Getting it Right with Horsepower Heritage's Maurice Merrick
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Car
Rolls-Royce Ghosts
The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a super fancy car that many people dream of owning. It's known for being incredibly luxurious and comfortable, with lots of attention to detail.
Concept
Le Mans
Le Mans is a famous car race that lasts for 24 hours. Cars race around a track, and it's known for being very tough on both the cars and the drivers.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower tells you how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and stronger the car can go.
Term
Super Veloce
Super Veloce means 'super fast' in Italian and is used for very fast cars, especially from brands like Lamborghini. It shows that these cars are built for speed.
Car
Ford Model 39
The Ford Model 39 is a vintage car from the 1930s that many car enthusiasts appreciate for its style and history.
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Bmw 2002S
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Land Rover Series
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Ford Model A Roadster
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Ford Model
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Car
BMW R 75/5
The BMW R 75/5 is an old motorcycle made by BMW in 1973. It's known for being dependable and has a unique design that many motorcycle fans appreciate.
Concept
two car solution
A 'two car solution' means having two cars that work well together for different purposes. One might be for everyday use, and the other could be for fun or special occasions.
Car
Land Rover Range Rover
The Range Rover is a fancy SUV made by Land Rover. It's known for being very comfortable and good at driving off-road, making it popular among people who want both luxury and adventure.
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Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
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Polestar
Polestar is a brand that makes electric cars, known for being fast and environmentally friendly. They focus on combining good performance with electric technology.
Term
all wheel drive
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Volvo 240
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Mercedes-Benz G-Class (G-Wagon)
The G-Wagon is a luxury SUV made by Mercedes-Benz. It's known for being very strong and capable off-road, while also being very comfortable and stylish inside.
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Land Rover
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Porsche 911
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Mercedes
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Alfa Romeo Giulietta
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Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyder
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Term
twin cam
A twin cam engine has two camshafts that help the engine breathe better, which usually makes it more powerful and efficient. It's a common design in sporty cars.
Term
five-speed
A five-speed means the car has a manual transmission with five different gears to choose from. This helps the driver control the car's speed better.
Car
Alfa Romeo 1750
The Alfa Romeo 1750 is a car model known for its sporty feel and good handling. It has a 1750cc engine, which means it can perform well on the road.
Concept
vintage touring
Vintage touring is when people take older cars on long drives, usually for fun and to enjoy beautiful scenery. It's a way to meet other car lovers and share the experience of driving classic cars.
Term
cars and coffee
Cars and coffee is a fun event where people with cool cars come together to chat and drink coffee. It's a chance to see different types of cars and meet other car fans.
Car
Ford Excursion
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Ford Expeditions
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Company
Drake Motor Cars
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Audi Rs6S
The Audi RS6 is a super-fast version of the Audi A6, designed for people who love speed and performance in a luxury car.
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Acura Nsxs
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Ford Broncos
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Ineos Grenadier
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Concept
Baja 1000
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Concept
project car
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Car
Land Rover Defender
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Chrysler PT Cruiser
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Tesla My Model
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Ford Mustang
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Toyota Corolla
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Bmw I3
The BMW i3 is a small electric car that's different in shape and made with eco-friendly materials. It's designed for city driving and helps reduce pollution since it doesn't use gas.
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Tata Motors Aria
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LIVE
Two hours after the interview, he's emailing me saying, under no circumstances are you
to release this episode.
This week on That Car Show, it's our pal Maurice Merrick.
Maurice is the creator and host of Horsepower Heritage, the highly regarded podcast for
the discerning automotive enthusiasts among us.
In the automotive world that Dan, Lindsay, and I inhabit, Maurice is kind of like a
Visa card everywhere you want to be.
He's also a fantastic storyteller, the master of the craft, and a good friend.
This is also the first episode of season two of That Car Show, and we genuinely appreciate
you joining us each week.
Do us a favor and hit subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and to tell your enthusiast
friends, 2026 is going to be amazing and we want them along for the ride too.
It's Horsepower Heritage's Maurice Merrick, and it's a fun one.
It's That Car Show.
Hey, it's That Car Show, and it's always a good time when our pal Maurice Merrick joins
us.
Though I think, Maurice, this is your first time on That Car Show.
That's true.
I do seem to recall a couple of podcast ghosts in the attic with the steering committee,
rest in peace in the road show.
But I call Maurice the Professor, and I swear I'm going to keep calling him that until
everyone else does as well.
Listen to any of his Horsepower Heritage episodes and you'll understand why, because
Maurice comes prepared, he does his homework, he knows his shit, and even if he didn't,
you wouldn't know it anyway because he's got the voice of a man who sounds like he
does.
We always have a hell of a lot of fun together each year out at Car Week in Carmel.
In any case, welcome to That Car Show, Maurice.
We're glad to have you here.
Such kind words, Ryan.
Thank you.
This is going to be fun.
I've been looking forward to it.
And yeah, we've been around the horn a few times in the podcast world.
You've been on my show.
I've been on your several shows, and so yeah, this is going to be fun.
Well, I think we finally have the recipe that works with Lindsay Dan and now Michael on
board too.
So, yeah.
Third time's a charm.
I think you have the recipe too.
You're just yourself, right?
And that makes it easy sometimes.
You know, scheduling conflicts, you know?
I have no one else to blame.
That's the key.
There's that too, but what's new, man?
Last time we saw you was in Carmel.
You know, podcast has been killing it.
You've had some great, fantastic guests.
But yeah, you've been doing the show for how long now?
A little over five years.
I hit the five-year mark in July.
Congratulations.
Happy anniversary.
That's an achievement.
It's not a sprint, right?
It's not a sprint.
You know, when I started doing this, you guys, the rule of thumb that I got from some veteran
podcaster was 100 episodes and three years.
That bar is actually much higher than that.
It's more like 150, 200 episodes.
We're at a disadvantage in podcasting because we can't go viral, right?
It's not a social media app.
There's no algorithm behind it.
Your audience, but that's also a good thing because your audience grows organically and
you're more likely to retain that audience.
That's true.
And by the way, thank you for, you've given me several shout-outs on the show in the
last, I don't know, year or so.
And I really appreciate it.
It's always nice to hear.
We're just testing you to see if you're actually listening, Maurice.
That's all that is, right?
And good news.
You're pat.
Well done.
So five years.
I mean, it's amazing how, you know, how the landscape has changed, you know, when we
first started doing the steering committee, I think that was probably four years or almost
five years ago now.
There was a lot less competition for starters, right?
Do you remember you couldn't go in and buy like a turnkey podcast sort of set up?
You had to cobble something together from Guitar Center.
Like it was a very pretty much thing.
And now everyone's got one, right?
You know, we thought everyone had one back then, but now everyone really, really does
have one. But who stands out for you, you know, in your five years?
Because you've had some pretty impressive guests.
Like who really, you know, who are your top three?
Like who are your go-tos?
Boy, there are so many great ones.
You know, I love talking to authors.
And I've had a number of authors, even some New York Times bestselling authors on the
on the show, just off the top of my head, Douglas Brunt, who wrote a book.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. He wrote The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel.
Yeah.
All about the man who created the diesel engine and Doug's fantastic.
He has a new book coming out soon, and we're going to we're going to have him back on the
show. Very excited about that.
Of course, Emerson Fittipaldi stands out.
That was a live interview at the quail.
They hired me to conduct the fireside chat that year.
