Here’s some fun, non-tariff news to end the week. The two hosts of YouTube car sensation Throttle House and that one charming guy on Twitter who loves trains will reportedly be the new trio to helm Amazon car show The Grand Tour. That’s nice.
What else is good news for this month-ending Morning Dump? Inventory levels are down across the industry as strong sales continue in the car space. Is this tariff related? Yeah, it’s a little tariff-related. I guess since we’re talking about tariffs, we should talk about Volkswagen, which says it’s having “fair” talks about the new trade paradigm.
It’s not like the rest of the world has its ish figured out, though. Chinese automakers are embroiled in a hilarious scandal that involves selling cars with zero mileage as “used,” while various company execs all accuse one another of being dramatic. It’s kinda hilarious.
What If The Grand Tour Was Entirely Nice Guys?
The reporting on this story starts with the British tabloid The Sun, which says it has an exclusive. Given the source, it’s possible that the story is wrong somehow. While the publication traffics in the kind of why-are-these-people-famous celeb dross, it’s usually right about this kind of stuff, so I’m going to treat the news as real for now, but just know that there is no official announcement yet. It’s worth noting that a number of other publications have written about The Sun’s article, and forums are talking about it, so this is definitely newsworthy regardless.
If you were knocked unconscious by a loose Sidekick while doing the Cha Cha Slide then you might remember Top Gear becoming the most watched TV show in the universe. Somehow, everyone wanted to watch a trio of British dudes get themselves into repeated vehicular trouble. That show was incredibly popular, highly pirated, and broadcast on the BBC. The whole thing ended in distress when host Jeremy Clarkson, whose whole schtick is being borderline brilliant/obnoxious at all times, allegedly punched a producer because he was annoyed he couldn’t get hot food.
This led to the trio, including the delightful Richard Hammond and the intriguingly nerdy James May, to Amazon for The Grand Tour. Full disclosure, I briefly helped the producers of the show source parts for various cars and did research for another episode. One car I tried to get supplies for was the Crosley that James May drove in one of the final episodes. I did a bad job, and because of my poor work, you got to enjoy May being miserable for much of that drive, so you’re welcome, I guess.
Clarkson went on to make a show about farming that was even more popular than The Grand Tour, and everyone else drifted away to go work on other projects. Was this the end of The Grand Tour? Apparently not, as the show has now shifted to a new trio… from the capital I Internet.
Hey, I work on the Internet!
If you believe The Sun, then the new hosts will be Thomas Holland and James Engelsman of Throttle House, which makes sense since they’re some of the most popular reviewers on the planet. Joining them will be the viral trainspotting kid who goes by Francis Bourgeois. That’s unexpected. Or maybe it isn’t.
Here’s Chris Harris and Francis making a video:
If you have never heard of Francis before, he got famous for making Instagram videos about trains. There’s sort of an unstudied innocence to him that’s impossible to turn away from. This kid loves trains more than you love anything, and in my experience, enthusiasm is the one thing you can’t fake for very long.
YouTubers can make great TV hosts. I did a show for NBC Sports with a pre-Top Gear Chris Harris, Matt Farah, Mike Spinelli, and Alex Roy. All of them were basically YouTubers/Internet car celebs. They were great. It’s generally a transferrable skill, assuming hosts are interested and capable of being on what passes for television these days. I know at least one famous YouTuber in the car space who claims to never want to do TV, or at least never wants to do it when I’ve asked him.
It can be a hard transition. I also helped make a show with Rob Dahm, another Internet car person. It was awkward at first, as we tried to figure out how to do what he did, and do what we thought the BBC wanted. We got on the same page, though, melding his style with our style, and the show turned out great (I have nothing to do with it anymore, but go watch it, it’s only getting better).
I have high hopes for the show, but here’s one real, unintentionally (I think) mean quote from The Sun article
A source said: “Thomas and James are as knowledgeable about motors as Jeremy, Richard and James — the only difference is they’re younger, cooler and a lot more social media savvy.
“Francis became famous for his love of trainspotting and will be bringing his humour to the show.”
True, but ouch.
I think the key difference is there’s no Clarkson. I’m fine with that. For all his presenting genius, I think he’s given the world enough of his good side and his bad side to last us all three lifetimes. His watch is done. [Ed Note: I still find him extremely entertaining, though I understand why many consider him “canceled.” -DT].
The bigger difference, for me, will be that the show will lack the angry Boomer friction that Clarkson brought to all his projects. Can the show sustain interest if everyone is friendly? Can nice guys finish first? I hope so.
People Bought A Lot Of Cars In April
According to S&P Global, inventories shrank considerably in the United States, dropping by 7% compared to March. Most of the brands saw decreases in inventory, with BMW experiencing the biggest drop at -18.5% month-over-month, followed by Subaru (-15.6%), and Volkswagen (-11.1%). A few automakers did see small increases, but those can be explained by new production introductions.
For instance, Acura saw a 5.3% increase as the company rolled out its ADX.
Why is this happening? S&P Global explains:
Some vehicles built in Mexico or Canada with a higher risk of tariff exposure saw larger declines in inventory volume. For example, the Mexican-built Ford Maverick saw a 22% decrease. The Nissan Sentra experienced a similar decline, also down 22%.
This is a high level of logic that buyers are utilizing in a way that I didn’t necessarily expect. While people are buying everything, the purchase of cars that are specifically at risk of tariff-related price increases is sort of impressive.
