Wheelie is an Autobot who transforms between his robot mode and his vehicle mode.  He is one of the Minibots, named so because of the small size of the Transformers belonging to this group.  Wheelie's role as Survivalist suits him well being that he is the only survivor from a group of intergallactic colonists that crashed onto Earth.  Having lived through this has probably attributed to his character as "a barbaric little savage"  who lives by the motto "Only the fierce shall live" (according to his Tech Spec). 

The Generation 1 Wheelie was released in 1986.