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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 E23 Audio
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of Very Vehicular, brought to you by Vyper Industrial. As always, I'm your host, Brian Scotto, and today we have a repeat offender. That's right, Mike Burrows from StanceWorks is back because w- I wanna have a one-on-one with him and get into a lot on his projects, the way he does things, sort of his mentality around all of it.
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Welcome back to the show, Mr. Mike Burroughs. Thank you for having me. I have you all to myself. Just- It'll, it... I'm excited about it. This is gonna be a good one. Yeah. I, I'm gonna say I originally invited you on 'cause I was like, "Oh, we should do a Firing Order with you." 'Cause like, you know, you're good at arguing and fighting.
You proved that w- in the Victoria episode. Um, but then I, I was like, "You know what? We should just do a one-on-one, just catch up." You know- Talk about it all ... hearing that I'm good at arguing is like, that's the finest compliment that's been paid. Um, no, we'll, we'll have to do it at some point. Just- You are, you are a master debater, my friend.
Thank you very much. I've, I've practiced a lot. Um, no, I'm ready to don the boxing gloves when the time comes, but- Yeah ... this'll, this'll be fun. It's, it's been a while since we really caught up, so. Yeah. Let's see, since we last spoke, you got a cease and desist, um, but I'm sure you probably are sick of talking about that.
Um, so the big thing is I've been advised to not talk about it. There you go. Um- Perfect reason for us to move forward ... so really the, the, uh, the only things I'll say about it is, so I did get a cease and desist from Ferrari, and it was the most [00:03:00] gentle, kind letter. Yeah. And everything that I said on the last podcast, I feel validated in, in, in what I've said, what they care about.
I, I... It, it's perfect. I, I nailed it, so. While I don't wanna be the cause of your cease and desist, I wanna believe that I was, although you did do an entire episode about maybe getting a cease and desist, so you might have asked for it. I, I certainly- ... like poked the bear, um- Well, but yeah ... and kinda whatever it is.
Or, well, actually no, bear, no, no, I'm sorry. The... You poked the horse, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I, I, I- Yeah ... I, I whipped the horse. Um, yeah. So, um, you know, I'm not surprised that it happened. It was very gentle. I have not been told I can't build the cars or anything like that. That's cool. It's all just, like, really minor, like, "Hey, we just need to be acknowledged here" type of thing.
Yeah, yeah. So. All right. Well, what about things not Ferrari? 'Cause I, I, I feel like everything right now for you is, like, it's... Is that all you talk about? 'Cause we, we, we, like, we talked about this right before the show started, that you- Yeah ... have become a one-dimensional character. You are [00:04:00] the man who built an F40.
It's- Or started to build an F40. I have an appreciation for anybody that wants to come up and talk about what I do or the episodes or what have you. Like, because they watch is why I get to do this. Uh-huh. And so anybody that wants to talk about the F40, for example, like, of course. But th- from a very personal perspective, it's a little bit of a bummer that almost exclusively, even people that are, like, friends of mine that I just haven't seen lately- Right
every single person, the only thing anybody asks me is just, "How's the F40 coming?" Yeah. And I get it. They wanna know. They're, it's like, it's a thing to talk about. They're curious, and it's great. The downside is that it's like, "Hey, dude, if you saw the last episode, you're caught up. There's maybe a week of work since then."
Like- Like, it's not that far in front ... I, I don't have any new info to give you. Um, and I, and I worked really hard to give you this, like, 30-minute, really in-depth episode- Mm-hmm ... about how it's going. So I can't just say, "Hey, just watch the episode," 'cause that's really dismissive. But [00:05:00] I promise you what's in the episode is a lot more in-depth than I'm gonna have the energy to sit here and, like, explain in a 10-minute conversation, so.
Yeah. So h- how many projects do you currently have rotating at the moment right now? Um- Let's count them off. So you have the F- F40. The, the F40, and then the, the other, the Honda swap Ferrari. Right. So you have those two. Mm-hmm. Because the other one you still drive, so it breaks, and you have to keep fixing it.
It, it currently has no engine or driveline in it at all. How many, how many Ks have you been through on that? Uh, so I'm currently on, technically speaking, K number four, but the current K is, uh, one. Is- So I, I changed engine builders. This one's gonna last. It, it has. So the current engine, it has a complete season of racing on it at this point.
Okay. And it is out of the car, not because it had any issues, but because I'm on gearbox number four now. Oh, okay. And so I'm changing gearboxes over to Holinger. Uh-huh. Uh, so I ordered that back in September. I should be getting it any day now. With that out, I took the engine and gave it back [00:06:00] to my, my new engine builder, which is David RS Machine, and I'm shouting him out because, like- Give him a shout-out
he has, like, that engine stayed together for an entire year of racing, and didn't skip a beat, was driving perfect. We abused the hell out of it. I, I can't praise him enough, and that's all I wanted out of my K Series experience. So the first engines that I had trouble with and blew up prematurely and, you know, I really tried to go- Hmm
an avenue that I thought was the best of the best. Right. And that's not the experience that I had, and so this has really changed w- that K Series, yeah, experience for me. Do you enjoy sort of this development side of this project, or is it f- or is it frustrating? Or on a scale of one to 10, where does it live?
Um, I think that's a fair, fair question. I don't, I don't know. I don't like working on cars. I don't like fixing cars. That's not fun. Hmm. Nobody's like, "Oh, I gotta fix my car today. Cool." Uh, that sucks. There is an enjoyment to be had in figuring out maybe [00:07:00] either what I did wrong or what I can improve or what I can change- Mm
to make the experience more enjoyable or faster or whatever. Um, that's part of, in ways, kind of, you know, like a scientific method or something, right? Like, how can I improve everything that I did or what I learned before? How can I make it better? I like that part of it. Um, the downside is just sometimes, or even a lot of the time, the failures that I've experienced with that project aren't even within my control.
So- Right ... having engines break multiple times or having gearboxes break multiple times, I'm finding the weakest link, and m- so learning where I can improve on other people's parts, but it's not failures of things that I have done, unless we wanna call potentially the integration of those parts together- I mean, you chose them
my doing. But- At the end of the day, you're the, you're the designer, engineer, coach- But- ... all the things ... there's only so much control I can have over, like, whether or not my transmission is gonna blow up every other event. Yeah. So... The, the reason I, the reason I ask you that is 'cause for me, like, the, the K Ferrari [00:08:00] is sort of a, uh, an expansion of the Burrows, like, story arc.
And I say this because all the other cars, and correct me if I'm wrong, but all the other cars, I think, like, most of your time was spent in building them. And then when they were built- Yeah, definitely ... they either were, like, sort of debuted, and then they, you know... And, and I can't talk, I got the same thing, but, like, but you were in this situation where, like, you know, there really wasn't a lot to do with the car afterwards.
Because, you know, you look at, like- You know, like the hot rod. It's like, "Okay, cool, you built it. You can go drive it somewhere." But like, it, it didn't really have, like, a storyline that continued after it. Where this car, it's like you built it, you did all of that, and now you're actually doing what a lot of YouTubers don't do, which is, like, you're taking the car that you built and, like, you're putting it through the paces.
And it's not actually, I think as everyone would imagine, which is be like, "Oh, you went to all the Grid Life. She went to World Time Attack. You got to do all..." And it's like, no, I went, I broke, I had to fix it. Like, you're [00:09:00] actually showing a very true side of when you build a really heavily modified car. And I, uh, the question for me looking at you is, like, I know you enjoy the building side of it, so I was curious as if you hate the development side as much as normal people.
No, I, I don't... Like, I'm not mad when the car breaks- Yeah ... other than, like, when it's just... when it's something dumb that keeps you from being out there for the day, and you know. Yeah. The, uh, but everybody feels that. Um, so I do enjoy the development process, and I've really enjoyed getting to take that car and make it better, and it's one of those things where I know that that car has a lot of potential in it- Mm-hmm
especially beyond my own skill. I mean, I'm still learning as a driver. I mean, like, I'm competent, but I'm not a pro. Um, and so it's been a lot of fun. I think one really interesting aspect of that is that through, let's say, the YouTube comments, I see so much that's something to the effect of, like, maybe they're suggesting I don't know what I'm doing, or that I can't build a car or whatever, because it just constantly breaks.
But [00:10:00] then when I go to some of these races and I spend time in the, in the pit or the paddock, everyone that has been through this process says, "Dude, this is exactly how it goes." Anybody that's built a complete ground-up, you know, fresh build race car- Mm-hmm ... where there's not a single part on that car that hasn't been- Mm-hmm
completely and extensively modified, you're gonna have those teething pains, those growing pains. When you see guys out there that are campaigning cars to a truly competitive level, especially when they're that modified, they're out there with huge bank accounts Incredible teams or serious, serious financial backing.
Mm-hmm. And so at the end of the day, I am still just a dude in his garage building some form of a hot rod, right? And even if you were a full-blown race team, like, they do a lot of development. I mean, that's the part that doesn't get talked about. Like, the reason why super high-level pro cars cost so much money, 'cause you're looking at it and you're like, "Why is that worth half a [00:11:00] million dollars?"
Like, you could probably build that for whatever. It's like, yeah, well, they only made 35 of them, and they had to develop them until they broke, and they went through six variations before they got to the one that, like, you're getting to drive because they already did all the teething for you. So it's like, I think people see that removed.
And I, I got to experience that more once, like, we started doing stuff on the WRC level. But, like, we had a WRC car, and then we had another car built by, like, a really good builder, and we basically threw an entire season away because every event we went to, the car broke. Yeah. Because we were asking it to do something it hadn't done before, and I think, and I think that's where, like, I learned, like, oh, development is, like, a whole other process.
That's why race teams have development drivers, 'cause they're the ones who are out in the secret just pushing it, pushing it, pushing it until something goes, right? I, like, 'cause this, like, rolls into another conversation that you and I had, which was like, are we just building too ridiculous of stuff on YouTube?
And I think one of the things I like about your content is, like, you're actually trying to make it [00:12:00] work versus, like, "I put this crazy engine in this car, and, uh, we got to do a burnout, and we're done." Like, you know, where it's like actually going and making it work is actually way, way more difficult sometimes than, than building it.
Yeah, I mean, there's, there's a lot of barriers where it's like sometimes I'll run into an issue where I can't f- I can't ask somebody else, "Hey, how did you solve this issue integrating your K-Series into your Ferrari?" You know? Now, there's been a K-Series put in basically everything. There's not a, there's not a forum for that in FChat?
Unfortunately not. No? Weird. Um, but you know, you, you, you go through these different hurdles, and you're trying to, you know, trying to make it really work, really genuinely work. And I think one of the things that a lot of other people tend to forget, when you're talking about a race car versus making a street car work is, is completely different.
Mm-hmm. You think about how hard it is on a vehicle to go out and then wring its neck full tilt, I mean, full throttle for 20, 30, 40 minutes at a time under full G-forces, full braking. I mean, you're gonna run that [00:13:00] car at its limit. I mean, plenty of... Most street cars are probably gonna blow themselves up.
Mm-hmm. And I know for a fact because of the number of Instagram posts I see when it's like w- some of our friends will be like, "Oh, my c- my weekend car did a successful 500-mile trip this weekend." But it's like, yeah, but you drove it leisurely. Like, it kinda should do that. That's, that's bare minimum.
Right, right. Right? So, you know, it's, it's, it's been a really cool experience to take that car and try to find out how to make it work. I'm learning a lot from the 308 that I can take over to the F40- Mm-hmm ... so that I don't have some of those same teething pains, but at the same time, there's still gonna be a lot of stuff that really likes to break.
Yeah. Yeah, well, that sounds like fun. What, what other cars you got on the list? Um, so I've got, um, I've got my E36 that I've had- Mm ... this is 20 years now. Mm-hmm. So that's, that's the leading one. I, as always say, I love and hate it. I absolutely hate that car. Uh, we've got my late friend Corey's E30. Yep. I've [00:14:00] got the Audi, which hopefully Jason, cough, cough, will put my engine together relatively soon.
I asked if he needed anything from me lately, and he was like, "Just time." Mm. Yeah. Which I get it. It's now like a new full-time job now, you know? Yeah, two. Yeah. So we got the Audi, and then I've got three trucks at the moment. So I've got the big Ford F-350. Mm-hmm. I've got Ash's F-100- Yeah ... which is about to become a massive project.
We miss it. I thought she ... I, I thought you'd bring it here today. I was- 'Cause I told her, I was like, "Oh," I was like, "Burrows is coming by." And she's ... I was like, "He might bring the F-100, who knows?" So. I was going to. She's broken down at the moment. Ah. Mm. Sorry. It, it happens. Not my problem anymore. Not your problem anymore.
Yeah. Um, and then I have a '98 regular cab short bed GMT 400. Oh, okay. Um- Is that new? I bought it in August of last year. Oh, okay. And I've put about six miles on it. So I had like big plans, and then had some sponsors hop on board for it, and then those sponsors at the last [00:15:00] second were like, "Ha, just kidding.
Can't do that." Mm. And so now it's been parked. I think I'm gonna sell it just to throw that money towards the F-100. Cool. Um, what else is there? Oh, and- By the way, your F-100 molding is behind you. I saw that. Yeah. I, I appreciate ... I'm glad that you found it. Yeah, with the key, with the key to the, uh, to the gun rack too.
So that's pretty cool. I, I'm, I'm excited for it. Uh, and then lastly, kind of, I haven't debuted it on the channel yet, uh, so this will be kind of exclusive content- Oh, here we go ... but I'll talk about it here. Uh, kind of a teaser, is, and maybe we've talked about this before, but I have spent the last 10 years tracking down and then- Oh, yeah
purchasing my father's Camaro. He sold it when I was a year old. Um, and it's a very special car, 217 mile an hour absolute monster. Um, and- Wow ... so I partnered up with Pennzoil and NAPA, and I acquired the car. How did you find it? Like, how, how do you go about doing something like that? Um, so I mean, I have all sorts of magazine clippings of this car, 'cause [00:16:00] it was in Hot Rod magazine, Car and Driver magazine, et cetera.
So I knew, like, what a- Was it a land speed car, or? Um, in a sense. It, it, it competed against the Top Gun, uh, Callaway Corvette. Oh, yeah, yeah, okay. Um, and I was actually on another podcast for the Petersen Museum probably nine years ago. Yeah, okay. I remember that. I was on that. I took the record for the longest pod.
I'm not surprised. Yeah. Um, but y- through that podcast, m- you know, we talked about it there, and then I got connected with... Uh, I knew that my dad had sold the car to John Lingenfelter. Oh, okay. Um, and so I knew that it kinda had to be there somewhere. And initially, through first contact with Lingenfelter group, they were like, "Yeah, we don't know what you're talking about."
And then finally, um, long story made short, one of the oldest employees there was like, "Actually, yeah, I, I remember that car," and I think it was John's daughter had the car, and then she had sold the car and connected me with the guy who had it now. Oh, wow. Um, [00:17:00] to make the long story short, 'cause I don't wanna give it all away, but- Yeah, yeah
I, uh, I surprised my dad with the car. Oh, that's super cool. Didn't tell him about it. I didn't realize that your dad had a history in cars. Like, you and I, you've told me about your dad's history on bikes, but I didn't realize. Yeah, yeah. So what, can you talk about what was... 'Cause clearly that was pretty involved if he was up against sort of- Yeah
the Callaway So, it's kind of- ... jets of the air ... in my, I mean, I can only tell the story through my own lens. Yeah, of course. But, um, i- I think it's kind of a cool the apple doesn't far fall from the tree thing. Mm-hmm. Uh, so, like, I didn't grow up with my dad, and so I'm not into cars because he was into cars.
Got it. Okay. It just kinda, like, uh, I think it's in my blood. Mm-hmm. Um, but he is a car guy. He's a motorcycle guy. He and my mother, when they were together, ran an automotive ad agency in Nashville. I knew that part, right. Yeah. And, and so the Camaro was kind of a, an ad, uh, project, because Keith Black Racing Engines wanted to get into- Okay
the street car space instead of- Awesome ... just drag cars and boats. [00:18:00] Sponsorship integration builds is in your blood. Yeah, yeah. So, um, that was how that car came about, and he's had a handful of others, uh, you know, a couple magazine cars here and there. They were the same type of thing, you know, working with sponsors to get their products out there, um- Mm-hmm
and making cool stuff. And it's, again, crazy to me, because here I am doing the exact same thing without ever, prior to doing it myself- Mm ... having a conversation with him about doing that, right? Right. It's like, eventually I get there, and it's just this kind of holy crap moment of, wow, I'm doing the same thing my dad did- Mm
without even- Without really, like, having him kinda lead you into that, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And that's not to say, like, I mean, he ha- he's been a wonderful guiding- Yeah ... you know, force through so many things. But, um, yeah, it's, it's, again, apple doesn't far- That's a, that's a- ... fall from the tree. That's a super cool project.
I, I think anyone who grows up with, like, a parent who had some involvement in cars, like, there's a point that comes that you're like, [00:19:00] "I want to either recreate that or do that." So for me, my grandfather Um, rags to riches story. Uh, long story short, he ends up, you know, his- actually his wife built a company that made a bunch of money, and then he decided that he was just gonna buy a ton of cars.
So- Understandable. Yeah. And he had, like, the weirdest arrangement of stuff. Like, he had, like, an, like a Willys, an Auburn, he had a Mercedes SL, he had a DeLorean. And that's a car that I very much would love to track down because that was... You know, he had a DeLorean when Back to the Future was, like, in the theaters, and I was all of, what, seven or six or something, and I just thought that was, like, the coolest thing ever.
And I know a DeLorean's a piece of crap, I've been told by multiple people, but, like, it still makes me want it. And I, at some point I tried to kinda, like, be like, "Could I figure out where this thing is?" And, um, my cousin, who actually listens to the show, he's a bit older than me, he, he, uh, I think he ended [00:20:00] up telling me that the car, I think, made its way to Japan Which actually I think all of a sudden makes it easier to find There's probably not many of them there There's not as many of them there as, like, here, at some point, people went out and started collecting DeLoreans Yep So, like, there was, like, multiple people who were like, "I'm gonna hoard DeLoreans."
There was actually, in Sayville, Long Island, where my friend Jay used to live, like, there was, like, this one parking lot that had, like, 27 DeLoreans in it in, like, 2004. You know? Like Why would you want that? What is wrong with you? You don't like X chassis design? Anyway, um, but, like, that's, like, a, like, to me, it's, like, that thing, and then the other one, which I think I may have told you about, but it's, like, my secret project, although it's not that secret anymore, 'cause I think I've mentioned it on the podcast a couple times.
But, um, when, actually, to her chagrin, when Ashley was pregnant with Hudson, uh, I stumbled on a really good deal on an E-Type Mm-hmm And I went and bought it, because my dad had an E-Type, which he sold [00:21:00] when I came around, and bought a Pinto, so I, you know, 'cause it was a better family vehicle. I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny to do the opposite?"
