I have to be honest with you: most “best cars of the year” lists are just not that interesting to me. If you’ve got a panel of people voting on the cream of the crop, as some awards and automotive outlets do, then oftentimes it’s the least offensive models that rise to the top. Meanwhile, if you’re looking at the inventory of best-selling vehicles of the year to get an idea of what people are actually buying, you’re more accurately getting a picture of what vehicles were best positioned to sell. And I’ll be the first to tell you: the cars in my driveway weren’t acquired because they’re the best of the best.
So why should you even keep reading right now to see what Benjamin Hunting and Basem Wasef, two of our esteemed automotive correspondents, chose as the best vehicles they drove this year? For one, they drive a truly absurd number of new cars every year, across a huge swath of price points and vehicle types (from two-wheeled runabouts to six-figure supercars). Moreover, they test these newfangled machines the way you want them to be tested: Benjamin is often taking his loaners on long road trips and towing his race car with various trucks and SUVs to get a true sense of the utility, while Basem can usually be found doing triple-digit speeds on some hallowed racetrack or driving off-road over rocks and through the muck.
But most importantly, the vehicles they’ve picked as their favorites of the year are ones they’d actually like to own. Whether or not you have the garage space or the bank account to follow through on their suggestions is an open question — but if you do pick up the keys, we can guarantee good, nay, great times ahead.
Benjamin Hunting’s Best Drives:
Volvo V60 Recharge T8 Polestar Engineered
Volvo is one of the few automakers dedicated to selling wagons in an SUV-obsessed world, which is commendable on its own. Making their midsize long-roof a canvas for the brand’s in-house Polestar performance team — and adding gobs of instant-on electric torque through a plug-in hybrid setup — helps create a family-friendly ride that, while a little heavy, is unique, quick and easy on the eyes. Few SUVs can claim one, let alone all three of those attributes.
Ford Mustang GT
In a lineup drowning in trucks and SUVs, Ford only makes one car. The redesigned Mustang GT could have easily been an afterthought, a V8 dumped into a “good enough” platform in a world where its only two rivals, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Challenger, no longer exist. Instead, it’s a carefully considered grand-touring muscle machine that’s a blast to drive, makes all the right noises and manages to inject serious behind-the-wheel pleasure into a market beset by appliances.
BMW i5 M60
Here’s a secret about the BMW i5 M60: the electrification of the brand’s do-everything executive car makes it just as, if not even more appealing than the same-generation M5 super sedan: fantastic acceleration, all the handling you’ll ever need outside of a track environment and none of the histrionics that sometimes deter buyers from making a capital-M car their daily driver. Oh, did I mention you won’t ever have to pay for gas, either?
Read Benjamin's Full Review
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Acura Integra Type S
There’s a timeline where the Acura Integra was a lackluster, nostalgia-fueled cash grab, and the Type S a thinly re-skinned version of the Honda Civic Type R. The fact that the Integra feels like neither of these things — and that Acura is once again relevant for entry-level luxury buyers — is an enormous win not just for a brand struggling to pin down its identity, but any driver who wants a turbocharged hot hatch without the over-the-top styling or attitude that dominates the segment.
Jaguar F-Type R 75
Jaguar as we knew it is now gone forever, rebranded as an upscale EV manufacturer that seems determined to turn its back on a heritage that won fewer and fewer buyers over the course of the past decade. I feel lucky to have driven the last of its compelling modern-era automobiles, the thrilling eight-cylinder Jaguar F-Type coupe, just before the automaker kicked internal combustion to the curb. Impractical, aggressively styled, brash and loud, the F-Type is that rare example of a car company’s final chapter being well worth the read.
Ford Maverick Hybrid
Ford’s second entry on this best drive list is absolutely nothing like the first — which represents the entirety of its appeal. Legitimately cheap to buy (until Ford jacked up the price), even cheaper on gas, and yet still eminently useful and pleasing to the eye, the Maverick is the pickup that Americans should be obsessing over instead of pledging fealty to thirsty full-size models that pull daily driver duty (and not much else).
