Latest / That Car Show / The White Elephant in the Room

Transcript

The White Elephant in the Room · That Car Show

0:00
He did. He would wash it and put it back
0:01
on. This week on that Car show, we
0:05
talk about Ryan's recent experiences driving what he says
0:09
is the best car he's ever driven.
0:12
We also talk about Lindsay's experiences at the valet.
0:15
Always check how many tows your valet driver has.
0:19
I talk a little bit about being a victim of crime.
0:22
We then rave for a little while about the Gymkhana video.
0:25
The latest Gymkhana video is out of this world.
0:28
We talk about that in a little bit of detail.
0:31
When was peak Mercedes? We have three different views
0:35
and three great perspectives, so we'll talk about that for a
0:38
little bit. Secret Santa, It's that time of
0:40
year where sharing is caring. We go on to Drake Motors website
0:45
and pick out a car for each of us.
0:47
Some usual predictions, but also a couple of surprises.
0:51
White elephants, it's a new thing to me.
0:53
We don't have that in the UK, but did you get a dashboard?
0:56
Jesus, those gifts and many more in the white elephants
0:59
conversation. And finally, we announced the
1:03
winner of the latest book competition where a lucky winner
1:07
has won a copy of the Ride Book. All that and a whole lot more on
1:11
this week's That Car. Show Oh hey, you are my spirit
1:18
animal. Welcome to this week's episode
1:22
of that car show and those that can't see we have a Grinch, we
1:27
do I'm done with that that's. I was going to say, if you do
1:31
the entire show in that math, I was going to be impressed.
1:34
That's a commitment. I've got some sort of fake hair
1:37
in my mouth now. It's called Grinch fur.
1:44
Munching on Grinch carpets. And we're off and running.
1:52
Are we? Are we PG13 or what?
1:54
We're going to end the year on a bang.
1:56
Yeah, anyway, welcome to this week's Crew show.
2:00
The crew are in festive spirit as we start to see in the
2:04
Christmas holiday period. How are you guys doing?
2:08
Great. I feel like the end of the year
2:10
is just like full speed ahead. It'll be here before we know it.
2:13
How about you guys? Right.
2:16
And it's been a year hasn't. It it has been a year.
2:19
Good guy. Has it been a year?
2:21
You know, all of the Instagram memes of like, yeah, the year
2:24
was like January, January, January, like Fast forward an
2:28
hour in December. Yep, that that's how it feels.
2:31
It's. Basically, yeah, let's pour one
2:33
out for. 2025 old jobs engagements.
2:36
We've had the lot, haven't we? Yes, I know.
2:41
Yeah, big changes that no one saw coming that are amazing.
2:44
But yeah, like didn't have any of this on my bingo card but.
2:50
We're still smiling. That's the main thing, isn't it?
2:52
Yes. Yes.
3:02
If you need a last minute appetizer for that party that
3:04
you forgot, don't forget Dan's favorite Grinch fur.
3:07
Grinch fur for the win. Ryan, I think the last time we
3:11
spoke to you, you were going to go on a road trip in the
3:14
Genesis. I was going to go on a road
3:16
trip. Yeah.
3:17
Yeah. So God, do we have where does
3:20
the time go? Because we've had nothing but
3:22
guest shows since that happened. But right.
3:24
Yeah. Big, big UPS, as they say for
3:27
the Genesis GV 70. It's a hell of a thing.
3:30
A lot of car for the money. It was a wonderful companion for
3:34
the journey. And then I've got another
3:37
journey coming up for Christmas. And Toyota, they've been kind
3:40
enough to provide me the car we all lusted after at the LA Auto
3:45
Show. Do you recall?
3:47
Wait the. Toyota.
3:49
Crown. Yes, the Crown sedan or station
3:53
wagon. This is the.
3:54
Station wagon that no one knows exists, including myself until I
3:57
saw it at the LA Auto Show. I had driven the sedan when that
4:00
was new at a press day, but I didn't even know that this wagon
4:04
existed. And the reason why is because
4:06
they are marketing it as in as a crossover, as an SUV wagon is
4:11
nowhere to be found on the website.
4:13
And then we all saw to bring this back to Genesis, that new
4:16
wagon that they've introduced or that they've that they've
4:20
announced, I guess is supposed to be coming up and people are
4:22
losing their collective shit. And yet Toyota has a station
4:26
wagon of their own that maybe isn't quite as cool, but it's
4:29
still pretty cool. And it's got a great interior
4:31
and it's available now. And so I get one for for
4:35
Christmas to drive to the Twin Cities for the holidays.
4:38
And so thank you, Toyota. I'm looking forward to that.
4:41
Fantastic. How many hours behind the wheel
4:44
did you do in the Genesis and was it comfortable?
4:47
It was wonderful. It's about 2000 miles when all
4:49
this said and done. We drove through record winds
4:51
the whole way there. We stopped at some incredible
4:54
roadside attractions along the way.
4:57
You'll have to see my auto blog article for more.
5:00
But yeah, it's a really fantastic thing.
5:02
It's like 360 horsepower or something, so you know all the
5:06
power you'd ever want. Great through weather.
5:09
As you see in the article, I had some some struggles with the
5:12
Bang and Olufsen sound system and dialing it in, but other
5:16
than that the car was damn near perfect for a a family road
5:19
trip. And yeah, hoping the the
5:21
Toyota's a similar kind of thing.
5:24
Well, you'll be definitely comparing like it's a very
5:26
similar comparison and you're doing the same.
5:30
You know, you're doing another long road trip in it.
5:32
So it'll be a good you'll be able to really compare.
5:35
And in fact 3. 160 horsepower is enough to terrorize the Iowa
5:39
drivers. It is, yeah.
5:41
And in fact, there is a A4 cylinder version as well.
5:43
And that's maybe a closer analog to the the Crown because even
5:47
though there is a six cylinder hybrid in the sedan, the wagon
5:50
for whatever reason only comes as the four-cylinder hybrid.
5:54
So I guess this is yeah, more of a comparison with the the lower
5:58
level GV 70. But no, I'm looking, I'm looking
6:02
forward to it. I like these drives like you,
6:03
you said it's been a hell of a year and there's really, you
6:07
know, no opportunity to check out like there isn't a 12 or 14
6:10
hour road trip, so. That's true.
6:14
It'd be fun. And Lindsay, I hear there's a
6:17
story about valets, but I I want to know more.
6:21
I can't wait to tell you guys. So it's a pretty quick story but
6:25
I've been thinking. So this happened.
6:27
I valet the X3 last weekend. Manual X3.
6:33
The manual X3? Yes, that's key to the story.
6:36
This was the thing, a manual X3. In case you're listening and you
6:38
don't know, this was very much a thing when the X3 first
6:41
generation, second generation. First Gen. they only did the
6:45
manual in O7 and O8. OK, OK.
6:49
Yeah. So, yeah.
6:50
So mine is a manual and I'm anytime I valet it, I always
6:56
check with the valet because they don't expect it to be a
6:59
manual. Not everybody can drive a manual
7:00
anymore. Whatever.
7:02
But I was meeting some friends and I had gotten stuck behind
7:05
somebody going 20 in a 35. So I was more delayed than I
7:10
wanted to be. And I was, you know, racing to
7:12
get in and threw the keys and didn't stop to ask the guy
7:16
whether he could drive a manual. And I made it just inside the
7:19
door of the restaurant. I was giving him my coat.
7:21
And the guy came back in the restaurant.
7:22
He's like, ma'am, could you, would you mind stepping outside?
7:27
And I was like, oh, he can't drive a manual, you know, And I
7:29
was laughing at myself. I forgot to ask him.
7:31
So we're walking back out and I, he said, yeah, I just, I didn't
7:35
realize it was a manual. And I said, you know, I always
7:37
check and I meant to and just forgot.
7:40
And he goes, yeah, my toe fell off.
7:42
So I can't drive a manual right now.
7:44
And he goes, but if you can just, you can back it right in
7:47
here. It's all.
7:48
I'll help you. And in my haste to get that
7:51
taken care of and join my party, I didn't really pause on that.
7:56
And I kind of laughed like, you know, that's a funny like way to
7:59
say I can't drive a manual. So I backed the car in.
8:03
He came over to thank me again. He's like, I'm so sorry.
8:07
And I was teasing him. I said, does this mean I get a
8:09
discount since I parked my own car?
8:11
And he said, yeah. He said, you know, I don't know
8:14
how this works, but you get to keep your keys.
8:16
And I said, great, thank you so much, I appreciate it, happy to
8:19
do it. And as I got out of the car, he
8:23
started to say again, yeah, I just, I can't drive a manual
8:26
right now. And I said, did you say that
8:28
your toe fell off? And he said, yeah, I lost 2
8:33
toes. And I looked at him and I
8:36
realized he's not kidding. Like it wasn't a throwaway.
8:39
It wasn't a funny way of saying anything.
8:42
And I'm like, all right, I have time to get the story.
