Allan Muir is a journalist with nearly 40 years’ experience, specialising in magazine production. He has been managing editor of What Car? since 2015. Prior to that, he held the same position on sister title Autocar twice, from 2006-2015 and 1995-1999, and was a sub-editor and production editor on the same title before that, having emigrated from New Zealand in 1990.
In between those two stints at Autocar, Allan was deputy editor of Car magazine for three years before relocating to Australia in 2003. There, he ran a motoring special projects department at Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in Sydney, producing one-shot magazines for the likes of Wheels, Motor and Street Machine. He returned to the UK in 2006.
Allan has been involved in magazine and newspaper production for his entire career, having started out on daily morning newspapers in New Zealand, where he picked up the black art of subbing. He also wrote a weekly motoring column for those publications, mainly reviewing new cars and motorcycles. All of his training has been on the job. He now oversees all aspects of production and editorial standards for the What Car? brand in print.
Allan is an expert in:
- Magazine production and design
- Editorial standards
- Grammar, spelling and punctuation
- Electric cars
- Motorcycles
Allan Muir Q&A
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer a car buyer?
Choose a car that appeals to both the head and the heart, if at all possible. A car shouldn’t just be an appliance; you should be able to take pleasure in owning it too.
What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?
The Porsche Taycan, because it shows how exciting electric cars can be, closely followed by the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – a gorgeous-looking performance car with incredible handling.
What will the car market look like in 20 years?
Not radically different from how it is today, except that all newer cars will be electric powered and probably fully autonomous. Short-term leasing will be more popular, but the majority of drivers will still want to have the freedom of owning their own car.
