I’m Flippin' Furious!

This is like being in the writer's room of a Les Dawson sketch show.

Aston print. Is it Aston print?

I just call it the princess because they also did a waltzy version.

Oh, God.

You don't want to get that go there.

Just to see if, when crushed, it'll look any better.

Right.

This is the Tire Kickers, classic car chat with Max and Matt.

Hello again. We're back with a brand new episode of our almost award-winning podcast.

We are the Tire Kickers and we talk about classic cars until we run out of breath.

Coming up this time, deal or no deal.

We've spotted some dealers flipping classics overnight for double the money.

So we'll ask, is that smart business or just flipping cheeky?

This is the Tire Kickers.

Also, Automabilia, are you a sucker for a rusty tin sign

old oil can or a retro petrol pump?

Or is it all just money for old tat?

We'll recap our SL versus Stag road test special

and see if we've learned anything.

Spoiler alert, I now want to V8 again.

And we'll get your thoughts on everything from ugly rollers

to what warm-up acts do you do in front of the neighbors.

So let's stop idling about and get the wheels turning on episode 39 of the Tire Kickers.

So Matthew, I was watching the Iconics auction at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago

and spotted a few cars I liked.

Two of them, one an old Toyota Hilux and the other a Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL.

OK, so for a man who spends most of his spare time looking at car auction prices...

All of his spare time actually, sorry.

This isn't much of a surprise to be honest.

But why are we bothered by a Hilux?

So sheep farmers run around and get another boring Merck.

You're obsessed with these 80s Mercks.

What's the issue with these two?

Well, first of all, they sold.

The Toyota sold for £4,725 and the Mercedes for £7,313.

Right, OK.

So for nearly £5,000 for the Toyota to pick up Bieber junk.

Yeah, that's about right.

Mercedes for £7,000.

Yeah, as I say, it's a boring 80s SEL.

That's about right.

So what's the problem with those prices?

Well, I saw them the next day, less than 24 hours in fact,

pop up for sale on a dealer's social media.

The Toyota for £7,995 and the Mercedes for £11,995.

So on the Toyota, an increase of £3,270 and on the Merck,

4,682 markup.

Now the dealer even used the pictures from the auction catalogue

to advertise them.

OK, so a bit of a chunky overnight flip.

I mean, that's what dealers do, isn't it?

I mean, they spot a good car, they buy low, they sort it,

they prep it and they sell it on, hopefully for profit.

I mean, that is their business.

What's your issue with that?

Well, yeah, but how much is too much?

And is that an acceptable markup?

I mean, how much work can you do to a car in 24 hours?

Plus, if I spotted that, how many other people have?

And is that a good look for a dealer or even a classic car trade?

Now, usually a dealer might argue they did some work,

a service, some body work, etc.

But if it's up for sale the next day with auction house pictures,

I mean, come on, even Mike Brewer takes a hubcap to be re-chromed.

So I think that is taking the Michael.

Yeah, so I guess what your beef is, as the teenagers would say,

is that they've literally just flipped it overnight

and they've not done anything.

I mean, one a dealer is running a business, they've got overheads.

If this was a private buyer, then fair enough,

if somebody bought it at auction and flipped it overnight 24 hours later

for an inflated thingy, they're going to get most of that cash

because they've got the overheads.

Dealer's got overheads, they've got to pay tax on a margin,

they've got to pay operating costs, all that sort of stuff.

Isn't it just smart that they've spotted something

that you haven't or we haven't

and they've done the legwork on a Tuesday afternoon

to go and look at it or spot it or follow the auction, whatever.

And they've just got lucky on this one.

I mean, the market will decide, won't it?

It's just business, good business, isn't it?

I mean, yeah, I'm not going to say that I don't want people to make a profit.

You know, I'm perfectly happy with a profit

but it's about the kind of idea of being a dealer

because for me, dealers need to have the skill.

Most dealers don't go to auctions from just flipped cars

because that's a kind of Arthur Daly model from the 1980s.

You might do that on a Vauxhall Nova for 500 quid

but I don't think you tend to do that so much on classic cars

because the dealer's skill is to find the right cars,

make sure they're okay, get their history together,

do some work and then put them out and that's your margin.

They are doing some value added in order to justify their profit.

They're actually using their skills and their expertise

and lots of dealers have been in business for 30, 40 years

in order to present the best cars.

I think this is just taking the mech a bit

and where's the skill in that?

I don't think for us who regard classic cars as a passion,

that's really what it's about.

I went and looked at a Mercedes, a 70s Mercedes

about 18 months ago

and I knew it had come from an auction

because you just do a quick reverse search on the number plate

and I saw it itself for 5,000 in the auction

and the dealer had it up for like 12, 13

and I went and looked at it

and I wasn't impressed with the car in the end

but I went back and said,

look, would you consider an offer?

And they were quite abrupt with me and said no.

If you want to find one in this condition going

you carry on searching.

But I know it's come from the auction

and I said to them, I understand where it's come from

and understand you've got to make a profit on it

but can we talk about somewhere in the middle

and perhaps just to test the water

and they were no, they were no.

