Karl-Henry Edström gives a preview of Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur’s anticipated annual Car of the Year edition—out now across Monaco and the French Riviera.
The man-machine love affair has driven men to suffering over the years. During the Paris–Dakar Rallies of the 70s and 80s, contestants frequently got lost for days in African deserts the size of countries, with only the stars and local nomads to guide them to safety. A few decades earlier, the Gran Premio Internacional del Norte—involving a 9,000km-plus route from Buenos Aires to Lima—would see valiant participants drive their modified Fords and Chevrolets through inky Andean voids for days on end, drunk with altitude sickness and fortified only by garlic cloves spiced with coca leaves.
Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur’s annual Car of the Year event involves no such ordeals— for the third year running, the eternally chic Maybourne Riviera, our host between drives, pampered us with the usual grace, extravagance and guile—but the sheer passion for all things automotive that drove those intrepid gentlemen racers of the past to such feats of endurance was in abundance throughout our full-day driving programme.
Regular readers know the format by now: 10 groundbreaking releases from the world’s finest car marques, curated to represent the luxury motoring trends landscape; a handful of carefully selected autophile friends of Robb Report to act as judges; an itinerary which follows the glorious coastal mountain thoroughfares winding around the Riviera; and impassioned discussions about each car’s various attributes over exceptional culinary experiences between driving sessions.
Interestingly, this year—alongside the usual tarmac-shredding grand tourers, genre-defining SUVs and track-friendly outliers— four hybrid cars made our line-up: perhaps mirroring consumer demand for ecologically sounder energy efficiency but without the anxiety over range and reliability associated with zero-emission rides. Turn to page 88 to read our excellent treatise on our event, and find out how this remarkable set of vehicles fits into—and shapes—the automotive zeitgeist.
Elsewhere this issue, Ming Liu shares her picks of the best timepieces unveiled at LVMH Watch Week 2026, which took place in Milan in January; Nick Scott extols the virtues of the Gadir Collection, Giorgio Armani’s first fine jewellery line for men; Rachel Ingram talks to Bombardier’s president and CEO Éric Martel about the game-changing new Global 8000; and we take to the road in a Czinger hypercar and Ferrari’s era-defining Amalfi.
Wishing our community all the best for 2026,
Karl-Henry Edström
