Author Archives: Tabitha

How a diversion becomes and off-road excursion
Full Throttle March 2, 2015

Overview

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Use: Media professionals looking to diversify their automotive readership with women authors who provide their views on a wide variety of topics.

What it is: Courtney Hansen, America’s favorite Garage Girl and the former host of The Learning Channel’s Overhaulin’ auto makeover show, a new-book author and the host of Spike TV’s weekend “Power Block,” has teamed up with Wheelbase Communications for this exclusive column. If you’re looking to build more regular readership and to bring more women into the pages of your print publication and Web pages with the help of a friendly and outgoing automotive celebrity, this bi-weekly column that alternates with our own Rhonda Wheeler is a must.

Product specifications

About 800-900 words; Word text file plus high-resolution art files for print and Web use.
Mac and PC layout with accompanying text and art files for maximum work flexibility.
High-resolution artwork suitable for print.
Coming soon! Multi-platform page layout that opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.

Description

It has been a Murphy’s Law type of year for my family, so I needed an excuse to get away for the weekend with my sister. Retail therapy was definitely in order. We were looking for a little excitement … and new pairs of shoes. Little did we know our diversion would become an “off-road” excursion. The plan was to set out early on a Saturday morning in her new tall wagon/crossover/sport-utility vehicle since it has much more storage room for what we hoped would be and awesome retail adventure.

Please contact us to order this feature.

2015 Volkswagen Golf R
March 2, 2015 AutoPilot

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

Think of it as a more practical and quicker Audi TT-S and this new Golf is really a no-brainer for less than 40 grand. Constructing the Golf R begins with the newest Golf platform and four-door body style that has been stretched by about two inches overall, with most of the increase located between the front and rear wheels.

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Profiles, Vincenzo Lancia
March 2, 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 print/Web.Professional artwork, editing. What it is: Cars are nothing without the people who create them and those who own, collect and preserve them. Profiles is designed to bring prominent, interesting car people to your readers’ attention. Fun, informative and masterfully designed, like most Wheelbase features, Profiles comes to you as a Quark Xpress/Adobe InDesign module that is completely editable for any space within your print pages or automotive Web site.

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, where applicable.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is 8×21.5 inches (for newspaper use), with some depth variation from week to week, 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.

Description

Advertising? Vincenzo Lancia didn’t believe in it. Media publicity? Lancia saw a different way. He was perhaps the first example of just how powerful word-of-mouth sales could be. During a time when the burgeoning auto industry had hundreds of different players, Lancia stood alone because his cars stood on their own. At the end of the 19th century, there were automakers that could build high volumes of cars that had average quality, and there were those who built low-volume vehicles that were more reliable.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Fine Lines: 1963 Corvette Z06
FineLines March 2, 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

The Z06 was defiantly built to win races and keep Chevy’s underground competition program alive. It looks just like any other 1963 Corvette coupe built, doesn’t it? A cursory look and you would never know that there was anything particularly exotic or meaningful about the Z06 designation. But for those in the know, the innocuous alpha-numeric code was actually assigned to a small group of factory-fresh 1963 Corvette coupes that had been specially prepared for racing duty.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Acura TSX: 2009-’14
March 2, 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

Acura’s entry-level TSX joined the larger TL sedan for the 2004 model year. The four-door TSX was actually based on the European version of the Honda Accord, which was slightly smaller than the one styled and built in North America. Following five successful seasons, a completely redrawn TSX entered service for the 2009 model year.

Please contact us to order this feature.

The Auto Sleuth
Feb 23, 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: Voted the best automotive news column available: you need it.

What it is: If you could have only one automotive feature, this should be it. At Wheelbase Communications, we’ve chosen to stay away from providing an automotive-news column until we could do it in a non-traditional way. And here it is: the Auto Sleuth. Our worldly gumshoe has his ear to the ground, digging up the latest news on everything from product launches and updates to names in the news. The column is solely driven by reader interest. No boring statistics or auto-company pap here, just the straight goods peppered with the Auto Sleuth’s commentary and speculative, gossipy-style.

Product specifications

Mac and PC print layout with separate text and art files for maximum work flexibility.
High-resolution artwork suitable for print.
Multi-platform layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is 8×16 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.

Shift!
Feb 23, 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.

AutoCross
Feb 23, 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: 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.

Please contact us to order this feature.

Profiles, Tom McCahill
Feb 23, 2015

Overview

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, where applicable.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is 8×21.5 inches (for newspaper use), with some depth variation from week to week, 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.

Description

Struggling to find a job during the Great Depression, he went on to become the continent’s first road-test writer. It could have been the Yale education in fine arts, the failed auto repair business during the Depression or just a want for things more poetic than pedantic. But Thomas Jay McCahill III never planned on being the first and foremost authority on moving steel and glass.

Please contact us to order this feature.

James Garner
Legends Feb 23, 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

Born James Bumgarner in 1928, the Oklahoma native always excelled in movie roles that involved automobiles, driving, and racing, three of his greatest loves and interests. Garner was selected to play Formula One Pete Aron in the 1966 film Grand Prix, where his natural ability behind the wheel surprised even the world-class drivers on set.

Please contact us to order this feature.