What has changed with Hot Rod Magazine ???

I bought the June issue for the early hemi article. As suspected, it was basically a large ad for one company. (even though I did get mentioned, I was not happy with the way one of my products was presented) Thats what happens when you are the little guy.

 

you have a computer in the bathroom? that's livin la vida loca!

 

Dave Freiberger returned as the editor in chief ... he is innovative and a hot rodder. He has the pulse of the readers ... some new stuff but some retro and it is ... plus he is just folks and not full of himself.

 

Sounds to me like you need an "IPad" for your traveling excursions!!!

 

Well 1 more vote for David he knows what I like. I read the LS stuff in the closet and yes I do have one and twin turbos for it !! but I also have a flat motor a hemi a olds , small block ford and chevy. A little change is nice sometime !!

 

I subscribed from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. When Pat Gahnal left, I did too. I switched to Rod and Custom and Street Rodder for 10 years or so, then got out of magazines altogether. I pick up one every once in a while now just to have something in the truck to read when I have a waiting period.

Times change, cars change, people's likes change. The mainstream car mags have always tried to be on top of what was hot at that time, even if it was custom vans, economy cars with giant fender flares and whale tails, or computer controlled turbo'ed FWD rice rockets. I'd say the 16-25 year old crowd are the market of most mags, what ever they are doing will make it into print because they have the money to spend. Us older guys have family and commitments and can't blow money on the latest gizmo like the young'ns can.

There are exceptions, however, some of the young guys want something different than the latest fart pipe or neon strobe light tag frame. They look back to the past, to cars that us older guys have seen all of our lives and see new ways to have something different and cool. They don't know how many ways there are to stuff a different engine in a Camaro or 55 Belair, they weren't there like most of us were, so if enough of them get to doing that kind of stuff the mags soon follow. We get to see stuff we like, they get to learn old school stuff, and our hobby get carried on to the next generation.

I doubt custom vans and IMSA styled street cars will come back, but well done hot rods will always be in style, and hopefully there will be some kind of media to cover them.

 

Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding for 20 years. thrown others in but come back to these 3.
All 3 are driven by advertising, so you get a story about installing whatever kit is available.
All 3 magazines are about $3/ month, about $1/ hour of entertainment, its worth it to me, Im not taking my phone or laptop into the crapper.
If I want real tech, I log onto the HAMB

 

Im really happy with what has happened to these mags for the most part, Ive renewed for multi years on R&C,Hot Rod,Pop HR,HR Deluxe,Car Craft,and some o/t stuff................street rodder still in the lame side of the deal for me to many ad's for crap outa china

 

I think Dave has done a great job with the magazine. A few years ago, there was a corporate trend happening, and all of the magazines were being bought up by giant media corporations, who would hold them for a few years, downsize them, eliminate some of the publications, and then sell the company to the next highest bidder. Each time, the budgets got smaller, the employee numbers were smaller, and the editors were suppressed by upper management, who were solely looking out for shareholder value and not actual readable material. The magazines were awful, and you couldn't blame the guys on the staff. They got dealt a bad hand, and they tried like hell to make the best of it. I had a lot of compassion for the editors who had to deal with that mentality.

Dave comes back, and as the resourceful hot rodder that he is, realizes that the magazine is dying, and they had to revive it. Dave and his crew started doing articles on road trips, thrashes, rebuilds of old magazine feature cars, and other thing to get people interested again. The creation of Hot Rod Deluxe was pure genius. The Petersen photo archives are a treasure trove, and seeing pictures that have never been printed before is awesome.

Sometimes, the magazine has articles that don't appeal to me, but that's to be expected. You can't appeal to everyone, no matter how you try because we're all different. It's not a one-size-fits-all. Hot Rod was the first magazine I ever subscribed to when I was a Junior in high school. I wore those issues out reading them so much. Hopefully, there's a young hot rodder doing the same thing with the current issues.

One of these days, I'll meet Dave and thank him personally. From the time I read my first issue, I have a real connection to Hot Rod Magazine, and I'm glad to see that it's being ran by a guy who feels the same way.

 

I chat occasionally with one of the Senior Hot Rod staff members, his taste is very good and his history knowlege base of American Manufacturing is very high being a complete enthusiast in that area - I'll mention this thread to him ..

 

Newsflash....buying articles and opinions goes back to the beginning.

I don't know when it happened, but hot rod and custom car magazines have almost always been irreverent and pretty light-hearted EVEN when it comes to pimping a product. Somewhere along the line, hot rod journalism became "important" somehow. Our (car guys) magazines were just magazines. Time, Newsweek, Saturday Evening Post, et al., THEY were the SERIOUS, journalistic magazines, not "car mags".

What we have here is a perfect example of a collective taking themselves way too seriously.

Oh. Also.... Where, exactly IS the "real deal" from the above quote? It's where you find it, YOU have to find the nuggets of truth and wisdom and decide what is bunk. Be it internet, print or word of mouth.

I'm gonna go drive my buggy in a bit!

 

"Readers" are the commodity, no longer the customer.

 

I've read Hot Rod off and on for over 35yrs and they have had ups and downs, but I've always enjoyed the magazine and its quest to try to cover a "broader spectrum" of the car hobby. I'll keep on buying it for sure.

 

As a subscriber and fan of Hot Rod since 1962 Regardless of editorial content, I just have to say, that for the money, it has been a lot of cheap entertainment for me and besides, I have managed to collect all the issues along the way...no problem with past content or current editorial directions....along for the ride., who am I to criticise ? Talk about collection of photos.....Somebody needs to scan every issue of Hot Rod to a cd...All these old car magazines a big slug to deal with and have no value...but like old friends, amazing to sit and spread out a whole year from several decades ago. So , say what you want about Hot Rod , but let me go on record as having been satisfied with my subscription all these years and they never missed or have been late,{even in Viet Nam}... are you kidding me ...what other buisness since 1948 are you dealing with...How can you talk trash about them.Amazing amount of work to get done monthly and regardless of who was doing it did a great job...I have never seen an issue I didnt find something of interest...Good job HOT ROD...and good job to all the past journalists that added to the LEGEND !