The Autopian has existed since April 1, 2022 (well, March 32nd, technically), and in its ninth month on this green and blue sphere known as the internet (?) it has amassed a total of 2 million monthly pageviews (we think that’s a great number), and it’s all because of you, dear readers who believe in this site’s core mission of championing car culture. Thank you!
This article is really just a thank-you. Tomorrow I’ll write an update on our harrowing roadtrip from Detroit to LA, I may create a how-to Shower Spaghetti guide (I will not), and I’ll post a list of the best articles The Autopian wrote in 2022. Currently I’m in California snowboarding with a new friend of mine, and I won’t lie: the blog-guilt is getting to me bad. So I have ducked into a cabin to write this little thank you post. Should I really be furnishing my apartment and getting internet going so that tomorrow I can write the article I just promised three sentences ago? I mean, what do you think?:
That’s basically a pool-float on the floor of a small apartment with no wrench-able garage.
I am deeply concerned about what will happen to me over the next 48 hours. I’ll already feeling a bit clammy, and I can’t stop shaking. I tried fixing my friend’s bicycle yesterday, and the shaking stopped for about five minutes. I need to get my Nash Metropolitan project going, and then I need to do my EV conversion, and my overlanding build. Where exactly will I do all of this? I have no clue. I’m still not moved out of Detroit; I’ll be sort-of living in The House of Misfit Jeeps until mid February, and there will be a big farewell party for anyone who wants to come.
Anyway, 2023 is going to be bigger and better than 2022. Obviously, you’ll be getting lots more west coast coverage, including insight into low-rider culture, plus you’ll start to see more videos since I now get to work more closely with the talented video team out here, and you’ll read more from our illustrious partner Beau Boeckmann now that he and I can work together on ideas. Jason’s working on a massive research project involving Nazi history, Mercedes will be restoring a fiberglass camper, Thomas seems to have a new project car in the cards, and the site is planning to keep hiring incredible freelancers who have been such a big part in this site resonating with so many of you. I plan to crank up the nerdy technical content, so expect to keep learning how cars work from some of the most talented engineers and designers out there. Oh, and Jason wants me to mention our video of The Best Driving Foods (the video involves the two of us trying to drive a slalom course in a Scion xB whilst covering ourselves in burrito juices and pizza sauce and hamburger innards; it’s bonkers).
We’re also keen to keep having reader meetups, and to find more ways to build this community. Plus, we have lots of changes coming to the commenter experience. Next year will be grand! See you all tomorrow, when The Autopian is working its regular business hours; Happy New Year!
Glad you made it safe! This is a huge change, and I’m glad to see it for you, and I’m looking forward to more video content from y’all!
Make sure you register you stuff in another state so you don’t have to be bothered with smog testing, except maybe for one vehicle.
Thanks for the great site guys! It’s my first and last read of the day. (hey, someone might be up late drinking motor oil and decide to post!)
Seriously though, I look forward to every post and can’t wait to see what your guys do this year!
Nice to know you made it out here, and great to hear about the progress the site’s made since going live!
Also, glad that our atmospheric river up here in NorCal didn’t make its way down there. Flooded freeways and downed trees in the roadway would have been a hell of a welcome. (Although this sounds like it was the only problem you didn’t have to deal with on the way out.)
Congrats on the move and milestone of 2 million monthly page views.
Let’s continue the good progress! I think keeping politics to a minimum has helped me make the switch fully from your old stomping grounds. Great work, looking forward to the future of this site!
Sounds like y’all need to rent a little shop space to set up a wrenching studio. People love seeing your stories about wrenching, so I think $3k – $4k (about what a 1500 sq ft shop space costs in LA last I checked) would be pretty easy to justify.
Donut Media went the same way— they started out with wrenching in a regular house garage, but quickly outgrew it and got an actual shop space for all of their projects.
Heck, if you could find a place that has a shop and a decent amount of office space, you could just move everyone there and make it the official Autopian HQ.
I noticed that you can get shower curtains with spaghetti printed on them, it may be a start for the apartment
Welcome to Los Angeles, David. Now get to work. Seriously, though, there are plenty of us out here willing to lend a hand with anything. Advice, wrenching, rides, nutrition. Anything.
All the best in the new year, exciting things to come! Thanks for taking us along for the ride.
I am looking forward to 2023 Autopian!
Best driving food: a Runza.
A what?
https://www.runza.com/menu
Correct.
NebraskaStig knows.
Runzas are horrible, and my tolerance for food is HIGH
I don’t know, Dave, they look shower ready to me….
It’s amazing that it’s been less than a year and you guys have given us so much great content.
Thank you!
I can’t wait to see what you guys do next.
That apartment needs a cluttercore intervention.
He should try and get a truck/van as a review vehicle, then scour the local classified ads and pick up the cheapest furniture he can find.
It’s just wins all round; People get rid of stuff they can’t/won’t just throw out, David gets new cheap furniture, and he gets to write a review of the car/van with real-world tests like “can I fit an old sofa in the back”, “how easy is it to hose down the stains after having an old sofa in the back”, and “how fast can it drive away from the sketchy person who’s advert was, in retrospect, full of red flags”.
Hi David, happy newyears.
I live right in a big city centre and have my project cars in a workshop 20 miles away (the running ones in a local underground garage close by). That works just fine: I’m always dedicated on getting further with something, when I’m at the workshop, and can take long streaks of wrenching while listening to old music, and not really being able to do anything else.
Which means my home is pretty clean.. But should I be in the mood, all ordering parts, forums and youtube research (and Autopian reading) and printing out pdf manual pages is done here, so it’s not like the home is wrench thought free.
Yes, occasionally I have to take to the basement to mend a punctured bicycle tyre, that’s only natural 🙂
Good luck with everything, and thanks for this great site!
Get on FB marketplace and pick up some used cheap IKEA furniture, stat. You are going to miss your garage in Michigan, but it sounds like new adventures await in LA. Can’t wait.
“I may create a how-to Shower Spaghetti guide (I will not)”
Boo! The people have spoken! Cmon Dave…
I’ll contribute to your fridge/Rambler fund (ie join the cause) if you do.
The people demand RECIPES.
My wife complains of me always making spaghetti. (Not much as a chef, I have an extremely limited repertoire.)
But hey! I’m thinking shower spaghetti might just add a little spark to the menu at Chez Flick.
So, David: I don’t need an article — I need a recipe!
(This is an automotive culture web site after all.)
Glad you made it safely. Get some rest and take care of yourself.