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SEMA’s Melanie White Runs the Show · That Car Show

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  The show is what we do one week out of the year, right?
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  The other 360 days out of the year, Seema is advocating for
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  us. Today on that car show, we've
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  got Melanie White. Melanie's the 4th generation
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  leader of Hellwig Products, a legacy California company known
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  for designing and manufacturing high quality American made
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  suspension components. But she's also the chair of
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  SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association.
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  You know, SEMA and the giant SEMA show that takes place each
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  year in Vegas. What does it take to run a
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  thriving manufacturing business in 2026?
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  And what goes into pulling off one of the largest automotive
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  events on the planet? We also dive into the challenges
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  facing the aftermarket, the whole EV thing, and Sema's
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  advocacy on behalf of enthusiasts like us.
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  It's Melanie White and it's that car show.
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  Hey, it's that car show and we've got Melanie Helwig White
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  with us today. Melanie is the 4th generation
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  leader of Helwig Products, a legacy California company best
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  known for designing and manufacturing vehicle suspension
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  and load control components for cars, trucks, SU VS and off road
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  vehicles. Hubwig is a major player in the
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  space, but Melanie's also the chair of SEMA, the Specialty
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  Equipment Market Association, whose annual SEMA show draws
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  something like 100,000 people from all over the world to Las
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  Vegas to check out the latest automotive performance products
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  and trends. It's a very big deal and so is
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  Melanie. And I'm here with Michael and
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  Lindsay today as well. Good afternoon.
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  Have Melanie join us on that car show.
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  Thank you, Melanie. I'm so excited to be here.
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  Thank you. Yeah, we're glad to have you.
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  And, and, and so you literally grew up in the automotive
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  industry. So tell us about your family
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  business, Hellwig Products, and what it was like being so
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  immersed in this world. Literally from from day one I
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  guess. Yeah, so I have been, you know,
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  my dad always what I knew about the company is my dad always
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  Drew drove a really cool truck. So I was like, I'm in.
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  I like that. But you know, we kept the family
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  business pretty separate from our family life.
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  He would come at night and sometimes, like work on projects
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  around here and my sisters and I would like have fun with the
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  phones and pretending to drive forklifts and things like that.
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  But really my introduction to the company was my dad and his
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  vehicles. And, you know, he did this thing
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  called bat turns where he would just like turn really quickly
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  and it was the vehicle handled so well.
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  So that like, that was my first experience with like how well a
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  vehicle with like really good suspension handled.
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  And he always had sway bars on his vehicles.
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  So yeah. So that was my that was my early
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  introduction. But there was never this like
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  come work for the family business.
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  There wasn't, you know, the encouragement in that way.
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  It was always, you know, find your own path.
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  And then my path did lead here. I love that.
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  I love the idea that he's demonstrating the like skill and
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  the quality of the products with very formative experiences and
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  something that you remember so fondly.
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  That's so cute. It's the best cure for for
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  motion sickness, really. Stardom younger, yeah, I don't
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  know. I I got motion sickness all the
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  time when I was young, but now I'm understand like you need to
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  have the really good suspension on your vehicles to be able to
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  prevent that. Oh yeah, absolutely.
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  Now the company's been around for four generations.
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  Has the product line always been kind of similar or what did the
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  company start producing? From the beginning.
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  So we just we're turning 80 this year.
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  So yeah, in 1946 started as a corporation but had the idea
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  earlier and 44, but we were in we couldn't get steel.
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  You know, all of our goods were going to the war efforts and not
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  making products. So in 46 they could get steel
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  and they started manufacturing at night in a garage after
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  hours. So my great grandfather had a
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  full time job and my grandpa was a senior in high school.
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  So they would manufacturer and they would sell door to door on
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  the weekend. So my great grandfather would go
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  knock on the door. It was really obvious if you
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  needed Hellway because we started with helper springs and
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  a vehicle. If it has too much weight in the
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  back sags and so it was really obvious, they'd go up to the
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  door and say, hey, I can fix that problem.
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  And they would install my grandpa, you know, being a
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  senior in high school, would install the product, lay on his
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  back in their driveway and install it all for $7.00.
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  And I think about that and I think, well, I don't even think
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  I get to buy anything for $7.00. More like, as you know, as an
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  organization. Let alone with installation
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  included. Yeah, exactly.
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  And delivery like it shows up and you don't even know.
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  That was the original free shipping.
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  Yeah, exactly. So that's how how it got
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  started. So I, when my grandpa used to
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  come into the to Hellwig, you know, years ago when he was
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  still alive, he would, you know, want to know where different
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  pallets were going because that's where he started was at
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  this very small level. And then we'd get really
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  excited. Oh, that's going, you know,
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  across the country. Oh, this one's going, you know,
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  internationally sometimes. So he was always like really in
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  awe of that. But I think that's because
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  that's where he started, was in that door to door make
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  manufacturing in a garage. That is wild.
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  I love the name too. The Helper Spring.
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  Yeah, it's so evocative and it's very British because it's quite
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  literally what it does, which I love.
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  I. Know, Yeah, I love that too.
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  Yeah. So can you describe for the
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  people that don't know, can you describe what that is and like
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  how it works a little bit? Yeah, for sure.
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  So, but definitely in the 40s, most vehicles came with a a leaf
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  spring on the vehicle. So and a a vehicle with a leaf
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  spring is potentially you know, most of the O ES they
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  manufacture to I would say the middle right.
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  We're kind of on this fringe. We always like to play in that.
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  And so if you're really going to test your vehicle and you know,
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  put extra weight, different things like that.
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  And back in the 40s, they would have passenger cars were
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  everything. You know, now we have trucks and
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  we have all of these different like vehicles that are more
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  specific. But back in the 40s there were
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  passenger cars and they had leaf springs on them and the helper
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  spring sits on top of the leaf spring and adds that extra
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  support. So and then we have now I was
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  starting to explain what we have now, but we progressive rated
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  springs now. So the the helper spring sits on
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  top of this spring and they don't touch at the end until
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  wait comes on. And so then they slowly touch
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  and it becomes like a progressive rate as you load the
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  vehicle. So you're not, you're not like
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  stuck with all of that extra spring rate right away.
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  So, but most vehicles now, most passenger cars, they all have
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  coil springs, even some of the trucks have coil springs.
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  So our helper springs fit with all of the in the leaf spring
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  applications. We have something for all of
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  that. But really where Hellwick has
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  grown is in the sway bar market. So we launched in the 60s sway
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  bars into our lineup. So something that's unique about
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  Hellwick gets we're heat treated and hot formed.
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  So we have big old furnaces 2000° it's it gets hot here in
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  the summer and then you sit in front of a furnace too.
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  So that's real fun. It's like your own sauna at
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  work. It definitely is, yeah.
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  So this time of year I love to hang out with the hot forming
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  guys cuz it's cold here. Yeah.
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  But in the summer I'm like it's fine.
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  I have the toughest guys that work for me.
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  Yeah, they are so tough and but we have 2000° furnaces.
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  So we're heat treated and hot formed, which we bend the metal
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  when it's red hot and then we put it into an oil bath and then
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  it cools slowly and then it goes into a draw furnace from there.
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  So we have those capabilities here.
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  And then we had those in the 60s.
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  And so that's why we brought Swee bars into our lineup
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  because it fit into what we were doing.
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  So we heat and hot farm are sway bars, which not very many people
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  do in the market. We're really the only one that
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  does that exact manufacturing. So it means that we get business
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  from different OE's. We get to make sway bars for
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  these, They're fire trucks, but they're airport fire trucks and
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  it has like 3 sway bars on it and they're massive.
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  They're like 3 inch sway bars because it's all about water,
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  water's so heavy and then they like move quickly.
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  So, so we, we make all kinds of different sway bars.
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  We have our aftermarket side, our OE side of the business and
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  then we also private label. Is that Oshkosh by chance?
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  It is. You work with?
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  OK, sure. Yeah, I'm a Wisconsin guy
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  originally, so I know Oshkosh. Yeah, so super cool.
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  In Pierce so. Yeah.
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  Oh yeah. In Appleton, yeah, absolutely.
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  That's awesome. Yeah.
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  So my. Secret is, before I was a car
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  guy, I was when I was a kid was really into fire.
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  Engines. Oh my God, probably.
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  Know more about? Those fire engines were your
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  gateway vehicle. That was my yeah.
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  That was your first? Yeah, your.
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  Then you get to about 12 and cars seem to be the move, right?
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  Yeah. Sorry it's hard to pick up pick
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  up girls in a. It depends on what kind of girls
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  you're looking for, right? I guess I mean, I mean you pick
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  them up cheap at the local county auctions.
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  Maybe I've done it all wrong. Yeah, aren't Oshkosh like
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  there's a multi $1,000,000 machines, right?
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  They're just, they're crazy. They're.
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  Crazy things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  What are some of the other bigger markets for you?
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  Is it over landing anymore? Or definitely so over landing we
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  call them the overloaders, so they put all of their weight
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  outside. Everything.
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  They want to bring their whole house with them.
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  Literally. Yeah.
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  I mean, we have those vehicles too, so we live in that space.
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  But yeah, so any weight up high and we sort of we build these
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  project vehicles to show just how much weight you can put on
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  them and just what our products do.
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  So we have a Ranger that my I actually bought and my son
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  drives it now and I would never let him do it unless he it had
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  Hellwig suspension on it because it's so much weight up top.
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  It's just a lot of weight overall.
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  So yeah, they're, they're definitely overloaders and our
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  products help with that quite a bit.
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  So. That's the funniest name.
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  So can you talk about what's the advantage?
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  You mentioned the manufacturing process is unique to the Hellwig
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  products like the and forgive me, I know you said the furnaces
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  are incredibly hot, So what are the advantages of manufacturing
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  the products that way? Yeah.