While I'm defending the dealers

and we do have dealers who listen to this

it'd be interesting to hear what they say

but while I defend that

and I do understand you've got to make a living

but the transparency there now

the Pandora's box is slightly open

on the values and things

so is it fair to ask double and a bit for stuff?

No, not if you're not going to do anything to it

because the best deal is

you see the adverts in the back

of owners' clubs and magazines

dealers want your car

to search out the best cars.

They are looking and digging

and phoning and calling and their contacts

mean that they get cars before they hit the market

before they hit the auctions

so there is the dealer skill isn't it?

Because there is so much transparency around

they don't want people to see what they paid for a car

they only want people to see what they're asking for a car

I think with a good deal is

those are the ones who are searching out the right cars

I think this kind of flipping

just feels a bit 1980s

and just a bit wrong to be honest

I'm not really making a profit on a car

but come on just make a little bit more effort

to search out the right cars

find Eastern customers

and also make sure the cars are really good

To be fair to the dealers though

I mean trading at the moment

is probably harder than it has been

for a long long time

getting hold of the cars

and stock is difficult at the moment

business overheads are through the roof at the moment

so perhaps

and maybe in this particular case

yes they flip them online

in 24 hours

but maybe they've taken those cars

and they are sort of going through them

and servicing them

and they are valenting them

all those are costs by the way

and then maybe they might have stuck with them

for like two, three weeks, four weeks, a month

so if they've got the neck to kind of ask for it

and they can get the money

then good on them I think

but it's not, you know

I'm not ranting against dealers

because it's the dealers skill I'm after

you know if you're going to pay a premium

for a car

a dealer premium for a car

I think you want them to do something for you

you want them to have checked out the car

you want them to have chosen the best car

and actually make sure that it's ok to sell on

and I think that's where

the dealers are good

when they actually earn their money if you like

this is just a cheap flip

so you wouldn't have a problem if

suddenly this Hilux they'd found

was the best Hilux in Britain

but just was underpriced

and they'd use their knowledge to kind of find it

and then they were just going to turn it around

so by the time you got to see it

your jaw would drop

you haven't got a problem with that necessarily

your problem is just

somebody lazily just added five grand on

and flipped it out

if you find out that your car is

24 hours fresh out of the auction

but four grand more expensive

I'd be surprised if you went back to that dealer again

so I'm just saying that the dealers

the best dealers have to earn their money

by being right

by sourcing the right cars

by making sure they're good cars

and making sure it's the right customer

so if a dealer's earning money that way

fine but if a dealer's just earning money

with a very quick flip

it just feels a bit odd

it doesn't really belong, I think

in the kind of modern classic car world

where we're all driven by passion

and not just a quick buck

I've had this, you know, you have this dream

that you're driving to work every sort of thing

I want to give this up and actually I could sell classic cars

but actually, how soft anybody does it

because it must be a really stressful thing

because one the cars are

you know you could sort of car out

and then somebody comes to test driving

and two you know

it's a fashionable seasonal thing

classic cars we've talked about

the winter it goes dead

you might be sitting on stock for a long long time

and then fashions in and out

you could have suddenly, you know

gone and bought loads of 60 stuff

and then suddenly this year comes around

and everybody wants modern classics

you're lumped with a load of stock

so I think it's quite a hard

a hard graft being a classic car dealer

I'm not that bothered

nobody wants to buy that Hilux or that Mercedes

they won't

I think you can vote with your feet

if you don't like the markups then just job on

I do quite like the Mercedes

they've got it for sale though

it's a 1986 560

SEL W126

in black

so what you'll do

what you normally do

sit like a vulture on a tree

and wait for the price to drop

it's not going to drop as low as you paid for it

yeah you'll wait until the van will swoop in

Christmas Eve, that's always the best time to buy cars

isn't it

poor dealer

so we're clearly at odds about this but where do you sit

fair enough or flipping cheeky

please let us know

we are the Thai Cookers, it's episode 39

and shortly we're talking

Retro Kartat or Automabilia

as I believe it's known

who buys it and why

in the last bonus episode

we went all car journalistic

Geely-lee and did a road test

between Max's 1986

Mercedes 300 SL

and my newly acquired 1978

Brown Triumph Stag

we asked the serious questions

tested the cars to their limits

and came up with various serious consumer journalism

style conclusions

looking at the cars so we've got Max's red

1980s obviously one of the last

of the productions of the 107s

and my stag which is the late 70s

which is one of the last of the productions of the stags

and there is a very British bolt on show here

which is just a fantastic

bit of BL work isn't it

in the T-top there's a big bolt on show

in a German car that just doesn't really happen

they've kind of engineered it all out

but that's a very British

solution

if we get into quality the door chunk

we should do the test up shouldn't we

have a listen to this

let's have a listen to yours

I've got the SL

not much in it

I think that's quite a lot

go on do it again stag

SL

that is quite a thunk

I'm going to walk around and crouch down

at the back of the stag

it's got two massive exhausts

it looks like two 10lb guns to be honest

so I'm just going to point the microphone

at the back of the exhaust and get it fired up

SL

bollocks

right Max is in position

in his German cruiser here we go

