SkiddMark
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About SkiddMark

28 October 2026

Dark green 1961 Jaguar E-Type roadster with the registration 77 RW, covered headlamps and wire wheels, indoors at a museum
77 RW, the 1961 roadster Norman Dewis drove overnight to the Geneva launch, at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, November 2016. Photo: DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

SkiddMark is a UK motoring magazine about cars, motorsport and the people behind them. It began in June 2008 as Drivers Republic, and its archive runs from 2008 to 2016. Since October 2026 its most-read stories have been rewritten as guides that are checked against primary sources and kept up to date.

Where SkiddMark began

The magazine launched in June 2008 as Drivers Republic, which its founders described as the UK's first digital automotive magazine; it was read through page-turning software, before magazine apps existed. The same team built social communities for car owners and branded communities for Porsche, Peugeot, Caterham and Subaru. By its own figures, Drivers Republic had more than a quarter of a million unique users, more than two million page impressions and over 10,000 registered members at its peak in 2009, and it continued as SkiddMark.

What SkiddMark publishes

The archive holds news, road tests, interviews and race reports from 2008 to 2016. Its cars, motorsport, classic, interviews and industry sections list them by subject. The guides written since October 2026 cover a single car, driver, race or company each, from its history and specifications to production figures and values today, such as the Jaguar E-Type, BMW 1M and greatest F1 driver of all time pages.

How the guides are written

Each guide is written from primary sources: makers' press releases, official race results, government records such as DVLA and DVSA data, auction houses' own lot pages and period magazine reports. Sources are linked where they are first used and listed at the end of the page, and where two sources disagree the page gives both. Facts and quotes from SkiddMark's own archive are attributed with their date, like any other source.

Before a guide is published it is checked against the pages that rank for its subject: for accuracy, sourcing, how current it is and how completely it answers what readers search for. The date under each headline is the date it was last checked.

Pictures

The pictures in the guides are free-licence photographs, most from Wikimedia Commons, credited to their photographers with their licence beneath each one.

Questions

When did SkiddMark start?

It began in June 2008 as Drivers Republic, a digital motoring magazine, and continued as SkiddMark; its archive runs from 2008 to 2016.

Is SkiddMark the same as Drivers Republic?

Yes: Drivers Republic was the magazine's first name, and it continued in a new format as SkiddMark.

How are SkiddMark's guides checked?

Each is written from primary sources, linked where they are first used and listed at the end, and checked against the pages that rank for its subject before it is published; the date under the headline is the last check.

Where do SkiddMark's pictures come from?

The guides use free-licence photographs, most from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence.

Sources

  • SkiddMark, "About" page, as archived on this site: the Drivers Republic launch in June 2008, the branded communities and the 2009 audience figures.
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