A costly confession?

Your News Briefs editor and the Committee are very keen that more members take up the challenge of submitting an entry for our member profile pieces – you’ll find the latest by Jeff Bloxham further on in this newsletter. So we offer the following tale as a very rare example of what might follow such an entry…   

In the Guild member profile, chair Simon Harris revealed in answer to the question ‘Do you have a dream car you’d like to own or drive?’ that he had a hankering for a Jaguar XJ12 – specifically the generation that was meant never to have a V12 engine.

Guild member Letitia Mace, editor of Xclusively Jaguar magazine, then contacted Simon to let him know that in the collection of cars she and her partner Rob Jenner had curated over the years, there was a 1993 XJ12 that could be for sale.

Simon went to look at the car in May. It was a 77,000-mile example that had always been MOT’d, had been owned by Rob for 26 years and had a file full of bills, history and memorabilia. They discussed business over a cordial dinner, agreed a price and Simon returned on Saturday (14th June) to collect the car and drive it home from the Scottish Borders.

Members are reminded that the Q&A for the profile can be obtained from Simon, or comms officer Andrew Charman, and we encourage all members to use it as a means of getting to know each other better. However, beware of including a ‘dream car’ that is dangerously obtainable and could be sourced through our community of Guild members!

Give as you Live to help Guild Ben fund

Not all members may be aware that those who regularly shop online can help the Guild Benevolent Fund by registering with Give as you Live.

Signing up on the Give as you Live website is free – you then nominate the Guild Benevolent Fund as your chosen charity, and each time you want to shop online you go to the Give as You Live website first and click through to the store you intend to use from it.

Doing this notifies the store in question that you are a Give as you Live supporter, and a donation is automatically made to the Guild Benevolent Fund. More than 6,000 stores take part in the scheme, including leading names such as Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Tesco, Morrisons, Argos, Currys, Halfords, Travelodge… the list goes on.

So if you intend to make that online purchase this weekend, please go to Give as you Live first. The website explains everything in detail and by using it you will helping the Guild Benevolent Fund to continue its vital work helping our members.  

Guild Member Profile: Dino Buratti

Dino is the latest member to take part in our initiative to help with recognition and making introductions easier at industry events, by revealing a bit more about members than can be gleaned from their Year Book entry. If you’d like to take part simply send to the News Briefs editor with a suitable landscape-shaped photo.

Name and job title: Dino Buratti, researcher/writer (cars), Which?

How did you get started in automotive journalism? I was a student on the MA Automotive Journalism course at Coventry University between 2021 and 2022 after studying history at undergraduate level at Coventry between 2018 and 2021. I then joined Which? in September 2022 after finishing the course; I’ve been there ever since.

What’s been your most memorable car review or feature piece? I often find I have a good time in Japanese cars, with my recent review of the diesel Mazda CX-80 earlier this year being the most memorable. It was, at the time, the most expensive and powerful car I’d ever driven on a week-long loan before, and was the first modern diesel car I’d ever driven on public roads.

The Mazda generally proved itself to be a pleasant antidote to the touchscreen-heavy range of cars I typically drive and was also very upmarket, efficient and spacious. Of greater interest was the fact that the driver who picked the car up from me told me that he’d delivered the same car to one Jeremy Clarkson the week before I had it on loan, which was certainly unexpected.

Which motoring story or investigation are you most proud of? I was (and still am) involved in a long-running investigation into potentially dangerous behaviour that was exhibited by the MG4’s lane-departure warning technology in our lab test of this car. The investigation involved negotiating with MG regarding its willingness to timely develop and release a software update to correct the issue, talking with the DVSA and VCA about how the software update would be approved for UK drivers and enquiring with our car lab for more detail about what happened.

I’ve also helped to raise awareness of the issue, with around 110 MG4 owners contacting Which? to tell us of their experiences with their car’s lane-departure warning technology. The VCA credited the investigation for prompting the update, while the majority of owners we’ve heard from that have received the update are pleased with it.

How has motoring journalism changed since you started? I may not have been in the industry for long, but even in a few years it’s clear that there’s now a greater need to make the most of the resources we have to maximise our outputs.

What was the first car or motorcycle you ever owned? The first (and only) car I’ve ever owned is my 2003 Seat Arosa, which I bought in 2017 to learn to drive in. With test cars often coming and going regularly, it doesn’t get used much but it’s often poignant to drive a car that’s very basic and doesn’t really have any safety equipment fitted. It’s also amusing to tell people that’s the car I own; they expect me to own something more modern or performance-focused.

