Episode 6: Monterey Car Week Recap! Favorite Cars, Ferrari Love, and Toyota GR Inside Info.

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Still Driving, honest conversations about the cars, people, and ideas that make driving matter.
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With automotive industry insider Shinoo Mapleton and accomplished driver and enthusiast Blair Smith, joined by the people shaping the automotive world.
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Here are Shinoo and Blair.
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Welcome back to Still Driving.
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I'm excited about this one because, Chinu, we survived Monterey Car Week, didn't we?
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Yes, indeed, Blair, we survived.
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Glad to be back.
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Not only did we survive, I felt like we thrived a little bit, and we connected with the people, we connected with the, the industry.
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It was very cool, and we have a lot of fun to, to get into to recap that.
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And, and obviously, that's the theme of today's pod is a, a serious debrief and download with, I think, some debates.
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We're, you and I are probably gonna have a couple of friendly debates in this episode.
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We usually do.
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And we're still friends.
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Yeah, that makes it fun.
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We, That, that, that's the best part about this thing.
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So we're gonna get into Mystery Road.
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Chinu has one.
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Yes.
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And a- and then obviously what we did in cars w- this week, we've already teed that up.
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It it was an exciting week for both of us.
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Fo- following that, we do have some automotive news.
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We're gonna talk about the auctions at Monterey.
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Some crazy stuff went down.
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Some of it we we, we felt somewhat connected to while we were there.
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And then we do have a head-to-head segment, my personal favorite.
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We're gonna pick three cars that kind of jumped out at us while we were there.
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And with that, Chinu, let's hear about this Mystery Road before we dive into all things Monterey.
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Excellent.
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Well, I, well, I chose a, a pretty interesting one, okay?
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And so like we've done in the past, I'm gonna first, you know, describe this road, and then probably through the pod I'll drop one or two hints here.
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So this one's not super hard, but let's just start with this.
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Today's mystery road is in California.
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The section that we're talking about is less than five miles long.
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It's narrow, two-lane, paved road that climbs rapidly from near sea level into the mountains, okay?
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It features a relentless series of tight corners, several serious switchbacks, and some spectacular views of the Pacific It's become one of the most talked about driving roads on social media recently.
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What road is it?
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Hey, I have some thoughts, but I'll be maybe I'll take a stab or two at the end.
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Ma- make a fool of myself,'cause I'm probably off base per usual.
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But you know, that, that will be good.
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So Shanu, before we get those tips later on, Car Week, man, we I did it.
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I've been wanting to do Monterey and experience Monterey Car Week for a long time.
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You, you were a great guide.
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Did, did it blow your mind, Blair?
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Honestly, so I, I think it describes it best to say when I got home, my wife and I are having dinner on the patio, and there's a road that's somewhat busy that goes by our house, and I told her, I'm like,"I heard this loud exhaust coming up my road, and it's some old piece of crap pickup truck." I'm like,"Oh, man, I'm not in Monterey anymore." That, the, the, the spectacle.
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And y- you've been there many times, so may- you have more context about this.
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But I got mostly positive vibes from this event.
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Yes.
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I...
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Yes, lots of crowds of people and different types of car enthusiasts like we've talked about.
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Mm-hmm.
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But generally, I thought it was all positive.
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It was like, now I, I think the overwhelming number of visual, audible candy, you know?
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Mm-hmm.
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Like, everywhere you look, whether it's, you go from Pebble Beach to Monterey and Seaside area and maybe draw a triangle up to Laguna Seca, it didn't matter where you were.
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Every third or fourth car was- visually interesting or sounded really great.
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And it was like, you know, this adventure every day of what's gonna come around this corner next, and that was really exciting for me.
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Yeah, that is the one thing.
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You know, like, y- y- the, just the n- the, the sheer number of cool cars of all vintages, y- you know, all price points, that you can find anywhere.
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Parked on the street, you know, in Monterey, in Carmel, at Laguna Seca, in that dirty, dusty, you know, parking lot, you know, it, it's just like they're everywhere, you know?
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And it's just absolutely incredible.
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I, you know, I knew you were going to enjoy it.
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You know, certainly, you know, my experience of going there for over 20 years now, you know, the current program, you know, pr- the the events going on there are certainly way more busy, you know, dare I say crowded in some cases, than before.
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So, but, you know, the, just the fun to be, you know, to be around like-minded people and, you know, striking up conversations with people you don't know, and kind of just enjoying conversation about cars, right?
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It's ju- Yeah it, it, it's awesome.
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It, it was just incredible.
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Well, we had a fun gathering made up of InnoKinetic and Still Driving family, if you will, and- Community, yes and the community.
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Other, Other Brother Beer.
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It turned out really great.
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We had a lot of fun.
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It was fun meeting cool people, some of which I had previously known, some of which you had previously.
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Others, was really fun to make some new connections.
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But it was a good turnout.
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Yeah, I mean, we're, listen, we had people from Utah, we had people from California, we had people from Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia, Texas.
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I mean, we had people from all over that, that came to, to, to hang out and, and, and have some fun.
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We, we had some Detroit-style pizza.
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That was pretty good, you know?
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And so- It was.
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Yeah, we were both- Yeah, that was a, that was definitely a fun, fun evening we were both pleased with the turnout, so any of you that were there that night and listening to this, thank you so much for coming.
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We had a blast, and I, I think the vibes were all around good.
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All good.
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So g- getting into key highlights or key takeaways, not the cars- Yeah necessarily, but ge- generally speaking, so this, this one point of disagreement we might have, Shanu, but I've never been a Ferrari guy.
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I'm just, yeah, I loved the Testarossa as a kid.
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Hard not to see the prancing horse and think, you know, special cars.
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Watched the movie Enzo.
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You, I mean, you name it.
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Ford versus Ferrari.
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Everybody's got some sort of emotional response to Ferrari.
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But my number one takeaway was twofold.
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Ferraris are pretty awesome old and to an extent new.
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But number two, Porsche is, if they are trying to be like Ferrari, my opinion is that is the wrong path for them to take.
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And let me just elaborate on what I mean by that.
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So we were driving in front of Pebble Beach.
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I'm with my buddy that we rode down in his Lotus Emira.
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So we're driving in front of Pebble Beach our last night, you know, and we were both looking for parking.
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You were in your car, and these two cars come down, you know, this little hill, and he says,"Oh man, that car's gorgeous." And I said,"Yeah, that is rad." And he said,"Well, that's a great color." I'm like,"Oh, we're talking about two different cars," because the car I was looking at was a matte black 296 Ferrari And the one right behind it was some yellowish-greenish, I hardly noticed it, Porsche Sport Classic 992.
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And there is just a presence with modern, even though they may not be the most beautiful, 296s are, I think.
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But a presence to these Ferraris that I don't get from 992 911s, whether it's maybe the GT3 RS being the exception, just because it's so out there.
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But I'm looking at the Ferraris when those two are side by side, and I don't think Porsche is gonna be g- go up market that severely that they can compete in that realm.
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You think I'm nuts?
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No, man.
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Listen, the 911 has always been the most practical sports car on the market, okay?
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And when you have to describe a sports car as practical, that takes some of the sexiness away from the car, right?
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Any way you slice it.
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I love 911s.
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It's one of my absolute favorite sports cars.
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Okay, but I also like the Clown Shoe.
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And you know what the two cars have in common?
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The styling is not the most sexy, okay?
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Yeah.
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So, you know, people have certainly, you know, spun the 911 into this thing of y- of absolute beauty.
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But the, the fact of the matter is the form factor of the car is still froggish.
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It still looks like a little frog to me.
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And I, I like frogs, okay?
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So hell, I wanted to be a herpetologist- when I was a kid, you know?
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But, you know, my point is that's...
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there's, there's...
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hard to argue when you see a low-slung, two-seat, mid-engine car particularly, that form factor, it's just, it's just right.
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It just feels right.
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It looks right.
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It's sexy.
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It's cool.
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And so I think some of that may be, you know, unconsciously affecting your, your view on it.
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And when you see so many of each brand, you know, so many models from each brand all in one place, you c- it all starts to coalesce this idea that you've had that, Yeah"Eh, maybe Ferrari's a little bit more sexy." And, and, and- Well, w- frankly, that's just a fact.
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Well, the little kid in us comes out, right?
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Mm-hmm.
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So if you, if you ask me which car do I want, a new GT3 or a 296, well, I know the GT3 is About unrivaled when it comes to just driving chops.
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Mm-hmm.
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And that NA motor, it's awesome.
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But the little kid, the passion, the emotion comes out even for me.
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When I would see these Ferraris down there, especially as you go back a generation or two, it's, like, super freaking cool.
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You, one of your key takeaways, Shanu, was a new Ferrari that we got to see a couple examples of, and- Yeah, we saw two or three of them, right?
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We saw a, a dark green one, we saw a red one, and that's the F80, the new hypercar from Ferrari.
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And I actually like the design of that car, you know, when I f- saw pictures of it.
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And I thought,"You know what?
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You know, this new design language that they're going for is certainly controversial," but I actually liked the pictures.
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And when I finally, we finally saw that one, remember that was in, in Carmel, y- you know, it just rolled up while we were looking at a bunch of other hypercars.
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And then it's like,"Oh, sweet." You know, that's, that's the, that's, again, one of the great experiences of going to Car Week is these surprises, these incredible surprises.
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And so, I think the design language works on the F80 very, very well.
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But you know what?
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I didn't think it worked very well on the rest of their lineup.
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And they had their full lineup at Pebble, y- you know, on the concept lawn or outside the concept lawn that we saw on Su- was it Sunday night?
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No, no, sorry, Satur- Saturday night.
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Sat- Saturday night Saturday, yeah.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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So yeah, so that's definitely one of my f- you know, key takeaways was finally, is seeing the F80 in person and kinda confirming, you know, that it does look very, very, you know, good.
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And form is absolutely following function in, in the case of that car.
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Totally.
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And I put up the picture behind me.
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You've got the dark green one we saw- Mm-hmm which was cool.
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Yeah.
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I put up the red one behind me.
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It is a little bit blocky and kinda bi- and it's big, but I totally agree, it was, it was captivating.
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And especially in this red color, which I admit, I'm a sucker for the cliche red, Ferrari red, and- Resale red resale red, exactly.
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But there was just so much presence with this thing.
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And but you, you kind of teed up one of my next takeaways, Shanu, which is the fact that you can get right up next to these cars.
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Like, you have a picture of that dark green F80 we saw on the street.
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I mean, we could've rubbed our hands on that thing.
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That one, they did have some caretakers around the, like, on the street, but around this- Kind of, yeah display of cars, kind of.
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The one I have behind me was out at Laguna Seca.
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I didn't see any t- caretakers, any security, any...
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But it was one of my favorite things about Car Week.
