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The $75,000 Question: Why Ultra-Luxury Car Buyers Are Walking Away · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: This is your.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Place for All Things.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Automotive the award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show Coming up, our car story of the week.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: We'll also have the recalls and what it's sold for.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Everybody can join in Later.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Jeff has the racing calendar, Mars has this Week in Auto History and I'll get you caught up on the stories making automotive news headlines.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Howdy, along with Mike, out of this World, Mars.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: We always need more.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong, so glad that you could join us on this Saturday.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to do a little preview of this story that we've got coming up here, and it is about really expensive cars.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: We normally don't get into expensive cars because it's pretty much an exclusive club that if you buy one, that you get into just because you got a lot of money, either that or the bank, is really dumb, dumb Back years ago and I still write for a magazine.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: But years ago I wrote for an upscale magazine.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: I can't even remember the name of it Prime Magazine or something like that Anyway the lady wanted to do a high-end car story because it was a high-end magazine, okay, they had airplanes for sale and stuff like that in there.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: So I thought, okay, that means I'm going to have to go to a car dealership or two, which I did.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: One of the car dealerships, the guy that ran it very, very nice guy, older gentleman, and it was a Lamborghini dealership and I didn't know anything about Lamborghinis other than they cost a lot of money and they're really fast and they look awesome.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: So I went up there, called him on the phone, got an appointment, went up there and we talked and you know the more I was around this dealership and they had a very large service department for such a small dealership, all these Lamborghinis in there getting their service done or whatever the case may be.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And servicing a high-end car like that is not coming in for an oil change and out the door you go in 10 minutes.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: It's not that way at all.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: And so we kept talking about the cars and the price of the cars and he gave me some insight into the guys that afford these cars, and when I say guys, I mean girls too, because there were females that actually had some of these high-end cars.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: We don't know any of these people that I know of anyway.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Well, one, but he doesn't count, he buys used yeah.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: This is a new car dealership.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't afford the garage to put one in.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're talking about a quarter million dollars up, and I thought you know who.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Who is it that that buys these cars?
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: And as he explained it to me, he said don these guys.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Money doesn't really mean anything to them.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: It's not as if, you know, they have to balance a checkbook at the end of the month.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: They don't have to do that.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: They've got so much money.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Most of them own their own companies or corporations and that sort of thing, so they've got money to fiddle with cars.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: They like cars, they like fast cars, they like exotic cars, which this was Well.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: He said try to put your mind into the fact that money is not an issue like it would be for you or me.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Money's not an issue.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: So if money's not an issue, then you go and buy something that you think you'd like to have.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: You don't rent it.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: You pay cash for it.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Most of these guys pay cash for their cars.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, so here you go with a half-million-dollar Lamborghini and they only have them for a year.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe they drive them.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: They have a couple thousand miles on them.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Are y'all writing notes to each other?
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: yeah, we're picking out furniture next week and so they, um, they trade them in.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And he and I said man, I sure do like that shelby gt over there.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Well, it's only got about 5 000 miles on it.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: He I'll sell it to you for what I bought it for.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: And it was like holy cow.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: I was not in the market for a car like that at the time, and for me the car at the time, used, with a few thousand miles on it, was out of my price range.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: But the guy had it for a year, drove it a little bit here and there, because he's usually got three, four, five or more cars that he can choose from to drive that day to work, and so it gave me a different perspective.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: So, with all of that in mind, the story of the week is a story that comes across to us from automotive news.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: It's the early rounds, but President Trump's sweeping tariffs on US light vehicle imports are dealing a blow to sales at many exotic and ultra-luxury brands, a market that proved largely immune to the pandemic, the chip shortage and other recent shocks.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Demand for ultra-luxury cars and SUVs with eye-popping performance and fat profit margins is in a tailspin.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Some dealers say Customers are canceling for ultra-luxury cars and SUVs with eye-popping performance and fat profit margins is in a tailspin.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Some dealers say Customers are canceling orders for $750,000 Lamborghinis when the price rises another $75,000 due to the tariffs, said one dealer who requested not to be identified.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Thereout, Wow, Robert D Stanislau, president of RDS Automotive, Wow and INEOS.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Tariffs on vehicles built in Europe ballooned from 2.5 to 25 percent.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: April 3rd British automakers received a reprieve starting June 30th, when the tariff rate was cut to 10 percent as part of a tentative trade agreement between the US and the UK.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Stanislaw envisioned the duty would fall to around 10 percent for other European countries, but on July 12th Trump announced a tariff rate of 30% for the European Union beginning August 1st if a new trade deal is not reached.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: It's incredibly frustrating, Stanislao said.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Because of the uncertainty, people are canceling orders and don't know how to proceed.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: It's ruining confidence on a multitude of levels.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Every market is offset by this.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Everything we sell is not a necessity, it's a luxury and it is daunting.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: New vehicle sales are down overall at Stanislaus stores, partly because automakers have reduced output.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: He said RDS Automotive's net operating income is off dramatically.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: He said Earnings are down around 70% this year, closer to 90% when compared with results from the COVID-19 pandemic and global microchip shortage.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: So I guess that the point of the story is, and the point that I wanted to make is is that you think, oh, these guys are rich guys, but okay, the guys that work at the dealership, in the service department the sales department they're not rich, so what's going to happen with them?
