20 surprisingly good Car of the Year flops
- Gareth Herincx
- @garethherincx
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The European Car of the Year award has been running since 1964, but the roll of honour contains more than a few surprises.
The jury now consists of 58 senior journalists from 22 European countries. National representation on the jury is related to the size of the country’s car market and its importance in vehicle manufacturing – so France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain each have six members, while other countries have less.
However, over the years there have been a number of winners which, in the long term, actually ended up being also-rans.
It seems almost inconceivable that important cars such as the original Ford Fiesta, Peuegot 205, VW Golf and Toyota Prius were not recognised.
Equally, it’s odd that average cars, including the Chrysler Horizon, Fiat Bravo and Alfa Romeo 147 should have driven off with the European Car of the Year trophy.
We’ve scanned through the winners and losers and picked out a few surprisingly significant runners-up…
20 surprisingly good Car of the Year flops
The European Car of the Year award has been running since 1964, but the roll of honour contains more than a few surprises.
Over the years there have been a number of winners which, in the long term, actually ended up being also-rans.
It seems almost inconceivable that important cars such as the original Ford Fiesta, Peuegot 205, VW Golf and Toyota Prius were not recognised…
Audi A6
The 1998 European Car of the Year contest was won by the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 156, which beat two German cars into second and third place – the fourth-generation VW Golf and the innovative big Audi A6. The refined A6 boasted a low drag coefficient of 0.28 and was a forerunner of today’s prestige Audi range.
Fiat Panda
The 1981 Car of the Year contest was a close run thing, but it was the new Mark 3 front-wheel drive Ford Escort that won the day, just beating Fiat’s cheap and cheerful Panda. Another city car occupied third place – remember the Austin Metro?
Fiat Multipla
Its looks were divisive, but Fiat’s innovative Multipla people carrier (it had two rows of three seats) very nearly won the 2000 Car of the Year title. It scored 325, but was just beaten by Toyota Yaris (344pts). The Opel/Vauxhall Zafira snatched third place with 265 points.
Fiat X1/9
Just a year on from the 1973 oil crisis and the Car of the Year jury gave top spot to the mighty Mercedes-Benz 450S with a thirsty V8. Fiat’s beautiful X1/9 two-seater, mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone came in second with the original Honda Civic in third place.
Citroen C4 Cactus
The slightly boring Volkswagen Passat (340 points) comfortably fought off Citroen’s radical Cactus (248pts) with its trademark ‘Airbumps’ in the 2015 Car of the Year contest. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class wasn’t far behind in third place with 221 points.
Citroen SM
Citroen would have been really unlucky not to have won in 1971. As it was they came first with the GS five-door hatchback and third with the legendary SM – a dramatic grand tourer, powered by a 2.7-litre Maserati V6 engine. Sandwiched between the two French cars was the Volkswagen K70 four-door saloon.
Ford Ka
Renault’s pioneering compact MPV, the Megane Scenic, was the runaway winner in 1997 with 405 points. Ford’s little Ka city car was second with the Volkswagen Passat third. The Ka was hugely popular though, and there are still stacks of Mark 1s on the road.
Peugeot 205
Two fantastic small cars battled it out for the 1984 European Car of the Year title, but it was the Fiat Uno that won the trophy. The Peugeot 205 was fun to drive and just as pretty – and went on to sell in huge numbers too.
Honda Civic
As mentioned in another entry, 1974 was an odd year. The European Car of the Year jury voted for the mighty Mercedes-Benz 450S with a thirsty V8, but consigned two small cars to second and third places, the Fiat X1/9 and the original and extremely influential Honda Civic city car.
Ford Fiesta
Looking back, the European Car of the Year jury failed big time in 1977. The winner, the Rover 3500 (SD1), was a radical wedge-shaped executive car that was blighted with poor reliability. However, in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, the frugal Ford Fiesta was far more significant. It finished third, behind the Rover and the Audi 100.
Ford Mustang
In 1965, Ford’s legendary “Pony car” remarkably only picked up 18 points in third place, behind the obscure Autobianchi Primula (51pts) and the winning Austin 1800 (87pts), nicknamed the “Landcrab”.
Peugeot 406
Fiat won again in 1996 with the Fiat Bravo, but it was a close fought fight with the much under-rated Peugeot 406. The Audi A4 was a distant third place. The seductive coupe version of the 406, designed by Pininfarina, followed in 1996.
Renault 5
The Renault 5 hatchback – one of the first modern superminis – was just pipped to the title in 1973 by the refined Audi 80 saloon. Third place went to the Alfa Romeo Alfetta.
Alfa Romeo 159
The 2006 competition was a close run thing with the Renault Clio just beating the VW Passat. The Alfa Romeo 159 wasn’t far behind. Production of the 159 ended in late 2011, but it still looks awesome today.
Ford Sierra
Nicknamed the ‘Jellymould’, Ford’s Cortina replacement was perhaps too radical for the 1983 European Car of the Year jury. They plumped for the impressive Audi 100 instead, while the big Volvo 760 came in third.
Volkswagen Polo
Fiat won again in 1995 thanks to the Punto. It beat the 100% new third generation VW Polo. Which one is still going strong?
Tesla Model S
In 2014, Elon Musk’s game-changer lost out to the Peugeot 308 and another electric car, the BMW i3. It was a comeback for the French manufacturer, 12 years after it last won the title, with the 307.
Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
Few luxury cars make it into the final three for the annual European Car of the Year title – the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is one of the few exceptions. However, it lost out to the innovative Renault 16 five-door family hatchback in 1966. The Silver Shadow soldiered on until 1980 and more examples were built than any other Rolls-Royce.
Toyota Prius
The pionereing Toyota Prius may not have been the most attractive of cars, but it was the first mass-produced hybrid and some 3.5 million have been made since. However, back in 2001, it lost out to the Alfa Romeo 147, which only just beat the Ford Mondeo by a single point.
Volkswagen Golf
It seems almost unbelievable that a car as significant as the VW Golf didn’t win the European Car of the Year award, but that’s exactly what happened in 1975 – the innovative Citroen CX picked up the trophy that year.