Overhaulit Part 11
Out with the buggy springs

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, you can still check out a limited selection of our stories available on our Web site www.theoctanelounge.com

Description

Pop quiz. What suspension technology found on our Project Plymouth dates back more than a century? Leaf springs no doubt smoothed the blows to the buttocks dealt you by a horse-drawn carriage. And in the early days when “cars” were nothing more than automated carts and carriages, leaf springs were naturally carried forward.
How, exactly, “buggy” springs found their way into the automobile well into the 1990s is anyone’s guess, but the pace of change – or more likely the desire to make change – was slow.

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Overhaulit Part 12
Material matters

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

There’s a putty, glaze, primer, glue, sealer, top coat, welding wire, clearcoat, tape, undercoat and masking paper for every job. And that can add up to thousands. By now you’ve met our 1970 Project Plymouth, which also happens to be the first car I ever bought. Back in 1984, I did what any aspiring university sophomore would do: spend some of his precious student loan to repaint his car. Stupid? Likely. . .

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The Auto Sleuth
Nov 3 , 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: 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.

200-mph family Caddy
The Octane Lounge Nov 3, 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.

Description

What is it with 200-mph cars these days? It seems like everyone has to have to one to sell, even brands with cushy images, such as Cadillac. Although you will never drive it that fast, a car such as the 2016 CTS-V is great for the ego. And for bragging rights. It’s like saying you can bench press 300 pounds. People are in awe even if you never have to whip out a set of bar bells in public to prove it.

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Toyota Sequoia: 2001-’07
Nov 3, 2014

Overview

Description

For hauling up to eight passengers and their personal effects, the original Sequoia was an impressive performer. Its Tundra-pickup-based chassis and available four-wheel-drive offered significant on- /off-road capability. Standard skid plates helped protect vital engine, transmission and suspension components. The generous 10.5-inch ground clearance also helped it negotiate rugged terrain.

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Top Gear
Nov 3, 2014

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.

WordSearch
Nov 3, 2014

Overview

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.

Corvette Grand Sport
FineLines Nov 3, 2014

Overview

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

Officially, the five single-purpose competition machines didn’t exist and all General Motors’ divisions were supposedly adhering to a ban on racing originally agreed to by all North American manufacturers back in 1957.
Behind closed doors, however, GM, Ford and Chrysler conducted various “skunk works” operations that funneled money and engineering expertise to various private racing enterprises. In mid-1962, the first of what would become five special Corvettes, labeled the Grand Sport, began to take shape. Loosely based on the new-for-1963 Sting Ray coupe, each featured a tubular aluminum chassis, extra-thin fiberglass body panels and plexiglass windows.

Please contact us to order this feature.

AutoCross
Nov 3, 2014

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.

Please contact us to order this feature.

2015 Lexus RC
Nov 3 , 2014 AutoPilot

Overview

Description

You’ll notice that Lexus has has joined the group with the 2015 RC coupe. The base RC 350 and the slicker RC 350 F Sport are more genteel packages for boulevard cruising and occasionally attacking twisty back-roads in all kinds of weather. The RC F is more of a hard-core performer that is capable of blistering acceleration and gravity defying cornering and stopping power.