Like most entertainment, car culture is moving away from print magazines and newspapers and on to the internet. Even high budget TV shows like Top Gear are being forced to compete against low budget, yet high quality YouTube channels. This move into the digital world forces writers and presenters to generate content that is both unique and informative, as well as highly entertaining. Many may try and many still need much refinement, but there are plenty that substantially rival the shows on network TV. If you follow these channels and websites, you certainly will not regret it. There are many more out there I am sure, but these are the channels I personally follow.
Petrolicious
One of the more artful online car magazines, Petrolicious focuses on the classic car segment. The people who made and write for this website eat, live, breath cars unlike any of the others. Travelling all over the world, they cherish not only the art, engineering and care behind the vehicles they showcase, but also they also document the car owner's journey. Watching their videos evokes nostalgia and rekindles that childhood dream of becoming a race car driver or the host of a automotive TV show.
The Smoking Tire
Focusing on gearheads' as well as his own endeavors, Matt Farah’s YouTube Channel "The Smoking Tire" is full of fun “One Takes”. This video series is his hallmark segment that showcases people’s cars on some of the best roads out in California. Beyond the ordinary sports cars, Farah enjoys distinct project cars. Presenting anything from a janky, but incredible homemade VW Jetta pickup, to how a paraplegic continues to pursue his automotive dreams, Farah loves how people express their personality when building and working on their cars. Farah also keeps his audience updated on his own cars such as his Foxbody Mustang project as well as his DeLorean.
Carfection
This quintessentially British auto magazine is excellent to see not only what parts of the automotive world we are missing out on this side of the pond, but also because the camera work and the writing is incredible. No, Carfection is not as ridiculous as Top Gear, but that's not the point. Carfection’s writing crisply captures the passion behind driving unlike most other auto magazines.
Regular Car Reviews
Far from what I would consider ordinary, Regular Car Reviews is a YouTube series that takes satire and blunt observation to a whole new level. Brutally honest and sometimes cruel, these car reviews are like coming up for a deep breath of fresh fall air – refreshing, but the potentially off putting scent of rot hangs in the air. Nonetheless, after having seen and read so many lukewarm auto reviews, watching a clip from Regular Car Reviews is – for lack of a better word – stimulating.
Motor Trend
This is what Top Gear USA should be. Motor Trend has been improving its online videos every week, and I am genuinely surprised with how far they have come in such a small amount of time. With a wide variety of shows, Motor Trend has something for everyone. My personal favorites are Head2Head and Ignition, but Roadkill is also highly entertaining. Motor Trend has found a good balance between silly entertainment and genuine auto journalism. It better be, because the people they film are their senior editors.
Everyday Driver
Genuine honesty. That’s what you get with Everyday Driver. Although they are fairly low budget, their newer work is done very professionally, making it difficult to believe that they don’t reside on a major network. They live solely as an online series. Hosts Todd and Paul have expanded their show from two guys with a GoPro to a whole ensemble of cameras, cars and segments. They have even made feature length films.
Honorable Mentions: Engineering Explained, Saabkyle04, Redline Reviews
These channels are more about the objective side of automotives than the subjective. Engineering Explained is exactly how it sounds – host Jason Fenske explains the inner workings of automotive engineering in plain English. Saabkyle04 created his own genre of automotive presentation. His posts are mostly his "Walkthroughs", where he shows the details of individual cars. They range from vintage to commuter, from high end luxury to off roading SUVs. Redline reviews takes the Saabkyle approach a step further, concentrating more on an honest experience, focusing on the smaller details and how livable the cars are to own. These three channels have been around for a while and have plenty of room to grow, so keep an eye on them.
Defunct: Top Gear (Trio), Fifth Gear
A true auto enthusiast knows the real difference between these two shows: Top Gear with "The Trio", and likely their new show Grand Tour, was entertainment with cars, whereas Fifth Gear was entertainment about cars. No matter how subtle this may seem, there is a difference. Top Gear focused on ridiculous writing, staging and special effects around the cars they presented. Fifth Gear took a more straight forward approach, focusing on the car itself by highlighting its drive-ability, the hosts' driving skills and the passion behind the car. On top of that, most people don’t realize the lineage these shows share. With "The Trio", Top Gear was in its second iteration. After the first iteration of the show was cancelled, the majority of the cast - which Jeremy Clarkson was a part of - moved on and made Fifth Gear, so be careful with what you say about Fifth Gear, because these shows were almost one in the same.
