Cavallino magazine

The writers are all contractors. Has anyone noticed if there has been a change in authorship of the articles? I know it is not the same few from issue to issue but it was more or less from the same group issue to issue. Are we getting lessor quality authors?

The ownership has changed but I believe the editor is the same.

Marcel? I suspect you know personally most of the long time authors and I suspect the editor as well.
Care to comment?

 

The new editor is Massimo Delbò who has experience in automobile magazines, at least as a writer/contributor. I don’t know if he has an editorial background. I think Marc @Nembo1777 knows more about him.

 

Well, I’m encouraged that the first two cover cars have been Enzo era….

 

if you develop a magazine that caters to cars built in the quantity of 50, youre guaranteed to get 50 subscribers. reading about the same cars being rerestored and reshown over again gets old.
its like watching movies with the same actors always cast.
in truth, cavallino reads more like a trades magazine.

 

I was not aware they had changed editors. I know the old one but we rarely talk business.

 

In my opinion only I would expect that emphasis to change.

 

May I suggest that to test this someone (preferably an acknowledged expert) sends them a letter / mail with corrections? And see what happens??

 

Massimo is a good person, we are both contributors to Octane Magazine and I have had a few nice chats with him. He is an astute observer off the scene and the people. He is a very competent and knowledgeable journalist, I have no doubt he can do a great job...BUT the big question is what exactly his role is and what freedom he has. I think alas it is restricted and that the new ownership wants to transform the magazine into a lifestyle publication. It seems bent on losing the plot; on walking away from what Cavallino was when I wrote for it (1992-2001)and for years before and after but less so in recent years: serious in depth research articles that alas not so many appreciate...it was an elitist publication in the sense of who the texts were meant for...now it is heading towards being a coffee table magazine...sad....

 

Agreed.

 

Done long time ago, more than once, zero reaction at all.

Marcel Massini

 

Why am I not surprised?...

 

What a waste of a great magazine

 

Going through issue #251 (Oct/Nov 22) and the Delbò article about Le Mans Classic I noticed the wrong photo caption on page 30. This is not S/N 0298 M. The car shown is chassis number 0254 MM. Very easy to see the different front bodywork. While 0254 MM has the standard nose, 0298 MM has a special one-off nose and front grille. The list on page 32 is also incorrect.

Looking at the Pebble Beach Tour article I noticed on page 37 another incorrect photo caption. The 250 LM pictured on top right is not the 1965 Le Mans winning S/N 5893 but rather 250 LM #6053 owned by Chris Cox. This fabulous racecar is fitted with 250 LM engine #6167.

The Ferrari shown by Jimmy Page at Pebble Beach is not a 275 GTB but rather a superrare alloy bodied 275 GTB/6C (S/N 08859). Quite a difference.

The list of Ferraris at The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, published on page 42, is rather incomplete and includes only 23 Ferraris, when in fact there were more than 35 there.
The 250 Boano is S/N 0639 GT, the 400 Superamerica is 5115 SA, the yellow 246 GTS Spider is 07746 and owned by an fchatter, 123688 is actually a 550 Barchetta, the yellow Daytona is 14101 also owned by an active fchatter, the black 512 BB is 22613, and the red F40 is 88730, the red 550 Maranello is 113341. There was also a very rare azzurro dino blue 246 Dino GT #07574 with chairs and flares from a renowned Texas-based collector and fchatter, not to forget the gunmetal grey 365 GT 2+2 and the metallic grey 250 GT LWB Berlinetta Scaglietti #0507 GT of Brian Ross, winner of the Cavallino Modena Concours in July 2021.

Oh well.........

Marcel Massini

 

There's a smart business opportunity here if they would listen and make the right move...

And by that I mean hire MM and pay him the $250K annually the magazines audience deserves

 

This “evolution” of Cavallino magazine reminds me of another niche magazine, Cigar Aficionado. First, the magazine changed from really beautifully done art covers to celebrity covers, presumably to boost newsstand sales. The real “tell” about the change of editorial emphasis from cigars to generic “lifestyle” came when the cover font changed from CIGAR Aficionado to Cigar AFICIONADO (or something similar).

 

Instead of evolution don't you mean decadence?

 

I worked at a newsstand/tobacconist (actually where I bought my first copy of Cavallino, #49) when Cigar Aficionado was launched, used to read it, and agree with your assessment. That was a nice magazine in the mid-90s, though I haven't sought it out in forever. Once I was talking to a friend about it, he misheard me and was confused as to what sort of person read a magazine called "Cigar, Fish & Auto".

I realize it's all about change or die; sure wish the process didn't have to alienate those that most supported Cavallino and helped make it great. Out with the old, I suppose. One of their "endorsements" back in the day was the statement "My wife and I are fighting over the Cavallinos in our divorce settlement"; pretty sure that won't be happening with the lifestyle types.

 

My local newsagent went from a large double shop with shelves and shelves of magazines all throughout the 1980's through to 2019 when it moved into a half sized standard shop selling mainly greeting cards, small home goods, lotto tickets and has only two shelves of very general magazines.
Sign of the times hey.

 

I used to love roaming huge newsstands, even as a kid way back in the early 1960s….MAD magazine, British car mags, out of town newspapers, aviation magazines, limited print run niche magazines, etc. I still can’t pass a big newsstand without going in and browsing,

 

Hahahaha, I still collect MAD magazine to this day from buying them in the 1970's.

 

It is exactly the same where I live, selection of car magazines (or any type of magazine) at newsagents nowadays is very limited. Where even average size shops in small towns always had a quite a broad range of car magazines, now they offer only one or two (and to make matters worse, since the best independent local car magazine was bought a few years ago by a large news agency company, quality went downhill quickly ).

While at the same time the number of online magazines has exploded, there seems to be a specialized niche magazine for about anything. Sometimes they are so highly specialized that I am wondering if there is any significant number of readers at all - even worldwide.

Signs of the times indeed.

 

These days, given the demise of most newsstands in big cities where a huge part of their revenue came from tobacco, probably the best stocked racks are at Barnes & Noble.