Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22458 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed May 22, 2019 7:32 pm Post subject: Do you miss the (printed) AutoTrader publication? |
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Opening a copy on a Thursday, you'd never know what you might find for sale. At the time when I was first taking an interest in acquiring a car, in the 1980s, buying - or rifling through a copy of - AutoTrader was an enjoyable ritual, something that the advent of the internet has pretty much done away with now, at least in print form. Sifting through online sales just isn't the same.
Does anyone here have any fondness for the old, printed, AutoTraders? And Exchange & Mart for that matter?
RJ _________________ Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
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Rootes75
Joined: 30 Apr 2013 Posts: 3831 Location: The Somerset Levels
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Posted: Wed May 22, 2019 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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Didn't know it wasn't printed anymore! _________________ Various Rootes Vehicles. |
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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22458 Location: UK
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Minxy
Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 272 Location: West Northants
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Posted: Wed May 22, 2019 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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It was a Friday lunch time ritual for me - in my lunch hour go down the newsagent and buy Autotrader and exchange and mart along with a free Friday add. Wasn’t it Auto trader that used to send around a chap to take a picture of your car for the advert?
I still prefer to ‘hold paper’ when I read- I still buy newspapers, magazines and paperbacks. I can see newspapers and magazines will struggle in the future but I hope and like to think that books will thrive. _________________ Hillman minx convertible. Lanchester LD 10 |
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Bitumen Boy
Joined: 26 Jan 2012 Posts: 1737 Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire
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Posted: Wed May 22, 2019 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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I still miss the Ad Trader paper that used to be printed weekly covering these parts. The problem with everything being online is things are so fragmented now, instead of one or two weekly papers you've now got an uncountable number of websites, far more than you can keep an eye on, meaning you can easily miss seeing exactly what you're looking for. When you do see something interesting chances are it's at the other end of the country or even overseas, to be honest I'd rather not know if it's too far away.
The papers were good for wanted ads too, I remember placing a wanted ad for Herald steel wheels to refurbish in "South Wales, Dean or Herefordshire" and quickly getting a call from a guy only a few miles down the road. I went down later that day and we reached a mutually acceptable deal within a few minutes, paid cash, job done. I bet I wouldn't get that kind of response to an online ad, probably just a bunch of jokers in Norwich or Newcastle (or Nigeria!) wanting £££'s more than the stuff is really worth. I think the internet has vastly inflated people's idea of what stuff is worth in cash terms in a way that is detrimental to our hobby. |
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MikeEdwards
Joined: 25 May 2011 Posts: 2480 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 9:30 am Post subject: |
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I used to buy Auto Trader (or Auto Mart, before that) every week for a period of time, and sift through it. I dropped it when I decided that I wasn't really looking for a car, but it was a welcome change when they started listing stuff in alphabetical order, as it meant I could scan through the magazine for stuff I was interested in very quickly.
To me, though, losing the print version is a bit like people abandoning traditional autojumbles in favour of eBay - in the sense that a traditional autojumble might throw up all sorts of stuff that I want to buy, but I'd never think of going on line to look for.
I still have the pages from Auto Trader that both my Vauxhalls were advertised in. It's a good job it wasn't done alphabetically then, as I'd never have found the Firenza - looking in either "V" or "F", the title of "Silver Viva coupe" wouldn't necessarily have registered. |
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Rootes75
Joined: 30 Apr 2013 Posts: 3831 Location: The Somerset Levels
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 10:12 am Post subject: |
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When I was younger and first getting into classics it was before ebay etc, we would get our local 'Trade-it' paper on a Weds and Friday iirc. We would scan the ads and there used to be loads of barn finds etc and plenty of spares ads, that's all gone now.
I found my 1937 Ford 7W advertised locally in Trade-It back in 1994, my first classic at the age of 18! I was the first person to ring about the ad on the morning the paper came out. Very glad I was too! _________________ Various Rootes Vehicles. |
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mikeC
Joined: 31 Jul 2009 Posts: 1776 Location: Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Exchange & Mart was a weekly ritual for me, along with Motor Sport every month - back in the 'Sixties Motor Sport had pages of classifieds which invariably turned up an unexpected gem. _________________ in the garage: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Recently departed: 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on! |
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Rootes75
Joined: 30 Apr 2013 Posts: 3831 Location: The Somerset Levels
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 11:47 am Post subject: |
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I see the old classifieds as something that has been killed off by ebay. It used to be nice getting the paper and phoning and chatting to a vendor, no having to bid against others or being outbid at the last second!
You don't seem to find those bargain barn finds advertised anymore, as soon as they are put on ebay the price just rockets. _________________ Various Rootes Vehicles. |
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norustplease
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 782 Location: Lancashire
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2019 11:52 am Post subject: |
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Whenever she found an Autotrader in the house, my wife always used to roll her eyes and say...'what are you up to now?' _________________ 1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV |
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Bengt Axel
Joined: 07 Sep 2008 Posts: 267 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Fri May 24, 2019 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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I think I went through the entire 1980's with inky fingers due to Autotrader. Never missed it, but miss it now! _________________ "Once bread becomes toast, it can never go back! |
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Ellis
Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 1382 Location: Betws y Coed, North Wales
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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I have got the very last edition of the North West Autotrader in front of me now and it is a shadow of the thick editions of the 1980s and 1990s.
The one I have is less than an inch in depth and the classified ads in it are so small that I need a magnifying glass rather than my reading spectacles to read them - a far cry from it's past.
Do I miss it as I did on Thursdays? The old version, yes, the one I have on my knee now, no.
A strange thing was that until the early 1990s you could not even buy an Autotrader in the Conwy Valley. The reason? It was printed in Llandudno Junction by the same printers(RE Jones Ltd) who produced The North Wales Weekly News which had a large vehicles for sale section and was published on a Thursday. _________________ Starting Handle Expert
1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet |
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Mog
Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 661 Location: Sydney
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 2:56 am Post subject: |
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The good old Exchange and Mart ! I bought my first Morgan 3- wheeler from an ad. in the Exchange and Mart . My brother drove it back from Bedford as I was too young. About 1960 , Easter time .
Saved the money up from my 7 day a week paper round ! |
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