Hemmings Classic Car done covering prewar?

[bryankazmer]

All print magazines are struggling to hold a large enough audience to remain viable.

So HMN Classic Car's expansion of scope to include foreign cars, trucks, and newer models makes sense.

However, in the last four issues, a one page Model A article has been the only article on a pre-war car.  The latest issue has a rodded MGB with a Honda engine.  Have we become too few to attract coverage?

[TerryB]

I’m a subscriber too.  If you look at the ads they run they’re mostly for suppliers of post WW2 parts and services.  It’s a natural business fit to feature cars and light trucks that use these parts.  The Covid situation may be affecting their featured auto selections somewhat but I do believe the advertising dollars play a bigger part in the decisions.

 

(Im putting up my force shield as I write this.) I find that I enjoy the diversity of their offerings including the non-US cars. When you think that a 1970 car is 50 years old it’s a reminder that “old” cars are not necessarily limited to pre WW2 offerings.  My favorites are mostly post WW2 up to about the early 1980s as that was my era of owning and enjoying automobiles. The 1950s are some of my most favorite as I remember riding in and owning cars from that time.  Some of the 1930s are great for their styling and relative simplicity to  operate and I like seeing them but the nostalgia pull just isn’t as strong as it is for postwar.  Twenty years ago my selections would be different from what I wrote today.

[bryankazmer]

My interests are pretty broad also.  I'm fine  with including foreign, postwar, and trucks.  I don't really care for the post 1972 stuff, but it's OK in moderation as "part of the story."  My issue is with dropping the prewar coverage completely.

[John_S_in_Penna]

1 hour ago, TerryB said:

I’m a subscriber too.  

 

I was a subscriber.  Around the time the magazine

changed editors, its content was also reduced by 30%.

The number of pages went from over 100 to 72.

 

I canceled my subscription and let them know why.

I have plenty of back magazine issues which I can

reread if I want to, going back to the predecessor

Special Interest Autos, which was a very insightful magazine.

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

Think the local grocery store dropped Hemmings. 

Edited June 20, 2021 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[ericmac]

This is exactly the reason I elected not to renew this last round.  I doubt I will be back.

[plymouthcranbrook]

My subscription is good till mid 2022.  Although I enjoy almost all older cars my interest in complete restorations has ebbed and it seems that their focus on that is increasing.  Most of the features I had liked have disappeared or been greatly reduced. I am not going to cancel even though I find that instead of having it read within days of receiving it it is more likely to be a “bathroom reader”.  If it improves as Covid hopefully recedes into the past I might renew. I have subscribed for 10-15 years?  I will see.  The emphasis on their auction news is rather off putting as well.  Don’t really care sbout auction news anywhere.

Edited June 20, 2021 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history)

[Dosmo]

I was a subscriber in the early '90s when it was SIA, dropped the scrip for a while, then about 15 years ago, re-upped and have consistently received the magazine ever since.  March 2022 will be my last issue.  I'm not re-upping.

 

Somewhere along the line (I'm 68 this year), my interests have shifted.  Print media no longer interests me, as I find it necessary to find a place to store these expensive magazines.  For the past year or so, I have relegated the HCC mags to bathroom duty.  I can usually look through one in less than ten minutes, and I now dispose of them, either recycling or other means, as soon as I finish them.  Just not enough content in them to interest me anymore.  A recent home remodeling project has brought home the fact that I have a bunch of stuff that is going to present a "what do I do with this crap" type of problem for those I will leave behind when I finally assume room temperature.

 

One thing that they will not need to worry about is my rather large collection of automotive magazines like SIA/HCC. 

[Den41Buick]

I have felt the same about the publication. I have subscribed from the beginning when it converted from SIA. Yes it is 30 pages light. Not to mention the limitation on pre-war cars.  I also let the subscription go after issue 200, but renewed hoping it was just me not you kind of thing. I miss RL as the editor as well as some of the other writers.  Just breezed through the latest issue. Wish I could get a refund on the remaining issues. Notice to the editor, go back to the roots of the magazine.

[TAKerry]

I just got my July issue. Seemed fairly well rounded, had an article on tri 5 chevys, a Facel Vega for the euro crowd, a blazer for truck people and a resto article of a aaca zenith winner. BUT, as much as I like reading about old cars and such, how many articles can really be written about tri 5's and the such without being redundant. Same with the muscle machine issue (which I am STILL waiting on) only so many reads about a mustang or a hemi so and so. Magazine did seem a bit light, and I counted at least 10 advertising spots that were for Hemmings themselves. I looked high and low for their tent at Carlisle in the spring and could not find them. A couple people I talked to said they were not there. Is the writing on the wall for these guys? 

