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Porsche’s at the Beltsville Shell (Mark Porto) · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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Break Fix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all
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over the autos sphere, from wrench, turners, and racers to artists, authors,
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designers, and everything in between.
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Our goal is to inspire a new generation of Petrolhead that wonder.
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How did they get that job or become that person?
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The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.
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It's always interesting when you come across a fellow Petrolhead,
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especially a Porsche enthusiast, while sitting across a boardroom table.
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Not long ago, our guest, mark Porto and I were killing time before a
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meeting and came to the realization that we were both car enthusiasts.
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And Mark has some really interesting stories to share.
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Finding another petrolhead in the most unlikely of places is akin to a
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Highlander moment, or I guess in nowadays terms, your spidey senses goes off.
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I'm really excited to hear all these stories and see where this is going.
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So welcome to Break Fix, mark.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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I'm, uh, thrilled and honored to be here.
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So I gotta start with the first question.
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Is it Porsche?
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Porsche or Porsche?
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Which one is it?
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It is, uh, it is Porsche and only Porsche and will always be Porsche.
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My dad, uh, drilled that into my head when I was about eight years old and I think
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the first time I called it a Porsche, she said, uh, we call them Porsches.
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And from, from that point on, it's been Porsche for me.
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And every time I hear it, it just kind of cringe.
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That being said, you've teed it right up in the sense that you understand that
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Porsche started before the year 2000, much like Audi and some of these other German
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brands that are now at the front of our conversations in the Petrolhead world.
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So how far back does your Porsche legacy go?
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So my Porsche legacy goes back to about the time when I was, uh, you know,
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eight or nine years old, you know, like some of the folks in in the space.
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I'm lucky 'cause I was born into it.
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You know, it was just, you know, really, really interesting, you know, to,
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to look back at, you know, how I got indoctrinated into the petrolhead world.
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And, um, ironically, you know, my dad, you know, when I was a little boy,
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he was building and racing quarter mile race cars, American muscle
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chavelles and that sort of stuff.
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Eventually, you know, went from being a, a car builder, um, and, and racer
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to a motor builder and for off offshore powerboats and for quarter mile cars.
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And then he got himself out of that and then became a BMW guy.
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And after that he was a Porsche guy.
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So, you know, about the time I was eight years old was the first time that I ever,
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uh, had a nine 11 in my dad's garage, and, uh, understood the quirks and the
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sounds and the smells of those cars, and fell in love with them ever since.
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Nothing quite like an air cooled nine 11.
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So what year, let's start with that.
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What type of nine 11.
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So the, the first nine 11 my dad owned was a 1972, uh, nine 11.
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Nice.
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And it was, uh, it was green.
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It was beautiful.
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He would, you know, wax it and wa wash it with a diaper.
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Being a, a sports car guy and a gearhead, you know, uh, that car was outfitted
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with Weber carburetors before we knew it.
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It had a free flowing, you know, exhaust system before we knew it,
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and eventually, you know, found its way into becoming a track sled.
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So I really understood the grunt of a nine 11, you know, a flat six air cooled motor.
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And as a little boy there was, there was absolutely nothing like it.
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I mean, I still remember the sounds of that, the door shutting and, uh, you
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know, and that car and the smell that, you know, that car had, and, uh, it's
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the, the smell of melting crayons, right.
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All old German cars.
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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And, um, but that was it for me.
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And I love BMWs.
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I like Ferraris.
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You know, I, I always see.
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You know, the new Audi r eights and oh, that's a pretty cool car.
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But for me, you know, um, nine elevens are, are really, uh, where, you know,
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where, where it starts and ends for me.
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So did you come up like I did and you actually had a VW in the
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family before there was a Porsche?
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I did not.
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Um, you know, the, the first air cooled motor, aside from a lawnmower
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that I ever, you know, that I ever was, had experience with, was, was a,
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a flat six, 3.2 liter nine 11 motor.
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And, um, and, and that, that was, that was it.
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I liked Volkswagens, a neighbor, you know, even younger, had one and I.
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Never, you know, forget looking at the, you know, start and end of that motor.
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Like, that's it, that's, that's all that's in there.
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And yeah, that's it.
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But for me, you know, my real experience came with, uh, with the nine elevens.
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You know, as our listeners have come to find out, I've hinted throughout various
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episodes that we were a VAG or Volkswagen Audi group family for a very long time.
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We've had a VW in the family since the very early sixties, you know,
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starting with my grandparents.
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And the curse has continued up until this point.
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And much like you, we didn't end up with a Porsche in the family until way later.
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And our first one was the 74 9 14.
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So, you know, we're a part of the min engine crowd.
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You know, the, the, the ones that are shunned, the black sheep of the Porsche
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world, you know, we're not gonna talk about those 9 44 people, but you know.
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But, uh, no, it's cool.
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I mean, there's this comradery amongst us Aircooled guys, right?
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Where a lot of people did get their start with bugs and Carmen
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Gaz and things like that, and finally evolved into nine elevens.
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And what's funny is you and I both grew up in a similar area of the DMV in
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kind of central Maryland, and that was a hotbed back, especially in the late
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seventies, early eighties for drag racing.
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You know, you had Coleman Brothers, which is now auto fab, you had SART
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Wells, which was a big Porsche place.
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You had the guys that were sponsoring the bug out way back when, which was
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held at the Old Dominion Raceway.
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Mm-hmm.
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So there was a lot of this air cold community in the DMV, which is now.
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I would like to say maybe evaporated a little bit, but I think it plays
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into your past a little bit more too.
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So let's talk about, you know, the evolution of your Porsche past
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and your dad's racing heritage.
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I think it's a great story.
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So I grew up, you know, in Beltsville Maryland, and my dad was a drag guy and
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he and his friends, and I was young, so, you know, my memories and the sights
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and the sounds and the smells of those cars, you know, they, they really just
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evaporated to, you know, memories.
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Sometimes you think, oh, you know, it couldn't have been that cool or there
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couldn't have been that many motors and that many cars around all the time.
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I was on Facebook one night and, uh, there was this, uh, group, Beltsville historic,
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Beltsville reminiscent group, and um, they were commenting on this book called The
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Beltsville Show, and one of the guys at.
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I live in an Annapolis now that I, I've come to, you know, become good
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friends with, well, he was part of the original Beltsville crew and we're now
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talking late sixties, early seventies.
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And he commented to me, he goes, Hey Porto, do you know
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your dad is in that book?
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And I'm like, what?
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And he's just like, your dad is in that book.
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So I bought a copy of a book called The Beltsville Shell, and it's the Beltsville
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shell and you are What You Drive.
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And the book was written by a guy named Carrie Thomas.
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Who I remember his name.
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I remember his voice.
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I remember him coming and going, you know, in the house.
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And, um, he essentially outlines, you know, the, the, him growing up
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in Beltsville and, um, integrating himself with a group of car guys.
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They were Corvette guys, they were Chevelle guys, they were Ford guys.
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And, uh, my dad, it was a University of Maryland.
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As the story goes per the book.
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You know, they were working at the Shell, this car comes in, it
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was a chavelle and had, you know, no exhaust system whatsoever.
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And he said, Hey, I'm looking for a guy named Carrie.
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I heard he can help me weld these, uh, you know, uh, headers onto this car.
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And the guy said, yep, I'm Carrie.
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And they became really good friends and my dad was indoctrinated into
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this group of gearheads and he was the first one who had a professionally
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sponsored track dedicated car.
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Wow.
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So, um, it's so cool.
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So, you know, to read through this book, you know, it's all, you know, you start
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recognizing the names and, and some of the stories and, um, you know, I know there
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was folks that passed away that my dad, you know, was telling me about, oh, you
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should have seen this guy in his Corvette.
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It was blue and after the accident it was all over the road.
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Well, they kind of detailed some of these stories in the book and, uh, you know, to
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read it one, it re jogs your memory, but it provided such clarity to, um, you know,
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to some of the stories that I, I had heard from my dad, you know, over the years.
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It's living proof that those stoplights were a quarter mile
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apart on Route one as well.
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Right.
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So, so these guys, they had, you know, the Beltsville Shell was a,
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was a service station and, and you know, back then gas stations weren't
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really where you went and pumped gas.
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They were service stations 'cause the cars and you did a lot more
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care in feeding than cars today.
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So I, it was a service station by day.
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It was a speed shop by night.
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So this book, you know, outlines and, you know, you and I grew up in the area, we
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knew it pretty well, where they actually had, you know, marked out quarter mile,
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you know, stretches and they could block each side of the road and test their
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cars, test their performance, build them, break 'em, build them again better.
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So it was, uh, it, it's cool, but, uh, it's been a while
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since I've lived in Beltsville.
