The TV-assisted magazine sits proudly at the top of a sector whose six leading paid-for titles collectively expanded by 1.6% over the course of 2007.
Carat associate press director Andy Taylor says: "That is a fantastic position for the motoring sector to be in.
"If you listen to a lot of people, everyone is migrating online, but the BBC, in particular, continues to buck the trend, with Top Gear being the phenomenon that it is."
BBC Top Gear associate publisher Simon Carrington credits the TV programme for the popularity of the magazine, but adds that the increasingly mainstream brand remains true to its core motoring market.
He says: "Like Men's Health, we are in a specialist market, but we are big enough and good enough to sell the volumes that you might previously have associated with a men's lifestyle title."
Elsewhere, Max Power reacted to its move from Emap to Bauer Consumer Media by recording a breathtaking 36% year-on-year drop from 71,574 to 45,806, leaving the road open for Future's Fast Car to speed past on 51,414.
In another of the market's sub-sectors, Dennis weekly Auto Express lost some ground to Media Week owner Haymarket's rival Autocar, although a gap remains, with the former on a circulation of 81,786 and the latter on 60,505.
Meanwhile, an increasingly gritty head to head between Dennis Publishing's Evo and Bauer's newly acquired Car in the general motoring category favoured the former on this occasion.
One year into a bold relaunch, Car suffered a circulation decline of 6.6% on the previous period, but both titles expanded over the year: Evo by 2.8% to 77,611 and Car by 1.8% to 75,031.
Further jockeying for position is to be expected next time around.