A lighthearted discussion about beards leads to deeper conversations on automotive culture, societal issues, and the state of the automotive industry. The hosts share personal anecdotes about their grooming habits and family reactions to their facial hair. They also touch on the future of electric vehicles, the absurdity of new regulations, and the impact of media on public perception of cars. The episode blends humor with critical commentary, making it a unique take on both personal and automotive topics.
Happy Honda Days! We've got Chery news, a text-based movie review from a friend of the pod, speculation on Bari Weiss's engagement metrics, and a follow-up from Peter on Drive My Car.
You can support Alloy with a membership here: https://alloymag.com/sign-up/
Get Peter's new record Half-Staff Blues here: https://peterpeterhughes.bandcamp.com/album/half-staff-blues
Your producer pal Matty, who writes these, has nothing to plug. support my wonderful co-hosts ty ty ty ˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖
"...something like the citroen ami or like the um"
The Citroën Ami is a tiny electric car that's easy to drive around the city. It's cheap and can be driven by people who don't have a regular driver's license in some places.
The Citroën Ami is a small electric vehicle designed for urban mobility. It is known for its compact size and affordability, making it suitable for city driving and accessible to drivers without a full license in some regions.
"...fety regulations and like something like the the citroen ami or like the um the uh"
The Citroen AMI is a tiny electric car that's easy to drive around in cities. It's made for short trips and is simple to use, which makes it a good option for people who want to avoid big cars in crowded places.
The Citroen AMI is a small, electric vehicle designed for urban mobility, emphasizing simplicity and accessibility. Its unique design and compact size make it an interesting alternative for city driving, especially in areas with strict emissions regulations.
"...the fiat um Topolino that they're proposing to bring here like the fiat's CEO suggested that they would bring that car here and sell it but like..."
The Fiat Topolino is a tiny car that was made a long time ago, famous for being very small and easy to drive in cities.
The Fiat Topolino is a small city car produced by Fiat from 1936 to 1955. It is known for its compact size and was one of the smallest cars in the world at the time of its production.
"...if you were in a topolino and you got into a fender bender with an f-150 like..."
A fender bender is a small car crash where the cars bump into each other, usually causing only minor damage.
A fender bender refers to a minor car accident, typically involving little damage to the vehicles involved, often affecting the fenders. It's usually not serious but can still cause inconvenience.
"The gulf there is Pretty like if you were in a topolino and you got into a fender bender with an f-150 like Your family at home would get killed like it is"
The Ford F-150 is a big truck that people use for work and transporting things. It's really popular in America because it's tough and can carry a lot, making it a good choice for families or anyone who needs to haul stuff around.
The Ford F-150 is a full-size pickup truck known for its durability, versatility, and strong performance. It has been one of the best-selling vehicles in the United States for decades, making it a significant player in the automotive market, especially for those needing a reliable workhorse or family vehicle.
"...ked. Um The um, yeah, that's the big Rolls Royce cullinan. Yeah. Yeah. No, I just like this. Yeah the big h..."
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a very fancy and expensive SUV that people buy to show off their wealth. It's known for being super comfortable and having a lot of luxury features inside.
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a luxury SUV that represents the pinnacle of opulence and craftsmanship in the automotive world. Known for its powerful performance and exquisite interior, it is often discussed as a symbol of wealth and status.
"...rom stuff Put the headline on it was new Hyundai Palisade for seniors because now every time I see a fuckin..."
The Hyundai Palisade is a large car that can fit a lot of people and their stuff, making it great for families. It has many nice features to keep everyone comfortable and safe while driving.
The Hyundai Palisade is a midsize SUV that offers spacious seating and a range of modern features, making it a popular choice for families. Its combination of comfort, technology, and safety ratings has garnered attention, especially among those looking for a family-friendly vehicle.
"It's like a military truck, but it's like... Yeah, the Volvo C303..."
The Volvo C303 is a tough vehicle made for military purposes. It's known for being able to drive on rough terrain and has a distinct look that some people find interesting.
The Volvo C303 is a military vehicle that was produced in the 1970s and is known for its rugged design and off-road capabilities. It was originally designed for military use but has gained popularity among enthusiasts for its unique styling and versatility.
"I think Jay has started using the ev era to describe like the ev era as a discrete..."
The 'EV era' means the time when electric cars are becoming more popular and common. It includes the improvements in technology that help these cars run better and be more convenient to use.
The 'EV era' refers to the current period in automotive history characterized by the rise and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). This era is marked by significant advancements in battery technology, charging infrastructure, and a growing shift in consumer preferences towards sustainable transportation.
"Yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean, we are seeing some some pretty I mean this week for Ford announced that they're they're uh, killing the the electric pickup truck"
An electric pickup truck is a truck that uses electricity to run instead of gas. It's part of a new trend where more vehicles are being made to help the environment.
An electric pickup truck is a type of vehicle that runs entirely on electricity rather than gasoline or diesel. These trucks are part of the growing trend towards electric vehicles (EVs) that aim to reduce emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.
"Just go for it. I mean, I think hypercar is kind of like a practical way for for new manufacturers to kind of um, I mean weirdly like..."
A hypercar is a very fast and advanced type of sports car. These cars are designed to be the best in terms of speed, technology, and style, often made in limited quantities.
A hypercar is a high-performance supercar that represents the pinnacle of automotive engineering, often featuring cutting-edge technology, extreme performance, and limited production numbers. They are typically designed for both track and road use, pushing the boundaries of speed and innovation.
"...you can partner you know, I mean you depending on whether you go the the lmdh route or the the lmh hypercar route..."
LMDH is a type of racing that combines hybrid technology with traditional racing cars. It allows different manufacturers to build their cars using shared parts, making it easier for them to compete.
LMDH stands for Le Mans Daytona Hybrid, a racing category that allows manufacturers to create hybrid race cars using a common chassis from approved suppliers. This category aims to promote competition and innovation in endurance racing.
"...or the the lmh hypercar route lmdh you're you're partnering with with uh,..."
LMH is a category of race cars that are very advanced and powerful, designed specifically for endurance racing events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They often use hybrid technology to improve performance.
LMH stands for Le Mans Hypercar, a class of racing vehicles designed for the FIA World Endurance Championship. These cars are characterized by their advanced hybrid powertrains and are built to compete at the highest levels of endurance racing.
"...you know whether it's oracle or you know, Dallara multi-matic and..."
Dallara is a company that makes race car parts and complete cars. They are well-known in the racing world for their high-quality designs and engineering.
Dallara is an Italian engineering company known for designing and manufacturing racing cars and chassis. They are a prominent supplier in various racing series, including Formula 1 and sports car racing, providing high-performance chassis for teams.
"...you can't have a piece of shit or you can't have a car where it's like other taillights don't work or"
'Piece of shit' is a slang term people use to describe a car that doesn't work well or is very broken down. It usually means the car needs a lot of fixing to be usable.
