Author Archives: Tabitha

Overhaulit Part 5
So, what do we do with this thing?

Overview

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If you are not a member of the media, you can still check out a limited selection of our stories available on our Web site www.theoctanelounge.com

Description

This is a car that I’ve personally owned for 30 years, straight through. That of course means that it, like many project cars, has been completed several times over with different themes and statements. What do we do with it? Wasn’t it already completed four times?
So, I have had to forget the notion that this is a canvas that I just keep throwing money at. It’s time to pick a real goal and build it.

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Overhaulit Part 6
Leaving your life savings in Bondo City

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, you can still check out a limited selection of our stories available on our Web site www.theoctanelounge.com

Description

To the casual observer, rebuilding a car is like running a marathon. There are slow spots, bumpy roads and “hitting the wall,” but as long as there’s forward motion, you’ll eventually get done. This “marathon” happens to be a 1963 Corvette – a masterpiece of design, but not much in terms of engineering – a worthwhile recipient of a restoration if there ever was one.

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Desert drama
The Octane Lounge Nov 17, 2014

Overview

Description

As expected, Arizona auction week saw spectacular results, with record sales totals and some of the world’s finest cars crossing the blocks. When the dust finally settled on the six big mid-January auctions in the Valley of the Sun – Barrett-Jackson, RM Auctions, Gooding & Co., Bonhams, Russo and Steele, and Silver – the numbers told the story. Total sales were $292.8 million, up 17.8 percent from 2014’s total of 248.6 million, according to www.hagerty.com, which deals in collector-car values and insurance.

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Shift!
Nov 17, 2014

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.
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.

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Eleanor
Legends Nov 17, 2014

Overview

Description

She was a 1967 Shelby GT500 Mustang code-named Eleanor, the 50th and final vehicle that Nicholas Cage, who played retired-car-thief-brought-back-into-action Randall “Memphis” Raines, had to steal and deliver to a ruthless crime boss. For car nuts, Gone in 60 Seconds- a remake of the 1974 movie that also features a Mustang- is precisely 14 minutes long, the exact length of the movie’s climatic car chase. . .

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The Detroit Auto Show;
Behind the headlines
AutoKnow Nov 17, 2014

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 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

The annual North American International Auto Show (a.k.a. NAIAS, or simply The Detroit Auto Show) is a huge deal and one of the largest of its type in the world. Each January, the Cobo Convention Center draws in thousands of reporters and photographers and hundreds of thousands of patrons throughout the show’s nearly two-week run.

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Is the “future” really the
hydrogen-powered Mirai?
Full Throttle Nov 17, 2014

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.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 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

Something had to give. No one would build a hydrogen-fuel infrastructure without any cars to use it, and no one would build and sell cars without the infrastructure. This means that either Toyota is completely crazy to develop the Mirai, or it has faith that the infrastructure will actually come.

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Technology that saves us from technology
Nov 17, 2014

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

If I want to be a passenger I’ll choose to sit somewhere other than behind the wheel. Computers, cameras and other hardware and software are subjugating the act of, and responsibility for, driving a vehicle.
It’s obvious that the age of the connected and controlled car is well upon us and, as the saying goes you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

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Overhaulit Part 7
Better, faster, stronger . . . because you can

Overview

If you are not a member of the media, you can still check out a limited selection of our stories available on our Web site www.theoctanelounge.com

Description

Is a car that stops faster and turns on demand while remaining stable or controllable a safe car? Or is it a better performer? The answer is both, of course, so if we’re not appealing to your good sense to stay alive, perhaps you’ll be turned on by reduced stopping distances, no brake fade and razor-sharp handling, which is also part of a safe car.
The interesting thing about safety, or a lack thereof, is that it creates a certain tentativeness and a reluctance, neither of which are welcome copilots in a vehicle.

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Auto Almanac
Nov 17, 2014

Overview

Use: Media professionals demanding non-traditional and interesting automotive content for print/Web.

What it is: A treasure trove of essential automotive quick hits. After designing a highly successful Almanac for one of our daily-newspaper customers, we wondered if we could put together an automotive version. As a result, your new Auto Almanac contains trivia, concept-car spy info, auction notes and even games. All along the way, we invite readers to interact and submit their own ideas.

Product specifications

Mac and PC page layout with accompanying text and art files for maximum work flexibility.
High-resolution artwork suitable for print.
Multi-platform page layout opens with either Quark Xpress or Adobe Indesign.
Layout is the standard one-column newspaper format, but can be reconfigured by your designer to fit most spaces and shapes.
PDF of layout included.
About 600 words: NO?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.