Word is out today that High Performance Pontiac and some other magazines will stop publication. I am not sure of the time line but the end is on the way.
The media world is struggling greatly with a poor economy and the advent of the internet. HPP was down to just a few people who worked on the magazine and used a lot of freelance writers as well as stories from the owners themselves.
Of there's to stop are 5.0, Popular Hot Rodding, High Tech GM Performance and a Honda Tuner magazine along with several more.
With the web people just do not buy magazines like they used too. Also advertising with the economy is down. The margins with increased postal and production cost have already driven many out of publication.
I also saw this week the staff of Automobile has been fired and the office was moved into motor Trends office. This could be the beginning of the end there too.
Also there has been talk of Road and Track may be in a world of hurt too.
So if you like Magazines and dreamed of being a cover car some day the chances are dwindling daily.
Hang on to your old copies as you will have something to read after we get hit with a magnetic pulse. LOL!
Seriously I believe that we will have few magazines in 10 years from now unless they are on you I pad.
At least we will not miss anything on the new Pontiac's.
Also heard this news. I have been a loyal subscriber of HPP for many years. Maybe its old school mentality, but I enjoyed the actual magazine vs the internet. The quality of the photos and the format was better IMO. I will be putting all my copies in storage. My car (TTA) was in an issue that featured the TTA reunion in Hebron, OH back in 2011. Very small and insignificant, but it was cool to see it in the magazine.
Its flabbergasting to me but a lot of young guys don't care about cars. I haven't seen a hot rod on the street in a long time and if you do its going to a car show or cruse. And then what guys are interested in cars probably have a lowered Civic or Integra with a cold air air cleaner on it and a louder muffler. Smog control laws here have killed hot rods, now the nearest drag strip to los Angeles is a 2 hour drive. You can't count Pomona, its only used a couple days a year for professionals only.
I honestly didn't know it still existed. Figured it went out of business back in 2008.
Yeah after a massive Coronal Mass Ejection there won't be any internet (or electricity for that matter) for a long time. What will we do without and reality TV or celebrity gossip on TMZ's website?
Speaking on behalf of the millennials, I really think the cost of gas and insurance is to blame for us young people driving less. For my 02 trans am, i was paying $215/month on top of 20 mpg. A gallon of diesel is half the minimum wage!
Also, today's cars are not very mod-friendly. Tuning is becoming so popular because all you need is a laptop and some software. And lets face it, old cars suck.
Before you start talking all bad about the new generation, just remember it was you guys who raised us.
Speaking on behalf of the millennials, I really think the cost of gas and insurance is to blame for us young people driving less. For my 02 trans am, i was paying $215/month on top of 20 mpg. A gallon of diesel is half the minimum wage!
Also, today's cars are not very mod-friendly. Tuning is becoming so popular because all you need is a laptop and some software. And lets face it, old cars suck.
Before you start talking all bad about the new generation, just remember it was you guys who raised us.
Speaking on behalf of the baby boomers...yeah we spoiled you driving you all over town in our safe vehicles with you strapped into baby seats. Should have put you in the rear window deck like our parents did when we were little. Or when we became teens we have to use "mutt and jeff" also known as our feet to get anywhere.
Okay you make some good points, but gas and insurance haven't gone up that much. My 88 Trans Am cost me $170/month insurance in 1987 when I bought it brand new. And minimum wage was $3.35 an hour back then.
[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 06-03-2014).]
I honestly didn't know it still existed. Figured it went out of business back in 2008.
Yeah after a massive Coronal Mass Ejection there won't be any internet (or electricity for that matter) for a long time. What will we do without and reality TV or celebrity gossip on TMZ's website?
The one good thing is after the flair we will not have to hear about the Kardashians.
To be fair there are several reasons that younger folks do not have a passion for cars.
#1 cost is a factor for some. But even on $5 an hour I owned a 68 SS with a tunnel ram, a 1970 Monte Carlo and my daily driver was a 9 MPG Big Block GMC Sprint [El Camino SS]. You can afford this stuff if you really want it. All of my cars were show room new or better at the time.
