Driven Radio Show #329: K. Mikael Wallin and Holly Ansman
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
113:01
Car
Ford Thunderbirds
The Ford Thunderbird is a type of car that was made by Ford, known for being a luxury vehicle with a sporty design, popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
Company
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell classic cars through auctions. You can place bids on cars you like, and if you win, you get to buy it.
Car
Chevrolet Chevelles
The Chevelle is a car made by Chevrolet that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. It's known for its sporty look and powerful engines, often considered a classic muscle car.
Concept
Meekum
Meekum is a company that auctions classic cars. People can buy and sell cars at these events, which are popular among car lovers.
Term
454
The 454 is a large engine made by Chevrolet that is known for being very powerful. It's often used in muscle cars and trucks to give them a lot of strength and speed.
Term
LS5
The LS5 is a type of powerful engine made by Chevrolet that helps cars go really fast. It's part of the big-block engine family and was used in some of their sportier models.
Term
LS6
The LS6 is an upgraded version of the LS5 engine, giving even more power to cars. It's also a big-block engine and is famous for making cars go really fast.
Term
compression ratio
Compression ratio tells us how much the engine squeezes the air and fuel mixture before it burns. Higher numbers usually mean the engine can make more power, but it might need special fuel to run well.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster and perform better.
Car
Dodge Custom
The Dodge Custom 880 is a big car made by Dodge in 1964. It's known for being comfortable and stylish, popular among classic car enthusiasts.
Company
Hagerty
Hagerty is a company that helps people with insurance for classic cars and provides help if your car breaks down.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet, famous for its speed and stylish looks.
Car
Chrysler Newport
The Chrysler Newport is a large car made by Chrysler. It was popular in the 1960s and 1970s and is known for being comfortable and stylish.
Car
Chrysler New Yorker
The Chrysler New Yorker is a luxury car made by Chrysler. It was known for being very comfortable and having lots of features, and it was popular for many years.
Concept
Hot Rod
A Hot Rod is a classic car that has been changed to go faster and look cooler. People often customize them with new engines and paint jobs.
Car
Buick Grand National
The Buick Grand National is a fast car made by Buick in the 1980s. It has a powerful engine and a cool black design, which makes it popular among car fans. People talk about it because it was one of the fastest cars of its time.
Concept
Grand National Roadster Show
The Grand National Roadster Show is a famous car event where people display their custom and classic cars. It's a great place for car lovers to meet and see unique vehicles.
Car
Cadillac Eldorado
The Cadillac Eldorado is a fancy car made by Cadillac, known for being luxurious. The 1959 version is famous for its unique look and is a favorite among classic car lovers.
Car
Cadillac (1959)
The 1959 Cadillac is a classic car famous for its flashy design and large size, representing a time when cars were built for style and comfort.
Car
Buick Limited (1967)
The 1967 Buick Limited is a large, comfortable car that was popular for its luxury features and smooth driving experience.
Car
Jaguar I Marks
The Jaguar Mark I is a fancy car made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It’s known for its beautiful design and was one of the first cars to make Jaguar famous for quality. People talk about it because it looks great and is important in the history of British cars.
Car
Plymouth
Plymouth was a car brand that made affordable cars in the mid-1900s. A 1955 Plymouth would be a classic car from that time, often appreciated by collectors and enthusiasts.
Car
Kaiser
Kaiser was a car brand that made vehicles in the mid-20th century. They are not very common today, but some people find them interesting because of their unique designs.
Car
Shelby Cobra
The Shelby Cobra is a super-fast sports car made in the 1960s. It’s known for being lightweight and having a strong engine, which makes it really quick. People talk about it because it’s a classic car that has a big place in racing history.
Car
Dodge Viper
The Dodge Viper is a fast sports car made by Dodge. It has a big engine and a unique look that many car fans love.
Car
Chevrolet Impalas
The Chevrolet Impala is a big car that many people liked in the 1960s. It was known for being comfortable and having a nice look.
Car
Tesla Model
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV known for its long battery range and high-tech features, like autopilot driving assistance.
Car
Saab 900
The Saab 900 Turbo Convertible is a type of car that has a roof that can be opened, making it a convertible. It has a turbocharged engine, which means it can go faster and perform better than regular engines.
Car
Plymouth Roadrunner
The Plymouth Roadrunner is a fun and fast car made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s famous for its unique horn that goes 'beep-beep' and was made to be affordable for people who wanted a speedy car. Many car fans talk about it because it represents a fun time in car history.
Car
Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV that can handle rough roads and off-road adventures. It has been around since the 1950s and is known for lasting a long time and being very reliable. People like to talk about it because it combines comfort with the ability to go anywhere.
Car
Chevy 1956 pickup
The 1956 Chevy pickup is an old model of truck made by Chevrolet. It's popular among collectors because of its unique design and reliability.
Car
Mercury Monterey
The Mercury Monterey is a big car made by Mercury from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. It’s known for being spacious and stylish, making it a good choice for families. People talk about it because it represents a cool time in American car design.
Car
Pontiac Firebird
The Pontiac Firebird is a sporty car that was made from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. It’s known for being fast and stylish, and it has appeared in many movies, which makes it a favorite among car lovers. People often compare it to another popular car called the Camaro.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
Car
Chevrolet El Caminos
The Chevrolet El Camino is a special vehicle that looks like a car but has a truck bed in the back. Made from 1959 to 1987, it’s popular because it can carry stuff while still being comfortable for passengers. People talk about it because it’s a classic and has a unique design.
Term
numbers matching
'Numbers matching' means that the main parts of the car, like the engine, are the original ones that came with it. This is important for collectors because it shows the car is authentic and can be worth more.
Car
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is a sporty car that looks like the classic muscle cars from the past. The 2013 version is known for being powerful and stylish, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Plymouth Barracuda
The Plymouth Barracuda is a classic American muscle car that was popular in the late 1960s. The 1969 version had a strong engine that made it fast and exciting to drive.
Part
rods
Rods in an engine connect the moving parts that help it run. If one breaks, it can cause a lot of damage to the engine.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous American car that started being made in 1964. It’s known for being fast and having a cool look, making it very popular among car fans. Many people talk about it because it has a long history and is often seen in movies and races.
Car
Chevrolet Sonics
The Chevrolet Sonic is a small car made from 2011 to 2020 that is affordable and practical. It’s known for being good on gas and having useful features, making it a great choice for people who want to save money. Many people talk about it because it offers good value for a small car.
Car
Mercury Mountaineer
The Mercury Mountaineer is a mid-size SUV made from 1997 to 2010 that is comfortable and has a lot of space inside. It’s similar to the Ford Explorer and is good for families. People talk about it because it’s reliable and can handle different types of driving.
Car
Nissan XTerra
The Nissan XTerra is a small SUV made from 1999 to 2015 that is great for off-road adventures. It’s known for being tough and useful, making it a good choice for families and people who like outdoor activities. Many people talk about it because it offers good value when buying used.
LIVE
Welcome to Driven Radio Show, your home for car talk covering the latest news to the greatest
views on the biggest names in performance, sports, and just plain cool driving machines.
Let's rev up the conversation.
Time for Driven Radio Show.
Hey, all you gear heads and car fiends, welcome to Driven Radio Show, your weekly automotive
happy hour.
I am Brett Hatfield, here with my co-host and engineer extraordinaire, Mr. Mark Groves.
Howdy.
Is that piece of junk working?
Yeah.
Actually, there's like color and things are moving and sound things are popping up.
Oh, cool.
Well, we're coming to you from the broken Driven Radio Studios, where you know...
It's the carburetor.
That's the problem with the computer.
Yeah.
Well, you know, in World War II, when pilots had troubles with their planes, they always
blamed it on gremlins.
Oh, that's right.
They said they had gremlins.
In the last two months, this studio has been plagued with gremlins.
It has.
What does not kill you just makes you angrier.
Or as my four-year-old sister would have called it, gremlins.
Gremlins.
Absolutely.
Because she couldn't say gremlins right for whatever reason.
How's the car search going?
What have you found?
Anything cool?
I'm still kind of...
I'm staying in my zone of mid-50s Plymouths and late-50s, early-to-mid-60s Thunderbirds.
Because they're the ones that fit and they're the ones that I think look cool.
The one down in Branson went away, that's all fine, because like I said, I'm not
in a hurry.
Well, you can't be surprised about that.
That was a great car.
That was a nice car.
But I sent you that, because you and your dad are getting, you know, how I've infected
you with things.
Uh-huh.
You and your dad have infected you.
I now have a full-fledged account on Bring a Trailer.
Oh, did you?
I can bid like a big boy now, and it was really stupid, because I've already found
a Thunderbird, and I sent you a link to it earlier that looks really interesting.
I was already kind of talking to the guy.
He's in Kansas City.
Where?
Didn't really say the car is located in Kansas City, and he's out of town right now.
Well, if he says KC Moe, then you know he's not North Kansas City, he's down here someplace.
I'd asked him, and you know, we're communicating via email, but I'd asked him, hey, would it
be okay if I came to look at this before the auction ends, and he's like, well,
yeah, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I'm out of town, and it won't be
back till Friday.
That's weird.
Friday ends at Friday at like 1 p.m., 1.30 p.m.
Oh, you'd have to be on his porch.
Yeah.
So, and work just wouldn't really appreciate that.
They wouldn't understand the importance, so we'll see.
Excuse me, guys.
I'm going to bag Friday.
There's a car I've got to go see.
I am going to talk with the back of her.
There were a couple of things that I'd noticed, one of them, because he has
videos of it driving and running, et cetera, and in one of them, when he was turned
in the corner and went to speed up, it had a little hesitation in it.
So he's already, I mentioned that in an email, and he's like, well, yeah,
the the car could use just a little bit of it.
And I'm like, OK, OK, and remember when you got your car.
Hello, Jesus.
And I went, yeah, hang on, hang on.
We had this conversation about it needs to be driven.
Yeah, it needs to be driven and needs to have gas run through it.
It probably, excuse me, it could probably stand with a couple of fresh
tanks run through it, and that helps loosen up all the garbage that's
in it and get it through.
Plus, if you will recall on your on your dodge, the gas tank.
Oh, Jesus. Yeah.
The gas tank was a haven for everything bad.
And it just got worse.
It was just putting tomato soup through the lines and into the car.
Well, yeah.
And you wore out a lot of filters before you find a bunch of them.
Caven said, this is not working.
We're going to change some things.
But my guess is this is a nice older restoration.
Probably been sitting a bit.
Yeah, probably hasn't been driven a ton.
And my my further guess is it could stand to be run.
It could stand to be run.
It's and it's three days out and there's no reserve.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, you didn't see that when I sent it to you.
There's no reserve on it.
I didn't catch that at all.
It's going to sell.
So I am keeping my eye on that.
Has a nice rumble to it.
The miles are particularly high.
Did he have the other two wheel covers that were not on the car?
Does he have a full set?
I don't believe so.
Doesn't matter.
Craggers are going on that sucker faster.
You're not wrong.
Alrighty, there's a wow.
That I didn't see the no reserve thing.
Yeah. Well, one other thing.
Remember what I said about shooting your shot?
Yeah.
And you and I are probably at the age
where if you're not going to chew through your bucket list real quick,
you're not going to get it done.
Yeah, there's not enough teeth left.
Yeah, it's it's it's time to get this stuff done.
And I'm starting to look at my car bucket list
and pick out the ones that I think I I really got to have.
Yeah.
Before I'm gone and the ones that I think, yeah,
I can probably do without, like, I'm not going to buy a lotus spree
as as cool as I thought they were.
