F1 at Baku & ‘that’ Lando photoshoot… | The Car Podcast #55

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Hello, welcome to the car podcast with Chris Harris and his friends episode number 55 just before we came on air. Mr Cooper said that's the Carlos science issue. How, how act because, of course, he had a fantastic result at the weekend. He could have still been a Ferrari.

Let's move on straight away to our agenda this week. Cars you wish should have had a cabaret version, but didn't. I'm not sure that's the best English, but there we go. Cars that should have had a cabaret version that didn't in your opinion. I'm going to start with manage because I really do want a car question. Go on, manage.

So this brings me back to my absolute love of wedge cars of the 70s and I think not enough of those had cabriolays. And you know, just list all the wedge cars I'm in love with. Apart from the quintage. I am so pleased there is no possible cabriolay for the quintage because of its heating problems. You have to have those boxes and my understanding of the cabriolay. I know we've discussed this on the pod before.

But it's something with a completely fold down roof. That is the definition, doesn't it?

I thought that was the one definition. We're not talking about targets.

No, we're not talking about exactly. We're not talking about targets.

So I think actually the most beautiful one would probably be a Maserati Mirac. I think because remember, I've told you I have a slight problem with the posts at the back.

They sort of trick the eye into making you think this car has got a lovely slopie back, but they're actually just two bits of steel and a paint colored.

And I've never loved that. And I think actually if you took that off, that would be a very, very, it's also a four-seater.

It's a four-seater being unusual cabriolay as well because it's got this engine at the back that's a V6.

Exactly. I think it would be like a very, very pretty, pretty mondial.

So I think for me, that would be there. That's my wedge-commerce. The other one I was just honourable second mentions now for a May of Montreal.

I think that's such a pretty, pretty good. That's a good call.

I think those two for me, they're my six, seven-tees car.

We all want a Montreal. They're always shit, but there's a special one being made as we know.

There's a special one being made.

But I think I was talking to the man who makes this very special one in Bristol and he was like the problem is, we all want one.

But they're all shit, even the good ones are shit. And we're making a good one.

And that's going to be, yes, a lot of money. You don't look at it as one-le.

A two-good chance from Manage. Chris Cooper, what would you have?

This is such a good question. We could do this every week because there's so many. There was so many.

We might ship a few viewers if we did that.

Yeah, well, you know, okay. Well, probably if I do it, yeah.

I mean, one way of looking at it is the special, it's a bit like the thing we did with pickups.

Are there cars that are really shit and they shouldn't really exist?

But if you made them into a pickup, they still be really shit, but somehow just a bit more amusing.

And I think, and I'm sorry, it's a winner again. I think a cabrio Rolls-Royce Cullinan

would be really hilarious. I think it would be really hilarious.

It would be like a big version of that.

Do you remember when we were growing up, there were lots of war films on you,

and there's comic books, Commando and stuff, and little plastic kits for it.

Well, I said, I made. There was a thing called the Cubalvagan.

Remember the Cubalvagan?

Yeah.

Like the German jeddies version of the Willie's G.

Yes.

I don't know why. I found the Cubalvagan really, really appealing as a thing.

It looked, right. Look at them. I think we'll look a bit froggy and...

Is that the little plastic soldier thing in the boxes?

Exactly. One of those things. Yeah, Cubalvagan.

I reckon a convertible Cullinan would look like a big Cubalvagan.

I just think that would be really...

I think that would be just really, really interesting.

I tell you the other way of looking at this question is...

You tell me I haven't had time to think about it today because I've been sucking something all day for the last 24 hours.

Is there a car where the absolutely should not have been a cabrio-lay version?

Yes, Chris. There is. Is the answer to Range Rover Evoke?

Yes, that's true.

Isn't that a shocking cabrio-lay? In fact, that's a crime against a cabrio-lay.

Why is that shocking in a Cullinan isn't?

Well, because the Evoke isn't a bad thing.

The Evoke isn't a bad thing, really. I mean, you know, go there another time.

Whereas a Cullinan, I just... No.

And I just think... That was a Cullinan.

You said that. I found myself alongside one in traffic the other day.

You actually had clear glass, a non-drug dealer, pluta crap, you know, Escobar-style styling and wheels.

I sort of thought, no. Do I?

This good.

Do I really like...

What? I thought I'd see the driver and ride in there really good.

I thought, actually, I could never have one. I couldn't have all one.

But I thought, it's not quite a shit actually as it could be.

But I just think the idea of...

The other thing I thought about was, could you have a convertible for RAFF?

I thought that would be like. The reason why I thought of that.

Sorry, I've been really stressed today and I've been up to here with growing up shit and stuff.

So I've got to let my brain just fart. So just sorry about this.

It's good.

The Maserati Gran Turismo convertible, I really like.

It's brilliant.

It's got that lovely long front and proportion and stuff.

And my head today said to me, how'd you dial that up to make it more long and lovely?

I thought, it's a Ferrari FF convertible.

That's sacrilege, I have to say.

And I wouldn't do it to a living or even semi-dead FF.

So let's go with the color.

I think the color and convertible would look like a big kubel bargain.

For today's uncertain world.

Fantastic. We should do this with kubel more often.

Let's go to Neil Clifford.

I've got one dreamy one and one real one.

Mine is the F12.

I left that to you. I thought that is the obvious one.

I'll leave that to you.

We're all about the F12 at the minute and you know, you imagine a convertible of that.

They did a very limited edition, didn't they?

Five, nine, nine thing.

But they never did anything on F12.

And you know, F12 cab would just be nine to eight, nine to eight.

I'd have loved a nine to eight convertible.

There is one out there, isn't there?

There is one.

But there's like stroze or whatever.

Yeah.

But I think I think the practical, actually the real

entrepreneurial commercial thing that you wonder what Volkswagen have been up to for the last f***ing 15 years.

Why isn't there a beautiful golf mark seven are convertible?

Yeah.

They're just idiots.

They miss that because if you look, we're all on car and classic, aren't we?

A because we like it and beaks.

We've got to do this bloody two car garage every five minutes.

Just because I like it.

Just because I like it. Of course.

But when you're, when you're flicking, you see all these lovely mark one convertibles, don't we?

Yeah, they look better now than ever.

Better now.

And you think ten grand, it's going to be sort of semi shit, but it's super lovely.

Bit designed on an extra sketch, but in a positive way.

It's gorgeous.

Why isn't widely, my daughter's got the big cause if you if you want a new ish Volkswagen convertible,

you've got to buy the beetle, which is basically a golf, isn't it, wrapped in a beetle.

But it is a little bit feminine in my view.

I know we can't say those things anymore, but it's not for me, the beetle.

My daughter looks wonderful in it.

I'd like a mark seven golf are convertible.

And then if sold hundreds of thousands of the bloody things, wouldn't they?

If you go back to escort, you know, we all wanted an XR three.

I know it's a bit more targer, wasn't it?

There was that sort of convertible thing.

They didn't have XR three convertible.

It did, yeah.

Yeah, they did.

It wasn't called XR three.

It was called 0.6 gear.

1.6 eye.

Yeah.

Was it?

You know, that whole area of late 80s, early 90s convertible thing.

Yeah.

Instead of felt like you made like three to five eye, obviously, they should have it in golf.

Make piece, make piece off of density and make piece.

Oh yeah, blue ones.

She had one of those escort convertible things.

I didn't make her look untidy at all.

So Neil's done his two there.

I struggle with this because it's one of the few things I think car makers tend to get really right.

Because when you see people that have hacked a car apart to make a convertible, it normally looks shit.

And reminds you that for the most part, car makers are very studious in what they will turn into a convertible.

And most of the sort of sultan of Brunei type convertibles, the specials that you see, you go.

Not quite their lads.

There's something that's not quite right.

You know, I'm talking about the nine to eight is the four five six.

There's probably a convertible just about every expensive car ever made has been commissioned by some, someone that owns a country.

