Everyone loves an origin story. In early 2016, an aspiring journalist (Maurice Malone), and an aspiring photographer (me), crossed paths. What would transpire, over the next few months, would be two complete novices, without a tap of experience, blagging their way into a series of performance icons. We made all the rookie mistakes – looking back, some of the photo gaffes were criminal – but it sent us both down a path we always seemed destined for. I’ll let Maurice tell the story of that crazy time – Cian.
Naivety can make you do silly things. When naivety is involved, you don’t even question the wisdom of what you’re doing. You just do it. ‘Why the hell not?’ you say. Looking back on what Cian and I did a few years ago, naivety was what made it happen. This is the story of how two unknowns found themselves driving and shooting some of the finest performance cars in Ireland.
Cian’s been taking photos for a few years now, and is rather good at it. Looking at the images in this feature, it was clear even then that he had a serious talent for photography. I ran a moderately popular Facebook page that mostly featured motorsport from days gone by, mainly because I was sick of the rubbish appearing on my newsfeed and wanted to create something that my friends and I could enjoy. Of course, this was back in the day when the algorithms hadn’t yet managed to ruin Facebook as a platform, though the signs were there that Zuckerberg and co. were about to spoil the fun. No matter. It was time to try the next step. I decided I wanted to write about cars.
Motoring journalism is a field that’s always fascinated me, and I grew up on a diet of Evo magazines and countless motorsport publications. To me, it was (and still is) a dream job. I used to spend hours on sites, including this one, always keeping a keen eye on how the Irish scene was being portrayed.
It pains me to say it, but for such a car-mad country the standard of automotive coverage in Ireland’s own media (with a few notable exceptions) left an awful lot to be desired. Rehashed press releases, poorly-written and sloppy reviews, and a general lack of passion and interest were major sources of frustration for me and many others. It didn’t have to be so.
As soon as I came home from my day job as an engineer, I was spending hours each evening writing for an Irish automotive website. I’d got in touch with them on a whim, and before I knew it I was doing a lot of work. It was arguably the best automotive site in the country and one comparable to the best in the UK, although it was geared towards new cars. Therefore, I wanted to create something on the site that would appeal to dyed-in-the-wool petrol-heads, but also engage the casual reader and hopefully give them an understanding of why we love what we love.
I think it was at a local Cars & Coffee event that I first floated the idea to Cian of shooting performance cars from days gone by that held icon status in Ireland. I’d been following his work and knew that his skills were key to the project. From there, a plan was hatched to shoot as many cars as we could. We laid out some ground rules, things like the cars in question had to have cult or hero status in Ireland and be as close to factory specification as possible. We then of course broke the second rule into a million pieces by featuring a full-blown rally car in the very first piece.
The series was called Irish Icons. Slightly cheesy, I know, but it had a nice ring to it and clearly indicated what the features were about. We could have called it Awesome & Amazing Automobiles & Astound & Astonish, but the alliteration and pretentiousness would have given some readers a coronary. Simple was best.
We Have Lift OffSo, the first feature. Knowing that it had to make an impact in order to draw readers in and keep my editor happy, we settled on the Ford Escort Mk2. You’ll struggle to find a more iconic car among Irish petrol-heads, especially those of rallying persuasion, so I organised for a friend’s rally-prepped version to be paraded in front of Cian’s lens for a few hours. I’d been on a couple of shoots before so knew the routine of constant toing and froing required for the various shots, something that is not all that easy with a sequential gearbox and racing clutch.
Looking at the feature now, it’s clear that we overlooked a few details and that my writing was not quite where I wanted it to be. Still, we’d laid out a good template to follow where I tried to explain the car’s status as an icon, followed by some facts and technical bits and finished off by describing how it felt to drive.
The latter is what I found the trickiest, trying to strike a balance between “This is the car. It is fast. I had fun,” and Troy Queef levels of tripe.
