The Death Of Magazines Today . . .
 

The Death Of Magazines Today . . .
 

WOW! End of an era.

The axe fell hard today and I knew this day would eventually come but I never dreamed it would happen in such a massive, single stroke. Car Craft, Chevy High Performance, Hot Rod Deluxe, Super Chevy, Muscle Car Review (that one really hurts), and many others will cease print. I've had subscriptions to many of these since elementary school so this is a sad day for me but I've noticed many grocery stores, drug stores & gas stations have just totally stopped selling magazines. Thankfully Hot Rod still survives (for now).

Sad.... I’ll miss getting my muscle car review mag in the mail box...for the times they are a changin...

Just heard it from the horses mouth a few minutes ago and very sad indeed. Call me old school but I am not nor do I ever intend to read any publication on the net including the newspaper. My loss but it just does not suit me so I chose to not go there. From a business standpoint I think it is likely a smart move as it is a huge cost saver but I think it is one of the last nails in the coffin for the collector automotive enthusiast. Very sad indeed. I have over 4000 magazines and MCR from its very first issue when it was called by a different name. Sad indeed.

Wow muscle car review that one hurts bad! I looked forward to the magazine every month.

Crazy... I grew up with these magazines.

My last sub was Hemmings Muscle Machines and I let it lapse 4 years ago. None of them talked about anything I was interested in anymore. Still have a stack of MCR from the 80s and 90s I thumb through from time to time.

Hustler still does a nice mag.

Having been a decades loyal reader of MCR as the shining light through the dark ages of muscle cars (the 80s) this hits me hard. Sad day indeed. I'm with Rick, can't see myself reading it digital, we'll see.

All the Pontiac mags were already gone except Dons Poncho Perfection.

I just got my Musclecar Review in the mail this week. Sad, I've been a subscriber since the mid 80's. They were at the show two weeks ago offering subscriptions, too.

Crazy...years of playing out a crappy business model. I started my career with Car Craft...feeling old today.

As much as I like MCR, it seems like they cover cars from a handful of the same owners quite often. I know most of those owners and their cars, but I must say, I enjoy reading that magazine more than Hot Rod. Other than HMM and HMN, it is (soon to be was) my only other subscription. Sad news, indeed. And like Rick, I don't read stuff online either.

I have every issue of MCR since it started as Classic Sixties as a small niche publication. I will miss it although lots of the content doesn’t interest me much anymore. It's a shame print media is going away but it’s a sign of the times when 2 issues purchased on a newsstand cost the same as a one year subscription and subscription costs don’t pay the postage. I’m surprised it’s lasted this long. I wonder how they’ll credit cancelled subscriptions as I just renewed my MCR for 2 years. I really don’t want anything they still publish.

I gotta feel and see the magazine in print. Very sad indeed. Car Craft has been in print for what? 50+ years?

Thank Goodness for Hemmings Muscle machines

I let Hot Rod and Car Craft go about a year ago. All they covered was pro touring and LS swaps, which I don't give a crap about. I was going to get a subscription to MCR, but I guess it's too late now. I guess I can get out all of my old Hot Rod, Car Craft and Super Chevy from the days when they were still good and read them again.

Side note, if anybody has had their car in MCR at some point and was thinking of getting extra copies of that issue (if possible), get on your horse. Next thing they'll say is they don't want to pay for storage of old print copies...

MCR was one of the best magazines. I hope this isn’t the beginning of the extinction of muscle cars. I always said that muscle cars are like rock and roll. It will never die. My first magazine was Hot Rodding November of 72 had a 427 on the cover. I guess that’s why I’m a Chevy enthusiast.

Car Craft hurts.....Been reading that since the Streat Freak days in the seventies. Was also set to renew MCR.....moot point now......BILL

I have read and still have 10,000+ car magazines. Sad to see the end of an era.

Shocking, but that's the way of things today.

What a gut punch, I knew this day was coming but was hoping it would be several more years before it actually happened. Like many of you, I've got thousand of magazines from the mid 60's through today and am sad to see it come to this because I won't be reading any magazines on my phone. Last time MCR was shut down they honored the subscription by switching them all to Hot Rod. I canceled my Hot Rod subscription and told them I wanted my money back and will probably do the same this time since I have zero interest in modified cars. RIP MCR...

I have little to add to what everyone else here has any ready said. Very sad to see this but not unexpected. I'll keep getting Hot Rod for old times sake.

"Car Craft hurts.....Been reading that since the Street Freak days in the seventies"...Yeah, me too, have to admit it has long been my favorite.

Things change.

Times change, print declared dead after this..
https://www.polygon.com/entertainmen...-shutting-down

I never thought I would feel old but I think change makes us that way. Not seeing MCR in my mail box is like having your photos in the cloud. I miss looking at the photo albums, and now MCR.....:crazy:


Mike

Mike: you just killed my morning coffee!!! I just realized it won’t be in the mail box...... I love love love when MCR comes in the mail.... I check everyday just in case!!!!

