PC Deputy Editor

[Morrisand944S2man]

I can now see why you didn't like my comment!

As for "core" readership that so called "Practical" so called "classics" has lost- just about everyone I speak to about it at classic car shows and clubs in Kent and the south east either no longer read PC or if they do, they moan about the rubbish in it- the non classics being featured or the useless articles and "comparison" tests. There is your core readership for you! Thousands and thousands of real classic car fans.

I had a Mk1 Astra years ago and have driven and been in Nova's, totally dull cars devoid of character or merit- not classics and never deserve to be.

As for your cars, well the BM's might become classic in a few years as BMW was then a respected quality luxury/performance brand, and I like those shapes of BM's- the pre 1990's BM's. Although since the 90's due to production increases and the drop in quality they are not really in the same league- now that 3 series outsell Mondeos.

But as for the Maestro, I won't comment on that one except to say that as a student I had an Allegro for four years and that was a rubbish car then- totally outclassed by it's contemporaries. An ex girlfriend of mine had a Maestro, so I know what they are like.

Just because a car is old does not make it a classic- a 100 year old Nova will still be a crappy old dull characterless unremarkable Nova! You have to draw the line somewhere to save the decent cars and the Nova and the Metro and their like are the wrong side of that line. Classic does not mean old- classic means old and great, or at least good. If a car was rubbish 30 or 40 years ago, it has not got any better in the years since!

As for my fleet- I have three Morris Minors- a Traveller, a Convertible, and 4-door saloon under restoration, and I have a Porsche 944S2 which although it is a more modern car at 20 years old, but as it is such a great car that most definitely deserves to be a classic. Certainly far better than it's contemporaries.

However, my modern day runabout- a Toyota Starlet- although a far better car than the Metro and Nova/ Corsa also will never make true classic status.

This is the annoying thing- people are preserving Novas and Metros when they could be spending their precious time and energy and money saving proper worthwhile classics from the crusher- and this is down to the appalling advice given by PC magazine over the last ten years influencing their readers.

And I'm not that much older than you- (age 45). So - we should like much the same cars. It is just that I have read these magazines and not let them corrupt my judgement.

Practical Classics magazine! Get your act together and stop damaging the classic car world!!!

[Mrotwoman]

Well you obviously haven't bumped into me at a show in the south east (Wheels day,Aldershot, Good Friday is my next one,you'd hate it!)
At least one good example of every model deserves to be preserved,that's why I cherish a lowly spec Maestro,and people do flock to it at shows believe it or not! (Mainly to take the p*ss but at least it gets noticed). I'd be more inclined to drool over a mint Mk1 Metro than a mint Minor,not that I don't like Minors,I do ... it's just that there are hundreds still pootling about here and I haven't seen a decent early Metro in yonks.
Different strokes I suppose.

[SEE YA]

Well I have been into classic's for over twenty years myself. We go to over 15 shows a year, and make it a family day out .

I have done a few restorations as well, got the scars to prove it HA!!!!

I have been a reader of PC for about the same time, peoples taste in cars change as do we all.

The good thing is there are classic's for everybodys pocket and taste.
They have to find a balance to try and please everybody each month in PC .

[Aar0sc]

I hate to say it, but just last week I made the switch from Practical Classics to Classics Monthly (though I'm still getting PC in the hope that they'll do the Spitfire resto they promised us at the start of the year). There is so much more stuff about mending and repairing and fixing, as opposed to PC's "Merc enthusiasts will love to know I've got the very rare original fabric for the doors... applied at a 90 degree angle"... why?

Also, I agree that small newish cars will be classics soon - do you remember the PC 30 year special, where they reprinted old letters? One (1984) attacked PC for calling the Triumph Spitfire a classic - who would disagree with them now?

Aar0sc

[JPB]

When I first bought PC, Vol 1, Number 1 as it happens, one of the cars featured was an Austin A40. OK, so "XOE" had been Pat Moss' rally car and was historically significant, but the thing that stood out about the then-new magazine was that it featured cars that were still seen by many, perhaps by most onlookers as nothing more than cheap bangers.
Naturally when, in 1982, my first road-legal car was chosen, I opted for XJR 40, an A40 Farina that was younger then than any of 0two man's fleet is now.

Back then, there were people who complained that the mag was featuring bland, ordinary older cars that would never be "classics" in the same way as the term is applied to, say, the E-Types and Lancia Aurelias of this world. These people dared to question the validity of preserving Morris Minors, Austin A35s and early minis; surely the miniMETROs and Maestros of their time in terms of market sectors and kerb appeal?

But go to any big show now and fortunately, for every small-minded ostrich who cannot drag its head out of the 1970s, there are many people who appreciate seeing newer cars such as the Maestro, Volvo 340, MK3 Escort, miniMETRO and yes, Nova/Corsa such as the Rallye of 1985 and any well-turned out cooking edition of the same car.

