Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Across the Pond: Abarth, Radbourne Racing, and Car Collections

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Across the Pond: Abarth, Radbourne Racing, and Car Collections · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Coming up, we head across the pond to talk to Lincoln Small about Abarth and Radbert Racing.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Later Jeff will bring us some of his car culture the five biggest car collections in the world and Mars Reviews the Volvo EX40.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: We've all been on pins and needles waiting for this review for months and he's going to do it right here on this show in this hour.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Let's hope we don't run out of time for that.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Howdy Along with Mike out of this world, mars.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: We always need more.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong, so glad that you could join us on this Saturday morning.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Let's head across the pond, shall we?
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Let's do it, I'll drive.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: So I want to introduce everybody to Lincoln Small.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: He's the author of a book called Abarth Radburn Racing and Me, a memoir of iconic cars and racing adventures.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Lincoln, it's good to see you.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: It's my pleasure.
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much for inviting me.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Well, you're in the dark and we can see most of the ceiling of your room that you're in.
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: How about is that any better?
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Well, you've got to put that on your face.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: Tilt your screen down, your camera down.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Just a touch, there you go.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Tilt your screen down, your camera down Just a touch, there you go.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: There you are.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: He's a writer, he's not a TV guy.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, but we are blessed.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: We are blessed by his presence.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: So how are you and how are things over there in jolly old England?
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: I'm very well Jolly.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: Old England is still quite jolly.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: That's good.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Well, we're glad to hear that.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Well, we got a note that said you'd written this book and we said, well, what's the name of the book?
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: And they told us and we said we got to have him and so, and we appreciate you joining us today.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: So tell me a little bit about obviously.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Obviously there's some sort of a marriage here between Abarth.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Now I'm pronouncing it the way I was taught how to pronounce it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Abarth's correct Correct Because you know, there are people that go, oh, it's Abarth, no, it's not, it's Abarth and Radborn and I guess Radborn is a racing company.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, it was.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: It was one of the principal racing companies, as you quite rightly put it, during the 1960s and early 70s.
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: So I founded the company along with two other good guys and we went racing.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: But there was a lot more to it than that, principally the in England at the time there was a great racing car movement.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: It was not a cottage industry, but successful, and they ended up, as you're aware of producing most of the Formula One cars of today.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: But the original England, if you like, as far as relatively modern cars were concerned, was the 1960s, and in Italy there was a company called Abarth, and Abarth was a tuning concern primarily, but they also manufactured accessories.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: They were founded in 1948 and during the ensuing period they started to build, design and build some of the most wonderful, wonderful cars you can imagine.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: They were a hot rod company.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yes, I mean hot rod for us is actually a derogatory statement.
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: Oh man, you need to come over here because we like the term man.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Well, you need to come over here because we like the turnoff.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: I'm just going to swim over the pond again.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Yes, do that.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: See, it's not derogatory here, Actually it's.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: If you're associated with the hot rod community, then you belong to a unique group of guys that are real car aficionados.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: Oh right, a hot rod for us is more of a kit car ideology, and so obviously we're making a mistake.
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: Well, I'll put it to right.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: Well, no.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I will just go with you what you say, because I love British culture, I love the humor, monty Python, I like all of the crazy stuff that comes out of there, mainly the comedy.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you kind of set the bar high when it comes to comedy and music as well, I might add.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: So I'm a big fan.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: So there you go.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: That's great.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: It's lovely to hear.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Please pass that along.
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: On behalf of the king, I'll accept it.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Have a pint on me.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Definitely All right.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: So we got Abarth the company.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Now let's talk about Radburn Racing.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: Well, radburn Racing was a company that, as I said, was founded by me and another two people, and the logic behind it, if you like, was the fact that saloon car racing, as we call it, was getting very, very popular, and the leading car of the small engine brigade was the Mini Cooper.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Yes, mini Coopers were an amazing cultural phenomenon because they were a utility vehicle, but they ended up being a world championship.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: And now, when you look back, there was only one other car actually that they had to contend with, and that was the fiat arbor.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: And our bath saw what was happening in england and they did, but the mini was selling in very small quantities in italy, but the Fiat 500 and 600 was selling in enormous quantities and, of course, carlo Abarth decided there and then that that was his market, and he and a number of other engineers designed and built cars to compete in the European scene, mainly with Fiat Abarths 595s, in the European scene, mainly with Fiat Abarths 595s and 695s, and these little cars producing very, very low horsepower were amazing on the track.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: Their handling capacity was fantastic and they really did manage to humiliate lots of very, very large engine cars that were competing in higher classes.
