Do you find Rod & Custom Magazine Lacking ??

That's right. I've got a little pages from the early '50's that has a how-to-install (bolt in) a custom grill and the ad for the grill is on the next page, so That's nothing new.

I've enjoyed reading "Behind The Wheel" since Rob got behind the wheel. His anecdotes and ideas are most entertaining and something I read each month where in years and editors past I quite often put it off till last, or didn't bother with them at all.
I still miss Bill Burnham's columns in SR but most of Rob's ideas will do for now, even if they were a bit more opinionated would be ok with me!

I'll be reading them at least until Nov 2013...(subscription renewal date)

Which brings me to; "whatever became of the Custom Rod?"
This is a custom rod: http://www.crcustomrod.com/

The car in the article is just a car that has been customized some and "rodded" more and has funny looking wheels on it that look like they belong on a "customized" Conestoga Wagon
In a perfect world the only place "Dubs" would be seen would be "Lowrider" and import magazines.

The Del Porto Lakester and article about it is BITCHiN!

 

I find alot of mags are lacking right now. Some get it and some don't. R&C was one of my favorites but I lost interest in it mainly because it got alittle boring. I like Hot Rod but man sometimes the articles and some of the stories just lack. Most mags are hurtin because of the internet. I can find the cars and articles I like on the internet a whole lot easier than at the newstand. I hate it though. I thought R&C and Street Rodder both had to take on alot when Custom Rodder folded. I give some props to HR for their ability to do some off the wall stuff. Though not traditonal but there's seems to be atleast one article aimed at the little guy once a year. If R&C can pull off the little pages then that would be really cool but I feel they are late. It's a market that is saturated.

 

in response to need louvers, I think that's funny since I feel there is too many Rods and not enough customs! The little pages edition only had the one custom and it was a '36.

I agree that R&C is thin anymore (and I'm not just talking about the paper), but it's probably hard to justify them keeping the title afloat since bascially it covers the same territory as Street Rodder and they use to be rivals. Same as why they keep Popular Hot Rodding around, since it was always the weaker competition to Hot Rod. (just my opinion, I sure some love PHR)

My only real complaint with the editiorial content of R&C, is trying to keep the idea of a "custom rod" alive. I think they're is already enough labels around "pro-touring", "street machine" or the worst one yet "resto-mod." (I really hate that one) Let the Custom in R&C stand for "traditional custom." The advertisers will follow, look how many companies moved away from billet and are making more traditional products. Supply and demand.

 

I quit buying it right around the time Hot Rod Deluxe came back.

 

The new issue Nov 2011 has 32 full page ads in 83 pages and that's not counting the half page ads. I know they have to sell ad space to make money, but i didnt subscribe to the mag for a catalog of parts. If I want that I could of got a free summit racing catalog.

 

I think the "soon to be sister publication" is a reference to the combining of Hop Up and R&C in June of 53 ... the statement is in relation the "nearly 60 years ago" that begins the sentence.

That's my interpretation anyway.

 

I have the internet, why buy magazines???

 

Ah, now I am for sure going to have to read that article when I get home. That makes more sense. I can't believe Mark Morton would sell Hop Up.

 

Rod & Custom has been off for a few years now. I don't know what its lacking but it's missing the magic that made it a great magazine. Hot Rod magazine seems to be published or edited better but should be renamed muscle car magazine because I don't think Mustangs and Camaros fit into the category "Hot Rod". I think "Hot Rods" are pre-war cars and customs are pre-60's cars where does a 70' Camaro fit in?

 

All this time I thought it was just me, R&C has slipped and Hot Rod is just the SOS.

 

As far as I know R&C little pages is an annual publication, similar to what Morty was doing with Hop Up with little special issues in between, I think. So unless the monthly issues go away and it only becomes an annual release, I don't think it would become like Hop Up because it would be impossible to make up the difference monetarily. It's just becoming more and more difficult to maintain a monthly publication for a relatively small, although dedicated, audience. Being an old guy I prefer to hold a magazine and it somehow is more permanent than e-zines, certainly more satisfying. I will still want magazines as long as they are around, I have magazines from 1948 and earlier but have lost electronic info after one good crash of the old computer. I think they are doing as well as they can with R&C in the current climate and I'll continue to subscribe as long as they are around. My 2 cents.

 

First things first ...
As far as I know R&C has not bought Hop-Up! Rob was just referring to "history" in the Dal Porto Roadster article in the November 2011 issue. Hop Up and R&C were both born at Quinn Publications which was later bought by Petersen Publishing. There is a pretty good history lesson here:

Hop Up History:
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Hop_Up

Also Mark Morton still does an online version here:
http://www.hopupmag.com/

As far as this thread goes, I guess a lot of you still care about R&C since we are up to 5 pages on this thread. All the online sites Ryan has created are well designed and easy to navigate. He also has a huge army of people that are willing to post photos and such for fun. At R&C we have an army of three (plus a Publisher and Managing editor) and Rob has a small freelance budget.

A printed magazine can never keep up with the speed of the internet. I'm not sure why a lot of you who are supposedly "Traditional" hot rod and custom enthusiast's are unhappy with the current content. There is more traditional stuff inside the pages in the last 5 years then in recent history. I've been reading car mags since the 70s and collecting real old ones since the 80s. Please take a good look at some of your old mags. They all have a bunch of Ads and a lot have stories relating to products that are advertised.

Also as much as I love my vintage mags there is little or no color, tech articles are short and sweet and a lot of the feature articles have very little info. One of my favorite time's in R&C's history is when Pat Ganahl brought it back. If you go look at those issues today there is a lot of great cars in them and also a bunch that look a bit dated. Every issue can not please everyone.

