Latest / That Car Show / We Ride at Dawn. With Steve Ellis.

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We Ride at Dawn. With Steve Ellis. · That Car Show

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It is the fastest I've ever been up Angela's Crest.
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It is a 10 out of 10. To this day I still dream about
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this car. I would donate certain anatomy
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to get one of these things. Today on that car show,
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everybody's car pal Steve Ellis sits in for Dan, who's out this
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week. Controversial topics?
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We've got them. Revelatory cars.
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We've got those two Acuras, Cadillacs, Porsches, of course,
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and even our friends, the Amish popped their heads up over the
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proverbial fence. We're fired up, we've got
0:34
opinions, and we ride at dawn. This was a really fun one with a
0:38
lot of laughs and hey, even a little violence, too.
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It's Steve Ellis, and it's that car show.
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Welcome back to that car show. I'm Lindsay and I'm here with
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Ryan. And this week we have my good
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friend Steve Ellis with us and I'm so excited to catch up with
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him. Steve and I met when we were
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both working for Haggerty a few years ago and he was running the
1:01
garage and social in Culver City when we first met and that was
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my unofficial office. So we got to hang out a lot and
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work together on a few things and he's just an amazing person.
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I'm so excited to get this time with him and share you with our
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audience. We have a very funny running
1:19
joke because when you were on Late night Playset with Jay
1:22
Ryan, somehow there was the miscommunication of all
1:25
miscommunications and Jay thought you were saying that I
1:29
was your mother. So I'm really excited.
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This is a very special Mother's Day episode of Nightcore Show
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and I'm so excited to have my son Steve with us tonight.
1:38
Hi, everybody. We did the math and I would have
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been 7. So just for anybody wondering,
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yeah, math doesn't math, so. I love that.
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I love that. And that's where I met you, too.
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Yeah. Years ago, we recorded some
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podcast episodes there, and you were very gracious to allow us
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to record it with a. It was Justin Bell and Tommy
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Kendall, if I. Yeah.
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And that was a great. Amazing show.
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Yeah, man, that was an awesome show.
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Awesome group of guys. Huge Justin Bell fan, obviously.
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Yeah, absolutely. Tommy Kendall's a giant in the
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industry as well. Yeah, yeah, they're both such
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good guys and such good senses of humour and such a positive
2:17
addition to any event, just like you, Steve.
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So really excited to have you with us.
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And so we obviously have a lot of topics to get into and we're
2:26
we're here to create some controversy tonight.
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But can you briefly sort of tell people, you know, I think one of
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the most interesting things that you shared with me was that your
2:34
mom was actually your introduction to the car hobby or
2:38
being a car person. And I love that.
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So can you give us the rundown of how you got into cars and
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what you've done because you do so many different things and
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what you're up to now, and then we'll get into it.
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Oh, man, you know, it's funny, as we get older in age and we
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look back on the timeline of things, we kind of go, wow, did
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all that happened and has that happened?
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But my, yeah, initially my mother, I had a piston and and
3:07
skull sticker on my bass guitar. And I remember I was playing, I
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was practicing one day and she came in and she was like, what's
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on your bass guitar? And I was like, well, I thought
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it was cool. It was like car parts, you know,
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plus like kind of a rock look. And she was like, absolutely
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not. And, and, and so we had this
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whole thing and I was like, mom, it's just like, it's like cars.
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I don't know. It's like edgy, but she's like,
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no. So that a couple days later she
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walks in the house and she's like, give me your base.
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And she takes the sticker off my base.
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And I was like, wow, really? And she's like, then she pulls
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out a PlayStation with Gran Turismo and she's like, if you
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like cars, you can play this game.
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Somebody at my office told me that this was like the best car
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game ever. OK, PlayStation, I could.
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Sacrifice if you insist. What she didn't know was that
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video game was going to create 30 some years of addiction to
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automobiles and lead me down a path that, you know, I don't
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think they had planned for me, nor did I have planned for
4:05
myself. But what I learned about the
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automotive industry was I grew up in that that little gap where
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it was kind of like I was the young kid learning from the old
4:15
school guys and back in back in the day.
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And I think you could ask a lot of the old school guys, it's
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like you, you can only be taught so much stuff and you have to
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really kind of get into the nitty gritty and understand that
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you got to bust some knuckles, you got to turn some wrenches.
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You really you got to get behind the wheel, you got to race the
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car. So fresh out of high school, I
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moved to Houston, attended automotive tech school UTI, and
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I connived my way into being in the parts and service department
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for Lamborghini Houston when they opened.
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Oh, wow. And I showed up and I knew how
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to detail cars and I knew like car anatomy and stuff.
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And they were like, OK, like, you know, we we need a parts
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hand. We need a service hand.
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And so I came in and I worked there was my first job, the
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Mercy Lago had just launched. So that was, that was pretty
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wild there. Yeah.
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Which is crazy because if you go back, it wasn't me.
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But if you look up, there's a there was an accident that
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happened at that dealership where the employees they hired
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after I left, the two employees they hired to replace me, the
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one employee were racing cars and it crashed them outside the
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dealership. So yeah, that's pretty.
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Crazy. But not have happened under your
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watch. Not have happened under my
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watch, no and and then obviously cars was a huge thing.
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Unfortunately, when I was in college, I had a friend get into
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a really bad accident, and it projected me on the journey of
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pursuing acting. And, you know, you kind of go
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through some things. You get out of your comfort
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zone. So a small Texas boy moving to
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Los Angeles was pretty, pretty crazy.
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But the one thing I didn't know was cars.
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And if there was anything that's in Los Angeles, it's car
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culture. So you tend 1 to 700 cars and
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coffees. You start to learn and meet
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people and shake hands, as I call it, shake hands like his
6:19
babies. And the doors start to open and
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you know, it was, you know, hey, you know how to do this, you
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know this. So, you know, you can do
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commercial work, you can do photography.
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I started writing automotive articles written for ACF 200
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members magazine for the Peterson Museum Driven World
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contributed to Haggerty's media rodent track long lots of
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publications that for a long time I thought, I don't really
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know how I got here. And it really all started with
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not being afraid to walk up to people and say like, hey, I like
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your stuff or half all your stuff, or hey, like, you seem
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like a cool person. Like how you know, how do we
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work together? And you know, I learned that the
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answer is always no if you don't ask it.
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And you'd be amazed at how many yeses you get when you do ask.
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So I've just learned to to ask and ask and ask.
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And then when I don't get what I want I keep asking.
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That's the key. That's the trick though.
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I think that's the the secret of success, right?
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Yeah, I mean, it's it's especially in today's day and
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age where everything is digital, I think the in person approach
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means that much more to people. It does make people more
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memorable and makes people more engaging.
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And then of course, obviously, you know, at my time in Haggard,
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I was curating events for the local automotive car culture.
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So you had to kind of be the host who was also like, hey, you
7:44
haven't met Lindsay yet. Hey, Lindsay, have you met so
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and so and so and so and so. And the next thing, you know,
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it's like it all creates a big, you know, kind of world that you
7:52
kind of get to enjoy. You know, you get to work and be
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around the people that you like to be around.
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And then the common interest is that we all like cars.
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Yeah, well, and you're such a good connector.
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I mean, you really are. You have a good sense for who
8:07
would benefit from knowing each other.
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You know, like I said, Behind the Wheel started as a a car, an
8:13
outlet for me to show car media and what I was doing.
8:17
And then I realized that it was actually, like I said, the
8:19
people behind the wheel that were making things really cool.
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You've got a way about you too. You're just really easy to get
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along with. You've got a nice warm smile and
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you know right away that you know.
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You're someone that can be trusted and someone who knows.
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That's the Texan in me. I think that's the that's the
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pseudo Carol Shelby soul. I think is is in me.
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I remember when I was doing research for a project and Carol
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Shelby was the person and I forgot what book I read, but I
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think it's common in any Carol Shelby description.
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He was a big Texan chicken farmer, right?
