Cool Cars with Chris: Car Talk, Driving Tips & Auto Life Nov 3, 2025

007 | What Makes a Car Brand Cool? Racing, Heritage, and Pop Culture Explained

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Today on Cool Cars with Chris, we're asking a big question. What makes a car brand cool?

Is it the heritage racing, the design, the sound, or the story behind the badge?

However you define it, this episode breaks down the cool factor that makes certain cars

unforgettable. Courage joins me once again for an amazing episode. Let's go.

Okay, welcome back. I got Courage back. Man, he is a hot commodity, man. He is like the number one

podcast co-host for Cool Cars with Chris. Welcome back, Courage.

Hey, Chris. Thanks for having me as usual. Man, this is great. So I love cool cars. I kind of

love all kinds of cars. You love cars, and I think particularly cool cars. But you brought the question

of what kind of defines a cool car? Well, I guess a cool car brand. Would you say like a brand of

the car? Because some cars are car companies, but then some car companies have other companies

that kind of take that car and make it something kind of different, but still cool.

Yeah. Yeah. I think it was really what I kind of thought about when I thought about this question

was like what makes the overall brand, what makes us gravitate as say a car enthusiast to

certain brands and maybe away from certain brands as well? And I think that it's interesting

because there's somewhat of a clear answer I feel like of if you saw it on TV or whatever,

or in a movie, it tends to kind of boost the reputation of certain cars.

The Back to the Future DeLorean is probably one of the most famous cars,

Kent, the Firebird, things like that. But for an actual...

Why one of those, dude? I wanted one of those. I saw one night rider back in the day.

I wanted one of those cars. I know what those things were. I didn't care. I thought

it was super cool. And they're actually people that have restored those cars to make them look

like the kit car with all the bells and whistles. I've seen one in person actually too. Oh really?

Oh really? They have one out and plug a potential sponsor for you, the Marconi Auto Museum

in Tustin. They have a working talking with even the light strip in the front

kit car out there, which I don't know if it was used in the movie or it might be a replica,

probably a replica. I'm sure a lot of them are replicas these days. And I think with AI and AI

voices and different things and all that, you probably can literally build your own kit like

system where it can talk to you and it can do all the things and do everything just like it did in

the show and the movie and all that kind of stuff. I remember when I was at Universal Studios in

Hollywood, I was a kid and they had the kit car on display waited in line to go sit in the car

and he'd ask the car like one question. And everybody kept asking the same questions

because you kept hearing it through loudspeakers. It would like come in the voice and say whatever

the question, the answer to the question was like, how fast do I go? Or, you know, things like that,

like generic questions. I forget a question I asked, but it was probably like another generic

question like all the kids were asking before and stuff. But it was so much fun to just be

there and just like get to like sit in the thing and all that kind of stuff. But I love that

show as a kid growing up, man. Yeah. But no, I mean, I think we have standout cars maybe

for that reason of just they built this character and his persona around it. But I think for an

overall brand to be a car, like a car enthusiast brand, there's different elements to kind of make

that. And so I thought it'd be cool to kind of talk through it and kind of get, you know,

get your opinion on it and share some thoughts that I've been thinking about on it.

Okay. So when you say brands, would it have to be like certain the brand itself makes certain

kind of cool cars or does the car brand have this kind of like cool, like, I don't know, maybe

this kind of like stigma that if you're associated with that brand or you're, you're wearing their gear

or their t-shirt from that company's brand, you're considered like it's cool, you know?

