I used to be an avid subscriber to Top Gear magazine back in the late 90s when Kevin Blick edited it. I bought a copy out of interest yesterday and was appalled. It is supposed to be a family magazine and yet the text was sloppily written and full of expletives like s*** and cr*p etc. I am not prudish but is this what is taught a journo school these days? It really was abysmal: the motoring equivalent of the Daily Sport. In fact all the mainstream magazines (not the classic ones which are still pretty good) are poor with articles that have very little depth or analysis to them and are just too short. CAR is a case in point on how the mighty have fallen. I have bought a load of 70s and 80s editions on ebay and become totally immersed in articles which were unique (Setright testing a Fiat Uno for 4000 miles in the US) and full of detail when testing a new car.
It does look like so much these days is dumbed down doesn't it? Only mag I still value is Autocar and then it only takes 10 minutes to read.
Rant over but what is your take?
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Yup, down dumbing is everywhere.
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I used to buy magazines regularly. But find I can't get anywhere near them in WH Smith these days as there are so many people standing there reading them.
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Completely agree. I actually emailed the publisher/editor, I forget which, to complain about the language as my then 9 year old son had asked me what the f-word meant. When things did not improve I stopped buying it, and restarted buying Autocar.
If I wanted a 'lads mag' I would buy one, and keep it out of the reach of kids. I did not think I would need to with a car magazine.
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I stopped buying TG mag ages ago because of the adverts first and then the abysmal playground humour and expletives offered up by that Lesser Spotted Great Tit, Tom Ford.
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I was bought a subscription as a present last year, and as the first copy came with a set of car stickers I thought I'd pass the magazine back on to the young (8 (now 9) yrs old) son of the donor.
I don't think he would have forgiven me - in the first couple of issues the performance or desirability of cars was implied by direct or indirect references to the degree to which the writer (claimed) to be aroused - swellings in trousers, fizzing pubes, that sort of thing. I gave up reading them all before the 12vmonths was up !
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I totally agree with the OP. I binned my CAR sub after over 25 years. Just doesn't do it for me anymore. Motorcycle magazines went through this phase a number of years ago. Motorcycle Sport is almost alone in maintaining journalistic standards with properly written articles with no swearing etc. Ride Magazine comes a close second, a proper read from cover to cover with enthusiastic writing and proper tests of bikes and kit. Both are object lessons in how to do it properly.
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The Troy Queef school of journalism.
I
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stopped buying car about 1990 I think, in the mid 80s it was a tremendous read!
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>> The Troy Queef school of journalism.
Ironically, a pseudonym of Top Gear TV's script editor, Richard Porter...
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>> >> The Troy Queef school of journalism.
>>
>> Ironically, a pseudonym of Top Gear TV's script editor, Richard Porter...
>>
Yep - and i'm sure he'd rather be doing other 'serious' stuff. But he's in the loop now, and making serious $$$, so who can blame him for betraying (sic) his roots?
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>> I have bought a load of 70s and
>> 80s editions on ebay and become totally immersed in articles which were unique (Setright testing
>> a Fiat Uno for 4000 miles in the US) and full of detail when testing
>> a new car.
100%.
I do car reviews for the newspaper. Depending on the vehicle, I'll use a variety of routes, all based on 'real world' testing.
On 'performance' cars, obviously they get a thrashing, but that's the nature of the job. I'll let a 'stig' take it round the track, and comment. I know my limitations.
Here's something I put togther recently for a proposal for an off-roader/wildlife magazine:
"In principle, I’d propose a decent mix of vehicles, ranging from the top-whack dedicated off-roader pick-up types (Landrover, Navara, Amarok, Hilux) through ‘luxury’ passenger off-roaders (Range Rover, Landcruiser) to ‘weekend warrior’ stuff, like the Santa Fe, Fortuner, even as far down as the Mom’s Taxi SUVs – but obviously concentrating on the ‘real deal’ with the lesser vehicles getting a side column.
For testing purposes, setting a benchmark route makes sense – a mixture of city, suburban, freeway, back-road, gravel, sand and off-road driving could be worked out, so that every vehicle undergoes the same roads and conditions.
Also, as a benchmark, each vehicle would be ballasted by 3 or 4 occupants, and a set load of 200kgs or so. Pics could be taken along the way.
Obviously the on-road stuff is bread-and-butter – accelerations from various speeds, passenger comfort, luggage capacity, visibility, kiddy-friendliness, economy, fuel range, towing ability, warranty and dealer network information (Can it get fixed easily if it breaks?).
From a technical side, look at passenger access, luggage-space access, security (VERY important), departure and approach angles, wading capability, and sheer practicality. For example, how easy is it to clean? Can you drive it with boots on? (you’d be surprised!) Is it woman-driver friendly? Can you get a dog in the back? How easy is it to modify with suspension, loadbed bins, LR tanks etc?
