Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / People Say The Economy Is Bad, Then They Buy $50,000 Cars?

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People Say The Economy Is Bad, Then They Buy $50,000 Cars? · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:06
  Don Armstrong: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
• 0:08
  Don Armstrong: It's the award-winning In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:11
  Don Armstrong: Just ahead, the guy that keeps us grounded here, Jackney Rag, and his take on the new car market, along with other things like what's the price of gas in LA today.
• 0:24
  Don Armstrong: Later, Jeff has the racing calendar.
• 0:26
  Don Armstrong: Mr.
• 0:27
  Don Armstrong: Mars has This Week in Auto History.
• 0:29
  Don Armstrong: And I'll bring you some of the stories making automotive news headlines this week.
• 0:32
  Don Armstrong: Howdy, along with Mike Out of This World Bars over there, Jeff Zeke in here.
• 0:39
  Don Armstrong: David Ainsley way out there.
• 0:42
  Don Armstrong: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 0:44
  Don Armstrong: Glad you could join us on this Saturday for our live show.
• 0:47
  Don Armstrong: If you're uh listening, watching on a podcast, thank you for that.
• 0:50
  Don Armstrong: I think I just did the YMCA thing.
• 0:52
  Don Armstrong: Did you?
• 0:52
  Don Armstrong: I think that's what it was.
• 0:53
  Don Armstrong: I know that you're well rehearsed in that.
• 0:56
  Don Armstrong: You know, Jeff was a lot.
• 0:57
  Don Armstrong: You know, Jeff was a major domo back in what high school?
• 1:00
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:02
  Don Armstrong: So uh a major domo.
• 1:03
  Jeff Dziekan: It's it's called we used to call it genius back then.
• 1:06
  Jeff Dziekan: A genius.
• 1:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 1:07
  Jeff Dziekan: You can call it what you want.
• 1:10
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, go ahead.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: Mike uh Oh no, no, no, no.
• 1:14
  Don Armstrong: No?
• 1:14
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 1:15
  Don Armstrong: Well, just thought I'd mention that because uh Dimension of that.
• 1:19
  Don Armstrong: He he he he he does he does have uh a knack for music.
• 1:24
  Jeff Dziekan: He's a great drummer and well was great guy, you know, great family man, uh just great all around.
• 1:31
  Mike Marrs: You wanna you wanna just go ahead and just read us your resume?
• 1:34
  Mike Marrs: We could end the show right now with that.
• 1:36
  Mike Marrs: And on a high note.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: We could do that.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as we wait for Jack.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: No, Jack's ready.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: Jack's here.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, bring him on.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Bring him on.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: He's too busy talking about Jeff.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I love hearing about Jeff.
• 1:48
  Don Armstrong: I know we have to need more Jeff.
• 1:52
  Don Armstrong: We do need more Jeff Zegan.
• 1:54
  Don Armstrong: Hello, Jeff.
• 1:55
  Don Armstrong: Hello, hello.
• 1:56
  Don Armstrong: Hello to California, my friend.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_05: Things are great here in California.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, don't lie to us.
• 2:01
  Don Armstrong: I'll bet.
• 2:01
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 2:02
  Don Armstrong: We heard all the terms.
• 2:03
  Don Armstrong: Have they counted the damn votes that are missing?
• 2:05
  Don Armstrong: No, no.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_05: This I I I was looking at the election results um website uh yesterday, and they say they're gonna certify sometime in July.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_05: July is a good day.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_05: July the 4th.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: 250 anniversary.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_05: Right around there.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_05: I think July 5th is the day they've picked.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_05: Is it this July?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_05: We think so.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_05: We're not quite sure, but we think so.
• 2:26
  Don Armstrong: Oh, Jack.
• 2:27
  Don Armstrong: That California, dude.
• 2:28
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, we love it.
• 2:29
  Don Armstrong: Wild and crazy people.
• 2:30
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and you're loving it still out there.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we put up uh for uh with a lot for the weather, right?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, and I'm I'm three-quarters of a mile from the beach, it's beautiful, you know, Pacific Ocean, wonderful.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_05: It's uh always about 75 degrees here, no matter what time of year, so gotta like that.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_05: See, that's it.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_05: And then there's the craziness, and it's everywhere.
• 2:51
  Don Armstrong: Well, but it's always been that way, Jack.