I think, I think there should have been an original BMW 8 series convertible, because that, that would have.

Yes.

That's the, the, the rake of the front of the car.

I think I disagree on some of the things you said, because I think cars that have a very strong C pillar.

Don't lend themselves to be convertibles.

And I can't think of much stronger C pillars than a colon or an effect.

What is with you?

Give you a move.

If you remove that strength, that's the sort of, that's the arse bone of the car, isn't it?

I say eight series.

The car that should have been a convertible from the start.

And they did make a couple.

And there was one before recently.

Is the Testerossa for me because it, it just.

Convertibles are the ultimate theater.

They're, they're, they're the peacock version of the normal bird.

And therefore, the most peacock car I think ever launched is probably the Testerossa.

When it came out, we were all like, what, even now you, when you see one, you get a lot, what are they thinking?

Yeah.

And I've seen that one in the roar.

There's a 512 TR version as well that Gerardo handles there that just looks like the car from out, outrun.

There's the annielly silver car.

I mean, just look magnificent to me.

So I mean, other stuff.

I just, I just, it's a difficult one because I had a long list and I wrote them all down.

I thought, I can't justify any of these because they look that good.

I thought they would.

Testerossa looks fan bloody tested.

There's just so many convertibles, shouldn't they?

Sorry, there's just one, one thought.

I, this may be completely apocryphal, but I heard this story about the, the silver annielly Testerossa was apparently after he'd had his accident.

And the annielly really found it very difficult to change gear because he is, is left leg just didn't work properly.

And so apparently that car, it's a one and one.

That's sort of beautiful issue.

How does silver color?

So apparently it's a bit James Bond.

The gear stick doesn't work.

You press a button and it's maybe apocryphal, but apparently the footwell opens up the clutch pedal vanishes.

The footwell closes and it's an automatic.

I have heard this.

I know.

If someone can verify that, I mean, I have heard this from an authoritative source.

I think the winner is the eight series.

Oh, the eight series.

I think that would be, it's kind of like me.

It's sort of like, don't mess around with those 650 cabs.

Go back to the original.

If somebody's listening to this, that's quite half a dead with a little graphic thing.

Could they send us in a photograph of an eight 50.

An eight 50.

I can't.

That will be.

You can send the mirror.

Yeah.

Because it was at our friend Rorkees.

Yes.

We'll post it.

But look at that.

It's a work of joy, isn't it?

Just I'm sure they bit like that Daytona as well.

You know, they must have, they built a hundred and a few of those in there and they.

Why didn't they do that from the start?

Some cars are just born to be convertibles, aren't they?

Yeah.

I mean, I mean, that is just.

Yeah.

It's just a lot of stuff.

You want a big flat deck, don't you?

And a little cabin.

And that really, well, that just defines that.

So here we go.

Let's go to the next one, which is.

Nah.

Here we go.

I'm just going to move the soap box to the center of the stage.

And Chris Cooper is going to tell us why he loves smart motorways.

Why, oh, why, oh, why?

And how have the smart motorways and the gantries all turn to shit?

They've all turned to shit.

They anybody who drives up and down the M3 around the M25 or in the M1.

Sorry, this is a bit UK centric.

The little gantries where they want to reduce the speed limit and let's say the three or four lanes.

There should be four of those red round all things with a number in it.

I can't remember the last time I saw one of those gantries where all of them were illuminated.

It's like two or it's like one that's half broken and none of them are all there.

And suddenly with no, you know, no warning, no obvious reason.

They come down to 50 and you think I'll go to 50 and you can see miles ahead.

And then the next one, there's nothing on them at all.

The gantries are just blank.

They get past that one.

The next one is all clear again.

The de-restricted sign.

You think, oh, it's fine.

Okay, somebody must have cocked that up.

But it's fine.

You go on another bit and it's back to 60 again.

You think there's no difference.

And then the next one could be 40 and then back to national speed limit.

And you just think, something's gone wrong.

Something's gone wrong.

And it's not just a rent because it has consequences.

And the consequences are,

is it national highways now rather than highways agency?

Are they the people who run motorways and stuff like that?

I think they discover themselves highways now, don't they?

Whatever it is, yeah.

It has a consequence because people are now just ignoring it.

No, it takes any notice of it because you think it's obviously bollocks.

It's obviously broken or somebody's fallen asleep.

And the reason why it's a rent is it feels.

It feels so avoidable.

It just feels.

If you just woke up and just thought about it,

you could stop that.

You could stop that sort of.

It looks and feels incompetent.

And right now in this country,

we need things not to be incompetent.

So the rent is this is something we could do easily better.

Just just concentrate on either fix the bloody things

or not have this randomness of.

They're on their Roth.

It's 50. It's back to 40 or it's national spinner.

Literally, you can go through up the M1.

You can go from one to two to three to four.

And they're all different.

And it's deliberate.

Yeah, conspiracy theory here.

I wonder how many more speeding fines they get.

If you suddenly go from a 60 to a 40 without realizing it.

And actually, you have to buy that in mind.

You do have to.

So because I want to twice recently had to have sitting

a little classroom full of people learning about speed limits.

I'm sort of a bit more sensitive.

I've got nabbed in Cornwall a couple of times early on this year.

So I do that thing.

I do that.

It's literally like bloody musical chairs.

Okay.

Oh, back to 40.

Oh, no, back to 50.

But it's it just.

Just for a moment.

And last time you happened about two weeks ago.

I thought I've got to have a rant about this.

So if anybody from national highways or highways agencies,

whatever you're calling yourself this week, is listening.

We know life is tough.

Money's tight.

Investment in lots of things.

Infrastructure has all gone into HS to be all we get there.

This doesn't feel like that.

This just feels like somebody stopped thinking it's important.

And we're generally optimistic.

And I think the British are generally reasonable.

I've always said it.

We're reasonably treat us with reason and common sense and logic.

We'll obey.

And I just feel that we.

The motorway thing has lost the trust of the road user rant over.

I think.

The reason why there's two reasons why.

The smart motorway thing is a failure.

I mean, there's actually 20.

But there's two key ones for me.

One.

I've never heard anyone say those smart motorways are good.

I've never heard it.

And I think when you've not heard.

When you've not, even when just people that don't like driving,

haven't gone like that was good.

They've normally got a story about how they were very confused.

Or they thought they'd been nabbed unfairly by a speed camera.

Because they've been a change in speed limit that had caught them out.

Or if they've been caught speeding, they thought I now feel it might have happened.

But I don't have got any recourse.

So I just argue that I'll just take the points.

The consensus of opinion is that they're not very good.

And I've not heard many things in the last few years that has been so universally not long.

The other one.

And this is the one that makes my pissed boil is that the most common.

An aggressive way of condemning speeding is the danger it causes.

The speed is the greatest cause of accidents.

The moment one person was badly injured or killed with a smart motorway.

So they should have been banned. That should have been enough.

And we know there've been several incidents.

This is a serious bit where people have died.

But the authorities totally overlook it.

It's like a death or serious injury caused by a smart motorway isn't as sinister as one caused.

That they just started being caused by speed.

I don't normally like going to these places on these podcasts.

Because I think generally we're happy.

And we want to have fun and celebrate motoring.

But I think surely the moment there'd be.

But the moment they've been a fatality, they should just switch the fucking things off.

Because at that point they have failed, haven't they?

If you lose one life because you've chosen to do something that wasn't.

Was probably very, very edgy anyway.

They should have been switched off based on the government's approach to.

To serious injuries and deaths on the roads.

So that's the but I don't understand that they've proved themselves to be a total failure.

There's also this awful.

Decelerating in itself from 70 miles an hour down to a lower number in a very short period of time.

Unless it's absolutely necessary.

Doesn't seem like a very smart idea either.

So you go under a gantry.

You're supposed to be going 70 miles an hour.

It says 40 or 50.

You have to let off.

