Saab is a car brand from Sweden that made unique cars, often with turbo engines. They are known for their different designs and have a dedicated fan base.
The Nissan 300 ZX is a sporty car made in the late 1980s and early 1990s that is loved for its speed and cool looks. It's part of a family of cars that Nissan makes, which are known for being fun to drive.
The starter relay is a small part that helps the car's battery send power to the starter, which starts the engine. If it breaks, the car won't start even if the starter is new.
The Tesla Model Y is a modern electric SUV that can drive without using gas and has lots of high-tech features. It's popular because it's roomy inside and helps the environment by not producing exhaust fumes.
The Honda Prologue is a new electric SUV that Honda is planning to release soon. It's designed to be eco-friendly and is part of Honda's move towards making more electric cars.
The Jaguar XE is a luxury car that's smaller and sportier than many other sedans. It has features that make it fun to drive and includes modern tech like a digital dashboard.
Turbocharging is a way to make an engine more powerful by forcing in more air, which helps it burn more fuel. This means the car can go faster without using a lot more gas.
A digital dashboard shows information like speed and fuel levels on a screen instead of with traditional dials. It's often easier to read and can show more information at once.
The Dodge Daytona is a car from the late 1980s that was known for being sporty and stylish. It came in different versions, some of which were quite fast.
The Chrysler Daytona is a sporty car made in the 1980s and early 1990s that looks fast and has a cool design. It was made to compete with other fun cars of that time and is remembered for its unique style.
Flip up headlights are headlights that can pop up when you need them and hide away when you don't. They make the car look smoother and were popular in older cars.
The Chrysler K car platform was a type of car design used by Chrysler in the 1980s. It helped the company make a lot of different cars that were popular and affordable.
The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a super fancy car that is all about luxury and power. It's known for its beautiful design and smooth ride, making it a dream car for many people.
The Jensen Interceptor is a fancy sports car made in the 1960s and 70s that combines British style with powerful American engines. It's special because it looks great and is fun to drive, making it a favorite among car lovers.
Car
Dodge Interceptor
The Dodge Interceptor is a car that appears in movies, known for its speed and unique look. People sometimes recreate it for fun or as a tribute to the films.
An analog gauge shows information like speed or fuel level with a needle on a dial instead of numbers on a screen. It's the traditional way cars used to display this information.
The XC Turbo is a model from Volvo that has a turbocharged engine. Turbocharging helps the engine produce more power without using more fuel, making it more efficient.
The Ford Thunderbird is a popular car that has been around for many years. It's known for its unique design and is often seen as a classic American vehicle.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a unique car made in the early 1980s that has shiny metal sides and doors that open upwards. It's famous for appearing in a popular movie about time travel, which makes it a cool and interesting car to talk about.
The DeLorean is a unique car made in the early 1980s, famous for its shiny metal body and doors that open upwards. It became really popular because it was used as a time machine in a famous movie.
'Back to the Future' is a famous movie from 1985 about a teenager who travels back in time using a special car. It became very popular and is loved by many people.
Suspension is the part of a car that helps it stay stable and comfortable while driving. It includes springs and shock absorbers that support the weight of the car and help it handle bumps in the road.
LIVE
Welcome back to all the cars I've looked for, your authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia,
where our guests are unique.
Each auto has an era.
Every car tells a story, so you know it's time to plug in, get the grease under the nails
and slip on that favorite car theme t-shirt.
Now before I queue in, my partner in crime here, let's welcome back to Cars Love Nation,
our most recent listeners in cities and countries around the world.
All right, so Doug, you're going to like this.
I'm going to throw out, I pulled this out of the analytics, okay, and you're going
to dig it.
So what do these cities have in common, right?
It's a little bit of a test here.
Brooklyn, New York.
Welcome back.
We're listening.
Brimming, well, Bremerton, Washington.
Welcome back.
We know you're out there.
Birmingham, Alabama.
Not too far from me.
Welcome.
Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Bradford, Maine, all the way in the Northeast.
What do all of those cities have in common?
Any clue?
Two things.
They all start with B, and they all start with BR, I think.
Oh, I didn't even get close.
Birmingham, yeah.
