CAR

About CAR

CAR is Britain's oldest monthly motoring magazine — a monthly title published by Bauer Consumer Media from Peterborough, launched in 1962 as Small Car & Mini Owner and swiftly expanding its focus to become simply CAR. Renowned for its photography, writing and design, it has been the home of the world's most respected automotive journalists, from LJK Setright to Gavin Green and Georg Kacher. Its Editor-in-Chief is Phil McNamarra, and its website is carmagazine.co.uk.

The magazine's own history boasts that it created the group test, pioneered the drive story and coined the phrase "supercar" — and all three remain staples of CAR to this day. International editions are published or licensed by Bauer Automotive in more than a dozen countries, from South Korea and Brazil to Mexico and South Africa.

Launched in 1962 as Small Car & Mini Owner

The roots of CAR go back to early 1962, when publisher Jack Wildbore had an idea for a new motoring title. The Mini was gaining popularity and other small cars were launching or planned; Wildbore wanted a magazine dedicated to them: Small Car & Mini Owner. The "Incorporating Sporting Driver" addendum widened the appeal and allowed it to add sports cars and motor racing.

Wildbore's company, Interspan, was based in Fleet Street in central London. George Bishop, who had worked for the publishers of Autocar and Motor, was chosen as first editor. Bishop would become a CAR legend — his column Carte Blanche went on to charm and entertain readers for more than 25 years with its self-deprecating style and rich humour.

The Giant Test and the Supercar

CAR forged a path of innovation from its earliest issues: it created the group test — the head-to-head comparison format originally developed in the 1960s under the "Giant Test" name — pioneered the drive story, and coined the phrase "supercar." All three remain staples of automotive journalism worldwide.

Those early issues used cheap paper like most magazines of the period, with grainy photos and dodgy printing — but under art director Charles Pocklington the typography was bold and the layouts often mould-breaking, with splashes of colour peppering the grainy grey.

The FF Publishing Years

In 1974, Ian Fraser led a management buyout of the title, purchasing CAR from Nat Mags for just £7,500 in instalments alongside Andrew Frankl, Doug Blain and Roger Ames. The deal, as Frankl recalled, was done over "a very wet lunch — two gin and tonics, one large brandy."

This became a 50:50 partnership between Frankl and Fraser — FF Publishing — with Fraser handing the editorial reins to Mel Nichols while shaping the magazine as publisher and managing director. The early years ran on a shoestring — Fraser even bought a pub to diversify the business — but by the late 1980s the gamble had paid off: in 1989 the trio sold the magazine to News International for a reported £8 million.

The Home of Great Motoring Writers

CAR inspired most of the best English-speaking motoring journalists working today. "They are nearly all children of CAR," said Mel Nichols, editor from 1974 to 1981. Jeremy Clarkson was inspired by CAR — his outspoken, devil-may-care approach is, in the magazine's own history, "the CAR formula transferred to the small screen."

From LJK Setright to Gavin Green and Georg Kacher, CAR has always been and continues to be the home of the world's most respected automotive journalists. Gavin Green, who came in from the Sydney Morning Herald, and later editor Angus MacKenzie, who served his time at Australia's Wheels, gave the magazine its distinctive tone: sceptical, informed, witty and joyfully irreverent.

Published by Bauer Consumer Media

CAR is published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media from Peterborough, part of the Bauer Media Group. International editions are published or licensed by Bauer Automotive across South Korea (since March 2016), Brazil, China, Greece, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Middle East, Romania, Russia, South Africa (under the title topcar), Spain, Thailand and Turkey.

The magazine's current Editor-in-Chief is Phil McNamarra, and its circulation was recorded at 48,370 (June 2013). The online edition, carmagazine.co.uk, extends the brand's reach with buying guides, news analysis and the magazine's celebrated long-form features.

The Giant Test Today

CAR features a regular group test under the "Giant Test" name — originally developed by the magazine in the 1960s — alongside "newcomer" first drives of new cars, interviews with significant figures in the motor industry, and other features. It remains the format the magazine invented: the definitive head-to-head.

The drive story, the group test and the supercar — three of motoring journalism's fundamental forms, all created by CAR — continue to define how cars are written about across the world, more than sixty years after Jack Wildbore's idea for a small-car magazine.

CAR Today

From Small Car & Mini Owner in 1962 to today's international brand, CAR has remained Britain's oldest monthly motoring magazine — renowned, in its own words, "for its photography, writing and design," and still the home of the world's most respected automotive journalists.

As the magazine that changed the way motoring journalism could be done, CAR continues to set the standard — monthly in print, daily online at carmagazine.co.uk.

Small Car & Mini Owner: The 1962 Origins

To understand CAR, you must go back to early 1962, when publisher Jack Wildbore had an idea for a new motoring title. The Mini was gaining popularity and other small cars were launching or planned; Wildbore wanted a magazine dedicated to them — Small Car & Mini Owner, with the Incorporating Sporting Driver addendum widening its appeal to sports cars and motor racing. His company, Interspan, was based in Fleet Street, and George Bishop — who had worked for the publishers of Autocar and Motor — was chosen as first editor. Bishop was soon sacked, only to return as a contributor; his column Carte Blanche charmed and entertained readers for more than 25 years with its self-deprecating humour and ribald enjoyment of car-industry hospitality.

Those early issues used cheap paper and grainy photos, but under art director Charles Pocklington the typography was bold and the layouts often mould-breaking — the second issue even pasted in Britain's best-selling car, the Ford Cortina, in "a calculated attempt to sell the public ordinariness". The title swiftly expanded its focus and became CAR (January 1966). Under editors Mel Nichols (1974–81) and Steve Cropley — who took over in autumn 1981 after answering an advert placed by Wheels magazine from Broken Hill, Australia — CAR graduated from pioneering rebel to the UK's best-selling enthusiast title, overtaking What Car? as overall market leader.

The Giant Test and the Word "Supercar"

CAR forged a path of innovation it still walks: it created the group test — the regular "Giant Test", developed in the 1960s — pioneered the drive story and coined the phrase "supercar". All three remain staples to this day. The magazine inspired most of the best English-speaking motoring journalists working today — "they are nearly all children of CAR", said Mel Nichols — and Jeremy Clarkson's outspoken, devil-may-care approach was, in his own assessment, the CAR formula transferred to the small screen: "CAR changed the way it could be done."

From LJK Setright to Gavin Green — whose two-part history marked the magazine's 60th anniversary — and Georg Kacher, CAR has been the home of the world's most respected automotive journalists, renowned for photography, writing and design. International editions are published or licensed across South Korea (since March 2016), Brazil, China, Greece, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the Middle East, Romania, Russia, South Africa (as topcar), Spain, Thailand and Turkey. Circulation stood at 48,370 in June 2013, and Phil McNamarra serves as editor-in-chief of what its website calls Britain's oldest monthly motoring magazine: carmagazine.co.uk.