Car for me too. Mostly after my dad had finished reading his subscription copy, it found its way into my possession. LJKS, Llewellin, Bishop, Bulgin - I think that was the quadrumvirate who owned the columnists' pens in my fondest memory. Gavin Green's two stints in the editor's chair between mid-80s and mid-90s more or less mark my most avid readership - from just before I passed my test to buying the first car where I had to consider the practicalities of a family rather than merely my own driving pleasure!
Setright's opinions and encyclopaedic knowledge on both engineering and the English language were, in retrospect, much more of a formative force on my life's path than I realized or noticed at the time. Undergrad studies in mechanical engineering, followed by a career in marketing communications for technology and engineering companies, squared the same circle between the arts and natural sciences that LJKS epitomised - though of course in my own case to a much, much lesser degree.
Oh, and edited to add that, after a Google-fuelled digression into the internet archives, I can't believe I didn't mention Ronald Barker's restaurant guides disguised as car reviews. And James May's early musings. And Stephen Bayley's design columns. Good times, great journalism.