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And frankly, my biggest surprise was you felt like you, for the most part, had all access to the cars.
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I mean, we were sitting there, and a f- Porsche GT1 rolls up at Laguna Seca, and- The guy just jumps out and walks away.
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They don't,"Hey, stand back." They don't put ropes up around this thing.
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It is like the Zinger, we, we could have just, you know, messed with that car if we wanted to, you know?
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And everyone was really respectful.
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But you don't think of hypercars, I never have, supercars, exotics, old classics, you know, a- as being so inviting, welcoming.
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I mean, they're multimillion-dollar cars everywhere you look, and yet people had access to them.
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There were kids around, and nobody's freaking out'cause you're getting a little close to the new F80.
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It's like, what the crap?
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Well, I think isn't that one, the, one of these kind of unwritten rules that we have as car guys, right?
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And we teach our kids.
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You, you go to a car show, you don't touch.
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You can look, but you don't touch.
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Yeah.
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Right?
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Right?
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And so I think that's kind of, you can see that, right, as the, at places like Laguna, where, you know, you have to pay to get in, and, and so most likely you're an enthusiast to, to go to an event like that.
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So it's like you're amongst a very, very safe crowd, right?
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And you don't have to worry about your car getting abused.
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You, you know, car shows where the general public are, are going to, you know, the Detroit Auto Show or the Los Angeles Auto Show, you know, a lot of car manufacturers, they have to remove things like gear knobs from their car- Yeah because they'll get stolen.
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You, you know?
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So you're not dealing with these kind of unwashed masses.
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Now, on the street of Carmel, there could be all sorts of people there, and frankly, that's one of my gripes about the Exotics on Broadway, is that there's just a bunch of, you know, what seems to me more y- you know, They're not really real car people that go to, to that show, too, and, and there I'd feel, frankly feel more nervous about having my nice car parked amongst- Yeah People who aren't quite as respectful.
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So- Yeah, well you- You saw it firsthand.
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You, you've teed up my last point before I throw it back over to you, which is Laguna Seca.
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Mm-hmm.
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And I, I was blown away by Laguna Seca, Shanu.
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So you said,"Listen, our last day," as we were mapping out the events and the s- s- our schedule, and it was a very packed schedule.
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Like, you said,"No, the last day, Saturday, we're going out to Laguna Seca.
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That's the highlight.
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That is the culminating..." In my mind, I was excited about it, but I kind of envisioned sitting there for five hours watching old race cars drive around, which is cool, but that...
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B- but what I actually got was a spectacle that I was not expecting.
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And yes, you've got racing going all the time, but the infield, Shanu, pretty- Yeah, the paddock pretty magical in the paddock, you know, to, to wander around this.
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Tell us more about that experience.
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Well, you know, listen, I think we could have spent another couple, three hours there easily.
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Easy.
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You know?
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We, we didn't walk every aisle, because we kind of ran out of time, right?
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We, we had a couple other places that we wanted to get to.
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We wanted to go see y- you know, the Lotus house, and, and get over to the concept lawn, and, and a couple other things we still needed to do that evening.
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And so we kind of boogied out of there by, like, 3:00, you know?
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So yeah, no, that's the thing.
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Laguna is really a special, special, you know, event, and going there...
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and that's why, like, I think in our last pod I said,"This is, this is a must-do.
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You h- you can't miss Laguna." Yeah.
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If you're a car guy, you're gonna have to go to Laguna.
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There's just too many good things to see with manufacturers, you know, having things on display, which surprised me.
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Actually, General Motors did not have, you know, a Corvette display or even a Cadillac display- Yeah I recall.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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That, that surprised me.
00:16:20.615 --> 00:16:27.554
You know, in the past they've had, you know, Cor- Corvettes in cutaway, you know, like, just, you know, fully on display.
00:16:27.554 --> 00:16:29.025
But the...
00:16:29.065 --> 00:16:34.304
You know, just walking up the path to the corkscrew, right?
00:16:34.485 --> 00:16:38.716
That, I mean, that's just, It kind of, just, just enchanting, you know?
00:16:39.035 --> 00:16:39.265
Totally.
00:16:39.265 --> 00:16:44.235
To see the how steep it is and, and the way the cars drop in.
00:16:44.235 --> 00:16:49.225
And then we also got to see the motorcycles, the 500cc bikes and, and, and a few other, you know, sizes.
00:16:49.225 --> 00:16:57.655
But these five, six champions, US champions, you know, from the'80s and'90s that were out dri- riding their bikes.
00:16:57.666 --> 00:16:59.696
Y- you know, and I saw Wayne Rainey afterwards.
00:16:59.696 --> 00:17:14.115
You know, he, he's, he's paralyzed from the waist down, yet they had hand controls set up for him, and he was out there riding with- That's amazing with Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts and, and, Eddie Lawson, and so it was, it was pretty incredible to, to see that as well.
00:17:14.135 --> 00:17:17.135
So yeah, to me, Laguna is definitely one of the...
00:17:17.155 --> 00:17:18.215
I, I never miss it.
00:17:18.256 --> 00:17:20.695
I always spend at least one day at Laguna.
00:17:20.736 --> 00:17:21.006
Yeah.
00:17:21.195 --> 00:17:28.726
Just- What, what- so much to see I've talked to a couple of guys who were gonna come or didn't come or were thinking about coming, and I just said,"Listen, picture this.
00:17:29.276 --> 00:17:38.346
We st- we started by looking at this Ferrari F80, and we could have touched it if we wanted and- Mm-hmm uh, da- damn near opened the door if we wanted." Not, nobody went that far.
00:17:38.355 --> 00:17:39.304
Was respectful, as you said.
00:17:39.304 --> 00:17:41.165
Yeah, and there was a Valkyrie parked right next to that one, right?
00:17:41.165 --> 00:17:43.256
The Aston Martin Valkyrie right next to it.
00:17:43.286 --> 00:17:49.556
I mean, you name it, it was all parked there you know, un- unguarded by security.
00:17:49.945 --> 00:18:02.925
And, and then a few minutes later, I find myself in a very deep conversation with a fascinating technical product education guy from Gazoo Racing, Toyota, about the new GR series of cars.
00:18:02.965 --> 00:18:05.066
I reached out to him to see if he would come on the pod.
00:18:05.066 --> 00:18:06.226
We'll see if we can get him on.
00:18:06.756 --> 00:18:27.155
But he- That'd be awesome he gave me his personal info,'cause I think he was impressed I was genuinely, like, interested in what Toyota's got going on at a- Sure So, you know, we're chatting with him about that, and then we're, like, messing with Zingers, and then we've got a GT1 we're looking at, and then I find myself deep in a conversation with a guy who's racing a vintage Speedster.
00:18:27.155 --> 00:18:27.174
Mm-hmm.
00:18:27.174 --> 00:18:31.285
And he was the most friendly guy, and he's telling me how he got into it.
00:18:31.326 --> 00:18:34.205
And we're looking at his car with original paint.
00:18:34.506 --> 00:18:36.964
It's like a 50-something Speedster.
00:18:37.226 --> 00:18:43.384
And, like, and then, and then we see T50s just cruising the paddock like they're pit bikes at a race.
00:18:43.384 --> 00:18:44.904
Yeah, like, five of them, right?
00:18:44.905 --> 00:18:45.525
I think there was three or four.
00:18:45.525 --> 00:18:47.346
And then we see several others of them.
00:18:47.355 --> 00:18:47.385
Right.
00:18:47.674 --> 00:18:48.385
It, it's just...
00:18:48.435 --> 00:18:51.895
And then we walk up that enchanting path, like you said.
00:18:51.895 --> 00:18:55.685
We see all the BMW stuff and the new Neue Klasse electric th- M3.
00:18:55.724 --> 00:18:58.255
Yeah, which, which also looked really good in person.
00:18:58.256 --> 00:18:59.375
I, I was pretty impressed.
00:18:59.375 --> 00:18:59.925
I agree.
00:19:00.444 --> 00:19:00.625
Yeah.
00:19:00.625 --> 00:19:01.046
I agree.
00:19:01.046 --> 00:19:01.535
It was cool.
00:19:01.536 --> 00:19:04.885
And then we walk up the enchanting path, as you said, watch that.
00:19:04.895 --> 00:19:08.226
It was just, man, it was awesome.
00:19:08.236 --> 00:19:10.355
So, you know, I could, we could have spent hours.
00:19:10.355 --> 00:19:12.045
We could have gone back a couple more days.
00:19:12.315 --> 00:19:15.415
We, like- But Laguna Seca was awesome.
00:19:15.425 --> 00:19:20.375
Big highlight takeaway for me, aside from my newfound love of Ferrari.
00:19:21.185 --> 00:19:27.145
So what, what, what else jumped out at you as you take away from memories of that?
00:19:27.145 --> 00:19:29.800
Y- y- you know, let me start with something that was less positive, and I'll end on a positive note.
00:19:29.820 --> 00:19:34.310
But, you know, the roads around Monterey and during this event are pretty atrocious.
00:19:34.310 --> 00:19:35.060
Y- y- you know?
00:19:35.101 --> 00:19:37.871
And, and it's something that I kinda wanna let people realize.
00:19:37.871 --> 00:19:42.750
If you're gonna drive up there and you've got a really low, stiff car, you might wanna think twice, okay?
00:19:43.060 --> 00:19:51.711
It's, it's, unless you're showing the car, if you plan to drive around like we did all around town, best not to bring your race car, okay?
00:19:51.711 --> 00:19:58.391
Because it is really bumpy, and steep, and not very friendly.
00:19:58.401 --> 00:20:02.151
Y- you know, I was glad I had my 996 RR, you know?
00:20:02.381 --> 00:20:10.471
It was actually you know, everything that we designed that car to deal with, it got to experience, and I was glad I was in that car.
00:20:10.471 --> 00:20:14.060
So on the positive side of that, I was happy I brought that car.
00:20:14.070 --> 00:20:15.730
You know, I've brought Lotuses up there.
00:20:16.040 --> 00:20:18.661
I've had Adams up there, a Mono up there.
00:20:18.951 --> 00:20:20.191
And even had a Nomad.
00:20:20.191 --> 00:20:23.540
You know, and the Nomad is actually another perfect car for, for those kind of conditions.
00:20:23.921 --> 00:20:26.550
So- Yeah, well, some of the, some of the parking is on dirt.
00:20:26.861 --> 00:20:27.161
Yeah.
00:20:27.171 --> 00:20:30.471
You gotta go out into dirt- Absolutely at Laguna Seca for the, for the Lotus Hagerty event.
00:20:30.471 --> 00:20:36.310
Kinda had to- Yep go down a little dirt road on the golf course, so- Oh, yeah, be prepared for, for those type of conditions, you know?
00:20:36.330 --> 00:20:39.111
It's not all paved and, and, and most of it's not smooth.
