History *More Print Magazines GONE* (12/06/2019)

It’s sad to see so many popular titles go by the wayside because my automotive dreams were heavily influenced by car magazines.

 

I bought HRDeluxe, occasionally Street Rodder, Canadian Hot Rods (check it out its a good mag), Rodders Journal, and I just stopped American Rodder(?) this past spring due to the coast to ship to Canada. There's just something about reading something in your hands. Well I guess I'll be saving money but I'll continue with Canadian Hot Rods and Rodders Journal.

 

Looks like I’ll have more free time. I subscribed to five of the 19 magazines that were executed.

 

I’m 26 and hate to see the world go the direction of online but I guess since kids are being born with smart phones and tablet in there hands it was only a matter of time


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You’re right Danny, Rodder’s World ran only three issues and then ceased publication. Les Jarvis was the guy that was the publisher, he was new to the business. Maybe the subscriptions weren’t coming in and he couldn’t fund it without some revenue or backers.
Some of the RW writers went to American Rodder, it started 12 or 18 months later and had an established publishing house behind it. AR was a great magazine.

 

This has been in the works for a long time for a lot of reasons. Venture capitalists buying up almost all the automotive magazines and putting them under one roof was the start. Then they cut and combined and threw away part of them. Then starting up digital in direct competition, in most cases for free for a lot of it, further weakening the print media. Why pay when you can get it free? So revenue dropped, ad content went up to make up some of the lost revenue at the expense of content, and you ended up with a 50 page magazine with 40 pages full of ads and only 10 of content.

Next thing to look for will be subscription digital. I know some sites already charge a subscription, look for more to turn to it fully leaving print behind. And the market will decide whether they want to pay or not, or how much to pay.

I haven't subscribed to a magazine since the late 90's-early 00's, and have bought very few off the newsstand since then. I didn't have the disposable cash to spend at the time. I've got a bookshelf full of Hot Rod, Street Rodder, and Rod and Custom from the late 70's to the late 90's, but seldom drag one out and look at it.

 

...well, this sucks big time,..those of us who have subs are probly screwed,..or will they be switched to Hot Rod, which will probly be gone in a few more months as well...
I get Canadian Hot Rods magazine and really like it, some of you mite want to check it out as well as Rodding U.S.A.

 

Well this blows, I like ink on my fingers, I knew CarCraft was short lived when they brought Johnny Hunkins on board, that guy has had every magazine under his belt as editor closed down.

 

TRJ and Alliance member, I'm happy with that.

 

Somewhere out in the shed I have Volume 1 #1 of Street Rodder and most of the issues since around.
I'd say that the big part of the demise of any or all of the magazine titles is the guy who brag about never buying one or not buying them in recent years.
Still content for the $$ you pay has a hell of a lot to do with it. When you find maybe one car or one article you like or want to read in a magazine you don't have a lot of desire to buy it.
I just sorted a mixed bag of car, gun and boat magazines out an hour ago and some I saved back to clip one article out of if anything. I used to drop my gun magazines off at a friend's gun shop before he closed Some of the non rod car and truck magazines got dropped off at the health clinic I go to but the janitors don't seem to like them around near as much as the patients.

I've got a lifetime subscription to Rodder's Journal so I'll just use the extra time to study it a bit more.

 

I'm just not a fan of the whole digital media thing! Give me an actual physical magazine I can hold in my hand and flip through when I'm on a "coffee break".
So seeing this all go down, I feel I need to support what mags we have left. What are some good ones that are still around? I already have a subscription to Rodder's Journal.

 

I bought a 3 year subscription last time I anted up. At the price I wondered how they could do it for that little. I still wanted to patronize the ones I grew up on for the next gen. Guess it didn’t work. What a loss.


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I for one like having a magazine in my hands to read - great for those long visits to "the library" - recently received a subscription offer for Motor Trend for $6 per year - where they get you with the very low subscriptions for 1 - 2 years is that when that offer subscription runs out they automatically keep sending at a much higher rate - Street Rodder was $79.99 per year - I even still get local newspaper delivered - used to have a large collection of car magazines - never took one out of box to read, except when trying to find an article - so, instead of that if I read an article with special info/pics will cut it out and file - have very little success selling magazines at swap meets for even 25 cents each - each to their own -RODDER'S JOURNAL HAS 25% OFF EVERYTHING SALE NOW

 

A few years back, I concentrated on buying older magazines to fill my collection. It numbers in the thousands. It is amazing what you learn by reading the articles as well as the adds. My collection takes up a bit of space, but is well organized. I will continue to add to it.

