Ask Us Anything: Part 4 — The Carmudgeon Show with Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep. 199

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You know what this means, right? Sort of fight with our laptops? Come on! There are two. We are, oh my god, do we have the same laptop? Do we? There are two. I got a new one. Identical Mac book pros on this desk, which can only mean one thing. Ask me anything. And when you ask me. Ever seen a grown man naked? I've never seen the inside of a Turkish prison. Come on! Yes. What do you make of this? Well, we had a brooch-teard acto. Stop with the airplane quotes.

Okay. Thankfully, no one asked us. Our favorite airplane quote. I think they already know. Surely they must know. What's your vector, Victor? Don't call me Shirley. Roger, Roger, Roger. Yes. Okay, so we are going to do an ask me anything episode. We're going to make this a quick one. And you may ask when can we ask questions to ask us anything? And the answer to that was for 20 minutes, like three months ago. But there's a backup.

There's a backup question. Some of which have become episode topics that we'll do in the future because some of the questions were brilliant and also required a little bit of a long answer. And that could take up a whole episode. So Derek's in clap, we're going to get the jingle. And then we're going to get our... We should probably talk about who we are and what this is. Jason Kamehsa, I'm Derek Tamp Scott. This is the Carmogen show. This is the Heritage Podcast Network. And I'm going to clap.

All right, so I'm still... You ate your handful of nuts very... I'm eating them currently, for a clean. No, it's crunchy. Okay. With apologies to everyone listening at home. First question. From AE86 Racer. We're going to do this whole episode with a mouseful. I would like to just point out one of the questions which we chose to skip.

I'm going to say Opel Manta question mark. Not really a question. Opel Manta. Period. Do I look like I have a mallet? So in Germany, the ultimate white trash car is a Manta. And there was actually a movie about this. The number two total, like total dirt back car, Shorako. So back in my previous life when I was an executive and co-founder of an IT company.

When the sort of underlings in Germany would find out that I had a Shorako, they would burst into absolute hysteria. And there's nothing funnier than a German who can contain their own author.

Jason Davengeroko ha! Like yeah, whatever you're fired. Anyway, speaking of terrible people in cars or... Yeah. Have you? I don't know if I should be admitting this.

But my Instagram feed is now full of nothing but AI videos about Ultima drivers. I can't just do that. Anyone hasn't seen them. Go have a look. It's so wrong on so many levels.

But the AI quirkiness adds funniness to it. And the fact that we all know that Ultima's got a reputation. Ultima drivers got a reputation for reason.

I can't stop. And the problem is we were out in the desert recording an episode. And I was doing a little thing for Haggerty Insurance.

Like, hey, go to JasonSetMe.com for a quote. The point being that Haggerty has agreed value insurance. And you agree on the value of your car, the replacement cost of your car, before... And I said, before some degenerate in a Nissan Ultima hits you, or before that degenerate.

And we kept it. And now we're in edit. And I'm like, can I see an all take of that? Because I don't know if that's like actually a fully penetrated cultural thing, or if it's just being a little...

I'm on car people, I think it is.

Right. There was that whole Ultima Motorsports event. The all Ultima one in the Southeast.

Nick Mercedante is doing that. He did it for me. He did it for me.

Yeah, he bought an Ultima just for the purpose of competing.

Demolition Derby-ing, which is what Ultima is doing anyway. So I just don't know if I should be using the word degenerate to describe people. Maybe they're wonderful people, but...

They're not the ones in the... They're degenerate motorists. They're degenerate motorists.

They could be very good people, but not good motorists.

I think that is inappropriate. And I think we're stereotyping. And that's not okay.

We can say that our observation has been that Ultima Drive... The observation of the collective automotive enthusiast community has been such that Ultima drivers tend to be aggressive.

And chaotic.

Okay. On to the actual 86 racer asks, I know y'all are all about the old cars, but if one of you had to buy a new car for fun today, what would it be? Keyword for fun.

Hmm. This is easy for me.

Cater him.

Okay. I mean, I wasn't thinking impract... I mean, look, cost no object, 9.11st T.

Cobra replica.

Technically, that's new. God, you're good at this.

I know. I'm not answering the spirit of the question.

I mean, you know... Sure, 9.11st T.

9.11st T, except if actual budgets were in consideration, in which case it would probably just be a GR86.

Yeah.

Although, if I would go 80 miles an hour at the end, you've heard about all these.

Oh, yeah. That's how they go up.

Yeah, the end is exploding on GR Corolla's and then Toyota saying, well, you did 80 miles an hour, and therefore you're at fault. We're not covering the car.

It's stupidity. Anyway, don't bite the tires while they're moving.

Next one from cement galoshes.

Is this if you had to choose which classic M chassis up to E39, E46 generation?

Just the chassis?

Just the chassis.

If we had to choose a classic, you're probably going to choose an E28M5, aren't you?

I was thinking about E36M3 also.

That's exactly what my answer was going to be.

Yeah.

E36M3, because they're cheap, cheerful, indestructible, the cars, not the interior.

And if I had to replace Beatrice, for example, my sort of backroads blasting slash track car would be E36M3.

Okay.

I do like E28M5. That would be a tough call.

Ultimately, I would choose the E36, but E28M...

I definitely don't want any E30.

I want to look at it.

Yeah.

I would like to hustle an E34M5, but I can't imagine it would be better than the other two.

