00:03
the Bring a Trailer podcast.
00:06
Well, Bruce, I'm excited to be here with
00:08
you today on the BAT podcast. For
00:10
everybody listening, I want to tell
00:12
everybody about a super special episode
00:14
we have today, which is talking with
00:16
Bruce Meyer from Los Angeles,
00:18
California. kind of needs no
00:20
introduction in the car world being a
00:22
collector and an enthusiast and a big
00:25
backer of the Peterson Museum and just
00:28
kind of the guy who has done all the car
00:31
things we all want to do. That's kind of
00:33
how I describe you, Bruce. And somehow
00:35
along the way, you also tripped across
00:37
Bring a Trailer, which uh was meaningful
00:39
for me. And then we got to meet after
00:41
that. So, just wanted to say thanks for
00:43
chatting with me. Thanks for having me
00:45
here to your garage today.
00:46
>> It's a pleasure. long overdue. And I've
00:49
been following Bring a Trader probably
00:51
since its inception. Just I tripped
00:54
across it. And as I recall, you just
00:57
found cool cars in places that people
00:59
didn't look. And um it intrigued me. So
01:03
I always looked at them and enjoyed them
01:05
and and uh I've always en enjoyed the
01:08
fact that you're a true enthusiast. You
01:10
didn't monetize this. I I I'm just
01:13
speaking out of tour, but I don't think
01:14
you ever did that with the idea of
01:16
taking it to where it is today. Maybe
01:18
you did, but for me, it was just an
01:20
enthusiast sharing what we all love, and
01:22
that's the hunt and finding unusual
01:25
things. And uh so I want to say thanks.
01:27
>> No, for sure. My my pleasure. We're all
01:30
happy with where BAT is today. And one
01:32
of the neatest things about BAT for me
01:33
is kind of discovering who's lurking
01:36
around on BAT, you know, and who's
01:38
there. and some people, you know, and
01:39
some people are more anonymous and sort
01:41
of behind the scenes. You've been sort
01:43
of behind the scenes, but I've always
01:44
been very gracious to me whenever I
01:46
showed up and said, "Hey, Bruce,
01:47
remember me? It's Randy from Brri a
01:48
trailer." You know, I was this kind of
01:50
young uh nobody trying to kind of pull
01:53
on people's uh shirt sleeve a little bit
01:55
at a car show or whatever. And you were
01:57
super gracious and said, "Oh, Brri a
01:58
trailer. I know that deal." You know,
02:00
like what are what are you doing, Randy?
02:01
Good to see you. So anyway, that's been
02:03
super encouraging for some other folks
02:06
coming up in the car business like I
02:08
have done and and sort of following your
02:10
footsteps. But yeah, people may hear a
02:12
little bit of a uh echo today in our
02:14
audio just cuz we're in a big beautiful
02:16
room full of a few cars of yours in uh
02:19
in Southern California today, which is
02:20
very inspiring. I'm looking out on a
02:23
number of sort of dream cars and you've
02:25
obviously curated a collection of fun
02:27
cars over the years. If you talk about
02:28
the hunt, maybe why you like BAT was
02:30
because of the hunt of cars. You were
02:33
doing that long before I was ever doing
02:34
that on the internet, right? You were
02:36
doing that who knows where. But could
02:38
you tell us a little bit maybe about
02:40
your start in cars and where that
02:42
inspiration came from?
02:43
>> Well, it did not come from the family.
02:46
Um, we didn't have the money to waste
02:48
time on cars and and my parents had zero
02:53
interest in cars. And you know if I even
02:57
mentioned car they thought you know get
03:00
a job. I mean just do something
03:02
worthwhile. So I I I say the love of car
03:05
is in your DNA. You know I have three
03:08
children three amazing children. We do
03:11
my wife and I 54 years of marriage. And
03:14
it took real strong on one our middle
03:18
son. The other two you know have an
03:20
interest because they like to see me
03:22
doing what what I enjoy doing. But I
03:24
just think it's it's it's in the DNA.
03:26
You're either a car guy or not. You
03:29
know, gals and guys and whatever pleases
03:32
you. But I think it it is in the DNA.
03:35
And and friends of mine bring their kids
03:37
by. Friends of mine that have no
03:39
interest in cars bring their kids by and
03:41
they've just loved cars from birth. And
03:44
>> And didn't you tell me a story once
03:46
about how it started to be sort of a
03:48
side hustle and making money for you?
03:50
Oh, weren't you selling and buying
03:51
motorcycles or something or how did that
03:53
start when you were in college?
03:55
>> Did we talk about that?
03:56
>> We have talked. You've shared some
03:58
secrets with me. Maybe I shouldn't bust
04:00
your bubble here on the secrets, but
04:01
>> No, no, you're still in Berkeley and
04:02
doing some with motorcycles.
04:04
>> I was Yeah. Yeah. Um, when you went
04:07
through orientation,
04:08
they had different like stations and one
04:11
of the stations was student loans and my
04:14
dad had given me tuition money upfront
04:17
and and I, you know, hashed and found
04:20
lodging. I I was that was kind of on me,
04:23
but there was a a tuition loan line for
04:26
whatever. And I went there and they
04:28
said, "No, we'll we'll lend you money
04:29
for tuition, no interest free, as long
04:31
as you pay it back at the end of the
04:32
year." and I thought I'll take one of
04:34
those. So, that's kind of how how it
04:37
happened. And I had some extra money and
04:40
um I started buying motorcycles. Now, I
04:44
I let me go take a step back cuz my love
04:46
of motorcycles goes back to when I was
04:48
like 13 years old. And um my parents
04:52
just forbid I mean that was never even I
04:54
never even mentioned motorcycle. I
04:56
wasn't that stupid. But um I had the
04:58
best paper corner in LA. I mean, I was
05:01
making probably two or three dollars a
05:04
day back, you know, in the early 50s
05:07
when friends of mine were getting 50
05:09
cents a week for allowance and we all
05:12
got by. So, I was making like real money
05:16
really early and um I had a a little
05:20
kind of soapbox derby racer. My parents
05:23
gave me a lawnmower engine because I
05:24
just wanted something to learn about
05:26
engines. So, they did go with that. Then
05:28
I put it on a bicycle and then I got a
05:30
Whizzer going and then I bought a 1953
05:34
BSA and I I could hide these things in
05:37
friends garages. So I was riding
05:39
motorcycles, you know, from age 13 on.
05:42
So when I got to college, that was my
05:44
preferred mode of transportation. And at
05:48
Berkeley, you go to downtown Oakland and
05:50
you could buy motorcycles really cheap.
05:53
And so I I knew what the fraternity guys
05:55
liked, you know, I knew the spec and I
05:58
knew the color. They like yellow. And so
06:01
I was buying bikes and painting them in
06:02
my apartment house on Durant. And I
06:05
would probably sell a motorcycle a
06:07
month. And by the way, I was maybe
06:08
making $100 on a motorcycle cuz it was
06:11
was kind of sport. Uh I was bartending
06:14
at a place called the Wrath Skeller,
06:16
which was a the bar in Berkeley and
06:19
hashing and selling motorcycles, living
06:23
And my fraternity brother was a fellow
06:25
named Bill Harland. And now he's a
06:28
really famous wine maker. But back in
06:31
the Berkeley days, we both raced
06:33
motorcycles. And when I say we both
06:35
raced motorcycles on the weekends, we'd
06:37
go to Pittsburgh and and Richmond and
06:40
you know that we'd go different places
06:42
and race motorcycles. Bill really raced
06:45
motorcycles. I was just a back marker
06:47
because he was a great motorcycle rider.
