Hot Rod mag returns
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 679
Likes: 18
From: Vernon Hills Ill
Hot Rod mag returns
So my buddy calls and tells me about an article in his latest Hot Rod mag,salt on the wound 
.........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfpQTAFoTU4
.........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfpQTAFoTU4
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,908
Likes: 3
From: Supreme Soviet Peace-Loving Pipple's Kollektive of Seattle Wa
Looks/looked like an '85. Wasn't an '84 hood and the pwr steering wasn't where an '84 has it. Lotta' good parts in that nose they threw away.Parts in the doors too.. Hard to watch those hammers at work on the back deck! Reminds me of when I watched Jiffy Lube in action...
Mr. Badwrench lives!
Mr. Badwrench lives!
Racer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 301
Likes: 17
From: Toronto Ontario
Obviously, this is nothing more than a publicity stunt by a dying magazine in a lame attempt to boost their subscription numbers.
The destruction that was done to that poor car has absolutely nothing to do with "hot-rodding" in any way, shape, or form. It was just pure vandalism, plain and simple.
Even the idiots in the video (laughingly) admit, they destroyed a Corvette for no good reason. Then, after receiving such an overwhelmingly negative response from those who watched the video, they try and down-play their actions by claiming it was some sort of "learning excercise"...
Really?
What did they learn?
... That lightening a car improves acceleration?
... That reducing vehicle weight helps the car handle better?
... That a car doesn't handle properly when the alignment is off?
Are these guy's for real?
They had to destroy an American icon to figure those things out? What a bunch of dumb @ss's. Car enthusiasts have always known that reducing a vehicle's weight improves performance. That's just common freakin' sense.
Apparently these idiots have been living under a rock their entire lives. It took the deliberate destruction of a Corvette for them to finally figure out what every car enthusiast in the world already knows
I sincerely hope that rag of a magazine goes belly-up and those idiots all become unemployed.
On a personal level, in my eyes, the Corvette's is, and always has been, an automotive icon. It's easily one of, if not THE most recognizable name in the automotive industry (or any industry for that matter). Anywhere you go, anywhere in the world, people know exactly what "Corvette" is.
It's a sports car - and not just any sports car, it's AMERICA'S sports car. It's as much a part of American culture as anything else I can even think of.
To see these low-life's hacking a Corvette into pieces like that with their Chinese-made "tools" - then beating the **** out of it on a Japanese sponsored track makes me sick to my stomach and I'm not even American.
I know the US is a free country and all, and even though these @ssholes have the "right" to do what they did, that doesn't mean they should have. That entire scene was just so disrespectful I can't help but shake my head in disgust. In my eyes, what they did is no different than somebody going out and burning the American flag.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Had they done this to some POS foreign car, I wouldn't care, but America's sports car?
There are some things you just can't do and still consider yourself an "American"
This is one of them.
The destruction that was done to that poor car has absolutely nothing to do with "hot-rodding" in any way, shape, or form. It was just pure vandalism, plain and simple.
Even the idiots in the video (laughingly) admit, they destroyed a Corvette for no good reason. Then, after receiving such an overwhelmingly negative response from those who watched the video, they try and down-play their actions by claiming it was some sort of "learning excercise"...
Really?
What did they learn?
... That lightening a car improves acceleration?
... That reducing vehicle weight helps the car handle better?
... That a car doesn't handle properly when the alignment is off?
Are these guy's for real?
They had to destroy an American icon to figure those things out? What a bunch of dumb @ss's. Car enthusiasts have always known that reducing a vehicle's weight improves performance. That's just common freakin' sense.
Apparently these idiots have been living under a rock their entire lives. It took the deliberate destruction of a Corvette for them to finally figure out what every car enthusiast in the world already knows
I sincerely hope that rag of a magazine goes belly-up and those idiots all become unemployed.
On a personal level, in my eyes, the Corvette's is, and always has been, an automotive icon. It's easily one of, if not THE most recognizable name in the automotive industry (or any industry for that matter). Anywhere you go, anywhere in the world, people know exactly what "Corvette" is.
It's a sports car - and not just any sports car, it's AMERICA'S sports car. It's as much a part of American culture as anything else I can even think of.
To see these low-life's hacking a Corvette into pieces like that with their Chinese-made "tools" - then beating the **** out of it on a Japanese sponsored track makes me sick to my stomach and I'm not even American.
