Devastating Garage fire, Cleetus and the Freedom factory - Sent and Bent #74
Sent and Bent
Sent and BentApr 21, 2026
Devastating Garage fire, Cleetus and the Freedom factory - Sent and Bent #74
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Concept
storage units full of Chinese bikes
They’re talking about having a lot of bikes stored away. If they’re from China, it can affect how easy parts are to find and how the bikes are supported.
“Rolled” means the car flipped over during the rally. That can bend or weaken important parts, so the car usually needs a thorough check and often major repairs before it’s safe to drive again.
Rebuilding after a major crash or fire typically means replacing damaged structural components, refreshing drivetrain/suspension parts, and redoing safety-critical systems. In motorsport contexts, a proper rebuild also includes verifying alignment, clearances, and that the car meets event safety expectations.
A garage fire can destroy vehicles quickly, including wiring, fuel systems, and structural components, and it can also spread to tools and spare parts. For a car that was already damaged (like a rally car), fire loss can be especially devastating because heat can warp metal and compromise safety-critical areas.
A breaker is a safety switch for your house wiring. If something goes wrong electrically, it trips to stop more damage. Here, it tripped first, and then the shop caught fire.
A golf cart battery is made to be used over and over, like in a cart that runs for a while and then charges again. If one is old or gets overheated, it can fail and cause a fire, even if it’s “just a battery.”
Rally cars are cars set up for off-road or competition-style driving. They usually need extra prep and parts compared to a regular street car. The fire destroyed tools and vehicles meant for that kind of work.
Term
arch droid prototypes
They’re working on “arch droid” prototypes—basically early versions of a project they’re developing. The fire destroyed those prototypes and their tools, so they had to pause and rebuild before continuing.
They’re saying the insurance company wouldn’t cover the car stuff unless it was covered under a special automotive policy. So even though it was all in the same garage, the policy language left a big hole in coverage.
A racing engine is a high-performance engine meant for track or competition use. The problem here is that insurance may not treat an engine on a stand the same way it treats a complete, insured vehicle.
Liability insurance mainly pays for damage you cause to other people. It usually doesn’t pay to repair or replace your own car if it’s damaged or destroyed.
They’re saying the replacement cars got more expensive after the loss. So even if you had the money, buying the same thing again can cost a lot more than it used to.
Company
Stalantis Motorsports
They’re saying a European company builds these rally cars for racing. The important part is that it’s not a DIY project—it's a ready-to-race car built by a motorsports specialist.
Brand
Dodge Stalantis
They’re joking about the name “Stalantis” and mentioning Dodge as part of the same big corporate family. The point is that the rally cars come from a group that owns multiple car brands.
They’re talking about the World Rally Championship and how it’s organized into different levels. Those levels are meant to make it easier for people to get into rally racing.
“Rally two” is a higher level of rally racing. It’s described as a serious, full four-wheel-drive, turbo rally car with wider bodywork to handle bigger tires.
“Rally four” is a rally racing level that’s more affordable than the top tiers. In this case, it’s described as front-wheel drive, which makes it simpler and cheaper than full four-wheel drive.
A sequential gearbox shifts in a set order instead of using a traditional gate pattern. The benefit is quicker, more consistent shifts when you’re driving hard.
The host specifies a “1.2 liter engine” for the rally four car, tying it to the tier’s performance goals. In modern rally setups, small-displacement engines are often paired with turbocharging to deliver strong power while keeping packaging and weight favorable.
They mention “Pujo” in the same breath as Citroen, which are car brands in the same group. The point is that the rally cars come from those related brands.
Citroën is mentioned alongside Peugeot as part of the corporate group behind the rally cars (“slanted products” in the transcript). The host’s takeaway is that the rally program is built around these related brands and their platforms.
The Lancia Fulvia is an older Italian car that’s known for rallying. The host is saying they already own one, which is part of why they’re excited about getting more Lancias.
The Lancia Delta is a car model from Lancia. The 1993 Delta Integrale is a special, high-performance version that’s known for rally-style driving. The podcast mentions it because it’s a standout favorite for enthusiasts.
Sometimes car companies build the same basic car structure and then change the outside styling and badge. That’s why some people feel like one brand’s car is basically another brand’s car with different branding.
Rebadging is when a manufacturer sells essentially the same vehicle under different brand names by changing badges and some exterior details. The hosts use examples like “Lancia vs Pujo” and “Lamborghini vs Volkswagen” to argue that corporate relationships often lead to this kind of shared hardware.
The Toyota Crown is a Toyota car model that’s been around for a long time. It’s generally meant to feel more premium than a basic everyday sedan. The podcast brings it up because it’s a well-known name with a long history.
They’re talking about buying something that’s already finished and ready, then shipping it from France to Canada. It’s basically the “how do we get it here” part of the plan.
Car
Lancia Ypsilon
The Lancia Ypsilon is a small Italian car that most people only see in Europe. The cool part here is that this one is coming to North America, so it’s basically a one-of-a-kind situation for fans.
A factory rally car is a rally car that’s made with the manufacturer’s involvement, not just a regular car someone modified. It’s the kind of car that’s meant to compete in official rally events.
The Suzuki Samurai is a small off-road SUV that a lot of car builders like to modify. Here it’s being talked about as a project that will get a different engine.
A “Hayabusa swap” means putting a motorcycle engine (from the Suzuki Hayabusa) into a car. It can make the car feel very fast and different, but it’s a big conversion that needs lots of custom work.
They mean the car is almost ready to drive, and it just needs a wheel hub fixed. The hub is what helps the wheel spin smoothly, so replacing it can get the car back on the road.
Term
puddles are... jet boatable
They’re joking that the puddles are so deep you could drive through them like a boat. Realistically, that kind of rain makes driving harder and riskier.
Term
Chang Lee
They’re joking about a product called “Chang Lee” and how it could be a fire risk. The point is: don’t leave it plugged in or try to dispose of it by burning it.
Pikes Peak is a well-known race where you drive up a mountain. It’s popular because the rules are more flexible than many series, so more kinds of cars can participate.
They’re referring to a race category called an “exhibition class.” The idea is that it’s easier to enter—if your car passes safety checks, you can still race even if it doesn’t match a strict class.
“Safety tech” means the car has to pass an inspection before the race. They’re saying that if your car is safe enough, you can race even without fitting a specific class.
A standalone ECU is basically the car’s “brain” for the engine, but from the aftermarket. When you swap engines, the factory computer often can’t control the new hardware correctly, so people use a standalone unit instead. You still have to set it up and tune it so everything runs right.
“V10 TDI” means it’s a diesel engine with 10 cylinders, turbocharging, and direct fuel injection. Diesel engines often make lots of low-end pulling power. But because the system is complex, parts and upgrades can be harder to find.
They’re talking about a Volkswagen Touareg that has a V10 diesel engine. Because it’s an unusual, complicated setup, it can be hard to find replacement parts or aftermarket upgrades. That can make ownership and repairs more challenging than more common vehicles.
They’re talking about how the gearbox ratios and tire size affect how fast the car goes. The “gearing” controls how many engine RPM you get at a certain road speed. The goal is to have enough torque without the engine screaming at high speed.
They’re using a transmission from a Porsche Cayman. That’s important because the gearbox gearing determines how fast the car can go and how hard the engine has to work at speed. So they’re basically saying the Cayman gearbox is already geared in a way that supports high speeds.
Diesel torque is the strong pulling force diesel engines make, usually at lower engine speeds. That’s why diesels can feel powerful without needing to rev as high as a gasoline engine. The hosts are saying their setup keeps that pulling power while still aiming for high speed.
They’re joking that if you put top-level race tires (like the kind used in Formula One) on the car, it would handle extreme speed better. Tires matter a lot because they affect grip and stability at high velocity. Cheaper or mismatched tires can be a safety and performance limit.
This is the idea of buying the earlier model that isn’t as “cool” to most people. Sometimes it’s cheaper or more interesting, even if everyone else is chasing the newer one.
Car
Ferrari 355
The Ferrari 355 is a specific 1990s Ferrari model. The conversation is basically about which version is the “right” one to buy if you’re chasing the classic Ferrari look and feel.
They’re talking about how car collectors often chase the model that everyone else is excited about. That kind of popularity can end up driving what people think is the best buy.
The Ferrari 348 Spider is the open-top version of the 348. The speaker is basically saying they don’t personally like convertibles, even though they’re considering adding one.
An MG MGB is a classic British two-seat roadster. People like it because it’s small, fun to drive, and there are lots of parts and guides available if you own one.
The Fiat 124 Spider is a small Italian convertible. It’s the kind of car people pick when they want a fun, nimble road trip instead of a big, heavy cruiser.
The Triumph Spitfire is a small classic British convertible/roadster. The hosts say they’d skip it for a long trip because of problems with how it handles and how the suspension behaves.
The Triumph TR6 is another classic British roadster. In this conversation they’re saying it’s the better pick compared with the smaller Spitfire.
Term
death driveshaft
They’re jokingly calling the driveshaft a “death” part, meaning it can be scary or dangerous if something’s wrong with it. The takeaway is that this car’s setup can create serious problems if you’re not careful.
A transverse leaf spring is a suspension setup where one spring works across the rear axle. Because it connects both wheels, it can make the car’s handling feel less smooth or less stable than modern independent suspension.
A swing axle is a suspension design where the rear wheel moves by pivoting. It can cause the tire angle to change a lot over bumps, which can make the car feel unstable in hard cornering.
Term
doesn't arc
They mean the wheel doesn’t move in a smooth, predictable way. If the wheel movement is weird, the tire can stop gripping the road the way you expect.
Front-wheel drive means the front wheels both steer and pull the car. That usually makes the car feel easier to control, especially when the road is slippery or uneven.
Term
transverse land leaf spring
This is a suspension spring setup. Instead of coil springs, it uses a leaf spring, and it’s mounted across the front of the car, which can change how the car rides and handles.
This is how the rear wheels are guided by the suspension. The “trailing” design can work fine, but the angles and geometry matter a lot for stability and tire grip.
They’re just saying their dad used to drive a Dodge Dart. It’s mentioned as part of the family’s car background, not because they’re explaining how it works.
The hosts mention a Mazda 3 that accumulated about 360,000 miles during commuting. This is a real-world durability anecdote—useful context for listeners thinking about long-term ownership costs and reliability.
Concept
low ball bin
They’re describing an auction tactic: putting in a low offer to try to get a good deal. Sometimes it works out, but you might end up with a car that needs attention.
They’re talking about driving a car with the top off for the trip. In their case, it’s not always a quick soft-top—sometimes it’s a removable hard top, which makes it harder to take off and put away.
Air brakes are what you usually find on big trucks. Instead of brake fluid, they use compressed air to help the brakes work, especially when the vehicle is very heavy.
A “donut” is when you spin the car in a circle. “Four wheel donuts” means the whole car is sliding around together, which takes more skill and usually feels more intense.
This is the idea of taking a broken or abandoned vehicle and trying to fix it up yourself. Even if you get it running, you still have to make it meet the rules to drive it on public roads.
“Road legal” means the car or truck is allowed to be driven on public streets. Even if it’s running, it still has to pass inspections and meet local rules.
A clutch is what lets the engine power the gearbox. If it’s “dying,” it may slip or not fully grab, so the car won’t move right and can eventually quit.
“Rolling” a vehicle usually means a rollover—when the car tips onto its side or roof. In motorsport or off-road contexts, rollovers often happen from high cornering loads, uneven terrain, or loss of traction, and they’re a major safety and mechanical-damage risk.
A “rented rally car” means they drove a car prepared for rally racing. Rally cars are set up to handle rough, slippery surfaces better than a normal street car.
A “snow bike” is a motorcycle adapted for winter riding, typically with a track or snow-specific traction system. The speaker contrasts snow biking with dirt biking, implying seasonal swaps between traction setups.
Term
Stampede
“Stampede” is the name of the place they go riding. They describe it as a forest area with sandy dunes, which affects how vehicles handle.
This is like a dirt-bike jump where you launch from a higher spot and try to clear a drop to land farther down. If you don’t carry enough speed, you can come up short and crash, but the sandy slope can make it less catastrophic than a hard landing.
Term
250
“250” is shorthand for a dirt bike with about a 250cc engine. It’s a way to guess how much power the rider likely had.
The run-up is the part right before the jump where you build your speed and set up your line. If it’s messy or bumpy, you can’t get the speed you need.
They’re trying to keep the bike moving fast by not backing off before the jump. The longer you hold the throttle, the more speed you can carry into the air.
That phrase describes the rear wheel losing grip and sliding sideways. If you’re still giving it gas, the rear can keep slipping instead of hooking up again.
Soft sand is like riding on loose dirt. Your tires can’t grip as well, so the bike can slip or get pushed sideways even if you’re trying to keep going.
“Over the bars” means the bike flips forward and you end up going forward over the handlebars. It usually comes from a bad landing or the bike suddenly losing balance.
Adventure bikes are motorcycles built for both street riding and dirt roads. They’re usually comfortable for long rides and have suspension/tires that work on rougher surfaces.
Hyperextended means the joint got bent too far the wrong way. In a crash like this, the knee can be forced past its normal movement and get badly strained.
Topic
2 point 4 hours of the mallets
That sounds like a multi-hour race. In races like this, you can’t just go flat-out the whole time—you have to keep the car running and drive consistently.
A tie rod is part of the steering system that helps control where the front wheels point. If it breaks, the steering can go out of alignment or stop working correctly, which can cause a crash or DNF.
Concept
old racetrack
They’re talking about getting access to an older track. Older tracks can feel different because of the layout and surface, and it can also change what kinds of racing you can do there.
A dirt oval is a track that’s oval-shaped and covered in dirt. Cars behave differently on dirt because traction changes, so drivers and setups have to account for that.
Circle track and dirt track racing are oval-style motorsports where cars repeatedly run the same left/right turns, often with different traction characteristics than pavement. The speaker highlights how the “door-to-door” nature and constant laps create a unique kind of racing pressure and strategy.
Car
FZ09 engine
They’re referencing the Yamaha FZ-09, which is a 900cc fuel-injected motorcycle engine. Using the same engine for everyone helps keep the racing more fair and focused on skill.
A spec class means the rules force everyone to use similar parts, so nobody can just buy a huge advantage. It’s usually cheaper and more about skill and setup than spending more money.
Door-to-door means you’re racing really close to the other cars. It makes the race more stressful because you have less room for mistakes and you have to be precise for many laps.
Ice racing on regular snow tires (without studs) relies on limited tire grip and careful traction management rather than mechanical bite from studs. The speaker contrasts this with the “door-to-door” pressure of trying to gain just a couple inches of position to pass.
Circle track racing is racing around an oval track, lap after lap. Since the turns are repeated, the car’s grip and balance have to stay consistent to go fast.
A “Crown Vic” is a Ford Crown Victoria. People race them because they’re common, parts are easy to find, and they can take a beating even when they’re mostly stock.
Nitrous is a system that sprays nitrous oxide into the engine. It can give you extra power for a short time, but it only works well if the car is set up correctly and the engine is healthy.
Rallycross is racing on a short course that usually has loose surfaces like dirt or gravel. Since grip changes a lot, drivers have to be ready for the car to slide or grip differently lap to lap.
A co-driver (or navigator) reads pace notes and route information to help the driver execute the plan during rally events. This role is especially important in rally and navigation-focused formats where timing and accuracy matter.
Navigational rallies are like a driving event where you’re focused on following directions and route clues. You still drive cool roads, but you’re not trying to go as fast as possible the whole time.
Autocross is timed driving on a course made with cones. It’s a great way to start having fun with your car in a controlled environment.
Car
Liam Doran and his twin Hayabusa engine mini pickup
They’re talking about a custom mini pickup that uses two Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engines. That’s unusual because most pickups use car engines, not bike engines. The result is a very different driving feel and a project that needs a lot of custom work to make it fit and run reliably.
Rally tires are made for dirt and gravel, not smooth pavement. They’re designed to bite into loose ground, especially when you brake hard or the surface changes. They can be harder to mount because the sidewalls are stiff and the tread is specialized.
Car
Hayabusa
The Hayabusa is a very powerful Suzuki motorcycle. Here, they’re using it as shorthand for how much power the build is making. When you have that much power, the tires and grip matter a lot, especially when braking or driving on loose surfaces.
They’re saying the tire’s sidewall is very stiff. That stiffness helps the tire stay stable on rough roads, but it also makes the tire harder to put on wheels. So you need more effort (and sometimes special technique) to mount them.
Loose gravel is tricky because the ground can move under the tires. That means braking can be unpredictable if the tires don’t have the right grip. With the right tires and setup, you can brake much harder while still staying in control.
They want to put an Audi R8-looking body on a race side-by-side. The goal is to make it look like an R8 while still building it to survive desert racing.