So it was in front of, you know, 6,000 people at the quail and on the big screens.
And, you know, I'm on the stage with Emo.
I mean, that would come back to that.
But yeah, that was a great, great interview.
Yeah, that sounds right.
That was when you did because you did a couple of those, didn't you?
Well, and you emceed the event.
I've done some standups to camera at the quail.
They've hired me to do some color commentary, you know, strolling around on camera,
you know, talking about different cars.
I love doing live events.
It's it's something that I get hired to do from time to time, you know,
doing roundtable discussions or presentations in front of an audience
interviews and it's it's a rush.
I love it. I love the immediacy of the audience response, you know, so.
Right. You actually get feedback as opposed to podcasts where it goes out
and you hope people laugh where you want them to laugh or get what that you want
them to get, but you don't know when you think about doing it in front of a live
audience, you know, right away.
Right. There's other guys like Colin Comer, who.
Oh, yeah.
I know, you know, Colin, you know, big show guy, fantastic.
He's got I don't know how many books Colin has written.
I don't know. Stacked them together.
You could easily stop a fifty caliber bullet.
But right, you know, there are just so many.
And after over one hundred and fifty cash, I'm on actually today.
Episode one sixty one dropped.
So so now you can just coast, right?
It is what that podcast veteran was getting at, right?
You're good. You're off the hook.
Never. It's it's a it's a it's a hamster wheel, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, really.
But a good one. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Very good. Yeah.
I don't know that I've ever heard that third interview, but I know that I've
heard the first two, the Emerson Fittipalda episode and then also the is it Dennis?
Doug, Doug Brunt. Douglas, I'm sorry.
Yeah, those two really stand out for me.
And, you know, that's this were exceptional.
It's, you know, we we've got the guys, the new book Ride,
the silver screen cars, the Hollywood cars coming out next week.
So any tips for having an author or two on?
I mean, you just have to do it.
You have to read cover to cover.
I've I've, you know, there are times when I read a book twice before I
interview the author and I take a lot of notes and I do a lot of highlighting
in all those books.
You'll be interested to know that
this week's episode is with an author named Peter Grimsdale,
who's been on the show before, another novelist, but he's now he's
he's on his third foray into nonfiction about automotive topics.
I had him on a couple of years ago to talk about his book, Racing in the Dark,
how the Bentley boys conquered Le Mans. Right. Right. Right. That's right.
And Peter returns to horsepower heritage this week to talk about his new book,
Super Veloce, how the Italian car industry conquered the world.
And it is a sweeping portrayal of of everyone from Enzo Ferrari
to Ferruccio Lamborghini, everyone in between.
It's a terrific book.
So that's the latest episode.
And by the way, you had Robert Nagel on this show recently.
He did. We did. Yeah.
Who I've interviewed. He's terrific.
Great guy. Yeah.
Your episode with him was one that I listened to to prep for him being on our
show. So thank you for the help. Yeah.
Well, I have to tell you guys, you were you got a totally different interview
than I did with him.
And of course, I talked about primarily his work on the Ferrari Biopic
and a little bit of Ford V Ferrari.
But you guys just did a completely different interview.
And I really enjoyed it.
So that's high praise.
Thank you so much.
And that's that's the tricky part, Ryan.
And I had talked about that because he has been on a couple shows.
And that was in the back of my mind.
I wanted to be prepared, obviously.
But I when I was listening, I was going, OK, don't we don't want to just
repeat what he's already done, both for the sake of your podcast and our show
and the audiences. So it's that's that's very kind of you.
I'm glad that it worked.
It's always the challenge, right?
Because especially with guys who have a lot of exposure, Bruce Meier comes to mind.
Sure. He's he's done a ton of media.
He's done your show. He's done my show.
Yeah. Yeah.
But you're hard to follow, you know, because I feel like so often your
interviews are like the definitive car podcast interviews with some of these folks.
And, you know, once in a while, we'll get one in there.
But but you set the bar high and and but but it was fun, you know,
getting a completely different thing out of him.
He was wonderful and a hell of a guy, you know, so many great stories,
you know, innovator with the what's the the the tool the biscuit rig, the biscuit rig.
I couldn't think of which horse that yeah, that was just a hell of a neat guy.
And, you know, but how do you meet these people?
How do you meet your guests?
You're just connected to everyone anymore, or, you know, and how do you know
when it's the right guest for horsepower heritage?
Yeah, partially it's a network that was already there.
Partially, it's the power of social media.
It might be a press release that I get or a story I see in the news.
For example, with with Douglas Brunt, I I saw that the diesel book was being released
and I jumped right on it.
And I guess the secret is you just ask.
I mean, what's the worst they can say, right?
So yeah, we've said this before.
Yeah, if you don't ask, you know, the answer, like, no, that's
and sometimes you don't get an answer.
And, you know, it's one of those things like at age 50, if I knew at age 15,
what I knew now, I think at the top of that list would be just ask, right?
Just ask.
Otherwise, you only get what comes to you, right?
And it's true.
You're a great example of that, of course.
I think we've all been there.
We've probably all had a guest or two where we just didn't run that episode.
Maybe we've said, oh, we had technical difficulties or something.
You have a couple of those in the archives that never made it to air,
or we don't have to mention names, but.
Well, I've got to tell you about one that was stillborn.
So a guy contacted me on LinkedIn
and he.
Proported to represent.
Let how do I put this?
A car museum.
Yeah.
Um, and it was a museum that.
Didn't really exist.
It was sort of a grand plan.
And I don't even know why I agreed to it at the time.
But when, when the time to record came and he logged on.
It was like the guy had just gotten out of a mental asylum.
I mean, he was disheveled.
It was this, if he just rolled out of bed, he wasn't prepared.
He's running around an office with his phone
and doesn't have a microphone, doesn't have a place to sit.
The room, the room is full of echoes.
Like everything that we try to prep our guests to do.
He didn't do any of it.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And I said, you know what, let's let's do this another time.
And that's the last I.
That's the last I've heard of the guy.
So there are those.
I don't, I can't remember an episode that I just kind of left in the can.
Yeah.
Did you know ahead of time that the museum was still in the concept stage?
Or was that a surprise?
Was that yet another surprise at the time of recording?
I knew that, but there were some bona fides.
And sometimes you it's hard to kind of vet these people.
Yeah.
And it's seldom that you can't vet them.
But in this case,
you know, it did obviously didn't work out.
And there's another guest, by the way, that I had who I
I interviewed in person and two hours after the interview,
he's emailing me saying under no circumstances
are you to release this episode.
Dun dun dun.
I mean, it was great stuff that we got.
Well, you know, it was a fantastic interview, I thought.
And it's very mysterious why he the only thing I can pin it down to is he
he he talked about a few very prominent people in the car world.
And I think he thought that he had maybe said some things that
that they would be unhappy about.
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OK. And so he just decided, you know, I don't want this out there.
So I haven't released it, you know, that's fine, whatever.
I'm a man of your word.
You know, you guys, I'm always about three episodes ahead of release.
So I've got a few in the can at any given time.
And so not a problem, not a problem.
And you got a good story out of it, even if you didn't get an episode.
You did get a story. That's that's incredible.
You wonder what changed in that two hours or what have you, you know, it's it's
I've done, you know, I've had a whiskey or two on a podcast
and I've woken up in a panic, you know, at about two in the morning,
wondering what I said on someone else's show.
