Shitescan; preservation of fading old newsprint is our concern

[somewhatfoolish]

For no sensible reason I've started to scan my collection of the world's smallest, limpest motoring periodical. If I don't die of boredom or find something more productive to do this will create a Joplay (feat. Slowcar) digital archive, showing exactly how much/little autoshite has evolved in the last 30 years. I don't have a copy of issue 1, if someone lucky enough to own this clearly priceless tome would lend it to me I can scan it for posterity.

 

If nothing else it will mean I can sell off my box of dog eared tat and retire on the proceeds, secure in the knowledge I can consult this valuable source of motoring knowledge without having go into the attic and get covered in itchy glasswool.

 

Jalopy02.pdf

 

Jalopy03.pdf

 

Jalopy04.pdf

 

Jalopy05.pdf

 

Jalopy06.pdf

 

Jalopy07.pdf

 

Jalopy11.pdf

 

Jalopy12.pdf

 

Jalopy16.pdf

 

jalopy23.pdf

 

jalopy25.pdf

 

Jalopy26.pdf

[tooSavvy]

So....

 

You have the classic "Lada - I did an oil change and it grenades!" ... Lesson : leave well alone

 

TS

[Datsuncog]

On 1/11/2018 at 8:18 AM, somewhatfoolish said:

I don't have a copy of issue 1, if someone lucky enough to own this clearly priceless tome would lend it to me I can scan it for posterity.

By strange coincidence, I happen to be currently involved in heated* and protracted* negotiations over a slightly tatty copy of Joypal #1 via a well-known internet auction site... should the deal come off, I'd be delighted to pass it over to you for the purposes of scanning and perpetual preservation...

I found all my surviving Jafloppys last week (incomplete, sadly - I'm missing about five issues) while putting away Christmas decorations in the attic, and they're still a cracking read (though it's disturbing how much of the shite featured therein were barely ten years old at the time of publication).

Was #31 the very last issue, to your knowledge? I had thought publication came to a halt at #30, with the infamous cla**ic-baiting E-Type cover, but then I found a copy of #31 (Mk3 Cortina cover) that I didn't even know I had... or did my newsagent just stop bringing it in around that time?

Anyway, best of luck with this fine endeavour! It's something I've had in the back of my mind for years now, but always too much else on. Tip of the hat to you.

[UltraWomble]

Pretty sure it ended with issue 31 ( cortina) that was the last copy I had anyway.

 

Sold them yonks ago.

[somewhatfoolish]

I'm not sure; my finely honed archiving system involves not knowing where all of them are, so the scanning may be delivered on a flexible schedule*. I think I've got a full set barring No.1 but it's a while since I laid eyes on them.

[Datsuncog]

On 1/11/2018 at 9:50 AM, UltraWomble said:

Pretty sure it ended with issue 31 ( cortina) that was the last copy I had anyway.

That's good to know - since magazines seldom signpost their demise, especially one with Jalopy Publishing's somewhat erratic print schedule, I was never quite sure whether it had shut up shop completely or whether my local Easons just stopped giving them shelf space. A fine read, and definitely a turning point in my life at the tender age of 12. Suddenly Cortinas and Vivas were desirable (and attainable) objects... it all started here (with further impetus from James Ruppert's 'Bangernomics' in 1994).

[TataBobu]

Wow! The Trabi on page 89 is on SORN, with the MOT expired in April last year. The Skoda prize is dead or exported, though.

[chaseracer]

I have a copy of ur-Joypal somewhere.  I shall look it out.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

There was a box of random Jalopies being passed around the forum. When I had them, I scanned them in full. Give me half an hour to find the files, I might be able to save you a bit of work!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Okay, they were still on my laptop. No PDFs, just images I'm afraid, but here's a zip of issues 5, 11, 12, 16 and 26. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ost7u0inyotlmna/SomeJalopy.zip?dl=0

 

175mb

[Shep Shepherd]

Jalopy was the first car magazine I bought on a regular basis. I consider this forum to be the latter-day version of the magazine

[Datsuncog]

On 1/11/2018 at 10:34 PM, Shep Shepherd said:

Jalopy was the first car magazine I bought on a regular basis. I consider this forum to be the latter-day version of the magazine

I would second this sentiment.

