The Car Engineer of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car engineer of the twentieth century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation.
The winner, Ferdinand Porsche, was announced at an awards gala on December 18, 1999 in Las Vegas.
The process for deciding the Car Engineer of the Century started with the list of candidates below.
| Name | Notable for |
|---|---|
| Béla Barényi | Daimler-Benz passive safety work |
| Walter Owen Bentley | Innovative solutions |
| Karl Benz | Credited with creating the world's first purpose-built motor car in 1886 |
| Marc Birkigt | Hispano-Suiza H6 |
| Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti cars |
| Colin Chapman | Lotus Cars radical and innovative technical solutions |
| Gottlieb Daimler | Pioneer of internal-combustion engines |
| Rudolf Diesel | The diesel engine |
| William Edwards Deming | Revolutionised car production with statistical process control |
| Henry Ford I | Motor car pioneer, entrepreneur and industrial visionary |
| Dante Giacosa | Fiat innovator |
| Walter Hassan | Engine innovator at Coventry Climax and Jaguar |
| Nicolas Hayek | Father of the MCC Smart car concept. |
| Alec Issigonis | The innovative packaging of the Mini |
| Vittorio Jano | Motor car innovator |
| Spencer King | Conceived the luxury all wheel drive SUV concept with the Range Rover |
| Frederick Lanchester | Car pioneer founder of the Lanchester Motor Company |
| Hans Ledwinka | Pioneered an advanced backbone chassis configuration and paved the way for the Volkswagen Beetle with Tatra |
| André Lefèbvre | Citroën cars |
| Harry Mundy | Engine innovator with Coventry Climax, Lotus and Jaguar |
| August Otto | Credited with creating the first useful four stroke engine |
| Ferdinand Porsche | Automotive innovator and creator of Volkswagen. |
| Frederick Henry Royce | The engineering genius behind Rolls-Royce |
| Rudolf Uhlenhaut | Mercedes-Benz cars |
| Gabriel Voisin | Automotive and engine innovator |
| Felix Wankel | Perfected the rotary piston engine concept with NSU |
The next step was for a jury of 132 professional automotive journalists, from 33 countries, under the presidency of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, to reduce the list to 5, which they did, and the result was announced in November 1999. Finally the 5 were ranked by the jury and the overall winner was selected.