• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 2, 2016

From boasting and posting driving videos to sharing tips and trivia, few things go together quite as well as cars and social media. That’s the bet that Jeremy Clarkson, car nut and former host of the British hit car show “Top Gear,” is making with the launch of a new automotive enthusiast social network, called Drivetribe. Clarkson launched the social net together with longtime collaborators Richard Hammond and James May, with whom he produced “The Grand Tour” for Amazon Prime.

The new social network, which piggybacks on Facebook for user profile and login functions, invites members to join at least six “Tribes” from a collection of dozens of interest groups with sub-themes like “Weird, Terrible Cars,” “Old Jeeps,” and “Dogs In Cars.” Users can follow other users and share pictures, video, and related content about cars – not necessarily their own – and then repost or vote up (or “bump”) content they like.

On the Drivetribe Web site, Jeremy Clarkson explains the idea with an analogy to some other types of content: “I didn’t understand Drivetribe until Richard Hammond said it was like YouPorn, only with cars.”

Drivetribe is just the latest in a plethora of new media options launched for car lovers over the last year. In January, CBS Interactive and its tech publishing property CNET joined forces to launch a new online automotive destination called “Roadshow,” focusing on the growing convergence of cars and digital technology.

Meanwhile, Time Inc. acquired two popular YouTube channels targeting automotive enthusiasts, "Drive" and "Fast Lane Daily," which were incorporated into the publisher’s The Foundry, a new division responsible for developing new brands and marketing programs.

TEN: The Enthusiast Network, publisher of Motor Trend and Automobile magazines, launched a new online video and podcast feature, called “Daily Fix,” at its Motor Trend OnDemand video portal. TEN also recently announced a significant expansion of its automotive events business, which includes more than 20 racing and aftermarket lifestyle events, centered on three staples of the auto event circuit: the Hot Rod Power Tour, Hot Rod Drag Week, and Car Craft Summer Nationals.