B makes the buh, buh sound, yeah, you're right.
That's right.
Now, countries all over the world, we see a theme here.
Welcome back to our listeners.
You know what?
And maybe even viewers, as we ramp up the YouTube presence, we're having fun with that.
Maybe Doug can speak a little bit about that in a minute, but hey, welcome back,
Sweden.
You know, they used to make sobs there.
I was going through a magazine and saw an old Saab ad.
It was fantastic.
Saab, anyway.
Okay.
Sweden, Germany, Norway, Canada are neighbors in Italy.
So welcome back.
Hey, it's great to have all of you back, and let's bring in my co-host with the
almost.
He's got all the options.
He fires on most cylinders some of the time.
All right, man.
With the plan, Doug.
What's happening, buddy?
I think I'm firing on a five of six today, so that's pretty good.
As long as one of them is firing, you know, the older I get, I'll take what I can.
All right.
So you always have, do you have an exclusively automotive wardrobe?
Is everything carbase?
It's becoming that.
Socks?
It's becoming that.
No, no.
I know hats.
I know shirts.
Yeah.
Jackets.
Just shirts.
Just shirts right now.
You give me ideas.
I'll talk to my wardrobe person.
Yeah.
Talk to your fashion consultant.
Yes.
Yeah.
So what's the shirt today?
The shirt today is Dun Dun Dun.
No surprise.
DeWarning shirt.
One of many.
Yeah.
When we introduce today's extremely fun guests, you'll see why.
And I'm excited for this one.
And before we keep in mind.
What do you notice about this?
DeWarning shirt.
Hang on.
I've got to.
Read this thing.
See, I always like these shirts.
It's got kind of a blueprint.
It looks kind of, it looks like the car is hollow blueprint.
I'm going to guess those are, that's maybe either the patent or some sort of legal
documentation.
I believe it on the patent.
Yep.
That's pretty slick.
I think I found it on Amazon.
Yep.
It's awesome shirt.
That's a great one.
That's a great one.
So it's always three questions I got for you.
We're down with one.
So let's, let's catch up to the honor.
So what's the newest thing happening in your garage?
If anything, have you had any time this week or no, I think the last thing I told you was
the, I replaced the starter in my 1990 Nissan 300 CX and it's kicking myself because why
wouldn't it start with the new starter?
Did a little troubleshooting found out coincidence or not, the starter starter relay died
for whatever reason.
Yep.
It had worked before.
Their starter just had a lot of trouble engaging.
So, yeah, so I got to get another starter relay.
Fortunately, I got a buddy on the Eastern Shore of Maryland who has a literally semi
phone friend Z parts for my love it, my model.
So, yeah, make sure you can always type it into Chilton GPT also.
Okay. Last question.
Yeah.
Now I'm going to ask this, but I don't think we're ready for it.
And what, so what is new with the show?
We've been recording a lot recently.
We've got a lot of episodes in the can.
We're going to release them here.
So what, I know there's some behind the scenes technical things that I am way
too unintelligent to understand, but we don't have to get into them now.
But hey, we had, excuse me, we have some stuff up on YouTube.
Check out our YouTube.
Doug continues to throw things out on all of our social media vectors.
So maybe we should just hang keep, keep some of the show stuff under our hat
for now.
Is that fair?
I think that's, I think that's fair.
Moving. Yeah.
We can't tell any secrets.
Well, we're going to declassify any of it soon.
We need to declassify it.
Well, depending on when people are listening to this, I just put
out a little clip from one of our many podcasts recordings where we talked
about the genesis of the show, not to be lovely with the Genesis car,
which is a very nice vehicle.
Fantastic automobile.
Thank you for the update.
Moving on.
Yes.
So Cars Love Nation, if you like what you hear, tell a family member,
a co-worker, a friend, heck, even tell an enemy.
Because you know what we do?
This show brings people together.
It's all about fun all over the world.
Yep.
So we're going to get into it right now.
Okay, carslove.com.
We continue to beef up.
And by we, I mean the smarter half of the Doug continues to beef up the online presence.
Do you want to give the link tree?
Because I just can't spell it.
Sure.
