Five Years of Twin-Cam

Twin-Cam is back - and in celebrating its fifth anniversary, I felt it time to answer some questions and have a good chat.
Patreon: www.patreon.com/twincam/
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[@towgod7985]

Ed, I will go out on a limb and speak for the viewing audience and say the ......nerdy stuff.....is one of the reasons we like your videos. Keep up the good work. Cheers.

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend :)

[@philtucker1224]

Ed you are a natural. Your special time is still to come. Keep doing what you’re doing buddy!

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Phil, I've got a pile of videos all waiting to go live. I just need to not let that backlog run dry!

[@cliffthelightning]

Love this channel, im in the Netherlands and BL never got going here properly, so the Metros and Maestros are a bit of forbidden fruit for me. You are a fantastic presenter, knowledgeable and passionate.

[@TwinCam]

Thank you Cliff, that's tremendously kind of you to say :)

[@Onewheelordeal]

In 5 years how has everybody else not realized this channel has the craziest quality to sub count ratio. Truly a hidden gem

[@TwinCam]

That's very kind of you to say :)

[@cowantom]

Great channel Ed. As others have said, you are authentic and a natural. good on you

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend, you're too kind :)

[@m37kuk]

I enjoy your channel, thoroughly researched and interesting videos on cars I owned drove and maintained back in the 70s 80 and 90s, keep on keeping on.

[@TwinCam]

Thanks man 😎

[@sen5908]

I first met you at the Ormskirk motor fest, when you brought melody to the show, love your channel, all the best

[@TwinCam]

Oh a number of years ago that now! Thank you my friend :)

[@jeremyshaw5963]

Well done and thank you for your always interesting and entertaining videos! Long may them continue. 👍

[@TwinCam]

Thank you Jeremy, that's very kind of you to say :)

[@JonCoupland]

Happy Channel Birthday!

[@TwinCam]

Cheers Jon! Just realised I'm not actually subscribed to you on this channel, only on my personal one!

[@jetsons101]

""FIVE YEARS"" Boy time flies with great U-tube channel. Looking forward to the next five.

[@neilmustow368]

Happy 5th Anniversary Ed keep up your great vids mate 😎

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Neil :)

[@phillipevans9414]

Well done Ed, and congratulations on 5 years and your success thus far. As a fellow car nerd, whom loves the detail and narrative you go into in your video's, I can honestly say I'm glad you weren't born 30 years ago - I was (well 30 ish odd actually), and I would have loved to have been doing what you are doing now, when I was your age...alas the internet/KZbin didn't exist in the mid '80's, and I had to satisfy myself with devouring monthly car magazines, and boring my friends, for my fix. p.s Best ever "Rover" for me,...a late '80's, Australian market only, 416i Vitesse (basically a Rover badged and posher 5 door version of the contemporary Honda Integra...and, the only Rover ever to have pop-up-headlights). Congrat's again. Cheers!

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Phillip :)

[@southerndiy1]

Fantastic stuff. Here’s to many more years ahead 👍

[@stevenbrown8857]

Thanks, Ed. I really enjoyed the Q&A and look forward to the new content

[@jamesengland7461]

I agree- you're an auto historian. As for journalism, print and television have abandoned journalism long ago, and independent journalists are the worthy ones.

[@aslandama]

You're worth every subscription Ed!

[@OldCarsNewVan]

Many congratulations on 5 years! If I can achieve 10% of the success of your channel I'll be very pleased. Well done again

[@davidhinkson8856]

Congrats on your fifth anniversary! I've seen you grow tremendously over the last five years in terms of your presentations etc and your knowledge of the cars you cover.

[@TwinCam]

Thanks David :)

[@benspears5073]

Congrats Ed ❤

[@TwinCam]

Wouldn't have been possible without you :)

[@GentilsGarage]

Happy anniversary. I found your fabulous channel just before Covid when I was looking at Austin Rover videos

[@matthewadams4207]

Pretty sure I've been watching since the beginning. Happy anniversary, Ed. Keep up the great work.

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Matthew :)

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Congratulations on your fifth anniversary!

[@Jamcam99]

Congratulations on achieving 5 years. Always enjoy your videos.

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Michael :)

[@peternewnham6549]

Great video Ed. It is fascinating to hear your view of things. I was born in 1962 and bought a metro brand new in 1982 (City in Cinnabar Red with black and white houndstooth upholstery, £3,250). Metros were cool back then. How I wish I had that car today. It was so much fun!

