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Arctic Rally Countdown · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:06
  Don Armstrong: And welcome to the Inwell Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:10
  Don Armstrong: Just ahead, Andy and Mercedes Lillian thought.
• 0:13
  Don Armstrong: Woohoo! And they're gonna describe the Al Can A L C A N Al Can 5000.
• 0:20
  Don Armstrong: The thing that they've participated in before that uh numerous times.
• 0:23
  Don Armstrong: Numerous times, and they always do so well at it, so we're gonna see what the forecast is.
• 0:28
  Don Armstrong: Jeff has the racing calendar.
• 0:30
  Don Armstrong: And uh we'll have this week in auto history.
• 0:33
  Don Armstrong: I'll try to find the stories that I throughout.
• 0:35
  Jeff Dziekan: I think if they win, they'll give us a trophy.
• 0:41
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, in spirit.
• 0:42
  Mike Marrs: It's just a little snowman, and it might melt though.
• 0:46
  Mike Marrs: It gets down to here, though.
• 0:48
  Jeff Dziekan: Nothing but coal and carrots left over.
• 0:51
  Jeff Dziekan: Coal and carrots.
• 0:53
  Jeff Dziekan: Coal for the belly and the carrot for the nose, uh, and a stick for arms.
• 0:57
  Jeff Dziekan: I got stick.
• 0:58
  Jeff Dziekan: I got a hat, I got a hat, I need a hat.
• 1:00
  Jeff Dziekan: I have a hat, top hat.
• 1:02
  Jeff Dziekan: And what did they say?
• 1:03
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh happy birthday every time he came back alive.
• 1:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Do you know there's a story behind that?
• 1:08
  Jeff Dziekan: The guy that did the voice actually had four different families that they didn't know about each other.
• 1:12
  Jeff Dziekan: And he named the kids the same name so he wouldn't forget the kids' name.
• 1:18
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, two story.
• 1:19
  Jeff Dziekan: Look it up, the guy that voiced uh the snowman.
• 1:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Frosty.
• 1:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Frosty.
• 1:27
  Jeff Dziekan: No, that no, no, no, the guy that voiced it, not narrated it, the guy that voiced the actual character.
• 1:33
  Jeff Dziekan: Burrow Ives is the narrator.
• 1:36
  Jeff Dziekan: Look it up.
• 1:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Ho ho ho.
• 1:39
  Jeff Dziekan: And there's like 100 days of Christmas or something, something like that.
• 1:42
  unknown: I don't know.
• 1:42
  Don Armstrong: Hey, along with uh Mike out of this world morons, we always need more Jeff Zucchin.
• 1:46
  Don Armstrong: Chief Engineer David Ainsley, I'm Don Armstrong.
• 1:48
  Don Armstrong: Now, let's go to the Pacific Northwest, shall we?
• 1:51
  Don Armstrong: Ladies and gentlemen, our friends.
• 1:53
  Don Armstrong: Look at them.
• 1:54
  Don Armstrong: There they are.
• 1:55
  Don Armstrong: Look at dark and sharp and everything.
• 1:58
  Don Armstrong: It's Andy and Mercedes Lillienthal.
• 2:01
  Don Armstrong: How are you guys doing?
• 2:02
  Don Armstrong: Doing all right.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Can you hear us and see us?
• 2:05
  Don Armstrong: Yes, we all of course Mars puts himself up there first.
• 2:09
  Mike Marrs: Oh, I'm trying to get him up there.
• 2:11
  Mike Marrs: There you go.
• 2:12
  Don Armstrong: Perfect.
• 2:12
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 2:13
  Don Armstrong: Well, it's so good to see you guys.
• 2:15
  Don Armstrong: Um, you know, I'm not sure what the way that you're dressed, how the weather is up there.
• 2:20
  Don Armstrong: Crusadie's got her puffy jacket on with pants.
• 2:23
  Don Armstrong: And he's got strings hanging from his pants.
• 2:25
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and uh shorts.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: What what I wanted that I have it is uh it's actually like the first cool day we've had here in forever.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm a little bit taken full advantage of like wearing a sweatshirt.
• 2:38
  Don Armstrong: Well, very good.
• 2:39
  Don Armstrong: Um, it's always good to see you guys.
• 2:41
  Don Armstrong: We haven't talked to you in a while.
• 2:42
  Don Armstrong: The you know, world travelers that you are now.
• 2:44
  Don Armstrong: Y'all have uh come full circle.
• 2:46
  Don Armstrong: We knew you back in the day when.
• 2:48
  Don Armstrong: I'll never forget one of my first interviews with you.
