The magazines

[nicolas]

i like magazines old and new. i like to think up stuff and go and dig up the magazine and reread it. find out different little things about cars. know more insight through netsearches and complement the articles in magazines. type magazine has a nice layout, and looks different for now, but they just started so they have the benefit of the doubt. in a good way i mean.
the only thing i personally regret is seeing the same pictures in different magazines. but i can understand the thinking behind this and if you know how much a photographer earns a lot of people would. but it takes the 'magic' a bit away of owning a mag. i cherish them and keep them as something special. that is the reason i still have Ultra Vw and not HotVW's anymore. they had the same features of cars that really do it for me and i had to cut down on subscriptions (both VW's and skateboarding) so Ultra remains, but i got the feb issue of Volksworld and i liked it a lot. i might try to pick it up on a more regular basis.
anyway all things and opinions aside a big thank you for doing magazines, if not for the fact that Speedwell would have a lot of free time that he wouldn't know what to do with, it would be for the fact that are magazines are our collective memory and not the net.

[Fastbrit]

I think you are far off Keith when you say the magazines are way more detailed than on the net, take the most popular project threads for instance...

I was referring to car features, not tech stuff, but it is true to say that the more detailed (or complicated) tech stuff gets, the fewer readers it will appeal to. It's a fact of life, I'm afraid. I won't turn this into a "Buy our magazine because it's better" thread as that isn't what this forum is all about, but I will say that, in my 36 trips to SoCal in recent times, I've found that In & Out isn't the be all and end all of burger joints. It's good but there are better... 

[nicolas]

jack in the box

[louisb]

White Castle 

--louis

[Sarge]

Sorry about the cheeseburger anology, guys...I swear it'll never happen again, promise!

[Rennsurfer]

Sorry about the cheeseburger anology, guys...I swear it'll never happen again, promise!

LMAO! Sarge for Prez!

[feckless attempt @ thread save] Oh yeah... VW magazines.[/feckless attempt @ thread save]

[Fastbrit]

[gimme!]FOOD[/gimme!]

[qubek]

I think you are far off Keith when you say the magazines are way more detailed than on the net, take the most popular project threads for instance...

I was referring to car features, not tech stuff, but it is true to say that the more detailed (or complicated) tech stuff gets, the fewer readers it will appeal to. It's a fact of life, I'm afraid.

Are you sure? I mean - yes, this is a fact of life, but still, you are making a mag appealing to small group of readers already. Do you think that this rule works in this small group the same way it works "in general"?. I think (a may be wrong, you know it better) that a lot of your readers know a lot about VW's allready and they may be interested in "detailed and complicated stuff".

[Cornpanzer]

We try to provide the best tech features possible. And the current feature on a turbo engine build is an example.
Stay tuned - we've got a lot more really good material waiting to be published.
You will be happy!

Remind me again, you work for "Modern Bride" or is it "Glamour"?
 

[Jon]

We try to provide the best tech features possible. And the current feature on a turbo engine build is an example.
Stay tuned - we've got a lot more really good material waiting to be published.
You will be happy!

I am personally very happy with the technical features, what I'm getting at is the car features, more build pictures and detail pictures.
Or just more about "our projects"

[Zach Gomulka]

...to see a third of an issue devoted to a vehicle which already has it's own magazine from the same publisher seems ridiculous. But, if it's what people are building... 

Same kinda thing with HotVWs/Sand Sports. Why they gotta do that?? Keep the sand cars and bajas in Sand Sports and leave the real VWs in HotVWs.

[Ivan]

We try to provide the best tech features possible. And the current feature on a turbo engine build is an example.
Stay tuned - we've got a lot more really good material waiting to be published.
You will be happy!

I am personally very happy with the technical features, what I'm getting at is the car features, more build pictures and detail pictures.
Or just more about "our projects"

We do make an effort to include build pics and as you have mentioned the Our Project section is a regular every month. I am glad to hear you enjoy it.

Oh, and we'll see if we can give you more fo what you want 

[Straight Time]

I think all the magazines are pretty good in their own way. One thing I have noticed though is the increased amount of adverts. I know this has always been the way over in the USA , but in the UK we used to have more content than ads. One popular UK mag has over 50 pages of adds in a mag with approx 120 pages.