Do you have a dream car or other vehicle you’d love to own or drive? I could say something exotic like a Ferrari (I am half-Italian, after all). But my dream garage would have four cars in it: an original Honda Insight (for the efficiency) a Volvo 960 estate (for practicality), a Jaguar XJR X308 (for luxury) and a Pembleton T24 (for driving for fun).

What’s the best road trip you’ve ever been on? I can’t say I’ve ever been on a road trip, weirdly. But the closest thing is my weekly (or so) commute from my Worcestershire home to the Which? office in London – it’s around 115 miles each way.

Which motoring event do you always look forward to? I’d say SMMT Test Day in May – it’s one of the few events where lots of motoring writers and content creators come together to drive cars and socialise with brands and each other.

What’s the biggest challenge facing automotive writers today? Changes to how search engines rank websites can make it hard for authoritative content to stand out for search engine users, with less definitive and more questionable content types being promoted over others. It’s therefore harder for writers to gain exposure for their work – regardless of whether they are freelance or employed.

Where do you see the future of automotive journalism heading? In the next 10 or 20 years I expect that a lot of print-focused operations will either significantly reduce their outputs or will close down entirely, as more people consume media online. And with a greater number of influencer-type people posting content through social media and video sites, it will be harder for writers to publish content that’s read by noteworthy numbers of people.

How do you think vehicle manufacturers could improve their media engagement? I often find that different car manufacturers communicate in very different ways. Some representatives are very easy to communicate with and get hold of, while you have to work hard to get very little out of others.

This isn’t related to the number of employees a PR team has; in fact, I often find that the smallest PR teams are among the most responsive while teams with larger staff numbers (or that employ external PR agencies to represent them) are among the least helpful.

What’s the strangest or funniest thing that’s ever happened on a car launch? One of the most surreal things to happen to me on a car launch was at the UK launch of the Mazda MX-30 R-EV. The driving route went from Liverpool to near Llandudno and back via North Wales. Part of the route went through Llanberis, which I’d last visited 12 years before as an 11-year old on a family holiday. If you’d have said to me then that the next time I would pass through the area would be on a car launch in a rotary-engined Mazda, I would have scoffed at the very thought of it…

If you could swap jobs with someone in the industry for a day, who would it be? One of my slightly odd interests is related to how manufacturers price cars and the offers they have. I’d be very interested in going behind the scenes to see how they decide what types of offers they’d promote and what sort of customer a brand would target with any given promotion.

What’s your go-to driving music or podcast? I don’t listen to music in my own car. In press cars I’ll either play music off my phone or listen to music stations like Gold.

John charts noughty years of Le Mans

Another Guild member has debuted as a book author, and the first work solely written and photographed by John Brooks is an impressive one – Le Mans: The Official History 2000-09 publishes just in time for the 2025 running of the great race.

Published by Evro as the eighth volume of a decade-by-decade coverage of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the book is officially licensed by the ACO, organisers of the race. The book runs to more than 400 pages with around 40 dedicated to each year’s race, covered in great detail both in words and photos including full results. In total there are more than 500 photos all taken by John.

The ‘noughties’ was the decade of Audi, the marque winning eight of the 10 races with the related Bentley taking one of the others (the other won by Peugeot). Seven of the winning teams over this period included Danish driver Tom Kristensen and he supplies the forward for the book.

John, who serves on the Guild committee, has had a lifelong passion for the Le Mans 24 Hours, attending his first race in 1978 and working as an accredited photographer at the event between 1984 and 2019.

More details of John’s book and ordering facilities can be found here.

Passes available for British Motor Show 2025

Recent weather might have convinced members that summer is already here, but it’s not far away and among an ever more crowded events calendar will be the annual British Motor Show.

Now in its fifth year since being revived as a family-focused event, the show will take place between 15th and 17th August, at its usual venue of the Farnborough Exhibition Centre in Hampshire.

As previously the event will feature a mix of new, used and classic cars, supercars, driving displays, a stunt show and marketplace sellers, both in the venue’s halls and various outdoor areas. Organisers expect more than 100 new cars to be present for viewing by the predicted 60,000-plus visitors.

Further features include two live arenas, two live stages and multiple interactive elements, while new attractions for 2025 include the Truck Pulling World Championships and UK Wrap Championship Finals.

Press accreditation for the show is now open and organiser Andy Entwistle is encouraging members to register as soon as possible as places for an exclusive press welcome at 9am on Friday 15th August will be strictly limited. Press passes will be valid for all three days of the event, offering complimentary access to the press room each day between 10am and 5pm, with refreshments and a dedicated wi-fi feed available.