• 2:53
  Don Armstrong: Let's not forget where all those bands came from back in the 60s, brother.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, that's true.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_05: That's true, including the Beach Boys, which are you know from right up the road here.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_05: You know, my heroes, of course.
• 3:05
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, well, all of ours.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 3:07
  Don Armstrong: So I have to ask you, how much is the price of gas out there today?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_05: It's come down.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we were driving around yesterday, and it's uh it's under six dollars now.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_05: It's uh, you know, high fives.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_05: Um we're not giving high fives, but uh the the uh gasoline is well I have to tell you like$5.45 a gallon or something.
• 3:25
  Don Armstrong: Well, I'll I will tell you this that I had to buy gas for the Corvette a couple of weeks ago, and I it burns premium.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I I spent five dollars a gallon.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: I've never spent five dollars a gallon on gasoline.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: It cost me like eighty dollars to fill it up.
• 3:43
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, we used to buy AV gas out at the airport for that.
• 3:47
  Don Armstrong: Well, you can't do that anymore, at least you can't admit it, that's for sure.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, crazy.
• 3:51
  Don Armstrong: So, Jack, uh let's talk about new cars and anything new and fun that you've uh been on any junkets lately.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_05: Well, actually, I I spent uh the early part of uh the week in Georgia.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_05: Uh and I was at the uh Hyundai Meta plant where they uh were going to build something like 250,000 to 500,000 uh electric vehicles a year.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_05: That's not gonna happen.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_05: So they have introduced the Kia sportage hybrid into that plant, which is interesting because it's a Kia being built in uh a Hyundai plant, but of course they're they have the same parent company.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_05: So uh it was kind of fascinating to see that plant um add Kia to it.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_05: There was a big ceremony, Governor Kemp was there to drive the first vehicle off the line, do all of that.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_05: Uh very nice event.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_05: And then we drove down to um West Point, Georgia, kind of across the state, and saw the Kia plant where they're building all kinds of stuff and they're going great guns and uh they're making uh about half a million vehicles a year in that plant, all with American workers, of course.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_05: It's just been a boom for the economy there.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_05: So uh it's true.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_05: One of the most impressive things about that was they have something like 13,000 vehicles on the ground at any one time.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, there are just acres, acres of cars produced.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_05: And you look at them and you go, people are buying these, but it's it's uh it kind of shows you just the scale of the industry.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_05: It's just so amazing.
• 5:24
  Mike Marrs: So they're literally building them so much faster than they can ship them off the property out across the country, huh?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_05: Well, uh they build one uh about one car every 53 seconds, I think is what they told us.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_05: Something like that.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_05: And then they ship a lot of them by rail and the rest of them by truck.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_05: I think to the southeast they go uh by truck and probably out to Texas by rail, uh certainly up to the upper Midwest and out here to California.
• 5:49
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_05: And then they also uh export some.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_05: Uh some go to Mexico, some go to Canada.
• 5:54
  Jeff Dziekan: I remember back when I was in the factory, I think they built a car every nine minutes, I think, and that was like the exclusive timed beat.
• 6:01
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, the holdup was the wooden wheels though.
• 6:03
  Mike Marrs: Exactly.
• 6:04
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, they warped a lot, but 53 seconds, that's amazing.
• 6:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 6:08
  Jeff Dziekan: The the first plant, did they have a lot of storage there on their lots?
• 6:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Because you said you went to the first one.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_05: Well, it's interesting.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_05: They uh, you know, being all electric and uh things changed on them pretty radically now, didn't they?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um they have a lot of extra space.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_05: And I think they're going to introduce uh a lot of uh internal combustion engine vehicles there over the course of time.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_05: I they're calling it electrify, but you know, these are these are hybrids, so they do have a battery, uh but they're not battery vehicles like the uh vehicles that were being produced or are being produced there.
• 6:42
  Mike Marrs: So they introduced the Kia Sportage there at the Hyundai plant.
• 6:45
  Mike Marrs: Is it the same Kia Sportage?
• 6:47
  Mike Marrs: I mean, or did they make some significant differences?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_05: No, it's well, I mean it's the new model year, right?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_05: And they're only gonna build the the uh hybrid there, the sportage hybrid.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_05: Uh the conventionally powered sportage is still being built in in West Point, Georgia, uh and which also builds, I think, like four other cars.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_05: It's pretty amazing to see various vehicles come down the same assembly line and everything match up and and all you know, it's fascinating how they're able to do all that.
