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Posted on Thu, May 31, 2012 : 8:14 p.m.

Road & Track magazine will move to Ann Arbor

By Paula Gardner

Road & Track automotive magazine will move its headquarters to Ann Arbor, its publisher announced Thursday.

Hearst Corp. also announced the magazine will have a new editor: Larry Webster, previously automotive editor of Hearst's Popular Mechanics, where he oversaw "the development of the magazine's automotive content across print, web, broadcast and tablet platforms," according to a news release.

Road_and_track_cover.jpg

With the move to Ann Arbor, the publication joins its sister automotive magazine, Car and Driver.

It also, according to autoblog, gives the city a unique niche among U.S. auto enthusiasts.

"(Ann Arbor) is now home to three of the four major monthly car magazines," according to the blog.

Information on where the magazine's office will be based was not available. Hearst will keep the Road & Track office in Newport Beach, Calif., open through fall.

Car and Driver was acquired by Hearst in 2011 as part of an $887 million deal.

That magazine is based in Eisenhower Commerce Center. The previous owner leased 10,000-square-feet there in 2008 for its then-35 person staff.

It moved to Ann Arbor in 1977 under then-editor David E. Davis, who died in 2011.

Also based in Ann Arbor is Automobile Magazine, which was founded in 1985 by Davis after he left Car and Driver.

Comments

Jim Walker

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:53 p.m.

WOW, this is a coup for Ann Arbor. These publications have helped to influence the US car makers in developing better vehicles for all of us. Being in the same state as the headquarters of our car makers will increase that influence by increasing the interactions. Jim Walker, National Motorists Association, www.motorists.org, Ann Arbor, MI

brimble

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:49 p.m.

Car and Driver, Automobile, and Winding Road all call Ann Arbor home thanks to the late David E. Davis. Those three help generate gravitational pull to bring Road & Track along as well -- that this is a center of automotive enthusiast journalism is one among his legacies.

GoNavy

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:12 p.m.

I can't say that I don't mind seeing the sexy cars they roll into town now and then.

racerx

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:07 p.m.

As an auto enthusiasts who is a 30yr subscriber to both Road & Track and Car & Driver this is not great news. Road & Track has always been the more, lets say, intelligently written of the Big Three car magazines (R&T, C&D, Motor Trend). Larry Webster used to write for C&D which begs the question, why? Hearst is just consolidating these magazines to save cost I'm sure. Even though the car mag business is small and its really not that rare to see writers switch from one publication to another, the car culture is very different in California, Newport Beach, than here in SE Michigan. Something will be lost in translation. Beat up roads, unsightly views of urban decay, no oceans, I mean really, try road testing an Aston Martin convertible in January in Michigan. True, when C&D moved to A2 from NY, that was a decent move. But with only the Big 2.5 (GM, Ford) car business here in SE Michigan, R&T will now move away from its California base where more imports are sold. Not feeling this move at all.

GoNavy

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:13 p.m.

Have you tried CAR Magazine out of the UK? Far and away the best auto mag, IMHO. I've been a subscriber now for probably 4 years, and I save every issue.

brb11

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 12:55 p.m.

Any information about whether they are going to be bringing new jobs with them to Ann Arbor? It would be great if they needed to hire some local content editors/writers to fill out their staff.

brb11

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:15 p.m.

Thanks. That's unfortunate. The market for editors seems pretty tight right now. With more publications cutting down, it doesn't seem to be getting much better either. Either way, best of luck to them here in AA, and I hope it proves to be a good move.

racerx

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:10 p.m.

Highly unlikely. The auto car magz business is very small with most writes moving from on publication to another at any time during their career. Larry Webster used to work for C&D. Frank Markus editor of Motor Trend used to work here in A2 for C&D. Anyhoot, most college students would work for free just for the opt to work for these magzs.

Duc d'Escargot

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 11:40 a.m.

Would someone be good enough to translate the third-from-last paragraph? It's something to do with owning or leasing, and something about an erstwhile group of staff members. Lamentable: that's the state of writing and editing at annarbor.com.

unclemercy

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 3:13 p.m.

'when we find out more' mml.

Jeff Renner

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 2:32 p.m.

Ah, owner, not owned. That makes it clear.

Jeff Renner

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 12:51 p.m.

Paula - I also find the sentence, "The previous owned leased 10,000-square-feet there in 2008 for its then-35 person staff," to be confusing. It looks like the result of some cutting and pasting, and seems to be missing a verb. Your explanation clarifies what you meant, but the sentence still stands in the body of the story.

Paula Gardner

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 12:12 p.m.

Sorry that I was unclear and that you found it lamentable. The sister publication's last publicized lease was for a 10k square foot office that could house 35 people. When we find out more about this deal, we can compare it to that deal and see how things may have changed.

braggslaw

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 2:18 a.m.

The ten people moving here will be welcomed...

brian123

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 4:14 p.m.

*edit. Meant to say "But IF it's truly.."

brian123

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.

It's hard to gauge the tone of your comment (as is anything online). But it's truly trying to be negative (as it appears on the surface) - - i ask why...what's the point?

Atlas Shrugged

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:20 a.m.

This is great! Ann Arbor will be earning what I think is a coveted role, namely the US home of quality automobile magazines for ordinary drivers and, especially, automobile afcionados, young and old alike. Car & Driver, Road & Track, and Automobile, are all superb publications, and now they will all be here. What's up, Motor Trend? Come join the group here in Ann Arbor.

racerx

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 1:11 p.m.

Yeah, Motor Trend was always the red-headed stepchild of the car mags. Though admittedly, they are catching up to Automobile, which used to be very witty but through the years has lost its edge.

J

Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 12:59 p.m.

C&D, R&T and Automobile happen to be the 3 car magazines I still subscribe to. (Coincidentally, I just let MT expire.)