25 NOT OUT!
This month’s magazine represents quite a landmark for me personally, as it was 25 years ago – or 300 issues – that I first became involved with the title: January 2, 1996 to be precise. Fresh out of university and with an MA in Middle Eastern Politics (that was useful!) my initial role on Classic American was news editor and I was to work on two other motoring titles in the portfolio owned by Myatt Macfarlane, the publishers of Classic American at the time. The other two magazines folded and I was promoted to deputy editor of Classic American, a role I held for almost three years, before becoming editor when Auto Trader bought it in 1999.
It’s been an interesting journey; the magazine’s time with Auto Trader meant it benefited from the wealth and largesse of that company, yet it was also a time of tremendous change, as publishing moved from print and paper to online. It’s a challenge that every magazine and newspaper has faced all around the world and one that is still ongoing. Every aspect of the magazine’s production has changed as well.
It’s funny to think how when I started we used rolls of film, that then had to be sent off, developed and returned as transparencies, which were then scanned… now it’s all digital and can go from shoot to layout in a matter of minutes rather than days. Faxes were the norm, as were letters or the post and the internet and email were still considered faintly exotic and mysterious. Of course the American car scene has changed as well; whereas once buyers were limited to what they could find here in the UK, sites like eBay have turned the world into a salesroom for British car buyers.
If you’ve been on this quarter-century journey (and even if you haven’t!) with me, I’d like to thank you for your support for Classic American and hope that we can continue to bring you all that’s great about American cars and trucks for yet another 25 years. In the meantime, I hope all our readers, subscribers and advertisers have had a merry Christmas and I wish you all a safe and prosperous new year!