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The Team

The following people are responsible for the production and running of Vehicle Engineer:

Anne Hope - Publisher and Editor at Large

Award-winning journalist and Vehicle Engineer's editor-at-large, became involved with cars after leading an all-women team in a long-wheelbase Land Rover overland from London to Iraq and Iran. En route, she befriended 20 Arabs, who came to stay for a month in her Epping Forest garden, where they pitched their tents with Persian carpets over tarpaulins on the ground.

She began journalism on the Falmouth Packet, and her subsequent experience working in the Daily Telegraph library later prompted her to establish Motor Industry Archives, now an invaluable, wide-ranging source of information on all things automotive going back many years. It embraces news clippings updated daily, an array of other printed material, photographs and sound and film footage. Clients include authors, historians, journalists, publishers, advertising and marketing agencies, and the motor industry.

She has written about motoring for the Daily Herald, The Sun, Sporting Life and Pulse, a UK weekly for GPs, Automotive News in the US, and Automotive Engineer in the UK. Her many other roles have included European editor of Car & Driver in the US and European correspondent for a Japanese news and picture agency. Her relaxations include breeding ducks and chickens. An inveterate traveller, her many destinations embrace motor shows worldwide and out-of-the-way places such as Timbuktu, while competing in the Paris-Dakar Rally. She is a life member of Britain's Guild of Motoring Writers.

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Glen Smale - Managing Editor

Glen Smale graduated with a degree in Marketing from Rhodes University, South Africa, turning to writing as a fulltime career in the early 1990s. Glen’s journalism, when combined with his marketing insight, has helped him to see the motor car as more than just a mechanical and technical product, but as something that can evoke passion in the driver.

In 1994 he founded Automotive Research, an archive resource of motoring information and photography dating back to the early years of the motor industry itself. While living in South Africa, Glen wrote motoring features for most of the mainstream motor journals there and in 1997 he launched Autosport & Classics, a classic motoring and historic motor sport magazine.

Following several years as editor of a motoring website for a major UK insurance company, Glen decided to return to freelance writing. He is the author of two books on sports cars which also contain a number of his own photographs and he has several other ‘work in progress’ book projects right now. Glen writes regular monthly features for several motor magazines and has contributed to the production of Rolls-Royce’s centennial publication as well as compiling global reports on motor sport and marketing.

Glen’s personal hobbies (when he has time) include photography and golf and he has been a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers both in South Africa and the UK since 1995.

Professor D. Garel Rhys OBE - Consultant

Professor Garel Rhys OBE holds the SMMT Chair in Motor Industry Economics and is Director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research (CAIR) at Cardiff University Business School. From 1987 to 1999 Professor Rhys was Head of Economics in University College Cardiff, and then the Business School. He has written and broadcast widely on the global auto sector and has advised Government, Parliamentary Select Committees, international bodies and companies.

He is, among other things, currently President of the Institute of the Motor Industry, a member of the DTI's Motor Racing Industry Development Board and Chairman of the Economic Research Advisory Panel of the Welsh Assembly Government.

John Griffiths - Contributor

John Griffiths has been writing about motor industry, motor sport industry and motoring affairs for the FT for rather longer than he cares to think about – “at least 20 years.”

Journalism, however, came only second in terms of preferred careers. Having entered his father’s Austin A40 for a Southern Counties rally just a week after reaching 17 – rally officials said it was the first time they had started a car on L plates – he went on to put it into a ditch 10 miles from the start and has been hooked on motor sport ever since.

After simultaneously becoming a reporter on a Surrey local paper in his late teens and driving his long-suffering father’s now MK 11 Jaguar in sprints, he joined Fleet Street News Agency as editor of its local papers in Lewisham and Blackheath. Eventually tiring of the endless struggle to run a competition car on junior British journalist’s monthly pittances, he spread a map of North America across the floor one night, closed his eyes and reached for a pin…

Officials at Canada House told him in no uncertain terms that they would not let him go to where the pin had landed – about 20 miles from a small town on the Saskatchewan prairies where he would have had about a dozen farmers and a million prairie dogs for company.

But they did let him go to Canada’s Stampede capital, Calgary, armed with £200 from the sale of his by-then sole asset, a boat. He began working part-time as a sub-editor on the city’s morning daily, becoming news editor some nine months later “without ever really understanding why.” Not unnaturally his new-found status coincided with a strategic decision that the paper was in serious need of a weekly motoring column, its obvious author thus embarking on the long, slippery slope that would lead eventually to the FT .

He began racing and rallying with sufficient success to think about turning professional, requiring a return to Europe’s much more developed circuit racing culture and better chances of sponsorship. As he and now-wife Peggy prepared to leave, he was bizarrely offered the news editorship of the Times of Zambia. “We were completely torn. So we went to Calgary Press Club, got completely rat-assed and flipped a cent: heads for Silverstone, tails for Lusaka. It came down heads.”