We felt almost duty-bound to include smoky oversteer glory shots and vivid descriptions of hair-raising antics on public roads similar to what some magazines were and still are doing, but ultimately we reined that in quite a bit. In all honesty, I didn’t feel comfortable pushing someone else’s pride and joy to those levels, especially with the fairly basic insurance cover we had. What we wanted to achieve was to give a sensation of what driving these cars might be like by writing in the second person, allowing the reader to paint their own picture and conjure up their own little fantasy stretch of road. A sort of escapism, I guess.
Here’s an excerpt from the Escort piece where I try to describe getting in and starting it up: “Painted in a matt black finish inside with carbon fibre dotted everywhere, it feels almost claustrophobic, especially when you squeeze into the driver’s bucket seat (custom made, naturally) and strap yourself in with the all-encompassing harness. Your feet fall readily to the pedals (friction coated to prevent Nomex boots from slipping off in the heat of battle), hands grip the small Sparco wheel and the view through the windscreen onto the flat bonnet and the road ahead is clear.”
“Then you spot the two levers sprouting from the enlarged transmission tunnel, one white-topped, the other yellow. The white one dictates which gear is selected in the Quaife sequential dog gearbox, with a neat little digital display informing you of the current ratio. The yellow one is the hydraulic handbrake, or ‘wand’ in rally parlance, and is used exclusively to encourage the rear wheels to break traction with the road. This looks fun. Switches litter the dash and a custom-made panel on the transmission tunnel, with fuses also at easy reach. Flicking the fuel pump switch awakes the high-flow Bosch unit housed in the tank, filling the cabin with a loud whirring. Hit the starter button, and the engine cranks and settles to a buzzy idle.”
Shifting Through The GearsHappily, the reception for the piece was good. Very good, in fact. Buoyed by this, we set about chasing speed for the rest of the year.
This is where naivety played its part; “we should totally drive two hours after work to shoot a DC2 at sunset”, “I’m just gonna go up to this guy with the E30 M3 and ask him to let me drive it”, “can we borrow your Cosworth for a couple of days?”.
We were asking owners to relinquish their pride and joy to us, though the majority were present for the shoots and seemed to enjoy the whole experience. We didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be doing this. There was literally no budget (we couldn’t even reimburse owners for the fuel they used), and we got a pretty thorough exposure to disgusting service station food up and down the country. We didn’t care though. It was so much fun.
The first few features went really well, bringing lots of traffic to the site and allowing us to refine our craft. In quick succession, we shot a Tommi Mäkinen Edition Evo, a genuine Phoenix Yellow DC2 (with the yellow Recaros), an E30 BMW 325i Sport and a Toyota AE86 that was so standard it even had the factory exhaust, something unheard of in Ireland.
The DC2 was fitted with ITBs (another example of mission creep on our part), and I can still remember the sound of the trumpets gulping air a couple of inches ahead of the bulkhead: “The first time I take the engine north of 5,500rpm and those spiky cam lobes engage is nothing short of a revelation. The sound is just other-worldly; the only thing I can compare it to is a Super Touring car. The speed piles on, and the short-ratio gearbox means that you can keep it revving to bursting point all day long if you so choose. There has rarely been such a perfectly matched engine and chassis combination, and Paul’s modifications have gently improved upon the factory formula without taking anything away from the experience.
“The chassis rewards commitment quite like nothing else on the road today. Be on your toes though, as the inherent adjustability can be a handful, especially in the wet. Once mastered, however, it contributes to astounding cross-country pace. You can really lean on the brakes thanks to the lack of weight, trailing the pedal on turn-in and feeling the nose nail itself to the apex as the rear rotates around the bottom of your spine. You can provoke the tail even more if you wish, but you know you’ve really aced it when you have to wind off just the tiniest bit of lock before jumping on the throttle once again. The diff works its magic in the background, never obtrusive or clunky, just supremely natural and supremely effective. Understeer just isn’t an issue, so you can guide the little Honda across ground at huge speeds, with the world’s biggest grin on your face. You forgive the car’s low-speed idiosyncrasies, because the rewards for driving hard are so high.”