#2 The younger folks have different interest. If given a choice they will take the latest Smart Phone over a car.
#3 Many have had it beaten in their heads about global warming and that cars are evil.
#4 Many just want to ride public transportation. The Love affair of the car is not as strong in the younger set. Just go to the Hot Wheels row at Walmart and the average age is 40 years old. The kid are over in the Lego or PS 4 row.
I see it in my son as he wonders why I like cars and I wonder why he has his I phone and head phones on all the time. The cost factor has not even hit him yet and he shows little interest. In this day and age where cars are often treated as a appliance and not a style or image statement there is not as much attraction. It used to be every year you could not wait to see the changes in a car and today who gets excited over the change in a mini van you may get every 5-8 years.
There are some pockets of youth yet in the car movement but the age of the enthusiast has gotten older.
Times, markets and the wants and needs has changed. There were a lot of factors in play but I also keep in mind how I grew up. My father had a new Chevy Chevelle every year for many years It was exciting and fun for me as a kid. Today many kids grew up in a Civic, Camry or Caravan that the family kept for 10 years and there is little interest to be generated there. I also grew up with a neighbor that was a racer and I was learning how to work on cars at 10-11 years old. Many kids today just do not have similar opportunities.
I also lived out in the country and we had a go cart when we were 10. It was a VW chassis with the body pulled off. We were taught to respect the car and to work on it. Today many parents would be treated for child endangerment if they turned kids lose in a field with such a car.
The fact is there are still cars out there that are affordable to many if they really want them. The parts are there as I make a living in the performance aftermarket and know what is there. A lot of it just comes down to culture and environment that many grew up in. By and large there just is little love by many of any age that love cars as much as we did 25-35 years ago.
The same for Magazines as not just one think killed it.
What worries me is the way some are looking to the self driving cars that are being worked on. I really cringe when I see the Google car on a enthusiast site and see people show love for the thing. Once the base is gone the car will soon follow if this technology thieves.
I think you hit the nail on the head, kids pattern their likes and dislikes after the behavior they see in their parents. A big share of todays parents especially city dwellers, do not have any interest in cars beyond use as an appliance.
Its flabbergasting to me but a lot of young guys don't care about cars.
That's not the issue here. Magazines are dying. ALL magazines.
Pick a subject, almost any subject, and you'll find their specialty magazines are struggling. I read a lot of photography and model railroading magazines but half the titles I used to read have folded in just the past five years or so. And even the ones which are supposedly doing "OK" are just a ghost of what they used to be. Its not just car magazines.
One of the more glaring issues that I have personally seen with modern car magazines is that if they are not specialty magazines and rather are just more generalized automotive fan-dom publications, then they all tend to run the near exact same stories. Of course this is nothing incredibly new, but with the accessibility of information on the internet it all the more streamlines stories about particular subjects. For the longest I subbed to Automobile, Car and Driver, and Road & Track. There's nothing told in one that often isn't told in the others, other than publication-specific editorials or opinion columns. A prime example is when a new car (like the upcoming 2015 Mustang) is spied or minor specifications are released; everyone says the exact same thing. Almost literally.
Specialty car magazines are facing similar fate as other print magazines but seemingly for other reasons. Their market place is often so focused that it's hard to generate readership. I think one of the reasons is because of places like Pennocks Fiero Forum. I don't mean to say that as detrimental, but if some random group of individuals who formed a publication group was putting out a monthly or bi-monthly Fiero publication out, that carried most of the same information that could be found through forums or online, would people buy it? It would be very hard to sell in the current climate. FOCOA sold well new (when people could actually get the issues they subscribed to...) but with so much information about Fieros out there a editorial type publication would be hard to push.
