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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - New Magazine?

Doing a quick study at the moment as to whether people feel the various MG mags on the market in the UK and overseas are delivering what people want at a good enough quality for the price they are paying ... would appreciate any input to see what if anything could be done to help satisfy the market further - what do the hundreds of MG owners actually want to see/read about and what are your expectations of a mag? Is there the need for a completely new mag aimed at the MG owner and how could it improve on those already available ... feedback welcome!
Thanks
Martin

Hmm - Martin - Haynet.com? Would that be Haymarket Publishing by any chance!? Duh!! Giveaway address!!

UK

MG World - best photos and some good writers. bi-monthly could be monthly
MG Enthusiast - funny old fashioned sort of quasi-club magazine rooted in the 1980s
Enjoying MG - MGOC magazine that comes with membership; much good stuff
Safety Fast - MGCC magazine that is good in parts - like the curate's egg - but should be better. Like MGOC mag, this comes with membership subscription.

USA

MGB Driver - NAMGBR magazine that has periodically some great material you don't see elsewhere. And other times, it doesn't...
B+ - not seen so cannot comment
Classic MG - nice mag but can it survive?

Do we need another? Not really sure the market could stand it. That's my twopence worth ...
David Beckham

BTW, why only post here? Are you only after the 'MG Z saloon' grazers, or did you overlook the structure of this bbs? FWIW ...
David Beckham

Just my opinion, but I would like to see MG World monthly with more features on owners / aftermarket cars especially modified.

Modded ZR,ZS,ZT F and TF.

Don't see the point on doing a feature on the new TF, for example, that's pretty much what you could get in any mainstream car mag. IMO, a feature on one of the aftermarket guru's on what they think of the car and could do with it would be more interesting.

Only seen MG Enthusiast of the others, and I think you need a flat cap to read it. Wonderfully soperific.

Just my opinion, as I say.
Chris

As there does not seem to be any magazines for Rover enthusiasts, I would like a magazine that covers both MG and Rover cars both past and present.
John Manson

I'd like to see MGW become monthly too.

As for Z car content, I've been working on that. ;o) :o)

When Mike Satur returns from hols, we'll see if we can persuade him to start modifying his ZS120... :o)
Rob Bell

I email MS months ago with the offer of styling my ZS180, I never had a reply :(
Kelvin

Totally agree with earlier comments. MG World is superb but only bi-monthly. MG Enthusiast hasn't changed in years, but neither has Enjoying MG (MGOC) which seems hell bent on flogging you something. safety Fast is a nice old publication with something for everyone, especially if you want to know the history of the overhanging dewberry on an MG TC's wing mirror from 1946.

Overall then, I don't think there is room for another, but MG World should go monthly..... that's "Go Monthly" if the editor hasn't yet got the message!!!
As a pro. journalist I would write for it if the price was right.

Steve
Steve

I think that the different mags/club mags serve different purposes and audiences and that's why they have developed in the way they have. The production quality and style of MGW is great (as is the photography) but it can be a bit shallow on content and detail although there have been some great articles. I've stopped buying it over recent issues (although I've got 'em all back to issue 1 if anyone wants 'em) because of this.

MGE does the right level of historical narrative for me (top tip; for any new mag this should all be written by David Knowles) but is a bit cottage industry and reached its development potential. Perhaps they should combine.

MGOC club magazine does the best classifieds (which is important to me) and the painstaking account of the Twin Cam re-build over several issues has been really interesting - otherwise a bit more amateurish than it should be with some shocking English and grammatical errors. Having said that, I am staying a member even though I have sold the car and I am always pleased when the post brings the mag.

Safety Fast I used to love for the V8 register stuff but that started to get dry and the rest of it was soooo dry and clique-y that I didn't renew.

Land Rovers are no better than MGs with loads of stuff on the shelves at Smiths. Again, different mags do different things well but Land Rover Owner INternational is consistently good and covers modern stuff very well as well as the old 'uns. This would be my model for a future MG mag.

So, Martin, what are you thinking?

JD

johnners

'top tip; for any new mag this should all be written by David Knowles'

aw - shucks - that's nice - if I see him, I'll tell him....
Ann MG Writer

It's just a shame he isn't into old Land Rovers as well...(sigh)
johnners

As has been previously suggested, a magazine should be introduce that covers MG AND ROVER as they both share a commonality. The Rover owners club mag Rover Torque is a good example and could be a whole lot better with a major publisher behind it. Any magazine is only as good as the content, old MG sports cars have been done to death by MG Enthusiast etc, we need a modern perspective that covers more recent Rovers as well as MG's, I want a mag that I will buy every month, not flick through at the newsagents and put back on the shelf because it only takes 2 mins to read anything of interest to me in it, articles on some old boys love for is MGA are a definite no-no, articles on buying a Rover 220 GSi Turbo or how to tune an MG ZR and the like are a definite yes. We need a modern mag for the next generation of MG and Rover enthusiasts.
Kevin Davis

Kevin, I couldn't agree more!

