Ever find out what someone does for a living and think  ‘Lucky git – how on Earth did he land that job?’ Me too. I think that about motor journalists – what a fantastic job to drive cars, travel the world, write about it and get paid. Until recently, like a lot of people outside of the industry, my experience of  motor journalists was limited to Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Unfortunately, it seemed, they’d also nabbed the only three jobs available for such a cushy and fun career – lucky sods. Glad to say I was wrong though, there’s quite a lot of them out there. Never one to miss a trick, I thought I’d ask six that were skidding round the racetrack of motor journalism a few questions. Some are seasoned experts, some are just starting out but how did they do it?

Jon Quirk has written for Autocar Magazine, been Editor of Europe’s biggest motoring community Pistonheads and is currently digital producer for WhichCar’s website.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
A random one! I had read Autocar since I was a foetus but like most people, I didn’t ever dream that it [motoring journalism] could be a feasible career. Instead, I studied economics at Newcastle then went on to attend the MA in Auto Journalism at Coventry.

2. Was it your first career choice?
In a dream world, yes, but my folks were very pragmatic and made me have a back-up plan!

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
Getting on the ladder. Without a doubt, the MA course opened doors but you have to really want it to stay there. A quick tip for any prospective talent is not to wait until the application deadlines – I’ve seen recruiters stop answering emails after the first 20 CVs.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Know it’s a cop out but I have to say all of it. I feel massively privileged to be a part of this industry though I still can’t quite understand how cars can elicit such different and extreme feelings in us. I think we’ll forever be working it out…

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Dad.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Don’t stop writing. If you’re not writing, you should either be having lunch, sex or a shit.

Andrew Noakes has 15 years’ experience writing for Fast Car, CAR, Auto Express, Classic & Sports Car, Classic Car Weekly and the motoring enthusiasts’ website PistonHeads. He’s written and contributed to more than a dozen books and currently lectures part time at Coventry University as well as continuing to be a freelance motoring writer.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
At 18 I went to Loughborough University to do a degree in Automotive Engineering. I was sponsored by Ford, and worked for the company in Brentwood, Basildon, Swansea and Dunton in the ‘sandwich’ year of my degree course in 1990/91.

2. Was it your first career choice?
Yes. I’ve never really wanted to do anything else.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
At first, convincing employers that I could do the job. The way to achieve that is to get published – anywhere, regardless of whether or not you get paid much or even at all ­ so you have something to show off.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Being given privileged access to cars, people and events on behalf of the reader.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
The two writers who made the biggest impression were LJK Setright and Phil Llewellin. Sadly I never met either of them. I did see LJKS the first time I went to a motor show press day, but didn’t summon up the courage to go and
talk to him!

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular  most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Make better notes. Publishing works at a frenetic pace and it’s easy to get swept along into the next story and the next issue and lose track of what went before. Ten years later you return to the same topic and wish you could remember who gave you that bit of info years earlier, or where that rare classic came from.

Antony Ingram is one of motor journalism’s new faces and is currently a freelancer writer and photographer specialising in green technology. He writes for All Cars Electric and Green Car Reports.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I essentially made contacts. Although I’ve just finished studying for a degree in journalism, the best thing I did was get myself on Twitter and follow a few people that I’d come across when writing articles for an old blog that very few people ever read. I spotted a tweet by my now-colleague Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield that High Gear Media was running a competition to win an iPad for the best published article, open to anyone. I submitted a few, and although I didn’t win the iPad, they did offer me a job!

2. Was it your first career choice?
More or less. My BA degree was in business and I’d been giving thoughts to working in marketing or PR, basically something with a bit of a creative aspect. I attended a seminar on journalism in my final year and ditched all thoughts of the business world as I realised I wanted to write for a living. I signed up to do a journalism Masters degree and the story continues from there.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
The irony in spending large amounts of money and stress putting myself through university when all I could have done was make connections and look for writing opportunities.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Knowing that at some point I’ll be able to ditch my boring, non-journalism day job and make a living from writing.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Many different motoring journalists. Includes, but not limited to, Chris Harris from Autocar/Drivers Republic and latterly EVO as he’s got a thoroughly enviable job and incredible talent for both driving and writing; James May for being a talented writer who has achieved even greater success as a presenter and likewise Clarkson, who started small and has worked hard to make it big.

Another seasoned pro is Richard Aucock with ten years experience writing for AutoExpress, MSN Cars, The Sunday Times, Car Dealer Magazine and is currently Managing Editor of Motoring Research Ltd.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I approached it initially as an enthusiast, writing for car club magazines and the like. My big break was winning the IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future award in 1996, presented by the Guild of Motoring Writers. Two years later, I won the Sir William Lyons award, something I’d advise all potential motoring writers to enter. It’s a great award and really does give you the foot in the door to the industry. From then, it was hard work and patience, for a good few years!

