I believe it goes to the G35 Coupe and Sedan, what do you guys think? At first I thought it was going to the Z, but now i'm not so sure.

 

Unless Motor Trend picks the Z, their opinion is useless!

 

There's a lot of cars that will be looked at for car of the year by all the magazines. Mini Cooper & Mini Cooper S are still elligible I believe. You've also got the new Viper, Ferrari 575M, Ferrari Enzo, 350Z, G35, BMW 7 series, new Audi A4s, and a list of other ones.

IMO the Mini Coopers will take about 1/2 the car of the year awards, the Z & G35 will take one each (hopefully more), and finally the Viper will take one w/ a big payoff by Dodge (which is how a lot of car of theyear awards go).

The biggest thing hurting the Z is when it came out, late in the year. For 02 it's got a couple of oppurtunities and I believe some magazines will regard it as new for 03 but by then there's a whole slew of new cars set to come out including the STI WRX, EVO 7, RX-8, GTO, & others.

I'd like to think I'm wrong but from previous Car of the Year Awards this practice seems to be the norm.

 

The Mini could've been Car of the Year if BMW hadn't betrayed its heritage the same way VW did with the Beetle. The Mini (as well as the Beetle) is supposed to be a car as affordable as a Hyundai, but instead starts at $17,000.
It also doesn't in my opinion make sense to award Car of The Year to the Viper, Enzo, 575M, or any similar ultra-expensive car. How many people get to drive or can even contemplate owning a 575M? And similarly, how much does that redefine the genre? Yes, it's a little Z-centric, but the Z forces (or should force) manufacturers to reconsider what goes into their sports cars and who they're intended for.

Here's who I think are the front runners for Car Of The Year:
BMW 7-Series
Toyota Camry
Audi A4
Infiniti G35

 

the sedan will take it, I have never seen a 2 door sports car take it since it is targeted at such a small group. otherwise if your including sportscars, enzo wins.

but the G35 sedan is just huge, won EVERYTHING that its been compared in. I dont think youll see any of the cars listed here, except possibly the GTO... as car of the year, they are all very performance oriented, but their reliability and luxury lag behind alot. who knows

I wouldnt want to make a decision like that.

 

i think the honda accord might get it. no flames please, but it's been getting nothing but really, really, REALLY good reviews. i hope it doesn't, but well i think it will.

i do believe the 350z has a chance though, with all the ripples its been making. they did give it to the corvette a few years back...

 

That's a good point. The new accord has actually been compared to the CLK320 at some point in which a magazine said the MErcedes isn't worth twice the Accord (which is how much it costs). The accord COUPE is an amazing car for the price. IMO it has a better interior than the Z, and features you would normally find on a Lexus, and a fully loaded 6-spd w/ 240HP and nav can be had for 27,000.

 

Mini is new everywhere this year. It is an all new car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ares
[B]the sedan will take it, I have never seen a 2 door sports car take it since it is targeted at such a small group. otherwise if your including sportscars, enzo wins.

You must be under 30......

The Datsun 240Z was the overwhelming "Car of the Year" in 1971.

70 zcar (I am over 30!)
78 zcar (fast)
84 zcar (turbo)
03 zcar (coming!)

 

I went to Cerritos Infiniti today to check out the Coupes they have in stock. The Manager saw my Z when I pulled in and stalked me. We started talking, he said that they were just told that the 350Z is Motor Trends car of the year !!!!!!!!!!!!! He said he just found out and was very happy about it .

There was a new coupe sitting there so I went over to check out the price. They added $9K for a 19 inch wheel package on an automatic coupe. So will all the other things that they added in, the price tag was.......... are you ready for this... $49,000 !!!!!

Damn!! I drove away very happy in my Z


Drive a tight line !!

 

So the 350Z is car of the year according to a salesman.. wonder if that's true?

 

I think the 350Z is definitely deserving of a car of the year award, but the Motor Trend COTY is so ridiculous I wouldn't worry about it if you don't get it. It has more to do with how much the carmaker will advertise with the little motor trend logo than it does the merits of the car. If you don't belive me, check out some of the prior winners like the wonderful early 90's Chevrolet Caprice Classic and Chevy Citation from the 80's.

 

Then the Z is not a new car, either. Been around for years.

This particular Mini was developed by Range Rover, after buying the Mini brand (which had been produced basically unchanged for decades). BMW bought Range Rover, continued the development of the Mini, then sold off most of the rest of the company.

I think the current car came out in Europe slightly ahead of the one in the states, but this is not the same car from 74.

 

See the pics here for what was around in 74:

http://www.manhattanminis.com/inventory.htm

Or, read the history here:

http://www.mini35.co.uk/history.html

The new one is quite a bit bigger than the original.