I get it, but that's that's
or maybe maybe that'll go to the Patreon folks in time.
Huh? That's, you know, some day
some time in the distant future, it might see the light of day.
We'll we'll see. OK. Right on.
Yeah. Right on.
You have to wait for everybody included in the episode to pass away.
And then it can go out.
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
Yeah, then then it will be declassified.
Right. Yeah.
So I've had a couple, a couple of people, you know, who I said,
you were coming on the show, I find Maurice fascinating.
We'd love to know his story.
You know, the mustache, the, you know, he's kind of a man of mystery.
So what what is the Maurice Merrick story?
Where'd you grow up?
Give us all the dirt.
You know, what did you what did you drive when you were younger?
How you got into this thing?
You know, what boy, I'm glad I did my mustache maintenance today.
I mean, we are too, please.
Thank you.
Grew up in Arizona.
Arizona, I don't think I knew that.
Grew up in Arizona.
Was a television producer for some time in L.A.
Have always been a car guy since I was about,
I want to say about eight years old and I didn't come from a car family.
But my uncle, Dave, is the guy who really got me interested in cars.
And, you know, he had had a number of interesting cars over the years.
He's the guy who taught me how to identify old cars, you know,
because especially pre-war cars, they all kind of look alike, you know,
and and Uncle Dave kind of taught me the difference between a 39 Plymouth
and a 39 Ford.
OK, and that's cool.
Went to car shows with him, just began to, you know,
learn a little bit more here and there through high school.
I had BMW 2002s.
Yeah, that I knew.
And that's that's a cool car to say was your first car.
Yeah, really fun, lots of fun.
And after that, somewhere along the line, I got into series Land Rovers.
And at the time, I remember that I was thinking, you know, a car,
a road car is is fine, but you can really only stay on the road.
Whereas a Land Rover, you can go anywhere, right?
And that was part of the attraction.
So I have spent a lot of years, 30 years now in Land Rovers.
But my automotive tastes develop just like everyone else's.
And, you know, there's an Alfa Romeo in the garage now.
There's a 31 Ford Model A Roadster in the garage.
BMW motorcycle, a 73 R 75 slash five.
And I'm not sure what's next.
In terms of car acquisitions, but it'll it'll be something oddball.
Just, you know, none of those really kind of fit together, right?
It's kind of eclectic. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I like that.
Yeah, well, it reflects you and your interest.
I mean, I think those are the best kinds of collections because it doesn't
have the theme doesn't have to be a traditional theme.
It can be this is what I love.
And I think that's what makes it interesting, too.
Yeah, and I like having cars for different occasions.
Right? Yeah.
Don't we all?
Speaking of which, Ryan, Lindsay, what what would your perfect two car solution be?
This is the big question, right?
It really is. Yeah.
We just talked about this because I was telling the guys probably in the last few
months I've noticed that I'm moving through the world wearing two car solution glasses.
Like, I'll see two cars together and it's like, oh, this is the funniest thing.
Like the most recent one is a the full size Range Rover and a Minimoque was the
funniest one I've seen recently.
I was like, that covers a lot of bases.
It does. Yeah.
Yeah. Are we talking cost no object or do we have any limitations here?
Modern vintage?
I mean, I would just say realistic within your budget, right?
Well, that cuts out what I had in mind more easily.
A little more challenging that way, though.
No, I know.
You know, yeah, I mean, I could probably argue that what I have, I only own two cars
and I've got a Polestar and I've got a GT4 and that covers all the bases.
The Polestar is 440 horsepower, whatever.
It's all wheel drive.
You know, it's flies under the radar, doesn't look like anything, right?
But I like it.
It's like an old one, two, four Mercedes or something or old 240 Volvo.
It's kind of got that vibe about it.
Then I've got the GT4.
But I think, you know, if I was bringing a little more money into the house,
I would have a GT3 Touring and 991.2 and some sort of of G-Wagon.
I think that would be my ideal solution.
You know, that's kind of where my my head is.
Vintage might be something completely different, right?
But what would yours be, Maurice?
Because I have an idea and one of them would probably be a Land Rover.
But you tell us.
Well, I've spent a lot of years behind the wheel of a Land Rover.
And it's kind of I've already I've already trod down that path, right?
So, yeah, probably a probably a 70, 9-11.
OK. Yeah.
And why 70?
Long wheelbase. Yeah.
It's I think it's a sweet spot, you know.
That would be one.
That would be my vintage and and they're super reliable, of course.
You know, you know, I really like your your G-Wagon idea.
That would be a fantastic second car.
I don't know.
I don't know if that's yeah, absolutely.
And I don't know if that's necessarily a perfect two car solution.
But those are two cars I have yet to own.
I have friends who've had G-Wagons vintage G-Wagons.
I've been, you know, I've been a passenger in them.
They're they're they're terrific, they're reliable.
You know, I mean, great Mercedes engineering.
Even though they're technically, you know, Mercedes acquired
that from Steyr Hook, right?
But right. Right.
But yeah, no, I think that's that's a great two car solution.
I do love Italian cars, though.
I have to say my alpha is just so much fun.
That's new for you, right?
That's new as of this year, a new acquisition.
Yeah, it is.
And I just love it.
It's a 60 Giulietta Spyder.
It's what Al Fiesti call an Abnormale.
OK. Right.
Because the Normale was the the just 1300 CC single carb, right?
The Veloce was the twin carb performance model.
But the Abnormale is an alpha that's had an engine
swap or that's been breathed on, you know?
So mine has a 1750 twin cam and a five speed.
Nice.
The previous owner set it up for touring and it's perfect for that.
And that's one of the reasons I I wanted it.
And it's been terrific, you know, you kind of wear the car.
It's tiny.
It the steering is really light, but great handling.
Just the chassis has great manners and it loves to rev.
You know, alphas are known for that.
And it's it's a lot of fun.
That's so set up set up for touring.
So we're going to take a touring and do some rallies in this thing.
Yeah, that's the plan.
Long term, Ryan, is I want to do some vintage touring in that car.
You know, and I've I've done vintage touring before.
But it's a great way to get the most, I think, out of the car.
I mean, cars and coffee is fun, right?
Or just kind of cruising on your own for the the morning is fun.
But when you get mixed in with other vintage cars, you know, on a multi day
excursion, it's it's just a different experience.
That's we get you on the Grand in time, right?
And Lindsay, too, we just had Nate Lander from the Classic Center.
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, who I think you know.
And, you know, Michael LaSasa was on with us.
And I think Michael's been on, I don't know, five grands.
I've been on three or four.
And we asked Nate, who I think is younger than both of us,
how many grants he had been on.
And he said, well, it's twenty one or twenty two, you know.
But, you know, we need to get you on and Lindsay on.
And yeah, it's just such a it's such a great concept, right?
I mean, not just the grand, the grand is wonderful.
But, you know, any number of these these these these rallies, these tours
are just it's just such a such an opportunity to check out
and really get to know your car.
And it's just they're they're wonderful.
And speaking of that, let's talk slow Baja, because that looked like
one hell of a big boy.
What is slow Baja?
I want to do it, but I don't I just I just know I want to do it.
It looks amazing.
We need to know more.
What is this? It's off road.
It's obviously not competitive with the name like slow Baja.
I saw you eating tacos camping out on the beach.
Just yeah, what is this?
All right, well, let me set it up for you.
So slow Baja is the brainchild of my pal, Michael Emory.
