Japan's Most Astonishing Cars | AutoGuide Show Ep. 104

Welcome back to the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors.

Today we're going to catch up with Myrid Vernus, the author of A Quiet Greatness, Japan's

most astonishing automobiles.

Intrigued?

Well, you should be.

Later on, we'll get an update from the AutoGuide Garage.

Mike has been driving the Nissan Leaf, Kyle has been in the Lexus IS500, and I have been

testing the Subaru WRX TS.

Mike has also been testing one of the latest dash cams, so stick around for our gear segment.

Our used car spotlight takes us back to the Malaise era, where we revisit one of the more

controversial Chevelles.

Of course, we'll close things out with the mailbag.

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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Joining us now on the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors is Myron Vernes.

He's the author, the co-author of A Quiet Greatness, Japan's most astonishing automobiles.

Welcome to the show, Myron.

Hey, thanks, Greg.

Thanks for having me.

So take us inside this book.

I know you've had a varied career.

You've done a lot of different things involving car culture.

But this book really seems like, in some ways, a culmination of a subject that I gather

you're very passionate about.

What made you want to write this book?

You know, what made me write this book was I was losing interest in the car hobby.

I've been an avid enthusiast since I was a kid.

I started buying old Porsche 356s as a teenager and just really got enthused.

Yes, but I discovered the 356 community and it kind of led from there until about 10 years

or so ago.

All my friends who were buying and selling and trading 356s and had fun parts and stuff

like that in the past, we'd share stories.

All they started worrying about was how much their cars were worth instead of enjoying

their cars and driving their cars.

And they turned into a bunch of really grumpy old men.

So I was losing passion for the hobby until I went to a Japanese cruise in at the Peterson

Museum.

And it was all young people half third of my age and they were true enthusiasts and

they were building their cars and keeping their cars running and sharing stuff just

like I was 40 years before with 356 Japanese cars.

And what I discovered was young people really, really are passionate about our hobbies and

good hands.

It's just that not necessarily the cars that we grew up with and started researching it

a little more.

And my friend Mark Brinker and I started talking about it.

We started doing a little research and we started buying some Japanese cars, discovering

more of the hobby.

And then we figured out there really wasn't a great English language book on great Japanese

cars.

And we wanted to create something that was like a Ferrari or Porsche-level book for

Japanese cars, kind of help elevate the hobby and bring the hobby, have traditional collectors

recognize all the great stuff.

So sort of the subtitle of the book is Astonishing, worked in there, which really I think is kind

of cool.

Can you tell me what do you think like are the most astonishing Japanese cars and why

would you say they're astonishing?

Well, they're not necessarily astonishing to Japanese people.

What's astonishing was that we really never knew about it on this part of the world.

What I like to say is the Japanese are with their cars, like the French are with their

wine, like keep the best stuff themselves.

And the Japanese were very calculated in conquering North America from a sales standpoint,

but they were sending a very boring, very reliable automobile.

But in their home market, they were doing some pretty crazy, exciting stuff, you know, things

like the 2000 GT Toyota, the Cosmo, all kinds of twin cam cars.

All kinds of neat stuff that we never even heard of here.

Very cool.

What is your experience, perhaps like with Japanese culture?

Have you spent much time in Japan?

Have you experienced what it's like to drive over there?

Anything like that?

You know, ironically, during the six years that we that took us to produce this book,

we never went to Japan.

But we hit right the sweet spot of COVID, right, when we were supposed to go.

But we had full cooperation from all the manufacturers with full access to their archives.

So, I mean, the the the knowledge base was there for us to to tap into with the internet.

But we never really made it over there during the time of the production of the book.

Now, last year, my wife and I paid it in rally Nippon,

which is a great rally through Japan.

We spent three weeks there.

The rally is only one week, but we rented it that just paid in rally Nippon.

You need a 50 year old car.

We rented a 1974 bodicellic a GTV, the twin cam 2TG engine and drove

literally the ski area, the mountainous area of Japan and really got immersed

in that culture as much in our culture.

Visited a lot of museums, visited some private collections,

some auto executives, factories and really just had a great time.

It's beyond our.

That's very cool. That's very cool.

I'm curious, how do you see the hobby of car collecting and car culture changing?

You know, cars, what sort of was prized over the years has changed.

You mentioned, obviously, with many Japanese cars sort of coming to the forefront.

New generations of collectors value different things.

So how do you feel things are changing?

Yeah, I don't think the hobby itself is changing.

I think it's progressing like it always has.

You know, folks, my parents age, we're all about Model T's and Model A.

You know, folks my age, sure, they're about 50s and 60s cars.

The next generation, you know, got into more of the 70s and 80s cars.

And now younger enthusiasts are getting cars in the 90s in the early part of this century.

