Hi, I'm John Davis!

"Jonathon Klein" (jonathon-klein) 03/02/2014 at 09:19 • Filed to: MotorWeek, John Davis, AMA

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About a week ago I was watching MotorWeek at home. I just love the sultry rhythms of John Davis's voice when he says, "Hi, I'm John Davis." The show was on the new 911 Turbo, and some economy weird hybrid SUV or something, I was watching it for the 911 because usually MotorWeek has a different opinion on cars than others. While I was watching the review of said 911, John Davis uttered these words, "I like big brakes and I cannot lie"! Was I hallucinating? Was I dreaming, what the heck just happened? I have got to be in some weird alternate dimension right? John Davis didn't just quote Sir Mixalot right? I played it in my head a few times, pinched myself, threw a bit of cold water on my face, then pinched myself again! I wasn't dreaming. Then I scanned for free radicals and some quantum entanglement particles and possibly for some dark matter. I wasn't in an alternate universe either. I then had to come to the conclusion that John Davis, MotorWeeks awesome presenter really did just Quote "Baby's got Back"!

I immediately took to the Twitters and Tweeted out, " !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! s John Davis literally just quoted sir mixalot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! we must get him on a AMA". Matt informed me that he had done one for us about a year ago which I missed. Then MotorWeek tweeted me back! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Did you make that up? LOL". So then began a small conversation with whoever is running their Twitter feed, who is also awesome.

Me: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I might have been hallucinating, but I'm pretty sure my wife was sitting right next to me laughing hysterically! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and I quote "I like big brakes and I cannot lie" John Davis talking about the Porsche 911

MotorWeek: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! LOL That is pretty funny. We laughed at the thought of it.

Me: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! This quote needs to be emblazened on a plaque somewhere in someones garage or on a national monument!

MotorWeek: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! That is funny!

Then things got even cooler, just a few minutes had gone by and MotorWeek Tweeted this.

Join us for a live chat Wednesday March 5th with MotorWeek's own John Davis. Use the hashtag !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to join in.

Me: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Did you guys do this just for me?

MotorWeek: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Yes lol

I got MotorWeek to setup a AMA with John Davis with a Sir Mixalot Quote!!!!!!! So fellow Jalops, on March 5 th , MotorWeek will be doing a Ask Me Anything with everyones favorite Motoring TV journalist on the Tweeters! Hooray!

Update: John is answering your questions now!

And you can follow !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! here on the Twitter's.

Photocredit to MotorWeek.

Tom McParland > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 09:47

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Baby got back!

Jonathon Klein > Tom McParland 03/02/2014 at 09:50

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That's next week episode, and then the next episode will feature this.

With him saying "My anaconda don't want none, if you ain't got buns hun!"

The Great and Mystical Trabant > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 09:51

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MotorWeek seems like everything a Jalop would hate. And I don't sense enough sarcasm in the tone of MotorWeekTheater, which leads me to believe you guys genuinely like MW. Or are in some sort of promotional deal with the dated, vanilla stylings of MW. What is going on here– really?

Jonathon Klein > The Great and Mystical Trabant 03/02/2014 at 10:02

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No I really do like it. Sure it's not Jalopnik's hip sense of snark, but it's something I grew up on watching on PBS and I like it!

Maddox Kay > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 10:04

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I think what most jalops like about it (at least what I like about it) is that on Motorweek they always find the best things about a car, much like we jalops appreciate all cars and what they contribute to the market.

highmodulus > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 10:06

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Yes we love MotorWeek. Pat Goss 4ever!

SaiDas > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 10:13

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I have the opposite take on John. Every time I see/hear him, he reminds me of some low budget spokesperson. Probably a nice guy, but he's terrible that way. Compare him to anyone of Top Gear.

