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A conversation about cars, trucks, tugs and other machines of transport that flows like an ADHD fever dream, hosted by Hoonigan co-founder and 321 Action Action director Brian Scotto. Enjoy, it’s gonna be a bizarre ride.
S3 E20 Audio
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[00:00:00] Hey, what's up everybody? This is very vehicular and as always, I am your host, Brian Scotto. Today we got a slightly different episode. You know what you're getting. You're getting a lot of me. That's right. You guys ask questions and we are answering them today. So strap in and enjoy.
This episode is dedicated to all of you who say the host talks too much. 'cause guess what? You're getting just me today. Here's how we're gonna do this one. Um, we picked 10 great questions. We put them in an order that we think tells a good story. Nick's gonna read off the questions and I'm gonna kind of go [00:01:00] through them in a somewhat rapid fire response.
I say somewhat because we all know there's no real brevity in the way I talk, but we're gonna try to get through 10 good questions that we think, um, actually do a really nice job of carving up a pretty good episode. So without further ado, let's get into it. So, uh. Nick hit us with the first question.
Okay, so our first question today is from Abrahim Ali D eight K, and he asks if you can consolidate your entire collection for one dream car, what would that one car be? Okay. I wanna start off by saying the idea of consolidating all 25 to 27, I don't even remember, of my car, is to only be one. That is my nightmare car.
The, I like having lots of cars that I don't have a single dream car that serves them all. I know it would be someone, if someone would say, oh, sell 'em all and buy an F 41. I don't think I could sell all my cars on afford an F 40. That's [00:02:00] the first, the second, the practicality of only owning an F 40 just doesn't make sense for my lifestyle.
But I did put a little bit of thought into this. So this is a world of, of, um, you know, of dreaming, we should say, or, you know, if, if possible, how could I manage this? So the first thing I thought about was that this is my only car. Like this is the only vehicle I have. So it has to check a lot of boxes, um, and.
Those boxes for me are like, one, it, it has to service my family, right? So like it needs to have four doors. Um, it needs to service being fun. So that means it has to sound good and it also needs to be fun to drive and, and like still have a rawness to it. So that pretty much cuts out anything that's probably too new.
Um. It needs to be able to do work on some level, meaning I have to be able to go to Home Depot and pick up a sheet of plywood or supplies or do something like [00:03:00] that or possibly, you know, maybe even tow a trailer, um, trying to fit all and then, but it has to really enjoy driving. So that kind of cuts out like the pickup trucks.
'cause for a while I thought maybe just like a really well sorted, like lowered pickup truck would service me well. Um, I was like, ah, I, I just don't think I would enjoy driving that every day. I've done the, having a pickup truck as a daily, and while it is really functional, the minute you get back into a car, you're like, oh, right.
This is why I enjoy cars and no knock to pickup truck drivers. Like I, I've had ton of fun off road in different types of pre runners, raptors, TXs, whatever. Um, a lot of fun. But for just, I gravitate more to windy roads. That's what I really enjoy. Like, if, if I only got to do one fun thing in cars for the rest of my life, it would be driving windy roads.
So here's what I've kind of put together. Um, I think to no one's shock, [00:04:00] it's an Audi, um. I was thinking about the different Audis and actually I was thinking maybe my RS two could serve this, but I realized that the RS two is just a tad too old for sort of everyday life with other people. I don't mind it all the time, but I think having a car that feels slightly newer and there was a huge jump between the B four chassis and the B five chassis.
So I think to start the chassis itself would be a B five RS four avant, because you gotta have a wagon. Like if you're only gonna have one car and it needs to be sporty, but you also need able to fit stuff in it, the avant is the way to go. You could put a roof rack on it and you can, you could store stuff up top.
I know I would definitely get meme by being the guy putting plywood on the roof of my car at Home Depot. Shout out to, uh, lumber Jetta meme from those who remember way back in the day. Um, but then from there I [00:05:00] was thinking like. Look, I'm not gonna knock the V six in it. Cosworth developed really, really cool.
It just doesn't float it for me. So it would either be. An I five, uh, turbo swap. Um, so think like an a a n or a DU motor or something like that, or a VR six turbo swap. Um, one of those two. And when I, because it's a dream car, it's the perfect swap, like it runs perfect, it starts every time. 'cause if we can have a dream car, the second part of it would be developing some sort of suspension, uh, that actually could raise up.
So in the winter months, I could have a lot more, you know, travel, um, to be able to set up with snow tires. Not that I live in a winter climate, but I wanna be able to go there, right? Because again, this is my one vehicle. Um, I'd also wanna be able to drive it off road. So I think like a little bit of rally armor underneath.
Um, again, that adjustable suspension, I'm sure KW could figure out an Hhl s system for me that would sort of operate full-time, would be kind of [00:06:00] the, the model for that. Um, and uh, back to the engine, I think the sweet spot is about 550 horsepower, somewhere between 500 and 600 horsepower. Like that's like, it's still rowdy, but it's not.
Absolutely ridiculous and you can probably still have a tune that gets somewhat decent gas mileage for kind of getting around. Um, yeah. And then, um, interiors gotta be, you know, really fresh Alcantara, um, oh, I think I said ela, but it needs to be ELA yellow. 'cause if you're gonna have only one card should be pretty shocking.
Uh oh. And uh, last but not least, uh, the vehicle absolutely needs to have a tow hitch. Um, I do actually have an a tow hitch on my RS too. Um, but yeah, nice little, you know, one of those Hideaway European style, uh, tow hitches that, um, sort of look like a dildo that those ones, uh, one of those so that I can tow, you know, just a small trailer or do whatever because again, this is my one car and it's gotta do the job of all I do [00:07:00] realize.
The, for a lot of people sitting here listening to this are probably like, why not just pick a brand new RS six? And I'll tell you why. I just enjoy the lighter weight drivability of the B five chassis than how sort of large and crazy the RS six is. Um, the RS six is absolutely fantastic. It's really cool, but I'd rather build up the B five.
I just enjoy how the steering feels and all of that a little bit more than the newer cars. Um, I also like that those cars just feel a little bit more analog. But yeah, the RSS six is if you had, if it had to be, I had to go buy it from the dealership and that was the only car, I guess it's the RSS six.
But yeah, but for me, I'd rather build a Frankenstein RS four that is part rally, car part, everything else, and can tow stuff. Alright, next question Nick. Our next question is from JM Buser. One who has asked, go through different eras of cars, are e hot rod, fifties muscle cars, et cetera, and where you think their popularity will be in the [00:08:00] future?
You know, I actually think about this a lot because, um, I like a really, really wide range of cars, right? I mean, we joke about me loving rail car. Rail car is a 1950s, uh, style of modifying pre-war cars to just be fast, which is basically just removing the body from them and making them into rail car dragsters.
Um, I, I really love a, a previous Eric Carton just over the weekend as I was scrolling Marketplace as I do, um, I found, uh, a, an old fifties, uh, Ford and like a shoebox Ford and I, and it just looked really cool. And I gotta say that era has always escaped me. Like the late forties into early fifties is sort of a window that like, I don't know.
I respect them, but it's never been something that I've outwardly looked to go say, Ooh, I want one of those. Um, and I looked at this thing and it was just speaking to me and I'm like, man, I don't know. Do I, do I kind of want one of those in my life? And then I started thinking, [00:09:00] who does want one of those anymore?
So when I saw this question, I was like, you know what? This is already sort of top of mind to me. Um, I, you know. I bought my first car in the nineties, right? So like, and it was a current car at the time. Um, and I liked cars that were made pretty much back into the eighties. It didn't stretch further. When I first got into cars, I sort of liked cars that were really only a decade or, or, or too old.