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  So it's longer, it's durability. So on all of our all of our
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  steel products, we have a lifetime warranty and we can do
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  that because of our manufacturing process because it
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  it just adds to that durability. What do your competitors do?
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  I'm just curious what's their lesser way of of doing this?
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  They do a lot of cold for me, so they cold OK.
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  OK, is that forge then or how? What's that process?
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  What's cold forming? It's just.
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  So it's usually at like A2 Bender.
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  So they'll take, you know, just a bar stock and then the two the
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  the vendor. I mean, we have that too.
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  So we have both in our lineup. So if you want, sure, I can
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  provide whatever you need. Sure, but the Bender will you
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  know bend different shapes at whatever you're needing for the
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  so you are yeah and it allows a little bit more flexibility in
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  certain bends. So some of the more the ones
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  that require extra like sharp bends, we will sometimes do that
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  on the two vendor versus hot forming it.
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  And that's really on the car side of the market because the
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  the truck, the OE side there, it's very much that that heat
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  treated hot formed where like the car they're not moving as
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  much weight around. And as I if I remember my my
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  high school chemistry, like you're actually changing the
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  molecular structure as you form it like cold, it's just kind of
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  bending around versus heat treated and heat formed.
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  You're you're moving those the grains to be more parallel.
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  So it, so it, it's more linear and it doesn't have a chance to
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  cheer off and break and, and, and fatigue.
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  Like, you know, something that you just kind of bend over your
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  knee and, and, and kind of like, almost like a paper clip, right?
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  You can, you can kind of work it just enough and then it snaps
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  versus if you heat it, you can kind of shape any, make it any
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  shape you want. So there's a there's a molecular
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  change going on there too, if I remember correctly.
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  You are totally right, yeah. Michael in your in your
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  coveralls there, and you're in your garage.
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  You're like our own little Mr. Wizard.
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  I love it. Well, I mean, if you, if you
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  ever, it's a fascinating process to watch.
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  And, and I don't know, I mean, obviously proprietary stuff,
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  notwithstanding to, to demonstrate how, how much force,
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  how much pressure, how much heat, how much like, by the way,
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  just space because you may have a three foot wide bar, but you,
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  you know, the, the, the line is huge to, to it's, it's a
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  fascinating thing. It's just a mass, like, I mean,
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  you've got to have hundreds of thousands of square feet of, of
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  manufacturing space to, to, to accomplish what you do.
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  So we're right under, we're right around 80,000 square feet,
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  OK. So, yeah, yeah.
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  It's still it's still a lot, it's still a lot of space to to
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  be moving stuff around. Big heavy bar stock.
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  A lot of you know cold rolled steel, it has to be uncoiled
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  because it comes in the coils. For us, so we get just bar stock
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  in like anywhere from like it's about 20 feet.
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  I was gonna give you like, oh, this is my what I look for, but
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  it's about 20 feet that we get both flat stock and round stock
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  in and then we cut it, we coin it.
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  So that's another part of what we do in the heat treating hot
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  forming process is that we coin the ends so they're not welded
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  ONS where some some folks in the market Weld on the end.
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  So we just we like to minimize any sort of, you know, risk of I
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  have something not working properly.
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  I've broken welded on on sway bars on, on race cars.
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  So like, yeah, the coining, they, they flatten it guys.
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  They flatten it rather than it like be a separate piece that
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  welds on to the bar. So it's still part of the bar,
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  but they just squish it so that it it, you know, it can be the
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  mount versus a lot of people will just cut the end, shape it
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  and then Weld it together and that welds.
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  The only thing really the irony of the Weld is what's holding
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  the whole thing together by and large, rather than it being the
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  entire structure integrity of the bar.
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  Yeah, right. Yeah.
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  Coining is the way, obviously. Very much so.
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  We believe that If you ever look at a bar and you see a Weld
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  around it, yeah, just stay away. I mean, these are these folks
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  are big Porsche people. And so, I mean, if you go look
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  at the sway bar on your Porsche, it definitely doesn't have
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  welded ends. No, I believe it.
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  Yeah, You know. I have them on the M3 too, so
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  I'm gonna go check those as soon as we're done here.
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  Yeah. And depending on which Aftermark
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  companies you buy from, sometimes they, you know, and
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  it's, it's it's obviously cost, you know, and, and engineering,
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  but it doesn't mean they're bad. They just, you know, for someone
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  like Melody, the whole have a lifetime warranty on something,
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  not too many people can offer that because they don't have
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  they don't have faith in the product.
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  That's a lot. Not that it's a bad product,
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  it's just that you know, it just can't, can't keep up with time
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  and and abuse. Well, it's always a good sign
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  when a company is willing to lifetime warranty their own
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  products. Like it gives you a lot of
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  confidence as the buyer and the user.
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  Absolutely. Yeah, Melanie, what do you
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  attribute now? I'm going to say the
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  overloaders. What do you attribute I?
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  Know. I love that phrase.
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  I in LA especially people, I sort of diverge a bit, but you
• 16:53
  see these people that are clearly have these these rigs,
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  lot of lot of land cruisers, pathfinders, forerunners, and
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  they're spic and span right And and, and and you know, they've
• 17:05
  never gone off road with these things, but they are loaded to
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  the hill with 36 inch tires and edit as clean as could be and I
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  I mean. They want to though.
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  You can tell how badly. They want.
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  They want. But I mean, in some ways that's
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  the target market because you never have to warranty that
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  because it never goes off road. You know you're never going to
• 17:22
  get a warranty claim at least. Yeah.
• 17:24
  You are an overlander, though. I understand.
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  I mean, you actually, you know, you practice what you preach.
• 17:28
  Yeah. I do, yeah.
• 17:30
  Yeah. So we have a Ranger and our
• 17:32
  lineup, they used to have AF150 and I've used both of those in
• 17:38
  that rooftop tent scenario, which is actually way better
• 17:42
  than setting up a tent yourself. I had AI just recently did a
• 17:46
  trip with a girlfriend to Joshua Tree and we stayed in the
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  rooftop tent and it was amazing. It was one of those like dark
• 17:54
  nights where you, you. Can actually see the.
• 17:58
  Stars, yeah. So you could see the stars.
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  It was amazing. So I I definitely sounds.
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  Magical. It was amazing.
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  And it's really cool because like, I get kind of numb.
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  I'm sure you guys feel this, but I I get a little bit like, yeah,
• 18:11
  this is yeah, that's cool. Yeah.
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  And my girlfriend had never, she's very adventurous, but had
• 18:17
  never really been exposed to like that over landing kind of
• 18:21
  Camping World. And she was like, wait, you
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  just, you know, the person that makes this, you know, you know,
• 18:28
  it's cool. Yeah.
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  So it was like, Oh yeah, this is really cool.
• 18:32
  Like I, I know, I know people in this space I could call anyone
• 18:36
  if I had an issue, right? It's just kind of unique to be
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  able to play with the things that you also are in business
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  with. And just yeah, it was fun for
• 18:48
  sure. That's really cool.
• 18:49
  Well it gives you such a unique perspective then to take back to
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  work too. I'd imagine because you're
• 18:54
  living it, you know what the needs are and how to exceed your
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  customers expectations. Yeah, for sure.
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  And that was a really windy. It was a a vehicle with a
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  rooftop tent, and it was a super windy trip over the Tehachapi
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  grade. I don't know if you guys are
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  familiar. Boy, it was like, I was so
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  miserable. And I was like, I'm actually
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  fine, though. Yeah, yeah, I had the right
• 19:22
  equipment. Yeah.
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  Your confidence in what you, what's getting you there?
• 19:25
  Yeah. That's tough.
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  That's a tough drive, though. When you're fighting it the
• 19:28
  whole way, yeah, it wears you out.
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  And it is really, and it's just a windy grade in general and it
• 19:34
  was just extra windy, so. Cuz why not?
• 19:38
  You leverage those stories in your marketing materials and
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  things because I think, you know, you're pretty unique,
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  right? You have this legacy company,
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  right? Made in America, right?
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  And people that I'm sure have worked for you for decades,
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  right? Is that a big part of your
• 19:52
  message to customers? Do you you lean on that?
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  You know, we, we could do a better job of it.
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  You know, I really try hard on my, on my own personal LinkedIn
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  to share those things too, because it's just something that
• 20:07
  I, I love to talk about. So you know, that's what you
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  tend to share. I like, I love talking about my
• 20:14
  team. I really love talking about like
• 20:16
  my own personal experience. With our product as well.
• 20:20
  And then we do a little bit on our, we do a good job on our
• 20:24
  marketing too, but I think we could always do better on that
• 20:28
  kind of stuff so. You have what your competition
• 20:32
  wishes they had, right? And that's, that's pretty cool.
• 20:34
  That's it's one of the things I really like about your company.
• 20:36
  Yeah. It sounds like it sounds like
• 20:39
  your LinkedIn is like stealth organic influencing without the
• 20:42
  intent to be an influencer. I know probably not, but I
• 20:46
  really love sharing my message. So I'm, yeah, I, I try to, well,
• 20:51
  it's. It's authentic too, and that's
• 20:53
  really what resonates. It's like people know they can
• 20:55
  trust you. They know that you're actually
• 20:56
  doing it so that when you say something, it's with experience,
• 21:01
  you know, and data behind it and they can trust it.
• 21:03
  Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, that's the cool right.
• 21:06
  That's that's the main. Thing, yeah.
• 21:10
  What are some of the trends you're seeing in over landing
• 21:12
  and is there another sort of big thing around the corner maybe
• 21:15
  that's not over landing as we know it?
• 21:17
  Yeah. So what we're seeing, it's just
• 21:20
  it tends to be the vehicles that people are over landing with.
