What GT40ish magazines do you read?

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
As a teenager years ago I subscribed to Road and Track and Car and Driver; I eventually got fed up with both of them for different reasons but in common was that they became less technical and less "hands on" (or I out-grew them; not sure which). Now I'm wondering if I should revisit the question. Every once in a while there is a post mentioning some useful information found in a magainze, eg Car Craft, which I didn't even know still existed.

So, what magazine(s) do find useful or interesting particularly from the perspective of technology, construction, vintage restoration, non-redundant history, etc? Anything out there worth reading every month?
 
Not a technical magazine in the sense of DIY, nuts and bolts etc but the british "Motorsport" is excellent for historical interest. The August issue has some lovely pics of a Gelscoe "No 6" with the original 1970 Lemans winning Gulf 917.

Cheers

Fred W B
 

Ron Earp

Admin
Grassroots Motorsports. DYI. Racing. Little bit of everything with the focus on performance and how to do things, not how to buy things. Definitely for the hands on reader and true car enthusiast, but not a "GT40ish" magazine by any extreme.
 
Alan

I've subscribed to Car Craft for years. It goes in cycles of having very good DIY articles to articles where they just open a catalog and throw a bunch of money at a car. Right now they seem to have a 50-50 mix of the two, maybe a bit heavier on the DIY tech. Relatively speaking, it's fairly inexpensive for a subscription.

I let my subscription to Hot Rod expire. It has really turned into a picture book. And, when they do have tech articles, most of them are watered-down versions of what appears in Car Craft.

I used to get Auto Restorer. It used to have a lot of good info on how to fix old parts, especially parts that you simply cannot buy repro. I let it expire because the price was going up while the tech articles were either becoming lighter or focused on vehicles before my flavor (40s and older).

I also currently get Muscle Car Review. While it does have some good tech articles, it is mostly a picture book (not a bad thing necessarily, if you're looking for that). And, as you can guess from the name, it is strictly 60s/70s American heavy metal.

In the past, I have also subscribed to 4 Wheel and Off Road. Completely different slant from cars, but it has (or had) great tech articles and the engine-related tech translates directly to cars (we're all after the same thing...more power). Plus, I appreciate the home engineering that goes into some of those rigs.

Some of the Mustang-related magazines are also pretty good with tech articles. I've never subscribed to any of them because they can be a bit redundant (it's a 5.0, there's only so much you can do to it), but they do tend to provide good information and also wander into the Windsor, FE, and Mod motors.

I'd recommend taking a stroll through your local newstand (even if it is the B&N at the mall) to see if anything strikes your fancy. That's how I've run across a lot of magazines. Being an editor, I'm pretty good at judging what to expect from subsequent issues by flipping through a couple of issues on the stand; you can do the same. Hope this helps a bit.

Eric
 
Grassroots Motorsports...

By the way, you can get a free trial issue of the magazine Ron mentioned:
https://secure.ablesoftsolutions.com/pdmg/SecurePages/NewSub.aspx?pi=grm&o=GWEBFT&ref=GWEBFT

Most magazines have some sort of similar tease where you can get a sample copy. Look at the magazine's website or the reader service cards in the magazine itself. Sometimes this option is buried, but it's usually there. If all else fails, you can call subscription services for the magazine and ask. Any magazine is very interested in getting you to subscribe, so almost all will give you a free issue; just have to ask sometimes.

Eric
 
Alan, not sure if this publication is available stateside, but I subscribe to Practical Classics. This mag does not cover GT40s as being "not practical" or too costly, but they do have lots of "how to do" articles showcasing every aspect of vehicle restoration and repair, some of which are good for our cars too. Currently they are restoring a Mk2 Jag that no one else would consider, but they have featured body rebuilds, engine/gearbox rebuilds, upholstery, walnut dash refurbishment etc, a complete nut and bolt chassis up rebuild so that anyone can take any part and apply to what they may be doing. The mag also has lots of adverts for garage gear, a good read for any classic car enthusiast.
 
I agree with Ron's suggestion. Its a good mag that covers different types of cars of all levels. The suggestion of Mustang related mags is also good for tech stuff but only for engine info for the 40. Octane is a new one I'm enjoying. Bit pricey but not bad.
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
I get OCTANE and SCM. They are not technical journals, but every so often they have something about GT40s or Cobras, and even whey they don't they are both consistently great reads.
 

Jack Houpe

GT40s Supporter
I get OCTANE and SCM. They are not technical journals, but every so often they have something about GT40s or Cobras, and even whey they don't they are both consistently great reads.

Absolutely great choices. Octane has some great articles.
 
I subscribe to Classic & Sports Car, which I think is the best of the UK classic car magazines.

My old buddy Matt Stone, who was the editor of the Pantera club magazine before I took over for him, is senior editor of Motor Trend. I have little use for MT, but he convinced the powers that be to let him launch a parallel product, Motor Trend Classic. This is truly a beautiful magazine, right up our alley, printed on extra-large size paper, so I read that too. It is rather pricy though, at 15 bucks a copy (published quarterly). Well worth it though, IMHO...and I also read Autoweek just to keep abreast of current developments, although none are specifically relevant to me since I have pledged never to own a car newer than 1981, ever!
 
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