06:49
So, you know, I just I love the whole
06:51
motorcycle life and that's what I lived
06:54
my pretty much my whole time at
06:56
Berkeley. And it's carried over when I
06:58
came home. I still raced in the desert.
07:00
And you know, back then it was called TT
07:03
Scrambles. It was pretty casual affair
07:06
kind of like sports car racing was in
07:08
the period. Not professional, not
07:11
state-of-the-art, not sponsored, but
07:14
just fun. So, that was my motorcycle
07:17
>> That's fantastic. And I associate you so
07:19
much with Southern California and I know
07:21
you went to school up in the Bay Area,
07:22
but did you come from out of state to go
07:24
to Berkeley then stuck around or were
07:25
you a SoCal guy from from birth?
07:29
>> I grew up in Hollywood. I mean on
07:32
Saturday nights you could find me on
07:34
Hollywood Boulevard or Sunset Boulevard
07:36
or Tiny Nailers or any drive-in just
07:39
drooling on the cool cars. Uh cuz I that
07:42
was never I never would guess I'd have a
07:45
cool car. And um so I grew up in I and
07:48
went to LA High School right in the
07:50
middle of LA. Today it's badass, you
07:54
know, but and in the days it might have
07:56
been, but I didn't know any better. And
07:57
and I was right in the middle. It was a
07:59
great school. And then Berkeley, you
08:01
know, for my finishing and I mean I live
08:05
that expression, never let school get in
08:09
the way of your education
08:11
because I was, you know, I was I knew I
08:14
knew how to game it, you know. I knew I
08:16
knew what courses to take. I knew how,
08:18
you know, how to study. My dad gave me a
08:21
tip when I went to college. He says,
08:23
"Never miss a class." And I think, you
08:28
know, I had friends and fratern brothers
08:30
that just, you know, they read all the
08:32
stuff. They did the homework, but they
08:33
they would occasionally come to class. I
08:36
went to class, took copious notes. When
08:38
the finals and the exams came, I knew
08:41
they weren't going to go quiz us on
08:43
anything that we hadn't talked about in
08:45
school. So, you know, I probably didn't
08:47
read half my textbooks. Just kind of got
08:50
my notes down pretty good. So, I had a
08:52
great time at college. A great time.
08:56
That's fantastic. And then, so I mean, I
08:58
just think you kind of spent time down
09:00
here in Southern California book preol
09:02
and post college of just incredible
09:05
eras. I'm looking out on these cars.
09:06
Some of these cars now in your
09:07
collection are from that era. I presume
09:09
that was a formative time for you to
09:11
return to LA and start your career and
09:14
start dabbling in cars. I presume you
09:16
kind of graduated up from motorbikes and
09:18
started doing a couple of other
09:20
different things. Can you tell us kind
09:22
of about the environment and the sort of
09:26
car scene you came back to? Right.
09:28
Things were moving fast. There were
09:30
there were new models every year. Things
09:31
were things were interesting. But you
09:33
came back to Los Angeles and what did
09:37
>> Randy? I was born to the day, the exact
09:40
perfect time in history. I grew up with
09:42
hot rods, dreamt about hot rods. And
09:45
then my dad, who was my best friend, we
09:49
were as different as night and day. Uh
09:51
he was best man of my wedding. We were
09:54
super close. He said, "If you save your
09:56
money, I will help you buy your first
09:58
car." So, I saved my money and this was
10:05
and I wanted to buy a Chevy Biscane,
10:08
which was the cheap model with a big
10:09
engine, a four-speed. And for it really
10:12
it worked for me in the fact that my dad
10:14
did not understand cars, did not
10:16
understand what a 348 or a 409 or
10:19
anything was. And so, I I picked a cheap
10:22
cheap cheap body style with a
10:24
four-speed. and he I I knew he would
10:26
relate to the cheap body style. And so I
10:29
was just ready to buy that car. It was
10:33
Excuse me, it's $2,400.
10:35
And then I I started seeing these
10:37
Porsches running around. And I
10:40
researched it and I went to the Porsche
10:41
dealership in Hollywood where I lived.
10:43
John von Newman was the dealer. And I
10:46
found I could buy a Porsche, get it
10:48
delivered in Europe for $2,400. $2,700.
10:51
27 24 was a Chevy. So, I convinced my
10:54
dad that I was going to get a compact
10:56
car, that this was a a way better move,
10:58
and that I was going to go to Europe. I
11:00
was going to get some culture
11:02
>> and uh and move on. So, my dad went for
11:06
>> You were a little bit of a salesman.
11:07
>> I was a hell of a sales.
11:08
>> Yes. So, my dad went for it. So, in
11:11
1961, I picked up a Porsche in Germany
11:14
and that was the start of my Porsche
11:16
world. I'm been pretty much a Porsche
11:18
guy since 1961. So, what is that 63
11:22
years or something like that?
11:24
>> You remember anything crazy from the
11:25
European delivery story? I don't know if
11:27
you see this on BAT, but we list 356s
11:29
and such, and so many of them were
11:32
delivered in Germany or picked up by a
11:33
serviceman in Germany or different stuff
11:36
like that. But you got to do one of
11:38
>> Absolutely. And back then, you could
11:40
save $300 or $400 by picking it up at
11:43
the factory. That's how it kind of came.
11:45
It wasn't like I'd rather have instant
11:47
car right off the showroom floor, but
11:49
but if you picked it up at the factory,
11:50
you it was a substantial savings. And
11:53
back then there was no US spec or German
11:56
spec. There probably was, but I mean I
11:58
just picked up a Porsche. It was 1961.
12:01
And uh you know that was my car.
12:05
>> And uh drove it a little bit in Europe
12:07
and brought it home. I've always then I
12:09
then in in the 60s in in 1960 Porsches
12:14
were really good until like ' 67 and in
12:16
' 68 they came out with schmog rules and
12:19
so forth and they had to put a smog pump
12:20
on it and weight down the front. You
12:22
know Ralph Nater kind of got involved in
12:24
the whole caper and so I wanted to get a
12:26
911s but they weren't not available in
12:30
the US. So I I discovered you I could
12:33
buy from a dealer in Germany. So I
12:35
started bringing in 911 S's in 60 and in
12:39
67 68 69 70 and so I would I buy
12:44
probably two or three a year. I'd be
12:47
driving the coolest car of anybody. I
12:50
could sell it. My intent was to sell it
12:52
for what I had in it. It cost me
12:54
nothing. I would end up making, you
12:57
know, a few hundred and just having a
12:59
cool car. A small world story. There are
13:03
Porsche savants, guys that know every
13:06
serial number, every license plate, and
13:08
there's a fellow named Jeff Smith. He's
13:10
from Washington, I think. And he came
13:12
through my garage and he saw a picture
13:16
of me with one of my cars that's on the
13:18
shelf over there. I'll show it to you.
