Kim Henson has been passionately interested in cars and motoring from a very early age.
Even when at school, his ambition was to write about motor cars for a living.
This dream of Kim’s came to fruition via the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons Award, in which Kim was runner-up in 1974.
As a direct result of this, and the encouragement of Guild members, he started producing freelance automotive articles which were published over the next few years.
He joined ‘Practical Motorist’ magazine in November 1978, and has worked as a full-time freelance motoring writer since August 1985.
Over the last 30 years his work has appeared in a wide range of motoring and general interest magazines, ‘county’ titles, newspapers, websites and books (he has written several titles for Haynes and other motoring book producers, and runs his own book publishing operation, ‘Classic Car Publishing’).
From the mid-2000s Kim was keen to start his own motoring magazine website (in addition to his regular work for a range of publications, printed and online), to reflect his own passionate and individualistic approach to automotive matters.
He wanted the site to cover new and classic cars, technical and ‘motoring for fun’ features, to appeal to, help and inform a wide range of people, both motoring enthusiasts and those who may not (yet) be ‘petrolheads’ as such.
With the assistance of a long-standing graphic/web designer colleague and friend (who handled the website operation) Kim started work on ‘Wheels-Alive’ in 2006, and the name www.wheels-alive.co.uk was registered in 2007.
After much planning and hundreds of hours of work to get the subject matter as ‘right’ as possible, the site went live in 2013, and since then has attracted increasing numbers of readers/viewers. They have said that they like (among other aspects) the style, clarity, information and ‘motoring entertainment’ that they find within the site.
In that time Kim has been delighted (and grateful) to welcome a variety of dedicated motoring writers (all specialists in their own particular fields of motoring) who have regularly contributed to the website, thereby increasing its breadth, depth and overall appeal.
The website has just undergone a complete redesign and mechanical makeover, now being set up on a fresh platform and with a new web designer, the highly competent Ash Whitney proprietor of www.wiredupwales.com, as Kim’s colleague who had set up the original website with him has reluctantly had to step back from the project, due to much more pressing priorities in his personal life.
This revamp (the first since the site was set up) has enabled Kim to operate the revised website himself, and to incorporate more features within it, while making it even easier for readers/viewers to navigate and to search for items of interest to them.
The website has only been ‘live’ in its re-engineered form for a few weeks, but Kim has already been heartened by the positive responses received so far.
These include:
“Looks good” – “Great website” – “Love the new site” – “Well done Kim” – “Like the new site” – “Good job Kim; I like it” – “The new website is great; it looks really good” – “Great site which I intend to use frequently” – “Love your new car appraisals (so helpful and well-written), as well as the old car features” – “I am an enthusiast and have been in the motor trade for over 40 years – and think your website is fabulous. It’s clearly laid-out, fresh-thinking, honest and enjoyable to read, without being sensationalist. Well done.”
Kim wishes to thank everyone involved so far in getting the original site online, and in the revamp. This includes contributors, with several new faces having been welcomed to the new site.
To contact Kim by e-mail, the address to use (and which will reach him directly) is in**@wh**********.com