Back in London, the FT was the only national seeking staff and offering a half-decent salary to prop up racing. “At the time I didn't’t know a balance sheet from a hole in the ground – I’m not sure that I do even now – but I got a job writing the front page non-business news column. The culture clash was amazing. At Stampede time we had one printer ride his horse through the composing room. At the FT they were still calling each other by surnames –it was almost Dickensian.”

During the intervening period marking the FT’s own transition into a global business icon Griffiths variously became night European news editor, writer on East-West trade across the Iron Curtain, regional columnist, night foreign news editor and joint deputy features editor before slithering into his most-wanted motors role. All went hand-in-hand with motor racing –production saloons, MGs and currently Porsches - and other motor sporting adventures. He was rapid intervention driver on Richard Noble’s Thrust 2 land speed record team, setting a 130mph world land speed record in the team’s idle moments with its Jaguar V12 fire tender on Black Rock Desert and later writing the script for the BBC’s much-shown film of the attempt, “For Britain and the Hell of It”.

He has competed in the 1993 London-Sydney Marathon and driven “Genevieve”
in the London to Brighton. Professionally, he has taken most pleasure of all in charting the progress of the brilliant British intuitive automotive designers, engineers and unique, back-of-an –envelope innovators whose genius has elevated Britain’s motor sport industry to become the world’s most pre-eminent.

Pim van der Veer - Contributor

Born in Delft, Holland, Pim has a wealth of experience in the automotive industry dating back to 1961 when his professional writing career began. But Pim’s interest in motor cars started well before that when as a young boy, collecting car advertisements and articles from the U.S. Saturday Evening Post and local publications. Pim’s interest in this field was undoubtedly fuelled by his father who was the Service & Spares manager for Morris Motors N.V. in his birth town.

Pim’s early collecting passion developed into what is today, ‘Autohistorisch Archief W. van der Veer & Zoon’, consisting of a library with a substantial collection of brochures, press photographs, own pictures, CD-Roms and articles about the automotive history. Today, Pim runs this facility together with his son Willem.

He joined M.G. Car Club Holland in 1957 with his first car, an M.G. TD 1950 and began writing soon after for that Club’s monthly newsletter. This was followed by reports of motor racing events and other subjects including economics and financial matters in motoring magazines. From 1965 until the end of 1970 he acted as Press & Liaison Representative for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in The Netherlands. This post opened the doors to the professional world of public relations and automotive market intelligence. A nine year spell (1956-1965 ) as agent for a German road tanker manufacturer in Holland gave Pim valuable inside knowledge into the commercial vehicle industry.

The foundation of his independent PR consultancy began on 1 January 1971 with press activities for the then newly created British Leyland Netherlands CV. Other car accounts included Subaru, Datsun, Hyundai, Seat, Skoda and Polonez. CV accounts were Foden, Pegaso, Hino and Iveco (1994-97 for the whole Benelux). Pim was Public Relations Consultant Northern Europe for Perkins Engines Limited of Peterborough, U.K., from 1972 until 1994, as well as Head of Information Department of the motor trade association BOVAG of The Hague in 1973-74. He was also the founder of The European Public Relations Group (EPRG) in Autumn 1971, acting as its co-ordinator since then.

Apart from motor industry, trade and road transport, other clients are served in the fields of security, ISO certification and diesel engine powered equipment. Today he is a contributor to the Dutch classic car publication Het Automobiel since its foundation in the early eighties.

Pim studied at the Nederlandsche Economische Hoogeschool (Rotterdam University) from 1953-55, after obtaining a Diploma HBS-b at secondary school.

Pim’s hobbies include a collection over 90 Olympus cameras, dictionaries, history and other reference books, LP records and CDs of classical music, fountain pens and neck ties.

Barrie Wills - Contributor

Barrie is a director of Chapman Automotive Ltd, an Essex-based engineering consultancy, and founder of the de Montfort automotive management consultancy. Early in his career, he was chief buyer at Jaguar, and he later held a senior purchasing position at British Leyland Truck and Bus Division before joining Reliant Motor Company, where he was deputy managing director.

In 1978, he joined DeLorean as director responsible for product development, purchasing, production control, parts and service. He has since led projects for the Indonesian government, Land Rover, Lotus and Lamborghini, and has assisted OEMs and first-tier suppliers in Bulgaria, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Taiwan and Turkey. He is a member of the International Committee of the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Tony Spalding - Contributor

Tony began in journalism in the North of England. He joined Ford at Dagenham in 1962, and a year later was assigned to the new Halewood factory. After three years, he crossed the River Mersey to become the first PRO at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant. Ford called him back to its new HQ at Warley in 1969. He became car PR manager at British Leyland in 1972, and a year later succeeded Keith Hopkins as PR Director. After Michael Edwardes arrived at BL, Spalding left and did a number of PR jobs outside the industry - for Spillers, Dalgety, Whitbread, and Alton Towers/Battersea Leisure. He returned to the motor industry when Vauxhall chairman and MD Paul Tosch invited him to Luton to succeed PR chief Eric Fountain, who retired in 1988. Nearly 10 years later, GM Europe lured him to Brussels as EU Affairs executive director.

