Company
Off the Record
Off the Record is a company that helps you when you get a ticket for a moving violation. Instead of handling it yourself, they connect you with an attorney to try to reduce the impact on your driving record.
Concept
moving violation
A moving violation is a traffic offense that happens while the vehicle is in motion, like speeding or running a red light. These tickets often come with points on your license and can affect insurance rates.
Concept
points off your record
“Points” refer to a scoring system used by many states to track driving infractions. Getting points removed can help prevent license issues and may reduce insurance premium increases.
Company
avance
Avance is a membership program connected to a magazine and events. Here they’re saying members get discounts on things you’d already buy, like tires.
Company
discount tire
Discount Tire is a tire store. The show is saying Avance members can get a discount when they buy tires there.
Brand
BF Goodrich
BF Goodrich is another tire brand. The show is saying you can get extra savings on BF Goodrich tires through the membership.
Brand
Michelin
Michelin is a major tire brand known for performance and touring tires. In this segment, Michelin is mentioned as part of the discount program for Avance members.
Company
griots garage
Griot’s Garage sells car cleaning and detailing products. The sponsor is saying the membership includes a gift card you can use for car-care stuff.
Car
Mclaren Artura
The Artura is a supercar made by McLaren. It’s a hybrid, meaning it uses both an engine and an electric system. The podcast mention is about whether you can plug it in to charge it, and it also references a convertible version.
Part
coolant leak
Coolant is the fluid that keeps the engine from getting too hot. A coolant leak means the car can overheat, which can be dangerous for the engine.
Term
V8
A V8 is a type of engine with eight cylinders. People often like V8s because they usually sound great and feel powerful. Here, the speaker is saying they wish the car had that kind of engine.
Concept
Angeles Crest
Angeles Crest is a famous mountain road in Southern California. People drive it for fun because it has lots of curves and elevation changes. The speaker is saying the car feels great on that kind of road.
Term
Ergonomics
Ergonomics refers to how well a vehicle’s controls, seating position, and interior layout fit the driver. Better ergonomics can reduce fatigue and make it easier to place your hands/feet correctly for spirited driving. The speaker connects it to increased space and comfort when moving from one car to another.
Term
adjustable lumbar
Lumbar support is the part of the seat that supports your lower back. “Adjustable” means you can move it so it fits your body better, which helps you feel less tired.
Company
HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a service that delivers meal ingredients and recipes so you can cook at home more easily. This part of the transcript is just a sponsor message.
Company
Delete Me
Delete Me is a service that tries to remove your personal info from websites that collect and sell data. The goal is fewer scams, spam calls, and identity theft risk.
Term
speaker grills
Speaker grills are the covers over the car’s speakers. If they’re textured or made of fabric/plastic, they can hold onto dirt and oils and be harder to clean than smooth surfaces.
Concept
bespoke
“Bespoke” refers to highly customized, made-to-order luxury options—often including unique paint, interior materials, and personalized specifications. In the luxury car world, increasing bespoke capacity can raise margins by selling exclusivity and personalization rather than increasing unit volume.
Company
Ford
Ford is a big car company. The CEO mentioned here, Jim Farley, runs the company and is involved in decisions about what cars Ford makes.
Term
charging port
A charging port is the spot on the car where you plug it in to charge the battery. The argument here is basically “show me where it charges.”
Car
Bentley Continental GT convertible
Bentley’s Continental GT is a luxury “grand tourer.” When they say convertible, they mean it’s the open-top version, and the conversation is really about the special interior and options.
Concept
backlit stone trim
They’re describing an interior design where a thin piece of stone is lit from behind so it looks like it’s glowing. It’s a very “luxury” styling trick.
Company
AARP
AARP is an organization that supports and advocates for older people. Here, it’s connected to the speaker’s work on car-related decisions for aging drivers.
Concept
Waymo
Waymo is a company that runs driverless robotaxi rides. They watch what happens in the car to make sure riders follow safety and behavior rules.
Concept
bang for the buck
It just means “best value.” You’re trying to spend money and get the most fun or value out of it.
Company
EPA
The EPA is the U.S. agency that regulates things that affect the environment, including fuel rules. Here they’re the ones deciding whether a certain ethanol blend is allowed.
Term
Water impeller fan
That’s a cooling-related part that helps move heat away from the engine. If it’s poorly designed, the engine can run hotter or wear out faster, so changing it can fix a known problem.
Term
retrofit
A retrofit is an update or modification applied after a car is already built or delivered—often to fix a design issue or improve functionality. In this segment, it’s used to describe a manufacturer addressing a previously criticized behavior.
Term
touchscreen vent controls
Instead of turning knobs for the air vents, you change the vent settings on the screen. The complaint is that it’s harder and more distracting to adjust while you’re driving.
Term
carbon tub
A carbon tub refers to a vehicle’s structural body made largely from carbon fiber, typically used to reduce weight and improve stiffness. In collector pricing, carbon-fiber construction can be a major desirability factor because it’s associated with performance and advanced engineering.
Term
manual
A manual is a car where you shift gears yourself with a clutch and gear lever. A lot of enthusiasts say it makes the car feel more fun and more “in your control.”
Term
chain two school buses together
They’re describing a stunt where two heavy buses are connected so they move together. That makes it much harder to control than a normal vehicle, which is why it’s such a spectacle.
Term
stainless metal plate behind the back wheels
They mention putting a metal plate behind the wheels to create sparks and a big visual effect. It’s the kind of thing you’d only see in a carefully planned stunt show.
Concept
flyback chronograph
A flyback chronograph is a stopwatch watch feature that lets you reset and start timing again quickly with one button. It’s handy when you’re timing repeated runs, like laps.
Concept
EV
EV means electric vehicle—powered by electricity stored in a battery. The speaker is saying the prototype they drove is electric.
Term
V12
A V12 is a type of engine with 12 cylinders. It’s usually known for being smooth and having a special feel and sound.
LIVE
What up everybody welcome to the smoke and tire podcast this episode is brought to you as always by off the record
We love off the record over here
They are looking out for you wherever you are 50 states if you get pulled over for a moving violation
Big or small don't plead guilty call off the record
They will arrange for a qualified attorney to represent you in your case and at a
Hugely high percentage get those points off your record go to off the record comm
TST that's off the record comm slash TST will give you ten percent off all legal services
Booked through off the record one more time off the record comm slash
TST and also this morning welcome to avance you guys know avance, right? It's a quarterly print magazine
It's a cool editorial website and Instagram and they do awesome in-person events all over the US
I've known about avance for a long time
My red car was even on the cover of their magazine and now they've got a new membership program
Allowing you to save money on things that you're buying anyway like tires avance members get 10% off at discount tire
Plus an additional 10% off all Michelin and BF Goodrich
So if you spend 1,500 bucks on a set of cup twos you're gonna save $300 just for being an avance member
It's only $99 a year and it comes with a $70 griots garage gift card
So it's basically paying for itself right off the bat now
You can use code TST for 10% off your membership go to avance.com
slash TST and use code
TST to sign up one more time avance
A V A N T S dot com slash TST and code
TST for 10% off your avance membership and thank you to avance for sponsoring the show today
All right folks on this episode our old pal Brett Burke is in studio. He writes for vanity fair Esquire
All kinds of different very important print
Publications and as we learn on this episode also super yacht weekly or monthly or the magazine where people buy yachts in
It's Brett Burke on the smoking tire podcast
It's like I can't take vacations during the month of September and October because it's just like all the new cars are out
Yeah, all of the of the year tests all that bullshit. Yeah, and like they don't plan that shit early enough
For me so I just I have to leave them on soap and it's like same for you right kind of I mean it just depends, you know
Yeah, I mean I never really think about
Things being busy or not busy like certain times a year. I guess they're busier than others
But I want a really long time before observing that I shouldn't do
18 years before I was like, hey, you know, maybe I never
Think about it October
Fucking busy. I get a little crazy if we start right start taking vacations. Yeah, that makes sense
I never really put it together. Maybe I yeah, maybe I should track these things more carefully
No, but you do the thing don't you do the thing where you go?
You plan for like being somewhere for three months and just line up all the press cars
Yeah, I'm out here for like six weeks right now. This is the end of my time
And you just did it did it did it did it? Yeah, so give me your six car lineup. Okay this year good
Cuz you write about you write for rich people
Week one
Was Mercedes E 53 AMG wagon. Oh
That's probably lovely. It was really really nice
53 is a real sweetheart. Yeah. Yeah, it's got like yeah, like yeah, and like you know
40-50 miles of electric range or something. Yeah, if you want to plug it in, okay, then
I'm McLaren Artura Cabrio or whatever spider. Yeah, yeah, lovely
Lamborghini Timurario, that's a good time. Yeah, that was fun
Which is of course sprung a coolant leak and was oh, no
Smoking the entire way down the down the edge list crest. It was like pointing at me like your cars on fire
I was like, it's it's it's it's a story begin. I don't think I'm not fire. Yeah steaming. It was steaming
But it looked like it was on fire someone once thought my coontosh was on fire, but it was steaming
Rare occasions when it wasn't on fire, right?