SL

actually that sounds surprisingly sporty

that's 3000 revs

and 60 miles an hour that's quite nice

I mean it is a nice engine

I know these engines have a reputation

for being troublesome but it is a

beautifully smooth VA

now Max is heading over

to have a drive of my SL

knowing Matt he'll be moaning about not being able

to get into this car properly

stand by for some huffing and puffing

I can't get my legs in

right does the seat go back

ok

so when you kick down it doesn't exactly

lurch forward but it then puts the power on

really slowly increase

it's not particularly fast is it

right engines off

I think the stag is a great concept car

but just the concept wasn't finished

which is a shame because like so many BL cars

the actual design

behind it the idea behind it

was brilliant I mean nothing short of brilliant

yeah I love the stag design I think it's ugly

and beautifully in same measure but I do think the 107

is probably one of the prettiest

convertibles built and I probably go with the 107

that's interesting because

after driving the stag I think the stag

is a much better sports car

it's more nimble it's more alive it's got better

steering it accelerates better

and the engine is more interesting

but I've got about an hour and a half to drive home

along the M4 so I wouldn't take it home

yeah it's very true

it's different

and I think fun is relative

I think I could own your car

and have a lot of enjoyment with it

but I think the stag there's something about the stag

that when you put the foot down and you hear that note

you smile

that episode is available now on your podcast

platform just listen to the episode before

this one and thanks to those of you

who shot us a note to say how much you enjoyed it

yes thank you very much an honourable mentions

to Darren Pendleton, Elliot Atkins

Tony Richards, Benjamin Maltby

Ian Lake, Chicks and his stag scarlet

Alan McCaskill, Mr M Ford

on Insta as well as my classic wheels

and Corb 2000 just some of you got in touch

thank you very much you said you liked it

that we should do some more perhaps

we also enjoyed doing it but what did we learn

anyone, anyone

did we learn anything

yeah we did actually

we mentioned Chicks there and his stag

he could have got in touch and accused me

of being a little bit mealy mailed on this

on that particular podcast

he said the stag is such a great car

I should have just gone for it

and he kind of felt I held back

but we were trying to be balanced weren't we

I'm not sure we were sitting on the fence

I think we were quite honest about

both of our car shortcomings and you know

I really fell in love with your stag on that

on that drive that V8

is tremendous and the noise was amazing

because I drove home in mind and it was a little bit

of an anticlimax to be honest because

well okay it got home without any mechanical

problems which is something that you don't always

have the luxury of but it was very

quiet and after

just every time I prodded the throttle

on that stag is just

after that it was like oh I kind of missed

that so I don't think we sat on the fence

yeah they're both very different cars though

and I think you know while yours doesn't have

the sort of

thrill ride of the stag

perhaps you know it is much more of a long

distance cruiser so the stag

I wouldn't want to go hundreds of miles

in because you do have to keep your foot in

you know there is a noise but just driving

that round for short periods of time

is fab it's funny when I was driving home

after that when I was driving my car I was thinking

what is the difference about this

and it really is and a couple of people made this point

on the kind of comments about the program

is that you know you're comparing chalk

and cheese really because the stag

is almost like a British Leyland prototype

because it didn't have the development

that the SL did because by the time

your car came out what 78

the SL had been in production for what

20 odd 24 years

so really it had been through several

gestations it had been improved

it was a mark 3 SL

by the time the stag came out

because actually if you imagine

that would have been a stag mark 3

or a stag mark 4

that would have been a really interesting car

you said that on the podcast didn't you

quite rightly that the stag was

kind of a 90% car it was sort of

done and then left to finish off

and you can see that in the quality

but just in the thought

whereas the SL is something that has been

developed it's as you say a second

sort of third generation of her cells

it had been thought about and refined

and it was refined through the years

to leave it although it kind of

ostensibly looked like the same car

they did refine it and they did fine tune it

to make it ride better and you've got

the sort of later one so if you wound

that back to the 70s maybe it would be

a little bit more raw a car

I've driven a 70s SL and it is a bit

more boaty floaty lurchy

however it still it looks great

and I think if you just come

back to the thing if you want

a trouble free classic car

an SL is a really good bet for your

the stag is a different thing though

and I think it's an interesting one because

I was sort of thinking after how long

am I going to keep this car because it is fun

it's a really fun car to drive

I've just been out in it today

for a couple of times I literally just took out

the garage like an hour ago just because

the sun came out and I thought do you know what

I just want to go and have that thrill of driving it

and it is an interesting car to drive

I really really enjoy driving it

really really enjoy it much more than I thought I would

actually I wanted the engine

I'm actually enjoying the car because it's so usable

but it's so you know as we talked

about in the podcast you put your foot down the bonnet goes up

take your foot off the bonnet goes down

but every time I put my foot down

I smile because it's just really enjoyable

it's got that noise as well isn't it

you know like kind of modern cars have that

noise coming through the car speakers

you know a modern car would kill

for the noise of a Triumph Stag V8

it's a much more usable car than I've had

in the past so I'm already thinking

actually I can run it out for an hour or two

