In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show Oct 15, 2025

A Fall Driver’s Guide: Scenic Byways, Vintage Window Stickers, and the 2025 Prius

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Car

Jeep Cherokee

The Jeep Cherokee is a type of SUV that can handle rough roads and off-road adventures. It's spacious and comfortable, making it a good choice for families or anyone who likes to explore.

Term

Maronis

Maronis are stickers that you find on new cars. They show the price and details about the car, like how many miles per gallon it gets and what features it has.

Car

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a special version of the Mustang sports car that was made in 1970. It's known for being fast and having a cool design, making it popular among car fans.

Term

wide over belted tires

Wide over belted tires are special tires that are wider than usual and are made to be stronger. They help cars grip the road better, especially when driving fast.

Car

Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet. It has a unique design and is known for being powerful and fun to drive.

Term

GM Overseas Distribution Corporation

The GM Overseas Distribution Corporation was part of General Motors that helped send cars to other countries. They made it possible for people around the world to buy GM cars.

Car

Chrysler Fifth Avenue

The Chrysler Fifth Avenue is a big, comfortable car that was popular many years ago. It’s known for being fancy and spacious, making it a classic choice for those who like older cars.

Car

Chevrolet Chevy II

The Chevrolet Nova is a small car that was made by Chevrolet. It was popular in the 1960s and 70s for being affordable and fun to drive.

Car

Chevrolet Malibu

The Chevrolet Malibu SS is a sportier version of the Malibu car, designed to be faster and more fun to drive. It has special features that make it look and perform better than regular Malibus.

Term

four-speed transmission

A four-speed transmission is a system in a car that helps it change gears. It has four different settings that help the car go faster or save fuel depending on how fast you're driving.

Term

350 horsepower V8

A 350 horsepower V8 is a powerful engine with eight cylinders that are arranged in a V shape. It can make the car go really fast and is often used in sports cars.

Term

A turbo automatic transmission is a type of car system that uses a turbocharger to make the engine more powerful while still being easy to drive automatically. It helps the car go faster without using too much gas.

Term

add-on

An add-on is something extra you can choose to include when buying a car, like special features or upgrades, but it usually costs more money.

Term

G7814

G7814 is a code that tells you the size and type of a tire. It's important for making sure the tires fit your car properly.

Car

Chevrolet Impala

The Chevrolet Impala is a large car made by Chevrolet, first introduced in 1958. The 1963 version is known for its sleek look and good performance, making it a favorite among classic car fans.

Term

two door hard top

A two-door hardtop is a car with two doors and a solid roof that doesn't have a support pillar between the front and back windows. This makes the inside feel more open and is often seen in sporty cars.

Term

destination charge

A destination charge is an extra fee you pay when buying a car, which helps cover the cost of getting the car from the factory to the dealership.

Term

tachometer

A tachometer is a gauge in a car that shows how fast the engine is spinning. It helps drivers know when to change gears to keep the engine running smoothly.

Term

four-speed manual transmission

A four-speed manual transmission is a type of gearbox that lets you change gears manually while driving. It has four different speeds for going forward and one for going backward, giving you more control over how the car accelerates.

Term

special gearing

Special gearing means that the car's gears have been changed to make it go faster or accelerate better. This is often done in cars designed for racing or high performance.

Car

Toyota Prius

The 2025 Toyota Prius is a new version of a popular hybrid car that uses both gasoline and electricity to save fuel. It's designed to be small and efficient, making it easy to drive and park.

Part

infotainment screen

An infotainment screen is the touchscreen in a car that lets you control music, maps, and other features. It's like a mini computer for your car.

Term

fastback design

Fastback design means the back of the car has a smooth, sloping roof that goes down to the trunk. This can make the car look sporty but might mean there's less room in the trunk.

Term

CVT automatic

A CVT is a special kind of automatic transmission that helps the car use fuel more efficiently by changing gears smoothly without any noticeable shifts. This can make driving feel smoother and can help save on gas.

Term

combined gas mileage

Combined gas mileage is a way to measure how far a car can go on a gallon of gas when driving in both city and highway conditions. It helps you know how fuel-efficient a car is overall.

Term

miles per gallon

Miles per gallon is a way to measure how far a car can go using one gallon of gas. The higher the number, the better the car is at saving fuel.