You're going to get respect. Yeah. I mean, I think you're definitely, I think I'm

definitely on the latter side of it because yeah, that, that individual is where I'm kind

of thinking because just to go back is, you know, I, and I don't personally know this about like,

say Audi, BMW, you know, those companies, but like there was a point where like Audi's and,

you know, like some earlier BMWs and things like they weren't really like considered cool cars,

like, you know, in the 80s, like, you know, kind of a time when they were feeling things

out, you know? Well, like, especially with Audi, until like the R8 came out, I mean, what

cool car did they really have? Yeah. I mean, they, they definitely, people did kind of like their,

their RS sedans, like they had the RS2s and, you know, the RS, I think the RS3 came around

that time. So they had some like S and RS models that at that point had kind of gotten some steam,

you know, the R8 was definitely a jump off point, I feel like to your point for Audi to really kind

of have like a flagship halo car. Right. It was like, what is this car company come from? Where

have you been on my lights, this car company? You know, seriously, like,

And then you realize like they've been around forever, but, you know, you had like the Audi

5000 that like, you know, people like that car now, but like back then, like nobody, nobody

really care, like they drove it because they had to have a car. They, they weren't really

choosing that as like their enthusiast car per se. Well, kind of like, also I'm thinking in that

realm, I'm thinking like, I guess Cadillac too, probably maybe or, I mean, they got some cool cars

too, but I think when I think of Cadillac, I just think of like grandma, grandpa car,

you know, the CTS, the CTS, not even the V model, the CTS, I think is, is what changed

Cadillac? Yeah. Is that when they got that chiseled front nose on the Cadillacs, where it became like

a, like a, like a sledge, almost like a hatchet? That's where I say there's an error and honestly,

they've always kind of had that little bit of a, you know, kind of design, you know, kind of lead

that they go with, but I always say that like, you know, designers at Cadillac's best friend

are rulers in sharp edges, because that just like, whatever you can find, it's like a sharp edge,

whether it's a ruler or like a 90 degree angle, something like that's, that's what they love to

kind of incorporate into their designs. But yeah, I think that's when they kind of lean into maybe a

more modern, but like sharp edge design with the CTS and just kind of built off of that. I mean,

the older Cadillacs though did have kind of that element of sharp edge, like those El Dorados and

you know, some of those like kind of older classic Cadillacs, they were crying that you

wouldn't want to be hit by because you wouldn't walk away from that. You big and heavy and sharp and

yeah. Well, same thing with Mercedes too. I think a lot of older Mercedes cars, I always think I'm kind

of being like, I don't know, Graham, but I'm talking like cars from like the 70s, early 80s,

Mercedes, those ones that were like, just kind of big, like the movie, The Hangover,

whatever car, those are Mercedes, they drove in the movie, but I forget, I don't

know my Mercedes, but something like that. I think that was a Pagoda maybe. Well, I think

those cars, I mean, they're cool, but I don't think them as being like these slick, sleek, like,

you know, sports car-ish. I guess maybe my thing is that

does it have to be a sports car to be a cool car? No, and that's why I thought this was an

interesting question because like for example, and I actually missed I was going to bring this

up earlier, but Volkswagen for example is one that I go kind of to in terms of like

the Volkswagen Golf, the GTI and all those now, we know the Golf R and all of those even,

people love just like the regular Golf. Those cars in the 80s were totally different cars

than what they were now, but there was a point where like, again, a hot hatch you'd think

was what we call those a lot of times is not necessarily like a cool car or a sports car,

to somebody that's not into cars. People usually aren't really picking out like a

station wagon or a hot hatch out of say next to like a two-door sports car unless they

know about the brand. And I think Volkswagen is one of those where like the hot hatch, they

really forged and built that sort of, that realm of cars where now like, I mean, again,

GTIs, Golf Rs, cars like that are sought after cars now, but 80s, Volkswagen's and

things like that, they were just kind of just cars that people had, like you probably had a

family member. Yeah, they drove around and I think for me what makes it kind of a cool car

brand, I think it's kind of sums it up and I think about it is if this car company,

whatever they do, whether it is in any kind of racing, let's just say, if they have a race

version, they take a car that they make and they put it in a race, whether it's a rally race

or if it's some kind of like GT race, of course, and you know, Le Mans and a lot of stuff, but

any kind of racing, if they get into racing, if they take their production vehicle, whatever

it is, if it's a car, I can go buy at the dealership and they have like a race

version of that car out there. And it does well, they're decently well.