Um, as I got more into cars, I started to appreciate, you know, different stuff. I appreciate older and older things, but I grew up with a grandfather who, um, really molded me into the person I am today of like someone who loves cars and loves a really wide range of stuff. I'll tell his story another time, but, um, you know, he was a rags to riches story.
Um, he. Kind of grew up with very little, um, raised his family with little, very little. And then his wife actually started a business that made a lot of money. Um, and unfortunately he died when I was eight. But up until that point, he spent a lot of that money that, uh, [00:10:00] on cars. And he had a really crazy wide range of stuff.
Um, but a lot of it was cars from like the thirties and forties, like they were, he had a lot of interest on those things. I mean, he was around in that era. Um, so he looked at things like Auburns and Deusenberg and Packard, right? And I think about it now. It's like, to me those feel like museum cars. Um, and I think that that's where.
We may find a lot of cars that to us felt at one point to be enthusiast cars start to fall out because who here cares about a dusenberg? I, I, I'm sure there's a couple people, but the reality is it's a much and much smaller group because as that audience dies off, right? So like that's what the greatest generation, like those are people who fought in World War ii, like my grandfather did.
Like they're, most of them unfortunately, are gone. So it's like their love for those cars are now gone. And that means that those cars either end up as art, meaning people own them because they're worth something, or they end up [00:11:00] in certain collector hands like a Jay Leno, um, or they end up in museum collections.
Um, and that really changes where the future is. So, you know, this is something we've already seen happen. I think what we're gonna see happen next is like how that may affect hot roding and muscle cars. And I do think that Hot Roding and muscle cars maybe. Served up a little bit differently and, and the reason I think that is because like hot riding started it all right?
I mean, the reason you are listening to this podcast. Is because of, of hot rotting. Because hot Roding is what really started everything. Like if you like JDM tuners or you like, you know, um, Eurocar or anything, if you like pre runners, like modifying cars to make them go faster. And literally the term souped up came from that era.
Um, souping Up cars is something out of hot rodder culture, which began in the fifties. So it's weird because I think that that actually feels like more of an anchor to modern day car culture to [00:12:00] me than like the early cars, which is the anchor of like original auto, the original automobile, right? And caring about like, ooh, this is steam powered or whatever.
Like I said, we got the Jay Lenos who care about that. I don't really care as much. It, it's not what floats my boat. Um, I like the world of performance cars and when that started, like if I reach back as far as I can and I start thinking about cars, I'd really wanna own probably like the earliest car is a, is a Model T or a model a.
In a hot rod for me, like format, like I, I don't care to own a stock model a like that doesn't excite me. So for me, it's the world of modification that moves forward. And I think that's true for a lot of enthusiasts. Um, you know, hot rods are a weird one because I think they come in and out of fashion. Um, obviously, you know, they were super, super cool in the fifties and sixties.
There was sort of a revival of that in the eighties and nineties with like street rodders. And then we saw it just 10 years ago with traditional hot rods. Like traditional hot rods got super cool. Again, the race of [00:13:00] gentlemen, um, is a good example of that. But we, we started to see people go back and building fifties era cars.
So, but right now that feels like it's a, at a lull. Again, not super lull, but it doesn't seem as big as it did, you know, 10 years back. Um, so I, I think we may see a return to that muscle. Cars feels, feel really soft to me. And again, I think it's a. It's the standard math, which is, um, look at the cars that a generation that has just come upon disposable income.
Look at the cars that they loved during high school, and those are gonna be the cars that all of a sudden is what's exciting, what's moving across the auction. Um, you know, think about. What you see on bring a trailer compared to what we saw on Barrett Jackson, you know, 10 and 15, 20 years ago, right? The 69 Camaro, which was like Peak Barrett Jackson era.
Like they, they still command some money, but they're not going at those kind of crazy prices. Where now we're seeing, you know, [00:14:00] you see the nine 11 market, but BMW market, Mercedes market, obviously the JDM market, you look at what GTRs go for and all of that. Um, you know, that's because right now the audience that is in their thirties to fifties, that has a good job, maybe has some disposal income and wants to go buy the car they wanted in high school.
Like they're doing that right now. Um, so I, I think that as we continue to move forward, where does that go? This is actually. A thing that came up with Nads and I, because is there going to be an audience of kids who are lusting after, you know, first generation Teslas? I don't know. I, I don't know. Maybe, maybe we do end up going backwards because we see the end of, um, ice cars and because we see the end of that and modifications and all that changes.
Or maybe there's a whole new world that goes forward with the ev I'm telling you, when Muscle Car guys and Hot Rodders were looking at Volkswagen, you know, rabbits and old Hondas being, you know, being brought to the us, I don't think they thought that there was gonna be an entire generation of enthusiasts around that.
[00:15:00] So, to answer your question, I think that certain pieces of that culture will stay through, um, mostly early, early hot roding and some of the really important, I think kind of muscle cars think Chavel and Camaro. Um. You know, think that kind of era because they're like the, uh, the archetype for what we do with everything else.
But I don't know. I think unfortunately, a lot of it's gonna get forgotten. Like, we don't know. We don't care too much about, you know, cars of yesteryear like a LaSalle, although I do own a LaSalle engine. Anyway, next question, Nick. Alright, question three, from no boost tm, if you could rebuild your first car again, how would you do it differently?
Um, well first off, my first car. My first car was a 1995 Volkswagen Golf Mark three, and I bought it in 1997. So it was, it was pretty new. Um, good news is, is those things just depreciated pretty quickly back then. I think I bought [00:16:00] it for like 10 grand. Um, and I did all the classic Volkswagen, uh, you know, Volkswagen boy stuff to it.
I did dual rounds. I slammed it. I bought it as a two liter, it was a four-door I converted to be a VR six. Um, I then painted it, although I painted it the same color, it was black and I painted it black magic metallic, which is basically just a metallic version. Um, but I then kinda went down a slippery slope.
Um, this was sort of during the height of, of really like building show cars in like early two thousands. Um, you know. H2O water fest. Hot import nights were all sort of booming and I think there was this big strive to do something different. And I worked at a body shop, so, um, I built, you know, I did like shave trunk, which was pretty standard.
Um, but I built a M three front bumper. Um, weirdly as a guy who, uh, doesn't really like BMWs, I did really like some of the aesthetic [00:17:00] pieces of the E 36 M three, which was the front bumper, the mirrors. Um, so I grafted those onto the car. Did like destocked mirrors. Anyway, um. A lot of that's what I wouldn't do again, but I'm actually in the process of doing this, like I am of the age right now where, uh, I'm rebuilding my first car like that.
I, I am embracing that, that when you get to an age where you're like, I wanna nostalgia, build a car. I have a nine 11 and a Ferrari parked behind me and I seem to be more excited about building a grocery gutter from the nineties 'cause it connects me back to being a teenager. But. So here's what I'm building right now and I'm building the car I would've bought if I had access to European market cars in the nineties and I had the funds to buy it, which is a 1995 Volkswagen Golf Synchro 2.9 VR six.
That is an all-wheel drive car with a slightly bigger displacement. We got the 2.8 here in [00:18:00] the us Um, and there's some things that I'm carrying over from the first car. First off. This one also is a four-door. It is also black. And then eventually I will make the dumbest decision to spend a ton of money to do black magic metallic because I, you know, you might as well repeat your mistakes in life.
Um. But what I won't do is any crazy body kits or any of that. I'm just going to keep the euro bumpers on it. I kind of like how all of that looks. Um, I've got a couple small parts on it, um, that really kind of nod back to that, which is the, uh, dual round headlights. Um, I have went and found the exact same ones I had, which were the Carillo style.
It's probably a little nerdy for anyone who doesn't know that stuff, but, you know, that stuff I like, um, single wiper mod. Um, but otherwise, like, you know, obviously Slam it, put it on opt, uh, a nines, actually yeah, put it on Opt A Nines, which I think is probably one of the best fitting wheels for, for a Mark three.