And go buy one And, and go buy, and I found this, like, complete sort of, like, wreck of a car, 'cause in my mind, I'm like, "I don't really wanna drive, like, a vintage E-Type. Like, I wanna drive, like, a fully, like, resto-modded, like, build my own car. Like, really just use the body of it." So, like, that's this car that's, like, sitting in a f- shed at my farm that I don't plan to start until Hudson's old enough to actually work on it.
Like, he can turn wrenches. He's six. Right But, like, he, he, it's not there yet. Like, he needs to be, like, 10 or 11 You also want him to be able to remember it I want him to want to do it, too That too, yeah Like, I don't want it to be like, "Oh, Dad's making me do it." It's like, so there's actually, and I'll, I'll get off this record, but there was this book that someone bought us early on that's a fantastic book for kids, and it's about a guy who finds, uh, a Maserati race car that belonged to Stirling Moss, like, in their, like, sh- farm shed, and then, like, the, they [00:22:00] rebuild it.
And, like, I've read him this book since he was little, so it's, like, I, I, my ultimate goal is to start working on it, hopefully while my dad is still here, where there's a moment where, like, I get three generations of Scotto men- That's cool. That's cool ... to, like, work on this car. You know? Like, to, even if it's just, like, one moment, just so I can say all three of us worked on it.
But right now, it's behind so much crap in the shed that I can't even get it out. But, but a- anyway, to the, to your, to what you were saying, like, there's something extra special that I think is, like, hard to explain to people. Like, that already sounds like a special car. Like, I'm talking about a basic E-Type.
I didn't find my dad's original E-Type. I just found a E-Type. It's not even the same model, but there's, I think there's, like, some weird connection there that's, like, hard to explain. Absolutely. I mean, I, it's fun that anybody that I've taken the time to kind of explain what I'm doing and what this car is, everyone's like, "Oh, dude, that's like the coolest story I've ever heard" Mm-hmm And I, I think that the video series that we're putting together on it will be maybe the, the coolest thing- Yeah
I'll probably ever do. I mean, plenty of people will be like, [00:23:00] "Dude, a third gen Camaro is not as cool as an F40. What are you talking about?" But to me it's like, hey, like- Yeah, but if it's cool to you, yeah. And that's also my barometer for anything. I gotta also say the Instagram video that's like, like, "Son tracks down c- dad's old car, rebuilds it, and surprises him," that's like a million views right there.
Like, that, like, d- it hits all the feels, so. Especially- Are you dropping the f- first episode on Father's Day? When, when is Father's Day actually coming up? In, like, a few weeks. No, no, it won't come out yet. Oh. I'm not, I'm not ready. We're, we're, we're still, like, churning through all of the footage that we've shot, and I gotta, like, now assemble it all.
So- You gotta turn on that side of the marketing brain, buddy. Mm. I should. I should Like, 'cause the algorithm, the algorithm will turn up dad stuff on Father's Day. Stop, 'cause you're gonna- I'm gonna, I'm gonna get an email from Pennzoil being like, "Hey, actually, that's a really good idea. Can you do that?" Um- June 21st.
Yeah, see? You're a month out. And that, that could be possible. No, I'm not gonna say that yet. You could make it happen. We're- You could ma- You could, like, at least sneak it. At least get the Instagram post up. The teaser. The teaser on the- The teaser could come out ... teaser comes out Father's Day weekend. You drop it on the Friday so it rolls for the weekend.
There you go. But anyway. [00:24:00] So that's, like, kind of the big thing that I've been working on, and it's taken a lot of effort and time lately, so people keep saying, like, "Why is progress on the F40 so slow?" It's, well, it's 'cause there's other stuff happening, too. Yeah. So. Do you enjoy the way you build? 'Cause I am very jealous of...
When I say that, I mean the, the way you move from car to car, like the cadence of it. I'm jealous of it because I always would love to have been able to build cars that way, but I always feel like the audience wants you to, like, build a car, finish it, and then move on to the next one. Um, 'cause you kind of like, you like, I mean, you started that Audi project, I mean- Years ago
years ago. Yeah. Right? So, like, that's, like, this thing that, like, you work on it when the time comes. Like, is- do you enjoy working on cars that way, or is it more of a necessity to work on it that way because of the s- you know, whatever? It's a bit of both. I mean, like, let's use the Audi for an example.
Mm-hmm. I want the Audi done. People all the time will say, like, "Dude, why won't you give us episodes?" "I want the Audi done." Yeah. "We wanna see it." And it's like, I promise I want the car done more than you do, but [00:25:00] there are reasons that I haven't put out episodes on it, the biggest one being parts are really hard to find.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then just not to... Like, I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining about it, but, like, things like getting the engine put together or, you know, just tracking down certain things, it's just a time-consuming process when I'm relying on other people. And Jason, when we talked about it, 'cause initially I was having somebody else build the engine- Mm-hmm
and that kind of fell apart. And so then Jason, being a friend of mine, I was like, "Oh, dude, this would be perfect," but I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna pressure him to get it done. Yeah. And so that just means, hey, that project's gonna be on the back burner, but I'm okay with that 'cause I have other projects I need to do anyway.
Yeah. So I- He's got my eight-valve sitting at his shop that, like, I think he's done building. He just hasn't given it to me yet. We gotta go pay him a visit for a second. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so y- to answer the question, like, yes, I like the way that I build cars in that I don't wanna focus on just one car until it's done.
Mm-hmm. I get burnt out on it. I'd be, I'd be, uh, super annoyed if I just had to go in and work on the same car every day. Uh, and so it's nice to have a [00:26:00] break, to get to pivot, to do something else, let maybe thoughts about solving a problem or how I wanna do something- Mm-hmm ... let that sit for a while. Maybe I'll revisit it.
I'll, I'll let, let the dust settle a bit. go work on something else, turn wrenches elsewhere, come back to it, have a, have a fresh mindset. Um, I found that when I was working on just one build at a time, so whether it was, like let's use Rusty for an example- Mm-hmm ... which was like my first huge build, um, I- By the way, for people who don't know, Rusty Slammington, kind of like Internet famous car.
Like, it's gotta be in a top list of Internet famous cars, and it had two variations. First- If you're, if you're old If you're old. If you're old. Oh, boy. Yeah. Yeah You're right. Yeah, if you're old like us. Yeah. So- Young kids have no idea ... how old are, how old are you now? Uh, I turned 37 last week. Oh, you're not even old yet.
I'm almost 10 years older than you. So, um, but yeah, like, kind of a famous car. What... Just give people the quick on it. It is, it, in its l- final form, full tube chassis, [00:27:00] wide body, uh, mid-engine BMW group five race car rat rod thing. That started as- Uh, it was originally an E28 5 Series sedan Yeah It's now a chopped top two door.
Like, it's, it's ridiculous. You have to Google that And it started as, like, a stance car. Yeah And then it became this, like, amazing fab car. I wanna call it a fab car, 'cause I feel like it's a car where it's like the fabrication on the car is what makes it amazing. Where, like, originally it was just rusty and slammed, but then, like, the concept...
And I don't mean just the fab. It's like a fab and a concept car. Like- Yeah, I think the concept of it is, like, w- really what makes it cool and interesting. Uh, uh, there are plenty of other vehicles that are similar to it or what have you. When I built that car, I hadn't seen anything like it yet- No ... and it was before, you know, the, kinda like the, uh, popularity of Instagram and whatnot in the car community was, like, really a thing.
Um, and, you know- Before YouTube builds- Yeah ... were getting e- over the top. Yeah Exactly, and so it was a very unique vehicle in that, like, the [00:28:00] concept was crazy, and it was... I mean, I took it full tilt. I hadn't seen somebody do- Mm-hmm ... a full tube chassis car that wasn't like, "Oh, this is a purpose-built race car."
It was like, "No, this is just to build it." Yeah. Didn't have a purpose. It was like, "I'm just making something crazy." Yeah. Um, so that car, um, I, I took probably two months off of working on it at one point. Mm-hmm. Because I just like, I just, I'm, I, I'm burnt out on it. Oh, yeah. I gotta, I gotta let it sit. Or even when I was building the Model A, I had to pump the brakes for a little while.
And so I think n- that doesn't mean that I don't wanna be working on something, but sometimes I just, I'm tired of a project. I've put enough thought into it. I, maybe I'm stumped. I get stumped all the time. Like, I spend a lot of time really just looking at a car- Mm-hmm ... uh, or a, a project rather, and trying to figure out, like, what am I gonna do?
There's no right or wrong answer necessarily, like in the most objective sense, and so it's like sometimes I get really burdened by that. And the only answer is to just come back to it later. [00:29:00] Yeah, I, I, I have envy for the way that you do your thing, and I, I've always been curious as to whether or not, like, it's a planned thing, it just kinda works that way.
But I think the reason I'm envious for the, your process and how you build cars is because my, I think my brain works the same way. I have this, like I love working on cars. I just don't have a lot of time in my life right now to do it, and for me, working on cars isn't really what pays the bills. Like, making content is what pays the bills.
So like, I have to be spending every day present as like a director and, well, now a podcaster. But like, I was never the build content guy. Like, yeah, I made build content on Hoonigan. Right. Like, that wasn't really my specialty. But like, I have this dream of this retirement, and my retirement looks like your YouTube page, which is like go work on this for, on, you know, this week, move over to work on this.
Like, I, I love the idea of like you just kinda move through the pieces, and it's a bit haphazard. It's a bit, it's definitely the neurodivergent garage. But, um, the, [00:30:00] I, I just enjoy that. But I also, as someone who like, you know, studies the algorithm, studies YouTube, I'm like that's not the best way to do content.
There's- But if it works for you and it makes you happy, then that's probably the way you should do it. Uh, right. There's no question that my channel and business would be way more successful if I took a different approach to it. Like, the, I, I- Yeah ... know that, and like, I guess in that same line or same train of thought is like the channel has grown to a point, I mean, I have two employees now.
It's a real business. Yeah. And like, it ha- it has to work. Um, and I never really expected w- to become a, a business owner in that capacity where like at this point, not like a, a majority of my day, but every day I have like real business things that I have to do. Yeah. And it's like, that kinda sucks. I don't wanna do that.
Yeah. I just wanna, I wanna go work on stuff. But- That's not the part of my retirement part that looks fun. Yeah, that part's not cool. But, you know, ultimately I do try to remind myself that- All of it for me is it's just [00:31:00] a means to an end. I just wanna figure out how to monetize working on my projects so that I can do it.
Yeah. I don't really care about anything else. I don't want to be a YouTuber. It's just an avenue to get to make my stuff. Yeah. So at the end of the day, I want my content to be what I want to make, which is very foc- that's why I focus on the details. I talk about the how and the why. I show my mistakes 'cause I'm a human being, and I don't want it to be overly polished or overly produced.
I don't want it to feel like, hey, you're gonna get just these build episodes where you're gonna get, you know, a finished project in, let's say, five episodes or something. That's just not how real projects work- Mm-hmm ... in the real world, and I con- still consider myself in the real world. So I think that's actually the part that I like the most, and I, I don't think I've ever thought about that until you just said it.
Like, there was ... When you, when you sit there and you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna do this build. It's gonna take seven episodes to build it. We're gonna fit it into seven," like, that is the way that, like, a media and programming mind [00:32:00] works, and, like, that is very consumable. The way you build cars is probably actually more realistic to, like, regular people, right?
In that, like- Yeah ... not everything, you can't find everything at once, and especially if you have multiple projects, like, you bounce back and forth between them. Um- I saw this Instagram reel someone made the other day, and he was like, it was like a normal Saturday in the garage. And it's like he just starts 14 things and doesn't finish anything.
100%. And including one of them is like, "I need to start my dirt bike 'cause I haven't done it in a, in a week." And then like, "Oh shit, the carb needs cleaning." And then he's like, you know, and it's like... And I, I, so I think that there's something about the way you do it, even though it might be frustrating for the audience at times, it feels very authentic and, like, real.
And I think that that's nice 'cause I think a lot of the build stuff doesn't feel real anymore. I try to, like, make sure that it stays true in that sense. And if that limits the size of my audience, okay. But if I still, as long as I have an audience that knows what they're getting and they come back to watch it and they're happy with it and it works for them [00:33:00] and it works well enough for me that we can make it work as a business- Yeah
then that's all that matters. I don't, I don't need to have a million subscribers to do what I'm doing. The g- the, I don't want to look at my channel in the same way that, like, stockholders look at a business and say, "We need endless growth. This has to get bigger and bigger endlessly-" Right ... for whatever reason.
Like, it doesn't. Like, right now, I love my job. I wake up every day excited to do what I do. If I won the lottery and I had a billion dollars in my bank account tomorrow, I wouldn't quit. I wouldn't change what I'm doing. I would just have more means to do it. Mm-hmm. And so I want to keep it that way. I don't wanna pivot my content in some sort of, like, approach to find more success or- Yeah
to, like, you know. That doesn't serve me any purpose other than making the business side of this, the, the real work side of it, more work. The only work that I wanna be doing is working on my car. Do you consider yourself a YouTuber? I mean, yes, but I don't want to. Is that a fair way to put it? Yeah, no, it's, it's totally fair.
I, I [00:34:00] had a conversation with TJ Hunt and I realized that the huge difference between TJ and myself and a lot of other people, and maybe the entire philosophy around Hoonigan, is that for TJ, he is a YouTuber. Like, he very much sees himself as that because it's like, it's how he came up, and he was doing it since he was, like, seven.
Where I think you and I Ended up at YouTube because the forms of media that we were doing went away. I was a pr- All right. RIP print, RIP blogs ... I was a print guy and blogs. Like, and you were really a blog guy, right? Which by the way, is a perfect transition more into Stanceworks, 'cause everyone's like, "If you have him on, you gotta talk about early Stanceworks and the, and the importance and it all."
Okay, let's do that. But, but no, but answer this one first. I mean, like, do you, is- do you just feel like YouTube is, like, a means to, to, like- 100%. It is a means to an end. I do not, I never set out to, like, be on camera. I don't wanna be on camera. I don't wanna be a personality. I don't, it doesn't have any value to me to be- Right
a person in that [00:35:00] regard. It is quite literally and solely a way to make the projects that are in my head come to life, and as a way to generate income to do it, and to bring partners to the table, and to make it all happen. Like, the one thing I know that we both know, and unfortunately the audience probably more often than not doesn't have a full grasp of is how wildly expensive it is to build cars, especially at that caliber.
Mm-hmm. I mean, it is just eye-watering, especially now having a business to do it where I keep a spreadsheet on all of it. I remember a- at one point telling someone that the electric bill at Hoonigan was $9,000 a month because how much welding we were doing. People were like, "Wait, what?" And I was like, "Yeah, that's..."
I mean, yeah, we had also turned the lights on, but, like, trust me, it wasn't the lights, 'cause- Right ... I knew what the bill was before we started welding. Yeah, it's- And, like, the plasma and, and all the three-phase stuff and all... And, like, you just... That- and that is just a cost that you don't even think about when [00:36:00] you're doing stuff on the level, you know?
Absolutely. So let me ask you a question. If you could achieve the same goal, which means, like, partners, have a salary for yourself to be able to build your, the cars you have, and do it through a blog instead of YouTube, would you do that? Or- Um, I don't know that I have a preference in that regard. So, like, ultimately...
So I wanna make sure that I'm at least honest with myself and transparent in that. Yeah, no, of course. I love sharing my stuff. That's always what I've done. Right, right. Like, I like putting it out there 'cause I think it's cool. Other people presumably have found it cool for quite some time. Yep. Um, and I think that it's, it's fun to talk about.
It's fun to inspire other people. Um, you know, I try to, like, have an, some level of educational value in some sense to the content that I put out, put out there versus it just being, like, entertainment. Yep. Um, because I enjoy those things. And so I, I don't wanna sound like I would be content if I was in, like, a closed-off box- Mm-hmm
closed off to the world, but still had the means to do [00:37:00] it, but- I'm not saying closed off. I'm saying, like, if we were, if we could somehow... Like, the current world doesn't exist, and you could have, you know, hundreds of thousands of people showing up, but the format is a blog versus the format being a video.
Like, I, I, I'm curious to- Mm. 'Cause in saying that, you're like, "I guess I'm a YouTuber, but, like, I don't really wanna be one," is it the YouTube format? Is it the video format? Because I think you were very happy being the guy who ran Stanceworks and did all that stuff, right? Like- Yeah, I mean, like, so there was still, uh...
Like, I enjoyed that, and there was never a time during the days of the Stanceworks blog that I wanted to be in front of the camera. Right. Like, that was not ever something I wanted to do. Mm-hmm. At this point, I would say, like, I don't s- it's still, like, s- it's still weird to be in front of a camera. Like, nobody ever gets, like
I mean, I guess maybe you get comfortable with it, but it's still, it's still funky. But I don't know. I think there are, there are aspects of [00:38:00] the video medium and format that have huge benefits in contrast to just photographs and words. Like- Yeah ... so I like that more. I really do like storytelling, and while the stories are very different, and at this point, the stories are very focused on what I'm doing to a car versus telling other people's stories, um, which is less fulfilling to- Mm-hmm
to tell. But I do, I guess, I don't know, I'm trying to say I like the video medium and, like, what it gives me the ability to do, and I get to show a lot more, and I have fun with that. Like, I still like making videos because it's a creative process. Mm-hmm. So, like, it, it's, I, it's not that I hate the YouTube side of it, o- I only like the car side.
Like, there's still a creative output in making a video that I think turns out polished, and whether it's tells the story I want it to tell or, you know, maybe it, it has the arc that I want it to have or teaches the lesson I want it to or whatever. I mean, your build content clearly, like, the content itself clearly [00:39:00] has craft.
Other people just, like, film stuff and just throw it up there. Like, that, you clearly are making something that is, like, craftily put together. So I, I- Thank you ... you can definitely like that. 'Cause I, I, I, and, and this is probably a bit about myself, too, where it's like I have a love-hate relationship with YouTube, like an absolute love-hate relationship with it, because in some ways, it, my entire career and success after Zero to 60 is based on YouTube.
If it wasn't for Gymkhana and then later on everything we did with Hoonigan, like, I, I, I don't know where I would be in things, right? Um, I love that it's not gatekept. I love all of this. But then there's other parts of it, and I don't wanna get too much into the YouTube side of this convo. We have it a lot, but it's like there's other parts of it that I don't enjoy, which is, like, the algorithmic side of it, the, like, the hamster wheel side of it, and, like, all of that.
And as someone who came from print, like, I miss I missed the tangibility of print. I miss sort of the structure of print. I miss that there was something to look forward to [00:40:00] in maybe a more controllable, like, monthly delivery versus, like, a weekly delivery and, like, things like that. Gives you more time to, like- Yeah
marinate on stuff. You never felt, very rarely did you feel forced to be like, "Ah, we have to just get this out," where, like, there, there's that different model. So I, I was curious 'cause, like, I didn't spend a... I actually skipped the blog world. Like- Yeah ... like, I did the magazine. We- Zero 60 had a blog element, but that wasn't the, the focus.