Members can apply for accreditation on the press registration page. Those who need more information or interviews can contact the organising team.

Guild members invited to celebrate Gordon Cruickshank

We said goodbye to Gordon in January in somewhat bleak, damp and cold conditions at Putney Vale cemetery.

Some of Gordon’s family and friends would like to celebrate the life of our brave friend in hopefully finer weather and in a setting completely in keeping with his life and passion.

We’d very much like Guild members to join us on July 23rd at Brooklands.

Exact timings will follow, but it’ll be around lunchtime. We’d also like those who have an old car to bring it along. He’d have liked that.

Please could you RSVP to Colin Goodwin as soon as possible and he’ll get back to you with precise details for the day.

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Guild Member Profile: George Loveridge

This is the second in our new Member Profile initiative to help with recognition and making introductions easier at industry events by revealing a bit more about members than can be gleaned from their Year Book entry.

If you’d like to take part simply send to the News Briefs editor with a suitable landscape-shaped photo.

Name and job title: George Loveridge, editor and creator of Driving Around, motoring correspondent for Travel News Update, writer for gearnews.com, freelance photographer, guitar teacher and gigging guitarist. 

How did you get started in automotive journalism? I started  when I was 15, taking photos for Practical Classics magazine. My dad, Guy Loveridge, was writing several features on the restoration of an Austin 16 that he would later take around Europe covering seven capital cities across seven days. I supplied a large number of the photos. 

What’s been your most memorable car review or feature piece? For all the wrong reasons, my most memorable car review is the KGM Torres EVX. Having just moved into a new house, I had this car on loan at the time. Sadly, the 12-volt battery died, which caused the car to deadlock itself, but it still had enough battery to trigger the alarm in the early hours of the morning and the car had to be dragged off the drive. Hello new neighbours!

Which motoring story or investigation are you most proud of? I’m most proud of my piece comparing our 1956 Morgan Plus 4 to a contemporary model. Being able to persuade Morgan to loan the vehicle and then putting it next to an older model was very exciting and interesting. 

How has motoring journalism changed since you started? Since I started taking on press cars in 2021, electric vehicle loans are a lot more common. Plus, it’s getting harder still to get hold of vehicles to review, and generally my audience are bored of electric vehicles as they’re becoming so common.

What was the first car or motorcycle you ever owned? The first car that I ever had a V5 for was a 1929 Austin 7 Cambridge Special that had been in the family since the 1970s until 2005, and it was then reacquired in 2017 when I became the custodian of it. 

Do you have a dream car or other vehicle you’d love to own or drive? I would love to own, or at least drive, a Jaguar F-Type R. Having seen photos of it in 2013 when I was younger, everything about it appealed to me. 

What’s the best road trip you’ve ever been on? The best road trip has to be when I took my, at the time new to me by four days, 2003 Jaguar XJ6 down to Brighton and Eastbourne from West Yorkshire to cover a motoring event. I had had the car for very little time, and it was my first big trip in the big cat. 

Which motoring event do you always look forward to? I always look forward to The Holme Moss Hill Climb, an event that I have co-organised since 2020. It’s a relaxed day for car enthusiasts that helps to raise £1000s for The Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

What’s the biggest challenge facing automotive writers today? I believe that the biggest challenge  is the level of cooperation from press teams. Unless you’re already established, or are writing for a prestigious outlet, it’s very hard to convince manufacturers to play ball.

Where do you see the future of automotive journalism heading? It looks like it’ll be heading entirely online. Even now, you can make more money from a 12-second highlights video on YouTube or TikTok than selling a few hundred magazine copies. 

How do you think vehicle manufacturers could improve their media engagement? If manufacturers were as open as possible about all aspects of their new models, then their engagement would surely increase. 

What’s the strangest or funniest thing that’s ever happened on a car launch? Whist attending the KGM Actyon launch in January 2025, I took one of the test vehicles to Castle Combe Circuit, only to find that although there wasn’t anyone at the circuit, everything was ‘open’. Therefore, I was not only able to get some photos of the KGM in the paddock, but if I’d have been brave enough, I could have driven on track. Again, not a soul in sight…

If you could swap jobs with someone in the industry for a day, who would it be? Mat Watson seems to have a pretty good gig. 

