From Mini Cooper to M998 Humvee: Conrad’s Patriotic Car Journey and Family Driving Memories
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Jan 21, 2025
From Mini Cooper to M998 Humvee: Conrad’s Patriotic Car Journey and Family Driving Memories
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Car
Honda Prologue
The Honda Prologue is a new electric SUV that Honda is planning to release. It's designed to be eco-friendly and is part of a trend where car companies are making more electric vehicles.
Car
Rolls-Royce Phantom
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a very fancy and expensive car that is made for people who want the best of the best. It has a super comfortable interior and is known for being very powerful and smooth to drive.
Term
stick shift
A stick shift is a type of car transmission that you have to change gears yourself using a lever. It can make driving feel more involved and fun, but it requires more skill than an automatic transmission.
Car
Mini Cooper S
The Mini Cooper S is a sporty version of the Mini Cooper, which is a small car known for being fun to drive. It has a more powerful engine and is often chosen by people who enjoy a lively driving experience.
Car
Mini Countryman
The Mini Countryman is a small SUV that looks like a bigger version of the classic Mini car. It's designed to be fun to drive while offering more room for passengers and cargo.
Part
valve cover gasket
The valve cover gasket helps keep oil inside the engine and stops it from leaking out. If it wears out, you might see oil leaking from the top of the engine.
Part
motor mount
The motor mount holds the engine in place and keeps it from moving around too much. It also helps reduce vibrations you feel inside the car.
Part
tail light assembly
The tail light assembly is the part of the car at the back that lights up when you brake or turn. It's important for letting other drivers know what you're doing.
Part
strut top mounts
Strut top mounts are parts that hold the struts in place on a car. They help the car's suspension work smoothly over bumps and turns.
Term
depreciated
Depreciation is how much a car loses its value as it gets older. For example, a new car is worth less after a few years because it's used and has more miles on it.
Term
transmission
The transmission is what helps your car go forward or backward. It connects the engine to the wheels and can be either a manual one that you shift yourself or an automatic one that does it for you.
Car
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry is a type of car that is very popular because it's dependable and easy to drive. Many people choose it because it gets good gas mileage and has a lot of space inside for passengers and luggage.
Term
reliable
When we say a car is reliable, it means it works well and doesn't break down often. You can count on it to get you where you need to go without problems.
Term
good on gas
If a car is 'good on gas', it means it doesn't use a lot of fuel, so you can drive farther without needing to fill up often. This helps save money on gas.
Term
road trips
A road trip is when you travel a long way by car, often for fun. People usually plan stops to see sights or take breaks during the journey.
Term
steering wheel
The steering wheel is what you hold onto when you drive. It helps you turn the car left or right.
Car
Mini Coopers
The Mini Cooper is a small, stylish car that is fun to drive and easy to park. It's known for its cute design and zippy performance, making it a favorite among city drivers.
Car
M998 Humvee
The M998 Humvee is a tough military truck used by the U.S. Army. It's built to handle rough environments and can carry troops and equipment.
Term
up armor
'Up armor' means adding extra armor to a vehicle to make it safer from bullets and explosions, especially for military trucks.
Term
soft top
A soft top is a type of car roof that is made from soft materials like fabric. It can be opened up to let in fresh air, making it fun to drive outside.
Car
Detroit Diesel V8
The Detroit Diesel V8 is a powerful engine made by GM that is often used in trucks. It's known for being strong and reliable.
Term
PMCS
PMCS is a way to check that everything in a vehicle is working properly before you drive it. It helps prevent breakdowns by catching problems early.
Part
winch
A winch is a tool that helps pull things, like a heavy object or another vehicle. It's often found on trucks and off-road vehicles to help in tough situations.
Car
Ford M151
The Ford M151 is a military vehicle that looks similar to a Jeep. It was used by the army for many years and is known for being tough and capable off-road.
Car
Lamborghini Cheetah
The Lamborghini Cheetah is a rare vehicle that was made as a prototype in 1977. It was designed for military purposes and has a unique look.
Term
V12 engine
A V12 engine has twelve cylinders and is shaped like a 'V'. It's powerful and smooth, making it popular in fast cars.
Term
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive means that all four wheels of the car can move at the same time. This helps the car grip the road better, especially on rough terrain.
Car
Lamborghini LM 002
The Lamborghini LM 002 is a big, powerful SUV that was made a long time ago. It's special because it combines luxury with off-road capabilities, making it very unique and sought after by collectors.
Car
Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach is a famous sports car that looks very unique with its sharp angles and doors that open upwards. It was popular in movies and is loved by car enthusiasts.
Car
Delorean DMC-12
The DeLorean is a unique car that has a shiny metal body and doors that open upwards. It's famous for being in a popular movie about time travel.
Car
Tesla Cybertruck
The Cybertruck is a unique-looking electric truck made by Tesla. It has a very different shape compared to regular trucks and is made from strong materials.
Car
Ford GT
The Ford GT is a fast sports car made by Ford. It looks like a famous race car from the 1960s called the GT40, which won many races. The new GT is built to honor that racing history.
Concept
GT40
The GT40 is a famous race car made by Ford in the 1960s. It was built to win big races, especially against a company called Ferrari, and is known for its unique shape and speed.
LIVE
You have found the podcast that's balanced and rotated but never aligned.
It's leaking a little from the oil pan, yet still overflowing.
The podcast whose timing belt needs a little more notches, but the extended warranty will
always get you to the mile post.
The podcast where sheet metal gets metaphysical, where a horse play takes a backseat to horsepower.
The podcast that sits at the corner of memory lane and nostalgia avenue.
You're about to take the permanent detour, we have no intention of fixing.
You have found to all the cars I've loved before.
Your podcast where every car tells a story, every machine has a soul, and every car has
its culture.
How do you like that?
Good, right?
What do you think?
That was good.
I hired more marketing people.