• 2:50
  Don Armstrong: We talked about the Pajero.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: Here we go.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's still right over there.
• 2:55
  Don Armstrong: Is it?
• 2:55
  Don Armstrong: Is it over there?
• 2:56
  Don Armstrong: Oh, yeah.
• 2:57
  Don Armstrong: And and do you still have the van?
• 2:59
  Don Armstrong: We do, yes.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Also over there.
• 3:01
  Don Armstrong: Well, you did you hear that uh Mitsubishi's gonna start building them again?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they they actually have never stopped building them in Japan.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: They just don't get exported.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but uh you can if it's if you're in Canada, you can get a 15-year-old one and you can still get a 25-year-old one here.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: I just got to import it.
• 3:19
  Don Armstrong: Well, uh, I'm thinking that we're we're gonna write them a letter, uh, the in-wheel time uh car talk show, and we are going to insist that they give you one of each because you're such uh you know loyal.
• 3:31
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, a loyal follower and fan and driver and collector.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think a bad idea, yeah.
• 3:39
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, okay.
• 3:40
  Don Armstrong: I know that's not what you wanted to talk about.
• 3:42
  Don Armstrong: Because if you remember correctly, I mispronounced Pajero and embarrassed myself.
• 3:46
  Don Armstrong: We're not going there.
• 3:46
  Don Armstrong: We're not going there.
• 3:48
  Don Armstrong: Um, so the Al Can 5000, and I assume that you guys are doing it.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:55
  Don Armstrong: And I hear that you're leaving tomorrow.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: We are, yes.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: We're leaving tomorrow.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna go uh a day early.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh tech inspection is Monday, so we try to get there a day early just to make sure we've got everything sorted.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Tech inspection will be on Monday.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Take the car, wash this car.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: 2026 Subaru Forrester Wilderness.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh Monday we uh we are out, and uh we'll be up in Canada for the first night.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: And we're going all the way up to the Arctic Ocean this year in uh Tia's Northwest Territories, assuming uh all the water crossings and whatnot, uh which are ferries, uh, are operating.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: They've had some high water way up north there, and the uh their cable ferry, the uh Peel River Ferry, has been shut down.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: But we've just heard it opened up.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: So uh yeah, it's it'll be quite the adventure.
• 4:43
  Don Armstrong: Well, the only suggestion that I have to offer you is that you don't tell the Canadians that you're Americans.
• 4:50
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we uh we yeah, it'll be interesting, but yeah.
• 4:55
  Don Armstrong: Well, okay, so tell everybody about the Al Cannes 5000.
• 5:00
  Don Armstrong: What is it?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: So the ALCAN 5000 rally is typically at least 5,000 miles um in about 10 to 11 days at a minimum.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: It happens like the Olympics, where it's every other year, winter, then summer, then winter.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this is a back-to-back summer year, which is really interesting.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, as Annie alluded to, this is the one mother of a rally this year.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: We start near Seattle, go all the way up to Tucky up Tuck, Nubik above the Arctic Circle and in North America, uh and Canada, then go back over to Alaska, up above the Arctic Circle.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: If you do all the extreme controls and back down and we finish 6,300 miles later, about 1,300 of it is going to be dirt and gravel in 11 days.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let that think in.
• 5:38
  Don Armstrong: And so the whole purpose of this is to show how well the vehicle does.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, how you work your lunatics.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, the the purpose of this there uh it is a time speed distance rally.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: So there is competition there.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: So there's about how many stages are here, we think?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: I there's there's 10 or 11.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, about 10 or 11.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: So about 11, 10.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: 13, 14 stages.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: There's usually one, sometimes two a day.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's all about accuracy.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: So they they will give you the mileage, they will give you the dis uh the speed, and you've got to get find out the time at which you're supposed to cross through these invisible checkpoints.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so what they call car zero, which is sort of the the um the fictitious car that that started this or that ran the whole rally, they have the master time, and we're supposed to match that master time as close as possible.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: So early or late, you're penalized.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's all on public uh roads at or below public speed limit.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: So the biggest thing with road rally or off-road rally that's time speed distance or in Eurobase, it is not a race.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's the number one thing because we're with traffic, we're with cars, uh, you know, cows, uh, trains, stoplights, all those types of things.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: So we have to re-time everything and try to match the rally master perfectly as best as we can.
• 7:03
  Don Armstrong: Who's the driver and who's the navigator?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: Navigator.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody wants me navigating.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that's uh that's uh I'm I'm not he's I'm not one of these people that can read in the car without kind of getting car sick, so I'm best behind the wheels.
