OVERVIEW:
Muscle Car Classics was published by Petersen Publishing in Los Angeles, California. It got its start after a trial
run in the Car Craft Performance Series, a series of one-shot or annual publications. All smart publishers test the
market and pursue content that succeeds. Petersen used this strategy to launch new magazines, with the best example being
Mustang in 1980.
So Petersen launched an annual title in 1984, and with success it went to a quarterly schedule in 1986. Within a year they went to a bi-monthly schedule. About a dozen or so other muscle car-focused magazines launched in the same 1983 to 1988 timeframe, indicating strong reader interest.
The magazine used the traditional volume and serial number through April 1991, then from that point the cover page showed only the publication date. After the December 1992 issue, the title was changed to Muscle Car Restoration and Performance. Only three issues of the new title were published, and they are included below.
The title had many editors: Ron Cogan was the first editor through August, 1987; then Dave Fults through December, 1988; followed by Jim McGowan through February, 1990; replaced with Dev Anan through October 1990; and, finally, Jeff Tann from December 1990 through the name change and the end of publication in June 1993.
The table of contents, if available, can be seen by clicking on the 
icon.
PUBLICATION DATA:
The publisher provided net paid circulation data to Oxbridge Communication's compendium The Standard Periodical Directory
in 1988 through 1993 with a few
years of missing data. Annual print production was reported as 570,000.
CONTENT COMPLETENESS:
A total of 41 issues was printed from 1984 through June, 1993. All cover images and table of content pages are complete.
Numbering error
Numbering Ends
