Torquing Cars is Changing – A Letter from the Editor
As many long-time followers of Torquing Cars may have noticed, the last 2 years have been pretty quiet on the site. No, Torquing Cars hasn’t shut down, but as anyone who knows the man behind the brand – me – will understand, I haven’t been able to dedicate my time to Torquing Cars as I’ve had to put my resources into writing for the publication that pays my salary. For those who aren’t quite au fait with the behind-the-scenes dealings, allow me to explain…
My name is Roger Biermann, and I founded Torquing Cars in 2012 as a means of putting my ramblings about cars into an online platform where I felt they might be able to have some influence. It was a labour of love, a passion for writing and for cars rolled into one, but ultimately it was a hobby, as I had a day job designing restaurants. But the more I wrote about cars, the more I wanted to turn it into my real job. Over the years, Torquing Cars evolved. In 2016 we relaunched the website on a new platform with a new look, I started doing video work thanks to Jarryd Junkin, and with the help of some good friends – guys by the names of Roarke Bouffe, Vaughn Humphrey, and Lance Humphrey – I was able to accompany my reviews with some pretty spectacular photos.
But about 4 years ago, an opportunity came knocking that I couldn’t say no to. After being retrenched and taking on work with my father-in-law as a curtain-maker, I was offered the opportunity to freelance for another online publication and actually get paid to write about cars. I said yes, but it meant that I couldn’t look after Torquing Cars as much as I’d planned on doing so when I was first retrenched.
That publication was CarBuzz, and things went from good to great. Sure, the publication focuses on the American and international markets, meaning I don’t get to write about cars from my home country – South Africa – as regularly, but the opportunity meant that I could achieve a goal of becoming a full-time car writer. Then, in 2019, I went full-time for CarBuzz, and a South African office was started for the publication. I was chosen to head things up as Managing Editor. I had finally achieved my dream of going into motoring full time, but with this, I was unable to dedicate time and resources to Torquing Cars, and the content has been pretty dry ever since. For this, I’m sorry, but also not – while I’m sorry I haven’t kept content rolling on my own site, I’m thrilled that I achieved my dream and that I’ve been able to work for an international publication that reaches millions of people on a monthly basis.
If you don’t already do so, I urge you to follow CarBuzz on Facebook and download the mobile app on iOS or Android. That way, you can keep up with my latest written work, covering international news, reviews, and even a couple of really cool features I write from time to time, like the history of the Mazda MX-5 or my interview with Christian von Koenigsegg – if you’d told me in 2012 I’d be interviewing CvK, I’d have called you a liar and probably throat-punched you for being so stupid.
But where does that leave Torquing Cars? Well, I still like to keep this platform active, and with CarBuzz focusing on an international audience, I’d still like to cover local stories from time to time, including reviews of cars that are sold here but not in the US. For that reason, Torquing Cars will remain active, but will also hopefully be more active than it has for a long time. That’s because Torquing Cars will also be changing a little. Whereas it was previously an outlet for my attempts to be a professional motoring writer, those now have a home on CarBuzz.com. That’s why Torquing Cars will now become a little more personal than it has been – I cringe at the thought of calling it this, but Torquing Cars will become more like a personal motoring blog.
I’ll still cover reviews, and I’ll still cover some local news, but I’ll also be giving you a more personal insight into my life in motoring. This will include my personal opinions on how various brands do business, some interesting stories of mine from within the industry, and it’ll be a place for me to share my own motoring exploits with my own car – a 2002 Mazda MX-5 called Sakura. I’ll tell you stories of my attempts at track days, share my opinions, and even give you some insights into how I came to fall in love with cars and how I got into the industry I’m in – who knows, it might help some aspiring writers out there get into it, something I’m pretty passionate about.
I can’t make promises as to how often I’ll post, or even the format I’ll follow, but what I can tell you is you’ll get to see cars from the perspective of Roger, the Johannesburg-born petrolhead who owns a broken MX-5, loves driving slow cars fast, and spends way too much time obsessed with anything on four wheels. If that sounds like something you’ll enjoy, then welcome to the show, I’m glad to have you along for the ride! You’re also welcome to follow me on social media, either via the Torquing Cars profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or on my personal Instagram accounts: @roger.mx5 and @sakurathemx5.
So, from the laptop of the editor, or the one-man-show behind Torquing Cars, thanks for all your support over the years. I hope you’ll stick around to see what’s in store, and I hope you’ll support CarBuzz, too, so you can get to see the professional side of me as well as the behind-the-scenes Roger who started writing about cars just because he loved them.
Roger Biermann
Petrolhead-in-Chief
Torquing Cars
