What car mags do you buy/rate these days?

[scooters]

With the cost of these I tend to limit it to a couple a month.

 

PC seems to have picked up since Hopkins took over and I applaud the allocation of serious tech space to M. Glover

 

Classic Car Monthly seems to have gone downhill recently - qualification for becoming a car journalist on the mag these days seems to be - 'be under 20 and have a double barrelled name' - it just annoys me.

 

Classic & Sport Car - always a good read

 

Car Mechanic - this is a rea gem for the shitter and makes buying and running 90's and more modern chod a practical reality. It also justifies why you are a shitter as reading it it is frightening how bad some mechanic's knowledge is about certain topics EFI systems being a case point. Last year there was a large section on reparing EFI systems as too many mechanics do not understand them and replace components willynilly resulting in customers with huge bills for a £5 connector replacement.

 

I very rarely read any of the other ones mostly because I have no clue whatsoever about any car built after about 2002

[Pete-M]

None.

 

Used to subscribe to CAR until James May left.

I'll buy C&SC occasionally.

Practical Classics is sometimes worth it for a laugh. "My Marina has a misfire" type shit.

[autofive]

none

 

last mag i subscribed too was 'current archaeology' and i stopped my subscription in 2002 when i found i could view it online

 

papermedia is on the decline

[dollywobbler]

none

 

last mag i subscribed too was 'current archaeology' and i stopped my subscription in 2002 when i found i could view it online

 

papermedia is on the decline

 

You say that, rising sales say otherwise...

[Tonka]

Subscribe to

 

Practical Classics

 

Complete KIt Car

 

Japanese Performance

 

also regularly buy Banzai and TotalKitCar.

 

others when something of mine gets a mention/picture in...

 

At the NEC I buy anything/everything thats latest issue for a £1, it's a Yorkshire thing.....

[Vin]

Every month, I get 'Practical Classics' and 'Classic & Vintage Commercials'. (Non motoring: MOJO & Private Eye)

[cms206]

The only car magazine I buy with any regularity now is PC cos I like something to read on the dunny; I've actually cut back on all the mags I buy now, only regular buys are Viz, Focus, Buses, Bus & Coach Preservation (if there's something in it I fancy reading about) and... err... that's about it.

[messerschmitt owner]

I get lots of mags at work to read - am currently reading a great article on NSU in Austro Classic (in german) but if I buy one it is C&SC or Practical Classics.

 

Otherwise, Ships Monthly, Picture Postcard monthly and Viz.

[Cavcraft]

None, but CCW is quite enjoyable. Haven't bought PC in a long long time but it certainly used to be a really good read. Non-car related (but still vaguely on topic) I like the odd read of 'Scootering'.

[eddyramrod]

I have subscriptions with PC and Writing Magazine; that's it. But if I know someone is coming over, I ask well ahead if they can bring me some mags. More or less anything with old cars, but I usually suggest from this list:

Classic American

Classic Ford

Retro Ford

Retro Cars

Classic Car Weekly

Classic Van&Pickup

Diecast Collector

Truck&Driver

 

And occasionally someone brings me the odd Car Mechanics, Classic & Sports Car or Land Rover Owner.

 

All good stuff to devour over my Frosties!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I subscribe to C&SC, but it's becoming a name dropping wankfest - when certain staffers started banging on about being invited to Jay Kay's fucking barbecue I rapidly started to lose interest. They should be doing stuff on XJ40's, W126 Mercs, 928's and stuff like that - because they are now old cars which are interesting and were expensive and highly regarded when new. But no, they'll do a 6 page feature on an Ex Mille Carlo 1922 Handley-Aspergers 2 seat dicky bow tourer that's worth 7 trillion quid and thus of zero interest.

 

I buy VIZ every month though.

[RobT]

CCW and CCB are good for events listings and some of the articles (some bloke with a beard and a BX seems to write the odd good piece ), and of course there's the 'under a grand' classifieds that throw up some bargains.

 

Honest John in the Saturday Telegraph is worth a laugh sometimes.

[barefoot]

I don't buy anything anymore,

although I get a complimentary copy of VW Camper & Commercial every issue

because I write a regular camping / cookery article for it.

 

I buy the Telegraph on a Saturday - does that count?

[trigger]

I got Practical Classics for a couple of cars as a present from the MIL but I told her not to bother this year as I was starting to find it a bit boring, I quite like CCW but that gets expensive and i find Classics Monthly quite good.

[Rocket88]

Surprised that no-one has mentioned Practical Performance, which is a good giggle............

[dieselnutjob]

PC subscription.

If there was a French equivalent (maybe there is) and I could read French.....

[Mr Lobster]

Retro Cars

4L Magazine

Gazoline

 

then occasionally if there is something of interest -

 

C&SC, Autocar possibly either Evo or similar if I'm on holiday.

 

I'm also a big fan of Motorsport magazine which has some superb, beautifully written articles. Don't buy it every month though as it takes me an age to get through it.

[Spiny Norman]

I don't buy any car mags regularly any more.

I used to buy CAR religiously, but I gave up on it after Setright/Llewellyn/Bishop stopped writing/died, and it went rapidly downhill.

I gave up buying Practical Classics when I got fed up reading about front wheel drive Mustangs and rear engined Renault 12s and 1300cc Ford Escorts with 900bhp....

 

I bought December's Top Gear for the calendar but still haven't read all of it yet....

[Lord Sterling]

None. The only mags I buy nowadays are the late 80s/early 90s CAR/AUTOCAR and any other mag that regularly features 80s/90s cars I'm interested in.

