About Petersen’s Kit Car
Petersen’s Kit Car was the largest and longest running Handcrafted and Specialty Car magazine that was ever published. It was part of the Petersen Publishing company owned by Robert E. Petersen. Petersen Publishing specialized in monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, and annual magazines that each focus on special-interest subjects.
Petersen’s Kit Car was a bi-monthly publication featuring some of the best hand crafted cars on the market. Our personal collection spans from 1983 when it was Petersen’s Kit Car “The Specialty Car Magazine” and ends in 2004 as Kit Car “The Car Builders Authority. In 2001 the publisher changed to emap-Petersen, and then to emap-usa. From 2002-2004 it was published by Primedia.
These magazines provided the crazed fan their fix of great looking cars as well as advertisements. All of the major companies of the day advertised in the magazine and every issue contained a wealth of info. From readers rides, how-to’s, company bios and info on up and coming kit car shows, this magazine had it all!
But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and if you are a fan of handcrafted cars you know there is currently no publication in print. In my opinion there is still nothing like holding a magazine in your hand and flipping through the pages. I could easily go through the same magazine several times and find something I did not see the first time.
Now our only option is to search the internet, look at back issues, and great websites such as our own .
Petersen’s Kit Car Magazine Covers
Here are just a few random covers from various years. I will post the entire collection in the coming weeks.