when the weather's good enough

to enjoy it I just need a petrol tanker following me

but it's a different type of thing

a reliable car following you

or the AA following you

what did you do after that podcast we recorded that

what did you drive like an hour and a bit

an hour and a half

I went flat out down the M4

so I reckon it was about 90 minutes

hood down on the M4 I had a really good time

but I did think oh god that V8

it's funny it made me lust after a V8

to be honest

I didn't notice at length

but once again here is the feature

entitled Max wants a V8 part 7

now like the police academy sequels

this one is going to run and run

but is slightly less funny

does this mean that you've been back in a classified

looking at V8 yet again

I've never left the classifieds

I've got a left field suggestion for myself now

because nobody else is interested in this

that I came across

do you remember the MGZT260

this was the

Rover 75 saloon with a Ford Mustang

4.6L V8

really

the original MGZT

was the front wheel drive V6 do you remember that

yeah I've tried to sort of rub it out of my head

they tossed all of that out

and they made it a rear wheel drive V8

now here is one for sale on your screen

talk about a wolf

in a Rover 75's clothing

that looks like a

it doesn't even look pimped up

just looks like a grandad car

but it's a Rover 75 Q-car

with a 4.6L Mustang V8

in it so it's in black

this is a 2000

let me just read the details

2005 so this is one of the last ones made

a black MGZT260 V8

so it's the four door saloon

it's a Rover 75 with an MG grill

braided onto the front

if that again if that had an Audi badge

people would be wetting themselves

right where are we on

shot 34 of 86 now I'm trying to

oh god it looks like a Rover 2 on 6

right keep going I want to find the engine

engine engine engine where is it

oh that looks horrible that engine what is that

slow down I'll tell you what that cheap 2000

stereo looks rough isn't it

yeah okay the engine is a bit dirty

but it's a 4.6L V8 Mustang engine

surprisingly it didn't have enough power

they were talking about making one of these with a 500 brake horsepower engine

but it is a really good fun car

because it's rear wheel drive it's manual

and it's got a V8 and you can make these sound

really good I think if you're finding this sort of stuff

on the internet you need to get out a bit more

because this looks really dull

and then you flip the bonnet and it just looks really ugly

I mean okay so that's a no

I'm going to throw this up

on your screen as the medicine for my

V8 rash right oh not

another bloody SL129

thing this is a Mercedes SLR129

now I believe I've mentioned these

slightly in the past but these are

V8s and with the aftermarket

exhaust you can make them sound

really really good and this one's

18000 for a really nice

1996 SL500

yeah I mean I don't

dislike the SLs we've talked about these in the past

they're not a lot

classicky enough for me but

that's a really good

block in there I mean they've used that block

in a lot of different things it's an M119

isn't it the 5.0L V8

if you're going to buy one of these cars

you are catching on with your engine codes

well I have one of them didn't I have the 118 or the 119

in another Mercedes so

they're good and they're reliable and I think these

a good V8 in these

kind of 90s 2000 era Mercedes

are other ones to get

because they do just sound really really good

do they sound good out of stock

or do you have to set them up with exhaust

stock are a bit quiet but there's a company called

Eisenman I think they do aftermarket exhaust

and I've driven a couple of those with those on

and they sound American just as I could

an American muscle car it's great not interestingly

as good as your stag still the stag

won the sound contest hands down

but it does still sound good yeah if you if

you're going on this tip with a Mercedes I would say

look at the also look at the R

230 SL's the 2000 era

Mercedes SL's the

500's and the 55's because they're going for

super cheap money at the moment they're going for

cheap money for a reason if you

happen to listen back to an SL special

on this very podcast platform

that I did it a while back

Bruce Grytham from Bruce Grytham's

classic Mercs those are 230's

they are a little bit unreliable it's

from that low point of Merc

unreliability

and they do go wrong a fair bit so I've always

tried to avoid the RT 30's do you

understand the air suspension is the

worst thing but you just check they're not

not too sort of lumpy in the

corners and they leak on the electrics the boot

leaks on the right on the electrics yeah

that's true that that is true yeah you've

done a special on it you know what you're talking about

I would say also the CLK's

I bang on about CLK's they are a sleeper here

and I think 10 years people go chasing for those but

the engine makes them interesting but there's

some good the point being of all of this

there's some good V8's out there aren't they just

sitting in cars quite cheaply the point being

about your CLK that you had is it was so

good you sold it well it was just so good

it was a use case thing again

that it was so good that what do I do that

because I then got a daily car which was a convertible

and to be honest apart from the engine

it wasn't there wasn't much you know I

can't be in two cars at once going in the same

place so I kind of shuffled the cars

around but I had one of these a CLK

155 which is the hand-built AMG engine

and I think if you can get

one of those they are going for cheap money at the moment

it's a full-seater convertible you can

pick them up like seven or eight grand a good one

get one with service history they're very

low maintenance if they've been looked after

and they're one to get they're not as exciting

as probably a 129 in terms of

classicky car because you know they're

still 10 years younger but I think they're one

to watch so I think the V8's

I think are interesting I think

why don't you just buy a stack for the fun of it

because I would have to admit that you

might be right and that will never happen

I would rather gouge out my eyes

than go and buy a Triumph stack and suggest

that you might be right even though it's got

it would pander to my BL fixation

