Top Three Automotive Podcasts for Enthusiasts

There sure are many motoring-themed to podcasts to listen to, but for picky enthusiasts we rate these three as the most consistently excellent.

Words: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

Not so long ago (around two decades), automotive enthusiasts could only read about cars in books and magazines or watch motoring shows on TV. How things have changed since then!

Today there is a plethora of automotive content to consume on a variety of platforms - some offering short sub 1-minute clips on social media platforms, while others offer more than a full hour of quality content.

Locally, Cars.co.za has its own podcast which is published on YouTube as well as Spotify and other podcast platforms. However, when you start browsing a platform like Spotify you quickly realise the wide variety of international, quality content that is available at your fingertips.

But, all that choice can be quite daunting at the same time. Most of us don’t have several hours free to listen to content we don’t enjoy or have little interest in. Here are some of the true gems we can wholeheartedly suggest to fellow automotive enthusiasts.

Collecting Cars

Chris Harris has been synonymous with the automotive media world for more than two decades. His career has spanned from contributing to magazines, YouTube and more recently for his work at Top Gear UK. Chris is now affiliated with the UK-based auction platform Collecting Cars, and they have started to dip their toes into generating content for enthusiasts, of which The Collecting Cars Podcast is one of the most prominent.

Some highlights I’ve personally enjoyed is a lengthy chat back in 2019 with David Clark who was the former director of the McLaren F1 road- and race-car projects back in the Nineties. If you are interested in the McLaren F1 supercar, and the people who bought this car, you will thoroughly enjoy his stories.

There are also talks with Gordon Murray, rally heroes, F1 drivers and even classic car expert and trader Simon Kidston. The latter is especially significant as Simon talks us through his life in cars, but also one of the most significant deals in the history of the car world when he helped a client acquire the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé last year for a record amount.

Previously there was only a podcast every now and then, but more recently the amount of content has become more regular under the name “Collecting Addicts” which is a panel discussion. 

Smoking Tire

Heading over the pond, enthusiasts will be well aware of Matt Farah. He is known for his reviews of new cars, reports on his own collection of cars and also general car enthusiast topics. His podcasts range from in-depth discussions with respected restorer Iain Tyrrell on all things classic cars to Alpina CEO Andreas Bovensiepen on “the past, present and future of fast BMWs”. If you have even more time available there is also a marathon session with Doug DeMuro – one of the most successful motoring YouTubers. 

Top Gear UK

Top Gear is probably the best-known global automotive media brand. Part of the BBC, the combination of the magazine and TV programmes have built the brand to what it is today, and the magazine will often feature some, or a combination of, the most exciting cars on the planet.

Chris Harris has been a part of this team for a number of years now, and although his thoughts on new cars, gearboxes and technology can be listened to here, there are several other highlights to appreciate. In February the team was able to get Christian von Koenigsegg, Gordon Murray, John Hennessey and Mate Rimac around the same table! 

The team also reminisces on features they’ve covered for the magazine in the past, like the time they went to Japan to meet tuning legend Smokey Nagata two decades after the latter was caught trying to do 322 km/h on a British highway. 

One’s time is really precious, but there are truly some wonderful, funny, informative and interesting motoring content pieces to listen to. On Spotify each podcast also has a short description which allows you to decide whether you think you will find it interesting or not.