The voice of L J K Setright

[Leins]

WJNB said:

I have his book LONG LANE WITH TURNINGS on the shelf above me as I write this. His passing & those of similar intellect highlights how low motoring journalism has sunk & how easily the unwashed masses are pleased with the Sun/News of the World as was/ Top Gear standard of writing.

I agree entirely, and in some ways I think the finger of blame points very much in the direction of one Jeremy Clarkson. However, and I'm sure to be shot here for saying this, I always found Clarkson's early (PC Mag) writing more entertaining than Setright's. Albeit not quite as informative

[Riley Blue]

WJNB said:

I have his book LONG LANE WITH TURNINGS on the shelf above me as I write this. His passing & those of similar intellect highlights how low motoring journalism has sunk & how easily the unwashed masses are pleased with the Sun/News of the World as was/ Top Gear standard of writing.

"...unwashed masses..."

[anonymous-user]

WJNB said:

I have his book LONG LANE WITH TURNINGS on the shelf above me as I write this. His passing & those of similar intellect highlights how low motoring journalism has sunk & how easily the unwashed masses are pleased with the Sun/News of the World as was/ Top Gear standard of writing.

I guess that'll be me then. Then, and now I really couldn't be bothered to wade through the vast amounts of his unique, let's say 'vernacular'. The snobbishness over 'getting' LJS is still rampant I see? Russel Bulgin to my mind was superior in every way, particularly in how he placed the reader, rather than a rather grand view of himself, foremost.

[WestYorkie]

Strela said:

WestYorkie said:

I have a copy of Setright's Bristol cars and engines surplus to requirements if anyone might be interested?

I would. Can't PM just now as I've been locked out of my email account and requested PH to change to another one, but no response yet. How can I get in touch with you?

Thanks

You could try nwaterworth74 at gmail . Com

[catman]

I always looked forward to his columns, but remember one article where he described a clutch as a "fudging tool," or similar.

He then referred to driving around a field as a child, and discovering that he'd been using the floor-mounted dipswitch when changing gear, thinking that it was the clutch.

I was never convinced by this and it clouded my views on his later writings.

Tim

[coppice]

The trouble is that if Setright were still writing , exposing his prose to the modern day motoring public would be like feeding pigs on strawberries . I make this gratuitously offensive remark based upon an entirely unscientific study of most of the modern motoring press . It's full of dreadful writing , the journalist are strangers to basic grammar and no cliche is spared. If I read 'rifle bolt gearchange' just once bloody more... Mind you , judging by the brevity of most pieces , the target readership has the concentration span of a three year old with ADHD .

[Dr Jekyll]

coppice said:

The trouble is that if Setright were still writing , exposing his prose to the modern day motoring public would be like feeding pigs on strawberries . I make this gratuitously offensive remark based upon an entirely unscientific study of most of the modern motoring press . It's full of dreadful writing , the journalist are strangers to basic grammar and no cliche is spared. If I read 'rifle bolt gearchange' just once bloody more... Mind you , judging by the brevity of most pieces , the target readership has the concentration span of a three year old with ADHD .

This is the problem, instead writing articles they tend to write little more than extended picture captions. Fine flicking through but not if you want a solid read.

[otolith]

Bulgin was great, but he has too many inferior imitators. At least people don't even try to imitate LJKS.

[Lester H]

Dr Jekyll said:

coppice said:

The trouble is that if Setright were still writing , exposing his prose to the modern day motoring public would be like feeding pigs on strawberries . I make this gratuitously offensive remark based upon an entirely unscientific study of most of the modern motoring press . It's full of dreadful writing , the journalist are strangers to basic grammar and no cliche is spared. If I read 'rifle bolt gearchange' just once bloody more... Mind you , judging by the brevity of most pieces , the target readership has the concentration span of a three year old with ADHD .

This is the problem, instead writing articles they tend to write little more than extended picture captions. Fine flicking through but not if you want a solid read.

True. Setright could be quirky to the point of annoyance but was master of his subject and not a redrafter of press releases. he had a bit of a tyre obsession which could verge on the boring and an inordinate love of Hondas, though that was probably due to their superb engineering, engines in particular ,then as now.. He would probably not be as popular today but remains one of the Serious Big Names. Totally agree with whoever said there would be no point in imitating him.....and didn't he sound just as expected?

Edited by Lester H on Tuesday 30th August 00:33

[Lester H]

Leins said:

WJNB said:

I have his book LONG LANE WITH TURNINGS on the shelf above me as I write this. His passing & those of similar intellect highlights how low motoring journalism has sunk & how easily the unwashed masses are pleased with the Sun/News of the World as was/ Top Gear standard of writing.

