Riley
Chris Riley has been a journalist for 40 years. He has spent half of his career as a writer, editor and production editor in newspapers, the rest of the time driving and writing about cars both in print and online. His love affair with cars began as a teenager with the purchase of an old VW Beetle, followed by another Beetle and a string of other cars on which he has wasted too much time and money. A self-confessed geek, he’s not afraid to ask the hard questions - at the risk of sounding silly.
Alistair Kennedy is Automotive News Service and Marque Publishing's business manager and the company's jack-of-all-trades. An accountant by profession, he designs the Marque range of motoring book titles, operates the company's motoring bookshop on the NSW Central Coast and the associated web site, as well as its huge digital and hard copy database. Whenever we can escape from the office he does so to cover new vehicle releases and contributes news stories. Alistair's other interests include cricket and family history on which he has written three books.
Brett Bennie is a sport tragic. He'll travel many hours just to see his favourite football team play - come rain, hail or shine. Brett has played most sports, has watched those he hasn't played and has an opinion on all of them. He's the guy you want on your trivia team when it comes to the sport questions. He's the guy who's never wrong.
David Burrell is founder and editor of Retroautos.com.au, a free online classic cars magazine. Dave has a passion for cars and car design. He's also into speedway, which he's been writing about since 1981. His first car was a rusted-out 1961 Vauxhall Velox. His daily driver is a Pontiac Firebird. Prior to starting Retroautos, David was an executive in a Fortune 500 company, working and living in Australia, NZ, Asia, Latin America and the UK.
Bill Buys, probably Australia’s longest-serving motoring writer, has been at his craft for more than five decades.
Athough motoring has always been in his DNA, he was also night crime reporter, foreign page editor and later chief reporter of the famed Rand Daily Mail.
He’s twice been shot at, attacked by a rhinoceros and had several chilling experiences in aircraft.
His experience includes stints in traffic law enforcement, motor racing and rallying and writing for a variety of local and international publications.
He has covered countless events, ranging from world motor shows and Formula 1 Grands Prix to Targa tarmac and round-the-houses meetings.
A motoring tragic, he has owned more than 90 cars. Somewhat of a nostalgic, he has a special interest in classic cars.
He is the father of Targa star Robert Buys, who often adds his expertise to Bill’s reviews.
Ian Crawford has had a life-long love affair with cars, confirmed by some of the cars he's owned, including a twin-cam MG A, Capri 3000 GT, Alfasud Ti, HK GTS V8 Monaro, BMW 633 CSI, Porsche 928 S and his current toy - a Nissan 350Z roadster. He made his debut in motoring journalism as a youthful motoring editor of the Launceston Examiner. At this time he was also Tasmanian correspondent for Wheels and Sports Car World magazines. Years later he made a comeback as motoring editor of the Canberra Times and more recently as a freelancer he has written for CarsGuide, RACQ, The Motor Report and Just 4x4s.
Rob Buys AKA Arby AKA Dr Bobla delivers his reports in layman’s terms rather than from stats derived from the vehicle’s manufacturer. He’s a hardcore driver with a pragmatic approach and a different writing style. With a childhood encompassing home-made billycarts, BP-sponsored plastic two-wheelers and many days watching racing action at the famed Kyalami Grand Prix circuit, he attributes his guy genes to his long committed motoring journo dad. Advancing into tin-tops in his adolescence and early adulthood with successes in entry-level motorsport to wins at national level, he focuses on health, fitness and driving classic cars – the latter sometimes in competition.
Ewan Kennedy, a long-time car enthusiast, was Technical Research Librarian with the NRMA from 1970 until 1985. He worked part-time as a freelance motoring journalist from 1977 until 1985, when he took a full-time position as Technical Editor with Modern Motor magazine. Late in 1987 he left to set up a full-time business as a freelance motoring journalist. Ewan is an associate member of the Society of Automotive Engineers - International. An economy driving expert, he set the Guinness World Record for the greatest distance travelled in a standard road vehicle on a single fuel fill. He lists his hobbies as stage acting, travelling, boating and reading.
As a 1960s’ schoolboy, Barry Green spent his hard-earned pocket money on Racing Car News and Sports Car World, monthly enthusiast magazines he would studiously pore over at the expense of text books. Little
wonder then that reading about fast cars and motorsport led to a four-decade career (not out) writing about the same, initially as a freelancer then author and professional writer. His exploits are captured in two recent self-published
books, The Best of Drives 1 and 2, each a first-hand compilation of nearly 80 drive experiences on some of the world’s greatest roads and circuits.
Paul Murrell spent most of his career in advertising, both in Australia and overseas, specialising in automotive accounts (GM-H, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, among others). He surprised everyone (including himself) when he was very successful at it, winning numerous local and international awards. After selling his Sydney agency, he “retired” to the Adelaide Hills with wife and designated driver Sandra. He writes for numerous lifestyle and motoring magazines (both contemporary and classic) including the website he founded, seniordriveraus that promotes the interests and needs of drivers whose age and IQ are both over 50.
On graduating with an honours degree in applied science in London, Derek Ogden worked for the BBC in local radio and several British newspapers as a production journalist and writer. Derek moved to Australia in 1975 and worked as a sub-editor with The Courier Mail and Sunday Mail in Brisbane, moving to the Gold Coast Bulletin in 1980 where he continued as a production journalist. He was the paper's motoring editor for more than 20 years, taking the weekly section from a few pages at the back of the book to a full-colour liftout of up to 36 pages. He left the publication in 2009.
Darryl Starr is a veteran of the newspaper industry, having worked for 51 years at the Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga. As the award-winning regional daily’s long-time motoring editor, he has road-tested pretty much every new car released in Australia since 1967. His favourite road routes include some of the most scenic towns in North-East Victoria and the Southern Riverina, covering more conditions and test variables than any city-based motoring writer. He was the newspaper's motoring editor for 48 years and for 15 years he also wrote for What's On and Domain, the paper's tourist and real estate supplements. Darryl is also an author, having written 'A spirit of progress, 110 years of motoring in Albury-Wodonga' and 'Are we there yet, Mr Holmes?' In 2022 he celebrates 55 years as a motoring writer, the last seven for his own publication, thecountrydriver.com. His knowledge of the roads of North East Victoria and the Southern Riverina region of NSW is immeasurable, and he has ridden the highs and lows of various forms of motorsport.
AN Australian Women’s World Car of the Year judge, Liz Swanton, has worked in newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, as a freelance writer and PR consultant. She began writing about all things motoring in 1993.