The Carletti Car Awards:

1. Compact Car award:
-2007 Volkswagen Rabbit:
In this category, I placed an exorbitant amount of emphasis on reliability and craftsmanship…partly because many compact cars can only be distinguished along these grounds.  That being said, however, a strong case could be made for the perennially reliable Toyota Corolla, for the bit odd Honda Civic, and even for the 2007 (not 2006) Hyundai Elantra.  But, really, and in terms of feeling like you own a much more expensive car, the Rabbit wins by a large margin in my judgment.  Inside the Rabbit, it’s pure VW mixed with a distinctive hint of Audi.  Awesome.  In addition, the car feels small and ready to tackle any and all corners with confidence.  The stick shift is slick and the whole aura of the Rabbit is, quite simply, cool & serious…not gimmick-y like the spaceship Civic and/or boring and mundane like the Corolla and the Elantra.  

2. Family Car Award:
-2006/2007 Honda Accord:
The Accord is such a smart choice, in my book, that I would have to seriously immerse myself into very long and tenuous thinking as to why anyone would purchase any other family car being sold in the United States.  However, I’m not purposefully biased at all.  The Camry is a good choice, though recent quality concerns and the absolutely plain look of the car is a great deterrence in my view.  And I like the Ford Fusion, in fact more so than the Camry, because it’s a comfortable car with a good variety of features…but the tail lamps are kind of weird, for lack of a better term, and I can’t help but feel a sense of copycat status on the part of Ford as the Fusion looks like it took some design cues from the Accord.  The 2007 Nissan Altima would’ve been a good competitor for the Accord if not for the fact that its interior carries on an unsightly look that is only amplified by an un-ergonomic, and hideous, steering wheel that carries on “old-school” CD player buttons for controls.  I’m also kind of wondering why the car looks fat from the rear and why the front end looks even more plain than that of the outgoing model.  The Chevrolet Impala still hasn’t gotten to near the level of the Accord, in my view.  Sure it may be more fuel efficient than past models however the car misses severely in a category that matters a lot, in my view: feelings.  It’s not a special car and it doesn’t help that Enterprise seems to like it.  In the end, in my view the Accord wins.  All of the usual features are there: Reliability, great mpg, high residual values, good amounts of standard features.  But the car also looks good, in an understated sort of way (the subtle chrome-tip exhaust is a nice, non-overboard and non-presumptuous touch is my feeling), it carries on copied versions of the Audi interior, which was at first a sore on the part of originality but since it’s so ergonomically sound and since it works, in the end it turned into a resounding plus.  And although the seating position is not my taste (my knees were found to always hit the steering column), nonetheless the Accord is incredibly comfortable and also incredibly quiet.  

3. Compact Luxury Car Award:
-2007 Audi A4:
I like Audi cars.  My grandfather had an 80 Avant and perhaps learning about his car when I was younger is when I first started to become a sort of an Audi fan.  But in the current market, and in my view, the 2007 A4 wins regardless of my affinity for Audi cars.  What choices have you got?  The tacky IS (complete with LED lights for license plate illumination), with a rear that looks as if someone smelled a fart?  How about the new 3 Series, a car that carries on so much “flame surface” that it gets me noxious.  If I were to base this judgment upon looks alone, the 2007 A4 (in Phantom Black) wins by a substantial margin, in my view.  It’s an uncomplicated approach by Audi, and one that I greatly admire when I look to the almost over-saturated overt aggression look (like the rather ordinary 2007 G35 where I also don't know where the body ends and the rear begins) that almost everyone else in this class is doing.  The base 2.0L is a great start and I wouldn’t spend to get the 3.2 or for the quattro (partly because I don’t live in the mountains and partly because it would defy economic sense, in my view).  For me the bottom line is that this car conveys a stately, serious persona that is accompanied by the best interior in the business and with a sweet sound out of the engine to boot.

4. Preeminent Luxury Car Award:
-2006 Maserati Quattroporte:
After only my hour-long personal encounter with this car at the Concours d’Elegance almost two years ago, I still feel confident to say that it’s the best.  The new S Class has its problems (the usual and the newly created), I mistook the front end of a 7 Series for the Scion tC recently, the A8 is not quite there in terms of desirability and dominance, and the LS 460 is still just for retirees and for the sensitive, respectively.  

*Car of the Century so far:
2003 BMW 5 Series  

While I agree that the VW is a great design and great execution of the design,the parts for the car are farmed in from all over the world and it is not assembled in Germany so as far as it being pure VW,I don't know if an American can buy one these days.

The Rabbit also for some strange reason gets two miles per gallon LESS than the GTI,a more powerful car.

As far as reliability goes,VW has had a spotty record for reliability that cannot compare with the Honda,Toyota or now even the Hyundai.

The Accord-you said it-like a swiss made watch this car just gets better each year.

And it's assembled in America no less.

Audi's have a wonderfully individual image.
Always sporty and luxurious at the same time.

But there also lies the rub with these cars.

Some Audi's you simply cannot kill,they are such good cars others are unreliable.

The Maserati Quattroporte-if you can afford this car,you don't care whether it's reliable or not.

This car caused the world to rediscover how sexy a four door car could be.