8:44
So I said, what do you mean your toes fell off?
8:48
Like they came off? And he said, oh, frostbite.
8:51
But it's fine. I just can't put pressure on my
8:53
foot for right now. And I'm like, I might just skip
8:57
the whole dinner because I need the story, have to find out what
9:01
happened. And he was so nonchalant about
9:03
it, you know, and I was. Looking at it like a a ski bro
9:06
or something like what was I mean it was his angle homeless
9:10
like when why did he get frostbite so bad that his toes.
9:13
Were And he was, I know he was a young guy.
9:15
He wasn't really volunteering much, so I didn't pry beyond
9:19
confirming that he wasn't kidding when he said his toe
9:21
fell off. Yeah, but so that is definitely
9:25
the strangest reason that Evala has not been able to park the
9:29
car. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
9:33
Validate this by the flip flops he was wearing.
9:36
Yeah. Do you think it was
9:36
embarrassment? I can't drive stick, but I can't
9:38
tell them I can't drive stick. So I'm just going to make a
9:41
story of that. I lost toes.
9:43
Well, that's we were talking about it at the table because I
9:46
told everybody later, I'm like you guys have to hear this
9:48
story. This is why I was even later
9:51
joining you because this was unfolding at the front door of
9:54
the restaurant. And people started going like,
9:57
same thing. Like, do you think maybe he just
9:59
didn't want to admit that he can't?
10:01
So he came up with this story where he's like, what can I say?
10:03
Where nobody will question me. They will feel empathy for me,
10:07
you know, So it'll take the sting out of you have to park
10:10
your own car for somebody that might get frustrated about that,
10:14
You know, it was wild. And I mean, I'm always happier
10:17
parking my own car anyway. So, you know, I would never wish
10:22
that on anyone. But yeah, I walked back in the
10:24
restaurant just kind of like what just happened.
10:27
He didn't say I lost my toes or, you know, they just fell off.
10:32
Well, that's why when he first said it and we were in the
10:36
shuffle of like getting it sorted out and getting the car
10:39
actually parked, I didn't really pause on it because I'm like,
10:42
that's such a funny thing. Toes don't generally just fall
10:45
off, you know, like they're not generally detachable on their
10:48
own without something. So it was so funny.
10:51
I went like, oh, ha, ha, yeah. And then I thought, no, like,
10:55
that's also a very odd thing to say if that's not what's going
10:59
on, so. Yeah, shout out to the band King
11:02
Missile, who had a song about a detachable body part many years
11:05
ago. I was thinking about that same
11:07
song. Yes, for those of a certain era
11:09
they will enjoy. They will enjoy the reference
11:13
and if you don't know, just search detachable song.
11:16
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also very nice chalant
11:19
protagonist in the song so. Yeah, for dealing with what he
11:23
was dealing with, the unfolding of that story and how he lived
11:26
his life was fascinating. I mean at 1:00.
11:28
Point. Put it back on.
11:30
He did. He would wash it and put it back
11:31
on. I like the part when he finds it
11:34
on a blanket next to a toaster and he has to pay.
11:38
He has to buy it back, takes it home, washes it and puts it back
11:42
on. Well, are you in for a treat?
11:48
When we're done recording, you get to go look this up or I will
11:51
send it to you. If I remember.
11:52
But it was like, was it mid 90s, right or before?
11:55
93 because it was the one year I worked at a college radio
11:59
station and it was in heavy, heavy rotation.
12:01
Because that's, you know, hilarious.
12:03
There'd never been a song like that before that point, and
12:06
probably never will again. Well, you're.
12:09
Right, that cache playlist. Right King missile.
12:11
King Missile. I'm so glad you knew the band
12:14
name because as we were talking I'm like, wait, there is one
12:17
other time I have been hearing about a detachable body part,
12:20
but I couldn't think of the band.
12:23
Speaking of what's on your head, Lindsay?
12:26
These are these. You can't if you're not.
12:28
Want holiday show? That's right.
12:29
So these are an antler. I have an antler headband with
12:35
ears and some bells and holly and Garland actually now that
12:39
I'm looking at it. And I have a Christmas free
12:42
sweatshirt on but you can't see it and these antlers are
12:45
determined to fling themselves off my head.
12:48
So we'll see how long they last also.
12:50
They're really normal attire, right?
12:53
Well, come on, give me a little credit here.
12:55
This this could. Be office.
12:56
Christmas party or totally drunk uncle.
13:00
So this was a gift. This is, I don't know how you
13:03
pronounce this. It's one of the Glen's.
13:04
It's a Scotch. Glen Marangie.
13:07
Glen Marangie. OK, I didn't want to get it
13:08
wrong. This is from friend of the show
13:10
Dan McGinnis. So I'm going to open this up
13:12
tonight and drink this so either office Christmas party or drunk
13:15
uncle, but I'm going to tie and I'm drinking Scotch so.
13:19
Cheers for the win. I know Dan Dan McGuinness is the
13:24
best. That's amazing.
13:25
That's an. Awesome, champ.
13:26
Yes, gentlemen. And he let you drive his
13:29
recently modified car. Guys.
13:32
And now I was afraid this was going to happen.
13:35
So if you're listening, you probably know I have a 718 GT 4.
13:38
Well, Dan, if you're listening, probably know Dan has what's
13:41
probably the highest mileage 718 Spider in the country.
13:45
He's got I think 103 XXX 1000. Well, and it just keeps ticking
13:51
up too. Yeah, yeah.
13:53
And he so you know, on his on his original clutch, which is
13:56
kind of crazy and he drives us out of that car.
13:59
But anyway, he figured maybe it was time for a clutch.
14:01
Apparently he didn't even need a clutch, but he decided this is a
14:03
good time to do the shark works re gearing.
14:07
So if you know the 718 cars, you know that they're geared very
14:10
long, so you can do 58 or whatever in first gear, right?
14:14
And it's kind of like that throughout the Rev range.
14:17
So shark works. And then there's another, I
14:19
think it's demand out on the East Coast offer.
14:23
Well, they do a couple of things.
14:24
They do a engine conversion if, if, if that's yeah, if that's
14:29
your thing. But but really more importantly,
14:31
they do this re gearing and so they gear the gears.
14:35
So they're much more natural, right?
14:36
So no matter where you are, as you accelerate, you're in the
14:39
the power band and it's, it's it's awesome.
14:44
It's awesome. So he had a new clutch put in.
14:46
He had this this re gearing done and then they put a lighter
14:49
flywheel and at the same time and it's magic.
14:52
It has ruined me for anything else, including my own 718
14:55
because I was going to ask it is that that good now?
14:58
It's like 10s of thousands of dollars to do this and.
15:01
So you have to ask. Is it worth it?
15:04
It might be. It's that good and it just
15:06
transforms and you know, an already amazing car into
15:09
something that's just sublime. And I I just got it was good.
15:13
It was just so good. So if you ever have the chance,
15:17
I mean, Matt Farah has this. I don't know if he has shark
15:20
works. He may have the demand.
15:21
He did the demand one. Yeah, the engine and the gearing
15:24
and. Yeah, I was told to look into
15:26
Shark works years ago for the GT3 and I remember bulking at
15:29
the price tag, but it sounds like it's worth it.
15:34
It might be it just and then you've got you're out without
15:36
your car for like two or three months, right?
15:37
Well, they, they get it all together and they ship things
15:39
back, back and forth and stuff. But it is so, so good.
15:43
It feels like you're, you know, we're at altitude here, right?
15:46
You know, Denver's 5280, we only go up from here.
15:49
And so it, it, it feels like you are driving the car at sea
15:52
level, right? But it's better than that,
15:55
right? It's just tighter and, and just,
15:57
it was just so good. And Dan's dance.
16:00
So his car is aligned just so with the exact, you know, right
16:02
toe in and all this kind of stuff.
16:04
And it's just that that that may have been the best car I've ever
16:08
driven, the best sports car I've ever driven.
16:10
Holy moly. Wow, that's that good?
16:13
That good. So someday when my ship comes in
16:17
right, spend my money. Instead, it's a lot cheaper than
16:23
the Carrera GT. That's for sure.
16:25
That's for sure. I mean to be.
16:27
GT. And then the the balance of my
16:30
bank account, 100%, hundred percent, 100 percent, 100% high
16:34
price. Again, the only word is sublime.
16:36
It's just fantastic. And you wouldn't think that such
16:39
a small thing would make such a big difference.
16:42
But it also kind of pisses you off that Porsche didn't just
16:44
make the car like that, right? Yeah.
16:46
So there's. That, well, you know, they're,
16:50
they're creating jobs, so they're investing in the economy
16:53
by creating this opportunity for shark works to step in.
16:55
That's that's right. That's right.
16:59
That's what it. Is I?
17:00
I just. Did you ever get the chance?
17:02
Yeah. I don't want to drive it because
17:04
that means you'll know what you're missing, right?
17:07
Well, that's it. We all the three of us have this
17:09
car basically right? Manual transmission 7 eighteens
17:14
with the four liter 6 or. More.