Michael went to school in Michael went to college in San Diego.
OK.
And spent a whole lot of time in Baja during college
and has never really Baja has never really left Michael, right?
Michael may leave Baja once in a while, but it doesn't leave him.
Yeah.
He he's an interesting guy.
He was a professional photographer for many years.
He was the official photographer for the governor of California
for a time.
Michael Michael was one of the original employees
that bring a trailer way back when.
OK. Wow. Yes.
And but in recent years, Michael started a podcast
called Slow Baja to kind of share his enthusiasm with the wider world.
So he does interviews with with people from Baja,
people who do interesting things in Baja.
He talks about stuff that goes on in Baja,
everything from wildlife conservation to people who are,
you know, running little guest ranches or wineries.
So it's it's a it's a travel log, but it's also a car podcast
from time to time, because, of course, he talks about Baja racing
and and things of that nature.
So Michael came on my show, I want to say about five years ago.
Now, I think he was he came on in year one and we've been friends ever since.
So he runs these slow Baja expeditions, I think twice a year,
once in the fall and once in the spring,
or maybe once in the fall and once in the winter.
But in any event, it's a vintage tour for the most part.
He he's he's pretty lenient on, you know, having a little bit newer vehicles.
Join us from time to time.
Anyway, this was my second trip down there with him and the group.
And I mean, what an amazing bunch of people.
You know, his trips attract a certain kind of person,
a person who's self reliant, well adjusted, gets along with others,
you know, plays well and is just kind of up for whatever and can roll with the punches.
So it's a great group.
So what is it like?
Oh, yeah, how long does it go?
What did you drive?
You know, what do you what does one expect to encounter along the way?
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Well, for people who may not be familiar with Baja California.
So, you know, a little bit of history.
The Spanish called the state of California, Alta California, right?
The upper California, Baja California is lower California.
And then the further most southern state in Baja is Baja Sur.
So that's kind of the historical background.
But since Baja is this massive peninsula, by definition, it's separated from the mainland.
It's isolated.
It doesn't get the attention that mainland Mexico gets.
In other words, like, you know, infrastructure and economic development,
those things are all lacking in Baja.
It's a very, it's a situation where Baja is very dependent on tourism and primarily
Americans, you know, and there are a lot of expatriates who live there.
You know, a lot of retirees from Canada and the U.S.
I mean, you'll see British Columbia license plates driving through the middle of nowhere.
That's so funny.
So the trip is six days.
It's on and off-road.
You know, we're on the highways to get to the day's destination.
But there's a lot of off-roading.
You know, a lot of beach runs.
Well, that's so fun.
Oh, it's wonderful.
And, you know, we go up in the mountains.
We visit one of the, the first night we stay at a guest ranch
that is absolutely wonderful.
It's in this little valley.
The owner, Raul, is an amazing host.
He's been there 29 years and, and it's kind of a dude ranch.
You know, there's, there's horseback riding and all sorts of other activities for
his main guests.
But, you know, he hosts this huge group of four by fours and we all camp out and the,
the food is tremendous.
You know, goat cooked over an open fire.
It's fantastic.
So authentic.
I mean, it's hard to go wrong over an open fire, right?
And, you know, Michael's got everything planned down to the last detail.
He has so many connections in Baja and, you know, every day he's got a group of locals
that are looking after us in some way.
All of the meals are planned and, you know, you don't, you don't have to crack your
cooler if you don't want to.
So it's really well planned and executed and no two days are alike.
You know, the scenery changes.
We, we go from again, like sea level up to snow elevation in the mountains.
It's a lot of people don't think about having like Baja even having that.
Right.
I wouldn't know that.
Right.
Rancho La Concepción is, is the place I'm referring to and it's, it's up in the
mountains and there's a hundred year old apple orchard there.
Really?
Oh my gosh.
So there's all these little magical things you just don't expect in, in this
desert environment.
And like I said, in a place that has, you know, lacking infrastructure and not a whole
lot of development, especially inland, right?
So yeah, it's a wonderful trip.
And like I said, I can't say enough about the people that go.
Yeah, it sounds amazing.
So I was listening to your episode in preparation for having you on the episode
about slow Baja.
And I noticed you talked to, um, Elana share was one of the people who was on this year's
trip and she's become a good friend and we run into each other at car week.
If not throughout the year, but it sounded, I think this was her first year going.
Is that correct?
Elana's been to Baja many times.
I think this might have been her first slow Baja trip.
Yeah.
And of course she was writing an article for car and driver and, and she, uh,
brought along, uh, Ineos Grenadier quarter master.
Nice.
Which I got an opportunity to drive great vehicle.
Yeah.
And the, you know, the other special occasion, uh, this particular trip was that it was, um,
the 50th anniversary of South fishes, um, ownership of the Baja races, right?
So, um,
so the Baja 1000 kind of the first few years were a little bit creaky.
The Mexican government at one point wanted to take control of it.
And then they just couldn't manage it.
And Sal ended up buying basically the concession for it and ran it for 50 years.
The guys, a Baja legend, um, he's, I think 83 years old and he was along with us on the trip.
Oh, amazing.
As well as Kurt LaDuke, who's a veteran Baja racer.
When you spoke with Sal on the episode, correct?
Yes.
And I loved his portion.
It was so, I mean, it was just so charming and informative.
And I was like, I just want to hang out with this guy and hear all his stories.
Well, you know, I recorded that episode a little bit each day along the way.
Okay.
Um, and surprisingly, or maybe not, it was tough because everybody's so busy
the whole time.
I mean, if we're not driving, we're preparing camp, we're eating, we're socializing.
So it was kind of tough to catch people at the right moment.
But I managed to do that.
And the portion of the show, the portion of the episode that was with Sal and Kurt and Michael
was recorded on the beach, um, on the Sea of Cortez at a restaurant, um, at our campsite.
So we were out on the patio having some tequila and I just, you know,
press record and let it rip.
And it was so much fun.
Well, you found the magic moment.
Yeah, it was so good.
I mean, those guys never run out of stories about their experiences down there.
You know, they, they've, between Kurt and Sal, I think they have a hundred years of,
of Baja tales, you know, to choose from.
So yeah, you're like, all right, we could do a whole podcast just with you guys.
Absolutely.
No, no problem at all.
Yeah, yeah.
I think we all sort of crave that kind of adventure, right?
We just get so little that in our lives anymore.
Like, you know, there's probably no cell service for starters, right?
Well, that actually, that's a good thing about Baja.
You know, I mean, a lot of people that are listening to this right now will,
will have been there.
You know, there's probably a lot of Baja veterans more than you might imagine.
And it's not like we're blazing new trails.
Baja is a known quantity, but the experience is still really pure, I think.
Yeah.
And, and the lack of cell service is great because you get to tune out.
It's almost, you know, for an American, it's like living in 1990, right?
You just get to disconnect and, and enjoy what's going on around you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's that like?
We have to remind ourselves.
We were marveling the other day about, you know, pre-cell phone life and how our parents
would just drop us off at the mall to go see a movie.
And then you have to go find the pay phone to call them to bring you home.
But it worked.
It absolutely did.
I remember as a kid looking forward to picking my, picking my dad up from the airport, right?
Because I could go to those phone banks and go to each, each little coin, you know,
whatever return thing and see if there was an order and inevitably I'd find one or two and,
you know, feel like a king.
But it's amazing how much things have changed, you know.
It is.
