One of, if not the best source of up to date auto information online is The Auto Channel.  Recently, TACH’s European Bureau Chief Andrew Frankl  named his picks for 2007 on different categories.  So without much ado, here they are:

The car I would pick if I had to have just one:
Volvo V70 XC AWD. Sorry about all these silly letters but essentially what we are talking about is Volvo’s cross country, all-wheel drive station wagon/estate car. It may not be cheap but at around 35 thousand dollars-without some of the unnecessary extras- it is quick, economical, pleasant to drive, safe with tons of room for people and luggage, equally at home in the mountains and by the sea, just one sensible automobile.

Dream car of the year:
Mercedes SL. At a –don’t laugh-relatively cheap-for a dream car- 90 thousand dollars this is just about perfect for the over 50s. Comfortable, quick, beautiful to look at with that amazing folding hard-top, it is just fabulous. No wonder the waiting list stretches from one end of Rodeo Drive to the other.

Surprise of the year:
Mercedes E class. I had to get to Los Angeles from San Francisco in a hurry and with the 3.2 liter engine the new “E” got me there in 5 hours flat on one tank of fuel. Bearing in mind that I averaged 80 miles per hour I found this quite outstanding. Only problem-the rock hard seat, otherwise a great car at a sensible price . Drive of the year: a quick dash round middle England in Mr. Bond’s Vanquish. Not for the faint-hearted.

For a complete list of his picks, you can read his article.