Yeah and go back and listen if you've not

listened to that podcast you know

do check it out it's our

Stag vs SR road test it's the podcast

before this one and we do come away with a couple of conclusions

yours wins on quality hands down

the stack isn't

very well screwed together

and the interior quality is not that great

and the roof's not as

you know the engineering's not as good

however it is an interesting car to own

and it's very much a classic car

so there is still that enjoyment it's a classic car

and it will keep me busy

whereas yours is not really

you know if you left yours for a few weeks

it's not going to make any difference it's not much to do in yours

it would still start

there's not much to do it

potentially a bit too boring

I just walk into the garage and it sit down in it

it's the first time all the time

yeah but because of that

you're now looking at blue and MGRV8

or whatever they are

now what's that MGZT

whatever you just shown me

but clearly you weren't paying attention at the point I showed it

well now it's just my eyes were just horrified

if you had it

maybe you do need a classic car

that's a bit more you need something in between

your Porsche and this to keep you amused

oh I just need to listen to you moaning about the

stag when it goes wrong or the 20 things you need to fix

in it because the thing about the stag is

as much as I love them inevitably that will go wrong

I think

there's going to be plenty of material

if you want to hear more about V8s we've talked about V8s there

check out episode 25 I should mention that

because we do ask the question should we buy a V8

before it's too late

I think we only came up with that because it vaguely rhymed

V8 and late

TVRs we talked about didn't we

yeah V8 MGBs

and the RV8s and stuff because they're still

you know particularly the MGBGT

V8 is still a great car

because it's a small classic car

and it's got the great V8 engine

yeah so episode 25 if you want to get lost

in V8s go check it out

have a listen let us know what you think

and here's how you can let us know what you think

you can get in touch with Max and Matt

via our socials

we're at the Tire Kickers UK on Instagram

and the Tire Kickers

on Facebook

you've been in touch in record numbers since the last show

and two people so thank you for your letters

and all those drawings in crayon

yeah first of all on cars we called ugly

like the Rolls Royce Camargue

the Ford Anglia Daimler Dunn Ford Scorpio

that was in the last episode Sam who goes by the handle

old car lady on Insta

she says the Camargue is one of her favourite cars

she says much better than that

Panther Deville she had

which she said always let her down

Panther Deville

that's a kind of Liberace type car

kick car isn't it that really is ugly

she also put some photos up showing how

she used the Camargue on the school run

and also as a recovery truck

Rolls recovery now that could be a thing

yeah it could be

that car was how much back in the day

and it was doing the school run

I think it's the world's most expensive car

for a time in the 70s

have a look on social media

Sam's social media and our social media

because she does make a good case for the Camargue

meanwhile there are Rover all on Instagram

says that I used to have a Scorpio

a one to dart

and Max's favourite car

Anglia

we called these ugly in the last podcast

but he prefers the word characterful

and you know what beauties in the eye

the beholder fair enough

Corb 2000 says back in the day I used to have a

Scorpio as a company car

when colleagues had voxel amigas

they thought I was mad but the Scorpio was comfortable

spacious and very well equipped

Benjamin M says on the subject

of fugly cars

I give you the triumph Mayflower

but actually how he sums it up

is pretty much bang on actually

it looks like the love child he says

of a London taxi and Noddy's car

is this in your radar

the triumph Mayflower

funnily enough I saw that in a car museum

about six months ago and it really is ugly

it's one of those classic cars that it's too big

for its chassis so it's kind of falling over itself

Google a Mayflower and you'll see what we mean

now after one of you told us

you were listening by a poolside in Bali

we also asked you

where do you listen to this show

and we got some interesting locations

check some of these out

yes, Clint Randall says he's been listening to us

in Peru Max while he's doing

a round the world trip on his motorbike

he says he's having a really great time doing it

he's missing his family and his dog but

what he really misses is his

MGVGT it's his daily driver

as a photographer back here in the UK

it's funny actually

you miss cars while you're away

I've just got back from France on a family holiday

and I didn't

necessarily miss my bed or the house

I actually missed the stag

I think the key word there is family

in family holiday that's why you miss the car

no but you do miss driving your car

I mean I got in at 2.30 this morning

it was a bit of a bit of a schlep getting back

and it was a bit of a grug getting through the ports

and that sort of stuff so I got in at 2.30 this morning

but at 7.30 I woke up

and I looked out the window and I thought

it's alright I'll drive it to a meet

so I sort of propped my eyelids open

matchsticks and I got out

just to get driving it again

so I got there and it was really good

and then it chucked it down to get the roof up

luckily we practiced that in the road test

and I think you actually managed to get

the roof up did you?

we just gave up halfway through and put it back

but I don't like taking my car out in the rain

I'm a bit precious about it I've got dirty stag now

I agree and also you can't put it away in the garage

I actually texted you

after I saw that photograph

so do not put that away in the garage wet

I had a plan though it was just a shower this morning

so I took it and I air dried it down a dual carriage

70 miles an hour

air fried it down a dual carriage

I could see the rain coming off it

and then I just left it in the sun just to dry out

before I put it in the garage

I mean you don't want to be putting a British laden car back in a garage wet

I'll flip the garage door up

just be rust, isn't it?

