121 replies to this topic

[The Matt]

With a name like ANORAK, he's allowed to rant!

Seriously though ANORAK, have you ever thought of asking the mini magazines if they have any work you could do for them? I'd guess it's not too easy being a journalist, I'd also guess that it's difficult to write a piece about a vehicle when you're given a brief but you don't necessarily know ALL of the facts about said vehicle. Perhaps someone else did the research for him??? I dunno.

IMO it's a bit harsh to repeatedly slate the authors of these articles without having a proper go yerself!

PS: If you are a journo then I retract the above!

[minivanman]

For my 2p's worth, I think its the only sensible place they could have put the radiator. Big chunk of empty space on one side of the engine bay vs cramming it into a tiny little space at the front. Rad technology probably wasnt good enough then either to create an efficient enough system in the space either. It might have shielded the distributor from water, yes. But imagine trying to adjust the dizzy, or change the points with a radiator in the way. Its bad enough trying to do an oil filter on an mpi!

[62S]

Graham Robson is an eminent motor historian and ex-rally driver.

No he is not an eminent motor historian - to nick a line from Oasis - he is standing on the shoulders of giants. You only have to suffer his 'commentary' at the Mini Cooper Day at Beaulieu to learn that. And, of course, he is really a Triumph man!

He is the unsung author of many, many books & articles.

Graham Robson is the Catherine Cookson of the automotive book world definitely going for quantity ahead of quality - that's why he is unsung because he is simply derivative. He interviewed Charles Griffin for Mini Magazine many years ago and turned out the most turgid, uninformative article from talking to probably the most interesting person involved with the Mini. I never understood why Charles Griffin was so overlooked by the Mini community whereas he was revered by 1100 enthusiasts. I bet half of you reading this have no idea who he was!

[THE ANORAK]

With a name like ANORAK, he's allowed to rant!

Seriously though ANORAK, have you ever thought of asking the mini magazines if they have any work you could do for them? I'd guess it's not too easy being a journalist, I'd also guess that it's difficult to write a piece about a vehicle when you're given a brief but you don't necessarily know ALL of the facts about said vehicle. Perhaps someone else did the research for him??? I dunno.

IMO it's a bit harsh to repeatedly slate the authors of these articles without having a proper go yerself!

PS: If you are a journo then I retract the above!

the point being... well, imagine this....

i own a vauxhall Astra so i know a bit about them, Ive been invited to write a monthly article in the national Astra magazine, what i actually thought i would do each month is take one area of the Astra, whinge and moan about how badly it was designed, spew out my opinion on how it should have been done, oh and get a few facts wrong just for good measure. I'm expecting it to go down well with the Astra fans....

wouldn't happen would it.

and as its been pointed out in the past, I'm only a self appointed Anorak, i have no actual qualification that states I'm officially an anorak and i actually know jack banana about anything but the mainstream cooper !!!!

[taffy1967]

I've not got that issue yet, but I now know to not bother reading it thanks to this thread.

Why is Mini Magazine employing this person who gets his credentials boringly stuck in our faces every month?

Anyway I've pretty much owned a side mounted radiator equipped Mini since 1984 and I can't fault it myself.

So whose wrong and whose right?

[mk1leg]

People who write books on Mini's should look at every aspect of its history and whats what in production changes ..I think this Author used a ghost Writer otherwise there would not be simply basic mistakes on knowing where certain things go on a mini shell...................well done Anorak...I'm with you on this ...............

Edited by mk1leg, 19 November 2008 - 09:02 PM.

[MiniDick]

I'm by no means a Mini expert but as far as I know Leonard Lord stated that the new car should be contained in a box which measured 10 x 4 x 4 feet in size AND be powered by an existing engine. They used the A-series which had to be mounted transversly TO SAVE ON SPACE and meet the requirements laid down by Lord. It's called a Mini for a reason so spouting bum gravy about what it should have been like is a bit pointless.

I saw a documentary on one of the sattelite channels about the Mini. They interviewed various people, including Austin production line staff, rally drivers and others who are strongly connected to the Mini. Maybe a column with a different person telling their own experiances each week would be better than Mr Robson? No offence as he's probably a nice bloke

[maph2]

This Graham Robson sounds bit like Ian Stent (who does the mini dvd's) who was writing for one of the mini magzines a while back. he didn't know his @r$e from his elbow either and IMO put some quite personal criticisms in his writing about the cars he was covering. stopped buying the mag in the end. glad he's cleared off back to kitcars. Sound like Graham Robson should join him.

Edited by maph2, 19 November 2008 - 09:14 PM.

[benb12]

I know people might not agree with what's written but at the end of the day you don't have to read it.

[Jeff R]

Another thing in this issue - Paul Handford's mighty mini was stolen in Leicestershire, not Manchester.

Yep, gotta hold my hands up for this one. Must've got the Leicester dial code (0116) mixed with Manchester (0161) and then just started writing Manchester...
I used to work for directory enquiries... no wonder I got fired...
Apologies for the confusion.

[r_i_c_h_1]

I think Graham Robson is taking the wrong approach to writing an article about the mini, and seems to value his own opinion a bit too highly.

Stating some obvious 'faults' with slightly incorrect facts about a much loved car wasn't a good start, maybe considering that a different approach to designing a car was infact a good thing!

I think he's overlooking there is no such thing as a 'perfect car' I can think of cars with alot worse faults than a mini..on modern cars that are being made here in 2008! The fact that a car so different could be designed in 1959, have such a huge following even today and only have a handful of imperfections is astonishing!

Graham Robson may have published many books on classic cars but clearly has no love for the mini!

[roofless]

I would guess he's a published author, who's rates are acceptable ( cheap enough ) to have him do feature pieces.
this does not mean he is correct - but then what qualifications do most of us have to say we are right??

one thing is for sure - 5 pages of free advertising for mini mag on here has probably achieved the desired result

[Ethel]

Haven't seen the article (but I will take 5 mins out to stand in Smiths 'n read it ). There's no excuse for being plain wrong with your facts, but playing devil's egg nog to provoke some thought 'n debate can make for an entertaining read.

I think, if we were blessed with the same talent as Mr Issigonis and his crew, and put the time in considering all the design implications we'd be hard pressed to come up with a better solution.

What do you get with a side mounted radiator: easy access to dizzy and its high maintenance internals; a slightly shorter or less crowded engine bay giving a marginal advantage in frontal impacts; shorter hoses & a more compact cooling system that takes less coolant so warms up better; forced airflow for the sake of a bit of twisted sheet steel screwed on to the water pump, what price an electric fan in 1959 on a car with a marginal profit margin?

There's still no replacement for the rubber suspension that allows the car to handle as well and lets you stuff it full of passengers and suitcases without the tyres touching the arches.

[biggav]

crikey...he's less popular than james allen!!!!!

[ZED]

ALEC ISSIGONIS

a bubble with a plan!

Z