The end is near for Hot Rod Magazine

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Big Dad

Big Dad

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This was on my monthly mag this month

hotdog.jpg
 
They've sucked for a long time now anyway. Good riddance.
 
just waiting for mine to expire. when PHR went out, the time was added to Car Craft. that was okay. then Car Craft went out and time was added to Hot Rod. at first, that was okay but then they went to old articles reprinted, making issues all from one brand of their other mags that were shut down. it ain't the old Hot Rod that was in the library in 8th grade!
 
Car Craft was the best one back in the day. It was really good.
 
^^^ I thought so also, when Aug 2025 issue arrives, it will be the last one...unless there are drastic changes.
4 times a year and large issues---meaning it will be like they used to be? until it all becomes digital.
 
Frieburger has retired from the magazine as well. Their money maker right now is their streaming programs so I don’t think they’ll go bye bye completely but I can see them going for digital before long
 
They lost me way back when 80% of the content was camaro oriented.
 
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Mopar Action still gets, and will always get, my subscription dollars. When they're gone, it will only be Firearms News, and even that's a race to the finish line.

Hot Rod has sucked **** for years. I subscribed to them at one time, and it was neat noticing that they had 13 months of content, so that if you sorted them by month, it wasn't the same content every January, it was just 'shifted' a month. That saved me some ink on a renewal card in about '99.

This is like watching a turd circling the hole in the bottom of the bowl.
 
HotRod mag in print helps me, on the throne, to be the best I can be for that day/ :BangHead:
Easy to see any mag in print is going the way of the Doo Doo Bird just takes time for them all to go away.

Personally I enjoy HotRod Garage buy I have resisted paying for streaming, but I am sick of reruns. DullChick is great in all ways, FriedBurger... well he is the boss in charge.:thumbsup::BangHead::BangHead::BangHead::BangHead::steering::elmer:
 
My last subscription ended in '88 too many Chebbys cheap and heavy...never liked it ...
 
That and "camaro craft".

Two whole magazines almost completely devoted to hopping up camaros.
 
One thing about RoadKill and the asso. other reality stuff, they seem they try to have a decent mix. Only reasson I can read HotRod is just to see some '50s rod work.
 
I'm surprised any car magazines even exist today. With what's available on the internet these days, they're pretty much obsolete in my opinion.
 
Subscribed to Hot Rod back in the '80's. Sort of disappointed at all the Chevy stuff. They did feature a '71 Hemi Road Runner with a clear plexiglass hood insert. If I recall correctly and that's a big "if". Anyway, it got one page in the magazine and one photo that was black and white.
The real kicker was their "Miserly Mouse". They wanted to see how much gas mileage they could get using a 350 Chevy engine.
o.k. this ought to be interesting. For their vehicle, they picked a
'38 Chevy ??. Some big honkin', bulbous nose car. And they put 60 series tires on the back. What a bunch of clowns.

Almost subscribed recently, when they did a series of dyno tests on the effect of camshaft LSA. They put an engine on the dyno and ran it. I think it may have been a Mopar 318. Anyway, they made camshaft changes with the only change being LSA. A legitimate test. Interesting.

Maybe it isn't fair for me to hold such a disdain for 40 years but, I can't help it.
 
I’m going to disagree with most opinions above up until about a year ago. Frieburger had strong Mopar likes and of course his buddy Dulcich. It was actually good for 10-11 yrs like 07 to ‘18 or so when he left. It used to be around 120 pages, but last year especially its down to around 80.
 
Hot Rod Magazine's heyday was from the mid 50s to the late sixties. And during this time, it was the best-selling automotive magazine in the world. They had access to all the latest developments in Detroit, including not just high performance production cars, but also experimental engines including hemi and overhead cam stuff. They had access to the top engine builders/suppliers. In depth technical articles. Covered not just drag racing, but also Indy, Bonneville and Pikes Peak. And Editor Bob Greene loved motorcycles (had a monthly column called "Up on Two Wheels"). Publisher Ray Brock bought a 59 Plymouth Fury new. The magazine fielded a supercharged 392 hemi equipped 57 Plymouth (named "Suddenly" for the 57 Plymouths ad slogan "Suddenly it's 1960"). Chevies and Fords, yes, but also strong Mopar coverage.

It gradually went downhill. Slide probably began in the late sixties, but accelerated in the seventies. I have every Hot Rod Magazine from January 1950 to December 1980. Nothing after that interests me.
 
Nobody is doing cars any more not properly look on YT its "Hey I drug a rusted hulk out of a field lets see if it will run" look ho wpopular Uncle Tony is. He dont drive his junk on the street not legally. Its a sign of the times. A young guy todat thta is working wants a new trruck or car turn key and go maybe hell add on some go fast goodies for bolt on power but even that is dying its getting expensive.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
Nobody is doing cars any more not properly look on YT its "Hey I drug a rusted hulk out of a field lets see if it will run" look ho wpopular Uncle Tony is. He dont drive his junk on the street not legally. Its a sign of the times. A young guy todat thta is working wants a new trruck or car turn key and go maybe hell add on some go fast goodies for bolt on power but even that is dying its getting expensive.
Click to expand...

holy crap that is a hard read.

define doing a car properly.. that means something different to everyone.. could mean a 100k resto or get it running, make it safe and enjoy it which is more my style.. the reason shows like roadkill and vice grip garge are so popular these days is because they are so relateable to the average guy that can't go putting 20,40,50k into a car to make it pretty....

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Im doing a proper build now and Ill never do another. From now on its bang it together or running projects. 7 years and I have not even driven it???? If I could do a proper build in 1 year then I'd do it, but a man has to know his limitations.

I like the "get it runnin and drivin" thing. Some do it better than others. Lots to learn though.

I like the stuff that east coast D'Angelo fella is puttin out with the hopped up "Push" (porsche)

Last car mag I bought was for a flight.

If I want car content, I have FABO!!!
 
clementine said:
Im doing a proper build now and Ill never do another. From now on its bang it together or running projects. 7 years and I have not even driven it???? If I could do a proper build in 1 year then I'd do it, but a man has to know his limitations.

I like the "get it runnin and drivin" thing. Some do it better than others. Lots to learn though.

I like the stuff that east coast D'Angelo fella is puttin out with the hopped up "Push" (porsche)

Last car mag I bought was for a flight.

If I want car content, I have FABO!!!
Click to expand...

define "proper" build
 
abodyjoe said:
define "proper" build
Click to expand...
Well I dunno what @Dartswinger70 means by proper build, but weather you paint it or not, a "proper build" would resemble a car that has had love distributed evenly. My personal build has many custom aspects with a "70s day II" theme. Everyone "proper build could be different, but I would avoid calling that 74 3 on the tree 318 shitbox duster I used to thrash a "proper build".

Basically, its different for everybody.

The BB, mini tubbed, sub framed, EFI, narrowed tank, black on black, home built, extravaganza in the downstairs of the establishment I call "home", is a proper build...........to me.

I also feel that fella with the patina car called "vixen" is doing a proper build, just differently.

No, Im not running for office, but I tap danced around your question like friggin peg leg bates!!



What is YOUR definition?
 
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