Mopar Action Versus Popular Hot Rodding (Gromer v. Hunkins)

[BigBlockMopar]

1) Back when, everyone I knew whose name was preceeded by Mopar...was annoying.

Quilty...
Friends shortened my name Herman into 'Hemi' and since I have a small fleet of these Mopar-things, it didn't take them very long before they started calling me... MoparHemi!

2) Since time began Chrylser never ceased to amaze me with yucky grills, I like the Sebring grills though.

For a moment there I thought you typed 'girls'...
You almost had me Googling for a "Sebring girl"... (Although I must say some interesting pics come up if you did) oops...

[LORENSWIFE]

Quilty...
Friends shortened my name Herman into 'Hemi' and since I have a small fleet of these Mopar-things, it didn't take them very long before they started calling me... MoparHemi!



For a moment there I thought you typed 'girls'...
You almost had me Googling for a "Sebring girl"... (Although I must say some interesting pics come up if you did) oops...

OMG! you are right!

You are a tad annoying! But if you are called MoparHemi that is not MoparHerman so you don't really qualify!

I have one of these in the driveway and am never ever annoying!

[Blazerteam]

Mopar explored understeering ....Still,i want a Road Runner or a 300F.

[BigBlockMopar]

Bid with confidence and often!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1960-Chrsysler-300-F-Original-Red-Interior-/230691293316?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item35b645c884

Oh, and 'MLW', you'll get used to my annoyance I'm sure...

[38P]

Hunkins v. Speedy (Standing in for the AWOL Gromer)

The words "unlimited budget" and "pro built" just as easily apply to the Mopar collector/restoration world. I'd even argue that it's cheaper to build a real-world real-guy pro-touring car than doing a DIY chalk-mark restoration on your average Hemi car.

I made a similar argument on the cost of correct restoration in a post over the dumb t-shirt slogan ". . . it takes a REAL MAN to cut one up."

"Unlimited budget" and "pro built" merely describe the high-end pro-touring niche of "Pop Rod." The gist of the dispute isn't resto versus pro-touring. Gromer's column and your prior responses all seem to assume reason there aren't enough Mopar feature cars in "Pop Rod" is that the magazine's staff cannot locate enough high-end Pro-Touring Mopes at the feeder events the editors attend.

Whether or not "Pop Rod's" current "best of everything" niche (excluding anomalies such as the horrible "The Orphan" series) really meets the needs of most Bangshifters is a different discussion. (My favorite eras of PHR were when Cam Benty did the new car Detroit 3 builds and shootout in the mid-80s and when I first started reading "Pop Rod" during the real-world sportsman tech-laden '70s era -- each of which are somewhat different from the magazine's current focus)

In the last 12 months, we've done 9 Mopar stories (of at least 5 pages each), which include build-ups of 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-gen Hemis, and a handful of LA small-blocks. This doesn't include the 7 Mopar engines in last year's Engine Masters Challenge, or the 5 in this year's.

But tech's not really the point Gromer raised.

In a multi-brand title, such as HRM, CC or PHR, most readers expect a balanced coverage of the Detroit 3 (not proportional). Multi-brand magazines are a bit like a community meeting wherein each camp wants some exposure. That means some coverage of GM, Ford and Mopar each month. Most certainly, in the current GM-heavy environment, Ford and Mopar fans can be a little overly sensitive to monthly exclusions. Given the short shelf life of magazines, readers tend not to remember prior stories when they're disappointed over an issue that excludes significant coverage of their favorite "division" of the Detroit 3.

Note that Engine Masters squibs really don't count because they're not very detailed and the coverage is more archival news reporting than "how to."

I would also argue (because it seems that Speedzzster is hinting the opposite view) that Mopar guys reap a huge takeaway from the general-interest tech we put out. Nevertheless, I don't expect PHR to be a go-to mag ahead of the Mopar-specific books like Mopar Collector's Guide, Mopar Muscle, or Mopar Action. (How bad would those books have to get before that happened?!!)

Nobody is suggesting that "Pop Rod" replace any of the brand-specific titles.

Magazine editors often expect too much crossover appeal from "general-interest tech." General stories sometimes work when general principles are shown or hard data that can be used in building other makes is provided. But too often, tech stories are perceived as advocacy for a particular set of parts or engines. Thus, stories building up an LS engine or installing F-Body specific custom parts on a Nova probably aren't going to have too much "crossover" value to Ford and Mopar readers unless the crossover principles are clearly spelled out.

The crux of Gromer's column and the complaints of the Mopar faithful are that "Pop Rod" allegedly isn't providing Mopar feature car exposure every month. Mr. Hunkins' explanation seem to be that the shortage is due to the inability of PHR's editors to find enough modified Chrysler products that meet the magazine's lofty standards -- a contention that many in the Mopar camp (and in other camps) dispute.

Lastly, if all I wanted to do was find sufficient content, my job would be as easy as Gromer's! Putting out PHR is a 125% effort. There's your extra 25%...

Whether or not Gromer's job is easy isn't the issue.

