Meet the jet-setting ‘carfluencers’ raking in millions by posing with Ferraris and driving supercars on Instagram
SITTING back in the plush back seat of 'the most luxurious car ever made', Supercar Blondie is handed a glass of bubbly and asked to pose for a photo that will go on to get hundreds of thousands of likes.
It's just another day in the life of the glamorous Aussie – real name Alex Hirschi – who has now been named the richest supercar influencer in the world, earning $2million (£1.55million) a year.
The 34-year-old is one of many stunning Instagram stars who are regularly plied with gifts, flown across the world and handed a huge pay check for promoting supercars on their social media pages.
With millions of followers between them, the best of the best can bring in thousands of enquiries within minutes of posting reviews or videos of them driving a swanky new car in an exotic location.
But while Alex lives life in the fast lane now, her journey getting there has had some bumps in the road, having faced nasty sexist comments – and no days off for her first few years setting up her business.
Speaking to Sun Online, Alex reveals a glimpse inside the glam life of a supercar influencer, from travelling the world nine months of the year to hanging out with the Top Gear boys.
But this blonde bombshell isn't the only gorgeous lady doing it for the girls.
Here, we're also taking a look at the top female players joining her in the motor industry…
Supercar Blondie
Instagram followers: 6.4 million
The blonde beauty, who has lived in Dubai since 2008, worked in radio before she became a supercar influencer on social media.
She says: "At first my mum and dad were like 'What? What is this? What are you doing? You’re throwing away your career on the radio to do, what?'
"And I was like, well… I film cars…
"They didn’t really understand at first, but it kind of hit home in their small country town where they grew up when people were actually watching me and coming up to them and talking to them about it – so now they’re really proud."
Alex started building up her social media page for fun a few years ago, sharing clips and photos of her own growing supercar collection – always having had a passion for it.
As her page and personal reviews slowly gained more and more followers, she caught the attention of brands and manufacturers – and it's grown from there.
She's now paid to promote different cars with her own reviews, professional photos in locations around the world and by sharing competitions on her page.
But when Alex ditched her career on the radio to be a supercar influencer, men in the industry apparently told her she "didn't know anything about cars".
She adds: "It's something I've just had to really push through. There weren’t many girls doing this in the car world.
"Typically when you see a girl around a car – and this has been the case for decades – usually the girl is like an accessory to the car and the girl would lie semi naked on the hood, seen as a sex symbol.
"When you get someone like me who is not doing that and actually wants to be taken a bit more seriously, I did get a lot of push backs from the men in this world.
"But I just thought, do you know what? I’ve got to keep going because you know that the more you see women in this role around cars then the more normal it’s going to become."
As the highest earning car influencer Alex can travel the world, rub shoulders with her favourite celebs and attend the most exclusive, glitzy car events.
"Last year I was actually travelling nine out of the 12 months of the year in a different country," she confesses.
"I’ve been to some of the most interesting places. I went to Mexico City and met up with some supercar owners there and they showed me around the city and they had full bulletproof vehicles following us just in case anything happened."
As Supercar Blondie, Alex was also able to meet her childhood TV heroes, Top Gear's Richard Hammond and James May – filming an episode with them for her YouTube channel.
"They were so cool. I’ve watched these guys for years and here I am filming for them, it was so crazy," she says.
But being a supercar influencer isn't always an easy ride.
"Yes my job is kind of cool," Alex says. "But it didn’t come just overnight. Obviously this was a few years in the making and I have never worked so hard in my life.
"I know it looks like a fun and happy-go-lucky kind of career but at the end of the day I’m running a business.
"In the first few years that I started uploading videos, I didn’t even take one day off, no weekends, no holidays. Just kept going out every single day and filming and travelling around the world.
"It’s exhausting – but at the same time it pays off if you’re going to take it seriously."
The influencer plans to make her OWN car in the next two years now too – designed with women in mind.
She says: "I’d team up with a car manufacturer who has all the expertise and know-how to manufacture the car and, because I’ve seen some of the coolest cars in the world, I would kind of just combine all the coolest features and put them into the car that I design and I think it could be a really special car.
"I like that masculine, aggressive look but a lot of supercars are actually designed around a man and not designed around a woman so there are features in there that I would want for a female to feel comfortable in the car.
"Like mirrors on the sun-visors, you’ll get into some supercars and there are just no mirrors anywhere – and when I get out to go to a restaurant or whatever I want to be able to quickly check that I haven’t smudged my eyeliner all the way down my cheek or something."
She adds: "A compartment for a handbag, I would love that. Like right there next to you so you know exactly where it is to be able to get things out of it while you’re driving.
If you had to self isolate in a car, which one would you choose?? ?♀️? #stayhome #isolation
A post shared byAlex – that girl with the cars (@supercarblondie) on
"And a lift function to get in when you’ve got heels on, the car will lift up so it’s not as difficult to get in and out of the car."
