Latest / That Car Show / Lyn Woodward Rides Again. Part 2

Transcript

Lyn Woodward Rides Again. Part 2 · That Car Show

0:00
Hey, it's that car show back with Lynn Woodward.
0:03
This is the part of the show where we actually start talking
0:05
about cars. If you haven't listened to Part
0:08
1, make sure you go back and listen to that.
0:10
Otherwise, enjoy. It's Lynn Woodward, and it's
0:13
that car show. The other thing that I really
0:16
enjoyed was the Subaru Trail Seeker.
0:19
Yes, I've got that on my list here to talk about because I was
0:23
like you, very impressed other than the steering wheel.
0:25
But tell us about your and. We just say never in my life did
0:30
I think I would be comparing or speaking about a zero to 60 time
0:35
of a Subaru being faster than a zero to 60 time of a Porsche.
0:39
Yeah, yeah. A Porsche.
0:42
Macan And yet here we are. The Porsche Macan base model is
0:47
slower off the line than a Subaru Trail Seeker I.
0:52
Mean there's yourself. What about M apples?
0:55
Right. And it's what, four times the
0:57
price? Like three times the price.
0:59
Yeah, and the trail seekers are so good all around.
1:03
I mean I off roaded it. They had one at Mudfest.
1:06
It did fantastically, you know, as you expect, like.
1:10
Well, off roaded all those two. In Europe they call it the
1:13
Outback EV. Wow, come on, that's.
1:16
That's what it is. That's what it is, and in fact
1:19
it looks kind of like the old Outback and, you know, profile.
1:22
Right. I'm telling you that's what it
1:23
is. And when you see them side by
1:25
side, you're, you know, you're kind of like, Oh yeah, that's
1:27
exactly what it is. It's the, it's the, it's
1:30
basically the way. It's the wagon, but it's an easy
1:33
wagon. Yep, Yep.
1:34
If you don't mind like you know, clashing plastic finishes or
1:38
whatever, that is a wonderful car.
1:39
I did struggle a little bit with that squirkle or whatever.
1:42
I just, yeah. I do think that that's something
1:45
that that a driver will get used to for better or for worse.
1:50
I will say that I think the partnership between Toyota and
1:54
Subaru when it comes to the electrified vehicles has
1:58
probably been one of the most successful that I would that I
2:03
you know, to to date. I think Subaru also Subaru,
2:08
oddly enough, might might even be taking a little bit of an
2:11
edge from Toyota to me with the way that they're rolling those
2:17
things out. I think the getaway is going to
2:19
be a really interesting vehicle too, even more impressive than
2:23
the Highlander EV A it's got AI mean, just a monstrous power
2:28
number and but you can also get it as a 2 wheel drive vehicle.
2:37
You can't do that with the Highlander.
2:39
And it's funny because I had lunch with them not long ago and
2:41
they I don't know if this was off the record or not, but I
2:43
think they all but kind of admitted, yeah, like that, you
2:46
know, that maybe we should have done something different
2:49
breaking news. And it may be that that that's
2:53
available at some point. But yeah, the styling on the
2:57
Getaway was really intriguing to me and I can't to drive that
3:03
vehicle. So yeah, I think they're making
3:05
a lot of really like, like terrific choices.
3:09
Yep, in in Lynn with the EVs, you don't have to worry about
3:11
the one thing that's always prevented me from buying a
3:13
Subaru and that's the CVT. I just really, I'm not buying a
3:18
CVT. I'm just not I.
3:19
Can't do it. I know it's not 2000 and it's
3:22
not Nissan or whatever, but you know where those would fail
3:24
after 40? I have.
3:26
So right now I'm driving the Outback Wilderness as a long
3:31
term vehicle and I I was in the same camp as you.
3:36
I still don't know if I could buy one, but I will say this it
3:40
I don't hear it in the way that I thought I would hear it all
3:43
the time. Subaru have refined it so much
3:47
and I'm really curious to drive it on the WRX.
3:50
I've that's where I really would like to spend some time with it,
3:53
but they don't, they're not interested in giving anybody a
3:55
WRX with AC, you know, with a CVT because they have an 80%
4:00
take rate on the manual transmission.
4:03
Why would they even care? And they're not a beautiful
4:06
thing to hear. I love it.
4:08
I love it. There's a whole crew of guys out
4:10
right now in England who are driving the snot out of the WRX
4:13
all over the place before festival speed, which is
4:16
awesome. But you know, I, I do think that
4:20
the CVT has come a long way. And while it may not be the
4:24
right transmission for you or for an another enthusiast, I
4:28
will say this, I think most customers, most car buyers, they
4:32
don't notice. They don't care.
4:34
They don't care and they don't they don't know the difference.
4:37
They've got their music on. If there is some noise
4:39
somewhere. They've also, they're putting
4:42
kind of paddle shifters on everything, which I'm like, this
4:44
is so performative and like theatrical.
4:47
But you know, if that makes them feel better about like, oh, I
4:50
need a little bit of a boost and I can, I can kind of boogie on
4:54
up the highway, you know, then that's fine.
4:56
But I they've come a long way, so I'm not going to give them as
4:59
much crap as I used to. True.
5:01
True. And they're wonderful cars.
5:03
I think Lindsay, you and I both had one of those for at least a
5:06
week and and. Yeah, we had the Forester
5:08
Wilderness. Forester that's right, but had
5:10
the at least I had the Outback as well and enjoyed them both.
5:12
I mean, I I can see living with it, you know, but I like.
5:15
That trail. Seeker even better.
5:17
That's one of those cars to me, though, that it doesn't check
5:21
off all the boxes because that one I wouldn't put on a lovely
5:25
dress and pop to a fancy party or a restaurant.
5:29
I don't want to be driving around in a hiking boot all the
5:32
time. That's.
5:34
A. Good.
5:35
And that's kind of what it looks like, which is why I think the
5:37
Getaway is so intriguing is because that looks sexy, right?
5:41
That looks. Good.
