Emelia Hartford
{{Short description|Race car driver and builder}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Emelia-Hartford-at-Corvette-C8-Z06-reveal.png
| caption = Hartford in 2021
| name = Emelia Hartford
| nationality = American
| occupation = {{Hlist|YouTuber|actress|TV host|influencer}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1993|07|29}}{{cn|date=June 2024}}
| years_active = 2017–present
| partner =
| relatives =
| website = {{URL|emeliahartford.com}}
| module = {{Infobox YouTube personality|embed=yes
| channel_display_name = Emelia Hartford
| channel_handle = @EmeliaHartford
| genre = Vlogs
| subscribers = 1.78 million
| views = 479.34 million
| network =
| associated_acts =
| silver_button = yes
| gold_button = yes
| stats_update = October 14, 2024
}}
}}
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.
Background
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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/autos/2021/03/20/driving-instagram-traffic-and-likes.html|title=Driving Instagram Traffic and Likes|last=Porter|first=Ryan|date=March 20, 2021|work=The Toronto Star}}
Film, TV, and media
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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/gran-turismo-national-cinema-day-box-office//|title=Gran Turismo’ Opens to $17.3 Million as National Cinema Day Boosts Box Office|date=August 27, 2023|work=TheWarp}}
Prior to this she had a role in the 2021 Netflix film A California Christmas: City Lights.{{Cite news|url=https://popternative.com/entertainment/interview-emelia-hartford-talks-city-lights-on-netflix-driving-more/|title=Interview: Emelia Hartford Talks City Lights on Netflix, Driving & More|date=December 9, 2021|work=Popternative}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/titmouse-motortrend-super-turbo-story-time-1235289411/|title=MotorTrend and Big Mouth Producer Titmouse Set Super Turbo Story Time (EXCLUSIVE)|last=Hopewell|first=John|date=June 9, 2022|work=Variety}}
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.{{cite web | url=https://media.chevrolet.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2021/oct/1020-corvette.html | title=T-Minus 8,600 Minutes: 'Putting the World on Notice' | date=20 October 2021 }} In June 2022, she appeared as a guest on the podcast of Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company.{{Cite news|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2022/05/19/ford-ceo-jim-farley-launches-spotify-podcast-cars/9822614002/|title=Ford CEO Jim Farley launches Spotify podcast on cars|last=Hall|first=Kalea|date=May 19, 2022|work=The Detroit News}}{{cite podcast |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/4HSK8iFtQjxVH9rpYcD51n |title=Emelia Hartford: Living at a Higher RPM |publisher=Spotify |host=Jim Farley |date=June 15, 2022 |access-date=June 27, 2022}}
In September 2023, she also began co-hosting the weekly podcast Car Stories alongside co-host Sung Kang; co-star of the Fast & Furious franchise.{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2023/09/fast-furious-sung-kang-gran-turismos-emelia-hartford-podcast-1235545167/|title=Fast & Furious’ Star Sung Kang & ‘Gran Turismo’s Emelia Hartford Drive Off With ‘Car Stories’ Podcast|date=September 13, 2023|work=Deadline}}
Corvette C8 World Record Build
"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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.motortrend.com/news/emelia-hartford-worlds-fastest-c8-corvette/|title=How Emelia Hartford Built Her Sub-10-Second C8 Corvette
|last=Yekikian|first=Nick|date=August 3, 2021|work=Motor Trend}} In June 2021, Hartford drove the car to a 9.36-second time with a trap speed of {{convert|147|mph|0}} at the Famoso Raceway in Southern California during a private testing event. This result surpassed her previous record of 9.41 seconds at {{cvt|144|mph|0|adj=on}} set in March 2021.{{Cite news|url=https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35765361/twin-turbo-c8-corvette-quarter-mile-world-record/|title=Watch This 1022-HP Twin-Turbo C8 Corvette Break its Own Quarter-Mile World Record|last=Silvestro|first=Brian|date=March 8, 2021|work=Yahoo News}} This record was later surpassed by a custom C8 by FuelTech which finished the quarter-mile in 8.973 seconds at {{convert|160.92|mph}}.{{Cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/closer-look-world-fastest-c8-213000928.html|title=Get a Closer Look at the World's Fastest C8 Corvette|last=Symes|first=Steven|date=June 23, 2022|work=Yahoo News}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/emilia-hartford-no-longer-has-the-most-powerful-c8-corvette/|title=Emelia Hartford no longer has the most powerful C8 Corvette|last=Angelov|first=Dim|date=September 20, 2021|work=Top Speed}}
Nissan Z World Record Build
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 {{convert|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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewmacconnell/2025/01/16/emelia-hartfords-nissan-z-crushes-quarter-mile-world-record/|title=Emelia Hartford’s Nissan Z Crushes Quarter-Mile World Record|last=Matthew|first=Macconnell|date=January 16, 2025|work=Forbes}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- [https://www.instagram.com/ms.emelia/ Emelia Hartford on Instagram]
- [https://www.youtube.com/c/EmeliaHartford/ Emelia Hartford on YouTube]
- [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3337778/ Emelia Hartford on IMDB]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartford, Emelia}}