Badge engineering is when a car is basically the same, but sold under a different brand name. It’s usually more about marketing than redesigning the car.
The Ram is a large pickup truck made for tasks like hauling and towing. The podcast says Ram now offers a version that’s rated for police pursuit driving. That’s why it comes up in a conversation about police-spec vehicles.
“Police pursuit-rated” means the vehicle is set up to handle tough, high-stress driving. It’s designed to keep working reliably when it’s being driven hard for long periods.
Those “half-ton / three-quarter ton / one ton” labels are old-school ways to describe how heavy-duty a truck is. A “three-quarter ton” truck is meant for more hauling than a half-ton.
Enterprise is a major vehicle rental company. The speaker describes a process where keys are dropped into a box and then picked up by the rental company’s local operations.
Term
CVP field office
This sounds like an internal office location for managing fleets or rentals. The speaker is using it to explain where the car goes after it’s returned.
The Ford Crown Victoria was a big, older sedan that many police departments used. The host is saying it worked so well for that job that Ford should have kept making it.
Car
Tesla
Tesla is the electric-car company. The speaker is basically saying Tesla stuck with its strategy for a long time, and Ford should do something similar for fleet cars.
A panel van is a boxy, enclosed van—usually built for carrying things. In this conversation, they’re using it as a mental picture of what the inside of a van is like.
Cup holders are the built-in spots in a car where you can put drinks so they don’t spill. Here, they’re being used as a quick test of whether the van is comfortable and practical.
The Volkswagen ID Buzz is an electric van from Volkswagen that’s meant to feel like the old VW buses. The conversation here is basically about whether it’s practical inside, like whether it has enough cup holders.
The Michigan State Police are saying this vehicle is officially approved for police use. It has to pass a set of tests so it’s considered safe and capable for pursuit driving.
A “standardized battery of tests” means the vehicle is tested in a consistent way, using the same kinds of checks for each car. That helps agencies compare vehicles fairly.
“Tire limited” means the tires are only rated to handle a certain top speed. So the truck may be able to go faster, but the tires aren’t approved for it.
ABS is a safety feature that prevents your wheels from locking during hard braking. When wheels lock, you lose steering—ABS helps you keep control while stopping.
That phrase means the car is braking really hard without the wheels locking up. ABS helps keep steering control while you stop, and doing it many times checks that the brakes can handle repeated hard stops.
A “6.4 liter Hemi” is a big V8 engine. “Hemi” is a nickname for the engine’s combustion-chamber shape, and bigger engines like this usually make strong power for quick acceleration.
Horsepower is basically how strong the engine is. More horsepower usually means the vehicle can accelerate harder, but it still depends on the truck’s weight and gearing.
Torque is the engine’s pulling force. It’s what helps a heavy truck get moving and feel responsive, especially when you’re starting from a stop or towing.
Zero to 60 is how fast a car can go from stopped to 60 mph. It’s a simple way to compare acceleration, but it doesn’t tell you everything about how the car drives day to day.
They’re talking about police using trucks more often. Trucks can handle rough situations and carry gear, but they’re heavier, so driving and stopping behavior can be different than smaller cars.
Fleet sales are when businesses or agencies buy lots of cars at once. Police departments are one example, and they often want the same kind of vehicle for many drivers.
This is a Jeep Grand Wagoneer variant that’s being used for police or command purposes. The point being made is that it’s designed to sit and support operations.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is an SUV made for both regular driving and tougher roads. Some versions can be used by organizations that need a reliable vehicle for specific driving tasks. That’s why it’s mentioned in a list of special-use vehicles.
Concept
abduction vehicles
The host is using a harsh phrase to argue that these vehicles are used for detaining people. It’s more about the social/political use than car mechanics.
They bring up the Ford Falcon as an example from history. The idea is that people later may remember a car model for what it was used for.
Concept
police SUVs
They’re mentioning police SUVs, which are the kinds of cars law enforcement agencies use. These vehicles are usually built to be tough and reliable for lots of daily driving and demanding situations.
A “fleet version” is a truck made for organizations that buy lots of vehicles. It’s often set up so it’s easier to add equipment and keep many trucks running.
They’re talking about the Ford electric pickup called the F-150 Lightning. The idea is that selling it didn’t fit how dealers made money, especially around warranty plans.
A warranty package is extra protection that covers expensive repairs for a certain number of miles or years. They’re saying the electric truck made it harder for dealers to offer (and profit from) those long warranty plans.
The RAM 2500 is a big, heavy-duty pickup truck. The episode is talking about a police-focused version of it—basically a truck meant to handle demanding driving and work conditions.
A “police pursuit” version is a truck or car set up for police work. The goal is to make it handle hard driving for long periods and stay reliable under heavy use.
The Ford Explorer is an SUV model. Police departments have used special versions of it, and the hosts mention that in 2020 there was talk about whether Ford might stop making the police version.
A blind spot is an area around your car you can’t see from the driver’s seat. Big trucks can have larger blind spots, so it’s easier to miss other cars or pedestrians.
A fleet vehicle is a vehicle used by an organization, like a city or police department. They pick vehicles that can handle lots of driving and repairs more easily. The host is joking about what kinds of vehicles police should use.
Car
Ford Mach-E
The Ford Mach-E is an electric Ford SUV. The host is joking that police might want to swap out the electric vehicles they have for something else.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. It’s known for its distinctive look and for being available as a coupe or convertible. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because people instantly recognize the Mustang shape and name.
They’re describing a car that runs on electricity and has an SUV-like shape. “Crossover” basically means it’s built to feel roomy and easy to drive like an SUV, but not as big as a full SUV.
The Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. The podcast mentions older Mustang models that were used by California Highway Patrol for pursuit driving. It’s brought up because those specific cars are part of a well-known history.
The Lamborghini Huracán is a very high-performance sports car. The podcast mentions it in a story about when someone was given one. It’s included because it’s a recognizable supercar model.
Car
Huracan
They’re talking about a Lamborghini Huracán, which is a very expensive, high-performance supercar. The joke is that some Italian police use one like a regular work vehicle and it’s racked up huge mileage.
The Lamborghini LM 002 is a very unusual Lamborghini model. The podcast calls it the “ambulance” because it looks more boxy and utilitarian than typical sports cars. It’s brought up because it’s a rare and distinctive Lamborghini.
They’re talking about why people in America keep buying very large trucks. The point is about what the market wants and why those big vehicles stay popular.
A compass shows which direction you’re going. It’s handy when you’re off-road and don’t have easy landmarks.
Concept
off-roading tilt sensor / tilt sensor dash pod
A tilt sensor dash pod is an off-road-focused display that shows vehicle attitude (tilt) to help drivers gauge stability on uneven terrain. The hosts compare it to JDM Land Cruiser-style setups that warn you when you’re getting close to tipping.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a famous off-road Toyota. The hosts mention it because some versions are known for having extra gauges/displays that help you judge how the vehicle is leaning on trails.
The center console is the dashboard area between the seats. It’s where you usually find the radio and climate controls, and sometimes extra switches or knobs.
Term
trim tabs
Trim tabs are small adjustable parts that help fine-tune how something moves or sits. Here, they’re just being used as a visual comparison for the big knobs/dials.
Term
approaching minimums
“Approaching minimums” is an aviation term used during instrument approaches, referring to getting close to the lowest altitude/visibility where a landing can be attempted safely. It’s not a car concept, but it’s a specific technical phrase that benefits from context.
Term
flaps three, flaps four
Flaps are parts on the wings that help the aircraft slow down and generate more lift. Different flap numbers/settings mean different positions for takeoff or landing.
They mention a “Ferrari luce,” but in this clip they don’t clearly say which exact Ferrari car it is. It’s likely a concept or design name they talked about earlier, and they’re bringing it up because they’re comparing interior style. If you want, check episode 3 or 4 for the exact model details.
They say Kia does a particular dashboard layout where the radio and climate controls are split into a tab-like setup. It looks cool, but the problem is you have to look away from the road to use it. So it’s more about driver distraction than just style.
A “split radio climate control tab” refers to a dashboard UI/control design where audio and HVAC functions are grouped into separate, tab-like controls. The hosts’ point is that even if the layout looks modern, it can be ergonomically awkward—forcing the driver to glance away to operate it. This is essentially a human-factors and usability issue, not a performance spec.
Detents are the little clicks you feel when you turn a knob or move a switch. They help you know you’re on the right setting without staring at the dash.
Instead of lots of separate buttons and knobs, the car’s interior functions are controlled through a digital system. That can let you customize what you see and how the controls work.
The point here is that projected screens (like a HUD) can be tough to see in bright daytime. Sun glare and reflections can wash out the image, so the feature may not help as much as you’d expect.
A heads-up display shows important info on the windshield instead of the dashboard. The idea is you can keep your eyes on the road, but in very bright sun it can be difficult to read.
The Hyundai Palisade is a big family SUV. The hosts are saying Hyundai has some rugged-looking versions, but it’s still basically an SUV, not a real truck.
Some SUVs get off-road-looking upgrades, like tougher tires and protective plastic. But they’re still usually regular SUVs underneath, so they’re not the same as a real off-road truck.
Ford makes two Bronco models: the bigger Bronco and the smaller Bronco Sport. They’re talking about sales totals and whether the smaller one is included in the bigger Bronco numbers.
A “waiting list” in car buying usually refers to long order backlogs when demand exceeds production. When hosts say demand “caught up” or improved, they’re describing how supply constraints and production ramp-ups can affect sales.
“Generation” refers to a model’s major redesign cycle (new platform, body, powertrain updates, etc.). The hosts say the Bronco is “four years into this generation,” implying it’s been on the market long enough that sales changes are more about demand/supply than a brand-new redesign.
A refresh is a smaller update that happens after the car has been out for a while. It might add new features or styling, but it’s not a whole new model.
The Genesis G70 is a luxury sedan made by Genesis, which is part of Hyundai. The speaker is saying it felt “in-between” styles—trying to be comfortable like some luxury cars, but also sporty like performance-focused brands.
Mercedes-Benz is a luxury car brand known for comfort. The speaker is comparing how the Genesis G70 felt like it was trying to be comfortable like Mercedes-Benz, but not fully committing to that style.
Lexus is Toyota’s luxury brand, usually known for comfort and refinement. The speaker is saying the Genesis G70 was trying to split the difference between comfort like Lexus and sportiness like other brands.
BMW is a brand many people associate with sporty, driver-focused cars. The speaker is using BMW as shorthand for the performance side of the comparison.
Audi is a German luxury brand that’s often associated with sporty driving. The speaker is using Audi as another example of the “sportiness” side of the comparison.
Traction control helps keep the tires from spinning when you accelerate or turn on slippery or low-grip surfaces. It can stop you from doing controlled slides because it intervenes to keep the car from losing grip too much.
A skid pad is a special flat area designed for testing tire grip and car handling. Drivers use it to practice what happens when the tires start to lose traction, like during a slide.
The Toyota Supra is a well-known sports car from Toyota. The speaker is saying they’ve driven one on a track-style skid pad to show they can handle sliding.
Lucid Air is a luxury electric car. The hosts are saying Hyundai’s design looks similar, but Lucid is a newer, less widely available brand—so it’s not as easy to buy.
In endurance racing, a prototype is a purpose-built race car that isn’t based on a production model. Prototypes are designed around racing rules and can use advanced powertrains and aerodynamics.
A twin-turbo V8 is a big engine (V8) with two turbochargers. The turbos help the engine make more power by pushing extra air in.