• 7:17
  Don Armstrong: Well, Jack, I I I know that you have probably seen the story that uh I I've read today.
• 7:23
  Don Armstrong: The fact that it seems as though, at least for now, that the auto industry, the car manufacturing industry, is actually not doing too bad.
• 7:34
  Don Armstrong: They're still selling lots of cars, which goes completely against what we hear about grocery store prices, uh how bad the economy is, but yet we still have this love affair for cars.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean there's a drumbeat that the that the economy is bad and the economy isn't bad.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I I think people think that the economy is bad because they hear it every day in the media, but actually they're spending money like the economy is really pretty darn good.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_05: And one of the indicators of that is they're buying cars.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_05: Not only are they buying cars, they're buying expensive cars.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, the transaction price uh is uh right around fifty thousand dollars uh the average transaction price.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_05: So this is a fairly robust uh car industry, and both dealers and uh the car manufacturers are making a lot of money.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, this is pretty bad times for them.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_05: Good news doesn't make good headlines.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_05: No, exactly.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I think uh media is trying to rile us up, and I think when you see what the media is about these days, which is getting clicks, you don't get clicks by telling people good news.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_05: You get clicks by telling people that things are lousy.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's a moneymaker.
• 8:45
  unknown: Yeah.
• 8:46
  Don Armstrong: So I have two people right now in my life that are both in the car buying mode.
• 8:53
  Don Armstrong: Um, one of them being my daughter.
• 8:55
  Don Armstrong: Um, the lease is up on her rogue, and um she is interested in buying a used Jeep Grand Cherokee.
• 9:05
  Don Armstrong: So we started doing, I clicked around a little bit.
• 9:08
  Don Armstrong: Oh my god, if if you go online, you're gonna find a bajillion of them, all different makes and models, all different years, all different mileage uh figures, and prices are all over the board.
• 9:22
  Don Armstrong: So it's not just new cars, it's used as well.
• 9:26
  Don Armstrong: I have another friend of mine that uh was in the market because their lease is up on their Volkswagen.
• 9:33
  Don Armstrong: And um looking at they don't do not want another Tiguan uh because of the jerkiness of the turbo and it just it the engine thing.
• 9:44
  Don Armstrong: Oh, well, we've changed the you know the algorithm in the computer.
• 9:48
  Don Armstrong: Okay, fine.
• 9:49
  Don Armstrong: Right.
• 9:49
  Don Armstrong: You go do that.
• 9:50
  Don Armstrong: But guess what they're really going after?
• 9:54
  Don Armstrong: A Chevy tracks of all things a Chevy tracks.
• 9:59
  Don Armstrong: And I'll tell you, Jack, you know, I actually drove one not that long ago.
• 10:03
  Don Armstrong: It's a pretty decent car for under$30,000.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, one of the few, right?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_05: Uh one of the few.
• 10:10
  Don Armstrong: And it's it it and it's not what you would consider a cheapo.
• 10:15
  Don Armstrong: Not by any, it doesn't look that way and didn't drive that way.
• 10:18
  Don Armstrong: It's got a three-cylinder engine that gets 30 miles per gallon.
• 10:21
  Don Armstrong: I mean, it's got a lot of things going for it.
• 10:23
  Don Armstrong: My guess is they're going to sell everyone they get on the lot.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's funny.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_05: I was talking to a friend of mine at uh JD Power recently, and he was touting the tracks too.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_05: He said, Yeah, you know, he used that as an example of uh one of the few affordable cars out there that's uh really a good deal.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_05: So it's something to look at.
• 10:41
  Don Armstrong: Well, it and it looks good too.
• 10:43
  Don Armstrong: It doesn't look like a cheap oh.
• 10:45
  Don Armstrong: I remember back in the day, yeah, that car is a cheapo.
• 10:48
  Don Armstrong: You can just tell by the way it looks.
• 10:50
  Don Armstrong: They don't they don't generally make those anymore.
• 10:53
  Don Armstrong: And you want to upgrade from that, there's always Buick.
• 10:56
  Don Armstrong: Oh Lord.
• 10:56
  Don Armstrong: So Jeff's still touting his Buick and his decision to buy a Buick.
• 11:00
  Don Armstrong: And I will say that's a pretty nice car, too.
• 11:02
  Don Armstrong: There you go.