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I, I moved outta the area about 20 years ago.
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But, um, you know, just to, to read the stories, it brought me right back
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to, you know, that early age in time and then when I had my license and.
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Kind of explored how fast cars can go on the same stretches of roads,
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you know, doing the same thing.
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So, you know, you said your dad's first Porsche was that nine 11
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s, but what was your first car?
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So, uh, my first car, my first car was a hand-me-down from my dad.
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So my first car was a, uh, Volvo Turbo.
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Uh, 'cause it was a family, you know, grocery getter.
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But it was a lot of fun and, um, you know, it treated me well.
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The first car that I picked out and bought on my own Paul's was a Volkswagen,
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GTI VR six Oh I, and, and my son, I have a, I have a 16-year-old son.
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He's so much like us, it's not even funny.
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And he is, uh, you know, he's got his eye on the Japanese car.
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But every time I, we see one of, you know, the GTIs, whether it is
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an R 32 or type R, I'm like, that's.
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You should drive one of these.
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You should.
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You should.
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You know, you should try this.
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He's like, I don't know about a hatchback.
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I'm like, you have no idea.
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You know how much fun these cars are?
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That car did everything it should have done and then some,
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it was reliable, it was fast.
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When I was bored with it, there were all sorts of mods, you know, it would
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float around the corners at the track.
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I mean, it was, it was an unbelievable, unbelievable experience.
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And I kept that car clean.
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I never crashed it and uh, it treated me very, very, very well.
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So I'm gonna guess that was a Mark three, or, yeah, it was a 1998 VW
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driver's editions, VR six GTIs.
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Those things are still sought after to this day.
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I mean, there's a huge cult following for the third gen GTIs.
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Yeah.
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So that's really cool.
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At the same time you had that, my dad picked up a first Gen Rado VR six.
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So I was told around in that, in the nineties.
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Three SLC, you know, five speed, the whole nine yards.
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And you know what's funny, looking back, you know, same power plane
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as the GTI, although the rado was built on the mark two chassis.
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Yep.
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Uh, we shared some parts, you know, there's some similarities with the
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mark threes, back then, you're like 172 horsepower in a front wheel drive.
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It was like, man, even a drop of rain, or you hit the paint stripe the
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wrong way and you do a one wheel peel, nowadays you're like 172 horsepower.
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What is that?
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That's nothing.
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Yeah.
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The, the balance of, of weight in those cars too.
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Oh yeah.
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Is, you know, was, was so precision and, and it was such a,
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it was such a fun car to drive.
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Uh, you know, it was my Porsche, but I didn't have a Porsche budget at the time.
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But it did, it did everything.
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And, um, I still wish I had that car today.
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And like you said, there's a cult following and I'm one of those guys
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every time I see them on the road, you know, I just, I'm, I mean, I'm amazed and
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you see them in really good condition.
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Yeah.
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People take care of those cars, which tells you, you know, it tells you
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something about the, uh, the importance of those cars in the overall big scheme of.
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So color black on black on black.
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All right.
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You couldn't get that with the corrado.
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That was so annoying.
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We ended up with a red one 'cause my dad was dead set on a black leather interior,
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which only came in like two cars.
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If you wanted a black car, you got tan.
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I don't understand the.
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These combinations, but you're very fortunate.
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So I happened to be a fourth gen guy.
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I, and it's oddly enough, I went through a similar thing where, you know, I
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was buying a car and I was actually dead set on getting a SVT focus.
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Yeah.
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And my dad was like, you need to drive the new GTI, you just
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got, you gotta go drive it.
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I'm like, ah.
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I don't know.
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It's kind of big and bloated.
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I don't like it, you know?
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'cause I was a Mark two kid, you know, I wanted a mark two really bad.
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And then I went and drove a VR six and I was like, all right, I'm done.
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We're good.
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Have a nice day.
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I like your dad.
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Okay, so GTI, your dad's got the nine 11 and so there's
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obviously an evolution there.
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So what came next and what got you to the track?
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So that car got me on the track.
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So that car was the car that I would, you know, bring to, you know, uh, Friday
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at the track events and high performance driving clinics at Summit Point.
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Um, and those places.
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And that was the first car that I really.
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Piloted around a racetrack, um, with an instructor and had had an absolute blast.
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Hear that listener's Fun wheel drive.
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He started with that.
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Yeah, I mean, it, it really was.
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And it, I mean, you know, just a, a little plug for that industry.
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It really taught me what that car was capable of doing.
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Um, it taught me what I was doing right and wrong in that
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car when I was driving it.
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I was a much better driver on the beltway and every exit ramp.
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Um, you know, because of that experience.
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And when I started graduating to, um, you know, other cars that had
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more power that were more finicky, I don't know that I would've kept those
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cars on the road as long as I did had it not been for that, you know,
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those track day, um, experiences.
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Well, I had that GTI and, you know, I always wanted, I
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always wanted a, a nine 11.
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So my first nine 11 was a beautiful car.
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It was in a 1988.
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Carrera factory, correct.
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Carrera whale tail, foc wheels.
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It was an absolutely, you know, gorgeous, you know, silver, they
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call it Granite Green Metallic.
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It was a phenomenal car.
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It was unmolested.
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I bought it from a fellow named Tim Holt in Pennsylvania.
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Tim Holt was the driver for the inner sports cars.
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So, um, he had a, you know, a very boutiquey dealership if
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you, if you can call it that.
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He had a garage full of beautiful nine elevens.
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Most of them were race cars.
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Um, but some of the, the, you know, regular nine elevens were just cherry.
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That was the car that I saw and I had to have, damn it, that car became mine.
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So a lot of fun.
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It's, the door is closed.
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It sounded just like my dad's.
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It had that burning crayon smell just like the rest of.
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It was a ton of fun and that car was even funer to start Moding when I felt that
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I was ready to kind of step it up and move that car in in different directions.
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You know, it had bilstein coil overs all the way around,
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so it had a European stance.
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It didn't have that stance look like you see a car shows
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it had a European ride height.
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Stance.
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Um, very, very, I mean, you could still see a gap between the tire and the fender.
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Yeah, I get it.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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You know, but you gotta be careful what tires you put on because
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that gap is very important.
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After that came the, uh, you know, stainless steel fab speed headers on back,
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that unleashed a lot of power in that car.
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That car also, um, you know, quickly got a fab speed, cold air intake
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in it and never chipped that car.
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The other thing that eventually we wound up doing was doing a
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twin plug conversion on that car.
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Oh wow.
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Nice.
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Two, two spark plugs per cylinder, then fuel rails and fuel pumps and
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all of the, all the other stuff.
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And it was a reliable, this can be, that car never broke down on me.
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It's always treated me well.
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I never burned through, um, you know, parts aside from.
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Tires, because I was going through those, you know, as
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fast as we go through pancakes.
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Oh man.
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It was just, it was just a, a ton of fun to drive and it, it, it, you know, it
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made a lot of noise and, um, and, and made me, you know, made me really happy.
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And that car was also a monster on the track, you know, in
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my opinion, limitless power.
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And it's just very, very predictable, um, to drive still you as a handful to drive.
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But that turned into, you know, my track baby.
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Yeah.
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And there's something to be said about that, that, that a
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lot of people don't realize.
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There's a, there's an allure and there's a mystique around the older Porsches.
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Mm-hmm.
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But they are a handful to drive.
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They take a lot of awareness and a lot of concentration and a lot
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of patience in some respects.
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The new Porsches, anybody can get 'em in go fast.
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And I'm not trying to offend anybody that's listening, but it's true.
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There's so many more computers and gadgets and gizmos and things keeping that, let's
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call it bad design, under control because of the pendulum effect that it has.
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Just, it's a front wheel drive with five reverse gears.
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Let's be serious.
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But there's an art to driving those cars.
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Fast and driving them well.
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And when you do master it, it's a lot of fun and you get in something
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else and you're like, it's just not quite the same, but it prepares
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you for some really interesting situations on and off track, for sure.
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Oh yeah.
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There was a story you mentioned during our conference room session about a
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motor that mysteriously disappeared.
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I believe this was for your Carrera.
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Do you want to unpack that one for us?
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So that's, uh, oh God.
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Thank you for reminding me.
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Um, so as I mentioned, the Carrera had a lot of work done to it, and uh, when
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you start putting that kind of work into those motors, you start to measure the
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life of those motors and hours, not miles.
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You know, I knew that there was gonna be a need for, you know, a new motor.
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So I had, you know, Peter Dowes in, uh, Dowes Motor Sports build
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a 3.2 liter motor, not a dedicated track motor, but a performance
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motor that would go in a street car, um, that was still, um, drivable.
