LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The Los Angeles-based Motor Press Guild (MPG) announced its 2010 Dean Batchelor Award and Best of the Year winners today.  Established in 1995, the Dean Batchelor Award recognizes excellence in automotive journalism.

Each year MPG presents the Dean Batchelor Award to the journalist(s) 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. The winner is chosen from the MPG Best of the Year category awardees.

The 2010 Dean Batchelor Award goes to Pete Lyons for his book, Can-Am Cars in Detail, published by David Bull Publishing. The book is an in-depth examination of the cars which competed in what was arguably the best road racing series in the history of motorsports, written by the man who witnessed it all first hand.  Can-Am Cars in Detail also was named the Motor Press Guild’s Best Book of 2010.

The Motor Press Guild Best of the Year category 2010 winners are:

Best Article: Arthur St. Antoine, “Man in Space,” Motor Trend Magazine, January 2010.  This is a cross-country road test of a 2010 Dodge Challenger and voyage of self discovery.

Best Audio-Visual: Micah Muzio & Michael DeLano, “2010 Ford F-150 Raptor: On Land, Through Water, in the Air”;www.kbb.com, April 14, 2010. A streaming video road test of Ford’s hot pickup truck demonstrating the nine things you must do in a Raptor.

Best Photography: Alison (Al) Merion-Padron, The Face of Drifting; Speedhunters.com, March 12, 2010. This is a high speed in-your-face photographic stop-action study of champion drifter Ross Petty.

In addition, the Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award, selected separately by the Motor Press Guild Board of Directors, is presented on a case-by-case basis to individuals for outstanding contributions to the automotive communications industry.   This year John Clinard of Ford Motor Company is being recognized as the first public relations professional to receive this honor.

“John’s contributions are too many to list,” said James Bell, MPG president. “He combines encyclopedic car knowledge, high professional standards and a kind heart, which makes him a role model in the automotive and communications industry.”

The Best of the Year and Batchelor awards are given at an annual awards banquet, this year held December 7th at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

The Dean Batchelor Award was first presented posthumously to Dean Batchelor in 1995 for his seminal book on hot rodding,The American Hot Rod, which was published after his death in 1994.