Um, my friend Jason Whipple has. [00:19:00] Almost perfect. Two-door mark, three vr and uh, it looks perfect on ops. Um, cam I grill, you know, a couple things like that and those are all just nods to the first car I ever built, but I'm doing it. I'm actually at that age where I am rebuilding my original car. Feel bad for me.
Nick. Next question. Alright, this is question four from RR three Euro. There are talks about Audi, Germany changing tactics on how to attract more buyers and going back to appeal to Audi enthusiasts again. How would you do this if you were the head of marketing? Oh boy. Um, first off, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna give them too much 'cause who knows?
A few people from Audi might listen to this podcast and like, I'd rather just be head of marketing than not get paid to be head of marketing for Audi. But, um, okay. A, a couple things here. Uh, one I just want to put out that I actually have insider knowledge of the future of Audi, uh, some of which lives behind a non-disclosure [00:20:00] agreement.
So, uh, I know a lot of the cars that they're making all the way through 2030, because I got to work directly with Audi, with Ken Block when we did Ana. So I got to go through the design facility. I know what's coming up, um, which is one of the hardest secrets I've ever kept. Uh, because I would love to share with you guys all of the really cool stuff that's coming up, you know, like, and the like.
That's really cool and I wish I could tell you more about it, but I can't. Um, but what I can say is that I think very much like a lot of the other automakers, um, Volkswagen included, but also us automakers, a lot of the other Europeans, um, some of the Japanese automakers very much invested in the idea that electric was the future.
I'm not saying it's not, I'm not looking for Johnny Lieberman to fight me on this one, but I do think. The growth at which we thought it was [00:21:00] gonna happen and how fast we thought that was gonna happen is not happening. Um, there has definitely been a slowdown to people's want for EVs. Um, myself included, uh, I was an early adopter for electric vehicles and it just didn't work for me.
Um, I tried to make it work. I wanted to make it work and I actually at one point got so annoyed at owning an electric vehicle that I almost left it at the charging station and called an Uber bec and just was gonna just leave it there. I was so done with it. So, um, I, I think that everyone moved into this idea that EV was the future and you heard Audi saying, you know, we're no longer gonna race ice.
We're no, or we're gonna stay just in the EV space. That's why we had to make Elna. Um, but at the same time, that company released the RS six and they have the RS three on the market, and I think that they should look and study. What the RSS six did for that brand, because I think it woke it up a little bit.
Um, I would say that the best era of [00:22:00] Audi in the United States, uh, I feel different in Europe, but in the United States is sort of that 2000 to 2010 era, right? You've got, you know, um, one, we're coming outta the B five, which was a great car, the B five S four. It had its issues, but a great car. Um, we've got the introduction of the tt, we've got the R eight.
Um, we later on, we, the RS four comes here. We have an RS six that's available here in the us, the sedan. Um, there's just a bunch of great offerings, you know, kind of all through. They bring in the A three, which is kind of like a fun smaller car. Um, there, there's just a great collection of stuff that we can get here.
Not to mention S six, you know, S eight, all these other things. Um, but they're also like doing really well in motorsports. And I know Audi is headed into Formula One. Um, I think that's slightly different audience, but. You know, Audi was just crushing lamonts, right? I mean, the diesel era and all that, and the R tens and Lamont.
[00:23:00] Um, there is just this massive push at that point. And I think that that was a time in the US market where all of a sudden Audi was seen as a stable mate to BMW and Mercedes, where in the nineties that did, that was not true. Right? I mean, there was a group of people in the US who really appreciated Audi's, but they were a small seller because of unintended acceleration, which is a whole other thing.
You can look it up. Um, they almost had to leave the country in the nineties. So, you know, this was really Audi emerging as a brand setting themselves up. Um, and I think they did it by making one really good cars, um, that were entertaining, enjoyable to drive. They still leaned very heavily into, I think their German, um, engineering and Motorsports side, like, you know, VORs sprung.
Like all those things were, were that They've moved away from that and I. I don't know how much of that is a. Audi Germany thing versus an Audi of America issue. Um, a [00:24:00] OA seems to operate very different in the US than Audi Germany does. So Audi Ag being Audi, Germany, um, you know, Audi Germany still seems very much interested in their history in Motorsport.
Um, Audi tradition, uh, is a, is a good example of that, um, and still care about all of that, where the US seems to be less than interested in that and they see themselves more as a luxury brand. I think that this is a massive problem because Audi US is so big. Even if you live in Europe, you need to worry about what a OA does because the cars that a OA sells to a consumer or the consumer they create for that car, um, really.
Adjusts how Germany's doing things because of how big the market is here in the us. Um, and I think that Audi has really moved more into the luxury car market and is less of a fun performance car, which I think is what sort of built their name in the mid two thousands because they had fun [00:25:00] performance car offerings.
I mean, they made, they offered, they built an RS four convertible in 2008. I mean, there was, there was some really good stuff there that was, that was really fun. And I go back to it and we, I don't talk about it much, but like the R eight for example, was a fantastic, they, they entered into the supercar market into a vehicle that could be daily driven.
And I think they've lost some of that excitement like that. I think right now it's like, look at models. The RS six I think is the first car that actually brought excitement to Audi where people who weren't Audi files were talking about Audi in over 15 years. So that I think is part of the problem. Um, how to fix it.
Uh, yeah, I mean, it, it's an interesting, I look build more exciting cars. The RS three is fantastic. The RS six is super great. Um, but build and support those cars. Support the enthusiast market more. Don't forget that there's an audience of people who grew up on your cars and now are cross shopping other stuff because they're no [00:26:00] longer getting a fun driver's car.
Um, I think that's one of the things that always made Audi fun. Um, and I, I, for me, I, I think Audi just needs to embrace an entirely different marketing strategy, especially here in the us. Like, I can't even think of an Audi ad or promotion outside of something I've been involved in, uh, in the past five years.
I can't even remember one. That's probably a problem. Audi. Anyway, uh, you know how to contact me, head of marketing, Audi, Germany. I'll come on over anyway, Nick pack your bags. Oh no. Next question. Er Motorsport asks inspiration of the Gymkhana films outside of the automotive world, which films, subcultures and vibes inspired them in different ways?
Uh, that's a, you know, that's a really good question. Um, uh, the first one was probably inspired by something inside of automotive, um, mostly, but it's, its format and its structure was 100% [00:27:00] inspired by skateboarding, right? Like the concept of the gym Kana video to begin with was inspired by what we called the video part, right?
And for those who didn't grow up in skateboarding culturally, uh, it was really important for a skater to have a sick video. Part like that is most of where, um, especially before things like X Games, um, and obviously way before social media, uh, where you got to sort of. Pick your favorite, you know, your favorite skater was like, oh, this crazy part that he did.
Right. I mean, um, you know, as a kid I loved Danny Way. He had this really fun part when he was like nine or 10 years old, I don't even remember what video it was in. Um, he later on obviously did the mega ramp, which was probably one of the craziest parts of all time. Um, and that was this idea that really kind of grew from skateboarding, which was like, build this thing.
It's maybe three to five minutes long. It's, you know, it's, it's your style. Um, it's got your music. Um, it's, and it's you doing [00:28:00] something that probably no one else has done before, if it's gonna be good. Um, so that in itself, that format that, that, um, structure is what the whole gym Kana series was built off of.
Um, but the first actual one was, was basically a highlight clip of different amazing rally moments. That Ken wanted to see happen in tarmac in urban environments or non rally environments. Right. And, um, there's this one crazy slide that Gigi Gali did. Um, and I remember like watching it over and over and over where he basically does a backwards entry into a corner, you know, and it's like he's doing this during competition.
