Culture|Garage

I remember when car awards consisted mainly of Car and Driver’s 10Best and Motor Trend’s Car (and Truck/SUV/etc) of the Year.

Now we have all sorts of ridiculous car awards. Edmund’s Inside Line now has an award for the most wanted vehicle (in separate categories), their inaugural awards went to; Honda Odyssey, Audi S5, Mazda3, GMC Denali, and the 911 GT3. Robb Report (pretentious rich dude magazine) just named the Audi R8 Car of the Year. There is even an organization awarding body called Car of the Year.

And don’t even get me started on the sham that is JD Power. Essentially, they award a manufacturer in one of their many categories and then offer them the “rights” to use the logo for their marketing purposes. It’s like that “Who’s Who” yearbook thingy, where you had to buy into it. I guess what I am getting at, do people really care about all these awards?

Is an award something that the common person brags about to friends, “yeah Doug, I know it’s a mini van and all, but look Edmund’s named it most wanted, right next to the GT3.” As a long time car guy, I don’t care what the press says (or I certainly wouldn’t be driving Saabs), it’s how I feel connected to the car.

That being said, I am thinking of starting a culture|garage award series, what should we name it?

ShareThis