PH Blog: Monkey says hello

Our man Harris starts today and asks 'play nice!'

A friend phoned me mid-December: "Don't whatever you do look at the story on PH about you joining, it's gone feral. It's scary."

What's the first thing any sentient being does when ordered not to look at something? Quite. So I sat and trawled through 34 pages of comments and then got drunk. And that's before I'd read the Stan re-write, or seen the Hitler video.

I suppose I'm chuffed so many people think this could be a good idea. And the negative stuff? Well, I've got my chance to prove I can produce some entertaining work for PH, and also a chance to persuade people to re-evaluate some of the perceptions about what I do, how I do it and, most importantly, what cars I like.

That's the exciting bit about PH for me; the reason I want to work here. Unlike every other prominent car-media platform, be it web, print or iPad, PH isn't beholden to the new car agenda. Yes, we're all interested in new cars, often stuff that isn't especially affordable, but the bulk of the conversation is about used cars. And I love used cars - in fact I probably suffer from some kind of medical condition (Garlickitis?) when it comes to buying old cars. Because the fact is I could knock about in test cars all year round - I know that sounds cocky, but it's the reality of being a motoring journalist - and yet I still end up buying sheds because they are the very crux of my love for cars.

The highest form of flattery, surely

I don't waste hours on new-car configurators. I waste time looking at E34 M5s. And Integrales. And Alfa 145 Cloverleafs. When I go for a run, all I can think about is whether it might be possible to use a 456 M GT for a year without bankrupting yourself.

How do I see PH? As a community with one shared passion: enjoying cars, bikes and pretty much anything that travels in a manner which cannot be considered ordinary. But also as a series of smaller communities, with very specific passions. I'm happy to engage in any kind of debate, but only if it carries with it the levity that motorised transport deserves.

Should I even dare mention the 'P' word at this point? Might as well give it a whirl. I like certain Porsches, but by no means all of them. For the record, I raced a factory Porsche in 2010, but I wasn't paid by them. I've also raced factory cars from Ford, Caterham, Peugeot, Renault and, would you believe it, a Mazda MX-5! And if you've seen a lot of Porsche content it's only because over the past decade Porsche has released new models at a relentless pace and it's my job to write about them, as well as everything else. In the past four years I have owned two Porsches. In that same period, I have owned three Ferraris. All of them funded with lashings of good old finance. And yes, I am in love with my 4.0 RS. Just as I am my AX GT, my 205, my E28 M5 and shagged-out classic Range Rover that loses 20kg in rust each week. Porsche is a big part of my life, but there is more besides. Much more.

What am I going to be doing at PH? Making tea for the gang in the office obviously. (We'll be holding you to that - Ed) Causing mayhem on the PH fuel and tyres expenses, naturally. Otherwise, driving the exciting new arrivals for 2012 - Toyota's GT 86, maybe a small Alfa sports car, maybe not any new Ferraris that surface. Hopefully the bulk of my output will come in blogs, wider discussion on the subject of enjoying cars and surfacing as many gems from the classifieds as possible. Each week, the video I will produce for the YouTube Drive channelwill be embedded here, complete with some accompanying, PH-specific words.

It's going to be a steep learning curve, but it'll be fun. Lastly, David Jones, or David87 as you call yourself: get in touch. The Stan thing was exceptional, I have a gift for you.

Happy motoring to all of you in 2012.

Chris

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