by Dr. Iain
Corness
Up for the Bangkok Motor Show was John Weinthal. John
is the very witty and outspoken scribe from Down-under who contributes
some road tests for our Automania column. John has also been a personal
friend of mine for around 40 years, but neither of us wish to be seen
counting!
He was born, the eldest of six children, in Warialda, a
small country town in inland New South Wales, Australia. His father was a
lawyer, as was his grandfather and his great grandfather before him. He
suffered mercury poisoning as a baby, leaving him with a chronic cough and
damaged lungs. Later he went to boarding school (Scots College) in Sydney
and afterwards enrolled at university to follow the family tradition into
law. “And I had no imagination,” he added.
His father died suddenly when John was 18 years old and
he persevered studying law for a year, but wished to leave. “My mother
said I could give up law when I found something better to do, so I caught
a bus to Brisbane and became a journalist!”
Words suited the young Weinthal much more than writs
and torts and by the time he was 22 he was the assistant finance editor
and motoring editor of the Brisbane Courier Mail (now one of Rupert
Murdoch’s papers). The motoring side came naturally, having been
interested in cars for as long as he could remember. However, he quipped,
“I didn’t get my first Rolls-Royce test car till I was 24.”
The next major milestone was a fianc้e. “I got
engaged and ran away to the UK. I went there expecting to hate the place,
but I loved it.” 10 months later his bride to be arrived, having paid
her own one-way ticket. A fact she has neither forgotten nor probably
forgiven!
His motoring ties in Australia got him a trip to the
Geneva Motor Show of 1967 and a job as PR consultant for Reliant Motor
Company after making contact with them at that show. However, he resigned,
planning to go to Canada and then found that the last person Canada wanted
was an out of work Australian journalist.
Staying in London, he managed to get a part time job
with the SMMT, (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders the organizers
of the London Motor Show), to help in the press office for two months.
That spread out to two years by which stage he was head of the Press and
Public Affairs with a staff of ten.
The next 14 years with the SMMT were a blur of flash
cars, glitzy dinners, trips overseas, being photographed with important
people such as the Iron Maiden herself, UK Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher,
Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart. “I had found that I had a
remarkable knack of getting my employer’s message into the media. This
made my attitude to the SMMT one of “like it or lump it.” Then one day
someone rather high up “lumped it” and John was out of a job.
He had previously promised his wife that if he ever
left the SMMT they would return to Australia, “they” by this stage
being a wife, one son and one daughter. “I returned to Australia to
await death - but it’s taking a long time coming!”
Since he had not died, despite himself, he took on the
position as the Queensland manager of a PR company handling the Toyota
account which he did for 5 years and then formed his own company with his
(long suffering) wife called Words from Weinthal PR. This he is still
doing covering mainly his beloved motor industry both in the press and
radio.
John still has the direct and blunt approach which got
him to the top in the SMMT and eventually out the back door. His caustic
wit is used daily and you are left in no doubt if you are on the receiving
end. “I’ve never suffered fools gladly, but I am a lot more tolerant
in recent years.” He then followed that statement with, “I don’t
believe in capital punishment, but I could make an exception for boring
people.”
For John Weinthal, success is “Having friends.
Nothing else matters. I do have friends going back 30-40 years. It does
surprise me because I am so caustic.” Amongst those friends are many of
his staff from the SMMT days. “My employees all have done well. My
secretary from 30 years ago goes to lunch at Buckingham Palace every
fortnight. I wish I had listened to the advice I apparently gave them.”
Did his caustic wit and abrasiveness come from his
lawyer father? “It certainly didn’t come from my family. I think it
comes from insecurity. I am more critical of me than I am of other
people.”
When I asked him about hobbies, he said that writing
was his hobby. Regrets? “The only regret I have is the week I took to
teach myself how to smoke cigarettes. I didn’t like it and I still
don’t, but I’m hooked.” With his damaged lungs, life is no longer a
breeze, but rather more of a wheeze. His lungs in fact stopped him going
into politics, “I’ve always had this conviction that I wouldn’t last
the next 3 years, so why take on something with a 4 year term?”
John Weinthal still has that enthusiasm for life that
he had all those years ago after dropping out of Law school. “Life is
and was exciting. You can’t change anything anyway. I’m having a
ball.” Part of that “ball” involves his pride and joy, his 1971 3.1
litre V6 Marcos GT, in which he competed in the inaugural Targa Tasmania
around 10 years ago.
And advice? “Planners miss - but opportunists get.
You have to be able to recognise the right place at the right time - and
better grab it!” John Weinthal has not done too badly following that
advice. It was great having you back in Pattaya, John.