It's a hillinktr.ee slash Cars Loved.
You know, I'm going to brush up on my ABCs one day and I'll get there.
Just got to be patient.
But the big one here is these days, reviews.
Leave a review anywhere you can.
On our site, you can mail it through the United States Postal Service.
You can send a carrier pigeon.
However it gets here is fine.
But do you have one handy you can read for the audience?
Absolutely.
So this one just came in on Tuesday, takes a couple of days for Apple Podcast
to validate, make sure it wasn't, you know, made by a bot.
All that good stuff.
So the Terminator.
Yeah.
He can't leave a review.
No.
So this is from Bob.
Bob Unbound.
And it says, for everybody who has ever owned a car,
reflecting on cars we have owned, the good, the bad, the transmissions.
You wouldn't think that this is entertaining, but it really is.
And I didn't think I was a car guy.
That is, that might be the best review ever.
That's almost, I think that's a haiku or a sonnet.
I think you wrote that niambic pentameter.
That's beautiful.
Do we know who that is?
I think I know who that is.
Do you have any idea?
I might.
OK, OK.
Well, that's beautiful.
Thank you for that review, Bob.
Much appreciated.
So yeah, and if you find yourself near any water cooler, whatever,
you go to the tire place.
You're having oil, you know, cars and cars.
Hey, just just please mention us, spread the word.
All right.
Today's theme by way of a prologue, you had a good one.
Do you have that one?
Let's let's throw that one out here.
And then we're going to introduce today's guest.
What's the theme?
So the theme is what do you do when your friends or family
or just outsiders start noticing your love for cars
and love for nostalgia?
And what would they notice?
Would it be a bunch of oil stains in the driveway?
Would it be you're building a bigger garage?
Interesting.
Would it be you're buying cars from a certain era?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So kind of what do you project?
How might other people see you?
How might other people respond?
How would your neighbors?
Your neighbors are like, whoa.
I like that.
All of a sudden, you came into a zillion dollars.
Well, I think it's about that time.
So excited for today's guest.
So Doug.
Ditto.
How did today's guest make it into our virtual garage?
Yeah.
So Kurt, who was wonderful to be on the podcast,
I found Kurt, like I find lots of people, Facebook.
So Kurt posted a picture of not only one awesome car,
but two awesome cars from the 80s.
I'm going to let him talk about them,
because those are his.
One is his dream car, and one is his take me back today, 1984,
85.
And we'll let Kurt talk about them.
But yeah, just seeing those two cars
with so many similarities next to each other
just got my attention.
Not to mention the fact that we owned.
When I was growing up, we owned one of those cars
or actually two.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Well, welcome, Kurt.
How you doing today?
I'm doing well.
Thank you.
Man, so you and Doug really do have a cosmic connection,
don't you?
Actually several.
And the moment Doug said that, maybe if it's OK with you,
maybe we can post the picture of those two cars.
But the way Doug said it made me think of that picture.
The two cars is bookends, maybe bookends to your life.
Think about it.
Kind of one takes you way back.
And one kind of is your dream for a long time,
but you only got it recently.
So tell us a little bit about those two cars, man.
Yeah, so the first car is a 1984 Chrysler laser.
And that was the car that I had as a teenager.
I had when I was 17 years old, I got my first Chrysler laser.
And I had it for many years, did a lot of work on it.
I pretty much everything in that car
I worked on and I replaced over the years.
Through it went through college, ended up getting a second one,
which was the high end model of the XE model, which
is the turbocharged digital dash, all that stuff.
Oh, digital dash.
Digital college.
Yeah, oh yeah.
And I had that in college.
And then while you're in college,
the thing about those cars is they take a lot to keep
them running, like many 80s cars, domestic cars.
And I just didn't have the resource or the time to fix it.
And so I ended up getting rid of it.
And that's why I was so excited to be
able to get another one that was very similar to the one I
owned in college.
And that's what I have now.
Fantastic.
And before Doug really gets us in depth to the interview
here and walks you through your past,
can you talk a little bit about, hopefully we
can get this video online.
There are several model, oh, with RC airplanes behind you,
they're just very striking looking.
Oh yeah.
So that's ever since I was about the same age, teenager.