00:20:39.121 --> 00:20:40.681
So anyways, yeah.
00:20:40.681 --> 00:20:53.500
But listen, I think the other thing that, that really I was i- so happy to have seen, even though it was in, you know, getting dark by the time it showed up, but that was that, the new Audi Nuvolare, you know, their, their super car.
00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:56.121
And I like the design language on it.
00:20:56.191 --> 00:20:59.441
I, I'm not gonna tell you that it is beautiful.
00:20:59.701 --> 00:21:05.941
It's very robotic, very industrial, but I like that, and, and I feel like that's, that fits.
00:21:06.280 --> 00:21:17.740
I, I do like that design language on the Audi TT, as I've said before here too, but seeing the Nuvolare was, was pretty cool, and they were kind of staging it for on the concept lawn there at Pebble.
00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:21.580
So y- you know, that, that was, that was fun to, to kind of see that.
00:21:21.871 --> 00:21:22.770
You know, it was a few years ago.
00:21:22.770 --> 00:21:23.310
Oh, yeah, there you go.
00:21:23.310 --> 00:21:24.040
There's the picture.
00:21:24.371 --> 00:21:30.590
Few years ago I was there when they were putting in the, the Lotus Evija, which we, we also saw at the Lotus House.
00:21:30.770 --> 00:21:31.180
You know?
00:21:31.190 --> 00:21:32.509
What did you think- That was awesome of that car, Blair?
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:33.529
Incredible.
00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:39.090
Like, for the first time I thought,"Okay, I kinda wanna drive a EV hypercar." Mm-hmm.
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.259
Like, how could that not be fun?
00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:43.681
It was gorgeous.
00:21:43.730 --> 00:21:48.101
It had the most incredible purple blue paint, you know?
00:21:48.161 --> 00:21:53.250
And, you know, at that Lotus event, we, we, we got to see that thing, sit in it.
00:21:53.609 --> 00:21:56.069
Again, just that, that was a little more exclusive.
00:21:56.069 --> 00:22:03.829
Sha- Shinju being on the ins with the Lotus people helped us, you know, helped us get in with those guys, but it, it was rad.
00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:14.371
You know, obviously there was a little bit of sadness that it didn't have a, a kind of a flame-throwing, you know, ice engine out the back of it, because I think that would be absurd, and it just...
00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:24.869
But you see a lot of the Emira in the Evija design language with the front and, but then these butterfly doors, and it was n- very cool to see.
00:22:24.881 --> 00:22:28.680
And, you know, back on that Nuvolare, I've got this picture up behind me.
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:29.530
I agree.
00:22:29.530 --> 00:22:31.730
When we saw it, it was kinda like seeing a unicorn.
00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:35.721
You hear about it, and we look over, and it was, they, they were staging this thing.
00:22:35.730 --> 00:22:38.400
I mean, for the most part, I agree with you.
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:50.190
There were some angles that I thought it looked just a little off to my eye, but it's- Mm-hmm one of those risks and make-it-different attempts that I think actually has merit and works.
00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.160
So I thought it was cool, yeah.
00:22:53.119 --> 00:23:03.670
Well, it's funny, The that design language, you know, Lotus have done in their Theory 1 concept.
00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:05.490
But I think they've done it better.
00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:05.509
Oh.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:12.180
So there's some slab-sided sections, but they, you know, the but there's curved sections as well, right?
00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:23.220
And so I kind of feel like, you know, it's, it's, it's fun anyhow for me to see when some of these manufacturers are taking, you know, a- attempting to do things that are fresh.
00:23:23.269 --> 00:23:27.789
And I feel like in the case of the Nuvolare, I think they, they've, they've done a pretty good job.
00:23:27.809 --> 00:23:33.079
I, I, I'm not gonna say that it's staggeringly beautiful,'cause it's not, but it's cool like a robot school to me.
00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:33.319
Yeah.
00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:33.779
Yeah, I agree.
00:23:33.789 --> 00:23:33.809
Yeah.
00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:36.750
Pushing the envelope in different but cool ways.
00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:36.789
Mm-hmm.
00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:36.910
Yep.
00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:42.750
And I joke that it reminded me a little of the Cybertruck, which did not go over well with you, Shanu.
00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:46.019
But it's, Y- you know, but, but I j- I agree.
00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:48.079
I like the TT, I like the R8.
00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.279
I owned an R8.
00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:50.000
It's...
00:23:50.369 --> 00:23:56.609
And, and I'm all for them trying to push the boundaries and, you know, c- come up with something different.
00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:12.140
You do get into the hypercar realm, where it was like SSC Tuatara, Zinger, all the different, you know, Pagani iterations and whatever, and th- they all start kind of meshing together a little bit from a design standpoint.
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:23.839
And I know this is not in that class, but it is nice when there's just something wholesale different that you can't mistake, and it doesn't look like anything else.
00:24:23.849 --> 00:24:32.753
And that's where the Nuvolare to me, in spite of having some reservations about it, I totally am on board with Yeah, absolutely.
00:24:32.844 --> 00:24:33.443
Absolutely.
00:24:33.794 --> 00:24:36.403
Well, listen, are, are, is it, should we switch to the next section?
00:24:36.403 --> 00:24:38.693
Should I drop a little hint on our mystery road?
00:24:39.054 --> 00:24:44.304
Yes, and then we're gonna get into news, and we will come back to some of the cars of Monterey that jumped out at us.
00:24:44.314 --> 00:24:45.673
So yeah, give us a little tip.
00:24:46.564 --> 00:24:49.463
Okay, so here's, here's the, the mid-pod clue.
00:24:50.054 --> 00:24:54.963
Today's mystery road connects Pacific Coast Highway with Mulholland Highway.
00:24:55.243 --> 00:24:55.794
Mm.
00:24:56.594 --> 00:25:02.624
The, the local Cal- Southern California crew is gonna be not, not, not all that stupefied, I don't think.
00:25:02.624 --> 00:25:05.334
But I have some guesses, but we'll we'll see.
00:25:05.784 --> 00:25:06.104
All right.
00:25:06.104 --> 00:25:08.364
So, so we had a blast in Monterey.
00:25:08.374 --> 00:25:12.044
Like I said, we'll be coming back and is, or coming back to this topic.
00:25:12.493 --> 00:25:19.844
But I will say, the couple of buddies that I sh- was just doing a download on, they said,"Oh, next year I'm in for sure." Mm-hmm.
00:25:19.894 --> 00:25:20.433
Like, I got...
00:25:20.433 --> 00:25:29.044
And I said,"Listen, if you're a car person, you've never been, I feel sheepish that I waited this long, just get in your whatever car.
00:25:29.054 --> 00:25:34.513
Yeah, a race car may not be the right thing to take out, but get in there or grab a flight.
00:25:34.624 --> 00:25:47.054
You will not be disappointed if you're into, you know, adven- car adventure around every corner." And it's a smorgasbord of opportunity and interest and to-do.
00:25:47.104 --> 00:25:49.884
So anyways, yeah, v- very, very cool.
00:25:50.124 --> 00:25:51.703
Shanu, you got a couple of news stories.
00:25:51.703 --> 00:25:54.473
Tell us about your friends at Singer.
00:25:54.473 --> 00:25:58.604
So they dropped some news that really pissed some people off.
00:25:58.614 --> 00:26:05.723
We talked to people at the Works Reunion, the big PCA event, which by the way, you had a booth at, and we had a blast talking to people there.
00:26:06.243 --> 00:26:15.874
But everywhere we went, we kept getting, b- you know, frustrated opinions shared and, and thrown around about Singer.
00:26:16.564 --> 00:26:21.513
Are they selling out, Shanu by collaborating with, with Louis Vuitton?
00:26:21.753 --> 00:26:25.844
Because that's kind of the sentiment we were getting from so many.
00:26:27.084 --> 00:26:31.023
Well, I think for people to c- to suggest that they're selling out, it's...
00:26:31.523 --> 00:26:34.874
They, they, y- you know, are not being realistic.
00:26:34.923 --> 00:26:35.453
Okay?
00:26:35.814 --> 00:26:37.773
Singer is a luxury product.
00:26:37.784 --> 00:26:39.614
It always has been.
00:26:39.824 --> 00:26:40.374
Okay?
00:26:40.554 --> 00:26:41.124
The, the...
00:26:41.144 --> 00:26:45.784
It, it's that simple, and for anyone to suggest otherwise, they're just kidding themselves.
00:26:45.794 --> 00:26:46.183
Okay?
00:26:46.534 --> 00:26:54.284
The, the, the car is absolutely a form is not following function, y- you know, product.
00:26:54.294 --> 00:26:54.854
Okay?
00:26:54.923 --> 00:27:00.544
Form, frankly, it takes precedence over function with the Singers.
00:27:00.953 --> 00:27:06.653
And, and I'm not saying that the function is ignored, but it's playing, it's playing second fiddle.
00:27:06.713 --> 00:27:07.064
Okay?
00:27:07.084 --> 00:27:20.983
Anyone that looks at that car that knows anything about performance and handling and driving will say,"Well, those tires and those wheels, stance, it looks like it's a little bit more about the looks than it is the handling." And so, you know, that's just one small indication.
00:27:20.983 --> 00:27:33.314
But look, the car's so beautiful, and so why would they not want to work with other companies that produce beautiful things, that are coveted by the, the 2%, you know?
00:27:33.574 --> 00:27:43.354
The, the people up there that have so much discretionary spend- you know, money, that they can spend$40 million on the most atrocious EV, you know, out there, right?
00:27:43.844 --> 00:27:54.203
It's like people have money, and, and Singer need to tie in with more of them, you know, s- to really support what they plan to do moving forward.
00:27:54.203 --> 00:28:01.104
So look, I, I, I, I totally support that they've done this because I think it, it makes, it makes sense.
00:28:01.394 --> 00:28:05.483
You know, they're not building race cars, and they're not out racing their cars.
00:28:05.854 --> 00:28:09.503
And y- you know, it's not about just pure performance.
00:28:09.523 --> 00:28:14.854
And so I think frankly, all of these resto mods, not just Singer, okay?
00:28:15.243 --> 00:28:23.253
They're all, you name them, they're all luxury products, and there's very few of them that I see, frankly, at racetracks.
00:28:23.804 --> 00:28:32.983
Well, I think some of these people might be coming at it from the standpoint that they're thinking about it as driver-focused, to your point.
00:28:34.377 --> 00:28:35.048
Porsches.
00:28:35.067 --> 00:28:35.448
You know?
00:28:35.448 --> 00:28:43.847
Like, they start with the Singer Classic that is very much, take a 964, make it pure but beautiful, yes.
00:28:43.907 --> 00:28:50.887
And but there is, there is kind of this purity that I think maybe we've been fooled to thinking Singer has.
