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Judging by local shows and the guys who have come look at cars either me or my mates have up for sale theres still a large proportion of these people about. Again, judging by the time I spent running a marque car club I got hate mail if I featured modifed examples in the club mag.
If you come to our local meet you'll think that everyone has a V8 in thier ride. We all do.
If you go to RCS you'll think every car built before 1975 has Minilites on it.
Everyone has their slice of reality. Who has the biggest? (in terms of magazine buying power?) I dunno for sure but from the club scene I know that its about 90% older guys and stockers that way.
I'm not talking about beardy stag owners, but people with Vauxhall Victors, Austin Somersets, Renault Dauphines, Moggies, Hillman Minxes etc etc. Normal family classics tend to attract normal family guys.
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Last Edit: Feb 3, 2006 15:15:51 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Thanks again for all of this feedback.
Just for the record and to keep my bosses happy (who probably lurk around on this forum when they're not in the pub, I mean having meetings, - hi guys), Practical Classics is the best magazine in the world ever and everyone should subscribe to it. Now.
Seriously though, PC is the best-selling classic car magazine in the UK for a reason and we've been lucky enough to buck the industry trend by hanging on to our readers when many mags, classic car related or not, have been losing them hand over fist.
We'll take all of your views on board. Keep looking out for the mag. We're there to entertain and inform everyone who loves old cars.
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Yeah good point I guess AlistairK.
Difficult to get the right ‘formula’. I guess it’s a case of finding and clearly defining your niche in the mag market, not copying or overlapping someone elses, then the task is to constantly finding interesting new things to write about within that niche.
No matter what you put in a mag there are going to be folk who whinge, but for me the ‘Holman years’ were PC’s best ever, if for no other reason than the people writing it were clearly having such a great time doing it, and they were very eclectic in their car choices. They even managed to find ways to write about MGBs and Stags which had some new information in.
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Last Edit: Feb 3, 2006 15:30:07 GMT by Mr_Bo11ox
1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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triang
Part of things
Posts: 36
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An obvious point but here I go....
I think Practical Classics should be about just that - classics that are practical.
I how do I define 'Practical'? The classic should be able to be used as an everyday car , for all the normal duties a car has to do. It should be able to cope with all roads in all weathers and it should be possible to leave it parked outside all night. It should also not cost the earth to run, easy to fix and spares should not cost an arm & leg.
This precludes Vintage Bentleys ( shame) E-Types etc. ( too expensive and who would leave them outside at night?) ; but also seriously modded motors, lowriders ( traffic humps yer see ) , Zodiacs with dragster engines and monster tyres.
I have no problems with these and they brighten up the motoring scene no end - but they belong in a modding mag.
Lightly modded ( say engine transplant, groovy wheel and paint job , breathed upon classics ) do have a place in my opinion - for what it's worth.
What I would like to see is two regular sections for seventies and eighties tin featuring at least two cars from each decade with a bias towards the ordinary bread and butter saloons and less of the Lotus Eclats - maybe a readers story from each decade.
Finally a Retro Mod section would do nicely - featuring a modded car of the month.
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I think what you just described is Retro magazine mate
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Mr K
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,993
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Finally a Retro Mod section would do nicely - featuring a modded car of the month. not neccisarly a retro car... what about a retro equipment.... pick a bit of retro equipment that used to be around then tell us aobut it..... or a retro skill (lead filling ect)
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,945
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Err I might retract maybe part of my original comments - stand by the rest tho!!
Picked up a copy today in the library and had a quick gander thro it
I had a copy of retro cars in my hand - Yes!!!
I had a fiver in my pocket
Retro cars won ;D
but.........
If I have a fiver in my pocket next week I think for the first time in a long while I'll buy a copy for one article
4 modded classics - it looked good
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I have no constructive comments to make, as I haven't bought PC since about 1988. But absolute TOP MARKS for coming here and asking for input
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paul4be
Part of things
'86 Capri Laser, Frontera 4x4
Posts: 395
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I tend to buy whichever mag has something of particular interest. Usually though it ends up being either PC or Classic Ford. The problem is that neither really cover the period of cars that interest me. With cars form the late 70's and early 80's (Allegro, XR4x4, Volvo 240) these seem to usually fall between the cracks of current mags as being to old for some, and to new for the others. I'm an early 80's teenager and used to read Street Machine, Kit Car mags, CCC etc etc, so whilst I enjoy reading about the older stuff, Moggies, Jags MG's etc etc have been covered for years and years. There are only so-many things that can be written about them!!!! I quite like articles on sensible upgrades/ mods as these tend to make older cars more usable, or practical in modern traffic. I like the staff car write-ups, and the more hands-on articles. I do get fed up reading about nice shiny stuff that is far more expensive and pampered than I would class as practical. I'll keep on buying, but certainly won't be monthly at present as there are to many issues with nothing relevant to me.
I must say though, I am impressed that you've bothered to ask people who actually read the mag and have valid opinions, well done and thank you.
Paul.
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BenW
Part of things
Posts: 145
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Firstly I'll say that as a PC subscriber, it honestly is the only mag I look forward to reading from cover to cover. I agree however that it lost some of it's appeal at the moment half the old team (Will Holman etc) were binned, for reasons already stated by others - i.e. their obvious enthusiasm jumped out of the page.
My favourite parts are:
Rust In Peace - I agree it might be nice to see more home-sourced shots, but I guess that's the responsibility of the contributing readership! This has to be my favourite feature every month, as I'm sure I'm not alone in having that dream of stumbling across some kind of automotive treasure (not quite what my wife would call it, but...) that needs saving. That sort of idea floats my boat in a big way. ;D
Memory Lane - love the nostalgia. Any chance of more 70s scenes, and perhaps some 80s?