5:42
And you know, I saw it in the like purple paint that I was
5:45
like, what is that color? It's fabulous.
5:47
You're like, yes, well, and you know what I think was funny that
5:51
Tori and I kept commenting when we had the Forester, and I think
5:55
a lot of it is the public perception.
5:57
Like you said, it's people think of them as like hiking cars,
5:59
camping cars, outdoorsy things. The interior on it was so lovely
6:05
and impressive and felt very high end, but that's not what
6:09
people see when you're pulling up to the gala in your gown and
6:12
they're like, this is an interesting contrast.
6:15
Which is why I, I would say, and I haven't confirmed this with
6:19
them, but the redesign of the Outback, I'm betting that that's
6:24
why they made such a departure. Because if you're not buying the
6:29
Wilderness edition and you're just buying the regular edition,
6:33
it's much more refined. It looks less rough and tumble.
6:38
The colors that they offer it in are very kind of muted.
6:42
It's like that kind of a cement color.
6:44
It's like a, like a beige color. It's a muted green color.
6:48
These are very sort of sophisticated colors now that I
6:52
think they're trying to broaden their base away from we're just
6:57
granola and, you know, and, and, and camping.
7:02
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because there is such
7:05
like, there's such good cars now.
7:08
And I think there's a whole, like, there's a much wider group
7:12
of people that would enjoy and benefit and like really would
7:16
fit their everyday lives who maybe have not thought of them
7:20
up to this point because of the public perception of them as
7:23
being like, well, but that's the outdoors men or outdoors
7:25
women's. And he hairy armpit drive.
7:28
And like, if that's not me then I need to look elsewhere.
7:31
But really they are much more universally applicable and I
7:36
highly. Recommend Cross Track, the
7:38
latest iteration of the Crosstrek.
7:41
They have upped the ante so much on that car, even to the extent
7:45
of adding some great sound damping materials that really
7:49
have refined the cabin quite a bit.
7:52
It's it's an affordable vehicle, but now it has just this kind of
7:56
AI won't say sophistication that may be taking it too far, but I
8:00
am very impressed with the improvements that they've made
8:03
on it. Oh, and I loved you guys just
8:05
had Dominic Infante on the show. I loved that sound bite of him
8:10
that said, you know, like we, we want to be controversial.
8:14
We like, if everyone likes us, then whoops, we're doing
8:17
something wrong. And I, I'd never thought of it
8:19
that way. And I really appreciated that
8:21
statement so much that I was like, oh, I hope people think
8:23
that way about me too. It's like I know and everyone to
8:26
laugh and got out of the game. I want to call it bringing.
8:30
You want a little time to be a little.
8:31
Like, I don't know, is she crazy or is she not crazy?
8:34
Is that this cool or is she weird?
8:35
I can't tell. You're like bringing the turmoil
8:38
since you know. Yeah, always, always that was.
8:42
Great. Got to have a little.
8:43
Element. So I just had a cross track.
8:46
So the week that we had Dom on the show, like totally by chance
8:49
I got a cross track that week also and same thing.
8:53
I came away. I'm like, this is a great car
8:56
and like what an amazing car. I mean, I my impression of it,
9:01
it's so useful. I think it would be fantastic
9:04
for like a college student or somebody that's going to be
9:07
moving because of perfect. Yeah, perfect first car, great
9:13
gas mileage you can get. Like we went and picked up, you
9:16
know, a bunch of like wheels and car parts and it handled that
9:20
with a plum. Were they Volkswagen?
9:23
There's a strong chance they were Volkswagen and but so we
9:27
made we made that into a day trip to San Diego.
9:30
There was no driver fatigue like did great on the highway.
9:34
Visibility is great. And mine was this like lime
9:36
tennis ball green color because our friend Andrew Florin, who's
9:42
Porsche Oz on Instagram, he does an Ollie Bob Carter coffee and I
9:47
was like, that's a super colorful event.
9:49
So what's the most colorful? And it was this like bright
9:52
lime, you know, kind of muted tennis ball.
9:54
Every time I went to get in it, it made me smile and I'm like,
9:57
that's what you want. And a coffee.
9:59
Yeah. That's awesome.
10:00
I'll say one more thing about the Outback Wilderness.
10:03
I just did a little bit of a road trip to go to a friend's
10:06
memorial a couple of weekends ago.
10:09
I crammed 5 people in that car, so there were two of us up front
10:12
and three in the back, and we drove for probably all told 3
10:15
hours. Those people in the back seat,
10:20
totally comfortable I. Mean and that's and.
10:23
That was three across. Three across and I just thought,
10:27
oh gosh, this is going to be terrible.
10:29
I'm like you guys like they were they said, Oh no, these seats,
10:33
the seats are very comfortable. They're heated for the two
10:36
outboard seats. They were very comfortable and I
10:39
thought, OK, that's the ultimate test is, is can you smash?
10:44
Can you smash 3 back there 'cause I ain't going I.
10:46
Mean yeah, no. Yeah, well now, but I have to
10:50
drive it. Sorry I.
10:52
Gotta know because I gotta know because this has been the the
10:57
automotive story, you know, the last couple weeks.
10:59
But what is the Lynn Woodward Slate take?
11:03
I'm I'm so curious about this car.
11:06
I'm just going to turn my light on for one second because
11:09
getting a little dark in here. Hang on.
11:12
And I can't. That car show after dark.
11:18
There now I don't look like a ghost.
11:21
OK, so I'm really curious about this vehicle.
11:23
Listen, anytime somebody starts a new car company, I'm all for
11:26
it because I let the more players are in the in the game,
11:30
the more exciting. Certainly something that is
11:34
inexpensive at that price point. I think, yeah, that's fantastic.
11:39
A couple of things that I think that maybe I'm questioning and
11:42
I'm not 100% sure how they're going to play out.
11:45
Like I look at that little wall behind you, Lindsay, and I
11:49
think, OK, great. That's a lot of options.
11:51
You can do that for anybody to make it a really truly
11:54
personalized car. How much is it actually going to
11:58
cost them? So we have a very entry level
12:03
vehicle, but you start adding things on there.