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: They didn't weigh anything.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: No, they were nothing, absolutely Right.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: That was one of the great things about them.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Their weight was nothing.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: So when they sold the Mini at the dealership, how much horsepower did the car have?
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Originally 50 horsepower.
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: Not that much.
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: No, the Mini, I think, probably would have been around about 20 horsepower.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Wow, so it was less than the Volkswagen.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: Beetle yeah, but it was only 850cc Wow.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: They make motorcycles bigger than that Much, much bigger.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, so how did the Abarth and the Radburn racing come together in your book?
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: I was living in Italy, I saw little Abarths all over the roads.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: They were like an epidemic in Italy, yeah right, and I thought that they would make.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: They were wonderful.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: I fell in love with them and decided that they should be sold in England, as I said, where there was a good market for that kind of car.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: I brought one back.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: I borrowed a racing car from Abarth and I brought it back with me and I'm making this as short and sweet because I know time's limited.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: So, with the small racing car, we set off and the people, the crowds, really loved it.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: It was the one car on a grid of 20 cars.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: It was the one car that was not a Mini Cooper, and you know, you're always going to support the underdog, absolutely Right, right and, and we had tremendous support, uh, also it.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: It turned into a.
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: Actually, it turned into a profitable concern as well, which is very difficult, very difficult to appreciate, because the old joke of course of you know how do you make a small fortune in motor racing?
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: Well, you start with a large one, exactly yeah.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Well, I could argue that I know somebody that had a large fortune before he started in racing and he had nothing when he finished.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: That's the point.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: That's the point, and he had nothing when he finished.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: That's the point.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: So I would assume that by racing this car, that you also sold the Abarth parts.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, so were there Abarth stores.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Yes, there were stores.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, so they were storefronts.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I could go and I could buy a manifold, I could buy a high-performance carburetor Basically bolt-on stuff that I could do myself for the most part.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: That's quite right.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: The stores were actually in the dealers.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: They were usually in Fiat dealerships.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Fiat was supporting it.
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: They were paying money for anybody to win a race in a Fiat Abarth and you could go to the Fiat dealers there and say that you would like to compete, but unfortunately, very few dealers really wanted to get involved with it.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: It was not their cup of tea, and so they decided, therefore, to set up or we decided, I should say, we had the concession for Arbath for the UK at this time, and we decided that the best way forward was to open dealerships.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: So we did.
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: We opened dealerships.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Each dealership had, as you would call it, a store, and the parts were then readily available and the technical expertise we had as well.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: So we were able to offer that to people who wanted to do DIY tunings, if you like.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Right, and with the store, I would assume that you had a service facility that, okay, I want to Abarth my car up, you sell me the parts and you put them on the car, yeah.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: I guess you offered those services as well.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: Yes, exactly right, exactly right yeah.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Well, what a great marriage.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: We would convert your own car, your own Fiat, into a Fiat Abarth, and that was another way around it.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: There was a taxation problem in England at the time.
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: It was called purchase tax and it was levied at about 30%.
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: Wow, and the problem, obviously, is that it was there to kill them.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Oh, we got him froze up.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Come out, come out.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: No, he's Did we lose him we might have.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: It's probably that cable under the ocean that went south on us.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we lost him.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: We did Well.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Hopefully he'll dial back in, Because he's froze up on our screen coming to us from Great Britain.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I didn't ask him where exactly he is.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: He's in London.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: He is in London.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Yes, what if he knows Benny Hill?
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Well, he probably visits him graveside.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Now I'm sure.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's that.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Well, that probably visits some graveside now, I'm sure.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: So there's that.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Well, that all sounds fascinating.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I will say that back in the day, gosh, I guess it was somewhere around 2000.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Remember when they brought the Fiat 500 to the United States, yes, and Chrysler made a big deal out of that.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Yep, did you go to Las Vegas?
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Were you in Las Vegas with them for that?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: So they brought us to Las Vegas.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Were you in Las Vegas with them for that?