• 7:16
  Jeff Dziekan: So who's gonna let the cat out and water the plants while you're gone?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thankfully we have some fantastic neighbors who are gonna who are going to uh do some watering for us.
• 7:25
  Don Armstrong: Okay, well, the first thing that comes to mind is the last time that we talked to you, you guys were finishing up some sort of an event that you were in and hadn't had a bath in a couple of weeks.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, well it could have been many.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: But um, so uh this year though, uh on the Alkan Five Phasm, thankfully, there are uh uh hotel arrangements made.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: And uh sometimes it's gotten better over the years, which is great.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: So, but we won't have a problem with that.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: We are after the rally, however, we are going to drive.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: It it finishes in Fairbanks, Alaska this year.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: And we're actually gonna uh have a trip or with some friends around the area, and then we're gonna drive back to uh Portland from Fairbanks, and that's gonna be a whole nother trip.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: We expect probably overall close to 10,000 miles in about three weeks.
• 8:11
  Don Armstrong: Oh my god.
• 8:12
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 8:13
  Don Armstrong: My butt would be sore.
• 8:14
  Don Armstrong: I don't care what you what'd you say?
• 8:16
  Don Armstrong: That's a that's a lot of seat time, ladies and gentlemen.
• 8:19
  Don Armstrong: Well, uh, you know, we all we always look forward to hearing the stories and and finding out about these events.
• 8:25
  Don Armstrong: So is Subaru giving you the uh off-road wilderness out there to uh to drive?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so Subaru has lended us this car and we've built it up with a number of partners.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: It was built in uh Anaheim, California uh at Rally Innovations, and uh there's a student car club at Los Sanchez Valencia High School called Zen Speed, and so it was a lot of high school students, part of this car club, that did a lot of the work on this car.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_03: So uh it's really great to be able to work with the future beer heads, and uh that's super, super cool.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: We got a chance to meet them.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: And do you guys want to see the car?
• 9:02
  Don Armstrong: Yes, of course we do.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: So this is a so this is a 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: Forester Wilderness.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: For I'm sorry, Forrester Wilderness.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna grab the camera so you guys can do the walk around.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: So um it is uh as you can see, it was white.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um we have a wrap on both sides.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's kind of interesting.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: You can, I'm not sure if you can see this, but it's got silver black rhino wheels.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: So these are their poles.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: On the other side of the car, they're actually bronze, and the wrap is black.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so you have kind of a two-personality view here.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got falcon wild peak tires on there, King Springs from Primitive Racing.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: We have a bunch of Baja designed lights.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: We've got this roof rack, which is a co-design product from Rally Innovations and Lightner designs.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: We also got their gear pond up on top here where we'll store some of them, some of our some of our stuff.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we're running a canon intake, optima batteries, R1 concepts brakes.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got slotted brake rotors on here, top PPMS, uh CPMS sensors, uh, rock flops, mud flaps.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: So uh we've got all kinds of stuff here.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: You can see we've got some uh lights up on top.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: We're carrying five gallons of fuel.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, we're running full primitive racing skid plates, by the way.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: So um we are uh we're running five gallons of fuel because there will be probably one stage in which we really will need to dump fuel because there may not be enough uh range.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a very long stage.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: So um, yeah, as you can see, so we've got the black and bronze on this side.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_03: So you've got two personalities.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then uh inside we're running quad lock uh mounts uh for our phones.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: We've got the max tracks up on top just in case we get uh uh in a resumption situation.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: We've got a Baja Designs light bar up on top, we've got Baja Designs uh XLR Pro lights up front here, and these are this is actually kind of a neat thing.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: These are motorized and they can manually adjust, or excuse me, automatically adjust them with the Spod lighting uh uh switch panel.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: So struggling uh wipers.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, so uh we're we're super stoked.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we've got about an inch and three-eighths lift on it, and we'll take any bit of extra ground clearance we can get because the roads up there can be pretty gnarly, uh rocks and dirt and all that.
• 11:23
  Don Armstrong: Are you gonna have a chase vehicle or no?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: So there is a sweep theme, uh, three different uh three different rally uh trucks that will follow the last car on the rally so nobody ever gets left behind.
• 11:39
  Don Armstrong: That that listen, we're all sitting here with our mouths open going, Oh yeah, this is so cool.