[John_S_in_Penna]

5 hours ago, Den41Buick said:

Wish I could get a refund on the remaining issues. 

 

Den, you can get a refund.  I did.

 

I had renewed for 3 years before the content was cut by 30%.

And since their foreign-car magazine folded, they were including

2 foreign-car articles in every issue, even after the page cut.

So the American-car content which I really preferred was MUCH

less than it was previously.

 

I left a message for the new editor--twice.  He never called back.

With other car publications, the editor and publisher are very

reachable and call me back.  What I considered arrogance was another

reason for me to part ways.  But I wish they would excel and 

get back to their content of old.

[Jim Skelly]

I, too, am not really interested in the foreign cars.  When their publication for that crowd folded, they added some of that content into Hemmings Classic Car.  The result is neither group of enthusiasts is really happy with the content of HCC.  Their Muscle Machines magazine has turned into too many restomods to suit me, too.  I think I will cease getting both of them.  I still have plenty of both issues to catch up on over the next winter. 

[60FlatTop]

Post WWII cars are the largest group of collector cars in the hobby. The trend indicates the number is growing annually. 

[Billy Kingsley]

I dropped Muscle Machines when they were surprised that the Superbird raced in NASCAR. Really? You didn't know it was created for the sole purpose of getting Richard Petty back into the Mopar camp? That kind of blatant ignorance made me think that I couldn't trust anything that was published in the magazine. 

 

I enjoyed Classic Car but let my subscription lapse, wanted to spend the money elsewhere, and really, I read them once and then put them in my storage unit.  I actually let most of my magazine subscriptions lapse. I'm down to just getting Archaeology Magazine and Current World Archaeology now. Unfortunately both are bimonthly and come in the same month. 

[Walt G]

I can agree with the statement that the Post WWII era cars are the largest group of collector cars in the hobby. This is not only due to interest but the availability of cars ( and parts) of that era. The pre WWII era saw many vehicles scrapped for their metal content ( for WWII, Korean war) , this was especially so of some luxury cars : Pierce Arrow had cast aluminum body panels at one point, Franklin had cast aluminum blocks and cylinder heads. etc.

But the interest in cars of the pre WWII era has not faded within the hobby, and especially not the history - even I am impressed/shocked  by the interest there - look at the Period Images thread that was started in March 2020. the comments, the views, the contributions from all over the world. We all have everything to look at , be interested in, and perhaps buy and own . But then choose to focus on a particular product made at a place in time. Many cars are collected because it can take some what less effort and expense, and time to maintain or repair. There are cars built in the same year that drive and ride better, go faster etc just because of the equipment and the level that they were designed and built at originally. My son who is 27 can look at a car built the same year he was born and think it is ancient, when I entered the hobby actively in 1964 , I looked at the cars made in the early 1930s that my father saw when new as a teenager as ancient and that is what I wanted to own. There is room for everyone , and people in their 40's may now be interested in owning a pre WWI era car..................

[1935Packard]

Conversation I regularly have:

 

******

Other person:  I hear you like classic cars. 

Me: Yes, I do.

Other person: That's cool.  What kind of cars do you like most?

Me:  Mostly 1930s cars, especially Packards. 

Other person: Wow -- THAT'S *REALLY* OLD.

********

[Trreinke]

How many of you have submitted articles of interest about your pre-WW2 cars? Maybe the problem (and I do consider a lack of pre-war content a problem) is a lack of content?

[John_S_in_Penna]

I don't think the problem is lack of submitted articles.

 

As a newsletter editor, I tried to print insightful articles.

Occasionally a member of our large AACA region would

write an article--almost always upon my request.  I think

a good editor will go out and SEEK articles, especially

having them written by experts;  or write them himself.

 

And with less good car content, and a few magazines

having folded in recent years, there should be a supply

of writers out there happy to sell some good articles.

Put them to work researching and writing!

 

[Walt G]

For content beyond the listing of specifications listed in the instruction book or magazine ads of the era, you need the resource material all which should come from the era the vehicle was built. Not what you can easily find on the computer when you type in the year and name, but other sources . Doing research takes a lot of time to provide the story a viewer will consider a "good read". My own standard when I work on a story is that I set a level that I feel I want a so called ( self proclaimed??)  "expert" on a particular make, model, year etc. to read and have a "wow" moment because I told him something he has never seen before ( even though he thought he knew everything about that particular topic). I do not believe in the word 'expert' - we are all always learning something new about something old. My own opinion is a great story is not one that is the same rehash of information over and over again you have read and reread for the past 3 decades. There is always a unique side to every history that some facts to peak ones interest in can be mentioned - but it takes a lot of diligence to think of where to locate that and once you do prove that it actually happened. End of lecture 😜

This happened to me recently when I did a trade of period material pre 1920 with a friend and sent him something he didn't have. I looked over a auto show program from the 1914-23 era and there was a half page ad, listing a company, with street address in NY City that built bodies for a variety of chassis, until I saw that ad I thought two people owned/ran the company, well they had split up and it was one name now, so the touring car body that had been attributed to the earlier firm was now a known product of the newer firm . Small perhaps insignificant information to some, but a real eye opener for me, I had never seen before and I have focused on coach builders history of the 1890 to 1950s era for the past 50 years. First time I had seen this - ever.