Fiberglass is a lightweight material often used for custom car body panels. They’re using it to make a body that looks like an Audi R8 without adding a lot of weight.
A cage is a strong metal frame inside the vehicle that helps keep you safer if the car rolls or crashes. It also makes the vehicle tougher for rough racing.
Concept
Canadian shield
The Canadian Shield is a big area of very old, rocky ground in Canada. They’re using it to explain where they are and why the weather/winter conditions differ.
Desert racing is driving fast across big stretches of sand and rough land instead of a paved track. Since the ground changes a lot, you usually need the right tires and a way to stay on the right route.
Company
arc droids
“Arc droids” appears to be the name of a vehicle/robot platform the hosts are building and upgrading. In this context, it’s treated like a specific project rather than a generic category.
The “10 inch controller” is the main control unit they’re installing, with a 10-inch screen. Upgrading it usually means the system is faster and can do more things.
Processing power is how “smart” and fast the controller’s computer is. If it’s more powerful, it can run more features and react quicker.
Term
shock tab
A “shock tab” is a small mounting bracket for a shock absorber. They’re saying the design software can help you set the measurements so you don’t have to build each piece by hand.
“Curve smoothing” is a software feature that smooths the path or geometry of a curve so it cuts/prints more cleanly. In fabrication workflows, it can reduce jagged toolpaths and improve finish quality.
“Standalone mode” means it can work on its own without a laptop. They describe powering it with USB and controlling it with a mouse, then taking it to the garage.
The Ford Flex is a larger, family-focused vehicle with a very boxy shape. It’s designed to carry people and cargo comfortably. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because the speaker is talking about something called a “Flex table.”
They mention a website where you can enter their giveaway by spending money. It’s basically the link for the contest, not a car or car part.
LIVE
That's actually one of the things that I would have never expected
that came out of me going to Cleetus's and racing that.
I'd gone to bed, my wife had fallen asleep on the couch,
and then got up to go get a glass of water and looked at the window and
and my shop is on there.
Welcome to the Sent and Bent podcast. This is episode 74 and we have a couple of firsts today.
It's the first ever podcast without Edwin and it's also our first ever third guest appearance.
So it's more of a third than a first. Anyway, this is Andrew, inventor of the arctoid,
fan of rally cars and general shenanigans. Oh, I shenan.
Again and again. Again.
So who knows what we're going to be talking about today, but it'll probably be
nerdier than average and they'll definitely be less basket people and hopefully less Chang Lee's.
Oh, yeah. And you know, you don't have to correct my grammar all the time.
You know, we would have been able to go the whole podcast without saying Chang Lee's,
but you said without Chang Lee's. So we've already mentioned it.
I also, yeah, I'm already bringing up the Chang Lee's and the basket people.
And we have sugar here that Chris is missing.
Yeah. You know, as promised, Andrew came here to correct Edwin's grammar on the podcast and
bring Chris sugar from Canada. Chris is not here yet today and Edwin's busy editing our
ridiculously long road trip video. So because you did a ridiculously long road trip. Exactly.
How many hours of footage? We ended up with like 74 hours of footage.
Edwin just last night said that he still had 37 hours of footage that he hadn't even watched
yet. And he's already been working on the video for like off and on for two weeks.
Yeah. Well, it's been a long time since I've been here. It has, you know,
like by way of reference, the last time I was here, Edwin was asking for advice on how to buy
things on Alibaba. So, you know, like who knew how far down the rabbit hole that one would go.
I don't think anyone could have predicted that. Yeah. That got way out of hand.
Extremely so. Well, did you see it coming? The plot twist where he went into amusement park rides?
Because I didn't really see that one coming. No, that, it tracks, but, you know, like I'm astounded
that Mario let him put him up, put that thing up in the backyard. Well, she, he didn't tell her.
Well, that's true until after it was set up, but she also didn't divorce him. So
there is that, there is that. Yeah. Did you watch his video on that?
Cause yeah, her reaction was actually pretty funny. Cause at first she's like, Oh cool,
roller coaster. Then she's like, Oh, a roller coaster in my yard.
I might also be partly responsible for that because like I'd probably save three,
four months after that last podcast, M sent me a text going, Edwin wants to get a container.
Do you know any shipping companies in China we can work with? And I, and I'm like, yeah, here,
here you go. And now that, that was a bad move. Yep. You've started, you've created a monster.
Well, he's having fun. Yeah. Oh, it's true. He has what now what three, you know, storage units
full of Chinese bikes. Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I think he mentioned a number
somewhere around 40 the other day. He doesn't even know at any given time, how many he has.
Like people give me a hard time for having like eight cars. Yeah, but all of your cars are
like good mostly and valuable and cool for the most part. Speaking of, you know, last time I
was here last year was not that long after I rolled my rally car. Right. Right. And I completely
obliterated that thing and wiped it out. I have since rebuilt that rally car. Yep.
You know, rallied it in through few events, including the one that I rolled out in the
first time and then lost it in a fire. Yeah, that's, that's a much worse way to lose a rally car than
crashing it, crashing it. At least you have like pictures and evidence and it was, you know, violent
and exciting and sadly, it wasn't the only thing I lost in fire. Yeah. So that, you know,
I didn't really talk about this publicly, but I'll go over it real quick. Like I, my workshop
burned down. Yeah. So I, in August of last year, I, you know, my, I'd gone to bed, my wife had
fallen asleep on the couch, you know, she had a pop which turned out it was the breaker going in the
house and then got up to go get a glass of water and looked at the window and my shop was on fire.
Uh, so not a, not a, not a good way to, uh, to, you know, to buy new tools, but here I am.
Yeah. You know, it's, you know, it's, and the thing is, it was, you know, what it was,
I think you told me, but you should tell the people if it was a cheap Chinese golf cart battery.
Oh wow. This should stand as a warning to Edwin. Yeah. Well, yeah. So I, I said a text to
Ethan shortly afterwards with like a photo of the fire and said, you know, all those
sketchy batteries you have around the place, you might want to, you know, put them somewhere else.
Yeah. So yeah, it's, um, was it charging or doing? Yeah. It had been, I charged it a couple of
dozen times at least, you know, it had been, I had that battery been there for a couple of years.
Right. Um, and, you know, I guess it was just a combination of hot night and the, and, you know,
old battery and whatever. And that was enough to let it go. And the golf cart went up and then it
caught the corner of the building on fire and my Porsche on fire and to, and so whole building,
all the tools, uh, both of the rally cars, my Porsche, my Bentley, um, my cat, uh, which was
kind of sad. That is very sad. Yeah. Um, but, you know, all my original arch droid prototypes,
all my development tools, everything all gone. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can't take it with
you, I guess, but yeah, well, you know, there's, you know, and I'm, I'm rebuilding now. I've got,
I've got the new building almost finished and I'm starting to buy, um, materials and tools.
But if anybody's wondering why there hasn't been a whole lot of, Hey folks, welcome back to the
shed videos. The shed doesn't exist. It was no shed. So it's been, uh, yeah, it's, uh, yeah,
we're back, we're, we're mostly back up and running. I've been working out of a shipping
container for the last six months, but, um, we're, we'll be, we'll be back up and
fully running shortly and I can get back to doing some of the development and stuff like that.
Yeah. Um, you know, gotta keep making the arc droids for the people.
Yup. Gotta keep making the arc droids. Everybody loves them. Like everybody loves them.
Dude, I like, when I started this business, um, was sort of like, I built the thing because it was
a tool I wanted, right? Like I wanted something in my shop that was easy to use that didn't take
up a lot of space and whatever. And I thought, okay, I could probably build a business out of
this, you know, and keep a couple of people employed and stuff like that. Uh, we just shipped
to our 54th country. Wow. We just, we just shipped a couple of units to Hungary.
Wow. That's crazy. I didn't realize how internationally you were, but like what's,
what's the, I don't know the right way to say this, like the oddest country that you've sent
one to that you didn't expect? Lichtenstein. Okay. Which is like a country the size of this table.
Right. That's in Europe, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's a little, it's a little principality sort of
tucked down in between Switzerland and Germany kind of thing. But, um, yeah, I've sent one to
Mongolia. Oh, that's cool. Iceland. Um, you know, cheese, uh, all of it, like all over Europe. Um,
and that, you know, speaking of getting international, like that's, that's the thing that's,
that's, that causes me the most anxiety and stuff like that is now cause where we're shipped,
so many places were shipped. We're actually collecting taxes and all of these jurisdictions.