00:28:50.887 --> 00:28:54.238
I think we all desire, we would all love to own a Singer.
00:28:54.317 --> 00:28:55.288
I'm one of them.
00:28:55.678 --> 00:28:55.882
Yeah, me too.
00:28:55.882 --> 00:29:01.067
I mean, in fact, we were in the paddock and a Singer Classic just rolls right up, you know, and the guy parks it and gets out.
00:29:01.688 --> 00:29:02.887
N- no rope around it.
00:29:02.887 --> 00:29:08.968
It's funny, here in Salt Lake, in Park City, they were charging everybody, you know, a couple months back to go see a Singer.
00:29:09.167 --> 00:29:15.087
It's like, well, just go to Car Week, and you could go literally, like, talk to the owner, rub your hands all over it.
00:29:15.087 --> 00:29:15.557
Nobody's...
00:29:15.778 --> 00:29:20.892
So, you know, I, I feel like there is- maybe not rub your hands all over it, but yes- Oh, yeah you still could talk to the owner.
00:29:21.142 --> 00:29:24.352
Just The, the access the access you get is pretty awesome.
00:29:24.352 --> 00:29:26.592
Y- you might end up with a shiner if you're rubbing your hands all over it.
00:29:26.592 --> 00:29:27.561
Well, that, that is true.
00:29:27.721 --> 00:29:33.751
It's, you know, it's i- o- obviously just hi- highlighting how great the access is.
00:29:33.771 --> 00:29:42.442
But I think part of it is, yes, we all kind of were thinking it's about purist but beautiful Porsches.
00:29:42.692 --> 00:29:43.061
Mm-hmm.
00:29:43.122 --> 00:29:43.912
But you're right.
00:29:43.922 --> 00:29:45.332
It is a luxury good.
00:29:45.342 --> 00:29:46.761
It's a lifestyle thing.
00:29:47.152 --> 00:29:52.571
You know, my mind immediately goes to, like, Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer edition, you know?
00:29:53.041 --> 00:30:01.602
And, and I think about Ford has also teamed up with Carhartt, and Cadillac and Fiat, Fiat have Gucci versions.
00:30:01.662 --> 00:30:01.692
Sure.
00:30:01.991 --> 00:30:08.382
I think part of it too is nobody really remembers these collaborations favorably.
00:30:08.701 --> 00:30:23.301
It's like,"Oh, remember that edition?" Because, you know, E- the Eddie Bauer E- E- Explorer, and I think they're a little bit slapstick, you know, in, in arrears looking back at that.
00:30:23.662 --> 00:30:34.082
So I can relate to why some people say,"Oh, man, that, that never ends well." But the, to, to your point as well, yes, it's lifestyle.
00:30:34.112 --> 00:30:37.051
It's also a, a luxury good.
00:30:37.781 --> 00:30:39.821
But this is a tough business too, right?
00:30:39.821 --> 00:30:39.862
It is.
00:30:39.862 --> 00:30:41.892
And are they owned by a venture capital group?
00:30:42.281 --> 00:30:45.592
Yeah, I mean, yeah, Singer is owned by a venture capital firm.
00:30:45.721 --> 00:30:55.271
So, you know- Y- yeah, I mean, it, making money in this industry is freaking hard by all accounts- It's very hard from what I've understood and people we've talked to.
00:30:55.511 --> 00:31:01.961
You, you've got more insight into that, both, maybe at Singer but also outside with your own endeavors that you've undertook.
00:31:01.961 --> 00:31:01.991
Sure.
00:31:02.342 --> 00:31:15.662
So the ability to collaborate and infuse cash or reduce cost on a variant or whatever- Or gain access to a very, very, you know, coveted high-end clientele, right?
00:31:16.728 --> 00:31:36.548
Yeah, I was talking to the the j- the G- GR representative from Toyota, and he said,"Listen, all those Highlanders and 4Runners and s- base Corollas, they allow us to do stuff like this." So if- Yeah if somebody came to us and said,"Hey, do you know how profitable this Louis Vuitton edition was?
00:31:36.548 --> 00:31:54.708
And we can sell them all over Monaco and Asia, Singapore, into, you know, southern California, what have you, and that allows us to continue to build cool stuff," that's basically what this GR guy was saying, and he's got, we'll talk about it another episode, what Toyota's, their plans are.
00:31:54.708 --> 00:31:57.147
He kind of let me peek behind the curtain a little bit.
00:31:57.157 --> 00:32:01.948
Stuff that I don't think people understand about where they're going, and it is exciting.
00:32:02.327 --> 00:32:17.758
Like, so yeah, I have a feeling that we're still gonna get models that we like or we'd prefer from Singer if we had the choice to buy one, and I have a feeling Louis Vuitton probably is gonna help make all of it more financially feasible.
00:32:17.768 --> 00:32:19.758
So if that's the case, fine.
00:32:19.758 --> 00:32:23.637
Would I ever buy one of those things if in the situation?
00:32:23.637 --> 00:32:24.298
Hell no.
00:32:24.498 --> 00:32:25.587
Give me a classic.
00:32:25.847 --> 00:32:27.228
Give me one of the other variants.
00:32:27.248 --> 00:32:39.319
But I, I have a feeling it's good for business, and if it's good for business, oftentimes that winds up being good for the consumer and the enthusiast at some level Yeah.
00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:48.130
Well, I think that you know, they've had so many fans, right, then y- you know, and they, some of those people are feeling y- you know, like they've been somewhat betrayed.
00:32:48.130 --> 00:32:50.559
But I don't think they were being realistic from the get-go.
00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:52.630
And God knows I'm not Mr.
00:32:52.630 --> 00:33:10.119
Empathy, so y- you know- I just say to those people, you know,"I'm, I'm sorry that you were a, a little bit misguided, you know, by your own ignorance." But it was all out there, and it was very obvious for anyone that really wants to look at it objectively that- Yeah they are a luxury product, okay?
00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:19.960
And I think they, you know, they took Porsche, which, you know, traditionally has not been s- viewed as a luxury product, but as a very functional product first, as a, as a sports car.
00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:30.630
But you know, as, as we have seen, and, you know, Porsche's current CEO has, has stated as, as well publicly that they're moving to these more exclusive models that have more margin.
00:33:31.029 --> 00:33:33.299
And so that's the crowd they want to attract.
00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:36.349
And so, you know- Yeah it just, it, it just makes sense.
00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:41.099
So yeah, that, that was, that's, that's my take on the, on the Singer collab with Louis Vuitton.
00:33:41.099 --> 00:33:50.769
But listen, the thing that we really need to be talking about is the, the exciting cars that, that w- the, the, the Gordon Murray S1, right?
00:33:50.769 --> 00:33:55.630
We, we kind of predicted something last week that we thought it was gonna be based off the T.33.
00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:57.390
How, how wrong we were, right?
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:00.630
I mean, the S1- Well- is an F1 homage.
00:34:01.220 --> 00:34:01.579
Yeah.
00:34:01.619 --> 00:34:03.099
They've, they've announced that thing.
00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:04.200
They're gonna build those.
00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:06.430
It's the, the renderings are beautiful.
00:34:06.440 --> 00:34:09.449
It's like a better-looking F1, in my opinion.
00:34:09.460 --> 00:34:12.230
It looks like they made it a little more muscular in spots.
00:34:12.550 --> 00:34:14.179
The T.50 was incredible.
00:34:14.190 --> 00:34:15.550
We heard them on the track.
00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:20.000
We saw the- Yeah, I mean, to that point, you know, you know my opinion about retro design.
00:34:20.030 --> 00:34:24.565
It's always easier to, to, to follow than to lead, and so- Totally.
00:34:24.565 --> 00:34:31.610
Yeah, totally you know, I'd, I'm really curious to see what old Peter Stevens, who designed the original F1, what his opinion is on this current model.
00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:32.519
It, I wonder if they...
00:34:32.539 --> 00:34:34.769
I, I hope they hired him to do it y- you know?
00:34:34.769 --> 00:34:41.099
But he's, he's kind of active on social media, so I'm kind of curious to see what his take is on, on the S1.
00:34:41.590 --> 00:34:51.289
Well, to, to combine that with our next news story that we found so fascinating, which is the McLaren announcement, that they are gonna build 500 examples of the MCL6GT.
00:34:51.869 --> 00:34:55.655
So- 500?
00:34:57.186 --> 00:34:58.596
500 of those cars.
00:34:58.795 --> 00:35:00.065
That's that's the information.
00:35:00.065 --> 00:35:01.746
That sounds, that sounds pretty optimistic.
00:35:01.945 --> 00:35:06.206
Yeah, me- Isn't that a, a t- a$2 million car or a million, a, a over$1 million car?
00:35:06.286 --> 00:35:12.476
Yeah, I mean, again, a lot of this is speculative, but, Yeah w- you know,$1.5 million, something in that realm.
00:35:12.476 --> 00:35:24.885
Now, a lot of this is Car and Driver, you know, w- maybe it's estimations or what have you, but- Mm-hmm the exciting thing, and this car up behind me, it's, it's really kind of inspired by retro design and...
00:35:25.425 --> 00:35:29.925
But McLaren's putting an actual manual transmission in a supercar.
00:35:29.925 --> 00:35:30.275
Yeah.
00:35:30.275 --> 00:35:33.885
So we've got Gordon Murray doing what he's doing.
00:35:34.016 --> 00:35:37.516
We got Ferrari making a faux manual.
00:35:37.806 --> 00:35:46.465
You- we've got McLaren now coming out, that they're gonna make a V8 rear wheel drive, hydraulic steering, m- actual manual gearbox.
00:35:47.315 --> 00:35:55.556
Chinu, I almost feel like, you know, Toyota's got some rad stuff coming, and manual is, is going to be part of the future of that product lineup.
00:35:56.536 --> 00:35:56.755
Some.
00:35:56.865 --> 00:36:06.735
It, it's almost as if we have some some reason to be optimistic about where at least the, the, the big thinkers and some of the tone-setters w- where their heads are at.
00:36:08.045 --> 00:36:08.376
Yeah.
00:36:08.396 --> 00:36:16.425
Listen, I think that for the time being anyways, some of these brands are going to throw out some manual gearboxes.
00:36:16.425 --> 00:36:22.996
I mean, the ones that we're mentioning here, whether it's Gordon Murray or McLaren, these are, again, halo vehicles that are over a million dollars.
00:36:23.016 --> 00:36:25.516
And so it's just not realistic for the rest of us.
00:36:25.865 --> 00:36:30.556
But hopefully, the Gazoo Racing, or GR, folks, I think they're kind of rebranding.
00:36:30.556 --> 00:36:34.275
I didn't see any Gazoo anywhere, you know, it was just all GR.
