The Volkswagen VR6 is a type of engine used by Volkswagen. It’s designed to pack more cylinders into a smaller space, so it can feel smoother and stronger than a basic four-cylinder.
A convertible is a car body style with a roof that can be retracted or removed, turning it into an open-air driving experience. Enthusiasts often associate convertibles with a different kind of driving feel—more wind and sound, and a more “social” cabin experience.
Wheel spacers are thin parts that push your wheels outward. People use them to make the wheels sit better and avoid rubbing, but they have to be installed correctly.
Term
plus suspension
“Plus suspension” means a suspension setup that changes ride height/clearance. It’s often used so tires and wheels have more room to fit without rubbing.
This is a Volkswagen Jetta model year used for emissions rules in California. The state may treat your car like a 1998 Jetta for smog purposes, which affects what it’s allowed to pass.
In California, a “referee label” is a sticker/label from an official inspection. It’s used to show your modified car meets the state’s emissions rules.
An engine swap means putting a different engine into a car than the one it originally came with. It can affect whether the car can be legally registered, especially because emissions equipment may need to match what the state requires.
Emissions components are the parts that help keep a car’s exhaust cleaner. If you change the engine, the state may require you to also change the emissions parts so the car still meets legal pollution limits.
“Not registrable” means you can’t get the car legally registered to drive it on public roads. In California, engine swaps often fail unless the swap and emissions parts meet the state’s requirements.
“Small block” usually refers to a family of compact V8 engines (commonly associated with Chevrolet’s small-block V8s). The point here is that swapping an older V8 into a modern car can run afoul of California’s emissions/registration rules unless the emissions equipment is handled correctly.
Concept
historical vehicle standards
States have special rules for older “historic” cars. Those rules can affect things like how the car is allowed to be used and what requirements it has to follow.
A smog check is an emissions test your car has to pass to make sure it’s not polluting too much. Even if your car has special historic plates, you may still have to do it.
Term
smog like verification method
This sounds like a local emissions-compliance process that’s meant to be similar to a smog test. The host is saying the way it’s handled feels unreliable or unfair.
An emissions check is a test that checks how much pollution your car is putting out. It’s basically the same idea as a smog check—making sure the car meets legal limits.
OBD-1 is an early computer system in older cars that helps detect emissions-related problems. Because it’s older and simpler than modern systems, testing those cars can be more complicated.
A dyno is a testing machine that holds the car’s wheels/engine under load so emissions and performance can be measured consistently. Some older cars need this kind of setup to pass emissions testing.
“Leno’s law” is a nickname for a government rule meant to help older cars get through emissions requirements more easily. The host thinks the idea didn’t work as intended.
Here, “older cars” means cars that qualify for special rules because they’re old. The rules are based on age, which can change what you have to do for emissions.
It’s a rule where older cars eventually get relief from emissions rules once they’re about 25 years old. The cutoff keeps moving forward as time passes, so more cars qualify each year.
“Emissions exempt” means the car is allowed to skip some emissions rules or tests. Usually that happens because the car is old enough to qualify under state rules.
Some states let older cars get special license plates. Those plates can come with benefits like fewer requirements or lower costs, but the rules depend on the state and the car’s age.
Some states offer special plates for older cars they consider “classic.” The requirements are usually based on age, and the benefit is that the car may get different rules or fees.
“Antique plates” are special license plates for older cars that qualify under a state’s antique-vehicle rules. They can come with benefits, but the exact rules depend on where you live.
RPM means how fast the engine is spinning, measured in revolutions per minute. If it won’t stay steady, the test equipment can’t get reliable readings.
A “smog only station” is a place that’s authorized to do emissions tests on cars. If the state says you have to use one, you can’t just go to any shop for the test.
“Gross polluter” is a state label for a car that’s putting out a lot more pollution than allowed. If your car gets labeled that way, the state can require more restrictive emissions testing next time.
A “test only place” is where you go to get your emissions test done, but they usually don’t repair the car. It’s mainly for checking whether your car passes the emissions rules.
The “referee process” is like an official step-up when your car keeps failing emissions tests. You talk to the state, explain what you’ve done, and they tell you exactly what they need next.
The charcoal canister is a small emissions device that traps fuel vapors from the gas tank. Later, the car pulls those vapors into the engine to burn them instead of letting them escape into the air.
The engine computer is the car’s main brain for the engine. It reads sensors and decides how much fuel to use and how to run the engine, and it can get software updates from the dealer.
Here, “scanned” means using a diagnostic computer to read what the car’s engine computer reports. It can show which exact unit is installed and what software it’s running.
A part number is like a unique ID label for a specific component. They’re checking that the engine computer they found by scanning is the exact same model/ID as the one that’s supposed to be in the car.
The latest software version is the newest update for the car’s computer. It can change how the engine behaves, and sometimes the dealer needs to install it to make sure everything matches the newest approved settings.
“Not writable” means that computer chip can’t be reprogrammed with new software. If it can’t be updated, you may have to use a dealer procedure that works with that unit—or replace the unit.
It’s a legal check to make sure your car isn’t polluting too much. The tester may use the car’s computer and then measure what comes out of the tailpipe.
Your car has computer checks that verify emissions systems are working. For inspection, the technician wants those checks to be marked as completed so the test is valid.
Hydrocarbons are leftover fuel that didn’t fully burn in the engine. Emissions testing checks them because too much usually means the engine isn’t running cleanly.
The check engine light comes on when the car’s computer finds a problem. Usually you can plug in a scanner to read a code that helps figure out what’s wrong.
OBD2 is the car’s self-diagnosis system that can store trouble codes. An “OBD2 swap” is when someone changes the car’s electronics so it uses that newer diagnostic setup, often to fix or work around emissions/diagnostic problems.
Term
DMV worker
The DMV is the government office that registers cars and handles legal requirements to drive them. When a car has been modified or swapped, the DMV (or someone acting for them) may check whether it meets the rules.
This means the car is officially recognized as having a specific engine type for legal/emissions rules. So the owner doesn’t have to worry about failing inspections or getting in trouble for what’s under the hood.
Fifth gear is one of the higher gears used when you’re going faster. If the car gets stuck in fifth, it can mean the transmission isn’t getting the right oil or isn’t controlling the gears correctly.
An oil pump is like a small circulation system for the transmission fluid. It helps keep the moving gears and bearings from running dry by sending oil where it’s needed.
The transmission is the gearbox that lets the engine use its power efficiently by selecting different gear ratios. It also depends on fluid to keep internal parts lubricated—without that, it can overheat and fail.
