Sniff Petrol
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Sniff Petrol is a satirical British online magazine written by Richard Porter, dedicated to automobile-related humor.
History
Known to some as "the Onion of the motoring world", the site was originally launched in 2001 with a bi-weekly release of each issue. The site was originally designed to cater to a mostly-English audience, though as the site grew in popularity, so did the scope of the jokes. In 2003 the release was made monthly. In October of 2004, Porter published a book entitled Crap Cars, dedicated to some of the worst cars ever made. A United States-specific version known as Crap Cars USA came out one year later in 2005. Since January of 2006, Sniff Petrol has had its own segment on TV presenter Gareth Jones' motoring podcast, Gareth Jones on Speed.Running Jokes
Sniff Petrol has many running jokes and vendettas. The most well known of them is a constantly-released stream of fake advertisements (based on actual ones) highlighting the flaws of the cars being advertised. Other gags include a campaign against ITV Formula 1 presenter James Allen known as "Stop the Cock", a now-ubiquitous photo of Michael Schumacher sneering at brother Ralf accompanied by a snide remark (which changes in every issue), all news events having happened "yesterday", and referring to TVR owner Nikolai Smolenski as a 12-year old boy, the notion that modern Land Rover vehicles weigh more than the Earth itself, and many others. One successful campaign led by the website offered an £20 donation to any charity if car designer Peter Stevens were to shave off his moustache. Stevens took the bet and matched the donation.Criticism
The website is often critical of many different people and companies for a variety of things. BMW styling director Chris Bangle, often lambasted by the magazine, once reportedly described Sniff Petrol as "fucking scum", following a spoof piece about him in Top Gear magazine.The website also withdrew a story about the legendary motoring journalist (the late) Russell Bulgin after he reportedly took offence at it.
External links
- [Gareth Jones on Speed podcast page]
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