Um, you know, and, and it was like, man, take that and be able to just really enjoy that moment. And that is what inspired the Subaru in the first video sliding around the cone. Right. So, uh, you know, a lot of that was taken from automotive, but it was taking it from a co [00:29:00] competition world and applying it to something that felt more like fun entertainment that we were grabbing from the skateboarding world.
Um, for me personally, uh, and I've said this a thousand times before, but the movie Ronan was a massive, um, was a massive driver for me. If you go back and watch it now, I don't know if it holds up to, I, I actually, it doesn't, it doesn't hold up to modern day sort of stunt work that you've seen. Um, but. What I loved about it was it felt very real and it felt very practical because it was, um, and that I think is what stayed true to me is that, you know, they actually drove the cars in a lot of those scenes.
You can feel the cars being, being driven, um, the way the cars are reacting. Um, yeah, just the energy of that. I've always tried to recreate that. I don't know if I ever told this, but I actually went and scouted all the original Ronan locations in Nice. Um, while I was in Monte Carlo, um, while we were working on a video that we were gonna, we were gonna potentially do in [00:30:00] Monaco that we didn't do.
But, uh, I ended up working with someone who was on the original Ronan Project and she brought me to all the original locations. And I was considering trying to do something fun with Ken, where we went and redid the Ronan moments. Unfortunately, that never happened. Um, to live and die in LA was a massive, um.
It was a massive influence on the aesthetic of Gymkhana, the Huna corn. Um, just the seedier and gritty side of Los Angeles, south of Adams. Like that kind of look and feel, uh, really kind of drove that for us. Um, bullet was obviously a big, uh, a big driver for Gymkhana of five. Um, the, you know, in terms of just sort of vibes, there was an early YouTube vibe.
Uh, I can't explain it if you weren't there. Um, it's, it's hard to explain. Uh, the vibe wasn't a particular style. It was that there was no style, was that you [00:31:00] could make something and. If it's good, people are gonna watch it. Um, and I look, I look back at it now and it's like early YouTube felt so exciting and so refreshing.
It was so different from television. Um, the things that were working were all over the place. Like if you looked at like the top 10 videos in 2008, like none of them had a commonality between them. They were all completely different stuff. There were things that were educational. There was obviously the Gymkhana film.
Um, there was, but there was just this wide range of things, and it felt like a no man's land where you could just make whatever you want. The algorithm wasn't even a word that I knew at the time. It was just like, make something cool and people are gonna go watch it. Um, and that I think gave us this, um, it, it was definitely the impetus for us to say, Hey, we could try whatever.
Like, we can just go make something, right? Like we could just go do it and it might work. Um, and that [00:32:00] vibe is probably one of the most inspiring things that ever happened in Gym Kana, right? Because if you think about it, gym Kana one was sort of this, this like skate part gym. KANA two was a mega Marshall.
I mean, Ken, the idea was like, let's make a commercial for DC shoes and put it out there, and then it went on to do tens of millions of views. Um, that was unheard of before that, right? I mean, the idea of making a commercial that people watched, like, on purpose and not just because they were still awake at two o'clock in the morning, and that's what cable switched over to.
Um, so I, I, you know, that I think was just, was a, was a really, really, really big driver of it. Um, yeah, I don't know. Um. That's it. And like I said, you know, a couple movies, um, really older action movies, you know, the seventies and early eighties stuff. 'cause after that everything kind of got fake. Uh, so that didn't, you know, fast and Furious, wasn't influencing us at all.
Can never even watch that episode of Fast and Furious because all the driving was mostly faked or very [00:33:00] far from practical. Um, definitely not in the way we were trying to approach it. So, yeah. Um, I, I, if I had to pick one thing or two things, skateboarding and just the magic that was early YouTube biggest inspirations on Gymkhana.
Nick, next question. Okay, question six is from Mike, FPE, and he asks, I'm always in awe of what you have achieved and the work that you have produced over the years. Thanks, Mike. But is there anything that you would've done differently with hindsight in mind? Loving the podcast, by the way. You're very welcome.
Uh, first, uh, Mike, go. Some really cool cars, uh, throw them up real quick for people to see. But, um, I don't know. I mean, I guess the glaring one was maybe not sell Hoonigan, but I have to, I can't just say that because Hoonigan would've fallen apart if we didn't change things. So it's not just, oh, don't sell it.
The reality is, is if we hadn't sold Hoonigan, it would've been outta business in a year. Um, because probably the structure of, [00:34:00] of how things were changing and we were unaware of how it was changing. And look, the same thing happened at MotorTrend and a bunch of other brands. Um, the, the large multi character universe on YouTube hasn't done well.
If you look across the entire climate of that, that is not really succeeding anymore. The individual creator or one or two creators as a team, that's sort of the model forward. Um, if I could, knowing what I know now, um, and I had a, I had a gut feeling it was going this direction early on, but we were already too much in a direction to shift it.
I think what would've made sense was after about the first two years of us making content together, would've been to build out, uh, individual channels for different. Uh, characters, right? Like Hurt has his own space. Vinny has his, Zac has his, like, maybe I ha maybe I would share one with someone else.
[00:35:00] 'cause I wasn't making as much content as those guys were. Um, and the reason is, is that as the algorithm got more and more fine tuned during that period, so we're talking 20, you know, 17 to 20, 24, right? 2023 actually really is, is when I left. Um. That would be, uh, the moment where you're looking at it and saying that algorithm delivers when every day the same person shows up on the channel.
One of the biggest problems for Hoonigan was every day you could get someone different. You could see hurt drifting RX sevens one day, and then the next day chop Lord himself. Zac is trying to stick a NASCAR motor in a truck or something. Right? And this difference, um, melt meant that our audience was always sort of, um, you know, not, they didn't know what they were gonna get.
And yes, there was an audience that loved all of it, but I think that instead of breaking the, the. The company into different [00:36:00] channels, um, which we did, which I still don't, I know a lot of people didn't like that, but we, we sort of, it was a necessity because we were making so much content that we were starting to cannibalize our own content on one channel, but instead of breaking it into like, project cars and, and burnouts and, and then the main channel, um, I think if we would've done that instead and said, Hey, the main channel is for when all the guys do things together, and that's just like the special content and that's like the bigger, the bigger shows.
Um, or it's the shows where everyone shows up to and then built out this individual thing that each of those guys had a bit more ownership over. Because I think that in the modern day world, um, you know, everyone's biggest, uh, sort of carrot to stay or attraction to leave is the idea that they can build their own kingdom, right?
So it's like, if, you know, think, imagine how different it would've been if Vinny had started, you know, the Venture Channel in 2020. One, you know, and also [00:37:00] had the funding and the support and the shared services of all things Hoonigan. Um, and 'cause that's the business side of it, that like, if you talk to any creator, they're gonna tell you it's really hard to run a company with, you know, which is a YouTube channel.
Um, with only one or two people. It's hard for, it's hard to run this podcast like that. There's just a bunch of other things that you don't see that's beyond not just the filming, um, you know, the, and the editing, but like the invoicing of partners and the figuring this out and having money to, and capital to front new projects or to buy equipment.
Um, that would've been this great way to kind of reimagined how we did Hoonigan. I, I, I think it would've made for, um. A different, a different way forward for all of the guys who were involved. I think it would've allowed, um, the brand to go sort of in different ways, uh, individually, where we were always sort of pulling different directions because so many of us were different.
And [00:38:00] then keep, you know, keep that on the main channel, right? There was, there was a chemistry of everybody together that certainly worked, but there was also the want for everyone to go and chase their own dreams. And I think the one thing. Everyone has learned about YouTube is that if the people on camera are not doing something they wanna do, it doesn't, it doesn't turn out well.
