Vote: Which of these outstanding vehicles should be crowned ‘Car of the Year’?
EFG International and Octane magazine need your help selecting the International Historic Motoring Awards “Car of the Year.” Read about this year’s nominees — from the understated to the dramatic to the truly bizarre — then click here to cast your vote.
‘Birkin’ Bentley
Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin’s 1931 4 ½-Litre Supercharged Bentley set the Outer Circuit record of 137.96 mph at Brooklands in 1932, a truly hair-raising feat. Following the death of its owner, legendary watchmaker George Daniels, the car was sold this year by Bonhams for £5 million, a world record for a British car.
Round door Rolls-Royce
The magnificently outrageous 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Jonckheere Coupé, known simply as the Round Door Rolls-Royce, must be one of the most dramatically-bodied cars of all time. Looked after by the Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles, it was a star of the 2012 Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance.
The Swan Car
Of all of the over-the-top machinery at Pebble Beach this year, none was more outlandish than the 1910 Brooke Swan Car (and matching “Cygnet”) from the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands. It was commissioned by Calcutta eccentric Robert Nicholl “Scotty” Matthewson in 1910 — apparently he quite liked swans.
The Silver Arrows
The fabulous Silver Arrows pre-war racing cars from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union (now Audi) that dominated motor racing before WWII were reunited at the 2012 Goodwood Revival Meeting, where they wowed the crowds with spine-tingling demonstration laps during their first time together for decades.
1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B
Beautifully understated and elegant, this Alfa Romeo is one of just six closed 2900Bs. It was exported to the U.S. in 1947 and won the first street race at Watkins Glen. It won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 2008, the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este in 2009, and Best of Show at the Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance in 2012.
1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
The appearance of this Silver Ghost at the 2012 Kuwait Concours was the first time the car had left Pakistan — a significant political and cultural achievement. It was used by Mr. Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, on the country’s Independence Day on 14 August 1947, loaned for the occasion by the Nawab of Bahawalpur.
