Hi mm, back on that old subject I see...
And mh, carp indeed... I still recall my irritation with Motor Sport when DSJ retired, William Boddy shuffled upstairs to a sort of elder statesman function although he still wrote with characteristic prewar prickliness and profound enthusiasm, more and more slightly boring archive pieces lacking in personal spin started to appear, and the gaps between the lines grew bigger and bigger until I stopped buying it in disgust, after a more or less unbroken run from the early fifties. A traditionalist friend tells me that Autosport took longer to collapse.
Perhaps the only true thing now is the VSCC bulletin, rough and ready but still proper. Trouble is they don't sell it.
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My son in UK tells me that Motor Sport is going back to being green after a (presumably pointless) change to red in order to be 'better noticed on the bookstalls'. Who are these marketing morons?
I have to say I don't look forward to seeing MS any more although my son passes them on, but I do enjoy re-reading a selection from my own collection (1990 back to 1951 but with many gaps) during those long winter evenings. I recently came across a hilarious letter from LJK Setright in a 1955 edition.
I hope Bill Boddy is still alive? (Must be about 95 now, god bless him).
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The four main classic car mags, Classic Car&Sportscar, Classics, Classic cars and Practical Classics seem for me as a monthly reader of all of them, to be split into two catagories.
In the main, Practical Classics and Classics concentrate on cars the most of us can afford to run, whereas the other two feature many more exotic cars that even if I had money, I may never see one.
As such, the latter are better for the most part because they have the chance to write about the huge number of rare cars that are out there, whereas the other two are catering for what were very common cars.
I too have got fed up of reading about MGs and Minors, but some better articles have cropped up recently which were worth a read - noteably about the Fiat 128, Metropolitan, Toyota Sports 800 and Saab Sonnet, Mazda RX-7 and Renault 16 to name a few.
I would love to see many more articles on the rarer 1970's and 1980's cars - it was facinating to see a Talbot Tagora in a group test last year I think it was - Ive never seen one in the flesh.
The most interesting part of the magazines for me is the staff car sections which would benefit from expansion as it gives an real insight into running some of these cars.
On the subject of the SD1, those cars are like many cars - time and understanding has meant we can now run these cars and maintain them to avoid the old problems, much as with the Triumph Stag. Personally id have the 2.0 litre SD1 as I had one for a few months on loan and it was a lovely car, but there are only about 70 left so I was reading - what a shame that is although id never turn down a V8 :)
If you want to see different cars featured, write or email these guys because they do respond to readers input if its consistant and you have good suggestions - suggest what cars you want to see and in what kind of features - if you have one of the cars, offer to lend it for the feature.
Being proactive is the only way to change the content as they want to sell more magazines so if enough people say something, they will take note and Im quite sure they want to broaden their horizons car-wise aswell.
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There are a couple of SD1's for sale in Practical Classics. One in pea green, the other in vomit yellow.
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i have stopped buying all these books now for all the reasons already mentioned,what gets me is the bodges i read ,whereas a proper repair first time would sort it.
Funniest line was "they will go on to write hi fi articles and this is now another set of books ive stopped buying as the format and one liners are the same every month with little substance
Come back the seventies i say and "car and car conversions" wish i had never got rid of my mags now.
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Ah yes om, CCC the A series BMC and Ford Pinto modification bible, always a fascinating read, forgotten about that one...
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Sorry stu - time and understanding might be wonderful but Stags will still play up if they are used very much - and what's the point in owning something nice if you don't use it?
My friend bought a newly-rebuilt one not long ago and my heart sank when he told me he had been assured overheating and cooking head gaskets were a thing of the past.
Sure enough, his problems still aren't sorted out.
And I will happily put money on a Rover 2600 eating its head gasket if it's used very much - and probably more likely if it isn't.
Rose-tinted specs are all very well but when they are used to look at old cars then grief often ensues...
