What has changed with Hot Rod Magazine ???

I'm not allowed to talk about Hot Rod magazine - Oh Shit!

 

Been reading HOT ROD, ROD & CUSTOM, and a few others since they first came out. Sometimes from force of habit and because I kept renewing. Missed R & C when it was dropped. All rod magazines have gone through their changes, for better and for worser!
But why would anyone on vacation in Floirida need any kind of magazine to pass time? I live here and some issues still haven't been opened from months ago. Too many other things to look at and do.

 

Go sit in the corner. !

 

I always stick up for Hot Rod Magazine whenever I have the chance, they have earned it the last 5 years or so.

No, you won't see 100% HAMB related stuff as that is not their thing, but if you keep an open mind, I promise you will see some cool stuff.

Also check them out on youtube. Hot Rod has a channel where they do all manner of cool shit and video it for our entertainment. Last month, they flew to a guys house, bought a piece of shit 64 Olds convertable, worked on it in the guys driveway, then drove it all the way back to LA.

Don't forget the keep an open mind part...

-Abone.

 

i would'ent want to see them gone, they've been around for so long. i do like what see in hot rod deluxe, but that mag is to much money for me considering most of all the photos were taken long ago.

 

I have been impressed with the last three months of Hotrod.
My only gripe is the trash that they put on the covers in the past years that legislators point at to get hotrod stuff banned. I remember Bob Petersen, Wally Parks and even Ak Miller putting on suits to go to public meetings to fight for good hotrod legislation. You just don't see that class anymore.

 

I've bought every issue of Hot Rod since 1982, and have been a subscriber for over 10 years, still one of the best mags out there. Good content or not.

 

its like a friend sometimes ya get along fine sometimes ya want to kick ass ...always ends up a topic of disscussion

 

I have worked professionally in the auto industry and other industries where print editorial reviews and content is important. Never with Hot Rod but I can tell every publication I have dealt with is rotten. Print journalism is dead for the most part. Yes there are a few great writers left but they are hamstrung by their editors. Its a pay-to-play world out there where you can essentially buy articles and opinions. You can't find the real deal on the newsstand in grocery store.

 

Interesting thread. My local Books-a-Million hasn't had a new issue of R&C or Hot Rod in 3 months. I'm sure of that,because they still have the 3 month old issues on the shelf. But they do have every POS rat rod mag,seems like new ones all the time. I was starting to wonder what was happening with them,but did find the latest issues of both at a convenient store in town.

 

I liked the hot rod tractor. But the drifting was lame ( The only drifitng I ever do is just killing the motor on the boat and drift fishing ! ) And the electric 34 was real bad

 

$20.00 for 24 issues......84 cents per issue. If you can't find your money's worth in there, you are a cheap fuck. David Freiberger is a real hot rodder, and doing a great job. It's sort of like the H.A.M.B., sort through the shit, and enjoy the stuff you like. You might want to save the old issues of Hot Rod magazine.....10 or 20 years from now, you might be interested in some of the "stuff" that you passed over when the mag was new. I can spend hours looking at and reading old H/R magazines from any of the decades it was published.

 

Hmmm. I disagree. I have been buying Hot Rod new since the sixties, have back issues back to '48, Never saw primered, shoddily-built cars till the last 10 years. Either of you care to post photos of the primered, shoddily built cars they featured in the '40s-'50s-'60s? I could be wrong, I dont have EVERY issue, but I sure cant find them. When the fuel ban was on, they didnt even cover fuel racing. May not have been a direction everyone agreed with, but they definately had a direction and stuck to it...
I look at the last few issues, and I sense desperation. And yes, I am suscribed.

 

I've had a subscription for right at 50 years since my Grandmother bought it for my birthday from 1961 to 1975 when she passed away and I had to pay for it myself.

I'll have to admit that some issues don't get read much but I've been working my way though this last one in about the same mode that I did when I was 14 0r 15 and devoured every issue reading every article and every add.

 

Exactly what I thought,.... I hope this turns the tide for Hot Rod,.. and they stay the traditional course.... If they do, I will stay a subscriber.

 

Hot Rod magazine contributors, the "Bible" educating the younger generation, doesn't know the difference between: for instance a "53-54 Chevs, 35-36 Ford, 49-51 Fords,
39 Deluxe Fords and 40 Ford Standards, and other BASIC information. I find it to frustrating to read the obvious crap and end up throwing it away, and reading the older ones I have, say 48-to 68. Also they are selling the old file pictures over and over again....
Call me living in the past.
Old man living with Cancer.. Bob

 

interesting -- I hated the hot rod tractor and liked the drifting and the electric rod.
But of the three rod mags I get, I'll stick with HR, and Freiberger is the reason.

 

Huh,... A magazine getting details wrong,.... how rare !,...
But truly TRADITIONAL !!

(shoot !!!,... I always miss one of them myself !!!!)

 

Been reading Hot Rod for like 40 plus years. It has it's ups and downs and dealing with the new cars coming out I think they have just given up on them. It has been pretty good lately though. As far as print vrs internet I like both but if it weren't for Hot Rod and other mags in my mail box there wouldn't be any good news in there. Internet is good for things like this site and finding parts etc., but if it weren't for printed mags how would I fill up my Library ( restroom) and help with my daily functions? I've learned so much in there.lol. Sorry I'm not going to get a laptop to read Hot Rod in the bathroom. I'm not that good at multitasking. As my man Clint Eastwood says ."A man has got to know his limitations",lol.
The one that really sucks and has to go is my subscription to Classic Trucks and the other classic truck mag. I think there is a total of 13 pages in each.
OK just my two cents worth. Yruhot........Doug

 

I was lookin at a new one as my p/u got smoged ...... the big thing on early Hemis was cool

 

Much longer than 10 years.

 

I meant they've been hopping on another passing bandwagon since they started. Primered, shoddily built cars have only become a passing bandwagon in the past ten years.

 

Saw a restored Honda Formula 1 car, from the 60's.
Pretty crude by today's standards.

 

frielburger lost his edge hes now just another "journalist"

id like to see what would happen if steve magante became an editor hes much more a car guy then frielburger

im waiting to see the "new" hotrod issue over the last 8 maybe 10 years hot rod has SUCKED with a capitol SUCK

 

Hot rod sucks and always will. I might read it if they stop covering rat turds and modern piece of shit aluminum block BS...But thats not gonna happen. The only reason they are featuring anything "traditional" is because it's trendy right now. They'll be back to Easter egg painted pro-turds soon enough.

It's been said here, I have internet access so I don't even buy magazines anymore. It's sad to say but it's obsolete. The only mag I actually read these days is Kustoms Illustrated.

 

it cost me 5 bucks a year, and i still learn stuff from other venues of the car world may it be hot rods, muscle cars,v-dubs or whatever, well worth the money i'd say.

 

don't knock em too much if it wasnt for hot rod magazine we probably wouldnt be here as who else recorded the roots of the hobby and is still here

 

Doesnt really matter what I want, but I DONT really want to see Hot Rod go "tradtitional", its not thier niche and never has been, besides, its a niche that is already capably filled. I would like to see Hot Rod get back to what it does best, stop desperately grasping at the "shock rods and gassers" straw, and get back to being a broad based "everyones hot rod mag" style magazine. The electric '34 didnt do anything for me personally, but its definately something that belongs in Hot Rod, and would have been in there in the sixties, if it had been around.
I am also a big fan of Frieburger, but I felt he was a better fit at Car Craft. When he was editor there, I was actually looking forward to every issue, since he moved on to Hot Rod, I occasionally pick up Car Craft on the newstand, page through it, and usually put it back. He REALLY GETS the grass-roots, bucks-down street racer/weekend warrior ethic, none of his replacements do, and he was a perfect fit with Car Craft. Thats what he does best, and he cant really do it at Hot Rod.
Hot Rod is in a tough spot right now, it seems like most of the magazines that do well in the new 'internet is all ' world are magazines that find a narrow niche, and fill it REALLY well. Magazines like TRJ and Rod & Kulture are doing well. But Hot Rod has never been a niche magazine, so I am not sure how it is going to fit into the new scheme of things.
Hey Hot Rod, or Hot Rod Deluxe, how about an article stacking up 392, 354 and early 331 Hemi heads on the flowbench? Now THAT would be something I'd like to see! You could follow that by doing the same deal with the different Olds Rocket and Desoto/Red Ram heads. Do that, safe to say I would renew my subscription for sure.

 

I purchased the June issue after glancing thru it thinking it was Hot Rod Deluxe... after I started reading I noticed a mix of new stuff and thought "what the heck" and re-looked at the cover and realized it was Hot Rod... first one I've bought since... ? in years and I pleasantly surprised...

 

It is longer than ten years, but as I get older, my mind has a tendency to compress time.Jim, I do get what you are saying, but in the past, Hot Rod always held to a certian standard. Even when they covered ugly-ass custom vans, they covered really nicely done ugly-ass custom vans. The last several issues all trumpeted either shock-rods or gassers, which to me, smells like desperation and a loss of editorial direction, thats what I am driving at. Its like they are saying "hey, look at us, we may be late to the party, but we get it. We're HIP, We're COOL!"
Dont get me wrong, the '56 chevy in the last issue is acceptable material for Hot Rod, its a slick car, and unlike most of the "gassers" around, it does actually LOOK like a real gasser. I'm not saying this because THAT car was featured in Hot Rod, the point is, that all of a sudden, Hot Rod is DESPERATE to be on the "retro" bandwagon. At the same time, I have noticed the magazine is thinner, and they are becoming less "tech" oriented. I smell blood in the water.