• 11:45
  Don Armstrong: Did you help design all of the stuff that was on the on the vehicle?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: That was primarily Zenfeed and Rally Innovations.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: We had some input as to some of the requirements we wanted and needed, especially uh up top with the Max Track and the fuel.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: The fuel was very, very important.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: We're actually gonna be run running uh hard-fixed uh roof mounted uh Starlink for the first time as well.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: So great for us and great for everybody.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're gonna, yes, and then also um that's gonna be powered off the Ecoflow system that we have inside the car.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be powering things like our camera batteries, our fridge.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: We've got a small uh 17-liter fridge, just a tiny one we're bringing along, all sorts of things.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: But the Starlink in that whole setup is allowing us to be able to run, hopefully, run streaming um social media as we go instead of me doing it at you know 2 a.m.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: in the middle of the night every night.
• 12:31
  Don Armstrong: So oh my god, I I am so pumped on this.
• 12:35
  Don Armstrong: What why what is it that excites me so much about this from the other ones that you guys do all the time?
• 12:40
  Jeff Dziekan: He wants to go.
• 12:41
  Don Armstrong: I want to go.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody wants to go.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: They want to, you know, get get in our luggage in our backseat or whatever.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: But uh it's this is gonna be one mother of a rally because this is the longest 11 days and the longest uh mileage-wise of about 6,300 miles that we've done.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: This is our fifth one, and we run what is called the SOP class or seat of pants class.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: That basically means we have like a just a simple GPS odometer that gives us stuff in you know, tensile mileage so we can be exact.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: We don't run any rally computers, no rally, you know, any of those things they ask, those types of things.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we run literally five seats of our champs.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: That being said, it's it's pretty difficult.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta do a lot of math, but what we're hoping on is a three-peat for a class win, and maybe, just maybe, last year we came in second overall.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe we could take the cake with everything.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 13:30
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 13:31
  Don Armstrong: No, there's no maybe.
• 13:32
  Don Armstrong: It's gonna happen.
• 13:32
  Don Armstrong: I feel it, I feel it, I feel it.
• 13:34
  Don Armstrong: Um, so I have to ask Mercedes really.
• 13:38
  Don Armstrong: Um, I I guess that you were the one that was instrumental with the fridge in there for your nightly wine, isn't that?
• 13:45
  Don Armstrong: Isn't that the case?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if you call uh protein drinks and cottage cheese, and that comes out.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's what those young kids are calling it now.
• 13:54
  Jeff Dziekan: That's what they're calling it.
• 13:55
  Jeff Dziekan: Instead of saying griera, it's cottage cheese.
• 13:56
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, I get it.
• 13:57
  Jeff Dziekan: I get it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's all the high protein stuff along with icon meats.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we've got a bunch of meat sticks and their beast sticks.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: We eat a lot of protein, and that's how we roll.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we have a camelback that's off of Andy's back or uh off of Andy's driver's seat.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a hose that's up here to both take small sits, and that for us really helps us powered.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: And at the end of the day, if we're lucky, and if the bar is still open or if a restaurant nearby is still open, we'll get our celebratory beer beer that we finished one day.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: So the whole thing is is you know, you're never guaranteed anything is gonna be open.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh especially if you roll in late.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: So we try, we learn bringing a little fridge with uh a little bit of actual food.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, just stay in case I think.
• 14:38
  Don Armstrong: You know, one of the things that that I I keep wanting to say is the fact that, you know, I I I'm thinking that there is a party somewhere within the Lillian Thaul compound there, waiting to come out, and we're gonna get the invite.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: When we have a big back, we'll be sure to send you all the invite.
• 15:00
  Don Armstrong: No, that that's a cop out.
• 15:02
  Don Armstrong: Andy, you can't fool me.
• 15:03
  Don Armstrong: I know.
• 15:04
  Jeff Dziekan: Here's an idea for you.
• 15:05
  Jeff Dziekan: You get Mike and Don to ride with you, you'll get it done in six days.
• 15:10
  Jeff Dziekan: So we can get to the party.
• 15:12
  Jeff Dziekan: There you go.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: I was just gonna say the party's gonna be up here up north compared to you, Texas boys.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna have to have two jackets on.
• 15:19
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, well, there's no doubt about that.
• 15:21
  Don Armstrong: We bring tequila, we don't need jackets.
• 15:24
  Don Armstrong: Exactly.
• 15:25
  Don Armstrong: Well, this is pretty exciting, and I'm sure that uh that that Subaru is all over this with you guys because I mean, I will tell you that uh they have come a long way here recently with the redesign of many of their vehicles and some new vehicles as well.
