Old car Magazines
 

Any suggestions on what to do with old car magazines. I thought about trying to sell them,but I think that would be a pain in the butt.
They are:
Cars and Parts
Car Collector (my favorite, very nice Magazine)
Lots of back issues of Smoke Signals and Legend

Dave

I give mine to a lady that is hooked up to send them to soldiers.

The options are keep them, try to sell them, give them away, or toss them. My guess is the Smoke Signals and Legend will have limited appeal to people other than Pontiac enthusiasts, and the classified ads in Cars and Parts will limit its appeal as well assuming the issues are old enough that the ads aren't applicable anymore. Car Collector is probably the best bet for trying to pass on to others.

You could place an ad in the classifieds here on the board for the Pontiac magazines. For the others, trying to sell them individually would be a lot of work - I'd try to do it in one big lump, or at least grouped by year. If there's a Half Price Books store in your area, they do buy used books and magazines, but you won't get very much for magazines - basically pennies on a dollar. It is an easy way to do it - you just bring in a box full, and they tell you they'll give you $X.XX for them.

Good luck. I had years of Smoke Signals, Hot Rod, Car Craft,Hemmings Muscle Machines, ect. I couldn’t give them away. I even went on a local radio garage sale show and advertised them as free- no calls. Library won’t take them. I put them in the garage sale area of this site for free- if picked up.
I have bins full of them. Finally found a local guy who wants them to read.

I have too many,,,
Now that Hot Rod is the only one left in print, the magazine clutter will be reduced considerably...

... or at least recycle them.
Which is what I expect to do with all of mine when it's finally time to move from my current house. There are way more of us who hung onto old car magazines than there are people who didn't get them and now have an interest in reading old car magazines.

Of course, the only ones I ever got rid of (20 years ago when we last moved) were the ones that turned out to be worth something. My collection of 1970s "Skateboarder" magazines....

Poss interested in the Smoke Signals & Legend issues.
What month/year to month/year do they span?

I would call myself a Car Magazine hoarder! I’ve often thought about how to get rid of some. One way I’ve thought of was if there was an interesting article or tech advice, to cut it out and maybe save it to like a scrap book or something. But, still can’t bring myself to cut them up & throw the rest away!

I would recommend donating them to an old folks home or hospital. Or even a shelter. Lots of older/incapacitated folks out there who would most likely greatly appreciate a good read.

Be strong, just throw them away. I am a packrat, fortunately my wife is not. If she hasn't used something within the last week she'll throw it out. Makes a good balance. I had piles and piles of magazines. I had every issue going back to no 1 of Fine Woodworking. I kept them all on the shelf for some magical reason. There were a couple of issues with detailed info that I kept in the shop, my wife cleaned house and threw the rest away. There is an online archive so really nothing was lost. I get Hemmings classic, Hem. muscle, old cars, and smoke signals. I usually keep them a month after the new one arrives, then do a once over again and toss them. If there is a particularly interesting article relating to a trans am I may keep it. I have even scanned an article or two, however I dont think I have ever gone back to look at them. In my neck of the woods glossy paper is not recyclable, so they go in the trash bin. I have thought about taking a stack to a car show and handing them out but I have seen others doing this and it seems that no one takes them, so that's just more dead weight to drag around to a car show.

The Historic Vehicle Association in Allentown, PA is building a huge automotive library. I donated 15,000+ pieces to them and it is also tax deductible. Now, my collection is in a place where it will be used and protected long after I am gone. It's the best alternative, in my opinion.

I have a lot to dating back to 1969, mostly Hot Rod all boxed up.

Yes. Two. Donate them to old folks homes or hospitals, as mentioned previously.
Have them donated to deployed soldiers, as mentioned previously.
Deployed young guys and gals over there would LOVE to have them to read, no doubt.

I would think that Smoke Signals back issues might have appeal to members here;
If you can share the month/year maybe members here might want to buy them!

My local VA took all my older magazines. They were happy to do it.

Check with your local library. I give mine to the library and they send them to prisons, homeless shelters, etc. I’ve taken them to men’s shelters and they’ve been happy to get them. I also took them to the local municipal dump a number of years ago and they had an area to leave magazines.

What years are you looking for?

I have most of the Smokes before the GMC fiasco, when I had enough of the politics, and left the club. All are for sale.

And while still a member of GTOAA, I have a huge run dating from "The Gas Can" days (before "The Legend").

Again, all are for sale.

If sufficient interest, will dig them out and provide a better count and year range.

Jon.

Here is a list of what I have.

Thank you for all the suggestions

Here is a better picture

Slowly getting around to digging out huge collection of magazines. Was somewhat apprehensive after reading this thread; but listed three different groups on Ebay. All three sold within 12 hours of listing! About 75 pounds of magazines!

After selling my parents property, we have stuff in front of stuff, in front of more stuff. Have to sell what's in front in order to get to what's behind.

Have literally thousands of car and tractor magazines and books to sell. Magazines date from 1912, books date from 1905. Not going to sell individually (unless ultra-rare), rather will sell in groups.

Jon.