dozracing
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 08:18 PM |
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Favourite kit car magazine
Hi all,
Another magazine related poll. Can you help me out again.
I want to know which magazines you all buy regularly, more importantly how many of you don't buy magazines at all.
I'll explain these strange polls once we have some results. The thoughts of the magazines might amuse you all.
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JoelP
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 08:36 PM |
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i only read practical classics, thats all i see in tesco. 
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speed8
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 08:38 PM |
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I did buy some of them from time to time but decided that PPC was by far the best mag out there. It's the only mag, apart from my paragliding
one, that I subscribe to.
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owelly
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 09:26 PM |
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You'll find PPC in Tesco now JoelP. Thanks to a deal whereby Al Rush the PPC commercial manager of promised to promote Tescos own brand Jaffa
Cakes. Probably.
[Edited on 12/7/06 by owelly]
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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Gav
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 09:42 PM |
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To be honest i hardly ever read any kit car mags, the content is always the same and never anything in any great detail to interest me, id love to see
a mag that was kitcar orientated but with PPCs more in depth techincal articles.
I suppose i find the current crop of kitcar mags quite ironic in the fact that they are for an audience of technically minded(in varying degrees)
people with an interest in building cars yet dont seem cover any or very little of the nitty gritty only the finished article.
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DavidM
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 09:44 PM |
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They just seem to rehash the same topics every month.
If you're looking for help with a build they're a waste of time.
The internet is the place to be if you're building or buying a kit.
David
Proportion is Everything
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MikeR
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 09:57 PM |
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PPC - the only magazine i subscribe too. The only down side with it is wishing i'd got it from the start!
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mookaloid
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 10:13 PM |
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ppc
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stevebubs
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| posted on 11/7/06 at 10:56 PM |
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I voted TKC as I buy it when I see it (not often) However, I tend to buy PPC or one of the classic mags as they're readily available.
Given up on Which Kit? and KitCar Magazine as a waste of money.
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iggypop
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 04:54 AM |
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ppc here too - might get one of the kitcar mags occasionally
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dozracing
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 06:45 AM |
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Hi all,
Thanks for taking the time to vote.
Which Kit told me yesterday that they are a specialist magazine and so as such are not going to sell large numbers of magazines. The overall sales of
magazines has dropped because of things like the internet, and they think their sales have dropped in the same proportion. They have been in the game
40 years and they know it all, and i know nothing.
Wow, what an attitude to take towards business. Just accept that your market is disappearing and that you'll always only be small. To me you
becoming what you think you are, and if you think small you become small and if you think big you become big.
I also think that as the result of the other poll shows, they are ignoring writing features that you guys, and the general public would like to read,
and as such you all think the magazines are irrelevant and use forums like this to discuss technical matters.
If i were Which kit i would be writing technical articles, that get discussed in depth on forums like this one, and therefore advertise the magazine,
and prompt new ideas for other features.
For me i think it makes my decision not to advertise in Which Kit right. What would i be getting from it if they aren't appealing to you the
market?
Kind regards,
Darren
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donut
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 07:00 AM |
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PPC for me. The others are just the same month in, month out except for Total Kit Car which i do find infinately better than the other 2.
Andy
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andywest1/
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donut
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 07:01 AM |
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oooh by the way you forgot to put 'Big Jugs Monthly' up on your poll!! 
[Edited on 12/7/06 by donut]
Andy
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andywest1/
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Scotty
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 07:38 AM |
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nice pair of stoppers ! 
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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Mike S
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 07:45 AM |
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I used to buy both the main kit car mags.
Like other posts, they have gone down hill big time in my book.
The final straw was the childish bickering that went on between them, using up valuable mag space slagging each other off. (which we were paying
for!!)
In my view they are in a diminishing market as people like me got fed up with it, voted with our feet and now buy PPC. I don't think blaming it
on the internet is much of a reason.
They both deserve to go to the wall if they don't respond to their customers base.
Might buy Total Kit Car now though.
Mike
There are more horses' asses in this world than there are horses
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BKLOCO
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 08:47 AM |
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I'm not sure whether you will read this Darren but just in case you do I'll put my 2 penneth.
Whilst what you say regarding the readership of the two major mags is true you may be overlooking one major point.
When a new member of "joe public" decides that he wants to explore the kit car market he will probably go into W H Smiths and pick up the
title that he thinks will serve his needs best....
The 2 mags with KIT CAR in the title that they sell....
Surely this is the time that you want your company name firmly imprinted in his subconcious mind.
Although this same punter will possibly move away from these mags as he becomes more informed and realises what a crock of s**t they spout each month
he will possibly, allready, have formed the all important decision of which kit he favours.
I know this may not be what you want to hear or believe but it may be true in at least some cases.
Personally I rarely buy any of the mags now and never KC or WKC. I only buy PPC if it has a relevant TECHNICAL article that I think may interest me or
Total Kit Car at the shows, if the're there.
