This question is a bit different, but I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit more about our readers’ reading habits. First, I’ll share with you my top sites (after CC, of course!) that I check in on towards the tail end of my breakfast or lunch-time reading:
You might be surprised to know that they’re not old-car sites. In fact, I very rarely visit old car sites, unless it’s specifically part of some research I’m doing. Frankly, the last thing I need is additional eyeball time with old cars.
Truth be told, I’m actually as much or more interested in what’s happening currently in the automotive world. When I started writing for TTAC, I wrote about current auto news, as well as my Auto-Biography. I didn’t start doing Curbside Classics until 2009, two years later, as a new sideline.
But my interest in new cars has very much narrowed down over the years/decades. Frankly, my interest in most new cars per se is fairly limited, meaning I’m not all that up on every current model and their stats and features, excpet in a general way. My interest going way back, and cultivated from my experience as a business executive (in the tv industry) is primarily in the business of cars, hence Automotive News (subscription) is at or near the top of my daily reading. Although I have to admit, I wish they were better at what they do. A lot of the writing and journalism (as is so commonly the case these days) is often marginal; none more so than the consistently mediocre/sleepy editorials of its Editor in Chief (and owner, I assume) Keith Crain. I assume his dad built up Crain Media, not him.
And of course too much of its focus is on dealers, and that’s not at all interesting to me. But it does cover the key automotive industry stories, and I’d rather get them from the source than re-blogged by one of the many blogs, which all get a lot of their stories from AN.
The other site that has become a daily check-in for me is Electrek. Apparently unlike so many of you, I’ve always been very interested in new technology, especially in regard to energy efficiency, electric cars, alternative energy sources, and more recently, autonomous vehicle technology. And Electrek covers most of these quite thoroughly, especially developments with Tesla and other EVs, the dramatic improvements in photo-voltaic efficiency and cost, and other related developments.
Did you know that PV costs have dropped much more dramatically in the last couple of years than anyone predicted? And its implementation is now switching from primarily individual roof-top to utility-scale micro-plants that can now replace fossil fueled plants cost-effectively, due to price drops in panels and large battery systems (like Tesla’s) so that they can be effectively buffered.
Without going into details, the growth of solar and/or battery-buffer systems is exploding globally, due to unexpected drops in cost and and improvements in efficiency. US solar installations in Q3 of 2016 was up 191% of the same period in 2015.
Ok, enough of that; I’m probably boring some of you to tears. But I find it quite exciting to see how new technology is making huge transformations in energy production, automobiles, and other forms of transportation.
And one more mention: I have come to follow Alex Roy (at thedrive.com or the autonocast he does with my son Ed and Damon Lavric). Alex has more hands-on experience and thoughtful insight into autonomy and its unfolding impact than anyone out there.
Back to you and the question at hand: Where else do you go to get your daily fix of automobile-related media?
Well speaking for myself, I love http://www.curbside.tv but only because I own that site.
Gee, the name of your site is strangely familiar. 🙂 Just curious, but why the “tv”?
This site, Hemmings Blog, Jalopnik, and occasionally, Truck Yeah!
Because, stupid me, back in 1997 when I bought the URL I saw that .com was available so, rather than buy it right then I procrastinated and had to settle for .tv. Curbside was a newspaper column I self-syndicated into some 243 newspapers back when they still were relevant and thought it should have a website, so hence the name.
I guess we both have a similar but different great idea!
Got it.
Interestingly enough, curbsideclassic.com was available for the taking when I started it in 2011.
Well I, for one, am glad you did because I really enjoy your site. Keep up the good work, Paul!
http://www.jalopnik.com
TTAC, Jalopnik, Jennings and Classic Cars.com
ARonline:
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/
AteUpWithMotor:
http://ateupwithmotor.com/
Driven to write:
https://driventowrite.com/
Well, those are the ones I visit daily, or as soon as there is new content. I can highly recommend DTW, a very small blog with an assortment of very dedicated fans. Being English, they are peculiarly quaint. Aaron Seversons site is perhaps the best researched site on the internet. But you all know that, as he’s a regular commentator here.