 

Bottom line is nobody was buying them. Subscription or from a magazine stand. No money, no product. It's sad but that form of information/entertainment is going away. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss Hot Rod Deluxe.

 

I don't know how many time I have sat at the foot of the mountain of Mags I have gathered thinking I will go threw each one and save the ones I wanted to keep and make a pile to throw away. Not once did I ever have a pile to throw away so if anyone who has thrown them away AND are going threw withdrawals I can send you a fix! They will probably end up being cremated along with me.....................................................................

 

Well gee, who didn’t see that coming?

 

my cover in 2011...
Gonna miss it....

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And I just renewed my subscription to HRD. I'm not counting on a "refund check".

 

.......................Good luck with that, Dean.

 

Things haven't been the same since Rodder's Digest went away.

 

Better look again. I know quite well they are connected BUT things directly from the Peterson archives have GIANT P watermarks all over the photos which my posts do not have.. Whereas the ones I use from the HOT ROD archives do NOT. And yes most of the captions are verbatim for HOT ROD articles for accuracy.

If you look at my THREADS (Not posts) They are all HISTORY threads. How else am I to bring the history to our members than using online sources as I couldn't possibly have taken photos or wrote articles from all over the country by myself?

 

No you won’t... they’re done too

 

I think part of the issue (no pun intended) for print is they got away form having real tech.
I would thumb through Car Craft, or Street Rodder on the newsstand and the tech on an engine swap would be-
Step 1- Buy create form supplier A
Step 2- Buy bolt in engine/transmission mounts from supplier B
Step 3- Order plug and play wiring harness from supplier C.

I want real tech, what combination of parts work best in an engine build.
Ideas on how to build your own engine transmission mounts.

I think magazines like Hot Rod Deluxe and other "traditional hot rod/custom" got too big with too much modern corporate influence ( I am not bashing corporations they employ many people and pay taxes) and couldn't support themselves
When Hot Rod Deluxe relaunched it was quarterly with great build tech or how to using vintage/or repro parts.

However as these style car became popular HRD it became bi-monthly and the tech changed from how put a Cad/Lasalle transmission behind your flathead like they did ityesterday. To put a S-10 five speed behind your flathead with the newest parts from Quicktime.

As a purist I felt alienated and let my subscription go , and now the trend chasers are moving on to other things. As a result there is a vacuum.

I know the goal is to sell magazines and add space, but you also need to remember who your audience is.

 

NASCAR will be in the same boat very soon if they don’t remember who their audience is. The way they are going that will be gone in a couple of years too.

 

I'll say for the last 20 years I was on the periphery of the hot rodding world. Interested but not active with any projects. Now and then I would pick up a few magazines, but I also noticed that the selection dramatically began to decrease about 10 years ago for those related to automobile culture.
When I started my project last year, I met someone who is an active contributor to Canadian Hot Rod magazine. I have since picked up a few copies, but will now subscribe. He doesn't do it for the money, but because he loves what he does. I will likely also subscribe to Rodders Journal which I have enjoyed in the past. As many have stated, one of the huge turn-offs with most magazines is the ratio of the number of ads to actual material.
It is what it is, and 50 years from now the word Hot Rod will have disappeared, and will reside with other forgotten English words, but I'm just an ultracrepidarian.

 

I check out the magazine rack at Walmart and Fry's (Kroger) grocery store. The automotive titles mostly disappeared about 2 or 3 months ago. I "suspect" that the regional magazine distributor (the contractor that restocks the magazine racks). This news was not a large surprise to me.

 

I always wonder why when people put up a thread like this, why they just don't put up the pertinent information?

For your information, the internet does not run out of ink!

Here’s a full list of discontinued titles:

• 4-Wheel & Off-Road
• Automobile
• Car Craft
• Chevy High Performance
• Classic Trucks 
• Diesel Power
• Hot Rod Deluxe 
• Jp
• Lowrider
• Mopar Muscle
• Muscle Car Review
• Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
• Mustang Monthly
• Street Rodder
• Super Chevy 
• Super Street
• Truck Trend 
• Truckin’
• Vette