Classic Auto Mall - #218 - Stewart Howden with Guests John Brooks + Keith Martin
Classic Auto Mall SHOW
Classic Auto Mall - #218 - Stewart Howden with Guests John Brooks + Keith Martin
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
60:08
Concept
international motorsport
International motorsport means car racing that happens in many countries around the world. The 1950s was an important time for these races to grow in popularity.
Brand
Cooper cars
Cooper cars were a company that made race cars in the UK. They became well-known for their success in car racing, especially in the 1950s.
Concept
Formula One
Formula One is a top-level car racing series where teams compete with very fast cars on different tracks around the world. It's known for its exciting races and cutting-edge technology.
Concept
Goodwood
Goodwood is a well-known place in the UK where car races and events happen. It's popular among car fans and has a lot of history in motorsport.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is a famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are known for their bright red color and participation in car racing.
Brand
AC
AC is a British car brand that is famous for making the AC Cobra, a classic sports car that many people admire. They have been around for a long time and are known for their unique designs.
Concept
London to Brighton vintage run
The London to Brighton vintage run is a fun event where people drive old cars from London to Brighton. It's a chance to see classic cars and enjoy a drive with other enthusiasts.
Term
supercharging
Supercharging helps an engine produce more power by forcing in extra air. This means the engine can burn more fuel and run faster.
Term
turbocharging
Turbocharging makes an engine more powerful by using exhaust gases to push more air into the engine. This helps it run better without using more fuel.
Concept
Le Mans
Le Mans is a famous car race that lasts for 24 hours. Cars compete to see which can go the farthest in that time, making it a big test of speed and endurance.
Brand
Audi
Audi is a car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars and is known for its success in racing.
Car
Peugeot 2008
The Peugeot 2008 is a small SUV that's designed to be practical and easy to drive. It looks good and is comfortable, making it a nice option for everyday use.
Concept
pit stops
Pit stops are when race cars stop during a race to get fuel, change tires, or fix things. How quickly they can do this can really change the outcome of the race.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a famous American sports car that is known for being fast and stylish. It's often compared to other high-performance cars from Europe.
Car
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is a British car brand that makes luxury sports cars. They are known for their stylish designs and are often seen in movies like James Bond.
Car
Cadillac
Cadillac is a brand of luxury cars made in the United States. They are known for their high-quality features and comfortable rides.
Car
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a luxury sports car made by Audi. It's known for being very fast and having a stylish design, making it a favorite among car lovers.
Car
Dodge Vipers
The Dodge Viper is a super-fast sports car that stands out because of its big engine and bold look. It's popular among people who love powerful cars and racing.
Term
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a type of engine that has ten cylinders arranged in a V shape. It's powerful and often found in fast cars like the Dodge Viper.
Concept
GT1
GT1 is a type of car racing class where cars are built for high performance. Over time, these cars became so specialized for racing that they were no longer suitable for regular driving.
Brand
BMW
BMW is a well-known car brand from Germany that makes luxury and performance cars. They also race in various competitions.
Brand
Toyota
Toyota is a car company from Japan known for making reliable cars. They also compete in racing events.
Car
Hyundai i20
The Hyundai i20 is a small car that's great for driving around town. It's known for being reliable and not too expensive, which makes it a good choice for many people.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible is a classic car that many people love. It's known for being fast and having a cool look, especially with its special features like hidden headlights.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang Saleen S281 Coupe is a special version of the Mustang made by a company called Saleen. It has more power and better performance than regular Mustangs, making it a sportier option.
Car
Chevrolet El
This is a car that also has a truck bed, making it useful for carrying things while still being fun to drive. The SS version is the sportier model with better performance.
Car
Hyundai I4
The Hyundai i40 Wagon is a larger car that has a lot of space inside, perfect for families or carrying stuff. It's known for being reliable and a good value for the money.
Car
Alfa Romeo Spider
The Alfa Romeo Spider is a classic convertible car that was made in 1965. It's known for its good looks and fun driving experience, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
Car
Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a small, very light sports car that is really fun to drive. It's designed to be fast and handle well on the road, which is why people who love driving often talk about it.
Car
Ford Gt350
Ford is a well-known car company that makes many different types of vehicles, from trucks to sports cars. People often talk about Ford because of its long history and popular models.
Car
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 is an older sports car that many people admire because it helped start the Porsche brand. It's known for being stylish and fun to drive, making it a classic among car lovers.
Car
Porsche 911S
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for its unique shape and powerful performance, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Porsche Carrera RS
The Porsche Carrera RS is a classic sports car that is famous for being light and fast. It's very popular among collectors because of its racing history and unique features.
LIVE
This is the Classic Automall Show.
Broadcast from the studios inside the Classic Automall in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, just one
hour west of Philadelphia at Pennsylvania Turnpike Exit 298, featuring nearly 1,000 classic
vintage and barred-fine vehicles for sale under one climate control roof.
Now, here's your host, Classic Automall president and the man with all the toys,
Stuart Houdin.
And here we are.
Welcome to show number 218.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
How are you?
I'm doing pretty good.
Do you have trouble with your volume over there?
Yeah, I don't know.
You sound...
I sound handsome.
That's when you sound good.
He's off a little bit.
We've got to retrain him.
Exactly.
He used to be my favorite saying.
Am I too handsome for my height?
So I think we should start a new program on the guessing game.
Okay, all right.
And instead of guessing how many cars in inventory, guess how many subscribers
we have.
Oh.
So that would be more fun.
So we have 920 cars in inventory.
Wow.
Okay.
And last week was 915.
So we're actually gaining a little bit as we go over the street.
But how many subscribers on YouTube, Steve, you get to go for it?
Well, we got our 100,000 plaque.
So we know we've exceeded 100,000.
Is it handy?
Hold it up.
No, it's not handy.
It's in the box, but we're going to put a picture of it on the screen.
We are.
We are absolutely.
I'm going to say with about 118,000.
All right.
And I'll say 122.
Well, you are way off 111.
Oh, no.
Making me look.
Oh, I.
Some reason I thought we were had.
Oh, that's good, though.
Yeah.
Huge number.
111 is nothing shabby.
We got, what was it, a week ago Saturday that we, or two weeks ago Saturday, we
got to 100,000.
And I choose something like we're like a million, some millions of views on particular
things.
Oh, 4.7 million views total on, on YouTube.
Yeah.
We're subscribers.
Correct.
Correct.
Yeah.
So anyway, let's get to our guest.
Yeah.
Welcome.
Welcome to the show.
John Brooks, author, writer, photographer coming to us from across the pond in somewhere
in the UK today.
Good morning, afternoon, evening, John.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Yes.
I'm actually based just south of London, not far from Brooklyn's, in fact.
Oh, nice.
That's some historic stuff going on there.
And we were talking about off air right around the corner from AC Cars, the
Vole Factory.
And in fact, there's the main road out of London that passes by here, the A3, really
managed to get motorsport, or at least international motorsport in the 50s up and
running.
Things like Cooper cars.
Right.
Just up the road.
In fact, my wife went to school with John Cooper's eldest daughter, I believe.
I'll be darned.
I know.
What made that area so popular with the AC and Cooper and some of the others?
