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Hybrids Take The Wheel?!? · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: And welcome to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Coming up, a glance at the just concluded NADA convention, National Automobile Dealers Association, and what automakers are facing in the near future trying to stay alive.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: In Jeff's Car Culture, muscle car wagons.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: And in driving destinations, Mr.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Mars has party place suggestions for a not so sober Mardi Gras destination.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he is our party animal.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know that.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Mike's our party animal.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: I do my part.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we hope.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, Mars, coming to us today from Neederville, Texas.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sitting next to me?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We always need more Gypsy.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us on this Saturday.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're back in the studios, and uh we hope that things go well.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So far, so good.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we but we we're always nervous about saying that because something surely will come along.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh not me.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't call me, surely.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, don't call me.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm I'm perfectly calm.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So how was uh how was everybody's week?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was pretty good.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: The weather was halfway decent.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yep.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it turned out that way anyway.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: I got 33.7 miles to the gallon this week.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: In the Burick?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: In the Buick.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh she's you need to learn how to pronounce it.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: She's bad to the bone.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Burick.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, I just R in there.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just I just I just call it my girl.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well you do that.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that Kathy doesn't mind.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: As long as you name it Kathy, you'll be all right.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe Kathy too.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Kathy.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So to let you know why we're starting off with a story instead of a guest today.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um Mr.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mars, would you like to explain that?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, our guest was going to be Officer Woodard, and being the important person he is for the Texas Department of Public Safety, he got called away to uh something important today, which I have no idea what it is.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Probably some gangster convention.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Something that was real important, I'm sure.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so he's going to join us a little bit later.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: This whatever it is is going to be over in time for him to join us about 1130.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Whether they like it or not.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a gun.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: We'll track him down and a badge.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget a badge.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the story.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: This story uh was written by the folks at Automotive News, and I stole it.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's about the National Association of Dealers and AD.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, that uh had a convention this past week to do every year.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: This year is in Las Vegas.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is it in Las Vegas every year?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: We've never been invited.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we're not a dealer either, at least not in automobiles.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're a dealer in sound.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's it.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're a dealer in love.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the story.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Dealers in 2026 will see an evolving powertrain mix on their lots.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sales of electric vehicles are expected to retrench without the$7,500 federal tax credit for buyers, though automakers expect that it will take time for the market to settle into a natural demand, whatever that is.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: The Trump administration's decision to eliminate penalties for noncompliance with federal fuel economy standards and its anticipated rollback of emissions regulations will allow automakers to extend the life cycles of their profitable gasoline vehicles.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some automakers reported record hybrid sales to close out 2025, and the technology may gain more favor going forward, potentially squeezing out plug-in hybrids, which is a good thing in my opinion, which serve less of a need as regulations are loosened.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Extended range EVs are also starting to become an option for consumers seeking an alternative to gasoline.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing that they're changing is the charge capacity of the batteries, so it hangs on to the charge longer, which is a good thing.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's still a total pain to get a fast charge wherever you go.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a look at how changes to automakers' powertrain strategies and consumer preferences could influence what vehicles gain traction in the year ahead.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Congress's decision last year to eliminate California's ability to write its own emissions rules and the federal government's proposal to loosen corporate average fuel economy standards moved the U.S.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: auto industry away from increasingly stringent zero emission vehicle sales targets.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's fueling the rise in U.S.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: consumer interest in hybrid vehicles?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, some automakers and dealers had pushed back against the Biden era rules, arguing they were forcing the industry toward EVs faster than consumers naturally wanted to buy them.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: GM and Ford have announced plans to repurpose some planned EV production capacity for gasoline vehicles, including pickups and SUVs.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Stellanta CEO, Antonio Filosa, who has been handed a great big pile of you know what, said at a Goldman Sachs conference in December that the company saw huge opportunities to expand production of vehicles with V8 engines.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Go, go, go, go.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lever that we intend to pull very hard next year and in the years to come, Felosa said, not only through V8, in general for internal combustion engines.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: We see a huge mix opportunity in North America, not because it's a profit calculation, but it's also a volume opportunity since it's what consumers want.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So why did you abandon it and take away everything that drove the earnings at Stellanis and said, Well, they were forced to.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: The government's regulations forced them to.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you mentioned that they're going, they're trying to get away from the plug-in hybrid.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's just a softer way.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's like patting the the person on the back saying, it's okay, it's okay, we're going to fix it.