Yeah.
But I'm looking at Chevelle's that are going to be at
Meekum, Kansas.
I saw that one.
Yeah, the one at Meekum.
That is a beautiful example.
Yeah.
Well, that's what I need is a Chevelle with a 454.
And I guess what I'm going to pull apart your knees.
Stomping on the gas.
That's right, my God.
I'm going to make that sucker sound like one of my Harley's.
Now, was it a four speed or?
Yeah. Oh, my God.
It's an LS5, so it's a 454 360 horse car.
But an LS5 can become an LS6 pretty quick.
And I know the parts you got to swap to do it.
Oh, wow.
And how fun is that?
Well, it's going to be a full tear down because you got it.
And the LS6, if I remember correctly,
I think they were like 11 and a quarter to one compression.
They were really high.
But they were very conservatively rated at 450 horse.
People who knew them better said 500 was closer to three.
You got the executive airport, what, three miles from your house.
Just go over there and get gassed up, get your fuel there. Nice.
Yeah.
Alrighty, a couple of quick items I wanted to touch on real fast.
Or it's.
Yeah, it's kind of one thing split in two.
This week is my 10th anniversary of working for Sports Car
Market Magazine.
And at the end of this month, it'll be my fifth anniversary
working for GM authority, and that's really flown by.
So I owe thank yous to Sports Car Market
publisher Keith Martin, my editor-in-chief over there, Jeff Sabatini.
The owner of GM authority is a guy named Alex Luft.
And my editor, who puts up with me every day.
God bless him.
Yeah, Mike.
Mike deserves to be sainted.
And he's got a French last name that I'm probably going to butcher.
It's Mike DeLaurier.
Mike puts up with me and all of my crap.
And he and I have really long, weird conversations that don't
have anything to do with cars.
He and I seem to have the same propensity to get off track
and just kind of follow our noses and wherever it goes, it goes.
And then one of us will come back to.
And by the way, when you're done with that Chevelle,
that sort of crap.
So gentlemen, for all of you that put up with me
and have bothered to employ me and continue to encourage me,
I thank you so very much.
And Mike, Mike puts up with my butt every day.
So he probably deserves the brunt of my thanks.
But everybody I mentioned has has let me do my dream job.
And not a lot of people get to do that.
And so I'm really, really grateful to everybody.
Thank you very much.
Let's take a break for some commercials about cool car people stuff.
Driven radio show will be right back.
Are you driving some classical gas?
Haggerty.com can get you a real time insurance quote based on your zip
code right there online.
Have a classic 1964 Dodge custom 880 with a tank full of oxide.
Maybe I think you may have.
Yeah, does fuel move in it like grape nuts through your grandpa.
Yes, it does.
You're going to need roadside services.
Oh, yeah.
And Haggerty's drivers club offers emergency roadside services.
I have used those really with the Corvette.
They scooped it up and took it over to Rick's Hot Rod Express.
Don't have a cool car yet.
But tired of geniuses who tell you it ran when parked like that minister told you.
And don't know about me.
I know what I got.
The same minister, sweet classic, a hot rest.
Oh, mod and anything in between in the Haggerty Marketplace
and Haggerty auction list.
You can set the marketplace for alerts.
Yeah, I've had one going for, I think, five years now.
And I still get the occasional alert when a mid 60s Chrysler
bomber shows up on there, some either a Newport or a New Yorker.
And you could just set it and go and it will let you know when something pops up.
It's super cool.
None of those fit in your garage.
Not any more than it's five years old, but it keeps the dream alive.
You want to sell your car, put it up for auction on their marketplace
after you use Haggerty's online valuation tools.
Now, what can't you do at Haggerty.com?
You can't get a degree in underwater basket weaving.
Oh, darn.
You can't marry a honey badger and you can't believe
how much you can do right there online.
Plus, you can purchase their online buyer's guide
so that you can roll like a horsepower Somalia.
So check it out.
Haggerty.com.
We're proud and honored to have Dave Kinney and Greg Engold
as repeat offenders on the show.
And that's the honest God truth.
I love those guys and they always know what they're talking about.
Thank you, Haggerty, for lending them to us.
PS, you might want a chart of pony up for therapy
after each recording session.
Just saying. Not wrong.
Haggerty.com, the best of car culture, right at your fingertips.
Welcome to the House of Hell.
Hell, yes.
Casa Amigos at 159th and Merlin serves up some of the best
Mexican food this side of Mexico.
It's a driven radio show favorite for after the show.
We've been there.
And before. Yeah.
And something during if we can get away with it.
Not wrong.
Jose Villasenor, the owner, makes food the old fashioned way.
You know, delicious.
Oh, yeah. Remember that.
Uh-huh. Plus, he has a little red Corvette,
so we already like it.
I saw that in your garage.
And a little brown Corvette.
Yeah, I'm helping.
I'm helping. You're so kind.
I'm taking it out and trade for chips and salsa.
It's smart, man.
Did I mention the food?
Oh, oh, yeah.
That huge menu and margaritas that are pleased to meet you.
Order, take out, dine in, eat on the patio.
It's all good.
Service is awesome.
Seriously, it's the only restaurant I've been to
where the owner comes out and gives me a hug.
Make the drive to Casa Amigos at 159th and Merlin
in Olathe, Kansas.
Check them out online at CasaAmigosKC.com.
Living La Vida Local.
Casa Amigos, where flavor is your friend.
See. See.
And now back to more Driven Radio Show.
Our special guests this week, we brought two.
Two.
And they're together on the same couch for God's sake.
That's fantastic.
K. Michael Wallin, founder of Custom Mics,
and Holly Ansman, also known as Hot Rod Holly.
Mike attended trade schools to hone his skills
and taking things apart and putting them back together.
Eventually serving in the Swedish Army
and the Swedish Air Force as an assistant repair group chief.
In 1984, he decided to relocate to the United States
and immediately immersed himself
in Southern California car culture.
Microstores and customizes cars and bikes
and recaptures the events and captures the events
and people of the custom culture.
Holly Ansman, who I was harassing just this weekend,
also known as Hot Rod Holly is a long time car
enthusiast who models for fun has worked
as a spokesperson for automotive shops
and is actively volunteering on the board
of the San Diego Association of Car Clubs Council.
Holly is a longtime classic vehicle owner.
She's got a really cool Chevy pickup named Bubba.
For over 30 years, she's been an active volunteer.
And since 2011, she's held her own charity event,
the Hot Rod Holly's Christmas Morning Cruise.
Always warm and friendly.
Holly welcomes everyone with open arms and a smile.
Her slogan is hunks and kisses.
Mike and Holly, welcome back to Driven Radio.
Well, thanks for having us.
It's been a while since we had you on.
Holly hasn't talked with us since December of last year.
And Mike, it was two years in October.
It's been a while.
Neither of you sit still very much.
So how have you been and what have you been up to?
Oh, my God, there's so much stuff
that's happened in the last couple of years and so much travel,
so many cool events, so many cool people
and so many cool lifestyle changes.
And, you know, living in this culture
is an amazing journey if you open your mind to it.
Well, as as you mentioned, right before we got started,
there's a lot less of you than there used to be, Mike.
Yeah, I've been on a journey to get to a more healthier place.
Yeah. Well, it looks good on you.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, we hit one ninety nine the other day.
So fantastic. That's a great goal.
Holly, you always look great.
I was going to say, I might be going in the opposite direction.
But I try not you always look fantastic.
You two, how did you two meet?
How did you come together?
Well, we actually met at a car show, of course, and that was back in.
It was either 2012 or maybe 2011 when I first started
coming out more in the car scene and it was at the Grand National Roadster show.
I believe I was cleaning my truck and
Michael had come up and said hello.
I'm trying to think.
I mean, that's pretty much.
Yeah, I was shooting your truck and you were dancing around, you know,
being in my way.
A truck and, of course, I stand up and start to pose.
You know, a smile, which is kind of funny,
because I don't regularly shoot people.
I shoot cars, you know. Yeah.
And then we just, you know, I've been friends since then.
It's just been more recently doing a lot more adventures together.
And that started a well, I mean,
things periodically, you know, are you going up here?
What time are you leaving?
Maybe we'd travel up or whatever to an event if it was far away.
But so he was in Sweden
and that was three years ago.
I just he just said, I want to go.
And he's like, oh, sure, any time
because he had invited other guests out.
And I actually was going to go out three years ago
and it just was such short notice.
It just didn't seem like it was going to work out.
But then I had made plans for the next year
and just so happens.
My friend, Robin Malar of her father was Pete Malar.
Drag cartoons. Mm hmm.
You're familiar with. OK.
She was going out and there was a couple of friends
at a winter national winter,
winter nationals, winter finals that were that are from Sweden.
And so they had invited me back to go to northern Sweden,
which was the P.T. P.T. Dragway.
Am I saying that? P.T. O.
P.T. OK.
He can pronounce it.
So the P.T. O. Dragway.
And that was, I guess,
in Lulio, is that Lulia?
Yeah, Lulio. Yeah.
In the northern part of Sweden.
You said it's pretty far north.
So that's where I started my adventures a couple of years ago.
And then after that, I.
I took a flight and a train and hitched a ride
with another buddy in Sweden and met up with Michael
and finished the rest of my journey.
And from there, we figured out we're compatible traveling
partners.
And we don't get on too much of each other's nerves.
And so, yeah, we've done some other adventures together.
Well, following really good.
I mean, you know, we have a lot of mutual interest
and a lot of mutual audiences, and it's a parallel that works.
It does. Yeah.
And I enjoyed the heck out of it.
And, you know, she's open eyes to different shows
and different places to go and ways of looking at things.
And just it broadens my horizons in ways
that I didn't imagine, you know, which is kind of really neat,
especially in our culture, you know, following you both on social media,
it looks like you've hit a bunch of stuff, both you in the US and abroad.
And, Mike, you had a heck of a list.
Can you talk about some of the events you've attended?
Oh, if I can remember all of them, but.
We've been so fortunate.
I mean, actually, I'm going to read you a quote that came in today
about living life, if you don't mind.
No, go right ahead.
Yeah, it's by Tida Swinton.
I think I got to put my glasses on here.
But it's OK, that gets all of us.
Yeah. If you didn't do it at 40, then do it at 60.
The only thing that matters is that you do it.
My grandmother, who lived to be 97, always told me
that life only gets better with time.
And now, question mark, I finally understand what you've been.
Age is a funny thing.
We live in a world obsessed with timelines, marry by this said,
succeed by that age, a retire by another, miss a milestone.
Society tells you that the moment is gone forever.
But here's the truth.
That's a lie.
And if your 20s were full of doubts, make your 40s wild.
If your 40s were consumed by responsibility, dance through your 60s.
If you didn't burn brightly back then, ignite now.
There is no deadline for joy, no expiration date on reinvention.
Not too late for dreams.
So wear the bold colors, book the ticket, learn the language, start over.
Because late, it's never better than ever.
Tida Swinton.
What if you've act like a 14 year old for your entire life?
Does it mention that?
Well, I am 12 going on for I've been told multiple times.
But, you know, it's not long ago.
This thing is that I finally figured out that I don't want to have a corporate
jobs. I don't want to follow the structure.
I want to live. Yes.
And traveling and experiencing all the different things that we've been
able to go do and and the shows like Power Meet in Sweden.
We're OK. Think about it this way.
We go to Power Meet in Sweden.
There's 11.
1959 Cadillac Eldorado be rich convertibles in the same place.
Wow. Like six years ago, there was 15 of them lined up.
That is less.