• 21:24
  You know, during COVID, there was so much where you couldn't
• 21:29
  really. What we learned in COVID was not
• 21:31
  necessarily that that, you know, we have our that we are
• 21:36
  competition with each other. It was really like we learned in
• 21:39
  COVID that our competition is like the movies going out to eat
• 21:44
  and things like that, like. How funny.
• 21:47
  What happened during COVID was like everyone wanted to go
• 21:50
  outside, however they could get there.
• 21:53
  And what I thought would be sort of like a flash in the pan with
• 21:57
  that like over landing market has really like stuck.
• 22:01
  And that's awesome to see that that's like over landing.
• 22:05
  But RV too. There was a lot of movement into
• 22:08
  the RV space, fighting trailers, campers, things like that,
• 22:12
  right? We serve that market too.
• 22:15
  So that was what what I've been really surprised by is that that
• 22:20
  trend is still continuing to happen.
• 22:23
  So yeah, so there's just there's all different platforms, people
• 22:28
  are putting things on and that kind of stuff is what we're
• 22:30
  seeing. But there's still a lot of
• 22:32
  people out there playing with their vehicles that way.
• 22:35
  So yeah, that's fun to see. So what are you seeing people
• 22:39
  over landing the most vehicle wise like now?
• 22:42
  Like where? Where has the trend gone?
• 22:44
  So a lot of the the Toyotas are are big.
• 22:49
  So like forerunners, we're seeing that Tundras Tacomas.
• 22:53
  So that that seems to be a big space.
• 22:57
  But really, yeah, it's a little like a Subaru or something like
• 23:03
  that too. Like we're not we don't take
• 23:06
  care of that market. So don't pay attention as
• 23:08
  closely to that as I do like these the ones that were we
• 23:11
  really service. Yeah.
• 23:13
  Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
• 23:17
  With your background, you're, you're an obvious choice to
• 23:20
  chair Seema. And you know, I think most
• 23:24
  people know Seema for the SEMA show, which brings in so many
• 23:28
  people from all over the world. I think 140 countries, I read
• 23:31
  somewhere, which is just such an achievement.
• 23:34
  But but Seema, the organization is, is is a lot more, isn't it?
• 23:37
  I mean, you, you, you lobby for enthusiasts like us.
• 23:39
  You do Can you? How would you describe Seema to
• 23:42
  someone who may only know Seema for the show?
• 23:44
  Yeah. So I mean, the show is what we
• 23:46
  do one week out of the year, right?
• 23:48
  So the other 360 days out of the year, you know, SEEMA is
• 23:53
  advocating really I think the, the biggest thing that Seema is
• 23:57
  doing is advocating for us. So their government affairs.
• 24:02
  And that's actually what how SIMA started in the beginning
• 24:06
  was there was all of this enforcement happening in the 60s
• 24:12
  really at like around race tracks and land usage.
• 24:15
  All of those things were happening.
• 24:17
  And so like a group of manufacturers got together.
• 24:20
  So SEMA is now the Specialty Equipment Market Association,
• 24:24
  but it used to be the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing
• 24:27
  Association. And so a bunch of manufacturers
• 24:31
  got together and they really got together to ban against, you
• 24:35
  know, this like government, all of these policies coming into
• 24:40
  play that we're going to hurt their business.
• 24:42
  And I think one of the things that I love about it and what
• 24:45
  I've seen as I've been on the board and now I'm chair of the
• 24:48
  board is that we really are going back to our grassroots of
• 24:51
  really protecting our right to modify our vehicles.
• 24:56
  And that is so cute. I mean, there's, there's so much
• 25:00
  that we want to, you know, as Americans, the love of the
• 25:05
  automobile is real and we want to be able to make it our own.
• 25:08
  And, and so that's why I really think outside of the show, that
• 25:14
  is the biggest thing that I think SEMA gifts people with.
• 25:17
  But there's so much other stuff that SEMA does.
• 25:20
  I mean, there's a SEMA garage. So as a member, I have access to
• 25:25
  vehicles before they get to the to market.
• 25:29
  So there's measuring sessions that happen.
• 25:32
  I even have the ability to get CAD drawings and things like
• 25:36
  that. So I can get ahead of designing
• 25:40
  product there. You know, they have different
• 25:44
  things where like student programs, so youth engagement,
• 25:47
  which is really important to me too.
• 25:50
  And then just that like technology aspect.
• 25:53
  So, you know, there's so many new cameras on all of our
• 25:57
  vehicles and, and you modify 1 little thing and it throws a
• 26:01
  camera off. So like Seema is really working
• 26:03
  hard on that, that aspect of like the ADAS side of the
• 26:07
  business too to make sure that members know how to, I was going
• 26:13
  to say work around, but no, no, we want to work with them.
• 26:15
  Work with integrate definitely. We mean.
• 26:18
  Collaboration. Yeah.
• 26:21
  So, yeah. So making sure that we're using
• 26:23
  these like really highly sophisticated programs on these
• 26:28
  vehicles and our products don't interfere with them.
• 26:30
  So SEMA helps companies do that as well.
• 26:34
  And then just so many other things too.
• 26:37
  I, I, I don't think SEMA gets enough credit as an organization
• 26:43
  for the reach that they, to your point that they, I don't provide
• 26:46
  it's the wrong word, but that they, they facilitate because
• 26:50
  correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are now at what, 180,000?
• 26:56
  You guys passed World of Concrete as the largest trade
• 26:59
  show in that is attended in at least America, right.
• 27:03
  So world of Concrete, which if you don't know, is, is is it it
• 27:07
  happened just a couple weeks ago.
• 27:08
  It's literally takes over. I mean it literally it takes up
• 27:12
  so much square mileage of of Las Vegas, but there's like
• 27:15
  excavators and, you know, all sorts, but it's world of
• 27:18
  concrete. It's all about building
• 27:19
  products, but it drew people in from all around the world and
• 27:22
  and and the last few years seem as surpassed as far as
• 27:25
  attendance and 180 a 190,000 this last.
• 27:28
  Year, so 160 is 60. Last year still was.
• 27:33
  Yeah, I yeah, I want to stick with your number.
• 27:36
  But no, I mean, but it would be 100.
• 27:38
  Everything else comes close to that.
• 27:40
  Yeah. I mean, think about that 160,000
• 27:42
  people descending on Las Vegas for essentially 4 days, right?
• 27:45
  Yeah. I mean, there, there are cities
• 27:47
  they're coming from cities that are smaller than how people show
• 27:50
  up. And then the the, the thing that
• 27:52
  I don't think it's an enough credit and correct me if I'm
• 27:54
  wrong, but as I understand it, that's the largest collection of
• 27:57
  small businesses in America. You stole it from I was going to
• 28:00
  say that. I'm sorry, I've had the pleasure
• 28:04
  of of being able to attend since 2019.
• 28:06
  And the business side of me always loves how the
• 28:08
  orchestration works, right? Because putting together a show
• 28:11
  of that nature and that size is equally as fascinating as the
• 28:14
  people that are there and the products that are there and, and
• 28:16
  obviously the, the reveals and the displays and whatnot, but
• 28:19
  just, the, just the mechanics of it, you know, and I would argue
• 28:24
  my big complaint and I, I, we had the lovely chance to talk to
• 28:27
  Mr. Spagnola at the LA Auto Show.
• 28:29
  But my big complaint we conveched about it was the tram
• 28:33
  couldn't keep up this year with the people that were coming in
• 28:35
  and out of. So, you know, even the city
• 28:37
  hasn't kept up with the the quality of yeah, the growth in
• 28:42
  just the quality and people wanting to be there.
• 28:44
  And that that speaks volumes to, you know, we all put up with
• 28:47
  some stuff because you want to be at the event.
• 28:49
  And that speaks volumes to what you guys have created and, and,
• 28:53
  and again, fostered with regards to small businesses, with
• 28:56
  regards to networking, with regards to the Seema job board.
• 29:00
  Yeah, Seema Garage is something that that I, I've been pushing
• 29:03
  Lindsay and Ryan and our other coast Dan to come out and see
• 29:06
  because I got a chance to see it a couple years ago.
• 29:08
  And it's fascinating that the Oes are willing to work with you
• 29:11
  in a very collaborative way. And like you said, share CAD
• 29:14
  drug share specs so that you can help supplement their products
• 29:20
  in a positive way for the customer and the end user.
• 29:23
  And it's not this competition that you're taking market share
• 29:25
  from them or taking products from them or whatever the case
• 29:28
  may be. And, and that collaboration
• 29:30
  only, you know, rising tide lifts all boats versus, you
• 29:33
  know, this, this adversarial position, not to get political,
• 29:36
  but sometimes governments and, and local municipalities take
• 29:39
  towards these, these matters. So it's just, it doesn't maybe
• 29:43
  get enough credit for bringing people together that then then
• 29:47
  just being like a, a, a spectacle, which it is in a good
• 29:51
  way, but it's it is really about the integration and the
• 29:53
  collaboration. Yeah, I that is so well said
• 29:56
  because it is this it is about the collaboration, right.
• 30:00
  So I think even in the O ES understand that a highly
• 30:04
  modified vehicle, a vehicle that can be highly modified sells
• 30:08
  better than one that can't. And so they really want to work
• 30:11
  with companies like ours. And the innovation that happens
• 30:15
  in our space too is really significant.
• 30:19
  So, so in the last year, there's been this SEMA has been really
• 30:26
  advocating for technology neutrality.
• 30:29
  So not just don't just EVs like yes, we want to have the
• 30:34
  cleanest vehicles on the road, but sometimes EVs are not that
• 30:37
  clean. It takes, you know, almost
• 30:40
  30,000 miles for an EV to get to the same, you know,
• 30:45
  environmental impact as a regular like vehicle.