00:36:34.275 --> 00:36:40.985
So maybe they've realized that Gazoo Racing maybe not quite hit as well as it needs to with Western audiences.
00:36:40.985 --> 00:36:51.376
But the, the GR cars that are coming, that MR2/Celica, whatever that might be, you know, hopefully, hopefully, fingers crossed, that that will come with a manual gearbox.
00:36:51.755 --> 00:36:59.565
Now, when you were talking to, to that gentleman at, from GR, did he, did you guys have any conversation r- related to that MR2?
00:36:59.945 --> 00:37:00.346
Yeah.
00:37:00.695 --> 00:37:01.416
He said- What was he saying?
00:37:01.416 --> 00:37:13.346
I said,"Listen, there's a huge void at 60, 70 grand for a mid-" Yes engine manual gearbox." He said,"You're gonna be very pleased." So- Oh, nice so he, and then he said they've got...
00:37:13.885 --> 00:37:21.929
Well, okay, I'll just share a little bit more, but- GR is a new sub-brand of Toyota.
00:37:22.250 --> 00:37:22.320
Yeah.
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:29.690
As opposed to, like, y- you know, this la- and, a- and, well, he said the GR GT is car number one.
00:37:29.699 --> 00:37:37.230
I said,"Well, what about GR Corolla, GR Supra, GR86?" He said,"No, those were not actual GR cars.
00:37:37.269 --> 00:37:41.690
The GR GT, those were Toyota GR Supras.
00:37:42.019 --> 00:37:47.610
This is going to be a GR GT." And he said,"We've got four powertrains.
00:37:47.659 --> 00:37:56.480
We've got three-cylinder, four-cylinder, six-cylinder, eight-cylinder." Obviously, the GR GT being the first product with the eight-cylinder in it.
00:37:56.659 --> 00:38:11.070
He's like,"But we're gonna be ha- we're g- gonna be introducing enthusiast sports cars under the GR brand to follow this GR GT, with each of those powertrains, and each one of those will have a homologated race car's sibling.
00:38:11.349 --> 00:38:34.661
So we're not building it if it doesn't have a race car homologated sibling." So it, you know, they, they are all in on trying to fill that void and capture the, you know, some of the niches, and some of that en- enthusiast segment that feels like is being uncaptured and uncatered to at the moment.
00:38:34.661 --> 00:38:45.931
It, it was a long, fascinating discussion, but they legit seem to have plans to build cool stuff, and manual gearboxes, he said, are absolutely part of the future.
00:38:46.342 --> 00:38:48.672
Well, you know, that's pretty exciting to hear things like that.
00:38:48.672 --> 00:38:52.882
Y- you know, it's a challenge, right, to produce cars in that price point.
00:38:53.391 --> 00:38:56.141
But if someone can do it, it certainly is Toyota, okay?
00:38:56.161 --> 00:38:58.492
They understand manufacturing.
00:38:58.931 --> 00:39:12.532
Okay, when Pontiac Fiero had a factory dedicated to one car, Toyota's equivalent, the MR2, was being built on a highly flexible manufacturing location that allowed them to absorb the overhead over different vehicles, right?
00:39:12.552 --> 00:39:14.052
By having the flexibility.
00:39:14.061 --> 00:39:22.722
So they continued, whereas Fiero, we had to shut down because we could not cover the overhead, you know, with the sales that we ultimately were to receive.
00:39:22.722 --> 00:39:25.061
So I have hopes in what this guy is saying about GR.
00:39:25.851 --> 00:39:35.331
You know, y- you know, I'm sure there's some level of platform sharing to make it work with, with the plain vanilla Toyotas, but it's, it's, it's great to hear, you know.
00:39:35.342 --> 00:39:47.282
Hopefully they don't get misguided and think they can create their own, you know, s- you know, separate sales office or, you know, showrooms and, you know, all the foolishness that some of these other brands have tried and kind of frankly failed at.
00:39:47.282 --> 00:39:59.081
You know, let's say Polestar is probably the, the most recent example of, of a variant from, you know, a brand like Volvo that try- Yeah to go out on their own, and, and they realized the cost to do that was too high.
00:39:59.101 --> 00:40:03.072
So hopefully- Yeah you know, I'm sure the GR product you'll just find at the local Toyota dealer.
00:40:03.882 --> 00:40:10.902
And yeah, I for one will be looking forward to y- you know, an MR2 that comes with a manual gearbox.
00:40:10.911 --> 00:40:12.262
That, that, that will be...
00:40:12.472 --> 00:40:16.742
That will fill a void that completely is, is, is absolutely there in the market right now.
00:40:16.891 --> 00:40:22.422
More than anything, you could really feel the guy's passion, and the passion- Mm-hmm of the folks at Toyota and GR.
00:40:22.791 --> 00:40:23.021
Okay.
00:40:23.021 --> 00:40:27.231
That they are on a mission to build cool stuff, and they are committed.
00:40:27.492 --> 00:40:30.922
And the other very fascinating thing, he says no partnerships.
00:40:31.152 --> 00:40:34.601
So th- they are going it alone on all of these models.
00:40:34.902 --> 00:40:39.802
And so he, he, he said many times,"You're gonna be pleased.
00:40:39.811 --> 00:40:50.061
A lot of cool stuff coming." Th- this I think I got talking about the GR Corolla and the differential overheating that many experience, and I experience on track in one of those cars.
00:40:50.072 --> 00:40:50.081
Hmm.
00:40:50.431 --> 00:40:57.762
And he was like,"Oh, th- this guy wants to talk about some, some, some real stuff." And he owns a GR Corolla.
00:40:57.771 --> 00:40:59.271
He, he rallies that thing.
00:40:59.452 --> 00:41:02.931
Would love to get this guy on, and w- we'll see.
00:41:02.931 --> 00:41:04.452
I'll continue to effort that.
00:41:04.791 --> 00:41:07.222
But Toyota doing cool stuff.
00:41:07.382 --> 00:41:19.534
Shanu, if, if I can, move along to our from the auction segment Mm-hmm buoyed by a phenomenal charity auction of the Ferrari Luce, your personal favorite- auction result.
00:41:20.313 --> 00:41:22.813
Th- this year set a record of...
00:41:23.173 --> 00:41:30.414
Remember last y- last week, I think they were predicting around$500 million in cars to be sold, which would've been the record?
00:41:30.414 --> 00:41:31.193
They shattered it.
00:41:31.204 --> 00:41:37.713
They sold$755.6 cumulative million from, from these auctions.
00:41:38.114 --> 00:41:47.653
And- Unbelievable highlighted by the sh- original n-'64 Shelby Cobra de Do-tona Coupe, which brought nearly$43 million.
00:41:48.304 --> 00:41:52.284
But the auctions were very strong, so if I can point out just a couple of highlights.
00:41:52.483 --> 00:41:55.693
Yeah- Mm-hmm last year, 432 million, Chinu.
00:41:56.034 --> 00:41:57.773
This year, 755.
00:41:57.784 --> 00:42:00.023
That's bonkers.
00:42:00.083 --> 00:42:01.434
I don't know what's happening.
00:42:01.713 --> 00:42:10.342
Apparently, people see war in Iran and they think,"Let's go spend money." I, I, I don't know what- is influencing people.
00:42:10.342 --> 00:42:17.922
Maybe it just all the news of,"Hey, buy cool stuff now," because the people are pe- pessimistic about the future product.
00:42:18.592 --> 00:42:23.411
But h- here's another tidbit about the auctions that I thought was interesting.
00:42:24.092 --> 00:42:37.391
Every decade, from the 1930s cars to the modern supercars, they even had Enzo-era Ferrari s- highlighted there, but the'30s, the'40s, all the way to the 2010s, 2020s.
00:42:37.882 --> 00:42:41.621
Every era was up double digit except for two.
00:42:41.661 --> 00:42:46.072
Two were negative, and that's the 1950s and the 1960s.
00:42:46.101 --> 00:43:02.992
Which leads me- Hmm to believe if the'30s and the'40s were up over 20%, probably the examples just, they, they didn't have the right examples from the'60s,'cause I, I do not believe that the'40s are somehow back in vogue, but the'60s cars are not.
00:43:03.351 --> 00:43:04.581
Well, that's pre-war, right?
00:43:04.581 --> 00:43:06.572
You're, you're, you're talking about pre-war cars, okay?
00:43:06.612 --> 00:43:07.192
Well, that's true.
00:43:07.202 --> 00:43:11.802
So those are still viewed as some of the most beautiful, most classic type of cars.
00:43:11.802 --> 00:43:15.572
And you know, look, Pebble Beach is still the crown jewel of Car Week.
00:43:15.922 --> 00:43:23.121
And you know, the pre-war cars dominate, and you know, are the ones that always win Best of Show.
00:43:23.751 --> 00:43:24.271
Totally.
00:43:24.342 --> 00:43:28.362
And so c- couple more highlights that stood out.
00:43:29.081 --> 00:43:36.581
I keep saying it, the 2000s and the 2010s, Shinu, I think were the peak of the automotive experience and industry.
00:43:37.251 --> 00:43:45.112
They were up 34% and 38% respectively, which were the two highest percentage growth, tied with the'90s.
00:43:45.112 --> 00:43:47.762
So'90s, 2000s, 2010s.
00:43:48.072 --> 00:43:53.681
There's guys like me who have not turned out to be utter failures in life that have multimillion dollars.
00:43:53.681 --> 00:44:02.132
You know, they can go buy the dream car of their childhood, and that's why I think these'90s, 2000 cars are going berserk.
00:44:02.222 --> 00:44:05.922
Supercars, modern supercars up big.
00:44:06.211 --> 00:44:10.431
That, they actually were the s- the second leading growth category at 35%.
00:44:10.972 --> 00:44:14.391
So anyway, Shinu, it, it was really...
00:44:15.581 --> 00:44:18.331
You know, it's, it's interesting to just look at this data.
00:44:18.342 --> 00:44:22.992
Some of it makes a lot of sense to me, like why the'90s, 2000s, 2010s are so high.
00:44:23.481 --> 00:44:30.782
Others, like we set a record by 250-plus million this year, and we grew it the, the volume was that much higher than last year.
00:44:31.282 --> 00:44:32.581
I don't totally get it.
00:44:32.592 --> 00:44:39.804
That makes no sense Yeah, I mean, look, it's, it's, this is, this, it's a generational shift that's taking place, right?
00:44:39.833 --> 00:44:48.134
And, you know, the, the old guys, they, they have what they want at this point, and they're aging out, y- you know?
00:44:48.134 --> 00:45:01.333
And so, y- you know, driving older cars takes real effort, and you get to a certain point in life where maybe your, your reflexes aren't quite what they used to be, so you start falling out of the market as being a potential buyer.
00:45:01.364 --> 00:45:03.574
And, you know, I think we're starting to see that.