[@thatcheapguy525]

Ed, what a marathon! really glad you got your head around the Alfasud. back in the mid to late 80s when I was around your age, I had a Cortina MK3 2000 GT Auto, then an Alfasud 1.3, a FIAT Strada 1.3, an Alfasud 1.2, then Rover SD1 2300S before company cars too over. the Cortina MK3 was a leap forward in the mass market but the Alfasuds were a quantum leap in comparison. the 'Suds had it all including comfort, only the Rover was more refined.

[@forenamesurname1183]

Congratulations

[@keithvers569]

I owned an E39 for 7 years, regret selling it. Marvellous car

[@petedenton9434]

That was a long one! But a great Saturday morning watch. Thanks and congratulations.

[@TwinCam]

Ridiculous, I know!

[@stuarthannay3370]

I think you are doing yourself down. Your stuff is well researched and well delivered. That in my book is journalism.

[@davidw6469]

Excellent work! Congratulations on 5 years of Twin-Cam. I agree with your comments on EV’s, ICE and Kei cars.

[@tricialyn4645]

Your channel is sooper-dooper. I learn so much, and I'm excited about new content!! 😊😊

[@TwinCam]

Thank you :)

[@klaushergersheimer8315]

Really appreciated you during Covid - thanks ☺️

[@trevorwakefiel870]

Congrats on 5Yrs anniversary...I think I've been following you since 2019.. Love old BL Rover cars shame that they never managed to have kept going in Australia into the 80s with the metro & maestro models would of been popular here.

[@ajsimmo6788]

Wow 5 years. I found the channel over 4 years ago when you featured the V66. I'm a DAF66 owner and your vid. popped up on my feed for obvious reasons. I've seen most of your work and liked the style and well researched content. Keep up the good work !

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend :)

[@briancoleman6990]

Congratulations Great stuff and inspiring. Mr Dolomite

[@Tuberuser187]

Happy channel birthday!

[@davidlevy2570]

Thank you for your efforts. You have become one of my favorite channels.

[@TwinCam]

Thanks David :)

[@lrs3]

Well done for reaching 5 years - I can remember you doing your 1 year anniversary video (before I had this account haha). Always love the content!

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend :)

[@kellybrickey4300]

Congrats on five years, Ed! I've been enjoying your channel almost from the beginning. Every time you talk about Issigonis, you revel in his genius, but you recognize his madness. I've always loved both sides of him., though I'm not sure designing a door pocket to fit a gin bottle is the best idea... Anyway, congrats again, and thanks for what you do. I'm in the U.S., so I really appreciate the commentary about the social and political climate. Even though I'm old enough to remember most of this stuff, I was not "tuned in" back then. Looking forward to many more adventures.

[@TwinCam]

The madness is a large part of why I find him so interesting. A figure like Dante Giacosa in the mainstream or Marcello Gandini in more premium cars, for engineering and design respectively, I find less interesting because they went about their jobs in a 'normal' manner. Issigonis never missed an opportunity to do something stupid!

[@roberttaylor6295]

Congrat Ed! I am not on any any social media where I assume these questions came from, but notwithstanding I do see you a 'friend' in that for five years I have enjoyed your fantastic reviews ( or whatever you like them to be called!) just like a friend dropping in. I am an ancient and a northern 'friend' as such have feel that I can be occasional, constructively critical which for me endorses a friendly honesty. Also as an ancient I fear existing on only state pension that I have been unable to be a Patreon support so far which means I do miss out on some of what you do, being thus limited to UTube. And I further hope that one of the traits of being northern is total loyalty, so amidst your often forced absences for personal reasons on UTube, while being saddened, I am overjoyed when the mysteries of A1 pop up one of your videos onto my equally ancient laptop. Enjoyment of your work is because of your intelligent and thorough research, professional script writing, editing and either to camera or voice over presentation. Best of all, I love your smiling enthusiasm of driving. So thank you and may if wish all future success and financial reward that I hope to live long enough to watch! Rob. 😌

[@leighcolless7046]

well done, I've been following for about that long

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Leigh! Hope you enjoy the ramblings I have lined up for the coming weeks and months :)

[@leighcolless7046]

@@TwinCam enjoyable ramblings. loved your Smart Roadster review, I had one for awhile. keep up the great work.

[@TwinCam]

@@leighcolless7046 Ah, I very much enjoyed making that one. A little bundle of joy that car. Did you catch my video early in 2024 about how the Smart Roadster could very well have ended up as an MG?

