After five years of writing Curbside Classics, and three years of running and building up this website, the time has come for a change. I need to un-tether myself from this very addictive activity, and catch up on some critical projects with my other work as well as some travel and such. This is not an easy decision by a long shot, as I’ve poured a lot of myself into this baby. But it’s time to hand over the keys to someone else.
Typically, web sites are sold via brokers or auctions or such, but I don’t want to hand the keys over to just anyone, so I though I’d put this out to you all, in case one (or more) of you wants to hop in the driver’s seat of a fine running website (well, we’ll fix a few minor bugs before we would let you drive off).
CC has grown very strongly and steadily, and October set a major new record (ignore the big spike from 1-13, the result of a couple of links from big sites). We’re now averaging 20-25k Page Views daily. Over 160k Unique Visitors drop in per month. And we’re generating a steadily growing if modest income stream from the Google Adsense ads.
So unlike buying this 1965 Iso Rivolta project car which will cost you untold thousands to get back in proper shape, or buying a new car and making payments just to watch it depreciate, CC will pay for itself, or more! And if you have some marketing savvy (which I don’t), there’s probably lots of ways to monetize the site more effectively.
How much? Well, there are some rough guidelines to value web sites based on stats and revenue, and if you’re really interested, we can discuss it in private. But very roughly the price of a nice new car. No beater Isos, please. My goal is to find someone out there that is already a fan of the site, who wants a new hobby/business and can take CC to the next level. Or maybe a couple of you want to get together and form a partnership or such. It’s time to fulfill that long-lingering desire to be a media titan, and have your own biggish automotive web site. And if you live in the East and there aren’t any CCs to shoot, I’ll throw in my collection of photos, which has thousands of cars yet to be written up.
So who’s going to step up, buy this Curbside Classic, take the wheel, and drive it to new heights? Contact me at curbsideclassic(at)gmail.com or the via the Contact form.
Update: I should have made it clear that I am not disappearing altogether, or right away. I will continue to contribute, as time allows and when inspiration calls. Selling the site is my preferred course, but if that’s not possible, there are other possibilities to explore. The priority is for CC to continue in the present form, one way or another. I’m open to ideas and suggestions as to how that might look. But I do think that the energy of a new owner(s) would be the best course of action.
Paul, bittersweet news. I’m happy for you in the tough decision you had to wrestle with. But forgive me cause I’m saddened in a selfish kind of way. Sad cause I know that what’s to come will not be the same. I’ve personally seen 2 boating magazines, serving a small budget niche market, get bought out by large publishers and losing their soul and very reason for being in the process. I’d like to not see history repeat itself here with such a fun and cozy site.
I appreciate what you’ve done here. Such a joy it is to come here and see what classic is on tap. But I’m mindful of the time when I’m away, you are here, staying the course. Putting the hours in to edit, to publish, to police, what goes on round here. Your clever wit will be missed when that day comes to hand the keys over. Whoever takes over has some enormous shoes to fill.
I still find it amazing how the written word can be just as devastating as a punch in the heart or gut. And the news today, as liberating for you as it must have been to finally let go, was indeed one of those punches in the heart to this reader!
Paul, I wish…but my issue is more time than anything else. Being on-call with both a top-rated radio station and a highly creative ad agency means my schedule can go from 0-100 faster than a new COPO Camaro.
Plus I’m trying to finish my house so I can build two cars.
I hope one of the regular commenters can buy it.
Good luck to you Paul. You have created an incredible website and I hope it falls into some good hands as it truly deserves to. I have been hooked on this site for three years now and I know that my interest will always be there. If I had the money and time I would buy it in a second. I wish you the best!
BTW I have several cars that I have saved that I would like to write up someday. How would I go about doing so?
I’ll do my best to keep the Eugene-based content going, what little I know about cars notwithstanding.
Whatever happens thank you for this site!
As I can thoroughly understand the need to change things up, I will add my voice to those who are disappointed by this turn of events. As a person who followed you over from the other site and has been here nearly from the start, the phenomenon that is this site has never ceased to amaze me.
Due to changes in my own life, I mostly lurk now, but still appreciate this quiet corner of the ‘net where I can contemplate some great old sheet metal and other things I hadn’t considered before.
Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. I wish you well, and look forward to your future contributions on this site. Vielen Danke!
