And if we don't like or want the new format, who do we speak with to get
a refund on an outstanding subscription? Honestly, I for one could care
less about other European and American classics. If I did, I'd
subscribe those magazines.
Thanks for any info,
Joe Burlein
1972 Triumph TR-6
2000 BMW M Coupe
2003 Mini Cooper S
Richard Feibusch wrote:
>Dear Friends and Readers,
>
>I was as surprised and concerned as you all were when the word about the
>Motorsport Marketing Inc. buyout of British Car Magazine started to spread
>on the web. After all, I have been a writer and later on the Editorial
>Board since Dave Destler started the publication over 100 issues ago. I was
>just as surprised when Dave sold the magazine to Gary Anderson, but having
>known Gary and Genie for over 20 years through the SF Bay Area Healey Club
>and our Palo Alto British Car Meet, I knew that we were in good hands.
>
>The internet is a wonderful communication tool that has the ability to get
>ahead of itself, and since I am on most British car lists, I get to see the
>buzz from all over right away. Gary called Monday to say he was sorry that
>all of us had to hear the info before we were personally contacted - but
>that's the way the web is woven.
>
>As I understand it, even though British Car Magazine was getting creatively
>and journalistically better with each issue, a ceiling had been reached and
>the magazine had pretty much been built to it's potential. They had
>acquired most of the interested subscribers that there were, all of the
>advertisers willing to put their money into a hobby builder, and a size
>(amount of pages) that this level of participation could commercially
>support.
>
>I have edited club pubs, local neighborhood pubs and put in my time as
>editor, feature editor and production editor at Convertible Magazine,
>Collector Car News and Victory Lane vintage racing magazine. I know how
>much production costs and how limiting a tight budget and smaller pool of
>enthusiasts can be. Two of these mags went belly up while I was working
>there (damn, maybe it's ME!) and the other was bought out and changed while
>I was off to organize the California British Car Meets. I came back to find
>a bunch of strange staff in the office and my trusty Mac replaced with a PC
>and a new production editor to operate it!!!
>
>I talked with Editor Gary at length and what I got from the conversation is
>that we are in good hands with the new owners and we will be able to do
>more and better work with what we have been doing with our British Cars
>plus get the additional information about similar, competitive cars from
>other parts of the world. This merger of the minds and editorial policy is
>based from the editor's interest in vintage racing, where a primarily
>British lineup is augmented with cars from around the world. These are the
>cars that competed in the marketplace, on showroom floors and race tracks
>around the world.
>
>Just because the new Classic Motorsport will now include cars from other
>countries than the UK does not mean that this will become a scattershot,
>all marque affair with hot rods, '57 Chevys, and moody dark reflective pix
>of late model Ferraris and babes lounging on Porsches.
>
>The new mag is to feature classic Porches, Alfas, Datsun roadsters and
>240Zs. Maybe I'll be able to sell them a VW/Morris Minor comparison
>article. I personally have owned a number of BMWs, Citroens, Datsun 510s
>and a Peugeot along with my MGs, Rileys, and over 50(!) Morris Minors -
>these cars are all fun and quite similar (except for the Citroen DS21 - I
>think that it was designed on Mars!). American cars will be more like
>classic Corvettes, Z28 Cameros and Boss 302 Mustangs, the cars that went
>fender to fender (OK, wing to wing!) with our Jags, Cobras and Sunbeam
>Tigers on the track.
>
>We enthusiasts have to realize that as the old car hobby condenses into a
>smaller group that will then break again into show-ers, racers and backyard
>tinkers and then again into smaller groups of rodders, restorers and
>modernized cruisers, we are going to have to combine certain aspects of the
>hobby to maintain our special interest publications. This one should be
>painless.
>
>Please don't winge about the loss, be happy about the fact that we are
>still here and are going to be bringing you more and better info on your
>favorite Britiron as well as additional info on cars from other parts of
>the world.
>
>Thanks for listening - the Official Word is included below.
>
>Cheers,
>Rick Feibusch
>writer/editor/show coordinator/local politician
>(more business cards than W.C.Fields!)
>Venice , CA
>
>-----------------------------------------------------
>
>Press Release
>
>Ormond Beach, Florida, January 31, 2003
>
>Motorsport Marketing, Inc., Publishers of Grassroots Motorsports, has
>announced their purchase of British Car Magazine on January 30. British Car
>will be relaunched this spring as Classic Autosport, with British Car's
>Gary Anderson as editor.
>
>Classic Autosport magazine will offer classic car enthusiasts more depth
>in its technical coverage and a wider range of classic performance
>automobile coverage, British, as well as European, American, and others.
>Classic Autosport will be all-color, perfect-bound and will start with at
>least 100 pages.
>
>>From his office in Los Altos, California, Gary Anderson, editor and
>publisher of British Car Magazine since 1996 said "I'm really looking
>forward to editing the new magazine. With the strong technical and
>publishing resources of Motorsport Marketing, we'll be able to provide more
>detailed information on our favorite British cars while covering the other
>marques that were so much a part of the sports car hobby as we knew it in
>the fifties, sixties, and seventies."
>
>In making the announcement, Tim Suddard, president of Motorsport Marketing
>and publisher of Grassroots Motorsports, said "As classic car enthusiasts
>ourselves, we have had a dream for over ten years of adding a classic car
>magazine to our activities. With the acquisition of British Car, we have
>the core around which to create the kind of magazine we have always wanted
>ourselves, in the same way we have built Grassroots Motorsports."
>
>The expanded magazine will give British Car readers more tech features,
>emphasizing ways to improve reliability, safety, and performance of classic
>cars. In addition, Classic Autosport will be building its own project cars
>like those that Grassroots Motorsports is famous for building. Classic car
>meet and vintage racing coverage will be expanded. All of this will be
>added while the magazine will still maintain the enthusiasm for classic
>cars that British Car readers have come to expect.
>
>The first project cars planned for the new publication include an MG Midget
>and Porsche 911, while the magazine will also campaign a pair of vintage
>racers: Publisher Tim Suddard will continue to run his Triumph TR3 at East
>Coast events, while Editor Gary Anderson will campaign an MGA on the West
>Coast.
>
>The April/May issue of British Car will be the last one to carry the old
>name and logo. British Car readers will see no interruption of service, as
>they will be the first to receive this new and expanded publication. The
>first issue of Classic Autosport will be mailed in late May and on the
>newsstands by 3 June.
>
>For more information on the new magazine, a sneak preview of the new
>editorial calendar, and an opportunity to chat with the staff, as well as
>to find subscription information, check the Web site,
>www.classicautosport.net.
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