If you’d like to read this fascinating tale of a petty, long-term grudge and other spilled tea of the seedy automotive journalism underbelly, please consider becoming an Autopian member. Thank you!
If you’d like to read this fascinating tale of a petty, long-term grudge and other spilled tea of the seedy automotive journalism underbelly, please consider becoming an Autopian member. Thank you!
Follow us on:
He has strong opinions. You have strong opinions. Sometimes they aren’t the same opinions, and there’s drama. It’s like WWF – fun to watch, but not that serious. The entertainers go for a beer afterwards and laugh about it.
But carrying an FU grudge for a decade is incredibly petty.
Just read his bio…
“[REDACTED] has been writing about cars since 1990 and is getting okay at it.”
My dude, you are the SENIOR EDITOR of one of the historic flagship auto publications. False modesty much?
And, “He owns a pair of Toyota Tundras and two dogs. He used to have a Nova and a Camaro.”
So, four dogs then? This is the guy hating on a plebeian Mitsu? Even the enthusiast cars he used to own are kinda boring.
He’s too soft to be a truck user. Must be an image thing for him.
to be fair, that bio might be from a few decades ago. But to your point, you don’t say you’re “getting ok with it” unless you believe you’re pretty damn good (or believe others believe that).
That’s the bio running on his articles *right now*.
I feel a little bad about kink shaming his two Tundras and two former Chevys. After all, this is The Autopian, and we shouldn’t yuk someone else’s yum. But sure seems like a Senior Editor for Road & Track would have a more eclectic and interesting fleet.
I know. Maybe journos are better about it but recently I realized I had a bio up that hadn’t been updated in a decade.
That is why we subscribe to Car & Driver. Elena Scheer just bought an 20+ year old Arnage because she needed a car with air conditioning 😉
First, I should say that publishing this was probably a bad editorial decision – however it happens to be one I’m 100% here for. EDIT: I deleted the rest of this comment after a little reflection. I don’t think anything good can come out of this and we never know what someone else has going on.
Everyone has something going on and I try to remember that every day. We all have bad days. That said, 12 years is a long time, and skipping dinner because you’re pissed off is kinda self-defeating.
Even if you DONT have anything going on, this winter has been hard. The files coming out, and discovering our entire society is run by pedophiles, no justice at all happening, yet we still have to pay taxes and OH LOOK Epstein bought 55 gallon drums of ACID and OH LOOK he won the powerball TWICE and OH LOOK his gamertag is still active!
My mental health has been struggling.
Hugs! The world has been so much to deal with lately.
I’m not going to write the story because I’d rather write happier stuff, but I found out that Epstein was like a hardcore Smart Fortwo fan. Had one imported to the island and everything. There are about 71 documents regarding buying the car, modifying it, etc…
oof. Reminds me of a time a certain politician’s PR flack unintentionally outed herself as a huge aviation geek. It was…conflicting.
The Smart car wasn’t necessarily involved in anything, it could have just been visiting the island for the snorkeling
He’s just mad because he needed a shoehorn to get in the car. People still have warm feelings for the Mirage. I’ll wager the same can’t be said for him.
Read your article, would have read the ahole’s article but it’s behind a paywall.
My guess is he probably got ripped a new one by most sensible people in his circles for being a posh prick after writing that article after your rebuttal came out pointing out that he was a posh prick. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was blacklisted by Mitsubishi, and possibly taken off of reviewing cars for a while.
A lot of automakers don’t tolerate when their cars have serious design defects that are accurately reported on. Hell, even Toyota refused to admit there was a mechanical problem when a brand new current gen 4 Door Tacoma grenaded it’s ADD turning it from a 4WD into a Heavy RWD pickup when it was way under max weight, being driven gently, and being driven on a slick surface in cold conditions and at high altitude where the engine was making nowhere near max power and the drivetrain was nowhere near overheating.
Only reason I didn’t buy a Mitsubishi Mirage was I couldn’t get snow tires for it.
Sure it would have been gutless and tin-canny, but I have a hard time not rooting for those types of automobiles.
Idk about y’all but when I buy something cheap and it fails I don’t feel a sense of entitlement to quality, I just brush it off as ‘I’m glad it lasted as long as it did’.
Whereas if I buy something a price premium I have an expectation of quality, and if it fucks up for no good reason I’m pissed.
Yeah, I’m thinking this isnt all about Torch, he probably heard a lot of similar criticizing from a number of sides, and Jason’s article was maybe the most biting and savage, that really drove the final screw in, so he probably just got pissed off about the whole thing and seeing Jason brought all that back
I’m amusing myself with the image of Torch’s big, innocent smile inciting a blind rage in someone he doesn’t even know personally.
Man that’s a great image honestly.
Well, maybe he’s getting criticized because it turns out that writing down your dickishness and publishing it for the whole world to see frequently garners criticism.
Declaring himself the arbiter of what is and isn’t a classic, and ragging on a cheap car because it’s, you know, cheap and the poors shouldn’t be driving… Christ, just two articles out of a career full of them and it’s obvious this guy is deeply, deeply unpleasant.
