31 replies to this topic

[Bob Riebe]

I  just received the last print issue of Autoweek, they had been sending me re-up mail and then that stopped but the magazine kept on coming .

Now I know why.

 

It started in  I believe 1958 as Competition Press, then in the sixties turned into Competition Press & Autoweek which was what I first subscribed to in 1969; I stayed with it for thirty years but stopped when it turned into more of a every two weeks imitation of Motor Trend and the re-upped a few years later when I realized I missed it.

I was going to let it go again but they made that decision for me.

Sad really, definitely NOT the race coverage rag I subscribed for so long ago, but better than nothing or the kiddie porn snot faced punk car mags so common now.

 

OH well I just subscribed to a Australian vintage car magazine so there is something to fill the void.

[JacnGille]

Wow!

[R.W. Mackenzie]

Autoweek was a fantastic publication back when my subscription began at the beginning of 1969. It's racing coverage was unmatched. This continued through the 70's but at some point (I forget exactly when) the racing coverage was cut back and the focus switched to the automotive industry and non-sporting vehicles. For me that was when Autoweek actually died. After two decades I let my subscription lapse and I moved on to other periodicals that were focused on racing.

 

Road & Track was great too with awesome racing articles but eventually went the same route and again I let my subscription lapse.

[pacificquay]

Surely it's not dead, it has just transitioned to be a digital publication

[Henri Greuter]

Pity,

Sign of the times I'm afraid....

[Jack-the-Lad]

There were decades when I never missed an issue. My parents sent it to me every week when I was in Vietnam,. There were some great writers on the masthead.

[427MkIV]

I subscribed in about 1981 or 1982 when I was 12 or 13. I'd walk to the post office, get a money order with grass-cutting money then mail in the subscription renewal. Like Bob, when it went to every two weeks, I didn't renew. Two-week-old racing coverage wasn't needed. I also let C&D and R&T lapse at about the same time. I could get my racing and car news instantly on the Web. I took my boxes of back issues to the local library.

 

Some of my favorite parts of those magazines were the full-page and two-page spreads from tire and wheel sellers. I dreamed about getting BBS or ATS wheels and Pirellis or Comp T/As. Anyone remember the Phoenix tires that matched the best from the big names in the magazine tire tests? 

[red stick]

I subscribed in about 1981 or 1982 when I was 12 or 13. I'd walk to the post office, get a money order with grass-cutting money then mail in the subscription renewal. Like Bob, when it went to every two weeks, I didn't renew. Two-week-old racing coverage wasn't needed. I also let C&D and R&T lapse at about the same time. I could get my racing and car news instantly on the Web. I took my boxes of back issues to the local library.

 

Some of my favorite parts of those magazines were the full-page and two-page spreads from tire and wheel sellers. I dreamed about getting BBS or ATS wheels and Pirellis or Comp T/As. Anyone remember the Phoenix tires that matched the best from the big names in the magazine tire tests? 

No, but I spent a fair amount of time imagining aftermarket wheels on my mythical dream car. 

 

Leafing through these magazines, or at least the ones still in print, on newsstands these days just makes me sad.

[Bob Riebe]

Surely it's not dead, it has just transitioned to be a digital publication

For me there is no difference, I do not read magazines on-line, or put it this way, back when I used to go to magazine racks to read articles in magazines not worth buying, that is how I treat articles on-line.

I want to read it when I want to, not worry about losing power to some electronic piece of debris.

[RA Historian]

My story is similar to that of many of us. I was in high school and had heard about Competition Press, but had never seen a copy and did not know how to get it. Then at the end of 1959 Road & Track bought it and advertised it in their magazine. It took me but a minute to fill out the order blank, grub the three bucks yearly price from my Mom, and race to the mail box. The original Competition Press was a godsend. It covered absolutely everything, and immediately proved essential. If a copy was a day or two late coming in the mail, I fretted that it had been lost.

 

As we know, it morphed into Competition Press and Autoweek around 1965 when it went weekly from twice a month. Then Crain Publications bought it and put some doofus named Bob Irvan in charge, and he ran the Competition Press side of it into the ground while essentially turning the paper into a version of Automobile News, concentrating on passenger cars while almost ignoring racing. After a year or two of that, I let my subscription lapse. That was no hardship at all, because in 1980 On Track (the greatest racing mag ever) was born.

 

I was without Autoweek for several years until 1986 when Leon Mandel came on board and relaunched the publication. I subscribed once again, and have kept with it even though it has deteriorated from the Mandel version. But now, it is over for me.