• 11:03
  Don Armstrong: And it's not fifty thousand dollars.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_05: I'll tell you if you had a Buick out here, you would have the most distinctive vehicle on the road because you wouldn't see anything just like it out here, I can tell you that.
• 11:14
  Don Armstrong: Do they not sell Buick's in California?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_05: Very rarely.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I just don't see them.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, they're a pretty good-looking vehicle.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_05: I uh you know, you see one on the road and you go, what is that?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_05: And then you go, Oh, it's it's a Buick.
• 11:26
  Don Armstrong: If you toot the horn, I'll wave at you.
• 11:28
  Don Armstrong: And you know, uh to that end, Jack, and I I know that you'll agree with me on this, in different parts of the country, it's almost as if it's going from Neiman Marcus to Dillard's to Macy's.
• 11:43
  Don Armstrong: You know, it's yeah, it's a it's a blouse or it's a shirt, but it's different in the different parts of the country.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_05: If you travel around as we do, and if you look at the sales figures, stuff that sells in the Northeast does not sell in the Southwest, for example.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_05: Or uh things that sell in Texas don't sell in North Dakota.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_05: Um, nothing really sells in North Dakota.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_05: It's a trend of the region, but uh there's nobody that lives in North Dakota.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_05: Actually, I think North Dakota is probably booming now because of the oil business up there.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but um I'll tell you, uh it is kind of regional, very regional splits.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, you see a lot of domestic vehicles in the middle of the country and on the coast, you just don't see them very much.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_05: And here in Southern California, I mean, this is a giant import market with the exception of Tesla, uh, which is a domestic brand, of course.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and you see uh a lot of Teslas here.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_05: I think uh the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in California last year, or something like that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_05: So go go figure.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um that probably won't happen uh going forward because of the lack of the federal tax credits, but uh we'll see.
• 12:50
  Don Armstrong: Well, so what are you going to uh talk about today on uh your car show?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_05: One of the things we talk about is the Mazda CX30.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_05: And is that really an SUV?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_05: Uh you know, my take on that, and especially on the turbo version, is it's more of a hot hatchback.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh it's a really fun-to-drive car.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so we talk about that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_05: Well, of course, we do car reviews.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we're also reviewing the cheap grand Cherokee this year, and that or this this week, and that that vehicle has uh a new powertrain with this new uh turbocharged four-cylinder engine, very uh interesting tech.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_05: Um kind of, I guess I don't want to uh uh overtell what we're what's on the show, but uh we're not necessarily big fans of the newer newer.
• 13:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Okay.
• 13:38
  Jeff Dziekan: That that's that's an honest opinion.
• 13:40
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 13:41
  Don Armstrong: News this week from Stellantis.
• 13:44
  Don Armstrong: They're bringing back the horsepower, brother.
• 13:47
  Don Armstrong: Something that they should have never gone away from.
• 13:49
  Don Armstrong: They wouldn't be this deep in debt had they not gone away from it.
• 13:53
  Don Armstrong: But that idiot that they finally got rid of, uh Yeah, that that's a thing of the past.
• 14:01
  Don Armstrong: I mean, apparently they're gonna go all in on horsepower.
• 14:04
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, you said more horses, so they could have put more electric motors in them.
• 14:07
  Don Armstrong: Well, in some cases, but uh but I mean I I think that the the Hemi's back.
• 14:12
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I think what we saw and what I was talking about just now with the Jeep Grand Cherokee in that four-cylinder engine, all things being equal, and uh, if we didn't have the fuel economy requirements that we used to have and the emission requirements that we used to have that have now been banished, uh thankfully, we wouldn't have stuff like that.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_05: I think a lot of people are facing the um they're being confronted with turbocharged four-cylinder engines and all kinds of things that they uh are about to buy, and they're going, well, I don't really want this.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_05: I like a V8 engine, I like a you know, a solid, uh, normally aspirated six-cylinder engine like I'm used to.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I don't want the complication and sometimes the turbo lag of a turbocharged engine, and that's because of fuel economy requirements that were just crazy.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, you know, impossible, almost impossible to reach, and certainly impossible to reach without those kind of powertrains.
• 15:08
  Mike Marrs: And whether you're driving that turbo three-cylinder or you're driving the the 5-7 Hemi, the cost of the gas, the fuel is the same.
• 15:15
  Mike Marrs: Yeah.