Concept
mated two of their rally Hyundai four cylinder turbos
The hosts describe an unusual engineering approach: combining two rally-spec turbo four-cylinder engines to create a larger V8-style power unit. This is essentially an experimental “parts-mashup” concept aimed at achieving a specific racing power/packaging goal.
They mean designing a car interior like an airplane cockpit. Airplanes use layouts that help you read important info quickly and find controls without fumbling, and the speaker thinks that same approach makes driving feel better.
The hosts discuss “legibility and quick access” as a design principle: information should be readable instantly and controls should be reachable without hunting. They connect this to aviation ergonomics, where instrument layouts are optimized for fast comprehension under stress. The takeaway is that good cockpit design improves usability and safety by reducing decision time.
A kill switch is a switch you can add that prevents the car from starting. It cuts power to the car’s start/ignition system, so it’s harder for someone else to drive it away.
They’re wondering what happens if cars get rid of physical buttons and switches and use touch screens instead. Touch screens can be harder to use quickly because you don’t feel the buttons.
Term
hidden iPad
They’re describing using a tablet (an iPad) in the car in a hidden way. It sounds like they used it to control or manage something in the vehicle.
“Used EVs” refers to buying an electric vehicle that’s already been owned, typically at a lower price than a new one. The hosts connect this to rising gasoline prices and the idea that used EVs can be a more affordable entry point as fuel costs fluctuate.
“Dirt Fish” is mentioned as a rally-related venue/event the speaker wanted to attend, specifically “the Machi rally at dirt fish.” It’s used here to set the context for rally driving and co-driving plans rather than to discuss a specific vehicle spec.
LIVE
My track's going.
Burt!
Alright, well should we clap?
Yeah, we should clap.
Burt, can you clap?
I don't...
Not...
Alright.
I don't know if cats can clap.
Can cats clap?
Can cats clap?
My new children's work.
Alright.
Three.
Two.
One.
Hello!
Welcome to the dozenth episode of Trangirlismo.
Dozenth normal, let me get some photos out there.
Uh-huh.
I am your host, Victoria Scott.
My pronouns are she and her, and I'm here with my co-host.
Hi, my name is Durin Hofsetter.
My pronouns are she and her.
Um, yeah, welcome to the only automotive podcast that is brave enough to disrespect both Stalantis and the police.
Which is an increasingly high-risk endeavor, given what I've seen ICE driving recently.
Hey, Victoria!
Name one automotive podcast that respects Stalantis.
Just, just, just throwin' it out there.
Cause yeah, I am, oh god, I saw, I was running errands before the show.
I made a mental note to keep this in the back pocket for when we hopped on today.
Um, I saw a Dodge, I saw a Dodge Hornet broken down.
We still had the dealer plates on it, but was pulled over flashing and lightly smoking.
And let me just tell you, that's what happens when you are the company that says yes and to
should we badge engineer an Alfa Romeo product for the American lower income market?
What could go wrong?
Um, well, and you might ask, why would we disrespect the police on this podcast?
You must be new to being alive.
It's your first day on earth.
Welcome to Gran Turin, uh, Tran Grillesmo.
Um, the thing that specifically caught my eye this week is that Ram now sells a police pursuit-rated variant of the 2,500.
That's, I, I, the Dodge Ram.
That's a three quarter ton version.
So like, you know, there's the half ton, then there's the three quarter ton, then like the one ton.
Uh, this is the version that you buy for hauling your boat to, uh, the reservoir on the weekends.
Or if you're the stereotype of most Dodge Ram owners, it's what you drive to your boyfriend's cabin in the woods.
Uh, I just...
Doing broke back mountain, but the entire society you live in is like, that's totally fine.
It's cool. You're just like, keeping it under wraps because you're internally doing it to yourself.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Uh, in a society where no one really should be down low anymore, the last DL guys on earth are all Ram drivers.
They're all Dodge Ram drivers.
I don't know how that works.
Statistic or Jeep Gladiator drivers if they're feeling a little extra fruity.
Um, where's the Wagoneer rank on the, uh...
No one buy, no one press urges.
No one has ever bought a Wagoneer with money.
They're all...
They're all rentals.
They're all rentals just directly handed.
They take the keys, drop it in the enterprise box, enterprise picks up the keys, drops it in like the, whatever the local CVP field office, uh, vehicle rental, uh, offices.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah, it's, um...
I mean, it's gotta be hard.
Now that we've stopped selling sedans in the U.S., like...
We should've...
Well, before, like, if we must have cops in this country...
A dubious statement, uh, for a lot of us.
I really just think that, like, the last...
We should've just kept the Crown Victoria in, uh, in service forever.
Like, Ford should still have a plant in Detroit pumping out a thousand Crown Vicks a day.
Like, we'll use them.
Basically, the operational strategy for Tesla, which has been to build the insane car for the company's entire existence,
should actually be what Ford does for fleet vehicles.
I mean, Chevy does it with the Express van.
You can still go buy, like, a 2026 version of the U-Haul van you had in 1998.
Do you want to...
Do you want to, uh, forcibly regress yourself?
Go to...
Did you have a shitty child at the back of a lot of panel vans?
Uh, because your friend's parents were Mormons, and therefore...
Oh, that's a little less dark.
What did you think I was doing?
I was talking about Mormons that have like 14 kids, so you needed the panel van.
For the entire family.
Uh, they're the exact same inside. They've never changed.
Yeah, well, they're the exact same under the hood, too.
More cup holders than God, though.
That's true.
Technology Volkswagen still hasn't learned what the ID buzz, apparently.
I was in the back of a fucking ID for as it lift the other day.
Did it have cup holders?
No!
Or if I couldn't find them, there was like one weird one in the door pocket where it's like,
oh, cool, if I have anything that doesn't have a lid, it's called.
I'm about to spill this right into my fucking shoes.
I want to fist...
Listener.
Beautiful listener we've had.
You might want to finish that sentence.
You didn't say I want to fist.
I want to fist fight the person who designed the interior of the ID for,
who I think is now being killed by the Volkswagen executives.
I think they threw him off.
I think they like crucified him in front of the factory.
But I just...
Every time I'm inside one, I find a new thing to get pissed off by.
And I think that's...
In 2026, that's a miracle, right?
Well, I have good news, because as per our last episode, they're pausing production here.
So true.
Anyways, I just, once again, that entire bid is to say I am so sorry to our one very loyal listener
who's been with us since episode one, who has an ID for.
I promise it's not an...
I'm never casting a moral judgment on your purchase of an ID for.
Look, I will never knock a vehicle if it is purchased in the deal zone,
which from my understanding is how that listener got their ID for.
Understandable.
Yeah. You know what's better than having a good car?
Having a car that's cheap.
That's right.
A strategy I have abided by for my entire life.
Anyway, on the topic of this 2500 RAM cop truck,
the thing that was funny is, so I was reading about this,
and it's actually fully certified as a cop vehicle by Michigan State Police,
which I guess does like a standardized battery of tests on like new pursuit vehicles.
So they did take this 6400 pound truck up to 103 miles an hour,
which, where it is, tire limited.
Not like, not like aero limited.
It's just the tires are not rated to go faster than that.
I don't think it's good that they, I mean, it's good for like,
this podcast does not endorse running from the cops,
comma, but you see those blues and twos behind it.
It's a RAM.
All you got to do is go 104 miles an hour and they cannot stop you.
That's not fast.
That's not like,
No, well, see, here's the thing though, right?
It's like, did you ever play Need for Speed?
I'm thinking of Most Wanted, I think.
I'm a transsexual woman who's 30 years old and does a car podcast.
Yes, I have.
Okay.
Well, so here's the thing, right?
It's like, you own the Explorer pursuit versions that can go faster for the pursuit vehicles.
What I, when I assume this RAM 2500 is, do you remember the NFS Rhino,
the SUV that would kamikaze itself into your Lamborghini at 140 miles an hour?
I believe that's what the purpose of this is.
So they should just sell it to, what is it?
It's the Georgia PD, the Georgia State Troopers or whatever,
who will post their fucking Call of Duty Kill Cam compilations of them flipping them off.
I think that's like every Southern state.
It's a lot of them.
Yeah, it's too many of them in the opinion of this podcast.
Yeah, but so they did, it's, they got up to 103 miles an hour
and they performed 20 consecutive anti-lock brake engaging stops from 60 to zero miles an hour.
They didn't mention what the distance was, so I assume it was bad,
but it can stop 20 times, so that's cool.
Yeah, it's just called the discs that don't explode like they used to,
because it's not 1984 anymore, grandpa.
The funniest way to illustrate how big this thing is is,
so it's got a 6.4 liter Hemi producing 405 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque,
because we're back in V8, V8 Country Baby,
it's the badge of protest, you know, is back on the Rams,
because we live in America.
That is good for an eight and a half second zero to 60,
which is like, yeah, I guess if you're moving a small apartment building,
that is, that's pretty quick, but it just, it's just funny to me that like,
now a truck brainworm has infected police departments,
and of course like, the, you know, the smart take on this is like,
oh, rural departments need it because they can go off-roading for like, you know,
search and rescue calls out in the middle of anywhere, in the middle of nowhere,
and to which I would say, why does it need to do 103 miles an hour?
Uh, it does feel like a bunch of police captains somewhere watched Twisters,
and was like, I want a Hemi to run away from the fucking tornadoes,
like, I want that, and then it's just, you know, this is how we get,
uh, Stalantis is just excited to sell something to someone,
so they're like, oh yeah.
They were like, ooh, fleets, we know how to sell to those still.
They woke a guy up at his desk, and he's like, fleets sales?
Oh, that's a, that's a name I've not heard in a long time.
Um, yeah, so this joins the Dodge Durango Pursuit and the Jeep Grand Wagoneer
Command Operations Vehicle, uh, in the Stalantis lineup of cop cars.
Those are the actual names for them.
Um, which, uh, yeah, that, that, there's your answer about who's buying Wagoneers.
They are basically just abduction vehicles.
In 20 years, people will look at the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer,
uh, as people in Argentina do about the Ford Falcon,
um, during their years of fascism, but it was like, oh, you see a brown Ford Falcon?
That car's probably, like, been part of killing dozens of dissidents.
Yeah, it's, uh, that or, uh, you know what the, this, the Jeep one screams to me?
It screams the, the car you see idling outside a, like, music festival or something.
Like, that's, they're just designed to sit.
Do you not?
Like.
No, I never been to a music festival.
Right.
Vault times.
So bands play music for a living.
Yes.
Uh, sometimes a lot of them will gather over the course of one weekend.
Um.
Yes.
I'm familiar with the concept.
Okay.
All right.
I just want to look.
Sometimes I'm not sure with you.
I've played Forza Horizon before.
I know what music festivals look like.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
And all of them start with Porter Robinson's language.
Uh, Porter Robinson, there is still time.
There is still time.
It's fine.
There is still time, Porter.
Uh, and whatever, whatever the guy from health is, uh, guy from health is, uh, there is still
time.
Uh, had a dream that Andrew W. K. transitioned to the other day.
That's insane.
Yeah.
And she just put out an album of just, it was just that one album again.
But it just, I was just like, well, that's a good marketing scheme.
Uh, Andrea W. K. Um, but anyways, I just, my going to South by Southwest or ACL or whatever
back in Austin, I was just, you would always just see the nicest police SUVs just parked
at like big entrance points and they would just idol 24 seven for the length of the festival.
And that's just, that's just what these are going to do.
Like.
Yeah, that's fair.
You get the grad wagon here.
So your fucking chuddest, highest in command could just be comfy while he plays cookie
clicker on his phone or whatever.
Cookie clicker's maybe too woke.
What, what, uh, Candy Crush, there we go.