I am **relatively** young (as in my early 30s) and I have to disagree that a large decline in the automotive hobby is taking place among young people. Critics of this just aren't looking in the types of automotive fan-dom that many young people aspire to. You often get two very glaring mind-sets in how the youth view the hobby. They often want to go just full-on impress-everyone-that-they-possibly-see, which is why the 'tuner' hobby is still raking in a huge market. While there is a mentality of viewing people who throw on large spoilers and body kits as belonging to a "ricer" culture, remember that at the very core these individuals are automotive enthusiasts, and their accessibility to the hobby is often based on monetary factors. You get enthusiasts that can afford big dollar engine upgrades and multiple visual modifications. Then you get individuals who may only have the means to throw on a large exhaust and spoiler. Both are still contributing to the 'tuner' enthusiasts mindset, but in two different ways; and often seeing two different forms of critique among others. You also have those youth in this mindset that may have the means (often parents, or spending money they likely shouldn't be spending) on 'large' vehicles; V8 Challengers, V8 Mustangs, etc, that often fit their needs in themselves but then are further modified to appease a particular owner.
The other side of the hobby comes from individuals who purchase a car, but do not necessarily think that any sort of modification or possibly subtile modification is the way to go. I often put these individuals into the entry stance crowd, or those that maybe believe that the only thing they have to purchase for their car is a nice set of wheels and tires. This further disseminates down into individuals that may enjoy cars and the hobby, but do not necessarily want to show it through their cars. Remember that you can be an enthusiast while driving a relatively 'stock' or civil car. Otherwise, there wouldn't be Prius enthusiast forums nor myself belonging to a MK 6 Fiesta enthusiast forum.
[This message has been edited by Fiero84Freak (edited 06-03-2014).]
High Performance Pontiac was published by Source Interlink.
Source Interlink had 2 main parts, magazine publishing and distribution. They just announced shutting down their entire distribution network (6000 employees) since Time Inc. went to another distributor for all their titles. The publishing side was rebranded to TEN and I am sure that as part of the rebranding, more Source Interlink titles will cease publication.
I work in this industry and have seen countless publications go under since 2009. The economy with less discretionary spending, higher paper, ink, and postal costs, more people wanting "instant information" through electronic devices, etc. are all contributors to the decline in print.
Popular Hot Rodding folds into Hot Rod. Rod & Custom folds into Street Rodder. High Performance Pontiac folds into Hot Rod. Custom Classic Trucks folds into Classic Trucks. 4 Wheel Drive & SUV folds into Four Wheeler. Mud Life folds into Four Wheeler. 5.0 Mustang folds into Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords. Modified Mustangs & Fords folds into Mustang Monthly. Camaro Performers folds into Super Chevy. GM Hi-Tech folds into Super Chevy. Import Tuner folds into Super Street. Honda Tuning folds into Super Street.
They own other titles, too, like Car Craft and Motor Trend, which aren't mentioned here. Hot Rod and Car Craft have both been around pretty much forever and probably overlap each other on almost everything - hence why so many writers can be found in both magazines. I bet Car Craft goes away at some point.
As pointed out the expense of making them has taken a toll as well as the poor economy.
The fact is magazines are here not to just entertain but to advertise. Many vendors have stopped advertising. Even my company has been one of the largest and still is but it is not as extensive as we used to be.
You have to think of magazines like TV and if they do not bring in advertising dollars they do not publish as subscriptions and counter price do not cover the cost to make them. Over the last 10 years the industry has cut and slashed many of their staffs and many magazines were down to an editor and a few staff members.
We have already seen some magazines die and we will see more. The strongest in the auto field right now is Motor Trend, Hot Rod, Car Craft and after that all bets are off.
Even long time publications like Readers Digest are on the rocks right now.
The internet and I pad both have not helped. The industry has tried to move readers to the I pads but it has been difficult as few with the web see the need.
In the next 10 years we may only have a few magazines left if any depending on their circulation and the cost involved.
Also not news papers are also dying. Large papers like the Cleveland Plain Dealer is only published in a small edition a couple times a week now. Even the New York times is at an all time low in circulation.
