He passed away unnoticed really. One of Car's crop superlative writers, his reports were pure prose and his travel stories intermingled with motoring legends amongst, if not the best, motoring tales of our time. The John Peel of the motoring world.
Will miss him greatly.
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here here ,he was my favorite motoring scribe, he will be sadly missed
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Agreed, that era of Car journalists has yet to be surpassed. A few years ago I met a Car hack and a snapper in Val D'Isere where they were road testing and shooting the then new Range Rover.
I asked them if they knew what had become of old George Bishop, whom used to entertain me hugely by mischieviously ignoring the cars he was invited to review and describing in luscious detail the food and wine instead. He was also wickedly vague when it came to puffing the manufacturer's line. I remember him writing once that a new bumper "was made from something."
I assume that George's gourmand lifestyle eventually caught up with him. Anyone know for sure ?
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Anyone know for sure ?>>
As far as I am aware George slipped away in the late 1990s.
I spent many a happy hour in his company in many parts of the world (as well as with the equally full of the joys of life Scottish hacks) - a delightful man.
But he did drive the cars most of the time. I well remember trying to keep up with him on the M50 on the launch of the then new Citroen XM with the speedometer showing 130mph.....:-)
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Damn, so thats two of the 80's CAR great writers gone. Wouldnt have missed JK tho.
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You'll find a mention of George about half-way down this link (some of the rest is worth reading as well!):
www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?blogs200407f.htm
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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That's a good link and great description of old George. I've little doubt that the old rascal did thrash the cars around. He just confined his reports of them to two pars following four columns about the wine. The link also evokes dewey-eyed memories of the succession of incongruous old bangers he used to run himself, in contrast to the jet set of precious metal he was invited to review.
They don't make 'em like George any more, alas.
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Sorry to dwell. Do you remember Ian Fraser's truly brilliant description of being being hurtled round the Ferrari test in some exotica track by a factory test driver. I seem to recall it being the funniest piece of car-lit I've ever read. ("Not with him, not in a red one.")
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Phil Llewellin (sic) was one of my favourite muttering rotters too: I saw news of his death (sudden heart attack while on holiday in Croatis) in Steve Cropley's column in Autocar. I posted on here but it got lost in the "crash" - there were only 2 other posts, including HJ, and I thought not many others had heard of him. I'm glad that PU and a few others mourn him too.
Steve C was also from the good days of CAR - he and Gavin Green I thought were the best editors. George Bishop went on writing for CAR in his inimitable style even after retiring to Cornwall - he died a few years ago now, but I think he was in huis late 70's, so not bad despite all those launch lunches and dinners.
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I remember I an Fraser writing about a trip to Eastern Europe (his family's homeland) in the 1970s. It was a superb trip about crossing borders and a bright yellow strip of fear and or cowardice get wider on his back each day.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Saw the reference to Phil Llewellyn in Autocar but George Bishop's passing I had missed, probably because I dropped Car after it started dropping its best writers. Both greatly missed now motoring journalism has largely degenerated into puffery: Phil Llewellyn for his descriptive pieces on great drives as well as on the cars; George Bishop for those quirky and very funny articles. We seemed to share a liking for oddball and quite unsuitable cars such as secondhand modern Lancias, Peugeot 604s and the like so it was good to read about someone else suffering.
I don't want to tempt fate now, but is Bill Boddy of Motor Sport still with us? Unfortunately, I gave up on it too after the regime change.
I have high hopes, however, for James May in carrying on that blend of humour while passing on understanding about cars.
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George Bishop died a few months after his column stopped in Car IIRC. Car never dropped him but he stopped writing due to illness.
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Nice thread - brings it all back. The original Car was about the only motoring magazine I ever read regularly. Nothing else was half as good.
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Without starting a new Car bashing thread, I have decided to stop getting it regularly when my subscription runs out. CAR is far to interested in speed as opposed to driving pleasure. There is a difference as George Bishop and Phil Llewellyn et al knew and made plain.
Having said that, the last issue was the best for a long time, but still not good enough to keep me with them. Is it a function of the fact that most cars a decent drive now anyway or of the education system whereby young journos can't write an article without the F word in it.
I remember that George Bishop wrote about Peugeot 604s and Lancia Gammas. My father had both and were great drivers cars, but the Lancia (surprise surprise) was a dog in the reliability stakes.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I'm sorry to hear he's gone. As many others have commented, he was one of the band of brilliant contributors to Car in the 80s.
John
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