125. The Pile Up EP13: Best / Worst
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Car
Chevy Chevette
The Chevy Chevette is a small car made by Chevrolet that was sold in the late 1970s and 1980s. It was popular for being inexpensive and easy to drive, but not everyone liked how it performed.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet that has been around since the 1950s. It's famous for its sleek look and powerful performance.
Term
drag car
A drag car is a car made for racing in a straight line to see who can go the fastest. They are built to be very powerful and quick off the line.
Term
roll cage
A roll cage is a strong frame inside a race car that helps keep the driver safe if the car flips over or crashes. It makes the car stronger and protects the people inside.
Brand
Vauxhall
Vauxhall is a car brand from the UK that makes different types of cars. It's part of a larger company called Opel, which is based in Germany.
Term
power steering
Power steering makes it easier to turn the steering wheel when driving. It uses special technology to help you steer without using too much strength.
Term
gas mileage
Gas mileage tells you how far a car can go on a certain amount of gas. If a car has good gas mileage, it means it doesn't use much gas to drive a long distance.
Term
government incentives
Government incentives are money or benefits given by the government to help people buy things like cars. They make it cheaper to buy a car that is good for the environment or saves energy.
Car
AMC Gremlin
The AMC Gremlin is a small car that was made in the 1970s. It's often joked about because of its unusual design, but some people really like it and consider it special.
Car
Ford Model T
The Model T is a famous car made by Ford that was very popular in the early 1900s. It was easy to fix, so many people learned how to repair it themselves.
Car
Beetle
The Beetle is a famous car made by Volkswagen that has been around for many years. It's known for its unique shape and was very popular around the world.
Car
Ford Model A
The Ford Model A is an early car made by Ford between 1927 and 1931. It's famous for being one of the first cars that many people could afford.
Car
LaSalle touring car
The LaSalle touring car is a type of luxury car made in the early 1900s. It was known for being stylish and was a bit less expensive than other luxury brands like Cadillac.
Car
Opel Astra
The Opel Astra is a small car that is good for driving around town. It's known for being easy to handle and comfortable for passengers.
Car
Chevy Astro
The Chevy Astro is a type of van made by Chevrolet. It was popular because it had a lot of space inside, which made it great for families or carrying things.
Car
Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser is a large family car that looks like a wagon. It was made by Oldsmobile and was popular for carrying families and their stuff.
Car
Chevrolet Safari
The Chevrolet Safari is a larger van made around the same time as the Astro. It was also used for families and had more space for passengers or cargo.
Term
0-60 time
'0-60 time' is how long it takes a car to go from a stop to going 60 miles per hour. It's a way to measure how fast a car can speed up.
Car
Opel Kadett
The Opel Kadett is a small car from Germany that many people liked because it was cheap and useful.
Car
Aston Martin Valhalla
The Valhalla is a super fancy sports car made by Aston Martin. It's designed to be really fast and powerful while also being better for the environment.
Car
Daewoo Matiz
The Daewoo Matiz is a tiny car from South Korea that is great for driving in cities because it's small and saves gas.
Car
GMC Chevette
The GMC Chevette is a small, budget-friendly car made by GMC that many people used to drive because it was practical.
Car
Opel K180
The Opel K180 is a small car made by Opel that was mainly sold in South America. It's known for being compact and efficient.
Car
Isuzu Gemini
The Isuzu Gemini is a small, reliable car made by the Isuzu company. It was known for being efficient and came in different shapes.
Car
Isuzu Piazza
The Isuzu Piazza is a sporty car made by the Japanese company Isuzu. It was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is known for its distinctive look.
Car
Chevrolet Akkadian
The Chevrolet Akkadian is the name used for the Chevette in Canada. It was essentially the same car but marketed differently for Canadian buyers.
Car
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both gasoline and electricity to run, making it more fuel-efficient and better for the environment. It's very popular for being economical to drive.
Car
General Motors Ev1
The EV1 was an early electric car made by General Motors. It was important because it helped start the conversation about electric vehicles and their impact on the environment.
Car
Honda Civics
The Honda Civic is a popular small car that many people like because it is reliable and can be made to go fast. It's often modified by car enthusiasts to improve its performance.
Car
Honda Del Sol
The Honda Del Sol is a small car that can be turned into a convertible. People liked it because it was light and fun to drive, especially for racing.
Car
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a type of car that is good for everyday driving. It's known for being dependable and has a lot of space inside, making it a favorite for families.
Car
American Motors Corporation (Amc) Pacer
The Pacer was a unique-looking small car made by AMC in the 1970s. It stands out because of its round shape and is often remembered for being different from other cars.
Car
Ford Pinto
The Pinto was a small, cheap car made by Ford in the 1970s. It became famous for having safety problems that made people worried about its fuel tank.
Car
Land Rover Range Rover
The Range Rover is a fancy SUV that can handle rough roads and tough weather. It's known for being very comfortable inside and is often seen as a luxury vehicle.
Term
brake fade
Brake fade is when brakes get too hot and don't work as well, making it harder to stop the vehicle. It can happen if you use the brakes a lot in a short time, like in a race.
LIVE
All right, all right, all right, here's the tune.
Hi-la, hi-la, hi-la, hi-la, hi-la, hi-la.
Hi-la!
Presenting by Codd Rush.
Wednesday, October 1st.
Welcome to fall.
It's October.
What?
No, it's not.
Is it?
That's right.
September 28th.
It'll come out on the first.
Oh.
Wow, lady behind the curtain doesn't know.
I thought it was Wednesday.
It's my secret plan.
It is Wednesday.
We're going to record it on Sunday and release it on Wednesday.
In case you haven't heard.
Secret plan.
It's a conspiracy.
Yep.
We're listening to the pile up.
Pile up.
Sorry, I interrupted you to say that.
Pile up.
Pile up.
That's cool.
That's not a big deal.
Pile up.
That's Queen of the Vans.
Yep.
That's M dog nightmare.
Here we are.
The hell's an M night.
Yeah, it's a rocktober.
So for me for this month, I'm going to do a mystery science theater marathon.
I think I'm going to watch one every day.
Wow.
You're really committed.
Yeah, I might start with one of my favorites.
One of the worst ever giant Gila monster.
Oh, okay.
Oh, it sucks so much.
Why do you put yourself through the torture then?
Because if Joel can suffer, I can suffer.
Oh, you're suffering in solidarity?
Yeah.
Okay.
He's stuck up there on the satellite a lot.
It's true.
I do love the intro to that.
So I guess the intro is growing on me.
I like all the props.
No, I actually love it.
I like all the props.
Yeah, it's really cool.
They went all out.
Yeah, he's good.
You know, he's like, he's a good prop comic.
That's why they do the invention exchange with the mad scientists.
So you can do his props.
I don't know if I've seen that because I haven't seen much.
Well, when they open the episode, they always have like this invention exchange with the
mad scientists.
Oh, I didn't know that they did it differently.
I've only seen a few.
Yeah, they always have these invention exchanges.
Joel invents a junk drawer for one.
It's like a junk drawer you can buy.
It's like every house has a junk drawer.
That's true.
I've got one.
It was pretty good.
I don't have anywhere to put one.
Yeah, I got a junk drawer.
Where?
In my desk.
Oh, yeah.
You do have a drawer.
Highly utilitarian junk drawer.
Wow.
It's got like a little hammer that came with some cheap furniture.
Really?
You've got a hammer with some furniture?
Probably like a deck.
Yeah, it's like a really very small.
Yeah.
Oh, it looks.
Sounds cute.
It is.
Yeah.
It's highly impractical in my opinion, but you know, you keep it.
You might need it for something.
In a junk drawer.
You might need it for a tiny, tiny nail.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For the past four weeks, we've done odd rods.
Yeah, we've done it.
We've talked about a lot of odd rods.
Yeah, we're not going to do this week.
So I hope that doesn't make you sad, but we thought we should do something different.
Yep.
It was very fun to talk about because we're just talking hot rods or show rods.
They're fun.
They're cool.
They're amazing.
They make your mind think or whatever, but you know, we mix it up here.
Give you a little something different to listen to.
But Emily picked the best car of all time.
Yeah.
