20 new cars to be excited for in 2026

Alpine bosses say it was a mistake to make the lovely A110 look meek: faithful to the original, but customers want sex appeal and aggression. So expect its circa-1,400kg successor to look sharper, a size bigger, with 500bhp twin-motor EV propulsion. Its platform can accept an engine if buyers insist a 300-mile range battery is a dealbreaker.

We’ve driven Aston’s new supercar in a not-quite finished state, but it’s promising enough to be a reason to be cheerful. The son-of-Valkyrie hybrid supercar smooshes a twin-turbo V8 with two front e-motors and another on the crank for 1,064bhp, but don’t be fooled by the F1 wind tunnel aero: it’s surprisingly slidey. Roll on the grudge match vs Ferrari’s 849 Testarossa…

Yes, it should be called ‘RS4’, but Audi’s badging department went quite mad a while ago. Anyway, it’s a fast wagon (which we traditionally adore), and Audi’s had its territory thoroughly invaded by the excellent BMW M3 Touring, so the RS5 has much to prove. We’re expecting a plug-in hybrid boost mated to a twin-turbo V6 with over 500bhp.

It’s the lightest Bentley for 85 years. There’s a headline for you. The ultimate Conti GT will also answer a question we’ve wondered about since the Porsche 918 came along: what is a super-fast plug-in hybrid like if you take away the heavy hybrid bits. Bentley has binned the PHEV battery, e-motor, and front driveshafts for this £370k 500-off special, and could have created the best-driving Bentley… ever.

Meanwhile, Bentley’s first EV will share a platform with the Porsche Cayenne Electric and take the shape of a smaller Bentayga. New boss Frank-Steffen Walliser insists that the range and charging times will be best-in class, but the facts are these: luxury car buyers are deserting EVs in droves. Will Bentley’s first ever arrest that decline? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, 2026 is a huge moment for top-end electric cars.

You’ve already seen the BMW iX3, the first ‘Neue Klasse’ new-gen BMW EV. We’ve driven it, and liked it so much it’s the reigning TopGear.com Car of the Year. But this is the one we’re actually more excited for, because it’s a 3 Series. BMW heartland, the sports saloon. And by being lower and lighter, the new i3 will have over 500 miles of range and should be class-leading to drive. If not… well there’ll also be an all-new 3 Series soon with combustion power too. Best of both worlds. Roll on the M3 twins.

Can it really be four whole years since Gordon Murray revealed – shock – his first road car without a central driving position? GMA’s been occupied stamping out a century of T.50s and growing a new Surrey factory sketched by Gordon himself. That's a Grand Designs episode we want to see.

Behind the scenes, development of the track-only T50S has been ticking along, alongside mules for the ‘entry-level’ T.33 twins. Coupe and Spider rev to ‘just’ 11,100rpm, while the optional flappy-paddle has been cancelled… because only two buyers wanted it. Once 100 hard-tops and 100 targas are finished, stay tuned for a ‘Speciale’ track-honed version.

Here we go then. You’re living in the final few days on civilisation where an electric Ferrari does not exist. The spec of this interloper sounds immense, as TG’s Jack Rix found out at a recent preview. He reports: “With a motor on each wheel and a 122kWh battery, we’re talking 1,000bhp-plus, record energy density, warp factor seven performance, humungous torque, four wheel steering and torque vectoring on each axle, and an active suspension system that provides individual vertical control on each wheel.” So what does this mean?

“It’ll feel lighter and way more agile than a 2.3 tonne kerbweight would suggest. Ferrari has also figured out how to mimic a manual box’s power and torque curve and amplify the vibrations on the inverter for an authentic sound. Like an electric guitar, apparently. On top of all that, it’s hired former Apple design genius Jony Ive to oversee the design.”

Ferrari is all-in on this EV. Is this 2026’s most controversial car?

Render: Andrei Avarvarii for Top Gear

Meanwhile somewhere approaching Planet Normal, Ferrari has a new hybrid supercar. The 849 is essentially a facelifted SF90, developing over 1,000bhp. But with controversial retro looks and a divisive retro name, the EV might not be the only Ferrari that upsets the internet in 2026.

This summer, the era of the ‘copy nothing’ Jaguar bears fruit, as the Type 00 concept gets back doors and an interior from Earth. Design boss Gerry McGovern is reportedly no longer at the company, and the reaction to the rebrand was vicious. So expect much comment and debate when Jag’s make-or-break new motor breaks cover.

Tech progresses fast. The Lamborghini Revuelto is barely three years old and already Sant’Agata has concocted a more power dense hybrid battery from its underpinnings. It’s bolted that into a rebodied 30-off hypercar with passive suspension and no active aero. A blending of new and old-skool Lambo? The looks couldn’t be anything other than a raging bull: it’s a classic wedge poke in the eye. 

Was it just us, or was hypercar fatigue setting in about a year ago? Umpteen electrified million-horsepower chariots emerging, but little in the way of a new quantum leap, a new icon. Then we drove the Ferrari F80 and had our tiny minds comprehensively blown. So with Porsche curiously quiet on a 918-succeeding hypercar, it’s over to McLaren for the W1 to live up to P1 (and F1). No pressure. 

In its corner, the W1 has 1,258 V8-meets-e-power horses galloping through just the rear wheels. It’s hundreds of kilos lighter than the F80, but adds 1,000kg of downforce as it goes faster. The numbers are out of this world. But will McLaren snatch defeat from victory?

The successor to AMG’s forgotten hyper-saloon will be all-electric, and the first Merc to feature a ‘fake V8’ engine noise and Hyundai-style simulated gearshifts. 

It’s been heavily influenced by the distance record-breaking GT XX concept, and though power won’t quite peak at 1,341bhp, you suspect no Tesla is safe in the traffic light grand prix. Enthusiasts will still demand a V8.

Stuttgart’s steadily working through the 911 facelifts: we’ve seen the upgraded Carreras and Targas, the new electrified-boost Turbo and the fettled GT3, now with back seats. Next on the to-do list is hardest of all: cranking even more grip, downforce and lap time out of your local racetrack’s worst nightmare.

Our spies tell us two internet-exploding tactics are planned. One (somehow) is even more aero – focused on the front end because the rear wing already deserves its own ‘WIDE LOAD’ escort. 

Second is a rumour of electrified turbos ending the RS’s naturally aspirated reign – while still leaving headroom for an even crazier bi-turbo GT2 RS in 2027.

At the polar opposite end of the Porsche range is this near-three tonne e-SUV. With 1,140bhp in Turbo form. And our spies hear rumours that a ‘Turbo GT’ version may follow with over 1,200bhp. Madness. But with Porsche U-turning on its plan to go all-electric, this could be a car conceived for a world that’s decided it doesn’t want it after all.

What hack-ravaged JLR needs right now is reliable cash-cows. The electric Rangie was quietly sidelined in 2025 as tariffs arrived and demand for luxury EVs dried up, but Land Rover has poured vats of money into developing this thing so can’t afford to shelve it. Our prototype drive last summer revealed an effortlessly refined high-riding express which is peerless off-road. It deserves to succeed. But that’s often not enough for talented electric flagships.

Can you buy a cuter EV for £20k? And can Renault’s retro roll continue? The new Twingo is a mere 3.79m long but its 2.5m wheelbase means it’ll seat four adults.

Design boss Laurens van den Acker tells TG: “EV platforms allow us to get close to the proportions of the days when cars had their wheels pushed right into the corners. The motors are more compact, so you can have bigger wheels on the corners that turn more. If you put an internal combustion engine in this Twingo, you would have to add 100mm to the front end, and then you would make a caricature.

“But wait until you see it on the street, because of course you could describe it as a retro-futuristic car, but I would argue that it's not nostalgic. The proportions are perfect. The car looks like a little bonbon on the street, a little candy. The colours are magnificent.”

Adrian Newey may have left Red Bull, but his side-project ultimate track car is still all systems go. Powered by a 4.5-litre V10 from British engine wizards Cosworth, it’ll put Max Verstappen-spec quali times within reach of anyone lithe enough to squeeze through its butterfly door into the shrink-wrapped cockpit. And £5m to actually buy one helps.

No, it’s not the new Lexus LFA. That’s electric (boo) and won’t go on sale until Toyota is happy that solid-state batteries have entered the realm of science-fact. But might Gazoo Racing actually have the cooler end of this deal? The GR GT is a hybrid V8, but there’s less electric assist than a Prius. With over 641bhp promised, this low-slung, rear drive clownshoe will be giving the AMG GT and Porsche 911 sleepless nights. As long as Japan doesn’t do its usual supercar thing of taking a decade to actually launch it…

What would a Land Cruiser look like if it suffered an allergic reaction to being shot with a shrink-ray gun? Well, this: the return of the FJ. Legendary letters in off-roading Toyota circles but this time apparently standing for ‘Freedom & Joy’. Yuck. 

Luckily for the Land Rover Defender 90 it won’t have to worry about this bonsai 4x4 pinching its lunch in Europe or the USA: the new FJ is built in Indonesia on a cheapo platform with no hybrid engines, so this 270mm-shorter, 158bhp micro-truck won’t be seen in the West.