Nominate your favorite automotive journalist[s]

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I was watching a few episode of Harry's [Metcalfe] Garage and it occurred to me that he is probably my favorite automotive journalist. A proper gentleman and he seemingly is on the A-list with every manufacturer (especially Land Rover). He was really the only one to review the Aston One-77. He doesn't have the creativity of Clarkson nor the driving ability of Chris Harris, but I feel I would genuinely enjoy having a beer with him, unlike those others. He has a Leno-like passion for cars [not to mention a stellar collection] but easier to listen to. Watching his videos (or even merely reading his articles) is like slowly drinking a glass of cognac.




On sort of the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I really enjoy the pieces by Motor Trend's Jonny Lieberman. I like that he doesn't take himself to seriously and doesn't pretend to be some hot shot driver. I have to say I'm not a huge fan of Motor Trend, but I think Jonny is a great journalist.



So my nominations are:

Harry Metcalfe
Jonny Lieberman

I suppose the end goal of this post is to determine a list of candidates upon which we can vote for GTP's collective favorite automotive journalist. I'm not sure if this is a useful pursuit, but I think it could be a fun/interesting one.

 

[niky]

Jonny Lieberman started at TheTruthAboutCars.

I used to write at TheTruthAboutCars.

Just saying.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I'll nominate two more of the Evo staffers: Dickie Meaden and Henry Catchpole. Richard has skill and age on his side, using both to really create some fantastic articles. Henry's been on a roll lately, an article a few issues ago on either the Cayman or Boxster GTS being one of my absolute favourites in years. It's cliché, but it really did transport me there.

 

[Ingram]

I'll nominate two more of the Evo staffers: Dickie Meaden and Henry Catchpole. Richard has skill and age on his side, using both to really create some fantastic articles. Henry's been on a roll lately, an article a few issues ago on either the Cayman or Boxster GTS being one of my absolute favourites in years. It's cliché, but it really did transport me there.

It was the Boxster GTS, and I'm with you on Henry and Dickie Meaden.

There's this other Evo staff writer called Antony something-or-other, he's alright I suppose.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I don't think I've ever read or seen anything from EVO that I didn't like. They've probably got the best team of automotive journalists in the world. Harry Metcalfe's videos on his own cars were wonderful, I wish he did more like them.

My all time favourite journalist has to be Peter Egan of Road and Track magazine. He's semi-retired now but his long running column, Side Glances, was a wonderful read every single month. I could always tell if he'd written an article just be the writing style and tone, and I always enjoyed his work.

 

[Badasp5.0]

My all time favourite journalist has to be Peter Egan of Road and Track magazine. He's semi-retired now but his long running column, Side Glances, was a wonderful read every single month. I could always tell if he'd written an article just be the writing style and tone, and I always enjoyed his work.

Peter Egan is awesome. I keep needing to remember to order Side Glances in book form.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...as=aps&field-keywords=side glances peter egan

 

[Omnis]

Antony Ingram is kind of a douche, but I like him.

 

[Davoxx]

Chris Harris for sure. Really like this gentleman.
What a great driver.

 

[YSSMAN]

What about our own pantsless a-hole, Doug DeMuro?




I'm personally a fan of Carlos Lago from Motor Trend, although he seemed to get a bit of heat for his Mustang/Camaro battle from last week.




Although, nothing is better than Freiberger and Finnegan on Roadkill



Hooning the General Mayhem against the '15 Legacy is one of the best segments I've seen on any auto show, bar none.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Oh, how could I forget Doug DeMuro? He's awesome! He's, er, less serious than some, but he's so genuine and his videos are such good fun.

And while we're on the subject of Youtube journos, I love Mighty Car Mods. Those guys are awesome, they're funny but also very informative.

EDIT: And Chris Harris being here goes without saying.

 

[Tornado]

John Phillips, when he pares back from complete lunacy, still likes to write columns about topics like how he wanted to put modern blind spot avoidance systems to the test, so he and a friend drove three cars with blind spot avoidance while wearing blinders. Or this piece detailing all of the cars he's owned in the past, with this perhaps being the best part:

1997 Toyota Camry CE: Manual locks, manual windows, manual five-speed. I named the car “Manual.” For 140,000 miles, nothing broke. Once I realized it wasn’t going to break, I got rid of it. Are you kidding? I don’t have to put up with crap like that.

Ezra Dyer will fit right in over with him following Automobile Magazine's implosion earlier this year.

 

[Badasp5.0]

W
Although, nothing is better than Freiberger and Finnegan on Roadkill
.

