The DeLorean DMC-12 is a unique car that has doors that open upwards, making it look very cool. It became famous because it was used as a time machine in the 'Back to the Future' movies, which is why many people talk about it.
The Chevrolet Corvair is a small car that was made in the 1960s and is known for having its engine in the back instead of the front. It got a lot of attention because some people said it wasn't very safe to drive, which led to changes in car safety rules.
A transmission rebuild is when a mechanic takes apart the car's transmission to fix or replace broken parts. This helps the car shift gears properly again.
Matching numbers means that the engine and transmission in a car are the same ones that came with it when it was first built. This is important for collectors because it can make the car more valuable if everything is original.
The Honda Prelude is a two-door car that Honda made for many years, known for being fun to drive and looking stylish. It’s popular among car enthusiasts because it combines good performance with everyday usability.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet. It's famous for being powerful and having a unique look, making it a popular choice for car enthusiasts.
'America's Porsche' is a nickname for the Chevrolet Corvette because it's an American car that tries to be like the high-performance sports cars made by Porsche.
Four wheel steering means that not just the front wheels, but also the back wheels can turn. This helps the car handle better when going around corners or driving fast.
Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell classic cars through auctions. It's popular for finding unique and interesting vehicles.
Car
Honda That Honda
The Honda That's is a small, boxy car that was made mainly for Japan and is designed to be practical and easy to drive in the city. It’s not very common outside of Japan, but it shows how Honda makes different types of cars for different needs.
The 'relationship to the ground' is about how well a car connects with the road. Some cars let you feel the bumps and turns better than others, which can make driving more enjoyable.
ABS is a system in cars that helps prevent the wheels from stopping completely when you brake hard. This helps you steer better and stay safe on the road.
Locking the brakes means pressing the brake pedal so hard that the wheels stop turning. This can make the car slide, which some drivers do on purpose in certain situations.
Sliding sideways means the car is moving in a way that the back end is out of line with the front. It's a trick some drivers do to show off or in racing, but it takes practice to do it safely.
The DeLorean is a unique car known for its shiny metal body and doors that open upwards. It's famous for being featured in movies where it travels through time.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that many people like because it's easy to drive and has a lot of space inside. It's been around for a long time and is known for being reliable.
GTI stands for Grand Touring Injection, and it's a sportier version of the Volkswagen Golf. It has a more powerful engine and better handling, making it fun to drive.
Diesel is a type of fuel used in certain cars and trucks. Diesel engines are usually more efficient and can provide more power than regular gasoline engines, but they can be slower in some cases.
The clutch is a part of a car that helps you change gears. When you press the clutch pedal, it disconnects the engine from the wheels, making it easier to shift to a different gear.
The head gasket is a part of the engine that keeps oil and coolant from leaking into each other. If it fails, it can cause big problems for the engine, like overheating.
When someone says the throttle ran away, it means the engine started going faster and faster on its own, which can be very dangerous. This usually happens because something is wrong with the fuel system.
A mechanical fuel pump is a device that moves fuel from the gas tank to the engine using parts that move up and down. It's often found in older cars.
LIVE
Listen, Land, you have found two all the cars I love.
Before, welcome back, it's your authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia, where every
car tells a story, every car has a culture.
It's time to plug in dust off, get a little grease under those fingernails, and I want to
welcome new listeners or recent listeners.
How do we know this through the magic of packet switching and capturing?
No packets were tortured in the collection of this data.
Ogden, Utah, welcome.
Ashburn, Virginia, welcome.
New York City, didn't know.
How do you like that?
So nice they named it twice up.
Couple other places, a little further afield, we are heard around the world.
Yes, Singapore.
Yes, Pakistan.
Welcome.
Welcome.
It's good to have everybody here.
What do you think about that, partner?
Magic of the Internet.
I love it.
We don't even have to be syndicated.
Yeah, I mean around.
I'd be okay with that, but.
Yeah, and in today's guest, we're very happy to have him.
