New Roads

Steve Purdy will launch a new web-only (not broadcast) radio show, Shunpiker’s Journal on Tuesday, February 16. The hour-long show starts at 11: a.m. on the new web-based radio network, www.talklansing.net EST, AwCom presumes, for the Detroit area-based journalist. Although the first show will feature a live report of the Hyundai Sonata launch from Torrey Pines, Calif. The network has been created by Lansing business mogul, Chris Holman, and veteran radio guy, Walt Sorg. He welcomes show comments and suggestions at stevepurdy3@gmail.com.

Marty Schorr has launched a new web site: www.SarasotaCafeRacers.com to encourage “car guys” and gals to form “non-club clubs” with no officers, dues or requirements except bonding those who regularly gather to talk nothing but cars. Gatherings such as the enthusiasts meeting Saturday morning at the Do-Nut in Manhattan Beach, Cal., at the Rochester Hills, Mich., Breakfast Club or those seated at the Tuesday Car Table often graced by auto writing luminary Denise McCluggage in Albuquerque, N.M. What she wrote about that group applies to all such passionate colloquiums: “Tuesday Car table is not a club; it’s a fixed place and time and a floating assemblage of people who are keen on cars.” Through the site, Schorr offers “free guidance for serious car enthusiasts to use our model (www.SarasotaCafeRacers.com) and create multi-marquee Café Racers lunch groups where they live. They can contact us (mls@SarasotaCafeRacers.com) for startup information. Once up and running, they can develop a web presence, link to our website, network with other Café Racers and use our logo. And it’s all free.”

Automotive Rhythms has revamped its www.automotiverhythms.com, web site that includes a user-friendlier platform, custom design and innovative features to make it easier for visitors to find everything from auto reviews and car customization to lifestyle trends and travel. The Web site also features AR’s signature broadband video program, ARtv Live.

SpeedReaders.info is a new web site for authors, publishers and readers. The site publishes “balanced, unbiased and carefully written” reviews on a wide range of automotive and transportation books and other media such as DVDs and videos. Speedreaders.info is anchored by experienced journalists/ enthusiasts Kevin Clemens, Helen V. Hutchings, Frank Barrett and David Woodhouse. . . . NASCAR Auto Guide has been launched by NASCAR.com with High Gear Media providing editorial content and AutoTrader.com providing access to new and used-car inventories nationally. . . . In response to electronics “now taking 30-40% of a new car’s value” Rick DeMeis has introduced a new web site, Techbites.com. It offers a weekly newsletter to keep readers up-to-date with the latest developments in electronics and other auto technologies.

Quench Media announced the launch of OnlineTowingGuide.com, a new portal for complete news and information on recreational towing. Editor and publisher Brett Becker launched the new site because, he says, “there was a need for a Web site, with high production values, that provided information and advice on how to do things safely in towing and trailering. He adds that he has poured all the knowledge gained from his years of experience in towing and trailering into the site with the goal of helping others, “pull it right and get there in one piece.”

A group of ‘Green Enthusiasts’ has launched a green portal www.gogreen.ae to increase awareness of environmental issues that affect the future of the planet. Go-Green.ae is updated 24/7 with green news, events, technologies, videos, web resources and success stories in the field of energy conservation, sustainability and environmental protection. . . . Online Media reports that Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp and Time, Inc. are working on a “new digital storefront.”  It would keep Apple or other platform providers from controlling digital distribution. Apple is ready to introduce its competitor to the Kindle reader this spring.

Kevin Clemens sent us a news release about a new automotive and transportation book review site, www.Speedreaders.info but we misplaced the release. So here is a description from the site: “SpeedReaders.info was created to provide readers with reviews of automotive and transportation books and other media such as videos and DVDs. The books we review include: Automobiles, Motorcycles, Trucks, Boats and Ships, Trains, Buses, Airplanes and Aviation, as well as racing, rally, and adventure stories that have to do with planes, trains, ships and automobiles. Although we primarily review new or recent books, you will also find many classic and out-of-print books in our reviews because we like them! Many of the books we review are produced by small and specialty publishers and we put a priority on such presses. We also accept self-published books- as long as they have an ISBN. The reviews are property of the reviewer, but may be excerpted or copied completely, as long as credit is given to the reviewer and to Speedreaders.info.”

Eric Killorin has published the first issue of the Car Pub Insider blog which he says, “gathers, researches, analyzes, and comments on the unprecedented challenges facing our industry” . . . Race Fan Radio has introduced Next Level, a new 60-minute interactive show devoted to young, up-and-coming racers. To learn more, check www.raceFanRadio.com. To book someone for the show call 877-596-7223 or email nextlevel@racefanradio.com.

New to AWCOM is the more than 50 hybrid related blogs and websites, http://www.hybridkingdom.com. According to Jeff Carey, monarch of this kingdom, “Rather than build one website/blog to write about all aspects of hybrid-electric vehicles, we are building specialized niche sites for hybrid SUVs, hybrid cars, hybrid trucks, the 3rd generation Prius, and more. The most popular of them currently is www.HybridSUV.com.  . . . Another new and unusual blog brought to AWCOM’s attention is http://fabulavir.com authored by John Walker who says it is an “Experimental fiction concerning the life of a surviving identical twin who inherits an Oldsmobile 442 and slowly becomes the man his brother might have been while coming to terms with death.” . . . Yet another Blog new to AWCOM is The Cultural Blog Garage, “a social site for those whose common bond is a passion for all things combustion. It meets at the cross streets of automobiles and culture.”

USA Today has a number of mobile editions in the works. “Company officials forecast a huge market for mobile readers in the near future,” according to Media Daily News. . . . The Rocky Mountain Independent is a news Web site serving residents of Denver and surrounding area. It is staffed by former editors of the shuttered Rocky Mountain News. Steve Foster, Cindy House and John Moore are co-editors. For more information, check www.rockymountainindependent.com.

Global Post www.globalpost.com has been operating since the first of the year seeks to be the only Internet journalism site devoted exclusively to international news and related content. In addition to advertising, it seeks to sustain itself by selling content to other outlets and paid memberships . . . . Auto racing coverage is getting a boost on a few fronts: Race Central TV has partnered for the 2009 season with MAV TV, a 24-hour HD television network, thereby expanding the global reach of Race Central’s coverage of NHRA, NASCAR and other race circuits. Race Central TV, Radio and Webcasts are produced by Denver-based Motorsports Media Group, Inc.

Five veteran motorsports reporters have teamed to provide national racing news and coverage at www.RacinToday.com. They are managing editor Jim Pedley and senior writers Bill Fleischman, Rick Minter, John Sturbin and Larry Woody. Fleischman continues as assistant sports editor at the Philadelphia Daily News and Minter with the Atlanta J-C. . . . An unusual mash-up of music and motoring has been announced by Astor Motor Productions. The company describes itself as providing “motor sport enthusiasts with a host of unique and exciting opportunities to enjoy and participate in the history of vintage auto and bike racing culture.” The first of these mash-ups will be Music City Motor Jam in Nashville, Tenn, June 27. . . . ATV Television has restructured its online delivery methods for easier access to its video library and has initiated a free subscription E-newsletter, ATV Insider, covering industry news. More at info@atvtv.com