[@monaabbyhamedani917]

5 and a half minutes in: take the clutch delay valve out of your E46 and throw it in the bin, difference is night and day 😊 I do really enjoy your content and always find something to watch. E30? Yes. 2CV? Yes. Maxi? Why not

[@TwinCam]

I've heard a number of people say similar. Certainly Sreten from M539 Restorations has done similar on his E46, and really quite modified the clutch on his E92 M3.

[@dandandan389]

Good to see you back on the beige forum, as i said there keep up the nerdy stuff!

[@TwinCam]

I fall in and out of these things. Just fancied a dive back in of late, considering social media generally is in such a poor state. I'll keep updating stuff there when I get to doing more tinkering :)

[@BRED510]

Happy channel birthday. Really enjoy the channel.

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend 🙂

[@jo_clarke1960]

Gonna watch this over a couple of days. Hopefully the upcoming vids will be on your Metro's too, showing you working on them.

[@TwinCam]

The video coming on Saturday 26th October is all about Melvin.

[@davidmbell]

Youd probably appreciate my old setup, Arcam CD player. Audiolab 8000 pre and power amp. TDL transmission line speakers. RTL turntable etc. I also had two Rover Metros. Both 1.1 Quest editions.

[@MGBetts1]

I knew your channel was doing well, but I had no idea it was so popular! Your content is unique though, you do things your own way, so it's all good. 👍🏻

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend :)

[@willswheels283]

Thanks for this blog/vlog, and congrats on 5 years being a you tuber. So many questions asked and an honest answer given. On EV’s, I don’t dislike them either as I have an electric moped, but I think to own one you need to reorganise your life somewhat, you need a home charger, and a dedicated place to park it while charging, if you live in a flat or terraced house without a parking spot that’s a non starter as charging at a Tesco or council charging station isn’t cheaper than a Petrol or Diesel car and you can’t charge an EV car in the time it takes you to fill an ICE car up with fuel. A Classic Mini(Pre 2000) is a car I’ve always dreamt of owning for over 20 years, when they were affordable I was too young to drive and by the time I was old enough they were already classic cars and totally out of my budget and still are. I’d happily consider an Austin or Rover Metro as my next daily driver though. Keep up the good work, I always enjoy your vids.👍

[@TwinCam]

As with every form of car, they're not suitable for everyone. As for the technology, I have no doubt they will eventually get to that point where they're suitable for every sort of journey. People parking on street, however, as you say, is still a distinct issue. It seems ridiculous to me that people are lobbying against the fitment of chargers into lamp posts. I see no reason why that couldn't be a semi-decent solution, though of course there aren't enough lampposts to meet demand, and on a residential street with terraced houses and no driveways, charging could easily become a hazard. However, I have no doubt that solutions will come to the surface soon.

[@dougnolan5567]

Well done Ed.. 👍👍

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Doug :)

[@fhwolthuis]

Great to hear all this, Ed. So often you have the details exactly right, that's what I often miss in other stories. I indeed was referring to university in my question, sorry I have been indoctrinated by American culture over the years 😅

[@Morinaka25]

20:40 A man after my own heart, an electric DS is my dream car, heck i'd love a regular DS23 Pallas if i had the money and right living space to own one. There's a video on youtube of what looks like an excellent conversion. At some point i'm going to have to hunt down a car show with one, so i can actually see one in person and sit in it.

[@kramnam4716]

Bravo! Very well done! 🎉tip: keep your scripts.. they are books ! For your future

[@TwinCam]

Hey, none are written out, they're printed, so they're all archived digitally.

[@UncleJoeLITE]

I was there for the Metro, using a different channel. 🇦🇺 Back before you had your licence too.

[@TwinCam]

I passed my test two years before starting Twin-Cam!

[@lanceleader8891]

Very enjoyable video. Long my you continue. Oh! Your hair is okay, by the way 😊

[@davidcooksey1390]

Here's to 100+k subs well before the next five years are up!

[@TwinCam]

Here's to hoping, over the next few years.

[@grayfool]

Good to see you back on your own channel Ed. I enjoyed the stuff you did for Manor Park too. I've always enjoyed your content as you know. I really agree with most of what you said in this video too. DS EV? YES PLEASE! Of course the Mini is the best thing since sliced bread. I think Douglas Adams got it wrong, the answer to life , the universe, and everyting is not 42, it's Mini. If I ever, no, rephrase that, when I win the lottery (deluded? me?) I would love to get hold of a Heritage shell and build it up with all the bits I have lusted over in the past. Mind you I would also have to move back from Mauritius to the UK as well so, hmm, maybe not gonna happen then. Congrats on the first five years and looking forward to the next five.