The term 'piece of shit' is often used colloquially to describe a car that is in poor condition or unreliable. It implies that the vehicle requires significant repairs or maintenance to be functional.
"...or whatever like this is not a thing Well, Peter had to find a sob guy"
Rust is when metal gets damaged by moisture and starts to break down. For cars, it can cause serious problems if not fixed, especially if it happens on important parts like the body or frame.
Rust is a form of corrosion that occurs when iron or its alloys are exposed to moisture and oxygen. In the context of cars, rust can lead to structural damage and is often a sign of neglect in maintenance.
"...or you can't have a car where it's like other taillights don't work or whatever..."
Taillights are the red lights at the back of a car. They help other drivers see when you're stopping or turning, and it's important for them to work properly for safety.
Taillights are the red lights located at the rear of a vehicle that signal to other drivers when the vehicle is braking or turning. They are crucial for safety and legal compliance on the road.
Select text to request an explanation
Actually shit my beard off again. I
Was gonna say it's a different look not good accidentally. What happened? Well, there's like I
like this like
trimmer that has
Like a
Rocker on it that like makes the guard longer and shorter. Yeah, and so like here
I always trim to a zero right up here and this always gets a three
And sometimes I pick it up and I look at it because the guards on it, right?
And I'll just go one stripe and then go up
That was too much on the wrong thing, you know, and then you have to you have to do the whole thing like that so
After that you get more you could get creative with it
Yeah, I just do like a goatee. You're like put 90s go to multi layered kind of have levels, you know
But uh, so then the after that happened. I took the
The trimmer finally this is like at the seven of me probably five times in the last two years and I put a
Line of dots from the body of the trimmer
To the rocker and then back onto the body of the trimmer so it all so it's aligned
You know what I mean? So like the dots have to be aligned, right?
Hmm visually. Yep, when you turn it on
So hopefully that solves this problem the girls hate it hate it they get so mad
When you when you don't have a beard. Yeah, that's funny. It's a little they get so mad
See Rory you just have the kind of I don't know
I don't know if it's just because like I've seen you over the years so many times either
Bearded or beard free, but it doesn't even read like you just look the same
Whether you whether regardless of how you're you're shaving like I feel like for me like when I like when I grow out of beard
I look pretty radically different. Yeah
Then then when I'm clean shaven
Like where you know when I shave it off. I just look like a fucking different person
Yeah, but like for you for whatever reason, I don't I don't I don't I think it's I think it's the beard is very short
Usually, yeah, it's like that doesn't really change the shape of my face. Yeah
I mean if you hadn't said anything about it, I would not have it wouldn't it wouldn't have registered with me
Well, that's good. You're not like my children who are absolutely horrified immediately on seeing me
See my family gets mad when I if I grow a beard
No, they hate it
My wife hates it. My daughter doesn't like it
Darn
No, bubber
I like the beard look. What about a little mustache?
What about a mustache? I think my wife she just she just doesn't like she doesn't like kissing kissing somebody with with
She doesn't like getting poked
by facial hair
Fair enough fair enough
Different different jokes for different folks. I guess I yeah, I can't speak to that but doesn't seem nice
Well, you know everybody's got their uh particular
Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm I'm I went I went away. What are we talking about? It'll be okay
Beard talk
Beard this is beard chat everybody. Uh, what's the name of the pod? It's beard chat
beard chat
The name of the pod is we are rating our various levels of how much we like to kiss somebody with a beard
It is a beautiful thursday morning. I am a 10 out of 10. How are we doing?
Uh, I guess I can't I can't say I've ever smushed a guy with a beard. Can't not get to see you try it
Yeah, I can't say
Have to go to world. Yeah, that's right. Maybe maybe it's fine
Maybe it's a lot. It's a lot of like texture like for like grabbing onto you while you're while you're getting in there
It's nice. It's like uh, this will adds a little extra dimension. We'll throw a three-dimensional finger the kiss dimensionality. Matt. Matt. He's doing his texture gesture again
That's true, that's the one just think I'm often my I've gone to my mind palace
So I'm looking at the site right now the alloy mag site
Uh, hit the verhoven thing. Yeah, you see that where
Jay was talking about uh
How everything it's
Like we've been in the chat in the LA chat the last few days. We've been talking about
Um, how like design
Uh
Aesthetic has has become like a verhoven thing. Hmm interesting
Like there's a lot of new cars and like robots and stuff that are like, oh, that's a that's from robocop
But it's like no actually that's a product that they're gonna try to sell
Um, but the other thing that's on there is we've been talking about
Like in in the sense of like like design that is kind of like actively kind of hostile
Yeah, but like but beyond that like literally just looks like a like a a product from robocop
Right, it looks you know what I mean? Like it's not even it's not even a philosophical thing necessarily
It's like no, this is just like an aesthetic ripoff of
Yeah, it's something from robocop, but we've also been talking about this. Did you see
This is a a tired pod topic, but did you see the um
Obviously the trump
Uh k car thing which feels like it was six months ago
now
um, but then like europe has also like introduced some
Uh proposal to like allow the sale of the e-cars
Uh, yeah some some like k car style. They're they're calling e-cars
um, but it's very funny to me where it's like, um
And like in a way where it's just kind of relaxing regulations for for smaller cars like safety
safety regulations or or
kind of clearing out a
space for kind of like
Super small cheap kind of city cars that can be driven by unlicensed drivers, but also
Don't have to conform to
Like the really punishing. Yeah, like in europe
Well in europe you'd call them cycle cars and I think there's like a there's a pretty big gap between like the punishing safety regulations and like something like the
the citroen ami or like the um
the uh
fiat um
Topolino that they're proposing to bring here like the fiat's CEO suggested that they would bring that car here and sell it but like
The gulf there is
Pretty like if you were in a topolino and you got into a fender bender with an f-150 like
Your family at home would get killed like it is
a
It is a notably unsafe car. It'd be like getting hit on a bicycle or a
A golf cart but but I mean it's also designed to be used in a space where you're not driving like
50 miles an hour like you're in it. You're in a super urban setting. You're driving like like
20 25 30 miles an hour tops, you know, so it's it's more it's almost like
Like a four-wheel scooter scooter. Yeah exactly in a perfect world
We would have our country separated in such a way those vehicles are never anywhere near each other
Like an f-150 is never in the city of philadelphia, right?
Even in new york city the most urban environment you will encounter 50 mile an hour traffic, right?
whether you're in the bike lane or not, but the um
It is I guess just very funny to me where it's like, oh, uh, things are unaffordable. No one can afford anything and it's like
Uh, what if we just gave you some shittier stuff to buy?
whoo, class maybe
You know what I mean? It's it's not like
Uh, like, you know, wow, we gotta figure out how to raise wages or make uh food less expensive or whatever
And it's like, what if you just had a more dangerous car?