Right. I was a guest writer for Jalopnik for, at moments, but I never, like, operated in a blog where, like, it was something we had to, like, make money off of. But, like, for you guys, like, Stanceworks was, like, a real business it seemed like, right? I'm assuming. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was. It wasn't a, like, a successful business-
but it was a business. But I was just curious if, like, if the YouTube part, like, what is the part of it that makes us both say, "I, I don't, like, wanna be a YouTuber, but I am"? Um- 'Cause I, I, like, I built my, my career, my, the second part of my career on YouTube, but I still don't really see myself as a YouTuber.[00:41:00]
I'm on, we're on YouTube right now. That, this is true. Um- We're also on Spotify. I think... I don't know. That's a tough one to answer. I think part of it comes down to the fact that... So Andrew Ritter, the other half of Stanceworks- Yes ... and I did that blog for almost 10 years. And- Re- rewind back. How did it all start?
Uh, I started the website, uh, when I was in college, so in '09, I think it was January of '09. And it was just a place... So I think it's initially started as a forum, 'cause I was really active on, like, you know, BMW forums and whatnot, and we were getting into, you know, just slamming our cars and having aggressive wheel and tire fitment, as was the thing at the time.
And any time we'd post our cars, every thread would devolve into just an argument. You know, "You're ruining your cars. What are you doing?" Um, and we needed a place where like-minded individuals could share their stuff and, like, you know, uh, not have it turn into just idiots throwing- Right ... shit at each other.
[00:42:00] So that's where the forum initially started, and then with that, I was like, "Oh, well, I'll make a blog so I have a place to share my photography," um, going to different car shows or sh- photographing different cars. And then from there, it just, it just gained attraction and became a place for me to showcase other cars, builders, shops, stories, what have you.
Um- And what were sort of the prerequisites for you guys at that time? 'Cause you did a pretty broad collection of stuff. It was, it w- the only thing that Andrew and I ever said was required was we had to think it was cool. If we thought it was cool, we were willing to put it on the site. If it wasn't, it, it wasn't.
And, and there's w- Was it cool and low? 'Cause I think you guys only did kinda... No? No, no. No? I think... And, and that's, like, one thing- Oh ... we really tried to avoid, especially, um, you know, a- at, let's say, like, 2013 onwards, was we really didn't want to be synonymous with what became, like, stance, so to speak.
Mm-hmm. It became, like, a bad word, in a sense. Um, we really wanted to just celebrate [00:43:00] automotive cool, and so there's so much content in those archives that's everything from, like, vintage racings to hot rods to, you know, off-road to- Right ... you know, to show cars to anything, really. As long as it was cool and it had a story worth sharing, we said, "Let's do it."
You guys shot my Nova for StanceWorks. Exactly. Yeah. And, and, and so, like, uh, there was a genuinely a little bit of everything, and we poured our heart and our souls into it, and we turned down selling the company. We turned down I couldn't count how many sponsors, because we never wanted to appear to be sellouts, and, like, we only took sponsors if we, like, we really knew the company and, like, really, you know, felt like it was a good fit.
And, like, we'd, we lost out on a lot of money, a lot of money over the years because we had... We were young and stupid and, like, really prideful, but I think that pride in what we were doing sh- it showed through in, in the art, so to speak. Yeah. But as a result, the business was never successful. I mean, like, [00:44:00] Andrew and I barely made it by The entire time.
And when I say barely made it by, I mean barely. And like, yeah, we had like some, some project cars at the time. Like, the first one that I did was that '28 Model A. Mm. And that one I funded through, I sold that E9 that I had, if you remember that car. Yeah, yeah. Um, which was like the ultimate come up as a 21-year-old kid.
I bought that car for 3,500 bucks and then sold it for like $20,000. I thought I was king of the world. You were. Um, and you know, and then like when I finally started to build Rusty as that crazy vehicle, like I was fortunate, that's when H&R came on board. They were my first ever sponsor for a project like that.
But as a business, it just like, we wasn't making money. It really wasn't. Mm. And so to answer the question the long way around is to say that YouTube, when I pivoted in, you know, I guess it was December of '20, was when I bought that 308 and I said, "I'm gonna fire up a YouTube channel. I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna document my projects 'cause that's what I wanna do and try to make this [00:45:00] work."
It was the first time that I ever actually made any money at all. At all. So at the end, it's not bad being a YouTuber. It's, it's not, it's not bad and, and it's, it's just, it's really, it was the first time in my whole career where it was like, "Okay, this kind of actually makes sense as a business. This actually can go somewhere, and if I, I can see tangible results if I keep pushing and, you know- putting out the content and feeding that algorithmic beast, it's like, well, it works.
Versus it didn't matter how much effort we were putting into a blog, it never made more money because we couldn't, we weren't getting paid by the view, right? Right. And at that time, all of the, the, you know, old heads at all these automotive companies, they were like, "What do you mean you want me to pay you, you know, to, to do a banner ad?
I'd rather do a print ad." And we're sitting here saying like, "Yeah, but you gotta have people follow through from that print ad and set the magazine down and go over to their computer and order your part," versus like, they can click on it. They can see that part here- Yeah ... in our article. But they couldn't, they didn't get it.
And so, like, just the [00:46:00] ad dollars barely made it work, and no matter how many views we were getting, we weren't getting more, you know? Yeah. Especially 'cause Andrew and I weren't, and still am not a business person. Like, it's, it's, I mean, I try to be. So you guys were, like, working other jobs. No, I mean, like, it was- You, it was paying the salary
it was our only job. Okay, yeah. Um, and, like, most of that income, I mean, we had advertisers, and then we did our merchandise, which was all Andrew. Um, and, like, again, it worked, but, like, I think for most of that stretch from 2011 when I moved to California, um, up until it was 2018 when Andrew left, and finally it was like, "Hey, dude, I gotta, like, try to make something from my life."
Mm-hmm. "I wanna, like, eventually get married and have a kid," and what have you. And I was like, "Yeah, that makes sense." And, like, I, I think that entire time we were making 20 to 30,000 bucks a year. Yeah. Like, I mean, it was, like, paying ourselves. And then, like, it paid for the, paid for the shop, and, like, that was it.
But yeah. That was it. And so it's like, you know, we were, we were barely getting by. It was tough. And there was plenty of months where it was like only [00:47:00] one of us was getting paid or what have you. And, like, I wanna make sure I give Andrew the credit. Like, without him, none of it ever would've happened. Like, he, he took the hits when, when it really had to, and, 'cause he had his shit a lot more together than I did.
And, but yeah, like, he, he made all that happen, and, and unfortunately, you know, we, we poured our heart and souls into it, and I'm proud of what we did. Like, God, I'm proud of it. I love it. Yeah, yeah. But it didn't, I don't know that it ever worked from a b- business perspective. It worked from a social perspective, right?
Like- Everybody knew it ... it was an influence. I mean, I think that- But- ... that's the thing for a lot of people was that- For a certain generation, you know, I'm the magazine generation, so for me I have this, like, I have this, like, romantic memory of performance VW and, you know, and Euro tuner, European Car, Max Power, you know, Super Street.
But you guys were that for a generation that grew up sort of in the, you know, 2010 to, you know, 2015. Like, that was the source to [00:48:00] go find cool cars, right? Yeah. And you created that. And, like, there was, you know, there was obviously you guys and, you know, maybe Speedhunters, and there w- at one point there was a ton, and then I think in the end, but, like, you guys were very uniquely in this place of, like, this is just really cool, and it was very curated, which, like, I, I...
And, and you, like, you brought it up before, and I think it was really, like, in 2009, so in Zero 60 my co- my editor's column was called Stance, 'cause it's like the double entendre. Yeah. And, like, the word meant something so different then- It did ... than, like, it became later on. Like, stance was almost, like, code word for, like, I...
Like, it was basically, like, if you were like, "Hey, I," you know, like I say the word stance, it's like you had, like it was a code word for saying, like, "I understand style and how a car should look." Like, I know mods. Yeah. It, and it was only about presence really. Like, it, it just- Right ... like- It, it, it wasn't about being as low as possible.
No. It was, like, that right fit. Like, there was this term in- German, it's like abschatt, which is like the nose is lower than the back. Mm-hmm. And, like, there was just a certain look [00:49:00] that, like, looked really good on, like, Mark 3 Volkswagens, and H&R made a kit called the 60/40 kit, and it was, like, 60 mil, 40 mil to give you that look.
Yeah. And it's like, that's just this nuanced thing that, like, I think became a language to a whole group of, like, the next generation people, 'cause if you go back... Like, whenever I see people build, like, period 1980s cars, but the stance is gone, like, that's not period. Like, cars were gross. Like, like Fitment was gross.
Like, even lowered- Horrible. Horrible at the time ... there was still three fingers of gap in it, you know? So- Oh, yeah ... but there was this moment where that shifted, and then, like, all things went to an extreme. Yeah, and then- And then it was like how low can you go, and you're, like, building cars that don't really drive, and, like, and all of that.
Yeah, everybody wants to push it to the limit and, and find that limit, and then go beyond it some more. Um, no, I mean, I g- I really am proud when I look back. I occasionally I'll go and I'll open up, like, what we call the StanceWorks archives. There's a tab, and it'll just feed you- Yeah ... random articles from the past, you know, 15 years or longer than that at this point.
And- Have you guys thought about doing a book with that [00:50:00] archive? We've talked about it, and the- Sure ... hardest part is, like, all of the web res stuff is too low. Oh. Like, we were, Andrew and I were talking about this maybe, like, a few months ago. It was like we were the first to do... Way, way back, we were uploading our images at 800 pixels wide, which at the time was huge.
Mm-hmm. And then we redid our website, and we went to 1,200 pixels, which was like- Wow ... desktop size photos for every single photo, and at the time we did that, it was like holy shit, that's- Yeah ... massive. It, it was like full screen. And now all, most of the, most of the archive, all the photos are, like, 1,200 pixels, but 1,200 pixels is not big enough to print in a book.
Do you guys not have the originals for that or? I know that we have everything, 'cause I d- I have not deleted a single photo I've ever taken. Okay. But, um, the problem is, is, like, going back and compil- like, okay, yeah, we could do this How much time is it gonna take? Who's gonna buy it? Is it gonna be worth the squeeze?
Because, like, that's ... I would love to do it. Yeah. But realistically, like, that's something it'd be like, yeah, I'm gonna ... That's gonna be, that's a [00:51:00] job. It's, it's a job. So- It's a job ... will that happen? I don't know. Maybe someday. Um, not anytime soon. Maybe a book publisher's listening to this right now and is like- Yeah, hit me up
"I'll go make that book." Let's figure it out. Yeah. Um, 'cause there, there is genuinely an archive of thousands of articles, and there is, humorously, there's only one on the website that I can think of that I am unhappy with. Oh, really? And I'm not gonna name it. I was gonna say, name the names. I'm not gonna
Eh, nah, I'm not gonna do that. Uh- I'm not gonna do that. Are you not gonna do it because you're not happy, because you don't wanna out the person who owns the car? No, I don't care about him. Or ... Oh, okay. I don't care about him. Uh, one, I don't want people to go find the article because it sucks. The car sucks.
Um- Is it choice of car? Is it that you guys just put the wrong car in? Yeah, it was, like, a friend of a friend, and, like, we were ... Yeah, I don't know. We were, we were just- Is it my Nova? No. No, that car's sick. I lo- I love that feature. I love that feature. Oh, hey, everybody. Here we are for another Story Time Interruption, brought to you by my good friends at FCP Euro.
If you're at all familiar with my [00:52:00] builds, you know that I'm not really good at, um ... Let's just say this, I'm the king of scope creep. I had an Audi Coupé quattro that I was gonna build into a 500-horsepower driver. It was a pretty simple established recipe to do this. But no, instead, I decided to make it into a 1,000-plus horsepower race car that still doesn't run.
The bad news is, is I also scope creep maintenance. The other day, went for a nice drive in the RS2. It was a spirited one, hit some canyon roads. Everything was great till I went around one corner and I heard a very familiar clunk. This clunk- The Volkswagen and Audi, guys, is nothing other than a blown strut bearing.
It happens a lot, especially when driving slammed cars. And while most people would probably be dismayed at the tedious task ahead of them, not I. I saw this as an opportunity. Yeah, an opportunity to finally fix that clicking CV joint, get after the bushings or the brakes that needed an overhaul. You know, head on over to FCP Euro and just [00:53:00] fill the cart with everything I can find underneath suspension, brakes, and even steering.
Hey, why not? And, you know, then take apart other parts of the car and probably never put it back together. This is kinda what I'm known for. If you too are like this, you can go to FCPeuro.com and scope creep even the most basic maintenance. FCP Euro doesn't judge. They'll be your plug to this horrible, bad habit we have.
Um- Do you remember the conversation we had that day when you shot that car? Yeah, you wanna talk about it? Sure. It is one of, it is- Sure, bring it up ... one of the most defining conversations of my entire career. I talk about it- Wait, really? I talk about it to people all the time. Okay. So I look at where I'm at in my career, and I'm
Like I said, I, I love my job. I love what I'm doing. Um, w- do you remember when we photographed that car? It was- 20- 2017, maybe? 2016? I feel like it was- 2016, 'cause that, I built the car- You had just finished it. Was it the first iteration, or was it when, after I had the bigger engine? No, I think it was first iteration.
Then it was 2015. I was gonna say, it's, this was- 2015 ... a long time ago. Yeah. [00:54:00] And this was ... 'Cause when did you guys start doing YouTube at Hoonigan? 20- late 2016 was the beginning. Okay. 'Cause it was- And then went heavy 2017 ... it was before that. Yeah. And we were standing under this bridge, having just photographed the cars, you, me, and Andrew.
Yep, the bridge behind Hoonigan. Yeah. And you said to us, we're, we're excited to get back and go put this blog article together. We're like, "The photos came out awesome." And you say to us, you're like, "Guys, you know what you should do? You should, you should get on YouTube. We're gonna get on YouTube. We're gonna start publishing videos every day.
You guys should do videos about all these cars that you're featuring. Start making video content. I've seen your video stuff that you know, you guys know how to run cameras and make stuff." 'Cause we'd made some stuff that- Mm-hmm ... had gone, like, well, but you put it on, like, Vimeo or whatever. Right. You, you said, "We're gonna do YouTube and see where it takes us."
This is pre-Hoonigan YouTube. Like, it hadn't happened yet. Yeah, no Daily Transmission, no none of it. And, and I remember Andrew and I on the drive home, we talked about it, and we were like I wonder if we, like, should do that, and then we were like, "Nah, we, like, we're photographers. Let's stick to what we know."
And I think all the [00:55:00] time about- ... where would I be now if in 2015 or 2016 we had pivoted and had started to do that? I was just there handing out free game under a bridge. It is- That's where you get game . It is genuinely, like, one of... I tell people that story all the time. It, it was, uh, like, genuinely just a wild moment for me to look back on and think about the fact that here's the guy responsible for one of the biggest automotive channels on YouTube.
And he's sitting here before he's even started it, and he's just like, "Hey, dude, I'm gonna do this thing. You should think about doing this thing, too." And I don't, I'm not, I'm not gonna say that I'm sad I didn't do it. I, there's a- It all worked out ... there's a, there's a saying, say stick to what you know, right?
Mm-hmm. And at the time, I knew photos, and I knew how to write. Yeah. And so I was like, "I'm gonna s- I'm gonna stick to what I, what I do." And ultimately, it took me to where I'm at now, so no, not- It all worked out. Yeah, yeah ... an ounce of regret. But it is fun to think about, like, man, where would I be right now if I had just said like, "You know what?
Let's give [00:56:00] that a go." So a- at that time, thinking on it, I don't think I've really thought about it much, I was still sitting in the, this world of like I knew we wanted to do something on YouTube, but, like, I didn't know what it was yet, right? Like, but I knew that it had to be action related because, like, the brand was so action focused.
And I was looking at you guys thinking, "I wish I could just do that." But, like, that's not our brand. Like, our brand isn't doing car features. Like, our brand is doing burnouts, and drifting, and jumping. And, like, I mean, if you think about it, Daily Transmission basically was a car feature with a burnout. Like, like that- 100%.
100% ... it wasn't, it wasn't a genius moment where I put it all together. But, but we had taken a couple meetings with, like, some big YouTubers, and at the time, the multi-channel networks were big. And, and you know, YouTube's starting to, like, become something different. Like, it's no longer cat videos. And we went to go take a meeting with a company that I can't remember now, but they [00:57:00] were eventually bought by Disney, and that was an MCN company.
We went, and the guy looked at me and he said, "You have to be able to make something for less than 100 bucks or it's not worth making on YouTube." And so I spent m- all this time thinking like, "What could we make? Like, what could be these things that would, like, work but still had the val- like, the energy of the brand?"
And I- Mm-hmm ... and we were shooting there that day, and I was just like, "Man, if we brought a camera out right now and filmed this-" this would work. Like, people wanna see this, but like it wasn't my brand. Right. Do you know what I'm saying? So I was literally looking at something, I was watching you guys do that and going, "I want this, but this doesn't actually fit my brand."
Later on we did Build Biology, which actually kind of became that, but it wouldn't have worked I think as our first foray. It would've, it would've put Hoonigan in a different light, where like Daily Transition was exactly the show that we needed to make, which was just like kind of [00:58:00] chaos, like DIY, like it really fit the aesthetic for the brand.
So when I, I remember that 'cause I walked back into the building going Man, what, what could we do? And I think there's a, there's probably a piece of that, that if you were to map my brain energy during that time, that w- looking at that going, "If I just did a burnout at the end, that would work," and then we kind of went and made Daily Transmission.
Uh, no, I, I, I, I was happy to see you finally come into YouTube, and I was also happy to see you carve out, like, this really unique space for you. 'Cause I, I, I will say this, and, you know, hold onto the size of your head, but, like, a lot of people build stuff. Um, I think that you have a different approach to building that feels elevated from what a lot of other people are doing, and I don't just mean because of the size of the project, 'cause I see people shove, you know, such-and-such supercar engine into such-and-such whatever or vice versa.
Um, but it doesn't feel, [00:59:00] like, engineered. And, like, I know you're not an engineer, but, like, I know you care enough about engineering that, like, you're looking into a lot of that. Yeah. But, but at the same time, you also care about the aesthetic of it, and it's like, that's, like, a weird... Like, those paths sometimes don't cross.
Like, you can have someone who really understands how to make something, but, like, it doesn't look good, and then you got someone who really knows how to make something look good, but it's not actually functional. And it's like you're f- I think you're finding, like, this good Venn diagram where, like, you're living in both, and that, for me, like, checks all the boxes.
Like- I, I, I appreciate that, and I think i- if I were to try to, like, nail down what that part of it is, is at the end of the day, the car stuff for me, it's, it is a creative outlet. I'm really hesitant to call myself an artist. I think that sounds- Yeah ... really pretentious. It is pretentious, yeah. But, like, for lack of a better way to put it, like, it's still my artistic output.
Like, maybe- Yeah ... we can go with that. And it's like I really care how it turns out and how it looks, how it feels when you look at it, what the impression you get when you're around it is or when you see it. Like, all that stuff really matters to me, and so [01:00:00] yeah, you can have people that are setting out to build, let's say, a race car 'cause they wanna take it racing.
