They recently did an article on F-body motorsport's (third gen resource) Converted LS1 thirdgen. If anyone has a copy or is around a bookstore soon, im sure you have or will read the first 2- paragraphs outlining the wounderfull image that has been fitted to all third gens. Is this how Hot Rod promotes new-age muscle cars? By calling them white trash mobiles? I dont see them knocking 5.0's. I dont see them ripping GN's. The talk about that this third gen is befitting of the camaro name cause now it has a LS1 in it. I dont know if it offended anyone here, but as of today I canceled my subscription. Some might take this as an over reaction, but hear me out. Yeah, ok you hear it on message boards and such talking about stereotypes on cars and it gets boring after a while, but for a mass-read magazine like Hot Rod and its popularity, to print such an article like this is distastful and makes me wana puke. I dont mean to use this as a general fourm, just to post about this magazine and what It said about a whole generation of cars that sold well and came with various powertrains and suspension set ups. If anything, its the forgotten generation. I think we should write Hot Rod as a group and as a community and asking if they could please refrain from using such stereotypes in the future or lose readers. They probably dont care, but I care about how my car is thought of and how my car will go down in history as a great car that even in the time of the dark ages where smog ruled over all engines, GM still pulled out 2 great motors in the 305 and 350 TPI and along with its world class handling, it was one of the top muscle cars of the 80's and 90's.

 

Wich issue was it? I've got the December '03 issue of Hot Rod and I don't remember reading that article, is it in the January '04 issue?
If you want to be heard you should go to Hot Rods web site, they've got a new message board. I've posted there a few times and it looks like the mag. ed. David Freiburger posts there quite a-bit, most of the time he posts back when you call him out, he seems like an OK guy.

 

OK, I found it.
DEC. '03 issue, pg. 76.

 

I quit reading Hot Rod mag a long time ago when Peterson publication took it over. It's junk!!! Chevy high performance and Super Chevy are the only mags I read.

 

I'm learning how NOT to drive like a ham-fisted, knuckle-dragging wrench-swinging baboon-brained retard, since I got my car - that's the stereotype I keep hearing so much about, so I'm out trying to make a decent impression for those who whould automatically classify me as such.

 

I think writing them is a good idea.

Go for it, if you're this upset about it put it down in words.

 

Dont get all bent out of shape over somthing as stupid as that.

people stereotype other people... it just happens... just because you drive a 3rdgen doesnt mean that applies to you..

and all vette owners dont have small dicks
and not all 4thgen owners got their parents to buy the car
chicks arnt the only ones that drive new mustangs
not all mustangs are slow


ect....

 

LOL! I only wish I had the funds to buy a 4th gen... Probably use it to hop up my 3rd gen...!

 

Yeah, but you dont see thoes sterotypes in a nationaly read and widely distributed mag like Hot Rod. Ive been reading HR for about 3-4 years and I never recalled seeing a stereotyping at all, much more then go into 2 full paragraphs about it calling it a "tird-gen". Totaly uncalled for and that should never happen again. It totaly killed the whole article for me. Congrats to TGR on the article BTW.

 

Yeah, I read that article in Hot Rod too. I was kind of shocked by that. "Putting the H back in Third Gen."--Wow. I was already planning on not re-subscribing just because their mag is boring as hell. Time to move on to new mags....I will always be subscribed to Car Craft though, that one is great.

 

I read the article and I didn't see that HR was putting down our cars. They said alot of people are not so affectionate about our cars and call them tird gens. And then they said that there is a group of die-hard 3rd gen fanatics. So what if they dont like our cars. I wont lose any sleep over it. Im happy with my car and im sure alot of others are happy with theirs too. Isnt that all that matters?

 

Just by your name, I dont trust you.... hehehe im kidding. Its just that there was ZERO need for what they said. No one says before an LS1 car article "most of these people who drive these cars tend to be on the younger side of 20 cause mommy and daddy got it for them so they can treat you like crap" Or "5.0 mustangs are usualy driven by tools." Do you see that? NO cause its just stupid to put in. You now turned people off that read that or just gave more power to people who think that. No other car in my 4 years with the mag was bashed... hell the r*cer artilces dont get bashed like that. When I get my car into a mag and HR wants to do a article on it, ill tell them to crap in a hat.

