Camper and Commercial Mag - Any feedback?

[Gadget Boy]

I was browsing in Smiths the other day and I picked up a copy of C an C and I wasnt impressed. The mag is now down to 62 pages ? and there main feature was a barndoor panel that has been featured before in several mags and now has new owners . I remeber when C an C was the market leader and i personally think they need to '' Up '' there game Alot . Esp when you consider they charge £3.95 for it and Volksworld Camper an Bus has 95 pages and is the same price . Also Camper an Bus has the slammed buses i want to read about i.e the South Coast Customs bus being one of my favs ,Faux's westy and Ego's bus .

I value everyones opinion on here and would apprieciate there thoughts too.

Gadget

 

[pete nice]

I don't read anything except VolksWorld, they bring the best cars for me, other mags seem a bit dull in comparison.

Some people must like it & buy it otherwise it would go out of print.

 

[the councillor]

I value everyones opinion on here and would apprieciate there thoughts too.

Gadget

i've got 36 minutes and a load of hoovering before *friends* arrive but i've said it before and i'll say it again... why the T4s and T5s ?

the magazines are for aircooled buses... they might not have it written on the cover in big letters but look at the adverts, look at the classifieds, look at the covers, the centrespreads... sure, you can hook in a few more buyers with T4s & T5s by sticking in a feature, at least that's what the cynic in me is saying, but i'm not interested in the slightest.

in fact they annoy me, as like you say, there's a finite amount of pages, and they don't belong.

before anybody jumps on me, they're great vans, miles better than bays, heated seats blah blah blah but there aren't new beetles or golfs (great cars, miles better than T1s, heated seats blah blah blah) in voksworld, so why the modern stuff in the camper & bus offshoot ?

does my head in... absolute waste of 5 or 6 pages every month, but of course i'm gonna keep buying it for all the other stuff, so they've got me over the proverbial barrel haven't they :|

:x <- that's me

funny to think of some of the absolute shite that's been in custom car over the decades though

 

[the councillor]

camper and commercial reminds me of the days before the bus scene went *mad* however and dave eccles is a great guy by all accounts so i'll keep buying it regardless of how many transits there are in it

 

[sparkywig]

I still buy it because they were the only bus mag before Volksworld jumped on the bandwagon.

 

[vwvanman0]

As i browsed my latest copy (subscription) i thought exactly as per the title of this thread!

It used to have great articles with special models and oddities,now the busses they seem to feature seem pretty average,things you can see in the car park at any vw show.

Shame really as they were the first bus mag but i reckon im going to jump ship and get volksworld camper and bus

 

[Gadget Boy]

they were the first and the way there going there gunna be the last , crap paper and poor articles about vans which have been featured elsewhere etc . There publisher will probably pull the plug . You have to ask yourselve when it drops through your door on subscription ' Why do i buy this cus theres nothing in it I want to read ' Then its time to cancel it .

I will give James peene his due when he sticks an issue out of C an B there is usually a bay in it that i WANT to read about . Thats why i buy it :wink:


Gadget

 

[58herbie]

People will no doubt slam me here but i had the selfsame argument with Volksworld when i cancled my subscribtion a few years back. The girl on the end of the phone asked why and i explained after reading Volksworld from Issue 2 when it first hit the shelves (yes you read right) i bought way back in the late '80s and followed the mag from when Uncle Keith had been the editor and Ivon was just his under study. seen quite a few changes in the mag and the scene there was only so much they could bring that would tickle my fancy.
Looks come and go cal-look, resto-cal, rat look, euro etc they have all been here. scraping the floor, riding high you name it the mags have covered it. Thats why you tire of the mags. After all we all draw insperation for our vehicles from somewhere, tech articles as well there is only so much they can cover it's the same old vehicle. nothing new..just how to do it yourself.

At the end of the day, If you don't like it . Don't buy it. Thats what i did with Volksworld.

:roll: :roll:

 

[pete nice]

WW2 post wagen replica & the splitty tripple cab, how can you say there is nothing new?

There is a lot of the same type of car I agree. These styles are in fashion. The mags can only feature what people are building.

The camper scene is too small to warrant 2 mags, hence T4's etc.

 

[Clem]

I like the down to earth nature of it, always have Cant grumble for £4 every other month

Camper & Bus 'is' right on the money these days though and, for me, Ultra is my weakest link .... just too much editorial naval gazing and Buggy stuff for my taste, but then every now and again they chuck in a blinding feature that keeps me on board! :roll: The latest KCW single cab is one for starters!

I just love reading mags in general ..... Im a right saddo!

 

[58herbie]

WW2 post wagen replica & the splitty tripple cab, how can you say there is nothing new?

I agree there you get the odd new concept but the majority of features are same old same old

Thats another reason for me building the Herbie replica, a bit of fun because so many cars look the same, wanted it to stand out. Yes there are loads of Herbie replica's but our's will be like a exact copy of the Original one Luke from Terry's Beetles owns but Rhd even down to the Porsche engine.Roll bar etc.