We had a dozen marketing people and I hired a dozen more and that's what they came
up with.
Dig it.
Hey, as long as you're paying the bills, that works for me.
You got it.
Yeah, I'm going to pay them in Bitcoin with my very virtual currency because I have virtually
none of it.
All right.
Well, welcome to the board.
To be honest, right, for the listeners, you came up with that and that was really
good.
Oh, your sweetheart.
Thank you.
Well, I think I'm going to pay all the marketing people in Doja Coin, which I should
have in the cushions of my Doja couch.
But how are you doing, partner?
How are you doing this afternoon?
Doing great.
Great to be back here with you.
Amen.
We have a very special and unique guest and this ridiculous shirt I'm wearing is going
to give a little hint.
So if you're seeing this on YouTube, we're also going to talk about that in a minute.
Little bit of a tip to, or a tell, sorry, a tell is this is to today's guest.
So hey, we have a theme, we're going to start having themes on the shows.
So today's theme is what car serves you when you serve your country.
Give it to you one more time.
Today's theme, what car serves you when you serve your country?
Today's very special guest.
It's going to give us a little insight on that.
Before we get into calls to action, talk a bit about future guests, people we have
queued up in the pipeline as always.
We are, everybody we meet, hand out a business card, whether we go into a car
show, football, tailgate, whether we're going to a cars and coffee, or reconnecting
with our old friends online, high school friends, or auto parts store.
What's that?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Oh, check this out.
I didn't even tell you this stuff.
I was, I got, I was having my car serviced and the woman ringing me up was just so
pleasant and nice.
She was new there.
So we struck up a conversation.
I said, oh, you must be new.
You like it here?
Yeah.
Come out of my way to go to this branch of, of garage here and so we just started chatting.
I said, well, I hope you like it and I hope this is more to your liking and I'm sorry
you didn't like the branch where you worked out before, but I handed her a card, a business
card with the, the infre, QR codes for the podcast, et cetera.
I said, hey, you know, I, we co-host a podcast about car culture and love to
have you listen.
What do you think?
Well, new listeners come from everywhere out in listener land.
Who knows?
You might have to be a guest.
It's not that hard.
Anyway, future guest speaking of Kelly is set to cut.
Let's see a future guest here, Wayne and even Kelly's folks at some point down
the line chatting with them during a football tailgate.
So hey, if, if you know me, want to be on the show, let me know.
It's easy.
Love calls to action.
You want me to roll through these real quick?
I mean, okay.
So I will say Facebook tends to be our best vector.
It's how we connect with a lot of classmates from long ago.
A lot of the real car collectors, Doug has known for a long time.
Okay.
So check us out on Facebook.
You can get to it by way of our link tree.
We're going to talk about that in a moment.
Doug continues to pump out posts from our Instagram posting and we're standing up a YouTube
presence.
You want to talk about that for a minute, partner?
Sure.
So YouTube, as we've learned and most people know is the second largest search engine
in the world, probably second to Google, but a parent company, of course.
We have put our RSS feed on YouTube and magically without even telling anybody about it, we started
getting some listens.
So super happy about that.
We are working on video content.
It might just be some clips.
We're figuring that out.
Christian has a great shirt on, which I hope to have the video of him.
It's a hint.
It's a hint.
Who?
You have to check us out on YouTube.
Yeah.
So we've been at this for six months and we should have been thinking about YouTube a little
bit earlier, but quite frankly, this was going to be a little personal project that Doug and
I did.
We didn't realize that six months later, thousands upon thousands of downloads and we're
heard around the world.
So thank you for making it happen.
Let's keep the inertia going.
Tell a friend also, link tree, if you can't remember where all of our press
presences lie in the ether webs, check out link tree.
Link tree is where we post all kind of a directory of how you can get to all of our online presences.
Link tr.ee slash cars love.
You've seen them before.
Right.
Say it again.
L-I-N-K-T-R.ee slash cars love dot com.
So that's our link tree and Doug's done some, oh, not, not dot com, not dot com.
Sorry.
Oh yeah.
Link tr.ee slash cars loved.
That is a wonderful correction.
I retract.
You said it right the first time.
Okay.
I'll say it one more.
I'm going to write this time.
Link tr.ee slash cars loved and we're moving on to the next thing.
Beautiful.
All right.
So prologue here, before we get into the show, I was listening to an interview
with Bruce Springsteen.
There's a new Bruce Springsteen documentary on Hulu.
We would love to have him on, by the way.
If anybody out there in Listenerland hasn't in with Bruce Springsteen, let us know.
Anyway, complaining thought, part of which this documentary was filmed at the See Here
Now Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, right next door to Freehold, New Jersey, where
he grew up.
And I was actually at the See Here Now Festival.
Unbelievable.
Mind-blowing.
I saw Cool in the Gang, Black Crows, Norah Jones, Grace Potter, I can't even remember
all the acts that we saw.
But Bruce Springsteen was obviously from that area put on just an amazing three and a half
hour show.
He was the last act on Sunday night.
But he had this quote that I thought was wonderful in this interview.
He's doing the press junket for the documentary.
And he said, things collect soul as they age.
Guitars, people, and cars were kind of his top examples and I just thought that
was beautiful.
Things collect soul as they sit around.
So things that are vintage mean more than something that is new.
That was kind of his point.
I certainly agree with the musical instruments, the people, and the cars part of it.
I don't know.
Anyway.
Well, I think anything you can attach a memory to, right, is that thing happen.
I mean, it could be, I'm just going to get sentimental.
It could be the mark above this doorway in my house where my son's jumper used to be.
That mark is still there.
If I had to re-paint the house or re-paint that room, I'm not sure I, not sure what
I would do with that mark.
So it's pretty cool.
I like that.
I like that.
Yeah, for sure.
So here's today's icebreaker.
I'm a toss over to you.
What do you listen to, Doug, when you're in the car?
So kind of bringing some of these things together.
