The CarStuff podcast has returned!

The CarStuff podcast has returned to the Interwebs and the podcast feed on your smartphone, following a hiatus of about a year and a half that began with a Tweet announcing that the episode dropped on December 27, 2017, would be the last “for the foreseeable future.”

As AutoNewsblaster reported last year, the podcast, which is affiliated with the reference website HowStuffWorks, ceased production abruptly. Recently, however, we discovered that the podcast quietly returned, initially re-launching in August 2019 under a different title—The Fast Track.

However, only one episode dropped under the title of The Fast Track—billed as “a show that highlights anything and everything that allows us to go fast.” An additional lapse of about a month and a half ensued, followed by a return of the podcast under its original CarStuff title.

Host Scott Benjamin—going solo (for now, at least) without sidekick Ben Bowlin—sounds a bit different now, as if he’s run through the rigors of a voice training course at a broadcasting school. His on-air persona now has a more professional vibe that could also be described as somewhat less personable.

However, that could have everything to do with having another year and a half of podcasting experience under his belt, and perhaps some better audio equipment in the production studio.

Regarding the absence of Bowlin, Benjamin said, “I assure you that Ben is still around. Ben would love to be here, but he has other obligations that keep him from doing this show at this point.”

Meanwhile, the company that owns the podcast, HowStuffWorks, has undergone yet another ownership change. Stuff Media, owner of the HowStuffWorks website and its podcasting enterprise, was purchased by iHeartMedia in 2018, according to Variety.  HowStuffWorks was founded in 1999 as a reference website by North Carolina State University professor Marshall Brain.

A feature that has always set CarStuff apart from other noteworthy automotive podcasts like Everyday Driver and The Smoking Tire is the wide-ranging subject coverage, with a strong emphasis on automotive history. CarStuff produced a three-episode series on Preston Tucker, for example. And the Bricklin SV-1 gull-wing sports coupe, produced in 1974-75 by entrepreneur Malcom Brickin, was the topic of the episode that marked the podcast’s official return under the CarStuff title on September 27.

As Benjamin points out during the episode, one of the reasons the Bricklin story is significant is that Malcolm Bricklin is responsible for introducing the Subaru brand—and also, unfortunately, the Yugo—to the United States.

It’s tough for a one-voice podcast to be engaging, and with Benjamin as solo host CarStuff is showing those challenges. In contrast, much of the appeal of many other major automotive podcasts comes from the interplay of contrasting personalities of co-hosts or solo hosts and their guests.

Nevertheless, CarStuff remains well worth listening to, offering a range of topical coverage that’s beyond the norm, which appeals to the well-rounded enthusiast and may even encourage niche enthusiasts to broaden their horizons.

For those reasons alone, it’s great to see the CarStuff podcast back on the air.