VW Having ‘Fair’ Conversations With White House
To pick up on yesterday’s theme of “no one knows anything,” a federal appeals court briefly stayed the outright rejection of tariffs long enough for the administration to organize a motion to appeal. This is only a short-term delay, and eventually the Supreme Court will probably have to decide (or at least decide to accept a lower court ruling).
No matter what happens, this is causing European automakers to think more about how many cars they build in the United States, as Oliver Blume told a local German paper (via Automotive News/Reuters):
“So far, we have had absolutely fair, constructive discussions,” Blume told the newspaper in an interview published. “I was in Washington myself and we have been in regular dialogue ever since.”
Blume, who also leads VW Group’s Porsche brand as CEO, said VW’s main contact in Washington was U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Blume said he had agreed to keep any details of the discussions confidential
[…]
Asked what Blume was offering in the talks, which aim to reduce a 25 percent import levy implemented earlier this year, he said: “The Volkswagen Group wants to invest further in the USA. We have a growth strategy.”
VW already planned an expansion in the United States with Scout, so we’ll see what else this could mean. My guess is Audi production because Audi is in quite a pickle in terms of building cars for this market.
Chinese Automakers In Trouble For ‘Zero Mileage’ Used Cars, All Being Super Cranky Right Now
The theme of the Chinese car market is the contradiction between how far ahead individual automakers seem in terms of car production and how fragile the whole enterprise feels. That’s because various levels of China’s governing party invested a huge amount into making a few successful car companies, but did so in a sort of brute force way that resulted in a bunch of unsuccessful ones.
Now China has an overcapacity problem while, at the same time, automakers want to show growth. The answer? Allegedly, it’s selling new cars to supply chain financing companies or used car dealers who then market them as “zero-mileage used cars.” Lol.
Bloomberg explains the response from the Chinese government:
China’s Ministry of Commerce is meeting with some of the country’s biggest automakers to discuss whether the industry is using a loophole to mask weakening sales.
The meeting, which was set to take place Tuesday afternoon, also included industry bodies such as the China Automobile Dealers Association and online car distribution channels, according to a memo shared by Li Yanwei, an official at the dealers’ association, on Weibo.
A representative for Dongfeng Motor Group Co. said officials from the company attended the gathering. Invitations were extended to carmakers on Sunday and the event wasn’t an inquiry.
I mentioned this earlier this week, but Chinese automakers are all being catty with one another on Chinese social media, with one automaker hinting that a company (probably BYD) was like massive failed real estate company Evergrande. This is the equivalent of calling a company Enron. BYD’s response, according to Reuters, is hilarious:
In a lengthy post on Weibo, Li defended BYD’s 70% debt-to-asset ratio and over 580 billion yuan debt by making comparisons against the likes of Ford, Boeing and Toyota. He said this was the result of BYD growing rapidly even as some rivals had stagnated. He did not specify names.
Li added that BYD plans to hold online users who had spread such speculation legally responsible and had handed “evidence” to Chinese authorities.
No one likes a narc.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
When I’m not sure what to listen to, I certainly enjoy Mitski’s “Washing Machine Heart.”
The Big Question
Who are your dream car TV show hosts?
Photo Credit: Throttle House (YouTube)/Francis Bourgeois(TikTok)
For car hosts I’d go with Jonny Smith(Late Brake Show, formerly Fifth gear) Jason Camisa, and to mix things up Alexandra Hirschi from Supercar Blondie. Johnny has the European knowledege, Jason has the more American knowledge, and Alexandra has the Supercar knowledge and adds a tiny bit of diversity. I feel like that’d be a good mix.
Also aren’t all Chinese big brands in crazy debt to the government? Isn’t that how it all works there?
I think that using people who are exclusively “car people” is the reason every other iteration of TG failed. The hosts need to have an interest in cars, but cars can’t be the center of who they are.
Exactly but also are mates to the degree they can joke with each other. 3 strangers and hope won’t work. Does anyone doubt the comraderie between the 3 hosts? Two quit tremendously successful jobs to support their supposedly guy they hate. And yet producers think they can replicate the one thing that succeeded.
No you can’t pick people you think the prior hosts are like. You need 3 demographic different people who get along but also go old school and enjoy irritating and playing practical jokes on each other. You need real people not inoffensive drones playing a part. That is why 40 year old sitcoms are outperforming new shows. The whole reality but woke genre is not entertaining .
On further reflecting I would suggest that take tales from the slack but stop the texting instead turn it into a teams meeting with cameras and microphones on and go all WWF. Record the meeting have a producer decide all members shown then switch to whoever is talking and their foe. Bounce to each person breaking in. I would love being able to hear what each writer is saying instead of screaming over but Autopian members can experience it live without the ability to chime in.
I just like Jonny and Jason and had to strain a bit to think of a 3rd that wouldn’t just be generic white male car guy.
I could literally watch Jonny review a bag of sand and find it somewhat interesting, and Jason on the Hagerty videos sells cars like the Subaru XT like Billy Mays cutting a boat in half.
It’s a good suggestion on getting something like the Autopian crew but then does it need to be Top Gear and could it just be it’s own whole show? And that’s probably the big question, personally I don’t think so, make a new show and let it be it’s own thing.
No one(s) should replace the 3 guys. That ship has sailed. They need a whole new format IMO.
I did love their shows, and I like May’s travel show and Clarkson’s farm.
