Robert Coucher

[corporalsparrow]

slk 32 said:

…..preening self obsessed narcissist

Very nicely put.

However, for the sake of balance…it would be a dull world if all motoring journalists were from precisely the same mould. he at least has his own 'voice' and style. Whereas many, many journalists simply ape either Jeremy Clarkson or the Car magazine style of the 80's and 90's.

What really did irritate me was his fawning, unwavering adulation of Mark Hales even after he was slammed by the judge in that case; a point blank refusal to acknowledge facts and revise his position.

[Roy C]

slk 32 said:

He has a total lack of self awareness- essentially he is Alan Partridge with an XK140

Robert Coucher? Ah-Ha!

Edited by Roy C on Thursday 24th April 12:37

[slk 32]

I am feel slightly guilty now... I think what annoys me is that by and large the classic car community is a broad church- i take as much pleasure in a well restored Fiat Strada TC as I do in a multi million £ Ferrari... it's his elitism that grates

[Heaveho]

The statement by a previous poster regarding the Coucher "Bristols to Belgium" article is nail on head territory. He came across as an absolute horn pill!

Motoring journalism's been on the skids since the demise of Setright, although, in defence of Clarkson, at least he's one of the few public figures left who's prepared to tell it as he sees it, without quaking over the consequences.

[Carnage]

I binned off my subscription in protest at his pretentious buffoonery.

I don't like Lillywhite, either. Floppy haired fool. Low quality racing driver.

I dislike intensely the ad bloke who bought a DB7 and minces on about it.

Photos are usually good though.

[Bluebottle911]

Do I detect a note of jealousy in many of these comments?

As someone reminded us earlier, Robert was one of the founders of Octane magazine, still IMO the best all round classic motoring magazine available in the UK and he is one of the most experienced classic car journalists in the business. And he probably actually uses his classic car a lot more than most of us do. The fact is that he does what many of us would like to do and funds his lifestyle by writing about it. So good luck to him.

[RichB]

coppice said:

... Coucher made one of his elitist comments about the Members Meeting at Goodwood in Octane - the right crowd and no crowding Brooklands quote - and in doing so neatly epitomised why wkers like him have put me off returning to Goodwood .

Although he was absolutely correct in saying that it was a pleasure to watch wonderful classic & historic cars racing without the event being over crowded.

[coppice]

Of course; but it's the smug elitism that sticks in my throat. But Octane seems hardly about cars most of the time but about shiny people with too much money - check out the forthcoming events and it's a list of posh concours d'elegance in Eurotrash hotspots . Not my scene at all- wonder how many of the Goodwood glitterati ever attend meetings at other venues? Don't see too many at Cadwell thank God , juts real enthusiasts who don't feel it necessary to dress up as some panto act or - retch- take part in some public school house game farce .

Octane - some very good articles in some months , shame about the smugness per page ratio.

[Edmundo2]

Agree. I bought Octane from the off and thought it was great - loved the ferrari/cobra pics in the first edition. However I cancelled my subscription a couple of years ago because it simply became too elitist. Now and again they feature an old club mans racer or tip a nod to a Mini Cooper etc but generally it just seems like the silver spoon brigade flouncing about at prick conventions like pebble beach or salon prive, ( neither of which I would ever want to attend even though I love the cars ). It seems completely out of touch with anyone other than gentry. Can't remember whether Coucher was gifted a 356 or B20 Aurelia or both?

Any how must remember to buy the next edition that comes with a free watch supplement so that I can see which Richard Mille horror I can spank a £100k on.

[epoch911]

Edmundo2 said:

Agree. I bought Octane from the off and thought it was great - loved the ferrari/cobra pics in the first edition. However I cancelled my subscription a couple of years ago because it simply became too elitist. Now and again they feature an old club mans racer or tip a nod to a Mini Cooper etc but generally it just seems like the silver spoon brigade flouncing about at prick conventions like pebble beach or salon prive, ( neither of which I would ever want to attend even though I love the cars ). It seems completely out of touch with anyone other than gentry. Can't remember whether Coucher was gifted a 356 or B20 Aurelia or both?

Any how must remember to buy the next edition that comes with a free watch supplement so that I can see which Richard Mille horror I can spank a £100k on.

I spent last weekend with Mark Dixon (the Deputy Editor at Octane) on the MCC Lands End Trial. He was driving a £400 Scimitar SS1, writing an article en route and recording his first attempt at this event. Glamorous and elitist it was not and Mark is about as far from gentry as its possible to be. You'd struggle to find a more genuine, engaged and down to earth enthusiast.

Just in the interests of balance....

Ant

[lockhart flawse]

coppice - WTF is a public school house game farce?

[RichB]

coppice said:

Of course; but it's the smug elitism that sticks in my throat. But Octane seems hardly about cars most of the time but about shiny people with too much money - check out the forthcoming events and it's a list of posh concours d'elegance in Eurotrash hotspots . Not my scene at all- wonder how many of the Goodwood glitterati ever attend meetings at other venues? Don't see too many at Cadwell thank God , juts real enthusiasts who don't feel it necessary to dress up as some panto act or - retch- take part in some public school house game farce .