12:05
It's kind of like the Porsche Configurator, right?
12:08
That thing we can it's almost like a fun game.
12:12
How expensive can I make this Porsche?
12:15
And I do think that those extras, things that we might not
12:19
even consider as an extra are going to start really driving up
12:24
the price. So that fabulous price point
12:26
that you have, which is entry level, you're going to blow that
12:29
up pretty quickly. Don't forget that the Maverick I
12:33
think starts at like 29. It's not that much more
12:38
expensive. And you don't need to be all
12:40
bare bones on the Maverick. So not an EV, it's a hybrid that
12:46
then that's not the base model. I get it.
12:47
There are not. It's maybe, you know, apples to
12:50
oranges, but my other big question is this, who's going to
12:55
buy that? Because here's the deal.
12:58
I think somebody who is looking for a low priced car is probably
13:03
somebody who lives in an apartment building like me.
13:10
I cannot, I don't have access to charging when I go out into the,
13:16
the world, my little, you know, surrounding neighborhood and I
13:19
live in what I would consider a a high density of early
13:24
adopters, high density of EVs. The infrastructure around here
13:31
sucks. You're still waiting 5 deep in a
13:35
line at the grocery store to charge really.
13:38
So the people who probably are going to buy this car, whether
13:42
for novelty or their kid, 'cause it's a great first car,
13:45
inexpensive. These are people who are
13:48
probably going to be a little bit more affluent, who are
13:51
probably going to be able to like, yeah, I can make it purple
13:53
with a pink this and now than that.
13:56
And they have wait, that's. Tories build, wasn't it?
13:59
Yeah. I love it.
14:02
I love it man, just go for the. Trapper Keeper Look, if I
14:05
recall. Oh yeah.
14:06
Fantastic, but. Those are the people who have
14:08
who have that infrastructure already at home and then you're
14:12
already kind of discounting and you're, you're almost
14:15
eliminating that, that that low price point, you know, necessity
14:21
until we get the infrastructure sorted out.
14:24
I am very skeptical that we are going to have a high adoption
14:28
rate of electric vehicles. And I listen, I know it's going
14:33
to happen eventually. I embrace it.
14:35
I love it. I think they're fun to drive,
14:38
but I don't know how. I just don't.
14:43
I don't know how it's going to play out.
14:46
Yeah, I, I thought it's, it was interesting that they've leaned
14:49
so heavily into this customization thing because I
14:52
thought this was going to be the perfect fleet vehicle, right?
14:55
You've got a warehouse, you plug them in each night, you know,
14:57
your plumber, whatever your Amazon driver, whatever you
15:00
know, and and I think you're on to something there and and you
15:04
know, it's it's it's so location specific for me, it's a non
15:08
starter until they come out with all-wheel drive, right.
15:11
You can't drive a rear wheel drive pickup truck, you know,
15:14
that's 4000 lbs or whatever it is in the winter.
15:16
I just can't so the other. The other thing to me is, is
15:20
like this it it kind of feels like a novelty car.
15:23
And who are the people who can afford novelty cars?
15:26
Rich people, yeah. Yeah, because even the range
15:31
that you're looking at is not. It's not an.
15:34
Exverbitant amount of range. There was one point going to be
15:37
a dual motor version that's gone now.
15:40
So I'm kind of, I want to be excited.
15:45
I really do. I want to see them all over the
15:47
place with polka dots and different, you know, different
15:50
configs. But yeah, I'm just not 100% sure
15:54
that that I'm going to see that, that I just, I don't know who
15:58
the audience is. Yeah.
16:00
Yeah. And did I read something that
16:01
the Fiat Topolino is coming to the stage?
16:04
1414 thousand dollars $15,000 There's your novelty.
16:07
Car hell you get 2 of them for the price of a a slate and and
16:10
you don't have to you know, play your slum in it right yeah it's
16:13
where did that come from That was completely from out of
16:17
nowhere that I think. We saw them.
16:20
We saw it at the LA Auto Show. Yeah, that's right.
16:22
That's right. That's right.
16:24
Auto show and I do tours at the at the show and I just, you
16:28
know, I was like, don't get too excited about this everybody,
16:30
because it's not coming to the US and here we are.
16:34
That's going to outsell the 500. That's going to outsell the 500.
16:37
You better. Believe it, you heard.
16:39
It here first everybody guarantee.
16:42
Well, Lynn, it's not going to take much, but I mean, it is
16:46
cool and it's it's so. Cute.
16:49
And it's it. Is cheap enough it can be sort
16:51
of like a goof, right? I mean, it's I.
16:53
Mean, listen, if I had just extra cash flowing out of my
16:56
pockets like nobody's business and I had a charger, right, that
17:00
I could, I would buy that thing in a second that that's awesome.
17:04
Have you driven 1? Did they let you drive one at
17:06
the show? No.
17:08
OK. I just didn't, you know, I'd
17:09
like. Like Fiat, I'm I'm tell, tell
17:13
you now I please send me to Italy and I will go drive one.
17:17
Let's Lindsay will come with me. We'll have two outlets for the
17:20
price. One let's that's right.
17:22
No, I it would be really fun to be able to do that.
17:24
I can't imagine there's a press trip for that though.
17:28
I'll tell you what though, I've. Got a 13 1/2 year old.
17:31
So does Lindsay, right? I mean a few years off from from
17:34
driving and you know, licenses and all this and if that is a
17:37
safe vehicle and I have no idea how that could possibly could
17:40
be, but I guess they're selling it right, you know, got it be.
17:43
Like driving a paper clip or. Like a dog.
17:47
I mean a mild. At the high school.
17:51
Like. My MRI I don't.
17:54
Know, Oh my gosh, I don't know, I'd have to.
17:56
Drive one, Yeah. I don't know about safety guys.
17:58
Like I'm sure it has an airbag, right?
18:02
Right. Right, an airbag.
18:05
An airbag. The required.
18:07
Amount of airbags, it's like, it's like a zip lock that just
18:12
pops out of your that's right out of your steering wheel at
18:16
you. It's that one.
18:18
Really, Air. Really.
18:19
There's no bag. The air.
18:22
It's a puff. It's a delicate Italian puff,
18:24
you know? Yeah.
18:26
But no, I love it. Again, I love it.
18:28
You know, this is anyone who doesn't believe this is a great
18:31
time to be alive and be watching the automotive industry.
18:34
They're not paying close enough attention.
18:37
Yeah, well, and. Those are you get.
18:38
Cars like that you get cars like the Rivian, like the R2, which I
18:42
I haven't seen it, but I just you think, Oh my gosh, this
18:45
thing is just like magic and it's going to be amazing.
18:48
And then you, you still have, you know, hyper cars and you
18:51
have the, you have electric vehicles and then you have it's
18:54
just like, come on, it's it is it's awesome.
18:58
I love it. I love that I miss this.
19:01
We did. Lose 1 recently Lindsay and Lynn
19:04
and Lindsay you had just driven a new I was.
19:07
Yeah, I had just turned it in when that happened, when the
19:09
news came out about Polestar being no longer I'm a.
19:13
Fan, you know, and, you know, it always appealed to me because it
19:17
was kind of like kind of took the spot of like what Saab used
19:20
to be right? You know, I know they're Chinese
19:22
ish, but you know, they're still Scandinavian.
19:25
You know, they checked off a lot of the same, you know, quirky
19:27
boxes for me. You know, that Saab used to, and
19:29
now they're gone, you know? And.
19:32
Yeah. I think I don't.
19:35
First of all, I don't know that the US was really a super strong
19:39
market for them to begin with. I, I liked those cars because
19:45
they really catered to an enthusiast audience.
19:49
But the problem is, and if they at least if they cater to an
19:54
enthusiast audience with the way that those cars drove, but not a
19:57
lot of enthusiasts were buying EVs.
20:00
And so at least not at like at the beginning.
20:03
And so I think they really had kind of a difficult proposition.
20:08
I kind of almost wish they had not separated from Volvo because
20:12
it doesn't make any sense, right?
20:15
Like they were, they were the EV arm of Volvo, right?
20:18
Okay, perfect. And then Volvo decided to kind
20:21
of go all in and EVs too. And I'm like, where's the?
20:24
Where's the other? Right.
20:26
And then you could, you could still buy a Polestar Volvo as of
20:30
2026, right? The performance wagon, right?
20:32
That you don't see anywhere. But I mean, I'd love 1.
20:35
Of those and that's now we're. Talking now we're oh that's the
20:38
one with like the yellow, you know, seatbelts.
20:42
Seatbelts is what they call those things Yeah, yeah, it's
20:45
just. But Lindsay, you just had them.
20:47
What was it? The Polestar 4?
20:48
I had the. Four.
20:49
Yeah, which without the. Window without the.
20:52
Back window, yeah. So I haven't.
20:54
Driven that. Was that a weird sensation?
20:57
Initially, but you learn to work around it and I didn't have it
21:02
for a full week, just the way the schedule, my schedule worked
21:05
out. So I would say I was like 90%
21:10
used to it by the end. I think if I'd had the full
21:12
week, it would have been a non starter, like wouldn't have
21:15
bothered me at that point. But you just like you do work
21:20
around it, you figure it out. And the rest of the car was so
21:23
good that I was like, oh, there's no question that I'm
21:26
willing to figure out how to work without the back window
21:29
because it was just it was one of those cars you get in, at
21:31
least for me. And it was like an instant like
21:34
you were talking about like the exhale or the relief where
21:36
you're just like, yeah, I'm home.
21:39
And you know, like so much space in the backseat, Like my
21:43
daughter's in the backseat and she's like, this is amazing.
21:45
It's, you know, cavernous pack here and just like it's.
21:50
Literally cavernous because yeah.
21:52
Because there's no window. Yeah, there's.
21:54
No window. Yeah, Literally and
21:57
figuratively, Yeah. That's right.
22:00
Well. And it just like it was just so
22:04
many little touches and, you know, we got back to our
22:07
building because, and it's interesting, like I had the
22:10
Lucid Air before that. And like you, Lynn, I don't have
22:13
charging capabilities in the building that I live in.
22:16
So I was like, this is going to be an interesting exercise in
22:18
figuring this out. And so, but then we got back to
22:21
the parking garage and I'm like the lights that it had on when I
22:24
picked it up or pink. So of course I was into that,
22:27
but it just, it drove so nicely. It.
22:30
Is it really is? I was like, this is yes, I'll
22:33
say yes. They're masterful.
22:35
They're masterful at at driving dynamics, right.
22:39
I mean those things are they're so well sorted.
22:42
They're really fun to drive. They're there's a there's like a
22:47
like a dynamism to them that's great.
22:49
The chassis is tuned perfectly. That's why I was always such a
22:53
conundrum in my head because I thought God, this is this is an
22:56
enthusiast car like it's still pulsedar right.
22:59
It's still a racing company at heart, but yet I'm, I'm kind of
23:05
like, I, I don't see how this could be like a mass market
23:09
proposition in the way that I think they needed to, to be to
23:13
be successful. I will say this, I don't, I, I
23:17
don't like when a company is forced to do something that
23:22
maybe is not something that they had planned or that they wanted
23:25
to do. I have no doubt that we will
23:27
still see them in Europe, that they, that they are, you know,
23:30
successful there. And so that makes me that
23:33
pleases me. Thank you very much.
23:36
So, yeah, I mean, it's an interesting, it's definitely
23:38
interesting. I think they're like any any
23:41
administration you have is going to be sort of changing rules.
23:44
And I think I was having this conversation with another with
23:47
an automaker and, and I just, I said, gosh, especially now
23:52
anyone who's not anyone who's hanging their hat on something
23:56
that one administration says, you can't do that anymore
24:00
because the pendulum is swinging so far that you really do have
24:04
to, I think be cautious and, and kind of walk down the middle of
24:08
the road because a lot of those mandates that we were all like,
24:12
oh, this is going to be it, This is it.
24:13
And I just think all it's going to do is changing one
24:16
administration until it goes all the way over here.
24:19
And then the next administration, the next time
24:21
it's a different, you know, a different brand of politician in
24:25
the, you know, in the owner's box, then you're going to go all
24:28
the way back over here. So I think again, it's a
24:31
terrible thing to do to, to car companies when you're talking
24:35
about such expensive decisions. But I also think that you got
24:40
you caught a lot of, we caught a lot of of OEMs kind of with
24:44
their pants down because they thought, well, I Volvo, I
24:47
thought we were all going all in.
24:48
What the hell, suddenly we're not doing that anymore.
24:51
What's going on? And I again, I think it's very
24:53
unfair because you're talking about you're talking about
24:55
people's lives and people's, you know, livelihoods.
24:58
And this is a tremendous amount of money.
25:01
And and not that I feel like a lot of this is political, you
25:05
know, political gamesmanship, but some of it feels like it.
25:10
And it doesn't feel like it's the right venue to be playing,
25:15
you know, because you're, you're playing with people's money.
25:20
Yeah, which is? Yeah, well.
25:23
Tough thing. And I, Yeah, I, I am sorry to
25:25
see a, you know, a car company that I thought was making good
25:28
products, even though I, I didn't necessarily see it being
25:32
a broad proposition for the US I'm still always sorry to see,
25:36
to see people leave. Yeah.
25:38
Well, I think. Yeah.
25:41
And I read an article, they were quoting a source from one of the
25:44
dealerships, like right after the announcement or the news,
25:49
and they said there's almost 3000 cars inbound for the US
25:52
like right now still. But like you said, Lynn, like
25:57
the adoption had not been like, I think it was gaining, but not
26:02
rapidly. And so there's an element of
26:03
like, I don't know, in the long run, does this possibly help
26:08
Polestar like regroup if they were struggling in the US
26:12
anyway, they can bow out like under the guise of this other
26:17
thing without having to say, like, we decided to pull out
26:20
because sales are not great. And then do they get to come
26:23
back stronger in the future because it they are making a
26:26
great product, like, it was really good.
26:27
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
26:30
But who knows? I mean, that remains to be seen.
26:33
I all I know is this. I would not want to be an
26:36
automotive executive who is in charge of making those decisions
26:39
because I do think you're almost damned if you do and damned if
26:42
you don't, right? I almost feel like the the
26:45
companies who have taken maybe what what some people would call
26:49
as like sort of a, a let's like hang back and wait and see
26:54
approach, maybe not at the tip of the sphere.
26:56
I look at Toyota and I think, boy, no one looks smarter than
26:59
Toyota right now, right? Hybrids.
27:03
Hybrid. Technology and, and really like
27:07
leaning so heavily into that that now they're like, well,
27:10
hey, we're not the EV, we're not the V8, we're the hybrid guy.
27:15
And they're kind of they're kind of looking like geniuses.
27:18
I mean, they can't make Rav fours fast enough.
27:20
Yeah. It's it's true.
27:21
It's true. So.
27:23
Then we're. At an hour and a half and I told
27:25
you yeah, if we can get a good hour in, I think we can run over
27:30
2 hours too. Much no.
27:32
No, this is not wonderful. I just, you know, I don't want
27:34
to keep you all night. I No.
27:36
I, I, this is great, but it, you know, anytime I can come in and
27:39
hang out with you guys, it's always so much fun.
27:42
And I mean, listen, there's plenty to talk about, right?
27:45
We, we live in a, we live in an awesome time when it comes to
27:48
cars. We're fortunate enough to be in
27:50
a fantastic industry. So yeah, and there are people
27:54
who actually want to listen to what we're saying, which is
27:56
crazy. It's.
27:56
Amazing myself every day. Do have one last question for
28:00
you and Lindsay, if you have any as well.
28:02
But what's the state of like the enthusiast scene in in LA right
28:06
now? It seems kind of quiet.
28:07
What's going on? Like what events are you going
28:09
to? What's the buzz?
28:12
You know, there are this, there are the sort of the, the
28:14
standard ones, the local cars and coffees.
28:17
I, I kind of wish I lived in the South Bay a little bit, you
28:21
know, to be honest with you, because I think that the culture
28:23
there is so much better. Honestly, I think it's simply
28:26
by, you know, matter of parking availability that there are more
28:31
cars and coffees down there. I have a friend who lives in
28:34
Torrance and he's just every weekend he seems to be going to
28:37
a fun cars and coffee for a couple of hours and making
28:40
various and sundry vehicles that he has.
28:43
And to me, it would be a long drive to get down there.
28:46
And so it's it's a little bit harder for me to kind of
28:48
participate, but Orange County is just a ripe environment for
28:53
that. And so Lindsay, you're so
28:54
fortunate that you that you have an opportunity to be there.
28:58
I don't worry about car culture. I don't worry at all about, you
29:03
know, the kids. I think, I think they, from what
29:06
I hear, and this is what I love, sedans are definitely making a
29:11
comeback. So the interest in sedan then
29:14
has been refreshed. I've been saying this for a long
29:18
time. I used to work in advertising
29:19
when I in a different life, I worked with Nike and I worked
29:23
with Nike in the late 90s, early 2000, like early 2000, maybe
29:29
late 90s and they were panicked. They were in a total panic
29:34
because they had gone from the number one shoe company to the
29:39
number 2 shoe company behind Adidas, and they didn't
29:43
understand why, Why, Why would I?
29:46
I'm sorry, but your kid doesn't want to wear the sneakers that
29:50
you are wearing. And I feel like it's the same
29:53
kind of thing. Kids don't want to drive what
29:57
their uncool mom drove. And so for us, it was wagons.
30:02
Yeah. I mean, I'm not like, I love a
30:04
wagon, but the uninformed people who thought, oh, wagons,
30:08
minivans, Yikes. EW, no, thank you.
