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AUTOMOBILE Magazine Discontinued

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AngliaGT

AngliaGT

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I have a subscription (because it was too cheap to pass up),but
got a letter today saying it's done.First Hemmings Sport & Exotic Car,
& now this - sad sign of the times.
Jamie Kittman, who wrote a monthly column for them told me that
this day would come,years ago.
 
a friend sold advertizing for Automobile in the 90's - every time he came to visit he signed out one of their long term test cars. More and more magazines going
 
I used to read Road & Track, Car and Driver, and Automobile from cover to cover as soon as I could after they arrived in the mail. I dropped the Automobile subscription many years ago, and I try to catch up on my other magazine reading, almost more out of a sense of duty than enjoyment these days. Way too much time spent on exotics I will never own, and SUVs and trucks I have no interest in. Heck there aren't even that many new cars I am interested in. Racing news and coverage is readily available via cable/streaming and online.

I spend a lot of time here and on Jalopnik and Oppositelock (Jalopnik subforum), as well as Bring a Trailer.

I miss Sports and Exotic other than that about the only thing magazines offer that I can't get online is the in depth numbers and stats, in depth reviews. The online stuff is more driving impressions than road tests, but has the added participation of all of us and real world perspectives.

Anyway, always bad to see an automotive resource go, but never thought Automobile had the appeal of it's senior magazine brethren.
 
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From my mid-teens until about 1999 I had subscriptions to Road & Track and AutoWeek. Dropped R&T about then, AW sometime shortly after. Would sporadically pick up AUTOMOBILE, agree it never seemed to come up to the same level of appeal as the others. Still a shame to see them go.
 
The only one I ever subscribed to was Classic Motorsports - my subscription disappeared when we moved back to Canada and it was never worth following up. Similar to you glemon it has become all about wallets - auction results/ big ticket cars and paid for restorations. I periodically consider one of the British Mags (Practical Motorsports/ etc) but they are pricey and frankly I find everything I need online. Does seem like there are more British niche magazines though which fascinates me.

I also have to confess that I don't have the time to read them.
 
Haven't read a car magazine in years except in my Subaru dealer's waiting room or at my dentists (he's a car nut). Just not interested in $40K sedans/Suv's and $150K sports cars that I'll never own or drive. Buy Hemmings once a year just to check on asking prices. Also dropped my golf magazines. Tennis? Many, many years ago. One car mag I really enjoyed back in the day was Speed Age. Anyone remember that one?
 
Autoweek was just bought out by Road and Track. Subscribed since the 70s. Now I'm down to Classic Motorsports, Grassroots Motorsports and Hemmings. Getting narrower every year.
 
By this time, I only get the 3 remaining Hemmings magazines digitally. I used to devour Automobile Quarterly, AutoWeek (especially when it still was a weekly newspaper), and Car & Driver when Smothers, Shepherd, and others wrote their monthly columns. Now I find less interest in modern vehicles and exotic cars. As I have turned historic, I mostly find the history of the automobile still catches my attention. I had gotten a free year of C&D, and only looked at half of the issues at all...the rest just were recycled.
 
I did resubscribe to Car & Driver last year, they sent a notice that I could get 2 years for $5. Figured If I only read on thing a month in it, I'd still get my money's worth. But I do wonder how long they can go on like that.
 
When I read car & Driver,or Road & Track,I sometimes have to
look at the cover,to remind myself which one it is I'm reading.
I have a few boxes of Road & Tracks that I love to reread every
once in a while.They're great resources when buying an older car,or
sharing with other enthusiasts.
Now I just pass them on to other people.
 
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