Marc UrbanoAutomotive and Driver
Our annual 10Best Automobiles award has been round since 1983. Over 100 totally different fashions have at the very least one 10Best trophy, however common readers would possibly discover some vehicles stick round longer than others. Now that we have named names, for the 2023 10Best Automobiles, we thought it might be fascinating to tally the whole variety of wins and see which vehicles have emerged as probably the most usually honored. What follows is a listing of the automobiles which have received probably the most 10Best awards, ranked in ascending order by the whole variety of wins.
The 2023 10Best Automobiles
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Cadillac CTS and CTS-V: 8 Wins
Years Received: 2008–2012; 2014–2016
The primary CTS was a watershed automotive for Cadillac, jump-starting the American luxurious model’s transition right into a authentic homegrown rival to the Germans. Its first look on the 10Best Automobiles checklist, nonetheless, didn’t come till the extra polished second-generation CTS arrived in 2008. The supercharged CTS-V basked in the identical glow for 2009 and 2010, after which we threw warning to the wind and awarded solely the high-zoot CTS-V for 2011 and 2012. We adopted an analogous cadence after the third-generation CTS first made the checklist in 2014. That yr and the following, the complete lineup achieved 10Best standing, however for 2016 solely the performance-oriented, twin-turbo CTS Vsport received. The present CTS-V, with its 640-hp supercharged V-8, is now priced past our $80,000 cap, and the CTS Vsport, though was nonetheless a fantastic trip, fell off the checklist for 2017.
MORE CADILLAC CTS-V INFO
Years Received: 1990–1996; 2003
The Z-car first earned Nissan (then Datsun) a spot on the sports-car desk within the Seventies, but it surely actually got here into its personal when the 300ZX arrived for 1990. This twin-turbocharged GT earned seven successive 10Best trophies, beginning in 1990 after we admitted that “some staffers needed to be restrained from voting twice” for the Nissan. This type of unbridled affection was based mostly largely on the energy of its 300-hp V-6 engine and dealing with that didn’t come on the expense of consolation. The streak continued all the way in which till that Z bit the mud in 1997. It wouldn’t get replaced till the 350Z arrived in 2003, additionally incomes a 10Best award in its debut yr. Since that Z’s one-year look on the checklist, not a single Nissan-brand automobile has been named 10Best.
NEW NISSAN Z
Years Received: 1985; 1988–1991; 1996; 2018–2019; Current
A paragon of gasoline effectivity, packaging, and accessible enjoyable from its arrival within the U.S. within the early Seventies, the Honda Civic and its sporty two-door CRX variant had been mainstays on the early years of our 10Best checklist. The Honda first earned a spot on the checklist in 1985 and returned for many of its fourth-generation run, with awards spanning from 1988 to 1991. However within the years since, Honda’s compact automotive has not achieved the identical constant excellence as its massive brother, the Accord, which is by far the winningest 10Best honoree. All through the Civic’s ups and downs within the Nineties and 2000s, it earned just one extra 10Best award, in 1996, when the sixth-generation automotive hit the scene. Greater than 20 years later, the Civic makes a triumphant return as a daily on our 10Best checklist.
NEW HONDA CIVIC
Years Received: 1984–1986; 1992–1998
Though it disappeared from the Honda lineup means again in 2002, the Prelude was a mature sports activities coupe that was one in all our favourite Hondas all through a lot of the Eighties and Nineties. Of the 5 generations of Prelude bought within the U.S., three received 10Best trophies, beginning in 1984 when the second-gen automotive first received the award. The third-gen Prelude, launched in 1987, didn’t make the minimize, however the fourth-generation automotive earned again its place on the checklist, beginning in 1992 when it was powered by a 160-hp VTEC engine. A seven-year streak ensued, lasting into the fifth and remaining era of the Prelude, which received in 1997 and 1998. As we stated of the Prelude in its final yr on the 10Best checklist, “We are able to’t think about a driving fanatic who wouldn’t totally get pleasure from this automotive.”
1999 HONDA PRELUDE
Years Received: 1983; 1987–1988; 2005–2006; 2012–2013; 2015–2017; 2019
Ford’s pony automotive has arguably as robust a model identify as the corporate that makes it, and the Mustang has taken residence extra 10Best awards than another American automotive moreover the Chevrolet Corvette. It first received within the inaugural 10Best yr, 1983, after we honored the Fox-body Mustang GT 5.0. It didn’t win once more till 1988, when revisions to its chassis and the V-8 engine earned it a spot as soon as once more; a yr later, it was booted out by Ford’s personal front-wheel-drive sports activities automotive, the Probe GT. It took greater than a decade for the Stang to return to 10Best; it did so in 2005 because of a complete redesign with retro fashion and powerful V-8 energy. In 2016 and ’17, we awarded solely the top-dog Shelby GT350 model of the Mustang, which units itself aside with a screaming 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V-8 that revs all the way in which to 8250 rpm and infuses the horse automotive with an invigorating and distinctive spirit.
NEW FORD MUSTANG
Volkswagen Golf, GTI, and Rabbit: 19 Wins
Years Received: 1983–1984; 1986; 2007–2022
School soccer junkies know that the College of Michigan’s is the all-time winningest program, with greater than 900 wins, whereas sticklers for element would possibly word that Michigan’s edge owes as a lot to the college’s present longer than a lot of its opponents because it does to its workforce ability. Equally, the Volkswagen Golf—which has intermittently taken the identify Rabbit within the U.S.—has existed for so long as 10Best has, which actually units the desk for it to turn out to be one in all 10Best’s most-awarded vehicles. And, certainly, the Golf has racked up 18 10Best trophies, albeit in matches and begins. After notching three wins within the Eighties, the Golf suffered a 21-year drought earlier than hitting a decade-long win streak from 2007 to immediately. Credit score its fantastic engineering and the sensation that it prices much more to construct than Volkswagen expenses. On second thought, the college-football comparability works higher for the 36-time 10Best-winning Honda Accord, however you get the concept.