May’s cooking show, and his YouTube “Food Tribe” series were some of his best work IMHO.
James May the Assembler I’ve found to be fun. It literally is James assembling something. He did a 1950s British lawn mower one episode. A mini bike another, a guitar, of course a model train, etc…
Somehow James always found a way through his endless stories and history bits to make it entertaining
That’s nice and calming in the “Bob Ross” kind of way.
More like an epidermal it leaves people numb. He is never more Capt Slow than in the Assembler
KRAMER: Well, we’ve officially bottomed out. Who’s our next guest?
NEWMAN: We’ve got no one!
KRAMER: We need a new foreman. We should shut down and re-tool.
NEWMAN: What about a guest-host?
KRAMER: I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.
Although I find Mays fix it show mind numbing. You need the 3 witches
I’d love to see SuperFastMatt team up with the Bad Obsession Motorsports guys. I love me some dry humour.
Alternatively, Tom’s Refurb with Chris Boden for the high energy ridiculousness. I could 100% see Tom and Chris being like an Automotive Mythbusters (yes, I know this was already tried with other hosts) or an unhinged edutainment show.
Could be worse At least it’s not The Straightpipes.
I love Throttle House but these guys work as YouTubers, not for a full-blown TV series.
My ideal trio for a TG/GT reboot would be Jason Cammisa, Matt Watson (Carwow) and Chris Harris. They are all funny, weird and car guys through and through and they would all have great chemistry together.
Jason knows a ton and is a car history nerd, Matt is quirky, funny and can take jokes/some bullying. Chris is an amazing driver and can accurately explain how a car feels. I know he already tried, but you have to recognize he was given the plainest, most boring hosts in history to work alongside him.
There are some great car journalists out there like Matt Farrah and the TH guys, but translated to longer-format episodes they just wouldn’t work. Chemistry comes from contrasting personalities. We don’t need Clarkson/Hammond/May equals but what worked with them was that they were all so different. I’d be hard pressed to tell you a single differentiating character trait about the TH guys.
Jason Torchinski, Cleetus Mcfarland and Matt Farah
I like where your head’s at, but Cleetus and Matt have VERY different personalities from Torch. They say opposites attract, but I’m not sure the chemistry would be there. I’d say you need an intermediary personality between Cleetus and Torch, and I think someone like Jason Cammisa would straddle that line well.
Sorry jason, i see your name just about everyday and i still spelled it wrong.
Thomas and James eh? They’ve been getting noticeably “bigger” in their videos… to the point of equaling early / mid Top Gear in production value. Heck, they even call a local track they rent “the throttle house test track”, which I’m sure is how Dunsfold went.
Their road trip in cars they purchased was awesome, and the inside jokes keep getting better.
i just want to see the calming presence of Karsten continue.
Edit: I also wonder if their relationship with Chris Harris helped…
Why does one guy in the picture look like he’s from a Star War?
I’m not familiar with this Francis fella but I genuinely enjoy watching Thomas and James on Throttle Hoose (spelt thusly because of their Canadian accents). I’m not sure about putting them in the Grand Tour though, I’d rather Amazon just give them a show and keep the Throttle Hoose title but either way I’ll watch it.
I’ve also really enjoyed the Car Trek episodes I’ve caught on YT, their challenges are probably the closest to old school TG specials.
But hey, aren’t Freiburger and Finnegan looking for a new gig at the moment?
We don’t actually pronounce house like that…
What are you talking aboot, buddy?That’s exactly how you say it, guy
The “bros who have fun with each other and generally get along” dynamic was the highlight for me of the last iteration of Top Gear with Freddie, Chris and Paddy. The fun they were having showed in every scene by the sad premature end of the show. If that dynamic works out here, it’ll be a great watch. As much as I’ve enjoyed Clarkson, May and Hammond over the years it started to become a bit of a struggle to care about their exploits toward the end when it was pretty much just three cranky aging dudes being dragged to the far corners of the Earth so they could be miserable for a fat paycheck.
Thomas and James (don’t know too much about Francis) are definitely cut out to expand into TV. I don’t think TGT has all that much caché without the original trio though. I wish one of these times the Networks want to make a car-personality show, they could rotate out hosts from any and all Internet car-personalities. Trio’s of completely opposite sects.
Yeah – It might have been a better idea to make Throttle House the Amazon show so it doesn’t carry the Top Gear & GT baggage.
Didn’t realize throttle house was still around. It became more like a sitcom, with their gimmicks and competitions and one “not knowing” the other over spent on their car etc…
DT: Clarkson’s comments on the royal couple were my limit; I rarely let the artist’s personality stop me from consuming art, but I stopped watching Clarkson’s Farm at that point. You simply don’t have to be that much of an asshole to other people who are — at their absolute worst — not meaningfully affecting your life in any way, you know?
It does suck that Clarkson is such a shitty person because he’s great at what he does. He could also just…not open his mouth and keep his miserable opinions to himself but like lots of men similar to him he’s totally incapable of doing that.
I get it, how a lot of people dislike Clarkson. I really do. And what he did, hitting someone at work is beyond unacceptable naturally. I just found him likable in that way you have an uncle that may tell… inappropriate jokes and clown around with the kids. It worked for him.
But, how many of us here, in these comments, on both sides of any issue could you say the same? Opinions and assholes etc.