That's not what I'm doing. Or maybe they're building something 'cause they wanna have this crazy machine. You know, they put a tank engine in a something or other, and it's like, yeah, you did it, but, like, how does it, h- how does it really feel to look- Yeah ... as, like, is it, is it really cool? Like, it's cool in concept, but, like, is it, does it make you feel the thing when you look at it?
Yeah. And so it's like that is, that kind of stuff's important to me. Um- Would you build Rusty Slammington today, or do you feel like that's something behind you? 100% I would build it today. Okay. I would, like- Would you build it the same way you built it, or? I would make it better 'cause I've, like- Hmm
learned a lot- Right ... since I built that car. Like, it, when I look at that car now, I still, like, I think it's really cool. I, like, wish that I could go back and redo the whole thing- Mm-hmm ... 'cause it's like- It looks like my first big project, but- It was your first ... I'm still proud of it. It also was your first.
Yeah. Well, I guess, I guess the Model A was your first. I mean, I built the Model A so that I could learn how to fabricate so that I could- Yeah ... build Rusty. And Rusty, [01:01:00] in scale, can, in contrast to that first Model A, is, is just a completely different animal. Yeah. Um, but yeah. I mean, like I still think that that's, that car is awesome, and I still, I mean, I think that the F40 is really just in many ways Rusty 2.0.
I mean, like it's kind of the, it's the same thing, right? So yeah, I mean, I, uh, it's, it's all, it's all a lot of fun. And y- you said something a moment ago that made me wanna kinda touch upon another kinda cool point. You were, you were talking about like kinda becoming a YouTuber and, you know, how it fits into the projects and whatnot, and I think one of the other really cool parts of getting to the point of where I'm at now and the path that it's taken me is...
So we talked about my dad and his history and, you know, uh, to, to use the same phrase, apple not falling far from the tree. Well, my stepdad was also important in the world of cars [01:02:00] and to me in terms of cars. So he was the host of, of Car and Driver Television, and then Motor Trend Television, or I guess other way around, Motor Trend Television, and then Car and Driver Television back in the '90s on, on TNT.
Wild. Okay. Um, so Jim Scoutt, big mustache, deep voice. Uh, I guarantee you'd like- Yeah ... you'd be like, "Oh, holy crap. That guy." That sounds super familiar. Um, and so yeah, he was me- my p- parents, my mother and, and he married in '98. I grew up with him. Uh, absolutely like one of the best people on planet Earth. Mm. I adore him, one of the most important people in my entire life.
Um, and one of my favorite things about doing YouTube and then kind of running that side of the business and whatnot was how much closer it brought me and him- Mm ... because he still ran a TV production company all the way up un- until his, his death a couple years ago. Um, and so he did the car stuff, but primarily he did, uh, television shows that focused on shooting sports, so Shooting USA- Mm
and prior to that, American [01:03:00] Shooter. Um, and there was so much kinda overlap once my business started taking off and, you know, talking about pivoting to YouTube and having that path take me where it went, and f- you know, whether it's finding sponsors and advertisers and, and that, it, it paralleled exactly what he did for a living for- Mm
the past, you know, 30 years. Um, and it was, it was really cool 'cause kinda at the end It, one, it, we shared a lot of overlap in just the business side of it, and so he, like, really took an interest in what I was doing there. But then it also for the first time really allowed him to see what I could do- Mm-hmm
and, and the skill set and whatnot. I remember, like, I started building the second Model A with the Coyote motor and the F1 wheels and whatnot, and, like, f- one day he watched and he was like, "Holy shit. How do you, how do you know how to do any of that?" You know? And, and it was, like, really cool. I wish I could remember exactly what the point was, but it was, it was such a special moment sort of talking about all the YouTube [01:04:00] stuff.
Yeah, yeah. I'm, I'm throwing that one out there, too. There was ... I had a way to connect it, but we've lost it, but- ... it was, it w- it was really cool, uh, to kinda have that happen, too. Yeah. It's funny how sometimes, like, you get to a certain point in your career and, like, your parents take notice of something that, like, you don't think much about, and they're just like, "Wow, you did that."
You're like, "Yeah, I, I... That's what I do," you know? Yeah. Like, I had this weird moment when I w- when we made the first Gymkhana. Uh, I- my mom sent it to me, and she's like, "Have you seen this?" No way. And I was like, "Mom, I was involved in that. Like, go re-watch it. It says 0 to 60 at the beginning." And she's like, "Oh.
Oh, wow," like, because, like, a friend of hers sent it to her, and she's like, "Oh, my son would like this." And I was like, "I'm," was like, "involved in that," you know? And, like, it was, like, such a cool moment 'cause it's like she was generally proud of ... She genuinely thought it was good before she even knew it was mine.
Before knowing you were involved, yeah. 'Cause, like, if he... I'm her kid. I could shit out crap and she'd be like, "Oh, it's nice," you know? It's great. Yeah, so. Yeah. No, it is, [01:05:00] it is funny when your parents finally get a ... I'm sure that there's other realms in which parents find out what their kids do, but we're probably unique in some ways about, like- Yeah, yeah, yeah
they really see it through a different lens- Yeah, yeah, yeah ... and not just their own parental lens. I mean, some find out on OnlyFans, you know? So it's always different realms. True, true. Thank- thankfully, my parents haven't found out OnlyFans yet. Is that where all your cars are finished? It... That's... Yep, exactly.
On- OnlyFans appro- That's- OnlyFans approached Vinny, like, uh, when we were still at Hoonigan, and they were trying to, like, clean up their act, and they wanted to, like- Oh, right, right ... they wanted to get away from being, like, an adult site. So they approached Vinny and were like, "Hey, what could we do?" And the idea we pitched him was that we, like, finish all of Scotto's cars- Oh my God
but they only run on OnlyFans. Only on OnlyFans? That's incredible. So, like, they're, on YouTube they don't run. They only run on OnlyFans. Honestly, brilliant idea. Yeah, it still- Brilliant idea ... it still could be good. Literally this whole conversation spun off of me asking you what cars you have. We haven't- Fair, fair
did we, did we name them all yet? Um, I- So let- let's just count them off. I won't interrupt. Okay. Let's [01:06:00] just get through them. Okay, so there's the two Ferrari projects. Okay. The Audi, the E36, the E30, the three trucks There's a, um, I have an E28 that's just kinda like a- Mm-hmm ... cool little thing. I feel like there's something...
Oh, and the Camaro. Yeah. Okay. So 10. That, that 10, yeah. Do you, have you thought about how long it'll take you to get them all done? Why would I do that? Okay. I, I, uh... 'Cause I, I had, like, I, I woke up for the first time the other day thinking, "What am I doing?" Like, I have just, like, way too much clutter, and I have way too many things.
And I, by the way, I am on a generational run for Brian Scotto. I got four cars back on the road in three days. That's incredible. Yeah, I got... 'Cause I, I had an issue with the Rabbit, like, fuel system issue, fixed that. None of this is, like, finishing projects. It's just like- Hey ... yeah ... let's, let's take the victories, okay?
Had a suspension issue with the RS2, fixed that, [01:07:00] and in the same day, fixed a cooling, uh, a cooling issue on the van, and I found the key for my Ferrari. I mean, that, like, counts 'cause, like- It does. That's, yeah ... it, it wasn't running. And now it is. And it's like, I put four cars back on the road. Have you started it up since?
Uh, no, 'cause it's gonna be a, it's gonna be a cold crank situation. Okay. So it hasn't, it hasn't ran. I'm gonna have to, like, pull the fuel, fuel fuse and crank it for a little bit and prime it- I think we're gonna save that one for the Patreon ... and do that. Yeah, yeah, that'll, we'll do that on Patreon. Maybe we could do it before, uh, H- 'cause have you ever heard a Ferrari start after it hasn't started for, like, three, three months?
Nope. It's not pleasant. No? Like, it'll run on, like, three cylinders, then four, then five, then six, then seven, then eight, and it's like, we're at, like... Like, meanwhile, the F100 could sit for four months, and I start it, and it purred. So, you know. Of course. No, I ask 'cause when I started to do the math, 'cause I have, whatever, 26 or seven cars.
I guess 27 now. God, that number's going up. It's supposed to be going down. Yeah. And, like, I just, I, like, decided to, like, just paint, put a piece of paper out of, like, how long it would realistically take me to finish them, and I don't [01:08:00] think I would actually live that long. Like, for what... So, like, I have, I have to, like, cut down.
Like, it's gotten out of control. Yeah. But y- I also don't spend every day making them for content, but that also slows things down. Well, so, I mean, like, if we break it down, let's be, I wanna be optimistic but realistic. Yeah. Right? Okay, so we can cross some of them off the list because r- obviously, like, my F-350, it, that's a daily driver.
The E28, it runs. The E36 runs. The E30 runs, although it does need a VANOS unit, but it runs. It just rattles. Yeah. It's fine. Um, so the 308 Does not have a drive line in it, but like it's a functioning project, right? So I would call that more maintenance than like, oh, it's, it's not unfinished, right? I'll give you that.
Yeah, yeah. It will, it will be back on the road before, as soon as I get that transmission, like it'll be back together and we're gonna go back out racing. So, uh, that one's not even one where I'm sitting here thinking like, "Oh, when am I gonna get to it?" Mm-hmm. It's just, "Hey, I need my gearbox." The [01:09:00] F40, it's a ways out.
That's a, that's a huge project. Mm-hmm. Uh, the F100- Wh- when you say ways out, are, are you thinking two years, three years? Yeah. I think, I think, I'm hoping by the end of next year. Okay. I mean, I'm really trying to focus on it. For like first startup? Um- That's like not devel- I would- You still will have development to do
I would like it to drive by, by that point. Okay. I think that's pretty realistic. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, we're talking minimum, you know, 18 months, right? Mm-hmm. That one's a ways out. The F100, uh, I mean, if I wanted to, I could drive it right now. Yeah, you just- Ish ... down the fuel pump Like, it would, it would be, it would be unhappy.
Um, so I mean, so I, I replaced the fuel pump in it. Oh. It, it does run, but now I think now the carb is all unha- I don't know if, like, the flow rate of the pump is different. Mm. But I replaced that fuel pump, and now it, like, it just runs like crap. It's not like it, it's not meeting quality anymore. It's crap.
And I, and I had a friend, [01:10:00] uh, like, go through the carb and do, like, kind of a carb rebuild on it and do some tune-up, and it still isn't happy, so. Is... Not that, that we're gonna sit here and diagnose this on the podcast, but do you h- is there's no fuel pressure regulator. Correct. You might just throw one of those in, like- Maybe.
It seemed to have, like, problems with the jets on the accelerator pump- Mm ... on the, on the carb. So I, I don't know. It could just be that, like, I had tuned the carb for a barely running- That could be ... fuel pump. That could be. And now you have a fuel pump that's actually giving it fuel, and it might actually be easier to just crank it down to, like, two or two and a half, three PSI or something.
Yeah. So anyway. So, like, it, it does drive. Last time I drove it, uh, which was, like, a week ago, uh, I, like, had to pull over on the side of the 55, and a cop was like, "What are you doing?" And, you know, it was all this, you know, whatever. Yeah. But it does drive, so I'm gonna put it- All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a driver
I could go fire it up. Yeah. Um, the GMT 400, uh, it, it drives. I'm gonna sell it- Mm-hmm ... if anybody wants a GMT [01:11:00] 400, regular cab, short bed, black. It's pretty cool. Pretty cool. Um, so- Yeah, okay. So you, you, you- But really it's just the Audi's the only one that's like- The Audi ... who knows when- Yeah, I know that song
and, you know? You know that we are doing Treffpunks this year in October. I- So it, do you think that's realistic? When I gave, when I gave, uh, Jason the engine last year, I was like, "Hey, maybe we, maybe we get this done for Treffpunks." Well, we just didn't say what year, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um- I mean, if you got the engine back in, I don't know, July, do you think you could have it done for October?
I, I don't know how much- Yeah ... is left for that car. I mean, all the running gear at this point is done. It's, it would just be like, I need to swap the engine in- Yeah ... and get it running and then, like, do all the, like, plumbing things, which is like a lot of work- Takes a while, but it's not- ... but I know how to do it.
You know how to do it. So. Yeah. Yeah, really it's just, it's just that, and then I feel like, um- Oh, and then the Camaro is in the works. Like, I'm actively working on it right now. Right. And that, that should be, like, up and running in the next few [01:12:00] weeks. What engine's in that? Uh, it's got an 8.9 liter Keith Black Racing engine in it.
Wow. Yeah. That's a lot of displacement. It's, it's 12 and a half to one compression. Oh, yeah. Um, it's a, it's- Does it rev? Uh, I don't know. I think it revs to, like, seven. Yeah, well, it's- So it's a lot for an 8.9 liter ... back then, yeah, it was huge. Um, yeah, it's, like, it's, you know, derivative of Keith Black's offshore, uh, racing engines.
Mm-hmm. So, like, I've got video of it just being held at 7,000 RPM going around the, uh, Ohio Transportation Research Facility oval, the seven-mile oval. Sure. Just screaming. It's the coolest sounding thing. It's like, "What is that?" It sounds like a jet. Are you still actively looking for other projects, or are you sort of- I mean, always, yes, but I'm really trying to, like, I need to get some stuff done, thin the herd.
Like I said, the F100 is about to be a big project. Mm-hmm. So I need to, like, make sure I have the bandwidth for that. Um, there's a handful of cars that, like, I really, really want that- I say like, oh, if the opportunity came up, uh, like [01:13:00] would I jump on it? Probably not, but if it was right. I really, I really want a Euro E28 M5, which kinda everybody knows at this point.
Mm-hmm. I really wanna try to make that happen. I think you said that last time on the show. Yeah, that's like, that's like the m- the dream attainable car. Um, I would really like a white R32 GT-R. I support that. I like really, really want one- Yeah ... so bad. Um, there's like a couple other cars that like would be cool.
I mean, there's a list of 1,000 cars that I'd love to own, but would I like make any of them happen right now? Probably not. Yeah, I, I'm, I'm sort of doing the opposite of what I should do, so like I should just sell stuff off and make the few things I have work well. Like, I'm at a point where I've got, uh, I don't know, I'd have to count how many cars run, but it's like definitely more than 10 that are like
I mean, right now when you drove here you just probably see my cars just littered all over the street, right? The street. So, um, there's not a single car here on this property that doesn't run and drive. [01:14:00] Um, some of them run and drive better than others, but they all run and drive. Like, all of them can go to 7-11, get something, and come back.
Like, that is pretty much the, the standard for me. Um, the ... And I think all of them could sit in traffic and not overheat. That's like another one. But, um, I'm sort of in this like weird like I don't even really know what I want anymore because I get so hyper-fixated on like what's current that like right now I'm so focused on building my Swallowtail for Tref Punk, so like it's really the only thing I'm thinking about, so all the other cars are like- Sure
out of view. But then the other day I drove the RS2 home 'cause it had been out at the farm. I was like, "I love this car," but there's a bunch of things I need to make better on it, right? And then all, then the next day someone sent me a, like a documentary on the D11 V8, uh, in DTM. Yep. And I happened to have just picked up a D11 project car, and I'm like, "Oh, man," like, "I really wanna build that now," and then I g- like my brain goes [01:15:00] off in that world.
I get it. I mean, I'm the same way. Like, once my brain starts going on something, that's all I wanna do, and it can be really hard to like focus- Yeah ... especially when it's like you have something really important that you need to be f- working on. Yeah. It's a bit overwhelming, though. I do think I'm at the point where like I've gotta start- like actually parsing the collection.
But like, and then at the same time, then there's the other side of me which is like, well, like, they're, it's not like I have things that are worth a lot of, like I have a couple cars that are worth good money that if I sold them it'd be good to sell them, like the Ferrari and maybe even, you know, like the B150 and a couple things are like worth a decent amount.
I also have a lot of things that are like all sub $5,000 cars that if I sold I might not be able to find again. Right. And I have some space to store stuff, so like I get into that weird world. I was surprised to see the B150 still here. I thought, I thought you sold it. Um, yeah. I got cold feet. Okay. I got cold feet.
I think like, I, I, I'm gonna sell it now. I was gonna say, so that means like if I really wanted it, it's available. If you really wanted it, you probably need to buy it in the next couple of [01:16:00] weeks, so. Mm. But, um, I just, it's like- Like, I don't drive it. Like, it's here, it runs and drives, but, like, I just don't really use it much.
I, I don't know. It doesn't, like, fit my ... Like, I love it for what it is. I think it's cool, and I'm like, I love the idea of it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like, I'm infatuated by the idea of it, like, where I don't actually think I'll- I get it. I get it. And when I drive it, again, I'm like, in my head I'm like, "Oh, I should fix this," and all that, but, like, my need for that ver- like, versus other things, like I'm now in a position where it's not about that one car, it's about that one car compared to all the other cars, because I'm being realistic about the time I have to be able to, like, put into things, right?
Like, my, my, um, I have that E350 van. Mm-hmm. Have you seen that before? Yeah. Yeah. All the ... Yeah. Um, it is one of my favorite vehicles, but I have had a series of dumb issues with it [01:17:00] over the past. So I had, like, a wiring harness issue. I had, I had, um- All of which is Justin Chenoweth's fault. Actually, n- no, but it, it's headed out to Justin's.
He, he hasn't touched this car. None of it is his fault, none of it is U-Joint's fault, none of it is J&K's fault. Like- I just, I just wanted to blame this ... I know, I know, but, like, that's actually the thing is, like, I started, I modified a bunch of things, but, like, weird things are breaking on the car. Right.
And it's just, like, a bunch of issues, and then actually the most recent one was just something dumb, like a clip broke, and broke the fan, the fan blade opened, like cut the radiator open. Of course. You know, just like, you l- like I'm looking at the dis- like at first I thought that the radiator seal blew, and then when I took it all apart I realized that something got in the way of the fan.
The fan's old, 'cause it's, you know, 2004 and the plastic's whatever, and it shattered and it just sent shrapnel through the radiator. But it's like, that was annoying. I had to take like half the t- the front of the truck apart, and, like, working on vans is bullshit. And I just had a sequence of, like, [01:18:00] one problem after another, and, like, it makes you wanna sell the car.
But then the other day I got it back up and running and I'm like, "I love this car." And, like, that's my ... Like, I'm like the ... I have a toxic relationship. Like, I am, like, in a, in an abusive relationship with my vehicles, or my vehicles are in an abusive relationship with me. I'm not really sure. That's, that's me and my E36.
Like, that car, I, I love it. I refuse to let it go. Yeah. Um, but I hate it. I hate that car, and every single ti- I'm not kidding, every single time I touch it something goes wrong, something breaks. Do you, does that give you, like, a level of, like, just PTSD around the car? Like, when, do you- Oh, I g- Do you, can you enjoy driving it?
No. Yeah. At, like, literally at this point, like, I got it out maybe, mm, it was probably two or three weeks ago. I, I went up to a, a, like a, a Cars and Coffee thing that a buddy put together, and I said I was gonna go and I was trying to decide what to drive, and it was up on the lift and I was like, "You know what?"