Term

base trim price

The base trim price is the lowest price you can pay for a car model without adding any extra features or options. It's like the starting point for how much the car costs.

Term

plug-in hybrid

A plug-in hybrid is a car that can use both gas and electricity. You can charge it by plugging it into a power outlet, which lets you drive on electricity for a while before switching to gas.

Car

Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is a small car that many people like because it's dependable and saves gas. It's a good option for anyone looking for a comfortable ride that’s easy to drive and maintain.

Car

Toyota 4Runner

The Toyota 4Runner is an SUV that can handle rough terrains and is built to last. It's a great choice for people who like to go off-roading or need a sturdy vehicle.

LIVE

Alright, time now for Mr. Morris to do the driving destinations. You got about five minutes there, Mr. Morris. I could do it. So what does start with, you know, when we start talking about fall road trips, everybody thinks changing colors in the woods and the trees and the leaves and all that stuff.

They ain't from these parts. No, they're not, because we don't have the trees. But you generally don't go by yourself. You generally have to bring somebody you like or maybe even your spouse to go along.

Or maybe somebody you don't like or maybe even your spouse. So one of the places that you can go on these road trips in your sports car because you want to enjoy driving the road and you want to provide some scenery for them.

So the Blue Ridge Parkway. Now this is 469 miles of mountain curves that winds between the Shenandoah and the Great Spoky Mountain National Parks. So you got sweeping overlooks, tunnels, you got banked turns.

And that's where you get into the fall where you get the red maples, the golden hickories and the orange oak trees that are going to provide you with all the color and the scenery because you're going to be going through some elevation shifts that you can change these colors.

And it's really considered one of the drives you should make before you drive if you're an enthusiast driver. Best time to go is late October, sir.

Drive before you die.

Yep. So the Chirahola National, that Nantahala National Forest. I said this three times right.

43 miles to the Cherokee Forest and it goes from 900 feet above elevation to 5000 feet. So that's where you get your mix of elevation. You get sweepers and the pavement that you can actually make some time on these high altitude curves.

Got a lot of panoramic outlook so that your companion can see all the pretty trees as they go by at a high rate of speed. Best time to go is late October to see all the colors that are in there.

Then the third one is the Talamina National Scenic Byway. Now this runs through Oklahoma and Arkansas. 54 miles and it goes to the Wachita Mountains with ball of sweepers.

Again, the ridge top view. So you go to the top and you can see these vast areas there that's got all the changing colors in it so that you can keep the other half of the car happy.

Got plenty of oaks and reds and the golden hickories and the cool temps that really make it nice to make this fall ride and it's really popular on motorcycles but again cars really have a good time in this run.

Now this one caught my attention. It's in Arkansas Highway 23. It's called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway.

That's the one I want to hit on. Squeeze like a pig.

Yeah, it sneaks through the Ozark Mountains between Ozark and Eureka Springs so it's right there outside of Eureka Springs, a very popular destination for tourists.

She's got a real cute nose.

You've got tight turns, technical curves, a lot of elevation changes that again in October as you go through these elevation changes you can see the forest canopy and see all the changing colors in it.

This really comes in whenever you get into Turner Bend and close to the Mulberry River.

One thing about this road, it really has a strong connection with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks because it runs between Central Arkansas and it drops down in the Northwest Arkansas area so that they go to the football games and go to the university.

Best time to go mid-late October.

Now while we're up in Arkansas, Scenic Highway 7. I've been on parts of this for several times. That's 290 miles from El Dorado to Hot Springs to Harrison, Arkansas.

Now it goes through the mountains and the river valleys again. Got a lot of elevation changes, corners, got a lot of small town stops kind of like you would see on the Pig Trail.

During mid-October, again, a lot of color changes in the forest through there because of the oaks and the maples, etc.

It's in the Washington Mountains and so it's a great time to go through this autumn road trip.

Best time is mid to late October to go up through there. It's a great run. It really is. I've been on part of that.

And that is some destinations. You can take a sports car in with some colorful Scenic areas to keep the other half of the car happy.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mars. In-Wheel Time Car Talk continues after this quick break.

Time now for Jeff's car culture. The good old days of buying a car. Shall we read this?

Yeah. Let's look at this. Let's get this opened up here, Michael. Give me a hand on your end.

Crud. Let's go back to the beginning. There you go. Good old days of buying a car.