It's like
How about that? Yeah, well, I mean that's that that's the thing. I mean that's that's that's that's the point that that um
That the the erstwhile first world
Uh finds itself now
Which is that there is no path forward and that and that the thing that we need to do that needs to happen
Not that we need to do but the thing the inevitability the inevitability
Is that our standard of living goes down?
right
And and this is this is a manifestation of it, you know, this is how it will manifest in in car world is that oh those those safety regulations that um
That we all enjoyed for the last 50 years
In in terms of like, you know making cars like like so safe that that uh, you know, it's it's pretty hard to kill yourself in an accident now
Um, those are going away. You won't you won't have that anymore. Don't have to worry about that anywhere
Because because we can't we can't afford it. Uh, because because you know, nobody nobody can afford to buy those cars
And so nobody can afford to buy cars. So everybody's driving around and fucking
You know 20 year old cars that that you know, don't have the benefit of
the last 20 years worth of safety development and and um
And you know and because because wages have not kept up with the the the cost of living
Because all of that money
Has just gone to the you know the the top tier of the the ownership class
So so we've all been squeezed out of that and so we're bringing asbestos back, baby. We're
So yeah, so it's like yeah environmental regulations safety regulations osha regulations
You know the safety of your workplace all of that shit just goes out the window
Now we're back to to to you know, 1910
Standard of of living and just expectations for your fucking own mortality
I mean and it is also to like
Ah man, I mean these households are are struggling to pay all their bills or whatever and it's like well, we could lower the child
With working age for kids. Like yeah, no that too
Exactly
Yeah, rollback child labor laws
Okay, well, I got an idea a lot of these a lot of these houses have little kids in them
Huh, maybe maybe they start bringing home a paycheck. Yeah, it's they're perfect
We're creating a perfect reactionary environment right now
Regulatorily, which is that everyone's going to be really excited to put more
adding to the extant population of children who work in environments like meatpacking plants, uh, but
Definitely also, uh, according to congress right now. We'll see how this goes
Uh, they think you should be able to work in a meatpacking plant if you're 16, but you should not be able to access
Uh, any kind of gender transition. So that's fine. It's all fine. It's all going good. Yeah, it's all fine
the uh
yeah famously um safe, uh
and and uh
Long-term health
Um supporting uh working in a chicken, uh factory
I just I don't know anybody who's done that and and regretted it or thought twice about it or been horribly maimed or
Yeah, you made it. Yep. I felt like it was yeah, something happened to them there that they can't take back
Yeah, what's the kind of work that it's like well now, you know, all these fucking yahoos are out here like oh
We're finally don't worry. We're getting rid of all the people who took your jobs
Now your kids can go work on a farmer in a meatpacking plant or whatever and experience all the
It's great. They're like doing the imperial boomerang thing on purpose where it's like hey, look
We're gonna we've we've saved all this exploitative labor for your children to do. Isn't this great? Aren't you guys super happy?
Isn't it great that these jobs exist and your kids can do them?
Yippee. Yeah
Yeah, I um meanwhile nobody wants to work anymore
That's true
At least of all me
But here I am here
And yet not only not only am I working but I found a way to work more than I ever have in my entire life without being paid
That's that hey man. Listen. I get it
It's real
Best of both worlds type situations
Yeah situation been there. Let's see. What else is happening in the old what do you want to introduce the pod?
Oh, yeah, I interrupted peter earlier with my homosexual antics. Not at all. Um as ever
The podcast is tired
The car podcast for people who understand that cars are bad with your friends rory rory carol
matty riley and me peter hughes
Is this our hundredth episode it is is it really technically we had an episode zero and people are gonna do a whole thing about it
But like number wise, I mean as far as what we are what we are titling
I just I saw I saw you put up the thing yesterday and and um
That was 99 so
Uh, we we made it to a hundred. That's that's pretty um
It's pretty impressive. And then how many do we have to do before we're done?
Yeah, we did agree this is where you can renegotiate. Yes
Rory gets to just sign out of the google me
See you guys see ya
Bye
Bye we did it. Um
Oh, man, uh, there's gonna be a sam altman cbs town hall with uh very wise
Uh, I was god
Noticing the uh, erica kirk one did like 60 000 views on youtube
With probably like a hundred million dollars not a hundred million but several million dollars worth of promotion on cbs
Yeah, uh
LA mag is beating
very wise's cbs in every respect both on youtube and uh
In in web traffic. Wow
That we've two guys made by ourselves. Fuck. Yeah, that's right
So I think that's that's amazing. Yeah the the thing the thing with the the whole
I mean, this is not relevant to anything but but
I don't know like the whole the the thing with with cbs getting bought and and like
Putting her in charge of it and everything and and everybody just like oh, it's the it's the end of the world
and I mean to me at all it just it's it's just
Further evidence and further
I mean, it's like it doesn't matter. Nobody fucking cares and nobody watches that shit anyways
You know, it's like the fucking the big three networks like the idea
That they are in like in any
Way remotely resembling
the kind of
You know the media
Representing the kind of media
Hegemony that they did, you know, like for me growing up where it's like that that was that was the funnel, you know, that was like
What you know that that was the thing that that kind of
Are shaped our entire reality, you know, it was was the three networks and and their new shows and and you know
fucking everything
All the family and cheers and mash and fucking whatever, you know and and like
And the fact that just like today they're just
There's just one of like
20,000
Fucking, you know, it's like more people watch fucking max or whatever than like whatever like think about the only
you know, the only reason anybody fucking tunes into like
You know NBC at this point is to like watch a football game or something, you know
It is it is very completely irrelevant
Very funny to me
That you can like that a network can put anything on tv and have 60,000 viewers
It's like I I really also like now what that we're doing like media commentary thing. I do I would I would pay
A thousand like right now I have no money, but I would pay a thousand dollars of my own money to see
Uh the free press google analytics page and see what kind of traffic they were doing
Let me go to that dashboard. Let me get a little peek at that. I guarantee you
I guarantee you they're under a hundred thousand
uh weekly
Uh uniques I I there's no way but it's so funny because it's like man
If you just if you just really if you just say you like israel
That's it. It's all you have to do. Yeah. Yeah people will just fucking cut you checks. Yeah, it's like people
Oh
Well, that's why that's why we don't have our checks that's why we don't we didn't sell
tired pot to cbs news for
100 million dollars or whatever
It's it's very fun watching all of these
institutions like media capital i institutions like
Absolutely get what they deserve
Honestly, it's like well, what what's cbs news become? Oh, it's uh, it's barry. Weiss's little funny little hand puppet that she holds up
Now to like do whatever she wants. It's just like well. Yeah, that's like that's what you get if you're she's getting paid
I mean
She's making up pretty good
but the like the veneer the veneer of like uh the the power those institutions used to have and like what is
Obviously what it's become now relative to that is like
Like I that's whatever she can make all the money she wants. That's what these people do
But like the the collapse of the million dollars the effect of the real bit
Yeah, 200 million dollars for a site that nobody reads exactly
It's great. It's it's it's it's exactly what should happen to cbs news after just like the general
uh
everything that all of those news institutions have participated in in the
Whatever you want to call it manufacturing consent or whatever over the decades is like it's fine
It's like oh, what's cbs news now? Ah, it's barry weiss's little thing that she's doing that gets like no youtube presence at all like
cool, hey orchestra me
after um this morning this we can we can talk more about cars after this but I I um
On the way to school we're talking about going to asia
um
and um
the girls were like oh we want to go to japan we want to go to south korea and
Uh, the old one is like I would like to live in south korea and I was like oh that's cool
She's like I wouldn't want to live in north korea and I was like why and she was like, uh,
Ah, have you heard about north korea? She's like it's terrible there and I was like I will talk about this after school
But I was like uh, I was like the the short version is that they're being punished for not letting america bully them
and
She was like america's so bad. I was like well had a girl
Yeah, true correct
It's like it's like well swede we killed a bunch of their population refused to allow themself government
And then we bombed them more after that actually it is amazing that you can be like
Like even at eight years old you're already indoctrinated subject to
To that I know kind of propaganda
About about north korea
I know I was like what have you heard
She's like well people don't have enough to eat people don't have enough to
They're not
Uh, I forgot what else she said, but I was like, yeah the long and the short of it is that they're being punished
um
For not not all and she goes she goes america's so bad. She's like people should just be able to do what they want and I was like
Yep from the mouths of babes
I'm saying it baby. She's a budding third worldist. I'm so proud
Yep self-determination for uh on a global scale after the the great satan has been defeated. Let's go. Yeah
Yeah, I actually was almost like, you know what they call america and a lot of the world
Uh, but I didn't want to get into that's for that's for later. You know
Work your way up to it. There's a line about there's like a there's um, I think there's like a
The thing where like your kids are well educated and they kind of know what's going on in the world
And there's also a thing where you turn them into a pariah because they
Are so far outside, right?
Exactly
No, that's that's that's the kind of line that I've been treading for forever. Yeah, it's just kind of like
Just saying enough to just kind of sow the seeds of of doubt so that she knows that like
Whatever she's learning at school to take all of it with a you know, huge grain of salt and
Um, but also don't don't make yourself look like a crank
Like your dad
Don't start asking your your you know history teacher about building seven or whatever
Yeah, my uh
my my crank opinions have already cost me one very uh very expensive
Well-paying job and I don't need my my child to uh
To suffer
It's so funny. There's such a reactionary equivalent to this
That's like your kid goes into seventh grade and has asked like questions in science class about evolution and is like
I know better than all of this god did it
Ding
I must say this is a real thing that happens because that was me
I did that
But it's like it totally there's such a
They're totally already is a class of like weird politicized children and it's all reactionary
So I don't know maybe we could use some more leftist crank 17 like 17 year old kids out in high school
Just like you know what actually
I am gonna be the problem now if you could be the problem. So do I
Yeah, I don't know how that would go over in our town
True. Well, especially particular topics. That's uh
I do remember you making a tumblr post once where you were like, yeah, my kid's doing flashcards for uh for history class
And you know, it's like I'm trying to quiz her, but it's like what year did columbus discover
America and she's like poppy. I know I get I know poppy
Yeah, which is great too because it's like oh, she gets it. It's cool. Yeah. I um, yeah, like I said
I mean, it's okay if they're kind of cranks. I just don't want it to be like, um
Ostracized, I guess is the uh, like in getting big trouble
Um, yeah, you still need to get along in the world. Yeah, exactly now honey. Remember this is the true thing
But when you go into class you have to try you have to respond with this range of things
You can't talk about this with your classmates. Yeah, here's what you say
Here's what you say if you get pulled over here's what I say at my job and here's what you can say at school
Going to see yas again. Oh, yeah, uh, guess what I'm going with
who
Zika
No
Yeah
I get to drive a zika
And I'm staying with them all all weekend. Oh my god. Oh hell. Yeah. What are you driving? Do you know?
We don't know yet. Um Kevin says it might be the 9x I think
um
Kevin has been it sounds like Kevin has like
I think he is like the american journalists. They know the best. Yeah, and so, uh
I think he has been
kind of
Advising them because he seems to know an awful lot about this trip
I love it. But yeah, we're doing secret 9x. I think
It should be super rad. That's very exciting
Yeah, I'm I'm very very soaked. Um
The um, yeah, that's the big Rolls Royce cullinan. Yeah. Yeah. No, I just like this. Yeah the big huge
SUV
limousine
I um, so we're doing that. I also have been thinking about this is uh,
We can workshop this here live on air. I think the we can trust the tired pod listeners to um to not wrap me out on it, but
um, we have
We have like
I feel like the
the
Alloy launch had a lot of good momentum and I feel like
We've still been signing people up and the site's still like growing little by little
But I feel like we like this is a slow news cycle like the next 10 days
And so we have an opportunity to do something
really
wild and kind of get
some more attention and I think
We're trying to figure out how to execute this
But I think that I want to start a fake AI publishing company and then buy a bunch of advertising
for it
about
Make it like either like car news.ai, which is like a real that's a URL that I could buy
Um, and then redirect it obviously to a page on alloy, but like put up some
either billboards or those like link nyc like, um
You know, but but just just be really blatant like, um
Let me see. I had a bunch of taglines yesterday for fern. Let's see
Uh, it's like let I let AI choose your next car for you kind of thing or
No, like this is car news written by AI, but it's like, um
Car news for people who DM DM you asking is this a real car?
You get those DMs or it's like it's like a
AI generated car people are like, is this real? Is this real? Is this real?
um
And then I had uh, I mean that's for me. That's a very reliable tell like for when something is AI where it's just like
That's not a that's not an actual car that exists in the world. You know, like that I can definitively like
I get 20 DMs a week from people who are like kind of casually into cars who are like, is this GMC pickup?