Other than that, TTAC, Hemmings, Old Motor. Especially the scanned backlog of SIA, Special Interest Auto is very interesting. They have an index on scanned articles, I only wish they could scan the lot of it, because there’s just so much of it that isn’t available but looks so very interesting.
http://theoldmotor.com/
https://www.hemmings.com/editorial/sia-index
1) TTAC – for current news concerning the automotive industry, car reviews and junkyard finds.
2) Edmunds – when I want to see a review for a specific car.
3) ranwhenparked.net – their main focus is on European cars from the 70’s and 80’s.
TTAC, Jalopnik, Edmund’s Long term road tests, and Doug DeMuro’s Autotrader blog Oversteer, and autoextremist.com
Electrek is a great site I didn’t know about, thanks.
90% of my car web time is on CC. Otherwise I look at the Hemmings blog and Autoblog Green. Occasionally I get car news and reviews from Ars Technica, an excellent site I read daily that covers all technology, including automotive (which they call “Cars Technica”).
CC is my only daily automotive reading, but I frequently check Jalopnik and the automotive forum on a message board created by some NC State University students back in 2000 or so. (It’s pretty dead these days as the young folks no longer “do” message boards.) Also occasionally TTAC. There’s a fellow here in Richmond who has a tumblr of interesting cars found locally, same photo philosophy as CC but without the discussion as tumblr has no facility for such things.
There are some interesting car-centric groups on facebook as well; one known as “Wheelz” that grew from a Flickr pool, and Dynamic Drive from former CC commentor/author Laurence Jones.
Also as-needed visits to model-specific forum sites like crownvic.net, turbobricks.com, and 2gfusions.com.
I was not aware of Electrek before so thank you for mentioning it. The transition to alternative energy is fascinating and I am excited to see what technological advancements will do for our electricity needs. Locally, even nuclear power is on its way out; Cuomo recently struck a deal with Entergy to close the Indian Point power plant by 2021. That New York can move so fast to shutter a plant that supplies the NY metro area with much of its power really says something about the state of alternative energy today. Personally I’m happy to see Indian Point go; after Fukushima I pretty much did a 180 in regards to nuclear power.
Anyway, I usually visit various auto sites for their new car reviews, so Car and Driver, Motor Trend, and cars.com get regular visits from me. Doug DeMuro is pretty humorous so I followed him to Autotrader, and I also visit his alma mater, Jalopnik, regularly. Alex Dykes does great reviews on YouTube and Regular Cars offers some great perspectives on older cars.
In my self imposed internet austerity, I only regularly look at CC and the Hemmings blog.
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/
CC of course, every day. I follow F1, so GrandPrix.com, the most concise of the F1 sites. It is not always automotive, but since I learned about it through CC I’ll also mention Shorpy as a daily visit.
Every few months I’ll go to TrueDelta which has great reliability stats. AUWM is another occasional visit.
I used to visit TTAC and Jalopnic years ago but got really tired of the breathless we-have-to-pretend-we’re-edgy coverage. Sometimes if you changed a few nouns they could’ve easily been mistaken for political sites. (Thank you thank you thank you for not ever letting CC go that way!!)
TTAC and Japanese Nostalgic car, http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/
Also my club forum, oldschool.co.nz, go check it out!
Autoblog, Carbuzz, and Carscoops for general news.
Bring A Trailer for fascinating oldies.
Jalopnik for grins.
Car and Driver and Motor Trend for road tests.
TTAC for some roughage.
In order of preference (not including CC of course)
1. Hemmings Blog
2. Bring a Trailer
3. Jalopnik
4. Riverside Green (Jack and Mark Baruth’s blog).
I used to be a regular reader and commenter at TTAC (going all the way back to the Robert Farrago Deathwatch days), but the site is just a shadow of its former self.