One thing leading this is the lack of many wanting to keep current with the news. So few understand what is going on or even have an interest and that is a very dangerous thing. We have more people concerned about what the Kardashians are doing vs. how the government is screwing you or how the world right now is more unstable than we were during the cold war. With conditions like this it is leaving the door wide open to those who would like to do us harm. The lack of real and no partisan reporting has taken a toll in this country.
It is sad how you see on different shows where they send a reporter out on the street and ask simple questions like who the speaker of the house is or even who the VP is and so many can not tell you. I fear for the future unless people wise up.
The real fear is if we pass the regulation of the web to others as some in Washington want to do now. Imagine information that will be out then. We think we have a lot of bad and misleading info now just wait till that happens. Get someone like China regulating sites out side of their country and you will never know the truth of what is going on inside over there.
Sorry for the rant but media in general is at risk and we may pay a price for all of this. As they say information is power and right now we are losing our power.
Damn, it never even occurred to me that HPP might fold.
I've hung onto an issue I bought a couple years ago and kept it handy *specifically* because it gave greatly-detailed info on how to best create a submission to be featured on the Readers' Rides pages, and I'd hoped to do that... *sigh*
Can't blame anybody but me for waiting so long to get off my butt and do it.
------------------ Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Fiero Formula - Automoda convertible repainted PPG Ferrari 'Giallo Modena' yellow
...It used to be every year you could not wait to see the changes in a car and today who gets excited over the change in a mini van you may get every 5-8 years.
...
This is so true, 1000% I remember when I couldn't wait to see how the Firebird or Camaro or Mustang front ends would change from one year to the next. Now, if I lined a a 1992, car, a 2002, and a 2012 car you would be hard pressed to tell them apart. For better or worse car styling has hit a dead and after the 90s. I was noticing as I was waling in the parking lot today you can't tell one car from another.
Cars are just a commodity that nobody really takes an interest in. We are car guysand Gals and we are just as bad when it comes to modern cars. My daily driver is just a daily driver to me. There is nothing special about it any more than my refrigerator or my microwave. When I had my 88 Trans Am l loved it like it was my only child. Those days are gone, probably forever.
Before you start talking all bad about the new generation, just remember it was you guys who raised us.
I am a grandfather of 2 boys in their early teens and if the older one has his way mommy will be driving him around for the rest of his life. but I think it is more of a change from cars to technology and from magazines to technology. the idiotnet has taken over many peoples lives and we all know if its on the idiotnet it must be true right. problem is its not, and there is more wrong info on the idiotnet than there is right info. And dam hard to figure out what is true and what is not. Car magazines have always been a part of my life just as cars have and customizing my cars to fit my life and style, I tried to show my kids how to do anything they wanted to learn about cars, problem was they were all girls. only one of them had any interest in even learning how a car ran. And I think the problem is as others have said that they are expensive to own and maintain, nevermind customize. Tuning with a computer does not a car person make and why would anyone want to get their hands dirty doing any kind of custom or mechanical work in this day and age right.
we build nothing anymore, everything is made in other countries and all we have to do is turn on the computer and buy it, shipped right to our door, so why get dirty or even work for that matter right. I worked at a GM assembly plant when I turned 18 and cars were all we did back then, '73. every month I got a new issue of every car magazine that came out and couldn't wait for the next issue, today kids are more Now than wanting to wait for anything, we spoilt them yes we did by inventing the idiotnet and flat screen TVs and the rest of the crap they have shoved in front of their faces and in their ears. but if they have to do any of that, create or build something and it doesn't involve a computer or Twitter or Facebook they could care less. same with magazines they could car less when now they can access it all on their latest phone.
I blame the kids we have spoilt so badly that they don't have to do anything for the loss of magazines and their own dependence on instant gratification via technology, hell most of them don't even interact with human beings I person anymore unless they absolutely have to.
So why turn the page on a magazine or book when you can click a mouse, why go meet people in person when you can have hundreds of friends on Facebook.