Right. And uh, I think that the audience can see that none of us are actors. So if the audience sees that you're maybe not fully enjoying what you're doing, that's just not as good a content. So if you gave everyone the opportunity to go chase their things, do the stuff that they wanted to do that was very core to them, kind of build out their own channels and then really their own companies inside of each of that and have them have ownership on that, and then the team comes back together to do some of the bigger projects, whether, you know, those were the road trips, I hate to say it, but things like this versus that worked well as a group.
Even if you didn't like that show. We all liked making it as a group. It was, it was fun to kind of do those [00:39:00] pieces. Um, obviously early daily transmission fell into that world as well. Um, but yeah, that's probably the one change I would've made. Other than that though, like. I don't know, man, I don't really have that many hindsight changes.
I mean, we did what we did and a lot of it worked really well, and I'm really fortunate to say that. But, uh, yeah, I think if we could have moved Hoonigan into more of a hive network, um, you know, earlier on, I think think that would've been, would've worked. But I don't know, maybe it wouldn't have. Who knows? Oh, you know what?
One last thing before we move forward, in hindsight, personally, I wish I enjoyed it more. I didn't really enjoy it. It was work and I was always scared that it wasn't gonna work. I was always afraid it was gonna fall apart and I was always concerned how we were gonna pay everybody. Um, and that was a constant stress.
And now that I'm through it and we got through it and I was, you know. I mean, yeah, there's, there's ups and downs of it, but overall, it was an amazing experience, um, that I would do again and do it the same way I did it [00:40:00] again, just because it was an amazing experience. I didn't stop enough to smell the roses along the way, so me personally, I would've tried to enjoy it more.
All right, Nick, next question. Plane. Jane Cars asks, not sure this will fit the script, but it's an honest question. How did you find your creative voice and maintain it despite all the constant changes to social media platforms? Oh boy. Um, that's like a whole podcast. Um, and that's like a podcast. I think it's a great conversation for other people.
I dunno, maybe one day we need to do a business podcast 'cause that's like, anyway. Um, I don't know. That's a difficult one. Um, I, I think I was sort of lucky in that my creative voice, right? So just the way I see things was pretty forged through my time in zero to 60. And I think one of the great things about zero to 60 era was it was pre-social media.
So there wasn't all this other input. I was living a bit more in a, my own vacuum. I was taking [00:41:00] inspiration that I had to go physically find that inspiration to inspire me versus letting an algorithm feed me inspiration. Um, and this, while this may be a little bit off topic. I highly recommend this. Uh, if you haven't listened to the John Chase episode, we talk a lot about that in that app.
Like going and searching for inspiration versus letting inspiration come to you is super important because when I say come to you, I mean. Like go letting the algorithm feed you inspiration, because trust me, it is feeding the same inspiration to thousands and thousands, if not millions of other people.
And therefore it is not unique. So going and, you know, finding books, especially finding books on like an old bookstore, just finding signs and whatever it might be that inspires you, whatever you do, if it's design, whatever it might be, um, watching old movies, um, but like, feel like doing, putting the work in, like putting the work in and finding that stuff is, is super important.
And I was [00:42:00] lucky because. Because I'm a nun and I'm old now. Um, I got to do all this before there was social media and when the internet was actually not a place that we trusted. Um, I mean, there's a reality that, you know, when I was a journalist, like you were not allowed to use the internet, um, as like a real source of fact checking.
Um, and if you did, it was only certain places that you could use because the internet was just not the source it is today. And there's good and bad out of that. But the good of it was that, um, you know, I really was finding inspiration, uh, by looking for it and developing that. And that inspiration helped me create my voice and decided like, you know, what I wanted to tell.
Um, another part of that, those Ken helped me with my voice, um, and I, in that I think Ken really fortified that and. Ken also came, you know, Ken was more than 10 years older than me. Um, so he also came from sort of that same era of, you know, I mean, I remember me and him would be traveling [00:43:00] and we would find like some cool store and we would just walk through it just to get inspired or find like a, a bookstore just sitting there and just like flip through stuff.
Um, and you know, and you'd find something that was completely in a different space. It wasn't from automotive. It may even have been from like pop culture. It was just some random thing. And you're like, damn, that's really cool. How can, how can we make that into something that that fits our needs? Um, but you know, and he was one of those people who had a more mathematical approach to creativity.
Um, one data driven, like, Hey, I did this. Then I did this and because of this, it proved that it works, so I'm gonna do it again. Right. Um, I always say like, I'm not an artist, I'm a creative. And the differences is creatives know. Creatives know how to make money because they have to, because that's their job.
Um, so it's like, for me, it's like I, I make a product. It's something that needs to be sold. Um, that product could be a physical product, like a t-shirt, uh, or it could be a product like the Gymkhana series where [00:44:00] you want to go watch it, right? Or a movie like you ha it's a product, like people have to pay for it.
Um, there's a transactional element to that, which. Whatever you wanna say about that, but like, it, it makes you think differently and it makes you read how people respond to things. Alright. Now, how that all relates to the social media piece, uh, that gets a lot more difficult because I think it's very easy to lose your voice here.
And one of the reasons is, is that the algorithm decides, I mean, think about how different it is to tell a story where the most important part of your story is hooking people. In the first two seconds, think of all the great movies you've seen. And think of like, you know, uh, no country for old men. Do you remember how it opens?
It's not with a massive hook, and it's like, at least I don't remember it being one, but like, it's one of those things where we in tradition, have buildup, right? Like there's this buildup to a moment, to a crescendo, and it's like that is something that doesn't really exist in social media. The reality is, is [00:45:00] because of viewer fall off the first second is the most important thing, and then the next 10 seconds, and then after that it's like you continually lose an audience.
Building a voice for that is difficult. So I think one of the things you have to do is you either have to decide that you don't care about going viral and about being successful on the algorithm, and you make two and a half hour long, uh, podcast for YouTube and you decide like, Hey, that's just gonna be my model and that's what I'm going to do.
Um, I don't know if I would be, um. I don't know if that would be my move if I was just starting out though, because like I have luck because I was able to, or I would say I, I have privilege because I was able to build this to this point. I had already done this. I chased the algorithm, I did all of that stuff with, with Hoonigan.
I did a bit of it with, with Gymkhana. Um, but you know, I'm now in a place where it's a little bit more like somewhat algorithm [00:46:00] be damned. Not entirely. There's still a lot of stuff I certainly pay attention to because if I'm gonna put the work in, I want people to watch it. But it is really difficult to do that and, and keep your voice, especially I think when you're younger.
'cause you're still finding your voice. Right. I'm, I'm older. I, I, I have a voice that I developed, you know, started developing 20 years ago and I still have it now. So it's like, it's a question now. It's like, do I continue with that or. Um, you know, do I, do I change? And it's like, I don't know. You ever listen to rappers all of a sudden start rap like rappers from the nineties trying to rap like mumble kids?
Like it doesn't work. I, I think you find something that works for you, you modify a little bit as time goes on. Um, but it's important to sort of stay true and then just realize that like you will have that audience that goes with you. It's probably more important to be authentic to what you are, what you wanna make, than what the trends run, because you could run a trend, be really successful for six months, and then lose that connection entirely with your audience.
Connection is probably the most important [00:47:00] thing. In creativity and it doesn't matter whatever type of it is. If you write books, if you make Instagram content or YouTube content, if you're an artist, um, if you create apparel, um, connecting deeply with an audience, uh, so that they really like what you make and then staying true to what you think they should, they want, um, based on, you know, what you wanna make for them is probably the best way forward.
I hope that answers that. Nick, what do we got next? Okay, question eight is from Sir Stroum. I'm not sure you are really a sir. I, I dunno how we feel about that, but that's fine. When you think of starting a brand or creating a product, where do you look to see if this is something that the market needs or is missing?
