Thousands of caps in the colors of Vilebrequin waving… “1000Tipla” rally flags floating in the room… And above all, the cries of joy of the “loulous”! This is how Pierre and Sylvain, the creators of crankshafton the stage of Grand Rex, in Paris, Tuesday evening. Fans of the automotive YouTuber duo had the privilege of discovering never-before-seen images from the channel YouTube. Amidst laughter and cheers, they were also able to watch the cult video of the speed bump at 130 km/h, posted 4 years ago, and discover a preview of the speed bump… at 170 km/h.
Available since Thursday, on the Vilebrequin channel, the video was greeted by a long standing ovation from the Grand Rex in an indescribable atmosphere. For Pierre, one of the channel’s two acolytes, this new video is “the accomplishment of four years of work. In 2018, it was the speed bump video at 130 km/h that really launched Vilebrequin. Four years later, beyond the 40 km/h gained, this new video is a way of thanking subscribers and measuring the progress made by the duo.
Rots, farts and waterfalls
At the start, there were a lot of doubts, failures, false starts… “Attracting people, and those first clicks, was complicated, says Pierre. The theme of our channel is complicated, because the car is a bit scary. But in fact when people click, they like what we convey”. Sylvain completes it by explaining: “We understood that people liked to see us having fun. We just have a good time and they feel it.” The objective is entertainment rather than car tests or mechanical advice.
somewhere between Jackass, cult MTV show in the 2000s, and Top Gear, Vilebrequin, these are videos with flowery language, burps, farts and light jokes. This cocktail, which accompanies DIY videos and stunts, has already attracted more than 1.72 million subscribers. On their channel, you can also find a test of the latest Mercedes, crazy tests (reprogramming a Tesla or running a vodka engine…) and the popularization of auto mechanics. But always with this inimitable and clumsy tone assumed… “I would love to be able to say that we play characters but no, we are basically two big rednecks”, laughs Pierre.
A close-knit community and youtubers
“Now the darlings are creating quite the atmosphere,” Sylvain confided to us backstage at the evening at the Grand Rex. The “loulous”? Therefore the two youtubers designate their community of fans (before, they were called “the zouzous”, but that is another story…). On Tuesday night, the duo answered some of their questions during an FAQ. But above all, the cuties are invested in the projects of youtubeurs, for example through the kitty of the completely crazy project 1000Tipla : ascend a 1000 horsepower motor on a Fiat Multipla…
“The pleasure of the cuties is our primary motivation,” says Sylvain. For example, Tuesday evening was organized at a loss for youtubers. The place was only 6.90 euros, and too bad for profitability. “It was out of the question for the people we want to reach, the people we really love – because they are the ones who make us live – that the prices be higher”, explains Pierre. What continues to grow, however, is the audience that Vilebrequin reaches. If the duo wanted to thank the hard core of its loyal fans, it intends to seduce more and more people with their crazier projects than each other.