Greg O’s Garage; Jim Donnelly Wins Prestigious Purdy Award for his Crankshaft Tucker 1044 Article
Automotive journalist Jim Donnelly has won the prestigious IMPA Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism for his Tucker1044 Crankshaft article.
Greg O.
About IMPA and the Ken W. Purdy Award
The International Motor Press Association, founded in 1961, is the country’s premier organization of automotive journalists and public relations professionals. The man after whom the Purdy Award is named may have been the best auto writer this country has yet produced. IMPA has presented the award since 1972, the year of Purdy’s passing. To learn more about the organization and the award, please visit www.impa.org.
Jim Donnelly Named IMPA’s 2023 Purdy Award Winner for Excellence in Automotive Journalism
Authors Brinker and Vernis Receive Honorable Mention
New York, NY, May 16, 2023 -- Veteran auto writer Jim Donnelly has been named this year’s winner of the International Motor Press Association’s (IMPA) Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism for “Preston’s Prodigy,” his engaging, in-depth story on Tucker1044 in the first issue of Crankshaft magazine.
The award was announced at the organization’s annual “Spring Brake” new-vehicle driving event bringing together members, manufacturers and their latest offerings for evaluation. The presentation was dedicated to the late author and illustrator Bruce McCall, a Purdy winner in 1990 and 1996 who passed away May 5.
The IMPA Board of Directors also voted a special Honorable Mention to Mark R. Brinker and Myron T. Vernis for their exhaustively researched and authoritative multi-volume work on Japanese vehicles, “A Quiet Greatness.”
The Purdy Award, presented by IMPA to renowned auto journalists since 1972, returns after a three-year hiatus. Thus, the IMPA Board made an exception this year to permit entries that encompass the intervening years.
“Preston’s Prodigy,” appearing in Crankshaft’s inaugural spring 2021 issue, is 16 pages of text and photos documenting the painstaking restoration of the Tucker in record time to make its entry into the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Here are comments from the judges on Donnelly’s writing:
“Donnelly pulled me into the story from the very beginning and then took me along for a great ride. The attention to detail and the determination of all involved to make this project happen in such a short time was impressive and also entertaining.”
“’Preston's Prodigy’ is fabulous. Full of passion, but also a dead-on profile of the wonderfully obsessive personalities of classic car restorers. Beautifully written and assiduously researched . . .”
“This is a very, very deep dive into the mission to achieve an absolutely correct Tucker restoration. It's written with far more Purdy-style passion than you might find in everyday automotive journalism.”
Donnelly had this to say about his win: “Please accept my heartfelt thanks. This is the biggest honor I have ever received in my professional life and I am grateful beyond expression.”
“The Purdy Award is back,” said IMPA President Evelyn Kanter. “Now, more than ever, it is important for IMPA to recognize and sustain excellence in automotive journalism. In future years, we hope to honor journalists across an even broader range of media platforms reflecting our digital age. We congratulate Messrs. Donnelly, Brinker and Vernis for their fine work and thank the judges for their selections.”
Accepting on behalf of Jim Donelly were Rob Ida and Sean Tucker.
All photos courtesy of Rob Ida.
Comments
Congratulations to Jim Donnelly for this outstanding accomplishment. Also to Crankshaft magazine for having this in their FIRST ISSUE! and to my good friend Publisher /Editor Richard Lentinello.
Issue #6 of Crankshaft is out and delivered to long island as of this past week. It is a quarterly magazine of 144 pages for those of you who have not seen a copy yet.