I'm gonna, I'm gonna get the old [01:19:00] girl down. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna take it. Like it's, I should do something with it. Mm-hmm. And like, it's perfectly detailed, it's all clean, it's been under the cover. It's like, I'm gonna drive it. And so I get it down and I pull out, and then on my way to Whittier or whatever it was, it starts misfiring It's never done that before.
Why, why? Why? And it just got progressively worse until it was, like, barely running when I got it home. And it's just, I e- but I even joked with myself before I got it down, I was like, "Something's gonna break today, though." Mm-hmm. "I guarantee it." Last time I drove the car, throttle pedal stopped working.
Drive-by-wire throttle pedal just, like, just decided to shit the bed. Just stopped working. I'm sitting at a light ready to go, turns green, car doesn't move. I think that the issue is, is, like, you and I have ... Like, our understanding of car, older cars is not realistic because you need to ... Like, that car needs one person to own it who will just fix these things.
Yes. And only focus on that. Like, like other people own cars like that, and they spend an [01:20:00] entire year making it run right. And you and I are like, "Well, we've got a bunch of them, like, why is this one..." You know? That's, that's fair. I mean, I know that, like, if that car belonged to somebody and it was their only pride and joy- Mm-hmm
like, and that was their thing, like, yeah, they'd probably get all the little things sorted out. But I don't know. There's also part of me that's like, I, I've had it for long enough, if I, like, amortize the cost or the amount- Right ... of money I'm into that car, it, it's fine. But then I also, like, look at it and it's like this is a '93 base model 3 Series, and I've put, over the past 20 years, a mountain of...
Like, more than anybody- Oh, yeah ... could have ever invested into a n- a base model 3 Series. Um, it shouldn't be breaking. It's not fair. It should be not, it should not do that. Like, I don't mind the breaking as much as ... Well, no, I guess I do mind the breaking. I, I hate getting afraid of cars. Do you know what I'm saying?
Like, like, where you're like, "I'm just afraid to drive this thing 'cause I know there's gonna be a problem." Where, like, you just kinda get... And it's like I don't know if it's, like, a [01:21:00] curse thing and you get superstitious about it, but, like... So to go back to the Justin thing. So he's installing a pop top for me.
Yep. It's from Super Pacific. It's super rad. If you have a E Series, it's the thing to get. Because the E Series is such an older vehicle that, like, everyone stopped making pop tops or, or anything for that in, like, the, you know, early 2000s for that vehicle. 'Cause realize that that started in the '90s, for how long it ran, and, like, the tech back then kinda sucked.
And now everyone's making really cool stuff for camping world, and for some reason Super Pacific thought it would be a good idea to build something for an E Series. Everyone else is building it for, like, Sprinter and transit markets. So anyway, he's, he was ... I think helped them develop it. Um, so, I'm, he's, he's gonna be installing one, and I'm sort of now, like, prepping the vehicle for the drive to Colorado.
Because that, like, you need to drive like that sometimes in a vehicle to, like, get yourself past the, like, the worrying point. Where you're like- [01:22:00] Yeah ... "Okay, I've now driven it all the way to Colorado, up out, out," like, and then if there isn't a problem coming home. But my first, my maiden voyage home in that vehicle from, um- U-Joint, uh, you know, Chris- In North Carolina?
the North Carolina one- Mm ... like, was fine until it wasn't, and then I was stranded in a, in, you know, in Arkansas for two days with, like, a, you know, this, and then I replaced the engine to not have that happen again. And, like, every time I fix something, something else breaks, or the thing I fixed caused another problem, and it's like, "I just want, I just want that car to love me, or that truck to love me back."
I, I get it completely. I mean, when I think about the E36, I, uh, I joke regularly about maybe the way for me to get it to stop misbehaving or for me to fall in love with the car again is to engine swap it again. Like, just- Which I know isn't, like, that's not logical, but in my head it's like, "Well- Yeah ... if I show it some love, and I also kind of replace everything while I'm at it, it's [01:23:00] gotta be good."
I think i- if, well, if you're gonna buy a project car, it's different, but if you were gonna buy a car that's, like, old and unreliable, the best thing is to buy it a thousand miles from your house, and then go by yourself to get it home. Because by the time you get it home, you, and with, you gotta bring tools, you will sort out all of the issues, and you will fix them in the way they should be fixed, which is there's no scope creep.
You're just getting back on the road. 'Cause the problem for me is I take a car like that and I'm like, "Well, while I'm here, I might as well tear all of this out. I might as well replace- Yeah ... the engine." Yeah. "Well, if I'm gonna do the water pump, I might as well just do an engine swap." Like, once you get, like, where if you just have to get home, you'll fix it.
I had that Audi 4, that red Audi thir- 4000. That thing just, like, I fixed all the things in one week. It was like a forced situation. It was like a tough mudder, and then it just was reliable from that point forward. It didn't look good. I probably should do that. It had, like, mismatched zip ties and stuff on it.
I think you just need to do a road trip with it where you have to get home. Thing is, is I hate that car. I'm not [01:24:00] road tripping in it anywhere. So next. So what is next? What's, uh, what's y- I mean, obviously- Well, I mean, like, we covered all the projects. I, like, will say in, like, a, in a moment of reality, like, sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in projects, and I don't have 25 cars.
So, and it is all I do every day. So it's- Yeah, but I ... Like, I have 25 cars, and I'm not as skilled as you, nor is my weekly time spent working on cars, nor do I have a space to work on cars anymore, which is weird because, like, you know, while I do have this garage here and I've got, and I've got a space at the farm, like, I don't actually have a shop anymore, which is actually
Like, my brain and my understanding of, like, how much work I could get done and how much I can, like, do with a car was based off of having a massive shop and space at- Yeah ... Hoonigan, and I don't have that anymore. But, like, I can't re- ... And also not just that, but having, like, access to people like Suppy to be like, "Hey, I can't do this.
Can you do this for me?" Like, I can weld, but I can't do it like Suppy can. Like, we had a plasma [01:25:00] table, like, all these things, and I now have to, like, rewire and realize, like, I'm back to just being a guy with a toolbox. Mm-hmm. And like, but my appetite is, like, Hoonigan. Like, that, that just doesn't, like, match anymore.
Yeah. So. Well, it's k- it's kinda like, you know, a, a former bodybuilder that keeps their appetite up when they're burning a million calories a day, and then eventually it kinda changes. Yeah, that's also my problem. Well, but ... So I don't know. As far as, like, what's next, I mean, the projects, like I said, the whole reason I do any of it is because I love the projects.
Yeah. And, and there's a list of 1,000 cars that I'd love to own. I know I need to make sure I get some stuff done on the channel. Like, right now I feel like I'm kind of in this, this void of the channel needs a W- Mm. So that they can- That's, like, the worst feeling ... you know, so that they can feel like, "All right.
We've crossed something off the list." So I need to get, like, the 308, I need to get the new gearbox in it, engine back in, get that done. I need to get the Audi done, and then I think I can start introducing more stuff. We introduced the [01:26:00] F100, uh, one episode so far, and, like, the reception to it was unreal. So I- Did you expect that?
No. I mean, like, that video- 'Cause I remember you telling me, like, you're like, "I bought this. The audience probably won't care about it, but I, I'll build it for myself. I don't care." Yeah, and it was, like, literally like, "Oh, we need an episode this week. Like- It, I posted it on Instagram, and Instagram was really into it, which- Mm-hmm
is different than YouTube. Um, and yeah, I mean, that video literally is performing as well, if not better than, like, F40 stuff. I mean, it's like- That's awesome ... it's like everybody's like, "Wow, this is awesome." Yeah. So I don't, I'm not gonna say, like, you know, entire build series will do the same thing, but- No, but it was exciting
you know, it's like, all right, they wanna see it, I wanna make something of it. I'm really into that truck. So, you know, we're gonna be diving into that project. Um, the Camaro thing, I'm really trying to condense that into just five episodes. That, I think, is an opportunity for me to revisit stance works content as though it's a blog, but in video form.
Yep. So like it is a stance works article, but in video format, right? Um, so that'll be kind of like a [01:27:00] different type of content for the channel, 'cause I'm really gonna be doing a lot of storytelling. Mm-hmm. Like, yes, I'll be working on the car for some of it, but that's not the point of it. It's really telling the history about this car, why it's so special, um, and then this incredible journey of being a car guy, tracking my dad's car down, and getting to surprise him with it.
Like, I think that's something- Yeah ... that we all kind of dream about- For sure ... or fantasize about. And, you know, for me, I distinctly remember there was this video, and maybe you've seen it. Um, it's, it's gotta be super old at this point on YouTube, but there's, like, this guy, uh, and he s- his dad had a Norton motorcycle that he bought new- Mm-hmm
and, like, had taken it apart and had been in his dad's basement for decades. And so he, like, he stole the bike out of the basement- Mm ... had it restored, and surprised him with it for Christmas one year- Oh, that's amazing ... or something like that. And, like, I saw that probably 10 years ago, and that set in motion like, "I wanna do that."
Mm-hmm. "That's what I wanna do." So to kind of reiterate what I said before, like, this feels like it's gonna be the coolest, [01:28:00] best, or most important thing I've done so far. I don't know where to go from there, and then you kind of say the same thing about from a project perspective, like where do I go from the F40?
I don't know. Like, no matter what I do, it's not gonna be as- Yeah ... grand. You know what I mean? Um- Do, do you think there's ever a time where Stanceworks goes back to telling stories about other people's cars? It could be. I mean, like, I've done some episodes of that. I haven't lately, but, like, when I was figuring out what I was doing- Mm-hmm
you know, in that first couple of years, um, I did, you know, a video on, like, my buddy Amir's K-swapped NSX- Yep ... or, like, uh, I did a couple of cars that were Uh, at Joey Seely's shop Mm-hmm ... or, and just different l- cars that I, I kinda had access to that I was like, "Oh, I can tell a cool story about this." And all of them did pretty well.
Like, the videos performed as well as anything else I was posting. And so clearly there's, there's like res- people are receptive to that, and I like doing that kinda thing. And Anthony and I, my videographer, um, we have, [01:29:00] like, some Post-it Notes on the wall of, like, what we call different video essays that I would like to kinda, like, revisit- Mm-hmm
and talk about different cars or showcase, um, you know, cars that we have access to. I like, I like the name video essay. That's good. And photo essay, video essay. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before, but it's a good, it's a good use of it. I, I didn't come up with it. I've, I've heard it, heard it used- Yeah
elsewhere, but I, when I heard it, I felt this was... That's exactly what this is. Mm-hmm. The video essay. And, and most of them are titled A Love Letter to and then a different car. Mm-hmm. Um, and that doesn't mean, like, that's what we title it, but that's, like, that's the concept behind it is, is, like, if I can get access to, let's say, an M1.
That's my, that's my number one car. Um, I would like to do a video that is a love letter to the M1, or I wanna get my hands on a Euro M5 and do that. Or, you know, our friend Pat down the street has access to, uh... We did a video about this, uh, 190E Evo II. Wow. And so to, like, do a bit more with that or just some other cars like that, where it's like, "Hey, let's do some cool stuff that is storytelling- Mm-hmm
some [01:30:00] history, beautiful visuals," and, and see how that goes. But- I don't know. I don't know when that might happen As someone who also enjoys, like, the art of storytelling as well as building, do you spend a lot of time thinking about other ideas and the way you could tell stories? Or, like, is most of your sort of creative energy now spent on, like, how to do the project?
Um, we're always trying to refine what our content looks like, so, like, every few months we're always like, "Let's try this." And so with the F100 episode that we did, that we... I, I don't k- know what word to ascribe to it other than we just said, "Hey, let's make this way more vloggy. I want- Yep ... and we actually mic'd Anthony up and said, "Hey, talk to me while I'm doing this.
Like, let's m- have you hanging out with me-" Mm-hmm "... versus just produced." And the comments in the video, or in the comments, were like, "Dude, this was awesome. I feel like we were hanging out with you while you worked on the car." And it was s- super easy for us to produce, right? Yeah. Like, it was way easier to do.
I enjoyed it too. I enjoyed how annoyed [01:31:00] you got about the, uh, armrests. Yeah. Oh, dude, it- Yeah, the- ... it kicked my ass. Yep. Um, but we've since then taken some of that and done it in other places too, and so for example, right now, I mean, this morning I was welding up an exhaust for Anthony's car because his, he has an E28, and the exhaust got ripped off the car somehow.
And I'd been telling him for a while, he bought a set of headers for it, like, over a year ago, and I keep saying like, "Yeah, dude, we'll, we'll put the headers on and we'll build you an exhaust," but I kept pushing it back 'cause like- Yeah ... I know it's gonna take a week to do and it's gonna be a ton of work.
Well, that happened, right? So it's like, all right, well, we gotta do this. Let's make an episode about it. And so we're hanging out, we're riffing in the shop, we're joking back and forth, we're poking fun at each other, um, and I... He was editing the episode up while I'm out there just welding hour after hour.
Um, but he's saying like, "Dude, this is gonna be awesome. I think it's gonna be a ton of fun." Or, like, we just did an episode where we went to, um, Ultrace over in Germany- Mm-hmm ... and kinda tried to have it be more like that too. So we're always trying to [01:32:00] refine what the content looks like. If we can make it easier for us to produce, but I'm also still happy with the outcome, and the, of course, like, the audience is happy with it too, that's, that's the name of the game.
So there is- kind of some evolution to what the content looks like, and there is effort going into that, but I would still say, like, a majority of the effort is, of course, just actually doing the work. What'd you think about Ultras? The event itself, absolutely insane. You went to the German one. The German ones.
Yeah. It was the first year of them doing it. I have not been to the, uh, one in Poland yet. Yeah. We're leaving here in a few weeks to go to it. Um, you know, I, I have to say, it, it was unlike anything else I've ever seen. Mm-hmm. The event was incredible. The production value of that show is through the roof.
Those guys put on an event, and the only thing that I've ever been to that's even, like, remotely comparable would be Luftgekühlt here stateside. Yeah. But it, it blew that out of the water for me. It kind of honestly ruined- Yeah ... car shows. Now, I'm not a car show guy. Yeah. I don't like going to [01:33:00] events for the most part- Right
unless, like, it's specifically just to see friends. Like, I f- I don't wanna s- come off too jaded, but, like, I've seen enough cars. Mm-hmm. You know? But this event, the venue, the production value, the, the, uh, activations from the few brands that they had, like, it didn't feel overly commercialized. There was only, I think, four total sponsors.
It was, like, Mercedes, BMW, Jagermeister, and Gien. Like, that was it. Which is pretty crazy to think about that lineup for a car show. A car show, and, like- Yeah ... they all brought the heat, and I have to assume that Ultrace had a very heavy hand in curating what their spaces look like. If not, bravo to them, especially Mercedes.
Mm. The Mercedes, like, room that was off to the side, like, that was the coolest, uh, I guess like presentation or event space, activation, whatever you wanna call it, that I've ever seen at an event, period. I mean, and people were saying, "Well, how does it compare to, like, Car Week or going to..." You know, that kind of stuff.
Yeah. And it's like, dude, it's a completely different ballgame. Were you there as a judge? [01:34:00] Uh, yeah, so I- Yeah ... I judged. I got to pick, uh, you know... So there were five judges total, um, and we were each asked to kinda pick our favorite or best of show, uh, for each day. Yeah. So 10, 10 car- cars total. Yeah, I, I judged there in '22, I wanna say- Yeah
or '21 or something, in Poland, yeah. Um, yeah, it, uh, it blew me away. Like, I was just One, I just, especially like being in Poland, I just d- hadn't realized that the car culture that I grew up loving in Germany had, like, emigrated to Poland. Mm-hmm. Like, all the cool cars were there because the rules and TUF and all these things are so restrictive in Germany that, like, the culture had really moved more to Poland and, and other Eastern European sort of areas.
'Cause like you're looking at the plates on cars and you're like, "That car is from Latvia." Yeah. And it's... was this sort of like weird wake-up to be like the thing that I think is the culture of the early 2000s, which was, like, looking at all the German car mags, has really kind of [01:35:00] moved, you know, a little bit more east from there.
Um, I was, you know, I'm just gonna echo what you said. I was, I was blown away at the quality of stuff, and h- and the, their ability to take, like, a rather pedestrian car and make it look incredible. I, I have said to people, like, there wasn't a single car at that event that shouldn't have been there. No. And I've never been to an event before where I haven't walked around and been like, "Why is that in here?"
It's also the such a crazy breadth of cars. Oh, yeah. Because you have everything from, like, you know, muscle cars that people brought in, too, which is really weird to see in Europe, but then, like, to, you know, an Audi, a front-wheel drive Audi 100, and you're like- Well, let me- And, but it's killer. It's like they, they crushed it.
And then next to it is, like, one, is like a Fiat that, you know, or, like, even more, like, there was a, um, I forget what the small Abarth is. Like, but anyway. Yeah, yeah. Just incredible stuff that you're like, this is such a wide collection of stuff, and it's not the normal cars. It's not like, oh, it's all E36 M3s, [01:36:00] or it's all 190s.
It's like- Right, right ... like, no, it was, like, really unique stuff. Well, I was gonna make the point of, so would you say, before I drive the point home, would you say that it was worth the trip over there for it? Um, I mean, I went there to go buy my S2 and RS2- Sure ... and drive the Nürburgring, and that was a bonus, and I was not even planning on going, but Whipple and Henderson were there.
Yep. They're like, "Oh, come hang out." And we had, like, we had just done the deal with Wheel Pros. We're like, "Oh yeah, sure. We'll come over and hang out." And it was, it was so worth it. Like, I- It's okay ... like, I would go back just for it now. That's the point I wanted to make, and I would say the same thing, and the point I think worth driving home is that, and I know that it's for y- th- this is the truth for you, I have seen a lot of car stuff at this point.
Yeah. I have been entrenched in car culture for 20 years, and you've been doing it even longer than I have. You have seen everything that there is to see, for the most part, and if you of all people will say it is worth the trip over just for that show- Yeah ... and I'm sitting here saying I've been to a lot of stuff.
Yeah. And that's probably the [01:37:00] first thing I've been to where I've said, "That's worth the trip over there just to go see that," that I don't, I don't know what more praise or statement I could give it, because I don't even like going to car shows. I don't go to events, and I would say- Yeah ... yeah, hop on a plane and go.
I agree, and I'm curious to see when you go to Poland if Poland is better or not, so. I know it will be different, because the German event was very much intended to be a bit more of a s- bespoke and curated experience. Yeah, it was smaller. Yeah. Um, and, but, but it was awesome, and I know that that event had about 15,000 people there, and they're expecting like 55,000 at Poland.
Yeah. So hugely different, and the, the, the event in Poland, it has all sorts of other stuff kind of surrounding it, where there's- Yeah ... you know, like drifting, and there's all sorts of stuff happening. Um, I'm excited. We're gonna have a car there too, so it should be pretty sweet. Um, it, I'm, I'm, I'm eager to go and see what it's all about, because the Ultrace guys left an impression on me that was like I didn't know somebody could still make.