Well, Heathrow Airport probably has something to do with it.
Sure.
I mean, recently things have moved more towards Silverstone and the Motorsport
Valley up there.
The suppliers are up there, the teams are up there, Formula One's up there.
We don't have quite so much here, but the historic side runs well.
You know, I'm an hour or so away from Goodwood, which is a fantastic facility.
So, yeah, we're, you know, we're looking out and the sun has disappeared and it's
getting dark and it's getting cold.
Yeah, we're getting that as well here too.
So don't feel bad there.
You know, it's interesting to see that the history of automobiles and the pilgrimage
that people make to go to Modena for Ferrari or Goodwood, or I imagine still people come
and want to see and have their picture made in front of AC cars.
I mean, that's such a historical, significant, not only to Europe, but also to the United
States.
Indeed.
I mean, we've just had Motoring Week here in London.
I mean, I'm just outside London and that ranged from the Motoring Book of the Year
Awards on Wednesday.
There was a big dinner somewhere.
There's been exhibitions.
There was a Palmao and St.
James's were closed to traffic on Saturday and they had 100 or 200 cars there.
And then very early on Sunday morning, a load of people set off for Brighton on the
London to Brighton vintage run.
Right.
And I didn't I didn't get brave enough to be up there for six in the morning.
I'm afraid to say I had other things to attend to over the weekend.
Well, it's it's the London to Brighton would be a fun one.
That's a bucket list for everybody.
I think that.
Well, I think so.
And the RAC club, they have two main venues.
One is in Epsom, which is not far from here near the famous race course,
the horse racing course.
But they also have a clubhouse in Palmao and it's a very, very impressive place.
I said I was lucky enough to get an invitation to go along last Wednesday
to the Book of the Year Awards.
And I didn't win anything, but just being asked is an honor in itself.
Can you reveal what the book is yet?
Or is that still a secret?
Oh, no, no, no.
In fact, they they had a number of categories.
But the overall Book of the Year went to an American.
Hmm.
A gentleman called Carl Ludvigson, who at ninety one shames most of us.
I've seen the book.
It's the book is about supercharging and turbocharging.
Apparently, some like eighty years ago or seventy five years ago,
he wrote a paper when he was a junior engineer at Ford
talking about turbocharging.
He he was on our show about three or four weeks ago.
And we were talking about the book.
It's the heaviest three volume set of books I've ever seen in my entire life.
And it's amazing and fascinating.
You know, you you almost wonder how can you make something like that?
Fascinating, even for those of us who are car guys,
you know, three volumes of turbocharging and supercharging
probably covers every square inch of supercharging and turbocharging.
Right. It certainly is a niche topic, I would think.
But if you consider, you know,
Carl was not only just an author of things
like excellence was expected by the Quicksilver Mercedes and other books,
but he was also senior executive with Ford and others.
Right. Right. What was how did he manage to find the time?
Yeah, that's always say that about people who who delve into things like that.
How do they find the time to do everything that they do?
And of course, with Carl,
he told me that when they asked him to proofread the book a second time
just to make sure. And I said, how long did that take?
And he said, about a year and a half.
Yeah. That's one thing I've learned with my book
that nothing moves quickly when it comes to
composing, creating, checking, rechecking,
rechecking, rechecking, then finding another mistake. Sure.
It could have.
That's my excuse as to why my book was a 18 months to two years out.
Sure. Sure. And automotive books are really kind of going through a renaissance
right now. I mean, they're becoming very, very popular.
And there was a lull for years on an automotive books.
There wasn't a lull in them being published.
There were just kind of they weren't they weren't as popular as they are now,
it seems to be. No, I mean, there are an amazing,
amazing sets of books were in in the competition.
The probably most interesting one in a way was
a Formula One author called Morris Hamilton, who's been around since the 70s.
And he got engaged by or commissioned by one of the major publishing houses.
I forget which one to do.
A book aimed at 11 year olds on Formula One. Right.
And he's done a series of them and they are driver profiles.
So he's done one on Lewis Hamilton.
Lando Norris was this one.
And that's got a that got shortlisted for one of the categories in motorsport.
Right. And apparently it's sold very well.
And it's reversing a trend that youngsters
aren't buying books. They just look at the phone. Right.
And that would appear now they found books, et cetera.
And I remember when I was young and that was a long time ago.
You know, I live not far from the local library.
I was in and out of there driving them up the wall.
About books on World War Two. Right.
Yeah. It's it's we forget that libraries still exist sometimes.
I mean, if you think about it in the old days, if you needed to learn something,
you always almost always went to the library.
If there was something that you didn't know about that you needed to know about,
you would go to the library and I can't tell you that.
I don't even remember the and I love libraries
and I can't remember the last time I was even in a library.
No, I've been trying to agree with you there.
I walk past. We've got one here in Asia in down in Surrey
and I walked past it, you know, coming from the car park some days.
But I've got my own library.
So yeah, you know, and when I was preparing for this book,
you know, we had covid in the middle of it all. Right.
And there are a manner of resources on the internet available,
like the Wayback machine, right?
That's copied websites since 96. Right.
And OK, you can't look at some of them, not for that reason.
But Adobe Flash is regarded as terrible.
So if your modern computer picks up the websites got flash, it won't load it.
Right. There are ways around it.
And sometimes the websites didn't always get picked up.
But there was enough information there to add to what's already out there.
And the other thing about the period that I was writing is that a lot of websites
developed like Daily Sportscar and Sportscar 365
and then the TV companies and the magazines themselves.
A lot of them invested as much money in putting stuff on the web
as they did in printing it. Sure. Sure.
Well, and and there's a lot of information on the web.
There's no question about that's the understatement of the year.
However, not everything is on the web.
There's a lot of things that we still have.
We still have to refer to certain books like the Standard
Catalog of American Cars is one that we will go back to.
Because sometimes we can't find anything on a certain subject.
It's getting less and less as time goes by.
Indeed. But fortunately, there is the old gap in the market
and it allows someone like myself to write a book.
Well, I think because in a in a it's it's one thing to go and
search something in Google and say, I want to learn about
turbocharging or supercharging for Carl Ludwig's Center.
I want to learn about the 2000 to 2009 Le Mans
era or decade.
But it's it's it's another thing to get it in a concise format
that you can follow and it's logical when you follow it.
And for your book, I mean, the official history of the
World Greatest Motor Race Le Mans 2000 2009.
You know, that seems so pigeonholed and narrow in focus.
And I thought, I wonder how that could be interesting.
Not thinking about you probably got the greatest decade ever
because it was that dominance of Audi during that era
that was probably unprecedented.
Porsche might disagree with you there.
But then they would probably disagree with you on principle.
Yeah, I mean, although Audi won eight out of the 10 races,
they weren't always the fastest.
In 2005, the Pesco Rolos were faster.
In 2008, there were six seconds a lap off the Peugeots.
But typically for Audi sport, they went away and thought,
right, how can we do this?
So for you have the Le Mans test day or at the time
you had the Le Mans test day two weeks before the race.
So they arrived before the test day and then for every day
after the test day up until, you know, for 10 days,
they would arrive every morning at seven thirty
and spend the entire day practicing pit stops,
practicing, changing things to minimize the amount of time
they would spend in the pits.
