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Wheels magazine has always had a passionate audience, with a thriving letters section. Here's the latest from our readers.
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Has us covered
I really enjoyed Andy Enright’s look back at the greatest covers of all time.
There are certainly some deserving mention in there, especially the two iconic COTY covers of ‘No Car of the Year’ and the flying Falcon. However I think there was a glaring omission and coincidentally it was a COTY cover involving a Falcon.
I’m referring to 1995 when you perched the (well-deserved) winning Subaru Liberty in front of what I can only imagine were a few barrels of highly flammable liquid, put a match to them and stood well back, then applying the genius headline ‘Car of the Year – so hot it burnt the Falcon’.
Some 29 years on and I still remember how visually stunning that cover looked on the newsstand. It’s my personal favourite and certainly worthy of mention of greatest Wheels covers ever to grace the shelves.
Mark Slater, Richmond, Vic
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🛞 Editor Andy
That is indeed a great cover, Mark. I recall the voting from that year where Bob Hall was the only proponent of the Falcon. Every other judge voted for a Japanese contender with the Liberty snagging six of the 11 available votes. It was a large and illustrious judging panel back then.
Indeed, as you trawl back through the Wheels archive, it would have been possible to create several volumes of our favourites but we had to make the call somewhere.
One of my personal favourites didn’t even make the cut. The January 2018 Car of the Year issue had a peach of an image on the cover and marked my first COTY as a judge, so it was always going to be close to my heart.
On solid ice?
For someone who’s unashamedly clinging to petrol engines and manual transmissions tooth and nail, I have to say, I’ve enjoyed the recent electric car coverage in Wheels a lot more than I expected.
Nevertheless, I’ve had this plan to wait until the last moment possible to get my hands on a petrol-powered manual hatch – like an i20 N or Swift Sport before their kind are gone forever.
But lately I’ve been thinking, will I still be able to use these cars as my daily drive, say, 15 years from now?
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Will they be economically viable to own and run? The electric car is steaming ahead, though it feels like Australia’s infrastructure to support them is still miles behind.
So my question is – when is the tipping point? How long are we away from the moment where buying anything other than electric is the impractical choice?
Luke Scicluna, Melbourne, Vic
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🛞 Editor Andy
We’re going to be taking a more detailed look at exactly these sorts of questions in the next issue, Luke.
Oh what patience
I note that the Wheels / WhichCar website feature that details waiting times for cars in high demand indicates a 261-day wait time for a LC300 Series Toyota LandCruiser.
I wish that was the case. I placed my order for a GR Sport back in February 2022 and I’m still waiting. What’s worse is my local Toyota dealer can’t give me any information on when I may expect to take delivery. It’s hardly the way to treat what was a loyal customer base.
It won’t happen again as this is the last time I order a Toyota!
Neal Pennison, via email
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🛞 Editor Andy
Sadly, the issue is not limited to Toyota, Neal. The fact is that many dealers are just giving their most educated estimate at the time. Toyota has been slugged by huge demand and limited supply for first RAV4 and now LandCruiser. But after that long, we agree that you probably have the right to a more concrete ETA.
The boot for utes
I’ve been a faithful purchaser of Wheels and have bought every copy since the scoop of the EJ Holden.
Over the years the magazine has catered for enthusiast drivers but I feel this has been gradually diminishing. Now so much of the magazine is taken up with SUVs and 4x4 utes.
Yes, I do realise that Australian motorists have now followed US trends and four-door utes are the biggest sellers. However, are these vehicles actually purchased by “motoring enthusiasts”?
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I haven’t met one yet, but I can guarantee that most people who buy them do so for a fashion statement and not because they need them. After all, how many do you actually see carrying stuff?
In any case you can carry a lot more in a 6x4 trailer and only have it follow you around the few times you need it – allowing you to have a more fuel efficient/comfortable vehicle that has as much passenger space, doesn’t take up as much room when parking it and handles a lot better.
Peter Tripoli, via email
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🛞 Editor Andy
For better and for worse, Peter, logic isn’t the overriding factor in many
new-car buying decisions. The SUV has largely become the new
wagon form factor.
Honda in reverse
Interesting to see in a recent VFACTs report that most manufacturers increased sales from same month last year, yet Honda went backwards by around 600 units.
Clearly the fixed-priced sales model is working well for them! Or is it a case of supply issues making the sales position look more grim than it really is? I see that someone commented on my post saying that there is a 10-month wait for hybrids.
G Hunt, via Wheels Facebook
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The Wheels question to you
Are you waiting for a reset in new car pricing or is this it?
I'll wait
- Trevor Deane, Vic: I have a 2014 Corolla that’s due for replacement, but I’m willing to keep it as my daily for another year or so and see if the supply issues and pricing returns to something vaguely sensible.
Buy now
- Shaye Brown, Qld: Look at the sales data and people are still buying new cars like there’s no tomorrow. No manufacturer is going to reduce prices if that’s the case. If anything they’ll go up as they see what the market will bear.
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