Octane - some very good articles in some months , shame about the smugness per page ratio.

So don't go? Why drone on about it? Does watching motor racing at Brands, Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans somehow make one more worthy as a spectator? I venture to suggest your inverted snobbery is an attempt to position yourself as being somehow more elite than the person who enjoyed the 72MM a few weekends ago and that's absolute tosh.

[velocemitch]

lockhart flawse said:

coppice - WTF is a public school house game farce?

Rugby perhaps...... runs and ides..

[coppice]

Goodwood Members' meeting had a house system where drivers and spectators were divided into separate houses (as at Greyfriars , Mallory Towers or wherever ) so they could play jolly games inter house. Having attended a very minor public school with a house system and loathed every second of my eight years snetence wild horses , even prancing ones , wouldn't get me to Goodwood for that sort of nonsense.

ETA that as a circuit I absolutely adore Goodwood and the first few Revivals I attended were superb ; I went off the place after it turned into a pantomime populated with braying hoorays . Judging by the lower attendance at other historic meetings I assume that part of the Goodwood demographic is more interested in the showing off than the machinery . If that makes me an inverted snob I plead guilty

Edited by coppice on Saturday 26th April 08:03

[Edmundo2]

epoch911 said:

I spent last weekend with Mark Dixon (the Deputy Editor at Octane) on the MCC Lands End Trial. He was driving a £400 Scimitar SS1, writing an article en route and recording his first attempt at this event. Glamorous and elitist it was not and Mark is about as far from gentry as its possible to be. You'd struggle to find a more genuine, engaged and down to earth enthusiast.

Just in the interests of balance....

Ant

Fair enough. As I mentioned they sometimes do feature this sort of stuff and I have no issue with the individuals per se as I'm sure they're good blokes but as the rest of the posts in this thread suggest it's the ratio of uber high end articles that grates. I appreciate fully that some have either been more privileged or worked harder at school than others and that for those individuals exotica is the norm however it would be nice if they remembered that a large proportion of readers are just as passionate about the machinery featured but aren't lucky enough to move in the same circles.

I love to read about classic racers or supercars and I fully understand that these often go hand in hand with glamour but I just wish they could save more column inches for the vehicle and allocate less to the details of fine dining or features on collectable revolvers etc.

Nice garage by the way!

[MGJ2]

Coppice, excuse me but what do you mean when you say "eurotrash"?
And are not you elitist yourself when you think you are a better person because you visit other events that you consider proper motorsportsevents?

[CQ8]

I'm not a big fan of RC but I enjoy reading the odd issue of Octane. If they got Buckley to be a columnist and write the odd articles on the more affordable end of the exotic ladder then it may even convince me to subscribe....

I saw this on You Tube recently, I can't decide if it confirms or rejects the opinions on here about him. But it is nice to see the cars being driven...

Get your driving gloves on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPiXHxzGq4k

[RichB]

CQ8 said:

...I saw this on You Tube recently, I can't decide if it confirms or rejects the opinions on here about him. But it is nice to see the cars being driven...Get your driving gloves on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPiXHxzGq4k

The cars should swap reg nos.

[coppice]

MGJ2 said:

Coppice, excuse me but what do you mean when you say "eurotrash"?
And are not you elitist yourself when you think you are a better person because you visit other events that you consider proper motorsportsevents?

Of course I'm elitist ! I like real race meetings with real enthusiasts - toffs or trailer trash are both fine by me . VSCC meetings have a wide demographic but lovely people; ditto the drag racing and rallying crowd.

Eurotrash- abusive term for rich people with more money than taste ; habitat varies according to season as they are a migratory species. Call is noticeable - even in different languages- a loud braying noise. Like shiny objects , especially watches worth more than my car and females often seen in unfeasibly deep tan plumage, regardless of time of year.Males tend to mate with significantly younger females.The species tend to become over excited when their hideously over restored classic car wins some bauble awarded by a C list celeb judge ; also seen on Grand Prix grid where they profess their long held love of motor sport /F1 (The terms tend to be interchangeable in their language ). Background reading - the front pages of Octane every month .

[EggsBenedict]

I intensely dislike Octane's 'vibe'. It's really a 'lifestyle' mag with a motoring bent, but a motoring bent that essentially is bound up in the value or investment potential of the cars. The enthusiasm for the cars in their own right rarely comes across for me. It's a real shame as the photography and production quality is really top notch. David Lillywhite used to work for Practical Classics back in the day - wonder if he remembers those roots now? Also worked on Bike and PB - he didn't really have much cred as a journo on those though IMO.

As a mag, I prefer C&SC, but I only buy it if there is a particular feature I'm especially interested in. If it had Octane's picture quality, I'd probably buy it more.

ETA: in a time when printed media is under intense competition from other forms, I suppose Octane must be doing something right to still be in business....