Everyone else behind you does exactly the same thing.

And we all know.

These are the things that cause accidents.

Changes in speed.

Sudden changes in speed.

And completely agree.

The number of times you've gone through these things looking ahead for the deer that doesn't exist.

Or the bit of whatever that's supposed to be lying on the road.

But in fact, most of the time they didn't tell you why, do they?

You just have a number.

And it is very confusing for a driver.

Originally originally wasn't it sort of to ease the flow of congestion.

Yes.

In order that the traffic didn't slow right down.

Yeah.

That was a whole.

I mean, there's the separate thing of this stupid.

Let's get rid of the hard shoulder.

Yeah.

Because in every part there's that silly thing which obviously everyone said.

That's an intrinsic part of a smart motorway was incorporating the hard shoulder as a fourth lane.

It was absolutely intrinsic.

But Neil is right.

The original logic was.

Can't we be clever and manage the flow.

By by free bringing down the speed of cars who didn't get this concertina and sort of queuing theory.

That's where my rant comes from is that.

The clearly something's gone wrong with this messiness and incompleteness and literally sometimes.

Two lanes have got something over them and two of them haven't well if I went under that one.

There was no speed limit in my lane.

It was over there but my it's yeah it's it's it's gone.

To seed.

You just wish that we would.

With that we're in danger of being political here not political but you know I was I wasn't pro Brexit at all.

You wish you would have we could have all learned from all the best bits of Europe and said.

Hey French you run our motorways because they fucking do motorways great.

But Italians you do the food Germans you build the cars French you run the motorways.

Spanish you do the holidays I don't know what it gets lost quite quickly that one isn't it.

But when you get when you get to France you're like oh my god these guys know how to run motorways.

It used to be oh wow that's because they spend four billion million pounds more than we do on motorways.

But for fuck's sake we've spent three years building one junction on the A3.

It's not finished.

Yeah we could have built heart we could have built Italy for what we spent on that.

It's not finished.

No. It's three years to build one junction.

We're not very good at it are we?

No we're not very good at it.

Are you going there on a Friday afternoon or frankly haven't been on the Saturday no one can work Saturdays anymore.

There's no one there.

I mean I can pay people over time and get it finished.

I've I was asked a few years ago what's your biggest fear on the public's highway.

It was probably something I lived in a much more rural place than I probably would have thought hitting a deer.

Later at night you know when you when the road's clear and you you're going quite quickly on the way back from the airport at 11 o'clock at night.

If a deer the number I knew that had dears come through windscreens or you know terrifying awful that you could potentially hurt or could an animal that makes me feel terrible.

But also the consequences of something coming through the windscreen pretty.

But that I now absolutely have changed that to breaking breaking down in a car or any actually any vehicle maybe not a motorcycle because they call it narrow but on a motorway

where the hard shoulder had been converted into a lane of traffic must be absolutely terrifying.

It's scary enough when you've got the hard shoulder on the hard shoulder.

A lorry coming past you at 50 miles an hour is a pretty terrifying feeling when that wake of air and the fact your car shakes and you think do you know what I want to be over that barrier.

I don't care if my car gets hit here but just imagine if that happened as it does quite often when it's four lanes like what?

And I'm sure that was some and I say this with with great frustration and anger and some bloody management consultant somewhere.

Bastards.

Bastards in this case a hundred percent most cases fucking a thousand percent.

I'd looked at the data.

Fucking motorways and said we've looked at the data and we only need a bit of hard shoulder once every half a mile or a month.

I've looked at the data and they don't break down that much these days cars.

So tell you what it's a win win will convert it into a little next running lane free extra motorway and put a little lay by him.

None of which remotely reflected that if you have an emergency like that you car breaks down the last thing you're going to remember is that's fine.

Because I've been watching out for all those science to say the next refuges into quarter month.

No you just shit yourself thinking my car's broken down is going to stop.

I'll either stop in the overtaking lane or I'll try and.

So you end up being marooned nowhere near those refugees and I think Edmund King of Chumma vows from the AA president of the AA.

All credit to him he was one of a number who campaign to say this is wrong and now the program has been stopped.

So well done Edmund.

Yeah well done Edmund.

Will Tesla recover in Europe?

I'm going to answer this first.

Because I said before the show started I might just say do we care?

That's a bit arch isn't it?

The answer is we do care because whether you like it or not whether you like Tesla or not.

It is one of the most exciting car companies it's emerged in the last 50 years.

It came along it did extraordinary things not always things that we like.

The way that it's been run has been a times extraordinary and the claims it's made have at times been ridiculous.

But I do love anything that comes on and disrupts and makes other people or a wider industry reflect on what they're doing and whether they needed to kick up the arse.

The answer is the car industry did need to kick up the arse and Tesla did do that.

So and I any man that can land Rockies should not be dismissed as being a moron.

Sorry, that's a very stupid thing to do.

100%.

So and this is an apolitical podcast.

I'm not going to go there.

I don't care about any of that stuff.

I think Tesla sales won't recover to the point at which they were in Europe is my take on it.

I think the Europeans for totally different reasons to the Europeans.

The Europeans have opened the door to the Chinese.

And they're now probably going to spend several months in Brussels trying to work out how to close the door.

But sadly it's already open and if they try and push it the hinges will fail not the door itself.

So I think I think the Chinese are there to stay up in the EV market unless they can tariff their way through it.

As for Tesla, I think Tesla is the company that's most at risk of being caught up by the established prestige brands.

Because Tesla doesn't have the tech advantage or the brand advantage to stay beyond them forever.

If there's a big lull in sales and that affects their future R&D spend and what they can do.

I know I'd gather they got some amazing product coming Tesla, but I don't hate them the way other people do necessarily.

But I just if I was BMW and I was Audi and I was Mercedes, I'd be thinking that Chinese things are disaster.

But I would be licking my lips at his faltering Tesla would be my answer.

Let's go to Neil next.

I agree with you really.

I don't think we can underestimate Elon a man that can out space rocket NASA.

Yeah.

You're not a vain.

That's as pointless.

And that's as pointless.

He's like subcontracted NASA and done it better.

You can free down the rocket.

I mean, you would have thought that that was impossible.

It was out of thunderbirds, isn't it?

So someone that can create a business like SpaceX and deliver what he's done.

I think I think it will recover.

I think it's hard to say that it will cover to the point because he would say such a march on everyone.

I don't really understand and I should the charging network thing because obviously he's a big advantage there and the capital they put down on the charging network and all of that bit.

I'm sure that still is an advantage if they release an amazing five or six new cars.

If you look at his new bonus plan.

Of whatever it was, a trillion billions.

Yeah.

If you can get the market cap to eight trillion dollars.

You know, and there are companies that four or five trillion now on there.

So he will be sat there saying, actually, I wouldn't mind a go at this eight trillion.

I quite like that as well.

Yes.

I the one trillion.

I know he's got to deliver some sort of 1.2 billion EBITDA or something so he can't do it and be lost making.

No, no, no.

I think there is an EBITDA connection to it.

It's not just the money scheme.

It's not just that.

It could be just it could be just share price.

But I think there is a profit element too.

Here is.

But I'm sure that he and his team have got a load of great ideas about what types of cars we want to buy because I think he's quite connected to the consumer.

So I think if I was a betting man, I'd say we'll do it.

You know that weird character that opens the door to C3PO and R2D2 at the beginning of the return of the Jedi.

And he's got a sort of he's got like a slugs tell for a head that comes around here.

And he says Jabba no longer may Jabba Jabba.

That's for the stuff.

Didn't he say EBITDA?

What was that not part of his language?

Yes.

Yeah.

I don't remember that.

What is it?

Well, I don't even know what you're talking about.

What is EBITDA?

Earnings before interest tax depreciation amortize and profit.

It's cash chain.

There we go.

It's not a sort of cash chain.

I have no idea of any of this stuff at all.

Yeah.