NEW VW GOLF GTI
Mazda MX-5 Miata: 19 Wins
Years Received: 1990–1992; 1998–1999; 2001; 2006–2013; 2016–2019
The Mazda MX-5 Miata’s induction into 10Best lore was not inauspicious. As we put it in 1990, the little roadster’s first yr making our 10Best Automobiles checklist, “All Mazda did with this automotive was reinvent the sports activities automotive.” Put aside the comparisons we made between the favored Mazda and Vanna White and Mel Gibson—keep in mind, when the Miata first got here out, its celeb precipitated a gross sales sensation—and our affection towards the Miata hasn’t modified a lot in 26 years. Now in its fourth era, the Miata is now not “reinventing” something, however there stays a novelty to the tiny, light-weight sports activities automotive persevering with to exist in a world obsessive about crossover SUVs. The Miata stands amongst a dwindling variety of new vehicles that unapologetically and uncompromisingly cater to the drivers of this world, those that maintain steering wheels, not smartphones, and who discover pleasure in glorious dynamics, tactile controls, and ease. That’s the reason, out of the 35 years we’ve been handing out 10Best awards, the 28-year-young Miata has snapped up 19 trophies.
NEW MAZDA MX-5 MIATA
Chevrolet Corvette: 24 Wins
Years Received: 1985–1989; 1998–1999; 2002–2009; 2014–2015; 2017–Current
It might sound unusual to immediately’s readers that the fourth-generation Chevrolet Corvette managed to earn a spot on our 10Best checklist from 1985 to 1989, however context is every thing. Then, as now, the Corvette represents a efficiency discount amongst sports activities vehicles. In 1985, the Vette’s first yr on 10Best, we had been enthusiastic about its means to run previous 150 mph and deal with in addition to vehicles costing many instances extra. Quick ahead to immediately, and the C8-generation Corvette, not like any Vette earlier than it, made the checklist for 2020 by way of 2022. It is the epitome of 10Best, as a 450-hp V-8 sports activities automotive for a hair beneath $60,000. It is also one of many quickest vehicles we have examined within the final 10 years, with a zero-to-60-mph time of simply 2.8 seconds. The mid-engine Corvette makes vehicles double its price ticket really feel insufficient, and it sounds good doing it.
NEW CHEVY CORVETTE
Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman: 24 Wins
Years Received: 1998–2003; 2006–Current
The thought of an “entry degree” Porsche was anathema to many sports-car purists, so skepticism for the mid-engined Boxster roadster was excessive when it arrived within the late Nineties. For sure, all of the worrying was for naught, because the child Porsche’s energetic dealing with and sonorous flat-six engines silenced any doubters. Its sub-911 beginning value was only a cherry on high of an already candy package deal, and a six-year 10Best streak from 1998 till 2003 ensued. The second-generation Boxster received once more beginning in 2006, and ever for the reason that Cayman coupe joined the lineup, the littlest Porsches haven’t let go of the trophy, even because the Boxster and Cayman transitioned to turbocharged flat-four engines and a brand new 718 moniker for each droptop and hardtop variations.
NEW PORSCHE 718
BMW 3-series, 4-series, i4 and M3: 24 Wins
Years Received: 1992–2014; Current
With the second-longest-running steady streak of 10Best wins, BMW’s bread-and-butter sedans, coupes, convertibles, and wagons had a dynastic maintain on the award for greater than 20 years. Awards went to the E36, E46, E90, and present F80 generations of those supremely balanced vehicles that we characterised as “the definitive sports activities sedans.” However our eye strayed in 2014 when BMW launched the lithe 2-series. This new coupe confirmed the identical poise and fascinating dynamics because the 3-series had for many years, whereas the renamed 4-series coupe grew softer and bigger in an try to please a wider swath of the inhabitants. The battery-electric BMW i4, nonetheless, offers us hope for the model’s return to type. Although its steering continues to be a bit wanting, the remainder of the i4 reminds us of the entry-level Bimmers we at all times cherished—albeit with an EV twist. With loads of driving vary, a number of powertrains, and a cohesive driving expertise, the i4 combines one of the best qualities of the automotive previous, current, and future.
NEW BMW i4
Years Received: 1983–1995; 1998–Current
Honda introduced the Accord to the U.S. in 1977 with one monumental purpose–to turn out to be the greatest-selling overseas automotive right here. In 1989, it outsold Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler, because the best-selling automotive interval. Since then it has been many issues, a coupe, a wagon, even an oddly proportioned utility factor known as the Crosstour, however immediately it is one of the best household sedan cash should purchase. An award we have given it consecutively since 1998. The most recent era Accord carries on the torch of its 10Best-winning predecessors. Although it now not gives the wild turbocharged 2.0-liter engine of the prior Accord, the brand new mannequin’s gasoline-electric hybrid and turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder powertrains masterfully mix effectivity with sufficient pleasure to maintain issues fascinating. In the meantime, the household sedan’s new sheetmetal appears virtually Acura-like.
NEW HONDA ACCORD
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