The official mobile game of the NYPD.
Um, yeah, I didn't realize that.
I think sitting around idling is probably half of it.
I think part of it is probably they also like, you know, need to make sure they can box in
and ram people so they can shoot them without cause.
Cause that's, you know, again, that's like the main purpose of ice.
Just surmise based on reading headlines.
We should stop reading headlines.
No, you can never make this stop.
Um, if your, if your police department is like, damn, I ram 2,500 isn't enough pickup truck for me.
You can also buy an F 150 pickup truck, uh, police.
It's the F 150 police responder.
Um, you can't get the lightning cop truck anymore because we discontinued those though.
Cause they had one for like a year, they had them for like a year, uh, cause they had a fleet version.
They've got them at SeaTac as like airport trucks, not the cop version, just like the regular fleet lightning.
And it's like, this is so brilliant.
It, of course you canceled this.
Yeah, the lightning was too good for its own good because like none of the dealers wanted to sell it cause then they can't do like, you know,
they can't sell a hundred thousand, uh, mile like warranty package for it, but like, you know.
Yeah, well, I was reading, uh, about its like discontinuation and every single person who ever got their hands on them was like,
this is the best truck.
This is revolutionary for my small business or my, this is perfect for my life.
Um, and Ford was like, well, we're just following the consumers and it turns out they just could never make any money on them.
Um, which is why when we do the bailout thing again,
we should just nationalize them.
Ford should be like the USPS and neither of them should be required to make a profit.
Yeah, I, uh, making leftist, uh, sign a pledge to not talk bad about the USPS no matter how fucked up it gets because that's, that's how the fascists win.
The USPS is only bad because of really stupid constraints put on it during the Bush years that we've never lifted.
The USPS could be a perfectly functional agency if we did not make it comply with absolutely insane, uh, retirement funding that literally no other agency on the planet has to adhere by.
Um, or if we just made it not run as a profit and ran it as like a service that is required for the functioning of a state.
Uh, nobody asks if the interstate highways make money.
No, they in fact lose money every single year.
Um, but like ridiculously so.
We subsidized like truck freight shipping in this country to the tune of billions of dollars and everybody's fine with that.
Uh, but the minute the post office is like, hey, so, uh, the hollowing out of the state is leaving us in a pretty precarious position because you forced us to fund 75 years of our, uh, pensions in advance.
Um, they're like, well, I guess that's just proof that, you know, we have to collapse the administrative capacity of the state.
I'm, I'm getting off topic.
Um, as we are wanting to do, uh, I did read ahead to this quote from the RAM boss and.
Yeah, can I, can I read that one out?
Yeah, you sure can.
I'm going to go to the shapes.
All right.
All right.
Uh, RAM boss Tim Kineskis said in a statement about the new police pursuit variant of the RAM 2500 quote, when your job means running toward danger,
not away from it, you don't have time to second guess your equipment.
It has to be up to the task.
The men and women who answer the call deserve a vehicle that can go anywhere, handle anything and deliver when every second matters.
That's exactly what this truck is built to do.
I fart noise, jerk off motion is how I ended that quote.
Yeah, I was doing it through that entire quote.
Uh, is it, is it too dark?
If I say this, if I question whether or not this means they will sell one of these to the Ovalde PD.
I was just thinking about you all day, Victoria.
I was just thinking when your job is idling out in front of a fucking elementary school where some guys do it a fucking call of duty kill streak because our country is fundamentally broken.
Uh, and this kind of violence has just been acceptable for 20 years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What you need to sit there and sit in your truck and text your mom about how like, I'm scared.
Like, yeah, at least you're sitting in a ram.
Do you ever in 2020, do you ever in 2020 when that team at Ford almost got them to discontinue the police explorer?
Yes, I do.
I remember it was discussed as a serious thing, or semi serious at least.
2020 was not a good year to live through and boy howdy.
I sure, uh, I sure cried a lot involuntarily that year in downtown Austin.
If you know what I mean.
Anyway, so I, uh, I just six years ago was so cool for a couple of minutes there where I really thought some things were going to happen.
And now we're making, uh, you know, three quarter ton trucks for cops to like, I don't know, flip a, flip a mom in an old civic because their tags are expired or whatever.
Um, you know, the Ram 2500 is kind of like the de facto news agency blind spot demonstrator.
So think of like, you know, it, we're just equalizing the chance for every emergency department to get to vaporize like toddlers.
Um, that's not even funny.
That's just depressing.
It's just true.
I hate pickup truck culture.
Um, I hate, uh, American police.
I think I hate policing as a concept, the way that it's developed and kind of the West in general.
Uh, yes, this is the perfect nexus of everything that I started this podcast a bitch about.
So I just had to share it.
Tim Kuniscus is I think the funniest car industry executive though.
Because he's constantly like, he is, he wants to, like, whatever the slur is, it always sounds like he's about one sentence away from saying it.
He's the Eric Adams of car industry executives where I'm just like, all right, what's, what's Tim got to say today?
Uh, Ram Albanian?
Yeah, I was about to say official resident of Albania now or whatever.
Um.
The Dodge Ram's amazing because one day you could be sitting in it and the other day you could look up and see 9-Eleven happen.
We've built the Ram 2500 to respond to 9-Eleven, which could happen at any time in New York City.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because you know that they, I'm sure that like NYPD would love to get their hands on this thing and I would love to see them attempt to navigate uptown in one of them.
I guess they'd just park on the sidewalk.
That's kind of what they do.
That is their pro move.
Um, I think about how maybe they could replace all the NYPD Ford Mach-E's that they all seem to hate.
Because they're, because even though it's Mustang shaped, it's gay.
That's true.
Well, it's electric and it's a crossover.
So, you know.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
No, my most problematic opinion in the whole world, I think, is that the 80s California Highway Patrol Fox body pursuit vehicles were pretty cool, actually.
I mean, and I think it's really cool that all of the Italian companies keep giving Italian cops like a supercar every couple of years.
Yeah.
Well, the Italian one is like the high, that Huracan that they, uh, that they gave them like back when the Huracan was new has like a quarter million miles on it.
Yeah, they just drive that shit around.
Well, they, it's what they use instead of like helicopters or aircraft to shuttle, like donor organs around.
So there's, there's Italian cops who I bet they're fucking so hot.
Who's like, my job, my job, I drive Lamborghini real fast on Autostrada.
Like I deliver organs for kids.
Like I'm just like, yeah, sure.
I'll suck you off, man.
Like, I don't know.
Like I'm doing my part.
We did it.
We did it.
We found the one cop that we were, would allow it to be the guest on this show.
If your job is solely to shuttle organs in the Huracan, you don't do any other policing duties.
You're just a, that's just an EMT at that point with like a blue paint job on your car.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Lamborghini ambulance.
Lam, Lamborghini ambulance.
Uh-huh.
We're doing so good.
This episode is brought to you by a Panic Attack two hours ago.
You seem so together for a Panic Attack two hours ago.
I've got a lot of practice.
Uh-huh.
Um, anyway, the segue that I had planned for this, um, which I'm doing a great job delivering
here, is I was just going to go into the more detail about the insatiable American appetite
for enormous trucks.
Uh, because Hyundai debuted a body on frame for bra, um, sorry, Toyota Latin crew.
No.
Um, Nissan path.
No.
Uh, the boulder concept.
Uh, the body on frame boulder concept.
Uh, which is basically all of those vehicles rolled into one.
It's a big off-roader four-door thing.
It's got chunky styling.
It's, uh, you know, and I'm a pathological hater at this point, especially if anything
the auto industry does, and especially of SUVs.
That's actually like, my life force is derived from mocking people who buy expensive SUVs.
Um, so I saw this and I was like, I don't even know if we're going to talk about it.
This is just like, it's a concept truck.
It doesn't really mean anything.
Who knows if it'll come to market.
It's a chud square.
It, yeah, it's vaguely interesting and that Hyundai thinks that there's enough of a market
in chud squares to like tease one.
Um, but then I saw a picture of the interior.
Oh, it's hideous.
What?
Really?
I thought the interior kicked ass.
You are a plain fetishist and it looks like an Airbus cabin.
That's true.
Yeah, that's true.
It's got like the little, it's got like the four little screens like lined up in a row
and you can change the like data readouts on it.
Uh, so you can do like your inclinometer and like your, uh, your compass, your,
theoretically you could do like more mundane stuff, but like for off-roading that is actually
kind of cool.
Like all my favorite, like, like JDM versions of like the Land Cruiser or whatever have like
that little, you know, dash mounted pod where it's got like your tilt sensor.
Uh-huh.
So you can tell if you're like about to flip it off-roading.
It's not like that useful because you know, but also like it's cool.
Um, and then it's just got like huge, like all across the center console, like all through
the center of the truck, it's just got these huge dials and they do kind of look like,
like trim tabs, honestly.
Yeah.
That is a fair cop.
It does look like you were trying to like, yes, like a truck that is just going to rain,
to rain all the time because it's a truck.
Like, uh, uh, oh God, I, uh, no, I-
Doing a jump and it gives you approaching minimums.
Minimums.
Flaps three, flaps four.
Uh, oh God, it's such a bad clip.
Uh, did you see, did you see that an Airbus got stuck looping?
Uh, the French word for breaking.
Yes, I did see that.
That's really bad.
It's really bad.
I-
They really should change that.
They really should change it.
Like, I-
They should really change that.
Because they sound like the president.
Like, is this?
I, I was on, um, Be Gay Solve Crimes this week.
Uh, and we did Nancy Drew.
Um, and Nancy Drew, the 2007 movie came out in 2007.
So there's a scene in which one of the mean girls like walks into a party and just fully
drops the R slur.
Really?
No one in a children's movie.
And I was like, holy shit.
Uh, yeah.
So no, we, we gotta, we gotta, I really, I don't like that it's coming back.
Um, I think that if you are a, uh, senator, senatorial candidate, you shouldn't be saying
it, especially not if you have a totem conf on your chest.
Um, I think that you just shouldn't say it at all.
It's a bad word.
I think Airbuses don't get a pass.
Airbus cannot say it if they say it too much.
Uh, yes.
Uh, I-
Airbuses isn't 2007.
Please switch the word.
It just makes us all uncomfortable.
Especially if you're those two pilots who it's just saying the R word at over and over
and over again.
And I know it's not what it means, but like, imagine if they had really bottled that landing
too and it's just, uh, it should-
We can't do this anymore.
It should call out the word faggot instead.
Um, anyway.
Because you can get a cheeseburger and fries for 295 fat burger.
Faggot.
Um, I thought that the interior of this truck was cool because it was like all big and chunky.
Like, remember the Ferrari luce that we talked about in like episode three or four or something?
Which, sorry to disappoint you and all of our listeners.
I think I've looked at it enough where I'm like, ah, it's good.
It's good.
Whoa, see that?
The interior of that was like, oh, we gave it like machined aluminum touch points because
it's got Joni Ive brain or Johnny Ive or whatever.
I always do that.
Um, it's spelled Joni, man.
Um, but like this to me is like how you make like a combination of like actual physical
touch points and digital interface.
Fuck.
Like the, it should have, you know, Hyundai in the air is a Hyundai that I'm thinking of
or is it?
No, it's Kia.
Kia does that thing where they have kind of like the split radio climate control tab
and a bunch of their more modern cars.
And it's so close to being good, but it still requires you to take your eyes off the road
to use it.
Um, it looks cool, but then you use it and you're like after a week of having a press
car, you're like, if I ever touch this again, it's too soon.
And then you realize it's in every single car they've gotten.
It is kind of like a huge Achilles.