And they felt if they could keep within touch of the Peugeots,
even with their speed, something might happen.
And that thing happened was the rain, right?
The rain came unbelievably about three or four in the morning
and Christensen Capello and McNish were within striking distance.
And frankly, their car was better set up for
conditions like that.
And they ended up winning a race.
They had no business being at the top of sure.
Peugeot went away and learned the lessons there
and reversed the result the following year.
So it was a great decade to be there.
And if I may say, we talk about the front,
but really probably the best struggles came with Corvette versus Viper,
Corvette versus Ferrari Corvette versus Aston Martin.
And you throw salines and other things in there.
The GTs were amazing.
Yeah, that was that was a whole.
You seem to have a lot of focus on that.
I mean, it's interesting that that there's more well known drivers
in the lower classes, if you will, for lack of a better term.
I mean, they're not household names, the guy in the top class.
I mean, Christensen arguably is the most well known of those guys.
But most of those guys are not, you know, Andretti or Foyt
or names that you would readily recognize.
Yeah, because there's been a kind of specialization
the days of, you know, running in the Le Mans and Formula One
in one season of long past. Right.
You know, Mario was probably the last of the the gang to do that.
Sure. And I I I saw him a few times racing.
I got to meet him in 2000 when it was his last.
I think it was his last race ever.
And, you know, you could tell he still was terribly competitive.
He didn't like he didn't like the idea that the panels wasn't going to win.
But right.
And he wasn't as quite as fast as he had been 10, 15 years beforehand.
But his co-drivers, David Brabham, I think it was, and Raphael,
all said, yeah, you know, they had full respect for him.
Sure. But, you know, you're right.
The I mean, Corvette racing changed Le Mans in many, many ways
and mostly for the better. Sure.
And I'm not just saying that because it's an American thing.
But, you know, I got to know some of the people involved with it.
You know, the Doug Fee and they did the program.
But all the guys there, there was a level of respect between them and Pro Drive.
And in fact, that's one of the themes I felt most
it was probably most different about that from, say, F1. Right.
A number of times a team like Peugeot would lose
and they would be invited then to Audi's celebration.
And the reverse happened in 2009.
When Corvette first went there, they invited the workers in.
Remember Doug Fee and telling me this and he he said,
we invited them, not the VIPs or the guys in the suits, etc.
We wanted the people who actually made the race happen. Right.
The ticket office, the people on security, etc.
And they didn't have a great turnout the first year,
but the word got round at Le Mans and they were well over subscribed.
The second right.
And, you know, they got into the spirit of it straight away.
So, yeah, it was a great decade to be part of.
And it's, you know, it's interesting.
You break it down by year and chapters and sub chapters.
And of course, year one, 2000, which was the first year inclusive of this book,
the sub chapter on the Corvette was the big yellow taxi.
I kind of like that.
It was like almost they were going to have to prove themselves
which they certainly did.
And you can tell in just in your writing as it goes forward to 2009
that they did improve themselves and they did answer the call.
I think when they first came there, everybody were like,
yeah, we'll see what they can do and they did pretty well.
Yeah.
Well, the first year would always be a bit difficult.
And they learned along the way.
I mean, what the thing is, you will make mistakes.
You will have made wrong choices.
What they were good at was analyzing that and saying, OK,
we need to change the tires.
We need to change certain drivers.
We need to change the way we do things.
Right.
And I'm picking on Corvette, but you could say the same of Audi.
You could say the same of Peugeot.
The factory teams, they have to learn and they have to improve.
Those who didn't, for whatever reason, like a Cadillac or
like, well, Viper Chrysler in the prototypes
didn't really put in the effort.
And I think what happened was everyone got scared of the amount of money
that Audi were throwing at the R8 and its development.
You know, Audi didn't win by accident.
No. And they won.
I mean, in 2000, they were finished one, two, three.
Right. And and indeed, I love the title of that chapter as I came.
I saw I won.
I guess that's pretty impressive, right?
Oh, God, yes.
I think in in the time that they were there up until 2016,
I think they had three other one, two, three.
Wow.
Don't quote me on that.
I like everything else.
I like to go back and check.
Yeah, I like to say things with a caveat just to make sure, you know,
you just never know.
Well, also in 2000, one of the chapters in your book was Nest of Vipers.
I love that.
And that was true of them.
People were people afraid of the Viper because of the V10.
Did that mean anything or was that didn't really matter?
Well, I think what had happened was it appeared in what?
1990, they had a couple of vipers running in 94, but they were factory cars.
The factory effort started in 96.
Right.
And they were into GT1 and they pretty quickly figured out that the GT1 cars,
particularly by 97, weren't really GTs road going cars.
They were actually pure racing cars.
So the management hired a raker, a French engineering consultancy,
very smart move, and they developed the cars for GT2.
And they eventually overtook Porsche.
I mean, in 2000, they won Daytona 24 hours.
Yeah.
The Rolex.
The Rolex 24, there you go.
They won the Rolex outright, which then Corvette managed to match the following year.
Right.
You know, it's interesting that the year 2000 was such a pivotal point in at Le Mans,
especially since BMW and Toyota were moving to Formula One.
Mercedes had kind of gone away.
You know, Nissan was in dire straits.
I mean, it seemed like the perfect storm for Audi and then the others,
Bentley and Peugeot and so on.
And then Dodge Vipers and Corvettes and all that to be kind of in the wings
and ready to pounds. Indeed.
I mean, I believe Napoleon always said he liked generals who were lucky
rather than good and the ACO got very lucky back in 93 when a little chap
called Michel Cosson took over as president.
Now, you know, he looked a very quiet, softly spoken guy,
but he took the race in 93, 28 cars started by the time he left in 2002
2003, you know, there was a full grid of 55 cars, which is what Le Mans is supposed
to be, right? Exactly.
But not only that, he developed the American Le Mans series, the European
Le Mans series. He brought the motorbikes back.
He'd managed to sell the circuit to the local authorities and just rent it back.
So, you know, he completely transformed what was going to be
potentially a bankrupt organization.
And that strength, that drive is evident throughout the whole decade.
OK, there were a couple of years where things didn't quite go.
But then the diesel era came in in 2006, which then enticed Persia to return.
And then we had amazing battles for the next three or five years, six years.
I'm just doing the next book and I'm writing about 2011.
And one Audi survived out of the three.
The other two crashed heavily. Right.
And it won by 13 and a half seconds after 24 hours. Wow.
And it wasn't fixed.
This was they were flat out from start to finish. Right.
You know, my admiration for the kind of people who can do that stuff
is fairly boundless, to be honest.
Sure. And 2006, for those of you don't know,
was not the first year for diesels at Lamont.
It was actually in the fifties that there was diesel powered cars.
Indeed, a couple of a couple of brothers whose name escapes my poor memory
at the moment, they found, I believe, a jeep or a truck in a field that they
was an American truck left there by the liberating forces.
So they thought, oh, let's let's put it into a race car and see how we go.
And they finished one year and weren't classified the second year.
And I think that was 51 and 52. Right.
So you're right, there's nothing new under the sun.