Is This Really Happening?We were really getting into our stride now, and something that took a fair bit of planning, preparation and downright praying saw us get an E30 M3 Sport Evo and a three-door Sierra Cosworth together at dawn on one of my favourite roads. I’d driven the route the previous weekend in my own car and was a little concerned at the amount of loose chippings, but the owner of the Sport Evo (worth over €120k then and probably even more now) saw the gravel as an opportunity to have some fun. That really was the day of days.
We collected the Cossie the previous evening from an owner whose only advice was to “watch her if it’s wet, it’s got about 350hp and no traction,” as he cheerily threw us the keys. It stayed in a friend’s lock-up for the night for security, and filling up with petrol the night before the shoot, a boy of no more than five was so mesmerised by the sight of this white beast that he didn’t know whether to point, tug at his mother’s dress or both.
Also memorable was the reaction of the lady in the toll booth at 5:00am as we headed for the location, asking if it was a Cossie and asking us to give it some welly as soon as the barrier lifted. We obliged, of course, and I remember shifting into fifth gear, planting the throttle again and feeling the nose lift even at that speed as the turbo began to spool. You could feel the boost build through your feet. What a mad little car.
The M3 almost looked subtle compared to the Cossie, though it clearly impressed an elderly gentleman out for a dawn walk as he nearly twisted his head 180 degrees to get a better look while we passed. A shape born out of pure necessity, a car that existed only to win. Looking back on that shoot, it couldn’t have gone much better. I remember being impressed by the Cosworth despite the lag and general aggression needed, but the M3 was something else and to this day is one of the best cars I’ve ever driven.
“These cars mark two completely different approaches to the same end goal. The BMW is a scalpel with which you dissect the road ahead, feeling every nuance of the surface and using that information to choose your line with precision, wringing the maximum out of the engine and totally immersing you in the experience. The Sierra is a sledgehammer that pounds the tarmac into submission, dragging you along on a wave of turbocharged torque and keeping you hanging on for dear life. I have no doubt that you could probably extract the same time out of both cars on a twisty section of closed road given enough practice in each, but the sensations felt afterwards would demonstrate exactly how diverse these cars are. You’d get out of the Sierra weak-kneed and sweaty with your hands possibly locked in a counter-steering pose, but I guarantee that you’d turn the M3 around and keep going again until the fuel tank ran dry.”
That piece did massively well, and by the end of the year and another couple of shoots (including a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2) we had something like half of the top 10 most viewed features on the site for 2016. Not bad for a couple of young guys trying to find our feet. Another highlight was a recently restored R32 Skyline GT-R with 450hp that the owner literally shouted at me to push harder and harder. I sort of lost the run of myself with that feature as my enthusiasm for the subject got the better of me, conjuring up an intro about the Mid Night Club that went on for way too long. How it got past the editor I’ll never know, but I’m sort of happy it did. I adored that GT-R, a glimpse of what the future felt like 30 years ago. Despite its technological prowess, it still felt mechanical to drive and so amazingly quick on the narrow roads we were on. The RB26 has to go down as one of the greatest powerplants in history, too.
Over the space of a few months we got to experience cars we’d only dreamt about. If you’d told the 10-year-old me that I’d not only get to drive, but to spend hours on end with the likes of a Tommi Mäkinen Evo or E30 M3 I wouldn’t have believed you.
It was a great way to see these cars and get some understanding of what made them so special, in a way that you can’t at a show or event with 100 other cars and crowds of people around. This was Cian and I being left to do our thing and attempting to convey our impressions of these amazing creations through photos and words, hopefully giving the reader some insight into our thoughts.
Looking back on it now, I’m proud of what we did. And we have naivety to thank for a lot of it.
