WTF Hot Rod Magazine?

pagrunt

Geezer
Sep 14, 2014
9,168
15,349
113
Elderton, Pa
I know readership of print has gone down greatly & lots of good magazines have left us. But there were a few still around even if they weren't as good as they used to be. Then there was what I saw today at the magazine section at the one grocery store I go to, the new Hot Rod magazine. Picked it up & thought it was cool being a little thicker than that have been. Cool, are they getting back to the readers who are left? Nope. Saw on the cover it's quarterly & $14.99. WTF??? There 's not three months of articles in it but it's priced as such. The editorial stated it was a higher power decision to go this route with the start of they 76th year of Hot Rod. It was a kick in the azz back when they dropped most of they collective titles & didn't give a refund for the just renewed subscriptions to Car Craft & Muscle Car Review. Now I guess it's the suck it up & accept way.
 
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old80cs

G-Body Guru
Jun 27, 2013
626
2,057
93
Massachusetts
Been a subscriber to HR since 1984, I’m dropping it when it expires. Got my first quarterly issue in a few weeks ago and while a cool retro Pro Street issue with cars I remember very well, it didn’t change my mind. Only car magazine left that I get will be Hemming’s Muscle Car.
 
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Nov 4, 2012
6,014
12,730
113
Motortrend has been on a downhill spiral since Roadkill started requiring their MTOD subscription to view the latest episode. I subbed to MTOD for one year and dropped it and I don't miss it. I refuse to even watch the television channel that comes with my cable subscription out of spite.
 
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carnutjw

G-Body Guru
Sep 17, 2017
621
1,465
93
Unfortunately Hot Rod is headed the way of the dodo bird. I obviously don't know the details of Motortrend's financials, but it seems as if they are just trying to choke it out. It's been going downhill since Petersen sold it off. I loved Car Craft, and Muscle Car Review WAS my all time favorite car mag. I currently get Hagerty's Drivers Club magazine with my insurance package and I thoroughly enjoy it- my new favorite. It's bi monthly, has articles about road trips, patina, old hot rods, Bonneville, Rally cars, Nascar, cars and music, car movies, oddball restoration shops, articles each issue by Jay Leno, Wayne Carini, Rob Siegel. All over the place in the best of ways.
 
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Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Jan 4, 2009
4,904
7,013
113
Wellston, OK
PHR and Muscle Car Review were my favorites. I did sub to Car Craft for a while, but Argus always had better magazines/articles than Peterson.

I'm still mad about Pete Pesterre passing
 

Bonnewagon

Lost in the Labyrinth
Supporting Member
Sep 18, 2009
10,564
14,298
113
Queens, NY
I have been a subscriber forever. I thought the quarterly concept would be OK if they squeezed three months content into a single issue, just to save on printing. WRONG! Every other page is a full page ad. Screw this. Worse, they had finally been moving away from the 'red-camaro-of-the-month' scheme and it had actually gotten interesting again. I think negative feedback may wake them up, but if not, I won't be subscribing any more. I have Hemmings, and POCI Smoke Signals to keep me busy.
 
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melloelky

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 22, 2017
4,162
9,569
113
mass
it's been heart breaking to see these mags go to the wayside,they were my youth.i learned so much early on from my older brothers HRM collection before i subscribed to CC.it was a real grass roots time back then.the chevy hub style mags that are around now just aren't the same.
 
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RICKDIZZLE

Master Mechanic
Sep 16, 2014
250
218
43
There are a few magazines that I subscribed too...that I will no longer renew after the current subscription ends. They all seem to be playing the, raise the cost, produce and send less by going bi-monthly or quarterly and cut the actual content by filling w ads. I was livid when one did that to me mid subscription. So I called and raised heck and they "extended it" for free...I was like that is false advertising and bad business practices to allow people to subscribe to 12 issues for 12 months then go to 6 or 4 and not even tell the subscriber.
 
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08Malibu

Royal Smart Person
Feb 9, 2014
1,455
3,420
113
North Jersey
I had a subscription to HRM from 1985, when I was 5, until 2018 or so. I used to read those issues cover to cover multiple times, especially the yearly paint and body specials. Hell I kept almost every issue until I moved. These days I can’t remember the last time I actually picked up a magazine and read it.
 
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86LK

Royal Smart Person
Jul 23, 2018
1,976
2,042
113
I had a subscription to HRM from 1985, when I was 5, until 2018 or so. I used to read those issues cover to cover multiple times, especially the yearly paint and body specials. Hell I kept almost every issue until I moved. These days I can’t remember the last time I actually picked up a magazine and read it.
I still have a lot of the HRM/Car Craft/PHR , etc, issues from the 80s-90s. there was one article they did on a fullsize 67 Impala (like the one I have) that was not stripped and was pulling fast 1/4 miles. I've still got that same issue somewhere in the magazine storage boxes on my shelves.

sold off my Import Sport from the early 90s on eBy last year. got a as much as I paid for them, what an investment! :ROFLMAO:
 

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