It's actually shocking.
We had some other stuff to talk about, but I think there's enough in this topic.
Okay.
And we might just get it.
You're going to have to write in because surely you have a story about this car.
Yeah.
We haven't said what it is yet, but surely you know.
Yeah.
And if you do, please DM at carcrush, C-A-R-U-S-H.
Yeah.
Reach out.
Are you ready for what it is?
Fail.
Give us the, what it's the best to me.
This is the best worst car.
It is.
General, please.
The Chevy Chevette.
It's cute.
Which suspiciously is very close to the Corvette.
In name only.
Not features.
Name only.
Not accessories.
Not speed.
Not power.
Not design.
It's actually nothing to do with the Corvette.
Other than those last little letters there.
Yeah.
There is a funny part in King of the Hill where Peggy and this prostitute are going out to
lunch and unbeknownst to Peggy.
She doesn't know this girl's a prostitute.
And the girl says, I wrecked my mom's vet and she, and Peggy's like, your mom had
a Corvette and she's like Chevette.
Yeah.
It's pretty good.
I like that character because she gets Peggy to like dress and like in something really
sexy, which is, you know, on the verge of slutty, but like Peggy feels good about herself
and Hank thinks she looks hot.
So I'm kind of like, what's the big deal?
But I get it.
Sometimes I go out and I feel like I look hot and then people are like, what are you
doing?
Oh yeah.
Sometimes girls tear each other down.
It sucks.
Sometimes.
It sucks.
So anyway, I kind of like that episode because like I said, Peggy feels good about
it.
Yeah.
No, I love that episode.
She doesn't think anything of it.
Yeah.
And then Frank gets a pimp hat and it's great.
Hank, you said Frank.
Frank Hill.
Frank sounds more like a pimp than Hank.
Frank the Hank pimp.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm going to say that this, first of all, the video that I watched, that we watched
together was the shocking truth behind the Chevy.
It's probably a crap AI video.
Yeah.
It was an AI video.
Super obnoxious.
But they did have a lot of good information.
I wonder if it was compiled by AI.
It probably was.
I lived it.
My grandparents had an 80s chivette.
Did you get to ride in it a lot?
Yeah.
We drove it all the time.
I think it was a four door.
It was white for sure.
Did it have a hatchback or was it?
Yeah.
It was a hatchback.
It was a hatchback.
Yeah.
Because sometimes in my, I sometimes think it's in my mind.
I think it's a citation, but it was a chivette.
Yeah.
Well, they did say that everybody has a, in the video.
Because also my, one of my high school besties had a chivette.
And it was like a red rusty color.
I mean, there was a period of time where I really wanted one to put a big engine in.
Doesn't that just turn everything on its head?
They're great.
Yeah.
Tiny little cars, stuff of V8 in it.
That's cool.
Well, we did see a couple of that were drag cars.
We did see the video.
Or at least one for sure that was a drag car.
The video opens with a clip of a pro chivette.
Yeah.
Big fat steam roller tires underneath it, almost meat.
Roll cage.
Did it have a cage?
Yeah.
I don't know.
I said, oh, it looks like it's got a roll cage.
I'm not even listening.
Yeah.
That's okay.
You don't have to listen to everything I say.
I'm so sorry.
As you roll your eyes.
I like the 80s one because it has a much more square chin spoiler.
Oh yeah.
Yep.
I mean the 70s one.
It's cool.
It's smooth and styling fits each era, but I like the really sharp one.
It's a big chin spoiler too.
Yeah.
I think they're just cute as hell.
The hatchback one.
I don't like the sedan as much.
The sedan is English.
It's not even really a part of this.
It's a Vauxhall.
Was it the Vauxhall?
Yeah.
Well, we can just kick the sedan out of bed.
If that's pronounced Vauxhall, sorry.
Oh, okay.
We don't know.
I think it might be Vauxhall.
We don't care.
I think it's Vaux.
Oh, okay.
Just Vaux.
Vauxhall.
They have the Vaux amplifiers.
So wouldn't be that weird.
But that's just spelled V-O-X.
Yeah.
All right.
Well.
It's Vaux.
I'm going to kick it out of bed right now because I don't care about it.
Okay.
So it's, yeah, it's an ugly four door car that we're not going to talk
about.
Yeah.
In America is what we're talking about.
Yep.
It's a hatchback.
And apparently GM got on it because they already had it in three countries.
They already had the platform.
There was quite an emphasis about the car being a globalist.
Is that what Donald Trump talks about all the time?
The globalist.
Oh yeah.
It's a bad thing.
Yeah.
I don't know.
That's a bad thing being a globalist.
Yeah.
Even though he's friends with Russia.
The globalist car.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
They were called in this video as a globalist car.
So they were able to get it on quick on design wise because there was a gas crisis at this
time.
I believe it sounded like it.
I'm going to sound ignorant here as far as history goes, but it seemed like it started
from the early seventies to the clear into the eighties.
Okay.
Look, I'm down with that.
I'm down with just speaking from where you're at.
Yeah.
Well, we get the news wrong here.
Yeah.
There's a reason that we say that like it should just be okay to just say some
shit wrong sometimes.
Yeah.
We're not trying to be like a definitive source here or just talk about stuff we like.
Okay.
Yeah.
If you want to write in though and you've got it right, like, yeah.
Yeah.
Tell us.
We'd love to hear.
Yeah.
Where we went wrong.
Yeah.
They called it a new kind of American car and it had no power steering.
And they were marketing it as owning a car without a crushing debt.
It had practicality gas mileage and it was a compact car.
It was 2899, which was about 16,000 in 2024 money.
Now I was enticed by the slate truck because it was going to be mid twenties with government
incentives, which don't exist now.
Yeah.
Thanks, Trump.
Or they're just running out at this time.
But by the time the truck comes out, no.
So anyway, about 16,000, that's cheaper than what the vehicle that enticed me.
I think, yeah, if Chevy had a $16,000 car, I'd be interested.
Yeah.
I feel like you would too, because you weren't diced by that slate.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the slate looks good.
Yeah.
I think if I saw a Chevette, I think it's cool.
I on the other hand, cannot imagine buying a brand new car off the lot, but it is hard
to fathom.
I don't know.
It seems like such a crazy thing.
And also it just, it reads car loan to me, which comes with full coverage insurance,
which always is usually more than the car payment, in my opinion, which could be a fact.
Yeah.
I'm not sure.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Not sure.
I was trying to look and see if the Chevette is one of the villains in Cars 2, because
it's got all the lemon cars, but it doesn't look like it.
Maybe because it wasn't a lemon.
I just wasn't sure if it was like, you know, it's another one of those small
cars that everybody likes to shit on.
Like the Gremlin.
Why are they shit on the Gremlin?
Because it's a cult classic.
Yeah.
Something else they said in the video was that it was a lot of people's first cars, which
I think my high school bestie that talks to her experience.
It wasn't a new car because it was the 90s, but it was her first car.
Also something funny they said it was the first car that people learned how to fix
on the side of the road.
So maybe it did break.
I called bullshit because the Model T was the first car, but also people definitely
worked on those on the side of the road.
All right.
Well, it was an AI video.
It's true.
Yeah.
There was something in this video that I want to point out that was really funny
is they showed a picture of modern people waiting in line for gas.
Like one guy had a smartphone in his pocket.
Yeah.
And it looked like it was taken to Mexico too.
They're waiting in line with gas cans, not cars.
Yeah.
I mean, it's definitely a stupid AI video.
So total run is from 76 to 87.
Right.
Okay.
They almost made it to the 90s.
So like just in 80 alone, they sold 449,000 of both combined three door and five door.
That seemed like a lot.
Was that a lot for production number?
I think it's quite a bit.
So I was looking at the total production numbers and they have 2,791,030.
Is the one on Wikipedia.
Whoa.
So that's 1,378,197 of the three door hatch.
And then 1.4 million of the five door hatch.
Oh, so the five door was more popular?
Oddly it is.
They sold more.
Yeah.
They sold 100,000 more almost.
I mean, not quite.
It's like 50,000 more.
That's not that much in terms of a million, is it?
Not really, no.
Barely.
Barely made it.