17:17
Than 8 but yeah, you know, I mean and and they do the the
17:20
gearing for both models and I mean it really is that good.
17:23
I mean, it might upset you. OK, Dan, don't come anywhere
17:27
near me with that car. Yeah, it's the mod whose name
17:30
you dare not speak. Right.
17:33
But it's the toss up because also, if somebody's going to
17:36
throw you their keys, like far be it from any of us to turn
17:40
that down, right? Yeah, yeah, also you guys in
17:43
convertibles, I think you got it figured out.
17:46
Yeah, you've even cross shopped a spider or a cab or boxed or
17:50
whatever. I just, you know, and we took
17:53
that car out and it was just like the perfect weather day,
17:55
you know, it's just, it's just. Perfect.
17:57
Nice SO. Dan, do you find that you leave
18:00
your top down a lot on the car? I do, but my car's not being
18:04
driven at the minute, yeah. Because it's got, I went to the
18:09
UK on it. Well it's not on it yet.
18:11
I went to the UK for a week and when I came back someone had
18:16
stolen my license plates. Can you believe it?
18:19
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19:01
tell them that car show sent you.
19:05
Did they, do you think it was for the registration stickers
19:08
because you didn't have a personalized plate, right?
19:10
No, I think it was for the license plate frame.
19:15
Oh, that's right. So I've got a head 1199 license
19:21
plate frame, which for those not in the know, there is an amazing
19:25
charity called the 1199 Foundation.
19:28
And if you contribute to that charity, you get a license plate
19:32
to say that you have a frame. And in theory all the funds go
19:37
to fallen offices and not in theory.
19:38
In reality, all the funds go to fallen offices of the California
19:42
Highway Patrol. And you know, those things are
19:45
quite hard to come by. They look at your driving record
19:49
and all that sort of stuff. So the the cheat code is
19:51
probably to steal it. So it's probably on eBay
19:53
somewhere. I do have new license plates
19:58
through fault of my own, kind of.
20:01
I spent almost a day at the DMV this week.
20:04
Oh no. So the first thing I did is I
20:07
went to AAA and those are not familiar.
20:09
AAA is a driver's members club. It's been around for I think
20:13
over 100 years and they're able to do licensing in many ways,
20:18
shapes and forms, but what I found out is the only thing they
20:21
can't do is replacement license plates for stolen of.
20:25
Course the one thing you need. Help with Yeah.
20:28
So I then went to the DMVI, lined up very nice people.
20:33
They told me I didn't have two forms of ID on me.
20:36
So I then had to go home, come back with the passport and then
20:40
line up again. So I think by about 2:00 I, I
20:43
had license plates in my hand. I just need to get them fitted
20:46
to the car now. But yeah.
20:48
So in answer to your question, it's not been driven much at all
20:50
with the top down or the top up. Yeah, right.
20:53
Yeah, the top is irrelevant at the moment.
20:55
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm telling you with SIA.
21:00
All day. Long it's I mean, the good news
21:02
is that it appears they haven't damaged the car, right?
21:04
That's that would be the worst. You know that.
21:06
Would be insult to injury for. Sure, no cameras.
21:10
In the. Garage, not in the garage
21:12
unfortunately. So ongoing investigations
21:17
apparently. So we all see, let's talk about
21:22
a more fun, a more fun topic. Have you guys seen what is the I
21:28
think the best YouTube video of the year which is the the gym
21:32
carner with Travis Pastrana in Australia?
21:34
Yeah. So I have not seen it yet, but I
21:37
have been seeing your messages about it.
21:39
So I want to hear your take on it and then I will be watching
21:42
it. With that, Lindsay, if there was
21:44
a naughty step, you'd have to go and stand on it right now
21:47
because. It's just cool.
21:49
Yeah, Dan's super nanny Pilling. Yeah.
21:51
There we go. Yeah, Doubtfire or whatever the
21:55
equivalent is, yeah. Well, they were.
21:57
Both British so, well, Scottish. It's not.
22:01
Yeah. Oh, that's true.
22:02
Super Nanny was British, right? Yes, yeah, OK.
22:06
From the British Isles, Would you accept that?
22:08
British Isles that will. Yeah, that will work nicely.
22:11
So Ken Block obviously had a history of creating these videos
22:14
that were called Gymkhana. Yeah.
22:16
And in essence, they were celebrations of tires shredding
22:21
and, you know, seeing what you could do with cars and, and Ken
22:24
was a master and he would be able to put cars in positions
22:27
that, you know, would be a first take.
22:30
And obviously, when we lost Ken, Travis Pastrana took over.
22:35
And I think last week, they launched the latest video in the
22:37
series of Jim Carnas. Travis is down under.
22:42
He is sporting a big mustache and he is in a Subaru Brat.
22:48
Do you guys remember the Subaru Brat?
22:51
I do. And I remember you got to spend
22:54
some time with Travis before he went to film this, right?
22:58
Yeah, The funniest thing in that was I spent the day with Travis,
23:00
driving him around LA back in August.
23:03
The funniest thing was he told me in the car that he was doing
23:06
this new gym carner, but he said it was top secret.
23:09
He couldn't tell me where it was going to be.
23:12
And then towards the end of the day, we bumped into a friend of
23:15
Travis's at one of the events I was driving into.
23:18
And at the end of their conversation, his friend went,
23:20
I'll see you next week in Australia.
23:22
So I was like, ah, so that's where it's gonna be so.
23:25
Through no fault of his own, you found out.
23:28
No, so this video is just so beautifully shot.
23:33
That's the first thing it's you know, it's a masterpiece.
23:37
I shared it with some friends of mine the other day who are not
23:39
car people and they were stuck to the screen.
23:42
They were watching it and just couldn't look away.
23:44
So that's my first take away is that it's just visually
23:48
stunning. So that's the first one.
23:51
The second one is the brat. So they took the brat to, and
23:56
those not familiar, the brat is a pickup, A2 door pickup that
24:01
has two seats in the back to get around the chicken tax.
24:04
And we didn't really have the chicken tax, but from what I
24:07
understand, the chicken tax was that America was selling too
24:11
many chickens to Europe and in return they put a tax on trucks.
24:17
So American trucks and other trucks were being taxed heavily.
24:22
So to get around that by putting two seats in the back, it was no
24:25
longer a truck. Is that right?
24:26
Yeah, it was to make it not a truck quote, UN quote.
24:30
Yeah. And let's let's just qualify
24:32
this. It's a very small, right?
24:34
It's it's like a car, right? It's like, it's more like a mini
24:37
El Camino than a truck, right? Yeah, It's a tiny thing.
24:40
It's a tiny thing, a sporty looking thing.
24:42
Yeah. But I do remember all like the
24:44
cool, you know, people of a certain age when I was younger
24:47
driving those around and I just thought those were the coolest
24:49
thing, right? Those two little like seats and
24:51
with like grab handles, right? Yeah, yeah.
24:55
It's just such a weird thing. So they've previously done the
24:59
Huckster, which is like the little wagon.
25:04
They've done an air Slayer. And this time around the the
25:08
Brat got the treatment of Vermont sports car racing.
25:11
And if you're not familiar with Vermont, those guys turn cars
25:14
into rally cars or hill climb cars.
25:16
And they took the car and they applied a lot of magic to that
25:20
car. One of the first opening scenes,
25:23
and I won't ruin the video for everyone, I've got to go watch
25:25
it, but one of the opening parts of the scenes, Travis takes on a
25:31
river crossing. And later in the video, someone
25:35
else takes on a river crossing. And there's two very different
25:38
outcomes. So, you know, the car is
25:42
fantastic. The visuals are fantastic.
25:45
Some of the scenes, there's one scene where there is a jump and
25:48
the camera pans to the inside and floating is the sunglasses
25:53
and the hat and they're just floating in the sea.
25:57
I just just beautifully shot. So yeah, it's funny because when
26:02
Ken was around, Ken tried to do a hooligan in Australia and the
26:06
government of Australia said no. So I guess it's a good testament
26:10
to his legacy that they recognized how important, you
26:13
know, the series is now and said yes.
26:15
Well, and there was something, maybe it was in the lead up or
26:19
when they went to start filming this, I think Brian Scotto
26:22
posted something he shared about when they had tried to do the
26:26
initial one in Australia and the permits were denied or whatever
26:29
the issue was. They made that into their
26:32
marketing campaign because I can't remember where they ended
26:34
up shooting it, but when they released it, they're like, it
26:37
was, you know, too big for Australia was the the slogan
26:40
basically. And they just leveraged it into
26:43
a funny story and made that the whole campaign.
26:45
So, you know, Australia seems to have noticed.
26:48
Yeah, it's. It's a must see.
26:52
It's really, really well done to your point, Dan.
26:54
And I don't know how they keep topping themselves, but they do,
26:58
right. And in a world of CGI and, and,
27:01
you know, and AI and all that, I mean, this still like captures
27:04
your attention. Again, I don't want to ruin too
27:07
much, but that brat looks awesome.