His whole tirade about Meghan Markle is what broke me. I’m not exactly someone who’s easy to offend and I’ve never been a member of the PC police…but it was just outright, blatantly racist and sexist. It’s not uncommon for cranky assholes to have bad opinions, but he went way too far. I can’t understand harboring that much resentment towards someone who’s more or less just a benign celebrity figure.
Don’t get me wrong-it didn’t stop me from watching the Grand Tour or old Top Gear. But it definitely made me see him in a different light.
Not just men. Gina Carano torpedoed her own acting career because she just couldn’t stop tweeting.
Oh for sure. I shouldn’t have gendered that statement.
For me, one strength of the original Top Gear trio is that they were so obviously uncool. They were also genuinely able to get upset with one another. The combination of those things tempered the fake set-up aspect that the show relies on and gives the audience something to which they can connect. Without an authentic tension between the cast, the whole thing feels too fake.
All of the YouTubers seem to be playing characters they built for their YouTube channels.
This. You could see it clearly in the first episodes of TGT which were badly scripted and just a riff on TG. Quite cringeworthy despite being the same three presenters
How many iterations of Top Gear in the UK and USA were there? All failed because they did not have the team of Clarkson-Hammond-May. Ditto for this new iteration of The Grand Tour. Both shows succeeded with the trio of Clarkson-Hammon-May because they were hosted by Real Men who enjoyed cars. This team is reminiscent of another famous trio of many years ago. Jeremy Clarkson is the leader. Richard Hammond is the goofball. And James May, aka Captain Slow…..well he is the Larry Fine of the group.
Ehhh, saying the grand tour “succeeded” is a bit of a stretch for me. I imagine it pulled in enough viewers that whatever metrics amazon was using considered it successful, but it was mostly misses for me. The Top Gear formula with those 3 was already pretty tired when Clarkson decided to punch a dude, and there’s a reason that Grand Tour changed formats like 3 times before ending (there was the created then canned star in a reasonably priced car or whatever they called it with the tired “not coming on” joke, they had the weird interview with a celebrity segment in season 1, they killed the tents to go to the all specials).
Like, there were still some good moments, but I struggle to remember almost any standout moments from Grand Tour when I can probably think of dozens of great moments from the peak of top gear. We all know it was scripted but it felt natural, whereas Grand Tour always felt absurdly scripted and like they were just ticking boxes, and even in the specials, which were always the highlights of Top Gear, there were far more misses than hits.
Looking back at the list, the only Grand Tour specials I really remember are Colombia, Mongolia, the Sahara, as those managed to capture some of the old top bear magic (and only ONE of those is after the move to the all specials format). Looking at the rest of the post-just-specials list is bleak – the boat one was awful, the Madagascar one was the worst offender for screaming that it was scripted, I have basically no memory of the lockdown era ones, I don’t think I ever watched Scandi flick, and I know I watched the central Europe one but I could not tell you a single thing that happened.
Even the final one, retreading the Africa special which was supposed to be the emotional crescendo of the Grand Tour just had me wishing that I was watching the original special, especially when they “found” the old cars from the first special.
I know this is a ramble, but I guess my point here is that peak top gear does a lot of heavy lifting for the idea that these hosts are irreplicable when if you look at like the last 10 years of their hosting on TG and GT, most of it is average at best. Yeah, the swings that TG took were mostly failures, but the idea that there exists nowhere in the world 3 other people that can do this is absurd, especially when for the last several years of these 3 doing it the output was pretty uneven.
Mongolia was the true standout. These rest were ok to bad.
Clarkson was such a bitter old self involved asshole that it was ruining Top Gear by the final few seasons. The Grand Tour had some highlights, particularity the Lancia vs. Audi segment, but the cast often looked like they hated being in the same room together, making it unpleasant to watch.
The problem I see with anyone taking over The Grand Tour is most of the viewership is going to hate they’re either too MUCH like Clarkson, Hammond, and May, or too LITTLE like them.
Throttle House, The Straight Pipes, the Car Trek series are all great, but they all draw obvious inspiration from the TG trio (Car Trek especially), and that lends itself strongly to a “love it or hate it” viewer opinion.
Of the YouTubers I can think of though, Throttle House is definitely one of the strongest pairs to take up the mantle.
The original Top Gear US (Rutledge, Tanner, Adam) were pretty solid, and the show got better as time progressed. Car Trek has some fun personalities too.
The trouble is that they need to find someone who is entertaining first, car guy second. They have to keep car enthusiasts interested, while entertaining non-car people.
The formula that seems to work is a grumpy/alfa/curmudgeon, a comedian/goodguy, and an expert/quirky.
Grumpy/Alfa/Curmudgeon : Matt Farah, Doug Demuro, Ed Bolian, Jason Camissa
Comedian/goodguy: Cleetus McFarland, Mike Finnegan, Adam Ferrara, Randy Pobst
Expert/Quirky: Rutledge Wood, Tati Reed, Fred Williams, Hoovie
Or in other words, just have Adrian, Torch, and David host it 🙂
Me, Andrea and Wayne Burgess (who I’m mates with).
We’re going to call it Goth Gear.
There are going to be some rather upset folks looking for apparel and accessories, but finding car content. I fully support this name.
It’s a working title.
I would watch!
100% my choice too! And Torch has to wear the cop outfit for every episode and slide across the hood of every car he drives.