It's just about 3 million cars.
And then I was trying to get the total on the Model T production to compare, right?
Because I wasn't sure.
Because the Model T and the Beetle are 1 and 2 as far as production.
But then I got to look at the Model T and they made a million and a half and 26.
And then they made it to almost 2 million and 24.
Wow.
They made almost 2 million and 24.
Yeah, so 24 through 26, they made more Model T's.
They made basically, they made 1.9 million and 24, 1.9 million and 25, 1 and a half million
and 26, 2 million, over 2 million and 23.
Like, now the Model T crushed the.
Yeah, it definitely did.
Crushed the Chevette.
I mean, it was like a project, not a project, but it was a product of its time, right?
Because there wasn't much competition.
Well, there were, in that time, in the early 1900s, there were like 2,500 automakers in America.
Oh, crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah, but there were.
But it was different because you would buy a chassis, you know, you'd get like a Packard
chassis and then build your body on it, like a coach building shop.
But like the Ford Model T, is that what we're talking about?
Yeah.
It could just go to everyone.
Well, yeah, you could also have it, that was the thing, it's like, you could
get a Model A, but then you could get a Model A built by another shop in a different
style of the body.
Oh, okay.
And it would still be a Model A, like there are all these drawings, like there's posters
where you could go in and get a touring car or a Fiat 10 or a Solon Fiat 10, you know,
or like a, just all these different versions.
Oh, okay.
I didn't realize that.
Yeah.
It's kind of confusing.
It's in that Century of Style book.
But yeah, you could go to like somebody like Briggs and be like, yeah, can I order
the, can I get the 27 LaSalle touring car?
But I want your version that's a little bit nicer than the actual LaSalle one.
Yeah.
Sure, we'll build you one.
Oh, okay.
That's if you're fancy though.
Oh yeah, you're a little bit fancy.
Yeah.
Like maybe a movie star.
Well, that's kind of why the car didn't take off.
We're a merchant.
Because like America didn't have like the land barons, you know, had average working
people.
You rat me.
Did you say rat?
Ravage.
Oh, Ravage?
Okay.
I think I was going to say regular.
Anyway, so the Model T production, I mean, 1909, there's 10,000 and then it creeps
on up by 16, it's half a mil, you know, every year, and then they do 940,000 and 20.
So I mean, it's like just the T just crushes that.
That was just my curiosity.
I know that we're like, the total says 14 million, 14,689,000 Model T's.
Ford said the last Model T was the 15 millionth produced.
Wow.
So, I mean, that puts the beetle up there.
But anyway, the Chevette 3 million, that's pretty good.
Yeah, it's pretty good.
For a car that's not easy to find.
Yeah.
And at the time, Americans were driving big cars.
But then the gas price, I'm actually surprised they didn't sell more because of the gas
suggestion.
Yeah, it makes me want to compare it to something like the Chevy Astra, right?
Like, okay, so there's just a little bit under 3 million Chevets made.
So, but I feel like you run into Chevy Astros all the time.
So let's find out.
Let's compare.
Let's hear it.
Yeah.
And down here to the old computer machine, it doesn't have a real obvious table.
Oh boy.
You're going to have to fill in the blanks here a little bit.
Oh, geez.
For those of you that don't know the Chevy Astros, hella cute.
And Rose has one.
It's got a gold wing door.
The Chevy Astro, the chassis front suspension is based on the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
station wagon, which is what I came home from the hospital in.
I think we talked about that in another episode.
Yeah, we did.
It's a very like, it's just a very close to me car that way, but also I put that clip
under my 67.
So it's kind of funny having the...
You got two Chevy Astros kind of.
Yeah.
I drive an Astro, then I've got the 67 with the Astro clip.
Dad had the Custom Cruiser wagons.
I've been riding on that front end for most of my life.
It's basically what I'm getting at.
Yeah, I love that.
It's the Rose Mobile.
Well, I can't find a definitive number for the Chevy Astro production to compare it to,
and it's not much better.
One of them was like a million, right?
That they posited?
It was a little over that, but they were only, they could only go by, there was no
like, just obvious answer.
No, but not even Chevy knows.
We found a, yeah, we found a Modestrian article that no four, it was 41,000 in the first
10 months of the year.
So that's pretty crap.
That's pretty crap.
Yeah, that's not good.
So it looks about three, four million, maybe five, it's not very much higher, but you sure
see a lot more Astro vans than you do Chevets around.
That's true.
Do you think that's because Chevets went to the drunkyard?
Yeah, I mean, it says they were pretty rusty.
They must have been, maybe people must have hated them.
Did it?
I thought the Vegas were the ones that were rusty.
I didn't hear anything about the Chevets.
Yeah.
Okay.
You're right.
In the AI video, which could have won.
Yeah, the example in the AI video was the Chevette.
So bad comparison, bad example, but anyway, it seems like I guess a low
number of cars compared to the Model D is 15 million, but it seems normal for a badge
like that to not see them very often, like 79 to 87.
Is that what we said?
Or 76?
Yeah.
And I see Astros and safaris all the time.
Yeah.
Maybe safaris more.
Granted, they ended in 05, but yeah, 76 to 87, so get an 11 year run.
Yeah.
Yeah, you just never see them.
They're like a 1.4 and 1.6 four cylinder.
Just a tiny little.
Just sipped gas.
Yeah.
According to the video, it's sipped gas.
That's 89 and 97 cubes.
And then the diesel was 110 cubes and the diesel was like the zero to 60 time on that.
Oh yeah.
21 seconds.
They said you didn't need a stopwatch.
You needed a calendar.
Yeah.
Brutal.
There was some clever things in that AI in that video.
Brutal takedown.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean it's.
Yeah.
Is AI going to come after us because we're sort of making fun of it?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
It's scary out there, people.
Yeah.
Related cars.
Okay, this is from the Wiki.
It's the Opel Cadet, which I think looks pretty cool.
The Asuzu Gemini, DeWoo Mepsi, or Mepsi of Valhalla Chivette, GMC Chivette, Opel K180
and the Asuzu Piazza.
Oh, that sounds like an Italian car.
No, it's a baseball car, Mike Piazza.
Oh, okay.
Was he Italian?
No, there's no way.
Okay.
Leaning Tower of Piazza?
Piazza.
Doesn't that sound Italian?
Pizza?
Piazza.
The Asuzu Pizza?
Piazza.
Yeah, that sounds.
All right.
I mean, are you mad that Asuzu did it?
No, not at all.
I just thought maybe they were marketing it in Italy.
I like that.
It's fusion.
It's world peace.
Automotive fusion.
I love that.
That's new.
Let's go to the new fusion dealership.
What about the woody model?
The Chivette did a woody model?
They really shit on it.
You know, there's the Canadian Akkadian.
I don't know what that is.
Well, it was the Chivette in Canada was called the Akkadian.
Oh, okay.
Did it also come out in the woody model?
Yeah.
Because it apparently didn't do, did it do good in Canada?
Well, one of the ads we saw in the video said the Akkadian, but it showed the
woodgrain.
Oh, okay.
I wasn't paying attention to that point.
I see.
I think.
I certainly didn't take a note on it.
No.
I didn't take a note on it.
The wood model was so cute.
It was really cute.
And that was with five O's.
And then they shit on it.
They were like, no.
Yeah.
It apparently didn't do well.
And they only, what, they didn't even release it for a year?
Yeah.
I guess it was like a year.
Yeah.
They said it was a wagon playing.
It was a hatchback playing wagon cosplay.
Okay.
Now it, yeah, but it got people mad.
There was controversy, controversy from other automakers who said they just
did that to show a lower advertised price and they don't actually intend to sell them.
Oh yeah.
I did hear that.
And they sold 5% of their total run.
Were those cheap?
Wait.
I thought that was the scooter.
Oh, that's the scooter.
My bad.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
All I had to say about the wood he was, it was cute.
And it was really cute.
It is cute.
And they kind of shit on it because they said it was too much wood for too little
of a car.
Yep.
But it did have.
Someone said that.
Which we thought was funny.
It is funny.
It's good.
Someone said an automotive journalist said that and it did have a luggage rack on top
which I thought really tied the package together and it did have wood grain probably sticker
on the inside.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Paneling.
