by Dr. Iain
Corness
A
regular in Thailand, is Australian John Weinthal. He is a man for whom
‘wheels’ have been an integral part of his life in more ways than one.
In fact it could be said that ‘wheels’ nurtured his passion and kept
that passion rolling. In more ways than the commonly accepted
understanding of ‘wheels’ too.
He was born in Warialda, a small country town in New
South Wales, Australia. His father was a lawyer, as was his grandfather
and his great grandfather; however, the law was not his passion. It was
cars. By the time he was six he was raiding the local motor car dealers,
taking home the coloured brochures which were then cut and pasted into
brown paper exercise books.
He graduated from cutting up brochures to cutting
classes and secretly driving the family motor cars by the time he was
nine. He did manage to hit a tree a glancing blow on one jaunt, but had
the car repaired before his father returned. Weinthal Senior was not
totally unaware of his eldest son’s escapades however, and arranged
driving lessons for the young boy. The young John was 10 years old, but he
still managed to collect a gate, with his father on board at the time.
His next big move was to boarding school in Sydney, but
this was not because of his driving exploits. “Living in a small country
town,” said John, “If you wanted to further your education you went to
Sydney.”
In boarding school he bought the first edition of a
monthly motoring magazine. It was called “Wheels” magazine! This was
waited for eagerly every four weeks, but despite devouring every word
printed on the pages, he had no thoughts of becoming a wordsmith himself.
“I never thought that (one day) I would join the hallowed ranks of
motoring writers,” he said. (In fact he did more than that, having won
the Queensland Motoring Writer of the Year award many years later.)
After boarding school he was packed off to Armidale
University to study Law. This might have been the family calling, but it
certainly wasn’t John’s. “I became a journalist after I realized
that the Law required study and hard work!”
However, becoming a journalist was not just a case of
walking into the editor-in-chief’s office at the major daily newspaper
in Brisbane (Australia) and walking out with a press pass and a pencil
behind his ear. There were interviews to be hurdled - but a friend of an
aunt did know the chief of staff. Nepotism helped, and he was taken on as
a cadet.
Like us all, he had to start at the bottom. For a
journalist this was, “Doing the daily fruit and vegetable prices, the
film and TV guide and the bowls results on Saturdays.” He also wormed
his way in to becoming the off-sider to the motoring editor.
While a cadet he also learned other journalistic
skills. “I learned the great arts of boozing and smoking, and surviving
the challenge of sharing a flat with a mad medical student.” (That
medical student was also obsessed with cars. That student was me! Dr.
Iain.)
John quickly climbed the journalist’s ladder and at
age 23 was given the position as motoring editor at the major daily (The
Courier Mail), making him the youngest in Australia at that level. The boy
who had read “Wheels” was now in the position of getting free wheels
to test every week. While still at the Courier Mail he also became
engaged, but then went to the UK for a six months holiday before planning
to return to Australia to marry and ‘settle down’. After 10 months of
his being in the UK, his fianc้e paid her own way over to England,
something that has neither been forgotten nor forgiven.
During this period he went to the motor show in Geneva.
It was 1967 and he went with an old friend, the previous mad medical
student he had shared a flat with, but now a qualified medico. That trip
not only introduced John to Alpine snow, but also to the Reliant motor
manufacturing company, and he returned to London with the contract as PR
for their London agency in his pocket.
After 15 months he left, but was still not ready to
return to Australia. He joined the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders (SMMT) in the UK to assist with PR for the London Motor Show. This
was a two month appointment that eventually strung out to be 16 years!
Within six months he had become the head of the PR department with a staff
of ten, and from then on he “Had a free car every week. Everything from
Yugo’s to Rolls Royces.” He also had the opportunity in that post to
be a speechwriter and confidante of some of the great captains of the auto
industry in the UK. He also attended every international motor show in
Europe, Japan and the USA. The boy who had cut out pictures of cars in
brochures had become the man whose picture was printed meeting people,
such as Britain’s PM, Maggie Thatcher, at the Birmingham International
Motor Show.
After leaving the SMMT he returned to Australia to be
asked to be the guest speaker at the Car of the Year event. This was run
by “Wheels” magazine. The wheel had gone full circle!
Finally ‘settling down’ in Australia he took on the
PR for Toyota in Queensland but after five years moved into his own PR
agency and returned to motoring writing and broadcasting. Two of his
outlets are the Pattaya Mail and the Chiangmai Mail. In this
region he has again begun to visit motor shows, and now comes every year
to the Bangkok International Motor Show. “I’m still besotted by motor
shows,” says the man who has been present at more motor shows than 99
percent of motoring journalists in the world.
We look forward to seeing you next year, John!
