The best of 2004

So, it's with a sigh of relief that CarPoint slides into the Christmas holidays, enjoying the odd bottle of vino and looking back at the cars and events that shaped the year that was. We've asked the Ed and five regular CarPoint writers to choose their most significant car and event of 2004, and what they're looking forward to most in 2005. To balance the ledger, we've also asked for their biggest disappointment of 2004, and the results may shock you.

GLENN BUTLER

Best car of 2004:
Ford Territory's impact on the Australian automotive landscape will be significant, but it's not my favourite car of 2004. BMW's 1 Series proves compact hatches can be rear drive and fun to drive. Mercedes-Benz's SLK350 roadsteris insanely quick and phenomenally capable compared to its predecessor. But there can be only one vehicle that dropped the biggest smile on my dial in 2004, and that award goes to the BMW M3 CSL - a lighter, more powerful version of the car I'd buy, sight unseen, on winning the lottery. What better way to start the year, and with the world's greatest racetrack exclusively for me and my CSL.

Most Significant Event:
What to choose: 500,000 people visited CarPoint in one calendar month for the first time; Mitsubishi dropped from four to six in the top ten sellers' chart; Ford took seven of the top eight slots at Bathurst (but couldn't get the one that matters most); Mark Webber secured a level one drive with Williams in Formula One; Holden debuted the Global V6 engine in VZ Commodore...

My pick? The General Motors Global Product Seminar. To be invited inside the world's biggest car company, to speak with its powerbrokers, samples its global portfolio, and to see the future - some of which you'll see at Detroit in January 2005, and some which will remain a secret for longer. But all of it significant, and definitely worth the wait.

Biggest Disappointment:
No one event or vehicle stands out in my mind, but a few deserve a mention. Holden's new Astra looks the goods, but doesn't deliver dynamically like its new clothes suggest. Likewise Peugeot 407 and BMW X3. Ford's new Focus, on the other hand drives far better than you expect beneath that boring exterior. And how can we forget a 2.5-ton Land Rover Discovery? And that's for the lightest version. Bloody good offroad, but.

What will 2005 bring:
Mitsubishi will replace Magna with the all-new Galant in September 2005, in what must surely be its last chance to play in Australia's single biggest market - family sedans. We sincerely hope it succeeds, but its not the object of our desire in '05. That accolade sits with a certain other sedan, substantially more expensive and awesomely potent - or so we've read. Bring on the 500hp, V10-engined BMW M5, my palms are beginning to itch...

JONATHAN HAWLEY

Best car of 2004:
Holden Monaro VZ. Call me a meathead - why not, my Mum does - but there's something about Holden's V8 thumper that does it for me. It's not new, but it has been revised and the little differences make the Monaro a much happier thing. More power isn't really part of it: it's the better spread of bottom-end torque from the Gen III, more sensible gearing and bugger it, I even like the bonnet scoops. It's not a sensible choice, but then sensible people buy a Lexus, I suppose. Honourable mentions go to the Ford Territory for just being a good thing to bang around in, the Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDi DSG for its marvellous technology, and the Mazda MX-5 SE for its balance.

Most Significant Event:
Mitsubishi's closure of the Lonsdale plant. I don't pretend to understand the full financial and political reasons for what has happened at Mitsubishi, but it all crystallised when the decision was made to close one if its Adelaide plants. What were once rumours became fact in the eyes of the public, and to say Mitsubishi's Australian sales have suffered since is an understatement. Next year's new Magna (or whatever it is going to be called) will be launched under huge pressure. I've driven every Magna since the TM back in 1985, enjoyed them all, and I'm glad to know I haven't driven my last...

Biggest Disappointment:
Ford Territory AWD. Funny how the same car can make it into my best and worst lists, but there's good reason. I must have done close to 10,000km in the Territory AWD earlier this year, including plenty on unsealed outback roads. While the big Ford wagon is a terrific handler on the dirt, show it something rough and there's so little ground clearance it scrapes its guts to the point of doing major damage to the car. Ford argues the Territory was never meant to be an off-roader, but that's just semantics. I reckon if something looks like a dog, and is hairy with fleas then it definitely goes woof. The Territory is an Australian-built 4WD wagon with some great traction management systems so it should be able to handle moderately tough roads. What a pity Ford has meekly surrendered a huge amount of territory - anywhere west of the suburbs where the bitumen ends - to imported off roaders. Dishonourable mention to the BMW X3, which only looks stranger as it grows older.