Um, so the idea of like doing this where you could like, you could just set these up to
be like, I want this to be climate.
I want this to be, you know, data feed out, data read out.
I want this to be radio.
And then you never have to look and you can feel the detents would be so cool.
Like that's ideally what you want from touch points.
And the idea of making them like customizable is like, that's I think kind of the promise
of a like digitally integrated cabin basically.
Um, so I think it's cool.
I don't know.
I mean, that was just, I was trying very hard to not be a hater.
I know.
And that's why I, the positive and that's why I had to go.
Actually, I think this thing's heinous because it won.
Like it does.
I know we talked about how China's car market does not just knock things off anymore.
This looks like a, like a, like a straight, like someone from Ford took every, took a
USB drive that had all of the documents about the old Bronco or the new Bronco.
It just handed it to Hyundai.
It was like, Hey, can you file the serial numbers off of this?
Just a little bit.
Um, I like also in its fake interior photos, cause it's all just renderings.
I like that it has, uh, I like that it also has like the, the everything projected on
the glass, which can we,
Yeah, I'm not a huge man of pods.
They don't work.
They've never worked.
They don't, they don't work.
Um, they're very, they're, they're more annoying than they are helpful.
Uh, they, if you're tall, especially it's difficult to get them lined up, right?
Uh, if you drive it when there's daylight, it can be tricky to see them.
They are useless during the day.
I was behind the wheel of a C seven Corvette in Texas in the middle of the day.
And the owner was like, ah, did you use the heads up display?
And I was like, what heads up display?
And he's like, how are you seeing how fast you're going?
I'm like the fucking, like the, the, the big dial in the center of the class.
Like, what are you talking about?
He's like, there's a heads up display.
And I'm like, my man, I was driving into the Texas sun in the middle of summer.
I didn't.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think it's a cute fantasy we keep having that one day these hugs will work.
Yeah.
Um, I mean, and the rest of the truck is as you, as we, you know, kind of led with, um,
sort of an off road concept that is designed to convince the MAGA set that still has the
money to buy new vehicles, which largely are just high end SUVs that they are like, you
know, real war fighters whose wives are actually still attracted to them.
Um, because that is what, you know, two thirds of the SUV market caters to at this point.
The chudification of Hyundai by the coward, the United States auto market.
Um, yeah.
The thing that was funny to me is so I was like, why does Hyundai want to get into the
body on frame market?
This is not like something they've ever really indicated a desire to do.
They've never really been an off like they've got Hyundai has got whatever the, the palisade
off road trim is, but like he has been largely the one that's gotten more of the off road
stuff with like the, the, uh, X pro X line X.
They've got some off road in house branding.
I've driven a couple of them.
I just literally don't remember, but they're all kind of like ATs and some plastic cladding
on a crossover.
They're, they're like the most soft core you could get.
It's basically like we're aiming for Subaru, not for like a real truck.
Um, do you go camping twice a year and you want to feel secure in going camping twice
a year?
Yeah, I mean, there's an article I wrote like at the very beginning of my career, which
is, oh my God, like five years ago now where I was like, everybody is buying increasingly
off road or focused trucks because they feel like society is coming apart because COVID
showed them that there is no social compact anymore.
Um, and I maintain that like every time an inch of ground clearance is added to a family
crossover, it only further vindicates that belief.
Um, but, uh, anyway, I was just like, why, you know, I looked up Bronco sales because
I was like, is this a big market?
Do you know how many of those they sold last year?
40,000?
146,000 and seven.
That includes the Bronco sport, right?
Like the little one.
I, I'm, I will double check because right now I see so many of them.
I don't think it does.
I see so many of the baby Bronco around like I joke that Austin, Texas has like, uh, you
could tell what was the new like, no, Bronco sport is a separate category.
I wanted to double check.
They sold, they sold more Broncos.
Uh, they sold more Broncos in as of like November or 2025 last year, then they sold
Bronco sports.
Was there like a huge, did they like finally like catch up with their waiting list last
year or something?
Cause I also knew for the Bronco, they, there was a huge wait for one.
There was.
The thing is, is they sold 30,000 more of them that last year than they have in any
year prior, despite the fact they are four years into this generation and they have not
had any like refreshes or anything.
They've changed like trims and stuff, but like, and I was like, okay, that's why.
I mean, they're also still trail like Jeep with those numbers.
Those do feel like gas prices will never go up.
I mean, you can get like the, you can get like the EcoBoost, which I think, I mean,
the problem is, it's a big brick.
You're driving down the freeway with like no wind, wind tunnel dynamic.
I don't like it when you call me that damn.
Oh, I just, that should be the, that should be the title is the Ford Bronco, uh, a pass
away.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
I, I, my apologies to our one German listener who did not find my, uh, Nurburgring weird
suckin' dick joke funny.
It will happen again.
It will happen again.
German said fundamentally unserious language, I'm sorry.
But also you see what we deal with here in America, like we're not a fundamentally serious
country either.
Like it's fine.
Um, but yeah, that basically like doing, doing big off-roaders that get terrible mileage
as a money printer.
Um, so I guess that's why they're like, Hey, we should get in on that money printer.
Uh, and you know, it's Hyundai.
So and it, if it does, if they ever did make a production version of it, it'd probably
be pretty good because like Hyundai does make nice, they are one of the only automakers
that is not completely fucking, you know, shooting their foot off every single day.
They make round, like they make pretty wonderful cars.
Like I don't remember the last time I was near a Hyundai Kia product and like it felt
bad.
I do.
Uh, the Genesis G 70 was not a car that knew what it wanted out of it.
That came in real thought though.
They, that, you drove like a first model year one, right?
No, I drove a post refresh and it was like, I don't think the marketers knew what to do
with it.
I don't think that the salespeople knew what to do with it.
I don't think the designers fully got an idea of what they were doing with it.
It was like positioned directly between the plushness of a Mercedes Benz or Lexus and
the sportiness of a BMW or Audi and then satisfied neither constraint.
I did get to track it though, which was cool.
Nice.
I'm a big fan.
I did find out that you couldn't turn off the traction control so they wouldn't let me
get the ass out, which made me really mad.
You understand that that's probably for the best because there's a, there's a thin line
between sliding one of those and oops, I am now digging into the soft grass on the outside
of the track and I am going to dig in and flip.
Yeah, but like I, I can be trusted with sliding.
You can be trusted.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, Hyundai showing the, my YouTube super cut of my like sliding around the skid pad
at pit race six years ago in my Supra to be like, no, I have the credentials.
Don't worry.
I could do it.
I, I'm, you see Chris Harris videos.
I'm not like that, but, uh, I, uh, Hyundai is in such an interesting place because I
think before the, I think before the Chinese EV, uh, sent to supremacy over the market
at large.
I really felt like Hyundai Kia was like going to be the next like dominant force in the industry
because like their performance cars are good.
Uh, the inline stuff really good.
Their EVs quite good.
Yeah.
The EV six is my personal favorite thing that I've driven.
They're designed like the lucid air, but that's like not a real car you could buy.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Uh, did you see they got a dude speaking of lucid?
I didn't want to throw it in here.
They got a new round of money and a new CEO, I think again.
Really?
Yeah.
We're going to keep fun.
You know, we cancel the line.
We're about to pull the plug on LV golf.
The Saudis do still somehow want to keep funding lucid.
So yeah.
You know, I mean, how many journalists can you put that for?
Jesus.
Oh my God, but like a hundred really seems to have it together.
I, I'm waiting to see how this weekend's race goes.
Listeners for full disclosure, we're recording on Thursdays now instead of our usual Sundays.
So we might be trailing, we might be trailing a couple of days on certain things that happen
over weekends, but, um, uh, do you know Genesis is joining the World Endurance Championship
this year?
No.
And do you know what they're competing with?
It's a, it's a prototype, but do you, it is a twin turbo V8.
And you know where that twin turbo V8 comes from?
Cause it's not anywhere in their lineup.
I was going to say it now.
They mated two of their rally Hyundai four cylinder turbos.
They mated them to make a Hyundai's cooking.
It sounds like a crazy rally car.
It's pretty fucking cool.
Yeah.
I'm cautiously optimistic to see how it's a debut weekend goes.
But like, you know, we'll, we'll see, uh, we'll see their, I'm not, I'm never going
to bet against them doing anything.
And like, I'm sure if they build this thing, one, it'll be good too.
They might take it to Dakar or something crazy too.
Like, you know, like, they'll do something fun with it.
If we have that still.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, look, Dakar has been through way worse than the current moment, so I think we'll
be fine.
That's true.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I can't join you on liking the interior though, but, uh, I once.
It's fine.
I, I just, that was my one thing that I was like, I'm actually optimistic about this is
cool.
Give me the, give me big dials.
The more, okay, my favorite interior of any car I've ever driven in my entire life by
like a large margin was, uh, there's a really cool guy who let me drive his Delta Integrale
EVO one, um, which is just dial heaven.
It's just, it's just bright yellow lettered dials in every direction throughout the cabin.
It's very, it's very aircraft inspired.
Uh, the watch I wear all the time is aircraft inspired.
It turns out that like, that's a good way to present information.
And because like airplanes need to be, you know, quickly understandable at a glance and
you don't want to be like looking around for like the buttons you need at when you're,
you got two engines out or whatever, you know, like they're designed that way for a reason.
And like, I think legibility and, you know, quick access is great.
And so anytime even the slightest hint of aviation inspired design gets me frothing.
I mean, I was not immune to the toggle switches all over my mini.
Yeah.
I think that's where I just, I just want toggles for things.
I just want to flip a thing up and down.
Uh, I don't need like dials.
If I do get a car again, I'm totally like going to put in a kill switch or something
that is a cool, nice feeling machine toggle.
Uh, assuming I can still get those.
I mean, there are machine, you'll get one.
It'll be fine.
Don't work like actually don't worry about it, kid.
No, I mean, what if, what if everything's replaced by a touch screen?
So I've got a, I've got a hidden iPad before I could start up my car name silenced for
surprise.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
I, uh, uh, I, I'm feeling the urge to buy something.
I know I, I talked about them being not a true busting and also Ford being a weird company.
Do you know what's getting startlingly cheap?
Machies?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
Uh-huh.
That's a lot of car popped up on my block, uh, that people have them like are running
extension cords out of their apartment buildings into the street parking spots, which is how
I know they're cheap.
Because when you see people do that, that's like, Oh, sort by cheapest made within the
past three years, uh, because nobody wants to do that.
Used EVs are listeners.
If you have any amount of disposable income and you were panicking about how expensive
gases used EVs are probably going to start going up.
If this thing keeps happening, this, this quagmire, uh, uh, used EVs are the, are the
ticket.
Um, I, I hear the Machi is actually quite decent.
I have never driven one.
I'm really sad because I, uh, the only press event I ever missed out on that I really wanted
to go to was they had the rally launch, the Machi rally at dirt fish, which is like 40
miles from where I live in Seattle.
And I was like, you didn't even have to pay for a plane fare.
I would have, you didn't have to give me dinner or anything.
I would have just come and hung out.
Um, uh, I just want to do dirt fish really badly.
Uh, the girls do dirt fish 20, 27.
Shit.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
Sorry.
I just imagined you and I trying to rally drive, co-drive together.
It would probably go great or, uh, a nice, who would co-drive is the real question.
Which one of us gets less motion sick when we're not driving?
I don't really get motion sick, but I also, I like driving.
Yeah, I do too.
We could, we can, we can, we can tag out on stages, um, it's fine, uh, no, I mean, what's
like, I mean, like I, I do well with automotive peril, uh, I just do poorly with like existential
stress about like paperwork and, you know, planning and that's so fair.