• 30:50
  So it's an interesting, it's an interesting thing that's
• 30:54
  happening where, you know, there's hydrogen vehicles that
• 30:58
  are showing at the show, there's new fuel technologies that are
• 31:03
  coming out. So there's all of this
• 31:06
  innovation happening. And so we really want that like
• 31:09
  neutrality to be available so that it it sparks that
• 31:14
  innovation for, you know, cleaner vehicles.
• 31:17
  So, yeah, I just, I love that part of SEMA and that that
• 31:23
  really like that drive for innovation as well.
• 31:25
  Yeah. Well, and I love they protect
• 31:28
  the right to modify because like you said, we do love to
• 31:30
  customize our vehicles and I also feel like we need to
• 31:34
  protect or the right to modify T-shirts for everybody.
• 31:40
  I mean, what do we worry about? It's twofold, right?
• 31:42
  You have to protect the right to modify it, but you have to have
• 31:45
  the respect, the right to repair.
• 31:47
  Yeah, I mean, when you can't get so without a multi $1000 scan
• 31:51
  tool or or OE dealer level stuff, you can't even fix the
• 31:55
  small things. I mean, I'm going to speak just
• 31:57
  for myself in in not on your behalf, Melanie, but here in
• 32:00
  California, like if you show up in a check with the check engine
• 32:03
  light on to the smog and you're just trying to, you know, keep
• 32:06
  your car running, you know, and, and it's one thing to have that
• 32:09
  frustration, but if you're a local, you know, shop that you,
• 32:12
  you as a small business and you really like they can't even
• 32:15
  figure it out like that, that it becomes, it becomes a little
• 32:19
  cumbersome. And that's not what this is
• 32:21
  about. It's really about being able to
• 32:24
  be mobile, being, you know, having the freedom that, you
• 32:27
  know, whether that's over landing, whether that's, you
• 32:29
  know, racing, whether that's just taking a Sunday drive or
• 32:31
  it's just commuting. Like, not everybody's a
• 32:33
  corporation great, but they still need to commute and, and,
• 32:35
  and trying. Seema does such a good job
• 32:39
  behind the scenes that I, I think they could, my personal
• 32:42
  opinion, could, could have a louder bullhorn about helping
• 32:46
  even the average person just keep their car on the road
• 32:49
  longer so that they're not, you know, forced to, to, to get into
• 32:54
  a, a financial situation. Maybe they're not, you know,
• 32:57
  able to, because we're just, we're just making it possible to
• 33:00
  just work, you know, and make it work.
• 33:03
  And, and before, when you could just get a carburetor tune or,
• 33:06
  or, or, you know, done, whatever that was, everybody could do it
• 33:08
  and your local mechanic could do it and everybody went down the
• 33:10
  road. But now with, with proprietary
• 33:12
  software and all the, the, the, the stuff that's going on and a
• 33:16
  dash is a big thing, obviously with regards to modifying it and
• 33:19
  headlight levels and all the things just it's, I understand
• 33:23
  because correct me, what is it 27 or 28 automatic braking comes
• 33:27
  in. I think it's 28, but yeah, but
• 33:31
  soon. Right, so a new car is going to
• 33:33
  have automatic brake. Yeah, we enforce to right.
• 33:36
  So most of us do on most of the vehicles, but they'll be forced
• 33:40
  to very soon. And I remember so how we went
• 33:44
  through when they had the FM V SS126 with the electronic
• 33:51
  stability control on it, we did some testing to make sure our
• 33:55
  products didn't interfere. We knew they wouldn't, but the,
• 33:59
  but we wanted to make sure cuz there was like so much, you
• 34:03
  know, there was a lot of scare tactics around that out there.
• 34:07
  And so we just, you know, we went through testing, we could
• 34:10
  prove that, you know, we have no interference with the, the
• 34:14
  product, but we did that all through SEMA.
• 34:17
  So I think that's that, you know, it doesn't have to be
• 34:22
  scary, but you kind of need a partner to help you navigate and
• 34:26
  Sema's doing a lot of work on what vehicles are the easiest to
• 34:31
  are the the best to modify, you know, with lift kits and things
• 34:36
  like that. So there's just a lot of stuff
• 34:39
  that's happening on that end. And you were speaking, Michael,
• 34:43
  about the, you know, the right to repair.
• 34:46
  I was in DC not a couple years ago.
• 34:52
  And one of the she's a congresswoman.
• 34:56
  Her and her husband owned a small business and a repair
• 35:02
  shop. And the scary thing is, and like
• 35:05
  she talks about this is, you know, a bulb goes out in your
• 35:10
  light, you have to replace the whole light fixture.
• 35:14
  And that's $1000 when it's like a $2.00 bulb.
• 35:19
  That's really insanity. And, and she's like, we have to
• 35:23
  protect, you know, everyone. And she's like, I have a lady in
• 35:27
  my waiting room crying because she can't pay $1000 for this
• 35:31
  when it really should be only $2.00.
• 35:34
  So it's those kinds of conversations that we need to be
• 35:37
  having because you know, I don't know if I'm thinking about that
• 35:41
  most of the time, right? But but what is?
• 35:44
  We need an organization to be thinking about that.
• 35:48
  We know that Sima is so we can relax.
• 35:50
  Yeah, in our daily. Lives well no, I mean I mean we
• 35:54
  need companies like Hellwig and here's why in my last soapbox
• 35:58
  moment is that is that you know you have these situations where
• 36:01
  I'm going to dispel the myth right now there's No 10 year
• 36:04
  federal rule that car companies have to support their products
• 36:07
  for 10 years, IE with with repair parts.
• 36:10
  That's that's that's been like a myth for decades that people
• 36:13
  propagate and the internet's propagated car companies don't
• 36:16
  have them that federal mandate to like repair parts.
• 36:20
  They can stop making repair parts for last year's model
• 36:22
  tomorrow if they wanted to. And what you have is you that's
• 36:24
  where you have companies like Helwig.
• 36:26
  That's where you have companies that are part of SEMA.
• 36:28
  They're providing the parts that keep your car on the you know
• 36:32
  keep people's cars on the road because the O ES and I get it
• 36:34
  they're in it. They're in selling in the
• 36:36
  selling new car business. But once that old stock is gone
• 36:38
  they're it's gone. They're not going to retool it.
• 36:40
  They're not going to remake it. Maybe the manufacturer went out
• 36:42
  of business. God only knows what's happening.
• 36:44
  But keeping this stuff on the road has like seam has done a
• 36:48
  great job of rallying the smaller companies to keep this
• 36:51
  stuff I mean yes. It's cool to have the innovation
• 36:53
  it's great to have those forward thinkers but even just the
• 36:55
  practical stuff we still need so desperately because the O ES
• 37:00
  right wrong or otherwise. Don't or can't support it.
• 37:03
  And, and, and yes, there's the high end of the market and in
• 37:06
  the Porsche Ferraris and the, you know, they, they do that
• 37:08
  very well and they do the refurbishing.
• 37:10
  But GM or Ford or some of the other, and I'm not calling about
• 37:13
  specifically, I'm just saying like you don't have that level
• 37:16
  of sport because they just can't, they just have too many
• 37:18
  vehicles. I mean, it's just the legit.
• 37:19
  And that's where the aftermarket and more importantly the small
• 37:22
  business owner comes in and fills that gap and and you guys
• 37:25
  support keeping these cars on the road.
• 37:27
  And it's not yes, it's the modifying is fun, but it's also
• 37:29
  just a practical side too. And I think that gets lost in
• 37:32
  the message sometimes. Yeah.
• 37:35
  You should hire this guy I know. No, I, I, I, I, I love this,
• 37:41
  this group of people to me personally has meant a lot, but
• 37:45
  also it, it, it does a lot. And I, I, I think too many times
• 37:48
  we, you know, either it's the excess of, you know, the YouTube
• 37:52
  stuff or, or, or the cost of some of these things.
• 37:55
  You know, I appreciate that, that, that they, it's easy to
• 37:57
  categorize people, but really like these are innovators.
• 38:00
  These are, these are forward thinkers.
• 38:01
  These are people solving a problem that in many cases most
• 38:04
  of people don't know, realize they have or they're going to
• 38:07
  have more importantly, and I think that's where, you know,
• 38:11
  we, we, we as a community and as a as an industry, don't do a
• 38:15
  good enough job of saying we're just not here to like RIP
• 38:17
  through your town and do St. takeovers, which some people do.
• 38:20
  Unfortunately, it's that we're here too.
• 38:23
  Well, I mean, you know my age with this Gray hair.
• 38:26
  What do you think I do everyday? But no, I just seem as a great
• 38:31
  organization and they've been around a long time, but more
• 38:33
  importantly, they've done a lot of great works and and the
• 38:36
  show's fun and it's flashy and it's cool and it's like great
• 38:40
  for social media. But but to your point, the other
• 38:42
  360 days of the year, what you guys accomplished and what more
• 38:46
  importantly you managed to wade through with regards to the
• 38:50
  complexities of, of not just federal, but but even state and
• 38:54
  local bureaucracy is impressive. And I, I think that cannot be
• 38:58
  understated or, excuse me, overstated.
• 39:00
  Yeah. Thank you.
• 39:01
  And. I, you know, I, I think a lot of
• 39:04
  this is evidenced by the fact that you are seeing OEMs
• 39:07
  actually have with, with, with, with say that again, Sir, you're
• 39:12
  seeing OEMs offer aftermarket parts from new, which is really,
• 39:18
  really neat. Right, right.
• 39:19
  Yes. Do you see more of that in the
• 39:21
  future? Yeah, I mean, they definitely
• 39:24
  they're, they're now competing with us, right?
• 39:26
  With that, what is the right form of flattery is when someone
• 39:30
  copies right? There's a imitation.
