Early pressie for Me,Si and Bobby

[Sev131]

A bit late I know.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE AND YOUR 131'S!

Great pics from M Ward. I received my copy on the 23rd of dec, so great prezzie and suprise for me in the post! I did e-mail M Ward three days earlier to query what was going on, as my previous e-mails to him had not been answered since my shoot at Bruntingthorpe with the 130 tc's.

The pics made my day and have to admit that his photography skills are excellent.

Simon, drop him a pm, i'm sure you wil receive a copy of your car shots if you haven't done so already.

Looking forward to the feature! Noticed the Lancia's we met after are before us in A.I 

[simon131]

Gra, I thought from your note above, that this article was going to appear in the February edition, which came out at the end of January After a trip to WHSmiths this morning to check it out, it isn't So does this mean that it will appear in the March edition that is released on 25th February? There's no mention of it on the page that advertises the next edition.

BTW - still not heard anything from Michael about a CD of pics

It's all a bit of a shame really cos the article with the Lancias, that was shot at the same venue on the same day, but AFTER us, appeared in last months edition.

Having scanned the Feb 10 ed for the 131 piece seems to be a whole lot of space dedicated to Lancia, and of course Ferrari and Maserati, with precious little for FIAT. Quite a nice article by TC-M on the 'Little Abarths' tho - not that the new 500 SS (Esse Esse) appeals to me at circa ?15,000

[Gremlino]

Si,

Yes I went to Smiths all ready to see our article and was also disappointed when it wasn't there.

I spoke to Michael and it looks like CHP publishing had a sort around with article dates and the 131 spot has been put back for a future issue (will keep on the case to see when its pencilled in for and let everyone know again).

Probably the Lancia feature ran early because of all the recent Hype after the Top Gear episode.

BTW - still not heard anything from Michael about a CD of pics

I'll ask him whats happening with this.
 
I liked the A.I. Abarth article too, John Lloyd is a lucky man owning both the Due Mila Abarth Simca and Tony Bernies old 1000TC..... not bad for a crop Farmer from Ely.

On the subject of Abarth, on the next issue page in the back of this months A.I. theres a group test photo of old/new Abarths with a familiar SilverGrey car,  the article will be by Vicky Butler-Bend-it-son, I do hope she didn't 're-arrange' my old car on her test drive.......

[simon131]

What I read into that Gra is that they have 'mothballed' the piece.

I never fail to be amazed at how Auto Italia seem to blow smoke up the backside of us Fiat owners, and in particular those of us 131 owners Not only did three of us give up a day's holiday (in my case a day's pay!) but two of you drove a considerable distance (many hundreds of miles) to be there.

Why should we give up our hard earned cash in support of their magazine and events when they continue to show such little respect to us?

I'm only glad I don't subscribe to AI

The reason I subscribe to Practical Classics magazine is not that they particularly give Italain Cars a lot of page space, quite the reverse in fact, but that all the cars featured are still within the monetary reach of us 'mere mortals' something that I don't think AI have ever considered. They believe that all of us Italian Car fans would rather see more features on 'Italiana' that we actually can't afford - and somehow we are supposed to be 'grateful'.

As you might be able to tell - I'm not best pleased.

[Gremlino]

they have 'mothballed' the piece

I wouldn't go that far Si.

To be honest  A.I. often run articles long after the actual shoot.

The fact is that when Phil ran the mag under Intermarque Publications he made the decisions on content as the Editor and Chairman, now the content is decided by 'marketing' and CHP with Phil having a 'managed' Editorial role.

I think we'll just have  to be patient, not easy as I'm really looking forward to this article (lets hope Matt Zollo gets the info straight).

When I enquire about the pics I'll see if theres a date/issue decision.     

[simon131]

I think you're being too charitable mate. If you'd been told that the article 'might' be published in the Feb edition then that's a different thing, but to be told that it would be and then for it not to be is a little out of order IMHO. I'm fully aware that articles are often 'held over' by magazines. The piece on my black 131 Sport in Classic and Sportscar took more than a year to appear.

What upsets me about this AI article is the 'getting our hopes up'. What I object to is not being told about it's non-publication.

I also object to the total lack of communication and promised pics. We shouldn't have to ask for them, they should be provided by the publisher freely! We didn't get so much as a cup of tea on the day of the shoot, let alone free copies of the magazine and our petrol costs reimbursed!

If it weren't for us enthusiastic owners publications like AI would not exist, and often they forget that fact. Not only do we freely supply our cars (and time) for scrutiny and often poor factual journalism, we also buy the magazine and get our friends and family to do so. For AI it's a win-win situation whilst us owners continue to put our hands in our pockets!

[sid131]

tell them to P off the next time, i was asked to pick up a toyota exec at the airport 2 years ago & take him around Dublin in the my ta23 celica, they were told NO! another bloke i know did it in his mint 1974 corolla 20 & he didnt even get a cup of tea either.

[Gremlino]

I think you're being too charitable mate

Perhaps, but I do try to keep positive these days (the pills work wonders)  

Yes Phil did say Februarys issue would have the article in, and I agree about the lack of communication but to be honest thats how most businesses behave nowadays and publishing seems no different.

