Those mags that write about cars are showing the car companies how to do a quick-turnaround bankruptcy. Today, Source Interlink, the publisher of Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Automobile magazines filed a “pre-packaged” Chapter 11 and announced plans to go private.

So at least the magazines will stick around. Under the bankruptcy, Source Interlink will get out from under almost $1 billion in debt. From Bloomberg:

“This restructuring will materially reduce our interest expense and debt levels,” Source Interlink Chief Executive Officer Greg Mays said today in a statement. The Bonita Springs, Florida-based company also runs Web sites and distributes CDs, video games and DVDs in the U.S.

I remember reading stacks of all these car magazines as a teenager. I was under the delusion that someday I would drive this car, instead of the Datsun 310 I was actually driving.