• 15:16
  Mike Marrs: Just depends on how hard you push it and use it.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yep.
• 15:19
  Mike Marrs: Right.
• 15:20
  Don Armstrong: Well, I think that uh I think that they're headed in the right direction for their miraculous comeback, and Lord knows they've had enough of them in the in the life cycle of that company.
• 15:30
  Don Armstrong: But uh yeah, I I was kind of excited to hear that uh the SRT is going to make a huge comeback.
• 15:36
  Don Armstrong: They're gonna have like, I don't know, 30 different versions of it or something like that.
• 15:40
  Don Armstrong: It's crazy.
• 15:41
  Don Armstrong: But uh, and it's not gonna take that long for this to get on the on on the road, to be honest with you.
• 15:48
  Don Armstrong: I I see that uh I saw a preview, I don't remember what car it was, but it looked real good.
• 15:55
  Don Armstrong: And I'm thinking, you know, there's something about an American V8, normally aspirated, that is unlike anything else that we drive, Jack.
• 16:05
  Don Armstrong: And you gotta agree with me.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh big fans of those, and I've been big fans of those forever.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_05: And I think what we see in uh full-size SUVs is kind of the remnant of that, right?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, those are the only separate body-on-frame, V8 power rear drive vehicles that are still on the road.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, that's what everybody had as a family car, you know, uh 30, 40 years ago.
• 16:29
  Don Armstrong: The only thing that we we never heard about turbo lag until they started making them to for customers to drive.
• 16:36
  Don Armstrong: Turbos have been around forever and ever and ever.
• 16:38
  Don Armstrong: But uh, the ones that we drive, I remember when they first came on the market, they were horrible.
• 16:43
  Don Armstrong: Step on the gas and it kind of inched forward, and then all of a sudden, this huge rush of power that you're squealing the tires and not meaning to.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_05: They've kind of moderated that to some extent, but a lot of these turbos I drive still have some lag.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and as I say, I don't want to mean mean to pick on the Jeep Grand Cherokee, but as you're driving that, uh, you know, this is a big heavy vehicle, um, and you'd like immediate torque, you just don't get it from those kinds of engines.
• 17:13
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, turbos were originally designed or used on like big industrial equipment, large dump trucks and diesels and things.
• 17:19
  Mike Marrs: Yeah.
• 17:20
  Mike Marrs: And so the slow turn-up of a turbo was fine for that.
• 17:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, lower torque.
• 17:26
  Mike Marrs: To stamp to the Stellantis's credit, but they're responding to the market.
• 17:31
  Mike Marrs: They're not responding to the government mandates now.
• 17:33
  Mike Marrs: They're not being forced to build cars for mandates of building, trying to build cars that people want to buy.
• 17:39
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, they were making money on the mandates on on that because now they're not making money, so they do have to pivot.
• 17:44
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and I think that I think that uh the pivot when a great big huge company makes a pivot, it takes a while to get that wheel turning, so to speak.
• 17:54
  Don Armstrong: So, Jack, uh, what uh is your press car of the week that you're driving this week?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_05: I have a Volvo XC60.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_05: I actually went out uh this morning even before the show and and uh did some photography on it.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, that's a sweet ride.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh the XC60 is one of the Volvo's best.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_05: And um, you know, it's a mid-size luxury SUV.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_05: And they just finish them well.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_05: Uh the seats are among the most comfortable uh of any seats in in the industry.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_05: I just think it's a terrific vehicle.
• 18:26
  Don Armstrong: You know, you just don't hear of people buying them, at least here in Texas anymore.
• 18:30
  Don Armstrong: And I think that it that Volvo brand uh has something to offer and uh something to look at if you look at for something a little bit more upscale than I don't know, picking Cheviers.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_05: And they're building a lot of them now in the United States, which is cool as well.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_05: You know, a lot of their SUVs are being built.
• 18:50
  Don Armstrong: Well, Jack, it's always great to talk to you, and we thank you so much for taking the time out of your day.
• 18:54
  Don Armstrong: America on the Road is his show.
• 18:55
  Don Armstrong: Look it up.
• 18:56
  Don Armstrong: And uh any new books?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_05: I'm working on another crime novel.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, it's more in my head than it is on the paper yet.
• 19:03
  Don Armstrong: It's a crime up there in your head.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_05: A lot of things are a crime.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you've been in Don's head then.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: That's my wife.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:12
  Don Armstrong: Jack, we love you.
