#11: Analog Driving with Shift Project New England

I still have memories of when I was a kid going out to dinner, and if there was a booth with a little metal bar by your feet,

I'd put my feet on the bar, and imagine I was shifting with my clutch foot and hitting the gas.

Everything was about this for me, and you reached that flow state.

It's a nice, calm place to be in a car, focusing just on the driving.

Welcome back, Life West Cars community.

We are going to have a guest here today that we're excited to welcome, Mike Briskey,

who we joined recently for the Seacoast Manual Transmission Rally, which Brendan took part in as well.

Right, Brendan?

Oh, yes. It was an amazing time to be down there in the Seacoast, went and hung out with Ian.

We'll have a podcast episode about that at some point where we're actually driving around and recording.

Mike, we get to chat for a little bit with Mike at the end of the rally,

and he put it all together for saving the manuals, and he's also involved in a project called Shift Project,

all about manual cars, and he's just a very nice guy down to Earth, and he's a crazy car guy, so we instantly love him.

That's right. We're very grateful that he's going to be joining us here today.

I talk about his journey with cars within the automotive industry,

and then also just talking cars, as we love to do here on Life West Cars.

So, I think Mike will talk about the process of creating this road rally so analog.

I mean, it goes with the nature of driving stick.

Brendan had a printed set of directions, so no GPS.

Brendan was the navigator, I was the driver.

The analog experience.

Absolutely, yeah.

So, we're excited for this to be a fun follow-up to our experience that day,

and also to learn more about from Mike and his story,

and what inspired the road rally and his work in the car world.

So, Mike is going to join us here, so I'm going to go ahead and we'll get started.

All right, welcome, Mike, to the Life West Cars podcast.

Mike, how are you doing?

Good to see you guys again.

Great to see you as well, Mike.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

We really appreciate you taking the time to talk cars with us,

as we do here on Life West Cars.

Absolutely, happy to be here.

And I have to add, great shirt, by the way.

Thank you.

Since you haven't mentioned it already, what I'm looking at is a lansia delta

at the girly flying through the air with a shadow underneath it.

Absolutely spectacular.

Oh, I appreciate that, Mike.

Yes, I knew this was the shirt for the conversation today.

It's like the whole lansia family tree.

We got the O37, the Stratus.

So everybody like whipping through the mountain roads.

So that's it's perfect.

Thank you.

Yeah, one.

We always have to rock the car apparel, of course.

It's a prerequisite for like any car nut to have like some some good car

shirts there in the collection.

I want a little Mike shirt from after the rally.

I mean, it just sounds like I have to have that.

But.

I have a couple of shirts for different occasions, both professional

and non-professional, but.

Yeah, collar button down with cars everywhere.

That's that's any setting.

Any.

Oh, I'll have to break out the the Monaco full cuff and collar button

down next time I see you guys, which is it's like a mishmash of vintage

Grand Prix cars and Monaco scenes.

And it's like the most color.

It's like the closest thing you can get to a Hawaiian shirt for cars.

But the most professional like fabric that you can.

It's like the coolest thing.

I wore it to a conference and like met so many people just because of the

just because of the shirt.

And I have to say, also, your your socks at the event that we did.

We're special, too.

I've got a great picture of those now clutch on the left foot, gas on the

right foot. You got it.

First I'd seen that.

So thank you.

Yeah, I'm glad you snapped that pick.

I saw that.

I was like, oh, yeah, he's your prime.

That's the right day for the choice there.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So so, Mike, we were just recapping right before he signed on, you know,

where we met you at the Save the Manuals thing.

And we just absolutely loved it.

Ian and I had such a good time driving the manual cars around all

around the Seacoast, up through Maine, all the back roads.

Like right off the bat, I just wanted to ask you, like,

where did the inspiration from that?

Like, where'd you get that?

Like, why, why did you want to do that?

I mean, we'll talk about a lot of stuff, but that's the first segue into,

like, why exactly that, like the Save the Manuals?

Yeah.

I mean, I've had the Save the Manual magnets and stickers and all that

stuff just kicking around for a long time ever since car and driver

ran that campaign years ago because they were freaked out that

manuals were disappearing and you saw the take rates dropping over the years.

And, you know, so it was immediately a cause that was close to me

because I've always loved driving stick.

And that's, you know, that's a whole conversation onto itself.

But why the rally, I'll tell you what the inspiration was.

It was actually not from cars, but from motorcycles.

I had years ago had a late night out with a couple of friends and co-workers

where we ended up just watching clips of the Dakar rally and, you know,

the guys flying over the dunes in Saudi Arabia on their big bikes.

And I was like, why am I not training and putting my entire life

effort into doing this right now?

And I like resolved at that moment to start training on motorcycles.

I'm like, motorcycles are cheaper than cars, right?

I can race motorcycles.

I've got a scooter.

Why not?

And I actually ended up doing a navigation rally after about six

months of training and I did a navigation rally in the desert in Mexico.

It's called the Sonora Rally.

And it was my introduction to rally navigating and essentially

what a navigation rally is a lot like what you guys saw in our roadbooks.

It was really cool because they they set you loose with these turn by turn

instructions on a motorcycle.

So you actually have a rally.

It's called a rally nav, a rally stand.

And it sits up on your on your above your handlebars, basically.

And they turn you loose into the desert and you follow capheading.

So that's your, you know, your, your direction of orientation.

You know, are you 112 degrees northeast or you whatever?

Interesting.

They set you loose with an amount of time and space and tell you where to go,

basically, but you can easily get lost.

And following those directions on a bike in the middle of nowhere

I'd never been before was an absolute joy.

And I guess one of the most incredible experiences that I've had

in motorsport over my life, it was still very new to me at the time.

So all I want to do is hit all the way points and finish.

And so I I loved it so much that I kind of wanted to bring that to a more

local audience. I mean, I live here in New Hampshire, like you guys.

There's a huge enthusiast community in New England, and I hadn't done

anything quite like that.

And I'm sick of car shows in the sense of just standing around

looking at cars like there's just more to drive them.

You got to drive them.

Yes.

So I wanted to get people together with a variety of vehicles.

And I know that based on my old Craigslist and Facebook search history

looking for the searches of manual transmission cars that you always get

the most absurd and interesting and fun stuff.

So, you know, if you combine all that stuff, you end up putting cool

cars and cool people into new places and actually using your vehicles.

And that was the inspiration behind the the shift rally.

Oh, and I love it.

I very well described and it's true.

Like the car show thing, I completely agree.

I love car shows, but it is you just walk around and you get to talk

with interesting people and see the car.

Sure, sure.

But it's not the same.

