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British Subjects. A That Car Show Crew Show. · That Car Show

0:00
Where does one buy a Cape these days, Dan?
0:02
I guess an Italian in Milan. They're probably Cape stores.
0:06
Yes, this week on that car show we have a bit of a mini crew
0:10
show. Dan is back and talking about
0:13
new car purchases. We also talk a little bit about
0:17
our or my thoughts on the new show, which is the The Grand
0:22
Tour 2 Point O. We share a little bit of a
0:26
conspiracy theory around the Ferrari F40 that Lewis Hamilton
0:29
has just purchased. Ryan's getting ready for being
0:32
fleet manager of the Colorado ground this year.
0:36
All that and a whole lot more on this week's Stack Car show.
0:40
Hey folks, welcome to this week's Stack car show.
0:42
We're on a bit of a mini crew show today.
0:44
It's Ryan and I Hey, Ryan, it's. Good to see you, Dan.
0:47
Welcome back. Yeah, and you?
0:48
It's been, I've been away for a few weeks.
0:50
Lindsay is currently on a plane. So Lindsay, we're missing you
0:53
today, but we're going to do a mini crew show.
0:56
I know a lot of us have got different things coming up over
0:58
the next few weeks. We wanted to get one in and get
1:00
it on the on the books. So before we get into some
1:04
content that we've got, I thought I would give ourselves a
1:07
bit of a celebratory pack up. Pat on the back.
1:11
We recently had some numbers in, didn't we Ryan, in terms of
1:14
viewership? Indeed surprised even me a
1:17
little bit. Right.
1:18
I mean, so we've been doing the show for just over a year and
1:22
the show has continued to grow. We've started to see, you know,
1:27
positive impact when it comes to those charts the the automotive
1:30
and also the the leisure charts. You know, we've been ranking in
1:34
what, what, what were the highest numbers we've seen.
1:37
Oh God, like like on the on the charts.
1:40
Yeah, like was it top 20? Yeah, once or twice, but we were
1:44
really killing it in India of all places.
1:47
Have done really well in South Africa, uh UK but yeah you know
1:53
we've got some tough competition here in the states right right
1:57
yeah because. Charting is the first thing
1:59
right? Yeah, yeah, those top 20
2:01
appearances are few and far between, but we'll take them.
2:03
We'll make this make this a top 20 appearance.
2:05
So we also got some numbers in. So for those of you who don't
2:11
podcast, when we publish our podcast, it goes out to various
2:15
different channels and the predominant 2 are Apple for
2:19
Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And then you have a series of
2:24
other, you know, a network of, of different platforms.
2:27
You know, everything from Pod Bean to Amazon Music to, but the
2:32
big ones are Apple and Spotify. So I think it was a couple of
2:37
weeks ago we got that that insight and so obviously we've
2:41
grown since then. But without giving the actual
2:43
numbers away because it's a bit of a guarded secret isn't it?
2:46
I thought I would share it in terms of if we were a band.
2:50
So imagine coming to see Lindsay, myself and Ryan on
2:52
tour, where would we sell out? What would that look like?
2:56
So firstly, we would do just over 2 nights at Madison Square
3:02
Gardens. It's a pretty iconic venue,
3:04
isn't it? Yeah, it is.
3:06
So we would do nearly three nights at the Vegas Sphere.
3:12
So forget the Eagles, come and see us live on podcast tour. the
3:16
Rose Bowl, we would do nearly three nights.
3:19
So, you know, we're talking significant numbers here.
3:21
So I think we should give ourselves a pat on the back.
3:24
Were you surprised by the numbers?
3:26
Right. A little bit, you know,
3:26
unfortunately it's not like the YouTube world where no one
3:29
watches us. That's a that's an opportunity
3:32
for growth. There we go.
3:34
But you know, we don't get the the silver plaque in the mill or
3:37
anything when you do a podcast, right?
3:39
So. Come on Spotify, send us
3:40
something. Sketch something up, I'll throw
3:43
it on the wall behind me. OK, We'll just make something up
3:45
and put it up there from Spotify.
3:47
But no, there's significant numbers, aren't they?
3:49
Yeah, nice Pat on the back. It's good to see.
3:52
That said, make sure you subscribe, make sure you tell
3:54
your friends and make sure you, you know, you leave us a rating
3:56
and review. That's the stuff that gets us on
3:58
the charts. And it's a it's a little thing,
4:00
but it means a lot to us. Indeed, indeed.
4:02
And I wanted to give you a pat in the background.
4:05
There's been some great shows since I've been away, but most
4:08
recently you took a hero on and became a peer.
4:13
Yeah, which I thought was a fantastic episode, I think.
4:16
Thank you. You showed your research and you
4:19
had a peer-to-peer conversation, which I think is the highest
4:22
accolade when it's someone you know, so important.
4:24
What was it like to record with with Is It Chubba?
4:27
Did I pronounce that? Shabba, yeah, chubba chedda.
4:28
And that means a lot. Thanks, Stan.
4:30
Yeah, he really was, you know, he might as well been a rock
4:33
star to me when I was a kid in reading Car and Driver.
4:36
And everything I said in the episode is true.
4:37
I mean, I looked so forward to that, that issue each month, you
4:40
know, showing up. And it was escapism, right?
4:42
Just like a movie or a, you know, listening to music was
4:45
and, and, and so pretty cool to have had him in the garage and
4:49
have had that conversation. He was wonderful.
4:51
It's a case of, yeah, absolutely meet your heroes because he was
4:54
great. And it was really fun to just
4:56
nerd out and, you know, turn back getting The Time Machine.
5:00
You know, it was it was fun. So if you haven't listened,
5:02
please do. It's it's really one that I'm
5:04
proud of. I think it's it's one of the
5:05
favorite. It's certainly one of my
5:07
favorite interviews I've ever done with with anyone.
5:10
I'd put it up there with our friend Bruce Meyer and a couple
5:12
of others that we've done. So yeah, that was a special
5:15
thing and hope to have him back someday too.
5:18
But what a day, what a conversation.
5:21
Hell of a guy. Yeah.
5:22
Did you get him to sign any copies of the magazine?
5:24
Oh, I, I didn't, but you know, I'll see him again.
5:26
So there will be opportunities. You know, I, I did have an old
5:30
issue or two of car and driver here.
5:32
You know, I thought if the conversation wasn't wasn't
5:35
coming easy, you know, we could, we could have cracked that open,
5:37
but in fact, it was very much the opposite.
5:40
And I think we could have talked all day.
5:42
Yeah, and what a smart guy like I.
5:44
Really. Yeah, I, he's one of those guys
5:47
that when he says he went, he went to school in Massachusetts,
5:50
it's kind of code for one of a couple of plays, right?
5:53
You know, he's a very smart guy indeed.
5:56
And, and just a really nice guy, engaging and, and, and
5:58
thoughtful and, and, yeah, just chock full of great stories, you
6:03
know? So that was the time to be an
6:05
automotive journalist, right? When, when he was at the helm,
6:08
boy, I mean, it's, it's just not like that anymore.