David Freiburger was one of the best writers in Hot rod magazine I loved his stuff in the late '90s early '00s.

 

[YSSMAN]

What I love most about Freiburger and Finnegan is that, for the most part, the stuff that they do is the kind of stuff that only my brother and I could come up with after half a case of PBR on a Thursday night. Its so unbelievably perfect, ever episode, I just can't believe it.

 

[homeforsummer]

@Omnis

Happy to say I do work with a couple of my favourite journos, but I'd also add a chap called John Simister to the list, who writes for a lot of classic car mags in the UK and does a great job of expressing how it feels to drive various old cars.

Also, a guy called Anthony ffrench-Constant who writes for Car and used to write for Top Gear mag before it became crap. He's just a solid writer with a good sense of humour which always makes his stuff great to read.

 

[Ingram]

Does Richard Porter count? He does proper road tests every once in a while and I always enjoy his Evo columns. His recent test of the Kia Soul caused me to audibly chuckle more than once.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Not sure if eligible but would nominate the guy with the glasses from XCAR(forgot his name), MR Regular as well deserves a shout.

 

[Need4Speed685]

I'd like to nominate a couple of journalists from evo:

1. Harry Metcalfe
I've really enjoyed his work with the magazine. Him being a fan of the Zonda (and owning an original C12) gave him cool points from me. The videos he has been putting out on the Harry's Garage channel have been interesting, like the Series 1 Land Rover, Testarossa and Project 7 F-Type. He must be having a ball running Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicular Operations (SVO).

2. Jethro Bovingdon
I don't know what it is, but I seem to really enjoy the articles/reviews he puts out. He seems like a generous guy to talk about cars with.

3. Henry Catchpole
Similar to what SlipZtrEm said, he's been on a roll lately with his articles, like the 'greatest driving road in the world?' article with the Boxster GTS in Majorca.

4. Jesse Taylor
He's the editor for evo Magazine Australia. The cover article he did with the SLS Roadster around Down Under was fascinating to read and quite enjoyed it, which introduced me to quite possibly, one of Australia's greatest driving roads.

He seems to be a generally nice guy as well, he's very passionate about cars and I look forward to more articles from him.

 

[1241Penguin]

Motoharu Kurosawa from Best Motoring





Akihiko Nakaya also from Best Motoring

 

[SlipZtrEm]

@Omnis

Happy to say I do work with a couple of my favourite journos, but I'd also add a chap called John Simister to the list, who writes for a lot of classic car mags in the UK and does a great job of expressing how it feels to drive various old cars.

Also, a guy called Anthony ffrench-Constant who writes for Car and used to write for Top Gear mag before it became crap. He's just a solid writer with a good sense of humour which always makes his stuff great to read.

Oh man, I haven't seen those two names in a while, since I cut down to just Evo on a monthly basis. Absolutely agree with Mr. ffrench-Constant; I remember him being a favourite of mine from Car back at the beginning of this millenium.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Nearly forgot about Alain de Cadenet!

 

[Famine]

What about our own pantsless a-hole, Doug DeMuro?

I'm always struck by just how similar some of the stories he writes are to some of the utter rubbish he made up on GTP as a 17 year old pretending to be a 27 year old. Like the time he drove an Acura NSX across the USA (GTPlanet, 2002) and the time he drove a Lotus Elise across the USA (Jalopnik, 2013).

But yes, that Antony Ingram chap who's just moved to evo is quite good. I sure wouldn't like to be the guy who has to fill his shoes at whatever outlet he just left...


Oh.

 

[mustafur]

I can nominate someone who no one would know just to make it sound like im not into mainstream but honestly the best two easily for me are(with favourite reviews of each):

Chris Harris and Henry Catchpole, Reason being is the both have extensive knowledge on cars that goes well beyond what the typical Journo does and can actually execute it out of their mouth and engage you on the experience.

Chris Harris(my favourite Journo peice of all time):

Henry Catchpole:



Mike Spinelli would be a really good journo if he had any idea how to talk properly, his knowledge of cars would probably be the top out of the known US Journos(no video just a statement).


Jethro Bovingdon Gets an honourable mention as well, He has a respectable knowledge on cars and is arguably the best driver journo of the lot.

Jethro Bovingdon:

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Mike Spinelli would be a really good journo if he had any idea how to talk properly, his knowledge of cars would probably be the top out of the known US Journos(no video just a statement).

This reminded me: Dave Coleman, now in a high-up position at Mazda USA R&D, was insanely knowledgeable back in the days of Sport Compact Car. It's a bit hard to find old articles, but he was always a blast to read, and one of the main reasons I even continued reading it for as long as I did.

