The message that got James May fired from Autocar in 1992

minervamoon · May 23rd, 2007, 03:03 AM

You may have read of this little incident on Wikipedia, by which James, then Autocar's features editor (and all of 29 years old) got bored with putting together the issue's Road Test Year Book segment and decided to do something creative:

"I had this idea that if I re-edited the beginnings of all the little texts, I could make these red letters spell out a message through the magazine, which I thought was brilliant. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect that 'You might think this is a really great thing, but if you were sitting here making it up you'd realise it's a real pain in the arse'. It took me about two months to do it and on the day that it came out I'd actually forgotten that I'd done it because there's a bit of a gap between it being 'put to bed' and coming out on the shelves. When I arrived at work that morning everybody was looking at their shoes and I was summoned to the managing director of the company's office. The thing had come out and nobody at work had spotted what I'd done because I'd made the words work around the pages so you never saw a whole word. But all the readers had seen it and they'd written in thinking they'd won a prize or a car or something."

Intrigued with the story, I searched online and orderd a cheap back issue of the magazine. It came in the mail yesterday, after which I made everyone in my house go through it individually and figure it out. I made some hasty scans and put it online to share the hilarity that is James May's subtle rebellion:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8443340...57600242068267

Or, in short (with punctuation added at my discretion):
So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up. It's a real pain in the arse.

A little more than a decade later, this crafty freelance writer went on to be our Captain Slow. Brilliant how things work out.

I really don't know how they could have missed that before they put it out for publication, though, unless they just trusted him enough not to mess with his own segment. The preceeding four spreads spelled out "ROAD / TEST / YEAR / BOOK" in exactly the same fashion, and even were one not aware of the trick, it just seems natural to keep on reading the red capitals.

Viper007Bond · May 24th, 2007, 02:12 PM

Heard about this before, but great to see actual scans of it. images/smilies/lol.gif

m102486 · May 24th, 2007, 02:26 PM

hahaha brilliant, Thanks for the pics! images/smilies/smile.gif

Adunaphel · May 24th, 2007, 02:38 PM

This is even better than i thought it would be, thanks a lot for sharing!

mgkdk · May 24th, 2007, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adunaphel

This is even better than i thought it would be, thanks a lot for sharing!

2x

Blythy · May 24th, 2007, 04:42 PM

I check it out at my uni library cos.. I was bored

The preceeding four spreads spelled out "ROAD / TEST / YEAR / BOOK" in exactly the same fashion, and even were one not aware of the trick, it just seems natural to keep on reading the red capitals.

I seriously don't know how they missed that bit before publication.

epp_b · May 24th, 2007, 04:52 PM

That's great! images/smilies/biggrin.gif

BlaRo · May 24th, 2007, 05:22 PM

That's awesome, thanks for sharing! images/smilies/welcome.gif

btw.

Narcolepsy · May 24th, 2007, 05:50 PM

That is excellent. Should have given him a raise for that. Can't a magazine have a sense humor?

Blind_Io · May 24th, 2007, 06:12 PM

Did the magazine publish anything in the "Corrections and Clarifications" section the following issue?

AnGuRuSO · May 24th, 2007, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Did the magazine publish anything in the "Corrections and Clarifications" section the following issue?

I bet if they did, it'd be real interesting to read.

Prost264 · May 24th, 2007, 07:38 PM

As if I didn't have enough respect for May, I need to buy him a pint.

American TG Man · May 24th, 2007, 08:32 PM

BRILLIANT!

Z102 · May 24th, 2007, 09:02 PM

So he really did it... Good one, James images/smilies/rofl.gif

nomix · May 24th, 2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Narcolepsy

That is excellent. Should have given him a raise for that. Can't a magazine have a sense humor?

I second that.

Like, they're not German, you know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnGuRuSO

I bet if they did, it'd be real interesting to read.

"Autocar would like to excuse for a mistake in the last issue. For some reason, the red letters spelled a message. This was not intentional, and we are really sorry."

ryosuke · May 24th, 2007, 10:07 PM

i love james may! images/smilies/lol.gif

pfrocker · May 24th, 2007, 10:44 PM

Wow what a clever guy, he is one smart guy. Too bad he got fired, but hey he has a much better job now.

fbc · May 24th, 2007, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Heard about this before, but great to see actual scans of it. images/smilies/lol.gif

Likewise - had never seen it, but knew of it. Top work Capt. Slow.