Perhaps because I was so late that day you all missed out on the offer of refreshments?

They'll run the article when they're ready and after its been published we can have our say..... whether we then get barred from future A.I. events we'll have to see  

I'll come back to let you know what answer I get from Phil this week.

[mirafioriman]

This magazine like others is run to make a profit. If they can not even cover the contributors costs that is a poor do in my opinion.

[Sev131]

Simon not a happy chap

I've still not seen the Strada 130 feature yet, and that was taken way before us.

It cost me ?70 in fuel and a day off work without pay as i'm self employed. Would off been nice to be re-imbursed of the fuel costs at least and one free copy in the post.

I hope it is out soon, could do with cheering up a bit!

[simon131]

Gra, perhaps I need to start taking the same pills as you then mate

I just think they're being tight - and we are paying to support their business.

Incidentally, I'm self-employed myself Bobby, and I certainly don't run my business like that! Never have and never will.

[Gremlino]

Ok, without any negativity this time.........the 131 article is in the latest A.I. 

Now get out your magnifying glasses to read it 

[Sev131]

Woo hoo!! 

[Michael Ward]

Thanks so much for the positive comments Graham and Theo, very much appreciated as I it looks like you still live in the real world. (as I do, the world of cool boxy Fiats.)

However, I find it seriously demotivating and disheartening to do a job, a job you try and do to the best of your abilities with equipment, management and budgets given . . . only to be repeatedly kicked in the face and slated by those who don't have the faintest idea of what publishing a niche market specialist publication amongst 6,000 other monthly UK titles actually entails.
What possible other monthly selling magazine would give a toss about, let alone several pages to three 70s boxy Fiats? There's only one - Auto Italia. a magazine that caters for all Italian marques, not just Fiat.

I never fail to be amazed at how Auto Italia seem to blow smoke up the backside of us Fiat owners, and in particular those of us 131 owners Shocked Not only did three of us give up a day's holiday (in my case a day's pay!) but two of you drove a considerable distance (many hundreds of miles) to be there.

Why should we give up our hard earned cash in support of their magazine and events when they continue to show such little respect to us? Angry

I'm so sorry the article wasn't published within a week, that's just publishing and not a personal insult offered to anyone who may own a Fiat 131, seriously!?

So what if other cars shot on the same day were published before yours - Magazines keep photoshoots on stock for months and months if not years, that again is publishing and not an anti Fiat 131 conspiracy.

As for the lack of communication Simon, that goes both ways.
At the time I didn't know your home address or email. Why would I? I didn't even arrange the shoot and Matt is a freelancer.
Believe it or not I'm not up every night trawling the forums just in case someone somewhere has something to say about Auto Italia.

I, on the other hand however, am very, very easy to get in touch with.
You throw "Auto Italia" around like it's some massive blue chip company, it's not. The editor and founder is my father and I'm the photographer, so your comments are personally insulting.
At anytime you could have picked up the phone, sent an email to express your views. Just like Graham did.
But no you chose to vent your views over the internet.
And excuse me for not sending out discs of images within minutes of the shoot - it doesn't work that way.
I did send everyone a disc of hi-res images as well as a copy of the magazine, after it was published.
Can't remember getting any thanks for that either. Very few photographers would even consider doing this.

As a 70s Fiat owner myself I am always grateful to any private individual who takes the time to look after their classics and bring them along to a shoot. I have met many hundreds of genuinely interesting and nice folks on shoots and will look forward to doing so in the future.

Just astounding.

[simon131]

Obviously touched a nerve there Michael.

I'm sorry that you have taken my words as a personal insult to both yourself and your father. They are most certainly not intended as such. I have the utmost respect for you both! I unreservedly apologise if you thought that was the case.

Frustration is a wonderful thing Michael, and I wrote those words a number of months ago (more than 2 months ago in fact) when I was 'frustrated' at being given the promise (by Matt) of seeing my car in your magazine at a given time, only to be let down. Perhaps if the article wasn't going to be published in AI then I might not have been so upset.

Communication is indeed a two way street which is why I gave Matt my contact details - more than once I believe. Matt was my contact and gave us various 'promises' regarding pics etc. Why should I chase him/you? He knew where to come to find me in the first place........via this very website.

You are quite correct, I don't have any idea how a magazine is run, but I do know that I gave freely of time for the shoot (and would again) and felt let down by the article not being published as we had initially been advised. I didn't expect pics etc but as both Bobby and Graham had received a copy of a CD with some before Christmas what was I to think?

Is the fact that I perceive AI as a large blue chip company not something that has been 'engineered'? Is it not also a good thing?

I did indeed receive from you a CD of the published pics which I thanked your Dad for via email when I communicated with him about AI at Brooklands a few weeks ago.  Thank you Michael. Thanks also for the copy of the magazine which I have only just recently received in the post.

Not quite sure where you're going with the comment about 'genuinely interesting and nice folks on shoots' Michael. We here at www.131mirafiori.com are certainly that.

Next time I shall ring you.

I hope that we are able to continue as friends Michael.

Simon