Iron Curtain Automotive Adventures: Wartburg 353 Restoration & Ford Probe GT Autobahn Drive
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Dec 10, 2024
Iron Curtain Automotive Adventures: Wartburg 353 Restoration & Ford Probe GT Autobahn Drive
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Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that many people love for its speed and design. It's been around for a long time and is known for being fun to drive.
Car
Vartburg
Vartburg is a car brand from East Germany that made cars that were quite different from those made in the West. They were popular in Eastern Europe but aren't well-known today.
Term
two-stroke engine
A two-stroke engine is a type of engine that makes power every time the piston goes up and down. It's simpler and lighter than other types of engines, which is why it's used in smaller vehicles.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The more horsepower an engine has, the faster and stronger it can be.
Term
Volkswagen engine
A Volkswagen engine is the type of engine made by the car company Volkswagen. These engines are generally known for being dependable and good at saving fuel.
Brand
BMW
BMW is a well-known car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars and motorcycles. They have been around for a long time and are famous for their quality and performance.
Brand
Volvo
Volvo is a car brand from Sweden that is well-known for making safe and reliable cars. They have been around since 1927 and focus on quality and safety in their vehicles.
Car
Ford Probe
The Ford Probe GT is a two-door car that was made by Ford. It was designed to be sporty and fun to drive, and it looked really cool for its time.
Car
Wartburg
Wartburg is a brand of cars that came from East Germany. They were known for being different from Western cars and had a unique style.
Term
Autobahn
The Autobahn is a famous highway in Germany where cars can drive very fast, sometimes without any speed limits. It's a popular place for people who love cars to test their vehicles.
Term
turbo car
A turbo car has a special part called a turbocharger that helps the engine produce more power. This makes the car go faster and helps it perform better.
Term
Ferrari
Ferrari is a brand that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are known for their performance and are often seen in races.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous sports car that many people love for its speed and cool design. It has been around since the 1960s and is often talked about because of its strong following and history in car culture.
Car
Mazda 626
The Mazda 626 is a car that Mazda made for many years. It was known for being dependable and was a common choice for families.
Term
adjustable ride height
Adjustable ride height means you can change how high or low your car sits. This can help with driving comfort or performance, especially if you want to go off-road.
Term
digital dash
A digital dash is a modern car dashboard that shows information on screens instead of using needle gauges. It often looks more high-tech and can provide more information.
Term
left lane
The left lane on highways is usually for cars that are going faster or passing other cars. You should move back to the right lane once you've passed someone.
Car
Lamborghini Diablo
The Lamborghini Diablo is a super-fast sports car made by Lamborghini. It has a powerful engine and a very cool look, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
Term
three hundred kilometers an hour
Three hundred kilometers an hour is a way to measure how fast a car is going. It's really fast, about 186 miles per hour, which is much quicker than most cars can go.
Term
kilometers per hour
Kilometers per hour is a way to measure speed, telling you how many kilometers a car can go in one hour. It's used in many places around the world instead of miles per hour.
Car
Ford Model A
The Ford Model A is an old car made by Ford in the late 1920s. It's famous for its style and is considered a classic car today.
Term
estate sale
An estate sale is when someone sells all their belongings, usually after someone has died or moved. You can find lots of different things, including cars, at these sales.
Term
lowball offer
A lowball offer is when you offer a much lower price than what someone is asking for something. It's a way to try to get a better deal when buying.
Term
warehouse
A warehouse is a big building where people keep things, like cars, before they sell them or use them. Some car lovers keep their cars in warehouses if they don't drive them often.
Concept
Peterson Automobile Museum
The Peterson Automobile Museum is a place in Los Angeles where you can see many different cars and learn about their history.
Company
Singer
Singer takes old Porsche 911 cars and upgrades them to make them faster and more stylish, while still keeping their classic look.
Car
Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough vehicle made for off-roading. It can go on rough terrain and has features like removable doors and a roof, making it fun to drive outside.
LIVE
And allow me to yank the laws and shout out of my mouth that this is Christian with two
all the cars I've loved before your podcast where we talk.
We find interesting people with interesting cars because every car tells a story and this
is what we do.