now back to where you are

and where you listen

350 Monroe lessons on a night shift

around mine in the Adelaide Hills

fixing broken machines beat that

also he's just bought an XJ-12

this week that hasn't been driven

for 24 years so he

fixes broken machines at work

and then has a busman's holiday with a Jag

by the way he was telling me he's got nine Jags

and three Rovers

in a collection of 29 cars

good mile

well yeah in a very unique location

I think I can do slightly better than that

I mean Corp 2000 has been listening

in Tahiti and Bora Bora

French Polynesia

I mean it's more glam

it's not quite as

kind of wow as being an underground mine

but French Polynesia

is definitely definitely on my bucket list that

but he too

told us that he's been missing his cars

and was looking forward to getting home to drive them

so he sat there in Tahiti

thinking about

maybe I'll get back and drive my old banger

so there's something like these cars aren't they are addictive

absolutely

let's bring it back to Earth though

DT McMurty also let us know

about where he's listening to the show

not the Maldives

but the car park at Morrison's

we also asked what your car

warm-up routine was

we talked about this in the last episode

do you let your car tick over for 10 minutes

or do you drive off

or custom skills says

it might take up to 20 miles

to properly warm up

don't thrash it he says

but don't apply a lot of load

in too high a gear

KCDMGBGT says

and this is the routine

full choke

start

pull out of garage

choke in halfway

close garage door

choke fully in

set off

gentle throttle

till up to temperature

sounds perfect

okay I've taken notes on that

another one

Vaudry SCCS says

drive away

he says sitting with the choke on

can clog the plugs

well that's what you were saying wasn't it

yeah absolutely

Rockstar Cars says

any cars air-cooled

or pre-1990

are warmed through

modern stuff

just crack on

MogOnline72 says

don't warm up an idle

you need to get moving to warm the oil

so it gets to the top of the engine

exactly big bike mic 77

says I do let my MG

warm up

that name sounds like

one of those cargies to see in the phone box

this is Alan 74

what phone boxes were you in

this is Alan 74

says modern classic

anything 80s or older

will just turn it on and go

however I'd wait until 90 degrees

before putting my foot down

older stuff I'd consider idling

yeah it's a good point

Lee Hussain says

he lets his 70s alpha warm up

for a few minutes to limber her up

and then half way down the road

she breaks down

he's had a couple of breakdowns with that alpha

including recently

an ignition coil that went kaput

while he was cruising down the M3

back from an alpha meet

yeah he shot us a note to say

he was in a sort of zen moment

coming back from an alpha meet

the weather was really nice

he was driving back

along the motorway

sort of warm air

had the tunes on

had his new alpha

he's not had this alpha very long

he said

then he sent us a picture of it

on the hard shoulder

of the M3

or in one of those refuge bits

and then back on a low loader

so stick with it Lee

that's what old cars are like

I think he was saying

that particular car

just hasn't been used for a while

so it needs a few things sorted

but that's classic cars for you isn't it

yeah alpha karma

it's going to get you back

yes and finally on this one

Mark Palmer on Facebook says

he always warms up for a minute or two

it may not make a massive difference

he says but I feel like it helps

now all that's good advice

I tell you what I've got

kind of slightly confused with it all

now thanks to be honest with you

lost in all the advice

I'm slightly overthinking it

I was starting to stag this morning

I haven't quite worked out the routine of that

but I had it sort of sussed in my head

that would warm up for a little bit

then I would drive

and this like that

but now I'm kind of overthinking it

I think it's your fault

it's not my fault

it's just mechanical principles

it's just basically you've got to drive it

but at low revs

and just remember this phrase

the devil makes work for idle engines

do not let it tick over at low pressure

because it's not getting the oil pressure around

okay it's episode 39

we're talking retro car stuff surely

but first

cars owned by celebs don't normally

see much of a hike in value

to be honest

who cares if Roy Cropper

from Coronation Street

once owned your Vauxhall Viva

but how about this one

Range Rover 2006 L322

we talked about these on the show

120,000 miles possible

what 10 or 15 grand

and most yeah

but because of the backseat passenger

this one went for a regal sum

175,500 pounds

including fees

for a 2006 L322

now it was a Vogue SE

but that should only be

really an extra 500 quid on the sale price

but that is an astonishing amount of money

all because the late queen

sat in the back

yeah so it just looks like a Bogo

you know L322

how many of these did she have

because didn't one of these sell before

I think she had a couple

this was one she had for two years

and I think she used this for kind of

private events

it wasn't used for state events

because she had various cars for this

but this is to go and turn up

and look at some horses and stuff

and some racing horses

ah so she didn't drive this one

yeah there's a shot of her getting out the back of it

so it was yeah it was more of a chauffeur

do you remember the

because the one before this

that made the headlines

was somebody bought it didn't they

but it didn't have any provenance

and then eventually managed to find a photo

of her at the wheel

and the car sort of double the triple

did value didn't it overnight

yeah and I think that only went for the kind of 50 or 60

I mean this was 175,000

apparently there was two bidders after it

one from the Caribbean who won it

