Author Archives: Tabitha

“Cool” storage ideas
AutoKnow Aug 31, 2015

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 check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.
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

Hey wasn’t it August just a couple of weeks ago? No, not really. Accepting that classics and collectibles eventually surrender to salted roads and snowplows, seasonal vehicle storage has arrived yet again. Yes, every year this happens, despite repeated prayers to the Car Gods for one more sunny and warm driving day. The obvious winterization checklist of filling the fuel tank, adding stabilizer, topping fluids, prepping a storage space, making sure insurance is up to date, that the battery is unhooked or removed and cleaning the vehicle inside and out are common-sense. But is that it?

Please contact us to order this feature.

WordSearch
Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.

Description

Use: Interactive content for media professionals looking to bolster recurring readership and increase the amount of exposure time for their products, whether print or Web.

What it is: Why are auto publications so dry and so serious? We’re living proof that car nuts have a sense of humor and want to have a little sugar on their Corn Flakes. Your readers will have fun with the “Driver ’s Seat” Word Search as they unearth people, places and events. Driver ’s Seat is just one step in making your auto product more interactive, which provides more exposure for advertisers and more revenue for all.

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 verion by clicking here.
High-resolution 300 dpi jpg CMYK file suitable for print and Web.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Fine Lines: Maserati Birdcage
FineLines Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.
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

Despite producing only 22 examples between 1959 and 1961, the Birdcage is perhaps the best-known and most desirable of all the competition Maseratis ever built. One look at its offbeat construction and sensuous bodywork and it’s easy to see why.
Although the company, founded by the six Maserati brothers in the early part of the 20th century, was frequently in financial difficulties, it has, in it’s troubled life span, managed to produce a number of significant low-volume, high-priced classics.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Lexus LS 460/600h L: 2007-’12
Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.

Description

The LS series was one of the first offerings from Lexus, the premium division launched by Toyota in 1990. This full-size flagship sedan provided competition for, and an alternative to, top rides from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Jaguar, plus domestic mainstays Lincoln and Cadillac. Following updates in 1995 and 2001, the LS 460 and extended-length LS 460 L took over top spot in the Lexus fleet for 2007. Both came with 380-horsepower 4.6-liter V8s connected to eight-speed automatic transmissions.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Chrysler HEMI
Legends Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.

Description

They don’t just call it a legend for just any old reason. The return of Chrysler’s “Hemi” engine in 2003 resurrected a blast from the past that began more than five decades ago. So named for its effective hemispherical (dome-shaped) combustion chambers, the “Hemi” was capable of ingesting huge volumes of air and fuel, essential for making high horsepower. During World War II, Chrysler’s 16-cylinder Hemi-headed engines were used to power fighter aircraft through the 500-mph barrier in level flight.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Shift!
Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.
Use: Media professionals demanding automotive content on technology and vehicles designed to reduce pollution and save readers money.

What it is: The first “green” feature. One of our most popular new weekly features takes a look at the auto world from the unique perspective of fuel efficiency and technology as it relates to the environment, from hydrogen, hybrids, electric power and other alternative methods of propulsion. “Shift” is exactly that: a shift in thinking. What will the vehicle of tomorrow look like? Your readers can find out today in Shift. This predesigned module can be used as-is or reconfigured to fit just about any space.

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 “Shift” art.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is 8″x13″, but can be reconfigured by your designer to fit most spaces.
PDF of layout included.
About 900 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.

Crazy 8
The Octane Lounge Aug 31, 2015

Overview

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

Description

Every November, the Specialty Equipment Market Association descends on Las Vegas for the annual SEMA Show, an industry event that brings together more than 2,400 exhibiting businesses of all things automotive related, more than 60,000 buyers and some 3,000 media members. SEMA, Nov. 3-6 this year, is where people in the automotive aftermarket industry go to find out what the newest and hottest parts, pieces and trends are in the business. SEMA is not open to the public, but it is a huge event nevertheless. And it’s a place where automakers and aftermarket suppliers alike bring out their wildest creations.

Please contact us to order this feature.

There’s no debating over motorcycle noise
Aug 31, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.

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

Here’s a shocker. People are sick and tired of motorcycle noise. Well, what did riders expect when they throw it in people’s faces, time and time again? It’s their own fault it has come to this. “But this new noise law affects all riders who want to enjoy their motorcycles, not just the loud ones!” Uhhh, say what? What does deafening noise have to do with “enjoying” a motorcycle? I know I don’t enjoy it. And how can it affect the non-noisy riders? That makes no sense. “Talk about a law for the minority!”

Please contact us to order this feature.

Nissan Juke-R 2.0
AutoGraph Aug 31, 2015

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.

It’s really time to get the lead out
Aug 24, 2015

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to check out some of our stories online, visit www.theoctanelounge.com, which is owned by Wheelbase Media.

What is Auto Edit?

Story Intro

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been kind of hoping that all this new battery technology used in hybrid cars and electrics would find its way into other things, like, ohhh, I dunno, batteries, perhaps. All kinds of batteries. Big ones, small ones, rechargeable ones that just have to look at a wall plug the right way to get all happy and juiced up.
But nothing. Well, nothing that really affects me at this very moment. Lithium-ion, where are you? You would be my best friend right now, all lightweight and spry.