The Official 356Talk Forum

Just started reading the latest edition of the Registry, in particular, Gordon's editorial....I think it's an editorial....whatever. His obituary, re. the declining readability of car rags, brought to mind the recent demise of Hemming's Sports and Exotic Car magazine. Other than the Registry, it's my favorite. Centering mostly on European cars, it's being let go in favor of American classic cars. It's a shame future generations of readers are going to be denied access to articles on Renault Dauphines, Saabs, Trabants and many many other little-know autos that never made it to our shores or, at best, had ephemeral lives in US showrooms.

Totally agree Bob. My favorite too, it will be missed.

Surprise!

I renewed a week ago and got my check back yesterday saying we will no longer publish the mag.
I guess they want to go broke along with R&T, C&D etc.
I'll miss it.

Norm

65 356C
70 911T s/r
74 J-H

I agree, a shame to see it go away. I have been a subscriber from the start.

A majority of the articles focused on car owners that were hands-on caretakers of survivor cars that they were passionate about and maintained their cars themselves. A refreshing theme to car ownership and focus by the magazine.

I was very disappointed by the enclosed letter when I received my final issue this week, but always look forward to the next issue of 356 Registry.

My local library district subscribes to Classic Car, but not Sports and Exotic Car. Perhaps they'll add a feature or two to Classic Car, like they currently do with commercial vehicles, and add to the overall page count every month (or get rid of the photo essays recycled from past issues of Special Interest Auto). Of course, the American Iron gearheads will complain about the infusion of these "furrin" cars to their magazine.

The library also has a subscription to Collectible Automobile, which is way overpriced, because advertising is minimal. The magazine is well-done. However, many of the articles are updates to stories that previously appeared in Car Classics, Collector Car and Collectible Automobile back in the 1970s and 1980s, but with new photos.

Unfortunately the magazine business has been in rapid decline for over a decade, the business model no longer can support itself. The only hope now is club based non profit magazines like 356 Registry, Pano, and ESSES. If you want to support I suggest you join all three groups 356 Registry, PCA, and Early 911S Registry. Take the money you would have spent on the defunct mags and put it where it can still make a difference.
It's really too bad magazines went the way of the DoDo, there is really nothing like the smell of a mag straight back from the press, or better yet, seeing it made on the press, it was an exciting business at times, one I devoted years of my life to. Oh well, as time goes on I only remember the good times I had, like my favorite issue on the 20th Anniversary of Miami Vice. Philip Michael Thomas AKA Tubbs, was so proud that the suit he wore on the show still fit him!

Adam Wright wrote:The only hope now is club based non profit magazines like 356 Registry, Pano, and ESSES. If you want to support I suggest you join all three groups 356 Registry, PCA, and Early 911S Registry. Take the money you would have spent on the defunct mags and put it where it can still make a difference.

Interesting, I have just renewed two of those in the last week, and the third is in the midst of a two year subscription. I joined PCA way back in 1976.

Ditto: the only magazines I subscribe to are the 356 Registry, the 356 Club of Southern California, Panorama (PCA) and Excellence. All are Porsche-focused...

I agree, Hemming's Sports and Exotic Car magazine was a great read. I love diversity.

I really enjoy the registry mag, but normal classic car ones are not really my thing. In the U.K. We have the Automobile which concentrates on pre sixty cars, a small minority of the classic car movement these days, but an interesting read because you get well researched history and a reasonable impression of what they drive like.

All the others come across, in my opinion, as intended to drive up prices and stimulate advertisement sales. Comparisons between cars are subjective and meaningless, just nostalgia at its most sentimental.

Perhaps readers do regard old cars as a religious experience, but once you have one and are putting the miles on, surely practical considerations bring back to ground.

Trouble is that internet based material isn't up to much either and there's an awful lot to wade through. You have to kiss toads by the ton.