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That motor wound up in my dad's garage, wrapped in plastic on a pallet.
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Because he had more space than I did.
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You know, my dad, uh, eventually died of cancer, but as he started to get
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sicker and sicker with cancer, um, things that were important to him,
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he felt good about giving them away.
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So a lot of tools, you know, went to the guys that, you know,
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maintained his, uh, his home in his yard and other things like that.
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And at some point, one of these guys said, Hey, you know, sir, what are you,
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what are you gonna do with that motor?
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He said, I, I don't even know what that motor is.
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He said, I think it's broken.
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He's like, if you wanna take it apart and tinker with it,
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you're more than welcome to it.
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And oh, man, next thing you know, they must have come in, you know, two
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of them, and lift it up the pallet and put it in the back of the truck.
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And, um, we were there and I think it was like Christmas Eve or something like that.
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I was in the garage and I came back, I said, dad, w you know,
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where'd you put the motor?
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You know, what happened to that motor?
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He goes, oh, that old motor, I don't even know what, what car that was from.
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He said, I think that was broken.
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I gave it to the landscapers.
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That was the last I ever saw of that motor and the last we ever discussed of it.
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It took you a minute to get your job off the floor though.
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Yeah, I, uh, I, and you know, my fault shouldn't have been there, you know,
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and um, but everybody has one of those soul crushing car moments where you're
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just like, did that just happen?
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Whether it's like the new motor you built just blew up or something
18:35
like this occurs, or just, you know, anything could happen.
18:39
But it's just like there, everybody's got a story like that.
18:41
A moment like that.
18:42
It was, it was still wrapped in plastic with my name on it.
18:45
It was still wrapped in plastic.
18:47
I didn't even really open it and smell it.
18:49
I'm thrilled.
18:49
My dad had a huge heart and, you know, thought he was making somebody happy.
18:53
And I hope, I hope, I hope that motor wound, its found its way into,
18:57
you know, something super cool.
18:58
And, um, yeah, because it would be really hard to put it in anything.
19:01
It's a flat six.
19:02
It doesn't fit a lot of cars.
19:04
No, I, I, so I said either, you know, what were they building an airplane?
19:07
Like what are they doing with that motor?
19:08
And uh, I have no idea.
19:11
But that was the end of it.
19:13
That was the end of it.
19:14
So let's talk a little bit more about Porsche's and so obviously
19:18
you joined the Porsche Club.
19:19
I think we're in the same region as a matter of fact, which is
19:21
another common ground we have here.
19:23
I've, I've literally been in PCAI think since I was a little kid, so, you know,
19:26
it goes back as far as I can't remember.
19:28
But, but with that being said, so where did you evolve to from that early Carrera?
19:35
Nine 11.
19:36
So after that Carrera, so I wound up selling that car.
19:39
Um, you know, it was, uh, one of those things where, you know, somebody
19:42
wanted to buy that car and I felt they were the right owner for that car
19:46
and they knew what they were getting.
19:47
They understood everything that was there.
19:49
And, um, they, they hit that car with a paint meter and they
19:52
said, it's never been painted.
19:53
I said, no, it's all original.
19:54
You know, the paint's all original and the guy wanted it.
19:57
They wound up buying that car.
19:58
My next, uh, nine 11 was a, uh, 2008 nine 11, um, GT three.
20:04
Oh wow.
20:04
So again, triple black, black on, black on black.
20:07
And, um, you know, that was, uh, that was kind of a dream come true for me.
20:11
'cause I, I, you know, watching the IMSA races and, and, and watching what GT
20:15
threes do on, you know, on the circuits, you know, it's just, just amazing to me.
20:20
And I, I always wanted to be responsible for something
20:22
that made that kind of sound.
20:24
The stars aligned and I wound up getting my hands on a, uh,
20:28
you know, a black on, black on black, you know, nine 11 GT three.
20:31
And it was, um, oh my God.
20:33
It was a riot to, uh, it was a riot to, to drive and own and, um.
20:38
A different Porsche experience.
20:40
It was, um, it was hard to drive.
20:42
You had it sat so low.
20:44
You know, I went through three chin spoilers on that car.
20:46
Never ripped them off, but, you know, you scuff 'em and you're like, okay.
20:49
They're like, uh, pencil erasers, you know, they wear down so quickly.
20:53
So I would go through chin spoilers on that car.
20:55
Brake pads were, you know, were, uh, were a lot of fun.
20:58
Um, those big ventilated discs were kind of like cheese graters
21:01
and they would just take 'em down and, um, but the car was a blast.
21:05
I mean, the car was an absolute blast.
21:07
I, um, did not do anything to that car.
21:10
It didn't mod that car at all.
21:11
It just 'cause it didn't need it.
21:13
It had such an even distribution of power and it, it was quick and, um,
21:17
you know, quick from start to stop and it stopped like a million bucks.
21:21
And if you had a long road and, um, and were brave and you put the
21:25
loud pedal down and let it eat, um, that car would, would, would scare
21:29
you with how quickly, you know, the speedometer started to, um, point
21:33
down and, uh, it was, it was amazing.
21:35
It was amazing to own.
21:36
So that you went from air cold nine 11 to water cold nine
21:39
11, that's a whole giant jump.
21:42
No, nine 60 fours, no nine 90 threes in between.
21:45
Nothing straight to the 9, 9 6 platform.
21:47
You know, my, my dream car is a 9 9 3, you know, and I'm not finished yet, you know,
21:51
so when it's time for another one, I would absolutely kill for a 9, 9 3 Carrera, you
21:58
know, a Carrera or a, uh, 9 6 4 Turbo.
22:01
There's something about the lines of a 9 6 4 turbo there.
22:05
I think it's just one of the most beautiful cars ever built.
22:08
And whether you see one of those on Instagram or you see one in real
22:12
life, I mean, they just seem to get better and better and better with age.
22:16
And I feel that way about the nine, nine threes as well.
22:19
But, um, you know, those are the, uh, those are the last of the last air
22:23
cools, you know, one day, one day I hope.
22:26
Um, you know, and get my hands on one of those as well.
22:29
And it's funny you mention that 'cause just the other week I posted
22:32
on Instagram, a friend of mine out in Washington State happened to
22:35
pick up all original 9 9 3 garage.
22:38
Kept super low mileage in that like merlott color.
22:41
They came out when they introduced him Beautiful car.
22:44
You know, he's a Corvette guy.
22:46
He is that all the others cars.
22:47
And he goes.
22:48
That has been my unicorn, like basically a first run 9, 9 3.
22:52
And I was like, man, you made it.
22:53
You crossed that finish line.
22:54
Congratulations.
22:55
And then it was like, how do you like it?
22:56
He's like, I, I love, it's, you know, it's the best thing ever.
22:58
And I'm like, okay.
23:00
Now I will say, you know, I don't know that I could own a 9 93 'cause the prices
23:03
are going up thanks to, and same with the nine 60 fours thanks to Singer.
23:07
Right?
23:07
They're taking all those cars and turning 'em into those resto
23:10
mods and all that kind of stuff.
23:11
And, and some of the other companies out there doing that sort of stuff.
23:14
But I did get the opportunity to ride in a 9 93 twin turbo.
23:18
Wow.
23:19
And for me, that was like, it was right up there with like the F 40
23:22
and some of these other cars where it's like, if I ever get a chance
23:24
to ride in one of those, and I did.
23:26
And it was, it was mind blowingly fast.
23:28
And what's funny is, mm-hmm.
23:30
It came from this desire from when I was a kid because my
23:33
uncle owned a nine 30 turbo.
23:36
And so I got a, a chance to ride in that with all the giant turbo
23:39
lag and kicking you in the chest and everything that goes with that.
23:42
And it just left such an impression that it was like, if I ever get a chance
23:45
to, you know, ride in the biggest, baddest nine 11 turbo out there,
23:48
I want to get the chance to do it.
23:50
And that was absolutely phenomenal.
23:51
So it's funny you mentioned your uncle's nine 30, so I too have an
23:54
uncle with a nine 30 that's been in the family for a long time.
23:56
And um, I remember when, you know, he was kind of teetering on, you
24:00
know, should I sell that car?
24:01
Do you wanna buy it?
24:02
And I didn't have garage space, but I should have bought another
24:05
house with the garage and a bigger garage and got my hands on that car.
24:09
That too was the first turbocharge Porsche that I had ever been in still to this day.
24:14
You know, that's another one that I would love to get my hands on.
24:17
But, you know, that was a, that was an amazing memory.
24:19
And, um, you know, I, I would, I would kill to get my hands on that car.
24:23
I don't think it'll ever happen.
24:24
But in the prices of those are.
24:27
Oh, they're out of this world.