That is a little bit less than one percent of the total production
from 1959. Yeah, lined up in Sweden.
I give you an idea of the what they love over there.
They love the big, bulky, long, extra overloaded, you know, anything.
You know, see, I told you I should have sold Vlad over there.
Well, that's, you know, every car that I liked ended up being bought
and then shipped, you know, back when they were cheap right before
the, you know, the top dropped out.
Yeah, I had so many that I was like, oh, is this still available?
No, I sold it to a guy and they're taking it to Norway.
I'm kind of wondering if my 61 and Palo Hot Rod wound up abroad.
It's not unusual.
But, you know, the kicker with the Swedish
culture, so to say, is that during the gas crisis, there was dealers in Sweden
that that shorted shiploads in the early seventies.
They literally bought shiploads of the big giant American cars
that nobody everybody wanted.
They must thank to or a VW or something like that because they couldn't buy gas.
So a 59 caddy or a 67 old sir Buick limited, they were worth 50 cents.
And they literally took shiploads home to Sweden.
Kids, he's saying ship SHIP isn't penguin.
They shorted ships to carry the vehicles like the manufacturers do.
And that went on for like five, six years before the tax loophole
and all the things were going on kind of slowed it down a little bit.
But there was hundreds of thousands of cars that went over to Sweden that way.
Well, I know that Mark and I, Mark's got a passion for the fifties and sixties
tanks. Yeah, he just loves the big stuff.
If I can play badminton on the rear deck, I'm so happy.
Yeah. Mark, what what your T-bird were you looking at?
I've I'm looking strongly at fifty eight to sixty.
I also like the bullet nose, sixty one to sixty three.
Now, sixty four to sixty six, I can do because they still look pretty cool.
Seriously, ah, there's something about Forty bird.
Nice. My first car was in my dream car, but that's what I could afford at the time.
I know the feel. I got a fifty.
My first car was in nineteen fifty five Plymouth.
And the first time I laid eyes on it, it had a bunch of green
primer and stuff on it because it had been in a guy's barn and blah, blah, blah.
And my parents really wanted me to own that thing, because it was all made out of
metal, right? My mom had rolled in a forty eight Kaiser and thrown out the back
windshield survived, but they they rolled the car back over and drove it back into town.
This was in Wyoming back in back in, you know, nineteen
decade or two. But they they wanted me to be in that big metal car.
So I got that Plymouth.
Well, it wasn't real thrilled with it, but it was kind of cool.
And it was the only one that looked like that, right?
And then, of course, I sold it and blah, blah, blah, life moved on.
And now I want to back sabbatical, you know, my teeth ache.
Except except. OK, I did find it.
He found that car.
I found the car.
However, the the owner who had also found it, because it had been like a fifteen
year lap since it had been in their family, and that was a family that bought
it from us. They did a bunch of stuff to it.
And God bless them.
You know, they saw their own vision for it and did it.
And I'm like, that's a hot mess.
Yeah, you can never go back.
That just that smells like a motel six in a bad part of town.
It just it just doesn't.
It ain't right.
So let's see.
Let go of that one.
But I do have a fifty six Plymouth.
I bought one, too, which is when I learned how badly I I weld.
I don't weld. I burn holes, but I can't weld for shit.
So that one I sold for parts.
I've got it'll be kind of a toss up between that one that's on
bring a trailer and a fifty six that I got located about three.
Now, that that one that is north.
But thank you for asking.
The one that's north of here, I think is gorgeous.
And you really ought to strongly consider driving up there and having a look at it.
Yeah, I bet.
If this thing doesn't work out this this Friday, then Saturday may make a trip.
But cool.
If you if you like those teamers, especially the fifty eight to sixty,
look up on Facebook, Wildbird in Sweden is a it's a really wild T-bird
that a custom way I called Gaumann built in the sixties as a show car.
And my friend owned it for like thirty,
forty years and was doing rust repair and all that fix.
And then they finally sold it back to the family
and they just restored it and they were doing the circuit last year.
But it's oh, my God.
It's a wild one.
Is that no, that's a different one.
I thought that was I thought that was it for a second.
It's not Game and Bo Game and Sandberg.
Is that? Yeah. Oh, my God.
That is it. Oh, yeah. How that makes the batmobile in the sixties
and finally restored, you know, to its full glory here and shown.
I think it started like late last year.
They brought it out and it's been everywhere.
Oh, my God, that is beautiful and insane.
I love it. Yes, I love it.
OK, now I got to look.
Sorry, where are the headlights, though?
It's at that front end just makes it look like it's kind of,
you know, giving that Cheshire cat thing to a little batmobile on that.
I know they just a little bit. They went completely nuts.
Then you've got the weird rear cowl that is kind of reminiscent.
Was it not the Cobra?
Oh, what the hell was it?
It was a Dodge Viper.
OK, all righty.
Little bit of that. Yeah.
And then the two bubbles for the quote unquote windshields.
Oh, my God, that's fantastic.
And I love the nose.
I love the OK.
And I honestly got all shut up.
I love the hoods on 58 to 60.
I will actually 58 to what?
All the way up to 66 because they, they, you know, at first,
they had that kind of smaller little grill slash hood scoop.
And then it just kept getting wider and wider, like Valerie Burton.
Ellie's nose did.
And it's just I love it.
Valerie Burton Ernie.
Yeah, it I love the way they look.
That's cool.
But that also gives you the insight in a little bit.
That was in the 60s.
So there was some crazy customizers in Sweden in the 50s and 60s, too.
You know, the guy.
Yeah, the guy that built it was prolific.
He was like a various version in Sweden.
But then my friend Torg knew actually was working on the sword.
He's done like five or six fifty eight to sixty T birds
over the last few decades.
And and, you know, I've sold or helped them move over
like a whole handful of them, you know, to create.
This one back to normal or back to its glory day, so to say.
Don't you guys have kind of isn't there like a premium tax
on the larger, larger engine cars?
Yeah, there's this whole complicated structure that
that was why a lot of it now they do the older week.
I think I was a pre pre fifty eight or something like that.
It's actually tax free now to bring in if it's all original, you know.
So there's there's a lot of weird stuff with the Swedish.
They're going to get their money one way or another.
Yeah, don't get caught speeding over there.
No, that's not cheap either.
I think there's a gas.
So, you know, yeah, you probably don't want to Sweden,
where they figure your your speeding
fine predicated upon your income?
No, I don't think so.
OK, I know I haven't gotten the speed to get it either.
But they have the speedy cameras that are permanently mounted
ever so often with a warning sign that it's coming up, you know.
That is so smart.
I know that one of the Scandinavian countries
they base your speeding fine on your income.
And I think that's Norway, but I'm not sure it may be.
It may be.
But wow, man, that's where you don't want to get caught.
No. Yeah, they're going to make it hurt, you know.
All right.
So what is the shenanigan tour?
Well, remember that quote I wrote?
I just want to go do all the things that I didn't do
because I was a responsible party.
You know, the kids grew up, I had them house.
I did the corporate job, all this other stuff.
And it's like, now it's time for some shenanigans.
It's time to go explore and live, see things.
You know, I've been very fortunate in my life to be able to travel a lot.
I've been to a lot of countries in Europe and Scandinavia
and I've been to many, many states in the United States.
And I've seen a lot of things, but I mean, it's like an insatiable.
I can't get over. I just want more, you know, sure.
And that's kind of why this aligns up so much.
She's crazy about roadside attractions and all that type of stuff.
And, you know, she'll make a stop at 100 times instead of 50.
And some of the stuff is great.
Some of the stuff I didn't even imagine that I would want to see.
But then you go see, it's like, holy crap, this was pretty cool.
You know, and it's just new experiences.
And that's kind of the shenanigans.
It's like, let's go do it.
All right, Holly, what's on your shenanigan list?
Well, my shenanigan list, oh, gosh, I don't know.
Any cheesy roadside attraction or anything, anything that somebody says,
hey, let's go do I'm I'm willing to take the opportunity
if I have the time and the finances to go and explore.
Basically, I had a blast while I was over there.
It was really there was a lot of things I never, you know, I mean,
I I wouldn't have thought to go to Sweden.
I don't think for any of my like travel destinations
and then just to go to a bunch of car shows there.
And we did do a lot of other sightseeing, but it was a lot of fun.
Yeah, I mean, it wasn't it wasn't on my list of of stops vacations.
You know, it was interesting and it was nice.
It was nice. It was nice to be able to stay back there as long as I was able
to having friends back there.
So it made it a lot easier and then chipping in and then traveling
in his 60, 60, 60.
Fifty nine. Fifty nine.
I bought a 50 year flat car.
Oh, cool. I don't think a 60 or 60 would.
And so, yeah, there was a lot of adventures
that I I probably would not have set out to do.
And because there was a lot of camping as well.
And I don't know, it was fun.
I'm looking forward to, I mean, you know, a lot of the things I've done here
were a lot of local, you know, U.S. road trips. Sure.
And like you said, the cheesy roadside attractions.
Oh, we're going to get into some of those.
I see you nodding your head.
You know, the big ball of twine or the stupid whatever it is, you know.
Hey, that largest ball of twines in Kansas, we know where that is.
And that's that. Yeah.
But I plan on it.
It's a destination.
It's on my bucket list.
I am so I'm so sad that you've missed out
if you didn't get to see it earlier on I 70, just before you got to Colorado.
There used to be the world's largest prairie dog.
Oh, yeah. I took my kids there to the to that museum.
And my eldest is now 27, about to be 28.
And my youngest is 25.
And when they were dink, we used to take him out camping
and on our way back, I'm like, we got to stop.
So we stopped to see the world's largest prairie dog.
Isn't it concrete?
It was a big concrete, but ugly prairie dog.
And they had the world's saddest zoo.
It was animals that were just like, ah, this soft.
I've had enough.
I'm over it. Go see this six legged cow.
And the cows like seriously, I'd rather be steak.
But it was the cutest thing was the brain damaged
prairie dog that would come up out of the little hole.
And you could buy like dog food and feed the little prairie dogs at the dug holes
all throughout this thing.
And this one, you would hold it up and it would take it
and it would start munching on it, but it couldn't keep its balance.
And it would just fall backwards.
So you put your little hand back there and it would fall back into your hand
and just be munching away.
And so it happened, you're like, oh, God, you're the sweetest thing.
And the kids were both like, oh, so we actually we looked at the poor
sad animals for five minutes, took a pick at the big stupid prairie dog
and then played with that thing for 30 minutes.
And then when we went back in, you could buy anything with
rattleskin or rattlesnake skin on it.
They had hats and belts and this and that and a big old box full of you guessed it.
Rattlesnakes. You. Yeah.
That was, you know, so I got to hear an actual rattlesnake rattle, which is kind of cool.
No, but that was.
I don't even like to hear them when they're not on the snake.
Yeah. No, that's a that's a non-starter.
It did cost me an extra five bucks, but I hate to get off topic here.
Yeah, like I just did. Sorry.
I'm very chatty tonight.
I lived.
My parents had an acreage when I was a teenager
and I used to cut the grass there.
And one time I was cutting the grass
down towards the creek, which is about an eighth of a mile from the house.
And I was on a riding lawnmower of all things because I was trying to cut it
like a golf course once I wanted to see if I could.
And down toward the creek, I ran over a nest of copperheads.
Yeah. And so I was on this lawnmower chasing them around, trying to kill them.
And that didn't quite line up with all the other lines that I'd mowed so far.
And it looked like I had kind of a spaghetti pattern going.
And I can imagine your dad.
What? Well, yes, yes, exactly.
He came our driveway was a quarter of a mile long
and he comes driving up the driveway in his truck and he just stops.