Oh, that sounds like a nightmare. So all through the EU and all through the US,
we've got it, we've got to collect and file the taxes and then Canada. We just, we just got a UK
VAT numbers and now we, now we're collecting UK VAT. Um, yeah, it's that, that is the, that's the
single biggest, oh my God, I wasn't expecting this kind of part of the business is the, is the
bureaucracy that goes with it. Um, but yeah, we're, I think we're closing in on eight to
a thousand units shipped worldwide now. Wow. That's a lot. Yeah. Um, and, and, and you're right.
Like most people love it. It is, it does seem to have a really good response. So I can't complain.
I guess I still do. Yeah, you know, I mean, we all got to have something to complain about every
once in a while, even if we don't have anything to complain about. I sometimes joke about that
with Steven. I'm like, you know, people, people, Steven will complain about something and, and
if somebody doesn't know him really well, they'll think he's like actually upset about it or, you
know, sad. And I'm like, no, Steven, just, you know, he's not really happy unless he's a little
bit unhappy. Yeah, I always need to have something to complain about. And if I have nothing to
complain about, I, I invent something. One day you're just staring at the wall because you got,
I got nothing. It's funny too, because I'm generally like a pretty happy person and stuff,
but it's always a little like, oh, I stepped on a weird rock this morning.
That would be the opposite of my sister in law who likes to complain about everything.
And it's always miserable. Yeah. So you're also, you just told me that you're getting a new rally
car to replace your sadly crisped one. Yeah. Well, I had crisped two. Well, right, crisped two. I had
two of them. So I had the original rally car that I built and then I was in the process of building
another one very similar to it, but much higher spec and lost both of them and really annoyingly
not covered under insurance. That's very frustrating. How did they weasel their way out of that?
Well, the policy basically excludes anything automotive because the automotive stuff needs
to have its own automotive insurance policy. Oh, and that was probably something that you didn't
know or didn't seem to find. Well, I didn't know. And also, it's how do, how do I, how do I ensure
a $20,000 racing engine that's sitting on a stand? Right. Yeah. I mean, how do you, yeah, you can't
really, yeah, like there's, it's really difficult. Just set it in the shell of another car and be like,
oh yeah, it's a Honda. Put it in the trunk of your Porsche. And the Porsche was insured.
Yeah, no. Also not covered. Because I only had liability on it. So I also lost the Porsche
without being paid for. That's a bummer. That one hurt a lot. And what really hurt on that was,
you know, they've gone up. Like I want to, like two weeks later, I'm starting to look at, you know,
add listings and whatever, because I want to replace my favorite car. And I want to replace
the thing. And it's only two, like I only had it for two years, and they'd already gone up 20 grand.
That's ridiculous. Canadian. Okay, so 1150, you know, US. But, but anyway, like, so I'm like,
for the same thing that I had two years ago, I got to pay $20,000 more now. And so I did not buy
another Porsche. But I did back to your point, I did get another, I did order another rally car.
I'm actually not building it myself this time. Being as old as I am and as busy as I am, I don't
really have like, and, you know, as much as I'd love to, I would be, you know, how hard it is.
I do. Yeah, absolutely. I was going to say, like, from, from what I can tell, having not really
owned or done any racing, but just from re researching and looking at used prices and stuff,
like it's almost always more cost effective to buy a used race car than it is to build one.
I buy a new one. So the car, the car I'm, the car I'm getting is actually a factory built race car.
Oh, that's good. It's built by Stalantis Motorsports in Europe. It is a Stalantis. Is that like,
Dodge Stalantis? Well, Dodge is, Dodge is a small part of it. Yes. Oh, I know, I know. I was just,
I was just, you know, curious. It was the same Stalantis. Same Stalantis. The podcast,
myth and sniff likes to think Stalantis sounds like a dance band. So it's like Stalantis.
But yeah, so Stalantis Motorsports started doing these. The, the, the World Rally Championship
now has sort of tiers of racing of classes specifically designed to make it easier to
get in. So the bottom, the bottom tier is basically a bone stock car with steel wheels
and regular transmission. It just has a roll gauge and, and, you know, and it's a little bit of
suspension upgrades. And then next step up, you've got some, you've got some better suspension,
you got better engine, and then when you hit rally two, which is the second highest level,
that's a, you know, full four-wheel drive car with crazy turbo and, you know, big wide fender
flares and everything. I would love a rally two car. I do not have the money for that.
So I got, I got what's called a rally four car and rally four is front wheel drive.
Oh, sequential gearbox. So you have a proper sequential dog box. It's got a 1.2 liter engine
cranking out 212 horsepower. So that's high strong engine, right? It's basically a,
basically a crotch rocket engine at that point that it's, that's kind of getting close. Yeah.
But so they started this stuff with, with Pujo, right? And that's a Stalantis product, right?
Right. Pujo and Citroen are both slanted, slanted products and they, they make versions of that
for all tiers of the ladder, right? But just this past year to end of this year, Lancia started
getting back into it. So Lancia is also part of Stalantis. So it's, that's funny. So it's the same,
it's the same plat. I didn't realize that they were so, so it's Fiat and everything like that.
It's hilarious how many quote unquote Italian brands are not like Ferrari is about the only
one I know of. It's still actually largely Italian. So long story short, I, I got a Lancia rally four
right? So I already own a Lancia. I have a, I actually have two. I have a, a, a 1971 Lancia
Fulvia and a 1993 Lancia Delta Integrale. That one's one of my favorites. Yeah. So that's my
poster car. That was like, when I found one at the right price, I'm like, I'll take it. So for me,
it was just sort of a, you know, it was a kind of, it would be cool to have three Lancias together.
It's the same car as the Pujo or just different badging, just basically a few different body
panels and stuff like that. It's the same platform. And in fact, you'll see this, like, you know,
the Lancia will post, you know, we, you know, they want to rally on, you know, in Italy or
something like that. And they'll have a Facebook posted like the top three comments as people go,
this is not a Lancia. It's just a Pujo with a different badge. Whatever, dude. It says,
it says on it. It's a Lancia. A Lamborghini is just a Volkswagen with a different badge. So
it's just, just an Audi with new bits, right? So that's the way the world works.
It's not funny how many like of those brands just fall under the same umbrellas. Like there's
like three options. Stalantis is massive. They've got to be one of the biggest conglomerates.
No, I think, I think worldwide Ford's still bigger, but Stalantis covers more brands. Right.
Most of them, right? Well, I think Toyota is still the biggest in terms of sales numbers.
I think they're number one selling. Yeah, they certainly have been for a long time. They may
may have lost that crown to Ford, but yeah, anyway, yeah, whatever. Anyway, so I decided
to push the easy button and, and, and, and buy a premade. It's currently in France. It's been
finished. It's ready to go. It will go into a container sometime in the next two weeks or so
and it shipped over to Canada and I can roll that one into the bush instead.
The question is, does it hurt more when it's money or time? You know what I mean? When you
crash the car, like I don't know the answer to that, but you know, it's like, um, if you built it,
then, and you crash it, you're like, wow, I just put hundreds of hours into this and then I wrecked
it. I think, I think the time is a bigger killer for me to prefer. I would tend to agree. You know,
um, you know, not, not that I'm, you know, crazy wealthy or anything like that, but, you know,
but I'm, I'm old enough now that, and I'm settled enough in my life and, and whatever,
where I've got some money and, and it's, and it's a little bit easier to do this sort of thing and
to just buy the car and whatever. I am looking forward to it because it will be the only Lancia
Ypsilon in North America. That's cool. So, uh, it will be the, the first Lancia, you know, like
factory rally car in, in North America in like 30 years. Wow. That's pretty cool. That is cool.
Yeah. But yeah, I know I, I would tend to agree. Like for example, you know, if I,
you know, destroyed one of the things that I've spent hundreds of hours building
versus totaled my Toyota truck, like the truck, I don't care.
I mean, that one's insured, but even if it wasn't like it would suck because it'd be
inconvenient and financially disappointing and all of those things, but I just like,
there's hundreds of thousands of those things out there. This is not a habit of building
things that are one of one. Exactly. Yeah.
Demonstrate the diesel Ferrari over there or the, you know, chopper on 46 inch tires behind you or
the soon to be Hayabusa swapped Suzuki Samurai or, you know, all of those things, all the cool
things that I never get to drive because the weather sucks when I show up. Yeah. This time,
there's many things running that you could have driven, but it's pouring down rain. I still
want to drive that one. And it's even just one hub replacement away from driving. If we had 10
minutes of sunshine, we could go out and do it, but maybe the puddles, they were a little smaller.
