Veteran motoring journalist who quit the civil service – ‘it was all very Yes Minister’ – in order to join Motor in 1984
GEARBOX
1 I used to do reviews for What Hi-Fi? and High Fidelity and always promised myself a high-end turntable. I bought this Roksan Xerxes with Rega RB300 arm with my redundancy money when Motor was closed in 1988 after being taken over by Autocar… which I immediately joined!
2 When I was young I made loads of models. Scalextric was the top brand for slot racers but others made much better cars. Airfix took over Bournemouth’s MRRC and made this 250LM. I went to huge American raceways (155ft round, with banked bends) where cars could hit 40mph. The last car I made was my pièce de résistance, a Lola T70 MkIII BGT with the best motor and tyres, but I can’t find it!
3 I didn’t come from a motoring family but my parents indulged my passion. This 1958 Eagle Book of Cars and Motorsport was just the sort of gung-ho title that helped fuel my childhood obsession.
4 I’ve used a Weller soldering gun since 1967, when I was building slot racers. My original one broke recently when it fell off the workbench, but new ones aren’t as nice or as powerful so I tracked down this older one to replace it.
5 I joined Motor in 1984 at the age of 29, but it wasn’t until 1986 that I finally appeared on the cover. I was so proud of the magazine at the time and it totally took over my life while I was on the staff.
6 Good tools last forever if looked after. The spanners are from the toolkit of my father’s Wolseley 1500 and I bought this socket set for £7.99 in 1978.
7 One of my first car launches, the rebodied Renault
