Old Car Magazines

[ZeTurbo]

Being a car affectionado, I have come across a problem that I am sure many of you have faced.

As long as i have been able to earn my own money, I have "wasted" it in Car magazines. After 5 years I have reached the point where I have no more room. I have been rearranging my personal space lately and found myself reflecting on the use of so many car mags. I have every single Road & Track since February 2001, many EVOs, a few Automobile, European car, Auto Hebdo and AutoSport.

On one side I have grown fond of them. I like sometimes going back to old mags and reading some nice articles. They Contributed a BIG chunk of my automotive education. They are like an old friend.

On the other hand, They are no mercantile value, some are in bad shape, and i WILL on day have to stop collecting them. Also, today i spend most of time surfing the internet for info, and articles. Pictures are also more numerous on the net.

SO, I am asking you, fellow UCPers, to share you experience with this, and maybe it will help me deal with this problem...

[NSXType-R]

I can understand where you're coming from. I have a sizable collection of Popular Science magazines. I really don't want to throw them out, but its good to keep them. Just find a milk crate or something and stick it in the attic. Besides that, I really have no suggestion.

[Nazmacher]

Being a car affectionado, I have come across a problem that I am sure many of you have faced.

As long as i have been able to earn my own money, I have "wasted" it in Car magazines. After 5 years I have reached the point where I have no more room. I have been rearranging my personal space lately and found myself reflecting on the use of so many car mags. I have every single Road & Track since February 2001, many EVOs, a few Automobile, European car, Auto Hebdo and AutoSport.

On one side I have grown fond of them. I like sometimes going back to old mags and reading some nice articles. They Contributed a BIG chunk of my automotive education. They are like an old friend.

On the other hand, They are no mercantile value, some are in bad shape, and i WILL on day have to stop collecting them. Also, today i spend most of time surfing the internet for info, and articles. Pictures are also more numerous on the net.

SO, I am asking you, fellow UCPers, to share you experience with this, and maybe it will help me deal with this problem...

Your not alone. Have the same problem. When we were moving into a new place made sure to plan for the mags, but two years later, I'm already outta place. Magazines seem to permeate from almost anywhere. Totally outta control mate. I have absolutely no sensible solution. Although I have thought up a few inane ones.

Firstly, know what you mean bout "They Contributed a BIG chunk of my automotive education. They are like an old friend" But not all articles in a mag are worthy of such praise. Cut em out(though I hate doin so)

"I like sometimes going back to old mags and reading some nice articles." (how often?)

Well actually, to be very honest, I ask myself these qts answer tham, and still end up with more mags. So basically I cant solve any of your problems.

Sure, the internet is a great source of almost anything.... but a mag is still a mag. Sell your table r chair, but for god sakes dont throw em out. Keep em for posterity!

[ScionDriver]

I have a pretty sizeable collection I have gathered over the years but some have been thrown out either forced by my mom or some lost when we moved. I understand what you mean though, you will never know when you want to reference one.

I still have a Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Road and Track from January 2000 when they all did retrospects on 100 years of the car. I review those all the time.

I say keep them, buy a couple good storage boxes (I.e. a rubbermaid) and then store them in your garage or basement on a shelf or other dry area.

[Gardin]

I have collected car magazines for over 20 years I started to subscribe in 1985 and now collect a dozen different magazines every month and still get other magazines regularly so I have approximatly 10 meters of magazines if I stacked them on top of eachother.

[dydzi]

i had about 100 kg of polish "auto bild" that i used to collect when i was small and last friday i got rid of them all. now that space is being filled by my car brochures

[DesmoRob]

I donated mine to my school library. That way they no longer take up my entire shelf, they aren't lost, and everyone can enjoy/appreciate them. There's even a few Auto Motor und Sport (german), I'd like to see them read that.

[KonaGreen]

I have just moved to a new apartment, and I've got some 200lbs + in magazine's. I'll be donating all of the ones that I weed out to the library, doctors offices etc.

[motorsportnerd]

They are no mercantile value, some are in bad shape, and i WILL on day have to stop collecting them.

Don't be so sure about the "no mercantile value" statement. Check Ebay. Old mags can swap hands for quite a few dollars.
I've collected magazines for over 20 years - probably have over 4,000 by now. Titles include issues of the Australian publications Wheels and Motor, both with over 80% complete runs from the 1950s when they started up to this months copies. There's also near complete runs of the New Zealand titles - NZ Autocar and NZ Driver and a complete run of the defunct New Zealand Car (published from the mid 80s-mid 90s). Also, I have plenty of copies of UK magazines CAR, EVO, Autocar, Motor, Autosport; US magazines Road & Track and Car & Driver and other Australian magazines such as Motorsport News, Auto Action, Australian Muscle Car and the defunct Car Australia.
The storage issue is solved in my case as half the collection is in storage in large boxes at my parents place in New Zealand. The other half is stored in a great little room at the back of my garage in Sydney, Australia (where I've lived for seven years) that has been converted into a library.
I don't intend to give up my collection. I'll sell parts of it and nowadays I buy and sell mags on Ebay to fund my hobby of collection older mags from the 50s through to the 70s. Mags don't even have to be that old to be valuable to some people - I sold a 1997 edition of the Australian Motor magazine for over A$50. Its cover value was $6. I paid 45 cents for it as part of a bulk collection. Whenever I buy a bulk collection I sell copies I already have - that was one. I've sold plenty of others for over A$10. Another example is that early issues of EVO go for lots of money on UK Ebay and the very early issues of Australian Muscle Car are worth up to A$160. And EVO started in 1998 and Aust Muscle Car in 2002 - so even recent titles can be worth money. Magazines aren't as valuable as brochures, but they still have a market.
Magazines are great historical resources. The articles and road tests of the new models are always worth keeping - especially for your favourite cars. In the era since the dawn of the internet, magazines have come under lots of pressure. I still find the best magazines better than the huge array of websites devoted to new and classic cars. The internet is great for pictures, forums like this one and as an additional historical resource. However, there's too much poor auto-journalism on the mainstream car review sites for my liking.
The internet may kill of the print media in coming years unfortunately. The great British magazine Car has recently moved more to online publishing and the magazine may suffer as a result. If its successful, other long-standing titles will follow. But the question of whether the internet will kill off the print media and whether this is a good thing is probably worthy of its own thread.
So, if you like your magazines, find a couple of sturdy boxes and store them, or convert an unused storage area into a library like I did.

