I was just in my basement looking for some of my older GRMs to see if any mentions of S13 were to be found (very, very few, and nothing useful) in my collection. When I realized that I can trace most of my auto history in magazines. I started with hot rod, went to car craft, super chevy, tossed some four wheeler in there, on and off stints of kit car, later I tossed in some car audio, VW mags, HCI, Modified too. I have a few automobile, Road and track, motor trend, and Car and driver. Those I mostly throw out when done with them.
And then I have GRM. My first issue was back in 03 when they compared a new honda odyssey to a Jag and porsche.
What a long strange trip it's been 
Ironically enough, when I went back to the home page, that story had rotated into the showcase position. It was a fun one to write.
Although, I'm almost tempted some days to add the jag to the list I started in a recent blog. I liked it, but it was not the lust object I had always hoped it was.
The 356, on the other hand... Hoooooo mama.
jg
I bought my 1st car mags in '65 or '66, starting with Hot Rod, but that quickly "faded". Moved on to Road and Track, but didn't stay that faithful to it as they tested/drove cars I wasn't all that interested in....back then. Bought M/T from time to time and Car and Driver. Both tested cars that I actually saw on the streets of my small, rural, hometown. Also discovered Car Life, when they ran several stories over several issues about the (possible?) impending death of "pony cars". The irony was that Car Life died.
Then, in 1972, while looking over the mags at a downtown newstand in Jacksonville, Fl. I "found" this foreign mag with a painted/illustrated cover....the British mag CAR. For years, they had covers that were paintings, instead of photos while inside were photos that knocked my socks off.
I found the "1st iteration" of GRM...I'm not sure when, but one of the first issues I picked up had tests of a pair of RWD Datsun/Nissan coupes (240SX and 240Z). GRM is the only mag I still buy regularly....with issues in my "collection" running back 15+ years.
I started with C/D and R&T, added MT and that was it for years. Never cared for Hot Rod cuz I"m not a bowtie kinda guy. I'd read a few others here and there then found GRM. The others fell my the wayside, then MT followed. Now C/D is gone but I keep R&T because Peter Egan is the best.
I get Hemmings Sports and Exotic, R&T and GRM.
internetautomart wrote:
And then I have GRM. My first issue was back in 03 when they compared a new honda odyssey to a Jag and porsche.
Funny, that was the first one I ever read, too. I remember saying, "These guys are nuts!"
Magazine collections are cool, but they get heavy quick.
When I was about twelve, I inherited a collection of comic books and magazines from my uncle. They were all about Triumph motorcycles and Briggs Cunningham cars, MGs and Austin Healeys.
How I wish I still had 'em..
I started with Mustang Monthly when I was a freshman in high school and read every issue for years. I specifically remember an article about a burgundy '65 coupe that mentioned the Sports Car Club of America and something called "Autocrossing". If this "SCCA" had any kind of student membership, or even just reasonable dues, I wouldn't have waited another 19 years to join.
I would occasionally pick up a copy of Hot Rod or any other muscle car magazine that had a photo of a '67 Plymouth in it. I was even able to sneak a few issues of AutoBuff into the house (anybody else remember that one?).
By the time I graduated, I started a long running subscription to Car and Driver, which at one time I revered, but now I can no longer distinguish articles from advertisements.
In 1986, I discovered Auto-X, and would buy a copy any time I could find it. I became a subscriber shortly thereafter.
Around the same time, I also subscribed to AutoWeek, and I still get that as well. I was tempted to drop them twice, first when they got rid of Satch Carlson, though I continued to subscribe for years, just so I wouldn't miss the week when they finally smartened up and brought him back. They haven't. I was also ready to let the subscription lapse when they went to every two weeks. The magazine seemed to be irrelevant at that point. But they held onto me with a really cheap renewal offer, $19 for two years, when I used to pay about $50 per year. I still get it, but pretty much just read Corey Farley and Denise McCluggage and look at the car in Escape Roads.
I don't expect to renew again.
I get what little new car info I need from Road & Track these days, but I subscribe mainly for Peter Egan.
The internet has replaced magazines for new car research, so now it just comes down to interesting stories for me.
Oh and one more thing:
Any time a car magazine does a feature on expensive watches, they've lost me.
My first car magazine subscription was to Sports Car Graphic.
I received R&T for most of three decades, but I eventually gave it up when I realized that Egan and an occasional tech article were the only things keeping me.
Thank you GRM for a wonderful magazine!
