Welcome to the 2019 Autocar Readers’ Champion award, where we ask: what’s in a name?
Inspired by the arrival of a new Toyota Corolla, it struck us: the Corolla, as the biggest-selling nameplate in the world, is an icon. Now, ‘icon is an overused word’ is itself an overused phrase. But if a nameplate can be iconic, then Corolla’s certainly is. Across more than five decades and 45 million cars, it is a great survivor. But the greatest of all? That’s for you to say.
To help you choose your icon of icons, our writers have picked the 17 most important, influential, desirable car names on the planet. The entry criteria is that they’ve had their name from birth and the car’s still in production.
You’ll have to squint a bit to make the rules totally work. For a few – Mini, Jeep, Land Rover – what was just their model name has become their brand. The Volkswagen Beetle dies soon. The ‘Land Rover’ (now Defender) is out of production but it’ll restart soon – it still has skin in the game, basically. And we’ve limited entries to one per manufacturer. Some names have changed discreetly, but not entirely.
Because sometimes there’s no substitute for blind prejudice. Which is where you come in. Tell us who’s right and who’s wrong: the winner will be crowned at the Autocar Awards in May.
Scroll through the gallery above to to see the cars you can choose from, then click here to cast your vote!
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Saying goodbye to the Volkswagen Beetle
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