I’ve never connected with Hoovie. I know people love him but I personally struggle to get past the rich kid/Nepo baby vibes he gives off…which is weird because Doug is also a rich kid who loves flexing his wealth but his schtick has never bugged me. I think it’s because I’m a bit neurodivergent and Doug comes across that way too. I really jive with people who have very specific obsessions lol because that’s also how my brain works.
See, that’s exactly why I never got into Doug’s content much – I find that I identify with him a little too much. I love the car selection on his channel, so I’ll religiously watch all videos muted, so I can ooh and aah at the Quirks and Features (TM) on my own 🙂
I’ve spoken to Doug before and we have mutual friends. I think he’s a legitimately decent guy who’s kind of struggling to navigate how to be ultra wealthy. He came from a level of privilege but it wasn’t owning 3 supercars privilege. I think some of his flexing is mainly due to his awkwardness but he could also be better about all of it than he is.
I just don’t have time for any of the LOOK HOW RICH I AM car influencer types. Im not bitter about their success or anything, and I know cars/racing have always been a rich person’s game. But I also think that cars should be for everyone and that when it becomes a game of flexing it alienates regular folks.
It’s funny you say that since both Hoovie and Doug haven’t really come from rich backgrounds, they’ve just been wealthy enough for long enough doing what they have that it’s sort of taken over their personalities to a certain degree. While neither necessarily had poor upbringings, they are both pretty much self made. I had fallen out of love with Hoovies channel for a couple years, and I’ve since started watching videos of his every once and a while. He went through a rough patch personally and it killed his videos, and while he can be obnoxious, he’s come off as more genuinely interested in what he’s doing recently. I’ve truly been watching Dougs videos since the absolute very beginning, just by happenstance, and he has changed a lot, but his passion is extremely real, and while he’s maybe lost touch with the reality of those without 6- and 7- car ownership budgets, he’s got genuine passion for cars that I respect.
Edit: And I’m not some hardcore fanboy of either, it’s just that I happen to have been watching both for long enough that I understand their history more than a lot who have only watched since their respective rises, and I think it’s important to recognize who is actually a rich kid/Nepo Baby (Matt Farrah actually is, though I like his stuff tons too) while Hoovie and Doug aren’t. Plenty happy to criticize all equally, but want to do it on the merits and facts. I’m a pedantic engineer after all lol.
Isn’t Hoovie’s dad a car dealership mogul? And Doug grew up in a wealthy DC suburb going to Cape Cod every summer, went to a fancy private school for college, and had his parents as co-signers for some of his early cars. They weren’t the level of wealthy that they are now, but they certainly had cushy upbringings.
And I can’t really talk! As I said in my other comment Doug and I have mutual friends and have crossed paths a few times. I also grew up pretty well off in the DC area and while my parents have never had an open checkbook policy I’ve definitely had a lot of advantages and opportunities that other people never get.
But I acknowledge it and I’m not defensive when people bring it up. I think that’s why sometimes how Doug and Hoovie come across kind of bugs me. Both are super talented dudes who’ve earned their success, but they’re not the self-made wealthy titans of automotive journalism that they make themselves out to be sometimes.
Matt Farrah came from wealth too but he’s very open about it and displays a level of vulnerability about his own issues and shortcomings that I really respect.
I’ve watched Hoovie long enough to realize that he wasn’t a rich kid/nepo baby.
He’s at least solidly upper-middle class (one of his beloved cars was his grandma’s R107, there’s at least some family money). On the other hand, he loves cheap old Buicks, so he’s not all supercars all the time.
He absolutely was at least moderately rich growing up. His dad owns a bunch of Freddy’s BBQ franchises, which Tyler now has at least a partial stake in, though he’s nowhere near as involved in that as his dad is/was. He did videos years ago with one of the regional managers for Freddy’s, and gave him a car.
I totally agree with you. I think the difference between them is Doug did actually come from modest means and worked really hard for a long time to get where he’s at today. I think the instant wealth he got with selling part of his stake in Cars and Bids has gone to his head the last couple of years, but I’ve always liked the “quirks and features” style of car reviewing where he actually shows what all the buttons and knobs do.
Hoovie was born into at least moderate wealth with his dad owning all those fast food franchises. He seems to have been on his own for many years at this point, but him talking about his money and tax problems is super off-putting right after he shows off his million-dollar farm renovations. I also can’t relate to his obsession with malaise-era and early aughts luxo barges. Totally fine he likes them, but not my thing.
I guess it depends on the definition of modest means…he went to school at Emory and was allegedly a Porsche HQ manager in his 20s. I never got much of a “rags to riches” vibe, it was more like “riches to MORE riches” but I definitely admire his hustle and I don’t think he got where he is by accident…just that he had a leg up that most people don’t.
Everyone’s definition of means is different, but to be clear about Porsche, he was a vehicle allocation manager, sorting out which dealerships got what, and helping route custom orders. It’s not like he was CEO of Porsche USA or something.
Neither Hoovie or Doug (or Farah) ever had to worry about the rent, anything above that is my definition of means.
Expert/Quirky: Rutledge Wood, Tati Reed, Fred Williams,
HoovieTyler Hoover isn’t really an expert, more of a used car salesman (which is exactly what he is). He also can hardly lift a wrench (at least as far as his YT persona shows).
I’d offer Robert Dunn from Aging Wheels as a much better “expert/quirky” guy, and also relatively more obscure, like James May was. Robert has a super eclectic car collection of electric and ICE cars, and he does everything on them himself. He’s also does woodworking on his other channel “Under Dunn”.