27:09
It looks better than any RWB Porsche, I'll tell you that.
27:13
And there is a scene where they are sliding it on a pier in the
27:17
tail end of the car. It's like a real slide on a, on
27:19
a skateboard, right? Yeah.
27:21
And it's just just phenomenal. Like, I the, the skill set and
27:25
just the giant, giant balls that man has.
27:27
That combination makes for some absolutely wonderful viewing.
27:32
Absolutely recommend it. 2 thumbs up and just really,
27:37
really well done, beautifully shot and just.
27:39
I don't. You think you're a good driver
27:41
and then you watch something like that and you realize how
27:43
much. You go watch that.
27:45
Wow. Yeah, it's phenomenal.
27:47
Well, maybe I'll make that one of the movies for Family Movie
27:51
Night over the holidays. It's 20 minutes or something,
27:55
right? And if, if, if that right, it's
27:56
yeah, it's, it's a quick really good.
27:58
It's a good one. Really good, so hats off to
28:01
everyone involved in that. They've done a great job.
28:04
Yeah, I can't wait to watch it. So next year is 250 years of
28:09
America. It's also 100 years of Route 66.
28:15
So the first car company that's really kind of celebrating that
28:19
is Chevrolet and they've already announced some special editions
28:24
for next year called the Chevy Stars and Steel editions.
28:27
So if you guys have seen this. Yeah, I've read about it.
28:32
Polarizing. What do we think?
28:35
I'm sort of, I'm not sure if there's, I love the idea of
28:39
celebrating these milestones. It's sort of feels like a bit of
28:44
a marketing ploy to sell cars because it sounds like the only
28:49
differences, the package is not a performance package.
28:53
It's just cosmetic, if I'm understanding correctly.
28:56
So it's exciting. And if you're a Chevy enthusiast
29:00
and a patriot and you know all of that, I could see the I could
29:04
see the appeal. I'm just curious how big the
29:06
audience actually is. Yeah.
29:08
Yeah. What do you guys think?
29:10
I'm just looking at it, looks like they did it in 1974.
29:14
Oh, they did. Yeah, this is this is the modern
29:18
version of something they've done before.
29:21
And it's about 5-5 models. OK, now Stars and Steel is not a
29:26
good name. Let's start with the name.
29:28
Let's. Start there.
29:30
Is that like a Jackie Collins book?
29:34
Dan, hand me your Grinch mask. All right, I'm going to rant.
29:38
This is It's a Jackie Collins book, back in the days when the
29:40
covers were actually like oil paintings instead of AI
29:43
generator. Right, Right.
29:45
Yeah, Yeah. The Grinch knows what's up.
29:47
I I'm not a fan of this kind of crap.
29:48
I'm just going to come out and say it.
29:50
First of all, it was a very different America 50 years ago
29:53
when we were celebrating our bicentennial.
29:55
We're a much more divided country in 2025.
29:58
I don't think the celebration has quite the same Zing, right?
30:01
Stars and steel, To your point, Lindsay just sort of seems like
30:05
a grab. I don't know, you know, it just
30:07
wrapped up in patriotism. And I just.
30:09
I I yeah, give me a little something extra, right?
30:12
Give me. Yeah, I kept reading.
30:14
I'm like, OK and and they get suspension or, and it has a
30:17
horsepower boost or anything. Yeah, I don't know.
30:22
You know, again, just like Porsche is creating jobs by
30:25
leaving this, you know, opportunity for shark works,
30:27
maybe Chevy is trying to unite the country or GM with this new
30:32
package that they'll be offering.
30:33
Next year, right? It's a unifying thing.
30:35
It's yeah. It's a cans across the.
30:37
Marketing media, yeah. Yeah, exactly.
30:40
That was the really. Want to want to go back?
30:42
No, I just listen, the three of us, I mean, Danny didn't grow up
30:45
in the States. But Lindsay, you and I, I mean,
30:47
we grew up in that era of like, let's like slap some stickers on
30:52
a car and make, you know, now it's special, right?
30:54
Right. So I think I'm just so cynical
30:56
about that kind of stuff. Yeah.
30:59
And I mean, I don't know if they look better if it was, but it's
31:03
just an appearance package and I don't know, the more things
31:06
change, the more. Things just stay the same.
31:07
I guess I'm sort of side eye about stuff that's solely an
31:11
appearance package. Like it has to be really special
31:15
for me to not sort of be like, it's not for me, you know, like
31:20
there has to be there has to be some differentiation, I think
31:23
partly because you know, they're going to try and charge a
31:25
premium I would assume. And it's really at the end of
31:29
the day is for some decals or paint.
31:31
I think it's stickers. I don't know.
31:35
Not for. Me, it's like 2 thumbs down from
31:37
that car show. Dan's all over it though, right?
31:40
Like Dan what? You've got an order on what is.
31:44
That yeah, cancel my pre-order. You get tickets to, I don't
31:49
know, whatever the latest country and western festival is
31:52
for you as well. You don't, but that would be a
31:54
good. Idea Chevy.
31:55
Maybe it'd be worth it. I was going to say that's how
31:58
they're going. To.
32:00
Yeah. Yeah, so the gauntlet is now
32:03
laid down. Ford, you can do better.
32:05
Let's see what you can do to celebrate 250 years of America.
32:08
That's right. Ford always does better, right?
32:12
Lindsay Absolutely, yeah. There we go.
32:15
No question. Yeah, you've heard it here.
32:18
We need more happy cars in our lives and Fiat are going to come
32:22
to the rescue with one. Did you guys see this article?
32:27
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're so cute.
32:30
And I, I saw them, I first saw them in France at the beginning
32:35
of the year and I'm so excited to hear they're going to be
32:38
here. Yeah, it's a, it's a cute little
32:41
thing. I mean, that's what it is.
32:43
It's a, it's a cute little thing.
32:44
And I hope they sell. And, you know, that's the kind
32:50
of car we need, right? I mean.
32:53
That's right. I know.
32:54
Well, I. Need a little more?
32:56
I think did we step on the name, it's the Fiat Topolino, which
33:00
always makes me think of Mama Topolino in Cars 22.
33:04
And it means Topolino means little mouse.
33:08
And I don't know that it looks like a mouse, but it's, I guess
33:11
I was surprised to read in the article that it's more on par
33:15
with a Moke, which if you know what that is, it's kind of like
33:19
it's like a modern thing, almost like car esque, but I think it's
33:24
a lower horsepower vehicle. So there was some discussion in
33:27
the article about whether it's allowed on the freeway, but they
33:31
really do like when I first saw one on the street, I'm like,
33:34
this looks pretend. I don't know what this is.
33:38
I'm going to Is this something you'd want to take on the
33:40
highway? Like what is?
33:41
I'm looking at the horsepower now.
33:43
I would not. Do you know how many horse power
33:48
this car has? It doesn't sit, but it does say
33:51
that it will unlikely exceed 30 miles an hour.
33:55
Well, I'm going to tell you it has eight.
33:56
It has 8 horsepower. Wow, eight whole.
33:59
Horsepower has five and I push it.
34:01
We know that. Italian horsepower is aren't
34:03
always thoroughbreds. No, No 8 electric horsepower,
34:08
guys. And it will do less than 50
34:12
miles on a. Charge beats a golf cart, right?
34:15
Or does. It.
34:16
Yeah. I mean, if you would like if
34:18
that, especially if it's if it's like on par with a Moke and a
34:22
golf cart, really if you looked at it, you were going to use it
34:25
that way, then, you know, it's kind of a fun thing.
34:28
But it's certainly not a primary vehicle, I guess, at least in my
34:32
mind. Yeah, it puts a smile on your
34:34
face and that's. The main thing isn't it?
34:36
Yeah, definitely. It would also put a smile on
34:38
faces. Would be me and you trying to
34:40
fit in the thing then. Yeah.
34:42
There's a Christmas card for next.
34:43
Year Oh gum, right? That's the show Christmas card.
34:47
Is that our gimmick for next year's?
34:48
Like what tiny cars can we make you guys try and get into?
34:51
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so funny.
34:55
I saw somewhere that the LFG from Myers Manx one car of the
35:01
year. I don't know where I saw that.
35:04
I'll have to look it up. But on the flip side, that is a
35:08
a car. I would definitely go for a
35:09
spin. Absolutely right.
35:11
Yeah, which is kind of funny because in theory those are on,
35:16
they're in the same category. You could argue they are, but I
35:20
think, you know, you wouldn't take the Toppolino off road, you
35:22
wouldn't take a Moke off road. Like the the Myers Banks cars
35:27
are infinitely more capable but still LFG.
35:31
Has what, 600 horsepower? I was going to say like, yeah.
35:35
Right. So this was a table by Classic
35:40
Driver and it was ranked #1 as the coolest car of 2025.
35:46
And I witnessed this car at Willow Springs.