Yes, there's my ancient steaming still still still still um off Instagram since the
It's a placeholder. I'm still I still exist as a person of someone wants to find
No
Yeah, it's been great actually. Yeah, that's how come I don't know what anyone's doing use any social media. Mm-hmm
Yeah, it's kind of exciting
Yeah, it's great. I live my life entirely incognito like no one knows where I am or what I'm doing
But you also have an attention span. Yeah, I mean I'm already quite I'm already quite
Efficient and productive because I write for million outlets and have a lot of work to do all the time
But yeah now I like to finish up finish up my work sooner and I can do other things that I'm interested in
Wait, let's go back to my Mario because I have no attention span
I don't have social media on my phone. Yeah, I do know I don't know
But I but I do still exist on Instagram and you have to yeah, that's your job
I don't exist on Twitter anymore. Oh, yeah, I got rid of that
Yeah, I'm bought it deleted that and deleted all my tweets had all my tweets retroactively deleted. Yeah
I think I got there was a period of time when I got kicked off of one of those for some reason
I couldn't log back in it was like an old email account
I had to start over and then I was like fuck this doesn't make any sense, but okay, so okay, I'm Mario
Dodici Chilindri spider
Then
Was after I think I had a RS3 new RS3 and M2
Oh, wow, okay, right at the same time and now you drove up here in a Bentley
And I had to specter before specter black badge
Luxurious six weeks, that's pretty good lineup. Yeah, that's a pretty high quality
Automotive lineup. Yeah for the whole the whole time. I mean these are obviously very different cars, but totally
Yeah, give me give me a one love and one hate for each of those cars. Okay, he's wagon Mercedes wagon three hybrid
Let's see. I mean, it's a great all-arounder like you can do anything. Yeah, right
It's quick. It's luxurious. It's not it's not flashy
I
Missed the V8, you know sure so maybe that's a negative
It's better than like the four. Yeah. Yeah, I drove the the the C 53
Cabrio, which is a on the sly
Awesome car. Oh, okay something most people probably wouldn't can think about yeah when going hey actually like what's a pretty awesome
Car that nobody would think about yeah, the one I drove was a hundred thousand bucks right loaded. Yeah, every option imaginable
C53 and not a hybrid right, so it's that slick six on all the times yeah 400 and whatever horsepower
Lovely. Yeah, yeah
Okay, okay, what's not good about it? I'm kind of missed the sound of the VA sure right
Yes, of course
Let's see
A million times okay new shit
Temerario, I mean
Yeah, it goes yeah, it looks great. It revs so high
Super fun to drive up on Angeles Crest, and you know me. I'm not very strong driver
But every so often I take a car up there. It's a hero maker. Yeah, Temerario is a hero maker car a
Medium-grade driver can go real fucking fast in that thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's really easy
Really easy to go fast exactly and so that's the kind of car. That's good for me
How nice is the jump from a hurricane to Temerario?
Ergonomics yeah space. Yeah, so much more room in there and see yeah, it's awesome
Yeah, I got a road trip in that yeah
I thought it was very comfortable and yeah, you could put stuff in it
Of course it you know had a little issue with some sort of leak so that was
Spraying or spraying clouds of steam
Yeah, it keeps your food warm. It keeps your food warm. Exactly. You know, I put it in EV mode at the end and that's it's that's
It is a rice cooker right it was you know it's a challenge when something goes wrong up there
Angeles Crest because yeah, there's no reception. You know now that I have you did you have a do you fucked with the iPhone?
Satellite
That's what that's the game. Yeah, now you get a flat up there or something just just call text triple A from up there with
The iPhone satellite. That's true. I do you can see everyone at good vibes walking around
You should you should try it okay, I'll try that out. Okay, I'll try that out
I was like regular texting to you know not for emergency. Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm like I don't want to use this
Like the first little minute it was for emergencies only okay, and now you can use it all the time
It just like rips through your battery. So you have to like seeking out. Yeah star link or something like that
Apparently the difference between I could communicate with towers and I can communicate with satellites is like juice
All right
Takes away all your batteries. Okay. Okay, so the 12 C we drove that as well. Oh, yeah, you love the 12
I loved that car. Yeah, I think that's probably my favorite of the whole run this time. I hadn't driven it in
Where were we like Luxembourg or Liechtenstein on the on the on the launch?
But it was the regular
Berlinetta or whatever as it was a spider. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I thought it was fantastic
It's so I mean, it's you know, it's crazy the proportions of it are crazy
Yeah, like the length of the hood and all that kind of stuff and then it's like not that big inside
Right. Yeah, there's not that much room inside of it at all
And it's like not much truck. Yeah, the trunk is small because the top goes to back there or something like that, right?
But yeah
You know feels much no does not feel small in the Trader Joe's parking lot for sure
You're like, well, I'm already at the barricade. Wow. Yeah, I'm way back here
You get that carbon splitter and you have a curb stop. Oh boy yikes. Yeah, it's but but you know
I know it's like a windy road or whatever like mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, really is really a great car
Although if I'm honest, yeah, I think I think I like the 812 better. Oh, really?
I think I just like they drive pretty much the same. Yeah, I feel like the
The 12-seater to ditch each lingerie or whatever you want to call it
Is more is more my my speed for some of the 812 felt too aggressive
It is I'm always looking for a car that I can like wear an Ascot
Imagine myself in an Ascot and a captain's hat for sure and I feel like that
You should have got the Morgan plus four you could have asked God in the fuck I tried I tried to get them to bring me one because
Wherever it is if they keep it in Long Beach or you guys
So I was like it's a schlep, you know like I have to like have a have a separate car or someone get me
Give me a ride out there. It's like you guys can bring me one. Maybe like oh, yeah, we'll look into that and that was you know
The bill it's not that expensive to have us deliver the car. We do it all the time. Yeah, that's what I figure
Not your fault. I was just you said escot, and I
I go to your right right exactly straight at Morgan that is a flat cap escort looking kind of thing. I'm staring at that thing
I thought it's great. Yeah, I would like to drive it. So hopefully now. It's a bit now. It's a BMW a little bit
Right. That's right. Yeah, and the last one Ford one
No, I don't think I drove that one. Uh-huh. It was a riot. Yeah, it was great fun
Yeah, I had such a great time with it Zack and his wife went like full costume
Yeah, I had the little you know newsy cap on the vest and stuff. She got kind of dressed up like
You know pin-up style with lipstick and we went for a fun drive
And that's that car is great for six tents and lots of smiles. Yeah, people like seeing it. They wave to you exactly
Yeah, it's like a yeah, it's like a factory Resto mod essentially people
People have absolutely no clue. Yeah, here it is. No, that could be a
Someone might say the same thing about the people at Morgan, right?
To their to their credit, I guess, right? I love Morgan
They're just they're the fuck yeah, 12 C was awesome
But the one I drove was the red one. Did you have the red one? No, I had the like the kind of olive green
Okay, that's the one Johnny had. Yeah, yeah, mine started with a six. Oh, yeah sticker. Yeah, and
Look
There I will pay an enormous premium for a naturally aspirated V12. Yeah, a really really big one. Yeah
But a front engine Ferrari the price tag starting with the six
Maybe a little adjustable lumbar. Yeah, can we get a can we get a lumbar in this motherfucker? Yeah for 600 G's
And maybe something to if you're wearing shorts protect your knee from those speaker grills
Which are like a cheese grater, you know, I was like I've got little little skin left on my knee
Oh, what was it? I had it was it had to have been my Corvette
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I think it was my C5 Corvette that had speaker grills that were so cheese-gradery
And I had the car for so long that like and I you know, obviously would wear short over the 18 years
like and like a
Like a stain from my skin
Metal speaker girl was like the size and angle like
Like how to clean skin off a car
Shows up like all right, okay, we all know right yeah speaker girls literally like that tool they use when you're getting a pedicure
It's just that yeah, but it's all bows on it. No, it's totally true
What was after the the oh, I had the
RS3 and and those are a good time. Yeah, yeah, probably feels like a real downgrade after the Ferrari
But I mean yeah in some ways, but also like, you know easy easy to get around
Exactly much easier to park a trader Joe's for both of them and then I had the
Specters the opposite of that specter is opposite. I know it's like driving it like a you cut like a two-door Yukon
You have to yell tacking every time you make a right exactly which it was it painted an insane color. It was like a kind of crazy
kind of
Caribbean blue kind of well, I do like I do like that. Yeah metallic Caribbean blue. That's a good time
Yeah, with some black gloss wheels. I was like these wheels are batshit. I'm like, no they actually look like bats flying around trying to take a shit
Fucking I hate I am I kind of hated the specter until the very last day. I had it
I didn't hate it. I just like a gas Rolls-Royce is so smooth already
Yeah, then as much as an electric Rolls-Royce makes obvious sense
It's such an incremental change in refinement
But the car has to be like because we have a we have two wraiths that live here
Yeah, saw you park it next to a wraith and you go. Oh, wow, this rate is awfully tidy
you know and
But then the last day I was going home coming home from something late at night
And I put all the windows down. It was like a warm night coming down the highway from Hollywood
Yeah, and I was like blasting something at full fucking volume
Yeah, and like I had like the shooting star ceiling going and I was like
Yeah, like I could I could
Press people for this. Yeah, it's it's it. I think it's I mean I I love the idea of electric rolls
you know, I just think it makes makes perfect sense and
I was talking to that actually to the chair of rolls this morning because I'm doing a story for the Times about their current
Product strategy, you know, they're expanding expanding Goodwood significantly
But not expanding production. They're just expanding like bespokery
Which is you know and a device for extracting maximum profit from there from their from their clients
so I
Maybe by the time this show goes out to the public the I just wrote my column for road and track this month about
My opinion that income inequality is kind of ruining cars
Yeah, and it's not ruining cars just because rich people are buying shit. Yeah, that is that's a thing, but also it's it's when
automakers
Realized that like yo, there's like 1500. There's like 3,500 billionaires in the world
Yeah, let's say half of them are quote car enthusiasts. That's generous, but let's call it half
1500 700 people 700 families
When you're pivoting an entire business model to service that few people globally with corporation that size
And it's not like Rolls Royce ever made cars for everybody
But like when you're when your regular customers are like, you know, not being invested in for these very small
And it's happening at Aston Martin. It's happening at Ferrari Lamborghini and lamp, you know Ferrari just
bonused out their workers
And because they made so much profit, but but they made it on light on fewer cars. Yeah, it's so like
You know
When all them them companies start to chase this very small number of people to just buy everything
Yeah, everyone else even the normally rich
Yeah, no, it's a really interesting point and you know, that's
It's the money grab obviously, right like this is where the money is right now
I'm sure and you know the horror of it for the foreseeable future
Body opens in even more bespoke. It's like this company there. Yeah, I know
This is what's going on. Yeah, where a fucking, you know a special version of a sharon
The tech noir jack-off edition isn't enough anymore
You know, you can't have the special version of a car. We make a hundred a year of
Instead, there's this new division. Yeah, and we only make three right or one
Exactly and then they're like, yeah, and yeah, I was talking to an analyst for a story about just this
I think it was for road and track. Actually, maybe it was for car and drive. I can't remember
But yeah numbers issue of road and track we just came out with
That sounds number never it might have been whatever it was
It was just numbers issue of right track on newstands. Yeah, but yeah
It was essentially like, you know profit on on that segment is like 50 to 80 percent or something like that
So it's like why would they why would they they're just you know, they realize like oh we can we can extract another
You know one to two to three hundred thousand dollars per transaction per client. It's like they've started a patreon
Businesses got a business. Of course. Yeah shareholders need maximum value like I get it
No, I'm not saying it's good. It's just it's crazy to me that like for for fifteen hundred families globally
There are more choices in seven figure
Vehicles right now then there are in like five figure enthusiast cars. Yeah, what the fuck is that about like that's crazy
No, I just want to discourage
You know, it's like it's like I get it
But it's also like sort of morally objectionable to change your business model to that. Yes, I agree
And yeah, and you know, obviously this is driving up everything right like there's there's very few affordable vehicles for people
Who need cars and most Americans do and don't worry bees. Oh, so solve it. Oh, yeah
I trust that guy. He's got your best. Yeah. Yeah, he's always thinking about me
He's always thinking about others. That's what he said. Yeah, those guys are all the best
Like when I was driving the specter
I found unlike any other car you drive the craziest car you can imagine on people like what the fuck is that?