Like it's not the same as just driving around, shifting through the gears,

like experiencing the sounds, the smells like driving behind, you know,

an RX 7, for example, that maybe a little lean.

It's like, oh, smell that.

I love that.

The smell of oil making it through the apex seals on a rotary.

Exactly.

A little bit unburnt fuel.

That's right.

Yeah.

Man, yeah.

And, you know, car shows have a funny, you know, soft spot for me

because I still enjoy seeing oddball stuff out there.

And I've been to some incredible car shows.

And, you know, part of it's just the fact that I've gotten a little

jaded over the years.

I don't know about you guys, but I think I've been to so many

of them because that was the only expression of car enthusiasm

for, you know, short of getting involved in motorsports and racing.

You know, if you like cars, what do you do?

You go out and drive your own car by yourself.

Maybe you can find a friend or two every once in a while to go

drive with you or you go to a car show.

And I went to a lot, a ton, hundreds, I mean, hundreds and

hundreds of car shows and, you know, and it just didn't scratch

the edge because I wanted to go fast.

Yeah.

So, you know, at some point, I think you gravitate naturally

towards the track and if you're an enthusiast with sports cars,

particularly, maybe not so much if you're into jeeps or if you're

into trucks, you know, you've got other realms of off-roading

and things like that that you can do.

But, you know, to look at these cars that have, you know,

need these days, you know, a thousand horsepower for some

electric cars and you can't just appreciate them in person.

I drove a Taycan Turbo GT recently that's zero to

61.9 seconds.

Like, looking at it, you don't know.

Yeah, you don't know.

But when you do it, it's crazy.

And car shows can't give you that level of appreciation.

So, I mean, at some point, you just gravitate to more when you

get so obsessed with this hobby, you know?

Oh, yeah.

Well, that's just like, I say it all the time.

They're meant to be driven.

Like, looking at them is one thing, but they're meant to be

on the road and be driving.

They're not supposed to just be like a museum piece, right?

I mean, maybe, you know, like, I mean, I don't really

have any desire to drive a Ford Model T, but you get what I'm saying.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I mean, yeah, I think, Mike, I agree that, like, for me,

as a car enthusiast, like, early on, car shows were the only

entrance into, like, the hobby.

Exactly.

It's like, I grew up in a family who, like, I'm still, like,

the only car person.

Like, my family has no idea where this came from.

But so, like, my parents would, like, very kindly take me to

shows and all of that.

And so, like, I went through that phase of, like, I got to go to

every show and take every picture and all of that.

So that's why I was so struck by the rally with, like,

the eclectic mix that we had, that you curated there,

just, like, by virtue of, like, we had everything from a brand

new BMW Z4 and then everything from, and then a Ford Focus

that showed up.

And I just love the idea that, like, hey.

280Z, right.

Cool, 911s, yeah, such a great mix.

And yeah, just the sense that, like, hey, it's got a stick.

You're welcome, like, jump in.

We're all here for the enthusiasm of the drive.

Yeah, and there's a lot of personalities that vary, too,

with the different types of cars, right?

I mean, different types of people are attracted to different

cars for, like, clothes or a lot of things that you're

passionate about.

I think people like to express their personality through what

they drive, at least if you are a car enthusiast, then

that's a critical part of, you know, your expression.

So, you know, it's just kind of fun to think about that

when you see people, when you see somebody driving a TR7,

you know, when's the last time you've seen one of those on

the road?

That takes a special type of person to drive a TR7 out on a

rally and, you know, hit some back roads and trust that

that thing's going to make it back home.

Right.

That's a funny dude, you know?

Like, that's great.

Yeah, definitely spoken.

You know those triumphs.

Oh, yeah.

Major props to that guy, like, and just like, yeah,

they're back again.

It was all good.

That's been my experience with MGs.

But we didn't have any MGs on that.

Not yet.

Yeah, yeah, yes, not yet.

Yes, you're better, hopefully.

Oh, yeah.

Well, now I have to ask, like, so we talked a little bit

about the rally, but I'm really curious, like, we didn't

talk about your first time with manual car.

Like, was it when you were, like, getting your license

when you were 16?

But did you just, like, I have to have a manual?

Like, when was the first time that you were, like, in

a car, driving manual and you're like, oh, my God,

like, this is what it's all about.

Yeah, it's funny.

That brings back a flood of memories for me, honestly.

And it really stuck with me over the years, like, how

much it meant to me to drive stick really early on.

It was fun because I was a kid with both my parents

had stick shift cars growing up.

They didn't have automatic.

So, you know, and they were Nissan's.

My dad had a Maxima.

My mom had an Ultima.

You know, these weren't race cars, but, you know,

but they always had stick shifts and they were, you know,

a product of two accountants.

I think it was probably just a financial.

This why buy an automatic?

They're more expensive back then.

They were, right?

They were more expensive.

So if we can drive a stick shift, we save a thousand

bucks on the sticker price sold.

But I remember shifting my dad's car with my left

hand, you know, probably seven, eight years

old, you know, and you tell me, you know,

this is the next year, this is the next year.

And, you know, he'd shift with me and then

and I loved it.

I love that there's some finesse.

I love the feeling of the mechanics under under my hand.

I love listening to the engine.

And at some point I, you know, he'd let me do it by

myself without his assistance.

And I'd watch his foot to know when the clutch was in,

because that's the only time it's safe to shift.

Then I'd do it in the dark when we come back

from hockey practice and and and I just listen

to the motor and listen to the revs fall.

No, that's the time to shift for him.

So I started, I guess, in a sense, really, really early.

And I knew that it wasn't even a question.

My first car was going to be a a stick ship car.

And I wanted something old school and that sounded good.

I was all about the emotions of the of cars at the time.

And I did end up getting my license with a stick

ship car. My mom had a Nissan Sentra, then an SE.

Not the SER.

Yeah, but it was a man.

I'll tell you that you can still chirp there.

Oh, yeah, you can find some fun.

But yeah, it was it was a blast.

And it really was it was a special special era that all stuck with me.

I still have memories of when I was a kid, like going out to dinner.

And if there was like a booth with your little metal bar by your feet,

I put my feet on the bar and imagine I was shifting

with my clutch foot and hitting the gas.

And you know, it just like kind of everything was about was about this for me.

And yeah, it was the sound, the feel and the skill that's involved with it, too.

You know, it's like to me, it was like playing an instrument.

Yeah, you can do it really well and you can be, you know,

you can refine your technique and actually takes you and puts you in that place

where your brain slows down and you kind of reach that flow state a little bit.

It's a nice, calm place to be in a car

focusing just on the driving for me at least.

Absolutely. I completely agree.