I know that ads bring in a valued income and probably ensure the continued existance of the magazine, but I think we need to be carefull to balance this out with quality features. I have all issues from day one of both the UK magazines but I have been through times where this was down to keeping my collection complete rather than the quality.

Dont get me wrong as I ,sadly do read the adverts too  Just need to maintain the quality and balance .

Just a thought. 

[Jon]

Oh and another thing... 

I have noticed a thing that all the magazines do, and that is the three-quarter front picture. More often than not it's the first spread of the article, and it presents our cars from a flattering angle.
I looked through a small selection of last years magazines form the island, and then I noticed something I found funny. If the car has the narrow beam decease, the the front wheels are at absolute full lock.
That way the fender looks "filled up" and you avoid seeing all the fender bolts. But who does this decision, is it the photographer that don't like empty wheel houses, or is it the layout/desk?
Or is it subconscious? Either way it looks so much better...  I imagine Reliant Magazine have the exact same challenge. 

[deano]

Talk about a hot topic.... After reading all the above I have come to the only real answer is to do a magazine about burgers...

[bugnut68]

It was said earlier in the thread that there's no way to keep every reader happy all the time in the magazines, and I fully agree with that.

An example from a few years ago of poor public relations, IMO, was an incident in which SuperVW featured a restocal (I know, I know, this is a Cal-Look site, but it's an applicable example! lol) with a phony GFK rear window. 
The magazine editor at the time did a pretty poor job of answering the club's concerns, as nowhere in the article did it indicate the window was a tribute, nor was any kind of note published informing readers that the car was not a true GFK car.  The latter, in my opinion, would have been completely appropriate, as the car's feature context was completely under false pretenses, in a manner of speaking.  I know a Google search will reveal the exact details of that incident, and the word got out pretty quick.

A lot of guys thought the club overreacted with its concerns, but IMO wrong is wrong; a simple editor's note or clarification or whatever would have gone a long ways in smoothing the waters.

I continue to support Hot VWs as I've been reading it since childhood... my roots in VW-dom are firmly implanted with the lone U.S. mag.  If I had it available with greater ease or I could afford subs, I would likely get Ultra VW and VolksWorld too, but sadly I just can't afford them.  They're great mags, though, no question.

[Fiatdude]

I'm going to have to show you the in-n-out just north of LAX -- within 15 min of putting the key in the ignition of the car you can be chowing down.

As far as magazines go -- -- I picked up a HVW a couple of months ago (the one with the V8 notch) for the first time in about 15-20 years and after reading it, I was left just feeling .. .. .. well, nothing. I guess, to me, that there wasn't anything in the magazine that I hadn't read or done 30 years ago (ok, 40 years ago), I'm not really into show stuff, but I can appreciate someone spending 5 hours wiping on a car (not that you'd catch me doing it though). Occasionally a really wild rat rod will catch my eye, BUT, I'm into the really high performance VW stuff, and a hundred pictures of VW's with the front wheels flying through the air just don't add up to being there, standing at the track FEELING the Baron go by just once. I don't think my heart starts beating until the 400HP barrier is broken and that just isn't something that can be put into text or a picture, and when is the last time a magazine got down and dirty with BIG INCH engine and mapping out a turbo and FI system so it can make 900HP.  What are there -- maybe 100 of us out there willing to spend the $$$ to reach 400 + HP -- be hard to justify doing a magazine for that.

Besides the price of one magazine equals (almost) one gallon of racing fuel and the track is where my heart lies.

[bugnut68]

One thing I forgot to mention was the magazines provide a permanently etched record of history... stuff on the internet eventually goes away due to bandwidth and what not, but the mags provide snapshots in permanent print of each era.  I still enjoy reading old '80s magazines and seeing all the "Maui and Sons" or "Corona" tank tops with mullet hairstyles...lol.  And let's face it, when was the last time a VW event was sponsored by a beer company, like Stroh's used to do with the Baylands events, if I recall correctly?  Miller too, I think?  Ah, the good ol' days.

