Simon Charlesworth

As a toddler, Simon Charlesworth can remember leading his mum on a zig-zag course up and down sideroads just to look at cars. His maternal grandfather encouraged the interest, and he suspects that he inherited the motor bug from the grandfather he never met but who once raced motorcycles at Brooklands.

Simon has worked for nigh on 30 years in the motoring press. Starting as a part-time freelance journalist on nightshift at his local paper’s web division, he quickly moved into magazines as a trainee sub-editor. He worked his way up – on both newsstand and customer motoring and motorsport titles – to edit a variety of print and web projects. He has worked with the likes of Autocar, Classic & Sports Car, the Goodwood Road Racing Company, the Royal Automobile Club, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Audi.

Praised for his insight, thoroughness and writing ability, his first book about the racing department of the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s car division, Aero Dynamic: How Bristol Won At Le Mans, was well received and won Best Publication at the 2022 Historic Motoring Awards.

When he’s not bothering a keyboard, he messes around with one of his classics in his native Bristol. He doesn’t own a car built this century, so is often found swearing over bleeding knuckles or waiting for a breakdown recovery patrol.