00:45:03.574 --> 00:45:11.273
You know, hot rods, which p- you know, were so popular 10, 20 years ago, now, I mean, you can't give them away.
00:45:11.273 --> 00:45:22.423
So I think, y- you know, that's kind of what we're seeing, is this, this younger generation is coming up, but they have the money, and they wanna buy exactly as you said, the, the, the cars of their childhood dreams.
00:45:23.253 --> 00:45:28.713
We we might have seen this exact Ferrari F50 that I put on, I mean, remember there was one- Yeah out on the lawn- Yeah that last night?
00:45:28.764 --> 00:45:29.844
Yeah, that was probably it.
00:45:30.094 --> 00:45:39.393
We spotlighted this car la- on the, on the l- the, the Monterey preview episode, and the estimates I recall were around$7 to$10 million.
00:45:40.614 --> 00:45:43.634
This car did$14.5 million.
00:45:44.103 --> 00:45:47.903
So- Incredible it, it, it's just blowing it out.
00:45:47.914 --> 00:45:57.704
You know, I always say we have, not to get political or whatever, there's, you know, when pe- people don't like that the rich are getting so rich, it's like, well, to some extent it's a math equation, you know?
00:45:57.704 --> 00:46:06.514
If you got$50 million, everyone's making 10% a year on their money, just there is a lot of freaking money growing exponentially.
00:46:06.534 --> 00:46:14.563
And, you know, I think maybe that's, that's the only explanation, but so many of these things have just exceeded estimates.
00:46:14.614 --> 00:46:18.393
And wow, it, it was, it was awesome.
00:46:18.393 --> 00:46:21.483
We were standing out there, like we said, watching a 288 GTO.
00:46:21.503 --> 00:46:24.494
We were looking at these Ferraris at a 288 GTO.
00:46:24.833 --> 00:46:28.954
Yeah, I think I was yakking in the bushes after having taken a peek at that Luce, but yes.
00:46:28.963 --> 00:46:30.054
We, we, we, we did.
00:46:30.684 --> 00:46:42.824
We did see the Luce, and- Yes, we did it, it, it's funny, I thought it was a little more interesting than I expected, but doesn't look like a Ferrari.
00:46:42.824 --> 00:46:57.503
When you have the Luce there, and then you look down the first hole of Pebble Beach, the fairway, and you see all the greats, you know, some of the legends of the old mo- you know, 2000s all the way to modern, it's like, wait, that belongs to that?
00:46:57.503 --> 00:46:59.643
At least the Purosangue, we kept seeing those.
00:46:59.653 --> 00:47:02.333
I'm like- Mm-hmm I'm into the Purosangue.
00:47:02.364 --> 00:47:13.153
V- NA V12 in a four-door, kind of like great looking, lifted Ferrari FF GTC4Lusso kind of relative.
00:47:13.153 --> 00:47:13.454
Mm-hmm.
00:47:13.454 --> 00:47:13.614
Mm.
00:47:13.623 --> 00:47:15.893
It's like- Yeah I, I was into it.
00:47:15.903 --> 00:47:16.934
We saw a couple of those.
00:47:16.963 --> 00:47:28.860
But the Luce- It, it even though I thought it was a little more interesting to look at, I was, well, we, we agreed, we had a hard time kind of digesting what's, what's happening there.
00:47:29.389 --> 00:47:36.019
Yeah, I mean, again, my gripe with that car, I mean, other than the, the tails, the tail lights, and I hate that, you know?
00:47:36.420 --> 00:47:40.769
The rest of the car, I'm, I'm actually, you know, it just needed a different badge.
00:47:40.780 --> 00:47:41.869
That's my gripe.
00:47:42.210 --> 00:47:43.309
It's not a Ferrari.
00:47:43.320 --> 00:47:44.989
Ferraris are supposed to be beautiful.
00:47:45.300 --> 00:47:46.510
That car's not beautiful.
00:47:46.869 --> 00:47:52.079
And y- you know, I, I, I just don't fall for the celebrity designer nonsense, you know?
00:47:52.079 --> 00:48:02.539
I'm not enchanted by these guys, and so y- you know, that, that was an absolute miss, you know, as far as I'm concerned, and seeing it in person just kind of confirmed what I kind of knew al- already.
00:48:03.099 --> 00:48:06.514
Well- Yeah, we put an interesting car behind you We agree there.
00:48:06.693 --> 00:48:07.764
Okay that's something we actually saw on Thursday, right?
00:48:07.943 --> 00:48:13.563
So to, to kind of bring this post-Monterey episode to a close, we were talking about it the last night.
00:48:13.653 --> 00:48:29.804
We were sitting around the table saying,"Okay, what car stood out to us?" And I'll be honest, Shanu, it took a 12-hour drive home, took a couple of nights to m- digest, and I was in no position to answer that question.
00:48:29.804 --> 00:48:33.543
So I've gone back through my pictures, and I'm just th- thought back to it.
00:48:33.793 --> 00:48:43.804
So the night we got there, you y- you, you had arranged for us to go visit with these guys from Donkervoort, a a Dutch company, right?
00:48:44.043 --> 00:48:44.494
Mm-hmm.
00:48:44.494 --> 00:48:59.324
And they had the new P24 RS there, and it was this rad kind of modern house right off of Cypress Point Golf Course, which is as exclusive as it gets in the world.
00:48:59.864 --> 00:49:02.304
You don't just go play Cypress Point.
00:49:02.344 --> 00:49:05.074
I mean, you don't know anybody who can get you on there.
00:49:05.324 --> 00:49:10.554
No amount of money can get you in, and these guys have this place that basically backs up against it.
00:49:10.893 --> 00:49:14.664
And so this Donkervoort, Shanu, it's...
00:49:15.514 --> 00:49:18.043
Th- this is a really fascinating car for me.
00:49:18.043 --> 00:49:20.244
We, we differ a little bit.
00:49:20.253 --> 00:49:22.623
You weren't the biggest fan of the styling of this thing.
00:49:22.923 --> 00:49:24.253
So here's what I'll say about it.
00:49:24.503 --> 00:49:26.813
It's a twin-turbo V6, 3 1/2 liter.
00:49:26.813 --> 00:49:28.483
So the guy said it came from Ford.
00:49:28.764 --> 00:49:31.873
He suggested second gen Ford GT.
00:49:32.204 --> 00:49:35.804
The motor, 600 horsepower, and it's got a...
00:49:35.893 --> 00:49:37.083
Oh, no, no, no.
00:49:37.543 --> 00:49:39.143
Yeah, yeah, 600 horsepower.
00:49:39.543 --> 00:49:44.403
But this car weighs, like, 1,700 pounds, and it has a manual gearbox.
00:49:45.003 --> 00:50:01.474
I think what I love so much about this is, yeah, I'm kind of into weird cars, and the clown-shoe lover in me really kind of started to perk up when they rolled this G- this, this car in down the driveway.
00:50:01.744 --> 00:50:03.393
Exposed green carbon.
00:50:03.804 --> 00:50:06.914
I thought it was unlike anything I had ever seen.
00:50:07.384 --> 00:50:15.344
And a small, tight little cockpit with a manual, and a, a wild power-to-weight ratio, and a wild design.
00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:18.050
I was a huge fan.
00:50:18.059 --> 00:50:29.250
Now, something tells me that E- E- EcoBoost engine isn't gonna scream and sound as good as I would like, but at least conceptually and visually, I was taken aback by this thing, Shanu.
00:50:29.360 --> 00:50:32.199
Tell, tell, tell me why you weren't as enamored.
00:50:33.110 --> 00:50:34.579
You know, I, I liked it, okay?
00:50:34.579 --> 00:50:37.760
I, y- you know, but I think you were more excited than I was.
00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:47.579
And y- you know, look, the, the power output from a six-cylinder that, I mean, well, actually, the sound of that should be pretty good, okay?
00:50:47.630 --> 00:50:51.900
That, that, that should be a pretty good, good, good-sounding engine.
00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:55.360
You know, the styling's a little bit too over the top for, for my taste.
00:50:55.360 --> 00:50:56.769
A lot of things going on.
00:50:56.769 --> 00:50:57.840
Very, very busy.
00:50:58.369 --> 00:50:59.070
But that's okay.
00:50:59.070 --> 00:51:01.690
You know, I think that's kind of what they're after.
00:51:01.809 --> 00:51:06.820
And y- you know, the price point on it was a little bit shocking to me, okay?
00:51:06.889 --> 00:51:07.139
Yeah.
00:51:07.250 --> 00:51:13.090
The fi- finish did not match up with the$600,000 price point that they suggested.
00:51:13.510 --> 00:51:16.679
But look, I mean, you don't have to tick every box.
00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:18.670
You don't have to go for the exposed carbon.
00:51:19.019 --> 00:51:21.039
So you could have one for less.
00:51:21.050 --> 00:51:23.940
You know, to me, at 250, that car makes sense.
00:51:24.369 --> 00:51:34.530
And maybe you don't get the full zoot crazy power output one,'cause if it's truly 1,700 pounds, then hell, man, 300 horsepower is gonna be more than enough, okay?
00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:38.170
That is an outrageous power-to-weight ratio, y- you know.
00:51:38.170 --> 00:51:49.349
And so yeah, no, I think they've, they've done some very interesting things with that car- Well, well, it's- and I was, I was glad to have seen it it's 600 horsepower in a 1,700-pound car.
00:51:49.360 --> 00:51:49.389
Right.
00:51:49.389 --> 00:51:50.039
That's what I'm saying.
00:51:50.269 --> 00:51:50.539
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:51:50.539 --> 00:51:51.369
300 is enough.
00:51:51.940 --> 00:51:53.000
Yeah, well, exactly.
00:51:53.039 --> 00:51:55.780
And, and you could pare that back a little bit.
00:51:55.780 --> 00:51:58.329
The starting MSRP was around 450, you said.
00:51:58.340 --> 00:51:59.070
So- Was it?
00:51:59.070 --> 00:52:01.219
Okay yeah, I mean, I agree.
00:52:01.219 --> 00:52:11.760
If somehow you could get one at 250, it, it would be wild, but these things pull 2.3 Gs in a corner, and y- that's that, that's what they're claiming.
00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:14.110
So anyways, I was a big fan.
00:52:14.199 --> 00:52:14.780
How about you?
00:52:14.780 --> 00:52:17.739
What, what was one of your memorable cars?
00:52:17.739 --> 00:52:19.179
You've got it up behind you.
00:52:19.250 --> 00:52:20.376
Yeah, I put it behind me.
00:52:20.376 --> 00:52:31.996
That- That was one of my favorite little, you know events that we stumbled upon Yeah, there was that little cars and coffee that they do what, every other week I think they said there in Seaside It was Seaside?
00:52:31.996 --> 00:52:32.675
Yeah, Seaside.
