Command & Conquer [COTY2021] : Top Gear Singapore's Cars of the Year – Singapore-Style

Singapore – We’re in the T-minus rapidfire countdown to the 2022 Chinese New Year (of the Tiger, if you’re wondering!) in February and regular readers will also know it’s that time of the year again for TopGear Singapore Magazine’s annual Singapore-Style Cars of the Year awards.

As far as mechanics go, this year follows the same format it’s done every year since we started our Singapore-Style blend of Cars of the Year a decade ago.

The rules of engagement? The cars need to be available for sale in Singapore and naturally, we must have driven them at some point in the qualifying year.

As long as the cars have passed the muster of ‘selection’, they’re qualified to be part of our elite force of star cars for the year… and if the ‘Cars’ in the award title doesn’t give the game away, let’s just say we don’t believe in crowning one car to rule them all. Never have, likely never will!

No ‘best-of-this/that’ categories, no head-to-head eliminators, no people’s choice, no voting committee and certainly no participation prizes – WYS is really WYG!

We like to think we’ve found that special spark in each of our eight cars that will tug at your heart-… or even purse-strings. Don’t forget, we don’t just cater to readers who can only dream about cars or have one-car garages, because there’s also a rarefied segment of readers that can well-afford to have its cake and eat it all-day every-day…

If you haven’t noticed, this author has strong opinions (nothing’s worse than not having an opinion) about everything – especially cars – so this Singapore-Style feature is his personal curation of the cars that matter.

Some mistakenly think the ‘list’ features only sportscars and/or expensive cars, but this can’t be further from the truth. Regardless of price, performance or pedigree, if there’s some quirk or quality that distinguishes the candidate from the hum-drum cannon fodder, it’s well-deserving of a place in our star-studded line-up.

As much as we try to accommodate all the star cars, some do slip through the cracks. Case in point is the Land Rover Defender 90: The Defender 110 was in last year’s list, but the 3dr 90 has proven distinct and special enough to earn a place in this year’s – unfortunately, the demo couldn’t be registered in time for the group shoot.

Ultimately, there’s the matter of magazine pride as well, because we’re probably the only title in Singapore that physically gathers its Star Cars for a group mega-shoot. A look at the sumptuous spread over the following fifty-plus pages is the proof in the pudding and you really don’t know what busy is until you coordinate something on this scale…

We’ll be uploading the eight features from now till CNY… Enjoy!

FORMER COMMAND HOUSE (previously known as the Flagstaff House)

Our group shoot takes place on the sprawling 11.5-acre grounds of the Former Command House (originally known as Flagstaff House), which was gazetted as a national monument in 2009.

Built in the late 1930s, the stately home and its verdant surroundings served as official residence to the British General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Malaya and other governing officials right up to the British withdrawal from Singapore in the 1970s.

Since then, the colonial-styled home has served as residence to the former Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Yeoh Ghim Seng, as well as former elected-president, the late Mr. Ong Teng Cheong. Most recently, UBS used it as a training and conference facility for employees and clients in the region.

Given Singapore’s small size, such a large tract of land is something special, as well as a rarity and luxury on our island-nation, much less one with the Former Command House’s um, commanding view. In fact, it was all these qualities that led us to conclude it was a fitting location for our 2021 Cars of the Year – Singapore-Style group shoot.

PHOTOS Zotiq Visuals
LOCATION Former Command House

Photo: Jay Tee

Keyword: Command & Conquer [COTY2021] : Top Gear Singapore's Cars of the Year – Singapore-Style