The Spectator is a weekly British conservative magazine first published on 6 July 1828.^[3] It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also own The Daily Telegraph newspaper, via Press Holdings. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. Its editorial outlook is generally supportive of the Conservative Party, although regular contributors include some outside that fold, such as Frank Field and Martin Bright. The magazine also contains arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews. In late 2008, Spectator Australia was launched. This offers 12 pages of "Unique Australian Content" (including a separate Editorial page) in addition to the full UK contents. The magazine had an ABC circulation figure of 63,543 in 2011, 6,908 of which were unpaid-for copies and 18,093 of which were distributed overseas. This was down from a peak of 76,952 in 2008.^[4]

Editorship of The Spectator has often been part of a route to high office in the Conservative Party in the UK; past editors include Iain Macleod, Ian Gilmour and Nigel Lawson, all of whom became cabinet minister or a springboard for a greater role in public affairs, as with Boris Johnson (1999 to 2005), the Conservative Mayor of London.^[5]

History[link]

First Hundred Years[link]

Early Years[link]

The Spectator’s founding editor, the Dundonian reformer Robert Stephen Rintoul launched the paper on 5th December 1828. Almost certainly (there is no precise evidence) he revived the title from the 1711 publication by Addison & Steele. As he had long been determined ‘…to edit a perfect newspaper,’^[6] Rintoul initially insisted on ‘absolute power’^[7] over content, commencing a longlasting tradition of the paper’s editor and proprietor being one and the same person. Consequentially The Spectator’s political outlook in its first thirty years reflected Rintoul’s liberal-radical agenda^[8].

Under Rintoul The Spectator came out strongly for The Great Reform Act of 1832, coining the famous phrase, ‘The Bill, the whole Bill and nothing but the Bill,’ in its support. It also objected to the appointment of the Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister, condemning him as ‘a Field Marshal whose political career proves him to be utterly destitute of political principle – whose military career affords ample evidence of his stern and remorseless temperament.’^[9]

In 1853 it published an anonymous and unfavourable review of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, later revealed to be by George Brimley, typical of the paper's enduring contempt for him as a ‘popular’ writer "amusing the idle hours of the greatest number of readers; not, we may hope, without improvement to their hearts, but certainly without profoundly affecting their intellects or deeply stirring their emotions."^[10]

Meredith Townsend, Richard Holt Hutton and John Strachey[link]

In 1861 The Spectator was bought by a journalist, Meredith Townsend, who soon went into partnership with Richard Holt Hutton, a theologian whose friend William Gladstone later called ‘the first critic of the nineteenth century’.^[11] Townsend’s writing in The Spectator confirmed him as one of the finest journalists of his day, and he has since been called "the greatest leader writer ever to appear in the English Press."^[12]

The two men remained co-proprietors and joint editors for 25 years, taking a strong stand on some of the most controversial issues of their day. They supported the Federalists against the South in the American Civil War, an unpopular position which, at the time, did some damage to the paper’s circulation, though gained readers in the long run when the North won.^[13] They also launched an all-out assault on Benjamin Disraeli, accusing him in a series of leaders of jettisoning ethics for politics by ignoring the atrocities committed against Bulgarian civilians by Turkey in the 1870s.

In 1887 Townsend was succeeded by John St Loe Strachey, a young aristocrat who had replaced H.H. Asquith (the future Prime Minister) as a leader-writer during the previous year. As well as being The Spectator’s sole proprietor and editor, he also became its chief leader-writer, general manager and literature critic. The paper’s circulation doubled under Strachey’s leadership, becoming "the most influential of all the London weeklies"^[14] before 1914. After falling ill in 1925, Strachey finally sold his controlling interest in the paper to his business manager, Sir Evelyn Wrench, and retired, dying two years later in 1928.

1928-1975[link]

Aberdare Miners and 1930s Europe[link]

Perhaps Wrench’s most remembered achievement as editor of The Spectator was his campaign to ease unemployment in the mining town of Aberdare, one of the worst hit by the crisis of 1928, when joblessness reached 40% in South Wales. Within three months, the paper’s appeal for the town’s relief raised over £12,000 (the equivalent of about £500,000 today).^[15] A statuette presented in gratitude to The Spectator, of an Aberdare miner, still sits in the editor’s office, bearing the inscription: "From the Townsfolk of Aberdare in Grateful Recognition: 'The Greatest of These is Love'".^[16]

Wrench retired as editor in 1932 (though he remained the magazine's proprietor), appointing Wilson Harris his successor. Under Harris The Spectator became increasingly outspoken on developing international politics in the 1930s, in particular on the rise of fascism. Beneath a reader’s letter referring to the Nazi party as "peaceful, orderly and kindly", Harris printed the following reply:

"No facts in recent history are established more incontestably…than the numerous cases of murder, assault, and various forms of intimidation for which the National Socialist Party in Germany has been responsible… The organized economic boycott of the Jews is the climax. The Spectator has consistently shown itself a friend of Germany, but it is a friend of freedom first. Resort to violence is not condoned by styling it revolution."^[17]

In general however, Harris supported Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement, praising the Munich agreement, explaining later that he believed "even the most desperate attempt to save the peace was worthwhile".^[18]

Ian Gilmour[link]

Wrench sold The Spectator in 1954 to barrister Ian Gilmour. Assuming the editorship himself from 1954 to 1959, Gilmour adopted a libertarian and pro-European outlook, and "enlivened the paper and injected a new element of irreverence, fun and controversy".^[19] He was critical of Harold Macmillan's government, and while supporting the Conservatives was also friendly to the Hugh Gaitskell wing of the Labour Party.^[20]

Gilmour famously lent The Spectator’s voice to the campaign to end capital punishment in Britain, writing an incensed leader attacking the hanging of Ruth Ellis in 1955, in which he claimed "Hanging has become the national sport", and that the home secretary Gwilym Lloyd George, for not reprieving the sentence, "has now been responsible for the hanging of two women over the past eight months".^[21]

The Spectator opposed Britain’s involvement in the Suez crisis in 1956, strongly criticizing the government’s handling of the debacle. Consequentially the paper opposed Macmillan’s government’s re-election in 1959, complaining: "The continued Conservative pretence that Suez was a good, a noble, a wise venture has been too much to stomach… the Government is taking its stand on a solid principle: 'Never admit a mistake.'"^[22]