Welcome back.
It's been a little while.
I was diagnosed with strep.
It's a good thing I'm not in the same room with my co-host or guest today.
It's kind of funny when you go to the doctor today.
It can be anything under the sun.
There's an eastern equine encephalitis in the news, but born by mosquitoes.
There's a West Nile virus, I think closer to my neck of the woods here in Pensacola.
But your humble narrator here went to the doctor and have a just an everyday lowly case
of strep.
Thank goodness.
So I'm healing with antibiotics, but I will be sucking on lozenges throughout the
interview.
On the mend.
Thank you.
And how are you doing partner?
What you been up to?
I'm doing great.
Great to be back here with you.
I'm glad you're on the mend and you're here for the listeners.
Absolutely.
Taking one for the team.
Always taking it for the team.
Taking one for the podcast here.
So as usual we watch the stats spiral upwards and we have some news for a poll
that's out.
The way it works is through all of our different platforms and vectors by reaching people.
It's interesting to see which episodes are watched the most where they're downloaded
all over the world and Doug is about to launch a new product for us here, kind of
a survey to see what people think about what they're hearing, what they want to listen
to.
So very interesting.
So what you got partner?
What's happening with that?
Yeah.
We're probably live by the time people hear this.
Initially we're just going to ask for feedback on the favorite episodes, right?
We can look at all the numbers but really like a personal touch of feedback from people
and probably have a fill in the blank there like let us know what you'd like to hear
more of, right?
Whether it's, you know, we've had some international folks kind of a preview of what we have
today.
Absolutely.
We've had a couple which was really fantastic.
There was such a lovely couple.
People who just great referrals and, you know, it's all been about cars.
We've had a couple what I would call car celebrities and we hope to have some more.
If somebody knows one, let us know.
We always like to round out the season with that special gift back from somebody
you'd see on YouTube or read about in the news but you wouldn't get to hear talking about
cars.
Indeed.
Yeah.
Especially the personal piece of it.
Yeah.
Additionally, that's a good segue, perfect dovetail to email us.
I love reading the email and interacting with folks.
Christian at CarsLove.com.
He's Doug at CarsLove.com.
So feel free to reach out.
Check us out on the website CarsLove.com.
Or any of the streaming platforms, Choice, Spotify, Apple, et cetera, email, reach out,
be part of it.
There's no, as I tell people that I interviewed, I was at a happy hour the other day and handed
out cards to everybody.
Hey, check us out.
Feel as how do I get on the show?
There's no magic.
There's no magic.
Just email, text, call me if you know me, if you're a friend of mine, it's easy
to get on the show.
People who say, oh, well, I'm not much of a car person, typically some of the
most interesting interviews because it's about family growing up, road tripping, parents,
livelihood, what you do, what you want to do.
And so that's led us to this point.
So today's guest is a friend of one of my favorite guests.
I mean, we interviewed my sister, but to be honest with you, this guy, James McCrae,
was a real trip.
And we found him in a garage surrounded by vintage cars.
This guy needs his own show.
He's got the look.
He's got the voice.
His hands were black and gritty from some sort of grease.
I hope it was automotive.
But that has led us to today's guest.
And in Doug, could you tell us a little bit about how Chris came into our world?
Yeah.
So the short of it, you get part of it away.
He's a friend of James McCrae's, lives on the eastern shore of Maryland,
probably not far from James.
And the story James told me initially he said, you should interview
Chris, given where he's from.
But also the fact that James bought his 9-11.
And as we learned from Chris and we're going to share that,
Chris met James because he was trying to buy a 9-11 that James ended up
jumping ahead of the line.
Yeah.
And you would think there would be some contention.
But if you know James McCrae, you can't be mad at him.
He's such a teddy bear.
But I'm sure Chris wanted to.
Sorry, anyway, didn't mean to interrupt.
Please continue, Doug.
Yeah. Yeah.
So, you know, we we've got really I don't want to give it all away
because I want Chris to talk about it.
But we're going to hear about a car I've never heard of.
And it was filled behind the iron curtain of all places where Chris,
our guest, grew up Chris Kalinsky and he grew up in East Germany
and lived there from birth approximately till 2001 when he came over to the US.
