• FOSTER
  • ISSUE 013
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

Edition 13 is a unique collaboration with Norman Foster, arguably world’s greatest living architect. Topics covered include: The lasting influence on Porsche of the 356; how aerodynamics has obsessed car makers since Walt Chrysler hired Wilbur Wright; the E-Type and Pagoda effect; how the great artists see cars; how the Fiat 500, Mini and BMW 600 put Europe on wheels; homes for cars; the great factories; and how to stage the greatest car show of all.

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BACK ISSUES

Buy Copies From The Road Rat Archive


  • XJS
  • ISSUE 012
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

Edition 12 of world’s most beautiful car magazine. Inside, on 244 high-quality, art-grade mixed papers, you’ll find: the astonishing origin story of the hot-rodding movement; the last Ferrari sportscar to race at Le Mans; how the XJ-S is shaping Jaguar’s future (and the Grandsphere concept, Audi’s); why F1 drivers look the way they do today; plus Sebastian Vettel and Edoardo Weber.

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  • BMWM1
  • ISSUE 011
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm
Edition 11 of The Road Rat features the BMW M colours on the front and back covers and over 20 pages of BMW M1 origin story by writer Richard Meaden. Also between the covers there’s Maserati, Matra, Ford F-Series pickup, Enzo Ferrari’s original V12, unseen images from Goodwood in the 1950s, and Paul Bracq, designer of the W113-series Mercedes SL, in the regular Retrospective feature.
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  • ENZO&DINO
  • ISSUE 010
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

The tenth edition of The Road Rat. Featuring VFX artist Josh George’s stunning ‘digitally sculpted portrait’ of Enzo Ferrari on the cover and a detailed examination of the Commendatore’s complex relationship with son Dino and the car that carried his name in place of Ferrari’s. Plus Porsche, IndyCars, Lotus, Giugiaro, Saab and Villeneuve.

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  • NSX
  • ISSUE 009
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm
The ninth edition of The Road Rat features former Motor Trend editor Angus MacKenzie’s deep dive into the extraordinary Honda NSX. Inside there’s also Richard Meaden on European Touring Cars, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Seinfeld, Bentley’s R-Type Continental and Prince Jefri of Brunei. 

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  • ELON
  • ISSUE 008
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm
Award-winning writer Jamie Kitman spent three months interviewing
 dozens for his profile of Elon Musk. Plus why everyone wants a bit of 
the Ferrari 250 SWB. And… 70 years of Toyota Land Cruisers, the 
bizarre tale of Nissan’s ‘Frontzilla’ Le Mans car, Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, 
faded old French garages, ’50s advertising and when ‘boxy’ was sexy. Free sticker set allows you to censor strong language on cover.
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  • 911
  • ISSUE 007
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

Issue Seven sees The Road Rat disassembling the greatest of all sports car myths – that of the Porsche 911. Gordon Murray opens 
up his notebooks on the development of what may be the last 
great ICE sports car, the T.50. Plus muscle cars, Mercedes’ Großer 
and the German industry’s problematical Kleine, Jag’s internecine supercar battle, Bill Mitchell, BMW’s design departure, Brabham’s rock and roll years, and the lost British 24-hour race.

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  • ITALIAN
  • ISSUE 006
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

The sixth Edition of The Road Rat is something of a diversion as it features a theme — Italy. We wanted to something to recognise the suffering, way back at the start of all this, of a nation that, as enthusiasts, is something of a Promised Land. So prepare to learn the psycho-geography of Turin, the dining habits of Enzo Ferrari, the sheer brilliance of small Italian cars and a look inside the astonishing mind and archive of Giovanni Michelotti. 

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  • NEWSON
  • ISSUE 005
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

The fifth edition of The Road Rat is a unique collaboration with designer Marc Newson. Marc is as famous for his passion for cars as for designs like his Lockheed Lounge — the most valuable piece ever sold by a living designer. Marc has steered the editorial and contributed a ‘Numbers Commission’, which embraces his love of cars, craftsmanship and precision execution. Your very own nine-part Newson if you like.

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  • MIURA
  • Issue 004
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Size
  • 290x230mm

From its stunning Warhol/Velvet Underground tribute cover –  yes the Miura does peel – to its 240 interior pages with stories on the precipitous decline of NASCAR to Tom Wolfe; from the Porsche 928 to the Duke of Richmond; and from the Miura to the Cizeta Moroder via Marcello Gandini, Issue 4 is the usual eclectic mix of old cars, new cars and personalities and all beautifully printed on our unique mix of heavyweight art papers.

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A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE ROAD RAT

The Road Rat is a new kind of car magazine. Not overly obsessed with the detail of old cars nor over-impressed with the performance of new; the Road Rat instead firmly believes there are good stories — real stories, stories to consume with relish — in both old and new and in racing too. But above all The Road Rat believes in the glory of magazines; lush, beautiful, valuable, collectable and exquisitely crafted magazines.

Think of us as a carefully-curated bookshop or an horizon-widening record store. We are proudly analogue and believe some things - but mostly beautiful cars - just belong in print. Our name comes from a saying that climbers have. ’Feeding the Rat’ is the need to deal with an obesssive need to climb. For us an open road, a track, a messy old garage and not a snowy mountain summit, is our ‘rat’.


A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE ROAD RAT

OUR MASTHEAD 

The Road Rat’s logotype is set in a classic font. Futura Bold was created in 1947 so shares a birthday with Ferrari. Digital fonts, much like new cars can seem that little bit too perfect. So we’ve used wooden letterpress characters for a hand made look with tiny imperfections.

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OUR FIRST COVER IMAGE 

Once we’d decided on Lewis Hamilton for the cover we thought about how best to represent him as an icon of the sport — literally, so we turned to German ‘New Pop Realist’ Sebastian Kruger. 

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THE NUMBERS COMMISSION

Given that numbers are to be found all over cars and the world of cars, each issue of The Road Rat is punctuated by a commission based on the cardinal numerals 1 thru 9. In issue one artist Ian Bilbey created a fantasy series based on 1970s Formula 1 teams and another icon of the automotive world — the in-car air freshener.

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