Surprise
of the year: Venturi Astrolab
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| Runner up: | ||
Fiat Panda 100HP  100HP could be a negative point to most cars, but the Panda makes best use of the 100HP engine and adequate chassis tuning to deliver a surprisingly fun to drive package. And all these takes just less than £10,000 ! |
Kia Cee'd  We expected Kia to be cheap and offers superior value for money, but we didn't expect it to be so stylish, well built and good to drive. The Korean is no longer satisfied of building cut-price products. European and Japanese car makers have plenty of reasons to scare... |
Saturn Aura Employing Opel engineering helps turning the near rubbish Saturn L-series into a world class sedan. Better to drive than most Japanese rivals too. If GM can continue introducing such good cars, it might just retake the world number one title ! |
| Past
winners: 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 2005 Chrysler 300C 2004 Ford GT 2003 Smart Roadster |
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Every
car maker is developing greener cars to meet the European greenhouse
gas emission limit, but I'm afraid no one goes as far as Venturi. Last
year in Frankfurt motor show the French sports car specialist launched
the world's first electric-solar
hybrid power car. The flyweight vehicle employs a formula one-style
carbon-fiber monocoque chassis to seat two. Power is provided by a
21-horsepower electric motor, which is supplied by a Nickel-Metal
Hydride battery to provide a range of 68 miles and a top speed of 75
mph. The battery can be recharged by household AC power sockets, or by
the 3.2 meter square of solar cells covering all over the car. Should
the car run out of electricity, leave it under sunlight and wait for
the recharging... hopefully it will take you home in a few days.