Yeah. The puddles are no, the puddles are seriously, you know, jet boatable at the moment.
I was kind of surprised when I showed up to snow today. Yeah. Like I saw it in the forecast and
thought it was a lie. Am I all winter? You guys have been griping about actually not having
any winter. All winter for us, we had winter. We really got hammered this year. It was crazy cold
for a long period of time. Like we had like, we had a weak solid where it was like minus 25,
minus 27 C, which I think is like minus 16 or minus 18. Yeah. It's about that. Very cold,
just nonstop. Yeah. Just like, Oh my God, please stop. And we had lots of snow. Like when I left,
we had still had snow piles in our, in the backyard and the, in the shady areas and stuff.
So that's where we'd normally be at this time of year, but we haven't had the snow's been
gone from the ground for like a solid month. Yeah. And your trees are popping and everything
like that. Grass is growing. And I show up and it's, you know, just above freezing and rainy.
Yep. And snowing a little bit. Yep. You were bringing me for bringing it this morning,
but it's right. You brought it. You said it has been raining for like a week straight at home
and it's been nice here. So it's, it's all your fault. Just like the Edwin's Chang Lee addiction
and all of the hexagons. There's the Chang Lee again. Stop with the Chang Lee.
Well, we could always detour from this and talk about creative ways to dispose of the
Chang Lee's too. Oh yeah. Nah. Well, I can tell you fire is good. If you want to get rid of a
lot of stuff, they're basically a golf cart from China. So they're like basically the same thing
if it started your fire, leave them plugged in at Edwin's house, not here. No, we don't,
we don't want to burn down Edwin's house. It would be entertaining to burn down a Chang
Lee, but only if nothing else. So what's your big plan with the Ferrari? Well, we've talked about
and I think it would be really cool to race Pikes Peak with it or do any race with it really
any sort of rally or like, but Pikes Peak is just one that I, I know of. It's famous. It's exciting.
And it's kind of a one off race where you can race in just about anything. It's not a series.
Yeah. You don't, you don't have to meet a very specific. Yeah. They have a class called exhibition
class, whereas long as you can pass safety tech, you're, you can race. Like it doesn't matter.
So it's one of the few like big exciting races where that's an option. Cause most everything
else is a big series and you can't just like show up and do one. I mean, you could, I suppose, but
it's not like, well, there's, there's a guy, there's a guy, I think he's in California that's
got a Ferrari engine Subaru rally car. I tried to convince you to do a Subaru powered rally car.
I was talking about that. And then you guys could get together and you know, at dirt fish or
something and race. If I'd gone that direction, it would probably already be running and driving.
Oh yeah. Because I could have just dropped an entire power train into it standalone ECU done.
Yeah. It's not like it's hard to find aftermarket stuff for Subaru. No, it's not. What it's very
hard to find is aftermarket stuff for Volkswagen Touregs with a V10 TDI. It's arguably probably
one of the top five most difficult to find parts for engines in existence that at least that is
relatively modern, but it'll go places. You can't even walk. It'll go speeds. You can't even walk
that for sure. I mean, I haven't done any actual math on the gearing in the transmission, but
just just some rough, you know, guesstimating because that's that transmission is out of a
Porsche Cayman, which is already geared. I mean, it's geared a little bit low
or than some sports car, but it's geared to do, you know, 150 at least. And we have bigger tires
and we have all of the torque while still having most of the RPMs that it's a diesel,
but it still revs to like five. Oh, that's pretty good for 48 or something. So like we still have
most of the RPMs. We have all of the torque and we have higher gearing and that car from the factory
would do 183. So theoretically, that could be a 200 mile an hour car. There you go.
Put your, put your Formula One tires on it. Yeah.
What? You mean my Chinese off-brand dirt tires aren't going to cut 200 miles an hour?
No, probably not. But I would, I would seriously compliment you on the white rims. That was the
best call you could have made for sure. Yeah. It's just the right move for that thing.
Vintage rally car. Well, it's funny because it like in person, it looks really cool. But on camera,
it almost looks like you're taking a picture of a miniature car, like a matchbox car or
something. Like on camera, it just looks so unreal kind of. Yeah. It is. It's disproportionate.
Yep. And, you know, I'm not, I'm not sure how Tavaresch talked to you into buying that thing,
but well, he didn't. He talked Edwin into buying it. That's a lot easier. Talking me into buying a
Ferrari would be very difficult, especially one that's that much work. Also, he'll do a way better
job and get it done quickly. Yeah. Way faster than we because I am me. Robbie has an entire
functioning body shop and a YouTube channel and a lot of employees. So yeah, that that's a good
fit. That's that's good. And that's just Utah. So that's not far from here. No, yeah, we can,
we can trailer it down there or whatever and go. I kind of want, I kind of want to buy one of the,
like the, the unloved previous versions. So this is the 355. This is the one that everybody likes.
This is the proper vintage Ferrari. You know, it's funny. I like the 348. Everybody says,
like if, I mean, not everybody, but people who know Ferraris like you and you know,
they're like, Oh, the 355. That's the, yeah. I'm like, I had never heard of a 355 before you got
this car. Like I assumed it was one of the ones no one cared about. That's how little I know about
Ferraris. Yeah. Well, that's what, so this was originally Hoovie's car, right? And then
to barish bought it after the, the fire and sat on it for a couple of years and then you guys got
it, right? But yeah, that's the whole reason Hoovie got it is because it's the one. It's the
one that everybody wants. I don't like it. I like the, I like the one before it, the 348,
the strikes down the side. I agree. The Miami vice doors and stripes and whatever.
But apparently the trick there is you got to buy a 94 because Luca Montesambolo came to,
to Ferrari in like late 93 and drove the 348 and came back and said, this is all crap, fix
everything. Right. So apparently the, the, the one to get is the 94 after Luca showed up and
fixed everything. And then in 95, they went to this model to change the looks of it. Except for,
the spider, you could get a 95, 348 spider. What do you know? Yeah. So I'm not a fan of
convertibles really. I don't own one. I think like, you know, like you say, but got a bit of a
carrot collection. I really should add a convertible to my car. After, after, after our last road
trip in the Nash and the samurai driving all the way up the coast, while I was driving that,
I was thinking we should do a vintage convertible road trip, similar type of thing, but do it in,
in, you know, whatever. I mean, personally, I'd go for something like an MGB or, oh yeah,
roadster stuff rather than a big old American. Yeah. I'm like, those are, I don't know. I mean,
a lot of people are into them, but, but also as far as like YouTube and that kind of stuff goes,
they're overdone. I mean, not even just YouTube, but like car culture in general, like our digs.
Yeah. All of them are and, you know, and like motor trend and all of that stuff has been all
those, but like I'm talking, yeah, like small, small convertibles, like MGB or a 124 spider,
Triumph GT or spitfire, spitfire or the other one that, um, not GT six, the
TR six, TR six, TR four, whatever, like any one of those, I think the spitfire is slightly
better looking, but the TR six is a much better car. Yeah. Well, and I actually leave the spitfire
off the list, but it's a much better one. I leave the spitfire off the list entirely because we had
one. Yeah. Yeah. You put the snowmobile engine in it and I know how the death driveshaft and
I know how atrociously murderous the rear suspension is on those. And I mean,
I'm sure at some point in their generations, they fixed that, but
not something you want to drive across the country and no, it's a transverse leaf spring. So like,
you know, normal leaf spring on a truck. So it's an old Corvette. Yeah. Yeah. But this one's worse.
So it's a transverse leaf spring in the rear. So like imagine one leaf spring in like the
samurai over there, but turned upside down and turned sideways and that manages the suspension
for both the rear tires, but also it's a swing axle. So like old Volkswagen's did this too where
the axle has a pivot at the inside on the transmission, but it does not have another
you joined out of the outside. So as it travels up and down, oh, the tire goes like it doesn't arc,
meaning that triumphs for famous for killing people because you hit a bump whilst going around a
corner, it would bounce up. The tire would travel down and then when you came back down,
it would fold under the car and you'd roll. Oh, yeah, that's not ideal. No. So by way of
I have my 1971 Lancia Fulvia, you know, which is a front wheel drive car. It looks like a real
world drive Italian, you know, coupe, right? Really sexy little car, but it's front wheel drive.
