2012 Dean Batchelor Award Is Snagged By "Porsche - Origin of the Species"

Book category finalists for the Motor Press Guild's Dean Batchelor Award. The annual award banquet singles out individuals demonstrating outstanding achievement in the profession of automotive journalism. Each year MPG presents the Dean Batchelor Award to the journalist judged to have produced the single piece of work which best represents the professional standards and excellence demanded by Dean Batchelor during his life as an editor, writer, and chronicler of the automotive industry. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

2012 Dean Batchelor Award Is Snagged By "Porsche - Origin of the Species"

Every year since 1995, when the Motor Press Guild decided to bestow it's true highest honor by naming the prestigious process of recognition on the efforts of its community of communications professionals after Dean Batchelor, the Dean Batchelor Award has set the standard of  automotive journalistic recognition.

Dean Batchelor's career spanned many disciplines, from aircraft builder, B-17 flyer, to race car driver and automotive journalist and through it all he proved to be the consummate historian, editor, racer, designer, and hot rodder.

The award builds from a series of awards honoring three publishing categories defined as Best Article, Best Book, and Best Audio/Visual.

Dean Batchelor Awards Images Slideshow (20 images) >>

The three finalists in each category are culled from potentially tens of nominations submitted by Motor Press Guild members who have seen an outstanding published effort and thought it worthy of recognition with in the year of the honor.

Best Article Dean Batchelor Award 2012 presentation. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

This year, the following finalists for Best Article were "Tambay: The Phoenix" By Thomas Stahler (Vintage Motorsport, May/June 2012) | "The Dillinger Trail" By Peter Egan (Road & Track, March 2012) | "The World's Fastest Hot Rod" By Greg Sharp (The Rodder's Journal, Spring 2012) with the Article of the Year Award going to "The World's Fastest Hot Rod" By Greg Sharp.

Best Book Dean Batchelor Award 2012 presentation. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

The following finalists for Best Book were "In The Red" By Jade Gurss (Octane Press) | "Porsche - Origin of the Species" by Karl Ludvigsen (Bentley Publishers) | "The Stainless Steel Carrot: An Auto Racing Odessey - Revisited" By Sylvia Wilkinson (Brown Fox Books) with the Book of the Year Award going to "Porsche - Origin of the Species" by Karl Ludvigsen.

Best Audio/Visual Dean Batchelor Award 2012 presentation. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

The following finalists for Best Audio/Visual were "Corvette ZR1 Review - Exotic Driver" By Todd Deeken and Paul Schmucker (EverydayDriver.com, September 27, 2012) | "A Look At London's BMW Art Drive" By Alistair Weaver (InsideLine.com, August 6, 2012) | "KBB Races A Mazda Miata" By Micah Muzio and Michael Delano - Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com, February 22, 2012) with the Audio/Visual of the Year Award going to "KBB Races A Mazda Miata" By Micah Muzio and Michael Delano - Kelley Blue Book.

The 2012 Dean Batchelor Award is bestowed upon a choice from one of these three category award honorees Article of the Year Award going to "The World's Fastest Hot Rod" By Greg Sharp | Book of the Year Award going to "Porsche - Origin of the Species" by Karl Ludvigsen | Audio/Visual of the Year Award going to "KBB Races A Mazda Miata" By Micah Muzio and Michael Delano - Kelley Blue Book with the 2012 Dean Batchelor Award going to Book of the Year Award going to "Porsche - Origin of the Species" by Karl Ludvigsen.

Book of the Month at Bentley Publishers becomes Book of the Year for Motor Press Guild. Image Credit: Bentley Publishers (2012)

This edited and excerpted from Bentley Publishers (and was included in the presentation from the podium during the award presentation) -

Classic and Sports Car - December 2012 
BOOK OF THE MONTH

Porsche - Origin of the Species 
by Karl Ludvigsen

It's hard to imagine that there's a Porsche stone unturned for respected marque historian Karl Ludvigsen. But, inspired by an early 356 - comedian Jerry Seinfeld's treasured Gmünd coupe 2-040 - the American historian set out to reveal the story of the landmark 1950s sports model. And top studio photographer Michael Furman provides a superb set of the historic survivor.

Ludvigsen's journey of fastidious research took him from factory archives to owners and specialists while unravelling this fascinating tale. This hefty, 344-page title covers the evolution of pre-war streamliners through to the early operations in the wooden sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. Putting Porsche's development in context, the book also covers VW Beetle-based specials and coach built variants.

Ludvigsen's writing style is a captivating joy to read, plus the main text is accompanied by fascinating panels including Robert Cumberford on styling, Miles Collier on preservation and Alex Finigan on ownership. The final pages are devoted to a complete reproduction of Porsche's trial reports on '040', and an early 1949 356 Betriebsanleitung (operating manual).
[Reference Here]

A wonderful time spent with like-minded folks and meeting new friends. The Petersen Automotive Museum provided the backdrop for the evening's presentations and all of the finalists from all categories were equally honored to be mentioned along side of the eventual 2012 Dean Batchelor Award honoree.

Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Sponsors for the evening included Hyundai, Mothers, Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, Ford, Audi, General Motors, Infiniti, Mazda, Porsche, Subaru, and Toyota - Thanks.

... notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as 2012 Dean Batchelor Award Is Snagged By "Porsche - Origin of the Species" on Technorati **