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Lessons From A Life In Car Sales · In Wheel Time Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another In Wheel Time Podcast.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: Coming up off the Randy Pressgrove and his best seller, this car stock.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Tales and tips from a life of wheeling and dealing.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh boy.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: In Jeff's car culture, products made by famous car brands.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: And Mars has the best driver experience roads in Texas.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: Howdy.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: Along with Mike Out of this world, Mars, he is over there.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: In another part of Texas.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: That is YMCH.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it's a destination for all to see.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: That would be in Peterville, Texas.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: We also have with us today, as always.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: Jeff.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: Always.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: Chief Engineer David Ainsley's sleeping in.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Sunday.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: Saturday.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Monday.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Sometime.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm Don Armstrong.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Glad you could join us today.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: Now, our guest, we've been waiting for this all week long.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: His name is Randy Presgrove.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: And uh Randy, it's good to see you.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: I want to know how you came up with this absolutely marvelous title.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: This car sucks.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: Tales and Tips from the Life of Wheeling and Dealing.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: I like it.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: Do we have Randy?
1:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, you think we have me on audio.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: We got you on audio.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Oh God, we have to look at us while we do this interview, Randy.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: What the hell?
1:40
SPEAKER_02: I got a little technical difficulty on the video, but uh I do have audio loud and clear.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, that that that's good to know.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, Mr.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: Mars is going to put up uh um some really good looking girls on here.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: So for the guys that are watching right now, stay tuned.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: So while Randy uh previews his book, uh we're going to look at some hot chicks, okay?
2:03
unknown: Jesus.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: All right.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Is that okay with you, Randy?
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to put down at the bottom of the screen, this is the real Randy Prescrove.
2:15
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
2:16
SPEAKER_03: Well, I appreciate you guys having me on.
2:19
SPEAKER_03: And uh, I'm particularly interested in your uh in your program here because I spent uh a lot of my year in southeast Texas and particularly Houston, and uh enjoyed it immensely.
2:30
SPEAKER_03: You've got a real good affinity for your show and all the references you have therein.
2:34
SPEAKER_03: So thanks for having me on.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's it's our pleasure, and I understand that you you, sir, have been in the car business.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: So this is really kind of an insider's view about this car sucks, tales and tips from the life of wheeling and dealing.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And um, I'm sure that you've heard lots of stories.
2:52
SPEAKER_03: I incorporated quite a few of them into the into the book, and is amazingly enough, the uh I've spent 47 years in the business, most of them in wholesale, even though I started with uh started in retail, but uh I was with Chrysler the first time they went bros and have done some successive uh tours mostly in sales and dealer development with uh Mazda, Toyota, both here and in Saudi Arabia.
3:20
SPEAKER_03: Uh Kia, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Audi, and Portia.
3:25
SPEAKER_03: So I was I was kind of uh into a lot of the interesting stories, primarily regarding dealers, but also involving some uh manufacturers as well.
3:36
SPEAKER_03: And it paid for some pretty good reading.
3:38
SPEAKER_03: I uh got into the book uh on a dare.
3:42
SPEAKER_03: Uh my partner and I were uh driving someplace, and I somebody cut me off on the freeway, and I said that's going in my book.
3:50
SPEAKER_03: She reached into the back seat, pulled out her computer, and said, Start talking, Mr.
3:56
SPEAKER_03: And a hundred thousand words eight months later we had uh this car sucks.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Well, I love it.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: And so obviously you've had lots of cars that sucked for uh many reasons.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: And uh, do you have a favorite?
4:12
SPEAKER_03: I think one of the uh, if you want to term it this way, one of the suckiest was in the early 1990s when uh Mazda came out with what they called the quintessential uh youth market sport coupe called the Mazda X3, and uh it was the antithesis of what a young sophisticated buyer would actually want.
4:36
SPEAKER_03: Mazda complicated the problem by bringing in the feature car and a hideously purple car uh colored that was reminiscent of Barney the dinosaur.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: Oh god.
