New Faces Of Automotive Enthusiasm

The world is full of soothsayers predicting the end of the world.

- Jason Fenske, Nena Barlow, Kyle Behar, Patrice Banks, Will Lee

Or at least the end of car culture as we know it. With every headline that’s published complaining about millennials and their lackluster new-car-buying habits, we imagine a wizened old newspaper editor wearing a green visor as he bangs away at his IBM Selectric. “Kids these days! They hate cars!”

Spoiler alert: They don’t.

Things have changed just a little from the days of yore. Young and young-adjacent people are filling up on their automotive passions by watching YouTube videos at home, listening to podcasts, or paging through Instagram feeds of their favorite offbeat paint-color enthusiast. They’re off-roading in borrowed Jeeps, or they’re learning how to be their own mechanic from a woman who decided to teach herself about cars and then share that with the world.

We’re not worried. Young people are still doing lots of cool things based on cars.

The Teacher

Jason Fenske

Engineering Explained

Jason Fenske failed at his goal of becoming an automotive engineer. He had the proper skills. He loved cars. He was, as he admits, “bad at literature and writing and good at math.” He earned a degree in mechanical engineering. But his dream did not come to fruition. “I worked for a forklift company,” the 29-year-old says, laughing.

However, back in 2011, the summer before his senior year at North Carolina State, he started making YouTube videos demystifying automotive engineering principles for a lay audience. The videos were a hobby at first. But in 2014, he decided to quit toiling in the world of industrial hoists and dedicate himself full time to internet fame. His channel, Engineering Explained, now has 2.3 million subscribers and averages 6 million to 10 million views a month.