Yeah. And- No, I, I, I, it was great to see, and, you know, one of [01:38:00] the reasons why Whipple and I did Treffpunks is because we kind of felt like the car show model was broken or done. Yeah. And I think Luftgekühlt is a good version of a new version, but I think the, the Cars & Coffee killed the car show, right?
Yeah. Like, why go to a car show and pay 20 bucks to get in to basically see the same cars that you could see at a Cars & Coffee, especially if it's in your local area, right? The problem with that is, like, there's no longer, like, that event to build a car for- Mm-hmm ... other than SEMA. And, like, honestly, like I don't wanna build cars for SEMA, 'cause it's like a certain expectation.
Like, I wanna build a car for a group of nuanced- Yeah, you're gonna show it off to your friends that already into that ... shitheads who are just like me. Like, I wanna build a car that people are like, "Ooh, he's got that on there, and that's super rare." And like, you know, like, "Oh, is that a blah blah blah valve cover?"
Like, who understands the little stuff that I like- Right ... or like, "Oh, he rerouted that or did this," or, you know, whatever. That kind of stuff is the stuff that's, like, worth building a car for. And for me growing up on the East [01:39:00] Coast, it was H2O. Like, that was- Yeah ... the show to build a car for. And I just like, that doesn't exist in my community of like Volkswagen nerds anymore.
So we just wanted to create that. We were like, I don't care if only 25 people show up. I wanna build something that's like really, really good for those 25 people and it gives them a reason to be like, "Oh, I gotta go work on my car this weekend." And we all have like this WhatsApp group. Are you in the WhatsApp group?
Yeah, yeah. Oh, you're gonna get kicked out soon if you don't- I, I- ... pony up on the next- I have to chime in? Oh, okay. Um- No, no, meaning like get, actually start working on your car. Okay, so then my two questions. So two things. So first of all, does, if you're talking about it publicly, does that mean that Trev Punx is now like a, a, a public thing?
Still invite only? How are you handling that? It's still invite only. Okay, okay. Yeah. It's still invite only, so like we've told people about it. There's an Instagram page. We announced, like we are Um, we are not a company that promotes what we do. Yeah. It's like we do it, and if it's cool and then people talk about, that's great.
Sure. Like we did this event and Performance VW ran a six-page article on it, which was cool, but like [01:40:00] it wasn't really our intention. It was like- Right, right ... we, we want this to be something, and it's not that we want it to be exclusive, like sorry, not the wrong word. It's like we just wanna control it, and we want it to be good for what it is, and we realized that the minute it becomes too big, it's not that anymore.
Totally. You know? And, and- No, I was just mostly curious 'cause I remember like when it, when the first invites went out last year, it was like, "Hey, don't talk about it. Don't post about it." Like- Yeah. That was 'cause last... I think that was 'cause we knew we were sort of confined to what we were doing. Right. Now it's like if people wanna try to come, like they can apply, and it's like, it's like a double app- It's like first you have to apply for the application, and then you do the application kinda thing.
Yeah. And it's just like w- and, and it, it's... 'Cause someone the other day was like, "Oh, it was like, is it that my car's not cool enough?" I'm like, "It's not even that." It's like we want the right mix of things. Yeah, yeah, sure. We want the right mix of people. Um, you know, there's like certain people, like do you know Fish?
Yeah. Like it's like we invite Fish for the comedy. I don't really even care what he shows up with. I'm sure he'll come with something cool. It'll probably be white. But like, it's a huge- I would bet on it. He's just, he's just a great guy to have [01:41:00] there 'cause he's like good for the energy and all that.
Right, right. And like, and a big, a big part of it was trying to go back to like recreating what car shows or I think, like I hate to use the word show because it was more like events, like those big like pillar events of the year- Sure ... that you would w- stay up the whole week leading up to to get your car or your friend's car ready for, and then everybody would get together and drive to the event.
That to me is like peak automotive fun when I was a kid. Like that is just up there. It's what you did it all for. It's what you did it for, yeah. So it's interesting. So I think that Treff Punkz is clearly like serving that role in a certain way. Th- I had the experience that you're talking about tangentially, so to speak.
Um, are you familiar with Riverside Chattanooga? Okay, I, I just found out about it this year. Okay. Um, I found out about it because it was kinda buzzing for a couple days, and then I went and followed the account. Yep. And, and like that looks really cool. It is. Like it, [01:42:00] like- It is. So- Yeah. What's- Uh- I don't really know the background on it.
I just know that there was like- So- ... a ton of cool cars there, and there was a couple people I knew who were there, so it was in my feed. And I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna follow this." Yeah. It's, it's funny because, so this event takes place in what I would call my backyard, uh, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Oh, your old home.
Yeah. So like I, I, yeah, I grew up a- an hour and change away from- Yeah ... from there, but I moved to California. Also the po- the potential home of an upcoming WRC candidate race, if that's still- Really? ... gonna happen. Yeah. Did you not hear that? No. Yeah, that's what they're plan- if the WRC comes to the US, right now they've been looking at Chattanooga.
Interesting. I don't know if it still is, but that was. That's cool. Yeah. Who knew? Um, but- It, it began after I moved out to California. Um, Mason and Carly, they r- run the event, and they've been telling me for years like, "Oh, come out. Come check it out, come check it out, come check it out." And it's always like, "Oh, I want to," but one, like I'm, I'm not like a car show guy.
Mm-hmm. Two, it's tough for me to like take a weekend to go back home just for an event, and like I can't... It's harder to justify if it's not like I'm gonna have a vehicle there, and [01:43:00] so then like it's a deliverable for somebody or a- Right ... sponsor or something. And so it's, I just, it's, it's been, I haven't gotten out there.
I haven't done it. Um, but this year I didn't make it home to go see my mom for Christmas. Shame on me. Um, so I said, "Oh, I'm gonna go home for her birthday," and it just so happened that within a week of her birthday was Riverside. Yep. So I told them, "Guys, I'm gonna make it this year." What week was it this year?
Uh, I think their event was, it was like middle of March. It was like- It was pretty early in the season, yeah. Yeah, I wanna say their event was like March 20th or something like that. Mm-hmm. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Um- And so I said, "Guys, I wanna make it." And I had to, like, explain to my mom, "Hey, on, you know, Saturday morning, I'm gonna take off.
I'm gonna spend, you know, an hour and a half, two hours driving down to Chattanooga. I'm only gonna be there at this event for, like, two hours, and I'll drive back. I'll make sure I'm home for lunch with you," you know? And she was like, "All right." You know, she's supportive. She gets it. But I went down there. I didn't spend all that long there, but I gotta say, even just in the few hours I was there, I was like, [01:44:00] "Wow, this is exactly what I have missed and wanted from a car event- Mm
for years." It, like, felt like- Yeah ... it felt like the good old days. And what made it so much more fun, I could not believe how many people I saw there that I knew that I haven't seen in I don't even know how long. Yeah. Or, like, from all over the country, too. Like, just random people where I'm like, "What the heck are you guys doing here?"
And they're like, "What are you doing here?" And it's like, it, it was, it was a ton of fun. The, the way that they had the event set up, the feel of it, I don't wanna call it, like, an insane production value after talking about Ultrace. It's a very different thing. Yeah. Um, but, like, the vibe of the whole thing was really cool.
It felt very homegrown, but still, like, really ... I don't wanna use the word professional, because that sounds like it's too polished- No ... and it's, and it's, while it is polished, it's, it's not that. Um, man, it just w- like, it just felt like the place that I wanted to be hanging out. Yeah. And I think, I think their, their slogan is something to the effect of, like, uh, "Come for the cars, stay for the friends," or [01:45:00] something like that.
Mm-hmm. And it's like, yeah, that makes sense. I am committed next year. I'm, I will be back for the whole weekend, and I wanna try to drag a car out there for it. Like, and that's, again, kinda coming from, like, I don't put any effort to going into any shows. Uh, I will do anything I can to get out of going to shows.
So, um, I think- That says a lot ... for, for anybody that's ... And, and thankfully everybody on the East Coast is actually willing to travel for that kinda stuff. Such a different vibe. No one here will do it. Like, you say, "Oh, yeah, three hours away for an event," they're like, "Absolutely not." I, I w- I was, I was pretty big into car shows when I was, like, 19, 20.
Had my Golf. I would get up at, like- 5 o'clock in the morning, 4 o'clock in the morning and like drive to Maple Grove- Yeah ... like, or like to Hyperfest and like, and just spend like the entire day in the car. Like leave the house in the dark- Yeah, you do 15 hours to go to a car show ... leave the house in the dark, get home in the dark, and go by myself.
Like, that was like the early days before I had like a car club. Like just show up by myself, like didn't know anyone there, like [01:46:00] or go with my girlfriend at the time or something like that. I loved, like I, that was like, it was like the adventure of going to the show was actually more fun than the closed shows.
Yeah. 'Cause like there was st- like, and, and that's actually, and like part of the Truck Punks thing is that it's a mystery. Like we do not tell pe- like one, like we're, we basically say, "It's kind of in this region. This is like maybe around where we're staying, but like that's all you get to know. And like we will take care of everything else."
So it's like we take care of like all the food, all the hotel stay- Yeah, yeah ... you know? So like more like an I guess like what you would call like a, like a driving rally, kind of like how some of those operate. And it's like one day of driving, one day of hanging out, and then like a half day of like kinda driving home or whatever.
But the mystery of it is sort of this like fun kind of element, and we did it the first year I think partially 'cause we were still trying to figure it out, and then everyone was like, "I love that I had no idea where we were gonna like end up that night. Like, that we were just totally trusting you guys- Yeah
to like go do this thing." [01:47:00] Um, and it's ... We don't ... Like, it's not profitable. Like, we like, it's like we do it, we spend all the money to ma- to do it. Um, so it's like not like a business, but it's like, man, I, it reminds me of like running car club events when I was younger, and it's like one of the most gratifying things to do.
So like I don't know. I hope you, I hope you can get- If- ... a car finished, your, or the car finished for this one. If, if, if a non-Volkswagen group car- No, it's gotta be a, it's gotta be a Volkswagen group car Okay, well then the pressure- That's the rule for now. So ... but not pressure, but the pressure is on for Jason.
If Jason can get my engine done in a reasonable time, I will put in the effort and make sure the Audi's done. Do you know Dave Pecoraro? Yeah. Okay. What I'm gonna do is I will also create a group chat with me, you, and Dave, so when you're like, "I don't have this part," between me and him, mostly him, we will track down those parts for you.
Okay. 'Cause I know it is one of the biggest downsides of being an Audi guy, is we do not have access to parts. Yeah. It's- I do also, just so I wanna make sure that I'm really clear. Like, Jason is not dragging his feet. For a long time we were waiting, I don't [01:48:00] wanna say any names, we were waiting on other people to give the parts to Jason that he needed- Right, right
so that we could get it done. So like he's only had everything that he needs for like a few months now, so it's ... And he's busy, so I don't wanna sound like I'm trash-talking him. Yeah, no, I get that, 'cause you don't- But also Jason, please ... you don't wanna trash talk Whipple too, 'cause he will motherfuck the shit out of you when he finds out.
I love Jason. He's the best. I, I am not trying to apply any pressure. He built an entire car just to make fun of me. Do you remember when he built Spike Car? Yeah, yeah, 100%. He literally, 'cause I wasn't finishing my coupe fast enough, he just bought a OPT S2 and then put a Notto plate on it and called it Spike Car and made a whole video clowning me, and then just sold the car.
Amazing. One of a kind. Yeah. He really is like the Larry David of the automotive world, so it's pretty, it's pretty good. That's a good way to put it. Our friends at Vyper Industrial asked us to do a bit of R&D, since I put in some serious seat time on their stools, and I have notes. Sure, they're extremely robust.
It's in the name. But no one ever talks about the negatives. To [01:49:00] start, they roll too good. Yeah, they've added locks, but I'm an all gas, no brakes kinda guy. Second, they're way too comfortable. Aren't they intended for wrenching, not scrolling Instagram for six hours when you're supposed to be finishing your build?
Lastly, the fabrication quality. It's better than all of my builds. Vyper, do you even think about my ego? Anyway, if you must, go to vyperindustrial.com. That's Vyper with a Y. Don't lie, be honest, we've all done it, and Wera Tools isn't here to shame us for it. Instead, they made the perfect ratchet hammer.
What's that? It's called the Coloss. It's a half-inch drive ratchet nestled inside of a hefty drop-forged hammer. And if the utter genius of this is lost on you, maybe we can't be friends. The additional extension is great for breaking free stubborn bolts or breaking anything that requires double-handed persuasion.
I love this tool. I keep it in my go bag. Whether the job calls for [01:50:00] six degrees of surgically precise engagement angle or just medieval brutality, the Coloss can't be beat. Find this hilariously useful instrument as well as many others at weratools.com. When you went to Ultras, did you bring your camera?
Uh, I brought a videographer. Oh, but like, are you, do you take photos anymore or is it- No ... is it something you miss? Um, yes and no. I guess like I miss, this'll, I don't know how this will come across, but I'll be honest about it. Um I don't feel that there's a valuable way to share photos anymore. That's really good.
Like, if I post them on... I can post them to my Instagram, and, like, yes, people will see them. But, like, there's no... I don't know. It's so... Like, yes, Instagram is a social network, and thus you could get, you know, let's say thousands of likes, tens of thousands of people will see them, and, like, you can get hundreds of comments.
But, like, it still feels so isolated in contrast to when you put them out there in the past. And whether it was in a blog article, you- a [01:51:00] forum post, or, like, things got shared, and then they went out from there. And so, like, people would put them on their Tumblr page 'cause they were like- Right ... "Oh, this was really sick."
Or they'd, they'd post them on their Facebook, and they'd wanna talk about them somewhere else. And you'd see all these, like, link backs that come back. It was real viral, not algorithmic viral. And like, it was... Yeah, it was genuinely, like, you could, you could measure the success of something based on, like, the staying power that it had and, like, and who wound up talking about it.
And it would go out, and it would do things, and people would hold onto that stuff for a while. And, like, it had so much more, like, I don't know, value, I guess I would call it. It just felt a lot more important to me. And so, like, I don't wanna just put a bunch of effort into photos just to post them onto my Instagram and have it be something that people see for a few seconds, and then they never see it again.
They didn't actually spend any time to look at it or see, like, what I found interesting about it. Like, yeah, I might get some people that are like, "Dude, these photos are sick," or, "Beautiful," or, "You should photograph more often." Yeah. Like, okay, cool. But, um... And I don't want it to sound like I'm sitting here saying like, "Oh, I want people to praise it," or whatever.
But it's just like I want it [01:52:00] to be more than just a momentary, like, instant gratification for somebody- Mm-hmm ... and then just gets tossed away, and they never see it again because it's buried in Instagram, and you'll never see it. And that was, like, the, the, the pivotal decision. When I was trying to decide what to do with Stanceworks post blog, I realized I can either do...
I can either move this over to Instagram and, like, curate Instagram content and try- Yeah ... to make something there, 'cause no one reads long format content anymore, or if I wanna do longer format content, I need to go to YouTube and make, like, video content. Yeah. And that's why I went to YouTube, 'cause I was like, "I don't wanna make eyeball fodder that no one sees and cares about anymore."
'Cause that's all it is. And so do I miss taking photos? Like, yeah, it's... I, I enjoy when I do it and I get good photos. Like, that's still, like, a rush or a high that, like, I love. Like, especially, like, when I finish up a project, and then I take it out, and, like, I get those awesome photos, and I'm like, "Man, that's exactly what I wanted," like, that's an awesome feeling.
Mm-hmm. That's a bunch of fun. And when you share them and they do well, like, it's cool. But I don't know. It feels like there's so [01:53:00] few ways to do anything with photos these days. It's like, literally, the outlet is Instagram. Yes So it feels like a dead end I, no, I, I, I totally get that 'cause, like, I miss shooting photography.
Um, I wouldn't, I'd never call myself a photographer. I was a writer who was competent in taking photos, but I, but it is, like, that joy of, like, you get that one really nice shot, and that just tells a story, and it's like, that's... I love that. Um, so for Trev Punx, we, we kinda just said no video because, like, I didn't wanna live in this world of, like, this just feels like work to me.
Plus other people who were there, like Vinny and Pumphrey and, you know, Charles- Yeah ... it's like you spend your whole day vlogging. Like, you don't want this- Yeah. I don't wanna... I wanna be there and I wanna hang out. You just wanna be- I don't wanna be on camera. I don't wanna be on. Right. Well- I don't wanna, like, have to play the character, right?
We also did the whole analog thing, right? Like, the application is on paper, right? Like, you have to print out photos or shoot on a Polaroid. Like, we did that as, on purpose 'cause we wanted it to [01:54:00] feel like it was late '90s, early 2000s again. So it was like, okay, the experience there needs to feel some way.
And, like, we, you know, people wanted to bring GoPros and shoot iPhone stuff with us, whatever. We just kinda di- we told people, like, we don't really want that. Charles brought a camera 'cause he was making something for that, but I was like, "Hey, can you just not be around with it?" And they were, they were really good about that.
But what we did do is Sam Dobbins came and Andy Sapp came, and I also, I brought, like, my old X100 with me, and, like, we shot a ton of stuff and we're making a book Because like even if only the guys who were there get it and it's like a yearbook, that's rad. We'll put some up for sale, and if you wanted to come and you couldn't or you just like the cars or whatever.
Because like, uh, uh, 'cause I had the same feeling that you had, which is like if we just go and shoot all the photos and they don't end up somewhere, like what's it matter? Why? Yeah. But like we're making like a... It's basically the yearbook, 'cause it's like the idea is- I like that ... every year we make like another book out of everything that's there.
So. Also, I haven't heard the name Andy Sapp in a hot minute. I love that. That's great. Andy Sapp's my secret weapon. Yeah. I bring, I just brought Andy [01:55:00] Sapp out to, uh, the F.A.T. Ice Race as well. I mean, not just, but a few months ago. Like, he's the guy that like, he's a killer in the space. Oh. But because he spends so much time, like, in the music world now, like he's not as much...
Although did you see he's, he's like a, I think he drove at Grid Life for, uh- I saw something ... like he was supposed to or something. Like he, he resurfaced. Yeah. And, and then as soon as I saw him I started just thinking back to Drift Mechanics. Oh, yeah. Uh, like way, way, way back. Um, and yeah, just- Slide America, all that
Slide, dude, Slide America, his documentary, his Black E46- Yeah ... and the Brock B1s. Dude, that car went hard. So hard. So I mean, he was one of the early guys with cool style and a BMW that was sliding a car. Dude, that car- Yeah ... that car was it. Yeah. I, I hate the E46s and that car is it. And he's also like a, he's also a fantastic human, and he also doesn't have Instagram.
Yeah. So like there's no way to follow him in the digital world, so it's like I have to just bring him on projects so I get to be around him. That's awesome. He's great. I, yeah, so and so he, he came out to that and it's funny 'cause he's not a Volkswagen guy, not an Audi guy, and at the end he was like, "I get [01:56:00] it, man.