 

Here are some lines in the article that stand out.
Now find that much stuff on any other car they ever did an engine swap in. Uncalled for and was not needed in this article. Cleansing an ENTIRE generation!?!?! Like all the rest of the 13,12,11,10,9,8,7 sec third gens arent fast? Its cause all cars are supposed to be hitting 13 flat or faster out of the factory? I dont get it and its rediculous to say such stuff in a magazine as big as Hot Rod. Totaly uncalled for.

EDIT: Here is the actual article online...
http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicl...gen/index.html

 

bigals87z28
I'm on your side. I agree that HR should've chosen different wording. I also think its great you feel so strongly about your car. So when are you going to write them?

 

Boycott it....

Whenever you see the magazine for sale in a rack, take all the copies and hide them behind copies of other magazines, so nobody can see it and therefore it won't sell as well....

 

I'm with FLYNLOW92rs on this. When you see the mag and can do so hide it behind other stuff.

I think we should individually email and sound off on this article. I would also like to see someone who represents Thirdgen.org as a group write them a very well written letter taking them to task.

I have never really cared much for the Rag at least not since I was actually old enough to drive... but, I can't just let this one go. I am a southern boy but that doesn't mean that my car or I fit their stereotype. I'd gladly pull SAT (or IQ) scores with anybody on their staff... My car is an example of what can be done with a very nice car and a lot of TLC and even more $$$.

Hot Rod just landed on the Jane Fonda List with me!

 

As I said before, don't waste your time reading HR, get Chevy High Performance or Super Chevy, there is very good info in these mags. HR went down the tubes 25 years ago, becoming a Playboy style mag.
I'm very pissed right now too. I make enough money to own any kind of car I want, but I choose to own Camaros. I have 2 of the best ever built, a 67' I've owned for 6 years and an 87' IROC I've owned for 11 years. I had a 98' Z28 for a while and dumped it. The only thing good in the car was the motor, but it was tucked under the dash. The 98' did not handle as well as my 87' and didn't look as good either!
Is there an Administrator for this site that can send the message of disapproval to HR?

 

pfft.... didnt you know?

they all suck.

they all have incorrect info. (at times)

they all hype up what they sell.

they all run the same stories...


ect...............




just do like everyone should.... either subscribe and deal with it, or goto barns and noble, read it, and if its worth keeping, buy it.. if it sucks, dont.

 

MrDude_1:
You're right, the're all in it for the MONEY!!! And HR is the worst!!!

 

i wouldnt blame them for it...



if you thru me free parts or really reduced prices, and all i had to do was type crap about how good it is, i would.... w00t.

thoes guys have coo jobs...




btw, if any of you REALLY dont like it... why dont you try writing a artical yourself? mail it in and you could actually have it published...

actually make it better yourself..... and they would PAY you to do it.

 

As soon as I get some free time, I plan on sitting down and writing a very long letter to Hot Rod. I suggest that anyone else that is offended by this also write to hot rod.

 

I think if u have mastered the "Miles of wires and vac hoses" you have one up on those guys! I bet they wouldnt even look at it cause they would just get confused. And look at all the low ET guys that have LTR set-ups still they must have done something right, or they just got the flooks from the factory. They are not bad systems u just have to know what goes where and understand how it all works. Once u know that a TPI system is cake. And yea the LS1's make power but do u really want to try and work on one of those while its still in the engine bay? And they have the ***** to say that our systems are hard to work on man just pop the hood of any LS1 and the thought of havin to install anything would make any man run away. (We would love to right? haha) But you pop the hood of say an 87 IROC w/ a 350 and it looks pretty clean organized and easy to work on. As far as technology in the 80's while production was goin on there was no way anyone could squeeze out a 325 horse cali-emissions legal car. So they need to look and review those aspects first before comin out and sayin "oh yea They were choked with CARBS and smog EFI's" Well the technology wasnt there to benifit these cars and thats the sad truth they were choked out. But how else would they have passed tough emission laws back then. It all comes down to what technology is there at the time the cars were built to make legal power. So I take the side with Bigals on HR dumb comment.

