Who is Vincent Capece?

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

“I expect to win Olympic Gold, an Oscar, a Pulitzer, a Grammy, a Nobel prize, and a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award, but a few of them will require medical procedures not yet invented, which in itself may lead to my Sainthood (or martyrdom if things don’t work out as planned). And I’d make a run for office if not for all the skeletons (not necessarily all of them my own). I’m humble yet arrogant. Dumb and yet a genius. And I love and despise all people.” Vincent Capece’s self-description on Helium (the website, not the gas) helps us understand who Vince is deep down, rather than professionally. I leave the Google forensics to our Best and Brightest, and point you to Capece’s rant pronouncing automotive journalism DOA, killed by the Internet. “Before this computerized revolution, automotive journalism was a prime example of basic economic theory. There was a limited demand for automotive writers and a growing supply of people with basic automotive knowledge and the ability to pepper a sentence with choice adjectives. This imbalance led to continually declining wages for automotive journalists because many of these “kids” were willing to work for “free rides in cool cars.” Unfortunately, this oversupply of underachievers swallowed up the Ken Purdys and Tom McCahills of the world and allowed few David E. Davis’ and Beverly Rae Kimes to emerge… Unless we can find a way to pay “real writers” to write about cars, there is no future for automotive journalists. I’ve been fortunate enough to rub elbows with some of the greatest automotive writers of the past 30-40 years (this writer is not in their league) and sadly they are a, literally, dying breed. I can’t remember the last time I met someone who could fill their shoes.”

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Johnny Canada Johnny Canada on Sep 14, 2008

    Another death rattle from the Old Media. This guy reminds me of radio disc jockeys that can't understand why people would rather load up a mp3 player than listen to their top 10 selections. If it wasn't for those pesky "kids" and their newfangled Interweb, we'd be in charge. Good riddance. Long live the new flesh.

  • VinceCapece VinceCapece on Sep 24, 2008

    I would love to see the cream rise to the top. But unfortunately, the Dan Neils of the world (Ken Purdy Award, Pulitzer Prize) have been overrun by the [insert name here]s of the industry. Reading something written by Ken Purdy or Beverly Rae Kimes and then reading the drivel produced by most writers today just shows how watered down the field has become. You have to be REALLY dedicated to writing about cars to be an excellent writer and stay concentrating on cars because there's just so much more money available to other areas. And it isn't entirely writing a critical article that makes you a better writer. There are many reasons why automotive writers cannot write a scathing article on a vehicle, but there are so few writers who can put down beautifully articulate explanations on why a car is good (or bad). I want to feel the rumble of the car through the words. I want to smell the leather. I want to laugh...I want to cry. The only tears I shed are those for the state of the industry.

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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