It's profit.

I think if I remember what is the Renumeration Committee of set him as this target for the one trillion,

one of it.

I think it was a trillion of market cap, but one also was a billion of EBITDA.

So he can't just do it through.

Yeah.

Been.

He can't spin it to eight billion.

He's got to run it.

He's got to run a proper business in a proper business.

Yeah.

But you know, he's clever.

So I think he might.

Manish.

I reckon you might think differently about this.

I think cars are also about feeling.

I think they make you feel something.

And I think that 20 years ago, and I look at the people who could almost be 20 years now,

there were two or three testlers where I lived.

And they were very expensive, very beautifully looked after.

Very sort of right on.

You know, then the Prius kind of came and people had those.

And I think that, you know, there was, as you said,

the user would disrupt them.

It was just nothing like it.

It was just so innovative, it looked incredible.

But there was a little tiny sign of kind of Elon's showmanship, if you like.

I remember all those videos about this amazing kind of HGV that he designed

and that was going to be ready in the next five minutes.

And there was a great video of the thing going up like a one in three hill

and explaining to you would have a trillion mile range on a, you know, 13 amp plug.

And it was all bullshit.

But he was able to spin that beautifully on the back of, you know, kind of the people

who believed in him.

And I think that is gone.

And I think it's gone forever.

Now, I think you're absolutely right.

You're left kind of with his financial genius, because he's not a, you know,

he came from PayPal, didn't he?

Peter Till, the pals.

And didn't he buy the first McLaren F1 in California?

Yeah.

David Robert.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, he's an interesting, he's an interesting character.

He's a father.

We know of 14 children from 14 different women all by AI.

And they're all male.

I don't know what that says.

That he's a, he's a cool person.

I think if, if a car becomes fantastically identified with its founder,

like really fantastically identified with its founder.

And so Ferrari for Joe Lamborghini Henry T Ford, you know,

has a kind of knock on effect on the car.

And I think most people, I agree.

Can I just say without being too asked, there are a couple of German manufacturers

that have recovered from such associations.

Perhaps you're right.

But I think that Elon's so personified.

I think this is the point.

There was, you know, a lot of the crowd that loved him and made him.

And allowed him his quote unquote eccentricities.

Don't love him anymore.

And then you pointed out that the world's different.

The Chinese are making cars that can absolutely compete with this guy.

The European manufacturers, the American manufacturers have learned a lot from this guy.

And so he's advantageous of what?

Yes, he's probably brighter than any other sort of CEO doing what he's doing.

He spans the world of finance and cars in a way like no one other than maybe

Sergio Macchione.

So he's a brilliant guy.

He's got experience.

But I think what you're really asking from my point of view is the brand solid

to the point that it can not recover to its kind of idealistic, beautiful height.

And I think it is.

I think it is.

I'd be very, very impressed if Tesla kind of recovers that market share.

For all the reasons you said, but also because it's so closely identified with such a kind of

floor genius.

I think that's succinctly put to manage.

Yeah.

That's true.

If that's true, that Tesla is so solid, blah, blah, blah, then there should be no problem

for Jaguar.

Come on, Jaguar.

Yes.

That's good.

So.

I asked the question.

I got.

Sighted different.

Take all it.

Tesla.

The question was, will Tesla recover?

Which sort of suggests it had a problem?

The question was, will Tesla recover?

Which sort of suggests it had a heyday?

And I think it had a heyday when it was the synonym for an electric vehicle.

It was the Hoover.

It was the big of electric vehicles.

When people said, I'm buying a Tesla.

What they were saying is, I'm buying an electric vehicle.

It's different to all of your lot because there's nothing else.

They've been electric vehicles before.

They're a bit shit.

Tesla came along.

And yeah, he was.

He did think about the manufacturing and how do you make them faster and cheaper and so forth.

And the business model is different, which was, I'm going to build a blue one, a white one, a red one and a black one.

And three times, you know, once a month, a big ship's going to come over from the US and land.

It's the Hampton.

And they're all going to be there.

And you can pick the one you want and it'll be a medium one or a big one.

And that's the business model.

That's a pricing model.

And there might be some wheels.

And that's about it.

So he changed a lot of things about it.

So for a while, there was no competition.

And then suddenly there was competition, but whether it's Chinese or European.

And from a product management point of view, he clearly was stationary.

He got the wild things about the trucks and the cyborg, whatever they were.

So will Tesla recover in Europe?

Could they recover?

You know, it's perfectly possible for them to recover in Europe.

I don't think the brand is an impediment.

If the product's good and the pricing's good and the distribution's good and they're reliable and you can get them service.

And they don't, they're not particularly more difficult to charge than other reviews, which there's aren't because of this wonderful.

A bit like the bags in hovers, you know, they made.

I don't know.

I'm making this up, but I'm guessing part of who the success was.

You could get the bags really easily and they only fitted the Hoover thing blah, blah, blah.

And that was all part of the user experience.

The user experience of a Tesla has always seemed to be a little bit better thought out.

So could Tesla recover 100%.

Will they recover?

It comes down to interesting.

Now, I think I'm with the illness one.

If he's serious rather than it's just after fanfare, no one thinks remotely is going to get this trillion dollar bonus.

But if what's behind that is some hard economics and some planning to say,

I'm going to have to do some really clever shit with product and technology and pricing and promotion and distribution.

So forth, otherwise, I'll going to look like an idiot.

Then yeah, it's perfectly possible that Tesla will recover in Europe.

Imagine if you do the maths.

I think his peak market share Europe was, I did check out on 12%.

Impressive.

Of the total car market, not just EVs.

Tesla's European market share peaked at 12% in late 2023 with a peak of 12.7.

I think that we'd have to check that.

But if it was 12% of Tesla's European EV market share, EV market share.

So, you know, that's 12% of 20%.

In fact, he was only selling 12% of 20 is three.

So, he only had 3% of the car market.

If the maths say it ain't going to go to 80%, but let's say EV goes to 60,

he probably doesn't need to work that hard to sell more cars.

No.

I think, okay, here's the question that we can't answer, but maybe there is some data out there somewhere.

What percentage of people bought a Tesla A because

they just fancied one.

B because they knew the user experience was probably better than all other EVs.

And that includes the network, the charging network, which is easily the best thing about Tesla.

I mean, the cars are pretty good, but the network is extraordinarily brilliant.

Or C because they aligned themselves as wanting to look like they were a Tesla owner.

Now, I think the number of people that did it for reasons A and B have increased

laterally a lot more.

But the earlier adopters, a lot of them, it was a message.

A Tesla was a badge.

It was Apple.

But it was a more powerful message.

It was a I want change.

I don't buy into the hegemony of the currency.

And I think those people are the ones that now drive around paradoxically was sticking saying,

I hate Elon or the back of their car.

I mean, it's such a fascinating sort of brand exercise now, isn't it?

The people that bought into this man and the way he did things now hate him.

And they're stuck with his fucking car because they can't get out of the finance agreement.

It is interesting how split reputationally,

SpaceX and Tesla have become because we all I mean,

we love big stuff that goes bang and rockets and shit and thunderbirds and

yeah, rob space rays and everything.

And everything SpaceX does seems to tap completely tap into.

If I was 12 years old, I'd like it to work like that.

And then the next thing they do works like that.

That thing that the rocket launch that comes down.

Like it's returning to Tracy on and this little grab thing comes out and grabs it and just

stops you here, those two bang bang those snaps of the Sonic boom.

How cool is that?

If I was in the market for rocket, I'd have one that does that.

And then you think anyone else agrees with me, but I don't actually believe that's real

unless I see it in real life.

I've seen it.

I've been there.

It can't be real.

It's it's very, very.

Yeah.

Or whatever Orlando just ran a corner earlier today.

Earlier today, there were two nuggets of dog poo next to me that my dog had done.

And I tried to pick both up.

I it took me three attempts to pick up the second one.