We're going to introduce him in a couple of minutes.
Just reached out to us.
He said, hey, you are my people.
Yes, that's a direct quote.
We got to get together, make it happen.
It's a magic coming your way tonight.
So Ogden, Utah, Singapore, Ashburn, Virginia, Pakistan, New York City, welcome back.
And I won't torture listener land by singing happy birthday.
But we do have a very special birthday today.
Doug, do you have any idea who's it is?
Here's a hint.
We interviewed his daughter on a previous season of the show.
It is none other than.
John DeLorean.
How do you like Zachary DeLorean?
Happy birthday in heaven, sir.
Amen.
I think we talked about this when we are meant to when we spoke with her.
His autobiography is a heck of a tale.
And I think you read at least one or two owning one of his most famous inventions.
You've read about him quite a bit, quite a bit interesting fella.
You could say extensively and I'm pretty active in the DeLorean community partially
just to find out tips on how to fix my car.
But also, I mean, wonderful people like Captain Lorian are actually very active
on Facebook groups.
And that's how we connected with her.
So we're super fortunate.
I mean, you know, the man the man died 20 years ago.
So we're, you know, talking to her was was, you know, as good as
close as it gets to meeting him.
So it was a true honor.
And yeah, it's the gift that keeps giving season one episode 10.
And when I got to tell you, and we'll go back a couple of years,
and this just kind of struck me when you said you were getting this car.
And I know it was a was a bit of a bit of a dream for you.
And you always want to help your closest friends, you know, overachieve,
get to their goals, make dreams come true.
But I thought you would go get this car, bring it back.
And I would never see you again, because you would be underneath
this piece of steel forever, trying to make it work.
But it's been surprising to me that really the opposite has happened.
You have met more people by way of this car.
It's really just been a social, I mean, you know, a lot of people
have a lot of friends, people, person, et cetera, et cetera.
But it's all of the people that have moved within your orbit.
It's it's really a striking bordering on on stunning thing.
Did you did you think about that?
Yeah. And you posed the question.
It's in our blog, but you posed the question to me.
If I hadn't bought the DeLorean, would we have the podcast?
And I think the answer is no.
Yeah, I think I think you can draw a direct line.
Thank you, John.
Yeah, absolutely. It's amazing how you set these goals up in your life.
Personal goals, professional goals involving your family,
your friends, significant other.
And in the journey of achieving them or reaching them or helping
someone else reach them, it's all the little detours and off ramps
and in in in tangents and connections made along the way.
But that that that is that's really neat.
They're sharing that.
So, yeah, no, I'm smiling, thinking about all the people who smile
and point when they see me driving the car.
They don't smile and point at me, they smile and point at the car.
And that makes me happy.
Yeah, but you're the one that steps out of it and you're not in a space suit.
So it makes sense to strike up the conversation with you.
Yeah, except out of the back and so you get a lot before we go.
It's just real quick.
You so at one point you said to me.
You weren't and I forget exactly how you phrased it,
but you got so much attention in the car and you have several other cars.
So you would just kind of park that car for a bit.
But of of it's just everybody looking at you all the time.
And a lot of people have no idea what it's like to be famous.
And when everybody is looking at you all the time, you know, imagine
if, you know, your wedding day where everybody is looking at you
and you're the center of attention for the entire matter.
Imagine if your wedding day was every day of your life,
that's what it's like to be famous.
How do you handle that when you go out?
That's a great question.
OK, we don't get to stump the co-host.
I'm pausing the parts.
You know, it's it's I hate to say love lover hate thing,
but it is you get asked about gigawatts, flux capacitor.
Will it go 88? All the regular stuff.
You know, what because you didn't buy is that a Lamborghini?
Is that a Ferrari? Right. But but yeah.
You didn't buy it to seek attention is the funny thing.
And I think you were really kind of taking it back at certain points.
And it's taken you a few years to settle into that.
Well, and interest and I don't drive it every day.
It's not it's a weekend.
