Here’s What You Get When You Become An Autopian Member, And How It Will Make This The Greatest Car Website Ever

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The Autopian is a place for car-lovers. It was created after three people — Beau Boeckmann, Jason Torchinsky, and David Tracy — sat down in some microcars one day and scribbled down this motto: “The Autopian exists to serve the car enthusiast community by creating content that informs and entertains, while celebrating the unifying quality of automobiles.” We’ve upheld that motto for over eight months now, and many of you have rewarded us not only with your clicks, but with your excellent comments and frequent questions about how you can support this community more. We now have an answer: Become a member. Not only will it help us become the best version of the car website you’ve always wanted, but you’ll also get things and stuff and perhaps even goods out of the deal. Here’s a look at the details behind The Autopian’s Membership.

The Autopian came into being after hundreds of people kept messaging Jason and me — then writers at Jalopnik — asking us to do something. Readers were yearning for an easy-to-use website that championed car culture, and after a while, the calls became impossible to ignore. So Torch and I, two car-nuts who were just big enough dipshits to think we could pull this off, reached out to Jason’s friend and diehard car-person Beau Boeckmann (whom you’re going to see more of on this site soon!). An avid consumer of automotive media (and a media personality in his own right) and someone who had wanted to be involved in this business for years, Beau came out of the gate with a “Let’s do this thing” attitude. He’s affording us the freedom to do our thing; we hired Mercedes Streeter and Matt Hardigree, and recently we’ve got Patrick George hanging out with us to help build a more sustainable operation from the content-creation side. We’ve got some incredible contributors, an awesome video team, and so much fun stuff planned for the future.

We’ve built something here, and you all are the most important part of it. This community is something that we all plan to keep growing for years to come, and an important element of that longevity will be your support in the form of membership.

You may be familiar with the website Defector. It’s a product of a bunch of former Deadspin writers quitting and starting their own subscription-based, mostly-sports website. It works great, and the site is firing on all cylinders, providing readers with exactly the content they want. We like this concept, but feel that a completely paywalled site would in many ways thwart what we’re trying to do here, and that is: champion car culture. We think a car website should be accessible for everyone from every walk of life, so our membership is optional, though we will try to force your hand by bribing you with exclusive content and merchandise!

So let’s talk about those bribes, shall we? (For now, we’re only shipping to folks in North America, since shipping costs are so high; if you’re not in North America, we’ll offer another, more virtual tier at a future date!).

Autopian Vinyl

Vinyl Banner

  • What it is:
    • A way for you to get exclusive content and merchandise while supporting The Autopian’s mission.
    • Basically, this is you officially joining our cult. Because you can’t spell “car culture” without “car cult.”
  • What it costs:
  • Things you get:
    • A special, limited-edition Autopian shirt
    • An Autopian bumper sticker
  • Things you get (virtual)
    • Member’s only newsletter
    • Weekly wrenching open chat with Autopian writers/weekly open chat
    • A chance to be featured (if you want) in a weekly member rides post
    • Access to special content (extended cuts, early project car updates)
    • Early invites to Autopian events like car shows and parties
  • Things you get (emotional)
    • The warm feeling in your heart of supporting independent media at a time when a lot of your favorite car sites are going away…

Sign up here for Autopian Vinyl (Monthly)

Sign up here for Autopian Vinyl (Annual)

To gift an annual membership Click Here

Autopian Velour

Velour Banner

  • What it is:
    • A way for you to provide even more support to the site while also getting more opportunities to interact with the staff.
  • What it costs:
  • Things you get:
    • Everything in Vinyl plus:
      • A classy-as-hell grille badge
      • Random raffle prizes, including press swag from automakers.
  • Things you get (virtual)
    • Everything in Vinyl plus:
      • Invites to private quarterly Zoom/In-Person Automotive Trivia Nights
      • A drawing on your birthday from Jason of whatever car you want sent directly to your Atari
  • Things you get (emotional)
    • A powerful, pervasive feeling that you’re actually doing genuine good in the world, which will be expressed via powerful sex hormones that everyone around you will absolutely notice. Also, you’ll probably sleep better.

Autopian Rich Corinthian Leather

Rcl Banner

  • What it is:
    • The ultimate in Autopian membership.
    • A chance to be treated like a king by a bunch of car-loving dirtbags.
  • What it costs:
  • Things you get (physical):
    • Everything in Velour plus:
      • An annual private tour (potentially with other members) of Beau’s personal collection in LA, the Petersen Museum, The Crawford Museum, or the Lane Museum led by a staffer or friend of the site. If you come to Beau’s collection you’ll also get lunch at the famous Horseless Carriage restaurant in Galpin Ford
      • Limited-edition Autopian merch every quarter
      • Reserve parking at any Autopian event (where possible)
  • Things you get (virtual)
    • Everything in Velour plus:
      • A video from David or Jason to a person of your choosing that encourages them to buy a specific car OR allow you to buy a car (or just a birthday video) 
  • Things you get (emotional)
    • David will send you a signed vial of rust flakes from one of his project cars. Place this vial in your garage as a reminder that, as bad as things are going with your own project car, things could be worse. Legend has it that if you rub this vial three times, it will give you good luck with loosening stubborn bolts. (Use of a breaker bar to remove a tiny 1/4-inch (or 6mm) bolt voids warranty; also, there is no warranty).
  • Sign up here for Rich Corinthian Leather
  • Give the gift of Rich Corinthian Leather by Clicking Here