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: And by fixing it, they're going to start yanking some of these requirements that the Federal Government put in.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, all I can think of is the is the Challenger and the Charger SRTs, the Hemis.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: They said, Yeah, well, the car itself is getting old, okay, so why not just redesign?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Redesign the automobile, but at least hang on to the engine or give it an option.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't even give it an option.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: The heritage of it is the power.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can look.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody that I know of that, well, I know one person that has a challenger, an older one, absolutely loves it.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not an SRT.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you something.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: That guy pulls out of the parking lot every day, not hammered to the floor, but as close to it as you can get.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Every day.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so they took that entire market that made Stellantis a lot of money and did very well for the brand, and just said, no, we're not going to do this.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: That thing got a hemi in it.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: They were running all those things.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Dodge brother commercials.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Donuts and everything.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: Now the the EV Dodge, that's a sporty that that car's got some got some looks.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's got some real good eyeball.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: Why not put a V8 in that?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, apparently they're going to.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love it.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: EV sales expected to drop without tax credits.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Legislation enacted in July into the$7,500 federal consumer uh new EV tax credit after September 30th.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: The looming expiration date spurred some brands to log record EV sales in the third quarter before the credit went away.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: That was followed by plunging EV sales in subsequent months.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cox Automotive said fourth quarter EV sales fell 36% from a year earlier and 46% from the prior quarter.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yet the third quarter helped push U.S.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: EV sales to their second best annual total, Cox said, down only 2% from 2024.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Even so, the combination of higher prices, inadequate public charging networks, ding ding ding, and range concerns have kept EV sales below automakers' earlier expectations.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: To meet demand, several are readjusting production capacity and their product portfolios.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ford, for instance, has canceled the F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup with accurate discontinue.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: The ZDX EV developed with GM.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Not a surprise there.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: Did you write that paragraph with the uh charging and the state?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: Did you that sounds like you?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I did I did kind of fudge a little bit and put my own words into it.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Spin it your way.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hybrids and EREVs, extra range EVs, give consumers more choices, granted.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sales of traditional hybrids, which don't have a plug, have been gaining tractions, traction among U.S.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: consumers.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Analysts say they have caught on better than plug-in alternatives, in part because drivers don't need to do anything different than for a gasoline-only vehicle while achieving better fuel economy.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: I've got one now out there that it's getting 31 miles per gallon.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is a beautiful.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a three-row, it's the Santa Fe.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh man, I'm telling you, it is it's luxury on the inside, and it's 50 grand.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: 50.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's and that's the average.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Teladas is expected to launch extended range EV versions of the Ram 1500 pickup and Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV this year.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: The automaker has canceled its plug-in hybrid lineup in North America for 2026, leaning instead on hybrids and extended range EVs.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Ford II, planning an extended range electric pickup to replace the F-150 Lightning.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: The gasoline engine used an on-board generator to charge the battery, enables longer driving ranges with less cost and complexity than plug-in hybrids.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what they're talking about as far as product development is concerned.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I keep getting these sneak previews of kind of badly badly, yeah, badly disguised cars that they're coming out with, trying to fill a void in their product lineup that uh the you know the EV thing just to see something interesting.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: The the service reports or the serviceability of uh a plug-in hybrid versus just a regular hybrid are what service issues do each of them have?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I can tell you the question that came up.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: But the plug-in hybrids, and Mars, correct me if I'm wrong, the the ones that I am familiar with get about 30 miles on the battery only.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and yeah, you can you can obviously use it as just on the battery, or and there's usually a button in there, then you can do both, and it does it automatically.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: But 30 miles?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if you use the car to go to church, the grocery store, soccer practice for the kids and school, roundabout in telling.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: That would be okay, I guess.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But it's a pain because you still got to plug it in.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I can tell you from personal experience, there are two chargers at work.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: One is a regular 110-volt regular plug, the other one is the um Tesla charger.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Tesla charger charges Teslas a lot faster and also uh newer uh electric vehicles than does the old style, uh the 110-volt thing.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know whether it's the plug, the battery, the car, whatever the case may be, it doesn't make any difference.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you that the 30 miles per gallon, I don't even bother.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because for me, it's 34 miles to work.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, get to work, plug it in.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I might as well have an EV if I'm gonna do that.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I just I don't see the reason for a plug-in hybrid.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: When you say you go to work from when you're leaving your home here to go to work, 34, 35 miles, how much charge did you leave the house with?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Was it 50 percent?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, at some point, yes, during during the full charge that I got it with, and I ultimately still had to go to a DC charger with a full EV.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: How much do you have when you leave the house and what's going to be recouped when you play it?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, it depends on the battery, it depends on the car, it depends on how there's lots of variables in there.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really hard to say, oh, I you know, I got 35 miles per gallon E.
