Thread: Hot Rod Magazines from the 90's

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As some of you may have read on another post, I dug out some old hot rod magazines. What a different time. I was looking at service ads with actual phone numbers and cards to send in, top of the line Radio Shack Cassette players and Renault trying to sell one of their cars as a sports car What a sad time for cars but a simpler life for us

I’ve read Hot Rod magazine on and off since the 1970’s. I read it in the school library in 7th and 8th grade. It’s amazing some of the changes we’ve been through. It’s hard to fathom how gutless factory performance cars became in the late ‘70’s and ‘80’s. It’s also hard to believe how powerful they’ve gotten in the past five years or so.

Your last statement had me thinking, do you think we would have ever believed anyone who said that we could buy an 800 hp car with factory warranty that gets 15 mpg and it would be made by Dodge?

Well, Dodge did build the 426 Hemi back in the day, so there’s that. But if I had to guess, I thought Chevrolet would always be number one.

To me it just seemed like everything was doom and gloom in the ‘80’s. Between gas mileage, emissions, insurance, and liability, I didn’t think we’d ever see 300 horsepower again, let alone 800.

You piqued my curiosity, so went to my filing cabinets and pulled out the earliest New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine (NZHRM) I have.
It's dated April/May 1967, and the price is 2/-, ie 20c.
The Campbell brothers were the publishers for many years, the magazine was bi-monthly, and I religiously bought and saved every copy.
That continued until about ten years ago when the Campbells sold out, and the new publisher started posting too many (in my personal opinion,) articles of overseas rods.
It's the New Zealand HRM for goodness sake! If I want to see pretty pictures of Aussie or American cars I'll buy Aussie or American magazines! (Or log on to an American Hot Rod site.)
I cancelled my subscription.
So I've got every copy of NZHRM in my cabinets from the very first in April/May 1967, to February 2013.
Nearly fifty years worth.

the swimsuit girl brings back memories .. i dont know how or why but i have a subscription thru 2025 or so and i have not paid a penny in over 20 years .. i must have bought some kind of killer deal way back then .. i have`nt opened one up in years ,, they go straight to the laundromat or garbage .. the old ones sure are a lot heavier are`nt they .

I quit reading Hot Rod, in the 80's I believe, when some dumb ass kid tried to tell everyone what a "Muscle Car" was.

I remember those ads from Baldwin Chevrolet... Ahhh if only. What a trip down memory lane.

I recently recycled a ton of old Hot Rod, Super Chevy, and Model Railroader magazines.

You all stay well and catch up on those home projects.

Glenn

I resubscribed maybe 15 or more years back, when my gearhead son told me that the photography they were doing was some of the best around. I think I've got five years or more stacked up, unread now, and I cancelled a year or so back.