I used to religiously buy C+VC magazine monthly without fail without leafing through the content as you could always guarantee something of interest. First got into it nine years ago this month when bored one afternoon in a local paper shop I happened across it and saw an article on a artic firm that was selling off their old Atki and ERF units by auction. Stamper I think was the name.
Since then though the quality is on a par with Kleenex and whilst that sounds unkind, it relfects my moodset in comparison to what it once was.
It was only six years ago the paper was glossy and with a free ERF/Foden/Leyland collectable booklet packed with Pete Davies’ photos and accompanying text.
This is something that in today’s cost cutting (and profit maximising) culture would simply never happen.
It’s a true shame as whilst I’ve been interested in wagons and lorries since the mid 70s it reignited my enthusiasm and I loved to see the odd old tipper photo or article.
Sadly, I doubt if it’ll ever get back to where it once was.
In my opinion, Heritage Commercials is far better than CVC these days. I used to buy both but now only buy Heritage now & again and CVC hardly ever. Regarding the other truck mags available, i think Trucking is much better than T&D especially the Truck on Trial features by Bob Beach which remind me very much of the old Truck magazine Test Matches of the 70s & 80s. Good interesting road tests well written with good quality photographs.
I agree with the first post & think they are stale & repetitive I tend to flick through them at the newsagents & if there is anything interesting in them I will buy them but as with every other topic from boats to photography there are too many of them for the topic.
My budget was huge because I used to buy all the truck,tractor ,motorbike & american car mags.£££££££££££££££££
I agree with the comments on Truck but Commercial Motor & Headlight were always better.
CM seems to have lost the plot recently.
Cheers Rich
Muckaway:
T&D was a letdown again this month. I only bought it because there’s nothing on tv but I must’ve skipped at least a third of it. I had a quick look at the cover story of the Elton Line artic unit that had an interior like a posh boat. Didn’t interest me as I’ve outgrown buying stuff for lorries but found the bit about the Sheffield car transporter firm interesting. I agree with posts about CVCs’ classified ads; I used to like looking through them, but not now it’s full of rotten Rovers and Bob the Builders knackered transit van. Has anyone noticed that much of what’s in the classifieds is way overpriced? I mean, Ford Cargo needs tidying up (and new cab, chassis etc) £3000 no offers. Oh, and then there’s that mind numbing A to Z of trucks that’s been on the go since the Great Western Railway ran Vulcan lorries… :lol:
A couple of years ago I sent a private email to the Ed of C+VC about something and at the end mentioned what a waste of space this part of the mag was. Problem was he printed the email as a letter. You wouldnt believe the comments that came back from other readers, one of whom said that this was the best part of the mag!!! Apparently if I didnt like this part of the mag then I wasn’t a ‘proper’ old lorry enthusiast!! Yeah right, like I really need to know about some bloke who built one 3.5 ton three wheeled van in his shed in Grimsby in 1924!!!
The editor gives me the impression that the mag is perfect and criticism is not an option. I’d scrap the A to Z and expand the carrying on part to 6 pages per issue. That’s the best part of the mag in my opinion…
]Oh, and then there’s that mind numbing A to Z of trucks that’s been on the go since the Great Western Railway ran Vulcan lorries…
The editor gives me the impression that the mag is perfect and criticism is not an option. I’d scrap the A to Z and expand the carrying on part to 6 pages per issue. That’s the best part of the mag in my opinion…
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The A to Z is, i’d agree, rather repetitive, although it does provide a concise history of the multitude of manufacturers that have existed over many decades. I think
the information could be better presented, maybe in the form of a supplement that could be put into a binder, ultimately providing the reader with an encyclopedia.
not bought one of those mags for a few years as they became expensive with not a great deal of content and your right the a-z of lorry makers is a bit boring, if I get dragged to romford shopping with me good lady I go into wh smith and read them and meet her later it works for me as I hate shopping, and as someone said earlier there is far more content on this site and you can ask a question and usually you will get a quick answer and pics, happy new year to you all. fred m
gb1:
]Oh, and then there’s that mind numbing A to Z of trucks that’s been on the go since the Great Western Railway ran Vulcan lorries…
The editor gives me the impression that the mag is perfect and criticism is not an option. I’d scrap the A to Z and expand the carrying on part to 6 pages per issue. That’s the best part of the mag in my opinion…
The A to Z is, i’d agree, rather repetitive, although it does provide a concise history of the multitude of manufacturers that have existed over many decades. I think
the information could be better presented, maybe in the form of a supplement that could be put into a binder, ultimately providing the reader with an encyclopedia.
[/quote]
Good idea. Then I can remove it and shred it to make litter for our rabbits-much better use for it
Most of the pictures on various threads here are more interesting/ better quality. Having had a flick through some of the CVC issues I’ve bought in the last 12 months (not many!) I’ve noticed that in the headline features, you get a bloody history lesson on the vehicles manufacturer before anything is written about featured vehicle-regardless of how interesting the truck is.
240 Gardner:
I don’t think it helps when they are edited by people who know nothng about lorries - and how it shows! HC certainly has had the edge for some time now, and the new Editor has some good ideas. His predecessor was a proper lorry man.
Could’nt agree more Chris, the present ‘Editor’ of C&VC seems to know even less about Lorries than his predecessor Mr Larkin, I still continue to buy it but purely for the PD Gallery every month, Vintage roadscene has got slightly better than it was when Stratton-Stevens was at the helm but the captions on most of the photos are still laughable trouble is, people who ALSO know very little about Lorries read these comments and take it as gospel
Hi Chris & Lemonmouth
Couldn’t agree more they are all out for profit not preservation
As you say the captions are often a joke : a pic of a TK and it says its Ford well it is they just fogot the Bed & thats where they should stay.
