Car of the Year 2013

Well, tonight wraps up yet another SAGMJ/Wesbank Car of the Year event, one which has brought another bout of controversy over the winner – the Porsche Boxster.

During this evening’s build up to the reveal, I must admit I never gave the Porsche much of a chance (in fact I may have Tweeted that it stood no chance at all). And were the competition judged like any of the previous 27 I would have been quite justified in my comments.

Quite often it seemed like the judges just picked the most obvious, boring, safe entry as the winner and that was that. The fact that this was Porsche’s first nomination for Car of the Year tells a story of its own. While I do find it refreshing to see the competition is about more than the obvious, I’m not sure the Porsche would have won me over quite so convincingly (however having never driven the Boxster my opinion is somewhat limited).

Based on the wildly popular and positive opinions and reviews from across the globe, the sports car of the moment is undoubtedly the Toyota 86. So the fact that the Porsche Boxster came out on top has really blind sided a lot of people. If it’s a game changer you’re after, its more likely got a Toyota badge strapped to the front.

None-the-less the Boxster came up against some worthy competitors – most importantly it came out on top. And as they say in sport, there’s no comments section in the results book. So, congrats to Porsche on their victory.

Final Result of the 2013 WesBank / SAGMJ Car of the Year Competition (Effective scores shown)

Porsche Boxster 221 votes
Range Rover Evoque Si4 Dynamic 5-door 181 votes
Toyota 86 High Spec 6MT 177 votes
Kia Rio 1.4 TEC Hatch Manual 144 votes
Lexus GS 350 EX 143 votes
Hyundai i30 1.8 Executive 106 votes
BMW 320i Automatic 104 votes
Nissan Juke 1.6 DIG-T Tekna (with Leather) 79 votes
Opel Meriva 1.4T Cosmo 67 votes
Ford Ranger 3.2 XLT 4X4 Double-cab Auto 56 votes
Toyota Yaris 1.5 HSD Xs 47 votes
Mercedes-Benz B180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY 7G-DCT 35 votes

Miles Downard