Hot Rod & Car Craft

[langleylad]

Is it just me or have these two just gone sour ?. I've subscribed to them for years now and I used to get excited when a new issue came through the mail slot , not anymore . I honestly believe that it all changed when Frieburger stepped back . I'm all payed up for another year , I hope they get better . What else am I going to read on the .......

[68scott385]

Yep. I stopped subscribing to Hot Rod 15+/- years ago. Picked up a couple at the grocery this year. Glad I don't have a subscription. I have been getting Car Craft in the mail for close to 20years. To me it still seems to be hands-on but the amount of content is dwindling. I like what McGann is trying to do with CC but neither of them is up to par with what they once were. When I read the new guy's article and how he used two hose clamps to hold the transmission in place because he couldn't get or make the correct mount in time for publishing I thought he would never go anywhere. I was wrong but he took the magazine quality down hill during his rise to fame & glory. Too much glory in the hackery, in my opinion, and not enough recognition for doing it right the first time. I guess that's my flat-rate background showing.

[malc]

Just could'nt justify the expense to renew my subscription to CarCraft, price and content don't match up.
I had to subscribe to a supplier in England because the HotRod/CarCraft offices donīt know where Spain is.
My issues went to South America.

[RockJustRock]

The new Car Craft is awful. The only car features are the Street Outlaw Cars. INCLUDING Big Rob's who doesn't race or appear on the show. Total ego stroke in exchange for access. Beyond that a couple of tech articles and the columns. Disregard for tradition in that in the 70s and 80s street rods were excluded from CC. Car Craft used to be more popular than cable TV. Now cable TV's success is the magazine's loss.

[Monster]

This will be the first year that I don't have at least one of those as a subscription in many decades !!!

[tardis454]

Is it just me or have these two just gone sour? I've subscribed to them for years now and I used to get excited when a new issue came through the mail slot, not anymore.

I was thinking the same thing when I got the latest Hot Rod in the mail a few days ago. The magazine is thinner, there are more ads now than ever, and the quality and quantity of good articles have decreased substantially. It should be renamed Hot Rod Advertising Inc because it has essentially become a wish book for car stuff. "Got a classic car with an OEM frame and suspension? No problem, just buy this Art Morrison set-up for $20,000." I've said before they've lost touch with the regular car guy. I won't be renewing my subscription.

[DanStokes]

I think the best thing in HRM is the rescue section. Of course, the rescuer is often my buddy Norm Brandes so I'm kind of biased. There's real hands-on stuff in there. But I have to agree that much of it is just advertising but I guess that's what makes the wheels go 'round (so to speak). Never been a Car Craft fan so I can't speak to that.

Dan

[squirrel]

The only article in this issue that I really liked...I already read online. Huh.

[redneckjoe69]

i bought a hot rod or car craft a few weeks ago. first one in many years, & the last. total waste of money,.... nothing but adds. very disappointing.

[Dan Barlow]

I think you guys are all.......well , looking through rose colored glasses towards the past . I remember in the 75 thru present that there has always been alot of adds . Thats what pays the bills . And seriously you can go online if they dont send you offeres or get one from the magazinr on the news stand and basically get them for s $1 a month by the time they pay postage they arent making any money off your subscription. You'll pay that for a coke these days and it won't last you near as long . I think maybe some of us are at the point ( not me ) that we could be writing or at least working for these magazines. We've seen about everything at least once . Just cause we've been around cars so long . And I really wasn't a Grey Baskerville fan . Never was a fan of a writter till Dave. And I'm getting less of that . I may have to subscribe to Roadkill .

[TheSilverBuick]

I'd historically maintained my Car Craft subscription because I never see it on the news stand, but like Squirrel said, the last few issues it seems I've read the whole magazine online, like it was a simple cut and paste from the website to paper. Highly disappointed. I still liked the articles, but didn't see a reason to actually read the magazine because I already had. I haven't noticed the same issue with Hot Rod, though I'm sure there is a few articles like that.

[corvettedad]

I agree totally, I use to hide it when it came in so I could look at first before my youngest one found it. Now I just walk in and say here John your new Hot Rod magazine is here, which by the way thrills him so I guess it's worth something.

[Barry Donovan]

car craft has launched some notable future in the past.
I like that.

I predict simplifying and proving it is next.. that could last a whole decade.
Hackery gets boring...but it does loosen some people up. I grew up with it. It is not fun to be life and death like a crew chief on the front line.

[langleylad]

I realize that the advertising floats the boat but something's missing . Like an down to earth project car , something that the average Joe can wrench on and take to the track on the weekend . I want less bling and more tire smoke. Car Craft has always been the kid going off to trade school and Hot Rod going off to University .

[cobra]

I haven't read Car Craft in over 20 years.
I quit getting Hod Rod when they became Hot Chevy Rod. Then started reading them again in 05' after I went on my first Power Tour. Fortunately, I always seem to find a subscription price low enough to keep renewing it.