New era for Glass’s Guide

The final print edition of Glass’s Guide – dubbed ‘the motor trade car valuations Bible’ – will come off the presses next month after 83 years of continuous publication interrupted only by the Second World War.

The company has announced that the August 2016 issue, the 925th, will be the last. All Glass’s subscribers will now access their car valuation information digitally through the Glass’s Guide App, a switchover process that has been under way since 2014.

Rupert Pontin, director of valuations, said, ‘This is a momentous occasion. The image of the car dealer leafing through their Glass’s Guide at a motor auction or on the forecourt is very much etched into the public consciousness.

‘However, the truth is that the vast majority of our subscribers have been accessing our information through smartphones, tablets and PCs for some time. They do this for very good reasons – the Guide App contains four times the number of car valuations, alongside easy mileage adjustment and registration lookup.

He continued, ‘Just a handful of subscribers were still taking the printed guide. We continued publishing it long after the point at which it was economic to do so but have finally taken the decision to stop.’

Rupert also appealed to members of the public who may have old editions of the printed Guide. ‘We have an extensive archive but the first six issues are missing. We’d very much like to hear from anyone who may have those issues, which are dated July-August 1933.’

At present, Glass’s has no plans to end their other printed guides covering the commercial vehicle, caravan and motorcycle sectors.