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: So they brought us to Las Vegas, flew us into Las Vegas and did this unveiling.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: And then they sent us out to Pahrump, nevada, where there is a small racetrack out there.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Yes, do you know something that I don't?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: No, yes, you do, you're smiling because why I worked for AT&T.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Las Vegas is independent.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: I think it's Verizon or somebody like that.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: The handoff point was in Pahrump, Nevada.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: That is the closest place that legalized prostitution exists to Las.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Vegas there you go, there we go.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: That's where we were getting at this week in auto history.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Well, they didn't take us to the prostitutes out there.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: They took us out to Pahrump and they let us drive these Abarths out on the racetrack.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: It was a road course, a small one.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: It was two tons of fun, because these are hopped up cars from the factory.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: So you order the Abarth package from the Fiat dealer and they either got them in stock or they'll order you one specifically.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: I assume that they still have these things.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I don't really know, but whatever the case may be, I will tell you that we had a good, good time out there and I actually still have a little box that the press kit came in.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: It's a little wooden box with Abarth on it.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Oh, it'll be darn, I got it in there on my desk.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: I was with ATD at the time.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: They did a tire release for the new tires.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: Did you go out to prom?
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, this was here in Houston.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: They did it here in Houston at some hotel lobby, or that was mainly what we did.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: We didn't go out to the Vegas thing, but yeah, I was with ATD at the time.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a bunch of us and we were just one flight of people out there.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: They fly us in, give us dinner, give us a little presentation and they take us out to the racetrack the next day after the unveiling, if you will.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: And I had my picture taken with a girl that was on.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: She was in the commercials.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: Oh, no Mr.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Dirty.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Mind down there the one they hand out when you're walking down the street at.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Not that I forgot about those.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: You know, you certainly do know an awful lot about this.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Well, he's been to Perunf.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: I've been told.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: I've been told a lot of things.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: You're such a liar.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: He's been to Perunf.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I've been told a lot of things.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: You're such a liar.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: He's been to Pahrumpf.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: He's a Pahrumpfian.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Is that what they call him?
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Apparently so.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: I applied to transfer out there several times.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: He flew direct from Neederville to Pahrumpf, nevada, but he had other things on his mind.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Is Becky listening to this program?
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Hope not, let me call her on the phone.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Martha Pahrumpf.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: Becky.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Let me call her on the phone.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Martha Pahrump, becky, becky.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Pahrump.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Becky, you need to tune in right now because Mars is giving it all up and telling all the dirty stories.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: There you go, Mars, you know sometimes, Anyway.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: So I'm sorry that we lost our connection.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, don't look like we're going to get him back.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, with Lincoln Small, author of Abarth Radborn Racing and Me, a memoir of iconic cars and racing adventures.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: That sounds like a fun book.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Anyway, it's on Amazon.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: It's available on Amazon.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: So there you go.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Check it out.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Abarth Radborn Racing and Me.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Somehow I'm not texting the international phone numbers, right.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: And we appreciate all our international guests.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: We really do, we do they take their time out of their day.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: I think it's.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Is it an eight-hour difference?
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was five o'clock his time when we started.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, there you go.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Now he's going to go out and drink that pipe that I bought him.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and have a banger, bangers and mash.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Do they have that there, or is?
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: it a different country.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: No, I think they have that there, but I can't remember what it is.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: Mashed potatoes.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: But what's the bangers?
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Isn't it like?
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: Bangers are like sausages, Sausages, yeah, yeah that's what I thought.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine what they put in those things Cabasa, sausages, whatever you want to call them.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: All right, just ahead Jeff's Car Culture five biggest car collections in the world and what we've all been waiting for for months Mars review of the 2025 Volvo EX40.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: And there's a story behind it all, and he's going to tell it all before the review.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: The In Real.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Time Car Talk Show continues right after this.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Since 1983, loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
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  Speaker 1: Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Loopy Tortilla.
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  Speaker 1: The recipes are authentic and time-tested, the ingredients always fresh.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla is pretty good.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Apple or Android In Wheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere on the stream and through downloads.
• 18:30
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• 18:35
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• 18:51
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• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Alright, in Wheel Time is back home in the Sugar Shack Studios this week.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry there was a technical discussion, if you don't mind.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: Who are you technically with Sue's Sue's down there she's being technical.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Well, I thought I interrupted something.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Did you want me to start this segment all over again, or did?
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: you forget?
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: No, I think we can go from here.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: We'll be all right, all right.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: In Real Time is back home in the Sugar Shack Studios and we hope you'll join us 10 to noon Central Time every Saturday for our live rendition about all things automotive.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks for being with us today.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Time now for Jeff's Car Culture Five biggest car collections in the world.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Ready set, go Well there's more than five, but these are my five and they're at the top of the list.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: So here we go.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: If you're into classic or rare cars, you've probably heard of the massive car collections of folks like Jay Leno.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: But do you know the sheer scope of some of these collections?