30:12
I think that we kind of, that's where we, this proliferation of
30:16
SUVs came from. So you know, Gen.
30:19
X, Gen. Y is.
30:23
That a Gen. for. Millennials.
30:24
Do we call them millennials? I think we just call them
30:26
millennials and Gen. V like.
30:28
Shirts, right? They're not so little.
30:32
They're not so little anymore. Oh my God.
30:35
But I think there was that, you know, again, it's pendulum
30:38
swinging, right? It's like, OK, so Fuvs became
30:41
this thing everybody's like, All in all, in all in Ford, we're
30:44
killing all of our cars. We're doing all of this stuff
30:47
like big drastic things. And now we're seeing that
30:50
there's this group of people who they do care about efficiency.
30:54
They do care about economy. They don't necessarily want to
30:57
be driving what it is that their parents are driving.
30:59
And frankly, an SUV right now is a little bit of a poor excuse
31:04
for just like a slightly raised car.
31:07
I mean, can we talk about the ground clearance?
31:09
That's a ridiculous. It's like it's the same the
31:13
ones. That can actually claim like
31:15
ground clearance. It's a small group.
31:19
All the only thing that gives them the illusion of that higher
31:22
seating position is where the seat is bolted in, which is
31:26
higher up and you've got, you've got no greenhouse.
31:29
So you're looking out a window that's like this and you're
31:32
elevated because the roof is a little higher and it's puffed up
31:35
like a puffer fish. You're not any higher up off the
31:39
ground. Your seat is just higher up.
31:40
So let's just call it, let's just call the truth the truth.
31:44
However, I am very encouraged because I think sedans are on
31:48
the come back and you know the other, the other thing that I
31:50
think is going to make a comeback, yes, wagons, wagons,
31:54
wagons, wagons, I mean we all. Love them.
31:59
We love. Wagons we love.
32:01
Wagons for a good reason. You know, it's not just like,
32:04
oh, it's cool and it's brown and it has a manual transmission.
32:07
No, they're they're excellent to drive.
32:09
They are definitely more efficient and they are still as
32:13
practical as an SUV. But you're not, you know, you're
32:19
not like having to sit up here in order to do it.
32:21
So I think, I think for those people who have that kind of
32:25
mentality of like, well, again, we're checking off boxes, right?
32:28
It's like, what is the mission here?
32:30
I think for those people who, you know, use their car as a as
32:34
a utility item, we'll see the logic in that.
32:38
So. There's so much we didn't didn't
32:42
get to. I wanted to ask you about
32:43
Ferrari's new quote UN quote manual So can we just.
32:48
Talk for one second about all of these.
32:50
Things I wonder the lintake on this OK, OK.
32:56
Oh my Lord Jesus in heaven, Ingles.
33:00
Take the wheel. Ingles, take me now.
33:04
I can't deal with it. No.
33:06
OK. So I mean, I think it's really
33:07
funny. Do you guys follow Angela's
33:09
death highway? We love Angela Death.
33:12
And speaking, come on before. Spike did.
33:14
Yeah, we know. Who put in?
33:16
No, Was it? Anonymous.
33:19
Yep. With a voices guy there.
33:22
Yeah, yeah, well, all of it. Anonymous Gmail account all.
33:25
Oh yeah, the. Whole thing, but so we do have
33:27
to drop in a little callback and Easter egg for those dedicated
33:31
fans. He might be the most ardent
33:35
Chrysler Pacifica enthusiast there ever was.
33:38
Get out of. Here may or may not.
33:39
Be a clue, but yeah. Well, then I he's probably not a
33:42
journalist. I don't know, like all of us are
33:45
like, was he at the event? I don't know, because I was at
33:47
that Mercedes event with the things going off on the bridge
33:50
and he got it all down very, very perfectly down to Brad
33:53
Pitt, you know, literally getting out of a car going hey,
33:57
and walking out and getting probably paid a lot of money for
34:00
it. No, here's the deal.
34:03
And I feel like this about like the, the, the Honda Prelude kind
34:07
of did a little bit of this with their S plus mode.
34:11
The the, and I'm not, you know, I, you know, all of the Mercedes
34:15
and, and, you know, Ferrari engineers are probably like
34:20
rolling around going, no, but this whole idea that that that
34:26
theater or, you know, a lot of spectacle is going to actually
34:30
change your driving experience. I'm a little on the fence about,
34:35
to me, it's tantamount to the the Star Wars ride at
34:39
Disneyland, right? Where you're sitting in a seat
34:42
and there's a screen and they're like rattling you around like
34:45
this to make you feel like you're going light, but you're
34:49
not really going lightspeed. It's just it's like a sensation.
34:52
And to me, it almost feels like a little bit of a novelty.
34:55
I am very curious to see of the people who buy those cars,
35:00
whether it's the Prelude, whether it's the Luche, whether
35:04
it's the the GT 4 door coupe, how many times, how often are
35:10
you putting it in that theatrics mode and driving like that?
35:15
Lin It's like launch control, right?
35:17
You impress your friends a couple of times, then you forget
35:19
about it. And I think that's what's going
35:21
to happen to this damn gated shifter in this, I think.
35:23
It wears, I think, I think it wears.
35:26
Then I think that wears out when you're like, I'm not going to
35:29
press the button because I'm it's fine.
35:31
Like I'm just going to get in and drive it to me.
35:33
It's almost like ambient lighting, right?
35:35
What person goes in there and is like, I'm in probably a couple
35:40
mood right now. I mean, maybe there's a couple
35:42
of people, but I don't want to spend the extra money on ambient
35:45
lighting. If that's going to cost me some
35:47
cash, just set it to blue or don't do it at all and I'm cool
35:51
with it. Again, I might be the old lady
35:54
in the room who where the kids are like, no, I'm in a club mode
35:57
and I'm going in the, you know, rocket red like fine.
36:02
I just do the thing over and. Over while I'm driving so it's
36:05
rotating through for like true club.
