New General Motors CEO Mary Barra (l to r), President Dan Ammann and Product Development Chief Mark Reuss celebrate Chevrolet’s sweep.
The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Silverado 1500 are the 2014 North American Car and Truck of the Year, aka NACTOY, announced this morning at the opening of press days at the North American International Auto show in Detroit.
This is the first time Chevrolet has won both awards in the same year. The Silverado was last named Truck of the Year in 2007 and the Corvette was last named Car of the Year in 1998.
Forty-nine automotive journalists from the United States and Canada vote in NACTOY to recognize the most outstanding vehicles of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.
The new Corvette Stingray is the most powerful standard model ever, with 455 horsepower and 460 lb.-ft. of torque from a 6.2-liter V8 engine.
Silverado’s optional 5.3-liter V8 is rated at 355 horsepower for towing and hauling, and seamlessly to four cylinders to save fuel during light-load driving. With an EPA estimated highway fuel economy of up to 23 mpg, Silverado offers the best fuel economy of any V8 pickup. Unfortunately, it has just been recalled for engine fires because the engine calibration during extensive periods of idling during cold weather was to lean overheating the close-coupled catalytic converters under the hood.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