It uses a transverse land leaf spring in the front. Oh, no. But does it at least have an
extra link to keep it more straight up and down? Yeah, that's good. But it also has a
trailing axle in the rear. Like the same thing you're talking about. So that trailing axle is
pretty common. A lot of guys in fact, actually, technically the new Lancia I've got, it's got
a trailing axle, but I guess I'll let it as well. So that, you know, but they've gotten a lot better
at getting the geometry. Yeah, they make it so it doesn't just likely to go like that. Yeah, you
know, but the big thing of the triumph was it was just made out of tin foil, right? That too. Yeah,
they're so thin. Yeah, nothing, nothing would, nothing would stay straight. My grandmother
actually rolled one of those into a ditch in the 70s. That's hilarious. I mean,
not hilarious for her at the time, but it's a funny story to tell. Well, there may have been a
couple of cocktails involved. I don't know. But yeah. Yeah. Anyway, yeah. So if you need a convertible,
you can just join us on that road trip. Buy one wherever we go and drive it back with us. And
then you're almost to Canada, except then you have to drive all the way across Canada. Actually,
the last time I passed through, I was driving a convertible through here. I know you were. Yeah,
me and my dad went to DC to pick up a 1982 3DSL and drove it from here all the way back to Ontario
via your place in Montana and Wisconsin and all that sort of other stuff. But
and we just stopped and said, I right. But yeah, that that I bought that one because
that was my dad's the only car my dad ever talked about, right? Like, like I'm a car guy and been
a car guy since I was a kid, whatever, you know, and my dad has never been, you know, he drove like
a Dodge Dart when I was young and he had a he had a like a Mazda three that he put like 360,000
miles on. Wow. You know, he was commuting to work in the thing for like six years and you get in
and push the clutch pedal and the clutch pedal would make the noise. I'm tired. But the only
car I ever remember I'm talking about was in like a 1983 SL Mercedes. It's an oddly specific car to
be interested in. And they're not worth a whole lot. They're not like they're not a super
collectible car or anything like that. But I actually stumbled across one couple of years ago
at a at a at an auction in BC and and put in a low ball bin on it and won it. And and that was
probably a pretty fun trip. Yeah. So I gave that to my dad for Christmas and whatever. And then
that later that year we we flew out and drove it home. So that was that that was my convertible
road trip. Ironically, without actually taking the top off because it came with the removable
hard top. Oh, yeah, you can't take that off. It's getting away to put it somewhere. And I got
4000 kilometers covered again home. Right. So my dad drives it with the top down all the time. Like
it doesn't like it puts the top up. So that's awesome. Yeah, I don't have I don't have a convertible
in my my my stable right now. I should get myself one. The only convertible we have arguably is
well the Humvee and or the Nash because it's got a removable hard top. But well arguably it's also
not convertible because you can't actually there's no windows. So you can't unconvert it. It's just
always open. It's converted. It's converted. It is. It is fresh air privileged. It got pretty
cold the last day because it was like well it was 36 I think that morning. Yeah. Yeah. So we
bundled up and Ethan and I were in there like let's get the heater on. So this road trip better
or worse than the than the military vehicle road trip. I think we kind of concluded that it was
overall our best road trip just the most enjoyable and scenic and everything else. But there were
certain elements of the military vehicle ones that were that were way more entertaining. Giant
military. Yeah. Like the the Nash one was overall more fun because like the weather was nice and
like we had some breakdowns but only enough to keep it interesting not like constant. And even
when they went when there were issues it was like very low stress because you're dealing with a car
that's super common parts. I mean the Nash isn't but well and also their cars that you have no
stress with because if they break you can just push it a couple miles. Yeah. Exactly. Whereas
when we're when we're in the military six by six is the MTV's we like you can't even call it a
regular. They're twenty thousand pound trucks with air brakes and yeah parts that like only a
couple of the parts on the whole truck could actually buy anywhere breakdown on that mats off
road shows up and goes nope. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There's there's very yeah. So that one was
more stressful but also more fun in certain ways and it was much more absurd. Like the other one
was like I mean it wasn't normal because the way that because what it was like more it felt more
like just a fun road trip for guys trying to get across and get home with it. And our scenery I think
was like 10 times better. Yeah. And we lucked out on the weather. It never rained the whole time.
Oh perfect. And yeah. Like it was it was way too hot the first couple of days but then once we got
to the coast the weather was nice. Like we found really cool spots to camp. It was once you get
the Hayabusa into that thing you're going to have to figure out how to do four wheel donuts.
That would be terrifying in that thing. It's so top heavy. Yeah. But you only die once. Yeah.
Yeah. Also you probably wouldn't even die if you rolled it. It'd just be you know
having rolled a samurai. I can say I'm still here. Yeah. I had a samurai back in the 90s.
You know when you were not even around. Hey I was around for all of the 90s except for like
first half of the first 10 months of the 90s. You were you were 91. No. I was born 90. So I was
only I was only I only missed the first 10 months of the 90s of the decade. So as Chris is here
today I'm the old guy. I'm 56. Yeah. So yeah. I had a I had a samurai back in the 1990s and of
course did all kinds of dumb things in the bush with it and did roll at once. It was a soft top.
So I just put it back on as well as we kept going. It was fine. I didn't even do any body work on it
or anything. It was like you know. Did you just tip it onto its side or all the way over to his
roof. You know hanging hanging there on the seat belts going crap. Now what was that was that
the first time you rolled a car. No. The first time I rolled a car I did that actually on purpose.
First time I rolled a guy I had a I dragged a 19 sort of 71 Datsun pickup out of a Canadian field.
It was rusted as hell but somebody gave it to me for free and I'm I'm 17. So of course you
take the free stuff right. That sounds like how I got my first truck too. And I spent a crap load
of time like you know rebuilding it and trying to make it work and fixing it up and then I couldn't
get it like I didn't take it far enough to actually get it road legal because it was just
such a pile. Yeah. Right. And then we dicked around with it dig around and then one day
me and a couple of buddies decided OK we're doing it. This is the swan song we're going to we're
going to and so we just took it out to a gravel pit just ran it ran it and ran it and ran it until
you know like you know and flipped it over twice and you know pouring out oil and the
clutch was dying and we just kept going and kept going until it died until it wouldn't go anymore
and then we left it there. And then and then came back like three weeks later and somebody
had pushed it into the river next to the gravel pit and it was upside down in the river with the
rims off. Oh geez. Like somebody wanted the rims I guess. So this was their way to get the rims
and we're like all right. All right. How are we. Yes we're it lives now. I never see I haven't seen
it since. Wow. So but get away with that crap in 1984 I guess. Yeah. Well that would be 87 or
something like that. Yeah. No that was the first time I rolled was in that and then the second
time would have been the samurai. Third time would have been a rented rally car and then the
fourth time was my own rally car. Nice. Wow. I think I've only rolled I mean for counting vehicles
as like you know theoretically road legal car ish things. I rolled a Subaru pretending to rally.
Yeah. You told that story. Yeah. And then I rolled our K truck like right after we finished it
basically tipped it over on its side but I don't think I've rolled any other actual I've rolled
like the power wheels and stuff but I don't think I've rolled any other real cars. Yeah.
