Brett and the crew kick things off with a real-world AC problem—turning it on while driving can shut the car off, forcing a pull-over and a wait. The conversation then swings into shop updates, towing, and auction/press plans, before settling on guest David Neyens and his Motorcopia work. Later, the episode gets deep into WWII fighter talk (P-40 vs P-51, engines, and pilot stories) and then broadens into van culture, charity raffles, and even a classic-car selling toolkit.
Brett and Mark welcome David Neyens of Motorcopia to discuss his recent trip to VanFest, vans full of denim interiors, Christmas in June, the COPING Centre, David's new e-book for non-car collectors, birthdays, anniversaries, and the glory that is the Concours d'LeMons. All this and much more on this week's Driven Radio Show!
"... worked the air conditioning on my Everdependable XTERRA as a kind of an on-off, on-off, because if you."
The Nissan XTerra is an SUV, which is a taller vehicle that’s meant for everyday driving and light off-road use. The podcast mentions fixing or adjusting the air conditioning so it works properly. That kind of problem is something owners often deal with over time.
The Nissan XTerra is a compact SUV built with a rugged, off-road-friendly purpose and a reputation for being dependable for daily use. In the podcast, the speaker discusses working on the air conditioning behavior on their XTerra, which points to a common type of ownership topic: diagnosing comfort-system issues. It’s discussed because the XTerra often comes up as a long-lasting vehicle that owners keep running and maintain themselves.
"everybody thinks that you have you had to dogfight and that's the legend."
A dogfight is when fighter planes get into close, twisting combat with each other. The speakers are comparing which planes are better at turning versus going fast.
A dogfight is close-range aerial combat where aircraft maneuver to get guns on target. In the segment, it’s used to compare how different WWII fighters handled turning versus speed.
"how to combat the Japanese airplanes with speed and diving speed and their superior guns and armor plating and everything, the P40 was far superior."
Armor plating refers to protective metal used to shield critical parts of an aircraft from enemy fire. Here it’s contrasted with the Japanese fighters’ survivability and gun/armor effectiveness.
Term
one way gas tanks
"They had those one way gas tanks, you know, just fire."
“One way gas tanks” is a rough way of describing aircraft used for kamikaze attacks, where the mission was essentially one-way. The speaker is using it to explain the Japanese planes’ combat approach.
“One way gas tanks” is a colloquial reference to fuel systems associated with kamikaze-style tactics, where aircraft were used in near-suicide attacks. The speaker uses it to explain why certain Japanese aircraft were “kind of like” a different combat style.
"they put the spoilers on the back that don't make any sense."
Spoilers are parts that change how air flows over a vehicle to help slow it down or control it. Here they’re mentioned as a design feature that gives away what the plane is doing.
Spoilers are aerodynamic surfaces that disrupt airflow to reduce lift and increase drag, helping control speed and handling. In the segment, the speaker uses “spoilers” as a joke about aircraft design choices that “tip your hand.”
"Is that a Rolls Royce engine? One was it looks like it was based licensed built Rolls Royce Merlin. Oh, OK, yeah, that makes sense."
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a well-known WWII airplane engine. Here, they’re saying another company built a version of it under license.
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a famous V-12 aircraft engine used in multiple WWII fighters. In this segment, the host is connecting the P-40 Warhawk’s engine lineage to a Merlin-based design that was licensed and built by other companies.
"One was it looks like it was based licensed built Rolls Royce Merlin. Oh, OK, yeah, that makes sense. Packard v 1650 Merlin."
“Licensed built” means one company was allowed to make another company’s design. In wartime, this helped speed up production of proven engine designs.
“Licensed built” means one company is allowed to manufacture another company’s engine design under permission (a licensing agreement). The segment uses this to explain how Merlin-based designs were produced by other manufacturers during the war.
"And then the other one, Allison v 1710. Yeah. Allison is in the Allison who makes the tractors."
“Allison” is the name of an engine maker. In this context, they’re talking about an Allison aircraft engine used in WWII, and they mention the company also makes engines for tractors.
“Allison” here refers to the Allison aircraft engine line, associated with the Allison V-1710 family. The host is clarifying that Allison is the same company behind those engines, and they’re also known for other machinery like tractor engines.
"[954.6s] And then underneath, it's got a pretty decent size air intake.
[960.1s] But with the cowling stripped away, it has one of the three round things"
An air intake is an opening that brings outside air into the engine system. More/cleaner airflow can help the engine run cooler and make power.
An air intake is the duct or opening that channels outside air into an engine system. On aircraft, intake design affects cooling airflow and how much air the engine can process for power.
"[1005.0s] Very fast and very.
[1006.4s] But the the ones the Allison, they tried.
[1010.1s] I think they were looking to put a supercharger on it."
A supercharger is a device that forces more air into the engine. More air can mean more power, but it also makes the air hotter, so cooling systems may be needed.
A supercharger is a forced-induction device that uses mechanical power from the engine to compress intake air. Compressing air increases the amount of oxygen available for combustion, which can raise power—though it often requires additional cooling like intercooling.
"[1012.6s] And I don't think that ever materialized.
[1014.6s] This is their intakes for intercoolers."
An intercooler cools the air after it’s been squeezed by a turbo or supercharger. Cooler air helps the engine breathe better and can prevent overheating.
An intercooler is a heat exchanger used on forced-induction engines (like turbocharged or supercharged setups) to cool the compressed air before it enters the engine. Cooler intake air is denser, which can improve efficiency and reduce the risk of overheating.
"...he one there was one that won. It was an 80s Ford Ranger that was completely on an air suspension, custom ..."
The Ford Ranger is a pickup truck, meaning it’s built to carry things and handle everyday driving. The podcast mentions an older Ranger that was modified with air suspension, which lets the truck sit higher or lower. People talk about it because it’s a very customized version of a common truck.
The Ford Ranger is a mid-size pickup truck known for being a practical platform for customization. In the podcast, the focus is on an 80s Ranger that was heavily modified with an air suspension, which is a common way to dramatically change ride height and stance. It’s the kind of build that gets discussed because it shows how far owners will go to personalize a workhorse truck.
"There was another one called the Time Machine. There was a G 20 van from or no, not a G 20. It was a Chevy van and it was a short wheelbase."
The Infiniti G20 is a small luxury car, usually a sedan. In the podcast, the speaker seems to mix up the vehicle type when mentioning it, then talks about a different van. The key point is that the G20 is a passenger car model, not a van.
The Infiniti G20 is a compact luxury sedan that was marketed as a more upscale alternative to mainstream sedans. In the podcast, the mention is a bit confusing because the speaker talks about a “G20 van” and then corrects it to a Chevrolet short-wheelbase van, suggesting they were describing different vehicles. The G20 is still relevant in the conversation as a model name that came up during the story.
Dennis Elzinga (CC BY 2.0)
Car
Chevy van
"It was a Chevy van and it was a short wheelbase. And the previous owner had cut two feet out of it and then put it back together."
They’re talking about a Chevrolet van that someone heavily modified. It was a shorter version (short-wheelbase), and the previous owner even cut out a big section and put it back together—so it’s not a simple cosmetic change.
The speaker is talking about a Chevrolet van that was modified into a distinctive, showy custom. They mention it was a short-wheelbase van and that the previous owner cut two feet out of it and then reassembled it, which is a major structural modification.
"It was a Chevy van and it was a short wheelbase. And the previous owner had cut two feet out of it and then put it back together."
“Short wheelbase” means the van’s wheel-to-wheel distance is shorter. That can make it feel more nimble and can affect ride and handling, especially when the vehicle has been modified.
Short wheelbase means the distance between the front and rear axles is shorter than on a standard version. That usually makes the van easier to maneuver and can change how it rides and handles, especially after other custom work.
"But it was infamous. It's been pictured doing wheelies and stuff like that."
A wheelie is when the front wheels come up off the ground, usually during hard acceleration or a stunt. The point here is that the custom vehicle is capable of doing that kind of dramatic maneuver.
A wheelie is when a vehicle lifts its front wheels off the ground during acceleration or a stunt. The host uses it to emphasize how extreme and attention-grabbing the modified van is.
"...se beautiful GM motor homes from the 70s with the Toronado front wheel drive power. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow."
The Oldsmobile Toronado is an older American car, built as a comfortable, stylish coupe. It’s known for using front-wheel drive, which means the front wheels do the work of moving the car. The podcast mentions it because it’s connected to how certain 1970s GM vehicles were built and used.
The Oldsmobile Toronado is a classic American personal luxury coupe that’s especially known for its front-wheel-drive layout. The podcast references it in the context of GM motor homes from the 1970s, highlighting how the Toronado’s front-wheel-drive powertrain is part of what made those vehicles notable. It comes up because it’s a distinctive piece of automotive history from that era.
