Big 'Uns
Big 'uns. You know, those heavy haulers weighing in at 3/4s of a ton or more. As my son likes to call them, "big-big trucks." On occasion we get requests for not only tech, but color features on the heavy-duty trucks, like C-20s, F-4s, and so on. On top of that, there's the Napco folk-the vintage 4x4'ers. Yep, they're all classic truck owners and lovers, but to what extent does CLASSIC TRUCKS cater to them?
No arguing there's a very, excuse the pun, "heavy" presence of the big truck enthusiasts-they've got clubs, shows, newsletters, and whatnot dedicated to pretty much every kind of truck ever built with eight or more lugs per wheel. You see them at regular events like Goodguys, NSRA, and local Heinz 57 venues, even monthly cruise nights. They're a determined crowd, and have persisted throughout the years with little mainstream media coverage. Again, where does CLASSIC TRUCKS fit in the picture?
That's a tough one on my part. In the last few months, we've thrown a couple of larger (the truck, not the owner) readers' rides in Classic Cruisers; we've even slipped a couple into various show coverage articles. What's that done? Well, for one it's created a pretty good response from readers wanting to see more, More, MORE! While the recent amount of coverage we've dedicated to the heavy haulers didn't really impact the main focus of the magazine, it sure impacted plenty of readers. But the question is, can we go further with this type of coverage? Unfortunately, due to a few different issues, I'm not convinced it's feasible at this stage of the game. Let's go over some of the reasons why.
First off, and I only bring this up because I love to hear people gripe and say that I primarily answer to the advertisers (not true), if you flip through the pages of any recent issue, you'll see that pretty much 95 percent or better of the companies advertising in the magazine manufacture or distribute products for the lightweights-the 1/2-tons. At the same time, if the demand for heavier-duty parts continues to increase, at least in the way of GM and Ford brands, it's an open market for the most part, and you'd think a few of the bigger companies would take advantage of that, right? Well, from the magazine's standpoint, we're not a "restoration" title, though we do feature nicely restored pickups on occasion. If more people start modifying, or wanting to modify, 3/4-ton trucks, there might be a change in this situation, but that's speculation at this point.
The other issue against the inclusion of big trucks is the simple matter of size-not the truck's size, rather the size of the magazine. With roughly 50 pages of editorial each month, there's just no extra room to devote to additional subject matter. We already have a hard time as it is trying to squeeze in what we can (oftentimes it's necessary to split a story in two so as not to short-change the readers). You're probably saying, "Well, throwing in one feature or tech story a month wouldn't hurt, would it?" Actually, we're averaging four color features a month right now-that's not enough by my standards. But in order to fit in an event or two and maintain the amount of tech, it's what must be done with only a 100-page (or smaller) magazine. When, and if, we get bumped up page-wise, there are already other types of stories we're just waiting to include, like more DIY tech and homebuilt features/stories.
Hopefully you can see where we stand on the issue. I'm not saying that we're for or against the inclusion of bigger trucks even if we could accommodate them to begin with, but it's a matter being considered. From my viewpoint, the biggest (again, no pun intended) obstacle I'd need to see overcome is the modification factor. Like I said, we're not a restoration-type periodical, and pretty much the majority of heavy-duty trucks I've come across, either in person or through readers' submissions, have been restored or are in the process. There are all kinds of Catch-22s with these scenarios, so I'm open to any and all feedback. Besides, the more interest shown on the behalf of the readers, the more the likelihood of change. We'll just have to wait and see.