I have read this magazine since I was spotty PU ack in the 70s.
I have become increasingly disappointed with its format of late and am seriously re-considering my subscription.Tabloid presentation and the occasinal use of language (totally needless) that would get the writer kicked out of the BR and increasingly sloppy editing of a once fine and erdudite magazine which had the bonus of world class photography.
Despite the above I was enjoying a detailed read last night and had to do a double take according to its article on the forthcoming Peugeot 1007 - this new megabeast has a 0-60 of 3.0 seconds and a top speed of 253 mph, all out of a 1.0litre Diesel (albeit HDi). What else do they get wrong if this sneaks past its editors....?
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Sorry to read that, PU, but I expect you're right. I haven't bought it for years, but I do glance occasionally on the magazine racks and fondly remember the days of Steve Cropley and LJKS.
I suppose it's not entirely their fault - affordable cars are not so involving as they once were, and so not so much fun to write or read about. I even admit to buying Practical Classics occasionally...
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PU,
You have shown more patience than me - gave up buying it on a regular basis years ago but still buy it occasionally, mainly to give myself the opportunity of saying "things ain't what they used to be"
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It seems to me ( altho' I am no petrol head by any means) that the majority of motoring journalism these days is written from a sort of lego box of cliches. There seems to be very little thought and/or research into most of it.
A number of motoring journos also need to get over themselves.
I buy Practical Classics occassionaly too :o
altho' it's a bit too British for my tastes but some of it's general stuff is pretty good.
JaB
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It seems to me that the majority of motoring journalism these days is written from a sort of lego box of cliches.
Too much of it is simply rewriting press releases, I find...
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I liked Car mag. when I was at skool in the late '60s. Then I subscribed again as part of a free offer from Orange in about 2000 and have since let the subscription lapse. The language and the lack of general erudition dismayed me in a supposedly top-class motoring mag. They don't make 'em like they used to; the good old days etc. etc.
Yes, they've lost it, but probably only to the older generation.
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land
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Got to admit it has gone downhill in the last couple of years. It still has some worthwhile articles in it though and I actually think it has improved a little of late. It seemed to start going downhill after Gavin Green left the editorship.
I still usually buy it but it's not the "definate" buy it used to be for me. I still enjoy Autocar which has improved a huge amount since Steve Cropley got involved.
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"when I was at skool"
Instantly recalls cartoon of N.Molesworth watching disgruntled schoolmaster repairing bicycle tyre - caption: "I suppose you can't afford a car."
I suppose Car feels it has to compete with Top Gear and similar drivel. Chiz.
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Is this more of the 'dumbing down' we hear so much about? As a 10-yr plus expat, I notice that British people seem to be getting 'thicker' - or at least that's what I perceive as I read magazines, watch television etc...
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You've been watching Big Brother, then, I take it?
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You've been watching Big Brother, then, I take it?
;-)
Oi! I'm not fick or sommat!
JaB
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You've been watching Big Brother, then, I take it?
fortunately our local version folded after 2 seasons...
Is it true more people voted for Nasty Nick than for Tony Blair? I rest my case ...
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"more people voted for Nasty Nick than Tony Bliar" - mind you, they had a point.
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"British people seem to be getting 'thicker'"
That's partly because in order to increase the numbers going to University, rather than spend more on education, HMG allowed more further education establishments to call themselves Universities! A wonderful insight into the mind of the bureaucrat, I feel...
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PU,
I was thinking of subscribing but have to agree with you that it is getting ever more tedious and the language is pathetic (like the bit on Le Mans).
I have noticed that they are putting a lot of attention to the US market so perhaps they have changed their style to suit US readers (if it needs changing)
Sad to say that I found this months issue boring.
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I think this effect is much more widespread than Car magazine. I have never been a regular reader of the motoring press, but I also have given up subscriptions when a mag's character has changed so much that it no longer appeals. I suspect much is due to so many publications being in the hands (or under the umbrella) of just a few outfits who have decided that the way forward is more gloss and more in-your-face. Every new format gets rejigged as soon as one gets used to it - which I interpret as meaning that they realise every new version has more faults.
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Hit the nail on the head. I have been thinking this for at least two years now. I no longer really look forward to the mag arriving each month. I used to get Car & Driver from the US, and given the actions of Walmart against 'porno' mags, I wonder if C&D has crude language in it; i'll bet it doesn't.
When I was 8 years old I would read Car with my father; but there is no way I would read it with my boys now. And where is the interest. Its been Merc maclaren SLR and Ferrari enzo all year. boring boring boring.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Got my Auto Express through the door today and they have their annual "Products" test in it. I am sure they have this every month, but thats a different matter!
Can someone answer me which came first, the chicken or the egg
ie. does the publishers go to the winners and say "your product has won our test, would you like to take an advert out?" Or is it a case of "If you take an advert out, your product will win the test?"
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Car tell you about the car magazine industry, but a good friend used to write for another "hobbies" magazine. He asked the editor if it was ok to keep writing about the best things he had in stock and was assured that that was the only reason anyone ever wrote refular articles for the magazine.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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Well - sad as I am - I chased out the May 1990 edition of said Magazine.
1990 2004
Cover Price 2.00 3.80
Headline Staff 17 36
Pages 146 210
Full Page Ads. 65 68
The main difference is in the quality of the written word (including and early JC in the 1990 edition). A very in depth test of the BMW M5 I can't find anythinge else other than desirable cars for a petrolhead in it (even athe supercharged Sierra 4x4 has something). The 2004 edition has a wirte up on the new 911, which I enjoyed and one on an er... um... SLK,
comparison test between a 1 series and a Golf- what was missing was the soul and moody (in the true sense) photos, The BMW test is an asthetic beauty and editorially beyond reproach - giing it a pleasure tha far outlives its vintage. This was a good mag.
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Car has definately lost its edge in terms of how willing it is to upset the industry. I particularly remember the front cover of 3 coupes including a Rover 200 with the title "Spot the Dog" and the cover with a picture of a large lemon and "VW Golf Long Term Test" written underneath.
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Still my only 'must read' monthly, and the only one I subscribe to. I find the comments about a perceived lack of erudition in recent years surprising, since I remember a certain amount of scoffing on this forum at their highfalutin house writing style, and attempts to expound on subjects as mundane as BMW cabin plastics in quasi-philosophical terms.
Personally, I could have done without the last facelift which - as feared - added glossiness, increased the size of the typeface and removed some of the famed design coherence - but it's still better than the competition.
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Car magazine never had it to loose.
In the seventies and eighties it was far too supporting of some terrible British and European cars.
Can anyone forget the fuss they made of the first fwd Escort on its launch?
They had some good writers, but just because they took themselves too seriously doesn't mean we should.
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I don't live in London and I despise the metropolitan bias of most national media, but I'm afraid HJ is absolutely spot-on with this. Not the first time that good old Emap bought a brilliant publication and...stuffed it straight into the corporate sausage machine.
As usual, their witless number crunchers didn't tune into the fact that you just can't produce a cutting edge magazine with a national and international following from a business park in Dullsville. Car WAS the best. Now? Just another sub-Clarkson comic. Well done, Emap - another great result!
Do I have an axe to grind? I can think of better things to do with my axe than grind it...
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