Are they building this and it's like no, that's someone just that's an AI
It has six fingers, but the
I respect they're using you and not grok, I guess
Yeah
But we could we could do uh
Let rai produce whatever this is your readers are too stupid to know the difference
Like but like a really slick like, you know, like the pink
like the sans serif like
You know like the kind of fun tech branding. Yeah
We took a whole town in Iowa's water supply to write this article and we can do it for you
Oh
Big fan, I love it. We could do uh built with AI for the dumbest readers on the internet
Oh
Wait, there was um, there's that very specific AI syntax thing about like and it's not just a car
It's the car, you know with like an m dash. There's gotta be some more ways you can work it in
Yesterday fern sent me some copy that was human written copy that he's like that sounds like AI and it was like
You're right. It's like there's a thing where it's like
sentences
There's always a sentence or two that have like
Um, it's not just x it's or like it's not but like it's not a it's b
Like that's like a very common AI top. It's great essay type persuasive writing
But I would love to have like, you know some fake headlines and some fake like
uh
Some fake screenshots of a website that's like AI created with fake cars fake car news like AI generated car news
because it's the kind of thing that like
A bunch of people who own publishing companies or like I want people who are like in charge of publishing companies to be like
Oh, yeah, this is that's good idea. You know, like that's a really good
Uh, we should be doing that. They're they're gonna crush everyone. Well, half of them fucking are yeah true
But they're just they're just hiding it. They're just pretending that it's fucking real fake by lines and stuff. Yeah
Or someone writes it in AI and then cleans it up and then
Publishes that seems to be what they've done over at what the women.com guys have done a jalapnik, right?
Yeah, it's so much of that shit. It's just like
Really brutal
I feel I feel bad about that. I know you hey man, you did everything you could
I did more than I did more than I should I know
I that's true. That's completely true, man. I know
Yeah, um
But yeah, I think I think we want to do that. I think like maybe buy some like I said buy some advertising
um
parody style and just uh put it out there in the world and see
Yeah, just see what happens just onion it. Yeah
Yeah
um
It's gonna be a balance of making it
Mean enough to be funny, but like uh plausible enough to be real. Yeah
So we'll see
Oh, I like it
I um, I always think of when we saw those uh when we were looking at website ads
And we Peter got that one that was like an obviously AI generated image of a car like cobbled together from stuff
Put the headline on it was new Hyundai Palisade for seniors because now every time I see a fucking Palisade my brain
Just like Hyundai Palisade for seniors like permanent real estate. That's exactly it. Yeah
There's the other one too is like, uh, you won't believe this Volvo this new Volvo for seniors and it's the Volvo
Um, what's the it's the one that was like the troop carrier. It's like a mid-engine van
Uh, you know what I'm talking about. It's like it's
Uh, let's see. It's a military truck, but it's like
um
It's like a four wheel. It kind of looks like a um
Yeah, the Volvo C
303
But it's like one of these and it's like, oh people were shocked when they saw this right Volvo for seniors
Looks like a things gower or whatever. It is. Yeah
Uh, like that is shocking. It's a good idea though
Oh
The only go about eight miles an hour
This senior would take it. Yeah, I'm down
That's a good Volvo
While you look someone in here is eating plastic I need to find out who so he doesn't uh, it's definitely pecan
I say somebody it's pecan. He's gonna choke himself. Hang on one second
Uh, Daniel does have a nice tilapnick article this morning. Uh, you can buy a hallmark Christmas ornament of the electric rim 1500 rev
That was canceled before it ever went on sale
It's like a little commemorative. That's kind of a cool
item
Yeah
30 bucks souvenir the future that never was
I think Jay has started using the ev era
To describe like the ev era as a discrete
Like as in past tense. Yeah
Which I really like
Yeah, I remember being a tilapnick
Two years ago and being like it's crazy that we're gonna see the beginning middle and end of evs
In america and daniel and a bunch of other people like no, that's
That's crazy. Everyone's already made all these commitments. They're already like
Um, they've already said that by 2035 their entire fleets are gonna be
ev and it's like
People say a lot of things but
But it is
I mean, I thought I was being kind of dramatic about that, but that is uh, that's the case. It seems like yeah
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean, we are seeing some some pretty I mean this week for
Ford announced that they're they're uh, killing the the electric pickup truck
The thing is I mean, I still
I'm still
I'm still towing a kind of
centrist position on this where where I I I do not think that that the ev
As just as a proposition is dead. I just think that we that the future will be much more
heterogeneous than then
then
Kind of yeah, I mean, I I think um,
Alex the other day was like, do you think we'll hit like
a sustainable 30 percent
market share for ev and I said
I think we've probably
arrived at roughly the market share for ev which is like
10 12 right now
And I was like, I think that's probably sustainable like long term
But I think that's probably the market for evs in america let like
Unless there's a huge technical development battery wise or there's like a bunch of yeah. Well, I mean, that's the thing
I think I think that there will continue to be
technological advances advances in battery technology in in um
You know under future administrations of of
Uh, you know better infrastructure and support
um
Like I I don't think that it will be shoved down people's throats in the way that they were
That you know people would doomsayers were were expecting, you know five years ago
um
But I I I don't think that 30 percent market share
Eventually is unrealistic and and I I don't think that um, it's unrealistic that it won't go higher than that at some point
I mean, it's it's just um
You know at some point
fossil fuels will will just become a
Prohibitively expensive, you know, I mean, it's like the fact that we've we've kind of
You know like that there's there's now kind of this this this unforeseen glut
um
just because of of
You know the us has has unlocked so much of its own
I mean us is like the fucking largest oil producer at this point, you know, that was not for seeing 10 years ago either
um, so we kind of at the moment
You know the us is is playing that hand, but that's not a that's not a permanent situation
They uh and we can also go back to all the places like remember we used to have a oil well in this country
Like don't we still own that like the venezuela if we can go take that one and but I think uh
I don't know I like to me. It's like, um, I know americans will spend
Five six bucks on gas. I've seen it
Yeah, they will they will do that before they will just buy a smaller car
um
and I know
That like america will probably be the last country that has a lot of access to gas
Uh, just because possibly yeah, I mean the rest of the thing we we are talking specifically about the us
and the us
Is increasingly a marginal fucking market
Yeah, you know, and yeah, yeah, no totally that trend will continue
It's like we are no longer the largest fucking auto market in the world
And the largest fucking auto market in the world is dominated by guess what fucking evs
Yeah, yeah, no, no, and so that's a good that's a good point
Yeah, the rest of the world will be in evs. Yes, but so I mean
So I mean like to the to the extent that that that you know
Evies, you know may or may not represent, you know, like a smaller larger fucking
Uh, uh, you know percentage of of our auto market. It's like it's irrelevant because we are fucking irrelevant
Because we're fucking provincial backwater, you know, yeah, just like
We're still oh, yeah, no, it's just we're old technology shit because it's just weird there
Yeah, exactly. It's like, yeah, that's what they do because they're fucking backwards. Yeah, they still get cancer there, too
It's really strange. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah
Yeah, and look at their terrible standard of living and their fucking mortality
They're all driving these little tiny gas cars with the harbor freight brighter motors
Go-karts
Getting smoked by the rich people who still drive f-150s
That'll be fun
That'll be cool. So, yeah, I mean, I you know, like that's the thing. Who knows what the future holds
I mean, I mean, maybe at some point, you know a future version of the us gets kind of reintegrated into the larger world
No longer as this kind of
protectionist former
Hedgeman trying to you know
desperately
Cling to hang on to whatever influence it one had once had
But is you know, is it has instead resigned itself to to its new place in this kind of multipolar
World and and uh and can can
I mean, I'm talking about like 50 years from now, you know, like
Or more, um, yeah, uh at that point. I mean, I do feel just like at on a global on a global scale
um
I think that that
If not ev it's just kind of alternative fuel. Just, you know, non non fossil fuel powered cars. However, however, you know
Whatever shape or form that that that takes a call
empowered
Yeah, and also just yeah, I mean
cars just being maybe less of a
Not the primary
Yeah, I mean that's that's the funny thing is that you know in the case of of china
um
I mean even while
You know building out their their, you know high-speed rail infrastructure and and you know other in kind of public transport
stuff, uh
To the point where it's you know arguably the best in the world
um
they still like
Like adopted
The automobile on in this you know really yeah like
Wide-scale way that that that in a lot of ways looks a lot like like the us, you know
um
Which is interesting and I wonder that you know if as as other country other developing countries
Kind of
Uh come up to par if they will pursue that or or might
Just focus more on um
And it may be part of that in china is just because of of its
Geographical similarity to the us and just being like so big and kind of widespread and and cities have the the luxury of kind of
Spreading out and in the same way that we do here
Which is not the case and in lots of you know other parts of the world, you know africa and south america and
You know the rest of asia
um
It's interesting about that though is china's embraced the car
But also like since 2008 they've been building all of that rail also like they're doing the best of both worlds
Like that's part of why they're winning and like we we would never do that which is crazy
Right no, it's a it's a multi kind of dimensional. It's it's not just you know
Putting all their eggs in the car basket like they're doing rail and they're beating us at cars. It's like
We got nothing man. We do nothing right here
uh
We used to have uh
Movies we used to be able to do that but that it looks like we're i saw an article about that completely collapsing now
Like uh, what is it like 20 of the industry workforce has just like not worked since covet and it's just had to do other stuff
And like it keeps getting worse
Yeah
Yeah, well, I mean
We're like we're in the conversation too. Like we're one of the better at ai
um
Not not the best certainly
but we're
Well, we're we're we're we're building out the the um
We're laying the groundwork for just total ai dominance and we have spent more money on that investment. I think is is um
Is really gonna pay off
Gonna pay some once we once we get to the trillion dollar mark. I think that's some things we're really gonna start happening for us
Um, yeah for sure, but it's but not until then
That's the big yeah, that's the trouble. Um, but I think you know trillion bucks
That would be um
You know, it's a reasonable reasonable price to pay for
Uh, did you see sam altman's shirtless?
um
Firefighter ai generated photo that he posted yesterday. It's like
no
He's like, yeah, it's a great use for
ai is you can make a calendar with pictures of yourself
Um for ai or for christmas for people, but it's like that's amazing. Um, it's so amazing because it's like
I could not I couldn't do that on the cvs website
Previously, uh, you couldn't ask your friend with photoshop. I couldn't use photoshop. Yeah, exactly. Yeah
Well, I mean, there's a there's a tool that will do it on the fucking like the cvs
dot com which is what we get my mom for christmas every year, but um
Yeah, but yeah, it's trillion bucks. I think we'll be good
Yeah, um for a real product it does real things
What was that many I was saying it's and it's a trillion dollars involving a real product
It does real things and is involved in the world in a real way and it's all fine
Normal economy. Well, yeah
Just a trillion bucks
Anyway, uh, what else we got what else is going on in the
Car world I did have a thing that I
This week has just completely gotten away from me with just fucking christmas shit and me still being sick like a fucking
I don't I don't even want to say like um, but um
There is a story that that that I I want to um
That I want to write and um just about
The did you see the the the announcement? Um earlier this week, uh from from cherry
um
chinese
manufacturer cherry that they're
um, they're committing to a five-year
uh
Development program to bring a car to lemong. Oh, how about that? They signed they signed the the, um
You know agreement with with the aco
They're going to do it with their exceed brand
Which is uh a brand in china that that um, you know, mostly has like some you know, a bunch of a bunch of suv type things
They do have a kind of sporty
um
four-door
Hatch sedan that actually looks really good and and I watched a video about it and it seemed
fairly impressive, uh, you know compares compares well to like the the xiaomi su 7 and and um
Let's see the other um
Um
Whatever the the equivalent, uh b yd and and um
Expong cars, but um, uh, but yeah, they they uh, they're they're all in on this thing
They kind of have this three phase
development program where they're going to
Kind of you know start sourcing kind of local talent drivers
They're building
Like a test track like you know outside their their you know manufacturing hub which class are they going into?
They're going to do it in hypercar. Wow. I mean, they're talking about they're talking about doing doing gt3 too, but um, but I think they they want to um
They want to uh
Just go for it. I mean, I think I think hypercar is kind of like a
A practical way for for new manufacturers to kind of um, I mean weirdly like
To do a prototype is kind of easier than than than a gt3 car just because
You can park car. Yeah, you don't have to build a road car and you can partner
You know, I mean you depending on whether you go the the lmdh route or the the
You know the lmh hypercar route lmdh you're you're partnering with with uh,
You know one of the four or five, you know existing chassis
Um, you know platform suppliers, so they built the the spine of the car, you know, whether it's oracle or you know,
Dallara multi-matic and
I guess ligea is the other one
um
Or they could go the other route the lmh route and just develop their whole
You know platform from scratch like the way that uh
Ferrari and and toyota do
um, but um
But yeah, I mean they they seem serious about it. It it does seem like wildly fucking ambitious
You know, it's like really you're gonna bring it. You're you know in five years. You're gonna have a car at lmdh
Like you're gonna have a car running like full season wek
um
but
You know
I mean got the money. That's it's not impossible to do. That's no exactly
Cherry in that's a fascinating development for wek right now. It's just the current state of things like Porsche out cherry talking about getting in
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's it's um
I mean, I feel like we were just talking like a few weeks ago about yeah
I mean we were talking about there's speculation about this this story, but it's it's uh, it's a real
It's a real thing now
and um
Uh
Yeah, and that question of like well, when does when does
When does a chinese manufacturer enter the the fray?
um
Well, I guess now we know you can you know set set our our timers for
For 2030 or 2031. I'm not sure what what you know, right calendar year. They're they're shooting for but um
About that, um
Yeah, pretty crazy. No kidding. That's good. That's exciting
That's uh, yeah, that's very good. That would be uh, someone to root for I uh
Yesterday read something about byd having more engineers on staff than tesla has employees
I love that. I'd love for that to be true. That's true in my heart
in
Saying
I mean byd is a much bigger like they're a real car company that like has cells in volume. Yeah, um, but that's still a very crazy thing
um
Speaking of uh, somebody to root for I saw on instagram, uh, our man valteri botas posted his final
Goodbye and mercedes video as he is moving on to drive for the catalogue f1 team
very exciting
I am getting increasingly hyped for this. I have to admit like going from like not
Carried all of that f1 to like
I might
I think I think one of the things i'm going to have to do in the near futures
Uh, actually go back and watch a bunch of drive to survive and like get caught up
But like I am fascinated from what I read online about like there are like
There are I have got girlies on the dash, you know the name of like every red bull mechanic and I'm like I
Love this. I love this. What's what's going like?
