two million on the mall
Starting a web site is a bit like throwing a permanent party; you open the front door, put up a few balloons on the porch rail, and hope someone shows up. Well, the CC party just keeps getting bigger, and the two-millionth unique visitor came through the front doorway sometime in the last couple of days, almost exactly after two and a half years. And 1.4 million of those came in the past 12 months, so the rate of new visitors is still growing. And how long do you stay when you drop in? An average of a bit over four minutes each visit; just enough for a quick drink, I guess. But that’s pretty long, for website visits.
I feel almost a bit ashamed, because my output of fresh, full-on CCs has slowed over the summer, as I’m desperately trying to finish a number of building projects and such. But the dedicated CC Corps of Party Hosts/Editors/Contributors has made it possible to keep the fiesta going. And we’re always open to new Contributors. Anyway, Party On! And if you’d like to tell us a little about yourself, or how you found the site, or some useful feedback, here’s the podium and mike to address the assembled multitude.
Congrats on reaching the milestone. I have around about a year, after discovering the site through a search for something. I am not much of a blog guy as they seem to get out of control easily. But I could tell from the start this one was different. This is a class act. It is by far my favorite site. I enjoy many of the features that have been previously mentioned; such as the international flavor, the multi-generational flavor, etc., etc. I really enjoy the clue contests, and have been the successful guesser on a few. I comment sometimes but spare time is in short supply in my life, so it usually it pretty late (like tonight) before I can get online, and then I am so tired I can’t think straight.
The main thing that keeps me coming back is that this community for the most part likes, as KiwiBrice put it, ‘ordinary cars’ the way they were built. It seems like most everyone wants to put their own personal touch on a car. That is fine, but for me I am a purist for originality. I never knew there were so many that think like I do, and enjoy reading all the stories and comments.
Negatives? I haven’t read of any because there are very few. The only one for me is a direct result of success. I enjoy reading all the comments, but that is getting harder to do because there are so many. I can see the difference just in the year I have been involved.
Thanks for all your efforts to Paul and the behind the scene workers, and to the contributors and commentors.
Thanks, and nice to hear from you!
My name is Geoff and I also followed Paul’s articles from TTAC to this site. In fact, his articles were the reason I first started reading TTAC. I subscribe to the RSS feed to be sure that I don’t miss anything.
As for me, my interest in older cars started with my grandfather. His hobby was restoring antique cars. I have fond memories of his cars from the ’28 model A up to his ’40 Chev.
I like CC because here in Atlantic Canada, the rust monster has taken most of the pre-1990 cars away. Of course, there are the restoration and show cars, but daily-driven classics are rare.
I don’t have the time to do my own restoration, but I have taken on a bit of a project. The wife and I recently bought a 1975 travel trailer that we are slowly restoring. I wonder if an article on that would be appropriate for this site?
Absolutely! We love old trailers.
Congratulations on a job well done. All you have left to do is bring Murillee over.
I’m a long time C.C. and TTAC reader. I come here everyday at least once,sometimes to just have a quick read. I’d all but given up on TTAC for a while there.Jack and Derek are doing a great job,restoring TTAC to its former glory. I still feel like I” fit in” more easily here. Just because I don’t comment doesn’t I’m not here.
Being from rust country, i’m still in awe, when I read and see photos of 25 and 40 year old cars still on the road.
Now that I have retired, I find myself less, and less, interested in the buying, and selling of vehicles. Steve Laing calls us folks” keepers” Paul, those ad people are right !…. Us old guys don’t like throwing their money around.
Anyway, keep up the good work>
My two babies!
Always nice to hear from you, Mikey!
Mike, I think of it as us being too smart to be duped into buying based on some artificial emotion of exclusivity. Plus, retirement makes us more aware of where our now-limited dollars are going. No more performance or Christmas bonus for the retirement crowd, at least on my pay plan.
Congratulations, Paul, on your milestone(s). You built a better mousetrap (than TTAC, etc) and the world beat a path to your door. According to Google’s “Your Frequently Used Sites”, CC is in my top five.
I was never a reg at TTAC, but it is where I first encountered the CC concept. I’ve been commenting here about a year now. It’s a unique site, with great people on both the editorial side and the commentary side. Keep up the fine work!
Congrats! I found this site when I was looking for articles on the cadillac brougham, which isn’t exactly like a mustang in terms of popularity. Finding a site like this that gives under appreciated cars a moment in the spotlight really thrills me, as I love reading and learning about old cars that rarely get any attention. I rarely comment, but that’s because at 18 I don’t have really any experience or memories with most of the cars posted. Keep up the great journalism!
