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Car of the Year Flops
Car of the year awards have become a global phenomenon, and their abundance can be confusing. There is a world car of the year award, an international car of the year award, a European car of the year, and a green car of the year award.
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In the U.S., two of the most prominent awards are Motor Trend's, chosen by the magazine's editors, and the North American Car of the Year (NACOTY), selected by a panel of 50 journalists.
As prize season approaches, it is good to remember that even the judgments of such august bodies of experts (and I am a member of the latter) are not impeccable.
They have voted for cars that were not only not the best cars of their year but among the worst -- and not just of their award year but any year. Some of the poorer choices could have been foreseen. A Mustang II that was sired by the Pinto? A Chevy Caprice that dazzled voters in two separate incarnations? Other misfires are for cars that seemed initially appealing but turned out to be deeply flawed. And some others were chosen because of their novelty appeal while their inconsequential engineering was ignored.
In six of the last 11 years, Motor Trend picks have been identical to NACOTY's, the journalist group organized in 1993. Half a century of car of the year selections by both teams has created lots of opportunities for clunkers, and here are some of the biggest.
With a push from GM's publicity machine, the Aura received a lot of backhanded praise for being "the best Saturn yet." That wasn't enough to save the brand or the car, both of which vanished in GM's 2009 bankruptcy.
2002 Ford Thunderbird
After an interval of five years, Ford decided to revive the T-bird on the cheap, but the country club set had moved on, and enthusiasts were turned off by the rubbery body structure and cheesy interior. The revived car sold so badly after initial interest wore off that Ford decided to stop production after three years.
Another crowd-pleaser, the car that was "too cool to categorize" wowed voters with its clever retro styling, causing them to overlook two other cars that pioneered the gas-electric hybrid, the most significant technological development in a century. One of those cars, the Toyota Prius, has gone on to be a best seller and spawn its own line of associated models while the Cruiser has been discontinued.
1999 Volkswagen New Beetle
The crowd-pleasing revival of an all-time Baby Boomer favorite, the New Beetle won honors from both sets of judges. Only later did problems surface with the automatic transmission and hard-to-service maintenance items. Reviewers complained about its pokey performance and called it a car that was better to be seen in than to drive. It is getting a major redesign for 2012.
