[mgarblik]

I just received the latest issue of Hot Rod magazine. Not a giant fan of the mag, but it does have allot of history and was one of the only monthly print magazines left. Basically, it's a breakfast and bathroom read. I have a paid subscription for another year so I guess I will see what it looks like. The idea that it will now become a "coffee table" magazine is idiotic IMO. I read through them and throw them out. Certainly not going to create a collection of them. Would rather pay a few bucks more a year and keep it as a monthly. What do you think?

[OG68]

I lost interest in Hot Rod 40 years ago and moved on to Car and Driver.
Now days the Hagerty Drivers Club magazine keeps me entertained.

[Goatracer1]

I started subscribing to HRM in 1962. I have seen the end coming for a while. People don't read anymore and the magazine has been getting smaller and smaller. When HP Pontiac disappeared I knew it wouldn't be long before magazines would only be online. I have one copy of every HRM since Volume 1-issue 1. I have no idea what will happen to them when I'm gone. They are all in plastic bags and boxed in order. I would hate to see them thrown away.

[johnta1]

Best Cover ever:





I always imagined this was my Formula on the cover. (car build date is Feb)

[TAKerry]

Only read it occasionally, I just re-upped 2 years for HPP when they folded. My subscription was transferred to Hot Rod. I asked for my money back. Sad to say print magazines are dying/dead. I prefer print over online 100x so I guess I will have to start reading romance novels when they all go away! CRANKSHAFT magazine is a really good publication as far as 'coffee table' type issues go. Printed on heavy gloss paper and very few ad's. Richard L of former Hemmings fame is the publisher. Its a bit expensive for a magazine but the content is very good.

[OCMDGTO]

Hard to believe these iconic car mags are going the way of the DoDo bird. Mom got me started with a sub to Car Craft back in the late 70s/early 80s. Sad to see. I'd much rather read a mag than online. It was a HUGE kick in the nuts when Pontiac Enthusiast and HPP died out. At least we still have club mags, Hemmings Muscle, and Poncho Perfection

[Steve C.]

I also started subscribing to Hot Rod in 1962 and have continued since, except only for a few breaks in the subscription, the first while serving in the military.
I've always found something of interest in the contents, and still do today. For a little over $1.00 per issue personally the cost was not a factor in my decision to subscribe or not...... consider that cost of a glass of ice tea at a restaurant !
Agree it's only a short read, but now they are passed on to my 16 year old neighbor who enjoys them. When it changes to a quarterly issue I'll stop.



.

[61-63]

Originally Posted by OG68

I lost interest in Hot Rod 40 years ago and moved on to Car and Driver.
Now days the Hagerty Drivers Club magazine keeps me entertained.

Hagerty Driver's Club magazine is the best IMO. Antique Automobile of America is very good but is quarterly. Our own Smoke Signals is good.

[Stuart]

It's not just automotive magazines, the entire print media industry is struggling to compete against the Internet. Hot Rod has been pretty much working with a skeleton staff for years. John McGann is about the only person left on staff, and the rest of the content is provided by freelance contributors. I'm a long time subscriber as well and am saddened by the change as well - they are promoting it as 'enhanced content for the readers' but I suspect it's the last step before they go online only. Cycle World magazine did the same thing a few years ago, when they switched from monthly to quarterly the magazines were an improvement but after about two years it was all over.

[KS circutguy]

I had scrip for many many yrs. no more.
Maximum PC mag stopped printing a year a go.
Miss that 1. It's online only.
Just not the same as page turning in hand.

[Stuart]

Some print media has been resorting to artificial intelligence for their articles. I was just listening to a report on the radio about how Sports Illustrated had a fictional writer. From one of the news reports on the topic: "The Arena Group, publisher of Sports Illustrated, has fired the magazine’s CEO not long after it was revealed Sports Illustrated had published articles written by fake authors with AI-generated headshots and biographies."

Getting back to automotive publications, there are still some smaller independent magazines out there that are still robust and have a lot of good content. If you have interest in road racing and autocross, check out Grassroots Motorsports or Classic Motorsports - both magazines are published by a small family owned company (a man and his wife and son.) They also have a very active and informative online forum. Another one is Motorcycle Classics magazine, if your tastes run to classic bikes.

[unruhjonny]

These magazines all did it to themselves.
I do not believe for a minute that there are that much less people out there interested in reading their content;
The worst thing they did was jump on posting their content online.

If they would have not done this, I believe that the readership would have stayed high.

I believe that HR screwed all of us over by killing HPP then assumed that the remainder of any subscriptions would be carried forward as HR with no problems.

I would rarely buy HR magazine, and that stands to this day - it's largely uninteresting to me, full of ads, and content that is of barely any interest to me.