Have you used your intuition research, word of mouth, or any other tools? I have an idea for a line of automotive related products that I feel are missing in the market, but I don't know if people actually want them. Thanks for any advice and words of wisdom. [00:48:00] That's a good question. And I think this probably my answer might not be the best answer because I've always been very lucky because I am very much my own audience.
I very much have always made content that I enjoy. Like I am my own litmus test. So when I look at things, I sit there and I say, you know, would I watch this? Do I like this? Right? Like zero to 60 was a magazine that I wanted to read. I mean, it was just, it's, I made a magazine that I wanted to read because I absolutely ate up British Car Magazine, the era, but was always bummed that they didn't have like an American sensibility to them and like didn't have American jokes and all of that.
I mean, I ended up developing a, I, it's funny 'cause still to this day I use words like proper, um, or mental because I picked them up from reading British mags when I was younger. But, um, you know, I. Always put myself as [00:49:00] the first customer and audience. And I'm also very, um, I'm a very discerning customer, so I can, I would very quick to look at something and say, Hey, I don't think that's gonna work.
Um, but that being said, that work has worked for me in content for product. It's, it's a little bit different because the kind of stuff that I would build for myself, no one would buy because I like cars that no one buys. Right. The amount of the audience that cares about, you know. Quantum synchros is pretty small.
So investing into building a motor swap kit for a 1.8 turbo into a quantum synchro, which would also serve as an 94,000, um, may not have the largest audience for it. So in those situations, I think you start looking at like, you know, what is the size of the audience and what are you gonna build, right? Um, and, and can you build it and get enough return back from it?
But I think, you know, the first litmus is always yourself. And then after that, um, doing the research into the audience size. So if you [00:50:00] wanna build a product for a car and it's a particular car, look at how many were sold in the United States. And then question how many of those are actually owned by enthusiasts and how many of those enthusiasts might need the part.
Um, and then probably subtract that or divide that by five of how many may actually, you know, be your audience to buy it. And you'll see, you know, what that, that looks like, right? Like what that pool of customers are. And that should help feed whether or not you're going to make it. Now, if you're making something that's for all vehicles, I think one, make sure that no one else makes that product and it hasn't already been served.
Um. And then talk to people. Like I, I, there's something I learned about, um, this is actually something I learned from the movie world. Uh, I read a book and it said like, tell everyone you can about your script. Tell everyone you can about your script because like, they're not gonna steal the idea faster than you'll probably get your done, yours done.
Um, and they're gonna tell it differently anyway, but just keep trying it out [00:51:00] on people and use their response to help modify and make your script better. And I think the same thing can go with any idea. Um, some of the best ideas that we had at Hoonigan, uh, or just any of the best ideas I've had in my life are ideas that I had thought about for three or four years before we made them happen.
And it's not because I waited four years to make 'em happen. It's 'cause sometimes it just takes that long for an idea to come to fruition. So during that time, you know, I would constantly pitch it and re-pitch it and re-pitch it until it was really fortified. I, I have this. Project that I'm working on right now in the background, that kind of goes hot and cold because there's moments where I pitch it and it feels really good, and then three or four days later, uh, it doesn't feel as good to me anymore and I go pitch it to someone else and I get a lukewarm response and I think, okay, how can I make it make it better?
How do I continue to fortify it? Um, we, the term we used for that, uh, inside of Hoonigan was Bulletproofing. Right. I'm gonna give you an idea and I want you to shoot holes through it because if this isn't [00:52:00] bulletproof, it's not worth going to market to. Right? And we did that from all the way from creative ideas, like content shows, right.
Scumbag Labs is a show that got bulletproof, right? Um, we even did a test version of it and kind of went, went out there with a test before we did sort of the main show. Um. But also in product, you know, I mean, maybe not so much in t-shirts 'cause we were making enough of those at the time, but you know, there was a bit of, you know, would I wear that?
Not always. A lot of stuff I sold for Hoonigan, I would absolutely not wear. Um, but there was other ideas, things that we took a little bit more investment in, like the luggage, um, thing, you know, jackets, right? Like, those were things that we had to bulletproof and really kind of test them and, you know, and put the work in.
So, yeah. Um, yeah, I think it's a mixture just to try to sum that all up. I think it's a mixture of would you buy it yourself? Are you the customer? If you are not the customer for the product, I wouldn't make it. 'cause I don't think you know it well enough. Um, unless it's just this brilliant idea that's missing in the marketplace and it, it's gonna make you a ton [00:53:00] of money.
But if you're not the customer, then you're not gonna be passionate about it. And passion, I think, drives the most successful things. Uh, and then second, just do some simple research. And some of that research is focus grouping. And that could be your group of friends, people you run into at parts stores, people on the internet.
Just get it out there and keep tweaking it. Um, you know, maybe don't give the idea away to someone who was, you know, is gonna steal it, but word it in a way where you can get that good information back from people. Anyway, hope that helps. Nick, what's next from AJ Gilchrist not expecting you to produce a SCOs farm series, but how's Farm Life?
Are you heavily involved or is most of the work contracted out? Um, okay. So first off, why we bought the farm. I think I may have told this before, I think I may have told this on um, Ferris's podcast, but, uh, I am what you would refer to as an accidental farmer. Um, I was looking for land. I was not looking for a farm.
Uh, very short. I knew that my time at [00:54:00] Hoonigan was coming to an end and I realized that I owned a lot of cars as well as a lot of stuff. So I started looking into commercial real estate in Long Beach and realized that for the price of what I could rent a building in Long Beach for, I could buy a farm in like, you know, in, in a area nearby.
Uh, build some storage facilities there and keep it all there for the same price that the mortgage would be. And that just made a lot more sense financially, uh, to do that. Plus, I. A cool space out of it. And I, as a kid who grew up in New York City, I had, I've always wanted land. I think I mentioned before, um, Ken's love for his ranch is one of the things that really kind of pushed me over the edge to say, yeah, I, I wanna own and, and live on land.
Um, but we bought the farm so quickly because, uh, long story short, uh, it was sort of. Priced under market. [00:55:00] There was kind of a, a thrash to get in there and they, one of the agreements was that they wanted to do a three day escrow. So I looked at the property on, um, Saturday and I owned it on the following Saturday, which is absolutely wild to have moved into that so quickly.
Um, but in doing so, uh, it was right after harvest, so there was not that much fruit on the property. They did mention that there's some fruit trees, but if you live in Southern California, fruit trees are pretty normal. Most people have lemon trees and things like that. I've got passion fruit in the backyard here in Long Beach.
Um, it's not abnormal to see that. So I didn't really think much about it. And it wasn't until a guy approached me on the farm and told me that he had worked on the farm. And at that time I wasn't calling it a farm, I was just calling it property. Uh, a guy approached me on my property and said, you know, are you going to hire me back?
I've worked on this farm for 25 years and at that moment, uh, queue up the montage. All of the trees and all of the irrigation I saw on the property. [00:56:00] And I thought to myself, oh, I wonder what that would all look like with fruit. And I realized that almost all of the things growing on the property outside of a couple palm trees and a few oak trees and, you know, and some birds of paradise were all fruit producing or nut producing, uh, trees.
And that all of those things were a potential business. Um, I will be honest, I think if I knew it was a farm, I might not have bought it. Um, 'cause I definitely bought myself a job. It is not something that I currently make money from. Uh, the cost of water, uh, in North San Diego County, uh, sort of outweighs what I make on selling stuff.
I've also realized in the past two years that, um. I no longer, uh, I'm no longer really an avocado farm, um, even though we call it avocado farms because the price of avocados has been sort of decimated in the us. Uh, the Mexican avocado is sort of through the roof now, and that's kind of where it's all gone.
