..to CAR.
Decided that a magazine which is domintaed by cars costing over £50,000 is a pointless read, as I will never spend that much on cars and any car costing that much had better be good anyway.
If 10% of the stories were about supercars, that would be OK, but its all teh time and I'm bored. What happened to interesting stories about drives through the Sahara in a Peugeot 306, or simply a proper Giant Test between cars we may actually be able to afford or are relevant to driving on Britain's congested roads.
Don't get me wrong, I would love a new Lamborghini etc, and one day I may get my wish, but in the meantime, I would actually really like to know if a Mondeo ST220 is actually a better car new, than a BMW 320. That's an interesting story!
So where tdo I go from here? IS there a mag that writes for grown ups, that doesn't worry too much about image and economy or am I relegated to the classic car stuff.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Good morning to you.... I completely agree about CAR. Just one thing, and yes I am a pedantic so-and-so, wasn't it a 309 through the Sahara? Maybe it was both... but I remember reading about a drive through Morocco in the then-new 309. Someone had won a competition to do the drive with Richard Bremner and the photographer, as I recall.
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Oh Lord - you're right it was the 309, and wasn't it following a Testarossa or something - or was that a year earlier or later?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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It was May 1986 I think (would have a look if I was at home but am killing the last remaining work hours of 2005 on here!). I think the Testarossa feature was a year earlier, slap bang in the middle of Miami Vice eightiesness! Ah, I miss it... not as much as I miss decent journalism in CAR though.
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I haven't read it for a very long time, until last week when I picked up a copy that my FIL had. I have to say that he and I both came to the same conclusion as Espada, in that it was filled with dream cars and not real world cars.
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...not another Top Gear thread. Oh!
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I used (int he 80's) to be on a Car subscription. Like most I cancelled it when it went down hill.
I now buy mags on an infrequent basis using the following two criteria.
1/ When there is a major new car launch, just to keep abreast of whats changing relative to what.
2/ When its time to choose a new car.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I've subscribed to just about every car magazine at some point. Eventually got fed up and moved on. I'm now on What Car, but that's so full of advertising, it's hard to find the stories.
Guess I'll stick to reading them in W H Smith in the future
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I don't know whether I should launch a new thread, or stick the question on this thread, but . . .
What car mags do backroomers read?
Myself, I don't subscribe to anything, read What Car often (would read it more often if it wasn't so full of padding), AutoExpress occasionally.
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We have a subscription to What Car and Auto Express at work, part of my job is to be upto date with new cars etc which basicly means reading car mags :-)
Personally I don't subscribe to any, but every now and again will get either Top Gear or Car. Also I will get a specialist mag for a change sometimes, things like 4x4 or Custom Car.
Cheers
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Yes, same here... am glad I don't have to pay for them as they're not worth the money! Out of all of them, I think Autocar is the least bad. IMHO!
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Not a one for new cars me, preferring something which is either old, or just outdated. Hence, I?m starting my second years subscription to Practical Classics. Other car mags of this genre are either full of Triumphs and MGs' (zzzzzz) or littered with ads. PC has a good blend of the usual stuff like the aforementioned MGs but isn't afraid to stuff a good few pages on forgotten cars like the Citroen GS or Talbot Horizon! Something for everyone IMO
Wouldn't buy anything like Car etc. Far better years ago (even though I wasn't able to read when the better ones were published). I know this because I bought some books from a company called Transport Source Books, who published collections of road tests and articles from the old Autocar/Motor mags relating to any car of your choice. Comparing those from the mid 80s to a one in the early 90s shows the difference. The earlier one is crammed full of data and statistics, whereas the latter seems to have been watered down somewhat.
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The only Car mag I subscribe to is Classic & Sportscar, which I've brought consistently for lots more years than I can remember! Always brought it off the shelf then 6 months ago they were offering an AutoGlym cleaning kit worth £ 40 so subbed to it.
A great mag, brilliant photography and a fair mix of exotica & down to earth stuff. Also genuinely good writers with an enthusiasm for what they do.
