Colin Barnett, RTM staff

Please allow me to introduce myself – I’m Colin Barnett, Commercial Motor associate editor, responsible for the magazine’s features and technical content. My contributions to Commercialmotor.com are mostly related to trucks and vans and the driving thereof. Read on to find out where I came from!

I was born in Radnorshire over half a century ago, and spent my first year living next door to a chip shop, which probably explains a lot. At around five years old, I discovered the screwdriver from my granny’s Singer sewing machine, and was soon taking things apart. After another five years, I was occasionally able to put them back together.

After the wilderness years in grammar school, apparently learning things for the sake of it, my technical bent eventually saw me sign up as an apprentice truck mechanic. This involved going to technical college to discover some applications for the things such as physics and geometry that failed to sink in previously.

The following years saw me try most jobs in the motor trade, before finally ending up working in countryside conservation in Surrey. This had the welcome benefit of providing access to 28,000 acres of prime off-roading territory. I’ve been working for CM since 1998.

My spare time is spent in motor sport, racing whenever someone will give me a free drive, and working as a scrutineer when they won’t. And just so as I don’t lose my mechanical skills, I run an antique Land Rover Discovery.

You can follow me on Twitter: @clutchslip

Contact:

colin.barnett@roadtransport.com