Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc???????

[InitialDave]

Streetrod said:

I must admit this is a personal bug bear with me too. The current generation of Youtubers have little if no knowledge of the history of cars. Their current knowledge is all based on the latest spec sheets trotted out by the manufactures.

I have lost count of the amount of times they have wandered past a significant classic only to totally ignore it or on the odd occasion admit they have no idea what it is, then immediately get over excited because they have seen just another 458. Knowing the history of a marque gives you real perspective and a proper appreciation how the cars have got to where they are today

I have to agree that's a valid criticism generally, though I can't say much about the 250 GTE example specifically, as I probably wouldn't have narrowed it down that accurately myself. In my defence, I'm not a Ferrari owner, or regard myself as having any great knowledge of the marque above that of the "reasonable general car guy knowledge" level.

He does freely admit that he doesn't know a huge amount about "that generation" of classics, and I'm guessing they predate him by a good couple of decades, so unless he were specifically interested in 50s/60s classic Ferraris, I can see why he wouldn't know.

If his interest and knowledge is centred on a period beginning in the 80s/90s, then it's really not a huge problem unless he's purporting to be an oracle on the earlier stuff too.

[CityS]

The interesting discussion on TGE is not how he can afford to pay for these supercars (he has said one will replace another plus everything is financed at a very low interest rate -> compliments of M Carney) but how much money he will lose with all the cars he has on order. Surely he can not win every time.

In other news, I liked J Achilles euro tour video but his Alpina D3 video was boring.

[Beefmeister]

Streetrod said:

I must admit this is a personal bug bear with me too. The current generation of Youtubers have little if no knowledge of the history of cars. Their current knowledge is all based on the latest spec sheets trotted out by the manufactures.

I have lost count of the amount of times they have wandered past a significant classic only to totally ignore it or on the odd occasion admit they have no idea what it is, then immediately get over excited because they have seen just another 458. Knowing the history of a marque gives you real perspective and a proper appreciation how the cars have got to where they are today

I did a Facebook Live from the Geneva Motor Show this year, had around 10,000 people viewing live. Not sure of the age stats, but I'm guessing it was mostly younger people as every time I wandered by a classic and started rambling on about it, I got 20 comments saying 'boring' 'next' 'and 'move on'.

Was very annoying, but nobody cared about me spaffing over an old Techart 928 or a classic Merc 300SL. C'est la vie.

[limpsfield]

RSK21 said:

It's the link to this that annoys many people, me included, about the opacity behind the whole thing. I am no doubt old and grumpy but it winds me up to hear kids claiming "I want to be a you Tuber because they make massive amounts of money and drive supercars as a result" , I am paraphrasing but you hopefully get the point.

What grates is the continued subtle perpetuation of the "self made" as oppposed to "leveraged a great start". The problem of course is when your hook is almost entirely predicated upon aspiration and selling a dream then maybe that degree of truth doesn't sell.

I am also old and grumpy, and agree with all of this. It's too easy to cry "jealousy" - I just feel the bullst factor has increased exponentially in recent years as social media has boomed. I used to work - and still do to an extent - in the retail trading business (fx etc) and the likes of Instagram have taken this to a whole new level of opacity, to use a polite word.

[jimmybell]

limpsfield said:

I am also old and grumpy, and agree with all of this. It's too easy to cry "jealousy" - I just feel the bullst factor has increased exponentially in recent years as social media has boomed. I used to work - and still do to an extent - in the retail trading business (fx etc) and the likes of Instagram have taken this to a whole new level of opacity, to use a polite word.

To be fair - my specific cry of jealousy was against someone attacking Shmee for pretending to earn his money. It's not my place to really defend him but in this thread alone i think he's explained (in far too much detail) his background, finances and earnings - none of which is particularly far fetched (even with rich parents i think you'd struggle to get daddy to buy you 5 supercars anyway.. or whatever he has).

I think it's pretty obvious on social media who has money (and who wishes they did), who was given money, and who earned their money. People seem to take offence from the use of the word 'city' in any background - i guess its common to fake earnings but even taking average salary in the square mile with some creative financing you can jump in to lots of nice cars.