For me, it's, I don't like being a passenger in a car on like the highway, but that's,
that's, but then also, uh, whenever there was a press event where they were like, do
you want to sit side seat around Coda with like a race driver?
I'd go like, yeah, sure.
And then I'd let her, I, I would just be like, Hey, I'm a really good driver.
I'm a really good passenger.
You could do whatever.
And, uh, I forget which one of the Mercedes factory GT drivers was just like, I've always
wanted to drift through this.
No one has ever let me drift all of Coda.
Will you let me drift all of Coda with you in the passenger seat?
And I'm like, yeah, sure, man.
And he goes, if they ask if I did this, no, I didn't.
And then he just, I just watched him do like the full traction control off and everything.
And I was just like, yeah, man.
Yeah, man.
Yeah.
I, uh, I got to ride side seat, uh, in the Honda Ridgeline Baja truck, uh, as they just
kind of like invented a course through the middle of the Salton Sea, more or less, the
desert right outside it.
Uh, and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.
I tried to write a story about it, but I couldn't find where to land it.
That was the beginning of the, uh, the current present today moment that was towards the
end of my like last batch of freelancing, but it was cool as hell.
Uh, it's really cool that every website has a freelance budget of $5.
I know.
Uh, I know.
We just did the Tran Girlies Mo magazine next.
I, look, I know we were joking about this over text the other day.
I don't know how much I, I wasn't joking about it the other day over text.
I, I, the Chicago easel girlies have inspired me to go.
Actually, I think we could print something once or twice a year.
Yeah.
Listeners, let us know.
I mean, yeah, if you'd buy the physical, uh, Tran Girlies Mo book, uh, twice a year or whatever.
Um, yeah.
Do you, anyway, I know what you should get for your next car.
If, uh, you know my opinions about this particular bow tie brand.
Do you not?
I, I don't think I do.
I just, I'm so stunned by it that I feel like this is the best thing I've ever done.
This is, this could, this could be good, you know.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Do you want to go into it?
And then I'll, I'll go into why personal feelings about, uh, yeah, this particular pony.
So automotive news, uh, cited an anonymous source at a major GM supplier that the Chevy Camaro
is going to be real again.
They're going to make a seventh generation one.
And they're not doing like, they had talked a couple of years ago about doing an EV SUV,
uh, crossover like the Mach E that was bearing the name Camaro and sort of wearing the skin
of the former Camaro nameplate, uh, like the sun, automotive version of the sun and psycho.
They're doing the actual Camaro, like a sport coupe built on a, what they're guessing is going
to be a modified version of the alpha platform.
So like a second alpha, which is what it was on before.
So the CT four black V black wing was on to the CT five V black wing is on.
It's like a bonafide actual good platform.
Going back, wasn't the alpha pro platform also like before they went to the CT branding?
Wasn't it also just the ATS and CTS platform?
That's such a good question.
Because the CT five and the CT four are just the ATS and the CTS again, right?
Uh, it's sort of, um, yes.
The alpha platform was the CTS and, um, ATS.
You're correct.
I very briefly drove an ATS V many years ago.
Oh, and the alpha two is the CT four and there we go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The, the original alpha program platform fucking rocked.
That was such a beautifully handling platform.
Apparently the alpha two is great.
I have literally never heard anyone say a negative word about the CT four and five.
The black wing, whatever, whatever.
Other than if you blow your nothing but praise, if you blow your black wing motor,
good fucking luck getting a replacement.
That is the only thing I hear the CT six.
It is, but they are also when the CT five and CT four going away,
apparently discontinuing the black wing engine entirely.
Oh, yeah.
Well, yeah.
That's always been, that's just a GM high performance weird niche product thing.
But they're going to, so they're bringing back the Camaro apparently along with
another, a new Cadillac sedan and a Buick sedan.
I, I mean, this also lines up with the fact that Ford is trying.
I think there are a bunch of people who were once a decade of sedan buyers who bought in the
early 2010s and maybe they extended a little bit and that are coming to the market and realizing
they can't buy a fucking sedan and they're just not buying a car because of it.
Cause Ford's talking about, or they're, they're moving to Genesis or BMW or Audi.
Yeah, they're, they're going like, Oh, I used to buy a Ford fusion or whatever.
And now I guess I'm buying like the base three series because that's the closest sedan I can
buy because we fucked this market real royal.
Yeah, I don't know.
But it's, it's just crazy to me that like Buick getting a sedan.
Well, cause the last Buick product that I was ever enticed by was their wagon.
Yeah, that was the Opel.
That wasn't actually an Opel.
Buick Regal Turex.
The last one, I almost bought a Regal GS when I was at my first job because they were like
300 horsepower sleepers with massive Brembo brake packages and like they were, they were,
I'm a sicko for a good sleeper car.
But it's wild to me because like Buick, I, I, if you asked, if you held a gun to my head and
you were like, who is this for, I would be like, I don't, I don't know.
The other thing that's confusing too.
So I looked this up because I was like, maybe I, again, as with last week with
Infinity, perhaps I am just not familiar.
Maybe I don't know my, my current day automotive sales figures.
But GM sold 5,616 CT4s last year and 16,561 CT5s in the US.
In comparison, they sold 24,702 XT5s, which is just like the most generic, unremarkable
Cadillac midsize crossover that they make.
They're, you know, they sold, I don't know, 15,000 XT4s, which is objectively like rancid vehicle.
I've driven one and it was just like, I can't believe a car can be this bad in the year of
Lord. I guess that was 2023 or four.
Everyone keeps going bad cars don't exist anymore, which means that even when something
is bad now, it's like, oh my God, this is so bad.
Yeah, yeah.
But it's just like, that's not really that many cars.
They sold 31,028 Camaros in the last full year production, which is 2023.
So that's kind of a lot.
But it's just like, I don't know, I don't know.
I don't really understand what GM is doing.
And I think the thing is, is like, this is sort of my theory of mind for general motors,
as sort of an institution.
There is two thirds of the company that is, it's like, sort of a many-headed hydra of
accountants and designers who crank out vehicles that generally are quite bad.
This is where you get things like the Blazer EV or the Hummer EV
or the X-T4 or like Chevy Trax or the Malibu Mass.
Take your pick.
This is a bean counter led sort of initiative.
It's where most of the companies like volume comes from.
But then the other third of the company is just like Sickos.
And I mean that in the most complementary way.
They make cars for us specifically, like the two of us.
I feel like this.
I drove the Colorado ZR2, which is, I think, my favorite pickup truck that's ever existed.
It's the coolest, it's like 300 horsepower from a Turbo 4.
But it has objectively insane suspension.
I did like full right ups on this because I was obsessed with it.
But it's the spool valve stuff.
It's from this, it's multi-matic.
It's from the same brand that makes stuff for the Aston Martin Vulcan and the Ford GT.
And also they happen to put them on these $50,000 mass produced Colorado mid-sized trucks.
Genuinely an absurdly good vehicle.
It's like the C8 Corvette.
Also apparently a fantastic, like would you like to own a Ferrari for a tenth of the price?
They bought 10, 4, 5, 8s.
They took them apart to the nut and washer and went,
how do we build this and throw a bow tie on it and like for $70,000.
And again, say what you will about Corvette owners and also just like anyone buying that.
That is a world-beating supercar for less than $100,000 and we'll get to it later.
You can't get into a Carrera anymore for like less than 90.
So, you know, it's, it is, it is very much like what the GTR tried to be in like 2006
is what the Corvette has consistently been since about 1963.
And that's cool.
Again, I, again, I love a deal.
You're, you're coming to me with the deal zone supercar.
I'm all about it.
And yet you don't like our president.
Curious Victoria.
But like, so the question for me with this new Camaro because like the most pertinent one
here is apparently the final Camaro, especially like the ZL1, they just got everything right.
Apparently it was like pure bliss to drive.
This is what I've heard.
And you see you making a face.
You're making a face like a cat who just like licked something bad.
Yeah, I'm pulling the, the beep, beep just tried to lick the white cheddar popcorn bag.
I have open even though she tries it every single time and realizes she no like the
white cheddar popcorn.
She will make kitty stank face at it.
I actually have no problem with how any of these Camaros have ever driven.
It is purely, I think being inside them is a hateful experience.
Yeah, that's I don't have huge hands.
So I, I, I am the person doing the fucking Lego person hand grip to try to drive the Camaro.
And also you want to talk about the 2,500 being the thing with blind spot.
You cannot see behind you in a Camaro.
You just can't like maybe someone can, those, those little C pillar windows or a B pillar
windows, nothing you could just black about.
You could like you could put blinders on in like anything else.
And I think it would have as much visibility as a Camaro.
But also the, the, like the 2015 Z 28.
What a fucking car.
I wish it was nice to be inside because, oh my God.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
Well, they build such cool things.
Yeah.
And that's kind of, you know, the, the scuttle butt is that this is probably going to get the
new LS6, which is the 409 cubic inch motor developed for the Corvette, which in the specs
they have shown so far makes 535 horsepower, which I know a rag about American car companies
not getting in with the EV thing, but I will say 535 horsepower from a naturally aspirated
V8 kicks ass.
That's awesome.
I'm sorry.
The, the spirit of America has taken over my body.
That's fantastic.
That's also like 60 more horsepower.
I think 50 more horsepower than the current Mustang GT.
So welcome back pony car.
I would love it because it does feel like.
Oh my God.
It is the sixties.
It does feel, it does feel like dodge has dodge shot themselves in an alley at the charger
and the challenger are no longer real cars that need to be thought of in the pony car
muscle car segment at all.
Um, but like, holy shit.
It is the sixties.
We got like a historically unpopular president.
We're in a war that nobody wants and has no popular support.
We have massive like civil rights like problems that are not being addressed by Congress.
We do.
We're doing like whitey on the moon.
She had again with Artemis too.
Damn.
Now we got pony car wars.
What's next?
Don't actually like thinking about Richard Nixon.
Richard, by God, that's that's Dick Nixon's music.
Genuinely, genuinely, genuinely.
We would be in a much better place as a country if we had Richard Nixon's alive head in a jar
future of a style as our forever president.
I think we just be doing better.
I think we just be doing better because you know the thing about Nixon.
For every time he was drunk and wrong.
And racist and homophobic and anti-Semitic and we know, we know, we know, we know.
We almost got universal health care because of Richard Nixon being
like slighted by a health insurance executive.
Like we could, we could piss him off in the right ways to get what we want.
I think like using Richard Nixon's oppositional defiance disorder to get ourselves to a functional
society.
We all know those people in our life where we have to use their ODD for our own benefit.
You've.
Yeah, that's how I survived my 20s.
Yeah, it's how I survive most weekdays is I've got to just Tai Chi people.
I've got to fucking like throw their own, use their own weight against them
and get through my day unabated.
I would love the Camaro back because it does feel like the Mustang is like
it doesn't.
I don't think anyone gives a shit about the current Mustang.
Like I see them around.
I heard the dark horse is good, but like no, it doesn't.
And I heard the dark horse was bad.
Yeah.
Then I guess it's a divisive polarizing figure.
I hear the GTD is very good, but also that's a GT3.
It's a $400,000 Mustang.
That's a GT3 car with plates.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And it also still has a $40,000 EcoBoost interior in it.
That's the that's the real thing where Jim, Jim.
Hey, Jim, long time Ford fan here.
Hey, buddy.
One, you got to shut up, man.
Anytime someone asks you about the Chinese EVs, you flip flop 14 times now.
You just got to shut up, dog.
Two, please stop going to the Oval Office, Jim.
We're speaking to Jim.
Who obviously listens to our podcast.