Not much out there these days, I avoid Jalopnik and TTAC as they are too cartoony / political.
In addition to CC I daily visit:
Tom Yang’s tales of his own Ferrari 330 America and working on clients’ Ferraris
http://tomyang.net/blog/
Classic Jaguar, just to make sure I stay too scared to tackle my own E-Type project
http://classicjaguar.com/cj-blog/
Hemmings motor news, too bad we can’t comment on Find of the Day anymore
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/
Also Jim Grey, JPC and Ed Stembridge’s sites when they update, but that’s not totally automotive.
I try to visit CC daily. I didn’t know Jim Grey, JPC, and Ed Stembridge had websites. Please post the URLs to their sites and I’ll have a look at them and may well check in somewhat often as I enjoy reading their posts here on CC.
https://blog.jimgrey.net/
https://jpcavanaugh.com/
http://www.peachtreeprairie.com/wp/
The only other site I visit, is Ate Up With Motor, as that’s got the interest and history that I like in cars that CC provides. I used to visit Oppositelock, which was an off-topic forum sprung from Jalopnik, but I stopped after the middle of 2016. It became too politically charged and toxic for my liking, and considering the scummy practices of Gawker, I couldn’t in good conscience support anything to do with them.
Pre-qualifying that I spend most time on CC, here’s my short list. In no particular order:
* TTAC (specifically for “Junkyard Find”);
* Ate Up With Motor (for in-depth pieces);
* Hooniverse (mainly for “Obscure Muscle Car Garage”); and
* Jalopnik (love “Nice Price Or Crack Pipe”).
Forgot one: I used to be hooked on carlustblog.
My favorite other automotive site is Good Car Bad Car (www.goodcarbadcar.net), which focuses on sales statistics, but the site’s author also reviews new cars occasionally.
As a numbers guy, I love the statistical aspect of GCBC, and Timothy Cain’s (the sites author) new car reviews are very informative, and are about the best out there.
Daily: only CC.
Frequently:
-Jalopnik (for laughs)
– aronline.co.uk (interesting reads about not only BL but everything British)
– swedespeed.com (I’m one hell of a Volvo guy)
– saabsunited.com (SAAB was another passion of mine. Still want a NG9-5)
And after reading the comments from the great (with a capital G) Aaron Severson, I’ve got to start reading AUWM!
“-Jalopnik (for laughs)”
Another Jason Torchinsky fan, I see.
Why a Torch fan??? Jalopnik Laughs come more from some jokes and sheer silliness I see in comments over there…
I forgot to mention the Sniff Petrol “not ads”. Snarky as heck, but never fail at making one ROFL
Hemmings blog emailed to me daily. Hagerty Insurance emails a periodical with various links, such as Barn Finder (I think that’s the name). On rare occasion I will read AutoExtremist. Frankly, I don’t have time for much more.
Curbside Classics, most often of course
Hooniverse
Bring a Trailer
AR Online
Ate Up With Motor
Alfa Bulletin Board
Nice Price Crack Price
I gave up on TTAC after great
erectionBertel incident. I’ve tried to go back but somehow it still wearies me too much too often. Who needs the fighting?Jalopnik just got too …something… young? political? snarky?
I am just starting to flirt with Grassroots Motor Sports; lots of interesting discussions and builds there… I’m not a regular or a poster, yet.
I like it here.
Bring a Trailer is my top one (besides CC)
I hit Jalopnik and TTAC every day, but I’m an expert at steering past the clickbait, Sajeev, Torch and Graverobber, McParland, Lehto, maybe David Tracy are the authors I most enjoy. Oversteer once a week or so. DeMuro is entertaining, but occasionally silly and sometimes doesn’t seem to know elementary stuff.
Oh yeah, Alex on Autos on YouTube!