4:48
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that sucks pretty much.
4:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, none of the dealers nor the uh factory could could sell these things.
4:55
SPEAKER_03: Now, while kids might have liked Barney the Purple Dinosaur, their parents absolutely abhorred the car.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: So that worst ones.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, you gotta ask yourself, what were they thinking?
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you would think that these multi-billion dollar conglomerates, corporations, would do actual case studies.
5:19
SPEAKER_01: They they would go to focus groups, they would ask people, what do you think about this, that, does the fender look right?
5:25
SPEAKER_01: Do you like the tires, the wheels?
5:26
SPEAKER_01: But apparently, marketing somehow gets involved in this, and it all just kind of gets blown out of the water.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, marketing goes to design.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Design they draft it up, and there you go.
5:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
5:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
5:38
SPEAKER_03: Well, I don't I'm not really sure in the case of the uh of the MX3 exactly uh what they were thinking, but uh obviously it didn't work.
5:47
SPEAKER_03: But you know, there have been there have been several others over the years, different manufacturers, and I think over 47 years I saw quite a few of them.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh well and you put in in your book uh spectacular product failures, Edsel, VW Feeton, uh the Chevy Chavette, although I did like the commercials back in the day, uh they all teach better business lessons than they do successes.
6:12
SPEAKER_03: They do, and you can learn from some of the failures.
6:15
SPEAKER_03: I think uh the the Edsel, for example, was uh was actually not a bad car, and you know, 60 years after the fact it uh still has a loyal following, almost a cult type of following.
6:28
SPEAKER_03: The car was actually uh well designed, just had the unfortunate uh uh circumstance of being introduced in the middle of one of the worst post-war recessions that ever came about.
6:43
SPEAKER_03: And uh it came became synonymous with failure, and because the car was actually named after uh Henry Ford's father, uh it was quickly scrapped by the Ford finance staff, a colossal$250 million hickey.
6:59
SPEAKER_03: So uh you learn from these things.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I have to say that the horse collar grill didn't do it any favors.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: And the son's name was Etzel as well.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's correct.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's correct.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: Um I I like this particular one.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Um and I I go back to the vacation movie.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: The one question that will save you thousands, can I have my keys back?
7:23
SPEAKER_01: Ah, Bill Heard Chevrolet.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so yeah, I I mean uh it's funny, but I wonder how many people actually have gone to the dealership and said, I want my old car back.
7:37
SPEAKER_03: Not really sure.
7:39
SPEAKER_03: But uh one of the things that uh will really help somebody when they are uh looking at uh going into the dealership for a car deal.
7:50
SPEAKER_03: I think I got some video now.
7:52
SPEAKER_03: Can you guys see me?
7:53
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I'm gonna do it.
7:54
SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes or can.
7:54
SPEAKER_04: Hey, you look taller in the screen.
7:57
SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you.
7:58
SPEAKER_03: But uh, if customers would simply do some homework before they go into a dealership, uh it would vastly improve their entire buying and ownership experience.
8:10
SPEAKER_03: Uh unfortunately, since this is one of the largest purchasing uh items that a customer will ever do, aside from his house, they simply spend less time um researching the purchase of a car than they would, say, for example, a gallon of milk.
8:27
SPEAKER_03: It's it's absolutely ridiculous given how much money they're they're spending.
8:31
SPEAKER_03: And the term, can I have my keys back, is probably one of the most powerful statements you can make when you're at a dealership for two reasons.
8:40
SPEAKER_03: It implies a little resolution, and secondly, it will surprise the uh it will surprise the dealer or the salesperson because they just don't run into customers with that kind of resolve anymore.
8:53
SPEAKER_03: Uh the stock and trade of the dealerships, quite frankly, is uh they want to control the transaction.
8:59
SPEAKER_03: And frankly, uh if you have a little knowledge, a little cash in hand, and some financing arranged, you, the customer, can control the transaction.
