Karl Benz patented the “Motorwagen” in 1886 and became what most consider the  inventor of the modern day automobile.  We wonder if he had the vision of how cars would impact our lives the world over. In 2011 Wards Auto reported the world auto population exceeded 1 billion. One could argue that cars have evolved from a point A to point B  transportation device to an extension of our personality and a technical phenomenon on wheels. With so many options for every lifestyle and budget, we are intrigued by what drives consumers to choose the cars they do.

The Why This Ride (WTR) brain-child is MaryAnne Wendt, a tech-savvy electronic media junkie that loves anything purple. As a child, her family used to go on many road trips, some spanning the country coast to coast. She and her Dad used to play a game on their travels where they would try to guess the car make, model and year. That family bonding initiated a life long appreciation for cars. In high school MaryAnne took auto shop instead of home ec and drove her first car — her Dad’s green 1968 Pontiac Firebird 350.  Her Dad was the original owner and he gave it to her when she turned 16. On a wet rainy day that same year, she hydro-planed and hit a wall, totaling the car, and cried for days. Her friends gave bereavement cards — they knew her car was more than a car. It was her best friend. It was fast. It was a V8. A classic muscle car. It was bad ass. It had personality. (She talked to it.) Fast forward to today, MaryAnne combines her love of cars with skills in website project management, social media, and video production to help realize her vision of making WTR a leading destination website for passionate automotive lifestyle content.

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WTR’s momentum is building as we embark on car story-telling projects and continue to build out our crew including an ever-growing team of experienced automotive journalists aka car wordsmiths who contribute great content for Why This Ride.  Unlike other automotive websites, WhyThisRide.com growing traffic includes an even split of male vs female viewers and is attracting more coveted millenials than any other category. For advertising and marketing services click here.
The WTR foundation is built on this one genuine premise: Why do people choose the cars they do? If you love cars too, join us in this motorcar journey, a discovery of interesting people and their this-is-me automobile of choice. Do you have a cool story to tell? Want to share your story? Tell us, Why this ride? We’d love to hear from you.

MaryAnne Wendt

Founder/Editor
Why This Ride
Member of Motor Press Guild

Follow us on twitter & Instatgram @WhyThisRide