"Sufficient" should be read in the context of "Pop Rod's" editorial standards. If PHR is reporting on the pro-touring niche from a truly balanced perspective, they would include monthly the "best" Mopars, along with the "best" Fords, and the "best" GMs. The level of execution may not be the same within these divisions of the Detroit 3. But under the balanced coverage theory, that shouldn't matter because the magazine would be reporting what each camp was doing.

Certainly there is the complication of the "advotorial" realities. Much of what's "new" and "hot" is driven by advertising and advertisers' desires. And most readers probably suffer a bit from Jeremy Clarkson's "How hard can it be" mindset when criticizing editorial decisions of a multi-brand rodding magazine (see e.g."Turbo Ted's" satirical take on the magazine industry in the recent "Where is Rob Kinnan?" thread)

But if the magazine throws the "Brand X" camps a bone or two each month, there will likely be a lot less criticism.

[Brian Lohnes]

The whole damned thing is weird to me. Seems to be the equivalent of Burger King telling McDonald's they don't make their cheeseburgers the right way.

[38P]

Probably more like Hooters' (Gromer) telling Steak & Shake (Hunkins) they're doing it wrong. Both PHR and MA are relatively low circulation niche publications these days. DF's HRM would be analogous to McDonald's

Wierd or not -- and regardless of his possibly self-serving motives -- Gromer is giving voice to a criticism that many "Brand Xers" have of the "Big 3" general interest hot rod books in today's "Chevy Heavy" world.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Mopar owners with thin skin?

Speed - I raise your obscure reference and give you another one:

[dieselgeek]

Man, how easy it is for the armchair quarterbacks to call out the guys who are doing the real work!! Speedzter, where the hell is YOUR magazine and what kind of circulation does it get??

After spending a little time with guys like Hunkins and Dulcich, holy CRAP do I not envy their jobs whatsoever!! and even Freiburger for that matter. At Engine Masters, hang out with Hunkins and Dulcich and listen to how many god damn whiners come bitching to them about everything from rules to "why aren't there more XX brand cars featured!"

At Bonneville this year, some asshole came right up to Freiburger and started shouting at him for "promising" to feature his car (from PowerTour, gee, never woulda guessed it from that crowd) and never doing it... the guy was a total prick, it took a lot for me to keep my mouth shut on that one. Pro Lawn Chair assholes anyways...

I'll end with a simple THANK YOU GUYS! because events like Engine Masters and Drag Week kick ass. Oh and for the record I enjoyed Engine Masters more than Drag Week this year. Racing engines on dynos is fun because, as our fearless leader Danny Miller once said, "Engine Masters eliminates the Pesky Drivers!"

[LORENSWIFE]

Man, how easy it is for the armchair quarterbacks to call out the guys who are doing the real work!! Speedzter, where the hell is YOUR magazine and what kind of circulation does it get??

After spending a little time with guys like Hunkins and Dulcich, holy CRAP do I not envy their jobs whatsoever!! and even Freiburger for that matter. At Engine Masters, hang out with Hunkins and Dulcich and listen to how many god damn whiners come bitching to them about everything from rules to "why aren't there more XX brand cars featured!"

At Bonneville this year, some asshole came right up to Freiburger and started shouting at him for "promising" to feature his car (from PowerTour, gee, never woulda guessed it from that crowd) and never doing it... the guy was a total prick, it took a lot for me to keep my mouth shut on that one. Pro Lawn Chair assholes anyways...

I'll end with a simple THANK YOU GUYS! because events like Engine Masters and Drag Week kick ass. Oh and for the record I enjoyed Engine Masters more than Drag Week this year. Racing engines on dynos is fun because, as our fearless leader Danny Miller once said, "Engine Masters eliminates the Pesky Drivers!"

Plus Mr Hunkins is a helluva guitar player!

[BluLightning]

some asshole came right up to Freiburger and started shouting at him for "promising" to feature his car (from PowerTour, gee, never woulda guessed it from that crowd)

Hey now, I resemble that remark. You seem to have a low opinion of anyone on PT.

[Bob Holmes]

The idea that PHR should have a "balanced" standard is specious, when the balance is made up of one GM, one Ford and one Mopar in each installment of the book. As if each of the categories sold the same number of units within the time period of the cars most likely to end up as "pro-touring" raw material. There wasn't a balance then, and its absurd to assume that there should be a balance now. One could more logically argue a proportional balance, but even that fails in the face of the propensity of the owners to either restore, modify, pro-tour...within each brand segment.

In the end, PHR is a commercial enterprise and is successful by meeting the interests of its readership and advertising base. I would suggest that if the Mopar faction believes that its being short changed, than its incumbent upon them to provide the grist for the publishing mill.

While I don't need to be defending Johnny Hunkins (he is more than capable of doing that himself), I can tell you that I spent an hour and a half talking to him at EMC and was impressed by his desire to be as inclusive as possible when it came to the specific editorial content we were discussing. And Mopar was a part of that discussion. The magazine already has a Mopar champion in Steve Dulcich.

Now Speedy go ahead and

[Brian Lohnes]

Bob, Dulcich is a champion of many things. Not just Mopars. HA!

[Bob Holmes]

[Johnny Hunkins]

Loren & Gail: You guys rule! And so do you, Bob!