John Howell has been a motoring journalist for more than 10 years but has been working in the motor industry for over three decades.
He started out as an apprentice technician with Jaguar before moving on to car sales, selling Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and Maseratis. After a spell working for himself he became a writer, and was What Car?'s deputy reviews editor for a number of years. He has presented a YouTube channel, and written for Autocar and other publications.
John is a big fan of MotoGP and F1, and never misses a chance to test his skills on a karting tack. His favourite classic cars include old Bentleys, Mercedes and Porsches.
John is an expert in:
– Car testing
– Performance cars
– Family cars
– Vehicle engineering
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer a car buyer?
Do as much research as you can beforehand and always test drive a car thoroughly to really understand whether it's right for you. So many people make a decision based on the looks or the maker's badge and ignore what a car's like to live with day in, day out. That goes for whether you're buying new or second-hand.
What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?
My favourite cars are the ones that pass my "fit for purpose test". The very best ones are the ones that exceed that brief. In that regard, the best cars I've driven include the Audi A3 (2013-2020), Audi Q7 (2015-), Skoda Superb (2015-2024), and Porsche 911 GT3 (all of them).
What will the car market look like in 20 years?
This question always makes me think back to the "cars of the future" from the 1950s. They looked crazy but didn't really come to fruition, did they? The truth is, it's hard to predict what cars will be like in the future, but there's no doubt driverless cars will be in the mainstream and electric cars of some description will dominate. I hope there's still a place for enthusiasts to enjoy old-school cars powered by internal combustion using synthetic fuels.