I can't think of much else at the moment (heavily jet lagged) but I'd also like to lend my support to the practice of having mainly bread-and-butter cars in the mag - the sort of stuff Dad drove back in the day, now the source of great memories. As I'm now 27 (and surely not the only reader under 40!), we're talking early eighties stuff - Mk1 Fiestas, Mk2 Cavaliers etc. Personally I can't relate to E Type ownership, although I love 'everyday' 60s and 70s metal in general - I can remember seeing plenty of it on the road.
Basically though, absolutely top mag! Keep it up. ;D
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Mk1 Triumph 2000
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I was in Borders yesterday looking through the magazines and I have to say Practical Classics really didn't jump out at me and make me want to buy it, even though I half went in there to buy it!!
Best cover on the shelf was Classic and Sports Car by a long way!
I think this is definatly something that could do with being looked at.
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I think you guys need a much more attractive cover design! Still enjoy the mag now and then, even if I don't enjoy some of the articles. The staff cars bit is always great <wonders off to photoshop new PC cover ;D>
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I had a think about this thread while at Car Club meet on Sunday (yes I am that sad ;D) and mentioned about it. A point a lot of members said was the point of: "An old car should always be cheaper to buy, own and run than a modern car"And I though THATS IT! When I was on many of my 'road trips' in the former Eastern Bloc in Years gone by the reason that people had old cars was they could not afford New 'tin'. And I have to admit that ALL my motoring life I've said to myself if ever the cost of running my bangers a month excedes what it would cost to run a new car on the Funny Finance Payments/Never never a month then I would hang up my keys a give up driving.
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TwincamGTi, generally, it's getting very close. If you do miles then it is as cheap. I ran a Volvo 480 for the past 2 1/2 years doing 20k miles per year and did all the servicing/repairs myself. Costs worked out at approx £300 per month, including costs to buy, servicing, repairs and fuel at 34mpg avg, over 2 1/2 years for a £1400 car, but not including my time. The fuel on the audi is about £100 per month the rest can be easily afforded out of £200. Servicing at a dealer every 30k and full warranty for the first 3 years (of which we got nearly all).
So the 480 has gone, and the A2 is in, boring, with a good wireless, at least it is appreciated by the current MrsBB.
As for Practical Classics, I haven't bought a copy for a few years, but I bought a copy on Thursday, took it to the study (read dunnie) and read it a few times, cover to cover. There really wasn't a lot in there that stood out either as corking info, that I could not have worked out for myself, or cracking tips, that would save me the cost of a meal out. I rather liked the shot on the cover but the most interesting part of that story to me would have been how he did the LPG conversion, the resolution of problems caused and what it did for the running costs. But there should always space for individuals who manage to build a replica WO Blower Bentley out of girders and tin foil, and the like.
The pages on Souper-uppers (sp), I only managed to read once, and nearly lost the will to live when I saw some lax-power renner in PC. What is all that about?! You could have gone to town over several issues on period modifications for each of the cars from each decade from the 50's onwards, rather than blow over them all and end up with some 'tuning' monkey's R5 at the end. A tidy fiat Uno Turbo ie would have been neat, or a Ritmo 130TC would have been more in-keeping.
The article on turbocharging was a page filler with a couple of diagrams to pad it out, no real info in it, e.g. what engines could be/were turbo'd and how.
The commentary from a video about restoring an MG was good. He gave his 'on the job' :-) techniques, product reviews and a bit of a story to it all. Normally when I see an MG I want the next line to read would be, "how to fit a K-series.", but I was genuinely interested from start to finish with it.
The bit about building a kitcar... no real comments, but you ain't a kit car mag are you, so why bother? I'd rather see you building up some sort of an Austin Seven out of bits, or even a reliant kitten!
Like most have said, PC was about keeping old smokers on the road and either making them as good as the manufacturers should have, or getting them past an MOT. Tips like you gave for the Merc, e.g. check all electricals everyday, including the horn... what are you going to do, either beep randomly on your drive before you set off, or go out trying to find road rage so that you can pomp someone... don't really help in either case.
Imagine that the reader is an informed, intelligent type, with oily hands and either a project car ready to cut rust out of, or a daily runner that he needs help with getting seized nuts and bolt off, re-conditioning the brakes or carbs, replacing pins and the odds and sods that break and can't be easily replaced, etc.
Also, IMO, there are too many garage ads. I understand why, they pay more, but I think that I'd rather sit on the can dreaming and plotting of getting some sort of hidden gem from an old giffer in Scunthorpe rather than being had roughly by some Arfur Daley type in a sheepskin coat and an XJ6 from Essex.
I rather like the PPC and Retro mags that I have picked up from time to time. More of a real world feel to them. I would hope that they would keep growing the scope of what is an acceptable classic and what the best ways there are of keeping them up to speed with todays traffic. As for keeping them on the road in the first place, then that would be where I see you guys coming in.
Just my 2p (and a bit more besides, perhaps)
BB
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Yesterday at 7:54, pogweasel wrote:
Nothing wrong with creature comforts. If I want masochism, I'll just go and slam my knackers in the fridge door for a bit.
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Just remembered another great column / feature - 'Practically Classic?' In the early '90s this had stuff like the Allegro, Princess, SD1, Scirocco Mk1, Cortina Mk3, Volvo 140 etc, with a brief history / buyers guide over 3 or so pages. Now, I guess it would be featuring cars like the BMW E30, Citroen XM, Scirocco & Golf Mk2, Volvo 240 etc.
A superb idea as it wasn't saying the cars featured were classics, just letting the reader decide for themselves.
Please bring this back!!!!!
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