Or it can be Baja, like the Raptor, Ford Raptor, that kind of stuff, like anything like that,

anything where they take, because that shows like, that's kind of cool because

it's always pretty cool to where like, if you were a racer and you were actually racing

in any race, and you have this car and you're with this company and they built

the car, they built the engine, they built all the components, well, mostly most of the

components, but they built the car that is actually being used in the race and you win

with that vehicle. What's the saying go, win on Sunday, buy on Monday or something like that.

So that's why I think what makes a car company cool is if they have got a car that has been

used in races, has won, you see it in the races, they had a whole race division.

And when it comes to like wearing like gear and swag, like Ferrari gear, I've got a Ferrari

t-shirt from Italy from the Ferrari place. It doesn't want to fit me anymore, but I still have it.

But it's from Italy. And this is Ferrari on it, you know, and that's kind of cool. I think

it's a cool vibe to have a car that is used in races or a company used in races. It's

a whole like swag or about, that's what it means for me, for a cool company, a cool car

company. If you had like a bell or like a celebration sound effect right now, it would be

like the time to use it. Oh, I didn't even think in the system, dude. I didn't even think about that,

you know? But your spot, that's, I think you're spot on 100% because I think that that's really

been the defining factor is, yeah, like that, yeah, like you said, race on Sunday, you know,

sell on Monday, like that, you know, the American companies kind of leaned into that at a

certain point and really saw some traction around that. But yeah, like, I mean,

if you had these like, you know, race versions, rally was like a huge thing. Like, you know,

you had these rally cars like Audi that had like the Audi caught. Well, I think of the Hyundai,

the Hyundai had a car they used in the rally races. I don't know what model it was. And so Ford

Focus had a car, they used the rally races and Subaru, of course, with the ST with the

that was a, that's a big one too. Because I mean, Subaru's, I mean, even now, like,

I mean, things that aren't like the performance Subaru's that aren't like an STI or a WRX

are literally just like cars. There's not like, there's not much special. I love it. I love it.

I love a Subaru legacy though. I'm not gonna lie. Like the older like Subaru legacies,

there was a generation of those, I think in the like late 90s where like,

or just like sought after cars, like in for, and they're just regular cars, but

they just had a design about them that everybody loved.

But the all wheel drive system, I think was what kind of thing.

And the all wheel drive, that was a huge factor too.

Popular in like Northern, Northern America, Minnesota in like any place north, north of the

close to the border of Canada, the superiors are like hot sellers. They are super hot.

Everybody buys my own. So every mom, it seems like a Subaru thing or whatever. But I remember

when the Mitch Beachy EVO, EVO, the evolution came out. And that was a big thing with the

rally races. I think it was the EVO two. I think it was a race or that EVO three was

for sale in the States here. And my dad had the regular Lancer and in the dealership, they had the

EVO three on display. I wasn't sitting the thing and they'll check it out and that kind of stuff

and all that. But that is like, that's, that is to want to just like the, like a regular Lancer

versus like an EVO is like one of the most like just the weirdest like kind of side by side

comparison ever. Like because yeah, like on the surface, they kind of look the same.

But I mean, the regular Lancer is just like as we're almost as regular car as it gets type

scenario. But, oh yeah. But the EVO is like, you know, is just one of the craziest things that you

can, you can get in terms of just how they're all wheel drive system work. They were so ahead

of the time on that. It's a turbo little two, two liter turbo car. I think it had close to 300

horsepower, I think represent for the two liter turbos, man. Yeah. That thing was nuts. And

I wonder what you can pick them up for today. That's a good question. Like I think it came out

at no three or four. And then I think sometime around the mid 2000s, they totally like change

it to this like it where it looked more like a sedan. It kind of got bigger and kind of longer

and longer than those. Those are fine too. I see them now and then like the later. Yeah.

The later gen evos, I do kind of like those, you know, sad that we don't have them anymore.

But Mitsubishi is on some form of life support at this point.

I don't even see, I don't know if dealerships are anymore, if they're going to exist.

Like I have no idea. I have not even seen nothing about from Mitsubishi in like forever.

