Voters 'flock' to vote for Wheels24's Alternative Car of the Year Awards

Car fanatics have once again directed their cursors to the premier niche motoring portal, www.wheels24.co.za, to cast their vote in the second annual Alternative Car of the Year Awards hosted by the popular site, Wheels24 within the 24.com stable.

The winner in the most ‘Corrupt Politician's Car' category of the year, the BMW X5 beat five other models in the poll which included the Hummer H3, Dodge Nitro, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the Cadillac SRX. Other winners in the online poll include the ultra cute and stylish Peugeot 207 Coupe Cabriolet which was named ‘Gayest Car' while the masculine Audi A8 strutted in as the ‘Straightest Car' of the year.

Commenting on the Corrupt Politician's Car category, Wilmer Müller, editor of Wheels24 says the BMW X5 received almost 6 000 votes, with online voters keen to have their say about those models you expect to see parked outside Parliament. “More than 15 000 voters went online this year to have their say - a phenomenal response from the public for an online motoring campaign.”

Müller stated that all vehicles selected for nomination had to be released in 2007 and included models from various brands such as Alfa, Audi, Volvo as well as the latest addition to the South African car market, the much-talked about Hummer.

Discussing the winner of the ‘Gayest' category, the Peugeot 207 Coupe Cabriolet, Müller says, “The winning car received about 8 700 votes, four times more than the runner up, the Audi TT Roadster. There was no set criteria for judging a car's ‘gayness' but the key characteristics as highlighted by online voters are the car's stylishness, fashion ability and uniqueness – all these features making it a talking point.”

Müller says that he was not surprised that the Audi A8 took the title of the ‘Straightest' car; the accolade went to Audi's RS4 last year. “Like the RS4, the Audi A8 oozes testosterone and hits the nail on the head in terms of power and performance.”

He added that the success of the campaign was due to our society being car-crazy and with all the new models making their appearance on the road this year, we can't help but stop and stare during traffic – and then have our say online.

Müller continues, “South Africans are obsessed with cars, their power, their stylish lines and any red-blooded man in the country knows that a car is an extension of their personality. And we like giving our opinion about our local politics.”

Commenting on the overwhelming public response to voting for alternative cars, Muller added that Wheels24 succeeded in its goal of stimulating a bit of national car-friendly debate.

“Now, for the next year at least, we know when to pull over when a politician's official cavalcade approaches!” says Müller.

To recap, the nominations in the Alternative Car of the Year were:

Gay Cars
BMW 3 Series Cabriolet
Peugeot 207 Coupe Cabriolet
MINI Cooper
Alfa Romeo Spider
Audi TT Roadster.

Straight Cars
Audi R8
Jeep Wrangler
Ford Ranger
Toyota Corolla
Volvo XC70

Corrupt Politician's Car
Hummer H3
Dodge Nitro
BMW X5
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Cadillac SRX.