911 - Peter Egan

[tcar]

Picked up a Road & Track yesterday at the airport...

Peter's column is about the 'Timeless 911'.

As usual, a very good column.

Luckless looking for link...

[LakeCleElum]

Linky 4U:

Porsche 911 Endures the Test Of Time - Side Glances by Peter Egan

[naparsei]

I've read Peter Egan since before I had a drivers license. It's not just that he's knowledgeable, it's that his prose is stellar, particularly in an industry which is troubled with making repeated references to how the reviewer "heel/toe'd" here, how the exhaust was rorty, the gearchanges crisp, and the acceleration exhilarating. I could read him or Denise McCluggage all day long. It unfortunately highlights the decline of quality writing in the US. We have some superstars here, but I think the general prose quality is higher for the UK journalists. Specifically their structuring is tighter and they must spend years of schooling on metaphors and similes (or they are just common usage but funnier to us since we are hearing them for the first time?).

Great article.

[tcar]

... agree, Denise McCluggage...

she was great... only journalist in the Automotive Hall of Fame, won races (class) at Sebring (Ferrari), Monte Carlo Rallye (Ford)...

Great stuff.

Another great R&T journalist; Henry N. Manney III. Remember how sad I was when he had a stroke; he never wrote again.

[mpetry]

thanks for posting that, one of the best - if not the best - automotive journalists working today. Not just an enthusiast, but comments on the social aspects of the automobile, and the subtle humor of our shared hobby / obsession.

[Roc Doc]

Sam Posey was another great contributor.

[fotsyr]

He is just like you would imagine him through his writings. He was the one who told me that my 911 would feel like a truck until about 75-80mph and then it would smooth out. Our bond is Lotus/Caterham 7's.

[wolf76]

Thanks for the post and the link. He has always been my favorite automotive journalist. He is definitely on my list of people I'd love to have a drink with.


Chris

[Todd Simpson]

I don't ride, but I've bought a few of his motorcycle books just to read his stuff.

He needs to buy a 911 though...it's kind of funny that in all these years he hasn't owned one.

I'd recommend a 911E...seems like a good fit.

[deathpunk dan]

I met mr Egan at the Cycle World motorcycle show in Chicago, 2004 iirc. We were both ogling a yamaha rz350lc and and rzv500 next to th honda display which had an rc30 and an earlier VFR. I am not much for hounding celebrities but I had to get my picture taken with him. At the time I had just finished reading his book Leanings, so I was pretty excited.

I once read an article of his that managed to talk about the 356, ducatis, and vintage fender stratocasters. That pretty much sums up why he rules.

[LakeCleElum]

Call me a stalker, but once, on a cross country motorcycle trip, I had to go by Egan's house and check it out........Just as he describes with the detached shop (barn), the long drive and the washed out bridge just past him.

[rs6er]

Anyone remember Satch Carlson (sp?)? He was great, but had some kind of run in with the law.

[PCA7GGR]

I've canceled all my automotive magazine subscriptions except R&T - just to read Egan's monthly column.

[fotsyr]

"Anyone remember Satch Carlson (sp?)? He was great, but had some kind of run in with the law."

Underage person of the opposite sex may have been the issue.

[naparsei]

Originally Posted by tcar

... agree, Denise McCluggage...

she was great... only journalist in the Automotive Hall of Fame, won races (class) at Sebring (Ferrari), Monte Carlo Rallye (Ford)...

Great stuff.

Another great R&T journalist; Henry N. Manney III. Remember how sad I was when he had a stroke; he never wrote again.

Just to clarify on Denise. She *IS* great, still writing for Autoweek, and still hosting a weekly "Car Table" here in Santa Fe. Wasn't sure about the use of the past tense above. I like Henry Manney III also.

Also, from memory, I thought Denise won the Monte in a MINI, but don't find it hard to believe she did it in a Ford. She did win at Sebring in her own 250SWB (1st in Class).

[davidbir]

Denise won her class in the Monte in a Ford Falcon-Her book "By Brooks to Broad For Leaping" is a great read--I met her briefly on NW Historic Rally years ago- Satch Carlson was one of the organizers of that rally and he certainly made it tougher! Sorry to hear of his problems--I guess the rest of us just didn't get caught did we?

Henry N. Manney III was an Icon at R&T. I was standing beside him in the racing pits during the Monterey Historics not long before his stroke and I took the opportunity to ask him his opinion of R&T since I felt it had lost it's way at that time. His response:
"It is a know-nothing magazine with a know-nothing staff and a know-nothing Editor!"
Said with a vehemence that was startling! Personally, I find Peter Egan the only thing worth reading in R&T anymore but since I am the same age as him I find most of the current auto journalists "know-nothing" whippersnappers!

[lateapex911]

Satch was a teacher by day and a writer by nights and weekends from my understanding, and something something, young student, something something...

[vintage guy]

I also really enjoy Egan's work and still get R&T mainly for his column. He frequents Road America and I talked to him briefly up there a few years ago. I commented on whatever car he was working on then (probably British) and he asked me what I was driving. I told him that I had an '87 Carrera and I got the distinct opinion that he was not particularly a fan of Porsche. Nice to see that is not the case.

Also, I think Satch Carlson contributes to the BMW club magazine, Roundel.

[hbkramer]

Also of note in the speed section of Borders( oops try Amazon.com,as Borders is no more ...a 1990's pase "book store" whay was I thinking).... Check out Mellisa Holbrook Pierson's The Perfect Vehicle.
Especially if you like Moto Guzzi ,The East Coast,and Laconia. Why a woman writes so well about a bike or a car is a mystery for shure.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Peter Egan once wrote an article called "The $300 Jewel" about a Honda CB550. Back before the internet, this was about the only bit of information I could find about the 550 in my local library.

I always enjoyed Csaba Csere as well, although I think he's retired now. .