00:52:32.675 --> 00:52:32.976
Yeah.
00:52:33.246 --> 00:52:37.025
And there was a 512 BB Ferrari there, Boxster 12, right?
00:52:37.025 --> 00:52:45.876
And, and that car I thought was accelerating in value, but you kind of quickly looked it up and kind of corrected my perception.
00:52:45.885 --> 00:52:50.516
You know, I thought this was a half a million dollar car now, but apparently it's maybe 2 to$300,000.
00:52:51.056 --> 00:52:54.516
So I mean, that car I remember when it was under 100 grand, okay?
00:52:54.885 --> 00:53:04.905
And it, it's, I think, again a car that right now people are sleeping on, and I think it's gonna go up in value because it has all the right elements.
00:53:04.905 --> 00:53:06.876
It has the classic Ferrari styling.
00:53:07.215 --> 00:53:08.045
It's mid-engine.
00:53:08.045 --> 00:53:09.496
It's got a 12 cylinder in it.
00:53:09.496 --> 00:53:18.123
It's got the gated manual Yeah, it's got all the cool analog things that we are looking for, you know, in a sports car.
00:53:18.123 --> 00:53:23.833
And so I th- that car stood out to me yeah you know, as far as all the things that we saw there.
00:53:23.853 --> 00:53:27.693
So, so definitely, definitely a, a fun one to have checked out.
00:53:28.304 --> 00:53:30.974
Well, we, we did kinda share that same...
00:53:30.983 --> 00:53:32.923
That's what I was talking about with Ferrari, you know?
00:53:32.954 --> 00:53:42.264
I just developed kind of a new intrigue and fascination and an appreciation for the emotionality of the, the designs and...
00:53:42.914 --> 00:53:50.494
Anyways, maybe it's because I've owned so many things at this point that it's like,"Oh, old Ferrari feels very meaty or something." You've, you've owned a lot of German cars.
00:53:51.954 --> 00:53:54.724
Germans are not known for passion, for emotion.
00:53:55.063 --> 00:53:55.773
No.
00:53:55.844 --> 00:53:57.403
That's not really kind of...
00:53:57.414 --> 00:54:00.943
But I have a feeling I would not love the ownership experience.
00:54:00.943 --> 00:54:14.494
But speaking of German passion and emotion, Shanu, so we, we, we went to th- this Cars and Coffee we went to- Mm-hmm was right across from the Concours d'Lemons, and parked on the street, two- Which was a fun event.
00:54:14.523 --> 00:54:15.384
Which was a fun event.
00:54:15.384 --> 00:54:20.293
It was- I had not been to that before, and I, I'm kicking myself because it was really good.
00:54:20.704 --> 00:54:24.833
It, it was really fun, and I love that we got there early to a lot of these events.
00:54:24.833 --> 00:54:26.903
We were all morning, early morning risers.
00:54:26.934 --> 00:54:28.184
So we were up and going.
00:54:28.193 --> 00:54:28.224
Yep.
00:54:28.623 --> 00:54:36.643
And so we parked, and we're about to cross the street over to Lemons, and the BMW Z1, you know wa- was, was under our nose.
00:54:36.664 --> 00:54:44.934
And I don't know why, I've never seen one in person, but at that moment, this was a gorgeous red example.
00:54:45.184 --> 00:54:45.213
Mm-hmm.
00:54:45.434 --> 00:54:53.764
I just was taken aback by, it's kind of a wedge shape, kinda boxy in the back, the doors that drop down.
00:54:54.074 --> 00:54:58.184
Small l- BMW hasn't made many sports cars over the years.
00:54:58.543 --> 00:55:00.063
It's not what they're known for.
00:55:00.384 --> 00:55:04.114
And then I looked in the car, and it was just, there was something about the gauges.
00:55:04.143 --> 00:55:19.074
I'm like, my, my inner old BMW love just really kind of was, was bu- bubbling up at that point, and I stood there for a while just kind of mesmerized by this weird, quirky little BMW.
00:55:19.273 --> 00:55:23.543
Yeah, and it had that crazy upholstery, that kinda camouflage upholstery in it.
00:55:23.543 --> 00:55:27.318
And yeah, no, that car was at Legends on Thursday, too, and- Oh, was it?
00:55:27.318 --> 00:55:30.324
I, I got a ch- yeah, I got a chance to talk to the owner a little bit.
00:55:30.344 --> 00:55:31.594
And it's kinda fun.
00:55:31.594 --> 00:55:36.293
You know, like, I asked him,"Well, so how do these doors go up and down?" He goes,"Oh, you press this button right here, you know where the door lock is.
00:55:36.293 --> 00:55:39.824
And it, the, the door drops in." So, so that was pretty cool.
00:55:39.824 --> 00:55:41.414
I mean, I, I've always loved that car.
00:55:41.414 --> 00:55:44.003
When it came out in the'90s, it was like,"Wow, look at this.
00:55:44.003 --> 00:55:46.884
This is really fun, really cool styling.
00:55:47.193 --> 00:55:56.344
They, they did something special with this car." Y- y- you know, and then r- at, at Legends, there was a Z8 parked next to this, and so it was fun to contrast and compare the two.
00:55:56.764 --> 00:55:59.293
And, you know, of course, the Z8 is more voluptuous.
00:55:59.304 --> 00:56:02.213
It's, it's got a little bit more size, a little more presence.
00:56:02.967 --> 00:56:13.027
But you know, this little Z1 was holding its own, I thought,'cause it had that quirkiness to it, and it had a, frankly, a little bit more Germ- it was a bit more Germanic, if you, if you will, to me, than the Z8.
00:56:13.027 --> 00:56:15.307
The Z8 actually looked more Italian.
00:56:15.318 --> 00:56:17.568
So anyhow, yeah, I, I'm with you.
00:56:17.568 --> 00:56:18.447
That Z1 was cool.
00:56:18.878 --> 00:56:20.157
It's yeah, it was fun to see.
00:56:20.168 --> 00:56:23.068
And again, that, that's Car Week.
00:56:23.128 --> 00:56:31.018
Just see what you can stumble upon and- Yeah and everybody is so friendly, and it's not behind a...
00:56:31.038 --> 00:56:34.777
I just, the other thing, Chinu, I'm not the biggest car museum guy.
00:56:35.288 --> 00:56:42.557
You know, you go to the Pe- Peterson Museum or whatever, and it's like, I, it, it's just not totally my thing.
00:56:42.557 --> 00:56:54.538
So the, the ability to feel like you're in a, a real living, breathing car museum, and guys are jumping in and out of these cars and driving them to and from, that's kind of what it was like.
00:56:54.557 --> 00:57:01.027
It, it was like being at the zoo versus being out in the African safari- Exactly a little bit.
00:57:01.217 --> 00:57:01.327
Yes.
00:57:01.338 --> 00:57:09.887
And- Yeah, yeah and that's the Petersen Museum and all these other manufacturer, you know, BMW World, and the Mercedes museums, and whatever.
00:57:10.177 --> 00:57:19.518
Well, we got to see all those same rhinos, giraffes, Indians, or Indians whatever I was thinking about.
00:57:19.518 --> 00:57:19.527
Zebras.
00:57:20.880 --> 00:57:27.239
We got to see all of those exotic animals, but out in the wild, and that was so freaking cool.
00:57:27.239 --> 00:57:29.960
W- w- you did get to see the Indian as well, so that was kind of cool.
00:57:31.110 --> 00:57:32.400
The Indian motorcycles.
00:57:32.400 --> 00:57:33.139
We saw a couple- Oh of those, so.
00:57:33.139 --> 00:57:34.219
Okay, there it is.
00:57:34.460 --> 00:57:37.099
Anyways, There it is so Z1, what else you got on your list?
00:57:37.630 --> 00:57:43.670
You know, I saw an E30 318is that was pristine.
00:57:44.099 --> 00:57:46.889
Now, this is a- I think it was in the same spot, right?
00:57:46.889 --> 00:57:48.650
This was a little hidden gem.
00:57:48.670 --> 00:57:49.320
Was it not?
00:57:49.369 --> 00:57:53.619
Or was this at a d- No, no, I, I saw, it was at, it was at, Oh this was a red one that was at Legends.
00:57:53.679 --> 00:57:55.389
Oh, we saw a white one- Yeah though, didn't we?
00:57:55.389 --> 00:57:55.860
A 318.
00:57:55.860 --> 00:57:56.469
We did see a white one.
00:57:56.469 --> 00:57:56.659
It was cool.
00:57:56.670 --> 00:57:56.690
Yeah.
00:57:56.699 --> 00:57:57.739
That, and that was a nice one.
00:57:57.739 --> 00:57:58.530
It was a good runner.
00:57:58.530 --> 00:57:58.559
Yeah, yeah.
00:57:58.570 --> 00:58:01.269
The one that I saw at Legends was show car.
00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:02.460
You know, super clean.
00:58:02.460 --> 00:58:04.599
But it, it, it made- What about that thing?
00:58:05.179 --> 00:58:08.159
Yeah, well, so listen, that car is dead slow, okay?
00:58:08.420 --> 00:58:11.070
You can run faster than that car can accelerate, okay?
00:58:11.320 --> 00:58:14.239
But the handling is really, really spot on.
00:58:14.349 --> 00:58:23.679
And it only came to this country, I wanna say, for one or maybe two years, and then it disappeared, because Americans, you know, at the same time they were selling the 325is, okay?
00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:23.724
Yeah.
00:58:23.724 --> 00:58:30.989
So you could get the two, or with the 2.5 liter inline six, which was, you know, frankly just a better, more powerful, smoother motor.
00:58:31.329 --> 00:58:34.980
You know, that four cylinder, that 1.8, you had to wring its neck, okay?
00:58:35.219 --> 00:58:37.219
And it still was not that quick.
00:58:37.250 --> 00:58:50.280
But I test drove one in the early'90s, and I never went for it, but it's always been in the back of my mind as,"Ah, this could be a really good commuter car, a really good day-to-day, you know, a daily driver,"'cause it's just fun.
00:58:50.289 --> 00:58:53.090
You know, manual transmission, it's light, it's rear-wheel drive.
00:58:53.530 --> 00:58:54.840
Just a fun handling car.
00:58:54.869 --> 00:58:57.880
So that, that was fun to run into one of those, two of those.
00:58:57.920 --> 00:58:59.909
What, what, what's last on your list?
00:59:00.610 --> 00:59:07.039
Last on my list, I should bring the picture up, too, and, and of course, I mean, I saw a...
00:59:07.090 --> 00:59:11.809
Well, what got me was this, this, was the fact that it was kind of a tandem.
00:59:11.820 --> 00:59:11.849
Oh, yeah.
00:59:11.860 --> 00:59:13.610
Transporter with a car.