I listen to this great podcast called to all the cars I've loved before.
Oh, never heard of it.
Yeah.
I love listening to myself talk.
No, being in the IT industry, or as it says on our profile on my bio on our blog,
I am a network plumber, aka network engineer.
So I listen to a lot of tech podcasts and in fact, just going back super quick,
I was fortunate enough to be on a kind of tech focused podcast before I was on my
own podcast with you.
So that really got me going.
It was awesome and awesome experience.
But there truly is a podcast out there for everyone to listen to.
Yeah, good point and well said, I think.
And this this has dawned on me over the past few months,
but really the past few days of realization, I think it's almost
this might be a little much, but kind of TV for the next generation.
Everybody's so busy with this phone in their pocket.
You're able to take the world with you and, you know, you can listen to the same
song and over what do you listen to when you're in the car?
Well, you know, I like to listen to music.
I like to listen to talk radio, local news, especially.
But podcasts where you can really have a conversation in today.
Today's frenetic soundbite economy where things happen so quickly.
Just to hear a 40 or 45 minute discussion on something interesting,
refreshing, thought provoking, make you laugh.
I think it's the wave of the future.
And look at these podcasts are being sold to larger media outlets for a ton
of money, a ton of them.
So yeah, I very much agree with that.
So anyway, let us pivot to today's very special guest who and if you can't
see, I'm wearing a shirt that says super dad because today's son today.
Yeah, today's guest is my son Conrad the old and yeah, the oldest of my three boys.
How are you doing this afternoon, pal?
Gentlemen, I am doing very well.
Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you son.
Good to see you son.
And he is he is broadcasting live from his college dorm room
somewhere in the mid Atlantic.
I will let him share to what any degree possible.
He he wants to about himself.
But my shirt shouldn't say super dad.
It should say proud dad, very proud of this young man ran off to the big city
from from Northwest Florida to strike out on his own doing very well for himself.
So he's a student.
He is a car lover and we're going to get into that.
You're going to love his his dream car and just wait till we get you there.
But he is also a soldier in the U.S. Army.
He is with the Army Reserves and also will be a tie in to his favorite car here, too.
So before we launch into the cars, I'm going to toss the icebreaker to you, Conrad.
What do you listen to when you're in the car?
Oh, I mean, I wish you shared these with me beforehand.
I did.
Well, we don't have to put you on the spot.
We could talk about it. No, no, no, no, it's OK.
I will answer. I do listen to.
Music that let's see.
I don't know. I'm kind of.
I like I like New Wave. I'm a big New Wave fan.
I like I like since just since stuff.
I like the sound of the 80s, but like the alternative
of the alternative sound, not like a commercial eye over commercial aspect.
Well, you know, there's a.
Yeah, I mean, you may not feel the same way
because you're from the 80s and, you know, obviously they'll bring back nostalgia
of your your childhood and whatnot, but it doesn't mean much for me.
But I love the alternative 80s stuff, everything.
Some mainstream, but mostly mostly kind of different stuff.
I don't know. Well, let me ask you this.
What would be an example?
Sorry, sorry, Christian.
He's peaked my interest when he said alternative 80s.
What's an example of a band that you like that falls in that category?
You better answer quick, Conrad, before I jump in.
OK, OK, good God involves you.
He's like craft work.
Craft. Oh, that's back to the 70s, man.
But yeah, oh, yeah, you're right.
You're right. You're right. Yeah, that it is 70s.
Yeah. And into the 80s. Yeah.
They they persist. OK, it counts then.
It counts then. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Let me ask you this, Conrad.
Does. Well, OK, Conrad, I'm going to ask you.
I want you to think about.
Does your musical choice change
based on your mood or the day you've had?
But before we get into that,
here's something that I totally forgot until Doug
kind of pulled us into the.
Pulled us into the tunnel of.
Bands from the 80s.
The band, Cheap Trick, is important to me
because Cheap Trick was my first concert
at the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair.
I'm going to say in 1984, something like that.
Great. Went with with a pal of mine.
My ears, I think, bled from standing
right in front of the speaker.
Unbelievable. And then as I aged, I thought to myself,
well, there's no way Cheap Trick.
There's no way Cheap Trick that has to be a trick of the memory.
There's no way that Cheap Trick played
the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair in 1984.
Too small a venue.
They were a super band in the 70s and 80s.
You know, there were right.
Surrender, that song is everywhere.
The flame, beautiful, beautiful, mighty wings.
Oh, yeah, from Top Gun.
Very good. Yeah.
It's just a brilliant band.
I mean, powerful with the ballads make you cry,
make you want to punch a hole through the wall.
Beautiful stuff.
But but anyway, I went on Google and I I looked.
Hey, when did Cheap Trick or did Cheap Trick play
the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair?
And it verified that in November, whatever of 1984,
they played, they played there.
Fantastic. So anyway,
fast forward to Conrad's being,
I don't know, this must have been a few years ago
before he graduated and went off and to to strike out.
This was in 2022, I think.
Or I think it's 2022.
Yeah. Yeah, 22.
You may be right.
Couple of years ago as we were emerging from covid.
Anyway, Cheap Trick was on tour, I believe in 2020
and had to cut their tour short.
And they ended up firing everything back up
a couple of years after the fact and started to add tour dates
that weren't even on the original docket.
So I took Conrad and Palomine Tony.
Tony's going to be on the podcast.
Oh, he was a tailgate with Kelly me this past week.
And Tony's going to be on the podcast in a few few weeks here.
Excellent.
Yeah. And in Cheap Trick was in Biloxi.
So I took Conrad and Tony.
We had the best time.
I was so happy.
It was just a magical night for me.
So I remember you telling me about it.
I'm still waiting for my shirt.
Cheap Trick shirt.
So the whole point of this is that my first real deal
concert was Cheap Trick, as was my eldest son.
So, you know, a super band, super persisting, you know,
40 years on or whatever it turns out to be.