I'd love to read about, say, a BRM R200 with a ZR bodykit and power, maybe more. Or a Rover Turbo coupe that's been breathed on, etc. As well as modern MG's.

The old stuff's been done so much. Yawn.

A monthly mag that might even broaden the appeal of more modern Rover / MGR product. It could well sell more copies, even to people who are not core enthusiasts, just happen to have one of these cars.

Two months is too long to wait for MG World, IMO. It's the best of the current bunch and even it needs the journalistic equivalent of nitrous! IMO, of course.
chris

Way back in the mists of time, when some of us first mooted the idea of 'MG World' to the good people at what was then Rover Group (subsidiary of BMW AG), there were people in that worthy organisation who said to us that since there were already MG and Triumph publications, wouldn't it be a nice idea to produce 'Rover World' (followed by 'pretty please'). We said that such ideas are often nice ones, but they need to be commercially viable - with support not only from a loyal readership but also from a solid advertising base. Would-be magazine publishers ignore the importance of the latter at their peril (as our friend from Haymarket would agree). We quietly pointed out that the likely advertising revenue for Rover World would be pretty small, and wondered if Rover Group would like to support the project financially. The silence was deafening. Yes, it would be fantastic to have a magazine that did justice to everything from the Rover Tomact and Vitesse to the P5 & P6B and the 'Auntie' Rovers, and I'd love to be part of it. But please - someone else will have to put up the money and convince us that there is enough revenue and sales to keep the magazine on sale. And an 'MG and Rover' publication would probably not work - once you broaden a publication to try to cover more than one marque, but still in a specialist field, you are in dangerous waters; only the big boys like Classic and Sportscar, Classic Car, Practical Classics are really able to survive, and they have very big organisations behind them. Its dog eat dog out there!
Ann MG Writer

I have noticed that lately the racks at the newsagents are filling up with more and more magazines dedicated to one marque, among the Mercedes, BMW, Ford and Audi mags a Vauxhall one has just appeared, I'm not sure who the publisher is but they obviously think there is a market for it out there.
Kevin Davis

I dunno about you guys, but the latest MG/Rover cars seem to be attracting a younger and younger clientele and in particular, the new MGZ's are getting percieved as 'cool' cars. Case in point; there are loads of ZRs around here and the majority are driven by under-30's (poo, counts me out then!) and more and more by young women - Fridays and Saturdays see several out loaded with foxy totty enroute to nightclubs etc. MGR are clearly doing something right; probably having cars available right across the power/insurance range thus making the cars accessible to the younger drivers, just like F**d did with the Crapi in its 1300cc guise - looked 'cool' but went sh*te. Also, the 'old mans' R200 and R400 series (pre95/6) are suddenly being discovered by the newer drivers who don't want the 'boy racer' tag by buying Pugs or Sh*troens or Nova/Corsas etc. These cars are now coming to the fore because they have the legendary K series 1.4 and as any petrol head knows, these engines can belt out awesome power for little dosh (214Sei in RoverTorque this issue....123Bhp out of a 1.4 engine and more to come...say no more) and even the hallowed pages of Cars and Car Conversions are now starting to take an interest in the R200/400 (and to a lesser extent the R Metro/100......Motobuild put a 1.8 in one of these - EEEEEvil!)
Maybe the time is not right exactly now for a Rover/MG mag, but the tide is turning and with more and more understanding of just what is about, I don't think one will be too far off (and I'd subscribe straight away - hang on, how many of YOU will dip your hands in your pocket and subscribe IF the product was good enough?)
Yorkie

Maybe the tide is turning slowly, and I agree that there have been some recent mags aimed at Vauxhall and Ford customising enthusiasts (some of whom spend their spot money on cars instead of ointment - ooh! bit of politically incorrect prejudice there!). But at the end of the day the equation has to include number of dedicated enthusiasts AND the number of interested advertisers ... what would we call it? 'MG+Rover Performance World' ?? Hmm...
Ann MG Writer

The Rover Owners' & performance Club (www.rovertorque.co.uk) produce their own glossy magazine with a section called MG-Xtra (www.mg-xtra.co.uk). It is sent to the members, but people can request a free copy, to see what it is like.
Steve Wright

.what would we call it? 'MG+Rover Performance World' ?? Hmm...


How about 'Hot Wheels' ! :-)
Kelvin

You lot need your own advertising Forum - manners!
George Hunt

This thread was discussed between 04/09/2002 and 14/09/2002

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