I know the US is a free country and all, and even though these @ssholes have the "right" to do what they did, that doesn't mean they should have. That entire scene was just so disrespectful I can't help but shake my head in disgust. In my eyes, what they did is no different than somebody going out and burning the American flag.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Had they done this to some POS foreign car, I wouldn't care, but America's sports car?
There are some things you just can't do and still consider yourself an "American"
This is one of them.
Last edited by LT1*C4; Sep 16, 2010 at 07:17 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,773
Likes: 175
From: Decatur IL
2025 C4 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C4 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Obviously, this is nothing more than a publicity stunt by a dying magazine in a lame attempt to boost their subscription numbers.
The destruction that was done to that poor car has absolutely nothing to do with "hot-rodding" in any way, shape, or form. It was just pure vandalism, plain and simple.
Even the idiots in the video (laughingly) admit, they destroyed a Corvette for no good reason. Then, after receiving such an overwhelmingly negative response from those who watched the video, they try and down-play their actions by claiming that they "learned a lot" from the destruction of the car.
Really?
What did they learn?
... That lightening a car improves acceleration?
... That reducing vehicle weight helps the car handle better?
... That a car doesn't handle properly when the alignment is off?
Are these guy's for real?
They had to destroy an American icon to figure those things out? What a bunch of dumb @ss's. Car enthusiasts have always known that reducing a vehicle's weight improves performance. That's just common freakin' sense.
Apparently these idiots have been living under a rock their entire lives. It took the deliberate destruction of a Corvette for them to finally figure out what every car enthusiast in the world already knows
I sincerely hope that rag of a magazine goes belly-up and those idiots all become unemployed.
On a personal level, in my eyes, the Corvette's an automotive icon. It's easily one of, if not THE most recognizable name in the automotive industry (or any industry for that matter). Anywhere you go, anywhere in the world, people know exactly what "Corvette" is.
It's a sports car - and not just any sports car, but AMERICA'S sports car. It's as much a part of American culture as anything else I can even think of.
To see these low-life's hacking a Corvette into pieces like that with their Chinese-made "tools" - then beating the **** out of it on a Japanese sponsored track makes me sick to my stomach and I'm not even American.
I know the US is a free country and all, and even though these @ssholes have the "right" to do what they did, that doesn't mean they should have. That entire scene was just so disrespectful I can't help but shake my head in disgust. In my eyes, what they did is no different than somebody going out and burning the American flag.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Had they done this to some POS foreign car, I wouldn't care, but America's sports car?
There are some things you just can't do and still consider yourself an "American"
This is one of them.
The destruction that was done to that poor car has absolutely nothing to do with "hot-rodding" in any way, shape, or form. It was just pure vandalism, plain and simple.
Even the idiots in the video (laughingly) admit, they destroyed a Corvette for no good reason. Then, after receiving such an overwhelmingly negative response from those who watched the video, they try and down-play their actions by claiming that they "learned a lot" from the destruction of the car.
Really?
What did they learn?
... That lightening a car improves acceleration?
... That reducing vehicle weight helps the car handle better?
... That a car doesn't handle properly when the alignment is off?
Are these guy's for real?
They had to destroy an American icon to figure those things out? What a bunch of dumb @ss's. Car enthusiasts have always known that reducing a vehicle's weight improves performance. That's just common freakin' sense.
Apparently these idiots have been living under a rock their entire lives. It took the deliberate destruction of a Corvette for them to finally figure out what every car enthusiast in the world already knows
I sincerely hope that rag of a magazine goes belly-up and those idiots all become unemployed.
On a personal level, in my eyes, the Corvette's an automotive icon. It's easily one of, if not THE most recognizable name in the automotive industry (or any industry for that matter). Anywhere you go, anywhere in the world, people know exactly what "Corvette" is.
It's a sports car - and not just any sports car, but AMERICA'S sports car. It's as much a part of American culture as anything else I can even think of.
To see these low-life's hacking a Corvette into pieces like that with their Chinese-made "tools" - then beating the **** out of it on a Japanese sponsored track makes me sick to my stomach and I'm not even American.
I know the US is a free country and all, and even though these @ssholes have the "right" to do what they did, that doesn't mean they should have. That entire scene was just so disrespectful I can't help but shake my head in disgust. In my eyes, what they did is no different than somebody going out and burning the American flag.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Had they done this to some POS foreign car, I wouldn't care, but America's sports car?
There are some things you just can't do and still consider yourself an "American"
This is one of them.
