Big Christmas Car Quiz 2021

Welcome to our annual examination of your personal automotive back catalogue. If you’ve been paying attention to the pages of Auto Express over the last 12 months you’ll be fully in touch with the wheelings, dealings, movings and shakings of the car world and we’ll be putting all that collected car knowledge to the test in our 2021 Big Christmas Car Quiz!

It’s not just current motoring affairs that we’ll be looking at across the 10 sections and 100 questions below. Our quiz masters have ventured deep into the realms of motorsport, car culture and history to create our most challenging quiz yet. So what are you waiting for? Put the kettle on, grab a mince pie and get cracking.

You can find the answers here and as always, the quiz master’s decision is final.

That was 2021

How well do you remember the year? These will test your memory...

1. What car was named Auto Express Car of the Year 2021?

• a. Hyundai Ioniq 5
• b. Citroen Ami
• c. Mercedes C-Class

2. An electric car topped the UK sales charts in September. What was it?

• a. Kia EV6
• b. Volkswagen ID.3
• c. Tesla Model 3

3. Former Apple design boss Sir Jonathan Ive confirmed in September that he will work with which brand on new projects?

• a. Lotus
• b. Dacia
• c. Ferrari

4. In October, Volvo announced that it will ditch what material from its cars by 2030?

• a. Wood
• b. Leather
• c. Unobtainium

5. What was the name of the new Lotus unveiled in September?

• a. Emira
• b. Elvira
• c. Emma

6. In August Highways England was renamed as what?

• a. Roads UK
• b. National Highways
• c. Network Road

7. Which classic nameplate is Lamborghini reviving for a limited-production supercar?

• a. Countach
• b. Jalpa
• c. Diablo

8. Gridserve bought which electric-car charging network in June?

• a. BP Pulse
• b. Electric Highway
• c. Instavolt

9. In May, Subaru announced that its first electric car would go on sale in 2022. What will it be called?

• a. Solterra
• b. E-Mpreza
• c. Legac-E

10. In April, Renault revealed that all its future models will have their top speeds limited to what?

• a. 99mph
• b. 112mph
• c. 70mph

Sporting chance 

Test your motorsport knowledge with these past and present brain teasers...

11. Who finished second at the 2021 British Grand Prix?

• a. Max Verstappen
• b. Lando Norris
• c. Charles Leclerc

12. Who will be team-mate to Lewis Hamilton in 2022?

• a. Lance Stroll
• b. George Russell
• c. Pierre Gasly

13. Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan holds which dubious honour?

• a. Only driver to have finished a Grand Prix in 24th place – the lowest ever
• b. Only driver to have driven the wrong way out of the pits
• c. Only driver to have crashed out in all 18 races in a season

14. Name the Irish rally driver who will drive for Ford in the 2022 World Rally Championship?

• a. Billy Coleman
• b. Craig Breen
• c. Robert Barrable

15. Who won the MotoGP riders’ title in 2021?

• a. Marc Marquez
• b. Johan Zarco
• c. Fabio Quartararo

16. Valentino Rossi retired from MotoGP racing in 2021. What is he affectionately known as?

• a. The Doctor
• b. Il Topo (the mouse)
• c. La Gallina Vecchia (the old hen)

17. Who won the 2021 British Touring Car Championship?

• a. Ashley Sutton
• b. Tom Chilton
• c. Josh Cook

18. What size wheels will Formula One cars have under new 2022 regulations?

• a. 22-inch
• b. 18-inch
• c. 14-inch

19. What will the current World Rally Car class be known as in 2022?

• a. Global Rally Racer
• b. Formula 1Rally
• c. Rally1

20. The winning Toyota at the Le Mans 24hr race completed how many laps?

• a. 371
• b. 1,053
• c. 207.5

History makers

How well do you know the founders and winners from yesteryear?

21. Who founded Aston Martin in 1913?

• a. Lawrence Stroll Snr
• b. Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford
• c. Martin Aston and Brian Martin

22. Who won the first official Formula One World Championship in 1950?

• a. Giuseppe Farina
• b. Alberto Ascari
• c. Stirling Moss

23. Who was the first man to break the 400mph Land Speed Record?

• a. Richard Meaden
• b. Craig Breedlove
• c. Richard Noble

24. Vaclav Laurin and Vaclac Klement were founders of the car company now known as what?

• a. Dacia
• b. Volvo
• c. Skoda

25. The original Fiat 500 was designed by whom?

• a. Dante Giacosa
• b. Pietro Panarisi
• c. Sergio Pininfarina

26. Who designed and created the first diesel engine?

• a. Dwight H Derv
• b. Rudolf Diesel
• c. Takio Fujiwara

27. Former Lotus employee Ron Hickman went on to create what iconic piece of industrial design?

• a. The red telephone box
• b. The Black and Decker Workmate
• c. Concorde

28. American Earl Avery Thompson invented what piece of automotive tech?

• a. Anti-lock brakes
• b. The heated seat
• c. The synchromesh gearbox

29. What was the first ever president of SEAT, José Ortiz-Echagüe, also famous for in the 1950s?

• a. The bevy of socialites attending his wild paella parties
• b. Being the oldest living person to fly at supersonic speeds
• c. Challenging Spain’s dictator Franco to a pistol duel

30. Who invented the three-point seatbelt?

• a. Nils Bohlin
• b. Carroll Shelby
• c. Henry Ford

Big numbers

Get your abacus out and crunch the numbers to help you solve these...

31. According to official figures, how many licensed road vehicles were there in the UK to the end of June 2021?

• a. 39.2 million
• b. 61.3 million
• c. 20.2 million

32. What was the price of the Ferrari Enzo when it went on sale in 2002?

• a. £1.1m
• b. £450,000
• c. £200,200

33. According to Government figures from 2020, what percentage of household vehicles are usually parked either in a garage or on a private property overnight?

• a. 73%
• b. 29%
• c. 44%

34. How many new cars were registered in the UK in 2020?

• a. 942,993
• b. 1,631,064
• c. 605,744

35. According to MoT statistics, what is the average annual mileage of a new car during its first three years?

• a. 8,553
• b. 9,332
• c. 10,377

36. How many Renault 5s were made during its 11-year run?

• a. 21,844,102
• b. 5,471,701
• c. 3,832,922

37. What percentage of the UK’s roads (in miles) are in England (as of 2020)?

• a. 77 per cent
• b. 91 per cent
• c. 49 per cent

38. As of July 2021, how many driving licences were registered with the DVLA?

• a. 49,718,634
• b. 26,885,003
• c. 31,334,990

39. A Y-rated tyre has a maximum safe operating speed of what?

• a. 186mph
• b. 70mph
• c. 35mph

40. According to the SMMT, how many cars were manufactured in the UK in 2020?

• a. 388,004
• b. 920,928
• c. 1,444,209

The 2021 Christmas car quiz continues on page 2...