• 12:49
  unknown: Oh.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: This one that's out there now is a hybrid, and it's currently getting 33 miles per gallon, and it is a hybrid.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know when the motor is going and when it's not.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let's drop an LS in it before you turn it in.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the Stellantis version of an LS.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I yeah.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't I I don't know.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: Well anyway, now with because this came out with NADA, does NADA, does this meeting have anything to do with the NADA book that they produce like once or twice a year?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't I don't know if you mean cars.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um that I can't answer.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um the one thing that I got out of it is is that you know the dealers, for the most part, except for Tesla, they're the ones that sell the cars.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And they are the direct in-between between the manufacturer and the consumer.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And they hear all of it.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Whether, you know, this is what I'm looking for, you don't have what I'm looking for, you may have what I'm looking for, but I don't like it, you know, um, when it comes to anything, whether it's a uh ice engine or uh uh electric.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I just don't know.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Mars, are you got any?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was gonna say used to uh a lot of people would order a car.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: They would say, I need a new car, I'm gonna go down to the dealer, I'm gonna pick out what I want, the options, the color, the seats.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they could go through it, and that gave the manufacturers a lot of data there about what people were looking at and what they wanted.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's pretty much, you know, here's the trim levels, you get what we buy, you get what we make, and that's it.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, I mean, I I will tell you that dealer lots are for the most part full, and uh some of the cars that aren't selling, they would love to sell.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure that they're selling them at a lower rate than the sticker says.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, the popular cars, they move those cars.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how the Santa Fe is selling, I don't know, but I can tell you that the sticker on it, and that and I don't know whether this one that I currently am driving was built in the United States or whether it was bore uh born in Korea.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know any of that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: But from what I understand that uh they they're doing quite well.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And with the level of luxury that this car has, um I would imagine that they're probably short on dealer lots of this car.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, people that just means people are finding the value in it for what they're the amount of money they're spending because there's none of them are cheap anymore.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: They just some of them cost less than others, but they're really none of them cheap.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the entry level uh was fifty thousand dollars.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: The average average price of a vehicle across all brands and all makes and models is 50 grand.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta figure out why we why it dumps out of the picture that's behind us when you see the green screen.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know that.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um at any rate, it's uh it's interesting, and I I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that convention and to see what it is that they're talking about, what they're telling the manufacturers, what the manufacturers are learning, what the manufacturers have in their playbook going forward.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: We just don't know.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But it is what it is, and if you're in the market for a new vehicle at$50,000 for an average price, and you haven't got fifty thousand dollars, the price has become a real sore subject with a lot of people, and they're going to used.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh have you tried to get a hold of the Emmons lately?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I did, and uh Don't tell me let me guess.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: They're in Florida looking for uh a drag strip to race on.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they hadn't quite got that far yet, but that's what we was trying to get them in beforehand.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: But uh he's so waiting to hear from Gary, hopefully, before they go.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, I hope so, because we'd I'd like to get some insight on the used car market, and we trust these guys, and so uh they're always they're a good source for us.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he thought the idea of the the reconditioned vehicles.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: I told him we were seeing a lot of that, and he thought that would be something good to talk about.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll continue this conversation, I'm sure, as uh the shows continue on.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Time now to take a break just ahead in Jeff's car culture, muscle car wagons.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, Mr.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Mars has Mardi Gras driving destinations.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's all coming up after this break on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 17:24
