Car Youtubers

I have been watching car videos on YouTube for about 14 years. In the early days it was to extend my viewing experience when the likes of Top Gear was not on. Before this time, MSN cars was mainly my go to for car news. I first watched Fastlane Daily with Derek D, which was interesting with a good amount of facts, but as an American show it has a lot of US car related content so not relevant for us here in the UK, but interesting, nonetheless. I also watched The Smoking Tire with Matt Farrah, Matt has a huge amount of knowledge so when trying to find that car fix, it was a great addition.

I then started to watch the various car spotter videos, it was brilliant to see real videos of supercars on the streets, it gave me the same buzz as if I were there. During those days the now well-known Shmee150 was the main Youtuber and then Supercars of London. I really enjoyed Shmee150’s videos, good content followed by some interesting reviews on his cars, again a real owners experience.

As Shmee150 and Supercars of London's income increased, I enjoyed watching their journey as they bought new cars and increased their collections. As their channels progressed they started to introduce friends who were also new Youtuber’s so I naturally started to watch their videos too.

I wanted to like his videos but all I could see was a wealthy guy attracting viewers due to family wealth, it is easy to attract viewers when you have funds to buy whatever you want. I cannot blame him, and for those wanting to see the latest and greatest supercars he’s one to watch, but for me, I preferred the effort and real struggles of the other YouTubers.

I really enjoy Sam (SeenThroughGlass), even now, he enjoys the art of videoing which I do not mind, his videos still feel real and raw. You can tell he is working hard and that comes over in his videos. He is knowledgeable but not geeky, he his funny when not trying to be, and when he tries it doesn’t come over as well.

I just watched Seb when all the UK YouTubers went to his house in Monaco. He tries hard and means well but I don’t feel his content is great, however, I would say he is the only YouTuber who buys cars for the driving experience, a big Lotus man.

I give credit to his entrepreneurial focus; he is incredibly inspiring considering all he has achieved. I do not like his arrogance on video, he has this ‘I do not care attitude’ which I feel is not him. That might be a nervousness in front of the camera because when he is talking about something he is passionate about or has a lot of knowledge that goes away, a real shame.

Basically a bunch of mates having a laugh with cars. Behind it is a company selling car parts but ultimately, it’s a fun to watch but informative channel.

Archie's videos are easy to watch when there is nothing else on. I originally hoped it would be more about his racing, but it ended up being poor reviews on cars or asking silly questions on wraps to get comments.

Drive is all about that high-octane feeling and well-made car videos, similar to TV. This also made Chris Harris a household name which I am sure put him in the eye of the BBC as he could drive and present at the same time, only really seen by the likes of Tiff Needell in previous years.

Presented by Harry Metcalfe, founder of Evo Magazine. There is nothing Harry doesn’t know, and his reviews are some of the best on YouTube. His videos have that homemade feel that I like, he reviews his car collection which is very cool and he also gives manufacturers cars long-term tests, similar to his Evo days, and this provides that real-world perspective.

Yiannimize will always be a good watch due to different cars coming in and out of his wrap shop. The presenter/owner Yiani comes over well, a likeable person and an inspiring business person. I should note this is not for real petrolheads, more to see the latest supercars and cars being worked on.

I feel the same about him as Mr JWW but for different reasons, poor-quality videos, very little knowledge of cars and showboats on his father’s car rental company PET. He once gloated about a crash in a Lamborghini Aventador, by saying, “Don’t worry, I have another”.

I have watched nearly as much of Paul Walker from Supercars of London (SoL) as SeenThroughGlass, but he has lost his way over recent years which is a shame. He loves his Lamborghinis and has a thing about loud exhausts and modifying cars which I enjoy watching. I hope he gets back to his old videos, but I feel this is down to changes within the YouTube platform.

Tim Burton or Shmee150’s wealth has grown considerably and credit to him, he has created his own success. He has become very corporate and lost the innocence, but I have started to watch him again after a couple of years off and really started to enjoy his videos. He has brilliant knowledge on cars and good content thanks to being one of the biggest car Youtubers.

Even though the Youtuber platform is massive, there are not that many big car Youtubers, and they all seem to know each other. During the time of watching the UK Youtubers, I started to watch some in America, ones who had similar platforms to those I was watching in the UK. Here are just a few that I have watched:

Presenter Parker Nierenstien started off as a college student reviewing normal cars. He then bought an E39 M5 (which I know well) which created some great content, but it was only when he bought a Lamborghini Gallardo still his channel really took off. He now owns a fleet of supercars. However, after issues with mental health, he has only recently returned to YouTube to recreate his old channel.

Jay leno needs no introduction, and I am sure all of you are aware of his collection, many hours of viewing and amazing vehicles to watch.

Stradman is a vlogger and one of the best. He's highly energetic and has worked incredibly hard to build his channel which has some interesting content but I would not say overly technical, more fun to watch. It’s been great to see him grow and not become corporate.

Salomondrin is a very successful Mexican businessman who moved to New York when he was young. He is a huge car fanatic but also creator of businesses and brands. After an unfortunate fire of his Senna, Salmonodrin lost his passion in cars and I guess he focused on his channel. He now vlogs his life which is still mainly around cars, but it’s a vlog rather than true car focus content.

Doug Demuro is famous for his reviews and his Doug Scores. He borrows people's cars, reviews all their quirks and features and then scores them. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like him and he does pick up things which most car reviewers miss.

Tavarish is all about fixing cars, if you want to watch someone working on old or damaged cars he is your guy. He also has another channel called Wrench Everyday which features his friend Jarrod. Really nice guy, with good content and it's interesting to watch a vehicle from start to finish of a restoration or repair.

Hoovies Garage is fun to watch, basically, he has a tendency to buy the cheapest of a particular car and try to save it. Hoovie will take his cars to the car wizard or car ninja, and fix them, to either keep, sell or give them away.

VINwiki is all about the stories, the present Ed Bolian either talks about his past cars, stories on cars or invites others to provide car tales. There is other content on his cars or cars but I mainly recommend watching it for the car tales. VINwiki has come from the name of his company which is a site/app where your car history is stored, US only.

Tavarish, Hoovie and VINwiki have teamed up to create CarTrek, it’s like a Top Gear special in its presenting style and worth a watch!

SuperCar Blondie reviews the latest cars and concept cars. Not overly technical but it’s a cool insight into the latest and future of cars.

Recently I have been watching new Youtubers to the scene:

I picked up on as he did a video on sticky Italian buttons and from that, I have been watching him work on his Ferraris. His name came from Testarossa he restored but left unpainted. His following has recently grown by some size due to his purchase of 512BBi Boxer which has sat on someone’s driveway for a long time, he's worth a follow to see this project.

A controversial Youtuber following his honest feedback from two friends who owned two McLaren’s and had a rather bad experience. Prior to this and today, he has reviewed mainly older cars. These are driving talks as he gives his honest opinion on the car and whether it’s a worthwhile purchase. He has a good amount of technical knowledge and it is of good use if you are looking to buy that car.

The Car Guys are two friends and businessmen who own a large collection of cars which they talk about. Interesting and fun to watch, it’s informative but doesn’t take itself too seriously.

There are obviously other car Youtubers out there, but this is my list, journey and opinion on each Youtuber, which I generally enjoy watching and have fallen in and out of love with over the years.

I have just started to watch CarWow with Matt Watson, it's all about new car reviews and head-to-head races, not bad so far.

YouTube is a difficult world to create content and stay interesting. You either find something unique or keep on exploring and changing with the times, but either way, you need to keep on it to keep viewers watching, so good on them all and thank you for the many years of fun viewing.