As we enter our ninth month of existence, your friendly Autopian staff continues to work hard to improve the site to make it the ultimate car-enthusiast publication on the internet. How are we doing? Come join us in the comments and give us some feedback, ask us some questions, and maybe answer a couple of our questions.
To Answer Some Pressing Questions:
- Project Cactus is coming next week with a whopper of an update. Thank you for your patience, it will be rewarded.
- Yes, the podcast is coming back next Wednesday! We were off for Thanksgiving Day.
- Shirts will start shipping soon, you can still order them here.
A Big Question!
Our goal is to share more stories with you by more writers, to buy more terrible cars for more wacky adventures, to host more events so we can meet you, and to ultimately be a place built on enthusiasm for automobiles — something that that can feel like it’s missing from publications that purport to be for auto enthusiasts. We’d like your help.
On Thursday, December 8th, we’re going to launch Autopian membership! This comes after an outpouring from you all asking how you can support this site. The membership will allow you, dear readers, to be a bigger part of this crazy operation. Something similar worked for our comrades at Defector and we’ve been encouraged by the community response they’ve gotten, though our membership will not be mandatory — you’ll still be able to read the site without paying a dime, because The Autopian is for everyone. But only members will get certain perks, like the ability to hang out with the writers on Zoom regularly, and exclusive merch, and custom artwork from Jason and vials of rust from DT (depending upon which tier of membership you choose). We’ll get to the details when we launch, and we’d love your suggestions in the comments; we’re excited!
We’re working on making this not just the best car website out there, but the most long-term sustainable one. And that’s tricky in the tough auto journalism industry. The best way to make sure we can create what everyone wants without compromise is to essentially bring you, our readers, in as partners/customers rather than to rely solely on advertisers. We don’t want popup ads and slideshows if we can avoid them. Heck, getting away from those is part of the reason we exist in the first place!
We’re extremely fortunate to have Beau as a founder and partner who has believed in us enough to help us build what we have today, but we can do so much more.
A key part of our Thursday membership launch is that we want to give extra value above and beyond what’s on the page. We don’t want to restrict our posts only to members, and we don’t want to make you pay for having to comment. We want to keep all that stuff free. We also want to hire more people and do bigger projects. If every person who has a commenter account on this site signed up for a membership we’d probably have enough to hire two or three more folks immediately.
[Editor’s Note: If you like Project Cactus, and want more of that, and faster turnaround, become a member! I’ll wrench 24/7 around the world on some of the weirdest cars you’ve never heard of, producing a blog a day (with video!) if we get enough signups. My next trip is Brazil whether y’all join or not, it’s just a matter of whether I’m sleeping in a car or in a bed. I don’t care either way, but my mom tells me I need to take better care of myself. So sign up for her sake? Also, I plan to hire many more engineers and get more technical content on these here pages; that’s a huge goal of mine. -DT].
[Editor’s Note: Hey, I want to go to Brazil, too! Have you seen the weird air-cooled VWs there? – JT]
Since we started this site, many of you have asked us to provide a way for you to support our operation so that we can stick around for the long haul; but we will do better than just that. We want to give a lot of value to our members beyond the warm fuzzy feeling you get from being a part of this community. What would appeal to you? What is valuable to you? This is a community, more than anything, and we’ve never done this before so we can use all the help we can get.
Go nuts! Open thread. Oh, and thank you!
I’d love to see the Bishop do a study on a 21st century Honda prelude. Electrified with pop upsish headlights.
I like pop ups….
If the idea of an electrified Honda electrifies you, boy are you in for a treat soon…..
Eclectic content is good.
Membership is a solid idea, but will it be enough to pay the writers?
FWIW i’m totally happy with *some* ads!
If you do go the ad route,some thoughts:
Autoplay video is out.Did i even have to say that?It will ruin the site,im not exaggerating.
Choose ads rather than letting google decide what to show. Readers will be ok with surprising amounts of ads if they’re about things they like. Translation- most things car related
They do pay us. I mean, in tail light lenses which Torch is trying to convince me is a fiat currency, but still.
You got Fiat taillights? All I got was a busted ’77 Camaro dome light.
I continue to be astonished the amount of quality content here. Y’all are amazing. I do worry about people burning out though. I’m 100% in for membership if it’ll allow you to hire more staff and keep this amazing website/community going!
And yes, readers’ rides pls! Y’all wanna see my 6sp manual, supercharged S5, right?
Yes! I concur, reader’s rides.
I’m definitely in for a subscription!
My suggestions are selfish, I want more (classic) Volvo and Saab content! 😀
Also, maybe Torch could organize some kind of meet up at the Lane Motor Museum? They’ve definitely got plenty of space out back by that giant military vehicle for parking. I’m actually nearby and their collection is incredible, I need an excuse to go visit again!
