29 milestones, 27 years of Inquirer Motoring

FROM LEFT, Ford Philippines’ AVP Joseph Ayllon, Inquirer Motoring’s Jong Arcano, Ford Philippines’ managing director Kay Hart and VP Minnie Valencia at the Henry Ford Awards photo:bong mercado

The road may have been winding, with its ups and downs. For 27 years, the Inquirer Motoring section has marked the exciting journey with milestones—28 in all. Here they are now, in chronological order from the most recent to the earliest.

Dec. 3, 2013. Inquirer Motoring bags its first Best Motoring Section of the Year title at the 13th Henry Ford Awards (HFA) under editor Jong Arcano, marking the first time that the section receives the award in the HFA’s history. Other HFA awards for the past years were awarded to reporter Tessa R. Salazar, who accumulates seven wins, including a grand slam three awards in 2003, the only female motoring journalist to do so. With her hall of fame status, she opts to “semi-retire” her participation in HFA. Topping this off is Jason Ang, Inquirer Motoring contributor, who has won a total of 11 awards, including a grand slam of four awards in 2005, the first time a journalist wins four awards in one night.

July 2013. motioncars.inquirer.net goes live, as the dedicated motoring website of Inquirer.net. The new website combines the reporting, photography, and writing prowess of the Inquirer motoring team with 15 years of automotive reporting with passion from motioncars.com, one of the country’s first automotive websites and its longest running.

FROM LEFT, Inquirer columnist Botchi Santos, reporters Charles Buban and Tessa Salazar, Campi president Rommel Gutierrez, Dante Santos, Arcano and Froilan Dytianquin at the 2012 Campi Media Awards

Sept. 7, 2012. Inquirer Motoring bags the top prize, plus three other awards at the 4th Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) Motor Show media awards. The “Best Coverage on the Motor Show” for the Print category is received by Arcano; the “Best Story on the Motor Show” is awarded to Salazar; The “Best Opinion Column on the Motor Show” goes to columnist Botchi Santos and “Best Environmental Story on the Motor Show” to reporter Charles Buban. Of the 13 categories, Inquirer receives the most number of awards.

May 11, 2013. Inquirer publishes its first exclusive, breaking news in Nascar motorsports written by Salazar. Filipino racing champions Gaby dela Merced, Pia Boren, Michele Bumgarner, Stefano Marcelo and Carlos Anton are featured in a race that never was.

August 2010. The Inquirer Motoring team scores a first in the First Campi Motor Show Media Awards, winning a grand slam for having the “Best Motor Show Coverage” among all media entities, for having the best motoring page on the Motor Show, and for having the “Best Online Motor Show Coverage.” Buban also bags the “Best Motor Show Environmental Story” for his article “Campi’s Green Guide to provide tips on efficient driving.”

INQUIRER motoring during a PDI golf tournament for auto manufacturers

SALAZAR drives an ethanol-powered Ferrari F430 F1 Spider at Eze Village, France.

Nov. 16, 2010. Inquirer Motoring successfully holds the first-ever media-organized golf tourney for the automotive industry, the First Philippine Automotive Golf Cup.

Oct. 21, 2009. Arcano, who began as editor of Inquirer Golf in 1998, crosses over to become editor of Inquirer Motoring. Arcano is also the brains behind the 100 Presidents Tourney led by Philippine Daily Inquirer president Alexandra R. Prieto Romualdez and  conceptualized The Battle of Club Champions for golf, and the Battle of Badminton Courts and Badminton Expo.

Aug. 23, 2006. Inquirer Motoring publishes its first comprehensive multicar comparison review. Written by Salazar, the three-part series features budget cars and ownership costs. In 2008, another comprehensive review, a two-part test drive series on budget-priced compact cars, wins for Salazar the “Best Auto Test Drive Story” in that year’s HFA.

FROM LEFT, Jason Ang, Santos, Arcano, Inquirer columnist Aida Sevilla-Mendoza, Valencia, contributors Alvin Uy and William Herrera

SALAZAR behind the steering wheel of a Mercedes-Benz GLK at the foot of the Alps

December 2007. The HFA adds a new category, the motorsports feature. Its first winner is Salazar, for her feature on the    country’s first lady drifter Michelle Yu.

December 2004. Aida Sevilla-Mendoza becomes the first winner of HFA’s “Best Motoring Column” category—her “On the Road”—with her column titled “The Elephant behind the Driver.”

December 2003. Salazar logs the first grand slam in the HFA, when her stories are adjudged the best in the Auto Innovation, the Auto Industry and the Auto Event categories.

March 22, 2001. The first multipart special report by Inquirer Motoring appears, when Salazar reports on second-hand, converted trucks as “rolling coffins.”

ARCANO with Alex Prieto (second from left), PDI president Sandy Prieto-Romualdez (second from right) and top company executives.