How fast is it go blah blah the specter? It's what do you do for a living?
How'd you get that money? That's what everybody was asking me when I wow, that's interesting that not happen to you
Guys taking a break from the action because support is coming in at fast like Jim Farley the CEO of Ford
Who's now got a podcast and you're always asking me what I'm listening to when not recording this show and right now
It's this the new season of drive with Jim Farley in it
The Ford CEO talks to some of his favorite people about what they're driving and what drives them to succeed like formula one
Diver Daniel Ricardo listen
There's a well-worn trope about
racing drivers
Not being interesting to listen to but if there is one that is
Interesting to listen to it is Daniel Ricardo
I think this guy's takes on stuff and life are great and look Jim is a racing driver also
I personally raced against him like two months ago and
For me a CEO that drives race cars on the weekends is about the pinnacle of
CEOdom when it comes to car companies so the two of them together
Obviously have a lot of things to discuss on drive with Jim Farley, which you can get on your podcast app
It's very easy to find drive with Jim Farley. Check it out
People were asking is that electric like when I'm parked at a charger with it plugged in
Yes
Otherwise are you just a rich person taking a spot? Yeah, exactly. I know that's what I was thinking
I was like well. I want to make sure everyone sees me plugging this in. Yeah
I'm not a dick bag. Yeah, exactly. It's not mine
Yeah, I saw a guy with a fucking event
Did I try a guy parked in a vented door at an electrify America charger the one in Malibu? Yeah, right behind?
We're the like the lobster place over there and I saw a cop yelling at this guy
And he was trying to tell the cop no, it's a hybrid and he's like show me the charging port
Yes, the charging port
Obviously, it didn't have one right. Oh, it's in the trunk and I just walked by I yelled they don't make that in a hybrid
Under the bus
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and then I just got the this Bentley
Continental GT convertible as you
I
This is lovely, but it says Azure on it
Yeah, which is a revival of the name. It's a package or so of some sort right cool wheels. Yeah, it's got cool wheels
Cool top cool top really nice color. It looks like it's black, but it's a real dark metallic green
Yeah, it's Hampton's a real Hampton's a pretty pretty dark green and cream colored interior
It's got piano cream like instead of piano black so you can touch it all you want it
Piano cream, right? Oh, that's what it's called. I have to look on the spec sheet my favorite Bentley dash materials the granite
One with granite. Yeah, that shit's crazy. I love the idea of stone in cars
It's probably like what the fuck did they figure this out? Yeah, what happens if your head impacts the side?
I don't know it looks yeah. Yeah
some of it is
But there were some car where they had it like backlit like it was like really thinly sliced and some sort of stone and it was back
That maybe was maybe there's something rolls. That sounds like rolls. Yeah, that's crazy
That's like when you when you go to like a
Like a spa a spa and they have like the wall made of salt rock. Yeah, exactly
Yeah, there's salt. Yeah, exactly
It goes from a ready got a salt rock wall in his in his house. He built us. It's like that's a thing people do
Yeah, yeah, it's supposed to heal your ions or something. Yeah, and you can lick it
Exactly, yeah, I think that I think Rob did get a salt grinder margarita glass in there, right?
That would be yeah, right. I
Wonder if there's a way to do that. I don't know you're probably not supposed to be drinking in the sauna
No, I don't think you're right. It's probably not not awesome. It helps with the schvitz. It helps with the schvitz
so all right
In this in this insane, you know line-up of cars. Yeah, we parking them on the street
Yeah, everybody near in your Airbnb in my area be in silver like silver like okay, and the so there's you know
And the neighbors are they being they've been inquisitive the neighbors are somewhat inquisitive
This is our fifth year in the same spot
so they've gotten a little bit accustomed but there's a there's a family lives across the street and
The woman had the family of like three kids
Maybe two boys and a girl or two girls and a boy whatever it is the girls sell Girl Scout cookies
So we always arrive around this time of year
So I ran into the mom and I was getting some Girl Scout cookies from her and she was like oh
You guys are here the boys have been looking up and down the street for the past few weeks to see if you're coming because they know
You come during cookie season
So you take them for rides and read on I've offered but you know
From those I think yeah, I know exactly this kid this guy's got cookies
Like now we've gotten in that van before you're like no no, I'm an auto-drillers right yeah exactly
But yeah, no the and the yeah the neighbors are sort of like I mean when I had I had the M2 in the RS3 at the same time
One of the neighbors was walking by he was like are these both yours and I was like yeah
You know this week yeah, and he's like well
I had a first-gen RS3 and I'm thinking about getting a new one like but I'm also cross shopping the M2
Which would you like better? We had like a whole conversation about you know, it's part of the job, right? Yeah, of course
Yeah, you have to be that guy. Yeah, I every time I have any new electric vehicle
There's an older woman who lives up the street for me that drives like a real old model s that she got new
Yeah, and so any time I have anything electric she like within ten minutes of me parking
House to get to mine she sees you some kind of alert set up. Yeah, she
Got your face loaded into it is that the R1s oh and she got to know everything yeah everything about it
Yeah, so it's funny. It is funny. Yeah, one of the neighbors asked
He was like do people look at you funny when you drive around in these cars
I was like a middle-aged Jewish guy driving a fancy car Los Angeles isn't that weird
You know and he was like what about here in silver like I was like yeah, you know they look they
Sneer but I can tell that they love it. It's funny when you drive cars like that around this town or New York or Miami
Versus like a lot of other places. Yeah, it's like the you know, you drive a Carrera in Ohio
Yeah, people are rock stars that you know here versus, you know, whatever that was like us
That was like us on the boat in like this boat that we rented, you know
It's like a million dollar boat, right and like holy shit. There's a million dollar boat, but there's like 10,000
No, this is the Ford tour
Some boats that were like
200 foot yacht with tender boats and all this crazy stuff. It was wild same parking lot, right
Yeah, when you watch a mega yacht roll up, yeah, you know open
It's like thing like the space shuttle and like drop out
Yeah, like a huge boat that's like twice as big as the boat you've been living on yeah
46-foot, you know, like ribbed boat that like Navy Seals use and they're using to like go to dinner on shore
I would used to write for this magazine called showboats international at the fuck out
Yeah, that's living. I did their car column for years. You're all about cars for showboat
Yeah, I'm gonna say you wrote about boats
No, I've done a little bit of boat riding here and there but not that much
but um, yeah, they had we did some feature one time it was about like
The kinds of cars that you would have on your super yeah, like to drive around the boat like
I think you need like a go-kart. Yeah, I know showboats
Yeah, I was gonna say it's a real airport reward paradigm for people. It's got yeah
It's got like, you know thousands of pages of like, you know
Eight nine ten feet what size car would fit on a boat and be able to drive around a boat
You'd need a boat that's they had like, you know, people would have like a jolly or electric jolly
50 yeah, exactly little yeah a little like electric thing. I can't remember there was another there was another vehicle, right?
Yes, Jim, I'd like to have like an earnest goes to camp three-wheeled golf cart. Yeah, I'm like the late 70s
That would be appropriate with a with a Rolls-Royce grill
You need the tellers a guy in the front
Do you remember the guy from Venice when I was living in Venice like my neighbor? He was buddies with Nino
There's just this guy. He was about our age real meathead
He looked good big fucking guy, you know pointy beard of that okay. Yeah
And he rolled around he got he got like a 70s Rolls Royce golf cart
Okay, and upgraded the powertrain to be something a little better, but it was a golf
It was a full-on 70s on the roof. It had tassels. Yeah the whole way
And this dude just rolled it around Venice like it was his car
Registration parked that motherfucker wherever he felt like. Yeah, nobody cared the cops let him do whatever
Yeah
He does right it was great you see him roll with like three four girls on that thing it was it was a good time for him
Yeah, I guess they have those laws now right where you can have like one of you can license some of those
Yeah, you can drive him on roads 35 miles an hour and less right so like all of Manhattan Beach or all of like Santa Monica and shit
Yeah, yeah, yeah
That's what the electric Manx is eventually going to be right when if that comes to fruition or is I think it will
I just think it's it's more like building a car than it is like building a golf cart
Yeah, because like despite those laws there
They intend to sell them in places that don't have those laws and you can it's gonna be a thing that can go 80 miles an hour
Right, it's gonna be restricted where legally required
But like they're building like mostly a whole car. So so it takes just like hard
Didn't you buy a mix? Yeah, I have the I have the airplane engine right which is just the greatest thing ever you should drive it
Yeah, I would like to so I'm a lot much longer you here. Mmm. I leave on next Monday. Oh, you have time. Yeah. Oh, yeah
Yeah, no you should drive it. Okay, it's the it's the best thing ever
Your rich people will like it. Yeah, people like it. I know it's amazing. It's amazing
It's the bits by far the coolest thing I've driven in a long time. Well, that's exciting
Yeah, sometimes we got to make it real weird, right? Do you and I mean once you've tried everything else?
Yeah, what's what's left airplane engine fucking do
Sense, you know, have you had it out on the sand and stuff? No mine set up for road driving
Okay, mine's like a they is they call it the tarmac height
So it's it's got independent reservoir shocks all this good stuff, but it's it's lower
Yeah, it's on like regular road tires, so
And is that license to drive wherever you want or is that one of these like
No, it's some
gasoline-powered Manx's are all
Classic beetle rest of us. Yeah, it's a 71 beetle. So no emissions. No anything. Yeah, it's on a Cali black tag
It's proper. Yeah, I don't pay taxes on that motherfucker
Here no, we're going when it was full California. I got the license plate radial. Oh, it's awesome. Yeah, that was available
I guess yeah, all the for a plane
So anyway, yeah, you you must drive it. Okay when you have
Written about boats. Have you done it from experience or have you just seen a spec sheet and a release most of the time?
It's something like that and then I'm not really a big boat person
I did go on a like a cruise on the biggest boat the biggest cruise ship in the world
Yeah, yeah, I kind of disease we called it, right
Was it the Gary Steingart piece about that? Yeah, yeah, I'd swipe you but exactly so fucking funny
He did a story about that a little while ago. It was called like crying or something. Yeah, it was really it was quite sad
experience
I would I like to say yeah, I brought my my my partner with me on there and he and I
We were like we came back and people are like, what was it like and we were like it was terrible, but we had a great time
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, if you're just there to observe the garbage. Yeah, then there's joy in that
Yeah, it's kind of never anyone there to laugh with exactly. That's why Gary was so sad
I had time there with me and we were just like, you know, we started drinking as soon as we got up and
We didn't talk to anyone else and I think that was the way to do it. Oh, he tried. Yeah, he tried interacting
Oh, I'm not there to make friends. I'm not in most places to make friends. That's certainly not on a cruise
Well, if you're stuck on one by yourself, you really have no choice. I guess that's just like a setup for sadness
Well, our our good friend Christian hand who is you know fucking amazing it at what he does
You know does his like music breakdowns. He's he now he just went on the I love the 80s
Cruise and I love the 90s cruise to work to do to do shows
And he said like the shows were amazing and a cruise ship full of people who love music is
The best possible version of a cruise ship. Yeah, you know, but he said he's like when I was on stage doing the gigs
Like 400 seat room great audio engaged audience like loved it. He's like
Then I was on a cruise
He's like and they tried to throw me like a bone like I only had to do a gig every other day
And he's like can I do seven gigs a day?
I'm not like standing around here this all day long and he showed me his like Apple
Health thing and he walked 20,000 steps a day
Boat yeah, but I was almost like a quarter mile long or something like that and 20 stories tall
I mean it was there's like 10 they could sleep 10,000 people or something like that
We saw even small cruise ships on our like little boat. Oh, yeah, and we're just like fucking. Oh god
No, it's like a skyscraper turn on its side or something. They're gigantic. I understand why people love it
Yeah, I just can't do it. No, it's not it's not really for me
I every time I get on a boat actually I feel like I'm someone's captive
And I feel like that's what people who have boats want you to feel like
Because of the implication. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's why I
became the captain
It's implied if you're on the boat right you work for me. Yeah, exactly
Is that how you felt back when you're on the boat with Matt?
I mean a little bit in a good way
I was like, I don't know how to sail yeah, and you know how to sail so I will learn from there
A couple things that need that need doing yeah on the boat, right?
You know, it's a team. It's usually like anchoring mooring things like that. Yeah, like yeah, plus the implication and you know
The implication
Who would know except for the other five people on the boat? Yeah, and you know the the drugs
Right, if you keep them if you keep them down here
Sorry that turned dark, okay
Let's go to the people we've got a lot of questions from the folks over at patreon
And let's see what they have to say patreon.com slash the smoke entire podcast is where you get her done
You can get the show live you can get the show early you can ask questions of the show
you can get the show without ads you can get extra show and
You can support the show that you were already prepared to do all of those other things for am I right patreon.com slash the smoke entire podcast
Do it. Oh, can you just made those small? Can you make them big again? No, the other there we go. Well, not that big goddamn it, okay?
Bad PPI eight says oh, there's a sort of an informal competition for like filthy usernames. Oh, I think prepared
What AMG do you buy for under 40,000 that makes the right sounds and power first and foremost, but with good styling and decent handling oh
Seven C63
Yes, something with that naturally aspirated V8. Yeah, what's it? What's a 63?
That most people wouldn't think of
That would have good like yeah, but in C63 is the obvious one, right? Yeah
I mean they put that motor and pretty much everything. Yeah, they put it in the wagon, right?
Yeah, I mean do decent handling like if you want you probably get an ML 63 for fucking
Like if you if you're willing to go SUV on this bitch
You can you can get with a 63 and it that'll sound the business for good
I mean upshift speed is pretty quick in these things downshift not so much
But for 40 could you get a CLS? I bet you get like a 2013 CLS 63
Turbos to be one. Yeah, CLS 63 twin turbos
Rentec tune that thing to 900 horsepower
Yeah, something like that, I mean you can get a 07 CLS 63 for 13 grand. Oh, yes
180,000 miles on it 40k you probably an SL 63 shocking like you could probably like it's like an
18 or 17 SL 63, right? That's probably true. Do these CLS's are cheap cheap cheap. Oh my god
A few years ago, but like dude here a 2017 for 45 grand
That is a lot hell. Yeah
577 horsepower twin turbo all-wheel drive. Let's go
That's a that sounds like a
Value proposition seems like it. Yeah. Yeah, it's sometimes surprising how
Inexpensive 10-year-old 15-year-old cars that were you know, crazy
Six-figure cars can be I kind of like it. Yeah
Make me nervous to own now
Do you know how many we me and my wife like you know like punch buggy? Yeah, you know the game punch buggy
Yeah, my wife and I have a game that we play pretty much just within the confines of our neighborhood
That's blown out bags and it's when we see an
And it's there for you know, there's like gold grass growing around and it's very clearly
We'll get around to fixing that
Decade, you know, and then it just returns to earth
Front-wheel drive NSX says
Somebody drives a lot for work. Is there a fix to bad drivers beyond expansion and promotion of public transit?
Of course, there are education. Yeah, these things work enhanced driver education is probably not a bad idea
We're pretty yeah
Retesting maybe at a certain age. Yeah, I mean if we're gonna be driving into our later years like exactly not against that shit
Yeah, I just worked on a big story for the AARP, which is one of my regular outlets about
Trying to figure out, you know, what what to do if you're thinking about getting rid of your car
like how to be proactive and and
Forward thinking about that and yeah, there's a lot of stuff that they strange
It was interesting like the I talked to the head of the New York State office on the aging and
Their
Stated strategy is really like we want to keep old people in their cars as long as possible
Like they don't they don't drive that much. They don't drive at night. They're safe
They're the safest category of drivers, of course if they do have accidents
They die at much higher rates because sure more fragile, but essentially like is that are those other bits true?
Yeah
I don't disagree that if they're physically capable and can see like I'm not against it. They're like
Retesting is not the worst
Yeah, the ones that can't yeah, like no, I drove with my grandmother toward the end of her life
She was still driving up until she was like 98 or 99 and she was like I don't understand why these people are always
Hunking at me in this roundabout
She's like drives through and it's like just cuts off
My grandma got it didn't get a new car at like I think 99. Oh, wow
Yeah, and like it was like it was maybe lease grandma, right?