All well said, you and I have some similarities.

I did the same thing with my brother and father.

Like we had a 98 Jetta that was like the car, you know, that a little five speed.

And I remember my brother would be like talking on a cell phone driving

because I'm four years younger than him.

And he'd be like, you know, to fit the flip phone down.

Be like, second, be like, all right, shift to the second, you know, third.

Right. It's just the best.

Like I learned to drive manual on my dad's 47 willies in his.

He put it in four low when I was like five or six.

And he'd be like, I mean, I'm I mean, you've met me.

I'm six, six and like 300 pounds.

So even as a kid, I was very lanky and tall.

So he'd just put me in the Jeep and be like, all right, like just go slow

first year, get a feel for it.

You know, I love that unsynchronized transmissions.

Oh, just just just the most mechanical beast.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

It did nothing like it.

And then I mean, you know, in a graduated from there, like I remember driving

we had a 67 C 30 Chevy dump truck dumpy.

I drive that to high school once in a while.

I mean, that and I told everyone, I was like, you want to learn how to drive manual?

I'll teach you on this.

If you can drive this with no power brakes, no power steering.

Yeah. Yeah, you can drive anything.

Yeah, we'll just. Yeah, exactly.

I love that he trusted you to just let you loose with the thing

because you can't break one of those, right?

I mean, it's really tough.

You're not going to fry the clutch, not with the power that it's got.

No, no, I mean, you're talking like a 50 horsepower four cylinder or something,

you know, you just be crawling through the woods with it.

It's like, yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, great, great.

Oh, you know, the closest thing that I've driven like that,

I feel like you guys might appreciate this, you know,

it was my first job before I got a professional job out of college.

I graduated in 2009, kind of in the recession.

I really wanted to work in cars and motorsports,

but I didn't quite know how to do it yet.

I got I was interning at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut,

at the racetrack for free.

But the job that I had was working at UPS during the week in Hartford.

And I was actually driving the UPS trucks

like during that that basically lead up to the holiday season.

And I had those four speed, long throw, you know,

like a three foot long gear stick, right?

And and and the thing had that had that feel of like an old school Jeep

where you could if you just got the revs right,

you could shift it without the clutch from second to third to third to fourth.

And man, it was fun because you could have this long run up to the highway

and you could take this like entrance ramp with 50 other UPS trucks left at the same time.

And everybody's trying to get up to 60 miles an hour in like 35 seconds,

which is as fast as it would go.

And, you know, and if you got your shifting right,

you could just, you know, close the gap between you and another truck.

And it was like a little UPS truck race every day.

Getting on the I-84 and I-91 and oh, God, it was great.

It just just, you know, perfect throttle matching, no clutching.

That is the saddest thing that's incredible.

That's the other thing I want to say.

Just like that Jeep, I bet.

Oh, yeah. Well, that's just the satisfaction that comes when you hit,

like when going back to what you said about like being in tune with the car

and feeling it like that satisfaction when you're driving a manual car

and you're getting those butter shifts in your rev matching.

If you want, you're just going right.

Like you can't beat that feeling is just intoxicating.

It's good.

Oh, it's the best.

And if people are listening to this, that haven't done this before,

it haven't driven me and we're thinking about it like it takes time,

but it is worth it.

And I know it probably sounds corny and like talking about flow state

and all and the most satisfying Nirvana.

But like it is so great to be in that moment.

So immersed in that moment.

I would recommend anybody, you know, hasn't driven a stick to give it a try

because you got nothing to lose, right?

Like there's companies out there that'll even help you do it.

If you're really interested and don't have your own car and you want to practice.

I mean, it's so fun.

I mean, you might use a clutch, but hey, that can be replaced, you know?

That's just as long as you're safe.

Anything on the car can be fixed.

Cody, who you guys know from from tree line where we were getting together.

He's got over 100,000 miles on his Mini Cooper and he's taught.

I mean, I'd probably close to 100 people how to drive stick on that car.

I mean, it's just amazing.

And he's on the original clutch.

Oh, that's a guess of that end.

I think it's a bit of an overblown fear.

And maybe maybe these days, because I think the clutches are pretty forgiving.

I'm modern German stuff, particularly very forgiving.

Miata's are really forgiving.

Anything that's lightweight without a whole lot of mass to pull around

and a motor without a ton of torque, a lot of leeway with them.

I always go back to my sister when she was first learning to drive that Jetta.

She got a little flustered, revved it up to about 5000 RPM,

stopped with the e-brake on in reverse and dropped the clutch

and backed into a lady behind her.

And at the same time, ruin the clutch and rip like all the teeth

off the reverse gear at the same time.

So I remember my brother would be driving it before we had the money

to fix the transmission and he would try to park.

So you'd have to reverse it.

But if you put it in reverse, you'd hear just.

And it would back up a couple feet and then go, go, go, go, go, go.

Pain.

All right.

Message, message received.

So it is possible to have a single instance of destruction.

Yeah, don't rev it up to about 5000 with the e-brake on, dump the clutch.

Just, you know, don't maybe do that.

Yeah. Oh, and there's always, there's always the possibility

to for the experienced driver to do what's called the money shift.

Right.

You guys haven't been talking about.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that's, that's the big, the big fear when, you know, if you're on track

or driving hard and, you know, you drop from fourth to second by accident

or, you know, or you're trying, trying to go from, let's say, third to fourth,

but you grab second is really the problem.

Right. And then you just mechanically, mechanically doomed at that point.

Right.

But you force over the engine and it can't and you don't catch it in time.

You don't put the clutch back in.

You spend, you know, eight, nine thousand RPM.

Then you're not talking about clutch problems.

You're talking about much more difficult engine problems.

But, and it's dangerous too, right?

Because you lock up the wheels and if it's wet, you can spin.

But for the most part, I mean, that's, that's what practice helps with.

Right. So that, you know, you know the feeling, you know your car

and also you're not rushing shifts either.

It's not like, you know, fast and the furious where you're trying

to cram 18 gear shifts into your zero to 60 run.

It's just like, you know, nice and slow, slow, slow as fast.

That's right. Slow as fast as we should be living our lives a quarter mile at a time.

I think you should be actually, just clarify.

There's still still many good lessons from, from those, from those films.

Yeah. No, I did that once in my 2006 GTO.

I went down to second and I was not trying to get the second.

And thank God that motor is new and I've had rev limiters built into the computer

because I was not happy about that.

I was freaking out.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, it can be catastrophic.

But oh, yeah, yeah, it is.

I hope this isn't a premonition talking about this for any of us.

It's just like one of those things you have to mention.

It's a PSA, right? Right. There you go. Yes.