"for those short wheelbase Chevy vans with side pipes on them."
“Side pipes” are exhaust pipes that come out along the side of the vehicle. People usually add them to make the car sound louder and look more custom.
Side pipes are aftermarket exhaust pipes routed along the side of the vehicle rather than exiting underneath or at the rear. They’re often used for a louder sound and a more distinctive hot-rod/custom look.
"And especially Kragers, they got to be 10 inch wide in the back."
Kragers are a type of aftermarket wheel design. The “10 inch wide” comment is about how wide the wheel is, which changes the car’s look and how the tire sits.
Kragers refers to Krager-style wheels—an aftermarket wheel design known for a distinctive multi-spoke look. The speaker also mentions a specific width (“10 inch wide in the back”), which affects stance and how the tires fit under the rear.
Elmer is a place in Ontario, Canada. The host is using it to tell listeners where the event happened.
Elmer is a community in Ontario, Canada, and the speaker says the event was held there. It’s mentioned as part of the route/region context for where the car gathering took place.
Lake Erie is a big lake in the Great Lakes region. The host mentions it to explain where in Ontario the event was located.
Lake Erie is one of the Great Lakes on the Canada–U.S. border, and the speaker places the event on the “north shore of Lake Erie.” That helps listeners understand the regional geography around the car meet.
"And what I'm trying to say, Port Stanley is nearby. That's a famous fishing and holiday port there."
Port Stanley is a town near Lake Erie. The host mentions it because it’s a well-known fishing and vacation spot nearby.
Port Stanley is a town on Lake Erie in Ontario, and the speaker calls it a “famous fishing and holiday port.” It’s used as a nearby reference point to locate where the event took place.
"I've been threatening my family that I was going to get a Corvette
and then dress as the archetypal Corvette man."
The Corvette is a famous sports car from Chevrolet. People often see it as a dream car, so the joke is about wanting to look and act like a “Corvette person.”
The Chevrolet Corvette is a long-running American sports car known for its performance-per-dollar reputation and iconic styling. In enthusiast culture, it’s often treated as a “default” dream car, which is why the host jokes about becoming the archetypal Corvette guy.
"It's it's a C8 brand new. It's I think they got it through Leggett GM in Burlington..."
C8 is the name for the newer generation of the Corvette. It matters because this generation uses a mid-engine design, which changes how the car drives.
C8 is the generation code for the Chevrolet Corvette that debuted with a mid-engine layout. That mid-engine packaging is a big part of why the C8 Corvette feels and handles differently than earlier Corvettes with a front-engine layout.
"It's I think they got it through Leggett GM in Burlington, which is kind of near Burlington, Oldfield, Toronto..."
Leggett GM is the dealership the host says they got the Corvette through. It’s basically the local car store involved in the raffle setup.
Leggett GM is referenced as the dealership that supplied the C8 Corvette. Dealership names like this matter because they can indicate where the car was purchased and which local sales channel supported the raffle.
"It's got the black carbon fiber looking stripes on it and bronze OEM bronze wheels and it's quite a stunner."
Carbon fiber is a strong, lightweight material used on some cars. In this case, it’s mentioned as a black stripe look on the Corvette.
Carbon fiber is a lightweight, high-strength composite material often used on performance cars for trim, aero pieces, and weight-saving parts. Here it’s described as “black carbon fiber looking stripes,” meaning the car has a visual accent that resembles or uses carbon-fiber-style material.
"It's got the black carbon fiber looking stripes on it and bronze OEM bronze wheels and it's quite a stunner."
OEM means the parts are made for the car by the manufacturer, not added later. So “OEM bronze wheels” suggests the wheels are the factory version.
OEM means “original equipment manufacturer,” referring to parts made by (or for) the vehicle maker rather than aftermarket. “OEM bronze wheels” implies the Corvette’s bronze wheels are factory-spec rather than dealer or aftermarket upgrades.
"He's about 82 now, and he's having extreme mobility issues whereby, you know, getting in and out of my Chrysler Crossfire would be an impossibility."
The Chrysler Crossfire is a sporty Chrysler car with a low, tight cabin. The host is using it as an example of a car that might be hard to climb into if you have trouble moving around.
The Chrysler Crossfire is a late-2000s-era Chrysler sports coupe/roadster known for its distinctive styling and relatively low, wide cabin. In this segment it’s used as an example of a car that can be difficult for someone with mobility issues to get into and out of.
"for, since 1962 until last year, Drag Race, you know, pretty much every weekend."
Drag racing is when cars race in a straight line over a set distance, with timing measured very precisely. The host is saying this friend raced like that almost every weekend for years.
“Drag Race” refers to straight-line racing where cars compete over a fixed distance (often the quarter-mile) with timing measured from launch to finish. The segment uses it to describe the friend’s long-running weekend hobby and then transitions into the truck’s measured performance.
"dig this.
[2900.8s] It was a 10.9 second supercharged Ford F-150."
The Ford F-150 is Ford’s best-known full-size pickup, and here it’s notable because it’s described as a supercharged street truck. The segment also frames it as a drag-racing setup, with quarter-mile speed and elapsed time used to quantify its performance.
Supercharged means the engine has an add-on that forces extra air into it. That extra air helps the engine make more power, which is why it can run very fast in drag races.
Supercharged means the engine has a forced-induction system that uses a compressor (driven by the engine) to push more air into the cylinders. More air enables more fuel to be burned, which typically boosts power—especially noticeable in drag racing.
In drag racing, the “quarter” usually means a quarter-mile race. It’s a common distance used to compare how fast cars accelerate and how fast they get by the end.
In drag racing, the “quarter” refers to the quarter-mile distance (about 402 meters). It’s a standard measure of acceleration and top speed for straight-line runs, which is why the host pairs it with elapsed time and trap speed.
"When he was relaxing a little bit last year, because he was getting a little slower on the drop, he'd have a good reaction time and he'd do 11 flat. He had E-81. Wow."
The BMW 1 Series is a small luxury car. The podcast mentions it in a context that sounds like performance testing, like how fast it can accelerate. That’s why it’s being brought up—people are comparing results from driving runs.
The BMW 1 Series is a compact luxury car line that’s often discussed for its driving dynamics and performance potential. In the podcast, it’s mentioned alongside a racing-style detail (“11 flat” and “E-81”), suggesting the conversation is about acceleration or track performance. That’s why it comes up: owners and drivers often talk about real-world times and setup results.
"Chapter 10, how to inspect that car you found on bring a trailer. Wow."
Bring a Trailer is a website where people auction used cars online. If you find a car there, you should inspect it closely before buying because you can’t just look at it in person right away.
Bring a Trailer (often shortened to BaT) is an online auction site focused on enthusiast cars, where buyers can inspect listings and bid on specific vehicles. When the host says “inspect that car you found on bring a trailer,” they’re emphasizing that you should verify details carefully because you’re buying remotely.
"Now we bought a for 1300 bucks Canadian, including commission and everything. We got a 2000 Mercedes Benz E 320 sedan and it been sitting for a couple of years in Sioux St. Maria of all places way up north."
This is a Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan, specifically the E 320. It’s a luxury car meant for comfortable driving, and the “320” usually points to the engine size class.
The Mercedes-Benz E 320 sedan is part of the E-Class lineup, known for a comfortable, long-distance-focused ride and a typical Mercedes-Benz luxury interior. The “E 320” designation refers to the 3.2-liter class of engine used in that model generation, which is why it’s often discussed as a smooth, everyday cruiser rather than a track car.
"So I found their their temporary paper or cardboard dealer plate in it in the car's paperwork, which is pretty funny."
A dealer plate is a special license plate used by car dealerships. It’s meant to let dealers legally drive cars around for business, like moving them before sale.
A dealer plate is a license plate issued for dealership use, allowing a dealer (or sometimes authorized parties) to legally move vehicles for sale or transport. The host’s point is that the car’s paperwork and temporary dealer plate suggest it had been handled through dealership channels before reaching Canada.
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.
That's me.
And we are coming to you from Driven Radio Studios.
We're suddenly outside.
It is the temperature of lava.
It was, according to my wife yesterday,
even though it wasn't as hot as it is today,
the what is it, effective temperature was like in 104,
because it was about 200% humidity.
The temperature outside today is a setting from London broil.
Yeah, it sucks.
It is god-awful.
And you know what, I worked the air conditioning
on my Everdependable XTERRA as a kind of an on-off, on-off,
because if you.
It'll run for a little while and then it won't.
Well, I'll leave it on for a little while.