 

It has ceased print publication and gone all digital. I have stated on this forum before that I abhor magazines on line, and simply refuse to read them that way. I am completely against having to pull something up on line, then scroll up and down, pan right and left, and so on. It drives me nuts. I want something I can hold in my hand, flip the pages back and forth, and store on a shelf for future reference. Digital does not do it for me. Another US publication went all digital early last year, and I simply stopped reading it. Even though they gave me a password to use to get it on line, and had almost a year to go on the price of my subscription, I never bothered looking at it again. I will not look at Autoweek any more either. 

 

The last issue says that a letter is coming explaining my options. If they offer a refund on the unused portion, I will take that. I will not read it online. 

 

Goodbye Autoweek. 

Edited by RA Historian, 09 November 2019 - 16:08.

[Henri Greuter]

My two sweetest memories about Autoweek, permit me to share them with all of you.

 

Late '91, my friend George Peters and I published our (what eventually was our first) co-production on the Novi Indycars. The publisher had forwarded a review copy to Autoweek too. But nothing appeared in print. So the publisher verified with the editors of Autoweek if they had received the copy at all or if it had gone missing in mail. Their answer was that they had received it and a review was to be printed but they had a plan with this review and the publishers were asked to have some patience because they were confident that we would be pleased with their plan.

The review was eventually printed in an early May '92 edition, the one that also contained the preview on Indy '92. The publisher later told us that sales had been slowly but steadily those first months but literally within less than a week after the review the sales took off like a rocket and many customers writing in mentioning this review as of how they got aware of the book's existance.

That review had the same effect of the book sales as that of the supercharger on the Novi engine's power outputs once it reached a certain rpm level..

 

In that way Pre-Internet era, mail etc came slowly. And somehow I never ended up with an example of that edition of Autoweek for my own collection and the matters related with the book I collected. So I took the efforts to write to the editor, explained who I was etc and if it was possible to get hold of a copy after all and that I was of course willing to refund their costs.

I got a real nice letter back, togeter with 4 copies for free and a lot of nice words about the book I had co-written.

 

Taking a subscription was a bit too much fo me but of all US car magazines, Autoweek was from then on the one for which I had a soft spot and the ones that I did buy when I was in the States.

 

Hence my sadness about this demise.

[Bob Riebe]

Magazines are dying and here is an example a bit off of my topic.

 

Over a decade ago  I was investing heavily and therefore had subscription to many business magazines.

They had truly good deal though sub. seemed high but duration was long.

Well I got my brother , it was free to me, a subscription to MONEY magazine mailed to my home place, he did not really read it, got married and left.

This was over ten years ago; it just kept coming and coming so one day I looked at the end sub. date, it was 2024. I have NO idea how that came to be BUT MONEY was turning int a tine worthless rag.

Suddenly , one day I get a Sports Illustrated in the mail with a cover letter saying MONEY was kaput and this was the replacement for the rest of the sub.

I never read Sport Illustrated but now it is a nice surprise rather than a magazine with nothing in it that was also no good for toilet paper

I do think, not here cannot check, they reduce end sub. time to 2021. 

[PCC]

Sad to hear this - my Dad's subscription to Autoweek played a big part of my early interest in the sport.

 

In fact, Autoweek was the site of the first thing I ever published - exactly fifty years ago next week. I was of a very tender age, but it was already clear that I was destined for TNF:

 

[raceannouncer2003]

I reported on the Westwood races for CP in the mid-60s.  I'd go from our home in White Rock, BC, across the border to Blaine, Washington.  I'd phone Leon Mandel from a booth, and he'd record my reports.

 

A couple of years ago, my brother and I attended the historic races at Mosport.  I'd never been there before.  We met Lionel Birnbom and I showed him the cover of the Oct 16, 1965 CP & Autoweek.  On the top of the first page was Lionel's writeup on the Mont Tremblant Group 7 race, and right below that was my article on the Texaco Pro Invitational at Westwood.  Lionel was quite tickled by that.

 

I have some digital copies of the some the early editions.  They talked about digitizing all the past issues, but I don't think they ever did.

 

Vince H.

[TerryS]

I just received the last print issue of Autoweek, they had been sending me re-up mail and then that stopped but the magazine kept on coming .
Now I know why.

OH well I just subscribed to a Australian vintage car magazine so there is something to fill the void.

For interest which Aussie magazine did you subscribe to?

[hlfuzzball]

In recent years Autoweek was just about giving it away to lure new subscribers.

[Doug Nye]

Sadly these days nearly all hard-print journals are gazing down the gun barrel.  

 

More cheerfully does anyone remember 'Road & Track's mickey-taking spoof - 'Compost Press', inhabited by the likes of FIA President Raumfartner?

 

DCN

[Bob Riebe]

For interest which Aussie magazine did you subscribe to?

Survivor Car Australia
I will probably pick-up Street Machine again down the road and maybe one or two more.
I used to get about a half dozen magazines from over seas from South Africa to New Zealand but money got tight .