Well, yeah, we know that we learn that every day.
But you know, it's interesting talking to people that have driven
those Peugeot's and Audi's, the diesel powered ones.
They say the hardest thing to get used to in driving one of those
is how fast you have to shift the car.
You literally are just it's just constant.
You don't there's no hesitation.
You just shift, shift, bang, bang, bang, bang.
You know, that's just that quick because the red line is so low.
Why? And, you know, amazing amounts of talk and power.
You know, the the Audi, the Audi engine development
through Ulrich Boretsky, who was the kind of genius behind all that.
I mean, he pitched the idea of diesels to the ACO in 2003.
And eventually they all, you know, they thought, well,
there was a tendency at that time for people to drop petrol cars
and move up market with diesels.
I mean, that's now been reversed with for one reason or another.
And there was one statistic I often quote when
Audi arrived at Le Mans in 2000, sorry, 1999.
I think they were selling about 635,000 cars.
By the time they left in 2016,
I think the figure was near a 1.6 million.
Went on Sunday's sell on Monday, right?
Exactly. You know,
it's it's it could be a coincidence, but I don't think so.
I don't think so either.
I think that motor racing is still in an influencer into what people buy
and what people's loyalty, where their loyalty lies.
And but it's interesting, too.
You can go into a local Mercedes Benz dealer here in the States and you'll
ask them, are you rooting for Lewis this weekend?
And they'll go, who?
When Lewis was with Mercedes, who you work at a Mercedes store
and you don't know the Formula One driver?
No, I think that may be a bit less than it was, though, thanks to the
the efforts of, you know, the new people in charge of Formula One.
They've brought American marketing style and effort to it.
And you can see that reflected in the huge crowds now.
Absolutely. I mean, I think Vegas is coming up soon.
Yeah. And it's interesting because people that were not normally even into racing
at all, I'm not talking about people making a transition from watching
sports cars that rode Atlanta to go into F1.
I'm talking about people never watch race motor sports at all or now
all of a sudden into it.
Even my wife and my son and I watch the F1 races, no matter how early
it starts in the morning and or how late in the evening it is.
And it's it's it's drawn a different crowd.
And a lot of it has to do with Drives to Survive, obviously had a lot to do
with it with the television show.
But you're right, they're the Americanized style of marketing
and the fact that everybody speaks English when they have to talk,
which has got to be frustrating if you're not from around here.
Something to do with that as well.
Yeah. And I was talking about this to a friend of mine
who, well, we were exchanging emails.
He's a marketing guy out in Las Vegas.
And he was saying that, you know, the top end,
the top end, if you like, VIP program for the Vegas Grand Prix
is more expensive than Monaco.
That's crazy.
And yet they fill the place with people.
Yeah.
And I'm not saying that, you know, I've been to Vegas a few times
and, you know, some of it I liked and some of it I wasn't too bothered with.
Yeah.
And I could say the same for Monaco.
I went to Monaco in eighty one and eighty two for the Grand Prix
and some of it was fantastic.
Right. And quite a lot of it, you would just leave to one side.
Sure.
And it's completely different now.
Well, a lot of people will tell you that the most fun time
to go to Monaco is the week before the race.
When everything's already set up and everything's there,
the yachts are all there, you know, all the hoopla's going on.
It's just not chaos and and like it can be then.
And, you know, I mean, listen, Vegas is cool, but it's certainly no Monaco.
No matter how hard they try, they're never going to be that
because Vegas caters to a different clientele.
It's blue collar and high end rollers.
And Monaco may be not so much blue collar.
Well, quite.
And, you know, zero income tax levels.
Right. And to bring in certain sorts of people.
And also it's a historic race.
I mean, the first Grand Prix was, I think, 1929 or 1930.
Sure. And, you know, people say, oh, they've got to change.
They've got to do this. They've got to do that.
Doesn't seem that way to me.
But anyway, we're drifting away from.
Yes, we are.
The beauty of Le Mans and sports car racing.
Yes, we are.
One of one of your in one of your sub chapters,
well, the chapter on 2001, a hard rain is going to fall.
I love that title because of the weather.
And I love the two things, the two of the chapters,
the fangs drawn on the vipers and Steve's Salines,
the new kid on the LMGTS block.
They made quite the impression there.
And even Saline did, right?
That wasn't just exercise in futility.
No, well, they they actually won their class
in I think the last year of the GT1 era.
When they came to Sebring in 2001, which was their opening race,
they beat Corvette, right, which rather shocked them.
And Corvette being not, you know, not foolish
to one look at one of the drivers, Oliver Gavin,
and they signed him up right here.
We want you.
Well, and he stayed with them till 2015, 20, whatever.
He's now an ambassador for it.
But you're quite right.
I did actually have quite a bit of fun with the headlines.
I could tell that.
I mean, there was art for art's sake.
In 2007, the chapter was The Torque Show,
which I think is great.
I mean, it sounded like you really put a lot of effort
into naming the sections and subsections,
as opposed to just being more methodical with it.
Well, yeah, it's part of the fun of writing this.
Like, you know, I'm approaching 17 now
and in my mid 60s, to be offered an opportunity
to do something like this is quite amazing.
Sure. So you want to pour everything into it.
I don't know about you, but as I get older,
I don't want to do things poorly.
It's either going to be done to the best or not.
And of course, like this show.
Yeah, there you go.
Thank you for that great segue.
And I loved in 2005 that one of your subchambers
was a metter in a club down in Old Soho reference to Lola.
That's great.
See, not everybody gets that.
And I like that, that not everybody gets that.
No, well, not all of us are old enough to remember.
Ray and Dave Davis in the Kinks.
That's exactly right.
And two music references in 2005.
Georgia on my mind with Panos was one of the subchambers
that talked about what they did
and what they did was pretty astounding. Yes.
Yeah, Don came in and I remember,
in fact, going back to Michel Cosson said, we should,
you know, thank God every day for the fact
that Don Panos decided to come and join us.
Right. And, you know, American
sports car racing grew and grew after that.
And eventually, NASCAR came in
or the France family came in and took it over.
But what seems to have happened is if you like,
it's a prototype for what we were talking about before.
Me, the one because NASCAR brought their marketing
smarts, their ideas on how to promote to make fans happy, etc.
And they applied it to endurance sports car racing.
Sure. Sure.
And it doesn't have to be something you and I agree with
to make it the right choice. Yes.
I was a bit cynical about the whole thing
in 2014. I went along.
I think I flew in to do Petit Le Mans.
It was one of my last years where I was doing much in the states.
And I felt that was going to be the end. Right.
And I was wrong. Right.
In fact, the show has improved enormously.
Well, and we're glad that you were wrong
and you're probably glad that you're wrong.
Oh, yeah. Look, just look at it now.
Porsche have withdrawn from the world championship,
but they're still in. Exactly.
I'd love. I mean, and of course, I grew up on in the 70s,
and that was my favorite racing series back in the day.
And so before we go, correct me if I'm wrong.
Did you take every photograph in this book?
I'm afraid guilty as child. Wow.
That's almost unheard of that somebody writes and photographs
an entire book of this magnitude.
Well, I was working for quite a number of magazines
working for the Lamona annual.
