Five Automotive YouTube Channels You Should Be Following
It’s quite easy to fall down a YouTube rabbit hole. It begins innocently enough with a search for a video about a classic Porsche and before you know it, you’ve watched every video related to Porsches, and the history of Porsche as a brand, and traced the Porsche family lineage and mapped out your next 12 Porsche purchases, ranked in order of historical significance.
You’ve lost daylight, grown a beard, and the kids haven’t gotten their dinner. (Did you have kids?)
This is no way to enjoy life.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improve your automotive YouTubing*, we’ve mechanically sorted the wheat from the chaff and compiled this brief list of YouTube channels that will help you brush up on your repair skills, teach you a little more about detailing, and maybe even laugh a little.
*Not an actual word.
1. Cold War Motors
YouTube Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/coldwarmotors/
Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada is a gold mine full of classic American and European automobiles. Even with the harsh winter weather and road salt, there are enough solid old cars and trucks North of the border to keep the folks at Cold War Motors busy for years to come. Scott and his ‘agent’ friends collect this abundant vintage tin from the Cold War era and then spend time and money getting these old heaps running and driving. This is the fun kind of hoarding that a lot of us would do if there weren’t such things as zoning ordinances or neighbors. While many of Scott’s videos have a Letterman-esque “Will it Run?” theme, others showcase his incredible bodywork skills. If you like working on old stuff, grab a Molson and queue up some of these videos. You will not be disappointed.
2. Harry’s Garage
YouTube Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIB5XXHNAWWzTOw6guIMYCg/
Harry Metcalfe is an avid car enthusiast from the UK with one of the nicest collection of supercars around. The founder and editor of EVO Magazine has a passion for anything on wheels, including vintage Land Rovers, motorcycles, and modern carbon-fibered Pagani Zondas. When he’s not uploading videos of his personal collection, Harry reviews new models like the Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio. These videos are well-shot and the commentary is spot-on. You feel like you’re part of each road test. Harry also brings decades of experience to the table when it comes to classic car valuations and auction. If you appreciate a good automotive review, Harry’s Garage is where you need to be.
3. AMMO NYC
YouTube Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/AMMONYCdotcom/
Larry Kosilla left a successful career as a commodities trader in New York City to pursue his true passion: detailing cars. After working in the field for a few years, Larry decided he wanted to document his work and help the DIY crowd at home. Today, Larry runs AMMO NYC, a detailing company that also sells products to professionals and consumers. If you have a question about how to take your weekend wax job to the next level, Larry’s YouTube channel is one way to take the mystery out of detailing.
4. Scotty Kilmer
YouTube Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/scottykilmer/
Originally from the Buffalo-Niagra region of New York, Scotty Kilmer is a Houston-based mechanic who hosted a weekly segment on local TV where he answered common questions about car repair. He’s animated, knowledgeable, and he has a lot of helpful advice to offer the DIY mechanic. He also doesn’t hold back when it comes to how he really feels about a particular make or model. We appreciate the fact that his shop is a 1 car detached garage and his daily driver is a 1994 Celica. Scotty’s alright.
He also has a weekly video schedule for his channel.
- Monday: Tool giveaway
- Tuesday: Auto repair video
- Wednesday: Viewers car mod show off
- Thursday: Viewer Car Question Video AND Live Car Q&A
- Friday: Auto repair video
- Saturday: Second Live Car Q&A
- Sunday: Viewers car show off
Scotty can be a nice evening distraction from the busy day, or you can search through years worth of content to find answers to a particular question you may have about a current project. Give Scotty a try and remember to ‘rev up your engines’.
5. Big Al’s Bike & Auto
YouTube Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/bigalsbikeandauto/
Auto auctions intrigue us. Sometimes we imagine what we could do with a few hundred bucks and a little ingenuity. Then we remember we already have too many projects cluttering up the place. That’s why we enjoy living vicariously through Big Al’s Bike & Auto’s YouTube channel. We’re not sure who Big Al is, or where he’s located (sometimes it’s Florida, sometimes it’s New York) but we appreciate his knack for finding clean, low-mileage cars from the 80s and 90s for under $1000 and flipping them. Sometimes he keeps a few to add some flavor to his collection. In a world where new economy cars sell for mid-20K prices and quality is spotty at best, why wouldn’t you bring home a $500 Mercedes 300E and take your chances?
What Automotive YouTube Channels do you enjoy watching?
We like watching YouTube for hours. Hit us up with some recommendations.