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: so they start laying off people.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So I guess the point is is that once this thing starts rolling, the ball gets rolling on this deal.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be pretty, and hopefully that it won't be too much longer and there's going to be some agreements made when it comes to these high tariffs, because it has reached a point now where it is affecting these guys that have the big bucks.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: They're going.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: I'm not paying you $75,000 extra, just because of the tariff.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Two things that I see on that.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: One is that the Lamborghini, the McLaren specifically, you can't just go into the dealership and say I'll take that one, you got it in blue, with green interior or whatever and then drive it off a lot.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: You can't do that With a McLaren.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: You have to apply to buy the vehicle, and I think that's the case in some other exotics as well.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: You can't just walk in now and buy the vehicle.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: So far as the technicians what they can do they could probably do a second job as a technician at a Ford dealership and probably retire just doing the recalls.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Is that Solid?
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: And the thing is, though, somebody like Lamborghini, they're not going to bring their factory or their building process to the United States.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: It's not gonna happen.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: That's correct, and and and you look at it and say, well, the tariffs, it only knocked down 10%.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Well, 10% is a big factor if you're only selling 100 cars a year or 200.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure how many cars they sell in the Lamborghinis New, but 10% is a big chunk of that automobile.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: It's not like GM losing 10% of their sales.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Right, because they're not selling thousands of cars a year.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Correct, they're selling a few cars a year.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: Now, does that story just apply to the US, or is that worldwide?
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it's just the United States in particular.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: So the factory workers and things, the designers and the manufacturer, part of it, where they're made don't really feel the effect that it would down the line, trickle downstream to the actual end result, the retail sale.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: But if they're not selling cars, they're going to have to lay off.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they don't have the real?
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: yeah, they don't have anybody, then they can stock them Like GM shutting down the Silverado plant for two weeks.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you've got a backlog, you know, if you only sell 100 cars, you've got 10 of them sitting on the factory floor.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: That's a 10.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, being from an automotive family and living in a neighborhood where there was Ford Dodge, you know all the manufacturers in my neighborhood growing up in the Detroit area.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: They had model changes.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: They would shut down the plant for two weeks for tool and die.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Right, that's what the tool and die shift.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Everybody went on vacation, yeah.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: They still got paid.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Some did, some didn't, depending on your job there, but yeah, they would do that every year for model.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: They call it model change, right, and it was a tool and I think basically, Well you know you mentioned Ford Motor Company and recalls.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Well, they're recalling 694,271 crossovers in the US due to a fuel leak issue that could increase the risk of a fire, according to NHTSA.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: To.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Nhtsa Automaker said it estimates the recall remedy will cost the company about $570 million and will be included in its upcoming second quarter earnings report under the special item column how many cars?
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: A lot 694,271.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: 700,000 cars.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: The recall covers certain 21 to 24 Bronco sports, 20 to 22 escape models equipped with the 1.5 liter engine.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Latest action expands on previous recalls from 22 and 24, which provided software updates but did not replace the potentially faulty injectors.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Ford leads the auto industry with 89 recalls issued in the us so far in 25, well ahead of the 18 recalls issued by Chrysler parent Stellantis.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Other recalls include the Ford GT from 2017.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: The rear wing hydraulic fluid leak may cause a fire.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: High voltage battery contactor may overheat on the Ford Mustang.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Mustang mach-e for 2022 rear wing hydraulic because the wing?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: you don't want your rear kitchen on fire, that's it uh low pressure fuel pump may fail on the bronco expedition.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Explorer 150, 250, 350 and 450, 550 mustang av Aviator Navigator 21 to 23 model years.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: So Ford's kind of leading the world on recalls.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: I guess that's one way to be number one.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it keeps going and they all keep saying from the corporate office oh, we're going to fix it.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: When is the question?