[TAKerry]

I was hoping content availability and the ever present excuse of Covid has something to do with the current hemmings situation. Being that almost all car events, shows and swap meets etc. included, were cancelled last year. This may have def. had an effect on the publishers 'getting out' and scouring the masses for new ideas and cars to photograph and publish. I would surmise that content is put together many months ahead of the actual press date. I am still hoping that things do indeed look up and get better. For now I am keeping my subsc. fees paid.

[Billy Kingsley]

I wrote the newsletter for my scale model club for almost 4 years and I had a grand total of 1 article submitted. 

 

People don't want to do, they just want to critique. 

 

I don't think Hemmings works like that though, I think all their articles are by staff writers, or at least were. It's been almost 2 years since I've read any.

[Robert G. Smits]

I also cancelled HCC when the editor changed and the page count dropped.  Much of the enjoyment/education I used to experience from magazines now comes from forums such as this one.  I would much rather spend an evening on this forum than leafing through a Hemmings CC.  

[Paul Dobbin]

There  are some prety good writers on this forum, and I spend more time here now than with my nose in magazines.   I also have noticed fewer articles on pre-war cars in Classic Cars, but I'm hoping this changes.   I really enjoy West Peterson's stories in our club magazine, Antique Automobile.

I also enjoy reading my 6 volume set of the Best Of Old Cars.   Remember it started as a monthly long before it became a weekly.   There were still mostly Pre-WWII articles then, up into the early 1980's issues.    A lot of that stuff is timeless and is probably hidden now by copywrite laws.  If those stories and article could be re-printed with color photographs, I would love seeing them all again.  Well, at least a lot of them.

The specifications don't change, but the readership does.   If you where not reading Austin Clark and others in the 1960's , (and most of us were not,) you missed a lot of timeless information that could be brough to life with color photography.

When I wote our clubs newsletters ot was fun to re-run old articles, just to keep the stories alive.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Paul Dobbin
spill check (see edit history)

[Walt G]

I was working for Austin Clark in his library at his home in Glen Cove at the time he had his column 'Young Nuts & Old Bolts" in Old Cars. All this while I was in college - grad school. His library ( now at the Henry Ford Museum) was my inspiration to build my own library/archives. I learned about publications, especially periodicals that I had never heard of , particularly  the European ones. They did not just contain information on European cars/vehicles but also the American car activity across the pond. When I knew what existed and when it was published I had a friend in England who was an auto book dealer and issued an auction catalog 6 times a year of assorted period catalogs, folders, photographs etc for sale. I  looked for what I was seeking to build my own collection as I knew at some point the availability of access to Austins collection would no longer be there. Mike Sedgwick an English automotive author put me on to my friend and I fortunately now have a nearly complete run of all the primary and obscure material of the WWI to WWII era at hand to look at while doing my research. It is amazing the activity that American cars imported to Europe had pre WWII. Sales material was printed "over there" for Europeans to have on new cars - American cars. All totally different then the American issued factory brochures. I am now trying to share this with the people who read my efforts I submit to collector car publications.

Computers are indeed the modern venue where a lot of information can be found as you see here, but the primary source of 50+ years ago is the printed page, that is where the research is being done by a few who wish to present the whole picture of what was happening.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Walt G
clarify a sentence (see edit history)

[cahartley]

I likely don't fit the norm but even as kid, now pushing 70, I was always attracted to old stuff and always will be.

Haggerty insurance puts out a first class magazine but I find most of the issues nearly unreadable as the stuff I like is pretty well ignored.

I've always been a fan of everything from horseless carriages to near 1960 cars with preferences from pre teens to early thirties.

I live 17 miles from the largest old car show in the midwest and quit going because of the dirth of cars I love........😞

[f.f.jones]

Well, I guess HCC is heading in a direction that I can't follow. I received the August '21 issue today. 72 pages total, 7 1/2 pages of American cars ( 1 Dodge, 1 AMC). the rest, including the cover, were foreign cars. Even Richardson and Litwin touted the foreign makes. Sorry, Hemmings, but you just lost another long-time subscriber. 

