Yey! A New Car Mag!! Modern Classics

[renmure]

ModernClassics said:

So, any thoughts on the new issue (51) from our subscribers?
I have a feeling I may regret asking this but I’ve had at least two cups of Earl Grey and feel suitably reinforced.

Nathan
Assistant Editor and more than mildly aggrieved by the renegade ‘t’ that found its way into the Ghibli feature.

Edited by ModernClassics on Monday 29th June 18:19

I'll give this one a 4/4 score. That's pretty average for Modern Classics

I'm sure this will be filed under "too much information" (possibly far too much information) but I tend to read car mags in the outdoor sauna in the garden and, since each visit lasts about 30/35 mins, that means I usually get 4 saunas out of each magazine before I'm done with it. Last month's edition with the top Hot Hatch feature was so good to read and full of quality content that is was the first 5/4 I can remember outwith things like the Top Gear special editions.

By contrast, Auto Express is usually a 2/4 for me since I skim read most of it. Evo is more regularly a 3/4, mainly because there's chunks of it I don't really bother with and I don't pay that much attention to the ads. With MC, I recon I probably actually look at all the various adverts and scan all the cars listed by advertising dealers and even go through each of the private sale ads in the back, not necessarily because I'm looking to buy anything but more because, hey, you never know. It's certainly more likely than when I scan the POA adverts in Evo for the latest mega money unobtanium Porsche GTs and the like.

I liked the little feature in MC this month by Keith Adams and went all nostalgic seeing a photo of that first edition of Fast Lane magazine. I remember as a student finding myself at the bus station in Edinburgh and buying that magazine for 90p before going to buy a ticket then realising it left me without enough money to actually pay for the ticket home. I was very naughty and just paid to go as far as I could afford then kept my head buried in the magazine hoping not to catch anyones eye and stayed on until we reached Dundee. I've just this moment been on eBay and repurchased an old copy of that edition for a whole £11.99 and look forward to reliving that experience back in the sauna and reading all about twin engined VW Sciroccos. Hopefully it will be at least a 4/4.

So, how could Modern Classics improve... well... more heat resistant glue would help or, take a lead from Auto Express and hammer in a couple of big staples

[s m]

renmure said:

I'll give this one a 4/4 score. That's pretty average for Modern Classics

I'm sure this will be filed under "too much information" (possibly far too much information) but I tend to read car mags in the outdoor sauna in the garden and, since each visit lasts about 30/35 mins, that means I usually get 4 saunas out of each magazine before I'm done with it. Last month's edition with the top Hot Hatch feature was so good to read and full of quality content that is was the first 5/4 I can remember outwith things like the Top Gear special editions.

By contrast, Auto Express is usually a 2/4 for me since I skim read most of it. Evo is more regularly a 3/4, mainly because there's chunks of it I don't really bother with and I don't pay that much attention to the ads. With MC, I recon I probably actually look at all the various adverts and scan all the cars listed by advertising dealers and even go through each of the private sale ads in the back, not necessarily because I'm looking to buy anything but more because, hey, you never know. It's certainly more likely than when I scan the POA adverts in Evo for the latest mega money unobtanium Porsche GTs and the like.

I liked the little feature in MC this month by Keith Adams and went all nostalgic seeing a photo of that first edition of Fast Lane magazine. I remember as a student finding myself at the bus station in Edinburgh and buying that magazine for 90p before going to buy a ticket then realising it left me without enough money to actually pay for the ticket home. I was very naughty and just paid to go as far as I could afford then kept my head buried in the magazine hoping not to catch anyones eye and stayed on until we reached Dundee. I've just this moment been on eBay and repurchased an old copy of that edition for a whole £11.99 and look forward to reliving that experience back in the sauna and reading all about twin engined VW Sciroccos. Hopefully it will be at least a 4/4.

So, how could Modern Classics improve... well... more heat resistant glue would help or, take a lead from Auto Express and hammer in a couple of big staples

I remember buying that Fast Lane issue too - still got them all
They tended to cover the more quirky cars than Performance Car
Photography on the Ghibli Cup in this month’s MC is excellent I thought

[renmure]

s m said:

I remember buying that Fast Lane issue too - still got them all
They tended to cover the more quirky cars than Performance Car
Photography on the Ghibli Cup in this month’s MC is excellent I thought

Yeah, Fast Lane also seemed to cover the cars from the various tuning companies where you could take your bog standard BMW M3, AMG Merc or even Porsche and spend almost the same again having a body kit hammered on and various engine upgrades and suspension tweeks to make it uglier but faster.

There was a Willy Koenig modified Ferrari Testarossa listed in the classifieds recently and when I saw it I was almost immediately taken back to reading a Fast Lane article on what may have been that very car.

[greenarrow]

One of my favourite books in my motoring book collection is a Fast Lane special from the late 1980s.. Was it Peter Dron who used to write for Fast Lane? Always liked him. Both the Dron brothers actually. Don't know what happened to them, I guess they're both long retired by now given that Fast Lane's prime was over 30 years ago now. I liked how Fast Lane (a bit like Car at the time) weren't afraid to give a verdict on a car that went against the grain. For example, in my Fast Lane book they weren't hugely complimentary about the early E30 M3, a car which has reached mythical status in recent times. In another issue I had they gave the nod to the Mitsubishi 3000 GT over the Toyota Supra. Again, not a popular verdict at the time.

