Matters of moment, December 1985

During 1985 we have been celebrating the 60th anniversary of the title Motor Sport. While looking back has been fun, we have been planning for the future as well.

Motor Sport is not just a magazine, it is an institution with traditions. True traditions have life, and that implies growth and change and development. Astute readers will have noticed changes of emphasis in the magazine over the past year or so and, to judge from your letters, these have been welcomed.

From the next issue there will be further, more obvious, changes. The most noticeable will be a variation of the front cover design which has served us for the past 30 years or so. It is a visual statement of our intention to continue to grow and develop. We think it retains the essence of the old while being new.

We will also be printing on paper which will improve the quality of our black and white photographs, particularly old photographs. There will be other changes of design as well, but these will be self-evident.

The use of better quality paper, together with other rising costs means that we will have to increase the price of Motor Sport to one pound. This may seem a large jump but the current price has been kept at an artificially low figure during our Diamond Jubilee year. Even at a pound, it is still the least expensive motoring monthly on the market. We intend that Motor Sport will continue to be better value than any of its competitors.

Brighter, better, presentation of the magazine does not mean we will be discarding our traditional values. We will continue to be outspoken. We will continue to be slightly cynical. We will continue to expose the bogus. We will continue to aim for the highest standards of honesty, accuracy and good writing.

We will, in fact, continue to be Motor Sport. The January issue will be published on Friday, 20th December.