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Well, here we go.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: This is Dmitry Lomakov, a historical treasures that's what he calls this.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Total value of this collection to be determined they're still trying to put the pencil to it.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: With over 120 vintage and classic motorcycles, lomakov has spent 40 years amassing a collection to celebrate the rich history of the automobile.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: He's motivated by a deep desire to preserve these historical treasures to the best of his ability and pay tribute to the automotive heritage with his impressive collection.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: This rare collection is on display in the Museum of Old-Timer Cars and Motorcycles in Moscow.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: The notables include a 1930s bike called Red October and a Leningrad 8.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: A lot of these are Soviet-era military vehicles.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: Well, that's what I want to go see.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Yep, there you go, but they're also pretty rare.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, michael.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: The next one is someone that we all know Ken Lingenfelter's performance-driven collection.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Total value again to be determined.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Oops, sorry, mike, that blurred out.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: Sorry, buddy.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: It's a testament for his love of performance and speed.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: Housing over 200 vehicles and a 40,000 square foot building, lingenfelter's collection is one of the biggest car collections in the US.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Particularly fascinated by the General Motors vehicles, his first car being a 69 396 375 Camaro, he kept his passion alive by adding a daily driver of a ZR1 Corvette.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: One of his most cherished possessions, don, is a pristine, all-original 1980 Chevrolet.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: What A Chevette.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: A Chevrolet Chevette with less than 10,000 miles on the odometer.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: The next one we have, mike, we probably messed it up, but it's Gary Duncan's private collection, with a total value of $10 million.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Is that it?
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: Gary's private collection stands out as a focus of Japanese cars.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: His passion is driven by a love of unique and rare vehicles that never made it to the American market.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: His collections include 100 Nissan Fiegos as well as other exceptional models like the Toyota Century and the Nissan.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: President Duncan has over 4,000 vehicles in his collection, including a Japanese fire truck.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: I think he's got a couple of Aston Martins in there too.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: I want to go back to the Lingenfelter collection.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, go for it.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Because I had a chance.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Did you ever go out there?
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Did you ever see his collection?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: I didn't buy it.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: So you know.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: You know his cousin John, who was killed in a car crash.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: He started Lingenfelter and then Ken, after his death, took it over and has done quite well with the company.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Nice guy Sat down with him in his office, very small office, there at the facility in Wixom, wixom, in Wixom, michigan, yes, and it's kind of in a neighborhood, to be honest with you, and he had he just finished doing this, he had a Pontiac Solstice, Remember those things.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Like the Fiero Two-seater.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a little two-seater.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: He put an LS1 motor in it but it was all hopped up.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: You know, probably 1,000 horsepower.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: He said, yeah, I took my daughter to school and the problem was is that I couldn't even let off the brake because it would burn rubber all the time.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: And he said it really wasn't practical.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: It wasn't.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Well, the school called him and said you cannot burn rubber here, I won't bring the car again.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: So that was one of the stories.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: But a beautiful collection.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: One of the things that he also had in the collection was a Corvette and it was a 54 Corvette.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Wow, okay, Looked completely stock, except on the front of it, instead of the Corvette moniker, the script it had supercharged.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: And there was a suit.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Paxton Superchargers was trying to sell them the technology and the part to do a supercharger on the Blue Flame 6 because they knew that they were about to go to the V8 engine in 55 in the Corvette and he had the only one that GM actually made and the supercharger was on it.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: It was all completely stock.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: One of the many things in his collection.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: It's truly amazing and what he does is he offers General Motors if they want to have any kind of group meeting or anything like that, some sort of evening event.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: He will arrange that part of the shop, if you will, and rearrange the cars so there's room for people to move around and have dinner and stuff like that.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, kind of like the Hemi Hideout.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: You can be in there around all the cars.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: That's pretty cool.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: Anyway, I'm sorry, that's all right.
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: You can be in there around all the cars.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: That's pretty cool.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: Anyway, I'm sorry, that's all right.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: The next one we've got is Sheikh Hamid bin Hamadan, the off-road kingdom.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Total valuation Michael $2.3 billion.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: Jeez the Sheikh, affectionately known as the Rainbow Sheikh, takes a different approach to his car collection, whereas some of the sultans in the area collect luxury vehicles and sports cars.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: He's the Sultan of what?
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: Sultan of rainbows?
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: This sheikh's passion lies in off-road vehicles.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: His unique vehicle collection is housed in a custom-built pyramid and is a dedicated museum in Dabi.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: Abu Dabi.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: This is Dabi, making it a true automotive wonderland.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Wait a minute, wasn't he in the Star Wars series?