But if anybody knows Cheap Trick, would love to have them on the podcast.
I might faint. I'll even wear my Cheap Trick shirts.
Hold on. Hold on. I got something. I got something.
I'll be right back. OK. OK. OK.
You have to hurry. OK. Sorry.
I'm rambling. I'm rambling.
All of our producers are jumping on me at the same time.
So that's OK. Conrad, let's get into the first car.
Here's the band shirt that.
That. Yeah. On demand.
I love this on demand.
Yeah, I went on the back here or all the all the cities that they're touring in.
And if you look closely, Biloxi is not on there.
Yeah, because they cut it short.
That's a very good point.
I don't remember when they cut the tour short, but Biloxi is not on there.
So we went in, you know, tickets and saw the show and bought a ton of merch.
I have a Cheap Trick hat.
I don't think I can find.
But all of the dates from, you know,
they're just like fictional dates.
They never happen, which I think is great.
It's kind of a phantom tour date shirt.
Anyway, good stuff.
It's a work a lot.
I wear my shirt all the time.
Oh, OK, I'm rambling. I need to stop.
Let's get into the cars. Conrad, my son, what was your first car?
My first car was a 2000s
mini Cooper convertible navy blue with Union Jack review mirrors.
His fantastic car.
It was a fantastic word.
You get that love that kind of bits and pieces.
Oh, it was a gift bestowed upon me by my wonderful mother and father
who bought it off of a friend of my mother's because she was moving away abroad.
So.
I got that.
Yeah, I got that car.
I must have got it in twenty twenty two or three.
And that makes it late, late twenty twenty two,
like November twenty twenty two or so.
And that car, that car
plus a beach area equals very much fun because you can drop the top.
And it's so nice outside all the time here in Florida.
And, you know, I would just drop the top and I would drive down the,
you know, drive down beach and I would just, you know,
play my play my music loudly and be a hooligan.
And well, we don't have to talk about that.
Yeah, I know Doug wants to get in here.
I'm going to be quiet and let them know about it.
Well, I have a I have a great story about that.
That particular car that you had, you probably don't know, Conrad,
but super quick, yeah, having a convertible as your first car,
living in a warm place, man, you couldn't do any better.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm not jumping ahead on what your dream car is.
But will you own a convertible again?
I mean, I would like I would like to.
Yes, but also major hassle.
OK, and as a second car, major as a second car, as a second car.
Yes, but, you know, so many moving parts.
It's so mechanical, you know, practically, you know, the car I have now,
it doesn't have a sunroof, let alone a drop top.
And it's so so simple, something you don't have to worry about.
Yes, and it's sort of being just fine.
Yep. Convertibles are a great second car.
That is true. That's true.
They're a total hassle.
Also, favorite car I've ever owned.
Yep. I'm with you.
I've had many convertibles.
So real quick story about the year.
Mini Cooper is when Liz got that car, I remember going to your parents'
house in and I went for a drive in it.
She let me drive it.
Well, and behold, I to all the cars I've loved before,
I ended up ordering one of those,
but I ended up getting the Cooper S with a stick shift and, you know,
X number of months before I broke my ankle, left ankle.
And that car was not too much fun sitting in traffic with ankle problems.
So
a short short version is I didn't own that car very long, sadly.
But I do I do remember the origins of that car.
And actually,
you know, we're talking about family and friends and car stories, right?
It actually loops back to your parents, Liz, and then you.
Wow. I don't know that story.
Yeah.
Yep. It's a story.
Christian, you remember maybe.
I do indeed, absolutely.
I didn't know that we were the inspiration for that.
But I know you've owned several minis, though.
I thought is that right or wrong?
Yeah, I had a countryman, but not a convertible.
But yeah, and it was funny.
I caught up with Liz, the original owner
many years, many years ago.
And I said, hey, do you still have that?
What happened to that mini Cooper?
She's like, oh, I still drive it.
So I had gone through.
I don't know how many cars between then and then between that time.
Maybe 10, maybe eight, I don't know.
And Liz still driving the same car.
And then it got passed down to Conrad.
It's pretty awesome.
She's the best.
She's the best.
But then something happened to that car, right?
Well, OK, yeah, yeah, yeah, a couple of things real quick.
Boy, perfect segue.
Wasn't expecting the softball lobbed my way.
So Conrad joined the Army.
And for those of you who don't know,
you go to basic training for two and a half months
where he went, did well and then went to his advanced infantry training,
where I don't know if he can really talk much about what he did or if it's
classified, cool stuff, I will tell you.
And as the car sat, the worst thing for a car to do is sit.
So I started to drive it and I really started to like it.
Should you steal your son's first car?
A little bit of a party fell, but more borrow.
It needs it more than you do.
It needs it more than you do.
Amen. Yeah.
And it started to disintegrate poor thing.
It is old now.
I mean, this is 20 years going on.
But OK, so I went to I pay a few hundred bucks for the dealership.
I bring it in and say, look, here's what I think the car needs.
I want to work up.
I want you to run some tests, get me what you have.
And and so I have I somehow and I'm holding up this little sheaf
of paper here, stapled together all the little reports that they ran.
Blah, blah, blah, multi points.
And I just thought this was funny.
So I'm just to run through this real quick.
Here's what the car needed.
If I was if if, well, here's let's just say here's the car needed.
Valve cover gasket, Zollan writing from the many place here.
Three hundred eighty eight bucks, passenger side, motor mount.
All right, let's find five seventy eight.
Do you need that? OK.
Blah, blah, blah and past your tail light assembly.
It just had completely disintegrated.
This could have gotten one off of the motor's top strut top mounts left
and right front twelve hundred but twelve hundred fifty bucks.
Struts are not cheap.
OK, oh, what do you have all that work done?
No, no, no, oh, I actually didn't follow because the car.
Yeah, I cut the car.
