The top new cars of 2013

McLaren has a hit rate that makes Daniel Day-Lewis look like Ryan Reynolds. The original McLaren F1 stood for years as the world's fastest car. Last year's12C swept all before it, paving the way for its big brother, the P1. The petrol-electric powertrain produces 903bhp, which will send it to 60mph in 2.8 seconds and on to a - limited - top speed of 220mph. The numbers are impressive, but they don't tell the whole story. Early test drivers are speaking about the P1 in game-changing terms. Unsurprisingly this Woking-born benchmark-on-wheels won't come cheap: £1million each.

Building the successor to the E-type - a car none other than Enzo Ferrari wished he had made - must have been a daunting task for the chaps in Coventry. Only time will tell whether it captures a generation's hearts quite like the original, but the F-type is certainly a beauty. It's also cheaper than a 911 and, by all accounts, a very rewarding drive - put simply, a wonderful car. Yours for £58,820 (the even newer coupé starts at £51,235).

Faced with the huge success of the Bentley Continental GT, Rolls-Royce has finally caved and brought out its own 'gentleman racer', the fearsome-looking Wraith. Truthfully, it's not much of a comparison to the Bentley - for one thing, it's twice the price. The most powerful Roller ever built with 624bhp, but as always, this isn't about pure speed - although it is impressive that a 5.3m, 2.8tonne car will do 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds. Prices start at £235,000.

The LaFerrari (a cumbersome name, so let's use its alias, the F70) is a car of stupendous numbers. 950 horsepower - from a 6.3L V12 and an F1-derived KERS system. It weighs just 1,255kg. Top speed? At least 220mph. It'll get to 190mph from standstill in just fifteen seconds. Only 499 will be built, and each one will cost around £1million. It's not the prettiest Ferrari of recent years, but it's certainly the most impressive.

When he's not planning space launches or funding online transactions, Elon Musk continues to prove to the world that electric cars don't have to be staid, worthy machines. The Tesla Model S pairs Maserati-baiting looks with the longest range of any electric car (265 miles) and credible, if not revolutionary, sales figures. Little by little, the future of the car is being created, and Tesla is leading the way. You'll still pay a premium for saving the planet - base price for a Model S in the UK is £50,280. But it might just be worth it.

It's not all sporty roadsters and hypercars on this list. Romanian carmaker Dacia took everyone by surprise when they launched the Duster and its sister the Sandero in the UK. The Duster is a cheap, practical, well-built (mostly from Renault and Nissan components) crossover SUV. There's a kind of Ronseal, no-nonsense appeal to it - no-one's expecting heated leather seats, but it's a perfectly capable little motor. Prices start at £8995.

Several years in the teasing - mostly through Porsche's hybrid racecar prototypes - the production 918 finally saw the light of day at the Frankfurt motor show. It's a technological meisterwerk: the electric motors alone put out more power than a VW Golf and combine with a 4.6L V8 to give 887bhp, with CO2 emissions of just 79g/km. After a few years of hypercar competition from the likes of Lamborghini, Pagani and Aston Martin, the 918 puts Porsche right back at the top of the pile. Prices start at £540,000.

BMW's i8 sports car has stolen most of the headlines - and admiring glances - whenever people talk about BMW's 'Project i' cars of the future. But it's the i3 that'll really change things - an all-electric, zero-emissions 5-door city car with carbon-fibre reinforced plastic bodywork. It looks nothing like we expect a BMW to look, but we say kudos to BMW for keeping the distinctive styling from the concept on the production model. Not accounting for government subsidies, it will set you back £30,680.

Yes, a Fiat Panda with four-wheel drive. It's a bundle of contradictions, but all the more capable and lovable because of it. Fiat has taken carmakers with more pedigree in off-roading (i.e. pretty much everyone else) by surprise with the Panda 4x4. It's as cool and as fun as the standard Panda, with the ground clearance to tackle dirt tracks and bumpy fields - there's even a low range gearbox. Prices start at £13,950.

Alfa has bet the house, the garden and the neighbour's garage on the 4C being a success, after a run of underwhelming models across the board. Luckily, the 4C is being hailed as the company's best car in yonks - not just to look at, but to drive. It's also quite satisfying to hear of a manufacturer keeping power at sane levels (240bhp) and improving performance by drastically losing weight - the 4C is a svelte 895kg. Prices start from £45,000.

In some quarters, Range Rovers get a bad rep. When they're taxiing rich kids to and from school, and occassionally mounting the kerb in Waitrose car park, we can see why. But the truth is there's nothing else that can do off-road like a Range Rover, and their popularity in Cheshire and Chelsea means they now come with every conceivable option inside. We've chosen the 5.2m long wheelbase version because it just might be the most all-round capable car ever made. A new one costs £105,830.