So I don't even know if they're around. Do you see a, what do they call them? The

eclipse cross or cross eclipse, something like that. I saw one of those recently

from not having seen him like in a long time. But other than that, like any new Mitsubishi cars,

I just like either I don't pay attention to them or they're just not really out there.

Yeah. Well, like I said, they used to be super, super hot. I thought Mitsubishi was super cool

dude because I love the Mitsubishi eclipse. I wanted one so bad and especially the turbo

version because I got a ride with a crazy guy I had, old friend of mine,

and he worked the dealership. So he got himself one and I think his parents own the dealership

or something. Some kind of tie like that. I forget. Anyways, he had the turbo version.

And this guy drove like a freaking maniac. And it was the turbo eclipse and it was so fast.

It was crazy fast. But the guy was a maniac behind the wheel. So he got something.

It's like a crazy driver. Plus he got that much power, that thing. It was whipping.

It was fast. And you got a little drive. I'm assuming too.

He just had the, just a two wheel drive for a version because out here, out here in Southern

California, you didn't see a lot of the all wheel drive because I went to the dealership

looking at them. And the guy told me, he says, we don't sell a lot of them out here because we

will live in Minnesota or places like that that need the all wheel drive. So I said,

Oh, that kind of makes sense. So, and that was during a time, like we're talking like mid 90s

when the front wheel drive, like hatch, like sport coupe cars were all the rage.

How to prelude the Honda Civics, Acura Integra, the Eclipse, what else was there?

Well, they can think of right now, but I'm sure there was another company's kind of got in that.

Of course, Ford came in with their Ford Focus a little bit later and that's kind

of like kind of jumped into the game. And then obviously the VW is like all of the,

you know, Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So those were around too. So it was kind of like this whole

like, like, I guess world around, I guess, you know, just before Fast and Furious came out,

where it was the whole import like four wheel drive import tuner world kind of evolved around

Honda. You can get them, you know, you can get them for cheap and cheapish and yeah. Well,

back then I know that like a middle range Acura Integra with a stick shift would probably run

you somewhere around maybe 20 grand at the top, top end, maybe, maybe 22, maybe for,

for a middle road Acura Integra. I'm not talking the VTEC. I think the VTEC was a little higher,

maybe the 22, 23 range. I looked, trust me, I looked into these. That's how I know this.

So inflation you're, yeah. Inflation you're probably like, that's probably like a 39, 40

grand-ish. Yeah. I mean, what does the new Integra go for now? It's a four door sedan.

Oh, yeah. Talk about like, you know, max it out in play. Yeah. I mean, that's,

that's like a 60 grand car now. Well, that's the top, if you get the top end version.

Yeah. If you get a type S, yeah, like that's six. Yeah, the, the, I actually, yeah, I mean,

I could definitely look that up too, but they're, they're probably a little, they're probably

like around mid 30s or something like that. I would say for like in like the sort of base

Integra's. Yeah. I think most of those mid-sized like kind of, I don't know if you'd call it a compact

a car sedan or we could be mid, would be extended mid-sized sedan or a comp? No, probably mid-sized,

right? No, I'd say they still kind of fall in the, in the compact because, because the, the,

the Elantra is in the same realm and they consider that a compact sedan and

Okay. And above the Elantra, it's the Sonata, right? It's the Sonata. Yeah. So that's mid,

that's what they consider mid-sized a lot of times. Gotcha. Gotcha. So as far as cool car

brands go, of course you got the obvious. You got the Ferrari, you got the Lamborghini,

you got the Porsche, you got the, you know, BMW, AMG, Mercedes. I mean, those are obvious.

You know, then of course you got the American ones like Ford Chevy.

But I mean, there's so many, there's so many cool car brands. I think that

I think they're all kind of cool. It's kind of a weird cop out, but I think kind of,

I think if they all, listen, if they all can go racing, if they all have a racing

version of their car, they've been racing, they've had this heritage,

then I think they're all kind of cool brands. What do you say?