6:12
No, I mean press cars every week.
6:14
And I remember talking to Jeff Swart and yeah, you know, he he
6:17
was both a photographer and a journalist early on in his
6:20
career. And he would have a Lamborghini
6:22
Countache as a press car. Who does that?
6:25
That doesn't happen anymore. I mean, I guess it does with
6:28
with modern Lamborghinis, but I think he had it for like a week.
6:31
Wow. Wow.
6:31
So yeah. But good.
6:34
Good job. Good job.
6:34
Thank you very much. Can we talk about Ferrari?
6:38
So we know a few people, we're lucky enough to know a few
6:42
people that have Ferrari F 40s. Lewis Hamilton has recently
6:47
announced that he's restored a Ferrari F14.
6:51
I wonder, firstly, what does that do, if anything, to the
6:55
value of F 40s, knowing that, you know, potentially one of the
6:58
greatest Formula One, you know, potentially one of the greatest
7:00
Formula One drivers of all time has now invested in that mark?
7:03
Yeah, yeah. It's interesting because as you
7:05
mentioned, we are fortunate to have several friends in our
7:09
circles that that own them. I think they only made 1300, if
7:12
I'm not mistaken. And I think each one of them
7:16
will tell you it's the best, not just the best car they own or
7:18
the best car they've driven, but the best car ever made.
7:22
You know, Ryan Sopka, our resident Ferrari expert, was on
7:24
several weeks ago and he said that it was just, I mean, that
7:28
nothing had been built like it to that point and nothing's
7:31
been, you know, built like that since.
7:34
It was just this, this, this peak right of of everything
7:38
wonderful, you know, that's automotive and checks off all
7:42
the boxes special. Thing against the rules and and
7:44
making a road car that was a race car right but but Lewis has
7:49
bought has bought 1 and I don't know.
7:50
Do you know much about the story?
7:51
If if you don't, I'll share it. A little bit.
7:55
There seems to be some some synchronicity involved, right?
7:58
Or some kismet. So the story is that he found
8:02
and discovered or someone discovered a completely
8:05
unrestored F40 in like an Italian shed less than 70
8:11
kilometers away from the factory.
8:15
This was, he wanted a car with a story.
8:16
And this definitely has a story. He, he talked about the fact
8:20
that he discovered this car, the guy who bought the car drove it
8:24
away from Marinello and left it in the shed.
8:27
So I mean, firstly, who does that?
8:29
Like I. Think but it happens.
8:31
Dude, this is. What, they just surrender their
8:33
Italian passport at least? Right.
8:36
Yeah, I do have questions. I do have questions.
8:38
Yeah. So he found this car or someone
8:40
found this car. He purchased the car.
8:43
When he went to look at the car, the engine block, and I'm not
8:47
sure I believe this, but the engine block had #44 on it,
8:51
which is his racing number. Well, it does now.
8:54
Well, that's right, it does now, and that's cool.
8:58
Like it's serendipity if it is. True.
9:02
I wonder if it's the same car you put the number plates on the
9:05
top kit cars for the Falklands. But yeah, so he's found this
9:11
car, he's had it, restored it. You know, it's a wonderful
9:13
story, but it just feels too perfect a story for me.
9:18
Yeah, Yeah. And I wonder, I wonder if
9:20
Ferrari, because there's been rumors for quite a while that
9:23
Lewis is going to work on a car with Ferrari, right?
9:27
So I wonder if this this is the start of that story.
9:30
So it's like, you know, Part 1, let's see the story with the
9:34
public that Lewis has bought an F40 and he's had it restored,
9:37
right? Part 2 Let's announce a new F40
9:41
that Lewis has been actively involved in, and then he can
9:45
have both cars parked next to each other.
9:46
Yeah, yeah. So it makes so much sense.
9:50
Yeah. I mean, if that is the case,
9:52
then we you heard it here first. Yes.
9:55
But it's it just feels too much of A structured story, I think.
9:59
Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, they don't do anything
10:01
lightly, right? Everything is curated,
10:03
everything is orchestrated. And, you know, I, I would hope
10:06
that this would mean whatever is coming is a manual transmission
10:09
car, like a true manual transmission.
10:13
But you know, we've all we've been, Oh God, we've talked about
10:15
this for, you know, a year on this show about, you know, let's
10:19
bring back those true enthusiast cars.
10:21
You know, let's bring back the Porsche Rs America, right?
10:24
You know, a sporty car with no options, right?
10:28
Let's bring back, I mean, an F40 is really shooting for the
10:30
stars. But you know, let's, let's bring
10:32
back something with that spirit, right?
10:34
That's what we want. Yeah, You know, these car
10:38
manufacturers spun up, I know some of them have got classics
10:41
and stuff, but spun up like Skunk Works where they were, you
10:45
know, separate to the main business.
10:46
But they had AAP and L, so they had to produce profit.
10:49
But you know, imagine if Porsche had a Skunk Works where they
10:52
could just do whatever the hell they wanted.
10:54
Yeah. You know, and, and we talked
10:55
about this, not to bring up the the Chubba episode again, but we
10:58
touched on so many things and this is one of them.
11:00
We talked about how we're in this sort of post performance
11:02
world right now and, and, you know, we, we want the, the stuff
11:07
that makes us smile, right? So, you know, maybe maybe this
11:10
is that maybe this is, this is the, the, the enthusiast Ferrari
11:14
again. Or, or maybe this is, yeah, I
11:16
don't know. But F40F40 is the, you know, the
11:20
the peak, right? And and for them to to tease
11:22
that like that is you better be careful because there are a lot
11:27
of us, you know, be watching very carefully.
11:31
He was in a Cape wasn't he in this video?
11:33
I think he's done a second Cape. So what's when he announced, I
11:38
guess it's a tribute to the Enzo, right?
11:42
But when he announced he was driving for Ferrari, that was
11:45
done with a picture of an F40. Him in a that's.
11:47
Right. That's right.
11:49
That's right. Where does one buy a Cape these
11:51
days, Dan? I guess an Italian in Milan.
11:54
Uh huh. Probably Cape stores.
11:56
Yes. That's Seinfeld episode The Man
11:58
in the Cape, right? I mean everything.
12:00
Comes up and seen it, but we didn't get Seinfeld.
12:03
So. Not in the same way like we
12:05
wasn't. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:06
And I think that works on a couple levels, right?
12:07
You didn't get Seinfeld. Yeah, right.
12:10
Yeah. But yeah, So that's the F40
12:13
story. And I think there's more to
12:14
come. Absolutely.
12:15
We'll see. We all see.
12:17
Speaking of kind of tenuous links, have you seen the new
12:23
Nissan Leaf? I don't know that I have.
12:28
If I did, it didn't catch my attention.
12:30
OK. I drove past 1 today.
12:31
It has a duck tail. Can you believe so we can't even
12:35
get a duck tail? On 9/11.
12:39
Without some special edition. And yet Leaf is, you know, tack
12:43
and went on to their decent tack and went on to every leaf
12:46
they're they're putting out. Interesting.