The heartwarming* true story of how I ended up on Autoshite:

• Found my box of dog-eared and tear-stained Jalopies in the attic (all bought between the ages of 12 and 15)
• Did an internet search for the magazine, in an effort to track down the five missing copies for my bijou collection
• Got a search result for a Jalopy Magazine group on Facebook
• Joined it, then realised there was absolutely no content bar two comments along the lines of "Who remembers Jalopy, then? Eh?"
• Received a notification for 'other groups you might like' - including something calling itself Autoshite
• Joined the Autoshite FB group
• Intrigued by several veiled and oblique references to 'The Beige Page', I ended up here.

I think I may have joined up (in May 2014) during a time of terrible internecine warfare and bloodshed, as the boards all seemed a bit intimidating and scary so I didn't do much more than lurk, read through the rebuild and collection threads, and make very occasional posts.

But when the Green Gooner started misbehaving with a misfire back in November, I threw myself on the tender mercies of this group's collective wisdom and... it's worked out pretty well so far, even for a mechanically inept johnny-come-lately like me.

I even found my old copy of Bangernomics the other day, bought from WH Smith in Dorchester in 1994.

On one page, the potential bangernomicist is asked to fill in four preferred vehicles to focus their attentions on. My choices were:

1. Ford Cortina Mk IV;
2. Hillman Avenger;
3. Ford Escort Mk1;
4. Talbot Tagora

I was 14 at the time. I think it's safe to say I've found my niche here.

[Shep Shepherd]

I was more or less the same age as you when I chanced upon Jalopy; my first issue was the one with the green Cortina on the cover. Not long afterwards, I came across Bangernomics in the car books section of W.H. Smith in Ramsgate (I now have two copies: my original and a signed copy I obtained from James Ruppert after buying several of his other books about five years ago). A couple of years later, I received a copy of How To Keep Your Car Alive by Lindsay Porter for Christmas, which I learned a lot from and which kind of cemented things for me

[Isaac Hunt]

I never came across the copy, but it does strike me as one of the last throws at Autoshite'ing pre-internet were we all entertain ourselves with each other shiteley tales and fixerating.

 

Some of the humour is as bad as ours.

 

I was into practical classics and car mechanics back then. Nowadays I still hang on to Car Mechanics but it isn't the same landscape anymore. Just bolt off an old bit and bolt on a new, gone are the days of getting a second knackered unit from a scrappy and making one good unit out of the two

[Datsuncog]

On 1/14/2018 at 7:43 AM, Shep Shepherd said:

I was more or less the same age as you when I chanced upon Jalopy; my first issue was the one with the green Cortina on the cover.

I was so influenced by Issue 8 that I went out and bought a Meadow Green Mk V for £80... it was an absolute shed, but I loved it all the same. I'm still a little astonished my parents were so understanding... I'm not sure I would be, even now!

Hadn't heard of that particular Lindsay Porter book - will keep an eye out for a copy! I need all the mechanical help I can get...!

[somewhatfoolish]

Bump for the next edition.

[Datsuncog]

Cheers for the Issue 3 scan! This was the very first issue I encountered, on the very bottom shelf of Rainbow Newsagents, at the tender age of 12... did nobody think of the children? Joking aside, I think it quite genuinely did warp my mind. But, y'know, in a good way (I think).

Tense negotiations are continuing for the procurement of Jalopy Issue 1, surely the Lonsdale Estate of the motoring journalism world - known to exist, but verging on extinct... it has been established from the vendor that the cover is partially split, and there appears to have been ink spilled on it at one point. A general agreement in principle towards purchase has been tentatively proposed, with a final price currently resulting in much table thumping and raised voices. Beer and sandwiches have been ordered, in case negotiations are forced to continue throughout the night...

