Just venting about todays car scene and YouTube

[Maximus]

I’m 45 years old and have been into cars for as long as I can remember. It probably started when my oldest brother restored a ‘65 Mustang fastback and put a 302 small block in it. At the time, it was scary fast and would smoke the tires for blocks.

Fast forward to my mid 20’s when I bought an S2000 that was heavily modded with nothing but JDM goodies, traded that in for an ‘04 G35 Coupe with a 6-speed and Brembos from the factory, traded that in for my first Wrangler….it goes on and on.

I do like watching a few YouTube channels to be able to see cars being modded, cars I wouldn’t be able to own and it’s something to pass the time for entertainment purposes. Here in lies the problem with the current car scene….for me at least. There are fans of theee YouTubers who are having these people SIGNING THEIR CARS! Not to hate, but hardly any of them, aside from maybe Adam LZ, are anything proven with regards to racing or anything motor sports related (at least the few that I watch). Other than vlogging, selling “merch” to their disciples and buying cars with money (where I have no idea they’re getting it all from)….what else do they do and what are they established in?! I would absolutely NEVER have ANYBODY sign my car unless it was the head designer of the original Z, President of Nissan, President of an aftermarket JDM company, a world champion Drift champion or any other competitive Japanese driver in sole circuit series….etc (you get the point). And at that, it would be a valve cover being signed and NOT my dash or fenders like these people are doing today.
It’s not a thing of jealousy….trust me. But I just can’t, for the life of me, understand how it’s gotten to the point of having normal people who have established nothing in the world of motor sports, tagging their cars as some sort of clout to show off to your homies.
If somebody could shed some light on it for me….drop that knowledge!

 

[MCN1SMO]

I just turned 44 so same demographic lol. im pretty hip to current pop culture but I dont get the internet clout thing and celebrity in the youtube car scene.

I dont watch any of that I dont have to ( sometimes I have to when they get first look at cars or they do have access to something exclusive.) what gets me is manufacturers like nissan give some of these influencers cars as a priority for a few days to review for their audiences and some of it is really cringe and I bet no one is buying a car based on this.


as for the car signing thing I couldnt imagine getting my car signed by them or anyone not directly affiliated with the development of the car itself.

over 9 years Ive got my GTR signed by the designer shiro nakamara CPS Tamura COO and head of Super GT program for NISMO Matsumura and a vice president of NISMO Ishikawa who helped design the VR38 and started the R35 GT3 program. all that means a lot and I wouldnt let anyone on youtube touch my car with a sharpie lmao

 

[Maximus]

I just turned 44 so same demographic lol. im pretty hip to current pop culture but I dont get the internet clout thing and celebrity in the youtube car scene.

I dont watch any of that I dont have to ( sometimes I have to when they get first look at cars or they do have access to something exclusive.) what gets me is manufacturers like nissan give some of these influencers cars as a priority for a few days to review for their audiences and some of it is really cringe and I bet no one is buying a car based on this.


as for the car signing thing I couldnt imagine getting my car signed by them or anyone not directly affiliated with the development of the car itself.

over 9 years Ive got my GTR signed by the designer shiro nakamara CPS Tamura COO and head of Super GT program for NISMO Matsumura and a vice president of NISMO Ishikawa who helped design the VR38 and started the R35 GT3 program. all that means a lot and I wouldnt let anyone on youtube touch my car with a sharpie lmao

Couldn’t agree with you more.
I just wanted to check and see if I’m not the only one who feels this way….like I’m crazy or something! Lol….thanks for the verification

 

[SavedByFaith_]

As someone who turned 30yo this year, I can kind of relate... But I really wouldn't have anyone sign my car u less mentioned by you two (corporate leadership / legendary JDM shop / motorsports)

I'm definitely the generation that grew up on fast & the furious, 2f2f and of course toyko drift.

Always growing up in super metropolitan areas, I'd find the tuners, JDM enthusiasts, and overall car guys in the cities, but never really had the funds or access to modding cars myself.

