Motoring Magazine Madness!

Today was one of my favorite days of the month, besides payday anyway! Three of my favorite car magazines arrived in the mail, and despite the influence of the digital media age in video, web sites, and the availability of so much info on the Internet with a capital I, I still like reading ye olden printed car magazines! At least the ones with lots of photos! Let's take a quick look at what looks interesting!

In this first photo....Oops, sorry, not a magazine, just a bottle of Elijah Craig bourbon with my custom "old number 77" label stuck on it. Never mind. Just don't drink and drive!

Automobile has a special issue, their 30th Anniversary issue, so it's chock full of some special articles looking back at the best and worst of the last three decades of automobiles since 1986. One nice article features the NMS-South favorite Mazda Miata and the VW Golf GTI, two cars that continue to be pace setters if you're looking for a classic two-seater or a hot hatchback AND are looking for a car that normal people can afford! This highlights one of my on-going criticisms of most car magazines that seem to focus a LOT on cars that most people can not afford. We all appreciate the rich and glitzy sex appeal of a $200,000 car, or the awesome power of a $100,000 car, but unless a rainbow made of prancing unicorns that shoots thousand dollar bills out of it's horn lands on my house there is just no way that many of the coolest cars in these magazines will be parking in my driveway.

Motor Trend  has a typical cover photo featuring three very fast cars that I'll never be able to afford, although I'm sure that a new Dodge Viper ACR, Corvette Z06, or a Porsche GT3 RS would be GREAT stocking stuffers if you're looking for a little gift for your favorite car bloggers!
If you need a huge stocking large enough for one of these four wheeled beasts, I'm sure we can make arrangements! Also a story on the upcoming Chevy Bolt all electric car that we saw at the DC Auto Show last month, claiming a 200 mile range and a price tag under $30,000.

Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car (OK, they spell it with an Ampersand and not the word "and", so sue me) has a few unusual cover stories featuring the Mercedes SL, a Morgan Plus 4, and a 1947 Tatra, one of the few auto brands to come from the Czech Republic!