The GQ magazine Car Awards were unveiled last week and as expected it was a celebration of some of the fastest, luxurious supercars and concepts currently available to anyone with a Premier League salary.
The awards ranged from Best Concept Car (Bentley EXP 100 GT), Best Hypercar (Bugatti Centodieci), Best Hyper GT (McLaren Speedtail), and just to balance things up a little there was also an award for Best Family Car (Volkswagen ID 3).
But perhaps the most prestigious award of the glitzy evening was the prize for Best Car of All Time which went to the Ferrari 250 GTO, a car which if you were thinking of buying one could easily cost you £40m. Launched in 1962, the famous car was available to buy for $18,000 but following an Italian court’s ruling last year that the 250 GTO was a work of art, it is easy to see why it is so coveted. Speaking to GQ Magazine, Nick Mason who has owned one since 1975 said: “There was a time when Ferrari didn’t figure prominently in my life, but I have to cast my mind back an awfully long way to remember it.
“I have a photograph of what became my car racing at Goodwood in 1963. Even then, it exercised an amazingly powerful allure. I remember thinking, ‘Who are these people who drive these cars?’ I treasured that photo and, of course, 12 years later I was supremely fortunate to become the owner of that very car.
“The value of the cars has never come into it. I’ve never been in the classic car market for that reason. It’s nice that the GTO sits there and has a value, but I’d really miss it, what it does and what it’s given me if it was no longer around. Nor can I think of anything I’d really want to turn it into. Certainly not lots of other cars or a property. I’d rather have the car, thanks very much.”
GQ also celebrated influential figures in the motor industry with Land Rover’s chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern claiming the Designer of the Year award and TV personality Jeremy Clarkson winning the Lifetime Achievement award.