Automobilize

My August issue of Road & Track showed up in the mailbox three days ago and I read it cover to cover in about three hours. Highlights included a cover story on the battle between a Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series and a Lotus Exige S. Also inside was a faceoff between the Infiniti G37S and a BMW 335i. The pricey Bentley Continental GT managed to carve out a page somewhere near the center fold.

So what’s all of this have to do with anything? Yesterday my August issue of Motor Trend hit the front door and on the cover was the same faceoff between the G37S and 335i. Different writer. Different report. Same subject. Open the magazine and you’ll also find an article on the exact same CLK63 AMG Black Series. Turn a few more pages and there’s an article on a $400,000 Rolls Royce. For someone like myself on a fixed income, I don’t go out of my way to differentiate Bentley from Rolls Royce. Both clientèles wear ascots and drink $500 bottles of wine. Could there be any more duplicity inside Road &Track and Motor Trend? I also subscribe to Car And Driver and the same problem exists.

I can’t say for sure which magazine copied the other, but at least one of them is getting a subscription cancellation letter in the mail. What makes this even more inexcusable is both rags are published by completely different groups –Hachette Filipacchi in the case of R&T and Primedia in MT’s corner. All I know is I want my money back.

And now for a confession. I used to subscribe to both ‘zines a number of years ago and canceled both for many of the same reasons I just described. Each publication enjoyed a renaissance of late and performed a design makeover both inside and out. Naively, I figured, the content must have been re-worked too, so I re-subscribed expecting fresh improvements. Obviously my research lacked the proper due diligence.

I could stop right here and feel good about telling others why subscribing to more than one of the mainstream automotive magazines is a waste of money, but the argument would be incomplete without at least mentioning the downward-spiraling newswriting that somehow makes it to the print house. Arthur St. Antoine’s ‘the asphalt jungle’ column from MT crashed to new lows this month when he devoted an entire page to the concept of Google buying GM and re-inventing the brand. The article was half-hearted and half-witted, adding up to one complete waste of mindless drivel that starting nowhere and ended nowhere. I single out St. Antoine only because there aren’t enough keyboard strokes in my arthritic fingers to single out all the offenders.

Magazines such as R&T and MT are at the top of their field in terms of perceived reputation. Just getting your foot in the door — let alone a full page or two every month to demonstrate your skills — is reserved for the top in their field. Hundreds or thousands of would-be candidates would kill for an inch of copy space, and most of them would pay money out of their own pockets for the privilege. I know I would. American car magazines used to be about substance. Strong journalism, captivating photography, and I-never-knew-that information ran from page to page. Today, most of them are nothing more than rhetorical bird cage liners of failing copy and faltering benchmarks. A few periodicals like Evo and upstart bi-monthly AUTO Aficionado understand the responsibility, but they are the exceptions in a world of exceptional mediocrity.

You’re fired. Letters sent.

We just got back from covering the annual London Cobra Show in London OH, and it was our first trip to the event. Like most maiden voyages, we didn’t know what to expect. This trip has a happy ending however because not only did the event coordinators surprise us, they could probably write a book on how to succeed on the car show circuit.

First things first. The Cobra show has a lot going for it and one of the most important is market saturation. Its the biggest Cobra event in the country from all the data we’ve gathered and once you’re on top, it’s hard to fall from the perch. Perhaps more important however is the Cobra itself. It’s a niche vehicle and there aren’t many around. Pop question: when was the last time you spotted a replica or original Cobra 427 SC on the road? And before that? With limited numbers, limited owners, and limited opportunities to throw a party of any substantial turnout, London’s Cobra Show doesn’t have to work as hard to corner the market as the largest Mustang or RX-7 gathering might. A quick spot check of license plates turned up owners from Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, the Carolinas, New York, Colorado, Oregon, and all stops in between. For Cobra lovers, London is the show to go to.

Sponsorship is where the Ohio Cobra Club swung for the fences and knocked it out of the park. All the bigs were there including Roush, Superformance via Dynamic Motorsports, and Factory Five Racing. A complete engine was donated for a replica Cobra waiting to be raffled off, while London city officials blocked off streets and add police oversight at no charge. Where else can you convince the locals to allow for burnouts and 1/8th mile acceleration demos? Just a year ago it was 1/4 mile and speeds were topping 108mph. The city cracked the whip and shortened the pavement. How unfair!

The $100 registration to enter a car is no deterrent whatsoever and when the streets re-open, OCC President Richard Bailey hands over more than $35,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, along with thousands in thank-you toys to the local police and fire departments. Vendor space and other charitable donations make up the rest of the financial windfall. Gifts of this magnitude are usually reserved for events with over 1,000 cars, but London is squeezing bucket loads from relatively benign numbers. We’re impressed.

Would I attend next year? We have a standing invitation and the hospitality was exceptional. Reps from the major sponsors, club chairs, and Cystic Fibrosis leads went out of their way to share their success story. Despite the threat of rain all morning and afternoon, the wet stuff stayed away just long enough to get our work done. Perhaps it was another meaningful, yet somewhat subliminal sign that London was indeed looking after us. It’s hard to say no to that kind of reception.