9:08
SPEAKER_04: And one of your other key messages that uh we're looking at is why the traditional showroom is finally dying and uh what what's replacing it?
9:16
SPEAKER_03: Actually, uh it's it's kind of an interesting dynamic here.
9:20
SPEAKER_03: The uh uh so much of the technology we have today has enabled customers to do a lot of online shopping, and this became particularly interesting during the pandemic when you couldn't get out and couldn't get into a showroom.
9:36
SPEAKER_03: Uh, technology enabled people to look at cars, check specifications, prices, and that kind of advocated for a smaller showroom.
9:45
SPEAKER_03: Now, interestingly enough, the manufacturers still advocate, even with all this technology that doesn't require a lot of showroom display, the manufacturers still advocate to the dealers very fervently, uh, expensive showrooms, opulent furnishings, larger service departments, which does make sense because the vehicle census in the United States is growing, and you never can have too much service space.
10:16
SPEAKER_03: But the the concepts are about to collide because in many cases the manufacturers will dictate uh larger showrooms, more expensive materials, and very specific tile wall coverings, facias, glass, and the uh a lot of dealer angst right now is tied up in just how expensive it is not only to purchase real estate for a dealership, but to actually put one of these things up.
10:43
SPEAKER_03: And if you're talking about renovating an existing building, it gets even more egregious.
10:49
SPEAKER_03: Fifteen, twenty years ago, any architect would tell you if you have a building already, you're ahead of the game.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:55
SPEAKER_03: Not so in today's facility schemes.
10:57
SPEAKER_03: Uh so specialized.
11:00
SPEAKER_04: I've seen uh with General Motors dealerships that I've been in, and a lot of them have been remodeled.
11:04
SPEAKER_04: This is just a plan, but it's across that particular uh car make, be it Chevrolet or if the Buick gets all uh redone and the dealerships get upgraded.
11:14
SPEAKER_04: But the one thing you pointed out earlier was uh the uh online and and technical things that people do to to shop for cars.
11:22
SPEAKER_04: Back in the day at the old Auto Nations, the kiosk was uh your selling point.
11:26
SPEAKER_04: You would walk a person over to the kiosk and all the inventory of that dealership, plus maybe a couple others, were in that kiosk and you could shop that.
11:34
SPEAKER_04: And that was sort of the initial internet shopping, but it was at the dealership looking at their product.
11:41
SPEAKER_03: And that still plays out in some instances, but uh in a lot of cases, the old-fashioned showroom display, kick the tires on your own, sit in the state, is still very evident.
11:52
SPEAKER_03: It's interesting that uh, you know, 120 years after the onset of the automobile industry, a lot of things really have not changed.
12:01
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you still go to a dealership by and large, even though the percentage of customers doing a lot of their research and purchasing and financing arrangements occurs online, uh there's still a great proportion of the deals that occur when somebody just walks in off the strength of an ad or a billboard and does business mono on mono with a salesperson and a sales manager.
12:27
SPEAKER_03: Are there still lost leaders?
12:30
SPEAKER_03: Yes, there are.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: You know, at the average price of about fifty thousand per car, like Don was talking about several minutes ago when he reviewed the Lexus, it's getting harder and harder and harder, you know, to find any kind of vehicle that would be what you would call a loss leader.
12:47
SPEAKER_03: They're just too expensive.
12:49
SPEAKER_03: In 1979, the first new car I sold was actually a 77 Chrysler Newport, and I think I sold it for$5,800.
12:59
SPEAKER_03: The average price of a car these days is about ten times that.
13:03
SPEAKER_03: That'll show you the uh the extent to which the industry has uh pardon the pun grown, if you will.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: Don't you wish you had that Chrysler Newport today?
13:14
SPEAKER_01: It'd be worth some money, more than it was when it was new.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: It would be worth a ton.
13:20
SPEAKER_03: And let me tell you, the uh the allure of uh of programs like yours is to is to see these cars when you flash them up.