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And you know, you just relate to that because it's like you can
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write your name on a piece of paper, but when you shake
9:00
somebody's hand where we're from, it just means a whole
9:03
different kind of thing. You know, sure, sure.
9:05
Do you own a pair of overalls? I actually do.
9:08
I actually do. I have.
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I have a blue pair and a black pair of overalls.
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Fantastic. Well, the next time we do a show
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with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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All right. Are we ready to stir the pot a
9:19
little bit? Let's start it.
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OK. All right.
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So you are a man of opinions. In fact, the whole reason we
9:26
connected on this is you were pretty vocal about a certain car
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that's been in the news. So I'm going to throw out a few
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controversial automotive topics and I want your take and we'll
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go from from there. I think you can guess the very
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first one. That's the Ferrari Luche.
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You mean the Ferrari iPhone on wheels?
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Listen. And there we go, you heard it
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here first. I, I, I'm, I'm going to be black
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man. What WTFI mean I and I only say
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that because it's Ferrari. If this had been honestly, it
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could have been any other manufactured.
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I think it was gone. OK, the latest and greatest, but
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it's Ferrari. Ferrari has been, since its
10:13
consumption, the pinnacle of the plants and horse and Motorsports
10:17
refinement, you know, design, elegance, performance, and none
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of that is in that vehicle. I, I've listened and reviewed
10:28
every review. And I think the astonishing fact
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that I take away from it is that there's not any honest criticism
10:34
about the car from a single outlet that I've seen.
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And, and I get it, you know, not that I'm saying you bite the
10:41
hand that feeds you, but I again, grew up with the old
10:45
school guys. It was say what needed to be
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said. And I think if you look at the
10:50
comments on any post about that vehicle, that's what needs to be
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said. And it's appalling to me that
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there are not a, there's not a single automotive professional
10:59
that is, that is voicing their real opinion on that, on that
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fact. I mean, the car is atrocious.
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It does not represent the brand in any way.
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Do we hate EVs? Absolutely not.
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I mean, I'm driving, I'm driving some EVs that have actually made
11:12
me rethink the automobile and how to enjoy the automobile.
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But from Ferrari, that was a huge disappointment.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and it yeah.
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Sorry, I just, I could keep beating a dead horse, but I just
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well, I guess instead right there.
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As we said, a dead prancing horse, you know.
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There, you say we did it. It's, I think it's, we've talked
11:39
about this a bit before, but if, and you alluded to this, if
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there was any brand that was sacred, right?
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It's Ferrari. You know, we can, we can give a
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little with BMW or whatever, you know, but Ferrari's always
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stayed the course, right? And in a way that's I think
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unique and in, in into your point, there's no heritage baked
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in, you know, there's, there's no soul, there's nothing.
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You know, we asked the question, what is Ferrari?
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I, I don't know what the answer is, but there's none of that in
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this thing. I.
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Mean, to be honest, it could have made the was the STD the
12:08
first song way or whatever it is.
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Yeah, that could be easy and I wouldn't know.
12:11
It would have been an eye because that's still stylish
12:13
looking vehicle, right? You know, right.
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It's not like they could not have made an attractive vehicle.
12:18
No, no, what's shocking here is that they chose to do this and
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that they believe that this was the direction, I guess.
12:26
And and you know, if there's anything you know about Ferrari
12:29
and you get to that very niche high end market, you end up
12:32
having to buy a certain vehicle to make you eligible to purchase
12:35
a second other vehicle. And I can only imagine that's
12:38
going to get force fed down people's throats.
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And it's going to be, you know, oh, how you bought, you bought
12:43
one of these. Well, I had to get one because I
12:45
wanted the SFXX plus plus, you know what I'm saying?
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It's like. Right, so.
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And is that what Ferrari wants? Like I would imagine that's not
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what they want. The follow up answer or like the
12:55
next line to be yeah, I bought 1 because I had to.
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Like, that's not what? That's not the slogan any, you
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know, man used. To say that they used to say
13:03
that about the California, that's right, you know, and
13:09
those are great cars. And even still, the California
13:12
being the entry level Ferrari, it's still a beautiful car in
13:17
comparison to this thing. The.
13:19
The same way too, you know, it might be a Ferrari Outback, but
13:21
it still looks like a Ferrari. Yeah, it's still this thing
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looks like nothing. Alpha, not alpha male.
13:26
Aston Martin several years ago faced a similar dilemma.
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They came out with a signet, which was signet rather, which
13:33
was, say that again, signet which was based on what was it
13:38
the, the Scion? I thought it was.
13:40
A smart No, you're right. The.
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Toyota, right? Or yeah, you know.
13:44
The the Toyota IA something or something like.
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That yes, like a, a car that's perfectly square from above,
13:50
right? There's a perfectly square
13:51
stance kind of a but they did a good job with it.
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In fact, I think they even stuffed the V12 in a couple of
13:56
them, right, just for good measure, right.
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And yeah, it looked like an Aston Martin, you know, grill
14:02
tacked on, but it it at least it looked like an Aston Martin.
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And they were very, I think transparent with why they did it
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and. Yeah, you.
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Know. Nobody's knocking the EV part of
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it. I think whatever was shocked is
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that they thought that was an acceptable design.
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They thought that the ergonomics of the interior were acceptable.
14:22
They thought that this platform was acceptable when nothing on
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the lineage of Ferrari would lead or even point to that
14:31
direction. And it's not like this.
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Again, did they need to Ed? Does every brand need to Ed?
14:37
You can argue regulations and we can get deep into the weeds on
14:40
that, sure. But again, the Roma could have
14:45
been a needy, the Swan Way could have been an Ed.
14:48
I'm probably ruining that name. But there are several options
14:51
that could not have been what they did right.
14:55
And it's just appalling that they thought that was
14:57
acceptable. And what's crazy is that this
14:58
follows what Mercedes released, which was also a very unhuman
15:03
design. Yeah, car.
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Yeah, that was something. No, I thought we had a bad, you
15:08
know, then I thought that was the litmus test for automotive
15:10
journalists everywhere. But you know, all we had to do
15:13
was, was wait a week. Huh.
15:16
Hold my beard. Yeah, or hold my Peroni, as we
15:19
said on the show, but yeah, it's one of.
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Those like you go, how is this? What was that meeting like where
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they went? Yes, this is the final answer,
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like you said, Yeah. How did you?
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How did you? Take rubber stamp this.
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Platform and and make it your EV platform.
15:34
Why create this thing and? Again, when you make a good
15:38
point about like there is so much discussion and controversy
15:41
and like engagement, if you want about EVs and like people have
15:45
very strong feelings. And I think it is a commentary
15:49
on like sort of the, let's say the shock factor of the design
15:55
that nobody's even talking about the fact that it's an EV really
15:58
like. Yeah, you know, and, and and my
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argument that I still intend toes on with EVs is why are we
16:08
limiting the design language? You know, here we have a
16:12
platform that is unprecedented in the automotive industry,
16:15
could be designed in so many different variant ways.
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If they all seem to come out looking like Jelly beans, it's I
16:22
mean, if I had to pick one and we line them all up and we took
16:25
the badges off. You would argue that the Lucid
16:27
Air looks just like a Tesla vest, which looks like, you
16:31
know, this and that. And I'm sitting here going like,
16:34
I remember watching there was a documentary on, I want to say
16:39
Lincoln or something. It was like the Lincoln
16:41
Continental and they were talking about how Link
16:43
Continental was it's anomaly of a design exercise because it was
16:48
so long and it was a convertible and it made the chassis so weak
16:51
because of the length and rigidity, whatnot.
16:54
And I'm like, well, an EV doesn't have a transmission
16:58
tunnel or anything, and so it has a really strong solid
17:01
bottom. So why haven't we seen any
17:02
beautiful EV convertibles? Why haven't we seen any
17:05
beautiful EV coupes? Why have, you know, I'm saying
17:08
it's like, why are the EV trucks gargantuan?
17:12
You know, there's so much, I feel like ways to explore design
17:19
that we've been limited to by the traditional combustion
17:21
engine layout of a vehicle, and everybody's afraid to do it.