I agree entirely, and in some ways I think the finger of blame points very much in the direction of one Jeremy Clarkson. However, and I'm sure to be shot here for saying this, I always found Clarkson's early (PC Mag) writing more entertaining than Setright's. Albeit not quite as informative

Clarkson is an absolute master of his craft, but his target audience is wider and hence less " technical" than Setright's. Also a Rabelasian sense of hearty sixth-form humour as opposed to dry, erudite wit of Setright. But ( cliche alert!) horses for courses.

[Mr Tidy]

otolith said:

Bulgin was great, but he has too many inferior imitators. At least people don't even try to imitate LJKS.

Thankfully! LJKS was "precious" enough to not need imitators! Pretentious, moi?!

I much preferred George Bishop back in the day!

Q.E.D. Honda fixation - not for me thanks!

[gl20]

Can't add much to the LJKS debate but I did get to see him at a debate at Exeter Uni in Autumn 91. The motion was 'the car is the scourge of modern society.' Unsurprisingly, he was speaking against and one convincingly. I remember seeing his Honda Prelude outside ('if this is the Prelude, what be the Sequel'). Reg LJKS1 and had some aftermarket alloys that were really not great looking but presumably necessary to quench his thirst for a particular tyre that he was no doubt raving about At the time.

Interesting to see some say Car is getting good again (although that's the bit of the thread from 2 years ago) May give it another go. For me it lost it when it went to the larger format in 94. Right before that they had the Mac F1 and F355 editions that were stand out for me. I eventually gave up on Car and moved to Evo around 15 years ago but now finding I rarely read Evo properly so will give Car another go.

[otolith]

Mr Tidy said:

otolith said:

Bulgin was great, but he has too many inferior imitators. At least people don't even try to imitate LJKS.

Thankfully! LJKS was "precious" enough to not need imitators! Pretentious, moi?!

I much preferred George Bishop back in the day!

Q.E.D. Honda fixation - not for me thanks!

Setright's style wasn't an affectation, though. That's just how he was. Bulgin was consciously stylised, which is why he spawned a generation of Troy Queefs.

Bishop was an entertaining food writer. Not sure how good he was on cars, he never seemed to write about them.

[coppice]

Long John Kickstart's masterpiece was , of course' Drive On- a social history of the motor car'. And that's exactly what it is. Quirky, thought provoking , erudite and exquisitely written. Highly recommended if you are a fan.

Bulgin- a truly wonderful writer. Cool , original, so aware of societal trends and also a deeply knowledgeable motor sport journalist .I saw his distinctive frame at Donington once and wished I'd said hello Troy Queef is a parody of the low rent journalists who succeeded Russell.He was inimitable - closest would be Nick Kent of The Face fame. The book 'Bulgin'( published after his death by his mates) is wonderful - and bloody expensive if you didn't buy a copy when it was published.

And if we are talking about great car journalism we have to mention the daddy of them all , David E Davis (as his style inspired Car which , in turn changed everything in UK magazines - shame it's now a poundland version of what it was). He wrote for such as Car and Driver in USA and was sublime

[Truckosaurus]

coppice said:

L...Car .... it's now a poundland version of what it was....

Very much so. As a teenager in the early '90s I used to save my pocket money to buy CAR every month. Their line-up of columnists in those days was George Bishop, LJKS, Bulgin and Phil Llewellyn, all with their own style and I don't think there's a single columnist in recent years that can touch any of them.

[Veeayt]

Does anyone know where to read Bulgin's works online?

[CS Garth]

Apologies if anyone has mentioned this already but Mel Nichols "And the Revs Keep rising" is excellent. He edited Car for some years as people will no doubt be aware.

Criminally I picked this up for £1.99 in a remainder book shop a few months ago

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revs-Keep-Rising-Great-Dr...

[Rangeroverover]

Many years ago I was returning a press bike to BMW and Setright was collecting one, the PR manager asked him if he would mind dropping me at the station and got an uber pompous response along the lines of "a motorcycle is designed solely for the use of one person" then he turned and walked away.

His rudeness sort of put me off him from then on

[rohrl]

I found Setright's columns in Car to be tedious in the extreme. Maybe it was just because he was getting old by the time I started reading but his constant harping on the subjects of Bristol and Honda was just boring.

Anyone who enjoyed the writings of George Bishop definitely ought to read Roy Lanchester on Sniff Petrol.

[jazzybee]

Thanks for bringing this thread back.... am listening to the R4 programme now and surfing for books and old magazines of his writing - I loved and loathed his writing. Loathed as it was often so difficult for the dyslexic teenager I was to dissect, but once I had done so, after reading 2 or 3 times (slowly) - especially the articles explaining the benefits of the Prelude's 4WS system, it provided so much pleasure. When 'Car' came out each month, first stop was LJKS, followed by Phil L, Bulgin, then George Bishop. I remember James May joining the line up years later, and howled at the article on the merits of the passenger footwell hook in the Nissan Almera (I think) for carrying the curry takeaway home... Great memories.

Did anyone ever write a biography on LJKS? I am sure it would make for some great reading.