13:29
SPEAKER_03: I I had a joy, just an absolute joy when you flashed up that Biscayne and that uh three-quarter ton Chevrolet truck.
13:39
SPEAKER_03: Those those are the things that really light you know my candle and that of a lot of other people as well.
13:46
SPEAKER_04: To that point, I've been seeing you know, dinosaur, see the USA in the Chevrolet.
13:51
SPEAKER_04: There's a new make of that commercial.
13:52
SPEAKER_04: It's not Dino Shore singing it, it's a it's an upgraded version of See America in your Chevrolet, and I think it's very, very cool.
13:59
SPEAKER_04: I really it stops you and you look at the TV when you hear it.
14:02
SPEAKER_04: It's really cool.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: Of course, that's our generation.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: That's our general because we can we're we can resonate with that.
14:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:08
SPEAKER_03: And I remember those old commercials.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: The uh uh one of the ones I remember simply because I started with Chrysler, but back in the uh late 60s, I think it was 67, uh, one of the neatest commercials I remember for a series on the uh the Belvedere, the uh uh you know, Plymouth GTX was uh Plymouth is out to win you over this year.
14:32
SPEAKER_03: But you know, and they were pretty cool cars, and that was just before the uh the onset of the Plymouth and Dodge muscle cars of the late 60s and early 70s.
14:44
SPEAKER_03: But to show you what happens in the industry, I mean, you know, Plymouth is no more.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: There is no more Plymouth division.
14:51
SPEAKER_03: Interestingly enough, five years before Oldsmobile disappeared, Oldsmobile was still selling a million cars a year in the United States.
15:00
SPEAKER_03: It just shows you how much the business has changed.
15:03
SPEAKER_03: In the Great Recession of 2008, for example, General Motors, you know, shed four or five different nameplates, uh, you know, that never to come back again.
15:13
SPEAKER_03: So this business is for all that stays the same in the business, uh there is a lot of change.
15:20
SPEAKER_03: And one of the bigger changes occurred after the uh 1979-82 recession, and uh everybody was scared out of their wits.
15:30
SPEAKER_03: Uh Chrysler almost went away.
15:32
SPEAKER_03: But that was a sea change for the industry.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: You know, fast forward 45-50 years, uh the size of the cars is much smaller.
15:42
SPEAKER_03: GM has gone from a uh 60% market share to the point where imports dominate the market right now between the Japanese, the Koreans, and to a lesser extent, the uh you know, some of the European brands as well.
15:56
SPEAKER_03: But it's uh forever changing, and in some cases, like the sales process or the dealership experience, it pretty much remains the same.
16:04
SPEAKER_04: Right.
16:05
SPEAKER_04: You got to have a need and you have to have a benefit.
16:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, feature needs benefits.
16:09
SPEAKER_04: That's that's all comes into it.
16:10
SPEAKER_04: And it's just on anything, not just cars.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things that we don't hear too much about, uh certainly not advertised, are uh discounts for certain makes and models.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: You will see it on a local dealer commercial every once in a while, but uh, you know, the manufacturers really don't hawk that in their ads, and uh it's one of those things that kind of comes and goes.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the sale price, uh, you know, we'll give you an extra$5,000 and discount the actual price of the truck, say for instance, uh, by$10,000.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: That's a$15,000 savings that the guy that shopped and bought just a month ago didn't get.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: People don't I don't think that most people realize that those deals are out there, but you have to actually look for them.
16:55
SPEAKER_03: Well, not only do you have to look for them, you have to be aware of them when you walk into the store, and that's where the technology comes in.
17:02
SPEAKER_03: You can drill down and to see what some of the manufacturers' captive finance sources uh leasing deals are.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: And those abound, but you have to be aware of them, you have to ask for them, uh, you have to be assertive, and you have to have some semblance of control because let's face it, uh salespeople, sales managers, and dealers are uh they're not the most philanthropic organizations in the world.