There’s still some expectation of quality. Last week there was that article about Bob Mayer’s review of some Fiat POS that had to be bump started b/c the battery kept dying during the review. But assuming the car functions as intended (I assume the Mirage did), yeah what more do you expect for that price.
Definitely some expectation of quality, but when you’re buying the cheapest option on the market it’s definitely the lowest expectation of quality possible for a new car.
What an incredibly thing skinned, and childish guy he must be. To take real genuine, professional criticism and hold it in and stew for years like that… gross!
Guy seems kinda washed up (based on the quick googling), and like the death of the print mag is something he took personally. How unfortunate.
A dozen years without rent? #blessed!
I don’t understand holding a grudge that intensely for that long, but, if I was giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, I suspect working for an organization like an internationally known and respected periodical in 2014 meant having to frequently grin and bear it in the face of criticism you wanted to respond to because a response would be simultaneously seen as punching down, legitimizing the site and article (the “endorsement” of being worth responding to), and (not saying it’s the case here) potentially being trolled into a response as part of a cynical plan to get eyeballs on that other website.
That said, I really, really dislike the work of any reviewer who doesn’t seem realistic in their expectations for what they’re reviewing.
When I started working for a nonprofit out of college in 2009/2010, we had two very active elderly volunteers that all the staff knew could not be invited to the same events or asked to collaborate on the same things, because they held a bitter grudge against each other dating to the mid 1950s, when one got some award at a recognition banquet that the other felt he deserved more. They were both very friendly, helpful, reasonable people if you interacted with them one on one, but mentioning the other person’s name in front of them would drag out the whole story and it was just ridiculous
God I hope I don’t become that bitter in my old age. It seems like a really easy trap to fall into. Luckily I seem to be getting more empathic in my late 30s so maybe I’ll avoid such a fate.
I’m 68 and have grown less judgmental the older I’ve gotten. There’s hope.
Glad you are so comfortable with yourself Torch, part of what makes your writing so fun is your near inability to take anything too seriously, it’s baffling some can’t see that, haha. Also I can’t believe I remember that article from when it first ran on the old site. Damn..
There was enough heat in some of those burns in the lighting site review to create a reflective shimmer. He deserved the heat though for that elitest snark directed towards a cheap car for being what it aimed to be. I seriously question his judgement though. After getting his ham toasted mercilessly for failing to respect frugality he decides to come back for seconds with nothing better than”my butt still hurts”? IDK. Seems like he wants it. Maybe don’t just to deprive him of his kink.
Just read the Torch piece on the old site. If this guy — and I’ve read his work — is this bitter over what Torch wrote, he truly must have a sad and terrible life. Torch’s piece was fine. No personal attacks. Valid professional criticism, yes, but done without meanness.
Based on the critic’s personal sense of grooming style, I’d say he has some challenges with aesthetics and general sense of quality vs. rubbish. Long hair and double chins on a guy went out of fashion … oh, right, never a pleasant combo. Torch, does he still look like a failed Steeley Dan drum tech?
I don’t have the energy or bandwidth to hold a grudge like that, but I have met folks like that and have always felt a bit of pity for them, as they all seemed to make their own lives miserable. Keep up the noble high ground, Jason!
This is how I feel about people getting super mad in traffic. It’s annoying when someone cuts you off, but when I see the cut-off-ee (forgive me) tailgate as some sort of retribution, I just feel kinda sorry for them.
I settle for just swearing at the person who cut me off and then let it go and forget about it (other than treating that vehicle as even more likely to do something stupid). Supposedly there have been studies that show swearing about something does release and diminish the anger. Sounds good to me! An F-bomb and then get on with life, no need to add to the road rage out there.
What a petty little fucker.
I stand with Torch.
JPH came into print auto journalism at its peak and will retire after its demise. Sounds like the guy never adapted to the fact that any kind of media profile comes with being open to disagreement in the digital era.
Holding a 13 year grudge over being gently critiqued by a guy who made a sentient colostomy bag TV pilot takes some pretty thin skin.
Is that a grudge in your pocket or are you just a miserable asshole?
This was a stellar pre-bedtime read (as was a re-read of the referenced rebuttal piece on the old site).
That being said, I dunno man… Maybe he’s on the spectrum?
PSA: being on the spectrum and being an asshole are two different things. Also, it’s possible to be both.
Totally get that — See also Elon Musk. This was just my attempt at some sort of rationale for acting like this toward another adult.
Yup. That was more for everyone else. Mostly bc I had a recent experience with someone and another person tried to excuse it by saying he probably had ASD. Maybe (who am I to diagnose?) but he was also an asshole.
As someone who is on the spectrum and is definitely an asshole, but I don’t lean into blaming my fuckups on my autism… yeah, no. This is not a valid or acceptable behavior.
You can be on the spectrum and be a reasonable, pleasant person (I am 95% of the time).
It’s not a valid excuse. I don’t accept it for myself, sometimes I’m just a prick and that’s who I am. Mr JPH needs to be held accountable for being a literal manchild.
I’ve never met Torch, nor really even interacted with him, but his writing gives serious Golden Retriever vibes. What kind of psychopath holds a grudge against a golden retriever??