Murrilee Martin, too, I love his obscure pop culture references.
Autos of Interest, but sadly it hasn’t been updated in a while.
TTAC and to lesser extent Jalopnik are the only ones I’ll check in on with regular new content besides CC – and only to keep casually informed, the comments there rival the vitriol in youtube comments! – TCCoA and Chicagoland Mustang for club forums, and Ateupwithmotor and Allpar for casual in depth reading on a slow day. I’m sure I’m forgetting many.
For the record, I’m not not interested in new technology, Plenty of mechanical tech I’ve kept up on over the last few years as well. When it comes to EVs and autonomy I keep up as best I can, because if I’m going to bitch about something, I’d like to have some perspective on it, sometimes I even change my mind. 🙂
Dennis Simanaitis from R&T has a very interesting blog going, covering a broad range of topics, not only about cars. I’ve read it back to back (as I do with all blogs I find interesting) and I can say I like his writings very much, and I can highly recommend him.
https://simanaitissays.com/
CC is my only daily automotive read.
fitfreak (Honda Fit)
bobistheoilguy
ateupwithmotor
are visited about monthly
My daily list is:
Jalopnik which is mostly a waste of electrons and has a lousy web design. I think I read it out of habit more than anything.
Hemmings
Dailydieseldose because I like trucks.
CC always has something interesting and I love the overseas contributors.
I check Mac’s Motor City Garage and The Old Motor every week or so.
Ate Up with Motor when there is something new. Aaron’s articles are really extraordinary.
TTAC and Jalopnik have drifted away from my interest, (they were better in the past) except occasionally. Hemmings from time to time, C/D and Motor Trend once in a while. AUWM is a good site, should visit more.
CC, of course is my favorite since 2010 and the one I visit most often. You Tube and forums once in a while, mostly for help on a make I’m working on that I have limited experience with.
Occasionally old Popular Mechanics and Modern Mechanix, etc. to read old reviews. Craigslist from time to time just to see what’s out there.
Some of the other sites commentators have posted look interesting, I’ll check them out.
I’ll agree, 5 years ago I was hitting up TTAC and Jalopnik daily but now it’s maybe a once an every few months thing.
I used to visit Jalopnik, then moved onto Autoblog, then onto TTAC, then back to Autoblog, then finally landed on Carscoops for my US auto news. I don’t remember why I abandoned Jalopnik and Autoblog, and TTAC has always published plenty of good articles (and of course, that’s where I found Paul). However, TTAC is just too snarky for my liking. I prefer more tone-neutral, objective reviews. That’s not an indictment on the quality of their staff’s writing, which is very good, but it’s just not my cup of tea. It’s like reading a UK car magazine versus an Aussie or US one. The Brits are absolutely caustic and will savage anything that isn’t European. Their magazines are beautifully presented and full of great articles but the tone frustrates me. Another reason I can’t stomach Jeremy Clarkson.
GMInsideNews is quick with news and publishes some good articles but their forum moderators are now completely unwilling to enforce their own forum rules and have let things get political. One of the biggest reasons I love CC is because political discussions are discouraged. If I want to read about politics, I’ll go to Politico. Which I do, daily. I now go to GM Authority for GM news.
As for the Aussie industry, CarAdvice.com.au is a brilliant website. Possibly the best new car website on the net. A nice layout, well-written reviews, great use of images. If you are interested in the Aussie car industry, definitely go there.
Pretty much this. Also go to Car and Driver and Motor Trend occasionally along with Curbsideclassics obviously and sometimes Autoblog and Gmauthority and cheersandgears.
Aronline and Vauxpedia
Edmunds on occasion to read consumer comments on specific models and new car reviews, car blogs: The View Through the Windshield (ignore his right-wing politics and enjoy the old and new car discussions), DrivetoFive, Hemmings
Otherwise, mostly YouTube sites on a regular basis: Alex on Autos, 2theRedline, ChrisFix, Mercedesource, EngineeringExplained.