• 15:40
  Don Armstrong: Um, they seem to have uh gotten the word that, hey man, you can be cool and have a Subaru.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, uh we have this is the second Alcan Subaru that we've run.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_03: Earlier in the year, we ran the Colorado Adventure Rally, which is an inaugural SCCA road rally, and we did that in a WRX STI swap 2006 Subaru Baja, which was not their vehicle, but somebody else's vehicle.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: That was fire breathing, very fast.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: Fully customized as well.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and uh yeah, you can do incredible things in the Subaru.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: We have we've driven coast to coast on and off road last year on the Trans America Trail in a cross-track wilderness.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: We've done the Alcan 5000 in a Outback wilderness.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: We're about to do it again in a Forester wilderness.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: We have a customized cross-track.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, yeah, you can do some pretty amazing things in Subaru's.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're big fans.
• 16:29
  Don Armstrong: Well, put the word in for us, and it's great to have you guys on with us as always.
• 16:34
  Don Armstrong: And we're so excited for you.
• 16:36
  Don Armstrong: I don't know what it is about this thing, but it gets me all jazzed up.
• 16:39
  Don Armstrong: Gets them out of the house.
• 16:40
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, it gets me out of the house.
• 16:41
  Don Armstrong: There's that.
• 16:42
  Don Armstrong: Uh maybe it's that that suitcase on the top of the roof there.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it'll be full of stuff.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna bring camp here this year just in case, because of uh they've had some wildfire, big wildfire up there, and then some of these uh water uh crossings have been swollen and the and the ferries have been shut down for days.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_03: So we we're bringing some place to sleep if we have to.
• 17:02
  Don Armstrong: Will y'all be safe?
• 17:02
  Don Armstrong: And so we can follow you on Facebook.
• 17:04
  Don Armstrong: Is that it?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: Facebook, Instagram, uh our website, crankshaftculture.com, blue sky.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's all gonna be via crankshaft culture.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: I would say primarily uh Instagram and Facebook.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: What I'll be doing as a navigator is when we have our really long several hundred mile transit time after the competitive leg, is I will be rolling out social stories on Instagram and Facebook as they happen, because now thanks for a Starlink.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Lightner Designs, for loaning us that.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that will be primarily the two platforms that that would be like on the on the spot happenings as they as they move on.
• 17:38
  Don Armstrong: Well, y'all be safe up there and know that we're following you.
• 17:41
  Don Armstrong: What time are you leaving in the morning?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, we don't have to be up there super early, so we don't have to be up at the crack of dawn.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: After hotel check-in.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 17:50
  Don Armstrong: That's it.
• 17:50
  Don Armstrong: Okay.
• 17:51
  Don Armstrong: Well, y'all be good.
• 17:52
  Don Armstrong: Let us know how it goes, and we'll be following you, okay?
• 17:54
  Don Armstrong: Want to talk to you when you get back.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having us on.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much, and pray everybody for perfect zero scores.
• 18:01
  Don Armstrong: Love you guys.
• 18:02
  Don Armstrong: Y'all, y'all take care.
• 18:03
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 18:03
  Don Armstrong: The Lillienthals, ladies and gentlemen.
• 18:05
  Don Armstrong: Very cool.
• 18:06
  Don Armstrong: Uh very cool uh to say the least.
• 18:08
  Don Armstrong: Just ahead, Jeff has the racing calendar, Mars has this week in auto history, and I'll bring you some stories making automotive news headlines if I can find them again.
• 18:15
  Don Armstrong: The in-real time car talk show is back in a flash after this.
• 18:18
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 18:19
  Don Armstrong: The Tex Max dining experiences defined by Loopy Tortilla.
• 18:23
  Don Armstrong: Your destination for Texas is fast 15 minutes of frozen margaritas.
• 19:06
  Don Armstrong: There's a text location you need.
• 19:08
  Don Armstrong: The recipes are authentic and time tested.
• 19:10
  Don Armstrong: The ingredients are always private.
• 19:24
  Don Armstrong: Yep, our first show aired May 7, 2011, on the local radio station.
• 19:27
  Don Armstrong: And it was a move to the digital world and social media, and you followed.
• 19:31
  Don Armstrong: Thank you.
• 19:32
  Don Armstrong: We continue to build and grow our fan base, and it's all because of you and your auto enthusiast friends.
• 19:36
  Don Armstrong: We appreciate your support.
• 19:38
  Don Armstrong: It's always great to see you in our remote broadcast, too, and we hope you'll continue to stop by and say hello.
• 19:43
  Don Armstrong: It's been a great ride, and we hope to bring you more fun and adventure right here on the Edwell Time Car Talk Show.
• 19:52
  Don Armstrong: Come down to uh uh yeah, the time that we're going to kind of wrap things up for this week's show.
• 19:59
  Don Armstrong: I've got a couple of stories that I've found that I want to share with you.
• 20:02
  Don Armstrong: But right now, Jeff's Racing Calendar.
