Throughout its 117-year history, MOTOR Magazine has experienced a number of signifcant changes, spurred by the evolution of our organization as well as the industry it serves.

From its inception in 1903 through the early 1920s, MOTOR was essentially a lifestyle publication, written for car owners and enthusiasts. In the years leading up to the second World War, it was transformed and adopted the tagline The Automotive Business Paper, while focusing primarily on the manufacturing and selling of motor vehicles. In the 1940s, the magazine shifted its focus once again, this time to support shop owners and technicians; and that’s been its mission ever since.

It’s no coincidence that during this most recent period, spanning nearly 80 years, the audience served by the magazine reflected the purchasers of MOTOR Information Systems’ wide variety of repair manuals.

When I joined the company, which was then known as MOTOR Publications, in 1981, our primary business was and had been producing repair manuals and labor time guides and selling them to shops via an independent distributor sales force. In recent years, however, MOTOR has diversified to serve other areas of the aftermarket. And, while we continue to produce and market printed publications (now, exclusively through Matco Tools), the lion’s share of our business today involves licensing automotive data to various types of organizations— among them parts manufacturers and distributors, fleet operators, software and other technology providers and OEMs.

In case you missed our recent announcement, MOTOR Magazine will transition to a fully digital environment, effective at the beginning of 2021. So, while we may be breaking the tradition of delivering content in print and exclusively to shop owners and technicians, we intend to maintain the practice of providing valuable content to all customers of our parent company, MOTOR Information Systems.

As a MOTOR Magazine subscriber, here is what these changes mean to you:

• December 2020 will be the last print issue you will receive.
• Every article from every issue between 1998 and 2020, as well as our newsletters dating back to 2016, will continue to be available at motor.com.
• A digital version of every complete issue from 2008 through 2020 will continue to be available on our website.
• New articles and news items will be published regularly on motor.com that will be written for a variety of audiences, including service and repair providers like you.
• If you’re already signed up to receive our newsletters, you’ll begin to receive notifications of new content in the service and repair category in the coming months. A new sign-up form will be available to all those currently not receiving MOTOR e-Newsletters by November 30, 2020.

All of us at MOTOR sincerely appreciate the loyalty of our magazine subscribers and look forward to serving you in the future.