In recent years, Alex has begun to realise she isn't the only woman supercar fanatic or influencer out there.
She admits: "There are so many women into cars and when I first started this and I’d go to car events it would pretty much be just me and a whole bunch of guys.
"I would be very lucky if I would see another woman there.
If you could leave the house today, which one would you take? La Ferrari ?or Bugatti Chiron ???? #Ferrari #bugatti #supercarblondie
A post shared byAlex – that girl with the cars (@supercarblondie) on
"But now that I have been more established in the industry, I feel a lot more girls are coming out to these car events.
"I didn’t think that I would have an impact like that so for me, just doing something that I love, around cars, and then actually having an impact and making other women feel more comfortable, that makes it all worth it."
Now, here's a look at more of the world's top women making waves in the motor industry…
Becky Evans
Instagram followers: 108,000
Brit influencer Becky Evans, like Alex, is obsessed with cars and has turned her passion into an impressive career, having first started out in racing and now becoming an influencer.
The 26-year-old has already spent two decades gaining experience in the automotive industry.
NORMALITY ish?It’s been such a weird few months for everyone, and to be honest a couple of times it felt impossible to be able to get back on track with things. We are now heading back to work with @driftmasters.gp in August and it’s a real light at the end of the tunnel! I can’t wait to be back running around a racetrack having some fun on the mic. I guess what I wanted to say was if you’ve felt rough at times, trust me when I say I feel ya. But we’re nearly there ❤️
A post shared byBecky Evans (@queenb) on
Her Girls Guide To series, where she explains the pros and cons of various cars, are her highest performing videos – yet she reckons her audience is 90 per cent male.
Her impressive social media career has led to a collaboration with Redbull and a gig as the host of the online show Drift Queen.
In an interview with Marie Claire, she said the internet was shocked to see a young girl working on a car when she first started out her career.
"Once I got out of racing, I wanted to stay around cars, so I posted photos of the modification I did on my car at the time," she told the news outlet.
You know when someone catches you talking to yourself on camera ?
A post shared byBecky Evans (@queenb) on
"And when I built my BMW E-21 and brought that out, things went nuts. It was like the internet had not seen a young girl with [a] vintage car before."
However she insists she's never experienced sexism herself in the industry.
She added: "If anything, it’s not sexism that I’ve encountered, but elitism: if I have experienced sexism it’s gone straight over my head."
Patrice Banks
Instagram followers: 18,900
Patrice Banks, the woman behind Girls Auto Clinic on Instagram, is on a mission to inspire women to repair their own cars.
It all started when she attempted to find a female mechanic online, and was instead directed to a series of stock images of women working on cars in bikinis.
Her motto is: “If you can’t find a female mechanic, become one!”
Her Philadelphia clinic – ran by women only – now provides manicures and pedicures while ladies wait for their cars to be fixed.
Sophia Floersch
Instagram followers: 361,000 followers
German beauty Sophia Floersch is a 19-year-old racecar driver and while she describes herself as "just a normal girl" on her Instagram, she is a very well recognised player in the industry.
She has competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Campos Racing, as well as previously racing in the Formula Regional European Championship, Formula 4 in both Germany and Italy, as well as the Ginetta Junior Championship.
Sophia also won the award for World Comeback of the Year at the 2020 Laureus World Sports Awards in February, after being involved in a horrific crash in 2018.
Throwback to my holiday time on the Maldives ?? in January ? What a beautiful place ☀️ I never posted stories from those days but if you wanna see them comment below and I will upload them in the next couple of days ?|| #sophia #sophia99 #racegirl #changeagent #changes #maldives #holiday #sea #summer #sunnyday
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Throwback to a good start of 2020 ? Holidays on Maldives w/ ?, ?, ?, ☀️ and ❤️ The only bad thing was my sunburn afterwards ? What’s your dream holiday destination? || ? x lovie || #sophia #sophia99 #motorsport #racegirl #changeagent #racing #maldives #holiday #sun #bikini #summervibes
A post shared bySophia ? (@sophiafloersch) on
Sophia fractured her spine in the smash at the Macau Grand Prix, after appearing to lose control on a tight right-hand corner – at 170mph.
After an amazing recovery, she told formula1.com earlier this year: "For me, it’s important to get better each race weekend, work together with the team and have fun. It’s going to be a great year."
Despite being in an industry dominated by men, Sophia is fearlessly feminine and doesn’t shy away from posting photos on social media in glamorous bikinis too.
Sonja Reid
Instagram followers: 416,000
Sonja Reid is most famous for being a gamer, but she is a rising supercar influencer too.
The Canadian living in Los Angeles, 29, collaborates on sponsored posts with Karma Automotive, a Southern California vehicle manufacturer.
She's since shared photos of her posing beside cars, taking part in motor events and promoting her own car collection online too – with big names being promoted in each of her posts.
Sonja is also regularly invited along to automotive events and posts photos and videos from each appearance to her 416,000 followers. Not a bad job!
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