So I think the progression of the hobby is really no different than it used to be.

And like in any generation,

the great cars of each one of those genres, each one of those periods

are going to always be value and pursuit.

What doesn't happen, what just happened with everything, you know,

Model A's, Model P's used to be big money, 57 Chevy's used to be big money.

Now, fuel injected 57 Chevy Bel-Air convertible will always be big money.

But the other 200,000, 57 Chevy's will just kind of settle in

and be nice entry level cars like Model P's and Model A's aren't today.

All right, so Myron, can you tell us what's in your personal collection?

I imagine someone who has lived the car life like this.

You must have something interesting in your garage.

You know, I hate to say I don't know exactly how many cars I have.

Our youngest daughter is a lawyer.

She knows more than I do with what I have.

We have we have a few dozen cars from eight different countries.

I know that.

And so we're kind of an automotive omnivore.

You know, we've got cars from two cylinders to twelve cylinders

and from single rotor wankles to twin rotor rancles to triple rotor wankles.

So it's kind of all over the place.

I'm not I'm not picky when it comes to car.

The only thing that I've always said I would never have is a true body.

All right.

Can you I mean, I guess to go way back to the start,

how did you even get in the cars, you know, to have such like an eclectic taste?

You know, it seems like I guess what's the origin story?

Yeah. And that that's, you know, it's a really great question

that I really don't have a great answer to.

I spent the first five years of my life in Greece, on a Greek island with my family.

My mom never drove.

My dad drove when he was living in the United States, but he hated cars.

And when we were in Greece, my my folks never had.

Especially at the end of the walk.

Transportation is good, but my mom said I used to sit on the balcony of our apartment

at three years old and just kind of watch cars all day long.

Kind of my thing.

So when we came here, my folks moved to Apron, Ohio

in the late 50s, early 60s.

And Apron was really kind of a hotbed of automotive culture.

So it was they really kind of threw me like into the fire of the fat.

I was fanning they were fanning the flames of my fire.

So that's kind of where it was.

And I may have to up to my dad's very last day.

You know, he always warned me, don't get hung up on cars.

You know, the bad investments.

And my mom never did.

All right, very cool.

It's interesting how it can sort of be a family affair.

And sometimes people the car bug hits certain parts of the family.

And sometimes it doesn't.

Yeah, if we have two girls and they're both car people,

both pretty serious car people a few years ago.

Great story. A few years ago, I bought an auction in Monterey,

an Autech Segato, kind of a obscure Japanese car

with an Italian body on it.

A lot of auction in Monterey.

We went left Monterey and went to Europe there.

The car was delivered while I was gone and I'd never driven the car.

The car came to us here in Ohio, my garage here in Ohio

and Redwood, Detroit was having its first year.

And my daughter called and said, hey, can can Zoe and I

take the Autech Segato to Detroit?

Redwood, so they they did.

They won Redwood.

They've got Radisson show with the car.

But they put a thousand miles on the car without before I even got a chance

to even sit in it stays there.

But they both married guys who really are kind of look for the good sports

about the car, can't say if they're.

All right, sounds good.

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OK, we are back on the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors.

Myron Vernes is still with us here talking about his book, A Quiet Greatness.

Japan's most astonishing automobiles, as well as all things car culture and car life.

Because he is a certifiable car guy, that's for sure, as is many members of his family.

So Myron, I'm kind of curious, you've been involved with a lot of different concours, which is to put it lightly.

Where do you see that part of the segment, the hobby going?

Do you think new people are coming into concours and car shows?

Do you think it's something that's kind of just sort of holding serve?

I've been fortunate to go to Pebble a few times and some of the other ones around the Detroit area.

And it seems like they're a little bit in flux.

There's a little bit of a change going on.

What are you seeing from your sort of perch in the industry?

Yeah, there's no doubt.

I think the comment that it's in flux, that part of the hobby is in flux, is absolutely on the money.

And I think kind of like the hobby itself, it's concours events are something that really, really valued by one generation may not be valued as much by another generation.

I think like the cars, I think the great ones will always be around and will be treasured and embraced.

But, you know, having been the backer and the sponsor of a major concours for several years, it's a huge, huge commitment.

And corporate sponsorships, things like that, advertising that those dollars just aren't there like they used to.

So the established events that have their base will continue to do very well.

Others will go into another flux, but the hobby will be filled by other things.

You know, 10 years ago, nobody ever heard of cars and coffee.

And now it's something that, you know, we do, I can't put the cars and coffee this morning that I help sponsor.

And the great thing about a cars and coffee, you have 18 year olds and you have 80 year olds.

Everybody has to put time, talk about cars and time commitments are, your time is wrong.

You come and go, please, nobody looks down.