Y’all have done amazing. As a former jello picnic reader my win-the-lotto dream was “make a car site that feels like that, but sincere and fun” and that’s what The Autopian is.
Looking forward to subscription rates. Whatever impact is has on the bottom line, I think having supporters makes the experience better.
I feel like there is a good mix of bite sized humorous articles I can read between emails and deep dives on history, engineering or a glimpse at the depraved depths of torch’s mind.
I know I campaigned and started the series but holy grails has been so good. I have loved each one of them and want more. I love history and feel like more of the car industry’s past needs to be documented.
An idea for possible tier rewards: A wrenching trip with David, complimentary tetanus shot included. Torch getting you in to the high roller lounge at your local taillight bar. Mercedes taking you to a train museum and wearing matching conductor hats. Who wouldn’t pay for such exclusive experiences?
What if we want to wear our own conductor hat?
Asking for a friend…
I feel like you have to wear it, right?
Thanks to you all for outstanding content, great personalities, copious amounts of rust (that’s mostly David) and for fostering something that should be SOP but so often isn’t in the car space: true inclusivity.
I don’t even care that I have to re-login to the site every day or two, or that the comment system is a little clunky. What you’ve created is a place where everyone truly can feel as though they’re part of the community, and not constantly be reminded that they’re not masculine/white/straight/rich enough to be a “true” car person. Curating that kind of experience is intentional, and it’s clear that you’re all committed to that work. That’s way more important than some wonky interface issues (imo).
Thanks for everything you’re doing and working on. Truly.
I miss old Jalop & I miss old /r/cars! Jalop went down the tubes when it started hiring people who’ve used public transit their whole lives and didn’t know anything about cars, and /r/cars went down the tubes when they became too moderated, and less community driven. Example, I started posting DIY 911 updates, I’m just some guy, and the community loved it. Tried doing it again a few months later, and it was removed, despite mad upvotes. Why? Because I had a link to my youtube channel, which had video covering what I wrote about in the post. Like… what? If the community WANTS something, let them have it? I get that there needs to be moderationand we can’t have blatant/obnoxious self promotion, but let the community decide what they want and let people get involved. I used to be a contributor to Amazon’s “carlustblog” and it was fun to do articles occasionally, and that’s why I liked Oppo as well.
In terms of improvements, a voting system for comments or even the articles themselves would be interesting, but please do it like OLD reddit, where it showed the # of downvotes and upvotes. Sometimes I’d see things that would have like 500 upvotes and 505 downvotes, and man, that was probably an interesting comment, but in today’s reddit, it’s just displayed as “+5”. That sucks and it doesn’t show how popular/controversial that comment was.
In terms of content, I’d focus on older stuff, obscure stuff, and weird stuff. There are SO MANY sites that cover the latest news from Rivian or something, but that’s not why I come here. That said, I do love it when DT crawls under new vehicles and picks them apart.
Anyway, good times, this place is great, keep it up.
I’d mostly say just keep doing what you’re doing. This site is what Jalopnik was back when it was good.
Another thing I’d say is how great Mercedes Streeter’s content has been on this site. I wasn’t a fan of most of Mercedes’ Jalopnik content, but every single Mercedes-written article over here has been an absolute gem and I look forward to them.
Torch is back to truly being Torch, which is awesome.
David Tracy and all of the new talent keep putting good stuff together, it’s nice to have a true “car culture” site without any of the other crap getting in the way again.
Ok, Adrian. How about bringing forward the W198 Mercedes 300SL gull wing coupe. You can decide if it’s a hybrid, or Bev. The challenge is to design it so the heritage is very clear, and will age well as a future classic. Oh, and it’s designed and built by the merged companies of Porsche and Mercedes Benz.
You are chief designer on this project…
I’ll add it to the list!
So glad you guys went rogue and started the site. It’s like home again*.
*if you start doing slide shows I will find you.
This website is worth subscribing to, you will be eating some of my very limited charitable donation money, so don’t make it too much, make it annual so I can see it, not a fucking monthly bank account leach or I will decline.
This site remains a refreshing breath of automotive fumes, make it better not worse.
Hi there, my buddies,
Once this site was launched, a bunch of people were asking me “why?”, “how?”, “LOL”, or anything in between, since they knew I used to work with JT, DT and MH. They just couldn’t believe that given the media/world economy situation, somebody would be crazy enough to launch a new car site, and spend a lot of money to make this happen. Of course they had no idea that Jason and David needed a new place to make sure they’re allowed to do what they do best. And then, they also needed Matt, because having a great editor is everything. It really is, just very important to have a good editor, plus some kind of a system, a business plan within the entertaining chaos.