Splash lubrication means the gears throw oil around as they spin. It can be enough for short periods, but if you run it hard or for too long, parts may not get oil quickly enough.
The Rover SD1 is an older British car that people still talk about because it’s a cool, classic design—especially in V8 form. Here, the host is saying the car still looks almost like it did when it was new, with surprisingly little rust after many years.
“Aftermarket” means it wasn’t made by the car’s original manufacturer. A cooler hose carries cooling fluid for the engine’s cooling system (or turbo/boost cooling). If it bursts, the car can overheat or lose the cooling it needs to run safely.
A turbo is a device that helps the engine make more power by forcing extra air in. If the turbo breaks, the engine can quickly run poorly or even get damaged.
“Operator error” means the problem came from what someone did (or didn’t do) while using or working on the car. Sometimes the part isn’t actually bad—the process or setup was the issue.
They’re saying the car has a lot of rust. Rust matters a lot on older cars because fixing it can be expensive and sometimes affects safety and structure.
Term
six and three quarter liter V8
They’re describing the engine as a big V8 with about 6.75 liters of displacement. The “V8” part means it has eight cylinders, and the hosts are saying that engine tends to wear out around the mileage they’re discussing.
“Wiped their cams” refers to camshaft wear or damage severe enough to “wipe” the cam surfaces, often from insufficient lubrication or high wear. The hosts are using this as a failure/wear point tied to mileage when estimating auction value.
Hagerty is a site and community for classic car buyers and sellers. When they say “Hagerty marketplace,” they mean the online place where collector cars are listed and sold, which helps show what cars are actually fetching.
An outlier is a data point that’s unusually high or low compared with the rest of the set. In auction-price talk, it usually means one car sold for a price that doesn’t match the typical range for similar cars.
Term
Wolfsburg limited edition cabriolet
“Cabriolet” just means the car is a convertible. “Wolfsburg limited edition” is a special Volkswagen trim/edition name, not a generic description.
A “trim level” is the version of the car—what features and options it includes. Two cars can be the same model, but different trim levels can have different equipment.
“Automatic” means you don’t have to use a clutch or shift gears yourself. The car handles the gear changes for you.
Term
14 inch Sharoko 60 valve teardrops
That phrase is about the car’s wheels and valve stems. “14 inch” is the wheel size, and “teardrops” describes the valve-stem style—details like this can affect how original or collectible the car is.
Term
clipper kit
A “kit” is an added package that changes the car’s look or features. “Clipper kit” sounds like a specific named styling/trim package, which collectors care about.
“8,000 mile” means the car has only been driven about 8,000 miles. For older cars, that’s very low, and buyers often assume it’s been less worn than higher-mile examples.
Bring a Trailer is a popular online auction site for enthusiast cars. People bid on listings there, and it’s often used to track what certain classic cars are worth.
This is a BMW M3 from 1988, part of the E30 generation. It’s a classic performance BMW that enthusiasts really chase because it’s tied to BMW’s racing reputation.
“Cinnamon red” is the name of the car’s exterior paint color. In collector auctions, the exact color can be a big deal because some colors are more desirable than others.
Place
Oberrott
Oberrott sounds like a place name from the auction listing—basically where the car is located or was tracked. It’s included with the car’s color and interior info.
“Natural tan leather” is the color and material of the car’s seats and interior. For collector cars, the interior matters a lot because it can change how desirable and “original” the car feels.
“Projectors” means a type of headlight design that uses a lens to aim and focus the light. Whether a car has them can affect how original it is and how good the headlights look and perform.
“Mileage” just means how many miles are on the odometer. Collectors often pay more for cars with lower mileage because they tend to have less wear. In this discussion, mileage is part of why one car’s price is higher.
“Peak pandemic” means the height of COVID-era disruptions. During that time, lots of people were buying cars and other collectibles, which pushed prices up. They’re using it to explain why the auction price they’re quoting seems unusually high.
This is a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, which is the longer version of the Wrangler. The Rubicon trim is meant for serious off-roading, and this one is described as having four-wheel drive and a manual transmission—so it’s a desirable setup for collectors.
That phrase means this is one of a limited run—specifically unit 390 out of 1,000. Limited editions can be more valuable to collectors because there aren’t many of them.
Long wheelbase means the car’s frame is longer from front to back than a regular version. That usually gives more room inside, and it can change how the vehicle drives and fits off-road.
A six-speed manual transmission has six forward gears that the driver selects with a clutch pedal. In collector-car discussions, manual gearboxes are often treated as more desirable because they’re more engaging and can be rarer than automatics in certain trims.
This means the engine has six cylinders and is about 4.0 liters in size. That’s a common way enthusiasts describe which engine a car has, and it can affect how it feels and how desirable it is.
“Round headlight” just means the headlights are the classic circular style. Some collectors care about these details because they can identify a specific look or year.
A hard top is a solid, rigid roof instead of a fabric one. It usually offers better protection from weather and can be more desirable depending on the buyer.
A “straight six” is an engine with six cylinders in one line. “Four liter” means it’s about a 4.0-liter engine, which is a way of describing engine size.
Term
atypical
“Atypical” just means “not typical” or “unusual.” In this case, they’re saying the car’s measurements (like wheelbase) are different from what you usually see.
A “six speed conversion” means someone changed the car so it uses a six-speed transmission. For buyers, that can matter because it’s not factory-original, and it can change both how the car drives and how much it’s worth.
A “roadster” is an open-top version of a car—usually meant for driving with the roof down. Collectors often care about body style because it affects how desirable the car is and how it’s used.
A “clean car facts report” is basically a vehicle history check. It’s meant to show whether the car has a clean title and whether there are any records of damage or major problems. People look at it to avoid surprises when buying a used car.
Car
LP640 Roadster six speed swap
This is a Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster (the “LP640” is the model name). “Six speed swap” means someone changed the car so it uses a six-speed transmission, instead of whatever it originally had. That kind of modification can change how desirable the car is to collectors.
Front axle lift is a feature that raises the front of the car. It helps prevent scraping when you’re going over steep bumps, driveways, or ramps—common issues for very low cars.
Aftermarket wheels are wheels that weren’t made by the car’s original manufacturer. People care because the “right” wheels can make a car look more original and can affect how collectors judge the car’s condition and value.
Term
Hermera's
“Hermera’s” sounds like the name of a specific wheel style. In auctions, the exact wheel design can matter because it can make the car look right for that model and can affect how collectors value it.
A “factory manual” is the official book the carmaker made for that model—usually for repairs and parts. Collectors like it because it’s the real, original documentation from the time the car was sold.
