Firstly, if you don’t know who Doug DeMuro is, you really should.

https://www.youtube.com/DougDeMuro

It’s been the better part of a decade since Doug asked his fans what car he should buy next. I told him, and the world agreed with me. Buy a Ford Model T, I said. It will be endless hilarity!

https://jalopnik.com/what-car-should-i-buy-next-1747063020

It seemed like a done deal and would be my claim to Internet fame. And then… he didn’t. He bought a Viper, which was the next most popular suggestion because obviously he’d rather own a Viper.

I get it, Doug. We’d all rather own a Viper. But this wasn’t for you. This was for US to be amused at your expense! You asked, and we answered.

It’s hard to describe just how disappointed I was with the result. I was livid. Bitter, even. My hopes and dreams of Internet infamy were stamped out forever. And for what?? Does anyone even remember anything Doug did with the Viper?

But that was then. This is now, and I’m ready to turn over a new leaf. They say that time heals all wounds and if we look at what’s happened in the past 8 years since this soul-crushing rejection, I have to admit that things seem to have worked out ok.

Doug has grown from being a bit player on Jalopnik to being a full fledged YouTube star and he’s been crushing it for years now.

Would that have happened if he’d bought the Model T? Could owning that car have been such a joy-sucking disaster that he’d have lost all interested in journalism?

Might he have become a used car dealer just north of Tijuana, hawking clapped out Volkswagens to washed-out former Top Gun pilots in San Diego?

Imagine a world without Doug telling us about the most random quirks of everything we wish we could drive but can’t.

And what would my life have been like? Would I have been blamed for him quitting Jalopnik in a huff? Would I have been named and shamed in his last ever post, complaining about his permanently arthritic arm being damaged from cranking the damned Model T every day, just trying to get to work?

Would he curse my name every time it hurt to slap some barely-running Corolla on the hood when trying to extol it’s virtues to a new recruit that’s just gonna go and finance a new Challenger anyway?

Instead of that, I ended up spending most of the past 8 years driving Porsches on race tracks and having the time of my life. So really, things seem to have worked out well for both of us.

I’m still a fan, Doug, and couldn’t be happier for the successes you’ve found since this all went down.

I’m ready to bury the hatchet. Let bygones be bygones.

You keep doing you… and I’ll keep watching with amusement.

And it’s not too late to do a Model T review! Tell us how the damned clutch and shifters work as only you can.