• 19:13
  Don Armstrong: Thank you so much.
• 19:14
  Don Armstrong: Have a great uh uh summer, and hopefully we'll talk to you before summer ends.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_05: I look forward to it.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_05: Always great to talk to you three.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you so much.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Jack.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Jack.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 19:23
  Don Armstrong: Appreciate you.
• 19:23
  Don Armstrong: Hey, you're invited to join us again next week for our live show.
• 19:27
  Don Armstrong: And next week it's a bonus hour, 9 to noon Central, as we take it all the way up to Granbury, Texas, for the Lone Star Street Rod Association, Lone Star State Run.
• 19:40
  Don Armstrong: If you miss our show, you'll be able to connect through a podcast from your favorite podcast channel anytime.
• 19:45
  Don Armstrong: We're going to be right back after this quick break.
• 19:47
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 19:49
  Don Armstrong: The Tex Max dining experience is defined by Lupi Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas.
• 19:58
  Don Armstrong: Since 1983, Lupi Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
• 20:05
  Don Armstrong: Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Lupi Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in Houston.
• 20:11
  Don Armstrong: Visit any of the Lupi tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location.
• 20:17
  Don Armstrong: Start your loopy experience with queso flamillado and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita.
• 20:22
  Don Armstrong: Dine on famous loopy beef and chicken fajitos or pepper shrimp brochette, or a French or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert.
• 20:31
  Don Armstrong: Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth.
• 20:36
  Don Armstrong: There's a Texas location near you.
• 20:38
  Don Armstrong: The recipes are authentic and time-tested.
• 20:41
  Don Armstrong: The ingredients always fresh.
• 20:43
  Don Armstrong: Loopy tortilla eats pretty good.
• 20:49
  Don Armstrong: Join the Inwheel Time Car Talk Show as we hit the road for a live broadcast from the 51st annual Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run at Hewlett Park in Granbury.
• 20:59
  Don Armstrong: This once-a-year rolling car collection takes place June 12th through the 14th.
• 21:04
  Don Armstrong: Check out hundreds of classic street rods, vendors, giveaways, awards, and family fun.
• 21:09
  Don Armstrong: Best of all, spectator admission is absolutely free.
• 21:12
  Don Armstrong: In real time, we'll be live from Granbury Saturday, June 13th, 9 to noon.
• 21:16
  Don Armstrong: Get all the deets at LSSRA.com.
• 21:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Don't get any on you.
• 21:24
  Don Armstrong: Please.
• 21:25
  Don Armstrong: We wouldn't want that.
• 21:27
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, exactly.
• 21:28
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 21:28
  Don Armstrong: Time now for the racing calendar, sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge.
• 21:33
  Don Armstrong: Jeffrey Zeken has that for us.
• 21:35
  Jeff Dziekan: Thank you for that.
• 21:36
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh we're starting out with the uh June.
• 21:39
  Jeff Dziekan: We're in June, obviously, but we're starting out with the Burlington Lawnmower Races.
• 21:42
  Jeff Dziekan: They're in Burlington, Washington, and they happen today.
• 21:45
  Jeff Dziekan: So if you're out in Burlington, go check them out or find it on TV.
• 21:49
  Jeff Dziekan: Why don't we have those here?
• 21:50
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh I well, this is the national one.
• 21:52
  Jeff Dziekan: There's probably local and regional ones I'll look into.
• 21:54
  Jeff Dziekan: You got Formula One is in Monaco, and that's going on tomorrow.
• 21:58
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh good luck to them on.
• 22:00
  Jeff Dziekan: There in Monaco.
• 22:00
  Jeff Dziekan: NHRA is running, and they're the New England nationals.
• 22:03
  Jeff Dziekan: It's uh New England dragways.
• 22:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Epping.
• 22:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Epping.
• 22:07
  Jeff Dziekan: So get out there, and it's going to be I've never been to Epping.
• 22:10
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't see what channel it's on, but it's probably going to be on like an Epic.
• 22:13
  Don Armstrong: I think it's on F I think it's on Fox.
• 22:15
  Jeff Dziekan: It could be.
• 22:15
  Jeff Dziekan: It could be.
• 22:16
  Jeff Dziekan: Indy is in Madison.
• 22:17
  Jeff Dziekan: God bless them.
• 22:18
  Jeff Dziekan: Love Indy.