Jon

 

[faux]

I was browsing in Smiths the other day and I picked up a copy of C an C and I wasnt impressed. The mag is now down to 62 pages ? and there main feature was a barndoor panel that has been featured before in several mags and now has new owners . I remeber when C an C was the market leader and i personally think they need to '' Up '' there game Alot . Esp when you consider they charge £3.95 for it and Volksworld Camper an Bus has 95 pages and is the same price . Also Camper an Bus has the slammed buses i want to read about i.e the South Coast Customs bus being one of my favs ,Faux's westy and Ego's bus .

I value everyones opinion on here and would apprieciate there thoughts too.

Gadget

I haven't read this for a long time and did used to like the real life stories etc, so i am not going to comment on the standard. BUT :!:

There was a feature about a slammed early bay that made me know that one day I would end up with one.....wasn't this your bus Gadget :roll: :mrgreen: Honest this made me look to the Early bay.....top bus

 

[analord]

Now this is a good thread - I have both magazines on subscription and I can tell the difference between the two in terms of quality and features. I never read T4 and T5 stuff as it does not really interest me, though I do have a little thing for the Westfalia Florida (the shame of it)

I think the main problem though is that there are two magazine looking for the same direct audience, plus one is monthly so you are more likely to see the same buses in each magazine at some point.

my question is though - why dont we do something about it? My camper has been in C&C twice and Dave Eccles is always open to ideas. When I put to him by headlining article, it was all done and dusted in a few weeks ready for publication. We have so many good buses here with stories, outings, projects and plans not to mention the earlybay scene(!)


any takers?

 

[chrisby]

I dont buy any mags regularly,when youve had em for a few years its all to samey.
Got fed up with articles where all they do is throw money at their motors,with specialists brought in to do everything. I would like to see more articles about daily drivers that are looked after by there owners.
I`m the same at shows ,I find the public carparks more interesting than the show and shine :lol:
Also dont like being told whats cool and whats not so that their friends in the relevant companies can do the modification to our motors.

 

[Pete B]

I find the public carparks more interesting than the show and shine :lol:
Also dont like being told whats cool and whats not so that their friends in the relevant companies can do the modification to our motors.

I do buy most of the mags, but am with you on the above two counts. Can live with the 'shop tour' in Volksworld (Roadhouse Retro this month, Hi Tim!) because that is quite clearly a promo, but last year they covered a westy with a K&L beam that was such a thinly veiled ad for T2D I found it insulting.
There is though, a limited amount of material to go around all the publications so sometimes there is going to be an overlap in features and some 'padding' to fill the pages. Some just manage it better than others I suppose.

 

[Doris]

in fact they annoy me, as like you say, there's a finite amount of pages, and they don't belong.

before anybody jumps on me, they're great vans, miles better than bays, heated seats blah blah blah but there aren't new beetles or golfs (great cars, miles better than T1s, heated seats blah blah blah) in voksworld, so why the modern stuff in the camper & bus offshoot ?

does my head in... absolute waste of 5 or 6 pages every month, but of course i'm gonna keep buying it for all the other stuff, so they've got me over the proverbial barrel haven't they :|

That is my opinion exactly! can't add any more, except...........

 

[Doris]

I dont buy any mags regularly,when youve had em for a few years its all to samey.
Got fed up with articles where all they do is throw money at their motors,with specialists brought in to do everything. I would like to see more articles about daily drivers that are looked after by there owners.
I`m the same at shows ,I find the public carparks more interesting than the show and shine :lol:
Also dont like being told whats cool and whats not so that their friends in the relevant companies can do the modification to our motors.

YES yes yes .thats me too! show and shine cars are easy...surley its only really giving someone money and saying 'do this, do that then give us a call' while some company work away in a big dry warm clean garage and money is no object. the people who make the scene for me,are for example,the dad's who juggle keeping an old VW on the road and its associated expense with family & work, may be on a budget & no where to work on it etc etc'. students who love their bug and try their best to keep them through each MOT despite their mates having nice warm clio's and Ka's. I may be on my own here but there is something more apealing to me about an old Volksie with a story than a fresh out the paint shop 20k car that you're not allowed to stand too close to.

as for so called 'celebrities' within VW circles - don't get me started!!!

 

[the councillor]

aah... the old *publishing paradox* :wink:

you're damned if you do...

It used to have great articles with special models and oddities,now the busses they seem to feature seem pretty average,things you can see in the car park at any vw show. Shame really as they were the first bus mag but i reckon im going to jump ship and get volksworld camper and bus

and you're damned if you don't...

Got fed up with articles where all they do is throw money at their motors,with specialists brought in to do everything. I would like to see more articles about daily drivers that are looked after by there owners.

you can please some of the people etc. etc.

i'm right about the T4s & T5s though aren't i

That is my opinion exactly!

i thank you 8)

 

[analord]

"as for so called 'celebrities' within VW circles - don't get me started!!!"


I guess Pete Townsend and his Brazilian Bay was not up your street then??

 

[Mike F]

I was thinking the same, will probably be cancelling the subscription. Having said that I'm not bothering with the Volksworld stuff either, too much I'm not interested in.