13:19
And he said, "I know that car." And I
13:21
said, "How do you know that car? You
13:22
don't know that car." And he said, "No,
13:24
I recognized the license plate." And it
13:27
was a picture of me in 1970 with a big
13:32
a tie that looked like a bib, you know?
13:34
I mean, it was I thought it was plenty
13:35
cool. And my wife had taken a picture of
13:38
me with this Signal Yellow 1979 111S.
13:42
So, oh, probably a month that goes by
13:44
and he called me back and said, you
13:46
know, the guy that owns that car doesn't
13:48
want to sell it. Which was fine by me. I
13:50
didn't want to buy it. I was just more
13:52
just curious like who had it, you know?
13:56
And I said, "Who was it?" He said,
13:57
"Well, I can't I I have to ask him if
13:59
it's okay." So he calls the guy that
14:02
owns the car and said, "Look at the
14:03
fellow that bought the car brand new was
14:05
just curious, you know, who owned the
14:07
car. Would it be okay with you if I gave
14:08
him your name?" He said, "Oh, yeah. Who
14:10
is it?" Bruce Meer goes, "Oh, come on."
14:12
This was a fell named Alex Spinnegan. I
14:14
don't know if you knew Alex Spin.
14:16
>> Yeah, sure. I know the name. Alex
14:17
Finnegan was the car guy behind Paul
14:21
Russell back in Boston. Alex was like my
14:24
brother and we were so close. So close.
14:28
And he was so he's so excited that I
14:30
bought the car brand new. I was so
14:32
excited that he had the car and we kind
14:34
of left it at that. We always talked
14:35
about it was signal yellow 911s sports
14:38
seats. I checked every extra. And sadly,
14:42
Alex died uh couple two or three years
14:44
ago, right? So his family called and
14:47
said, "Look at, you know, we're going to
14:48
sell the car, you know, do you have any
14:51
interest in buying it?" So I mentioned
14:52
it to my son, Evan, and Evan said, "I'd
14:54
love that car." So Evan bought it. So
14:56
Evan has one of my original owner, you
14:59
know, 911 S's, Sigma yellow, which is a
15:02
great color. It's a wonderful warm
15:04
yellow color. So I I was just buying
15:07
cars in Europe and and most of them I I
15:11
would buy from a dealer over there and
15:12
he would buy them in light ivory. So I
15:14
had a lot of light ivory cars. He also
15:16
like full leather which was a an option,
15:19
you know. So that you know I had some
15:21
really interesting cars, some good cars.
15:23
>> Well, we sell a lot of those on BAT now,
15:25
but I don't know how I'm ever going to
15:26
match the colors and the license plates
15:28
to the ones that you were the original
15:30
owner on. But if we ever see one, I'll
15:32
definitely flag that and send it send it
15:34
back your way. That's a that's a
15:36
tremendous sort of forche pipeline here
15:38
into Southern California.
15:40
>> I'm going to show you the picture
15:41
>> and it's right over here on my shell.
15:43
>> Ooh, you get a load of the suit and the
15:46
mustache you mentioned. It's pretty
15:48
>> So that one of the last black plates Z
15:52
and it still has the plate on it.
15:54
>> That's unbelievable.
15:56
>> That's maybe the latest black plate I've
15:58
ever seen. ZZ. Yeah. On it. It's got the
16:01
2.2 sticker in the back and Yeah. It's
16:03
that yellow color and it's an S. You
16:04
like the S cars, right? You got the good
16:07
>> Yeah. That's your That's your MMO.
16:08
Always the good ones.
16:10
>> So, anyways, uh it's just a great story.
16:13
>> That's fantastic. It's fun. I was
16:14
actually going to ask you when you
16:15
started saying that the the 356 you
16:17
bought in Europe delivery and then all
16:20
this u sort of pipeline of 911s. Well,
16:22
that's fantastic hearing about the the
16:24
Porsche story. So, that got you sort of
16:26
into the 70s. But I look out now and
16:28
your taste I think is eclectic and
16:32
interesting and kind of similar to a lot
16:34
of people on BET. Like a little bit of
16:36
this, a little bit of that. I know a
16:37
couple motorcycles here in your display,
16:40
a lot of sports cars, but some big cars,
16:42
some big sedans. What would you say are
16:45
sort of some of the influences that have
16:47
made you obviously you had the Porsche
16:49
story, but you've spread out pretty
16:51
broadly from there in terms of checking
16:53
a lot of boxes. Is it based on different
16:56
experiences they can provide? Or is it
16:58
the design that kind of gets you excited
17:00
about the colors and the and the
17:02
histories and the and the designers? Or
17:04
is it what is it that makes for this
17:07
>> Sure. It looks like, you know, the only
17:10
common thread of any of these cars is
17:11
me. And I've always been my my business
17:15
is in the retail business, so you know,
17:17
I've it's got to be good-looking or it
17:19
doesn't sell. So for me the aesthetic is
17:23
really really important. It could be the
17:24
most famous hot rod or the most famous
17:26
Bentley or the most famous anything and
17:28
if it doesn't appeal to my aesthetic I
17:30
just don't have any interest. And on
17:32
Bring a Trailer you had an awesome
17:34
famous car called uh the go-kart. It was
17:38
a it was a road racer Model T built by
17:42
Duffy Livingston who was one of the
17:45
really the father of go-kart. And I just
17:47
worked so hard to bring myself around to
17:49
buying that cuz it it checked every
17:51
historical box. And I'm he's probably a
17:54
bad word now, but I'm a patriot. I love
17:56
the flag. I have a flag on every car in
17:59
front of my house at home and
18:01
everywhere. I just I'm very proud of my
18:03
heritage and and this car was very
18:06
important to American road racing
18:07
because it raced against Maseratis and
18:10
Ferraris and all the so-called fancy,
18:12
you know, foreign cars and won. So that
18:15
car I think Ross Myers might had that
18:18
back in in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia,
18:21
but whoever has this got a very cool car
18:24
and that was on Bring a Trailer. And I
18:27
love Bring a Trailer. I mean, it's
18:29
ridiculous. I mean, I get my fix every
18:32
morning. I look at it. I've told my
18:35
family I'm not buying another car. So,
18:38
you know, I used to but before bring a
18:40
trailer was Hemings Motor News and I
18:42
would get Heming First Class and before
18:45
that it was the LA Times and I would get
18:48
the Sunday paper on Saturday and I would
18:50
go through there just searching for
18:52
stuff and I used to get the Hemy's motor
18:55
news and I would just like when that
18:56
came just don't I mean don't bother
18:58
Bruce because I'm going through every
19:00
ad. And now I I stopped subscribing to
19:03
Hemings. By the way, Hemings is great,
19:05
but the last couple years I had Hemings,
19:08
it would arrive and I deliberately
19:09
wouldn't pick it up for a week cuz I
19:11
figured the good would be gone. And
19:14
uh that's just what I like cuz I do not
19:16
want another car. But um I guess
19:19
everything in here either has to be the
19:22
first or the fastest or, you know, the
19:25
prettiest or whatever. That kind of is
19:27
what drives me. And and it's the story.