The paper also gave its support to the proposals of the Wolfenden Committee in 1957, condemning the "utterly irrational and illogical" old laws on homosexuality: "Not only is the law unjust in conception, it is almost inevitably unjust in practice".^[23]

In March the same year, Jenny Nicholson, a frequent contributor, wrote a piece on the Italian Socialist Party congress in Venice, which mentioned three Labour MPs "who puzzled the Italians by filling themselves like tanks with whisky and coffee…"^[24] All three sued for libel, the case went to trial and The Spectator was forced to make a large payment in damages and costs, a sum well over the equivalent of £150,000 today.^[25] It has since emerged that "all three plaintiffs, to a greater or lesser degree, perjured themselves in court".^[26]

Gilmour sold The Spectator to the businessman Harold Creighton in 1967 for £75,000.^[27]

‘The Tory Leadership’[link]

In 1963, Gilmour offered the editorship to Iain Macleod, the politician who had recently resigned his cabinet seat in objection to the controversial appointment of Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Prime Minister. The decision caused enormous controversy, especially after Macleod chose to use the paper to explain his recent resignation. In an article entitled "The Tory Leadership", ostensibly a review of a new book by Randolph Churchill, Macleod lay out in great detail Harold Macmillan’s version of events, after his replacement by Home the previous October.

In disclosing, from the horse’s mouth, the mysterious circumstances of Home’s appointment, the article caused an immediate sensation. Churchill’s book was all but obliterated by the review, "four fifths" of which, it said, "could have been compiled by anyone with a pair of scissors, a pot of paste and a built-in prejudice against Mr Butler and Sir William Haley". ^[28] That week’s edition, bearing the headline, "Ian Macleod, What Happened" sold a record number of copies.

Nigel Lawson, George Gale & Harry Creighton[link]

The ‘Tory Leadership’ article prompted a furious response from many Spectator readers and caused Macleod, for a time, to be shunned by political colleagues. He eventually regained his party’s favour, however, and rejoined the shadow cabinet in the same year. On his appointment as Shadow Chancellor in 1965, he stepped down as editor on the last day of the year, to be replaced by Nigel Lawson.

Sometimes called 'The Great Procrastinator’, because of his tendency to leave writing leaders until the last minute,^[29] Lawson had been City editor for The Sunday Telegraph and Sir Alec Douglas-Home’s personal assistant during the 1964 general election.

Largely thanks to Lawson, in 1966 The Spectator opposed America’s increasing military commitment in Vietnam. In a signed article he estimated "the risks involved in an American withdrawal from Vietnam are less than the risks in escalating a bloody and brutal war".^[30]

In 1967 Ian Gilmour, who by then had joined parliament and was already finding the proprietorship less of a help than a hindrance in political life, sold The Spectator to Harry Creighton for £75,000. In 1970, Creighton replaced Lawson as editor (there had been growing resentment between the two men)^[31] with George Gale.

Gale shared Creighton’s political outlook,^[32] in particular his strong opposition to the Common Market, and consequentially much of the next five years was spent attacking the pro-EEC prime minister Edward Heath, treating his eventual defeat by Margaret Thatcher with undisguised delight.

Gale’s almost obsessive opposition to the EEC and antagonistic attitude towards Heath began to lose the magazine readers. In 1973 Creighton took over the editorship himself, but was, if possible, even less successful in stemming the losses. As one journalist who joined The Spectator at that time said: "It gave the impression, an entirely accurate one, of a publication surviving on a shoestring".^[33] George Gale later remarked that Creighton had only wanted the job to get into Who’s Who.^[34]

Henry Keswick[link]

Creighton’s took the magazine in a new more traditional conservative direction, and strongly opposed British membership of the Common Market. Circulation fell from 36,000 in 1966 to below 17,000, and in 1975 Creighton sold The Spectator to Henry Keswick, again for £75,000. However Creighton sold the 99 Gower Street premises separately, so the magazine moved to premises in Doughty Street.^[35]

1975-2005[link]

Alexander Chancellor[link]

In 1975, The Spectator was bought by Henry Keswick, chairman of the Jardine Matheson multinational corporation. He was drawn to the paper, partly because he harboured political aspirations (the paper’s perk as a useful stepping stone to Westminster was, by now, well established), but also because his father had been a friend of Peter Fleming, its well known columnist.

Keswick gave the job of editor simply to "the only journalist he knew",^[36] Alexander Chancellor, an old family friend and his mother’s godson, with whom he had been at Eton and Cambridge. Before then, Chancellor had worked at Reuters news agency and had been a scriptwriter and reporter for ITN. In spite of his relative inexperience, however, he was to become known as "one of the best editors in the history of The Spectator".^[37]

Chancellor’s editorship of the paper relied principally on a return to earlier values. He adopted a new format and a more traditional weekly style, with the front page displaying five cover lines above the leader. Most significantly, he recognised the need "to bring together a number of talented writers and, with the minimal of editorial interference, let them write".^[38] To this end he persuaded Auberon Waugh (who had been sacked by Nigel Lawson) to return from the New Statesman, and enticed Richard West and Jeffrey Bernard from the same magazine. Another columnist recruited by Chancellor was Taki Theodoracopulos whose column ‘High Life’ was then printed beside Bernard’s ‘Low Life’. Taki's column, frequently criticised for its content by the liberal press,^[39] remains in the paper.

In September 1978, a 96-page issue was released to mark The Spectator’s 150th anniversary. William Rees-Mogg congratulated the paper in a Times leading article, praising it in particular for its important part in "the movement away from collectivism".