What will 2005 Bring:
Mark Webber in a Williams BMW. As an F1 tragic who has spent the small hours of every other Monday morning glued to the set, I'm now torn between barracking for the Ferrari boys or their evil rivals from Sir Frank's factory in England. If some miracle happens and Williams gives Webber a car quick enough to catch the Schuey express, watch out. Even from this far away you can see Mark has talent, courage and conviction. It's been too long since Australia won this particular championship and I've a funny feeling there's not much longer to wait.

Best car of 2004:
Without having driven everything launched in 2004, the final choice of those cars that I did manage to spend some quality time behind the wheel came down to Audi's new A6 3.0-litre diesel or Volvo's V50 T5. Both are particularly stylish inside and out in their given markets, with solid build quality and driving characteristics that make them much more than just practical transport. The A6 shows just how far diesel tech has come with a torque spread and substance that puts Audi's own V8 to shame and a refinement that belies its construction. But it was the Volvo that won my vote as few cars have leapt such vast distances in terms of refinement, performance and especially handling and ride comfort in a single generational model change.

Most Significant Event:
In September, a little publicised three-day conference took place in Perth under the title of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Future. After nearly two decades of hearing about the potential that fuel cells offer in the automotive realm and the urgent need for an alternative powertrain to help reduce greenhouse emissions and our reliance on ever shrinking reserves of oil, fuel cells finally seemed real. Carmakers, oil companies -- now called energy companies -- and progressive governments -- not ours though -- are combining and focusing on hydrogen fuelled electric drives as a real and viable future for personal and public transport. The question is no longer if.

Biggest Disappointment:
The Kia Cerato was the worst car I drove and fell well short of basic standards expected in 2004 in a number of areas but it wasn't really a disappointment -- more to be expected. What was disappointing was this country's collective governments' refusal to truly analyse and develop policies on the issue of road safety with any degree of sense or wisdom. A parliamentary committee review of the Howard government's 10 year road safety plan produced absurd suggestions such as speedos limited to 130km/h, special licences for 4WDs and new ADRs for reversing cameras and alcohol interlocks on all cars. The final report was developed with little thought, less discussion and simply regurgitated the opinions of minority but vocal lobby groups.

What will 2005 Bring:
With at least 52 new or significantly upgraded models due on the roads next year, there will be something new to drive every week. Some may disappoint, some may remain instantly forgettable but there are those like the BMW M5, Mazda6 MPS, Chrysler 300C, Audi TT V6 coupe, Ford Focus, Honda Legend, Mitsubishi EVO IX, Peugeot 407 coupe and VW Golf GTi that deliver something different, something exciting or something that appeals to more than a practical need for transport and hits an emotional nerve. For that is what this business should be about and that's what I look forward to.

MIKE SINCLAIR

Best car of 2004:
It may be that I'm getting old, crotchety and forgetful, but at the end of a year that boasted some pretty important new car releases, nothing stuck in my head. Indeed, it required delving into the dim dark recesses of my laptop's archives to prompt the grey matter into action.

BMW's X5 4.8is was not the best car of 04, but it put the biggest smile of my face. BMW's best ever V8 engine powers this hyper house-brick to silly velocities and provides a soundtrack that is music to any petrolhead's ears. How can this BMW SUV be so much fun and the BMW 545i sedan so boring?

The 2004 SCOTY (Sinkers' Car of the Year) goes to the impractical, selfish, indulgent and brilliant Mercedes SLK350. This car is so much better than its predecessor that it deserves a different model designation. Out with the hairdressers, in with the headkickers.

Most significant event of 2004:
The announcement that Victorian authorities were considering the adoption of 130km/h speedos... In one fell swoop these rabbits proved beyond doubt to all and sundry exactly how ill-informed and out of touch they are with real world road safety issues and strategies. Only one word describes them, and we can't print it...

Biggest Disappointment of 2004:
325ti SMG -- arguably BMW's best six-cylinder rendered close to unusable by a half-baked attempt at selling a car well past its use-by date. Don't make the same mistake with the six-cylinder 1 Series, please!

What will 2005 Bring:
A return to sanity re full-size spares... Well, at least in SUVs and any car likely to go more than 5km from the GPO! Having been on the receiving end of three tyre failures this year, it's now a personal bugbear. Two required major logistical exercises to get the vehicles mobile again, one a ten-minute stop by the side of the road to bolt on a new hoop. What makes more sense to you?