24:28
Out of this world.
24:29
And you know what's even worse is if you have a slant nose, right?
24:32
A real one.
24:33
My uncles was converted.
24:34
I won't say why it was converted, but it was converted, but it also
24:37
gave way to the fact of why our nine 14 was converted to a slant nose.
24:41
So it's all like, it's all related in one way or another.
24:44
I mean, uh, so yeah, I mean there's some really cool stuff
24:48
with the older nine elevens.
24:50
Like I said, when they made the switch to water.
24:51
Cool.
24:52
I think your GT three is one of those that everybody goes, yeah, that's the car.
24:56
I wanna, I don't wanna say one of the last good ones, but it's one
24:59
of the last driver cars, right?
25:01
Speaks that farik Newgen, right?
25:03
That driving pleasure that we got from the Volkswagens and some of the older
25:06
BMWs, like the e thirties and, and things like that, where now they're
25:10
space shuttles, they're, you know, they've got all these computers and
25:13
all this stuff and, and I notice in the Porsche world, people are really
25:16
gravitating towards the Cayman, right?
25:19
Mm-hmm.
25:19
Not the boxer so much, but the Cayman, which I secretly laugh and say, ha
25:23
ha ha, they finally got the nine 14.
25:24
Right?
25:25
Ah, I gotcha.
25:26
So there's something to be said about all that.
25:28
It's all about the being a driver's car and, and that, so what was the
25:32
experience like at the track with the GT three compared to, you know,
25:35
the other cars you had been with?
25:36
Well, I mean, so that's where that car really came to life.
25:39
You know, that car felt at home on the track or any high speed, you know,
25:44
opportunities as it did anywhere else.
25:46
It actually felt more at home.
25:48
You know, when you had that car at performance speed, again,
25:50
it was super, super balanced.
25:52
Just amazing, you know, distribution of weight and power.
25:56
You had to always be.
25:57
One step ahead of where you wanted to be versus where you were.
26:02
'cause you would wind up in, in a, in a bad place.
26:05
The gearbox was so chunky and beefy, it forced you to think
26:10
about, you know, every shift.
26:11
And, and, and the clutch was so heavy.
26:13
And yeah, you, you know, you became very, very autonomous over time.
26:17
But that was a car that you had to drive and you had to think about, it didn't have
26:22
the top end as a, you know, a zero one Corvette or, you know, some of the, you
26:26
know, big American, you know, cars that would be on the track to, but in the turns
26:31
and the twisties that car was, was butter.
26:33
I mean, it was, it was unbelievable and, uh, predictable.
26:37
You could hammer a couple curbs here and there and that car would pop up and
26:41
plant itself back down and you know, you never really had to get off the power.
26:45
It just kind of, it took care of you.
26:47
Just an absolute riot to drive horrible in beltway traffic.
26:52
Horrible in beltway traffic.
26:53
Well, what is good in beltway traffic?
26:55
I don't, a helicopter.
26:57
I don't know.
26:59
I would, uh, on the, on the rare occasion where I'd drive that car to work or
27:03
anywhere, you know, and I'd get stuck in, you know, bumper to bumper traffic.
27:06
One you watch the temperature gauge start, you know, and you're like, I
27:08
thought there was, I thought there was water in this car, but, um, my leg
27:12
would, would be so sore from the clutch.
27:13
'cause it was such a heavy clutch.
27:15
And every time you, you know, engaged or disengaged the clutch,
27:17
you had to think about it.
27:18
'cause you didn't wanna be that, that guy with the stalled out nine 11 on
27:22
the beltway, which never happened, ever, never, ever, never, never.
27:27
You talked about the track a lot.
27:28
So two questions for you and they kind of go hand in hand of the
27:32
ones you've been to, your favorite.
27:34
The ones you haven't been to your bucket list?
27:37
Daytona Sports Car course is absolutely my favorite.
27:41
It's one of my favorite vacation destinations, and it is by far
27:45
the, I think one of the coolest tracks to, um, to slide around.
27:49
So that's the Rolex configuration, correct?
27:51
Correct.
27:52
Again, you know, I grew up watching IMS Acar races.
27:54
I grew up watching the 24 hours, was like the Super Bowl, you know, in my house.
27:58
And, you know, and it's been slightly modified over the years, but that was
28:02
the mecca, the pinnacle of motorsports.
28:04
And, uh, you know, finally when I got there to, you know, witness a, a
28:06
Rolex in person, it was unbelievable.
28:09
But then to, to drive around the track and, and, and, you know, feel what that
28:13
banking feels like to come off that banking into the infield and, you know,
28:18
go from top gear almost, you know, tax.
28:21
Out to third year in the second gear and in a hard, hard, hard left turn.
28:25
And then under power through the twisties again, it just, um, you,
28:29
you know, you feel like Derek Bell.
28:30
You feel like, you know, one of the, the racing icons who spent, you
28:34
know, years moving around that track.
28:36
I would love, love, love, love, love, love to, uh, me two tracks.
28:41
I would love to go around LA Mall and I would really love to
28:44
go around the Nuremberg Ring.
28:45
So as a gear head and watching all of the new cars get tested to see who can,
28:50
you know, break the records on that.
28:52
Um, you can't help but watch a lot of Nu Nuremberg ring videos.
28:55
I watch them all.
28:56
I watch, you know, cup car races from the nineties, uh, because hey.
29:00
It's really cool and you get to see exactly where those guys position
29:04
those cars and how they position those cars around that ring.
29:07
I've never been there.
29:08
Um, been to Germany a couple times, but I've never been to, to the ring.
29:11
If I had a bucket list, um, and I do that, that one would be the top of the list.
29:15
Very cool.
29:16
Get all sorts of those.
29:17
The ones that surprise me are the guys that like live around here and they're
29:20
like, I wanna go to Watkins Glen.
29:21
I'm like, dude, that's like four hours.
29:23
I know.
29:24
Talk at least Gimme Laguna Seka or something, you
29:27
know, co coda, I don't know.
29:28
Yeah, right.
29:29
Yeah.
29:30
No, that's super cool.
29:31
So, mark, you mentioned imsa, and I'm a huge IMSA fan as well, and
29:34
I, and I, I, I'm not shy to admit that my number one love is Rally,
29:38
but we won't talk about that because nobody likes talking about Rally.
29:40
So it's okay, we'll find a guest eventually that wants to go there,
29:43
but IMSA is my second love, right?
29:45
So I grew up in the TransAm era, you know, Willie T Ribs, Hurley Haywood,
29:49
this is when Hanok was running with those guys, you know, group
29:52
44 cars, all that kind of thing.
29:54
I was always rooting for the underdog, right?
29:56
Mm-hmm.
29:56
Having followed group B, I followed Audi into TransAm and then into imsa where
30:00
I found my, you know, my second home.
30:02
Our listeners can't see it, but, you know, you're a Porsche guy,
30:05
but you're wearing some BMW wwa.
30:07
So what's going on here?
30:09
Oh, you, you, an M eight, you M eight, M six guy, what's going on?
30:12
No, no, no.
30:13
Um, so my, so when I was, I was in high school, I think I
30:19
was a senior in high school.
30:21
Again, this is another one of those life episodes that I'll, I'll never forget.
30:25
My dad, you know, had a, uh, had a Carrera, another Carrera, and um.
30:29
I heard him in the garage and I was always, you know, I was always the guy
30:32
that, you know, 11 millimeter wrench.
30:34
No, the, the other 11 millimeter wrench.
30:36
So I was always running back and forth and, you know, I started
30:39
hearing him calling my name, you know, mark, mark, mark, come over here.
30:42
And he had his arms, you know, in the car and in, you know, Porsche
30:44
contortionist fashion, a hundred percent.
30:47
There was an alternator that was bad in that car, but that alternator was like,
30:51
you know, two weeks old in that car.
30:53
At that point he had had it.
30:54
He is done.
30:55
He said, I'm finished, I'm finished with nine elevens.
30:57
These are the most expensive, you know, pieces of shit I've ever owned.
31:00
He said, I got, I got no one that's ever owned.
31:03
A nine 11 has ever said that.
31:05
Uh, and I, I, I still disagree, but, um, you know, just like that,
31:12
you know, the garage was, you know, purged of, you know, specialty nine
31:16
11 tools and nine 11 service manuals.
31:18
There were other motors that were, you know, Grenada that were, you
31:22
know, that were, um, you know, track motors that they, one by
31:24
one by one, they all went out.
31:26
And into the garage, you know, pulled a 1988 BMWM three.
31:31
Oh wow.
31:32
Uh, so an E 30 M three.
31:34
Now your dad had good taste.
31:35
That's all I can say.