It's not the daily driver like it is for Brian Paoni.
Another case. Well, if you don't want to interrupt.
You got to think it just seems like a perfect excuse
to completely make up a backstory and just take people for a ride.
Could could.
And that very deep voice is not Casey Casey.
Some ladies and gentlemen, it is our voice for today.
It is our it is our guest for today.
Justin, how are you?
I'm well, sir. How are you?
Beautiful, wonderful, better that you're here.
And Doug, how did Justin come across our dashboard?
Yeah, so we got super lucky, even though Justin and I live in the same state.
We didn't know each other.
So I would say he's a friend of the show.
He was listening to the show while he was taking down Christmas lights,
kindly sent us a message.
And yeah, we've been chatting ever since.
He's got some great stories about cars that we're going to we're going to jump into.
But yeah, he heard us on overcast.
Of course, we're on all the all the streaming platforms,
including YouTube, YouTube podcast, but also we're adding video daily.
But yeah, Justin found us on overcast and, you know,
can't can't say enough nice things about the show and how he feels.
How it made him feel thinking about his early cars,
which is really the consistent feedback we get from people.
When he reached out, people are not.
Yeah, good point. And he reached out. He reached out.
So it's as easy as being being on the show as being a fan of the show.
So we're one text, one email away and really in in talking with Justin before the show,
we had to tell him a couple of times, man, it's your show.
We're here for you.
We just kind of we just kind of put guard rails up and, yes,
you can smash through them if you'd like.
But that's that's why we're here.
So what's the weather?
What's the weather by you today, Justin?
Have to ask because it's brutally cold here in Florida.
For 40 degrees in Florida, let's see.
It was twenty seven, I think was the high.
Seventeen was the windshield and last night.
And then today I was out there with the snowblower and the the chipper
trying to get ice off the sidewalks.
That was the next question. That was the next question.
OK, well, glad that you are frost free.
You look warm and toasty.
But your first car wasn't a snowblower.
Was it or was it? It was not.
Let's talk. Let's let's go into the way back machine.
And instead of talking about the very first car,
you had a special car that you wanted to mention.
So let's get into that a little bit.
Which one are we talking about?
Is that the was that the Corvair Corvair was?
Yes. And that is the one that I would.
Really like to talk about.
So I have a 1963 Corvair convertible.
Well, and there's a great story behind the whole thing.
My mom and dad were dating in.
They were they were married in seventy three
and they began dating in seventy.
And my dad had this car and.
They were in their first date in the Corvair
and they went on a few other dates after that.
And then finally, my future mom said,
I'm never riding in this car again
because the floorboards were rusted clean through to the road.
Well, doors weren't closing right.
Top was leaking.
It's a Corvair. Let's face it.
So that's like, OK, OK, OK.
So he goes on to buy another car.
And honestly, I don't know what the next car he bought was.
But he gave that car to my grandfather.
And said, here, do you want this to play around with for a few years?
I'm going to my grandfather had a forty one
old's that was his pride and joy.
He's like, yeah, I'll take this.
So he played with it for a few years.
And then ultimately he ended up selling it on.
And a story for now.
Fast forward, excuse me, we were in the.
I'd say mid eighties, probably eighty four, eighty five.
My dad gets a call from a guy and I unfortunately, I don't know his name.
Caught him up and said, Mr.
Warfield, I believe I have the car that you and your wife were a cordon in.
No. And I would I want to sell it,
but I want to offer you the first right to refusal.
Well, so this happened.
That's like this is fiction.
Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Which is and this is what I wrote out to you or wrote to you guys
because I thought this was just like perfect.
So Dad's like, oh, OK, I'll go look at the car.
So he and my mom went and looked at the car
and it was baby blue monza wire wheel caps.
And at the time I had a black top and he's like, everything checks out.
And and dad said to mom, I'm going to open the ashtray
and see if there's anything in the ashtray because the ashtray was stuck.
The little lid wouldn't open now.
This is on top of the dash above the radio.
And dad went to open up the ashtray and it was stuck.
And dad looked down into there
and he actually saw his Winston cigarette butts from when he owned the car.
So he got rid of it in seventy one, seventy two.
It's called from a guy. I think you have your car.
I think I have your car. Do you want it?
Dad went and looked at it and this is in the mid eighties.
And it turns out it was the very same car.
Totally wild.
So dad bought it back from him.
And the guy had had the inter rebuild, transmission rebuild,
had done some body work to it.
Basically got it back on the road.
Now, it wasn't like a full
showroom or show car restoration.
Yes, it was a, you know, it's I'm a huge fan of roadkill of
don't get it right, just get it running.
And that's what they did.
And they did a pretty good job on the exterior bodywork.
The engine was OK.
Mom and dad got it.
They put a new top on it.
They had some more work done on it and new brakes put on it, so on and so forth.
Fast forward a whole bunch of years.
And then I guess it was about 10 years ago.
I was my mom and dad ended up moving from Maryland to North Carolina.
And they drove car with them.
And there just wasn't a lot of places for them to drive it.
You know, because that's something you want to cruise in.
That's like you don't want to just bust out on the highway.
Absolutely. And so they drove it around for a little bit.
And then my wife and I went down and I asked dad, I was like,
would you finally let me drive this thing?
Put a pen in that. We'll come back to that.
Will you finally let me drive this thing? He's like, yes, sure.
So I take it out and this thing was a blast.
It was sloppy, steering was sloppy, shifting was sloppy, brakes were sloppy.
Drive it around for a bit, park it back in the garage and it's set for a few more years.
About eight, six or eight years ago, my dad called me and said,
I'm selling the quarter bearer.
If you want it, come get it. Otherwise, it's for sale.
Full stop.
You got the right of first refusal, too.
How interesting. Second, second time around.
But the family exactly.
So I called up my buddy team and I was like, dude, I need you.
I need your truck and I need your trailer.
And like all of my friends who are awesome, he's just like, yep, let's go.
Let's do this.
So we drove North Carolina, hooked up the car, stayed the night.
Next morning came back and it's been in my garage
and I'm slowly getting it back up to to roadworthiness.
Nice. That's where it's at.
And I'm hoping.
I'm hoping to hoping to get it up and running.
My my mom's not in that creative of shape.
And I'd love to be able to put her in the passenger seat one more time.
Don't know if it's going to happen, but I'm damn sure going to try.
Fingers fingers crossed.
And you know, it's so great about that and it just came to me.
So we've heard of right of first refusals before and those type of things.
I've not heard of somebody going back to find the previous or however many previous owners
and say, hey, I've got your car.
I think I've got your car, whatever.
This nice gentleman went through the trouble for whatever reason.
And man, that makes it like doubly special.
Like that's a I'll use one of Christian's terms like guardian angel.
Right. Yeah.
And I honestly don't know the story behind that, like how he found.
I mean, obviously you can do a Venn number search, but these days in the internet,
that's easy, but we're totally different.
84, 85, where.
You know, that just wasn't a thing.
So you have to do your research or already have documentation on it.
And honestly, at this point, I don't know if the engine and transmission
are matching numbers to the chassis.
I don't know.
I haven't really dug that in that far into it.
Sure.
Well, that's a good it's a good segue, if you don't mind,
since we were talking about papers into how you found your first car.
What what was your first car?
That was a nineteen eighty hundred prelude.
Two door silver.
Mm hmm. My favorite color.
And we found that in the Frederick News Post.
And I think it was being offered up for like fifteen hundred or something
dollars. And my my dad and I went out at the time.
I didn't have my license yet.
I couldn't drive a stick, couldn't drive anything.
And dad, we went over there.
We talked to the girl that owned it.
Took it out for a test drive.
Of course, my dad drove and, you know, obviously,
knowing how to drive a stick, he's like, all right,
this is a really easy stick for you to learn on this.
Thanks really for giving.
Excuse me.
So we went back, made an offer, bought it.
And the one one cool thing I remember and I don't even remember her.
I just remember her saying, you have to take care of Ian.
And Ian was the dog or dogs.
Ian was the car's name.
Oh, OK.
My first car's name is Ian.
And to this day, I still don't have any names for any cars,
except for that one, because somebody else named it.
I didn't know that anyone really named cars until this show.
And everyone does.
And I started doing it since we started doing the show here.
That that is fantastic.
OK, I have to ask the paper.
You were very specific on the paper, the Frederick News.
What did you? Now, is I got to ask you,
is do you have any idea if that paper is still in existence?
Oh, it is. Absolutely.
Oh, well, that's fantastic.
Because, you know, in this day and age in.
It just it just brings me back to how this is not really car related semi,
but for millennia, that's how people have gotten their information.
Some written record, you know, going all the way back to the town.
Cryer in newspapers.
And I remember being younger.
That's how, you know, when I first moved to the big city,
that's how I got my first job, man, getting it and going through
not that specific paper, but the paper and go through the one out of the jobs.
The one adds what are the cars?
And then and then, Justin, you mentioned the little trade rags that have the,
you know, the color picture, the cars are sometimes black and white.
And that's how information got around and I mean, that was that.
That was the thing you waited for the auditor to come out.
And, you know, like you're looking for a car.
It was once a week they would come out.
And there was a whole bunch of circulations,
whether they be national or local, that was that was the cool thing.
Like you waited for that ride to come out and start flipping through.
And then you you got a pencil and you circled things and you made notes.
And, you know, and you ripped it out.
It was a little tactile.
Yeah, yeah, you ripped it out.
You would tape it to your wall. Yes.
And you would you would cold call people.
Just a straight up cold call and say, absolutely.
Hey, are you the guy that has the car?
I'm interested in it. Can we talk?
Doesn't that work out?
I was good. No, it does not.
That was I was cleaning out.
My oldest son went off to college recently and cleaning out his room
and found all these newspaper clippings, you know, that we had clipped out.
And it's just, you know, my mom used to do that when I moved to the big city
and she would send me the news from my hometown, you know,
she clipped the newspaper, clipping and put it in the envelope and mail.
Well, that's all that's all gone by the wayside now.
That's all and you still firmly in the past.
Sorry, Christian, I have to.
I love this story about you and your mom.
Yeah. So you always wanted what car?
Yeah, several that I'm sure I'll never have.
But the risky business Porsche is that.
Yeah. So you and you still have the.
I don't know if it was a newspaper printout or whatever.
And it was preserved in what what do they call that?
Plastic laminated by your mother.
Yeah, I somehow found this in the papers.
I love it. I do have it.
So I'll see if I can pull it out somewhere.
But I do have it yellowed with age.
It's in the newspaper, but yellow.
And my mom was a teacher, so she brought to school and laminated it
and then brought it.
I can't say I've ever gotten close.
I've looked at a few in the past, but still newspaper, maybe one day.
That's right, paper.
And before we go on to the next car, Christian, I have a quiz for you.
Yes, I'm trying to make your automotive knowledge better.
Try my best. Wow. OK.
What what do a bull twig and beetle and a corvair have in common?
And I'm talking about old bull twig and beetle, not newer ones.
Both are cool.
You got it. There we go.
You got it.
Guinevere from Fresh & Brothers would be very proud of you.
She's she's very proud of me, hopefully, all the time anyway.
But let's just add another merit badge to the sash.
All right, let's move along to the next car on the used car lot in Justin's past.
Yeah. And I think it was another let's take it.
I can't use it. Another prelude.
Are you telling me that the Honda prelude was a prelude to another
Honda prelude that you did it very well.
All right, let's have Justin.
Let's go. First, I'm going to add to your answer that.
Yes, the Corvette was air cooled, but it's also the Volkswagen and the Corvette
were both rear engine, rear wheel drive.
Yes, another another one.
We have a quiz master in our midst.
And it was it was actually the time it was considered America's
Porsche, because it was only only American car that tried to duplicate
that platform of a car.
Yeah. Yeah.
And they had a bus version.
They had a truck just like Volkswagen.
They had the what was it the Greenbrier?
And then I forget what the truck version of it was like a side step.
Yeah. All right.
So what was the what was the question on the next car?
We were on your ninth prelude, I think, that you bought my ninth.
So that was my second prelude.
And that was a 88 SI four wheel steering.
And that car was fast.
And it was it was low and was sleek and it was fast.
It was a five speed.
But the most important thing that was it was a four wheel steering car.
And it was kind of ahead of its time and not a lot of
companies wanted to try to do that, because it is it is kind of sketchy
to learn how to drive that car.
And when I would would take my friends out.
My best friend, Adam, said they used to call me Jay at the time.
Uh, yeah, Jay knew that car stuck
and scared the out of all of us, because I had such a good time
taking friends for a ride on back roads and just whipping that thing
around corners and in and out of streets.
And just had a great time with it because I knew it would handle.
They didn't. And it was so much fun.
Now, of course, you know, I'm an idiot.
I'm like, you know, 21, totally no, any better.
But, you know, had fun with it.
I was invincible at the time.
Would I do that now?
Probably not. But yeah, happens.
Hey, what color was it?
Black. Black with black interior, aluminum wheels.
Manual. For the time, it was an 88.
So it had all the bells and whistles.
Yeah.
You know, what else can I say about it?
And if and if I had the opportunity to buy one tomorrow,
no questions asked.
I would buy another one.
Well, there are some on bringintrailer.com.
But did you hear that Honda may be bringing back a prelude?
I have not.
Yeah.
However, your first America in the world.
I have not. But.
There's something about modern vehicles
that they're so bulbousy
and they they don't have a relationship to the ground that.
Yes.
Other vehicles or older vehicles have where you can't feel the road.
You're isolated from it.
And the cars almost drive at you.
And there's, you know, there's so much noise reduction
and steering control and.
Josh control and ABS and all this kind of stuff.
If I want to lock the brakes up and I want to slide sideways.
I want to do that.
That doesn't mean I'm out of control.
That means I'm really in control and want to take control of the vehicle.
And you really don't get that.
You know, I'd love to have a new catering for that matter
and be able to have those those options.
No, I'm I'm with you.
I was driving my Delorean in a while.
And I was going like 75 and I'm like, man,
what would this thing feel like to go to 88, not to pick pick an obvious number?
And I think it'd be pretty scary.
I've never driven it that fast.
And I don't want to.
You've no need.
Frankly, you've no need.
But sure.
But whatever the amount like going 75 in my, you know,
very modern 2023 car or 88 is a total different experience
to what Justin is saying, right?
So now speaking of another totally different experience,
yes, I think we can squeeze in one more car here.
Let's do it. The dozens that he's owned.
We got to finish up with a VW.
There's got to be a golf.
This guy has asked to be a VW guy.
Look at this guy.
So it's the one and only VW that I owned.
I bought at some point a 1986 golf diesel.
And when I went and looked at it,
they had this thing tricked out looking like a GTI.
So they had the headlight, they had the round headlights.
They had the driving lights on the front
and they had the black fender skirts over everything.
And I'm like, that car is sexy.
I want that car.
And then when I went and looked at it and saw it was a diesel,
I went, you know what?
I've never owned a diesel.
Let's share it. Let's buy it. Why not?
And I needed a car.
Didn't know anything about diesel.
And that car was cool, man.
It was comfortable.
It drove great, but it was slow.
It wouldn't get out of its way.
I think out of the box,
it had like 53 horsepower or 58 horsepower,
something like that.
But I could pull a stump out of the ground with this thing.
I mean, it was because of the diesel torque.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
And that car was so cool.
I really liked that car.
It was so much fun to drive, even though it was, you know,
like I said, couldn't get out of its own way.
But I had a I was looking to get into something different.