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Well, they're afraid Stellantis or Chevrolet or somebody's going to catch up with them.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: So they have to keep recalling, so they can maintain that number one position.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: It's just not a good.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: PR thing.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Or if they replace the part that's bad, does that affect other parts down the line in that chain to go bad?
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: So that's probably where the recalls could happen too.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: You want to do the sold cars roundup?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I've got it queued up there, big boy.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's just do it.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: So here we go.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: We try to guess the price of what this car sold for on Hemmingscom called the sold cars roundup.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: So the first up this morning is a beautiful 1966 Chevrolet Corvette convertible.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: It looks as if that it is all original stock anyway.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: What?
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: year, is that that's a 66.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: 66, okay, did you?
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: not hear what I said.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: I didn't think you said it.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: No, seriously, I didn't hear it.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I said it right up front here we had a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, corvette, okay, don't make me have to come over there and slap you.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: How much do you think that sold for it?
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: How much do you think that sold for it's?
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: pretty $62,000.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: 62.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Mars.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go 45.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: $57,750.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Right in the middle, mike.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: My son sent me a blue one up in Oklahoma.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: It's a Restomod, it's $39,000.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: He thought I might be able to sit down.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: The Restomod no.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Restomod no, although that would be up my alley because I like Restomod.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: It would be definitely a driver, yeah.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: So next up is the 1984 Chevrolet Camaro.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: I had one of these, I had a 92.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: This one here is that the IROC Z.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Or just a Z, I don't know.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Two-tone paint.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: So 84 Chevy Camaro looks completely stock.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: How much do you think that that cost?
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: It sold at no reserve, okay, $17,000.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: $17,000.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Mars, I'm going to say $15,000.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: How about?
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: $8,000?
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, $8,000.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: We could buy two.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Next up is another Chevrolet Camaro.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: This is a 69.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Now this one's up your alley.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is, it really truly is.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: But I don't think this is a.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: If it's a V8, I'd be surprised.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And I'd also be surprised that if this wasn't a Restomod, because it's got aftermarket wheels on it no, they're pretty beat up and the car is kind of.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: You know it's a driver.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I'm going to say it's a restomod.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: I would say so.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: So how?
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Much do you think a 69 Camaro would be?
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Now we don't know about the rust issues underneath it or anything like that.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: How much did it sell for Mike?
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: You go first.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Well, George says $13,999, and Jeff says $15,000.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go $18,000.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll go $17,000.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: I'll go in the middle, well, I'll go 17.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: I'll go in the middle, well you won 17 325 is what it sold for.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Next up 72, chevrolet El Camino.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Oh nice, that's not a 72.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: That's a 70.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: It says here it's a 72.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: You can argue with somebody else.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: I was going to just tell you what the picture is.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: He says there Okay, this says a 72.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Maybe they put a different front end on it.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I guess they could have this also looks.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: It doesn't look stock.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: It looks like it Well?
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: no, it's not.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's got the hood pins on it and it's got aftermarket wheels and cowl hood, all that.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: All right, so 72.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: El Camino, how much.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Considering.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I don't think that's a real 72.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: I'm going to say 22 for whatever it is All right, thank you.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Jeff says 21.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: I'll say 18.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: 25, 463.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: George was at 15, 999.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: No, george, here's George's car Yo, george, here you go.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: This is a 68 Buick Electra Deuce and a quarter Convertible, convertible Convertible Convertible Wide whites Got a four-holer there.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: How much?
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: Well, it's an Electra.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go $14,000.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: What yeah?
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go $18,000.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: That's what comes to mind, okay, well, there's a big difference there and Heitzman's at $17,000.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Well, Heitzman wins 17,850 it is.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: I guess the point that I'm trying to make here is the fact that you can get a car that would go on the Hot Rod Tour and you'd look good doing it for 17,800.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: You're pretty good.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Next up is another Buick.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: This is a 1968 Electra.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: No, sorry, this is a 64, yeah 64.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: Electra 225.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: How much.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Deuce and a quarter.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go 20.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: 20?
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go 14.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: And the boys are still thinking about it.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I will tell you what man I would drive that I would too.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I would drive that across the United States.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Jeff says 13.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Heisman, that I would too.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I would drive that across the United States.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Jeff says $13,000.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Heisman, okay, it sold for $16,800.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: So we're all in the ballpark $12,999 for George.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a clean car.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: But you never know, you'd need a bigger garage.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that Modern garages would not fit Next A 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: Look at them, headlight bezels, look at that monster car.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: I was telling Don earlier.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: How about that, this rear quarter?
