Back to school

Hi all. Here’s a new face, trying to follow in the footstepts of Amy, who’s now in the final year of her PhD.

So welcome everyone from Balatonalmadi, a small city in Hungary near the Balaton Lake. I have just started my PhD journey, and according to my professor, we are heading in a very interesting direction. Eventually a combination of museum studies and motoring history will somehow evolve from our work together 🙂 We are treading a fine line here – more on that later.

But first, why would a 40-year-old Hungarian father of two with a supportive wife, working as an automotive industry analyst and motoring historian go into the trouble to enroll himself as a Distance Learning PhD Student?  It can be answered very shortly: I love challenges. But there’s more to this, than just another challenge.

I have graduated from a  Hungarian University in 1999 – more than 14 years ago. By then I had my first book published and I was busy editing a short-living classic car magazine. A bit later on I set up my own company and I have been working as an automotive industry analyst for over a decade now. But I kept on researching the history of Hungarian motoring, which eventually resulted in a fairly comprehensive website and a lecturer gig at a Hungarian University. I have been giving lectures on international and Hungarian automotive history for over three years now. And this is something I truly enjoy. I am now envisioning a second career in the academic field. And in order to achieve that, I need a PhD.

I was always fascinated by motoring museums. Since 1996 I have been maintaining a guide to international motoring museums on the internet. This guide, which now resides at http://automuseums.info prompted me to think about a PhD on motoring museums. In the second half of 2012 I started to make preparations. To make a long story short, several months later, I was admitted to the University of Leicester.

I am very excited to share my journey with you and I hope I can share some highlights with you. Onwards and upwards!