• 39:34
  Yeah, it's imitation, but I think one of the cool things is
• 39:37
  when you look at those products that they're offering as an
• 39:40
  aftermarket, a lot of those are private label, they're made by
• 39:43
  companies like right. So you go to Target and by the,
• 39:47
  you know, the paper towels off the shelf, it's not Target
• 39:50
  doesn't make it. It's someone else makes paper
• 39:52
  towels all the time. It's the same even in that world
• 39:55
  is that a lot of times there's that opportunity for aftermarket
• 39:59
  to serve in that space and someone else's brand goes on it,
• 40:04
  which I'm always like, just let me make it.
• 40:07
  I'm happy if my, you know, if I get to make it because that's
• 40:12
  where we really thrive is in that.
• 40:15
  In manufacturing. Can we get back to the, the
• 40:18
  Seema show? Because when I look at a show
• 40:21
  that size, I have a, a tough time wrapping my head around
• 40:24
  just even attending, much less running the thing.
• 40:28
  What is that like that level of responsibility?
• 40:31
  And, and I guess I'll wrap into this, the fact that Seema, which
• 40:35
  was traditionally, historically a trade show, is, is, has now
• 40:40
  become open to the public in a way that it used to not be,
• 40:43
  right. What were you part of that
• 40:45
  decision making? I guess A and and then B, You
• 40:47
  know what? What does it take just to put on
• 40:49
  a show that's the the biggest show in town, to Michael's
• 40:52
  point. Yeah, so the biggest show in
• 40:54
  town, luckily we have someone really talented.
• 40:57
  Tom Catuso is like the most talented person in the show
• 41:01
  world. I feel like he just does an
• 41:04
  amazing job making sure that everything happens the way that
• 41:09
  it should. And he has an amazing team with
• 41:11
  him as well. So Seema really has an team that
• 41:15
  executes that show. And then a few years ago, Seema
• 41:20
  did decide to open the board, did decide to open up Friday to
• 41:26
  the public. So it used to be a trade only
• 41:29
  you'd have to, you know, sometimes you're like, you have
• 41:33
  a buddy that got you in, right? Who would know?
• 41:36
  But but now Friday is open to consumers, which is awesome
• 41:43
  because there's it really, it does two things, right.
• 41:47
  It gives consumers a legit way to get into the show and then it
• 41:52
  kind of protects that, that B to B that business to business
• 41:56
  relationship the rest of the week as well.
• 41:58
  So it's it's kind of fun. And then Friday is this like
• 42:01
  really fun experience. There's the Sema cruise that
• 42:04
  happens. So all, I mean, the coolest
• 42:09
  vehicles that you can find anywhere are at the SEMA show
• 42:12
  and it happened organically years ago where you know, all
• 42:18
  the vehicles leaving the show, like just random people from Las
• 42:23
  Vegas would just like set up their chairs and watch the
• 42:26
  vehicles leaving the show. And so then seema decided like
• 42:31
  we need to make this more official.
• 42:33
  So they, they started the SEMA Cruise, which is all the
• 42:37
  vehicles that are leaving the show.
• 42:38
  So like all the vehicles that are in the show, they end up in
• 42:41
  like the SEMA cruise at some point.
• 42:45
  And then so the Seema Cruise as well as Seema Fest.
• 42:48
  So there's a concert that also happens on Friday night, which
• 42:53
  sort of gets to be that like, you know, cherry on top for
• 42:57
  anyone that's in that consumer world as well.
• 43:00
  And that we I think that's what year was our third year for the
• 43:04
  the Seema fest to happen as well.
• 43:07
  So it's just this like world where like music and cars, like
• 43:11
  anything that you're sort of like, you know, your passions.
• 43:14
  It's all comes together that one day, but I mean, this is a year
• 43:19
  round event to plan to make it happen, to get all of the square
• 43:26
  footage used in. We use all of the square footage
• 43:30
  in the Las Vegas Convention Center.
• 43:33
  And then this last year we were even in the the Westgate had
• 43:38
  booths over there. So there's booths outside
• 43:42
  because we can't fit them all inside.
• 43:43
  So yeah, there's just, there's stuff happening everywhere
• 43:47
  there. And I love the activations that
• 43:50
  are happening outside. I don't get to experience them
• 43:53
  very often, but this last year I got you right in a couple
• 43:59
  different vehicles in the Optima area where they were out there
• 44:05
  doing Donuts and I got to be in one, yeah.
• 44:10
  Which one did you get to be in? I got to be in a a trophy truck.
• 44:15
  It was at the end of the day and it it was pretty hot.
• 44:20
  And they're like, hey, when you're going this, you're going
• 44:23
  to need to wear, you know, a a full on like hot suit, like,
• 44:28
  yeah. And I'm and they're like, but
• 44:30
  it's no big deal. And I was like, is it not a big?
• 44:34
  Deal Famous last word. Sure, Jan.
• 44:36
  OK. I've never done the like, I've
• 44:38
  never had to wear one before. I've got to do this experience
• 44:40
  before. Well, we go out and all of a
• 44:43
  sudden like something happens. He blows like a a head gasket
• 44:47
  and it like like smoke steam, like is entering the cab, right.
• 44:52
  And we're doing this for social media like oh, like, you know,
• 44:57
  look at what happens at SEMA and I I didn't buckle myself in, so
• 45:02
  I didn't know how to get myself out.
• 45:05
  I've had a helmet fun and I can't really right, You know, I
• 45:09
  know I could take off the helmet, but I guess I started.
• 45:12
  So we pulled, we pulled off after drifting and you know,
• 45:18
  there's just more and more. You can't see anything.
• 45:21
  And at some point someone said, you know, if you just need to
• 45:24
  fall out, like someone came and unbuckled me and then said, if
• 45:28
  you just need to fall out, I'll catch you.
• 45:29
  And I was like, I must have been really freaking out.
• 45:32
  I thought it's for people. We didn't use that on social
• 45:35
  media. It might have been probably
• 45:37
  entertaining, but I haven't I'm. Shocked.
• 45:40
  I can't imagine that you were like.
• 45:43
  Thank you for that exclusive. But I mean, yeah, no, I mean,
• 45:46
  yeah, but it is there. You're there for the experience
• 45:49
  that definitely is experienced for the ages, yeah.
• 45:52
  I mean, look at the story that you got.
• 45:55
  I know I'd be okay if I didn't have that again though.
• 45:58
  Yeah, that sounds. That's a pretty intense.
• 46:00
  Luckily you had done it before. I mean, if that was your first
• 46:03
  time, you'd be like, and I'm good.
• 46:04
  Yeah, all set. Yeah.
• 46:06
  I mean, it's so fun what they do too.
• 46:08
  So we got a couple. We at least got like 3 terms in
• 46:12
  and then it was like something happened, yeah.
• 46:16
  Like I have products for that. Yeah.
• 46:18
  Well, so how do you describe for people that haven't been to
• 46:21
  SEMA? And I love that you obviously
• 46:23
  come to it from a very different perspective, like how do you
• 46:25
  describe the event? And I obviously that's not all
• 46:29
  that you do. And I think people do forget
• 46:31
  that it's you guys are working behind the scenes the whole
• 46:34
  year. Yeah, but how do you describe
• 46:36
  the show? Like how do you sum it up to
• 46:38
  somebody that hasn't experienced it?
• 46:39
  I mean, it's like, you know, I hear people say it's the world's
• 46:42
  greatest car show. I mean, it really it is where
• 46:47
  all of, like the best vehicles come out to play, for sure.
• 46:53
  Yeah. I mean, it's really hard to
• 46:55
  describe because there's just. Right.
• 46:57
  It's any niche that you're into it, there's something there for
• 47:01
  you. So if you're, you know, into
• 47:05
  like restoration cars, like they're there.
• 47:08
  If you're into sport compact, they're there.
• 47:12
  It's just anything that you're into, like you can find it
• 47:15
  there. And I think the fun thing is, is
• 47:17
  that it's not just that one niche.
• 47:19
  It's you get to see all of the other niches and like what
• 47:23
  they're doing. And I, I think that's kind of
• 47:26
  like fun the way that they all like, come together.
• 47:30
  Yeah, when I went the first time I walked into a building and it
• 47:34
  was nothing but like auto body stuff as far as the eye could
• 47:36
  see, which is amazing. But I just don't speak the
• 47:39
  language, you know. But that's, I mean you, you'll
• 47:42
  you'll just, you see so much of everything.
• 47:43
  It's it's so inclusive. It's it's just to your point, I
• 47:46
  think there's something for everyone and then some.
• 47:48
  It's just there's nothing like it globally.
• 47:50
  I don't think there's anything really that that compares to the
• 47:52
  cinema show. And it's pretty, it's pretty
• 47:54
  cool. Related what, what automotive
• 47:59
  trends do you see starting to manifest, right?
• 48:02
  And conversely, I'm sure you've seen some things fade away too.
• 48:05
  Like what? What's What do you see more and
• 48:06
  more of? Yeah.
• 48:08
  So I, I mean, there's one of the things that I think is just sort
• 48:11
  of interesting right now that's happening is like there's in the
• 48:16
  we're talking about the restoration market, like the
• 48:20
  Japanese, the JDM vehicles, they're becoming a part of the
• 48:26
  restoration community. So there's those sort of
• 48:30
  interesting underlying trends that are happening in that
• 48:33
  space. I think that's really cool.
• 48:38
  The over landing has been one that just keeps climbing and
• 48:42
  growing and more opportunities in that space.
• 48:45
  And in that one of the trends that we're seeing just in
• 48:49
  general is like the market for trucking off road is growing
• 48:53
  significantly and you know, there's all performance is
• 48:58
  always going to be cool. You know, I have a 16 year old
• 49:01
  and he's like we have to have a vehicle that Revs and he's very
• 49:06
  interested in that. So right, like all the
• 49:08
  performance modifications are in that space as well.
