Saabkyle04 interview

Kyle is the king of car videos.  He was kind enough to sit down and answer all of my questions.  This is going to be a full, in-depth tour of Kyle's mind.  And so, without further ado...

Why do you do these videos?

I have always grown up around cars.  

My Dad played pro baseball for the White Sox and other teams back in the day and when he got out he opened a dealership in Florida where I'm originally from.  I can remember how I used to go up there and hang out; I loved looking at all the cars and would even take a bottle of Windex and some paper towels and clean the headlights and taillights haha.  We had that for a few years before moving up to North Carolina in 1997.  

There, Dad opened up our current dealership Car Connections, Inc. in Reidsville, NC.  I went there all the time but not until I was in high school, freshman year, until I started working as a detailer / lot porter.  After working several years doing that, going to auctions, etc., I became even more infatuated with cars as I got to see and drive a huge variety being I was in that line of work.  

After graduation, I went to Campbell University to begin my undergraduate work for pharmacy school.  After 2 years I got accepted into Wingate University School of Pharmacy.  During my undergrad work I decided one winter break that I needed a hobby.  It was too cold to detail and there just wasn't much out of the ordinary happening.  I had 2 cameras and thought I would make a little collection of youtube videos and "develop" my channel so to speak.  That was in like 2008 I believe, hard to believe!  I found out about the youtube partner program through several channels I was subscribed to and decided it would be cool to be a part of such a "honor" so to speak.  Therefore I just made random videos of anything-- cars, school, my cat, etc. no rhyme or reason to it really, very amateur stuff.  

I started doing more "start ups" and things of that nature at the dealership and the dealer auctions as well as more "in depth tours" that were probably 4-5 min long or so just on various vehicles I thought were neat.  Fast forward several months to the summer of 2009 and I started to upload regularly, every other day or every day, sometimes several at a time, trying to make entertaining videos to the best of my abilities.  I was consistent with that for several more months until I got into pharmacy school.  It was then I had to do something to get more material since I had to move about 2 hrs away from home near Charlotte, NC.  I started doing regular videos at a few used car lots and again, long story short, I was invited to be a part of the youtube partner program in January 2010.  

After about a year and a half of hard work, ~400 videos and maybe 1000 subscribers or so? Can't remember exactly.  At that time I went into overdrive and took advantage of my new partner benefits, being able to upload longer videos, creating custom channel layouts, etc.  I developed the all too familiar "in depth tour" style to more of what you see today but it was still somewhat crude, well, sorta..compared to my standards today haha.  I begun making videos at various local new car dealers and then branched out into Charlotte itself.  Now, really long story short.  This all led to what you see today.   I had gotten a job at a nearby CVS pharmacy while in pharmacy school, which I ended up leaving to pursue my love of filming and treat it as a job.  

Google Adsense had allowed me to be able to separate from my parent's wing so to speak, purchase my first car myself as well as apartment and basic living expenses.  A lot of people ask me if I get paid and I simply reply yes...  thanks to Adsense I am able to focus on my career, do something I love to do as a huge stress relief, while not having to overly stress on how to pay for school.  I made Saabkyle04 into an official business in the early part of 2011 with the creation of Saabkyle04, LLC.  So at this point I'm also the founder of my very own company, of which I do reviews at about 30 dealerships around NC for the most part.   

It has been a fantastic ride so far and I have loved every minute of it.  I've been able to get exclusive looks at some of the rarest and unique cars in the US and the world.  I have established myself as "youtube's most automotive variety" as well as "the driver's seat of youtube" what that means is that I have developed a filming style that had never been done before and had the ability to bring viewers a look at cars that they would never have been able to otherwise.  It has been quite successful and has been followed up on numerous occasions.  All this led into the development of one of youtube's most watched automotive channels.

Tell us about the process.  Do you go to a dealership and shoot x number of cars in one go?  

I'll try to make this short haha.  Basically, you can't get anywhere in life without being professional.  You treat others the way YOU would want to be treated.  Therefore, no matter what happens you still thank them for their time, etc.  I email dealers beforehand about 80% of the time, about 50% of that time I will usually get a response.  I set up a meeting time before hand to talk with the manager(s) to explain what I do, the fact I don't charge them, and how I can make it beneficial for both parties.  At that point I make a video or 2 or set up another day to come back and film a few.  The ones that don't email me back I oftentimes go in person and work it out that way.  

I make my videos in one way, mine, haha.  What I mean is that they are always consistent and everyone knows what to expect.  I've never had a single dealer in the history of Saabkyle04 say they didn't like a video.  At that point I start going back every now and then when I get requests, emails from the dealer that they have new things in, or if I'm bored and just want to check things out.  