Ottobon · May 24th, 2007, 10:52 PM

ive been waiting for that

watto · May 25th, 2007, 12:38 AM

Brilliant! James May is awesome.

May 23rd, 2007, 03:03 AM	#1
minervamoon Joined: Mar 11th, 2007 Last Online: September 15th, 2008 Location: St. Petersburg, FL Posts: 5 Car: Vespa ET2 (not a car, really). Rep Power: 0	The message that got James May fired from Autocar in 1992 You may have read of this little incident on Wikipedia, by which James, then Autocar's features editor (and all of 29 years old) got bored with putting together the issue's Road Test Year Book segment and decided to do something creative: "I had this idea that if I re-edited the beginnings of all the little texts, I could make these red letters spell out a message through the magazine, which I thought was brilliant. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect that 'You might think this is a really great thing, but if you were sitting here making it up you'd realise it's a real pain in the arse'. It took me about two months to do it and on the day that it came out I'd actually forgotten that I'd done it because there's a bit of a gap between it being 'put to bed' and coming out on the shelves. When I arrived at work that morning everybody was looking at their shoes and I was summoned to the managing director of the company's office. The thing had come out and nobody at work had spotted what I'd done because I'd made the words work around the pages so you never saw a whole word. But all the readers had seen it and they'd written in thinking they'd won a prize or a car or something." Intrigued with the story, I searched online and orderd a cheap back issue of the magazine. It came in the mail yesterday, after which I made everyone in my house go through it individually and figure it out. I made some hasty scans and put it online to share the hilarity that is James May's subtle rebellion: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8443340...57600242068267 Or, in short (with punctuation added at my discretion): So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up. It's a real pain in the arse. A little more than a decade later, this crafty freelance writer went on to be our Captain Slow. Brilliant how things work out. I really don't know how they could have missed that before they put it out for publication, though, unless they just trusted him enough not to mess with his own segment. The preceeding four spreads spelled out "ROAD / TEST / YEAR / BOOK" in exactly the same fashion, and even were one not aware of the trick, it just seems natural to keep on reading the red capitals.

May 24th, 2007, 02:12 PM	#2
Viper007Bond Lazy Head Dude Joined: Sep 21st, 2003 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 21,086 Car: Dodge Viper (I wish!) Rep Power: 237	Heard about this before, but great to see actual scans of it. __________________ Fight back against the evil Quiky by +1'ing this post! There is no replacement for displacement. - Wolfgang Bernhard, Chief Operating Officer, Chrysler Group talking about the Dodge Viper SRT-10 ... I ask Herb Helbig, vehicle synthesis manager for SRT and a member of the original Team Viper development group since day one, if they'd ever thought of adding traction control. "It comes with two," he says, pointing at my feet. "Learn to use them." Got it. - Motor Trend on the 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe, November 2005

May 24th, 2007, 02:26 PM	#3
m102486 Joined: Jun 2nd, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Age: 22 Posts: 256 Car: 75' Ford Escort 1.6 Sport Rep Power: 15	hahaha brilliant, Thanks for the pics! __________________ http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b46/m102486/

May 24th, 2007, 02:38 PM	#4
Adunaphel Global Moderator Joined: Jan 18th, 2006 Last Online: Yesterday Location: [ˈne:dərlɑnt] Age: 29 Posts: 3,598 Car: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E (W201) Rep Power: 67	This is even better than i thought it would be, thanks a lot for sharing! __________________ 01001001 00100000 01000001 01001101 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01010011 01010100 01001001 01000111

May 24th, 2007, 04:42 PM	#6
Blythy Joined: Sep 27th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Posts: 979 Car: Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.2 Oh fuck yeah! Rep Power: 15	I check it out at my uni library cos.. I was bored The preceeding four spreads spelled out "ROAD / TEST / YEAR / BOOK" in exactly the same fashion, and even were one not aware of the trick, it just seems natural to keep on reading the red capitals. I seriously don't know how they missed that bit before publication. __________________

May 24th, 2007, 04:52 PM	#7
epp_b n00b of the year Joined: Jun 23rd, 2006 Last Online: 04:25 AM Location: Canadaland :) Posts: 4,917 Car: 1995 Nissan 240SX Rep Power: 45	That's great!

