Author Archives: jeff

Top Gear – July 29, 2013

Overview

Use: Media professionals demanding top-quality automotive content for print/Web. Professional artwork, editing.

What it is: What’s new, what’s hot! Wheelbase Communications is committed to broadening readership (getting non-traditional auto-section readers into your publication/Web pages) and creating as much revenue potential as possible. Top Gear focuses on the aftermarket by telling your readers what’s new and what’s cool. This column includes four items per week as well as prices (where possible) and Web site addresses.

Product specifications

Mac and PC page layout with accompanying text and art files for maximum work flexibility.
High-resolution artwork suitable for print.
Includes Photoshop layers file of main art.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is 8×21.5 inches (newspaper), but can be reconfigured by your designer to fit most spaces.
PDF of layout included.
About 850 words: separate text file included.
Fonts are not included, but we attempt to stay with standard system fonts. If not, just change the fonts to match your style.

Please contact us to order this feature.

1962 Pontiac Grand Prix – FineLines July 29, 2013

Overview

Don’t wait for stories to appear in the store when you can become a member of Wheelbase Media’s weekly news service and save more than 50 percent while gaining instant access to the new features as they’re produced. Click here to get started.

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to read this and other feature stories from Wheelbase Media, visit www.shiftweekly.com to subscribe to Auto Shift Weekly newsmag, available for your Apple iPad or for your home PC or laptop in pdf format.

Use: Media professionals demanding top-quality automotive content for their print products and/or Web sites. Professional artwork, editing.

What it is: Many of you asked if we could put our expertise to work to create a feature that covers not just classic cars, but those vehicles that have left an indelible mark on car culture. The Fine Lines series examines significant vehicle marques, their backgrounds and their contributions to the history of the automobile. All this, with real artwork.

Product specifications

Mac and PC page layout with accompanying text and
art files for maximum work flexibility.
About 850 words: separate text file included.
Layout is 8×21.5 inches (newspaper), but can be
reconfigured by your designer to fit most spaces.
PDF of layout included.
High-resolution artwork suitable for print.
Includes Photoshop layers file of main art.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark
Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Fonts are not included, but we attempt to stay with
standard system fonts. If not, just change the fonts to
match your style.

Description

Simple, tasteful and elegant are words not normally associated with most cars built by North American automakers in the early 1960s. The revolutionary 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix is the exception as it became a benchmark for style and sophistication.
Before its arrival, the personal-luxury category was dominated and even outright owned by the second-generation Ford Thunderbird that was introduced in 1958. That year marked the beginning of the four-seater ‘Bird, a larger but eminently more practical version of the two-seat original.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Land Rover Range Rover: 2006-’12 – July. 29, 2013

Overview

Description

The British Range Rover was launched in June of 1970 as go-anywhere wagon powered by a Buick-designed V8. It was introduced to North America for 1987, priced at about $35,000, and gained status as the ride of choice for Hollywood stars. The Range Rover was stretched by eight inches for 2003 and was significantly updated for 2007 with two engine choices: a 305-horsepower 4.4-liter V8; and an optional 400-horsepower supercharged 4.2-liter V8. Both powerplants were replaced for 2010 with a base 375-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 and an optional supercharged version with 510 horses. The Range Rover was completely redesigned for 2013,but its engine selection remained unchanged.

Please contact us to order this feature.

2014 Transit Connect Wagon – July 29, 2013

Overview

Description

Nowhere in Ford’s press or promotional literature will you see the 2014 Transit Connect Wagon referred to as a minivan.
But one walk around this big-roofed rig with its dual-sliding side doors and up to seven-passenger seating capacity is enough to confirm that “minivan” is the most relevant designation, even if it’s from Europe.
The TC Wagon, which arrives in late 2013, is the junior-sized civilian offshoot of a series of new windowless commercial-vans heading to North America from Ford’s factory in Spain. Size-wise, it falls into the compact class, which means it’s significantly smaller than more traditional minivans from Chrysler, Toyota and Honda. In fact, a more direct comparison to the Mazda5 might work best.

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Shrek needed gas but also got a little magic – July. 22, 2013

Overview

What is Auto Edit?

Welcome to AutoEdit, a new and slightly more irreverent weekly feature from Wheelbase Media.
Rather than your pages being a collection of random auto stories, the AutoEdit feature is intended to be the glue that holds it all together. Just as your editorial page is intended to be the pulse of your newspaper, Auto Edit can also be the pulse of your auto pages.

Auto edit runs 500-550 words and is all about your readers becoming more familiar with our key staff members via their personal views on the automotive world. Of all 18 of our weekly features, AutoEdit is the only one intended to provide weekly commentary. Journalistically speaking, this is just common sense since such commentary does not belong in our other news-type features.

