The North American Car Of The Year award has gone to… the Chevy Volt. Which won’t be on sale to the general public until March (unless you were the one that paid out in the six digit range for the auction of the first one).

Come on. Car of the Year goes to something that’s not on sale yet? It goes to the car rocking the biggest hype of all time ever? Either Chevy paid up big for that shit, or more likely, the judges just punted it to the most obvious choice.

It’s not that I hate the Volt, it’s just that I hate the Volt. I’m all in favor of finding new and interesting uses for electricity in powering cars, and in finding ways to make cars more efficient. That’s all well and good. But the attention it’s getting makes it sound like the second coming of the Car Christ. It’s not the only plug-in hybrid on the way for 2011, and it’s not even the only one by the Big Three in America. The Ford Escape Hybrid has been rolling since 2004 and is just now getting on the plug-in bandwagon.

Anyway. I’m still waiting on a press release about the award, but I imagine it’ll say things like innovative new use of alternative energy and crap, and ignore things like ‘cripplingly expensive (37k)’. Meanwhile, if you want a small, fun, economical North American car, get a Ford Fiesta. Or better, get a small, fun, economical German car, and get a VW Golf. Or a small, fun, economical-like-crazy Italian car, and get a Fiat 500 once they finally go on sale.