• 22:18
  Don Armstrong: Madison, Wisconsin.
• 22:19
  Jeff Dziekan: Yep, that's it.
• 22:20
  Jeff Dziekan: They're doing that.
• 22:21
  Jeff Dziekan: That's a flat track, isn't it?
• 22:22
  Jeff Dziekan: Oval.
• 22:23
  Don Armstrong: No.
• 22:24
  Don Armstrong: That's a street race.
• 22:25
  Don Armstrong: Gotta be.
• 22:25
  Don Armstrong: They don't they don't have a track in Madison, Wisconsin.
• 22:28
  Don Armstrong: Oh well.
• 22:29
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't have the TV broadcast or anything on that.
• 22:31
  Jeff Dziekan: But anyways, you got NASCAR.
• 22:32
  Jeff Dziekan: NASCAR is going to be on Prime, and then you've got another NASCAR in FS1.
• 22:36
  Jeff Dziekan: The O'Reilly series is not running this week, so good for them.
• 22:40
  Don Armstrong: Time now for Mr.
• 22:41
  Don Armstrong: Mars this week in auto history.
• 22:45
  Don Armstrong: Mr.
• 22:46
  Don Armstrong: Mars, it's all yours, sir.
• 22:47
  Mike Marrs: Found a few things this week uh coming up that we thought were real interesting and thought we'd share them.
• 22:54
  Mike Marrs: For example, in 1925, the Going to the Sun Road moves forward.
• 22:59
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is a major construction project that uh went through Montana and into Glacier National Park.
• 23:07
  Mike Marrs: Now, the reason this was really important, not only was it carved out of the side of the mountains themselves, but this kind of helped establish the idea that the road, the scenery, the place to go could be the road itself, which inspired more people to get on instead of just going to a resort or something.
• 23:22
  Mike Marrs: Let's go travel across America as part of these roads.
• 23:25
  Mike Marrs: And there's a few of these out there, and this is one of them that kind of kicked that off.
• 23:29
  Mike Marrs: The second thing we found in 1934.
• 23:32
  Mike Marrs: Donald Healy wins the Alpine trial.
• 23:35
  Mike Marrs: Now, this was important because this guy created the Austin Healy eventually.
• 23:41
  Mike Marrs: So this is where he got his start.
• 23:43
  Mike Marrs: He worked through it.
• 23:43
  Mike Marrs: This is a picture of one of the cars going through the race course, uh, of course, much later and newer.
• 23:49
  Jeff Dziekan: So it looks like Pike's Peak.
• 23:51
  Mike Marrs: Almost, but it's an Austin's Peak.
• 23:52
  Jeff Dziekan: No, it is not Pike's Peak, I can promise you that.
• 23:55
  Mike Marrs: So this is one of the primary uh automotive events of that era, and this has helped what launched his career into actually building cars as he got uh a little more prominent in the world.
• 24:07
  Mike Marrs: So the next one is in 1948.
• 24:10
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is the first Porsche that was completed in 1948.
• 24:16
  Mike Marrs: It was known as Porsche 356 number one.
• 24:18
  Don Armstrong: You mean Porsche?
• 24:20
  Mike Marrs: Porsche.
• 24:21
  Don Armstrong: Porsche.
• 24:22
  Mike Marrs: Depends on where you're at.
• 24:24
  Mike Marrs: East Texas or West Texas.
• 24:26
  Mike Marrs: Anyway, so it was built in Australia, Austria, and carried a mid-mounted engine.
• 24:32
  Mike Marrs: Now, this would become one of the world's most respected performance car brands, and this hand-built prototype was the beginning of it.
• 24:41
  Mike Marrs: So this is where it kicked off, and they bought they actually built two.
• 24:44
  Mike Marrs: They built the convertible and they built an open, I mean, uh, they built the coupe and they built an open model.
• 24:50
  Mike Marrs: They didn't have convertibles, they were open cars.
• 24:52
  Jeff Dziekan: It's like a Carrera type type.
• 24:55
  Mike Marrs: Kind of lead to the forefront to that, absolutely.
• 24:58
  Mike Marrs: So the fourth thing I wanted to bring up, and this one I thought was real interesting uh when I got into it a little bit further, 1955.
• 25:06
  Mike Marrs: Mercedes-Benz was headed for a victory at the 24 hours of Lamont.
• 25:11
  Mike Marrs: Unfortunately, there was a crash.
