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Europe's Car of the Year 2011 shortlist announced

The 41 contenders for Europe's 2011 Car of the Year trophy have been whittled down to the final seven as the European CoTY shortlist is announced today. The winner will be voted for by 59 of Europe's most influential motoring journalists, including two CAR writers: editor Phil McNamara and European editor Georg Kacher. The 2010 winner - by just 10 points ahead of the Toyota iQ - was the Volkswagen Polo. Like the Eurovision Song Contest, Car of the Year has proved controversial in the past with accusations of block-voting and blind patriotism, yet the award remains one of the most prestigious in the motor industry.

Lotus Elise Club Racer for Frankfurt

The special edition Lotus Elise Club Racer in Old English White The Elise Club Racer is based on the entry level Elise, which endows it with Toyota’s 1.8 litre engine and five-speed ‘box, delivering 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 127 mph, and manages to average 37.2 mpg. Lotus has utilised its historic colours to pretty-up the Club Racer, so you get a choice of Elite Yellow, Carbon Grey, Sky Blue and Old English White for tha paint job – all 1960s Lotus colours. The exterior body colour is carried over to the interior, where the transmission tunnel colour mirrors the exterior together with silver and black highlights.

Renaultsport Megane teased

These car manufacturers do love to tease. One after another they come up with ways to ‘leak’ a little info, or present us with teaser images (like the Fiat 500C last week). And now Renault are playing the game ahead of the reveal of the Renaultsport Megane at Geneva in a few weeks.