C&D Readers In A Huff Over Redesign

Ray Wert January 29th, 2007 9:18 AM Link

Wait, Car and Driver has a website?

Bumblebee January 29th, 2007 9:26 AM Link

C&D has always been a second-rate mag, and flaunting their inability to adapt to reader’s needs makes me want to buy their magazine even less.

Jeff January 29th, 2007 10:03 AM Link

C&D hasn’t been the same since Rich Ceppos left.

J Lombard January 29th, 2007 10:11 AM Link

I just let my Car and Driver subscription lapse after 15 years. I disagree with Bumblebee— I think that C&D is the most technically sound magazine out there in regards to track testing and determining relavent information about the cars. I did also like their sometimes off-beat humor.

However, their recent (last several years) campaign of “credibility for hire”, doing ad placement for Toyota, Caddilac and most recently, Ford, has really rubbed me the wrong way. It seems quite obvious to me that the advertisers are the ones running the show over there.

Message to Car & Driver: At least give the reader the impression that you’re objective. Oh yeah, and please rethink the redesign. The body font is horrible in regards to readability.

Mike K January 29th, 2007 10:26 AM Link

I have been a C&D subscriber for more than 25 years, and I personally find the new format atrocious. While I appreciate the web content being given more prominence, I disagree with the way they are trying to move people to the site by making it sound as though the article is not complete without the site. The article layouts and spec sheets are simply too complicated to quickly read and the colors are hard on the eyes.

As much as I disliked the format change, I was even more appalled by C&D’s complete lack of sympathy towards their readership by first publishing many letters of disapproval (clearly showing that readers don’t like it) and then slapping everyone in the face by telling them they’re sticking with the format regardless of what people think.

I’m in the midst of a 7 year subscription that I may terminate over this. Honestly, I don’t think magazines in this day and age should be doing anything to piss off their subscribers. There are many other venues, Winding Road being one of them, that are just as informative and don’t cost any money.

I’m heading over to the C&D site to make my opinion known as well…

J.Crew January 29th, 2007 10:52 AM Link

I am also a current subsriber to C&D as well as Winding Road (with free download!) I credit Car and Driver for discovering my passion with cars. It was their Corvette vs 300ZX stories that brought me into the fold. The redesign is bad and they are acting like a bunch of GM execs from 20 years ago!! They are denying they did something wrong even though they are the leader in print. They will slowly (or rapidly…) start to lose the hardcore base they have built over the last 50 years with this type of attitude. The anniversary edition was the last great read from them as everything else since has been the new format. I do not want to give Winding Road too much credit yet as I have been only on board for 2 issues, but you guys have it dialed in with great passion, pictures, and detail in your articles…the way C&D used to inspire me is how you guys are now doing it! C&D needs to get it back and fast. The clock is ticking…

peripatetic January 29th, 2007 12:21 PM Link

I was a C&D subscriber for about 15 years (since I was 14). My subscription ran out at the end of last year and I haven’t bothered to renew. The new design is one reason and Winding Road is another. The new layout is quite bad from a readability standpoint, but my main objection to it is that they made every article shorter at the same time and the new layout serves to hide that fact. They must be saving quite a bit on editorial costs and that’s probably why they will never go back to the old design. Even before the redesign, I had felt that there were fewer and fewer interesting articles in C&D, but they still had the big comparos that nobody else had and that was enough to keep me. But the last comparo I read (full-size luxury sedans) had the new layout and there was so little description of each car that I felt completely cheated. When I compare C&D with Winding Road, it just felt wrong to be paying for such inferior stuff, even though I was paying only about $5 a year for it. The only thing C&D had over Winding Road is that I could read it in the bathroom. Hmmm… maybe it’s time to get a tablet PC.

Mark January 29th, 2007 1:03 PM Link

C&D and other traditional magazines like MotorTrend are increasingly irrelevant today and will be almost completely irrelevant in the future. Getting information from the web is better (more variety, more pictures, etc.), faster (obviously), and more interactive (you can comment with other readers).

I’ve been subscribing to C&D for decades and still get it today until my current subscription expires. However, everything I read in it is old news by the time I get it in the mail. The more I find alternative web sites, the less I care about C&D. C&D’s web site is one I hardly visit since it is only average at best.

Sorry C&D, R&T, MotorTrend, but your days are numbered.

Matt January 29th, 2007 1:06 PM Link

Yeah, the C&D redesign kinda blows. Nice to see I’m not the only one who thinks so. The spec layouts are just a mess, and some of the articles are short enough to be haiku. And has the magazine also shrunk overall? I read the wafer-thin February issue cover-to-cover in about 18 minutes. And then it just riles me to no end to see pages and pages of ads masquerading as “articles.” (And while we’re on that subject, what is with the C&D/Ford Fusion co-branded TV spots? Am I supposed to take C&D’s impartiality seriously from now on?)