17:24
They just keep drawn circles in. That window.
17:26
That's it. So it's like, I like, you know,
17:29
Cadillac, the Celestique came out with a beautiful EV design
17:32
and they have this beautiful convertible as a yellow or
17:34
whatever beautiful car. Yeah, they had a Pebble.
17:37
Yeah. Where was that?
17:38
Where? Where are our, you know, eating
17:41
Mustangs, eating, you know, the, the eat the cool stuff, man.
17:44
And it's like, and it's like, I'm not knocking the EV because
17:47
at the end of the day, it's just propulsion, but it's but it's
17:49
now if you're going to take away my sound and the rumble in the
17:53
field and give me jaw breaking looks, you know what I'm saying?
17:59
I I remember that when you know, the dawn of EVs, it was going to
18:02
be this skateboard chassis and we're going to be it's going to
18:05
be the return of coach building. Do you remember that?
18:08
The return of coach building And then Ferrari goes and fires pin
18:11
and Farina, right? Look.
18:14
Look at them now. It's wiring guys who's been
18:17
making the same device for 22 generations.
18:21
Yeah, even the iPhone isn't isn't quite so cutting edge
18:24
anymore, right? You know, I mean that basically
18:26
looks blamed. Square, square screens with
18:29
circles on the back of it. You know, I again, it's, it's
18:33
not to knock it. I, I really hope that my harsh
18:37
words are more encouraging than they are things because I want
18:42
to see the cool cars. I want to see, I want to see an
18:46
EV. You know, we were promised the
18:47
Tesla Roadster. We never got that we've yet to
18:50
get an affordable cool EVI mean, let's be honest, the what's the
18:57
the Rimac Rivera dumb gorgeous car, but it's $3,000,000.
19:02
You know, it's like BMW hasn't even made AM/3 convertible or EV
19:07
like comparison car. You know, there's, there's just
19:10
nothing that's enjoyable. And I've, and I've been down
19:14
that road because I literally told myself if I sold the fun
19:16
car, what would be the modern day car to drive?
19:20
Because everything's fast as hell now.
19:22
It doesn't matter. Everything's got 1000 horsepower
19:24
or at least 500 horsepower now. So speed isn't the question.
19:28
It's if you sit in traffic and you're looking at everything
19:31
beside you, it's Gray, it's white, it's black and it looks
19:34
like a Jelly Bean. If you were in the 90s, if you
19:37
were even the 2000s, even the 80s, 70s, there was color, there
19:41
was flares, there were Fender, you know, it was design there.
19:44
There was uniqueness in the automobile.
19:47
And it's kind of like I saw a meme recently where it was like
19:50
McDonald's in the set in the 90s or something.
19:52
It was colorful and shit. And then it showed McDonald's
19:55
today where it's like a drab, you know, all the colors gone.
19:58
Like that's happened to cars. And I think that's because
20:03
unpassionate automotive people have become designers or they've
20:06
become marketing specialists or they've become these product
20:09
people. They go, this is what people
20:11
want. And then clearly that's not what
20:13
people want, because then your product gets dragged through the
20:15
trenches like the Ferrari did. Right.
20:19
Is this a turning point? I mean, is this where we sort of
20:22
reject this and, and, and, you know, things start to get good
20:25
again and, and it does Ferrari just table this design and start
20:29
fresh? Do you think they're going to
20:30
keep trying to push it through? What?
20:32
Where do you think we go from here?
20:33
If I was Ferrari, I would just make EV versions of the
20:36
production vehicles I have. I make a EV Roma, I make a EV
20:40
because if you're going to make me buy those entry level
20:42
Ferraris anywhere, then just make them, keep them electric.
20:45
You know, I can buy AE Corvette or AE Bentley Continental, you
20:50
know, or hybrid, whatever you want to call it.
20:53
That's what I'd have done. I don't think that vehicle
20:56
should have a place in the Ferrari lineage.
20:59
I've I would like to think that if I drank enough tomorrow that
21:03
I would black out and forget that that ever existed.
21:06
That's what I would like to. Do with any luck right with?
21:09
Any luck? With any luck and people bring
21:11
it up but I just like spasm and pass out on it.
21:13
Nope. We felt like a bad dream like
21:15
this can possibly be true. It felt like an April first
21:18
joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:20
And and. You know the number of people
21:22
that were like, please tell me this is AI, It's AI, right?
21:26
And and man, that's a whole other book of worms, AI in the
21:30
automotive industry. Had you asked AI to to do that
21:35
car, it would have been better. And that's the sad part.
21:37
Actually, I've seen renderings, there have been renderings where
21:39
people have done, you know, an aftermarket, they've elongated
21:43
the body or shave. Sure, like a body kit.
21:46
The renderings. Look so good and you, you have
21:48
to ask yourself here I am Ferrari with a probably multi
21:52
$1,000,000 team designers. ChatGPT to the rescue?
22:00
That's what you did. Also also 607 hundred thousand,
22:05
I think, to start in this car. Yeah.
22:06
What in that thing? And I.
22:08
Adds up to anywhere near that price.
22:11
Yeah, that pricing is just to keep it in Ferrari.
22:13
It's is a good. Yeah, really, a $5000 leather
22:17
hide that's probably made in a sweatshop somewhere.
22:19
Not Italian, is it? But it's the facade of you
22:23
bought something very nice, you bought exquisite.
22:26
So the price? Hand built V12 in there, right?
22:28
That's that's pumping that price up.
22:30
It's, you know, Luigi didn't touch that thing and it's very
22:33
obviously. I mean, for me with with Ferrari
22:36
as the brand, if you, let's say you put Porsche and Ferrari side
22:39
by side, both have, you know, long running history and
22:42
Motorsports. But we make fun of the guy
22:44
wearing the Ferrari hat and the Ferrari socks, the Ferrari
22:47
pants, the Ferrari shirt, the Ferrari shirt.
22:48
Because he's got all of that on at once, yeah.
22:52
Meanwhile for the Porsche guys, like we won Le Mans again and
22:56
you just got Porsche on a T-shirt.
22:59
I think the reason it's just, you know, it's caught on like it
23:02
has the discussion and it's I think transcended just car
23:05
people is it's it's this whole concept of the insertification,
23:08
right of everything. And I think this feeds into it.
23:11
And not only is it the insertification, they want more
23:13
more for it. It's just it's, you know, to add
23:15
insult to injury and it's just it's it's time to rise up.
23:20
I'm sick of the shit. Well, and you know the the
23:22
counter argument say that Oh well, you're just not, you're
23:26
not the buyer. And it's like.
23:27
Right. Well, that's for sure.
23:30
But anybody, and I mean old, young, we know people who've
23:35
worked their entire lives to save up their time is to buy a
23:38
Ferrari. Yeah.
23:40
And do you think that that's what they're dreaming to buy?
23:43
You're out of your freaking mind.
23:44
Yeah. Well, that's the only one.
23:46
They'll sell them though. That's the.
23:47
That's the even. But I mean, but even stupid,
23:49
it's like, you know, a, a EV Roma, a hybrid California, you
23:54
know, there were several different ways that they could
23:56
have gone about that. Yeah, Mondeal has never looked
23:59
so good as it does. You know, and I'm, that's a huge
24:02
thing that I'm actually a huge, you know, supporter of when it
24:05
comes to EV are the conversions for the classic arms.
24:09
I was actually having a conversation with Bisi from Bisi
24:12
Moto at velocity and you know, he's made a huge wave of
24:16
converting the 9 elevens. You know, I hate to say it, but
24:20
it's like you get to the, you get faced with the opportunity
24:23
of like, do I continue to operate and drive this vehicle
24:26
or do I not? Because either parts are
24:29
unattainable or parts are inaccessible or they're just so
24:32
expensive. And you know, I think the thing
24:35
that I, one of the most memories that I still recall is being in
24:40
New York and an F-40 went sliding around a corner and I
24:43
remember telling my dad, I was like, wow, what was that?
