Art & Inspiration Hot rod magazine 9/23

In the 50-60-70’s HR did explain it and show it… Jim… things are different now and there are easier to follow better resources. HR is not in the business of helping you replace the dash in your Corvette. If you still like the magazine that’s fine, I just don’t and after Covid I can’t share the ones I do by leaving them at Doctors or Dentist offices. The world is not going back to when we had what we remember as cool stuff…

 

Yes, it has changed...but some of us like to keep up with some of the change. There's still a lot going on that's interesting to many people, and HRM continues to cover some of it.

I'm not the same kid I was when I started reading the magazine, but that's ok.

 

I have REQUIRED every HELPER ive ever had to SUSCRIBE lol
true story , at 56 just passed year 32 on the clock ,,, just doin what i can
to influence our youth ..
fabricator john
miss you dad

 

Like a corvair on steroids!

 

Started a new sub about 6 months ago. 34 Coupe is a nice build but paint not my choice. 10 pages is a lot for 1 car. Rest of mag was thin reading. Still miss Hot Rod Deluxe. MantuaJohn

 

I wish they would bring back Car Craft....

 

I emailed them last week to please bring back Hot Rod Deluxe.

 

I just got my issue today. Colby's coupe feature, written by Bill Ganahl was incredible! A greater feeling my tired eyes scanning actual PAPER than a screen. Editor McGann stated on last page, only TWO on staff.....We ALL can see it coming, BUT maybe the tide will shift before the end. Coonan is obviously TRYING to make good with these posts of OUR neighbors in Australia and Canada getting issues. One can only hope....
The hobby/ sport lived BEFORE Throttle magazine, AND internet. Doesn't mean I care to see those books and mags vanish.

 

Another one I walked right past at Pomona last winter. Not into shock therapy, so it’s just not my style and I had no interest, especially when there were so many other cars that, in my opinion, were more tasteful.

 

You’ll know for sure if HRM is going to expire when they start offering lifetime subscriptions...

 

I’m all for keeping Hot Rod in printed (magazine) format. However (just my .02 cents) that 34’ Coupe screams 1990s graphics. Fugly…

 

The paint job on the ‘34 is a rip off of the helicopter paint in the Magnum PI TV series. Saw it at the GNRS in February and liked the outside the box thinking.

 

wow...I never saw that show, but it explains everything. Thanks. The paint scheme works on a helicopter fuselage, but non on a car body.

 

Every time I see that car that's the first thing I think of, TC's Hughes lol

 

Never could understand the why the issues were dated 2 months ahead of the actual date...

 

There is a lesson to be learned here when we talk about the possible demise of a hot rodding Icon. Think about all the times people have said they quit purchasing other magazines or won't purchase ones currently available because they aren't totally dedicated to the niche many on here thrive on. So when other hot rod venues become ignored because they open their doors to a larger cross section of hot rodding in order to survive, they may pass on as well. Do we really think that refusing to participate in events or purchase written media bodes well for our hobby. You don't know what you've got till its gone..............

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2842599415999879

 

Subscriptions aren't where the money comes from. Those numbers help sales.

Advertisers fund the magazines, the circulation numbers help the sales team sell ads. Supporting the advertisers and letting them know you bought because of their ads in mags is what is ultimately going to keep mags in print.

 

Not to mention un-constitutional.

 

bought my first HOT ROD magazine in 1972. subscribed and or bought every issue until around 1990 or so.

I don't remember the last time I even looked at a magazine at the store.

I miss the old days when I bought 4 or 5 car magazines every month. every thursday me and my buddies went to the "Bottle Shop" liquor store to read and buy magazines. we used to ride our bikes down there as kids.

 

I'll buy that 1 issue. I love that 34 and the fact that there can never be another just seals the deal for me. All the negative reviews? Well they just hit the bullseye with another dart, I mean why just do "...and everyone will love this..."? Too easy. Even when you do something more mainstream you can still raise a finger. Swillco's black roadster comes to mind and some dude did a similar trick to an old Vette. Who doesn't like a red Vette or a black hiboy? But they're better when served with "hot sauce" sometimes. Just sayin, and thanks for the heads up.

 

Last time I looked at Walmart, their magazine rack didn’t even have any automotive magazines at all. Don’t even know where I could buy one now if I wanted to.

 

Bring back Rod & Custom.

 

I agree. The car had so much attitude in bare metal, that I assumed it was going to become more boring when painted. That wasn't the case. I thought the paint was awesome from the first time I saw it, and it keeps getting cooler to me. This is an issue of the magazine that I can't wait to buy and read. You don't make a splash by painting that car black, red, blue, etc. Then it's just another 34. The cars that make a splash do something outrageously different, and this car is it. I respect the courage it takes to go that outrageous and nail it. It's not timeless, but it's cool today. Some here obviously don't agree, but there's a reason it's getting so much attention.

 

I think the July issue actually gets removed from the newsstands in July. Someone asked that question once in Hot Rod Magazine and that was the answer given.

 

Walmart doesn’t carry much for magazines anymore. My local grocery store, Publix, still carries it. I still see it on a lot of airport newsstands.

 

My first subscription began in February 1958 and continues until today. The magazine is but a mere shadow of its former self. It is now a numbered picture book without life or soul . David Freiburg was the last hands on editor that could put his passion into words that I could identify and feel part of. Technically the magazine still exists but passion, feelings, and excitement are gone. Look back into the days when Wally Parks, Don Fransisco, Tex Smith, Ray Brock and so many others wrote in ways that drew us into the scene. For me, it was Rod & Custom for the traditional hot rodding and Hot Rod for inform on the hot rod world in general. Articles from Will Handel and Frieburger about Bonneville adventures, or Brock following Indy or reporting on what the factories were doing for hot rodders brought us into the articles as though we were there. After Pete died, the company went through several owners that had absolutely no passion for our world, only they were bean counters and it shows. I keep my subscription alive because I still hope it will pull itself back from the cliff, put itself back on track and find its soul again. The 75th anniversary issue was great. Not so much before or after. Thanks for letting me rant. I am 75, owned 105 cars in my life. Been involved with Bonneville and the lakes, drag raced, ran sprint cars, built and rebuilt hot rods. My current ride is a deuce hiboy roadster with hemi power and a 1968 El Camino that has been in my family since it was purchased new on April 4th, 1968. I am slowly doing one last build on it with a heart and lung transplant including a destroked 400 down to 377 with a modified tpi, full roller cam system with custom wiring and ecm backed up by a world class T5 from an 89 IROC Z. Somebody asked me why I was still doing this and my answer was, "because I ain't dead yet, that's why!".

 

I used to love Hot Rod, telling people (my customers) that I learned more about working on cars by reading the magazine than from going to auto classes at the junior college. The magazine had good clear photography and informative articles on modifying what you had and what to look for at the junkyard. Now the few pages that aren't ads more often than not are artsy overfiltered pictorials of high dollar cars and very little offered in the way of the technical side of the build. The only things that for me feel the way Hot Rod magazine used to be are actually things like Engine Masters, Roadkill, and David Vizard YouTube channels.
Besides all of that blabbering, we have a nice local magazine done in a style of the older "Hot Rod" called "Hill Country Car Culture Magazine" . So print is not dead!

 

It started going down hill when they took the "For Sale" ad's off of the last few page's and replaced them with more corporate advertisement's. JMO

 

Bought the first HRM I've got in years at Walmart Wed. The '34 is one of the coolest coupes I've seen in years.