And I had a local VW shop I called, just called, called
and said, hey, I've got an 86 diesel.
You guys are interested in it.
They said, yeah, bring it up.
We'll tell you if we want to buy it, we'll go equal.
And my future wife, you know, at the time of my girlfriend,
she's behind me.
And I was like, all right, we'll leave my parents' house,
follow me up to the dealership and, you know,
we'll see what happens.
We make it about 300 feet outside of my parents' driveway.
And I went from first gear up into second gear.
And I pushed the clutch in, shifted it into second.
And no matter what I did, the engine speed kept increasing.
Up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up.
And this thing was screaming.
And I'm like 25, I freaked out.
I'm like, and I don't know anything about diesels.
I freaked out, decided to eject, eject.
So I pulled the key and the thing kept running
and the RPMs kept going up.
So I jumped out of the car and I come running up
to the front of her car and I'm like,
just go in reverse, go in reverse, back up, back up,
and she went in reverse and I ran away.
And this thing just ran itself completely out.
Huge cloud of smoke, huge dump of diesel fuel
and oil on the ground.
Neighbors called the fire department.
Fire department showed up and they just stood there
and watched it run out.
And I'm like, what, huh?
What's going on?
What I didn't know, because I was ignoring
to how diesels worked, that the head gasket blew
and it was running on its own oil.
So throttle ran away because it was a mechanical fuel pump.
Throttle ran away, it was running on its own oil.
It was belching diesel fuel and oil out of its tailpipe.
And then when the whole thing was said and done,
of course a whole neighborhood is standing around
Yeah, I'm looking embarrassed.
I don't know what to do.
Fire department's there, they're doing their thing.
And then finally the fire department starts packing up
and I'm like, what do we do about this?
Like, this is a thing, this is like,
I just bounced a whole bunch of crap out on the road
and they're like, oh, well, you have to figure that out.
And they packed up and left.
And I went, well, okay.
So I ended up just pushing the car back
into my parents' driver and left this giant spill
of fuel and oil on the road.
Cause I didn't know what to do.
They didn't give me the direction like,
oh, you should call hazmat or you should call this person
or you should call that department.
Should have called freesia brothers and get a get.
They didn't even say, get some cat litter
and dump it on there.
They didn't say anything.
And yeah, cat litter was what we thought.
So, you know, I went out there and like did what I could.
Well, to this day, I can still drive
through the neighborhood and this has been 30 years.
I can still drive through the neighborhood
and see that spot on the road
because it actually dissolved the asphalt.
They haven't fixed it.
Golly, that story has me so,
so discombobulated that you just said, holy crap.
I just thought the whole thing was so funny
that the car ran away on its own fuel or own oil
and I didn't know what was going on.
And then the fire department was like, yep, peace out.
That's like, what do you say to that?
That's just kind of a, what a wonderful end to the,
into the podcast here, into the show.
Doug, I think this is the first time in our history
where we actually made the list of the cars,
ran through it in half an hour.
I'm pretty pleased.
What do you think?
Yeah, I'm super pleased.
Plus we're gonna have Justin back
because there's a whole other list of cars
complete with stories.
We're gonna do a four wheel drive edition,
I think, of a show.
It's a Jeep thing.
Dig it, can't wait.
But before we let him go,
we have to ask about,
we always check with guests to see if they have a cause
that they would like to mention, share.
Cause is important to them, things that they're into.
And Justin has what I thought was a wonderful one.
Would you care to share, Justin?
Local animal rescue.
If you care about animals
and you actually wanna do some good,
don't give to national animal rescue groups.
Get to your local animal rescue.
Find your local dog or cat rescue, donate food,
donate money for them to get back care.
And when it comes to finding a new pet,
don't, what is it?
Don't shop, adopt.
Don't be afraid to take on an elder dog or cat.
Personally, we had a dog that had six months to live.
He was an awesome dog.
And we ended up having him for six years
because he got love.
He got care.
He got good food, got attention.
