Sport Compact no more

We started hearing the rumors last night, and looks like they're true: Sport Compact Car magazine is no more. While it's easy to quickly dismiss them as fallen competition, those guys were good to us--especially back in the day when it was Josh, Jared and Dave. They say that competition improves the breed, and those guys did keep us busy.

But don't worry, we don't have plans to close up shop. Or even slow down.

That does kind of suck. I actually would pick it up back when it was those three folks. The magazine had sense of not taking themselves to seriously, which iI enjoyed. But the last times I would pick it uup at bookstores it seemsed to have more ads than content.

Sounds like the magazine business in general is having a tough time. First AutoWeek becomes AutoEvery-Other-Week and now SCC is gone completely. I'm glad that this band of merry madmen (and madwomen) is still going strong!

Wow, that sucks. SCC is the magazine that got me into cars in the first place. I used to read SCC all the time. My favorite sections were Dave Coleman's technical editorials and "Stump the Geek." My favorite project car was the infamous rattle-can black Silvia. I was a regular on their forums. I remember it was self-moderated, but rampant spam and fewer members chased me here. Mad Machine also used to be on that forum.

The greatest injustice about this is that rags like Stupid Street and Import Tooner are still around.

That's sad to hear, I just bought January's issue last night. Lots of magazines having tough times with the economic slowdown and the availability of online content. I hope there's still enough people out there like me who prefer reading print VS a computer screen to keep all of em from going under.

That is a total bummer. I remember when it was one of the only car mags that I would buy. They also were responsible for getting me into 510's. The last few years of the magazine weren't the best, but they would find a good car every once in a while.

I saw it 2-3 years ago when they printed the SCC "Ultimate Street Car" thing in like 4 issues and those were the only ones that sold. Sad, but they were "dead" years ago.

On a related note quite a few of the start-up Mustang magazines have failed as well. Wonder what the kill list will look like by next year?

SupraWes wrote: That's sad to hear, I just bought January's issue last night. Lots of magazines having tough times with the economic slowdown and the availability of online content. I hope there's still enough people out there like me who prefer reading print VS a computer screen to keep all of em from going under.

I've worked in print and on the web, and don't see it as an either/or proposition at all.

Magazines are MUCH better than the web at extended, detailed content. They tend to be better at displaying complex technical info, and they're more portable. Most people don't want to take their laptop into the garage or the john.

Online is better at immediacy, width (rather than depth), community, and connecting various things together to create a whole that's larger than any of the little pieces. And baseless rumors and porn, without which there wouldn't even be an internet.

I usually pick up SCC as an in-between for GRM. Similar styles...I like the rally coverage, and the "grassroots" racing focus.

I will miss it, but I am glad I didn't get a subscription.

P71 wrote: I saw it 2-3 years ago when they printed the SCC "Ultimate Street Car" thing in like 4 issues and those were the only ones that sold. Sad, but they were "dead" years ago. On a related note quite a few of the start-up Mustang magazines have failed as well. Wonder what the kill list will look like by next year?

What about GRM picking up the Ultimate Street Car Challenge? You could change a few rules to be more grassroots friendly, and some of the issues I've read some of the USCC challengers are pretty grassroots themselves.

I promise not to call ya'll a sellouts...

Tim will be scheduling some face time with some Left Coast writers then right? I mean some of those guys were worth keeping in print. Plus a little Left Field action could be good for our favorite Right Field magazine ;)

I'm not to sad about it. It seem'd like they were getting kinda blingy for me. I also have not pick up an issue in about two years. It always seems like the cover says JDM this or that.

The whole SCC scene was too blingy for me, but they were the best of the youth / tuner publications. The rest were / are mostly fluff. GRM is more my speed.

I was a pretty avid reader of SCC for a number of years, but really lost interest a couple years ago. I'm not sure what changed...but a "one year stack" from 5+ years ago is almost twice the height of a "one year stack" from 2-3 years ago. And that extra height was all tech.
It's been well over a year since I touched the last one.

GRM on the other hand.... :) Keep up the great work guys!

Seems like an echo in here but.....I too subscribed several years ago and then just lost interest. I am sad to see them go though. Times sure seem to changing.

I have subscribed to SCC since I was 13 some 9 years ago. It really makes me sad to hear about them going. I just got the new one today! SCC and GRM have always held the top spot for me and car magazines. Dave Coleman, was, is and will always be my hero. I'm a Mechanical engineer and the fact that Dave, Mike, (Josh I think), and Jay Chen are all engineers is really appealing and shows in their writing style.

Through the years they mentioned GRM quite a fews times as being a respected and amazing mag. The fact that some people group SCC in with "tuner", Super Street, etc is just outrageous. I'm sad to see them go; however, it warms my heart to see GRM taking note of them!!

LONG LIVE GRM!!

This is over at Jalopnik:

http://jalopnik.com/5096277/truck-trend-sport-compact-car-and-multiple-other-titles-axed-by-source-interlink

Sports Car International is gone also,

This might be a good time for GRM to pick up some writer/engineers. That's one thing I always thought that they did better- having Dave Coleman move his "stump the geek" to GRM would be a very positive addition. You have the tire guys. You have the oakey, "make it work" guys. You have the racer guy with credentials. You have the restoration experts. You have the web guy. You hve the junkyard dog(s). You've always needed the engineer guy. I'd pick him up. Maybe all three if they were willing to write from afar (no one leaves LA - you can check out any time you like).

Now can any of your explain the "Dave Spot" better than Dave Coleman?

Dave Coleman might be a good addition to GRM.

carguy123 wrote: Now can any of your explain the "Dave Spot" better than Dave Coleman? Dave Coleman might be a good addition to GRM.

Good luck. IIRC, Dave went to work for Mazdaspeed USA after he left SCC, the lucky bastard. He did continue to contribute the "Stump the Geek" section after he left, so maybe he could just migrate it over to GRM.

I have pick'd two issue os Sports Car International I did like them O'well we have alway got GRM!!!

I too stopped getting it some years ago, but prio to that I was a subscriber for years because of Dave Coleman

Also, one of my favorite projects was when they chopped up a car to see how fast they could make it. They started removing parts until it was basically seats and wheels. Can't remember, but it was like a 16 second car down to low 14 second car

vazbmw wrote: ...Also, one of my favorite projects was when they chopped up a car to see how fast they could make it. They started removing parts until it was basically seats and wheels. Can't remember, but it was like a 16 second car down to low 14 second car

I remember that, it was Sentra. The artcile was hillarious, and every time I take a sawzall to a project, that pops in my head.

Sports Car Internation too!?! That one hurts, I remember them waaaay back in the late 80's becuase they were based in Atlanta. It was just a beautiful puplication, wonderful photography and histories of old tracks and great drivers. No tech, but just a very different take on the hobby. I went to Europe and it was actually hard to get, when I came back it seemed it was a lot like the others. I still picked it up, but not as vehemently.

Thank God we still have GRM. I have said this before and I am gonna say it again, but it would seem the sucess of this one is the constant relationsip you have with the readers. Be it the Challenge, UTCC, Mitty, Daytona or "just come by our office, here is the address" The crew here makes it a piont to keep there thumb on our greasy pulse and stay interacted with us. That inspires a lot of loyalty

werent they one of the ones that got taken over by primedia?

i quickly learned that almost any car mag that said primedia on the front was a big parts advertisement. (why i dropped some mustang mags)