24:45
My dad goes, that's a Ferrari, and it's moments like that that
24:49
I think of where I'm going. How the fuck are we here with
24:51
this? How did we get here?
24:54
Like I saw AF40 slide around a corner in Times Square and just
24:59
this sound Raka shang off the wing and then you come out with
25:02
the Jelly Bean of call Jelly Bean.
25:04
I know. Yeah, Steve, that I'd like.
25:05
Me to accept this. Yeah.
25:07
Yeah, that F-40, was that the moment that did it for you as a
25:11
young person? That is one of them.
25:14
I think the most iconic moments when it comes to cars that stand
25:17
on my mind is that particular moment when I was 13, my
25:23
grandmother had, we had a 66 coupe, Mustang coupe and I used
25:30
to drive around. She had a huge ranch and I would
25:32
drive the Mustang around the land on the ranch, couldn't see
25:35
over the dash. Amazing thing and I but I would
25:39
drive that car so much that I'd run out of gas like way off of
25:42
the field and have to come back and get gas and everything and
25:45
and that's. Like the ultimate childhood for
25:47
a car enthusiast, right? Yeah, like I was doing Donuts,
25:50
couldn't seal the dash, you know?
25:52
I just knew it was funny to hold the steering wheel and push the
25:53
gas pedal in the car. And the third would be the first
25:58
time I did an auto cross, which was my first step into
26:02
Motorsports. I tell people when it comes to
26:05
sports, I love football or basketball.
26:08
There's something about Motorsports that I cannot find
26:11
anywhere else. And I think that's because
26:13
there's that life and death risk, risk factor.
26:17
No team wants another driver to die, but they will fight your
26:21
tooth and nail to cross the finish line first.
26:23
You know, we've seen people, teams, cars blow up and
26:27
struggles and other teams jump in and they push.
26:30
You don't see that, you know, you might see like a football
26:32
player falls down, one guy helps them up, sure, but like when
26:35
there's competitors like in the mall, you know, you've seen
26:37
people like jump the fence to push cars and and drivers
26:40
pushing cars, they collapse. There's just something different
26:45
about people who who race And I and I, that's just always my
26:48
focus on Motorsports because you can have that camaraderie, you
26:51
have that drive, you have that tooth and nail to fight each
26:54
other and bash each other into a wall or something like that.
26:56
But you know, it's like that scene and you know where what's
27:00
the naked auto crash to them? It's like people stop.
27:02
You know, the other drivers are like, is he OK?
27:04
They're going. To have to help them, yeah.
27:06
Well. Well, it's like Derek Bell and
27:09
Jackie Eeks. They are, you know, they were
27:11
fierce competitors, but they're also very close friends.
27:15
And I think a lot of it too, is like they're the only people and
27:18
the people they were racing with.
27:19
But a lot of those guys didn't survive.
27:20
Like nobody else knows what that feels like.
27:22
So they have this tremendous thing in common that they can
27:25
talk about really just with each other.
27:27
Yeah, but I think it really shows. 20 guys play, 20 guys are
27:31
99% along with the court. You know what I'm saying?
27:34
And and you know, I couldn't even imagine where you what they
27:38
were. What they say is like an F1
27:40
season. It wasn't.
27:41
It was not uncommon that I think 5 or more people would die in a
27:45
season which and it's a crazy feeling.
27:48
That's a hell of a nutrition like.
27:50
Chasing speed. You're, you're trying to, you
27:53
know, ink your name on a, on a wall or a plaque and then this
27:57
risking life of limb. And, and I mean, it's a
27:58
different kind of different kind of people.
28:00
But also the racing was never better, and that's kind of the
28:03
sick part of it. Right.
28:04
Yeah. Well, and when you think about
28:05
what they had in the 50s, sixties, 70s, like because you
28:10
look at all the technology we have now and then you look at,
28:14
OK, they were doing like what they were doing at Le Mans in
28:16
the 60s with the cars they had at the time.
28:19
It's just stunning. I mean, like, you know, Dan
28:22
Gurney and Ken Miles and all that.
28:24
I mean, it's like you can't put it into words.
28:27
Really, you're going to open up something that every opportunity
28:31
I get, I always bring this up. Let's hear it.
28:35
Do you feel that there should be a racing league where literally
28:40
they say the car can be this wide, this long?
28:43
Whatever you want to do in between.
28:45
If you want to be 12, if you want AV 8, you want a 4
28:47
cylinder, you want a turbo 2 cylinder, you want all-wheel
28:50
drive, you want hybrid, whatever you want.
28:52
I would love to see an FIA like speed Racer, like league.
28:57
And everybody laughs, but I sit there and I go, are we not
28:59
almost there? Because if you look at LMP cars,
29:02
like an LMP car destroyed the Nurburgring lap time and ran
29:06
like a 5 minute some lap time, which was unheard of, still
29:10
unheard of. So if the technology in the cars
29:12
are there and that's that good, why aren't we doing more with
29:15
the cars? Like I don't feel that F1 is the
29:17
pinnacle of Motorsports anymore. I, I feel like honestly, like
29:21
WECS kind of kind of that move because you've got LMP racing,
29:25
GT4 racing, you know, different classes at the same time.
29:29
Meanwhile, F1, it's like if you get past the first lap, it's
29:32
kind of a parade lap and then we're here.
29:35
So it's like, if the technology's there, we're going
29:37
to spend the money anyway. Why not go for genuinely broke
29:40
and, and, and push the envelope Like, because like you said, the
29:44
technology they had back in the MC days and, and the group ABC,
29:48
whatever, it's like, what does that look like now?
29:51
What, what would that look like now?
29:52
The drivers are faster, the technology's faster.
29:55
Tire technology's faster safety equipment is is more safer, more
30:00
safer is safer. So it's like so yeah.
30:04
So, you know, I just I would love to see a racing league
30:07
where they kind of say like, hey, this is this will be these
30:09
are the parameters that you as long as you meet these safety
30:11
regulations, one would you Brung?
30:14
Steve, they have the steroids Olympics now, right?
30:16
Where just anything goes, you know, they're just pumping this.
30:19
Is the automotive? Version, it's before the
30:21
competition like this is this is that for cars, right?
30:25
I asked that because look, we have all of these amazing
30:27
vehicles that have been recently created, but they're not race
30:30
they're just rich boy play toys yes find me a racing league
30:34
principal lead. Find me a racing league for the
30:37
McLaren soulless. Find me a racing league for the
30:39
Zonda R. You know, that's the kind of.
30:42
Zenbo I mean. Yeah, the Zenbo, like the car.
30:45
There's so many, so many way cool cars now than there used to
30:48
be, right? So why aren't we doing more than
30:51
what? We, and especially when you look
30:52
at all of the engineering and intention that goes into making
30:58
it as aerodynamic as possible, you know, all of all of the
31:01
everything. And unfortunately, and you and I
31:04
talked about this a lot and Ryan, we've talked, we've all
31:06
talked about it a lot, sort of in pairs is they get parked and
31:10
they're expensive art, which is there's nothing wrong with that.
31:14
You know, like Jay Leno says he's like, these are rolling
31:16
works of art that if you need them to, they can drive, which
31:19
is great. But we all are also like, we
31:22
love to see them driven. That's what they were made to
31:25
do. Yeah, and that, you know, that
31:27
F-40, seeing that come around the corner as a kid.
31:31
And then, you know, one thing that I really like about like I
31:34
daily drive 95 Nissan Skyline GTR.
31:38
And that was because it was like, that was my F-40, you
31:41
know, that was my grand Turismo dream car.
31:43
And the best thing ever was like, what's your favorite thing
31:46
about the car? And it's when I'm zoned out and
31:50
I'm just behind the wheel and I'm like at a light and I'm just
31:52
like, it's a normal car. I'm in traffic and I look over
31:54
and there's some kid losing his shit 'cause he's less Oh my God,
31:58
Oh my God. And he's like, I got my kids run
32:00
out into traffic to take photos. I've had to like pull over in
32:03
gas stations cause like kids are like, Oh my God.