The last time I checked, TTAC had little content of value or interest and the posters were engaged in exchanging long series of vacuous messages with each other.
http://gmtnation.com/forums/
I am a daily visitor to Curbside Classic, the best car web site there is.
I subscribe to Hemmings Classic Car magazine.
I pick up Collectible Automobile and scan through it at the store while my wife shops, but rarely buy an individual issue (too expensive).
Otherwise, I pop in to Driving television.com, old car manuals, sometimes driving.ca or wheels.ca once in a while.
The other site I scan and get updates on in FB is https://www.facebook.com/pg/VintageToronto/photos/?tab=albums
where I look for old photos from the 50s and 60s of cars and car dealers. There is an album in that group devoted to old car dealers and the like. The used car lots are a real gem at times.
For TV shows I will watch Clarkson et al on Top Gear (sorry William), Motoring TV on TSN, and driving television for weekly new car reviews.
Moparlee: I bought every issue of Collectible Automobile for 20 years and finally stopped.
Hemmings Classic Car is now the only one I subscribe to or would buy from a news stand.
CC, Hemmings, and Gearheads. And if I have time, Car and Driver and Motor Trend.
In addition to all the stuff others have listed, I also look at Hooniverse.com.
What I refuse to look at is anything by Jack Baruth or Doug DeMuro, regardless of what site it is on.
@Styles: thanks for the tip on Japanese Nostalgic Car. Looks like it may be a good venue to sell my ’90 Integra.
I visit Curbside Classics at least once a day for entertainment. I go to the Jaguar Forums because I learn so much about fixing up my own cars. On You Tube I go to Petrolicious, which features just beautiful short films on interesting cars and their owners. Jay Leno’s Garage on the web, is head and shoulders above the silly broadcast show. Much more detail and more serious about the subject matter. I’m just tired of idiots doing burn outs! I go to my own blog to check on how many people are viewing my site, and of course I’m learning that writing your own blog, no matter how humble is a lot of work.
I’m still reading TTAC pretty regularly; also a daily look at the Hemmings Motor News blog; and weekly at Autoextremist.com and The View Through the Windshield, Joe Sherlock’s blog which is largely but not totally car-related. That’s really about it. Oh yes, the Abandoned and Neglected Autos Facebook page gets looked at pretty often.
CC is far and away my favorite – visit daily, sometimes more than once.
Sometimes Edmunds and KBB if helping someone research a car.
Autotrader is pretty good for finding who has what in stock.
Like many others have given up on TTAC – way too snarky.
I visit CC, obviously. And also TTAC, which has fallen into seemingly incompetent hands. The political vitriol that permeates their comments sections makes it a frustrating read. I also like Ate Up With Motor, which is splendidly written and supremely informative. Carscoops is fun to visit, as is Bring a Trailer. And then there’s the great Dan Neil, whose columns I cannot read unless I spring for a WSJ.com subscription, which I refuse to do.
Amen. I got so much of that unhinged political crap on my Facebook feed that I deleted my account.
And one can’t get away from it. When I want news, I want it unfiltered and without editorial comment passing as news.
What an oasis CC is.
CC is my only general-interest daily read. The other ones I hit daily are:
fitfreak.net (links to my mod thread)
Dodge Ram – Heavy Duty Forum
Love Bug Fans
Yesterday’s Tractor – Ford 9N, 2N, 8N Forum
* http://www.autoblog.com/ daily (well the ios app) for bite-size info (usually about the USDM);
* http://www.aronline.co.uk/ weekly for interesting info on the British cars I grew up with;
* http://wasabicars.com/ weekly because it has great articles and videos on classic JDM cars (and more);
* http://petrolheadaesthete.blogspot.co.nz/ weekly (although it hasn’t recommenced for 2017 yet) for a humorous look at unusual cars listed on Trade Me;
* http://sniffpetrol.com/ weekly because it’s hilarious;
* http://ateupwithmotor.com/ monthly when I have time to really absorb Aaron’s astoundingly in-depth articles.