[fbarrett]

Leon and Denise were mentors for this amateur. Right about now, they must be hitting redline in their graves.

[David Birchall]

My favourite memories of Autoweek are a classified advt for three (3) BRM Formula 3 engines for $1000--we went back and forth on that.  And a Lotus 22 fitted with an ex Scarab Buick V8 reduced to 3 liters-We went back and forth at $1500 I recall...

What a great magazine!

[Jim Thurman]

 

I have some digital copies of the some the early editions.  They talked about digitizing all the past issues, but I don't think they ever did.

 

I'd love to know what happened, since Autoweek went so far as to publicize the project. I contacted them, asking about the status of the project and what happened to it, but didn't receive a reply.

 

While I can understand the issues involving future technologies, I would hate to think writers/photographers seeking compensation for the project stood in way of historical preservation of a great resource.

[E1pix]

I'd sure hope not, Jim -- partly as finding former contributors after several decades would be impossible. To me anyway, digitizing these works would be covered by the initial usage terms anyway.

We all knew the end of Autoweek had to be looming. Like others, it was a bible to me, starting around 1970 at 10. I read every word of the race reports, sometimes twice. If it showed up a day late, it was like my dog was lost.

I kept every issue for decades, but they are on loan and housed by a race shop and restorer in Milwaukee now. Someday, I will reclaim them and never get out of bed. ;-)

Goodbye, CP&A. Sad.

[RA Historian]

 

I have some digital copies of the some the early editions.  They talked about digitizing all the past issues, but I don't think they ever did.

It was done, at least up through 1965 or so. The fellow who was doing it passed away, or so I have been led to believe. 

 

Fortunately, I have all copies from number one into 1981 or so in my collection. Problem is when I need to do some research, as they are housed in trunks and boxes underneath a mountain of material in my basement.

 

Tom

[Jim Thurman]

It was done, at least up through 1965 or so. The fellow who was doing it passed away, or so I have been led to believe. 

 

Fortunately, I have all copies from number one into 1981 or so in my collection. Problem is when I need to do some research, as they are housed in trunks and boxes underneath a mountain of material in my basement.

 

 

Those initial scans were a project done on his own by Bob Norton, who has passed away. Autoweek later formally announced they either were preparing to, or already in the process of, digitizing their archives...and then, it just suddenly stopped. I made an inquiry about the status of the project, and received no reply. Oddly, every other time I contacted anyone at Autoweek about anything, I always got a reply.

 

And, Tom, boy do I hear that last part! My racing newspaper collection could be described as "somewhat accessible." (it involves much lifting and moving of large boxes with limited space to work with).

[E1pix]

Yep. My magazine collection weighed 870 lbs. before shipping.

[hlfuzzball]

I thought Competition Press was the greatest.I kept all my issues of CP but over time, many moves,and storage charges, they got disposed of.
In recent years I did find the online archive and managed to copy my Classified Ad from 1967 for "Job Wanted" when I was finishing college.
I got few replies back then, but do recall passing up an offer from an import dealer in what was to become Silicon Valley. I did accept the offer from Kar-Kraft in Dearborn, and it worked out very well.
The link I had to that site now goes dead,unfortunately.

[Jim Thurman]

Yep. My magazine collection weighed 870 lbs. before shipping.

 

While I have too much stuff period, my collections of vinyl, books and racing papers are the bulk of the loads when moving.

[Jim Thurman]

I thought Competition Press was the greatest.I kept all my issues of CP but over time, many moves,and storage charges, they got disposed of.
In recent years I did find the online archive and managed to copy my Classified Ad from 1967 for "Job Wanted" when I was finishing college.
I got few replies back then, but do recall passing up an offer from an import dealer in what was to become Silicon Valley. I did accept the offer from Kar-Kraft in Dearborn, and it worked out very well.
The link I had to that site now goes dead,unfortunately.

 

The online archives were the scans done by Bob Norton. He also digitized MotoRacing, a seminal sports car newspaper published in Southern California in the 1950s/early 1960s.

[GMiranda]

Is there any online archive of this magazine?

[BuddyCarSeries]

This was the first magazine I subscribed to as a kid.

[Bob Riebe]

Survivor Car Australia
I will probably pick-up Street Machine again down the road and maybe one or two more.
I used to get about a half dozen magazines from over seas from South Africa to New Zealand but money got tight .

Ha, reading this now 5 year old thread -- Survivor Car Australia went belly-up last year, I had best re-up for Street Machine again before it goes belly-up.

Hot Rod - U.S., is now a quarterly rag and from viewing the first issue, a PATHETIC shadow of what made it great.

A lot of pictures with few no captions; it is shiny paper so I cannot use it in the out-house.

[E1pix]

I’m just posting to say RIP to Tom Schultz, “RA Historian.”