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Today, 07 November 2009

› Malema’s life in danger

› Leicester sting Bok Bs

› Eskom chair faces the axe

› Nedbank, ANCYL make up

› Hofmeyr addresses Joost

Yesterday, 06 November 2009

› ANCYL, BMF back Maroga

› Vanilla Ice, ice baby?

› Eskom boss 'slaughtered'

› I have fallen hard - Joost

› Eskom boss 'pushed'

Well I’d like to pretend that I know what I’m doing as I write this introduction for Best Bakkie 2007. I’d like to say things like – “Here we go again” or “It’s Best Bakkie time again”. But there’s a small problem. It’s my first Best Bakkie as editor of this mag. To be honest I’m a little clueless as to what I should say. So, I’ve decided to cheat a little. I’ve decided to look back on last year’s issue of Best Bakkie 2006 for some advice.

But there’s a problem there too. The ex-editor of Bakkie & Truck Action magazine started his introduction by saying something like – “It’s been a turbulent and hugely exciting year in the bakkie market”. But I can’t say anything like that that at all. To be completely honest with you, there’s been nothing turbulent or exciting about the South African bakkie market this year full stop.

Okay so I’m exaggerating a little. We have had just enough stuff going on to justify our Best Bakkie 2007 issue. In fact, we even have one more bakkie in the contest than we did last year. Yes, we have eight – count ‘em – eight different bakkies to suit nearly all walks of life.

Believe it or not, this isn’t as easy as it looks. Trying to put together eight bakkies, for one shootout, at one time is quite a chore. But as hard as it is, that’s actually the easy part. Easy compared to deciding which bakkies are allowed to even compete in our stringent contest.

First we started off with the no brainers. That controversial little Chinese entry, the Chana Star had a complimentary ticket to compete. See, not only is it new to South Africa, but it’s new in general. We had to throw this thing into the deep end. If not for anything else, as a wild card entry. Right?

The Tata Telcoline 207 Di also had to be here. It is brand spanking new in South Africa. Well, in a matter of speaking. There’s really nothing ‘new’ about it. The engine is old, the body moulds are old and the dashboard is old. But it’s the first time we’ve seen this 3-litre drop-side workhorse in this Indian incarnation. So is old school still cool? Be patient and read on.

The Nissan Navara 4x4 also needed to make an appearance. Especially after doing so well last year in two wheel drive guise. There are a lot of Navara fans out there, and most of them have been waiting a long time for the four wheel drive version. We hear it all the time. So what will become of the people’s choice? Stay tuned…

Mahindra’s Scorpio Pik-Up is the last of the obvious candidates. The launch of that bakkie was one of my first this year after my employment at this publication. Scorpio was the first bakkie I rattled off at the board room table as we discussed who and what would be competing in this issue.

But this is where it starts getting tricky. So far we’ve only got four contenders. We need to fill some space.

The SsangYong was a bit of a risky choice. The local delegates for that Korean marque had every intention of launching this vehicle before the end of the year, but then their first shipment of stock got lost at sea or something like that. The unit you see pictured here is fresh from the Auto Africa display stand. We took a chance that the Actyon Sports would in fact be a Best Bakkie contender for this year and not next.

Then we’ve got the Toyota Land Cruiser Brutus. We had to give this bakkie special permission to compete here. To be honest, it’s a mere bull-bar and trim package. But we just had to let it in. How could we not have a Toyota representative in the contest? At least we’ve got a base point to judge from. The Land Cruiser is like the great granddaddy here. Is it still up to the challenge? Wait and see.

Next is Nissan’s Patrol. Under any other circumstance this bakkie would have been in the no brainer category. But never before have we allowed one manufacturer to enter Best Bakkie with two different vehicles. Again we had to change the rules. We would undoubtedly have received a lot of flak for not including the Patrol. After all, it is the epitome of a bakkie isn’t it? Besides that, Brutus needed someone to play with. Enter Patrol.

Oh yeah. Then there’s the little Malaysian Proton. You didn’t think we’d forget to include a front wheel drive did you? This little guy was launched so early in the year, that we nearly did forget it. I admit, I organised the Arena at the very last minute. But we’re glad it’s here.

So there ya have ‘em. Eight Best Bakkies. But which one is best? Judging them could be the hardest task of all. We’ve gotta have a winner. We'll explore every aspect of the nominees and rank them in order from eighth to first. But don’t peek. You’ll spoil all our hard work…