and the other one from Japan

so maybe they wanted it for a museum

but it wasn't a special car

it wasn't like bulletproof

or covered with lights

or what American heads of state have

it was just a Range Rover

the only extras it had were grab handles

in the back

Tonga Green

no privacy glass

which is the best to pack for L322

small wheels

an Oxford sand leather

I mean a beautifully specced car but

175,000

it's that old auction thing there

if you've got two people who once here

that just pushes the value up

I mean compared to

in terms of royal cars though

her stuff hasn't been the stuff

that's got the big big money

I mean Diana's stuff's got big money

there was that

Escort RS Turbo

an 85 I think it was

driven by

they sold for 722,000

amazing amount of money

back in auction in 2022

but remember the other famous one

they didn't get quite so big money though

was that Metro

that she had one of the first cars

the first pictures

that actually went for 6 grand

it's actually in Coventry

Transport Museum that one

back in the 90s that went for 6 grand

I mean that would be worth

a hell of a lot of money now

if that was on the open market

there's a picture of it now on your screen

driving it

can you see it's got a

classic BL wing mirror

that's just kind of collapsed

under its own weight

it's just given up

yeah it's just it's got this

sort of wonky wing mirror

hanging off

as they always did

because they got whacked

didn't they

it's just people didn't know

how to fix them

but yeah so that's 6 grand

but yeah any royal connection

I guess any provenance

if you can prove it with cars

especially if it's celebrity

or royal whatever

it just pushes that value up doesn't it

that's an incredible amount of money

I think it was a world record

for an L322

but just goes to show those L322s

great cars

just so stylish at the moment

this is the tyre kickers

Max last week I was in your garage

when we did the SL versus stag thing

and I noticed something

did you now

what were you noticing

the old sunbeam oil stain

still there on the floor

need to get round to get rid of those

or oh I know it was was it

I hadn't painted my floor

with that grey stuff

like I said I was going to

no what I noticed was nothing

I noticed absolutely nothing

there was nothing on the walls about triumphs

or sunbeams

or the alphas you used to have

there's no automobilia

on your garage wall

and I think that's missing a bit

oh you mean the tin posters

and stuff like that

I've got a couple of bits

I mean I don't know if you've spotted

what kids got me one about

Mercedes when I had that Mercedes

and there's a couple of rally plates

but now I haven't got that sort of

automobilia tack

you're talking like you know

Jay Leno's

man cave garage thing

where it's all old petrol pumps

and you know rusty signs

and retro thing and those oil cans

I've never massively gone into that

do you think I should get some of that then

well it's just

there's a kind of character to it

now obviously Jay Leno

has got a bit more money than you and I

put together

and he has got his walls

covered in everything

I mean his car garage is like a museum

and it's fantastic isn't it

but I have to say

I've got a few things around

that kind of relate to me

so I've got a couple of

number plates from cars I used to have

I've got the old Porsche 912 number plate

I've got some hubcaps

I've got a camshaft from an engine that blew

I've just got little bits that remind me of this stuff

it's not particularly the stuff that

you want to buy to give yourself

a kind of character

a bit like when you bought posters at university

just of bands because he thought it looked cool

these are things that I've kind of had

and gotten that fallen off the car

and have broken

just to remind me about the various cars

and I was kind of thinking about that really

just the story of the cars you've had in the past

haven't you also got a grill off a Woolsey Hornet

I do have a grill off a Woolsey Hornet

yeah absolutely

you know that's in the attic

I haven't actually put that up yet

but yeah a grill off a Woolsey Hornet

that I had as well

this is the sort of thing you think

I should be cluttering my garage with

absolutely it's not cluttering your garage

it's kind of mementos

it's past history

it's the things that make you laugh

I think I had a great time with that Woolsey Hornet

so I kept a grill

yeah okay well I get it

you know with old number plates

that are sentimental and mean something

but just filling your garage with tat

I quite like less in my garage

I don't want minimalism

it's just characterless

it's like a prison cell to be honest

there was more in

if you've been doing ten years for fraud

you'd have more inside in your prison cell walls

than you had in your garage

I should have shut the door and left you in there

it's the way I just don't want

I've just cleared it out

I've said to you

I've just cleared it out

after four years of like junk in there

you know there was memorabilia

from a sunbeam alpine

yeah but that's lovely

that's not junk

that's history

that's your past

yeah well okay

so what should I get then

what should I put in there

I have some B

what about like an old BL sign

let's have a look on the e-basic

they've got something there

retro

let's try British Leyland Retro

sign or something like that

this is live research

that's being live research

which Josie is doing some research

it's like when you forgot to do your essay

oh your school homework

British Leyland Retro Garage

Manco sign

it's like five

could ten

oh look it's got

this is a reproduction

oh this is quite good though

because it's got a bit of authenticity

because it's actually rusted around the edges

yeah that's really good

it should have rusted in the middle

and the back in the front as well

but yeah a British Leyland sign