Charles Moore[link]

The 28 year-old Charles Moore replaced Chancellor in February 1984, after the magazine’s then owner, Algy Cluff, had become concerned that The Spectator was "lacking in political weight", and considered Chancellor to be "commercially irresponsible".^[40]

Moore had been a leader writer at The Daily Telegraph before Chancellor recruited him to The Spectator as political commentator. Consequentially the paper under Moore became more political than it had been under Chancellor. The new editor adopted an approach that was, in general, pro-Margaret Thatcher, while showing no restraint in opposing her on certain issues. The paper called the Anglo-Irish Agreement "a fraudulent prospectus" in 1985, came out against the Single European Act, and, in 1989, criticised the handover of Hong Kong to China. Moore wrote that if Britain failed to allow the city’s UK passport holders right of abode in Britain, "we shall have to confess that, for the first time in our history, we have forced Britons to be slaves."^[41]

He also introduced several new contributors, including a restaurant column by Nigella Lawson (the former editor’s daughter), and a humorous column by Craig Brown. When Taki was briefly imprisoned for cocaine possession Moore refused to accept his resignation, explaining publicly: "We expect our High Life columnist to be high some of the time."^[42]

The Spectator changed hands again in 1985, by which time it had accumulated an overdraft of over £300,000 and it was facing financial meltdown. Cluff had reached the conclusion that the paper "would be best secured in the hands of a publishing group", and sold it to an Australian company, John Fairfax Ltd who promptly paid off the overdraft. With the support of its new proprietor, the paper was able to widen its readership through subscription drives and advertising, reaching a circulation of 30,000 in 1986, exceeding the circulation of the New Statesman for the first time. The magazine was again sold in 1988, after an uncertain period during which several candidates, including Rupert Murdoch, attempted to buy the magazine. Moore wrote to Murdoch, saying: "Most of our contributors and many of our readers would be horrified at the idea of your buying The Spectator. They believe you are autocratic and that you have a bad effect on journalism of quality – they cite The Times as the chief example."^[43] In the end The Spectator was bought by the Telegraph Group, of which Conrad Black then had a controlling interest.

Dominic Lawson and Frank Johnson[link]

Moore gave up the editorship in 1990 to become deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph, though he continued to write a column for the magazine. He was replaced by his own deputy editor, Dominic Lawson (the former editor’s son).

Shortly after becoming editor, Lawson became responsible for the resignation of a cabinet minister when he interviewed the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Nicholas Ridley. During the interview Ridley described the proposed Economic and Monetary Union as "a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe",^[44] and seemed to draw comparisons between the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl and Adolf Hitler. The interview appeared in the issue of 14 July 1990, whose cover showed a cartoon by Nicholas Garland, of Ridley painting onto a poster of Kohl a crude comb-over and a Hitler moustache. Ridley resigned from Thatcher’s government immediately.

The Spectator caused controversy in 1994 when it printed an article entitled "Kings of the Deal" on a claimed Jewish influence in Hollywood, written by William Cash, who at the time was based in Los Angeles and working mainly for The Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph had considered the article too risky to publish, but Lawson thought Cash's idea was as old as Hollywood itself and that his being Jewish would mitigate adverse reactions to publication. There was, however, considerable controversy. Although owner Conrad Black did not personally rebuke Lawson, Max Hastings, then editor of The Daily Telegraph, wrote with regard to Black, who also owned The Jerusalem Post at the time, "It was one of the few moments in my time with Conrad when I saw him look seriously rattled: 'You don't understand, Max. My entire interests in the United States and internationally could be seriously damaged by this'."^[45]

The article was defended by some conservatives. John Derbyshire, who says he has "complicated and sometimes self-contradictory feelings about Jews", wrote on National Review Online regarding what he saw as the Jewish overreaction to the article that "It was a display of arrogance, cruelty, ignorance, stupidity, and sheer bad manners by rich and powerful people towards a harmless, helpless young writer, and the Jews who whipped up this preposterous storm should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves".^[46]

Lawson left in 1995 to become editor of The Sunday Telegraph, and was replaced by a deputy editor of the same newspaper, Frank Johnson. After the 1997 election, Johnson averted a decline in The Spectator’s sales by recruiting "New Labour contributors", and shifting the magazine’s direction slightly away from politics. In 1996 the paper featured an interview with The Spice Girls, in which the band members gave their "Euro-sceptic and generally anti-labour" views on politics. Shortly before her death Diana, Princess of Wales was depicted on the magazine’s cover as the figurehead of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s boat, the Jonikal.^[47]

Boris Johnson[link]

Before joining The Spectator as editor, Johnson had worked for The Times, the Wolverhampton Express & Star, and The Daily Telegraph. He had also briefly been political commentator for The Spectator under Dominic Lawson, but Frank Johnson replaced him with Bruce Anderson in 1995. Succeeding Frank Johnson in 1999, Johnson soon established himself as a competent and "colourful"^[48] editor.

In the 2001 general election he was elected MP for Henley, and by 2004 had been made vice-chairman of the Conservative party, with a place in Michael Howard’s shadow cabinet. In 2003 he explained his editorial policy for The Spectator was to "always be roughly speaking in favour of getting rid of Saddam, sticking up for Israel, free-market economics, expanding choice" and that the magazine was "not necessarily a Thatcherite Conservative or a neo-conservative magazine, even though in our editorial coverage we tend to follow roughly the conclusions of those lines of arguments".^[49]

In October 2004, a Spectator editorial suggested that the death of the hostage Kenneth Bigley was being over-sentimentalized by the people of Liverpool, accusing them of indulging in a "vicarious victimhood" and of possessing a "deeply unattractive psyche".’^[50] Johnson had not written the leader but, as editor, took full responsibility for it. Michael Howard subsequently ordered him to visit Liverpool on a "penitential pilgrimage".^[51] Recent articles have resumed the theme in commenting on public declarations of grief following the murder of Rhys Jones.

At this time the paper began jokingly to be referred to as the ‘Sextator’ – a nickname for which Johnson himself was more than a little responsible – owing to the number of sex scandals connected with the magazine during his editorship. These included an affair between columnist Rod Liddle and the magazine’s receptionist, and Johnson’s own affair with another columnist, Petronella Wyatt. Johnson at first denied the relationship, dismissing the allegations as "an inverted pyramid of piffle", but was consequentially sacked from the Shadow Cabinet in November 2004 when they turned out to be perfectly true. In the same year David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, resigned from the government after it emerged he had been having an affair with The Spectator’s publisher, Kimberly Quinn (then Fortier), and had fast-tracked her nanny’s visa application.