 

On very rare occasions I might buy Practical Classics or some such mag if I'm travelling far.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Surprised that no-one has mentioned Practical Performance, which is a good giggle............

 

You're right, it's not bad at all.

 

The worst mag has to be Evo. Cringingly awful. I blame the self appointed driving Gods therein to be responsible for the overuse of the word 'focussed'.

[CortinaDave]

Still buy practical classics... and occasionally pick up classics monthly/classic ford

 

I used to pick up a copy of Retro Ford from time to time as well but it's been going down the OMG RACESLAMIT route a bit too much for me.

 

The final straw was when I saw they'd become sponsors of and are planning to take part in the all cortina banger racing meet that's happening later this year - 150 cortinas set to be smashed up at Swaffham to "celebrate" the 50th anniverasary.

 

I'm not getting into the whole banger racing debate as it's clearly a person's right to do what they want with their own motor.. but for one of the "classic" mags to get right behind an event like that seems like readership suicide to me!

[trigger]

None. The only mags I buy nowadays are the late 80s/early 90s CAR/AUTOCAR and any other mag that regularly features 80s/90s cars I'm interested in.

 

You'd like my collection then!.

 

This load which is indoors are the one's i working though scanning at the moment.

 

 

Whilst this lot are the ones in the garage, all the boxes are full as well.

 

 

God knows where I'll put the ones from indoors!

 

[jonny69]

I haven't bought a car mag for years. I used to have a subscription to Custom Car but I don't get on with the format with the new editor. Aside from that I used to buy the odd copy of Classic Ford, Retro Ford or Retro Cars but I just seem to have lost interest in the whole scene. I can't even bring myself to work on and post about my own motors, let alone read about others'

[HMC]

Have been a C&SC subscriber for some time, Practical classics for a year or so. Subscribed to Mercedes Enthusiast for a year a few years ago. I arranged a years subscription to CAR for the waiting room at work.

Like them all, but c&sc does tend to eulogise much more over higher end stuff than they used to and they do like to talk the 'market' up, which is great for their advertisers. I notice that in older issues they tended not to hold back when trying an ad for the classifieds, would say if poor value/ overpriced, whereas now even stuff up for stupid money gets fauned over, which is great for the advertisers. Still love leading it though, to be honest, and would still say its my favourite mag. I got a fleeting mention in the Buckley collumn once when I bought an old w123 of his.

[CIH]

None. Use to get the odd Banzai as I liked the "blog" by the Australian dude in Japan (I forget his name) and some others but seems pretty pointless now.

 

Surprised that no-one has mentioned Practical Performance, which is a good giggle............

 

You're right, it's not bad at all.

 

The worst mag has to be Evo. Cringingly awful. I blame the self appointed driving Gods therein to be responsible for the overuse of the word 'focussed'.

 

I use to subscribe to Evo, probably ten years ago. I see occasional editions at work and I imagine it's much like TopGear.

[AnthonyG]

I buy very few nowadays as they are getting on for a fiver, and I can buy a good book on Amazon for that.

 

CS&C is not as good as it was and I'm no longer interested in the ads, which are half the magazine after all. It seems to have become very City Boy in the last couple of years, with ads for £65k watches, £2k leather holdalls and endless reports of concours events in upmarket members-only clubs. If people like Robert Coucher (who has an XK140 over here and a 65 Mustang in South Africa) thinks he is one of the 'Poor boys' that that shows the circles they are moving in. Still - it's a lucrative market to tap, and allows them to do an article on odd and interesting stuff now and again.

 

A mate is a an avid mag buyer and thanks to him I get to read PC, Retro Cars and PPC every month for nowt.

 

I don't buy or even look at any of the PC wannabes like Classics Monthly etc as there's only so many Morris Minor restorations, Ford sidevalve overhauls and Rover P6 buyers guides a person can read in their lifetime, and I'm over that quota already.

 

For modern stuff I buy the odd Autocar, and a Car or Octane if I have a long train/plane journey ahead. Car is a shadow of its former self, but still a lot better than rubbish like Top Gear.

[Polystratus]

A mate is a an avid mag buyer and thanks to him I get to read PC, Retro Cars and PPC every month for nowt.

I don't buy or even look at any of the PC wannabes like Classics Monthly etc as there's only so many Morris Minor restorations, Ford sidevalve overhauls and Rover P6 buyers guides a person can read in their lifetime, and I'm over that quota already.

 

For modern stuff I buy the odd Autocar, and a Car or Octane if I have a long train/plane journey ahead. Car is a shadow of its former self, but still a lot better than rubbish like Top Gear.

 

Classic Monthly can be good at times with some interesting restos but dont like it when they do a top 10 classic cars listing or the ultimate classic car to own as top of the list, its you guessed it , MGB.

 

Practical Classics went downhill for awhile now seems to be picking up a bit better.

[ashmicro]

I gave up on CAR a while ago. Editor McNamara seems to have ballsed it up in a manner I can't quite put my finger on, but it no longer holds my interest for long. It's also littered with spelling mistakes, missed out words, needless fucking profanity which adds nothing of merit and text typed over the top of photos which is difficult to read. Add to that it's all about how brilliant BMWs are, zzzzzzzz.

 

The only car mag I've bought with any regularity over the last couple of years is Top Gear. At least it's a bit of a giggle.

[ProgRocker]

None!

 

Although they should bring back 'Jalopy and Slow Car' magazine.

[Ross_K]

Does this count as a magazine?

 

 

I head straight for the bargain buys. No drooling over the "prestige" section here...