Changing Times for Everyone
I see the pictures in my memory as in a form of pointillism. What I saw for myself initially, and then what I have learned about what I saw, are my basic memories. Some are rather old now. But as a result of other people’s memoirs and biographies, more dots are being added to my fading pictures and they are becoming more focused and vibrant. I am moving from Seurats to Turners and the process is great fun.
In the coming months the Racemaker Book Review section will be assembling books, each with a different view of the same historic happenings and offering them up for your memory banks.
With the publishing of John Horsman's Racing in the Rain and A.J. Baime's Go Like Hell, Micheal L. Shoen's The Cobra Ferarri Wars the dot base on the stories have closed up a lot. (I loaned a friend Peter Brock's The Cobra Daytona Coupes book and if it is on your shelf, I'd love to have it back.) The Ford period from the introduction of the Cobra to winning the Manufacturers Championship and LeMans is fascinating. The new voices telling their versions of the story make it even more complex and colorful.
This has been a long winter, made more so by the poverty of the printed reading matter that has come across my threshold since the end of the last racing season. Perhaps it is our dependence on the printed word in the absence of live action images that has made us more acutely aware of these shortcomings. In fairness, while many publications are transitioning for survival in a tough new world, the interests of men my age may also be transitioning from an interest in current cars to what is more familiar and is now called vintage. Some of the magazines I have enjoyed for years now appear much less attractive. Others are blossoming.
I have subscribed to Autoweek for years. I can remember when one day's delay from the normal Thursday arrival was a disappointment. Two days late and I would be prepared to bludgeon the mail delivery person senseless. Even though she was much bigger than me. Their new format will hopefully succeed for them. They may lose me on the way. I loved their competition news. While no longer as timely for the reasons we all know, it is no longer as interesting either. Nigel Roebuck excepted. The editorial columns have been reduced to short "thoughtbites". Treated more as a necessary evil. I read Denise McCluggage out of loyalty and with a sadness that there isn't more of her writing. Where I once searched their little ads for treasures, they are now drowned in a sea of revenue enhancing color blurbs. They recently did a laudatory road ride of the new Rolls Royce Drophead. It told us everything about the car that the manufacturer felt justified the almost 3 tons of weight and $480K to purchase. It failed to mention that the thing wouldn't be allowed on some bridges and belonged in a circus. For all these criticisms, I do enjoy their internet service and access it frequently.
Road and Track suffers similarly. The loss of Phil Hill after the loss of Rob Walker means a loss of gravitas. They need to convince Sam Posey to write more regularly. The man is literate and insightful. The magazine is now an appliance that appears to be getting thinner. The ad for male enhancement is comic relief.
Recently, re-introduced to me after an absence of several years, were Vintage Motorsports and Classic Motorsports. What a revelation! Good articles good pictures, broader horizons, this is as close in tone to the good Brit magazines as we get here. I like them and have subscribed. They appear to be doing well and they have interesting content.
My British magazines, if judged by weight alone, are thriving. Their content appears devoid of the latest electric ugly and appeal to those of us who remember when racing was dangerous and without decals. MotorSports latest edition has an interesting seven page article by editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck. (there is that name again) SEVEN PAGES!!! The newsstand price is $9.99 and that article alone is worth every penny. Octane and Classic & Sports Car are equally enjoyable.
There are two American magazines that are on my coffee table and are bedside companions. On the car side, Keith Martin's Sports Car Market is well balanced and well written. It has interesting contributors on a wide range of subjects and there is no part of the magazine that overwhelms the others. Reporting on auctions results adds an interactive ingredient not possible with other magazines. Every reader makes a guess at the selling prices of his dream cars and, regardless of whether he can afford them or not, one has an opinion about the price paid or not paid. Here is an important fact that endears me to this magazine; I can finish it before the next one comes. That doesn’t happen with the British mags, either they have too much content or I have too little time.
On the Motorcycle side, Motorcycle Consumer News is a non glossy, no advertising magazine that tells it like it is. They know that it is easier to speak Truth to Power when Power isn't clothing your kids. Great with how-to's and riding tips, every issue is a keeper.
Have thoughts on the magazines you like, share them with me at Peter@mmrsite.com
Peter Bourassa