I don't think anyone is jealous of a muppet with a fake trading business pretending to have made money in property, though doesn't make them bad people for wanting to fit in and aspire to appear to be the ones who did earn it.

[TopGear7]

The funniest one I've come across to date is a 20 year old with 'Landlord' in his Instagram Bio as his job title...

[anonymous-user]

jimmybell said:

To be fair - my specific cry of jealousy was against someone attacking Shmee for pretending to earn his money. It's not my place to really defend him but in this thread alone i think he's explained (in far too much detail) his background, finances and earnings - none of which is particularly far fetched (even with rich parents i think you'd struggle to get daddy to buy you 5 supercars anyway.. or whatever he has).

I think it's pretty obvious on social media who has money (and who wishes they did), who was given money, and who earned their money. People seem to take offence from the use of the word 'city' in any background - i guess its common to fake earnings but even taking average salary in the square mile with some creative financing you can jump in to lots of nice cars.

I don't think anyone is jealous of a muppet with a fake trading business pretending to have made money in property, though doesn't make them bad people for wanting to fit in and aspire to appear to be the ones who did earn it.

You're missing the point.

Nobody is claiming mr Shmee was given money to buy the super cars seen on his channel.

[Beefmeister]

TopGear7 said:

The funniest one I've come across to date is a 20 year old with 'Landlord' in his Instagram Bio as his job title...

I've seen a 16yr old on Insta with this:

'Lover, entrepreneur, racing driver, property tycoon'

Prick.

[jimmybell]

RSK21 said:

You're missing the point.

Nobody is claiming mr Shmee was given money to buy the super cars seen on his channel.

TobyTR said:

^^ This. Be honest. Shmee and co had access to a conveyer belt of money from daddy etc, lets not beat around the bush and cut the bull.

Thats how i read this. nevermind. i'd prefer the conversation went back to quality of videos and the future of youtube tbh.


Would like to echo some previous comments and say Joe's recent videos have been excellent - the road trip movie on a bigger chan would of been a huge hit. Joe's content on the hole is great really - since watching his channel i want an m135i more and more, and want to go on a euro roadtrip...

Truckosaurus said:

As with the old joke about not needing to be able to outrun a bear, you just to be able to outrun one of your travel companions, in order for a video in my subscription list to get watched it doesn't have to be the greatest video of all time, just have a more appealing title/thumbnail than any of the others that are new since I last logged in.

There are certain channels that knock out infrequent but high quality videos (eg. Mighty Car Mods, once a month on average or Motor Trend, once a week for a full length video etc) that you will watch first and then you fill the available time (eg. however long it takes to eat breakfast or drink a cup of tea) with content from the 'new video every day' crew and then ignore the vast majority of it as there just isn't the time to watch everything from all the channels I subscribe to.

Conversely, If I logged in and the only new video was of Shmee picking his nose (potential title "Should I wipe the bogey on the seat or the steering wheel of my new McLaren?") then I'd probably watch it.

pretty much sums up my youtube watching, pick a video to augment my coffee break.

[lee_fr200]

I don't know why there's such a big hoo haa where these ppl get their money from or where it originally originated just accept that they're doing well for themselves and are very lucky!

I think it's abit wrong though if someone has been gifted the cash and then tries to make out they're self made but if that's the lie they choose to live then again it's upto them!

I don't mind admitting I'm insanely jealous of their positions if their positions are exactly as shown who wouldn't like to go buy an exotic car or buy a huge mansion and of course I'd love to go buy the new mclaren but truth is I don't earn a great deal my bills leave me with not much and I wouldn't have a clue where to start in websites or YouTube or any of that so I will stick to what I have but fair play to those that have managed to earn a great deal of money!

I've stopped watching super cars of London and I don't rly watch shmee now as I find them pretty boring and samey all the time and I hate this should I buy this or why I sold that!

