Event Coverage RIP: Rod & Custom Magazine

I can just see it......"yeah, my car was on the internet back in 2015" (yawn)......as opposes to "being on the cover of Rod & Custom, July 1996".....there will be NO historical cars, and nothing to brag about....oh I forgot, were not suppose to have "winners and losers"...

 

Yeah, I guess. Personally, I drive an old car because driving a Civic or a Passat makes you look like a fag. I used to buy R&C once in a while but haven't for the last few years. Them shutting down is no skin off my nose but it sucks for the people personally involved. Hopefully they wont be out of work too long.

 

Re-read what I posted, and notice where I say "What killed car magazines for me"! I did not say "what killed car magazines for everyone"!

 

The only mag I really enjoy, and the only one I save - guess I'll be taking better care of the old ones now and reading them all again

 

How did magazines survive, way back,
when they didn't kiss the advertisers asses ?

Because, obviously, that business model isn't working now.

 

They sold ads and issues.They are financed by advertising, a purchase price, pre-paid subscriptions or sometimes all three of these means. Just like today. One of our fore fathers placed the first advertisement in his publication in 1729. Ben franklin. He was not an MBA. Just a guy who was trying to further finance his endeavor, the Pennsylvania Gazette.

And honestly, people saying they stopped buying a magazine due to the amount of ads are a little short sided and trivial. Would you rather have a magazine that has content ONLY YOU like and NO ads? Well, it'll only sell a few copies and will cost a lot more than you'd want to pay.

 

Just received an email. They are going to send me a full refund. I am pleased they are "stepping up" and doing the right thing for the readers. Still too bad they won't be there to read.

 

This sucks R&C started my hot rod madnessin 1959 with the El Maditor

 

El Matador

 

it does suck for sure. I always renewed my subscription at the GoodGuys Columbus show.

 

The first Issue I bought was the November '61 issue with Bill Cushenbery's Matador on the cover.
I subscribed soon after that.
My sub runs through Nov '18 now.
So what are they going to send me instead?
I just resubed for Hotrod so I hope I don't get double issues of that!
Are they going to give me a choice or just start sending me Street Rodder instead?

 

I've been following this thread from the get-go and, like most things in my life, I have an opinion on the discussion...
1st, some background:
I would have only been ten when R&C first came out and cars were not on my horizon. However, when it was announced that it would be making it's reappearance in 1989 I jumped on board and subscribed before it was back. I even convinced 'Too Tall' to send me an 'It's Back' t-shirt (which I still have , mind you) to wear around and announce the re-birth. Since then, I have every issue sitting prettily on bookshelves. I also have every issue of TRJ. TRJ has very few ads and the subscription price reflects that.

TEN (The Enthusiast Network) does not show a digital edition of R&C available. They do show Street Rodder (which, I believe from reading this thread, R&C is going to be folded into) for $19.99 a year. I just renewed my sub to SR for $30.00 for 3 years. Digital edition isn't sounding like such a good deal to me.

Now let's suppose that you don't already have a Kindle (or a tablet for the sake of this discussion). I won't even get into trying to read a magazine on a 'smart' phone. Well, unless you want to read it one word on a page at a time...
Price of a base Paperwhite 6" Kindle: $119.00 (might as well the the good one). Let's have some add-ons, shall we? +$20.00 to eliminate the 'special offers' (read that as the 'ads' a great number seem to be bitching about). +$15.00 for a Power Adapter (not included). +$40.00 for a Leather Cover (have to protect your investment, no?). +$25.00 for a pair of 'Screen Protectors. +$30.00 for a 2 year Warranty & Accident Protection. You are now up to $240.00 and you still don't have anything to read. Might as well keep the wallet open so you can get some of those 'money saving' digital subscriptions.

Maybe it's just me but I can think of better things to do with $240 than spend it on yet another electronic device. 'But look at how much easier it will be to keep those thousands of books', you'll say. And I suppose that you're correct. Well, at least until you drop the sucker (aren't you sorry you didn't pop for the 'Accident Protection'?) and you then get to re-download those thousands of books you've paid for, from the Cloud. I'm sure that that isn't time that could be better spent. Or what if there's a solar flare and the Cloud goes down? Permanently? Lest anyone think that I'm anti-technology, I'm the complete opposite. I embrace it. Heck, I even learned how to build my own computer and taught myself to code just so I could make my website be the way I wanted it to be.

I'm like a previous poster (I'm sorry, I didn't go back and get your name to credit you) that has Post-Its sticking out of my issues to flag things of interest. I also scanned the Indexes and made a .pdf out of them so I could flip through looking for items/articles of interest to me. And unlike a Kindle (or any other eReader/Tablet) I can have multiple issues open at the same time, spread out on my kitchen table. I suppose one could do that if one was willing to buy more than one eReader/Tablet. Short of a fire or flood, I'll have my R&Cs safely stored away. And if I do experience a fire or flood, quit frankly I have bigger issues (no pun intended) on my hands than losing some magazines.

The real reason that I'm saddened to see R&C disappear has more to do with what I perceive as technology burying the past. If print magazines/books are no longer viable or relevant, then why do Libraries still exist? Surely, they can't still be around just so someone can go in and use the free internet. I have fond memories of going through the 'stacks' at the San Francisco Main Library, being able to have a tangible connection to the past by holding 1st editions in my hands. Reading decades, if not centuries old, tomes. Inhaling the musty smell that only old paper has. Does a digital edition of anything have that new magazine smell?