When I, I mean, I, I just really am glad that you like, I mean this, you,

you can definitely coin that your podcast is answering, answering some really great

questions. Cause I mean, I think you've hit the nail on the head with that. And

the reason I think that I was kind of leaning towards that too and selfishly,

you know, in that realm is that, you know, obviously, you know, we've talked

about, I drive a Hyundai Elantra in, and I, you know, I'm really proud of that car.

I love that car. I think it is a, you know, it's, it's a really great performer for what it is. And

even kind of punches a little bit above its weight class in some situations.

But to me, Hyundai as a brand up until probably, you know, the mid, when they came out with

the Veloster in, if you would have said Hyundai to me, it wasn't considered a cool brand.

Well, they did do some racing though. So I, I, I did the cool brand category.

That's, yeah, that's interesting. Cause I, yeah, they're pre kind of in division,

right? Because now like, I mean, they're racing division, they have, they do,

they're killing it in like the TCR leagues. You know, the, what they call it, the

manufacturers can construct ability, or I forgot what they call that league, but

you know, where they're racing a lot against, you know, almost sort of like a GT

three-ish class car situation, but not quite. They're really killing it in a lot of those racing

leagues. And now like I do, you know, I do consider it a cool brand because of that. But to your point,

you know, having known that they had that past and kind of some racing too with some of their,

their other like kind of rally situations. Yeah. I mean, I think that it, you know,

a movie helps with like maybe a specific car becoming sort of this cult classic and,

and that people gravitate to, but it, I think it doesn't get serious. Like you said, until they really,

where the manufacturer puts their money, where their mouth is, and really starts to put something

out there and creates like this race version. So like you said about the movies though,

cause I think movies really puts cars on the map as kind of that cool car that everybody

kind of like wants. I remember, I remember, um, walking out of the movie gone in 60

seconds with, and that Mustang at the end of the movie. Yes. Elinor. Yes. Elinor,

the Mustang. It was a 67 GT 500, I believe. Something like that. Something like that.

And everybody wanted either that or a car that looked like that or Mustang looked like that.

And I did too. I was the same, I was the same boat. I was like, holy crap. I think,

I think also when that movie came out, we didn't have a lot of cool like

racing. There was some car older stuff, like bullet. If you've ever seen the movie bullet,

it's completely boring movie until you see the, I literally have only seen like the car chasing.

Me neither. That's all. My dad, I heard it's a horrible movie. It's like totally like

a lot of like boring talking, like dialogue throughout the entire movie until, until

you get to the race scene at the very end. So, um, but that's kind of a cool car.

The Mustangs have been a lot of movies and, and they've, they've kind of, especially with,

like I said, with the God in 60 seconds and bullet and things like that.

Mustangs are very popular. It's kind of, it kind of puts them on the map.

It's kind of a cool car. Not only that, you see them in television shows too and stuff,

like the convertible Mustangs and things like that.

I think it would be a cool thing to do though. And, and there's probably reasons

why this hasn't been done yet. But Jim Farley, again, call out, it would be the

coolest thing to have like a special edition, like God in 60 seconds,

Eleanor version of like a newer Mustang. Right. They did do a bullet a few years,

a bunch of different models of the bull. Yeah. They've had bullet Mustangs.

Yeah. Right. Right. Which, which is kind of funny because the movie is crap and

it has one scene and it's kind of like that. But yeah, but I don't know.

Like, you know, God in 60 seconds was a car movie. Like, you know, to,

I feel like leaning into that would, I mean, obviously it would be like a super one off

kind of deal. But, but the movie, the movie buffs don't really think it was that great of

a movie. Tell you the truth. They don't. Yeah. I told, I did the total tangent side note,

but my wife tells me all the time that like I'm, I'm like just like, I'm, I'm a bad movie guy.