17:27
SPEAKER_03: So you have to do some digging, you have to ask for them.
17:30
SPEAKER_03: Interestingly enough, uh, we don't have the desperate times right now that we had back in 75 through about 79 when you had uh Joe Garaggiola trumpeting Chrysler's and Dodges and Plymouth.
17:44
SPEAKER_03: You know, buy a car, get a check.
17:46
SPEAKER_03: There's actually a chapter in the book that uh talks about these incentives that Don was just talking about.
17:53
SPEAKER_03: And uh the name of the chapter is Buy a Car, get a oh, let me check on that, because the multiplicity of incentives can complicate even the sales staff and the dealer.
18:06
SPEAKER_04: Well, you worked for a time when uh Iacoka was in charge back then when you were around.
18:11
SPEAKER_03: Actually, uh Iacoka and I started the same day.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: Uh he stayed there longer and made more money.
18:18
SPEAKER_03: Um but it was uh 1978.
18:22
SPEAKER_03: Chrysler was just entering a very, very difficult period.
18:25
SPEAKER_03: Iacoka came in as the uh president of Chrysler November 2nd of 1978, and the same time I wobbled into the uh Memphis zone office at Chrysler after coming off the uh parts counter at uh Liberty Chrysler Plymouth in Memphis and uh made a good career of it.
18:45
SPEAKER_03: I joined Chrysler at the height of the loan guarantee crisis and uh was there a little over four years later when they actually paid off the loan guarantee three years ahead of time.
18:56
SPEAKER_03: It was a great deal of satisfaction having been with the company through that stint, and and it was absolutely uh uh terrifying uh because you had 21% interest rates.
19:09
SPEAKER_03: I think uh I think both of you and Mr.
19:11
SPEAKER_03: Mars as well will remember that, as well as 13.4 percent inflation.
19:16
SPEAKER_03: At the same time, Chrysler, as well as the other domestic manufacturers, had cars that were about 30 feet long and got, on average, about 13 miles a calorie.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Those are the 30 feet long.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: You're right.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: You're right.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Thiscarsucks.com.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: Randy, we're gonna go there and learn where we can uh get your book.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: And we certainly want to thank you for taking the time talking to us today about not only this car sucks, tales and tips from the life of wheeling and dealing.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: We appreciate you, sir.
19:44
SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you so much.
19:45
SPEAKER_03: The general release date for the book is uh February 17th.
19:50
SPEAKER_03: That's this coming Tuesday.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: And uh I really, really appreciate the opportunity to be on with you guys.
19:57
SPEAKER_03: Good luck with the podcast, it's been just a joy.
20:00
SPEAKER_03: And particularly to uh kind of see three Southeast Texas guys uh based on my experience.
20:06
SPEAKER_03: Uh this has been a joy.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: I thank you very much.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Randy.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: We we appreciate you as well.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: Just ahead, we got Jeff's Car Culture, Muscle Car Wagons Plus.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: Mars has Mardi Gras driving destinations.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: I think you'll want to get there before you start celebrating, however.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: All of that and more after this break on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: Stay with us.
20:31
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20:35
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20:43
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20:47
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20:49
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20:56
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21:01
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21:05
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21:10
SPEAKER_01: Tailpipes and Tacos Bowman edition Saturday, March 21st, 8 to 11 a.m.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: at the Loopy Tortilla 2050 I-10 South in Baumont.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: The Katie Tailpipes and Tacos happens Easter Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: The free tailpipes and tacos cruising is a production of Loopy Tortilla Tex Mex, Beaumont and Katie.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty good.
21:30
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21:35
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21:41
SPEAKER_01: Honest new car reviews, fun.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: That wasn't good.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: You own a car you love.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, why not let Gulf Coast do away with that?
21:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh try that again.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: Um so if that's okay with you, we'll just continue on.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: Is that all right?
22:00
SPEAKER_01: With you, Mr.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Mars?