And involvement is cherished, not sitting in a lawn chair behind your car, making sure not to make eye contact.

Yeah, it's interesting you say that.

I have a, I have a soon to be eight year old and he very much enjoys going to cars and coffee.

We're in the Detroit area.

So there's a lot of good ones along Woodward Avenue and sort of that very accessible vibe.

You know, there's usually free coffee, often free donuts.

There's hot wheels.

You get a lot of different, different generations involved.

So it seems like that's a great way for the hobby to grow and evolve.

And, you know, I think there'll always be a place for some of the more high end events, but the way the positions might change, you know, and

certainly to your point, sponsorships, advertising, like prominent backers, that stuff always is kind of coming and going.

And I guess we'll see where it lands.

Yeah, mostly going these days.

Great.

You know, we, probably my favorite event of the year is in your area.

That called eyes on design in the Detroit area, Father's Day.

That's always been like a Father's Day tradition with us.

It's a very family friendly event, not an overpowering event.

It's accessible and there's really, really great interesting stuff there.

But it's an event that you could go for two hours, you could spend the whole day.

Yeah, it's a good way to kind of kick off summer, actually, as you think about it.

You know, it's, I believe it's on the grounds of the Edsel Ford estate.

And it's a nice kind of a mix of like just car people, but also a bit of industry.

You know, you see a lot of relatively famous car designers kind of, you know, mingling on the lawn and it's, it's a cool setup.

And it's a nice model to your point about how car culture can, you know, you know, be flexible for all sorts of people.

Right.

And it's not, it's not an event where the person that wins is the person that spends the most money on the restoration.

We'll find original cars there, find cars that, you know, or maybe not in the best shape, but are very important in the history of car.

It's just a really good.

Sounds good.

Well, just a couple more questions here before we wrap up, but maybe let's go back to your book a little bit.

And is there any sort of one or two Japanese cars that you think just fly totally below the radar and that Americans, North Americans might want to know more about?

And maybe if they read your book, it's a series of books, really, that they might get a better window into.

Yeah, yeah, I think, I think if you look at the book, you'll find all kinds of things.

Actually, Mark and I, my co-author Mark and I, talk about this.

The book we self-published and the book was very expensive because we kept the very highest standards and people working on it.

But the most expensive part of the project wasn't necessarily the cost of doing it.

Most expensive part of the project was us discovering cars we didn't know about.

And then having to go out and buy them because we wanted them.

So we between over the six years we did the book between the two of us, we acquired 18 cars that we, you know, here before it had never heard of or just barely.

But I think there's some really great under the radar things that are still out there.

I think perfect example is one that I just acquired this year.

It's called a UNOS Cosmo.

UNOS was supposed to be the high-end brand for Masa in Japan, kind of like Lexus is the Toyota.

And their signature car, their Halo car, was a car called a Cosmo, personal luxury.

But the only production car ever powered by a triple rotor, Wanko engine, in addition to just being triple rotor, it's got twin sequential turbocharger.

And that car is just not your socks up.

There's not a piece on that car anywhere that you would identify as Masa.

They had their logos and logo models and everything was totally bespoke on that car.

But, you know, built like a jewel, too, so totally, totally functional, reliable and only about 4,000 cars were made in the early 90s and super, super accessible.

Get one, get total exclusivity and a fun driving experience for under 30,000.

It's really kind of special.

That's not something I necessarily would have had on my radar.

That is, that's a pretty deep cut, I think.

Yeah, I don't know.

You know, then you have the K cars and K cars have been in the news recently.

They'll never really make, they'll never really make it to the United States, despite some of your neighbors.

But you can still import really great paint when I had recently sold, but I had it for several years called AutoZam AZ1.

Mid-engine with Gullwing doors, mid-engine poop with Gullwing doors, 660 cc turbocharged engine.

You know, the gentleman's agreement on K cars is 60 horsepower and pretty much rate those cars are pumping out 80 plus horsepower.

The car weighs, you know, 1,200 pounds, it's boots long pretty well.

Sounds cool, sounds cool.

Next time I'm maybe perhaps in Japan, which every now and then I've been fortunate to get there.

I'll be on the lookout for some of these.

So, Myron, you've been very generous with your time.

Is there anything I have not asked you, you might want to tell us, tell us about the book or just about any of your car adventures in general?

You know, the book itself is sold out, but you know, anybody in the audience, what we've done, we've reserved a few copies personally.

And what I've been doing is saving them for good causes, automotive related causes, donate them to an auction.

And the website, the book website is still a lot, so you can go to acquiredgreatness.com.

You can't check out because there are no books to buy, but you can find out about the book and there's way to come.

All right, that sounds great.

So he is Myron Vernes, the author of A Quiet Greatness, Japan's most astonishing automobiles.

