When I took over the editor’s chair in 2011, our YouTube channel was just starting to take off, and I remember marking down 143,000 total subscribers at the time. I then watched as that number quadrupled in just over a year and kept growing. A few months ago, we passed 5 million subscribers. It is currently the No. 1 U.S. automotive channel on YouTube in terms of monthly video views, according to Tubular Labs. For that, we thank you, loyal viewers.
But YouTube is no longer the only video priority at Motor Trend. We’re expanding—both in our offerings across our social media and on Motor Trend OnDemand. Two of our newest debuts speak directly to my heart.
The first is Put Up or Shut Up. We’ve returned to our roots of racetrack showdowns with a series hosted by hot-rod hype man Brian Lohnes (of NHRA and Hot Rod Drag Week fame). Each episode pits two racers in best-of-three battles—winner takes all the respect and $10,000 in cash. Although every form of racing will eventually appear, the season premiere features Stevie “Fast” Jackson and “Tricky” Rickie Smith, their Pro Mod dragsters, and well over 1,320 feet of trash talking.
I got my start covering the underground “tuner scene.” So it’s personally exciting that we will do justice to this now-mainstream phenomenon. Modified is an exciting new series that sends hosts (and pro drivers) Matt Powers and Geoff Stoneback all over America to find the best of each tuner subculture—from drifting to time attack to high-performance street machines. Super Street editor Sam Du also will lead the build of the latest Honda Civic, the descendent of the vehicle some say started it all.
And then we have new OnDemand pilots: Forbidden Drives, Junkyard Gold.
Hosted by British auto celebs Tiff Needell and Jonny Smith, Forbidden Drives profiles the best and baddest cars we can’t get in America. Wait, is this the same Tiff Needell who raced Formula 1 and LeMans and hosted Top Gear and Fifth Gear off and on for the last 30 years? Yep.
In Junkyard Gold, renowned designer and Hot Rod editor Thom Taylor and tech guru Steve Magnante roam America’s wrecking yards in search of hidden automotive treasure.
I hope you are as excited about Motor Trend OnDemand’s new slate of programming as we are and will give us feedback about what you like and don’t like—especially about the pilots. Our goal has always been to create the highest-quality automotive content—no matter the platform—but we can only do that with your help. Thanks for reading—and watching.