35:48
I think Lindsay, you were there as well towards the end of the
35:51
day. And if you've not been to Willow
35:53
Springs, there's obviously a track out in the in the desert.
35:56
But there's a big, I guess it's not quite a mountain, but a big
35:59
hill in the background. And at the end of the day,
36:01
Richard Tussle got in this thing and just put it up the mountain.
36:05
I'd say it's a mountain. Yeah, I was going to say it
36:07
counts as a mountain. Yeah, this thing is impressive
36:10
so. But again, another car that puts
36:13
a smile on your face and we need more of those.
36:15
Absolutely. You're absolutely right, yeah.
36:19
Very good. Should we do some Secret Santa?
36:22
We should. That car show is proud to
36:25
partner with Drake Motor Cars. Drake Motor Cars is Denver's
36:29
premier destination for exactly the kinds of vehicles that we
36:32
like here at that car show. Think Velocity Broncos, Audi Rs
36:36
Sixes, Acura NS XS, and air cooled Porsches.
36:41
You can see they're complete and constantly changing inventory at
36:43
drakemotorcars.com and check out their amazing online reviews
36:47
from all across the country. But our friends at Drake need
36:51
your specialty cartoon. A sign of a good business is
36:54
when there are more customers than inventory.
36:56
So reach out to Drake too, if you've got a great enthusiast
36:58
car that just doesn't get driven like it used to.
37:02
Find out more at drakemotorcars.com and let them
37:04
know you heard about them on that car show.
37:08
So in honor of our partner Drake Motor Cars, I feel what we would
37:13
do is do a bit of a round of Secret Santa and I've asked the
37:16
guys to pick one car from their current inventory list.
37:20
And that's not an easy thing to do because the inventory list
37:23
seems to keep moving. I guess they're selling lots of
37:25
cars this time of year and stuff.
37:27
People are buying presents. Yeah, and I'm I'm a size pre pre
37:33
runner. If anyone's asking, pick one
37:36
present for each of us and justify your decisions.
37:38
So who wants to go first? I'll go first because you just
37:43
unintentionally segued into my choices and I'm also feeling
37:46
very good about my choices. Interesting.
37:48
Yes. So for Ryan, I went with the
37:53
2000 Acura NSX, which is currently listed on their site
37:58
for just under 160,000 because I feel like we talked about those
38:02
recently. I think it was because of
38:05
there's a company that's bringing them back and doing
38:07
like a bit of a rest O motto. We were talking about would you
38:09
take that or the original? And since this is an original, I
38:13
was like, that looks like Ryan's size.
38:14
We'll go with that. And please excuse the course in
38:17
the background here. It's got the the type R thing
38:21
going on right? The white over white.
38:23
Yeah, Computech is super. Yeah, it's funny because it was
38:28
at the top of the list on the website when I looked and I'm
38:30
like, well, I can't go with the first one.
38:31
So I had to look at the whole list and then I came back to
38:33
that. I'm like, Nope, that's the one
38:34
I'm picking for Ryan. So and then I don't know if in
38:38
your families we try to equalize the, you know, the gift value.
38:42
So very important. So again, when I was right, so
38:47
when I was looking at the list, I'm like, all right, So what
38:49
stands out to me for Dan, and it's hilarious that you just
38:52
said pre runner because what I landed on was the 1965 Ford
38:56
F-100 pre runner. Right.
38:58
So cool. For your and I've decided it's
39:00
now an annual journey for you at a minimum is your trek to Sema
39:04
off road. That was like, this is what he
39:05
needs. And I've I'm declaring that you
39:07
now are going every year doing that.
39:10
And since the truck was only about half the cost on the site
39:14
of the one that I chose for Ryan, I'm like Dan also gets the
39:18
1979 BMW 528I, which is listed for about 60,000 on their site.
39:25
I just thought that was something unique.
39:26
You don't see those too often. I think the crew at Spike's has
39:31
A5 series around that vintage and they've been raving about
39:34
it. So I was like, all right, Dan
39:37
gets to. I spent the same on both of you.
39:40
Everybody's happy. That's very cool, Lindsay.
39:42
Nicely done. Thank you.
39:44
Ryan, are you happy with the the choice?
39:46
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm pretty happy with that.
39:48
I I really, I really like that car very much.
39:51
It's a good looking thing. I have a whole new appreciation
39:53
for NSX. Apparently at the exact same
39:54
time the rest of the world does too.
39:56
And prices are are going up, up, up, but this.
39:59
That's how you know you're on the right track.
40:00
That's that's right. This car solves the one problem
40:02
too that I maybe have with the NSX and that just that needs a
40:05
little more power. So there you, there you go.
40:08
Well, there you. Go, if I could go next, Lindsay,
40:11
there's really only one choice for you and that's the 1966 Ford
40:14
Bronco. But it's a velocity.
40:15
Bronco. So that also solves the problem
40:17
of not enough horsepower. And I've seen this truck in
40:20
person. It's a beautiful thing.
40:21
So velocity is kind of like singer for Broncos and right.
40:25
And they have this beautiful green over tan model.
40:28
It's got a coyote engine in it and it's just I'm sure it it
40:33
drives like all get out, but that that's the only choice.
40:36
What what else could I get here for you?
40:37
I mean, there's that 2012 accord with 29,000 miles, but.
40:41
You know, I kept coming back this.
40:42
Is the one for you so. I know I kept coming back to the
40:45
accord and going like, how do I work this in like for one of you
40:48
guys, but I just couldn't. Make it work.
40:51
It might be the world's nicest accident. 202012 Honda Accord
40:57
but. It's a beautiful red metallic.
40:58
It is a it like as an example. If that's what you're looking
41:01
for, it looked beautiful. Yeah, yeah, 109.
41:05
Yeah, and yeah, yeah. And Dan, for you, there is only
41:08
one option and that is maybe I'm projecting here.
41:12
The 2008 Ferrari 430 Scooteria. It is a beautiful black car, no
41:18
racing stripes. I've been in one of these cars
41:22
and they're fantastic. I just love everything about
41:25
them. They're, you know, the, the, the
41:28
naked doors, right, the the door panels and this kind of thing in
41:31
the, in the aluminum floors and everything.
41:33
It's just, it's an awesome, awesome vehicle and and that
41:36
would be what I would choose for you, Dan.
41:39
But I do know now that that's a little pricier than what I
41:41
chose. What I chose for.
41:43
Lindsay. Is it?
41:46
Yeah. So I owe you 150 grand, Lindsay.
41:49
And in that case, I'll I'll bridge the gap with A2024F-150
41:54
Raptor just to complete the Ford Showcase Showdown package for
42:00
you. So nicely done.
42:01
Dan, what do you have? Everyone's happy.
42:04
Well, Ryan, for you, I'd pick the mini just because I wanted
42:07
to see. You so without even knowing that
42:11
we were going to make you guys get into tiny cars, Yeah, that's
42:15
amazing. This is a 1962 mini.
42:19
I don't know what the innocente is.
42:21
Do you guys know you? I don't I.
42:23
Have I've heard this about minis?
42:25
I so I don't know. I mean, it makes me think
42:27
there's some sort of Italian, you know, business going on.
42:31
Was it maybe sold through an Italian dealership or was it now
42:36
I? Wanna know it's it's been fully
42:38
restored? It looks beautiful.
42:40
OK, an Innocenti Mini. An Innocenti Mini is an
42:44
automobile introduced by Innocenti in 74.
42:47
So I'm wondering if it was like a licensed, Yeah, it was a
42:49
licensed manufacturer of the mini built in Italy.
42:53
Yeah. So, so even worse.
42:55
A little quality An Italian company with license from a
42:59
British company. Yeah.
43:01
Yeah, now we just have more questions.
43:04
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, just for the fun of
43:06
it. And yeah, you could do your best
43:08
Mr. Bean impression. I've driven one, I've driven a
43:12
classic Mini with right hand drive, manual and all this and I
43:16
really enjoyed it. But I, yeah, I was like this the
43:17
whole time. You know, it was, yeah, it was,
43:22
it was, it was not the most comfortable position, but.
43:25
Interesting. So Paris for sure.
43:28
And Lindsay, I was going to go with the same choice as Ryan.
43:33
It's I get 2 vintage Broncos. Instead, I thought I would go
43:36
for the America America Roadster, the 9/11, which is
43:40
obviously a 964 and I think in the summer you would rock that
43:44
car. I kept looking at that one too,
43:48
you know, because as you're holiday shopping, of course you
43:49
find things for yourself. So excellent, right?
43:52
And that's a pretty good two car solution I like.
43:54
Yeah, it is. It is.
43:56
It is. So there we go, everyone's
43:59
happy. Drakemotorcars.com Find your
44:03
own. That's right.
44:04
What we've. Been talking about shall we get
44:07
in the docks DeLorean again and get back in time.
44:10
Let's do it. So I was thinking because we did
44:13
such a good episode with the folks at Mercedes Classic, that
44:17
this time around we would go with Mercedes.
