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About Car Review
Popular & Performance Car Review was published by Dobbs Publishing in Lakeland, Florida. Dobbs was an upstart, independent publisher which started with Mustang Monthly in 1978. Dobbs built a strong portfolio of other muscle and performance titles and then sold everything to Petersen Publishing in 1999.
Popular & Performance Car Review had its roots in Classic Sixties and Car Exchange. Dobbs purchased Car Exchange from Krause Publishing and merged it with Classic Sixties to create Popular & Performance Car Review. It was later re-titled to Muscle Car Review in December, 1986.
The original concept was to compare the performance of both old and new muscle cars. But based on reader feedback, the magazine shifted focus to older muscle cars. Donald Farr, the original editor, created a real uproar when he ranked the fastest 50 muscle cars. Reader response was both positive and negative, but the magazine set records for newsstand sales. Farr remained the editor until 1986 when Paul Zazarine took the helm.
Muscle Car Review (MCR) was a re-titling of Popular & Performance Car Review. It was published by Dobbs Publishing in Lakeland, Florida. Donald Farr was the first editor, but in February 1986 Paul Zazarine took the helm when Mr. Farr moved to Super Ford. Paul had been writing GTO articles for Dobbs, so he was the perfect candidate to assume the editor role. His timing matched the growing interest in muscle car restoration, and he led with many how-to tips and a July, 1989 series called, "How to Restore Your Muscle Car". Zazarine also noted the growing popularity of the 5.0 Mustang, and Muscle Car Review offered many bolt-on tips.
In 1989, Tom Shaw became the editor. After he was established, car values were declining along with advertising dollars. Management decided to move away from the restoration focus and include more modified cars. Mr. Shaw left his role in September 1991 because he felt it was the wrong direction. But the change didn't pan out, and Mr. Shaw returned to the editor role in May 1994. He re-focused on restoration and original cars. This was a growth period for Dobbs, and Muscle Car Review was the company's largest circulated title.
In June, 1995, CSK Publishing's Muscle Cars magazine was folded into MCR. The exact nature of the arrangement isn't clear, but Muscle Cars subscribers received MCR magazine to fulfill their original subscriptions. Subscribers to both had their subscriptions extended until both were fulfilled. With MCR the only remaining muscle car magazine at that point, this gesture was good for readers, the hobby and the Dobbs brand.