I guess the main problem for magazines is that good writers with an interest in and genuine knowledge of cars that are more than 20 or 30 years old are now quite few and far between.
PS - there's a Talbot Tagora parked beside the road not far from me, but it's in France!
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As a recent returnee to the classic car fraternity, I buy and read practical classics every month. I enjoy the articles about what are tagged common cars, as well as the group tests that usually feature some more unsual vehicles (Renault 16 anyone?)
It is inevitable that mags like these will cover the same ground every so often. When I was very into bikes I used to read RiDE and Bike, but got totally bored of sports 600 group tests. I used to hanker for UMG (Used Motorcycle Guide-great read, that!). I imagine I might begin to tire of the classic mags too, but just at the moment, it's all quite novel (my last flirtation with a classic was over ten years ago).
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
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Qite right MH the snag engine is a dissaster if uesd at all I certainly would not to drive one hard. It would be one eye on the tempreature gauge. I 'd be too scared to then enjoy it
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I understand they go quite well with a Rover V8 transplant.
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Well hello Lud hope your refreshed after tour spanish excursion.
Yes i've heard this too but also read somewhere that the suspension needs to be re set as the Rover engine is lighter.
Saw a Magazine the other week retro car? where somone had fitted a tuned sierra cosworth engine in a Snag!
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I remeber meeting a Stag owner on some motorway service station. He was sitting watching coolant trickle down under the engine: this after a rebuild/new radiator etc. I asked him if the rear UJs on the rear suspesnion still clonked on cornering as they temporarily seized up (I had a Triumph 2.5PI in the late '70s).
Yes he replied. They still do.
Badly designed, badly built. I recall Lord Stokes received a 30 page Telex from an irate owner whose Stag had every imaginable problem from new when it was launched. (Telex!-- showing my age)
Classic Car Mags? I gave up. I know how to rebuild Mooris Minors and minis and don't want exotica I cannot run or garage.. As I'm not a millionaire, Ferraris and Astons are a no no.
madf
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Ive not had an old car that doesnt leak something, but point taken on the Stag. I quite like classic cars that you dont need to think too much about before you go anywhere in them - thats why my old car is japanese :)
As for the SD1's for sale, I think ill give them a miss - only the MK2 ones are worth having and the colors are screaming 1970's to me!
Still, what id really like is a Renault 14 or a Peugeot 304 - now when did you last see one of them?
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lol and I thought Grumpy Old Men was Sunday nights on BBC2.........(only joking honest ;) )
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"or a Peugeot 304 - now when did you last see one of them?"
Isn?t that the one Columbo drives?
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Nope, thats a Peugeot 404 decapotable I think.
The 304 is more likely to be featured as a 1970's french cop car I expect as far as TV apperances go.
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Still see a few in France. I should think extinct in UK now, bodywork wasn't very good in those days.
Peugeot 304:
www.philseed.com/peug304.html
There was the less powerful 204 as well.
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>The four main classic car mags, Classic Car&Sportscar, >Classics, Classic cars and Practical Classics seem for me as a >monthly reader of all of them, to be split into two catagories.
>In the main, Practical Classics and Classics concentrate on >cars the most of us can afford to run, whereas the other two >feature many more exotic cars that even if I had money, I may >never see one.
I've read this before & it's wrong, Classic & Sporst Car is the only mag I subscribe to, why? A. the excellent journalisim
B. the deadly accurate writing & mostly the fact that they cover the broad spectrum. Grabbing one at random off the pile in my office (April 2006) it covers buying a cheap super car for circa £5K up, the indepth buying guide is the Mazda MX5, yes their is an article on a one off rolls royce & a secret corvette but I enjoy those articles as much as the one about the day to day tribulations of running an MG Midget or a hybrid Mk1 Escort.
Classic Cars has lost it's market dominating position & is now copying C&SC, the other 2 are so downmarket as to be not worth worrying about. Incorrect & poor articles with facts generally wrong, endless repetition, articles using wrong info off of the web.
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