“On the Road” With David Tracy

“On the Road” is a podcast produced by JC Whitney. We bring you interviews with a cavalcade of figures from across the world all united by one thing: their undying love of all things automotive. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

David Tracy dives into his latest ventures in the automotive scene, running The Autopian—a go-to car culture website that covers everything from the latest news to in-depth reviews. The Autopian sets itself apart with content driven by true experts, featuring seasoned writers and engineers who bring both knowledge and humor to the world of cars. David shares some fun anecdotes about his lifelong love for cars, including some unforgettable off-roading adventures with his family. His path from engineering to journalism shows just how dedicated he is to blending technical savvy with a creative passion for all things automotive.

Angel Sala-Belen: Hello and welcome! I’m your host, Angel Sala-Belen, and today we’re joined by David Tracy. Hello, David! How’s it going?

David Tracy: Howdy! Glad to be here. Yes sir, I’m pumped.

Angel Sala-Belen: Yeah, I’m excited to have you here, David. I think we want to go ahead and open up with: what are you currently doing in the automotive world, whether that’s professional or in your personal life? Explain to us how you got to that point.

David Tracy: Yeah, I run a website called The Autopian. It’s a car culture website for people who just love cars. Often, people ask, “Okay, what do you write about?” and I always answer, “Just anything car-related.” They’re like, “Just news? Do you do reviews?” It’s everything. Anything a car enthusiast would be into, it’s on The Autopian. Actually, right now I’m a little bit flustered because right before this interview I was editing a kind of a takedown piece that we’re writing. It’s pretty contentious because CNN, someone on CNN, wrote an anti-manual transmission article. It basically said manual transmissions are for macho men and that we should all drive electric cars. We can’t let that stand. Not at The Autopian. We’re taking it down. We’re going for it.

Angel Sala-Belen: No, I mean, I’m going to have to disagree 100% because the manual transmission—well, the person who taught me manual transmission was my mother.

David Tracy: Yes, my mom—she’s German—drives stick way better than my dad. My dad stalls all the time. It’s total BS, this idea that it’s just macho men who want manual transmissions to be a thing. My mom loves them.

Angel Sala-Belen: So, I have an old 2001 E46 manual transmission, right? The person who loves it the most—she’s wonderful—her name is Dorothy, my car. No, my mom loves to drive the car just because of the manual transmission. She loves to be able to feel the shift, push in the clutch, and do it cleanly. So, I’m glad that you’re attacking that.

David Tracy: The article sort of makes it out like manual transmissions are a terrible thing. You know, they’re less efficient than automatics. First off, there are very few manual transmissions even out there—like 1%, 1.5%, or whatever it is. They’re fine. That is not the battle to bother with. But, you know, I get it. You’ve got to write a contentious article. You’ve got to get the clicks, but yeah, we’re coming after you. 

Angel Sala-Belen: So, your website is The Autopian. Okay. And you have other backgrounds in the automotive world aside from your website. Can we talk about that a little bit?

David Tracy: Sure. I’m a co-founder. Jason Torchinsky is one of the other three founders, and then Bo Bachman, who runs Galpin, which is a large dealership franchise in the Valley. We also have publisher Matt Hardigree, who has an extensive background, and Mercedes Streeter and Thomas Hundal. We have great writers. I come from an engineering background. After college, I worked for Chrysler on the Jeep Wrangler JL program. When I went to college, I loved reading Motor Trend and Car and Driver. That would be a cool job, right? You get to just talk about cars all the time, write about cars. I loved writing, but I thought, I’m not going to study journalism; the odds of me getting a job at Car and Driver are just zero. So, I studied engineering to give myself the best chance of getting in the car world. I worked at Chrysler for a few years, on the JL Wrangler program, my favorite. I was a huge Jeep fan. I was in the advanced aerothermal team, doing cooling system development for the Wrangler for all the engines, the diesel, and all that. It was fun, but I wanted to go back into the creative world. The real reason I left that engineering world was I always had that nagging interest in becoming a car journalist. When you work in the auto industry in Detroit, you work for a big automaker, you think everyone there loves cars, but actually, it’s like the minority of people. So, I wanted to be in an environment where I was surrounded by obsessed car people every day.