The cars, I mean, we're only in the car for a couple of grand.
Yeah, it had depreciated over time.
And this I tell you, because the last line item on here just made me laugh out loud.
I said, well, if I just want a new transmission for this car,
how much would it be?
And they came back, it says, I'm going to say about, oh,
ten thousand dollars, ten thousand one hundred thirty six dollars and eighty four
cents for a mini transmission, which I just thought that's I think that's
three times it was paid for it.
And yeah, I don't think I'm going to put that in the the put that amount
of money into this disintegrating car.
So we sold the car and we got kind of had something more reliable,
reliable, reliable, reliable.
OK, and that's what he's driving right now.
And I'm going to let Doug handle that in a minute,
but there's an interesting code or a post script to the story.
We the car was sold to someone who works where I work in the exact.
I work on this here.
We're in tech for a financial institution, very big blue chip place.
And this person parks right near where I park.
It is the most interesting thing.
And I saw it come to work a few times and I thought, what is that person doing here?
Interviewing or what?
And they're on roughly the same schedule I am in Park, nearly the same place I do.
This the ten thousand person campus where.
It's just it was just kind of incredible, but it's neat to see it in the garage.
Anyway, all right.
Change hands at all.
Was that the person it was sold to from from us or was it change hands?
Point I that I don't know that I really don't think I could tell.
But this is shortly thereafter.
So I know also the top stopped working shortly before you left.
The top just stopped working.
That broke my heart. OK.
Yeah, exactly.
All right, Doug, you want to take it away from here as it moves the next car.
Yeah. So Comrade Moody.
Well, first, he went off to basic training and infantry school, I believe.
Well, hold on.
I would like to issue a very slight correction here.
Yes, I'm not infantry.
That's not what I do in the military at all.
I'm not in the infantry.
The acronym for AIT is advanced individual training.
It's just a military version of your job school.
It's where you go to learn your specific like a speciality.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
OK. Sorry.
Now you're fine. You're fine.
Yeah, beautiful. Thank you.
It's good that your dad and I know that.
So yeah.
So you were moving.
I remember your dad telling me that they wanted you to have a more reliable car,
safer car, something with some less hassle.
Yeah. Yeah.
Something maybe a little more reliable, something with some heft to it, if you will.
And so what did you end up getting?
I ended up with a car that belonged to a friend of
my mother's or co-worker or something like that.
I ended up with a 2002 Toyota Camry in white.
Yeah, yeah, that's it.
A white 2002 Toyota Camry and that is the car I have to this day.
It is a actually I don't like it more, but it's a much better car for me
for my purposes than the convertible was.
I mean, it's like my it can carry so much stuff in it.
It's so reliable. It's good on gas.
It's actually great on gas.
I've done entire road trips in a tank.
It's, you know, it's not flashy, but it's so useful.
It handles so well, the steering wheel is very easy to turn.
I mean, when you turn a steering wheel on the
on the Mini Cooper, the steering wheel was so difficult to turn.
It was it was a laborious thing to do.
But you know, it was so easy to turn BMW owned it.
So that's the the German tuning of that car.
So yeah, yeah, this Japanese car, though,
it's a good observation, the wheel like a glide so easy to turn.
It's so it's so maneuverable.
You don't have to fight it. I just like that a lot.
You know, and it's, you know, and we have a, you know, I have a modern kind
of I have a modern, you know, radio installed so it has Apple car play.
So I play all of my my old my old music on there.
And new music and new music.
Yeah, it is a very in this podcast.
I have very, very few.
Yeah, yeah, I really see this promotion.
We love. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I'll take the recording this podcast and I'll like edit it.
So it's only the parts where I'm talking.
I'm going to listen to that.
OK, have fun with that.
It'll be in. Yeah, thank you very much.
Yeah, so.
So you like that car?
You don't have it on campus, right?
Because you're a first year student.
I don't know. It's not campus.
Oh, OK.
Some campuses have a restriction on that.
Oh, no, mine does not. No, I pay for parking.
But how many how many miles are on that wonderful car?
Do you know 190?
OK, and I'm I'm reading just in passing that
there are many people that have gotten over 300,000 miles off that generation of
Camry, so you're on your way, sir.
It's a very, very reliable car.
I have very few complaints about it.
I do like that it's, you know,
the Mini Cooper stands out a lot.
You know, it's got these Union Jack rear view mirrors.
It's, you know, it's so small.
It's, you know, it's dark blue.
It's got this, you know, drop top.
There is not I saw many Mini Coopers.
I never saw another one like that one.
And it and so it was very iconic.
Now I've switched to a car, you know,
a white Camry from the early 2000s.
Very nondescript and very low key.
Now, you know, it kind of just blends into any other car in the road.
So I feel like in like an NPC in a video game driving that car around.
It'll be a great car to perform crimes in because it will just blend in.
Very true. That's very true.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
This is a family friendly show.
Yeah. Exactly.
So only family only crimes.
Yeah. Yes. Only crimes against friends and family.
Very true. Very true.
But it's kidding.
We are here to talk about dream cars and you in in in getting ready for
the show, you mentioned that you you had driven something phenomenal recently.
And I am so jealous.
What do you think, Doug?
Yeah. Well, I'm very interested to hear about it.
Obviously, we talked about it on the pre-show.
But I'm very interested to hear about what it was like to park it.
What it was like to change a tire, maybe.
What was it like to go go off roading?
What was it like to drive through a stream?
Maybe he did all that stuff. I don't know.
I hope so.
Tell us tell us what the car was, son.
OK, the car is the M 998 Humvee
provided to me very generously by my army reserve unit by Uncle Sam has given
me the opportunity to drive this beast of a of a truck.
I mean, I mean, I do we do call it a car, but it is we call it we call it a truck.
But absolutely.
Yeah, it's a beast of a vehicle.
Now, this was not up armor, right?
This was no. Yeah, that's important.