31:36
So my, my dad, I, I mean, I, I, I, I was lucky growing up, you know,
31:41
underneath his roof and, um, having the luxury of driving his cars.
31:44
'cause he, you know, he knew how to pick 'em and he knew how to take care of 'em.
31:47
And he understood what they were, what they were capable of.
31:51
But on top of everything else, he was more than willing to share them as
31:55
long as they were there and they were.
31:56
Clean and, um, I was respectful.
31:59
He would allow me to drive them and I could tell you stories of things
32:01
that I did with those cars too.
32:03
It was absolutely nuts.
32:04
But four cylinder water cooled, you know, front engine BMWM three, it
32:10
didn't have the grunt of a nine 11.
32:12
It didn't make the, the same sounds as a nine 11 GTI would beat it off the line.
32:16
So, oh yeah, I mean, and it, it was anything but fast.
32:19
But that car was balanced.
32:21
That started a wave of m threes.
32:24
So back up when my dad was building, you know, Chavelle motors and that sort
32:30
of stuff, he also had two BMW 2002.
32:34
Nice.
32:34
So, um, so, you know, he was always, he, he, he enjoyed, you know, German cars.
32:39
Even back then when, you know, American muscle was his thing.
32:42
He kind of, I guess decided, you know, I'm going back to my roots and, you
32:46
know, there was A-B-M-W-M three in the garage and we had a good time with
32:50
that car, you know, that was his baby.
32:53
And, um, then as BMW would release new models of the M three, he would grab them.
32:58
Um, as I mentioned, my dad, you know, got sick and passed away, but I was
33:02
driving my nine 11 to a meeting and it was very, very rare that I did that.
33:06
I was one exit away from the guy that I bought the car from.
33:10
My dad called me and he said, Hey, you know, do you know anybody
33:14
that wants any of these cars?
33:15
I can't, I can't drive 'em.
33:17
And they're all stick.
33:18
And I said, you know what, what do, what do you mean?
33:19
He goes, I, he said, they're not doing anybody any good.
33:21
He said, they're all, you know, they're all here.
33:23
If you know anybody that wants 'em, any of your friends that are gonna
33:26
hang on 'em, have 'em give me a call.
33:28
I gotta figure something out.
33:29
Tears in my eyes.
33:30
Hung up the phone five minutes later.
33:33
Um, the guy that I bought my GT three from called and he said, Hey.
33:38
He's like, you know, it's, it's Omar.
33:39
I said, I know exactly.
33:40
I recognize the number.
33:41
And he said, you don't still have that car.
33:43
I said, I do.
33:44
He goes, what did you do to it?
33:45
And I said, I've done brakes.
33:48
I've done tires, I've done oil, and that's it.
33:51
He's like, how many miles are on that car?
33:53
And I said, I three th I think I put 3000 miles on that car.
33:57
He said, you're not interested in selling?
33:59
And I said, uh, no.
34:01
And then I kind of thought about it and I'm like, I don't know.
34:03
I'm like.
34:04
Let me go to this meeting and drop by the shop, and you, you tell me what, what,
34:09
what we're, what we're dealing with.
34:11
And, um, he had a buyer for the car.
34:13
They offered me as much money as I paid for it.
34:15
So I never lost a nickel.
34:17
I had a lot of fun with it.
34:18
The next thing was an Uber ride back to my dad's garage.
34:21
My dad's house.
34:23
He said, what are you doing here?
34:24
I said, I, I think I'm here to pick up A BMW.
34:26
Which one, which one do you want me to buy?
34:28
And he's like, huh?
34:29
And I said, yeah.
34:30
I mean, I said, my sold my nine 11 today.
34:33
Now I have space in the garage.
34:34
Which one do you want me to buy?
34:35
I wound up driving home his BMWE 46.
34:40
Which was the 12th BMW imported into the United States.
34:43
So he was on the wait list for that car two years in advance.
34:46
So that was a very clean, very, very low mile.
34:51
Um, you know, BMW and, and I took his hat and, uh, along with the BMW and, um, I
34:57
don't know, they just, you know, they're special to me 'cause they were special to
35:00
him, not a nine 11, but they're special to me 'cause they were special to him.
35:04
So, and that's, that's kind of where that came from.
35:07
So I gotta, I gotta pull a couple threads on this.
35:09
First of all, mad props to your dad for going BMW and not 9 44.
35:13
I think he dodged a bullet there.
35:15
Again, no offense to the 9 44 people, but you know what I'm talking about.
35:19
Okay.
35:19
Yeah.
35:19
Mechanics made a living on those cars.
35:21
Yep.
35:22
Second you mentioned Omar, that's Omar from Intersport, correct?
35:25
That's absolutely correct.
35:27
And for any of those of you that are listening in the DMV, we all
35:30
travel in very small circles here in the Potomac region of PCA.
35:34
So, you know, everybody knows who Omar is.
35:36
So hats, hats off to him if he's listening to this episode.
35:39
So, very cool.
35:40
I bought a few Porsches from Omar.
35:42
I can't speak highly enough about the operation he runs and the care that
35:47
he, uh, takes of the cars and his, um, his ability to find cars that are very,
35:52
very clean, very, very special, very, very, um, you know, I mean, they're
35:56
doing a, they're doing the, the, the mother of all PPIs on those cars.
36:00
So when you're dealing with him and any, any of his inventory, um,
36:04
you know, you know, you're getting a very, very clean, very strong
36:07
example of what it is you're buying.
36:09
And he's, he's a lot of fun and he is easy to work with.
36:11
He's got some phenomenal mechanics under, under his roof as well.
36:15
So now what's in the stable BMW or Porsche?
36:18
I have a fishing.
36:21
So just like owning A BMW or an E 36 at least.
36:24
But anyway, moving on.
36:26
Well, so I have, I have space in my garage right now, so, you know,
36:29
I, I got rid of the, the E 46.
36:31
It was not the car for me.
36:33
It was a lot of computers and a lot of weird things in that car.
36:37
So, um, it was fun.
36:39
It was a quick car.
36:41
It did not, was it the SMG or was it the manual?
36:43
No, it was a manual.
36:44
It was an manual.
36:45
So, um, that's all I'm gonna say.
36:47
It's good.
36:47
Yeah, so, so it was not an SMG car.
36:50
The E 30 is still in the family.
36:52
Nice.
36:53
So, um, that will probably be the next one that, you know, I bring here.
36:57
And, um, it's been, you know, the car is very, very clean.
37:00
It's been sitting for a little while, so, you know, garages and, and cars that
37:04
sit in rubber are a terrible combination.
37:07
So it's gonna require some, you know, some TLC and some elbow grease.
37:10
That's really it.
37:11
I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm without a cool car right now or a fun car right
37:14
now, but, uh, you know, soon.
37:16
Come, soon come.
37:17
I'm not sure.
37:18
I'm not sure which direction I'm, I'm gonna go.
37:20
Which, which leads into a great question 'cause I gotta bring it up.
37:22
Since you, you, you're living in both camps.
37:24
What do you think of the new BMWs?
37:27
Uh, man, it's funny.
37:28
I saw one on the road today and the guy made a turn and let it eat and it made a
37:32
great, it made a whole hell of a lot of sound and it looked like a lot of fun.
37:35
It was a new brand new M four.
37:37
I think they're really, really cool looking cars.
37:39
Um, they're so.
37:41
Computerized and there's so much stuff and gizmos and gadgets in them.
37:46
They're not as raw as the types of cars that, you know, excite me.
37:51
So you're okay with that front end?
37:53
Are you the one person that I've talked to That's okay with that snout?
37:57
No.
37:57
I, I, you know, the, they haven't been my thing, but, um, you know,
38:01
when you see a car and a car shoots down the road and you're like, for the
38:05
first time, you're like, that wasn't.
38:06
You know, that caught my attention.
38:08
That wasn't that bad.
38:09
I, I literally had that experience today with a triple black, uh,
38:13
you know, brand new BMWM four.
38:15
And the guy, you know, was, was slow to make the turn, but once he had, you
38:19
know, all four wheels pointed in the same direction, um, he got on it and it
38:23
did make a hell of a lot of noise and it disappeared under it pretty fricking fast.
38:26
I, I, I, oh, absolutely.
38:28
I was impressed by how quickly that car, um, how quickly that
38:31
car, um, you know, vanished.
38:32
But I don't know.
38:33
They're, they're, they're, they're okay.
38:35
There are too many of them.
38:36
There are too many of 'em.
38:37
One of the gripes I have with all these cool cars today is you see so
38:40
many of 'em, you know, m fours, m fives, m sixes, you know, they're,
38:46
they're, they're everywhere.
38:47
A MG Mercedes, everywhere you look, they're awesome.
