I just again, because of my involvement in this Fox Mustang
on a lot of the Facebook groups and forums, you'll see people
that actually tear into the computers and they say, oh, look,
this capacitor is bad, replace one and then have the interface
to get in and check the coding and make alterations.
And really, I think the kind of sweet spot is once we get to OBD
two cars where the interfaces, so post 96, after the interfaces
became standardized, the cars are relatively easy to work on.
But OBD one cars, you know, from 1980 to 1996 are
there, they require some specialized skill sets.
Oh, yeah.
And a lot of the texts that knew about that stuff are now gone.
The dealers have gotten rid of the equipment and so the stuff is around,
but it takes a lot more hunting and finding and sometimes research
into kind of obscure, obscure by ways, which is again,
what I really enjoy, but it's not not everyone's cup of tea.
One of the things that we've talked about recently with a couple of people
we've interviewed, John Fakara one and then a gentleman we had on the show
last week is that there are so many
older restorers, guys in their 60s, 70s, even 80s who have such
an immense body of knowledge for whatever particular cars they work on.
And there are not enough young restorers to take their place
or to even learn what these people know.
And when they die, these this body of knowledge is going away.
It's not it's not catalogued anywhere.
And that's that's going to be a big problem, I think,
because there's an awful there are an awful lot of tricks of the trade
that aren't going to be passed down.
So when we talk about the college is kind of strategic vision,
that's really part of it is to build a mechanism
to record that knowledge and bring people here
so that we can capture that kind of spirit and that knowledge
and technical know how that those people have before they're gone
and hopefully imparted to the next generation,
because that's really what we're all about here.
And I will tell you, you know, on our end, we basically are capped
just from a space standpoint at around 60s new students a year.
And but, you know, we have 100, 150 applicants
and it can be really, really hard to say no to somebody
who clearly has a lot of passion for this.
So whenever people say, oh, my God, the kids don't like cars.
They're not going to do this. That's not true.
Passion. Yeah, it's not true at all.
And the passion is there. The drive is there.
And and they want to do it well.
So it's it's really it's important work to me to make the connections
and to be able to foster that and be able to show young people
really what those skills are and make sure that transfer of knowledge
between generations of car people happens.
So that's been my big mantra lately.
My other one lately has been like, so in the restoration industry,
it seems like, you know, as a generalist, it takes on
maybe not anything that comes in the door, but just about anything.
And I feel like we could all do a lot better
if maybe we were a little more open to specialize.
And what I mean by that is, you know,
there's like some guy who builds radiators.
I do Model T coils on the side.
But a lot of us just have like this widget that we do for cars.
And if you get a name for that widget, you one,
don't have to bring in a whole cavalcade of new cars all the time.
And two, it just takes up a lot less room.
You can use much more efficient processes
and really improve your end product by doing so
and make a pretty decent living at the end of it.
So it's like my whole thing lately has been with the students,
like find the widget that you are good at and make your fortune there.
Well, you got a brand new garage at your house.
We could probably send three or four specialists over there.
We could bring it on, man.
Yeah, that'd be great.
It's got a beautiful floor that I watched you epoxy.
It's roomy.
It's got a bathroom.
It's a really nice garage.
I mean, I'm practically living in there already.
And you know, after we got the bill for all the stuff
that I wanted, that was extra,
then I was kind of forced to live out there.
Didn't go over quite the way you thought it was.
Hell of a dog.
No, it's fine.
It's fine.
It's a gorgeous garage.
We're really happy with it.
Thank you.
It's a fantastic place to feed a couple hundred of your best friends.
Yeah, that's exactly what we are.
Well, kind of what we had in mind.
We sure, you know, we had 250 people at the barbecue.
Was that 250?
250.
You don't have a solid head count, but it was at least that many.
I just know that all the food was gone.
All of it.
Yeah, it was just that.
There were no leftovers.
That was a really, really good showing.
I can't wait for next year.
All righty.
California is arguably the nexus for the collector car world.
You make one trip out there for, you know, Monterey Car Week and you see it,
but they have really, really stringent automotive emissions laws that make it
difficult for some, some vintage vehicles to meet compliance.
