Drift king, Ken Block, died earlier this week after a snowmobile crash in the US, but left his millions of fans worldwide with some of the best car films of all time. These are the Top 12 Ken Block videos ranked by Drive.
US drift king, rally driver and YouTube star Ken Block is gone but not forgotten, thanks to the extraordinary series of sliding, jumping, smoky cars stunts he created and filmed under the umbrella of his ‘Gymkhana’ team and the Hoonigan brand.
Block did amazing things at the wheel of a series of outrageous modified cars – first Subaru, then Ford and finally Audi – as he became a YouTube sensation whose series of Gymkhana videos won him millions of fans around the world.
There have been more than 550 million views of his action-packed films on YouTube, a number likely to rise following his death in a snowmobile accident close to his home at Utah in the US earlier this week.
Block, 55, was an extreme sports enthusiast who was first successful as an entrepreneur with the DC brand of skateboard shoes, before moving into rallying and rallycross in the US, as well as the World Rally Championship.
He began competing in rallies under his signature #43 – the favourite number from his childhood – as he forged a series of business partnerships including with the Monster energy drink and well-funded car companies to bankroll his Gymkhana videos.
The first in the series was uploaded in 2008 and at the time of his death there had been 10, as well as a string of guest appearances including a tearaway run through London for the Top Gear television show.
Despite his outrageous antics, Block was a quiet and humble man with three children.
Although he created the Hoonigan brand as a marketing platform, and understood the negative connotation of a ‘hoon’ tag in countries like Australia, he tried to spread a safety message and his videos often showed police cars blocking roads while he performed his stunts.
He never forgot he was a role model, and across the rear spoiler of his Ford Fiesta were the words “Remember, everybody, always hoon responsibly”.
If it was fast and loud, and could create tyre smoke, Ken Block loved it.
If it could shoot blames and shred its tyres, and star in the films his fans loved, even better.
But which are the best of the best from Ken Block?
Here is the Drive countdown of the Top 12, starting with the first episode in the Gymkhana franchise.
Number 12: Gymkhana 1
Where it began. It’s Gymkhana 1 and Ken Block is driving a high-powered Subaru WRX.
The film looks raw and unfinished, compared with his later efforts, but it was the beginning of something special as Block transferred his rally driving skills into a perfect package for the emerging era of YouTube videos.
Number 11: Australian V8 Supercar car swap
Ken Block made two trips to Australia and in 2011 he was at Calder Park in Melbourne for a special car swap.
He traded places with V8 Supercar drivers Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom – thanks to their shared connections at Ford – and took to the track in a Falcon race car from Ford Performance Racing.
Block also hatched a plan to hit the streets of Sydney for a Gymkhana episode, but it failed to get official approval.
Number 10: Climbkhana 2
Ken Block had already conquered the Pikes Peak hillclimb in the US when he headed to China with his 914-horsepower ‘Hoonitruck’ to take on the Tianmen Mountain Road.
The sinuous strip of bitumen is claimed to be China’s most dangerous road but it was no problem for the Gymkhana crew.
Number Nine: Electrikhana
When Ken Block split from Ford after more than a decade, he was welcomed to Audi with the creation of a battery-electric prototype with visual cues to the winning Audi Quattro rally cars of the 1980s.
He took his new toy to the streets of Las Vegas for some signature stunts, although the soundtrack with the Audi S1 ‘Hoonitron’ was a major change. The first Electrikhana was intended to be start a new series of Block’s action adventures.
Number Eight: Gymkhana 7
An outrageous 1965 Ford Mustang called the ‘Hoonicorn’ was created to take to the streets of Los Angeles.
With more than 800 horsepower and a custom-made four-wheel-drive package it took the Gymkhana series in a new direction with a wild V8 soundtrack in pace of the spitting and banging of Block’s earlier four-cylinder turbocharged cars.
Number Seven: Gymkhana 3
Ken Block and the Gymkhana crew headed to France to film the third instalment in their growing series of YouTube projects.
It was shot in and around the abandoned Montlhery racing circuit, about 30 kilometres from Paris, and the disused high banking on the track allowed for a series of new and unique driving stunts.
Number Six: Climbkhana
Pikes Peak is one of the world’s oldest motorsport events and a unique challenge in the Rocky Mountains, although what was originally a winding gravel track is now fully paved with bitumen.
Ken Block had upgraded the Hoonicorn Mustang for the film, with twin turbochargers boosting it to more than 1400 horsepower, but the highlight was a mistake that nearly took him over the edge near the top of the climb.
Number Five: Gymkhana Four
Dropping Ken Block and his pocket rocket Ford Fiesta onto the backlot at Universal Studios in Hollywood was always going to work.
It’s the backdrops and the movie-style stunts which make the difference in this film, with a series of cameo appearances by the same attractions that draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to Universal Studios each year.
Number Four: Gymkhana 10
Instead of one car, Ken Block strapped into five different cars – starting with a Ford Fiesta and finishing in a 1997 Ford F-150 called the Hoonitruck to try for a Perfect 10 with his fans. The video runs for nearly 20 minutes and is billed as The Ultimate Tyre Slaying Tour.
Number Three: Gymkhana 2022
It’s not Ken Block, but his great mate Travis Pastrana, starring in the most recent of the Hoonigan films.
The former champion motocross racer and rally driver joined Block’s crew when he rode a dirtbike in several stunts for previous films, then stepped up to driving duties last year in an outrageously modified 1982 Subaru GL station wagon called the ‘Family Huckster‘.
Number Two: Top Gear tour of London
When Matt LeBlanc joined the cast of the Top Gear television show in the UK, the former Friends cast member decided he wanted a tourist trip around London.
When Ken Block arrived with the Hoonicorn, his twin-turbocharged all-wheel-drive 1965 Ford Mustang, there was plenty of action involving the historic sites of the British capital.
Number One: Gymkhana 5 – Ultimate Urban playground
Movie star Steve McQueen got to San Francisco first when he filmed the driving sequences for the classic 1960s movie Bullitt driving a Ford Mustang, but Ken Block turned things up to 11 when he arrived with his Ford Fiesta for his fifth Gymkhana film.
The video hit all the famous places in the California city and the result was more than 113 million views on YouTube.
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