The Death Of Magazines Today . . .

[markjohnson]

https://www.foliomag.com/ten-publishing-shuttering-19-print-magazines/

[Big Block Bill]

WOW! End of an era.

[markjohnson]

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).

[Motorhead848]

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

[SS427]

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.

[chevyman0429]

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

[GotGrunt]

Crazy... I grew up with these magazines.

[old5.0]

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.

[Burd]

Hustler still does a nice mag.

[67since67]

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.

[Burd]

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

[TimG]

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.

[scuncio]

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

[DW31S]

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.

[copo69]

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.

[flyingn]

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

[flyingn]

Thank Goodness for Hemmings Muscle machines

[big gear head]

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.

[JRSully]

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...

[L72Biscayne]

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.

[billj]

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

[1969L89]

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

[NorCam]

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

[carnut4life]

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...

[seventieshow]

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.

[Late BrakeU2]

Times change, print declared dead after this..
https://www.polygon.com/entertainment/2019/7/5/20683063/mad-magazine-shutting-down

[m22mike]

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

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

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

[RALLY]

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.

[Burd]

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.

[Tenney]

Vinyl!

[danachevroletfor1967]

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.

[Burd]

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.

[Canuck]

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.

[396L78canuck]

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

[ZLP955]

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.

[A12pilot]

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

[Keith Seymore]

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.

Model A Fords had mechanical brakes.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=526252&stc=1&d=1575768375

[A12pilot]

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

Cheers:blush::beers:
Dave

[ZLP955]

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.

[SS427]

And as a side note, I'm sitting on a boxes upon boxes of Hot Rod and Car Craft. Most from the early sixties to the late eighties and I really don't know what to do with them (sell them...keep them???).

Wayne

Good luck with that. I have had my duplicates for sale for years for $1 a copy and have sold none....zero. nobody wants them anymore.

[Northernforce]

I had hundreds and hundreds of 50's and 60's Hot rod etc-like Rick I tried to sell them for $2 each-not worth my time-I ended up donating them all along with my 70's stash to a local automotive college-they were very happy-anyone know when the last issue of Muscle Car review comes out?We have a nice magazine that only comes out 4 times a year up here
Bone Stock Muscle Cars -very good reading- www.canadianhotrods.com I think my buddy Ryan Weaver will be in an upcoming issue(get your copy early as Ryan will be buying all the stores stock out and signing them-lol!)
Keep on Cruising!
Dave

[Flying Undertaker]

This is a sign of the times. Everyone is EXPECTED to embrace new technology, "out with the old, in with the new" as they say. I've noticed that we, as we grow older, are not looked upon as a viable part of the purchasing populace as younger generations are. Oldies music stations that used to play songs from the fifties, sixties & seventies are now playing songs from the seventies (for now at least), eighties, & early nineties. The advertising agencies, and companies in general, target the younger generations for their products because of the sheer volume in numbers of younger people that there are. Many of the older baby boomers cannot or refuse to grasp the new technology of cell phones & other advanced technological marvels of this era. I see it everywhere. Young people losing hours upon hours of their young lives sitting in Starbucks or other 'in vogue' gathering places trolling on the internet. This method of obtaining news takes a lot longer by scrolling down through column by column of an online periodical than just paging through a magazine or newspaper, sometimes due to pop-up ads ad nauseum. As I grow older, and time is more dear to me than anything else, I have little or no patience for this waste of my days left on Earth. I will NOT view magazine articles on the net. In short, I feel the days of these discontinued magazines will continue to decline until they all go out of business. These opinions represented here are opinions of the author of this original post. Form your own conclusions. Thank you, Don.

[RALLY]

This is a sign of the times. Everyone is EXPECTED to embrace new technology, "out with the old, in with the new" as they say. I've noticed that we, as we grow older, are not looked upon as a viable part of the purchasing populace as younger generations are. Oldies music stations that used to play songs from the fifties, sixties & seventies are now playing songs from the seventies (for now at least), eighties, & early nineties. The advertising agencies, and companies in general, target the younger generations for their products because of the sheer volume in numbers of younger people that there are. Many of the older baby boomers cannot or refuse to grasp the new technology of cell phones & other advanced technological marvels of this era. I see it everywhere. Young people losing hours upon hours of their young lives sitting in Starbucks or other 'in vogue' gathering places trolling on the internet. This method of obtaining news takes a lot longer by scrolling down through column by column of an online periodical than just paging through a magazine or newspaper, sometimes due to pop-up ads ad nauseum. As I grow older, and time is more dear to me than anything else, I have little or no patience for this waste of my days left on Earth. I will NOT view magazine articles on the net. In short, I feel the days of these discontinued magazines will continue to decline until they all go out of business. These opinions represented here are opinions of the author of this original post. Form your own conclusions. Thank you, Don.

So True Don, well put.

[Burd]

I just tossed all my magazines but a few. I found a friends SD in 3 Pon Enth mags. I gave them to him. Lol. My daughter said don’t leave me with all this. She’s rite.
I will never do any online magazines either. I see Motirtrend channel is pushing stream shows now, overhauling is only avail if you pay to stream. Sorry Chip, I won’t be watching. Lol

[Damien]

Sad news indeed but a sign of the times unfortunately.
Most think everything on the net is free but my guess is what goes or is already digital, you'll have to pay to play.

[JRSully]

I get my daily paper online now, hated the concept of it initially, but not so bad now as I'm used to it and don't have a pile of old papers to toss. You can supersize it and blow through all the garbage fast. Will I like MCR online.? Time will tell....

[JoeC]

I like reading magazines and have many old ones but you have to adapt to survive

today, people want stuff on their phones

Hot Rod with the Hot Rod Network does a pretty good job to remain relevant

https://www.hotrod.com/

[BCreekDave]

Going to miss those magazines. One of the my sharpest memories of junior high was getting on the school bus and my best friend showing me his latest edition of Popular Hot Rodding with the title "Why Ford's Suck" on the cover. Show's you where my mind was back then. It was also exciting to see the local "hero's" Pat "Car" Crafton and Scott Sullivan with his perfect triumvirate (Covers of Hot rod, Super Chevy and Popular Hot Rodding all in the same month) getting in the magazines.
My biggest beef with the electronic editions is when they update the app, it seem's like I have to re-register and call someone to get it to work again. Since these apps seem to update once every 3 months or so its really annoying. They also seem to update for no other reason than to make the ads harder to ignore.

[AnthonyS]

Well Gang, today is a bittersweet day for sure which just drives home Friday's news; the January 2020 print issue of MCR arrived in my mailbox today. Bitter, because this is The Last Issue. Sweet, because I again have a personal connection to this month's (significant) issue. Like most of us here, I'll feel the void this time next month for sure.

I myself, have loved reading this mag title since the early 80s and will miss it.

[442w30]

What evidence is there that it's the last issue?

I bet there's one more.

[442w30]

A little while ago, the kids took over popular culture. They were into Elvis' gyrations, hot rods, and poodle skirts. The Beatles changed the paradigm once again and, for once, kids felt they could change the world.

Now those very same kids are complaining the world is changing.

Different cultures handle age differently. Look at Japan and how they revere the elderly. In America, youth culture still dominates.

But that doesn't mean you're not a viable part of the populace. Boomers still rule as the largest demographic and psychographic. But we like the new in America. The new can come from you, if you're up to the task of embracing the new--the choice is yours.

That being said, nothing beats a magazine, but we shouldn't be surprised. What's surprising is how swift the axe was used for so many.

This is a sign of the times.....These opinions represented here are opinions of the author of this original post. Form your own conclusions. Thank you, Don.

[AnthonyS]

What evidence is there that it's the last issue?

I bet there's one more.


Unfortunately, everything happened very quickly, as we know, and I have heard that this is indeed the last one. There was a February issue planned but it won't be produced, and since it was all a surprise, there's no "final issue" banner or a "goodbye" editorial. It's just done. No chance to say anything in print about it. Sad.


But, I'm also told that the brand will live online. So there's that.

[442w30]

Print needs lead time. Things were sent to the presses awhile ago. I could be wrong, but I'd hold out for one more issue.

[AnthonyS]

Print needs lead time. Things were sent to the presses awhile ago. I could be wrong, but I'd hold out for one more issue.

Agreed, there is a lead time and until Friday I understand that it was business as usual until The Bad News broke and with that news, the February print issue production was halted. I (also) wish that wasn’t the case and that it was handled differently but it wasn’t unfortunately. They’ll likely address it within their online presence at their first opportunity.

[Devil]

There will be a few more issues, I believe March will be the end.

[x33rs]

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.

I'm on the same page. If they don't print it, I won't be reading it. I don't spend that much time on the internet and avoid social media. I barely know how to use a smart phone (not because I'm dumb, I just don't have a lot of interest in it). So if that's the only way to view that stuff, then they won't have my subscriptions anymore. Figures they'd keep the one I got rid of years ago (hot rod) I got tired of the big brake big wheel slam on the ground stuff they seemed to dwell on so that went bye bye.

What urked me was that they tacked $5.99 onto the magazine bill without asking me. Noticed the upcharge on the bank statement. Turned out they were already charging me for the computer version of the magazines that I wasn't even using, all the while still getting the paper version in the mail. So I cancelled that.