I guess that I’ve been watching Hoovie long enough to appreciate his on-screen persona. Robert Dunn is a great choice, though a little awkward on-camera.
I’ve been watching Hoovie since he bought Apollo 911 and showed it on a video 8 years ago. I generally like the guy, but some of his purchasing decisions are baffling. Gotta do it for the content I guess.
His schtick is making bad decisions, suffering, and racking in the views.
Expert: Hoovie? Come on, man!
And please keep Doug away from a TV Series. He’s caustic enough as it is.
He knows more than you think. There’s a reason that he’s a Barrett Jackson announcer now.
Clearly from all other comments you received, he doesn’t come across as an expert and that is a massive problem. I’ve never seen him working on his own cars, fully relying on the Wizard and the other BMW mechanic to save his ass. He routinely keeps driving cars with massive problems until they implode because he has money and doesn’t care about the repair bills later, so clearly he doesn’t “care” about those cars the way car people do.
I started watching his channel years ago, but at one point I realized he was just a rich guy pretending to like interesting cars for views/likes.
Views and likes are mostly his only income.
Thomas and James are fantastic! They definitely wear their Top Gear influence on their sleeves but not in a bad way at all…they pay homage without being a ripoff. What always made Clarkson, May, and Hammond timeless was their chemistry. The cars and challenges were always amazing, but it was the constant banter between them that always made them special and helped Top Gear and the Grand Tour have universal appeal.
Thomas and James have excellent chemistry and always seem to find the sweet spot between being entertaining and informative. I learn and laugh while watching them. I’d say the same about Savagegeese, although they’re a bit more niche with the weird humor and in depth technical dives. While Throttle House is a huge YouTube channel this is almost certainly a sizable promotion for them.
I think they’ve more than earned it and I’m very excited to tune in. I’ve been subscribed to them since they were at like 100k many years ago and now I feel like a proud parent watching their kid make it big haha. Anyhoo Mitski is amazing. I haven’t listened to her new record yet but we have Laurel Hell on vinyl and it’s a real favorite in the NSane household.
I feel like Be The Cowboy was kind of when she fully matured as an artist. She’s always been great at writing eloquent, deeply personal, and unapologetically weird music but I feel like she really took the next step with that record when she managed to tie a pop bow on top of everything. She’s great and I’m quite fond of a lot of the 2010s/2020s sad-ish female indie artists. I also love St. Vincent, Caroline Polachek, and Clairo.
Just wanna +1 all of the above – I basically wrote out the exact same thing and then realized you’d said it more eloquently, right as I was about to click Post.
Hard agree on Mitski and sad indie in general too – as an old rocker/metalhead married to a self-professed “art hoe” (her words, not mine!), I’ve been branching out lately and it’s been going more easily than I might have expected. Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.
Oh metal was my main love for decades. I came up in the DC hardcore scene but always gravitated more towards thrash and the new wave of American heavy metal bands that were big when I was a teenager. Trivium, LOG, Avenged Sevenfold, etc. From there I got into more extreme stuff like Dillinger, Meshuggah, all the classic death metal bands, etc.
I also play guitar and played in assorted half assed metal and hard rock bands until my early 20s when I had to make a choice to either pursue music fully or fully commit to my education. I did the second, like a NERD. But hey, I’ve built a comfy little life I’m quite happy with, and while I haven’t played live in over a decade at this point I at least have the means to maintain an enviable guitar collection lol.
Anyway, college and grad school really forced me to diversify because just being a metal musician wasn’t going to cut it if I wanted to play with other people, and I eventually got into other stuff. I’ve sort of moved away from metal in recent years and listen to a lot of modern indie, classic post punk/new wave, and a whole lot of hip hop and R&B, although I’m a bit of an old head when it comes to both outside of a few artists.
I still love metal but I’m really struggling to find current bands that excite me. The current djent/metalcore stuff that’s big is way too homogeneous for me to enjoy and Sleep Token is so bad yet so famous it defies comprehension. There’s still tons of great underground stuff but I don’t always have time to seek it out.
Unfortunately I mainly find myself going back to my roots when seeking out metal, which is a shame. I also write my own stuff that kind of scratches a lot of my itches.
Pretty sure you won’t consider him metal but I’m a recent convert to Mammoth WVH and his music is really scratching some musical itches for me. As a metal guitarist, I’m curious about your take on his technical skills.
I was a metal/thrash/grunge guy in my youth (growing up in the PNW in the early 90’s there was no escaping grunge) as well.
Oh he can play for sure. He has great tone too, but then again he’s mainly using stuff his dad played a role in developing so it’s unsurprising because Eddie was a tonal trailblazer…although I play through a Peavey 6505+ so you can certainly say I’m influenced as well.
Mammoth is good but unspectacular to me, if that makes sense. I just feel like that classic hard rock sound has sort of been taken as far as it can be taken at this point. There’s very little under the rock umbrella that I consider fresh sounding in this day and age…with Wet Leg being a noteworthy exception.
It’s not that the music is BAD, it’s just that I think the genre spends way too much time looking back and not forward. To me the real bleeding edge stuff is in other genres at the moment. Recently I’ve been particularly blown away by Rico Nasty’s latest record. She combines elements of pop punk, Nü Metal, and rap in a totally unique and fresh way.