19:30
You know, every every car out here has a
19:33
story. Even a boat, it's all in the
19:36
story. You know, somebody could walk by
19:39
that yellow bird and never even comment
19:42
on it. Just looks like another yellow
19:44
Porsche. But, you know, the story of
19:46
Aloise Roof and the Yellow Bird, one of
19:49
29. That's the first one. That's CTR1.
19:53
I ended up with a few firsts, but not
19:57
because I went out hunting for first. It
20:00
that way. The Gertie Eagle, the Formula
20:03
1 car is the first one. The Cobra is the
20:04
first one and the CTR, the Yellowbird is
20:08
the first one. So, it's all about the
20:10
story. And I love Lama. Lama is the
20:14
World Cup, Super Bowl, Olympic Games of
20:17
Motorsport. It used to be the Millilia,
20:20
Taraf Floria, and Lama. Those were the
20:23
three races that mattered.
20:25
Sadly the Millia you know went away and
20:29
so did Target Florio both with tragic
20:33
accidents. Lamont also had a tragic
20:36
accident but has remained and and that
20:39
is the most important motorsport race in
20:41
the world. I mean Indie is pretty cool.
20:45
I like Indie a lot and it's in great
20:47
hands with Pinsky. The 24 hours Daytona
20:50
is probably the equivalent to the
20:52
American Lama, but there's just nothing
20:56
like Lama. So, we have a bunch of cars
20:58
that raced at Leavant, did well at less
21:02
a lot to me. When we first walked in the
21:04
room, you said these five or six were,
21:07
you know, players at Lama and and you
21:09
could tell you kind of your eyes lit up
21:10
that those that's super meaningful for
21:12
you, which is neat to see. I love the
21:14
pictures you have behind the cars of
21:16
them on track and period and that sort
21:17
of thing. I think picking one or two out
21:20
to chat about that are in the collection
21:21
would be super interesting to me. Some
21:23
are pretty well associated with you.
21:25
People may have seen pictures of you
21:26
with the with the yellow bird or with
21:28
the uh with the silver Ferrari that was
21:30
in the Peterson for a while, but the
21:32
first Cobra. You call it the first
21:35
>> That is the first Cobra. I love that
21:37
sentence. That That is the first Cobra.
21:39
I mean, that's kind of unbelievable for
21:41
me, but but yeah, and unbelievable in a
21:44
great way. Like, I'm in its presence
21:45
right now with you. if you could tell us
21:47
obviously I mean if it's the first one
21:48
off the line that's fantastic but how it
21:51
came to you maybe an interesting story
21:53
for folks or something about the way you
21:55
own that and are the custodian of that
21:57
car now. How does that all work?
21:58
>> I can tell it all.
21:59
>> I love it. Oh man, I love it. He's here
22:02
>> So in 1965 I bought a Cobra. I've always
22:05
>> Is that right? Yeah. I did not.
22:06
>> I say not always but since the 60s
22:08
>> since they came out. You always Yeah.
22:10
Yeah. I like them a Oh, that's about as
22:14
>> LA American and Shelby, you know, and I
22:17
was a I would say good friend of Carol
22:20
>> So, I would say my garage has switched
22:23
from boulevard cars to race cars over
22:26
the years. It's kind of trended that
22:28
way. I had some fabulous street Cobras,
22:32
but I just always wanted to find a a
22:36
Cobra race car that had significance.
22:40
And with Cobras and probably with a lot
22:42
of and Porsches, they had a rough life.
22:46
And in the world of Cobras, there's
22:48
probably a handful that I would even
22:51
consider because, you know, sometime
22:53
they put a new chassis on it or they put
22:55
a new body on it or, you know, it's just
22:57
been it's it's compromised to the point
23:00
where I wouldn't feel comfortable saying
23:02
that car is the one. Even though it it
23:05
may have the CSX number, it just it's
23:08
just been too it's too far gone and
23:10
brought back. It's like washing his axe.
23:13
>> You know, the handle's been changed once
23:15
and the head only twice, you know, but
23:17
it but it's still washing his Zach. So,
23:19
anyways, with Cobras, if you have a
23:22
Cobra, the first thing they ask you is
23:23
what you what is your CSX numbers or
23:26
Charlie Sierra X-ray? CSX. So, if it
23:29
starts with a two or a three, it's a
23:31
real car in my eyes. And if it's a three
23:34
or four or seven or whatever, they're
23:36
still made by Shelby. They're and and
23:38
they're considered Cobras, but I just
23:40
have to have like the real real. And um
23:44
so the very first first first Cobra was
23:46
the prototype, and that was CSX 2000.
23:51
And that was a car that was built in
23:53
Dean Moonshop. All hot rotors. By the
23:56
way, my favorite car is the Scarab.
23:58
Scarab, you know, Cobra, uh, Decon,
24:02
Mana, all some of the great cars were
24:05
total hot rod efforts. They were hot
24:06
rodders building it, hot rodders
24:08
engineering it. The man behind the win
24:11
of, you know, at Lemon for Shelby was
24:14
Phil Remington. These these guys, Don
24:16
Spencer, these guys were hot rod savons.
24:20
And so Shelby, I was a great admire of
24:23
Shelby, not of his the way he did
24:25
business. So, I'll just leave it that
24:26
cuz this is for public consumption. But,
24:29
but you know, he had a way and he was a
24:32
great salesman. He worked on everybody
24:34
else's money. But he he built the first
24:36
Cobra and Dean Moon shop. It was painted
24:39
a lot of different colors, given to
24:41
different magazines cuz nobody wanted to
24:43
show the same blue car over and over and
24:44
>> And then it was yellow for a period of
24:46
time, right? And it was a bunch of
24:48
>> A bunch of different things. And that
24:49
was CSX 2000. and that stayed in the
24:52
Shelby family for his whole life. So,
24:56
one of the fellows that worked with
24:58
Shelby is a fellow named Ed Hugus. And
25:01
Ed Hugus is a really famous name in
25:04
motorsport. I could spend all the rest
25:05
of the podcast talking about Ed Hugus,
25:08
but he really bankrolled and helped
25:11
Shelby out when Shelby needed help. And
25:13
he took delivery of CSX 2001, which is
25:17
the car we have here, which is the very
25:19
first car. There's a book on it called
25:21
The First Three Cobras. It's 2000, 2001,
25:24
and 2002. 2000's the prototype. 2000 is
25:28
the one that we have here. 2002 was
25:31
their first works race car that Billy
25:33
Crouch drove and Ken Miles and and it
25:36
was a really great car raced in America.
25:39
2001, the car that's here, the black
25:41
one, uh, was sold to a fell named Lucky
25:46
and it was Lloyd Lucky Casner. He had a
25:49
race team called Camarati. They did a
25:52
lot of Maseratis. They actually did
25:53
Corvettes in 1960, but Bird Cage. They
25:56
drove a white bird cage with the blue on
25:59
>> Camarad? And he was a good friend of
26:01
Shelby's and Shelby drove with him. I
26:03
think out of friendship for Shelby, he
26:05
probably bought the car and took it to
26:10
and he ran the trials and did rather
26:12
well. But in ' 64, Shelby came through
26:16
with his FIA cars, which were like the
26:19
next gen, you know, Webbers, notch back
26:23
door, big rear wings. You know, you
26:26
weren't going to do well in running this
26:28
car as it came out against the FIA car.
