How To Be A Motoring Journalist

by Roy Lanchester

For over 35 years Roy Lanchester has been one of Britain's motoring journalists. In that time he has driven, dined, drunk and laughed, all at other people's expense. In this memoir he looks back at his life and career, from his early days as a cub reporter, through his halcyon time as a Fleet Street motoring hack in the 1980s, up to his reign as one of the country's best-known and thirstiest regional journalists. Roy has always been notoriously outspoken and he holds back nothing in this book, which includes tales of his failed marriages, his rows with press officers, and his incident with Nigel Mansell, although the lawyers later asked for this to be removed. If you've ever wondered what it takes to forge a career writing about cars in the face of setbacks, cutbacks and uncooperative barmen, How To Be A Motoring Journalist will tell you everything you want to know, and some things you don't.

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 8, 2018

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of the Sniff Petrol website will be familiar with the drinking man's motoring journalist Roy Lanchester.

This autobiography charts Roy's career from obscure local paper to less obscure regional paper, to Fleet Street and back to obscure local paper. All this by way of press launches, alcohol, test drives, alcohol, factory visits, alcohol, and a variety of unfortunate mishaps involving trouser damage, bodily functions and reversing into low walls. And alcohol.

There are a smattering of typos - though not as many as Roy's level of alcohol consumption might lead you to expect - but that doesn't detract from the wealth of information the book contains. Information that anyone contemplating a career as a motoring journalist would do well to read and then completely ignore.

Incidentally, if you've read Peter Dron's The Good the Mad and the Ugly you'll have a pretty good idea of the inspiration for Lanchester.

[Stephen Pomfret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only motor journalism primer you need

Roy tells it like it is - the meteoric rise to fame and fortune - the lows of bowel and wife evacuations - the endless battles with lickspittle PR too blind to see the value of local motor journalists in recommending their new vehicle.

Why there are not more candid, thoughtful, frankly right thinking books by white middle class "gammon" men is beyond my ken after reading Roy's instructional primer - a service done by a good man fighting a bad system.

(Cheque is in the post Roy please send the original SD card to my home address and don't return the ping pong balls)

[Casper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a few good laughs reading this one, being around motoring journalists a lot myself. Great fun! Would love to meet ‘Roy’ someday!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a motoring journalist myself, there is way too much that’s correct about this book. It’s brilliant.

[Jonathan Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very funny.