• 49:12
  But the the trends that we're seeing really that that are
• 49:15
  really growing as in the truck and off road world.
• 49:18
  Interesting. Well, it sounds like you raised
• 49:20
  him really well. Shifting gears.
• 49:25
  Yeah. So that's so Tell us.
• 49:28
  Real quickly I had, we all had the opportunity to enjoy your
• 49:32
  own podcast and what that's been like, not only as a company
• 49:37
  leader, but obviously, you know, the seam of stuff, but also, you
• 49:40
  know, you're having to spotlight, you know, your guest
• 49:44
  and, and talk us through Hitchin and hauling and kind of what the
• 49:47
  genesis of it was and, and where you see it going because it it
• 49:50
  dovetails back into Ryan's. But real quickly about, you
• 49:53
  know, all the good works that your company has done over the
• 49:55
  past, you know, 80 years and, and what it has for the future.
• 49:59
  And I think it's a great, a great example of that.
• 50:01
  Yeah, so I just, I just sunsetted it.
• 50:06
  So, so what's there is there. I just took a break, I should
• 50:10
  say, for a. Fair enough.
• 50:13
  Of the Hitchin Holland, but I love, I mean, one of the things
• 50:16
  I I love about this industry is the connection and the community
• 50:21
  is so passionate. People love what they're doing.
• 50:24
  And so it's so fun to talk to people about that.
• 50:27
  And one of the things that we really did on the Hitchin
• 50:30
  Holland podcast was get curious about people.
• 50:32
  And that was I loved that. That was so fun to like just ask
• 50:37
  people questions. People I knew well too, you
• 50:39
  know, walking through like their own stories.
• 50:43
  I've learned more and I just, I love that part of like what we
• 50:47
  do in the industry in general and that was really fun part for
• 50:51
  me. I think it really highlights how
• 50:53
  much people collaborate in this industry versus being combative.
• 50:58
  Yeah, you know, this is not, not to denigrate in other
• 51:01
  industries, but like, you know, you're not, you're not in
• 51:03
  constant competition. Sometimes your competitor is
• 51:05
  your friend and many times it is and, and, and, and you're
• 51:09
  helping. So even if you have similar
• 51:11
  products or live in similar spaces, you're helping each
• 51:13
  other solve similar problems. And I, I don't think that gets
• 51:17
  highlighted enough versus a lot of other ways they think of
• 51:20
  capitalism and everybody's always fighting against one
• 51:23
  another, even if you, you know, live in similar spaces.
• 51:25
  And so, you know, I, it was, it was fun to listen in a I
• 51:29
  appreciate why you needed to sunset it, but it was fun to
• 51:32
  listen. You bring people in that, that
• 51:34
  maybe we're collaborative and, and not competitive, but but but
• 51:39
  complimentary and they, you know, they share their story
• 51:42
  and, and it goes back to the core.
• 51:44
  Maybe why we're all in this podcast together.
• 51:45
  Like there's still a core that we all share or at least want to
• 51:50
  foster. And that's great that, you know,
• 51:52
  your son's getting a part of that and your family's getting a
• 51:54
  part of that in your adventures. And like, that's really what
• 51:56
  we're here for. That's what this got podcast is
• 51:58
  about. That's why we're all you're
• 51:59
  talking. And ultimately, this is a
• 52:01
  connectivity. This is not a separation.
• 52:04
  And even if you do the same thing in the same space doesn't
• 52:07
  mean you have to be at each other's throats.
• 52:08
  And I think your podcast demonstrated that.
• 52:11
  Thank you. I appreciate that.
• 52:14
  Outcasts are a lot of work too, though, aren't you?
• 52:17
  Maybe that's what you're going to get get that Lindsay, but
• 52:19
  right. I don't think people realize you
• 52:21
  know what what goes No, the scheduling right, like the you
• 52:24
  know, it's it's a. Lot.
• 52:25
  Yeah, unless. You've done it.
• 52:27
  Yeah, the four of us to get us all on this time, right.
• 52:31
  It's hard to, I know that. So that that takes some effort.
• 52:35
  And then, you know, there's editing that has to sometimes
• 52:39
  happen and not even it's really like that much editing.
• 52:44
  It's like like putting bumpers and things like that.
• 52:46
  It's just work. That's it.
• 52:48
  It's all the posts, you know. Yeah, I know.
• 52:50
  I always, I always say that I'm not busy until I try to plan
• 52:52
  something. And then you're trying to do
• 52:54
  that with four people and it's, you know, it takes a lot.
• 52:57
  Yeah. One of the things I was going to
• 52:59
  ask you, and it's something I always notice when people are
• 53:03
  posting all the pictures from the SEMA show, is the trucks
• 53:06
  like they're just so spectacular and unique.
• 53:09
  And you mentioned you are an overlander yourself.
• 53:13
  I still, I'm like, I love overloader.
• 53:16
  You can't call someone an overloader.
• 53:18
  Yeah, don't see that in the wrong company.
• 53:19
  No, I know. But So what is your favorite, I
• 53:26
  guess over the course of your automotive life, which has been
• 53:30
  a lot like most of your life, what's been either your favorite
• 53:34
  truck to overland in, your favorite truck just to drive or
• 53:38
  like what's your favorite truck that you've seen at SEMA?
• 53:42
  So I just traded in my Raptor. I had 150,000 miles on my Raptor
• 53:48
  and I didn't overland in it. I didn't, so I my family and
• 53:53
  that's. Very fun, I love that.
• 53:55
  My gosh, it was so fun. So but I had a 250,000 miles on
• 54:00
  it and she's a little tired so but we have always had Fords in
• 54:05
  our lineup. So I did trade, I traded her in
• 54:10
  for a diesel Silverado. So I'm now driving AZR 2 diesel
• 54:16
  Silverado which is it's a lovely vehicle but it's just not a
• 54:21
  Raptor so it I feel. Like, no it's not.
• 54:23
  I see that. Yeah, you.
• 54:25
  You're speaking to Lindsay. You're speaking Lindsay's
• 54:27
  language here. Yeah, so my.
• 54:29
  Daily is an F-150, so yeah. Yeah, So I see Raptors on the
• 54:34
  road and I feel like it's like that, like the love that got
• 54:37
  away. Like I just like I'm Yeah.
• 54:43
  You're you're fighting for the old, the old high school flame a
• 54:46
  little bit, yeah. A little bit, yeah.
• 54:48
  So I'll, I'll own one again. But every time I say that I have
• 54:52
  to like, you know, pack my truck and say.
• 54:54
  But I still love you. You're awesome.
• 54:56
  Yeah. You're just as good in different
• 54:59
  ways. Right for now.
• 55:00
  Right. Yeah.
• 55:02
  So only only a mother could say that is like, you know, we love
• 55:06
  you equally, just different. Just different.
• 55:09
  Just different. Yeah, so, Melanie, I have to
• 55:11
  ask. So our own Michael Isasa here
• 55:13
  loves himself a good North Star powered Cadillac.
• 55:16
  I know for a fact I myself have a weakness for the occasional
• 55:19
  Buick Riata. Lindsay can spot a PT Cruiser
• 55:22
  from a mile away. So, Seema chair Melanie White,
• 55:25
  what is your automotive guilty pleasure?
• 55:27
  Oh, I mean I just talked about my Raptor is my.
• 55:31
  That's it. OK, Well, that's.
• 55:32
  That's but it should be a little.
• 55:34
  Bit. Interesting or.
• 55:35
  Something we need to ask a question, was it?
• 55:36
  Was it? Between Turbo or is it the BA
• 55:39
  like that's that's that because because it is fair to say in the
• 55:43
  rapper community, there's the VA people and there's the V6
• 55:46
  people. And so that there there's a
• 55:48
  division even within that subset, yeah.
• 55:51
  Yeah, I have the V6, which I loved and I, yeah, I'll, I'll,
• 55:56
  we'll see what I get into next. But for my first vehicle though,
• 56:02
  so I had a we called it the brown bomb, but it was a beauty
• 56:07
  classic. Oh my gosh.
• 56:09
  The square. The square 80s.
• 56:12
  Was it? Did you have the sedan or the
• 56:13
  station wagon? The sedan.
• 56:16
  OK. I had a Gray station wagon
• 56:18
  version of that. Did you?
• 56:21
  OK, so I mean. Remarkable.
• 56:24
  Yep, really comfy back, like comfy seats, right, All of the
• 56:28
  things. But it was, yeah, it was.
• 56:31
  It's pretty special. It desperately needed your
• 56:33
  products. Desperate.
• 56:34
  Had my products on it. It was like a retired vehicle
• 56:39
  from the the sales fleet. Yeah, so I did the same thing.
• 56:45
  I bought my son a retired vehicle from a hell wig.
• 56:49
  But his is like cool, like Ranger over landing.
• 56:53
  And I've had like the the Caprice classic with the the
• 56:57
  headland liner that come down. So Oh yeah, I don't know if
• 57:00
  yours did that, but we'd have to like, push it back up.
• 57:05
  It'd be sagging just in one like over on the side and you're
• 57:08
  like, yeah, just go under that. Yeah.
• 57:12
  It needs, like, what's the automotive version of?
• 57:14
  Like, what is it, a blepharostomy when you get your
• 57:16
  eyelids taken in? Yeah, those headliners needed
• 57:19
  that. Yeah.
• 57:20
  But it's you know what? It's a formative.
• 57:22
  Like it's a rite of passage to drive something like that when
• 57:25
  you're learning to drive, it does.
• 57:27
  And I it didn't matter like. I'm I'm the oldest of four.