The other classic mags are becoming repetitive & inaccurate.
Jim
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Now you're talking. You can keep Playboy - Classic and Sportscar is my idea of pornography. I buy the occasional issue to look, dream and drool.
My other half thinks i'm sad....wonder why??
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I cancelled my What Car subscription yesterday - I used to look forward to it arriving but now it lies around for a couple of weeks before I get around to even opening it. It's just got boring.
Like Espada III, I would like to see more comparisons across different 'classes' of car - I seriously considered Mondeo Ghia X against Merc C class (I bought the Merc).
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In my view the problem with What Car is that, month after month, so much of the content is repeated - the pages of data and specefication stuff in the back. It is great if you are buying a car and wantto make some comparisons but one doesn't want to pay for it month after month. Combined with the advertising it makes a great proportion of the magazine the same. I personally like reading about exotic cars I shall never own and the photography is usually a bonus too! I don't subscribe - I buy the occasiona magazine to read on the train or when on holiday.
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pages of data and specefication stuff in the back. It is great if you are buying a car and wantto make some comparisons but one doesn't want to pay for it month after month.
To be honest, it is an essential part of What Car.
It would, however be much better if it wasn't for the mistakes. You'd think they could give someone the job of proof-reading it, instead of repeating mistakes month after month.
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CAR magazine has gone rapidly downhill since Jason Barlow took over as editor. He seems to want to make it a small step up from Top Gear magazine and, dare I say it, Max Power.
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I have found CAR magazine to be too expensive for what it is. Nice photography though.
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Showing my age:-) I used to avidly buy CAR when George Bishiop wrote and it was full of Lotus Elans and Lambos and Ferraris and Lotus Cortinas .. i.e. a sensible mix of the practical and impractical.
With children I gave up.
When they grew up, I tried again. Oh no! Full of juveniles who make JC and Top Gear look sensible and no connection with the real world.
I buy no mags now apart from an occasional 2 per year. The rest I read on the internet sites. Cheaper and better and no adverts which fill up 90% of the pages with glossy rubbish.
I keep mags for years: nothing more outdated than a 10 year old ad extolling the virtues of a model replaced twice!
Use Car Buyer was intersting until they forgot the Used bit and bought new/one year old stuff.
Waste of time.. Max Power is better than most of them. At least what it peddles is affordable..
madf
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CAR magazine has gone rapidly downhill since Jason Barlow took over as editor. He seems to want to make it a small step up from Top Gear magazine and, dare I say it, Max Power.
>>
Part of the downhill slide, for me, is the lack of a swear filter. Not what is expected from the glossy cover and IMO very poor journalism.
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I would say that the weekly publication Autocar is streets ahead of the others with cars right across the range, but leaning towards mainstream, together with comment and tips on the second-hand market, classic reviews etc.
Not connected to it, just think it is by far the best.
Used to subscribe to Diesel Car until they wrecked it with tarts and 'chipping' ads every other page.
Also subscribed to Top Gear, but it lost the common touch.
What Car is a twice a year reference book, but has the sole agenda of flogging its white label wares.
'Car' is quite ghastly with amateur graphics, super car yawn worthy padding and nothing to commend it.
Autocar it is then.
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Espada,
I came to the same conclusion long ago. Once upon a time they reviewed ""bread and butter" cars as well as the supercars. I was influenced in the direction of a Rover rather than an Escort after they described the Escort rear suspension as "looking like a scaffold pole". The supercar reviews were marvellous escapist fantasy, but you have to have balance and it went long ago. I'm also opposed in general to subscriptions as I think the magazine gets their money too easily. These days I'll but whatever appeals on the newsagents shelf, it might be a car mag, it might be a camera or hi fi mag. Or it might be nothing if the front cover doesn't promise something that's interesting.
All of which upsets the relatives ref Christmas presents of course!