• 25:14
  Mike Marrs: Now, the cause of the crash was because of the Jaguar driver getting ready to make a pit.
• 25:19
  Mike Marrs: He pulled to the right side of the track in front of the Austin Healy driver who had to hit the brakes.
• 25:24
  Mike Marrs: Now, when he did that, he also swerved, and when he did, he pulled out in front of the Mercedes-Benz that was traveling at 125 miles per hour.
• 25:34
  Mike Marrs: Now Mercedes Benz hit the car and was launched into the uh earth embankment that was right there, hit the top of it, launched over into the spectator area, and it disintegrated.
• 25:49
  Mike Marrs: Threw him out onto the track, which he died immediately.
• 25:52
  Mike Marrs: But the debris debris and the rest of the car that bounced through, literally bounced through the spectator area, killed 80 people, not to mention how many people were injured.
• 26:02
  Mike Marrs: And this is the most spectacular uh accident is from a death count that has happened in automotive history.
• 26:09
  Mike Marrs: And I thought this was kind of uh I didn't know it was that bad.
• 26:12
  Mike Marrs: I knew that there was a big wreck and it caused a lot of changes in the racing world because of it.
• 26:17
  Mike Marrs: Then in 1963, Ford's total performance campaign expand.
• 26:23
  Mike Marrs: Now, this particular thing is important because Ford was going through their total performance strategy, and they were trying to link racing directly with car sales.
• 26:33
  Mike Marrs: Same thing, win on Sunday, sell on Monday type thing that uh became very popular back then with the NASCAR and the publicity that was all around that.
• 26:42
  Mike Marrs: But the philosophy also is kind of what led to the uh streetcar high performance market, the the muscle machines that came out and that were developed with the big engines and the small cars.
• 26:55
  Mike Marrs: This was the stepping stone that led into that up and through the 60s until it kind of crapped out in the 70s, unfortunately.
• 27:03
  Mike Marrs: But that was some of the things we found interesting in this week in automotive history.
• 27:07
  Don Armstrong: Thank you, sir.
• 27:08
  Don Armstrong: Audi looking for a spark to help jump jumpstart sluggish sales worldwide, is returning to the supercar realm with a low-run mid-engine model named after a famed Italian racer who I've never heard of.
• 27:23
  Don Armstrong: The Nuvolari will have maximum output of 987 horsepower, 1660 pound feet of torque via a four-liter bi-turbo V8 engine, and three, get this, axial flux electric motors.
• 27:41
  Don Armstrong: That's according to what they said just this week.
• 27:44
  Jeff Dziekan: They can also weld with that car.
• 27:46
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, pretty much.
• 27:47
  Don Armstrong: Some of the car's engineering was inspired by Formula One, which Audi joined this year.
• 27:51
  Don Armstrong: The two-door is set to be Audi's most powerful production vehicle ever.
• 27:56
  Don Armstrong: It is named after Tasio Nuvelari, a prominent race car driver for Auto Union Silver Arrow, a precursor to Audi from the 1930s.
• 28:09
  Don Armstrong: Hey, we'd love to hear from you.
• 28:10
  Don Armstrong: And all you have to do is shoot us an email.
• 28:13
  Don Armstrong: The address here is info at inwheeltime.com.
• 28:18
  Don Armstrong: Our show continues right after this quick break.
• 28:20
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 28:21
  Don Armstrong: Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy dull appearance.
• 28:27
  Don Armstrong: Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches.
• 28:30
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• 28:33
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• 28:38
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• 28:43
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• 28:48
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• 28:50
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• 28:57
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• 29:01
  Don Armstrong: He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too.
• 29:04
  Don Armstrong: See the state of the art shop yourself, free tours anytime.
• 29:07
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway.
• 29:13
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield, full service luxury car care today and online at gcautoshield.com.
• 29:20
  Don Armstrong: Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea.
• 29:23
  Don Armstrong: A hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists.
• 29:28
  Don Armstrong: Now you can get one or a car show poster customized for you, a friend, or a loved one.
• 29:33
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• 29:36
  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.
• 29:43
  Don Armstrong: Call Bill today, 832-922-0963.
• 29:47
  Don Armstrong: That's 832-922-0963.
• 29:52
  Don Armstrong: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 29:56
  Don Armstrong: 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.
• 30:06
  Don Armstrong: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 30:14
  Don Armstrong: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.