It was not an expensive car
But but she had her other her car before that was a she had purchased it knew a cat a Cadillac Katera
Mm-hmm, and the caddy that Ziggs did it zigged and I was sort of hoping
This was maybe 2015
I was gonna come to you she would give it to me
Yeah, and we could turn into a race like a like a lemon's car or a champ car or something like that
And I think she ended up just trading it on like whatever shitty Corolla
She ended up getting and who even knows what happened to that car, but I was sort of
Grandma there's a thing called lemons, right?
Let me teach you about this
But yeah, she was driving up until I guess almost a hundred but like you know a mile
Yeah, it was much more about I don't want to be trapped
Exactly and actually a real and that's the this you know the studies are showing that like the social isolation
That comes with you know not having that independence or the loss of independence that comes without having a vehicle is you know
Yeah
Tim a says is there room in the Aston Martin lineup for an entry level mid-engine supercar
Would it outsell the current advantage at the 250 to 350 price bracket?
I mean having talked a lot about and with
Executives at Aston Martin. I mean they kind of tried that with the with the vantage
You know maybe ten years ago, right like you could get those kind of a stripper vantage GT
Do you remember this that was like 99 K or something like that sure?
And I mean I think that company has enough trouble staying in business
You know with with large profit margins on more expensive vehicles, which has been their intent to like drive drive up the the transaction price
So I mean from a like would that be great if there was a you know entry level quote-unquote Aston Martin
Sure, that might be fun
But like is it a viable thing for them as a business? I think especially probably not I mean they have the tub technology now
Yeah, it means like well, maybe it's possible, but that price point would compete with like
Fully option vantage or like the vanquish right is around 300 well so what I've heard is the vantage is going away
Or sometime around 2030 and not being replaced. Hmm. They're just going further up scale
I think the thinking was the DB 12 is very similar to the vantage and they could overlap
You know and and they want to move that transaction
So by getting rid of the $200,000 car and introducing a 1.2 million dollar car the Valhalla, right?
That will do it. They also got rid of the base DB X now the 707 is the base and they've got the s above that
Which you should drive if you have I have yeah fucking yeah, I like the DB X
I wouldn't surprise me at all because they got the McLaren guy there
So he knows how business works you go P1 and 720 all the other ones. I couldn't maybe see a
Five or six hundred thousand dollar mid-engine car that would be
Around the performance of the vanquish
But with the engine in the middle I could see that more than I would ask the marn's not making now
They're not interested in affordable cars. Yeah, that's a bad move for them. I think yeah
Yeah, the Porsche hatchback that I you know the platform shared GTI that I want Porsche to build is like never
You know
Uh Christian says oh boy here we go. Is there a big difference between automakers using cameras versus LiDAR?
Why is it just Tesla using cameras and they get so much praise for autopilot? Okay?
There's a few different things. Yeah, right. It's not camera versus LiDAR. It's camera versus camera and LiDAR
Yeah, and radar. Yeah, and so you've got Tesla which is camera only and you've got pretty much everyone else
Which is what they call sensor complete, right?
and
Why is it just Tesla using cameras because it's cheaper
And and they get so much praise for autopilot. I mean because that's a
Media problem
Yeah, and and a Tesla fan person
Right well and also when you have a financial reinforcement from being an occult and repeating their message
There's that and look cameras
Cameras can work pretty well on the highway in the right conditions
Yeah, and cameras can work pretty well in the city with good software in the right conditions, but it's like when they fail
There isn't a backup and then you have a crash and when they get confused in something like a Waymo
There are other sensor suites that go what is that?
Do we see it too and and you have a much safer product not perfect? Yeah, but much safer
So have you ridden Waymo's much? I have a few times. Do you enjoy them?
I don't dislike it like I thought I would dislike it more
Uh-huh. I feel like they do a pretty good job like they do a pretty good job of driving
They drive pretty well. Yeah, they drive well
I was in one and it like it went through a couple yellow lights. I was like, okay way a mile
I think the last six months. They've turned up the aggression a little bit
I think they were a little too passive and they dialed they've dialed up just a little
I think some of it comes with just you know more and more miles and more and more experience
I mean, I'm not you know, I'm not like a huge fan of the whole thing necessarily from a systemic point of view
but I understand the use case and
You know, we've got to I guess they're taking this technology out for a spin, right
Well, look at least it's a commercial product
That's running a commercial insurance policy at the very fucking least the very least there is a company
Evil as they may be on google
That's backing this it's not here's the technology
It's gonna do this thing 99 percent. Yeah, perfect. And then when it goes wrong, it's on you fucking fault
Like come on. Yeah, that's crazy shit. Yeah
And so I but also way most have very fun limitations. They they'll drop you in weird places
They can you know, and it's they could come like I did when I first took them
They were only like on the surface streets and like in the valley, you know
I mean the flat parts of the city now they're up in the hills and stuff like that
Yeah, freeway they added freeways like maybe
Maybe six months ago. Yeah, but they're they grow the map. They can't do the airport pickup
Airport is yeah airport is it is a mess. They'll they'll they'll launch lax around the same time they launch riyadh
About that level of of aggression
I just worked on a story for playboy, which apparently still exists. Yeah. Yeah relaunched right relaunched
And he's not still there. No, he's not. Okay. No, he's not. Yeah. Yeah, he didn't he didn't uh that that part ended
Um, but uh, we did a story kind of pegged to Waymo's about uh, the history of sex in cars
On sort of this idea that you would think that um, you know, this would be a new
Uh, sort of golden age for sex in cars because there's no driver and no one no one to see blacked out windows and stuff
But of course it's google
So there's tons of surveillance of course in the vehicles and more or less titillating than having a human driver
I think for some people more and for some people less although, you know, Waymo is like, yeah, we
Uh, we monitor the footage and like if people don't you know, abide our safety and cleanliness standards
Uh, not only will they be banned from the app, but we will can turn those if they do anything
That's illegal. We'll turn those records over to law enforcement. So what league like elite where we draw the line
Yeah, I mean you signed that you signed the uh the agreement or whatever right when you clicked yes on the
Also, if the footage is really good, we you know, share it around the office and you know, right? Yeah
Dungeons and Datsons says I've been listening to several ai experts on the diary of a ceo podcast one aspect
That most seem to agree on is that middle class and upper middle class white collar jobs are going to be affected first and worst medical accounting, etc
If this is the case how much of an effect might it have on the sports car market?
Since these would be the ones that typically purchasing the ones
All these questions circle back to exactly where we just were the fucking automakers are targeting billionaires because they see
This customer coming what's coming right?
Not necessarily because they see this specifically coming, but they're just going we could build
5 000 cars yeah for 200 grand each
Or we could build 500 cars for 2 million each and have the same amount of money
And those 500 people would be easier to please than these 5 000 people
And we wouldn't have to do certain regulations and we wouldn't have to do this and we wouldn't have to do this
They're just doing it. Yeah, they don't they don't need an ai kick. They're just doing it
I know but I think it would like I just looked up Porsche last year sold about 20,911's and 718's so sports cars
so
You know this if this happened and got rid of a lot of white collar people off their jobs
I think you'd see a huge shrink in the new sports car market
But also the used market would follow fall a lot because anyone who was like, oh, I got money. I can buy
Yeah, a six-figure forming ass air-cooled car like they're gonna have to let that go
Yeah, I think we'd see a lot of things fall in price. Yeah, if you thought your Carrera s was an investment
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, I think that's gonna do it move your money to dubai right that's like real financial freedom super safe there right now
Yeah, why don't you what let's buy a buy a second home in dubai? It's like it's a no brainer
Uh, the road is my expense the cost of my desire very good
After 25 years as a preschool director
Who throws a more impressive tantrum? I should have read the second half of this before for the first time
A 23 year old who missed that nap
Their nap or a luxury super car owner who found a scratch on their bespoke leather interior. Oh
I'm gonna say a three-year-old. I don't think most people are that big of a weenie now
I we I in my company we accidentally
Scratch someone's interior. Yeah, like you know how it happens, dude
Right rivets on your jeans the rivet on your jeans if you don't give that steering wheel or the bolster a little room
Yeah, so I had to pay to fix a guy's steering wheel
I mean I had to pay to fix it. Yeah, like he wasn't you know, right super mad like that should happen
Yeah, most people it's another fix that do they do they smooth it out grind it down or something
I mean that's that is the way you would do it if you don't want to
Literally replace the entire steering wheel. Yeah, fortunately this customer did not ask us to do so. Yeah. Yeah, it was all right
Um
Wait, wait, uh, matt you influencing son of a bitch
Uh with respects to mrs. Farrah. She's a lovely person. Okay. I had to go out and buy a pen
I didn't need a pen and my writing looks like unwiped asshole
But I got a pilot fountain pen and I don't feel like the feel very much
Is there something uh else I should try before diving first into another useless hobby?
