It took me a few years to discover ‘Roadkill’ on YouTube and, as a result, I was initially unaware of the most entertaining road buddies since Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
‘Roadkill’ was a show about what happens when two car guys hellbent on misadventure take ancient and badly neglected internal combustion vehicles back onto public roads, tracks, and the occasional goat trail.
Jim Sutherland
Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger were the two stars of ‘Roadkill’, along with a large herd of sketchy vehicles in the many episodes. Finnegan and Freiburger became car guy legends during their ‘Roadkill’ run after both earned their stripes as writers for ‘Hot Rod’ magazine.
David Freiburger was also an editor at ‘Hot Rod’, as well as other stablemate car magazines, and moved up the ladder in the magazine chain after he left his job within the automotive services world and honed his skills as a professional writer. Freiburger was always a car guy and flexed his mechanical muscles when he was an adolescent car guy with like-minded gearhead buddies.
Eventually ‘Hot Rod Magazine’ and its stablemates became a part of a series of takeovers where assets are bought and sold with little regard to their previous history in the overall decisions of the newer ownership. As a result, the new owner’s decision to change direction may not mesh well with the previous owner’s direction, particularly when the new owner represents a company with an army of shareholders whose sole interest is the bottom line and generous dividends.
Personally, I am a huge fan of free enterprise, so I understand that things rarely stay the same after a major takeover, consequently the decision to jettison ‘Roadkill’ and every other major car guy program on Motor Trend TV did not surprise me because they were expensive and not generating the kind of dough needed to pacify shareholders.
For the record, ‘Motor Trend TV’ also served as the umbrella medium under which Freiburger operated during the latter stages of his association with TV shows on its channel.
Eventually, the parent company decided to cut bait and dump their TV channel, including David Freiburger’s shows. The move changed his world, but Freiburger is clearly a resilient and resourceful guy who viewed the situation as an opportunity to flex his creative muscles and build his own brand in the You Tube channel world.
His entire process became a learning experience because Freiburger had to find out what worked and what didn’t work as he streamlined his videos to suit his audience. The ensuing episodes involved a variety of experiences, including road trips and repairs, along with mercifully fewer burnouts that, for the most part, wreaked havoc on aging vehicles and helped hasten their destruction during his ‘Roadkill’ days.
Viewers also get to witness Freiburger’s sizeable mechanical and communication skills on a weekly basis via his new channel. Now a Freiberger road trip is also a lesson in regional history that gives readers a deeper insight into his travel destinations.
David Freiburger has a very interesting You Tube show that he has custom-fit to his own unique style and it really works for me as a viewer because he follows a different direction in each program.
That’s a winning formula in my opinion.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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