He had a warm place to sleep.
He wasn't given six, eight months,
but we had him for six years.
And my wife got me a portrait painted of him
for our living room wall.
And he's still with us.
His name is Luke.
But just, animals is the biggest thing to me.
And just take care of your critters.
Yeah, wonderful mention here.
Perfect timing because it's extremely cold outside.
So, you know, they say about the peas, the plants,
the people, the pipes.
Bring your pets and thoughts.
Don't forget about the pets.
Don't forget about the pets.
Don't forget about the critters that are,
even if they're strays, just give them a cardboard box
to come in and sleep in out of the weather.
Just a little cardboard box and a towel.
Yep.
You know, in a corner of a yard,
it makes a huge difference to a critter.
It's kind of messed up.
You know, I'm more likely to help an animal
in the end that I am a human
because the animals are doing what they can.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you got a big heart, buddy.
You got a big heart.
And we have tons of animals.
Yeah, it's, yeah.
Your heart is well loved, I bet.
Let's put it that way.
Well, Justin, it was really great to meet you.
Had a blast the past half hour.
Doug said, and getting ready for the show,
he said, this guy is going to be something else.
This guy is going to be something else.
And you did not disappoint.
So we appreciate you taking time out of your day
and spending it with us.
Absolutely.
And I'm happy to come back.
Definitely willing to talk to yous.
Absolutely.
We'll do it.
We'll do it.
We'll have our people talk to your people.
Actually, we need to hire some people
to talk to your people,
but we're going to start accepting resumes now.
Where can you just hire me?
Yeah, we'll hire you to talk to yourself.
That's another pal.
We won't get into today.
I talk to myself all the time for free, so.
Yeah, just don't answer yourself.
Amen.
Well, thanks, pal.
Well, you have just heard
the high-reving, low-mileage,
late-model, herd-round-the-world
authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia.
He is Doug.
Reach him at Doug at CarsLove.com.
He's our engine.
What can we say?
I am Christian.
Reach me at Christian at CarsLove.com.
Think of me as the transmission fluid
you see on the ground in the morning.
And this was Justin.
Hey, if you like the show, feel free to share.
Invite others.
Our link tree, linktr.ee slash CarsLove.
It's our digital switchboard.
You can see all of our presences there in one place.
Please follow, tell a friend, review,
and hey, we'll see you at the next local car show,
showroom, race strip, or concourse.
Thank you for listening.
Keep the rubber side down, and we will see you next time.
About this episode
A nostalgic journey unfolds as Justin shares the story of his 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder, a car that holds sentimental value as it was once used by his parents during their courtship. The episode dives into the car's history, including its rusted floorboards and a serendipitous reunion when Justin's father was offered the chance to buy it back years later. Alongside this tale, Justin discusses his first car experiences, the quirks of owning a diesel VW Golf, and the community connections fostered through automotive passion. The conversation is rich with humor and heartfelt moments, making it a delightful listen for any car enthusiast.
Some cars get sold. Some get scrapped. Justin's 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder has been in his family for three generations—and counting.
When a car passes through multiple generations, it stops being just transportation. It becomes a living timeline of family history, mechanical evolution, and the question every generation asks: do we keep it or let it go?
The Corvair has a controversial reputation (thanks, Ralph Nader), but for Justin's family, it's the car that ties grandfather to father to son. That makes it worth keeping, even when it doesn't make practical sense.
In this episode, Justin shares: - How his grandfather originally acquired the 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder - What makes the Monza Spyder different from other Corvairs (turbocharged, rare, collectible) - The Ralph Nader controversy and why Corvair owners defend the car so fiercely - Specific memories from each generation's time with the car - The mechanical challenges of keeping a 60+ year old car running across decades - The moment each generation decided to pass it down instead of selling - What it's like being the current custodian of a family heirloom that requires constant maintenance
There's one story about the Corvair nearly being sold that Justin says would have ended the family legacy forever. What stopped the sale at the last minute is something no one saw coming.
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