32:05
And it's like we're. 50 year old man, Yeah.
32:10
Well, it's, it's an excitement that the car brings, you know
32:13
what I'm saying? It's like art is great, but I
32:14
can't. I can't.
32:16
Well, that's. You know, I can't drive my Mona
32:18
Lisa. I can.
32:19
I can drive. That's it.
32:20
That's it. You don't drive it.
32:21
It's conceptual. Right.
32:23
And, and, you know, even Jay Leno, when you bring him up, Jay
32:26
and I have some weird run insurance in my time in LA and
32:31
every one of them, you know, a kids like, Oh, my God.
32:34
Because obviously he's driving something bananas.
32:37
And first thing he's like is, yeah, jump in, open the door, da
32:40
da, da, da. And it's so funny to me when
32:42
guys are like, Oh my God, don't touch my car.
32:43
Oh my God. Fingerprints.
32:44
Oh my God. It's like, Merlin, Bird's gonna
32:46
shit on it anyway. It's not enough, you know, Drive
32:51
it. Enjoy.
32:51
No. I mean, that's what I love about
32:54
Jay is that he does drive everything.
32:57
Absolutely, like gatekeeping to me, especially in the car world,
32:59
is so ridiculous because you could literally spark or change
33:04
the trajectory of somebody's life just by letting them sit in
33:06
the seat. That is exactly that is Steve.
33:09
That's actually one of the, it's not one of my controversial
33:11
topics. It was a question for Ladybird.
33:13
Can we chat about gatekeeping and not only the car community,
33:15
but the car journalism community, the car content
33:17
creator community? Because we've talked about this
33:19
with others, but it's a thing and I think we do need to talk
33:22
about it because God damn people are proprietary sometimes.
33:26
Some people are wonderful. Don't get me wrong, there are
33:27
some wonderful people that we all know out there, but there's
33:30
some other people that need to loosen up a little bit, huh?
33:33
Man, I personally enjoy running into those people because then I
33:37
try to make my point to like get around their hurdle and then
33:44
when I do and then they're sitting there baffled, I'm like,
33:46
let me show you how you know what I'm.
33:49
Saying. Because it's like, you know,
33:52
man, just the LA experience that comes to my mind is something as
33:57
an actor that always stung out in my mind is it's lonely at the
34:00
top. And I was always baffled by that
34:04
statement because I'm like, well, if I'm such a celebrity or
34:07
you're so well liked or everybody wants to work with you
34:10
and the line is so lonely at the top.
34:11
And I realized it's because it's like a self preservation thing.
34:15
It's like people will gnaw off their own arm to if they think
34:18
it's going to save them now realizing that that arms going
34:21
to extend and retract and help you do things and do all this
34:24
stuff. And so they see it in a short
34:25
time. There's like an intimidation of,
34:29
well, if I bring you along, you're going to take the job for
34:31
me. And bro, I'm not doing the same
34:34
job as you. I might do a different job.
34:35
And then there might be an opportunity to say, oh, hey,
34:38
guess what? I can.
34:39
I can bring so and so along for this job.
34:41
And then it's kind of like the sling effect, you know, you
34:44
throw me into you. I'm gonna reach back.
34:45
I'm gonna throw you ahead of me. Keep.
34:47
Going till we get to where we want to be.
34:49
And I feel like if more people thought like that, you know, you
34:53
just get a lot more done. You don't you don't kind of one
34:57
person can't, you know, yes, you're the race car driver, but
35:00
you're going to have the guy change your tires and the guy
35:02
checking your brakes, making sure, you know, stuff does what
35:05
it does. It's not a one person job.
35:08
And you got to think about life kind of like a race team.
35:10
You know, it's like you can't see the weather when you're
35:12
doing 100 miles an hour down the low sane St.
35:14
And that's why the guy on the radio comes around.
35:16
He goes, hey, guess what, you're about to come in the rain and
35:19
you know, and then you're like, oh shit, you pulled the pit
35:21
lane. Now you got to get rain tires.
35:23
It's not a one man show and and life is also not a one man show.
35:28
Incidentally. Think of one woman show.
35:30
No, no. But it's funny that the Venn
35:32
diagram of the people, the gatekeepers and then the people
35:35
sucking Ferrari's toes right now are are, you know, there's a lot
35:38
of crossover there, isn't there? I mean, listen, I, you know,
35:41
I've as a, as a writer for something and I, you know, I've
35:45
had people say, oh, you can't really say that.
35:47
And I'm like, my word isn't law is not definition.
35:52
What you've asked for me is an opinion.
35:55
And a lot of people have seemed to lose their opinions because
35:59
they're afraid of losing the next opportunity.
36:01
But I'm like, but the opportunity comes from the
36:04
honesty. Like, you know, I can say I'm a
36:08
Motorsports fan. I like EVs.
36:10
Now, do I like the Tesla Model 3?
36:12
No, it's like, OK, but you know that freaking what's that Dang
36:18
thing called the? The.
36:22
The Rimac. Yeah, Rimac.
36:23
Yeah, really. Really, really, really sick, you
36:25
know, and, and you just kind of like tell people all the time.
36:28
It's like, you know, I use I'm, I'm, I consider myself a
36:33
professional amateur photographer.
36:35
I have photographer friends who have literally shot some things
36:40
that in my opinion are the most amazing photography saying, you
36:45
know, and, and they don't have the following or they don't have
36:49
the thing. And so it's like if you give an
36:50
opportunity to say, you know, I've had companies will say,
36:53
man, we wish we would have had a photographer.
36:55
I'm like, I can have you the best photographer in the next
36:57
hour. And they show up, they shoot,
37:00
they're like, where's this guy? And I'm like, he's been at home
37:02
in his pajamas playing PlayStation.
37:03
But he's a great photographer and, and it's giving that person
37:09
an opportunity and, you know, they succeed.
37:12
They see their work and their, and what they're capable of.
37:14
And that encourages them to do the next thing.
37:17
And then all I tell people is send the elevator back down, you
37:20
know, create an opportunity. If you're in a position where
37:24
you can create opportunities, do so.
37:26
You know, there's, there's it. The world gets easier to
37:28
navigate with the whole bunch of support, you know.
37:31
Absolutely. Yeah.
37:32
Rising tide lifts all ships. Yeah, I was going.
37:34
To say this very same thing took words right out of my mouth
37:39
again, like mines right? Yeah, like, that was a big, the
37:42
big thing for me at my time in garage of social.
37:45
You know, when I took the job, they were adamant about someone
37:48
creating and curating car culture in the LA.
37:52
And, you know, given that there's such a vast demographic
37:57
of people here in the city and anywhere, you, you do have to
38:01
make space for each people, but you make space and then you make
38:04
those spaces mix. And that's a very hard dance to
38:09
do. But it's something that I'm, I
38:11
very much enjoy, you know, 'cause like I said, my mother
38:14
was a huge component for me in Motorsports.
38:17
One of my favorite pictures. There's a picture of her holding
38:20
me up while we're playing Outrun and she.
38:22
Oh, nice, Helen. I would do the steering wheel.
38:25
And so, you know, women in Motorsports brings a different
38:29
level of competition than what just a normal guys to guys can
38:32
batter. And I always, I always tell guys
38:35
like if you're intimidated by a woman behind the wheel, the nut
38:38
up and man up, you know, like if you're faster, if you're better
38:41
than go, we'll show it, you know, and.
38:43
That's a beautiful thing, right? It comes down to, you know,
38:46
Yeah, yeah. Can you do it or can you not?
38:48
Yeah, can you not? And I, and I think all forms of
38:50
competition, especially in Motorsports, you go to playing
38:53
field because at the end of the day, it's like you're fighting
38:56
the physics of, you know, tire, tire strength and engine
39:00
durability and human strength and mental capacity.
39:04
And there's so many things in Motorsports that lay into it and
39:08
so many different moving pieces that make it such a unique sport
39:12
in my mind. You want to move on to another
39:15
controversial topic? Yeah, let's do it.