The good news? Brock Yates was finally put out to pasture.

Andrew Findley January 29th, 2007 2:45 PM Link

I couldn’t agree more with the complaints about C/D’s redesign. I’ve been an avid reader of the magazine since about 1980, and a longtime subscriber. However, it seems to be that the redesign seems to be about change simply for the sake of change and not for the sake of genuine improvement. Car and Driver also appears to be chasing a younger demographic, which I am not part of. Thank goodness for Winding Road and Automobile, where fans of the old C/D style can find some comfort, enjoyment and illumination.

Car and Driver hated by readers, and we agree » autodub blog January 29th, 2007 3:51 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

mopostal January 29th, 2007 3:55 PM Link

If Car and Driver doesn’t change its format to chase younger readers then it will die. Younger readers have shorter attention spans and like bold colors. The staid design of all American car magazines leaves much to be desired. There is a reason print fell out of favor so quickly, the Internet replaced it as a place to read timely news, but print still has a shot at becoming more of an artistic medium.

The Internet has many limitations, many of which relate to platform specific design problems. I think Car and Driver is right to change their image, they just have to refine their new look. Motor Trend looks like they gave a caffeinated high schooler Adobe’s Creative Suite and told him to use every option available. It’s not elegant at all, typos abound in every spread, and the overall writing style reads like a press release.

I think all the people who are complaining are just doing so because they are afraid of change. Accept it people, progress requires change, especially to a medium which is declining in popularity every day. If you don’t like the way it looks then try out another magazine…until it too gets redesigned and you have a whole other reason to complain.

Kevin January 29th, 2007 4:10 PM Link

I have been a reader of C/D for more than 20 years and I am really disappointed in the redesign…done by the same guy who designs(?) trailer parks, I am quite sure. I too have loved the quality of the writing even when I disagreed with the editorial opinions expressed, and lately, that also seems headed south. A well-integrated, well-designed web site as a companion and complement to a great magazine is a pleasure; as a mandate from a formerly great rag on the decline, it’s an insult.

So the mantle of quality automotive journalism is there for the taking–go get it guys!!

Automotive Articles Magazine » Just another WordPress weblog » Blog Archive » Car and Driver hated by readers, and we agree January 29th, 2007 4:10 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

autophile January 29th, 2007 4:27 PM Link

So they freshened up the design and a few people complained. I think they have a few more than 150 subscribers.

People will get used to the changes, and bringing the web site into the experience is smart. If they do it right, they can provide more info to readers, and make a little extra money at the same time.

Long Term Ferrari, anyone?

Ramrodicus January 29th, 2007 4:43 PM Link

I am yet again renewing my Road & Track subscription. I haven’t seen the new C/D. I’ll have to take a peek on the newsstand. I do like their new “Lightning Lap” concept. They took a smart cue from Top Gear on that one.

Bloggingit.info - Automotive » Car and Driver hated by readers, and we agree January 29th, 2007 4:43 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Audi Blog & Audi Car News » Car and Driver hated by readers, and we agree January 29th, 2007 4:49 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Jesda January 29th, 2007 4:58 PM Link

When Brock Yates was fired, I cancelled. C&D is dead to me.

Automotive Articles Magazine » Just another WordPress weblog » Blog Archive » Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree January 29th, 2007 8:33 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree » autodub blog January 29th, 2007 8:51 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Giancarlo January 29th, 2007 9:31 PM Link

Car and Driver, in it’s day was the most uproarinigly funny, entertaining, stimulating and rewarding read in the whole damn magazine business. And thank God (for us car guys) it was an automotive magazine! Few, if any, magazines could hold a candle to the brilliance that flowed from it’s pages each and every month. It fueled car guys dreams, and never failed to entertain- and at the end of the day, if it’s not entertaining, why even read it?

Now, if you chart back, you’ll notice a profound shift in the entertainment value of C&D when David E. left the house. Suddenly, their jokes were no longer funny, multi-car econo box shootouts engulfed the magazine, and they simply forgot/failed to realize that car enthusiasts populated their subscription files, and not your neighbor who happened to be buying a car this weekend. They lost all of us year’s ago…or at least those who could discern between a great magazine and a merely mediocre one. It’s no surprise that one poster was paying $5 for it…that’s about all it’s worth.

Last thought: a good friend who is a lot smarter than me has always maintained that the worth of a magazine is measured not by the pages you read, but the number of pages that get left unread….pretty good, huh?