I’ve always seen him as a Frenchy, but your point stands.
Coming back to this an hour later: dude held a grudge against a golden retriever for 12 years. That’s literally like three generations of golden retriever grudge!
That’s 84 in dog years.
That sounds like a “he knows you’re right and he got called out for a silly edgelord click-seeking review” -type FU.
I’ll take Torch’s absurdist yet elegant writing over that any day!
I met him once and had a fun conversation. He had surprisingly positive (if unusual) opinions about the organization I was working for at the time. That said, 100% you could take him.
I dunno, I think the constant division, bickering, and hatered we’ve all been subject to in the years since then has really started to just break people.
Am I going to be banned here if I confess, hypothetically, that I liked that cheap car review?
That publication also has a reputation of going all-in in takedowns. Their scathing commentary of a certain steakhouse “institution” is considered by many the magnum opus of restaurant reviews.
You’re fine. The issue isn’t the quality of writing by either of Torch or whomever the grudge holder is. Both can have their opinions and you’re allowed to agree with either, both, or neither. The issue is that the guy has been holding a grudge for 12 years over what really amounts to a dissenting opinion. It’s just sad.
Please please sit next to him at breakfast.
Oh! oh! And sit down with some coffee and just nonchalantly say “This coffee is great! Not as expensive as a Starbucks, but just as good!”
And pretend dinner never happened. Try to introduce yourself as the friendly neighborhood autojourno.
Naw. Just bring your laptop and make it obvious you’re writing a post about him in real time.
Better: pretend like you’ve never met him before, and keep this shtick up every time you see him. “Hi, we haven’t met, but–”
Make him storm out of dinner every time he sees you.
So petty and so perfect!
Jason should appear at ALL of the places this guy eats at.
Let’s see how long he can go without eating… LOL
While wearing a t shirt with a photo of a Mitsubishi Mirage and a tagline underneath reading, “It’s cheap fun!”
Ha. He should post a new review of the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage for no reason.
Guys, do you realize this is cruel and unusual punishment? I’m rolling on the floor.
I guess people don’t like to be told they are wrong? Even though they may be?
Honestly, I think it says a lot about someone who’s willing to admit they were wrong. It’s how we grow. It’s not weakness. I’m wrong all the time, so I’m pretty sure that makes me awesome. Which I’m also wrong about.
I’m here for the Pearl(ey)-clutching
I hope no man here here gets Huff(y) about this.
After he announced he wasn’t staying for dinner, Torch should have said, “Well, don’t go off in a huff, man.”
Well, it’s a relief that (if it is indeed JPH) it’s NOT one of my automotive media favorites.
That’s wild to be that upset about it. I will admit that I bear somewhat of a (very mild) grudge of sorts like that. Had a handful of my early YouTube videos co-opted by a content creator (and I was never credited) in the early 2010’s who went on to get millions of views with it and to this day people still sing his praises whenever it comes up. But I don’t think I’d even be abrasive to them if I met them IRL. You gotta be pretty bitter in general that something like that can overshadow 12+ years of, like, good stuff in your life!
“I made an auto journalist so mad from a simple rebuttal article from 12 years ago they walked out on a press dinner” is a great one for ‘two truths and a lie’
There’s a difference though. This other creator stole from you. This person received ad revenue and you did not. Until they make it right, you’re allowed to resent them. In JT’s case, the theft is merely pride.
True, and this was back in the day when anyone could be monetized, and I was! Could have gotten at least a few more $50 checks out of YouTube for my stuff. My vids from the time still had some success, but the comment section is a flood of kids just typing the persons name or “Who’s here from ______?!” by searching for the full sources. But hey they tell me that drives the algorithm!
The closest I experience I can relate to that is when someone linked to the pictures in my Ebay auction as their own. It was a common thing to do back in the day and I wouldn’t have minded except my own auction was still live so they were in direct competition with me. Not cool. Fortunately the other party had been too lazy to download my images, they had simply put a link in their own auction pointing to the images on my server.
Since I still had full control over those images I immediately put an opening bid of $0.01 on their auction which prevented any edits. I then renamed my images in my own auction editing it so everything appeared as it had before. I then uploaded some VERY explicit images to replace the renamed images used without permission with the caption “This is what I do with all the time I save by stealing from other people’s auctions”.
A few days later I got a good natured touché and apology PM from the other party. All’s well that ends well.
Great story! He was probably sweating bullets!
LOL that’s pretty great!
I may as well say it – I’m still mad about something Torchinsky did to me in 2014 too.
Did the camel suffer permanent injury? Well, no, but she could have. Did it end up costing me only 11 Thai Baht? Sure, fine, but sometimes it’s more than just the money.
I spent a lot of time learning how to dance the Lindy Hop. And when Carmelo Anthony had to push my motorized tricycle out of the mud, I sure was embarassed.
But the worst thing is that the tuxedo Torchinsky lent me at the end of the night was Kelly green instead of the lime green he knew I needed.
He has my number. I’m still waiting for the call.
look, baby, be REASONABLE
My dear… it sounds like you were a Baht Boy, and needed to hop off this grudge. Lime green envy isn’t a great color on you 😉