Car of the Year

Blue Bird – It’s been a glorious year for the original Blue Bird, the first of Sir Malcom Campbell’s record- breakers. The 350hp Sunbeam, which was the first car to break 150mph, returned to Pendine Sands in Wales to mark the centenary of its triumph on 21 July, albeit it at a slightly more docile pace. Not content with that, the National Motor Museum’s pride and joy also took Best of Show at the Heveningham Concours in Suffolk. Picture credit: National Motor Museum

Alfa Romeo 158 – Wherever you have been this year you are sure to have seen the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship celebrated, and core to it all is the ex-Nino Farina, Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 in which the Italian won that first championship. Most poignant appearance of all, however, was at the Silverstone Festival, the venue where 158s dominated the first points- scoring F1 race in its inaugural season, with Farina taking the victory. Picture credit: Silverstone Festival

Hispano-Suiza H6C Nieuport-Astra Torpedo – Created in 1924 for racing driver and aperitif heir André Dubonnet and one of the most spectacular cars ever built, Penny and Lee Anderson Snr’s Hispano-Suiza went straight from a three-year restoration at RM Auto Restoration in Blenheim, Ontario, to the winners’ circle at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Its body, created by the Nieuport- Astra aviation works, is formed from narrow mahogany strips, fastened by 8500 rivets to resemble an aircraft fuselage. Picture credit: Josh Sweeney

Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen – This streamlined 1954 Silver Arrow became the most expensive racing car ever sold (bearing in mind the Uhlenhaut coupé never actually competed) and the second most valuable car ever sold at auction when it went for a sensational €51,155,000 at RM Sotheby’s. Driven successfully in period by both Fangio and Moss, it was donated in 1965 by Mercedes-Benz to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Museum, which sold it, along with other treasures, to refocus its collection on its core subject: Indy cars. Picture credit: Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives

Boreham Motorworks Alan Mann 68 Edition This Ford Escort MkI Continuation is the fulfilment of every Gen Xer’s dream, a perfect copy of the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship- winning Ford Escort XOO 349F driven in ’68 and ’69 by Australian Frank Gardner. Best of all, it’s being built by the original team, headed by the son of its creator, with several of the original engineers. It’s also fully sanctioned by the original manufacturer and FIA-approved for historic racing. Picture credit: Jordan Butters

Alfa Romeo Tipo B (P3) – It takes something special to win the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, especially in 2025 when it was awash with top-table contenders including Ralph Lauren’s fabulous 1938 Alfa Romeo 8c 2900B Mille Miglia Spider. But the winner of the ‘Trofeo BMW Group – Best of Show’ was the Auriga Collection’s Vittorio Jano-designed 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B, which was run under the Scuderia Ferrari banner during the 1934 season with Achille Varzi, Guy Moll, Louis Chiron and Antonio Brivio. Competition cars are coming into their own at concours, it seems. Picture credit: James Elliott

BRM P5781 – ‘Old Faithful’ This 1961 car went down a storm when it was brought over by Miles Collier’s Revs Institute in Naples, Florida, where it now lives. Graham Hill’s F1 World Championship winner has been in the UK all year, appearing at Silverstone, the Oulton Park Gold Cup, Goodwood, the Royal Automobile Club Concours and more as motorsports fans across the country celebrated 75 years of Raymond Mays’ BRM. Picture credit: Michael Holden

BMW M1 Andy Warhol Art Car BMW, not surprisingly, is cautious about displaying its precious and priceless art cars after the 1979 BMW M1 Procar painted by Andy Warhol was doused with flour by protesters in 2022, but it was out and about in public this year to celebrate 50 years of the BMW Art Cars. This included appearances at Pebble Beach, The Bridge and in a glass case on the National Mall in Washington DC as an inudctee into the National Historic Vehicle Register. Pic credit: BMW AG

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