Car
1984 Rover Vitesse SD1, TWR group A-spec
This is a Rover SD1 from 1984 that was set up by TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) to race under “Group A” rules. Group A was a real racing class, so cars like this were built/modified to match what racers were allowed to do.
This phrase means the car hasn’t been used in races. Collectors often pay more for that because it usually implies less hard use and fewer race-only changes.
Car
1984 Rover Vitesse
This is a specific Rover model from 1984 that enthusiasts consider because it’s tied to the more performance-oriented Rover SD1. The hosts are talking about how its racing credibility and condition could change what it’s worth at auction.
“High output” just means the car’s setup makes more power than the regular version. They’re saying the Vitesse was the stronger, more performance-focused SD1, which can matter a lot for value.
A homologation car is basically a “race car you can buy for the street.” Racing rules often require manufacturers to build a certain number of road versions, and that connection to racing can make the car more desirable to collectors.
Livery is the car’s design—its paint colors and decals/graphics. On a collector or race-style car, a good livery can make it more interesting to buyers.
Car
Fiat Bertone 850T
They’re talking about a vintage Fiat Bertone 850T, which is an old Italian vehicle with a distinctive coachbuilt look. The host is excited because it’s the kind of rare, interesting car collectors love.
LIVE
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Carmudgeon show podcast.
Driven by Hagerty and presented by Jason Camisa and Derek Tamscott.
Otherwise known as Hyphen.
Don't forget that the Carmudgeon show is driven by Hagerty, as Derek said,
and if you'd like to get a quote on guaranteed value insurance,
you should visit jasonsemi.com.
I'm wearing a t-shirt.
Those are related.
Yes, I'm wearing a t-shirt.
That says Jason Semi.
And I made these.
This is the Hagerty didn't do this.
This is my way of pissing off our CMO.
Your specialty.
Well, he left and it worked.
I'm kidding.
I had nothing to do with any of that.
Oh, right.
But more importantly, we do give an update on one of the cars.
Well, two of my cars,
one of which did have quite a Hagerty claim on it and wouldn't be here.
Well, it's not here because of other unrelated reasons.
Stay tuned for more about that.
It wouldn't still exist as a car.
If I didn't have guaranteed value insurance on it.
So I highly recommend you getting a quote.
Yes.
So in this week's episode, we talk about that car.
That car, of course, being the Rover.
We talk about this car being the Volkswagen.
I crashed my Rover.
My scarlet letter on the back of my t-shirt.
Which is not scarlet.
It's actually white, but never mind.
It's also not a letter, Derek.
It's a number of letters.
Yes, greater than one, which one is a number.
And we talk about the.
It's the loneliest number.
One is the loneliest number.
I do know the song.
My math teacher in sixth grade really liked singing it because she was taught.
Well, she thought the song was very appropriate for.
Because she was single because she was singing that fucking song.
She was married.
But one was the loneliest number because it has a bunch of characteristics
that math teachers find interesting that make it unique.
And so she was fond of saying that one was the loneliest number because
this is the environment in which I came up.
This is why I am the way I am.
Anyway, we talk about the Volkswagen VR6,
caprio of Jason.
And we also have a game on this show, which Mike has created for us.
Mike, our producer in which we attempt to guess what cars sold for
and with varying levels of success.
So yeah, that's what's on this episode.
I will do a clap or an attempt.
Please just don't.
Well, okay.
Not bad.
Thank you.
Okay.
I find it fun that we've both shown up today and our daily drivers that are red.
Yeah.
And they're both convertibles or similar.
Or open air experiences.
I don't know if you don't have a roof on your Ducati.
They're also both Volkswagen's.
Yeah.
Pre-merger.
What year was the merger?
We should look that up.
I don't know.
Lamborghini was purchased by Audi in 1998.
Right.
Ducati had to be.
Ducati was like at least a decade later maybe.
I feel like I was at automobile when it happened.
So before 2012 would be my guess.
Yeah.
And I had happened already when I went to visit the factory in 2013.
Either way, they are both Piech machines, right?
2012.
2012.
So had it just happened when I was there.
Okay.
So they're both.
And this is 2011.
So it's technically pre-merger.
Technically the Mark III is also pre-Piech.
He had some say in the very beginning of production,
but Mark IV was his first full fat golf.
Anyway, that's why there's such a big quality difference
between the Mark III and Mark IV.
You know what's funny?
Get into a Mark IV today and a Mark III today,
and the Mark III actually held up better interior wise.
In terms of durability?
Durability.
Yeah.
The Mark IV when it came out was this revelation, right?
And it was just it was Mercedes quality interior,
or whatever, but they've, they have not aged well.
Mark III used shittier plastic that lasted longer.
With a longer half-life.
Yeah.
It's really interesting to note.
But anyway, the VR6 is in.
I have an appointment today to go have my,
something I've never done before,
to go have my fenders rolled.
Because I'm now, I'm that kind of a stansy guy.
No, I put wheel spacers on it
because I didn't like the way those,
the wheels were just too far inset.
Even with the plus suspension from the Jetta.
And this guy who rolled the rear fenders for me.
And so fingers crossed the original paint.
And the car is now legal and smogged,
and all of that, happy horseshit.
California legal.
So I have a referee label inside the door,
which means that according to the state of California,
its emissions class is a 1998 Jetta.
Volkswagen, he spelled it wrong.
So for all of the hours and of work
that they do to inspect every last detail
of this engine swap to make sure
that it is basically a factory quality engine swap
in terms of emissions components,
then they spell the fucking name of Volkswagen wrong.
Yeah. We, one of my guys misspelled Los Angeles.
He spelled it Los Angeles, Los Los.
On what? On a DMV document.
So we had to do a statement of facts to correct it.
I will say that people are,
so California, everyone talks about
the Commiforna, whatever, blah, blah, blah.
The way it works in California is if you swap an engine,
we've discussed this before at length,
but if you swap an engine into a car,
it becomes not registrable in California,
unless that is from a same model year or newer car
and you swap all of the emissions components.
And all they're doing is making sure that
you're not just swapping in some 1960s V8 into a modern car.
Small block into a Tesla.
But apparently-
Actually, that would probably be okay
because Tesla are electric and therefore exempt
from emissions testing.
Yeah. Although I don't know if you could get
called into the referee to then prove
that it was emissions legal.
I don't know how that would happen.
But like if I were a cop
and I were an environmental dickbag,
I saw, and I saw a Tesla going by doing a burnout with a V8,
like an LS scream coming out of it.
I'd be like, that's not okay.
You need to smog it.