After retiring in 2003, he undertook an assignment for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, helping to produce and publicise Mobility 2030: the challenges to sustainability, a report sponsored by eight car companies, two oil giants and two major suppliers. Today he does some part-time work for ACEA - Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobiles - and is chairman of RoadSafe, an NGO - non-governmental organisation - that builds partnerships between the motor industry, government, police, schools, road safety officers and experts to reduce road accidents.

Ian Elliott - Contributor

Ian is a product and manufacturing technical writer with 40 years 'insider' experience of the British motor industry. He began as a student engineer apprentice at BMC's Longbridge plant in 1965, gaining a degree in production engineering and "a fantastic hands-on experience in everything from foundry work to clay sculpting". After spending two years as a product planning analyst on the Sherpa van programme - "probably the most cost-effective investment ever made in the UK vehicle industry" - in 1973 he turned to projecting - and often protecting - the company's products as a press officer. He "misguidedly wandered" into the marketing department of what was then called BL Cars in 1981, and found himself responsible for the advertising and promotional aspects of various projects, including new model launches, corporate campaigns and motor sport. From 1986 he worked on dealer communications and training before going freelance in 1991. While maintaining strong links with Rover and latterly MG Rover to research and write marketing and press material, he expanded into similar work for a wide range of clients, generally in automotive and other engineering fields.

John Dickson-Simpson - Contributor

Left the Leyland bus design team in 1956 to enter technical journalism with Motor Transport and Bus and Coach. While there, he introduced 'raw truth' road tests from performance assessments at the MIRA proving ground, and campaigned successfully to cure jack-knifing by redistribution of braking effort. In 1964, he returned to the by-then Leyland Motor Corporation as group product-planning engineer. Formulating future strategy, he prepared plans for an Indian heavy goods vehicle, a next-generation low-chassis Albion Chieftain, a walk-in van with under-floor engine, a lightweight 32-ton tractor and reorganisation of Leyland group production on the principle of model specialisation. By 1966 he was back in London, where he established Transport Press Services to do editorial work for the Press and undertake design and marketing consultancy for the road-transport industry. He has published Transport News Digest monthly ever since. His books include The Era of Articulation (1968), The Modern Diesel (co-authored, 1972), The Transport Engineer's Handbook (1980), and he subsequently published Tachograph Truth and Truck Costs Truth. He was editor of Transport Engineer magazine, published by the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, from 1977 to 1995. He has also edited and produced publications for IRTE on spray suppression, side-guards, articulated vehicles above 32 tons, unexpected losses of wheels on commercial vehicles, braking imbalance between tractors and trailers, and codes of practice for coupling articulated vehicles and for the stability of tipper trucks. The design consultancy is now consolidated with TPS Design Ltd, which devised the Ray Smith de-mountable body system, a weight-reducing rubber sprung bogie for Norde, a bolt-on air suspension conversion and an independent air suspension for trailers. Dickson-Simpson is chairman of the British Standards Institution committee supervising standards for commercial vehicles componentry. He has delivered two papers to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - on commercial vehicle design trends and on the security of wheel fixings.

Kostas Gazis - Contributor

KOSTAS was born in Athens in 1972, and at the age of five moved with his parents to Crete. When he failed his Greek A-levels at 18, his parents sent him to study in London, where he stayed with an aunt. While on a fine art foundation course at Camberwell College of Arts, he developed an interest in film and video. So his next move was a two-year HND media course at Farnborough College of Technology, where he studied journalism and radio and TV production.

Back in London once more, at the University of Westminster, he then completed a contemporary media practice course, specialising in script writing and directing. After a year working on 16mm films, he returned to Greece to do 21 months military service. While in the army, he sent a CV to the Greek motor cycle magazine Moto, and was offered a job. After three years, he signed up with rival publication 0-300, where he continues writing news, testing motor cycles and racing quad bikes. He also works on MEGA TV channel's 'Traction' auto and moto show, and writes for Greek titles such as Off-road, Sporty and Metropolis, as well as for various web sites.

Brian Long - Contributor

Brian was born in Coventry, England, and comes from a proud engineering background in the automotive and aero industries. He trained as an engineer, working in the family garage while attaining formal qualifications before moving into power transmissions.

