''Wheels'' is an Australian automotive

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

owned by Are Media. The publication is well-renowned by Australian car enthusiasts. Its main competitor within the Australian car magazine market is ''

Motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

'', though ''Wheels'' and ''Motor'' are stablemates in the Bauer Media Group catalogue and are aimed at slightly different readers as ''Motor'' puts more attention on performance cars. ''Wheels'' magazine is sold in Australia and New Zealand only and can be found at stores such as newsagents. The magazine was published monthly by Bauer Media Pty Ltd. and has its headquarters in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

History

''Wheels'' was founded in May 1953 by Ray. With the help of a colleague, Yeomans planned the first copy of ''Wheels'' in a stationery room of Hudson Publications in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Since 1963, ''Wheels'' has annually announced its

Car of the Year Car of the Year (COTY) is a common abbreviation for numerous automotive awards. The "Car of the Year" phrase is considered to have been introduced by ''Motor Trend'' magazine in 1949 when the new publication named Cadillac as Motor Trend Car of the ...

award, although this has been withheld in 1972, 1979 and 1986. The award was created by Bill Tuckey. It was announced in September 2010 that Bill Thomas, former deputy editor of ''BBC Top Gear Magazine'' in the UK, would take over as editor in November 2010. In October 2012, it was announced that former ''Top Gear Australia'' magazine editor Stephen Corby was to become editor of ''Wheels'', replacing Bill Thomas. For the October 2013 issue, Ben Oliver drove a Volvo S60 Polestar from Melbourne to Sydney along the Hume Highway, and Wheels launched the "Raise the limit, lower the toll" petition to raise the speed limit to 130 km/h, as it is in the Northern Territory. The campaign has since received lots of media coverage and acclamation among Australian motoring enthusiasts. Glenn Butler was the publication’s editor from 2014 through 2016. He was replaced by Alex Inwood, former deputy editor of the magazine, who was appointed editor of ''Wheels'' in March 2017. In the February 2018 issue, the magazine was redesigned with new fonts, thicker paper, a cleaner style and appearance and a greater emphasis on hero photography. In the October 2020 issue, the publication’s editor of three years, Alex Inwood, left the magazine. His replacement is former ''Motor'' editor, Dylan Campbell. In 2020, ''Wheels'' was acquired by Are Media, the successor to Bauer Media Australia. From June 2022, the former editor of ''Motor'', Andy Enright, was appointed as editor of ''Wheels''. WHEELS EDITOR TIMELINE * 1953-56 Athol Yeomans * 1956-58 Ian Simpson * 1958-63 Ian Fraser * 1963-68 Bill Tuckey * 1968-71 Rob Luck * 1971-87 Peter Robinson * 1987-94 Phil Scott * 1994-99 Angus MacKenzie * 1999-02

Ewen Page Ewen Page was editor-in-chief of '' Top Gear Australia magazine'' and was thTop Gear official website Page has a media career spanning 28 years and has edited a variety of Australian car magazines, from '' Street Machine'' to ''Wheels'', '' Moto ...

* 2002-10 Ged Bulmer * 2010-12 Bill Thomas * 2012-13 Stephen Corby * 2013-16 Glenn Butler * 2016-20 Alex Inwood * 2020-21 Dylan Campbell * 2021-22 Ash Westerman (acting) * 2022- Andy Enright

References

External links

* {{Are Media 1953 establishments in Australia Are Media Automobile magazines published in Australia Magazines established in 1953 Magazines published in Sydney Mass media in Melbourne Monthly magazines published in Australia