You made me think of like when I actually my first time driving a stick

was with Brendan in an O4 yellow beetle convertible.

And I was doing the whole need for speed, like just bashing the shifts off.

Like, of course, trying to learn and and I never forget that.

Brendan was like, no, you just need like just the two fingers.

Just pull, pull the shift back.

It's all it's all you need. So yeah, it's funny.

I know, I know the enthusiasm.

I've seen it with many people and I've tried to teach

stick shift with that events and all sorts of other stuff.

The first couple of times, you know, when you feel like you're getting it,

your mentality changes to like, I'm Michael Schumacher

and I'm going to slam it in a second and get out of here.

And then it's painful to witness it because it's like it's so aggressive

and and like clunky.

And I think the worst part isn't necessarily the physical action.

It's like the experienced person witnessing the person who's new,

like you are at the time, like new to learning it.

Think that they're acing it while doing something so potentially

catastrophic, potentially catastrophic.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great story.

I actually just love this visual of you guys flying around

in a in a yellow beetle convertible field, which means that's the one

with the flower base among the dashboard.

We had a cigar.

I'll never forget a conversation I had with my boss at the time.

I used to work for BW America in the early 2010s.

At the time, we were nearly getting ready to launch the next generation beetle.

Oh, yeah. My boss at the time had said, you know, I think what we need to do

to build the masculine audience for this car is just replace

the flower base with a shotgun rack.

We need to go the opposite direction.

Forget it.

Like that's because they really were aiming for like a 50 50 mix of buyers

on the next generation beetle.

And the first one is like 80 percent female or something.

I don't remember the actual stat, but you know, I was like, yeah, that'll do it.

You know, that'll send you in the other direction.

I think not to this day.

That's my aunt's favorite car.

She ever had was a two thousand and four and three, three or four

pea green bug green.

Yeah, that kind of resonated with just made you smile.

It was a really fun, fun car to look at punch buggy.

That was an era and when stuff really had a lot of personality and charm.

So what do what do we have in the garage now, Mike?

What do we what do we drive in these days?

Well, you guys saw the mini that I've got.

It's a yes, five Clubman, the Clubman Cooper works.

So that's the extended wheelbase mini Cooper from like the early 2010s.

So it's a nice light car.

It's got the suicide door on the passenger side so I can load the baby

in and out of the back without breaking my back too, too much.

Nice.

And it's like the ultimate dad wagon right there.

So thank you.

Yeah, it was it was strategically selected when baby was on the way.

I wanted to buy a car for cash because babies are expensive.

It wasn't going to go out and finance something.

These were, you know, pretty cheap at the time.

All things considered, it was about 15 grand.

I had 60,000 miles on it.

I needed a car that was light that could pull track duty

without tearing up consumables like brakes and tires.

Fuel efficient for daily use had to be a stick, obviously,

has to look somewhat decent and had room for that room for the baby in the back.

So, you know, there we go, the dad wagon.

It I mean, it is it is a sweet ride, Mike.

I mean, with the black, with the red top, is that that's all factory?

Like, yeah, that spec is very nice.

I was lucky to find it.

I mean, I did that traditional search.

Like, we talked about find the manual transmission cars up up the price

these days as you have to manual transmission cars up to 25 or 30 grand.

See what comes up in a 500 mile radius.

I'm willing to go, you know, willing to go look and this car showed up in Pennsylvania

at the time we were rocking just one car.

It's just my wife's car and I knew that we were going to need to

with our work schedules and with the baby coming.

So I found this thing.

I went and picked it up down there and drove it home.

Really rolled the dice because it was, you know, it all happened very quickly.

Yeah. Luckily, it was in pretty good shape.

And I feel like the old adage, you know, you can't let him sit, right?

You got to drive him.

It was really true for this one as well, because it had sat at the dealer lot

for like, I don't know, eight months or something.

So it helped me negotiate.

I couldn't believe it sat so long.

And of course, you know, the brakes were squealing and there's, you know,

it sounds like wheel bearings, but it's actually just the rust on the rotors.

And, you know, when you turn the wheel, the left or right this.

But after as soon as I drove it home and drove it for a week,

like everything about the car that had rattled or squeaked or chafed or whatever

just magically disappeared.

And the car came back to life and did some maintenance stuff on it as well,

just to make sure that it was going to be a good spec and safe.

And yeah, and here it is.

And it's happy with its new owner.

You've saved it exactly.

Brought it back.

It's not a rocket ship on a track, but it's still can.

It's can still do, you know, four sessions of 20 or 30 minutes of lapping

without really getting any brake fade on the factory brakes.

So I'm psyched with that.

It's never going to be a lap time record holder.

But, you know, at least until it gets a limited slip, then that's a game changer.

Yeah, I mean, one of my buddies always said that it's

way more fun to drive a slower car as fast as you possibly can

than it is to drive like the most high performance car fast.

So yeah, I would say a mini on the track would just be so much fun.

Just so much fun.

It's definitely a good time.

I don't know what you what do you think about that quote for more fun

to drive a slow car faster than a fast car slow?

I mean, I look at it like it's it's relative to the situation.

So if you're on a track, I say that does not count, right?

Because you're actually on a place that you can go as fast

as you possibly can within safety reasons, right?

It's designed to see how fast can you go?

But he means and I think really it's more about like out and about public roads,

etc., etc.

Like there are plenty of back roads around where I live, where, you know,

Ian is where you are, that you can really have a fun spirited drive.

But if you're doing it in a McLaren, right?

Like it's like, yeah, this is like I could do this at the 150 miles per hour.

But, you know, I'm going to do it, you know, a 98 sob, 9000, right?

And I can go you're you're so right.

Yeah, the context is everything, isn't it?

Because yeah, I never really if you think about that quote

that has been around for a long time and, you know, in the automotive business,

like I always joked that I was like, you know, it's more fun to drive,

you know, a slow car, fast and fast car slow,

but it's definitely more fun to drive a fast car fast.

That's always the reference, yeah.

But with the caveat that you're on public roads, obviously,

like I'm on board with this like a hundred percent, you know,

because you can't you can't drive anything fast on public roads.

Not really, you know, I mean, not without taking unnecessary risks.

And, you know, we're all teenagers, young and dumb once.

But, you know, as as adults would, you know, just maybe working

on a sliver of wisdom these days after all these years.

I mean, the one thing that I realize is like, take it to the track.

Just, you know, take it to the track if you can.

And that's where you can really have some fun and open it up.

And and it is, you know, it's a fun car.

But, man, I'd still rather drive a fast car on the track.

But these days, dad, dad life takes priority.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I want to go back and just say so.