A bill aimed at eliminating emissions,
tasking requirements on cars.
35 model years or older was introduced to the California assembly in March of this year.
It was called SB 712 and it was dubbed Leno's law because Jay Leno got involved with it last week.
Oh man.
A divided state legislature halted the bill's progress entirely by letting it die in committee.
What are your thoughts on allowing vintage vehicles, many of which were built
well before federal emissions standards were implemented, to be excluded from these testing
standards?
And did California get it wrong?
So I'm a professor, so I have to give the balanced view, which is not necessarily what
I want to give.
I mean, you have to remember that smog in the LA Basin in the 1960s and 70s was just
absolutely terrible.
Oh yeah.
I mean, it's a place that's naturally prone to temperature and versions of smog
and automotive exhaust made it worse, made it worse.
So I mean, at some level, emissions testing and emissions requirements make sense, but
I mean, I have some significant issues with the California regime in regards to
automobiles, one of which is that the California Air Resources Board is not
an elected body and they set all these emissions standards for a lot of people.
And so those are appointed people.
They don't have to run for office.
They're not accountable to voters and they have significant impacts on a large,
well basically the entire United States because CARB de facto sets standards.
But second to your point about emissions testing.
So establishing standards, I think, has been a net positive for the automotive
industry. It brought us electronic fuel injection, better engine controls, more reliable cars.
But the emissions testing regime is basically just a scam anymore.
I mean, it's influenced by the testing companies who get state licenses, state monopolies
to test cars and everyone is required to pay the fee, get the inspection, etc.
With a number of miles driven by 35, 40 year old cars and the amount of even if one is tuned
incorrectly or tuned to run, right? And the amount of emissions are just
piddling. I mean, just a drop in the bucket.
So I mean that that bill made perfect sense to me, but I'm sure.
I mean, there are any number of lobbies involved, but you can bet that
some people got paid fairly well to make sure that didn't happen.
Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me. And you brought up a really important point.
There may be more collector cars, more vintage collector cars in California than any other
state in the nation, but they don't drive that many miles.
There are very few people out there who try to daily their vintage cars.
I do, but, you know, I'm an idiot.
Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, this is, you know, it's the whole model that the classic car
insurance is built on. They're fundamentally a safe bet because they don't get driven that much
and the owners really care about. So, you know, yeah. So, enough said.
With American auto manufacturers going to almost exclusively truck and SUV lineups,
what are your thoughts on the death of the American sedan and the American coupe?
And to that end, the only car Chevy offers anymore, the only car is the Corvette Cadillac has a CT5
and the CT4 and the Celeste kind of counts. Ford has the Mustang and Dodge has the charger
and all the rest of the American made cars now are trucks or SUVs.
Well, I mean, part of that is a byproduct of emissions regulations and fuel economy standards,
but I mean, I think that it's also fair to say that consumer demand is driven that.
The thing is, like for me, we kind of have a policy around our house that we have one of
every category. So, we have the sedan, we have the SUV, we have the truck,
we have a convertible, we have an antique car, just like everything that fills, you know,
every slot and we kind of rotate cars through those different slots.
Hey, you have a car that has no doors?
Absolutely. No doors. I mean, I will always have a car that has no doors. We have tractors,
maybe too many tractors at this point, but I'm not saying anything about that.
But yeah. So, I love cars in like all forms, you know, and I think for some reason,
I seem to be the odd man out now, but when I grew up, like driving a pickup truck was not
something you really aspire to. That was for the plumber, right? I mean, the plumbers are fine
people, but like these were work vehicles, these were utility vehicles. And now people are obsessed
with driving their F 350 down to the school drop-off line. It's like, why do you need
something that has, you know, 14 leaf springs when your kids weigh 70 pounds? I fundamentally
don't understand that other than that people just like big cars and there's more profit
in making big cars, big trucks and SUVs. So, I mean, I personally,
if my personal preferred car is a sedan, I like having a nice four-door car with trunk so I don't
have to hear the luggage banging around in the back. Also, you know, when you shut the
trunk lid, you tend to forget about whatever's back there, which makes it fun to rifle through
later. And I mean, my off-road needs are basically none. So, you know, and I mean, all the SUVs
they sell today don't have any ground clearance anyway. So, I mean, the SUVs we drive today
are station wagons. Let's just call it spade to spade, right? And I think station wagons
are perfectly good cars and I wish we would just call them station wagons and be done with
but that's not the way that the things have seen the work. You know, the other piece of this is that,
again, from a fuel economy's aerodynamic standpoint, it's the Ferrari bread van issue,
right? Like, the cars are slipperier if they're built in that SUV format with the long
back tail. It's just a slipperier shape than a traditional sedan. So, you get,
you ultimately get better fuel mileage, assuming you don't have huge amounts of ground clearance.
