Bios
Scott Corlett
Scott Corlett loved cars and San Francisco from the childhood moment when he saw (in rerun, mind you) the 1968 film, The Love Bug, about an anthropomorphized Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie that tore around the streets of The City by the Bay. Unfortunately for Scott, when he acquired his first car—a well-loved, but poorly heated thirteen-year-old 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle—he still lived in frigid Michigan. Scott honed his driving skills while simultaneously shifting through four gears of a clunky manual transmission, scraping viewing holes in the permafrost that coated the windshield’s passenger-cabin-side surface, and handling definitely non-power-assisted steering on icy, twisty, rural roads. By the time Scott landed in temperate San Francisco, his Volkswagen Super Beetle was but a memory of blanket-wrapped winter rides to high school, endless additions of engine oil, and sweaty-skin-sticking-to-red-pleather summer drives to Lake Michigan. Today, living in a city that never freezes, the climate of Scott’s car is computer-controlled and his seats are heated.
Joe Tralongo
Joe Tralongo came of age in the 70s, an era when the vinyl top was king and velour was considered the ultimate interior decadence. What young gay man wouldn’t be smitten?! Before old enough to drive, Joe would ride his bike from dealership to dealership to fill his backpack with as many new model brochures as he could carry. He tells us he would spread the colorful booklets across his bedroom floor and stare at them for hours, memorizing every detail, trim level and option. Today, Joe’s eye for detail remains firmly in place and is shared with his readers in the form of insightful observations conveyed through colorful commentary. Joe spent a number of years as Kelley Blue Book’s in-house automotive writer before leaving in 2003 to become a freelance journalist
.Cocoa Efficient
Miss Cocoa Efficient spent her life surrounded by all things automotive. Her family owned the local Gas and Griddle, a full service station where her daddy would work on cars while her momma served up the best possum griddle cakes this side of the Mississippi. Cocoa cut her teeth here, rebuilding C6 transmissions by day and taking journalism classes at night. Graduating into the world of automotive writing, Cocoa tantalized hungry audiences throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia before returning home to the good old U.S. of A. Cocoa’s accomplished writing style is admired by many for its candor, insightfulness and rude but amusing commentary. Thanks to her extensive experience with wind buffeting, Cocoa also holds several super-strong hair spray patents. Sadly, due to carcinogenic and flammability issues, the FDA has recently banned their use in over-the-counter hair products.
Michele Fleury
While growing up in New Jersey, Michele was a typical baby dyke in training and completely hooked on cars. One uncle owned a junkyard, another owned a Texaco station and yet another managed a Ford dealership. Every Sunday she poured over the auto section of The Bergen Record, fantasizing about her first ride. If only her parents would have indulged her obsession with the ’66 Corvette Convertible, there is now way to tell how many women she could have scored in high school. She settled for a 4-cyl Jeep Wrangler with manual steering. Luckily, the lack of power steering primed her arms for her future love of surfing and her recent stint as reality TV star on Logo’s Curl Girls. While the hope of the ’66 Vette is still alive, Michele has stayed true to her East Coast roots by driving a ’98 Saab.
Daniel Weil
Around the holidays, when Dan's family gets together, they tell stories about, "When Dan was a kid." Invariably, there are car stories involved. From playing with Matchbox cars to mimicking high revving engine shift sounds in his father's ear while pressed up against the front seat, it has always been about cars for our Dan. Today, he is in the driver's position in his well-traveled, slightly modified Jeep Wrangler and is living his dream of driving cars and writing about them. Dan's automotive career started by writing about his adventures traveling the deserts and mountains of Southern California in his Jeep - treading lightly the whole way. Soon, Dan was writing free-lance exclusively for The Advocate magazine. Now, Dan is bringing his passion for autos to Gaywheels.com team as a contributing writer.
Joe LaMuraglia
Joe is the publisher of Gaywheels.com and has recently come out of the automotive corporate closet and into the world of entrepreneurship. Our fearless leader has loved cars since he can remember but suffers from a serious case of auto-commitment phobia. At last count, he has owned over 29 vehicles and the longest "relationship" with a vehicle being just under 2 years. His taste in vehicles runs the gamut but he is a self-proclaimed "wagonphile". His last relationship with the 20-year-old Swede has ended and he is currently searching for his next ride - most likely a turbo diesel 300TD or 300D if he is lucky to find one.