Tuning culture was going hard at the time and it was my dream to own a nice Japanese sports car and get into the modding scene.

So being super young, right before the internet boom
I was out there visiting places with my dad, just to see the car scene - let alone getting to know the culture more in depth (dad loved cars, but nothing like us enthusiastic, just a simple enjoyer of body lines and engine sounds)

So as YouTube started to get popular
Some of these content creators filled that gap in learning more about modding / tuning

Nowadays, I do follow just a handful of creators and more are in the genre of story telling (Albon, The Squidd, Albo [originally drift hunters], etc. and for those who do not watch Subaru launch control - get on that!)

I do watch and buy merch from Dustin Williams
I consider him an OG on the YouTube days and still somewhat humble to his roots today (his japan series are the absolute best, visiting these modder shops - like this is something only YouTube can provide nowadays and I really don't want these ships to phase out)
Honestly, his merch is decent quality and the graphics are quite nice (best looking graphics in the JDM scene imo)

Don't know what I'm getting at hahha.. just figured I'd dump my thoughts and personal experiences

 

[Maximus]

As someone who turned 30yo this year, I can kind of relate... But I really wouldn't have anyone sign my car u less mentioned by you two (corporate leadership / legendary JDM shop / motorsports)

I'm definitely the generation that grew up on fast & the furious, 2f2f and of course toyko drift.

Always growing up in super metropolitan areas, I'd find the tuners, JDM enthusiasts, and overall car guys in the cities, but never really had the funds or access to modding cars myself.

Tuning culture was going hard at the time and it was my dream to own a nice Japanese sports car and get into the modding scene.

So being super young, right before the internet boom
I was out there visiting places with my dad, just to see the car scene - let alone getting to know the culture more in depth (dad loved cars, but nothing like us enthusiastic, just a simple enjoyer of body lines and engine sounds)

So as YouTube started to get popular
Some of these content creators filled that gap in learning more about modding / tuning

Nowadays, I do follow just a handful of creators and more are in the genre of story telling (Albon, The Squidd, Albo [originally drift hunters], etc. and for those who do not watch Subaru launch control - get on that!)

I do watch and buy merch from Dustin Williams
I consider him an OG on the YouTube days and still somewhat humble to his roots today (his japan series are the absolute best, visiting these modder shops - like this is something only YouTube can provide nowadays and I really don't want these ships to phase out)
Honestly, his merch is decent quality and the graphics are quite nice (best looking graphics in the JDM scene imo)

Don't know what I'm getting at hahha.. just figured I'd dump my thoughts and personal experiences

I can relate somewhat and see your points

 

[Mr&Mrs]

I'm almost 40 and never got into social media until a few months ago. I guess that is debatable, I have streamed a little and have been a member of a few car forums. Which I see are far less active than before, and seem to be an older crowd. I've built a handful of nice cars over the years and this is the first one I'm sort of "advertising" on social media. After just 2 months of it though I'm pretty sick of it already. I firmly believe the cell phone and social media were the start of our demise as a species.

I am with you id never ask a social media star for an autograph, but I wouldn't ask anyone in entertainment for one. I do understand why people do it though. The value you offer them is something special in their minds. I was what I consider a small streamer a little while back and had a handful of people want autographs. I'm a nobody that's contributed nothing meaningful to society in my eyes. Those people were overjoyed when receiving my autograph though.

Without insulting people who love this culture, I will say it just isn't for me. If they are building positive impactful communities, good for them.

 

[Maximus]

I'm almost 40 and never got into social media until a few months ago. I guess that is debatable, I have streamed a little and have been a member of a few car forums. Which I see are far less active than before, and seem to be an older crowd. I've built a handful of nice cars over the years and this is the first one I'm sort of "advertising" on social media. After just 2 months of it though I'm pretty sick of it already. I firmly believe the cell phone and social media were the start of our demise as a species.

