OVERVIEW:
Off-Road was published by Argus Publishers Corporation. The magazine is a re-titling of
Off-Road Vehicles. Like its predecessor, the magazine was a general off-road oriented title and covered off-road racing
including Baja, dune buggies, Detroit 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive trucks, motorcycles, snow mobiles, and
how-to articles. Feature articles included travel adventures both foreign and
domestic as "ghost-town adventures".
The title was originally spawned by George Elliott, the editorial director for Argus automotive magazines. He was enthusiastic about off-roading, and he set the long term direction for the magazine by making it about "driving fast in the desert." It appealed to hot-rodders who couldn't be competitive in organized drag racing or open-wheel events, but they could be competitive in home-built vehicles in desert racing.
The magazine made significant contributions to the industry and was ultimately the only title that offered consistent coverage of go-fast and 2WD trucks. It was the second oldest magazine devoted to off-pavement vehicles behind Four Wheeler.
OWNERSHIP:
The editors and staff rode a wave of changes as the title moved through various new owners:
- 1995 -- Primedia acquires Argus Publishers Corporation and creates McMullen-Argus Publishing division,
- 2007 -- Primedia sells its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink Media for $1.2 billion, and,
- 2014 -- Source Interlink rebrands to TEN: The Enthusiast Network, and multiple titles are ended including Off-Road.
PUBLICATION DATA:
The publisher provided net paid circulation data to various periodical compendia from 1971 through 2005 (which is the last year for which we have
data at this time). Over this time period, annual production ranged from 139,000 to 229,000 print issues.
CONTENT COMPLETENESS:
A total of 480 issues was printed from June, 1974 to May, 2014. All cover images are complete through the end of print.
INTERNET:
An internet presence was created and URL references added to the front covers starting in November, 1999. The site is
now defunct: www.off-roadweb.com.