Auto Performance Magazine 1st Issue October 1982
A quick search on Google suggests I may be one of the only people who remembers this magazine, but it remains one of my favourite titles. I bought the first issue by chance when it came out at the age of 12 (I remember exactly where - Martins on Market Hill in Sudbury) and continued to get it every month until it stopped in 1985 and 'merged' with sister Link House title Cars & Car Conversions. By merged I mean the usual practice of keeping the name on the cover for a while before gradually forgetting it.
At the age of 12 and with rather more time on my hands than I have now, I devoured every word and looking back through it now even the ad's are very familiar. Link House already published Custom Car and Cars & Car Conversions, both long-established, and I suppose it seemed like this would fill a small gap between the two. Maybe a precursor of Practical Performance Car?
It had a humorous approach and dealt with a wide range of cars both old and new and motorsports, with the emphasis very much on the accessible and down-to-earth. Autograss was a particular favourite of theirs.
I loved the Hot Options series, where they ran through a series of modifications for popular cars with a budget of up to £1500, and would create lists of my own from their adverts.
Secondhand Performance was another good one, and the prices they suggest for some of the cars featured would nowadays seem an outrageous bargain - £1000-1500 for a Lotus Cortina?!
Advertisers included Mini Sport, Quip, Compomotive and Ripspeed (before they got taken-over by Halfords).
Someone else must surely remember it?
Auto Performance Magazine 1st Issue October 1982
A quick search on Google suggests I may be one of the only people who remembers this magazine, but it remains one of my favourite titles. I bought the first issue by chance when it came out at the age of 12 (I remember exactly where - Martins on Market Hill in Sudbury) and continued to get it every month until it stopped in 1985 and 'merged' with sister Link House title Cars & Car Conversions. By merged I mean the usual practice of keeping the name on the cover for a while before gradually forgetting it.
At the age of 12 and with rather more time on my hands than I have now, I devoured every word and looking back through it now even the ad's are very familiar. Link House already published Custom Car and Cars & Car Conversions, both long-established, and I suppose it seemed like this would fill a small gap between the two. Maybe a precursor of Practical Performance Car?
It had a humorous approach and dealt with a wide range of cars both old and new and motorsports, with the emphasis very much on the accessible and down-to-earth. Autograss was a particular favourite of theirs.
I loved the Hot Options series, where they ran through a series of modifications for popular cars with a budget of up to £1500, and would create lists of my own from their adverts.
Secondhand Performance was another good one, and the prices they suggest for some of the cars featured would nowadays seem an outrageous bargain - £1000-1500 for a Lotus Cortina?!
Advertisers included Mini Sport, Quip, Compomotive and Ripspeed (before they got taken-over by Halfords).
Someone else must surely remember it?