I had people like Audi, Lola, a whole heap of clients.
It's funny, actually.
I'm now making quite a reasonable amount of money
selling pictures of the cars in the day to the new owners.
Oh, right. Yeah.
I never thought of it because a lot of these wealthy guys
who have these vintage, they call vintage racing cars.
And they're, I don't know, vintage racing is hard to say on a 2000 anything.
But but it is.
Well, I mean, last not last week, the week before last,
I build one client just under $20,000.
Wow. Now, that's not all profit.
About half of it goes.
I look after archives for other photographers.
Right. And the difference is back in the day
when I was doing it for some of the teams and drivers, etc.
Trying to get paid was an interesting process.
They didn't remember your name.
I sent the invoice or the invoices to the one client.
And I thought I wonder three days later, the money's in the account.
Got to love that. Got to love that.
Yeah, I won't be doing the same for the next volume that I'm doing
because in 2011, I switched over to doing PR for one team.
And we we ended up doing a couple of films
and your ability to just wander off and do whatever you want is restricted
because the team owner had a pretty good idea of value for money
from his perspective.
He wants to get what he paid for. Exactly.
And he wasn't frightened to look you straight in the eye and say,
you better be here. Yeah. And you know what?
I admire people like that because, you know what?
At least you know where you stand.
There's no gray area with a guy like that or person. Exactly.
And, you know, he was a very successful businessman.
Not everything he did work, but a lot of it did.
We had a lot of fun.
And also it gave me a different perspective
because I was part of a team rather than an individual on the outside.
And I think, you know, a lot of the media could learn from that.
I think 100 percent you are correct.
So my last question that I always love to ask everybody is
what is your daily driver? Oh, dear.
I love that response, too. That's perfect.
Yes.
Somewhat humble these days.
I like that.
A 15 or 16 year old Hyundai i20.
That's the third Hyundai that we've had when we've asked people this question
for motorsport people.
So there must be something to it.
It must be a practical, yet somewhat fun to drive.
Yeah. Well, I don't do as much driving as I used to, you know,
going to the shops about it.
I am thinking about changing it in
because I'm a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers here in the UK
and Kia, who obviously a part of the Hyundai Group,
right, give us a very good deal.
Sure. That's right. That would make sense.
So well, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed having you on today.
And Randy will put up on the screen about your book.
But if you haven't had a chance to get it, go out and get it.
It's a fantastic book.
It's got great, great photography, great writing,
just very impressive overall and just couldn't be happier to have you
on the show today, John.
John Brooks, everybody.
OK, thank you for the pleasure and privilege of being on the show.
Absolutely. And I look forward to seeing it at some stage.
I would love.
We'll send you an email that lets you know when all the details are.
And we'll be back in just a couple of minutes with the Classic Automall
show. Clear. Thank you so much.
That was wonderful.
Oh, I'm glad you liked it.
I mean, it was fun for me as well.
Oh, good. You know.
So I mean, if at some stage you want to do something else about
Lamon or sports cars or whatever, I'm happy to try and help out.
Absolutely. When do you anticipate your your book being done next year?
Well, maybe one of the tables are all done both for each year and for
the stuff at the back, because it's done to a kind of format.
I've done chapter one.
I'm about a third of the way through chapter two.
And I'm in touch with yesterday, one of the lead engineers of Audi finally
wrote back to me to say he had some information that nobody else knows.
Oh, wow. Cool.
And
I'm I'm aiming to try and have it finished by this time next year.
Right. Well, hopefully we'll have you on before then.
And then we'll hopefully have you on after that one comes out as well, too.
We'd love to talk.
I mean, we could talk.
We could talk about the early years of the American Lamon series.
Sure. We could talk about, I don't know,
Lamon itself and the history of the event.
We could even talk about Don Peinos.
I knew quite a bit.
I mean, I shot for Don a little bit.
Sure. He had that hybrid car.
Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about that.
Yeah, yeah, I'd forgotten about that.
Yeah, that would be fun to talk about.
Well, we will definitely put you on the roster again and thank you so
much again for being on the show and hope you have a wonderful week.
Yep. Thank you, sir. OK, then take care.
Bye.
Are you bored with your commute listless in your lane and you don't even have
the get up and go on green night out of 10 doctors recommend classic
Auto Mall to cure the common drive.
The classic Auto Mall in Morgantown, PA, is a veritable classic car
supermarket with classics of all prices, types and years.
So if you need a cure for the common drive, check out classic
Auto Mall in Morgantown or classic auto mall dot com.
Side effects include not wanting to come home, going to car hop
drive-ins, recent to your fingernails, old car smell and bias play bias.
And we're back with the classic
Auto Mall show from the classic Auto Mall studio in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.
Pot that down.
Yeah, pod down, pod up.
Studio talk.
We're rockin' long, man.
We're rockin', baby.
Go for 30 seconds.
We're going to be paying royalties.
Yeah, watch the royalties.
You need to have a little little little red line thing.
Yeah, right. Yellows are right there.
Oh, we got to go. We got to stop.
Like a tachometer.
Yeah, great, great, great.
What a book to write a book about one decade of one track of, you know,
one type of, it's pretty, it's got to be a daunting task.
You've got to be thinking, how am I going to get past three or four pages?
But he does it beautifully.
I mean, great writer and a great guest and love having him on.
So where do we sell cars this week?
Where? How about Milford, Delaware?
OK. How about it?
Somewhere down there.
Woodway, Texas, Odessa, Florida, Silver Spring, Maryland, Sunset,
South Carolina, that sounds like a nice place to live.
Ridgway, South Carolina, Williamstown, New Jersey, Rock Hill, South Carolina,
one of the South Carolina, Mount Washington, Kentucky,
Cranes, Montana, Switzerland, Malvern, Pennsylvania.
That goes well together.
Cranes, Montana, Switzerland and Malvern, Pennsylvania,
Morgantown, Pennsylvania, Broad Top, Pennsylvania and Moscow, Pennsylvania.
Oh, I thought you were going to say Idaho.
I never knew.
There's a bunch of them around the country.
Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Shout out. My brother lives there.
Oh, he does. He does.
Never been there.
Did he buy a car from us?
No, I doubt it.
I doubt it.
Well, let's hope.
And da to Moscow.
Because he should have, you know, given you the credit.
Yeah, it would have gone through me, but I don't think he.
I'll tell him to look out for it, though.
He, he likes it down there, huh?
Yeah, yeah.
So, you know, we were talking earlier about our new thing
that we're doing on how many views and all that stuff.
The YouTube.
The YouTube channel.
We got our plaque, which Randy will have a picture up.
I'm certain of that.
He did.
Which is really, I forgot.
So it was supposed to come on Friday
and I was thinking about it.
And then I got an email that said, oh, it's delayed till Monday.
I'm like, OK, maybe this is all BS.
So we're never going to get anything.
And they lied to me.
They're just going to keep stringing me along.
So Monday, I kind of forgot about it.
And then one of the employees comes walking in
and he's got a big old grin on his face.
And he goes, it came.
And I'm like, oh, what?
He goes, the YouTube flag.
I go, are you opening?
You mean you're opening my mail now?