39:18
OK, controversial automotive topic number 2.
39:23
Is it ever OK to cut the mustard?
39:29
Speaking of rich guys and fancy cars and cars.
39:33
All right, all right, all right. I'm gonna run into this.
39:38
Mustard is hot. See, I think last week our show
39:43
was Dan doing his darndest to stay on Ferrari's invitation
39:47
list, and I think this week we've decided to go in the
39:48
opposite direction and just. Oh, I know, I'm knock.
39:51
Ourselves off of. Everything I know I'm not
39:53
listen. My saving grace is I'm hoping
39:54
that Lewis Hamilton's like, hey, a black guy you can come from
39:57
you're. Like at the very least.
40:02
Lewis. Lewis no so man. 1st of how do
40:12
you look in a Cape Steve? Man toy, ask the ask the
40:20
question one more time. Let me just sure, just think
40:22
about this real. Quick, sure, because you know,
40:24
there's a lot of baggage with this question at the moment.
40:26
But I think it must be said. And I have my opinion.
40:28
I know Lindsay has hers. Lots of people voice their
40:30
opinion. But you, you've got this GTR.
40:34
I mean, you are a performance driver.
40:36
You drive the roads in, in, you know, Southern California that
40:40
have, let's say, been in the news lately.
40:44
You know, is it ever OK to cut the mustard?
40:49
Feel like this is one of those moments where they're like, hey.
40:52
This I'm gonna I'm gonna answer this question as unfiltered and
40:56
honest as possible. Please on.
41:01
A public road and on a public Rd.
41:05
The whole purpose of not cutting the mustard is that in Andrew's
41:11
crust or in these Canyon roads you cannot see in certain parts.
41:16
In those moments I definitely say do not cross the Musk.
41:21
You need to drive as far as your eyes can see and then not as
41:25
fast as you know, but as far as your eyes can see.
41:28
Have I cut the mustard before? I'm not going to lie to you, I
41:30
have, but that's been in the site where it's like I can see
41:34
miles down the road. I'm not trying to cut the
41:37
mustard on a blind corner. I'm not cutting the mustard on a
41:40
section of blind corners. I need to fully and clearly see
41:44
if I'm going to use the different apex or undulations of
41:48
the road. I have been in the lane where
41:51
I've come around the corner. There's been a car in my lane.
41:54
And by the grace of goodness, goodness, we have not collided.
41:58
And and whatever went on, it is a heart stopping and gut
42:03
wrenching moment because your life literally flashes before
42:08
your eyes. Yeah.
42:09
There's no margin. You don't know.
42:11
Yeah. You don't know what's going on
42:12
with that person. They don't know what's going on
42:14
with you. You're up here for a Sunday
42:16
drive. You're thinking you're going to
42:17
go home, have dinner, move on about your day.
42:20
And somebody's poor decision can change that.
42:24
So in in that proponent, I 95% say absolutely.
42:29
Should you never cut the yellow Now in the event that you can
42:31
see clearly ahead of you and you know that OK, that this is
42:35
deemably safe, sure. But you know, regardless, the
42:39
public roads are not a racetrack.
42:41
If you feel that strongly that you're trying to set a race
42:43
time, take your ass to the racetrack.
42:45
Half these dudes that I find on the Canyon roads talk about how
42:48
badass of a driver they are and they can't tell you what a
42:50
proper apex of a corner is or what late breaking means or any
42:53
of this shit. That's it.
42:54
And so it's like take your ass to a racetrack.
42:57
And everybody who I know who is driven on a racetrack, and I'm
43:00
not going to call out a particular quote, UN quote
43:02
self-proclaimed race car driver on Instagram, but if you are a
43:07
jingling race car driver, you would set the example and you
43:09
know that driving like that on public roads is not acceptable.
43:13
So I mean, I'll fight everybody. I don't really care.
43:17
It's just my thing is, I think what should be first and
43:20
foremost is safety. Second should be, you know,
43:25
being able to go for a drive and also get home safe.
43:28
And you know, if that means you have to stay in their lane and
43:31
you can't go as fast as you can, then so be it.
43:33
I tell people if you're in the canyons and your tires are
43:36
talking too loud, you're going too fast.
43:38
And if you have a, if you need a higher compound tire, get a
43:41
higher compound tire. But you know, it's not a
43:43
racetrack. It should be, you go up there,
43:45
you enjoy it, you drive maybe 5 or 6/10 and you go home.
43:50
You know, because you don't want to make somebody a orphan.
43:52
You don't want to make somebody, you know, Miss, I don't call a
43:56
parent if he was a parent, you know, you just don't ruin
43:59
someone's life like that. That's the thing.
44:01
That's yeah. Because you can't.
44:03
You can't undo that. Yeah.
44:05
That's done if you impact someone's life and family in
44:08
that way. Like that's it.
44:10
Yeah, and you know, just it's one of those things where social
44:13
media nowadays has given people a platform.
44:15
How you use a platform is important.
44:18
You know, I, I try to be mindful about what I post and encourage
44:22
because obviously some people can take it a certain way.
44:25
Like do I do I think St. takeovers are a great thing?
44:29
No. When I was a kid, was I doing
44:31
Donuts in a parking lot somewhere behind a Lowe's?
44:34
Absolutely. But I think the difference of a
44:36
culture is like, nowadays, these kids are, they're doing it for
44:40
the clout, for the Instagram fame, or they're trying to get
44:43
famous off of likes and shares. And so they're willing to do
44:47
more extreme things. Unfortunately.
44:49
I mean, like, there's no difference.
44:50
We were doing burnouts in the street, we were doing Donuts, we
44:52
were egging houses, we were doing all that.
44:54
It's just now everybody's got a camera and everybody's got some
44:58
kind of, you know, desire to get notoriety.
45:03
When I think back in our day, we were just doing it for the sake
45:06
of fun. Right.
45:08
Like for the love of the Donuts and like in the car, I mean.
45:11
Even, I mean even street racing, you know, we weren't street
45:14
racing in the middle of, you know, the daylight in the middle
45:17
of a busy St. We were like in a industrial
45:19
area far away from everybody, Right, right, right.
45:22
I think that's the difference, like you said, like if you're
45:24
doing Donuts in a parking lot, that's a hell of a lot different
45:26
than taking over an intersection.
45:29
Yeah, where again, people are just trying to go about their
45:31
day and get home. And I mean, they need to get
45:33
done. Yeah.
45:34
And there's, I think there's a different man.
45:36
I'll be honest with you. I think it's when we stop
45:38
whipping kids cuz. Yeah, bring back like corporal
45:44
punishment and public shaming a long way.
45:46
Argue. I would argue everyone of us up
45:48
here is not in the whipping every once in a while.
45:51
Ladies and gentlemen, he's from Texas, right?
45:53
Listen, but that whippet taught us how to conduct ourselves.
45:56
And I think, I think one of the goofiest things I heard was
45:59
somebody was like, I don't want to hit my kidney's identity.
46:01
And I was like, OK, I'm a dead ass.
46:06
Like I, I truly think those things, like I'm not saying like
46:12
beat your kid to death, but I think there was a definite
46:15
better understanding of respect and authority.
46:19
And like, I would never, and even to this day, would it ever
46:23
cross my mind to throw things at a police officer or be
46:26
disrespectful in a sense of I was doing something wrong.
46:30
I got pulled over tape. The hell you know, Yeah.
46:34
Yeah, but I mean, it's just like we talked about in the last
46:37
show, what's up is down, what's down is up, what's right is
46:39
wrong. You know, I mean, it's, it's
46:40
like, yeah, this is what they, this is what they see and and
46:44
anything goes and it's, it's, I don't think there's ever been a
46:50
tougher time to raise a child. I know I was going to say like,
46:53
I think we're all like we have all experienced like the current
46:57
generation. And I mean, seeing like seeing
47:01
what I see in the schools today, I mean, it's my heart goes out
47:05
to the teachers because it is wild.