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 10,777
Likes: 5
From: Wichita Ks
There are a lot of things in life that we can do but that doesn't mean we should do them. Lt1*C4 is right these guys didn't tell us anything we didn't already know and they made them selves and the magazine look pretty stupid by the way they went about this. The entire story had little or nothing to do with cars, it was a pathetic attempt at entertainment.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 34,873
Likes: 487
From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Wasn't the first car HRM destroyed for a news article. I recall two similar stories about a Caddy and a Pontiac Bonneville that they cut down to basically the frame and a seat.
The print article (just got the mag yesterday) mentioned that the Vette was pretty much in a sad condition to the point where the cost of any sort of rebuild would have far exceeded the cost of buying a decent C4.
Apparently the idea was to start removing weight to see if the car would go faster and/or handle better. Turned out that it didn't work. By the time they cut the car down to around 2300 lbs or so, there was not enough weight for traction and the car handled like a pig.
The print article also had a column containing comments about the article when it was first proposed and it was discussed here at length. A number of CF members basically pee'd all over HRM for thinking about doing this and the mag did print those comments. After reading the article, I sort of came away with the feeling that they knew the upset people but they felt the car was headed to a crusher anyway.
Everyone got upset when Mythbusters did the dead pig in the C4 piece a couple years ago. That car was going to be sent to the junkyard too.
HRM is struggling and I believe that's a management problem and a poor editor. I have read HRM for some 40 years now and it is not what it used to be. But lots of magazines are like that. Corvette Fever died because it went downhill. Maybe the new owners are partly to blame.
The print article (just got the mag yesterday) mentioned that the Vette was pretty much in a sad condition to the point where the cost of any sort of rebuild would have far exceeded the cost of buying a decent C4.
Apparently the idea was to start removing weight to see if the car would go faster and/or handle better. Turned out that it didn't work. By the time they cut the car down to around 2300 lbs or so, there was not enough weight for traction and the car handled like a pig.
The print article also had a column containing comments about the article when it was first proposed and it was discussed here at length. A number of CF members basically pee'd all over HRM for thinking about doing this and the mag did print those comments. After reading the article, I sort of came away with the feeling that they knew the upset people but they felt the car was headed to a crusher anyway.
Everyone got upset when Mythbusters did the dead pig in the C4 piece a couple years ago. That car was going to be sent to the junkyard too.
HRM is struggling and I believe that's a management problem and a poor editor. I have read HRM for some 40 years now and it is not what it used to be. But lots of magazines are like that. Corvette Fever died because it went downhill. Maybe the new owners are partly to blame.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 600
Likes: 1
From: Woodbridge Virginia
Go to back where you have been
Don't rest in hell, just go there forever and stay there where you belong and came from...Hot Rod Magazine. 
Olcrusty said that... and means it..... you douche bags.
Olcrusty said that... and means it..... you douche bags.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,528
Likes: 2
From: PA
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 16,838
Likes: 341
From: Database Error Indiana
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,738
Likes: 15
From: OC Calif
St. Jude Donor '10
So this is what that 'sneak preview' they posted here a couple months ago was all about?? No awesome build up, customization or ???
Just strip a car and it goes faster???
Wow!
Just strip a car and it goes faster???
Wow!
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 33,025
Likes: 6,538
From: Rochester NY
St. Jude Donor '09 thru '26
This is all sounding awful familiar - didn't we have a long thread on this exact video not too long ago? I don't remember what I said back then (if anything) but I'm getting old and lazy so just consider it said again! 
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,738
Likes: 15
From: OC Calif
St. Jude Donor '10
and yes, they did a preview thread here for us a couple months ago. We were suppose to wait on pins n needles for the outcome of WHY they were destroying a Vette.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,565
Likes: 2
From: Sparta Mo.
I cannot believe Hotrod would stoop so low as to try something like that. Why do they think that would do anything but turn people against them? And to boot, their "performance" actually dropped considerably with the drop of weight. Why? Because the suspension was never designed to work with that static weight. ......SHOCKER!
It is a very sad day for a once-great publication.
It is a very sad day for a once-great publication.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,182
Likes: 94
From: going faster miles an hour...with the radio on in browns mills new jersey
Oh, the horror of them destroying a clapped-out, ultra rare (1 of only 39,000+) car that they picked up for $2500.
They obviously should have put an aero kit, wing, fender skirts, and lots of Zaino on it if they had really wanted it to go faster!
They obviously should have put an aero kit, wing, fender skirts, and lots of Zaino on it if they had really wanted it to go faster!