Motor Trend has been doing it for decades, the Europeans typically give it to something small and odd that we’ve never even seen over here. Hooniverse is doing it differently, and we think better.
Of course, much like buying a sex doll, the reality doesn’t match the anticipation and buyers remorse sets in. That being said, there’s lots of COTY winners out there which may not actually have been worthy in hindsight.
As pointed out by the late Len Frank, Motor Trend’s COTY is awarded not by the editorial staff, but the marketing department, dependent upon which auto maker was willing to spend the most advertising dollars in Crain publications. This revelation got Frank fired, but did explain a lot.
Green Car of the Year, Women’s Car of the Year, Gay Car of the Year, even Top Gear has a Car of the Year, although it’s usually a Ford Mondeo. There’s so many COTY awarded that if Pontiac had sold one of each, GM wouldn’t have had to take them out to the tulies, returning only with the cannoli.
So perhaps hindsight is 20/20, and maybe better judgment could have been exercised in deciding some of the winners over the years. So, which car, of what year, was the most egregious winner of a COTY award?
Image sources: [motortrend.com, ehuggydesigns.com]