You do have to draw a distinction between like this between these
between the first generation Humvee that was created in the 80s and the
second up armor version and creating the late 90s.
Like this is not one of those screw you Iraq war ones that Iron Man drives around
and we get to tackle the people in the Iron Man movie.
This is not like a blastproof windows or steel all around.
It's basically a really big Jeep.
It's it's got a soft top soft doors.
It's you know, it's not it's not heavily armored.
It's just for like it's light for driving around in.
Yeah, I mean, no need when you're when you're driving it around here.
So how did we have a mix of both that are unit though?
Right, I got you. I got you.
So was there the old transmission hump running down the center of it?
In other words, you were sitting low in the frame and though there's 16 inches
of clearance or however much is there, you get a lot of clearance.
Cars very flat.
You accomplish that by stick squishing the drive train
longitudinally through the car, right?
So there was this kind of big, big hump.
Actually, the seats, right?
Like like in the back seats, it didn't see go straight.
You may not know. Yeah, there is a hump separating the seats.
Yeah. Yeah, that's what that's right.
Sorry, Doug, you were going to say no, that's OK.
What do you know what year it was for what it's worth?
Just curious that I mean, the specific
model Humvee that I I don't know all the Humvees we use are identical.
I mean, yeah, I mean, I think that's we don't keep track of the individual
date of manufacture of each Humvee.
There's not like a jet different generations.
All and 998 Humvees are are more or less the same.
I mean, little differences over the years,
but they're all they're not distinguishable.
Really, they're introduced in 1984 or the mid eighties about.
Yeah, you're you're right.
1985, yeah. And the they're all diesels.
They all have full time four wheel drive.
They do.
I believe they have a tire inflation system.
Did you run into that?
Yes, they do. They do.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, thanks.
Go through things. Yeah.
Tell us about it.
It has a snorkel also, right?
Snorkel exhaust. Well, they had kits that that's the interesting thing.
So, OK, the one you had was the
the Detroit diesel V8, six and a half liter diesel V8 from GM, right?
Is that that's kind of that's standard, I think.
And then the cool thing is they're all these kits, these modifications.
The the tow missile carrier, you can put guns on top of it.
You can put it turret up there for visibility.
I think one of the issues they had was that at certain points,
it became top heavy.
And so you had to you had to be mindful of that.
Yeah, during the Iraq War, you know, at first, you know,
we love the Humvee because it was so light and it was so it was not much of a hassle
compared to other vehicles, but they kept hitting these IEDs and getting killed and
whatnot, so they put these like rivet on armor kits you could put on to the
non up-armored Humvees to make them kind of armored.
Yeah, but now that she's up armored Humvees or whatever,
or they use different vehicles entirely, I don't know what they use.
I mean, we're not at war, so they don't use anything now.
But if they would, I suppose it be I'm probably different.
And it wasn't and it was automatic, right?
I don't think it was automatic.
Yeah, which is kind of curious, but actually makes sense if you think about it.
Sorry, no, go ahead.
I mean, if I'm under fire, I don't want to be like switching it in and out of these
gears or whatever. Yeah.
Well, it looks like they have a top speed of 55 miles per hour.
They do. They do.
You ever wonder why Convoy's ever wondered why
Convoy's drive so slow on the highway?
It's you can't drive any faster.
We have speed governors.
Yep. Yep. I just realized that.
I I read that it was 50 that it was 55 under load.
So if it was but but if if if sort of stripped down and not
kid it out, so to speak, that it would get up to 70.
Is that baloney or is that how things work in the real world?
I don't know. I always told the top speed is 60.
That's a big engine.
It is a massive engine.
Anyway, yeah, I got you.
Yeah, yeah.
So what is it? What is it like to drive that thing?
Yeah, yeah, ourselves and listeners.
That's a listener.
So we're talking about going from a mini Cooper
Camry to a Humvee.
Yeah. Tell us.
Visualized. I've never driven.
I've never driven a monster truck before.
But if if I knew if I had, I think it would feel a little bit
like how the Humvee feels.
It's just a big thing to drive.
I mean, the Humvee is that's still a pretty small military vehicle,
all things considered, but it's it's massive compared to these civilian things.
It's so wide and the tires are enormous and it and it rumbles when you drive it.
And everything is like on the inside, it's all metal and it's all
no frills, no airbags.
No, no airbags, sir.
Say again.
I would say no airbags, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's very much not for comfort.
I mean, there are seat cushions in there.
I mean, there's just like a steel steel frame, like a steel seat shape.
And they're and they're cushions in there.
But oftentimes the cushions are old and they suck and they don't provide any
and any serious support for you.
What was the steering like compared to your Camry?
Heavy or lighter than you expected?
It's not that heavy.
It's not that heavy.
You know, you need you need a good radius to turn, you know,
it won't turn on a dime like this thing.
This, you know, this old Camry will.
Did people look at you and give you
a thumbs up while you're going down the highway?
Not really for the most part.
Most people just minded their own business.
OK, as they should.
Yeah, yeah, we say, get out of our way.
No, we didn't do that.
What was it like to park it?
Um,
often when you care,
when you have these big military vehicles,
you have somebody ground guiding you with you.
You have, you know, you have, you know,
the the Humvee has at minimum a crew of two, a driver and a T.C.
And one guy stays in and the other guy hops out when you're supposed to park
and then, you know, they guide you, make sure not run over.
Just just planes and helicopters and I mean, it's, you know,
we have a standard military set of hand signals we're supposed to use,
you know, like this, that and you guide them until and you guide them,
make them hit anything because, you know, we all have cars
that are civilian lines, we're reservists.
We don't and not that we wouldn't.
If we were active duty, we'd still ground guide because safety is important.
But, you know, we're driving a very big thing.
It's, you know, you know, you always have someone there
just to make sure you don't run anything over or whatever.
You know, you only got to be very careful about that.