So your wife's car has to be for manual rights.

And with the child, it's got to be, I'm thinking like an eighty nine

or ninety Dodge caravan with the three four speed.

Oh, man, wouldn't that be awesome?

Fake wood siding, you know, manual minivan.

Oh, would Honda would kill it if they didn't ought to see with a six speed.

You know, I think that would be there. Yeah.

There's an instant collectible.

Yeah. The classic hundred percent.

Yeah. A manual minivan like the.

Who was I talking to recently?

I had the Mazda MPV.

Oh, they had the five.

What was it? Yeah.

The five is the.

Yeah. It was it. It was a five.

Mazda and maybe it was before that was the MPV.

There's like, oh, yes, yeah.

Both of those were available in the in a stick.

That's what that's what I was thinking.

It was actually the five that you mentioned that both of those,

you could get a second.

It was like a really tiny miniature minivan.

And I mean, it was that would be the right car.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like like a Honda fit that grew, you know,

an extra, an extra couple of feet off the back, basically.

It had a super sized fit.

But yeah.

So I mean, my wife's had some really cool cars over the years.

And she had an XTERRA, which was her first car.

I love the love the agricultural nature of an XTERRA.

She had an R 32 with the VR six, like the 2004 Volkswagen R 32.

And the six manual.

That was speaking my language.

Oh, yeah.

It was the Volkswagen.

I did teach her how to drive stick on a on a Mini Cooper,

similar to the one I have now at the time.

It was a 2013 Mini Cooper two door.

And she learned how to drive that with a little side on the back

that said, please be patient, learn to drive stick, you know,

and gave her the confidence needed to hold

hold people up at intersection for a little bit and keep them at bay.

But yeah, that was so what else what else we've had.

Well, we've had one car together for a while.

We actually had a European BMW, the one series.

So it was the one twenty eight hatchback, the five door.

We lived it broad for a little while.

Well, that was an unbelievable car, kind of the best do it all

vehicle that you could have.

I mean, I wish I could have gotten it here.

It's the one thing that I would love to get.

And if you could get the one thirty five hatchback four door

in the US, that car is like the do it all.

Enthusiast car rights, rear wheel drive, stick ship, turbo six in line six

with, you know, great handling chassis.

So we had the diesel, not so much of a, you know, rocket ship,

but practical for European roads, awesome road trip car,

still a lot of fun to drive and the six speed.

So we shared that one for a few years when we lived abroad.

And that's a great topic.

Also, guys, the way that people drive in Europe versus the way

they drive in the US, maybe another day.

Oh, yes, that would be a good one to talk about.

Everyone in the Autobahn. Yeah.

It's wonderful.

It's such a breath of fresh air. Yeah.

But what about you guys?

I don't know what else.

What other cars are in in your families in the stable?

Yeah. Well, Ian, you go, you take this one.

Yeah. So right now I, so I have the 2019 golf all track

that it brought to the rally.

So that was a car that I bought brand new with the knowledge

that it was the last year that they were making them.

It was the last year for the all track.

So I knew it was going away.

I'm like, OK, I got to go go for it prior to that.

I'd had a 2011 tornado red GTI that I loved,

but it was just getting to be a bit of a handful.

And I decided, you know what, all track, that's the right car.

So I've had the all track since brand new.

It's six speed manual and I love it.

I mean, it's it's like the adventure wagon.

So it takes me to the mountains, takes me skiing everywhere.

I need to go.

And then the fun, the fun rig, I would say,

is the is my 66 Mustang convertible.

So that is the. Oh, wow.

Yes. And so it's a car that actually Brendan helped me find.

Brendan knew the prior owner connected with me.

Connected, that's like four years ago.

And I finally just I went for it after much,

much insisting and prodding from Brendan to.

It was a good deal.

If you go buy it, I will, man.

Yes. Now, is that a 289 in that 289 V8?

It is sounding motor.

What a noise. Oh, it's amazing.

And yeah, the last owner put some

Magnaflow pipes on it.

So like some glass packs like the thing sounds great.

So it is it's hooked up to the C4 automatic,

which is the reason it couldn't couldn't participate in the rally.

So but it's still such a fun beach cruiser.

I take it on all the like the two lane roads around here.

Top down always as the prior owner said to me.

So it's an amazing car.

It's an incredible condition.

And I just I love the silver.

It's over over black.

So I love it.

I've wanted one since I was five years old.

I always had a vision of like a classic Mustang.

Yeah, when it came up for sales, like, oh, my God, like you have to buy this.

Like you've always wanted one.

It's like the stars are aligning.

You were the right influence.

Good thing you were there for that.

Yeah, because I'm sure there's no regrets now having that.

No, I know it's brought so much value.

You've got to come up and value.

Yeah. Yeah.

And as I've said, it's like it's all smiles per gallon with that car.

It's just like everybody gives me thumbs up and they've got a story

they want to share.

They shout across like two lanes of highway to like, what year is it?

Like they're just like, it's yeah, the number of people I get

stopping me and like, I love it.

I'm here for all of it because I'm just I'm just so happy I can own a car

that it sparks so much reaction and excitement and joy and joy.

Right. Like that's the best when there's a smile.

Yeah. And do you think about something like that?

It's been through what are we looking at now?

You know, almost 80.

It's this 40, 60 years.

Yeah, 60 year old.

But almost 60 years we're talking about that has been through, you know,

more than any of us have, you know, in terms of lifespan.

Yeah, that's like it's so well said, Mike, just like because I always

like get in and honor like the history that this car has.

And you said like it's seen way more than I have because it's like

it's almost twice as old as I am.

So it's just it's really cool to sit back and be like, wow, now I get

to like be a steward of the car in this season of my wife and get to

continue the legacy of this car.

Oh, it's wonderful.

Yeah, that's so great to hear.

And the steward of the of the of the car and end of the culture, right?

I mean, it's just a really great word to describe that, honestly,

because it's it's going to be someone else's one day, you know,

like hopefully have a very, very long time as long as, you know,

as long as it keeps bringing you joy and you've got a place to keep it.

But, you know, this type of thing should be around forever.

And it's like it's like when you go and walk into an old house

and you think about all the families and all the lives that have

passed through there, and maybe some people don't think about it,

but or choose or prefer not to think about it.

But I think that's special.

You know, that's character.

It's what's missing in a lot of new cars today.

The fact, well, obviously, new car comes with

so many other stories and technology and everything else.

But character, you can only build with time, right?

And it's it's really special that that you've got something vintage

and in the stable, I I wish I had a good garage to do the same.

Oh, yeah, you've got to have a garage.

You've got to have a garage. That's that's a great segue.

