Which Kit news
Discussion
www.cobraclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20474
Heard rumours a little while ago. It has now been made official I guess.
Heard rumours a little while ago. It has now been made official I guess.
Almost dread to ask this given the history, but wonder how this is going to affect promotion of the Python in the UK?
With Filby acting as sales agent it obviously used to get big coverage in Which Kit Car? magazine.
Does this mean it'll have to start making do with the free ads Den keeps giving it in Kit Car?
Sorry, know it's naughty and I shouldn't, but couldn't resist...
Edited to add that I hope this development will finally bring the whole sorry episode to an end.
With Filby acting as sales agent it obviously used to get big coverage in Which Kit Car? magazine.
Does this mean it'll have to start making do with the free ads Den keeps giving it in Kit Car?
Sorry, know it's naughty and I shouldn't, but couldn't resist...
Edited to add that I hope this development will finally bring the whole sorry episode to an end.
Edited by grahambell on Friday 5th January 19:14
The thing now will be is there enough room for three magazines on a very specialist subject. For my money Totalkit car gets my subscription as I feel it is the best of the three. The unmitigated farce that the "war" became between the other two was not helpful in driving forward our hobby. Where will all the publishers get there add mony from as there is only so much manufactureres can spend even the big ones. I wish them luck for the future all three.
Graham, I can assure you it has. I’ve personally spoken to Ian Stent today and wished him well in his new venture, and offered my support where I can. We will deal with WKC and its staff with the upmost respect and in a professional manner from now on. The only issue of KC to have any kind of comment is in the next issue which is due out this weekend and of course was printed before Ian’s announcement.
I know Den has also emailed Ian to congratulate him, one of Den’s sentence’s to Ian “Hopefully, we’ll be able to establish a mutually beneficial relationship to the benefit of everybody with an interest in kit cars.”
So this a good start to 2007 for all in this industry...Happy New Year!
I know Den has also emailed Ian to congratulate him, one of Den’s sentence’s to Ian “Hopefully, we’ll be able to establish a mutually beneficial relationship to the benefit of everybody with an interest in kit cars.”
So this a good start to 2007 for all in this industry...Happy New Year!
A welcome development I say.
Ian Stent has been around the kit car scene for donkeys years and IMHO his writing has always been honest and fair. Im sure he will do an excellent job of boosting Which Kit, which was always a well produced publication.
The very best to all three magazines - With them all pulling in the same direction who knows what can be achieved for the industry?
Ian Stent has been around the kit car scene for donkeys years and IMHO his writing has always been honest and fair. Im sure he will do an excellent job of boosting Which Kit, which was always a well produced publication.
The very best to all three magazines - With them all pulling in the same direction who knows what can be achieved for the industry?
Den mentioned this to me several days ago......I thought I had better wait till the "official" announcement before commenting......
Hopefully peace will now prevail, and Den will now be able to ditch the happy pills........
Edited to say:-
Den said:-
Pinocchio's Fibs were my only problem. Now he's gone, I see my job as accomplished.
Ian Stent is a first rate journalist and I wish him every success. I'll be writing to him later today to offer my congratulations.
Hopefully peace will now prevail, and Den will now be able to ditch the happy pills........
Edited to say:-
Den said:-
Pinocchio's Fibs were my only problem. Now he's gone, I see my job as accomplished.
Ian Stent is a first rate journalist and I wish him every success. I'll be writing to him later today to offer my congratulations.
Edited by Wacky racer on Friday 5th January 22:38
grahambell said:
Almost dread to ask this given the history, but wonder how this is going to affect promotion of the Python in the UK?
With Filby acting as sales agent it obviously used to get big coverage in Which Kit Car? magazine.
Does this mean it'll have to start making do with the free ads Den keeps giving it in Kit Car?
With Filby acting as sales agent it obviously used to get big coverage in Which Kit Car? magazine.
Does this mean it'll have to start making do with the free ads Den keeps giving it in Kit Car?