But either way, you know, people forget
that most of America doesn't have safety inspections
or anything else.
And the rest of the world all does.
So California has a pain in the ass.
Some states have like lights and horns and stuff.
Oh, Pennsylvania has a real one.
But California does not.
We have nothing.
You can drive whatever you want so long as it doesn't emit.
And I'm irritated by this as much as the next guy.
But at the same time, all it takes is to look at a picture
of what most of California's air quality
looked like 20, 30, 40 years, 50 years ago.
And I can understand why they're so heavy-handed,
even though at this point some of these older cars need to,
they need to relax.
There's no question they need to relax the standards
on historical.
That car will now be getting historical vehicle plates.
That doesn't exempt me from smog checks,
but it does just build a story
that this is not going to be a daily.
While we're on the subject matter,
I think that the smog enforcement,
or the smog like verification method here
is absolute garbage, hot steaming garbage.
It's so poor.
I was enraged and I was like,
I have to vent on car mudging about how much bullshit this is.
Verification for what?
Like emissions checks.
So I've mentioned in the past how in Oregon,
there's like a building that you drive through
and it's all run by the state and it's 25 bucks
and you just like drive through a little window
and then they do it.
And here it's like trying to find someone,
especially with an old car,
because if the car is, is this OBD-1 and earlier
or maybe it's before 99 or something like that,
it has to go on a dyno if it's not four-wheel drive.
And the dyno gets used less and less
because you only need it for old cars
and the shop's always like ours is broken.
And you know, it's, we don't know when
that we're going to get fixed.
You have to go somewhere else
and you could literally spend an entire day
trying to find a place that's open
and then you find one place in there like,
oh yeah, it's $170 for an emissions check.
And you're like, that's an extortionate price.
And like, yeah, I guess you have to spread the cost
of the six times a year.
You use your dyno over the six people a year who use it.
Right.
And so it's like these insane numbers.
It's a huge, painful process.
Can you tell I spent an entire day trying to smog it?
It's actually, it's, it's now bordering on unconstitutional
unconstitutional.
And that's the reason why the Leno's law thing is happening.
So Leno's law was, was, was a failed attempt.
They said nothing to do with J except that there's a, there's a.
That he took on the cause because it is a noble one.
Right, exactly.
There's a senators, a government for some rapper,
whatever, Shannon, somebody.
And she, she had a bunch of constituents were,
who were pissed off at exactly
what you were talking about.
And they wrote a, a, a law to start to exempt older cars.
So there was a 25 year rolling exemption in California.
And the one who undid that is named.
You know who undid that?
Yeah, it was Arnold.
The Olive, all the cars must be inspected.
I remember this because I bought a car that was in 1977
with the expect in 2005 with the expectation that it would
become emissions exempt in two years.
And then I would bring it into California then.
And then they were like, oh, just kidding.
We're fixing it in 1975.
Right. And so that is a fuck up to be honest with you.
Right. Look, any year count is arbitrary.
I love the idea.
We talked about this all the time amongst friends
that in California, a 25 year old car is can,
can qualify for historical vehicle plates.
A 25 year old car is now a 2001, which is a new car for me.
Yes, me too.
Even worse in PA, where I previously lived,
a 25, a 15 year old car gets a classic car plates
and a 25 year old car is eligible for antique plates.
And so the idea that a 2011 three series
would be a classic car and a 2001 would be antique
is hilarious to me because now I'm an aged antique.
I mean, I am an antique.
Oh my God, what at my age plate, but I qualify dead.
Yeah, I think it's a deceased.
Horseless carriage.
Yeah. So, but any of these aged things is arbitrary.
And I think honestly, the correct thing to do would be
have a mechanism to register it as a historical vehicle,
which we do and then exempt them.
But yeah, I haven't the, I why,
in what basis is it unconstitutional?
Like I like this thread.
It's, it's, it's an equitable right.
It's inequitable.
Yeah. Because the fact that it like,
it's so hard to get an emissions check and that when you do,
it's 170 or $200.
I found one for less than 60.
Unless you buy a new car, right?
And you're buying a new car saying that you might,
perhaps you are a poor and if you can't afford a new car,
and now you're being taxed on your old car.
And that's just not really fair.
I don't think that would pass constitutional scrutiny,
which I think is why they're looking at
reinstituting a rolling exemption, which is the right thing to do.
I agree because it just, it become,
quite literally took me an entire day,
which I did not have to smog my R129.
I have a guy locally to me.
Well, what happened was that I went to the place
and then they were like, okay, we can do it.
It's $150.
And I was like, great, not $170.
Like my usual guy.
And then they were, and then they were like,
come back and get it in three hours.
And then when I came back, they were like,
our dyno couldn't get your RPM to stabilize.
So then like we couldn't do it.
So now I have Uber'd twice and left the car there
for three hours and it's now, you know, one o'clock.
And it's like, I was supposed to bang this out
and then go to work.
And of course it's, I've lost half the day already.
Undo burden, right?
It was just like-
There's a guy that, so what has happened here
is as all the other dyno shops have gone out of business,
dyno smog shops have gone out of business,
this one shop has gotten busier and busier and busier.
And so he has incentive to keep it operating.
And I don't remember what the price is,
but it's not, I think it's 150 bucks
or something else like that.
But at least I can get them done.
And I, but the, I think the original-
The fact that it's not regulated,
like the price is not set.
Like most states that do it, like in Connecticut,
I think it's flat $20 in Oregon.
It's $25 like-
And look, I did it when I lived in Florida,
we had a mission cess, which of now Florida got rid of it
because Florida, also all the emissions
just blows into the ocean.
They don't care.
But it was-
It creates hurricanes.
A state run drive-through.
They were like 30, you know, 30 aisle,
look like a toll booth and you walked in
and they didn't know anything about anything.
They shoved something up a tailpipe
and here's your car's tailpipe.
And it was eight bucks or whatever it was and you went through.
The reason that it's so expensive is they have to,
like you said, you're paying now a private person
to do this, blah, blah, blah.
The next step is in California, they are,
so right now 2000 and newer cars
are exempted from tailpipe.
It's just a scan.
Yeah, they just OBD scan them.
As of next year, it's all OBD2 cars.
So 96 and newer will be exempted from rollers.
It's just a scan.
And they're doing that because of exactly what you said.
The problem with that is now the number of cars that need that-
That need dinos is even less.
And so none of the shops are gonna maintain dinos
and you won't be able to smog an old car.
And there's no database available
of who has one and who doesn't.
You gotta call 73 different places
and then they're like, oh yes, we can do it.
Oh, actually, we can't do it.