Real car type vehicles countless yard sales on motorcycles. Well yeah I mean obviously
that's you can't even count those just just last year about this time. Well maybe a little
later probably late April early May something like that I went out for a ride with with all
the guys that I generally snow bike with. I'm far more into snow biking than dirt biking
but I was into dirt biking first so I still I still have dirt bikes so you know in the spring
when we all take our snow bike kits off we always go out and find a place to go ride and whatever
we're out at this place just north of here. It's called Stampede and it's in the forest
much like this but it's also sand like sand dunes sand like really fine like wherever there's a
lot of berms yeah lots of berms there's big straightaways there's lots of whoops you know
like because there's a power line that runs through it so there's in the power line cut
there's a bunch of whoops it's it's a really odd little spot because it's basically like sand dunes
except there's not enough wind and there's too many trees so it's just piles of sand okay it's
not quite properly dunes anyway we're out there and we found this giant step up jump that somebody
had built where it was along the power line cut and there was like a regular ish road that kind of
came around a bank and then went down through there and this this jump came up the bank below that
gapped the road and then theoretically you would go all the way up over the top of the hill and
land down the other side but it's probably like a yes probably like a 70 80 foot gap to actually
land down the hill so you gotta have the balls and a lot of speed yeah and so the but the upside is
if you come up short it was just a really gradual sandy slope so you just pump and then like you
you know if you come up short you're not just dead so
one of the other guys there was like a previous motocross guy or whatever I that was the first
time I met him he was like 22 or something and so he was like oh yeah I'm gonna hit it so he goes
you know comes up a little short but just kind of bounces over the edge yeah catches the lip
yeah catches the lip but like you know I think he might have crashed but just barely like he just
kind of tumbled and I was like well I think he was on a 250 too I was like all right well
now I know I need more speed so I went to hit it but the problem is the run up to the jump was
terrible it was either a little single track that like kind of went off to the side and then last
minute got lined up straight or just non-stop whoops for like 100 yards so it's just throwing you
around yeah so you just can't get speed until right at the end so the first time I hit it
I did basically the same thing he did I got a little bit more speed so I made it just like
almost to the knuckle of the jump hit and then just kind of bounced over the top and I was like okay
more speed so I hit it again did the same thing but just like a little bit farther but that time
I stayed on the throttle as long as possible to get all the speed but that also meant that
as I came off the lip it kicked the back sideways a little bit because it just but you're still on
still on the power and it just you know kicked sideways so I I knew it was bad while it was
in the air it was one of those months where you're like oh this is this isn't gonna work because I
landed like you know it's still probably a 50 foot gap by the time I hit the top of the hill
and I was slightly sideways in soft sand and I just boom bounced flopped went over the bars that
mashed my knee into the handlebars and I got up and I was like oh man I'm too old for this
and the the funny part is the the other guy that had been doing it he was like
wait how old are you I was like I'm almost 35 and he's like oh dang that's awesome you're
still out here doing this I was like what are you talking about I'm not that old get used to it man
get used to it it gets worse trust me yeah you know my you know my yard sale days are dwindling
I've still ride motorcycles go out a lot you know I go to the Africa tours and stuff like that
this year we're doing um in one of my the regular tour buddies are doing uh loop around Scotland
we're gonna do most most of the nose post 500 I was thinking that would be fun um but I you know
I planned a whole bunch of like little like every day I created I created an itinerary and then
every day's got side quests and then a list of like castles and waterfalls nice you know that'd be
a really cool spot to do yeah yeah no Scotland is gorgeous it really is beautiful so on adventure
bikes still uh no actually well these yeah these are adventure bikes these are the other we're
gonna do the royal infield of Himalayan 450s oh nice so there's not a big like it's not a big
adventure the roads are pretty small and windy and yeah you know and there's not much off-roading
yeah and I'm sick of renting BMWs yeah I've done I've done my time on BMW adventure bikes they're
so we tried something different but yeah I so I still ride a lot but my yard sale days I'm
you know I don't bounce the way I used to you've had to tone it down like a little notch yeah
my knees still work and I want them to keep working yeah yeah that that crash I did that was
many months before my legs because it what what got me is the I hit the handlebars right above my
knee right in my yeah and it hits the hard part well and it and it and it hyper extended all the
tendons on the back of my leg so like that's what took forever to heal was the tendons on the back
like it was like six months later I was still like oh that kind of hurts we've all met Travis
Pastrana so yes if you want to see an example of all of the yard sales I don't know how he still
is going as hard as he goes because it spends a lot of time in physio yeah like yeah yeah like
it's impressive recently saw the x-rays again of like oh his body yeah I was like oh wow that's
yeah like he like he knows that he's broken all of the things in the day if he doesn't
keep up on like so he works out like a mother and he does a lot of physio and things like that
and he also tries not to you know crash crash anymore or at least not without a roll cage yeah
yeah that that that that boy is headed insane like no kidding yeah and the latest you saw the
latest uh the um gym counter with him and right the one in Australia yeah that was that was pretty
good that I think that's one of their better ones for sure yeah they had just I think that one had
like just recently come out when uh when I was at the last race down at Cletus is hanging out with
those guys because I race with Jim well yeah I code row with Jim York for the two point four hours
of the mallets what's that where'd you end up in that I mean I was holding second for a very long
or no third second third whatever I was in third for a very long time in the first half
and I gave I left him the car like I was I was trying to pass into second
towards the end of the first half uh and then somebody also was trying to pass me at the same
time and we bumped and I spun out but I still gave him the car in one piece within the in the top
like seven when he got in it and then um he dnf'd the the car was in one piece but you know had
already been bumped a few times and then he he clipped uh I think he clipped a tire and broke
the tie rod on it or something um that'll that'll do it but he was he was holding like seventh place
or something after for quite a while and then so we were doing really well and then you know right
up until we weren't well you got you guys got to figure out how to buy yourself an old racetrack so
you can do here on this side of the world yeah absolutely with a different take on it you know
dirt oval or something like that well Robbie Layton just bought a dirt oval hit it yeah I forgot
about that yeah yeah a very old crusty one in utah but well most of them are old and crusty these
but yeah I I think it'd be fun to get a uh a legend's car and do some dirt racing because
they just look so they're not made for dirt really but like well no I mean they race them on dirt in
my part of the world I don't know okay but yeah I don't know I mean I I guess they're for both dirt
and pavement but anyway they just look really cool yeah and I think it'd be fun to get one do some
actual like circle track and dirt track racing with them and then turn it into something else
because the bodies are so cool looking yeah they'd be perfect for like a miniature it's like a toy
at a rear axle or something in them yeah and they all have they all have either the older ones all
have a yamaha 1200 four cylinder and all the new ones have an fz09 engine the yamaha 900 is the
fz09 is a triple right or am I thinking of I don't know I'm sure I can't remember anyway
it's a 900 cc modern fuel injected one because yeah but it's what's cool about it too is it's
a spec class so like yeah you can't yeah it's not a pay-to-play class it's like a very entry level
type of thing yeah that yeah if you're gonna get into the circle track that definitely seems like
a that's actually one of the things that I would have never expected it uh that came out of me
going to cletus's and racing that is you like going around in circles it's mind numbingly
dull to watch but man is it fun to do in ways that in ways that like I haven't done much other
racing but I've done all the driving styles that go with it you know like driving in the way of
rally or driving in the desert a real rally car one day too yeah but what's what's unique to the
circle track is like the door to door nature of it is one part and then just like that that's the
biggest part it's like just being able to be you know four inches off the bumper behind and in front
of you for like a hundred laps you know I've done a lot of ice racing and you want something
looks painfully slow yeah in the car is you know all activity and excitement yeah that's the same
thing right because you you know you're on you're on regular snow tires on an ice surface with
with no studs and yeah and and it's door to door and you're trying desperately to make that little
two inches more so you can get around the guy and every and from the you know from the the spectator
point of view it's yeah right yeah it looks really slow from but it's great uh from inside yeah
exactly and that's yeah the circle track racing I mean even in totally stock crown vicks which by
the way the nitrous does absolutely nothing the first time we did the race I forgot about nitrous
the entire time and I never hit it because I was just focused on driving this last time I was like
I knew what to expect a little bit more so I like yeah I was I was a little bit more in the
you know mentally well in the zone well arguably more and less in the sense that like
the first one I was just like so hyped and so focused on driving I forgot everything else
the second one I was like oh is the GoPro still going cool all right nitrous let's try that out
nitrous did I tried it like six or eight times and it did absolutely nothing
maybe it was just my car but maybe maybe we've been misled yeah you know what you do actually
you know what you need there's a there's a group I think that they're in Spokane Northwest rally
rallycross association and they've got a rallycross that they have that happens down in Spokane
and you can literally take anything on this property down there and run the rallycross yeah
we do need to we do need to do that but they've even got they've even got one of the guys in
the club down there is really good with an fpv drone so that's cool so like I get I'll get their
you know their instagram feed and whatever of uh I was you know trying to get people to come out
to the rallycross and it's and it's all fpv stuff you know beat up old Subarus and old Toyotas
and whatever doing this valley cross track yeah that's that's your first place to take the Ferrari
there you go that's good good testing zone there's there's your goal or um one of our friends Lucas