 

I will be writing them a letter. In many respects the 3rd Gens are superior to the 4th Gen cars. Yeah, they were de-tuned by government emissions standards. 3rd Gens still look better and by all accounts handle better than their younger siblings.

Once upon a time HR appealed to the type of people who would take an older car, and make a HOT ROD out of it. Like so much in our country HR mag has lost it's identity. It's too bad because 20yrs ago they were a great mag.

The best mag of it's type out there right now is Chevy High Performance. If you guys know of others that are as good as CHP or nearly as good, share the wealth!

Hot Rod certainly is not a good source for information or the celebration of American Muscle.

 

Chevy Rumble is good, but $$$ for a small mag
Car Craft... but they are very anti-efi there sometimes. But they can be a bunch of sick sob's... they rana 420 shot in a junkyard 350.... flame shot out of the carb.
PHR is a good mag... They usualy have very cool project cars i.e. The Muel.

GM High Tech is another for us EFI users
and Hi-Po Pontiac is another good mag.

 

Car Craft is just WRONG... But it's fun to read...

Their burn-out feature was just too stinking funny!!!

 

To me, car craft is just the most enjoyable to read and I will always have a suvscription with them so long as they don't get too carried away with imports (like other mags). I want to get a sub. to GM high tech.

 

GM High tech is an awesome magazine, and the editor and one of the writers actually own and regularly drive thirdgens

The only downside is that it's a bi-monthly publication, and it still costs almost as much as a monthly one.

Matt

 

and there from NJ and you can see and meet them at englishtown almost every time you go there!

 

Hey, let's not forget about the TV show. A while back they featured the Trans Ams from the 4 generations. But when the cars were parked at the track the third-gen was not shown. They showed one by one the different cars and when they got to the third-gen they showed KITT (clips of Knight Ryder) and they had nothing good to say about it. Nothing was said about any other third generation model either, not even the TTA, Firehawk or GTA. Then they just drooled all over the 4th gen yellow pace car. I was so mad I turned the channel and haven't watched the show ever since.

Better reading for me is GM High Tech, which focuses more on late model EFI.

Ozzy

 

Yeah third gens are neglected all the time. I found a 30 year anniversery TA collection at toys r us last year. I open it up and there is a nice grey 69, a red 79... and a white 99. What gives? Couldnt put in a 89 TTA? Just another reason I get pissed.

 

i dont care what anyone says about third gens we have the sexiest cars,factory stock we give up about 100hp,technology..a very good thing,that hp is not hard to get and maintain dependability,suspension well that is definately a 3rd gens territory stock for stock...i may even be partial cause i graduated in '87 hands down i love my 3rd gens ...................

 

You are so right, there is not a single other f-body generation that can out-corner a third gen on the cones.

Yeah, another child of the 80s. I graduated in '84, then six years in the Army, loved the music, cars, and Ronald Reagan was the MAN.

Ozzy

 

I wasn't even in pre-school in '84!

 

I was born in 84... but had the car since 87!!

 

All of a sudden I feel old at 37.

Oops, back to the topic, Boycott Hot Rod!!!
But hey, it's a free country and they can say whatever they want even when we don't agree.

Ozzy

 

Sure, it's a free country. They CAN write anything they want.
Thankfully, it is still a free country because I don't have to buy their rag and I can say/write anything I want...

BOYCOT HOTROD!
B O Y C O T H O T R O D!

 

i agree with that!!!!!!!!i dont have to like it though,every chance i get i rep my 3rd gen.................

 

I love Car-Craft, but they are deffinitely very anti-EFI. I am anti-carb so its kind of hard sometimes to read.

Car Craft deffinitely is more of a grassroots magazine though. Thats what I like.

 

Yea, the editor of that article is probably a ford guy (the dark side)with a hint of LS-1 envy!

Hence, the slandering and stereotyping.

I have a TPI motor in my thirdgen that I've killed an '02 Z06 with!

I'd like to race a thirdgen with an LS-1 in it and mail the video straight to the editor!