Tom shares his journey through classic cars and personal challenges, starting with his first car, a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass, and the life lessons learned along the way. He recounts how a devastating house fire shaped his perspective on material possessions and led him to embrace life more fully. Tom's candid reflections on sobriety, his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and the significance of cars in his life provide a heartfelt narrative that intertwines automotive passion with personal growth. The episode highlights the bond between friends and the stories that cars can tell.
Tom’s story is an odyssey of resilience, with cars as the constant companions through his life’s ups and downs. He begins with fond tales of his first car, a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass, and his long-held preference for silver paint jobs – little did he know how significant “silver” would become in his journey. Tom then shares an almost unbelievable chapter: trading his wheels for a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier at least in responsibility! During military service, he experienced life without a personal car, piloting massive ships instead of cruising in a Chevy Silverado. When Hurricane Katrina struck, Tom embarked on an epic road trip in his truck to help rebuild New Orleans, illustrating how deeply automotive culture and duty to others intertwined for him.
The episode doesn’t shy away from hardships – Tom opens up about losing his childhood home (and beloved first car) to a fire, battling addiction, and overcoming homelessness. Through each challenge, the theme emerges that cars and the car community were therapeutic and grounding forces in his life. By the end, Tom has listeners cheering as he finds stability and joy again, eventually behind the wheel of a 2015 Silverado that symbolizes how far he’s come.
This powerful, emotionally charged episode transcends typical car talk; it’s about the human spirit, the drive to survive, and how the love of cars can steer us through even the darkest roads
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"And Tom was actually sitting on the tailgate of his 2015 Silverado truck. He was sitting on a tailgate at a tailgate playing his bongo drums until his thumb turned blue..."
The 2015 Chevrolet Silverado is a big truck that can carry heavy loads and is often used for work. It's known for being reliable and comfortable to drive.
The 2015 Chevrolet Silverado is a full-size pickup truck known for its strong performance, towing capacity, and comfortable interior. It offers a range of engines and configurations, making it a popular choice for both work and leisure.
"...my first car was a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Two door. Big hunk of metal..."
The Oldsmobile Cutlass is a car that was made by the Oldsmobile brand. The 1972 version is considered a classic car, meaning it's older and often appreciated by collectors.
The Oldsmobile Cutlass is a mid-size car that was produced by Oldsmobile from the 1960s to the 1990s. The 1972 model is part of the first generation of the Cutlass, known for its classic styling and performance options.
"I didn't have another car until the I bought a 2005 Chevy Cavalier. So until 2005, I didn't have a car."
The Chevy Cavalier is a small car made by Chevrolet. It was popular because it was inexpensive and good for everyday use.
The Chevy Cavalier is a compact car that was produced by Chevrolet from 1982 to 2005. It was known for its affordability and practicality, making it a popular choice for budget-conscious buyers.
"...I think it comes with a, with a moonroof. I have crank windows."
A moonroof is a glass panel in the roof of a car that can open to let in light and air. It’s different from a regular sunroof because you can see through it even when it’s closed.
A moonroof is a type of sunroof that is made of tinted glass and can be opened or tilted to allow fresh air into the vehicle. Unlike a traditional sunroof, a moonroof usually has a sliding panel that can be retracted to expose the sky above.
"...I have crank windows. I had an ashtray, like it was old."
Crank windows are windows in a car that you have to turn a handle to open or close. They are not automatic like power windows, which you can control with a button.
Crank windows refer to manually operated window mechanisms in vehicles where the driver or passenger must turn a handle to raise or lower the window. This feature was common in older cars before the widespread adoption of power windows.
"...I traded it in for a van, a 2006 Kia Sedona,..."
The Kia Sedona is a type of family car called a minivan. It's designed to have a lot of space for passengers and cargo, making it great for families.
The Kia Sedona is a minivan known for its spacious interior and family-friendly features. It offers a comfortable ride and is often chosen for its practicality and affordability.
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome to All the Cars I've Loved Before, your podcast where?
Every car tells a story, life lessons through cars.
These are the pieces of metal that bind us together.
I'm Christian, Christian at CarsLove.com, my esteemed co-host, Doug, at CarsLove.com.
Catch us on your podcast streaming platform of choice.
We're really excited about today's guest, a close personal friend of mine, but before
we get that, there's a little bit of a trumpet to play.
If I had a trumpet to play, there would be a little bit of fanfare.
Hang on, hang on a second, I think I have a trumpet around or something, hang on.
There's one in the drawer here, let's see.
This is a musical podcast as well.
Oh, that was good.
Yeah, I was a band in middle school, but anyway, anyhow, hey, a thousand downloads of our show,
not bad, not bad, for a couple of homegrown car enthusiasts, sort of dudes.
Yeah, this is good, so how did this happen?
How did this happen?
Are we seeing this natively through the website or are we seeing on the podcast platform?
It's all over, but tracking is through Buzzsprout, that's our podcast platform of choice that
does all our distribution to all the other podcast platforms, if you will, so that's
our podcast publishing platform.
It catches, obviously, Apple captures the type of phones, devices, I should say, whether it's
via browser, whether it's via app, certainly Apple podcasts and Spotify or Top, followed
by probably the web browser, I would have to say, but yeah, for, I think it's impressive,
Yeah, we've just been at this for a few months, and producing every two weeks, not a bad
run rate.
Yeah, agreed.
I thought of that for a dollar.
And we recently started watching Only Murders in the Building, and I won't tell you too
much about it, but it's about this trio of people who, they start this podcast, and
it's really interesting to watch, as we started our podcast and to watch all the issues that
they have with their, it's kind of a, and you out there in listener land might be starting
your own podcast.
