AUTOCAR - The Magazine has announced this years winners in the Issigonis trophy & Sturmey Award..

• Porsche’s Wolfgang Hatz receives the Issigonis Trophy
• Citroën’s Mark Lloyd accepts the Sturmey Award

Autocar has announced the winners of the Issigonis Trophy and the Sturmey Award for 2015 at the annual Autocar Stars event in London, and with a mixed bag of winners, this year has been one of different cars, leagues apart.

Launched in 2014, the Issigonis Trophy is presented to the individual who has contributed most to the health, excellence and world competitiveness of the motor industry, while the Sturmey Award is given in recognition of great innovation and achievement.

Named after Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of the original Mini, and Henry Sturmey, the very first editor of the magazine, the awards were presented tonight at the second annual Autocar Stars event at London’s Hurlingham Club.

The director of research and development at Porsche, Wolfgang Hatz, was awarded the Issigonis Trophy for his enormous accomplishments in the motoring industry. 

He initially worked within high-performance racing divisions before accepting the revered role of director of R&D at Porsche in 2011, in effect making him the man in charge of car creation for the legendary brand.

Citroën’s head of design strategy, Mark Lloyd, collected the Sturmey Award for his work leading the teams behind cars such as the much-admired and hugely successful Citroën C4 Cactus and for balancing his company’s reputation for avant garde creations against a need to produce serious cars that please modern buyers who love function.

Autocar editor-In-chiefSteve Cropley said: “If you take a long look at the wonderful, market-leading cars Porsche has created in the past few years, everything from the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar to the Macan SUV, via the latest 911 GT3 and the Cayman GT4, you soon understand the scale of our winner’s achievements, and what they mean to all who love great cars.”

Cropley continued: “Citroën’s reputation for pushing design barriers is as strong as ever, but being able to consistently prove that they are able to combine this design is an incredible achievement. This is due in no small part to the astoundingly contemporary designs that Mark produces, of which the C4 Cactus is a premium example.”

Autocar also singled out three new cars for special acknowledgement this year, each having received a coveted five-star rating in its famously tough road test, widely acknowledged as an industry benchmark: the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Ferrari 458 Speciale and the new Range Rover Sport SVR.

These cars join an illustrious list of eight cars that received the full five-star verdict in Autocar road tests last year: the Toyota GT86, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 320d Sport, Porsche Cayman, Morgan 3 Wheeler, Ferrari 458 Italia, Jaguar XFR and McLaren P1.

Autocar’s 2015 Five-Star Cars

Model	Autocar says
Porsche 918 Spyder	This is a Porsche and Porsche is rarely caught out. Accelerating in gears, through gears, on the road and on a circuit, the 918 Spyder has nothing to fear from any other car in its class.
Ferrari 458 Speciale	Like all great performance cars, it feels over-provisioned for sheer grip and agility, communicates effusively and challenges you to get on its level or find the limit of your own in the process. It’s sensational in its handling and extravagant in its commitment to the pursuit of speed and thrill.
Range Rover Sport SVR	No rival better mixes handling prowess, off-road talent and an SUV sense of functional plushness. But more importantly, none comes close to capturing the perfect savagery and lewd sense of fun it keeps so amply on tap.

Autocar’s 2014 Five-Star Cars

Model	Autocar says
Toyota GT86	The most entertaining cheapish coupé in a decade. Falls into oversteer like it’s got a flat back tyre.
Mercedes-Benz S-Class	Calm, sophisticated and rewarding, it is a technical knockout that redefines what luxury cars should be.
BMW 320d Sport	Possibly the best car in the real world.  If you can find fault with it, you can find fault with anything.
Porsche Cayman	Sports car tuned sublimely with Porsche-grade precision to deliver compelling driver engagement.
Morgan 3 Wheeler	An eccentric and utterly bewitching car that oozes with character and ability.  Friendly handling, too.
Ferrari 458 Italia	Finest supercar on sale.  Explosive pace and sharp handling yet also a calm ride. The complete package.
Jaguar XFR	Jaguar’s XF redefined the company’s range.  The XFR super-saloon redefines its sense of fun.
McLaren P1	More than the sum of its parts. Excels at everything it does.

Autocar Stars recognises the motoring industry’s top performers as the world’s oldest and most respected motoring title celebrates a healthy British automotive industry in this week’s issue. 

With new car sales hitting a 10-year high in April 2015*, it is predicted that the UK will be building more than two million cars a year by 2017**, eclipsing the previous record of 1972.