Wait, this is a fountain pen question. There's this a failed reference to something else
Because I don't want to feel any of the fountain pens and he has influenced this person
I think to be into pens
But he bought the pen and doesn't actually like it that much if you don't like fountain pens
You don't need to go down the roll of fountain by the way
You should watch the last two minutes of the daily show from monday where uh, john shows footage of trump discussing fountain pens
Oh, no, I'm not gonna throw away my fountain pens
Is he actually like a savant on fountain pens that would be a really interesting thing to learn
I can't imagine that he's a little really
I mean, he's into it
He's talking about how they write and the cost of them and and he talked about the material and how he doesn't want to
Be holding one that feels like this or that
It's now only writes in short cabinet meeting. So he's like you should got back on
So it was the rambling of someone who could
Yeah, it's a madman. What are you bracelets made of they're shining in such a
Yeah, they're they're like yeah, they're springy metal. They're my grandmother's no fucking way. These are awesome
These are really great. They're like, uh, they're like slinky bracelets. Yeah, this is very risky with my syrian arm hair, though
Yeah, same
Oh, it is. Yeah, it's a little it's a little pinchy. Yeah, it's a little pinchy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but fuck is that cool
Thank you. Those are your grandma's. Yeah, wow grandma was awesome grandma had some good stuff grandma was awesome
Oh, man, I gotta give a shout out to my boy adam his grandpa just is 94 years old and just sold restaurant depot
for 29
Billion dollars. He started restaurant depot in 1976. So that friend adam not this adam
Yeah, it's that friend that that friend adam, you know, I went to high a guy I went to high school with like just
He's just a dude. Like he's just a he's just a dude
But like, you know, his grandpa always was the guy who started restaurant depot
But like he just sold that shit and like
Whoa, wow
Whoa
Oh
Fountain pens, I don't know dude if you don't like uh
A pilot fountain pen is a very cheapy fountain pen. Like you might if you really care like go get yourself a
lamby l a m y that's like a
30 dollar fountain pen
And like that's much nicer than a five dollar pilot fountain pen
And if you don't like it then then bail cut the cord and cut the cord and bail
Maybe try a gel writer pen. There's a bunch of dope pens that aren't fountain pens. Yeah
Do you have a million pens now? No, okay. I don't um, but I did
I do like fountain pens a little bit because of how little I have to press. Yeah, they're so light and we went to this
Um, I'll show you afterwards. We went I went my wife like finds this shit. We went to the california pen show
Oh, wow, which is a thing you should see. Yeah
I love any anything like that where people are like obsessive and not like they're not like trying to kill me
Yeah, that's not what they're obsessed about very deep deep level of nerdery about this kind of stuff
Which I love. Yeah, and I just like if I see something maybe I'll get so I got one
What most people would call an expensive pen, but it didn't
It didn't scratch the surface of where you can't go right at the california fucking pen or whatever fucking trump is right
He's probably ready. He's probably got a montblanc. It's probably not even not even that good, but pen. Yeah
Matt matt's wait, holy shit
belly
I matt's something something tow rig. I'm sorry. I can't whatever that's supposed to be a military vehicle again. Okay, fine
Question for all three of you
Best bang what is a great bang for the buck car related experience?
You recommend listeners to try to do slash have slash achieve. That's a good one. Yeah affordable car related experiences
um, I often
Suggest the lane motor museum in nashville
Dude, just lane rules is the best guy. He is the best. He's the nicest guy. Yes. I've driven like dozens of cars from there
I drove the uh, the propeller car. Oh, yeah, I drove the propeller car. Yeah, I can't remember what that's called
It's just an airplane without wings. Yeah. Yeah, it's just a thing for taxi. Yeah sketch. Yeah very sketchy
But yeah, some like so many weird micro cars so many weird like french cars
So many weird italian cars like such weird stuff
Nissan has its archive, you know a heritage collection in the basement
Like all the cars run like he's has the strangest, you know, strangest taste finds the weirdest stuff. Yeah
So I feel like, you know, nashville is not that far from most places easy to get to drive. Good roads. Good roads around there
Exactly. I mean driving, you know driving the smoky mountains tail of the dry
There's like there's a dozen road trips, but like i'm yeah, I don't think that's what you want like
We talk about this every single year, but you can have a full week of excitement at car week
Without spending a dime outside of whatever your hotel accommodations cost
Yeah, there's so much free shit to do and to see during car free or very cheap
You know, you can get into r.m. Auctions with a $25 spectator ticket. Like that's what I mean, but yeah
Um and just standing on the road, you know what I mean? Like you'll see
Down time
You'll be you'll be sick of seeing the world will come to you the best cars. Yeah, we happened upon pagani street last year
Uh, I think this year we're gonna do the woodward dream cruise. Oh, wow. We haven't done in a while
I have never gotten you know, I'm from detroit originally. We went like 15 years ago
God, was it fun? Yeah, it was great. It seems like it would be fun. And I think maybe they're separate weeks this year or something
Right. I think they pushed pebble back or forth with one week. I can't remember. Oh, I have to double check that schedule
I might look into that august. Yeah, but I've been talking to
Ford okay about do I have one idea that is something I've been really wanting to do that
They said they might be able to make happen. There's a very personal thing. I don't even want to say yet. Okay
I'll tell you but but um, I also said like hey, man
Nobody from la gives a fuck about car week if I came out there got a big house. I was like
What do you got? Right? Well, you know, what what go ask go ask Jim?
What can I drive? Right, you know, like what can I go cruise in and he was like, all right. I will get back to you
We got something. Yeah, so I mean they have a heritage collection. Oh, yeah
I got some dope shit. Yeah, but like there's dudes like
You never go at car week. You never hear the word contraption
right
Yeah, but like it's like, hey that there's a boat driving down the road
One more dream cruise is like it's like the purge
for uh, non-street legal vehicles, you know, I mean it's like for this weekend
Right, you can drive whatever you want. Every thing is street legal. Nobody gives a fuck
Well, and one of the you know, one of the things about growing up in michigan in general is you know, the the the state
Regulations are so behold into the auto companies. That's like, you know, there's no inspections. You don't need a front license plate
You know, there's no inspection at all
And so you will see like the shittiest cars you have ever seen in the world going down the road, you know
Things that people build where you're like, I don't know where that started or what this dude was thinking
But like, yeah, it's probably a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis under there
I got a secret for your kid. It's always a Grand Prix under there
That's your that's your that truck is it's like it's like the largest heaviest dump truck in the world
Mining truck exactly. Yeah, those those wheels those tires are like these three stories
These children
Working in this pit federal investigator. Love it
Did you see this story the the epa approved 15 percent ethanol content and gasoline?
They want to let people water down the gas
An important thing to add is that the epa doesn't usually do they usually ban this in the summer
Because of the evaporation to do the higher temperatures and they're making an exception
So that's like the thing
It's in theory to ease the price of gas right from what I read maybe you don't start senseless wars
There are other things that could do this
But apparently they're going to label it 88 octane
So if you don't want the fifth, you don't you shouldn't get the 88 octane
If you don't want because it could depend on your car like it could cause problems with seals or with detonation
It depends. It you know could have a lot of effects on your vehicle
But yeah, so don't try to avoid it if I would say again
Yeah, I will
If I can find ethanol free for the older cars. I prefer it
But also like you're you're empty down a lot with higher ethanol
So the price may be lower, but you might actually burn more depends on how you have of course. Yeah
Ll. Cartier, can you scroll down please Zach?
Does alpina do anything to improve the reliability or the base vehicles or do they just compound the complexities?
I've thought about getting a depreciated sedan as a sometimes daily, but scared of bmw's. I mean, that's an interesting question
I really sure
Be alpina. Have you ever been there? Uh, no, I haven't been there. I've I've written about them and I have interviewed executives and stuff like that
Andy
Bovenceepin. Yeah, he was he's the man. He's not he's now moved on
He's got his own little thing because they were acquired by bmw. I went there though and andy toured me around
God, was he the coolest? It was the coolest place. Yeah, they
Did a lot more than I thought they did. Oh, yeah
You know, I thought the engines were just tuned, but they were doing they were doing pistons. They were doing they were casting their own
Air to water intercoolers and stuff
They did a lot. Yeah, they do a lot like like both
Like it's it's about I guess it's more like about like high speed
Comfort and driving than it is about all performance. Yeah, Andy said the cars are designed for people to do 40,000 kilometers a year
Which is I get that totally but like
They're starting with brand new cars. So like what what are they gonna do to improve the reliability of the base vehicles there?
they they put in supporting
modifications to handle the horsepower and and those types of increases, but like
Yeah, what else are they gonna do? I mean, I would say unless it's in a press release where they go. Hey, we identify that this
Water impeller fan sucks from the factory and we make a different one. That was a big problem. It's bmw's in the 90s
Just as an example. Yeah, see Mike, but I would say unless it's in their press release
They probably just take the engine and they turn the boost and they fiddle with this a little bit and then they dress it up
Yeah, I mean our buddy Vinnie bought a 2011 alpina b7 with like, I don't know
100,000 miles on it. Yeah, how did that go like 11,000 bucks and it burned oil. Yeah, um
But aside from and and to fix the oil burning problem. He got an estimate that was like 12,000 dollars
I mean, there's an engine out. There's a full engine out
And they were like
Put oil and they were like
Check the oil once a week. Yeah, you know
And it really only burned oil like if it was sitting for a long time. It wasn't all the time
And so for like a year he just fucking drove it. Yeah, and other than that it was like fine
And uh, so what are you willing to put up with? Yeah, exactly. It could get lucky. You could get on like I've been he got
Yeah, yeah, he got pretty lucky. Yeah. Yeah, I think they're really nice vehicle. I like what they do to their
Oh, yeah
Find and like they drive great. Yeah. Yeah
Dude, Andy picked me up at the airport in munich and between I think it was munich. That's the nearest airport to there
I think yeah, munich or stuttgart, but I think it was munich
And he personally picked me up at the airport and hit 200 miles an hour on the way back to alpina
And then he and then you know, we go and then he goes because this will be your car for the week
We had just done to him. I was like, that'll be fine. Yeah, that works for me. Yeah
Tell me robinson 57 and oh says
What are some cars in y'all experience that are one fatal flaw from excellent?
