This week, as Part of our Classic Cars Event (this Friday and Saturday), we caught up with the owner and founder of the immensely successful twitter account @FansofClassicCa to talk about all things twitter and Classic Car!
Zach, your hugely popular twitter account @fansofclassicca has grown immensely over the past three years! Where did the idea to make such a fantastic twitter community stem from?
Well, I’ve always been interested in cars, I regularly go to car shows as much as I can and I own a 1965 Corvair. Corvairs are great cars, and mine will be…one day. I’m currently in the process of restoring it. It has been a great labour of love, as it was my Mom’s first car, and it is still nowhere near being finished!
That sounds like an incredible project, you’ll have to keep us all updated with the results! So did this love of Cars start out of the blue or does it stem from earlier than that?
My grandfather used to have a small collection of cars that I loved to be around has a kid. He had a 1932 Ford, a 1915 Maxwell, a big flatbed Ford truck from the 1930’s, a 1980’s Mercedes Convertible, and a 1965 Mustang Convertible. Every time I got to visit him I wanted to go down and look at his cars, I guess you could say he was the one who really got me started on the whole car craze!
And you seem to have started a car craze of your own…why did you decide to start up @fansofclassicca?
I started this Twitter feed as there weren’t any classic car accounts, which, as a classic car enthusiast, really spoke to me.
In what way?
It was difficult to find a friendly and inclusive place to share my love of cars!
So you made one yourself?
Yep! I decided on a more personal approach than other car fan pages as I found this was something that still isn’t very common on Twitter. I wanted to make my followers feel as if they were part of a family, to be able to connect over their love of classic automobiles in a friendly environment. I try to stick to this as much as I can.
What a lovely idea! Did you expect Fans of Classic Cars to take off as much as it has?
Absolutely none! Over the last three years, Fans Of Classic Cars has grown from 0 followers to just over 6,000, and we grow more and more everyday! I’m still not sure why we have grown so quickly!
I think I have a few ideas! A huge Congratulations on reaching 6,000 followers – what an amazing achievement! What tips do you have for anyone else thinking of starting a twitter account like yours?
When I first started out, I had no idea what I was doing and I would just tweet random facts about cars. Now, I tweet pictures, videos, and info and this seems to be what most of our followers enjoy. I want our followers to be happy with Fans Of Classic Cars, and I will always try my best to make everyone in the FOCC family happy – that’s what makes a successful twitter community! I am so thankful for everyone who follows us and I hope I can continue to spread the love of classic cars.
We’ve talked a great deal about your love of classic cars but are there any absolute favourites in there?
Trying to decide which classic car is my favorite is a tough. I love, respect, and have an appreciation for so many cars. For instance, I own a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair and I daily drive a 2014 Mustang, but are those cars really my favorites? I think for my all-time favorite classic car I would have to go with my dream car, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird. The Superbird is my favourite classic car for so many reasons. The general shape of the car is unusual. It has a cone shaped nose and a massive rear wing, all from the factory. The horn sounds like the “beep-beep” from the Road Runner on old Looney Toons cartoons. It was the first car to break 200 mph in NASCAR! It’s a real shame they were only manufactured for one year.
That’s an incredible shame. It’s clear you have an appreciation for a range of classic cars. Do any British cars make the cut?
Definitely! It would have to be an Austin-Healy Sprite Mark I. I don’t admire this car because of its performance; it only came from the factory with 43 hp, had a top speed of 83, and it took 20.5 seconds to hit 60 mph. I love the Sprite for its looks. It has that sporty convertible look with those bugeye or frogeye headlights. It is one of the cutest cars ever made. This is a car that is a wonderful cruiser. Not everyone knows about this beauty, but anyone that’s seen it has fallen in love with it. And so will you…I know my favourite cars differ greatly, but if you’re looking for a British roadster, there’s no need to look much further than the Mark I.
It’s great to talk to someone whose love of classic cars stretches so far! Thank you so much for talking to us Zach. We hope that the success of @fansofclasssicca continues and we look forward to hearing from you in the future!