Circulation under Johnson reached record levels – as high as 70,000 by the time he left the magazine in 2005 to join David Cameron’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Higher Education. On the announcement of his departure, Andrew Neil, The Spectator CEO, said: "Boris has been a wonderful and magnificent editor of The Spectator and we are sorry to lose him; in many ways he will be irreplaceable… [he] leaves the magazine in better shape than it has ever been in its long and glorious history, both editorially and financially… The editorial breadth and quality under his editorship has been unrivalled."^[52]

Mathew d’Ancona[link]

D’Ancona had been Deputy Editor at the The Sunday Telegraph, and before that an assistant editor at The Times. During his four years as editor of The Spectator, he made several editorial and structural changes to the magazine, "not all of which were universally popular with readers".

He ended the traditional summary of the week’s events, "Portrait of the Week", and, in 2006, launched a new lifestyle section entitled "You Earned It". He removed Peter Oborne as political editor, and appointed Fraser Nelson in his place to and decided not to appoint a new media columnist to succeed Stephen Glover, explaining, "I do not think The Spectator needs a media columnist. Our pages are precious and I do not think the internal wranglings of our trade are high on the list of Spectator readers’ priorities."^[53]

Perhaps the magazine's most important innovation under d’Ancona was the Coffee House blog, lead by Peter Hoskin and James Forsyth, launched in May 2007.^[54].

In 2007 The Spectator moved its offices from Doughty Street, which had been its home for 31 years, to 22 Old Queen Street in Westminster, leaving Bloomsbury for the first time since the paper’s founding in 1828.

Fraser Nelson[link]

The Spectator’s current editor is Fraser Nelson, who replaced d’Ancona in August 2009.

In 2010 he unveiled a slight redesign of the paper, shrinking the cover illustration slightly, shifting the cover lines, in general, to the bottom, and spreading the contents section over a double-page. Playing down the changes, Nelson described the new look as "a tidy-up… rather like restoring an old painting."^[55]

An article in November 2011 by Rod Liddle on the trial of two men eventually convicted for the murder of Stephen Lawrence led to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deciding to prosecute the magazine for breaching reporting restrictions. A court hearing is scheduled for 7 June 2012^[56] which the magazine will not contest, according to Nelson.^[57]

Policy positions[link]

From its founding in 1828 The Spectator has taken a pro-British line in foreign affairs. Like its sister publication The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator is generally Atlanticist and Eurosceptic in outlook, favouring close ties with the United States rather than with the European Union, and supportive of Israel.^{[citation needed]} However, it has expressed strong doubts about the Iraq war, and some of its contributors, such as Matthew Parris and Stuart Reid, express a more old-school conservative position. Some contributors, such as Irwin Stelzer, argue from an American neoconservative position.^{[citation needed]} Unlike much of the British press it is approving of the unilateral extradition treaty that allowed the Natwest three to be extradited, and in July 2006 the magazine devoted a leading article to praising the US Senate.^[58]

Cultural positions[link]

The Spectator is one of the few British publications that still ignores or dismisses most examples of popular culture, in the way that (for example) The Daily Telegraph did under Bill Deedes, or The Times did under William Haley.^{[citation needed]} The magazine coined the phrase "young fogey" in 1984 (in an article by Alan Watkins).^{[citation needed]}

The Spectator does have a popular music column, though it only appears every four weeks, while a cinema column contains a review of one film each week by the non-specialist Deborah Ross. By contrast, opera, fine art, books, poetry and classical music all receive extensive weekly coverage.

Contributors[link]

Although there is a permanent staff of writers, The Spectator has always had room for a wide array of contributors. Some of these include:

Editors[link]

The editors of The Spectator have been:

• Robert Stephen Rintoul, 1828 - 1858
• John Scott, 1858 – 1861
• Meredith Townsend and Richard Holt Hutton, 1861 - 1886
• Meredith Townsend, 1886 – 1887
• John St Loe Strachey, 1887 – 1925
• Sir Evelyn Leslie Wrench, 1925 – 1932
• Henry Wilson Harris, 1932 – 1953
• Walter Taplin, 1953 - 1954
• Ian Gilmour, 1954 - 1959
• Brian Inglis, 1959 – 1962
• Iain Hamilton, 1962 – 1963
• Iain Macleod, 1963 – 1965
• Nigel Lawson, 1966 – 1970
• George Gale, 1970 – 1973
• Harold Creighton, 1973 – 1975
• Alexander Chancellor, 1975–1984
• Charles Moore, 1984 – 1990
• Dominic Lawson, 1990 – 1995
• Frank Johnson, 1995 – 1999
• Boris Johnson, 1999 – 2005
• Matthew d'Ancona, 2006 – 2009
• Fraser Nelson, 2009 - present

References[link]

• Spectator editor Matthew d'Ancona interviewed in The Guardian, 2009-02-2

External links[link]

• The Spectator official site
• Exact Editions digital edition
• The Spectator iPhone/iPad app

v t e Press Holdings Current assets Telegraph Media Group The Daily Telegraph · The Sunday Telegraph Other Apollo · The Spectator Former assets The Business · The Scotsman Publications (Edinburgh Evening News · Herald & Post · The Scotsman · Scotland on Sunday) People David and Frederick Barclay · Andrew Neil Category

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors such as Thomas Sowell, Tom Wolfe, P.J. O'Rourke, George F. Will, Malcolm Gladwell, Patrick J. Buchanan, and Malcolm Muggeridge, although today the magazine is best known for its reports in the 1990s on Bill Clinton and its "Arkansas Project", funded by businessman Richard Mellon Scaife and the Bradley Foundation.^[1]

Founding and history[link]

The American Spectator was founded as The Alternative in 1967 by Tyrrell and other students at Indiana University, and was originally published in a tabloid format (it is now published in a traditional magazine format).

After operating under the name The Alternative: An American Spectator for several years, in 1977 the magazine changed its name to The American Spectator because, in editor Tyrrell's words, "the word 'alternative' had come to be associated almost exclusively with radicals and with their way of life." In fact, Tyrrell had started the magazine as a conservative alternative to the student radicalism at the nation's universities in the 1960s. The Spectator is also a British magazine of somewhat similar format and anti-establishment conservatism.

