Emelia Hartford | ||||||||||
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Born | [ citation needed ] | July 29, 1993|||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||
Occupation(s) | YouTuber, actress, TV host, influencer | |||||||||
Years active | 2017–present | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2017–present | |||||||||
Genre | vlogs | |||||||||
Subscribers | 1.72 million [1] | |||||||||
Total views | 479.34 million [1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: October 14, 2024 | ||||||||||
Website | emeliahartford |
Emelia Hartford is a custom car builder, television host, and actress. She is most known for building one of the world's fastest custom Corvette C8s and her performance car customization YouTube channel, which launched in 2017.
Before launching her YouTube channel, Hartford juggled small acting gigs between service industry jobs. As a hobby after her work shifts, she would work on customizing her cars and occasionally chronicled her progress with posts on Instagram. Her Instagram posts eventually led to tire manufacturer Michelin inviting her to New York to launch its performance summer tire, the Pilot Sport 4S. At the Michelin event, Hartford met other car-build influencers who advised her how to create videos. Afterward, she bought her first camera and started her YouTube channel. As of March 2021, her YouTube videos had more than 72 million views. [2]
Before starting her YouTube channel, Hartford took small acting roles in various films. She has continued acting and most recently can be seen in Sony's biographical sports drama Gran Turismo as 'Leah Vega' opposite Orlando Bloom, David Harbour and Archie Madekwe. From director Neill Blomkamp, the film tells the true story of a teenage Gran Turismo video game player who becomes a professional race car driver. The film opened #1 at the Box Office on August 25, 2023. [3]
Prior to this she had a role in the 2021 Netflix film A California Christmas: City Lights . [4] as well as credits including HBO Max's A Hollywood Christmas and the Netflix romantic comedy That's Amor. From Mexico with Love and Nightfall.
Hartford has also been a host or judge on numerous shows. She appeared on the second season of Netflix's reality TV show, Fastest Car , and was a judge on SEMA: Battle of the Builders. In June 2022, Motor Trend Group announced that Hartford would be one of the hosts of its new animated series, Super Turbo Story Time. [5]
Hartford has appeared in media with major American automakers. In 2020, she co-starred with NBA player Devin Booker in a short film by Chevrolet for the release of the 2023 Corvette Z06. [6] In June 2022, she appeared as a guest on the podcast of Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company. [7] [8]
In September of 2023, she also began co-hosting the weekly podcast Car Stories alongside co-host Sung Kang; co-star of the Fast & Furious franchise. [9]
"Phoenix", Hartford's custom Corvette C8, is one of the fastest C8s in the world and once held the record for quickest C8 in the quarter-mile. [10] In June 2021, Hartford drove the car to a 9.36-second time with a trap speed of 147 miles per hour (237 km/h) at the Famoso Raceway in Southern California during a private testing event. This result surpassed her previous record of 9.41 seconds at 144 mph (232 km/h) set in March 2021. [11] This record was later surpassed by a custom C8 by FuelTech which finished the quarter-mile in 8.973 seconds at 160.92 miles per hour (258.98 km/h). [12] [13]
After her success with the Corvette, Hartford then went on as a professional race car driver to smash the quarter-mile record for the new generation Nissan Z in December 2024. She was able to put down a time of 7.75 seconds and a top speed of 181.85 mph making her the current record holder for fastest Nissan Z in the world with a car she built in her own garage in just 57 days. [14]
The Nissan Z-series is a model series of sports cars manufactured by Nissan since 1969.
Power-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power source. It is also used as a measurement of performance of a vehicle as a whole, with the engine's power output being divided by the weight of the vehicle, to give a metric that is independent of the vehicle's size. Power-to-weight is often quoted by manufacturers at the peak value, but the actual value may vary in use and variations will affect performance.
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate, Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota in 2000. The circuit hosted the Formula One 2007 Japanese Grand Prix after an absence of nearly 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for races from 2009 onward. The Super GT Fuji 500 km race is held at the racetrack on Golden Week.
Gran Turismo (GT) is a series of sim racing video games developed by Polyphony Digital. Released for PlayStation systems, Gran Turismo games are intended to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles, most of which are licensed reproductions of real-world automobiles. Since the franchise's debut in 1997, over 90 million units have been sold worldwide, making it the highest selling video game franchise under the PlayStation brand.
