Four Wheeler Magazine 40th Anniversary Intro - Four Decades Of Four Wheeler

When founder Robert Ames published the first edition of Four Wheeler in February of 1962, he wrote a story titled, "Our First Year," in which he outlined his plans for the editorial content of his new magazine-the very first of its kind-for the coming 12 months. He planned to include technical stories, backcountry trips, road tests, and features on custom vehicles.

Now, 40 years later, in a world that has changed more than anyone on Four Wheeler's founding staff could have guessed, the magazine remains consistently true to that original vision. It still includes technical stories, backcountry trips, road tests, and features on custom vehicles. And to that list, it adds tire tests, the 'wheelers and vehicles of Top Truck Challenge, extraordinary adventure/travel stories, and comprehensive guides to the wide world of parts that are available for our rigs.

So in a sense, where we're going is where we've been. Those of us who currently act as caretakers of the Four Wheeler legacy see that as the job that you, our readers, have given us. So what follows is a brief review of where we've been, a look back at the words and pictures from the last 40 years. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

--The Four Wheeler staff, 2002