And my dad wasn't the most patient person in the world.
Sorry, Pop, if you're listening.
And he rolls down his window.
He looked at me and I find, you know, it took me a little while,
but I realized he was sitting there and so I shut the mower off.
He says, what the hell are you doing?
And a hole in snakes.
I said, I look like I ran over a nest of copperheads
and I was trying to kill him.
He says, well, you better get back to it.
Rolls up the window and drives off. That was it.
So yeah, my my fabulous snake story.
I don't have it every day.
Yeah, don't don't care for snakes.
And that was a geez, man.
That's as close as I've ever gotten to, you know,
having one in my lap like this.
Sorry, you missed out on it, too.
It was yeah, it was a great adventure.
OK, so much like back to your snake story really quick, though,
I was going to, but I chickened out
because the snake had been handled so much.
But when I was doing the filming of the clown motel,
one of the guys is a handler.
He he brings in the I don't know what you call him,
but all the animals and he had a rattlesnake there
that had been de-venomed.
However, it could show bite.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's like the bite itself.
And I was going to have really wanted to hold it for a picture
because I was in my great little costume and stuff.
But I had figured it had been handled so much
that it might be best not to take that.
Yeah, how about it doesn't matter if it's dead.
I'm not touching that.
Do the letters things out, I would be better off.
Do the letters NFW mean anything to you?
Now, they had in the freezer that had
a little stack of rattlesnakes, too.
Yeah, I didn't want to touch those either.
Oh, oh, great, a snake sickle.
What a what a fabulous.
Yeah, no, I'm going to stick.
Yeah, not touching it, not putting it in my mouth.
Screw every bit of that noise.
Now, that's a place to go, though.
That's Nelson ghost town.
No, no.
Even the freezer behind the counter.
Yeah. No.
No, yes. No, not going just
just officially changed my mind not stopping their screw that.
OK, I'm going to throw one more story
and it will be super fast.
I write books and sell them.
If you're going to talk about snakes, I'm leaving.
I was at a convention, dead snake.
It I was at a kid, a don't care.
I it was actually it was.
There's a festival, it was the Testicle Festival in Olay, Missouri.
I've been to that.
Yeah.
What is that?
Tell me about that.
There's a certain time of the season when the young male turkeys decide to be not so
male.
It's something guys would probably ask you to do anyway.
And they don't actually decide it.
It's basically trimming season.
And so you've got all these turkey razors with a whole bunch of leftover testicles.
So what do they do?
They sell it and people defry them.
Oh.
There's a festival, the Testicle Festival in Olien, Missouri, near Lake of the Ozarks.
And a couple of, two or three times I went out there and surprisingly enough for these
horror books that I write, I sold a metric shit ton of them.
These people were, I mean, if they didn't want, they didn't want to look at testicles
all day.
So they read my books.
Sounds like my wife.
There was a guy in a tent next to me and he was just an old fella, you know, the
big, long hippie hair and the whole thing talking like this.
And he had a big outdoor fryer, gas fryer, and he was frying rattlesnake.
And you could get fried rattlesnake, which by the way, there's not a lot of meat on rattlesnake.
And if it's fried for a very long time, it's a little chewy.
But at least try it and go, well, that was, so that happened.
Of the 9,000 things, I'm never putting in my mouth.
That's real close to the top of the list.
Well, you know, the testicles at least was, I was able to wash them down with.
So, you know, the testicles and the snake are on a neck and neck.
Good times.
I won't say anything.
They dropped off a zoom.
What happened?
Oh, sorry.
Just got that, Holly.
Oh, you just got it.
Okay.
Sorry.
Wait, what?
My jacket says the humor.
Thank you for catching on.
I missed it.
I'm so, I'm so sicked out by this whole conversation.
Get us back on track.
Oh yeah, about cars.
The best part is the recording so you can listen to it later.
I'm not cutting a slice out of that one.
That's all state.
You know, as this show has evolved.
One of the things that's happened is our, our more fun guess.
We wind up getting into conversations that don't have Jack to do the interview with
that I wrote.
This reminds me of an interview we did a couple of months ago where we wound up
talking about vintage men's cologne.
Yeah.
I didn't have.
Hi karate.
Yeah, my dad wore English leather.
That kind of crap.
Smells like missionary style sex.
And that's all.
It smells like celibacy all day long.
You know what?
It built a nation.
Unfreaking believable.
Anyway.
Sweet Jesus El Camino.
Can we talk about something else for the love of Christ?
So thank you.
This conversation is hanging on tight.
Mike, what makes car culture universal?
It's not the testicles.
Is it?
So the car culture thing.
The interesting thing is I have a lot of friends that are in different types
of work or, or Nietzsche's or something to say.
And, and the car culture is really the glue.
And it doesn't really matter if it's a low rider or a hot rider or a
custom.
And we rashes out and out about this, that and the other.
But I've had a couple of friends that are, have been in a, like the
modeling industry and all that stuff.
And they're all talk about how much backstab and all this other stuff
going on and all the other industries that you really don't
see in the car culture.
And, you know, I know we mentioned a pound custom culture
with our borders and maybe I'm running ahead a little bit, but
it ties together with this.
One of the things we, I started doing that or adding that to a
lot of things is that it doesn't matter if you're here in Sweden
or Norway or Japan or Germany.
It doesn't even matter that we can't talk to each other many
times, but we can go, oh, look at that or those tires or ribs
or, you know what I mean?
Go to PowerMate, for example, where they can be anywhere
from like 10 to 25,000 cars there.
They're coming from all over Europe and England and all
that type of stuff.
And we're all getting together.
There are just 50 different languages and 50 different styles
and, but we're all there.
If you look at some of the videos like from A-bombers in
Udvala, which is a, you know, kind of like trog type of thing
with a pre-59 and then you're going to have that, you know,
you got to have the dress and all, you know, be all
correct and all that.
But they come from all over.
We met some of the greatest people from England and
Germany and Switzerland and Norway, Finland and all that
type of stuff.
And it didn't matter.
The glue is the same.
Yeah.
And even if you look at it beyond that, you look at the
Rick Shaw's down in Asia or the canal boats with
the high-performance diesel engines and the long prop
shafts and all that stuff.
They're racing down the canals.
They all think and feel the same.
And they just have, using the best they can with
what they have.
Gear heads are the same everywhere.
Yeah.
You know, so Pound Custom Culture with our borders was
kind of one of those things.
It's open this stuff up because it doesn't matter where
you are.
You know, if you're into this, we're going to talk.
Yeah.
You know, and we're going to enjoy each other and
we get, you know, and that's the thing, the
tolerance and competition in the car culture.
I mean, I'm not saying there isn't backstabbing
and other things going on in our industry, but
there's so much less in the car culture than
you see in many other industries.
Well, you know, it's one of the things that made
me a real true believer about the car world is
it transcends language and it transcends
cultures and nationalities and borders and
everything else.
Man, if you're a gear head and it doesn't
even have to be about cars.
It can be about anything.
The culture.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's easy to understand back and forth.
All right.
What's the weirdest thing to eat in Sweden since
we've been talking about all the crap here?
Soostramming.
Oh, God.
If you type in soostramming challenged on
YouTube, I don't even know how to.
There's millions of videos about people trying
to eat.
Okay.
Imagine this.
Fermented shark.
Fermented shark.
No.
It is a herring.
Oh, herring.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
But think about it this way.
When you weren't on a ship in the whatever
15, 1600 and you need to take food with you.
You had a barrel full of fish and salted
water and that's what you ate until you
landed somewhere else where you could get
more food.
Sure.
And it didn't, you know, so people ate
that stuff.
So over the years that has turned into a
delicatessen.
And when you buy the cans, which is
usually about this high and about this
round.
I mean, preferred ones are the ones that
have swollen.
Yeah.
Oh, man.
And apparently doesn't it have like a god
awful, amazing ammonia smell to it?
It has an aroma that is specific to
it.
It has its own unique aroma.
Yes.
So when you see those videos and they
go and they open it and that thing
spreads.
That's what usually with most people are
on the floor throwing up.
It does make me laugh so hard.
Watching people trying to do it,
especially, you know, hardcore guy guys
were like, whoa, whoa.
No, no.
I would try it once because, you know,
it is edible.
Yes, it's not.
It's, you know, and anything in
moderation.
I'm sure if you ate a lot of it, it
would do serious damage.
But I would give it a shot.
But oof, oof.
But the key with it is that most of
them that eat it are chasing it with
aqua beet and beer.
Do I ask what the first thing is?
It is an alcohol product.
Sure.
Which is much better.
How?
You don't care anymore.
So tastes like a combination of dill
and caraway with other botanical
notes like anise, citrus and
fennel.
It's made from fermented potato,
grain mash, usually served in small glasses,
aqua beet.
Yeah, with a side of kerosene.
I thought I was hungry when we started
this show, but this is pretty well
out of the world.
Some people catch it on fire, but if
you catch yourself on fire and then
drink it, it's even better.
But the reality is just that there's
a ton of that stuff that comes from
the olden days of food preservation
that then turns into finicky food,
you know, or traditions.
Does it burn out your taste buds?
I have never, ever.
Yeah, well, I've never eaten a
snake or a testicle.
Because somebody packaged it in
markets, it doesn't mean you should
eat it.
Just because you can, doesn't it?
The thing I was thinking about,
and because I'm a Midwesterner, of
course, I got that entire region
confused, is called, I believe,
hacarl.
Iceland, made from Greenland
shark.
The fresh meat is toxic to
humans.
Due to high concentrations of
urea.
Oh!
So it must be cured to make edible.
Oh!
You bury the shark meat in a shallow pit
with gravel and stones for 6
to 12 weeks to firm it.
Well, that makes sense.
Hot-niggity.
Mmm!
This is going to be a great show.
This is going to be the best ever.
Brad is already like,
I don't like this.
You know, I quit drinking like
two years ago.
But it sure seems like a good night
tonight.
I'm 30 feet from a bar.
Oh, well, you know, hey,
what are you going to do?
I still have some whiskey left.
Brad, it's been two years, my friend.
I had to.
I'm six years sober, so.
Oh, well, good.
Mark is five and a half.
Yup.
Awesome.
It's straight up to you, Totlin.
Good for both of you.
So, back to the car.
Oh, yeah, car stuff.
Driven radio, I forgot.
Oh, yeah.
Well, you know,
fermented shark buried in a hole.
Yeah, we throw him off the cliff there.
Yeah.
So, we filled the car with dead fish.
Jesus Christ.
So, we talked about
what makes car culture universal.
It doesn't matter where you go.
What do you think some of the primary
differences are between the U.S.
and Scandinavian car culture?
Okay, that's a good one.
One of the biggest thing, I think,
which didn't really hit me until I got here in
84 and absorb what's going on really.
In the United States,
it's very segmented.
Like low riders and low riders,
they have a special style.
Customs is custom, especially in tradition.
Well, they have a special style and muscle cars
and a lot of type of stuff.
But in Sweden, what ended up happening a lot
was that somebody would come over here
and they go to 10 shows during a month
or maybe 20 shows and they go to a low-ride show.
They go to a car, a muscle car show.
They go to all the different niches
and then they go home and build a car
with a little of all of them in it.
Oh, my.
And I'm like,
it's not my preference,
but that happened more than what you realize.
It'll be a really nice custom with low-rider wheels on it
because they thought they were cool.
That is...
Then you have...
It's a whole new style in itself.
Yeah.
It just evolved that way.
I mean, you think about each individual.
It's like, well, that's cool in that car
and that's cool in that car.