I think I have that right.
But Chris, please introduce yourself.
Yeah, nice to meet you guys.
Yeah, Chris, as you said,
you know, met met your your character witness James,
I guess, through cars and we've been we've been friends for for a while,
actually, always around cars.
He does a lot of work on on on my cars and we just hang out.
He's he's opted to participate in the in the ride of of our company.
So that's really exciting.
Yeah, he's just a great, great person.
And he he's also fascinating about this
of Vartburg that I have.
And that's what kind of we were neighbors shop neighbors for a while.
I just stored my stuff and he works on it.
And so that's how we kind of got to know each other.
And then, yeah, like, like I said, I grew up in East Germany
until until the wall fell and then eventually moved over here.
And so here we are.
But should I don't mean to jump anybody's train here,
but should we start with grandmother, Doug?
Or was there another?
No, I think I think I think I think grandmother, right?
That would be how Chris acquired his first car.
And tell us a little about her.
No, she's awesome.
She's the yeah, my my grandmother spent a ton of time with her when I grew up.
And it was that it was really, really, really close relationship.
And when when it was time to get a car,
she she bought me this this Vartburg.
And it was actually East Germany, as you can imagine,
we didn't have a whole lot of selection of cars.
So my my uncle had a Vartburg,
which then got purchased by my father.
And when I got mine,
I happened to have the newest one in the family.
And how does that happen?
Yeah, I know, it was it was interesting.
But, you know, I mean, there are great cars.
Were they reliable?
Did they leave you on the side of the road?
Not reliable at all.
It just wasn't a big town, so no big deal.
Yeah, you know, they were light, so you can always jump start them.
So that's what I was thinking. Yeah.
But no, mine had this really weird habit
of accumulating water in the fuel lines.
And every winter it would leave me stranded
on every intersection it found.
So I had to like heat up the fuel filter was, you know,
with with some open fire to get it going again.
Oh, yeah, yeah. It was fun.
But yeah, so I ended up
the the one that my grandmother bought me was white.
And I ended up selling that because, you know, you're young
and you go through cars. Right.
But I eventually my my my uncle and my father had a.
Mustard yellow one with an interior that was like the thing to have.
So when I found the one I have now,
it is obviously mustard yellow with brown interior and almost new conditions.
So it's it's like a super flashback every time I sit in the car.
It's like I'm five years old and the smell, the feeling.
It's it's just it's just cool.
Was it hard to get that car?
Was it hard to achieve and attain that car or easier than you would think
given given the modern convenience of the internet, et cetera?
You know, as every car guy does, I guess,
we're hanging out on on back then on eBay or Facebook market these days
and shopping cars.
And I just found this one in Florida of all places.
Lorna ordered it.
And I'm like, shit, I'm buying it.
So I bought a side on scene.
I was like, just put it on truck and ship it up here.
And then I'll figure it out from here.
And then.
Yeah, it took a little bit of work to get it.
Back to to the driving conditions, we had to like
manufacture parts for it.
So that was my next question.
Yeah, like the the gear linkage we had to make from scratch.
So the things like that is kind of fun.
But yeah, another friend that also James knows really well,
did all the restoration work on my car.
And now it's like it essentially has 40,000 miles on it or something like that.
So it's in essentially new condition.
Because it just kind of, you know, quite frankly,
it just sits around, does nothing except warm my heart when I look at it.
But that's other than that.
Now, how often do you drive it?
Never. OK, I had already done.
It's like, it's the perfect condition.
I drove it once.
So. Gotcha. OK.
Well, I'm hoping to come over to the Eastern Shore and see it someday.
James, James gave us a open invitation.
I just with school and everything at kids school and everything.
I just haven't had a chance to get over there.
But it's not far for me.
So yeah, I'd love to see you.
You should. Yeah. Yeah.
It sits with my other eclectic cars.
Yeah. Yeah.
So straight, you know, straight back, you know, 30, 30 years later, right?
You went and found the same car.
Yeah. And the one I got is an 85, 1985.
OK. Nice.
And it's we didn't have many, many versions of it, obviously.
But I found the deluxe edition with which has
a a a toe hitch on it, which is which was not normal.