[AL1630]

1 hour ago, f.f.jones said:

Well, I guess HCC is heading in a direction that I can't follow. I received the August '21 issue today. 72 pages total, 7 1/2 pages of American cars ( 1 Dodge, 1 AMC). the rest, including the cover, were foreign cars. Even Richardson and Litwin touted the foreign makes. Sorry, Hemmings, but you just lost another long-time subscriber. 

Yes, I was pretty surprised that there was so much foreign car coverage. They had to quit printing their foreign magazine for a reason, after all. I like plenty of foreign cars, but the smaller section at the back was plenty in my opinion. I did like the Rambler article, though. I might keep it around a little longer.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I don’t mind a combined foreign and domestic magazine. I have had both old foreign and domestic cars(though we called them used cars back then).  However the MGB-GT restomod was a little over the top for me in the last issue.  The Honda engine is not what I would like to see in anything except an old Honda. I have to wonder if the columnists are getting “suggestions” on what to write?

Edited June 22, 2021 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

21 minutes ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

...the MGB-GT restomod was a little over the top for me in the last issue.  

 

When their import-car magazine stopped publication,

Hemmings Classic Car (under former editor Richard

Lentinello) actually ADDED pages so a couple of 

foreign-car articles could be included without taking

content away from their American-car basis.

 

Now, the page count is much less than before.

 

I'm sorry to hear that they have unauthentic cars among

their articles now.  Going down that route emptied

Cars and Parts of its fan base and led to its downfall.

 

Wake up, Hemmings!

[Jim Bollman]

Not defending, because I have been thinking of dropping HCC also, but the August issue stated on the cover it was featuring British cars in that issue. I personally don't like them featuring a specific make (or country other than USA) in an issue, using most pages on that topic. I like variety of makes to choose from. Most of their feature issues are a quick read for me because they are seldom featuring anything I'm interested in.

I have been a subscriber since SIA issue #1 so it is a tough to see how far they have fallen. I had great hopes with HCC, for several years it was really a great magazine now it gets read when the rest of the pile has been depleted, I often have a coupe of issues in the pile.

[trimacar]

I love old car magazines.  Regarding Hemmings Classic Car, I get tempted by the cheap renewal (if you don’t renew, then ignore five or six renewal requests).

 

Then get magazine, and even though cheap, disappointing.  I usually read a little that’s of interest then straight into trash can.

 

I realize printed, non-Ether, magazines, will all soon bite the dust, but I really enjoy holding pages and printed words in my hand and reading same….

[Bill Stoneberg]

I actually enjoyed the coverage on the British cars. I grew up driving TR3 s, MGs and Jaguars. My brother had Austin Healeys so  I am familiar with all of those too.

I do miss some  of the columns that used to be in the magazine and sorry for the missing pages.

do I renew when the time comes ?  That’s a good question that I will have to decide when that time comes.

[Bryan G]

Personally I appreciate a magazine that's as well-rounded as our hobby. To me an all-Chevy issue is as boring as an all-British special. It's not that I'm against some of either, I just want more variety. I especially enjoy reading about the various oddballs out there. As others have said, what else can you write about a tri-five Chevy? Find a survivor first-generation Vega (if you can!) and that would hold my attention. 

 

We go camping once a month and I keep a stack of 80s/90s Cars and Parts stashed in there. I find the articles as good or better than what we get today in HCC, and it's very interesting to read some of the ads. (I really wonder where some of those cars are today?) I do plan on continuing with HCC, at least for now, but it may get to the point where I start skipping over some articles. In the past I've always read it cover-to-cover.

[bryankazmer]

15 hours ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

 the MGB-GT restomod was a little over the top for me in the last issue. 

Several of the "restorations" previously featured have had significant modifications, but I agree a full-on late-model engine swap was a new low.  I can understand the magazine trying to attract as wide an audience as possible, but it's hard to be about restoration/preservation and rodding at the same time.

 

[Jim Bollman]

Is a late model Honda in an MGB really any different than a small block Chevy in 32 Ford. 

[bryankazmer]

50 minutes ago, Jim Bollman said:

Is a late model Honda in an MGB really any different than a small block Chevy in 32 Ford. 

nope.  and both are rods not restorations, which HCC has not in the past included.

[TAKerry]

Gonna beat the dead horse again, but I just got my July edition about a week ago. August issue will be here I suspect sometime around Halloween!  

I re-upped both subscriptions, 1 to Hemmings Classic, and 1 for Hemmings Muscle cars, the last week of April. I also ordered 2 back issues. I got the back issues in a hard envelope through the mail within about 2 weeks of the order. Again,  just got the july edition of Classic, still waiting on anything for the Muscle car.