Doug DeMuro Embraces the V12 Engine, and Is Hopeful of a Future With Them
We sat down with Youtube’s biggest car guy and his “quirky” Mercedes-Benz G500 Cabriolet.
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“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life;” there’s evidence of this throughout a lot of industries, within a lot of circles. For us, we think Doug DeMuro is the perfect embodiment of this proverb.
Chances are if you’re into cars and have ever typed in any car make and model into Youtube, you’ll come across a car review by the famous Doug DeMuro. But in case you haven’t, here are some stats: 4.6 million subscribers, over 1,000 videos, with each measuring in the millions of views. Millions, each. The key to his success is a strict formula of rich story-telling, an educational approach to enthusiast cars and details, details, details – or, as he puts it, ‘quirks and features.’
Doug has no signs of slowing down his content and his Internet stardom has thus spawned the auction house Cars & Bids, to which Doug is the founder and primary spokesperson for its content and products. If you were to scoff the site as “just another place to buy used cars” you’d be seriously mistaken – international investment firm The Chernin Group recently acquired a majority stake in Cars & Bids to the sum of $37 million USD. C&B also just celebrated its third anniversary and continues to report annual sales figures in the $200+ millions, with numerous auctions starting and ending on a daily basis.
So what does the biggest, most followed automotive influencer on Youtube drive: a brutish American supercar like the Ford GT? Yep. A svelte, ultra-sleek German hypercar like the Porsche Carrera GT? Yeah he’s got one of those too. But while we had him for a solid few hours, we were most interested in perhaps the “quirkiest” ride in his garage: this gorgeous-looking, double-take-inducing Mercedes-Benz G500 Cabriolet.
The G500 Cabriolet isn’t your run-of-the-mill G-Wagen; it’s perhaps the most outlandish version Benz ever made. The convertible power top is largely noticeable from the side windows back, wearing a cloth cover more so like a tarp then a roof. Retract it however and the Cabriolet is shaped like nothing you’ve ever seen before, thus also showing off captivating details like a protruding third brake light, a floating rear spare wheel, structural bars and more. What’s even more compelling is how rare the G500 Cabriolet really is – it was produced for 18 years but only a total of 2,600 were ever really made, meaning his 1999 example is limited to an average of only 144 worldwide.
Check out our DRIVERS interview with Doug DeMuro below and be sure to read up on our last feature on GOD SELECTION XXX founder Yasunari Miyazaki and his Mercedes-Benz AMG GT Black Series, which is also extremely rare.
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Tell us about your car.
This is a 1999 Mercedes-Benz G500 Cabriolet, which is essentially a G-Wagen with a power-operated convertible soft top — or, as I tell my friends, a G-Wagen wearing a toupee. Mercedes-Benz has sold the G-Wagen since 1979, but the power top convertible models were only offered from 1996 to 2014, and even then production was limited to roughly 2,600 examples — and even fewer with a V8 like mine.
When did you acquire it?
I bought it in October 2019.
What made you choose this car specifically?
In 2017 I bought a 1997 Land Rover Defender 90 Soft Top with an open roof, and I have truly loved that car — but it lacks any sort of creature comforts, including the ability to keep up with freeway traffic. I wanted to replicate the Defender experience without getting something relatively common like a Jeep, so I decided a G-Wagen Cabriolet would be perfect. It was also clear to me that I’d be starting a family soon, and my wife has (rightfully) deemed the Defender unsafe for children; the G-Wagen Cabriolet offers a similar experience with a lot more modern car safety features and amenities.
“Certainly more kids are into Tesla than I would’ve expected, but who cares? It’s still car enthusiasm, and I’m tremendously supportive of it.”
What is the main purpose of this car for you?
This car is my daily driver around town. I have a more modern car for longer freeway trips and sports cars for sports car fun driving, but I drive the G Cabriolet every time I’m going to the post office, the doggie daycare, the office, etc. It’s the perfect car; I’ve driven it all the way north to Carmel and Monterey, and it’s fun both off-road and on the twisty Pacific Coast Highway with the roof down.