And then I will turn it off because it hasn't done a long
time because I haven't been using it.
But when I first bought that thing,
that was when if I turned on the AC and left it running while
I'm driving, all of a sudden, my car is off.
And that is the paper lock of all time, man.
And so I'd have to pull over, give it 10 minutes,
and then it would start up again.
And as long as it entered on the AC.
Have you figured out what it is?
No, it's a piece of shit.
I mean, it's an odd engineering glitch.
I noticed that might be the piece of shit that you tried to
sell me.
I'm still trying to sell it, but I am honest about it.
I do say that it doesn't.
I have news for you, Cosette.
What's that?
Name that show if you can.
Oh, that's Lena Zirab.
No.
Cosette?
No.
No, that's when the alien from Resident
Aliens trying to learn how to speak English.
And he does it entirely by watching reruns of law and order.
Oh, God.
And he's got Jerry Orbox in.
I've got news for you, Cosette.
Anyway, I.
Well, while we were sitting here, I ordered new tires for that heritage.
Oh, nice.
That I've got done otherwise, because I didn't think it would be
responsible of me to sell it to somebody with the the stone
tires on it that are there.
See, you're one of the nicer sellers.
Well, yeah.
No, I have a thing called a conscience.
No, I fear lawsuits.
Oh, there is that.
I'm conscious of lawsuits.
So the first thing I was going to say is I ordered tires for your
1990 Harley heritage that would make a good swap for that X-tero.
For the next year, you know, the heritage, the AC works all the time.
Yeah, it's nonstop AC.
Whether you want to or not.
Hey, anything new on the T-Bird front?
I did get it towed over to
a ossipic automotive. Oh, do it.
Do it. It's tradition.
I got news for you.
5920 Merriam Drive in Merriam, Kansas.
A 9138313613
Thank you.
And before I drove back over here, I took the day or not day off,
but I did a work from home today so that I could be there to load up the vehicle.
Yeah. And Allied towing took care of me again.
Because same guy that towed.
Oh, so he knows.
Dodge all the times and even towed this one over to mine.
He's like, oh, yeah, hey, you got a new car.
Yeah, I'm like, hey, thanks for the Christmas card.
I can't wait to see you, you know, the Easter.
But it doesn't mean we are.
Am I supposed to bring a side?
I got I got a call from Daryl ossipic not long before I came over.
And yeah, it's not looking good.
Oh, no. I'm just going to leave it.
Oh, no. Oh, no.
It's it's not a good car.
Oh, OK. So are we going to have to trade Daryl out a bunch of stuff?
Or is the car just going to go back to the former owner?
We'll find out.
I did finally get a response from bring a trailer for the the email that I sent
over a week ago, I sent a reply to both he and the bring a trailer
and the seller seller yesterday.
Saying, hey, I need I need your replies so I can know what my next steps are.
And bring a trailer replied.
And they said and they were, you know, well, sorry that the the seller hasn't
contacted you, which he hasn't.
And so they said, we've we're reaching out to him ourselves to and they would
like some real estimates, you know, which makes sense.
Well, you're about to have them.
So yeah, I've already sent off pictures down to James down at Sparkman Hot Rods
about the body work.
There's probably some more stuff he needs to know because when
it wouldn't start this morning, by the way.
So at all.
So it when.
Hey, you know, I got 37 cars.
You want to borrow one with Daryl took a look at it.
He's he had a lot to say about the general condition of the car
and the shoddy shoddy work that was done to it.
And you're saying it look OK.
And yeah, wow, this we put through a bat shoot on this shit.
Yeah, you know, that's all that's all the honest stuff.
And probably won't talk about the car for a little while.
One, because it.
No, I can tell why it does not give me the good feels.
And to you think I'm so God bless it.
Angry, I could scream.
OK, so that's that's where I'm at with it.
And but I've got really kind people around me who are helping me.
They'll both James and Daryl are going to get me some cost
estimates by the end of the week.
I'll email that off and we'll see where, you know, if I have to show up
in small claims court or whatever.
I don't think it's going to be small claims.
I think it'll violate small claims.
Oh, well, this is starting to sound like quirk quirk.
It may may.
But well, good news lawyers.
I got a lot of motorcycles.
You could ride to cheer up.
There is that.
See, see, I got tires coming for that heritage.
And I think I'll probably throw the tires on it this weekend.
Since we're supposed to have a house full of people, that'll give me some place to go.
Yes. Yes.
You know, isn't it funny?
We love kids as we get older.
It's like, oh, they're so cute for a while.
No. And it's like, you know, no, I barely like my own kids.
OK, that's fair.
I mean, they were they were cute and we raised two beautiful daughters.
And now that they're a little bit more grown up, we have a pretty good time
talking to each other and everything else.
But, man, I'm just not a kid person.
Yeah, I like puppies and kittens and stuff like that.
But little kids, especially other people's, not a few.
Just not a few.
Yeah, oh, Grandpa Hatfields.
Hey, guys, this beautiful new baby.
That's good. Keep it to yourself.
I've got this new fun game called Weeding.
You're going to love it.
Um, I'm sure that my 11 granddaughters have at one time or another said to their
mother, the hell's wrong with your dad?
Yeah, I'm sure they've said it, too.
I don't know what the hell's wrong with my dad.
That's because I wake up in the morning.
I just, ah, everything sucks.
Well, what a way to kick off a show.
Hey, hey, hey, happy thoughts, happy thoughts.
Oh, let's get into something fun in more car news, by the way,
I am gearing up to head to Barrett Jackson, Columbus, coming up in a couple of weeks.
No, by the time people hear this, it'll be upon us.
But going to go cover an auction, a live auction for the first time in a couple
of years, because I found out they have mobility scooters.
Oh, dude.
And like, Flynn, it's like a motorcycle for your knee.
Oh, God, it's I'm so embarrassed by this.
But I'm also so stinkin' cripple.
It's not even funny.
Yeah, yeah.
Reality.
It's a bitch.
So thanks, God, for narcotics.
Thank God for the pharmacy that will give me those narcotics.
Thank you.
Really enjoy that tram at all.
CV, yeah.
Our special guest this week is David Nions, a lifelong classic car
and warbird enthusiast.
Ooh, cool warbirds.
David earned a bachelor's degree in history, but credits the first copy
of Hot Rod magazine he got in 1972 for setting his career path.
Following a decade in banking and financial services in the 1990s and 2000s,
Dave took a job as an entry level catalog writer for a nearby auction house
in early 2008, conducting research on specific cars and interviewing
their owners, restores and drivers.
Dave has written thousands of auction catalog descriptions and feature
articles over his career to date.
Most recently, Dave has developed and launched the Motor Copia newsletter
and Motor Copia Market Intelligence Suite.
David, welcome back to Driven Radio.
Gentlemen, always a pleasure.
Thanks to see you again.
Sorry to take so long to get to you.
We had to sit here and cry.
Yeah, we are Dr. Peppers.
Always got to hash out some crap before we just started.
Whoa, dismay.
Oh, no, that was that was a lot of fun, actually.
I was I was just trying to hold back.
I was I was ready to start chiming in all.
Oh, terrific.
You want to hear about all my broken stuff?
Lay it on me, brother.
Yeah, I'm here.
I'm your shoulder to cry on.
I own multiple vintage Mercedes, enough said.
Oh, cool.
You know, I'm actually I had to look up Warbird to make sure it was
the right thing that I was thinking and it was and it's cool that you're
into those because ever since I was a kid, I have liked airplanes somewhat.
My dad worked for MacDonald Douglas and Lockheed.
He was a metal, whatever they call him, craftsman.
He made he made metal go together.
He's a fabricator.
Right on.
One of those guys.
And dad, you know, we got to walk through the first C5A as a kid.
I was I didn't know that's cool.
That was down in down in Atlanta, Georgia.
And they got pictures of it in press, et cetera, blah, blah, blah.
He also worked on F4s, but my favorite airplane and I don't know why.
Because well, no, I do know because I have terrible tastes is the P40 Warhawk.
Oh, I love them.
They're great, big, massive.
The P51 Mustang, when it came out, was just kicking its ass all over the place.
But those Warhawks are just long and cool looking, big step wings sticking out there.
And oh, yeah.
And then especially if you got the little.
Dude, that is cool looking.
Oh, yeah. I dig them.
I love the flying tiger.
Yes, they had on those.
But those planes, those, everybody ran them into the ground
verbally and with the later generation of fighters that were better
because they just came along later with a lot of lessons learned during the war
early on. Yeah.
But the P40, I read a lot of accounts where the
but from from the pilots that flew them, they could that that thing could
if you get if you had enough altitude, it could dive at 500 plus miles an hour.