My guess is that Python customers can now look forward to the same treatment I got (i.e. never get all the bits they pay for and only empty promises to sort sub standard parts.) as they will withdraw from the UK market.
I met PF once and he seemed alright to me so I do feel sorry for him if he's been pressured out...... but this must be good for the kit industry as the previous public standoff situation was way out of hand.
Hopefully onwards and upwards for 2007 then.
[quote=andygttI met PF once and he seemed alright to me so I do feel sorry for him if he's been pressured out[/quote]
I have met PF several times at Kit car shows and he seemed a decent enough bloke....
I remember Den saying he had absolutely no problem with PF as a journalist, in fact he said he was an excellent one, his problem was with some of his business practices and premature claims for Vince Wright's Python which could not be verified as the car was in the pre production stage at the time.......
It would be nice if they could both now bury the hatchet and buy each other a
, as life's too short, but I can't really see that happening.......
I have met PF several times at Kit car shows and he seemed a decent enough bloke....
I remember Den saying he had absolutely no problem with PF as a journalist, in fact he said he was an excellent one, his problem was with some of his business practices and premature claims for Vince Wright's Python which could not be verified as the car was in the pre production stage at the time.......
It would be nice if they could both now bury the hatchet and buy each other a
, as life's too short, but I can't really see that happening....... grahambell said:
busa_rush said:
Does this mean we have a chance of getting a magazine that isn't filled with V8's, Cobras, adverts or repeated private classifieds ?
Yes - it's called totalkitcar.
One of the best series of articles appeared in PPC by David Vizzard. This is what I want to see, not a review of *another* se7en or a Cobra. I don't want to sound negative, your reviews Graham are more interesting than most but it would be nice to see some good in-depth articles on chassis design for example, or how about a good 3-4 page article on andygtt and how he designed and built his chassis and bodywork - show people how it can be done.
All the three magazines are the same apart from the bitching. If any of them want to build sales or even survive long term they are going to have to get more interesting, offering the kit car builder something more fulfilling. At the moment they are all at the level of The Radio Times and they need to be at the level of National Geographic/The Economist.
Mabe I'm the one looking for something different and the mass market is happy with the Radio Times ?
I always understood it was a fine line the mags walked. They can't afford to be too disparaging about products in the market cos the industry is small, their circulation is low, margins are tight and an unhappy manufacturer issuing a writ would badly hurt them. Hence the plethora of noncommital or rose-tinted reviews that were the norm until a few years ago.
Things are improving these days but my opinion is that's as much due to a more informed public and introduction of the SVA test driving better products and industry standards, as manufacturers demonstrating more aptitude and integrity with respect to their design and development.
The point of the above? Well, I agree that more technical and in-depth articles would be great. Unfortuntely it's hard to educate your readers about what to look for in a good chassis design, as an example, and then not point the finger when reporting on a manufacturer's product that patently has the same flaws in it that you've already highlighted to your readership.
And to point the finger may improve standards in the industry overall, but in the meantime the publication is exposed, reputations are on the line, jobs are at stake.
I've a lot of sympathy with this dilemma - but that aside, the mags don't help themselves with the quality of articles at times, nor the lack of imagination in the writing. The name-calling and hair-pulling is another matter and not worthy of comment.
Lastly, once a decision has been taken to write an article and the time and trouble has been taken to visit the manufacturer, why is there generally a limit of maybe 4 pages, of which maybe 1 1/2 to 2 pages are pics? Surely an extra few pages are readily available to show us more pictures, decent technical detail, a proper breakdown of the mechanical content...
Kit car builders are mechanically minded by definition, and will be building these cars themselves. At times the mags read like they've been written by someone who doesn't build kit cars. In this pretty specialised industry that's not really on. In-depth knowledge is fundamental to giving a balanced and accurate viewpoint.