• 57:33
  So it was just, it was freedom. Like it didn't matter.
• 57:36
  I was happy to, you know, go to the grocery store and the, you
• 57:40
  know, with the headliner hanging down.
• 57:42
  It was just, you know, it was it was freedom.
• 57:46
  You can appreciate a you know you.
• 57:49
  Can fit anything in that trunk. I mean that was.
• 57:51
  The sneak into the drive in with four friends who didn't pay
• 57:54
  trunk. I know, but you're right, I
• 57:57
  remember. Being like, oh, the car needs
• 57:58
  gas. Oh, we.
• 57:59
  Need three eggs. Yeah.
• 58:01
  Oh, that we need, yeah, yeah. I need a quart of milk.
• 58:03
  Yeah, yeah. A half a quart of.
• 58:05
  Milk, any excuse to be behind the wheel for sure, but like you
• 58:08
  said. My version desperately needed
• 58:10
  your products because when I think about that car, in my mind
• 58:13
  it's the car doing this over even the most, right.
• 58:16
  Wasn't it like just over? Yeah, it.
• 58:19
  Was like a cruise just called it the green whale and it was like.
• 58:22
  You know, it had its own weather.
• 58:23
  Pattern and sound effects and definitely would have benefited
• 58:27
  from some Helwick help yeah and that's probably a $20,000 car
• 58:31
  now if you. Could find one.
• 58:32
  That wasn't rusted out or completely clapped out like, you
• 58:34
  know. Like it's.
• 58:35
  Shocking what those things? I mean, nostalgia is a powerful
• 58:39
  drug, right? So people were willing to pay up
• 58:41
  for those things, but we, we rode them hard.
• 58:44
  We were, you know, put them away What and and you know, but they,
• 58:47
  but they, but they, they imbued us with that passion, right,
• 58:51
  That a passion to travel, whether that's to see things,
• 58:53
  whether that's to be behind the wheel.
• 58:55
  Like you said, Lindsay, you know, it, it, it showed us
• 58:59
  what's possible in a good way. And, and and hopefully the next
• 59:02
  generation and your son can, can also experience that because
• 59:06
  that's what it was for us. Yeah.
• 59:08
  Freedom. Yeah, yeah, if you could.
• 59:10
  Bottle that that sense, right? You know you could sell it for
• 59:13
  1,000,000 bucks, right? Yeah, I know.
• 59:15
  There's nothing quite like we've all been chasing.
• 59:17
  It one way or another in. Our own form of it, right,
• 59:20
  whether it's, you know, 4x4 ING or racing or sure, you know,
• 59:23
  modifying or like we're all just chasing that first high.
• 59:26
  But you know, it's, it's a, it's a genuine lifelong passion that,
• 59:30
  that that is, you know, productive.
• 59:33
  Like it, it pushes you to meet people.
• 59:35
  It pushes you to do better, pushes you to Melanie, your
• 59:38
  point about, about improving or, or, or innovating, You know, we,
• 59:42
  you know, we're, we're always pushing the bar a little bit
• 59:44
  forward. And I think to your point, even
• 59:46
  with the JDM stuff, like we wouldn't be where we're at today
• 59:49
  if it wasn't for the forefathers like your great grandfather and
• 59:53
  the people, you know, that that pushed things farther than
• 59:56
  here's a here's a piece of utility, just go use it.
• 1:00:00
  I mean, no, I'm sure people, there's a lot of wonderful
• 1:00:02
  toaster engineers, but but I don't know if that's going to be
• 1:00:06
  the thing that that that, you know, someone puts on their
• 1:00:08
  gravestone versus, you know, we lost Skadarian a couple weeks
• 1:00:13
  ago at 104 and that gentleman, you know, changed the way people
• 1:00:17
  did Cam shafts and that, you know, just just.
• 1:00:21
  Just show people what's possible and that's fun.
• 1:00:23
  I mean, in the same way that, you know, to some small degree,
• 1:00:26
  Einstein showed people what was possible in his field.
• 1:00:28
  It's like, you know, it just expands the human knowledge and
• 1:00:31
  expands the experience. And and I appreciate that hell
• 1:00:33
  has been around as long as it have continuing that trend of
• 1:00:36
  showing people what's possible. Thank you.
• 1:00:39
  So, Melanie, we had. Hegarty's, John.
• 1:00:41
  Wiley on a few weeks ago to talk about the bull market list that
• 1:00:46
  he puts together each year and these are the cars that he
• 1:00:49
  thinks are sure to go up in value.
• 1:00:51
  I think you've got a really unique insight into this world.
• 1:00:54
  Of course, John uses research and science and rigorous
• 1:00:57
  methodology, but what's interesting is, you know, his
• 1:01:01
  database choices often really aligned with with our own gut
• 1:01:04
  feelings. We've christened our list the
• 1:01:06
  That Car Show Bullshit Market List, and we've been asking our
• 1:01:09
  guests since John's appearance to maybe name a couple cars they
• 1:01:13
  think we should all be buying now that we think will go up in
• 1:01:17
  value. Are there a couple that you
• 1:01:19
  throw? Well, so we talked about my
• 1:01:22
  Caprice. Classic.
• 1:01:23
  So that obviously, you know, yeah, needs to be on the that's
• 1:01:27
  a shoe. In yeah, so we just.
• 1:01:29
  Recently we had a customer. Order and we still make them,
• 1:01:32
  but these Astro minivan Oh my gosh, so like first Gen.
• 1:01:38
  Yes, they so they wanted and we still have them in our.
• 1:01:41
  Catalog, like we sell a little bit of them, but not a lot.
• 1:01:44
  And it's like, Oh my gosh, are these coming back?
• 1:01:48
  That's, that's my, that's my contribution to your list.
• 1:01:53
  That's a that's a brilliant ad because people forget.
• 1:01:55
  They actually had an all-wheel drive version of that.
• 1:01:58
  And so they will they will, they will hot rod the 43, which is
• 1:02:02
  the same 4/3 and the typhoon and the cyclone and they will like
• 1:02:05
  that's a great ad. That's a by the way, everybody
• 1:02:07
  should buy one of those right now because they're, I mean, if
• 1:02:09
  they're not rusted out, it's it's a $1500 car, especially you
• 1:02:13
  can find an all-wheel drive one. And I by the way, I had no idea.
• 1:02:16
  I actually want to find one out. I didn't realize you products do
• 1:02:18
  you make for it sway bars or front and rear?
• 1:02:23
  Because it didn't come with. The rear, it didn't come with
• 1:02:25
  the rear, so I definitely make the rear.
• 1:02:26
  I'm not positive. About my friend.
• 1:02:28
  So I had a customer ordering the rear and we're like they got the
• 1:02:32
  part number wrong and they didn't.
• 1:02:35
  So Oh my God, I, I had no, I, I told no.
• 1:02:39
  I'm going to buy one just to buy the rear and then I'll ask you
• 1:02:41
  to make a front cause the front's probably a three quarter
• 1:02:44
  inch bar and make an inch and 1/4.
• 1:02:46
  And yeah, it'll be, Oh my God, that would be so much fun.
• 1:02:48
  Can you imagine a three door, A3 door Astro van?
• 1:02:52
  Yeah, you can expect another Astro order dominantly.
• 1:02:56
  Yeah, all-wheel, all-wheel. Drive.
• 1:02:58
  More Melanie. Yeah, 400 horsepower.
• 1:03:01
  And you could. Overland in it like you could
• 1:03:03
  throw. It you could throw an.
• 1:03:04
  Air mattress in the back of that thing, you could do it.
• 1:03:06
  Does that have the ground clearance though?
• 1:03:08
  Or I guess you could lift it. You could lift it.
• 1:03:11
  I mean it's basically an S10 chassis.
• 1:03:13
  So you could put it's independent front maybe?
• 1:03:16
  Is it a torsion front? I don't remember, I have to
• 1:03:18
  look. It doesn't matter infinitely.
• 1:03:20
  There's enough catalog stuff you could have a lot of fun with
• 1:03:23
  that. You guys make a rear bar for
• 1:03:24
  that that I'm going to marketplace tonight.
• 1:03:27
  I'm going to find an Astro van, a 9394 all-wheel drive Astro
• 1:03:32
  van. I want to see pictures I drove.
• 1:03:36
  One of the last. Gen. of those and I was
• 1:03:38
  astounded at how nice they drove.
• 1:03:40
  I mean, it was truly lovely. Where am I?
• 1:03:44
  I did not expect that, but it was a delightful driving
• 1:03:46
  experience. Yeah, well, imagine it with
• 1:03:48
  Hellwig products on it. I know.
• 1:03:50
  I'm trying my words. Melanie's.
• 1:03:52
  Melanie's go. Buy the Astra market right now
• 1:03:54
  because you could corner it because she's 100% right.
• 1:03:57
  Those are going to go because here's the thing, it's a 1500
• 1:03:59
  car if you. Can sell her 5 grand.
• 1:04:00
  Where are you going to get that kind of return?
• 1:04:02
  Like it's better than buying gold?
• 1:04:05
  That's a great answer. We had Lynn Woodward.
• 1:04:08
  The journalist on was that last week?
• 1:04:09
  It seems like for the last week, but from Kelley Blue Book.
• 1:04:12
  Yeah, her. Answer to that question was the
• 1:04:14
  AMC Eagle. And like that's a car I think
• 1:04:16
  most people probably have completely forgotten about.
• 1:04:19
  That was like the perfect answer.
• 1:04:20
  And I think the Astro is a is a wonderful, but here's why her
• 1:04:23
  answer, but that's why her answer.
• 1:04:25
  Is jeez you? Cannot find parts.