Myron, thanks for being with us.

My pleasure, Brian. Thanks for having me.

You're listening to the Auto Guide Show presented by eBay Motors.

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OK, joining us now is our managing editor, Mike Schlay, to talk about all things gear.

I understand you've had a pretty cool dash cam in your cars and in your house for, you know, the last few weeks.

Tell us about it.

Yeah, so the dash cam is the next base IQ 2K dash cam.

And this one's a little different.

It wasn't just a couple of weeks.

I actually did this review two years ago and used this in our primary car for the first time.

For a year and a half.

So lots of use with it, never had an issue with it.

The nice thing about this camera is the actual camera.

It provides such high quality images, dark, rain, snow, daylight.

Doesn't matter. It's one of the better ones in that sense.

I really like the playback on how it looked when you get the various video files downloaded.

Installing it was really easy.

It's a little unusual compared to a lot where it has a hard wire option, which almost every dash cam does.

But instead of using a USB into, say, your 12 volt outlet, it would plug into your OBD to port.

So I had to wire it a little different to get there.

I mean, it easily unplugged if you need to use that port, but that was just a little different.

And I think that's just the power requirements of it were a little different compared to to most.

The app was super involved.

There's so much you could do on the app.

Different ways you could customize the camera, different ways you could download things.

It it was a little buggy when I first tried it many years ago.

When I went back and revisited, it got better.

Like all apps has been updated.

I think part of it was the connection speed between my phone and the actual camera.

It just took a little longer than maybe I wanted to.

The only real negative, I guess, with it is it was a little too

sensitive when it came to what it thought was incidence.

Now, you could change the sensitivity level and you could even turn it off.

I had on the lowest and it still every time I would turn hard or break hard,

it would think collision detected and it would like beep and save it.

So I ended up just driving with it off.

A lot of dash cams have systems like that.

This one is just a little little over the top and it's a larger camera.

So you need to make sure you have space to put it.

We had it behind our rear view mirror and it was a Subaru.

So eyesight really sticks down and yet it still tucked away pretty good.

So overall, it was a pretty quality piece.

It's one of the higher end ones.

And like I said, the the image quality reflects that.

I have never really been a big dash cam guy myself.

I know a lot of them come through the office here for us to check out.

What what do you use a dash cam for?

So.

First off, I looked it up.

It's three ninety nine ninety nine right now for for sale.

The dash cam some people use because they

just like to record what's going on on the road.

I don't want to post videos of instances for me,

especially where I live with a no fault insurance system.

It's for security and peace of mind because if anything happens on the road,

you can't argue what a dash cam captures.

And insurance games aren't massive around these parts, but they happen.

But it's more so if someone does something, they can just say, no,

I didn't do this, they they caused the accident and you have footage.

So that's why I have one in my wife's car and my own personal car and I actually

have a easily installable temporary one that I put in press cars.

Just for that extra sort of safety convenience.

Now, some of them like this one can go a step further and you can get actual

telematic safety systems built into it if you subscribe through subscription.

So you could have things like

crash avoidance detection when your car is parked stationary since it's plugged

into the OBD2, it can have like a security mode if someone bumps your car while you're

not there. So there's more they can do it than they used to.

Pretty cool, pretty cool.

And what's the easiest place to get one of these?

Amazon, the manufacturer's site, if you're interested,

how do you get one of these?

eBay, of course, you just go in eBay and look it up and you'll find it right on there.

All right, sounds good.

Well, if you're looking to gear up, Mike has plenty of cool things.

We've got lined up for the early part of the year here.

So thanks for hanging out.

Stick around, Mike.

We're going to bring Kyle back and we're going to talk about what we've been driving.

You're listening to the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors.

OK, Kyle and Mike joined me down.

We're going to talk about what is in the AutoGuide garage.

Some pretty interesting hot metal to use that cliche.

Kyle, why don't you lead us off?

You've got two things that I think are pretty cool.

Let's talk about the Lexus first.

All right.

Yeah.

So I recently had the Lexus IS 500 Ultimate Edition.

So it's the end of the line for the V8 powered IS, at least for

the foreseeable future.

And it's kind of a bittersweet moment because I know a lot of people who are

huge fans of that engine and I will never deny it is a fantastic engine,

except it's in the wrong car.

That is the biggest issue I have with it.

I understand the appeal of something like that because it's effortlessly powerful

and it sounds great and it's pretty comfortable.

But for me, the whole IS platform feels very dated now.

That cabin is full of fiddly little bits and a CD player.

The rear seat is tight.

It's catastrophically thirsty.

And because it has a different transmission than the LC, which it shares the engine with,

it's just not a very fun car to push.