As a guitarist I’m a weirdo. I spent a lot of my life using the blues as my backbone and adding little chunks of minor scales/an occasional harmonic minor run…much like you’d hear on most classic thrash records. I slowly came to realize that for me personally it was super limiting. Don’t get me wrong-plenty of players can make a simple pentatonic scale sound amazing and fresh, but I can’t anymore.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more fond of fusion players. Guys like Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Issei Noro, etc. I’m not a jazz player by trade but lately I’ve been studying jazz techniques and trying to implement more of them into my playing. Different/odd scales, incorporating notes that are out of key to create dissonance, using outside the box arpeggios, etc.
It’s opened up the instrument for me in a way that feels fresh and new despite the fact that I’ve been playing for 20 years. Anyway, I definitely respect and appreciate what Wolfie has been laying down recently, but classic hard rock type stuff just isn’t really what I seek out in this day and age.
Remember that for a TG/GT format series, they need to do other stuff other than reviewing cars. I love Thomas and James but they’re too alike. For a show like this to work the hosts must have contrasting personalities. If someone asked me to say what differentiates Thomas from James, I’d be really hard pressed to come up with something. They’re both slight variations of the same personality.
They work as YouTubers because the content suits them. It’s similar to Harry Metcalfe, or Matt Farah. They work in their niche, but they’re a bit too sterile for a TV series to be fun to watch. We love them because we’re at the extreme end of the car guys community but not everyone is.
My fiancee thinks Jason Cammisa and Matt Watson are funny and quirky so they’d be my choices, plus Chris Harris to have a great driver in there too.
Who are your dream car TV show hosts?
Paul Hollywood
Ewan McGregor
Steve Coogan
All three are interesting people who have done interesting things with and without interesting cars.
And Ewan has a Beetle fetish.
I’m listening.
Long way home is coming soon… more Ewan and Charlie…
it’s already out 🙂
Crap! Gotta catch up now!
My ideal automotive host is Jason Torchinsky. He is very knowledgeable about the topic of automobiles and is very entertaining. He is also <insert personal compliment about Jason>. Amazon should hire him and pay him <insert large quantity of money> because I, the average viewer, would definitely watch a show hosted by Jason.
OK, its done.
Now about that $200 I was promised.
He’s proven his abilities with stunt work, costume design, and technology. not to mention putting his body on the line for the most riveting automotive content imaginable.
Costume design is a bit loose, but your rivet comment scrapes by.
Don’t patreonize the staff!
Yeah, about that. If you’ll just take your contract to your local electron scanning microscope, you will see clearly stated in the nano-scale fine print “all remunerations shall be paid in Jasonian Sovereign Coin And Money”. Currently offering an alternative- gingerly used cop costume, if you prefer.
I think the reason I’m so excited by the prospect of Thomas and James leading the grand tour is that they won’t try to recreate the Clarkson/Hammond/May dynamic, regardless of who their third person is alongside them. The Top Gear Trio worked incredibly well together, but it was lightning in a bottle, a fluke, a one off, and a product of their time somewhat. Anyone who attempts to copy it fails because that MUST come naturally, any attempt to emulate it feel forced because it is. Thomas and James are deeply entertaining in their own way, and I could see a third person (sorry I’m not familiar with Francis) working well so long as they choose to be themselves.
Thomas and James have known great chemistry on their own, and do well with others in their videos, so long as Francis fits in to their chemistry and comedic style/timing, I think this could be excellent. The Throttle House road trips seem to have served as somewhat of an audition/recreation of the classic Top Gear challenges, and while not up to that level, with Amazon money behind them and a third person to bounce off of, this could be the continuance we have been waiting for. Time will tell if it’s even real, much less good, but this is about as much as I could have asked for.
Thomas and James have a slight Clarkson and Hammond dynamic between them. Train guy (not too familiar with him after his initial fame) is a decent James May analogue, but I fear that he lacks the correct amount of car knowledge since not many things transfer. He’d probably be an expert on the Honda hybrid system though!
After watching the Francis and Chris Harris video above, I feel good about his ability to fit in with Thomas and James.
Putting an Amazon budget behind the TH guys has a ton of potential. I’m excited for them and excited for me as a longtime consumer of their stuff.
Jay Leno, Jason Torchinsky, and Mercedes Streeter, with special guest David Tracy coming on to get really technical.
I could also get behind a Noel Fielding, Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood combo for Top Gear. Bonus points for a Top Gear/British Baking Show crossover episode where they contestants have to both bake and drive, but I don’t know how or why that would work.
They have to build an homage to the Domino’s pizza delivery cars with built in ovens then bake cupcakes in them while driving from London to Deal. Or maybe while doing laps of the TG test track. Yeah, that’s probably safer when something catches fire.
And they’ll do such a good job keeping the contestants calm when they don’t know how to drive or they crash. Let’s get this on the air.
“The Crossover Episode”
Noel takes a Nissan Qashqai on a casual trip around The North with his former TV costars, Chris O’Dowd and Richard Ayoade in a segment called “The Aye, Tea Crowd”
Then we join Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry on a closed course with a Volkswagen Tiguan an hour after they learn the cookies they tried were made with cannabis butter. It’s The Real British Bakeoff!
I would definitely watch all of that. And we could get some Mighty Boosh and Dick Turpin stuff and maybe throw Big Fat Quiz in there. I’ll call the BBC.
I think once Mary & Paul have been on the pot cookies it becomes The Real British Baked-Off
Or you could switch Mary Berry out with Prue Leith. No one could tell the difference between her and James May.