Oooof

Ryan W31

We just knew this day was coming. I always got Super Chevy, Car Craft, Chevy Hi Perf for years. Doug Marion former Super Chevy author and big time Chevy guru told me a while back via an email how Super Chevy magazine numbers sold were way way down after he left. I quit Super Chevy after Doug left also. Started getting Chevy Rumble he worked on too. Times are changing big time with the younger generation, not all but some who either dont have the funds or no interest in the 50-60-70s era muscle cars, magazines or interest what how Hi Performance was started. Also IMO muscle car parts are getting harder and harder to sell and i am glad i got rid of most of my inventory 5 years ago. Agree i cant see me reading it in digital also. Old school and will never change.

Really is was the same old thing over and over. Car craft could give it away, it was like $10 a year when I got rid of the sub. And you got free stuff, like I got a clock for in the garage.

Vinyl!

I was just notified that Autoweek was no longer going to offer their print magazine. I have subscribed to it since it was called Autoweek and Competition Press back in the early to mid 1970's. They did move my subscription balance left over to my Road and Track subscription and extended it. I'm never going to go on-line to read a magazine or newspaper. I guess I'm an old goat, and I admit I'm very resistant to change.

No one read them online. That might show them. Magazines are more than reading, you can collect them. Hot Rod is garbage. It needs to go.

My first ever car magazine purchase was Car Craft in 1967 at Parkdale Pharmacy.
Really going to miss MCR,always saved it for inflight reading.

Very sad to hear.I always looked forward to buying the latest issue at the news stand.I always kept my old issues.Bob

I have (had?) a 3-year auto-renewing print copy sub to MCR..... thanks for posting this.
Just can't switch to digital copies, need the tactility of reading the printed version..... same with books; got to be able to hold it and physically turn the pages.

Here’s a few things to think about on the subject;:laugh:

Does it stink? Yep. But as others have said, it’s definitely not expected, I’m afraid. Parent company was bankrupt, they reorganize and what do they do? Stop the bleeding. It’s a fact that periodicals in general, regardless of the denomination, are doomed. It’s just the wave of the future. As generations change and technology moves forward, you move off the past to capture new markets and be profitable. Do you embrace the future?:hmmm: That’s for you to decide.

I still do crosswords from the newspaper and yet when I look around at the people next to me when I’m sitting in seat 132Q:rolleyes2:, all I see is phones, pads, kindles, nooks, whatever have you, being typed on and stared at. As I walk to the back to fax something to the Chief Pilot via the lavatory blue juice courtesy of the $18 “Yokohama Beef Bowl” I purchased a few minutes earlier, I may see one or two of my fellow mammals enjoying the printed versions of these electronic glass machines. But is it all bad? Is it really that much of a problem to embrace newer technology that still contains the articles we enjoy so much? Or is it just change and we “frump bah-humbug!” just because we don’t know how to use it?:dunno: Add to this my comment about a fax. Welcome to email!:shocked:

Remember Model As? They were cool when new. No more heading to the Dentist to get your remaining tooth pulled due to inept dental hygiene products while your horse took a dump on you right before you get to your appointment. No, no....you were stylin’ now!! :3gears: Semi enclosed glass cockpit, 22 mph, a hydraulic brake (read, one brake:laugh:), and a steering wheel with everything on it but a turn signal. Think that guy was complaining about how this new fangled technology confused him and he missed the aroma of various gases emitted from the business end of old Thunder? Possibly. Fast forward just thirty years from that and you were headed to the dentist for just a scheduled cleaning with a mouth full of healthy teeth in a car that was floating on four cushy air filled tires, 4 wheel power brakes, and a host of other options only thought available to you in Sci-Fi movies. Was that guy too missing his distributor dwell on his steering wheel to play with?:hmmm:

I don’t like the online mags either, to be honest. Especially pop up ads and all that. But it sure is handy to search stuff, keep it readily available to find at just a type of a word instead of “Oh, Geeze, where was that article about that engine build they were doing in 1989?? I think that was by Gummy Joe, or was it Jahoozifats? I can’t remember right now. :hmmm: Was that in the box in the attic, closet, garage...crap!!!:dunno:”

It’s the future and the more of us that say “Forget it! I won’t buy that subscription online!:no::no: That’ll show ‘em!” could result in our voices from our hobby genre dwindling and even the online stuff scaling back. Maybe try a subscription for a year and give it a go.:dunno: As me pappy always told me, “Daveyboy, yer a real schmuck, but you sure can whirlie a good read to make ye’ think. Now Gimmie that belt!”:shocked:

Cheers:beers:

Super Davey

Model A Fords had mechanical brakes.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1575768375

:hmmm:mmmmmmm.....good catch Keith! :worship:

Cheers:blush::beers:
Dave

Things may have changed since I last looked into this, but my understanding of digital publications is that you need to maintain a paid-up subscription to access any content, so if (for whatever reason) you don't renew, you can't look at editions that were released when you were a paying subscriber.
When I buy a print copy, that's mine for as long as I choose to keep it.