Basil Ivor Denton Cardew (28 October 1906 – 30 November 1992) was a British journalist. He was the motoring correspondent for the Daily Express and the editor of their annual motor show review from the 1950s to the 1970s. He also served as a war correspondent during the Second World War. He was described by The Times as "a compelling anecdotalist and a lavish spender of his paper's expenses".^[1]

Basil Cardew was born on 28 October 1906, the son of the journalist Alfred Roger Denton-Cardew (1878–1945), who worked for the Daily Mail for 38 years as the racing correspondent, writing as "Robin Goodfellow",^[1][2] and was killed in a road accident.^[3] His mother was Ellen Fielder Cardew.^[1][4]

Cardew's journalistic career began at the Press Association. Early in his career he saw the land speed record attempts of Malcolm Campbell,^[1] who he was close to,^[5] and the water speed attempt of Henry Segrave in 1930 in which Segrave was killed.^[6] He joined the Daily Express in 1933 when Arthur Christiansen took over as editor and began to revamp the paper, resulting in a large increase in circulation. His early stories for the paper included attending the divorce hearing of Wallace and Ernest Simpson.^[1]

He served as a war correspondent during the Second World War^[7] reporting from the home front and abroad where he had several narrow escapes as a result of working too close to the front line. After the war, he was the motoring and air correspondent for the Express and was a well known figure at motor racing events and airshows in the 1940s and 50s.^[1] He was the editor of the reviews of the paper's motor show published annually from the 1950s to the 1970s.^[8]

In their obituary, The Times described him as "a compelling anecdotalist and a lavish spender of his paper's expenses" with a camel-hair coat and "rakish trilby" hat.^[1] John Bullock described him as "one of the most outstanding motoring writers of the day. He covered every major motoring event over a period of some 40 years".^[9] David Kynaston described him as "anti-pedestrian".^[10]

Cardew died in West Sussex, on 30 November 1992. He left an estate not exceeding £125,000.^[11]

• Daily Express Motor Show Review (multiple annuals, 1950s to 1970s)^[8]