I hope I can pop up here more and more, and I’m very proud The Autopian is as much fan as it is. New car stuff along with the used car/history/design/wrenching is a great mix of fun and relevant news and reviews, and while it bugs me that the sentences on the front page are cut in half if too long, I’m sure you’ll fix that, plus certain design issues when you can. The comment section is great, The Autopian community is strong, and 2023 will be better, I’m sure. Cheers from Budapest.
I hope you can pop up here more too. Always enjoyed your European take at the old place
Thank you. I shall.
I was hoping one day you would mosey along this way. Glad you stopped by! Now if we can get others to join……but that would mean: blackmail, extortion, photos, maybe a kidnapping or rwo. Sending Hardibro to do the dirty deeds of course!
Fashionably late to the party as always….
Agree reader rides/projects is a must.
Entertainingly appropriate sponsors (Harbor Freight, Rustoleum, POR-15 PB Blaster, Lava soap, Band-Aid, LKQ) might be fun as well.
Wrenching stories and lots of ’em.
Adrian Clarke and lots of ‘im.
And content-wise, the fish-out-of-water story of David trying to make his was in Cali car culture would be a hoot.
And yes, janky is more fun. Automotive YouTubers get less interesting when they buy Lambos and massive shops. We can live vicariously in that direction though Beau. Living vicariously through David is far more morbidly facsinating.
To build on Rollin (amazing handle BTW…I love that show) here, I’ll also note how the janky part of all this is VERY appealing to me as well.
I usually don’t have access to proper digs, so all of my repairs are done in my building’s parking lot. So I’m a huge fan of the MacGyver quality that permeates many of the stories – watching amazing levels of work done (and done well) in freezing weather, in the middle of the night, etc. always encourages me to get out there and just do it. It’s a real inspiration.
Thank you, glad you’re enjoying my work. As I said, I’ve been on holiday for three weeks and then teaching for three weeks, so my output was temporarily curtailed. But I’m fully back now so you should be seeing more of your favourite black clad slinky designer around these parts again.
PB Blaster is a joke. If you’re going go the commercial route at least buy Kroil or Mouse Milk. Or make your own for pennies on the dollar that works better than either. Equal parts ATF, clear kerosene, acetone, and thinners.
Obvious “use in well ventilated area” caveat stands.
Need to add that Autopian (or AutoPain) stickers are needed: we gotta fly our freak flags! Maybe a, ‘Can we talk about taillights?’ Huh: or, something like, ‘My Freak Flag’ with a little rippled pennant bearing the stylized Autopian A logo? Just the pennant with logo?
Vinyl for the windows, please: haven’t had an actual bumper sticker for decades.
Agreed, stickers are a must!
And cards to leave on cool cars we see on the street.
here for the “AutoPain”
Before I read farther, I’m in as a member. Access & perks are cool, but bottom line is writers should get paid, and you whackos entertain and inform me.
Like the content, webpage is terrible (at least on my iPhone).
Could you please improve the formatting and general performance of the site? It’s gone from virtually unusable when you started to not terrible now, but I still breath a sigh of relief when I leave (and I still come back for the content!).
I just saw the defectors site for the first time and it looked clean and ran well, maybe you could team up with them for their web stack?
Yup, we have a roadmap of improvements to keep making this site more usable.
I really enjoy the site. Well done. -One recommendation for the Editor in Chief: Reject every proposed title that contains the trite phrase “something something… as hell”. It’s lazy, coarse, and unimaginative. Unless you’ve been there and have an actual report on what hell is like, don’t tell us the new Mercedes interior is “fancy as hell.” Ugh.
There are many overused phrases in automotive journalism. A stronger editor would demand better writing, but that will result in less enthusiasm overall if done too heavy-handedly.
However, there is another descriptor that absolutely needs to be set aside for a long, long time before being brought back. Stunning.
How many times has something been referred to as “stunning” around here? It’s overused everywhere else, too, so why not be the exception and remove it from the local lexicon?
Personally, I’ve never been stunned by a new car design. I’ve never been stunned by a modification. I’ve never been stunned by high performance. Where do you find these easily stunned writers to tell us over and over how stunning the new things are?
First, I want to echo the thank yous from others here – really appreciate what you’re trying to do here.
As per the membership program – count me in. I’ve got a couple self-centered auggestions to offer:
(1) A potential feature/perk you could consider is some sort of FAQ/Tips for newbie wrenchers. Just basic stuff like “always keep spares of the 10mm socket” or “top XX list of most common mishaps and links to youtube videos that show how to fix them” – vetted content from true wrenchers would be worth a (small) fortune to me.