But I, yeah, I wish we would just call it station wagons.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the sedan argument. Even though I was in my truck last
night, I was in my truck for a reason because I couldn't get a stove in the back of the Mercedes.
Just wouldn't fit. I mean, the only, like the only time I drive my truck is either if there's
something in the bed or if I have a trailer on. That's like the only reason that that vehicle gets
used. And that is, as I believe, as the Lord intended, but I seem to be the odd man out.
No, no, no. I agree with you wholeheartedly. There's a reason I got a 2002 F-150 that's
got 19,000 miles on it. I just, I only use it when I'm hauling stuff or tow on a trailer.
And that's it. And the rest of the time I drive a car car. It's not that I don't like
the truck. I do. I just, I don't need it. The favorite car I ever had was my Lincoln town car.
You know, big, comfortable, fit plenty of people, all kinds of luggage, float down the road. Just was
a great car. And I wish I went forward, killed the Panther platform in like 2010, 2012. I still
don't understand why they did that. They didn't advertise them that all the tooling had to
have been paid for back in, you know, 1954. Oh, yeah. So they didn't fundamentally
need, I mean, the, the input costs were basically just materials and again, no advertising. So it
was a clear profit center, but something else prevailed there. And I settled to this day.
Don't understand that. My favorite car so far. And this is going to be weird to say because
I've had that, that red Corvette since I was 18, which is a million years ago now.
Still a shot in Freud Express, as maddening as it can be when everything's right. Oh my,
that is the best road car, great seats, great stereo rides like you're in a cloud
until you stick your foot in it. And then it's Jacqueline Hyde and I love it. I absolutely
love that car. I can't find parts for it, but I love the damn thing. So do you think that regular
cars will ever, regular American made cars will ever return to the market?
Let me put it to you this way. I'm a historian and historians are famously bad at predicting the
future. Famously bad. So if you ask like a whole room of historians who's going to win
the next election, you can almost bet it will be the other person. That's like how it always
plays out. And so I refrain from making predictions. I mean, I could see things changing, but it's going
to take it's it's going to be a combination of factors that would have to happen to make that
make that a reality. Oh man, I'd really like to see a Lincoln town car again. Wouldn't I wouldn't
that be the best thing ever? I mean, you know, I'm getting old like my pant, my belt line's
going up. I need something to light out for Florida. Nothing that fits my needs.
Oh man, a big boxy Lincoln town car with room for six in the front and four more in the trunk.
Just, you know, and it should be delivered from the dealer with the AM radio blaring and the high
beams on and the left blinker on permanently. Absolutely. Now I I'm saddened by the fact that
there are no car cars. There are no cars made by American manufacturers. They're very few. You
know, all the Buick's are SUVs and almost all the Ford's except for the Mustang and all the
Chevy's except for the Corvette. And it's all trucks and SUVs. And here's here's another thing.
And I've said this more than once on the show. My pickup is a 2002. And you and I have had the
conversation that Ford found that sweet spot between 97 and 03. But if you park my truck
next to a new F 150, it looks like a Ranger. Absolutely. Yeah. The size of pickup trucks just
astounds me these days. I mean, and especially, you know, if you try, if you I can't understand
how people can drive them as their primary vehicle, because honestly, they're, if you're in even in
a small town here, if you're in a parking garage, it's just about impossible to negotiate.