12:47
I didn't believe it. I mean, it's a small part, but
12:49
it wasn't. It wasn't ugly.
12:50
Well, you know, and no. And I I I could name at least
12:54
one other EV that it's far better looking than.
12:58
But I was going to say maybe the the designers, Johnny Ives
13:01
company should go to Nissan on a a field trip because it's
13:05
definitely better looking than the Luche.
13:07
Yeah, anyway, let's not, let's not.
13:09
That's been hammered to death, isn't it, that.
13:11
Yeah, story. If only it had been hammered to
13:14
death. That's right, that's right.
13:17
You did some GT driving last weekend, is that right?
13:19
I did so Kurt buddy of ours from the eat sleep drive YouTube
13:25
channel. He runs through cars like some
13:27
of us, you know, go through boxes of cereal.
13:30
He he's but he said some greats. I started watching Kurt years
13:34
ago when I had a 997 myself and you know, he was one of the few
13:38
Youtubers who had a 997 and was doing 997 content.
13:43
Fast forward, he's had several other cars in the in the
13:46
interim, including a 981 GT 4, but he's local to me these days.
13:52
He's in Colorado, he's got a 991.1 sapphire blue GT3 and he
13:56
had a buddy who was visiting trailered his car here from the
13:59
Cincinnati area and 992GT3 manual Python green.
14:04
Pretty, pretty car. And so it's just the three of
14:06
us. And even though I had the
14:09
slowest car, right, at least on paper, we were pretty well
14:12
matched. It was a lot of fun.
14:13
We hit a road that might be my new favorite road and I I hate
14:17
to sometimes give these these these roads out, but Terry all
14:22
Rd. if you know Terry all Rd. down your fair play in Colorado,
14:26
very different from the roads that we generally have here in
14:28
Colorado, the Canyon roads, the mountain roads.
14:31
This is more of a loop, not much elevation, chains change, but
14:35
has everything else. Checks off every other box,
14:38
tight stuff, sweepers off camber stuff, even a few cattle grates
14:42
along the way. But probably the smoothest
14:44
cattle grates. I I I've forgotten that there
14:47
were cattle cattle grates on this on this road.
14:49
And of course you, you panic stop at the first one, then you
14:52
then you realize it's really not too bad.
14:53
But great Rd., amazing Rd. If you are in the Colorado area
14:58
or the state of Colorado, the Denver area, it's a bit of a
15:01
hike, but well worth it. A really good alternative to to
15:05
our go to's like Golden Gate and and Squaw Pass or Mount Blue
15:09
Sky, what they call it now. And I've got a quick, quick
15:13
related thing. You cameras OK.
15:17
Before you do, I'm going to tell you that I think now that that
15:21
information has gone to almost three nights at Madison Square
15:24
Gardens, our friend of the show, Colin Seckle, is not going to
15:28
tell you about anymore secret roads.
15:29
No, and that was all due to Colin.
15:31
He introduced us to that road. Uh, you're so good before we
15:34
lost him to the Hoosier state. But but yeah, you know, blue sky
15:38
here, another favorite Rd. of ours.
15:40
I've, I think I've said it's the best road near Denver.
15:43
I may have to rethink that now that we've, we've done Terry all
15:45
again. But friend, friend of the show
15:51
Kevin sent us a, a message saying that he found out there
15:56
was a flock camera on this on this road.
16:00
And this road was actually in the local news recently because
16:02
there was some out of state exotic car group that was
16:05
driving through Colorado and they were pulled over as a
16:09
group. And, and now we know there was a
16:12
flock camera there, which probably someone at the police
16:15
station or whatever saw and then sent someone out.
16:17
But, but by the time he went out to check on it, it had been cut
16:23
down. And so he sent me a picture of a
16:25
flock camera stump. But I mentioned this because
16:29
we're going to have Joel Feder on the show very soon.
16:32
Joel Feder, of course, is the editor of The Drive.
16:35
And he very famously made the national news networks a few
16:38
weeks back for getting pulled over in a press Range Rover with
16:43
his wife. Because Flock, I guess, made a
16:47
mistake and they saw this New Jersey manufacturer plate and
16:51
attached it to, you know, a number plate that, you know, of
16:54
a car that was stolen. And so I'm very eager to talk to
16:57
him about that whole ordeal. But anyway, I'll put a bow on
17:01
this. Just trying to promote the next
17:04
episode. But yeah, it was great to get
17:06
out for a drive. The 992 Neat car had a full
17:11
Dundant exhaust, which really just sang.
17:14
And then Kurt's 991.1 GT 3's got some sort of exhaust mod too,
17:19
and it just sounded fantastic. So came away thinking, gosh, I
17:22
need to do something with my exhaust because all I could hear
17:25
were their cars. I couldn't even hear my own.
17:27
But you know, every once in a while I just have a great drive
17:30
Dan, where it's just not your typical like cars in your way.
17:33
Why did I even go out and try to get a drive in today kind of
17:36
thing? When you go out, you get up
17:37
early, 7:00 AM, you know, the roads are clear and you just
17:41
have one of those fantastic, you know, cool morning drives as the
17:43
sun's coming up. This was one of those.
17:46
We did sacrifice a a bird at the altar of driving, but other than
17:52
that, it was it was fantastic. A man needs a drive like that
17:55
once in a while. Right, right, you need.
17:57
To be able to go, this is one of those head clearers, you know.
18:00
Some steam, Yeah. Nice.
18:01
So. Thanks Kurt for for getting that
18:02
drive together. Yes, and sorry Colin, I guess.
18:06
Yeah, yeah, I, I I sent him a picture to rub it in.
18:10
There we go, There we go. So the Grand Tour is back.
18:14
Yeah. Have you seen it or should I
18:16
give you a bit of an overview? I have not.
18:18
Please, please share. I know that I've heard.
18:20
I've heard different mixed opinions.
18:22
Most folks who I respect seem to, you know, seem to have liked
18:27
it. But big, big shoes to fill.
18:30
I wouldn't want to be in their position.
18:32
I mean, I would love to be in their position.
18:34
Right. I mean, kind of glad I remember
18:36
the they're obviously not poor as a result.
18:39
And in fact, one of the, I think it's Thomas was wearing your
18:43
watch in one of the episodes, so.
18:44
Oh, no kidding. Obviously he has good taste in
18:47
you obviously like him more as a result.
18:49
Obviously saw it on our show. That's right.
18:52
But it's back. They launched it all at once.
18:57
It's so the the Grand Tour was obviously the the evolution of
19:01
Top Gear when Jeremy punched someone and got fired and they
19:06
started with Amazon and obviously friend of the show Joe
19:11
Joe was a part of that, that show.
19:13
And it obviously got, you know, got high praise, won awards, all
19:17
that sort of good stuff. Anyway, it's back, It's 3 new
19:20
hosts to the first question you kind of ask yourself is how have
19:25
they done in terms of picking the hosts?
19:27
You're never going to be able to replicate Hammond, Clarkson and
19:31
May. So don't even try.
19:34
And I, I say they've done a pretty good job.
19:36
So you have the two guys from Throttle House, James and
19:39
Thomas, 1 Canadian, one Brit. Proven, you know, proven asset,
19:44
right? That's right.
19:45
And obviously a very successful YouTube channel with with
19:49
Throttle House. And then they bring in Francis
19:52
Bourgeois and probably battering his name.
19:54
Hey, Francis is mainly a train guy, but also a car guy.
19:59
Yeah, which is interesting, yeah.
20:01
Yeah, so you. Should cross over there of
20:03
course, but. Well, a lot of mechanics and
20:05
he's, he's, he's on the scale, right, in terms of, but you've
20:09
got these three guys, you wonder how's the chemistry going to
20:11
work, right? They've done 6/6 episodes, All
20:16
the episodes are very different, so it almost feels like they've
20:19
tried different things with this season to see what's going to
20:23
work. Interesting.
20:24
Which I don't think you can blame them for doing.
20:25
Yeah, yeah. First episode is in California,
20:29
OK, Which I felt was a little bit apartment because the very
20:32
first episode with the original 3 was in California.
20:36
There's that scene of them flying into LA, picking up
20:38
Mustangs and going into the desert.
20:40
Right, which we talked about with Joe Berry, yes and we want
20:44
to know the back story on all that go back what 3-4 months and
20:47
check out our episode with Joe Berry, but.
20:50
So they it's a very different episodes, same sorts of themes.
20:56
You know, they get to buy cars and the first episode they're
20:59
doing a comparison of or a rebellion of electric.
21:03
So what I mean by that is they have decided to take three
21:07
muscle cars, you know, cars that are really high performance gas
21:11
cars and, you know, and, and basically stick one finger up
21:15
against electric cars in California.
21:18
But I won't give too much away. OK, OK.
21:20
It's a good recipe. Yeah, they the, the visuals are
21:24
amazing. You look at some of the shots of
21:28
the cars and you can see the camera equipment in the windows
21:31
and they've obviously gone big budget with that technology.
21:35
There's one scene where they're, and I won't give too much away,
21:38
they're racing airplanes and the film car is a helicopter.
21:44
So they've got big budgets, right?
21:45
That's you know. This is not a GoPro and a DJ2
21:48
drone, Dan whereas. This is definitely some drone
21:50
activity. There's a few different things.
21:53
They go to different countries, they go to Asia, they go to
21:56
Africa in different episodes. And the other thing that was
22:00
interesting to me is like they were doing different kind of
22:03
stories. So sometimes they'll be buying a
22:05
car, sometimes they'll be giving manufacturers cars.
22:08
There's one episode where they do an almost Top Gear Grand Tour
22:12
train versus car, but they also do it like a, they do a little
22:18
piece on the history of the Isetta in one of the episodes,
22:21
which is super interesting as well.
22:22
So for me, I think visually it's good.
22:25
I think the teamwork, I think it's going to take a few more
22:28
seasons for us to go. You know we love this.
22:31
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and that's it, right?
22:33
I mean, it's, it's you, you've got a sometimes the best stuff
22:36
you got to learn to love, right? Or it's, you know, it takes
22:37
time, right? It takes time to, you know, but
22:41
yeah, it's, I mean, an impossible task, right, To fill
22:46
those shoes, as you mentioned. And you know, again, you've got,
22:49
I, I, I don't know the, the, the French guy, I assume he's
22:52
French. Or just as a French actually.
22:54
Oh, he's OK, OK, OK. Well, yeah, that makes sense
22:56
because it's might be tough to. You're saying all English people
23:00
like trains? We don't.
23:04
Well, you, we have you to blame for Thomas the Tank Engine,
23:09
everything that came after that. I don't have the Hogwarts
23:12
Express for that. No.
23:13
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll come.
23:14
Along from trains is it Trains podcast?
23:16
I like trains, I like turtles, I like trains, you know, but no,
23:20
I, you know, so and then so I thought it might be tough
23:24
because you've got two guys who are already sort of a team,
23:26
right, That's right, exactly, exactly.
23:29
But so many of the great things I've heard of have been about
23:32
this, this this guy with French name.
23:35
So I'll check it out tonight. I just it's been busy.
23:37
I've been busy, but a lot going on.
23:39
But and and I think part of me is just, you know, top, Top Gear
23:44
was sacred, right? And, you know, boy, if they
23:47
didn't screw that up a few times, you know, and then Grand
23:51
Tour was, you know, it was never going to be Top Gear, but it was
23:54
still pretty good stuff, right? And, and still holds a special
23:57
place in my heart. And so, you know, me, like
24:00
everyone else, is going to watch us with a very critical eye,
24:03
ready to pounce right at the first perceived, you know,
24:07
violation of the Grand Tour. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:11
So, I mean, it sounds great and, and I think, you know, it sounds
24:16
like, you know, each of the episodes is on location and
24:19
that's really where Top Gear and Grand Tour, uh, shined, right.
24:24
You know, it wasn't the, the in studio stuff, you recall, you
24:27
know, those first Grand Tour episodes were done in a tent,
24:30
right. And, and that, but, but very
24:32
quickly they launched into more and more of the, I don't know,
24:35
they had a term for it, but it was the on location stuff.
24:37
And so, you know, I'm glad they're doing that.
24:39
Yeah, I'll, I'll watch it tonight.
24:41
I'm eager to watch. Yeah, it was Also, I associate
24:44
Amazon obviously with being an American company and I associate
24:47
the show with being American. But yeah, actually it's rooted
24:50
in the UK to the offices that are in the UK.
24:53
They ship cars over to the UK. So it's like a UK show, which
24:57
is? Cool, cool.
24:58
Yeah, cool. But.
24:59
Well, let me know what you think.
25:00
I will. I think they very likely have
25:02
done everything they possibly, you know, could do to make this
25:05
a wonderful show. So.
25:07
Yeah, yeah, no, it's definitely worth it.
25:09
I mean, I binge. I binge watched it, you know.
25:11
OK, right on. All right.
25:11
Well, I'll be up till 4:00 AM tonight, I guess.
25:14
Yeah, that's good. That's good.
25:16
Just very quickly, there are rumours that Top Gear is coming
25:19
back and there are rumours that do you know who Jimmy Carr is?
25:25
Yeah, I could push from dark hair.
25:26
British guy at. Least like a Lego man.
25:29
Yes he does. Yes, he does.
25:32
There's rumours that he's going to be the the host.
25:35
It just feels like no, he's, he's a good driver.
25:40
I think Ben, Ben Collins said that he was a very talented
25:42
natural driver. But yeah, it's like the BBC just
25:47
don't fuck it up. And I think they will unless
25:50
you've got someone, you know, in charge of of the show that is a
25:54
car person. You know, there were so many
25:57
false starts after the three left and, you know, and they
26:00
finally got a good formula with Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris.
