Jim Clark
Former Managing Editor
Tom and Rose Mcmullen partnered with Tex Smith to produce four issues of Street Chopper in January of 1969. Those issues of the magazine were distributed by subscription only. To increase the distribution and make the magazine viable, they decided to offer it for sale on the newsstand. I had worked with Tom freelancing to the car and bike magazines and helped with the startup and operation of AEE Choppers. Therefore, Tom asked me to join the staff of Street Chopper and serve as vice president of the magazine and chopper part companies.
We produced the first few issues before hiring additional staff members. My primary experience was in photography, so I ended up shooting many of the covers and color for Street Chopper and the other magazines during my time with the company. I started as managing editor, but the titles didn't mean much as Tom and I did most of the photos and writing with the oversight of our mentor Tex Smith. Tex took what we produced and polished it for publication.
When we hired additional staff members, I assumed the duties as editorial director overseeing the content of Street Chopper and other titles as we expanded the company. I continued to shoot much of the photography, covered events, and produced how-to articles. When Tex moved on to other ventures in 1972, I assumed the additional duties as general manager.
In 1970 we introduced Chopper Guide as a one-shot magazine/catalog to promote AEE Choppers' parts, and it sold so well that we continued publishing it as a quarterly magazine until the mid '70s. In 1971 we introduced HOT BIKE magazine to serve the performance motorcycle market. We all worked on each of the magazines while focusing the bulk of our time on the book we were primarily assigned to.
When we introduced Street Rodder magazine in 1972, I served as the first editor, which consumed most of my available time so I didn't spend much time working on the bike magazines. I still did some photography and covered some events while overseeing the content as editorial director. In 1974 AEE and TRM parted ways with Tom and I along with the magazine staff moving away to our own separate facilities. We created Truckin' magazine in 1974, VW Trends in 1976 and some other non-automotive titles during that time period.
This increased the demands on my time even more, but we had outstanding editors on all of the magazines that were involved in the activities that they reported on. I left the company in 1978 to produce some how-to books, work for a trucking business publisher, create Mini-Truck magazine, and own my own publishing company producing Vans & Trucks magazine. It's great to see Street Chopper achieve this milestone and to have been a part of its birth and formative years.