There's, there's, there's little, you know, there's little pleasures, you know,
our kids will, will not know.
Yeah.
We have to figure out a way to recreate that somehow or fill that in.
I remember going to the arcade and, you know, with maybe 10 bucks and just dropping
quarter after quarter into Gallagher or that spy hunter or whatever, you know.
I'm kind of dating myself, but, but, but ultimately, you know, yes, we were playing
video games, but it was a really social activity.
You know, your friends would be around you watching you, you know, try to get the high
score and yeah, it was fun.
And, and, you know, when we were out of quarters, we would leave the arcade and kick
around and, you know, get into all kinds of trouble.
So as you should at that age, right?
Well, you mentioned a couple of them, but what's in your garage these days?
Other, you've still got the Land Rover's, right?
I have a 1960 109 station wagon.
That's a long wheelbase five door.
I've had that since 2008 and it's been, it's done thousands of miles off road and,
you know, I would throw the whole family in that thing and think nothing of driving
500 miles in a day to get to where we were going to, to off road and camp.
I also have a 1968 short wheelbase series 2A, which is really just, it's literally a
basket case, guys.
It's, it's in boxes and the, the chassis is leaning up against the wall in the backyard.
Well, kind of out of sight at least.
It's a little bit like Samford and Son in my side yard.
Okay.
There's a bunch of Land Rover parts.
And then I have a 53 series one.
So that's very, that's pretty early production, you know, Land Rover started in 48.
And, and that is a, it's a project that is going in fits and starts, but I,
I'm determined to finish it in the next 12 to 18 months to 24 months to 36 months.
That's a reason, that's a reasonable timeline.
Anybody with project cars knows that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Well, and you and I had the very unique experience during car week this last year of
getting to ride with the Land Rover team in the Defender, uh, that five or six defenders
in the, uh, Tour de Pebble.
Yeah.
So up highway one and back down, obviously.
And that was just magical.
It was.
And we were in a Camel Trophy Defender.
Right.
I think it was the last one that had done like the last Camel Trophy.
Yeah.
And I should probably correct myself and, and say a Camel Trophy 110 because I don't,
I don't think it was technically called the Defender at that point.
And some Land Rover Anorak out there is screaming
that I made that mistake.
So I, I will correct myself.
Yeah.
That's a good question.
I would have said Defender 110 with the Camel Trophy, but.
And the driver was Scott from the, you know, the founder of Overland Journal.
Great guy.
He was amazing.
And Jeff Ahuden, who does the PR for Land Rover in North America, he was with us too.
So we had a pretty fun crew.
We had a great crew.
Yeah.
And we didn't break down.
We didn't, none of us broke down, which is an amazing testament to the defenders.
And yeah, it was just the, the weather could not have been better.
It was unbelievably spectacular.
And definitely, you know, pinch me moments just getting to be in those cars on that road.
Well, and with the rest of the cars that did the tour, I think we all kept commenting.
You don't often get to see, you know, especially some of the pre-war stuff.
And I think that Tulip Wood car that won, I think that was on the tour,
you know, getting to see one of those cars driving is amazing, but getting to see all of
those together on the road and to be part of it was just unreal.
And of course, you know, Land Rover is the only way to go.
Well, we got a whole lot of cheers along the way, you know, especially the kids loved that thing.
So, and the crowd along the way is a great, a great aspect of the tour because the natural
beauty is of course wonderful. And there are a lot of, you know, people with classic cars or,
or, you know, hobby cars parked along the way.
But then when you get sort of to the end of the tour, the turnaround point,
and there's hundreds of people, and suddenly you're kind of in a parade.
You are the parade. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So that was really fun.
It was, I was trying to think of how to describe it to somebody because it's,
you're up in the mountains a bit in terms of the scenery.
And you've gone on a windy road, obviously along the coast.
But for anybody that's been to Good Vibes, it was like a big, big, big Good Vibes day,
you know, times four when you get to the end, just the crowd and the energy and the enthusiasm.
And I think a parade is a great way to describe it because people cheer
nonstop as you drive through. It was so much fun.
Yeah. Yeah. It was wonderful.
Cool. How many years have you gone to Car Week, Maurice?
Since, I want to say 2018. Okay.
So not that long. Not that long. You know, I put it off for many years.
It was, and I don't know what it was, Ryan, that made me put it off.
It's just one of those things in life. You know, you're busy with family and
kids and, you know, kid sports and car projects of your own and, you know, whatever have you.
And it was kind of one of those things where I thought, well, you know,
I'll get a group of friends together and go at some point.
And now I can't stay away.
It gets under your skin.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We heard all this talk this year about, oh, it's jump the shark,
you know, it's the end of car because we know it. And I had a great time.
This is only my second year, but I don't know what I was missing.
It seemed pretty wonderful to me and maybe for a local in Carmel, you know,
it gets a little, you know, tedious after a day or two and imagine it does.
But, but yeah, I can't imagine not going moving forward, right? You know, it's just,
it's such a touchstone or whatever for those of us who do what we do.
And you just, I wouldn't feel out of the loop if I, if I, if I missed it, you know, it's just,
but have you noticed any changes in the, you know, the seven years or whatever that you've
gone? I mean, it's definitely more crowded. Yeah. Prices have gone up, particularly for
accommodations. Yeah. And it's become more and more commercialized every year for sure.
I think social media has had a greater impact than any other single factor.
Yeah. Yeah. Because it attracts people who just want to, you know,
put stuff on their TikTok or Instagram or what have you. And, and they're less about the
experiences of Car Week and more about capturing content for their platforms.
Sure. So that's a big change. Supercars have kind of taken over the street scene.
I think, I think that's fair to say. And, and just, you know, traffic in general is,
has been impacted a lot. I would say the core events are still kind of true to what their intent
has always been. You know, if you go to Laguna Seca and you want to see the historic racing,
I mean, you could just do that. Yeah. Do nothing else. Yeah. And have a fantastic week.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Speaking of that, I'll never forget the first year I went so 25, 24, rather,
I show up to Laguna. This was the year that some of us ended up doing some, some commentary,
which was, was amazing, but also terrifying in the moment. But I'm walking in, I guess,
to the pits and I see you pop out of a car. You are the riding mechanic in a, to remind me,
the car was like a 30s. That's my pal. That's my pal Bobby Green, old cross speed shop. Yes. And
Bobby is a huge collector and historian and preservationist. And that's his 1920,
20. Duesenberg racer. Okay. Yeah. That's amazing.
The Siebel Rees pop out of that. Like, it was like, you know, no big thing, you know,
but that makes perfect sense. I mean, where else? Of course, he's popping out at one of those. Well,
and to throw back to our Trent Abbott episode, Bobby Green is a charter member of the PT Cruiser
Spotters Anonymous Club. So I love, I love the callback. I love that. Didn't even put two and
two together. But I can't say enough about Bobby. I mean, he's a guy you need to have on the show.
Yeah, yeah, I would love to. And, and, and, you know, it's gonna be historic.
But it, you will have no end of fun with Bobby. In fact, I was just at his place this morning.
Yeah. He sold me a set of 35 Ford wire wheels for my Model A and something for my Model A Roadster.
Yeah. And in fact, I spent half the afternoon, you know, sanding them, getting ready for paint.
And they're going to go on the car this week. But yeah, Bobby's definitely would,
he would be a good get for you. And I can make that happen.
Well, it pays to know the right people, huh?