26:04
But it feels like there's a, you know, a, a line missing in the
26:08
PL. of the BBC and they need to plug it with something.
26:11
And Top Gear is a brand, you know, at the time it was the the
26:15
most syndicated show in the world.
26:18
But it's coming back. So we'll keep our fingers
26:20
crossed that they and they do the right thing with it.
26:22
Yeah, You know, I'll say this. It's not just the chemistry of
26:25
the hosts. It's what do you do, right.
26:28
What can you possibly do that that's, that can top what was
26:32
done before, right? You just, you can't keep doing
26:35
the same thing because everyone does now what Top Gear did
26:38
that's that's, that's the template for everyone.
26:40
So where do we go from here? I think we talked about that
26:42
with Joe. I think that even came up with
26:44
Chubba, you know, like where, you know, at the time that was
26:46
just, you know, epic viewing. But where, where do you go with
26:50
it? And yeah, I, I don't know what
26:53
the answer is. I wish them all the luck because
26:54
boy, that's again, that's a sacred property, right?
26:58
Top Gear? I'd hate to see them screw it
27:00
up. I mean, people will vote, right?
27:02
If they'll vote with their buttons.
27:03
Absolutely. If it doesn't work, I got out to
27:07
see. So we had Will and who was it?
27:11
Will and. Tom.
27:13
Will and Tom from the Pacific Northwest Exotic Show on the
27:17
show and they kindly invited me to a preview evening a couple of
27:21
weeks ago. So the show was on I think was a
27:25
Saturday or Sunday over the weekend and the Friday night
27:28
they had a preview. And I felt very privileged to be
27:32
invited along because it was an invite only event and it was at
27:36
a private house in the Medina region.
27:38
So the Medina region of Washington is neighbors with
27:43
Bill Gates. It's that level of wealth.
27:45
I, I don't even live in Seattle and I know that that's, you
27:48
know, that's, that's an uppity, that's an uppity hood.
27:51
Yeah, it's yeah, definitely. But so we had to bus into the
27:55
event. They they put on a bus from the
27:56
school and I don't know the gentleman, but he kindly opened
28:01
his house for the preview. That's.
28:03
Brave. And the house was off the charts
28:06
and we only saw the garage, but but some of the rarefied cars
28:11
there, we're talking there was a prototype P1 McLaren.
28:16
Really. There was a Pagani, there was a
28:21
So what was the, it was the Pagani, the the McLaren.
28:27
There was a 918 and then you walked into the garage.
28:32
In the garage, that was this. Was just the stuff you were
28:35
tripping over on the. As you were coming in, yeah,
28:37
yeah, yeah. In the garage, the first thing
28:39
you were faced with was a Aston Martin race car, an insurance
28:43
race car that had come up for the for the weekend in the
28:48
corner. There was, and I believe it was
28:51
Bruce Mccaw's but I could be wrong, A Porsche 917 from the
28:56
McQueen movie Lamont. Oh wow.
28:59
So I think you're talking $20 million plus for that car,
29:03
right? And then when you worked your
29:05
way through to the garden, the other side of the garage, you
29:08
were firstly faced with an F80I hadn't seen an F80 in person.
29:12
OK, I like them. Yeah, I I do too.
29:14
It's not a beautiful car, but no.
29:15
No, it is a great car. It's brutal looking in a way,
29:18
but it's yeah, I like it. This.
29:19
Way, yeah. And then in a semicircle there
29:22
was a 288 GTO, NF40NF50 and Enzo.
29:30
What am I missing? Yeah, it's not the Holy Trinity.
29:33
What do they call this? It's the.
29:35
It's the special ones in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, A.
29:37
Semi semicircle so it was a great event.
29:42
I only stayed for an hour. We've got to see some friends
29:45
and, and see those cars, which I I didn't make it to the the
29:48
weekend event. I had a ticket but just couldn't
29:51
make it Sure. And it was really appreciative.
29:53
And you know it's a good event when the the finger food is
29:57
Yorkshire puddings and roast. Well, they knew you were coming.
30:01
Well, that's true. That's true.
30:02
So shout out to Tom and and Will and I'm sure a lot of other
30:06
people were involved in the in the planning of the event, but
30:08
they were the kind of driving force behind it.
30:10
They did a great weekend. Yeah, well done, gentlemen.
30:13
And again, if you didn't catch that episode, go go back because
30:16
they teased a lot of this and just yeah, 2 great guys, true
30:20
enthusiasts, and there's just a great story behind this whole
30:24
thing, so. Yeah.
30:25
No, it's well done guys. Well done and thank you for the
30:28
invite. I bought a car.
30:31
I knew we did the end of the show, but I bought a car.
30:35
I like this car, Dan. Yeah, so I guess before we go
30:39
into all these details, I've been looking for a little while,
30:44
you know, you know how you peruse the dealerships and
30:46
stuff. I think in a different world I
30:50
could have seen myself getting a Rivian, but I didn't like the
30:54
dealer experience. So I don't know what it's like
30:57
in Denver, but in Seattle we have a place called University
31:00
Village and it's mainly retail and there's like 2 units, one
31:04
for Lucid and one for Rivine. And I walked in and this was a
31:10
few weeks ago and I walked in and wanted to look at the R2,
31:15
which is the new one. It was just busy with people and
31:18
kids and it's just not an environment where you want to
31:22
make a decision around your next car for me.
31:25
Yeah, yeah, it's so I've never actually walked into the place,
31:27
but here in Denver, yeah, they have a stand alone building in I
31:32
guess it's Rhino, which is kind of, you know, if you want to buy
31:35
artisan flower from the whatever it is, the King Arnold Flower
31:42
Company or whatever, you know, that's on one side, Patagonia is
31:45
on the other. You know, I mean, it's that kind
31:47
of, you know, it's a shopping. District.
31:49
Right, Exactly, exactly. You know, a faux biker bar, you
31:53
know, I mean, it's, it's where the cool kids hang out.
31:55
And. And so, yeah, it's, it's it's
32:00
something very transactional about it.
32:03
And you know, and people say they don't want the traditional
32:06
dealer experience, but I think when the traditional dealer
32:08
experience is done right, there's a place for it.
32:11
Looking at you, Porsche Colorado Springs.
32:13
That's right and set the benchmark so so anyway, I so I
32:18
looked to the gravity was too big.
32:19
I wanted an SUV. I looked at the Rivian.
32:23
The other thing that put me off the ribbon is, and you know,
32:25
it's just come out right, but the lead time to get the Rivian
32:29
would have been November. So if I'm buying a car, I want
32:33
the car that week, right? Or next two weeks.
32:37
So did some more research and then I ended up in Bellevue at a
32:44
Land Rover dealership and I found a I'm going to say this
32:50
wrong pigeon. Is it the green the.
32:55
Like Pangaea, like when? Like the, the, the Una continent
32:59
or whatever before you know, Yeah, the dawn of which.
33:02
Is famously green right? Where they get their names from?
33:05
I'm going to, I'm going to say this is just a guess, but yeah,
33:07
it's kind of like, you know what color are dinosaurs, right?