47:08
But it like you said, see where it's like, when did we decide
47:11
that there weren't any standards of behavior anymore and there
47:14
wasn't any expectation of how you behave in public?
47:16
And like what I consider to be like basic decency and respect.
47:21
It's yeah, everything is upside down.
47:24
Yeah, it's I feel like such an abdominally sometimes because
47:28
it's like I'm a black dude who was raised in Texas, who's lived
47:32
in California. And as I see both sides of
47:35
whatever, you know, political fence you want to say, but also
47:37
like the people in themselves and the experiences.
47:40
And it's like, I've been around the world, I've met people all
47:42
different colors and ethnicities and nationalities.
47:45
We're all the same. It's like, and it's it's crazy
47:48
the stuff that separates us, which is why it's awesome that
47:51
cars, you know, it's like we can argue about which car is the
47:55
better car, what brands, the better brand.
47:57
You know, the Corvette's the best thing, Porsche is the best
48:01
thing, whatever. But you know, we're not beating
48:03
each other across the head. You know, at the end of the day,
48:06
we're not bombing each other. We're not, you know, being
48:08
disrespected, all these things. It's because we disagree about
48:11
it. And I wish we could have that
48:13
kind of agreement and platform as we discuss more serious
48:18
topics and still, you know, have the decency to realize that
48:22
regardless of where you come or what border or what flag you're
48:25
from under, it's like we're all the same creations of some
48:27
something bigger than us, you know?
48:29
Right. We're all still at the end of
48:30
the day, people. Yeah.
48:32
And I told people, you know, I think the biggest thing that we
48:34
have that we should focus on about being human is the
48:37
humanity, you know, and, and I think, you know, that that needs
48:42
to be a lot more of that. And I think the younger
48:45
generation just needs a little bit more guidance because I
48:49
think, you know, I think about like, yeah.
48:52
And I mean, it's like, because all they have is what they see
48:53
on their phones, Like, what Tell what's popular, they look to
48:56
their phones. What's hot, they look to your
48:58
phones. You know, it's like, I see a big
49:00
increase of, you know, vocational work and vocational
49:05
school because now these kids are so bored with technology,
49:07
they're trying to get back to like the physical totally.
49:09
You know, they're like. Some tangible feedback.
49:12
Yeah, well, I mean, it's like they're trying to learn how to
49:13
like make cabinets and, you know, it's like everybody in
49:16
COVID became a Baker. It's.
49:17
Like the Amish people had it figured out this whole time.
49:21
Yeah, they're just sitting back with their non caffeinated, non
49:23
alcoholic. Yeah.
49:25
Hi the child beatings the cabinet making.
49:29
I think the clothes with. The butter and the and the bus
49:33
furniture comes out have. You ever tasted a better
49:36
cinnamon roll? Come on, you know it's.
49:41
I mean, like, I mean, like that's the truth.
49:42
It's like that's what's kind of wild is that, you know, like I
49:45
said, the tech is getting so overwhelming that people are
49:48
going back to, you know, physical attainability.
49:51
And I think we're seeing that too in cars because now, you
49:54
know, the younger kids are starting to not be concerned
49:57
about what's the newest, the latest that they can buy.
50:00
They're starting to be like, what can I fix up now?
50:02
What, you know, grandpa passed away.
50:04
He had this really weird car. Let me restore it.
50:06
You know, I'm seeing a lot of cool social media post about
50:09
like, hey, inherited this car or hey, I bought this car or hey,
50:13
you know, randomly decided to pick up this car and now I'm
50:16
having to deal with its issues. And this generation, you know,
50:20
mine was kind of like the Internet forums and we had like
50:24
some YouTube stuff, but now it's like they're all tech is like,
50:28
how do you do this? You know, Chad GP, how do I
50:30
change the air filter on a 1963? You know what I'm saying?
50:33
They have the technology and so it's cool.
50:35
They're kind of getting back to some of that physical grassroots
50:37
stuff in Motorsports and cars. That's it.
50:40
And I said before this. Technology to support like an
50:42
interest in the vintage cars, that's really cool.
50:45
Yeah. And, you know, I always bring up
50:47
that point to where the reason I like to encourage design and and
50:52
competition in cars is that what hasn't been thought of yet or
50:56
what hasn't been seen could be just one person's idea.
51:00
You know, I mean, I mean, trying to find an exact example in the
51:06
moment, but it's like there's such opportunities where
51:08
somebody could step in and say, hey, let's make this better or
51:10
hey, let's do something different.
51:12
And it starts a revelation. You know, it starts a whole
51:15
different aspect of the car community.
51:18
Speaking of revelation and Speaking of sort of going back
51:21
to the basics and manual and all that.
51:23
I, I, I did the, participated in the Rocky Mountain Automotive
51:28
press Spring Press Drive I guess is what it's called today where
51:32
we got to drive about 25 different cars, right, And spend
51:35
about 30 minutes in each one. Didn't get to drive them all of
51:37
course, but I drove a car today so.
51:39
Much fun. That was a revelation.
51:42
And now you know a lot of these cars are daily drivers and
51:46
stuff, right? You know, you've got the Subaru
51:48
Forester, fine car, that kind of thing.
51:51
You know Kias and you know the new Telluride and the Honda
51:54
Pilot and you know some other cars.
51:57
But I drove the new Integra. It's the a spec with a manual
52:04
transmission. I don't know if either of you
52:07
have driven this car, but you need to go drive it.
52:10
This car is everything that I I didn't know that they made cars
52:14
like this still, right? 200 horsepower, I think one of
52:18
the world's best manual transmission interfaces.
52:22
Everything is light and to the touch.
52:23
It's like a sewing machine. The car is built like a, like a
52:28
vault, $44,000, which you know, I think is cheaper than the
52:33
average car right now. And 200 horsepower doesn't sound
52:36
like much compared to, you know, the electric cars and all this
52:38
other stuff. But I drove my first GT3 Rs
52:41
yesterday, 991.2. It's a car that I've always
52:44
liked. I've driven a lot of the
52:45
standard GT3's great. I really enjoyed it.
52:49
But I didn't talk 1/10 as much about that GT3 Rs as I did about
52:53
this Integra today because it is everything Steve and Lindsay,
52:56
the stuff we grew up with, like the Hondas of yore, right?
52:59
Like the Preludes in the Accords, the manual stuff,
53:02
right? They still sell that car.
53:04
It's this Acura integrity. Don't you don't even need the
53:06
300 horsepower one, the one that's basically the clone of
53:09
the of the Civic Type R. You get this.
53:11
I think it's the a spec. It's the 200 horsepower car.
53:16
It's the best car I've driven in years.
53:17
Speechless, Steve. Speechless and without speech.
53:21
But Steve looks like he had thoughts too.
53:24
So I have driven. That car you have?
53:29
In my long search of if I were to sell the GTR what would I get
53:35
and I came down to two vehicles 2 which are similar in the fact
53:40
that both are 4 doors, both are manual or and or auto but
53:45
completely different cars. And as I scoured everything that
53:49
was currently available it came to my personal conclusion that
53:52
these are the two best cars in the market.
53:54
I I the type S was cool, but I do have to say if I was just
53:57
kind of got to go that route, I would have to go ahead and get
53:59
the type SI know what they call it, not the type R, but the
54:04
Acura integrity. It's the type S Yeah, the three
54:06
reverse Part 1. And then I'll tell you, I'm just
54:12
going to say this. Yeah, I drove this car and got
54:15
one as a press car. It is the fastest I've ever been
54:18
up Angeles Crest. It is a 10 out of 10.
54:23
To this day, I still dream about this car.
54:26
I would donate certain anatomy to get one of these things.
54:30
And when I say this Cadillac CT5V black wing is the best car?
54:38
OK. I have driven.
54:40
Well, now I've got to drive. Probably in the last decade.
54:43
OK, I still. Dream about that car.
54:47
Every time I think about something's better in that car,
54:50
it's it. No Cadillac CT by Black Wing.
54:53
OK. Is is the best thing I think you
54:55
can buy. It has everything you want.
