Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Hi all,

The topic comes up from time to time, but do you still buy old-car magazines?

At one time, I'd buy several per month regularly. Now I just tend to get The Automobile, and occasionally a copy of Motor Sport, Classic Van and Pickup, or one of the weeklies. I also receive a couple of club magazines each month, which are usually a worthwhile read.

Cost is one reason for me not buying as often as I used to, plus the same old subjects tend to get re-gurgitated ad nauseam. One title, which I won't name but used to be a worthwhile read, feels like it's now a sounding post for its editorial staff's opinions, and a home for their expansive collection of selfies which repeatedly appear in print, online, at shows etc etc - a bit too much "look at me" if I'm honest. Just stick to the subject matter, IMO.

RJ
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[peter scott]

I have a few from 25 years ago and a selection of the JDC club mags. "Jaguar Driver" but I opted out of paper copies a year or so back. The on-line copy is a bit of a faff but it saves me from having to take ruthless decisions about retaining old copies.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[alastairq]

I agree with the sentiments regard PC. [I assume that's what Rick is on about?]

I have randomly bought one or two..depends on whether I fancy having a lounge about and a read?

I did get a subscription to Automobile..if only to read certain contributors.
[As a teenager, when asked, I would suggest a subscription to Road & Track.. largely because LJK Setright was a frequent columnist, plus they had superior quality publishing to home grown stuff]

I admit to being hugely depressed by all the chatter regarding how well values and prices are doing......for, with every trumpeted increase, the further out of reach old motors become. Once out of reach, they hold little but a superficial interest to me. Nowadays, the only affordable old stuff [I am now confirmed as a pensioner, GOG, OAP, drain on the country's resources, mobile roadblock, downright dangerous, hooligan driver and a definite victim of 'shouldn't be allowed''..]....I see stems from an era which, automotively, lost its appeal to me. [too much plastic]...Thus, I try to avoid the various 'Marts' that appear.

[Rootes75]

I used to buy magazine occasionally, not every month. I think they are all too pricey now anyway.
Its much more interesting reading the Mai site and getting likeminded advice on the forum.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[mikeC]

I will buy the occasional magazine if there's an article of particular interest, but I find the standard of journalism is so appalling that I get no pleasure from 90% of the articles.

I used to buy the Automobile quite regularly, but I find their obsession with the oily rag concept too much now; I like a well preserved original car as much as the next man, but praising the 'preservation' of a thoroughly tatty specimen which isn't even in its original paint (for instance) quite ridiculous.
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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!

[MikeEdwards]

I don't buy anywhere near as many as I used to. For me, the NEC show is a good opportunity to get a free or cheap copy of current magazines, and maybe a special offer or two. Last month I came back with Practical Classics, Classic Cars, 2x Retro Ford magazines, Car Mechanics, a couple of issues of Classic Motoring and the current Octane magazine, for a total of a couple of pounds. I took out a trial subscription to Octane, five issues for a fiver, which I do quite often.

If there's something I particularly want, then I might go out on a limb and buy one, but I have a narrow set of interests really.

[lowdrag]

This cropped up recently elsewhere. I used to take Octane since inception and C&SC for 30 years but dropped them both. No new classic cars are being made and everything gets regurgitated every few years and I found that more and more space was taken up with advertising than editorial. In brief, they got boring. I am not currently a member of any club except a small local one, so I am completely magazine free.

[GARAGE HERMIT]

i used to buy quite a lot of car mag's in the 1980's, but not now, they're too expensive, and as other's have mentioned, repeat the same stuff over and over again, plus i know everything about car's now,
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1957 - 103e - popular,

[badhuis]

I will not try to make an original answer because I agree with most what has been said here.

It seems the mags are not interested in an original story anymore. Sometimes I browse through C&SC or Classic Car in the hope to find a well written article (these mags used to have good articles) but mostly it is a repeat, more of the same again.

So no more magazines (just The Automobile) except the car club magazines. Jensen Club mag is good, as is Club Triumph and the Imp Club all of which I have been a member for over 20 years.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[petelang]

Most magazines I have bought I find the "technical" articles are aimed at complete novice restorers and basically totally boring as they never get into the subject matter properly. Of later years they are trending towards more modern vehicles, as I suppose you would expect, and considering the way things are going it's all "...remove the part, chuck it in the bin and buy another one", instead of actually repairing anything.
If any components fail on my cars I always endeavour to take it apart and do my darnedest to mend it, whatever that takes. Well, today's replacements seem to have no longevity anyway apart from cost of replacement. Plus, where is the joy in just swapping bits? If you understand what has failed it's often a good diagnostic tool to preventing the next one expiring prematurely too due to external influence.
Other than that, considering the amount of paid advertising content, and conversely, the lack of real article content, they seem extremely expensive for what you get.
Some ancient "club" magazines I have seen were a joy to read, members taking great pains to explain technicalities and describing how jobs were achieved. If someone was to replicate that today I would be inclined to buy but not the present commercial trash.
Peter

[Rootes75]

I used to like reading the 'rust in pieces' in Practical Classics but upon looking through a copy not too long ago it had a couple of cars from the 80's featured, more like cars that just haven't been scrapped yet, not classics.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Ellis]

At one time I used to buy Practical Classics, Popular Classics, Classic and Sportscar, Classic Car, My Classic and others every month. Now I don't buy any.

Cost is not the only factor. One of the most popular ones read more like Car and Car Conversions in the late 1990s and it merged with another. The remainder have either ceased publication or had become "spot the classic car feature" among the adverts.

In 2008 I decided to purge my stock of magazines and was shocked at both the numbers I had to dispose of and the amount I had spent.

I still have Practical Classics issue number 1.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[MikeEdwards]

[Keith D]

I have been (and still am) a subscriber of "Restored Cars", an Australian publication that has been in the newsagents since the early seventies. Eddie Ford, the owner/editor, has changed the format slightly over the years to include tractors, trucks, and aircraft, all associated in some way with Australia. He has included features on local trucking and bus companies. Several of the contributors are well respected motor historians. The last issue included very interesting features on the Boeing B-29, steam cars, Foden trucks in Tasmania as well as many restoration stories with photographs.

I have the complete set and haven't felt the need to bother with any other magazine for many years.

Keith
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1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[RogerB]

I'm lucky as I get 'The Automobile' free from a friend of mine in exchange for 'Flight Past' & 'The Aeroplane' magazines, which I get free from another friend who gets them free from the person who bought them. So I get to read the best mags. for free...

Mostly I find the Automobile mag.very good (does anyone want a selection of the Automobile mags from 1995 to 1998/ Going free....)

However, my 'supplier' of The Automobile is 93 years old.....

Re Classic car magazines; I have for some months now been researching and writing about RedeX and I have asked various classic car magazine editors two things- would they like to print the articles, and would they include a letter from me asking for any RedeX/Wayne V Myers & Co. personnel to contact me?

Guess what....not a single reply.....

Rogerb