About Wheels

Wheels

Wheels is Australia's oldest and most influential motoring magazine, founded in 1953. Published monthly, it is known for its road tests, comparison tests and new-car reviews — and above all for the Wheels Car of the Year award, presented annually since 1963 and claimed by its publisher as the world's oldest continuously running new-car award of its kind. Since July 2024 the magazine has been owned by the Motoring Media Network.

Overview

Wheels has been the benchmark of Australian motoring journalism for more than seventy years. Its formula — expert road testing, rigorous comparison tests, a massive databank section covering more than 1,500 new cars on sale in Australia, and the annual Car of the Year award — has made it the title manufacturers and motorists alike watch. The magazine's readers are famously engaged: the publisher has reported that they typically spend more than two hours with each monthly issue.

The Wheels Car of the Year (COTY) is the brand's crown jewel. Awarded since 1963 to the best newly released vehicle of the year — judged on function, technology, efficiency, safety and value — it was established during the editorship of Bill Tuckey, who also instigated the comparison tests that became a title signature. The inaugural winner was the French Renault 8; the award was withheld only three times, in 1972, 1979 and 1986, when no newly released car was judged worthy.

History

Wheels was founded in 1953 by Hudson Publications, with Athol Yeomans as its founding editor. In June 1955 it was sold to KG Murray Publishing. By 1994 the magazine was owned by Australian Consolidated Press (ACP).

The Car of the Year award, launched in 1963, was originally intended to promote excellence in the Australian car manufacturing industry then dominated by Ford, Holden, Chrysler, Datsun and Toyota. As the fuel crises of the 1970s shrank local manufacturing and quality issues affected Australian-made cars, Wheels opened the award to imported cars — a move condemned at first by the local industry, unions and media, but one that let local products be judged on a global basis and, the publisher argues, helped make the local industry more competitive. Winners are heavily advertised as COTY winners by manufacturers.

The award's history includes famous controversies. In 1972 and 1979 the award was withheld in years when new Ford Falcons (the XA and XD) were leading contenders; after the second withholding, Ford Australia's deputy manager Edsel Ford II took out a full-page advertisement in Wheels depicting the Falcon and other contenders as lemons, declaring "There are times when being a lemon is not a bitter experience at all" — an answer to Wheels' March 1980 cover, a four-wheeled lemon under the headline "NO CAR OF THE YEAR." In 1999 the judges' choice of the Mercedes-Benz S320, priced from $169,500, was criticised as irrelevant to most consumers; editor Ewen Page defended it on the grounds that its pioneering technology — Distronic distance control, self-activating wipers and headlights — would "trickle down" to the rest of the automotive world.

Ownership changed repeatedly in the modern era. In September 2012 Wheels was included in Bauer Media's acquisition of ACP's magazines. Former Top Gear Australia editor Stephen Corby became editor in October 2012, succeeding Bill Thomas (the former UK Top Gear deputy editor appointed in November 2010). For the October 2013 issue, writer Ben Oliver drove a Volvo S60 from Melbourne to Sydney along the Hume Highway while Wheels launched the "Raise the limit, lower the toll" petition to lift the speed limit to 130 km/h as in the Northern Territory — a stunt that drew criticism from law enforcement agencies. Glenn Butler edited the title from 2014 to 2016, succeeded by deputy Alex Inwood in March 2017. The February 2018 issue brought a redesign: new fonts, thicker paper, a cleaner style and greater emphasis on hero photography, alongside an expanded technology section and the biggest databank section in the magazine's history. In 2020 Wheels was included in Are Media's acquisition of Bauer Media's Australian assets; former Motor editor Dylan Campbell became Wheels editor in November 2020, and when Motor was shuttered in June 2022, its editor Andy Enright took over Wheels. In July 2024 the Motoring Media Network acquired the magazine.

The Car of the Year in the modern era

Recent winners illustrate the award's evolution from a champion of local manufacturing to a global benchmark. The 50th award in 2012 went jointly to the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 sports coupes — praised as affordable, rewarding, efficient and safe. The 55th award in 2018 went to the Volvo XC60, a first-time winner for Volvo; the 56th in 2019 to the Volvo XC40, which the judges found out-pointed its opposition on all five criteria. The 2019 award was presented at the Australian Motoring Awards night at Peninsula, Docklands — the industry's night of nights, where more than 200 executives gather and where Wheels' sister titles present awards including 4X4 Australia's 4×4 of the Year and Motor's Performance Car of the Year.

The 2003 Falcon and the award's credibility

Few COTY results illustrate the award's standing better than 2003, when the Ford BA Falcon won — the first Falcon to take the title since 1966. Ford Australia chief executive Geoff Polites called it "a big deal": "I think it's the longest, oldest one in the world, and it carries with it a tremendous degree of credibility just because of the testing that's done." The finalists included the Holden Monaro, BMW 7 Series, Honda Jazz, Mazda 6 and Toyota Camry; Wheels controversially omitted Holden's VY Commodore — the Falcon's arch-rival and Australia's top-selling car — judging its facelift insufficiently changed. The same coverage named Wheels' cars of the decades: the Ford XR Falcon for the sixties, Honda Accord for the seventies, Mazda MX-5 for the eighties and Lexus LS400 for the nineties.

The reader contract

Wheels' redesigns have always been negotiated with its readers. Unveiling the February 2018 new look, editor Alex Inwood stressed the title's "65 years of heritage in Australia" and the consultation behind the changes: "Our readers typically spend more than two hours engrossed in our pages each month, so we wanted to create a clean, easy to read format that reflects our heritage, but with a modern twist." The new format expanded the technology section and carried the biggest databank section in the magazine's history — more than 1,500 new cars available for purchase in Australia — alongside "the world class photography and quality journalism Wheels readers love." The Car of the Year criteria have stayed constant: function, technology, efficiency, safety and value, with eligibility limited to cars released in the previous twelve months.

Content and Features

Each monthly issue carries road tests, comparison tests, new-car reviews, motoring news, technology coverage and the databank of new cars on sale in Australia. The annual Car of the Year issue — with the winner on the cover — is the publishing year's centrepiece.

Coverage and Audience

Wheels is distributed nationally through newsagents, subscriptions and digital editions, with its content also appearing on the WhichCar network (whichcar.com.au). Its audience is Australia's car enthusiasts and new-car buyers — deeply engaged readers who, the publisher reports, spend more than two hours with each issue.

Ownership

Wheels has been owned by the Motoring Media Network since July 2024. Previous owners include Hudson Publications (1953–1955), KG Murray Publishing, Australian Consolidated Press, Bauer Media (2012–2020) and Are Media (2020–2024). The magazine is based in Sydney, New South Wales.

Digital Presence

Wheels' digital content appears on the WhichCar network at whichcar.com.au, with news, reviews and Car of the Year coverage between monthly issues. The brand maintains active social media channels promoting each issue and the annual awards.