YouTubers Destroy Classic Cars For Views
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 3 min read
Few things in life bring greater joy than seeing a parade of perfectly restored
classic cars
. Classic cars are part history, part nostalgia, and fully appreciated by us car nerds. Why then, would YouTubers Diesel Bros go and destroy 70 classic cars? Most carmakers and car YouTubers have a mutually beneficial relationship. It seems odd that a creator as big as the Diesel Bros would do such a thing.
As it turns out, the truth is hidden beneath the headlines.
Meet the Diesel Bros from YouTube
The Diesel Brothers are David "Heavy D" Sparks and David "Diesel Dave" Kiley. Despite the duo's name, they are actually not brothers, but rather close friends. The two became popular in the early days of YouTube. Some of their videos were featured on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
After many appearances on “The Tonight Show,” the two were contacted by Discovery for a show of their own. In the winter of 2016, “Diesel Brothers” premiered on Discovery. The show was successful, and is still on today (although they did have to take a
COVID
hiatus like most other shows).Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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Why did the Diesel Bros destroy 70 classic cars?
MORE: Battle of the 2023 Nissan Z Trims: Sport vs Performance
While the two had a successful reality show, they never really left their YouTube roots. Heavy D has a successful channel with over 1.4 million subscribers. Like the show on Discovery, sometimes his YouTube channel gets him into trouble.
Such is the case from a controversial video released early this year, as documented by
MotorBiscuit
. In the video, Heavy D destroys about 70 Nissan/Datsun Z models from the ‘70s. On the surface, this may make your blood boil. The Nissan Z has a special place in car history, being one of the first Asian sports cars to do well in the American market. But put down that pitchfork, dear reader, as context is critical.
What really happened at that junkyard
MORE: If a Car Falls in this Forest, Will Anyone Hear It?
The cars that Heavy D “destroyed” were in a liquidating junkyard. The junkyard had been transferred to a new owner, and they planned on using the land for something else. They took everything of value they could from the Nissan Zs, and then let Heavy D play with what was left.
In all reality, Heavy D was more so destroying unusable carcasses as opposed to destroying classic cars. Sure, some disparaging jokes about Nissan Zs were made. But who hasn't made a few wisecracks when getting creative with demolition?
The original video has been deleted, and Heavy D has since released a video that provides some context as to what he was doing. As the original video is gone, it's difficult to ascertain if the follow-up video was really necessary.
Whatever the case, it seems Diesel Bro fans are undeterred by this recent debacle. The follow-up video holds 23,000 likes verses about 996 dislikes, and most comments proclaim that no apology or contextualization was necessary.
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