And if they flew them, yeah.
And if they flew them correctly, see, everybody thinks that you have you had
to dogfight and that's the legend.
But if you the altitude and speed and then they when they started learning
how to how to combat the Japanese airplanes with speed and diving speed
and their superior guns and armor plating and everything, the P40 was far superior.
But, you know, you couldn't get into as much of a turning fight, supposedly.
Yeah, not quite as a maneuverable, just really fast.
But the zeros were super, super light, but they didn't have much in the way of armor on them.
They didn't not at all.
You know, shoot them to ribbons in short order.
They had those one way gas tanks, you know, just fire.
So they were kind of like that.
Yeah, they were kind of like the drifting drivers.
You know, they were extremely maneuverable and like to get in tight.
But, you know, I think that there were far inferior planes that the Japanese
flew that that could take on a P38.
No problem if they started getting slow, low and turning with them.
And then it was they were toast.
Yeah. And those zeros also had that problem
with they put those big cans on the exhaust so you could hear them from, you know,
three miles away, you know, that it was the cells.
And it was that way to go with the Japanese aircraft joke.
Well, yeah, they put the spoilers on the back that don't make any sense.
Tipped your hand there a little bit gross.
Sorry. What was I thinking?
Anyway, you were saying.
Oh, no, it's OK.
It's just that the it's funny.
We know in Canada, the the RCAF, they use them a lot in North Africa, the P 40.
And if you if you had a good pilot, they they could hold their own quite nicely.
But I think we had an ace that shot down quite a number of aircraft in North Africa.
There was one that flew Spitfires and he I think he scored 32.
Wow, two victories.
And because he was such a good marksman and he he was, you know, he's like Gretzky.
He'd always aim for where the enemy aircraft was going, not for where it was
at that moment in time and space.
And they call him screwball and they tried to drum him out of the Air Force
because he was a sergeant pilot, first of all.
So he you know, he didn't have the the back the lineage of some of the other
guys in his squadron and his group are wing, I guess they call them.
And then but he he attempted to go in 1948 to the Middle East.
He was going to fly for for Israel.
And his he flew his own aircraft.
And I think he got to Morocco, refueled, took, you know, got some food
and turned around and got back out and was was heading to his destination.
And his aircraft blew up on takeoff.
Just randomly.
Holy no, he would have been.
And the thing is he would have been responsible for a lot of damage in the air.
So the it was it was very personal.
And then I mean, he was that far away from where his destination was.
But that's the story of screwball.
And he was nothing like that at all.
He but they after World War Two, our Air Force, they they had a policy
where they didn't like aggressive, independent minded pilots that were very motivated.
And so they got rid of a whole lot of them.
They just drummed them out.
I knew a man anyway, oh, that's for another time.
No, no, this has become a very stereotypical podcast.
It's three gray haired middle aged gentlemen discussing World War Two.
Hell, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, there we go.
This is my time.
Didn't go off the rails one little bit.
Well, site site notes that to the the P 40 Warhawk.
The original and I had to look this up because I didn't have a big ole F
and engine in it. And yeah, it had a 12 cylinder that produced
between a 40 to 1360 horsepower.
Is that a Rolls Royce engine?
One was it looks like it was based licensed built Rolls Royce Merlin.
Oh, OK, yeah, that makes sense.
Packard v 1650 Merlin.
So Packard licensed it and was building it.
And then the other one, Allison v 1710.
Yeah. Allison is in the Allison who makes the tractors.
Allison Chalmers. No, no, Allison, the GM Division.
Yeah. Oh, OK, OK, that makes. Yeah, yeah.
So in looking at how I score it.
David, in looking at a P 40 from the front end,
you've got the cone and the for the props.
And then underneath, it's got a pretty decent size air intake.
But with the cowling stripped away, it has one of the three round things
that are underneath the fuselage there.
Is that for cooling or is it some gas grass grass?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, gas.
That's what they had painted on the cowling.
And I think and I think they might have had a bomb in the middle.
Well, am I right on that?
Like it was two gas tanks, one in each wing wing.
And then they could carry.
You either have a drug tank in the middle or bombs on the wings kind of thing.
But oh, OK, they had all all different.
There are so many different models and variations of them.
The ones with the Merlin were apparently they were, you know,
just maybe a somewhat dated airframe, but they were strong performers.
Very fast and very.
But the the ones the Allison, they tried.
I think they were looking to put a supercharger on it.
And I don't think that ever materialized.
This is their intakes for intercoolers.
Oh, wow.
So it might it may be for turbos.
Very, very cool.
See, if you scratch a little bit and see what you find.
That's applicable to many things.
Rumor has it you are freshly back from Van Fest 2026.
Tell us about Van Fest.
Well, it was wonderful.
It was my first time going.
It's it's a nearby event at a local conservation area.
And it was just jam packed with custom vans.
Pickups just it was it was really, you know, the old style,
you know, 70s, 70s, 80s vans.
There were there were so many amazing rides there.
Like, I mean, even period untouched, you know, early 80s vans,
you know, with the Mali hatchet album cover,
mural and that, you know, and that one was called the destroyer.
And it was an actual late 70s, early 80s, B series Dodge Van.
And I thought it was just in the parking lot.
There were there's a case of past Blue Ribbon beside it.
Some astroturf and a tent.
And the event couldn't have been more laid back, of course,
which you would expect, I suppose.
But this thing's been going on for 29 years already.
Wow. Yeah. Next year is going to be the 30th.
I was quite amazed.
I living in the area here for 20 the last 25 years,
and then most of my life further away, but still in the kind of the region here.
I'm shocked that I only heard about this event after the fact last year.
And I said, that's it. This is going on the calendar.
I have to witness this.
OK, and, you know, and and and I guess it's a sort of a three and a half,
four day kind of deal.
So the van started arriving on the Thursday.
They have a band called Space Tripper, which is really cool.
Their logo, it's just classic rock, live classic rock.
Their logo is a Volkswagen
was Samba or whatever, you know, van from the 60s.
Psycho colors and it's it's as though it's like a UFO.
It was really it's a really cool logo.
But the yeah, it only hurt.
I have the first time going and I just really enjoyed it.
It's extremely grass roots.
People are just I spent yeah.
Well, you know what? I kept it clean this time.
I I was only under the influence of some really
a really amazing roast of coffee that one of the vendors had there.
It was unbelievable.
It was my wife got it for me.
Bless your heart.
I drank it and then a little while later, I said, I need more.
So I went back and got another one in short order
and it was everything I hoped it would be beautiful.
I was I was well caffeinated.
I was sure there were others seeing myself for something much worse.
Yes, no extreme debauchery.
I was actually under adult supervision that day.
So I I I kept it very G rated.
But the it was fun.
You know what?
But there were hundreds and of ants.
It well, I'm probably exaggerating.
But the cool thing was the the
a local well, a regional for dealership in St.
Mary's, Ontario, about about two hours from me.
They have one of the original 40
denim machines that hot rod conceived and had built in 1976
to celebrate the America's bicentennial year.
And they had one and it was basically original.
It was just, you know, it it wasn't restored or anything.
And it was quite nice, actually.
Like, I mean, the patina was actually not bad on it.
And it was no rust or anything.
Someone obviously took good care of it.
They drove it down for this brought down for the show.
Then there was a.
I'm just trying to think of the other thing now that there was just so much to see.
They even had a scale go cart style with a little fiberglass body
that one person could ride around in one of the promotional little go carts
that went with that program.
But the cool thing was, you know, now this year,
it's the 250th anniversary of the United States.
So it's fitting that, you know, that denim machine came out
and is being seen again and admired.
So that was sort of that for me, that was a star attraction.
But then there were all these other vehicles that were just outrageous, too,
which are really cool.
But the you might like this, too.
There's another so Van Fest has a real strong Facebook presence.
And there's just a lot of now in the lead up and in the wake of the event.
There's a lot of videos and photos being posted and a lot of thank yous
and things like that, which are deserve, you know, the organizers certainly deserve
for putting on such a big show like that.
The there's another denim machine, though, that's started the hot ride
power tour, which is heading, I guess, that's going on down whatever left.
Yeah. And they left, I guess they left from Joliet in Illinois.
Yes. Or somewhere in Illinois, maybe Chicago.
And I guess that one is making its way down.
I guess all the way to Santa Monica following the old mother road, Route 66.
So that's really great.
So 50 years later, you know, it's a really kind of a neat thing.
And that brings back a lot of fun for me personally, because seeing a
denim machine in person, I used to, you know, just read about the progress
of the project. And I guess there were 20 in addition to for donating the 40 vans.
There were there were something like 20 some odd suppliers of parts and components.
