Jeremy Clarkson Has Announced His Favourite Car Of The Year
Jeremy Clarkson of The Grand Tour and previously Top Gear has announced his favourite supercar of the year, and people’s car of the year last weekend at the New UK Motor Awards. He named the Eagle Lightweight GT his favourite supercar, after it only recently appeared on his Instagram feed for review.
Based on the famous Jaguar E-Type Lightweight, this modern and incredibly rare sports car harks back to what makes classic cars such an experience to drive. It weighs next to nothing with a dry weight of 1,017 kg, and thanks to a sonorous naturally aspirated 4.7-litre straight-six, it has 380 horsepower and 375 pound-feet of torque that surges through a five-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels. 60mph comes and goes in a pinch under 5 seconds, and the car will hit a top speed of over 170 mph.
There are only two of these cars in the UK, which is no surprise when you learn that each car takes 8,000 hours to build from beginning to end.
Clarkson has reviewed the Eagle Low Drag GT on Top Gear where it outshone a GT86, polished by the endless compliments from the presenter. In a separate episode, he reviewed the Eagle Speedster, in which he called it “the most beautiful thing” he’s ever seen. Clarkson is most certainly a fan of these cars, but what if you’re on a budget? Well, let’s move on to the next award: the people’s car of the year.
This award went to the Mini John Cooper Works GP, which is a hot hatch powered by a potent TwinPower Turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. The front wheels are propelled by 301 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque resulting in an astonishing 0-62 time of 5.2 seconds. Maximum speed comes in at 165 mph.
This Mini, like the Eagle, is rare. Although not quite as rare with 3,000 cars available worldwide.
A host of other awards were given the same day. They are as follows:
The Sun Car of the Year: Vauxhall Corsa-e
The Sunday Times Car of the Year: Porsche Taycan and Volkswagen Golf 8
Small SUV/Crossover of the Year: Ford Puma
Large SUV of the Year: Volvo XC90 Recharge
City/Small Car of the Year: Honda e
Sports Car of the Year: Porsche 911 Turbo S
Electric Car of the Year: Porsche Taycan
Value Car of the Year: Volkswagen Up! GTI
Hot Hatch of the Year: Audi RS5 Sportback
Best British-built Car of the Year: MINI Electric
The Sun Family Car of the Year: Range Rover Evoque
The Sun Legend Award: Ford Fiesta ST
The Sun Van of the Year: Volkswagen Caddy
Dog Friendly Car of the Year: Land Rover Defender 110
Best Designed Car of the Year: Aston Martin DBX
Sunday Times Family Car of the Year: Volkswagen Golf 8
Adventure Car of the Year: Land Rover Defender
Motoring Innovation of the Year: Polestar Android Auto
Motoring Personality of the Year: Lando Norris
Manufacturer of the Year: Volkswagen
Luxury Car of the Year: Bentley Flying Spur