I I found out who jean pierro lambi assay is and I'm like, oh, okay
So like there's a whole ecosystem of other people involved in f1 who I'm kind of
I'm fascinated by and so who is that I don't know who that is the race engineer for uh, max for stop in
Like very sweet sweet guy kind of like a ben keating looking kind of guy but younger
You know like kind eyes total cue ball
Um, it seems sweet, but like there's all this kind of fascinating extra stuff going on
But uh, I kind of want to be ready to uh root for Cadillac. Uh, I'm psyched
I'm like genuinely really pumped about it
Jimmy uh yesterday was texting me. He is like home from work. Maybe this is monday, but he um
He was watching the f1 movie finally. Oh, yeah, and he
Hated him. Oh, yeah mad. Oh really? What did he hate about it? Let me pull up his
Jimmy who's who's who's who's apparently like a big film buff because he's he's texted every time I
Every time one of one of my my film friday things goes up. He's he's in my in my uh
He's texting about it, you know
and um
so he said, uh
Lamar is better so far
It's close
Uh, and I said well f1 doesn't descend into two hours of incomprehensible plot
Just two hours of stupid and extremely comprehensible plot. Uh, he said 20 minutes in Lamar's are you more realistic?
Uh, there's also noticeable lack of flute and jazz with strings
Um
Got to say I'm I'm dialogue in Lamar is more real
Yeah, um
True. Let's see
Considering most people's extremely harsh take on Lamar, how did this movie not get torn apart by every single reviewer?
Um
Let's see
Days of thunder is more accurate than this. This is circle jerk
Big ol luis hamilton circle jerk
Very disappointed brad pits 80s hair and indy car being a backup driver career are the two only accurate parts of this movie
It was great
And then he said why do I feel like these guys are gonna do shake and bake for the wind?
And I said you're gonna be so mad at the end. He said, oh god, they're shaking and baking. Oh my god
Uh
At least it did everybody who wrote a review of this get a trip to monaco. This is one of the worst racing movies ever made
I'm embarrassed for everybody involved. It's worse than rush
marginally better than driven
marginally better than race for glory outy versus lantia
uh
They had him win the thing. Oh is part two gonna be how he wins baha in a bug. Oh my god
What's this about? Oh, it's about ed Sheeran and just drive
Um
lol
Thanks to martin donnelly for us trivializing his near-death crash in an utter garbage billion dollar embarrassment
Even the credits are embarrassing. Thank you rasko. Jesus
billion dollar net fix netflix drive to survive luis hamilton circle jerk
This movie is everything wrong with basically everything
And then they said, uh, what should I ask marino fring kitty? I'm talking to him in five minutes
You should ask him how he feels about this garbage fucking movie
Let's see
Uh
They had a perfectly fun homage thing going between lima and grand prix
And they just fucked the whole thing up with an utterly fantastical ship plot ending it with its ending from talladega knight's trash rory trash
to service to the sport
Let's see
There's another like 15 minutes of this. Oh, I'm sure
I respect the hate the hate game is very strong. I also hate fun. And so I have to respect jimmy on this point
Um, I I was able to suspend my disbelief for for pod purposes just go in and turn off my brain
But like I must respect jimmy for the level of hating fun on display here. Absolute master class
You said, uh, I think the movie might have killed whatever love I had left for f1
You know
to me I was like, uh
imagined watching the new tap gun movie if I was a fighter pilot and being like
You know how annoyed I would be it's like, I think that's just how you have to approach movies sometimes
It's like, yeah, if you were the guy who knew about this for real
Uh
You'd be mad
But also like
I do know about f1 for real and I know it's fucking boring
And I would not spend three hours in a movie theater watching f1 without my phone. I would be I would
That's torture. It's it's exhausting
Like to to sit down and watch an actual f1 race while you're on your phone
Is only barely tolerable
Uh
So yeah, I it would not make a fun movie
No, the element of the spectacular is sort of necessary
I think and if you're I think also if you're like
If someone comes to you and is like we are gonna do the most like
huge bullshit like spectacle movie about f1 and like
Just make it like a complete like
caricature that will be interesting to people to bring them in and like
Taking all the elements of f1 that already have spectacle built into them and expanding those and compressing all the other
stuff out of it like
Of course, that's what you're gonna do if you're Lewis Hamilton, you're gonna be in there like looks great guys very true
Absolutely true to true to to my experience of it. That's fine. Go for it. You know, yeah
It it would be like if you if you want to try to make the f1 documentary
It could potentially be the most boring movie
Even drive to survive has to be cinematic, you know, like they can't yeah and build their narratives like it's reality tv
You know, like well, that's the thing is I mean, yeah, I mean the the the what makes that watchable is is not the racing
It's the soap opera. Yes. It's the very carefully
And it's like the bachelor
They they they have their little narratives and they pop them up and they prop this guy
This guy's mad about this and they come out in the press leader. They're like no, there was nothing really going on there
They're gonna sell their tv show
Yeah, yeah, I I don't I mean the thing is I I mean
I
You know
To jim. I mean, I'm I'm a I'm a Lamar the movie defender
The the thing I feel like maybe jimmy went into f1 with with
With a higher level of expectation than than we did I think I think the reason that we enjoyed it so much
collectively
Was just because I think I feel like
We went into it expecting so little and
And we're just kind of pleasantly surprised by by just kind of
How little offensive like just obviously, you know, terrible shit there was like it, you know, it did
a reasonably good job of
of um
You know conveying the the the uh the things about about racing that are exciting and and and doing it in a way that that
um, you know, it was somewhat realistic, you know, at least like, um
You know getting getting the technical details right and just seeing that stuff depicted on screen
um, and also, you know, like just showing the kind of
um
You know the the the the team aspect of it just how involved the the engineers and mechanics are in the in the whole thing
Even if if it's in this kind of tokenized way or whatever
um
It gave a much more kind of full and realistic realistic portrayal of
Uh of racing then than I think, um, the kind of one dimensional shit that you get in a
You know days of thunder or whatever
Yeah, that's I think like my it was like better than expected was my thing. It was like I expected to hate it
And I was like, okay, this is fine. This is fine. And and and and just and like to your point Maddie just like the the
um
I mean, I think just like my ability to kind of just suspend disbelief and just fucking be along for the ride
um
Uh
Like you know, that's pretty key to to enjoying it, you know, and if if you're not willing to to do that
Um, which it sounds like jimmy just from him
From his company. He was he was holding it to a higher standard. Um, and you know, I mean full respect
absolutely
And and definitely if you know
If you're holding it to that criteria then then um
Yeah, it is gonna come up short also
I saw it and we all saw it in the theater where like it's big and it's happening at you the whole time and it's loud and
It's big and it's like that's a fun
That's the right way to watch that movie if you're like watching f1 on an airplane or at home or on your phone
It's like, oh, I probably would have hated that too
But like I was in the theater and it was very big and loud
And I just kind of like shut myself off and I was like
Well, maybe I'll get to see Brad Pitt's nipples really big at some point in this fucking film
And they will stop hiding them from me and I will have a nice time and then the cars go really fast and they're loud
And it's like that's great. And then and the Hans Zimmer. Yay. You're being a theater. We love it. We love that
Yeah, that's great. But again, I must uh, I must respect the game. I hate fun
Jimmy great stuff. Thank you. That's that's that's like I I have to respect the form regardless of like
Whether I agree with the content. Um, really really good really good
Yeah, I um, I do have to wonder I I feel like
Jimmy will hate he's probably gonna listen to this but I he will hate me at saying this but I wonder
I wonder what the circumstances were with him going into the movie. He was by himself in his house
It was the morning if it was not the morning, I would say he had probably had some chin
Because he seemed he seemed to be
In a texty mood, which he does not typically so ornery. Yeah
He sounds kind of ornery. I think I got ornery mood. I got more texts from jimmy
In the course of him watching that movie than I will in a typical month, so
Something going on there. No, maybe it's maybe it's not the movie as much as it is
Uh, you know
Look inside yourself a little bit
Yeah, but I completely accept all then you to to to go in and say I want to go get mad at this movie because that's the morning
I'm having like, you know what? Cheers. That's cool. I respect it. Yeah
totally
um
um
Of movies I I did I did have a few notes about about driving my car that that didn't make it into
Oh, yeah to my review. I'm so glad you liked that. I was really hoping
Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's a really beautiful movie. Um
And and I was I was I was happy that I that I watched it kind of despite my
my reticence to um
To do so, you know because of of my my sob
situation
No, I'm glad what else did you have?