I am with you id never ask a social media star for an autograph, but I wouldn't ask anyone in entertainment for one. I do understand why people do it though. The value you offer them is something special in their minds. I was what I consider a small streamer a little while back and had a handful of people want autographs. I'm a nobody that's contributed nothing meaningful to society in my eyes. Those people were overjoyed when receiving my autograph though.

Without insulting people who love this culture, I will say it just isn't for me. If they are building positive impactful communities, good for them.

Agree and also, like you, I have started an Insta page for my car which I’ve never done for any of my previous cars.
When I had my S2000 back in ‘01, the forum I was on was so busy everyday. I now belong to this forum, which is pretty active, and another that’s fairly dead and I hardly ever post over there. Web forums can be super helpful, and I appreciate that about them but they can also be a bit of a popularity contest. But….maybe competition is good

 

[bpeckham]

Agree and also, like you, I have started an Insta page for my car which I’ve never done for any of my previous cars.
When I had my S2000 back in ‘01, the forum I was on was so busy everyday. I now belong to this forum, which is pretty active, and another that’s fairly dead and I hardly ever post over there. Web forums can be super helpful, and I appreciate that about them but they can also be a bit of a popularity contest. But….maybe competition is good

This is a really good forum. I actually found the other one first, but this one is quite active, not to mention welcoming and full of helpful folks and useful advice. I wasn't in the Z community before the '23 Z, so it's nice to hear folks who had a 370Z or a 350Z reflect on their cars, and compare that to the current gen.

Also: none of you get to sign my car.

 

[theboosh]

My thoughts, at least the good thing with Z is we've got a spread of demographics with the car going from 240Z to the current gen. It's a good scene & mix of people to be around vs some other cars.

 

[FL 4Motion]

Well there’s people making a living commenting on other people playing video games online so I suppose it could be worse.

my understanding is that YouTube pays content creators based on # of views and those influencers, (I use the term loosely), then also make extra $$ with sponsors/get free shit that they then biasedly “review” positively.

it’s the Seinfeld of jobs/careers. (A job about nothing that contributes nothing). But some folks have found a way to monetize their existence and imo, too many younger folks aspire to that status, hence the autographs.
It’s a fucked up world where hot nurses are quitting healthcare field where they contribute to society bc they are making 6 figures doing porn or porn adjacent stuff on OF etc.

*old man rant over*

 

[ec15]

I firmly believe the cell phone and social media were the start of our demise as a species.

100%
I tell people to watch Wall-e.
Thats where humanity is heading.

 

[FL 4Motion]

100%
I tell people to watch Wall-e.
Thats where humanity is heading.

That’s a great movie.
When I first watched Idiocracy back in the day, I thought it was hilarious. Now, I realize it’s the most terrifying horror movie ever made. And Mike Judge, the creator, apparently has the gift of prophecy.

 

[ec15]

That’s a great movie.
When I first watched Idiocracy back in the day, I thought it was hilarious. Now, I realize it’s the most terrifying horror movie ever made. And Mike Judge, the creator, apparently has the gift of prophecy.

I use to think the future will be a toss up between Wall-E and Skynet (terminator).
Right now, it's definitely leaning Wall-E because Skynet requires smart and hardworking people.
I don't see that happening. Sad.

 

[NecioVato]

That’s a great movie.
When I first watched Idiocracy back in the day, I thought it was hilarious. Now, I realize it’s the most terrifying horror movie ever made. And Mike Judge, the creator, apparently has the gift of prophecy.

It seems like my friends and I seem to refer to current times and society as a living breathing movie version of Idiocracy. It seems like as we gain more and more technology to provide information and help ourselves - we seem to be more and more 'dumbed down' as a society. Eh...it is what it is.

 

[takemorepills]

I do see some things about internet "stars" as a positive....
It's nice that "fame" is no longer centralized to affluent people in Hollywood or New York. There are some YT channels that I value very highly and they could compete with cable TV from 2 decades ago.

However, I share the sentiment that social media, especially tik tok, are pure AIDS.
We need to go back to a time where being stupid got ya punched in the mouth....