Kyle Lindsey is the man behind the camera of SaabKyle04, one of the most viewed automotive channels on YouTube. Kyle focuses on presenting his videos with the enthusiasts in mind, especially for those looking to possibly purchase one of the vehicles he reviews. His channel has since been given the nickname of “The Driver’s Seat of YouTube.”


We managed to get a hold of Kyle and continue our series of going behind the scenes of automotive journalism and what makes each person tick. We wanted to get to know Kyle and put him in the spotlight, rather than have the cars stealing the show.

How did you get into the position you are currently in? Where did it all start and how did your channel progress to what it is today?

I have been around the automotive scene since I was little. Back in the day, my Dad played professional baseball with the White Sox, and a bunch of teams before that. When he retired after an unfortunate injury, he opened up a car dealership in Boynton Beach, FL, where I’m originally from. Of course, as a young man I would love going up there and tinkering with the cars. We moved to Reidsville, North Carolina in 1997. There, Dad opened up his current dealership, Car Connections, INC. During high school, I worked there as a detailer/lot porter. I would go to the auto auctions, help out dad and concentrate on knowing the cars inside and out to make sure it was all in working order. Doing that for a few years allowed me to experience a huge variety of cars, that pretty much sealed the deal on creating a lifelong passion. After high school graduation, I went to Campbell University to begin my undergraduate work for pharmacy school. After 2 years I got accepted into Wingate University School of Pharmacy. During my undergrad work I decided one winter break that I needed a hobby. It was too cold to detail and there just wasn’t much out of the ordinary happening. I had 2 old point-and-shoot cameras and thought I would make a little collection of youtube videos and “develop” my channel so to speak. That was in 2008 I believe, hard to believe! I found out about the youtube partner program through several channels I was subscribed to and decided it would be cool to be a part of such a “honor” so to speak. Therefore I just made random videos of anything— cars, school, my cat, etc. no rhyme or reason to it really, very amateur stuff. I started doing more “start ups” and things of that nature at the dealership and the dealer auctions as well as more “in depth tours” that were probably 4-5 min long or so just on various vehicles I thought were neat. Fast forward several months to the summer of 2009 and I started to upload regularly, every other day or every day, sometimes several at a time, trying to make entertaining videos to the best of my abilities. I was consistent with that for several more months until I got into pharmacy school. It was then I had to do something to get more material since I had to move about 2 hrs away from home to Monroe, NC, about 30 min away from Charlotte, NC. I started doing regular videos at a few used car lots around the area. Long story short, I was invited to be a part of the youtube partner program in January 2010, after about a year and a half of hard work, ~400 videos and maybe 1000 subscribers or so? Can’t remember exactly. At that time I went into overdrive and took advantage of my new partner benefits, being able to upload longer videos, creating custom channel layouts, etc. I developed the all too familiar “in depth tour” style to more of what you see today but it was still somewhat crude, well, sorta..compared to my standards today haha. I began making videos at various local new car dealers and then branched out into Charlotte itself. Now, really long story short. This all led to what you see today. I had gotten a job at a nearby CVS pharmacy while in pharmacy school, which I ended up leaving to pursue my love of filming and treat it as a job. I made Saabkyle04 into an official business in the early part of 2011 with the creation of Saabkyle04, LLC. So at this point I’m also the founder of my very own company, of which I have done reviews in NC, SC, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, and in Europe! It has been a fantastic ride so far and I have loved every minute of it. I’ve been able to get exclusive looks at some of the rarest and unique cars in the US and the world. I have established myself as “youtube’s most automotive variety” as well as “the driver’s seat of youtube” what that means is that I have developed a filming style that had never been done before and had the ability to bring viewers a look at cars that they would never have been able to otherwise. I’ve been very blessed with the success of this channel. All this led into the development of one of youtube’s most watched automotive channels.

Many journalists tend to get into this industry at a fairly young age. Did your parents have any influence on your automotive adventures? Did any other journalists influence you?

Surprisingly, my parents originally thought what I did was a waste of time! They think it’s incredible now, just shows you the power of the internet and social media. My parents have always been the kind of people that would encourage you to do what ever your passions steered you. They always ask how the channel is doing, if I have anything cool coming up, and offer help if I need it. In fact, my Mom actually processes the orders I receive from shop.saabkyle04.com. I created a clothing/apparel line a while back that people have really enjoyed. I didn’t have any specific influences when I started. I just started watching youtube more often, seeing car videos, etc. I started thinking to myself, hey, I could do that! After all, Dad had a lot of cars that were begging to be filmed!


When you first started reviewing cars, did you have that well-known formula you have today? Or did you wing it as you went?