So these are the crud. Yeah, crud. Yeah, crud. I like crud. You can say that on radio.

Just look at the Maronis. I mean, these are a lot of good things that people were offering back then.

You can see that there's a Mustang and this rascal is a Mach 1. You got a sport roof. This should be around a 70, I believe.

It doesn't actually give the dates on it. I've been looking. It does the dealership name and things of that nature.

But you got wide over belted tires. You got the Acapulco blue tint on the windows. All that good stuff.

And then that's a picture of the car. This came from Greenville, Texas in the Frank Hudson Ford in Greenville, Texas.

So that's where that Maroni comes from. And you can see all the cool stuff. $35,228.

Yeah, what did I say? You said $35,000.

But you can see that the 428 is $357.

The sport deck rear seat was $76.

Let's move on to the next one. You got some cool stuff here. Oh, look at that Corvette.

That's got a 69.

It could be. Yeah.

It's the GM Overseas Distribution Corporation. So it's Fifth Avenue in New York.

So was that one going overseas somewhere possibly? Probably. Don't know.

But it's the St. Louis, Missouri vehicle. That's where they were built. And that's $2,300.

Then this one here, you got the Nova Chevy II black trim, free of charge, of course.

Malibu SS 8 sport coupe.

Yeah. Yeah.

But I say Nova, I was mistaken. Black trim.

But look, you got $188 for the four speed transmission.

And you got 202 for the 350.

That's interesting. So they charged for the four speed.

I guess they didn't charge for the automatic.

Yeah, 350 horsepower V8.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, the next one, you got a Pontiac here.

Now, this one's a little deceiving. I was looking at this one.

The description is not for a convertible in this particular one, but they threw a convertible picture up on there.

Power door locks. This is when you're getting all the fancier stuff. The power, power this, power that.

You see now this one here, turbo automatic transmission. They charge you $227.

That's the most expensive add-on on it.

Yeah. So did they also charge, did they even offer a manual transmission?

It's very possible they did, but I don't know if the, this is actually good matching that.

So it could be. And then you got your, your tires, you got your G7814 white wall.

Or white leather.

White wall, white leather.

G7814.

And they're fiberglass too, by the way.

Yeah.

Okay. And then you got Bale Chevrolet in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Look at that rascal. That's a nice little car. That's a sleeper there.

Is that a 63?

It could be. Well, it could be. Impala, eight, two door sport coupe. Again, base price is $27,000.

But look, it's, it's a, it's a hard top and it's a two door hard top.

Yep. Steel belt.

Look, permanent antifreeze was a $5 up chart.

You know what that is today? About 40 grand.

So these are just some things you can find on the internet.

Looking at them all is kind of fascinated me to see, because you always talk about maronies.

You're always looking at things that you can buy as options and what it has here and what it's not going to take.

So take a picture.

And these, these are old maronies that the window stickers used to call them.

But notice that there's no EPA stuff on it.

No.

Piles per gallon. None of that stuff that's on a maroni today.

But you will see.

It's one page. You know, it doesn't take up two pages.

It doesn't take up the whole rear window.

You will see destination charges on these two.

They're right up top.

$74 destination charge up there.

So they were, they were hitting you back then, Mike.

Yeah, but not the 1500 that they're charging it today.

Here's a 70 Mustang.

So this one is actually true, true form sport roof, the eight cylinder package, vinyl, high back bucket seats, color keyed carpeting.

Oh boy.

Oh, tachometer and trippodometer.

Look at that.

For additional four speed manual transmission drag pack.

Oh, 259.

So in other words, it's got some special gearing inside of them gears going on and you've got 51 22 will take it out the door.

That's expensive.

There you go.

Well, that was fun.

Yeah.

All right.

Time now for this hour's car review.

Had a chance to drive the 2025 Toyota Prius.

Don't laugh.

Listen to this final assembly location Toyota.

I each eat Japan available trim levels.

S E X S E and premium.

I had the premium.

This is a plug in hybrid sedan seats, five people.

It's small.

Exterior changes from last model year was all new.

This is a new trim name for 2025.

It was all new in 2023.

Exterior features the most aerodynamic car in everyday models.

I think that this thing is sleek.

The windshield is sloped just like the front hood all the way down to the pavement.

Attractive skinny headlights with small grill opening at the lower end of the front end.

