Tire Smoke ForeverCar magazines are my life. Not just my current workaholic existence, but an obsession from such an early age that I must have taped cutout street machine photos to the inside of my crib. By 13, I was combing newsstands for CARtoons and collecting every old car mag I could find; I still have over 3,000 issues. It was a huge moment for me when a letter of mine was published in Muscle Car Review, and I also subscribed to the big three: Hot Rod, Car Craft, and Popular Hot Rodding. They brought musclecars right to my hands, and they sculpted me into a gearhead.
Even now I can recall exactly when every one of those magazines failed me. As a die-hard, it was a personal affront every time a magazine sucked so badly that it wasn't worth renewing my subscription. PHR went first; I was willing to overlook the tacky car features, but when the tech stories lied to me one too many times, I was gone. Car Craft? They fired a lot of readers when the imports crept in, and I was one of them. And, sad to say, Hot Rod jumped the shark after I was actually working there when the company mandated coverage of sport trucks and Harleys.
It was fourteen years ago when I was lucky enough to be hired as a Hot Rod staff editor by Jeff Smith, but the sting of those injustices a dozen-plus years ago still nags me with every story I do. I work hard to give the audience everything I expected as a reader, and more. I'm proud to have had my byline in many of the magazines that shaped my enthusiasm, and Primedia has given me the opportunity to edit a number of those titles. My favorites have been 4-Wheel & Off-Road and-guess it now-Car Craft.
Car Craft is just me. It may not be the most polished, and we might even ridicule your heros and conventions once in a while, but Car Craft is the magazine for every gearhead who's ever taken a nap in a pool of ATF during an all-night engine swap. It's the magazine that admits to burnouts and blunders alike. It's not for guys who long for a set of 20s, but it's where you can come for truth about the car life that most guys really live. Best of all, it's aggressively fun to read, and the readership is like a giant club of guys who get it. I often say Car Craft is the world's biggest niche magazine, and the niche is real car guys-not khakis-and-driving-gloves auto buffs, but greasy-handed powershifting guys. But is it good enough? Never. Just ask the poor staff guys who have to listen to my rants.
And ask Douglas Glad, who's now the new Front Man. When I recently came back to CC for a second stab at a redesign, my column warned that the company's goal was for me to come in, do a port-and-polish, and get out. This is the "get out." I'll continue to write some of the little items, finish the Disco Nova, browbeat the guys as Editor In Chief, and work the corporate end of the deal, which means hammering management for everything I can get for Car Craft. I'm also compiling all-new online surveys that some of you may end up participating in as we seek more reader feedback on the magazine. In other words, my name won't be on this column any more, but that's a far cry from abandonment.
Meanwhile, you can pity the guy who's already living with my inability to let go, since it's Glad's mission to stay the course. And he'll do it, too. I'm sure you recognize Douglas R. from the current masthead, but you might not know that he was first a staffer (also hired by Smith) at Chevy High Performance before working at Car Craft under the editorial tenures of myself and then Matt King. So he's comfortable with megalomania. Glad was then the company's go-to editor on the digital side, making CarCraft.com our fastest-growing performance site. He's also the hands-on wrench responsible for both the white Firebird and the CC/Rambler. You're still safe with Smith and McGean as well, though we've also added a new name to the masthead: John McGann is our new Photo Editor and an all-around good guy.
So, in all, Car Craft remains Car Craft, and all is well with the world. Tire smoke forever.-David Freiburger
CarCraft@primedia.comCarCraft.comCar Craft Mag6420 Wilshire Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90048