I am liking tge though he seems not fake from what is shown also self made although no idea how he started out and got his money but fair play he seems to go about it all different but maybe because that's not rly his main business and comes across as something that he does on the side to share his lifestyle I think if he started doing the same stuff as most other vloggers it would be st but I like what I've seen so far

[Shotaro]

Tom, please don't sell your Defender, it'll only go to someone who'll lock it away until it's worth even more of a premium

Also definitely get a dog (that was my German Shepherd and Border Collie on Twitter), dogs are bloody fantastic!

[camshafted]

Beefmeister said:

I did a Facebook Live from the Geneva Motor Show this year, had around 10,000 people viewing live. Not sure of the age stats, but I'm guessing it was mostly younger people as every time I wandered by a classic and started rambling on about it, I got 20 comments saying 'boring' 'next' 'and 'move on'.

Was very annoying, but nobody cared about me spaffing over an old Techart 928 or a classic Merc 300SL. C'est la vie.

I wonder if the McLamberrrari vloggers and followers know much about the history of the marques they rave about. If they know why the latest model is called the 488. Classic cars are quite obviously of more interest to an older audience (~28+) but they are also proving to be great investments, so there should it would be great if one of the big vloggers could create a video market for them.

The buy-wrap-wrap_again-sell-buy-wrap-add_exhaust-wrap_again-sell format will eventually get stale so maybe a bit of diversification is in order.

[TobyTR]

RobDown said:

oh god, yet another idiot. What is it about this forum that attracts them?

Some of us on the Aston Martin forums know Tim from years back when all he could afford (after several years work, and yes setting up mini-electronics business on-line) was a second hand 4.3 Vantage. Yes I know a GBP40k car is more than most can afford, but for someone then working in the City its hardly evidence of a Rockefeller fortune being handed down is it? Are you following this so far Captain Caveman?

And if you take the time its easy enough to follow his evolution up the car ladder since then (including his acknowledgement that some of them are on finance).

Please go crawl back under your rock, its getting boring having to see this thread ruined by fools like you

Someone's touchy and resorting to name-calling because I've used a bit of common sense. Are you another gullible 14-year-old that's incapable of reading like some others on this thread?

Now there's an assumption back for you. Don't let the door hit your ar$e on the way out.

[TobyTR]

RSK21 said:

joshcowin said:

Do you find it weird that people are so concerned with how you make money? I find it bizarre, who cares!!

Put TGE to one side for a second and consider that video linked to above. Given that the the majority audience most likely can only dream of attaining the lifestyle poryrayed by certain YTers then surely it is not in the slightest surprising that they want to know.

It's the link to this that annoys many people, me included, about the opacity behind the whole thing. I am no doubt old and grumpy but it winds me up to hear kids claiming "I want to be a you Tuber because they make massive amounts of money and drive supercars as a result" , I am paraphrasing but you hopefully get the point.

If people subject some of th claims to scrutiny then the YTers and their acolytes cry foul and claim "nobody's business" . It has happened on this very thread.

Most of those who do show scepticism have no interest in who actually paid for what. What grates is the continued subtle perpetuation of the "self made" as oppposed to "leveraged a great start". The problem of course is when your hook is almost entirely predicated upon aspiration and selling a dream then maybe that degree of truth doesn't sell.

Example - which plays best to such an audience ?

1 - I had a successful career on The City

2 - I worked for a few years in the back office of a pensions advisory business

Nail on the head. The problem I have is it gives 14 year olds and the like false aspirations that by doing something similar with no capital behind them, they too could afford supercars willy-nilly with a bit of hard graft.

The fact is you'll be lucky to bring in £9,000 (at best) from 10 million YouTube views. For those that are in cloud cuckoo land, do the maths.

I'd also like to meet someone who can walk into a lucrative 'job in the city' without a premier university education in finance/shedload of experience. But alas, I will get labelled 'jealous' by people who can't read a sentence for politely debating something...