I reckon an ongoing article on andy_gtt's build would be great. Hats off to him in the first place, plus a healthy dose of inspiration to others equally talented and motivated would be a real boost to the industry. We might get some more original designs coming through; heaven knows they're a rare occurrence at the best of times.
Things are improving these days but my opinion is that's as much due to a more informed public and introduction of the SVA test driving better products and industry standards, as manufacturers demonstrating more aptitude and integrity with respect to their design and development.
The point of the above? Well, I agree that more technical and in-depth articles would be great. Unfortuntely it's hard to educate your readers about what to look for in a good chassis design, as an example, and then not point the finger when reporting on a manufacturer's product that patently has the same flaws in it that you've already highlighted to your readership.
And to point the finger may improve standards in the industry overall, but in the meantime the publication is exposed, reputations are on the line, jobs are at stake.
I've a lot of sympathy with this dilemma - but that aside, the mags don't help themselves with the quality of articles at times, nor the lack of imagination in the writing. The name-calling and hair-pulling is another matter and not worthy of comment.
Lastly, once a decision has been taken to write an article and the time and trouble has been taken to visit the manufacturer, why is there generally a limit of maybe 4 pages, of which maybe 1 1/2 to 2 pages are pics? Surely an extra few pages are readily available to show us more pictures, decent technical detail, a proper breakdown of the mechanical content...
Kit car builders are mechanically minded by definition, and will be building these cars themselves. At times the mags read like they've been written by someone who doesn't build kit cars. In this pretty specialised industry that's not really on. In-depth knowledge is fundamental to giving a balanced and accurate viewpoint.
I reckon an ongoing article on andy_gtt's build would be great. Hats off to him in the first place, plus a healthy dose of inspiration to others equally talented and motivated would be a real boost to the industry. We might get some more original designs coming through; heaven knows they're a rare occurrence at the best of times.
The problem for magazine editors is where they have to balance what gets put in the magazine. When i first started looking for a kit car I bought every thing going and then read every review of sevens I could as at the time that is what I wanted. Now after several years yes the same seven reviews are there. Yes I also like the technical side but some articles if too technical go over the majorities heads and then they don't buy the magazine and we all suffer as the magazine folds. yes the article on Andy gtt would be fasinating for me but may not be for others. What I certainly never want to see is a public slagging off for anyone or any product, if a car is designed so badly it is dangerous then better to not feature at all than give any credibility to it by giving any sort of feature.
spaximus said:
The problem for magazine editors is where they have to balance what gets put in the magazine. When i first started looking for a kit car I bought every thing going and then read every review of sevens I could as at the time that is what I wanted. Now after several years yes the same seven reviews are there. Yes I also like the technical side but some articles if too technical go over the majorities heads and then they don't buy the magazine and we all suffer as the magazine folds. yes the article on Andy gtt would be fasinating for me but may not be for others.
That's fair enough - but easy enough to add the technical analysis and anything not reported at a fairly broad level in a separate inset box or on the last page (or two) after the article. I never read every piece of every article in any mag, some things just don't interest me and I accept that when I buy it.
spaximus said:
What I certainly never want to see is a public slagging off for anyone or any product, if a car is designed so badly it is dangerous then better to not feature at all than give any credibility to it by giving any sort of feature.
Not advocating slagging off in the slightest - but criticism should be expected where it's valid, and made constructively. For the good of the industry, the readers, and the safety of any road user who might be affected by a seriously poor design either directly or consequentially, I'd say it's the responsibility of the editor to draw their readership's attention to anything they consider to be of serious note.
Having said that, SVA should weed out anything inherently dangerous.
If a magazine is aware that a manufacturer is selling a car that's a complete nightmare to SVA, for example, they need to shout that from the rooftops (even if "expert builders only"
to prevent individuals getting suckered into parting with their cash based only on what the guy selling it claims. The mags are the only ones in a position that they can give a balanced view and in doing so make sure dodgy manufacturers up their game.
Edited by FNG on Sunday 7th January 17:26
Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff