John Blunsden 1930-2016

Former Motoring News editor John Blunsden has died at the age of 86.

A former local journalist, Blunsden was one of the first staff members at Motoring News when it was created in 1955, and went on to take on the editorship in 1959. He was responsible for changing the thrust of this title from general motoring to motorsport, and shaped its future direction.

Following on from his tenure at MN, Blunsden went on to work for Motor Sport magazine and used his skills as a driver to conduct track tests in a number of competition vehicles.

In 1969, he bought Motor Racing Publications and went on to produce a host of motorsport-themed books. He was also the grand prix correspondent for The Times newspaper for almost 20 years from 1970.