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
What 84 fiero123 said is true. A world changing so fast who the hell knows whats going on. Google plans to have the cars ready in 5 years or so. Sit back and play with your smart phone or whatever. My nephew is in his early twenties and his mom drives him to work. Has no interest at all in driving. I can't figure it out. My boss couldn't find his smart phone, I thought he was going to have a nervous breakdown. Car magazines are like classic cars, supercool but from another time that is slipping by. I just wish people would think how much technology is running their lives and eating their time.
As stated above, all magazines hurting, publishing in general is in trouble. I like to write and it's getting harder by the day to get something published. When I finally completed my main work - a fantasy- I found out that it was considered too big by today's publishers! I'm now making it a trilogy. It's just too costly for a house to chance a new book with on un-established writer. I have other -shorter- works almost ready to send out. May have to go the e-book route.
I have also had several authors tell me that they are giving up witting or putting out books as there is so much time in them and so little money if you can even get published.
We have one local university that has a publishing arm and if not for them we would not have a lot of books on local history here. With the rubber company's and the lighter than air [Blimps and Zeppelins] much of this information would have never been published. .
Even then they do it more for the love and not the money. Lets put it this way my friend is not making JK Rowling money.
I was never into the import scene but it was a great magazine. 180-200 pages or so and tons of good tech articles and specialty columns.
Then several years went by and then one day I checked out a new issue at the store. It was a fraction of its former size and most of the columnists were gone. The only articles were 4-paragraph summaries of various accessories that their advertisers had provided. Maybe even written by the advertisers. The magazine had fallen a long way. They were dead not long afterwards.
Ive been a V8 hot rodder all my life and now old I have 3 old Hondas. The older Civic, Integra, Prelude, Accord forums that were popular and active a few years ago aren't totally dead but approaching it. There not as active as Pennocks
... forums that were popular and active a few years ago aren't totally dead but approaching it.
Bingo. I can think of tons of formerly-huge forums that have all but died just in the past 2-3 years.
Forums are dying because of Facebook and Twitter. But its all part of the cycle. Newspapers and magazines started to struggle in the 90s as everyone got on the internets and started reading bulletin boards and email lists. Then those all died in the 2000s when online forums became popular. Now the forums are struggling because of social media. Magazines are ancient history and that is why so many titles are being dropped.
I believe the last issue is the September issue that is just coming out. I saw a post from one of the editors on facebook who said that. He also said they had the October issue done but it was cancelled.
------------------ Chuck 88 Formula W/fastback 2000 Grand Prix GTP
I humbly agree with you fellas about the loss of love of cars and our desire to make one just enough different to show that love . I have been a mechanic most of my life . I am retired, but still work on Fieros , just for the satisfaction!! I have been in them for 20 years , and at 69 years old I have never had more fun went more places , met more people all around the country. I have almost all the Runs For The Hills under my belt , and all 10 swap meets that used to be held in Huntsville A lL. I have not embraced the internet as the yuunger folks but times change and sadley we very well see the end of power once held by the printed word .
I have no issue with the web as it has enhanced things but that is no excuse for not keeping some of the things we have had.
Books are important as no one can remove them as easy as a web site. Imagine if the Nazi's has a web in WWII. They would not have had to try to round up books and burn them. The ability to control is off the chart.
I also get worried they are no longer teaching cursive writing. We had to teach my son how to do it as the Schools no longer do it. How much writing from the past will be lost? It would effect writings of many great men like Jefferson and Lincoln and even great grandfathers letters from WWII to their families.
Sometimes when we advance we also lose much.
If anyone does not think that a society can lose their knowledge and their skills then just ask an Egyptian to build you a pyramid and see what you get.
While magazines may be small on the scale books are next.
I work in the performance industry and see what is going on in the performance market. My customers average age is getting older and older. Also my wife works at a Library and they are having to adjust to new things and ways to remain relevant.
In many books they often post where the info came from and back up their info. On the web so many people post things and do not have to back up a thing.
