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Post by marius on Sept 28, 2011 7:24:30 GMT 2
;D ;D ;D
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Post by marius on Oct 20, 2011 13:38:13 GMT 2
Hi all Hannes Oosthuisen from Car Magazine responded to my letter as follows: "Dear Marius Thank you for your offer! The rusty pic... The car was never identified as a Lada Niva in the magazine, we simply needed a pic of any car that was seemingly unroadworthy. I nearly bought a Lada for my wife a few years ago, by the way. She is Russian, and we regularly travel there. I have big respect for them. Kindest regards Hannes Hannes Oosthuizen Editor" It makes me very happy to know that we have some Russian connections at Car Magazine! Marius
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spikes
Moderator
Posts: 3,689
Location: Mpumalanga
Town: Nelspruit
Registered: Apr 19, 2010 19:39:51 GMT 2
Karma: Exalt | Smite
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Post by spikes on Oct 20, 2011 13:42:58 GMT 2
Thanks Marius!
Nogal from the "Man" himself. I'll keep you posted as to any statements in CAR... probably only in the December issue if anything.
Spikes
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gerrie
New Niva Petrol Head
Posts: 33
Registered: May 3, 2011 16:22:12 GMT 2
Karma: Exalt | Smite
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Post by gerrie on Oct 31, 2011 16:14:30 GMT 2
Hi Spikes Thanks for posting. I think I have mentioned it somewhere that in the year 2000 I wrote to Car Magazine requesting that they feature a picture of the Niva in their Magazine. They never responded to my request and to my knowledge they never obliged - UNTIL NOW ;D One of our members is a moto journo and he logs into the forum quite regulary and he can perhaps gives better and a more correct insight to this, but my take on the matter is that some moto journos get's sponsored by auto makers to drive around in their cars for a month or two. These cars gets "tested" by the journos and are then featured in the magazines - like Car Magazine. More often than not these cars get a very favourable write up and the job is done until the next car gets "tested". Now if a journo is given a choice between - as an example - a BMW X5 and a Lada Niva, the choice of what car to drive becomes rather difficult ;D Anyway - the point is - if they are to publish something like a rust bucket (naturally Vincent's luv bucket excluded ) they will not use the BMW X5 for that purpose - in order not to "strain" relations with that particular manufacturer who pays for the flashy adds, but would rather go for something way off the radar like our beloved Niva. It's all about bread and butter to me but I could be wrong Marius Hi From a journo's point of view: I am not going to slag CAR for posting that picture and in Hannes' own words, the Lada was never named as such. To be brutally honest, only Lada owners will recognise that as a Lada, most other readers will just glance over the picture, see the rust, read the caption and letter with it, and think no more about the picture, but rather the contents of the letter. So no 'direct' harm done to Lada owners, right? Perhaps, but any brand of vehicle is sensitive about how they are portrayed. We do not plan to ever make a specific vehicle look good or bad and always aim to be objective, but I can only speak from our side. The longest that we have had a car (since I've been here) was two weeks - and we test every new model that come on the scene the same way. From the editorial side, we do not care who advertises and who does not - that is not our worry - we have ad-reps to worry about that, so as far as possible, our reviews are as objective as possible to form in such a short time with a vehicle. But that is missing the point I am trying to make - the fact remains, CAR did not publish the picture saying: "Look at this rusty Niva - TYPICAL!" They did not mention the make of the vehicle, only made a generic comment regarding the road worthiness of vehicles on the road. The most probably typed "rusty car" into Google, got the first pic and used it (provided they could get the license for it!) So perhaps no ill was meant by it? On another point, Dr. Mike, I am waiting for that article - if you send it, I will publish it. Keep an eye on the mag next month (December) for Ronnie's Lada... the first Lada in Drive Out that I am aware of... Just saying! if anybody else has anything they feel could feature in the mag, get in touch with me please. We are always looking for content and as I have been saying for a long time, I would love to give you guys some exposure... Get in touch. Gerrie
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Post by marius on Oct 31, 2011 16:38:18 GMT 2
Hi Gerrie Thank you very much for your response and setting things straight, so to speak. I do recognize that our response was purely emotional and I agree we all love our cars, whether it's an old beat up VW or a shiny Porsche 911. To see a Lada like that featured in a mag was not so nice, but again you are correct - we are probably the only ones who would recognize it. I am convinced CAR meant no harm in posting that pic. Fantastic to see Ronnie's Lada is going to make it into Drive Out! Thanks for posting! Marius
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Post by Charles on Oct 31, 2011 18:08:31 GMT 2
Congratulations Ronnie!! Lucky Vincent...
Charles
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Post by ronnie on Oct 31, 2011 18:24:32 GMT 2
Hi Charles and Marius and All. Now that Gerrie has let the cat out of the bag so to speak, and before Vincent gets too excited, the Niva featured is the one I bought new in 1996, which now belongs to Ari ; . It was pointless talking much about the present Niva as I use it so little whereas Ari`s was used extensively in the game reserves of the neighbouring countries, at times, for trips in excess of 7000kms. Hopefully it will generate some good coverage for the Niva and LOCSA. Ronnie
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Post by Charles on Oct 31, 2011 19:39:10 GMT 2
I will rephrase, Congratulations Ronnie, lucky Ari...
Charles
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Post by Ari Bezuidenhout on Nov 5, 2011 11:53:27 GMT 2
Sweet. . . ;D ;D
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Post by Charles on Nov 5, 2011 13:05:44 GMT 2
Ari when we are finished with your 1600 they will beg you to feature it.
Charles
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