It was 100% random and on-the-fly. I started doing “walk arounds” back at my Dad’s dealership (Car Connections, INC in Reidsville, NC) when I was in the midst of undergraduate studies at Campbell University. I would travel to the dealer auctions to try to capture cool, off the wall things. I would even do little test drive videos with a makeshift tripod. The level of progression in terms of quality is fantastic. The old videos still have the unique flavor, but are nothing like my current content. Over the years, I’ve invested in proper camera equipment, computers, etc. to make sure the quality continues to be as top notch as one guy can do.


What was one of the hardest parts of getting into automotive journalism? Did you meet any difficulties with trying to get access to cars from the dealer?

The hardest part of starting this was figuring out my niche, what was the direction I wanted to take with this channel. While it seemed like a waste of time to make a 20+ min car video, that’s what I did. Granted, my earlier videos were much shorter, the length came from what people wanted to see. Another hard part was trying to chisel the videos down, trim the fat and fluff and make it all pertinent. Therefore, while it may be a long video, it wouldn’t seem that way by the time you’re done watching. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Journalist, but I have had to develop plenty of writing skills in addition to video editing skills. Each video is about 60-70% voiced over, for those portions (walk around, engine, suspension, history, etc.) I write a review/script. I write it as if I was submitting it to a magazine, that way the information flows naturally and follows the structure of the video. If I quickly estimate, I would say I’ve filmed at around 70 dealerships during the lifetime of this channel. I still retain many of those relationships to this day. Setting up new places remains a challenge. The scale of SK04 makes it easier, but developing trust and a personal relationship is most important to me.


What is your favorite part about what you do? Do you like producing content for your own accomplishments, or to benefit the audience? What is your goal behind your channel?

My goal behind SK04 is to provide, unbiased, In Depth videos on cars for the every day enthusiast. Videos that can satisfy a curiosity, while still being entertaining. My favorite part about doing this is seeing so many different types of cars. Unlike many car review channels out there, I think it’s important to profile cars from all decades, to see where the auto industry came from so people can understand where it’s going. Not to mention, the opportunities to film cars only a hand full of people see. I’ve been able to feature the most in depth presentations on youtube of numerous exclusive marques from the Bugatti Veyron to the Ferrari Enzo and Lamborghini Aventador. I like producing content both for myself and my audience. I’ve filmed countless cars based on tips and suggestions from my subscribers. I also have a mental list of cars I would like to do. Cars I’ve dreamed of sitting in, let alone filming my traditional style video. I like filming cars that many people have forgotten about, cars like the 1995 Buick Riviera, 1986 Pontiac Fiero, even a 1949 Pontiac Chieftain. What that does is create the variety I try to achieve with SK04. This channel has largely been built by my viewers and subscribers. While I think it’s important to not only have fun with what you do, it’s important to make sure others have fun. My videos as you see them today are 100% built around what my viewers have wanted to see over the years.




Most journalists tend to get press cars to review for a couple of days to really learn the cars. You go to a dealer and work up the video in a couple of hours rather than days. Do you do any prior research on the cars before going? Would you prefer to continue doing what you do or use a longer-term press car?

I originally began going to dealerships because, like my Dad’s dealership, cars are always available. There’s always something different, whether it be variety, or something off the wall. There are benefits and disadvantages to doing that. There have been numerous times where I’m mid-filming and a car gets sold, or someone wants to look/test drive it. For me to really film a quality video, I need a good couple hours to quickly go over the car, sometimes longer if it features a lot of new tech I need to familiarize with. Luckily, I like tinkering, so it doesn’t take too long for me to figure out how to work something, but unfortunately, it is possible to miss subtle things. Luckily, over the past few years, I have been developing press relationships. Not many, but just enough to be able to take some work load off having to go to a dealership. By having a car for a week, like you said, I am really able to experience the beauty for it, understand how it drives, and more. Right now, I have a 2014 Mazda MX-5 I’m driving for a week, while last week I had both the 2014 Mazda3 and 2014 Lexus IS-F. I do have the occasional chance to drive dealership cars, but it’s not often. Having press cars really allows me to take my videos to the next level of “In Depth”, I can be more creative and have a good bit more fun with the video. I’m in the midst on developing other press relationships, but it takes time. There are many many brands that I would love to do that with, but I feel I might be limited with living in North Carolina. Hopefully one day I can partner with Chrysler Group, GM, Ford, and others. I want to take my content to the next level, this is how I need to do it.

With medicine being your current career, what do you think you’ll be doing with this side-quest in the future? Do you plan to keep it the same, or devote more/less time to it?