Edited by TobyTR on Thursday 3rd August 09:05

[RSbandit]

A lot of impressionable youngsters may well think that carspotting/YouTube is a viable career path, look at the amount of spotters on the streets on Monaco during weeks like Top Marques it's frankly ridiculous and quite dangerous with alot of cars driving too fast showing off etc. The utube guys who are established now have been going at least a few years quite difficult to start from scratch and break into that now I'd imagine

[jon-]

RSbandit said:

A lot of impressionable youngsters may well think that carspotting/YouTube is a viable career path, look at the amount of spotters on the streets on Monaco during weeks like Top Marques it's frankly ridiculous and quite dangerous with alot of cars driving too fast showing off etc. The utube guys who are established now have been going at least a few years quite difficult to start from scratch and break into that now I'd imagine

Perhaps they just really enjoy cars and now that everyone has a camera, why not film them...

[The Surveyor]

TGETV said:

I have no issue with privilege. Some friends of mine have been born into wealth beyond imagination which is great. Just as of course I have no issue with those born into nothing, and those I grew up as a young scrote with were of the latter scenario. We are all the same bones and skin, its just temporary numbers on a screen. This isn't about who has money and how annoyed I may or may not be about it.

However, and I'm not actually saying any of the known Youtubers do this, I do take issue with those actively profiting by selling BS 'get rich quick/be like me and win more' schemes to the naive/young/stupid with slo-mo videos of a supercar paid for by their family pot, alongside perpetual holiday boasts and other such gaudy tripe. Instagram por ejemple is full of this.

Concerningly, if I wanted to, I could have broadcast to everyone I was a trader, set up a mailing list of 'trading tips' and would be able to get hundreds if not thousands of people signed up at £20 a month - using images of my cars and perceived wealth to lure them in. Would I sleep at night? No. Would I need a slap? Yes. Let alone luring people in with cash you hadn't even earned. Christ alive.

The fascination with earnings and source of wealth will always remain, and nobody owes anyone an explanation, but I would fairly expect attacks and questions if ones substantial level of privilege is abused to pry money from the naive/young/stupid on a public platform.

You're not going to last long posting sensible stuff like that.....

[Streetrod]

camshafted said:

Beefmeister said:

I did a Facebook Live from the Geneva Motor Show this year, had around 10,000 people viewing live. Not sure of the age stats, but I'm guessing it was mostly younger people as every time I wandered by a classic and started rambling on about it, I got 20 comments saying 'boring' 'next' 'and 'move on'.

Was very annoying, but nobody cared about me spaffing over an old Techart 928 or a classic Merc 300SL. C'est la vie.

I wonder if the McLamberrrari vloggers and followers know much about the history of the marques they rave about. If they know why the latest model is called the 488. Classic cars are quite obviously of more interest to an older audience (~28+) but they are also proving to be great investments, so there should it would be great if one of the big vloggers could create a video market for them.

The buy-wrap-wrap_again-sell-buy-wrap-add_exhaust-wrap_again-sell format will eventually get stale so maybe a bit of diversification is in order.

At the moment Harry Metcalf appears to be the only YouTuber happy to put time into promoting the great classics not just from his own collection but from others as well and is doing a great job. He is also able to mix in the modern stuff as well.

The rest unfortunately just seem to have run out of ideas and are now working as a collective, promoting each other’s channels and a couple of wrapping and detailing companies who are probably lapping up the publicity.

[The Surveyor]

Streetrod said:

At the moment Harry Metcalf appears to be the only YouTuber happy to put time into promoting the great classics not just from his own collection but from others as well and is doing a great job. He is also able to mix in the modern stuff as well.

The rest unfortunately just seem to have run out of ideas and are now working as a collective, promoting each other’s channels and a couple of wrapping and detailing companies who are probably lapping up the publicity.

Harry Metcalfe is a proper journalist though, that's why his content is much more engaging and varied.

[NomduJour]

Streetrod said:

The current generation of Youtubers have little if no knowledge of the history of cars

Point is that it's not about the cars, they're generally just a component of the "lifestyle". Even with an LV x Supreme wrap, you're not going to sell a '60s Ferrari to anyone whose role models think a diamond AP ROO is style.