[@TwinCam]

Thank you my friend 🙂 I’ll still be doing things over on Manor Park’s channel for the foreseeable, but old-style Twin-Cam is back for good now. The heritage shell thing is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. The problem comes with registering it for the road, or even totally rebuilding an old one. The goalposts are far narrower than most people believe them to be.

[@roberthoey8944]

Congratulations on 5 years well done ..I enjoy your video..if your ever in Dublin .I would love you to do a review on my cars ....87 starlet..89 corsa ..92 k10 micra and 68 Morris minor traveller... ..keep the great work .... K11 micra please

[@keithvers569]

I compare you to Taylor on the Auto Alex channel. You’re a champion and get so excited over certain cars

[@TwinCam]

Taylor's 540i Touring is so effing cool.

[@keithvers569]

@@TwinCam agreed

[@5impleSteph]

I’m so onboard with the incentivising small and Kai car regs, I’ve always preferred smaller cars and they’ve always been more than enough, and it’s so sad there isn’t even a strong super mini class anymore and those that survive are big for what they are, If they weren’t so pricey I’d love a Tolman 205 or a David Brown mini

[@TwinCam]

I'm really hoping that manufacturers get their acts together over the coming few years. If not, I feel some form of legislation will eventually come their way.

[@peterthwaites5891]

Congratulations Ed... Well that was a long video but as ever so enjoyable that i could have listened to you for longer!.. As for myself i am that person who was born in 1960, 40 years before you and i had the fortune to grow up as many of the cars you love were revealed to us, i totally get why you say the Alfasud to you was a "little disappointing" but for me coming at it from the other side in time that car was a revelation in the motoring world, even Autocar raved about it, saying "The best front wheel drive car yet", where many Ford`s were still on cart springs with drum brakes the Alfasud had a modern sorted suspension set up with 4 wheel disc brakes, inboard mounted at the front too! keep on with what you do THE BEST and here`s to the next 5 years...

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Peter 🙂 Absolutely. As I said, the Alfasud was just so capable that my brain refused to enter its normal mode when recording videos. That one of placing a car within its context.

[@peterthwaites5891]

@@TwinCam...I have EVERY COPY of the AUTOCAR magazine from May 1973 to approx 2016, all in good condition, i rarely look at them now so more use to someone like yourself... Yours FREE if you want to collect them, be nice to meet you....Pete

[@TwinCam]

Goodness, that’s an incredibly kind offer for you to make. Are you sure you’d be happy for me to have them?

[@peterthwaites5891]

@@TwinCam YES.. As i said i believe someone like yourself could make greater use of them, one day my loft ceiling will collapse under the weight! there`s a lot but they`re yours if you can collect, you could collect some or all at a time...borrow a van? please let me know IF?... there`s quite a few things to move just to get to them..

[@TwinCam]

@peterthwaites5891 Haha I know that feeling! There’s a bookcase in my loft full of old photographs and old books that I imagine is tremendously heavy. As I said, it’s a very kind offer. Where generally in the country are you?

[@BassFiddleify]

Congratulations 🎉 herzlichen Glückwunsch,, learnt a lot about british cars,,fine channel 👍👏auf die nächsten 5 Jahre 🎉,,,great Presentation,,,all the best,, greetings from northern Germany 🍀🍁

[@TwinCam]

Thank you very much!

[@rob2020-wz6ru]

I really like your channel. Especially when you process older cars. I like to follow channels about geopolitics. However a lot of gloomy things going on around the world, and I need to get a bit of cheering up. That's when I go to channels like Twin-Cam. Looking forward to the promised weekly content. Keep up the good work.

[@ambivalentonion2620]

definetly see your point there, i don't like to concern myself with "current event" geopolitics any more it's all so tiresome and doesn't have any real effect on your life if you focus on yourself and your family you will live a life of much reduced stress, personally i know only focus on political history etc with minimal current event rank punditry

[@TwinCam]

I'm doing my best to reduce doom scrolling. I find it very important to stay in tune with awful events, though we can do little about them, but there's a level where knowledge is found. Beyond that, we're merely feeding into our anxieties about ourselves and the world. That stuff, for me, is found on Twitter. On the other hand, I've trained my Instagram algorithm to be interesting cars, home decor, old AV technology, all that interesting stuff that's a nice antidote to the world. It means I can stay on social media if I like, but I can detach from the doom!

