(Stroking long, white beard) Remember magazines? In the pre-internet era, when ink on paper ruled, magazines were essentially your only entrée to the gated worlds of everything from fancying cats to semi-pro sewing, from building model airplanes to fishing competitively. And of course, the full scope of cardom beyond whatever was rolling around your hometown was available at your favorite newsstand, if not arriving directly in your mailbox once a month.
As I’m sure was also true for many of you, Car and Driver and Road & Track were staples in the Vieira household. Those subscriptions were re-upped faithfully, and Motor Trend was added to the mix whenever a good subscription deal presented itself, or whenever individual issues caught Dad’s eye. As a model builder, I picked up Scale Modeler and Auto Modeler on the regular, and as soon as a 1974 Super Beetle became my daily transpo to school, Hot VW was frequently read over a bowl of cereal before heading to Seekonk High School.
As the internet grew and magazine sales slumped, I held onto good ol’ ink and paper longer than most, probably because I was in the magazine-making business by then as a staffer at RC Car Action – and also because in those pre-smartphone days, lugging a laptop into the bathroom was a real hassle.
Today, The Autopian is in my pocket wherever I go, as well as all those print titles that transitioned from paper to pixels. We get our car news, entertainment, and info as quickly as it can be reported, and there’s way more of it, as there’s no limit to virtual pages. I’m glad I got to experience both worlds, the disconnected one we all knew before 1996 or so, and the modern realm of unlimited information and instant access, for better or worse. But I do miss the thrill of finding a fresh glossy magazine curled in the mailbox.
Your turn: What Were / Are Your Favorite Car Magazines?Â
Top graphic images: Model Cars; Petersen’s Kit Car; Hot VW; Car and Driver; Road & TrackÂ
Loved Car and Driver and Road & Track in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and on into the early 2000s. I subscribed to them starting in about 1986 when I became an emancipated adult. Loved Peter Egan, some of the opinionated, irreverent columnists and Car & Driver. Subscribed to Automobile for a while and liked how it started out, but it later got to be a little too high falutin and sort of weirdly David E. Davis worshipy and I dropped it. Dropped Car & Driver next, maybe 10-15 years ago, don’t remember exactly, but new car trends and the magazines seemed more focused on Exotics, Trucks and SUVs, just not my thing. Hung on to Road & Track out of habit until a few years ago.
I used to read them from cover to cover or at least most of it as soon as I got them, but not that many new cars interest me, and once again, the focus seemed to be on exotics, and way too much truck and SUV thrown in for my taste. Then they went all arty and themey with them. Anyway, they sat on my bed stand for months after I got them and got read more out of a sense of obligation than desire, and certainly not cover to cover, than I dropped it.
Dabbled in Hemmings, Motorweek, Motor Trend and the British magazine Classic and Sportscar over the years too.
The one I would still read, and did read from cover to cover as soon as I got it, was Hemmings Sports and Exotic, they wrote about the cars I was interested in, then they cancelled it 6 or 7 years ago. Sad Trombone.
I loved Road & Track. Henry Manney was their European corespondent and his writing was hilarious, even if, at 12, I didn’t get all the jokes. I also had an uncle in England who would send me issues of Motor Sport where I was introduced to the immortal Denis Jenkinson. Great introduction to the world of Auto Racing
The British ones. Autocar in the 90s and 2000s was pretty good if you wanted to read honest and unfiltered thoughts about cars. In recent years though they seem to have turned slightly towards the business and industry side of things.
I also liked Car for their great stories, often accompanied by compelling photography. The best ones are not the wank fests (“I went to this exotic country and this car is great!”) but the ones with personal insights, like industry scoops or culture-driven stuff.
C&D from the 80s to now, as well as Collectable Automobile, of which I have almost every issue published. Autoweek also when it was a weekly. During college when my wife worked in the campus library I even got a bunch of my old C&Ds bound into hardcover annual books, which was surprisingly cheap to do taking advantage of the tons of mags the library was getting done.
Outside of cartopia, I also was heavily into Stereo Review until they transformed into Stereo & Video Review, when I lost interest. Loved the Reader Service cards to circle the numbers of the ads to get additional info mailed out to you. In general I got any and every audio equipment brochure I could get my hands on, and got much merriment from those early “Japolese” ad copy translations. I also was a subscriber to High Fidelity, and loved National Lampoon and MAD Magazine. The Bulgemobile ads in Nat Lamp were freaking fantastic, and a scan of the 1930s one is my Win(blows) wallpaper!
Car & Driver forever. Subscribed here because some of the writing reminds of the old Brock Yates and David E. Davis stuff. Keep up the good work!
Back in the day, R&T for road tests and oh-so comprehensive vehicle data (I mean, Driver Comfort Rating, Steering Index, Wear Index?). C/D for long form stories and snark. I treasure my C/D copy containing the David E. Davis BMW 2002 review that got Davis fired.
Waaay back, weird Road Test magazine, which refused to take advertising and was eager to attack any vehicle it perceived as garbage. Famous cover headlines in 1964 included: “Dodge Coronet – Is this car really necessary?” and “Mustang Fastback – Just think: a $2600 car for only $3295.” Road Test disappeared after it became a cheerleader for the Rover 2000 and Renault 10/16 models, all of which turned out to be unreliable, odd, and/or just too weird for the American public.