Please can someone explain why these cars are any less worthy of inclusion in the magazine than the much newer (in 1980) cars such as that A40 and the Minor that, at a mere 13 years of age at the time, was restored and lives on today, the PC restoration work having lasted better than the factory's original attempt at building it to last.

Younger readers, in other words the future of our hobby, won't be able to identify so closely with older cars just as, back in the '80s, anything from the 40s or earlier was little more than an interesting diversion for readers of my generation. Most of whom wanted to own late '50s and '60s cars since they were what was available cheaply then just as those '80s cars are now.
What can the mag do then? Ignore the requirements of several generations of enthusiasts and turn itself into the magazine that "The Automobile" was back then?
Of course it can't, that would be plain silly.

[mr rusty]

Just because a car is old does not make it a classic- a 100 year old Nova will still be a crappy old dull characterless unremarkable Nova! You have to draw the line somewhere to save the decent cars and the Nova and the Metro and their like are the wrong side of that line. Classic does not mean old- classic means old and great, or at least good. If a car was rubbish 30 or 40 years ago, it has not got any better in the years since!

............what you have to think about though morrisman, as someone with a lot of Minors, is that for those of us just the wrong side of 50 who started driving in the 70's before the Minor b ecame accepted as a classic rather than a banger, this is exactly how a 17 year old me saw Minors- dull old cars for dull old people! I know better now

I'm personally not a great fan of old Jap cars, well made but lacking that imaginative spark, but I still think that like Maestros and their ilk they deserve a place in the mag.

[rich.]

im 44 and i love all cars even moderns, this is beginning to sound like the whats a classic debate again.... im tempted to buy a micra & start taking it to shows just to annoy the boring "thats not a classic brigade"

[dannyhopkins]

Evening gents,

This is getting a bit tasty. I almost fancy a pint.

I would just like to go on record - now that the new issue is out - to say thank you to both Matt and Fuzz for their hard work and generosity over the last six months. They have both moved on to different destinations and we all wish them the best - yep, even Fuzz as he nestles in at our erstwhile competitor CM.

Far from being fly by night career journos, both Matt and Fuzz are totally dedicated car nuts, with classics in their DNA, so I won't have any of that nonsense about them moving on because they want a foot up on the ladder... it just isn't like that. Everyone who works on PC is an enthusiast, we all started as readers and we all came to PC because it is the biggest and best classic mag. That's why I came back last year, it's why I started on the mag back in 2000. This isn't a career journalist job - you couldn't survive it if it were.

As for the end being nigh? Don't think so. We still shift 53,000 copies an issue, we still have a fantastic dedicated readership who stay in touch every day, we're still the biggest seller in Britain and most of the readership are very very happy. If I were to make it perfect for each and every one of you I would have to make 53,000 different mags every issue, because we all like what we like. However, with the slight return to more 'popular' makes in the last six months, the refocussing on harder news and feature content and the refreshing of sagas and our own restoration fleet - I think we are still addressing the needs of most readers.

I hope so anyway.

So Matt and Fuzz, thanks for all the amazing work...

Now, the replacements. Two familiar faces might be about to reappear.

See, I told you; PC is the sort of magazine that keeps attracting old friends back to the workshop.

[Aar0sc]

*Here's hoping that I'm familiar *

[SEE YA]

Evening gents,

This is getting a bit tasty. I almost fancy a pint.

I would just like to go on record - now that the new issue is out - to say thank you to both Matt and Fuzz for their hard work and generosity over the last six months. They have both moved on to different destinations and we all wish them the best - yep, even Fuzz as he nestles in at our erstwhile competitor CM.

Far from being fly by night career journos, both Matt and Fuzz are totally dedicated car nuts, with classics in their DNA, so I won't have any of that nonsense about them moving on because they want a foot up on the ladder... it just isn't like that. Everyone who works on PC is an enthusiast, we all started as readers and we all came to PC because it is the biggest and best classic mag. That's why I came back last year, it's why I started on the mag back in 2000. This isn't a career journalist job - you couldn't survive it if it were.

As for the end being nigh? Don't think so. We still shift 53,000 copies an issue, we still have a fantastic dedicated readership who stay in touch every day, we're still the biggest seller in Britain and most of the readership are very very happy. If I were to make it perfect for each and every one of you I would have to make 53,000 different mags every issue, because we all like what we like. However, with the slight return to more 'popular' makes in the last six months, the refocussing on harder news and feature content and the refreshing of sagas and our own restoration fleet - I think we are still addressing the needs of most readers.

I hope so anyway.

So Matt and Fuzz, thanks for all the amazing work...

Now, the replacements. Two familiar faces might be about to reappear.

See, I told you; PC is the sort of magazine that keeps attracting old friends back to the workshop.

ONWARD AND FORWARD PEOPLE