I flew RC aircraft.
And that was much less sophisticated back in the 80s.
But yes.
So that's one of my other hobbies
if you see they're hanging on the ceiling,
that's a P-51 Mustang.
Love it.
You know, that's an iconic one.
And it's very fun to fly.
That's just a standard, like, high-wheat and sesana thing.
And behind me, so this is a cool thing.
It's a, that's a, that's an F-16 Thunderbird, yes.
And that's, you know, the modern jets
are very sophisticated now.
And, and sorry for zooming around.
One more on the wall is another 80s icon, which is,
that's that's an F-14 Tomcat.
Oh, I see Tom Cruise in the canopy.
I see it from here.
Definitely.
Yes, he's almost converted.
Those are, you know, I tend to make, you know,
collect the RC aircraft that made an impression on me
as I was younger.
And definitely that was, you know, going to,
going to air shows.
I used to go to them all the time in the 90s.
And even out here, we have a really good air show.
And the F-14 was always the most impressive thing to see.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I agree.
Yeah. I don't know, Doug, if you can see it.
He's also got this kind of vertical neon looking sign
that says arcade on it.
Oh yeah.
I gotta say, you're in the running
for probably the top three or four.
Oh, guys got a Pac-Man machine in the back.
Oh yeah.
See, I have a little arcade there.
I'm going to show off too.
Oh, there you got it.
Okay, there you go.
We're kindred spirits, sir.
Yeah.
You guys have a cosmic connection all the way around for sure.
That was an evidence of me having too much time
on my hand at COVID.
So that's what happened.
That's what it came.
It's beautiful.
It is beautiful.
And before we go back in time,
well, okay, let's do this.
We've never done this before.
What?
We're going to step back into time.
We're going to go 88 miles an hour
and just burst into flame here.
And as we go back to when you had your first car
and Doug will walk you through this,
all I want to mention is,
we all have a soundtrack to our lives of when we grew up.
These songs that were really important to us,
finding ourselves, to find us, to find our friends.
Maybe we were cool enough to go see
one of these acts in concert.
Of course, I was never cool,
but one of my favorite bands of all time
was my favorite band, Cheap Trick.
And for you,
can you talk about the bands that meant a lot to you
and that song that you mentioned that kicks it all off?
Oh, yeah.
So when I think back to that time,
I mean, one of the main, you know,
the, I guess it would be defining songs would be,
it was Van Halen Dreams from the 5150 album.
And that's what I think of being in my car.
That's what cassette I had in there and I'd play it.
Yes.
Most fantastic.
And then during the pre-show,
we were rattling off, Kurt was talking about.
Dawkin, oh my gosh.
Hadn't thought about that in so long.
Motley Crue, Bon Jovi.
And before we slide back to the automotive side of it,
during the pre-show,
I was looking at,
okay, the album Van Halen, 5115 is an album, is an album.
And you look at the tracks on that album.
Why can't this?
I won't sing it, although I really, really want to,
Doug will strangle me through the ether.
Why can't this be love?
Dreams, best of both worlds.
Love walks in, okay?
Four smash brilliant Mozart level songs
on top of 5150, Good Enough, Get Up,
Summer Nights and Inside.
What an album.
What a cassette.
I mean, could you, you drive around town
and get up listening to it?
Just never come down listening to that.
Holy smokes.
And that's what, when I'm in my cars now,
the, if I'm in, if I'm in either one of those,
it's, I usually will stream the whole album
versus individual songs for that reason.
Cause that's how you listen to them with a cassette.
You didn't have the option to move around.
You just listen to it.
Lovely, lovely.
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that.
You know, Columbia house,
and this is a little before our time.
I was reading some vintage magazine in Columbia house said,
yes, we have this new offering
or option for people out there.
Columbia house, you can choose your music
on cassette, eight track, real to real,
or what was it, vinyl LP.
And I just, I just started laughing out loud.
Man, talk about, we think we have options now.
Boy, those were options back in the seventies.
Digital is the warning.
Absolutely.
What story does it tell?
All right, Doug, take it away.
Let's talk about his cars.