38:50
They're super special, they're very expensive.
38:52
But there's just so many of 'em.
38:54
I, I can't believe how many, you know, cars these manufacturers
38:57
are pumping out, um, these days.
39:00
You know, and I remember when an M three sighting was a rarity, you know, when a
39:04
nine 11 sighting was a rarity when a nine 14 sighting, well, that's still pretty
39:08
much a rarity now, but you know, you, you, you just didn't see them and encounter
39:12
them as often as, um, you know, you do with all this new age space, age stuff.
39:17
Yeah.
39:17
You know?
39:18
Yeah.
39:18
They've become more available.
39:20
But I also look at it from the other perspective.
39:22
A lot of those specialty cars.
39:24
We're grounded and born out of motorsport, and now they're born out of status.
39:30
So it's like, I need to have an M four and they'll take, you know, the factory
39:34
will take an M four or a private tier.
39:35
I'll take an M four and go racing with it.
39:37
But it's not like the e thirties or the one 90 s or the early nine elevens and
39:42
all the other, you know, specialty cars.
39:44
And it's like, let's call it a, let's call a spade a spade.
39:46
We took a shit box and we turned it into a race car and we went to go
39:50
compete against the big boys, right?
39:51
We were the underdog with, you know, the evolution.
39:53
Let's, let's look at the E 30.
39:54
It's an evolution of the 2002 platform, right?
39:56
Mm-hmm.
39:56
And then they went, oh, we gotta put flares on it.
39:58
'cause we wanna put big more meat under there.
40:00
You know, we want to compete with Audi, with the Quattro, with the big
40:02
flares and all this kind of stuff.
40:04
And it was, it was kind of a sign of the times, right?
40:06
But now I feel like we flipped it on its nose.
40:08
And to your point, there's a SLS in everybody's driveway.
40:11
Mm-hmm.
40:11
I mean, that's an exaggeration.
40:12
Mm-hmm.
40:13
But it's not like, oh my God, like the goal wing, right?
40:16
Like the, like the old ones where you're like, that's something really cool.
40:19
It's really rare, you know?
40:21
You know, I second that.
40:21
I mean, I really like, um, I really get into the in races and go in in person
40:27
because, you know, there's so, so much of a similarity of what you see on the
40:30
track, um, and how it translates to what they eventually build for the road.
40:35
Um, whether it's a Ford Eco Boost motor that, you know, they're running
40:38
in, you know, a Daytona prototype car.
40:40
Well now Ford Eco Boost Motors are all over the place, um, on
40:43
production cars and a lot of that research and development test and
40:47
engineering was conducted on a track.
40:49
Oh yeah.
40:50
Um, and finds its way into the cool stuff, you know, that's.
40:52
That's in the dealerships and on the lots these days.
40:54
So that's what I think is amazing about IMSA racing, especially GT
41:00
Daytona and the, you know, GT LA Mile class where the cars resemble what
41:04
you see on the, on the streets, or if you're lucky enough in your driveway.
41:08
Since we're back on that, what do you think about the current
41:10
changes to IMSA with the classing, the potential merger with WEC?
41:15
The lack of LMP one cars, which is like, you know, for us IMSA
41:18
guys, it's like Formula One.
41:20
That's where the technology trickles down from is LMP, right?
41:23
So what are your thoughts on that?
41:25
Well, you know, I, hmm.
41:27
So you, you guys like us, go back a long way.
41:30
And I remember, you know, going to Daytona and there were privateers, you know, there
41:34
were people who had, they didn't have these 18 wheelers with, you know, multiple
41:39
different cars and chassis and motors.
41:41
They were, they were, you know, family oriented people who loved motorsport.
41:45
And, um, the diversity of the field, the diversity of the sounds in those
41:50
cars was what was amazing to me.
41:51
You know, from, you know, Mazdas to Porsches to, you know, BMWs to
41:56
Audis, like there was everything.
41:58
And, um, it's gotten to be such a high dollar, high, um, you
42:04
know, cost of entry series.
42:06
I wish there was a way that they could e devolve back into, you know, the pure
42:11
roots of that, that type of racing.
42:13
And, um, yeah, of course you can go to other venues and watch
42:16
other certain, you know, other.
42:17
You know, classes of racing that still have, you know, historic cars.
42:21
But when you get to that scale, to that, that level with those drivers,
42:25
you know, I'd love to see it, you know, kind of devolve back into, you know,
42:30
what it used to be to that exact point.
42:32
I've heard many people say that about nascar.
42:34
It's like, let's bring it back to the old days of stock car where, yeah, I
42:37
mean, let, let's be, let's be real.
42:39
How many rear wheel drive Camry v eights have you ever seen on the road?
42:43
They don't exist.
42:44
They're all two frames with, you know, it's almost like an RC car.
42:47
Put whatever plastic body you want on top of, you know, the
42:50
underpinnings and, and away you go.
42:51
So I would love to see a stock challenger out there, or a true
42:56
Camaro or a Mustang or whatever it is, and have them go head to head.
42:59
So I agree.
43:00
I think mo more and more disciplines are that way.
43:03
And you know, of the big ones, like F1 is not like the air in days.
43:08
Alan Pro stays when I was a kid, you know, watching that.
43:11
I mean, formula One today, it's night and day different, you know?
43:14
Yeah.
43:14
Yeah.
43:15
No, I, I mean, it absolutely is.
43:17
Those cars are amazing.
43:18
The performance they get outta those cars, the fact that they can stick
43:21
those cars to the ground, um, you know, with all of that power, you know, and,
43:26
and run those cars at those speeds on those tight circuits without, you know,
43:30
a, a, a yard sale of parts after a a a session is just, just amazing to me.
43:35
But again, that's not, you know, that's not an every man's, you know, everyday
43:38
man's, you know, um, endeavor anymore.
43:41
At one point it kind of used to be Well, and, and, and to that
43:44
point, let's, let's use stock car, or let's use NASCAR as an example.
43:48
I just recently, you know, read an article came across my desk where
43:51
they were talking about how, you know, we already know they've, they've
43:53
gone away from carburetors, right?
43:55
Mm-hmm.
43:55
They're, they're, they've gone fuel injected.
43:56
Mm-hmm.
43:57
Now they're talking about doing away with the four speed manual and going
44:00
to a five speed sequential transaxle.
44:03
Right?
44:03
A totally different drive, train configuration.
44:05
I mean, they're coming into, oh, I don't know, the 1980s now, which is great.
44:09
But, but the point is.
44:11
It's where they would go to figure out how stuff would last It's, it was an
44:15
endurance thing or longevity thing.
44:17
It's like that gearbox is junk.
44:19
We're gonna go back and redesign it.
44:20
Why would we put that in the streetcar if it breaks all the time?
44:23
Stuff like that.
44:23
And so those really fancy setups, and even for Porsche, the PKS and all
44:28
that stuff is watered down from GT racing and all that kind of stuff.
44:32
So it does eventually find its way in the mainstream, but it's not the
44:36
same as in the old days where they took a tempest and built a GTO and
44:40
then went to the track, you know?
44:43
Yeah.
44:44
One of the things on my bucket list that I haven't done yet is to go to the historic
44:48
24 or one of the historic, the HSR series.
44:52
Because those are all car guys that have acquired those cars or rebuilt those cars.
44:58
Yeah.
44:58
You know, they're running them and they're running 'em at speed and
45:00
it's not an exhibition lap, you know, but, um, they're not banging into
45:04
each other for all the right reasons.
45:05
You know, when I look at my calendar with family and work and everything
45:09
else and I'm like, all right, you know, Daytona weekend, or should I go, you
45:13
know, to an HSR event, historic 24?
45:17
Kind of to answer your question, I find myself getting more excited about an
45:20
HSR, you know, weekend at the track just to see and listen to those cars.
45:24
'cause they're very, very different than, oh yeah, what's going on today?
45:28
I mean, the, the difference in decibels spending 24 hours at the track or
45:32
wherever with today's cars versus, you know, the cars of yesterday.
45:36
Absolutely night and day.
45:37
I mean, you know, when I'd go Daytona with my dad for days, your ears would
45:42
ring from the sounds of the RX sevens.
45:44
I mean, those cars would, would go by.
45:46
It was absolutely deafening Ford Mustangs and the Camaros and the Corvettes.
45:51
I mean, you would feel those cars in your chest.
45:54
You could feel the cars in your chest until they got rid of the
45:57
Corvette Daytona prototypes.
45:58
And the, um, you know, the last version of the, uh, what is it?
46:03
Uh, C seven C seven, the C seven C seven, but I mean, just the thunderous,
46:07
you know, voice of that car.
46:08
I mean, they're playing the American anthem as they go by.
