Time flies when you’re having fun, which is why we find it hard to believe that this is the 10th year of our Tow Car Awards.

It all began in 2007 and since then we’ve put in excess of 400 tow cars through our extensive and rigorous testing regime, so you can buy your next tow car with confidence.

The 2016 ceremony was held at the Woburn Sculpture Gallery, hosted by Henry Hope-Frost and Practical Caravan’s Group Editor Alastair Clements. We were delighted to crown the Škoda Superb Hatch our overall winner. After first scooping the prize in the 1400-1549kg category, the Superb’s excellent towing ability, the space it offers users plus the fact that we think it represents great value for money, meant it emerged as our very well deserved overall winner, with Pietro Panarisi from Škoda UK on hand to collect the trophies.

In our ‘Up to 1400kg’ weight division, the Honda HR-V came out on top. The Jaguar XF triumphed in 2016’s 1550-1699kg weight category, this new model wowing judges with or without a caravan hitched to it. And sister brand Land Rover topped our 1700-1899kg class with the Discovery Sport, its new Ingenium diesel engine pushing it up a step from our 2015 Tow Car Awards testing, making it a class winner.

Possibly the least surprising winner of the night was the Land Rover Discovery, victorious in the 1900kg+ weight category – the seventh successive year the big Land Rover has reigned supreme in our heavyweight class.

Other awards handed out were ‘Best MPV’ for the Seat Alhambra, the ‘Best Ultralight Tow Car’ for the Suzuki Vitara and ‘Best Petrol Tow Car’ for the Ford Mondeo Vignale, while the Kia Cee’d Sportswagon took home our Green Award.

And to mark the 10th year of our Tow Car Awards, we had a special prize: Tow Car of the Decade. This auspicious accolade went to the Land Rover Discovery 4, Practical Caravan’s Tow Car Editor David Motton describing it as “the best tow car of past 10 years” – it is as simple as that.

Head to our dedicated website to read the full reports of every one of the 40-plus cars tested this year and remember to pick up a copy of our August magazine, which is a Tow Car Awards special, on sale now! You can also see the winners in action in our results video.

Of course, the Tow Car Awards could not happen without the hard work and support of so many. We are indebted to the enthusiastic, stalwart team of volunteers from The Camping and Caravanning Club, as well as to the experts from our partners What Car?, Swift, Witter, Milenco and Al-Ko, all of whom ensure the packed test week runs smoothly, the cars are tested fairly, and the results are thorough and reliable, so you can trust them.

Here’s to the next 10 years!