 

[Kent]

Jethro Bovingdon Gets an honourable mention as well, He has a respectable knowledge on cars and is arguably the best driver journo of the lot.

Jethro Bovingdon:

Not even sure he deserves a mention...
He may as well have a hand up his rear as he does that GT3 review.
Recap of that review:
Bad stuff about GT3, aka I do not like green eggs and ham.
omg, OMG, I love green eggs and ham! This PDK is on par with the pinnacle of gear boxes and I don't miss the stick or the old steering or the old engine.
Calming down... Oh wait, let me test it on the road...
HMMM, I hate on the GT3 for its electric gizmos, pdk, and steering feel, let me get a car to compare it with... As a self proclaimed 911 geek I think the best car would be- a GTR.
OK, done with the gtr and no real complaints, now back to the GT3.
What's this? I love it, still love it no doubt... Oh wait, I'm a car journalist, can't do certain things and so... "Just a little" is lost in the steering and the engine.
/endreview

Old boy basically sounds like he's a kid who loves the GT3 every time he gets into driving and then slows it down, dials back his passion and parrots the haters who can't stand the idea of electric steering or new engines.
I mean, he's literally complaining about the gearbox and engine while stroking his earlobe and shifting gears in a turn as the car revs past most cars' redlines. /derp

 

[Badasp5.0]

I'm always struck by just how similar some of the stories he writes are to some of the utter rubbish he made up on GTP as a 17 year old pretending to be a 27 year old. Like the time he drove an Acura NSX across the USA (GTPlanet, 2002) and the time he drove a Lotus Elise across the USA (Jalopnik, 2013).

But yes, that Antony Ingram chap who's just moved to evo is quite good. I sure wouldn't like to be the guy who has to fill his shoes at whatever outlet he just left...


Oh.

I had no idea he was on GTP and had a history of making stuff up LOL. I enjoy his Ferrari articles of living real life with a Ferrari since I have had similar stuff happen at the gas station etc with my Cobra.

This reminded me: Dave Coleman, now in a high-up position at Mazda USA R&D, was insanely knowledgeable back in the days of Sport Compact Car. It's a bit hard to find old articles, but he was always a blast to read, and one of the main reasons I even continued reading it for as long as I did.

Oh man so much this. He made that magazine awesome. Even being a big domestic guy I subscribed to SCC untill the end. Get Dave Coleman, Steve Magnante, David Freiburger and Evan Smith in a car magazine and it would be gold.

 

[Kent]

I had no idea he was on GTP and had a history of making stuff up LOL. I enjoy his Ferrari articles of living real life with a Ferrari since I have had similar stuff happen at the gas station etc with my Cobra.

I had no idea he was a gtp'er until just a few minutes ago and almost feel bad about how I railed him over the Ferrari gas video (almost*).

Truth is, not everyone gets a nice car in life, still no reason to look down on people and certainly no reason to go sit at a gas station for however long it takes for several people to talk to you about your car. It all seems rather forced and pretentious.

 

[Famine]

I had no idea he was a gtp'er until just a few minutes ago

Doug aka M5Power?

Well, until he changed his username and deleted a whole load of his more fabricated posts. Like the oil well he inherited and his wife (he was 15) and the fleet of German cars (E55 AMG, Porsche Cayenne spring to mind) he kept chopping and changing - and yet curiously seems to rail against these days.

I know they say that a journalist has to be a good storyteller, but they're generally embellishments of true stories rather than just completely fictional ones. With Doug I simply can't trust that he's telling a story rather than a tale, particularly given how close his stories are to the tales he used to tell GTP, so I choose not to invest my time in them. And yes, he's lost none of the arrogance that he had before his GTP sabbatical.

 

[homeforsummer]

Not sure if eligible but would nominate the guy with the glasses from XCAR(forgot his name)

Alex Goy. Top bloke. He started the journo thing around the same time I did, so it's a pleasure to see how well he's doing now with the video stuff.

 

[niky]

David Coleman still writes, albeit very infrequently, for MotoIQ.com.

 

[Crash]

I'm always struck by just how similar some of the stories he writes are to some of the utter rubbish he made up on GTP as a 17 year old pretending to be a 27 year old. Like the time he drove an Acura NSX across the USA (GTPlanet, 2002) and the time he drove a Lotus Elise across the USA (Jalopnik, 2013).

But yes, that Antony Ingram chap who's just moved to evo is quite good. I sure wouldn't like to be the guy who has to fill his shoes at whatever outlet he just left...


Oh.

Who knows? Maybe we'll see some Andrew chap at Evo someday as well.

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