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• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
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  SPEAKER_00: Um, one is the Easter event.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's Easter Saturday, and that's going to be in Katy, Texas, at the Loopy Tortilla out there.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think a couple of weeks before that, correct me, Mr.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Morris.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um the 21st of March.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be in Beaumont in your neck of the woods.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Have you started promoting it already?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh talked to Chase a couple of times about it.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, because he's got a long history with his dad building motors and stuff in the area, so he's got a lot of contacts.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: And how about you?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: You live there.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I do, and the people that I know are, of course, I'm telling them, and I'm hoping that uh we'll have at least two cruise nights here in town and a couple in the area, trying to get uh some information out to those people as well.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll have the uh commercials up next week, and um, you'll get to learn more information about both of those events.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, hey N Will Time invite you to join us 10 to noon Central Time every Saturday for our live show about all things automotive, and we thank you for being with us today.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Time now for Jeff's car culture this week, muscle car station wagon.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's there are cousins involved.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, more than just styling, uh the performance, really incredible amount of choice and variety of American cars from the 60s and 70s.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: What's so special?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: Well, interestingly enough, uh nearly all of the iconic American muscle cars of the late 60s and early 70s had close cousins of the station wagon variety.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: That means there are some seriously great options for building a high performance vintage wagon, whether they're all of what if or just going ahead and make a resto mod out of its style.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: So here we go, Mike.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: The first one is a Ford Torino wagon, Ford Custom Torino GT.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Well, not as popular as the Mustangs of that era.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: Ford's large Torino based muscle cars were just as bit as cool as the Mustangs were.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, what happens when you blend a Fairlane or a Torino wagon with some inspiration from a Torino Cobra or a Talladega?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: You have one heck of a cool family hauler.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Check that out.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: Next one, Mike, is an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Wagon 442.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Even on its own, Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser is one of the coolest American station wagons ever built.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: But should you mesh one together with an Oldsmobile, uh muscle car, the same period, you've got recipe for greatness.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it's a W30442 or a Hearst Olds, it provides the ingredients.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: There aren't many things cooler than a Vista Cruiser given all the muscle car stuff.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: So there you go.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Pontiac Tempest GTO wagon.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: The Pontiac GTO started the whole muscle car thing in 1964 and only got more popular in the years that followed.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Pontiac also sold a Tempest wagon at the same time, and many of the parts that the GTO had went right on to that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Tempest wagon.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: So the hot rod version of the GTO, yeah, you're going to have it in that wagon as well.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: The Dodge Coronet Wagon Super B.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Don't think that we've let the Moat Park guys out.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: There are a number of Dodge and Plymouth Muscle cars that have close station wagon cousins, but the Coronet is one of the favorites.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it would be built as a Super B wagon that never existed or built in a more modern style with a Gen 3 Hemi under the hood.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Very, very appealing and very, very desirable.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: And the last one we have, Michael, is a Chevy wagon.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: Chevelle SS.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: Finally we got Chevy.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Few muscle cars and more popular than uh the than the Chevrolet SS of the late 60s and 70s, the Chevelle wagon counterpart is a ripe conversation.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it's the stripes, badging, or the coll induction hood fitted to a low roofline model, the SS wagon would be all right, all right, all right.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: You forgot the bonus.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, there's a bonus.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: Check it out.