Getting down off my 'Demise of R&C' soapbox now.

 

You'll have to do like they did in the olden days. Get a set of tools and figure it out yourself.

 

"The real reason that I'm saddened to see R&C disappear has more to do with what I perceive as technology burying the past."

Like I said elsewhere, you it's like drag racing, you get it or you don't. YOU DO get it! Many don't.

 

yeh i just renewed for two years

 

Honestly,If I may paraphrase health care analogies, Rod & Custom has been on life support for several years now and the inevitable demise was part of it's future.

The humane thing to do finally came and they simply pulled the plug. HRP

 

One of the top ten replies this year for sure!!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Well, I did not know this, looked at my last issue and it says I'm good till Dec of 17, so I guess you email them to see what they will do??? Anyone know for sure??? Thanks for any info.

 

Well folks I am on my soap box now and I am not politickin'. I have been on this planet for almost 70yrs and read R&C since little pages. WHY would anyone want to stop R&C and keep Streetrodder goining. Did the powers that be not consider putting their resources in R&C and shut down SR? OH! I am sorry. They were probably just looking at the money thing. Praying for a rebirth.................

 

Well, Street Rodder is probably doing fine and laughing their asses off. Behind closed doors, of course. OR they're shaking in their boots.

 

I think you may have missed my point....

Im all for getting a set of tools and figuring it out. In the olden days, there was junkyards full of GOOD flatheads, hemis, caddy's, lincolns, what-have-ya....that isn't the case any longer. Why would I want to take a chance ruining a good y-block over an oiling system problem, or some other nuances in which all early engines seemed to be plaqued with when I could have read it in a magazine, book or the internet that its a common problem. Why risk a limited resource just to figure something that is already known. That is what these resources do. And now one (and probably more) will be gone.

I'm not saying this will happen, but what if all things on the internet come at a very high price, or removed, or unavailable for whatever reason --- at least with a paper resource, once you have it, you will always have it.

 

I got your point. My thing is, before magazines and the internet, guys just figured this stuff out on their own. Isky, Vic Edelbrock, those guys probably ruined or broke a lot of stuff, but they did the only thing they could. They started over. It was expensive then, as it is now, but that would be your only course of action. Sooner or later, you'd figure it out. Then, you could pass your knowledge on to someone else.

As for paper. What if there was a fire? As for the internet being free? I have a VERY strong feeling those days won't last forever. In fact, I'm surprised Uncle Sam hasn't figured out a way to charge everyone who uses it, yet. But on last nights news, it was stated that only 1/3 of USA households have the internet or a computer. Maybe Uncle Sam is waiting for more addicts to show up.

 

Just came home from Barnes & Noble. I counted more than 50 different automotive titles in their magazine section. Not all catered to hot rods and customs but among the ones that did included The Rodder's Journal, Street Rodder, Hot Rod Deluxe, Traditional Rod & Kulture, Car Kulture Deluxe and even Hot Rod. This does not include other magazines of interest such as Collectible Automobile, Hemmings Classics, Hemmings Muscle Cars, Super Chevy, etc

I also picked up Rod & Custom and thumbed through it. Not much to it. I'd be far more likely to purchase Traditional Rod & Kulture, Hot Rod Deluxe, The Rodder's Journal or even Street Rodder before R&C.

There are far more magazines out there now that cater to HAMB friendly vehicles than there have ever been in the past, such as Church, Speed & Chrome, Rolls & Pleats, Kustoms Illustrated, Rodding USA, Magneto, and others.

The first magazine I ever subscribed to, after much deliberation, was Rod & Custom, more than 40 years ago. It was the one magazine that every month contained articles that interested me. I was not happy when it "merged" with Hot Rod, especially since I did NOT want to subscribe to Hot Rod. I wanted my Rod & Custom.

That was 40 years ago. We seemed to have survived the first time it went away (it actually went away briefly in '71, came back in '72, then merged with Hot Rod in '74).

I was thrilled when Rod & Custom came back under the leadership of Pat Ganahl. But as I have said already in other posts, it got to the point where the magazine no longer interested me, storied title or not.

But the loss of R & C and the other magazines that The Enthusiast Network is discontinuing does not mean that the kids of today are not being educated, that all magazines are going by the way side (I suppose that when Car Speed & Style magazine went out of business circa '61, there were those who said then that print media was going away), or any other impending doom. There are MORE magazines now that cater to traditional hot rods and customs than ever before. Not only that, but they are also mostly all high quality, from editorial content to photography. Good stuff out there for us to enjoy.

I drive a '56 Nomad that still has points and manually adjusted brakes. I drive a '47 Ford coupe that still has a six-volt battery. I like old stuff and the old way of doing things. So please, and you know who you are, don't try to tell me that I am "mocking" or "ridiculing" tradition just because you are grossly over-reacting about Rod & Custom being shut down for the THIRD time.

 

Hope there's not a fire!!!! All my magazines are out in the shop with all my tools and rare car parts

 

I got the July Issue today here so can any one say when the last issue will come out ?

 

That's nice this is the first I've heard of this, it would be nice if the mag's would send out some notice? I'm not happy about this either, I've tried the mag. reading on the net and it is just not the same...

 

Just renewed mine little while back also what next

 

September I think is the last issue.

 

Quality sells. "A magazine worth holding in your hands over and over."

That's what sells.

 

Sad news, and sign of the digital times! This was one of my favorite covers! and I'm not a T-Bucket guy, but how cool was this one?