Thank you Honest John - The man himself

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Thu 25 Sep 2025 17:53
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Metropolis.
Just to say thank you and three cheers to John, the honest man himself.

I know this isn’t your site anymore but I post this in the hope that you might drop by occasionally.

All the best and happy motoring.

Metropolis

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Thu 25 Sep 2025 22:31
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - SLO76
Top man, always loved reading his motoring related wisdom in the Telegraph every Saturday.
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Fri 26 Sep 2025 09:22
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Falkirk Bairn

HJ was the reason I used to buy the Daily Telegraph on a Saturday

At least 2 Full Pages, features, Q&A - all relvant and no "favourable comments" in car reviews where they were not deserved.

The current DT Car section is but a shadow of what it was. Reviews of 20-40 year old cars that are disappearing from UK roads, some poor questions and poor answers. I no longer but the DT on a Saturday for that reason.

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Fri 26 Sep 2025 10:09
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Steveieb

Likewise I bought the Saturday Telegraph specifically to read HJ s column.

i ve still got his Book of Motoring Answers which was published around 2000 and when you examine the kind of questions he received you realised just how simple cars were in those days compared with today’s versions

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Fri 26 Sep 2025 10:55
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Chris M

And whereas the answer to the question "what shall I buy?" is now (on this site at least) is n/a Japanese or Korean, the answer back then was Ford Mondeo.

Times change.

Met HJ at BCA Blackbushe around 2005 and had a brief chat. Those were the days when ordinary punters could buy at auction.

Times change.

There's a theme developing here...

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Fri 26 Sep 2025 19:30
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - RickyBoy

I met him at a Seat SUV launch (can't remember which vehicle or where it was – a hotel in Leicestershire I think) after winning one of the places on offer to do so in a HJ online competition. Have a photo of us somewhere – probably on an old SD card stuck at the back of a drawer?!

A most affable chap...

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Fri 26 Sep 2025 21:40
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - FP

Just in case some people don't know who is being talked about, "Honest John" was a pseudonym for Peter Lorimer.

He wrote on motoring for the Daily Telegraph from 1995 until 2020. He started the HJ website in 2000; it went bust in 2020 and was bought out of administration by car sales company Heycar, owned by Volkswagen Financial Services.

It was Newspress ‘Automotive Website of the Year’ in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the "unique way it engaged with its readers." In 2020 a question was asked on ‘The Chase’ - ‘Who is the most trustworthy motoring journalist?’ The “correct answer” was Honest John.

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Sat 27 Sep 2025 09:36
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Xileno

I remember writing to him back in the late 90s I think - certainly before the days of his website. I was asking about fuel additives for a car that needed Leaded. Got a hand-written note back. I was very impressed. Top man. I hope he's enjoying his retirement.

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Sat 27 Sep 2025 18:30
Thank you Honest John - The man himself - Dave N
I will always be grateful to the man himself. Back in 1998 I started a business in car A/C and wrote to HJ offering some advice about a question he’d been asked earlier in the DT. He published my response, and my business went bananas. The phone rang off the hook for weeks, and I received so many emails I got a warning from my web/internet provider.

My first post here was early 2001, it seems from the archives.
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