Bit like Modern Classics actually. As shown by last month's hot hatch issue, they're not afraid to choose one of the more unsung heroes as their favourite car in a feature

[s m]

greenarrow said:

One of my favourite books in my motoring book collection is a Fast Lane special from the late 1980s.. Was it Peter Dron who used to write for Fast Lane? Always liked him. Both the Dron brothers actually. Don't know what happened to them, I guess they're both long retired by now given that Fast Lane's prime was over 30 years ago now. I liked how Fast Lane (a bit like Car at the time) weren't afraid to give a verdict on a car that went against the grain. For example, in my Fast Lane book they weren't hugely complimentary about the early E30 M3, a car which has reached mythical status in recent times. In another issue I had they gave the nod to the Mitsubishi 3000 GT over the Toyota Supra. Again, not a popular verdict at the time.

Bit like Modern Classics actually. As shown by last month's hot hatch issue, they're not afraid to choose one of the more unsung heroes as their favourite car in a feature

Peter Dron was the editor of Fast Lane

His brother Tony used to do the odd article for Octane....maybe still does but I don’t really read Octane.
Peter has done some good books if you like his stuff

Edited by s m on Thursday 9th July 11:18

[0a]

Hubnut said in his Q&A that modern classics is closing. This would be a shame. I have not seen an issue recently.

[John Locke]

ModernClassics said:

I fear that the E60 M5 has entered that same sphere as the Maserati 3200. Brilliant cars, but a fair few iffy ones about and eyewateringly expensive to fix - if indeed you can.
Perhaps the problem with the 986 is that the rate of attrition isn’t yet high enough.

New issue’s out now, by the way...

That M5 was the final nail in BMW's coffin as far as I'm concerned.

I don't buy every issue, but I'll look for the new one when I go out later.

[Hub]

I didn't see it in Tesco this week, which is unusual.

[s m]

Hub said:

I didn't see it in Tesco this week, which is unusual.

Seen it in a few shops round here - maybe it’s been in and sold out. People were buying more mags for a while in lockdown

[greenarrow]

0a said:

Hubnut said in his Q&A that modern classics is closing. This would be a shame. I have not seen an issue recently.

I'm not sure this is correct. Currently only 3 titles have been confirmed as closing and MC is not one of them. A few pages back Nathan said there would be an announcement in due course and latest info on the net suggests MC might be one of a number of titles being sold off to another publisher. I'd be interested in your source.

[john_1983]

Not related to MC per se, but I got my copy of Enzo magazine in the post today and it's the last one - all subs are being rolled over into Octane.

This issue of Enzo isn't brilliant, they're rehashing their own articles (some of which were rehashes of Evo/Octane articles in the first place!)

[Truckosaurus]

greenarrow said:

... I'd be interested in your source.

I think 'Hubnut' was just repeating the earlier rumours that MC was in the firing line (which do seem to have been confirmed by MC staff) rather than having any specific knowledge of the situation.

[0a]

Truckosaurus said:

greenarrow said:

... I'd be interested in your source.

I think 'Hubnut' was just repeating the earlier rumours that MC was in the firing line (which do seem to have been confirmed by MC staff) rather than having any specific knowledge of the situation.

He said it in the latest Hubnut Q&A in response to a question on whether there is a future for magazines. I would not usually pay much attention to what Youtuberers claim, however I know he is from a magazine background. I hope it is not the case as MC is my favourite magazine. Whenever I see it I buy it. Probably should have got a subscription.

[nickod]

0a said:

Hubnut said in his Q&A that modern classics is closing. This would be a shame. I have not seen an issue recently.

I hope not - it's the only car magazine I buy every issue of. I got the latest issue in Smiths last week.

[itcaptainslow]

0a said:

Truckosaurus said:

greenarrow said:

... I'd be interested in your source.

I think 'Hubnut' was just repeating the earlier rumours that MC was in the firing line (which do seem to have been confirmed by MC staff) rather than having any specific knowledge of the situation.

He said it in the latest Hubnut Q&A in response to a question on whether there is a future for magazines. I would not usually pay much attention to what Youtuberers claim, however I know he is from a magazine background. I hope it is not the case as MC is my favourite magazine. Whenever I see it I buy it. Probably should have got a subscription.

...of course he’s going to say that, he’s the YouTube equivalent of a certain poster in the salesman thread, who believes only the thing he’s involved in/subscribes to is the way forward

[ModernClassics]

Hello all.
Mr Hubnut is wrong, but unfortunately I can’t explain anymore than that.
There will be more news on the mag next week...

[s m]

ModernClassics said:

Hello all.
Mr Hubnut is wrong, but unfortunately I can’t explain anymore than that.
There will be more news on the mag next week...

That sounds positive

All the best

[Caddyshack]

I subscribe to MC, if everyone does then it would do well.

[0a]

ModernClassics said:

Hello all.
Mr Hubnut is wrong, but unfortunately I can’t explain anymore than that.
There will be more news on the mag next week...

It's really good to hear that.

Sorry for posting it here, but it was within the video on Youtube so I thought it relevant as I know people here watch that channel (perhaps it would be generous to describe his fleet as 'modern classics' though!).

[ModernClassics]

renmure said:

Yeah, Fast Lane also seemed to cover the cars from the various tuning companies where you could take your bog standard BMW M3, AMG Merc or even Porsche and spend almost the same again having a body kit hammered on and various engine upgrades and suspension tweeks to make it uglier but faster.

There was a Willy Koenig modified Ferrari Testarossa listed in the classifieds recently and when I saw it I was almost immediately taken back to reading a Fast Lane article on what may have been that very car.

Was it red? We did a Koenig Ferrari in the early days. That was an... interesting... shoot. Well, two shoots.
One day JJ and I will do a podcast with some tales from behind the scenes. There will have to be judicious use of the pause button though. Some bits might be silence for a good 20 minutes.

Nathan