Hello! I guess it’s time I introduced myself. I’m Bob Sorokanich, your new editor-in-chief of Jalopnik. And I’m absolutely thrilled to be here.
We’re living in a pivotal moment in the automotive universe. Everyday cars have never been faster, safer, more capable, or more efficient. Electric vehicles, a novelty 10 years ago, are taking over the industry. The internet has empowered shadetree mechanics and underground hot-rodders to build wild machines our parents could never have imagined.
Jalopnik is the big tent. The place that welcomes car enthusiasm in every form. We are shitbox evangelists, manual-transmission zealots, worshippers at the altar of slow car fast—and we gaze in wonder at the newest, the fastest, the most powerful and exorbitant machines of the 21st century. We live for track days and daydream of off-road adventures. We’ve endured the torment of stuck-bolt, busted-knuckle, 2AM-and-the-car’s-still-in-pieces wrenching, all in pursuit of that perfect moment behind the wheel, when the road ahead is a coiled squiggle to nowhere, the oil and tires are warm, the tank is full, and the traffic is nonexistent.
And when I say “we,” I include you—the Jalopnik reader, the Kinja commenter, the Oppositelock veteran, the anonymous tipster. Jalopnik’s greatest strength is its audience. Whether you’ve had gear oil under your fingernails since you could walk, or you’re building up the courage for your first DIY oil change. Whether your dream car is a slab of Detroit steel from 60 years ago or the sleek electric lightning bolt on the show stand. Whether your fascination has four wheels, two wheels, train wheels, no wheels, wings, or rockets. Whether you look like the typical car enthusiast or not. If you’re obsessed with the things that move us, you’re welcome here.
We also live in an era of bullshit. For every world-beating new EV, it seems like we get a half-dozen sham companies that make wild promises, incinerate cash, and disappear. Self-driving technology, the gleaming promise of tomorrow, has created new and unforeseen dangers in its current, incomplete form. Emissions cheating, shrapnel-spewing airbags, out-of-control EV battery fires, and our crumbling national infrastructure prove that we need critical, unflinching reporting on the automotive universe.
That’s where Jalopnik shines. It’s been true since this site was founded, and my promise to you is that I will do everything in my power to keep it that way.
Because we love cars—and trucks, and planes, and boats, and motorcycles, and rockets, and trains and subways and hang gliders and lord knows what else. When you love something, you want it to be great. And you want to share that love with anyone who will listen.
I love Jalopnik. I’ve been a fan since day one. I want it to be the best damn website on the internet. I can’t promise perfection, but I give you my word that I’ll spend every day in this chair working to earn the trust, enthusiasm and respect you have for this publication.
I can’t do that alone, and that’s why I’m thrilled to be working with an amazing team. The Jalopnik staff hails from all across the U.S. (plus one transplanted Brit), with vehicular interests as vast and varied as you can imagine. No matter where your automotive tastes are focused, someone here shares your enthusiasm. Today’s Jalopnik crew has built a website that I’m honored to join. Together we’re going to do great things.
So what’s going to change? Philosophically, nothing. You’ll still get the humor, the obsession, the voice and vibe that brought you to Jalopnik in the first place. But you’ll see some new stuff too. We’re going to have more vehicle reviews. We’re going to be your number-one source for EV news and coverage of cutting-edge technology. And you’ve probably seen some of our new videos. Everything we do will be faithful to what you love about Jalopnik.
As for me? I drive a 2008 Mini Cooper S on the wrong size tires and ride a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650. (We love fake British machinery in this house.) I’m always on the hunt for another 2-door XJ Cherokee. And I want to know what you want to see from Jalopnik. My email address is easy: bob at jalopnik. Praise, critique, stuff we’ve gotten wrong—I want to hear it all.
Thank you for making Jalopnik great. I can’t wait to show you what we do next.