And if you're in certain counties or certain zip codes,
you have to use a smog only station
or if your car was ever tested.
Star, yeah, gross polluter.
Right, and if your car was ever marked as a gross polluter
by the state because it failed egregiously once,
now you have to go to a test only place.
So it's a fucking nightmare.
But they are trying to make it better.
Yeah, but while now-
It certainly is needed.
It is definitely needed.
But I will say the referee process for this,
which is basically I contacted the state,
I talked to someone on the phone,
they went through, asked me a bunch of questions
about what I did and they said,
okay, now you can submit this form.
So I submitted a form where I detailed everything I did
and then they came back with a list of requirements for me
and they wanted photos of or scans of title of this car,
title of the donor car.
And then any photo documentation I had
of all these different things,
the exhaust system, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I think I uploaded 48 photos
and they came back to like, great, you've passed all of this.
And it was also things like show us the charcoal canister,
show us this, show us that, whatever.
And they also wanted proof that the engine computer,
when you scanned it, matched the part number
of the engine computer on the car.
They wanted proof that it was updated
to the latest software version.
So I had to go to the dealer to do that.
The problem is this computer is not writable.
And so I just wrote back and I was like,
hold on, the chip is not writable.
I can't do that.
The part number is part number.
You can't change anything.
And they said, okay.
I mean, they were great about it.
And then once you pass the sort of photos,
then you can make an appointment to go to the ref.
And the referee is the guy who physically and do this.
And so it used to be a three hour ref appointment.
It's now a one hour, 10 ref appointment
because you've done the heavy lifting with the photos.
When I got there, this guy had poured through
every single photo and he knew every detail of this car.
So he really did take his time.
And it was about an hour of him
futzing with everything under the car, over the car,
and then with the computer.
And he was activating charcoal canister or stuff like,
he was activating every part of the emissions test
and all of the monitors had to be set.
And then he did a tailpipe and whatever.
Well, I'm so sure it failed.
I put a new count in it.
And it was just a pain in the ass to start.
But the guy was, when it failed initially,
he was like, okay.
So the good news is, and he warned me,
he's like, no one ever passes on the first shot.
And I was like, don't tell me this.
And he was like, no one ever passes.
I always find something.
He came back out an hour later
and I'm not allowed to watch or do anything.
And he's like, there's a window I can watch,
but I can't be in the room.
And he was like, congratulations.
This is as close to an OEM engine swap as I've ever seen.
You did really good work.
You should be proud of yourself.
And I was like, wow, I really meant that.
Like, thank you.
Yeah, coming from the bureaucratic machine,
which should be so monolithic and devoid of any feeling.
Right. And also I killed myself to make sure
that this was a perfect motor swap.
Like everything went over and nothing,
no shortcuts, no bullshit and whatever.
And he was like, unfortunately,
and I was like, my jaw just hit the ground.
And he was like, you failed tailpipe.
And I was like, no.
And he was like, yeah.
And you failed on both NOx and hydrocarbons.
And I'm like, no, that's contradictory.
One goes up, the other one goes down.
So I thought myself, I need to put a new cat in this car.
Like, no, I'm just, I'm over.
And he was like, and I said, look, I just passed.
And he was like, yeah, I see that a couple of weeks ago
you passed, because I did a pretest
because I wasn't going to waste my time.
And it blew through pretty clean.
And he's like, it happens.
And I'm like, he's like, just go do what you need to do.
He was very great about this.
He's like, I can't tell you what to do, but you know,
because when I said, wait, NOx and hydrocarbons can't be.
He was like, he looked at me and he said,
the only thing I will tell you is that whilst doing the test,
your mixture was perfect the whole time.
And that was my hint.
Like, okay, I need a cat.
And yeah, so he was like, all right,
just do what you need to do, come back.
Here's my direct email address.
I will make an appointment with you within a couple of days
and we'll get you right in and I'll get this car on the road.
And I'm like, no, I'm good.
And he's like, what do you mean?
I'm like, I'm selling it.
I've had it with this fucking car.
And he was like, what do you mean?
And I just unloaded on the poor guy.
And I'm like, you have no idea what it took to get here.
He's like, I can see how much work I'm like,
no, to get the fucking monitor set.
And he was like, what?
I'm like, a 900 and 41 miles
of driving around to set the fucking monitors
to have no reason for them to have not set in the first place,
to have random fucking check engine lights pop up
that made me restart the whole fucking process.
I almost towed the car here just to make sure.
And he was like, oh no.
And I'm like, yeah, he said, you did an OBD2 swap
and they're impossible, especially early OBD2.
He's like, that's why I'm so surprised you made it through.
And I'm like, great, goodbye.
I'm selling the car.
And he was like, stop it.
This is a cool car.
This is a hell of a swap.
Just do what you need to do and come back.
I want to see this car on the road.
And I was like, what's that DMV worker saying?
Turns out they're not actually DMV workers.
They are a subcontractor and he works for a foundation
that's like a nonprofit.
That's contracted with the state, whatever.
Supercar guy then starts telling me about all of his Mark II GTI
that he had back in the day and E30s
and all kinds of cool cars.
Got a Lexus LS at the moment.
Actual genuine car guy who worked as a Lexus mechanic
for years could not have been more professional and nice
and tried to help like in within the bounds of what he could do.
I would have shocked because I went in expecting like this,
you know, power, power, 100 mall cop dick bag, right?
He was like, he was awesome.
Anyway, but more importantly, other than spelling Volkswagen,
the guy was 10 out of 10, no notes.
And the car is now legal.
And so it is legally a VR6.
And I don't have to ever worry about smoking
in the state of California.
Yay.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Anyway, that was a long elaborate sidebar as we are want to do.
Oh, well, we haven't even talked about the other sidebar.
Oh, the road is back.
I saw, I heard.
It's not, I see that it's not here.
Do you know how would you like to know how long it made it before?
What did you say?
11 or was it 19?
19 kilometers.
19 kilometers, 11 miles.
So look at that.
I was right.
Transmission exploded.
Exploded or imploded?
Imploded.
Oh, Mike didn't know about this.
I saw Mike.
It's just like, are you fucking kidding me?
He just locked his pen, holding his head like this
and sighed very loud.
19 motherfucking kilometers from start to locked up.
And I think it only made it probably four miles before
it locked itself in fifth gear and whatever.
And now the transmission was not part of this work,
except that while it was apart, my esteemed coworker,
while the engine was apart and he was waiting for parts,
he pulled the transmission apart just to check everything out
and put a new pump in it because that is a new pump.
And maybe installing oil pumps seems to be a bit of a line spot for him.