Oh, yeah. They're just too big. They're just too large. And I mean, I've been heartened to see
some of the return of the little pickup with the introduction again of the Ranger and, you know,
the Colorado has been around for a while. But yeah, even those when you park them next to
an older F 100 or F 150, they're about the same size. Yeah, contemporary Rangers.
And it just boggles blows me away. Yeah, my, my 23 year old F 150 looks like a small truck now. And
it's not. It's a it's a full size pickup. But compared to the new ones, man, it's just
the new ones are so stinking big. Oh, that reminds me, I parked two spaces over from
some kid last night who had the biggest white F 350 four wheel drive crew cab
with a power stroke. Whose whose truck is that? I don't know yet, but I've been trying to figure
that out. That's a ginormous truck. That thing's huge. Yeah, big, big truck. I was a little surprised
to see piloting that thing around campus. That's a that's a big sucker. Alrighty.
Usually this is where I ask you, what's the dumbest thing you've done in a car? But I
think you and I have covered that ad nauseam. What's the dumbest thing you've seen somebody
do in a car in the last year? Um, you know, I'm going to dodge that question and actually say
you brought back like, I think the dumbest decision of all time is restoring an Austin
Princess. That's just like nobody's ever gonna I had totally forgotten about that story.
And like, yeah, that was the most ridiculous, just point, not maybe not pointless, but just
asinine kind of idea was to take that car and try to bring it to some concord standard. Like
there was no rhyme, reason, logic point whatsoever to it. So and it's not like you're ever going
to do anything dumb in the car because it was never going to run all the blood and all this
stuff. You were confronted with the Lucas Electrics. Oh, yeah. Single handedly, I have to say,
I think the not only the construction of the Austin Princess by the original, you know,
guys who'd been at the pub too long, but then the decision to take one that was rotted and try
to restore it, qualify as the single worst dumbest automotive decision I have ever seen.
But I tell us how you really feel. I hate to pick a scab, but was it worse than the 914?
Oh, yeah, that was way worse than the 914. I mean, my 914 was a terrible car.
Talk about it for a minute because I haven't heard you tell any 914 stories in a really long time
and I miss it. Well, my so my grandfather was kind of a homespun machinist. And
he did a lot of really awesome stuff. He actually built his own line of go-karts and made all of
his own castings and made all the molds for all his own castings, cast them in our shop.
And I still have a couple of those around. But when it came to cars, he was a homespun
machinist. And so he had this portion 914 that he got on the cheap as all 914s were.
And he kind of slowly progressed through several engine and transmissions that he had built himself
over time. And so he finally got tired of that, bought a competent sports car, a Miata car.
And so he gave me the 914 when I was in college. And so he was a running driving car.
He'd converted it to a 2-liter, had solexes, which was much more desirable than the Bosch fuel
injection. And so I ran it for a while. And I finally kind of sold it and got tired of
for reasons that will become apparent. Sold it off. But I have to say the single most epic
experience I have ever had in that car was driving it around campus one day and it all of a
sudden would not turn right. Like refused to turn right. And so at the time, I was under way.
And so there was really no way I was going to pull out the wrenches and get underneath the car
because I was about to plow into somebody's house because the car wouldn't turn right.
So doing the logical thing, I yanked as hard as I could on that steering wheel.
And all of a sudden there was a satisfying grip and about half the dashboard quit working
after I tore the wiring harness that had become wrapped up in the steering
car. Completely out of the car. That was a good day. That was a great day. So I always
called that car an ashtray of a car and took the target top on. Like it looked like something you
should be you have around to smoking. Jump your cigarette ashes in when you were done.
I hated that car. I love 914 stories. I took the engine apart on that car at one point.
And my grandfather had ground his own crankshaft on the lathe.
Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah, you could do it. But it turns out that after running it on B blocks,
the stroke on each side of the engine was different because he didn't get the centering
right. So one side had a slightly longer stroke than the other side because it had
been offset ground. It was just like, oh, my God, it was just a cable thing of that kind.
Oh, man. Okay. Well, we're going to have maybe an adult beverage or two sometime and just do
914 stories. I love 914 stories. We've been speaking with one of my favorite repeat offenders,
Luke Channel, associate professor in McPherson College's automotive restoration program.