CHRIS FINCHAM

Best car of 2004:
Has to be the 997 Porsche 911. Not just because it offers scintillating acceleration, sublime handling and value-for-money unsurpassed in the rarefied world of supercars. But because it's capable of turning mere mortals into hairpin-loving hoons, especially over snaking Targa Tasmania rally roads, driving at silly speeds and with Jim Richards setting the pace. Oh, and because they've finally brought back the traditional oval headlights.

Most Significant event of 2004:
Return of the musclecar. Not since the halcyon days in the '60s of fire-breathing big-block GT HOs and Monaros have we had this much to be excited about. First Falcon GT, now 6.0-litre HSV's followed hot on the heels by FPV's lightning fast Typhoon. Tyre-screeching quarter miles and 100km/h sprints are firmly back on the agenda; not to mention Holden's GTS-R racer, twin-turbo Torana concept, DJR's potent 320kW Falcon and the V8-powered Elfin Clubman. Yee, hah!

Biggest Disappointment of 2004:
New Mustang no-show. Ford finally produces a Mustang that recaptures the glory of the original '60s pony car, but as yet no announcement that right-hand drive versions will be sold here. Unlike the slow-selling, uninspiring previous model, the all-new Stang has all the styling cues, V8 grunt and all-round appeal to excite the fans. And at US$25,000, it's a steal, just like the multi-million selling original. Come to think about it, how about getting the latest C6 Corvette in the showrooms, Holden...

Most Anticipated Event:
Brock makes yet another 'last' attempt at Bathurst... and finally captures his 10th win in the Great Race. Or Mark Webber captures his first F1 win at the Melbourne Grand Prix. But unfortunately it's in the promotional parade laps held in Melbourne's city streets prior to the main race, so doesn't count. But if neither of these unlikely events occurs, just looking forward to some more Holden show-stoppers, the unveiling of another new supercar or two, and the chance to drive anything with a Porsche badge on it!

DARREN HOUSE

Best car of 2004:
Noble GTO 3R - Slide into the Le Mans racer look-a-like and you instantly imagine yourself screaming down Mulsanne straight. And with a top speed of 274km/h, you wouldn't be too far off the pace, either. The Noble has everything a sports driver could want - drop dead gorgeous lines, an abundance of torque, awesome power-to-weight ratio (262kW/980kg), rear-wheel drive, race car handling, superb brakes and excellent build quality. My extended drive through twisty New Zealand back roads was the stuff automotive dreams are made of. Yet for all that the car remains surprisingly civilised and while it's not a typical daily driver, if you're really keen the Noble is certainly up to the job.

Most Significant event of 2004:
Holden-Elfin collaboration -- Holden broke brave new ground by collaborating on a project that couldn't be further removed from passenger cars, and launching the MS8 on its Melbourne Motor Show stand. Those actions say much about the company and the people behind it. It's motor show unveiling was brilliant, too. With the wraps taken off the MS8 shortly after FPV's Typhoon reveal, Holden totally gazumped Ford as the media and industry representatives forgot about the Typhoon and began hyperventilating over the Holden-engined sports car. The resultant publicity for Holden was enormous.

Biggest Disappointment of 2004:
Government road safety policy -- Governments continue to line their pockets and push the "speed kills" line rather than teaching people how to drive. There is something very wrong when Victoria's Transport Accident Commission airs a TV commercial showing a distracted driver proceeding through a stop sign but condemns the right-of-way driver for the collision. If an employee killed themselves or others operating a machine after receiving training comparable to what governments prescribe for drivers, Workcover would jail their bosses. While governments are happy for drivers to crash at slower speeds rather than teach them how to avoid crashing, nothing much will change, except of course, the states' ever-improving bottom lines.

What will 2005 bring:
I'm looking forward to driving my 'new' 1966 Mustang hardtop. After a nine-month wait my Mussie is finally here, fresh off the boat and looking mighty fine. Yes, it's old, it creaks over bumps on full lock, makes horrendous noises over bigger bumps and rides like a tired old Cadillac but with a bit of suspension tweaking, it'll come up a treat. On the positive side, it oozes charm and style, turns heads like no new car can, has a rumbling 289 V8 and (provided I treat it correctly) is an appreciating asset. Someone described the Mustang as "the Harley of cars". I couldn't agree more.