What's a COTY? I asked. Wrong answer.
"The Car Of The Year is an award, judged by a panel of senior motoring journalists to honour the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the 12 months preceding the date of the title. Every serious motoring column has one which is why you only have 18 readers, including one friend but not your family."
OK. So, the boss conveniently forgets that we did a WAMCOTY (Weekend Australian Motoring Car Of The Year award) four years ago and it went down like an electric Stellantis. But I need the job so last night I gathered the WART team and once again we sat around at an exclusive Dr Tim's (Cooper) Traditional Ale and scallop pie tasting and decided to name the best new cars for 2020.
Here's the bottom line. CV-19 means dealers are low on stock and that means you'll pay more and find it harder to do a deal. At the same time, we've had manufacturers doing what NRMA test driver Tim Pomroy quaintly calls "bracket creep" or what we would call jacking up prices.
The best light SUV is the Hyundai Venue which starts at $20k with a five-year warranty. But, if you want a lot of kit for the dollar and you're not a serious driver then the fastest-selling light SUV in this country is the MG HS (just under $30k) with a 7-year warranty. Skoda is the best unknown car brand round here. Owned by the VW Group, makers of Porkers, Bentleys and Audis, it makes some really good cars backed up by super old-fashioned service. The best stationwagon on the market for under $40k is the Skoda Octavia.
Best sports cars at any price are the Mazda MX-5 ($40k-plus) and the Porker 911 ($240k-plus). Look, I'm biased because I race one, but what the MX-5 lacks in grunt it makes up for in handling and just wonderful delight through any road with corners.
Our WAMCOTY? At a time when every person and his/her/other's dog is driving a Macan, Beemer X something, Audi Q something and soon a Ferrari SUV something, the VW Touareg (from $81k) is incredible value. Stretch to $136k for a V8 that's as quick to 100km/h as the Bentley that's three times the price.
Our COTY used car? Bid now on Sean Connery's snowy white, shark-nosed, five-speed manual BMW 635 CSi. A steal at $60k. The best Bondy ever, bought it in 1989 to schlep around Marbella, Spain for 10 years. In dry-storage in Britain and then Luxembourg, it's rust free and as auction house The Marketm says, "because it was made at a time when BMW still built their cars up to a quality standard rather than down to a price point, it is a well built, well engineered, solid piece of machinery".