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Wheels editor Glenn Butler calls it a day

After almost three years at the helm and 36 action-packed editions, Wheels editor Glenn Butler has called it a day

21 Oct 2016 10:47 AM

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AFTER almost three years at the helm and 36 action-packed editions, Wheels editor Glenn Butler has called it a day.

Butler, who will enter the field of automotive PR, has steered Wheels through a digital transformation. He’s created the standalone WheelsMag.com.au website, and evolved the WhichCar.com.au website into a must-read reference site for new-car buyers.

He is the 13th editor to head up Wheels, appointed after the magazine’s nerve centre shifted from Sydney to Melbourne.

It was something of a baptism of fire. Even before the chair was warm Butler was thrown into the hot seat, with the axing of FPV and alarm bells ringing loudly over the future of Holden’s manufacturing – following in the wake of Ford announcing it would become a full-line importer from 2016 – shaking Australian car enthusiasts to the core.

Butler’s tenure at Wheels hasn’t been without its controversy, either. Some readers reacted in horror when the BMW i3, a small, lightweight battery-powered hatchback, was named the 2014 Wheels Car of the Year. As with some of other controversial COTY decisions (did someone mention the Leyland P76?), only time will tell if that choice will come to be seen as far sighted or misguided.