Maurice Malone
Instagram: mauricemalone27
Photos by Cian Donnellan
Instagram: ciadon
Facebook: ciandonphotography
After shutting down comments on the Saudi Lovefest, I guess this comment section will do.
I will never support murderers or terrorists, and those who do support them, and am simply amazed that journalists would somehow support them after such an ugly, obvious act that the Saudis performed upon poor Jamal Khashoggi.
Shame on you Speedhunters, I will NOT be supporting you in any way from this day forward.
Good Luck, and here's hoping you or other journalists do not have the same fate he had, and the indifference you and others have shown.
There may be a bit of hypocrisy at hand.
How is it possible to propagate the right to “freedom” while marginalizing an entire culture’s interpretation of it???
There is no such thing as hierarchy when it comes to culture. They can smite the “flaws” of your culture just as easily as you can smite the “flaws” of theirs...
Or, should they just wait around for some foreign power to show them the “right” way to live???
Thousands of years of warfare have thoroughly disproven that method.
The comments automatically close after 7 days on every story (to prevent spam appearing on older posts, something I implemented during my reign) but I've just seen that the more recent stories from Saudi have been closed as well. It's disappointing that someone would do that, as we've often had frank discussions which we need to have as a community following posts like these in the past.
TBH, when the original invitation came through to cover Global Auto Salon, my first reaction was the same as yours. It's a country with a horrendous human rights record and which continues to discriminate against women and the LGBT community in some of the most awful ways imaginable.
However, having documented car culture around the world, I was reminded that car people are usually far removed from the governments and regimes that rule them, and are most often some of the best people you can meet anywhere on the planet. Cars remove all sorts of societal barriers completely from between us, and allow us the freedom to meet and greet people all over the world, in a way that the majority of other people on this planet cannot.
With that in mind, I don't think it would have been fair to impose restrictions on covering the car people and cars of Saudi Arabia based on what has been imposed on them by their rulers or the actions of other people who live there, whether sanctioned or not. That last part in particular is a really slippery slope and would rule out covering a lot of countries around the world.
I respect your stand DCaffarel and share your feelings towards the recent and historic actions of Saudi Arabia, so I'm certainly not disregarding them. I just don't think we should paint all people in Saudi Arabia with the same brush and give everyone a fair chance when it comes to car culture.
It's great to finally have your opinion and a few words about this issue Paddy. Sadly indeed it seems Naveed decided to shoot the censorship gun on each of his articles about it.
What it seems was not understood is there's a huge difference betwee going down in the street of Saudi Arabia, going to local car meets, to see what the guys are up to there and to get a glimpse of the car culture there. That would have been interesting and proper speedhunting. But here, this is the coverage of a huge event, organized and financed by the government in an attempt to attract tourism and to give a better image of the regime. And that's 100%, utterly, completely, political.
We are not painting 100% of the country population as terrible, but this event is used as promotion for the regime.
Naveed's fault was to promote this, ignore people's comment and delete them, to finally simply block comments. He also had words which in my opinion are utterly awful : when on one article he commented implying that all those awful things happening in this country were matters of "political opinions" and matters of "what you think is wrong or right". How can a journalist imply that murders, deaths, are matters of point of view regarding what's wrong or right ?
Maybe it's not what he meant, but by refusing to answer and then by blocking and deleting comments, that's what transpires from it. Talking about it with a few guys here, I can say it painted a negative image of Speedhunters.
Again thanks for taking the time to write a few words Paddy, that was really needed after what happened last week on the website. Actually most didn't even asked the articles to be removed or the event not to be covered, but a disclaimer or a few words like this would have calmed the situation faster than censoring people's voices.
As above, I've spoken with Naveed to get his side of the story and I empathise with him. His whole goal from this trip was to simply shine a light on a part of culture that normally lurks in the shadows, something he was excited to do, and to avoid any politicisation of the content, to just keep it about the cars.