33:09
That's. Right.
33:10
Yeah. So I test drove, yeah, that that
33:14
name you just said green Pangaea, green defender and a
33:19
silver sort of. I test drove the 90 and the
33:22
1:10. OK.
33:23
And so again, just to set baseline here, there's the 90,
33:26
which is the 2 door and then there's the 110, which is the 4
33:29
door, kind of middle of the road.
33:30
And then they make a 1:30, which looks like, you know, one of
33:34
these like Mutual of Omaha Land Rovers, right?
33:36
It's really. Yeah, it's it's it's way long,
33:40
right? It's I mean it the the 110 has
33:43
three rows, but the the the 1:30 has three rows and some.
33:49
So anyway, I test. Drove.
33:50
It's a big boy. It is a big, big boy.
33:53
I test drove the 90 and the the 110.
33:56
The 110 was an XII. Think Land Rover have got work
34:00
to do on the branding. Yeah.
34:01
Because what is it so that could be the best or the worst.
34:04
X is the best apart from Octa and then they have like dynamic
34:10
X dynamic HSE. Dynamic S is the bottom I think
34:13
now. So I test driver 2024 which was
34:16
the 110 and a 2025 which was the 90.
34:20
Yep. I felt that the 110 was too big
34:23
for me. Sure.
34:25
And I love the idea of the 90 just having 2 doors and you
34:28
know. It's the best.
34:29
I mean, it looks so boss that thing.
34:32
I so we've talked about this before.
34:35
I'm so excited to. Negotiate, right?
34:36
But that's not the car. Oh.
34:38
OK. I decided to go and negotiate
34:41
and I hate car dealerships. When they do it wrong, they go
34:45
wrong in a big way, right? You feel violated.
34:47
Yeah, I just and you're there for so long.
34:49
And so anyway, the I went in to negotiate with, yeah, this
34:55
gentleman, and they came to do evaluation of mine or what do
34:59
you expect yours is worth and you always go higher.
35:01
And so I was offended when he came back, not because he had
35:08
not listened to me, but he'd automatically.
35:11
It's a trick of the trade, right?
35:13
Oh, the car's going to need new brakes.
35:14
We're going to need to service it.
35:16
And you were. For the record, you were trading
35:17
in an Audi SQ5A. Really.
35:20
Nice car, 2020 SP five with 35,000 miles.
35:24
And, you know, he said we're going to need to put new brakes
35:26
on it. I called him out straight away.
35:28
I said there's a receipt in the glove box for brakes from a year
35:32
ago. Wow.
35:33
And we got to a point in the negotiations where I walked away
35:36
because they wouldn't meet me where I wanted to be.
35:38
And we're about $1000 difference, right?
35:42
And I think that the trick is, you know, be willing to walk
35:46
away. Yeah.
35:47
OK. That's that's that's good advice
35:49
for most of life's. That's right, right.
35:52
If it doesn't feel right, walk away.
35:54
Yeah. And it was a lovely car.
35:55
I had lots of extras, you know, but, and I like the green,
36:00
although green in the UKI think we talked about this in the
36:03
past, but green in the UK is considered unlucky.
36:07
I think you mentioned that, but why it's?
36:09
It seems like it would be the luckiest of colors.
36:11
Right, the British racing. Leprechauns.
36:13
British racing Green money, Yeah.
36:16
But they have a have a connection with being unlucky.
36:19
And I had my parents with me. So, you know, they were like,
36:21
oh, you know, if you love it, do it.
36:22
But green? It's a green.
36:24
But again, British racing green is is there a connection which I
36:28
mean be unlucky? Like was that a joke I used?
36:30
To trade cars and he would never buy a green car.
36:32
Interesting. Interesting.
36:34
So anyway, walked away. The following day, which was a
36:36
Sunday, I drove up to a Land Rover of Lynnwood.
36:39
So this is about 35 miles north of Seattle.
36:43
There are three Land Rover dealerships in the area, 1 is in
36:46
Tacoma which is S, 1 is in Bellevue which is east and one
36:49
that is in Lynnwood which is north.
36:52
So went to have a look and the only 90 they had, well they had
36:57
two 90s but I couldn't afford the V8.
36:59
The V8 was like 120,000 brand new cars.
37:02
And now moving forward, so I think 27 onwards, they're only
37:06
going to do the 90 in AV8, which which is interesting because you
37:11
know, it means it becomes a very specialist tool.
37:14
Sam Allen talked about this Land Rover, Sam Allen when he was on,
37:17
I guess that was months ago now, but he said that the 90 I think
37:20
it was especially it's cross shop with like Porsches, sports
37:24
cars, right? I mean, it's it's because it's a
37:26
toy, right to a lot of people. So that's interesting that
37:29
that's all they're doing. Boy, really bucking the trend
37:32
too. Right.
37:34
We pulled in, we pulled into the dealership and the dealership is
37:38
up on a high kind of hill and around it is grass.
37:43
So you imagine this dealership with all the Land Rovers, Range
37:45
Rovers and then this grass verge, which is quite steep.
37:49
And the only car available to look at a part from the V8 was a
37:52
red Sedona red. So they've gone from Pangaea to
37:56
Sedona, which doesn't really match.
37:58
But anyway. And it was parked on the hill.
38:02
So the guy had to go and take it off the hill and get it to us.
38:05
And it was a brand new car 202690 a few extras it had.
38:11
So the the 90s have some of them have a ladder on the side and
38:16
some of them have a toolbox on the side and they had both of
38:19
those on it. So anyway, I test drive it.
38:23
I liked it. We talked about negotiations and
38:26
we, you know, we started to do some negotiations and I then
38:30
walked away again and, and then the following week we started to
38:36
text and it was a great experience there.
38:39
You know, one of the things that the gentleman did there, German
38:41
shell out German Land Rover Linwood.
38:46
He took the car off the grass verge and before he presented it
38:49
to me, he ran it through that on site car wash.
38:53
You know, it's these touches that you know, he, you know,
38:56
he's thought about it. You know, he gave me the keys.
38:59
Let me go off with mom and dad and drive it, etcetera.
39:02
So we started negotiating and I don't want to go into too much
39:04
details, but let's say there are discounts to be had or at least
39:08
I was able to get discounts on brand new cars, brand new Land
39:12
Rovers. And if anyone wants to know more
39:14
insights, you know, I'm happy to share my negotiation tactics.
39:19
But there was a significant discount off of that car, but I
39:22
didn't want to buy a brand new car.
39:24
You know, these cars are around $80,000 brand new.
39:27
And as soon as you drive them at the forecourt, you're going to
39:29
lose 1520 grand. And it wasn't that level of
39:33
discount. I'll tell you that now.
39:36
So anyway, we started negotiating and I'm like, it's
39:38
not right. Let me know if any other cars
39:40
come in. And he came back to me and went
39:42
we've got another car and I'm like, OK, tell me about it.
