomeoGiulietta Sprint Coupé1954–1968ItalyItaly
AudiQuattro1980–1991GermanyGermany
AustinSeven1922–1939United KingdomUK
BMWBMW 3281936–1940GermanyGermany
BugattiT351926–1930FranceFrance
ChevroletCorvette Stingray1963–1967United StatesUS
CitroënTraction Avant1934–1957FranceFrance
Citroën2CV1948–1990FranceFrance
CitroënDS191955–1975FranceFrance
Ferrari250 GT SWB Berlinetta1959–1962ItalyItaly
Fiat500 Topolino1936–1948ItalyItaly
FordModel T1908–1927United StatesUS
FordMustang1964–1968United StatesUS
JaguarXK1201948–1954United KingdomUK
JaguarE-Type1961–1975United KingdomUK
Land RoverRange Rover1970–presentUnited KingdomUK
Mercedes-BenzS/SS/SSK1927–1932GermanyGermany
Mercedes-Benz300 SL Coupé1954–1957GermanyGermany
Morris/AustinMini1959–2000United KingdomUK
NSURo 801967–1976GermanyGermany
Porsche9111964–presentGermanyGermany
RenaultEspace1984–presentFranceFrance
Rolls-RoyceSilver Ghost1907–1925United KingdomUK
VolkswagenBeetle1938–2003GermanyGermany
VolkswagenGolf1974–presentGermanyGermany
WillysJeep1941–1945United StatesUS

From the 26, the jury were asked to nominate five finalists which would go through to the last round of voting, using a points system. The final nominees were announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, 1999.[11]

The final results

The jury each ranked the five cars in their preferred order, and the results were combined with a points system. The final results are shown in the table below.[12]

PositionCar modelPoints
1Ford Model T742
2Mini617
3Citroën DS567
4Volkswagen Beetle521
5Porsche 911303

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Car of the Century - the Car Connection". Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  2. ↑ Law, Alex (1999-12-22). "Car of the Century". Auto123. Archived from the original on 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
  3. ↑ Wright, Richard A. (1999-12-20). "Car of the Century? Ford's Model T, of course". Joyrides. Archived from the original on 2005-02-04. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
  4. ↑ "Autofest City - India's largest collection of authentic scale models". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  5. ↑ "Car of the Century Search Begins". europe.autonews.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "MotorCities National Heritage Area - Year of the Car: Ford Model T Turns 100: Centennial celebrations underway". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  7. ↑ "Rover Group Press Release - Mini Shortlisted for 'Car of the Century' - 24 June 1999".
  8. ↑ http://www.drivers.com/article/247/
  9. ↑ "Early and Often".
  10. ↑ "Car of the century voting narrows", Tim Dornin, AAP General News, March 15, 1999
  11. ↑ "Car of the Century?" Archived October 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Wired, December 17, 1999
  12. ↑ "This Just In: Model T Gets Award", James G. Cobb, The New York Times, December 24, 1999
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