46:11
Oh, a hundred percent every lap.
46:12
And.
46:13
Now, you know, there's so much quieter, everything's turbocharged and, um, it's
46:17
so much quieter and you can literally hear the wind going over those cars.
46:21
If you listen carefully, well just wait till they're all EVs.
46:24
You won't hear anything.
46:25
I know.
46:25
I mean, it's, it's so, it's weird.
46:27
So I have mixed feelings about, you know, merging and blending all these things.
46:31
Yeah, I mean, you're gonna see the best of the best drivers and the, the highest
46:35
caliber teams, which is really, really cool to see the way those guys and girls
46:39
do that, you're getting to, you know, you're getting to the stratosphere of,
46:43
uh, of spend and cost of entry is just prohibitive from anybody who isn't
46:47
the owner and founder of WeatherTech.
46:49
I mean, it's very, very, very tough to get into those, into that series.
46:53
Yeah, and to your point about the historics, I think the only
46:55
exception to that rule is Goodwood.
46:57
If you've ever watched a Goodwood race, those guys.
46:59
Send it.
47:00
And then some, they do not care that they're out there in a $50
47:03
million, one of one Ferrari.
47:05
I mean, they're in it to win it.
47:06
It's crazy.
47:07
Yeah.
47:08
I see them bouncing off the hail ba uh, hay bales and all that other stuff.
47:12
But, uh, festival of Speed, I mean, they're bringing it.
47:15
I mean, you could sit and look at a car, you could drive it.
47:17
It's what it was built for, right?
47:19
Yeah.
47:19
Yeah.
47:20
So, speaking of driving cars, you said your stable's empty.
47:22
You're looking at, you know, you're looking at maybe something new.
47:25
Let's talk about what's on your list.
47:27
Let me lobby you an easy one, in your opinion.
47:29
Sexiest car of all time.
47:31
9 64 Turbo would be the sexiest car of all time for me.
47:34
It's 9 64 Turbo, wildly sexy to me.
47:37
I've always had an eye for Ferrari.
47:40
Uh, F four 30 C two.
47:42
I've never owned a Ferrari.
47:43
My, you know, my dad's never owned a Ferrari.
47:46
Um, you know, I don't know that I'll ever, you know, step into
47:49
the Ferrari, you know, category.
47:51
But, um, there's something about four thirties.
47:53
I just have always excited me, thought we super cool.
47:56
So either a 9 64 turbo, preferably black.
48:00
Or silver or a, uh, Corone Rosa Ferrari.
48:04
Remember I said your dad was a smart man, that's why he
48:06
never owned a Ferrari, right?
48:08
I know, I know.
48:09
I just, uh, I hear the stories and um, you know, I hear the stories, but you
48:13
know, in terms of, you know, living art, that car is one of 'em, in my opinion.
48:18
So sexiest.
48:19
But if, you know, if you were the million dollar man, you had
48:21
a million dollars to spend on a car, you'd buy anything you want.
48:23
It could be one car, it could be 12 cars, it could be 150
48:26
Crown Vix, if you want it to be.
48:28
Are those same two cars on the list or is there something
48:30
else just further out of reach?
48:33
No, I mean, uh, I'm a simple guy, you know, and that,
48:36
that, that would be for me.
48:37
You know, I would, I would I perfect world somebody else's money, or if
48:42
I had extra, extra, extra money.
48:44
9 64 black or silver or a red, a red four 30 Ferrari.
48:49
I think that would be, or both.
48:51
Um, I just think that would be such a, you know, either or.
48:53
It would be such cool cars to, uh, you know, to, to have.
48:56
We gotta flip that on.
48:57
Its noses though.
48:58
So ugliest car of all time.
49:02
Oh man.
49:02
The ugliest car of all times.
49:04
Um, that's an easy one.
49:05
The Avanti.
49:06
Have you ever seen one of those avantis that was the stude baker?
49:09
Uh, yeah, I mean, it's absolutely insane.
49:11
So, you know, there is a, there is a, a, a woman who drives one of those
49:15
as a daily driver around Annapolis.
49:17
So I see it all the time and it just, it seems to get worse and worse and worse.
49:23
Worse.
49:23
And, um, and you, you look at it, you're like, what the, you know,
49:27
what was the di designer, you know, thinking like, it's, it's crazy.
49:31
It's absolutely crazy.
49:32
So, um, that, that one is just never gets better, never gets better.
49:36
That was, that was the Hail Mary for Studebaker though, right?
49:38
I mean, they had some weird cars, but that one definitely took the cake as
49:41
they were sunset the brand, I mean, I don't know, it shares qualities and some
49:46
lines with other cars, but I'm with you.
49:48
I have seen some though, where guys have lowered 'em and put big wheels on 'em,
49:52
kind of do the whole like, you know, old Corvette style of like, you know,
49:55
tasteful rest mods, but then you just get to that front end and you're like.
49:59
What happened?
50:00
It's got no nose.
50:02
Yeah.
50:02
This particular one is, is atrocious.
50:05
I mean, it has, um, silver and gold wheels Ooh, um, spokes, you know, and they
50:10
must be, you know, 90 spokes per wheel.
50:12
I mean, it's crazy.
50:12
How do, how they, the poor person who cleans those?
50:15
You know, I, I, you know, I look at it and it's got curb feelers on it.
50:20
Um, there are all sorts of gold, dude, daddy, you know.
50:23
Oh man.
50:24
Uh, accents on the car.
50:25
So it really, I mean, it, it went from bad to worse with that one in a heartbeat.
50:30
And I, like I said, I, I happen to see this all the time, does have
50:33
nice paint, they take care of it.
50:35
It's clean.
50:36
Um, it's somebody's pride and joy and hats off to them, but,
50:39
um, just, just, absolutely.
50:41
Absolutely.
50:41
So, so now I'm gonna ask a really pointed question.
50:44
Ugliest Porsche, in your opinion.
50:46
Ugliest Porsche.
50:48
In my opinion, you can say the nine 14.
50:50
It's okay, I get it.
50:51
No, I, some of these new nine elevens, the new nine nine twos, I
50:57
don't love the looks of those cars.
50:59
They're gigantic.
51:00
Um, yeah, I thought you were gonna say like, I was expecting, and I'm sure the
51:04
audience is groaning going the 9 28.
51:07
Right?
51:07
That's what I was expecting you to say, but No, you, I'm surprised.
51:11
Yeah.
51:11
I, yeah.
51:11
Nine 20 eights are atrocious.
51:13
Um, they are bad.
51:15
The new, the newest nine elevens.
51:17
The nine, nine twos.
51:18
I get it.
51:19
They're cool cars.
51:20
They're four liter PowerPoint.
51:21
It, it, I mean, they've got, you know, tons of power, but, uh, and
51:25
the motor mysteriously keeps getting closer to the driver every year.
51:28
Right.
51:29
When you open the, when you open the, the trunk of one of those
51:32
cars, you know where the motor is.
51:33
You no longer see the motor.
51:35
You see a place to put oil.
51:36
You see a place to put water, and that's really it.
51:38
I think that it's a sin, you know, I mean, the people that buy those cars that are
51:42
true Porsche, people are crying out loud.
51:44
You don't even, you're not even allowed to see the motor in that car unless it comes
51:47
outta the, you know, from the bottom.
51:48
From the bottom.
51:48
Yeah, exactly.
51:49
I'm baffled by that.
51:51
Just blows me away.
51:53
Retro question for you.
51:54
Is the 9 59 still cool or was it ever cool to begin with?
51:59
I thought it was super cool.
52:00
You know, I thought it was a super cool car when they,
52:02
when they came out with that.
52:03
I mean, uh, God, we're going back to the, you know, 88, 89
52:07
when that car was on the street.
52:08
So, or, well, not on the street, but in the magazines.
52:11
I just, you know, I, I thought it was so futuristic at the time and the
52:15
amount of power that it was pumping out and the fact that it was Twin
52:18
Turbo and four wheel drive was kind of unheard of, you know, for a, um, I, I
52:23
think, I think it's a pretty cool car.
52:25
And, um, and I like that car because on the inside of that car, you don't.
52:29
There's no difference whether you're in my old nine 11 or you're in, you
52:33
know, in an extraordinarily rare 9 59.
52:38
I've never been in, so I've never been in one.
52:40
I've seen them in person a few times, but, um, I've never been in them, but
52:43
they say they have a tremendous amount of punch and, um, they're just pretty
52:47
predictable fun cars to drive for those of 'em, those of us who are lucky enough
52:51
to get in 'em, you know, I won't nerd out on the all wheel drive system, but, we'll,
52:54
we'll sidebar that, but I'm just gonna say Audi and we'll move on from that.