I like to go film a good handful of cars at once if time allows, pharmacy school doesn't always let that happen.  I keep about 30 videos in pending that can all be seen on the saabkyle04 facebook fan page so people have an idea on what's coming soon.  If I get bogged down with school I always have material.  In a nutshell that's basically how I treat it.  Not to mention, a strong, firm handshake!

Here is a link to the facebook page. 

Is there a feature in a car you reviewed that you wished all cars had?

Well, I am kind of an old school kind of guy so I often believe less is more in some cases.  If I had to guess I would say my favorite things in new cars are ipod integration, heated seats, nav not that necessary, cars with a full comprehensive set of gauges (I kind of wished my Roadmaster had an RPM gauge for that reason haha), dual exhaust, not to mention lumbar support.  I'm pretty simple!

Do you have any tips for photographing/videotaping cars?

I try to mould my video style on mistakes I see others do.  Whether it be shaky camera, not demonstrating a feature correctly, not showing styling details, giving proper overviews of the interior build quality, and differences in standard features between cars.  My style attempts to correct all flaws in car videos so to speak.  At least to what are close to my tastes.  I prefer a detailed look at a car I'm interested in instead of a flashy promo trailer thing.

What is the most memorable car you have featured?  Why?

Probably the one that was featured in the article Car and Driver had on me in the October 2011 issue.  The 1995 Lotec C1000, only 1 in the world.  Took about 8 months to get the opportunity to film it, took research, traveling, and being persistent.  Not only that, it was the C1000, for ~1000 horsepower, and I had it as my 1000th video, crazy coincidence don't you think? ;)

Who is your favorite television car presenter?

I honestly don't think I have one.  I watch some every now and then but don't think I would call any of them as my favorite.  I'm going to have to stray from the question a bit and say probably one of my favorite shows are the Mecum Auto Auctions, I watch them every chance I get.

Is there an elusive car that you want to review but can’t locate?

I have 2, the mighty Bugatti Veyron, and the DMC Delorean!

What cars have you personally owned?

My first car (hence where I got the username from) was a 1997 Saab 900 SE 2.0T that I got in 2004.

Due to issues with that car I got a 2000 Chrysler 300M (fantastic car).

Sold the 300M for a graduation present of a 2002 Lexus ES300 (everything I ever wanted in a car, very safe also).  The ES got totaled in an accident where someone ran a stoplight in front of me on my way home from school senior year of high school.

I then got a 2007 Lexus ES350 Ultra Luxury, stuck with Lexus being such a safe car after that accident.

3 years later sold the ES and I bought myself a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Grand Touring (also a very fun car, would recommend to anyone!).

In the meantime I bought myself a 1965 Ford Fairlane 500 2 door post sedan, 289 V8, 3 on the tree, I am almost through restoring (my fun classic, always dreamed of owning).

And then sold the Genesis and bought my current 1995 Buick Roadmaster Limited with 46k miles.  I decided having a new sports car was not my style nor did I think I needed it.  I decided to save money and invest in my future.  Plus I have ALWAYS loved the 90s B and D body GM vehicles, which I always wanted as well.

I'm very happy with where it's at now haha. 

You’re studying pharmacy now.  What role will cars play in your life?  What do you see yourself doing in ten years?

Honestly, I hope this somehow turns into a career.  I like pharmacy and that has been my whole plan in life but if I can make a great living off of something I love to do then I will sway towards it.  At the minimum I will continue to do youtube as well as pharmacy as a dual career.  Cars have ALWAYS been a huge part of my life and will always be, I especially have a soft spot for older ones and classics (hence my '65 Fairlane).  In 10 years I see myself having a successful automotive reviewing company, a established pharmacist in the community and living the American dream with my current girlfriend Christal.  :)

Why do you love cars?

Again, pretty much with the whole growing up around dealerships thing, I won't go into detail again but there has always been something about things that I just like.  It is very hard for me to say I hate a car.  There are ones I don't like and I keep my opinions to myself in videos but I believe everything is unique in some way.  I often favor cars others don't like because I like to be different, old things have character, class, and an image depending on what it is.  Everyone has personal tastes and preferences.  I guess I would have to say I just love the feeling of open road freedom, the feeling of a V8 rumbling beneath and the solid foot and feel of a vehicle, especially one with fantastic driving dynamics.  The car also has to have proper history, soul, and passion.  Just to name a few of my tastes.

Kyle's youtube channel is here.