Like all of my favorite movies, all of my favorite movies are movies that like other people consider

bad. Like if you ask me if I've seen any of like movies that I should be watching,

like I'd probably tell you, I haven't. Well, there are those people that like,

like all those Oscar winners that are like the fluffy movies no one's heard of, you know,

the windspits picture. Like what movie was that? Never heard of it, you know? And like,

I mean, there are people that like that are super is being in podcast. You have talked to a lot of

these people that are super, super into movies. They'll tell you like the, they'll tell you the

sound guy's name on some obscure movie. You're like, what's, you know, like, what are you

talking like? What are you watching? You know, like, like, I don't watch. He held that mic

was just, it was just like all the directors, all the moves from director made, all this stuff that

go way deep into the different, like the script writing and all this nonsense. I don't have a good

time. Popcorn ready. Let's go. Let's do this. You know, the only, the only person you really got

to do that for is like, say maybe like a Tarantino or like a Scorsese or like, you know,

kind of that level. But like, yeah, when, when it's like really beyond that, like a lot, like,

I mean, I get respect for maybe that, like, you know, that person's work, it's their

thing. I mean, you're in the cars. You're in the cars. They're in the movies, you know,

like as hardcore, you're in the cars. They're hardcore in the movies. And I just want to have

like the middle ground, man. I love cars and I want to, I love movies. Can we all just get along?

You know, I like that a lot. You know, we can just enjoy it all, you know, and I think

movies really does play a big part for these cool cars. Like, like a Fast and Furious,

it brought back the Mark 4 Super. I think it was a time the movie came out. I think it

was discontinued. The Mark 4 Super, I believe it was. And so they brought it back in the movie and

2JZ and all that stuff. And everybody wanted one of those after, after the movie. Of course,

like the movies, you know, you see a car like that and a movie like, Oh, I want one of those cars

and they make it look so easy. Just put the parts together. It's like, Oh my gosh,

I get all the parts online and boom, I can put it together back here. The big deal.

Yeah, you don't know that there's other factors that play against you when you're

starting to do that. I watched some, I watched some, there's a couple of videos on Instagram

on Reels where these guys were saying like, what people think it is like working on cars.

It shows these clips from Fast and Furious where just like putting an oil thing,

the wrenching on the car, putting the fenders on, they're putting a wing on the back.

Oh, like matter of like five seconds, right? They put all the whole montage, the car together.

And it shows this guy like dropping like his, this is just a bolt. Dropping his wrench down,

down the back of the, you know, he's trying to like change the oil and he's got oil around

himself. Right? When you said that, I was like, yeah, like, you know, show the guy like dropping

this 10 bill, 10 millimeter wrench. I bought a bag of those. I bought a bag of 10 millimeters.

I don't know where they're at, but I bought a whole back. Like I had, I have like one, right?

So I bought a whole bag of them on Amazon or whatever. But I do it like, like cool cars,

man. And I think all cars can be cool. Like all brands can be cool. You know,

we think about like clothing brands and things like that. There's some clothing brands

because it was cool, cooling brand or whatever. But, you know, to me, it's like, is it comfortable?

Yeah. Okay. Cool. I like it or whatever. Yeah. But I don't buy things for tags. I don't think I'd

buy cars for tags really either. I know some people will do like they will, they will, you

know, turn their nose up to a Hyundai and go straight to BMW. Yeah. That's a good point too.

Yeah. To be totally honest too, is that, you know, I think that with that, you know, with, yeah,

we have our cool brands that we kind of gravitate to. But I think that, yeah, like, you know,

if you're a true car enthusiast, you don't really shut the door on, you know,

on other brands. Like, yeah, you might have your ones you gravitate to,

but, you know, when you get into that point of shutting the door on it because it's like,

you know, this brand does it way better than this. And like this brand has no business

being cool. Like I think that's when it just gets, you know, it gets a little ridiculous.

Same thing with like clothes and things. Like, you know, I had somebody a long time ago kind of

scoff at me because I, because I guess there was, I don't know if it's Louis Vuitton or something

like that. They had made a shoe that looked a lot like the Vans like slip on shoes. Oh, really?

And I, yeah, and I asked them, you know, I was like, oh, those Vans, I asked because

they had like a cool design, everything like, where'd you get the Vans from? And he looked

at me with like the word, the probably one of the worst scowls that I've ever gotten is like,

those, those are Louis Vuitton or like whatever it was, literally just walked away.