And then they put it together the way they like it.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
No, there isn't.
I mean, it's your car.
Build it the way you want it.
Yeah.
And I mean, the other culture you have there,
the young groups are doing what they call
where they just
destroy them, essentially.
They just ruin them.
The rock, more rock than it is,
more dense they have and all that stuff.
They might be perfectly good drivable cars,
but then they
ride around with 8 or 10 people in it
and they have a board
across that can hold all the beer
because in Sweden you can drink in a car
as long as you have a sober driver.
You can actually fill the car up with alcohol
as long as the driver is sober.
That is so 1978.
Impalas are very popular,
the 60s Impalas
and they, you know, I mean,
they truly destroy them.
Which is, you know, not what I like,
but I get it too.
And then they pack it full, like I said,
the 6, 8, 7, 8 people
and then a 5,000 amp stereo system
and they drive around with the doors open
and they ask hanging out or sitting on top of it
and they cruise through the towns
and that's one of those segments
that's different there
and here.
It's extreme.
Just a little.
So, tell us a bit.
The other thing is that
the restoration
craze, so to say,
because of the winter months
they locked the cars up
for 6, 7 months.
Usually, October, November
they'll find a place
that's warm and not moist
and put it in there
and then you don't take it out until May,
late April or early May
and you get bored so you go work on it
and before you know it,
you've gone in there every night and then the cars restored
and I mean their restoration
standard is higher than some
restoration shops here.
Even the individuals,
they'll paint the floor pans better than they do
on the car here, you know.
And so the consequence of that
is like a lot of like,
there's over
900, almost 1,000
1959 Cadillacs
and 1960 Cadillacs,
two doors and convertibles
registered in Sweden.
And many of those have been sold
back now to the United States
in 100-point restoration
because the quality is so high.
That's just one example.
There's a pile of Buick
limitations, for example, you know,
in the late 50s.
Yeah, and
you know, so
their restoration is
part of the language, they're saying they're retentive.
They just go so far
beyond that what most people do
because they have the time, they have the space
and they just go at it.
We're going to worry about language now.
After testicles,
after talking
after talking about cow nuts for
20 minutes, we're going to worry about language now.
Well,
I could see why they like
the cars, well,
for the obvious reasons, but also
like I'm looking right now at the most popular
cars in Sweden are like the Tesla Model Y
and several Volvos
and a Volkswagen. So I'm sure
those old American
massive, you know,
buildings on wheels
really stand out. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, they do. I'm curious and this is not something
we talked about earlier. This is a little
it's not too far off
topic, but
I just did
an appraisal
on a Saab 900
turbo convertible
here and you don't
see very many Saabs
here anymore
since Saab became an orphan company
and then was shuttered. Do you see
lots more in Sweden?
Do you see
900s and 9000s running around?
Well, that's a Saab story, isn't it?
Uh-huh.
I had to do it.
I had to do it. Thank you, folks. I'll be here all week.
Don't forget to tip your waitresses.
There are
I think there's actually more of them
here than there. Wow.
Because of the rust factor.
You know, they were used as commuter cars
and they salt the roads in Sweden and
you know, there's a lot of moisture
and they evaporate.
But, you know, there's people saving them there too.
I just they shipped a lot
of their production to the United States and beyond.
So I probably have an easier time
finding them here than there.
Wow. That's interesting.
I'm a little surprised to hear that.
Yeah. Okay.
Holly. Yes.
You're a legitimate movie star now.
Yeah. What?
Tell us about being in a movie.
What was that like?
It was lots of fun.
The opportunity arose and
as I've gotten older,
I've decided, like I said,
I've taken a lot of opportunities.
I thought, oh, what the heck? Why not give it a try?
And so the opportunity arose for
a low-budget
horror movie called Clown Motel.
Three Ways
to Help. Mark, this is going to be
right up your alley.
Clown Motel Three Way. Got it.
Basically
if you see the outfits
I'm wearing during it, you might just
think that's what it's about.
Mark, it's not right to be dirty to our guests.
Okay.
Google images. Got it.
Oh, I was going to say,
I just text you a video
with the snake. I'm not in the clown outfit there,
but I just text you a video
with one of the snakes I was handling.
Is that what you sent me? I'm not opening
that now.
I know. I thought I was
going to wait for your expression
to see if you were going to open it.
Clown Motel,
it's been a fun adventure.
I'm actually going out
January to Las Vegas
to Days of the Dead
Horror Convention
and then out to Tonopal where Clown Motel
actually is. And you know what?
Okay, so how this actually started is my love of roadside attractions
and
cheesy fun places to visit and stop
was
one of them in Tonopal, Nevada.
There's a lot of other history there
and some old
hotels there.
Were you casting this?
Yes.
But I was actually attracted to
the Clown Motel, the cheesy low budget
supposedly haunted
motel
next to a cemetery.
So anyway, that's how
I ended up finding the Clown Motel movie
and was interested in it
and ended up being in it.
Um, yeah.
So I actually, we just had the premiere
I invited Michael E.
Oh, so it's out? Cool.
We can watch this.
No, there's still fun.
There's still editing.
Okay, okay.
The issues, I think.
Well, wait a second.
We got to mention though.
Yeah.
It was her silver screen
debut in Hollywood
or a horror Hollywood silver screen debut
in Beverly Hills at the Fine Arts Theater.
Cool.
You know, she was even on, what do you call that?
Marquis, you want to call her? I have time to smell her handy.
So I'm sending you a picture of me standing
in front of the picture, this other one you can open,
of me standing in front of the picture
and if you zoom in, you'll see a red and white stripe
and a scary clown.
That is me on the Marquis.
Cool.
Cool.
Very cool.
Beverly Hills.
Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills.
That's my moment of fame.
Okay, if it's a funding thing,
do they have a GoFundMe page?
Is there someplace we can go and contribute?
You know what?
I don't know about that particularly.
I mean, I know that he was selling spots
in different, you know, different,
right now, I think it's
boiling down to the editing and stuff,
but basically he had been selling spots
of it if he wanted to be a producer,
you know,
an investor.
When the hell else am I going to be a producer on a movie?
Hell yes, I'll do that.
I'm going to get you in touch with,
oh my god, I'm running a blank now.
You just, you know.
Joseph Kelly.
Okay, yes.
Yes.
I can probably talk Mark into it too.
He's a horror author.
That'd be perfect for Mark.
I think so.
I'm looking stuff up right now.
They've got some trailers out.
Some gal's head is in a ball talking and
there's cowboys.
Let me tell you, behind that ball holding,
that ball, I was also props.
I've been a special effects assistant.
I was behind her holding
that ball up, ducked down behind
because it was heavy on her,
it was heavy on her shoulders.
And they're all practical
effects, aren't they?
Absolutely.
Nice, or impractical.
I don't know which character
or what you're looking at.
If you see a character of a
kind of a sexy, vampy
clown in a
red or red or pink and white,
it might look red and white striped shirt
and black cut-off shorts
and boots and a black
wig.
That is me.
Or if you see
a clown character, another one I'm wearing
black with a shiny pink
harness.
This is a long trailer,
but there we go.
Sexy, sexy, sexy, sexy,
sexy.
Where's the scary part?
That's a lot of sexy.
As clown Vixens would do
to you.
That is so fun.
I'm looking forward to it.
Of course, I'll be promoting more
when it actually hits
DVD.
I don't expect it to be
in theaters.
It might have
a nice limited release
at smaller niche theaters.
We've got a place, Armour,
here in Kansas City.
What is it? Armour Kansas City Theater?
Armourdale.
It's just wonderful.
I've been up there selling books
and enjoying for several years
usually happens
in February or March
a horror movie festival
here in town.
Oh, nice.
It's fantastic.
I got to see a number of shows,
the first ones, and hear directors
talk and this and that.
Find out if he's got a GoFundMe page
or something like that.
In the
meantime, if you
probably look up Clown Motel 1,
I think there's a couple of different
Clown Motels, but make sure it's by Joseph Kelly
and you could watch number one. Number two,
I don't
like on, what is it,
the channels? Like a streaming thing.
If I didn't see Clown Motel 1
and 2, will I understand
Clown Motel 3?
No.
You need to buy
all the DVDs. You need to buy them
all.
I don't think honestly
I'm not sure it really would matter.
This is not word of the three rings.
Well, after you said
Clown Motel 3 way, the three rings
could have a hold of it.
Jesus.
Well, this is, again,
this is going completely off the rails so far
we've covered eating snakes,
eating cow parts
and having a three
way at the Clown Motel. Oh my lord.
Coincidentally,
the Clown Motel, which the guy
had brought that roadside attraction,
that motel
back up to
decent standards. I mean, it's still a funky
old motel.
Great place for a road trip, but
I guess back in the 80s, I think
they were doing movies about three ways.
Oh.
So, if I didn't see
the first or second movie, am I?
That has nothing to do
with this set of movies.
But the Clown Motel itself
had not the actual
Hong Kong indeed.
Best of luck.
It is in Nevada, after all, you know.
Yeah.
Jesus, this has gone south.
So what is Roy's Motel and Cafe
and what makes it special?
Roy's Motel and Cafe
is another one of my roadside stops.
It's on Route 66. It's in Amboy, California
and
oh gosh, I don't know what year.
I wish I had looked that up.
I'm not quite sure what year
it had actually opened, but
whatever
most stuff did along
Route 66 when it first
was built.
So anyway, Roy's Motel
like I said, it's on Route 66
in Amboy, California. Down the road
from it was the,
you had asked about the Roadrunner,
the Roadrunner Sign Lighting
was another establishment
on the 66
and I think
I believe it was
maybe like a campground.
Yeah, it was like a campground, a restaurant
and sort of thing. Something like that.
So yeah, so Roy's Motel
last year
and my friend
Kenny reached out to me
and asked if I'd helped spread the word about it
and so we all kind of got together and spread the word about
Roy's Motel
having it's an inaugural car show
and I'm going to tell you
so I asked and I was like, hey, you want to go on a road trip?
I had to drive my truck out there
and you and
because you were going to work the SWAT meet that weekend
and basically we just
we thought, oh no one's, you know, it's going to be a little
car show, not a lot of people, but we're going to show
show our support.
We woke up and looked out there
because it was camping across the way.
It was packed.
How many cars?
400 cars.
In the middle of this, I just boom.
So I think the closest town
to it is
Ludlow
which does have
a motel itself. I think it's
got maybe like nine grooms
and it's really weird and peculiar.
Are you
familiar with Route 66
stops?
I know you know the 66, but are you familiar with
the stops along the way?
Okay.
Well, and you know, a lot of those are run down
and nothing's really left of them
or what is, you know
and Roy's
is functional now.
It's an operating hotel and cafe.
There is a store there and they do sell
gas. The gas is more expensive
but they also have to pay more to have it
shipped in and
we're out there, we try and support.
Is it anything like stopping at Furnace
Springs where it's almost double?
I'm not sure where Furnace Springs is
but it's not cheap
but it's one of the only gas
engines for quite a while.
And they have sodas
and snacks and
Route 66 stuff and
they're working on the hotel
building up the hotel and making it
functioning one of these things but
the first time they were lighting up the signs
and all that type of stuff.
There's been a lot of movies, commercials
music videos shot out there.
So cool.
Yeah, I can't think of any.
But there has been
and some known one.
So basically it's just
I should have polished up on my information
on that before
speaking with you.
Let's ask you something you might be a little bit more
familiar with off the top of your head.
What are some of the California events
you run or participate in
or attend?
And the list I've got here is
Crafty Cates Burger Run
GNRS
You've got one here, Dr. George
the Pomona Swap Meat.