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want!!! 
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Jumpy Guy
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 10:37 AM |
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again, just my tuppence worth...
If I were to get into the Kit car market then i wouldn't bother advertising in magazines.. the market is in terminal decline
I'd spend some time and effort on the popular forums, and make real effort with a working, UP TO DATE website.
We all come here regularly, and to be honest, I'm more influenced by what i see and read here than i ever was by advertising in magazines
I think that up until now all businesses have largely ignored the forums, and its been to their detriment. Look at the publication figures for the Kit
Car mags, then look at the average weekly hits on this site.. then i think i'd quickly decide where to put my money.
On an associated note, the forums are 'higher maintenance' , as you and the other people who trade on here have discovered in the past...
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Jasper
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 11:24 AM |
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They are all crap and bias except PPC which is excellent.....
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Scotty
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 11:51 AM |
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is that an unbiased point of view ???
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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Jasper
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 12:22 PM |
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Absolutely
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MikeR
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 01:22 PM |
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Actually Darren that was an important point a couple of posts ago.
An up to date web site is essential. It is the form of advertising most existing builders use / experience and new builders will reference. If the web
site is crap it says a lot about the company!
I don't think any one company does themselves justice here from Ultima downwards.
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dozracing
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 03:03 PM |
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Very good points, boys.
I would like to include technical articles in each of my newsletters, and then put them in a section of the website.
It used to be part of my job (in a past life) to write technical articles for magazines as kind of advertorials, with the work load we have it
hasn't been possible to do this for GTS for a long time. Now we have more staff, and i have more chance to look at the longer term development
stratagies maybe i can get back into that.
What sort of things are people interested in though? I might just have opened a can of worms there!!! Maybe some one could pull together the topics
and questions raised on this forum and we could collate the information, and write a more clear feature on that particular topic.
Back to you boys to let me know what interests you.
Kind regards,
Darren
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owelly
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 08:17 PM |
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Here's my tuppence worth. Apologies in advance if it's a load of old bobbins.......
I used to buy a few magazines a month. I would have a flick through the Kit mags and if any articles caught my eye, I'd buy it. I also used to
have a peek through Practical Classics and whatever other crusty car mags were about. Likewise, if there was something that was relevant to what I
liked, I'd buy it. Then along came Retro Cars and PPC. I havn't looked at a Max Powder/Fast Carp/Chav monthly for a long time!
I once totted up how much money I was spending on these mags and most of these mags were getting close to £4 each. I decided to subscribe to just
one.
I trundled off to WHSmiths and 'invested' in several mags for one last time.
All the kit mags were full of adverts that didn't concern me and articles on cars that had been 'done to death'. Nothing that kept
my interest for the length of a poo (which is the universal measurement of magazine article interest).
Practical Classic was a bit too pipe and slippers. It was just a bad issue that month!
That left Retro Cars and PPC.
PPC had an article about a guy (Spag) who cobbled a Rover V8 onto a Princess gearbox and stuffed it into a Mini. The article explained how he
'machined' the bits to fit by dragging it around the floor. The mag also included an article on how to find scrapyard turbos and fit them
to your car. It was full of cars that tickled my chimp and lots of easy to read, humourous features and included a few familiar faces and cars.
Retro Cars had an article on how to fit spotlight relays badly. It also had a few shallow articles about old cars that had been given a new lease of
life by paying someone to fit big wheels or something...I never did get around to reading the whole mag....
I subbed to PPC the very next day and have never picked up another mag since.
Long live PPC!!!
[Edited on 12/7/06 by owelly]
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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Lawnmower
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 09:10 PM |
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I found most of the land rover mags in are in a similar vain:
Land rover Owners International
Land Rover World
Land rover enthusiast
Land rover monthly
same adds each month, some owned by the same companies, so very similar articles appear in each, and either nostaligic right ups about how good land
rover was compared to ford, or how can I chav up my range rover, or a feature article on a really obscuree landy, (put on a nasely voice)
"I have restored this 101 back to its militery glory, I even sourced a period first aid box - (you sad b******).
Product right up seem to pander to the mags advertisers, re winches-, electric the best ya ya ya, , Capstan winches never get a look in, but speak to
people who have actually used one, you will get a completly diferent story.
when al i really want to know is how to stop the bloody thing jumping out of gear!
all of the mags suck, and to be honest i barely read tem any more.
plus they have random dates on the front!
(have ranted slightly off topic here.... My wife gets me ppc when she sees it in the rare shops, occasionaly buy Practical classics, or classic car
weekly newspaper)
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 12/7/06 at 09:18 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
They are all crap and bias except PPC which is excellent.....
.....and is in no way biased towards sticking an Emerald in it and shipping it off to Dave 
Not having a major dig btw, I've been a PPC subscriber since issue 3 and have no intention of changing that, just saying that everyone has some
bias
[Edited on 12/7/06 by martyn_16v]
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