We now know that this wasn't possible, and TBH things weren't handled well in the aftermath. He shouldn't have closed the comments on previous posts (I can't see that he deleted any individual comments, but some comments were deleted by the original authors) but he also shouldn't have been personally attacked about the deaths of other journalists. When have we ever given off that kind of vibe that we support murder? That isn't us, never has been.
It's been a mess, but it's something we will learn from in future. I just ask that in future, we all try to give the benefit of doubt to each other.
Many countries (yours probably included) have committed atrocities in one way or another. The country may benefit from coverage but the show wasn't created to further their ideology. There are many more people in that country than the few you want to focus on. If you want to change the next generation you need to expose them to outside influence like this show.
So committing attrocities is okay because other did it before ? Strange way to think, and it brings nothing to the discussion at all. And if you read my comment, I actually said focusing on what people in the street do would have been better than covering an event that's used politically to promote a regime. If you took the time to look for the reasons why the government helped organizing this event, you would see how everything is tied and how this event is actually used for the benefit of the political organisation of the country. Naveed even explains it on one of his article. The informations is literally a couple of clicks away, if you refuse to see it it is by choice.
You simply don't understand the point of the show. I didn't say commiting atrocities was ok, I was just pointing out your hypocrisy. Once again, just because a political party finds a way to benefit doesn't mean that was the purpose.
(You are probalby one of these people who believe Nazi Germany organized the Olympics Games in 1936 only because their deep love for sports)
And you just don't want to make the effort to look for informations before speaking. Also I don't see what me being a hypocrite or living in a country that did attrocities hundreds of years ago brings the the whole discussion, that's totally out of topic and gratuitous. And it cerntainly not belittles the current situation in Saudi Arabia.
What little information you have was gleaned from this site (I've read the other articles) and it doesn't paint a full picture. Your country, and people in it have done things that other countries find atrocious. You have also done business with countries that do the same. You most likely buy products from company's that exploit their employees and take advantage of third world countries. Save your condemnation and work on your own life.
If you actually took the time and make the effort to look and gather informations and to educate yoursef, you would see that it's not only on this website. As if Speedhunters was used as a news site. And once again, your arguments have nothing to do with the discussion and make no sense at all with the current situation that's being discussed here. We get it, it's been 3 times you write the same things. That won't make more sense the fourth time, you are just missing the point. Fine.
"Maybe it's not what he meant". Hahahahaha... you don't say! If your take away was that Naveed was "imply(ing) that murders, deaths, are matters of point of view" then I'd say that your obtuse take away has jumped the shark. Jeez.
let's say another country with similar reputation did similar event and bring in Speedhunters, will you say the same? I just want to know.
Russia, S.Africa, Ireland?
Just out of curiosity, why is South Africa included?
I wouldn't name it directly but I would say it is in East Asia and most countries wouldn't oppose them even though they are one of the, if not the worst offender.
Personally, I refuse to buy anything made in China because I don't want to support their system. I think we all should. Money is the only language dictatorships understand
Bye Felicia
Bye
I don't think speedhunters took the trip to arabia for any political reasons. They were simply capturing some car culture and were not there to support any "murderers or terrorists."
By the way, the "ugly,obvious act" you speak of was not performed by "the Saudis" as a whole, it was certain people in authority who are at fault, don't generalise people like that. It is really people like yourself who ruin the perception of entire country/ faith for a few idiots' doings.
I'm sorry for having to post this and making things political.
nothing political is associated with that article, they were just documenting the car show that some wealthy saudi prince put on and risk there lives to document car culture.
Which is good on them because that place is a risky country,
so everyone needs to stop being so political in a car blog comment sections, it isnt right man.
-Tofu
Everything IS political whether we like it or not. KSA a perfect case in point: a wonderful, exotic, amazing car culture tainted to the rest of the globe by the horrendous/murderous/bigoted acts of a few. However, KSA is not the whole of the Middle East and needs to be judged on its own merits (dismerits?). At long last life is getting more bearable for women - just - and recognition and freedom is improving at a pace. As it should.