How can he land a fucking rocket on its own?

Don't understand.

We're not the same species are we?

Well, that's always true in your case.

That does not we're not the same species.

Right.

We're moving on to something that requires even more scrutiny and frankly involves even bigger brains.

And that is.

Orlando's appearance in Vogue in the last week.

I said with a slight chuckle.

I'm going to move straight to our our man in the industry.

He's at the heart.

He's on the pulse of the fashion industry.

Manish.

I had a bit of a thing about this.

For people who haven't seen this on Instagram.

There are several.

Yes, exactly.

Everyone seen it.

But there are several little vignettes.

Photos of Orlando posing with clothing in various forms.

But the best ones he had a blue sweater and he's kind of pulling it halfway up his tummy.

So you can see his abs.

But he's also holding a flower rather wistfully.

It's just it's just such a.

Is he tenderizing himself in the upper chest area?

I don't know, but it's just it's fantastic.

They've done something to they've sort of feminists his face slightly because he always has a little bit of facial air.

I mean, he's had obviously a very clean shave and he's got this completely spotless skin.

It's like an airbrushed.

Orlando and I was sort of I was thinking about this and.

I don't know, but there is one transcendent driver in the last 15 years.

I'm a man who's transcended formula one at Lewis Hamilton.

And there's no there's no hiding the fact that he's very close to Anna Wintour.

And he's been featured on the cover of Vogue.

I remember a particular one who was wearing some form of guilt type outfit.

I remember all that tartan.

I mean, it looked kind of great.

And Lewis is probably in his last year in formula one next year.

I'm not going to say that.

Okay, possibly.

But Lewis is certainly certainly certainly is the chance though.

He is more towards the end of his career.

And I'm wondering whether formula one have suddenly just woken up to the fact that they've had this free ad in the non formula one world for the 15 years.

It's not in the last 15 years.

Lewis has just transcended formula.

It's been in all kinds of publications doing all kinds of things.

And they've just opened it once marketing department.

He really is.

He really don't like cars.

Absolutely.

And so now somebody's working on said,

we, I think Lewis is going to be gone.

Who can we possibly get to be the formula one poster boy next?

And we all know.

Lando appeals to teenage girls in a way that I, I mean,

it's just he is a bit of a pop star as he's the band.

Or formula one.

I mean, can you imagine doing that with Oscar Piastry?

That photo shoot.

Listen mate, I'm not pulling my fucking sweater up.

I can't not doing it.

You just say that.

Harry Styles, a formula one.

What was Jensen's comment?

That crop top looks itchy.

Yes.

Right on the, right on the inside.

He's got a bloody cheek.

Have you seen those,

those,

careful slacks adverts, Jensen?

Whatever you say.

He's not wearing a crop cap on the edge.

Yeah, fair enough.

We're, are we too old to judge this stuff?

Is it like last week?

Is Neil Clifford about to deliver a shut up your old fuckers?

You don't understand message.

Let's go over to Neil Clifford.

No.

Obviously trying to build.

I think Manish is right.

They're looking at post Lewis.

Who's the poster boy?

I think that's right.

And you know what,

he looked very handsome and good looking.

He should be in a, you know,

in a long dress.

Shouldn't he?

Taken his jeans off.

Nick Payman.

Yeah.

He's an impressive physique.

You're right to say he looks,

looks like Superman doesn't he?

He looks handsome, gorgeous.

He's got more hair than he's got in reality.

I mean, the whole thing is fabulous.

I suppose they're just trying to build his brand, right?

Whether you like it or not,

Formula One isn't like the 19 fucking 70s anymore.

It's about money and brand and, you know,

that these, he's probably got four agents saying,

oh, well, we've got, you know,

we can earn you another 500 million pounds.

If you do a, you know, David Beckham's going to look

shit one day.

Lando when he's 75.

We can put you in the windows of Hugo Boss.

Get your million.

So they're.

All right.

I'm not your spot Clifford.

I'm putting you on the spot here.

You're the most positive man.

I've ever met you know where I'm going with this.

You know where I'm going with this, right?

Normally on our little WhatsApp group where if any of us

get a bit snipy and a bit negative,

he comes in and goes, oh, you're all miserable.

Fuck us.

You just shouldn't be positive.

Yeah.

We saw this.

You were massively.

Oh no.

I don't.

I don't think the styling.

Because it was, you know, I don't know who styled it.

It should be in GQ not Vogue.

Because they've made it too sexy.

They should have made it more Steve McQueenie.

To me anyway, macho.

Yeah.

I think the styling has been a, I mean,

that all in one boiler suit look.

It's hard to pull off.

Right?

You want to give it a go?

Yeah.

Let me phrase that.

You know, I think, let me, let me just, let me just, you know,

it should have been, it should have been GQ.

Sorry.

You know, that, that look is tough.

It's a tough look.

Unless you're going a good word revival.

He's.

He was holding a picture of, of Lando wearing a onesie that's

on the tip down to the front.

I mean, it would look right.

The last time they made it, Marguer is given that strategy to Vogue.

They should have given it to GQ or they should have given it to.

Chris Cooper.

They should have told Chris Cooper to style him.

Yeah.

When I saw this on, when we, we all saw some Saturday, I think,

didn't we?

And my first reaction was hashtag, Lando Beckham.

And I think he was right.

At some point, he'll be 111 years old.

David Beckham won't look quite so appealing.

Yeah.

You know, man's blaming his knees and his thighs apart with those

little dinky little thongs and oiled up and tattooed up and so forth.

And so that's your future son.

That's where you're going.

And likewise, it today in the sport he's in, he's going to get the shit ripped out of

him next time they're all together because they'll be relentless on him.

I mean, George with his like getting his shirt off hold up.

George thinking, I didn't know I could do that.

I'm going to do that.

He'll get the absolutely shit ripped out of him because of they just,

they just will.

Is it?

I mean, if you wanted to do it, it's fine.

It's just fine.

I think he was.

You might regret some of it.

And I thought the sort of the crop top thing looked slightly, you know,

anywhere.

I, I, when I was six, yeah.

I think we're doing Vogue.

I know.

You don't get any money, right?

This is not a money thing for this.

But you do it for nothing.

But obviously you're then going to meet with Bruno Cuccinelli and saying,

oh, my God, look at Lando, he could be in your next ad campaign.

Forget David.

David's, you know, looking a bit old.

So there is a strategy to this.

Yeah, I think there definitely is.

And he's the one you choose.

I think can I just say something else about Formula One?

I know everyone wants to.

I made one point about the fashion before you go to the other Formula.

Yeah.

So I've always taken the slightly old fashion view that any sports person can

kind of do whatever they want outside the sport.

So long as they're operating at an incredible level with their own,

but in their own sport, it's a sign of confidence.

You sort of, you start to migrate your talent into other people's areas,

other forms of life because you're so good at what you do.

You transcend your sport, don't you?

I think it's more problematic if actually you're spluttering a little bit

in your own sport that you've suddenly start putting yourself out there.

And I think that's where it's sport becomes a very binary,

very simple thing that anyone can go.

Are you getting distracted here?

You know, shouldn't you be concentrating on winning a world driver's championship

rather than doing that?

I mean, that's that's what that's what your house master would say at school.

They say they say, right, concentrate on what you need to get done.

And once you've done that, you can go and have a free swim and you can go to the

touch shop, but you're not going to the touch shops.

It's just sort of that out to you sort of that out.

And I suppose that's what I would say.

I'd say just, you know, I don't give a, I don't understand any of it.

I'm an old man.

You know, I'm wearing a, I mean, the fact that Jensen, but that, that looks itchy.

This such a great word itchy.

Well done, Jensen.

I can let you just a great response.

But he just, I just think, you know, you've got to, you've got to be winning.

You've got to be winning championships before you kick.

Yeah.

I think that's all right.

Really, win a world championship and then do whatever you want.

