Welcome to 2025, glad you may make it. Final 12 months we received behind the wheel of some really wonderful automobiles. The Lamborghini Revuelto gained our inaugural Cool Automobile Cup award for being, nicely, extraordinarily cool, whereas we deemed the Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus GX, and Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison the Better of the Finest of their respective classes.

However what have been probably the most memorable automobiles we drove in 2024? Not essentially the quickest, fanciest, or most spectacular from a technical standpoint, however the automobiles we could not cease dreaming of lengthy after our time behind the wheel had handed.

These are only a few of them.

Aston Martin Vanquish

Picture by: Brian Silvestro / Motor1

Aston Martin has lastly gotten its shit collectively.

The corporate’s smallest automotive, the Vantage, is a superb all-rounder sports activities automotive with gorgeous appears and actual observe prowess. Its SUV, the DBX, can lastly compete with rivals because of a contemporary and tech-friendly inside. However neither stole my coronary heart like the brand new Vanquish.

Picture by: Brian Silvestro / Motor1

I went to the Vanquish’s worldwide press launch earlier this 12 months, giving Motor1 a primary style of Aston’s new V-12-powered flagship. Whereas it isn’t as mild on its ft because the Vantage, the larger, longer Vanquish is blindingly quick and well-suited to corner-carving. This automotive feels prefer it was constructed to eat miles at a breakneck tempo, with a suave cabin and an agreeable angle that encourages triple-digit freeway cruising.

Then there’s the noise. The 5.2-liter twin-turbo V-12 made headlines for its 821-horsepower score, however the true pleasure comes from the sound. Twelve-cylinder engines are an absolute rarity as of late, even in high-hp exotics. So listening to one is at all times a deal with. And regardless of the turbos, there is a wholesome quantity too. This is not some muted, distant growl. Smashing the throttle delivers a giant roar to your ears, even with the home windows up. Accurately.

— Brian Silvestro, Deputy Editor

BMW M1 Race Automobile

Picture by: BMW

I am fairly fortunate. For 3 of the final 4 years, BMW has invited me to race one in every of its traditional automobiles throughout Monterey Automobile Week at Laguna Seca. In 2021, it was the E92 M3 GT. In 2022, it was a 3.0 CSL. And in 2024, they let me drive the M1. And what a factor it was, I can nonetheless hear the induction of the M88 inline-six buzzing in my ears because it hit 8,000 rpm. And I wasn’t even pushing it that arduous. This can be a massively costly automotive that did not belong to me, there was no likelihood I used to be going to danger my life financial savings.

Driving the M1 was wonderful, however the race was additionally surreal. Being on observe through the Rolex Reunion is fairly cool in itself, contemplating there are spectators throughout simply occupied with seeing these automobiles in movement. Nevertheless, my class was stacked with automobiles like 935s, Dekon Monzas, and Greenwood Corvettes. It additionally had a sure CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown, in his Group 5 BMW 320i Turbo. And he began proper in entrance of me.

Picture by: BMW

My whole aim was easy: Beat Zak. He might have made that automotive actually broad and troublesome to go, however I ultimately received by and pulled away after a very good battle. It was only a blast, and a drive I will bear in mind for a very long time.

— Travis Okulski, Director of Editorial – Automotive

Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye

With Dodge turning the brand new Charger right into a six-cylinder, all-wheel-drive, automatic-only shell of its former self, I now look again on the model’s outgoing muscle automobiles with extra fondness. And I’ve by no means been a giant muscle automotive fan to start with, however one thing concerning the now-deceased Dodge Challenger Hellcat—particularly the 807-horsepower Black Ghost I spent per week in—has me eager for the glory days of the Hellcat engine.

The supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 is an icon. And now that it is gone (besides within the Durango), it can go down within the historical past books as the most effective engines to ever come out of Detroit’s Large Three—if it hasn’t already. The sensation of driving round in an almost 17-foot-long land yacht with 800 hp on the sprint is a sense no six-cylinder or electrical powertrain can replicate. Not even with synthetic exhaust notes pumped in.

And that is to not say I am an EV hater, and even all that disenchanted that the brand new Charger has moved to a smaller inline-six. The electrical Charger needs to be loads fast, and primarily based on what others have stated about Stellantis’s new six-cylinder engine, the Sixpack needs to be loads of enjoyable.

However nothing will substitute the Hellcat V-8.

— Jeff Perez, Managing Editor

Ford Ford Ranger Raptor

Picture by: Andrew Hyperlink | Motor1

It was arduous to stroll away from Motor1‘s off-road truck showdown earlier this 12 months with a transparent, outright winner in thoughts. I loved the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison’s unmatched off-road functionality and the Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter’s snarling snorkel hissing proper outdoors the passenger window. However it’s the Ford Ranger Raptor I have not stopped occupied with since.

Out of the three, the Ranger could be the one I would purchase as a result of it felt like a road truck in disguise. It was mild and nimble with its Fox shocks hustling across the tight, curvy roads that lined the Catskill Mountains. It felt bodily smaller and simpler to deal with than the opposite two. A part of that feeling is because of the low sprint and Ford’s un-truck-like inside that I used to be tremendous with.

Picture by: Andrew Hyperlink | Motor1

The Raptor additionally felt fast, and I cherished the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine underneath the hood, which could have been as a result of it makes 405 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. It additionally sounded terrific, particularly in Sport mode with the open exhaust, making for an enticing driving expertise you would not anticipate from a pickup truck.