In todays world people want a lot for free and a current event lasts for a second instead of your "20 minutes of fame." The current R&C is very inexpensive if you subscribe, is all color, has really good tech stories, good history articles, good writing, amazing photography and is well designed.

This is the first time since the old days that the 3 main people working on it are actually real hot rodders. Rob has 2 magazine projects going and Kev has 3. This is on top of their normal work load. I think most people have no idea how much work it takes to put a magazine together 12 times a year and also do special issues.

As far as a couple people asking about culture/hot rod mags that's what Hot Rod Deluxe began as. Rodders Journal is an amazing magazine that comes out 4 times a year. Hot Rod Deluxe comes out 6 times a year. Both of these titles are more expensive than R&C and that is one reason they have nicer paper. Anyway, please consider some of these things the next time you pick up a magazine.

Thanks,
Aaron
Art Director-Rod & Custom Magazine

 

IMHO: The majority of the mainstream magazines are "lacking".
Some web sites are headed that way.
Maybe it is part of an evolution.

 

Aaron, I think you hit the nail on the hit when you said people must still care about R&C to go on for 5 pages. I think a lot of us think of the car magazines as most others think of their favorite sport team. We might bitch about them sometimes, but we're still loyal to the end.

I can only imagine all the pressure those of you in the business are under and wouldn't want to be in your shoes. I've been buying R&C since the 90's and will probably buy until the end. I know some issues I'll like better than others and I have no problem with that.

Now if only I could get Car Craft to go back to covering customs...

 

I renewed for an additional 2yrs to Rod & Custom. The content is improving. Just subscribed to Rodders Journal. Great mag!

 

Thank you Aaron!!

I have kept my subscription going cause i like what Rod & Custom has always done. Its not like the other shit mags out there. Rob and everyone else is doing there best to keep it going.

Yes there are some things in some of the issues im not into, but i always find something. They cater to a bigger audience then just the " scene"! They have to try to make everyone happy with the mag.

It sucks to here that so many say they have or are stopping there subscription. This is a good mag for our hobby. Why not support something that supports your hobby.

Thanks again to everyone at Rod & Custom for doing there best and making a great magazine.

 

I keep renewing in hopes the thing may turn around. Part of me says if I renew, those concerned will think they are doing a good job and keep publishing what they have been, so that's the wrong message they're getting from me. The other part of me says for ten bucks a year, so what?
I really miss Custom Rodder. I had hoped it would last a little longer than it did.

 

Cost? Pack or 2 of smokes? 12 pack of beer (swill). Your choice. Compare it to 1993-98 issues.....

 

I been saying this same thing every since I joined the hamb ! But their paper does suck !

 

Custom Rodder was last of the the great car magazines.

It's days were seriously numbered, once it was sold to
the huge corporation that owns 98% of the other magazines.

Suddenly perfectly restored classics, with 20" billet wheels,
were considered "Customs".

 

The October issue has four pages (mostly) devoted to installing a radio antenna, seriously. I just re-subscribed this spring, you're gonna have to do a lot better for me to renew again.

 

Ill second that

 

My lovely has no idea whether I like the mags I get or not. She just keeps renewing and getting some ridiculously cheap subscriptions rates. I read them like going to a car show or rod run, I look at what I like and walk past the rest. I doubt I pay over a dollar a piece for any of them. As long as they print them, I will buy them. I'm a hotrod guy.

Heres a thought, buy a subscription and have it sent to a soldier, I bet they won't whine.

Now, I have to put my money where my mouth is.

 

could not agree more !

firstnomad

 

Do a Vulcan mind meld of R&C and HRD and then holy kittens you'd have a real jewel.

 

I looked at teh new issue at the newstand tonight. Yes it is thin but there were some nice hotrods in there, that restored lakes roadster is amazing.

 

buying magazines supports plenty of American workers
from employees to tree harvestors, paper mfr.s,printers,shippers,advertisers , postal workers and retailers

 

If that's the case I am extremely sorry for the confusion and the spread of any untrue gossip. Like I said, I could completely wrong and I hope I am. It's just how I viewed into it when I read the article.

Sorry guys.

 

as you become older,you will stop buying mags as often because they become ,dare I say"stale". Everything becomes a big repetition ,and I'm running out of good years.rather be tooling on my project or b.s.ing with friends.imo.

 

Common to this thread and most every other magazine thread I have read here is whether or not the writer likes magazines; he/she usually likes TRJ. TRK also gets good reviews.

I maintain that is because of content. Living proof that people will pay (and pay a lot in the case of TRJ) for a good magazine with a lot of good content. Write it and they will come. Content is tailored around customer interest, and that actually generates more interest.

Content that is tailored around customer interest is something the bean counters at SI don’t seem to get. I think the editors get it, but my guess is that they are not in total editorial control in a publishing concern that big. The business model at SI seems to be to tailor content around ad selling ability, write about it and more ads will come. The Miller welding series at R&C and the Eastwood-shilling Workshop columns in SR come to mind. I can’t wait until one or the other runs a HF shilling article, no wait, that already happened.

Remember back when Petersen ran actual tests of product against product, with good and bad results. When’s the last time you saw an article even mentioning a product flaw? So sad to see the way they have sold out.

I started reading car mags in the 60s, opened up an entire new world to me, so I guess I am kind of nostalgic about paper copies in my hand. I buy when I see good content. I ignore the ads, but now that they are embedded in the article, it’s getting downright annoying and insulting. Like the print version of a pop-up.

Thanks HAMB for letting me rant.