Comfort/convenience spec and the little things matter as well – electrical outlets? Satnav? Cruise control? Enough tiedowns? Decent sound system?
Full specification and pricing could be included as a sidebar."
I'll put 400-500 miles onto a vehicle in this way. I have fun, but ensure that the reader gets what the reader wants to know.
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Ian, if I were Lord Sugar I would say "You're hired!"
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Ian I must say I was quite impressed with the "seth ifrikan" motoring press when I was out there a few years ago. The monthlies were better than those here to be honest. I liked that proposal.
As I say only Autocar is much good these days though it is lacking in substance and is a very quick read. CAR in the 80s was legendary. I always place a bid on ebay for copies if they are not silly money. I have Setright's books and also one's by Paul Frere, Phil Llewellin and the wonderful Denis Jenkinson whose book Porsche past and present is one of my all time favourite reads. It is not a history as such but a unique personal account of ownership.
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I think Autocar is as good as it's been since I started reading it regularly (aged 13, in 1961). It's thinner than the monthlies because it's a weekly! There's certainly more substance in four Autocars than in one CAR or TG (although four Autocars cost quite a bit more).
I particularly enjoy the two Steves - Croppers and Sutters - in Autocar who love cars and are so good at communicating that to the reader. Steve C and Gavin Green were the editors of CAR in its best days, when i read every issue. Like others, not any more.
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Many motoring journalists have gone the same way as car salesmen, shift as much of the product as possible with a minimum of effort. What ever happened to product knowledge?
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>> What ever happened to product knowledge?
>>
Very true. A bit of 'homework' and research before even getting into the vehicle is essential.
I'll always know Kw, torques, pricing, competition in that segment, faults with previous models, (thanks HJ!) etc etc etc, so I can do a half-decent assessment of the car, and thus a half-decent review.
Then i'll sit in the seat, get a feel for the controls, and RTFM if neccesary.
Unfortunately a lot of blokes are of the 'jump in and thrash it!' school. Great for the under-five readership, or muppets who stand arguing in pubs over the respective merits of cars they probably will never see, let alone drive.
Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Tue 22 May 12 at 12:20
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>> Unfortunately a lot of blokes are of the 'jump in and thrash it!' school. Great
>> for the under-five readership, or muppets who stand arguing in pubs over the respective merits
>> of cars they probably will never see, let alone drive.
I recently bought a selection of car rags including Top Gear to help me buy a new car. They did help, a lot, but I can't say I cared for most of the content. TG especially was tedious, with loads of car porn i.e. expensive cars with powerful engines. I suppose if you are a journalist, and have the chance to jump into a turbocharged 10 litre V24 with rococo seats and carved walnut piston heads, or write a serious researched article, which would you choose? But I guess the buying public decide the content.
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>> I suppose if you are a journalist, and have the chance
>> to jump into a turbocharged 10 litre V24 with rococo seats and carved walnut piston
>> heads, or write a serious researched article, which would you choose? But I guess the
>> buying public decide the content.
Therein lies the rub.
The 'buying public' as in the onanists who read the magazines, or the bloke who is going to invest $$$ in buying a new car?
I hope I can appeal to both, to be honest.
I always use the analogy of my previous job, which was as a football writer for a magazine.
Yes, I get to see some good stuff, and travel a lot. But I also have to endure cold wet and windy Wednesday evenings watching two sides who are both 'safe' and nowhere near promotion fulfill their fixtures.
I drive some nice kit. I also drive a lot of average (and bland, uninspiring, yet overpriced) vehicles.
I have to report on them all. With honesty.
Sometimes I get accused of bias, and that's totally wrong - a certain company said I always put their products down. I pointed out that I'd driven and reviewed x, y and z, and raved about them. The fact that they produced some duffers as well - and I'd pointed out the fualts - wasn't down to me.
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Autocar and Motor used to do informative road tests with data and graphs for power, torque, acceleration, speedometer error at different speeds and so on, and meaningful but unexcitable descriptive text. Motor Sport and Autosport were of course more performance and handling oriented but they too, in their old-fashioned way with formal language masking Toad-like behaviour, gave proper information on what the cars might be like in practice.
HJ is quite like that too although he's sometimes maligned here. And no doubt our comrade Ian is along the same lines. Of course it's the proper way to be when you are assessing cars. No one wants to know really that you came three times when you saw the creamy leather upholstery, or that the car looked so virile that you went down on all fours and reversed towards it offering it your rump. This is lads' mag stuff and nothing to do with cars. I'm afraid Jeremy Clarkson is a bad influence on young hacks in this way, but the problem really seems to be that there's a market for such twaddle. Car magazine was going that way for some time even when it was still readable.
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Motoring Press especially Top Gear - Manatee