Any details? Modifications? Changes?
None, except for more modern wheels from a newer G500 and a few usability upgrades like LED headlights.
Any interesting stories you’d like to share about this car?
The G500 Cabriolet was never sold in North America, so any one that’s here has been privately imported. Mine has gone through the extra step of clearing the California emissions process, CARB, which is tremendously expensive and time consuming. There are only about 12 of these that have been “CARB-certified” in addition to being federalized for U.S. sale, including mine — so it’s a special truck. Only about 90 different power-top G-Wagen models have been imported, so there aren’t many of us around.
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
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Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
What are cars to you: aspirational achievements, functional tools, stress-relievers, etc?
All of the above! Depending on the car and the purpose.
What have you owned before?
I have owned 35 different cars; the G Cabriolet was my 28th. Some of my previous/current car highlights have been a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, a 1994 Audi RS2 Avant, a 2005 Ford GT, a North American Spec 1997 Land Rover Defender 90 Soft Top, a 1997 Dodge Viper GTS, a 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R, and a 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena 6-speed.
What’s in your three-car dream garage?
Probably a Porsche Carrera GT, a Ford GT, and my G500 Cabriolet. I’m lucky to own all three — there’s nowhere to go from here!
What is the future of the automotive industry, and car culture in general?
Despite some pessimism, I think the future is bright. Cars will continue to offer more driver assist systems and potentially even self-driving someday, but I think enthusiast cars and the enjoyment of driving will always exist — and there will always be cars for enthusiasts, as it’s a big business and a large amount of people. Obviously, things are going to trend more towards EVs and self driving, but powerful cars are still coming out — even electric ones — and there are a lot of great vehicles being made today. Car enthusiasm will simply change, much as it has changed considerably over the last 100 years.
“I think when supercars are plug-in hybrid and full electric, they’ll be faster than today’s crop — but people will look back nostalgically on today’s V10s and V12s, and prices will increase sharply.”
If you were to pinpoint the exact moment you fell in love with cars, when would that have been?
I’ve been a car enthusiast basically since birth; I can’t remember a moment where I wasn’t into cars, and my parents report I loved Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars from the moment I could grip them in my hands.
How would you summarize this generation’s adoption of car culture? How is it different from the car culture you experienced growing up?
I’m not the doom-and-gloomer about car culture that so many people are, just based on the sheer massive number of 18 to 25-year-olds who come up to me on the street and tell me they’re into cars. Certainly more kids are into Tesla than I would’ve expected, but who cares? It’s still car enthusiasm, and I’m tremendously supportive of it — and I’m happy that so many young people remain car enthusiasts. Also, compared to when I was growing up, Instagram has gotten so many interesting cars into the eyes of so many people — and it’s amazing to be able to have a social network and community around cars in a way that never existed before. It has benefitted the hobby greatly.
Viet Nguyen/Hypedrive
Being the founder of Cars & Bids, any advice on what to look out for next in terms of Modern Classics or underrated cars that are currently under the radar?
This question has gotten harder to answer in the last two years, because so many cars had such a massive climb in value that it’s truly difficult to imagine anything could possibly be “under the radar” at the moment.
I will say, I sincerely believe that big, gasoline-engine cars are going to continue to climb — even some ones you might not expect from today, like the Lamborghini Huracan and Aventador, or the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, or the Ferrari 812. Historically, cars like that don’t go up in value, but I think we’re witnessing the end of the big-engine supercar, much like we witnessed the end of the analog supercar in the mid-2000s — and look what happened to those cars; they’re all double their original sticker prices now.
I think when supercars are plug-in hybrid and full electric, they’ll be faster than today’s crop — but people will look back nostalgically on today’s V10s and V12s, and prices will increase sharply. It just may take some time.