May 24th, 2007, 05:22 PM	#8
BlaRo Joined: Aug 18th, 2005 Last Online: 02:59 AM Location: MA Age: 21 Posts: 8,923 Car: 1997 Yamaha Seca II, 1976 Honda CB550F Rep Power: 132	That's awesome, thanks for sharing! btw. __________________ When squids attack!

May 24th, 2007, 05:50 PM	#9
Narcolepsy Joined: Sep 17th, 2006 Last Online: October 28th, 2008 Location: Philadelphia, USA Posts: 557 Rep Power: 10	That is excellent. Should have given him a raise for that. Can't a magazine have a sense humor? __________________ 05 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT 94 Mercedes-Benz C280 (Retired.....by a tree)

May 24th, 2007, 06:12 PM	#10
Blind_Io Dispenses buckshot medication for all undead patients. Joined: Apr 5th, 2006 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Richmond, California, USA Age: 28 Posts: 9,076 Car: 2004 Honda Civic Coupe 2000 VFR800 Interceptor Rep Power: 121	Did the magazine publish anything in the "Corrections and Clarifications" section the following issue? __________________ War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength

May 24th, 2007, 07:38 PM	#12
Prost264 Joined: Jun 30th, 2006 Last Online: 04:39 AM Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Age: 21 Posts: 2,250 Car: 1995 Subaru Legacy Rep Power: 30	As if I didn't have enough respect for May, I need to buy him a pint.

May 24th, 2007, 08:32 PM	#13
American TG Man Banned By Request Joined: Feb 19th, 2007 Last Online: 01:51 AM Location: Lafayette, PRNJ, Amerikistan Age: 17 Posts: 1,913 Car: None... :'c LFS Status: Rep Power: 25	BRILLIANT! __________________ The things one must have in life:1)anonymity 2)floppy hair 3)a taste for cardboard 4)POWERRR!!!! Robert Kubica and BMW-Sauber for 2009... (Just you wait...) DSRacing status: Filling in the giant footprints around the shop... Join the second round of the FinalGear Wacky Races!

May 24th, 2007, 09:02 PM	#14
Z102 Joined: Aug 25th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Valencia, Spain Age: 33 Posts: 496 Car: '07 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Sport Rep Power: 16	So he really did it... Good one, James __________________ "A rubbish car, I'm afraid, is a waste of petrol." Jeremy Clarkson

May 24th, 2007, 10:07 PM	#16
ryosuke Joined: Jul 28th, 2005 Last Online: November 15th, 2008 Location: franconofurd, germsmany Age: 23 Posts: 1,618 Car: FZ50 GTR Rep Power: 16	i love james may! __________________ Goddo supiido yuu! Burakku emparaa

May 24th, 2007, 10:44 PM	#17
pfrocker Joined: Jan 22nd, 2006 Last Online: 04:08 AM Location: San Francisco, California, USA Posts: 1,466 Rep Power: 22	Wow what a clever guy, he is one smart guy. Too bad he got fired, but hey he has a much better job now. __________________ "The following program contains British accents. If you don't understand what bloody hell we are talking about, please turn on your closed captioning" -BBC America Top Gear Introduction narrated by John Oliver

May 24th, 2007, 10:52 PM	#19
Ottobon Banned Joined: Nov 27th, 2005 Last Online: January 5th, 2009 Posts: 3,296 Car: Too many Rep Power: 0	ive been waiting for that

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May 25th, 2007, 12:38 AM	#20
watto Unloved and lacking a title Joined: Jun 13th, 2005 Last Online: January 7th, 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 23 Posts: 5,412 Car: 1997 VW Golf MkIII CL, Giant OCR 3 Rep Power: 58	Brilliant! James May is awesome.

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