You know, the CEO of Ford Jimbo is like, oh, damn.
New Trangur Lismo just dropped.
Jimbo, what automaker CEO is the most likely to listen to this?
It's whoever runs Morgan.
It's whoever runs Morgan right now.
That's true, actually.
I, oh, God.
I anyway, yeah, he should.
Sorry.
Put Jim, put a better interior in.
I don't care if you sell a half million dollar Mustang.
You cannot sell it with the same interior as the base one.
You understand that, right?
You understand that, like, there's a thing called materials.
Piano black.
Don't cut it at $500,000 with options.
Sorry.
I was just, I got it.
I was thinking about Morgan for too long, and then I was just thinking about
fucking, oh, God, what's, oh, she's so cool.
I feel so bad that I'm blanking on her name in the moment.
Cora, yeah.
My brain was trying to say Cara, and I'm like,
that's a different California woman who's cool.
Cora's Morgan.
Oh my God.
I'll have to post a link to her Instagram so we can share it.
It's cool as hell.
It is.
I have a 72 hour timer from the minute my wheels touched down
in Los Angeles before I go fully insane because the pace and just general character,
character of, like, the city just is basically incompatible with my personality.
But I want to go back just to go, like, see it.
It's, it's like, it's that cool.
It is the, uh, I, T-Girls, a lot of us have very cool automobiles.
A lot of us have no automobiles.
She has the best car for, and also she's had a couple of the best T-Girl cars,
especially in the before times.
So I just, we're all aspiring for that level of put together and cool.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just, that's a bad render of a pro Sangue with a Camaro front bumper, huh?
Oh, the, the link, uh, on, yeah, I forgot.
I was, I forgot.
I had that tab open for the, how many years ago was this?
Well, that was last year.
This is the original, this is the original, like, uh, you know,
sort of we're going to make the, uh, Camaro SUV, Mach-E, um, discussion.
And that's just a rendering that.
Yeah.
I mean, I could, I will link it.
And that's actually, that's a Photoshop.
That's not an, uh, hey, if you are part of editorial at a car magazine or a website
or whatever and I see you AI generating a car render, I want you to perish.
Don't stop, stop it.
Open Photoshop, like a fucking adult.
You don't even have to pay for it.
Just pirate it, like an adult.
Um, I don't know.
I feel like the Camaro could come back.
I, I feel like Chevy's been doing great stuff with the Corvette, like also I just kind of miss.
I feel like GM performance is innovating, but the ways that they have been innovating
lately are just make number bigger.
I mean, make number bigger naturally aspirated is still cool.
That is still cool because that's like, there is like
beautiful efficiency engineering happening there.
That is actually like, because it's going to make,
it's making that more power with less fuel, et cetera, et cetera.
I'm also just really excited for a Chevy Camaro to run like a 5.59 around the Nürburgring.
Sure, yeah, yeah.
And upset every single, every single German auto manufacturer in the world that, again, you know,
I only get jingoistic when we embarrass German car companies.
That's really for sure.
Like that's why that, sure, the Ford GT has been out of production for what,
five years now as a road car.
Yeah, and it was still awesome.
Yeah, well, they've been selling that weird track only version that I swear they didn't
even really announce to the press.
That's how like four rich fucks it was where it's just like,
we actually don't even do it to put out a press release because they're already sold.
They're already all gone.
That thing doing the Nürburgring time was beautiful.
Yeah, that, I also, I mean, this is the same reason why I thought it was cool as hell.
They took a cup car to Le Mans a few years back and Jimmy Johnson was,
you know, barreling down on 488 speciales with, you know, his big ass Chevy Camaro
stock car with an extra wing on it.
That was, that's just cool.
I mean, I do remember America is a deeply cursed place,
but we do occasionally make really cool V8 powered vehicles.
Even if my personal percovities lead in French.
Yeah, I've heard that about you.
I just, uh, I'm thinking back to the Z28 and I was just like the level of innovation of the,
hey, it still has a bow tie, but it's just completely hollow for air cooling reasons.
And we called it the Chevy flow tie.
Like I like that.
They were just doing things and coming up with clever ways to market it.
And I'm just like, I want that.
I want that level of pony wore back.
You know what I'm really hoping for is like if we get a Buick sedan and we're also getting a 535
horsepower Corvette motor V8, what I'm hoping is that we achieve some sort of synthesis and get
roadmaster wagon to a vehicle, which will be sold directly to only me.
But like would be awesome because I do love the roadmaster wagon.
I mean, I just think that like that sort of peak 90s GM for me.
And putting a, putting a Corvette motor into a Buick wagon is the coolest thing you could do.
It's just, it's actually fast.
Pretty cool.
This isn't even an opinion of the show.
But anyway, speaking of German automakers and making fun of them, I believe you have one for me.
Yeah, I just, there were two bits of Porsche 911 news.
This, a second bit of 911 news is hit the podcast.
Porsche, Porsche is very good at ringing blood from stones.
They always have been.
That's how they survived in the pre Cayenne era.
And now that the Cayenne and the McCann have both eaten shit and died in China,
they're really trying to get.
They're once again trying to reach new heights in their technological prowess at
ringing money out of Rolex collectors who street park in Los Angeles.
So there's a new 911.
Did you hear about it, Victoria?
No, they have made I purposely avoid this information because it could harm.
Yeah. Well, I was stoned at three in the morning the other day because I,
I can't sleep normal hours.
So I watched a Chris Harris video about this one.
They, for the first time ever, if you don't count the last gen speedster,
they're doing a GT three convertible.
Yay. Uh-huh.
That it is a, aren't those diametrically opposed ethos?
You would think.
Yeah.
Why would you?
Like what?
For the 2027 model year, the Porsche 911 GT three SC,
which that's a kick in the teeth to the sport classic community,
is a stick shift convertible that will rev to 9,000 because it is basically a GT three touring,
which was the serial numbers filed off version of the 911 are from however many years ago.
Yeah. Yeah.
You know, the, I remember that car, the GT three, which is all about, you know,
cornering speed, structural rigidity, et cetera, et cetera.
Yeah. Anyways, they just put that, they just put that drive line in a cabrio.
It's fine. It's just a cabrio body.
It is a, that just seems silly.
Yeah. Doesn't it?
It, they are replacing some of the body panels with,
you know, carbon fiber fenders, other door panels.
This still seems, this isn't making it seem less.
Yeah. It's basically, it really feels like as Porsche sales are drying up
and their model range for the future seems
perilous.
Because, you know, I, Audi is apparently committed to making that TT thing.
That was supposed to be the EV TT, EV TT.
That one's going to be a weird thing.
I just keep muttering to myself, EV TT.
They are going to, they, they're making that, I guess,
regardless of the seven, one eight EV range comes out.
Which may or may not be dead.
They still won't defer.
It's Schrodinger's like Porsche models.
Like we all know they should be out.
Like we should have seen it at this point in the year already,
if it was making next year.
But like, wha, wha, wha.
The GTA 6 of Porsche models.
Yeah, kind of.
But, yeah, so they are basically going through the parts bin to try to ring more money out of
the people who fucking American Psycho style compare their 9-11 GT3 build sheets,
and then, I don't know, put all of their GT3 keys in a bowl.
I don't know, are Porsche owners even cool enough to still be swingers anymore?
It depends on the Porsche owner.
Yeah, but like as a new GT3 owner, gonna, gonna approach you at a bar
to fuck his wife.
Oh, I mean.
I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know.
I, I generally tend to avoid 9-11 GT3 owners.
I went, I accidentally, so I went with an auto journalist friend of mine,
and friend of the, well, former auto journalist, Winter Taschlin.
Uh, we went to the LeMay Museum in downtown Tacoma together,
and we accidentally arrived during the first Porsche club of the Pacific Northwest Meetup
of the Year.
And it was just like the Kill Bill Klaxon just kept going off in my ears every time I walked.
Like, I went to the edges and I was like, ooh, nice 9-14, that's cool.
Or like, there were a couple of the like, first-gen water-cooled GT3s, and I was like,
that's cool.
Uh-huh.
Or not GT3s, whatever, the turbo.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't know.
It was the car that was in Everspeed Half-Pursuit 2, since I drove it when I was 10.
That was awesome.
Everything else, I was just like, these are a bunch of like, Skittles colored cars with
four digits on the auto.
And everybody I talked to there, which was not many people, but it was exclusively male,
and it was exclusively people who wanted to tell me about how special their car was.
I was like, oh yeah, I remember even the guy that I was talking to about like the water-cooled
Porsche, I was like, this is so cool to me because I played a video game like this as a
kid, and I remember, and it was like, yeah, let me tell you all about my personal history
with this vehicle.
Whatever you're saying, you don't own a Porsche, so it doesn't sound like it matters.
So I tried to avoid it.
If you own a 911 and you're cool, I apologize.
I know some 911 owners, I have friends with some of them, but...
We approve of your lifestyle, we just don't understand.
When I was a 944 owner, let me tell you, I was not a real Porsche owner in the eyes of many
PCA members, including when I'm like, I'm paying dues to you, you assholes.
Like, I don't know.
But yeah, we are in the 992.2 generation, which is where we would think to maybe be seeing
like some of those last, like little last gas special models as we get ready to move on to the
99... can't call it the 993.
Huh.
Why not?
Well, because there's already been a 993.
I don't understand how Porsche model codes work, and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.
I don't think they truly get it, because it used to be, it used to make somewhat sense.
And then we went to the 991, and then we were like, oh, okay, that makes sense.
992, sure.
And then immediately we were all like, oh, the 993 was from 20 years ago, 30 years ago?
30 years ago, yeah.
We'll figure it out.
And by wheel, I mean, I guess a bunch of German men in a boardroom will figure it out,
which that's sure to be a delight.
But I guess we're just not doing a speedster this generation, or they seem to be saying
that we're not doing a true speedster, and they just decided to use this cabrio as like,
ah, it's the best of both worlds.
You don't have to fiddle with the speedster top.
You just get to like, push a button, and your top goes down, to which I say,
we didn't want to spend the money to develop a new speedster, and this was far cheaper,
and we can sell it for...
Do you want to know what this car starts at, Victoria?
Uh, sure, I don't, I couldn't guess, because I don't even know.
A quarter of a million dollars.
Wow!
For a 911!
For a 911.
That's... okay, so the thing about 911s, right, that's crazy to me, is that like, when I was
younger, and this is kind of the mental image of Porsche that I have retained, a 911 was a car
you bought if you did quite well for yourself, but it was still not the same kind of category
of vehicle as a, like, Ferrari, or even like a Lamborghini.
Yeah!
The 911 was kind of, the 911 was the German answer to the Corvette, in that it was kind of like,
hey, would you like to kick those guys' asses for like a more reasonable amount of money,
and a really nicely engineered car that actually won't break down or catch fire?
And so the fact now that like, 911s cost anywhere from, I don't know, what did they start at,
like $100,000?
I have all of the 911 models pulled up right now for this express purpose.
Do you know what a base Carrera starts at now?
No.
$135,000.
Holy shit, are you serious?
I was, I also, I could have sworn you could still get into a base Carrera for less than $100,000,
but not only am I wrong, I'm wrong by like a Nissan Versa.
That's like two C8 Corvettes.
It's almost two C, and it's not two C8 Corvettes worth of car.
I don't think, like they're still quite special.
I don't know.
But like, I never, they're normal.
I mean, that's, this is the thing, right?
Is it like, when you're, when your price range and your model range is like,
we're going to flood the market with these and we're going to make as many as we can,
and they range from $140,000, I guess, to, you know, a million or whatever.