What’s your go-to driving music or podcast? I always enjoy listening to The AutoAlex Podcast or even Simon Mayo’s Confessions on long journeys. However, I have a special rock mix for spirited driving, featuring The Beatles, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Golden Earring and the like – the good stuff. 

Join the RAC’s Concours event

The Royal Automobile Club is inviting Guild members with suitable cars to join the club at its Concours event on 9th July.

The Concours, held at the Woodcote Park clubhouse in Epsom, Surrey, is not a public event, historically only open to club members and their guests, but for the first time certain motoring organisations are being invited to attend and the RAC has selected the Guild as an organisation “that will perfectly complement the day’s proceedings with a select display of cars.”

Tickets cost £50 and can be ordered here, entering a code at checkout. This code can be obtained from the Guild General Secretary and the RAC emphasises that the code is specific to members – it should not be distributed to any other person.

The RAC adds that the Club Concours itself will feature more than 50 of the world’s finest cars, all carefully curated. Distinctive categories include cars under the groupings of Grand Tourers, Riviera, Coachbuilder’s Art, Limousines and the Mille Miglia, with a further category for pioneering London to Brighton veteran cars, and another celebrating the finest of motorcycles.

An independent panel of expert and influential concours judges will select the category winners, with trophies awarded to Category Winners, and the prestigious Best in Show. In addition a ‘People’s Choice’ will acknowledge the biggest crowd-puller.

Woodcote’s 350-acre estate of lawns, terraces and parkland will also host a wide variety of other features and displays including 75 years of Formula 1, 75 years of British motoring greats, 100 years of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, 120 years of the Tourist Trophy and the 125th anniversary of the Club-organised 1000 Mile Trial.

There will also be live music and interviews with key figures in the historic car world, and plenty of space to relax with a refreshing drink and food prepared by Woodcote’s chefs.

Got your exclusive Guild merch?

A photo sent in to News Briefs by member Keith Sueme, highlighting the Guild windscreen sticker proudly displayed on his 1975 Porsche 914 competing in a hillclimb, was accompanied by a question as to how many others display our badges on their cars and a plea to see some pictures in these pages.

This got us thinking, that many members may not be aware of the range of merchandise available, ranging from the badges through such items as a very useful folding umbrella (much used by the News Briefs editor until Mrs C nicked it…) through to our remarkable DVD of footage from the British GP in 1950, the very first race in the F1 World Championship which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The DVD also includes a fascinating sequence of an early Guild test day at Goodwood, forerunner to today’s SMMT Day.

A full list of what’s available can be downloaded here, and if you are going to the 2025 AGM next week, our General Secretary is taking some merchandise – and a card machine!

Moors getting merrier – final call

There are now just three places left to join in the Guild’s first ‘low cost’ replacement event for its traditional Euro Classic motoring tour; the latter regrettably mothballed after a decade of unsustainably rising expense (writes John Griffiths).

So this new three-night event, running from Friday 8th August to Monday 11th August, will be taking place in the UK – and we make no apology for that. It will be running across some of the best roads and through some of the finest scenery that England has to offer: the wild and stunning landscapes of the West Yorkshire Moors and beyond.

Some 15 crews, including some of the Guild’s leading members and hardened Euro Classic enthusiasts, are already signed up and looking forward to the weekend. 

Do take note: this event is not confined to the Euro Classic’s traditional entry of ‘classic cars only’. We are interested in attracting more younger members to the event by making it accessible whatever the car. We don’t want to see you just once a year at Castle Combe!

For the same accessibility reasons, the ‘Moors the Merrier’ will be based at the relatively modest, but utterly charming, Foxglove hotel (pictured above) on the Moors’ fringes outside Huddersfield. It is near Holmfirth, home of the Last of the Summer Wine TV series and – of particular interest to Guild members – the historic Holme Moss Hillclimb, where legends such as the Campbell family first cut their motor racing teeth and the centenary of which was recently celebrated. A series of visits to other places of interest is in the schedule.

Compared to the cost of taking part in the most recent Euro Classic – it had climbed to well over £1,000 – there is just one fixed cost: £372.70 per crew of two for all three nights at the hotel, including breakfast. We are working on a deal with the hotel for the two evenings we expect to have dinner there (the third, elsewhere, might be surprising). But essentially, all other spending will be discretionary – your fuel, any lunches, drinks and such

To take part, email John Griffiths for a quick-fill entry form, which contains the Guild’s BACS account details, to which the £372.70 should be sent. Under the terms of our contract with the hotel, the Guild must settle the rooms booking account by mid-July, 28 days before the start of the event.