Drive in the knife in, Brendan.

Well, that's just like in all good times.

My place was like when I when I was looking at buying a house,

like I saw this place for sale.

It's a giant garage, 44 by 36 with 17 foot ceilings.

And I saw the garage and I was with my dad's like, I want it.

Like, I'm going to buy it.

He's like, we haven't even seen like the living space.

It's attached to like, I don't care.

Like, oh, I'll put a cot in the corner.

I want the garage.

So that's that's the dream, right?

From all of us back at high school or college, it was like,

I just need a big garage with a bed in the corner or a roof or a room above.

Like, if it's like, I'm like, I'm at a mini fridge.

That's it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Yeah, but it's perfect, too, for like my dad and I just give you a real brief on us.

We didn't talk too much about it.

The rally is we were both crazy car people, obviously.

I got it all from my dad and we basically like restore cars in our spare time.

Like right now, the big project is a 69 Camaro SS

that my dad bought in 2006 at Carlisle.

Pennsylvania. Nice one.

Auction, Le Mans Blue, you know, White Hockey Stripes.

Oh, it's just it's gorgeous, gorgeous car.

Sure. So we're restoring them.

My dad's doing all the welding bodywork.

I can't stand bodywork, but I'll do motor differential transmission,

you know, put the interior together, any of that stuff.

But I just I do not like bodywork.

Sign me up as a helping hand on that project.

I'd love to come up and see it and turn a wrench with you.

Oh, any time you're up near Plainfield, Lebanon, Hanover area,

you just I'll make sure you get my phone number.

But I might come up just for that reason.

That sounds awesome.

Oh, yeah. Dad and I are we we have between my dad, brother and I,

we have 18 cars.

So we're we're really big into the car thing.

So did you say 18?

He said 18.

Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. So like the fun ones like obviously got the I thought I was

an addict, man, for you.

But it's another level.

Oh, no, we are.

And I mean, when this this will actually be a fun exercise with

Mike, I'll list some of the cars and then you'll be able to draw

some conclusions about what our flavor of cars are we like.

So like I love my ski.

So for my cars, like the one I would have brought to the rally

is a 2006 GTO that I've got.

It's black with a red interior.

And then I have a 66 GTO convertible I bought from the original owner

original owner's family about 10 years ago.

Yeah. And then I've got a 65 Buick Skylark Grand Sport convertible

I just bought. Heck yeah.

That's been a world traveling car, actually.

And there's a podcast episode about that.

And then I've got my 22 Silverado is my everyday truck,

my three quarter ton Chevy.

I used to tow my trailer and dump trailer equipment stuff,

move cars around.

Um, what else?

Oh, my 04 Suburban three quarter ton with an 8.1 liter V8.

That 496 YGM ever quit making that big block.

Oh, my God.

That's my favorite fuel.

Just sips it so gently.

You know what's amazing is it's like the same mileage as my new truck.

Like it's just amazing.

Really, like the Suburban is 12 miles per gallon.

Whether you're towing a trailer or you're just going down the highway, it's 12.

My truck gets like 13, 14, maybe.

So I mean, what the heck?

But hey, it's the weight, I think it's got to be the weight.

Yeah. And you know, it's it's an 04 Suburban.

So it's before all like the nanny devices, right?

Like traction controls, stability control.

So you can light up those back tires like nothing on that thing.

It's amazing. You just met it and it will just lock them both.

My truck will not do it.

It's got, you know, torque management and traction controls, stability control.

Right. It slaps your wrist every time you.

Oh, it just drives me more than a tell on the throttle.

Yeah. Yeah.

And then then my dad's like, yeah, we get the Camaro.

And then he's got his 46 or seven Willys G.

And then he's got an 01 Corvette.

Wow. 67 Impala SS 427.

That's a four speed.

You have an Americana Museum of automotive history.

I mean, then it's incredible.

A 70 C 10 pickup that he just bought a couple of years ago.

That's beautiful.

And we name all the cars to the pickups.

Winston, the Impala Ruby, the Corvette Spike.

And then he's got a I was blown away when he said he ordered it.

I thought he was lying.

He's like, I ordered a CT 5V black wing with a six speed.

Oh, man, that's the one.

I was like, no, he didn't.

He's just like, yeah, we went and picked it up as a 2023.

So that's got 6,000 miles on it, sitting in his garage.

That's a wicked beast.

I love that car.

Oral beater.

I can't believe that car is like the most refined,

smoothest car to drive if you're not beaten on it.

And then just in an instant, it turns into the most ruthless.

Like a hundred percent.

Just it's a jackal and hide car.

Oh, it is so good.

It's it's it's very much like E39 and five

vibes until you realize that it's twice the power.

In a lot less cost.

So yeah, maybe not twice, but it's getting real close.

And it's and it's so so like warp speed fast.

It's insane.

And a great chassis.

I mean, everything that that Cadillac's put on the the modern

chassis, the derivative anything derived off the the Camaro

Alfa platform is just the best.

So yeah, really nice, nice, nice selection with that one.

It's very cool.

When my dad, like when they came out with like this is the last gas

powered VA manual car that Cadillac is going to do.

Like he was like, I have to have one.

I have to have it.

So yeah, that's that's been fun.

So yeah, that's really cool.

I loved your Pontiacs at the beginning, too.

I mean, Pontiac rest in peace.

But I think there was there are so many great cars in that brand over the years.

And I think that oh, six GTO that you have as a real special car,

a total sleeper that just looks like, you know, a long, sleek,

rounded two door coupe from back in the day.

And then it's just got that big six point two liter V8, right?

Six oh, LS two, six oh, LS two.

Sorry, that's right.

I knew there was a two somewhere six, six later to yeah.

OK, right, right, right.

But that's I mean, that's a hell of a car.

Yeah, that I bought it twice.

Yeah, it's great. And a big heavy clutch.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

But nothing that's so or hollows clutch that that's really clutched

that full mechanical that yeah, I'll tell you, I say it

that, you know, at times like I have to watch myself because I

swap driving the cars so much that it's like it's like

relearning every time you get in a short. Yeah.

So that's we but yeah, we like cars, obviously.

So that's an understatement.

Big understatement.

Yeah, my brother is he is he's not as deep into it as my dad

and I but he loves Jeeps.

So he's got a 49 willies Jeep that he just got sent out to him in Montana.

He lives in Montana that he built with my dad.

And then he's got a 66 CJ five that he's restoring.

So he likes those old willies.

So yeah, yeah.

The there's a common thread through like almost every vehicle

that we've talked about.

And that's like there's so little automation and digitization.

You know, like everything is is like is organic high fidelity.

