Ten years ago today CC went live. I did not allow myself any expectations on how long this impulsive undertaking would turn out or how long it would last; it was just about doing what I loved to do, in the style that felt natural to me. Here we are ten years later, and thanks to all of you—contributors and readers—something quite special has been created. I’m both humbled and proud of what’s transpired on these pages. And I look forward to the next ten years.
Like so many things in my life, deciding to start CC was a rather hasty (read: impulsive) decision. I had left TTAC rather unhappily but necessarily on the morning of January 20, 2011. My intention was to walk away and focus on my other life activities. But then I decided otherwise, spurred on in large part by comments on that post. By 11PM I had secured the domain for curbsideclassic.com and was planning the new site, which went live on February 13th.
I would like to express my profound appreciation to all of the contributors that have added so much to the content and archives here. I’m reluctant to give any names here, as there have been so many, and I will undoubtedly forget some. You know who they are, and were. Some of them have created masterworks of astonishingly high quality; as good or better than in any fine book or magazine. All of them have been inspired to give their best. This is the greatest success of CC, and the one that is most moving to me. I have been humbled, astounded, inspired and most of all, educated by you.
I am indebted to you all—contributors and commenters—for my continuing education. Ultimately, that is the greatest gift of all—to each other—to expand our horizons and knowledge; and not just in automotive history.
My decision to open the site to contributors was an essential element, as I felt gratitude for having been allowed to find my voice at TTAC, something I had dreamed of doing as a kid. The internet has a very large dark underbelly, but it has also opened infinite opportunities for self-expression. And there’s few things more gratifying than to see individuals find their voice.
The whole notion of accepting reader contributions goes back to TTAC, in February of 2010, when David Saunders emailed me the pictures and text for a CC submission for this 1966 Vauxhall Epic, a car and brand that was never sold in the US and was quite unfamiliar to me. I had not even pondered guest CC’s up to that point, but David’s submission opened my eyes to the vast possibilities of readers from all over submitting their CC finds and writing them up. So here’s a special thanks to David for being our first CC contributor, before we ever started the new site. And of course David not only became a very prolific contributor here, but is also our tech-meister, without whom we wouldn’t still be humming along so smoothly.
One of the harder aspects of the job is seeing some long-time contributors leave, but I’ve learned to accept that it simply happens, for a number of reasons. Their contributions will continue to be appreciated here for a long time to come.
The same applies to visitors and readers: some of you have been here from day one, others have come and gone. That’s undoubtedly also for a number of reasons, including my sometimes acerbic style; my apologies for those that have been offended.
Here’s a few key stats as to what 10 years of CC represents:
Posts: 16,588 (5,512 by yours truly)
Comments: 678,756 (not counting spam/trash)
Page Views: 75 million
New/Unique Users: 17.5 million
To commemorate our tenth birthday, I’m going to be re-running some posts from the first few weeks. A few key milestone posts will run today, and then there will be some random ones in the next week or so, re-running on the same date ten years later. They’re not all brilliant, but they reflect our beginnings here.
Thanks again for your continued support, readership and contributions. It’s deeply appreciated, and it’s what keeps me going. I look forward to our 20th birthday!
Has it been 10 years already? I’ve been avoiding internet in general for a while now, too much twisted material out there. Need to get back into the CC habit, always a great refuge for car absorbed people such as myself.
Thanks for keeping the wheels turning at CC.
Congratulations Paul, What a great site this is, Very educational, Informative, Educating.
I have been making my daily read since 2013. Keep Up The Great Work !
Aloha
Happy Tenth Birthday! Paul, thank you for all the work and fostering a collaborative culture here at CC. I’ve enjoyed this from the start.
Congratulations, Paul, for the greatest automotive-related site out there! I remembered reading lot of your articles in TTAC and jumped to CC when after you left TTAC and established the CC.
What I appreciate the most about CC is how diverse the articles are and how courteous and enthusiastic the readers and guest contributors are. I always learn the new things and see the old or familiar things in new or different lights.
As Daniel Stern has mentioned earlier in the comment section, I had to put up with unsavoury and ridiculous people in the newsgroups and bulletin boards in the past. I yearned for the high quality discussions amongst the commentators and contributions from the readers. CC fits the bill perfectly.
I do enjoy the technical articles about automobiles and technologies, including the extensive dissertions on engines and such, from Paul and others. Not to mention the lively discussions and bandyings about the different opinions and perspectives.
I look forward to the next ten years and beyond!
Congratulations to all who make this site so great
Top quality writing by the contributors separates this website from the others. It’s a pleasure to read.
I just wanted to pointed out and reiterate that of the various contributors over the years and at present, very, very, very few of them have any formal writing training whatsoever beyond whatever was taught in high school and (for some) in college as incidental courses, rarely by choice. Many/most others have no kind of formal engineering background or training either. For the vast majority, this is the first time anyone else has read anything they’ve written.
It’s just people thinking about something that interests them and either putting their thoughts to paper and/or researching other sources to put it all together. That’s it, no special skill or qualification needed in case anyone else is interested in seeing their name (be it real or their screen name) in print. And notably a few have actually gone on to make it their profession with this as their starting point.
Paul, thanks for ten years of great writing, interesting topics and willingness to accept others’ opinions and interests. Not many sites will cover the GM Deadly Sins, the in-depth history of the VW Beetle, the context of the Corvair, the Hillman Super Minx, some intriguing and interesting personalities, and anything in between all in one place, with the respect given by CC and contributors and readers to all these subjects, and then cover old aircraft, trains, ships and road trips…..