The Autopian Wrenching/Road Tripping Experience

Dttrip

  • What it is:
    • Hanging out with DT, wrenching all day, living the dream.
  • What it costs:
  • Things you get:
    • Everything in Rich Corinthian Leather plus:
      • David Tracy, whom we’d prefer you not murder and store in your basement freezer, will spend at least three full days helping you wrench on your car. He will bring pizza and beverages, and it will be an epic wrenchfest, though one focused on fun. This is not a rent-a-mechanic service, it’s an experience with one of the internet’s foremost shitbox wrenching experts.
      • [Ed Note: Are we really doing this? This seems like a terrible idea? Is anyone going to actually do this? I have many many questions. – MH]
  • Sign up for the wrenching experience by clicking this link
  • Gift this experience by Clicking Here

How Membership Will Improve The Site

We’re trying to build a financially sustainable operation here at The Autopian, and membership — as well as carefully-placed ads — will be key in making that happen; this is our first shot at this, and we’re always looking for ways to improve the membership experience (we welcome your ideas!). The more members who sign up (either by clicking the links above or by clicking the “support us” button on the homepage), the more cars we can do dumb things with. I personally want to fly to Brazil to buy a very rare Jeep, fix the thing up, and take it on an epic South American roadtrip. I may do that regardless, but you becoming a member will make that so much more feasible; plus, the video/articles will come faster!

Membership will also allow us to hire more talented writers, host more reader meetups, and just produce more and better content for you all to enjoy. We’re excited to continue building this car community, and we thank you for supporting us in our early days as we worked our butts off to build this place from scratch. Now it’s time to continue working our butts off to make it even better.

About the Author

Jason Torchinsky

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477 thoughts on “Here’s What You Get When You Become An Autopian Member, And How It Will Make This The Greatest Car Website Ever”

  1. How about a “Rust” level for even less for those of us that are poor, where we only get:

    Things you get (emotional)
    The warm feeling in your heart of supporting independent media at a time when a lot of your favorite car sites are going away…

  2. Okay but what do I get after dropping twelve grand to get into the secret and exclusive “whale penis leather”-level of membership? I know that’s how these membership level type things work, don’t try to convince me otherwise. There’s a higher level you’re not telling us about and I know it!

  3. Letting me see the sneak peek tittle of David’s cactus project, letting me click to the article, but not displaying the video is just mean. And then to add insult to injury I can’t even comment my displeasure in that topic! Although I see 10 comments have been posted. I feel left out; seeing the rich people party in the VIP section but can’t reach them (because I’m to cheap to buy a ticket).

    * goes to cry in corner *

  4. How about $25 a year and you don’t have to give me anything?

    That’s about what I used to spend on a car mag subscription deal after adjusting for inflation.

    1. This seems a good idea. I don’t want anything, but would like to support the site.

      I already have many patreon subs for podcasts I like and support, always on the £1or £2 a month level, not because they aren’t worth more, but because they ALL are and I don’t want to have to choose one or two I exclusively support.

  5. I listened to “Car Talk” every weekend for free for years.
    I was too broke to help sponsor NPR at the time, but the Tappet brothers continued to hand their silly wisdom down to me for free.
    For years.
    I remember seeing their bumper stickers on other cars in traffic and thinking “one day, I’ll have that bumper sticker.”
    Never got it.
    I hate making the same mistake twice and I’m in a different tax bracket now.
    Sign me up for the cheapest version please.

  6. I’m going to pile on with a bunch of others here – I would love a $5 “2CV Lawn Chair” tier. I don’t need any of the perks except for the emotional one. I would love to support you guys monetarily but that minimum of $10 per month is a little hard to justify to the little demon on my shoulder.

  9. Signed up for vinyl! Happy to be a part of this community. Keep up the great work. Maybe if enough of us subscribe David can buy yet another holy grail jeep

  10. If I was rich and single I’d opt for the DT rust bucket special or whatever it was called. I’m thinking am AMC Eagle, YJ, or possibly a holy grail Grand Cherokee manual so he could showcase his rust bucket adroitness. But alas, I’m stuck with a reliable VW (don’t laugh, it’s been a good vehicle except for the mandatory water pump replacement).

  11. Guys, I’m so incredibly happy you’ve added memberships – I love this site, I love what you’re doing, and I love that I get to actually throw money in the pot to keep this place going. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to directly support you, and thank you for making such a delightfully weird corner of the internet to hang out in.

  13. I will be in for “Velour” I mean who doesn’t love a good ’70’s velour interior? as long as my upcoming bonus is not the “Jelly of the Month Club”.
    But… PLEASE (seriously please) in lieu of a bumper sticker, switch that to a vinyl window decal as I believe most of will not adhere a bumper sticker to our rides but will proudly affix a vinyl window decal.
    Thanks for the content!!!

  14. I’m not sure I want to pay $10/month, but I want to contribute something. Maybe set up a link for donations/contributions for those that don’t want to sign up for membership, but don’t want to be complete freeloaders?

    1. EXACTLY! The current scheme proposed sounds like something Trump or Bernie Madoff would come up with…No insult intended friends. But Jeez. Because of people like those mentioned above, too many of us just want to toss a buck or two your way without it feeling like some sort of Ponzi scheme. YMMV…Just the same try and tweak this approach somewhat. Thanks guys.

  15. Can there be like a $3/mo old horse blanket version.

    I maybe get half the virtual stuff of the vinyl level but I don’t make use of any of them but still feel like I’m contributing.

    1. Living on a different continent, I’m with you. I don’t think the postage would be cheap, plus at this stage, there is zero chance of me attending any event in the US. Flight times to LA are about 16 or 17 hours, plus at least a couple of grand each way for flights.

  17. In for one year of Velour. If it keeps going, I would expect to fall back down to Vinyl. The grill badge and car drawing feel like one time only needs in my life. Because they did reference Defector’s model, it’s hard to square the value proposition for both. Defector’s two levels for the normies are $79 and $119. And I feel like the $119 level over there is a great value due to the level and volume of content they produce. But in the grand scheme of things, The Autopian’s levels aren’t terrible. For example, look at the price of most substacks. They’re insanely high considering you’re typically only supporting one author, and you’re lucky if they write one thing a day. Maybe you were like me and you signed up for Ashley Feinberg’s Trashberg. Amazing content, but the quantity and regularity were all over the map until she quit the whole thing and refunded nearly 6 months of payments to everybody. Another regrettable subscription I’ve made was Spencer Hall and Holly Anderson’s Channel 6. Again, good content, but totally not worth it considering how few newsletters/articles they put out each week. Bottom line, if you’ve complained about how other sites have gone down hill, or have fired your favorite authors, or are jamming their pages with an insane amount of flashing ads, it seems worth it to me to put your money where your mouth is and support something that won’t be following down the same bad roads.

  18. Kickass that Patrick George made it over after getting fucked over yet again, this place is honestly the best car site going by a long stretch.
    Looking forward to signing up, this is all awesome.

  19. Issue of fees aside, I wanted to discuss a different car-based site that also benefitted from writers that left That Other Old Car site.

    There, a too-large number of articles is an advertisement, often bearing a disguise as an article. I lost much of my interest for that site beyond reading the occasional article from that military guy discussing Ukraine.

    So I’m really hoping you guys don’t go that way.

  20. I’m all for supporting the site, and I happily support other creators through various channels like Patreon and Twitch, but I would like to second what I’ve seen many other commenters say, which is that $10/month is a little high to be the base level.

    What about a basic “Cloth Upholstery” tier, for those of us who could swing something more in the $3-$5/month range, without the need to send us any swag?

      1. “I sat in my car with a bottle opener in the back pocket facing the wrong way”-level. True story. Used duck tape. At 22 it really didn’t bother me and I’m horrified now.

  21. My initial reaction was that David’s calendar is about to fill up quickly. Then it occurred to me that people working on rusty heaps that he specializes in aren’t the types to drop six grand on a weirdo website. And rich Ferrari guys need dealership receipts. I’m sure you’ll get several takers, but maybe it won’t dominate his life.

  22. More communist wrench cooperative content please.

    I come here mostly for DTs wrenching shenanigans.

    Turn this place into a match.com for weirdos that have automotive based masochist tendencies.

  23. Some good TV streaming services are $10 a month. The content is good but it’s just not THAT special. Honestly I’m surprised the site went this way, disappointing.

    1. They need to pay rent and do awesome stuff to write about, and that costs money. And you can still read everything for free… I know the tiers are a bit expensive, but you don’t have to buy one. What’s the prob?

    2. You don’t have to do any of it! All the content is still free. And there’s currently zero ads. You can ignore all the membership stuff and have the exact same experience you’ve had! Buddy, what the hell are you so disappointed about? We’re happy you’re here, regardless, even if you sound a little cranky.

  25. Saw this earlier and went ‘do I really need another subscription? $10 a month, minimum?’

    Then I thought about how I used to buy Road & Track, Car & Driver, etc all the time. And then I thought about how much time I’ve spent reading Torch and DT’s stuff over the years. So I said the hell with it and went vinyl.

    Honestly, the only reason I really subscribed was that so I could maybe swing an invite to one of those sweet Automotive Lighting bars.

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