• 20:04
  Jeff Dziekan: Yep, uh we're winding up.
• 20:05
  Don Armstrong: Oh, sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Show.
• 20:07
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, I just bought that.
• 20:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Thank you for that, by the way.
• 20:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh winded down, you got NASCAR is at Daytona.
• 20:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh the the uh uh O'Reilly ran last night.
• 20:15
  Jeff Dziekan: I didn't see it, I guess Don.
• 20:16
  Jeff Dziekan: You watched it last night?
• 20:17
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh I watched all of it.
• 20:19
  Don Armstrong: Uh crashes today.
• 20:22
  Jeff Dziekan: NHRA is off this weekend.
• 20:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh Indy is a two-race weekend.
• 20:26
  Jeff Dziekan: You've got uh Milwaukee race one is today, and then Milwaukee uh race two is tomorrow.
• 20:32
  Jeff Dziekan: They're going to be tickets are available, by the way.
• 20:34
  Jeff Dziekan: It's going to be on uh what's it, 2 30 this afternoon and then 1 o'clock tomorrow, and I believe it's on ABC.
• 20:40
  Jeff Dziekan: I may be wrong.
• 20:40
  Jeff Dziekan: I have a check here.
• 20:42
  Don Armstrong: That is at the West Dallas uh Milwaukee Mile.
• 20:46
  Don Armstrong: And that was the place that I was introduced to auto racing, and uh it's never stopped since then.
• 20:51
  Don Armstrong: And I was a little boy.
• 20:52
  Jeff Dziekan: There you go.
• 20:53
  Jeff Dziekan: Formula One is off, and of course, we've got uh the lawnmower racing is off until a couple weeks ago.
• 20:59
  Jeff Dziekan: Gotta let the grass grow.
• 21:00
  Jeff Dziekan: Gotta let the grass grow and tune up them uh them hogs.
• 21:04
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 21:04
  Don Armstrong: Time now uh on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show for this week in auto history, Mr.
• 21:09
  Don Armstrong: Mars.
• 21:10
  Mike Marrs: Yes, sir.
• 21:11
  Mike Marrs: Found a few things this week uh coming up this week that we thought were rather interesting, and we're gonna start with uh August the 29th, uh 1927.
• 21:19
  Mike Marrs: The drunkelmeter, probably officially called the drunchometer, but drunkelmeter is the way it's spelled, and I like it.
• 21:25
  Mike Marrs: So this is the actually the precursor to the modern breathalyzer because uh up until this time people, officers of the law, they just had to observe people and kind of figure out what they were going on to decide if they uh were inebriated or not.
• 21:39
  Don Armstrong: What is that thing that she's blowing into there?
• 21:42
  Don Armstrong: Is that a bubble?
• 21:43
  Don Armstrong: Uh some sort of other kind of rubber rubber kind of thing.
• 21:47
  Mike Marrs: It's a balloon.
• 21:48
  Mike Marrs: So they blew into the balloon to capture the air.
• 21:51
  Jeff Dziekan: The drunchometer.
• 21:52
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, on the drunchometer, then they would let the air out and it would measure the amount of alcohol that was in the device.
• 21:59
  unknown: Ah
• 22:00
  Mike Marrs: There's a lot of tubes and stuff going on.
• 22:03
  Mike Marrs: They modified it a little bit, so it's a lot better now, of course.
• 22:06
  Don Armstrong: Looks like a catheter in the box there, doesn't it to me?
• 22:09
  Mike Marrs: It looks like you could look like it used that for a lot of different things.
• 22:14
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and some rings, too.
• 22:16
  Don Armstrong: Moving on.
• 22:17
  Mike Marrs: Moving on.
• 22:18
  Mike Marrs: August the 30th, 1945.
• 22:21
  Mike Marrs: Hudson returns to civilian car production.
• 22:23
  Mike Marrs: Now, World War II, everybody started making things to support the war.
• 22:27
  Mike Marrs: They quit making cars.
• 22:29
  Mike Marrs: So in August the 30th, 1945, Hudson produced his first post-war vehicle, and it was a Super Six coupe.
• 22:36
  Mike Marrs: Like a lot of others, they started remaking their cars because nobody really expected the huge demand of everybody after the war of everybody wanted to buy these vehicles.
• 22:45
  Mike Marrs: So it worked out well to get everybody started.
• 22:48
  Mike Marrs: Then on August 31st, 1955, GM built a Sunmobile.
• 22:56
  Mike Marrs: Now one of their engineers, this is over 70 years ago, a GM engineer demonstrated a Sunmobile at the company's Power Ramage show in Chicago.