26:31
So Caser sold it to a fellow named Jean
26:35
Marie Vincent or Jean Marie Vinc
26:39
wealthy Frenchman who took the car to
26:41
Ford Racing and said convert this to an
26:44
FIA car because the FIA cars I don't
26:46
can't say this is a fact but my guess is
26:50
money wouldn't buy some of the works
26:51
cars back in the period. So if you
26:53
wanted to buy an FIA car and you were
26:56
some wealthy Frenchman that wasn't going
26:59
to get you through. So he he bought this
27:01
car, took it to Ford Racing and had it
27:04
converted to FIA specs. That car here is
27:06
full FIA specs. It has rack and pinion
27:09
steering which was converted in 63 and
27:12
64 64. It has, you know, GT40 wheels on
27:17
it, a big backend like a 427 like an FIA
27:20
car. I mean, it's just aesthetically
27:23
just checks every box for me. So how did
27:26
I come about? There's that expression, a
27:29
blind squirrel will find a nut. That's
27:31
me with that car. By the way, every car
27:34
in here I overpaid for because I just
27:37
was it's all kind of targeted purchases.
27:40
>> But that car just fell into my lap in
27:43
France 20ome years ago. I was at a an
27:46
event called Retromobile. And back then
27:49
I was in the buy mode. So I went to
27:53
setup day because setup day is you get
27:56
the preview look. So, I saw this cobra.
27:58
Now, I know I know my cobras pretty
28:00
well. And I saw this cobra and the way
28:02
it's, you know, the profile, the way
28:04
it's fit, it just didn't make sense to
28:06
me, but it was on a very credible stand.
28:09
This Lucas Honey, who's a very famous
28:11
>> the biggest stand at Retromobile, right?
28:13
>> Biggest stand at Retromobile. And and by
28:15
the way, it was then, too.
28:17
>> So, here is this Aston Martin green
28:19
Cobra. Goodlook thing with the big rear
28:22
wheels and everything. You know, I got
28:24
to ask about I mean, I wasn't interested
28:26
in buying it because I knew it. I just
28:27
figured it was just a madeup thing. So,
28:30
so Lucas and I bought a Bugatti from
28:32
Lucas and he says, "Come with me." And
28:35
and he's a big Swiss guy and he he says,
28:38
"Come with me." And I went with him and
28:40
he said, "Sit here." And he comes back
28:42
with like a milk crate full of
28:44
documents. And he said, "This is the
28:46
first Cobra ever built." And I'm going,
28:48
"Really? I don't think so." But he he
28:52
brought all the paperwork out. It's only
28:54
had like four owners. I mean, it has had
28:56
a clear title. And one of the things,
28:58
you know, when you're buying a race car,
29:00
provenance matters and continuous
29:03
history, continuous ownership, like if
29:06
it goes away for four years, people
29:08
don't know where it went. I'd be very
29:09
careful. So, he he had every owner. And
29:13
it turned out that that time that I
29:14
bought, every owner came, all the past
29:17
owners came to Retromobile that year. I
29:19
thought, damn. I So, I bought it.
29:24
>> It was green at the time.
29:25
>> It's now black with a big number one.
29:27
Yeah. For those listening,
29:28
>> I kept it in Europe. I did a rally in
29:30
Europe from Budapest to Prague. Then I
29:33
sent it over here to a founding Mike
29:34
McCcluskey who's kind of the the guru of
29:39
and we stripped it down absolutely
29:42
positively. The original body, original
29:44
interior, original chassis. You can see
29:46
where they where they grafted the you
29:48
know uh rack and pinion on. I mean, it
29:51
was so pure and so perfect and so
29:54
authentic. It just it just warmed my
29:57
heart. So, anyways, I painted it black.
30:00
Put a number one on it. It actually ran
30:01
with number one, but I put number one
30:03
for the significance of the car. And
30:06
that was 20 years ago. And and we've had
30:08
on the Colorado Grand. We take it to a
30:09
lot of Cobra events. It's going to be
30:12
featured next month in the Shelby
30:15
American magazine. They just came and
30:17
took pictures. Evan Klein, a
30:19
photographer. We were up on Maho and
30:21
whipping around in that thing.
30:22
>> Did I answer your question?
30:24
>> You did. You keep answering other
30:26
questions that I haven't even asked.
30:28
It's so good. It makes me so happy.
30:30
Well, anyway, that's a fantastic short
30:33
history of that car. But
30:35
>> and and let me just answer another
30:37
>> What's my favorite car?
30:40
>> That one's your favorite.
30:42
You know, there's something about that
30:44
car that just you feel good just sitting
30:47
in it and starting it. And it's quick
30:50
enough that, you know, you can hurt
30:53
yourself in it. And it's slow enough
30:56
that you're not going, you know,
30:59
three-digit speed in a city block. And
31:02
it's just it's just it checks every box
31:04
for me. And it's my generation. And it
31:07
is the first one. And there's only one
31:09
number one. And I could sell some of the
31:12
cars in here and maybe buy them back at
31:13
a later date or buy something
31:15
equivalent, but there's there's only one
31:17
number one Cobra and that just resonates
31:20
with me. I love it. Well, I hope we'll
31:22
post some photos of the black Cobra.
31:23
It's a very special car. Does it have a
31:26
>> So, it was born with a 260 and head Ed
31:29
Yugas put a 289 before it went to
31:31
>> Okay. Fantastic. Anyway, beautiful car.
31:34
>> Thank you. Um, but what intrigued me
31:36
about that story is you said you've had
31:39
a Cobra continuously since ' 65. That
31:42
one it sounds like, didn't come till
31:44
around 2000. So, was there one that you
31:47
kept for a super long time and then you
31:49
got that one and unloaded it or were
31:51
there a succession of Did you have the
31:53
whole two9 then you had a 427 then you
31:56
Yeah. kind of rotated them through? What
31:57
would I when I graduated school, I went
31:59
back to Michigan, worked in Michigan,
32:02
decided I want to get an American car
32:03
when I come back, you know, I was I
32:06
drove my Porsche back to Michigan. And
32:08
so, um, it was it was a Corvette or a
32:11
Cobra, you know, and in ' 65, I bought a
32:14
Cobra, but I couldn't get it insured.
32:17
The insurance companies were just
32:18
reluctant to insure a 23y old or 20.
32:22
>> Real quick on that, where do you buy a
32:23
Cobra in 1965? Do you buy it from
32:25
Shelby? You bought a used one.
32:27
>> Oh, no. I mean, I'm I can continue to
32:30
answer questions. You
32:31
>> I love this. No, no, no. I I mean, it's
32:33
so what's so fascinating about you to
32:35
me, Bruce, is just that you were kind of
32:38
there, you know what I mean? And so, for
32:40
me, just the total fantasy world that I
32:42
I was born in 77. I was too late for all
32:44
this. So, to just to sit about thinking
32:46
about sitting across some desk from
32:48
somebody paying cash for a Cobra in 65
32:52
is like total mountaintop for me. So
32:54
just hearing your words about where did
32:56
you get the the car in
32:57
>> so I was so I'm old you know so show so
33:00
so let me just take a step back before
33:03
>> so I graduated Berkeley and took a
33:05
bartending job up at Lake Tahoe
33:07
>> great at what joint in Lake Tahoe you
33:10
remember it's called the absolutely was
33:12
called the forest in if if you're old
33:14
you remember the forest in it was fine
33:17
>> this is Taho City or is this South Lake
33:19
>> this is Taho City I love it
33:21
>> and um so I was a bartender and you know
33:25
did food service when I was at college.