John
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Espada
Your posting reminded me - I have steadily dropped out of buying 'Car' over the last few years and hardly noticed. I have a few copies still at home, but they are all very old now. Like many of the people here I loved the magazine in its heyday, but these days I pull it off the shelf in Smiths, skim the contents, and put it back. In fact, I've realised I often don't even pull it off the shelf! Can't remember when I last bought one. Come to think of it, I rarely buy any car magazines these days. Times and auto-journalism seemed to have changed - or am I just getting old?
JS
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JS you probably ARE getting old but then aren't we all? To answer your question, yes, car mags have changed. My uncle used to pass his car mags on to my Dad. Now I may get the names wrong, it was a very long time ago. The milkman was still using a horse drawn cart (I kid you not!) but they were Autocar and Car Mechanics as far as I remember. Car Mechanics had illustrated (b&w photos) articles along the lines of how to put a Zephyr engine into a Triumph 2000, the letters page was all about swapping major mechanicals and the answer was usually "yes, but you may need to saw a bit off the camshaft". Autocar was more sophisticated with reviews of NEW cars. Wow. You got graphs of torque and power curves and top speed figures were always qualified with wind speed and general weather conditions. The ads were spotlights, steering wheels, every dial you could imagine and strange magnetic devies guaranteed to make you a member of OPEC. Come to think of it they're still around. I grew up determined to have a Mini with every possible addiitonal dial. So relax, it really was better then, even though we couldn't actually afford any of it :-)
John
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JH
Crikey - a trip down memory lane there! Thanks! You must be as old as me!
JS
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I have a subscription to Auto Express. It usually comes in on a Wednesday and I read the interesting things in it on a Wed night from cover to cover whilst spectating at my son's swimming club and then leave it there for someone else to read.
The club lasts half an hour. And that includes the time spent waiting in the queue for my Mocachino! Says it all!
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There is a gap in the market for a quality magazine with writers of the quality of Setright and Bishop etc. However the broad sheet weekend newspapers have really made big inroads into the part of the market that Car used to cover.
Cheers
Peter
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Remember that in the glory days there were fewer magazines catering for a less complicated market. It was easier to make a choice.
Now? I go glassy-eyed just looking at the shelves full of them, never mind getting bored by the derivative lifestyle tone of Car, which lost all its individuality as soon as EMAP took it up to Peterborough and smothered it with its own unique brand of templated tedium. There are just too many mags to decide whether AutoMotorWhatsiThingy is any good.
Like most people on this thread I have a soft spot for some of the classic car mags (Motor Sport and Octane are my personal favourites), but I really struggle with anything modern.
What Car is not a bad general consumer mag but it's poor value now: way too much advertising, way too much data and way too many features that are there to serve the advertisers. I can't be bothered to wade through all that when I get a decent enough weekly fix from Telegraph Motoring and Sunday Times Drive.
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I get auto express and agree that some weeks it can be a bit light weight, but I thik it does have a good balance of real world (best used car buys etc) plus you do have to consider that when you subscribe it only costs abouy 80 - 90P each week and that includes having it delivered to your door.
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From my point of view, the problem with What Car is that it takes little or no account of reliability in its recommendations.
The latest edition February 2006 (February 2006 in December 2005 that's crazy for a start!) recommends the Land Rover Discovery as the Best Buy 4x4, with a maximum 5 stars - yeah, right.
For my two-pennorth reliability and residual values are the two most important factors, once you have got a list of cars that meet the day to day criteria - like size, body type etc.
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If you need the stats, it´s got to be What Car, ditto for big group tests. But reading it does make me lose the will to live.
I got EVO at the airport last month and was really impressed.
Top Gear is, well, Top Gear. Overpriced but I´ll get it for a long train journey...
Otherwise it´s HJ/Telegraph Motoring on Saturday, and the Backroom the rest of the time!
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I have each and every edition of Top Gear, and i've never grown bored of it.
I bought a rival mag once can't remember which one but a glossy thick one, and they had airbrushed / digitally changed the cover car to make appear to be a UK RHD version - why???
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The best current motoring magazine is the Saturday supplement in the Telegraph - and you get a full newspaper with it free. However, I will admit to buying Topgear frequently. The freebies with each months mag are pretty good.
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