What car is right to be seen in and what car makes you look not only out of step but unfashionable? For the third year running, here is the media’s most subjective car-of-the-year analysis, by the editors of Lucire magazine

T’S that time of year again, when Lucire's editors get together and look at the car you should be driving in the coming year.
   Why cars? Cars are one of the most conspicuous consumer items and are as valid a barometer of the Zeitgeist as clothing and beauty. In fact, many of the ideas you see in automotive marketing preempt those in fashion, which is why, for us, we'd like to take a look around at what might suit you in the coming year in this world. Automakers are trying to be more fashionable, anyway, with Jaguar sponsoring style events out west and Mercedes-Benz various fashion weeks (Montréal, New York, Sydney). If they want to be part of our world, then someone needs to critique them, globally.
   This is the only style-based, fashion-world car competition that has less to do with brake horsepower (or kilowatts) and more to do with how special a car can make you feel—without people calling you names behind your back (or to your face).
   Are they getting it right, or are they so out of touch with the market-place that we, as fashion observers, have to laugh? The style stakes are on.
 

THE CAR TO BE SEEN IN 2003

1. Peugeot 307 CC The best-looking sporty Peugeot since the 406 Coupé and the nicest convertible since the old 504. This is sexy, with a slight cab-forward look and a folding metal roof that isn't likely to hurt Peugeot in warranty claims. You can look classy in Monte Carlo in one of these, and you can blend in around London without looking too much like a Sloane Ranger. A car that crosses classes without making the driver feel common (something that the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the original Mini once did, but don't any more)..

2. Nissan Primera From every angle, this car has a beauty that only the Japanese can create (and do so increasingly more regularly at Nissan and, for that matter, Mazda). It proudly has a great heritage and we don't care that it's softer than its predecessor. It was still honed in Europe for good handling. It looks good from every angle and we still turn our heads every time we see one. Colours are a little dull and if that's the only criticism we can level at it, then we are either having an off-day or this is the most original mid-sized sedan to ever come out of the Land of the Rising Sun. Only thing that prevents it from taking the crown this year is that it doesn’t transcend classes. Beautiful like an Issey Miyake creation; no other way to describe it.

3. Citroën C3 Pluriel This cross-over car is convertible, pick-up, coupé, open-top "panorama" coupé all in one. Way cleverer than what the Americans are doing with crossovers and more configurations than the oft-overlooked production vehicle that started it all, Nissan's 1986 EXA. Ingenious.
 

THE RUNNERS-UP (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Bentley Continental GT Audi A8 underpinnings, 500 bhp and traditional British craftsmanship from a Ferrari-eating Bentley mean the spirit of W. O. is back. A beautiful fastback with no retro BS like the Volkswagen Beetle tried to dish out. Yes, there's some old Bentley DNA, particularly the original Continental's proportions, but this is a thoroughly modern design with a global bent.

Mazda Atenza/6 If we were a men’s magazine or a car magazine, this would be our car of the year. Mazda US reckons it’s for “divorced Dads”. The best chassis of any débutante in 2002 and it's like a stealth fighter plane from every angle. So not only does it look purposeful, it is safe. Mazda has made us nearly forget the horrid vehicles that were also sold as the Ford Telstar in some markets.
   Convertibles don't seem as big a draw any more as the world becomes a little less certain, so family cars are closer to the mood as we rediscover values—but we're still entitled to a bit of fun!
   This is the most sporting range of family cars you can buy and it's proud to be athletic. Far better resolved styling than the US and European Honda Accords, though a tad smaller.
   Summary: if you're a fit person, then this is a fit car. And there’s not a thing wrong in 2003 about being fit, in shape and if not in shape, reading Shape. The "Zoom Zoom" franchise gets it right again: it's Mazda's best since the MX-5/Miata/Eunos Roadster. Now, if the blokes from Hiroshima can make a Mazda 6 two-door …

Nissan Skyline/Infiniti G35 Still neat and sporty, this eleventh incarnation of the intermediate line is the best yet. Departure from the round rear lights is welcome, as is the 350Z DLO.

Nissan 350Z Another sign that Nissan is getting it right. This icon car set the style for all other Nissans, including the new Maxima and Teana.

Opel/Vauxhall Signum Rüsselheim has threatened to make this for years, but somehow it doesn't offend. This stretched Vectra might be the way to unwind in the 2000s. Not the most elegant shape, but we believe it's socially relevant: a hatchback that doesn't have the commonness of the Renault 30, where occupants can be comfortable without feeling arrogant.

Range Rover For a change, we actually like an SUV. Then again, the Range Rover is in a class of its own, having created the market in 1970. The BMW-done styling is stunning and a great leap forward from its predecessor. It has the elegance of the David Bache original. It's so restrained that it doesn't shout out 1990s excess like the GMC Envoy does. To top it all off, it actually works off-road. Cash-starved Ford will have a hard time making its replacement this impressive, so we reckon it’ll take the fifth-generation model to surpass it.

Smart Coupé, Roadster A less rude Smart, the Coupé is the sort of sports car you imagine we'd be driving in during 2003 after watching sci-fi films of the 1970s. A new definition of petite chic.

Volvo XC90 If you are going to have an SUV, then a Swedish SUV that looks after its occupants with those clever airbags and crumple zones might be the ticket. Safe, secure and a great investment with the famous Swedish build quality. Looks very nice in the metal, too.
 

THE WORST (IN ORDER)

Our list of cars to avoid if you want to look remotely good in the coming year.

Fiat Doblò Where is the Italian flair that gave us the Maserati Quattroporte and the Fiat Barchetta and Multipla? A temporary fall from grace at Centro Stile, but it did take us two years to notice how ugly it is. If the great Italian cars of the 1990s were drug-induced, Fiat should go back on dope. Smoke, but don’t inhale.