33:27
So they hired me to work at this
33:30
restaurant. It was owned by a family by
33:32
the name of FA. They worked Tahoe in the
33:36
summer and Cathedral City in the desert
33:39
in the winter. So they would close it
33:40
and backfoot. So I went to work for them
33:43
right out of college. And up at Lake
33:45
Tahoe, there's a boat coming called
33:47
Sierra Tahoe Boat Company.
33:48
>> I love it. I love that place. Oh,
33:51
>> I love wooden boats as you can tell. So,
33:54
and when you're a bartender, you go to
33:55
work at 4 in the afternoon. So, you got
33:58
all day. And so, we would I would go to
34:00
Sarat Boat Company all the time. And in
34:03
the back, I haven't been there in a few
34:05
years, but in the back was a big indoor
34:08
storage area with ways and I was looking
34:10
at the hackers and, you know, garwoods
34:13
and crisses and oh, it just it was so
34:16
great. And I went to the back of the
34:19
boat place and here was stuffed in the
34:24
Wow. And and a Gwing even to this day is
34:27
maybe one of the prettiest cars ever
34:29
designed anywhere. And and in I looked
34:33
inside the Gwing cuz that was a dream
34:35
machine for me. And it had a reverse
34:38
lockout like a Chevy engine. It like oh
34:42
my god. So I would charging back to Dick
34:45
Clark who ran the boat company. I said,
34:48
"Tell me about that going." Oh no, we
34:50
put a Chevy engine in over the winter.
34:53
Now to me that was perfect perfection.
34:58
So to make to make a long story short, I
35:01
bought the car $4,000, sold my Porsche,
35:04
took all my tips and every it was my net
35:11
and I bought that going. I drove it
35:12
home. I with my everyday driver. It was
35:15
faster than a Cobra.
35:16
>> What was that? 283 or what? It had no
35:20
>> I'm telling you, it was ridiculously
35:23
fast. And I have friends that like fast
35:26
cars and motorcycles. All of them begged
35:28
me to slow down. It was It I I took it
35:31
out to the drag at 113.
35:34
That's faster than a Cobra. Anyways,
35:36
blah blah blah. I took the car up for a
35:39
football game in Berkeley in ' 65. sold
35:42
it to Bill Harland.
35:44
>> He still has it.
35:46
>> with Chevy in it.
35:47
>> Oh my goodness. What color is the car?
35:49
>> It was It was blue when I bought it and
35:53
>> And Will has two children, Amanda. Bill
35:57
has two. Will and Amanda.
35:59
>> I think this is Will's favorite car.
36:01
>> Cuz it was interesting. Evan commented
36:03
to me, you know, Dad, if you could ever
36:04
get that going back and I I just had a
36:07
little chat with Bill. I said, you know,
36:08
do you love that going? Oh, yeah. It's
36:10
Will's favorite car. I'm telling you,
36:12
Randy, if you drove this car, it would
36:15
blow you away. Factory Rudge wheels, 327
36:19
Chevy, probably I'm guessing 350 400
36:23
horsepower, light. It's everything.
36:26
>> And you got it down here to LA. You
36:28
drove it around the mountains. You You
36:29
brought it down here?
36:30
>> I I drove it I bought it at the end of
36:32
summer because I had to work up the
36:33
money. I drove it down here, drove it
36:36
for the year, then took it up to
36:38
Berkeley for a football game, not with
36:39
any intention of selling it. Sold it to
36:42
Bill and then in ' 65 came back down
36:46
here, bought a Cobra, but couldn't get
36:48
it insured because whatever algorithm
36:52
they use, this is not the guy you want
36:55
driving a Cobra. So I sold it to my
36:58
roommate because he worked for a big
37:01
company and he could insure insure it as
37:03
a Mustang. Then my other roommate went
37:05
out in 1966 and bought brand new a Cobra
37:09
427 from Robert Loud Ford in Pasadena.
37:12
So now we had I I went back to I bought
37:15
a Chevy Corvette but they didn't like
37:17
that as well as the Porsche. Then bought
37:19
a Porsche in 60 in ' 66 and that's what
37:22
started the whole you know bringing cars
37:24
So we we there were four of us. One guy
37:28
was totally not a car guy, but the three
37:29
car guys, we would just whatever car was
37:32
in front, we'd take. So I drove the
37:33
Cobra, big block, small block. They
37:36
drove my Porsche that was just like a
37:37
motorful. You just take whatever that
37:39
you felt like driving that day. So um I
37:42
had that and then I bought a a big block
37:46
and then I bought a big block and
37:47
converted it to an SC. Then I bought an
37:50
SC that that we could talk a lot about
37:52
air cars because you have to be careful
37:55
of where you are. And by the way, here's
37:58
another question you didn't ask. Your
38:00
copywriting and bring a trailer changed
38:03
the world of copywriting. I was reading
38:06
uh some description of a car in RM and
38:10
it sounded like right out of bring a
38:12
trailer, you know, powered by, you know,
38:14
with a cabin of I mean, it was like you
38:16
made it like fair to everybody, you
38:19
know, we're not going to say this was
38:20
owned or this did this that it's just
38:23
facts. I love it. I love the way you've
38:26
handled that. And and so I don't know
38:28
where I'm going with this, but um
38:30
>> Cobras through the through the years of
38:31
Cobras, but it sounds like did were you
38:34
buying and selling some of these in the
38:36
>> I didn't buy and sell Cobras like I was
38:39
buying and selling Porsches. I was
38:40
buying and selling Porsches, so I would
38:43
have a cool ride every day.
38:44
>> Okay, I got you. That
38:45
>> But in the in the 70s, nobody wanted
38:47
Cobras, right? I mean, didn't those
38:48
those people couldn't give them away?
38:50
>> Couldn't give them away.
38:52
>> That's right. And then in the middle se
38:55
70s I bought a Cobra. Then I bought the
38:58
big black Cobra. Anyways, I' I've had a
39:01
lot of Cobras and one of them was an air
39:04
>> I don't know if I know what you're
39:05
talking about with error cards.
39:06
>> So this is something you could write a
39:09
book on. You need to scrutinize the guys
39:12
that write the registries because if
39:15
you're dishonest and you're writing the
39:17
registry which shows a registry meaning
39:18
every serial number, the history of the
39:21
>> right? Blah blah blah blah. This is like
39:22
the Shelby Marin Club book that they put
39:25
out with the history of all the cars.
39:26
>> 100%. And it's written by Ned Scutter,
39:29
who's as honorable as the day is long.
39:31
>> But there were some people involved in
39:33
the very beginning that noticed that
39:35
some of the Cobras were like MIA. And
39:39
they found them in quotes.
39:41
>> Oh, air. So you're saying like out of
39:44
>> Out with thin air. Is that what you're
39:45
>> Yeah. Because you could build a Cobra.
39:47
You could buy a Brian Anglas chassis.
39:50
>> Sure. get a body from here and and put
39:53
it there and and all of a sudden you got
39:56
>> And by the way, it's probably as
39:58
authentic as a lot of Cobras out there
39:59
are now. But so I bought a car thinking
40:02
I bought the world's best SC
40:05
>> and it turned to be not so great.
