Ari Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 He of the "media darling" glasses and "I'm so cool" retro cas clothing is now editor of Car Magazine, and has set about its downfall with gusto. This month we have "What would be in John Prescotts glovebox?", including chips, and a knuckle duster. Oh such subtle wit. And we've got "Celebrity Car Crashes" too. "Car" used to be for adults, the children read "Max Power". Someone send Barlow off to work on Loaded, and put a grownup back in charge, please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Ermmmm, I didn't mind JB actually ! (Am I in a minority ?), that Mike Brewer must be the most annoying motoring journo though, complete wockney canker .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Couldn't agree more with Ari- I've been reading Car since 1987 and it's never even occurred to me not not buy it before. My subscription lapsed a few months ago and I didn't renew it because I'm not sure I want to read it any more. The Q&A style of roadtests and joke phone calls make me want to beat him to death with his pot of hairwax... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayerbloke Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Welcome to TSN I think you`ll fit in just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I'm not sure I want to read it any more. The Q&A style of roadtests and joke phone calls make me want to beat him to death with his pot of hairwax... [/ QUOTE ] Yes, just what you expect from a quality journal isn't it, some prat phoning Demon Tweeks to (joke) complain that the go faster stripes don't work. Oh how my sides ache from laughing. Real high brow stuff, well done Jason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syeldham Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Write in and complain to the publishers - if they get worried that people will stop reading, they'll replace him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Thanks for the welcome guys... I don't have a problem with Barlow as a writer, just trying to turn Car into FHM is like trying to turn the Queen into a member of Girls Aloud. Think Gavin Green or Richard Bremner could be persuaded to return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 I had hoped this was Jason Plato we were hoping to stop but alas no. Oh and Barlow is a cock. Saw he was editor of Car and put it back on the shelf..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncarter Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Actually, turning Car into FHM isn't really the stupidest idea in the world. Why is Top Gear the highest rated motoring programme on TV - and with a remarkably high female audience? Is it for the detailed reports on the latest car about to enter company fleet use, or on where you can buy the cheapest petrol? Or is it because it's a load of people messing about with cars and doing things in an irreverent manner? If you make Car more populist and make it appeal to a younger reader or the casual Top Gear viewer, how can that be a bad thing for the mag? More readers, younger readers and readers who would never have picked up the mag before. To be honest, magazines aren't ever published as a favour to the reader, more to generate sales and advertising profit. Who says car mags can't mess about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I think the point is Jason, that the financial goals of the magazine, may not be consistent with it's brand key / brand image. They run the risk of pissing off their existing readers if they take a change in direction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I hope I'm not too old for Car- I'm only 30! I don't mind FHM's style of writing or its irreverence, but I can't see the point of the Q&A style of road tests. Who writes the questions? Half the time I just skip that bit and read about the cars in Evo, where the style is infinately more readable. And they actually tell you what the car is like to drive. For me Car is about scoops and driving stories (such as the one recently on great driving roads in Europe, or Iain Banks on driving an F1 car, or anything by Phil Llewellyn), not stupid phone calls and articles with more style than substance. Car tried this a few years ago and it only lasted a few issues, hopefully sense will prevail again. And to be fair to JB I thought his article on the new S-class was really good, but I'm not sure what's up with those sunglasses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 [ QUOTE ] If you make Car more populist and make it appeal to a younger reader or the casual Top Gear viewer, how can that be a bad thing for the mag? More readers, younger readers and readers who would never have picked up the mag before. To be honest, magazines aren't ever published as a favour to the reader, more to generate sales and advertising profit. [/ QUOTE ] You could say the exact same about the Daily Telegraph. The Sun outsells it hugely and constantly so why doesn't THe Telegraph ditch the quality in depth reports, stick a bird with her tits out on page three and go with EASTENDER STAR THREE IN A BED SHOCKAA headlines instead? I believe that Max Power is the highest selling car mag in the UK, so to follow your theory, why not go the whole hog and put loads of chav cars with birds in their scanties all over them? Think of the ratings! Sorry, Car is, and always has been, the quality car journal. Right