[Harry/FDK]

I don't know why i'm writing this. Years ago i wanted to have an affordable 2 seater/convertible and build a Speedster (for heavens sake). During the build i bought every Taiwan part out of the catalogues and also started to read VW magazines. First VW Scene, wich sucked after i subscribed to VW Trends and later HVW's. I got hooked, and bought a KG after the 3 year Speedster build, so to speak to restore and build a "proper" (Cal look ) car. I got so frustrated on my speedster build versus the real thing i read about in the magazines (also Super VW's), that i bought another Bug and cut the Speedster in half and collected 250,00 guilders (100,00 EU) for the scrap. The mags influenced me to Cal-Look but the high buck cars seemed always out of reach, but motivated to raise the bar every winter a little higher. After a couple of years all "perfect" callookers, germanlookers, frenchlooke...etc. looked more or less the same to me and i did want to do my own thing. Although influenced by all these looks/styles. I know there are people out there with the same feeling, because some folks get comments about theyre choice of colour, engine looks etc. here on the forum because it's not callook. Please mags don't dictate the old style but "support" our thinking away of the old, without respecting the old. Still influenced/inspired by the mags i'm sinking alot of money (again) to reach the highest goal for myself and i don't care (anymore) what other people think about my project. Nowadays i only read Volksworld and HVWs just to have a feeling what's going on and see new products. It's like you can't understand Oasis without knowing The Beatles and go from there.


Then again, i'm still learning.

[Bathtub57]

I've been buying magazines since I got into our hobby in 1986, starting with Custom Car for the few articles it carried on VW's and then VW and HTV and VW Trends.  I also collected back issues of HVW back to the June '69 issue (when I was born).  I buy less magazines now because of the internet but do keep up my UK subscriptions as I can get them delivered cheaply here.

I've mentioned this in the past, but what I would like to see more of, is a more in depth story of how the car drives.  I understand a Rat Look with a 6 inch narrowed beam, no shocks and a 3 spline drop at the back isn't going to be that comfortable, but a lot of the work done on Cal Look, German Look, Old Speed is to enhance the driving experience, whether it be acceleration, handling, comfort or whatever.  Some of the VW product comparison tech articles recently have been the best I have ever seen in that respect.  UVW was the first to show a car spec sheet, I think, which is also a great way to compare cars.  Maybe it is because the owners don't want their cars tested, but I feel this would be of great interest to many readers if the journalist delved deeper into the "go" and not just the "show".

I do enjoy the magazines and will continue to buy them.

[bugnut68]

I've been buying magazines since I got into our hobby in 1986, starting with Custom Car for the few articles it carried on VW's and then VW and HTV and VW Trends.  I also collected back issues of HVW back to the June '69 issue (when I was born).  I buy less magazines now because of the internet but do keep up my UK subscriptions as I can get them delivered cheaply here.

I've mentioned this in the past, but what I would like to see more of, is a more in depth story of how the car drives.  I understand a Rat Look with a 6 inch narrowed beam, no shocks and a 3 spline drop at the back isn't going to be that comfortable, but a lot of the work done on Cal Look, German Look, Old Speed is to enhance the driving experience, whether it be acceleration, handling, comfort or whatever.  Some of the VW product comparison tech articles recently have been the best I have ever seen in that respect.  UVW was the first to show a car spec sheet, I think, which is also a great way to compare cars.  Maybe it is because the owners don't want their cars tested, but I feel this would be of great interest to many readers if the journalist delved deeper into the "go" and not just the "show".

I do enjoy the magazines and will continue to buy them.

I suspect a lot of the cars with the aforementioned modifications probably see very limited driving time on the street... if someone build's a car to win car shows, they'r less likely to put many miles on them, I would guess.  Not being critical or judgemental, just figuring this to be the case... to each their own!

[Brian Rogers]

I got to wade in on this. I've bought HotVWs since the '75 Cal-look issue(still have it). I grew up in So Cal, cruised Whittier Blvd, and read Hot Rod, Car Craft, Pop HR and others. Yes trends change, and peoples tastes change as well. I think that Deano, Kieth and company put out great product and inspiration to those of us who no longer live near or particepate in the California show/race/offroad sceane. I buy HVW on a regular basis. Kieth sorry but I'm not a regular for your mag but I have bought the books. Thank you. They will only publish what will sell or what they see as a trend.
Deano is cringeing as I type this though. Could we please have a new up dated engine book? The last one was in the fall of '97 and the tech has changed. Even if it's just reprints of the last decade, it would much appreciated. Thank you for all you do for our hobby.