Can you talk about some of those?
Yeah, I can.
Well, first off, I'll do them kind of in order
is Moon Eyes
annual Christmas show.
And that's, you know, Moon Eyes
corporate company.
They're having their
what they call it their Christmas party
and it's a big car show.
So
I don't know if it's pre-72
but a big car show
they have music, you know
concert drag racing.
It wasn't Irwindale, but since Irwindale closed
they actually moved it to Pomona.
So
luckily we still have some place
close enough
in the same area to have it.
So that's an amazing event.
I highly recommend
that one. That one I try to make every year.
And
then in
the end of January
to the beginning of Pomona
is of course a Grand National Roadster
show. And that one
I always help out
with the charity auction and
the last few years I've been helping out
with the award ceremony
and
So when you help out with the auction
are you dressed like a haunted clown?
You know, I maybe should do that this year.
Now
actually it makes it fun. My friend
Yahida, her husband is Abraham Lang
and he does
striping there too. So her and I
are your vannas.
So we like to wear vana dresses.
Get yourself pretty
or wear something cute and then just
march back and forth basically
with the auction items to show them off
and hopefully the people that are bidding
bait them by putting it in their face
to get them to bid more.
So that might have. I'm a good sales person.
The Grand National
is also another great place and a great example
of the culture and how it's coming together
because a lot of the reason that it's
there is because there's a lot of volunteers
that are helping making that work.
Yeah, yeah, I volunteer up until
this will be my last year
I've done it for like
seven or eight years now I think
we've been doing the ropes and stanchions
for
all of the buildings
and you know and
we were actually at
Gappan Motorsports the other day where they put on an event
for all the volunteers and stuff too
as a thank you
but those are the things that make things
happen and it's the car clubs that the people
they all come great and I have
four or five people usually every year that come
from overseas just to
help out with that and
be part of what we do. We used to have a
vendor booth too but
that's one of their things, their motivation
to come you know. So
when you're walking around
at Grand National Roadster
show
I know you're looking at the
work that's been done
and judging
what you know the cars that are there
but are you ever getting ideas are you picking up
things that you might want to try
on a new build or a new
custom? Every time
but it's also overwhelming
I mean you think about it
it's usually somewhere in the six to
eight hundred cars inside
and then Saturday and Sunday there's six to
eight hundred cars outside too. Wow
and it's like I think it's
eight buildings if I were to
but I think it's like seven or eight buildings
total and then there's cars parked
in between all the buildings
so I usually go through
since we're part of the Stanchion crew and I
film that stuff I go through every
building probably eight or ten times at least
but what ends up happening
is like the first time you go oh look at that
but by the time you shot it and walked through it
and done all the stanchions it becomes a blur
but it is a fantastic
place
for meeting people
that you only kind of see at that show
and interact with them
the country yeah people out of the country
this is the one time of the year that you
see it all together and they come from
all over the world
to experience this event
it's the same with Penn East
West Coast Fast and Cruiser National which is the
45th annual this year too
up in Santa Maria
Memorial Day weekend
it's focused on customs
and it's not as big as that but it's one of those
other places where I meet other people
in the culture from all over the world
that are completely dedicated
well and that's something else
that we didn't really discuss about
the car culture
and part of
one of the best things I found
especially working for
Sportscar Market
is all the people I meet
it's all the connections you make
and all the really cool people you meet
you know there's interesting people
and everybody's got a different story
and it's fun to listen to them
and talk about how they got to where they are
and what they do and everything else
so you know
part of this journey for me
you know when I was
a 14-15 year old I'm getting goosebumps right now
I'm laying in my bed in Sweden
with magazines
and posters and all that type of stuff
and I remember
Steve Stanford for example
you know he made drawings
renderings I was just like amazed
you know
and for the last two swap meets
I filmed professionally for Pomona
swap meets so we have a set up there
with four of the double
wide booth and I put the RV there
and I have all my friends come in with their crap
authentic experience that I can film from
but Steve Stanford has been my booth
for the last two Pomonas
and he's my friend
and a lot of the customizers
and stuff that have come and gone
and many that are still here are still my friend
I mean Keith Dean, Dick Dean's son
is a regular
you know
John Saltzman
with the Atomatron
all that stuff they all come and hang out
every now and then I have a booth full of customs
and next one I'm going to have a booth full of
COEs
and streamliners and weird stuff
and it's
for me
coming from Sweden and coming to here
and living this culture in this way
is mind boggling to me
and I mean we talked about it earlier today
if I died today I'm happy
I've done more stuff than most people will do
in five lifetimes
and I have friends that people only
have the same of having
and that's the other thing
that the glue
you know
and they all welcome me
and when you go to Grand National
and you get to talk to everybody
and you can go how do you do that
or how did you come up with that idea
you know all of those conversations
happen naturally
they just evolve as you walk around and see
and shoot pictures and
and Myers has started his ideas
but you'll take that idea
well if I took that and I did this to it
it would look like this instead
and then it evolves that way
Holly we kind of skipped over this
but we talked about it
last time you were on
real quickly for the uninitiated
describe who Bubba is
give us a quick thumbnail
of Bubba
it's actually Lil Bubba
Lil Bubba is my
1956 Chevy pickup
I have owned for
like 27 years I believe
now
and
and I wasn't even looking for another
truck I had just sold my little 63
and my second 64 T-Bird
so
I was like
I was
carless basically and then I had like an 80
Cadillac or something like that
at the time and I sold all my cars
and I was like oh crap
I was having the hardest time finding something
and you know the days of the auto traders
you're blacking fingers and trying to take
other words and you know
please tell me describe
I'm driving from San Diego to LA
please be straightforward with me
and you know you get up there
and definitely not what was described
yeah don't be like the minister who lied to Mark
when he drove all the way to Arkansas
to see what was that
it was a 1965 Mercury Monterey
with the breezeway window in the back
and
you know the price was
outrageously good because this was pre-COVID
and he said that
I'll get the oil change
and I'll get this topped off
and this topped off and it'll be ready to go
because it was on the ground underneath it
it'll be ready to go and I get down there
and I'm like this oil looks kind of
thick and kind of low and he's like oh yeah
I just didn't have time to get to it
and I'm like I called you last
nice to double-check on this
and really so I test drove it anyway
and it was kind of funny because
my son was with me because he was going to drive my vehicle back
and I'd go around a corner
in this little tiny parking lot and it's dying
every time it's going around the corner
I'm like I'm not driving this on the Ozark Hills
for the next six hours
thank you know uh
thanks preacher he's down in Texas somewhere
dancing with snakes
a good example of driving
a long way to be lied to
and
Holly the reason I asked is
you know Mike's talking about
all the ideas he gets for doing stuff
and the people he meets
you have more pictures
from more events and more people
everybody wants to take a picture
with you and
it's pretty obvious why
but it's a nice smile
yeah she's got a fantastic smile
and I'm wondering
do you ever get ideas of stuff
you want to do to Lil Bubba
or I know you've got
is it a Firebird or Camaro?
you've got a Camaro don't you?
I have a 1968 Camaro convertible
we have not really bonded yet
and at one point
wasn't there an El Camino in the mix too?
at one point
wasn't there an El Camino in the mix too?
I had two El Caminos
a 72 was my first El Camino
that I got the same time
bought Lil Bubba
basically I had nothing and it was really hard for me to find
something and I had just sold
my 63 pickup which was one of the
vehicles that I sold
and I was not looking for another truck
I was looking for
a car for seats
and blah blah blah
anyway and I ended up with
my 56 pickup Lil Bubba
and a 72 El Camino
so I ended up with two trucks anyway
but then
my second El Camino that I had
which is actually one I really
do miss
it was a total rust bucket
but it was a 71 El Camino
it was a true 454 car
and
you know
I named him
Muscles
yeah I know
but that car I probably did more work on
than any of my cars meaning
body work and mechanics now
my love is greater than my knowledge
I worked on
with my mechanics
so I've worked on all my vehicles with my mechanics
yeah I've seen those pictures
but my 71 El Camino
is the one that I did the most work on
and so I think that's why I had a bond
with him
plus I mean like I said it was just
you know the rust
was a major issue and
my trucks kind of been my trademark
otherwise
my bond was probably strongest
with that car
well I can't say that
I can't say that over my truck
so yeah I do
I do get ideas for my
for Lil Bubba
but however I really want to redo
him right now
obviously if I quit doing all these road trips
maybe my funds would be better right
maybe
but I do want to redo him
and paint and stuff it's really
he's really gotten rough
but I want to do him exactly the same
and I want to do him while Mark
Louis the artist that did the artwork
is still able to do it
you know still physically able to
to do it the same
because it is a trademark and I don't think
I should change them
well talk about that artwork
talk about what's been done
and how you decided to do
that particular paint job on it
I
I was racking my brain I mean it was an oxidized
truck you know oxidized red truck
with little baby moons so it didn't look
like it does now
and I was racking my brains on what to do
and of course everyone always says flames
you know I really had no interest in doing flames
and I thought well how could I do flowers
without making it look
you know I was just trying to think of different things
I could do and without making it look
like a florist truck
and then
one point this was some years back
I had decided I was just going to do
it like a really hot pink because I saw
a Ford pickup that was a really pretty pink
and I thought you know that looks cute
but the very next year at Good Guys
everybody had pink
like the very next good guys
every vehicle wagons
cars trucks everything with hot pink
and
anyway I just I couldn't make up
my mind so I did a silver base
with some pink pearl in it
I went
modest
and then when I decided
with the artwork I went ahead and decided
you know what I had been going to Hawaii
with my boss and bartended and she had
a friend in Hawaii so
I would go to Hawaii with her
and I thought what about a Hawaiian
lay all the way around the truck
and it was nothing
what I had in mind was pretty much
a plumeria like lay
just following the curves around the bottom
of the truck
and I just gave all the Hawaiian
print dresses and shirts to the artist
and I said you're the artist come up with something
you know told him I wanted to lay
and he said I see birds I see
foliage I said you know go ahead have at it
and when I first
I didn't have the hood or the tailgate done
and when I first saw it my immediate reaction
was like oh like I was all excited
and then all of a sudden my stomach dropped
I thought I can't be seen in that thing
I was like oh my god
so I was up and down my emotions
like literally while I stand there
my very first look at it my emotions were
just like up down up down
up down like it was almost
like my life flashing before my eyes
you know just flash flash flash
but anyway I fell in love
with it and then of course
over the years
we had planned to do the tailgate
but over the years I got a little bit of road rash on the hood
and so I had done more flowers
in 2012 so I
had that painted in like
I believe it was
2005
with the sides and then in 2012
I had them freshened up a little bit
and the hood done to cover up
my road rash and
the artist which is my favorite
part of the truck the artist had an idea
to paint well we were actually
I bought a flat tailgate
because we were going to hammer out the T
and do all this different stuff we were trying to
figure out how we would do it and then
when I got it back from the artist
he had done the tailgate as well
and he had covered up the T
with the Hawaiian lay so it's
LEI instead of L-E-T
Chevrolet LEI
on the tailgate
Hawaiian lay all the way around it and that was my favorite part
because I just think it's so clever
that's cool
so you know
basically
probably
I mean the truck was all there
some things were
modified a little bit
so you're going to freshen it back
the way it was
I want to redo it but I want it the same
yeah I mean
I would do the interior different
I mean my interior is good though
but it's old
but you know I just have basic seats
and my name is imported
it says Holley's 56 on the seat
I would probably
upgrade the interior some
maybe a different style
but the truck itself
it's got to be the same
it's got to be silver with the Hawaiian flowers
and exactly as close to the same as it can be
what would you change
my trademark I mean it's
people know that truck so
yeah absolutely
what would you change on it
I mean certainly I would have to be
either very mild aesthetic stuff
or
engine, drive train
differently
well mechanically
I think I'm good where it sits
right now I mean
you know I have a
a relatively new transmission
and motor in there
you know all of cars have their quirks
but it's been
a good ride to me and it's been faithful
I mean like that I've had it
27 years and I've driven the hell out of the thing
I've taken it to Chicago and back from San Diego
wow
from San Diego to LA I mean
it drives that thing
everywhere you know
yeah I mean
you know driven it to Gallup
New Mexico from San Diego and back
on a few occasions
or Nevada Vegas or
you know
so mechanically
I don't think I would want to do
a whole lot to it
I don't think I'd want to change much on it
