It Appears That Speedhunters Is No Longer Active

      The Drive (background image) / Speedhunters (logo)

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      It may be time to pay tribute to Speedhunters. As difficult as it is to admit, the car culture website that showcased the global automotive scene more effectively than anyone else in the late 2000s and early 2010s has been inactive for months, with its final article published on April 3. Its online store has gone silent, and its Instagram has also become inactive, with no new posts since March and an entirely black profile picture. A source familiar with the situation informed The Drive that the site has shut down, and I have contacted Speedhunters’ owner, Electronic Arts, for confirmation.

      A Reddit thread on r/ShootingCars highlighted the inactivity just last week. In response, I reached out to several contacts who might have more information about the future of Speedhunters. One of them replied, stating they had heard from multiple contributors that it had ceased operations.

      Former contributor Paddy McGrath voiced his thoughts in the Reddit comments:

      Comment by u/thefinancejedi from discussion in shootingcars

      Speedhunters was established by Rod Chong in 2008 with support from EA. It rapidly gained popularity, with creators from all over the world sharing original content daily. This is where many of us first encountered photography from Larry Chen and Dino Dalle Carbonare, among numerous other talented photographers and writers. The brand even featured in the Need for Speed video games, collaborating with artists like A$AP Rocky due to its connection with EA. In short, if you were into cars online from its inception until the late 2010s, Speedhunters left a mark on you.

      As McGrath noted in his comment, several of the site's most recognized contributors began to appear less frequently around 2020. Chen actually departed in 2018. However, Carbonare remained, with his last Speedhunters article published on March 28 of this year.

      The future of Speedhunters remains uncertain, although the likely answer might be, “Nothing.” Many of the creators who contributed to the site’s success have moved on to various projects. For instance, Chen has recently published a book featuring 20 years’ worth of photographs, in addition to creating content for YouTube and covering events like Pikes Peak, Formula D, and for various automotive brands. Carbonare runs his Dino DC channel on YouTube, boasting nearly 200,000 subscribers and showcasing the impressive aspects of Tokyo’s car culture.

      For the sake of all who appreciate the site, let’s hope it can be preserved in some form. This would offer some comfort to fans if we could revisit all the exceptional insider stories that were unique at the time. However, given EA's size, they may treat this situation as inconsequential. We’ll find out if that turns out to be the case.

      Have information about the Speedhunters situation? Reach out to me directly: [email protected]