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o, Custom Car is under new ownership. More or less everyone who reads these words will have known that already, but to give you the full gen it’s now the property of Assignment Media. We’re a very small family company which also publishes a couple of 4x4 titles, and we’re only the third owners in Custom Car’s history. And we certainly know that what we’ve got on our hands is an icon among motoring magazines.
What matters in a car? I’ve met a good few of you guys since we took over, and I keep asking this question. The answers I’ve had tend to suggest that a hot rod is 50% car, 50% art. And, I’ll tell you, I love that. In the world I’ve inhabited for many years, an off-roader tends to be 50% car, 50% baked-on mud. Paintwork tends to have gone on with a brush, or a roller; rather than appreciating good presentation, a worrying amount of people sneer at it.
Custom Car has had many incarnations. Many of you have been along for almost the whole ride and will know that to start with, it was trying to be like everyday car magazines but with a sense of fun. It used to include road tests on new cars and vans as well as stuff about tuning and the odd article on way-out subjects like kit cars and, would you believe, off-roading. Hot rods and drag racing were far from being its main subject until much later. I love cars, and I love art (I used to collect paintings, back in the days before I started collecting children instead). So the hot rod scene has turned out to be a natural fit for me. The creativity here is an absolute vibe. Anyway, less about me. Obviously, some cars will tend more in one direction or the other. But even the gnarliest race motor or rat rod will still have a strong element of presentation to it and the most lavish of street machines still wants to avoid the dreaded all-show-and-no-go label. Now, I’ve been editing enthusiast motoring magazines for more than a quarter of a century, and one thing nobody has
It went through a phase of being loaded with Volkswagens, flirted with bodykitted Escorts and so on, had a spell where it was trying to be as madcap as possible at all costs then finally settled into what it is now. And that’s what these words are about. What it is now, and where it goes from here. I explained in last month’s issue that I don’t see myself as editor in the traditional sense, because I’m not worthy of a role that’s been filled by so many experts down
ever said to me is ‘I want to see more trailer queens.’ So when we were sent an article recently about a spectacular artwork with four wheels, a big old V8 and chrome in all the right places, but no seats or steering wheel, my reaction was that it’s cool but it doesn’t have a place in Custom Car. Was I right or wrong? So, which matters more: the way it’s built or the way it’s presented? It’s always going to be a balancing act – where should the balance fall?
Rich Adams’ F150 (left) and Carl Powles’ Deuce (above) will both be appearing in future issues. Two very different vehicles in every way – except that each is a perfect example of the car as art
14 CUSTOM CAR NOVEMBER 2022
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