I mean you know you've done so many things
over the years I mean
it has a Camaro front end
it has a small box Chevy
it has an overdrive transmission
it has upgraded a lot of stuff
it's C-notch it drives really nice
right now
and you know she's got aluminum radiators
you've done so many things
it's going to have its quirks and
maybe need some fine tuning but
mechanically I think it's good
cosmetically like I said I would like to
put in power windows though
and
power windows in it lately too
yeah I put in power windows
finally
which I should have done a long time ago
you know the same thing that happened with my AC
I waited so long to put an AC
I was like what the hell was I thinking
what was I thinking
you know having miserable
miserable times getting stuck
on the freeway here in LA
like on a really hot day
I've had several of those
I got an old
60 Corvette that I've had
since I was a kid
and it's a numbers matching car
so you don't get to change anything on it
and yeah you cook
you just cook
yeah it's just I will say that's the thing with the convertible
I was like what was I thinking
what was I thinking
what the hell was I thinking
and I don't even have the top on it yet
so it's not complete
yeah so it kind of takes away from the fun
yeah
but
well especially because you know
getting older you want comforts
oh yeah yeah
that's why my 260s Corvettes
are sitting upstairs next to our Mercedes
yeah
you know
nice I mean my daily
which is the first and only new car I've ever owned
is a 2013 Dodge Challenger
ooh okay
you know
there's always issues with anything
but it's a nice yeah I haven't
swooped it up or anything
I seem to remember you telling me you got a pretty good ticket
in that one
I did I did damn it
I just got
was that Nevada
I just got one in California
I'm so pissed
I seem to remember you saying you were coming back from
Nevada and
I know I was on my way there
I've been a little heavy on the gas
yeah that was on my way there
so but I just got another one here in California
so the Nevada one
was taken care of though which was really good
that you know
since I guess
it was reduced
to a parking ticket and I paid the fine
so I like Nevada's rules
okay
I'm sure you were heartbroken about that
yeah it was
it was near Tonopal so
you're outside of Tonopal so
you can't get too many more
tickets because
you've got your Christmas morning
cruise coming out
yes I do so it's actually my
15th annual oh cool
well tell us all about it
well it's Hot Red Holly's Christmas
morning cruise and
15 years ago
Dave Stahl one of the
automotive journalists for KUSI
a local TV station in San Diego
he was in
the bar I was working at and I had worked
Thanksgiving
somebody asked how it went and I was like
a long day because I think a bar did it like 11 hours
anyway he goes what about Christmas
and so it kind of came about that we started a Christmas
event on Christmas morning
I basically think he was
due to be at work that day
and wanted somebody for his segment
now the first couple of years we did
children's one of the local shelters
children's charity but I changed
it to the Alpha project which is a homeless
shelter in San Diego
and they're open
people had asked about seeing the kids I was like
we can't the kids are protected
you know so we can't
go visit them on Christmas morning so
I changed it to the Alpha project bridge
shelter so
basically it's just a bunch of people
I don't even care if you don't drive a special
car you know
it's nice if you have a hot rod to bring it
or a lowrider or whatever it is
but we just meet up
and do a little cruise through
some local residential neighborhoods
I have been stopping outside my parents
house for the last several years
and just doing a little regroup there
but we head on down to the Alpha project
and we drop off donations to
the shelter
and all the people down there
really love to see the cars and they
of course they love getting
walks under our toothbrushes whatever it is
fresh items on Christmas morning
and then basically we just take off
and do some other festivities
afterwards so it's just a fun event
and it just happens to like I said
it falls on Christmas and a fun morning
event and a nice
charitable event as well
very cool and that's coming up when
Christmas morning
Christmas morning
yeah Christmas morning cruise
I mean it's Christmas morning
you'll have to send me
do you have a website
or a
Facebook page?
I posted some basic details on it
but I'm going to create an event
I was having trouble figuring out where the event
thing was for
Facebook but I got it
so I'm going to create an event this evening
and yeah
I'll definitely tag you in it or share it to you
well please do so we can share it
yeah
alrighty we
we're down to the last question
I've asked both of you this question
previously when we had you on
so we kind of have to do the updated version
what's the dumbest
thing either if you have done in a car in the last year
or
what's the dumbest thing you've seen somebody
else do in a car
in the last couple years
I
aside from getting tickets
yeah exactly and I know I told you
what was one of the dumbest things I've ever done in a car
and that was my experience
I think it was your
yes it was you
let's see
here what's the dumbest thing
have you been cheating on me with other podcasts
I
didn't have another podcast
to pair with Bob and Randy I'm sorry
I thought I heard another
man's voice what the
there you go
but you asked me what was the dumbest thing I ever did in a car
and I told you it was in my
youth
but you know I think
mine's got to be my speeding ticket within the last couple
years I can't really think of
what's the dumbest thing I've done
all right have you seen anybody else do
anything really spectacular
well
you know what I'm going to say the dumbest thing I
did within the last couple years is
when we got an accident my panic
on our way back from a road
trip my panic response of
immediately locked the doors it's
devil worshipers or
I went off and I started thinking
everything under the sun
that it was a setup somebody hit us from behind
to set us up
and they're going to kill us in the woods
we were in Florida some swampy area
yeah but you're a haunted clown nobody
can do anything to you
well obviously
I think that's where it's coming from
yeah so I had all kinds
of crazy ideas but yeah that
my speeding ticket
all right
Mike what do you got
well I'm going to regress
okay I'm going to go to my
18 year old
me
1969
Barracuda the 360
automatic okay good start
we're at the
car club house
and I backed out of the driveway
and turn the corner
I'm rolling backwards I drop it into neutral
go to 3,000 rpm and
drop it into power oh god he's got a neutral
drop
and it spit out the spider gears to the cover
yep oh my god
and you know
rev it high and
fortunately
it was on the hills I got the roll down
the hill to my house and into the back
yard and
you wouldn't know what it happened
oh yeah that was a big puddle and a bunch of metal crap
on the streets and I was the first one out
there was 20 other guys coming behind me
so I looked like an idiot
I'm sorry to admit
that I saw that one coming
yeah you did
now the second part of that is
I put a rear end out of a Volvo
140 in it
which is a Dana 44
with disc brakes
and then I drove it for
a little while longer
and I raised my
buddy
on the freeway
and when we got to the exit
and I let off the throttle the oil lamp started
glowing oh no
because I over revved it when I dropped
the
after the spit the spider gears out
so when I came into the turn
to come off the freeway
I lost one of the rods through the side
of the block oh my god
oh no
so yeah that was
a dumb thing to do but
you learned
I take it back the dumbest thing I've ever done
was allow somebody else to drive
my car
apparently
after hearing these stories I was like wait a second
did I ask you to move my truck for me
okay was it Mike
somebody yeah
oh gosh
so I mean
you're young when you're young
and you have you know I was fortunate
to have some high-powered muscle cars
and I didn't treat them really
well so you know there's a few of those
stories yeah
Mark said that
you know his parents wanted him to be safe
so they got him a car with a lot of metal
around him my dad got me
a Camaro I can only assume that he wanted
me to be dead
it's
it is
just by sheer stupid
luck that I didn't kill me
and a bunch of other people because I was
such a jackass in that car
and neutral drops yeah
may have done those may have seen
just how far you could drive it sideways
in the rain
and my dad
listens to this show pop there's a hundred
other things I did in that car way more
than a hundred that I can't tell you about
and I'm 56
and I have I mean I had
that that barracuda I had
a 69 firewood with a 455
400 in it okay
72 Roadrunner with a
446 pack in it good lord
and yeah and I had a bunch
of other cars but those cars
for an 18 year old was complete
stupidity yes yes
you know I had a 1955
Plymouth with the curb weight of the
USS Missouri and it
it had like a
271 v8 it with the three
on the tree and I lined it up
my buddy had a what was it an old
65 Oldsmobile
f85 big
long-ass beast of a car we lined
them up at these headlight
stoplight and we're both revving look
at each other and I got it in first
I revved it up I pop
that clutch tires spun
well his did mine didn't move
and that was the day that I erased
my clutch
it's fun
yeah it's great and especially
the phone call to dad I don't know what
happened god bless you dad forgive me
except your dad's gonna get there and he's gonna go
yeah you idiot
that smells like moron
yeah sir
I know exactly what that smells like
I may or may not have fried a clutch
in a car or two in the past
good time
see the more we talk about this stuff
the more stuff I remember and that's what brings
color and culture together
that's why I went back and regressed a little bit
so
I was in my
early 20s
and had buried
myself in a car I couldn't afford had an
87 Corvette convertible that was fairly
new then and
remember lining up
to race a guy in a
wax body Mustang but it had
had
a raised hood had a bubble hood on it
with a 351
painted on the side and you could hear the Mustang
over my Corvette and I'm like
I'm gonna get my butt handed
but it was three lanes
we were on Metcalf
at the bridge at 435
head and southbound
and three lanes wide
oh my saving grace
a new Corvette ZR-1 pulled up
on the other side of the Mustang
lights changed
I dropped it we launched really well
the Mustang walked away from me
but the ZR-1 cleaned his
clock so I felt
like I'd been redeemed a little bit
for driving a Corvette at least
some variety of Corvette beat that guy
I like that one I remember
that one that one stuck with me
alrighty we have been speaking with
K. Michael Wallen and Holly
Hansman please tell us where we
can find each of you online and on
social media
go Harry
if you search Hot Rod Holly
Hot Rod Holly Hansman
on Instagram or Facebook I should
pop right on up
if you type in custom mics with 1M
or 2M it doesn't really matter you type
it into Google most of the first page
will get you hit
oh Holly and Mike
if you want to see
of the Swedish shows
just go to custom mics youtube and there's
a bunch of videos from the shows that we attended
oh very cool
very very cool
Holly and Mike thank you so much for being
with us we really appreciate it
thank you for having us we appreciate the opportunity
good luck with that car Mark
yeah I'm gonna need it
I'm trying to help steer him in the right
direction but sometimes it's hard
it's just not big enough
we're talking about a Ford you know
hahahaha
holy hell
did that go
too far afield
that was fun they're fun
okay I enjoy them
I thought I had permanently forgotten
the testicle festival in Olien, Missouri
and the other thing
that you didn't mention that is absolutely
true when you go to that thing
is the
grease that is
everywhere from people frying stuff
boots the street I had it on the bottom
of my boots it was just
it is thick
and you don't you don't ride a Harley
around down there
and I would also recommend that you don't
get in line for the
testicles
at prime eating times you know lunchtime
or toward dinner
nobody likes cold balls
no and you know they're trying
to put them out as quickly as they can so
I I try to
I finally bought some the first time I was there
I didn't because I
didn't because
but the second time I'm like no man
these people have been so good to me
and so nice to me I'm gonna as a vendor
I'm gonna kick in so I bought
some testicles but they were
frying them as fast as they possible
so you know kind of like chicken wings that you get
from a restaurant that are also frozen when they start
they were a little
under done
let's say they were a little chewy
yeah a little medium rare
and I just
I that kind of ended
my curiosity I ate like
two out of this mound in this thing
and I'm like you know what no
the grease had lost
its heat it wasn't
it wasn't quite as crispy as
one really needs to get through
the whole experience so
so yeah that was a wrap on that
we live
weird times not very
far away
from where there were
true honest to God
hillbillies oh yeah
in fact
so I grew up when the
when the Corps of Engineers
or maybe it was
maybe it was a
Lick of the Ozarks an alphabet
soup thing FDR
was a part
of one of those works project deals
I don't you know Lick of the Ozarks
it's so funny
admit this because I've never considered
Lick of the Ozarks part of the Ozarks
for me Ozarks were always northern
Arkansas and southern Missouri it's like the hardcore
well no no but what the
point I'm making is
when they it's a man-made lake
yeah yeah and all they did is
is dam up
some creeks
creeks and rivers yep and
it filled it but if you look
at the Lake of the Ozarks on a map
it's a big snaking
it's they
it's a valley that twists
through
southern Missouri and they made
this lake here's
because we used to own a place down
there
Lake of the Ozarks has more miles of shoreline
than Florida yeah
and if you look at it on a map
it's a snake it snakes as much
as we talked about snakes on the show
it twists and
turns around but it displaced
a ton of people
yep that lived
in the valley lived in the woods
people who didn't ran around without shoes on
and if you go back
a few generations in my family
there were people who ran around
without shoes on living in houses with dirt floors
yep and
they didn't waste
anything they didn't
have a lot of food
there was no
food security
which I think is the dumbest phrase
along with a bunch of other stuff
but
they didn't waste anything
so the whole
friand testicles thing was done because you didn't
waste anything
if you butchered a cow
or a pig
you ate every bit of it where do you think
sweetmates come from eating brains and eating tongue
and all that other stuff
they didn't waste anything
beef liver
I still have not been able to
do tripe yet
I think I might
have maybe tried
a little bit of it at a Mexican buffet
so tripe is brains right?