But well ahead of all the others is always CC – I just love it. And in addition to websites, I subscribe to Australia’s Wheels and America’s Car And Driver magazines.
Collectible Automobile (on Facebook).
Curbside classics and barn finds
Paul, Thanks to your inquiry, I actually did an audit of the sites that I look at throughout the week, some of which actually cause me to linger. I surprised myself of the number of sites that I visit, and I concluded that I am like a honey bee visiting multiple automotive flowers for nectar throughout the week.
Obviously CC daily. curbsideclassic.com
Ateupwithmotor.com occasionally visited to see what has intrigued Aaron currently with his excellent site.
autoblog.com oft times a disappointment
http://www.autolinedetroit.tv usually daily for autoline daily; occasionally for the weekend shows and for “autoline after hours”.
http://www.wired.com/autopia
bringatrailer.com sometimes as funny as Seinfeld’s, sprinkled with unexpected humorous comments
http://gm-volt.com
comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com likely once monthly to see if Seinfeld has anything new. Many times a good laugh.
http://www.gminsidenews.com What can I say, Paul’s observations continue to remain ever so prescient
http://www.greencarreports.com
harry’s garage harry’s garage on youtube likely once monthly to see any new tidbit, if posted
hemmings daily– http://www.hemmings.com/blog about once a week
http://jalopnik.com the quality has declined, but I still check it occasionally out of habit
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com usually a weekly delight, especially his restoration reports
http://www.petrolicious.com delightful eye candy, especially the weekly video one of my favorites.
http://www.autoextremist.com Weekly Peter D always tells it like it is.
www,roadandtrack.com .a pleasant weekly habit and I still subscribe to the print version
http://simanaitissays.com for a wide range of topics, not only automotive. a delight!
http://www.the truthaboutcars.com
Whew, I must have a terminal car addiction! My wife is a great and willing enabler and has been for years. Do I need a twelve step program to deal with it? This addiction doesn’t appear to incapacitate me in my normal life, so professional help is likely unnecessary except for an upcoming trip to Detroit for CC therapy with fellow CC’ers. LOL
None.
I wouldn’t say ‘none’. I’ll occasionally check TTAC, Car and Driver, Allpar, and even Wikipedia but, often times, the other sites I’ve visited were directly due to an article or something said at CC being a jumping-off point which led me somewhere else.
For example, the write-up of the recent CC on the 1953 Kaiser Manhatten took me to Wikipedia for more reading, and then a generic Google image search to get a gander at the changes to the 1954 version.
FWIW, CC has now been around long enough that a lot of CC links turn up when searching for little known, but specific, automotive minutiae and esoterica.
Ate Up With Motor.
First: CC
Second: Petrolicious (You Tube)
Third: Roadkill (You Tube)
Fourth: Road and Track
Only two:
Curbside Classic
TTAC
Other than that, Facebook. Not an auto site by any means, but I keep up with Amtrak, for railroads are my true passion, especially passenger trains.
That’s all I have time for right now.
What? You’re on Facebook? I’ll have to look you up!
Please do, Geo!
CC is in my inbox multiple times each day so it’s my main car site. I also enjoy the daily email from Bring a Trailer. I check Hemmings occasionally.
I’m always into video, and the best produced tube site is Petrolicious.
I will look at specific videos on Jay Leno’s Garage.
I am interested in consumer oriented video about cars. Lehto’s Law, by auto consumer lawyer Steve Lehto is on my regular list, as is John Cadogan’s autoexpert.com.au. Both those guys cut through the hagiographic approach to car testing and reviews. Lehto has a tongue in cheek attitude and a ready laugh that he uses to good effect while giving great advice, while Cadogan is quite full of himself, as well as quite profane. His message is lucid and worth a listen.