[deano]

I got to wade in on this. I've bought HotVWs since the '75 Cal-look issue(still have it). I grew up in So Cal, cruised Whittier Blvd, and read Hot Rod, Car Craft, Pop HR and others. Yes trends change, and peoples tastes change as well. I think that Deano, Kieth and company put out great product and inspiration to those of us who no longer live near or particepate in the California show/race/offroad sceane. I buy HVW on a regular basis. Kieth sorry but I'm not a regular for your mag but I have bought the books. Thank you. They will only publish what will sell or what they see as a trend.
Deano is cringeing as I type this though. Could we please have a new up dated engine book? The last one was in the fall of '97 and the tech has changed. Even if it's just reprints of the last decade, it would much appreciated. Thank you for all you do for our hobby.

Brian, I am working on Engine Book #3 as we speak... On-sale date is sometime this spring... Okay?

[nigelg65]

I know I'm not supposed to use this area of the forum for promotion, but as this thread is all about magazines I guess I might just get away with it...

We launched Type magazine a few years ago. Inspired by the likes of DiCE, Octane and Rodders Journal we wanted to tell great Volkswagen stories... period. We put out two issues then life got in the way. For 2011 we are back and plan four issues this year.

If you haven't yet heard of us go to www.type-magazine.com

Or join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Type-magazine/108034132595577

[Oldschool]

I don't buy French vw magazine any more. I no longer find what I'm looking for in it   

I feel the same about our national mag.

It was interesting up to a few years ago and now I don't buy it anymore.

The one I really appreciated was Volksworld when I was in England, best time I ever had attending Bug Jam and other meetings.

Once in a while I get my hands on HotVWs.

However I'd like to have a look at Airmighty and/or Type as they seem pretty much in tune with our passion

[Nico86]

I don't buy French vw magazine any more. I no longer find what I'm looking for in it   

I feel the same about our national mag.

Yes, a lot of the news, the cars and US events of this mag can be seen on the internet or other mags weeks before it's published. And sometimes the cars are really ugly...  Then remove ads, classifieds, meetings schedule and there's not a lot left to read.
Each month I say "this the last issue I buy" but until now I'm still buy it, maybe because I started when I was kid (the first issue I bought was #76 December 1995 I was 8 year old, there was a car on the cover driven by a surfer/skateboarder working at Vans, it was a dream for me  ).

Now I enjoy reading mags like Powerglide, AirMighty or Type. I also buy VW Tech, but I feel a drop in interest in this one too...

[Fastbrit]

I know I'm not supposed to use this area of the forum for promotion, but as this thread is all about magazines I guess I might just get away with it...

[jamiep_jamiep]

I know I'm not supposed to use this area of the forum for promotion, but as this thread is all about magazines I guess I might just get away with it...

We launched Type magazine a few years ago. Inspired by the likes of DiCE, Octane and Rodders Journal we wanted to tell great Volkswagen stories... period. We put out two issues then life got in the way. For 2011 we are back and plan four issues this year.

If you haven't yet heard of us go to www.type-magazine.com

Or join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Type-magazine/108034132595577

Hahaha...I for one like the direct approach Type!

 

Kind of true to the moniker on your car...

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

[jamiep_jamiep]

I always remember one of the things I used to love about going abroad on holiday when I was yong was coming back with a handful of the Euro VW mags - evn though I couldn't read the language it was always interesting to see how different much of the scene was in mainland Europe, where the scene in the UK seemed/seems to reflect very much whats going on stateside. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.

ANd you can't beat the inspiration a mag gives you to go out and get in the garage and do something, especially during these cold winter months!

[nigelg65]

Lol, well I like the direct approach too.

I tend to think that in recent years the magazine world has been in the doldrums. Most publishers like to blame the internet (I should know I've worked as a journalist for 20 years and heard all the excuses for why a magazine doesn't sell).

Certainly the internet has had an impact, but when it comes down to it story telling is story telling no matter what the delivery system. The magazines that fail tend to fail because they aren't any good any more.

Airmighty has been a breath of fresh air, and I hope Type has too.

www.type-magazine.com