Paneling.
But the scooter.
Okay.
You gotta talk about this car.
I love the scooter.
The Chevette scooter.
Yeah.
It had no glove box.
Open glove box.
It opened glove box.
Fiberboard door panels.
Door poles instead of arm rests.
That's fine to me.
Door poles make more sense.
I didn't think about that as an option that you'd save money on as a dealer.
No back seats.
No back seat.
Just a matte.
No.
Two-sitter.
Black carpet.
Two-sitter.
Stickers instead of badges.
Oh yeah.
Yep.
That's a real cheap way to go.
You don't think of cars with stickers very often.
Yep.
Oh and the passenger side had no sun visor.
Yep.
Blinded.
You know what I bet it didn't have to was a vanity mirror.
I was expecting that to follow and say like this became a popular fleet car or
something.
Yeah.
I know it didn't.
You know I expected us to see like some plain white ones that like I don't know the post
office bot or who knows.
Yeah but it didn't right.
It didn't sell well.
Yeah.
Didn't see that.
Yeah.
But it was one of the cheapest new cars at the time.
Yeah.
That's something that Portland would do.
Portland would buy a whole fleet of Chewbets.
It would be the Portland city car.
Yeah.
The city that works.
Yeah.
In tiny Chewbets.
There's all those Priuses.
There's all like the parking Priuses.
Oh yeah.
There are.
Yeah.
Uh huh.
Yeah.
That's probably why it went 0 to 60 in 21 seconds.
Yeah.
And didn't the other ones get 29 so it was like 29 and 39 or is 29 city and 39 highway.
I'll believe that.
And it got like the reviews were good.
I would think so.
29 is great.
Yeah.
If you can wait.
It's great if you can wait and remember in 78 what they do.
I was going to say 79.
And the hood stops going down to the bumper and you have a grill now.
Oh okay.
I didn't like the grill so much.
I kind of like the grill.
I mean I liked it.
The hood goes down.
That's what a 55 Chevy looks like.
Try fives look like that.
The hood comes down to the grill opening.
Yeah.
I like that.
So it's kind of interesting that they did that.
It's very, very old school.
Yeah.
20 year callback.
What did they do in 77?
78.
They did the electro vet.
Oh.
Okay.
It went 53 miles per hour.
Top speed.
It's all electric Chevette.
We didn't look up what the speed limit was at the time.
So this was just, this wasn't a production car.
What year did I can't drive 55 come out?
Oh.
Because that's the whole like the advent of the 55 mile an hour speed limit is a part
of the gas crisis.
17.
I would say.
Yeah.
It's 678, right?
I'm going to just look up.
I'm going to save myself with the microphone.
Oh my God.
I was trying to get it closer.
Yeah.
Whoopsie.
Wind podcasting gets physical.
It's anything, but I feel like I'm melting the chair for an hour.
Just let your thoughts fall out.
Oh my goodness.
It's sitting on the mental toilet.
Okay.
According to the AI, it's all, it's an AI show.
So it's wrong.
That's fine.
According to Google AI, it was 55 miles per hour and enacted by Congress in 1974.
Okay.
74.
This one went 53 miles an hour.
So you can be sure in the electrovets to not get a ticket.
You would definitely get a ticket for going too slow.
For holding up traffic two miles an hour slower.
Come on.
Yeah.
I guess it's fine.
Come on.
I'll allow it.
Come on.
Again, this wasn't a production car.
They went 40 to 50 miles on one charge.
And it charged in a few hours on 110.
No.
It charged in several hours on 110.
Oh my God.
So you didn't have to have an electrician come over and wire it all crazy, which
is kind of cool.
Two legs.
Well, you know, it's, it's a whole nother outlet in your house where you could just take it
out.
Your garage has got plenty of, I mean, your garage also might have a washer and dryer.
So maybe you got a 220 out there.
I guess you do with a washer and dryer.
Sorry.
I'm just, yeah.
You just are obsessed with two.
Now the 110 is cool.
It's good.
You like two legs.
Yeah.
I use them every day.
You certainly do.
Yeah.
And you got nice ones.
Oh, thanks.
What I want to say about this is it has real fun graphics.
I love them.
It does have really good.
It's got like a yellow lightning bolt on the side.
It's got a lightning bolt.
It doesn't look like a, it's from 40s Germany.
Yeah.
It's cool.
It's fun.
And then it has, did it have orange stripes after that that were like reminiscent of the
lightning bolt kind of, but in stripes.
Yeah.
In stripe form.
Yeah, it's cool.
Yeah.
It's got good graphics.
Yeah.
It's neat.
I mean, you had a good, when we were talking about earlier, you had a good note about
like, you know, people don't like who killed the electric car.
Oh yeah.
Right.
Cause people, I think blame GM for who killed the electric, like the GM sort of killed the
electric car, but GM in the 80s put out two, they had two electric car prototypes.
This one and then the other, what was it?
EV1.
EV1.
Yeah.
But they also did the.
Which was a production car.
Yeah.
EV1.
Yeah.
People actually drove those.
Yeah.
Sort of.
And then they did the Chevy van.
They did the early model van with batteries in it.
Oh yeah.
Okay.
So they did three.
Uh-huh.
And people say they killed the electric car.
Also, I've not seen that movie.
So I'm just speculating here.
Yeah.
Unreal.
I mean, yeah, it's like a click bait title, but.
Yeah.
Who killed the electric car?
They've been trying to build one for years.
Yeah.
I think that is a fair point.
Yeah.
It's kind of like saying aliens keep crashing on earth and it's like, really?
They traveled across the universe and they got here and they bailed.
Just a crash.
They blew, they're idiots.
Maybe they ran out of gas.
They just can't stick the landing.
They're like skaters.
Just keep it bloating.
Right.
No.
Yeah.
I think that's a solid one.
Just can't land.
Well, that's all I have to say about the Chevette.
The world's greatest car.
Yeah.
I mean, my grandparents had one.
I liked it.
Yeah.
Like I said, it was fun to ride it.
I liked the scooter.
I think that's what I'd get.
Yeah.
You definitely would.
The diesel option is kind of funny.
I mean, it really sounds like.
They really downsold it.
I mean, I helped a friend go look at a car to buy.
You know that I'd ask Faye Butler.
I was like, Katie, you know anything about these cars?
He's like, yeah, they're cheap and they're considerably louder.
He's like, to save money that there's less insulation.
And so you hear the transmission more.
And it was like a Honda or something.
And like once he told me that if it's like, you know, it was like cardboard insulation.
And you could, you were, you were listening to the engine and transmission.
And it's like.
Well, then you know something goes wrong.
Good.
Yeah.
But it just wasn't an aspect I really had put a lot of thought into.
Yeah.
Made a big difference.
It felt cheap.
Yeah.
It felt cheap.
Right.
Did it feel like you were driving a tune again?
It felt like a golf cart.
Oh, okay.
It felt like an insulated golf cart.
A barely insulated golf cart.
Carpet and cardboard.
Yeah.
And so like, yeah, it makes a difference in a cheap car when you like strip it down.
Insulated by a child.
But in high school, all my friends had civics and it stripped all the interior
out of them and all the door panels.
Oh, so they could go fast.
And the civic is known for going fast.
They felt like death traps.
Yeah.
I had a couple civics.
I had quite a few civics.
I think that's part of it.
Right.
You like make the car less safe.
So it feels faster just for being unsafe first.
I never stripped my interior down though.
I think that's how you start, right?
Yeah.
You get a Del Sol stripped the interior and people like, oh, you go racing this thing.
I had a friend that was selling his Del Sol.
And so like before he sold it, he was like taking off in every gear.
Oh, wow.
Like fifth gear.
Yeah.
Dang.
He's just staying on the clutch.
I was like, what are you doing?
He's like, I'm about to sell it.
So.
I'm just going to burn it up.
I'm just going to burn it up.
I mean, he did it.
I famously don't have a front passenger seat in my Honda Accord.
And I've had people ask me if it's for racing.
It is a heavy seat.
It is for hauling stuff though.
Yeah.
You're like, that seat's worth a tenth of a second.