39:45
It's currently our courtesy car. So when people have cars in for
39:49
a service and it's out with someone because they're having a
39:53
car serviced And I'm like, OK, so they sent me the spec.
39:56
The spec looked really good. It was white, had the 22 inch
40:00
wheels, which I wouldn't have spec myself.
40:02
It's a 2 grand option. It had the leather the it's
40:06
called Windsor leather which is another 2 grand.
40:10
What does that mean? So Windsor, I think it's like
40:12
the House of Windsor or is there?
40:14
So is this this is like the Corinthian leather or what is
40:16
this? It's I guess it is their high
40:19
end leather option in the defense.
40:20
OK, and so it had the leather, it had a tow bar, it had the the
40:26
biggest thing when if you're buying a defender, the biggest
40:28
thing you want is the air suspension.
40:30
That's the number one thing. Some come as standard, some are
40:33
extras. This was an extra on the car.
40:34
OK, had the Meridian sound system.
40:37
Nice, which is pretty good. So anyway, he's like we don't
40:41
know how many miles has it gotten it?
40:44
I'm like, so it's out on a loan and he said we think it's about
40:48
6000 miles and I'm like, you know, that could work.
40:50
So they CPO D it. They sent me a quote.
40:54
They gave me good value for my trading.
40:57
So the following weekend we went and did the deal.
41:01
So I'm now the proud owner of a Defender 90.
41:04
I'm still working on names. But I think like I was thinking,
41:08
you know, should it be Ralph the Rover?
41:11
Should it be Lottie the Land Rover?
41:14
And I think even though I like, I put a poll out on Instagram,
41:17
but even though I kind of ignored that, but there was one
41:19
person that came back and said Derek the Defender.
41:22
And I can't like that because I could see Clarkson saying we
41:25
took Derek the Defender to the. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
41:27
So he's a boy. Yeah.
41:29
Does he have a tow hitch? Is that how you know?
41:32
OK. He does have a tow hitch.
41:34
I don't know whether that's the, I haven't got the the big
41:37
testicles that you get on those F1 fifties, but.
41:40
Please God, no. Yeah, it's not.
41:43
But but but he's a white boy. It's a white car, which I am
41:48
generally not a fan of white cars, except on Land Rovers,
41:51
which I think it might be the best color.
41:54
You know, it's just, you know, it's a throwback color on a, on
41:57
a, on the Land Rover, right? I mean the old, the old defender
41:59
110, right? That was the, the color, right.
42:03
I think they all came in or most of them, at least here in the,
42:05
you know, the US. It's a it's a great looking car
42:08
and I'm genuinely did we say truck?
42:12
I, I don't rig. Is it your rig?
42:13
It's just, you know, if a 4 runner can be a rig, a defender
42:17
can be a rig. It's a good looking rig.
42:19
Yeah, the only thing I don't like about it is so there's
42:23
three options for the rear windows as in the side rear
42:25
windows, there's one where it's just a panel of glass.
42:29
The second one is they call it design package and it's these
42:32
squares and it's colour coded to the the the body.
42:35
So it's like it's they're, they're opaque.
42:39
No, they're completely so. I had a joke with Jeff Jones at
42:42
the weekend that we could do an outdoor outdoor whiteboard
42:44
meeting with them because it's just a white square.
42:48
So there's two on the side. What it does mean and the third
42:51
option is you then have the box and the ladder.
42:53
So what it does mean is I could very easily fit the box and the
42:56
ladder if I wanted to. I don't, but that's the only
42:59
thing that it was a slight, you know, but it, you know, I'll
43:02
live with it. It looks.
43:03
Great. Well, you can put a, you can put
43:04
a that car show logo up there. That's right.
43:07
Or you can. Yeah, but it's I haven't done
43:10
lots of miles. I've taken it out for a few
43:11
different Rd. trips and stuff but nothing.
43:13
No loads of miles yet but it's got every extra.
43:15
Today. I set up the the app so you can
43:18
actually like set the temperature in the car and start
43:21
the engine remotely, which is pretty.
43:22
Cool. That's priceless.
43:24
That is become especially with the hot summer like the one
43:26
we've had that is it's a wonderful thing to have.
43:30
Did you did you talk about the powertrain?
43:31
You said it wasn't the V8, but it's a 400 horsepower.
43:34
Yes. So it's the. 400, yeah.
43:36
They call it the DD4. No, not D400P400P400.
43:41
OK, that sounds really. The it's a dynamic X no dynamic
43:46
XSE I think or but it's got all the extras you want.
43:50
So someone has expected up very well.
43:52
I guess the dealership expected up because you know, it became a
43:55
courtesy car. It's done 4000 miles.
43:57
It's got warranty till 2031. Nice.
44:01
So he's got the CPO. The dealer was great to work
44:05
with. Like we went in and there were a
44:07
few hiccups with finance, Not, not from anyone's fault, but
44:10
like banks were closed when we went to try and sort it out.
44:14
We got through it all well. Shut him out.
44:16
What's the name of the place again?
44:18
That's. Yeah.
44:18
So this is Land Rover Lynnwood and Matthew, the finance guy,
44:25
he's like, I recognize you from somewhere.
44:26
Where do I recognize you? And I'm like, where did you used
44:29
to work? And you went?
44:30
Porsche Bellevue. And I went, yeah, I bought a few
44:32
cars from you. That's what I reckon.
44:34
He's such a nice guy. And he's good friends with
44:36
Justin Wilson. So shout out to the Wilsons,
44:38
Nicole and Justin. But they were great to work
44:41
with. You know, nothing was too much
44:43
trouble. You know, they were, you know,
44:45
sending me texts, getting on with their.
44:47
Yeah, just just a very good dealer experience.
44:50
So if you're in Seattle and you're looking for a Land Rover,
44:53
go talk to German and Matthew and and tell them we send you.
44:56
His name is German. I thought you said German.
44:58
Yeah, he's a German. No, his name is German.
45:01
Like I'm just like, yeah. Well, I'm sure he's he's fine
45:05
people too. He's going to be the only German
45:07
there right in British car. Dealers, yeah.
45:09
I mean, there's a joke there that that was it, yeah.
45:13
Right on. Yeah.
45:14
Happy new way. I missed the only, you know,
45:17
only from perspective. We've got such good memories.
45:18
You drove that car down to Lai. Did you know I drove it up from
45:22
LA? But you know, it done its time.
45:25
I think it's probably the longest I've owned a car in the
45:27
USI. Think another good memory I have
45:30
of that car was us with Jorge Aquino from Tormenting Tarmac
45:34
who got a shot out as well because he's had a run of great
45:37
episodes. Tell me about it.
45:39
He's also had a recent rebranding, which is quite nice,
45:42
but just listen to the Johnny Lieberman episode.
45:44
I'm really wonderful. It's as good as any interview
45:47
I've ever heard with with Johnny or conversation.
45:49
I don't know if you call it an interview because they're two
45:51
friends just shooting the shit. Jeff Glucker.
45:54
I just started that one, but go back and back and back and he's
45:57
had several big names for real on a real tear.