You know, it should have been Jensen, I suppose, shouldn't it really?

Yeah.

Well, he's got what I was talking about.

That's why Jensen can do anything.

Yeah.

It's the only thing he wants.

Yeah.

And he's got, he's got sort of a bit of a charm.

And he can get away with it.

I thought he'd have glint in his eye.

Jensen, you would be able to look at it and go a bit.

There's one, there's an awesome event here that I know is taking the piss.

Yeah.

And he's looking at me.

And I suppose that, that's a real skill to have.

Yeah.

He seems to do that whenever, whenever he talks to me, he's got that look in his eye as well.

I should probably learn something about that.

Right.

So the race.

And this weekend, yeah.

Wouldn't it be amazing if he won from here.

Max.

Actually, that quote.

Comes from a different sporting.

Unbelievable turnaround.

2013 in the Americas Cup.

The American boat.

Skippered by an Australian guy, Jimmy Spitthill.

Anybody is watching.

Google the 2013 in the Americas Cup.

An amazing thing.

The key we boat was like it was eight one up.

Matt racing two boats, best of 17 wins in the Americas Cup.

The old sporting competition in the world.

The US boat was eight one down.

In the words, the Q's just had to win one more race.

And the Americans had to win another nine races, eight or nine races to win it.

And the skipper said, wouldn't it be amazing if he won from here.

And that's where Max is now.

And the interesting thing I thought was.

Team USA was actually oracle team USA.

And Max is oracle redboard.

I'm so glad you said that because I was about to dive in there and say.

Only only this podcast could make the popular comparison between.

Max is hunt for the world title and the Americas Cup.

Because we are brilliant.

It's just I think it would be as big an upset.

If Max did it, but he's there.

Even Max said it still looks quite hard.

And you think he's on it.

I'm asking you all a question now.

To what extent was Max's resurgence of form over the last two races.

It was responsible for the error strewn weekend that Piaestry had.

I think it was just one off for Oscar.

I think the greats do this.

I think they all do this.

I remember Max sticking it into a wall a couple of times, same place at Monaco.

We've got to remember this is Oscar's third season in Formula One.

He's been in a competitive car for a season and a half of that.

And I just think he that this stuff happens.

I can't remember who analyzed his accident again.

The small mistake was that he looked a little bit too hard at the front of him.

Yeah, you find that you can see that.

You know, he didn't have the best qualifying, but it was a very, very scrappy qualifying.

So I don't think this is some huge implosion.

I don't think Max will do it.

I wasn't saying huge implosion, but to what extent?

I understand.

I wasn't provoked by Max.

Maybe Lando.

What's fascinating is that I think Oscar in his head has got Lando completely covered.

I don't think he views him as that much of a threat now.

I think he knows that in a 50, in a 50, 50 ball as they say in rugby,

contact place.

He's coming away with the ball.

He's just proved it so many times.

So he hadn't had to think about Max as even being a proposition.

But now he's sort of has to.

Because Stella, even though he's being a bit arch in the press,

that they have to be aware that he's not out the way yet.

And he's a very different proposition.

The maths are what?

Seven races and three sprints.

So what is that?

Seven times 25 plus 24.

199.

Is that right?

120.

199 I think.

So there are 199 points on the table.

How do you add up to that?

You know, why can't I do that?

So I'm just saying that of course it's doable,

but I think a bigger factor for Max is going to be the fact that if Ferrari and Mercedes

can actually get their acts together and start creating a little bit of a buffer zone

between his genius and whatever McLaren can do.

That's I think probably probably a bigger factor as we see this is now.

But you make a massive point, which is Oscar's not worried about.

How far is behind then Max?

69 points behind Oscar.

And 31 now?

Is it 31?

If Oscar had two more DNFs in the next three races.

Suddenly it all looks very different.

This is the great thing about sport isn't it?

Yeah.

We had written this off as a two-horse race five races ago.

All of us.

It was which one's going to win.

We weren't even thinking about Max.

I love sport for that reason.

And isn't Mickey's aren't Red Bull just looking like Red Bull again?

If you look at Sonoda, he did not have a bad race.

No.

Finally.

They look slightly poorer today than they were on Sunday.

I suspect they'll come up with sales of fizzy pop.

50 million grid.

Well, at least that.

Yeah, I've got a question for you about the race.

It's a little question, a little question time.

How many drivers have finished every race in 2025 so far?

None.

One.

Who?

Who is it?

Okay.

This is a really good reaction.

This is a parable for the answer to that question.

Exactly.

The one Ruby ever thinks about is George Russell.

Yeah.

He finished every race this year.

Yeah.

And I thought it did.

It was clearly got the lurgy of something, probably COVID or something.

I suspect because there's a lot of it around.

You're not acting.

Yeah, because I've read that a couple of days ago and I thought,

I've got to really tease it out to make it like a thought about it.

So that was good acting.

Almost like your head.

Yeah.

Right.

Let's move on.

Yeah.

When do we, do we have another, another episode of when,

when, where's Horna going?

Because he's got his money now.

Yeah.

But I do know what everyone should want him.

I don't need Ferrari.

Fuck.

Yeah.

There's some people that should have him whether he'd go.

Yeah.

I think he wants equity but.

Ferrari.

Yeah.

When they don't, Ferrari win under British.

Yes.

That is all the fact.

That's all the data points we need.

That's all we've joined.

Oh we've solved with Ferrari.

Jerry's fluent in the talents as well.

I've heard those cip there.

They've all been like chameleons.

He wouldn't even know they weren't Italian they just turn up there and be like Dada,

Dada, Dada Dada, Dada, Dada.

That will be absolutely not.

I mean you know what,

our brilliant would it be if he went to Ferrari.

It would, I think Lewis will be out of the job

quite quickly.

But that's another conversation.

Yeah, you had to choose then Neil.

Right.

Yeah.

Okay, stop it. But all of you stop it. Silence in the ranks. Come on, I feel like Corporal James

now. Come on, center attention. Here we go. Can supercars have cup holders?

We asked the serious questions of our time on this podcast. I'm going to go straight to

Manish Ivoan's two cars, Panty. I think no, and I think it's a wait thing. I think a true supercar

is all about no extra weight. And I think even the 300 or 200 grams of some cup holder and

it's mechanism, the fact you've got to incorporate it onto the dash or the central pillar somewhere,

I think no, absolutely not. No supercars should have a cup holder. I think that's a very

supportive position. Chris Cooper. Of course it bloody can. Of course it bloody can.

And why not? You know, it's a car on a road and at some point, and I know Neil and I differ on

this because he doesn't like cup holders. It's one of the very few things he's negative about,

apart from all the other things he's negative about. And negative people. That's the only

thing I'm negative about. I hate those negative people. In monos. Yeah, there's Monial.

Monial cup holder addicts. They're in their cup holders. They're all negative.

Right. So I think supercar can have a cup holder because I just like a cup of tea,

I like a cup of tea on a long journey. If you're in your supercar, I don't really have a supercar.

If you want a supercar, you've got a long journey in the morning, best journey is from

first thing in the morning. You get up, make a cup of tea, put a little travel cup, put it in the

cup holder. The road is yours. Okay. Yes. There's an F80, you have a cup holder. You've driven one.

You said they're good about now. It doesn't have any questions. It's a very good question. I can't

remember. I'll have a look at some pictures I took. There's probably, actually, there's probably proves

a point there, man. It says ever. So we've got one yay, one yay. Let's see whether we have another

yay or no, we're miscliffed. No. No. For those of you who are miscliffed, there's a red button,

he holds up that says no one. You shouldn't fucking drink hot drinks in a car anyway. That is

correct. It's just pretend you're Italian. You go for a little coffee for 10 minutes and you get

back in your car. I agree with that. Meanwhile, with my cup of tea, it's different.

Have you cup of tea before you leave? I'll be late then. Get up earlier. I've been in.