One Mag showed a pic of one of Harrisons highwaymen with a center axle conversion & said this was to make it a 38/41 tonner cant be too old it was only done for cheep tax as you say the inoccent and truckers read this & take it as gospel
Rant over
Rich
hi all
agree with most of the complaints.one ofthe things that anoys me the most is when they put restorations of small 5 cwt vans and half ton type pickups. surely there are magazines for them , if thats what you want, personanly i dont want to see them in a lorry mag.also why do you see a restoration of alorry in cvc and afew months later its in heratige com.!!! bazztrucker
bazztrucker:
hi all
agree with most of the complaints.one ofthe things that anoys me the most is when they put restorations of small 5 cwt vans and half ton type pickups. surely there are magazines for them
I think it’s still going, Classic Van and Pickup. When I’ve flicked through it, they never have an untaxed transit on Q plates with 2 adults and 4 kids (with ginger hair) featured in their articles.
People from within the road haulage industry tend to call all these mags ‘The Comics’. Although some of the written content and photos are interesting, they are sometimes littered with technical errors that stand out like a sore thumb. I don’t know what CVC would do without Peter Davies on board to at least keep some historical facts in the features rather than misled editorial opinion.
Do you agree that the most interesting photos in the mags are from the time when the trucks were working hard for a living, rather than lined up on a show field?.
ERF:
People from within the road haulage industry tend to call all these mags ‘The Comics’. Although some of the written content and photos are interesting, they are sometimes littered with technical errors that stand out like a sore thumb. I don’t know what CVC would do without Peter Davies on board to at least keep some historical facts in the features rather than misled editorial opinion.
Do you agree that the most interesting photos in the mags are from the time when the trucks were working hard for a living, rather than lined up on a show field?.
Yes, that’s the term I use, and PD is indeed their saving grace.
ERF:
People from within the road haulage industry tend to call all these mags ‘The Comics’. Although some of the written content and photos are interesting, they are sometimes littered with technical errors that stand out like a sore thumb. I don’t know what CVC would do without Peter Davies on board to at least keep some historical facts in the features rather than misled editorial opinion.
Do you agree that the most interesting photos in the mags are from the time when the trucks were working hard for a living, rather than lined up on a show field?.
Your spot on there ERF,the first time I heard the mags referred to as “comics” was in the Boardroom at Bo-alloy,and Gerry and Jim were commenting on the garbage that was sometimes written.I also much prefer to see shots of “working” motors.Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
…the first time I heard the mags referred to as “comics” was in the Boardroom at Bo-alloy,and Gerry and Jim were commenting on the garbage that was sometimes written…
Gerry Broadbent, now theres a name from the past Dennis!. Someone (might have been Simon Longden) told me he was quite unwell a couple of years ago.
Bewick:
…the first time I heard the mags referred to as “comics” was in the Boardroom at Bo-alloy,and Gerry and Jim were commenting on the garbage that was sometimes written…
Gerry Broadbent, now theres a name from the past Dennis!. Someone (might have been Simon Longden) told me he was quite unwell a couple of years ago.
The time I was referring to was after Gerald had left Bo-Alloy.It was Gerry Brown I meant, sorry! While I’m on,and you appear to very knowledgable about all things ERF, who was the little bloke with the long hair at the Middlewhich Service Centre circa 75/76,wore a white coat? Did you know Curly Cargill as well? Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
…who was the little bloke with the long hair at the Middlewhich Service Centre circa 75/76,wore a white coat? Did you know Curly Cargill as well? Cheers Dennis.
I know of Curly from D&M Cargill, but never met him unfortunately. Lots and lots of people still talk about his fleet. Leave the Middlewich guy with me…headaches all round here this afternoon now!!.
lemonmouth:
Could’nt agree more Chris, the present ‘Editor’ of C&VC seems to know even less about Lorries than his predecessor Mr Larkin…
… who famously once asked how long it would take to tilt a Borderer cab, so that he could photograph the engine.
My reply was “about a fortnight - y’see those brackets with bolts going through them? that’s where it’s fastened to the chassis…”
I spent ages getting a very long story collated and into bite-size chunks, then the pillock took it apart and put everything in the wrong order. I believe he even had OMT working at ELC in one chapter…
It ran in the magazine over 4 editions and the money we were promised never materialised. What cheesed us off even more was that pictures which were loaned to the magazine took a year to be returned. It was while this was going on that we discovered other people who’d also been messed about in the same way - some were waiting for original photos to come back of which there were no copies. It took a strongly-worded letter (mentioning that the next step would be involving a solicitor) before our pictures were sent back.
I stopped subscribing to C&VC after that. As has been proved since, Heritage Commercials has now blossomed into the sector-leading publication. The one thing which dogs both is the classified sections - they’re both absolute chaos to search through.
I’ve heard/know of quite a few people who have lent photos to well known contributors who do articles for the comics and have never seen them again, or they’ve been cropped/damaged. I always make it a rule that I never let anybody have an original. If they say ‘I’ll just do a copy and let you have it back’, I always say that I will do them a copy. I’ve even heard that P.Davies has lost originals to publishers over the years.
Apparently if I didnt like this part of the mag then I wasn’t a ‘proper’ old lorry enthusiast!! Yeah right, like I really need to know about some bloke who built one 3.5 ton three wheeled van in his shed in Grimsby in 1924!!! 