And it doesn't.
Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead.
And it had like the the the the head had rests things on the seats,
which is also which was which was new.
I see the radio.
And it doesn't look like I haven't
called up on my on my monitor here.
It doesn't look like they could tow very much, maybe a small trailer.
They just don't look like they're very.
So funny enough, the car, I don't know if you've ever seen the motor of the car,
but it's a reverse mounted three cylinder two stroke with wow 40
or 53 horsepower, I think, 47 or 53, something like that.
But that motor was used for everything.
We like these Germans, we put it in trucks
in in in in in in the utility wagons in everything.
And it was.
It's it was the motor to have, right?
But it's a they're super simple.
You can fix them on the side of the road.
No big deal.
But it's like it's actually remarkably
remarkably reliable if you don't have fuel issues.
For for towing and for running all over the place.
So, I mean, you know, it's it was.
Yeah, these Germans drove that thing all over the road.
In my my understanding, one is it was a Volkswagen engine.
No, that was the one the one that I got.
The white one had the Volkswagen engine.
Oh, OK. The old version had a Borkberg
Borker, OK, it was actually a work bird.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And did the company that manufactured the work bird, did they
how far back did they go from manufacturing cars
like before World War Two or? Yeah, it was.
It was BMW. I see.
And it was all like one one one big company.
And then split up.
And funny enough, they called it BMW in Germany
for Eisenach Motorenwerke
instead of Bavarian Motorenwerke.
So, you know, instead of Bavarian motorworks, it was Eisenach
motorworks where the plant was located.
But yeah, that's that's yeah.
Yeah, they didn't make much progress.
I mean, you know, the design was it looks very, very boxy
like in like in the sixties Volvo.
Yes, very much.
But it's it's got its charm, you know, it certainly stands out.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
That's something you're not going to see on the roads.
No, not going to see at a car show.
Not not in this country, for sure.
I took it to one car show when I had just done
and I parked it next to a brand new Ferrari.
Everybody was looking at my car.
Absolutely. What is that?
I was not too happy.
Yeah, so.
Yeah, so you sold that car and
thanks to the fall of the Berlin Wall
and all the things that were going on, it enabled you to buy
your next car, right, which you wouldn't have been able to get
access to only a few years later.
Right. And that was a tell us.
I was a Ford probe GT.
It's just, of course, the vast opposite of the Wartburg.
Yeah, yeah, it goes about 60 miles an hour
and then you don't really want to go any faster.
So, you know, the probe was
was awesome, especially as a 19 year old in Germany
on the Autobahn, you know, having a
a turbo car that can hold its own in with any
any 911 or any Ferrari on the road is fun.
Yeah. Yeah.
And yeah, I love that car.
Absolutely. I'm I'm actually, you know, don't tell my wife,
but I'm hunting for one.
Yeah. Oh, boy, yeah.
I get it. I mean, I remember when those probes came out
and and they're such cool cars and heuristic looking.
Yeah. A lot of people don't know they were actually supposed to replace
the Mustang, but Mustang people went crazy
and Ford's like, OK, we'll just call it a Ford and sell it alongside.
And it was actually on a Mazda six to six
turbo with the adjustable right height,
which was like totally new in 91.
Yeah. Yeah.
Digital dash, your your version, I think.
Yeah. Yeah. And they sold it with
a artificial horsepower number
or insurance reasons. Right.
They said it's one hundred forty seven horsepower,
which was nowhere, nowhere true.
It had over two hundred.
And it was so funny, the speedometer just kept going.
Like it would just go around the clock
because it would stop at two twenty kilometers.
And it would just keep going.
So you're like, yeah, I'm probably gone like two forty,
two fifty, something like that in that range.
Kilometers. Yeah, just just tell that when you get pulled over,
just tell the cop, I was extrapolating.
He's going roughly this fast. Yeah.
Well, but but he was doing that on the Autobahn, probably.
Right. And in the parts
that don't don't have a speed limit, right?
Certainly. And yeah, I know.
I know Christians enamored.
I've actually been on the Autobahn, not driving,
but I've been to Germany a couple of times for work.