Coca-Cola chipped in a lot, refrigerators and TVs, RCA supplied the TVs.
And there was it was really quite a program.
I guess to about 2.4 million entries were cast for that.
Yeah. For the giveaway.
It was that wildly popular.
And, you know, it had a CB and a CB radio, and that was just catching fire
then to in movies and TV and public life.
So, you know, it would have been a really, really swanky van or snazzy,
I guess you would say, in the 70s.
Groovy.
Yeah, groovy, baby.
Yeah. The there were even custom trucks.
The one there was one that won.
It was an 80s Ford Ranger that was completely on an air suspension, custom chassis.
There's an 80s Ford Ranger that's still running.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
With this one's got a 347 stroker, which is really cool.
That's impressive.
Oh, the whole thing was so impressive that when he had the owner had apparently
won an award for best truck at the then.
And I Facebooked him, I just come in and said,
that's a true showstopper.
I mean, that's that's continental level, national level magazine worthy.
You did a great job and congratulations to you.
And he came back and he said, thanks, I appreciate it.
There's only three things left on this truck that are stuck.
And it's the window cranks, the windshield and something else.
You know, everything else is custom, everything.
It was unbelievable.
And yet at the same time, subtle.
It was so subtle that people were walking by
and not really getting what they were seeing.
And, you know, and I was wandering around just kind of.
Like just stalking the thing because and talking to the man, too,
because it was just so awesome.
And then there was another van that was a Chevy van,
like an early 80s Chevy van that had this that was the best van of the weekend.
And it had this I overheard the owner talking to somebody and he said,
yeah, it's nine coats of this and, you know, a dozen coats of of that.
And then not, you know, 10 coats of clear or something over it.
And it's not where it should be.
I haven't color sanded it completely yet or wet sanded it yet completely.
So don't, you know, it'll be better next year.
Then I'm like, I'm like, are you on glue?
It's this is like perfection.
This is this is like Leonardo da Vinci level paint work.
I mean, I couldn't believe the artistry.
And then, of course, seeing all the wild art, you know, now,
I'm a metal fan from the 80s.
So there was a van called the Blue Dragon.
There was another one called the Time Machine.
There was a G 20 van from or no, not a G 20.
It was a Chevy van and it was a short wheelbase.
And the previous owner had cut two feet out of it and then put it back together.
Oh, my God. And that's yeah. Wow.
That's gutsy.
And and then the guy that I talked to that owned it at the time this weekend,
he said, well, I had to do some things, some fabricating to really, really make it.
Right. Yeah.
But it was infamous.
It's been pictured doing wheelies and stuff like that.
It's pretty crazy.
No, was it still the same height or did he also chop the top a little bit?
No, it looks like it looks just like a toaster or one of those
Astros from the 90s, like it looks kind of like that now.
But with the classic kind of, you know, body style, it was pretty wild.
So yeah, you know, stuff like that.
And you know, there's one of those beautiful GM
motor homes from the 70s with the Toronado front wheel drive power.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
There was even one of those there.
There was a Mitsubishi overlanding vehicle, like I call it a doomsday vehicle,
because, you know, pretty much, you know, you could just close the thing up
and just persist as when the apocalypse comes, it was really quick, really cool.
OK, there's just everything.
Mark, I just sent you a link.
I'm looking through the pictures from the vanfest website
and you need to go to the thumbnails there.
Click on that link.
Yep. Second row down, fourth van over.
I'm telling you, this is the epitome.
Oh, hell yeah.
Giant airbrush mural on the side with a wizard and a naked chick
and fire and all kinds of stuff.
And some type of demon coming out of the flames.
Yes. The wizard is casting his his spell with his wand at.
Oh, my God. Yeah, that's it's got all the elements of heavy metal.
It's got chicks and, you know, wizards, all the elements of heavy metal.
It's got all the elements of a handful of peyote buttons is what it's got.
And did you look at the door?
It looks like the Sultan's Devan. Oh, yeah.
I mean, the talk and roll is seriously that came straight out of a Louisiana whorehouse.
Oh, yes. Actually, I think I think a couple of interiors actually were inspired by that.
What magnificence? I would drive.
If you go down a little further, you can get a full view of the inside.
And it is there's a dancer.
No, that's just a mirror.
I thought that was a dancer pull for a second.
No, no, but that is really stunning interior.
God, yes. Stunning is the right word over onto the ceiling.
There's black velvet tuck and roll.
And there's lots.
There's there's a disco ball laid flat on the refrigerator door and grief.
Look at that. I got to tell you, like, it was such a refreshing break.
I love dealing in the auction market that I do.
You know, and normally it's like, you know, super cars and full classics
and coach built cars and grand classics, Duesenbergs for our.
And then there's Ferraris and all that kind of stuff.
But this is so much more fun.
Yeah, you go to something like this and it's like there is just it is what it is.
There's no pretense at all.
Nobody's nobody's really trying to win anything either, even the winners.
It's they're just it's just from love of, you know, the sport kind of idea.
It's a difference between a gourmet meal and uncuckoo for cocoa puffs.
Oh, man. Oh, it's fantastic.
This is the energy of that.
It's just so awesome.
This is a greasy cheeseburger.
Onion rings in a big red.
Oh, yeah.
OK, so it's all that in the bag of chips.
Yeah, third row down all the way over fifth van, that gold page one.
I was already on page four, dude.
Oh, man, I'm stuck on page one.
I didn't realize this is what you need
to compliment your gold 79 TA with the tea tops out is this van.
Look at that thing and now you've got you've really got me crazy now,
because I that's that that the whole trans thing is just like totally.
It's got to be more ludicrous and more loud.
And oh, my God, there's there's multiple pages of these.
I'm having such fun looking at these pictures.
This is fantastic. Oh, it's it is.
It is. It's really fun.
It's mental floss for me as a car guy.
And that dude has a muller down to the middle of his back.
There's a there's a really terrible, terrible van with a roadhouse.
It's got where where where.
But the the old roadhouse.
So it's got a very bad airbrush, Sam Elliott and a very bad.
Oh, what's his name? Oh, my God. Patrick's crazy.
Yes, Patrick's crazy.
Yeah, but he looks more like John Stamos and I'm just so charmed.
Oh, God, you must have had so much fun inside the DVD and the TV monitor.
We're playing Roadhouse.
Oh, yeah. In for the land.
Hell, you just you just got to drive that nail just home.
You know, like it's it's it was just so cool.
Nobody puts a baby in the roadhouse.
Yeah. Nobody puts baby in that van.
No. Wow.
There's such cool stuff here.
You must have had a ball.
Oh, I did. You know what?
And the thing is, it's it might my daughter is a silversmith.
And so she was a vendor there selling all custom made jewelry and made jewelry.
And my wife was with her manning the table and everything and answering questions.
And then I was just like left to just free range over about 25, 30 acres of this.
Wow. Experience.
And it was fun. I really enjoyed it.
Well, the thing is, it takes me back, though.
And that's the thing that makes car culture or van culture or whatever,
whatever division of this you, you know, you subscribe to it, love it or hate it.
It was sort of when I was little, I remember 1973.
One of our my uncle and my dad had a young lad in the area
who was worked on their farms and he was just a really good go get an energetic
kind of guy, self made, you know, kind of idea.
And so he took his wages and he bought himself 60s for the Connellyne van.
Then he shot it with about 10 coats of Imran enamel, you know,
and the thing was so metal flaked, it hurt.
And and then he had these massive stereo speakers that he had installed in the back.
He put that in and everything, you know, did the headliner and everything.
And he did all this jazz to it and it was on
Craig or wheels and everything.
But it's just that thing, you know, it just wherever it went,
you knew it was Pete's van and Pete was having a good time.
And and wherever he went, there was a party.
You know, if he went to the drive-in theater,
he'd throw those barn doors open in the back,
you know, all the speakers to the back and, you know, be deep purple all night long.
You know, kind of nice.
I love it. And then he got it.
Yeah, then he got a Chevy van a few years later.
And because heavy was sort of an operative word at the time
in the 70s and the 60s, and he was a heavy dude.
So he took the scripts off the sides of the front vendors and and took the sea off.
So now it wasn't Chevy van, it was the heavy van.
Yeah, cool. Yeah.
So it was fun. It was fun.
And so I remember kind of that's kind of stuff a little bit.
It's not as to me as a kid, it's it doesn't seem nearly as cheesy
as it would to say in a full grown, fully formed adult mind at the time, you know.
But to me, it was like hot wheels on wheels, full size.
Yeah. Yeah. How fun.
So I have a secret admission
that I never thought would come up on this show, but it finally has.
Easy, Tiger. Courtesy of this.