54:58
It is an exciting thing to drive a 600 horsepower 600 or 650
55:02
horsepower 650 foot pounds of torque.
55:05
I'll be out. Here's another shocker.
55:07
I didn't even want the manual. Oh interesting.
55:11
I drove the 10 speed auto and it was so good.
55:15
It was stupid how good it was and just a fun little joke.
55:22
We went up Crest and went for a drive and there was a particular
55:26
person in a Ferrari who was like, oh, Cadillac, oh that's
55:30
cute. And on the way down said Ferrari
55:33
caught fire. He said Cadillac did not.
55:39
Wow, I remember the that day. Yeah, I mean, and proceeded to
55:43
drive to Long Beach. The car drove itself from all
55:46
the way down to Long Beach, pretty much the Super Cruise in
55:50
the Chevy was 10 out of 10. Like I could not find anything
55:54
bad about that car except Ford. They don't make it in a wagon.
56:00
And I and I told, yeah, I told, I told the Cadillac corporate
56:03
team. I said they were like, what do
56:05
you think of the car? And I was like, it's a 10 out of
56:06
no, it's a, it's a nine out of 10.
56:08
And they were like, oh, wait, what was it?
56:09
A 2 out of 10? And I was like, because you
56:10
don't make it in a wagon. And their guy was like, well,
56:13
you know, we made a wagon nobody.
56:14
But I was like younger and unprecedented territory at the
56:17
time when Cadillac made the CTV wagon.
56:20
I think aside from the Volvo and maybe a BMW5 series wagon, there
56:25
was all wagon options you get. But now the performance wagon is
56:30
a thing. The Mercedes has one, BMW has 1,
56:34
Audi has one. And yet Cadillac, the originator
56:38
of the performance wagon or, you know, in the, you know, I just,
56:41
yeah, actually, they made one. That would be the perfect car.
56:45
Yeah, You know, and I'm like the RS6.
56:47
It probably would work. Stay in one.
56:53
Piece. I say this one because I have
56:55
multiple friends who had issues with with their dream.
56:58
Yeah, I know. I had a client who bought one,
57:00
drove it off the dealership and then while in traffic all the
57:03
way home it just turned off. Well, I love that they still
57:07
make these cars and and obviously the the black wings in
57:10
a completely different league than the Integra, but it's also,
57:13
you know, twice or whatever the price, but they have three
57:15
times. Lindsay, is there anything like
57:17
that that just you, you, you thought you just have to stop
57:20
and just sort of think about it like, damn, this is good.
57:24
I mean, I always. Please don't say Bronco.
57:27
No, no. You know what's funny?
57:30
A boy, right? I'm like, no.
57:33
Shockingly, no. People post sport.
57:35
I just, that's right, the Raptor or the Broncos?
57:41
Sport This is a. Sweet spot I I swear to God it
57:44
is. Broncos Sport is the car which
57:47
shall not be named like no. You guys tried the Bronco too.
57:51
Why are we doing this again? That's right, Ghost.
57:54
No. Broncos, SO I will say that I my
58:01
daughter and I were at the park the other day and I could hear
58:04
this car like circling around town and it was like a dog, you
58:10
know, smelling bacon or something, something like like I
58:13
popped up and I'm like, I know what that is.
58:17
And it's if you've talked to me before, you have probably heard
58:19
me mention this because I had a, one of the GT350R Mustangs, the
58:24
2017 and it was the most intoxicating, like exhaust from
58:30
the factory and just the whole driving experience.
58:33
So that is the one that still has me in a chokehold.
58:36
And it turned out because we, so we were in the park, it was prom
58:38
over the weekend for one of the high schools.
58:40
And it's this beautiful park. You can see the lake and there
58:43
were probably 100 kids. They're taking pictures before
58:45
the dance. And this one kid pulled into the
58:48
park and he was in, I think it was a GT.
58:51
It was a GT350, not an R, but still fantastic.
58:55
And I was like, man, if you were cruising to prom in that car,
58:58
you are just loving life. Yeah, But yeah.
59:02
He's in for a good no. Yeah, not a not a current car,
59:05
but that's the one that just like man, I missed that car.
59:09
I've, I've thought about getting a Mustang just because I feel
59:12
like it's, it's one of those like stable cars that you kind
59:16
of, you kind of have to have. I had a Mustang at one point,
59:20
you know. You have to check the box and
59:22
then sometimes they're so good that you're like, I checked that
59:26
box and at some point I will be rechecking the box because
59:28
they're so good. Yeah, I honestly like, I would
59:31
love a bullet Mustang. I've been really good.
59:33
I like like a bullet just green, subtle.
59:37
Wheels that's, you know, that's. Why is it such a?
59:41
And if you know, you know, because they're very, like you
59:44
said, they're under the radar unless you know what it is.
59:46
And then it's exciting. Like I got to drive the, it was
59:51
the early 90s when they first brought the bullet package back.
59:54
I got to drive one of the press cars and I was like, this is so
59:57
much fun. Yeah.
59:59
Man, I I thought they were just so great.
1:00:01
You know, the new Dark Horse is really awesome too.
1:00:04
It's great. I have heard good things.
1:00:06
Yeah, yeah, I, I we're almost at an hour and you've got a hard
1:00:10
stop. We got 2 of our controversial
1:00:14
topics. I had five or six here.
1:00:17
That's okay, that's okay. We had a great conversation and
1:00:21
you know, I, you know, you talked about growing up on this
1:00:25
ranch driving, you know, your grandma's Mustang.
1:00:27
I, I think in and look how you turned out.
1:00:29
I learned how to drive a manual. Lindsey, you too.
1:00:32
I think we all turned out okay. I think the secret to to a good
1:00:35
kid is is teaching them to drive a stick young.
1:00:37
Yeah. And you know, and they'll.
1:00:40
Something about that emotional damage from your parent yelling
1:00:43
at you, burning up the clips. What are you doing?
1:00:45
If that doesn't work, beat the shit out of them.
1:00:47
I was going to say like, so there's three, there's three
1:00:49
tenants to raise a well-rounded, well adjusted child who thinks
1:00:54
critically is learn how to drive a manual when they're young,
1:00:58
possible corporal punishment and some public training just thrown
1:01:00
in for the treasure. You're absolutely right.
1:01:03
Because when I was learning to drive a stick, there was one
1:01:05
time I stalled it four times at a right turn.
1:01:08
And I remember just the the anxiety of, you know, ramp
1:01:12
ramping up and there's a car behind me.
1:01:13
And eventually they're honking and my dad's going like, you got
1:01:16
this, just do this and me trying and it not working.
1:01:20
And then you're building on like, well, I blew it the first
1:01:22
time and then you're agitated. Yeah.
1:01:25
The formative experience of that, you know, you build on it,
1:01:30
right? We all went through that.
1:01:32
Yeah, it's makes a man or makes a woman out of you 100%.
1:01:38
If you wrap this up, this is a good show.
1:01:41
This is fun. Yeah, well, yeah.
1:01:43
This is great. We'll get some more questions.
1:01:46
We'll talk. Two, well, I'm sorry, three and
1:01:49
four on the next controversial. We'll just keep, we'll just keep
1:01:53
a running list of controversial topics.
1:01:54
We'll be like, is it time to rile things up again?
1:01:56
We need to have Steve come back. These are timeless, Lindsay,
1:01:59
don't worry. I'm.
1:02:01
Like we're going to stay up. We'll do.
1:02:04
We got to come back. You got to come back.
1:02:05
I'm down. You got to know when and we'll
1:02:07
be. Back.
1:02:08
Excellent. It's fun.
1:02:09
Well, thank you for joining us, Steve, and thank you to our
1:02:12
audience for joining us this week on that car show.
1:02:14
We appreciate everyone being here and sharing the show with
1:02:17
your enthusiast friends. Please consider liking,
1:02:20
subscribing and of course leaving a five star rating.
1:02:22
We will always be grateful for that.
1:02:24
Remember to always be driving and we'll see you back here next
1:02:27
week. Awesome guys.