• 23:07
  Mike Marrs: It was only 15 inches long and it was a model, but it used 12 selenium total electric set uh cells to produce the power.
• 23:17
  Mike Marrs: Basically, this is the precursor to the EVs.
• 23:20
  Mike Marrs: This is what they used to work and try and create the EVs and sun power off of them.
• 23:25
  Mike Marrs: It worked for a 15-inch vehicle.
• 23:29
  Mike Marrs: Then on September the 1st, 1989, Lexus arrived in America.
• 23:35
  Mike Marrs: They uh started building.
• 23:37
  Mike Marrs: This has really started a new chapter in the American luxury car market.
• 23:41
  Mike Marrs: Because whenever Lexus came in, they were very nice.
• 23:43
  Mike Marrs: They challenged uh they were coming out of Europe, and then the American luxury brands now suddenly had to compete with price competitive vehicles that brought in uh a bit a lot of equality and luxury items for the price range.
• 23:56
  Mike Marrs: Then on September the 5th, 1994, the National Corvette Museum opened in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
• 24:04
  Mike Marrs: Now it was appropriate because that was where the Corvette production had been since 1981.
• 24:10
  Mike Marrs: So the museum actually became a big part of that landscape there.
• 24:14
  Mike Marrs: A lot of people go there.
• 24:15
  Mike Marrs: We've been there a couple of times with uh doing some interviews.
• 24:19
  Mike Marrs: I would love to go there in person one of these days.
• 24:23
  Mike Marrs: I was actually on a flight out of uh the local here, going off to a car event, and there was a gentleman sitting behind me talking to his daughter.
• 24:30
  Mike Marrs: He was flying to Bowling Green.
• 24:32
  Mike Marrs: Him and her were gonna pick up his new Corvette and then drive it back home.
• 24:36
  Mike Marrs: And I thought that is the way to buy a new Corvette.
• 24:40
  Mike Marrs: Then on September the 5th, 1940, the Federal Aid Highway Act.
• 24:44
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is kind of a precursor to uh the shaping the American highway system.
• 24:50
  Don Armstrong: It's before bus unum, isn't that in the in the the uh Dorothy and and Toto and and yeah, e Plurubus Unum.
• 24:59
  Don Armstrong: Kansas.
• 24:59
  Mike Marrs: It was in Kansas.
• 25:02
  Jeff Dziekan: I'm taking that for the greatest.
• 25:05
  Mike Marrs: So so the way this worked, because they actually started because of the highway system, it was important at the time, back in the 40s, the national defense, and this is what allowed the the federal government to go in and spend the money.
• 25:18
  Mike Marrs: That was their excuse to go in and spend the money and build the highway system and eventually led to the interstate system that we have today.
• 25:25
  Mike Marrs: So these are some things that you're gonna see coming up this week in automotive history that we thought were rather interesting.
• 25:30
  Don Armstrong: Uh listen, e pleribusunum.
• 25:33
  Don Armstrong: Uh that that got me.
• 25:35
  Don Armstrong: I I'm I'm waving the American flag right now.
• 25:38
  Don Armstrong: I'm thinking, yeah, don't click your heels together.
• 25:41
  Don Armstrong: Uh, we're all gonna go to Kansas and all of that.
• 25:46
  Don Armstrong: I'd like to see that movie again and again and again and again.
• 25:50
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, there's a newer version out.
• 25:52
  Mike Marrs: I don't think you can pick it up.
• 25:53
  Mike Marrs: Uh it's got to be on cable, though.
• 25:55
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, they don't broadcast that version anymore.
• 25:58
  Don Armstrong: Four decades after inventing the minivan, Chrysler is sending a different kind of message to parents, leading busy, chaotic lives.
• 26:07
  Don Armstrong: IDGAF.
• 26:10
  Don Armstrong: But not in a mean way.
• 26:11
  Don Armstrong: Let me write that.
• 26:12
  Don Armstrong: The new advertising campaign turns some common R-rated texting shorthand into family-friendly praise for the 2027 Chrysler Pacifica.
• 26:21
  Don Armstrong: I know what you're saying.
• 26:22
  Don Armstrong: IDGAF becomes a parent's boast to a snarky neighbor.
• 26:26
  Don Armstrong: I'm driving greatness and function.
• 26:28
  Don Armstrong: FML turns into a teenage passenger's delight, free to lounge in the back.
• 26:33
  Don Armstrong: My phone's fully juiced, low-key.
• 26:35
  Don Armstrong: I kind of like this.
• 26:37
  Don Armstrong: And STFU is a four-line ode to the van's amenities.