THE FUTURE of Inquirer Motoring: Noli Ermitanio, Elizalde Pusung and Vaughn Geuseppe Alviar

Dec. 6, 2001. Inquirer Motoring’s first HFA awardee is Salazar, for her story “Get rid of that blind spot for safe driving,” adjudged top in the auto innovation/auto event category.

July 19, 2001. The first dual review of a car is published, when Raymond Tribdino and Salazar team up for “He said, she said.”

July 14, 2001. Inquirer Motoring becomes a team media rally winner. During the media challenge hosted by Honda, Inquirer Motoring’s Supersonic team is  composed of Salazar, Tribdino (contributing columnist), Andre Palma (columnist) and Eric Soriano (of drive.com.ph).

February 1999. Inquirer Motoring takes in its first full-time reporter Salazar. Joining the ride from Junior Inquirer in 2000, she also now writes about health, property, and science and information technology as part of her duties as a special sections reporter.

July 30, 1998. Inquirer Motoring gets splashed with color for the first time. The photos were colored, but the advertisements still appeared in black and white.

ARCANO during a coverage in France

TUASON during a Chevrolet coverage in Thailand

Jan. 26, 1995 to Aug. 23, 2006. During this period, Inquirer Motoring is home to two columnists with the same surname, albeit unrelated: Sports journalist Al Mendoza (“Full Tank”) and Aida Mendoza (“On the Road”).

1998. Inquirer Motoring’s first contributing writer is Vernon Sarne, who is now Top Gear Philippines’ editor in chief.

1987 to 2008. Inquirer Motoring is helmed by a series of editors. First is former business editor Samuel Señoren and Leo Deocadiz, then special sections editor Cesar Mangawang. Leo Magno then goes on board as Inquirer Motoring’s first—and only—assistant editor from 1994 to 2001.

INQUIRER Outdoor Club and the motoring team deliver personal computers and goods to San Salvador Elementary School in Masinloc, Zambales, using two Toyota Hilux pickup units.

PUTTING Inquirer in its place

April 24, 1986. Inquirer Motoring’s first editor is Abelardo Ulanday, who holds the post for a year and a half. During his stint, Ulanday admits he usually gets a ribbing from friends who say he’s the only motoring editor they know who didn’t own a car.

April 3, 1986. Aida Sevilla-Mendoza becomes Inquirer Motoring’s first columnist with her “On the Road.” Her first topic is titled “RP cars prove mettle,” about the punishing March 20 to 23 Marlboro Mabuhay International Rally.

April 3, 1986. In the same column, Mendoza makes first mention of a local rally team driving a locally assembled unit. The Stelex Wagonette was powered by a Toyota DOHC 1.8-cc engine raced by Jun Magno with Eric Palma as navigator in the “Marlboro Mabuhay International Alcohol Motor Rally.” The unit was developed by Conge Cars Inc. entrepreneur Bingky Victa and the Automotive Engine Rebuilders with cylinder heads modified by Headworks.

SANTOS during a Honda test drive event

March 27, 1986. Inquirer Motoring first mentions the popular Toyota Celica. The Detroit-datelined UPI wire story described the car: “For its 16th birthday, Toyota must have enrolled its Celica GT-S in a fitness club. Its body is more attractive but it still needs more muscle.”

March 27, 1986. The Motoring section published its first story, the “Free Mekaniko” program by Canlubang Automotive Resources and Union Carbide’s Preston brake fluid, offering free car checkup and repair for motorists traveling north during the Holy Week break.

SALAZAR at the Detroit Museum, Michigan in 2005

March 27, 1986. Though Sime Darby’s ads dominate the broadsheet’s pages, Goodyear brands are first mentioned in the Inquirer Motoring section via two photos depicting Goodyear’s Corsa GT, the standard tire on the Hyundai Excel; and the molded polyurethane deflectors made by Goodyear secured to the front end of a 1986 Lincoln Continental at Ford’s Wixom, Michigan, assembly plant.

March 21, 1986. The first ads appearing in the Motoring section are of Robinsons Alabang’s first anniversary bonus raffle (“Easter Fun”) and infant rubbing alcohol Bialcol, which would make drivers wonder if the product, which carried the pitch “You need Bialcol because diaper rash hurts,” was really intended for them.

JEANETTE Ipapo-Tuason with partner Sheila Johnson, owner of Trapik.com, during the Peugeot Eco Run

ALVIN UY (left, foreground) with fellow Motoring reporters during a coverage

March 21, 1986. The first car brand mentioned in the first story goes to none other than Nissan. Pilipinas Nissan Inc., as the company was known then, “Has strengthened its policy in the country with an equal number of equity from both its local and foreign counterparts.”

March 21, 1986. The first time Inquirer readers see the masthead “Motoring” is on a Friday. This first formal Motoring issue is a black-and-white one-pager on Page 12, with no bylines. The first stories: “Low interest rates at a used-car fair”; “Tire aid program set by Sime Darby,” and “Nissan forges technical tie-ups.” The news briefs include Yamaha motorcycles, Jaguar profits, Fuji cars and General Motors layoffs.