RIP Turbo and SCC...you will be missed.

[Goodspeed]

So, Source Interlink, which bought Primedia's EM (Enthusiast Media) divison in mid-2007, has given Sport Compact Car and Turbo magazine the axe. On Thursday the SCC staff was laid off, and the magazine will disappear after the February issue.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Both sucked as of late; Turbo was wafer thin and the latest staff of SCC pretty much nailed the coffin shut.

But, I always enjoyed a good Turbo here and there, their featured rides were always top notch and the tech, once their strong point, was concise and in depth. I had a subscription with SCC for a number of years and the team of Jacquot, Holstein, Dave Coleman, John Pearley Huffman and others was fantastic (they sometimes remind me of you MM hoodlums, actually), the magazine was innovative (USCC) and creative, with great writing and features. Both magazines, SCC in particular, are what really got me into cars back in the day and they were a huge part in nurturing my interest in all things automotive.

I haven't found anything else on the newstands that can compare to either of them. 0-60 is pretty good, but its not quite the enthusiast magazine that I'm used to. I'm pretty sure some (many) of you read these back in the day when you actually drove cars. Add the death of two leading enthusiast magazines with the decline in general automotive fanfare (aftermarket industry in the dumps, weak SEMA showing, dead NOPI among others) and things aren't looking too good. RIP.

Turbo - 1985/2008

Autoblog - Turbo

The first issue hit newsstands in June 1985, and after 23 years in the game, Turbo & High-Tech Performance Magazine is rumored to be at the end of its rope. In its late 90's heyday, Turbo Magazine boasted over 150 content-filled pages in each issue during the the import drag racing boom. And the small displacement engines of Japanese sports and compact cars provided the perfect platform to show off turbocharging technology. The complexities of a turbocharged vehicle used to intimidate many consumers and engine builders, but the vision of Turbo Magazine founder Kipp Kington brought the technology within reach of the average enthusiast.

But in recent years, the pages of the magazine have dwindled significantly. Even with an increased demand for smaller displacement, forced induction engines, Turbo has been left behind for shark bait. Its widespread distribution has been reduced to a trickle and finding an issue of Turbo on the rack became as rare as spotting Sasquatch. If the rumor holds true, we will be sorry to see it go, but its place in automotive history will not be forgotten.

Sport Compact Car - 1988/2008

Autoblog - Sport Compact Car

We just got off the phone with Joey Leh, former editor of Sport Compact Car, who informed us that the majority of the magazine's staff was laid off yesterday and that the February issue will be the last SCC you'll find on newsstands. The death of SCC follows Source Interlink's execution of Turbo earlier this year, and reports suggest that 115 employees have been given the boot and more titles could be axed in the future.

Sport Compact Car was the go-to title for gearheads obsessed with small displacement engines, forced induction, number crunching and the black arts of ECU and suspension tuning, with a dedicated focus on down-and-dirty tech, unique reviews, stellar writing and going fast on a budget. Both the page count and circulation numbers have dropped over the last five years, although according to our sources, ad revenue was up and distribution was holding steady.

On a personal note, SCC was the magazine that got this scribe hooked on driving and the finer points of air-to-fuel ratios, provided me with my first freelance gig and inspired me ÔÇô primarily through the writings of Dave Coleman, Josh Jacquot, Mike Kojima, Andy Hope, James Tate, John Pearley Huffman and Jared Holstein, among many others ÔÇô to pursue my dream of writing about cars. SCC will be sorely missed and the world is truly a worse place without it.

Hit the jump to see a list of everyone who has made Sport Compact Car possible over the last two decades.

[Apoc]

I used to love SCC but it's the eventual pendulum swing of the overzealous after-market scene. The people that really liked it got sick of the gimmicks and well, got older and bought sedans that were fast outta the box. Something will eventually take it's place, but it won't be until people figure out how to pay their heating bills first.

[ScottyB]

its funny, i used to hold SCC on a really high pedestal when i was an avid reader and into that "scene" 4-5 years ago. but, after the SCC issue where they had a contest to see which car could do the longest burnout, i just couldn't find a reason to get excited anymore. then the advertisements started taking over, and it eventually became throne reading and then i got into GRM, Evo, Top Gear, etc, which either had better tech or better storytelling or better photography, or all of the above.

alot of what they had going were really neat projects -- the white 300ZX, the infamous flat black silvia that started the whole flat black rage, and their miata projects were cool. but it bummed me out that alot of their neatest projects were the obscure cars, and those projects always slowly died on the vine along with the promises of great results and substantial performance gains. i understand why it happened but it pissed me off. i think alot of the death of their cool projects was the advent of internet forums too. why wait a month to see slow progress on a project when you can just go into a ton of different forum threads that show the same thing every day....and see them for free?

as for turbo, i never could get into it. i put it on the same level as super street which i wouldn't wipe my arse with. maybe that's unfair but i saw it that way.

[Sijray21]

good riddance to bad rubbish

like Scotty, i was a fan of SCC in 2002 and 2003, but the articles slowly became less interesting to me. i've read Turbo before, but i was never a fan of the articles

[Mike]

good riddance. both were garbage.

[Evan]

missed by some perhaps. but then again, Id love it if Car and Driver / Road and Track were never published again either.

its always been funny listening to people talk about SCC. Everyone always says "it used to be good 5 years ago" but the fact is, the magazine has always been the same but nobody wants to admit that they were clueless ricers 5 years ago
And yeah, I said the same thing once I grew out of that too!

[G.Irish]

I thought SCC was good in the first few years that it was out. But before I even got out of the car scene I saw it going downhill. A lot more ads and a lot less content just watered it down to a supermarket aisle read.

I never liked Turbo so no surprise there.

[DierwulfBL]

hahaha thats funny you bring up that "longest burnout" article cause my subscription was about to run out and i couldnt decide whether i wanted to renew......that article sealed the deal i couldn't believe what a waste of paper that was, because all good ricers know that a good ebrake makes a good FWD burnout(lol). I had already been missing the good ol SSCs and its about time they gave it the boot.

[Ryan T]

Reading about a best burnout competition sucks, but standing there beside of one at bristol motorspeedway with a bunch of extremely powerful cars makes it a LLOOTT more fun!

And good riddance to the magazines, just leaves more room for gun magazines on top of the toilet.

[DierwulfBL]

I'll second that ryan, scorched earth at NOPI can be added to one of my "guilty pleasures". But the article took stock 4 cylinders from the car lot and judged them based on how long of a single black mark they left on the pavement, it was horrid.