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Top Gear names BMW i8 Car of the Year, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes also win big

The lads at Top Gear have released their listing of the finest cars of the past year, handing the ultimate honor to BMW's revolutionary i8 plug-in-hybrid supercar. "The i8 is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers - and then some," the British mag wrote. The i8, though, was far from the only hybridized car to take victories. James May and Richard Hammond both highlighted hybrids as their personal cars of the year, with May saluting the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Hamster, unsurprisingly, heaping praise on the Porsche 918 Spyder. Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, opted to shock many by selecting not only an American car as his best of 2014, but giving the honor to of all things, a Corvette. Clarkson wasn't the only person to honor the USA's iconic sports car, with the new, 650-horsepower Z06 variant being named TG's Muscle Car of the Year. Other big winners include Mercedes-Benz, which TG honored for S-Class Coupe (Luxury Car of the Year), the new AMG GT (Sports Car of the Year) and the not-for-US C-Class Estate (Family Car of the Year). The 458 Italia Speciale A snagged a second win for Ferrari. The best of the rest include the Citroen C4 Cactus, Renault Twingo, Volkswagen Golf R, Lamborghini Huracan and Audi TT. Take a look below for the celebratory press blast from BMW. The BMW i8 wins Top Gear Car of the Year The BMW i8 has been named as Top Gear magazine's global Car of the Year 2014. The plug-in hybrid performance vehicle beat off some stiff competition from a host of other premium and luxury manufacturers to win the overall award. The editorial team of Top Gear commended the BMW i8 for its breadth of abilities. Its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor gives searing acceleration and driver enjoyment but all wrapped in a package that takes BMW's EfficientDynamics philosophy to the extreme courtesy of CO2 emissions less than 49g/km and a 135mpg combined cycle figure. Charlie Turner, Editor in Chief at Top Gear magazine, said: "The BMW is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers – and then some. It's the kind of car we should celebrate, a beautiful vision of the future, delivered now.

Zagato rolls out second Lamborghini 5-95 in yellow

Unless you live in one of the supercar capitals of the world, seeing a Lamborghini on the street is a rare opportunity. Even the Gallardo, of which Lamborghini produced over 14,000 to go down as the most prolific Raging Bull in the marque's history, is still far from an everyday sight. But at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este a few months ago – just shortly after the reveal of the new Huracan – Zagato presented an even more exotic version of the Gallardo. It's called the 5-95, and if features substantially overhauled coachwork that contemporizes the Raptor concept which the two Italian firms presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1996. Rumors immediately began to circulate that Zagato would build a short run of these rebodied Gallardos, and here we have the evidence: the second 5-95, pictured at the Zagato factory in Milan. Wearing a more Lamborghini-like pearl yellow paintjob, this second of five 5-95s said to be in the pipeline looks more akin to the Cala concept of 1995 designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign. There's no telling who the customer is or how much he paid to get his hands on this rare bull, but you can bet it cost considerably more than a Gallardo or Huracan, even with the premiums customers are said to be paying for them these days.

Richard Hammond helps terminally ill girl live pink Lamborghini dream

Emilia Palmer, an eight-year-old from Kimbolton, Herefordshire in England's West Midlands, suffers from a rare lung illness, requiring her to constantly be on oxygen. She made a request through Rays of Sunshine, which is like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to get a ride in a pink Lamborghini, driven by everyone's favorite Hamster, Richard Hammond. And last Sunday, she got to do just that, escaping from her hospital just long enough to stop home and get a surprise visit.
Within days of receiving Emilia's wish, Rays of Sunshine found someone willing to donate a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, and let the charity get it resprayed in an eye-searing, matte pink. The charity also managed to get Hammond to fly in for a personal visit with Emilia.
You can take a look at video of the meeting down below. You can also click over to Rays of Sunshine's website and donate, so that they can continue granting wishes for terminally ill children across the UK. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to step away and get all this dust out of our eyes.