— Anthony Alaniz, Affiliate Editor

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

Picture by: DW Burnett / Motor1

It is simple for us fanatics to dismiss electrical efficiency automobiles as a passing fad or a mere simulation of the true factor. I felt that approach, too—till I spent per week with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Completed in matte Efficiency Blue with a chunky rear wing, the Ioniq 5 N appears like a Scorching Wheels at 180x scale, and that is the vibe it brings to the occasion. What impressed me probably the most was the automotive’s break up persona. In EV mode, it is a quiet, comfy, and spacious every day driver.

Picture by: DW Burnett / Motor1

However hit the N swap or activate the digital shifting and engine sounds by way of the (admittedly complicated) digital menu, and it turns into a bona fide rally automotive able to huck round in your favourite again highway.

Earlier than driving the I5N, I rolled my eyes on the considered faux gear shifts and a digital engine word. I’ve solely owned one automated automotive, and I’ve turned off the pumped-in sound in practically each sporty automotive I’ve examined. However, boy, did the Ioniq 5 N show me unsuitable. By the second spirited nook, I used to be grinning and guffawing like a maniac, and the smile by no means wore off. The way forward for efficiency automobiles is shiny, it doesn’t matter what form or gas they might take.

— Maddox Kay, Automotive Social Media Editor

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N (Once more)

The band performs on; I’ll go down with this ship. I voted for the Ioniq 5 N to win Motor1’s inaugural Cool Automobile Cup and raved concerning the EV masterpiece in my first-drive evaluate. Though the Lamborghini earned our performance-car crown for 2024, I can not let go of this foolish Hyundai.

It is simply that good.

It isn’t simply the Ioniq’s outright tempo or the leap-forward second for efficiency EVs which the I5N engenders, it is how the factor handles, the way it makes me really feel. Few automobiles on the highway at present supply extra masterful calibration—steering, braking, turning, or going balls out. However even fewer give you pleasure from behind the steering wheel.

At its ragged limits, the I5N gives a tossable, adjustable chassis simply excellent for stretching a smile throughout your face. Certain there are the standard EV drawbacks. Meaning four-figure tire payments, vary sacrificed for efficiency, and charging infrastructure that is not precisely racing to meet up with demand. You should contemplate these elements.

But additionally contemplate this: In a subject with thousand-horse Lamborghinis and a handful of sport-car stalwarts, the automotive I needed to take residence had a Hyundai badge on the nostril.

— Kyle Kinard, Government Editor

Porsche 718 Spyder RS

Picture by: Dean Smith

There’s nothing fairly like waking up on the opposite facet of the Atlantic drained and jet-lagged, then anticipated to drive on the unsuitable facet of the automotive on the unsuitable facet of the highway. Particularly when that automotive was practically $200,000 of Porsche 718 Spyder RS. However no matter trepidation I had was shortly brushed apart.

I had this final Boxster for per week, utilizing it to go to the Goodwood Pageant of Pace, go to a handful of cool spots in England’s Motorsport Valley, and as much as North Wales, the place you may discover among the greatest driving roads on the earth. With a bit of over 900 miles and 27 hours on the journey pc, I drove it way over something however my very own automotive this 12 months.

Picture by: Dean Smith

What a privilege. Not simply to take it as much as Snowdonia, the place the sparse panorama and fast-flowing roads offered an ideal stage for the most effective chassis on the earth, and God’s Personal flat-six amplified by intakes inches behind your head, however to make use of it like a traditional automotive. One imagines most Spyder RS homeowners utilizing this on particular events—or simply for going to Automobiles and Espresso—protecting mileage down and values up, however there is a perverse pleasure in treating it prefer it’s some other automotive. When, plainly, it’s not.

But nothing will beat the Spyder RS on a fantastic highway. The throttle response, the way in which the sound modifications ever so subtly as you twitch your proper foot, the way in which the automotive talks by the seat and the steering, the way in which ABS blends out and in so easily—I may go on and on. With EV adoption going the way in which it’s, this may increasingly not find yourself being the final gas-powered Boxster. That does not take something away from what is without doubt one of the world’s best sports activities automobiles.

— Chris Perkins, Senior Editor

Porsche 718 Boxster

Picture by: Jeremy Cliff / Motor1

Everyone knows nice automobiles could make a highway journey one thing particular. However the journey also can make the automotive particular. Once I slipped behind the wheel of a Porsche 718 Boxster Model Version final spring, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about overlaying 1,200 miles by the Midwest. Do not get me unsuitable, the 718 is a pleasure in just about any kind, however the Model Version is, frankly, extra about fashion. Drop a styleless, silver-haired, middle-aged man right into a small sports activities automotive with outstanding white wheels and daring Porsche branding…let’s simply say the stares I received on the first gas cease made me a bit awkward.

After which I hit the racetracks.

Picture by: Jeremy Cliff / Motor1

I did not race. These ghost tracks have been approach older than me and lengthy retired from lively obligation. Hell, Lynndale Farms was a freaking subdivision, however rattling if it nonetheless felt particular with the elevation modifications, the entrance straight, and the esses. A pair hours south at Meadowdale Raceway, I parked the Porsche subsequent to the water tower the place engines howled 50 years in the past, then walked by the woods on the observe’s stays. At Wilmot Hills—a spot you’ll be able to nonetheless go to for snowboarding adventures—I banked the Boxster by a tough proper at 15 mph, imagining Joseph B. Swanson Jr. going thrice as quick in 1961, driving his Porsche 356 to glory.

Visiting these outdated race tracks was particular. However doing it within the Boxster elevated the journey to one thing surreal. A half-century in the past, automobiles just like the Boxster carved these outdated corners. It is as near time journey as I’ve ever been, and once I lastly returned residence, I would bonded with the Porsche in a purely illogical, emotive method. I used to be prepared to start out one other journey. And one other. And one other. All with the 718 as my companion.

And actually, is not that what being a automotive fanatic is all about?

— Christopher Smith, Affiliate Editor