[henk4]

Magazines are great historical resources. The articles and road tests of the new models are always worth keeping - especially for your favourite cars.

The "raison d'etre" of UCP. It is like a weekly magazine, but you don't need to store the copies or throw them away, and all articles are instantly retrievable.
BTW I bought Cavallino on a regular basis during the eigthies, and many issues are now worth over a 100 dollars...

[motorsportnerd]

The "raison d'etre" of UCP. It is like a weekly magazine, but you don't need to store the copies or throw them away, and all articles are instantly retrievable.
BTW I bought Cavallino on a regular basis during the eigthies, and many issues are now worth over a 100 dollars...

I expect that most of the major magazine publications will eventually scan all their issues and post them online with extensive databases of articles available at the click of a button. In fact, I Autosport, Car & Driver and Road&Track already have extensive on-line archives of their old printed copies.
After all, Google has ambitious plans to scan and provide a database of every book every published.
However, I still like looking at the original (especially pre-internet) road-tests and articles rather than an online copy - old fashioned I know.
And I prefer paper to hand-held PCs for reading on the train/buses, etc.
I reckon I'll enjoy the best of both worlds for a while yet - the original, paper based copies of old magazines and the instant access of the internet.

[ZeTurbo]

Don't be so sure about the "no mercantile value" statement. Check Ebay. Old mags can swap hands for quite a few dollars.
I've collected magazines for over 20 years - probably have over 4,000 by now. Titles include issues of the Australian publications Wheels and Motor, both with over 80% complete runs from the 1950s when they started up to this months copies. There's also near complete runs of the New Zealand titles - NZ Autocar and NZ Driver and a complete run of the defunct New Zealand Car (published from the mid 80s-mid 90s). Also, I have plenty of copies of UK magazines CAR, EVO, Autocar, Motor, Autosport; US magazines Road & Track and Car & Driver and other Australian magazines such as Motorsport News, Auto Action, Australian Muscle Car and the defunct Car Australia.
The storage issue is solved in my case as half the collection is in storage in large boxes at my parents place in New Zealand. The other half is stored in a great little room at the back of my garage in Sydney, Australia (where I've lived for seven years) that has been converted into a library.
I don't intend to give up my collection. I'll sell parts of it and nowadays I buy and sell mags on Ebay to fund my hobby of collection older mags from the 50s through to the 70s. Mags don't even have to be that old to be valuable to some people - I sold a 1997 edition of the Australian Motor magazine for over A$50. Its cover value was $6. I paid 45 cents for it as part of a bulk collection. Whenever I buy a bulk collection I sell copies I already have - that was one. I've sold plenty of others for over A$10. Another example is that early issues of EVO go for lots of money on UK Ebay and the very early issues of Australian Muscle Car are worth up to A$160. And EVO started in 1998 and Aust Muscle Car in 2002 - so even recent titles can be worth money. Magazines aren't as valuable as brochures, but they still have a market.
Magazines are great historical resources. The articles and road tests of the new models are always worth keeping - especially for your favourite cars. In the era since the dawn of the internet, magazines have come under lots of pressure. I still find the best magazines better than the huge array of websites devoted to new and classic cars. The internet is great for pictures, forums like this one and as an additional historical resource. However, there's too much poor auto-journalism on the mainstream car review sites for my liking.
The internet may kill of the print media in coming years unfortunately. The great British magazine Car has recently moved more to online publishing and the magazine may suffer as a result. If its successful, other long-standing titles will follow. But the question of whether the internet will kill off the print media and whether this is a good thing is probably worthy of its own thread.
So, if you like your magazines, find a couple of sturdy boxes and store them, or convert an unused storage area into a library like I did.

Most of the magazines on my collection are pretty mainstream and the oldest is a Road and Track from Aug 2000. Im sure one day they will be pretty valuable but for now they arent....

Glad to see i am not alone in this. I will probably keep putting themn away in my closet untill I move out of my parents house.(good luck teelling my dad i want to make a library in the garage)

Thank you very much for the input guys.

[NSXType-R]

No problem man, I'm sure all of us in UCP love cars as much as you do.

[NSXType-R]

After all, Google has ambitious plans to scan and provide a database of every book every published.

You're right, but does a magazine qualify as a book?

[KonaGreen]

I wish my wife saw my magazine's as some of you do