Happy New Year: Our favourite cars of 2010

Our favourite cars of 2010

Happy New Year to all our readers, and a look back at the best cars of the year – or at least a few that impressed us most.

Happy New Year to every single one of our readers. Who now number 250,000 every month and read getting on for 1 million stories. Which considering two years ago we were the only ones reading Cars UK, and even last New Year we could only claim 250,000 stories a month, means we must be doing something right. So thank you.

Can we keep on growing at the same sort of rate through 2011? We certainly hope so. And we have every intention of doing all we can to bring you even more news, views and reviews through the coming year.

And maybe by the time we get to the end of 2011 we’ll feel we can justifiably have a proper ‘Car of the Year’ awards. But that still feels a bit pretentious when we don’t yet get cars from every manufacturer to review, and we’re very much the ‘New Kid on the Block’.

So we thought we’d just have a little selection of cars that we enjoyed that fit a certain category. We’re not going to choose our favourite car of the year, rather our four favourite cars of the year. And if you disagree – which we’re sure you will – let us know in the forum.

Best Luxury Car if you don’t have a Chauffeur Award 2010: Jaguar XJ

How could the best luxury car of 2010 be anything other than the Jaguar XJ? It deserves the accolade simply for the way it looks; for the quantum leap the design – inside and out – has made under Ian Callum’s watchful eye. It embraces and cajoles you; pretends to be a luxury express yet turns in to a sports saloon at the merest flick of your right foot. Even when it runs on the fuel of Satan. It’s a bloody marvel.

Best Supercar if you want to pay less than £20k for a Service Award 2010: Ferrari 458 Italia

Simply for being the prettiest Ferrari to leave Maranello in a generation, the award should go to the Ferrari 458 Italia. But because it does everything so beautifully (and even though we’ve only had a too short play in a friend’s – come on Ferrari, you know where we are) and because it sets a new benchmark in this exalted sector, there can be no other winner.

Best car that does anything, anywhere Award 2010: Range Rover

The Range Rover is forty years old this year. The current Range Rover is nearly a decade old. But it evolves each year in to something even more special. The addictively commanding driving position; the Bentley levels of interior opulence; the serene demolition of everything from motorways to mud ruts, and the way it soothes your brow whatever goes on around. It is simply sublime.

Best Car when you have to pay for it yourself Award 2010: Citroen DS3

We can’t say more than we said when we reviewed the Citroen DS3 in the Summer: “It’s fast, nimble, responsive, forgiving and much quicker than you’d ever have expected. There’s room in the back for the kids and it has an interior that’s a delight to the eye. The exterior is as good looking as it can be without your knees going funny every time you walk on the drive – and it doesn’t cost a fortune.” If you have to spend your own money on a car, the Citroen DS3 is the way to go.