It's just really interesting the way you learn a lot of these things as you go along.
One fun thing that's happened, and again, this is just over the past couple of weeks,
is that we're finding that the downloads are increasing even when we're not dropping
new episodes, and that's new for us.
And that really leads to, how did you put it?
I think you said critical mass a few days ago, and that's how we feel.
That's how we feel.
Right, right.
Yeah, well put, and we know from the analytics, and I think it's mostly
through Buzzsprout that we are heard around the world.
So thank you to all of us, always looking for people to be part of the show,
who are listening in from different continents, different cities all over the
world, who would love for you to engage.
And the vector by which we record these is, I mean, if you have access to the
internet, we could do this quite easily.
So thank you for being part of it, and thank you for downloading following.
We know this gets shared a lot.
And if you'd like to be part of the conversation, I'm Christian at carslove.com.
He is Doug at carslove.com.
Uh, curious, carsloved.com, carslove.com.
Don't get carlove.com.
That's not us.
Somebody just bought a domain like us, right?
Apparently.
Make sure you plural, carslove.com, carslove.com.
All right.
So this is enough, enough housekeeping.
Let's get on to the guest today.
Today's guest.
Well, let's, let's take a step back.
Doug and I go back over 30 years, been really close pals for a very long time.
And, uh, you know, so, but, but he and I are 1,000 miles away.
So we really don't get to see each other often.
And, and so, uh, you know, I tend to meet people somewhat easily.
And, um, when my really close friends down here is my buddy Tom and Tom and I do,
uh, uh, a whole lot of stuff together.
He just lives right down the street from me.
We go to football games together.
We're poker buds.
We go out to eat.
We double date.
We do all these things.
How you doing, Tom?
Fabulous.
Glad to be here.
Glad to have you.
And, and we were actually at a football tailgate over the past weekend.
And Tom was actually sitting on the tailgate of his 2015 Silverado truck.
He was sitting on a tailgate at a tailgate playing his bongo drums until
his thumb turned blue and he said, Hey, hey, he said, come over.
I said, what?
I said, what?
He said, yeah, I got a story.
I want to be on the podcast.
I got a story and I want to be on the podcast.
That happened Saturday and it has brought Tom to our doorstep today.
How are you, pal?
Great.
Thank you for making the time.
So what let's let's kind of start from the beginning.
We typically start these these episodes with a what was your, you know, first car?
Where did it come from?
And maybe if it's not the first car, you have no
really important memory of it.
What's what's a car from early days?
And we kind of look for the origin story.
What what what was the car?
Where did it come from?
How did you acquire it?
Did it have an eight track?
There's type of thing.
Oh, that's yeah.
Was it safe?
Eight track, a set.
Did it have seatbelts?
Your bag.
Yeah, none of that.
I mean, we had an eight track failure.
So I started my first first car was a 70 1972 old cutlass.
Mm hmm.
Two door.
Big hunk of metal.
Yeah, mustard yellow, rusty mustard yellow.
So this was in I got that car in 95 96.
So it was a classic already.
Yeah. Yeah.
And my dad insisted that I get a metal car.
He wanted a car made out of metal.
He didn't trust these new cars.
Love that. Love that.
So, you know, I had an eight track player.
It didn't have working seatbelts.
There was, you know, the high high beams was the button on the floor.
You know, you had to use your foot to flip the high beams on.
And oh, I drove that car all over the place, you know, going to parties,
going to the woods, hanging out and giving people rides.
And I was at a party one time.
One of my friends said, like, if anyone else had this car,
they probably get made fun of, but you sort of pull it off.
A commentary on the driver.
And what do you attribute that to looking back?
How were you able to pull it off, if you know, in his eyes or in your thoughts?
Yeah, I I would hope it's because I just didn't care.
Like, well, there was no I never had any material.
We didn't have a lot of money.
I mean, I got one pair of shoes a year.
I got one set of clothes a year.
Like we didn't we didn't have a lot.
I grew up on a farm in upstate New York.
And so we didn't have a bunch of money.
And so I took whatever I got and was happy with it.
And then I guess other people would be like, oh, I should have a newer car.
And my other friends had like new cars and, you know, other hand-me-down
cars that weren't as old as this car, you know, so.
But I think that's why I like wasn't it wasn't a status symbol to me.
You know, for sure.
And that's who you were.
Did the car have a nickname?
Just out of curiosity.
No, no, I did have friends who had cars that had nicknames.
OK, OK.
Car didn't need a nickname.
Yeah, Tom is kind of Tom is larger than life.
I mean, as you can tell from the booming voice and the authoritative
executive presence.
So it would it would make sense that this battle, this, you know,
this yellow battle tank of a car would would somehow fit.
I actually think that's what your pal was saying.
And I do want to offer this.
How come the the color palette of the 50s, 60s and 70s was
this unattractive, puke, yellow, vomit, green, red, this muted paint.
How is that ever attractive?
I don't know. We don't have it.
Do we have any answer to that?
Because I have this at my current house with a photographer.
Yeah, tell you the science of color.
Well, that's getting to it.
Create colors that we see today on cars.
So they literally could not mix the molecules together
to generate the colors that we see today.
Science is advanced to provide that capabilities.
Dealerships, did you know, by the same lighting
for all their dealerships.
So the colors of the car all look the same.
Because the lighting is different in one dealership,
the color will look different.
Good, good point.
So anyway, sorry, that's a little no, that's it.
That's a really good point.
And then of then, of course, today, right?
If you don't like the color of your car, just go get it wrapped.
Right. You just go get a paint.
Right. You can pick any color now.
Like it's but literally back in the 50s, 60s, 70s,
like as a photographer, we were learning color in the Navy
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