Yeah. I remember him because I used to watch American Pickers. And if I recall, he was a
regular on American Pickers. And I was, again, thought this is a pretty cool dude.
Yeah. He and Mike are tight. They're, they're good friends. And I spent a little bit of time
with Mike and he's a wonderful guy. He is exactly who you see on television.
That's great. That's great. Yeah.
That's great. Well, I feel a little bad because he's from Iowa. And I just wrote an article for
Autoblog where I really dumped on Iowa. And I kind of feel, I don't know, Lindsay, did you read that?
Well, in fact, I, well, I dumped on the Iowa drivers and that was,
but look, I remember, I remember in Iowa mentioned, but it was, yeah, so go on.
For those that haven't had a chance. Yeah. Yeah. I need a redemption or something.
You know, amongst my, my Iowa people, but Ryan, what is it about Iowa drivers?
Well, I'll tell you, there was a scenario in the article, but they like to sit in the passing lane
usually in a Chrysler minivan of some, some sort. And then they get upset when, you know,
after waiting patiently, patiently, you go to pass them in the right. And it's, this has come,
I think I called it a combination of, of sort of indignant self-righteousness and just sort of lack
of, lack of situational awareness, right? And it's just not a fantastic intersection to be at.
No. And every time we drive from Colorado to Minnesota or Wisconsin or we're happy to visit
family, we inevitably have to go through Iowa. And, you know, of course, after driving through
Nebraska, it's beautiful, but the people just are the worst drivers in the country. And I'll go
to my grave, uh, you know, asking them to, uh, let you buy. Yeah. Yeah. So probably combined with
a Methodist resolve to stay the course. I am not moving. There you go. That's what it is. They're
just there. Yes. Yes. They're, uh, that's the, I like that. But I, one thing I would like to say
is I would like to change my answer for the two car solution. Oh, okay. I would like
a modern Land Rover Defender. Here's my, here's my two cars that I think would be very fun. It
would cover a lot of ground, literally and figuratively, because as we've established,
the Defender does so well on and off the road. So I'm taking the budget consideration out of it.
And I would like a Land Rover Defender Octa and a 2018 Ford GT350 R Mustang. Wow. Okay.
There you go. Not a dark horse. No. Okay. All right. Very good. I haven't driven one yet,
which maybe if I drove one, I might change my answer, but it did such a good job with the R
and you could take it on the track, but it's still really fun on the street.
And the Defender, you could take off road and it's lovely to drive on the street as well.
Yeah. I feel like that covers a lot of bases. No, that those are good. That's a good two car
solution. And by the way, I have to tell you, I rode with Robert Nagel in his. Oh, in his dark horse.
Yeah. And, and you guys, I think touched on that a little bit. We did. It's like a one of one
because of the options that he ordered together. Yes, exactly. Sounds like a really interesting car.
It's an awesome car. And I mean, to be in the passenger seat with Robert Nagel, the man,
yeah, right in that car, like, you know, some people you get a little bit nervous,
right as a passenger. No, not that guy. That guy is nails. He's so good behind the wheel. Yeah.
And he definitely put his foot in it, you know, a few times. It was fun. And I'm going to change
my two car solution since you're doing it too. Okay. All right. You know, guys, I think my
perfect two car solution would be like a 1970 Porsche 911. I love the long hood cars.
I like the long wheelbase less of a fan of the impact bumper cars. They're a little bit more
refined, you know, by 1970, and really reliable. And then the second car would probably be like a
69 bump side Ford high boy, four by four. Okay, I mean, again, like simple, sure, good, good Ford
engineering. I love the look of the bump sides. They're just great trucks. And yeah, big,
big mutter meats on it. That'd be perfect. I love it.
Maurice, is there anything new that that? Yeah, no, I'm sticking with my GT3 touring in my
Galandavagon. I think that's about as good as I'm going to get. Is there anything new that interests
you, Maurice, like anything that's new out there that you'd want in your garage? Because I definitely
feel like you have a slant toward the, you know, the vintage stuff. I do, I do. I'm,
I'm pretty blasé about new cars. I gotta be honest, you know, there's there's some interesting
stuff out there, but none of it is in my price range. I know that people are raving about that
three cylinder turbo Corolla, you know, anybody we know. Yeah, yeah, right, right. Mr. Lieberman.
Well, and Ryan, that's right. You know, Ryan, I thought it broke the thing. So I'm just glad
that I haven't had a call from Toyota over the last couple of weeks, you know, following up with,
you know, an invoice. But yeah, right. I was a BMW fan for so many years, and I think they've
completely lost the plot. 100%. So what was the last one that you loved?
Like latest model like 2016. And I'll tell you one of the big reasons why analog instrumentation.
Yes. I hate digital instrumentation with you. Get rid of it. We don't need it. Yeah. I like
that. That was a lot more modern. That was a lot more modern than I thought you were going to choose
actually. Yeah. Well, here's what I think happened, you guys. This whole push toward EVs
and the supposed demise of the internal combustion engine, that was all political nonsense. It was
a bunch of pressure groups pushing for it. And, you know, I'm not, you know, anti environment,
but I think it was just it was hysteria and it was also people trying to cash in.
Yeah. And, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot of political elements out there who are
trying to answer to a constituency that is just not being realistic about
how the world gets around. And it's sure it with ice engines and it will be for the foreseeable
future. And by the way, as long as I'm on my soapbox, Lindsay, you've been in California long
enough to know, although you're no longer a California resident. Sort of, right?
Actively, yeah. Yeah. But but having grown up here, you know what the smog was like at one time.
I remember I was thinking about this. Yes, as a kid, we had the air quality warnings and you
couldn't see downtown LA on and on, etc. Yes, please continue. And I think we're all old enough to
remember idling at a traffic light with our parents and smelling the exhaust, right? Because you
had your windows down because most of us weren't running AC, right? Well, and a lot of us were in
the rear facing third row of the station wagon where the exhaust came right in directly. Yes.
And now we know what's wrong with me. Anyway, go on. Well, so if you think about those days,
and you think about how far we've come and you can pull up to a traffic light and never smell
a whiff of exhaust now. Yeah. And so the technology has progressed so far. Engines are
very clean burning, very efficient now. They're incredibly reliable. I mean, think about we're
going 15,000 miles between oil changes. Yeah. I mean, on paper, I don't do that. But my point is
never. Right. My point is we've come a long way. There's no way that we need to abandon that at
this point. And I don't think one size fits all is a good formula for anything, let alone cars.
So getting back to where we were, the EV push really messed up the marketplace and manufacturers
are now having to scramble to go back to internal combustion. In fact, I can't remember who it was,
but I think it's Jaguar. Jaguar had nothing on the table for internal combustion. They've fully
committed to EV. They have no engines in the development pipeline. And yeah, they're kind of
they're stuck with EV. So what's going to happen there? I mean, I think they're the design chief
for Jaguar Land Rover just got to let go. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know why, but it has to I can
imagine it's partially because of a lot of the backlash. And they're just panicking at this
point at at JLR thinking, What are we going to do? Well, we got it. We got to hang this on somebody.
It might as well be him. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. The term sacrificial lamb was thrown around.