Whether your readers agree or disagree with what’s written, they’ll know exactly how the writers of AutoEdit stand on their chosen topics. And, quite frankly, a little spirited debate is a healthy thing and that seems to be missing from more and more newspapers these days. AutoEdit is all about soul, getting back to the basics of solid content and showing readers that there are real people behind the nine-point typeface.

Story Intro

“I have some tools in my van if you need them.”
Susan was heading over to see what was up with my stranded 1955 Chevrolet Two-Ten.
My beloved old crock, nicknamed Shrek because of its ogre-green color and sheer bulk, had been running great all day until it abruptly sputtered and died at the side of the road. My suspicion was that I had run it out of fuel, but since the gas gauge wasn’t working I couldn’t tell for sure.

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2014 Cadillac CTS – July 22, 2013

Overview

Description

Cadillac’s head-to-head battle with German and Japanese rivals is nothing short of audacious and with the reenergized 2014 CTS joining in, the brand continues to gain newfound respect.
The third-generation CTS joins the new compact ATS and full-size XTS in a constantly evolving lineup and will soon be joined by the electric-powered ELR coupe that will employ a similar powertrain to the Chevrolet Volt. The speed at which these new models are coming to market is dizzying to say the least.

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Fighting crime with tech – AutoKnow, July 22, 2013

Overview

Use: Media professionals demanding a variety of automotive topics for broader readership.

What it is: Diversity matters. An automotive print product or Web site largely based on new-vehicle reviews is missing an enormous readership. Auto Know gives us the latitude to explore fantastic auto-related stories outside the realm of mere reviews. Whether it’s about how surround sound is engineered into a vehicle, European cars that will land on our shores, or knowing when it’s time to throw in the towel on your old beater, Auto Know is the perfect tool to capture new readers. . . with solid, interesting stories.

Product specifications

Mac and PC page layout with accompanying text and art files for maximum work flexibility.
Layout is 8×21.5 inches (newspaper), but can be reconfigured by your designer to fit most spaces.
PDF of layout included.
About 800-900 words; separate Word text included if you don’t want to use the supplied layout.
Artwork resolution (200-250 dpi) is high enough for print use.
Includes Photoshop layers file of main art.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Fonts are not included, but we attempt to stay with standard system fonts. If not, just change the fonts to match your style.

Description

Officer Garrett Dow can’t help but laugh every time he puts on old rerun of “Adam-12”, the classic cop show from the 1960s and ’70s.
“Everything they did on the show, all their communication, was done on the radio. Or, they had to go use a payphone to call in an arrest warrant, or to see if somebody was wanted,” said Dow, a technology officer for the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon.

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Peter Revson – Legends, July 22, 2013

Overview

Description

Peter Revson shunned family wealth to make his mark as a racing driver. Born heir in 1939 to the Revlon cosmetics fortune, he took up amateur racing, a passion that led him to Europe in 1963. Unaided by his family’s fortune, Revson lived out of the transport truck that carried his car

Please contact us to order this feature.

Volvo Coupe – AutoGraph July 22, 2013

AutoGraph

Use: Media professionals demanding top-quality automotive content for their print products and/or Web sites. Professional artwork, editing.

What it is: Weekly automotive infographics that inform, enlighten and delight readers. Our high-impact infographics add visual appeal and variety to your auto-section pages. Wheelbase’s designers are some of the best in the business with numerous awards for dynamic newsgraphics and page design. AutoGraph will show your readers, with engaging visual style, what they want and need to know about their automobiles as well as today’s trends. These professional, useful and intelligent graphics will help raise the profile of your auto section.

Product specifications

Designed by Wheelbase Media’s editorial staff using Macromedia Freehand (for backward compatibility for most systems) as well as Adobe Photoshop.
Mac or PC use.
Files included in your download: native Freehand file; Freehand EPS file (which is how to edit the AutoGraph with Adobe Illustrator) and a 300 dpi CMYK low-compression jpg file.
Print size: 8 inches wide, 6 inches tall, scalable about 10 percent up or down.
AutoGraph uses typical system fonts for compatibility.

Please contact us to order this feature.

AutoCross Jul. 22, 2013

Overview

Description

Use: Media professionals demanding top-quality automotive content for their print products and/or Web sites. Professional artwork, editing.

What it is: For the auto thrill-seeker, this is one of the most unique additions to your publication. The International AutoCross will test the knowledge of your readers with trivia that scours automobile parts bins, dealer showrooms and the history of people and places that have made the automobile what it is today. Retain readers and have them coming back on a regular basis for more. Like Wheelbase’s other features, International AutoCross comes to you formatted and ready to use.

Product specifications

Due to the highly complicated graphic nature of this product, we do not yet offer a version that can be played online. Instead, visitors to your Web site can print out the crossword and play it at their leisure. Vote yes to having a playable online version by clicking here.
High-resolution 300 dpi jpg CMYK file suitable for printand Web. Postscript file also included for even higher resolution and no bitmapping of fonts.