44:21
So the idea here is that you've got the docs time machine from
44:24
Back to the Future and you can go back to any moment in time.
44:28
And in essence, the moment in time that you get back to has to
44:32
be peak from the manufacturer that we pick.
44:34
So this time around we've picked Mercedes-Benz.
44:37
Who wants to go first on what is peak Mercedes-Benz?
44:41
I can go, I think. So I ended up going with because
44:46
I was thinking about what we talked about with Nate and you
44:50
know, the different cars that they have at the Classic Center.
44:56
I ended up going with, I would go back to 1957 because I would
45:00
love to see the specific 300SL Roadster that was at the Classic
45:04
Center that had come out of the Rudy Klein auction.
45:08
I would love to see that car at the dealership and kind of, I
45:12
guess maybe cheat a little bit and follow its life until it
45:15
ended up at Rudy Klein's Junkyard because that would
45:19
answer so many questions. What were those cars when new?
45:24
What did they cost when new? What was a new a new Roadster
45:26
going back in the day? In today's dollars, I'm guessing
45:29
it was around 100 grand, but that's just that's just a guess.
45:34
I think Dan's going to check with our research assistant.
45:36
On them. I'm asking our research
45:37
department as we speak. Yeah, yeah, it's thinking, oh,
45:45
sorry, they're thinking. So the Goldwing coupe would have
45:50
been listed at just under 7000, but by the end of their
45:54
production run, so obviously they improved the brakes and
45:56
stuff. At the end they would have been
45:58
under 9000 U.S. dollars. Right.
46:02
What is that in in in 2025 money?
46:05
So let's. It is.
46:07
We have more questions for the department.
46:11
Wait, is this right? That was an $800,000 car or the
46:15
equivalent of back then $7000 in 1957 had the same buying powers
46:21
approximately 807,000 to $810,000.
46:24
Now that doesn't. That seems way too high.
46:28
I've got here adjusted, it says 95,000.
46:31
OK, that sounds. More, can't you?
46:33
Can't believe everything you read on the Internet.
46:36
So 95,000 I mean that that's, you know, that's, you know,
46:40
you're going to spend more on an SL now, but it's in the
46:42
ballpark, right? Yeah.
46:44
I mean, that's that, that that tracks.
46:46
So, but you still had to have some money to buy one.
46:48
Back then they weren't, you know, they weren't giving.
46:50
Up, yeah, not everybody was a very end up yeah, yeah.
46:53
Yeah, when they were all painted white at a red interior,
46:56
according to Nate. But yeah, what else was in the
47:00
line up though at that time? There was Is it the ponton?
47:04
The sedan. Could have been, I don't know.
47:06
I was just so focused on the roadster.
47:07
I didn't look I. Mean that's, you know, so you
47:10
could have gotten the, let's see, the 300 SC Cabriolet, the
47:17
180 sedan, which is nothing to write home about, but that would
47:21
have been like the C Class of the era, right?
47:25
Yeah, I mean, it was really all about the going in 57, right?
47:30
Or at least the Roadster. Yeah, Yeah.
47:33
Well, I think too like, you know, like with so many of the
47:35
cars that we talked about, the full impact or, you know,
47:40
significance wasn't understood or even present at the time.
47:43
It's only when we look back. So I always, I think it would be
47:46
really interesting to see something that is so highly
47:49
regarded or considered such a big deal now, like to see what
47:52
it was like in period. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:55
What about you, Dan, in the same neighborhood?
47:58
Well, I'm going to be giving you guys a bit of a story.
48:01
So I suspected that you would both go for either 50s or 60s,
48:07
so I thought I would go for something a little bit
48:09
different. So when this car came out, this
48:13
is what was playing in the nightclubs in the UK. power and
48:30
the journalists of the time said the following things.
48:36
Mercedes declaration of war. That was car magazine.
48:41
They they said brutal in appearance but precise in
48:46
execution. Now, you could argue they were
48:49
talking about me, but we'll move on from that point.
48:52
Brutal in appearance, precise in execution.
48:55
I love that That's AT shirt. Right there, even more fitting
48:57
than for the car. Perfect.
48:59
Yeah, the most extreme Rd. car Mercedes has ever built, and,
49:05
Clarkson said, designed by engineers who had stopped caring
49:10
what the board thought. So this is March 1990.
49:15
Yeah, and this is a DTM bodied Rd. car.
49:20
It is over ribs over 7000 RPM. They only made 502 units and
49:27
this was the Mercedes-Benz 190 E Evolution 2.
49:33
Good answer. So, yeah, so that was my peak
49:36
Mercedes. It's I I'm a fan of the the gull
49:39
wing. I think it's the most beautiful
49:41
car ever made. But I want a streetcar.
49:44
Yeah. That's a good answer.
49:46
That. Car just still looks so.
49:47
Badass that car just still just looks so badass.
49:50
That is such a such a thing, right, such a thing to it is it
49:55
is it is it is that big wing and just I you know, you didn't even
49:59
have to be into racing to know what those look like going
50:02
around the track, right, Because you know that that imagery is
50:04
just iconic and you know, up against, you know, M threes, E
50:08
30s and you know, whatever else was on the what else was on the
50:11
track at that time. Like I feel like there were ex
50:14
XJ Jaguars, maybe the Tom Wilkinshaw racing Jags.
50:19
I don't have to cut that. Out maybe be the 30s.
50:22
No, it would be the 30's. The evos.
50:24
They did evos as well, didn't they?
50:26
Yeah. That's right.
50:28
There you go. 30. Yeah.
50:30
Three. Yeah.
50:31
Otherwise it would be like Vauxhalls and stuff but they
50:33
wouldn't have a chance. Right Omegas.
50:35
Right, Like the Vauxhall Omegas. The latest Carlton, maybe?
50:38
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is another car, amazing
50:41
car. That was a damn good era for
50:42
cars, right? For sure.
50:45
Well, I'm somewhere between the two of you, but definitely
50:47
leaning more toward what Dan said.
50:49
And and for me, the car that's always spoken, Mercedes to me
50:53
are always, always, it's always been the Mercedes that just was
50:56
the most Mercedes of the Mercedes was the W124.
50:59
So the Bruno Sacco designed E Class that came out in 1984, but
51:06
84 was an interesting year for Mercedes-Benz because you could
51:09
get the new E Class, but I believe you could still get the
51:11
old E Class, right? They were transitioning into
51:14
this car, which is a very different car than the one that
51:16
came before it, right? You went from round headlights
51:18
to this, I don't know this Autobahn slab of a thing, right?
51:23
But you know, you had quite a lot of power trains too, right?
51:27
You had still a lot of diesels. You could get the the SEC right?
51:33
That the big coupe, right, the 190 D and the 190 E was it was
51:37
introduced in 1984 as well. So that was a neat thing.
51:41
And the rare occasion you see one of those 190 ES on the road
51:44
now they're they're tiny. They look impossibly small,
51:47
right? You could get the the 380 SL in
51:51
the, in the 560 SL and you could get a a Gelanda wagon in 1984
51:56
too. So for me, that was that was
52:00
kind of peak Mercedes across the board, a little bit of the old,
52:03
a little bit of the new, but really ushering in that Bruno
52:06
Sacco design era, which to me are still my my favorite
52:10
Mercedes-Benz cars. So 1984 for me.
52:15
I love how we've each gone for a different date, but I thought we
52:18
were all going to go for the same one.
52:21
I know it's pretty diverse actually, which makes it more
52:23
interesting. We we should flip this game on
52:26
it's on it's end sometime and and pick the worst year for a
52:29
particular mark. That's a good idea.
52:33
I don't know that you can point to a bad year for Mercedes, for
52:35
example. Let's get our mediums to
52:38
challenge us. Yeah.
52:39
So in the comments on Instagram, let us know which brand we
52:44
should go for next and let us know which era and whether we're
52:48
going for the best era or the worst era for that brand.
52:51
Yeah, I love. It Yeah.
52:54
Where do we go from here? Because we've done Volkswagen,
52:57
right? We've done Porsche and now
52:59
Mercedes-Benz, right? So what do?
53:01
We, well, we did Ford right. We did Ford.
53:03
We did Ford. Yes, yes, yes.
53:05
We're checking them off the list.
53:07
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And don't say like Kia or some
53:10
bullshit like that. Let's go with the legacy brand,
53:12
please. So.
53:13
We I thought this was an equal opportunity game, No.
53:16
Apparently not so challenges, but challenges with some
53:20
integrity please. Yes, yes, there you go.
53:23
Is the ask. Is always said better by the
53:25
Brit so. Yeah.
53:27
Not that I act with a lot of that integrity stuff, but hey.
53:30
Come on, come on. Did you see you in 1990?
53:34
March of 1990 to be exact. I think I would have been like
53:38
11 or 12. In the club listened to snap the
53:42
power. Apparently so.
53:43
Apparently I think it was like the junior disco maybe?
53:47
Junior Disco ran. We didn't grow up correctly, not
53:50
at all. We were missing out.