36:08
Where's that mode? Where's the disco ball though?
36:11
Like so, I'm just not convinced that the that the juice is going
36:15
to be worth the squeeze. Yep.
36:18
Yep, I'm I wouldn't. I'd I'd be like, oh, like it's
36:24
taking a weird. Noise that's.
36:25
Bad and it's a. Moot point because they're what,
36:27
making fourteen of them or something, but it.
36:30
Also, and this is my issue, this is my issue with with Honda,
36:34
because listen, the Prelude is another great example, right?
36:37
The Prelude was known for coming out with really innovative new
36:42
technology right? Like this is what they like.
36:45
Hung their hat on 4 wheel. Steering. 4 wheel steering, the
36:49
VTEC, you know, engine like all of these things that they had
36:53
that they that they implemented in this in these cars and
36:56
they're telling me that the that the the new thing that they're
37:00
trying out is this like noise and and simulated ships.
37:07
Am I saying what? OK, that's supposed to be the
37:11
secret sauce. Oh, it's going to change the way
37:13
you drive. And I'm like, no, it's not.
37:16
I'm still driving exactly the same.
37:18
In fact, it's making me slower to put that stuff on because
37:22
you're actually just interrupting my throttle.
37:24
So I'm not a fan of that. To me, the secret sauce in the
37:27
Prelude is the fact that you've got Type R bits underneath there
37:31
that makes them a great driver. It makes it really fun and like,
37:34
really fun. But you've got a 200 and some
37:37
horsepower engine that's like whatever, but but.
37:40
Put the manual from the Integra in the Prelude, right?
37:43
Done. I asked them, I'm like, when's
37:46
the SI, when's the Prelude SI coming out with the manual?
37:49
And they're just like, maybe, but we can't talk about future
37:53
products. I don't know how they would do
37:55
it because they have to change the powertrain on that, right?
37:58
Right. It's a delightful car in so many
38:00
ways. Got a lot of looks.
38:01
Delightful. It's a little too.
38:03
It's too rich for people. It is.
38:04
That is, it should be $10,000 cheaper I.
38:07
Have a theory, though, on who that car is for.
38:10
That car is for somebody who's in my generation who is a car
38:13
enthusiast, for sure. They love the idea of driving a
38:17
manual. They just don't want to actually
38:20
drive a manual. They love the idea of a sports
38:24
car, but they still need it to be a little practical because
38:28
they got a thing and they got to do a stuff and they got to.
38:31
I can't, but they also do every once in a while they like to do
38:36
a little spirited drive like, oh, I'm going to get on this on
38:38
ramp. I'm going to hit this apex right
38:40
here on this on ramp and I'm going to zip on out of it.
38:43
And they, they, so they do appreciate the underpinnings and
38:48
some of those suspension bits on the Type R and, and is there are
38:52
there 6000 of those people? Because that was the number that
38:56
that Honda wanted to hit, right. 6000 was how many they wanted to
39:00
sell. I asked, I asked one of them not
39:03
that long ago, did you hit the number?
39:05
And he said yeah. OK.
39:08
So maybe there are 6000 people who are like, I don't want to, I
39:11
don't want to commute manual. Why do I want to do that?
39:14
Why would I do that to myself, Right?
39:16
So, you know, is it sustainable? I doubt it.
39:20
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know that they're going
39:24
to be able to hit that number every single year or that they
39:27
even want to. But I got to also tell you,
39:30
gosh, I love that they tried it. I love that they did it.
39:34
Maybe, you know, maybe there are those like people who are
39:36
moaning and, you know, well, the, you know, this is just
39:40
basically the coop. You know, they should have just
39:42
continued the coop instead of, you know, doing this.
39:45
And it's it's it's $10,000 more than the sport.
39:49
And what are you doing? Yeah, sure.
39:51
Those are all really valid arguments for sure.
39:54
But boy, that interior is gorgeous.
39:56
That's top notch interior. It's a top notch.
40:00
For someone, again, for the demographic in which I'm
40:02
discussing, that's like, I want it to be nice, I want it to be
40:06
lovely. So it'll turn into.
40:08
Our parents eventually and our priorities change and.
40:11
Dad sad. It's a great.
40:13
Little car in so many ways, it's just I think that.
40:16
Fun to drive. We're 4.
40:18
Weeks 4 weeks from car week? Is it 4 weeks?
40:22
Is. It that, Oh my gosh, we should
40:24
do. A show if you, if you're up for
40:25
it afterwards, sort of just, you know, love.
40:28
It unpacking the. Whole thing because each year
40:30
it's just a little more than the the year before as you know but
40:34
what are you looking forward to like what what do you do during
40:36
car week like what's you know what are the things you hit
40:38
didn't avoid I. Am I am a guest of JLR this
40:43
year? So I do attend a lot of the
40:46
events that they put on for what I hear they're doing.
40:51
They're doing quite a bit with Defender, which I think sounds
40:53
really terrific. They always, they have a great
40:56
reveal always for some special Range Rover that they do, which
41:00
is always usually really, really, it's like a special
41:03
edition. It's always super cool, super
41:05
lux and like really beautiful interiors and great colors.
41:10
I'm actually looking forward to the quail this year.
41:13
I've not been the last couple of years.
41:16
I kind of got burned out a little bit on it because I, I'm,
41:21
I like the cars. I don't necessarily like the
41:23
crowds. So I've sort of kind of avoided
41:27
that that event because it does get very packed.
41:31
But I am really looking forward to it this year because it's
41:34
been a it's been a minute and sometimes when you have been in
41:36
a while, you're looking forward to it.
41:38
I always love going to the Concorde de Lemons, which is
41:42
fantastic fun. I mean, it's like top notch,
41:46
great car show. It's just hilarious.
41:49
It's entertaining to me. That is the spirit of enthusiasm
41:54
at its finest. Or worst, whatever, whichever
41:58
way you want to put it. Sure.
42:00
Yeah. And so I always get really
42:02
excited about that. But my favorite event by far is
42:05
Concourse Sunday. Yeah.
