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

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.

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.

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

The elimination process proceeded with an Internet-based public vote 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.

The 26 nominees

Make	Type	Year	Country
AC	Cobra	1965–1967	UK/US
Alfa Romeo	Giulietta Sprint Coupé	1954–1968	Italy
Audi	Quattro	1980–1991	Germany
Austin	Seven	1922–1939	UK
BMW	BMW 328	1936–1940	Germany
Bugatti	T35	1926–1930	France
Chevrolet	Corvette Stingray	1963–1967	US
Citroën	Traction Avant	1934–1957	France
	2CV	1948–1990	France
	DS19	1955–1975	France
Ferrari	250 GT SWB Berlinetta	1959–1962	Italy
Fiat	500 Topolino	1936–1948	Italy
Ford	Model T	1908–1927	US
	Mustang	1964–1968	US
Jaguar	XK120	1948–1954	UK
	E-Type	1961–1975	UK
Land Rover	Range Rover	1970–present	UK
Mercedes-Benz	S/SS/SSK	1927–1932	Germany
	300 SL Coupé	1954–1957	Germany
Morris/Austin	Mini	1959–2000	UK
NSU	Ro 80	1967–1976	Germany
Porsche	911	1964–present	Germany
Renault	Espace	1984–present	France
Rolls-Royce	Silver Ghost	1907–1925	UK
Volkswagen	Beetle	1938–2003	Germany
	Golf	1974–present	Germany
Willys	Jeep	1941–1945	US

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.

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:

See also

• Car Designer of the Century
• Car Engineer of the Century
• Car Entrepreneur of the Century
• Car Executive of the Century
• List of motor vehicle awards

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. "Drivers.com: Ford Model T chosen as car of the century". www.drivers.com.
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

• Motor vehicle awards