A daily must view for me, and has been for several years. And thanks for letting me contribute too.
Here’s to ten more years!
Thank you Paul for founding this wonderful site and keeping it going and accepting my contributions! Thank you to everyone else who contributed and comments and makes this site so educational, entertaining, and engaging. As several people have said, this is a first read every day for me. I have spent thousands of hours over the last ten years reading this and not a single minute has ever been wasted.
Ten years already? Were we really that young when it started?
In a comment to Paul on that TTAC post, I wrote that lots of people know how to build houses, whereas very few know how to write about cars the way he can. I was pleased and gratified when the comment hit home!
Paul, it’s still true today that one can pick out one of your articles without looking at the byline, thanks to the authorial voice and the often-detailed research. And you call yourself “acerbic” which may be true for all I know, but I don’t recall you ever saying a bad word about people you have worked with (which is in contrast to certain other mean-spirited automotive writers on the web). Your essential kindness, as well as keeping CC free of politics, are qualities that have kept the site going and will for a lot longer.
Congratulations on a decade of Curbside Classic!
I’ve submitted a few articles over the years, and while they’re mediocre by site standards, seeing my words “in print” is one of my proudest accomplishments. Paul made that happen, and I’ll be forever grateful.
I once started an article on Ford N Series trucks, didn’t get it finished, and eventually saw it pop up—Paul had fleshed it out beautifully, and was gracious enough to leave my name in the byline.
A few years later, my business partner and I acquired an N600. Upon arriving home with it, his father had a huge grin on his face and adopted the truck. He mentioned to us that he’d found a great article on the internet about the N Series—it was my (and Paul’s—-mostly Paul’s) CC article! Made for a great memory. Since then I’ve acquired….more N Series. Follow-up article if I ever get around to it!
So yes, congratulations, and thank you Paul!
Of the sites I check every day, CC is the last because I know it will always be a good read. I found it to be one of the best parts of a sometimes sketchy TTAC and was delighted to see CC on its own site.
Paul, your openness, energy and just plain wisdom are apparent in your posts and in everything CC is. The variety of contributors is great. It’s not just one man’s rant (I don’t mean that the way it sounds, Paul). Everybody is readable and informative. I read just about everything – except for the motorcycle posts and some of Johannes’ heavy equipment pieces. A man has to have standards, after all.
Kudos to Paul and all of the contributors for a job well done. The amount, variety and quality of content is nothing short of amazing. I learn something new every day. And, a shout out to the commenters as well. With few exceptions (and they tend to disappear quickly) the commenters are polite, respectful and tolerant of other opinions. Unheard of on social media today.
I really liked your work at TTAC and was very happy that you brought your talents here. I had great fun bomb throwing and breaking stuff at TTAC, and I needed to grow up. Thank you for putting up with me. I’ve always respected your work and I felt honored getting my contributions posted on your site. The contributors here are awesome and fun. It’s been great meeting some of them.
You’ve taught me a lot about a lot of things. And all of it has been appreciated. Thank you very much. Ten years. Wow. Congratulations.
I’m late to reply but I have to chime in and say how much this site means to me, and how grateful I am to you, Paul.
I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without your help, and all the years I wrote for this site have helped me immensely in getting into automotive journalism.
I mightn’t contribute as much nowadays but no doubt I will again when inspiration strikes. And I’m often directing people to this site as it’s surely one of the greatest repositories of automotive historical knowledge on the internet. Hell, I’ve never come across another site that comes close.
Way late to the party this weekend, as I’ve been fairly busy, but also that I honestly thought the server was down. I thought I was going to need a bit of David Saunders help myself! It turns out that I just needed to reset my bookmark for CC on my iPad. Operator Error… I’m not really sure how it got corrupted.
Anyway, like so many here have said, this is also my first stop on the Internet every morning with my coffee. The fine writing, the camaraderie, the civil tone, just simply every thing about this site that makes it the best place on the web, is why I come here every day, this past weekend notwithstanding due to my own IT foibles.
Now I have some catching up to do…. Again, Happy Birthday Curbside Classic. Let’s all hope that there will be many many more.
Thanks to Paul and Everyone here who make this site great.
As Rick notes above, my bookmark also got corrupted and I’m recovering from a couple days of withdrawal from CC. In addition to the vast amount of information and analysis, I am continually impressed with the friendly and conflict-free nature of the board discussions. Of course, that’s not an accident; Paul constantly maintains this ethos.
I recently deleted bookmarks for two automotive discussion sites that were totally corrupted by vile, nonsensical political views encouraged by those who run the sites. It is reassuring that such degradation is not going to happen here and that the majority of posters wouldn’t want it even in the absence of Paul’s firm and decent hand.
Thanks to all and now to brew the coffee and enjoy a couple of days of missed posts!
Is it really 10 years?! It seems like only yesterday… I remember finding you on TTAC Paul, and thinking that finally here was someone who consistently wrote interesting and informed articles. I followed you here to CC, and was honoured to be able to contribute in years gone by (before job and life changes, marriage and self-employment ate all of my free time and then some). Today, 10 years later, I still read CC daily; in fact it’s the only car website I read. Why? Because as Tina Turner one sang, CC is simply the best. All the articles, all the authors, are consistently high quality interesting and informative reads. Congrats on the 10 years Paul, and my heartiest thanks to you for your creation, and to the hundreds or thousands of contributors and commenters.
I’m seeing comments I made 9-10 years ago and I’m mot remembering reading that article, I still seem to agree with what I said most of the time!