But maybe you can tell our listeners and Christian
what it was like, what the Autobahn's like, right?
Everybody in the U.S. thinks, oh, there's no speed limit.
That's not true.
I know about the left lane is for passing only.
People will flash you and you get out of the way as quickly as possible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So there's a certain percentage of the Autobahn that's no speed limit.
And it's way more fun, of course, at night
when there's nobody on it.
So, you know, Autobahn's in Germany are notoriously congested,
which makes it less fun.
But yeah, there's a certain order, right?
So if you're if you're not passing, you're not in the left lane, period.
You actually get ticketed for that.
So you get ticketed for hanging on the left lane, which is very fruitful, I think.
You should do that over here.
They should totally should.
It's frustrating, but on the flip side of that,
you're not allowed to pass on the right either.
So which, you know, introduces certain behavior, which is helpful.
So, yeah.
But yeah, no, I mean, the wildest, the wildest experience I'm going.
One hundred and sixty, one hundred and seventy kilometers an hour,
which is about one hundred miles an hour, one hundred and ten, something like that.
On the Autobahn, just cruising along and
looking to review a mirror and to see a little tiny yellow dot,
like really tiny in the mirror and not three seconds later,
my whole car goes like shakes over.
I'm in the middle lane and this, I think it was a Diablo or something.
Just wow, three hundred kilometers an hour, just ending still.
So you can't hang out in the left lane
because they're going to crash into you, right?
So, but.
So, yeah, that's it's it's nice to drive, actually.
It's really it's some certain discipline on the road is very fun.
And the cars are made for it, the cars are made for it.
And the other thing that's really impressive about the Autobahn is that
if there's no speed limit and it's all it's all curves,
there's no straight piece of Autobahn because after five kilometers
of straight piece of Autobahn, you tend to pay less attention.
So they by default design introduced curvy roads.
Oh, wow. The tension span high.
But you can book into a curve at a no speed limit
Autobahn with 200, 250 kilometers an hour.
And you know that the road can handle it if your car can.
So it's not like, you know, where you have to you have to be afraid of
that the road is going to is going to give you issues.
You can you can rely on the road being able to handle the speed limit
that's that's there or not there.
So if you drive a proper car, it's it's it's a lot of fun.
I mean, you can.
You can bank through and have a very entertaining drive.
And it goes quick.
That's interesting.
That's really interesting.
And so the road is a stupid question, but the road itself is in pretty good shape.
Where I where I live down here in the southeast United States,
you kind of change from state to state to state very quickly,
especially along the Gulf Coast here in Florida.
Roads are different from Alabama roads, which are different from Baldwin County
where I would you different from in in the amount of upkeep.
Right. It is very different.
So when he is the whole thing concrete or any any word on that.
Oh, it's it's overengineered.
I mean, lovely.
They're notoriously like curved, so there's no standing water.
So the water just kind of runs off.
And it's I mean, the Autobahn is maintained not by the counties, but by the by the state.
So the downside of that is you have a constant construction going on all over the place,
which is kind of frustrating.
But when it's when it's done, it lasts a long time.
And it's also super like thick and many layers of of road.
So not like here, where we're just putting a new
like a little layer of asphalt on it and call it a day for a couple of years.
Yeah, exactly. It's it's like I mean, because the weather conditions are tougher, right?
We have a lot of snow and that's true, especially where you are. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, they hold up really well.
And yeah, but the downside is it's it's a constant construction zone.
Everywhere.
Gotcha.
So what happened to the probe?
I know you I know you got it up to some high speeds on the Autobahn,
but we don't know what happened to it.
Yeah, I went and bought bought new tires and was on my way to buy new tires
with not so new tires.
And then, yeah, overcooked it in the corner.
Oh, no. In the rain, yeah.
Fully crashed it into into the side barrier.
That was a very unfortunate, very unfortunate.
But, you know, as well as.
So.
So you have a fleet of cars, as it were, right now.
I was kind of curious about maybe your favorite car.
We know what car elicits the most the most fond memories of your past.
But what are you?
What are the other couple?
You don't have to name throw in the car.
You can't if you want.
But what are some other notable ones that mean something to you
that either evokes some sort of family response
or something you want to do with the car?