Jonathon Klein > SaiDas 03/02/2014 at 10:17

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That's the thing you can't compare him with TopGear, they don't do they same things. TopGear is an entertainment show that pretends it's an advice show. MotorWeek is strictly and advice show with some added flavor.

emilminty drives an E30 but the '89 Cavalier blew a head gasket > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 10:54

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MotorWeek is a "let's read the manufacturer's press release on this car" kind of a show. I enjoy it, but they frickin' love everything they drive.

tobythesandwich > SaiDas 03/02/2014 at 11:08

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Yeah comparing motor week to Top Gear is about as retarded as you can get.

Motorweek stands on it's own and does it's own thing. Top Gear needs to do zany stunts and have outlandish hosts. They are two totally different programs calling on two totally different kinds of hosting.

And personally, I'd rather watch Motorweek over Top Gear.

jefeloco > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 11:09

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No one on top gear would (semi) seriously bump a Ferrari down a few on practicality for not having comfort options seen in a run of the mill Pontiac, or for having seats that adjust manually!

Jon Davis is as close to an unsung pop hero of Americana as we motorists have in the States, and should be appreciated as such.

N51fanatic > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 11:12

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My problem with the show was they never dissed a car, they never said anything negative, EVER. Every car was great.

Biberons > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 11:16

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thethePete > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 11:17

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My favourite part of this:

"

Me: @MotorWeek Did you guys do this just for me?

MotorWeek: @jonathon_klein Yes lol

"

KillerBee > The Great and Mystical Trabant 03/02/2014 at 11:25

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Motorweek has to cater to a wider audience than Jalopnik, because producing for TV costs money. The only things Jalopnik has to pay for are Hardigree's six-figure salary and some new underwear for Okulski. Ballaban reportedly works for free. I kid, of course, but television certainly costs more than internet journalism.

That means that Motorweek has be concerned about things like rear seat legroom in the new Camry and the carbon footprint of a Highlander. Things that make Jalops yawn. They also have to be more tactful with what they say about the cars they review because advertisers. They can't shout naughty words and they can't waste their precious 22 minutes a week on a segment about who would win in a fight between Henry Ford and John DeLorean. If you read between the lines, though, sometimes they say more than they appear to be saying on the surface. It's kind of brilliant, really.

But because of those things and because places like Jalopnik give us a lot more options these days, Motorweek isn't as relevant as it used to be. Most of my fascination with that show stems from nostalgia. I grew up watching it with my dad. It amazes me that it's still running, frankly. We love it because whether we're Jalops or donks, Miataphiles or rock-crawlers, supercars or slammed Civics, we're all car people. Automotive enthusiasts. And that's a beautiful thing.

Christopher > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 11:49

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This author likes to throw big words around (which is great by me) and fanciful sentence structuring. Now, if only they had their punctuation skills in order to support the written command they're attempting to sell us, it might have actually worked.

Two notable errors are the quotation marks out of place and lacking apostrophes on possession words. Any excuse that this is somehow acceptable because this is a mere internet blog fails too, simply as it's inconsistent with the attemp at professional grade composition clearly evident here with "said" author.

In other words, one cannot resist mention of the detracting aspects of an otherwise editorial gem and for this reason, especially as ironically this article is about this author astutely detecting a scant phrase of another, I feel it duly deserves this notation.

On the episode in question, I saw that, too. I have my DVR set automatically to record all MotorWeek shows. I've been watching this program for many years. John Davis' narrations have always been written with a clever flare. Not sure if he's the author, though.

The big brakes reference was on the new 911 Turbo S. The other vehicle was not an SUV, but rather Nissan's Rogue crossover.

Finally, as far as the use of this lyrical choice for the description, my take was less desirable. Personally, I felt this rare exception to Davis' normal intellectual excellence was momentarily compromised (probably by the content author) and unsuited to descriptive context fitting this classic German sportscar.

It's nice that MotorWeek has come forth for the chat, though. That's the power of social media at its best.