Like this, I kinda like want one of these now," you know? I, I think we talked about this recently. I have like been fighting the urge. I really want a Mk1 now. I, I, I mean, yes, you should have one. I have two extra ones, but the- they're just great 'cause they're really simple. Is- I'd say I'd let you drive mine, but I don't think your feet would reach the pedals.
Probably not. Is the, uh, diesel one to avoid? Um, well, the great thing about diesel here in California is it's smog exempt, and then if you just so- if just so happens a 16 valve- That would- ... falls into the engine bay, it's, you know- That would be important to follow California smog laws If to Cal- to follow that would be im- That would be important
that would be important, yeah. But if we were, like, just if you didn't live in California. Um, I, I'm not a diesel guy. The- I like engines that rev. I like diesel trucks, gasoline cars. The, the car- one of the very first cars that I ever fell in love with, like, one of the, [01:57:00] like, really early for me, was a diesel Mark 1.
Uh, and the reason is, uh, like, my high school best friend's grandfather's neighbor, I don't know how I remember that. He had a, he had a baby blue one. It was like a- Ooh, yeah ... like a baby blue color. Yeah, I know exactly the color. Um, and it w- uh, and it was two door, and it was, like, it was the coolest thing.
And I was like, "That, that's what I want. I want, I want that." And I still want that. Well, I'm pretty sure you- It doesn't have to ne- necessarily be baby blue, but like- I'm pretty sure you could find, I'm pretty sure you could find that pretty easily. But if it was baby blue, it would be perfect. All right, I'll keep, uh, trust me, I will be sending you Marketplace links, so yeah.
Perfect. Perfect. The, the thing I love about Mark 1s i- uh, well, I really enjoy how they drive, and I went through, um- I- it's, Vinny and I were actually gonna make a video about this, and then last minute he got cold feet and decided not to do it. So we were gonna do a video with my Mark 1 and his Mark 2, and we were gonna do this story on how, like, we both own, like, like better cars, right?
Air quote better cars. Like I have a [01:58:00] 911 Turbo, we both have Ferrari 360s. He's got like, I don't know, I think he has like 19 GT3s now. I'm not even sure. I, hard to keep track. But, uh, he'll, he will tell you that that Mark 2 is a forever car for him. One, 'cause there's a nostalgia 'cause we were into it when we were younger, but two, it's like he's like, "I couldn't get enough money to offset the happiness it brings me."
He's like, "All my other cars are worth something." He's like, "This actually isn't worth a ton." He's like, "So like, I don't know, someone gives me 10 grand for it," he's like, "I don't know if that 10 grand replaces the- Yeah, what do you do with that? ... the enjoyment that the car gives him, right? Versus the other things.
Um, we were gonna do this video, uh, last Friday and, and he just s- he was like, "Ah, I don't know if it's gonna work," and I don't know, maybe I'm blowing up his spot on it now, but maybe now he can't do it. But we wanted to tell the story, and I started thinking about the story for me with my Rabbit which was like, my Rabbit was like almost like a project car detox for me 'cause it's the first car that I bought that the first thing I didn't do was strip it down to a bare shell.
Like every [01:59:00] other thing, like the Nova, the Coupe, like all these other cars became this like, oh, everything's gonna be this massive project. The Land Rover, like I mean the Disco- Right ... like everything else was like I'm gonna pull the whole harness out. And that thing I just sort of kept on the road, and it's so simple that like you and I on a weekend could take that car down to bare metal and, you know, and like put it back together.
Put it back together, right. Like it's, it's not that difficult. It's like it's pretty simple. I think there's only like six size wrenches you need for like the whole car, right? Um, and there's ... But there was also just something about it that's like it was front wheel drive and it was like a r- it was definitely a return to the roots, but it felt like anti-Hoonigan to me as well 'cause like we were big power all-wheel drive, rear wheel drive cars or whatever.
Um, and I bought it as like a w- it was the pandemic and it was like bought it as like a weird nostalgia thing, and, uh, it just brings me more joy than a lot of my other like more expensive cars. And I think one of the reasons is, is 'cause like it is hyper, hyper simple and like [02:00:00] it's, the recipe to make it cool is pretty easy.
So like if you wanted a car that like you were like, "I don't want it to get over the top, but like it's also really fun to daily and still gets like 30 miles to the gallon because it's like- That part's pretty cool. Yeah, like, like, like it's like- That's pretty cool ... it's, it kind of works. And, um, and I, I, and this is just, it's an opinion thing, but I think it's the be- I think it's the most handsome car I own Like, I own a 911 Interesting.
Okay I own an RS2, which I also think are two very handsome cars. A Ferrari I think is pretty handsome too. I look at that car and it's, it's beautiful to me. Like, it's just so simple. It's also like what a kid would draw if they were, like, drawing a car. Um, you know, it's Gagaro design. Um, it, it has this like just really, really simple look and, yeah, I don't know.
As I get older, it- I realize, like, that's my car. Like, there's a reason it's my avatar or whatever on Instagram because like that's just, that car fits me the best. Like, is it the [02:01:00] most fun car I have? Absolutely not. But there's- That's the car that I think is most synonymous with you. Like, if I think of you and then I think of like Brian's car- More so than, more so than my 911?
100%, yeah. Oh, interesting. Hmm. But again, I'm, I'm weird when it comes to 911s, so. You don't like 911s, right? I do like 911s, but- But keep going ... um, I don't, I, it's, it, I have such complex emotions surrounding them, and I'm gonna ... I don't, I don't care if I upset people. Um- Well, by the way, I'm just gonna let you know 'cause we can roll right into it right now, my plan was that we were gonna end the show with basically Mike Burrows' five gripes of the show or five gripes of the day 'cause, like, I, I think we didn't really get into good gripes, and you like gripes- I, I-
and I think you're good at gripes ... I, I, I do like gripes You like a good gripe. Um- So I think, like, we'd end with this. So if you wanna start with number five- Uh- ... 911s ... 911s. My gripe So, like, I wanna be clear in saying that I do think that the 911 [02:02:00] is the quintessential sports car. I think that it is definitively what a sports car is supposed to be.
I think that it is lovely, that it is unlike anything else. There's nothing like it. Um, and that's both from an engineering perspective and an aesthetic perspective. Nothing looks like 911. Um, and n- no one's even really tried. No one's tried to, like, knock it off. Mm-hmm. There's nothing ... It's, it's just, it's wholly unique.
You know it when you see it. I think Porsche is probably the brand I respect most out of any, like, car brand because they truly understand their heritage and, and they really respect it, and you can tell they're nerds. Yeah. They make a lot of stuff I don't care about, but they really care about the 911, and thus I care about the 911.
So with that out of the way- There is nothing, in my opinion, more annoying in the world of cars than the extreme pedestal the entire community has put the 911 on. I am so utterly tired of it. I have seen every single thing that could possibly [02:03:00] be done to a 911. People ask would I ever build one? No, because there is nothing that I could do to one that is interesting, new, worth doing, that would be, um, worth writing home about.
It's already been done. Literally, you can just start making shit up and it's been done, including off-road lifted cars, trophy truck cars- Yeah ... V8 swapped cars, backwards cars. People put the engine in the front. Water-cooled conversions. Like, slammed ones. It d- it doesn't matter. Like, it's literally all been done.
It, it got, everything got so done that people were like, "Let's start getting interesting and just mismatching our, like, ma- mismatched panels." Like, there's no other car... Like, it looks cool. Don't get me wrong. Yeah, yeah. Like, I s- I, I see it. I can fuck with it. But- Do you understand how ridiculous other cars would look if we started doing that?
They're like, "Yeah, I'm just gonna run an orange bumper on my white car." It's like, shut up. Stop. It doesn't make you interesting. It's not interesting. Put an outlaw. Ugh, God. [02:04:00] And it's just like, it's all been done. I, I could go the rest of my life never seeing another air-cooled 911, and I'd be fine with it, because everybody's already done enough waxing poetic about that fucking car.
Pardon my French. Mm-hmm. It is, it is just, like, it is time for something else to have its 15 minutes of fame. Um, and i- i- like, I just, I, honestly, I think it's heartbreaking that the entire ... Like, honestly, it's beyond the car community. It's like pop culture. Oh, yeah. It is pop. It's- It, it is the quintessential car at a fashion store- Yeah
at a coffee shop. And, and I knew that it was over, and I made posts on my Tumblr page back in the day, when Rag & Bone did an advertisement where they crushed one with a, with a s- a giant concrete block. Mm-hmm. And that was probably in, like, 2011. Mm-hmm. Like, that's how long ago it was. And that was actually just when it was starting to come.
Yeah, it was like, that was the beginning. That was the return of the [02:05:00] air-cooled- Right ... was 2011. You could still get them cheap at that point. Yeah. Um, and so, like, I don't know. I'm just ... I want other cars that are just as special to have their moment in the spotlight, and it's like 911 dudes are unwilling to turn the, the spotlight anywhere else.
No. And they're all just- So, so it's almost like the 911's- It's- ... casting too big of a shadow on more w- more wor- maybe not more worthy cars, but cars that also deserve- Car- exactly ... the spotlight. Like, cars that de- deserve the spotlight that are just as interesting, that are just as fun to drive, that are just as important in what they have brought to the world of cars.
Um, and, like, I guess I'm just, I'm so utterly tired of the 911 ownership demographic endlessly congratulating themselves on their cars, 'cause it's like, just give it a rest. Like, it's okay to be in love with your car. I am in love with what most people would consider to be a very boring BMW sedan from the '80s.
Like- And I will be a cheerleader endlessly for it. But I don't know. I just, just give it a rest [02:06:00] So are you saying you didn't listen to the episode where Vinny and I did a little love letter to the 911? I did not. Actually, but the funny thing is is the story we said was as played out as the 911 is, it's still a great car.
It's still- And that was the whole concept of it, was like we know it's played out. We know that it's o- like, it's just beyond the pale. I, I- We know that, like, culturally this is eventually gonna become uncool because it's become so cool, but unfortunately it won't ... That doesn't stop it from being a fantastic car.
It is a great car, and I, I wanna make sure I iterate again, I respect the car for what it is. I think that they ... It is one of the most beautiful cars- Yeah ... ever made. I mean, like, there's still a part of me that, like, wants one. Mm-hmm. But would I ever, like, wanna, like, make a build out of one? No. No.
Definitely not. Um, I, I think that they're very special and, and very important cars. And I, I wanna also iterate again, like, how much respect I have for Porsche- Yeah ... for the respect that they have for the car. Yeah. Um, [02:07:00] but yeah, I just, I just really o- like, I could just ... I could go the rest of my life never hearing about or seeing another one, and I wouldn't miss anything.
I think that's the important part. There's n- I would not miss anything. I've already seen it all. And I believe that. You got a- you got any more gripes? I have probably got a truckload of them, and I don't even know where we ... I, we, we gotta find a hat to pull them out of- ... 'cause I don't even know where to begin.
I like the 911 gripe. I think ... I, I agree with it. I don't think I've heard that version before though, and I, I, if I'm gonna pluck one thing out of it that I really like- Please ... it is the it casts too much of a shadow on other things, that it has become the like this is the go-to for that. And I, I think this happens in a lot of spaces.
Like in music, you're like this one band explodes, and then everything's about that band. And you're like, "There's seven other bands that's, that are just as good as this band," but, like, they're not getting the attention because this is sucking all the oxygen out of the room. The Beatles. [02:08:00] Yeah. I mean- The, whatever
Or Green Day and Blink-182 during the- Sure ... pop punk movement, and, like, there was a, there was 30 bands that were just as good as them, but, like, those dudes got that moment, and everyone else didn't, right? Right. So, like, I ki- I never thought about it that way. Like, there's a part of it that annoys me sometimes when things become, uh- I'm careful not to be like, "Oh, it becomes too cool," but like there is something- But it is.
It's, it's- But it's like, it just gets too oversaturated and you're like, it's actually annoying, not because you don't like the thing, but because you're mad that you're making me not like the thing, right? It's like- Right ... like there's so much of it. I mean, I feel that way about Raw Welt. I obviously was early- I'm sure.
I'm, I'm sure you have- I was, I was early- ... very serious feelings about it ... I, I ha- I was obviously very early to it. I had a love for it in the bl- pre, like in the blog era of Raw Welt, and- There was, I wanna be clear, there was a time that a Raw Welt 911 was one of, if not the coolest thing on four wheels. No, I owned it when it was, when I was [02:09:00] only one of three in America.
It was insane. And now, it's like, it's almost the opposite. Like, it, it hit this peak moment that once you get high enough up, you have a target on your back, and then everyone wants to hate it. And like that's part of the thing that bothers me about the 911 thing is like, I've been through this before, whether it's culturally about something, like something gets so cool, and then it's just not cool anymore.
The New York Yankees. Like, I was, I was a New York Yankees fan when they sucked, and then they became the best team ever, and then everyone hated them. And it's like, well, that sucks, you know? And it's like- Right ... and it changed and, and all of a sudden, and I'm sure the peop- I, I hate the Pats, but I'm sure people who like the Pats feel the same way, that it's annoying that, you know, and I don't like them just 'cause it's, it's the Boston team.
But, um, you know, I think that that's a, the, a weird thing that's happening with the market. But I, I've never taken the, the angle of Yeah, it's just sucking all the oxygen out of the room Well, I think, yeah, it's, it sucks the oxygen out of the room, and then, like, there's this whole other [02:10:00] side of it, which is an economic complaint, where I don't think that, uh, the economics of 911s is based in reality at all.
No, it's like Tesla stock price. I was literally about to say, it is, it is Tesla stock pricing. Um, like 911s, air-cooled 911s of any generation, like they are not rare. A half-million-dollar experience. Well, they're not, they're not worth the cost that they're commanding, but even if we separate them from that, like they are not rare.
They made a lot of those cars. A lot, a lot of those cars. Like, by any, any measure, th- they're... I'm not saying there are not rare models, but like they- Yeah ... like they are not rare at all. Not, not even close. Um, tens of thousands of them, and as a whole, hundreds of thousands of them. And so the, the pricing that surrounds them and the parts and the, the just everything is like, you guys are all stuck drinking the Kool-Aid because it do- it, like it is not based in reality at all.
What's a sports car that's [02:11:00] not a BMW, uh, that deserves more attention that it's not getting because the 911's in the way? Like, just name one. The Alfa GTV. It's funny 'cause it's the exact same car in my head. It is, it is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Yeah. It's Italian. It's lightweight. It's got a phenomenal engine.
It is incredible to drive. It is a true driver's car. The front end is beautiful. It is- Yeah ... uh, I mean, the whole car is beautiful. Yeah. I think it's one of the most beautiful vehicles ever made. And it is- Those have kind of popped in price, though. Yeah. They used to be kind of affordable, but they're not anymore.
Yeah, but you're still talking about, like, if you got... I mean, it's cheaper than a 911. You, you could buy one for 50 grand. 100%. Yeah. Where you could ba- you'll buy a basket case 911 for that. You can buy a nice, nice one for 50 grand. Yeah. And, you know, it's like, and it is a true driver's car. There is nothing about Alfa Romeo, especially at that time, that was not centered around genuinely, like this is meant to be a driver's car.
It is not meant to be anything else. And I think that everything that it offers [02:12:00] is parallel to what you look for in a 911. I'm not saying they're the same experience 'cause they're not. Mm-hmm. But, like, they are, they are in parallel with each other, and the fact that one of them has become what it is in contrast to the other is just...
Like, it genuinely upsets me. I think that it's insane, and that's just one of, uh, who knows how many cars are out there that we could do that with. Mm-hmm. And it's like, it just doesn't make sense. It does not make sense to me at all. I don't get it. Good take. I don't even think it's a hot of take. I, I totally agree.
Well, I think people are coming around to it, but I've been making this complaint for, like, 10 years, and when I started 10 years ago, people were like, "W- why are you being a, a crabby patty about it?" And it's like- Yeah, I mean, look, I, I'm the guy who bought his 911 Turbo for 35 grand- Mm-hmm ... and then watched it 10X.
So it's like I'm happy for the stock price on it, but I wouldn't rebuy it for that money. Of course. Like, it just ... It was, it was a really good buy for 35 grand. That was an [02:13:00] incredible buy. It was a su- super va- Incredible buy ... And not just because it went up. Like, at that time, it was, it was like, that was, like, pound for pound, that was, like, a great experience at that, at that moment.
But, like, yeah. Now it's just, now it's absolutely absurd. Well, I, I think so many of these cars do not offer the driving experience that the price commands, which is a bummer, because, like, they are now assets, right? Because of their rarity- Yeah, of course ... and what have you, and so it's like- It's the n- it's the new art for rich people.
Yeah. And- Which is also skewing the market. Yeah. And it, and it sucks, because, like, the reason I got into the, the old BMWs is, like, when I was 16, you could- Mm ... buy all these cars for 250 bucks. Like, my first E30 was literally 250 bucks, and I think my first probably, like, five E30 or E28s, or let's go with probably the first 10 of them that I owned were all under $1,000.
My only ... I have only owned two BMWs. I bought a E21 for $200. My condolences. It was still fun. Was it? Yeah. Oh, okay. I lived ... It was, like, up in Vermont. Like, [02:14:00] it was pretty sick. They're like ... I think that they're interesting cars. You do not like E21s? Uh, I do not like, uh, Bosch CIS. Oh. I'm, I'm a- I'm a Volkswagen guy.
I, I- It's, like, all Bosch CIS. That's fair. I ... Us BMW guys- We hate it, so For good reason Um, like, just the concept of like, "Oh, it's a BMW CIS?" No, it's not for me. Um- I belong to a Facebook group called Wizards of Bosch CIS, and it just goes to speak to, like, if you are good at it, you clearly are a wizard . Yeah Like, like, it's not, like, just, like, normal people who know CIS.
It's like, no, there's some level of magic that has to be understood. Like, there's, there's something cool about it, but it's completely ridiculous. Like, there, there is no realm in which I have room in my life for CIS. Yeah So it rules out the E21, which is unfortunate, because, like, I do think E21s are really cool, especially with the Euro bumpers- Mm-hmm
like the way that they're supposed to look. Um, my condolences were s- strictly surrounded around having to drive a CIS vehicle. Yeah, it actually, that, that part didn't give me problems. But e- my point was it was $200. Yeah Which, like, you know, and it was 1997 or '98, [02:15:00] and I was like, "$200 for a whole car? Sick."
Heck yeah. Yeah. Any, any other, any other, uh, hot take gripes you got right now? Like, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna- Is it noth- ... go off, but- What do you got? I, I, I, s- it's one of those, it's like- It's just n- it's just not off the top of your head right now? Yeah, it's one of those, like, oh, I got... I'm trying to pluck it out of thin air.
I'll, I'll be in the drive home, and I'll be like- You'll be like, "Damn it." "Ryan, hold on, I was-" "Fire the mic back up." Oh, wait. I think, uh, I think Nick may have a gripe he wants to throw out there. It's come to my attention in recent few days that Ferrari has launched- Ugh ... a new product. The, was it the Luce, the Luce?