no intestines
oh okay yeah
haven't done that one
you put enough hot sauce on anything
and all you taste is pain
but I've not been able to do
the more
rudimentary versions of it
there's a certain smell to the
processing that is
reminiscent of things I don't want to
reminisce in my mouth
freaking Dalhart, Texas
you ever want to get that smell in your car
and not be able to get it out for 100 miles
it's freaking Dalhart, Texas
five processing plants
and a rendering plant
it's a very distinct smell
can you imagine what the west bottoms used to smell like
in the yards
because Dalhart has
feedlots surrounding it
oh god feedlots
and Rhonda's folks used to live
a few miles south of a feedlot
if the wind was just right
holy jumping Jesus
it was bad
the breeze was cool you just couldn't be in it
coming out of the north big mistake
it was the same way at San Angelo, Texas
because
I had a choice between moving there
back in 2001
I had two job offers great group of people
down in San Angelo, Texas
did you go check it out and say no I don't think so
honestly I was all for it
but there was one night I was working part time
for this place
studio stream was the name of it
and at the time they were doing live radio
for all of the sonics
and this was you know umpteen years ago
you go out and do a
remote
it was a radio station
that broadcast to sonics
across the nation
3,500 of them
studio stream was a great place
the kents were the owners, love you guys
thank you for the possibilities
and for years of letting me do audio
for you however
there was a wind
that blew I went out of there one night
I had done the late shift
and I stepped out of these studios
it's at one o'clock in the morning
and honest to God
have you ever had a
somebody have to come in and break up your pipes
coming from your house down out to the street
because there's a clog
it was like that only inescapable
it was a nightmare
it's like you could almost feel it
on your clothing
and the next day I get up that morning
oh God
well the clothes are a little funky
but you go back out and it's all fresh air
and sunshine and birdies
and I went to the guys that day
what the hell was going on
oh that's the yards
they're up north and when the wind comes out of the north
I'm like sweet mother of God
and unfortunately we had that happen
too when I took Cammie
my wife down there to say hey what do you think
of this town because there were cool houses
it was you know
semi-arid I loved pretty much everything about it
but she was like no
no
no
I'm not doing this
that's it
well imagine jet stream
switches around and you get three days of north wind
yeah
that's three days and close the windows close the doors
well and I'm moving
and also
if you live on a farm
and you're south of a feed lot
and you
are serviced by well water
there's a chance that the water
doesn't smell
real wonderful
and you only drink bottled water
or pop while you're at her parents house
wow
yeah
yeah
ooh yeah
gotta love the beef business
I love steaks but I don't like mistakes
yeah no
I love the way it tastes
after it's been butchered and delivered to me
I
I don't want to be part of that process
no
hey I know my limits
I know my limits
and that is one of them
the other thing about this we talked about snakes
I
I have a
really unnatural
fear and disgust
of snakes
oh wow
and I'd rather go to prison
for a while
I really really
really don't like snakes
so when I
was running that lawn mower
trying to kill those little critters
it wasn't just purely because I didn't want
them around the house
I wanted them dead all of them dead
I don't care that they're eating
mice and all that other crap
I want them dead
I've never had too much of a problem
with snakes I did one time
I was 18 working with my uncle
Uncle David doing steam cleaning
and janitorial work in the morning
then I worked at western sizzling at night
this is down in Branson Missouri
that's how I paid for college
and I was working these two jobs
and one morning we went out to this place
oh god why they wanted us to steam clean
their carpets in this trailer
I couldn't tell you but we did it
it was a trailer
nice trailer
it was a double white
but it was a trailer
and on their front porch
the wood porch was a
and I'm like oh kind of cool
I'm so glad they're not poisonous
because I walked up and the thing just looked
totally mellow and I
reached my little finger out
I touched it
I've never seen anything move that fast
and that son of a bitch was on my finger
and I'm like ahhh
and I slung it off and then there's
four needle points that are bleeding profusely
and I'm like oh god
and I just was like oh they're not poisonous
but you know they can
do infections
so I watched it for a while
I did alright
oh my Christ I would have come out of my skin
you know
when you're
two cups of stupid
shaker of dumb
that's what happens
I don't know what it is
I had a friend of mine growing up
who just used to
he would go out with a stick
and a pillowcase
and he would go catch a bunch of these things
and his parents
were absolutely cool with it
which is just foreign to me
that's one of the
lines my mom would have drawn
no snakes and
he would go Mike Bay
he was a really really interesting kid
but he would go out and just turn over rocks
and logs and look for him
and he'd have
his dad built all kinds of shelves
in their basement and he had aquariums
and he would buy
frozen mice
and feed these things
he had a ton of these
damn things and then one summer
he bought a bunch of
rats
freshly weaned rats to feed to his snakes
and every kid in the neighborhood
wound up with a pet rat
I even had one
I think rats are kinda okay
but not snakes
sounds like Willard
can't do it
Mike Bay, interesting kid
had an African
gray parrot that would call their dog
and then bark at it
wow
the Bay house was quite an experience
yep two doors down, really interesting
he always knew something fun was going to be going on
over at Mike's house
how far off track have we gotten here?
way far
bring it back
again I have to go take my ADD mess
so much for spending time with Driven Radio
we love what we do
even when we don't focus on it
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 Brett
at DrivenRadioShow.com
I am Brett Hatfield
for Mark L. Groves
thank you for being distracted with us
and we'll see you next time here on Driven Radio
music
music
music
music
car guys have dreams don't we
the dream might be sitting in the garage
waiting to be perfected
it might be sitting on an auction site
with a guy working the highest bid
oh lord I got one of those right now
is it a dream? the potential
the goal
a perfected ride that makes you look back at it
every time before you close your garage door
just one more shot
you found the right car
you can't park it in a parking lot without shooting
a look back over your shoulder
and at Hot Rod Express
dreams come true
call Hot Rod Express in Blue Springs, Missouri
at 816-224-9597
ask for Rick Hunter
the nicest guy this side of a kick-ass burnout
he did wonders
for my 65 Corvette
and he can do it for your car too
whether you want your dream ride to look more original
than when it rolled off the showroom floor
or you want to turn it into a high-performance
meat-eating, flame-throwing
street monster
Rick and his expert crew could make that happen
stop dreaming start driving
call Rick Hunter at Hot Rod Express
816-224-9597
or just stop by
at 5105 US 40
in Blue Springs, Missouri
at 816-224-9597
at Hot Rod Express
they make friends fast
you know Daryl Ossipic
might just be the most interesting man on earth
might be
if you look at his collection of vehicles
you'll realize this is a renaissance man
from weird old beaters to serious performance
Hot Rods
owner of Ossipic Automotive
Daryl is the car whisperer practicing
voodoo that brings vehicles back from the dead
just for
for us here on this show
Daryl is working on Mercury
Mountaineer
Classic Corvettes
Nissan Xterra
Unusual Mercedes
and a 64 Dodge Custom 880
neither of ours anymore
not no Moe
but you know why it ran? Daryl Ossipic
in other words we come to him
with our whiny issues and he comes back
to us with shiny fixed automobiles
it is like magic
Daryl has
ASC certified mechanics and happily gives
binding estimates
you might not know he's happy
but that might be because he ceases coming
and it erases all
of his joy
Daryl will explain
what he finds, what he plans on doing
and lets you make your decisions
nothing hidden, no mechanic
bait and switch, he's straight up
and even guarantees all work for at least
1 month or 1000 miles
Ossipic Automotive
that's OSI
PIK Automotive
5920 Merriam Drive in Merriam Kansas
called Daryl at
913-831-3613
what was that number?
913-831-3613
don't even have to read it
it's been in my head for a while now
that dude on the back of my skull
ask for the big D and tell him Brett
after he sighs heavily
and he will
he'll get you taken care of 913-831-3613
Ossipic Automotive
About this episode
K. Mikael Wallin and Holly Ansman join the Driven Radio Show to share their experiences in the car culture, from classic car restoration to unique automotive events. They discuss the differences between U.S. and Scandinavian car scenes, touching on customs, restorations, and the universal bond among gearheads. Holly shares her journey with her beloved 'Lil Bubba' and her charity event, while Mikael reflects on his adventures in Sweden. The episode is filled with humorous anecdotes, car stories, and insights into the vibrant automotive community.
Bring a Trailer
compression ratio
Grand National Roadster Show
Hagerty
horsepower
hot rod
LS5
LS6
Meekum
numbers matching
Buick Grand National
Cadillac Eldorado
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Chevelle
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet El Camino
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Pickup Truck
Chevrolet Sonic
Chrysler Newport
Chrysler New Yorker
Dodge Challenger
Dodge Custom 880
Dodge Viper
Ford Mustang
Ford Thunderbird
Jaguar Mark I
Mercury Monterey
Mercury Mountaineer
Nissan XTerra
Plymouth Barracuda
Plymouth Road Runner
Pontiac Firebird
Saab 900
Shelby Cobra
Tesla Model Y
Toyota Land Cruiser
Original notes
Brett and Mark welcome K. Mikael Wallin and Holly Ansman, AKA Custom Mike and Hot Rod Holly, to discuss the Shenanigan Tour, Roy's Motel and Cafe on Route 66, traveling through Europe, disgusting culinary misadventures, and starring in low-budget horror flicks. All this and much more on this week's Driven Radio Show!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Driven Radio Show
Brett Hatfield
0:00
113:01