With any luck, there will be white smoke in the morning...

[JeeExEll]

Lookylookylook. More Jalopyness to download.

 

Many thanks to Somewhatfoolish for taking the time to do this. A much appreciated contribution to the site.

 

I recognise about 6 of the front covers but haven't seen these for 25 years apart from the odd feature scan.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I think I can vaguely remember Jalopy if only because of its buying guides for the Audi 200 and NSU Ro80. A bit disappointed that they didn't cover the VW K70.....

[Woody]

Okay, they were still on my laptop. No PDFs, just images I'm afraid, but here's a zip of issues 5, 11, 12, 16 and 26. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ost7u0inyotlmna/SomeJalopy.zip?dl=0

 

175mb

I've taken the liberty of converting these to PDF format so those who want to read them like proper magazines but on one of those new fangled laptop or tablet device thingummies: 

 

Jalopy No.5: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jx8n0esdp799hwt/Jalopy%20No.5%20converted.pdf?dl=0

 

Jalopy No.11: https://www.dropbox.com/s/41hndtqsbxi24lq/Jalopy%20No.11%20converted.pdf?dl=0

 

Jalopy No.12: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1e46th0h9gbkw9/Jalopy%20No.12%20converted.pdf?dl=0

 

Jalopy No.16: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gnv964z9gpr8ay5/Jalopy%20No.16%20converted.pdf?dl=0

 

Jalopy No.26: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7lwiv8vnjcrn5f/Jalopy%20No.26%20re-converted.pdf?dl=0

[jonny69]

Just downloaded the scan of Issue 2. Epic. I can't believe I didn't know about this mag back in the 90s - I guess back then I was too busy being a wannabe rodder reading Custom Car and Street Machine.

[Shep Shepherd]

Fantastic! I've downloaded all of the scans and read them all at least twice at work over the past few nights; reading books, ebooks and magazines is the most taxing thing I have to do on the night shift 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Is it my imagination, or was issue 26 missing all the odd-numbered pages?

[Datsuncog]

^^ I don't remember that, but I'll have a look when I get home. That's the issue with the Mk1 Fiesta gracing the cover?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

^^ I don't remember that, but I'll have a look when I get home. That's the issue with the Mk1 Fiesta gracing the cover?

That's the fella. I couldn't understand why there were breaks in the text of the scanned one on Dropbox, and then I realised there were whole pages missed out.

[Woody]

That's the fella. I couldn't understand why there were breaks in the text of the scanned one on Dropbox, and then I realised there were whole pages missed out.

Apologies, my PDF converter thingy had a lot of trouble with issue 26 for some reason, and it was getting late and I lost patience with it after the fourth attempt. I'll try again...

[Woody]

Re-converted and checked issue 26, all the pages are there now! (Have amended in original post too)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7lwiv8vnjcrn5f/Jalopy%20No.26%20re-converted.pdf?dl=0

[lesapandre]

I see the VW K70 mentioned. I bought one in 87 after first owner. About 40,000 miles. A very odd car - super smooth engine - nice but bland cabin...but very odd to drive with strange seats which felt like sitting on a spacehopper. Sold it after a year. Can see why it was not a success

[lesapandre]

I had an RO80 too. Again a bit bland - had a Ford V4. Not a car I fell in love with either

[Datsuncog]

Delighted to finally be able to read Issues #2, 11 and 12 - I've never even seen the covers of these ones, so it's all very exciting to be digitally flicking through them for the very first time, even if it is 25 years after publication (scary). That's my weekend's reading sorted, any road - thanks to Woody and Mr Conelrad for all the laborious toil here.

Still no movement on the acquisition of Japloy #1; the vendor has gone quiet after my latest counter-offer. Suspect he's waiting to see who blinks first.

I told him that I'd go along with the tassels idea, but there was no way I was doing that with a marmoset.

I'll keep you posted.