I have a weird collection of cars.
They're not like for value or anything like that.
I'm more interested in.
Driving some cars or just having other cars
just because I want to have them like I have in 1929 model A
that wow, just sitting around.
It's in mid perfect picture, perfect condition.
And, you know, it's one of those things you walk through in a state sale
and, you know, you just talking to the realtor
and we're like, oh, that's a cool car.
And you make a lowball offer and then somehow they accept it
and your wife's upset and it ends up in your warehouse.
It's the thing sits around and it's really cool with a rumble seed
and everything. I haven't driven it, you know, an inch yet.
So it's it's it's a cool car.
I don't know what I'm doing with it, you know, just but I don't know.
I just wanted to have it.
So you're going to keep it or is that really irrelevant?
You'll you'll keep it as long as it pleases you.
Kind of. Yeah, I got you. Yeah.
Yeah.
I my favorite car was a 9-11 that I sold to to Mr. McCray.
Unfortunately, he is is a very sweet talker.
And he talked me into selling it to him.
A weak moment I did.
And then I didn't make it two days before buying another 9-11.
So right.
Well, that he enabled you to buy that car, right?
Because I really
because he made your your your your wife was like, no, no more
non-elevens unless you sell the one you have.
That's correct.
OK. That's unfortunately correct.
Yeah. Yeah.
But I did sell it to him with the deal that I get first
right of refusal when I when he ever wants to get rid of it.
And unfortunately, he doesn't.
So I'm kind of waiting.
Yeah. Yeah.
And it's a it's a beautiful, beautiful car.
What would what model 9-11 did you replace it with?
About a 2018 C2. OK, nice.
So which is, you know, they call it base, but it's a monster.
It's it's a total jack-o'-lan-ite car, you know.
So it's it's wild, it's wild.
It gets you in trouble all over the place.
And is it a convertible as well?
No, no, I went for the coupe on purpose.
That's yeah, yeah, I've had enough convertibles.
And then my wife hates convertibles.
So OK.
She's like, you want me to go in the car or drive it?
And it's got to be a coupe.
So OK. Yeah. Yeah.
Management has spoken.
Management has spoken.
100. Yeah. 100.
Smart man, smart man.
So yes, we we wind down here.
Doug, did you have anything before we got
into the rewilding site in Finland that I'd like to talk to?
Crispel. Well, I think I can't help
because Chris mentioned it, asking him about the Singer 9-11.
Absolutely. And I'll share a quick story, of course,
I'm a car guy, so I've seen a lot of I've learned a lot about singers.
I went to the Peterson Automobile Museum.
They have a singer out there in California.
It is an awesome place.
If you haven't been, it's worth worth it.
I was there four hours.
I could have used a couple more.
But my girlfriend was with me.
She was getting tired of it.
But we, my kids, my kids and I, a separate time, went on.
We went to L.A. and we went on a bus tour.
My daughter wanted to see all the stars homes.
And, man, what goes around us but a green Singer 9-11?
And, man, that's a beautiful car.
They are beautiful, aren't they?
Yes, they're novel, gorgeous.
Yeah, yeah, a couple million dollars.
It's a great car, right?
I know, I know.
But really, you have a you have a fairly substantial waiting list
before you can get one.
Yep. So yeah.
Something to look forward to.
Yeah, are you on the list, Chris?
Not yet.
Not yet.
Maybe after I'm done with this venture, hopefully.
OK.
Awesome. Fantastic.
Yeah. Right.
So as we close out here, I just wanted to ask Chris a little bit
about something I found interesting when we were chatting with him
before coming on air here.
His business supports a rewilding site in Finland.
And I just love this.
Could you talk about that a little bit more, Chris?
What what that does and what it means to you?
Yeah, it's it's essentially rewilding means
reintroduction of wildlife and fauna into an abused area, essentially.
So this one is a dedicated
rewilding site to us.
It's sizable, 16 hectares, 16 acres, 8 hectares.
So it's and what it does,
it it takes essentially it used to be a peat moss farming plant,
which is notoriously bad for CO2 release
and reintroduces wildlife, plantations, etc., etc.
