NOTHIN' BUT A GOOD TIME

TWO TYPE R’S, AND THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE AROUND HERE

- JETHRO BOVINGDON

Editor’s Note: Rob here, and I’m excited to present this peek behind the curtain, a rare opportunity for MotorTrend readers to understand a bit about how the sausage really gets driven. Please send thank-you cards to my publicist, Sam.

Per normal protocol, an editor gives a writer notes aimed at improving a story. A second draft is written, and the process repeats until that word-turd transforms into a turd-butterfly, flying on wings of gracefully plotted ideas and sentences. But there exists a class of elite magazine writers, car journalists in our case, who have evolved beyond this rubric, those with the experience and skill to dazzle in their very first draft. Those with the guts to use the word rubric, even if somewhat improperly. These are the untouchables, and they are a feared bunch, free to operate beyond an editor’s busy red pen.

His British modesty would never permit him to agree, but my Top Gear America co-host, Jethro Bovingdon, is of those vaunted few, a genuine one-percenter. With rare, naturally aspirated air filling his lungs, Jethro writes real stories about cars. The kinds of stories tickle our prehistoric lizard brains and satisfy our predetermined need to read about heroes on a journey.