Today, Four Wheeler's parent company has announced that Four Wheeler will take a month off as the best all-around 4x4 publication to retool and return as a bi-monthly UTV magazine. We have been in the process of redesigning the magazine to bring it up to date, but apparently the powers that be have decided on a whole new direction. Directly from my boss today:
It is with great excitement that I can finally tell you about the big plans we have been working on for the magazine. With tightening emissions, rising gas prices, a weakening economy, and gaining popularity in the UTV sector, our parent company has decided the time was right to shift our focus to the UTV and ATV market, making it less crowded for our remaining 4x4 magazines. The staff is mostly on board with the change, and we hope to bring you the best UTV magazine around, utilizing the same faces you are already familiar with. In fact, our Feature Editor Robin Stover just acquired a new project UTV, which we will unveil in our upcoming inaugural issue. With all of the confusion surrounding the Four Wheeler name and with some of the challenges facing the market, we thought the time was right to make this change. The new magazine, geared at younger, hipper readers, will be called Four Wheeler 2.0.
The staff member most impacted by the change will be our Senior Editor Ken Brubaker, who will have his title changed to Senior Staff Photographer and will mostly report on how UTVs are useful in a Midwest farm environment – really giving FW 2.0 the middle-America flavor we love. Ken will also be responsible for reporting on upcoming UTV technologies, such as E85, since he is right in the thick of it in Illinois.
As for the Four Wheeler project vehicles, they will be auctioned on eBay for charity or transferred to sister publications, and we’ll have more information on that at a later date.
Also, Top Truck Challenge will soldier on as TUVC, or Top Utility Vehicle Challenge and should add excitement to the Tank Trap.
Lastly, Four Wheeler of the Year will carry on, but will focus on -- you guessed it – four wheelers.
We’d like to thank all of our loyal readers over the years and hope you will stay with us through our new assignments. If you have any ideas for the new version of Four Wheeler 2.0, please feel free to drop us a line.
Douglas McColloch
You heard it here first everyone, I guess the word is out. I have been told that I am to look forward to my new assignment as Trail Test Editor for the new Magazine. Supposedly the official release will be out at the end of the week. Thanks for the support and we’ll see you out there.
Sean P. Holman
Trail Test Editor – Four Wheeler 2.0 Magazine