42:07
It's special last. Year, last year, I had another
42:09
event that I went to during the week and so I wasn't able to
42:12
come until I think I showed up on Saturday afternoon and it was
42:19
kind of perfect because all I did was like a dinner on
42:22
Saturday night and then the next day I would the next day I just
42:25
did the Concord. I like going early, not dawn
42:27
patrol. The only way I'll do dawn patrol
42:31
ever is if I'm staying at the lodge at Pebble Beach.
42:33
I can roll out my pyjamas, I can get the donut and the hat and
42:38
then I can go back to bed for a couple hours.
42:41
But that'll never happen, and that's fine.
42:43
Well, and it's the. 75th anniversary of Is it 70?
42:47
Five, I hear they're also doing a Mira.
42:51
There's a Lamborghini Mira display that's happening, which
42:54
is fabulous. I think it's the 75th year of
42:56
that car, maybe 70 years. That's exciting, 50 years, 60
43:01
years, I can't remember the Mura would have been featured.
43:05
I'm pretty sure that Land Rover is doing something as well,
43:09
which I will say this, they've the last couple of years they've
43:12
had, they've had off road vehicles on the lawn.
43:15
They were the first ones to really do a significant showcase
43:19
of off road vehicles, whether it was the Queens, some of the
43:22
Queens vehicles or some of their great Expedition vehicles last
43:27
year. Huge hit, which to me also
43:30
indicates, Oh yeah, we're doing fine because the young people
43:33
love those cars. They're not necessarily into
43:37
the, you know, pre war Duesenbergs and the, you know,
43:41
Della Hayes. They don't necessarily know what
43:44
that is. But boy, a lot of the young
43:45
people really love those kinds of those kinds of vehicles.
43:49
There is so much to look forward to at Pebble this year.
43:52
So yeah, I'm, I cannot wait to go.
43:55
Are you guys going? Yes.
43:58
We are so excited. I cannot wait to be there.
44:02
Awesome, if we're fortunate. To look.
44:04
Forward to look forward to seeing you guys there.
44:07
Do you go to the auctions sometimes?
44:09
I think the auctions are some of the most fun moments.
44:11
Absolutely. And this is what I tell people.
44:13
Like I I want to go to car week, but I can't swing a ticket to,
44:16
you know, the quail or whatever. I say go to go to the auctions,
44:19
you know, there's so much. Excitement there, right?
44:22
Go to the previews or whatever, at least, yeah, and see what's
44:25
out there because you're going to see, you know, the stuff
44:27
that's going to show up on the lawn next year, right?
44:29
Effectively 100. Percent Also, it's really fun to
44:31
watch all of those loaded people get just super frothy about like
44:36
because that's really like, that's the moment where you're
44:39
just like, you're really like you're shooting weight.
44:41
You're you're way out over your skis.
44:43
You're just like, yeah, I want it, I want it, I want it.
44:46
Sure, I'll pay $1,000,000 for it.
44:47
And then afterwards, probably a buyer's remorse.
44:49
But the environment, the in the moment is epic.
44:54
Absolutely, Absolutely. I mean, there's nothing like car
44:56
week and it's just, you know, each year it somehow manages to
44:59
be more and, you know, I don't talk.
45:01
About a trip, we say this every year.
45:04
I mean, talk about a trip that is re entry is nearly impossible
45:07
every time because you're just like, yeah, no, I just came
45:10
back. I'm older now and to me the re
45:15
entry is a relief because it's so exhausting.
45:18
It can be so exhausting. But I mean, not really was the
45:22
event that first got me into this business.
45:24
I mean, I think I told you the guys this last time I went, 2015
45:28
was my first year going and I was working on the Infinity
45:31
activation that was at the top of Peter Hay Hill.
45:35
I had no idea the world I was about to step into and I just
45:38
was overwhelmed. And ever since then, it's had a
45:42
very, very special, special place in my heart.
45:44
So I love being able to go back and kind of relive that, that
45:48
almost childlike excitement and exuberance because it's just
45:52
cars, cars, cars, cars. And you're just like, what's
45:55
that? What what's that your heads on?
45:58
Well, I'm like where? Drive there and back is just as
46:02
crazy as whatever you're going to see at the event.
46:03
I mean, like there's one that's the only place in the world
46:06
where that's true. I decided today that I'm taking
46:09
the Porsche up there, so have fun.
46:12
Nice. Nice, we'll.
46:14
Make sure the. Thin fun of you.
46:16
Thank you. Yeah.
46:18
Yeah. All right.
46:19
We better call this tonight because we're two hours and you
46:22
have the lovely bye that's. Fine, I know.
46:25
There's always, I mean, any excuse to hang out with you,
46:28
right? Yeah.
46:29
But yeah, it's. Always fun and we have we have
46:31
to get together and have dinner again sometime, I know.
46:34
In person time. And Ryan, I can't wait to see
46:37
you up at up at up in Monterey. It's gonna be.
46:40
I know, I look. Forward to it.
46:41
I look forward to it. Maybe we can do a, like I said,
46:42
a post mortem or whatever you want to call it after.
46:45
Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.
46:48
Awesome. Thank.
46:49
You. So much for having me on.
46:52
Thank you. Thank you.
46:54
We'll have you back soon. Until next time, thank you.
46:56
So. Much for joining us to our
46:58
audience and thank you to Lynn always.
47:00
It's so much fun to have you and we appreciate everybody being
47:04
here listening, sharing the show with their enthusiast friends
47:07
and of course leaving five star reviews.
47:10
Remember always be driving. We're that car show and we'll
47:12
see you next week. And if you don't follow me
47:15
already on Instagram, follow me on Instagram.
47:17
That's right, because I do she's.
47:19
Lynn. She's a good.
47:19
Follow one. N2 underscores Woodward, who
47:23
underscores. Awesome.
47:26
All right, Thanks so much. Lynn let you get on with your
47:28
life, but I really appreciate this is a great conversation
47:31
you. Bet always talk.
47:33
Soon.