triman54

For those of you who have not subsribed to the Orlando Sentinel for the last few years, you have missed the regular weekly ride section. Steven Cole Smith, formerly of Car & Driver, has been the editor for almost 8 years. He is a delightful person, and if you ever meet him, he is a hoot...a real car guy. Steven always was a straight shooter. He justly criticized our penchant for V-8's, and, if you read his columns closely, you knew he had a soft spot for VW's. He was one of the most outspoken fans, for instance, of the new Passat CC, a car which proves once and for all that VW builds some of the most beautiful cars in the world. Well, budget cuts have taken their hold, and the Ride section is being included in the Money section beginning July 6th. I for one will miss it. In fact, because of the Ride section, I got hooked up with the S2k community. I don't know about you, but the deletion of the Ride section and the new horrendous graphics and layout are almost pushing me to cancel my subsription.

Willie Gee

There's a newspaper for Orlando? For years I thought that was fish wrapping.

Orlando Sentinel Fish Wrapper? Isn't that right?



Never liked the local paper. That goes for the News Journal which just dropped all NSB coverage. bleh.

crdcz03

i thought you were gonna say he died or something. he'll be back on some magazine if he is as good as you say he is

SinsinS2000

Sorry Jay, thanks to technology I haven't picked up a newspaper to read in years. I scan headlines on MSNBC, Fox, and CNN. I even check out the UK MSN page too.

Sorry to hear that they're losing a section that seemed loved and well written. Just sadly, not enough to keep with budget. Hopefully he'll come back to Car & Driver .

mombasaman

That is bad news. I always enjoyed Steven Cole Smith's articles. He always had a great sense of humor. I was surprised someone of his calibre ended up in Orlando, but he got tired of the corporate rat race. He liked the S2000 even though he had a hard time fitting into one!

triman54

He will still be around, just not as the editor of the Ride Section. He really liked 4 cylinder engines. Me too.

KonaMan

After over eight years of wanting one of these fine cars I made the plunge and put one in my garage on Monday. I'm pretty excited about the purchase even though those who know me refer to my decision to buy one as a mid life crisis. They drive mini vans and SUVs. I've been lurking on this forum, listening and learning from the folks who have long term relationships with what I consider to be one of the best performance cars available to the masses. The Steven Smith chat really got my attention. I know Steven fairly well, have lunch with him a few times a year, and can affirm that everything you have mentioned about him is right on the money. He is a first class act in every respect, probably has forgotten more about cars than we all know, and.... and it just doesn't get any better than him. Hearing your kind words about this incredibly fine man speaks volumes about the caliber of folks who hang around on this forum. I look forward to reading what you all have to say and learning from you s2000 veterans when I post all of the dumb questions that are sure to arise in the coming years. Yeah, Steven Cole Smith is a world class automotive journalist and, for what it's worth, it was one of his last columns that led me to canning a deal on a new ISF and signing up for that new S2000. Man, it's going to be a loooooong break in period.