I love the fact that we have some younger readers. True, a lot of the stuff we cover has a nostalgia factor for a lot of us. However, when I was 18, I really loved old stuff from the 20s and 30s. I would have loved a forum like this to hear from the people who lived with those cars so as to get a better feel and appreciation for them. This is the same reason I love hearing from our oldest readers – they had experiences that I will likely never have, and I love reading about them. You younger readers come at this with a whole new and fresh perspective as well, so don’t be afraid to comment or raise a question if something strikes you.
I too am one of the many that first started reading Paul’s work at TTAC. Then followed Paul here as soon as he set it up. I didn’t start commenting at TTAC or here, until I started writing. I too have more to give, but have had a serious lack of time lately. This is my favorite site on the world wide web thanks to the cars, the stories, the people and the civility. The comments are usually just as good as the writing, which is not something you see very often.
Congrats to Paul and Curbside Classics and all who make this site great.
I am another one who discovered Paul’s work at TTAC. Back in 2007 I was looking for information about some car and discovered a review of that car at TTAC. One day I read one of Paul’s posts from his autobiography series and became hooked. When he announced that he was going to leave TTAC, I followed him here and like they said the rest is history.
I visit CC everyday. What I love about this site, is that this is one of the few places where you can read about everyday cars. I mean I can read about old Mustangs, GTOs, 55 Chevies in about I don’t know, millions of sites. But on how many sites do you have Toyota Week, or the history of the Cavalier, Celebrity, Civics, Datsuns, Caravans, etc? This is what make this site different and special, along with the personal histories of the people who own them. So, keep the good work everybody and greetings from PR!
Civility and a dignified web discussion site – what a unique concept. Paul, your depth of research is rapidly approaching Aaron’s for backstory tidbits. The two most cerebral car sites extant, and I’m damn proud to subscribe to both. We’ve occasionally disagreed politically, but with an earnest and reasoned approach rather than the name-calling of so many other blogs. I am also of the cheap older guy genre, and damn proud of it. I also subscribe to the dictum of the worst day self-employment is better than the best day of servitude, especially to present-day corporate America. Therefore, I wish you the best in this ongoing experiment, and hope we’re both around for the 10 millionth visitor. I’m sure RF never thought it would still be a going concern two years in. I’ve yet to start my inherited projects ’53 Hudson or ’67 Ambassador, but I promise to document all steps when finally going all-in to make my dear Father’s legacy a reality that our entire family will share and drive. Your welcoming approach to us as potential contributors is a refreshing model that encourages us to share our hopes, frustrations and successes with everyone here. I hope soon to be able to proudly submit something of value and entertainment to all. Thanks again for an adult site with polite and conscientious forum support.
Paul, many thanks to you from Day 1 for starting this concept over at TTAC, and then casting out on your own and nurturing this baby to it’s current brilliance. You’ve picked up some incredible writers along the way; “Clara Bartoned” some bruised egos; and dialed back your own life to keep it afloat.
That all can’t be easy. Kudos to you and your dedication. And Stephanie for putting up with it.
An automotive website for grown-ups, that is Curbside Classic. I can’t recall how I first found it, probably off of TTAC, but I was immediately taken with the quality of Paul’s writing and the depth and breadth of his interest in all things self-propelled. The Iowa connection certainly helped-I like to think that the civility for which midwesterners are known rubbed off on Paul during his stay there-or maybe found affirmation-making it possible for him to enforce the same here. I love all the pictures of the old cars, taken in all the different styles, with all the different personal stories. And I like the cars from other countries, those “alternate universes.” I love how the people here try to celebrate the different, rather than look down on it or try to argue that their reality is/was better. The world would be a much more boring place if we all drove the same thing, just as it would be if we all looked and sounded alike. Thanks to all for humoring my interest in the old tractors and implements, I will try to add what I know in that area as I can. And start taking pictures-I don’t think that 57 Bel Air 2 door wagon (not a Nomad) I saw at the light yesterday could be original, got to be on the lookout for that one. Keep it going, Paul and all!
Okay, I’m a bit late to the party, sorry… I followed Paul here from TTAC (I only found TTAC because of Paul’s writeups, haven’t been back there since CC started). I love CC, the variety of vehicles and comments is always fascinating. CC is so good it’s the only free website I’ve ever felt compelled to donate to. The only slight sadness has been the trolls of late. But they’ll never bring down this most awesome of websites! Congrats on the magnificent milestone Paul!