Once again recently, the 'ol Loydster has stumbled across something that made me feel like THIS guy!--
Nothing makes one feel more like some kind of PREHISTORIC beast, than finding out that a HUGE chunk of print magazines,some of which I had enjoyed for DECADES--have went away! AND-- it happened OVER A YEAR AGO!
But--- this blog being what it is--- a place where I like to keep the focus on all the stuff that keeps me GEEKED-OUT and happy! (and I sure hope that vibe floats out toward whoever comes by to check in with all 'the-couple-of-times-a-month' silliness I post up here!)--- I decided to make this here entry, about 'the dearly departed mags' (the ones I actually used to collect, anyway!), and what I enjoyed about them! (with maybe a little nit-picking about them along the way too!)---
Ah, good 'ol 'R&C'! Hands-down, what eventually replaced 'Hot Rod,' as my ALL-TIME favorite car mag! It actually disappeared off the magazine shelves before most all of the others on this list. (It was discontinued in 2014.) A low-down, dirty shame that this one had to go away!
The editorial team had it RIGHT, pretty much ALL of the time I collected this mag (off and on, for around 15-20 years or so!), with a nice mix of high-quality pics / articles, on a pretty wide-range of vehicles. The tech-related stuff (which, to be honest, has NEVER 'floated my boat' too much!) was always kept at a lower profile, with plenty of focus on the craftsmanship and the artistic skill it took to build the vehicles featured! One of the VERY BEST 'working-class-guy'-focused car mags, for MANY years!
Even when I let my subscription run-out the last time, (which was only a short time before it went away, sadly!) I still enjoyed scanning through the occasional issue at the local 'Wally-World'! I still miss it!
One of the two 'Mustang-related' mags I actually had subscriptions to, over a good chunk of time! At first a little TOO obsessed with restored / pristine-collectors-item-type 'Stangs, it actually improved / evolved into a much more 'average-working-guy'-friendly mag over the years! A little TOO tech-article heavy at times (especially during it's 'restoring stuff to factory-original-ONLY'-phase!), it was still a fun read each month, when I was collecting it. Like most of the others on this list, it went away in early 2020. Another one I miss occasionally checking out!
'Corvette Fever', actually merged with the mag just below, about ten years or so ago! Fun in a lot of ways. Great photography. Interesting history-of-the-'Vette articles, sprinkled in from month-to-month. I let my subscription run out after a couple of years though, 'cause the focus seemed ever-increasingly--- to be more about the 'collectible-value' of the cars. That just gets tiresome to me! Especially if it's hammered-on in article-after-article, month-in-and-month out!
'Vette' was, like 'Mustang Monthly', another one that actually improved over time. There seemed to be a nice balance, between looking at the older 'collectible cars', and customized / hot-rodded models. (I'm guessing that was a nice by-product of the two magazines merging, in 2010) It disappeared off the shelves in 2019.
'Muscle Car Review,' isn't a really large part of my 'car-mag' collection. In fact, I think I actually browsed through more issues of it, at various 'Wally-Worlds' and grocery stores over the years, than I bought and took home to read! Another one that stayed a little TOO focused on the 'factory-original-only'-type of articles! Fun, but only up to a point. Also gone in early 2020.
'Mustang and Fords', was actually in some ways, a bit more fun to read each month--- than 'Mustang Monthly'. For a time, I subscribed to it alone, to get my monthly 'Stang-and-classic-Ford-fix'! That was part of the fun! There were classic 'T-Birds, Cougars, and even Falcons sprinkled into the mix every month! A little more 'working-glass-guy'--friendly too! Not afraid to show-off customized / hot-rodded vehicles either! I did some SERIOUS digging around, and could NOT find out for sure when this mag went away. But it's definitely been gone for a while.
I was REALLY surprised to hear about 'Car Craft' leaving the shelves! One of the OLDEST car mags around, even though it also had just a small presence in my collection. Nearly as much fun to check-out each month as 'Hot Rod'--- but I did more browsing / scanning through it at the store, than bringing issues home to keep! Still, kinda sad to see it go away! Another one gone in 2020!
Another shock, to hear about 'Street Rodder' disappearing! A little 'tech-heavy' at times-- it was STILL, for many years, one of the BEST 'bang-for-your-buck' car mags out there! One of the THICKEST too! Up 'til just a handful of years ago, an average issue would run DOUBLE the page count of any of the other car mags! Like 'Rod and Custom', the photography was top-notch, with plenty of focus on the art / craftsmanship that went into the featured vehicles. Another one I'll miss checking out--- even if I didn't BUY every issue!
I guess it doesn't take much of a genius, nor do you need to be any kind of 'whiz-kid', to figure out what made all of these REALLY COOL mags go away! A lack of readers! There's SO MUCH, right here on the 'ol 'virtual super-higway' to read now! Including archives of articles from a number of these very mags. Sadly, the paper magazine's become a sort of 'endangered species'! 'Hot Rod', is pretty much the ONLY cool car mag left standing!
While the thought of the magazines disappearing disappoints me, it also makes me glad that I've saved (old 'PACK-RAT' that I've ALWAYS been!) so many of the car mags that I have! Month-to-month issues may have left us.... but, as long as I'm still around and kicking, I can treasure the ones from the past that I've saved! And that, is something I BOTH--- breathe a sigh of relief about, and smile about too!
