Autocar 2005 Awards in Battersea
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Autocar 2005 Awards in Battersea
I was given an invitation to attend the Autocar 2005 Awards ceremony alongside one of my current company's clients, who I work on, and are one of the main sponsors for these awards, so I was delighted for obvious reasons when I was asked if I would like to attend.
The day started a little later than a normal working day for me but not by a lot, I donned my Ted Baker suit (and yes I do own a suit to those that don't believe it) and made for Letchworth train station where I would go on to meet another colleague (Jenny) who was also attending the ceremony and travelled to Kings Cross.
Having arrived at Kings Cross we made for the tube station which would takes us to our final destination in Battersea Park where the awards were held, after looking at a few maps we soon figured out our route and made our way.
It was a fresh (to say the least) walk from Sloanne Square tube station which took us around 10-15 minutes at the gates we saw banners signing that we had nearly reached our destination, the Autocar 2005 Awards. We made our way through the gates when behind us came a distinct rumble of a serious motor car which turned out to be an Ascari of which I have never personally seen in the flesh before, but to say it was gorgeous looking and sounding would be an understatement. We were also passed by a Porsche too so this raised my expectations that we would be seeing some nice cars when we arrived, which I was proved right.
On arriving at our destination we made our way in to the front foyer where the unmistakeable Smartnav Mini's were parked in the foyer looking pretty shiny (someone had been busy cleaning them I am sure). We were lead through to where all the concept cars that were being shown off were and there were some crackers to say the least. The new concept mini estate that has been tweaked by the designer Paul Smith was certainly interesting with fold away tea making equipment alongside a round table that fits in the roof, not hugely practical I don't think but very Paul Smith indeed. Also featured were the new Jaguar XK Coupe, a Ford Mustang, a Porsche Cayman, the Lotus Circuit car and probably my favourite the new Vauxhall Antara which is the cool replacement to the Frontera putting Vauxhall right back on the map.
After canapés we were quickly ushered to our tables ready for lunch, to my surprise we were sitting quite close to the front which was great for the view, although everything was projected onto a massive screen in the middle of the stage for the benefit of those at the back. Lunch consisted of Roasted rump of lamb with a brioche herb crumb, served with sweet mashed potato mash, fine beans and sugar snap peas, this was followed by a dessert of chocolate assiette all of which I have to say was delectable.
After coffee and a quick breather the awards began and I have to say some of the winners were a total surprise and some were very well deserved in my eyes a quick overview of all the winners and runners up is as follows:
Design award Winner - Alfa Romeo Brera : Runners up Toyota Aygo, Dodge Caliber and Honda Civic
Safety and technology Winner - Ricardo 2/4Sight Engine : Runners up Mercedes Benz Hybrid Technology, Prodrive active torque dynamics and Jaguar pyrotechnic pedestrian deployable bonnet
Innovative Idea Winner - Ford easy fuel : Runners up Saab biopower, Corus ISC and Venturi Fetish
Concept car Winner - Vauxhall Antara : Runners up Ford Iosis, Mini Concept Frankfurt, Mazda Sassou and Lexus LF-A
Motorsport Award Winner - A1 Grand Prix Series : Runner up Renault F1 Team
Car Ad of the Year Winner - Citroen C4 : Runners up Audi, Mini, Peugeot and Volkswagen
Car Company of the Year Winner - Mini : Runners up Vauxhall, Bentley and KIA
Lifetime Achievment Award Winner - Giorgetto Giugiaro
Autocar Award for Outstanding Achievment Winner - Dr Wendelin Wiedeking (Porsche)
Last but not least Autocar's 2005 car of the year was the Renault Clio
Big thanks for the invitation to this awards ceremony, the day was certainly a pleasure.
Report and pictures by Mr Skyline
Concept Cars at the Autocar 2005 Awards >>>
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Concept Cars at the Autocar 2005 Awards >>>
Index > Events > 2005 > Autocar 2005 Awards in Battersea
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