53:52
You're at the role. What did you guys have?
53:53
Did you have like 4 moles or something?
53:56
At 11 or 12, yeah, we had skate parties at the roller rink and
54:00
dances at school. But they didn't call them
54:03
dances, at least where I was. They were mixers, right?
54:06
They're. To.
54:08
Mix it sounds fancy. Yeah, mixers.
54:12
It sounds very corporate. They were prepping you for post
54:15
college work life. That's right.
54:17
That's right. Yeah, and the biggest, the
54:20
biggest acclamation at a junior disco was to see how far you
54:24
could slide on the gym room floor on your knees without
54:27
ripping your trousers. That was the sign you could
54:31
dance. And how far could you slide,
54:33
Dan? Oh yeah, it was immeasurable.
54:37
Do we want to announce the winner of the book?
54:40
Yes, let's. Do it so last week.
54:43
We we obviously had a great episode with two of the editors
54:47
from the book ride and we set a competition on Instagram.
54:52
Who is the winner? And the winner is Matthew
54:56
Fitzpatrick of Denver, Co. So he's got a his own copy of of
55:01
ride the most iconic cars of the silver screen on on the way to
55:05
his house. So Merry Christmas, Happy
55:07
Hanukkah and all the rest to you.
55:09
All the things, congratulations. With a name like Fitzpatrick,
55:12
I'm guessing he celebrates Christmas, right?
55:15
Feels like a reasonable guess, but at a minimum, happy New year
55:18
we're. Not what is the action for
55:20
Matthew? Do we need him to reach out to
55:22
us with his address on Instagram?
55:23
He doesn't need to do a thing. I already did that and passed
55:27
his info along to the ride Guy's publicist and that book should
55:30
be on its way. So it's a great book.
55:33
I'm actually, so one of the things I've learned writing for
55:36
Autoblog is it's much easier to take a guess that we've had on
55:40
the podcast and turn it into an article, right?
55:42
Like we did with like I did with Jay Turk Pest from Sheffield,
55:45
than it is to just, you know, write a a fresh article because
55:48
you could take that transcript and you can turn into an article
55:50
pretty easily. But so I am writing an article
55:52
about Chad Oppenheim and Matt Stone and the ride book now
55:57
that's awesome. It'll be out probably by about
55:59
the time you you hear this so. Wow, sounds like Lindsay and I
56:03
need to get a cut of the proceeds.
56:07
Exactly. You're absolutely right.
56:10
Yeah, I think we're selling a few copies for him this year at
56:13
least doing our doing our best. So Congrats, Matt.
56:15
Though, and, and Congrats on the book as well.
56:18
It's a, it's a great read and it's a lovely, a lovely piece of
56:22
material, right? And you look at it and it's a
56:24
beautiful piece of work. Well, and you guys did a great
56:27
job having them on. It was a fun episode to watch
56:31
and listen to. Thanks.
56:32
Thanks. Yeah, good dudes.
56:34
And you know, I said it before, I'll say it again.
56:37
I've never met a man who went to drive a stick when he was a kid
56:40
on a Lamborghini Countach. But now I have so.
56:44
Right. Yeah, yeah, that's, there's
56:46
definitely a story there, more of a story.
56:49
Yeah, good dudes, good dudes, and definitely enthusiasts like
56:52
us. What?
56:53
Accomplishments say we have Christmas around the corner.
56:58
I thought it might be interesting to ask around white
57:02
elephant gift. So this isn't something we
57:03
really do in the UK. But from what I understand is
57:06
you usually set a price and you do gifts for each other based on
57:10
that price. And it can be a complete chit
57:13
show. It can be a complete surprise.
57:15
But these are, it's called a white elephant.
57:17
I don't know why is it called a white elephant gift?
57:20
Do we know? That's a really good question.
57:22
I don't know why it's called that, but it's yeah, it's
57:24
generally you bring a wrapped gift and they're not tagged with
57:27
anyone specific generally and you can trade them.
57:31
And definitely the more entertaining white elephant
57:33
exchanges are when it gets to be a shit show, it's.
57:36
Really fun. Because you can steal them
57:39
depending on the rules of your gathering or your exchange.
57:42
Gifts can be stolen X number of times and then they're like
57:47
whoever steals it on the last time then it's fixed.
57:51
But once they start being unwrapped then people start
57:53
looking around and going like well OK, I want to steal that
57:55
one. I'm not going to pick an
57:56
unwrapped one. I'm going to go grab what so and
57:59
so got and then that person goes and picks another wrapped 1 and
58:02
it devolves from there. Yeah, I think the idea is to
58:07
retain the best possible gift of the bad gifts that you can while
58:11
pushing the the really terrible stuff off on other people.
58:14
That's the only reason I guess I can think maybe it's called
58:16
white elephant. Like, what would you do with a
58:18
white elephant? No, a grey elephant, you'd be in
58:21
business, right? But a white elephant might be
58:22
kind of sickly, I guess. And it's an elephant.
58:24
And where are you going to? Put it, I mean, yeah.
58:26
That's that's my only we'll do a etymological study on that and
58:31
come back with the results for the next episode in the next.
58:34
Episode or let us know in the comments.
58:35
Let us know why it's called a white elephant.
58:37
Yes, yes, or make up some shit. Wrong answers only, yeah.
58:41
Yeah, I like that. But yeah, we don't have it in
58:43
the UK. But I thought what would be a
58:45
good white elephant gift for a car lover?
58:48
And I was slightly inspired because I've just watched Dogma.
58:51
And you guys familiar with Dogma?
58:53
I know the name, I haven't seen it.
58:55
So Dogma is a Kevin Smith film. He did Walmart, Walmarts.
59:02
What did he do? He did not Walmarts.
59:04
I can't talk, not. Walmarts.
59:06
Small rats, Small rats, small rats.
59:10
He did more rats, he did Chasing Amy, he did Jay and Silent Bob.
59:15
So this was one of his, I guess later films.
59:20
It has all sorts of cameos in it, but it's kind of all around
59:24
the theme of religion. And it starts at a church where
59:30
they're announcing a a new version of God.
59:33
And it's this kind of, hey, I'm your buddy God.
59:36
And he's got a wink and you you look at the poster, you'll see
59:39
what I mean. But.
59:39
Is this where the Buddy Christ came from?
59:42
I think it is where the buddy Christ came.
59:43
From. So I was wondering whether a a
59:46
dashboard Jesus would be a good white elephant gift.
59:50
I mean, it's very in the spirit of white elephant actually.
59:53
Like that would actually be good.
59:54
It's, it's, you know, because it's sort of the more absurd the
59:57
better. Yeah, on brand, as they say.
1:00:00
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Jesus literally is your
1:00:03
copilot. Exactly that.
1:00:05
Yeah, OK. Bingo.
1:00:08
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That or dash key might.
1:00:11
And go home. Yeah.
1:00:13
So what else would be a good white elephant gift for car
1:00:15
lovers? So I came up with windshield
1:00:18
wipers for your headlights because I think those are just
1:00:20
so silly. Oh, come, come on.
1:00:22
That was like, that was character, isn't it?
1:00:27
Era of cars, right? Yeah.
1:00:28
Back to Mercedes, how about eyelashes for your car?
1:00:33
Yeah, that's just tacky, I think.
1:00:35
Those are the wipers were. Cool.
1:00:36
Yeah, Yeah, wipers were a legit status symbol on a car there for
1:00:41
a while. Right, I know.
1:00:42
Like it was a big. Deal antenna and yeah, yeah,
1:00:45
because think about it was just I think Mercedes that had them
1:00:49
Volvo I had a Volvo back in the. Day it was luxury cars that had
1:00:53
them. I just, I guess unless you're
1:00:55
off roading, I was having a hard time understanding what, like
1:00:59
what the benefit is other than just being able to say I have
1:01:03
windshield wipers on my headlights or I guess they would
1:01:05
be headlight wipers on your head, yeah.
1:01:08
Yeah. Yeah, it's to sell more blades.
1:01:11
Yeah, yeah, there's definitely a flex at the time.
1:01:14
And I, you know, I, I because they didn't do anything in the
1:01:17
rain, right. You almost had to have mud or
1:01:19
something on the on the headlights, which wasn't going
1:01:22
to happen in your S class probably.
1:01:23
No, like you're not off roading those.
1:01:26
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Trouble prone.
1:01:28
I remember. They were never quite right.
1:01:30
One was always broken, even when the car was relatively new.
1:01:33
It was just unnecessary. Unnecessary complication, but
1:01:37
yeah, that's what cars were interesting when they had.
1:01:40
Unnecessary complication in Corinthian weather, apparently.
1:01:44
Yeah, I. Love it.