he's actually helped us with some of the wiring on that and previous projects um he uh he's big
into autocross and I've done it with him and that's also really fun but like there's just nothing
that compares to the like door to door you know lap base yeah you know but rally is rally cross is
a lot more fun because it's loose surface yeah surface yeah totally looping you've done around
here yep you you definitely probably have some skills I'm very familiar with questionable traction
almost hitting a tree over and over again yep I think it'll be scary to watch Ethan do that
I don't know I think you probably be pretty good do what just race rally oh I think I'd be afraid
because like you are a very very very good driver but I'd be like kind of scared to watch that yeah
we should get you into a real rally yeah I would that would be a lot of fun with a co-driver and
everything yeah that would be a lot of fun the rally cross is easy because it's just a lap and yeah
you can bring anything and like this is one of the things you know like I I you know as being part
of the rally community in Canada and whatever I actually you know I'd used a little bit of my
Arkdroid budget and stole it to make some rally ads to try and promote in Ontario and whatever
and this is one of the things that we try and try and tell people is you don't necessarily need
you know to buy a FIA Stalantis built rally car to get going on these for example random example
yeah just just out of the top of my head right you don't need to do that you can you can do a rally
cross you can do yeah we have we also have navigational rallies which is which is not technically
racing yeah you know so the challenge is the navigation but you still get to drive some great
roads and do some driving and stuff yeah that's that's I mean that's kind of the format that the
gambler is like the navigation type rally yeah you know you're not you're not meant to be going at
any kind of speed you're just going to try and figure out how to get over there at you know at
roughly this kind of speed but the rally cross is a great way to start because you can take pretty
you can take your daily if you want and some people do right but other people you know they'll
pick up an old Subaru for 2000 bucks and you know slap a skid blade on it and and you know share
it between a couple of buddies and they they go and have 10 runs in an afternoon and have a great
time and get a lot of dust and things and whatever it's a great way to get started yeah you know so
people rally cross you gotta do it rally cross autocross definitely those are those are I mean
just go racing yeah come on like it's absolutely you know there's a number of people that make it
through their entire life with never experiencing the joy of driving right like they drive they get
up in the morning in the car they go to work right whatever but they never get a chance to have fun
driving I think that's kind of set you need to have fun and and drive all of the things drive
motorcycles drive cars drive whatever do some things that and you know rally cross or autocross
or any of that sort of stuff is an easy way to go out and have some fun in a car and learn that
you can actually enjoy you know whipping a car around as opposed to it just gets you to work
yeah no I agree that's definitely yeah speaking of speaking of rally cross uh I'm sure you've
seen Liam Doran and his um twin Hayabusa engine mini pickup that's built for the autographs yeah
yeah that's what we think of is the the the um absolutely insane and he's sold one to Travis
now yeah but oh well Cletus has got one Cletus has one too yeah they both going Cletus is on rally
tires like actual like proper rally dirt rally tires that's cool um I don't know why but yeah he
doesn't exactly have well much to be fair as of the last video I saw it in it only had front
rally tires the others are just slicks now yeah that tends to happen when you have a Hayabusa
per tire yeah I'm not yeah I'm not I'm not sure with it but that you know I noticed that in the
thumbnail one day I'm like why is it actually on rally tires these rally tires are very specific
type of tire like like if you ever have to mount one you will you will curse it horribly because
the sidewalls are like three quarters of an inch thick like they are like they're just so stiff
they will break tire machines trying to put them on um and and then they have a very specific sort
of tread to them and everything like that like those those Chinese you know off-roader tires
sort of look like rally tires which was the goal but yeah but they're not at all not but
if you actually if you actually drive on gravel on a real rally tires one day you will be astounded
how much grip they have right like they like especially under braking yeah like you know
you've driven enough loose surfaces you know you gotta be careful on under hard braking
but uh with a good set of rally tires and a well set up car like you can haul it down so hard your
eyeballs are pulling out that's crazy on loose gravel that's that's crazy and that's that's all
in the tires yeah rally has definitely always been on the top of my list for ones that i'd want
to do rally rally desert i've been doing it for 30 years and i still want to do i still can't
wait to do it again so yep have you ever done any desert racing probably not i have not but
like a trophy truck is on my i would love something with the big long try to oh oh oh my god well
we need to we need to find a way to do a grind hard slash arc droid desert racing team so what
you're you've been aggling for sponsorship now are you it's a team effort you know you gotta have a
yeah well basically are you gonna you're gonna try you got that the side by side you can actually
get it out and race it yeah uh the plan is well we have an Audi r8 body to put on it first fiber
glass okay our dr h shell oh yeah i saw that in the back of edwin's uh shipping shop yeah whatever
yeah so ideally put the put the cage on it or put the body on it first and then go race it in
like the mid 400 or something because partly because i mean we don't have a lot of time
for just going and racing for fun uh between all the videos and stuff it's like i and a video of
going and racing uh side by side in the desert like it's the least cool thing you could possibly
race well there's a few out there yeah exactly like for a good reason i mean you can get into
a desert race for like 20 30 grand for a used race car with which is crazy cheap to get into
that type of racing like insanely cheap and you're not going to win but you can get a functional car
that's fully set up and you can go have a lot of fun you know two days trying to get to the end of
this thousand mile you know craziness yeah and that's that's a lot of fun yeah exactly but
doesn't necessarily make you know scintillating youtube but no but if you make it look like
an outie r8 and then and then do it there you go yeah desert racing is definitely on the on the
list of try the main reason i haven't tried desert racing is because where i live there
ain't no deserts absolutely there's not really here either i just yeah we're a lot closer to
than i am i've got yeah you're we got rocks and trees man we got rocks and rocks and rocks and
trees that's all we got yep so you're farther north and mostly way farther east so you're
to go south and then actually i'm slightly i'm slightly so so to you are you yeah if you look
at where yeah that's oh i forget that the yeah i forget that the yep i forgot about that little
dip there but either way sent us all our winter now we got the canadian what's called the canadian
shield so that like Hudson bay which is that you know you know dip in the middle of north america
there all around that is the oldest geological formation on the planet it's called the canadian
shield wow and i did so it's humps and bumps that used to be huge mountains right right and then
glaciers and glaciers and glaciers we have there's more lakes in in canada than there are outside
of canada right i remember that was a trivia question recently and i i hadn't known the answer
to that that was great it's one of those things where there are so many lakes that anytime you
look up the number of lakes it says it is estimated that because you know and it's 30 000 plus lakes
or what it's just because no who's counting all that crap my favorite is the somewhere in canada
i forget where there's a lake with an island with a lake with an island with a lake that's in
that's in the northwest territory so yeah to be fair the final island it's literally a puddle
but yeah nevertheless it counts um still that's in the northwest territories but yeah i can't
we like we've like you know where i live is literally where the canadian shield starts like
with like a you know a mile from my house is basically where the canadian shield starts
and um so you know the good it's saying is you know like if you're not standing on a rock your feet
are wet because it's just rocks lake tree tree rock bear moose whatever you know so yeah nice place
part of the world but not the most hospitable for desert racing no so yeah the cool thing about
desert is like you know the sand side because like you can just basically like you can go anywhere
like you tell yeah drive anywhere you know like nobody seems to care because it's all just sand
anyway right well yeah and that's the cool thing yeah like you said about desert racing is like
there is a course kind of but if you you can go somewhere else if you think it's better and they
do reasonably but can't they can't they're done a rally no it's very specific you get offline and
it's trees yeah well i'm sure we could talk about rallying and cars and arc droids and stuff all
day but we got things to build and upgrades for the arc droid to install brought you the new 10
inch controller so yeah this is yeah this thing's really nice looking well it's it's hold it up so
the camera can see oh yeah yeah so the idea here is you know this has a lot more power you know
processing power a lot more capability um bunch of new features and we'll like our old like our
old system will continually update this nice this is just the relief you know first release
you know you've got things like you know you can actually do text on the bottom it's got a shapes
library so if you want to do a shock tab or something like that you can just choose the
button and dial in your dimensions for your shock tab you don't have to you know do individual
components that'll do curve smoothing it's got much more reactivity it's got more memory you can
do bigger files it also has a standalone mode so you can actually plug it like a usb power supply
into it and a mouse and use it on your kitchen table and then take it out into the freezing
cold garage to do your cut and stuff like that oh and uh don't forget we just launched the new
giveaway we are giving away a k truck full of tools including a brand new arc droid and a uh
what do you call the flex table flex table so uh you know cut table for it that uh and if you
ask real nice i'll throw one of those into there you go and uh yeah every dollar you spend on
grindhardplumbingco.com gets your entry to win we've got goose hats goose shirts all sorts of
good stuff go check it out and uh thanks for listening to the sentin bent podcast it's available
wherever you listen to podcasts hi everybody
About this episode
Andrew (inventor of the Arctoid) joins Sent and Bent for a wide-ranging chat that starts with a gut-punch: his workshop burned down after a sketchy Chinese golf-cart battery likely ignited, taking out tools, prototypes, and multiple cars. He’s rebuilding from a shipping container and shares how the Arctoid now ships worldwide (bureaucracy and taxes included). The conversation then pivots to rally racing plans—his new factory-built Lancia Rally4—and the group’s ongoing “garage chaos” stories, plus talk of circle track, rallycross, and even motorcycle/yard-sale injuries.