40:08
>> So then I bought a great one. I just,
40:11
you know, there are some there's some
40:12
fake cars you got to be careful of out
40:14
>> That's that's a fascinating one. I love
40:16
hearing about those cars. Switching
40:18
topics a little bit, just chatting about
40:20
some of the stuff you're involved in
40:22
today. I know you're passionate about a
40:24
lot of parts of the hobby. I see you up
40:26
at Pebble Beach and showing cars,
40:27
obviously these tours and events you do,
40:29
but the Peterson is near and dear to
40:31
your heart. The Peterson Museum. I
40:32
wanted to make sure we chat about that.
40:34
We did a BAT event at the Peterson.
40:36
We've done some charity as we sell cars
40:39
at the Peterson is liquidating to raise
40:40
funds and different things which is
40:41
really exciting. But you're sort of one
40:43
of the statesmen there of the checker
40:45
flag 200 which is their club and highly
40:48
involved group there. But tell us why
40:50
that's so important to you and what that
40:54
>> Well, so I'm the founding chairman of
40:56
the Peterson and there's a group that I
40:59
really wanted you to join called YPO cuz
41:02
you would be in the Hall of Fame of YPO
41:04
which is Young President's Organization
41:06
but now Randy sadly you're aged out.
41:09
>> Am I young anymore? Yeah. I don't know
41:10
if I'm young anymore,
41:11
>> but I was a member of YPO. I joined it
41:15
And one of our members was Robert E.
41:17
Peterson, Bob Peterson, and Peterson was
41:21
like one of my heroes, an awesome guy.
41:25
He created Hot Rod magazine, published
41:27
it, and I knew him over the years
41:30
casually, really got to know him when
41:32
the Peterson came about, but he w he was
41:35
really not a car guy as such, but he was
41:38
kind of like Shelby knew how to put
41:40
together a team. He knew like he would
41:42
bring Randy Nunberg in to run his online
41:45
business. You know, he knew how to pip
41:47
he knew how to pick winners. And he was
41:50
a what I call an opportunistic buyer. He
41:53
could smell a deal. He bought real
41:56
estate here in town. He bought
41:57
somebody's collection of gold nuggets.
42:00
He he had probably the finest collection
42:03
of shotguns in the world. Ian Bodi and
42:06
in Reno, Nevada. You know, Peterson just
42:08
had such a variety of interest and he
42:10
was such a good buyer. So, he bought
42:12
that whole city block and he came to me
42:15
and he said, "Let's do a car museum."
42:17
Basically, I'm I'm dwarfing like what
42:20
could be a lawn like a whole podcast.
42:22
So, I mean, somebody mentions cars to
42:25
me, you know, I get all excited. So, I
42:28
said, "Absolutely. Great idea." And I
42:30
didn't even know what a car I didn't
42:31
have visualized what a car museum was,
42:33
but but we we hooked up with the Natural
42:35
History Museum in Los Angeles because
42:38
with that, we could give our museum a
42:40
capital M because they were a very
42:42
highly respected natural history museum.
42:46
And that's like dinosaur bones and wild
42:48
animals and stuff. And and so they were
42:52
our partner for the first number of
42:55
years. It was a partnership made in
42:58
hell. They disliked us. Our executive
43:01
director had a short fuse, so would tell
43:05
him to off, you know, whenever he felt
43:08
like it. It was horrible. And and
43:11
finally we put this museum together. All
43:14
all the displays were diaramas.
43:17
The problem with the diarama is you
43:19
don't just change it out every month.
43:20
You know, we kept it in there for 10
43:22
years. So you got you saw a car stuck in
43:25
the mud on Mahal and Drive when you went
43:27
there, you know, 1992. And when you back
43:30
in, you know, whenever 10 years later,
43:32
that car was still stuck in the mud, the
43:34
same car. So we found that and I was a
43:37
chairman for 10 years and and trying to
43:40
make it going, keeping everybody
43:41
together and all the balls in the air.
43:43
When we first got together with the
43:44
Natural History Museum, there were no
43:46
car guys involved at all. None. So, when
43:49
we were putting the museum together, it
43:51
was not like constructed as a museum. It
43:53
was constructed as a department store.
43:55
>> That's right. It's a converted
43:56
department store. Right.
43:57
>> And so, we gutted it and all it was was
43:59
a shell of a building.
44:00
>> Yeah. Then I started bringing in car
44:03
guys, Dan Gurnie, Parnelli Jones, you
44:07
know, Alex Exidius, Wally Parks, and
44:10
then some of my car homies, you know,
44:13
and the Natural History Museum couldn't
44:15
understand why anybody would be doing
44:17
such a thing. So, that should have been
44:19
the first clue. But I I started this
44:22
group called the Checkered Flag 200
44:23
because I wanted to get 200 people that
44:25
would give. with a museum, it's always a
44:28
challenge raising money. And um so I
44:32
wanted to put together a group of people
44:34
that would just donate for the love of
44:35
donating. And if we got 200 guys to give
44:40
a year, we'd raise $200,000 for whatever
44:44
event or whatever the executive director
44:47
felt was worthy. And people were coming
44:49
to me, Bruce, don't call it the 200.
44:50
Call it the 100. You'll never get 200.
44:53
So anyways, I got 200. But I got my
44:55
banker and I got accountant and a guy
44:57
painted a building for me. And so
44:59
anyways, I got to 200 and that included
45:01
Phil Hill and Shelby and some of these
45:03
guys that Oh, I mean we got to give
45:05
a,000 next year too. Well, some of those
45:07
guys opted out, but we had people to
45:09
replace them. Now we have over 800
45:12
people. And now it's not $1,000 a year.
45:15
It's $1,800 a year. And it's 50,000
45:19
50,000 if you want to be a lifetime
45:21
member. We have 125 lifetime members. I
45:24
mean we are the museum is just so
45:26
smoking hot runs so well and that was
45:30
you know the the start of the checkered
45:32
flag. We do an event every month and I'm
45:35
still the head of it is what because
45:37
what I love I love putting events
45:40
together and calling friends and say
45:42
we're going to come by. I mean I'm Jay
45:43
Leno. We've gone to his garage. We've
45:45
gone to places that the average
45:47
enthusiast couldn't go. They couldn't
45:50
call Rob Walton or General Motors or Jim
45:54
Farley at Ford and say, "We want to come
45:56
by, you know, with our checkered flag."
45:58
We went we went back to the Henry Ford
46:00
Museum with Bill Ford and and Chip
46:02
Ganassie right after the running of
46:04
Lama. So, we we do stuff. The members of
46:08
the checkered flag get their money's
46:09
worth. Plus, we have almost no turnover.
46:14
I would say 10% maybe 20% live out of
46:17
state. Last month we were in Dallas. We
46:20
went to see Charlie Nearver Collection,
46:23
Aaron Shelby, the Brash Perau Museum and
46:27
and we always I always like to throw in
46:29
a home, a big home. Went to Tom Thomas's
46:32
home like is one of these ridiculous
46:35
homes in Dallas, you know. So it's fun.
