The Truth About Cars

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The Truth About Cars (TTAC) is a website covering automobiles, automotive products and the auto industry. It's best known for the infamous GM and Ford “Death Watch” and Chrysler "Suicide Watch" series. The site began publishing in 2002 ^[1], and features a mix of automotive reviews, editorials and news with an "in your face, no holds barred" attitude. The site is home to the annual Ten Worst Automobiles awards, ^[2] which are nominated and selected by the readers.

The web site currently receives over 1.6 million page views hits per month and over 600,000 unique visitors, with a strong demographic favorable to automotive products and accessories. ^[3] [1]Forbes Magazine lists TTAC as a “Best of the Web.”^[4]. PC Magazine lists TTAC as one of their "100 Top Websites." ^[5]

Contents 1 Staff 2 Style 3 Criticism 4 Content 5 Notes and References 6 External links

[edit] Staff

The site's Publisher is Robert Farago and its Managing Editor is Frank Williams. Regular contributors to the site include author and former Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief Stephan Wilkinson, Sajeev Mehta, William C. Montgomery, P.J. McCombs, Mike Solowiow, Adrian Imonti, Paul Niedermeyer, Justin Berkowitz, Matthew Neundorf, Jonny Lieberman, Glenn Swanson, Megan Benoit, Donal Fagan, Alex Dykes, Samir Syed, Martin Schwoerer and Jay Shoemaker. Andrei Avarvarii provides conceptual drawings of future models.

[edit] Style

The site has a fiercely independent coverage of the automobile world with strong editorial independence.^[6] TTAC offers its writers total editorial freedom to serve its intelligent, informed readership.^[7] Reader comments are moderated to prevent flaming the site, its authors or fellow commentators to maintain a civil discourse and an air of civility in the comments. Although some readers claim the site has a pro-import bias, the writers are equally outspoken in their criticism of both domestic- and foreign-branded automobiles.

[edit] Criticism

Because of their outspoken opinions, writers from the site have been excluded from many major manufacturer press events. Automakers such as GM and Chrysler officially refuse to acknowledge the site's existence. However, user logs indicate there are quite a few readers from the GM, Ford and Chrysler domains. All automakers have been explicitly invited to disprove any controversial statements. So far, none have accepted the invitation.

Their controversial review describing the grill of the Subaru B9 Tribeca as a "flying vagina" caused BMW to officially stop providing any review cars. Many other manufacturers also withheld access to their press fleets in the past, but that is rapidly changing as readership grows. Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Cadillac, Jaguar and Land Rover now provide access to their press cars, and others are following suit.

The site also gathers criticism, ironically, for its willingness to accept criticism. Negative comments about the site, its reviews, or its authors' logic are regularly discussed and dismissed if unfounded.

[edit] Content

• Detailed car reviews and editorials from contributing writers
• “Death Watch” editorials detailing the decline and fall of the US car industry
• Annual Ten Worst Automobiles award, based on reader selections
• News blog and commentary
• Specifications and pricing information from TrueDelta.com
• Open comments section
• Daily podcasts between Mr. Farago and contributor Justin Berkowitz where they discuss automotive topics from the news ^[8]
  

[edit] Notes and References

[edit] External links

• The Official Site