A montage of 20 years of Lucire print covers.


Lucire turns 27, while Autocade’s origins are even older

Lucire turns 27 tomorrow (at the stroke of midnight NZDT as the day ticks over to Monday). After prompting by my friend Richard MacManus, I wrote a piece to mark the anniversary. Though after the song and dance of our 25th anniversary two years ago, I’ve kept it low-key.
 
Meanwhile, I’ve thinned out some old items, including this little gem, which might not be worth keeping on paper, but it was worth making a scan of.
 
An A4 sheet, unfolded from an eighth of its size, with car names in the top right, and a drawing of an SUV in the bottom left
An A4 sheet with car names and a circle by each name
 

This is from me as a 10-, possibly 11-year-old, as I put a copyright notice for 1983 on there. Folded into eighths, it was a “spotter’s guide” with a list of models that you could tick off as you saw the car.

Note that the list is global, with the car names as badged in their home market.

Autocade is not that new conceptually.

Of course, I’m not going to have the cheek to say that it’s been around for 41 years. But I’ve been training my brain to do it for a lot longer than I consciously thought.

I’m quite proud of this SUV (not the execution, but the idea), which foreshadows later developments:
 
Close-up of the drawing of the SUV
 
It’s badged ‘CV’ and I don’t think it’s based on any production model. Note the circular door handles, which were inspired by the original Fiat Ritmo. Little thought was given to whether it was a monocoque or on a frame. Conceptually, there is a passing resemblance to the original Suzuki Escudo (Vitara) cabriolet that would come out five years later.
 
Photo of the Suzuki Escudo cabriolet, export model to the Netherlands, dated 1997
 

Go back another five years and I used to look outside the window and note down what cars went by, and what years the registration plates suggested they were. Pre-internet, with a family that wasn’t that well off, this was how I entertained myself, other than toy cars, drawing, and TV. Autocade has been a long time coming.

What interests me about creating Lucire wasn’t so much fashion, but the people behind the fashion, and what their creative drive is. Whereas Autocade really stems from a lifelong passion for one subject.


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