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: Mr.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: Mars, uh he's not the only one that has problems this morning.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: So do I.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: Because I wound up uh telling everybody that we're going to talk about Jeff's power wagons.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: No, that's not what we're going to talk about.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: In this section, we're going to talk about products made by famous car brands, Jeffrey.
22:24
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
22:24
SPEAKER_04: Mike, if you're ready, let's get going.
22:27
SPEAKER_04: Famous car brands, most people know Ferrari, supercars, Honda for reliability, but car companies don't always stay in their lane.
22:34
SPEAKER_04: Over the decades, many automotive giants have ventured into surprising territories.
22:38
SPEAKER_04: Some logical, some completely baffling.
22:41
SPEAKER_04: The results range from generally useful to questionably bizarre.
22:45
SPEAKER_04: So here we go.
22:46
SPEAKER_04: Check out that Ford tractor there.
22:47
SPEAKER_04: That looks pretty good.
22:48
SPEAKER_04: Ford made tractors, too.
22:50
SPEAKER_04: The next one we have is Porsche kitchen knives.
22:53
SPEAKER_04: The precision engineering that goes into a 9-11 apparently translates into cutlery.
22:58
SPEAKER_04: Porsche designs created a line of kitchen knives with the same attention to detail that they apply to their vehicles.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: Hey, something for you to give Kathy on this Valentine's Day some Porsche knives.
23:08
SPEAKER_04: There you go.
23:09
SPEAKER_04: She probably will want the Porsche, not the knives.
23:11
SPEAKER_04: These aren't cheap stamped blades.
23:13
SPEAKER_04: They feature Damascus steel, ergonomic handles, and the price tag's rival professional chef equipment.
23:20
SPEAKER_04: You can slice tomatoes with the same brand you used to carve the canyon roads.
23:25
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I like that.
23:26
SPEAKER_04: I didn't write it, but that was good.
23:27
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that was a good one.
23:29
SPEAKER_04: The next one we have, Michael, is Honda Aircraft.
23:31
SPEAKER_04: Honda spent decades developing the Honda Jet, a small business aircraft that entered service in 2015.
23:38
SPEAKER_04: The project started in the 80s when most people still associated Honda exclusively with civics and accords.
23:44
SPEAKER_04: The jet features engines mounted above the wings in unusual configuration.
23:49
SPEAKER_04: Honda claims improves efficiency in cabin space.
23:52
SPEAKER_04: They move from highway commutes to commercial flight with the same methodical approach they apply in everything else.
23:58
SPEAKER_04: I see those frequently at the airport.
24:00
SPEAKER_04: Yep, those are cool airplanes.
24:02
SPEAKER_04: Michael, the next one.
24:04
SPEAKER_04: BMW bicycles.
24:05
SPEAKER_04: The BMW produces high-end bicycles that carry the same badge as their cars.
24:10
SPEAKER_04: McLaren also makes bicycles.
24:12
SPEAKER_04: A McLaren bike is$13,000.
24:15
SPEAKER_04: Check that out.
24:16
SPEAKER_04: The cruise bike line includes models with minimalistic frames, integrated lighting, and design cues borrowed from their motorcycle division.
24:23
SPEAKER_04: Some versions cost more than used cars.
24:26
SPEAKER_04: The brand positioning makes sense with both products.
24:29
SPEAKER_04: Promise premium German engineering, professional transportation, just a bit of different things for power sources.
24:37
SPEAKER_04: All right.
24:37
SPEAKER_04: Next one we got is a Peugeot pepper mill.
24:42
SPEAKER_04: Long before Peugeot became known for hatchbacks and sedations.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Wait a minute, what are those things coming out of that?
24:47
SPEAKER_04: Those are peppers.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have to tell you, I had a little trouble figuring out what that was myself.
24:53
SPEAKER_04: Oh, it's Peugeot Pepper Mill.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: It looked like some sort of an infection or something.
24:56
SPEAKER_04: Well, put some ointment on it.