Yeah.
Listen.
It blew all the clear off the damn thing.
It sure did.
It's gotten on left.
Poor car.
Poor car.
I didn't bring a lot to the table this time.
And once you brought out the Chevette, I was pretty stoked.
You were excited about it.
Yeah.
Because it's like in the category with like the Gremlin and the Pacer and the Vega.
Oh, yeah.
And the Pinto.
Yeah.
In that part where people were like, oh, they just made that scooter to make a
lower advertised price.
They're not going to sell any.
And then Ford came out with that Pinto to match.
Oh, yeah.
And it was.
It was $4 cheaper.
It was a $4 cheaper.
Yeah.
And it came with a back seat.
Yeah.
So for four bucks more, four bucks less, you got a back seat.
I wonder how many people's minds that changed.
Because Ford also, I mean, is it true?
Less cash, more ass.
Weren't they known for.
You got to make them go together.
Exploding.
The Pinto.
Yeah.
We had a Pinto when I was younger.
Yeah.
They said if you got hit in the back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You always heard that.
Yeah.
But it says that the gas tank was close to the bumper.
And maybe it was closer than, I mean, my Trans Am is the best.
Yeah.
Lots of cars are like that.
Gas tank is in the back.
My car line.
You can just see it hanging out the bottom.
Oh yeah.
You definitely can.
I mean, that's a different breed though.
The original one didn't.
But like there's just a roll pan in front of it.
It's not like.
Well, I guess it wasn't bumper.
Not anymore.
Mine's got so much rake.
The gas tank would be on the hood of your car.
Do you think it would explode?
No.
I think the hood would cave in.
I think it might be.
A 22 gauge hood would just.
I think it might be actually hard to make a gas tank explode.
Well, you've got to get a spark.
And then it's got to be pretty hot for just a second.
Yeah.
Enough to reach the flash point and set off the vapors too.
Yeah.
I mean, maybe I just, I think Hollywood movies make us think that cars explode.
I think that's a lot easier than they do.
I think there's a lot of humor in The Simpsons with that.
We're like, Chief Wiggum is in the, he's in that beer stein outfit.
Outside the Duff Brewery.
You know, when Homer gets pulled over and Barney's like,
give him the breathalyzer.
Rest Homer for DUI.
And then this, Wiggum's like,
I think you can get this thing home and he's like,
sure thing, giant beer stein,
but he like hits Chief Wiggum when he's pulling off
and he rolls downhill inside the beer stein costume
and it gets to the bottom, it's a dream, it explodes.
So even in cartoons, it's exaggerated is what you're saying.
Yeah, definitely.
There's that episode of It's Always Sunny where Charlie
and Mack stage their own death and they try to explode a car.
They try to explode Dee's car.
I was going to say, is it Dee's car?
Yeah.
They can't do it.
Is it her new Range Rover?
No, that's what Dennis drives.
It's like a Geo Metro or something.
It's like a little car like that.
But they do put a grenade in it.
Then they also shoot the gas tank.
Just drains or what?
Yeah, just nothing happens.
Yeah.
Well, that's like in Jaws when they like he throws the tank
in the shark's mouth and shoots the tank or whatever.
Oh, yeah.
Oxygen.
I feel like people are like, no, that wouldn't happen.
So anyway, here we are to debunk the exploding car myth.
Yeah, it is funny though.
I feel like Simpsons does that a lot.
We're like, oh, there's one Simpsons where when Homer is
crusty and he hits the tree and then he like hits it so slow
he falls out delayed.
Like he hits the tree, the car stops, then he flies out of
the front seat and then like through the windshield.
Again, not an accurate description of what would happen.
Yeah.
And then he goes in and does the thing as crusty as he
does the birthday party.
It's to show how exhausted he is.
Like it's thrown through the windshield, gets up and goes in
to do the birthday party.
But yeah, they love that.
They have the, like when they're itchy and scratchy land and
Marge is like, well, like on TV, it's not an accurate
depiction of the violence that the kids are seeing and
getting used to.
They cut that cat's lungs out and next week he's on TV
breathing fine again.
And he's like, just like in real life.
Exactly.
That's a pretty long explanation, but let me get the point.
Now there's another one where Bart's like,
cartoons aren't released or just where a bunch of stuff
happens and whatever and somebody gets hit or
something like that.
Then Homer opens the door and hits Bart and he flies
across the room.
And those Simpsons.
Like when the, the suspension and disbelief is
sort of hijacked.
Yep.
Yeah.
I see that.
So what did you bring?
What did you bring?
Well, I wasn't going to ditch what I'd been doing,
which was watching locomotive videos.
Yeah.
We talked about that last night.
Yeah.
I've been watching a bunch of like the end of steam.
Oh, okay.
And what I thought was really interesting,
something I learned was that like our steam era
ended in the fifties and Britain held on and
Britain's era ended in like the eighties,
like the early eighties.
Oh, wow.
I think that went a long time.
And then like late seventies, early eighties.
If I'm getting that correct.
Cause they recognize that as their heritage,
but even they felt like they let go of it too soon.
And then China's steam age.
When do you think that ended?
The nineties.
Yeah.
Like when do you think they stopped using steam locomotives?
They still use them.
No.
Oh, okay.
The 1950s.
2005.
Oh, okay.
I was going to say 20 years.
Late nineties to early 2000s and I missed it.
Damn it.
I was right.
But I was wrong.
I was watching a cool like steam locomotive
compilation and had one from Portland in it right away
that I was like, I got to go see it.
And like it's free to go see.
Oh, cool.
The 4449 Daylighter, which was a train that ran
during the daytime from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
And it's a steam locomotive, but it's got these
Art Deco sheet metal sections added to it that
are orange and red and like run down the side of it.
And then the passenger cars are orange and red.
And it was designed that way to go with the like
ocean and mountain topography that it was going past.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
That sounds cool.
It's so cool.
It's such a pretty train.
Yeah, it sounds really pretty.
It just stays down here on MLK.
Oh.
Down where like the Pine State is on like division
or whatever.
Oh, really?
Yeah, it's like right by that.
I've never noticed a train just sitting there.
There's an Oregon Historic Rail Center.
Oh.
It's free to go to Thursday through Sunday.
Huh.
Didn't know that.
Yeah.
Never seen it.
Anyway, in that, there was on these like various tours
they were highlighting in this video,
they were two Chinese trains and they were two, five, two.
And like our biggest trains were the like the UP big boys
were four, eight, eight, four.
And that means that it's got four wheels up front
that are just steering wheels.
And then it's got eight drive wheels that are powered,
you know, by the locomotive.
Then it's articulated in the center for bends
because it's so long.
It's like 90 feet.
And then the description said longer than two 40 foot buses.
Why do you say how long it is?
So it's 80 feet.
Anyway, and then another eight drive wheels.
And then another four trailing wheels.
So four, eight, eight, four is our biggest train.
And then that was UP, right?
We had built Alco, American locomotive company,
made 20 of those in 41 and five in like 45
for Union Pacific Railroad.
China, the ones I saw in this video were two 10, two.
So two drive wheels or two steering wheels, I mean,
then five drive axles, you know, 10 wheels total
and then two trailing axle.
There's small wheels under the firebox.
And so...
What's the firebox?
It's where they've got their shoveling the coal into.
Oh, okay.
Like build the steam meeting against the water.
Okay.
One more question.
Trains have steering wheels?
Well, yeah, they're like, they can turn
and they're the front wheels to help them navigate the curve.
Oh, I kind of thought that the rails just sort of...
Well, that, yeah, it's not a steering wheel.
It's there.
The front wheels are called the steering wheels.
Oh, okay.
Because they can turn with the...
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
So nobody steers it.
Nope.
It steers itself on the tracks.
Flanges on the rails.
Yeah.
All right.
So we built 25...
Like UP had 25 big boys built, right?
Mm-hmm.
And then China had this train that they loved,
that they had basically figured it out, the 210-2,
which is different than anything we have, right?
We've just got four, eight, eight, four.
That's huge.
But the 210-2...
All right.
We made 25 of the UP big boy.
Mm-hmm.
How many of this 210-2 do you think they made in China?
We made 25.
Yeah.
Oh, they made at least 150.
Right.
And they ran until 2005.
Right.
2000?
4700 something.
Okay.
Well, I did say 2000 next.
4700 of the same train, basically.
That's a ton.
Is that because they're so utilitarian?
Yeah, I think because they use steam so much.
Wow.
Okay.
So steam always had somebody shoveling coal.
Yup.
I wonder how much coal they had to carry with them...
God, it was like...
...to get somewhere.
I forget which train it said.
How many train cars worth of coal?
It said 11 short tons of coal they could use...
Wow.
...in a trip.
How many cars do you think that was full of?
I don't know.
I don't know.
So do you think there was like...
How many people shoveled because you think somebody
shoveled from the front car
and then somebody probably had to shovel the other cars
or do you think that they funneled the coal to the front
or how did that work?
If it was multiple train cars,
how did you get the coal from the back?
I think it's just one giant coal car
to the front.
Oh, okay.
Typically.
But I don't know.
Or how many people got crushed by falling coal?
I don't want to think about that.
Okay, we don't need to.
But they would have to stop along the route
right and add water back to the train.
Yeah, that was my next question.
How much water?
So like the end of steam is the beginning of diesel.
So we go to diesel trains in the 50s
and that's when we saw like some of those really cool
streamlined design trains.
I love those.
I don't really like the faceted look of diesel engines today.
You know, they're just, I mean, they're just flat planes.
They look like tanks.
Okay.
It's kind of cool, but I love the rounded...
I can picture it in my mind.
Yeah, I could picture it.
I was picturing it.
I love the lights like the daylighter from here
like has this like gyroscopic light, you know,
it's like constantly weaving left and right.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, and it's a really cool light.
A lot of trains run it on the front.
Huh.
I think it helps with them spotting fog basically.
Yeah, yeah.
But there was a photographer and one that like talked about,
he said this thing, it really stood out to me.
He was like diesel and sit there and look fast
going, sitting still.
He's like, but steam.
He's like the connecting rods are moving.
The smoke is up in the air.
He's like, you know, the steam's blowing out everywhere.
There's oil.
It looks tough.
He's like, it's made for imagery.
It's made for photography.
Right.
Okay.
So he shot them at night as the steam era was ending.
He was like, I better go do it.
You know, they were starting to come out with like last days
for trains and he was like, I gotta go.
And there was another guy in England that painted them
at the end of their steam era.
A lot of neat stuff.
Yeah.
I mean, I love machines and these are the big machines.
They are the big, heavy.
I mean, the next step up would be ships.
And ships are really cool too.
Yeah.
But I just have always thought locomotives were,
I know you love a train.
Oh yeah.
They're just so neat.
They're really wild.
They're clever.
The fact that we figured all that out, you know,
the available power in latent heat, you know,
like there's one candle power from like, you know,
between zero and two 12, there's like, you know,
one match, one BTU per.
But then when you get,
when you pressurize the system and go above,
that's latent heat.
Yeah.
So there's all this additional power.
I don't understand anything you're saying.
You know, once you pressurize the system,
like radiator, right?
Like steam is pressurized.
Yeah.
So there's all this wild power available
based on how big they can build a boiler.
And they run them at like 200 to 300 PSI.
Which is like, you know, like 15 bar.
Yeah, it's got to be a lot of power.
Trains are real heavy.
Oh my God.
It's, well, and then that's like,
attractive power, you know, like the heavier it is
than the more traction the wheels have
when they're taken off.
Oh yeah.
So like some of these trains,
they're top speed,
like the big boys top speed is like 60.
It's pretty slow.
That's pretty fast, though,
for something so heavy.
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
I mean.
778,000 pounds.
Wow.
Yeah.
And then.
Kind of scary.
Then there's other trains,
like the 3751 from Santa Fe.
Like I kind of got on this
because Davis that I was on Mythbusters with
had posted the 3751.
And I was like,
I got to look that one up.
I got to see what the deal is.
And that was the Santa Fe 484,
I think is what that was.
That train runs 100 miles an hour.
103 mile an hour is the top speed of that train.
Can you imagine?
Wow.
Okay, I did see in that video
of the Portland Daylighter,
it looked like it was going 100
because there were cars on the highway
next to it, like on a country road.
Uh-huh.
It looked like they were going about 60
and this thing was just like
blowing them down.
Wow.
To watch that train
running like that.
Oh my God.
The connecting rods on the pistons.
They take so long to stop.
Yeah.
I mean, there are those bullet trains
in Japan.
Sure.
I know a lot of,
do they have bullet trains
in just Europe in general?
Or is it mostly like Japan and China?
I don't know.
I've only been to Japan, so.
Okay.
Have you been on a bullet train?
Yeah.
Does it blow your hair back
when it starts?
You don't even feel it
because you're just in
a very modernized cabin.
Oh, okay.
I mean, going by,
you're like,
yeah, we're going fast,
but I had turned on my GPS
on my phone.
It was 90.
Okay.
That's still pretty fast.
I mean, I've been,
I'll say this.
Maybe 150 or something.
I've had a number of
Econolines up to 92.
And that feels pretty fast.
Yeah, I bet.
I think that I had
Mr. Mustard about 100.
Wow.
With the straight axle?
Hort's topped out at 92,
like wound out.
Wow.
And mine,
when I had the Chevy 250,
same deal, wound out,
even with a three to one rear,
just like there was
nowhere to go with it.
It's just done.
Straight sixes.
It's pretty fast.
It was scary fast
when the windshield's right there.
My God.
Yeah.
Kind of a daredevil, aren't you?
I mean, it was just an open road.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
You just come off the pedal
and it's out in the desert.
Still seems scary.
It is scary
because you know
what a rink eating piece
of shit it is.
Yeah.
But yeah,
I imagine a runaway train.
Oh my God.
That's like the wreck
of the old 97.
How does a train
become a runaway train?
I don't know the answer to that.
Okay.
I guess not enough
brake for how much weight
or going too fast
and having to come in
to stop and not stopping.
I mean, that's what happens to
semis.
You have a brake malfunction
or they get too hot.
Yeah.
Brakes get hot
and you have brake fade
and then you stop
and that's a race car problem.
Right.
Brake fade.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Brakes get so hot
you're just like
it feels like ice.
That's why they
get so hot in this reverse.
Yeah.
The brakes just feel
like you're on ice
and then
that's why they run
ducting to the brakes.
Steve Dalsich
had done his own
he did like some vents
on the backs of his
backing plates
and people were like
making fun of him
because the welding
was kind of shitty
and he was like
whatever it took
300 degrees off my brakes.
Wow.
Now imagine like
NASCAR where they have
up at the spoiler
and they plummet back
to the brakes
to cool the brakes
down from the
very front of the car.
How does he know
it took 300 degrees
how would you measure that?
I'm assuming he used
an infrared thermometer.
Like so he had it
on a dyno and then
braked it.
No I'm assuming he ran down
the road, slammed on the
brakes, measured it.
Oh got out of the car
and measured it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So you lost a little bit
of heat
while you're running to the
back of the car.
I mean the
iron is shit conductor
so it doesn't cool off
that quick.
Oh okay.
He's got iron rotors.
All right.
Interesting.
You know they're
not doing anything.
No.
I was just curious about it.
Well I wondered that
when I first read it
I was like
I wonder how you
measured that
and I was like
oh you can get these
thermometers for like
$10.
You just
you just stop the car
and then run out
and measure it.
Yeah.
That's cool.
If you did the test
it's like
Jean would say
when we would
measure a car
and we'd like
be sintering out a chop
he'd be like
same guy
that way
if you're like
guy or same guy
do it.
Oh the same person.
Yeah.
The same guy.
Okay.
All right.
So that you're measuring
the way you measured it on
the other side.
Oh I see.
So like
if Steve got out
and walked to his break
then Steve's going to get
out and walk to his
break the same time.
Yeah.
So the test is the same.
Yeah.
Okay.
I was actually
breaking minus two seconds.
I was just thinking
that.
I'm not saying that
just to make me sound
smart.
Yeah.
Yeah basically.
That's how I was getting out.
Yeah.
It's the same guy.
Yeah.
Just do it the same way
and it's I think it's good
enough for practical science.
You're taking data.
Yeah.
And you got something to show
I feel like as long as
you tell people the
methodology.
Right.
You're like
I drove this fast
did this
whatever and then
cooled it
like would you go back
to the shop and cool it
down with the air
before the next one.
Yeah.
And then make sure you do
it the same again.
Agreed.
Or let it cool down
do it same day.
Same ambient.
That's how I'd go about
something like that.
Yeah.
That's how we would probably
do it on myth busters.
Like when we did
the chop on the van
we did keep all the stuff
we took off the van
like the mirrors
and whatever and like
we weighed all that stuff
like when we chopped it
we kept all the metal
that we cut out of it
and we weighed it
and it weighed a lot less
than you'd think.
Chopping it was only worth
like 50 pounds.
Oh wow.
That's not much.
I think well the roof
got longer.
Right.
Like a 14 inch section
of roof put in.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because the car is wider
further down you go.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Or longer I would say.
It was wider and longer.
So it gained sheet metal
and lost sheet metal.
Oh yeah.
Because it's like a pyramid.
We took 12 inches out right.
We took 12 inch strips out
the full length of the van
but if I recall correctly
it was a window van.
Maybe it wasn't.
Oh yeah.
I feel like it was
but I don't remember.
I don't either.
Yeah.
Memories.
Yeah.
In one brain cell out the other.
Yeah I'm just yeah
that's how I would do my best
to try to like.
Okay here's the data
we're taking whatever.
Yeah.
Anyway locomotives
I love the design.
They speak to the era
they're from mechanically
speaking.
I mean diesel was just
cheaper.
Easier to maintain
longer intervals
between maintenance.
You know DC engines running
generators running
electro motors on the wheels.
Yeah.
So they're hybrid.
Yeah.
That's been the deal for long.
I mean some rail companies
had diesels they were just
the odds and ends
or they were switchers
to just move cars
around the yard and stuff.
So that's interesting.
I just love the designs
like Coop and I volunteered
at that railway
Orange Railway Museum
in Paris California.
His friend Kenny got us in
and we helped
we lettered
like the first car
that they got there
which was like the
Balboa Park.
They had say
they pounced it
they made a pattern
sorry.
They traced patterns
before they stripped the car
down
and then they rolled them out
for us.
They like had them Xerox
and they rolled them out
and Coop and I pounced them
and then take
it's a little wheel
that looks like a spur.
Oh, okay.
It puts holes in it.
You take a little sandpaper
and sand the little
hanging chads off of it
and then you use chalk
and you dust it
like you fill a sock
full of blue chalk
and go dust it
and then
we made it look
exactly the way it used
to look.
Wow.
That's so cool.
Balboa Park in the zoo
or something like that.
How much did you love doing that?
That was amazing.
Yeah.
And then they showed me
this other electric rail car
they're called different things
in different towns
like trolleys
and stuff like that.
So I remember what it was called
they showed me this trolley
they were doing
and they were like
this corner's torn up
and I was like
I do sheet metal
you want me to make
something like that
and so I made
a front corner
for this trolley.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
And they gave us a ride
on a steam locomotive
or they gave me
and Kristen
but I had gone back down
because they said
they'd take us out on one
they had a little
decent distance of rail
through town.
Oh, that's awesome.
It was amazing.
We sat there
with the fire box.
I was going to say
yeah, did you sit there?
Yeah, we sat in the locomotive
and they were sitting
there shoveling in
and it was.
Wow.
Was it intense?
The shoveling is a lot.
It was very hot.
It was so hot.
Yeah.
But they're probably
wearing long-sleeve shirts
and pants and stuff
for safety.
They're everything.
Gloves, denim overalls,
the whole usual engineer
fireman kind of look
you see.
And I think that the engineer
was a woman.
So we the engineer is at the
front and then the shoveler
is a different person.
Firemen's there
at the same place.
Engineers running the train
firemen's getting coal
into the boiler
into the firebox.
Are the firebox and the
engineer in the same train
car?
Yeah, they're standing
together.
Oh, okay.
So it's just hot all around.
Everybody's hot.
Sweaty.
Yeah.
That's what they talk about
in some of the videos.
In California where it gets
like 110 degrees.
Yeah.
Sounds intense.
I mean, yeah, they were working
hard to give us
just a fan trip, you know.
But it was cool.
Yeah, that's really cool.
It was neat.
I like it.
I don't know.
They're just the biggest
machines.
It's crazy.
I mean, they're scary
that way.
Yeah.
Like Tyler talked about
working in that train yard
and like this guy,
like his train was rolling
away and the guy like
for whatever reason put
his foot like putty.
Boy, just like a
thinking you're stopping
a car or something.
Yeah.
He said the guy was just like
I should go.
I got to go to the doctor
booth.
I wonder if he had to get
that part of his foot cut off.
Yeah, I don't remember
if it was crushed.
So I mean, there was another
guy that got his hand flattened
by a beam like that.
He's like, I just couldn't
see that stuff anymore.
He's like his hand just
looked like a bloody rag.
Wow.
So I mean, they're scary
because they're huge, but
they're really interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, that is like, I
wouldn't want to work in
on a train at all.
Like everything's heavy.
So it's like the danger is
so anybody working heavy
machinery.
Yeah.
And loud too.
Incredibly loud.
Best ear protection.
Kind of like your fancy
earmuffs.
I mean, I think that's
what I find interesting
about that kind of stuff.
It's just the like level
of mechanization it takes
to build that kind of
stuff.
I mean, the machining,
like the lathes in those
in the railhouses, like
they're just so big.
Oh my God.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah, they are intense.
Yeah.
They have Ward Burton stuff.
They're at Orange Empire,
which was Walt Disney's
right hand man.
And he had a small scale
railroad that was called
Grizzly Flats.
And he gave it to them
when he passed away.
And so like they reassembled
his turntable or they,
maybe they built their own
turntable, but like
Coop and I spun
train around two people.
Whoa.
Because it's like
perfectly balanced.
So you just spin it
by hand?
Yeah.
By running it around?
Yeah, I just had big,
like four posts or whatever
and we just each grabbed
a post and just walked it.
Like an engine?
Just an engine car?
Or how many cars?
Just one.
It's an engine.
Oh, that's gotta be
so heavy.
That's insane.
Yeah.
It was amazing.
Oh, physics.
I mean, I saw that
in like lighthouses they
used to float the,
on mercury because like
something that's super dense
isn't as dense as mercury
so it floats on it.
You know, they'll do that
with like cinder blocks
and stuff.
Put it in a pool of mercury
and it'll just float.
So like yeah,
they used to put glass
from like a lighthouse,
the light bulb
or whatever the mechanism.
So it'd be easy to turn
without a bearing.
Oh, okay.
On a pool of mercury.
Whoa.
Yeah.
Turnt styles are
not on mercury,
but still
we had the technology.
Yeah.
Humans are smart.
That's wild.
Yeah.
I didn't know that.
It's neat.
Yeah.
There's just so much about trains.
I just think they're really cool.
I love the view of a train
just ripping along
out in the west.
Yeah.
Seeing like BNSF
blasting through like
New Mexico
against those planes
or like
against the rock.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
It's so beautiful.
I was on the road once
and there's this section,
I forget which state it's in,
and you're over the water.
You're on like a causeway.
And the train is too,
but the train's on the edge of rock.
Like they blasted it out
and the train's elevated
both sides of the highway
are uneven.
And so the train rides down
by this creek bed
is what it is.
And I was like
in the Akana Line
in Hortator
listening to Towns Van Sant
and a train's ripping through
and it's just dark enough
that it's got its light on.
Oh my God.
It was just,
it was so beautiful.
Wow.
And it's one of those things
like it was,
the road is way too windy
to be like getting a picture
or anything
just driving by yourself
is too dangerous to,
you know,
stop paying attention
to the road.
So you just have to enjoy it.
Just look at it
and try to remember it.
It's so pretty.
Yeah.
I feel like that's
sort of ingrained into us
like the western,
you know,
nature of like,
you know,
horseback riding
and trains side by side
as those eras end and.