because interestingly

you haven't got those BL roundels

on your stag

whoever did the paint job

was try to DBL it

and taking them off

you sent me this

this is like a sort of

a whole automobilius site

so it's got like the

oil cans

and the

signs

and that sort of stuff

let's have a look

click on the box that says

signs and let's see

what they've got

here we are so

I mean there's all kind of

you see an AA signs

from the kind of fifties

and forties

and champion sparkplug signs

it's just about a bit of character

to the garage walls

because you've got a breeze block garage

so it's got zero character on it

I'm just thinking of something

that kind of relates

vaguely to you

and your past cars

with a stag

there's an AA sign

and you may be getting

used to seeing the AA for example

do you need to recognise the sign

you'd be rude about my garage

my garage has got feelings too

right let's see what else

we've got here

I mean this is

Michelin signs

like Morris signs

AA as you say

a 750 quid

yeah that's the thing

I wasn't going to mention

they are quite expensive

these signs these days

it's a lot isn't it

I think stuff that's

a bit sentimental

and they've got some road signs too

if you could actually have

some road signs of places

you've lived

or things like that

then that's got sentimental value

you could do that

but you could also have

a bit of this

because you know

it's quite nice

it gives a bit of character

doesn't it

when you're in the garage

and you're polishing

and you're taking things

apart and they're falling

apart in your hands

started with

I think it's one of those things

that just makes it feel a bit warm

it's got some kind of feeling to it

the garage have got

a kind of spirit of old cars

do you know what

this is all saying to me

one word

clutter

oh no

it's not clutter

I don't want to go

into some sort of

eyesore of signs

I can see you going

I can see you going to

Stonehenge

and knocking it down

and building a nice road

through it

because it's just clutter

it's just getting in the way

I want to put

I want my garage

walls to paint the floor

and put some nice lights in there

and then just have it all

quite minimal

minimal

well it's also

we live in Britain as well

let's get to the thing

my garage is big enough

for my car and just about

big enough to get around it

you parked your car in there

and you were just able to get out

we haven't got the room

for all this stuff

you know it's nice

if you've got

like an American style

or a millionaire style

you know

sort of

garage where you can sit in

with a sofa

Chris Evans garage

where you've got this

stuff in

you can have a mini Chris Evans

garage

you can just have a couple of things

in there

you could squeeze a chair in there

and look at your car

do you know what

what happened

this is the British reality

of it

is you'd hang one of these

signs on the wall

and then you'd be shuffling past

to get past your car

you'd knock it off

and dent the car wouldn't you

that's what it did

full of boing

and car

say

this sort of stuff

do I want to spend

like 500 quid on a tin sign

to put my garage

I'd rather spend

500 quid on

the car

or fuel in your case

well yeah

that's a tank

I drove it today

I actually saw the cage go down

I think the good

the good thing about the stack

is you're going to have

so many bits fall off

in the next six months

that you'll be able to cover

those garage walls

yeah maybe

I should have

something immemorial

for the sunbeam

maybe you should have

like a sunbeam type thing

maybe I could get

you know

but then it's just a bit

like a root servicing here

I don't really care

I could feel

I'm flogging a dead horse

here isn't it

I'm just trying to give you

a bit of character

because you threw away loads

of sunbeam stuff

you know

I used to have a wing

that came off my Porsche 912

in fact I gave it away

because it reminded me

of how painful it was

to pay the bill

to get the new wing on

and then get it sprayed

but yeah

I think you need

some character in that garage

it needs some

some stag feel

it needs some

kind of 70s

retro

British Leyland glory

Christmas is coming up

what you could get

something for me

for Christmas

actually I found something

why you've been talking

I've just found

look at this

it's

a BL

light up sign

oh wow yeah

it's an illuminated

LED light box

now if that's

if that's true to fashion

that's going to start

flickering

with a bit of earth problems

at least soon isn't it

it's 69.99

which is interestingly

69.98

more than I'm going to

spend on you at Christmas

enough

I hear you shout

okay we've reached

the end of this episode

happy now

next time

some of the best

car adverts

what made you remember cars

and did a car advert

ever make you buy that car

plus I'm no fan of kits

but is the fake AC cobra

the one acceptable

kit car

there's lots of them for sale

they look great

and sound great

but is it just a Sierra

in a fancy frock

and will people say

is it real mate

plus the return of

crush or caress

although I'm going to

let you know

it'll just be crush

because I'm going to crush

a princess

just to see

when it's crushed

it'll look any better

how dare you

but until then remember

to get in touch

and see you next time

for the big episode 40

goodbye

bye

hang on let me

let me just deliver this show

oh god here we go

oh god

hold on

I'll back it up

right okay

let's give them a runway

here we go

Toyota Hilux

Mercedes-Benz Mercedesbenz 500

Chevrolet Nova

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes 300

Toyota A90

Ford Mustang

Mercedes-Benz CLK

MG MGB

Rolls-Royce Camargue

Ford Anglia

Ford Scorpio

Cadillac DeVille

Volkswagen Bora

BMW M3

Vauxhall Viva

Land Rover Range Rover

Buick Regal

Porsche 912

Ac Cobra

About this episode

Original notes