24:59
SPEAKER_04: The company manufactured tool and kitchen equipment.
25:02
SPEAKER_04: So there you go.
25:04
SPEAKER_04: They've been making peppermill since 1874, and these grinders still carry the lion logo.
25:10
SPEAKER_04: You see it right there in that picture.
25:12
SPEAKER_04: The mechanism uses hardened steel that Peugeot claims lasts generations.
25:16
SPEAKER_04: Restaurants worldwide worldwide rely on these for seasoning.
25:19
SPEAKER_04: The car division came later.
25:20
SPEAKER_04: The pepper mills were the first.
25:23
SPEAKER_04: Toyota sewing machines.
25:25
SPEAKER_04: 1924 Sachi Toyota with a DA, not T A, invented an automatic loom that revelation revolutionized textile manufacturing.
25:35
SPEAKER_04: His son later founded what became a Toyota Motor Corporation, but the family business started in fabric, not engines.
25:42
SPEAKER_04: Toyota still manufactures industrial sewing machines through Toyota Industries Corporation.
25:47
SPEAKER_04: The connection makes more sense when you remember the company's roots in precision manufacturing, just applied to the different materials.
25:55
SPEAKER_04: Mercedes Benz surfboards.
25:56
SPEAKER_04: Have you heard of them?
25:57
SPEAKER_04: I've never have.
25:58
SPEAKER_04: Mercedes-Benz partnered with Garrett McMacNamero, a big wave surfer, to create limited edition surfboards.
26:05
SPEAKER_04: The boards featured carbon fiber construction, designs inspired by their AMG performance line.
26:10
SPEAKER_04: Only 30 were made, which signed by McNamara.
26:13
SPEAKER_04: The collaboration felt like an odd stretch.
26:16
SPEAKER_04: What do German luxury cars have to do with Hawaiian waves?
26:19
SPEAKER_04: Well, marketing team probably had the answer.
26:22
SPEAKER_04: And the last one, Mike, is Bugatti furniture.
26:24
SPEAKER_04: Bugatti doesn't just make the world's fastest production cars, the brand also produces carbon fiber furniture that costs more than some vehicles.
26:33
SPEAKER_04: They make a pool table that weighs 1800 pounds and uses the same materials as the hypercars.
26:38
SPEAKER_04: You can buy chairs and a foosball table, all carrying the price tags that match exclusively.
26:43
SPEAKER_04: The furniture serves as a garage art for those people that already have a Veyron in the world.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: I just want to say I'll take the Veyron.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: You bet.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: So they make other stuff.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: Good.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: All right.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, Mr.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: Morris, if it's okay with you, we're going to take driving destinations and we're going to move that into our next segment.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: So those that are listening on a podcast, they'll just go right on to the next podcast to hear your driving destinations, if that's okay with you.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: It works really well for me.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: Does it?
27:12
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it does.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, because I know that you needed some extra time to get your act together over there.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to try and do it during this commercial.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: All right.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, um, yeah, all right.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Well, shall we go ahead and do that now?
27:24
SPEAKER_00: Shall we?
27:25
SPEAKER_00: Please.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: Please.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we shall do that.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: The In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this hopefully quick break.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: You own a car you love.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: Well, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
27:40
SPEAKER_01: Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.
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SPEAKER_01: Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano ceramic window tint, or new windshield protection called Exoshield, Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go.
28:03
SPEAKER_01: Curbed your wheels?
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SPEAKER_01: Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired?
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28:09
SPEAKER_01: Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too.
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SPEAKER_01: Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshield.com.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway and get a personal tour.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
28:28
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28:35
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28:41
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28:46
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28:49
SPEAKER_01: The In Wheel Time Car Talk Show has informative automotive guests, new car reviews, along with popular features including driving destinations, Jeff's car culture, the latest car news, cruise-ins, and racing days.
29:01
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29:03
SPEAKER_01: Join us.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: 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.
29:21
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29:29
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