AJAC needs to stay real with its top award pick

Mark Richardson

It's no secret I was disappointed the $139,000 Audi R8 was named Car of the Year by my fellow members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada.

Like Jim Kenzie, I believe strongly that whichever car is named as the best in the country must be within financial reach of a significant portion of the driving public.

Judges for the North American Car of the Year clearly agree, giving the top honour to the astonishing $23,000 Chevy Malibu. The World Car of the Year is the capable and affordable Ford Mondeo.

Others besides myself, were nervous that the R8 would win for they knew the optics would not look good. One of the organizers told me the odds were stacked intentionally against the R8, but it impressed the 74 Canadian automobile reviewers so much that it beat those odds handily.

General Motors was quietly annoyed. A couple of years ago, its remarkable $90,000 Z06 Corvette was bumped as Best Performance Car because it was twice the price of the competition in its class. And because it didn't win the class, it wasn't eligible for consideration as AJAC Car of the Year. To make amends, the organizers named it "Most Coveted Car," which was hardly a stretch.

This year, Audi entered the R8 in the "Prestige" class, and it won easily against similarly expensive sedans. It was then smooth sailing into the top spot. After all, you'd probably be impressed by an exotic mid-engined vehicle that does everything well, too – damn the expense.

But expense is critical, as is availability. The hand-built R8 is a gorgeous car, but Porsche didn't pay to enter its 911, and Ferrari and Lamborghini and Bentley and Rolls-Royce have never bothered entering, so it was in a class of its own.

Let's hope those manufacturers don't enter next year. AJAC's members might look to be out of touch with their public if they do.

More videos from Wheels.ca and our partners