Prue would be a good choice. I forgot (or never knew) her last name, but I could see her doing really well on our new Top Gear Bake-Off.
I also now realize I would also accept anyone who has played The Doctor or most companions as Top Gear hosts. Catherine Tate, David Tennant, and Alex Kingston would be great.
What am I, chopped liver?
I picked folks on this side of the ocean for the first one. I fully support you joining the cast for both this new Top Gear and Great British Bake-Off, but I committed to the folks already included in the baking show.
Also, I think you should have your own show. That way you can cycle through guests and not have to change the opening every time you tire of a costar’s crap (or they tire of being berated for it).
Well, hold on, you have time to prove yourself, what are your thoughts on the Jatco Xtronic CVT?
It’s the greatest transmission ever invented. Or an oily swarfy hand grenade between engine and wheels. Whichever suits your bit.
We all really missed you on the Viper transmission swap story. They put in some DCT instead of the Jatco Xtronic CVT it really needed.
But I suppose it was already done…they really needed your input beforehand.
My opinion is often dismissed as unserious, a “bit” as some put it…
Goth shadows don’t show well on screen.
I actually liked the original TGUS and wish it had continued.
I don’t watch a ton of YouTube (it’s a combo of timewaster but also the sheer volume of garbage is a turnoff) but from all the reviews I’ve ever watched, I think TFL (The Fast Lane) came up in my searches more than anything else, and I watched almost all their videos in their entirety without getting sick of them.
As long as it’s not another early-20-something in a Salt Lake City suburb claiming to do a “review” of a car where the first 17 minutes are a walkaround with his opinions of the lighting shapes, then thanking the dealership who lent him the car. I hate that format with a passion.
Throttle House has among the best chemistry of YouTube hosts with Straight Pipes being a close second. I’m actually excited for them to be hosting the new Grand Tour. I rarely laugh at youtube car reviews and both aforementioned channels having me laughing regularly.
This is Savagegeese erasure and I won’t stand for it. I like Yuri and Jakob and their dynamic but their content has gotten lazier over the years and they frequently say stuff that’s just incorrect…and like, I get it Jakob….you like V8s and manuals and think literally everything would be better with them.
Was waiting for Savagegeese to be brought up. That’s the only channel where I’ll click on a video reviewing some boring crossover I have zero interest in and still be entertained for the next 15 minutes as they both giggle like idiots sending a Rouge careening through a roundabout at 50mph.
Agreed, their running gags are wonderful. They’re probably the only people online that I can think of that have used AI Generated video clips in the most perfect ways possible, mocking wealthy buyers of dumb high end stuff, making fun of themselves, mocking PR videos and language, all so so good, while being really well thought out, thorough, and objective.
The recent CT5-V Blackwing video was excellent. Mark sarcastically trashing the thing while noting they were given the blandest possible one in white with an auto and then Jack proceeds to drift the thing all over the place around the track.
I agree on the OG TGUSA. It seemed like they were just getting their footing and really meshing when it got canceled.
That being said, hearing the background stories about production and some of the crew has been eye opening. It’s hard when it’s a car show produced by people who aren’t into cars. Also, Tanner doesn’t really like cars either.
I agree; I liked TGUS!
The Top Gear trio never considered themselves cool. I’ve tried watching Throttle House, it gets monotonous fast. I’d like to see The Grand Tour go a different direction, and get away from the three misfit guys thing. A recent YT video with Izzy Hammond and Tati Reed was refreshing and different. It doesn’t take an auto expert to host a car show, it requires charm. Throttle House guys have zero charm.
Maybe the thing to do is have a rotating co-host of other well known YouTube guys and celebrity car nerds. I actually do find them quite charming but I’m not sure there’s enough depth there to sustain a full format show.
Thank you! You do get it. They’re both super nice guys but they’re just too alike. It’s like watching variations of the same person. To me TH is for background watching. Now, when Hagerty releases one of their Icons w/Jason Cammisa episodes it’s a whole event and everything else I’m doing just stops.
Yeah, I like Jason Cammisa, he gets it.
My dream car hosts, no one specific. just someone whose accent is understandable and audible, who is not an arrogant oaf and knowledgeable and willing to learn. Tired of cranky unintelligible idiots.
This is why I love the idea of the Throttle House guys being hosts, they’re super passionate and knowledgeable, easy to understand, never take themselves too seriously, and have lots of creativity in their video intros and premises for videos outside of their standard reviews. I think what’s most important is they will likely try to be something different than a repeat of the TG trio. As we saw with the Grand Tour at first, even they couldn’t replicate Top Gear in an adequate way, and it was the same hosts. People always hate change and I’m sure whatever happens there will be detractors for one reason or another, but I am excited by this possibility.
I always found the later seasons of Clarkson/Hammond/Mays’s Top Gear and subsequent TGT to be catered to a more general American market (loud, brash, argumentative) with Clarkson and Hammond turning up their characters up to 11.
I have been impressed with Clarkson’s farm as it takes us back to a calmer Jeremy Clarkson probably due to the fish out of water premise. James May’s shows on Amazon have been great and the recent James May and Richard Hammond collaborations on DriveTribe have been excellent.
It kind of reminds me of the difference between the UK and US version of Kitchen’s Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey. The UK version was quaint, introspective, and generally told a great story without having to resort to yelling matches. The U.S. version seemed like the producers gave Ramsey a bottle of booze and said “Have at it, Mate!”