I don't know what the top end is.
They just kind of all blend together and they become cumulatively less special to me.
And that's what I don't get.
Is that like, in the same way, like I'm not a big watch fan, you know,
like I, I know basically two kinds of watches that rich people have.
Omega Speedmasters, which are cool as shit.
I would actually, that would be, that would be my like, oh, I did well in life.
I'm going to get an Omega Speedmaster because it's the moon watch.
And then every variant of Rolex, which at my understanding of like Rolex culture,
is you buy a Rolex so you can buy more Rolexes.
And then you can impress other Rolex guys with how cool your Rolex is.
And that's what my 11s feel like.
You're not buying it as like a statement to the broader world.
It is so you can like stunt at the PCA meeting at in front of the Peterson Museum.
Yeah, it's um, or not Peterson.
Well, they probably do one of the Peterson too, but the limit.
And it does feel like they are still, especially on the GT end of things,
really leaning on like motorsports heritage and everything.
But a big component of Porsche's story up until like,
when the GT three became the car of tech bros who did very well, who want to track drive,
like Porsche was kind of the underdog.
Porsche was kind of the plucky Germans who did things a little bit differently.
And now it's like, oh, no, no, no, actually they're just as annoying as Ferrari.
And like you're fighting for out, if not more so at this point,
you used to be able to just go to Porsche and order whatever car you want.
And now it's like, it's just the Ferrari game where you've got to like,
buy a used, a used by two cars first to get the one you actually want.
And it's just, gotcha as a model for exotic car sales needs to die.
It also just goes to show how little money actually matters,
past a certain point, because it's like,
like, oh, what does a 911 turbo start at right now?
A 911 turbo starts at $270,000.
Oh my God.
Are you serious?
Starts at.
Well, shit, that makes the GT3's cabrio sound like a steal.
But that's the crazy part.
We're not if the numbers for this make sense, because they all assume that you're going to spend
three, three digits, I'm sorry, six digits on options.
Like, oh yeah, that's true.
Well, you got to get the paint to sample, because like what are you going to do?
Show up to the PCA meeting like an asshole with a standard.
Guards red, you beat one of the most classic standard colors of all time.
Yeah, I guess that's for poor dipshits who can't afford a PTS.
I used to think a GT3 was so cool.
And now they're just, they're just,
like, look, would I turn down a GT3 touring?
No, because I want three pedals, rear engine, flat six.
Like, duh, I'm not, I'm not immune to wanting that.
It's just at this point, I have gone from, wow, if I do really well, I can afford a 911
that I want to.
Who do I know has to die for me to receive enough money to rent one on Tura?
Like, I don't know.
I'm never like, yeah, I was going to say, my family's like basically all dead.
There's no way I'm already out of contention.
I can't even, and the thing is, is like, I would be the kind of like,
in a different generation, in a different life, I would be the kind of person that you would target
with the Boxster and the Cayman.
Because again, next to the GTR on my bedroom wall, I had a poster of the Boxster,
like driving on some winding Alpine road.
And I was like, this is cool.
This is like, it was an accessible sort of dream car.
And everything I hear about the 718 was that it was amazing.
It was.
And now it's gone.
And you can't get that anymore.
And there's never, maybe we'll never be one again.
Who knows?
It's unclear.
Like, and it's just like, it, you know, again, I'm going to refer to the article I referred to
last week that Matt Ferrer wrote about how there is nothing for normal people anymore.
If you would like to aspire to things, like our whole, this is, I guess,
kind of the crux of what drives me batshit insane all the time as like specifically an American.
Is it like I was raised by people who I would describe as having a Protestant work ethic.
And the, that meshes very well with sort of the American conception of how your life should go.
You work your ass off.
You, you give up all of the things that would come to you in any advanced normal society.
Like, you know, you deal with the, the Faustian bargain of healthcare being tied to your job.
And you give up your free weekends and you work 60 hours a week.
And you, you know, you work your way up to a point where it's like, okay, well, sure.
There's a lot of stuff you have to give up in life to succeed in America.
But then eventually you get to your two and a half kids and you're, you know,
pick a fence house and you buy yourself a Porsche or Cadillac or, you know,
insert luxurious car you've dreamt about since you were a kid.
I mean, my God, that was 9-Eleven's entire advertising strategy.
They had that ad in the 90s that was like, because nobody ever like had a Mitsubishi on their
bedroom wall with the 9-Eleven turbo.
Like it was entirely an aspirational thing.
And like obviously that has always been kind of a myth, but enough people got through to the next
level that the myth continued to propagate because there were just enough people who were like
upwardly mobile that the entire promise of America still kind of looked like it wasn't a complete lie.
And we've just given up on that.
That's like, not only are we, are we like, no, class mobility isn't real.
You're fucked.
You're born poor.
You're going to die that way.
But also the lies that they sold you aren't even, they're not even trying.
It's so frustrating.
And the 9-Eleven is a perfect example to me.
But go on with how many of the 6 costs.
Yeah, I have a little game for you in a second.
But I just want to finish this off with like, my wife and I are doing better than we ever have,
which is crazy because, you know, with the way the economy is, like,
it's really weird for two trans women to be doing this well.
And granted, my personal bit of that, shaky as fuck right now.
But like, my wife.
No, in the interest of journalistic integrity, we've got both ends of the K-shaped recovery.
Yeah, which is why it's just like, you know, I take far less of the Patreon money than Victoria does.
Because, well, I just want to fully disclose that they don't think they're giving money to
someone who does not need it.
Our buddy is making sure Victoria goes to rent, and then I spend that money on either like,
stuff for my art or whatever.
And also, I might be losing my day at some point, which, well, that's, that's it.
Yeah, then we'll, we'll, we'll.
Then I need to, there's, there's an amount of money that I would like to replace for my household,
so I could keep paying my share of the mortgage.
But like, yes, we're doing better than most of our friends.
And even then, I look at where my parents were at their, like this point in their lives, and it's just,
no, it's still just not as good.
Like, it's, but even then, it's like, oh, what would be a really nice car for us?
We're looking at used BRZs.
Like, we're not, we're not even knocking on like, used 9-11s or whatever, even though, I guess.
Oh my God, no.
No, yeah, like, I just, a 9-11 should not be that much.
And I guess they've just been able to get away with it because so many people do have this much money.
And like, yeah, that's like the, this is ultimately kind of like, what all of the modern day economic
discourse comes down to, which is that like, we have, if you are a member of the 9-11 class,
if you, if you know what allocations your dealer has, you are doing so well.
And if you are not, then like, you're probably doing pretty badly.
And that's kind of like, and, and, and it turns out that the, the line for that is
drawn differently depending on who you ask.
The lies, lies, damn lies and statistics.
Like, I, yeah.
The fact that a turbo is 270K is right.
That is a full $100,000 more than I thought a turbo started at.
And I, I still have the affection for the high end part of the market because I can't help myself.
But there's one more piece of 9-11 news that kind of ties into,
we're the 718, 718 and we're those good cars.
Do you know what Porsche is having to test out and try to homologate right now
for their racing efforts?
Why not?
They don't have a platform to go GT4 racing anymore because that's what the Cayman GT4 was for.
Yes, also an amazing car.
So do you know what you popped up with the Nurburgring a little bit ago?
A 9-11 that is being homologated down to GT4 spent by, by Porsche's factory racing partner Manty.
They're, they're building it.
Yes, you, wow, you went to the shapes place.
Look at you.
Yeah, um, the, the fucking, like,
they had two generations of GT4 Cayman that were so successful at racing.
What was their plan for going electric with the 7?
Were they going to do an electric GT4?
That wasn't going to work.
Not with like current racing exercises.
Well, they were going to do a gas version too.
Sure, yeah, yeah.
But I guess now that that's like.
But that's, that's also in limbo, I think, because it was supposed to be like kind of the
charger EV situation where it had a gas motor and an electric drive.
It's unclear from what I can tell.
And I don't think they like talking about it very much because it's kind of embarrassing.
And that's like.
We've had seven years to work on this.
Oops, it's, we still don't even have a car to show you.
That's, I guess, where I'm at where it's like Porsche feels embarrassed even.
They had the boss of GT of the GT division at WISAC just sitting down with like Chris Harris
and Henry Catchpool and all the British auto journalists who still get invited to things.
And they were just top.
Like it felt the, the SC launch felt more defensive than I've ever heard of them.
And that's just I that plus having to like, ah, yes, we have this.
No, the 9 11 is for GT rate GT3 racing and our top class GT4.
Do you want a GT4?
Hey, customer racing fans, you need a GT4, buddy.
We'll make you a GT4.
Like it's just so embarrassing.
Well, the car is still quite good.
And speaking of quite good, Victoria, I've got a little game for you.
The 9 11 is known for having, you know, there's, there's one for everyone.
And by there's one for everyone.
I mean, there's one for every millionaire out there.
Yes.
Victoria, how many variants of the 992.2 are there right now?
Oh my God.
Well, are we, I will, I will.
We've got this new SC.
We've got the GT3.
We have the whatever the GT3 touring is.
The turbo regular.
So I guess that's a Carrera.
Carrera 4.
Carrera 4.
Cutting it separately.
Are we counting the regular Cabrio Carrera?
I am just doing based on pure how many models they are selling.
There's one that I won't count because it's a special edition that is already completely gone.
You've hit seven of them and you're a third of the way there.
Yeah, I'm just going to, I don't want to just let you die here.
Okay.
There is the Carrera.
Oh, where do you get another 14 of these?
There's the base Carrera.
There is the Carrera T.
There's the Carrera S.
Oh, shit.
There's the Carrera 4S.
There's the Carrera GTS.
There's the Carrera 4 GTS.
What's the Carrera GTS?
The GTS has like, the GTS is above the, it's above the S, but it's still not a full turbo.
You know what I mean?
Even though they are all turbo charged, it's stupid.
Everything's stupid.
We got the Cabrio.
We got the T Cabrio.
We got the S Cabrio.
We got the 4S Cabrio.
We got the GTS Cabrio.
We got the GTS Cabrio 4.
You got the 4 Targa.
You got the 4S Targa.
Will they only sell you a Targa and all-wheel drive at this point?
That seems silly.
Then you've got the 911 GT3.
You've got the GT3 with dooring package.
You got the Turbo S because there's no base turbo right now on the website.
Then you've got the Turbo S Cab and then you've got the SC.
That, there's also, they're selling something called the Spirit 70 right now,
which looks to just be a GTS Cabrio with some ugly gold wheels.
They're also selling an FA Porsche GT3 Touring, which I do believe is a tribute to Ferdinand,
which is a man whose Wikipedia page is like the Wehrmacht, completely clean, I guess.
But yeah, I just,
oh my god.
Yeah, that's just the models.
Don't ask me which ones have the turbo engine.
Don't ask me which ones are hybrid at this point,
because that's what they've also started to make hybrid 911s.
I don't, this is insane.
This is, this is-
This has always been the insane-
This is Funko Pops for rich people.
This is, this is, this is, we've added more variants so you can collect them all.
It's, yeah, and it's like, all right, how many of,
how many of the base ones do you need to get the privilege of spending money on a GT1?
Like, I just, I, yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna lie to you after this little
explainer, I think my hatred for Porsche has deepened.
I think mine has to, and I still deeply dream of being a,
I would love a 4S at some point.
Probably not a new one, but like, it's-
The thing is, if like, 930s were still like,
$15,000, that'd be awesome.
I mean, I miss, I just, I just keep looking at good 997s and going, well, well, well,
but this is why we're in Aston Martin podcast,
because Aston Martin makes, what, five cars and they're all varying levels of confusing.
