I have been a subscriber to Road & Track, Car & Driver, Automobile, and Motor Trend for the better part of a decade and they are fairly useful and usually worth reading. If you ever have the chance to read a British car magazine, though, you will realize how much you are actually missing out on.
The three British car magazines that I have found to be the best are CAR, TopGear, and EVO. As soon as you see one of these magazines you will notice that there is something different about them. They are printed in much higher quality and they have a lot more content. These magazines are about the size of GQ rather than Forbes like the American ones.
CAR Magazine – CAR is always a great ready. Of the three that I listed they tend to have the best coverage of racing and events. The magazine is more informational than anecdotal but still has the wry wit that we enjoy from the other two. The writirs are not as well known as the characters in TopGear or EVO but they do a great job and it is definitely worth picking up.
TopGear – The magazine actually came before the television program. Clarkson, Hammond, and May are frequent contributors and have a monthly column but at this point the rest of the staff is just as entertaining to read about. It follows along with the show fairly well but the magazine has a life of its own. Just like the show, they are much more likely to discuss a car in the context of a cross country road trip, a challenge with an animal, or a ludicrous but amusing comparison. Each month TopGear has more content and information than Motor Trend has in a year.
EVO – In my opinion this is the best car magazine in the world right now. They have a great list of contributors and actually work closely alongside TopGear for a lot of their material. Their contributors include Simon George who has a huge stable of exotic cars that the magazine uses as their “Fast Fleet.” Their photography is always breathtaking and this one definitely worth picking up if you see it.
It is very expensive to subscribe to these magazines but if you are ever in Europe they are cheaper to purchase. They will be $9-12 if you find them in an American bookstore. They are usually available at Barnes & Noble around here. There are also some inexpensive ways to subscribe via an iPad or other tablet reader.