1:01:47
I discovered a whole genre of of things that give me that Grinch
1:01:51
mask back then. You can Google something called
1:01:55
Car tables on Amazon and you will find dozens and dozens of
1:01:59
tables intended to use while driving your car or presumably
1:02:03
well, parked. My favorite is from a a company
1:02:06
we know and love called Yonzi, named like only an Amazon
1:02:11
product can be named. I get all of my goods from
1:02:15
Yonzi. Obviously, yeah, Yonzi, that's.
1:02:17
Why? I've got my gift for you guys
1:02:19
for Christmas anyway. The spectrum of of Yonzi gifts
1:02:25
make it a Yonzi Christmas, but in any case, the one that really
1:02:29
caught my eye is there 3599. It's 10% off on Amazon right
1:02:36
now. 2IN1 steering wheel organizer, gap filler, foldable
1:02:41
carbon fiber look table for laptop eating food and writing
1:02:46
at the wheel. And I'll share the share the
1:02:50
picture on our video or Spotify video or on YouTube.
1:02:53
As you as you fly down the road. Yeah, apparently, you know, it
1:02:58
just doesn't seem like a very good idea.
1:03:00
They've got a mouse on it next to the laptop.
1:03:03
I mean, it's, you know, it's for the executive on the go for
1:03:06
sure. But I guess what kills me is
1:03:08
that it's carbon fiber. Look, just in case you had a car
1:03:12
table that that looked heavy, right?
1:03:14
You know, now you've got one that.
1:03:17
Yeah. So I just didn't know that this
1:03:18
was a thing. It just seems like a very bad
1:03:21
idea for a number of reasons. And so that's my, that's my
1:03:27
product for White Elephant and and you've both got one in
1:03:29
order, so. Figured out.
1:03:31
Amazing. Yeah, that's like, do you guys
1:03:33
remember like the bad idea jeans?
1:03:35
I feel like the person that created that was wearing their
1:03:37
bad idea jeans. I don't know about the bad idea
1:03:40
jeans. I think it was an SNL skit.
1:03:42
Like, it's definitely a throwback.
1:03:44
People of a certain age will remember, but yeah.
1:03:46
Yeah, well, I propose we each get a a Yangtze desk and we do
1:03:50
the next episode from behind the wheel of our respective
1:03:54
automobiles. Only if we commit to recording
1:03:56
while we're driving, because you have to really experience the
1:03:59
table fully, and you can't do that if you're not.
1:04:01
That's right. That's right.
1:04:02
How? Does that work with airbags?
1:04:04
I mean, it doesn't. Yeah, I think you're supposed to
1:04:07
be parked. But.
1:04:08
Then why do you need it and? I think what we've learned
1:04:11
tonight is we don't want Secret Santa presents from each other,
1:04:14
but we're happy with the cars. Yeah, well, we don't want, we'll
1:04:18
take the Secret Santa ones. We don't want the white elephant
1:04:20
ones. No, the white elephant.
1:04:21
That's right. That's right, that's right.
1:04:24
Now 1 of you win the lottery and we can make this dream a
1:04:28
reality. Deal, yeah.
1:04:31
Be like the Oprah of the Onzi tables.
1:04:35
You remember, do you remember, and you did you.
1:04:39
You know, the whole thing about that right is then the people
1:04:41
had to pay taxes. Oh, yeah, yeah.
1:04:44
I remember that was the whole discussion because that was, I
1:04:48
think I was in junior high when she started doing that.
1:04:51
And, you know, as kids, you're like, wait, we got to get our
1:04:54
parents on Oprah. You got a free car.
1:04:56
And immediately all the parents are like, yeah.
1:04:58
And a tax bill. Yeah.
1:05:00
And do you remember the car that they gave away?
1:05:03
I want to say it was like a Chevy Beretta but I can't
1:05:06
remember. Close a Pontiac G6.
1:05:09
So everyone in the audience got AG 6.
1:05:12
But The thing is, some people got coups, some people got
1:05:15
sedans. There was a convertible if you
1:05:17
maybe. Yeah, I did a road trip in the
1:05:20
convertible once. Did you really?
1:05:22
In California, yeah. Went to Yosemite and all sorts.
1:05:26
Wow. So, Ryan.
1:05:28
Bought the car. Was it based?
1:05:30
On given to me by Oprah, I can tell you.
1:05:33
That well then what's the point? Was it based on like dealer
1:05:35
availability? Like how did they decide I?
1:05:38
I think it was all the same. A Pontiac promo and you can see
1:05:41
where that got Pontiac right. But someone, someone, someone
1:05:47
submitting Pontiac for our best year of.
1:05:50
Yeah, they're like, yeah. If I go back, probably need to
1:05:54
go back to the 60s for that one, huh?
1:05:56
Yeah, Yeah. GTO.
1:05:58
Yeah. Interesting.
1:06:01
Well, what have we got coming up?
1:06:03
Anything exciting coming up for you guys?
1:06:05
No, hopefully, just maybe do some drives over the holidays in
1:06:09
the downtime. But yeah, how about you, Ryan?
1:06:12
Well, I'm in the the crown Signia Toyota SUV, but it's
1:06:16
actually a a wagon. But you know, when I get these
1:06:19
press cards, I can't just keep writing about the same like
1:06:22
route. So we've got to mix it up this
1:06:24
time. So depending on whether we're
1:06:26
either going to go north through the Dakotas.
1:06:29
Or South. Through Kansas and, and that
1:06:33
route so, so it'll be a little different, be a little
1:06:35
interesting. I I'm going to add an hour or
1:06:37
two to my family's road trip just for content, so.
1:06:42
That's commitment to the the. People like I love you so much
1:06:45
and it's going to be fun, just trust me.
1:06:47
I'll win a Pulitzer for this one.
1:06:50
Right. Well, that's kind of a fun
1:06:53
little challenge because you probably wouldn't have changed
1:06:56
the route, especially if it adds time to the long drive.
1:07:00
But it's a good excuse to do that and kind of see some
1:07:02
different areas of the country I.
1:07:04
Mean you think, how would you decide?
1:07:07
How would you? Decide whether it's Kansas.
1:07:09
Yeah, Yeah, I think it'll come down to sort of the weather at
1:07:12
the moment. Yeah, the Crown Sydney does have
1:07:14
all-wheel drive and I'm sure is a, is a, is a good car in the
1:07:17
snow. But if it's anything too crazy,
1:07:20
we'll probably go go South right, where there's presumably
1:07:22
less, less snow and that kind of thing.
1:07:24
So I mentioned that I had this car to a couple of other
1:07:27
automotive journalists and once said I low key love that car.
1:07:31
Like, I would never say that right, you know?
1:07:33
That's funny. Yeah, yeah.
1:07:35
But I, if I could ever pick one, like a used one up at a, you
1:07:38
know, a good price, I, I, I would.
1:07:40
So anyway, we'll find out. Interesting.
1:07:42
So we would call that a guilty pleasure car.
1:07:45
So it's a car that you love but you don't really want to admit
1:07:48
to it. So it's a guilty pleasure, Yeah.
1:07:49
Yeah. You're like.
1:07:52
Yeah. So if you start using that as
1:07:54
the title for your article, I'm definitely suing you.
1:07:58
Get a cut. You think my credit for coming
1:08:01
up with the title? Yeah, using US for titles, using
1:08:04
US for content. I mean, I feel, I feel used
1:08:08
tonight, Lindsay. You know, of all the articles
1:08:12
I've ever pitched to Autoblog, I've only had one turned down.
1:08:16
And do you know what that article was about?
1:08:18
No. I got this out.
1:08:19
It's about us, it's about the podcast, it's about you and Dan
1:08:24
and this little thing we do every Wednesday evening.
1:08:27
It's like before you guys get too inflated an opinion of
1:08:30
yourselves, they were not interested.
1:08:33
I think the self promotion was just a little too on the nose,
1:08:35
but right. But thank you for trying though.
1:08:37
We appreciate. You trying?
1:08:39
We appreciate the. Slide the links to the podcast
1:08:41
into every article, right? You know.
1:08:44
Yeah, yeah. Band in Australia It's our
1:08:47
version of Band in Australia. Yeah, just I think that is
1:08:53
probably a show, isn't it guys? I think it is.
1:08:57
Yeah. Well, happy holidays everyone.
1:09:01
I know. Yeah, I know we will.
1:09:03
I guess we'll see everybody next year.
1:09:06
I don't know that this is the last show of the year, but stay
1:09:10
tuned. For.
1:09:11
A big 2026 for all of us, too. Yeah.
1:09:14
Yeah, and the show. We've got big stuff ahead for
1:09:16
everybody. Absolutely.
1:09:18
It's gonna be a good year, a prosperous year for all of us,
1:09:20
right? It is.
1:09:21
It sounds like a fortune cookie. I'll take it.
1:09:23
Yeah. That's right, you will not lose
1:09:26
any toes and you will have a prosperous new year.
1:09:29
That's the fortune. I know well from all of us here
1:09:34
at that car show, we wish you a very happy holiday season and
1:09:37
we're so happy that you are with us.
1:09:39
We look forward to an amazing year of shows for next year.
1:09:43
And remember, always be driving.