For example, the outie rs5 cut the rev short before the fund started. Oh, I I wouldn't have said that one
Uh, the rcf with intrusive nannies. That was the least of the rcf's problems
Lfa with a single clutch the all the phase gearbox, although I'd still take it
Yeah, but I'd still be bombed every time one fatal flaw
I mean almost all of these hyper cars that use that single clutch extract gear backs gearbox
That's 296 has all the capacitive hapticky things, but farai said that they will now retrofit
Yeah, so I was just gonna say the farai student. Yeah, but yeah, they've they've got they've worked that out
It's not in the new it's cool. I can back date it exactly
They're like we're starting with like the most recent cars and we're going backwards from there
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm glad that they that they admitted that that was sure that that sucked
After six years of people bitching
Okay, you're right. You're right. We re-amortized this now. We're gonna say it's we're moving on to something else
One it's hard one fatal flaw from excellence. Hmm
I mean, I think
There's a lot of vehicles that have like this drives me crazy
And I'm sure you guys have talked about this before on the show like the vent control the ventilation controls in the screen
Touchscreen vent controls. This is not good. This is not good at all
And then someone was like I brought this up to a manufacturer. They're like, why are you adjusting your vents so much?
Have you been outside? I do a lot. Yeah, exactly like sometimes the sun's shining through and you want that, you know
It's like
Why are you having a coffee while driving your car, brad? That's crazy. Yeah, it's none of your business
Right, like it shouldn't be this hard
That's unbelievable. I love that
Mark Ferrar the tired smoker says
I wait, okay
I heard at high-end uk car dealer claimed that the only two collector cars where the coop was worth more than the identical convertible
Is the sl 300
So it would be going the 50s one and the sls going
Uh, I do not agree with that assessment at all. I think most late model 9 11's the coop is going to be worth more than the convertible
Corvettes
Corvettes absolutely on the second hand market. Yeah, I think in most cases
Yeah
the I mean
there could be
I mean, I mean if maybe if you're talking about like, I don't know
Muscle cars and they only made some small number of convertibles with the huge engine pack or something and so
Rarity comes into play. I think that's the thing like you have to go with rarity has to be a component if it's just
You know equal production numbers. I'm sure the coops are worth more money just based on the cars we've listed
Yeah, oftentimes certainly there's ones where spiders are worth more money as well
Um, almost anything with a carbon tub, for instance, the spider will always be worth more money
But like most 9 11's yeah coops hold their value better than that makes sense convertibles. Yeah
Hmm. All right interesting. I wouldn't I wouldn't listen to that uk dealer. She only wanted me for my turn in
Um, I've been listening to you guys talk cars for 10 years now. Thank you the valhalla review got me thinking
How long does a car keep your excitement after the first go?
uh
What generally happens. Oh, so like I'll I will say that there's a it's not necessarily like
How long but it's like did you drive it in?
Context of a group test or by itself. Yeah, press launches are designed to make the car look really good
Yeah, they've chosen a good road. Yeah a complimentary racetrack, you know other cars aren't there, right? Yeah, there's no one else around
Yeah, exactly. You're driving. Yeah. Have you ever really changed your mind from a individual drive to a group test?
You've participated. That's a really good question. I'm trying to think of a good example. I definitely have
Uh, where like I drove a car
At you know at launch or something like that and I was like, I'm not sure about this thing
And then I had it on my own for a little while
And I'm trying to remember like a specific example right now where I was just like I'm just not feeling this car
I'll have to think about it. I've had a few cars where I thought they were pretty good
By themselves and then I did a in a in a performance car of the year test and I was like, oh god without this other stuff
All the way around. Yeah, no go. Um, and sometimes that was a pretty quick
I drove a car and then a week later did performance car of the year. Yeah, shit. I can I rewrite my
This thing beforehand. Fuck. I know that's one of the benefits that they have of getting us to write these things quickly after
We drive the vehicle. Well, no, but all but the context of a group test is like, man, you can't replace that. That's the shit
Uh, wheat city night court said if you owned and brett if you owned and road trip to ferrari lamborghini
Oraston would you pack your things in the corresponding fitted luggage?
Or is a car logo on your suitcase to gosch? Good question. Good question. I've I would totally go for the luggage
I would go for the luggage. I think it's like it's custom designed to fit in the vehicle
Usually it's pretty nice. It is. Yeah, that shit sells on bring a trailer like 15 g exactly
So i'm not opposed to the i'm not opposed to the luggage if there's any in the car. I usually steal it
If you wanted to really be a boss though, you'd you'd take the luggage to your guy, right?
And you'd have something stitched over it. So it didn't have my own monogram on there, right? Yeah, the double b
I did dude. I had a guy
I had a guy chase me the fuck down at a car show
And it was hot as hell outside
And this dude was wearing a full suit, which I thought was so weird
Yeah, and he said you have to see my new singer
No, okay. He goes I've got just got it. Yeah, nine eleven reimagined
Yes, nine eleven imagined as product of the singer classic restorations division trademark. We are not affiliated with Porsche
et cetera
So all right, we're it's any drives me and and okay. It's you know, it's a singer. We've seen them there
It's lovely
But then he goes I had the make
The this this luggage and he like folds the seat and he actually did have to make this crazy like nine piece set of
Is it like woven like that? Yeah, it was crazy and I was like, oh my god
And I later asked I saw mass and I was like dude. I met the guy with the fitted luggage. Yeah, like
You know, he kind of like rolls
And I was like, how much was the luggage? He's like 250
Wow, the luggage for luggage to have one one set made from nothing
It's not the design is that you're gonna sell people. Yeah to have one set made
Jesus wow, that's crazy. Yeah, I I don't think I would like if it were up to me and I'm buying the luggage
I don't think I'd pay 230k for that extra luggage
But I don't it doesn't I don't think it costs that much in the something tells me
No, no, no, no, certainly not but something tells me singers customers are like, yeah, that's some other fucking planet
I mean, certainly the guy wearing the suit at the cars and coffee
Was like whatever planet that guy's out. I don't fucking know and an attention seeker. Yeah, I think
USS hander thighs. It's pretty fun
From a chassis perspective are the 86s the best you can get for under 100k brand new before buying a Cayman
I think close to it
Yeah, that's a really I had one of those recently and I had driven one on the launch and I'd driven one since then, you know
Um, and it was fun as hell. You know what I mean? It was so much fun
It was just like I'd forgotten how much fun that that was they had a manual like it was just a
Such a fun light car easily easy to easy to move
Yeah, you're driving it on a yacht around. I was driving on a yacht. Yeah, I was just drifting on a yacht the whole time
That was a new record for lapping the ss
USS enter throughout enter size. I mean, it's a great car, but 100k is a lot of money. Yeah, so it includes shit like the
Dark horse the m2 the nismo z
Oh, yeah, uh, the supras. Yeah, I mean the gr. Corolla
I mean, so there's I think I think he said chassis. I'd still say this is the best because I drove
I drove the new one at sonoma versus the gr. Corolla and the supras supras faster
But when you get into this, it's it's the balance. It's the touch. It's the the conversation you have all that shit
That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. So sure. Okay
Brand new. Yeah
Well
Might I just throw in that you can get a z 51
under a hundred thousand
and I
Don't know. I think there's an argument to be made there. There is that would be a good comparison. We have mid-engine v8s
Yeah, that would be a good argument to be made. So if you actually have the hundo, you know
Wider than the nascar racing line at kota says I got
I got to see the american motor drum company and they put on an amazing show. What the fuck is that?
Oh, do they do are they doing like barrel riding like back in the day?
Really they are. Oh fun. What is your favorite kind of stunt driving slash riding?
There was a year before the 2018 fire where in malibu
The motorcycle riders that were riding the snake
Got tired of their sport bikes and all bought baggers and started doing stunts up
The snake
On baggers like dragging pegs huge sparks and like big fucking wheelies on these huge baggers
Wow, and honestly that was a good time. Yeah, they started doing bagger racing at lagoona
Well king of the baggers is right is what kind of came out of bikes are fast
Like they put down some serious time has that circled back now do those manufacturers now sell
fast baggers like
Something for the road that's based on their bagger race bike. This is now. This is the x6 m
Is now coming back
For us
Oh american motor drum am amdc wall of death. Yeah, yeah, this is like some old school. Oh, wow
Oh, I'd love to see this. You know, this is great. Wow. All right. Oh, it's gotta be such a good time, dude
No hands. This is board track. This is this is like it's like racing was in los angeles in 1915
Just born like where the grove is was like a board track. It was in beverly hills speedway. Oh cool. They travel with it
Set it up. Ah, that's
There was something I read about this might have been a car and driver article 10 years ago
I think my friend jared gall read it and it was about this crazy
Uh, you know mayhem race event that they would do I think somewhere in michigan or in the midwest
Where they would like chain two school buses together
Yeah, yeah, and then like like put like a blank
Like stainless like metal plate behind the back wheels of one of them or something. So this is like throwing it
Play racing. Yeah, so the front one. Yeah
Does not have brakes. Okay. The back one has brakes. Okay
And so it's like throwing nunchucks into a crowd or something like that. All right. Yeah, so it's change school. Let's figure it
Yeah, it's bananas. Yeah, that sounded like it would be fun to watch. Oh incredible
It's beyond. It's one of the best spectator sports ever. They used to do skid plate racing at um, Irwindale. Yeah, Irwindale
Granny shifted not double clutching like you should
Uh, wait, did you buy a gt3? No
Maybe they're thinking maybe there's someone else. Yeah, I don't have a gt3. Yeah, uh
Oh, wait, uh, mark furor the tired smoker says, uh, toss in a watch question here rec watches dna series cool or not cool
Can you pull that up? I'm not I don't know this. I know the company
Don't they make companies out of watch? Excuse me. Don't they make watches out of crashed cars?