but the the thing the the um
the one
the one place where where, um
Where I have to say like
That where it's just like
Okay, that's not real right like this this is but it's like I mean the the portrayal of the car is is so
Is so kind of loving and and um
and and great but but um
But there's a point where
Like the first the first test drive when she gets into the car
um
And he's he's kind of giving her you know the the you know, he's like I haven't agreed to to you being my my driver yet
whatever
But she gets in and and um
And and she asks
She asks him right off
um
If if the car has any problems with electrical components
And from the back seat he says I've driven it for 15 years and no problems
and I was
I'm sorry
It's a fucking 30 30 plus year old fucking sob gonna have to give you a big disagree on that one
Yeah, like that's not real. That's um, this is the only one that's like this
That's great
So that that was a moment where I you know, it's like, okay, we'll give that a pass. Absolutely not. Yeah, let this roll
Um, but yeah, I'm calling bullshit on on that. Yeah
You're gonna write a letter to the uh
Dear mr. Hamaguchi, I just want you to know just sending pictures of the sob
documentation
Exactly. I need I need to look at the the records. I mean, yeah
I mean the thing is I I uh, I kind of meant to to look up
I mean the car is so so immaculate so beautifully preserved
um, but I I do think that that's
Like the the the rules for for keeping a car registered in japan
I know just anecdotally are like
Like really strict. It's very intense. You can't it's hard to get a license. It's hard to get a car. It's hard to keep a car
Yeah, I mean you you have to you have to I mean, it's like annual inspections
But it's like like really strict inspections that you have to the car. Yeah, so maybe that's just like it just lives in
Mechanics shop and then he picks it up when he drives it
Just like there's always a guy fixing stuff. I mean, that's that's what I have to think
Yeah, I mean, it's just like yeah the the amount of
The number of of just independent electric like specifically electrical issues that I had to have addressed on that car
Just in the in the 10 years that I that I was dailying it
Yeah, pretty comical
Yeah
I can't imagine that that's unique
um, I wonder how much leeway you even have for
Um for keeping a car like that around because rora, you had mentioned you people who've done some car spotting out there
I wonder if some of that is if the landscape of car spotting out there is different due to the level of care that they're required to take
Of the cars like in the regulations. Yeah, I think I mean I I think just the
the idea of
having
A car at all and then having an old car there is so much more serious and undertaking. It's like
You just can't you can't casually have an old car there. Like it's like, yeah, it's like you are you are committed to
this lifestyle it's like they make it really really hard on you and then like
um
Yeah, it's just like you can't have a piece of shit or you can't have a car where it's like other taillights don't work or
Or whatever. Oh, I'm gonna get around to fixing that rust or whatever like this is not a thing
Well, Peter had to find a sob guy
Like imagine if you're like the you're like the sob guy in I don't know how big of a region in japan
You even have to like divide that up by like. Oh, yeah
Miyagi prefecture has one guy for these like 10 marks and good luck
You know like how hard to find a sob guy in japan. I wonder
To like make sure your stuff is up to date. I mean I that's the flip side of it is though is like
For as hard as they make it the
Car culture in japan is so strong that there is like it seems like there is a guy for literally everything, right? Yeah, exactly
It's like akihabara like you go out there and you could find a specific guy for like a
Computer they made like 10 of in you know, 1992. Yeah, exactly
There's a guy who can get you a board for that
But like, you know, I imagine that there's probably you have to do some digging but like the car
Oh, I was in the kinokuniya up in fort lee in new jersey
And I found a magazine that uh was pretty like pretty recently published and they had flipping through
It was a car enthusiast magazine
They had all of these like
OEM parts and it was still like how do we get this you call the phone number under there, brother
You're gonna call somebody's landline and get this OEM part sent to you, you know, or you're gonna have to go to the shop
Here's the address like it was so cool. It was like 40 bucks. I didn't buy it or that was I've shown you guys
But like if I go back up there, I'll try and find it and get some pictures
But it's so cool that like
There's still so much of that like going out there and that it's still running kind of that like
Analog
Like I mean that was my experience in japan too when I went in 2005 like shops were barely even taking credit cards
And like you still had a lot of landline phone stuff going on obviously here and there but like
Um for all the reputation japan has is being like super high tech
A lot of hobbyist stuff kind of still runs that more analog track. I think that's really cool
Like old stuff that still works
Yeah, it was built really well in the first place
The sob guy probably has a landline phone you call if you get you get there's probably a little sob magazine
You have to get and you call a guy out of phone. It's like hey man. I need I need a part for this. Yeah
my uh
I have to I have to lie and tell everybody that my electrical system still works perfectly
Can you get me in today and fix this before anybody notices?
I have this young woman coming in. She's she's gonna be in my car and she can't know that all the dash lights are
Uh
All right, I should probably wrap up
All right, um
Stay tired. Yeah
Oh
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