Best Bakkie 2022 sets out to choose South Africa’s Bakkie of the Year
It’s that time of the year again and as 2021 winds down off a couple of years most of us will want to forget. Now, after a lockdown year away, Auto returns to a vital duty we have performed annually for the past eighteen years. Welcome to Best Bakkie 2022.
Borne out of Bakkie magazine’s Best
Borne out of our old Bakkie magazine, Best Bakkie will decide which of these bakkies released during the last two years is the best of all. By the end of all this, there will be just one – Best Bakkie 2022.
Best Bakkie has also become a brilliant bakkie market barometer over the years – the contest has allowed us to pick up on vital and significant bakkie trends as we have witnessed the light commercial vehicle evolve. From the advent of the turbodiesel, through the double-cab to the upsurge of 4×4 bakkies, we’ve lived it all.
We also witnessed the advent of Chinese bakkies and more recently, it’s all been about downsizing as smaller-bore bakkies became all the rage. The bakkie world has also moved ever more upmarket. And that is now begging a pretty pertinent question. And that’s one we will try to unravel through Best Bakkie 2022. What is a bakkie? And has the humble pickup truck actually forgotten what it is?
Your lazy holiday bakkie entertainment!
So, starting today, Best Bakkie 2022 will roll out, a story a day to help you through the rest of your lazy holiday. For a week from tomorrow, we will bring you a Best Bakkie Finalist a day for seven days. Then we will roll out our top three on day 9. And then we will reveal the winner on the tenth day. By when we hope to also solve that riddle of what a bakkie is!
Best Bakkie’s simple rules have not changed at all in the eighteen years of the competition. This year we however consider bakkies that have been launched in the past 24 months since the last Best Bakkie, rather than 12, for obvious reasons. We allow only one model variant per brand. Then we gather the lot together and head for the hills to evaluate each bakkie in its own right.
So, let’s see which of these seven 2022 finalists will emerge as our 17th Best Bakkie. Place your bets and come back daily to catch up on each of the finalists. Join us in the public vote on 11-12 January and then as we wave goodbye to the eliminated machines late next week. And then we will greet the winner!
Enjoy the ride – all the way to the finish!
Best Bakkie 2022 Finalists Ford Ranger 2.0bT DC 4x4 Stormtrak GWM P Series 2.0TD DC LT 4x4 Mahindra Pik Up 2.2 CRDe DC 4x4 Mazda BT-50 1.9TD DC Active A Mitsubishi Triton 2.4DI-D DC 4x4 Nissan Navara 2.5DDTi DC PRO-2X Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 DC 4x4 Legend RS A
Best Bakkie 2022 Program Introduction Ford Ranger 2.0bT DC 4x4 Stormtrak GWM P Series 2.0TD DC LT 4x4 Mahindra Pik Up 2.2 CRDe DC 4x4 Mazda BT-50 1.9TD DC Active Mitsubishi Triton 2.4DI-D DC 4x4 Nissan Navara 2.5DDTi DC PRO-2X Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 DC 4x4 Legend RS A Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 DC 4x4 Legend RS A Best Bakkie 2022 Top 3 Best Bakkie 2022 Winner
Best Bakkie Roll of Honour 2004: Toyota Hilux 3.0 KZ-TE Raider 4x2 DC 2005: Isuzu KB300 TDI DC 4x4 2006: Volkswagen T5 Transporter 2.5 TDI 128 DC 2007: Nissan Navara 2.5 DCI 4x4 DC 2008: Ford Ranger 3.0 TDCI SuperCab Hi-Trail XLT 2009: Chevrolet Lumina SS Ute 2010: Nissan Navara 2.5 DCI XE 4x4 King Cab 2011: Volkswagen Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4Motion DC Highline 2012: Ford Ranger 3.2 Wildtrak DC 4x2 2013: Foton Tunland 2.8 DC 4x4 Lux 2014: Toyota Land Cruiser 79 Double Cab 4.5 V8 D 2015: GWM Steed 6 DC 2.0 VGT 4x2 Xcape 2016: VW Amarok 2.0BiTDI HiLine DC 4x2 Automatic 2017: Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD6 4x2 DC Raider 2018: Mitsubishi Triton 2.4Di-D DC 2019: Nissan Navara 2.3D double cab LE auto 2020: Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD6 4x4 DC Legend