So we already talked about the, he did the introduction,
but his first car was a 1984 Chrysler Laser Silver,
five speed.
My first car was a 1989 Dodge Daytona Silver
base model, automatic.
And boy, I thought that was such a cool car,
flip up headlights.
I know that the laser didn't initially have it,
but I have, sometimes I just go back
and I watched those commercials
and you see Chrysler Laser.
Yes.
And they're just so, the digital dash, right?
This was during the night rider era, right?
It was so well timed.
Fusuristic, yeah.
And really those cars,
and we'll let the owner of the car tell us more,
but those cars were really economy cars.
They were built on the Chrysler K car platform,
which was like every car Chrysler built,
but they built everything on that platform.
And that was the platform that saved Chrysler
when Leia Coca came on board.
Yeah, and you mentioned about night rider.
And I was a young teenager when night rider was on,
and that just left such an impression on me
because I was always, I always migrated towards tech
and technology.
I'm an engineer now, I mean, it's what I like.
So that, and then to see that car,
actually I went with my father and grandfather
to the Chrysler dealer, I think it was 1985,
and he was picking out a Chrysler Fifth Avenue
because that's what you do as an old man.
And so my grandfather was buying a Chrysler Fifth Avenue,
but while they were over there talking to the dealer,
I migrated over and they had a brand new lack laser XE
with that digital dash and they had it all set up,
it was lit up inside, I was blown away.
I mean, I thought, I can't believe that this,
this is night rider, I want it.
And that's, that's what really got me on the path of that.
And then if anyone remembers the movie,
The Wraith in 1987, 86 came out.
Charlie Sheen, well, Chrysler definitely did
product placement there and they had a Chrysler laser
with the digital dash in one of the scenes
and they also had some Daytona that was 87 and up.
And that was right as I was starting to look for a car
and that cemented the deal.
It was like, okay, I got to have it.
Yeah, good.
Not the best movie, but great movie.
It was a B movie, but if you look on the dodge forum,
the turbo dodge forums, it's their anthem.
Yes.
Yeah, no, I agree.
And brilliant taking that show car, right?
The interceptor, right?
Oh yeah, that was a dodge interceptor, yes.
Yep, yep, and making it part of the movie.
Yeah, and people actually, people recreate that car.
I've seen it recreated on a Porsche Boxster even, chassis.
And yeah, just the digital and did your car talk
or did your new car talk?
It does, yeah, so the first car I had was,
it was analog gauge of base model.
Mine too.
What I had, which was in college,
was identical to the one I saw in that dealership.
It was black with the red stripe.
It had the digital dash, it talked to you.
The black leather seats.
The one I have now is actually a very 80s brown.
It's a saddle brown color, which they only made in 1984.
But it has the full digital dash.
It talks to you when you open the door.
Did you, sorry to interrupt you.
Did you have to fix any of those things?
And I ask because I've seen on the Chrysler laser forum,
which is probably where I saw you,
I've seen people who repair the digital dashes.
Yeah, which is me actually.
So yeah.
Oh, you're the guy.
So I'm one of the ones.
If anybody needs a digital dash,
who should they go out there?
Is there anything you don't do?
My goodness.
Well, I'm a lifelong engineer.
That's my passion.
It's my job and it's what I enjoy to do.
So one of the things is getting this car,
because I actually remember when I was in college
and the car was only five years old,
well, that stuff stopped working.
That 80s electronics just didn't last in an auto car.
And I remember pulling my dash out, trying to figure out,
I wasn't trained.
I didn't know what I was doing,
but I got it enough to where I could get a soldering iron
and get it back operational.
So when I got this one, the dash itself worked,
but there were multiple things that,
the bulbs were not working,
some of the circuits weren't working.
There's a trip navigator,
which was actually a very forward thinking for 1984.
It was basically a trip computer
where it would tell you how many miles,
what miles per gallon you're getting, all that stuff.
Distance penalty.
After about two years, the button stopped working.
And then the display would stop working.
So pretty much everyone that you buy, those don't work.
So I've replaced many, many of those,
and especially now that on those sites,
people know that I do it.
So I've probably replaced, I don't know, 25, 30
of those things that just,
basically you unsolder all the switches,
you put new ones in.
