Art & Inspiration Hot rod magazine

Maybe if we all started subscribing they would cater to us originals. They must have millions of vintage photographs!

I still read them. I have a big pile of them and keep reading them. Usually one a week. I still get so much good info from them.

I remember when Hot Rod, Pop Hot Rod, Car Craft, Spot Light, Drag Week and a few others was all we had.. Mainly we went out, tried it and found out for ourselves..

 

After the crash of Street Rodder I chose an extension to Hot Rod. My sub runs out in 2025.
Still enjoy it as “ throne reading.”

 

I started subscribing in December 1956, and have been a subscriber since then. Over the years I accumulated all the issues back to Volume 1, number 1, January 1948. My present subscription runs out in August 2023. I hope to be around to re-subscribe at that time. Hot rod Magazine should recognize us old time subscribers somehow, as we supported them long ago, and still do now.

 

I still subscribe but it may set around awhile before it gets read. I used to read front to back in a day or two when it came, and it was thicker.

 

They don’t treat Canadians quite as well by the time you figure in exchange and the remailing service. I am getting by on Haggery, hand me downs and swap meet purchases.

 

I've been a subscriber for 40+ years, and have collected most prior issues back to the mid-1950s, as well as a few even older than that (I also have both sets of the reproduction 1948 issues.) The magazine keeps getting thinner, but it's still worth reading.

 

Hot Rod is published by TEN, a large publishing house that only sees subscribers as a fundraiser. I just received an offer to re-up, I have not been a subscriber for the last two or three years as I just couldn’t take the poor captioning of photos, and the lack of fact checking along with sparse tech. The offer was two years for $15 and in my opinion their editorial content is not worth that .625 cents per issue. They have no interest in me as a subscriber, no interest in our hobby and for sure no interest in how loyal someone is as a subscriber.
The more people they attract with their $15/24 issue pitches just serves to build their circulation numbers and that has a direct effect on what they can charge for ad space. Pete built on editorial content and subsequently that built his volume, TEN doesn’t give a shit about what is in the magazine.
I’m not a print hater, on the contrary I have hundreds, probably thousands of Hot Rod, R&C, Street Rod, Street Rodder, Rod Action, drags, circle track, annuals, yearbooks, one shots, and God knows what in my archive but this new stuff just doesn’t do it for me.
YMMV.

 

Note to Fordors: You are correct about circulation numbers relating to ad prices. However, if the ads don't produce results, reader numbers are worthless.

 

Back in the day, Hot Rod would go buy a car, maybe not Hamb friendly, but a hot rod. They would drive from the car lot to the drag strip and get a time with maybe four passes. Then they would take it to the shop and tune it up, then back to the drag strip. Always they improved the time. Then they would start adding speed parts one at a time and take it to the strip for a time! For me this was the most amazing of articles! One of the most interesting things that happened was almost every time they put headers on a car , just headers no tuning, the car was slower at the strip! But from the original time to the last race usually they would shave around three seconds off the time! I looked forward every month when they were doing one of those series! And I leaned a lot!








Bones

 

I subscribed from around 76 until the mid 80's, then made the switch to Street Rodder and Rod and Custom after PGan revived it. After Pat left, R&C slowly died, and Street Rodder got to be too much into fads {pastel paint and tweed, yuk}, so I dropped both of them. Bought a few Hot Rod Deluxe off a news stand, then it got zapped. Haven't bought a mag in years, doubt I will now.

 

Can't pass this one up. Jr High and H.S. were spent studying hard at car mags, of all flavors. Dad left home and the state in 1960. Handed me a May issue of HRM and a novelty puzzle. My neighbor ran a scrap recycler. When he saw them he he would pull aside any car mags there. Every Friday night he would drop off 3 to 10 car mags from everywhere, and 50's + 60's
Hot Rod was The KING. ( one with a subscription sticker from Hanks Speed Shop Berwyn )
Since then I have subscribed most years.

Times are changing, but if you WANT TO KNOW or are interested in current advances, they tell of it. Not that I was pleased about the diesel segments but good to know.

As my Doctors were concerned about my future, I felt it necessary to re up 3 more years again.
Bottom line The H.A.M.B. is a treasure that can not be equaled by any singular effort. Thanks Moriarty

 

I started a subscription in '63 and it's still going. September issue page 24 starts a promo for a new reality TV show from another comedian. The content after that is pretty routine but somewhat interesting.

 

One of my coworkers subscribes to it, and I'll read through it whenever he brings one in. Some interesting stuff, but most of the writing is juvenile in quality. I remember when Cam Benty and Bruce Crower wrote articles for HRM years ago...I especially liked Bruce Crower, as he would delve a bit into the physics and chemistry side of things.

 

Hot Rod do their due diligence? Of their own site. He was not a good guy.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/the-life-and-tragic-death-of-racer-steve-bovan/

Sure does irk me to see all the HOT ROD stuff now appears with the Motor Trend logo since the merger.

 

I'd probably like to subscribe to Hot Rod once again but the only way I found to do it by doing a search for "Hot Rod Magazine subscription" came up as a 3rd party that didn't appear to have an option to send a check rather than using a credit card. I'm a bit of a luddite and avoid using a credit card as much as I can. I don't see the need for a bank to dip into every transaction for their cut.

Lynn

 

I subscribed back in the late 70's for 10 years or more. I also subscribed to Car Craft, and after awhile, with changes that took place at Hot Rod I let that subscription go, but kept Car Craft for a few more years. Then I moved to motorcycles and subscribed to Motorcyclist and Cycle World, and eventually let both of those go as well. Haven't had a subscription to any car mag in decades.

I picked up a copy of Ol' Skool Rodz recently at the supermarket, and am thinking of subscribing to a magazine again.

