Summarize

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Let’s get done with Best Bakkie’s biggest challenge

If there is one aspect we do not really enjoy about our Best Bakkie competition every year, that’s eliminating the bakkies down to the podium. See, to be here, the bakkie needs to deserve its position among these finalists, so congratulations to all seven of these fine vehicles, but cull we must.

There is only one workhorse this year, so that one’s easy and we say goodbye to the Changan Star III – we have come a long way with these little critters – all the way down the Silk Road from China to racetracks around the country in fact and this latest one has come a long way in the past decade or so, so let’s just call it our Workhorse of the Year.

Our reigning Best Bakkie Mitsubishi Triton and the King Hilux are also relatively simple to cut – both are basically special editions and/or mild facelifts of existing bakkies and we prefer it that all-new metal gets the nod here – this is about the newest metal after all and we need a fundamental change over the past 12 months to have happened to see a bakkie to the podium. 

So bar that fresh Toyota grin and some really cool spit and polish on the outgoing champion (which remains our favourite among bakkies at present), there’s nothing really new on those two and we say goodbye to those two most compelling bakkies too.

And that’s also the reason why the JMC gets the chop ahead of the other bargain bakkie here – the Chinese bakkie is not exactly new and it also lacks a little too much oomph, so while it is a pretty stunning Ranger-based bargain, Vigus has to make way too.

As noted, all four of these bakkies have more than just earned their place in these finals, but from here it’s down to a trio that carry enough advances for us to consider them either all-new or at least a brand new model on the market and all you need do is flip the page to get down to the podium and winner…