up until Barlow was put in charge. Jason Barlow, the Chris Bangle of magazine editing. Taking a successful high quality brand and flushing it down the toilet in order to establish his new direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activa Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 [ QUOTE ] why not go the whole hog and put loads of chav cars with birds in their scanties all over them? Think of the ratings! [/ QUOTE ] That's exactly what Fast Car did a few years ago and after being a subscriber for ages,I haven't bought a copy since. My mate works on the magazine and is a genuine car enthusiast but he has to admit,they go where the sales are-and that's to chavs with chav cars! If the remaining half decent mags follow suit,they'll be nothing left for us to read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 [ QUOTE ] ...why not go the whole hog and put loads of chav cars with birds in their scanties all over them? Think of the ratings! [/ QUOTE ] They did with that DBR9 article last year, just after JB took over. Judging be the letters in the following issue and the fact it's never happened again I'm guessing it was about as welcome as an open mouthed kiss from your maiden aunt. Personally I think the rot set in when Bulgin left and Llewelyn and Kitman fell strangely silent... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilB Posted November 8, 2005 Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 I'm not too keen on Top Gears new editor, Micheal Harvey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 In Car this month they phoned Ferrari in Italy and pretended they were from a crisp manufacturer and would Ferrari be interested in some Ferrari shaped crisps. Honestly, I kid you not, it's like reading Viz or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saab Posted November 8, 2005 Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 [ QUOTE ] In Car this month they phoned Ferrari in Italy and pretended they were from a crisp manufacturer and would Ferrari be interested in some Ferrari shaped crisps. [/ QUOTE ] Hilarious. He'll be graduating to whoopee cushions next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleBen Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Hi Y'all - new to forum but been browsing SP for a few months (always brings a smile). I was a regular Car subscriber for near on twenty years but stopped last year, not because of JB but due to a lack of quality articles by decent jurnos. Seems they're trying to be everything to everyone these days, take your point jc but I don't see the point of copying topgear or anyone else, you've got to go your own way and I always saw Car as the quality mag. Don't have anything against Barlow per-se but got to agree it's all going terribly wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudd Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Welcome to the forums, Littleben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F90X Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 I too have been supprised to see such twaddle as 'celecrity glovebox' It has always been the more adult of the motoring mags and I appreciated that even when I was in my teens and early 20's. To see it veer towards FHM readers and their ilk now i'm 40 would be very disapointing. In addition, what does Barlow look like, how hard is he trying with all those clothes designed for blokes in their 20's. I sometimes think what I wear is taking the piss for my age but he just looks like a nob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hi TyreSmoke - Morgan here. Long time reader, first time poster. I agree. Top Gear Magazine has gone to the dogs, as has Car and various other publications in their desperation to appeal to the great unwashed. All is not lost, however. There is one car magazine that's been going for 110 years and has never lost the plot... The world's best car magazine is Autocar. Simple as that. PS: I don't work for Autocar... Though I wish I did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F90X Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Never been a fan of Autocar, not quite glossy enough for me. I like shiny mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Never been a fan of Autocar, not quite glossy enough for me. I like shiny mags. [/ QUOTE ] It's got to be Evo! Can I have a job Harry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vernan Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 Top Gear - poorly written lifestyle magazine for people who think the Focus is actually pretty sporty, and they would buy a decent car, but Sidcup is so congested and Autocar - too dull. Driving gloves and flat hats. Car - ruined by the new lads, 15 years after Loaded Evo - too many wannabees. Top Gear (TV) claimed that lots of people pretended to have a Ferrari in an anonymous survey - most of them now write to Evo. Letters to Evo are usually "I don't feel that my third GT3RS is quite as quick as my F430, but hey, I may be getting old." Walter Mitty twats. Real shame about Car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted December 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 No honestly, I've tested it thoroughly and my GT3RS is definitely slower than my F430, I just can't figure it out. Oh the diesel Frod Escort? No no, thats just my every day car, honest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now