2022 Winners and Losers

Our look back at the peaks and valleys of the past year's automotive news. There are more valleys than peaks because, well, it was that kind of year. Again.

- K.C. COLWELL

WINNER: SCOT BURNER

They say genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. In the case of Scot Burner's new Guinness World Record, we'd say it's 99 percent inspiration. He earned the certificate for fastest mile driven in reverse, averaging 48 mph lapping his C7 Corvette around the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park racetrack in Kentucky. We did something similar in 2011 with rental cars, which got four of our staffers banned from Avis for life. Turns out loss prevention has no sense of humor.

If Burner's feat inspires you to make a run for a record, find a Lincoln Town Car. As our decade-old story can tell you, it'll do a terrifying 63 mph in reverse, 9 mph faster than the highest speed Burner saw. Hertz may still have a few in service.

LOSER: MASERATI

Naming its MC20 the Cielo might not seem like much of an L for Maserati on the surface. After all, the roof is removable, and cielo is Italian for sky. But back in 1999, Buick introduced its own Cielo, a really lame concept car based on the Regal sedan. The Goldleaf Chromaflair-a metallic orange concept lacked a roof and had a look that may have been inspired by a plastic grocery bag. We'll just lay it out here: This sort of design and thinking led to things like the Pontiac Aztek. Maserati's Cielo is gorgeous, but when we hear Cielo, all we can see is that Buick.

WINNER: ROSS CHASTAIN