Kris Culmer

Kris Culmer
Title: Chief sub-editor

Kris Culmer is the chief sub-editor for Autocar, meaning he is responsible for editing and fact-checking all articles published both online and in print. 

He has more than eight years of experience of reporting on the car industry, having joined What Car? in 2016 and then moved to sister title Autocar in 2020. 

Kris also frequently writes news and reviews for Autocar, his specialist subject being motorsport. He trained as a journalist at the Brighton Journalist Works, where he earned his NCTJ Gold Standard in 2016. 

Having a strong passion for history, Kris also manages Autocar’s office archive, which dates back to 1895, and regularly produces retrospective insights. 

Prior to joining the automotive media, Kris was a freelance contributor of news and sports reports to local newspapers in his home county of East Sussex. 

Kris is an expert in:

  • Motorsport, particularly Formula 1
  • The history and development of the global car industry
  • New car news
  • New car reviewing
  • Smaller and more obscure automotive companies

Kris Culmer Q&A

What was your biggest news story?

Long gallery-style pieces on the histories of car brands’ emblems and the dates of brands’ introduction on the UK required a lot of research but were rewarding, digging a lot of interesting information out of obscurity. And travelling to 2022 pre-season testing in Spain to get an exclusive view of the new Formula 1 cars also resulted in an interview with Esteban Ocon and a scoop on the F1 aero of the Alpine A290.

What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?

I adore bespoke sports cars, especially if they’re light, don’t go overboard with power and allow me to do the gear changes. The Subaru BRZ, Toyota GR86, Alpine A110, Porsche 911 and Mazda MX-5 therefore all stand out – but the best has to be a BMW M2 on track at Goodwood.

What will the car industry look like in 20 years?

Everyday cars will all be battery-electric, bloated with connectivity and driver-assistance technology, and all will look very similar indeed. Almost all of them will be crossovers and SUVs, sadly, and none of them will stir an old soul with their driving experiences. Thankfully, though, there will be an even more thriving old-car scene than there is today to keep us petrolheads happy.

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Muck Rack

Car review

Renault 5

Electric supermini offers attention-grabbing style and the promise of sophisticated dynamics for as little as £23k

Renault 5
Lancia Ypsilon tracking front
Ypsilon is reigniting the old marque – a hot HF-badged electric version will soon follow
News

Lancia: the brand that refused to die

Lancia has at last launched a new car. We drive it to find out whether that odds-defying revival is a success

Lancia: the brand that refused to die
We tested three 'cheaps from the old Bloc' in November 1990…
News

Super-budget superminis of the Eastern Bloc face off

We go back to the 1990s and re-discover which budget Soviet brand was the best

Super-budget superminis of the Eastern Bloc face off
News

When Cosworth built its own F1 car - with four-wheel drive

Cosworth's engines dominated F1 in the 60s and 70s – but it also made its own unconventional race car

When Cosworth built its own F1 car - with four-wheel drive
Vaxuhall Chevette HS front quarter tracking
Chevette, launched in the UK as a Vauxhall in 1975, was merely a renosed Opel Kadett
News

How Vauxhall lost its independence to Opel

Opel produced cars on the continent while Vauxhall built cars at Luton and Ellesmere Port

How Vauxhall lost its independence to Opel
Guy Moll - Credit: Getty Images
Algerian-born Guy Moll rose quickly from obscurity to the grand prix stage
News

Formula 1’s forgotten North African heritage

Formula 1 rookie Isack Hadjar isn't the first Algerian driver to compete in grand prix racing

Formula 1’s forgotten North African heritage
News

Remembering the mad local car firms at the Geneva motor show

Long-running motor show played host to a number of wild concepts like these example from Rinspeed

Remembering the mad local car firms at the Geneva motor show
News

It’s hard to believe, but this trusted body has its origins law-dodging

That's right - the AA started operating in Surrey and Sussex in 1905 as an activist group

It’s hard to believe, but this trusted body has its origins law-dodging
News

Going recklessly into the Sahara desert, 98 years ago

It took a brave soul to go into a desert in a 1920s car. No satellite phones, either

Going recklessly into the Sahara desert, 98 years ago
Car review

Ford Focus

The driver’s hatchback continues to live up to its name after one final update

Ford Focus
News

The story behind clay modelling - and why it's still used today

Clay models have been shaping how cars look since the 1930s, as we discovered on a visit to Austin

The story behind clay modelling - and why it's still used today

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