Angel Sala-Belen: I mean, Detroit and Chrysler—it doesn’t get much more car-centric than that.

David Tracy: You would think, and there were enthusiasts there, but it wasn’t the majority. I just wanted that. I wanted to talk about the industry in general, not just one model. I ended up becoming friends with Matt Hardigree, who was the editor-in-chief of Jalopnik, and he hit me up to write for Jalopnik. So, I wrote for Jalopnik for six years and started The Autopian in 2022.

Angel Sala-Belen: Okay, so if any of our fans or our viewers want to check out your website, what can they expect to see at The Autopian?

David Tracy: Well, for one, the takedown on that CNN anti-manual piece! All sorts of stuff. We pride ourselves on having experts write things. There are too many people on the internet who don’t know what they’re talking about. For example, Huibert Mees is a suspension engineer who designed the suspension for the Tesla Model S and the Ford GT, the 2005 model. He knows suspensions. Often, you’ll have a bit of news come out, like, “Hey, the new Ford Ranger has a Watts link rear suspension.” So, we’ll ask Huibert to explain what that means.

Angel Sala-Belen: Right, so for the average person or even a newcomer to the automotive world—why care? Why should I care? What value does that give me in my drive? So, you’re saying you have a team of journalists with experience who know what they’re talking about and can get the right points across to the reader.

David Tracy: Exactly. Our team consists of enthusiasts. We also have freelance writers and a designer, Adrian Clark, who used to design cars for Jaguar Land Rover. Expertise is valued. On our site, it’s anything an enthusiast would want to see: car reviews, news, hot takes. I wrote a take on cars with timing belts, arguing that if your car has a timing belt, it’s not reliable. It’s a crazy take because reliable cars like the Lexus LS and the Land Cruiser 100 series have timing belts. But my take was if you have to change a timing belt every 90,000 miles and spend $1,500, is that reliable compared to one with a timing chain? 

Angel Sala-Belen: So, The Autopian is meant for the average person, written in a silly and irreverent way. It’s not about feeling smarter than the reader but having a conversation. Can you give an example?

David Tracy: Sure! For instance, we wrote about what we found in JC Whitney catalogs. There were pipe organ speaker covers, headlight wipers that look like a fan blade, a coach light you’d put on top of your car, and fake Rolls-Royce grills for Volkswagen Beetles. Absurd, but it was an option. There were also Cloud Soft fur-like auto carpets and a left-foot accelerator linked to the right pedal with a rod.

Angel Sala-Belen: I mean, Volkswagens, especially Beetles, didn’t change much for 15-20 years, so if you wanted to modify it, there were options.

David Tracy: I own a car in Germany right now—it’s a diesel manual Chrysler minivan. I’m always buying cars, looking for new projects. 

Angel Sala-Belen: Do you have a very memorable moment or experience in an automotive context?

David Tracy: My dad bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and my five brothers and I had nothing but time and a really muddy Missouri River floodplain. We loved that Jeep. When you’re off-roading, you’re cheering on the vehicle, seeing what it can do. That pride you feel when it makes it through an obstacle is like your team winning. 

Angel Sala-Belen: I can imagine even more pride doing that in a project vehicle.

David Tracy: Absolutely. It’s more valuable when it’s your own. I specialize in off-road coverage now, and that experience set the trajectory for me. I worked for Jeep and now write about off-roading as a journalist.

Angel Sala-Belen: How full circle is that? You worked for Jeep, but your first off-road experience was your dad taking you out in a Humvee, which is really the successor to the Jeep.

David Tracy: Yes, the first military non-or-powered vehicle. The World War II Jeep started it all. I experienced the Humvee thing at a military base in Germany, worked on the Jeep Wrangler engineering team, and as a journalist, got to drive and review the new Wrangler I helped engineer. It was Full Circle for sure.