Thank God David E. is back and making us shoot our drinks out our nose…

Michael Karesh January 29th, 2007 9:38 PM Link

I’ve been a subscriber since 1983. I was first entraced by the 10-82 issue with the new Thunderbird on the cover, and the first issue I received in the mail contained the infamous Baja comparison test. There will never be a better comparison test.

So when I received the redesigned magazine a couple of months ago, I was shocked enough to start a thread about it on C&D’s own forums. I honestly wondered whether my reaction was unique. Maybe I was just getting old?

If so, many other people are getting old with me. That thread:

http://www.caranddriver.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=76611&pageNo=1&num

I’m upset as just a longtime subscriber. I can only imagine how alums at Winding Road must feel about it.

Austin January 29th, 2007 10:19 PM Link

I don’t like it. Case in point…red is an accent color…but on their column pages it just looks like a drab throwback because there’s too damn much of it. I’ll do them a quick and smart redesign for free if they’d care to call me.

While we are talking about readability…it does strike me that type faces keep shrinking in all of the familiar car mags…and reversed type in fine fonts don’t hold up well due to poor registration quality.

At first I though it was must my aging eyes…but now I realize too many pages are hard to read because of poor design standards, want for a bit of editing or too much penny pinching by the guy who buys the paper. (End of old man rant.)

Bloggingit.info - Automotive » Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree January 30th, 2007 4:22 AM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Momo Car Accessories » Blog Archive » Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree January 30th, 2007 4:44 AM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

David Drucker January 30th, 2007 9:09 AM Link

I started reading — and mostly subscribing to — C/D when it was still called Sports Cars Illustrated. The redesign, which strikes me as being similar in intent to that of Automobile, seems to me to be a slap in the face to anyone who values content over fashion. Aside from Bedard and Phillips, C/D has little to offer me these days.

KevPod January 30th, 2007 11:45 AM Link

I’m just sick and tired of the macho bullshit in C&D.

There’s more to driving that constantly accelerating. And whhat’s with the CONSTANT denigration of mileage and safety standards.

C&D is just a bunch of crabby old men griping and trying to write “clever.”

Car Crowd » Blog Archive » Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree January 30th, 2007 1:12 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

900hp January 30th, 2007 4:04 PM Link

I don’t think many magazine readers in general like design changes, just because they prefer familiarity. So on the one hand I think folks should relax and give it a few months to develop. But as an information designer myself, I can tell you three things: 1) the redesigned specs page is NOT an example of efficient information design, and was thus a waste of time. It muddies up as much info as it clarifies. 2) When you design or redesign something that’s going to be used by people, you TEST IT with some of those people during the process. It’s easy, and pays for itself many times over, but it sounds like they didn’t bother anyway. 3) Whatever is driving magazines to refer more and more to their websites, it isn’t user research. People don’t read magazines in front of the computer - that’s one of the joys of them!

Giancarlo January 30th, 2007 10:12 PM Link

The fact that you need not put down your magazine, fire up the PC/mac, and then hit a magazine or advertiser’s site is what makes Winding Road so damn brilliant, and Car and Driver so irrelevant.

Kal February 1st, 2007 11:31 AM Link

On the whole I don’t mind the redesign. I do however take issue with the tech info presented after the artiles, not only does it hurt my eyes, but its too damn hard to read. It looks like an excel spreadsheet exploded.

will February 3rd, 2007 2:20 AM Link

I got a Car and Driver in the mail for some reason, I’m not on their list or anything, but I have to say the layout is as bad as the writing content, which favors power, America, power, America, and is quite procifient at rewording press releases. The content has always been acceleration-based, American-cars-biased horseshit; but the redesigned ‘technical specs’ page now is such an abrasive, neon, mismatched-fonts hobjob of awful colors and type sizes. It’s amazing they spent money for it. I’m young, but as far as I can tell…

American car magazines suck. Buy British.

except for Winding Road.

In the sixties, car magazines were so great it hurts.

Car and Driver hated by readers, and we agree-- Ride Care Depot May 3rd, 2007 9:14 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Car and Driver redesign hated by readers, and we agree-- Ride Care Depot May 3rd, 2007 9:24 PM Link

[…] I first started subscribing to Car and Driver magazine sometime in 1981. I’ve maintained those subscriptions ever since. I’ve always appreciated the snappy writing, and even when I disagreed with the likes of Pat Bedard and Brock Yates in their columns, the quality of the content has almost always been top notch. Even when they featured Quicksilver Zimmer on the cover, I still enjoyed the magazine. I was particularly amused by the fact that Callaway Corvettes seemed to spontaneously turn their engines inside out whenever someone from CandD walked up to one in the mid to late ’80s. […]

Jim hancock January 29th, 2008 2:50 PM Link

C&D without Brock Yates is like Hershey’s without Chocolate.