It's more of one of those six or seven tenths cars, I would say.

So it's sad to see it go because it's sad to see any V8 powered sports sedan disappear.

But I feel like it was always kind of a niche item anyway.

And if you want a better all round package, BMW will happily still sell you an M340i.

I've always been a big fan of that motor.

The rest of the car, maybe not so much, but I've definitely.

I've always thought the IS 500, like obviously you get the five liter V8.

The design on the outside, I like the inside.

That's kind of where you start to, I think, you know, highs in size.

That's a little bit of a sigh for me.

Plus the Lexus Toyota infotainment, maybe not so much.

Yeah, especially that old, old Lexus one.

So it's yeah.

So so there's that one and I'll stay brief with that one.

And then the other car is actually sort of similar in the sense that it's another car

that works better at six or seven tenths, but I feel it suits its character more.

And that was the Mercedes Benz CLE 450 Cabriolet.

I am a huge fan of Mercedes inline sixes.

I think all of us are, I think that's fair to say.

Having it in a compact, mid-size drop top that actually can seat four adults.

Fantastic.

It's it's one of those cars that surprise me where I didn't think I'd like it that much

because it isn't very sporty and yet that's what makes it so entertaining.

There's not a lot of cars like this anymore.

Convertibles that are four seaters that are more about cruising like we don't have

a lot of those under six figures and the only real competitor for this is a four

series convertible and I feel like the BMW just isn't quite as classy, right?

It's probably a sharper drive, but it's not as great at just cruising and enjoying things.

This was a great spec.

It was blue with a cream interior, had that striped wood trim that Mercedes has

been doing lately.

It was just such a such an enjoyable vehicle to be in.

So I liked it more than the Lexus.

It seems like you've had a pretty good, you know, recent time in the press fleet

there with the Lexus and the Mercedes.

That's it's tough work, but somebody has to do it.

I'll fall on that sword.

All right.

Just add two quick things to what Kyle's like.

I haven't driven the CLE, but I drove the old E class convertible.

And yeah, it was just such a great cruiser with a top down, like zero wind

buffeting, it just it felt like what a luxury convertible should be.

And back to the IS, I said again, 30, 40 is better.

Yeah, but you don't get that V8 noise.

But that's sort of the problem with the IS, too, is the V8 noise is like at a certain

30 something like 3500 RPM only and it's like an on off switch and you can't

adjust it or control it, which I like it so much better in the LC.

The way the noise comes out.

So yeah, I think the ISF ruined it for us.

That was so good.

And then this isn't that and it wasn't supposed to be, but we all think of that.

So yeah, it really changes like your frame of reference.

You know, you get in the ISF and you think, oh, this is this is everything I want.

This is how it's supposed to be.

You sort of forgive the faults.

And then you get into this other version and you're like, oh, isn't so great.

Tough to measure up.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, this is kind of a hard fade, but the Nissan Leaf.

We actually both spent a good chunk of Christmas in Nissan Leafs.

Leafs, I don't know how we would do this for plural.

I think it's Leafs because it's technically an acronym, right?

So it would be Leafs.

Well, it would be Leafs because it's all capitals.

True.

Right. Right. Right.

Well, tell us, tell us, Mike, tell us about the Leaf.

So I had it.

Yeah, like you said, I had it for three weeks, which is triple the usual car review,

which is good because I wanted to really experience like, are we finally at the

era of affordable EVs and obviously affordable still need little asterisks?

Because this is a little more expensive than a comparable size crossover, I guess,

as Nissan calls it, even though it's really a combat car that has SUV styling.

And yeah, it was

overall really good.

So what I really liked was the way it drives.

It drives so sophisticated for what it is.

And that's sort of an EV principle we've talked about many times.

It's like it's really hard for a luxury car to separate from a mainstream car

in the EV world because these by nature are just so smooth.

But they've done the rest of the chassis around it.

I mean, I hate to kind of beg on it, but compared to the center, I drove like this

just feels so much more solid and put together.

I actually drove on a foot of snow one day and I couldn't believe how good it was.

It's front wheel drive and obviously has winter tires.

But I was barely spinning a wheel and that's sometimes an issue with electric cars.

There's so much torque that it just wants to spin and go nowhere.

Even some all wheel drive ones like a certain wedge shaped truck has trouble in the snow.

But this was fantastic.

I was leaving stops quicker than all wheel drive vehicles.

I was climbing hills like it's sort of an unforeseen

plus to the vehicle that you wouldn't think.

And battery life in the winter was fine.

I was getting not quite the range, but in Canada, it was well over 400 K charge.

The weird thing, though, was when it's cold, like many degrees below freezing.

I was at 100 percent.

I drove around a bit.

I parked it next thing I got in.