The Luce. The Luce. Luce? Oh, I guess that's it, yeah. Now, I, I couldn't let you leave here without asking for your thoughts on this particular launch. I mean, I don't think I'm gonna say anything interesting about it. Like- Never ... everybody thinks it's ugly and doesn't get it. Um, the, the only take that I could give is, like, I'm not gonna j- try to justify the vehicle whatsoever.
Like, I'd... Uh, i- in my opinion, I think it's insane that they [02:16:00] wouldn't... Like, why did they not make something that seems like a Ferrari? Like, I just don't get it. Now, there would probably be the argument, and I've seen people say, like, "Hey, they just made something that's incredibly controversial and incredibly expensive," and, like, by...
Anybody that owns it, it is absolutely, at this point, a statement of, like, "I am rich and do not care." It's a Cybertruck for F- It's a Cybertruck- For Ferrari ... times six. Yeah. Um- Although I think the Cybertruck achieved what it achieved because it was so absurd Correct. I, I don't- This is so bland Agreed. So I don't- Like, if that had a Buick logo on it, I'd be like, "Yeah."
You're like, "All right. Yeah, it's-" Yeah, seems right. Sell well in China. Yeah. And, uh, like, I hate the Cybertruck for a plethora of reasons- ... but I at least respect it in that way. This thing doesn't get that. Right. So it's like, what, I don't know what Ferrari's doing. But the only, like, point that I could make here is if I'm, like, trying to be really logical about it, we [02:17:00] know...
So, like, we can criticize them the moment that Pininfarina parted ways with them, and their designs have been very questionable since. Mm-hmm. Some of them have been wins, some of them have not. Um, but it's still really clear that this is a brilliant company. Like, I mean, they know what they're doing.
They're not stupid. Mm-hmm. We can't say that they're stupid. So There's no way that the car made it to the finish line, this Luce. It didn't get to where it is without ... I mean, they know what they're doing. So why did they do it? Like, th- there's n- like, they did it for some reason. They knew that this wasn't gonna go well.
There's no way that they thought this was gonna be a win. There's just no way. You're not gonna convince me of it. There's no way that they thought this was gonna be a, a new era for Ferrari in a good way. So, like, why did they do it? There has to be a reason, right? I, I, I totally understand what you're saying, but I have watched people circle around [02:18:00] a bad product or a bad concept or a bad- mostly in a bad piece of content, where I was the whole time waving my hand going, "Guys, this sucks," and everyone else was like, "This is great."
And everyone thought it was great, and it's not until it goes out into the world and you're like, "Oh." Maybe- I mean, think about it, like, bad movies get made- Yeah ... all the time. I guess, and like m- I guess so there- But, like, when, when you're in the group, you, you excuse things. You're like, "Oh, well, we had to do it this way because of that," and the roof line had
Like, th- like- So- ... there's probably a bunch of reasons and- I think that there is room, of course. Of course there's room- Yeah ... that, like, this thing just everybody was, uh, you know, huffing the paint and, like, and, and being yes-men and, and nobody- Right ... stopped it, and, like, or they just actually thought it was a good idea.
But, like, I can't remember if it's w- you know, what is it? It's Occam's razor or Hanlon's razor. It's whatever's the simplest solution's the most likely. Yeah, Occam's razor. Yeah. Like, it, it's, it's ... They probably knew and there's some weird justification. [02:19:00] Yeah. But I don't know. I, I ... It's, it's one of the two. I don't think there's many other options, but I, I think it's a really unfortunate car.
I think that, like, it really solidifies. There's been this, like, you know- Yeah ... speakily- speaking about circling, you know, a bad product, I think that there's been this question of is Ferrari design circling the toilet lately, where it's like you have the SP3, and when it first came out people were like, "Uh," but now people really like the SP3.
Yeah. But then you also have this new Testarossa thing that they came out with, and it's like, what is that? I don't think that's it. I haven't liked a Ferrari design where it spoke to me since the 430. Sure. That's, like, the last body style. And on a ... For me, the 360 was, like, the peak, um, of, like, that era. Um, I love 355s, I just don't fit in them.
But- The newer Ferraris, like they just, they kind of become interchangeable to me with a bunch of other supercars It's ve- very hard to tell them apart. Yeah. Um, but like the, the design language they've been using- Although I do like the, what do you call it? I do like the, um, is it the Lusso? [02:20:00] The, the, like the...
No, what's the- The bread van one? Yeah, yeah. The, like the shooting brake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The GTC4, GT4 C, whatever it is. Yeah. Like, I actually think that's good looking- It's a cool car ... and, um, it's surprisingly big inside. Yeah. Like, it's actually, like if you needed a family car and you were rich, it's pretty cool.
Yeah. And most of the, most of their cars these days, I think look, uh, most everybody seems to agree, like it's kind of what is Ferrari doing? Mm-hmm. The, these designs are ridiculous. And then to have this come out, really, I kind of think solidifies, like Ferrari's a, I th- in, I would guess, gonna, even if it's just in the enthusiast eye, gonna b- go into a dark age.
Did you see the video of Lewis Hamilton, like pulling the thing off? I did, yeah. Like, what do you think he was thinking? 'Cause I, the, Lewis clearly has style, understands. I mean, he just did that F40 video in like, you know, in Japan- I mean, the, the dude is a style icon slash, like- ... with Don Кихот. Like, like, like there's no way he saw that and was like, "That's it."
The man knows better than to bite the hand that feeds I, I, I'm sure. I'm not saying [02:21:00] that he- Yeah ... I'm just saying, like, I just was wondering, like, I was watching the video of him pulling it back, and you can just see, like, a part of his soul dying as he's like- Yeah, I mean ... just moving this back like, "All right.
Yeah, I guess this is, this is the moment." That would be a tough one to pretend is cool. Like, that sucks. I don't think I could think of a car that has been as universally hated when it's come out like this. I don't remember one. Like, the Cybertruck was polarizing. There was, like, people who were like, "That thing's super cool," and then people were like, "You are lame for thinking it's cool."
Yeah But- But I get how the people got there. I get, like, I can see, I judge them for it- Yeah ... but I do understand how some people saw the Cybertruck and were like, "Ha ha," like, "I think that's so sick," because it's this, like- It's a troll ... it's, it's an antithesis of design. You, you, and he built, it's like it, you have to respect, like, Tesla built a troll car.
Like- Yeah ... whether you like Tesla or not, you're like, or Elon, you're like, "Ah, they built a troll car," and people bought it. Since we're going off, I hate Tesla and I hate Elon, just for the record. I'm okay with that. For the record. Yeah, [02:22:00] uh, yeah, for the record, I, I, I am not a fan of Elon, Tesla. I'm not a fan of most of the EV startups, if I'm gonna go out there.
I like Rivian. I like Slate. But- Yeah ... um, most of it to me just feels like a cash grab at a, at a new thing. I don't know. But that's like a whole other pod, but I don't know. It is. And I don't have, like, I don't have that formulated, and I've, I've, the guys over at the, uh, Inevitable podcast, like Johnny Lieberman and, um, Ed, like they've asked me to come on, and I'm like, "Ah," I'm like, I don't really wanna get into the fight of, like, how I don't like EVs- Yeah
because I was a early EV adopter, and then I kinda walked away from it. I had a Smart that was EV. I thought it was great, and then I just started to realize, like, it didn't live outside of a small city environment. Like, I couldn't, I could barely get to the, like, Los Angeles, like, from... But it was fine in Long Beach or, or whatever.
Um, but I don't know. I just, [02:23:00] uh, like, like style-wise, like, it all just fell flat for me so fast. Like, all the cars kinda look alike. They all feel interchangeable. They all feel like every single EV that's in the market that's like an EV specific, right? Like, a, one of those brands. Right. They all feel like unlicensed cars in Grand Theft Auto.
No, I agree. And they all, like, they're trying to make them look a certain way and stand out. The only EV that I've seen lately that I was like, "Hmm, okay, I'm, I'll entertain this," have you seen that new, uh, it's, I don't know what they call it, but it's, it's a Renault, uh, like R5 Turbo, but it's a, an updated one.
Yeah, I've seen that. But, like, uh, that doesn't fit in this group for me. It doesn't, but- This group, this group for me is like, I don't know, just like all the EV brands. Like the, like the Renault car is sort of a reinterpretation, right? I, I did, I did drive the, uh, IONIQ 5 N. All right, I'm actually gonna give that one a separate.
But, but that, but- That, that car is, that car is cool. That [02:24:00] car's cool. That car's super cool. Um, I've, I had one for, for a long time. I actually did, me, Vinny, and Ron did all of the early, um, promotional content for it. So they invited us out to Laguna, like way before the press launch, and like had us like sliding it around- Yeah
and like ripping Laguna, and I was really impressed by it. I also like the styling of the 5N. I, I think that car is cool. Like, I actually, even, not even saying as an EV I want one, like I kinda want one. I think the 5N, first off, oh, man, I, I'm, I've gone flip-flop on this one, but to me the five, the 5N is a Hyundai that's not like w- I'm talking like the tech startup EVs.
I, I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying. All sort of, and a lot of the Chinese ones. Yeah. Like they all just sort of have the same, they're all like- There's this thing about the EVs where everyone feels like they have to look a certain way, and, like, the Prius always bothered me like this.
Like, I would've preferred the Prius to just look like a Camry New Prius kinda hot though, right? New Prius is kinda hot. New Prius pretty sick New Prius is k- [02:25:00] especially slammed. Dude, they, they're super sick Especially s- new Prius slammed is, is pretty dope. I'll go that. And and oddly, retro Prius has come around- They're coming around
to being kinda cool when it, when slammed. But, um, but back to the 5N, I think it's the right size vehicle for a family. Yeah Like, I had my, you know, we had it when, we actually had a r- non-N, just a regular 5 for, like, a year, um, when Hudson was young. So that was pretty cool. Um, the 5N is one of the first electric cars that feels fun- Yeah
because, like, they checked all the right boxes of, like, making it be able to slide a bit and be able to throw it around. Like, that part's all cool. I did a video with Leah Block with one, um, earlier this year, and, like, it'll actually do donuts and, like, it, like, there's that piece of it- It's fun to drive
it's fast, and I hate to say it, but, like, the, the, like, engine noise stuff, like, while I wouldn't use it for driving around in traffic, it's actually really nice for braking zones. Yeah, I was using it on track So if you're, like, if you're on track, [02:26:00] hearing that helps you be like, "Okay, I'm going pretty fast.
I need to be braking." 'Cause there's something about when you remove the audible experience- Right ... you lose some of the f- speed factor, and you don't realize that you're taking this 5,000-pound vehicle into a corner way too fast. So, like, I found that that actually made me quicker on track- Yeah, yeah ... was, like, listening to it.
I mean, when I drove it, I adored it. I was like, "Holy crap, this is the vehicle-" Yeah ... if you could get people that are anti-EV as a whole into this- Yep ... it could change their opinion. I think the de- I think the design of the car is really cool. I haven't seen one done up in a way that I would do one, and I, and I think that, like, there's a lot of potential.
It's one of those vehicles that, like, if I could justify it and thought my audience would get behind it, I'd probably go buy one. Mm. But I, I think that they'd just be like, "No." But, like, I would love the opportunity to, to mess with one and show people, like, hey, this, this and EVs can be cool. So when I look at the design of it, the way I look at it is it's like if you gave somebody A [02:27:00] 1990 Volkswagen Golf, and it was 1990, you know, 1992 or whatever, and you're like, draw the future Yeah.
I would say the same- 'Cause it, it, it feels- ... but of, of Lancia Delta ... it definitely looks like it's somewhere between those two- Yeah ... but it has that look of, like, that '90s hatchback, the hot hatch thing. Like, what does, like, the cyberpunk future version of that look like? And I think they, I think they did, did a pretty good job with that, so.
But yeah, i- it's all the other, like, slick, rounded sort of thing. I'm, I'm with you. I mean, most of them just look like appliances and- It's kind of... I can't even name half of them because, like, I don't know what they are ... I mean, interestingly, like, by contrast, the very same brand, the IONIQ 6 is, like, one of the ugliest- Ooh, it's pretty hideous
car I've s- I've ever seen. It's hideous. It's bad. Sorry Hyundai, but- That fits more into that group ... like, what is that? Yeah. It's... But yeah, I mean, EVs as a whole, they have a design language to them that tends to just be like, what are you guys... Like, why? Stop doing this thing that you're doing. I think a lot of it has to do with, though, for a lot of [02:28:00] people, some people, a lot of people buy i- EVs for the identity, and, like, the look speaks to the identity versus just buying, like, the new Ford Lightning, which is like- Right, right
you don't know it's an electric truck unless you s- unless you look at the badge. Like- Yeah ... that's a different type of owner than the person who's like, "I want everyone to see that I'm driving an EV." I guess there's like, I feel like there's room to have it be futuristic or cutting edge or, like, future forward, forward-looking, whatever, without looking like they do Yeah Um, but I'm not a designer, so not my problem I think, I think cars that try to be too futuristic don't, um, like, they're, they're stunning when they first drop.
Like, when the Tesla first came out, I remember being like, "Man, that's pretty slick looking." You know? Like, just the shape of it. But then it becomes like the Audi TT, where like, I- the Audi TT was super cool when it came out to me. I remember thinking, like, with the baseball stitch and all that, like, it was super cool.
I, like, every day try to convince myself that I like Audi TTs [02:29:00] because I wanna like Audis, but, like, I wanna g- I want to like that car as much as I liked it when it first came out, but it was, like, almost it was trying too hard to be new- Mm-hmm ... you know? And, like, and they, they actually dialed it back. I, I feel the same way about the 350Z.
Like- Right, right ... 'cause the 370Z actually dials it back a little bit. The TT second gen dials it back a bit. The new Beetle dials it back a bit. Like, there was something about that early 2000s where everyone's like, "We're gonna make the future." And then the next iteration of it was like, "Well, maybe not as round as this," or, "Maybe let's, let's scale it back a little bit," so.
Right And I, I think that there's always this moment in design where everyone, like, wants to create a Jetsons car and then, like, kinda pull it back, but. You got any other gripes or we can wrap this out? I th- I think, you know, w- We could do an entire gripe episode, you know? I was gonna save, I was gonna say, I'm gonna save them for the next one- Yeah
and either whether that's firing order or I'm just gonna start coming up with a list and then be like, "All right, Brian, next time [02:30:00] you, you need an episode- Yeah ... I'm gonna come over and we're just gonna hash out these 'cause these need to be said." Do you have any firing order ideas? 'Cause I know I hit you yesterday, the other day.
I was like, just in case, like, did any c- any pop up to mind? No, 'cause I've been, I've been trying to hammer out this, this E28 exhaust- Oh ... I was trying to, trying to get done. You ha- you had just been there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You- But I'll come up with some lists ... we did a topic, uh, episode with Vinny and Ron, and, um, I was re-listening to it today, and, uh, p- one of the things in it that was, like, one of my favorite questions was, like, it was, like, kind of, like, a wholesome one, was, um, like, what's the perfect day for a car nerd?
Okay. And, like, I, I went back and listened to it and, like, I don't know if it'll matter much to the audience, but, like, I was like, man, I think, like, the c- the culture needs to get back to asking more of that. Like that, yeah. Like, and, like, I think the arg- the conversations we had today, the things that were exciting about you going to Riverside, Chattanooga, me go- you know, the Treffpunks, like, Ultrace, like, like, these are the moments that, like, need to come [02:31:00] back in culture because...
Or whatever that moment might be for someone. It could be a track day or event or whatever. Yeah. I mean, I think there's probably that. There's probably, like- Something to the effect of like the, the, the moments that every car guy deserves to experience. Like for example- Mm, that's a good one ... like firing up an engine swap for the first time.
Fantastic. It is like, it is an all-time feeling. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, that, that type of, of thing that's like if you've never done that and you're trying to have the car experience, like go out and make sure you do that- Mm-hmm ... at some point. Like you, you owe it to yourself to feel what that sense of accomplishment feels like.
Um- That is an amazing feeling for not just you, but everybody who's in the garage at that point, so. Yeah, and it, and the best part is it never gets old. Uh-uh. Every single time- Mm-hmm ... it is, it is- It's real excitement. Yeah. Yeah. The number one thing that people would get in trouble for at Hoonigan was not filming the initial startup.
I'm like, "I don't care if it happens at 3:30 in the morning and you're filming it on an iPhone 3." Like, you ha- that is such a real emotion [02:32:00] when it's like c- c- c- c- c- c- c- and then it catches, and you're like, "Oh, yes, it works." So good. So good. Yeah. One of the things I had on my list of the perfect thing was, um, build- working on something all day, getting it done just in time to go cruise with your friends at night when you were younger.
Yeah. Like, you just got your new suspension on, your new whatever, and, like, it was just in time to, like, go roll with your friends. Like, that, like, peak, peak automotive, but ... 100%. All right, bud, well, thanks for coming back. Thanks for having me. I'm, yeah, I, like I said, are you, I'm gonna move you into the, the, you know, the standard rotation here.
Perfect. I, I- A rotating assembly. I'll have you come on for some firing order. I love talking shop. I love, I love arguing, so, um- I know you do. I feel like we didn't argue that much today, which- We, we didn't, but we were just- We, we went down memory lane ... we just- It was nice ... yeah, just kinda going for a cruise.
So- Yeah ... next time, w- we'll have some stuff we'll, we'll- Yeah. I, the, that- ... we can- ... episode that we did, um, with Victoria, I still, like, peop- it is a standout episode for people. People really enjoyed- Yeah ... I think, like, how balanced the [02:33:00] whole thing was in the end, and, like, the back and forth between- Well, and I still feel bad 'cause there was, there, I saw a few comments, like, the day that it got posted, and, um, some people, or I know that, that, I think there was some stuff that Victoria wound up having to cut out for a couple of reasons.
Yeah. And it wound up being in a place where it winds up feeling like I'm just carrying on and on and on. And I felt really bad. And, and, and, like, from a viewer's perspective, they're like, "Dude, this guy just won't shut up and let her talk," and it's like, you're totally right, but, but it wasn't that. Yeah. I mean, but I did cut to that, but- But don't worry, they listen to my show, where I just talk over everybody- That's true.
That's true ... so they're pretty used to that. That's true. So, yeah. But I, I had a blast with it. She was such a great sport. Yeah. And she held her own. She knows her stuff. Uh, I've been trying to sing her praises to, to anybody that'll listen, so. Yeah. You know, she's out here now. She got a job at- Is she? ... uh, Palm Springs Ferrari.
Yeah. Well, that's it. Um, next time bring some, uh, bring some more gripes. We'll come- we'll figure out some more firing orders. Um, and when we're done with this, I, I need to show you the things that need to get fixed on the Land Rover, 'cause I'm not sure if you remember- Oh, God ... but that was, that was in the fine print- [02:34:00] That was, it was, yeah
was that you needed to help me fab that, that shifter mount. Hmm. I, I gotta get outta here. I've set a timer, yep. Well, thanks again, and thanks everybody for listening to another, another great one. So, um, yeah, on to next time.
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