You know, it's funny. You just never know. I mean, if you travel a lot, travel in other

countries or travel like around, you know, you see people wearing like all kinds of different

things and I don't judge anybody for what they wear, you know, or what they choose to wear,

choose to buy. And the same thing with cars too. I really don't judge anybody

for what car they decided buy or drive or not drive, you know, their choice is their choice.

You can drive whatever they want. They just don't complain to me if whatever you bought

kept falling apart. But I'm not going to tell you like I told you so either. I'm not the kind of

person to, you know, make fun of people or, or bash their decisions. And we all make mistakes.

You know, we've all, we've all bought things we regret, you know, or whether it's a car brand

or clothing or whatever. Well, you know, we all have our regrets and live and learn, you know, it's

just, you know, I mean, I think there's a reason why people pick what they pick, you know, there's,

there's a big, yeah, there's a big reason behind that, you know, and, and just to be, you know,

give you a plug, Chris, like, you know, like I was telling you before, I think the whole concept

of cool cars are Chris and, and, you know, reviewing, you know, getting a chance to hear

people's car stories, you're giving people a chance to really kind of identify why they

felt why they feel like a car that they're owned and that they modify even as special.

You know, I, I just want to give you a plug on that because, you know, I think that people can

sometimes even when they quote unquote, even have a cool car, they can feel like they don't have

that opportunity to really share why it was special to them. And I feel like it's a cool

concept to be able to give people that chance to do that. So just to, just a plug for you on

that. I appreciate that. That's kind of the whole, whole premise of the show. I mean,

it's cars. Yeah. But I think at the end of the day, we're all people and us people

choose certain vehicles or lean to certain like car brands or styles or whatever it is.

You know, it gets car brands here is that because we like it for some cool reason, maybe,

maybe your uncle owned one or maybe your dad owned one or maybe your brother owned one

or a friend owned one. And a lot of stories like that where I knew people that owned

the 300ZX is that I'm talking the older ones. I'm talking the 80s edition. The 80s.

The Z31s. My sister had one, two of my friends had them, and my sister owned one. How ironic

and they're all the same color. Kind of funny how that was. And it's funny you brought that up,

but that's that's one of the biggest reasons I brought my 300Z. I had a Z32, but that was

the reason I bought mine was because of not even a real friend. It was a schoolmate,

like her dad owned a 300ZX and she would pick, she would get picked up from school in it.

And it was silver, what silver wheels. And I just thought that was the sleekest design ever.

And that was the reason why I chose that as my first like real car. And yeah, no,

I think you're spot on with that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cool cars with Chris,

cool people, cool cars. Let's go, man. Let's let's fire it up and see what happens, you

know, and, and drive something that makes you happy. You the listener that's driving,

whatever you're driving right now, whatever makes you happy with fires you up,

but gets you inspired about cars. What makes you turn the key and ignition and go.

And I think another point someone said years ago, I heard about this with

cool cars in generally speaking is that if you don't turn around and look back at your car

when you park it, it's not a cool car, you know, but I do that. I tend to do that.

You know, turn around and look, especially when I had my Z, I would all,

I would turn around to take a picture of the thing, you know, when I park it or whatever.

So, but courage, this has been so much fun. Once again, thank you once again for stopping

by today, man. I really, really appreciate this. Thanks for having me, Chris.

All right. And you listening, don't forget to head on over to coolcarswithchris.com.

All the cool things are right over there. And I will see you on the very next one.

About this episode

Chris and co-host Courage dive into what makes a car brand truly cool, exploring factors like racing heritage, iconic designs, and pop culture influence. They discuss how movies and TV shows elevate cars like the DeLorean and Mustang to cult status, while racing success solidifies a brand’s cool factor. The conversation covers various brands from Audi and Cadillac to Mitsubishi and Hyundai, highlighting how perceptions evolve over time. Personal stories and reflections on car culture add depth, emphasizing that coolness often comes down to passion, history, and the emotional connection drivers have with their vehicles.