I have to come out. I have to sit.
I have to live my truth.
I have a thing for the songs of your people
for those short wheelbase Chevy vans with side pipes on them.
Yeah. And especially Kragers, they got to be 10 inch wide in the back.
Hell, yeah, I think those are the coolest looking things.
Oh, be still my heart.
Oh, yeah, I'd have some egregious flames all the way up the side of that.
Yes, you're. Yes, I'm getting all stoked about this now.
Yeah. Oh, man, I'm just it's because of you.
I'm so sorry. I miss this. This is cool.
So where was this?
And then you say next year is the 30th year.
Yeah. Yes, that's right.
It was in a place called Elmer, Ontario.
OK. And it's just a little bit north of the nearest.
So we're on the north shore of Lake Erie. OK.
And so we're among the this whole north shore kind of deal.
So go to Cleveland and start swimming.
You got it. Yeah.
You know, if you can handle 30 miles, just just do it.
We're right there. Yeah, it's it's very close. Absolutely right.
And what I'm trying to say, Port Stanley is nearby.
That's a famous fishing and holiday port there.
Port Town, it's really nice.
And we've got a few of those up and down this whole kind of area here.
But yeah, it's an Elmer, Ontario
at Springwater Conservation Authority.
And it's just it's normally where you go to get pancakes
and maple syrup in the spring kind of idea.
You know, from a local service club or go camping in the summer kind of deal.
It's it's it's all like farms.
There's usually corn and soybeans all around. And that's it.
And but it's it, you know, again,
I'm just so ashamed that I've only learned of its existence last year, this event.
But now that you know it's there, you won't miss it again. Heck no.
Oh, yeah, it's going to be my guilty pleasure now
for the foreseeable future.
Well, this is I think we could sit and talk about the van thing for a long, long time.
Yeah, yeah, folks.
Hey, you got to check out the pictures for this.
It's fantastic. Go to Motorama show
M-O-T-O-R-A-M-A show dot com forward slash
Vans van fest dash 29
Wow, the pictures are fantastic.
There's some really, really cool stuff there.
We're going to have to put a link on our page. Absolutely.
Right on. Yeah, I enjoy. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Alrighty, so that's not the only thing you've been up to.
Oh, yeah. Every day is a winding road.
Now, we're going to get a little less silly, but no less important.
What is the coping center and what is its mission?
Yeah, I was at a Corvette Western Ontario Corvette
show a couple of weeks ago nearby and
the coping center is in Cambridge, Ontario, and they provide bereavement
support for anybody that's experienced a loss in their lives.
And it was found.
It stands for caring for other people in grief.
So that's where the coping comes from.
And it was started by Glenn and Roslyn Creighton,
two wonderful people who I only talked to a little bit.
I have I had a long in depth talk with their son, Adam,
and communicated with his wife, Jennifer, as well.
I've been moved to just talk about it because
it, of course, this is something that touches everybody at all stages of life.
And, you know, I had lost my dear dad when he was 48.
I was 16. Oh, we knew it was.
Yeah, you know, and that's, you know what?
That's that's 40, 44 years ago, almost now.
And he was in another hospital last year and a half of his life.
And and he's, you know, he finally took me aside.
I was trying to be optimistic for him and the family.
And he said, you know, son, it could be two weeks to two days, two weeks,
two months, two years, somewhere in that window, it's going to happen.
So even with that advanced notice, that just hit me like a pile of bricks
when it did happen two months later, like exactly two months later, which was crazy.
And I never really dealt with it for a long, long time.
And I thought I did.
And I'm probably living proof that you need to that's
the value of what the folks at the coping center do.
So the the Crichton's had lost a daughter and then a few years later,
they formed the coping center.
And it's so it's an actual physical location where there's counseling
and support for people going through bereavement.
The the the wonderful thing about the about them is, of course,
in the course of their fundraising activities, one of the things they do
is they buy a brand new Corvette every year and then have a raffle.
And I thought you say they just buy a brand new Corvette every year
and believe it at that.
Well, you know, a brand new Corvette is is a brand new Corvette.
But that seems like wonderful therapy.
I see no fault with that.
Yeah, that's yeah, yeah.
But I'll tell you, that would certainly help with a lot of processes
in life as we do a Corvette.
Write a book, right?
Write a book.
I start your TikTok channel.
OK, I only got three.
I'm going to have to make up a better.
Yeah, ZZ.
Sorry, you were saying that.
I've been threatening my family that I was going to get a Corvette
and then dress as the archetypal Corvette man.
Now, wait, wait.
To that end, we have to.
There is a notice that we try to put out as frequently as we can
because boomers are aging out of Corvette ownership
and it's falling to the next generation.
We have had an official uniform change.
We're getting rid of the new balance and the Jorts.
New uniform is going to be cargo shorts and Tiva sandals.
It's it's just far enough out of style, but still radical available everywhere.
So we're going to T shirts, cargo shorts, Tiva sandals.
And yeah, I got a lot in my closet.
So there. Yeah, I thank you for saving me some embarrassment
because I would be wearing the Hawaiian shirt and, you know,
just the whole deal anyway, just and do it just to be ironic.
That's the thing that I would do that.
Just just just to shake things up a little bit, you know.
Hey, we were talking about grief and bereavement, weren't we?
You know what?
Yeah, it's a process, though.
Right. Yeah. So I agreed after the Corvette show a couple of weeks ago,
I thought, you know, I feel I just kind of felt personally moved
to just reach out to these folks and just say, you've been doing this since 1990.
And here's this young punk coming along
and I want to do anything I can to help you here.
And so what they they were very kind to me and set me up with, you know,
like a web link so that people I can drive traffic to their
the sale site for their Corvette raffle
and and just try to help because there's like eleven.
I've got a roster here.
There's like eleven events that they're they're holding
that they're going to be at with this Corvette.
Yeah. And it's it's pretty cool.
It's a it's a C8 brand new.
It's I think they got it through Leggett GM in Burlington,
which is kind of near Burlington, Oldfield, Toronto,
Niagara Falls kind of region in Ontario.
The it's it's I forget the name of the color.
It's it's this really kind of luminescent kind of green.
It's it's really attractive.
It's got the black carbon fiber looking stripes on it and bronze
OEM bronze wheels and it's quite a stunner.
And so that's this year.
They're selling the tickets for twenty dollars per entry
and at all these events and online as well.
The the link but the only problem is it's for Ontario residents
and people who are in Ontario when they purchase the ticket,
which is that. So I hope you have.
So if we go to Ontario and purchase the ticket,
but then come back, we're OK.
I believe so. So if you come, I've never been to Canada.
Let's go. Oh, yeah.
Hey, you know what? We're it's it's pretty groovy.
There's it's pretty fun.
So there's a well, apparently you're having custom band shows and everything.
Yeah, that's mind blowing, because
people are very
agriculturally focused farming.
Very it's just wild that there's a like a custom van
dedicated custom van event that's been coming back every year.
And it's it's a huge draw.
Like people come from the States.
People come from all over to to be there.
And again, like I said, they have hardly enter the show field.
It's really they don't care.
It's just it's just hanging out and just doing their thing and being fun
and having a little travel experience while you're at it,
which is really great.
It took me a couple minutes, David, but I looked it up.
It's called Roswell Green Metallic.
Oh, wow.
I like the Roswell reference, the sort of the spacey kind of thing.
That's cool. I bought a UFO.
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, so that's that's the Roswell Green Metallic.
That'll be the the raffle car for this year.
And they're very successful with it.
They also hold a golf tournament on behalf of the coping center.
The nice thing is, though, the proceeds for
from, well, the proceeds from the raffle are
are intended to go to kids five and over who have experienced a bereavement
and so they can go to a summer camp and not be and not have to worry about paying for it.
It's it's they get they get a full ride.
It's quite a lot of money.
I believe I've heard it's about 1400 Canadian dollars to do this per child.
And they and they send all these kids to a nice camp where they can,
you know, have adventures and play sports
and know that they're not alone in the bereavement process.
Yeah, very cool.
Which is I because I know even kids that have gone through not bereavement,
but maybe break up of the family or whatever that I was friends with.
And they were feeling isolated and disconnected.
So, you know, everybody's going through something, you know.
And so just to know that you're not alone and, you know,
I think is is one of the most most valuable things that can happen for a kid.
So it's a worthy cause.
And I know it's it's provincial in scope or, you know, in Ontario.
But, you know, it's nice to just they were very welcoming to me and happy
that I as a writer, I'm, you know, that I'm willing to contrite something.
And I feel very, very good about it.
And, you know, when it's high time, I give back a little bit of something.