It's relatively simple if you know your way
around electronics.
Yep, yep.
Can I hop in here real quick?
Now, for the digital dash and just that wow factor,
did you have to get that XC Turbo?
Yes, it was only in the XC full model, yes.
Wow, man, so there was nothing like that in the base model.
Right, right, it was all analog gauge in the base model.
Gotcha, okay, all right, well there we go.
Reliable but not as cool.
Back to you, Doug, okay.
Well, it's funny you mentioned the,
you said soldering iron, my dad was electrical engineer,
so I had a soldering iron at age seven, so it's been fun.
What could go wrong?
It's been fun, I'm not great at it,
but given your, and we talked about your
first two cars already, so I do wanna talk about
what was the car that you hated the most
before we get to your dream car,
which is also your favorite car, which you also own?
Yeah, and jeez, I'm wondering,
I don't know if I answered that for you.
You did, you did, I can remind you, it's starting.
Yeah, I remind you, because I'm trying to remember which,
oh, I know what it was.
He hates so many, it seems so full of hate.
It was a PT Cruiser.
Yes, also another Chrysler product.
Yes, it was, yeah, I owned a 2001 PT Cruiser,
and those were one of those love-hate things, right?
You either thought it was kinda cool
because it was that throwback,
it was one of the early throwback stuff
where you really, really hated it.
It's kinda like a cyber drug today, right?
It instills hate, so the only reason I have it
is because I had a two-year-old son
that absolutely loved, anytime he would see him,
he'd love them, right?
He would point them out, it was one of the first things
he would say, right?
But you know, they call it terrible twos for a reason,
you know that?
Oh jeez, that was crazy.
So I blame it on him for owning that, and oh yeah, it was not.
It would be my least favorite car, yes,
and the most troublesome.
You mentioned something really interesting though.
It was one of the first throwbacks, wasn't it?
So 2001, think about everything that came after that.
Ford with a Thunderbird, and not the Mustang,
the next to kinda harken back,
and all those throwbacks were kind of home runs,
but yeah, the PT Cruiser I thought was really interesting
because it was so different, but you really go into,
and I like the way you put it,
it was unique in a love-hate kinda way, that's perfect,
like the way you put it.
You said it was overweight, underpowered,
and mechanically unreliable.
Now was 2001 the first year they came out?
Were you an early adopter?
It was, yeah, I think 2001 was the first year,
and I don't know how long they ran them,
maybe 2006 or 2007, I don't remember.
Yeah.
Gotcha, gotcha.
Yep, but I don't think later models got any better,
but they're maybe people that don't agree with me.
Well, my neighbor owns a, and he was on the show, David,
he owns a PT Cruiser convertible,
which I've been for a ride in, it's nice,
but you know, it's a convertible,
you can't go wrong with a convertible on a nice day,
and he likes to joke that his wife got it
for their 20th anniversary,
but also he wonders if she looked at the safety rating
before she gave it to him.
I remember renting one, I was on a vacation actually,
and my wife and I rented one,
this is, I think, because we had the regular one,
and we rented it, it was a convertible,
because we wanted convertible.
Exactly.
But I remember driving it, it felt even heavier than ours,
because they have to make them heavier to stiffen up,
but I just remember the windshield,
I mean, the windshield,
which doesn't have any structural support,
it would shake side to side,
and I'm like, man, this doesn't seem right.
And it was a brand new, it was a rental, you know?
Yeah, well, that'll teach you.
That's the way they built it.
No, thanks for sharing that,
and yeah, you really pacified your two-year-old with that.
Oh yeah, he loves them, he actually,
I mean, that's why we,
he would point them out,
that was one of the first things he would point,
and he would say, point people.
Does he still like them, Kirk?
I don't know.
Maybe he doesn't even remember that we had them now.
Maybe that'll be the dream car.
He's graduating from college now,
so he's much older than them, so.
Maybe that'll be his dream car.
Speaking of which,
see, you got your Chrysler Laser Turbo in 2022,
COVID times, I got my dream car, so to speak,
in 2022, or one of them.
But in 2024, you bought your dream car.
Tell us about it.