Yes. Yeah. Well, thank God for Land Rover, right? Kind of keeping the boat afloat, you know, and
to go back to EVs, you know, for the record, I have an EV because they were artificially subsidized
and they were giving them away. And that is the reason that I own one, you know, and I do think
it's a it's a wonderful sort of around town conveyance. But you know, but the environmental
stuff and I like the environment, but that never even factored into it for us. It was literally
just the price and the performance and we needed a car, you know,
I do appreciate that both of you have felt the need to preface your statements with
I do enjoy the environment. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I support the environment. Let's be
poor Jaguar though. Like I'm trying to say it like you Jaguar or whatever we get in here to say,
you know, thank God for Waymo, right? Because where would Jaguar be without Waymo at the moment?
Those are the only times they ever see new Jaguars or when they're, you know, they're dressed up as
Waymo's or whatever. So no kidding. You know, I considered the BMW i3 when it first came out. I
mean, I'm not opposed to EVs. I do a lot of driving and it just it made sense except the range was
like at the time was like 85 miles or something. It was not much. Maybe it was 185, but it was
pretty abysmal and I would have had range anxiety and problems. So and there was no charging
infrastructure. It's a I would I would definitely consider an EV in the future.
But I'm also a long term owner, like, you know, I keep my cars for 10 years and 200,000 miles,
and I just maintain them and I enjoy them. And so I don't trade up very often.
So it I guess it just it it hasn't really made economic sense for me to to go full EV.
I think Toyota is doing it right out of all of them, you know, gas electric hybrid. Yeah, exactly.
So well, that hydrogen model didn't go very far. No true. And why does it still question the hydrogen
thing? Because the only place to see them is is in California for, you know, obvious reasons.
When there was an actual I was aware of where there was a hydrogen station when was it the
ARIA when that came out? Yeah, the ARIA and the Mariah, right, or the two Mariah. That's when I
was thinking of. But yeah, there was I because I remember hearing about this. I'm like, that's
great. Where do you get hydrogen? But I did. There was one station that was open in Orange County
that I was aware of. Like, it'd be interesting experiment. Yeah, that's a California thing.
The manufacturers, some manufacturers have decided to sort of anticipate where California is going
to go. And we we have a dearth of refineries here, as you know, it all has to be refined here in the
state of California, which drives the price up. And so I think, you know, car makers are just
trying to figure out what's California going to do next. And we have to be ahead of the curve.
So a couple have opted for the hydrogen experimentation. BMW was experimenting with
hydrogen, I think as early as the late 80s with the data that a seven series hydrogen project.
If I recall correctly, but yeah, I think I think if anything happens
to change all this, it will probably be some sort of synthetic hydrocarbon fuel.
And Porsche is really, really behind that. I know as well. That said, I just have to
share slash brag that I had this this Genesis press car recently. So I didn't feel bad putting
85 octane in it. But that 85 octane, I paid $1.82 a gallon. I haven't paid that since high school,
guys. $1.82 a dollar 82. Oh my gosh. Well, do you guys remember when gas prices really went crazy
and the pumps would shut off at $50 before that the stations accommodated? Yes. I remember in
high school paying $1.25 a gallon. Okay. Okay. Okay. And, you know, when you're a high school kid,
that's not, you know, to fill up your tank, it's, it's a little bit of an expenditure. At least it
was for me, you know, working a minimum wage job for 425 an hour. So sure, sure. Yeah, that's a
chunk of it for sure. And it adds up. Yeah. What was that job? Or is I'm just curious, what were
you doing in high school? Pumping gas. Oh, you're just sneaking a little freebie, you know, at the
end of the day or something. Never, never. Okay. Nope. I was on the full service island at at the
Chevron and most of my most of my money was made in tips, believe it or not. I mean, I was going to
ask, yeah, if you got tips. Yeah, got got good tips, got, you know, $5 here $20 here, you know,
occasionally somebody would would give me a $50 bill or even a $100 bill in one case.
Really? Yeah. Whoa. So and then that guy would come in and not tip, you know, for the next five
Phillips. But that's okay. We're good, right? We're good. It's like this counts for the next six weeks.
Change the subject a little bit. We haven't talked about your YouTube channel. And I know that
your YouTube channel is really taking off. I have some questions because all I hear from people,
Matt Farron, all that is how difficult YouTube has become. He said he had a kind of, I don't know,
a episode that did 75,000 views and he got a check by I think for $300 or something. So
what's this? What's the state of YouTube and an automotive YouTube and you know, and how are you
making it work? I try not to think too hard about it, Ryan. Yeah, I just read this week that YouTube
is the algorithm is now favoring recency. Okay. So newer videos are getting pushed harder.
I could tell you what has done well on my channel, which is turning wrenches, those kind of videos.
That does well. My interview with Robert Nagel did extremely well, but that was just based on my
strategy, which was to release that the day before the Ferrari biopic opened.
So I rode that wave. I'll be honest and say, the podcast episodes, including the ones where I do
a sit down video interview version for YouTube, do not do nearly as well as my other videos. And
I think that's a function of just not being big enough. You know, of course, guys like,
I mean, the perennial example, right, is Joe Rogan. He can pull, you know, millions and millions of
views or even, well, other guys who do interviews can do huge views with sit downs. I'm not there.
That's okay. Like I said, I try not to think too hard about it. I just do what I like. If
something hits, that's great. You know, I'm making some money off of YouTube. It's, you know,
it's certainly not going to, you know, fill my garage with the cars that I would love to own,
but that's okay. You know, slow and steady wins the race, or at least comes in second. I'll be
happy with second. That's still a good place to be, right? Yeah, I mean, in this context,
it's a ton of work, you guys. You know, I'm putting out a podcast episode every two weeks.
Originally, it was a weekly show. And I think one of the reasons I changed to a
bi-weekly podcast release is it gives listeners time to
listen to the episode, digest the episode. And then in another two weeks, I'll see you again.
Because we're all busy, right? And people might not necessarily have time to,
I think what I'm getting at here is if someone hasn't listened to your show for a few weeks,
and they see like, oh my gosh, I've got, there's like three or four episodes or
what have you to catch up to, I think they're less inclined. I think they feel like
that's sort of a barrier, and they may start to tune out. It's a psychological trick.
Sure. Oh, like I'm already behind and I'll never catch up.
That kind of thing, which is weird, right? But it's, you know, people are weird.
It's not going to be a test, and we're happy to have you here.
But it is kind of like a perceived value thing, right? If we were putting on a show every day,
it wouldn't seem too special, right? But if you're doing twice a month or whatever.
Let's see, maybe that's what we need to do. This one a week thing is kind of burning me.
But you guys are doing a different animal. Well, yeah.
You're topical and, you know, you've got an ensemble cast. So, you know, it's different,
and I think it really works for you. I think you've found the right formula,
if there is a formula. And so have you, and I do look at your episodes as sort of these
there's not a bad one in the bunch, right? They're just these highly polished little things that,
you know, it's, yeah, pretty wonderful horsepower heritage. You've got a good thing.
And I appreciate that. And by the way, speaking of YouTube and speaking of Baja,
I shot a ton of video on that trip. And it's in the editing bay. And it's, you know, I've got
multiple videos that I'm working on at any given time. So it's in, it's in the queue.
But if people are interested in seeing what we were talking about tonight,
you know, subscribe to horsepower heritage on YouTube, and the slow Baja episode will be coming
up pretty soon. So something to look forward to. Yeah, yeah. I look forward to seeing it.
Yeah, as well, of course. So what's next for you? What's in the hopper? Like what's your next big
event? What are you looking forward to? You know, I haven't had time to sit down and look at
the event calendar for 2026. You know, obviously, there are certain events you we all want to hit.