You spend your, you know, much of your adult years trying to make a living
and trying to raise your family and do the best you can for everybody.
And so it's a nice, it's nice to kind of arrive at this sort of a thing where people are, you know,
where, you know, it's a cause that I identify with quite a bit.
So, nice.
Very cool.
Yeah, yeah, they're doing great work.
So let's talk about your new ebook.
Yes.
What is the title?
It's called, well, it's called sold, which isn't very groundbreaking, but it's sold.
The collector, the classic and collector car sellers toolkit.
And it's a one problem, one solution ebook, primarily being sold on gumroad.com,
which is just a selling site.
And the idea with it is there's a huge wealth transfer
that's going to be taking place as we've been hearing.
And there's a almost $600 billion in classic and collector vehicles
that are going to change hands in the next 15 years.
Yes.
According to Hagerty, according to Hannah Elliot, who wrote a great piece for Bloomberg recently,
and she helped me out with this.
There's a massive amount of wealth just in vehicles, and that's coming soon.
And frankly, I don't, riffing off of the coping center in Pittsburgh,
the idea is that I don't think anybody's really ready when the time comes
to handle a transfer of something like a vehicle.
And they don't realize that there's so much more to it than people think.
It's not just putting that on marketplace.
Take a couple of crappy photos of the thing in the garage on Jackson with your cat in the background.
And there's so much more to it.
And so there's, especially with the aging population,
there's so many people that are timing out in the sense that they won't be able to enter and exit the vehicle anymore with mobility issues.
Oh, yeah.
I have a great friend of mine.
He's about 82 now, and he's having extreme mobility issues whereby, you know, getting in and out of my Chrysler Crossfire would be an impossibility.
And he used to, you know, for, since 1962 until last year, Drag Race, you know, pretty much every weekend.
He was Drag Racing until last year?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
And by the way, dig this.
It was a 10.9 second supercharged Ford F-150.
Holy crap.
Yeah, 128 to 132 miles an hour in the quarter.
Jesus.
It was Canada's fastest or quickest street truck.
It had plates and everything.
And, you know, he is one of his best friends.
They're wizards with these things.
And then they know people that can help them make them extract more power.
And oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, 10.
He did 11 flats.
Okay.
When he was relaxing a little bit last year, because he was getting a little slower on the drop, he'd have a good reaction time and he'd do 11 flat.
He had E-81.
Wow.
Oh, yeah.
There's nothing wrong with 11 flat.
I know.
That's still Holland mail, man.
Oh, yeah.
And when the truck would go by in the traps and I'd be sitting on a lawn chair or something talking to some people, you know, it was deafening like when it goes by.
I mean, the rush of a street vehicle that's running those times, it's actually, it'll take your breath away a little bit, as you know.
But yeah, you know, and so my friend has mobility issues now.
He still gets around.
But he dressed in, you know, his, his, his sporty cars, a Buick Avenue and how, you know, one of those SUV things.
Sure.
Just so, just so we can get in and out of it, right?
And so people are having mobility issues.
They're having health issues.
Maybe they're thinking about planning for when the inevitable happens and what am I going to do now?
And there is, and this also goes with the K shaped market that everybody's talking about a collector cars where everything is based on, you know, modern classic Ferraris, modern super cars, McLaren's Lamborghini stuff like that.
And there's, there's, there's always going to be a market for like hot rods, restaurants, muscle cars, stuff like that, especially the better ones and ones with documentation say for muscle cars.
But I having said that their day kind of has come and gone a little bit.
And I've seen it lately a little bit.
The market's still robust, but it's mostly super cars and hyper cars now.
And the buyer pool is different now.
They're younger folks and there seems to be some kind of a wealth transfer going on already or success in business.
I'm not sure, but but you know, so now there's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of maybe millions of people that have say a $20,000 vehicle.
It's wonderful.
They've owned it for a long time.
And then if they pass on the family goes, well, what do we do with this?
We put it on marketplace and then you, you know, wade through eyes, it's still available or buy this reply this history report, you know, at this sketchy link.
And, you know, so my what I'm feeling is a bit of a duty or a bit of a responsibility to help these folks help these families help them with a process where they can save some time.
They can avoid losses and try to get the best price they can and feel good about it after it's not like somebody took them for a ride or that the process was so terrible that they they're glad it's over and they don't want to send another car again.
So that's what this ebook is for.
It's more of a guide.
I want people to when they buy it, I want them to download it.
I want them to print it.
I want them to there's checklist worksheets.
Temp description temp brief description templates that speak.
Well, and not, you know, sometimes you see a lot of these online ads where where a seller is overstating the vehicle or they don't give you enough information.
I'm telling people what the relevant information is to put into this description. It's quick. It's easy. You don't have to be a writer like me.
How to, you know, what photos to show and how to take them, things like that. And you wouldn't be surprised how many and also how to value the car.
Like figure out what condition it gets in, look for comparables, where to look quickly and easily.
And then to be able to price your your vehicle properly.
And then it should sell.
But, you know, when people are just testing the waters or putting it out up and hoping it works, that's not as a path to, you know, heartache.
So, and especially when sorry, go ahead.
No, I was just going to say not every family has a guy like you or a guy like me or a lot of our listeners who have been in the car world for a while.
Have had a lot of stuff, have sold a lot of stuff.
Yes.
Who know how to go about selling a vintage car or a classic car or better still, who knows somebody who can sell it for them.
My admonition to my wife has been, hey, listen, if I should pre-decease you and the cars are still around, please call Muffy Bennett immediately.
So she can start selling all this stuff for you.
Yeah.
So not everybody.
Yeah, you need somebody in your corner.
Yeah, you absolutely do.
Yeah, not everybody, not everybody's got the skillset for it or the personality to handle it.
Sure.
It can be a little scary for people, you know, to try, you know, or I'm working all week long and I've got family and then now I've got to go to grandma's house and and haul this car out, wash it, take pictures and then field inquiries or see people come over to look at it.
Yeah, people don't have the time for this.
So the idea is I'm trying to compress that, that journey for them from, okay, now we have to sell this thing.
It could be because of an estate situation, which has to be wrapped up on a timeline.
Sure.
And it's pretty quick.
There's, you know, so this, this, this guide, this ebook gives people a seven step process.
It's very quick.
And to the point, it's not, you know, in any kind of flowery pros or anything.
It's basically, here's the steps.
Here's what you need to do.
Here's what sellers are looking for.
Here's what they're not looking for.
And, and, and you should, you know, and there's even a scoring sheet at the end of it all where you can score whether or not, whether or not you're ready to list the thing.
Okay.
Which is, which would be helpful to people.
And again, intended totally for non pro professionals, but people that suddenly are confronted with a need to sell something that they may or may not be familiar with, or they may or may not want in a family situation.
So the idea is let's get this done, get it packaged up and off to the next owner neatly and cleanly and save you some time, money, save you a hassle.
So that's what this guide is for.
And I've been dealing with, you know, like 678 figure cars all this time in the last 18 years for auction descriptions and things like that.
And there's a whole swath of people that are being left behind auction houses.
Some of them, they don't want to take anything under 250,000 or there's other auction houses.
Last time they're making markets, they're good people.
I'm not, I'm not running them in the ground at all.
It is, but there are cars that will appeal to their buyers and at that moment, and there are others that won't.
So the idea is a $20,000 or $30,000 street ride that somebody's built themselves and it's a quality car and they had a lot of fun with it.
In reality, I'm helping them to find out what it's worth based on condition and then move on and get it sold.
But not giving it away either and doing it, you know, so people can hold their head up high and say, you know, I did the best job I could as an executor.
I did the best job as I could as a surviving spouse or children or grandchildren.
I find that a lot of grandkids and children do not, A, do not want dads or grandpa's car anymore for years.
They also putting up with the, the maintenance, the storage, maintenance costs and needs, storage, insurance, upkeep, because then a nice car can become a wasting asset very quickly.
It does. And unless you really are a car person, you don't always know what the car needs in order to be taken care of.
Exactly.
And meanwhile, the owner, the caretaker, the, you know, would, and they're, you know, unless they've left instructions, they're not around to tell you what to do now.
True.
True.
So where can we find the classic and collector car sellers toolkit?
Two places.
If you just want to get the Kindle eReader version, that's on amazon.com under sold, the classic and collector car sellers toolkit.
And it's also available on a site called Gumroad.
If the best, which is just handles the sales, it handles sort of the back end of things. So the best thing to do is to go to my website, www.motorkopia.com.
And I post about it regularly, actually, probably annoyingly, since I've had it up and live and wild in the public.
So my hope is that it'll help people and it's a completely different segment of the market, but everybody needs help in the corner.