Yeah, so that is a 1981 DeLorean,
and it's been a blast to have it.
So, you know, I was,
I didn't even know DeLoreans existed as a kid
until the movie came out,
back to the future in 1985.
Those people, yeah.
And you just assumed it was a prop in the movie,
but then you learned after the fact,
and I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh area,
you would have never seen a real DeLorean in Pittsburgh.
It's just not a place you wouldn't have it
when they were new.
But then I learned that's a real car,
and then you learn about it,
and then it kind of falls out of your mind
because life happens, you have kids, all this stuff,
and then that's once I kind of got back into cars
with the laser, then I started saying,
well, you know what?
I'd really like to have that dream car,
and that's where I started looking.
You know, shortly after getting my car,
I started looking and just kind of lucked into one
that was very close by me and very good shape.
And so, yeah, I've had that for over a year now,
and it's a lot of fun.
It's fun to drive, it's, you know,
it's not a speech or it's not a race car,
you know, it wasn't known for that,
but it's very fun to drive, it's comfortable,
and it just, the reaction it gets out of other people.
Yeah, just smiles.
Yeah, everyone else that sees it,
it just lightens up their day, right?
Yeah, I feel the same way.
It's a very uplifting car that everyone loves to see,
and it's not because I like to show off or anything,
it's just, it brings people joy to see it.
It does, it truly does, and that's,
I don't know about you,
but just the DeLorean community of people
that I've met, whether local,
or just how I met you, right?
I saw that with your cars,
now we can say what the second one was.
It was probably on a DeLorean Facebook group,
but I'm pretty sure I'm on the Chrysler group,
probably too, and DeLorean people are just awesome,
and some of them are super particular,
you know, some of them love it.
And I don't know if you knew this,
we had Kat DeLorean on our podcast on the 10th episode.
Oh, wow, yeah, I've seen her on various interviews, yes.
Yeah, yeah, she's awesome.
That was such a treat,
because we won't get to meet John,
because he's been gone for a while,
but next best thing, his daughter, so.
Yeah, there's a large community.
I'm from Southern California, San Diego area,
and there's quite a few DeLorean owners here,
and there's a club, and they meet,
we meet every few months at a restaurant,
and there's different members that come,
and it's nice to see the variation.
I mean, all DeLoreans were built the same,
there's very slight differences over the three years
that they built them,
but it's interesting to see now that, you know,
how they vary, you know, some of them have engine swaps,
some of them have different options,
and things like that.
The one I have is all stock,
so I was lucky to find it off the original owner,
on it in 1981.
That's a great story too.
Right.
We'll save that for another episode.
Yeah, but you see a lot of variation,
but yeah, the, you know,
car group people in general
are usually very happy to talk about their cars.
Yeah, and they're happy to help others,
and all that great stuff.
Yeah.
Well, next time I'm out your way,
I might look you up,
and maybe get a study at Chrysler.
So here's a trick question.
I think I know the answer.
Maybe it's not a trick question.
In a race between your DeLorean and the Chrysler laser,
Christian, which one will win?
Laser.
Okay.
I vote laser also.
Yeah.
Perk?
Yeah, I would say the DeLorean would win,
because if you look at the horsepower ratings of the two,
they're very, very similar.
Yeah.
But the difference is you have to be full boost
in that laser to be operated.
You know, the DeLorean has,
it's a boring 135 horsepower,
but the torque's there all the time.
It's a V6, you know, that kind of thing.
And the other thing,
and I've told this to the other people
that say that it's a dog,
it's so low to the ground
and it's early 80s suspension,
but it's a very, it's a low suspension,
and it will stick to the road.
It would outquarter the laser 120 miles an hour.
So, you know, the laser is a K car, right?
It rolls around the turn.
Yeah, body rolls the thing.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, no, I just,
I remember my brother's Chrysler laser turbo stick shift
and he did a lot of torque.
Now, granted, I'm going back to,
I don't know, 1989 or so in my mind, 1990.
So, maybe for the time,
but yeah, it would spin the front wheels quite easily.
Yeah, you can spin the wheels and yeah,
it buzzes along, you know, when I was,
you know, for the 80s, it was actually a fast car.
