In an unprecedented revote for the 2007 Truck of the Year award, the remodeled Jeep Wrangler made it on the shortlist, just in time for contenders Chevrolet Silverado, Ford Edge, and Mazda CX-7 to stand aside and make enough elbow room for the Jeep Wrangler. The three finalists were released officially last Dec. 13. Announcement of the 2007 Truck of the Year, however, will have to wait.
Voting for the 2007 North American Truck of the Year award was rescheduled on account of the nonappearance of the redesigned Jeep Wrangler on the ballot, AutoWeek reported. The missing Jeep Wrangler sparked a clamor and the 49 automotive journalist jurors for the award, presented by Crain Communications Inc., are being asked to do a revote for all the candidates in the truck category.
Each juror can confer up to 25 points, distributed among the entrants. The maximum possible score that a juror can give on a finalist is 10, and only one 10 score can be awarded. If the Jeep Wrangler rounds up among the top three point getters in the revote, it will go into the finals round and join the Silverado, Edge, and the CX-7.
That the pool of jurors is going to cast a second ballot in order that the Truck of the Year winner can be chosen from among the finalists has not happened in the award’s decades of run. In the final voting, each juror has 10 points to distribute among the finalists and can give all their points to one vehicle. The decision to hold a revote pumps a rush of air in the Jeep Wrangler’s bid for the North America title.
Not a few speculations that the Jeep Wrangler is a shoo-in for the award were also fanned by the timing, which coincided with the possibility the Jeep wrangler is still very much in the running. Voting for the winner will close on Jan. 2 next year.
The North American Truck of the Year award is given by 49 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada, a departure from the usual and restrictive award conferment by a single publication, radio, or TV station. It recognizes the most outstanding vehicles of the year with the following as parameters: innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for dollar. To be eligible, entrant vehicles must be “all new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model.
Backed up by the Jeep Wrangler durability, the redesigned Jeep features the same performance Jeep parts that can keep up with the intended use of the vehicle. The reported flat-out performance of the Jeep wrangler on test drives does not show any sign of the possibility of any upgrade, though its power can sure take its toll on the vehicle?s individual parts.
The trail rated Jeep Wrangler has just come off an overhaul. It sports a 3.8 V6 engine that boasts of a 220 horsepower maximum output and 237 lb/ft of torque. This four-wheel drive is priced at around US$18, 000 and, with its refurbished 368-watt sound system composed of six Infinity speakers and an eight-inch subwoofer, is billed as music to any one’s ears.