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About

About

“You should make a book out of all the things you’ve written.” I’m John Matras, and during a career of freelance auto writing, I’d heard that too many times to ignore it, but rather than the hassle of a book I decided to start compiling a website with “reprints” of articles about classic and collector cars from Auto Week, Automobile Quarterly, Automobile, Road & Track Specials, Motor Trend special editions, European Car, Collectible Automobile, Sport Compact Car, and more. And not just car histories but also contemporary reviews of cars that are now old enough to be classics or at least deserving of remembered, in a number of car magazines, general interest magazines, websites, including a couple of iterations of my own site, CarBuzzard.com.

In all I’ve written thousands of articles in probably more than a hundred publications. I have had more than a few shot out from under me as the titles failed, and other outlets came and went as editors came and went. I’ve certainly been fired by the best.

Actually, I began innocently enough, writing as a hobby. I naively looked at car magazines and thought, “I can do that.” Teachers, employers and others had said I wrote well. And I thought, maybe they’re right. I went to the library, read everything I could about the mechanics of freelance writing—query letters, submission formats, and so forth—and started pitching stories. And someone bit. My first article was a one-page, three black-and-white photo feature on a Baltimore custom auto show published in Custom Rodder…and they paid me $50 in 1980 money. I was hooked.

When I had written several pieces for Auto Week—my first was the first U.S.-drive report on the Maserati Biturbo in July, 1981, I got a telephone call from some guy named Paul Lienert, then at AW, who asked whether I’d want to contribute to a new column in the magazine. I would have to find classic, old and exotic, or just interesting cars, drive them, write about 1,200 words and mail it in…and they’d send me a check. Yeah, twist my arm… I wrote one of the inaugural Escape Road columns in Auto Week, published in February, 1982. And the rest is history.

A bit about the articles: In 1982—more than forty years ago—information just wasn’t as available at today. You didn’t just Google it. And it was more fun. I worked with original sources including an extensive personal library of books and comprehensive collection of magazines, a free run of the extensive automotive section of the Philadelphia Free Library (since transferred to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum and the Antique Automobile Club of America Library & Research Center) , the resources of Automobile Quarterly, deep dives into the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature (ask your dad), the assistance of a variety of sources including interviews with people who built the cars, worked with the cars, raced the cars, researched the cars and own the cars, and for my article about the first automobile race in America, the Library of Congress.

And I had incredible personal experiences, with trips to exotic locales for test drives of new automobiles, including Korea to drive a new Kia. I drove at speed on famous race tracks, including Road Atlanta, Road America, and Laguna Seca, and even Talladega Superspeedway, participating in setting an FIA speed record with Saab). I’ve interviewed and sat in press conferences with auto executives, was hugged by Fiat USA’s chief executive Laura Soave, and dined with racing luminaries Dan Gurney, Richard Petty and Saab rally great Erik Carlsson.

I wrote five books, including Mazda RX-7, which sells for more now new than it did when did when it new the first time. I coauthored 365 Cars You Must Drive, which was translated into Russian and Romanian and made into a TV show that you’ve never heard of because it wasn’t very good (but for which I got royalties so it wasn’t all bad).

And I’m recipient of two major writing awards, the Washington Automotive Press Association’s 1995 Golden Quill, for the “best automotive journalism in 1995,” and the 1995 Ken Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism from the International Motor Press Association.

A lot of people helped along the way, and it’s a list too long to include everyone, which is like almost every editor I worked with. At Auto Week, there were Paul Lienert, George Levy and the inimitable Leon Mandel, one of the deans of automotive journalism, who mentored…me. I have to thank Kevin Wilson at Auto Week who pestered me until I agreed to write about my experience of at age 45 being diagnosed with epilepsy and the repercussions of not for a time being able to drive; it turned out to be the award winner. There’s also Csaba Csere, who guided me through early submissions at Car and Driver; Ron Sessions, at Road & Track Specials; Larry Saavedra at Sport Compact Car… Add an army of public relations personnel who not only helped but also became long and fast friends. And friends? The several hundred media types that I bumped into regularly at auto shows and vehicle reveals and other events. B.J. Killeen, Dave Boldt and Nick Yost for their patient contributions to Car Buzzard.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without my wife Mary Ann for her patience, support, and enthusiasm for 55 years and counting. Credit her for making this happen. She’s the love of my life. I could indeed have written a book.