During the Reagan Administration, the magazine moved from Bloomington, Indiana to suburban Washington, D.C.

The 1990s[link]

The publication gained prominence in the 1990s by reporting on political scandals. The March 1992 issue contained David Brock's expose on Clarence Thomas accuser Anita Hill. Brock and his colleague Daniel Wattenberg soon moved on to a target of somewhat longer-lasting relevance: Hillary and Bill Clinton. A January 1994 article about then-President Bill Clinton's sex life contained the first reference in print to Clinton accuser Paula Jones, although the article focused on allegations that Clinton used Arkansas state troopers to facilitate his extramarital sexual activities (see Troopergate). It only referred to Jones by her first name and corroborated few if any elements of her story. This article was the basis for the claim of damages a sexual harassment lawsuit which started the chain of events resulting in President Clinton's impeachment.

David Brock recanted his accusations upon his departure from the conservative movement. He also denounced his Anita Hill article in his 2003 book Blinded by the Right: the Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. He implies that Rush Limbaugh's coverage of his Anita Hill article instigated advertising on Limbaugh's network, which resulted in a large increase in the magazine's circulation. He also implies that this caused the magazine's content to '[move] away from thoughtful essays and scholarly reviews and humor pieces' to 'hit jobs'.^[2]

For his part, Wattenberg eventually incurred the displeasure of many fellow conservatives when he belatedly admitted that he had killed a story about rumors of Clinton fathering a child out of wedlock (with a young African American woman). Wattenberg actually tracked down a videotape of the woman being interviewed (by an unnamed third party who asked her what Wattenberg described as "softball" questions), but he never was able to interview her himself. Wattenberg's rationales for killing the story were that he had no proof that the story was true and that the woman's testimony was unconvincing. He said that she "seemed like a junkie." (The story was revived in 1999 by Matt Drudge.)

Internal strife eventually led to the departure of long-time publisher Ronald Burr after a disagreement with Tyrrell led Burr to call for an independent audit of the magazine's finances. The departure of Burr and several prominent conservative figures from the magazine's board of directors resulted in conservative foundations pulling much of the funding the nonprofit had relied on to pay high salaries to Brock and Tyrrell, as well as to fund direct-mail campaigns needed to keep up the monthly's circulation. Faced with a budget crisis, the magazine, then led by publisher Terry Eastland, a former spokesman in the Reagan Justice Department, laid off staffers and cut spending significantly. The magazine also struggled to pay legal bills incurred from an investigation launched against it by Clinton's Justice Department for alleged witness tampering in the Whitewater investigation. The Justice Department investigation led to revelations about the "Arkansas Project," a campaign by businessman Richard Mellon Scaife to discredit the Clintons by funding investigative reporting at several conservative media outlets. The Justice Department investigation led nowhere and the Spectator was exonerated.

2000s[link]

As shortfalls continued, George Gilder, a long time supporter of the magazine who was newly wealthy from an Internet business, purchased the magazine with the goal of turning it into a profit-making glossy with significant media buzz. Numerous staff members, demoralized by the ever-looming budget crises, were laid off or departed after Joshua Gilder and Richard Vigilante took the reins and vowed to reach a new technology- and business-savvy audience. Circulation and budget losses continued and even increased in the Gilder era, and at one point the entire Washington-based staff other than Tyrrell and executive editor and web site editor Wladyslaw Pleszczynski were laid off as operations were moved to Massachusetts, where the rest of George Gilder's businesses were based. In 2003, George Gilder, who had lost most of his fortune with the bursting of the Internet stock bubble, sold the magazine for $1 back to Tyrrell and the American Alternative Foundation, the magazine's original owner (the name was later changed to the American Spectator Foundation). The magazine then moved operations back to the Washington, D.C. area. Later that year, former book publisher Alfred S. Regnery became the magazine's publisher. By 2004, circulation hovered at around 50,000.

2010s[link]

In 2011, Assistant Editor Patrick Howley published a piece detailing his infiltration of a Washington, D.C. protest. In the article, Howley asserts his aim to "mock and undermine" the protest against American Imperialism, and writes in the first person about his experiences protesting at the National Air and Space Museum.^[3] This article, and the methods detailed within, was condemned by other publications due to perceived conflagration of journalism and politics.^[4][5][6] Prominent supporters of the article include Slate's David Weigel, who called it "conservative media gold." The Economist wrote that Howley "winds up offering a vision of politics as a kind of self-focused performance art, or perhaps (to say the same thing) a version of "Jackass."

Core editorial staff[link]

• Publisher: Alfred S. Regnery
• Editor in Chief: R. Emmett Tyrrell
• Editorial Director: Wladyslaw Pleszczynski
• Associate Editor: W. James Antle III

References[link]

External links[link]

• The American Spectator official site
• Byron York, "The Life and Death of The American Spectator," The Atlantic Monthly, November 2001
• "Olson by a whisker", Salon.com, May 2001 (article containing background information on the "Arkansas Project")
• David Brock, "The Real Anita Hill", The American Spectator, March 1992 (unofficial site)
• David Brock, "His Cheatin’ Heart" ,The American Spectator, January 1994 (the "Troopergate" story)
• David Brock, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, Crown, 2002. ISBN 0-8129-3099-1
• R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. (ed.), Orthodoxy: The American Spectator's 20th Anniversary Anthology, Harper & Row, 1987. ISBN 0-06-015818-2

Colin McRae

Colin McRae at the X Games XIII in 2007
Personal information
Nationality	Scottish
Born	(1968-08-05)5 August 1968
Died	15 September 2007(2007-09-15) (aged 39)
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1987–2003, 2005–2006[1]
Teams	Subaru, Citroën, Ford, Škoda
Rallies	146
Championships	1 (1995)
Rally wins	25
Podiums	42
Stage wins	477
Total points	626
First rally	1987 Swedish Rally
First win	1993 Rally New Zealand
Last win	2002 Safari Rally
Last rally	2006 Rally of Turkey

Colin Steele McRae, MBE (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.

The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title. He still holds that record.

