7 replies to this topic

[Bob Riebe]

I got a letter with the magazine the past month that these magazines are now history:

Hemmings Muscle Machines

Hemmings Classic Car

 

They are , some how, being merged into Hemming Motor News.

 

I used to get 8 planes , trains & automobiles type magazines every month, it is now down to 3.

I have little desire to subscribe to pathetic rags Motor Trend or Car & Driver are now, so I will be seeing which British or Aussie magazines are worth the quid.

 

When Hot Rod turned into a -- if it don't go chrome it -- quarterly earlier this year, I figured this was a very bad omen.

Comptures are very useful in finding information, on various gearhead items, especially historical bits,  but I LOATHE HAVING to read articles online.

Power goes out, cable goes down, computers are nothing more than expensive paper weight.

I guess I can reread my old magazine as the vast majority have not been read since the month I put them on the shelf decades back.

 

[Claudio Navonne]

Here in Argentina, the iconic Corsa magazine disappeared several years ago. Another one has taken over, but it is an appendix of an organisation dedicated to radio broadcasts of races. Here almost all sports journalism must conform to the guidelines of the associations that govern motorsport, so no one, be it the little print, radio or television press, is independent. If the opinions are not to the liking of those who run the categories, they are simply not allowed on the circuits. Drivers have to be very ‘careful’ with their statements. Anyway, it all smells like a circus and I stopped following it, I only occasionally watch a race. Besides, the categories are almost all cars and because of the regulations they are all the same, the single seaters have disappeared, or the ones that are left are unbearable. In 2020 I didn't renew my subscription to Motor Sport because I realised that the stories they were telling me either I had them first hand in the magazine and book collections I own or it was a test of a classic car that they were going to try to sell at an auction.

    Then I ordered my collections and I am reading them chronologically to be able to compare the different sources. The result is very good, I realise that there are many things that I had overlooked at the time, and that decades later (yes decades) after having read them I realise. Then there is this fabulous forum, and the internet with its immediacy, the possibility of seeing the relevant notes of a race.

The only thing that could not diminish in these almost 60 years (I am 68) of following motorsport is my passion for F1. I don't care how boring it sometimes seems, nor the pasteurised reports of the drivers or the stupid things said by the occasional commentators and reporters, until my last days I will stand firm in front of the TV or at the racetrack if they ever come back to these shores.

I hope that this forum, a true beacon for those of us who surf the net, will last much longer.

[Bloggsworth]

I've given up on magazines, same old same old; not surprising, I suppose after 70 odd years. I drop in to NewsNowF1 to pick up a few tit-bits, but find that the prevailing tendency is to say not much in 100 words when 10 would have done... Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance shoud be compulsory reading - Quality not quantity. I went to buy a fridge a few years ago, saw one at the right price on a shel 5 feet off the floor, went to open the door and damn near pulled it off the shelf on top of me; not that it woud have hurt much; it was that light it might as well have been a piece of origami.

[MarshalMike]

I still get Motorsport and Octane - getting the latest issue featuring the 280GTO made my day - easy when you have low expextations, but these 2 magazines always have something to enjoy.

[Sterzo]

As a lover of history - "mainstream" history as well as motor racing - I hesitate to refer to its lessons, because they are so unclear. However, one obvious point is that everything changes, and will change again.

 

My oldest magazine is from 1904, I've read dozens from the 1920s and 30s, and own Motor Sports and Autosports from 1950 (though not continuous). Mags are a big part of my life. But they're in decline, we know why, and we play a part in that change through our on-line subscriptions and by consulting Wikipedia and other sources.

 

We are lucky to have lived through the golden age of magazines, and are lucky to be living through a revolution in the availability of information through technology.

[sabrejet]

The only one I get now is Automobilsport.

 

I gave up on Motor Sport and Autosport when they became F1 magazines and started calling gears 'cogs' (etc). I dallied with The Road Rat but realised it was an awful lot of white noise and pseuds. Octane is just a series of lazy, hackneyed adverts posing as articles (bit of history; road test; "thanks to xxx - the car is for sale"). I do like 000 Magazine but its pricing is baffling. I bought one at circa £80 (!) but they now seem to have come down a great deal. Not sure if it's worth a go again.

 

But generally it would seem that the genre has had its day; when journos can't think of anything better than to describe styling as "aggressive", it's time to look elsewhere for gratification. Fortunately there are some great books out there which manage to avoid bloody road tests and the use of "aggressive".

 

Though I quite like Magneto. It's a bit "Road Rat" at times (too much padding) but I'd say probably best of what's left.  

[F1matt]

Printed media 's problem is Motorsport's problem in general; the whole sport is F1 focused and everything else is cast aside. The race for everything to be F1 centric led to the death of F3000 and F3 when we had multiple chassis and engine suppliers with multiple series running different tyres, the typical path to F3 back then was through Formula Ford, now gone and replaced by F4, a car that is designed to look like a baby F1 car.  We also had Formula Renault, Formal Vauxhall/ Lotus, Vauxhall jr etc, which all had a decent support package and cost buttons to go to the track to watch the starts of tomorrow. 

 

I remember when you got good crowds at British GT, Thundersports, TVR series etc. What has replaced them? How do magazines fill their pages if the series are so diminished? 

[sabrejet]

I remember when you got good crowds at British GT, Thundersports, TVR series etc. What has replaced them? How do magazines fill their pages if the series are so diminished? 

 

For the first one: historics. The rise of Goodwood, Silverstone Festival etc is a great thing. But printed media hasn't followed suit. There's a great deal that could be imaginatively covered since 99% of motor sport is "historic" (i.e. not what's happening this year).

 

Fortunately there is some awesome motor sport still out there, which makes it all the more puzzling why the news stands are full (in motor sport terms) of magazines that only cover F1 crap.