Doug DeMuro’s latest video is a cavalcade of incompetence

"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark)
05/15/2018 at 13:54 • Filed to: Doug DeMuro, Rolls-royce

In !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , he calls the 1973 Silver Shadow the “Rolls-Royce Phantom of its day.” Except for one small problem. The 1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom was the Rolls-Royce Phantom of its day.

In the first 45 seconds of his newest video, he mistakenly calls the Silver Shadow the “top-of-the-line, the Ultimate Rolls-Royce of its day.” In so doing, Doug clearly demonstrates that he has zero concept of Rolls-Royce history, completely forgetting that the Silver Shadow was the junior line in the Rolls-Royce range from its debut in 1965 until it was replaced by the Spur/Spirit series in 1980.

Rolls-Royce kept the bespoke, handmade Silver Cloud-based Phantom VI in production from 1968-1990 (the very similar Phantom V ran from 1959-68) before they canceled it without replacement... until the Phantom VII debuted in 2003. But Doug didn’t seem to know that.

Before 90 seconds have elapsed in the video, he mispronounces the name of the Silver Seraph, and goes on to say that the 1973 Silver Shadow had a GM 4-speed automatic, when it actually had a THM400 3-speed auto.

At about 3:45 in his video, he calls the vinyl roof a “landau top,” which it isn’t. Landau roofs have only the rear sections covered as an homage to the landaulette cars of the 1910s-30s, which had retractable rear roof sections for backseat passengers. The Shadow in his video has a full vinyl roof. Rolls didn’t offer a landau-style vinyl roof for the Shadow.

Rolls-Royce did, however, offer a landau top on the *actual* Phantom of its day - the Phantom. It wasn’t just a vinyl covering, though. It actually folded back to expose the rear passengers, as Kabbalah Monster intended.

Before 6 minutes are up, he raves about the power door locks on the ‘73 Shadow, musing that this must have been one of the first cars with that feature. That honor actually goes to the 1956 Packard lineup, which came out 17 years before the car he’s reviewing. Power door locks were not uncommon, at all, on luxury cars in 1973. You could get power door locks on a ‘73 Chrysler Newport if you wanted. He later talks about how advanced power seats were in 1973. And again, they really were de rigeur for upscale cars of this era, having seen widespread use starting in the ‘50s. You could get them on a midsize mainstream ‘73 Ford Torino.

A minute or so later, he remarks on how a lot of cars of the ‘73 Shadow’s era didn’t have headrests. They were actually mandatory on all cars sold in the US from January 1, 1968.

His remarks about “speed control” and “cigar lighter” being special Rolls-Royce terms is pretty ignorant of the fact that these were common terms for these features at many car companies at the time. In fact, Ford and Chrysler called their cruise control systems “automatic speed control” in the same era. GM called theirs “Cruise Master Speed Control” and AMC called theirs “Cruise Command Speed Control.”

Also, does anyone know why he mentions that the 6.75L V8 in the Shadow isn’t as glorious today as it was 45 years ago? It’s still in production (in highly modified form) in the current Bentley Mulsanne. So it’s still pretty glorious.

Ordinarily, I get annoyed at Doug’s videos because... well... he’s Doug. But this time, the laundry list of stuff he got totally wrong takes me here. You’re welcome, everyone.

DISCUSSION (8)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > AMC/Renauledge
05/15/2018 at 14:44

I read the whole thing, and would summarize as “N2SKYLARK RE: DEMURO: ‘BAILIFF, WHACK HIS PEE-PEE’”

Oh, I have a ‘59 car with power locks and seat. And a 7L V8.

AMC/Renauledge > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/15/2018 at 14:49

YES! But not in the fun way.

Ordinarily, DeMuro’s reviews annoy me to no end, and I usually stop watching before he gives cars his absurd “Doug scores.” This time, he wasn’t just annoying by fawning over “quirks and features” that were absolutely commonplace to the cars he’s examining.

This time, his penchant for overblowing every little detail into some comic extravagance, resulted in a host of inaccuracies. It just got to me.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > AMC/Renauledge
05/15/2018 at 15:13

I think a lot of it, ironically, is that his mind is playing tricks on him. He sees a car that looks like it comes out of the early 50s, and the looks make him think about what on the car would be out of place in the early 50s. The fact it’s actually from ‘73 doesn’t enter into it - for that moment, ‘73 is ‘53.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > AMC/Renauledge
05/15/2018 at 15:18

This is a good rant. (not sarcasm)

AMC/Renauledge > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/15/2018 at 16:28

Thanks! I nearly added that his fascination with pushbutton door handles no longer being a thing isn’t true, either. Every 2018 Jeep Wrangler sitting on a lot across America today has them. But they’re being replaced by a new Wrangler that doesn’t, so technically he’s right I guess.

cmill189 - sans Volvo > AMC/Renauledge
05/15/2018 at 17:44

I think his inaccuracies have grown along with his subscriber and view count. I think he honestly used to research each car but now he doesn’t. I’m still baffled by his views. He rivals teenage dipshits/influencers with how fast he can get to a million views in a week or so. Props to him for somehow doing it without boobs or tide pods. Tin foil hat me still thinks Trader of Autos dumped some coin for YouTube to promote his channel.

AMC/Renauledge > cmill189 - sans Volvo
05/15/2018 at 18:04

I, too, am baffled. DeMuro’s writing as a contributor to Jalopnik was always funny. These videos never are.

And it really does seem like he doesn’t do his homework on these cars anymore. Bummer.

CaptDale - is secretly British > AMC/Renauledge
05/15/2018 at 19:17

I very much approve of this rant. He seemingly does absolutely zero homework before his videos and I is starting to piss me off, because otherwise I would enjoy his videos.