[@lucythemoggy1970]

omg ed with some facial hair! are you working for manor park classics now?

[@richardhunt1384]

According to Wikipedia (which is naturally open to corrections!) the Leyland P76 it had 4.4lt V8. Was that a re-worked (ie bored out) 3.5 or their own built engine specifically for the Aussie market?

[@TwinCam]

Same Rover V8 as ever, but yes the 4.4 was engineered for Australia. Of course, Rover in Britain later bored/stroked it to 3.9 and 4.6-litres, while TVR did a 5-litre one.

[@ambivalentonion2620]

1:19:17 I'm curious as to what your reasons are for melody not being a good daily, i'm most likely taking my mk2 metro off the road soon but in under 2 years i've driven over 30k miles and loved it all, in my opinion an a series metro is still perfectly dailyable

[@TwinCam]

As a tool, absolutely, but it's all dependent on how it's being used, what it's being used for, and where our reference points are for what we like to see in a car. For example, I think my E46 is a useless rural car. It's too big for the little lanes and you feel cooped up in terms of enjoyment. Either Metro I would prefer to drive on those kinds of roads and bob to and from the shops in. However, I would never actively choose the A-Series for long, continued, cross-country motorway use. Noise levels are one thing, but the car's overall stability isn't quite there at high speeds in all weather conditions. Whereas I know that the K-Series Metro retains all of the good in that, while providing much greater comfort, smoothness, and stability. It's knowing what else is available that takes me from viewing the A-Series as acceptable to viewing it as bearable.

[@louisjames1062]

Switched off and unsubbed at the “ev’s are cleaner”… followed by “I’m a liberal” .. wow 😂

[@TwinCam]

You don’t believe in liberalism? Everyone’s open to their views, but the basic tenets of it are the founding principles of all western democracies. Plus, you can’t argue with the simple fact of cleaner local emissions.

[@ambivalentonion2620]

16:50 this is one I have to disagree with, you have a very misplaced linear historiography that is really just a fallacy, people are not healthier the world is not better and even to the extent that it is quantifiable it is just not true. I apprecieate that this is a 10 second clip here but the view of more technology = more better is just ridiculous, and I say all this as someone that is younger than yourself

[@TwinCam]

Sorry, but this is simply ridiculous. People live healthier, longer lives, people are less subject to discrimination and general abuse. There are problems, of course, but a great many of my good friends would find immense difficulty in simply being themselves in decades gone past, if alive at all thanks to advances in health and medicine.

[@ambivalentonion2620]

@@TwinCam I wouldn't say it's ridiculous, perhaps i came across a little harsh there but i simply do not agree with linear views of history (if that is what you beleive). Yes many people do live more prosporus lives and if you have a purely materialistic outlook on life then yes perhaps that is true. Medically things are better however that's more dealing with ill health than the people actually being healthier (for example people in the past having better diets less obesity etc). Another aspect would be dramatically lower crime, more communities, far lower mental illness etc. My point isn't at all that the past was better but merely that you can't say that the now is 100% better in everyway than the past because the now is now and the past is the past. There's positives there's negatives and they're numerous on either side

[@TwinCam]

Crime and mental illness are simply falsehoods. Crime is much more prominent in our minds and is easier to pursue because of the technology we have today. Confidence in the public to come forward is a huge driver of higher crime statistics. In the same way that population numbers can never be correct, so too can crime numbers. For mental illness, societal changes have meant people can discuss these things and get help, rather than sit and stew with them. I, for one, would certainly prefer to be the victim of a crime today than 40 years ago, and I'd also much rather live with the support and help systems we have today. While it's true that people have richer, more varied, and more artificial diets than maybe they did 50 years ago, the standards of what we consume, our knowledge of them, and the care we can get has radically increased life expectancy. If looking a bit porky is your definition of living in a worse fashion, then great, but I'm looking at things from a pleasure, long-term health, security, and life expectancy position.

[@RobertJemison-YouTubeUser]

The term you use ‘ you lot’ is a rather derogatory way to address your fans IMO

[@TwinCam]

I understand people have different colloquial vernaculars, but I have to question your thought of it as 'derogatory'. As far as my locality is concerned, 'you lot' is arguably the standard form of mass address. What is it about this phrase that makes it derogatory?

[@RobinCapper]

Congratulations on the five year anniversary!

[@TwinCam]

Thanks Robin :) Hope I didn't bore you too much with the length of this one!

[@RobinCapper]

@@TwinCam Not wt all, I was listening while working (IT) so was a pleasant distraction :)