Luke, please tell us where we can find you online and on social media.
So my primary venue is Facebook. So I am at Luke Channel. That's C-H-E-N-N-E-L-L on Facebook.
And then, yeah, that's really all I do. So, but I write stuff on there in your
world. If you friend me, I'll friend you back. And I write stuff on there periodically.
How about the school? Where can we find McPherson College?
www.mcpherson.edu slash auto restoration. We'll get you to our page. And there's
lots of information about all the wonderful things we do. You're also, of course, welcome.
And there's contact information on there. Our main point of contact for the outside
world is Amanda Gutierrez, G-U-T-I-E-R-R-A at McPherson.edu.
Oh, okay. That's right. All right. Okay. And what a sweetheart of a human being she is.
There are so many great people involved with the program and the college down there.
If you're not familiar, folks, absolutely take the time to check it out. It is a fantastic
resource and probably the nexus for the restoration world. Luke, as always. Thanks a ton.
I appreciate it. Thanks, Matt. Great to see you.
Yeah, good to see you too.
Okay. As mushy as this is going to sound, I love Luke to death.
I just do. He is such a fantastic human being. And if you spend five minutes around him,
you realize, oh, this guy's brilliant. Okay.
He really is.
Crap. Now I got to keep up.
But he's so understated.
Yeah, he really is.
That you wouldn't really know it until he gets talking about and really get into cars.
And he starts without trying to look like a superstar. He starts just spouting stuff.
And you're like, oh my God, let me just take a minute and let that soak in. Jesus.
He is so brilliant, but he's also been a really good friend to me. And I just love him to death.
And, you know, he's got a kind of a dry sense of humor sometimes, but he'll post stuff on Facebook.
And something he posted, it's probably been close to a year ago. His son has
what looks like a Model A go-kart. And it's red. I think it was supposed to be,
it was supposed to look like an early fire engine.
But Luke has a big yard and he rides around his yard with Leo driving.
And he posted a picture on Facebook here a while back.
And Leo's driving and, you know, because the background is blurred, it looks like they're
flying. And Luke has a look of terror on his face. I mean, he looks truly frightened.
Dude, the sins of the father.
Oh, it's fantastic. And I don't even know that that thing goes all that fast. But what a great
picture that was. And it was really funny. But yeah, Leo's driving and he's a little
blonder kid and his hair's flying out behind him. And Luke looks scared for his life.
I love that picture. And I really love Luke. He's a fantastic human being. And again,
he's a lot of fun. We've done some really cool stuff together. We had the world's crappiest barbecue
team. And we do that big cookout at his house every year. And every year it gets better. And
I just love him to death. He's been the best friend. So, Luke, thanks so much for being
on. I really appreciate it. And thanks for letting me blather on in your class last night.
That was fantastic. Speaking of thank you. Thank you so much for spending time with
Driven Radio. We love what we do. We really do. And we wouldn't be able to do it without the support
of our listeners. You can find us online at drivenradioshow.com, follow us on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram at Driven Radio Show. And on LinkedIn as Driven Radio Show podcast.
If you have a story you would like to tell or someone you would like us to interview,
please contact me at bratbrtt at drivenradioshow.com. I am Brett Hatfield for the
Estimable Mark L. Groves. Thank you for listening. We'll see you next time here on Driven Radio.
We've known Rick Hunter and the gang at Hot Rod Express and Blue Springs for years. We
first saw their work at car shows. And then we had to buff out the drool that we left on
their work at the car shows. And we've had Rick on both Road Muscle Radio and Driven Radio
Show several times to talk about cars and projects and the other cool stuff that was
going on over at Hot Rod Express. So when disaster struck in the form of the sweetest
little lady in Overland Park. Oh, she's a doll. Oh, God, you can't let your mom.
Who did I turn to to do the body repair on my 65 Corvette Stingray?
Hot Rod Express. These guys did a hell of a job. They aren't the cheapest and there's a reason
they're the best. They made the body look better than it did before. That is not an
exaggeration. And they even sourced the right emblem so that it was model accurate.
