Welcome to the Top Gear Awards 2019, a celebration of the very best cars of the year. At TG we always like to do things differently, so unlike most other automotive awards we don’t have set categories that get repeated every year. We award cars on their merits, not because we need to find a winner of the Compact Hybrid SUV Coupe by a Korean Manufacturer of the Year. In short, only the best of the best ever collect a TG Cog.

Sitting down to discuss a long list that – after a few frank exchanges of views – will be distilled to the pure essence of brilliance in this here gallery and the accompanying Top Gear magazine, makes for a particularly good audit of the past 12 months. And what a year it’s been: a year during which we’ve driven every new car we could get our hands on, been surprised and delighted by some and frustrated and underwhelmed by others.

So, click through now to find out who the winners are…