McRae's outstanding performance on the Subaru World Rally Team enabled the team to win the World Rally Championship Constructors' title three times in succession in 1995, 1996 and 1997. After a four-year spell with the Ford Motor Co. team, which saw McRae win nine events, he moved to Citroën World Rally Team in 2003 where, despite not winning an event, he helped them win the first of their three consecutive manufacturers' titles. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to motorsport in 1996.^[2]

McRae died in 2007 when the helicopter he was piloting crashed near his home. The accident also claimed the lives of his son and two family friends. In November 2008 he was posthumously inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal and early life[link]

McRae was married to Alison,^[3] and had two children, Hollie and Johnny.^[4] McRae moved to the principality of Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with David Coulthard.^[5] However, as his young family grew up, he spent more time back at his home in Lanarkshire — accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland.^[6] The couple bought the 17th century Jerviswood House.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Colin McRae began his competitive career in motorsport riding trial bikes at an early age, despite being more interested in four wheeled machines rather than two wheel bikes.^[7] At the age of sixteen, through the Coltness Car Club, McRae discovered autotesting, he soon traded his bike for a Mini Cooper and started competing.^[7] A year later, he began to negotiate with another club member to use his Hillman Avenger for the Kames^{[disambiguation needed ]} Stages, a single-staged rally venue not far from McRae's home. McRae finished the event fourteenth; first in his class although he had run most of the event in a higher position.^[7]

In 1986, driving a Talbot Sunbeam, McRae entered the Scottish Rally Championship and soon made a name for himself with his speed and exciting style of driving. His driving style drew many comparisons to Finnish ex-World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, who McRae had always idolised. In 1988 he performed a giant-killing act when he took the Scottish Rally Championship series crown in a humble Vauxhall Nova. Craving more power, his next car was a Ford Sierra XR 4x4.

His first WRC event was the 1987 Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, and again two years later, driving the Sierra and finishing 15th overall. Later that year, he finished 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in a rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. By 1990 McRae was driving a Sierra Cosworth 4x4 and achieved sixth place in that year's RAC Rally, despite several accidents. 1991 saw McRae turn professional as he was signed by Prodrive boss David Richards to his Subaru team in the British Rally Championship for an annual wage of approximately £10,000.^[8] McRae was British Rally Champion in both 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to the Subaru factory team at World Rally Championship level.^[9] 1992 also saw Colin McRae make his début in the British Touring Car Championship, with a one-off appearance for the Prodrive-run BMW factory team at the Knockhill round. In the second of the two races of the event, McRae collided with Matt Neal. Race officials found McRae to have caused an avoidable collision and subsequently disqualified him.^[10]

World Rally Championship[link]

1993–1998: Subaru[link]

One of the Subaru Impreza rally cars that McRae drove during the 1996 World Rally Championship season.

On his promotion for 1993, McRae initially drove the Prodrive-built Group A Subaru Legacy alongside Finns Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola and Markku Alén. McRae then won his first WRC rally in the car at that year's Rally New Zealand. It was also the first rally win for the newly formed Subaru World Rally Team, shortly before the Legacy was due to be pensioned off in favour of the new Subaru Impreza 555. Such were the rising fortunes of his young Subaru factory team as they competed against the frontrunning TTE ran Toyotas, aided by the latter team's exclusion from the championship after the 1995 Rally Catalunya where it was discovered that the Japanese team had been using illegal turbochargers, it took only until 1995 for McRae to win the drivers title, which he secured with victory in a straight contest with his double champion team-mate, Carlos Sainz, on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain. Although still a winner with the outfit in individual rallies in succeeding years, including, increasingly, more specialised events such as the Acropolis Rally, Safari Rally and the Tour de Corse, McRae could not better second place in the standings in either 1996 or 1997, on both occasions behind Finland and Mitsubishi Ralliart's Tommi Mäkinen. He helped Subaru complete their run of three consecutive manufacturers' titles during this time. In what would turn out to be his final season with the team, in 1998 he won three more rallies and placed third in the standings, as well as winning the Race of Champions in Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands.

1999–2002: Ford[link]

McRae with a Ford Focus WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland.

After several years of varying success, McRae switched to the M-Sport-run Ford factory team for 1999, driving the new Ford Focus rally car. The deal saw McRae earning six million pounds over two years, which at the time made him the highest earning rally driver in history.^[11] This move was immediately rewarded with two consecutive wins at the Safari Rally and Rally Portugal. A number of shunts and reliability issues for the new car for much of the rest of that season, however, resulted in only sixth place in the championship standings overall. Moreover, a rare personal pointless run had begun for McRae that year which was only to be halted with a podium on the following February's Swedish Rally, the beginning of a recovery which saw McRae victorious in on the asphalt turns of Catalunya and the gravel of Greece, and post 4th in the 2000 overall standings. Midway through the 2000 season, the lacking reliability of the Focus had led to McRae threatening to leave the team if the problems continued.^[12] The upturn towards the end of the season resulted in him deciding to renew his contract with Ford for a further two years.^[13] McRae's intermittent success with Ford continued into 2001, where after failing to score in any of the first four rounds, including having momentarily led defending winner Tommi Makinen on the stages of the season opening Monte Carlo Rally prior to being forced into retirement, he then went on to score three consecutive victories in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece to tie with Mäkinen at the top of the points table. However, having again led the championship outright entering the final round in Great Britain, McRae once more missed out on a possible second title, crashing out and finishing second in the drivers championship, two points behind Subaru's Richard Burns.