Americans Are Obsessed With the Wrong Trucks
For decades, pickup buyers have believed bigger is better. The Ford Maverick Hybrid proves the opposite.Basem Wasef’s Best Drives:
Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology
Unlike so many EVs du jour, the awkwardly named G 580 triumphs not only because it doesn’t lose a smidge of its signature boxiness, but also because it’s transcendently good at off-roading, the G’s core attribute. At the model’s launch in rural France, electric motors vectored each knobby-tired corner with zero lag and far more deftness than internal combustion could muster. Though the range is a less-than-stellar 250 miles give or take, the electric G still rules because outdoor attributes like wading depth beat its gas-powered counterpart. Plus, the spin-around-itself G-Turn feature isn’t just a neat party trick, the technology enables the 3.5-ton truck to pirouette around tight corners like a lithe ballerina — something the gas version could only dream of. If anything, the electric G’s better living through science makes it a resounding rebuttal to the way things used to be.
Read Basem's Full Review
Can an Electric G-Wagen Match the Icon? We Went Way Off-Road to Find Out.
The only way to test the first electrified G-Class is to tackle inhospitable terrain, so our correspondent flew to the south of France to do just that
Bentley Continental GT Speed
A funny thing happened on the road to electrification for Bentley. By hybridizing its mighty V8 instead of going directly to full EV (see: Rolls-Royce Spectre), the Flying B coupe maintained the rousing rumble of a high-output V8, and therefore an evocative part of its legacy. However, the new GT is more than just a refined muscle car. Thanks to a confluence of dynamic factors — all-wheel drive, sophisticated traction control and Bentley’s first-ever rear-biased 49/51 weight distribution — the GT Speed manages to feel stately yet chuckable on roads and tracks, despite its considerable weight. Crucially, Bentley’s hybrid still packs one of the most cossetting interiors in all of automobiledom, incorporating posh novelties like a rotating veneer/analog instrument/touchscreen panel, so-called 3D-quilted wood panels, and enough leather, Alcantara and rich surface treatments to make run-of-the-mill cars feel like rickshaws.
Aston Martin DB12 Volante
Just when we were about to dismiss Aston Martin yet again, the DB12 rolled its elegantly sculpted body into our hearts. I felt naturally inclined to dismiss the DB11 successor for the most selfish of reasons: it dropped the option for a glorious V12, replacing it with a more terrestrial 671-hp twin-turbo V8. But when I lived with this Magneto Bronze ragtop, I didn’t want to leave its sumptuously stitched seat. Not only is every corner of this roadster gorgeous, it’s also dynamically satisfying enough to justify its visual flamboyance. But don’t worry, Aston reintroduced the V12 in the Vanquish, proving there’s still some traditional big-engined life left in the old gal.
Ferrari 296 Challenge Race Car
If the roadgoing Ferrari 296 GTB is the entry point to pricier prancing horses, the 296 Challenge is the gateway drug for racing, the fountain of dopamine that inspired old man Enzo to get into the car biz in the first place. Ferrari’s raucous 296 Challenge struck a chord because this V6 is a nimble, intuitive, 8,500-rpm screamer that brings out the best in its driver — which just happens to be the most seductive way to lure spendy, speed-thirsty enthusiasts into the brand’s one-make racing series.
A Day at Corso Pilota Classiche, Ferrari’s Classic Driving School
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Vespa GTS Super 300
One of the most memorable motoring experiences of the year involved bisecting supercar gridlock with a two-wheeled slice of dolce vita. I was lucky enough to have a Vespa GTS Super 300 at my disposal during the automotive maelstrom that is Monterey Car Week, and its lane-splitting abilities made it possible to scoot from event to event effortlessly while folks driving cars the price of houses stayed mired in traffic. Nimbleness, ease of use and absolute charm are also the reasons why I own a similar big-bore Vespa back home, and why I can’t wait to sample the upcoming GTS Super 310 when it hits the road in 2025.
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR
Most flashy new motorcycles pack massive motors that propel them to preposterous speeds faster than you can read this sentence. Kawasaki’s ZX-4RR looks every bit the race kit, but its 399cc inline-four engine is like a subscale translation of big-bore literbike. Thanks to a wispy 414-pound curb weight, this Ninjette felt nimble and happy to change direction while I lapped it around the Streets of Willow circuit north of L.A. Yet it also wound up to 16,000 rpm and had the suspension and brakes to keep up with spirited track riding — a win/win that’s hard not to love.
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