52:58
But, uh, but I, I do wanna ask another kind of question that goes with that.
53:03
So, if you were the, we, we got all the votes cast, and you're
53:05
the last one to cast your vote.
53:07
Mm-hmm.
53:08
I'm 59 or F 40.
53:10
Which one is it?
53:11
F 40.
53:12
Really?
53:13
Ah, yeah.
53:13
F 40.
53:14
They're two different animals.
53:15
You know, Ferrari makes race cars and they happen to make street cars too.
53:19
So that F 40 was really the, you know, the generation of the racing, you know,
53:24
heritage, you know, built into carbon fiber with a place to put a license plate.
53:29
You see an F 40 in real life, they're a lot smaller than
53:32
they look in the magazine.
53:33
They're a lot lower than they, they, you know, they look in the magazine, they're
53:36
tiny, they're essentially race cars.
53:39
There's nothing to them.
53:40
And I think that is so cool that, you know, car manufacturer
53:44
will, you know, take that.
53:46
Racing heritage and package it into, you know, something that is
53:50
street legal, the sounds of those cars, the looks of those cars.
53:54
There is nothing, there's really nothing like an F 40 in, in my opinion.
53:59
But, um, yeah, I'd go F 40 I, I'm okay, I'm okay with that answer.
54:03
That was that, and that was the first car that I bought in four is a seven too.
54:09
At one of these years, we're gonna stop poking fun at Corvette and, and
54:12
it's not because we dislike them.
54:14
I have, I've had the very fortunate luxury of instructing in many a car as a
54:19
coach to include Cortes, and I'm a huge fan of the C sixes and the C sevens and
54:24
things like that, especially the C seven.
54:25
I think they finally had gotten it right then.
54:27
That's just my opinion, but whatever.
54:29
What do you think of the new one?
54:30
What do you, what do you think about the mid engine Corvette?
54:32
So, um, I'm with you.
54:34
I thought the C sevens, uh, you know, not a car that I would ever own or buy, or
54:39
a car that I ever thought I would like.
54:41
I, I think the C sevens were amazing.
54:44
Great sound, amazing power.
54:45
They certainly got it right.
54:47
The new ones, you know, I don't know.
54:50
I mean, you know, you see them coming at you on the road and I am, they
54:54
catch my attention, they catch my eye.
54:56
So I think they're really cool looking.
54:58
I think they need to mature a little bit and, um, and iron some, you
55:01
know, some kinks and bugs out and, um, they're gonna be pretty hot.
55:04
I think they're gonna be pretty, pretty hot car, you know, but they're definitely
55:07
not, you know, definitely not a, a c seven Corvette in my opinion, you know?
55:11
I mean, will they catch my attention?
55:12
And, um, you know, I mean, shit, they've done an amazing job
55:15
with those cars on the track.
55:17
They're certainly proving themselves on the track.
55:19
That says a lot because that technology too finds its way into.
55:23
The dealership.
55:24
So Mark, you know, having gone through, you know, racing and, and
55:27
we've talked a lot, you know, you do a bunch of virtual racing and whatnot.
55:30
So if, if I kind of place this as a virtual question, if you could meet
55:35
anyone kind of racing legend, sit down, have a beer with them, who would it be?
55:39
Oh, gosh, that's a, that's a good question.
55:42
Um, God, man, put you on the spot.
55:47
It would definitely be, you know, maybe a Nick Tandy or one
55:51
of the Porsche factory drivers.
55:53
Patrick Long, I mean, I, I, you know, I, I I look at these, you know, these
55:58
guys that are driving, you know, for Porsche, because I love the cars.
56:02
I'm just so envious of, you know, of them.
56:05
And, um, but to answer your question, Burg Meister, if I could drink some
56:09
beer, it would be with York Burg Meister, preferably in Germany.
56:12
That guy's had an amazing racing career.
56:15
He is, seems to be everywhere, still just an amazing life.
56:19
The, you know, the life that all of these drivers, these professional
56:21
drivers live just is amazing.
56:24
But Burg me, that would be, uh, that would be my fellow that I drink some beer with.
56:28
I, I think I'm with you there, man.
56:30
I, I would love to meet like.
56:32
The factory Audi Group B team.
56:34
You know, Michelle Muon, Walter Royal Ola, you know, stick, bloom fist.
56:38
Any of those guys, I'll have a beer with any of them.
56:40
It's, but there's one in particular, and this is why I brought up the
56:45
virtual racing part, especially I racing, I happened to watch the
56:48
video, I think it was last year or the year before, where they released
56:51
the imsa ITU, you know, GTO Audi 90.
56:55
And they interviewed Hanok.
56:56
Mm-hmm.
56:57
About it.
56:57
And so he does this voiceover and they show him driving the real
57:00
car and then some footage from I racing and all this kind of stuff.
57:03
And it was one of those moments where it was like, I guess, you know, with
57:06
the way we do video nowadays, compared to back in the day, I felt like, you
57:10
know, I was in the room with him.
57:10
It was one of those kind of experiences and it's like.
57:13
I would have a beer with Hauk, like he seems like the coolest guy in the world.
57:17
He is, got the longest resume, all the crazy stuff.
57:20
He's, he's been fast in every car he is ever been put behind the wheel
57:23
in, you know, and it goes back to his dad, you know, hauk s senior
57:26
back to the Silver Arrows days.
57:28
I mean, his racing pedigree is, is absolutely incredible.
57:31
So that'd be my vote if I had to pick.
57:33
But, uh, yes.
57:35
He's, uh, he's had a, a phenomenal, you know, phenomenal career and, um, and
57:39
has driven many, many, many different, you know, brands of cars as well.
57:43
I mean, I remember hunch stuck from his b BMW days, you know, uh,
57:46
driving E 30 M threes when, uh, and uh, CSI BMWs even before that.
57:51
So, I mean, it's just super, super cool.
57:53
You know, what did it for me, it wasn't all the Audi stuff.
57:55
It was in the two early two thousands when he participated in their version of iroc.
58:00
You remember we used to have, remember we used to have IROC here in the us?
58:03
I remember that.
58:03
Yeah.
58:03
Yeah, yeah.
58:04
Yeah.
58:04
Well over there they had the Beetle Cup in the uk and it was like all these
58:08
famous race car drivers and he's out there crushing it in a front wheel drive beetle.
58:12
I'm just like, you're the man.
58:14
That's all I have to say.
58:18
Ah, that's amazing.
58:19
That's amazing.
58:19
Yeah.
58:19
I wish, I wish we had that.
58:21
I, I, I wish we could live those days again.
58:22
I mean, there was so much cool history, uh, you know, made around the
58:26
racetracks, you know, for drivers, for cars, for fans, and, you know, maybe
58:31
one day we'll get, get there again.
58:33
Absolutely.
58:34
And you know, and that's really the premise of, of what we're doing here
58:37
at GTM, that's why we're talking to guys like yourself, right?
58:40
Is to continue to spread that motor sports enthusiasm to remind people there's so
58:44
much of the motorsports world and the car world entangled and car culture,
58:49
you know, entangled in our daily lives.
58:51
That it's, I don't know how we can just give up on it.
58:53
There's such great stories and memories, the freedom of driving.
58:56
We talk about this throughout the show and, you know, you're
58:58
just a reminder of all of that.
59:00
And it's been an absolutely fantastic experience talking with you and, you
59:04
know, our listeners getting to know you a little bit better and, you
59:07
know, hearing your story and all that.
59:08
Uh, no, I, I, I, I appreciate it.
59:11
Thank you so much, Eric.
59:12
It's been, uh, it's been a great, you know, great conversation and thank you
59:15
so much for giving me an opportunity to share a couple stories and, uh,
59:19
and uh, spend some time with you.
59:20
Absolutely.
59:21
And if you're out there listening, maybe you'll see Mark
59:23
Trackside with us this year.
59:25
Once he picks a new car, we'll have to borrow one of ours,
59:27
I suppose, from the fleet.
59:30
Exactly, exactly.
59:32
Yeah.
59:32
I would love to meet you guys out there and, um, at, you know, at at, at a
59:35
minimum at least, you know, be there cooking hamburgers and fuel you guys up.
59:39
I, I, I love a track day, so absolutely.
59:43
Thanks for stopping by, mark.
59:51
If you like what you've heard and want to learn more about gtm, be sure to
59:54
check us out on www.gt motorsports.org.
59:58
You can also find us on Instagram at Grand Tour Motorsports.
1:00:01
Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call
1:00:06
or text us at (202) 630-1770 or send us an email at crew chief@gtmotorsports.org.
1:00:13
We'd love to hear from you.
1:00:15
Hey everybody, crew Chief Eric here.
1:00:18
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