I hope a worthy successor comes along, sorry to hear you’re moving on but the time comes for all of us to make a change. At least you’ll be able to abide by the old advice
“always leave ’em wanting more…”
Paul, I can only echo the comments of many of those who have already spoken. Certainly only you can decide what is right or best for you under your circumstances. While it is sad for those of us who have come to love CC under your guidance, it is reassuring to know that you have not gone away for good – that we’ll still hear from you. What seems to distinguish CC from other sites is the old Curbside Classics seem to bring out of us so many thoughts, memories, emotions – such as desire: cars I wish I could have bought back then, cars I really wanted to buy back then but couldn’t afford, and cars that I’d still love to buy and own but still can’t afford, and have a lack of storage space anyway. There’s also the cars I’ve admired, that I’ve liked the looks of but had no thoughts of ever owning. And, perhaps like others, there are cars I never much cared for or paid much attention to, that I think differently of now with the passing of time and an excellent write-up on CC! Yes, some of us were almost born as car nuts. I’ve identified myself as a second generation car nut.
One last comment. Really dig the photo of the partially obscured green Chevy Chevette. That Is a great shade of green, almost green as grass, and green seems to be a rather rare car color.
If you sell out to Gawker, I’m out of here.
And maybe Robert Forago is interested in getting back into cars. TTAC went down the toilet after he left
Oh Paul, how many times must we say farewell???
While my move this year has taken me away from here somewhat, I still very much taking a few moments each day to at least see what’s going on.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for allowing me to become a contributor, and share with the world some of the otherwise useless knowledge that is stored up in my head!
Believe me, if $$$ permitted, I’d be interested. But seeing how for the first time since I was a teenager, I am debt-free, I kind of want to stay that way for a while.
You know, because of CC I became inspired to start The Brougham Society on Facebook. Little did I know that it would become an international success, for which I thank you Paul, for the experience I needed to run it, and hopefully take it to new heights.
Regardless of what happens, I hope to stick around here for the next chapter!
Getting here a bit late (almost 100 comments!) but just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of those expressing a combination of regret and approval. Regret because your blog consistently ranks, according to Google’s tracking of my browsing habits, in either the Top 5 or Top 10 sites I visit (a hit-parade that includes Wiki, Youtube, my own website, my own email inbox, and “New Tab”). My interest in cars is about as close as I’ve ever come to having a hobby; and this old-car blog is as close as I come to spending non-work funtime on the ‘Net. (I barely Facebook; and am not a gamer, as I find running my own business provides me with all the thrills-n-spills I require.) So CC is the only non-news/politics site able to command loyalty from my eyeballs and fingertips.
But also approval, because Paul created this by himself; and so has the right to do anything he wants with his creation — including, should he choose, walking away from it altogether. So I support his decision to pass the torch, even if I’m somewhat apprehensive about CC’s future under new, TBA management. It would be terrific if some CC contributors could come up with the needed coin and keep things going unchanged, but it sounds like the commentariat here all has their money tied up in project cars. (Mine, meanwhile, is all tied up in screenprinting equipment and “cotton futures”.)
For some smart multimedia entrepreneur, CC has a very strong commercial potential which, if developed correctly, could produce a more-than-decent ROI for investor(s). There are potential revenue streams — from local CC club meetups to a Youtube channel (“CCTV”?) to who-knows-what-else — yet to be explored. The trick would be to expand in different directions while maintaining the friendly, folksy charm and informal info-sharing of the original.
Another possibility is, of course, an online store offering CC merch. Ever since Paul first posted about seeking ways to “monetize” this site over a year ago, he and I have had a few exploratory conversations about my possibly printing up some CurbsideClassic.com T-shirts. Although we’re both quite sure you regulars would love them, no final design was ever decided upon… and now of course Paul is looking to take a reduced role in the site, so who knows. But whatever happens with CC Mark II, HollywoodLoser.com remains at your service for whatever screenprinting needs you might have.
To an outsider, who doesn’t appreciate the automobile, the entire Curbside Classic concept might be dismissed as merely “birdwatching, or trainspotting, only with crappy old cars parked on the street.” But we know that what Prof. Neidermeyer has concocted here in his garage is much more than that. It’s a rare intellectual and emotional experience… that just happens to revolve around crappy old cars parked on the street. My very best wishes for Paul finding new owners who understand that.
Judging from your heavy involvement still, at this date, I surmise CC was never sold, even partially. I am hoping that you at least found a benevolent overseer/godfather to keep the content level high for this long….