Like, come on, come on.
Yeah, and they also, they depreciate like blocks.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's the, that's the new, that's the new aspirational,
like, if I do really well in life, I'm gonna pick up a 15-year-old advantage,
which, you know, honestly, that's fine.
You know what, my new, I have, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep,
special report, Jordan depreciation watch.
Alfa Romeo 4Cs continue to plummet.
That's good news for moi and my brokenness.
Do you remember that Maserati launched a new supercar a couple years ago, the MC20?
Yeah, I do.
Those are dropping like fucking stones.
Do you know why I remember that?
Do you know why I remember that is because I think they still have a new 2024 model
in the showroom of the Alfa Romeo Ferrari Maserati dealership
that is inexplicably still in Capitol Hill in Seattle.
And so I used to walk past it like every day.
And I kind of go and check on them every so often.
Like me petting the Mustang in the Ross Park mall and going,
trying to like shove a bonnet in its air intake.
Like, come on buddy, you gotta eat something.
Well, the thing that's funny is that like, there's, they actually are kind of interesting
because I've got customer parking up front and there's just an ever-rotating cast of Julia
Quadrifoglio's through there, presumably because they-
Yes, because they're deeply broken.
But it is always kind of like, yeah, but it is always kind of like, ooh, that's really good.
Like, again, I want a Quadrifoglio.
Do I understand that that is an act of self-harm?
Yeah, but like, what am I gonna start smoking cigarettes again?
No, I'm gonna buy it.
I think with an Alfa Romeo, you have to.
I think, yeah, you open the glove box and there's a fresh pack of Marlboro Reds in there for you.
I don't know Italian cigarettes well enough.
French cars come with a pack of marlboro.
Yeah, the cigarettes.
I don't know what Italian cigarettes are.
Italy is hoarding the cigarettes that are good for you and we must go there.
Yeah, Victoria, that's my- I like throwing weird rich people shit in our show notes
because it is the- it's the stupid part of the market that I feel like is just as infuriating
as the low end of the market right now.
But also it's because like, Porsche doesn't know what they're doing.
That's part of the bigger Volkswagen problem where like,
other than selling to rich fucks in California, all of these companies are doomed.
Yeah, no, it's- it is- it would- it would bring me great pleasure if a card-carrying
Nazi's car company did encounter such significant problems that it, you know-
I- and I don't- I don't even want that.
I want the Porsche of- I want the Porsche of 15 years to go back.
Like, I-
I think it'd be cool if they made a Boxster again.
If they just made a Boxster again, yeah, like, I-
I- I dream of-
They should- what they should do- what I would like them to do is make a Boxster again,
but make it not have the IMS bearing problem so that I can get one used 20 years from now
without worrying that the motor is going to grenade itself in a $10,000 fashion at random.
The thing about the $10,000 Boxster market is right now,
is I think all of them that would have died have died at this point.
I feel like you're only left with Boxsters that are like true survivors.
Yeah, but I need to like do better.
Yeah. I don't know.
I- I think the thing- I think the real crux of it is that it's just like
Porsche was never my kind of like dream car choice.
And so it's just like now that they have gotten to a point where they are like genuinely
super car priced, because like in my head a super car costs $14,000,
which isn't true because like they cost $400,000 or $500,000 now.
But again, like, outflation has outstripped my imagination.
So I mean, that's the-
It's just confusing to me.
There was a really annoying circular firing squad of discourse
on Blue Sky this last week about like, is the economy actually that bad or do people just
not understand numbers? And the answer is no one alive has ever been able to understand inflation
because when you become an adult and prices are one thing,
when it's your formative adult years, those numbers like bake into your mind.
It's why everyone's grandparents were freaking the fuck out about a 12 pack of Coke being $5,
because they were buying a thousand Cokes for $5 or whatever.
Like I-
Yeah. Well, and also again, it just- it literally comes down to which side of the K are you on.
If you are- if you are on the upper end of the K recovery, you're like you- you probably are
actually quite comfortable. If you're on the bottom end of it, food prices and rent are killing you.
If I was not married to a woman in tech who is doing quite well for herself,
I am actually making less- I am making less money per hour than I have in
since 2018 when I took a job at the toy store because freelancing was over and I was trying
not to like lose it. Like-
Yeah. Well, this of course ties neatly- dovetails neatly into the other part of this,
which is if you are a cis-het white guy, you're- you are actually doing quite well.
You know, the economy is doing fantastic for you. If you are literally anybody else,
it's doing very poorly. Your economic prospects are very bad, especially if you're like, you know,
a trans person or like a black woman. The economy is basically at great depression levels
and it turns out that like, you know, people who are not cis-het white guys are over-represented on
like, you know, bluesky.com. So that- that I think is also driving a decent amount of the-
the economics of vibes. I also don't get why people are like, oh, it's a vibe session. It's
like we have numbers that- it's not good. Again, I refer you back to the chart I put in the show
notes last episode, which is the price of jet A has doubled in two months.
I- yeah, I- we're not-
I refuse to get- I- I've said my part. That's- that's my take on it. Is the economy's good
if you're really rich and the economy sucks if you're poor?
Yeah, it does.
And I'm right.
And as someone who is still used to being poor, it still feels bad because I mostly spend my own
money. Like, my wife and I obviously share- share stuff like whatever. We're shared a household.
But like, you know, when I'm spending my own money on shit, I go, damn, I put $35 worth of gas
in our car today, it did not fill it. And let me tell you, that feels bad. The PS5 is $900!
I know it's like, I- I know the economy is not just little treats. And also like, I- I'm so glad
many people feel my rant and understand where I'm coming from, because I'm not treatler.
Oh, Bert. Oh, little Bert baby man, getting held.
Um, you two, uh, you two are very similar animals in that both of you have deep worry in your eyes
at all times.
Yeah, Bert- Bert really does take after his father in my regard, and that he is just constantly
concerned, and really doesn't know what to do about it.
And Beep Beep's just like her mom, and that she's a blue-eyed nightmare who screams.
But yeah, Vicky, I think that's an episode. I think we're-
Yeah, it's probably an episode.
I kind of liked just being able to do new car bullshit. It's- it was a nice change of pace,
because like, I don't know, I feel like we need it. And also like, what other podcast is going to
tell you about- what other podcast is going to find out in real time how expensive a new 9-11 is?
Well, uh, there's a thing that we do now at the end of the episode.
Yes, please, please, please, please.
Um, let me go to the correct tab, uh, and open up all of our members who get their names read
out at the end. You can just cut this part out, because I have never pulled up.
I'm leaving it in. I'm leaving you to die in-
Oh, come on! Don't embarrass me!
The people need to know what they're paying for, and it's this!
Oh my god, okay. Um, all right, are we ready?
I think so.
I'm going to- all right. Um, I would like to give a special thank you to our listeners who are in
our $15 tier, which is the Vicky Shoutout tier, Help Me Pay Rent, which does help me pay rent and
has helped with my stress. Thank you immensely. Um, it is also the, uh, Help Jordan Buy a Pentax
tier for- for the- for the bit.
I, uh, unfortunately, I think I have been, uh, convinced due to hard data on the max resolution
of Half Frame, that actually what I should do is I just need to- I have a real Pentax.
Uh, I have an ME. I should just buy a K1000 and then just keep spending money in the Pentax lens,
or, uh, it- Pentax lenses?
Yes, that's correct.
The same to this very day.
Thank you, Raiko.
Yeah. Um, but yes, thank you. I'm gonna- I'm gonna- the- the names are, uh, thank you to
Steven Duckworth, thank you to Phelan, uh, thank you to Mildly Perturned, uh, great name, thank you-
thank you to Asherin, uh, thanks Chris Hepner, uh, Jerry at homogameragenda.com, still love that,
thank you to Dexus and Will, thank you to Princess Reese, promises not to bark at loud noises,
thank you too, and you said you're gonna change your name every week, so you're slipping on this one,
and I will give you shit for it, because you keep making me say this.
We're recording far earlier in the week than we normally do, I am going to give them-
Yeah.
I'm gonna give them a-
I got you- no, no, I'm taking the win here. Uh, I, Victoria Scott, love Porsches and hate trains.
What an episode to keep it for though, huh?
Thank- thank you to Nathaniel Hubble, uh, and Wingsmith, and Penile Sparing Vaginaplasty,
uh, thank you to Gaydrian Lanker, uh, Finn Springs, Gavin Gaddis, Crystal Storm, John Russell,
Josh J, and Selectric. Thank you all deeply for being the, uh, premium subscribers. You get all
of the same stuff that people who pay less do, but you get the sense of superiority in me reading-
Yeah, you get to- you get to hear us react in real time to- you- you could change your
Patreon name to whatever, there's- I don't think there's like a hard character limit either,
like I think you could just go nuts. Um, please, please do not make me read more than maybe
500 characters though, uh, because we do need to end the episodes in a somewhat timely fashion,
or people will throw up their eyebrows and they see six two-hour episodes in a row.
Yeah, uh, Victoria, I'm gonna just let the- um, uh, our dear Stella has handed off the reigns of
the vast majority of our editing to moi. Uh, so, uh, if the next couple episodes maybe don't sound
as crisp, it is because I am practicing my craft and I am getting there. Um, and also, uh,
thank you, uh, thanks- thanks, Nate, for letting us play the Shapes Play song at the end of the last
episode, full disclosure, uh, on this past Wednesday morning at, uh, 12.30 by time, I get a text from
Victoria that goes, hey, did you mean to loop the Shapes Play song for 45 minutes at the end of the
episode? And that's when I realized I can't edit drunk anymore. So, dear listeners, uh,
you will have a sober edited podcast, uh, looking forward to it. Um, April bonus should be up by
the time you're hearing this, um, shirts and sticker orders are going to be closed by the
time you hear this, so I hope everyone- I'll- I'll talk about this. Yeah, yeah, I hope everyone
got a chance to get shirts and I think we'll have stickers left over, but yay. The stickers will be-
the stickers will be up on the store for a while just because we just ordered a quantity and we
still have some. Uh, the shirts are ordered- may like, made to order and then I have to ship all
of them, so I have to, like, go to our supply- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but, uh, yeah, thank you
everybody for ordering them. I hope that they should be very comfortable shirts. I'm actually
desperately excited to get one. Me too. I'm- I'm really excited and, um, yeah, um, I think we're
gonna have a bunch of fun stuff for the rest of the year if we can keep our energy up and keep
having things to look forward to. So, uh, thanks everyone for listening and we will see you next week.
Bye.
About this episode
Ram’s new police pursuit-rated 2500 sparks the episode’s biggest debate: why are American departments buying heavy, fast trucks for a world already saturated with violence headlines? The hosts riff on idling “command” vehicles, fleet sales, and the absurdity of 103 mph tire limits and repeated hard braking tests. They also cover Hyundai’s body-on-frame “Boulder” concept, used EV pricing, and a rumored Camaro return. Porsche 911 news (including a GT3 convertible) turns into a broader rant about pricing, variants, and aspirational myths.
Hello and welcome to the dozenth Tran Girlismo! In this episode, we discuss the fact that RAM will now sell any cop in the country a 6500-pound 103-mph-rated Pursuit Sledgehammer. Then we discuss the Hyundai body-on-frame Ford Bronco - I mean Toyota Land Cruiser - I mean Nissan Pathfinder - I mean Boulder Concept. (Shockingly, Victoria actually likes something for once.)
We round out the discussion with a talk about the rumored new Chevy Camaro/Buick sedan?? and Jordan fills in Victoria on how Porsche is running the money printer at full speed to take advantage of Rolex collectors who like to street park in LA.