Toyota Avalon For the second year in a row, the Australian-market Avalon—a 1990 Camry on steroids—makes the worst list. The Australians now get a brand-new ‘Mark II’ version, but it’s still not the one sold in the US, but another variation on this most Jurassic Park of Japanese cars. Originally developed when Margaret Thatcher was still British PM. It has even less relevance in Australia now that the new and less expensive Camry has arrived, and that’s better than this “flagship”, dynamically and practically. We think it’s the Japanese way of getting back at Pauline Hanson, but like the right-wing politician, it’s not part of the landscape. The current US Avalon and Japanese Pronard, which is uglier still, might start appearing in 2010, at this rate.

Lancia Phedra How not to do a luxo-minivan and not the grille of your dreams. Try the Peugeot 807 and Citroën C8 instead, since the interior is similar and the platforms are identical.

Toyota Camry The new car may have had a massive makeover and the Australian model, tuned by former Ferrari F1 driver Chris Amon, actually handles, but that C-pillar design is the most dull we have ever seen since the last Mercedes E-Klasse. No wonder New Zealand press ads for the car show only the grille, while Swedish Toyota shows the Camry in the far distance as its driver walks away from it with an empty gasoline can. Unloved then, unloved now, except maybe in the United States. Sells only, we reckon, because Toyota has exceptional (if not unrivalled) customer service in most countries. Pity it isn’t as smart as the Corolla.

Infiniti M45/Nissan Gloria This was once the old home-market Nissan Gloria, which the company seldom sold outside Japan because it knew people would laugh at it. The Cedric and Gloria were once Asian taxi-driver favourites and there's still that look about them. The hardtop design is very Japanese, even if it is meant to recall great cars like the 1963 Lincoln Continental. Bland, mid-Atlantic styling plus the feel that it could be four inches wider; then it may begin to look nicer.

Toyota Allion Toyota misses again with this cab-forward design that lacks the flair of, say, the Chrysler LH series. Looks like a Corolla meets a Prius on steroids but without clever hybrid technology (so far). A sad end to the Carina line, while Premio marks a sad demise for the Corona; Euro Avensis looks better resolved. Nissan 5, Toyota 0.

Ferrari Enzo Ferrari A lot of people will disagree with us on putting this penis-extension of a car here. Named for Il Commendatore himself, the Enzo Ferrari is really a covered F1 car. We have to agree with one design commentator in the UK: this brute is ugly. Damned ugly. Is there anywhere you can spot Golden Section proportions? Or Ferrari proportions? In style stakes, it doesn't even score. In power stakes, it is great. Buy a Ferrari Maranello (which "only" does 515 bhp as opposed to the Enzo's 660) and keep the change. Maybe it's just having an office in New Zealand, where there are more Ferraris per capita than anywhere else outside the factory, that makes us immune to the Modenese.

Volkswagen Touran Blandness has a new name with this Golf V-based junior MPV. If this is Piëch's legacy, then Bernd Pieschetsrieder has been stitched up—badly. Opel and Renault should be laughing.

Suzuki Liana Blandness has another new name. Inept style from a company that spends too much time doing cheap OEM deals for everyone else (GM, Nissan, Mazda) and not enough time concentrating on its own product. The equivalent of the supermarket own-label.

Buick Rendezvous If you thought the Pontiac Aztek was bad, this monster is ill-proportioned and spoofs Buick design heritage.

Rover 45 This is the latter-day equivalent of the Austin Allegro: irrelevant and a bad case of “British humour”, but in this case, even the Brits don't find it funny. Take the 1991 Honda Civic five-door and put a fancy grille on it, then shoehorn in some British-made engines. Interior is even more dated than the glam-wannabe exterior.

Maybach 57, 62 The über-Mercedes, the Maybach brings back a prewar name but it's just too darned ridiculous to work in most parts of the world except, maybe, New York (to where it was shipped for its launch upon the Queen Elizabeth 2). A good replacement for stretch limos, to be sure, and it's only in this respect that the vehicle works. Unlike lengthened Lincoln Town Cars we see, the build quality here is astounding and the small production run guarantees exclusivity. It's not common but it's very-1990s flaunting, especially when it gets over 6 m long. The Melrose Place of cars.

Chevrolet/Holden Cruze Makes the Ford Fusion look neat. Phoney-baloney lifestyle vehicle that tries too hard to be cool and funky. Underengineered, Australian-designed body, Japanese underpinnings, this car is a disaster, fitting poorly into the Holden range in Australia. Look at the Holden Commodore and Monaro, then look at the Cruze. Even GM's darlings in Melbourne can have an off-day.

Chrysler California Cruiser Senseless low-roof take on the whole former PT Cruiser craze, now well over. Kind of an ill-informed German management's idea of Californian lifestyle. Might have worked with Plymouth badges, since the front end is very Prowler, but we can't see it working in the Chrysler range—unless Chrysler stands for disparate, which would explain the Sebring, Cruiser, Crossfire and Town & Country sharing next to no stylistic DNA.

Ford Fusion The Ford Fiesta is what a Volkswagen Polo would look like if Ford built it. It's a tall hatchback. The Ford Fusion is a tall tall hatchback. Impractical and nowhere as clever as the Opel Meriva. Another reason for Ford's troubles.

BMW 3er Reihe Compact Poorer sales show that BMW has missed the mark with this car. The 3-series is one of the most common cars on the planet (they outsell the Ford Taurus in global terms), so forget exclusivity. Get a Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse Sportcoupé instead.

Mercedes-Benz CLK Lacks the sportiness of the old car; looks more like a scaled-down SEC from the 1980s. It is better than its predecessor in many ways, but it just doesn't have the same magic. Plus there's a big price hike in some markets. Bland.