I would still have a print subscription to POCI, except I decided "enough" with the extortion level shipping cost (I was told at one time that the rate was "international", and set to accommodate members of POCI in Australia);
I was paying almost double of an American ($74 vs $45), and still getting my magazines sometimes in excess of a month behind American subscriptions.
I would get calls from Americans about an ad I placed several weeks before I would see my magazine.

... but back on topic.

I guess it's sad because of what HR magazine was at one time;

My constructive comment is that Hemmings Muscle Machines (HMM) is a fantastic publication.

[Johnny406]

All the mags I subscribed too, HPP, Pontiac Enthusiast, PHR, Car Craft, Hot Rod Delux and now Hot Rod are gone. Very sad indeed!!

[tjs72lemans]

I always loved getting my Car craft while in the service back in late 70's early 80's. Then I also started Hot Rod. I was saddened Car Craft went away. Now Hot Rod. I guess I'm done subscribing. Nothing stays the same as they say.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 61-63

Hagerty Driver's Club magazine is the best IMO. Antique Automobile of America is very good but is quarterly. Our own Smoke Signals is good.

I agree the Hagerty Drivers Club is really top notch. Good quality paper and pics and interesting content. I really look forward to POCI Smoke Signals every month. Again, high quality lots of variation in content, I always learn something new. Dimitrie Toth has a column each month and hits it out of the park almost every issue. Hemmings Muscle machines is enjoyable as well.

[grandam1979]

What about Hemmings muscle machines? I like it.

[will slow gto]

Still plenty for us to read with Smoke Signals, Hemmings Muscle Machines and Poncho Perfection. I just don’t have as much time to read them as I did when I was 17. Much of Hot Rod’s content over the last many years was ultra-high dollar builds and LS this or Coyote that or current gen Mopar hemis. I think everyone’s favorite era of Hot Rod was when they first started reading so for me it’s the early 90s with Jeff Smith at the helm and Rob Kinnan, Gray Baskerville and David Freiburger among others.

[TAKerry]

Its more than the start of online publications that have killed print. There was a perfect storm of events. Shipping costs escalated, materials became short in supply, subscriptions were down, with less subs. the advertisers bale out. Without advertising there is no magazine. I had a good friend, now deceased, that owned a company that distributed magazines. His business was one of the largest in the country. At the time of his retirement a few years ago he said that business had peaked and was on a down hill slide. Magazines do not make money from subscriptions but circulation. On the shipping side domestically, magazines get a special rate for distribution often times filling up otherwise vacant space which is not the same for overseas shipping, one of the reason why our brothers in other countries pay a premium. Its not the magazine trying to gouge anyone. Going to an online format saves on shipping and printing, and can reach further than a local newstand. Online is the best way to read a magazine. Nothing to ship, no trash when one is done reading and available at anytime, as most people are within a fingers touch of some kind of device. Myself, I loath online magazines!

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by TAKerry

Its more than the start of online publications that have killed print. There was a perfect storm of events. Shipping costs escalated, materials became short in supply, subscriptions were down, with less subs. the advertisers bale out. Without advertising there is no magazine. I had a good friend, now deceased, that owned a company that distributed magazines. His business was one of the largest in the country. At the time of his retirement a few years ago he said that business had peaked and was on a down hill slide. Magazines do not make money from subscriptions but circulation. On the shipping side domestically, magazines get a special rate for distribution often times filling up otherwise vacant space which is not the same for overseas shipping, one of the reason why our brothers in other countries pay a premium. Its not the magazine trying to gouge anyone. Going to an online format saves on shipping and printing, and can reach further than a local newstand. Online is the best way to read a magazine. Nothing to ship, no trash when one is done reading and available at anytime, as most people are within a fingers touch of some kind of device. Myself, I loath online magazines!

I agree with everything in your post except the word "best". That's the subjective part. To me , the "best" way to read a magazine is in paper form in front of me within arms reach. I like the feel of the paper, the look of the cars and engines in a paper format, not on a pixelated screen. I like the fact that if I spill my morning coffee on a magazine, I am not buying a new $800.00 tablet. It's the same reason I liked having home delivery of my local newspaper until I just couldn't take the 2-3 missed deliveries every week and finally cancelled it.

In many ways I like print magazines for the same reasons I like my 62 Catalina. No screens to look at and distract from the driving experience, no electronics and nanny controls, manual transmission with a clutch. So a 62 Pontiac Catalina is the "best" car the same way a paper magazine is the "best" way to read car stuff. I may need to see a psychiatrist.

[PAUL K]

Hot Rod was my least favorite magazine but thought it was better than nothing. Paper magazines are loosing favor because they're harder to read at work. Sad deal but I also preferred paper Newspapers.