RIDE-CT – Classic Cars Celebrating Classic Cars in Connecticut
HARWINTON, CT – The year just ended was a record one for RIDE-CT’s growing YouTube channel with 480,631 views, an increase of more than 130,000 views over 2023 and largely due to one video that was filmed in a cemetery.
The channel launched on Dec. 25, 2022 and has now recorded more than 829,820 total views. It is expected to top the one-million mark sometime in the coming months.
The number of subscribers climbed to 2,994 as 2024 became history, a solid achievement as less than 10 percent of YouTube channels ever get to the 1,000 mark. RIDE-CT’s channel should hit 3,000 subs within days.
So what were the Top 5 videos out of the 80 videos published in 2024? Here the list:
1. 1971 Plymouth Barracuda Owner Rests With His Ride
With 129,479 views after being posted on Oct. 26, the updated story on Andy Weimann of Harwinton, CT and his 1971 Plymouth Barracuda – and how he had been laid to rest beneath a headstone that has an etching his beloved muscle car on its face – was the most viewed video of 2024.
Some viewers took the meaning of the headline literally and complained, but most appreciated Andy’s story, which combined the news of his passing with an archive interview he did several years ago after driving the ‘Cuda to Hillside Cemetery in Torrington, CT.
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2. 1996 Ford F-350 Teaches Life Lessons
With 46,833 views, the story on Jermaine B. Atkinson of Waterbury, CT and his 1996 Ford F-350 pickup that was posted on March 11 was a heart-warmer. The work truck was the first new vehicle that his father ever purchased and he learned to drive on it as a teenager.
The truck eventually got parked and Atkinson subsequently bought it from his father and restored it.
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3. 1937 Studebaker President Has Notable Features
With 27,788 views, the archival story on the unrestored 1937 Studebaker President model owned by Jon Gray of Colebrook, CT finished in third place having been posted on Aug.30.
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4. Ways to Improve The Car Show Experience
With 10,703 views, editor Bud Wilkinson’s commentary on on Oct. 21 on what’s wrong with car shows got a strong reaction as well as more than 100 comments from viewers.
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5. 1979 Chevrolet Monza Was Bought New…
With 10,482 views, this archival piece about Robert Wright of Falls Village, CT and the 1979 Chevrolet Monza Spyder that he bought new, sold, later retrieved and still drives rounded out the Top 5 stories of 2024.
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While the abbreviation in the RIDE-CT name refers to “Connecticut,” the YouTube channel has a worldwide following.
More than three-quarters of the views in 2024 came from the United States, with 8 percent coming Canada, 2 percent from Australia, 1.9 percent from the United Kingdom and 0.4 percent from Germany. Other views came from as far away from CT as Pakistan, Kuwait, Chile and Thailand.
To every viewer – and especially subscribers – RIDE-CT says “Thank you!” and Happy New Year!