Because the fact that it locked itself in fifth tells me
that it wasn't getting oil because the fifth is,
they put a pump in it primarily.
I've never heard of a pump in a transmission, right?
I mean, neither.
But they designed this transmission, if I had to guess,
primarily it's a four speed and then added fifth.
And it's apparently a second gear set on a,
it's a gear set on a second shaft.
And that is what gets primarily lubricated.
Second or third?
Second, everything else is on one shaft apparently.
Don't ask.
I haven't seen the inside of this transmission,
but that was what I was told.
And yeah, so the fact that it locked itself in fifth
after a couple of miles tells me that it overheated
and it probably wasn't getting any lubrication.
And I was on the highway and I just-
If you hadn't used fifth, maybe you've been okay.
For a couple of miles, yeah.
I mean, I think the pump does provide
better lubrication for everything,
but splash lubrication is probably sufficient
for maybe a hundred miles.
I'm just really glad it happened when it happened
because there's no question like this wasn't on me.
Like if this happened, you know-
In a thousand miles.
In a thousand miles, like we don't know what went wrong.
This was like, I picked it up from the reliable truck.
It was so pretty and it made it so short
of a period of time.
Anyway, the guys at the wedge shop
have already created and shipped a transmission to me.
It is literally on its way.
I have an appointment next week to retrieve said transmission
and I can't find anyone who work on this fucking car.
So apparently I will be installing the transmission
as soon as it arrives.
Can't you have like a Land Rover shop do it or something?
It's a Land Rover transmission.
Let's just talk about this for a second.
The wedge shop does triumph tier eights
and that's the name.
They've been in business for 35 years
and they said they've seen two SD ones in those 35 years
and one of them was 35 years ago.
So I don't-
And the other one was yours.
And the other one's mine.
Yeah, I don't know.
That might have been hyperbole, but they,
when I talked to one of the owners
about the transmission failure, you know, he was panicked.
They were very sympathetic, thank God,
because I was of course in a state
when I was like, Jesus Christ,
two days shy of 15 months without this car
and I get to drive it all of 11 miles.
And most of which were extremely stressful
as you try to get to your destination,
walked in fifth gear.
God damn it.
Fuck.
All I wanted to do, all I wanted to do was get it to my shop
so I can unload all the bumpers and the lights.
I have five or six spare sets of headlights
because I bought everything after that little accident.
I bought it all and I'm like,
let's get the best parts and put it all in
to make the car perfect.
I have the original radiator.
I mean, I have all kinds of other shit in there.
I wanted it out so I can just go put 500 miles on the car
so I can dino it and drive the shit out of it.
And I was very disappointed.
But they were like, look, we were petrified of your car.
I was like, why?
They're like, look at it.
We've never seen anything like it.
I'm like, okay, they're in Massachusetts.
Those cars rusted into the ground
by the time they were three or four years old.
Here it is 45 years later, 46 now.
And the car is no rust on it
and it's kind of looking as perfect
as a Rover SD1 could look.
And they were like, so anyway, the Rover saga continues.
Why do we do this?
Maybe the next time we two or three times
in a couple of weeks,
transmission will be here in a week.
But I don't know what our recording schedule is like.
Maybe there will be a Rover on the background.
Maybe until then, or maybe there'll be
some other critical little ashtray full of ashes of
urn full of remains.
Because it will have,
I would definitely not light it on fire,
but given its current record, it might light itself on fire.
It might do itself, yes.
Fucking goddamn, fucking.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah, one of the other owners who I'd never talked to
was like, look, I heard about the story.
It seems like just one, you know, one.
Comedy of errors.
Comedy of bad luck after bad luck.
He's like, well, actually it's kind of good luck.
Like, you know, you did get a new motor.
And I'm like, you do realize that there was nothing wrong
with the engine to begin with, right?
And he was like, what?
I'm like, the car's got 50 something thousand miles on it.
He's like, what?
He's like, that explains.
It's actually 60 something, 64 now, whatever.
He's like, what?
And I'm like, yeah.
That explains its condition.
I'm like, right, right.
He's like, holy shit.
Like there was nothing wrong with this engine.
Yeah, this had showed some bearing wear
when we pulled it apart, but there was nothing wrong.
I didn't need a new engine.
I certainly didn't need a new transmission.
Everything was fine.
We'd fucked with it.
And this is what happens.
So lesson is, leave well enough alone.
Despite when it comes to British cars.
Yeah, I mean, this is the thing that happens
when you modify cars and then all of a sudden
you're sitting there with some aftermarket inner cooler hose
that has exploded or a turbo that has exploded over.
We built the same engine back again.
It was just oil pump failure
and now transmission oil pump failure,
both of which were, I think, not the parts.
Operator error.
Operator error, anyway.
I'm sorry to hear this.
Okay, so we are here today to play a game.
So I'm told.
So we are told Mike has invented a game for us.
And the deal is we have both a Google sheet.
No, what is this called?
It's like a PowerPoint.
It's whatever the Google version of a PowerPoint is.
And each page has a car on it.
I think you will probably get this displayed
on your screen if we have the...
I mean, I have the title page, which I just want
because we probably can't get the rights to use the music.
Ba ba ba bum.
So you just have to hum it.
Da da da.
Bob Barker, right?
The song is amazing.
You know, it was redone by Crystal Watt.
You know the dance version?
Yes, I have heard it.
So good.
Anyway, the price is right, effectively.
Yes, except for we are allowed to guess over,
which on the price of right you're not.
You have to get closest without going over.
So we are going to be shown actual cars that were auctioned
over the last couple of years
and we are to guess the actual,
to guess the actual transaction price
to be as close as possible with the ability to go over.
You're going to fucking crucify me
because you probably know every one of these cars.
I don't know them all.
Some of this stuff, I'm proud that I don't know
what it's sold for.
Okay.
I haven't looked at any of this yet.
There's some of this stuff that appears to be oriented
for your enjoyment as well.
Okay.
Okay.
So we are beginning with a 39,000 mile,
2003 Bentley Arnaj R.
R, R.
Okay.
So this is, it was sold in 2026.
In the month of May.
So recent sale, it's silver.
It's in Merrick, New York,
which means it's rusted to shit after 23 years.
It is a twin turbo truss.
Six and 34
So we are to write our guess.
Hold on, is this all we get?
Do I get no interior photos?
Correct. That's all you get.
Oh, oh shit.
All right.
39,000 mile, 2003 Bentley Arnaj.
Okay. So we are to write our guesses.
Right.
39,000 miles is for a six and three quarter liter V8
is about done.