Well, the box said YouTube on it.
So actually the box is right there.
It says YouTube on it.
And so he knew what it was and knew that I was waiting for it.
But I'd forgotten about it.
So, very, very.
Congratulations to everybody.
Congratulations.
Thank you to everybody who's helps do this
from you guys in the studio here to Judy Stropas
who helps us get guests to all of our wonderful guests.
I mean, if it wasn't for them, we probably wouldn't be at 50,000.
It's true.
So kind of cool.
So some of the new inventory this week, new arrivals.
My notes.
The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible.
Black over black.
It is.
Correct 350 cubic inch V8 with that sinister good looks.
Sinister.
Got the RS package on it.
Yeah, which is makes it good.
I think so.
Turbo hydromatic 350 SSBC force 10 power disc brakes.
OK, well, that's a title and factory AC car.
There you go.
Kind of surprising for a convertible.
Didn't see a lot of convertibles in the 60s and early 70s
with factory AC because you had a convertible.
So you didn't really need it, right?
But behold, you do.
How about the 1987 Chevrolet Corvette coupe?
This is a great entry level car into dark red metallic over graphite
only 19,000 original amazing car.
It's two owners from new.
So, you know, it was well taken care of with only two owners
and that low mileage, the L 98 350 cubic inch V8 700 R4
four speed automatic and the G92 performance axle, which makes
a big difference in drivability.
This thing will make it really go.
And this is the kind of car that you can get in for a reasonable
amount of money and you can enjoy the heck out of it.
And you can probably sell it in a couple of three years
for exactly what you paid for as long as you don't put
50,000 miles.
Sure.
You know, you go out and put 10,000 miles on it over a
couple of years and you think, well, that doesn't sound
like very many go try to put 10,000 miles on a car
that's not your daily driver.
Right.
It's you don't.
You never do.
And that's why we always hear from people, how can a guy
own this wonderful fill in the blank supercar hypercar
Ferrari, whatever, and only put 500 miles here?
Well, guess what?
You know how many cars the guy's got?
He's got like 30.
Yeah.
So, you know, you take 30 times 500.
That's, you know, that's what he's done.
So it's it's that's 15,000 miles in here, which is
the average of most Americans.
Yes, they stay low mileage and they stay low mileage,
especially with their show cars.
You're only taking them to the show.
Yeah, you're only taking them to the show.
You're sometimes you're taking them on a trailer.
Right, right.
And the reason you take them on a trailer is
because if you've ever gone down the Pennsylvania
turnpike in a car that had very thin tires, which most
of these hypercar supercars have, and you hit one
of the expansion joints at the bridge, well, there
goes $600 or more of your Michelin Super Sport
pilot for said, but do bedaba tire.
Right.
And not to mention losing control and smashing into
something.
Well, that too.
But let's hope that you're, you know, paying more
attention to that.
Although try driving down the turnpike from here to
King of Pressure, right?
Well, it's a little bit dicey.
They got a little narrow and those trucks don't seem
to understand what 55 means.
No, well, they're cracking some eggs and it's
going to be a nice omelet.
And in the end, it's going to be a nice road.
Because cars just out in California is wide open.
It is.
It really wide roads, eight lanes.
Yeah.
So hopefully the turnpike will be.
Well, that's what they were doing, although
they've realized that the bridge at Morgantown
is not wide enough to widen the road.
So they're going to have to replace the bridge.
So because the forward thinking, yeah, hey,
maybe we ought to make this bridge wider than just
what we need now, because there may be a future
and there may be more lanes we want to add.
Could be.
Possibly.
Does that make a whole lot of sense?
How about?
I like that they're opening up the toll gates, though,
that they're getting rid of them.
They're taking forever to do that.
Oh yeah, it takes a long time.
Well, what do you mean it takes a long time?
How do you, A, know that?
And B, why does it take a long time?
I used to be in construction.
They had a backhoe loader thing and they could
just smash down those things.
And the east wing of the White House went down in a week.
Come on.
Exactly.
So other new arrival.
The 1986 AM General six by six cargo truck.
Right.
This thing is bad to the bone.
I'll say OD green and black over all of green.
478 cubic inch turbo diesel, six cylinder.
All of draft.
Five speed manual, six by six all wheel drive.
You're going to need an airplane hangar.
Yeah.
To store it.
Two speed transfer case.
It's apocalypse ready.
OK.
It's zombie ready.
Zombie.
We got another one too today.
That's pretty cool.
The Pins Gower.
We'll talk about that in the future.
Right.
I remember a car and driver did a road test on one of those
back in April.
Every April they picked something oddball like a 747 jet
and do their normal road trust stats, the zero to 60,
all of that.
And it was then one year it was this or something similar.
That's right.
It was a Pins Gower.
I'm sure I'm butchering that name.
I'm sure all you Pins Gower aficionados will be reaching out
to podcast at classicautomall.com.
Yes, there you go.
How about the 1993 Chevrolet Van 20 Rockwood conversion?
Really?
Bayes Metallic and Radisson Red Metallics over Tannenberg
and 112,000 actual miles, 4.3 liter EFI v6.
Well, that that ain't a lot of power for a big,
little heavy van.
Is that guess it actually go 4.3 not bad.
Yeah.
Lots of creature comforts.
No question about it.
Other new arrival is the 2006 Ford Mustang Selene S281 Coupe.
We were just talking about Steve.
We were.
Yeah.
The mall tungsten gray over black, 2,157 actual miles.
Wow.
You say 2006.
Do the math.
14. Not much.
19 years.
He probably has 50 cars.
He probably has 50 cars.
If you have 50 cars, give us a call.
Yeah, that's right.
We can help you with it.
Podcast at classicautomall.com.
Exactly.
So the tail lights on this car to me is one of the best
Mustang treatments.
I don't disagree with you at all.
I think that's a good looking car.
From the rear as well as from the front.
That's true.
Two owners, supercharged 4.6 liter V8.
Excuse me, Tremac five speed manual.
And it's got the 355 track lock axle.
That's, you know, that's all you really need.
I mean, that's a lot of car.
Show and go.
Show and go.
That's right.
Shake and bite.
1985 Chevrolet El Camino SS Chuchu custom.
Oh, it is a Chuchu custom.
Blackover Burgundy 305Q begins four barrel V8.
That's right.
Four barrel may have been an overkill.
Maybe it gets 170.
Turbo hydromatic 203 speed automatic.
It's got the build sheet and the window sticker
comes with it, which is important.
Save everything you get with every car you buy.
I don't care if it's a mundane Hyundai i4 or whatever it is.
Save everything.
It's important.
All the stickers, all the descriptions, everything
that you find, anything that was the written word
or any kind of accessory that comes with the car.
Don't just throw it in a box and throw it in your attic.
Make sure it's known to go with that car.
Especially if you got a Chuchu version,
because that was the thing back in the day.
If you had a Chuchu, you were cool.
And I'm sure it came with paperwork.
Yeah.
And this one's got all the maintenance records as well, too.
And then just a well-kept car, or hauler, or mullet, or show car.
And it's got the R134A converted air conditioning.
There you have it.
That's some of our new arrivals.