Get up early. Don't be a lazy bastard. It doesn't matter how early you get, you want to get

up earlier. I do love the fact that on this point, Neil is an absolute purist. He's willing to

accommodate just about every other opinion, but the only thing he views life in ones and

nots is a true binary human. It's over the issue of drinking in cars. Your tears, cup holders,

behind them. Yeah, agree. Okay. Well, I don't have a casting vote here. I can only bring it back

to a draw. And I'm going to say something awful. I'm totally ambivalent about it. I just couldn't

care. It just makes no difference to me at all, because I think I've just lost interest in super

cars and hyper cars. I don't really care. Do you use the cup holder, though? I use the cup holder

in my yellow car daily, because it's my daily car. And I like coffee, and it's coffee all down

the dashboard. There's coffee marks that go from the cup holder into the glove box. There's a

pool of coffee in the glove box. I don't really, you know, I just want a bit of practicality.

One of the frustration of old cars is they don't have cup holders. I do find that annoying

something. So I don't really care. I suppose I fight. What I do like is when design teams

try and do something really funky with a cup holder. Like you go back to those old

sard cup holders where you'd press it, and it'd come out and it would sort of come out and swoop

down. You think that's clever. I thought it was 9-9-1. 9-9-1 was good. So there was so much

cleverness. I suppose every time you decided to reveal the cup holder, it gave you a warm glow.

And so now it's just a whole way your elbow should be comfortable. And I find that lazy,

unless you're an American SUV, where I do love the fact you can fit a seven litre gulp,

makes you up. But that does make me laugh. They did do an immensely good one, didn't they?

And that knew 9-6-3-S-P thing. Yes. That's like a giant big cup. Almost. It is a taking the

piss cup holder I think, doesn't it? But it looks quite good. But I don't like cup holders.

We know we're going to get you a cup holder, T-shirt. Do you know what I think we should do?

It's just Mr Cooper. I think what we should do is get somebody to design a thermos that you put

in the boot of your car. And it is a thermos, and it just has a drinking straw contraption.

And then no, no, no, I just think when you drive and have your tea, you can just suck on it,

like a formula one racing driver will never spill anywhere. It's out of the way. I think that's

what we should create. It's an absolute disaster with these drinks sack as well, and the racing cars

don't never bloody wear. It's fair to say. I do like a thermos. Oh, yeah. I own them. I never

use them. It's sort of a thing that is still in the 70s that I still want to use. Because it reminds

you of your mum, and it reminds you of Cumberford, which I would go let's get a thermos of hot water,

a bit of soup, and it reminds you of Cumberford. Ministrone soup. No, I'm going to take this one level

part here. Edo Stella, who worked for us. So Andrea Stella's son, he used to work for us every single

lunch. He had a thermos. You know what his mum would do? She'd make him fresh pasta, and he bought

that in his thermos. So he had what pasta for lunch every day that was homemade, the engineering

so that family to get a thermos pasta in a thermos, that's a strategy. It is, isn't it? I'm going to

write that down. Was it some spaghetti though? No, no, no, it was always like the penny or it was

fucking risotto. Come on, they'll think about it, man. No, it's a steak, actually. Big sausage.

Actually, I'm losing my, I'm losing my crew here. They just, there's a lot of disturbance in

the ranks. It's a board nation, I'd say. I go, as far as the insubordination, shut up a list

and all of you. Okay, here we go. Two car garage. The time has come to remove yourself from the finance

rat race. You don't want to work as much and the kids have left home. You now view the monthly

payments on your 488 GTB and M3 touring as gratuitous retirement beckons. You supposedly rent cars

because it frees up capital, but that argument is wearing thin now. So you want a sports car on a

faster state that will replace the newer models. Budget is 75 gram for both. A monthly payment

for your celebration drive to Italy and March. Is there a ward for this prudent new approach? I'm

going to Neil Clifford. Beautiful. This is lovely. This is, this is, this is real.

This is, it's, it's a bit too close to bloody reality. That's the biography for comfort, to be honest.

So many angles here, but you want a convertible. Now, as you get closer to 60,

which annoyingly I am. I don't feel any younger than 30 years ago until you look in the mirror.

You look in the mirror like fuck, but actually inside, I feel 35. It's really, this, I suppose this

is just what, what getting old is all about. But as, as you do that, you tend to in the lucky position

that I am that I, you know, I've got, I enjoy cars and I've got some good cars. You move closer

towards this badge. Yeah. He's holding up a Bentley badge so those of you that can't see. You know,

this, this 15 grand Bentley Continental GT, which is actually caused me all sorts of bloody problems.

But anyway, that's another, that's another podcast. It now works. And it's now got ties that aren't

17 years old. You, you move away from the sort of aggressive Porsche 911 thing. And I suppose this

is, I'm on my way, hopefully not with Jaguar. I know that was my analogy last time. I'm on my

way to the cemetery. And from Porsche on the route to the cemetery becomes Bentley. And you think,

oh, it's just lovely this car. And, and so I would buy Bentley to cut a long story short.

I Bentley, I say this car too often. I get criticised for it, but I have a, I'll have a W12

Continental GT C, isn't it? Is the C with, yeah, with the C. There's a lovely one. Obviously we're on

Claren, Claren, classic, aren't we? It's where we're buying all our bloody cars. And it's a blue one.

Here it is. It's upside down. It's around, you know, blue. It's in the auction. I've been very,

I've been very, how many days left on it? No, pre-bids. Oh, Neil, you have the car. The

car and classic people would be happy. If you do the filter thing by newest first, all the lovely

ones you can anticipate coming up. I don't do that. What was that? May I just say, the vendor summarises,

the car has been lovingly cared for. The mileage is very low for a car of this magnitude,

175,000 miles. It belongs to someone who would enjoy a beautiful and exhilarating drive,

particularly, I'm always going to say a hand job, particularly on a summer's day, and it needs to be

with someone who will continue to look after this very special and unique, apart from all the

other 500 versions of the same car, given this very low mileage anyway. So that's going to be

15, 9, 9, 5. And then so I've got, well, I've got quite a lot of money left. And well, no, it might

be 20 as a convertible, mind you. But in so, fast estate, I've found my old RS6 estate.

If it's not mine, this is exactly the same as mine. There aren't many good wood green ones.

It's a really good, let me just take a quick picture of it. It's

as shit cars go, this is a good version of it, because it's green,

and it's on car and classics. It's in the classifiers, actually, it's not on the auction.

It's an absolutely lovely green. It's not metallic. It's got a bit of blue in it. It's

sort of brooster, but a bit lighter. In fact, almost a bit better than brooster annoyingly.

Darker than Irish, shit car, actually, to be honest. But it's fine. 20 grams, you bid a 18.

It's like a boomerang. I think I've owned this car four times. I'm not going to buy it again.

Hopefully someone else will buy it. It looks great, but it's shit.

Oh, but next week, Neil Clipper will almost certainly be the owner of that green.

Not bad there. I think in terms of downsizing, that's not bad. Managing the 40 grand left.

Well, you'll need it for the fucking headlights on the GTC, like Manish, what are you going to do

in your downsizing? So I was thinking the same thing, the same age as Neil, 58. I can see this

coming. And I was thinking for the sports car, maybe I wouldn't really go for a convertible at

this tender age in my life. I'd like something that's a date. I think they come off Manish.

Well, exactly. Am I too big? Am I fly off? So do you remember when I say that?

I say that. Your hair is too bloody good. I mean, it's easier on hair, can't everybody think of it?

No, no, good hair. It's like landows. Well, you know, ever. So I was thinking that I'd like a car

that made me think that I was young again, a car from my past that was a fast car that was

where you're going. So there's only one and my stepmother didn't have this exact one, but I found this

M535. Yeah. I just love that. There's just something about the E28 for me. It was just such an

elegant five series. And to get an M version of that, I think I had a quick look. This is a pre-bid.