It was 100 percent, but I know I've like lost, you know, 20, 25 miles.

And I drove around a bit and then I would say it wasn't until I put at least 50

miles on the car that it would stop saying 100 percent every time I got in it.

I don't know if it's like a battery freezing thing or something that does it.

And and then when it was reading like 82 percent, I know it was really a bit lower.

I always had the range and that was very accurate, but it was just a little nuance.

And the only other two gripes I have is I don't know about the one you had, Greg,

but I had the light material across the doors and dash.

I don't know what you it's almost like a couch like material.

My car had about 2,500 miles on it.

And the part of the driver where people are putting their elbows was already

getting pretty dirty.

So I can't imagine what that's going to look like in 100,000 miles.

So if there's the option to get a darker material, go for it.

And being the holidays and going to family Christmas vacation trips

that included luggage and presents, I really don't like what they've done with the hatch.

The old leaf had so much space.

And with that swoopy SUV, it really cuts off like I had to jenga everything in.

I did fit enough for three people, a dog and Christmas gifts for eight other people in there.

But it was it was full like I had pillows right up against the rear glass and whatnot.

So I wish it was a little more squared off, but I get what they're going for.

But overall, it drives so well and for the price, it charges fast.

I home charged it exclusively for the three weeks because I can.

Nissan does offer the Nissan Energy Charge Network, which lets you charge

at a bunch of places in the US through the app.

And since your credit cards in the app, it just you don't have to do anything.

You just plug in and auto pays in Canada.

We're even better. We get the Tesla Supercharger Network.

So Nissan claims like 80 percent of chargers in Canada, they cover us.

But I didn't need to use it, but it's good to know it's there if I did.

Yeah, I mean, just in brief here, because it's kind of your your feature car here.

But I really liked it.

I my only sort of main gripe is that Nissan's trying to call it a crossover right now, which.

Did not think it is.

But what do you mean?

It sits lower than the old model and has a lower roof line than the old car.

And of course, it's a crossover.

Apparently it crosses over into something.

But I don't know.

I had a different trim.

Interior was pretty nice.

I like what Nissan's doing with their styling right now.

I drove the Murano earlier this year, yet I think it's that whole like Nissan genetics is.

I think they're getting back to where they were back when like

Shiro Nakamura was kind of running design for like the greater Nissan motor co.

I really liked it.

I think it's a good, reasonable EV that works for a lot of people.

I think, I mean, as much as I complain about the crossover thing, fine.

Call it that.

That's what you got to do for marketing, even if it is a car that's like slightly

different than, you know, a traditional car stance.

People aren't going to buy a small hatch, at least not the broader market that they want to buy it.

So I'm OK with it.

I enjoyed it.

Got a lot of presence in the back.

It was good in the snow.

The dog liked it.

So I don't know, it sounds like you and I had a pretty similar Christmas

about 300 miles apart here with these Nissan's.

Did you have the sea breeze blue like I did?

No, I had a darker shade.

It was more like a kind of like a grayish thing.

It was a very, very good looking car.

But so my first week with it, I had a I had the ID buzz we talked about earlier,

which was yellow and white two tone and the two of them run my driveway.

So the flashiest person on the street.

But the leaf was getting as much attention as the buzz,

which just shows the style and the color.

And then when the buzz was gone, so many people asked about it

because it it does have a cool shape as much as they complain about the trunk.

It does look cool with this sort of almost like semi circle shape to it

and like built in little rear spoiler.

And I have to mention the Z like tail lights are pretty cool to touch to.

In profile, I just sort of looks like a leaf just a little bit.

I have all those two, two, three Easter eggs all over it.

They wanted me to count them all, but there's too many.

All right, so we'll transition back.

We're kind of boomeranging through the different segments here in this segment.

But I'm in the Subaru WRX TS, which I drove a couple of weeks back.

This was one of those.

It was actually, I think, a twenty twenty five model,

but the fleet reached out to me and they were like, we have it.

Do you want it?

Now I was like, yeah, I do.

This sounds great.

We'll we'll talk about it on the podcast at least or something.

So hey, here we are.

And I mean, it's just it's a lot of fun.

It's a super niche car.

It's like the sharpest edge of the spear for the WRX as it currently sits,

although that may be changing even this week.

So stay tuned.

By the time you hear this, yeah, there will be probably some some Subaru news,

STI adjacent, perhaps.

But I like this one.

This car actually reminded me just how much fun, a really good, like,

but also challenging and engaging manual transition or transmission could be.

You know, the clutch is a little bit heavier than most,

you know, vehicles you'll drive these days.

The steering was really dialed in.

I had it in like sport and sport plus most of the time,

except for when we got a lot of snow because I'm not a total maniac,

like I just want to drive normal.

I think it looked pretty good.

