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Just got the Feb issue of Car Magazine. Its rather good as per usual, but 'noticed Jason Barlow is omitted from the Editor's credit - any ideas?
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All I can see is
Thursday November 9 2006 John Plunkett
The editor of Car, Jason Barlow, has parted company with the magazine three months after overseeing a radical relaunch of the Emap title. The motoring monthly underwent a wide-ranging revamp with a new square format and a focus on features and photography.
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Perhaps - faint chance - a new editor might bring it back to being about cars again......
...Ah - I have the perfect answer. With the cry of 'Back to motoring please' - Dynamic Dave for Editor!
(DD - please take that as a compliment!) {ok ;o) - DD}
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Post of Managing Editor of Car was advertised just before Christmas so still time to get your applications in. Had a thumb through an edition with the Barlow name on it the other day in a newsagent and felt no desire whatsoever to buy something so undifferentiated from the rest of the glossy motoring mags on offer. The days when both myself and workmates tried to be first to buy it and then argue over the columnists' prose have long since gone.
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I agree, in the 1980's it was a real magazine of some substance and informed comment. I still remember an article that reviewed spanner quality with an interesting piece on steel technologies and properties. Nowadays because spanners don't have a 0-60 time they would be excluded.
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Yep, CAR in the 70s and 80s was simply brilliant. Now it's indistinguishable from Evotopauto and the other vacuous glossies.
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Maybe 'vacuous' and 'glossy' sell today, whereas 'simply brilliant' is very much a minority taste.
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Bulgin, Setright, Llewellin and Bishop - in those days I looked forward to Car each and every month. Bought my first issue in 1990, before I had a car; it has gone downhill steadily ever since, becoming more and more like the competition. I finally stopped buying it a couple of years back - it was just so boring and bland. Picked up one of the square Barlow ones recently - nice photography but still bland, bland, bland. I see even Kitman has decamped to the competition.
The new editor (and his entire team) should take several months out to read issues from the 80s and 90s before relaunching the magazine properly with some of the old style and substance. Maybe Gavin Green or Steve Cropley should be editor again?
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The parting of the ways was emphasised by Mr Barlow penning an article in the Feb 2007 edition of TopGear.
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IMO he will not be missed too much.
Hopefully who ever takes over will get it back to being the excellent magazine it used to be with educated mototring journalists - the current magazine is all fancy pictures & format and no substance.
I cannot remember the last time (in th erecent past) Car did a good article and on a 'normal car'.
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Yes, it is sad how Car has declined. It now seems just a fashion glossy where image is all.
IMHO the best car magazine now is Autocar - Cropley, Green, Bremner, Goodwin all wrote for Car in the good old days.
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I never liked Barlow when he wrote for Performance Car back in the late 90's. Pretentious and cocky. Seem to remember he went off to Loaded (remember that?) when he parted company with PC.
Car delivered one of my favourite road tests of all time back in 1990 (ish) when they put a load of contemporary hot hatches up against each other (Astra GTE 16v, Golf GTI mk2, Mazda 323F, Alfa 33 Cloverleaf, Fiesta RS Turbo, Mini Cooper 1.3i, etc). Rather than following the standard formula of one writer penning the entire test, the entire test team participated, and ranked the cars independently, together with an explanation of their conclusions.
There were some real shocks - for example, Setright despised the Golf GTI, which was winning every test in every other mag at the time, Russell Bulgin (RIP) loved it, and the Mini Cooper caused big arguments between all who tested it, with Setright being most taken with it if I recall correctly. The RS Turbo and GTE also polarised opinion, with few testers indifferent. They either loved or hated them.
It was so much more interesting and informative than the standard collective conclusion, with real personal insight into each testers' character and tastes, and from a buyer's perspective, included some really useful pointers as to how each car might suit an individual.
I agree, Car is now crap.
Cheers
DP
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I got this month's CAR for Christmas, off my mum, bless her. I wasn't overly thrilled, to be honest, but have to say it's improved since I last read it.
I am still heartily annoyed by the amount of pretentious watch adverts, and indeed an article about TagHeuer in "collaboration" with CAR, but the proper car stuff has improved a lot. I guess the watch stuff is aimed at the ABC1 brigade (the socio-economic groupings, not the channel that shows wall to wall "8 Simple Rules").
The website still isn't up to scratch; there is no GBU in the mag any more only on the web and it isn't up to date. I was looking for the TT and the old model review is still on there, for example. Good video section though, there's some good links about Henri Toivonen and similar.
Anyone agree, disagree etc.?
{Moves to recent discussion on same magazine - DD}
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>>29 DEC
>>Just got the Feb issue of Car Magazine.
>>
>>I got this month's CAR for Christmas
>>
04 JAN Well mine arrived by post this morning ( London area)- so much for subscription .
Another reason for not renewing
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I gave up on Classic and Sportscar for the same reason - in spite of pleading from me and promises from them it used to arrive at my address in France three weeks after UK publication.
And - it's not what it was. But that's another thread...
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I have read Whatcar since it was first published and used to look forward to it arriving. Just lately I couldn't care whether I read it or not. The Jan copy was dreadfull, just adverts and tips how to get a good deal (like every other month).
Autocar is getting as bad, I get it secong hand. In one edition there was a report on a VW Passat, all the writer could comment on was how he locked the keys in the boot. I don't think we can blame VW for that, but perhaps someone will!
I bought a copy of Car magazine a few months ago, they should call it Whatrubbish.
I think the trouble is the writers are much too young and immature in these mags, or I am getting too old and grumpy.
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I remember reading Car in its heyday when I was in my 20s and 30s (how I have aged!).
It seems to me the appeal was the wide range of experience and knowledge of its writing staff who could always be relied on to bring a different perspective on any motoring item on which they wrote. (eg George Bishop Setright et al).
But I gave up because the younger writers knew less about motoring than I did and their writing was dull tedious and repetative.
In a world where the internet provides lots of information - ie facts - but little informed comment, surely a magazine has to survive by offering a degree of expertise others lack? (For example, I expect HJ's Saturday Telegraph pages are unmatched by any other daily for expertise and the Telegraph's car reviews : We Like, We Did not Like: are quite simple but clear)
On my last reading of Car it would appear most of the writers belonged to the Guild Of Muttering Rotters not the Guild of Motoring Writers (to steal from G Bishop iirc!).
I've given up all car magazines in favour of the Saturday DT plus the internet and until someone employs some journalists with some knowledge, experience and writing ability I'm not going back..
madf
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Ooops "repetitive" of course...
madf
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