1,000 issues

20th February 2008

I’m not normally one for nostalgia. I don’t look back with rose-tinted glasses as a rule. But this week, it’s a bit different. Love or hate Auto Express, no one can deny that this magazine really did change the face of motoring journalism when it was launched nearly 20 years ago.

Until our arrival on the scene, car magazines were in a time warp. Pompous, dull, badly written and even more appallingly designed and presented, they were a corner of the media that had been untouched by modern publishing values.

Friday 23 September 1988 changed that forever. The launch of Auto Express brought with it a breath of fresh air to car magazines with a bright, tabloid news style set against a solid and highly informative road testing format.

We covered car news like a national newspaper, brought the word spyshot to the motoring vocabulary, and published articles on accessories, motoring issues and campaigns, as well as first drives and tests of brand new cars.

It was this template of good, honest, reader-friendly journalism that became the basis for every other motoring magazine as we know them today. I believe that Auto Express has remained true to those values. Yes, we’ve changed formats over the years, and of course, our price has gone up much like every other commodity you can buy.

But the DNA that made Auto Express so special and unique 20 years ago still runs through the magazine – and this hugely successful website.

Over the years, rival titles have come and gone attempting to produce a magazine in the Auto Express mould. Others have tried copying the things we do and the way we do them.

But as with all great brands, Auto Express has a special, unrepeatable something. To that end, I’d like to thank all of the many journalists who have made us what we are and all of the advertising staff who have kept the commercial lifeblood flowing over the years.

But most of all I’d like to thank you for taking the trouble to spend your money on us! We never forget that you have a choice.

Take a look at all of our covers here, but for a closer look be sure to pick up our very special issue of Auto Express, on sale now. Here’s to the next 1,000...

David Johns

Editor in Chief

Auto Express

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