[00:57:00] Uh, and the price of water in California is so high and avocados are a water rich fruit. So yeah, that's just not really the business that I thought it was going to be. Um, I'm actually moving more into, uh, kumquats right now. I actually spent the past couple days, uh, mapping out new kumquat trees. Um, kumquats is something I, I have 30 kumquat trees already on the property, and they have yielded to be yielded more money and more fruit than anything else on the property, uh, per investment.
So without getting too detailed on that, like that is my cash crop. Um, I'm thinking, but at the same time, I don't think we're gonna rename the, uh. The property to, uh, maybe scum, quato. I don't know if that, if that, uh, if that works as well. Um, but anyway, uh, yeah, uh, that is where we're at right now. And, uh, I've got someone who helps me on the property.
Um, he helps me pick, uh, maintain the property and stuff like that, but we're not, we're. Far from being like a real [00:58:00] farm at the moment. So we, this is harvest season, so it's a good time to ask this question. 'cause if you ask me in September, I'm like not even paying attention to it. But most of the farm for me is property management, which means removing things that could catch fire, uh, from the property, making it look nice, cutting roads, getting to drive my Kubota tractor.
Um, just doing a lot of just moving land around. Uh, the farm part of it, um, is mostly trimming. Um, I haven't even begun fertilizing. That's something I'm learning about right now. Um, keeping my irrigation system intact. 'cause it always breaks and it always has leaks. And uh, and then during this season right now, which is harvest, which is harvesting all the fruit and then finding people who will buy it, which no one tells you that that is also a really difficult part of farming.
So, uh, yeah, that's the farm, but, uh. If you would've asked me two months ago, I would've told you I don't really care much about it. And I kind of wish I could shut it all down. And now I am really excited about, uh, the new future [00:59:00] endeavor of Scum Quato, the Kumquat farm, uh, at Acado Farms. Anyway, yeah, I'm, uh, I'm auditioning that name.
Alright, next, next question, Nick. Alright. For our last question from Vortex flyer, I'd love to hear more about how you processed your A DHD and what you've done to cope with it and to use it to your advantage. I was recently diagnosed myself, in fact, so was producer Nick. And hearing you talk about it has really opened up my eyes about how it has affected me.
Um, yeah, sure. Uh, I look, I wanna start by saying. Um, I think I struggle with A DHD probably more than other people realize I do. Um, and I think a lot of people have a DHD. They struggle with it and they kind of mask it and they hide it. Um, so I don't wanna sit here and just say it's a superpower, and if it wasn't for a DHD, I wouldn't be able to do all the things I can do.
There's a church to that. But the downside of A DHD, there are also days where I get nothing done, [01:00:00] um, where I spend the end day the entire day looping or doing things that I wasn't supposed to do or just burnt out, or I end up, you know, what they call task paralysis for people who, uh, are listening to this who either don't have a DHD or do and aren't that familiar with it, um, task paralysis basically means you have something you need to do and it's really important for you to do it.
And for some reason. You just can't get it. You just can't start it. You can't get it moving forward. And, uh, to people who don't have A-D-H-D-I think that, that, you don't understand that, but it's the, the best way I've heard it explained is the equivalent of having an open flame and putting your hand over it.
And it's like you, it's very hard to convince your body to put yourself in danger. Test paralysis sort of feels the same way. It's really hard to break that moment and there's a lot of things you can do to get it done, but you just sort of, kind of get stuck and, um. You know, for those who, for those of you who are listening, uh, this is the last question.
So if you [01:01:00] don't care anything about DHD, you can, you can jump off or you can clip to the end. But, um, I think the first thing to understand about A DHD, and this is what I've learned in my own journey, is that the name A DHD really kind of sucks 'cause it doesn't really speak to what it is for a lot of us.
It's not about an attention deficit, it's about attention control. I can put a lot of focus into something, it just, sometimes it's not the thing I should be focusing. So I, that's why I know so much about so many random things. 'cause I can spend hours and hours and hours, um, days upon, days upon days researching how the, you know, valve train on a Cadillac flathead engine works.
Um, but at the same time, I probably wasn't doing the work I was supposed to be doing that that week. And that's, that's where the problem is. Um, the hyperactive part of it. I think a lot of people think hyperactive is little boys running around, bouncing off the walls, which is really where the original diagnosis came was, was diagnosing young boys in school who couldn't [01:02:00] sit still, but hyperactive can all be in here.
So you could be sitting perfectly still not moving at all, but your brain is moving at 3000 miles an hour. You have four different conversations going on at the same time. They're all blending into each other. Um, that is the hyperactive piece is that you can't turn your brain off. Um, a lot of people with A DHD will either, you know, try to do things like listen to podcasts, to fall asleep or do something that, you know, or watch TV to fall asleep or smoke weed to fall asleep, um, because they need to shut their brain off.
Um, because it, it's really hard to, to turn that off. Um, and I, I explain this for those who are listening, who, who haven't, who haven't dealt with it. I, those pieces are all really, really difficult, um, to manage. And, uh, it's kind of like an everyday thing. Um, I currently am not medicated. I don't have anything against medication.
I just want to kind of make a run at it without first to see how it works. Um, [01:03:00] the, uh. For me, the past two years has been learning, basically taking that hyperfocus and putting that hyperfocus into understanding a DHD more and more. And here's how I understand it and how I understand it helps me deal with it.
Um, forget the name, a DHD. What I have is I have a dopamine uh, deficiency. So on average. I don't make as much dopamine as other people, which means I'm not as happy as other people on a regular day. Um, so I need to create that dopamine. How can I create that dopamine? I can do something I really enjoy doing, like searching marketplace that creates dopamine, but sometimes brings me in the wrong direction.
I can eat certain foods I really like that makes me happy and that creates dopamine. A lot of times that's sugar or like a cream cheese bagel with bacon. Um, those also obviously have bad side side effects to them because you can eat too much and you can also then once the sugar drops, uh, you no longer can, can ride that.
Um, obviously that's what a lot of the drugs do is [01:04:00] they keep your dopamine levels high. For me, as long as I'm doing something that I really enjoy doing, I don't have a problem with A-D-H-D-A-D-H-D becomes a superpower. So if I'm on set. There is no my A DH D's great. I can handle all these things at once.
So six different conversations happening in my head becomes this thing called multitasking. Um, it all sort of works. The hardest days for me are the days where I don't have a plan or a routine. I wake up, there's a bunch of things I've gotta get done, but I don't really have like. A method for getting them done.
Um, working remote is absolutely miserable for me. Um, I don't enjoy it. It's good. One day a week, not every day a week. Um, I think I miss having the office space that was Hoonigan, even if I spent half my day doing other people's jobs instead of my own. You do that a lot with a DHD. It at least left me leaving every day feeling like I was productive and got something done.
Um, yeah, I, I don't know. I guess, I think maybe you were hoping I would give you the answer for this and say, oh, I've figured it all out. I haven't figured it [01:05:00] out. Like I'm, I'm so far from figuring it out. There are days where I'm like, where I feel like, yeah, I've really got this, I've really got this sorted.
It's like a project car, right? Like you drive it one day and you're like this, oh, it's great, everything's fine. And then the next morning you go to start it and the car doesn't start. You're like, what the fuck? That's a DHD for me, right? It's like, one day everything works fine. It's like an intermittent, uh, wiring issue in my head.
Um, you know, it's like, oh, I don't get it. The car worked fine today and now it's misfiring. Um, you know, yesterday the car ran great and today for some reason, when I turned this wiper on, uh, you know, the car stalls or it makes the AC turn on, um, it's that there's a bit of this, there's a bit of miswiring and I don't always know what I'm gonna get.
Um, some of the things that I try to do, and I'll leave you guys with this one. Um. Getting your day sorted and planned what you're gonna do, uh, it's not always easy to do, but getting up in the morning, meditating, clearing your brain, and then writing down [01:06:00] what you need to do, and being very honest with yourself and giving yourself enough grace to realize that if you write 37 things down on that list, you're not gonna get 37 things done.