Yep.
Train hold ups.
Yeah.
Steam,
steam turns into diesel,
you know,
and we,
cars kind of take over
and.
How would they make a train
stop with a hold up?
Would they like
blast dynamite
on the tracks?
And,
and like threaten?
D-rail them?
It takes,
so yeah,
but D-rail,
I don't know.
It seems so dangerous.
Yeah.
That are the,
I don't know,
get them at the station.
I feel like
in the movies,
they're doing it
out in the middle of nowhere.
That's a good point.
But that's also the movies,
which we.
They could blow up the track
and be like,
you know,
if you don't pull over,
you're going to wreck.
You can pull that train over.
Pull over.
They're just out there
with horses and gulls.
Pull over.
Pull over now.
It sounds like
a far side comic.
Oh boy.
On the note of far side comics,
Gary Larson doesn't like
people sharing
his copyrighted
on the tracks.
He's like,
oh boy.
It sounds like
a far side comic.
On the note of far side comics,
Gary Larson doesn't like
people sharing
his copyrighted art.
So,
he got,
he hassled
Reddit to like.
Oh,
because you love that.
There was a subreddit
that I followed.
There was.
Apparently he got mad
and
Reddit like took all the images
off of his subreddit.
So now people
are just
writing descriptions
of his comics.
Are you reading them?
Yes,
because I feel like
it's like this form of like
they're fucking with him.
How old is that?
Was that subreddit?
I don't know.
Not very.
Yeah.
But apparently he complained
and shit on his fans
and so they're like
they're just writing out
descriptions.
That's pretty funny.
Wow.
So he just wants you to buy it
and not talk about it
to each other?
Yeah.
Don't enjoy it.
Yeah.
Buy the calendar
that he doesn't want
to draw anymore.
That's too bad.
I don't know.
What do you think about that?
I mean there is like
artists.
He's fairly local
so I don't want to say
anything.
Have Gary Larson
turn up at my porch
middle.
To get on me
about what we said about him?
I mean at least
he was
he drew that coffee cup for
MC so.
That means
oh I didn't know that.
Yeah.
That means he was listening
to us though so I would be
honored.
I think he's a
I think he's a
Beaver State graduate.
Oh okay.
Dang did not know that.
Yeah.
Or he's over in Washington
across the river.
Okay.
Like a cougar or something?
Is that what their
college is?
Oh I thought
it was a cougar
Washington.
I don't know what
the college is called.
Anyway yeah
I think he's fairly local
so give us like
Jesus come after us.
Do you think somebody would
tell him
or do you think he's
actually listening?
He's listening.
Thanks Gary.
Gary Larson's out
there.
Anyway
pull that train over.
That's all I got
anyway.
I've just been
all up in my train
shit.
I feel like
that is that all we
that's all we brought to
the table.
I mean that's
that's you know we're
we've fulfilled you know.
We've talked in your
ear enough
people you know.
If you want more
go back and listen to
our catalog because this is
number 13.
Well thanks for listening
I mean.
Oh and thank you
for yeah we didn't
get any yeah we didn't
get any write-ins about
the last like two
odd rods so we
must have worn everybody
out on the topic.
Yeah we didn't
mean to you know
we were only covering
two cards
two cards
two cars
an episode
but we did
yeah it did take
you know.
And I do have
we're gonna just do
an episode on
which we don't need to
tell you about now
but here I am
we'll keep it yeah
we'll keep it under wraps
but it even has
some recent history
to add to it.
Oh yeah it does
so it's a good one.
Anyway
hope you enjoyed it
if you
had a chevette
please write in
and tell us
or if you used to
drive a steam locomotive
yeah then
really write in
and tell us
if you were a
shoveler especially
we want to hear
I mean I always
think of Tanner
when we talk about
I feel like Tanner
doesn't have a steam locomotive
no I don't think he does
we do have some announcements
although he and I
were talking about going to
a train museum
that's over on Russell
yeah I remember that
mm-hmm
we'll just
you should probably get on that
so maybe he does
have a locomotive
story
he might
he's a mysterious man
I don't know
if he's really that mysterious
but I thought
I would say that
hi Tanner
if you're listening
should we talk about
our announcements
that we have
for other people
van amounts
there are some van
events
activities
yes activities and events
Rolling Death Fan Club
has their annual
pumpkin run
pumpkin run
pumpkin run
it's Saturday October 5th
the meetup is
Park City Pub
at 10 a.m.
the cruise at noon
and it says come
gas up
yeah you can't get there
and then be like
I need to get
down to gas real quick
no because there's
no gas station
anyway that shit
like two days before
yeah
or a week
you got a gauge
I don't know if it's a
daily driver
just two days
probably got a gauge
yeah or if not
for sure fill up
by gas
you know
if you're not
filling up on the same
day every week
what the fuck
is your life like
support our economy
ask somebody else
to do that
the pumpkin picking
is at Bushells Farm
and you know
if you don't have a van
and you just want
to hang out with some
rad people
don't even think about it
well you can come to
Park City Pub
at 10 a.m.
and check out
all the vans
because they kind of
have a little van show
because there's a lot of
vans getting ready
to go on the
pumpkin run
and then there
was that
a show in
Bellingham
Park's over 11th
they did that
great commercial
vans
vans
vans
vans
I don't remember
seeing that
oh you didn't see it
it's on Instagram
commercials
oh sick
it's good
yeah
it's well done
so what are we talking
about here
for the event
October the 11th
rolling coffins
Bellingham
yeah you didn't
start with that
you just said
vans vans
vans
that's not true
explain it to me
like I don't know
what's going on
that's not true
when you listen
back to it
and editing
you're gonna
see the error
of your way
I doubt it
you're gonna
that's in Bellingham
rolling coffins
I got three to nine
but I don't remember
where it's at
you look it up
look up rolling coffins
I didn't
I don't mean you
I mean like the listener
okay
you do a little leg work
if that sounds like
your thing
yeah if you want to
drive up to Bellingham
yeah it does sound
like a cool show though
get a little season
closer
outside of like
Vantababy
it's a nice
oh yeah
I really think it's
September, October
season closers
and it's about closed up
for the season by that point
yeah
and then you got your
hall parties
Vantababy's awesome though
I've only gone one year
but man
they really put it out
mm mm mm
mm mm
mm mm
you've gone no years
no zero
but um
yeah they really did
zip
they bring it out
wow
but this rolling coffins
thing
yeah go up and check it out
it's a nice drive
we stop in Seattle
by some souvenirs
Bellingham's gorgeous
if you're so inclined
you can go to Canada
mm
you can really just make
a weekend of it
mm
oh
yeah
okay
on that note
great
you done been piled up
yeah you done been piled up
bye
bye
oh we do have show notes
so
click them
cool condition
we'll have links to
buy your own locomotive
hahaha
you
you
you
About this episode
A lively discussion unfolds around the Chevy Chevette, deemed the best worst car by the hosts. They share personal anecdotes, including memories of riding in Chevettes and the quirks of its design. The conversation dives into production numbers, comparisons with other cars, and even a humorous take on the Chevette's reputation. The hosts explore related topics like the Chevette's electric variant and its place in automotive history, all while mixing in pop culture references and light-hearted banter.
AMC Gremlin
AMC Pacer
Aston Martin Valhalla
Chevrolet Astro
Chevrolet Chevette
Chevrolet Corvette
Daewoo Matiz
Ford Model A
Ford Model T
Ford Pinto
General Motors Ev1
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda Del Sol
Isuzu Gemini
Isuzu Piazza
Land Rover Range Rover
Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
Opel Astra
Opel Kadett
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Beetle
Original notes
Emily talks about the best worst car while Rose goes off the tracks with a secret topic.
Kind of good AI Chevette video
Check out Rose's favorite train vids: Big Steam, 50 Years of Southern Pacific Locomotives, 50 Years of Santa Fe Locomotives, Last Days of Steam
Rolling Coffins comercial
Recorded, edited & mixed by Emdognightmare & Queen of the Vans
Production & research Queen of the Vans & Emdognightmare
Find us: Car Krush
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Hugs, thank you & high fives to Greg Meleney for the killer tunez!
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