If you are interested in seeing these or more,
classicautomall.com is our website.
And you can go there and see all of our inventory
or any of the other sites, eBay and Hemings and classiccars.com
and James Addition and name it.
You name it, we're there.
So when we return, we'll have our conversation
with the publisher of Sportscar Market, Mr. Keith Martin.
We'll be back in just a couple of minutes
on the Classic Automall show.
Here's a special offer from Sportscar Market Magazine.
Get a six-month subscription for just 1995
by going to sportscarmarket.com
slash Test Drive and the number six.
That's sportscarmarket.com slash Test Drive six.
If you're a buyer, a seller, or just general classic car
enthusiast, publisher Keith Martin says,
we've been around almost 40 years.
This is the Wall Street Journal of the collector car world.
Activate your six-month trial of Sportscar Market magazine
by going to sportscarmarket.com slash Test Drive six.
That's sportscarmarket.com slash Test Drive
and the number six.
Offers for a limited time.
Be in the know with Sportscar Market.
This is the Classic Automall show.
If you have questions or comments,
write podcast at classicautomall.com.
Is that me?
Sorry.
That would be you.
I got a little side check.
I was checking my email.
Anyway, thanks.
Welcome back to the show.
Joining us for our weekly segment,
Keith Martin, publisher of Sportscar Market Magazine.
Good morning, afternoon, evening, Keith.
Good evening, how are you today?
I'm doing fantastic.
Just enjoying a nice day of weather here
in Southeast Pennsylvania.
Have you adjusted to daylight savings time?
I don't ever adjust to that.
Nothing makes me madder than walking out.
First of all, I don't have any windows in my office.
So I walk out the door unprepared for it to be pitch black
and it's pitch black and it's just frustrating.
We got to stop that crap.
I don't know.
It just doesn't make any sense to me.
Well, what happens here in Portland
is that they turn on the rain
at the same time daylight savings time comes on.
So it becomes cold and wet on the same day.
Gosh, how wonderful.
And just the time you want to,
oh, I was just going to take my car out for that.
One last little jaunt around the block.
So your blog this week,
at what point does safety matter?
Wow, that could be a loaded question, right?
It's a question that most of us at our age,
what we like to do is say,
well, remember when we grew up,
we didn't have seat belts and my mama put me
on the parcel shelf on the back
and guess what?
We're still all here, which makes it okay.
Yeah, exactly, but it's not.
Because we just happened to be the ones that didn't die.
We just got lucky.
There's lots of them.
I have a real, you know, my 65 alpha spider
has got lap belts in it, two inch lap belts.
And for a shoulder harness to work properly,
it's got to be anchored above the height of your shoulder.
You know, it can't be down here because then,
and then what happens is it just makes you
into a three foot tall person if you have a crash.
Exactly.
But I wonder each time we get in the car
and the steering arm on that car
is a solid piece of metal that goes
from the front grille to your chest.
So probably if you were in a front head-on collision,
that might end up somewhere
you didn't want that steel bar to be.
We call that safety by Lancelot.
And then how do they get it out?
I mean, do they have to like brace themselves
against something to pull it out of your chest?
I just think they put it on bring a trailer.
With your body there, maybe in decompose.
I like that.
I think it's a question that we don't,
I mean, part of the reason I'm selling the 75 Porsche
that I've got and I'm gonna buy a 996, it's got airbags.
It's just, even my Lotus Elise has got four airbags.
If you're enjoying driving and it can be safer,
I think that's a win-win.
I think that as we get older in age, you know,
mortality, we think about it more often
about not doing crazy crap that we did when we were kids.
And driving an older car is risky
because the rest of you don't know
that I can't break as fast as you.
I can't get it, I can't maneuver as fast as you.
That's right, that's right.
No, it's the question that we usually don't ask ourselves
because the right answer is don't do it.
Right, yeah, exactly.
Because-
That's what, there was just, you know,
have you heard about Lee Cross's GT350 tour?
Oh, absolutely, 100%.
That's a great event.
What I think the real advantage to that tour is,
aside from the, he's evidently a mastermind
of putting it together,
but all those cars have similar performance envelopes.
That makes sense.
If you're with 50 cars that kind of all start and go
and stop the same,
there's a safety in numbers in that situation.
Absolutely, that makes a whole lot of sense.
I never thought of it that way.
Yeah, he's a master at putting on events.
He gets you into unobtainiumville.
Yeah.
You want to see so-and-so's collection
that nobody gets into?
No, we're going on the trip, we're going there, so.
But you're right.
I think that that has a lot to do with it.
All like-minded cars and similar performing cars,
everybody knows how far to stay away from each other
because you know what the braking is,
you know what the acceleration and the maneuverability,
that kind of thing.
That's right.
I mean, part of the problem with the Milamilla
or the SCM 1000 or California Mila,
even there is you can get a wide disparity
of performance envelopes from V-12 Ferraris
down to early Porsches.
And it's, there's always somebody
who can't seem to control themselves on those events.
Right, right.
There's always that guy or that person that's like that.
And it's a shame because, you know,
part of the joy of a tour like that, in my mind,
is not only for the participants,
but it's for people that are just standing,
you know, happen to just catch them going by.
And if they all kind of go by
within a couple of three or four minutes period,
that's wonderful.
But if one goes by and then it's 20 minutes later
than the next one goes by,
you kind of lose a little interest there,
I would imagine.
Right, right, right.
But the physical injury side of it is, you know,
not only can you damage your car
in an accident in an old car,
but you can get really hurt way worse
than you could in a modern car with airbags
and anti-bikes and so on.
But did you see that post on social media recently
where one of the American pickers was in a crash
and his Porsche 356?
Yeah, how terrible.
I mean, just...
And that front of that car was just wiped off.
Yeah.
And you can get thrown from the car as well, too.
Yeah.
You know, especially into something like that,
especially with the seat.
We were talking to one of the drag racers.
I can't remember it was Ron Caps or Don Pradome
that we had on the show.
And they have 13-point harnesses now.
No, no.
You know, and you think, well, that's overkill,
but I mean, you know, a five-point harness,
we used to always kind of,
we would never buckle it all the way up.
You'd put the lap one on and maybe...
Right, right.
And you should, because why not take the time
to put a seatbelt on?
It doesn't cost you any time at all.
And if you get in an accident,
statistics prove that you're better off with a seatbelt.
Well, a friend of mine had an alpha GTA
and he went out one time and said,
I'm not gonna put those damned arms or restraints on.
They just cut up when I'm trying to drive.
That was just before he rolled his car
and had the top of his arm cut off.
Yeah.
From his arm flailing out the window.
I had a friend of mine who had a private plane
and we were flying somewhere
and we were coming into some rough weather
and the pilot turned around and said,
hey guys, I wanna put your seatbelt on.
And my buddy who owned the plane said,
good Lord, he said,
what's a seatbelt gonna save you
if you're crashing to the side of a mountain?
About that time, we hit a drop pocket
of about a thousand feet
and he hit his head on the little air vent
and it sliced him open in an L shape
on the top of his head and blood everywhere.
And we're in a terrific storm
where the guy bleeding and cocktails
running up and down the aisle
and it's always better to have your seatbelt on
no matter what the scenario.
