Welcome to the Autos Editors’ Blog. We have a passion for all things automotive: keeping up to date with the latest trends, providing coverage of all major auto shows, and test driving the newest vehicles — basically, we’re car nuts.
Each week we’ll provide thoughts on the cars we’re currently driving, as well as occasional commentary on big automotive news items. We might get up on our respective soapboxes from time to time, but it shouldn’t be too painful.
Here’s a bit about us:
Perry Stern - I’m lead editor here at Autos. I’ve been on staff here for almost ten years, but have always been interested in cars. I actually wrote to Car and Driver magazine when I was 15 to ask how I become an auto writer. They never responded. I don’t have a regular daily driver - my last car was a 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo. My wife drives a Ford Explorer. I prefer high-performance cars, but I like them to have the ability to carry passengers and cargo as well. My dream car is a 2004 BMW M5. I also understand the value that a car company such as Hyundai or Suzuki brings to the table — not all cars have to have sportscar-like performance. (See my picture below — standing next to the silver Bentley.)
Mike Meredith - I’m the new guy at Autos since I have only been here six years, but my interest in cars started basically at birth. My Dad has been in the car business my whole life so there were always interesting cars around. I started working at his car dealership (on weekends and in the summer) when I was 12 (there were no child labor laws then). At about 14 he let me start driving cars around the lot, and since then I’ve been behind the wheel every chance I get. Once I finished college I went straight to the Renault Elf Winfield race driving school and have been club racing and teaching high-performance driving ever since. In 1982 I traded my T-Top Camaro with a 350 V8 and a 4-speed manual for a BMW 320i and I’ve owned many BMWs since then, all with manual transmissions. I teach at the ProFormance Racing School at Pacific Raceways near Seattle.
Eric Bellscheidt - Probably the least nutty of these “car nuts,” I too have worked on Autos for almost a decade. As associate editor I ensure we have readable content for our varied car-shopping audience, from gearheads to grannies. With a wife and two kids in tow, my preferences fall to the more practical side of automobiles: utility, safety, comfort and economy — but a middle-aged guy can also dream a little, can’t he? Our family driver is a Toyota minivan nicknamed Ayrton Sienna. (That’s me below in the blue jacket.)