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Every year the entire Car and Driver staff gathers at a rural site about 30 miles west of our home office in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a week of evaluating all the new cars and, hopefully, avoiding cops. We judge the cars in three general areas: First, how well the car performs its intended functions. We expect sports cars to be fast and exhilarating, while we presume a family sedan will be practical. Second, we show a preference for the more engaging cars in each category; be it better driving manners, a double-take-inducing look, or a powerful engine. Finally, we are suckers for a good deal, so an inexpensive car that’s fast, fun, and practical will certainly rise to the top of our list.
The invite list works as follows: Last year’s winners are automatically invited back, as well as other all-new or significantly upgraded machinery for 2007 — each car gets only one shot at making our 10Best list, but many stay on the list for years. This year, all cars had to have a base price no higher than $71,000, which is 2.5 times the average new-vehicle transaction price as of August 2006. Eligible cars must be on-sale no later than January of 2007, and the manufacturer must, of course, deliver an example for our evaluations.
Read on to see the 10 we selected for 2007.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/07q1/2007_10best_cars-10best_cars