Well, I think, and we don't wanna go too dark here
but I think where it really comes to play
is putting your kids in the cars with you.
Yeah, yeah.
You're not thinking that.
I kept my kids in baby seats forever.
Sure.
Dad, I'm 15.
I know, I know.
But that's really where I'm at this stage in my life.
I'm prepared to take responsibility for my stupidity.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And only on me.
I don't wanna subject anybody else to it.
You know, you see that happen all the time
and you see people that are driving
kind of out of control or too fast in this first situation
and nobody's buckled in
and everybody's having a good time until they're not.
You know, and like you said,
let's don't get too morbid on it, but...
So you're selling the 9, what, the 912?
I've got a 75, 911S Sportomatic.
That's right, the Sportomatic.
And I'm gonna sell it because it's got no power steering,
no power brakes, no AC, it's a great car.
It's, I mean, it's really a wonderful car
but it's a lot of work.
Sure.
My 91 Alpha Spider has got an airbag
and power steering and power brakes
and I'd rather sacrifice for the comfort.
I hear you.
Give up a little bit of the wire trigger feeling
and the responsiveness because the 2.7 is a great car.
That car weighs the same as a Carrera RS.
Wow.
2,500 pounds.
And you don't need a whole lot of power
to make that go fun.
No, you don't.
Also because you have no traction at the rear,
you don't need a lot of speed for the rear end
to come around in front of you either.
Which is always exciting.
Yeah, it's like, oh, which window are we looking through?
I wish, I wish, I wish.
That's maybe why the back windows were so.
I wish that we had better driver education in this country
where kids could go and learn how to control a car
in a skid and learn what the difference is
between a car with and without airbag brakes
and how to drive a manual transmission
and so on and so forth.
It would be wonderful if everybody had
those life lessons given to them.
Well, I know that my son, when he turned 16,
he got a discount on his insurance
because we sent him to skid school.
Right.
Yeah.
How cool is that?
It should be universal.
It should be just automatic.
You get that, you get a discount on your insurance,
you pass a driving test,
and people incorrectly will say,
well, you're teaching them to drive fast.
No, you're teaching them how to control an automobile
and they're gonna drive fast.
I don't care.
I don't know any 16 year old that got in
and was holding their arm out the window
doing the turn signal thing.
There's a reason the statistics
are what they are for young drivers.
Absolutely.
Without question there is.
So we're not trying to be negative Nancy's here.
We're just saying, be careful.
Why not?
Was it hurt to be careful?
And if you've got seatbelts in your car, put them on.
Put them on.
Why not?
And put them on.
We talked about some of these accident reports
and they say,
and the four people weren't wearing seatbelts.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's all four people not wearing.
Oh, I'm in the back seat.
It won't matter.
Well, it will matter.
Right.
And so it's important to do that and be safe.
And you can still have fun and be safe.
That's not like we're asking you to get
a horse and buggy.
Well, that can be fun.
That would be a lot of fun, wouldn't it?
So anyway, so glad to have you on every week
and to talk about your blog.
And we'll certainly have you again next week
and a new subject that will remain unknown
until that next week comes.
Well, maybe we'll be talking about a new Porsche
if I can find one.
Let's hope so.
I hope so.
And we want to hear a report on how you do
on Bring a Trailer with Sel and the other ones.
So.
Yeah.
I'm looking forward to that too.
We'll be cool.
Those prices have been going up on Sport-O-Matics
because there are few of them
and there are more of us who need something like that.
Yeah.
It's not a want, it's a need
and that's a whole different animal, right?
Exactly right.
We'll be back next week with the Classic Automall Show.
We'll see you then.
The Classic Automall Show with their host,
Stuart Howden, executive producer, Steve Sethere,
produced and engineered by yours truly, J.R. Russ,
video editor, Randy Lambie.
Available on ClassicAutomall.com,
YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Music courtesy of the Pat Travers Band
for tour dates, contact, and stuff,
visit pattravers.com.
Produced by Car Smarts Media,
copyright all rights reserved.
Do you hear that?
That's the sound of uncertainty lurking under your hood.
You know the feeling.
I know I do.
That sudden sinking sensation.
When you see a check engine light
or your car unexpectedly breaks down
and you're faced with sky high repair bills,
it's time to shield against unexpected repairs
with Car Shield.
Car Shield is America's most trusted
auto protection company
and has an A rating with a better business bureau.
Call now.
You'll thank me later.
800-245-4139.
Don't let the fear of a breakdown keep you up at night.
Trust the shield, Car Shield,
and say goodbye to terrifying repair bills
and hello to peace of mind.
Your plan also comes
with 24-7 roadside assistance.
Courtesy towing, rental car options, and so much more.
Don't wait till it's too late.
Call Car Shield now before a breakdown.
Protect your wallet, protect your car with Car Shield.
Get our best protection ever.
800-245-4139.
That's 800-245-4139.
About this episode
Stewart Howden hosts a lively discussion with guests John Brooks and Keith Martin, diving into the world of classic cars, motorsport history, and the evolution of automotive literature. Brooks shares insights on his recent book covering the Le Mans races from 2000 to 2009, highlighting the intense competition and key players like Audi and Corvette. The conversation also touches on the importance of safety in classic cars, the resurgence of automotive books, and the unique experiences of car enthusiasts. With anecdotes and expert opinions, this episode is a treasure trove for automotive aficionados.
Original notes
CAM Show #218 airdate 11-05-25 Stewart welcomes John Brooks, Author, Writer and Photographer as they discuss his career including his latest book "LeMans 2000-09 The Official History of the World's Greatest Motor Race" which also includes all photos shot by him. Stewart is also joined by Keith Martin Of Sports Car Market magazine bringing his blog to life, contemplating hosting a #GT350 Tour as well as seat belt use. #LeMans https://SportsCarMarket.com/testdrive6, https://www.evropublishing.com @F1 #Monaco #LasVegas https://www.goodwood.com
GET OUR FREE APP: https://ClassicAutoMall.appimize.app When it opens click on the ORANGE button to install on your phone or computer for DIRECT ACCESS to our VIDEO and AUDIO shows and our website.
CONTENT NOTE: Contests, Prizes, Offers, Vehicles & other items may no longer be available or offered after each show's original broadcast or posting date.
Recorded in our Showcase Studio just inside the entrance of the Classic Auto Mall in Morgantown, PA, Host Stewart Howden, Classic Auto Mall President and Classic Car Specialist Steve Saffier talk about this unique and amazing place often with amazing guests.
YES...Classic Auto Mall is a REAL former shopping mall that covers almost EIGHT football fields with an average of nearly ONE THOUSAND classic vehicles under one, climate controlled roof and they're all FOR SALE!
Be sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to be informed of new episodes and SEE them on the Classic Auto Mall YouTube Channel. We also invite you to VISIT US IN PERSON at Classic Auto Mall, one hour west of Philadelphia at PA Turnpike Exit #298, VISIT us online at ClassicAutoMall.com or talk to real, live people about visiting, buying or selling your classic on consignment at 888-227-0914.
.
Classic Auto Mall SHOW
Stewart Howden
0:00
60:08