I remember when the WRX came out a few years ago, it was a little controversial.

It's like there was some people loved it.

Some people hated it.

It was a bit of a departure from where it's been a few years into this.

I really like it.

So it was it was a lot of fun.

I mean, the typical like size or lows are what you would expect WRX.

Like the materials good for a WRX, but not great necessarily for this segment,

but not offensive.

You know, Subaru used to be, you know, ten years ago, borderline offensive.

This one did have a very nice interior with some of the Alcantara pieces and the stitching.

Super sporty. My kid loved it.

That's always like a test I have when, you know, you're testing your car is like,

what did the kid think? What did the dog think? I don't know.

Although, I guess technically the dog isn't supposed to ride in some of these

press cars, so, you know, don't tell anybody.

I thought it should be a Subaru. I mean, yeah, it's true.

We had that car in the summer.

Kyle, did you drive it or was it just me?

I can't remember all the different initials.

I think I had drove the other one and we drove the preview.

Yeah. And then you drove this one in the summer.

Yeah. Yeah.

I agree with everything you say about it.

And to me, you're right.

It's the sharpest, but it's also the most livable because of those adjustable dampers.

It makes such a difference in the ride quality because I've been a multiple WX owner.

They ride hard, not STI hard, but they ride hard.

And this one, I was surprised when you put it in the comfort, how nice it was.

And you point to the transmission and clutch, just like the GR Corolla.

Yeah, they're so mechanical, but they're also so forgiving

and they just want you to beat on them.

Like it's it's just begging you to drive it hard,

whereas some of the more sophisticated cars that kind of feel bad

when you're ripping through the gears or riding the clutch a little on launches.

It's I think it is sophisticated is a good word.

And I don't think there's enough of these in the business anymore.

Like probably like when you and I sort of got into this world,

there were things like, you know, the Mazda Speed 3, the tail end of the Honda S2000,

Mitsubishi Evo,

stuffed it like his exited stage left at this point.

It's not around.

So, you know, things like this, I think are a pretty rare breed.

Getting all nostalgic from the Cobalt SS and SRT4 days.

And yeah, like everybody used to have one of these cars that you'd buy

and mod and beat on and have a ton of fun for not a ton of money.

That's the other problem is they're getting pretty expensive now, too.

I think the Elantra N has kind of taken up that position, right?

For a lot of people, is it's like a fairly tuner friendly, it's affordable.

And yeah, I may question some of the drivers

because I expect I expect them to be driving late night

with like some popcorn exhaustion.

Yeah, you know, you're right.

And it's not that much more than an launch.

And that's what these other ones were, like they weren't a big step up.

So that is probably the closest now.

And maybe others will notice the success they've been having,

partially because the brand supports it so much.

Just like Subaru, that's why the WX is still here.

They've always supported the owners.

They've been different programs they could invest in, like with rallying.

And it's crazy if you support your customers and enthusiasts,

they keep buying your product.

What a what a concept.

Sounds pretty authentic to me, I guess.

All right.

Well, that is all the time we have for the drive section.

That is what is in the Auto Guide garage this week.

We'll be back right after this.

All right, this week's used car spotlight is the 1975 Chevelle.

This is a bit of a deep cut.

You can check it out along with all of our other listings, of course, on the website.

If you're interested, please sign up for our newsletter.

A lot of people are signing up for that every day and really enjoying it.

New listings go up every day on the site.

And each week on the show, if we have something interesting,

we try to highlight it.

I have never seen a 75 Chevelle come through our listings.

So this made me think, hey, I got to bring it up.

Typically, we have more like classic Mustangs or even some more recent things.

You know, like I saw a recent Mercedes SL, things like that.

Fifty one year old Chevelle.

This is definitely from the Malaise era, where you have an enormous V8 engine,

350 cubic inches, but about 175 horsepower.

So just kind of wrap your brain around that.

This is a bit of a controversial Chevelle because it's it's called the Chevelle.

But if you look at this one, just compared to Chevelles from like three, four years prior,

this is falling out of the iconic category.

I think for most people, it's definitely like your Archtypal 70s.

Big cruiser thing that's sort of as emblematic of a time when cars were still big,

but they didn't have a ton of horsepower.

But these things do have their base.

So, Kyle, you're probably thinking, Greg's crazy.

This is what he picked for this week.

I don't know.

No, there's there's some level of nostalgia here, because I agree.

Like when I think Chevelle, I think of, you know, a 70 like an SS, 454 or something like that.

But this one, it feels like I've seen this in hundreds of 80s movies, right?

It's just you're right.

It's it's the Malaise era.

It's not the peak of this nameplate, but there's something really comforting about it anyway.

And look, I mean, yeah, it's not the most popular one,

which means it's not carrying the price tag of the more popular ones, too.

