Discussion
There was me hoping for a 'car mag fest' recently over a long weekend. My disappointment with what I got was kind of a reflection about many of the problems of the cars they write about. The car mag formula is pretty much as follows:
- take two or three 'senior' pundits (TG's aged three, Evo's line-up with 'Rich Harry' (now joined by Tiff), or lesser known mortals on Car mag (or for a real laugh the preposterously glorified narratives for the regular Octane pundits)
- get wood for the latest 50 variations of existing models launched that month by the Fourth Reich of the German car industry for 80% of your driven new car reviews
- have a 'gizmo & gadget' review section and of course some overpriced timepieces under horology section (again, Octane takes the raspberry prize here)
- write about the latest prototype and concepts that very few people even give a toss about
- have a section on an historical car figure
- a section of their biased view on cars currently being manufactured by list at the back (Evo is the only one to be dared to be different by listing past as well as present cars here which is a welcome and original feature)
- TG also differentiates itself (badly) by having the massive shadow of its 'big three' on everything (see the almost hushed and schoolboy-like excitement of one of the regular writers in the latest issue about how James May had actually driven his Hyundai long-term test car in a feature on the programme and it actually been filmed for five seconds!)
Nothing new here I know, but when everyone is complaining about an increasingly homogenous car industry it is a shame that one of the groups that helps us pressure and understand it better is now suffering from the same problem!
- take two or three 'senior' pundits (TG's aged three, Evo's line-up with 'Rich Harry' (now joined by Tiff), or lesser known mortals on Car mag (or for a real laugh the preposterously glorified narratives for the regular Octane pundits)
- get wood for the latest 50 variations of existing models launched that month by the Fourth Reich of the German car industry for 80% of your driven new car reviews
- have a 'gizmo & gadget' review section and of course some overpriced timepieces under horology section (again, Octane takes the raspberry prize here)
- write about the latest prototype and concepts that very few people even give a toss about
- have a section on an historical car figure
- a section of their biased view on cars currently being manufactured by list at the back (Evo is the only one to be dared to be different by listing past as well as present cars here which is a welcome and original feature)
- TG also differentiates itself (badly) by having the massive shadow of its 'big three' on everything (see the almost hushed and schoolboy-like excitement of one of the regular writers in the latest issue about how James May had actually driven his Hyundai long-term test car in a feature on the programme and it actually been filmed for five seconds!)
Nothing new here I know, but when everyone is complaining about an increasingly homogenous car industry it is a shame that one of the groups that helps us pressure and understand it better is now suffering from the same problem!
My issue with car mags is the schoolboy wet dream front cover art, which means I will never find out what articles are contained within, as I would be less embarrased purchasing a copy of Razzle than a car magazine these days. It must be ten years ince I bought one, especially as everything one needs to know can be found out painlessly and shame free online.
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