I'm pretty sure they make watches out of crashed cars
huh, uh
Yeah, so this is their thing they take the metal
From crashed cars and then they make a watch out of it
Which like okay like that's a vibe. Yeah, um, and they're not the watches themselves
Aren't super shouty about like what they're made of which is cool
Is it just like melted down metal? I think so. I think it is
Or it might be uh, click on like, I don't know the the bullet or one of one of the other ones that we can little tiny piece
Of this is like, what's the part? I don't know. Let's let's see. Where is it?
Can you can you scroll can we see what part it's made is made from it? It's a pure gray
It's got to be the dial right uh sub a sub dial crafted from the repurposed brake disc. Okay, so go back up
Come back up. Let's see what the sub dial is that is scroll down
Okay, so the top sub dial on this watch is made from a brake disc from this portion
Huh, you can kind of see it. I mean look dude, but the rest of the watch is made of watch, right? Correct
So I mean, yeah
I haven't heard any horror stories if the idea of having a small piece of whatever that car is makes you horny
Then like go for it. Yeah, I like that. It's not super shouty the rest of the watch
It's just a watch the rest of it, which I think
If you're doing a car watch collab, you really got to tone the car
Way as far down as wheels, right?
The back the back of this watch did have a dbs looking
Yeah, the fronts are you know, they're not it's not immediately obvious. So
So, okay, cool. They're not really for me. I don't need my car watch collabs to be that tight
But like if you're into it like, okay, cool, right? It doesn't look too bad
Uh, it's got a swiss movement manual winding flyback chronograph like, okay
Yeah, but like this one is
They made this watch from the coolant resourced coolant pipes
Of a gt40 chassis p1001
So someone was throwing away the coolant pipe someone told someone this is definitely the coolant pipe
And then they made a watch which not a bad look at watch, but
You know like I can't see the coolant pipe in this
I can't I can't either but like dude, maybe that's for the best, you know
It's it's honestly, it's a it's a it's a swiss flyback chronograph with an integrated bracelet for $2,500
That's not ugly. Yeah, so
Points to them. Yeah, right if you're into the story could be worse. Yeah. Yeah, it's what we call a lecturer's watch
Can I tell you about my watch? Yeah, please don't
You'll have to come over and drive the manks to try it's it's it's I mean there is no better Hamptons vehicle
So you'll have to do other six weeks on the other side
Anything you want to plug let's see working on a bunch of stuff recently. It's been a lot of fun. I just drove the new
Jag
Oh, the actual jag. Yeah, I mean still still a still a you know a prototype or whatever, but
So that was kind of exciting drive like an EV
No, it actually had like a nice feel to it. You know what I mean like it had a different
I don't know what they've done. I don't really understand it, but like
It has that I mean it almost feels like and they they said they said this and they had some some of these
heritage vehicles for us to test out
to
Check out like a v12
Jags go like the 70s and 80s and it has a little bit of that feel to it
Where it's like there's always like more power
So it's not like you flat out and you're like, you know, you break your neck
But like it feels like you can keep going, you know
Does it? Oh, it looks it looks like that. Yeah. Yeah, it was still zebra. You were paul neumann. That's me
Is it you that from that angle? You've got a very paul neumann vibe happening there. Yeah, I guess that's a good thing. There we go
Yes, it is. Um, and we didn't have anything resembling a production interior. No, it was all covered up in like magicians black, you know
felt um
Some elements of it you could sort of see no no hard switches. Okay, no hard switch. That's although they'll have to change that
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I'm like, let's hope that the future that jaguar imagines somehow comes to fruition
Wouldn't it be a bummer if only billionaires got to have real switches on stuff?
If like the only way to get a real switch and something was to have a bagani
Yeah, well, I did a story about this recently. There was like, uh analog is the new luxury essentially, right?
That's talking about it exactly that
That that's uh, that's where that's where automakers are seeing the demand
So the most first nobody wants a evi hypercar for obvious reasons
Why would you when you can get a tesla or lucid that's like also fast?
uh, and yeah, it's the oh look at that photo and uh and and the um
Yeah, anal analogue and and tactile and exactly engagement. It's record players and like us and fucking
You know pour over coffee and watches and it's the same as all that shit. Yeah, if you're rich, you can feel things
Yeah, exactly the rest of us are stuck the rest of us have the virtual version. Yeah of
What else yeah, yeah, sure good to see you good to see you too. Um, where can people find your writing digitally just your newsletter?
Yeah, just uh bret burke.com. That's it. Yeah, burke.com. Yeah, I go to my go to my site and uh has everything there uh hit on
It should just be
The man the man who abandoned social media successfully. Exactly. It looks like there's a few things that are missing from here
I gotta update. I've got to update that's a few that's from a couple weeks ago
I found the other site, but I don't do you not want to plug that one the the muck rack one
Oh, yeah muck rack is just like uh, yeah, that's true. Also. Yeah, that works also bret burke on muck rack a lot everything recent
Yeah, there's everything there, right? Yeah, story about
This article is very good. That was a fun one. We'll do one good colors. Yeah, we should get them. Yeah, agreed
There was a fun story we did for
With vanity fair with lebron
James about his new my buck. That was a couple weeks ago
Uh, yeah, I don't know. That's all over there, right? Did you interview lebron from those my buck?
Yeah, was and and is there something particularly special about this my buck?
I mean, you know, it's a highly customized my buck
He's they made a second one that he's auctioning off for his charity. Cool, which is pretty nice his garage. This photos are in this
Uh
That is a really good question. We were not I was not in person with him for this story
But um, yeah
He the one one hilarious story that he told is that you know his first supercar
He bought a Gallardo and um, he must have been pretty young right because he started playing when he was just a kid
Yeah, uh professionally and um, he said he bought the car and then he realized he doesn't he didn't know how to drive a manual
Oh, we bought a stick Gallardo. Well, good for him. Which is great
But then he bought another car like a cheaper car with a manual to learn
Oh, I bought a beater. Yeah
Oh, wow
Learn how to drive a manual before he drove his Gallardo. I don't want to blow up his spot
In a way, but a guy a vendor that we use here at the shop also works for him. Okay, and
A couple of cars have just shown up at this vendor shop
And they're like cool. They're there. They're there. It's a cool car. Yeah, but a fairly shit example
And he'll go oh well, that's that's for LeBron and I'll go
What the fuck and and I'll go why is he buying a shit example? Yeah, he could buy the best example
And he's like, you know, you don't you don't really get it
He's so rich. He doesn't even take the time to look for other examples
He just sees some shit, right? He's like clicks clicks buy and then it just shows up here
And I'm told to do you know, whatever and he doesn't care what it costs to fix it. Get it right
He's on the one right here's the one I bought right. Yeah fix it up
And so I've been like wow like he clearly has good taste
But like somebody should be like hold on. Yeah, just wait a sec. Give me like
10 seconds, right? Yeah, one of these it isn't a complete shit pile and we can do something here, you know
Very funny, but clearly he has he has good good taste in at least the right direction. Yeah. Yeah, very cool. We appreciate that
Yeah, very cool. Thanks for having me out. Thanks for coming
Happy west coasting. Thank you. We'll talk. We'll top it off with a manx drive before you go home
Okay, I'll try to make that I'll try to make that happen. If not
You'll plan for the next six weeks six weeks blocks. Thank you, uh, Brett Burke get him at bret Burke.com
We'll see the rest of you guys next week. Bye
About this episode
Brett Berk joins The Smoking Tire for a wide-ranging chat that blends supercar road-trip stories with big-picture industry debates. They trade impressions from a six-week lineup—AMG wagons, McLaren Artura, Lamborghini Temerario, and a Ferrari 12C—plus the chaos of a coolant leak and the quirks of luxury tech. Berk also digs into why automakers are chasing ultra-wealthy buyers with bespoke, high-margin models, and how that reshapes the enthusiast market. Listener Q&A covers used-performance value, driver-assist tech (camera vs lidar), and even fountain pens and watchmaking from recycled car parts.
Original notes
Brett Berk might be the busiest freelance journalist we know. He has the incredible power to drive one car and extract 3 interesting, unique stories from the experience. That's why he's driven Jaguar's new EV, a very special Bentley, driven cars on boats (yes, that's a thing), and toured factories.
Patreon questions include:
- Best used AMG car for under $40k?
- Can we fix bad drivers?
- Will Aston make an entry-level mid-engine car?
- Cameras vs lidar
- Toddlers vs supercar owners
- Best bang-for-buck car
- EPA's move to 15% ethanol
- Do Alpina's last longer than BMWs?
- Are convertibles always worth more than coupes?
- Is car-themed luggage gauche?
- BRZ: best chassis you can buy under $100k?
- And more!
Recorded March 31, 2026
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The Smoking Tire
Zack Klapman, Matt Farah
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89:49