So they keep the CO2 in the ground
so and not that prevented from releasing it.
So for us, we're in logistics and insurance
and high transaction volume business.
It was really important to have a meaningful
kind of participation effort that that makes sense
instead of just, you know, whatever, buying CO2 certificates or whatever.
That that's to me like I want to have a meaningful, tangible impact.
So we started there and so we're donating
donating money for every transaction that we see through our through our system.
And we're kind of expanding it from there.
So that's really that's kind of the goal to make something that's, you know,
giving back, yeah, giving back.
That's lovely. Thank you for sharing that.
Thank you for sharing that.
Well, is there anything else you'd like to share?
Tell us about you before we before we let you drive along your merry way
to one of your nine cars.
Which car will we take today?
Hey, some of them just, hey, they don't they don't go anywhere.
He's got to go into the floor.
Can't steal. So don't drop.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
No, I actually just broke out my Wrangler again
and after not driving it for two years, and I had the greatest time.
It was like, it was awesome, you know?
Yes. Simple pleasures, right?
It's like driving with doors off and the roof off and everything.
It's like, why don't I do this more often?
And in your neck of the woods,
the weather is about to be spectacular here in the next few months.
The leaves are about to change the snap in the air.
So that's perfect.
It was great.
Well, thank you for your time and thank you for joining us, Chris.
It was just a delight meeting you.
Likewise, likewise. I enjoyed it.
Yeah, and no, I can see Chris has more stories.
Ben, I would love to dig into the Model A.
And, you know, hopefully when I make it out to the eastern shore,
that'll prompt some more stories and then we'll have Chris back if he's available.
Yeah, well, just did you just go visit him and maybe do a video interview
that there could be some component of a video show on YouTube as as we mature
and as as the show sort of sort of moves into its next phase.
So thank you again, Chris. Again, a delight.
Thank you guys.
This was another wonderful conversation.
And to all the cars I've loved before, where your podcast
or it's so easy to be involved, I'm at Christian at CarsLove.com.
Doug is at Doug at CarsLove.com.
So drop us a line.
If you know us, you know how to get ahold of us, say hi to Chris, if you know him.
And anything from your end, Doug?
Yeah, no, I would say.
Even if you're not as Christian alluded to, even if you don't think you're
a car person, you might actually have a great story to share.
But you may have a friend who, hey, let's interview such a good thing.
Just like how James referred us to Chris.
Tell us, we'll we'll talk to him.
We'd love to have him on him or her.
Pardon me.
And, you know, if there's a dynamic duo couple like Amy and John out there,
I'm sure there are more wonderful people.
They are completing each other's sentences about cars.
We we'd love to hear that, too.
Excellent.
So you know how to get ahold of us, CarsLove.com, or reach out on your
podcast streaming platform of choice.
Take care. We'll see you soon.
Next episode.
Have a great day.
Goodbye. Happy driving.
About this episode
A fascinating conversation unfolds as Christian and Doug welcome Chris Kalinsky, who shares his unique automotive journey from East Germany to the U.S. Chris discusses his restoration of a Wartburg 353, a quirky car from his childhood, and his exhilarating experiences driving a Ford Probe GT on the Autobahn. The episode dives into the cultural differences in driving, car maintenance, and the nostalgia tied to Chris's eclectic car collection. Listeners will appreciate the blend of personal stories, automotive history, and insights into the rewilding efforts Chris supports in Finland.
Original notes
Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
Chris, an automotive enthusiast on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, discusses car culture and Porsche history with Christian and Doug. He takes us behind the Berlin Wall to his East German roots, where a Wartburg 353 from his grandmother ignited his automotive adventures. From mustard-yellow Wartburg restoration stories to the driving experience of a Ford Probe GT on Germany’s autobahn, this episode delivers car memories, classic cars nostalgia, and vehicle restoration insights. Plus, discover how this road trip through automotive history and automotive technology shaped his automotive lifestyle. Tune in for a journey of automotive culture, car stories, and vintage-era thrills that fuel your love for cars.
Chris loved the episode, "Aiden & Tom – VW Super Beetle Dream Car & First Car Memories" https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/65d1ba7f2f932d7716fc4ef4582e71b3
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