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The Car of the Century (COTC) is an international award that was given to the world's most influential
car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...
of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, the
Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
, was announced at an awards gala on December 18, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada.


The selection process

An elaborate and formal process for deciding the ''Car of the Century'' was devised. It started in October 1996, when a list of 700 cars was offered by the COTC organising committee as candidates for the award, which their experts had selected from recommendations made from within the car industry and from car clubs. In February 1997 a list of 200 eligible cars was announced at the AutoRAI motor show in Amsterdam, having been selected from the 700 by an honorary committee of experts who were all independent and highly respected and experienced automotive experts. The next step was for a jury of 133 professional automotive journalists from 33 countries, under the presidency of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, to reduce the list to 100, and the result was announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1997. The elimination process proceeded with an Internet-based public vote to select 10 cars, and for 25 cars to be selected by the jury of professionals. In the event, 9 out of the 10 cars selected by the public were also amongst the 25 selected by the journalists (the AC Cobra being the extra car selected by the public), so 26 cars were announced at the
Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
in March 1999, as the nominees for the next round."Car of the century voting narrows"
Tim Dornin, ''AAP General News'', March 15, 1999
From the 26, the jury were asked to nominate five finalists which would go through to the last round of voting, using a points system. The final nominees were announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, 1999."Car of the Century?"
, '' Wired'', December 17, 1999


The final results

The jury each ranked the five cars in their preferred order, and the results were combined with a points system. The final results are shown in the table below."This Just In: Model T Gets Award"
James G. Cobb, '' The New York Times'', December 24, 1999


See also

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Car Designer of the Century The Car Designer of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car designer of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, Giorgetto Giugiaro, was announ ...
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Car Engineer of the Century The Car Engineer of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car engineer of the twentieth century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, Ferdinand Porsche, was ...
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Car Entrepreneur of the Century The Car Entrepreneur of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car entrepreneur of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, Henry Ford, was announ ...
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Car Executive of the Century The Car Entrepreneur of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car entrepreneur of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, Henry Ford, was announc ...
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List of motor vehicle awards This list of motor vehicle awards is an index to articles that describe notable awards given to motor vehicles. The list is broken into "car of the year", other car awards, awards for commercial vehicles including trucks and trains, engines and pe ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Car Of The Century Motor vehicle awards