In life everything changes. Just like the telegraph, TWX machine, cassette recorder, steam engine, floppy discs, carburetor and car brands, print media is slowly going away. The newspapers are already dead and magazines are enjoying their final years As for HPP, they no longer produce the car, so even if print media was still in style, how could it survive? As for the Fiero, its an older car with a somewhat timeless design It doesn't represent the technology of today but many people still like them. They are fun cars to drive and they will survive as collector specialty cars. For the car collector or hobbyist on a budget, a Fiero is a real attractive limited production car to own and its now 25+ years old, making it a classic.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
The loss of Pontiac and the advertising revinue was more of a hit to HPP than the lack of new cars. They never really covered new cars a lot but rehashed a lot of Firebird and GTO info. I did love the Don Keefe prototype story's and Jeff Dennison.
That is one thing the Mustang magazines cover very well.
The Fiero has some things that will hurt it in the long term as a popular collector car. While it is unique and special, cool looking and has some neat features it has some issue that work against it too.
Some folks are intimidated by the Mid Engine set up.
The parts are going to get more difficult to find and more expensive to buy.
Good cars that can be fixed up for less than the value they are is still an issue.
The lack of restoration parts. Rodney is doing a great job but there are more parts that are needed than he can finance right now.
The fact it is a 2 seater has an effect on it as if you have more than two people in the family you need to take two cars to go places.
Just in general ignorance since they are different many people just do not understand that they are not much worse to work on than any other car.
We will as I have said for years fill a special slot like the Corvair. Just do not expect cheap parts forever and do not expect to retire on the car.
But do not feel bad as even the 64-65 Mustangs are not gaining all that much in value unless they are some special option deal, Convertible or a Shelby. The standard 6 and some 8 cylinders are really cheap yet and even with them as popular as they are there are just too many of them around.
We will remain that special Pontiac with the Asterisk.
Other than a TA there really are no other Pontiac's from the 80' s of that great of interest. Only the 2+2 Has much interest to it and it even lacks the HO 305 engine the SS got. Maybe a McLaren Turbo GP if you can find one in good running condition. Not easy to do anymore.
I never see a Grand Am Turbo running anymore or even a STE AWD anymore.
Maybe a McLaren Turbo GP if you can find one in good running condition. Not easy to do anymore.
I never see a Grand Am Turbo running anymore or even a STE AWD anymore.
Coincidently, I was looking for something like a Turbo Grand Prix back when I was looking for a "hobby" car. I'd looked at a couple that were rustbuckets, and I had heard of certain parts being unavailable (I don't remember now - exhaust manifolds or downpipes?). I considered a Beretta Indy pace car. I liked the Turbo Grand Ams and Sunbirds and AWD 6000s. This was back in 2001-2002. I didn't even care if it was fast as long as it was uncommon, different and/or low production. GM products preferred.
Then one night a friend of a friend showed up with a Fiero. It was an epiphany. I've been hooked ever since.
Coincidently, I was looking for something like a Turbo Grand Prix back when I was looking for a "hobby" car. I'd looked at a couple that were rustbuckets, and I had heard of certain parts being unavailable (I don't remember now - exhaust manifolds or downpipes?). I considered a Beretta Indy pace car. I liked the Turbo Grand Ams and Sunbirds and AWD 6000s. This was back in 2001-2002. I didn't even care if it was fast as long as it was uncommon, different and/or low production. GM products preferred.
Then one night a friend of a friend showed up with a Fiero. It was an epiphany. I've been hooked ever since.
Of all these cars only the F body and the G body have much available for them. The interior and plastic trim parts are hard to come by and I never see enough demand to reproduce them. You either pony up for a low mileage car or you just do not mess with it.
This is why some of the ultra rare cars like a Duisenberg are worth more as parts than whole. You might have a Million sitting whole and 1.5 Million in parts.
The Fiero is just enough not to be rare and just enough for some resto parts. The parts bin part has been a blessing to the hobby as so many of these parts are still available.
Glad I made it into one issue before it went away.