• 26:43
  Don Armstrong: Stow and go seats, total glow-up, y'all, freaking love vacuuming, upgraded wiggle room.
• 26:52
  Don Armstrong: The ads follow several irreverent campaigns for Jeep, another Stillantis brand, starring comedian Eliza Schlesinger, including one spot noting that the Grand Wagoneer was named Best Vehicle to Have Sex in.
• 27:07
  Don Armstrong: So look, look, look for those uh commercials soon about the Chrysler minivan.
• 27:15
  Don Armstrong: They're trying to bump it up, I think.
• 27:16
  Don Armstrong: Wow.
• 27:17
  Don Armstrong: Uh they're going to redo the minivan here in years to come.
• 27:20
  Don Armstrong: They're in the process of uh penning it right now, and uh it should be a fun ride with the commercials and the new stuff that Stellantis is coming out.
• 27:30
  Don Armstrong: They should bring back some of the old vintage commercials and start playing.
• 27:33
  Don Armstrong: I agree.
• 27:33
  Mike Marrs: They're gonna come out with a new model of the minivan.
• 27:35
  Mike Marrs: It's gonna say this is the adults-only model.
• 27:38
  Don Armstrong: Well, I'm sure that they'll take your suggestions.
• 27:42
  Don Armstrong: We're gonna take a quick break.
• 27:43
  Don Armstrong: We're gonna wrap things up after this.
• 27:44
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 27:47
  Don Armstrong: Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy, dull appearance.
• 27:53
  Don Armstrong: Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches.
• 27:56
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your save the paint company.
• 27:59
  Don Armstrong: John Gray and his team of detailing experts can help your cars finish without a full repaint.
• 28:04
  Don Armstrong: Searching for real experts in window tent or windshield protection, Gulf Coast Auto Shield.
• 28:09
  Don Armstrong: Dash cans, radar detectors, Gulf Coast Auto Shield.
• 28:12
  Don Armstrong: Got a new car?
• 28:13
  Don Armstrong: Get it protected as soon as you take delivery.
• 28:16
  Don Armstrong: If you don't know which of the multitude of protection products to go with, John Gray will give you an honest opinion and won't tell you something you don't need.
• 28:23
  Don Armstrong: John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot.
• 28:26
  Don Armstrong: He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too.
• 28:30
  Don Armstrong: See the state-of-the-art shop yourself, free tours anytime.
• 28:33
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway.
• 28:39
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield, full service luxury car care today and online at gcautoShield.com.
• 28:46
  Don Armstrong: Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea: a hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists.
• 28:54
  Don Armstrong: Now you can get one or a car show poster customized for you, a friend, or a loved one.
• 28:59
  Don Armstrong: Bill Sites will be happy to guide you through the process.
• 29:02
  Don Armstrong: No matter what the day, birthday, anniversary, or any day, an autographics custom illustration adds an extra touch of class to any home.
• 29:09
  Don Armstrong: Call Bill today, 832-922-0963.
• 29:13
  Don Armstrong: That's 832-922-0963.
• 29:18
  Don Armstrong: You know what that's now means.
• 29:20
  Don Armstrong: It's time to wave.
• 29:21
  Don Armstrong: Bye-bye.
• 29:23
  Don Armstrong: That's all for this week's In Real Time Car Talk Show.
• 29:25
  Don Armstrong: We're always looking for new, informative, and great automotive things to bring to our global audience.
• 29:32
  Don Armstrong: If you have an idea, road trip, or tall tale you'd like us to blab about, let us know.
• 29:37
  Don Armstrong: Our email address is info at inrealtime.com.
• 29:41
  Don Armstrong: You can find the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show 24-7 on the In Real Time app and website.
• 29:46
  Don Armstrong: Grab a podcast from your favorite podcast store.
• 29:49
  Don Armstrong: And we video stream our show Saturdays 10 to noon on Facebook, YouTube, and InRealTime.com.
• 29:56
  Don Armstrong: The InWheel Time Video Coordinator is we always need more Jeff Zeken.
• 30:00
  Don Armstrong: Our booking agent and video editor, Michael out of this world Mars, and Chief Engineer David Ainsley.
• 30:07
  Don Armstrong: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 30:08
  Don Armstrong: Thanks to show contributors Jeff Heitzman, George Skelton, and the Lusk family.
• 30:12
  Don Armstrong: And thanks to all of our guests today.
• 30:14
  Don Armstrong: Have a great, safe week.
• 30:15
  Don Armstrong: And we hope you'll join us again next week for the N Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 30:19
  Don Armstrong: We'll see you there.com website.
• 30:57
  Don Armstrong: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 31:06
  Don Armstrong: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.