by Steven Perez
posted on May 26, 2017
Welcome to this month’s edition of Ask a Gearhead, our Q&A series with enthusiasts and influencers in the automotive space. Here, we talk to journalists, personalities, and gearheads to bring you varying perspectives on driving and life. Each month features a different face but the same set of questions. Last month we spoke with Chad Phelps, and this month we are pleased to feature Doug Demuro, who recently posted a new video about the Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum!
Doug Demuro is a journalist who reviews cars on his very popular Youtube channel, the author of “Bumper to Bumper” and “Plays with Cars”, and a noted Gilmore Girls enthusiast. And if you watch his videos, you know very well about his column on Autotrader. Check him out on Instagram and Twitter.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAMILY CAR GROWING UP?
Growing up my family had two cars — my dad had a 1998 Toyota Camry and my mom had a ‘93 Isuzu Rodeo with a stickshift. My parents basically had those cars for my entire childhood; they aren’t even slightly into cars. I have many fond memories in those vehicles, which of course by modern standards are considered tremendously unsafe.
WORST THING YOU’VE EVER DRIVEN?
I drove a Trabant for a video, which is a car they sold in Eastern Europe behind the wall. Truly horrible. Indescribably bad. I’ve driven a Yugo, and that was like a Lexus compared to the Trabant.
IF YOU COULD OWN JUST ONE CAR FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
When you pose this question to a twelve-year-old, their answer would be, like, a Ferrari. You don’t want a damn Ferrari. It’s annoying. It’s a nightmare. I’d probably have a Toyota Landcruiser because it has room for a bunch of people, and it’ll run forever and I don’t have to worry about maintenance and that kind of thing.
FAVORITE ROAD TRIP?
I drove an Aston Martin from coast to coast last year, that was really impressive. I’ll never forget some of the experiences on that trip. I drove my Aston Martin from Philadelphia to Northern California and back in two weeks. It was about 6,400 miles. I drove on the Bonneville salt flats with it. Some great stories came out of that trip.
YOU’RE DIRECTING FAST & FURIOUS 9, WHAT’S THE HERO CAR?
Something new and cool is what everybody wants to see, so something like the Dodge Demon or the new NSX.
WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST ANIMAL TO RIDE IF IT WERE SCALED UP TO THE SIZE OF A HORSE?
That’s a great question. The Pink Fairy Armadillo. Look that up. They’re crazy-looking, but they’re also very gentle and weird. And it has a nice seating area on top of it. They’re heinous to look at but you could seat a lot of people on it. I think that’s the perfect animal, strange though it is.
IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO WEAR FLIP FLOPS WHILE DRIVING? WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED FOOTWEAR?
I’ve tried to drive with flip flops but they get caught in the pedals. I wear flip flops in the summer, and I just go barefoot when I drive then. My preferred footwear is the world’s crappiest tennis shoes that I got on sale at DSW Sportswear.
WHAT’S YOUR MARIO KART CHARACTER?
Yoshi. Is there a better answer?
WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE BIOPIC OF YOUR LIFE? AND WHAT IS IT CALLED?
Man. I don’t watch any movies and I don’t know any actors; it’s the most embarrassing thing. The guy who would be good to play me is Richard Belzer, who played Detective Munch in Law and Order. He looks like me, except he’s like 70. What would it be called? I don’t know, this is the hardest thing I’ve been asked in my entire life. Perhaps it would be called Indecisive Human Being.
IF YOU HAD AN ICE CREAM TRUCK, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU PLAY FROM THE SPEAKER?
Any musical question I have to defer to the musical gods Jimmy Eat World. I think we’d play ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World, one of the greatest songs ever written by the greatest band of all time.
WHAT IS THE VERY LAST CAR YOU RENTED?
I rented a Maserati Ghibli last week in Nashville. And as always I had the greatest damn experience and I just love Turo more than anything in the world. It’s my favorite thing ever. It’s just so easy. The thing I like about Turo is not just that I can rent cool cars, I show up at the airport and the person’s already there. I don’t have to stand in the damn rental car line. That alone is worth like 80% of the price for a day. I would pay twice as much to not stand in the line. And I’ve never not had it work… [Praise goes on — thanks for the love, Doug!]
Steven Perez
Steven is an avid car guy and content maker at Turo. Between Golden State Warriors games he can be found getting lost somewhere in California.