What other cool features did it have or that you wouldn't see
on your average Mini Cooper or Camry?
Uh,
let's see.
And not many.
It has the Bear Bones Humvee itself doesn't do much.
We just drive around.
I mean, it has reverse.
It has, you know, obviously it has brakes.
It has headlights, turn signals.
The turn signals trip you up because like it doesn't do the quick,
quick, quick, quick, quick, quick.
You don't get that satisfaction or that confirmation that it's happening.
So you just put you push the thing down and you hope it works.
But, you know, before, before we go and do these things,
we always do what's called a PMCS, preventative maintenance checks and
services, where before you before you take it out somewhere,
you went you and your you and your TC, you know, if you're the driver,
you go out there and you kind of check to make sure everything is functioning
properly before you go out and before you go out.
So you can catch anything before, before there was a problem where you're going.
You know, preventative maintenance is very big in the army and very, very important.
Absolutely. I agree.
But I I don't think it, you know, it has.
Oh yeah, there is something it does have a big winch on the front of it.
A massive cable winch and you.
Six thousand pounds, I think.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
And if you're ever, you know, if the winch is useful, if you're ever in trouble,
if you're ever in trouble, the drill is into your head.
If you're being towed off by another Humby,
use the winch of the Humby that's not.
Don't use the winch of the Humby to get out.
Attach your winch to the guy pulling you out and they'll pull you out or whatever.
Good job.
So yeah, yeah.
And, you know, it's.
I guess that's all it has.
Oh, nice.
You know, obviously it's very bare bones.
It doesn't. Oh, it does have air conditioning and heating, but they're not.
But but they don't always work.
All right.
Well, right.
You know, you know, can you can you mention I'm just interested in the tire
inflation function where you can from inside inflate or deflate the tires?
Is that correct?
Oh, yeah, I think that's true.
Yeah. OK.
Didn't have to use that feature, fortunately.
That's good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, that's very good.
Well, I like all these cool experience, man.
I bet your younger your siblings are like, whoa, Conrad drove a Humby.
One's my one's my shot.
But did you know, speaking of automotive history,
did you know that so that that Humby replaced a Ford M
151, which had been around since the fifties, probably, which looks very much
like a Jeep, like what they use in their Hollywood movies.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
It looks very deep like and yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, the army at the time, it was very dilapidated.
Like we were in sore need of new vehicles using this freaking Jeep or whatever.
I mean, so we were it was hopelessly outdated by the time
we were making space to Humby, you know, we actually used like commercial
pickup trucks for a while before then, I think.
Yeah, would make sense.
Yeah, everything. Right.
And then some.
Yeah. Yeah.
And then the Humby became the workforce. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
So a little little bit since this is about dream cars.
So there is Lamborghini, believe it or not, made a vehicle that looked very
much like the Humby.
It was originally a prototype in 1977 called the cheetah.
And what was to make it.
Inspired military use.
I mean, it it has a front engine V 12 from the Kuntas.
It's a five speed manual is geared for off road.
It did have a wheel drive or four wheel drive.
But it's a if you saw it going down the road,
you would swear it's a Hummer or something pretty close to it.
And they ended up selling them
just to consumers.
Let's see, first shown in 1992, it became the
LM 002 and they only made 301 of these.
Love to get my hands on 002.
So if you have one,
hold on to it, it's only going to go up in price.
But would it would a neat vehicle?
If you see one, you're one of the 301 people out there.
That's yeah, must be near one of those people.
Plus it's been featured in the holds bar,
Moody toys, Fast and the Furious.
And apparently in a video game called Stunts.
Oh, and don't forget when Adrienne
Barbot was driving it in cannonball run.
Oh, men a seek.
Well, that that was the Kuntas, not the LMO too.
But yeah, I thought I thought I'd get that one past you.
OK, beautiful.
Why did you know about that Conrad?
You got to check that out.
You got to ask the officer in charge.
Where's the LMO to I'm tired of this Humvee thing.
That's right.
I'm probably go PFC whoever.
What are you talking about?
Yeah, tax payer dog.
Ain't no taxpayer paying for Lambo.
Well, maybe maybe we'll put a picture out there of the LMO to next to a.
I bet Nicole Johnson would know all about this.
I bet Nicole Johnson has driven all of this by the by.
If she hasn't, I bet she's going to our season two closer.
Yeah, she was the best.
I bet she has, but she knows all about.
Indeed, very good.
Well, I think we are near the end of the show.
We didn't ask about it.
Did you have anything further for either listener land or our special guest?
Well, we didn't ask about his every day dream car.
Oh, good call. Good call.
Because I don't think it's a Humvee given, you know, it's a convertible.
It's not so great on gas.
It only goes 55.
So so Conrad, what what are your dream potential dream cars?
I I don't put too much thought into
into what kind of car they want in the future.
I like my car now.
It does its job. It's it's decent.
You know, I guess cars I've always kind of.
I've always kind of like to have in a very abstract sense.
You know, obviously a DeLorean, you know, that's a nightmare.
You know, but you know, I was very to the future. Yep.
I love. Yeah, I love it.
I've always loved how it looks.
It looks so unique, especially at the galling doors and so forth.
I love back to the future.
That's why I want to learn.
You know, I like some of the Tesla cars.
You know, I think it looks so slick.
You know, the Tesla cars look very nice.
Whenever I see a Cybertruck, I kind of laugh.
I kind of start laughing.
But the regular Teslas look they look very nice.
They're very sleek and very modern.
I like I like how the controls are all on a screen.
So it so when you so we need to update the interface,
you don't have to like install anything new.
You can just software update it.
That was actually.
Yeah, I was one of the big reasons why the iPhone was such a revolution
in the technology of smartphone
because the buttons on all the old phones were fixed.
If you needed to update the features and introduce something new,
you couldn't go around adding extra buttons to all these things.
But with the iPhone, you just update the digital keyboard through software update.