What I want to know is if I buy it from your website, can I have an autograph copy?
Signed version, yeah.
Oh, do you know what?
I'll do you one better.
When I perfect my online publishing or my direct publishing skills and I'm almost there, there'll be a version on Amazon.
And that is a download.
And what I'll do is I'm going to order some copies to, you know, as courtesy and I'd be happy to happy to do that for you.
I'd love to have a copy of it.
And thank you for discussing it with me tonight too.
So I'd be more than happy to do that.
I just think these folks are going to be in need of services like that soon.
And I also do more direct things too, in addition to the book.
So if somebody needs a professional, you know, proper description written and they're not comfortable doing it themselves and I would interview them and do that.
I can arrange photography stuff like that too for these ads.
So I, my wife reminded me, oh, sorry, go ahead, Mark.
Oh, it's just it's kind of cool on Amazon.com because you can go in there and click the read sample and start clicking through.
And I love that chapter one is sell your car to me cheap.
That's the entire chapter.
And then chapter two goes on to some other, you know, useless details, but the first one is really the power chapter.
I respect what I've done there.
Well, you got to come out. You got to come out with power.
Yeah, you know, you got to hit it hard at the first and then we can work with the rest.
Absolutely. You know, before that thing just to lays on somebody's dresser or something.
Chapter nine, don't lowball me. I know what I've got.
Chapter 10, how to inspect that car you found on bring a trailer.
Wow.
Yeah, that's a I should have read that one.
I'm sorry, too soon.
Well, actually, you know what?
In keeping with that situation, I was two, almost almost three years ago.
Now we bought a for 1300 bucks Canadian, including commission and everything.
We got a 2000 Mercedes Benz E 320 sedan and it been sitting for a couple of years in Sioux St. Maria of all places way up north.
Kind of think of northern most Michigan and then go northern.
And what happened was anyway, long story short, it was it turns out that the car was owned by a dealership run by friends of mine in Florida and St. Petersburg.
Before it came to Canada.
So I found their their temporary paper or cardboard dealer plate in it in the car's paperwork, which is pretty funny.
But it was owned by their neighbor from new and then they they took it and then and then sold it on to a guy that he didn't want to fly home.
He decided he was going to throw some dealer plates on and drive it home.
So I like that.
Yeah, that's not a not exactly an outside story.
No. Yeah, yeah.
Experience is the kind of idiot who would fly into a city, collect a car and immediately drive home with it without sleeping.
Or as I would try that.
That's Darrell also pick about when he went and got that.
What was it that many?
I don't have to.
I've heard about that.
Yeah.
Good.
Yeah, he still tells painful stories about that many.
Drive it home.
No.
So David, where can we expect to find you this summer?
Are you going to be in Monterey?
I'm actually, I've got press passes for for the concor, which I'm really stoked about.
So I applied for them early and, you know, kind of went through a couple of people letting it and there they are.
So they're hopefully they'll be at will call waiting for us when driven media will be looking for that.
I'm sorry.
I was just going to say driven media is about to start doing the press pass blitz.
I like getting everything free.
Oh, well, why not?
You're, you're promoting things and you're building the car culture.
You're, you're maintaining the car culture.
So that, you know, it's, it's, it's the same thing as, as though if it always, you know, the stars and the glitterati, they go to these galas and they get these goodie bags.
Right.
Yeah.
Well, those, in my opinion, I'm not being as, you know, certain political stripe here, but I just think that there's other people that would get more utility out of that and agree.
I look at, I look at it this way too, right?
I think that the one event that all of us in the collector car world should gather at and raid every year is concord to lemons on Saturday morning.
That is the one to go to period full stop.
That is the best thing there because it is the anti Monterey anti pebble beach show.
That's the one to go to.
And it's also the most fun and the one you can show up to in shorts and a t-shirt.
Nobody gives a damn.
It sounds like it's kind of like the, the, you know, the sort of the equivalent of, of a van fest kind of idea.
I haven't been to lemon.
Yes.
I'm dying to go.
Oh, David, it's van fest, but not nearly so classy.
I love it.
It is the celebration of everything creptastic.
And I said it last week.
I will say it again this week.
Thank you so much, Alan and Jay for putting that thing together.
That is the most fun show.
Your goal at concord to lemon should be, is to be covered in silly string.
Oh, wow.
I like that already because that is the ultimate celebration at the end.
Everybody gets covered in silly string.
Instead of champagne.
Yeah.
I like it.
Absolutely.
All right.
Everybody can enjoy it.
David, we appreciate you being on.
Thanks so much for going way deep into the weeds about van fest.
Thank you.
God, that looks like a lot of fun.
We'll have to try that out.
We've been speaking with David Nions of motor copia, motor copia newsletter and motor copia market intelligence suite.
David, tell us where we can find you online and social media.
Yeah, I'm at www.motorcopia.com.
That's my mother ship, my home base, my website.
The newsletter is of the same name and there's a spot there under each post subscribed to the motor copia newsletter.
Just with a, with a magic link.
So that's nice and easy.
Social media on Facebook and Instagram under motor copia LinkedIn and even Pinterest.
David, thank you so much for being with us.
Thanks guys.
I appreciate it.
David's always a fun conversation.
Good guy.
And you know what?
He put up with us really well.
Yeah.
I think the three of us are ready to go to van fest next year.
In a B40 Warhawk.
Yeah.
Good to go.
Let's do it.
Holding hands and pointing at stuff.
That's about right.
Holy crap.
That van fest is awesome.
You know, I don't think Ontario, Canada or I don't think Canada would let me in because
I think they're still pretty mad at Americans.
But I would, that would, that would be so much fun.
If they would go, we'll let him go this one.
Here's, here's something embarrassing.
I'm 56 years old.
I've been out of the country once and neither time was Canada or Mexico.
I, well, I've been, yeah, out of the country.
Mexico, uh, twice.
And then, oh, uh, did go for my 20th anniversary.
Oh, which I'll, I'll mention right here, 20th wedding anniversary.
My wife set us up and we, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Oh, cool.
And went to a few other places around Scotland.
Little did I know I had a bulging disc.
Oh, the pain was excruciating.
I bet.
What I went.
So that was, it was a great time.
And by the way, uh, by the time this happens, uh, happy anniversary to my darling wife,
Cammie.
Uh, tomorrow is our 32nd wedding anniversary.
Oh, um, which means she won't hear this until weeks after.
A few days after.
Yeah.
You know, it's all good.
Happy anniversary, baby.
Well, as long as we're doing that, um, uh, my beautiful brides, I won't mention which
birthday is coming up on the 17th.
Oh, wow.
Uh, Rhonda, uh, you hung the moon, baby.
I love you.
Happy birthday.
Yeah.
So there we go.
There's that.
And also, uh, and we're a little ways out on this, but I'll mention it.
Uh, coming up in July on the seventh, uh, 19th wedding anniversary.
Oh, wow.
I hope we screwed up everybody's pot.
I hope we screwed it up for everybody.
Oh, they're never going to make it.
No way.
How long do you think it'll be?
Let's take some bets.
And everybody's getting together now going, who had 19 years?
The Hatfields had 19 years.
That's it.
Hey up.
Nice.
Uh, I'm sure that we beat the odds on everybody and I'm thrilled to death.
I'm still married to the best friend I've ever had and she is awesome.
And she is even more twisted than when I married her and thank God for it.
And you, you've seen her sense of humor and motion.
I have.
You know, I ain't lying.
Yeah.
There's, there's times you're like, wait, what?
All you folks out there who know me well and know how dark my sense of humor is, you
need to know Rhonda goes farther than that.
Nice.
So there you go.
Love my darling bride.
Uh, yeah, I'll never do anything.
I'm never ever go to bed mad.
There you go.
Because I'm afraid of what she might think up.
Hey, thank you for spending time with Driven Radio.
Oh, by the way, for everybody who thinks that, uh, we just have this Pat and, you know,
Mark inserts a prerecorded little thing at the end.
He doesn't.
I do this read every stinking week.
And I freaking love it.
I know you do.
Oh, speaking of love, we love what we do and we wouldn't be able to do it without the support
of our listeners.
You can find us online at drivenradioshow.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
at Driven Radio Show and on LinkedIn as Driven Radio Show podcast.
If you have a story, oh, Glenis, uh, by the way, yeah, I got your email and we're going
to work that out.
Mark and I have discussed it and yeah, we need to do a little segment.
Uh, if you have a story you would like to tell or someone you would like us to interview,
please contact me at Brett, that is B-R-E-T-T at drivenradioshow.com.
I am Brett Hatfield for Mark L. Groves.
Thank you for listening and we'll see you next time here on Driven Radio.
Bye.
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