Hot Rod Express is crawled under the hood to fix weird and dangerous alternator issue that tried
to burn the car. And they've recently installed new running gear. Well, new suspension, both ends
of it. And it rides so much better and it drives better and it's not trying to rattle my
eye teeth out. And I still have the fillings in my teeth. Yeah, I was kind of happy with
the ride we took in it. That was nice. Yeah. Well, I'm telling you it's not quite as harsh
as it used to was. Since 1995, Hot Rod Express has been doing concor caliber frame off restorations,
award-winning restomods and everything in between. In fact, after they painted the Stingray,
they had it down at Bartle Hall for World of Wheels. Oh, yeah, yeah. My car won first place
for domestic sports car. Oh my God. Jesus, Hot Rod Express. So when we say award-winning
restorations, that's not an exaggeration. Your first hand. I got one of them. So if you can dream
it on four wheels, they can do it. Visit hotrod-express.com or call them at 816-224-9597.
Ask for Rick and tell them Driven Radio sent you. Don't worry, he won't hold that against you.
They're super easy to talk to and they've never met a stranger. Hot Rod Express on 40 Highway
in Blue Springs, Missouri at Hot Rod Express. They make friends fast.
Straight shooter, great communicator, honest mechanic, champion disco dancer.
One of these descriptions is a flat-out lie. The rest accurately described Daryl Ossipic,
owner of Ossipic Automotive. Yeah, we've been teasing him for a long time. Daryl has been a
really good friend and a personal mechanic for me for longer than I cared about. Jesus, man.
He's been working on my stuff forever. I've taken my vintage Bronco in there. I've taken
my Corvettes in there. I even have had the Schadenfreude Express in there. You've got
him to work on that. He's worked on that 99 Mercedes S600 and done a really good job on it.
Mark's even gone to Daryl for car repair. Yeah, that's 64 Dodge that I whine about. He was the one
that got it running and moving after I bought it and it ended up not running and moving.
It was a little different than the test drive. Don't get me wrong. It ran good for the test
drive. Yeah, it was great then. Plus, he put the transmission in that I bought for that
my 2000 Nissan XTERRA 4x4. Ossipic Automotive does maintenance and repair on foreign and domestic
petrol-powered autos. He also works on some diesel stuff I've seen in there. If he can do it,
he'll tell you. Yeah. If he can't, he'll tell you. But I haven't found anything that he
can't work on yet. The guy works on cars. He works on a giant offshore raceboat. He can
do about anything and he'll tell you upfront what he's going to do, how we're going to approach the
problem, what he thinks it might be. And if he can't do it, he'll tell you who can. Yeah. He's
an internal combustion whisperer who thinks running sucks for exercise but he rules behind the
wheel and he's also got some fantastic taste in his own personal stuff. Oh yeah. You would
never guess at looking at him. He looks like a mild-mannered mechanic. He's got interesting stuff
of his own. Ossipic Automotive doesn't have a website so you'll have to look up the reviews.
4.9 stars out of 5 on Google. 4.8 out of 5 on Yelp. Call Darrell at 913-831-3613.
What's that number? 913-831-3613. And you got to remember his motto,
Ossipic Automotive, where they'll fix your car no matter how much it costs.
He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me. I promised him I wouldn't tell anybody he says that.
Oh and where is he? We know where to go to be killed. 5920 Merriam Drive in Merriam, Kansas, 66203.
About this episode
Brett and Mark dive into car culture with Luke Chennell from McPherson College, discussing classic car restoration, the challenges of modern automotive education, and the future of vintage vehicles. They share humorous anecdotes about their own car experiences, debate the impact of emissions regulations on classic cars, and explore the changing landscape of American sedans and SUVs. Luke highlights the importance of passing down knowledge in the restoration community and the college's plans to foster a new generation of automotive enthusiasts.
Brett and Mark welcome Luke Chennell, Associate Professor in the Automotive Restoration Program at McPherson College to discuss the Pebble Beach Concours winning 1953 Mercedes Benz 300S Cabriolet, restoring more modern cars, Leno's Law, and the death of the American sedan. This and more on Driven Radio Show!