On a tangent: in high school I worked as a darkroom technician for a custom black & white film processing lab. We printed a lot of photos from pro photographers for publication in motorcycle mags like Street Chopper and Chopper Guide. Mostly attractive young women in bikinis or less caressing aftermarket motorcycle handlebars, exhaust pipes, and the like. Quite an education for a 16 year old Beached Wail.
C&D, R&T, Hemmings (probably the only 14 year old buying that back in the day) Kit Car, Classic and Sports car when I could splurge, Autotrader, The WantAdverstiser, Automobile, Evo. And anything else I could get my hands on. I was obsessed.
Gotta give a shoutout to Grasroots Motorsports, because they featured my car once.
Ooh. I forgot about GRM. Good callout.
I had a subscription to the four biggies at one point or another (sometimes more than one). I think C&D was my favorite. Sadly, the only print magazine I get now is Foreign Affairs, and that’s for work, not for fun.
Crankshaft magazine. Current magazine devoted to classic and vintage cars. Very high quality and interesting to read.
Autoweek was my favorite. Reviews felt more honest, less suck-upy. Plus the raciong coverage was great in the era before regular F1 race access. Once it switched to biweeekly, the quality fell off. But I still miss it.
I used to get so many, but Car Magazine and Classic and Sports Car (or something like that) were probably most consistent. Automobile, too, until they started to go downhill.
I really enjoyed CD back in the 90’s. Excellent writers. I couldn’t afford to subscribe to the Euro rags like Top Gear, Evo, or Car; but I would read them at Barnes over a Latte and lust over all the cool cars we couldn’t get.
Does Hoes on Harleys count? Lol
Like in excavators?
Different type of hos!
I just have to add that I have a giant box of car magazines in my office from when I was a kid…late 80’s and 90’s era C&D’s, Autoweeks, Road & Tracks, Motor Trend, Automobile, etc. I subscribed to all of them.
I look wistfully at the box but haven’t allowed myself to start rummaging in it because I know that once I start, it will be weeks before I come up for air!
I’ve whittled my collection down to a few random magazines now. Ones that were so off on the cover (New Beetle!!) and ones that had legends before they were legends (The New Jeep TJ). Neat to read what was thought about a new model before it was out – and what we know know.
I had a sub to Car and Driver from the late 70s into the mid-oughts–the late DED Jr era and the John Phillips-era articles are my faves. Phillips’ articles still frequently make me snicker, with old standouts of his Camel Trophy article in the early 90s, the Escalade EXT review in the early 2000s, and more recently, his recent Porsche 911 Dakar review. I still have a handful of C/Ds around from the 70s and 80s (Cannonball!).
I loved getting Autoweek in the mailbox every couple weeks; it was an honor to meet Denise McCluggage in the late 90s, after having read her pieces regularly. I dropped AW when the frequency of publishing got slashed.
Automobile was always nicely written and laid out, but I think I dropped that in the early 2000s.
Almost every cent I made mowing lawns in the ’60’s went for C&D, R&T, the occasional Sport Car Graphic, Flying Models and such. The ’70’s money went to most of those and Dirt Bike, Motocross Action, Hot VWs, National Lampoon, Rolling Stone and the occasional High Times. By the ’80’s most of my money got soaked up by old Porsches and BMWs and a first wife.
Great times…
I’ve had a running subscription to Car and Driver since 1993 or so, and also currently get Road & Track as well. Over the years Motor Trend, Off-Road, Auto Week, Top Gear, and Scale Auto have arrived in my mailbox. Thumbing through a magazine will always be more satisfying to me than looking at a screen (no offense, guys).
Sigh. Now I feel all melancholy and nostalgic.
Agreed- I wasted too much time today reading previously missed obits for Jean Lindamood Jennings. Turbo Melancholy with a Supercharged Sorrow.
That mode of communication is lost forever.
Automobile (RIP Jean Jennings)
I’d missed her passing a year ago. Very sad.
She added serious life to TWO big auto journalism icons.
Car and Driver, above all
AutoWeek
Hemmings Motor News
Automotive News
Amazingly, three of the four are still in print, and still arrive in my mailbox.
Speak some German? The Austrian „Auto Revue“ is simply one of the best car magazines on the planet 🙂
Car & Driver
Road & Track
Autoweek
At some point, I cannot remember when/where/who, I was introduced to Car magazine. Being an American, it was a breath of fresh air. I had a local bookshop order a copy for me.
I got a huge box of Automobile when I was 13 and read them each several times. I loved the stories and writing and it made me want to be an auto journalist. After that I started reading car blogs and ended up on Jalopnik, so I guess Automobile wins for me.
I have a healthy respect for GRM and love their forum but I don’t usually buy their magazines.
VW & Porsche magazine, which later became European Car. And Automobile Magazine… I’ve pretty much got every issue as a subscriber.
I honestly never liked Road and Track, or Car and Driver at all, over all the years I’ve been reading auto mags.
I know car guys (and girls) often detest Consumer Reports as a source of car info, but I read that too for car ratings (not reviews) until maybe ten years ago.