It was.
Yeah, and they're both very similar in kind of style,
minus the goal wings,
the tail lights are similar,
it's just, it speaks 80s.
Right, definitely.
And I think that's the one that you saw online
that you've replied to.
It was, I had them out of my driveway parked side by side
and I took multiple, you know, multiple angles
and you can really see the similarities
of that 80s style, right?
You know, they're very similar.
Yeah, absolutely.
Good deal, good deal.
So, as we kind of guide the podcast gently
to the off-ramp here,
on the way out, Kurt, I got kind of a question,
we'll involve Doug in this,
is how many,
so I should mention for the people
that can't see the video right now,
you're each wearing t-shirts
that honor your dream cars that you have right now,
you've got DeLorean t-shirts on.
How many DeLorean t-shirts Kurt, do you have?
And Doug, how many do you have?
And I want to decide a winner here if I can.
And I'll also say, I respect people so much
that have the big passion for the brand
and they just go all in, you know?
Doug's got like a DeLorean hat,
I don't know if he's got DeLorean jacket,
watch, driving gloves.
Watch hips.
Huh?
Watch hips.
I just love the devotion to the brand,
you guys have passion,
so how many shirts, Kurt, let's hear it.
Let's see, I'll have to add them up,
but I bet I have 10.
Really?
Yeah.
He's got me, I think about four.
Fantastic, how many do you have?
I think about four.
Okay, well, hey Kurt,
do you want to do a podcast with me
and we can just drop Doug, what do you think?
Joking, we would never do that.
Anyway, Kurt, it was a fantastic pleasure to meet you.
Indeed.
As soon as I saw the picture,
those two cars together,
I said, this is a unique guy with a story to tell.
So thank you for taking some time out of your day, bud.
We had a blast.
Well, thank you for having me, yeah.
Yeah.
Love to have you back.
Yeah, well, I was just about to say
there's a whole lot about Kurt
that we didn't even get to,
but we have to bring this episode to an end.
So what do you say, Kurt?
We'll have you back some time in the future, buddy.
Sure, I'd enjoy it.
Fantastic.
So if one of you would sing a Van Halen song
while I talk us out, that would be great.
And go.
Not gonna be me either.
Not gonna be me either.
You have just heard the high-revving,
low-mileage, late-model herd
around the world authoritative podcast
on automotive nostalgia.
He's Doug.
Reach him at Doug at CarsLove.com.
I am Christian.
Reach me at Christian at CarsLove.com.
And he's Kurt, super cool guy.
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I am sure we'll see you at the next local car show,
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We appreciate you listening
and we will see you next time.
About this episode
Dive into a nostalgic journey with Kurt as he discusses his love for the 1980s automotive icons: the DeLorean DMC-12 and Chrysler Laser. Sharing personal stories, Kurt reflects on his teenage years with the Chrysler Laser, its digital dash, and the thrill of owning his dream car, the DeLorean. The conversation also touches on the unique community surrounding these vehicles and the joy they bring to enthusiasts. With a mix of humor and heartfelt memories, this episode captures the essence of automotive passion.
Every car enthusiast has THE car. For Curt Bellotti, it was always the DeLorean.
But before he could afford his dream, there was a 1984 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo with a digital dashboard straight out of Knight Rider. That car taught Curt something crucial about the relationship between desire, patience, and finally getting what you've always wanted.
Fast forward to 2024: Curt finally owns a 1981 DeLorean. But is the reality as good as the dream he'd been chasing for decades?
In this episode, Curt shares: - Why the Chrysler Laser XE was the poor man's KITT car in the 1980s—and why that mattered so much - The exact moment he decided "I WILL own a DeLorean someday" - What 40 years of wanting something does to your expectations - The first drive in his actual DeLorean—did it live up to decades of hype? - How digital dashboards in the '80s made you feel like you were driving the future - The unexpected maintenance realities of owning a DeLorean today - Why some dreams are better chased than caught (or are they?)
Warning: This episode might make you finally pull the trigger on your dream car. Or it might make you appreciate the chase more than the catch. Either way, Curt's honesty about the gap between fantasy and reality is refreshingly real.
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