I think you'd probably get it for around 25,000 pounds. It's a bit leaky. It's from Italy. It's a

beautiful color. It's black with black. And I think I think that car would probably see you out. It's

such a good car. They're so well made. And they were pretty mechanical, but they had those

fantastic little, do you remember? They had the trip computer and the little dashboard and you

pressed it and all the buttons would come out. Yes, the brake light, warning light.

All of the check. All of the check, exactly. Well, the first time I saw that, so I'm going to go for

a little brace of BMW today, which I normally do. But I think the second one has to be a bit more

modern, and it has to be pretty reliable. And I like the state cars. I think this is a bit

batmobili, but it makes me feel young. Look at this. It's a three series. Move it along the

bit. Oh, M3. Okay, that. It's actually listed at 48,000 pounds. I know it's got the tinted

glass. I think it's an M3. It's not an M3, because it's not got vertical grills, has it?

No, you're right. It's a 340. It is a 340. It's a 340. It's a bad looking car, anyway.

It does say M340 on it, but... Yeah, yeah, M340, but it's not, yeah, M3. It's only got 11,000 miles

on it. So you would, you know, 50,000 pounds worth of car. I think that would also see you out.

So you've got one that you could drive and you remember being a teenager in it. And the other one,

it's just just a gorgeous thing. And also, the reason I had questioned it,

you've downsized. In a version, you've gone to M3, 340. And I think that's quite often

that's the first thing you do. You think, I like what I've got. I like the way the cabin is.

I just, and I don't really care about being seen in the really fancy one. I'll just take the

one below and I'll earn it for cash. That's often the, that's the contract, isn't it? I'll take the

one below. And I don't mind the fact that people might think I've somehow fallen hard times,

because every month I'm saving myself a grand. Chris Cooper. I've done something similar to

Manish. So I've kind of gone back to my childhood when there weren't really fast mistakes, but the

closest thing to it was one of those. It's the twin plenum. And it's sold. Got to have been

in the wrong page. It said sold straight away. Yes, no, it's not the nutty one. No, it's not.

It's sold. This is on Khan Classic. This is on Khan Classic. The auction starts on Friday

this week. So when this comes out, why would we ever doubt you? Sorry.

No, because you, because you always should do really. That's kind of the fastest state.

That's the fastest state. And then for a bit of this is a big and beefy British bouncy

brace of things. And the other one I'd have would be, and this starts sometime next week.

One of those. And the end for 100 advantage. I think that would come

both of those would be a low 75k manual. Definitely a manual. Yeah. Oh no, this is automatic.

I'd have to check again. Oh shit, you don't want that. I had two seconds of this last time. So

I would probably, that's a very nice car. We were saying that. It's a very nice car, probably.

Maybe not for me. As you work, it ended that bit. No, I'm moving this on. Can somebody just

meet Chris for a minute and we'll just carry on here just to protect what is a valuable agreement

and it's like that we have. I do really like that. Yeah, it's a lovely car. The right wheels.

Yes, wrong gearbox. I'm getting old. I'm getting old. My left leg and those knees. Yeah, that's

the one. That's the one. How are you going auto then? Yeah, I'm going to go auto. Yeah. I'm going for

right. I've got 75 grand. I proposed this and I thought what's the most awkward sum of money I

can give and 75 is really awkward because it's not really giving you access to what you want and

I think that's why this is vaguely realistic because I think the most important questions we ask

ourselves aren't easily answered and this one is not easy answered. So I'm going to go first of all

with I need something reliable and that can be run daily and I don't have to worry about because

that's what the M3 did. So I'm going to go for a V10 M5 because they are incredibly reliable vehicles.

This has nothing going on with the member. This one has even been treated. I've run one. I can tell you

mine has run faultlessly for the last nine months on some axle stands. So this one has been treated

as they all have to the mysterious new engine fitted by and it was fitted by BMW dealer.

What's that? Was it white? Alpine vice that hasn't the Silverstone color. Alpine vice.

Come on. Alpine white. It's good in that. 2010 white saloon. It's a cool car.

Heated rear seat. It's a very late car. It's done a hundred and a bit thousand miles but it's

one of its second engine and the bearings have been done on that engine. So I reckon that will run.

Checking did. And also it's very frugal so you're going to save money on fuel as well over the M3.

The next car I've chosen might be familiar to one among us because I've been looking at this

bloody thing for ages. It's been lurking on the internet and it is a Ferrari 456 but it's in this

beautiful rest and it's a sort of dark red. It's not a burgundy and there's a hint of our engine

there as well. That's the cheaper manual version, isn't it? That's the automatic. This is an

automatic. It's a really lovely car and it's been lurking for a while. Now it's an auction and I have

to say if I had the resources I'd be buying it I've sort of over the manual thing. I know they're

better as manuals but then they're twice as much money and how are you going to use it really? I've

not heard of managed once say I wish mine was a manual. So just drive in central London. It took me

40 minutes to get the car from its central London home to a bit of motorway where it could get up

into third. It's absolutely manning. I have to say I just keep looking at this car. It's being

the cell for a while now and it's just a beautiful car for us. I know but I can't

I'm not in there. You can put together your shrapnel strategy. My shrapnel strategy. Look at

it. It's got a porno interior as well. It's quite nice. I could do my shrapnel strategy and that's

the best that I could do really of those two cars. Let's do some music. We've gone on quite long

today so we need to probably wrap this up champs so we'll let's go up to a bit of music.

That's my daughter. Sorry. There we go. Your clip. Could it be easy please? I heard a song for the

first time yesterday. I was a little fashiony thing. Doing my work thing yesterday. Black Sabbath

which I'm not really a black Sabbath expert but planet caravan. You know what I've never heard

the song before and you know when you hear a song for the first time and you're busy

shazamming and you're like, my god, this sounds this is great and it really is great.

Okay. I'm listening to that straight away after this. Yeah. Manage. Simple minds. Don't you

forget about me? Oh, not that. 80s anthem. Yeah. Fantastic tune. Quick scoop up.

This song this week Matthew is dedicated to my chums down in Falmouth who run that amazing

powerboat that I've talked about before. Eastwood racing, Gary Eastwood, Tom Gardner,

everybody down there Eastwood racing. They've got this amazing motor garage workshop

that they just do all kinds of mad stuff and they run the boat out of there. Last time I was there

they were putting a Maserati rear wheel drive drive train into an Alfa 75. I mean they're mad people

that go to the ring. They take this off there. They're one of us. They've just won the UK

offshore powerboat racing championship with this extraordinary thing. Wow. Put a picture up.

It's got a twin 900 horsepower big box supercharged V8 engines.

They go from ports from down to Plymouth and about or on the other way. They've just won the UK

championship. Well done Chaps and therefore for you, my song this week is Speedboat by Lloyd

Cole and the commotions. There you go. There you go. My wormhole on my last long drive was

Prince who I don't listen to enough of. He's probably the most talented musician.

Well I always like picking ones that people think are low rent and that shows that I'm not

one of the kind you're sent to. So I'm going to choose Alphabet Street because actually when

the drums kick in Alphabet Street they almost blow them out. The doors of your speakers

is absolute outrageous. It's a great tune though and I'm yeah go go and get lost in a wormhole

of Prince over the next week on yours. That must be 40 years old now. Yeah. That's not.

Genius. Absolutely. Very much to to Neil to manage and to Chris Cooper. I enjoyed that very much

if it was a bit chaotic at times we apologize. We don't mean to speak over each other but we can't

all sit in the same room because we have busy lives. So you had to put us up with our chaos.

We look forward to knowing you next week.

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F1 at Baku & ‘that’ Lando photoshoot… | The Car Podcast #55

About this episode

Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Maserati Gran Turismo

Ferrari Ff

Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Beetle

Bmw 8

BMW M3

Toyota Prius

Mclaren F1

Ford T Ford

Porsche 911

BMW E28

BMW M340

BMW M5

Ferrari 456

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