The Car of the Century (COTC) is an international award that was given to the world's most influential car of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation. The winner, the Ford Model T, 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

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Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, 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

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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

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being the extra car selected by the public), so 26 cars were announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1999, as the nominees for the next round."Car of the century voting narrows"
Tim Dornin, ''AAP General News'', March 15, 1999 Morris Mini-Minor 1967

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

in September, 1999."Car of the Century?"
, ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'', 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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', December 24, 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Car Of The Century Motor vehicle awards

The selection process

The final results

See also

References