I think they, they wear out,
they're wiped their cams at 40,000 miles.
I'm going to guess.
Okay.
Do I have to write this big for the camera
or can I just sketch it?
Oh, I have not very large.
I'm embarrassed to say.
Okay.
Okay. On the count of three or the camera?
123
Oh.
Do you know this car?
No.
Okay.
I don't know it was 18, 750 for Jason.
And 24,000 for Derek.
Okay. And Mike's going to reveal.
The actual, 38,000.
876.
On Haggerty marketplace, look at that.
That is a strong result for Haggerty marketplace.
And we both are not, would not have won.
Is Mike a, Mike, are you going to add up
the dollar discrepancy between all of these?
Like in absolute terms, like the absolute value.
You can post the score at the end.
So we can get within.
Oh, you should.
I'm sorry.
So you were scorekeeping as well on who's doing.
Derek is going to win.
The only question is by how much?
Yeah, but I was wildly off,
but not as wildly off as you were.
How is that thing worth that much money?
That's an outlier.
I think, yeah.
That's not normally what they sell for.
Okay. The next one.
Okay.
This is for you.
1989 Volkswagen best seller,
Wolfsburg limited edition cabriolet.
Also.
It's a mouthful.
Well, the best seller was a package.
And Wolfsburg was a package.
I've never heard of it until now.
What is best seller?
It was a trim level.
Was it the best selling?
One would assume so.
Were they trying to be the popular options package,
basically, if I remember correctly.
So this is a really cool blue color.
I don't know what this color is called.
It's handsome.
Oh, automatic.
Oh, okay.
So it's an auto tragic.
It does have the 14 inch
Sharoko 60 valve teardrops on it.
And it's a late course.
So it's a clipper kit.
Looks to be black.
69,000 miles.
Black leather.
Is that into, I can't tell what the interior is.
It's black cloth, all stock looking.
Okay. It's patterned cloth.
Kind of groovy.
Man, I have no idea what this is worth.
But the automatic, well, I shouldn't tell you this.
Yes. You're giving away your trade secrets.
I mean, automatic halve the value.
So I'm going to say,
oh God, she didn't look to what you wrote.
Sorry.
I'll do a better job in the future.
Okay.
All right, on the count of three, ready?
123
11,069 dollars for me and 15,000 for Derek.
The actual sale price was 7,750.
No, that's 17.
Some ass, somebody paid 17,758 dollars for that,
for an automatic, well, hey,
a manual swap is 500 bucks.
There you go.
You just answered your own question.
Somebody without the use of their left leg,
because you do not want one of these cars,
I'd say it's an automatic, but somebody did.
Wow. Great.
So Derek won two out of three so far.
Okay. Next one.
Bring a trailer, 8,000 mile 1988 BMW M3.
This is now a six-year-old sale, July 22nd of 2020.
That makes this tough.
1,200 comments on this.
Yeah, obviously peak pandemic
when no one had anything else to do
other than mouth off on bring a trailer.
Oh wow, yeah.
St. Peter's Misery, 8,000 miles shone, 15 inches.
Okay, so it's in Oberrott, so cinnamon red,
with natural tan leather, it was a great color combo.
And it is an 80, what year?
88. 88, so it does have the projectors.
Was it supposed to have projectors in 88?
Yes.
Either way, looks from the little one picture
that we have looks gorgeous.
I'm, God damn it.
Okay. I'm changing my answer.
I'm, I don't know.
This is, I mean, if that 4,000, 8,000 miles
is all original, holy shit balls.
I mean, still a S14, which sounds like garbage truck.
Okay, ready? On the count of 3123
Derek says 95,000, I say 177,669 dollars
because peak pandemic, great color and mileage.
My note, go ahead.
Your note is what?
Oh, Jesus Christ.
250,000 dollars.
I would like to add because you are now,
because I volunteered you on live thing,
you have now graciously offered Mike
to tally up the dollar differential.
I am probably, yeah, yes you did.
You didn't realize it.
But you don't have to do it now.
You can do it afterwards and edit.
So we'll have the dollars.
I am now in the lead because Derek was off
by a factor of 150,000 dollars.
So 2020 should to me be pre-pandemic.
And so I was thinking it was before things went crazy.
But that even, I mean, find another 8,000 mile E30M3.
You want a collector grade E30M3?
Yeah, but 2020, nobody gave a shit back then.
Oh, except for apparently everybody did.
No, those cars had already gone crazy in value by 2020, right?
Evidently, you're right.
Weren't they all, I mean, isn't this your job, shouldn't you?
They were already 80K for a really beautiful car.
Okay.
Wow.
Oh God.
2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Sahara
four by four special edition number 390 of 1000
long wheelbase LJ model, six speed manual,
four liter six cylinder with four wheel drive.
Okay.
2023.
So this is a round headlight Jeep with a hard top on it.
75,000 miles, cars and bids.
Bluff.
This is sold in 2023.
By the way, did you see any of the videos
that Doug has posted that I wasn't recorded?
No.
The first time, so we recorded many episodes
in the one day and the first time he did it,
when he said this, I jumped out of my skin
because we were talking normally
and he looked at one of the camera and went,
Yes!
And it was so fucking loud that I jumped.
And so every episode thereafter that we recorded,
I jumped out of my skin and sort of hammed it up,
but that was real.
And I hope that was distorted as shit because that was,
I mean, they must have like extra microphones.
They have like a high and a low for anyway.
Okay.
We had a lot of fun on that podcast, by the way.
So this is 56 bids, 69 comments on an O5 Wrangler,
but not the last of the four liter straight six.
Beats me.
I mean, it's kind of-
One wheelbase is atypical.
I don't know if I've ever seen such a thing.
I have no idea.
Zero clue whatsoever.
And so I'm going to say this sold in 2023.
Three.
September of 2023.
Okay.
I mean, it's included here because it's a noteworthy outcome.
Oh.
One assumes.
I need to-
Oh, Mike is doing the, not necessarily.
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
All right, ready?
Show it.
I, Derek says 38,000, I say 29,669.
He's probably right.
41.5.
41.5.
Yeah, you should do this for a living.
You're pretty good.
Except for E30M3s.
I want to sell.
It shows you what I think of those.
I also just, I think 2020 was a long time ago.
A lot of stuff has moved a lot since 2020.
True.
I wouldn't pay attention to that.
Okay.
2007 Lamborghini-Mercielago LP640
Roadster six speed conversion.
Sold 610 of 26 of recently.
26,000 miles in California.
Blanco parlato paint.
You have the link to this handy.
