Editing Motor Trend (section)

==''Motor Trend'' Car of the Year==
{{further|Motor Trend Car of the Year}}

[[File:Volt Volt MT COTY WAS 2011 838.JPG|thumbnail|right|The Chevrolet Volt won the COTY award in 2011.]]
One of the earliest and most enduring of the magazine's creations was its [[Motor Trend Car of the Year|Car of the Year]] award, given almost continuously since 1949,<ref name= "WOW"/><ref name= "DNA"/> although the phrase itself would not become entrenched until well into the 1950s. It predates the [[European Car of the Year]] award begun in 1964.

The first winner was the 1949 [[Cadillac]], which featured an innovative overhead valve [[V8 engine]]; while the company initially turned down the award from the brand new magazine, it now proudly references its COTY wins in publicity materials.<ref>{{cite book |last=Flory |first=J. "Kelly" Jr. |title=American Cars 1946-1959 |location=Jefferson, NC |publisher=McFarland & Coy |year=2008 |page=190}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=http://media.cadillac.com/media/us/en/cadillac/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2013/Nov/1107-cts-coty.html |title=Cadillac CTS Scores Second Motor Trend Car of the Year® Award |publisher=Cadillac |date=2013-11-07 |access-date=2015-07-25}}</ref> The award has gone through several splits and permutations over the years, being called the ''Golden Wheels Award'' for a while in the 1970s and having given rise to [[Motor Trend Truck of the Year|Truck of the Year]] and [[Motor Trend Import Car of the Year|Import Car of the Year]], as well as [[Motor Trend SUV of the Year|SUV of the Year]]. Nevertheless, it is still coveted by manufacturers and is usually covered by the mainstream press as the most important distinction awarded in the American auto industry.