Acura Integra Audi R8 Cadillac CTS Delorean DMC-12 Ford F-150 Ford Mustang Honda Prelude Hyundai Elantra Hyundai Sonata Hyundai Veloster Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Mitsubishi Lancer Nissan 300 ZX Pontiac Firebird Shelby GT500 Toyota Supra Volkswagen Golf

Original notes

What actually makes a car brand "cool"? Is it the racing heritage, the design, the movie appearances, or just the vibe and culture it carries? In this episode of Cool Cars with Chris, I’m joined once again by Courage, and we’re diving deep into what defines a cool car brand — and why some automakers have built a cult following while others are still trying to find their identity.

We break down iconic brands like Ferrari, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Audi, Cadillac, Volkswagen, and even Hyundai, and explore how things like rally racing, GT championships, and pop culture moments shape a brand’s reputation.

We also talk about:

The impact of cars in movies and TV (like Fast & Furious, Knight Rider, Gone in 60 Seconds)
Why racing versions of production cars boost brand credibility
How brands like Hyundai N and Audi earned street cred
The difference between car enthusiast culture vs. brand snobbery
Why every car can be cool if it connects with the driver

Whether you're into JDM legends, Euro tuners, or American muscle, this episode has something for every gearhead and casual car fan alike.

🔍 Highlights & Key Questions:

What really makes a car brand cool in the eyes of enthusiasts?
How do racing history and motorsports affect brand image?
Why did cars like the Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru WRX become cult classics?
Is Hyundai finally a “cool brand” thanks to the N division and TCR racing?
Do movies make or break a car’s cultural impact?

- Why gear matters: Ferrari merch, brand swag, and the status behind logos
🌐 Visit:
🎯 CoolCarsWithChris.com for more episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and guest features.

00:00 – 🎙️ Intro: What Makes a Car Brand Cool?
00:21 – 👋 Welcome Back Courage!
01:00 – 🏷️ The Influence of Car Branding
01:59 – 📺 TV & Movie Cars: KIT from Knight Rider
02:50 – 🚗 Real-Life Replicas & Car Museums
03:48 – 🧠 The Brand Persona Debate
04:47 – 🌀 Audi’s Evolution to Cool
05:54 – 🔷 Cadillac’s Design Shift
07:06 – 💼 Mercedes & the Question of Sportiness
07:40 – 🔥 Volkswagen’s Rise with Hot Hatches
09:26 – 🏁 Why Racing Makes Brands Cool
10:13 – 🧢 Ferrari Swag & Motorsport Prestige
11:29 – 🌍 Rally Cars: Subaru, Hyundai & Ford
12:32 – 💨 Mitsubishi Evo’s Peak Era
15:34 – 📉 The 90s Front-Wheel Drive Tuner Boom
17:03 – 💵 Modern Compact Cars vs. 90s Pricing
18:12 – 🎯 Classic vs. Modern Cool Car Brands
19:52 – 🏎️ Hyundai N and TCR Racing
20:22 – 🎬 Pop Culture & the “Movie Effect”
21:10 – 🎥 Gone in 60 Seconds & Eleanor’s Impact
23:13 – 🎭 Movie Nerds vs. Car Nerds
24:01 – 🏎️ The Fast and Furious Effect
25:06 – 🔧 The Reality of Working on Cars
26:25 – 🚫 No Car Brand Shame: Respect All Builds
27:00 – 👟 Vans vs. Louis Vuitton Debate
28:15 – 📖 Why Personal Car Stories Matter
29:10 – 🕰️ Nostalgia & the 300ZX
30:29 – 🔚 Final Thoughts: Look Back at Your Car
30:51 – 🌐 Outro & Website Plug
Cool cars, car culture, car enthusiast, car podcast, car talk, auto culture, racing heritage, motorsport history, track day cars, GT cars, rally legends, race on Sunday sell on Monday, fast and furious cars, movie cars, Knight Rider, Gone in 60 Seconds, pop culture cars, tuner culture, import scene, JDM life, Mitsubishi Evo, Subaru WRX, Hyundai N, Audi R8, classic vs modern cars

#CoolCars #CarCulture #MotorsportHistory #MovieCars #CarPodcast