The Auto Channel--Sports Car International V11 I10

FROM THE EDITOR

Changes Afoot

So what's different here? Well, lots. This issue of SCI is bigger than before, has new graphics and departments, its focus is even more strongly on enthusiasts and it's going bimonthly. That last thing is probably the one that warrants the most attention, but let's walk through everything in order because these changes are all related.

First off, this magazine is now a lot thicker than it used to be - 96 pages instead of 80. Contrary to what most people think, the problem with doing a magazine is never how to fill up the pages - it's trying to decide what has to get left out so that everything else fits. This is never easy, and it used to break my heart to give up a short but fascinating history piece, a weird prototype road test or a rollicking vintage-rally report just because there wasn't any room left over when the main stories were done. Adding 16 pages means three or four more articles per issue, and it lets us carry that rare, truly outstanding piece out to the length it really deserves. I can't imagine a better example than Joe Scalzo's article on the Land Speed Record in this issue.

There probably isn't another newsstand magazine out there that could run this story in its entirety - it sounds smug, yeah, but I think it really is true.

The next thing that'll probably catch your eye are some relatively minor layout changes. The In Front section (conveniently located...well, you know) has been made easier to read, our callouts and subheads revert back to a single typeface and we've moved Serious Collector and High Bid back to the History section where they rightfully belong, along with two new features called Winston Rants (self-explanatory the instant you read it) and Old News (ditto). Plus we're starting Thumbnails, a 1- or 2-page collection of short car reviews to keep you up to date without wasting valuable space.

After perusing this issue you'll also gather that the editorial balance has changed. Quite frankly, we think SCI has really become the last classic enthusiast magazine. Think about it: Every 6-way minivan comparison test one of the bigger mags runs means a real enthusiast story had to get nixed to make room. And as long as they're backing away from the genuine enthusiast like that, we figure it's a great chance to offer the intelligent, exciting stories these mass marketers had to leave behind. Sure, the whole world of cars is of interest to enthusiasts, but should 55 editorial pages out of 70 or 80 - which, when you take away the ads, is what most of the big mags have left - really be devoted to econoboxes, pickups and minivans? I don't think so.

All of which relates, in the end, to going bimonthly. You probably see car magazines as entertainment, which is exactly what they should be, but they've also got to be businesses. Now, buff books get money two ways: from readers and from advertisers. Relying mostly on advertisers can be considerably more lucrative, so that's just what most magazines have done in the last 15 years. The only problem is, once you make that decision then your business is no longer to give real car enthusiasts the best magazine possible; instead, it's to keep the advertisers happy and use a finite number of pages to give the greatest number of interest groups the absolute minimum they require to keep them from giving up in disgust.

SCI has always had a core of reliable, stalwart advertisers - the companies that you see here know the value of appearing in a totally independent, reader-oriented magazine, and they expect nothing more than that in return. These firms are pretty damn rare, however, and now refocusing our content even more toward the hardcore enthusiast means relying even more on those same readers for support. And, quite simply, the best way to do that is to put a lot more serious enthusiast reading into every issue you do but to shell out the considerable expense of printing and mailing those issues less often.

Look through the October/November issue with all of this mind, and then don't be shy about dropping us a note to tell us what you think. We'll be here. - Jay Lamm