With victory in the Safari Rally in 2002, McRae made the record books as the driver with most event wins in the World Rally Championship. His record has since been broken by Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm. McRae's contract with Ford came to an end following the 2002 season, and after reportedly asking for wages of five million pounds a year, Ford decided against renewing the contract, reluctant to commit such a high amount of their budget to a drivers salary. The two parties split on amicable terms, with Ford's European director of motorsport Martin Whitaker stating "On behalf of all of us at Ford Motor Company I would like to publicly thank Colin and Nicky for their efforts during the past four years with the Ford team… I wish them both well in the future."^[14] McRae said of his time with Ford "It's been a very successful four years, we've achieved a lot of very good results and I'm quite happy that myself and Ford have had a very successful partnership."^[15]

2003: Citroën[link]

For 2003, McRae signed for Citroën, a team of winning pedigree due to its successes of the previous year with young Frenchman Sébastien Loeb but otherwise undertaking its first complete campaign at World Rally Championship level. McRae's second place finish on his début in Monte Carlo alongside Loeb and Carlos Sainz whom, aboard the Xsara WRC, helped complete a 1-2-3 finish, transpired to be the finest result he would achieve for the team, for the season was to end with seventh in the drivers' championship, with no victories. Rule changes that were to be brought in for the 2004 season changed the previous practice of having three nominated points-scorers within a team to two. With Loeb partway through a multiple year contract, this meant the Citroën factory team, under Guy Frequelin's leadership, were forced to choose between dropping McRae or Sainz. With Sainz being the more successful of the two during the 2003 season, it was McRae who had to look elsewhere for 2004.^[16] David Richards, McRae's former boss at Subaru, who had by now taken over WRC's commercial rights holders ISC and worried that the loss of a character like McRae would damage his ability to market the sport, set about trying to help McRae find a drive for 2004.^[17] McRae was unable to find a team, and for the first time in over ten years he would not be competing in the World Rally Championship.

Later career[link]

McRae driving a Škoda Fabia WRC on the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff super special stage of the 2005 Rally GB.

As the only other potential alternative suitors, Subaru instead eventually chose Mikko Hirvonen to partner Petter Solberg, McRae found himself without a drive for the 2004 season. He instead pursued other interests, including competing in the Dakar Rally and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (see below).

In 2004 and 2005 McRae represented Great Britain in the Race of Champions alongside Formula One driver and fellow Scot, David Coulthard. For the 2006 event England and Scotland entered separate teams with McRae and Coulthard re-uniting to represent Scotland.

McRae then returned to the series for one off drives for Skoda on the 2005 Rally GB and Rally Australia, respectively finishing seventh and retiring due to a clutch problem on the final leg of the rally, the latter dashing hopes for what may otherwise have been only the team's second ever podium place after the 2001 Safari Rally.

On 5 August 2006, McRae competed for Subaru in the first live televised American rally in Los Angeles as part of the X-Games. McRae rolled the car on the penultimate corner after landing awkwardly from a jump, which damaged the front bumper and left front tyre. Despite this, McRae kept the car running and continued on to the finish, his time only 0.13 seconds slower than eventual winner Travis Pastrana. McRae was, though, to have one more opportunity at world championship level: he was unexpectedly entered for his final rally by semi-works Kronos Citroën at Rally Turkey in September, where he replaced Sébastien Loeb while the Frenchman recovered from an injury he sustained in a cycling accident immediately prior to the event.^[18] A final-stage alternator problem consigned him and returning co-driver Nicky Grist, to a final placing outside the top ten.

The Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello driven by McRae at the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans

McRae's competitive spirit also led him to compete in racing series other than the WRC. In September 2002 he tried his hand at oval racing when he took part in the Ascar (UK version of NASCAR) race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, Northamptonshire; eventually finishing in sixth place.

McRae rejoined Prodrive for the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans where he took third place in the GTS class, and ninth position overall in a Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello partnering Darren Turner and Rickard Rydell. Fellow countryman, and Le Mans winner Allan McNish commented that "Colin has adapted far better than people expected" to endurance sportscar racing.^[19]

McRae, made his debut on the gruelling Dakar Rally Raid with Nissan in January 2004, and impressed the team by scoring two stage wins on his way to a memorable finish on the gruelling Sahara event. He returned to the Dakar in 2005 and was fastest on two of the first three stages in Morocco, before crashing out of the rally towards the end of stage six.

In August 2007, McRae claimed to still be working on finding a seat for the 2008 WRC season, stating that "if it doesn't happen next year, then I won't (return) because you can only be out of something at that level for so long."^[20]

Death[link]

McRae died on 15 September 2007 when his helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350,^[21] crashed 1 mile north of Lanark, Scotland, close to the McRae family home.^[22] McRae was piloting the helicopter (with an expired license) at the time of the crash.^[23][24] McRae's five-year-old son Johnny, and two family friends, Graeme Duncan and Johnny's six-year-old friend Ben Porcelli, also died in the crash.^[25][26] McRae's previously active website, ColinMcRae.com, was later replaced with a memorial screen stating a few details about the crash, and then with a short statement released on behalf of McRae's father, Jimmy,^[27] and later a book of condolences.^[27]

Funeral and celebration services[link]

The funeral for Colin and Johnny took place on 26 September at Daldowie Crematorium near Glasgow, conducted by the Rev Tom Houston, who had married the McRaes, and the Rev Steven Reid, chaplain at Johnny's school. An address was given by Robbie Head, a former rally driver and commentator who was a close friend of McRae's, with the Rev Houston giving the benediction. McRae's niece and nephews performed the tune Highland Cathedral, a popular funeral song. Also, the song "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, a favourite song of McRae's, was played when the family entered the chapel; and The Proclaimers' song "I'm on My Way" was played when they left. Colin and Johnny McRae were cremated in the same coffin. Among the attendees at the funeral were fellow Scottish racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Dario Franchitti.^[28]

A "Celebration of Life" service took place at St Nicholas Church in Lanark on Sunday 30 September at 4 pm. Images from McRae's career and personal life were displayed on large video screens outside the church. Around 700 mourners filled the church, with crowds of up to 15,000 outside. Shortly before 4pm, a lone bagpiper played "Flower of Scotland" as the family arrived at the church. The service was conducted by the Rev Alison Meikle, who said "Two weeks ago Lanark was struck by silence. A terrible silence bought at an enormous price. However, in our tears love is stronger than death." Later, the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton song "Islands in the Stream", a favourite of Johnny's, was played. Friends of the pair shared poems and anecdotes from the McRaes' lives. After the service, Colin McRae's widow, brother and father bowed and applauded the crowds who had gathered outside to pay tribute to the McRaes.^[29]

Reaction[link]

McRae tribute during the 2007 Race of Champions.