It's a very like pure experience of driving any of these cars

that we've talked about today.

And like, I love that that they're still on the road.

And you're still able to experience that because, you know,

the more we progress into the modern era,

the more you lose that that feeling of of authenticity

and mechanical engagement, you know, and it's it's so and like

everything from the Jeeps to the old school American iron,

you know, and even your all track, right?

Like there's there's real character in all of these cars

because it takes some skill and finesse and a degree of passion

to make them go anywhere.

And they're all different, right?

So there's the character that we were talking about.

And I think that's just that's kind of the spirit of this hobby

that I like so much.

Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful, so well said, beautiful and well said.

Mike, that makes for a nice segue of sorts

like what you were just touching upon.

As far as I know, you're you've just started Shift Project

New England speaking to that sentiment.

Perfect, you know, just going to bring it up.

Perfect. There you go.

So yeah, we're curious about that project, the future of that.

And you've spoken so much to like, again, the the analog,

the experience just being in tune with the mechanicals of it all.

So yeah, we're curious about that.

Yeah, I am too, because I'm not exactly sure which direction

it's going to go yet.

But the idea behind it is is that analog spirit

in the sense of being involved in something, right?

It doesn't mean that there's no place for for technology.

It just means that doing doing real things with with cars is is the goal.

And I think the

the project right now is consisted of building these rallies.

So we want to do more rallies.

I hope people will find it organically and and that it takes on

a life of its own and and that people like you guys are interested

in and helping out and keeping these conversations going at this point.

But I hope that people jump on and want to do some of these rallies

in other places and then perhaps we can build a community that gets excited

to do things like track days, maybe just with the manual cars at first.

But hopefully over time, we can do things like like rentals.

I'd love to be able to do stick shift driving lessons and rental cars

on stick shift cars. Oh, yeah.

I think that'd be a lot of fun.

I've done some rental stuff in the past and had some success with that,

renting convertibles along the beach.

And I think that we could do something along those lines

and and then taking it a step further, looking into building this

into a business that might involve some motor sports simulators and things

like that, that that help people kind of get a feel for what it's like

to drive cars on track, drive cars fast and really experience

the performance potential of lots of vehicles.

And, you know, maybe that's not the best place to learn about driving

stick shift, but at that point, you can still, you know, really experience

what full immersion in a vehicle's potential is, which is something

that's exciting, I think, to all of us.

So that's another angle that I've been thinking about.

How do we give people some excitement behind the wheel

in a way that makes it more accessible and affordable and year round, right?

We've only got six months to enjoy this stuff in the in the part of the country.

So yeah, what are we doing?

When are we moving to like New Mexico or something?

Let's group by a house down there for, you know, in the canyons.

It's right on the on Canyon Road.

Yeah, whatever is close to a race track, like, let's make it happen.

And that's the other thing you'd mention, too, is like even doing

like group rental race days, too, like, you know.

Yeah, I think there's there's some cool tracks that we have.

We're really lucky in New England, actually, to have places

like Lime Rock and the Club Motorsport here in New Hampshire.

There's Canaan up by you guys near Dartmouth.

It's Canaan Motor Club.

We've got Thompson and Palmer, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, of course,

for the oval stuff and the infield road course.

There's just so many opportunities to get your car on track,

whatever type of car it is, or motorcycle for guys that are driving

on two wheels, like there's plenty of track days for them, too.

So we're really fortunate here, the downside is the weather.

So I hope that we can figure out a way to build this community

into something that has, you know, a year round, a year round

conversation and year round activities.

You know, if there's a virtual component to that with Sims, that's fun.

And if not, then maybe we can do some winter driving activities,

you know, like Team O'Neill or do our own events somewhere else.

Yeah, let's let's go on and we'll just play our road course out of it.

And we just do ourselves a little rally, a winter rally.

I mean, I feel like Ian in the all track just sliding around corner three.

Oh, absolutely. Just rip it drifting through.

I just want to see all four. I want to see it too. Definitely.

Because it's rain. It's like snow tires. Oh, heck, yeah.

I mean, because right like as enthusiasts, like we all have like the winter.

Well, a lot of us have the winter car.

And so it's like, so yeah, let's celebrate that too.

Like get those cars out, have some fun with them. Yeah, definitely.

And it's the best time for sliding stuff around safely as long as you as long as

there's nothing to hit. And you've got permission.

Yeah, built in. Yeah, hopefully there's no curbs hiding under those.

Oh, yeah, watch the parking lots. Yeah, that's right.

You gotta be careful and watch the park stuff. Ask me how I know.

Yeah, on the shift project, like it's just I'm so happy that someone is taking the

initiative to do something like that, because I mean, even you touched on it,

Mike, like it is difficult how to market something like that or how to get the

word out. Like I've actually found it kind of difficult to really connect with

the car community unless you go to a massive car show or something like

that. Yeah, just people actually looking for like, Hey, I want to be part

of a manual road rallyer. I want to learn how to drive manual.

Like there's just really isn't much of that out there that's just easy to find.

So so the more we can talk about it, the more that we can promote it,

the more that we can get more people like you and like you and I on board

with it, like it will, I believe it will take off.

And I think there's something that's having there's a bit of a moment

right now around motorsports in America.

And I think that's exciting for me, a hearing young kids talk about F1,

right, in the new F1 movie that just came out.

I mean, there was the movie Grant Turismo a couple of years ago.

We're getting more good motorsport and car culture

stuff to keep us, you know, to keep us excited and to bring new people

into this, into the sport, into the hobby, into the community, most importantly.

And I think I think it's a good time to just like

let something natural happen in our area, right?

In this community and build and build it without trying to force it.

That's why I'm not trying to push this down anyone's throat and say,

you have to come and learn how to drive a stick to be with it.

No, it's bigger than that, right?

Like in the sense that it's called the shift project,

but it's also about just incorporating anybody that loves cars

into the space so that we can have these conversations and do these events

and, you know, F1 watch parties and, you know, in movie screenings

and drives in all over New England and just turning this into a place

where we have a great maybe even a marketplace of cars

that's all curated with the type of stuff that's fun.

But it needs to happen organically

and I want the community to kind of lead it.

So we're listening to feedback already from people from the rally

of their first rally.

We want to, you know, we want to improve that going forward.

So the experience is more inviting for everybody.

We can run with the ideas that we get and, you know,

with the idea that it will, you know, it'll happen over time

and will be patient while it happens and just enjoy it.

Yes. I mean, that's the most I can hope for it, too.

I mean, what you're doing, shift project, that is the dream.

That's, you know, I wish I hope it takes off so I can quit my day job

and just work with you on that full time.

I would love. Yeah.