• 1:04:27
  For that car, like you couldn't even find like aftermarket parts
• 1:04:30
  for that or you mean like replacement like used junkyard
• 1:04:33
  parts for that car? Whereas the Astro van, again,
• 1:04:36
  I'm pretty sure it's pretty much S10 based or S15 based.
• 1:04:39
  You can find they Bri pop pretty much everything.
• 1:04:42
  So if you need a ball joint, you need a control arm, you need
• 1:04:44
  whatever you can pretty much get it And then if you can modify it
• 1:04:49
  like Sky's the limit. What's your AMC stock like these
• 1:04:52
  days? Not great.
• 1:04:55
  So what we're going to do? Is we'll send.
• 1:04:57
  You the BS market list so that you can review and see if you
• 1:05:00
  want to ramp up manufacturing in any certain areas in preparation
• 1:05:04
  grade. You know, Wisconsin's never been
• 1:05:07
  the same since You know what? That makes.
• 1:05:10
  That brings up a good point that I've.
• 1:05:11
  Always wanted to ask that I I I. I had a conversation with
• 1:05:13
  somebody at Borla a couple years ago because they they used to
• 1:05:16
  make products for certain GM products that that they no
• 1:05:18
  longer do. How do you guys handle?
• 1:05:21
  Are you guys open to old stock numbers or if someone calls up
• 1:05:26
  and some you know you did you make a product for XYZ and you
• 1:05:29
  say yes, we used to but we don't currently.
• 1:05:30
  How do you handle that and is it is it advantageous for you to do
• 1:05:34
  that? Is it is it overly costly to
• 1:05:37
  like step me through that if some if an obsolete part number,
• 1:05:40
  I'd I'd love to hear about that. Yeah.
• 1:05:41
  So actually private label some obsolete.
• 1:05:44
  Part numbers so people will come to me and say I want I have
• 1:05:49
  Astro bands still in my lineup so but let's pretend I don't.
• 1:05:53
  They come to me and say I would really love to start private
• 1:05:56
  labeling Astro bands, sway bars. And I can say, yeah, I still
• 1:06:01
  have the dyes. I still have the you know, it's
• 1:06:04
  really do I have I do I still have the dyes to support it.
• 1:06:07
  So I'm going to keep all of the, you know, all of the tech
• 1:06:11
  sheets, all the information to go with it.
• 1:06:13
  It's just do I have the actual equipment to still make it?
• 1:06:17
  So it's going to fit like on the equipment I already make or, you
• 1:06:21
  know, use all of that. So it's just yeah, but we do
• 1:06:25
  sunset some stuff, you know, just if things kind of die down,
• 1:06:31
  we went and started to, you know, we're these are, are going
• 1:06:36
  to be obsolete here soon. We had a whole list of them and
• 1:06:40
  whatever is happening. So right now people are keeping
• 1:06:43
  their vehicles so much longer. Like I, I just learned the, the
• 1:06:49
  average cost of a, of a car payment is 700, like $722 or
• 1:06:57
  something like that. It's bananas.
• 1:07:00
  And so people are keeping their cars like so much longer.
• 1:07:03
  They're now in this like 12 1/2 year range, almost 13 years
• 1:07:08
  people are keeping their cars. But that means, so we had all of
• 1:07:11
  these obsolete vehicles were like, OK, these applications,
• 1:07:15
  people aren't using them anymore.
• 1:07:16
  And it's all of a sudden we got this huge rush of like almost
• 1:07:20
  all of the parts on that list were ones that came into our
• 1:07:24
  order bank. And I was like, OK, we'll keep
• 1:07:26
  them going for longer. So it was kind of wild like the
• 1:07:31
  the trends we're seeing in this space.
• 1:07:34
  I mean, it's always nice when you have you're like, I guess.
• 1:07:36
  We have different data now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:07:39
  And I commend you guys for. Fostering and continuing.
• 1:07:42
  That because not all, and I appreciate the logistics of it,
• 1:07:45
  but not every company can or wants to continue supporting
• 1:07:48
  that stuff. And goes back to our other
• 1:07:50
  conversation about right to repair.
• 1:07:51
  It's like if you don't have the the OE support, which is
• 1:07:56
  dwindling for a number of factors, if you don't have the
• 1:07:58
  aftermarket support, it's hard to tell somebody that the car is
• 1:08:01
  worthless or it's unrepairable. And I applaud you guys for being
• 1:08:05
  willing to at least look back and say, okay, yeah, we can try
• 1:08:09
  that, you know, because not everybody's willing to do that.
• 1:08:12
  And that's, that's a testament to why you guys have been around
• 1:08:14
  as long as you have. So kudos and, and thank you for
• 1:08:16
  supporting the rest of us as we do crazy stuff, but also just
• 1:08:20
  keeping things running, you know, just keeping everything
• 1:08:23
  possible. Yeah, I want to be respectful of
• 1:08:26
  our our. Time and your time rather.
• 1:08:29
  So again, I want to be respectful of your time,
• 1:08:30
  Melanie. So we should probably, gosh,
• 1:08:34
  I'm, I am off today. I'm sorry you're just bowled
• 1:08:36
  over because we're in the presence of Sema royalty, man.
• 1:08:39
  That and I'm I still got Astros on my mind.
• 1:08:42
  I know. We're all just starstruck now.
• 1:08:44
  Everybody needs. To go on Facebook Marketplace
• 1:08:46
  today. I mean, now I'm curious about
• 1:08:49
  the station. Wagon like as much PTSD as I
• 1:08:52
  have from that thing Oh that that wagon here's that wagon
• 1:08:55
  would bring because here's. All of us.
• 1:08:57
  Especially we saw that in every car chase movie every like
• 1:09:01
  lethal Weapon. That's what they drove like that
• 1:09:03
  is that is like the the that was a cop car for every Beverly
• 1:09:07
  Hills cop. Like that was the car.
• 1:09:08
  So like, like that was that was the thing.
• 1:09:12
  There's a sub market for BC4 cars that were police car.
• 1:09:16
  I I go down that rabbit hoping anyway, yeah, find a Caprice,
• 1:09:21
  find a find an Astro. You will triple your money.
• 1:09:25
  You're here for Ryan. I know you were trying.
• 1:09:27
  I just, I wouldn't be respectful.
• 1:09:28
  Time. And we're all your time.
• 1:09:30
  Now where do we find? Hellwig products online, where
• 1:09:34
  do we learn more? And also where do we find SEMA
• 1:09:37
  online? Yeah.
• 1:09:37
  So you can find Hellwig products at Hellwig.
• 1:09:40
  Products.com and SEMA is semaor.org.
• 1:09:47
  OK, Fantastic. Yeah.
• 1:09:49
  And both on Instagram as well. Yep.
• 1:09:52
  Both are on social media. Yep, so.
• 1:09:54
  Yeah, Hellwigs under Hellwig products there and then Sema is
• 1:09:57
  under SEMA. There's even 1 specifically for
• 1:10:01
  the SEMA show. I mean oh nice.
• 1:10:04
  So then we can we can remind ourselves that they.
• 1:10:06
  Are distinct. Yeah, like, but related.
• 1:10:08
  Yeah, I have a totally unrelated, but, but just like
• 1:10:11
  silly question for you because I saw that you had managed A
• 1:10:14
  gourmet French bakery at one point earlier in your career.
• 1:10:19
  And I like I think next to cars, my love of France is they're
• 1:10:22
  probably tied. So what is your favorite French
• 1:10:25
  meal or pastry? Yeah.
• 1:10:27
  So I, I. I kind of got a little, I won't
• 1:10:31
  lie, like. A little bit turned off.
• 1:10:32
  So I of the, that's fair because I, I, it was a real French
• 1:10:38
  Baker. So he was like, you know, maybe
• 1:10:41
  also didn't believe different powers like the rest of us do
• 1:10:43
  too. So yeah, that was a fun time of
• 1:10:49
  my life. Yeah, you're like that.
• 1:10:51
  I'm happy to never go back to food.
• 1:10:54
  Service is like real. It's real work.
• 1:10:58
  Anyone, Elizabeth, Right. It's formative.
• 1:11:01
  Yes, I really applaud. Them but we.
• 1:11:04
  Have like amazing pastry. So like all the croissants, like
• 1:11:07
  he'd, you know, roll in the butter and all of the things
• 1:11:10
  there. So I got to see all of that and
• 1:11:12
  I every time we eat one, I'm like, oh, this is so good, but
• 1:11:17
  this is so much butter in it. Yeah.
• 1:11:21
  So that was, there's one pastry, though, that he would make and
• 1:11:25
  that I don't get to see very often.
• 1:11:27
  And I can, like, see it in my head.
• 1:11:29
  It is like a pretzel, but it's like sugary and crispy.
• 1:11:33
  Anyways. I'm not.
• 1:11:36
  Yeah. And it's not my mind.
• 1:11:38
  Yeah, we're glad to have you back in the Automotive World.
• 1:11:43
  Cars are healthy as we all know. Yeah, no bother with them.
• 1:11:47
  Very affordable. Very practical low Cal your.
• 1:11:50
  Car. Great, great decision, great
• 1:11:52
  life decisions all the way around.
• 1:11:54
  Yeah, we really. Enjoyed talking with you,
• 1:11:56
  Melanie. You're amazing.
• 1:11:57
  Thank you SO. Thank you for being here.
• 1:11:58
  We'd love to have you back sometime.
• 1:11:59
  Yeah, maybe. We'll see at SEMA this year, if
• 1:12:02
  not before, but Melanie White, CEO of Hellwig Products, Chair
• 1:12:07
  of SEMA, I really appreciate having you on that car Saturday.
• 1:12:11
  Thank you. Awesome.
• 1:12:12
  Thank. Thank you so much.
• 1:12:13
  Thank you. And remember.
• 1:12:16
  Always be driving and we'll. See you next week.