b500 magazine
EDITOR Del Gregory
W
hen I started b500 back in March I could not have expected that by the end of this year I would be working alongside such automotive greats as our regular contributors are. People like Etienne Salomé, who’s design work with Bugatti is out there for the world to see, as well as Sasha Selipanov who became the first designer apart from Christian von Koenigsegg to be head of design at Koenigsegg. Then of course we have Stefan Johansson. Former F1 driver for Ferrari and McLaren (amongst others) and now a successful manager, artist and watch designer. Magnus Walker has recently got back in touch with his English roots over in LA by purchasing one or two British cars to add to his growing Stuttgart collection, and of course we also have Rich at ROCS in New Jersey who is another artist of cars as well as other media and watches. Bart Kuykens continues to go his individual analogue route with his black and white Leica and Hasselblad work and I believe we are all the better for Bart sharing this with us and the world at b500. I cut my professional teeth on Leica and Hasselblad film cameras and so understand the work and skill involved and therefore have much respect for Bart and his particular style. About a month ago my phone rang and it was David Gandy. He’d been chatting to his friend Damon Jones in LA, and my
name had been mentioned. “Oh oh”, I said to David, but no apparently it was all good and before long he was offering b500 the exclusive first look at his ‘fresh out of the box’ Porsche 356 restoration modification, so how could I say no? We fixed a date, (which we then had to cancel due to lockdown 2.0) but then on December 10th we both finally ended up at Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa to chat about cars and take the first images of his latest classic. David was generous with his time and as the professional he is, was happy to stand wherever I asked to ensure we got a great front cover shot, and I hope you agree it really is a great cover to end the year with. Images and a Q&A with David start from page 16. Finally for this issue and 2020, I’m very pleased to announce a very warm welcome to Journalistic Photographer Amy Shore who has joined the b500 contributor team from this issue. Amy has a massive fan base, myself very much included and so I am really pleased that she has come onboard, and cannot wait to start working with her on b500 throughout 2021. Please find her very first contributor page on pages 14-15. All that’s left for this year is for me to wish you and your loved ones a very safe festive season and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to catching up again in 2021, and of course daily on Instagram @b500magazine Photo courtesy of Stuart Creasey
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