Basic Human Rights will hopefully follow...
Ridiculous and paranoid comments-locking aside, let's view their culture for what it is: a passion for owning and driving cars that we can all relate to in one form or another, just with triple the budget.
not everything is political, cars do not have to be political, cars are just cars man, this is why car culture is great because it brings people of all cultures and associations together and if we just put down our everything we would all get along.
Very cool, fun to see your coverage of some of the all-time greats! That E30 325i M-Tech looks very slick. Love the M20 engine, last of the great BMW single-cams. Best of luck in the future, automotive journalism seems to be a fickle mother. Though, leave it to an engineer to wax poetic about a car's handling dynamics.
Nice, that's quite the "collection" you put together there! It's cool that there are real petrolheads out there who enjoy their cars and give others the opportunity to share that joy.
Would I get a comment removed for insulting the Irish?
I'm trying to figure out what this comment is trying to achieve and whether it's related to the story it's attached to, or previous stories? For the avoidance of doubt, we're pretty chill on comment moderation around here, reserving the big ol' delete button primarily for spam.
I can see that recently this hasn't been the case, but I'm not around as much as I used to be, so I don't know the content of the comments which have been removed. As a general rule of thumb, anything which is racial, bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic or personally attacking other users isn't tolerated.
Cars and car culture transcend typical societal barriers, and we aim to keep it that way.
For sure. I agree with you. I was just referring to the previous stuff as other guys were above. I don't think it was respectable of Naveed to block people's comments. While others might not like what is said, it is very important for the integrity of Speed Hunters to allow people to express themselves as they see fit.
Shame we live in a time where if you don't like something the action is often to block it or remove what was said. Just my thoughts.
I've spoken with Naveed, and I understand his point of view as well (where people were directing personal attacks at him and basically saying that he condoned the actions of some in KSA just because he photographed some cars there). He shouldn't have closed discussions down (the only comments which I've seen that were deleted, were deleted by the original author), but it was a heat of the moment decision which I can sympathise with. It often feels more personal here as the setting is more intimate than social media and I know that it can negatively affect you in ways you wouldn't even realise.
At the end of the day, we're all human and make mistakes. I just hope that we can continue to have these conversations in future.
Well said Paddy, that is a respectable point of view. I do agree with blocking personal comments. It's ridiculous to call him a supporter of some organization just for taking photos haha. People take photos of the mob--they aren't lopping peoples head's off or condoning it. Looks like everyone (hopefully) learned from the experience. cheers mate.
The Pic of the DC2 at Night looks like Gran Turismo... And I love it
All the best cars from the best era. Fantastic article and photos, Maurice, Cian.
That's what dedication and enthousiasm gets you. The greatest memories. Just going for it, instead of doubting it. This is indeed every boys dream!
Very fun to read article. Makes my Monday morning much better!
Brilliant stuff, what mind blowing experiences to have had and well done for having the guts to go do it.
"Is it a Cossie?"
That question alone makes the article for me.
That Pug though?
Cars remain the great equalizers. Drift cars that started in Japan in the early 90s have found their ways to every corner of the globe. Low riders from the east part of Los Angeles, a culture that started in the garages of migrants and laborers, are now collected around the world as prize show cars. Despite the politics of the Nations they occupy, car enthusiasts all share a common, global love of the culture.
Well said.
Wouldn't it be nice if you feature that Yellow integra and R32 and see whats up. plus super cool pictures. It was nice of the writer but the pictures can't stop speaking for them selves. Its like we are living right there.
WHAT A REALLY NICE TME EDITION EVO !! <333
-Tofu
CAN I COMPLAIN TOO ? XD
MORE YARIS >:OOOOOOO
jk <3
-Tofu