46:37
We we try and appeal to everything. I
46:39
would say of the group we have between
46:42
50 and 100 depending on where we're
46:43
going. I would say twothirds are guys
46:46
and a third are couples, you know. So,
46:48
we we try to do something cultural,
46:50
something with a home, but the group is
46:52
working. And what's really working is
46:54
the Peterson Automotive Nissan. And I
46:56
credit that with Terry Carus, who's our
46:59
executive director,
47:00
>> and Michael Bodell, who works with him,
47:03
and Anna Song. Honest to God, any museum
47:06
on earth would be so lucky to have a
47:10
team like that. They're fiscally
47:12
responsible, a delight to work with, so
47:16
deeply talented. Our staff there, I
47:19
don't know when the last time you were
47:20
at the museum, but when you walk in
47:21
there, you just feel like you've come
47:23
home. The greeter at the door, the
47:26
security, everybody welcomes you. Terry
47:28
is just one of those one ina- million
47:31
guys that knows how to build a team, a
47:33
team of big-hearted, enthusiast,
47:36
wonderful people. So, I really credit
47:39
Terry with turning that museum around.
47:42
>> Well, fantastic. Thanks for sharing
47:43
about it, but I can see your passion
47:45
sort of in your eyes when you talk about
47:47
it and the team and the checkered flag
47:49
group. Uh, I hope I haven't aged out of
47:51
that group, too. I don't know. I think I
47:53
probably may be able to slide in there
47:54
if I can give it a shot.
47:56
>> Are you a member?
47:57
>> That could be fun. I am not as a I've
47:59
been to the museum number of times.
48:01
>> This is not going to air till you're a
48:03
>> Sounds like I'm going to be a going to
48:04
be a recruit. So, that's fantastic. I
48:08
>> But you don't you don't do what people
48:10
tell you to. Like the YPO thing you
48:12
didn't do and now the checker flag. So I
48:14
don't I got to I got to make a real good
48:16
eye contact here and make sure you're
48:19
>> Absolutely. Well, anyway, thank you for
48:20
telling us about that. I'm I'm hopeful
48:22
that the Peterson has a good long run in
48:24
front of it of success and bringing new
48:26
people in to enthusiasm about cars. They
48:28
have so many cool themed events. So
48:30
anyway, I encourage every car buddy of
48:32
mine that's in LA like that's a stop on
48:34
the tour. Have you been to When was the
48:35
last time you all were there?
48:37
>> Uh, it's been a year or more for me.
48:39
>> Have you seen our low rider exhibit? It
48:41
is amazing. It's the best low rider
48:43
exhibit ever created in the world. We
48:46
have our creative director, Brian
48:48
Stevens. This guy could make a bar of
48:51
soap look amazing. I mean, he is so
48:54
creative and so talented. And so, he put
48:56
together this low rider exhibit, which
48:59
first of all, the whole low rider
49:00
community. I haven't seen a whole lot of
49:02
low riders on Bring a Trailer. We've had
49:03
a couple. We've got a couple interesting
49:05
ones. It's not the main, but we've had
49:06
some. Yeah. They they kind of sneak
49:08
>> probably because most low riders like to
49:11
work on them themselves, create their
49:13
>> and don't want to sell them, right? It's
49:14
like it's an heirloom. You're 100%
49:17
right. It's a family effort. When we did
49:19
our opening, we borrowed every car in
49:22
>> And with every car came a wife and kids
49:24
and they all knew how to work on their
49:26
cars and it's just an awesome genre of
49:29
cars, you know? They just I there's
49:32
nothing like a little
49:33
>> It's a very LA thing, right? It's
49:35
>> very Yeah, I think ground zero right
49:37
>> I think so. Yeah. Exhibition. So,
49:40
anyhow, I'm excited to hear you talk
49:41
about the Peterson. I always that's
49:42
something I associate very closely with
49:43
you and the checker flag group. I know
49:46
it all has sort of your imprint on a lot
49:48
of that. So, other than that, we touched
49:51
on the Peterson, we've touched on some
49:52
of your early cars. I mean, man, we
49:53
could go around all the cars I see
49:56
>> Yeah. We we would certainly love to have
49:58
you back on the podcast another time
50:00
maybe to talk about some more things or
50:01
go do one of these events together. But
50:03
overall, yeah, just want to say thanks
50:05
for your support of BAT. I know you
50:07
share it with your friends. You've
50:08
convinced folks to bid. You've just been
50:11
a one of the folks in the early days
50:13
that I think we've had some folks in the
50:15
car community that kind of put their
50:17
stamp of approval on BAT and said,
50:18
"These are good guys. Go use this
50:20
website." And I put you at the top of
50:22
the list of folks who have done that and
50:23
it's been part of our success and we
50:25
appreciate it. Well, you know, I don't
50:28
do anything that I don't want to do. And
50:30
when you get to be my age, you can kind
50:31
of do that. And I mean, I bought my
50:33
Bugatti when you were in the early BAT
50:35
when you were just mentioning things. It
50:37
was a auction in Austria. And you just
50:39
mentioned there's this auction in
50:41
Austria and it was I remember cuz it was
50:43
a it was a holiday time and I was
50:45
supposed to escort the mayor in my car.
50:48
Anyways, I it just drew me down that
50:49
rabbit hole and I went and I called it
50:52
was a Kois auction in Austria and and
50:55
the next car up was this Bugatti that I
50:57
Anyways, so I mean I bought on Bring a
50:59
Trailer. I've sold on Bring a Trailer
51:01
all very successfully, all honorably.
51:05
It's just the most real, honest,
51:08
wonderful development. And everybody's
51:10
trying to figure out how to get a little
51:13
piece of what you do. But you know, and
51:15
I get all the links. The only one I open
51:18
every morning is bring a trailer.
51:19
>> Wow, that's high praise, Bruce. We
51:21
appreciate it. Last thing I want to
51:23
mention is you've got a cool item that
51:24
you're bringing to BAT, which is sitting
51:26
over my left shoulder. This cool
51:28
memorabilia item. Just leave us a quick
51:31
>> If you can lift it, you can have it. It
51:34
comes in its own carrying case. It's a
51:36
big wall clock like a HubLau Ferrari
51:39
watch. It was given to me by Pierro
51:42
Ferrari for a favor I did for him. I
51:45
just look at it. I I don't know where to
51:48
put it. And I see, you know, things
51:52
appearing on Bring a Trader like neons
51:54
and, you know, owner's manuals and
51:56
things that I just I think are very
51:59
interesting. So, I think and we'll find
52:02
out that it should hopefully somebody
52:04
will see the beauty in it because I
52:06
think it's a beautiful thing.
52:07
>> Yeah. It looks super super cool in its
52:09
carrying case here and it's
52:10
>> Yeah, it's about what 2 ft across and an
52:14
operable big beautiful wall clock. Yeah.
52:16
Anytime we can list something on BAT
52:18
that comes from the Bruce Meyer building
52:21
here. I think that's a pretty green
52:22
light on our end, Bruce. And so anyway,
52:24
just want to say what a privilege it is
52:26
to sit here with you and we appreciate
52:28
your hospitality and your support of
52:30
BET. So, thanks for being part of the
52:32
podcast and I hope everybody listening
52:34
just uh has a smile on their face as
52:36
they hear about your stories and your
52:39
>> Well, thank you and same to you, Randy.
52:41
>> Thanks everybody for listening and stay
52:43
tuned for the next BAT podcast.