So make a list that's like really manageable. One thing that I was once told was if you do something else that's not on your list, uh, add it to your list just so you can get the dopamine hit of crossing it off, which oddly works even though it sounds dumb. Um, uh, making yourself accountable to other people.
So, uh, I think they, there's a name for this, I think they call it body doubling. So working with somebody else and telling that other person, like what you're trying to get done by just telling them what you're trying to get done, there's an accountability that you will get that done. Um, and, and trying to get through it.
Uh, but the biggest one for me that has been working now, and I realize this doesn't work for everyone because depending on the business you're in and what you do is being able to pivot. Move to something [01:07:00] different. So if I'm trying to just do this thing and it's just not getting done, go do something else.
Something that maybe I can do for like a half an hour that I can feel that I can get accomplished, I can check it off, gives me a little dopamine hit. Because for me, I know this is for everybody, but for me being productive is a dopamine hit. Like I feel like, okay, boom, I got that done. I can get the next thing done right?
I can move through the next thing. And then the other one is sometimes, and I, I don't, you know, I'm not a therapist so like don't listen to me, but um, I'm just a guy trying to figure this out. Who kind of was raw dogging life, uh, for, you know, I don't know, 25 years creatively before I've started to figure this out.
And I guess in some ways I'm still raw dogging it 'cause I'm not, I'm not using medication but I have been trying a bunch of different stuff. Um, just to try to keep myself more focused. Food, what you eat and all of that does change things. I use caffeine 'cause it keeps me going through the day and hey.
Whatever. It works for a lot of people. [01:08:00] Um, but I, one of the other pieces I was gonna, I was gonna get to, I fucking got off track. Classic A DHD, um, is, you know, giving yourself, um, that grace to go and just try to get something else done that is gonna make you like, check the box and say, oh, cool, like that got done.
I feel good about myself. I'm willing to go try something else now. Um, and eventually get back to it. The last one, and I know you've heard if you've read anything or you have inst if you have like Instagram feeding you a DH, ADHD tips or any of that, which I think is good and bad. Um. Forcing yourself to start something and tell yourself, I'm gonna do this for five minutes, and if after five minutes I don't want to do it anymore, I will stop doing it.
Um, that has been really helpful for me. I sat down once. I'm working on a script right now, and, um, I sat down. I hadn't started the script yet. I had had all [01:09:00] these notes and I told myself it was like a random, like Wednesday night. I said, I'm gonna sit down. I'm gonna set the timer for 10 minutes and I'm going to just get going.
Three and a half hours later, I was like 25 pages into the script. Um, and it was, you know, the middle of the night. It was time to go to bed. Um, sometimes the hardest thing in task paralysis is just getting started and playing games with yourself and gamifying it makes it oddly interesting. There's all these great tips.
Um, there's this book that I, anyone ever asks me. I recommend it. It's called, uh, extra Focus. We'll put the name in the, we'll put the link in the description. Um. It's like a two and a half hour read on, or a two and a half hour listen on audible. So it's, it's less than the normal episode of very vehicular.
If you have a DHD, listen to it. If you love someone who has a DHD or you have the unfortunate task of working with someone who has it, maybe you should also give it a listen. 'cause understanding that their brain works differently is, I think one of the biggest issues. Uh, 3% of the [01:10:00] population last time I checked is diagnosed with A DHD.
Yet, somehow 70% of my friend base seems to have it. Um, and I think that's because I work in creative and I work in entertainment. Uh, people with A DHD do well and survive well in those spaces. Um, I don't know how people with A DHD work in like, you know, like the finance space or, or, or mortgages or, or insurance.
I, I don't know. And maybe, I don't think those areas are as popular. I think when you go there, that's where you, where you see you may only be part of the 3%. Um. I don't know. Hopefully that helps. Um, again, I'm not a therapist. I, I think the best thing I can tell anyone is do as much research as you can.
Read good books. Don't follow everything you listen to or see on Instagram. Some of those are good kernels, but it's better to understand something deeper, not just 60 seconds of it, or not just the 10 or 11 minutes that I just spoke about it. Like you need to understand it so that you know how to diagnose the problem.
And then you, it's, it's a constant thing. [01:11:00] Like I said, it's a, it's a project car. It's living with Bosch, CIS like you're always dealing with it. Um, and you just figure out, you know, there are good days, there are bad days. And the most important thing is, is once you, and I'll leave on this. Once you know that you are diagnosed and you have this and that, you're dealing with it, I keep saying that word grace, like give yourself grace, but also like.
Stop beating yourself up. I think the most painful part of having a DHD is sort of the shame that comes with it. And this idea that like you are broken, um, you just start to realize that this is who you are. Stop the self-loathing, just deal with it. You only get one life and this is what you, these are the cards you were dealt with.
There will be days that you will be the smartest person in the room. I'm sorry, neurotypicals. You are not as smart as neurodivergence. Unfortunately. There's a lot of other days that you can't get the most basic of things done like your laundry, so you don't fit into society the same way. Uh, [01:12:00] and that part's really difficult.
But, uh, yeah. We're outta questions, right Nick? Yep. Um, alright guys, thank you very much, uh, for another episode. Um, I do wanna touch on something that was asked in a lot of questions and I'm not gonna answer it as a question, but a lot of people keep asking, what about everything else? What about the 26 project cars?
What about doing content about the farm? What about, um. You know, all of these things, right? I, I have my 88 6 VR six swap. Yes. I still have it. Yes. I'm still gonna try to get it done. Um, are you gonna make content on that is what everyone is asking. Uh, I, I plan to, um, the first thing coming up that I, I promised everybody is basically a, a listing of all the cars, um, everything I have and the breakdown of what I'm gonna do with it.
Uh, I really thought I was gonna have that out. Month or two ago, life's gotten busy, other things have come up. Um, but I am going to try to have that by start of summer. Right. So What's that? June-ish? I'm gonna try to [01:13:00] get that out. Yeah. So another series that, uh, I'm working on is Van Man Chronicles, which is basically a story of my love affair with Vans, uh, being both my Van Agon and my, uh, four by four E three 50.
Um, I've done a lot of work to that, uh, since you guys probably last saw it on, on Hoonigan. There's a new j and k engine in it that makes a ton of power. Um, I'm about to do a pop top system for it. Um, and this is like sort of my perfect vehicle. Like if I had to cut down my cars to only three, that would be one of them.
Um, so I'm gonna do a series on that as well. Um, yeah, there's just. There's just a lot. Um, I wanna make more, but right now that's just not where my focus is at. Uh, but there will be that, that stuff will be coming out, but it won't be a weekly thing. It'll probably be like a once a month I drop a special on, on one of those cars, um, or one of those projects.
Uh, and as from doing a farm video, I don't know, man. I've said this multiple times before, like, I'm not Jeremy Clarkson. I don't think I can make as good of a show as he can on [01:14:00] doing the farm stuff. His show is fantastic. Um, but yeah, everyone, enough people have asked about it that I'll do it. But part of what I love about the farm is when I'm there, I can't see my neighbors and cameras can't see me and I get to just live my life privately.
So, uh, I won't make much of it. I'll say that. Well, that's it. I hope you guys, uh, enjoyed this little special bonus. This kind of became a bit of a monologue. Thanks again to producer Nick, to, uh, lending his voice for the questions. Otherwise, you would've heard nothing but me grading at you for this entire time, although apparently some of you enjoy that.
We all have our kinks and I will not judge you. But what I will do is thank all of the partners, uh, for this bonus episode. So big thanks out heatwave, FCP Euro Wearer Tools, KW Suspension, and of course our title partner, Vyper Industrial. I've been sitting on this chair for a few hours now and it is always comfortable.
Again, we'll see you guys next week. Thanks again.[01:15:00]
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