Has Motor Sport ceased publication?

[Boorish Grobian]

Just curious, anyone know if Motor Sport magazine has gone the way of the dinosaur?  Been out of the loop lately and just catching up with all the latest racing news, noticed that Motor Sport's March issue hasn't been released yet. This would be a colossal tragedy if it has gone under.
(ps, does anyone have a Dec '06 issue they'd be interested in parting with for a reasonable price, I never recieved mine)
Fax

[mgmark]

The website seems to be still up and running. 

I do so hope not. 

DSJ would turn in his grave.

MG Mark 

[mgmark]

Oh and look what happen so to be in the latest issue:

Jaguar v Porsche duel reopened after 18 years.
Jean Rondeau - The tragic car builder and racer who won a local race - Le Mans.
Bentley Boys - Who were the gang who raced as hard as they played?
Lunch with....Alain de Cadenet – serial Le Mans entrant and bon viveur.

Not much Le Mans content there then............

MG Mark

[termietermite]

Fax, I think I have the issue you want but will check.  If so I will bring it to Sebring in return for a beer!

[Bobblehat]

Fax I have the March issue, a fantastic interview with Mario Andretti. After reading about his early life in Italy I have even more respect for that man now!

I think in Dec the magazine changed publisher and the next issue (in the UK at least) is due 1st March

[Dave H]

John - no December issue, but I do have a slightly used Hustler if you want that. 

[Steve Pyro]

John - no December issue, but I do have a slightly used Hustler if you want that. 

Soiled?

[Boorish Grobian]

Whew! Glad to hear its still in existance.  As you say, Jenks would turn over in his grave if it was allowed to go under.  Thanks for the offer Termie, I should know in the next couple of weeks if Sebring is on the cards, keep you fingers crossed for me.
Dave, I'm going to be in Indy over the next couple of weeks training, any chance of hooking up for a few cold ones at some point.
Fax

[Canada Phil]

Fax, I think I have the issue you want but will check.  If so I will bring it to Sebring in return for a beer!

Hi Termie,
             Bring it and I will trade you a beer just to read it 
Phil

[BigH]

Hey Fax, W'appen!!
I've sort of lived in fear the last year or so that Motor Sport will disappear. Our local newsagent only has it on the shelves sporadically, and every time he misses an issue I think "Oh no, it's gone and gone under, and I wonder how many Mars Bars I can eat before four o'clock".
It's about the last decent read out there, the archive stuff is magic and the contemporary articles always well written. I think Andrew Franklin wrote just about all the articles in the last one I read, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's a sign that funds must be low.
Talking of adult reads, I think DH's offer is one of those things that only come along once in a lifetime and should be taken up without delay. He's a generous man, make no mistake, brings a lump to my throat it does...
H

[Kpy]

I think Andrew Franklin wrote just about all the articles in the last one I read, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's a sign that funds must be low.

Andrew Franklin who he? The guy who publishes Germaine Greer and Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves? Funds must be low indeed.
Seriously, I think you mean Andrew Frankel - the weakest link in the pool of freelancers MS keeps in its stables. He edited MS at one stage when it belonged to Haymarket, and has the knack of persuading people to let him track test old racing cars. With little to show in the way of racing expertise - well he did a few races in a Camaro in Classic club racing, I think - the resulting articles are hardly revealing.
Currently the new owners are doing a more than half-decent job with the mag. Simon Taylor's column gets better all the time, and Nigel Roebuck even manages original material. Well worth a read every month. Just a shame about the "lifestyle" features on zillion quid watches etc.

[Boorish Grobian]

Hey H!,
Glad to see your back with us.  Agreed, everytime it goes missing for a few weeks I go into panic mode.  Its about the last motor racing mag I bother to mess with anymore, I threw in the towel on Autosport years ago.
I've always enjoyed Taylor's stuff, as well as Mark Hughes.  But Roebuck usually gets on my nerves pretty quickly.
Fax

[BigH]

Hi Guys,
ok, ok, Andrew Frankel then, excuse the typo, at least I steered clear of Bill Franklin. Schhhhhh....
I have to say I've always enjoyed his stuff, and agree with fax about Roebuck. What a sycophant.
Funny how differently writers are appreciated though. LJK Setright used to live near me, and I had a few chats with his secretary over the salad bar in Somerfields. Everyone, as far as I could tell thought he was the bees knees, I couldn't believe how anyone thought he wasn't a pompous, verbose sod. Mind you, he did appear in Private Eyes 'Pseuds Corner' a few times.
Hemingway, there's a man who knows his cars, the sooner MS gets him on their books the better.
H

[mgmark]

H ,

   Agreed entirely - LJK's reputation was great but didn't match up with his pompous and verbose tripe.  DSJ did it for me as a lad in the 60s and 70s, reading copies of Motor Sport "liberated" from a neighbour.  My how his writing fired the imagination, in the days before TV coverage and pundits!  Honest reporting and criticism on the drivers, the races, the teams and the machinery, all from a chap that had been there racing in sidecars, and with Moss in the Mille Miglia.  And he was paid to do this stuff, trailing all over Europe when that was far from commonplace, in either his Porshce 356 or Jaguar E-type (or something else nice that some helpful chap like Colin Chapman had lent him), all to watch races and report back to the readers. 

"Our Continental Correspondent" - now what a job that must have been......

MG Mark

[Fisherman]

Fear not, April edition landed on my doormat this morning.