And that's that that can be the goal all around that, huh?

Yeah. I mean, it's like it's so much about like what we you can capture

so well, like with like what we do here, lifeless cars,

like celebrating the culture and the life that we share with the cars

and just letting and just how much of that like connection we share,

whether people realize it or not,

particularly for people who within the hobby, within, you know,

being enthusiasts or even larger than that, like people who just like

building that greater appreciation for the cars that we share

in our in our lives because they are so ever present and like,

let's celebrate that. Yeah.

There's I knew right away when you when you told me the name of it,

what you were going for.

And I think it's it's it's perfect.

And I'm so glad that that you guys are building this

and and having conversations with people that are excited to,

you know, share their stories and their memories that, you know,

in this in this country specifically, there's so many

because we've literally built our country around cars.

So, you know, a place to showcase that is is wonderful, especially,

you know, in this in this local this local area in New England.

I'm grateful to I met you guys at the rally.

And I think that you're on to an awesome track here to meet people

and hear some really fun and exciting

stories about their their history with cars.

I can't wait to see what you guys do with the with the pod

and and who else you meet and how and watch the community grow.

Thank you very much for those kind words.

And I mean, I mean, thank you for doing the the shift project

and save the manual rally because I probably would have never met you

unless we did that.

So and now I look at this, I've got a guy

who's going to come help me wrench on some motors this week.

That's just the car community disconnected.

Yep. Yeah, I'm psyched.

I can't wait. Let's do it.

And and yeah, and the shift project was it took a while

to build the courage to even do that.

You know, it's I've spent my whole life in the automotive industry

so professionally and then personally, I'm still a huge car nut.

And yet it always still feels like you're going to do something wrong.

You're going to say the wrong thing.

And you know, putting yourself out there is always, always tough.

So it was it was something that I kind of I like the idea of for a while.

And then finally, you know, when I linked up with Cody from TreeLine,

he encouraged me to put it together and had somebody

that was just as enthusiastic about it as me.

And then we finally managed to, you know, to get it off the ground.

So we'll see where it goes.

And it's also a great opportunity to see this overlap between communities

that are tangential to the car community as well.

Like people like that in his space, which are hikers and bikers and runners.

They're really excited about their cars, too, oftentimes,

because the car is the tool that takes them to places in their life

to do whatever it is that they're, you know, enjoying out in nature.

I mean, ultimately cars for transportation, too, and from certain places.

And those places that we go have, you know,

profound impacts in what we think about and how we and who we talk to.

So, you know, inevitably, the way to get there is an important part of the

conversation for people who may not be their primary hobby,

but they're still enthusiastic about it.

So that's another element of this project.

I'm sure you guys are thinking about that as well on the pod about how to,

you know, how to loop people in that, you know, that are excited about it,

but maybe not as, you know, they haven't been drowned in it.

Like we have been. Right. Yeah. Just steep.

For the listener, Mike, Mike literally just explained perfectly why

Ian and I started Life Plus Cars.

Like we aren't doing it from the standpoint we expect this is going to

take off or it's going to make us money.

We're literally doing it because we are so passionate about cars

and about the auto industry and about anything to do with cars or, you know,

automobile. Exactly.

That's why we're doing it.

And that's, and that's what I would say to you, Mike, is for a shift project

and all that, just do it because you're passionate about it.

And people will come like, right.

If you're that into it, it will succeed.

That's what it's all about.

You know what's been a great reminder today talking to you guys?

It's actually that in my entire professional career,

I really just clicked that.

Like I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the cars professionally.

Right. I mean, I've worked with different manufacturers and agencies,

but it's usually about setting up an event or about a training or it's

budgets. It's something else. It's not about the car.

It's about the business.

And, you know, I missed for so much of my professional career,

the chance to do this.

And it hasn't happened enough where we just sit down and chat about the

stories, the stuff that originally made us fall in love with this.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it really hasn't happened enough.

And I can't believe how like how hard that's hitting me right now.

But it's true.

And, you know, the whole point of getting into this as a business in my life

and keeping this as a hobby was because I love to drive.

And I love the people that also love to drive.

And, you know, the time that I think I'm enjoying it the most is typically

for me now is the few chances that I get to go to the track

because there you're inevitably talking about the car and what it's doing

into the performance and other people doing that.

But it's not that often.

And and outside of that, it almost never happens.

So this is a wonderful platform to let that flourish.

Yes. Well, thank you very much for those kind words.

And yeah, I mean, I'm all about any time you want to talk cars,

you give you know, you're welcome on this.

Yes, you're welcome as a recurring guest.

So, Mike, where can people reach you and get in touch with you

about shift project?

So, I mean, we will obviously make sure that we post up, you know, a contact or something.

But do you have an email?

Do you have like Instagram?

I know you're not a big fan of the scrolling and all that.

But like, what do you have for people to get in touch?

I did bite the bullet and launched an Instagram for it.

You know, if you're interested in doing an event in the future,

we're looking at a late August event date, possibly for the next rally,

which I'll post on on the Instagram and on eventbriteandmeetup.com.

I'll also let some of the local car clubs know the Instagram is at shift project

and E and E Lake, New England.

And there's not much there at the moment, except from a few pictures

from our first rally, we got to remember to, you know, I don't know,

hire a photographer for the next one or something.

Although we've got a few more still that we're hoping to

slide into the slide into the feed over the next few weeks

as in preparation for the for the for the next rally.

So we're thinking about maybe doing something in the lakes region,

maybe find some back roads up that way and have to do some more

location scouting and planning before we finalize anything or confirm.

But that's the idea.

End of August and and stay in touch there.

And you can send me a message.

I'll definitely chat with you.

And yeah, just getting the word out there.

So we are absolutely happy to promote and share everything

that you have going on, get it out there.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Thanks, guys. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. So that's great.

And hopefully all of us will meet some some great new folks

along this journey and and we'll all get out there and drive.

That's what it's all about is get out there and enjoy the drive, right?

That's right. That's that's our motto here at Lifeless Cars.

You know, every mile of memory, enjoy the drive, you know,

shift through the gears, whatever you want to say it.

But, Mike, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to do this,

because we got to meet you to shift out.

So, of course, we're going to we're going to meet more people we like.

No, thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

This is this is a treat.

And it's nice to really, truly just talk cars

instead of talking about work around cars.

This is this is this has brought me back to a lot of really good time.

So thanks for sparking so many fun memories

and looking forward to a lot more good stuff to come.

Awesome, guys. Thanks so much.

Yeah, fantastic again, Mike.

We really appreciate the time and just so much fun

just to sit back and chat cars.

#11: Analog Driving with Shift Project New England

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