I can still remember discovering the first issue of DieselCar in my local Savacentre.

It certainly wasn’t the kind of reading material that a 15-year-old teenager would normally buy, but even back then I was a self confessed car nut, and having thumbed through a few of the pages, I decided to take the plunge and buy it.

And this was something I have done every month since, until I became editor of this fine publication and then got it for free!

It’s fair to say that DieselCar has had its ups and its downs over the past quarter of century, but I’m hoping that you’ll agree that it is now back at the top of its game as it celebrates its 25th birthday.

When John Kerswill first launched DieselCar back in 1988, it was extremely forward thinking, and he predicted something that most of the other car magazines had failed to recognise – the rise in popularity of diesel power.

Of course, that is now long forgotten as all of the major magazines have fully embraced the technology, and car buyers have too, with diesel cars now outselling those powered by petrol.

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of DieselCar, we are making it with some important changes to the editorial make-up of this magazine.

As you know, we have always been incredibly interested in reporting on hybrid, electric and alternatively fuelled vehicles, as these are so similar in ethos to what drives most of us to drive diesel powered vehicles – the ability to minimise our fuel costs and travel further on a litre of fuel (or electricity).

And with more and more cars becoming available with the addition of an electric motor to boost efficiency, we are taking the next step forward in the evolution of DieselCar.

No longer will we limit the coverage of these vehicles to the EcoCar section of the magazine, we are proud to be bringing these into the mainstream, to give greater prominence, wider coverage and more space.

As you digest this issue, you’ll notice that the DieselFiles and EcoFiles have been merged into a single section, and now renamed the DataFiles.

This means you can now directly compare hybrids, electric vehicles and diesel cars together in a single place, without having to flick forward and back through the magazine.

We hope you like the changes we’ve made, and the advantages that this brings. Rest assured, though, diesel power is very much in all of our hearts.

Indeed it is Doctor Diesel’s favourite tipple.

Some say that if you snap him in half, there’s diesel running through his veins, and he likes nothing more than spending an afternoon reading the paper at his local filling station.

Ian Robertson