GTI MkVII > The Great and Mystical Trabant 03/02/2014 at 13:33

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I don't mind the show itself. Any halfway decent show about new cars that are on the market is a win in my book. I do take issue with the production values though. The camera work, graphics, and copy are all questionable and bordering on tacky/cheesy. It says a lot when many YouTube channels have higher quality production than something on television proper.

techinsanity2011 > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 13:47

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Is it weird that every time it comes on, the theme gets stuck in my head? It doesn't sound like the theme to a car show. It sounds more suited to a superhero cartoon.

boobaru > Jonathon Klein 03/02/2014 at 15:26

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If you watch the MotorWeek reviews for the cars we (the Jalopnik community) generally like, they (via the smooth tones of John Davis) mostly share the same sentiments as us. They really are car folk who know their stuff, more so than 95% of car reviewers out there.

ThatbastardKurtis > The Great and Mystical Trabant 03/02/2014 at 19:10

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I like the sista that used to be on MotorWeek, I cannot lie!
Whatever happened to her? She used to wear a lot of scarves...

Jonathon Klein > Christopher 03/02/2014 at 20:23

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Griff?

Misterfu02 > Jonathon Klein 03/03/2014 at 00:03

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MotorWeek always raved about GM cars and that is what made the show so great to begin with.

All Motor Is Best Motor > Christopher 03/03/2014 at 00:32

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TinFoil Knight > Jonathon Klein 03/03/2014 at 00:38

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404'd on both follow links =-(

Jonathon Klein > TinFoil Knight 03/03/2014 at 07:56

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Try them now.

SaiDas > tobythesandwich 03/03/2014 at 09:21

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I didn't mean the show...I meant the personalities/delivery style vs. John's. John just comes across as so amateur and awkward.

tobythesandwich > SaiDas 03/03/2014 at 09:25

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No, you meant the show. The shows call for different kinds of hosts. Clarkson, May, or Hammond would be ill suited for Motorweek, and Davis would be ill suited for Top Gear. So again, comparing Top Gear to Motorweek is just nonsense.

JerseyJoey > Jonathon Klein 03/03/2014 at 09:44

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I grew up watching MotorWeek also. I always watch on DRV... watch the first segment, skip for about 15 minutes (especially through the "news" and Pat Goss stuff) and then watch the long term updates and final car review lol. I couldn't ever stop watching it completely... been watching since I was like 12.

tinyhands > N51fanatic 03/03/2014 at 10:01

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Agreed. Any time they criticized a car, it was in the most tempered, delicate way possible and would never dissuade anyone from buying the car. I stopped watching years ago because I assumed they've been bought off by the manufacturers.

tinyhands > Jonathon Klein 03/03/2014 at 10:29

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Google "quote versus paraphrase"

SaiDas > tobythesandwich 03/03/2014 at 12:46

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You are totally missing the point and how the hell do you know what I mean better than I do anyway? Once again, I'm not comparing the shows, but the way the hosts deliver content only. I've done commercial acting and do know what I'm talking about. You don't have to agree.

Maxxuman > Christopher 03/03/2014 at 13:55

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"On the episode in question, I saw that, too."

That second comma is redundant.

TinFoil Knight > Jonathon Klein 03/03/2014 at 16:26

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THANKS VERY MUCH!

tobythesandwich > SaiDas 03/03/2014 at 21:01

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You're complaining about the difference in personalities and delivery, but ignoring the entire concept of either show. Assuming Motorweek and Top Gear are interchangeable. So yes, you did mean show even if you don't want to admit it.

And nice try pulling the "LOL IM AN EXPERT"

Christopher > Maxxuman 03/04/2014 at 02:52

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No sir. It's correct. Pick up any major publication with professional editing for your confirmation.

SaiDas > tobythesandwich 03/04/2014 at 09:46

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Don't be a twat and work on your reading and comprehension skills. First of all it was my post originally so I bloody well know what my point was. My first comment had nothing to do with Top Gear. When I did mention it, it was to illustrate the difference in delivery of the hosts and not the show; you made the show itself the point. No expert, but experienced working for a commercial casting agency as well. How about you? Uh uh!