These things typically go from anywhere from like a few thousand dollars to 20,000.

That's about the most you're going to probably pay for this generation of Chevelle.

And that would be for like a Laguna in excellent condition.

So they're definitely a way to get into that.

Like cruising scene, maybe even drag racing or, you know, rest of mod.

There's a lot of things you could do with this.

Now, full disclosure, one of the reasons I picked this is I am the co-owner of a 1973 Chevelle,

which was my parents car and it's sort of being restored.

But I believe it's in multiple pieces in a barn west of Ann Arbor.

So it's a very hands off project, but there is a certain sentimental value here.

I think the 73 is about the peak for this generation, though,

because it still has those rounded headlights.

It has those great tail lights that really look more like they're from the 60s.

I think all the kind of curves and the silhouette of the car look best that year.

As the 70s roll on, things get worse for the Chevelle.

Let's put it that way.

I think the cutlass is an example of cars of a car that sort of weathered the 70s a little better.

Yeah, yeah, the Chevelle had sort of an Elvis feel, right?

Well, all right.

So, hey, it's out there.

Check it out on our site.

Sign up for our newsletter if you're interested.

And for now, let's jump into the mailbag and jump right in.

This week, we have a question that comes from Reddit's Our Cars.

If you're interested in getting into the mailbag, please send me a note.

My email is gmigliore, that's G-M-I-G-L-I-O-R-E at verticalscope.com.

You can also find it on the website.

Please jump in the comments, maybe at the bottom of this post too.

We love to deal with your mailbag questions.

But with that, let's jump right in.

This one comes again from Reddit's Our Cars.

Reliability aside, what cars deliver the best bang for your bunk?

Any class of vehicle, newer used, basically the writer wants to know.

He's curious, what cars you think give the best value for your dollar?

Features, creature comforts, performance, utility, driving dynamics, fit and finish, etc.

They write in there if reliability wasn't a concern or top priority.

But for people like this person who is a good mechanic and don't mind spending some money

on maintenance or warranties, I feel like the answers would be pretty interesting.

It's how the writer closes.

For my answers, I actually did kind of look at reliability and quality,

because I think that's just a little bit of common sense.

Even if you're a raster mechanic, how much work do you really want to do on your car?

I'll kick it over to you.

I mean, yeah, if I was saying reliability doesn't matter at all,

then go find the cheapest V12 Mercedes that you can find,

used one, and have fun.

And I hope you have a small bank account that you can drain.

In terms of newer cars, though, I find I'm leaning more towards a performance-oriented vehicle,

personally.

But something that I think is a great bang for the buck is a slightly used Camaro.

Get a V8 model, one of the latest generation ones.

I mean, you still have not a lot of trunk space, so it's not super practical in that sense.

But the Camaro was easily the sports car of the pony cars, right?

It had excellent handling.

It was tons of fun.

It looked pretty good.

It sounded fantastic, and they're cheap.

I mean, it's such a great performance base, too, to build off of if you're

feeling that sort of directions.

And then if I was going to go new, I'd actually mention another vehicle

that we mentioned elsewhere on the podcast, the Hyundai Elantra N,

is hands down the performance bargain on the current marketplace.

Yeah, I can't argue with either of those.

I'm going to go for used.

I'm going to go with the E93 series.

The writer said, hey, I could do some, I'm not afraid to turn a wrench.

At this point, an E90 you're probably going to have to do some work on,

unless you get one that's in immaculate condition.

But just trying to pay a reasonable price, I think you can still get an E90 for,

again, a reasonable price.

And then just common sense, I'm going to give a couple of my usual suspects, the Honda CR-V,

excellent all-around value, quality, reliability.

I think it's pretty fun to drive.

Honda Civic, I think, is another usual suspect.

Or look at maybe something from Mazda.

Like maybe a lightly used Mazda 3, go out the hatch.

That could be fun.

You know, I think you won't be disappointed.

If you could find a manual, all the better.

It's true.

Yeah, the Civic and CR-V in particular, too.

I mean, I didn't want to go with those because they feel like easy answers,

but they're easy answers for a reason.

It's like so many people I know have ended up with a Civic or CR-V because,

look, you want something that doesn't cause you headaches, but still is actually engaging.

There's your answer.

All right.

That's, there's your answer.

And there is your show.

Thanks for listening this week on The Auto Guide Show.

I've had a great time hanging out with you, Kyle.

Thanks to Myron, who is our interview right off the top.

Mike Schley is probably already out testing his latest gear.

We'll see.

Thanks for listening this week.

Be safe out there.

We'll see you next time.

So long, everybody.

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Japan's Most Astonishing Cars | AutoGuide Show Ep. 104

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