I do want to go to the to the Chattanooga Motoring Festival this year. You know, it's all,
you know, antique racing cars and things like that. And they have right up your alley.
Yeah, I haven't been to that one yet. I would like to get to Goodwood next fall
for the revival. I have yet to do that. And, you know, that's,
that's kind of the pilgrimage that we all have to make if we're really into the old stuff.
That is a must do. I mean, you know, you talk about going to car week and now you can't not go.
That was the only problem that I had when I went to the revival is, I mean, within maybe an hour,
we were walking around and in my head, I went, Well, this is how am I going to not do this every
year? It's just so spectacular. And in terms of upcoming guests, you know, Christopher Runge
will be on the show. Oh, right. Yeah, Chris and I, you know, got to know each other a little bit
during car week this year. And the first time I saw one of his builds was, I think about 2018 or so
in Santa Barbara at a cars and coffee, and I couldn't take my eyes off the thing. And
he has refined every build so much since then. And now he's just that the stuff he's doing is so
incredibly elegant. So Chris is going to come on the show. Rob Ida, who is a wonderful hot rodder
and fabricator out of New Jersey will be on the show in 2026, which is not that far away from us
now. So yeah, wild. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I love talking to racing drivers. So
there will be certainly some some racing drivers come out on the show in the near future. So I
you know, I try to mix it up and keep people guessing. And so yeah, who's your dream get
it? My dream get. Well, they're all dead, Ryan.
So settling for someone who's still alive.
I would love to interview Gordon Murray. Yeah, yeah, you know, Gordon is definitely up there.
I'm going to have Jay Leno on the show at some point in the near future.
I, you know, spent some time here and there with Jay. I've been to the garage.
Fantastic guy. And, you know, he's, of course, super busy, but he always seems to make time.
And I just that's something that I haven't, you know, I haven't contacted him about yet. But I
want to do that. You know, again, you kind of got me on the spot for dream guests. And I'm,
I'm really kind of serious when I say that they're, they're, they're no longer with us because
that's just who, you know, now, now you have me curious. If that was not a constraint,
who would you love to have? I would love to have interviewed Carol Shelby.
I knew you were going to say that. Yeah. Would love to have interviewed Johnny Aniele, who was the
chairman of Fiat. And, you know, he's the guy that, that made the deal with Enzo to, to, you know,
take, essentially take the Ferrari road cars under the Fiat umbrella. And, and he left Enzo
with the racing division. But beyond, beyond that, Aniele is just a fascinating character.
I would, going way back, and none of your listeners will know this name,
would love to have interviewed Harry Miller. Oh, sure. Harry Miller. Harry Miller was a guy from,
I think, Kenosha, Wisconsin. That sounds right. Who worked for ransom olds of Oldsmobile. Okay. In
the very early days, like 19, three, 19, four. And then Miller was a, Miller was kind of a
natural engineer. He designed some very elegant carburetors in the teens and 20s, and made a
fortune from his carburetors, licensing, licensing them, and then, you know, kind of selling them,
selling the design. And then he started building these incredible racing engines
with, you've heard the name Offenhauser? Sure. Yeah. So Offenhauser was one of his guys.
And a guy named Leo Goosen, who was his chief engineer. And those three guys, Goosen, Offenhauser,
and Miller had these incredible racing engines. So the Offi engine, which after Miller kind of had
passed from the scene, Offenhauser took that engine and went to Indy with it. And it was the dominant
engine at Indy until, gosh, I think the mid 80s, because it's a monoblock. It's a monoblock. So
the head does not come off the engine. So they can run extremely high compression, forced induction,
four cylinder engine, just a magical, a magical piece of machinery. And so, but Miller is a really
interesting character. He's kind of like part Frank Lloyd Wright, part Howard Hughes,
really kind of a mysterious character in a lot of ways. And I would love to have sat down with him.
Sure. Sure. But we're talking ancient history right now. I mean, but see, this is what I love,
because you can tie all of this together to the present day. If you just kind of follow the family
tree and follow and start pulling on threads, you will find stuff that is relevant today. But
the roots of it are in the 1910s, 1920s. So. Yeah. Right. And the decisions that people were making
then and the innovations and the direction, you know, they shaped automotive. And like you said,
the threads are there and even today. Yep. So that's it. Yeah. And there's no
thank you. And there's no end to it. I mean, that's what the beauty of this is like, I'll never run
out of subject matter. So yeah, yeah, absolutely. You ever thought about writing a book? Is there
a little bit? I have and I will. And I'm not sure what it's going to be yet. But yeah, that is
one of my goals. I'm going to write an automotive book. I am glad to hear that. So thank you.
Well, then we would like you to come on as an author once the book is written and we will talk
about it. Happy to do so. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Marie, thank you so much for joining us. It's always a
pleasure to talk with you. So glad things are going so well. I look forward to hanging out again
before too long. Any Colorado plans? Just I know something you've talked about. Hey,
you know what, you build it and I'll come. Okay, all right, we're gonna make that happen in time.
All right. Another one we have to add to the calendar, right? That's right. For me, you have
you have done it. But yeah, no, you can get out here too. Maurice Merrick, horsepower heritage
podcast, YouTube channel. Gentlemen, I can't thank you enough for joining us tonight.
We're that car show. Until next time, Lindsay. And remember, always be driving and we'll see
you next week. Thanks for joining us. Thanks.
About this episode
Maurice Merrick, creator of the Horsepower Heritage podcast, joins the hosts for a lively discussion about automotive storytelling, podcasting challenges, and the evolution of car culture. They share anecdotes from Car Week, the Slow Baja expedition, and their favorite automotive guests. Maurice reflects on his eclectic car collection and the importance of community in the automotive world. The conversation also touches on the future of electric vehicles, the impact of social media on car events, and the thrill of live interviews. Tune in for insights and entertaining stories from the automotive realm.
all wheel drive
Baja 1000
cars and coffee
Drake Motor Cars
five-speed
horsepower
Le Mans
Mercedes
project car
Super Veloce
Acura NSX
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Audi RS6 Avant
BMW 2002
BMW i3
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Ford Bronco
Ford Excursion
Ford Expedition
Ford Model 51
Ford Model A
Ford Model T
Ford Mustang
Ineos Grenadier
Land Rover Defender
Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover Series
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Porsche 911
Rolls-Royce Ghost
Tata Motors Aria
Tesla Model Y
Toyota Corolla
Volvo 240
Original notes
This week on That Car Show, it’s our pal Maurice Merrick. Maurice is the creator and host of Horsepower Heritage, the highly-regarded podcast for the discerning automotive enthusiasts among us. In the automotive world that Dan, Lindsey and I inhabit, Maurice is like a VISA card… everywhere you want to be. He’s also a fantastic storyteller, a master of the craft and a good friend. This is also the first episode of Season Two of That Car Show and we genuinely appreciate you joining us each week. Do us a favor and hit subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and tell your enthusiast friends. 2026 is going to be amazing, and we want them along for the ride, too. It’s Horsepower Heritage’s Maurice Merrick and it’s a fun one. It’s That Car Show. Sheffield Watches: sheffieldwatches.com and @sheffield_allsport_watchesDrake Motorcars: drakemotorcars.com and @drakemotorcars
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Ryan Bahrke, Dan Pilling, Lindsey Jesch
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