But I do like the E35M5.

I mean, we have a lot.

Are race cars E28, which is even earlier than that?

We have two race cars to them.

It's cars.

One's an E36M1's an E28M and an E20.

It's almost good.

So much more trailing throttle oversteer and a steering box.

Right.

So the steering is less precise, but ultimately it's stuff.

I forget to write it.

Okay.

Oh, no.

Okay.

Should I look up and see what I have?

Oh, you asked a question.

Okay, so the question is, is $7,000 too much to put into a Mark 1 VW cabriolay?

I would say my answer to that is it depends on what you're on your way to buy off a Facebook marketplace.

$7,000 is absolutely not.

I'm just imagine $7,000 of cash in your VW cabriolay as you're on your way to buy something else.

That is not in the spirit of the question to invest into a, I think it was last episode

where I asked you a question of what car can you identify that is more fun than my Mark 1 VW cabriolay?

Okay.

So that it costs more or less than seven.

It also depends on how you value your own time.

If you value your own time at negative $300 an hour, then I...

My value is zero and my time is infinite.

Oh, God.

Okay, does this include...

But the point is that your cost basis is maybe not representative because you did a lot of the work yourself.

That's the point I was trying to make.

Okay, but in all seriousness, when I bought my car technically, I didn't do all the motorcycle work.

I did half of it with less than half of it.

I helped a friend because he begged me to have the car.

Well, I have more invested in this car than I thought.

I have.

You have running totals?

Oh, yeah.

I'm spreadsheet for everything.

I have running totals too.

I didn't know that you tracked mine.

I mean, if you'd like to know, I've totaled the total amount of gas I've spent on this car.

Oh, gas does have gas.

76 tanks of gas since 13th of August 2013 is $3600 and $32.83.

Okay, purchasing the car tires alignment damage repair and maintenance.

I don't know if damage should be part of this because that was like paintwork because I wrapped the car for road and track for an article.

And then it did some paint damage on the way out.

But total investment $12,750.62 without damage and tires and alignment.

So without it's made purchase maintenance repair is bond.

So this includes buying the car, obviously, too.

10,128.

The answer is I'm going to look into my close-up camera.

The answer is 100%.

$7,000 is not enough because $12,000 buys you the most fun car ever made.

I rest my case, your honor.

And you don't, you still don't have a fucking retort, do you?

Next question.

What are you supposed to say?

What did you just call me?

I called you a retort.

Is that what tort law is?

Never mind.

How long do, sorry, excuse me.

How does the wheel hop on your ego of compared to a manual Mark VII car?

This gentleman has a 24, 2024 Jetta GLI and hasn't done the lower bushing insert.

The wheel hop on the crap stock tires, the off-olds that you call fuse better control available.

The EV to fix the hop.

In order to have wheel hop, you would have to have wheel spin in order to have wheel spin.

You need power and or torque and the E-colon doesn't have that.

So wheel hop is not an issue.

That's actually not true.

It is true now on the sticky tires that I have on it.

Stock wheel hop was a zero issue.

There was no issue at all.

And I experienced it once.

No, and I think the problem with the VW, other stuff, like GTI and GLI,

is that they put soft mounts in for NVH control, which they don't need to do in NEV.

And they don't need to do an electric motor.

And so absolutely do the dogbone mounts on like a 0-3-4-motor-4 mount helps

that even where it eliminates the wheel hop.

And on most of the cars I've driven it with is amazing.

Wayne Train 9-1-4 says, is Miata still the answer NA versus ND2?

That's a weird question.

First versus last or first?

No, but are we asking for comparison of which Miata to buy?

Probably.

Oh.

Miata is still the answer because convertible lightweight sports cars.

And answer.

And NA versus ND2 is unequivocally ND2.

ND3, if you can, but whatever.

You don't agree?

I mean, there's a sort of charm to the old car experience to have an NA

where I get pop-up headlights and it's the original one.

I don't know.

I love a QD as an object to behold, and they're fun to drive and all the rest of the stuff.

But I think the ND is one of the rare modern cars that loses far less

in the transition to modern cars than it gained in terms of speed, performance,

safety, all the rest of the stuff.

Which kind of leads into our next question, which is what current car or technology

if any gives you hope for the future of enthusiast cars?

This is electric turbos.

It would give me some hope because the little boosty sandwich motor

that goes in between the engine and the gearbox.

Which reminds me, we are supposed to be driving a Vaughn in 9-11 soon.

It's a company called Vaughn and that I did an article on years and years ago.

We probably did also did a podcast that they were doing sandwich motors in

air-cooled 9-11 or water-cooled 9-11s.

And now we're making a package for air-cooled 9-11s.

Which makes them hybrid and not for the purpose of fuel economy,

but the purpose of much more speed.

That gives me a lot of hope.

Because then you have shipped on more speed without any more emissions

and without turbo lag.

Or you could downsize the engine and still maintain performance.

If you could do like a 2.5-liter short stroke 9-11,

which is a really fun motor format,

and still have the kind of power you'd want from a 3-8.

That's a good kind of interesting.

You had all the personality of the little happy motor.

There's an episode that we did years ago,

where we talked about sometimes the big motor is not the right choice.

That's a great example.

Okay.

Do we regret selling any of your past cars?

No, generic retrayaan.

It's not what's already there.

Right, speed off.

Yes.

Do we regret selling any of your past cars?

Yes.

Do you?

Oh, yeah.

I don't sell any cars.

What do you regret?

You know, this was an interesting thing.

You're sitting right behind you.

Experience, yeah.

So I do regret selling the 308 GT4.

That's definitely true.

I regret selling my 240Z especially,

because you saw the car recently

and saw what the subsequent owner did to it,

which was really taking it in the wrong direction.

So I definitely regret selling that car.

And then I regret selling.

I had an M491G50 Carrera 3.2 coupe.

That was blue on blue.

That was stupidly clean.

And it's a super rare car to have that transmission

with that turbo look body.

So yeah, I regret selling all those cars.

I don't think I do.

I...

No.

I regret it selling my A30 wagon

and I bought it back.

So technically yes.

Okay.

Our new $200,000 Porsche

is really 10 times better than a 996-7.

You can get for 20 or 30.

Abs of fucking Lutely not.

God!

Damn, that was a quick and very decisive answer.

Mr. Derrick, Tim Scott.

Even if they cost the same, I would buy a 997.

Not a 996, though.

No.

Haha.

I don't know if I would buy a 996

over a 911 ST or a GT3.

Or a GT3.

$200,000.

Okay.

Can you get a GT3 for 200?

No.

No, I guess not.

So the...

You could get a 991 GT3 with a stick for under 200.

991 GT3.2.

Hmm.

That would be better than a 996 or a 7.

Yes.

But not 10 times better.

No.

The answer to your question is they are not 10 times better.

No, they're not 10 times better.

9.11 ST might be.

But that's 600,000 miles.

Hmm.

750 or 8.

Oh god damn, today's market on the open market.

Fucking another one I'll never have.

Favorite trucks, like real trucky trucks.

Oh, well obviously this is the Raptor R.

Yeah.

Modern cars.

Also, to me anything that is authentically a truck,

meaning shape like a truck, like...

Yeah.

I don't know if we're talking about pickup trucks or just trucks.

My assumption is pickup trucks.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

If it's pickup trucks, it's Raptor R.

But in terms of trucks, like also including SUVs that are real,

if they're authentically an SUV, like a G-Wagon, I'm fine with.

Yeah.

I enjoy a range of a classic.

I land on cruisers.

Yeah.

I had occasion to drive when I was in college.

A lot.

A 1966 Ford F-100 that was like a six cylinder with a...

It had...

It was technically a four-speed, but first was a granny gear.

So you mostly used it as a three-speed dog leg.

And that thing was like so incredibly charming.

And I had such a great time with it.

It was light blue.

And I had like kind of some paint coming off of it in black plates.

And it...

It was just exactly the truck fantasy thing.

And everyone who doesn't actually interact with a truck on any regular basis

kind of has about what it's like to have a truck.

Great.

Like, you know, everything's light blue inside, painted dashboard and all that.

It was very cool.

I'm also a sucker for, you know, Cummins turbo diesels with a manual transmission.

Anything.

That's a 24 valve Cummins turbo diesel with manual, which means it's a Dodge Ram from the 90s or...

I, in the last month, have rented two F-150s from Enterprise.

The first one was so gross, they gave me a partial refund when I returned it

because it's something that died in the vents and whatever else.

And it was a five-liter V8 with the 10-speed automatic...

And the 10-speed automatic absolutely ruined the car.

But to have a 7,000 RPM screaming and I mean it was fucking loud V8

in a pickup truck through Manhattan.

So I was in New York and they were like, well, you want this?

Can I have a specific car?

This Altima or this F-150.

I'm like, F-150.

Because I can not only hit a pothole, I can hit a Prius while hitting a pothole

and won't bend a rim or notice it.

And then I just got an EcoBoost, a 2.7 base, base, base, base,

$53,000 sticker price, rear drive F-150.

And although the 2.7 doesn't have the speed of the V8 or the acoustic charm,

what a fucking amazing car.

It's just an amazing thing to...

I drove out two and a half hours to get that beetle that I put in my front yard

and it got 22 miles per gallon with a trailer on the back of it

just loping along at 60 miles an hour.

Just, they're amazing luxury cars for that to do everything.

So yes.

Okay, next one.

Hello, Jason.

I was wondering, what is your favorite series to produce for the Haggerty Channel?

Is there certain steps along the way that you despise that ones you enjoy?

Keep up the good work.

Love what you and Hyphen do.

You left your own company.

Your own company.

My favorite series to produce is actually Revelations, which we do right over there in the background.

And the reason why is just selfish, it's easy, right?

I'm not...

We can control the weather, we can control the heat, and we finally have air conditioning heat in here.

There's no risk.

I'm not going to damage the car.

In fact, my least favorite part of that episode is going and driving it up the hill.

And we only record like a grand total of three miles of driving.

And it's a total of 12 and a half miles we put on these cars.

And I'm neurotic about that because I don't want anything to happen.

I love the research.

I love the learning.

And I love turning off my text messages, putting my phone on Dunton Dragons,

and not listening to the outside world until I'm so steeped in the knowledge of this car

that I can vomit out a script.

The part that I love the other shows too.

I mean, the one that I care the least about personally is the drag race show,

because I've never been a drag race.

I don't really care that much about acceleration, but it is fun to do.

The parts of the show that I despise is actually the production.

It's just actually getting everything lined up, getting the cars lined up,

getting insurance, getting locations, getting the crew together.

I mean, I love my crew, but just all the sort of background stuff that has to go.

Right, you have to have all the cars and all the people all at the same time.

I had exactly the same place in every single person and a car and piece of equipment.

And last week, it was 126 degrees while we were filming.

And we were filming three almost 20-year-old cars.

And one new one that was overheating,

and another one that was constantly turning its air conditioning off.

I mean, it was just, it was a fucking nightmare.

And then I look sweaty and miserable on camera.

And so I got a pretend that I'm not miserable on that.

I don't particularly love.

But when I see the final product, I was like, oh, I'm stupid.

Yeah.

Is your Sebastian?

Yeah.

I always like trying to pronounce these names.

These, these are names.

Sebastian Nielsk.

Is your VW Shoroko still your favorite car after all these years?

I know mine is still my favorite.

Yes.

It is still my favorite car over the years.

I think I said last week that the Cadbury Lays,

which is basically a Shoroko 16 valve plus,

mechanically, is more fun.

And that's by virtue of, I think, the softness of the suspension and the fact that it's convertible

and the flex.

And the chassis flex.

I mean, the chassis doesn't help.

But the Shoroko is still my favorite.

That car, the Cadbury does make me laugh a lot.

A lot of it is the noises that come from the dashboard.

They are very...

You were talking about the induction noise from that beautiful cold air intake action.

Oh, yes.

It's definitely that.

And not the chassis flex.

Are Porsche GT products greater than anything on the market or overrated and over-hypened?

He said overhyped, but I'm going to say overhyped.

So by this, we're talking GT2, GT3, and ST.

And GT4.

GT4.

I think they really are that good, but they are widely consumed by people who don't have the

ability to realize it and they're buying it for other reasons.

I don't disagree.

100% they are, quote, greater than anything on the market.

Other than, I think, to get a better experience in a sports car, you would have to go to a Gordon Murray.

And I've been still not even driven those cars.

But from the passenger seat, I think that's the...

That's 9.11 GT3 philosophy 2.11.

They can go to 11.

They're spectacular.

I mean, just what...

The list of cars that you can buy that are sports cars that are manual transmission and actually

aspirated is like four cars now or something absurd like that.

So it's not a super rigorous set of tests that you need to do to come to that conclusion.

That's true.

What are you go to driving shoes?

Whatever's on my feet.

There's on my feet.

I mean, I had poloties for years that I never used as driving shoes.

I just used as sneakers because they were great.

And polotie, you should sponsor us to change our mind.

Because they're back.

They were gone for a bunch of years.

Oh, were they?

Yeah, they were out of business now.

They're back and they're...

They're great looking shoes, but I don't typically need specific driving shoes.

The one situation I encountered recently was driving a Lotus 7 and the footwell was so narrow

that I could not drive it with certain shoes on.

That does happen to me.

And then I was drive barefoot, which is apparently a sports form, but my solution.

335D as a short commute daily long road trip driver.

The cars are a 2002 TJ and an all-wheel drive swapped Volvo C30.

Long road trip driver, yes.

Short commute daily apps are fucking newly knocked.

100% no.

Well, it's a wonderful car to do that in.

Yes.

Corrupt you and your bank.

Yeah.

Those cars are known...

We have talked about this at length.

But basically, when the diesels are not working hard, which is what happens to them in the city,

they just gum up because it's constantly running EGR and all that.

If you EGR delete it, then sure, I guess you could probably do that with it.

But in stock form, it'll just gum up everything and the head's gonna have to come off.

You're gonna replace the swirl valves and you're gonna be doing all kinds of mechanical interventions

that you have no interest in doing.

That car is best used at the limiter basically.

And that will reduce the chance of carbon building.

So a short commute daily while at full throttle the whole time, otherwise.

Yes.

But the other car's 2002 TJ is kind of a fun short commute daily,

but it's not a great long road trip.

An all-wheel drive swapped Volvo C30 is kind of hot.

So I think my vote goes for the all-wheel drive swap C30.

Well, no, that's just saying this is the rest of the fleet.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, I got it wrong.

Yeah, don't get a 335D as a short commute daily.

Not unless you remove all the EGR stuff.

Yep.

Oh.

Why all the Lieberman hate?

At what point have I ever said that I hate John and Lieberman?

Um, cameras on me.

Have I ever said this?

No.

Johnny says shit about me all the time.

I don't.

I don't participate in that.

Um, oh, unless he's talking with the audience in which case,

I'll talk to you guys and decide.

Jason, as someone who values driver engagement,

would you recommend the G80M3 with a manual transmission

or the competition X drive model,

giving your experience with both which one better captures the spirit of an M3

without sacrificing too much real world performance?

Sacrificing real world performance.

Okay, the G80M3 is actually a very, very nice well-rounded car.

Unlike the F80, for example.

Um, I,

um, I, you know, when you have to say something you don't want,

like, wow, that is good.

This is good.

You know, like, you know, actually like it's very,

I much prefer the automatic M3 to the manual.

I just don't think BMW has made a good manual in years

and that's just, it's just getting worse.

That engine also doesn't work with a manual.

With a manual, it just becomes incredibly laggy and unresponsive

and things that are able to be that the engineers have programmed out

on the automatic or you just don't know because it can compensate

for where super short gear ratios and a torque converter

and you know, just a bunch of other tricks.

Imagine it can also pre-school or something like that.

Uh, you can do that with manual transmissions.

I don't know if BMW does.

Um, but yeah, that S 58 engine is like, you know,

like the 2JZ of its era and it's amazing,

but actually doesn't, it's a, when you drive it with a manual,

it's me, um, it's lazy.

And so I say the better car is a competition X drive for sure,

but which one captures the spirit of M3 better?

Let's go buy D90.

Yes, D90.

See, none of the above.

Yeah, I just drove, I spent a lot of time in one

there's an episode you guys are about to see coming out.

And D90 is, uh, despite it being really ugly still.

Um, you think it's ugly?

I think it has a sedan with a facelift.

I think it's quite attractive.

I wouldn't go that far, but it became less.

I just never thought it was an attractive car,

but this was an early first year 2008,

um, and they got so much better like the LCI cars.

First of all, got the updated, uh,

I drive with the buttons and actually worked.

So that was the first time I drive was actually a thing.

Um, and it got the facelift later on

and the later cars made a lot more power than the early cars did,

and as per, they were rated the same.

They were all 414 horsepower.

Um, but they put more power to the wheels on dinos

and they, the steering went from met to magnificent.

Uh, I would absolutely have a late LCI E90 over that G80.

Well, second.

Uh, this one's for you.

Why do you hate this, is this the one car?

Yeah.

Why do you hate motorcycles?

I'm sure you'd love the enormous range of engines,

mostly NA with such different sounds and personalities.

I'd love your take on motorcycling and Derek's input.

Uh, I don't hate motorcycles at all.

Um, I think they're really cool.

Um, I think that you either have the temperament

that it's appropriate for you to ride a motorcycle

or you don't.

And I 100% do not.

Um, my father once wound up bleeding out on a sidewalk

in a motorcycle when he was 22, I think.

Uh, I was, he was 30 when I was born.

So I wouldn't be here.

Um, and he has my temperament, which is, you know,

sort of reactive and a lot of, a big flinch reflex

and it's just a bad combo.

You have to be even killed and levelheaded.

Um, and I'm not.

A lot of motorcycles aren't, but they don't know.

They, they just ride anyway.

Yeah, I just, I know my limit.

I just, I can't, I can't be trusted.

Your input on that?

Um, yeah, I think a lot of people who ride,

shouldn't ride, but they do anyway.

A lot of most of the people who drive cars,

that's also true.

Yeah, 100% true.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like a, it's, there's a ton of

just character and variation in history

and all of those things that we love about cars

and all the intricacies exist in the motorcycle world,

uh, as well.

And I certainly enjoy them and consume them regularly.

Hi.

Uh, I really love it.

Best one car solution for New York City.

Do we decide that last, last time we did this,

we said there is no.

Yeah, the solution was to move, to move.

I currently have an E46 330, IZH piece of Dan

starting to show its age a bit manual cars.

I had many servers love them more in a secret German.

Um, one car solution for New York City is,

look, maybe he's got a different eGolf.

No.

No, I don't think that's actually a great solution

for New York City because most of the time

you're driving to get out of New York and they don't have

a range in parking and, and, uh, like charging while parking.

I'll range over.

I just, I think the roads are so terrible that like,

is there really joy to be had in driving?

There are.

Fine.

Salt.

Okay.

Oh.

Okay, this one's clear.

I can't wait for you to answer.

Opinions on what Porsche Restomod company's like singer

are doing to the 964 supply.

Recently learned that singer has over 2964 waiting to be converted

and they are just one of many Porsche Restomod companies.

It seems to me these types of companies are making already

incredibly hard barrier to entry into 964 ownership,

even harder.

I think that's true for sure.

Uh, it is my hope.

And I did hear anecdotally that somebody had a 964 car RS

and they wanted to singer it to singer it and singer refused

to cut up a 964 RS.

Nice.

Uh, that's anecdotal.

I hope that's true.

Uh, there are a lot of undesirable 964s.

And it's my hope that they would focus on those cars.

For electronics.

For electronics and for-wheel drive cars.

Uh, but undesirable.

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Real less desirable.

Less desirable.

Uh, but that having been said, I've also seen Tiptronic 964

selling for kind of big money recently, which is surprising.

And, you know, the other thing you could say is like,

264s is not that many, but the fact of the matter

is that in 1993, Porsche sold 3800 cars total

in the United States, including the 928 and the 968 and the 964.

So, you know, maybe it is a reasonable number.

I don't think they should be cutting up clean title

career to coups, manuals.

I just don't.

And, you know, Tiptronics, I would argue,

should be getting swapped to manuals and not be cut up.

But, yeah, I think it's a shame.

And that's, it is actually now pretty decisively true

that 964s are worth more than 993s in stock form.

And I think that partly has to do with it.

It's harder to find a 964 than a 993.

The 993s sold better than the 964.

So, yeah, I mean, I think it's a shame and it's regrettable

and it shouldn't be done.

But hopefully, they are focusing on shitters to convert.

But I'm sure that there have been nice cars that have gone

under the knife, too.

And I wish they wouldn't, but...

I mean, you know, whoever has millions of dollars

gets to decide what happens to the car.

Actually, if there's a market for it,

you can't help them from...

for taking advantage of that.

Filippo Barrufali

R53 Cooper S.

Why is nobody ever talking about them?

They're too busy fixing them.

Right, next question.

They're fun.

They're actually fun little cars, but they are...

They're fun.

They're a little maintenance intensive

like any BMW with that era.

And I heard the transmissions sometimes just explode.

Sort of the engines.

The automatics.

Yeah, they are high maintenance cars.

And I think the beauty of a hot hatch should be

that it's cheap, or at least affordable.

And they're kind of not.

What's the worst car each of you have personally owned and why?

I owned a worst car.

Yes, E36 Automatic.

It was for sale the day after I got home.

At the time in my 20s, I had a...

I was constantly pulling my back

and I needed to have one on it.

In your 20s?

I was in a massive car accident and I was 18.

And then again, when I was 19,

I got hit by a car and totaled the car.

And so I was still in physical therapy

and I just kept injuring myself.

And I needed to have an automatic in case I've

bucked up my back to the point where I couldn't walk.

And I had a 190 E2.08 valve automatic.

That was amazing until it had brake failure coming into

a corner at 70 miles an hour,

a 25 mile an hour corner at 70.

Brake out of one to the floor.

I pumped it, pumped it, pumped it.

There was nothing there.

I was able to not crash the car.

But it scared the shit out of me to the point where I'm like,

okay, I can't keep driving this.

Many hundred thousand mile old car.

So I'm gonna buy me an E36.

And I literally listed it for sale.

I called it on a trade of the day after,

because that automatic ruined it.

Hmm, ruined it.

It was the four-speed and it just did the GM Slur Shift.

Shifted every gear at 2,000 RPM.

And it would, it did this intake gurgle

that I've never heard like the manual cars do.

So you just go,

all the, I was like, oh my god, I want to come myself.

And the only way to get rid of that was to put it into three,

which then put it into S3.

So a sport mode.

And then you actually get a build and revs.

But then you're locked out of fourth gear.

And so you were shifting this stupid thing with a T-Shifter.

It fucking sucked.

You'd have the winter pack,

which means heated seats and a limited slip diff.

So it was fun to slide around.

But ultimately took me 11 months to sell it.

11 months.

So I didn't have it for a while.

But where's the car?

What about you?

Uh, 164S.

I had just bought a shitter on Brage trailer.

I sat on scene.

And when we got there,

we were like, man, what a shitter.

So you're, to me, it was the car itself.

Yours was the particular example of the car.

Yes, that's right.

I made me want a good one.

And I still would like to own a good 164L for a man.

But that one was a heap that I bought.

This is why you don't buy cars blind on Brage trailer.

What do you think about a Bentley Turbo R?

And would you want to own one?

Yeah.

Absolutely.

This is one of my all-time favorite cars,

like in terms of wanting to own,

but probably never would own.

I don't have a use case for it.

Yeah.

I would invent one.

It'd be fun.

Yeah.

I would like a four-speed car.

So I think that means 93 or newer.

They are torque monsters.

Yeah.

You just feel wealthy when you drive one of those cars.

Until you start to work on it.

Yes.

I heard their misery to work on it.

I did it.

It was a later one.

So it had...

It wasn't in our nausea.

I thought we figured out this car was in our nausea.

I don't remember.

It was partially VW and partially VNW.

Yeah, that's in our nausea.

It was in our nausea.

Yes.

Turbo R was the same.

Well, Turbo R was an SC platform,

which came out in 1988 and was...

Sorry, 1980.

80.

When the SC platform came out,

the Turbo R came out in 1985 in the non-US market

carbureted turbocharged, which is always fun.

And then we got it for 89 with injection.

And the replacement was fully different.

Or there was an all-new car, the Arnogs, that came out.

Oh, my God.

The thing was built like it was a 1930s.

It was just a fucking nightmare to work on.

Fabulous to drive.

But yeah.

So I'm thinking of the wrong car.

But yes.

A turbocharged Bentley.

Fine.

Six and three quarter litres.

Are you and Haggity still...

I don't need to be British for this.

Are you in Hagerty still using Willow Springs

after the new ownership?

Yes, we are.

So far, the new owners have proven to be very easy to deal with.

Very nice, very lovely.

They were closing the track for portions of the summer

so that they can do some safety upgrades.

And fucking, thank Jesus to that.

Big Willow is a very dangerous place.

And I would not race a car there.

And so I think they're going to do an opening again later in the year.

But either way, yeah.

So let's...

I hope it continues.

But that way.

But so far, experience has been great.

Okay.

Why does the C8 Corvette get so much hate in a world of 135,000

or base 9.11?

The Corvette is an amazing package.

Yet there is a huge stigma with American cars.

I'm not sure I know of the C8 getting that much hate.

I don't particularly like the way it looks.

Yeah, neither do I.

And in the ZR1 episode, I did point out that I don't particularly like that.

It lost so much of the previous six generations of Corvette's identity.

Yeah.

I don't know that modern buyers care so much about that.

I think that those people are buying the car

because of how it looks and how it performs.

You know, it sounds...

I mean, they sound great.

They look impressive.

You know, the interior upgrades they did for 2026,

they got rid of that waterfall thing.

And I haven't seen one in person.

But the photos look like a genuine improvement.

It's a nice car.

I don't...

I won't own an automatic sedan.

So there's no fucking way I would own an automatic,

suppose it's sports car.

But if it was a sports car...

I'm sorry, I don't think you can have a sports car if you're an automatic.

I mean, there are very few exceptions to that.

Huge stigma with American cars.

I don't know.

I mean, all the ones that are shitty,

there's a stigma with.

But I think that the sort of like the moments of brilliance

that we have seen from good American car products,

specifically, I think GM has done a very good job of this.

But at the same time,

I just spent a whole bunch of time in a Cadillac CD4V Blackwing again.

And that car is spectacular.

But have you ever seen one?

Does anyone own it?

Well, you talked about before about how Cadillac has an identity issue

and how people struggle...

These are M3 buyers yet at the same time.

They're also doing escalators.

And those things have nothing to do with each other.

And there's no flow between one product and another in the showroom,

genuinely, with purchase intent.

Yeah, I don't...

There is a huge stigma with American cars were deserved.

But I think...

I think there are certainly cars that enthusiast love.

Chargers, Hellcats.

All the trucks, so...

semi-trailing arm.

Is semi-trailing arm the best rear suspension?

9-11-E30, every twist beam effectively.

If not, what is the most smile-inducing rear suspension?

Yeah, so is this person saying best is most smile-inducing,

which is a particular philosophy?

So the Mercedes sitting behind us,

both of them have five-link, multi-link rear suspension.

It was the world's first computer design suspension

with the best wheel control of any suspension ever devised.

Rear suspension ever devised to that point.

And by wheel control,

you're talking about both camber change

throughout the wheel travel and also toe change.

And so what you're looking at is,

is the wheel always point in the direction you want it to be.

And that is a technologically superior suspension

to any trailing arm suspension.

That Mercedes, the Cosworth 190,

is also probably one of the best handling sedans I've ever experienced.

But semi-trailing arms have the characteristic of lift-off oversteer.

And that is fun,

but that also wrecks a lot of cars.

E21, E3 series before BMW's re-engineer

that suspension for the E30, for example,

was known as a widowmaker,

because at some point you need to lift.

You're coming around a corner and a 9-11,

and that's a combination of semi-trailing arm

plus weight distribution.

There's just a stopped car or a deer or a tree,

or something in your way,

and you have to lift there times when you just don't want

a lift-off oversteer,

especially a snap lift-off oversteer.

So while I think it's fun to drive a car around

with a twist beam or any other rear suspension,

they cause a lot of accident, so no, it's not the best.

You who list understatement car?

That's a tough one.

I was riding QP4.

QP4, 5, 5.

Yeah.

Or 3, 5.

QP3.

5, because you have a Ferrari.

It's just a Ferrari.

I mean, it is a fucking Ferrari sedan,

with a Ferrari engine,

the best gearbox on the planet when it was made.

On this topic, I might put forth Ferrari FF.

It's maybe not that understated,

but I think it is like,

in a world where everybody buys a red Ferrari,

that's a 458 or something,

that getting a cool colored Ferrari station wagon to me,

especially in a snowy environment, I don't know.

I agree.

But I think for normal people,

that is Mark Seven Golf of any sort.

Yeah.

Because what you're saying to people is,

I don't have the money.

That speaks awfully and carry a big stick in the car.

You buy Mark Seven GTI and you're saying,

I may not have the money or want to spend the money

on some M3 or anything else.

But I refuse to reduce my standards.

To lower my standards.

What the fuck was that?

I just drove some Kio.

I drove a Kio Nero,

back to back with the E-Golf.

And the first line in my little verdict

on my spreadsheet that I wrote is,

this is why rich people drive golf and not Kias.

Because I realized it's kind of a direct competitor to the E-Golf.

And it's just a complete and total penalty box.

It does some things well, whatever.

But it's just cheap and it's feeling and everything else.

So I think golf is it.

Okay.

Simon says, hey Jason, big fan of the show.

My question is you guys always talk about how great the Mark Seven GTI is.

Or that fucking rant.

Especially with the Rear Sway Bar upgrade.

Is that also not an option to fix the Golf R's terminal understeer?

Yes.

I get it might not be able to do third gear burnouts in the rain.

So it wouldn't be as much fun.

But it still seems like it would make the ultimate daily for regions

that a lot of us know.

Absolutely.

The rear bar that I have in my E-Golf is actually the Golf R bar

because I wanted the stiffest one I could get.

And yeah, no.

I mean, you're not going to fix the Golf R's power distribution.

So you're not going to fix it's handling under power.

But you can certainly help it rotate with a bigger sway bar.

Why do many owners and alpha male owners exist?

Okay.

Why are they so theoretically knowledgeable

but they have two left hands?

First of all, don't be racist against left hands.

I don't think many in alpha male go in the same bucket.

I think what the question really boils down to is

why do some people buy inferior cars that are high-style?

Are we talking about modern alpha males?

Is this person talking about modern alpha males?

I mean, sure.

Modern alpha males, I could see some discussion about why

does this continue?

Julia?

Yeah.

You're making fun of your father right now?

10 years ago it was rad.

Okay.

So there is no actual alpha.

I mean, Tonale is the same, the only you're buying today.

I don't know.

I think not.

You're at the risk of becoming German

if you think technological superiority is always the right choice.

And I think some people buy cars for the purpose of being quirky

and different.

Yeah.

And I definitely enjoy that.

I mean, the flip side of this question that this person is asking

is why aren't all cars exactly the same?

Why isn't everyone driving a camera?

Yeah.

And so I think, sure, they could be theoretically knowledgeable

and they might know that their cars are not.

Or they don't care.

I mean, we've talked about often how good modern cars are.

Like, a mini is a perfectly decent car if you're not interested in cars

and you don't drive it hard and you just want to not walk somewhere

and it's cute.

You know, and you want to make a style statement.

And you're just a regular person for whom a car is an appliance.

But you want something that's, you don't see constantly.

I mean, that was the new Beetle phenomenon, right?

Sure.

There's people who are just, you know, I could have a golf,

but I, or I could have something that's shaped funky and cool

and put a flower in a vase on my dashboard.

Yeah.

Dominic asks, what are some other early 2000s era vehicles

that would benefit from having a manual that never had it in

period, Allah, the OTS, COK63 Black Series?

LFA?

I would try an LFA with that configuration.

For sure.

Any supposed sports car?

360-challenge.

340-challenge, another one.

Oh, yeah.

That car as a manual was like a budget F40.

It was an F40 for 10% of the cost.

Still never driven it before.

It was, so yeah, 360CS for sure.

There's no Porsche on that list because Porsche made manuals

because they're decent human beings.

Other than 991.1 GT3, but they fixed it with a 0.2.

I would say anything with a great engine.

Yeah.

That was available.

Any AMG 6.3, I mean, I think those cars could all

would all benefit from it.

But none of them are really overtly sporting except for this COK

and the SLS.

There was also the C63 Black Series.

Yeah.

The coupe.

There was also SLS65 AMG Black, which was very sporty.

Trying to think of non-

SLS.

SLS would have been a lot better without an automatic.

Rower?

599 GTO, maybe.

I mean, I know the regular 599 manuals garbage fraud

didn't really make a good manual after 2000.

Yeah.

Basically anything with a great engine.

But there, I mean, even back to Proler,

which is proud for 2000.

Sarah.

But I mean...

And try not to hear that the first time you said it.

Come on.

If that had a real engine, if that had a V8 in a manual,

it would be very cool.

Yes.

Sure.

Or cooler.

They're so cool.

But just, you know, at the end of the day,

it's an automatic V6 here.

Yep.

All right.

What are we doing on time?

A couple.

One or two more.

Okay.

Are there any air-cooled 911s underworth owning

that cost less?

I think we're going to...

We're going to air-cooled up.

No, no.

It's less than $50,000.

Yeah.

Any.

As long as it's sorted.

But any air-cooled 911 is worth owning, honestly.

As long as it's a manual.

And I wouldn't own a cabriolay.

And I would avoid a Targa.

Yeah.

Ideally.

So you can buy an SC or a mid-year for under $50,000

if you buy carefully.

It'll be a little scruffy.

But yeah.

Absolutely.

I got another one.

You can read this and I'll answer it.

What makes you so much better than Johnny Lieberman?

Okay.

What makes you think I'm better than Johnny Lieberman?

Choose one car plus one activity to do with

that would turn a non-car guy into a car guy.

Ooh.

Depends if they're cool.

Track day in a miana.

Yeah.

Where drifting is allowed.

With both with them driving.

But then also a professional race slash drifter.

Driving it.

Once, when you see, when you get a normal person,

I'm using a value judgment term like normal into

a sort of, oh, that's a hairdresser's car kind of attitude

on a racetrack.

And they see what that car is capable of doing.

They're always converted every time.

Yeah.

That's it.

It's a miana on a racetrack.

I mean, I would do a back roads blast the way that we do our rallies.

I find that activity to be just the coolest thing ever.

And I think that I would convert someone.

Yeah.

Because they can be like motion sick and nauseous

or just think we're insane.

But on the track, they would do the same thing.

I think it's a little bit less.

It's more controlled.

Sure.

Okay.

Hey, hello, Jason.

Being on brand for your Subaru hate.

I just have one simple question.

Is there a Subaru you actually like?

I would have a legacy GT turbo wagon.

The pretty one, which would be like,

oh, five to whenever they stop making those.

That was a fun car.

I like almost all the STIs,

gonorrhea, syphilis,

lamidia, gonocifer, herpellades.

I love a BRZ, especially the current one.

That's not a Subaru.

Current, I mean, they're kind of sure.

I don't know.

It's not an unadulterated Subaru.

I would have adjusted.

Why don't you just drive your beat backwards?

Because it's a front wheel drive.

Three-sided car.

For an engine car.

Do I want a B9 Tribeca?

No.

I'm very definitely hot.

Hey, should we do one more?

Sure.

Oh, no.

That was the last one.

We reached the end.

So it took us two full episodes to get to the end

of just the ones that were chosen.

Out of 20.

After 20 minutes.

I want to know who chose the Johnny one.

The two Johnny ones.

You know who's you.

No.

I would have never done that.

No, I would have never done that.

I would have never done that.

I was going to do that.

I have managed.

It's been how many years.

I left MotorTrend into it.

It's eight years since I've stopped working with him.

And I've managed to not say a bad word about him publicly.

Okay.

Well, on that bomb show, we will conclude the AMA episode

of this episode of The Car Mugin Show.

We will be back next week.

Right?

I mean, we didn't trust us.

Yeah.

I don't trust us.

Okay.

Perfect.

We'll maybe see you there.

We won't see you there.

But you may see us there.

Or hear us there.

Because if you listen, then you're not going to see us.

Okay.

Bye.

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Ask Us Anything: Part 4 — The Carmudgeon Show with Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep. 199

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