2. Was it your first career choice?
Motoring journalism! I went to uni to study engineering, but did it with the intent of getting into motoring journalism. Had it not worked out, trainee manager at Sainsbury’s was on cards.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
Patience! Seriously, it took years – and then a whole year after uni working at Sainsbury’s, to get into the industry. Gets you down something awful at times. What helped for me was setting myself goals along the way: made it seem that bit more achievable.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Being a part of the car industry. It’s great, driving cars, and always will be – but eventually, that becomes but a small part of the job. It’s a constantly changing industry and motoring journalism has to keep up with it, so there’s always something new going on and ALWAYS something to watch and talk about. I love the car industry and playing a small part in it is quite something for me.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
In the first instance, probably Steve Cropley. I wrote to him as a kid – he wrote back, spoke to me on the phone, gave me the encouragement to stick at it. I still have the letter! There have been many, many others, though…

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular  most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Be tireless! Read everything, research everything, geek out, always learn and be prepared to learn. Oh, and be ready to pounce when an opportunity arises.

Tristan Young has been Editor in Chief for BusinessCar, editor of Fleet week and deputy news editor of Autocar as well as writing for The Sunday Times and the Daily Express. He’s currently a freelance writer.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
After muddling through school I went to uni to study (of all things) zoology. While there I got involved in starting a student magazine and finding that sort of thing fun, I then did some work experience at Auto Express. After uni I did a journalism course (NVQ) in London and at the end of the course one of my tutors put me in touch with Automotive Management magazine which was looking for a sub and writer. I think I got the job because I was willing to work for fewer peanuts than the next guy.

2. Was it your first career choice?
Absolutely. Dedication and enthusiasm count for a lot in this business.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
It’s either giving up a perfectly good staff job running a well respected magazine for the insecurity of the  freelance world. Or, getting over my extreme dislike of flying. As I write this I’m on a plane heading back to the UK from a car launch in Austria.

4. The best aspect of your job?
The cars and fancy launches are great, but I’m a news man at heart and the buzz of getting an exclusive news story is very difficult to beat. In a broader sense, doing something I love means I’ve never seen journalism as work.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Tricky question. In journalism it’s a guy named Tony Willard who taught me a huge amount when I was at Automotive Management. For all the other stuff it’s got to be my family.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
When you borrow a more senior colleague’s Honda Accord Type-R for the weekend a few months after starting at Autocar and it starts to go wrong on a tightening left-hander in the Cotswolds: don’t lift.

Sam Burnett is another new recruit at the beginning of his career. He has written for AOL’s Autoblog, television’s Fifth Gear website, motoring site Verdict on Cars and  Auto Trader.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I knew I wanted to apply for automotive journalism MA at Coventry University – I was working in parliament when I applied, and my MP had very kindly given me a subscription to Autocar for Christmas, so the obvious thing for me was to write to the editor there and see if I could get a week’s work placement. That sealed the deal for me, talking to the people who worked there and seeing how  a magazine came together.

Following the MA (I’ve just recently graduated but finished lectures before the summer) I’ve been lucky enough to get regular freelance work from people I’ve got to know over the year. We youngsters (I’m 26, so I use the term loosely) are lucky that there’s now an established way to launch yourself at the industry, where before there was nothing.

2. Was it your first career choice?
It’s hard for me to say yes or no here – I have always wanted to do everything, so first or last career choice is neither here nor there to me. I want to be a writer in the medium term, so that’s my career choice. I have already dabbled in politics in my short life, to mild success and considerable enjoyment, but it’s the themes of a job that attracts me, not the specifics – politics and the automotive industry are remarkably similar when you boil things down to personalities and power and war. Fun stuff.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
The hardest part? I’ve not done a great deal, but you soon realise that the chancest encounters can lead to new things. All of my freelance work has come about through placements I did during the masters – being nice and getting on with people is as important as being able to write proper. I suppose the hardest thing is deciding you want to do it in the first place – it wasn’t easy getting the cash together for a postgraduate course, and breaking into car journalism is a neurotic game. I daren’t give any good advice because I’ll have competition.

4. The best aspect of your job?
At the moment I am very much enjoying meeting lots of people and seeing how different outlets work. Every car journalist has worked everywhere, and you can pick up tips and great anecdotes from everyone. I like learning stuff, though, like how to tell the difference between a Fiat Scudo Combi and a Fiat Scudo Panorama Family. These are the foundations a great career is built on, I’m sure.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Writing-wise my favourite person is Tim Moore, who is actually a travel writer. He has an exquisite way with words and will have you howling with laughter whilst also imparting interesting facts about things as diverse as donkey care and the history of Monopoly. In the car world, I did my MA dissertation on CAR magazine, and had the honour of interviewing four of its greatest editors – Steve Cropley, Gavin Green, Richard Bremner and Jason Barlow. Those last two were particularly underrated but all four had vision and really got the ethos that made that magazine great, the sense of adventure that draws me in to writing about cars.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
I think I already am right at the beginning, so I would turn that one on its head and visit my older self and tell him to retain the enthusiasm and willingness to learn that I hope I have right now. I get upset when I hear car journalists moaning about something they have to do – what privileged and exciting jobs we all have, there are a million things I’d especially rather not be doing.

So that’s it then – start off in politics after taking a degree in Zoology, then enter a competition to win an iPad and hopefully win your dream job! Why didn’t I think of that before!

Oh, okay then, how about have a passion for cars, find other like-minded people, start writing and keep going until you get to where you want to be?

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