McRae's death was met by much grief from former colleagues, rivals and fans alike. Formula One driver David Coulthard, a good friend of McRae, who was due to represent Scotland along with him in the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium on 16 December,^[30] described him as "an understated yet fantastically talented individual", he also announced that he would race the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix with a helmet paint design similar to that of McRae's as a tribute.^[31] During the finale of the 2007 Scottish Rally Championship, the "Colin McRae Forest Stages" held in Perth in September 2007,^[32] there was no number 1 car as McRae had been due to drive the course car on the event. Instead, his car was parked at the starting point of the rally, where fans were able to sign a book of condolences.^[33]

Following his win at the Brands Hatch meeting of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship season, Andy Priaulx dedicated it to McRae, commenting that his death "shows how fragile life can be".^[34] McRae's former rival, four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Mäkinen commented the helicopter accident as terrifying news, and described McRae as "a pleasant fellow and a tough rival".^[35] Valentino Rossi, who was taught the basics of driving a rally car by McRae, said he was shocked and saddened by the sudden departure of the former World Rally Champion. Valentino dedicated his win at Estoril MotoGp in 2007 to Colin McRae saying to the media "I want to dedicate this to Colin McRae. He was one of my big idols when I was very young and it's because of him I have a big passion for rally".^[36]

As a mark of respect for McRae, the Swedish Rally organisers set up an award for the longest jump over a crest on the Vargåsen stage of the rally. The inaugural winner of the award, named Colin's Crest, was Ford's United Arab Emirates driver Khalid al-Qassimi who recorded a distance of 30 m.^[37]

McRae's father, Jimmy, driving a Porsche 911 at the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages.

On 27 September 2008 the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally took place in Perth, Scotland. An enhanced entry list of several former big name rally drivers took part in memory of Colin.^[38] The impressive entry list included ex-World Championship drivers Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen (partnered by his 1981 WRC winning co-driver David Richards), Björn Waldegård, Stig Blomqvist, Malcolm Wilson, Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRae, Andrew Cowan and Louise Aitken-Walker, many competing in their original cars. A handful of current WRC drivers also took part including Matthew Wilson, Kris Meeke and Travis Pastrana. The event was deemed a great success, attracting record spectator numbers to the Perthshire forests. Outright winner was Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson in a Ford Focus WRC. Fittingly, Colin's brother Alister McRae won the classic category.

In video game Colin McRae: Dirt 2 there is a race series named "Colin McRae Challenge" that is dedicated to him. Winning the race unlocks a video that is a tribute to him.

Investigation[link]

After the crash, an investigative team from the UK Department for Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch attended the scene in co-operation with Strathclyde Police. The wreckage of the helicopter was removed to Farnborough for further forensic investigation. Pilots operate under strict regulations, and are expected in the case of helicopters under CAA rules to undertake a competency test every year, and to renew their licenses every five years — not to do so is illegal. It later emerged that McRae had not undertaken a competency check as required in March 2006, and that effectively his license had expired in February 2005. A CAA spokesman commented "The investigators must determine why he (McRae) hasn't kept up to date with his documentation. There is no suggestion that Mr McRae was not a competent pilot."^[39]

A report into the accident was published on 12 February 2009. In it, the AAIB did not reach a definite conclusion as to the cause of the accident, stating instead that "the helicopter crashed in a wooded valley while manoeuvering at high speed and low height. It was intact prior to impact, and the available evidence indicated that the engine was delivering power. The cause of the accident was not positively determined. Although no technical reason was found to explain the accident, a technical fault could not be ruled out entirely. However, it is more likely that the pilot attempted a turning manoeuvre at low height, during which the helicopter deviated from his intended flight path; whether due to the pilot encountering handling difficulties, misjudgement, spatial disorientation, distraction or a combination of such events. There were indications that the pilot had started a recovery but, with insufficient height in which to complete it, the helicopter struck trees in the valley and crashed, killing all four occupants."^[40]

A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the incident concluded, on 6 September 2011, that McRae was at fault for the avoidable helicopter crash that led to his death and the death of his passengers.^[41] Sheriff Nikola Stewart stated, after the 16-day inquiry, that McRae had been engaged in "unnecessary and unsafe" low-level flying at the time of the crash.^[42][43]

Colin McRae Rally[link]

Codemasters released the first Colin McRae Rally video game in 1998. Version 2, known as Colin McRae 2.0, was released in the year 2000, for Sony's PlayStation and for the PC; it was also ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2002. A third version found a wide audience on the PC and Xbox. Versions 04 and 2005 arrived in 2004 on all major platforms. 2005 was also remade for Sony's PSP and Nokia's N-Gage. Colin McRae: Dirt was the title for the next installment of the series, which launched in 2007 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 edition was released in the UK on 14 September, the day before McRae's death.^[44] A special edition for mobile phones will also be available from Codemasters Mobile. Colin McRae: Dirt 2 was released on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 on 11 September 2009, the PC version was released on 8 December 2009. Colin McRae: Dirt 3 was released in Europe and North America on the 24 May 2011, and two days later in Australia for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Colin McRae R4[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A Colin McRae R4 on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Colin McRae chose the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed to unveil the McRae R4, which had been conceived at the beginning of 2005. The intention was to make a cheaper alternative to WRCs (World Rally Cars) with significantly lower running costs. The McRae R4 was designed for use in rallying, rally cross, circuit racing and ice racing events, with the possibility of a one-make race series.

Designed by Colin McRae and Dave Plant and built by DJM Race Preparation, the McRae R4's chassis is based on a steel safety cage with carbon panelling front and rear, and a steel-covered cockpit area. Suspension consists of twin wishbones with Proflex dampers. The body styling has been done by Keith Burden and Tom Webster. It appears that some components of the vehicle have been taken from existing production cars, the doorline in particular appears very close to that of the Ford Ka.

The engine is a naturally aspirated, 4-cylinder, 2.5-litre Millington Diamond Engine producing 350 BHP. Transmission is via a six-speed gearbox, manual or semi-automatic, and by mechanical front and rear differentials with the option of mechanical or active central differential. The car can be produced in either 2 or 4 wheel drive formats.

Alison McRae has said that she would like production of the car to continue following Colin's death.

The R4 appears in Codemasters titles Colin McRae: DiRT, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and DiRT 3.

Complete WRC results[link]