In keeping with tradition, the Winners of the Mudfest X, the 2003 version of the Northwest Automotive Press Association’s (NWAPA) Sport Utility Vehicle of the Year competition, were announced at a special awards luncheon held on the opening day of the Seattle Auto Show. The event took place at the Pyramid Ale House, which is located across the street from the show’s venue, the Seahawks Exhibition Hall.

Category Winners are as follows:

• Under $30,000 - Subaru Forester
• $30,001 to $40,000 - Toyota 4Runner
• $40,001 to $45,000 - Volvo XC90
• $45,001 and above - Porsche Cayenne
• Best SUV Value - Hyundai Santa Fe
• SUV of the Year - Volvo XC90

   Both the 4Runner and XC90 are repeat winners from Mudfest 2002, with the XC90 repeating both as its class winner and SUV of the Year. The only other time that happened was in 1990 and 1991, when the BMW X5 won twice. However, facing stiff competition, most notably from the Hummer H2 and the Volvo XC90, as well as several others, BMW declined to return in 2002 to defend its title.

“We appreciate all the manufacturers who participated in this year’s event,” said NWAPA President Lary Coppola. “Without the support of the manufacturers, Mudfest couldn’t have grown into the pre-eminent SUV event in the nation it’s become.”

Mudfest is the largest and most widely recognized SUV event in the nation. It pits all the new SUVs against each other in a series of on and off-road maneuvers. This year’s event was held at Portland International Raceway.

It has been held for the past four years at Bremerton Raceway, with the off-road portion taking place at the ORV Park west of Olympia. However, the event had to be moved this year because the Thurston County Commissioners closed the ORV Park, and no Kitsap County venue could be found in time to plan the event.

Also, after the awards luncheon, NWAPA held its election of officers for 2005-2006. The following people were elected: President, Bill McCallum of Auto News of the NW; Vice President, Bob Hill of the Portland Oregonian; Secretary, Bengt Halvorson a freelance writer; and Treasurer, Lary Coppola of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.