Slick big wheels.

Hatchback is sleek with attractive lighting.

But I liked its attractiveness.

It's not just a hybrid model anymore.

This is probably one of the most attractive sedans I'd buy it.

Interior highlights unique to cluster dash design with a big infotainment screen in the middle.

Sleek comfortable seating up front.

Leg and headroom is limited in the back.

Drive mode controls on the center console.

HVAC controls on the lower dash is well placed and the controls are easy to use.

Trunk room is limited due to its fastback design.

What I liked the convenient controls.

What could use improvement?

Well the instrument cluster in front of the driver is a little bit too far away from the driver in my opinion.

And sometimes it was blocked by the steering wheel.

It comes with a two liter gasoline four cylinder engine with 220 horsepower combined.

That's a ton of horsepower friends for this little car.

Torque tons.

Transmission CVT automatic.

And here is where you hit home runs.

Combined gas mileage with gas and electric together is 114 miles per gallon electric.

I got 43.7 miles per gallon over 460.6 miles.

What I liked plenty of gasoline only power.

I did not plug it in.

If you want to plug it in you can probably get about 40 miles of range with nothing but the battery.

What could use improvement nothing stick with it.

This is a good good deal.

What I liked about it the smooth ride what could use improvement nothing pricing.

Base trim price $40,070.

Price has tested with a few options 44,324.

The base model price all the engines are the same.

Same gas mileage the base model price is 33,375.

Competitors there really isn't any but here's some that are close.

Key and Nero plug in 34,490.

Hyundai Tucson plug in 39,730.

These are starting prices and the Honda Civic hybrid 28,750.

And that's my review of the 20,25 Toyota Prius.

Next week we're going to review the brand new Toyota forerunner and we hope that you'll tune in for that next week.

Same bat channel same bat price.

About this episode

Exploring the best scenic byways for fall road trips, the episode highlights stunning drives like the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Pig Trail Scenic Byway, perfect for enjoying autumn colors. Mr. Morris shares personal experiences and tips for each route, emphasizing the joy of driving through picturesque landscapes. The conversation shifts to nostalgic car buying experiences, showcasing vintage window stickers and pricing from classic models. The episode wraps up with a detailed review of the 2025 Toyota Prius, discussing its design, performance, and fuel efficiency, making it a compelling choice in the hybrid market.

350 horsepower V8 add-on base trim price combined gas mileage CVT automatic destination charge fastback design four speed manual transmission four-speed transmission G78-14

Chevrolet Chevy II Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet Impala Chevrolet Malibu Chevrolet Nova Chrysler Fifth Avenue Ford Mustang Honda Civic Jeep Cherokee Toyota 4Runner Toyota Prius

Original notes

Want fall roads that aren’t just postcards but proper drives? We lay out a practical, enthusiast-friendly map of autumn routes that pair tight turns with big color: Blue Ridge Parkway’s banked curves and layered foliage, the Cherokee and Nantahala forests with their 900–5,000 ft rhythm, Talimena’s ridgetop vistas in the Ouachitas, and Arkansas’s double feature—Highway 23’s Pig Trail and the long, rolling canvas of Scenic Highway 7. You’ll hear when to go for peak hues, where the panoramas hit hardest, and why these segments keep both the driver and the passenger happy.

Then we flip through real-deal window stickers from the “good old days,” decoding how options once defined personality: four-speeds that changed everything, drag packs that whispered intent, and destination fees that existed long before today’s eye-poppers. Without EPA labels cluttering the page, these Monroneys reveal a different buyer mindset—displacement, gearing, tires, and paint telling a clear story about purpose and pride. It’s nostalgia with numbers, not just vibes.

We close with a candid review of the 2025 Toyota Prius that might change your mental picture. Sleek lines, serious aero, and 220 combined horsepower turn a former punchline into a compelling daily. The two-cluster cockpit works well, the ride is smooth, and the real-world fuel numbers impress even without plugging in—while the plug-in capability adds flexible range for short commutes. Pricing spans the low 30s to mid-40s as tested, with few direct rivals matching its mix of efficiency, design, and usable torque. If your garage makes room for roads that wind and cars that earn their keep, this one’s worth a test drive.

If you enjoy these road-tested routes and candid reviews, follow the show, share with a friend who loves fall drives, and leave a quick rating—what route should we feature next?

Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!

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