And that and that's a Tesla very much does the same thing to the world of cars.
And I've lost that that was interesting.
You know, very nice looking cars.
I like the idea of having an electric car.
I've always liked electric cars.
So maybe Tesla.
I've also like.
I also like the.
Remember when we watched Ford v Ferrari?
Yes. Yes.
Excellent movie.
Ford about 20 years ago or so.
Ford made these these GTs that they're like they're modern.
But on the outside, they resemble the GT 40 racer from the 60s to an almost,
you know, very closely.
And I've always thought that it would be nice to have one of those just
because it's cool and it's what they do in the movie.
And I like great, great flick, by the way.
Yeah, yeah, every so often we go on these
tangents where we will just talk about cars and movies for for five minutes.
And it always is such a fun thing to do.
Yeah, good point.
Very good. Very good.
Oh, do you have a favorite episode of this podcast that you're on now, son?
Oh, besides yours, because you haven't heard it yet.
You can't vote for your own.
You got to shoot somebody else.
Yeah, I like the.
I like the what's the name?
David Payone.
Oh, he's Brian.
Brian Payone.
Yeah, yeah, Brian Payone.
Why do I say David? What the hell?
Yeah, Brian Payone.
Yeah, you got it with Brian Payone.
Brian Payone.
Yep.
Yeah, he is so interested.
I love that one.
I like the Captain Lorraine one very much.
That was such an interesting one.
Yeah, now that Brian Payone is one of the most interesting people you will ever meet.
He just came out either with a new book or he's about to publish a book.
Guy is a very prolific and well-regarded author.
Reminds me, I need to reach out to him to get one of his.
If you go through his site, Brian Payone, B-R-I-A-N-E-A-O-N-E dot com.
Get a book from him and he will sign it for you and send it to you.
Very highly regarded and successful.
Awesome. He was he was the first author we've had.
You know, more recently, we had Michael Myers from T is for turbo dot com.
Oh, yeah. Children's books.
Was he the voice actor for Shrek?
He was not. No, no, not quite.
Yeah, we love having writers on.
Love interesting people.
We love everybody on this show.
Listener land, this could be you.
Oh, right. What do you think, partner?
Have we you have another writer because of my robot fan fiction?
No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
All right, well, I think you are very far in the future episode.
Love it.
Well, son, thank you for taking some time to be with us.
It was great seeing you.
I know you're busy there in school.
Yeah, of course. Thank you. Thank you.
It's a pleasure to be on.
He's got homework.
We've got to let him get back to his part.
Big man on campus has always got.
Yeah, he's always got something going on.
Yep. All right.
Well, this was to all the cars I've loved before.
That's my co-host, Doug, in the guest seat.
Very special is my one of my sons, the oldest Conrad.
Thanks again for being here, pal. We'll see you soon.
Of course, of course.
It was an honor to be here on your little in your little domain.
OK, there you go.
I'm probably the only kid whose dad has more of a has more of a presence
online than he does.
OK, I'm in a very strange love there.
Oh, yeah, I never thought about it.
Well, don't sell yourself short, man.
All right. Well, all right, pal.
We'll see you for Thanksgiving. Love you, man.
All right. See you.
All right. Love you, dad. Bye-bye.
All right. That was to all the cars I loved before.
CarsLove.com.
Reach out. Let us know what you thought.
I'm Christian at CarsLove.com.
He's Doug at CarsLove.com.
Check us out on Linktree.
See if I can get it right this time.
L-I-N-K-T-R.E-E slash Cars Loved.
Get to all of our online presidents.
All right, great.
It's a great place to go to find all our content or feel free to just go to our
website, CarsLove.com or listen to this podcast on your
favorite streaming services, podcast streaming platforms, including YouTube.
Yeah, the only thing I think that doesn't work at this point is a
transistor radio or if you know of small children with a plastic FisherPrice walkie-talkie.
I don't think we're there yet, but we'll figure it out.
Promise. Hey, we'll see you next week.
Thanks for joining.
Have a great day. Listenerland. Take care. Talk to you soon.
About this episode
Conrad shares his unique automotive journey, starting with his first car, a Mini Cooper, gifted by his parents. He reflects on the joy of driving it along the beach before transitioning to a more practical 2002 Toyota Camry, which he appreciates for its reliability and fuel efficiency. The episode also features Conrad's experiences driving an M998 Humvee during his time in the Army Reserves, discussing its ruggedness and military features. The conversation is filled with nostalgia, family memories, and insights into the cars that shape our lives.
Original notes
Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
Conrad’s episode is a heartfelt salute to service and the personal cars that awaited him back home. He begins with exciting anecdotes from his Army days driving an M998 Humvee – detailing the rugged automotive technology designed for war zones and a few humorous “parking hacks” he learned in the field (yes, a Humvee fits in places you’d never expect!).
Transitioning to civilian life, Conrad then speaks warmly of inheriting his dad’s trusty Toyota Camry and the beloved Mini Cooper that became his weekend joyride. Listeners will appreciate the contrast: one minute Conrad is navigating convoy missions in desert terrain, and the next he’s teaching his daughter how to change oil on the Camry in their driveway. Through it all, he reflects on how vehicles provided stability and a sense of normalcy during his post-deployment adjustment. This episode offers a unique blend of car culture – military and civilian – highlighting the resilience of both man and machine. In a touching finale, Conrad shares how participating in charity car shows (“Skids for Kids”) with his Mini helped him find community and purpose after the uniform.
Conrad's favorite episode is "From Teen Rebel to Family Traditions – Dee’s Emotional Ride in Family Cars" https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/2326adaf0afcf232644b5af9e5d37465
It’s a moving story that will resonate with veterans, car enthusiasts, and anyone who knows the comfort of coming home to a reliable ride and family waiting with open arms.
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To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Carly, Doug & Dave: Classic Car Experts, Motorsports Enthusiasts and Automotive Storytellers
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