He stumbled into writing by accident, originally through compiling information for one of the UK's classic car clubs. When a fellow scribe saw Long's work, he arranged a meeting with a leading publisher. The rest, as they say, is history. He has written 40 motoring books over a 17-year period, and has many more in the pipeline. A life-long car buff - legend has it that his first word was "car" - his love of sports cars, GT models, vintage cars and old competition machinery is well known. He also has a passion for mechanical watches and Nikon cameras. And, luckily, he has a very understanding wife.

He first began visiting Japan 11 years ago, and has been a full-time resident for six years. He lives in Chiba City, close to the Tokyo Motor Show site, with his wife Miho and their two children, Louis and Sophie-Mercedes. He is a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, the Society of Automotive Historians, and Japan's RJC - Automotive Researchers' & Journalists' Conference, a non-profit organization with membership comprising automotive journalists, leading academics, lawyers, and other influential community members. Established in 1991, it aims to contribute to 'the sound development of the Japanese automotive industry through enthusiastic research and review'.

Brian Townsend - Contributor

Born in Forfar, Scotland, in l941, and went to school in the Bernese Oberland, London and Geneva. He studied medicine for three years at university in Aberdeen, but decided to give it up for the sake of mankind. He grew to be multi-lingual, speaking French, German and English all equally well - or badly - plus a smattering of Spanish and Italian and also a little Japanese. First he worked as a journalist, and then entered PR, employed in the public affairs offices of Ford, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Land Rover and JCB.

Returning to journalism, he spent six years at the Press & Journal in Aberdeen before moving to the Dundee Courier as leader writer and sub-editor He is also an author, with three books to his credit: The Glory That Was Home, The Lost Distilleries of Ireland and Scotch Missed - The Lost Distilleries of Scotland. He has two further books on the go and a third gestating. Married with three children, he lives near Meigle in Perthshire, and admits to being a whisky lover to the marrow of his bones.

Liz Turner - Contributor

Liz lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, close to the heart of the US motor industry, on which she maintains a watching brief. She began her career as a gopher at Car magazine and moved on to become a member of the Autocar road test team in the 1980s. She went freelance for more than a decade, writing regularly for The Guardian Motoring, Auto Express and Classic & Sports Car among many others, and provided motoring features for women's and lifestyle press including Woman & Home, Marie Claire, OK magazine and Arena.

After a punishing stint as consultant editor of the Ford magazine, she was lured back to Haymarket, as group production editor of What Car?, while also writing a light-hearted column for The Sun. She met her husband, Richard Eccleston, at Haymarket while freelancing for the short-lived Your Classic magazine. They moved to Ann Arbor in 2004 when he became creative director of Automobile magazine. Liz now works regularly for the New York Post, Autocar and The Independent. The second edition of her book You & Your Mazda MX-5/Miata will be released this year.

Robin Wager - Contributor

Qualified and worked as a chartered accountant before turning to journalism in 1973 as assistant editor of Safer Motoring. Five years later, he moved to Haynes Publishing as an editor, and rose to become managing editor and then editorial director. In 1982, he bought Safer Motoring, re-launched it as VW Motoring, and sold it to Warners Group in 1991. He wrote The Duckhams Story (Haynes) for the centenary of the eponymous oil company in 1999.

A contributor to Classic Cars For Sale, Carsource, Immediate Network and Granada Men & Motors, he continues to write about motor vehicles and to undertake editorial work in a freelance capacity.

John Weinthal - Contributor

Scion of three generations of lawyers, was born in Warialda, a small country town in New South Wales, Australia. However cars - not the law - were his passion, and by the age of nine he was already driving the family conveyance, which did not go entirely unscathed. After boarding school in Sydney, he was packed off to read law at Armidale University. Realising law would be hard work he switched to journalism, joining The Courier Mail in Brisbane as a cadet. There, he learnt important journalistic skills such as boozing and smoking, and by the age of 23 was appointed motoring editor. He took a six-month holiday in the UK, intending to return to Australia to marry and 'settle down', but after 10 months his fiancée paid her own way to England.

A trip to the 1967 Geneva motor show introduced him to Alpine snow and the Reliant Motor Company, and he returned to London to handle its PR. Fifteen months later, he joined the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders for two months to help with PR for the London Motor Show. Eight months later he was head of press and PR at the SMMT. He stayed 16 years as confidante and speech writer to captains of the UK car industry, and attended most international motor shows in Europe, the USA and Japan.

After a slightly longer than intended interval, he and his wife returned to Australia at the end of 1984, and he handled the PR for Toyota in Queensland for five years before reverting to writing and broadcasting. His tally includes motoring writer of the year and best road test awards in Queensland, and he was contributing editor on the world motor industry for the Encyclopaedia Britannica Year Book for 10 years. He now lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and contributes to, among others, the Pattaya Mail and Chiang Mai Mail in Thailand.

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