Legal Bill

I read in the editor's column of the latest edition of R&T that the magazine will have a new editorial staff as the operations are being moved from Ann Arbor MI to the publisher's home office in NY. I'm not sure how many of the current editors are out, as Wolfkill didn't specify in his column.

Inside the magazine they ran what I can only call a half ass compare of the Civic Type R against the Hyundai Velostar N and a Golf GTI Rabbit Edition. This compare was ridiculous. The Civic cost about $7K more than the VW. Why didn't they compare it to a Golf R? That car is only $1.5K more than the Civic Type R that they tested. Alternatively, why didn't the test the Civic Si which would have cost about the same as the Veloster? And worse yet, the writers didn't even bother to note the mismatch or why they used the cars they did. It all seemed slapped together. Is R&T in trouble?

dlq04

That was my bible decades ago. Funny, I just was going through books and magazines recently trying to get an idea for an oil painting. Saw I kept their 40th and 50th editions and a few others that had cars that had meaning to me. I do subscribe to any auto mag's anymore and still I have lots to read from car buddies.

tof

Car and Driver is owned by the same publisher. I hope any problems don't affect C/D. But I hate to see the other good US car mag in trouble, if they are. Car and Driver also operates out of Ann Arbor, in the same office park on Eisenhower Place. Also of note, Car and Driver used to have its editorial offices in New York City. So maybe Hearst Publishing is eventually moving both staffs to NYC. In spite of the fact that Detroit is slowly losing its title as the epicenter of the U.S. automotive industry I am surprised R&T (and maybe C/D?) would take on the cost burden of the move and the higher cost of everything in New York.

But maybe R&T is in trouble. Here are circulation averages for each of the big three US car mags over the first six months of 2018, from Alliance for Audited Media:
Car and Driver - 1,212,443
Motor Trend - 1,018,249
Road & Track - 577,329

I wonder how traffic compares on the web pages of the big three.

Legal Bill

That number is really bad for R&T, Mike. Last year the announced they were going to 10 or 11 editions a year, rather than monthly. I get the sense that they are not "moving" the office to NY so much as just closing Ann Arbor and editing the magazine out of NY with existing staff. I guess I'll find out with the next edition. Larry Webster, the previous editor of R&T now serves as the EIC of the Haggerty magazine which comes out six times a year.

Conedodger

I still subscribe to C&D. Noticeably thinner than it used to be. I only get it because deals can be found for a full year for $7.

Legal Bill

SO funny you said this. I subscribed a few weeks ago because of the $7 rate.

hecash

Ditto.............!

dlq04

Every issue of the new Hagerty magazine has at least one or two very interesting articles relating to racing and racers from the past. Many of the old timers hate the new format since it isn't 100% about old and mostly American cars. In fact, it always contains a number of pages about new cars which I typically skip over. Still I like the new format and always enjoy reading what Leno has to say.

Len44

I also noticed Car & Driver was noticeably thinner with the last issue. Been reading C&D for a lot of years, since -- well, never mind, but let's just say I remember their controversial GTO issue, comparing the Ferrari GTO with the Pontiac GTO.

C&D had been my "Go-To" car magazine for years, but sadly it has faded. I would not be surprised if both Road & Track and Car & Driver cease operations (or combine?) sometime soon.

robb