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Dabi, dabi, dolby, whatever.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: A true automotive wonderland.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Wait a minute, wasn't he in the Star Wars series?
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Dobby, dobby, dobby, whatever.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: No, it was a Flintstone.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Obby Dobby.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Doo, I think Could have been a Flintstone.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: The Sheikh's diverse array of vehicles is open to the public Proud displays of head turners like a massive Mercedes-Benz W16 monster truck.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: The collection also contains a Porsche 986, a Rainbow Fiat 500, and the world's largest running Jeep, a 1950s Power Wagon.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: That one right there is a doge.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the Power Wagon there.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: The next one, michael, the one the granddaddy of it all, is a Sultan of Brunei.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Biggest car collection in the world of $5 billion.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: Rarest cars, a special edition Ferrari F50 Baldy Baldy B-O-L-I.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Boldi.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: But it's an F50.
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: We know that when it comes to the world's largest private collection, the Sultan of Brunei reigns supreme Over 7,000 vehicles valued at approximately $5 billion.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: The Sultan's collection is nothing short of legendary.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: His car collection includes more than 600 Rolls Royces, 450 Ferraris, 20 Kosings.
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: What is that, Michael?
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: It's a very fast car.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: That guy and six David Porsches.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: So moving on from that, he's got a lot of McLarens among the prestigious brands.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: However, what truly sets his collection apart are the rare custom-built vehicles like the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II, which is modified to be a wedding limousine.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: How about that?
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: The Salton's collection also contains more than a dozen Bentley Javas concept cars from the 1994 Geneva show.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: So how about that?
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Well, you know I was going to say Mars.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: You know we've been looking forward to this review so much that we're going to postpone it.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: The next half hour.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're going to put it to the next half hour.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Well, because I kind of gabbed myself, that's what we do here, we gab, we do that.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: I can save it until next week if we need to no.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: No, I know that you want to, but you're not going to.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Well, I need to get it done.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: I know you do.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: So what we're going to do is we're going to put it after Michael Wooding brings us up to speed on the classic car market.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Okay, evaluations and valuations and that sort of thing.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so let's do that Interesting stuff there, all right?
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, I know.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: We're close.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: Huh, we're close, huh, we're close.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: I know what you're thinking.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: No, you don't, you don't want to know, that's true.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: I don't.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: You really don't want to know what I'm thinking.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: I'm going to need to shower after this.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, probably.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: You know I'm really disappointed that we lost connection with our British friend he tried to call back just a few minutes ago while we were into that.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we had to move on.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah he was on the phone, though, and on my cell phone, not on where we could put him into it.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Call and collect.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe that's why I didn't answer it.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: You're the man that set up all the phone systems.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Please deposit another 10 cents so if you have a problem with any of your phones, blame it on Mars.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Only the internet stuff, because you used to work for AT&T, did you not?
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Or did you work for Southwestern?
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Bell.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: I started with Southwestern Bell and went to AT&T.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: How did that work out for you?
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Well, it worked out well.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, I worked 40 years, so it made me a nice living.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good Until the Yankees took over and then I had to leave.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Oh, the who took over?
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: He's blaming it on the Yankees.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: New Jersey, the people from New Jersey Okay, Well, I don't know how that all worked out, but I guess that they bought the company.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: It worked out well, did it?
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it worked out well for me.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Good, I'm here.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Were you living in San Antonio when all that happened?
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: No, I was back here.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: I was back in Beaumont by that time.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we were only in San Antonio about six years, so did you put?
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: the phone system in in the Ramada Inn in Beaumont.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: No, sir, I did not, okay, just checking.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: No sir, why did you say?
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: that, with a smile on your face, like you're proud.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: No, I am proud.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: I didn't have to get shots or nothing because I didn't go there.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: Well you know, did you have a problem with phone service while you were there?
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: No, Other things.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: No, my dad put in the air conditioning system, oh it was engine-driven refrigeration Two Waukesha engines in a room in the back of the With a single belt.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: No, it was big yeah.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: Well, nowadays, if you go there, they give you shots going in and shots coming out.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: I see.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Well, this was not that.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: It wasn't even open when he drug us over there while he was trying to fix the system.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: It must have been in the early 60s, yeah, early mid-60s.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was still a nice hotel then.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was still a nice hotel then.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was brand new and it sat out in the prairie.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: They hadn't even got the freeway in.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Oh boy, yeah Still brand new.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to take a quick break.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: In real time Car Talk continues after these messages.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: You own a car you love.
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• 31:35
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