• 23:00
  unknown: It's the Buick.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's the what?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Buick.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Buick.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I I don't see a muscle car uh with that.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: But okay.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he's still got to get it tubbed out and uh Yeah, we know we know the old regular routine when it comes to Jeff's customization.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I got LS.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: You put it in the back.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, we ain't doing none of that.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: I got tools.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, Mardi Gras uh the weekend starts this weekend.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: It started, I guess, today.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Gowist and Mardi Gras.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Pardon me?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Gows and Mardi Gras?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because the Mardi Gras season.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: All right, there you go.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you want to call it, it's Mardi Gras, period.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, there's stuff to do and places to go to do it.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Mr.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Morris has this week's driving destinations.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: I can't see it, including Mardi Gras party destinations.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I kind of looked at it and I thought, you know, there's a lot of places that do Mardi Gras.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people here, everybody thinks of New Orleans immediately, but there's a lot of things beside New Orleans.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing I wanted to say is, you know, the Mardi Gras floats, now these are really elaborate works of art, usually got a lot of people on them, throwing beads and things, but these are actually built by crews, what they call crews.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them are clubs and stuff.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: There are some professional float builders down in New Orleans.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: They build them and they they rent them out to all these different Mardi Gars gras that are around the country.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: And but a lot of them, particularly the smaller Mardi Gras events, are all home-built, you might say, by the crews.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the closest, biggest one to us in Texas is going to be Galveston.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I've been to the Galveston a couple of times, and it is very much like New Orleans.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you go down there at night, it's really crowded.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of uh people drinking and having a good time, and but during the day, it's a little more family friendly.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: They do have all the big floats both times.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: You got people throwing beads, you got a lot of Cajun and Creole cuisine, and a lot of music that goes around, just blocks and blocks of it.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the new, another one that I wanted to mention, speaking of car shows in Beaumont, Beaumont actually has a Mardi Gras now as well.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: It used to be over in Port Arthur.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: They moved it to Beaumont because they had a little bit bigger area because it was growing so much.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you got a lot of floats, a lot of food, a lot of food trucks, a lot of uh parades that go on at different times, and it's really pretty family friendly as far as that goes.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now you go on down here, a little bit closer over there.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Texas City actually has a Mardi Gras.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And again, a lot of these areas have a lot of smaller Mardi Gras.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them are only a day, some of them are only a weekend, some of them run for two or three weeks at a time.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: But Texas City actually has one.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of their events are during the day.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Very family friendly.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Again, more food and more celebrating of the Gulf Coast culture.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Then from there, you can go on over to uh a little bit more west, go over to Sagine.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Again, this is a local, regional type uh event, and they have uh golf cart parades, keeping it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Wait a minute, Sagine is on the is on the way to San Antonio.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking of which, once you get through in Sagine, you can go on over to San Antonio to where you're gonna go there.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the probably the most family friendly one of the ones that I've run across uh that are semi-close is going to be the one at Six Flags over Texas.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now they wait a minute.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh right now I'm looking at the crew of Herb.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's H-E-B-E.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: H-E-B-E?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Did I get off?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Did I get off?
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, I got off one.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: I missed it.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mardi Gras, Six Flag of Fiesta, Texas.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason I think this would be probably the most family friendly is because all they do is they take the park and all the shows and the music and everything, and they just turn it into Mardi Gras, focusing on that purple, green, and gold coloring.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it really would be the most family-friendly one I would think that uh I've run across.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for something a little bit smaller, again, going back to this one, this is up in Jefferson, Texas, kind of up in the northeast part of Texas.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: A little smaller town, uh, have a lot of antique shops and stuff, but it brings that small town charm to the Mardi Gras festivals.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Another one that you might want to go to to check out that's on a little bit on the smaller scale, is over in Alvin.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: They actually have one there.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: And again, a lot of food, some parades.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: It is smaller, so it's a lot easier to get around and manageable, particularly with the family if you've got little ones.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, what I wanted to point out was the Kima boardwalk.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is really a neat one.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Got a lot of boats cruising in and up and down by the boardwalk coming out of Clear Lake, and a lot of lights.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's really neat.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen this one before as well, and it's really neat to go.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's pretty family friendly, so long as you stay out of the bars.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Don't take the kids into the bars with you, and you'll be all right.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just a few of the places besides New Orleans and some of the other bigger ones that are a little more uh adult oriented, shall we say?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Did your mom and dad take you into the bars?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: They did, didn't they?
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: My parents haven't been in a bar in their life.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, wow.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew something happened to you along the way.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe that's what it was.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now, the decorations you talked about on in Galveston, they do that in Christmas time, too.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, they do.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: They they get into the Dickens on the strand, but it's the the the Mardi Gras is very much like New Orleans as far as the setup and how they run the parades during the day and during the night.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Got it.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Michael.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: In real time car talk show is going to continue right after this quick break.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Stay with us.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, stay with us.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: You own a car you love.
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• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheeltime.com website.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.