00:59:13.619 --> 00:59:14.769
Su- super cool.
00:59:14.880 --> 00:59:15.139
Yeah.
00:59:15.139 --> 00:59:15.581
I was a fan of this.
00:59:15.581 --> 00:59:18.469
So a Citroen transporter, okay?
00:59:19.119 --> 00:59:21.829
Hauling a R5 Turbo.
00:59:22.610 --> 00:59:35.900
And, you know, my first car was a Renault, and it was dead unre- I mean, it was totally unreliable, but the R5 Turbos that came out in that era, they were just this menacing little hot hatch.
00:59:36.380 --> 00:59:42.630
And so to see these two put together in this way, th- that, that Citroen was a restomod.
00:59:42.699 --> 00:59:48.309
You know, apparently they, they imported it and cha- put an LS motor in it, changed the chassis out, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:59:48.309 --> 00:59:49.909
Did a host of upgrades to the thing.
00:59:49.909 --> 00:59:51.800
But it's just so fun to see that.
00:59:52.119 --> 00:59:54.300
I lo- love, love to see the quirky stuff.
00:59:54.300 --> 00:59:56.940
So that, that was- Yeah on display at Lemons.
00:59:57.619 --> 01:00:07.610
Well, we're we're coming up against it on time, so it, it needs no introduction, but my last car that really stayed with me, the Ferrari F40.
01:00:07.670 --> 01:00:16.380
I always said the F50 was the car, and I'm not saying I'm, I'm, I'm changing my opinion, but these things, we saw a couple of'em out in the wild.
01:00:16.719 --> 01:00:17.119
Yep.
01:00:17.150 --> 01:00:20.440
Couple, couple of'em parked stationary, couple of'em on Laguna Seca.
01:00:20.469 --> 01:00:21.789
They weren't driving very fast.
01:00:21.800 --> 01:00:31.949
But the, there's just the purity of style and size, and not overstyled next to all the Paganis and the Zingers and whatever else that's like...
01:00:32.489 --> 01:00:36.639
The, the, these are kinda known to be the daddy for a reason.
01:00:36.690 --> 01:00:42.596
And, and I totally Felt like I came to appreciate that last week.
01:00:42.655 --> 01:00:44.965
And so, so the F40.
01:00:45.016 --> 01:00:51.576
Before you give us the mystery road answer, Shanu just couple, couple of honorable mentions from me.
01:00:52.335 --> 01:00:58.365
The notoriously unreliable car that I bag on, shocker, was another Ferrari.
01:00:58.376 --> 01:01:02.675
The 355s were everywhere, and I loved seeing them.
01:01:02.675 --> 01:01:07.206
They were small, they were low, they were wide, and they sounded awesome.
01:01:07.606 --> 01:01:12.135
And then lastly, I gotta give some props to the Lotus Emira.
01:01:12.775 --> 01:01:16.505
That's what we drove 12 hours in, and drove all the way back in.
01:01:16.885 --> 01:01:22.135
I got to rip it around the Del Monte Forest, and Seaside, and Carme- and Monterey.
01:01:22.686 --> 01:01:27.476
And we got to see the 420S that, that, Which was pretty cool.
01:01:27.496 --> 01:01:34.655
The, and the color, that particular orange, was really rich, nice, l- frankly, you know, dare I say luxurious.
01:01:35.016 --> 01:01:35.266
Yeah.
01:01:35.266 --> 01:01:35.876
You know, looked good.
01:01:35.956 --> 01:01:36.476
Looked really good.
01:01:36.476 --> 01:01:51.255
The, the, the Emira's so good at lower s- well, it's fun at lower speeds, and then we hit some obscene speeds that, you know, good thing we were in Mexico, actually, because o- otherwise we could be held to account for how quickly we were going through the desert.
01:01:51.695 --> 01:01:53.735
And it did that beautifully.
01:01:53.735 --> 01:01:58.436
So, and they look as good as about anything on the road, so shout-out to the Emira.
01:01:58.496 --> 01:02:01.056
I kinda took that away as well, like, what a car.
01:02:01.485 --> 01:02:01.956
What- Yeah.
01:02:01.956 --> 01:02:02.146
Agreed.
01:02:02.146 --> 01:02:04.246
Agreed what do you have on your honorable mentions?
01:02:04.246 --> 01:02:06.925
And then tell us the the mystery road answer.
01:02:07.275 --> 01:02:21.445
You know, the, that 904 that we saw on that first day, that, that was again just, just y- you know, that and the, and the'73 RS 911 both parked together at a house, like, two houses down from your aunt's, yeah.
01:02:21.826 --> 01:02:22.076
Yeah.
01:02:22.166 --> 01:02:27.096
So e- again, just, just back to your original point of these crazy things that you just see.
01:02:27.445 --> 01:02:33.615
So, so that's that was, the 904 has always been, you know, a car, you know, and, and the iterations of that that I've always loved.
01:02:34.025 --> 01:02:34.425
Yes.
01:02:34.485 --> 01:02:39.735
But the other car that I saw, and this was at Legends, was the Audi Coupe from the early'90s.
01:02:40.036 --> 01:02:40.485
Cool.
01:02:40.485 --> 01:02:47.525
It was one where they went to the new styling, and, but yet they managed to keep that car still looking really, really cool.
01:02:47.815 --> 01:02:51.735
I test drove one of those in the early'90s too, but again, that car was really slow.
01:02:52.135 --> 01:02:53.275
Very solid.
01:02:53.286 --> 01:02:59.215
Y- you know, I lived in Minnesota at the time, so the, the Quattro, I was very attracted to that, so I could drive through the winter.
01:02:59.606 --> 01:03:09.206
I ultimately didn't go for it, but I still love that car and, and, and I don't see too many of'em out here, so it was nice to, to, to run into a couple of those as well.
01:03:09.416 --> 01:03:13.715
Slow just means you get to use all the throttle, Shanu, so, you know, re- re- Yeah, use all of it.
01:03:13.976 --> 01:03:16.115
Yeah, indeed really engage with that little little motor.
01:03:16.115 --> 01:03:18.297
So- Give us the answer.
01:03:18.297 --> 01:03:21.237
I'm thinking about Malibu or somewhere, but what, what, what- Ah.
01:03:21.288 --> 01:03:23.398
Well, it's, it's, it's, it's quite close.
01:03:23.398 --> 01:03:25.958
It is it is, you know, above Malibu.
01:03:25.998 --> 01:03:35.318
So today's mystery road, okay, for those of you who are wondering it, it, it actually, it's been getting a lot of automotive social media, okay?
01:03:35.648 --> 01:03:40.117
You, you've probably also heard a lot about mustard on this road, okay?
01:03:40.148 --> 01:03:40.237
Oh.
01:03:40.307 --> 01:03:45.847
And so- It's the snake one of our mutual friends, Evan, has been getting some notoriety over cutting the mustard.
01:03:45.847 --> 01:03:49.237
So today's mystery road is Decker Canyon Road.
01:03:49.248 --> 01:03:49.257
Oh.
01:03:49.507 --> 01:03:53.398
It's California State Route 23, just, you know, it's above Malibu.
01:03:53.757 --> 01:03:55.608
It's a short road, but an intense one.
01:03:55.608 --> 01:03:57.358
Narrow, steep, packed with tight corners.
01:03:57.358 --> 01:04:00.838
It climbs from Pacific Coast Highway, you know, towards Mulholland.
01:04:01.318 --> 01:04:17.057
So anyhow you know, as you guys probably know, it's been kind of ground zero lately, you know, for this cutting the mustard, you know, controversy that's been going on, which, you know, rightfully so, you know, Evan, who we got to see a couple times, you know, he- we, we saw him at Laguna, then we saw him at Works, right?
01:04:17.057 --> 01:04:18.827
And had a chance to catch up with him.
01:04:19.737 --> 01:04:26.168
He's, he's actually starting a a podcast himself, and, you know- Yeah he's been a big advocate about safety on the roads.
01:04:26.168 --> 01:04:30.498
You know, he wants to make sure that enthusiasts like us are still having fun.
01:04:30.498 --> 01:04:41.467
So he's kind of bringing some attention to some of the, these hooligans, some of these clowns that really are, are just driving in, in a frankly irresponsible manner.
01:04:41.717 --> 01:04:45.148
You know, it's harder to keep it in a narrow lane than it is to use the entire road.
01:04:45.157 --> 01:04:45.177
Yeah.
01:04:45.338 --> 01:04:46.588
So I'm with Evan.
01:04:46.648 --> 01:04:49.057
Well- And we're gonna get him on this, this pod as well.
01:04:49.057 --> 01:04:49.347
Yeah.
01:04:49.347 --> 01:04:52.898
And pick his brain a little bit about some of the things that he's, he's seeing out there.
01:04:52.898 --> 01:04:58.068
So yeah, it, it, it's I wanted to highlight that road because- That's a- we saw him this weekend, so.
01:04:58.108 --> 01:04:59.128
That, that's awesome.
01:04:59.128 --> 01:04:59.458
Yeah.
01:04:59.487 --> 01:05:01.447
He, he w- he's great dude.
01:05:01.717 --> 01:05:05.117
He he said he's gonna come on, so we'll have some interesting stuff to talk about with him.
01:05:05.708 --> 01:05:07.628
Shanu, Monterey Car Week was a blast.
01:05:07.757 --> 01:05:09.378
Th- thanks for kind of gu- Total success.
01:05:09.378 --> 01:05:12.987
Total success, yeah guiding me around, you know, like the newbie that I was.
01:05:13.068 --> 01:05:16.367
And I I will be back next year.
01:05:16.367 --> 01:05:18.077
I would like to make it an annual event.
01:05:18.097 --> 01:05:19.518
It was, it was too good.
01:05:20.188 --> 01:05:21.057
Yeah, absolutely.
01:05:21.057 --> 01:05:32.378
And, and next year, remember, we met a couple people that are locals that are total car fanatics, and they're DJs, and so I said,"Look, next year's y- you know, Still Driving party's gonna have a DJ element to it.
01:05:32.378 --> 01:05:37.737
So we're gonna find a cool venue and have some fun there, too," and, and I'm looking forward to it.
01:05:38.398 --> 01:05:41.038
Everybody who listens to Still Driving, thanks a million.
01:05:41.038 --> 01:05:42.387
Please share it with your friends.
01:05:42.717 --> 01:05:44.208
We're having a blast doing this thing.
01:05:44.208 --> 01:05:48.617
We wanna c- find the drivers, connect with them you know, build this community.
01:05:48.967 --> 01:05:52.338
And yeah, Shanu, with that, have a good one, man.
01:05:52.338 --> 01:05:52.728
It's good to chat with you.
01:05:52.728 --> 01:05:53.637
Yeah, you too, Blair.
01:05:53.668 --> 01:05:54.420
See you guys.