(2) Also, on the community-like front, having somewhere to ask/offer help to wrench maybe, either in person or via video/remote? Again speaking 100% out of personal interest, but I’d love the chance to meet any fellow autopians closeby and maybe learn from those who know by lending a hand on those jobs another pair comes handy.
These are great suggestions. An open-call wrenchline discussion is a great idea.
I feel like David could do with some tool sponsors as his current set needs love. Plus having the right tools might make his life a helluva lot easier.
Solid ideas those.
A forum where we can ask others anything and discuss general topics is a must IMO.
Trying to discuss things in the comments section is clunky as best.
I just want to thank you and your entire staff for appealing to enthusaists of all walk, even people who are just excited to be here! Enthusiasm enthusiasts.
I’ve been enjoying David and Jason since the site which has slideshows, and there isn’t much I would want to add here.
Spotlights on readers rigs, garages, etc would be an awesome one. Lord knows we are all dying to share.
Just keep doing awesome things and I really think future meetups are going to be fantastic. I can’t wait to make it to one.
I’m currently working on a video resume so if you guys are looking for a one man video production suite dumb enough to fly a drone from shotgun of a car, I am that idiot.
Also, if you have more ideas for ‘a designer draws your ideas’ features, drop them in the comments below! Remember, we’re customer service third around here. Or was it fourth?
I’d love to see the resulting design from a Bizarro Multiverse™ in which SAAB entered a merger of weirdos with the Tucker Corporation. I already know you’re immensely skilled, but this would be peak tier.
I’m a sucker for visions of alternate realities where defunct manufacturers/divisions still make their iconic models.
I’d love to see what a 2022 Firebird would look like (bonus if we could see the version for a soon-to-be-canceled Knight Rider reboot), or what if Caterham had bought the rights to the Europa and still annually produced it?
Then I would own a Caterham!
One of my fave scifi authors liked to combine current companies when he needed one for his near-future books.
In one novel, the protagonist gets shuttled around in a limousine made by Rolls-Skoda.
I’d like to see that.
Weyland Yutani is a direct reference to British Leyland, and the fact that when Alien was being made there was a very real fear of what the `Japanese car companies do to legacy car production in the UK.
As we know Honda and Rover (as BL had become) dealt for a while but never really committed to marriage.
Draw something with realistic tire sidewall proportions 😛
It’ll be a long cold day in hell before that happens, my friend.
I am likely in the minority on the site and don’t get into the engineering or wrenching deep dives. I skim a lot and read for the crazy adventures and mishaps but I get lost in the details.
But, I am a graphic designer so I really love the design deep-dive breakdowns. I’d love to see more of these; new cars, old cars, especially of makes/models we don’t get in the US.
I do love the crazy concepts as well but they’re generally light reading. Quick, stackable pieces that are quite enjoyable in their own right but those deep dives really hep me appreciate the world of automotive design as a fellow designer, especially as my world is only 2D I really get an appreciation for how much more complex the work is and the effort of automotive designers is really fascinating to me.
…wait, actually GOOD cotomer sevis?!
I’m not sure how to even react to that.
Please make the comment count on each front page article a link to the comments section of that article. It would be a major quality of life improvement!
This is a very simple and good suggestion. I’m not 100% sure the new comment system we are testing does this, but it can’t be that hard. Will check!
Typically that is actually how it works for me, I tap the comment number and it brings me down here (google chrome on an Android so results may vary)
This is the 1st site I’ve ever commented on. Bring on that membership option-I’m in. Will it come with a special sticker to attach to my MazTree?
Well I bought Jason’s book so I’m in for membership in the tail light club. As a MOTT I’m a tad concerned about his deep and abiding love affair with VW, but then I recall owning a Karmann Ghia (rusty convertible), 2 beetles, type 2 fastback and type 2 square back, a panel bus/make believe camper in Europe (a small step up from hitchhiking), first year GTI (swoon), Vanagon camper (should never have sold it!), Jetta, and 3 Cabriolets, one of which is still mine (and lives at my mechanics shop). So I cannot throw any stones, which coincidentally was my sons’ Torah section for his Bar Mitzvah. Keep doing what y’all are doing and a special shout out to Mercedes regarding her marriage and love affair with the EAA. That other guy with the MOPAR fixation needs therapy though.
More of the same. Keep the weird, keep the passion, and variety.
I’m here because it reminds me of car forums in ‘99, or The Old Site in ‘09. I can get current garbage news from Motor Buscuit. The unique takes are why I follow, read, and rarely comment.
I’m in to subscribe, or merch.