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: You could build an entire Kia out of that.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Pretty much how much I'm going to go 21.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: No, I'm still going to say down around 17.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Anybody else Hightman says 19.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: George is still Googling it.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Okay, well it's 23,889.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: There you go, I'll take it 23,889.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: That's a nice-looking car.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Next up something for you.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: This is a I don't know what it is.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: It's a Chevrolet.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: It's a.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: Chevy.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I don't have any Standard cab, I know, but I threw away the page that had the info on it.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Go on to the next one.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: That's about what it's worth.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: There we go Right here.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: A 1996 Lincoln Town car.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: What is with all these big cars?
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: They're all in the market.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: When's the last time you've been in a car that?
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: size?
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: Do you see one of these every now and then?
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: I know, and there's a guy driving it's a silver one in the area.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: How much it's got a little black on it.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: 96 Lincoln Town Car $11,000.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: No Hurry up, I'm going to go $12,000.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: $12,000.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Heitzman says $27,000.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: $78,000.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: $7,800?
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: $7,800.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: $7,800.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: So that's this week's Silver Car Roundup.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much for playing.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Just ahead.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: Jeff has the racing calendar, mars has this week in auto history and I'll bring you the auto news stories making headlines this week.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: It's all coming up on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, friends, we are back in a flash.
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• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Start your Loopy experience with queso flammeado and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Dine on famous Loopy beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Find Loopy Tortilla in Houston, college Station, beaumont, austin, san Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: There's a Texas location near you.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: The recipes are authentic and time-tested, the ingredients always fresh.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla is pretty good.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Apple or Android In Wheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads, whether you're on the road or at home and jonesing for a different kind of car talk show.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Give In Wheel Time a try.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture and Mike's driving destinations all on In Wheel Time.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Check us out on SiriusXM podcasts, iheartradio or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Inwheeltimecom has a list and we know you love lists.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the InWheelTime Car Talk Show.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: You're invited to join our live broadcast every Saturday 10 to noon, central on InWheelTimecom Facebook and YouTube.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: We hope you'll check us out from our home base in the Sugar Shack Studios.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: If you miss us, you'll be able to hear the paint dry on your favorite podcast channel.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Time now for the racing calendar sponsored by Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, thank you for that.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Well, craftsman Truck Series guys, they are off this week but they're going to be back on July 25th at the Lucas Oil IRP race.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Xfinity Series is today, they're at Dover, dover, delaware, michael.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: Xfinity Series is today, they're at Dover, dover, delaware, michael, dover, tomorrow, dover for the big NASCAR boys, the big boys that seem to be fighting and all that hand slapping and all kinds of problems with those guys.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: Nhra is this weekend actually yesterday, through Sunday, northwest Nationals Don at Pacific Raceways.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: You've probably been there, I've been there, it's in the trees, it's in the trees.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: India's off and Formula One is off, but there's all kinds of other stuff.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Check out your local areas and might find a circle track.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Get dirty doing that.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: We did it a couple weeks ago.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: It was a lot of fun.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: So I had a hot dog and you had a beer.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: I had a beer.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: I never drank dollar beer.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Dollar beer, dollar beers are better than regular beers.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: I actually had $2 hot dogs.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Are they better than dollar hot dogs?
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Well, they're hot dogs.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Let's just put it that way by the way.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: did you see where Costco's switching from Pepsi to Coke?
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: No, I didn't.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a big story this week.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: I'll bet A lot of money there, yes, so get out and enjoy your activities.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Time now for this week in auto history.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Mr Mars has that.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I thought it was appropriate.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: This week it came up in 1978 that Ford recalled the Pinto.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Just so that this isn't something new for Ford to be doing recalls, but they recalled 1.5 million Pintos over the flaw in the fuel tank what year was that?
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: 1978.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Made it vulnerable to rear-end collisions and the big thing was that they did a cost analysis, benefit of it and decided they didn't want to redesign it because it cost so much to do it.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: So that all came about and made a lot of changes in safety designs for our automobiles.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Then in 1945, pontiac shows the high dramatic in the war effort, what they did, their contribution to the war, because they used this transmission for tanks and other military vehicles, because it was originally introduced in 1939.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: So after the war they started putting it in the cars and they used that as part of how reliable and designed it was.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: And if you haven't heard of the hydromatic, surely you've seen in the iconic classic movie Grease that Grease Lightning had the hydromatic in it.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: And then in 1955, the first Disneyland Autotopia ride opens.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Now this was in July.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: The 17th gave visitors a chance to drive then gasoline-powered miniature cars.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Now, eventually this was all changed into electric of course, and they have it now in Disneyland and Disney World and I can truthfully say I have the award of.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: I have driven both.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: I have as well this one right here.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: This is in Disneyland.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Yes, they're just go-karts, that's all they are.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: Did I ruin the end of the movie Me?
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Pretty much 1969, the Moon Rover tech ties to General Motors because the Lunar Rover really wasn't used until Apollo 15, but GM's Delco division developed a lot of the guidance and navigation systems for those early vehicles and they still don't have it right.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: But they're in your cars now.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: But you know what, if Ford designed it, it would have been recalled.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: It would have been a long, long recall 1933, wiley Post flies solo around the world.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Now this is important because he was part of two-guy flight around the world.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: But then he decided he wanted to do it by himself and he had to redo a lot of the aircraft-style instruments.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: They streamlined the airplane, did some lightweight materials to make it where he could, and a lot of those things have now made their way into our automobiles, based on their performance and reliability.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: That's the Winnie Mae.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: It's the Winnie Mae.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Then, in 1959, mini was launched in the UK.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Now this is.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: The British Motor Corporation revealed the Mini to the press in 1959.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: And it really is a compact car.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: When you look at those original ones, like they got 12-inch wheels on them.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Did you ever try to get in one?
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: No, I was scared to.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I'm not a, I'm 6'1".
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I can't get in it.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: No, it'll literally fit in the bed of a truck.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: It's for small people.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so the new ones are much, much bigger, but the original one was very small and it influenced a lot of car design around the world, in the car rallies in fact.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: So that was this week in automotive history.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Some of the stories making headlines this week.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Us Commerce Department imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of 93.5% on Chinese imports of graphite, a key battery component, after concluding the materials had been unfairly subsidized.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: A trade association representing US graphite producers in December filed petitions with two federal agencies asking for investigations into whether Chinese companies were violating anti-dumping laws.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: New duties will add to existing rates, making the effective tariff 160% according to American Active Anode Material Producers.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: That's a group of guys that you don't even want to know, these guys.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: The trade group that filed the complaint, uber, said it plans to invest $300 million in electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors in a robo-taxi deal that aims to start with one major US city late next year.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Over six years, starting in 2026, uber will acquire and deploy over 20,000 Lucid Gravity crossovers that will be equipped with autonomous vehicle technology from startup Nuro.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Hmm, I've never heard of that.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Nuro.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Nuro and the US Auto Safety Agency is shedding more than 25% of its employees under financial incentive programs to depart.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: The government offered by the Trump administration is shrinking from 772 employees as of May 31st to 555 under the program.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration are also both losing more than 25% of their staffs.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: But you and I most of us, I think are well aware of the fact that it's called government bloat and you know, I'm sorry, sir, you're going to have to take this piece of paper down to window five.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: They'll handle that sentence and then, when you get that sentence handled, then bring it back to me.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: But window five isn't open.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Oh well, I'm sorry, you'll have to come back.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: One of those kind of things.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: You won't find that at a SafeLite windshield place.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: No, they'll just get you right in and out.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: They only have four windows.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: Are you getting paid?
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: No, we're not.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: That's the problem.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: He's just happy that it worked, oh man.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Anyway, you've got a Volvo you're going to review in the next hour, are you not?
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, buddy, why do you say it like that?
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: He's excited about it.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Is this the one that you've been holding back for weeks One because it had to go to the shop while you had it?
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the one, and I'm trying to deliver the facts and not mar it with any personal opinions.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: The whole idea of doing it is a personal opinion.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: Let us do that.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: Y'all can contribute, I'll get it.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: I got you covered, mike, good Lord.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Hey we'd love to hear from you.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Shoot us an email.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: The address here is info at inwheeltimecom.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: We are back after these messages.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: You own a car you love.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: We promise you'll be impressed.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like-new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano-ceramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield, gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Curbed your wheels.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired?
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: How about a professionally installed radar detector?
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast AutoShield does that too.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshieldcom.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Call them today 832-930-5655, or gcautoshieldcom.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: The award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show now reaches 5.3 million folks each year.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Check us out on inwheeltimecom, the Odyssey Radio app, youtube, facebook and just about every other entertainment source out there, including our live broadcast every Saturday 10 to noon Central Time.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: The InWheelTime Car Talk Show has informative automotive guest interviews, new car reviews, along with popular features, including Jeff's Car Culture, the latest new cars, cruise ins and racing dates.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: It's InWheelTimecom.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Join us.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify, stitcher, iheart Podcast, podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Keep listening and we'll see you soon.