Monday morning brought the official launch of a new social media platform for car enthusiasts called Drive Tribe and an unscripted Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May to our computer screen.
Speaking from their London HQ, the trio flipped the switch on the new site’s app (available at the Google and Apple stores) and open enrollment via Facebook logins.
“Hello and welcome to the Drivetribe office where Jeremy isn’t,” said Richard Hammond, co-founder of Drivetribe of his belatedly entering cohort.
After a brief video, the trio went into what Drivetribe is meant to be: A place for all peoples to connect about vehicles or adventuring (even if that adventuring is done on two-wheels and with human power).
“Some of it is really incredible, awesome, but it all doesn’t have to be super highly polished stuff,” said Hammond. “Some of it will be rough and ready…so rough and ready that we did it.”
The three already have their own tribes featuring raw and unscripted content from all around the world.
Some tribes are for specific makes and models (such as the GT6 and Miata tribes we’ve already joined) or open to all kinds of enthusiasts (such as The Perfect Roads or The Traveller).
“This is our baby, something we’ve invested in heavily,” Clarkson said.
We’ve already started one tribe and it’s off to an amazing start. The PNW Drivers Tribe has more than 80 members and has been growing every day.
We’re primarily made of people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho or BC (Canada), but we truly don’t care where you’re from so long as you like driving. So far people have responded well and posted their vehicles for all to see!
My goal for the PNW Drivers Tribe is that we all get to create a more diverse, better connected and highly engaged group of Puget and PNW area enthusiasts.
“We interact with you. You can comment on the things that we’ve written, and we will soon be able to comment on your comments on the comments that you commented on originally…so that it has a life of its own,” said James May. “It’s social media. Its about us all talking together and sharing our ailment.”
While hopefully, you’ve already found a home at The Auto Reporter, we understand that social media is the place to be… so we created a place on Drivetribe, too!
Sling mud? You’re home.
Burn rubber? You’ve found your place.
Drive slow cars as fast as they can manage? Welcome!
If you like your vehicle and you love driving it, then we want you here and part of our tribe.
The content will be co-shared with the posts on The Auto Reporter’s website and other syndicated papers.
However, the conversations and connections are all Drivetribe. The people are all of you. So, check out our tribe and spread the world of this new place to call home.
“There are hundreds of millions of people in the world who are interested in cars. The man who polishes his families Subaru in Pebble beach and the man who loves his Honda in South London are both interested in cars, but this is the place they can come,” said Clarkson. “This is what it’s all about. We can fight with one another, we can agree with one another, and we can cross over. It will be excellent.”
“It’s a safe place to claim you’re an enthusiast,” said Hammond.
“You are not alone,” said May.
If you have a full 12 minutes, then watch the full launch of Drivetribe here:
