Just read about this new start-up, Boompa, which describes itself as Myspace for car lovers. Founded 5 months ago by two guys that used to work at CNET, David Snider and Ethan Lance, the site allows you to “upload photos of your car and put up a profile of it, create a blog, post on other members’ blogs, or share instructions on how to replace a main bearing in the “Guides” section. You can also pit your car against another in a contest called a “Battle,” resembling hotornot.com.” (via the Contra Costa Times)

They have a sales agreement with John Battelle‘s Federated Media. According to the article, it seems like there is already quite a number of Web sites trying to compete in this social network vertical like CarSpace.com, CarDomain, Motortopia and Carster.

What it means: Love the user interface and the “hot or not” concept around cars. Love the fact that they have a lean & mean operation, which means their costs are quite low. But given the high-level of competition, is this becoming more a feature than a site? Definitely, any traditional online or offline media already in the car space has a need for similar functionalities and if Boompa does not generate enough traffic on its own, they could always become a technology enabler. In any case, a media company focussed on automotive could also syndicate their ad network to sites such as Boompa to expand their own network.