 

just got the new issue today, so I haven't thrown away the sub card in it yet....here you go. The Boone address is the real Hot Rod subscription address, as shown in the magazine in the fine print up front.

notice you can send payment with the form. As in, a check.

 

Still have my first issue May 1961. Tech was much better back then. That issue has a story about the GM aluminum v8s, Olds and Buick. Also the annual pre Indy report (loved the roadsters, especially the Novi).

Over the years I had subscriptions to most of the car magazines. Can't remember how many times a magazine died that I got no compensation for extended subscriptions. The only one to correct the subscriber's loss was Dr. Dick Bergren's Speedway Illustrated.

Oh well let's just face it, print is a dinosaur. Most young people want instant access to whatever they are interested in at the moment. Attention span of an overactive puppy.

 

I have it too....not my first issue, but I was born that month.

My first issue was in 1973

 

Actually, when Source Interlink Media split ways with Source Interlink Distribution, it became The Enthusiast Network (TEN) publishing. When the merger with Discovery happened, TEN split into two entities, MotorTrend Group (mostly editorial side) and TEN (publishing department). We all saw the writing on the wall at that point. When they started closing offices, that's when it became obvious what was going down. They killed 18 of 21 magazines back on December 6th, 2019 and at that point, TEN effectively ceased existence and with it went all but a handful of managing editors, copy editors, art directors, and myriad of administrative folks. Those editorial guys whose titles got the axe were given the option to walk or remain on. What was left from the ashes remained known collectively as the MotorTrend Group.

Just wanted to clarify that remark, it's not TEN that doesn't give a shit, it's MotorTrend Group, and they don't give two shits. Most of the titles they killed were profitable and the numbers were very good, despite all the doom and gloom regarding print. The bottom line was corporate didn't want to produce a print product any longer as they saw all their value in digital and TV. It didn't come down to subscription numbers nor advertiser revenue, it was a decision made from a president that came from a TV background and had no experience in print let alone the automotive world. He figure he was a car guy because he drove one; and a Tesla at that!

The latest decision to roll everything into Motor Trend further proves corporate's ignorance towards the hobby and their audience in general. Good luck to them as they continue to rearrange the deck furniture as the ship goes down...

 

That's why i liked HOT ROD DELUXE.

 

For the cheap subscription price I'm happy. I can read the whole magazine and find interest in almost all of the articles.

 

This photo could have easily been a snapshot of my sister & I on that faithful Saturday morning at Bryant's Corner Drug Store in 1962, I had sit down in the floor and picked up a Hot Rod Magazine, The red Hot rod on the cover caught my eye, I was 12 years old and knew nothing about hot rods and had just started reading and mom told me it's time to go, I pleaded with her to buy me that magazine.

She bought me the magazine and I was hooked on what I was reading about, later on my granddad bought me a subscription and I started learning, I told everyone that would listen that I was going to build a hot rod some day.

I always subscribed to Hot Rod Magazine and do to this day - but this is not the end of the story and I have told this several times in the past, That HOT ROD MAGAZINE my mom bought me back in 1962
featured Dean Lowe's Red Model A roadster pickup.

Who would have thought that I would eventually know Dean as a fellow hamber!

Believe it or not there is another twist of faith, recently our daughter got a divorce and moved back home, so we started cleaning out a spare bedroom that had become a catch all for almost 50 years, as you can guess we found a lot of lost treasures but in a old box of books & magazines I found THE VERY SAME HOT ROD MAGAZINE with Dean Lowe & his red roadster pickup on the cover.

After all these years I still have the magazine that got me involved in the life long obsession with Hot Rods. HRP

 

Great story Danny! My first HOT ROD magazine was a worn out dog eared copy given to me by a friend that had gotten it from his older brother. I don't remember the exact month, but it was a 1966 issue, and this was in 1969 or 70. I remember it had coverage of the HRM Nationals from 1966, and falling in love with a orange Pontiac, GTO maybe, named Brutus.....

Hot Rod cost too much to subscribe to, so my Mom got me the next best thing, Popular Hot Rodding. It was a good mag, subscribed for several years until I got a part time job cutting grass and finally got a sub to Hot Rod. My folks were cheap, and didn't subscribe to many magazines, only others I remember were Mom's True Story, Dad's Field and Stream, and TV Guide....

 

First Hot Rod was July '61, Beach Boys Coupe on the cover. Subscription for my birthday in August. Loved the tech articles. Things like how to build a frame by drawing it out on the floor, using cinder blocks, shingle shims, a level and a 2x4, and a tape measure to level and square it. That morphed into 'tab A into slot B' using XYZ's kit. No interest. Let the subscription go 3 or 4 years ago because I found them stacking up unread.

 

I should give this one an extra "Like". I have a collection of those! Had them since I was a kid. While my buddies were collecting baseball cards that are probably now worth big bucks I was drooling over these and since nobody else around was into them I had no way to trade my extra cards for others I didn't have.
I guess I just chose the wrong path in life....
Re-upped my subscription a few months ago, good til 2023. And for what it's worth, I really like the '61 Chev hardtop that's featured in the current issue, in spite of the O/T wheels. But I like Moriarity's better.

 

I've subscribed off and on since '76.... collected AND still collecting other titles. The current " Kevin Hart" issue, it reeks of a John Dianna '76 vibe, although some heritage, like the Bovan and AMC article. I actually mutter to myself if leaving California would benefit the mag and staff, but the truth is, as stated..bean counters NOT wrench turners.

 

Have my new issue sitting next to me. After 8 hours at work and coming home and setting up the rear suspension on the new project I may look at it tomorrow....If I have time.

 

I received my latest issue, it was a out a five minute read.
I did find that it saves me money because I can use it like “”Charmin” if I run out of TP.

 

Popular Hot Rodding was a pretty good magazine.