46:01
But the three of us, the last time we were all in LA together,
46:05
I guess it was was it 4? God was it, It was auto show.
46:08
Yeah, it was November. Auto show.
46:10
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is which is gonna, you
46:12
know, come up here again, but come knocking.
46:14
But we went to Lowry's in Beverly Hills.
46:19
I think you were tired, a little cranky.
46:22
And I don't think an SQ 5 has ever moved so quickly from the
46:25
Peterson Museum to Beverly Hills as it did that night.
46:29
Also, the pudding. What is it the?
46:32
The Yorkshire pudding. Yorkshire pudding, which is
46:36
Yeah. So anyway, we've got you would
46:38
remember. Him twice into this episode do
46:39
you bet that it's the. Yorkshire pudding episode.
46:43
And we go. It's all about to.
46:44
Finding the fine food. Yeah, yeah, no.
46:47
And shout out to Hawaii, as you say, he's, he's really killing
46:49
it right now. Absolutely top of his game and
46:52
I'm excited to see people will be like knocking his door down
46:56
to get on, you know, these, these journalists that we know
46:59
and respect, they've all been on there and it's great.
47:01
Well, you know, he's he's different from any other show
47:04
where it's just you're talking to a friend.
47:05
There's a sense immediately folks are edit ease, right?
47:09
He squeezes things out of people that you you will not hear
47:12
anywhere and they're just fun and damn it, like with cars,
47:16
that's something that's missing from a lot of car podcasts,
47:19
right? Just a good time SO.
47:21
Yeah, indeed, indeed. So what's coming up?
47:24
I know we've got a couple of episodes coming up, but we
47:26
you're going to be busy next week, is that right?
47:28
Yeah, so like we said, Joel Feder coming up recording with
47:31
him tomorrow and then also our friends from Fuel Fed Boulder.
47:36
So I think Mike Burrows and Derek Shrek will be on.
47:38
I don't know when these will all go live, but in the next few
47:41
weeks and the reason we're loading up it's because I'll be
47:44
gone for a week on the Colorado grand and you know, we go on and
47:47
on about how wonderful car week is.
47:49
The grand is the one thing that that taps even car week.
47:52
So very excited, as I always am, to be a part very fortunate to
47:56
be a a part of the Colorado grand.
47:58
You know, when do you get Tom Moran the the chair of the board
48:02
on again? He was on the steering committee
48:04
way back when, and he's he's. In stories from him, do you
48:06
think you'd tell? Us, absolutely.
48:08
He's he's, yeah, again, Chuck, full of stuff and he's, he's
48:11
become a great friend. And so, yeah, without giving too
48:14
much away, we're going to some very pretty parts of the state
48:19
this year. Each year's, you know, a little
48:20
different with the route. And then this year I was asked
48:23
to do something a little different.
48:25
Our own Michael Lasasso usually has this role, but he has taken
48:29
out a new role, which I'll let him talk about.
48:31
It's in the automotive industry. We'll have him come on and talk
48:35
about what he's doing exactly. But because he just took a new
48:37
job, he cannot take a week off for the Grand.
48:41
And so we're going to miss him. But I will be, in addition to
48:45
the other duties I have at the Grand, writing the the car
48:47
descriptions for the route book and some other stuff, I will be
48:51
in charge of our AMG fleet this year.
48:54
And so each year our friends at Mercedes-Benz are kind enough to
48:58
bring a whole car hauler full of AM GS for us.
49:02
And so these are cars for those of us who are, you know, part of
49:07
the Grand and also made available to people who may be
49:10
unfortunate to have their 250 GTO throw a rod.
49:13
And then they get one of these cars to drive around until, you
49:16
know, our mechanics get get the car back on the road.
49:20
And so they always, you know, it's these are like 60 threes,
49:25
so. What you're saying is you're
49:26
going to be the most popular person on the ground and people
49:28
are going to be. I know.
49:32
So Michael gave us and Jim Baer, our buddy Jim Baer, who a lot of
49:36
you listening know will be helping me out as well.
49:38
So I think there will be a lot of people, I hope it doesn't
49:41
rain because I feel like a lot of the people in the open cars
49:46
might be looking for a closed car, right when it rains, that
49:49
kind of thing. But you know, there are X number
49:52
of cars and obviously, you know, there's a list of, you know,
49:55
priorities, but I'm looking forward to driving them.
49:59
You know, it's, it's always a range of these things.
50:03
I'm a big fan of the AMG GT, especially with the with the big
50:07
motor this year. I don't know if we have an AMG
50:10
GT, but there's at least one SL 63, which looks a lot like the
50:14
AMG anymore with the big girl, the big star and that kind of
50:17
thing. And strangely, I'm a big fan of
50:20
the car on the opposite end, which is the CLA 45.
50:23
I think that's sort of the entry level car that we'll have from
50:26
Mercedes-Benz again this year. The back seat is a penalty box.
50:31
And I was talking to someone, we think Chubba Cheta may have
50:33
coined that term penalty box. And here we are using it.
50:37
But the car itself is much smaller physically and, and just
50:40
much more nimble and, and it is a very fun car in its own right.
50:43
But yeah, it's, it'll be just one more fun aspect of, of, you
50:48
know, the most fun week of the year.
50:49
And that's. The and are you open to bribes
50:52
or is that just not not for debate?
50:54
I am I am the most ethical card podcaster you'll ever meet, so.
50:59
If you're going on the ground, Jim is the one you need to bribe
51:02
then. Jim, is that?
51:03
Yeah, Seattle guy. Is there a theme here?
51:06
I don't know. I'm kidding.
51:07
Yeah, I. Think he's ex Microsoft as well.
51:08
That's I, I think he might be. So yeah, yeah.
51:12
Anyway, yeah. It's wishing you a great grand.
51:14
Thank you, thank you. A great experience.
51:16
You'll come back with plenty of stories, I'm sure.
51:18
Absolutely. We need to get you, you know, on
51:21
a grand one of these years. Yes, maybe next year.
51:23
Squad goals indeed. Indeed.
51:26
What about you? Just taking some time out with
51:29
the Land Rover, I think. Yeah, I I took it a dirt fish
51:31
the other week to go and have a look around, which is good.
51:33
I didn't take it on any other courses or anything but.
51:36
Too new sometime. Yeah, yeah.
51:40
Although if any car could do it, if any truck could do it, it's
51:43
that. Right.
51:43
I mean they have the old freight course there they don't they so
51:46
but yeah, just get some driving out this weekend, get the car
51:49
out and about and yeah, go from there.
51:52
So I think that's a show, isn't? It I think it is a show.
51:54
It's a fun one and it's so, so good to have you back.
51:57
Now, good to be back and we miss you, Lindsay.
51:59
And I know you'll be on shows this week, so we look forward to
52:03
listening to those. Thanks for listening.
52:05
Help us get to another two nights of Madison Square Garden.
52:09
Tell a friend about the show, and we'll be back with more
52:15
episodes very soon. And until then, always be
52:19
driving. Thanks for listening.