The Gloria is a large luxury car made from 1959 by the Prince Motor Company, and later by Nissan Motors since its merger with the former - hence being originally marketed as Prince Gloria and later as Nissan Gloria. Initially based on the smaller Prince Skyline, the Gloria line was merged with Nissan Cedric starting with 1971 models and both continued until 2004, when they were both replaced by Nissan Fuga.
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Callaway Cars Inc. is an American specialty vehicle manufacturer and engineering company that designs, develops, and manufactures high-performance product packages for cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs. They specialize in Corvettes and GM vehicles. New GM vehicles are delivered to Callaway facilities where these special packages and components are installed. Then the vehicles are delivered to GM new car dealers where they are sold to retail customers, branded as Callaway. Callaway Cars is one of four core Callaway companies, including Callaway Engineering, Callaway Carbon and Callaway Competition.
The Vision Gran Turismo program is a simulator program used by many car manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Bugatti. These cars appeared originally in Gran Turismo 6, and later made an appearance in each subsequent Gran Turismo installment, all developed by Polyphony Digital. For the most part, they apply present-day technology and materials, with a handful of notable exceptions that utilize novel propulsion and aerodynamic technologies. Their appearance as free update content has been staggered since the launch of GT6 in 2013, with each one being available for download upon release.
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond, California, about 80-mile (130 km) north of Los Angeles. It is the oldest permanent road course in the United States. Construction began in 1952, with the inaugural race held on November 23, 1953. The main track is a 2.500 mi (4.023 km) long road course that is unchanged from its original 1953 configuration. The elevation changes and high average speeds make it a favorite of many road racing drivers.
The Nissan GT-R is a car built by Japanese marque Nissan since 2007. It has a 2+2 seating layout and is considered both a sports car and a grand tourer. The engine is front-mid mounted and drives all four wheels. It succeeds the Nissan Skyline GT-R, a high-performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Although this model was the sixth-generation to bear the GT-R name, it is no longer part of the Skyline line-up. The car is built on the PM platform, derived from the FM platform used in the Skyline and Nissan Z models. Production is conducted in a shared production line at Nissan's Tochigi plant in Japan.
Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth main installment and the tenth overall in the Gran Turismo series. It was released on November 24, 2010, in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010, in Japan and Australasia. It was preceded by the Prologue version and is the first main entry of the series to be released for the PlayStation 3.
Gran Turismo Concept is a 2002 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth overall installment the Gran Turismo series. The full game was unreleased in the North American market, although a stripped-down version of it was released in form of Gran Turismo: Nissan 350Z Edition.
The Toyota 7 was a series of racing cars developed by Toyota Motor Company in cooperation with Yamaha Motor Corporation. Designed primarily for use in FIA Group 7 competition, it was Toyota's first purpose-built racing car project.
The GT by Citroën is a sports car that debuted as a concept car on October 2 at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The car is a collaboration between the French automaker Citroën and the Japanese racing simulation developer Polyphony Digital. Six cars were expected to be built, with an expected MSRP of $2,100,000; however, the production run was allegedly cancelled in 2010 due to high costs.
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The Chevrolet Corvette (C8) is the eighth generation of the Corvette sports car manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet. It is the first rear mid-engine Corvette since the model's introduction in 1953, differing from the traditional front mid-engine design started in 1963. The C8 was announced in April 2019, and the coupe made its official debut on July 18, 2019, in Tustin, California. The convertible made its debut in October 2019 during a media event at the Kennedy Space Center to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Production officially began on February 3, 2020, delayed by the 2019 General Motors strike.
The Ligier JS P217 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Onroak Automotive and named in a partnership with French racing driver Guy Ligier. The Ligier JS P217 was built to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO regulations for 2017 for the LMP2 category in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car also meets the regulations for the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the Prototype class. It was active in both of these championship series as well as the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. The prototype made its racing debut at the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 2017 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Gran Turismo is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin. Produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment, it is based on the sim racing video game series developed by Polyphony Digital. It depicts a highly sensationalized account of real life British teenager Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player who became a professional racing car driver. The film stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough, alongside David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou.