We have known since April that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were developing a new car website called DriveTribe in addition to filming their Amazon show The Grand Tour. Financing came from the trio, producer Andy Wilman and tech entrepreneur and DriveTribe CEO Ernesto Schmitt. And now it seems like they are also getting a fat check from 21st Century Fox—but we still don’t know what the platform will do.
The mass media company has invested $6.5 million in the site, reports The Guardian. It will launch this fall.
DriveTribe will be a place where all kinds of car enthusiasts can get together and create a community for themselves—these are the “tribes.” Exactly what that means, however, is still unclear. Richard Hammond compares it to gamers and Twitch. James May claims it will be a good place for Volvo enthusiasts, and Jeremy Clarkson calls it “YouPorn.”
Right now, it seems to be a cross between a network of user-driven blogs and forums, reports Variety:
Clarkson’s tribe is called “Alfa Male,” which will compete for attention with “Hammond’s Fob Jockeys” and “James May’s Carbolics.” The venture has received more than 2,000 proposals from potential tribal leaders. Among those that have been approved are classic-car blogger Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos’ “Crank Handlers,” rally-driver Harry Hunt’s “Sand Junkies,” drifting-enthusiast Alexi Smith’s “Noriyaro,” wilderness adventurers Megan McLellan and Emanuel Smedbol’s “Field and Forest,” designer Joey Ruiter’s “Future Machines,” racing-driver Oliver James Webb’s “Global Racer,” and racing-driver Parker Kligerman’s “Motorsports America.”
I’m not really sure what to make of these descriptions, and DriveTribe’s website doesn’t really offer any clues, either. I only know that there’s a bunch of hype and investor money behind it, for a good reason, supposedly.
I, like you, can only wait to find out.