And could you see if you can pull up a note?
Could you see if there's any notes about the title
or a damage history or anything like that on this car?
It says clean car facts report on it.
Okay.
All right.
So this is a LP640 Roadster six speed swap.
Oh Christ.
Okay. Clean car facts, 26,000 miles.
It's cool, cool paint.
Black with white, a black leather over white paint
all the way around, front axle lift.
Okay, aftermarket wheels.
No, those are the correct LP640 wheels.
The Hermera's.
God, I don't, I have no idea.
Okay.
Derek, you ready?
Yep.
321 show.
Derek says 585, I say 904,069 dollars.
And Mike is writing a lot of numbers down.
So this could be.
So this could be the one where you win.
696,100.
You're closer.
Okay.
I thought those cars were close.
Oh.
Conversion.
Conversion, really?
Okay, so if that were a factory manual,
it would have been what?
Over a million.
Okay, so my 900 wasn't that crazy.
I didn't realize the conversions were.
Discounted.
Discounted.
Okay.
Mike, you brat bastard.
1984 Rover Vitesse SD1, TWR group A-spec.
So this is a race car.
And this is on collecting cars?
Right.
So it's in the UK.
Oh no, I'm doing it in pounds.
It's 200, you're doing it in pounds
because you watched this car and you know this auction.
No, I don't.
No, okay.
It's in the UK.
It's got 250 miles on it.
It looks to be from the one photo that we can see.
Never raced condition.
Group A-spec or fully restored.
I don't know.
Okay.
So a 1984 Rover Vitesse.
So Vitesse was the high output SD1,
it was a homologation car.
This would be if it were a perfect condition,
250 mile road car would be 60,000.
I don't think it's actually 250 miles.
I don't think so either.
So I'm gonna say.
I would love to know if it has racing history.
That's relevant, period, successful.
I'm showing myself to be an imbecile
on this episode, did you realize?
One of us is gonna be way off and it's gonna be me.
All right, so I've said $24,669 USD.
Derek says 85,000 pounds, which would be 100 grand.
Nearest makes no difference, probably.
Probably a little more even.
Oh my God.
Really, you think that bring that much money?
I don't know, Mike is still writing.
And the number is 60,000 pounds.
See, yeah, you're closer.
Wow, okay.
Well, looks like my exploded or imploded transmission rover
has just gone up quite a bit in value.
You just have to race it.
I just have to race it and put livery on it.
Hold on, is it's livery?
That's not fleet enema company, is it?
Because it says fleet right on it.
And so if you, never mind, I'm not.
We got a squeak out of Mike on that one.
It wasn't his marker.
What the fuck?
In 1977 Fiat Bertone 850T visitors bus.
This thing is so fucking cool.
It is so cool.
Words do not.
Okay, you have it selected in dollars.
Okay, so this was sold at Villadesta 2026
at the Concorso Deleganza auction.
That's a Hagerty auction, isn't it?
Right arrow.
Okay, so the description is one of fewer
than six examples produced and one of two fought to survive.
A luxurious prototype minibus used to transport VIPs
around Fiat factories in the 1970s.
Documented by its Italian PRA Certificato Chronologico
and copies of ACI registration records.
Designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone,
features a panoramic roof and six individual seats.
I need this.
You can't afford this from the price
that I'm about to put on this.
For a Fiat collector, I don't think
if there were such a thing,
I don't think there's anything.
Okay, and you're, we're doing dollars for this one.
Okay, because I see that it says selected in dollars.
Okay, so I'm giving it a number
that I think is slightly more inflated than otherwise
because it was sold at Villadesta.
And so you have a lot of very,
very well-heeled individuals in the room.
And I'm probably still gonna be half
of what this thing sold for.
No comments from you?
Asterisk, explanations, excuses.
Let's see, I don't know.
Did you see this?
No, no, I didn't.
Okay, ready?
123
Derrick says $143,297.
I say $286,103 and Mike looks very confuzzled.
Oh, he's writing something down.
Are you doing this from memory, Mike?
Okay, he's, I thought he might be doing this from memory
in which case, how much did you pay him?
$220,000, I am, I'm closer, right?
No.
You are 60.
Hold on, we gotta do this.
You are 66,000 apart.
No, you were closer.
I was closer.
So 66,000.
I think that is the bee's knees.
I think that's really cool.
Yeah.
One point, is that the only one?
No, he has, you have the something else.
Who can keep track?
Oh Christ, a squished beetle for Derrick.
It's a Porsche from 2013.
Okay, Monterey, 2013.
You probably drove this car knowing you.
It's a 1990 Porsche 911 Targa.
It is a 365 speed in red.
Yeah, that's guards red.
Can we get a mileage on this?
Cause there's no mileage listed.
We also need to know if it's a manual and it's a C2.
It's a C2 manual that's red.
Yeah, mileage would be ideal.
Or the leather looks, yeah.
I mean, the leather looks like the cars
got 10,000 miles on it.
I mean, the wheels look perfect.
Except, is that one of the lug nuts?
Is that a wheel lock on it?
Or is the lug not backed out?
It's a wheel lock, yep.
Hilarious.
Well, it lost a wheel on the stage.
It's a factory wheel lock.
It's got a rear wiper, a rare and desirable option.
But cars red, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
In 2013, it was not a good thing,
but I think it's more of a good thing now.
He says, something's amiss.
Oh, don't give us hints like that.
Okay, so Monterey, 2013.
It's a Targa, which makes it less desirable
as far as I'm concerned,
because I think that's what the market says.
And I have no idea what it's gonna be.
So I was, I'm gonna say,
okay, I've made up a number and I have no idea.
Okay, ready to count it?
Yep, 123
Derek says $45,000.
I say $77,777.
Otherwise known as 77777.
18,700.
Why?
Because it was meekum and there's no Porsche guys there
and nobody gave a shit about 964s.
Oh, that's inside baseball shit
that I'm not supposed to know.
Wow.
That's a steal.
I'm surprised that it was that low.
I think that was an abnormally low number.
What would that car be worth today?
120.
So somebody 10x their money
and I mean, I guess it was 13 years ago.
Yeah.
Holy shit, okay.
Okay, the next one is a 1,600 mile,
2002 Ferrari 360 spider six speed.
We actually talked about this car
because it was part of the George Foreman collection.
Yeah, which means that it's really well cooked
on the outside with a crusty.
But not overcooked on the inside.
Yeah, with all the grease ran off
for reduced because of the George Foreman grill.
This was sold in December 19th, 2023.
What's this?
This is a Haggerty sale.
This is a Haggerty sale.
Only 17 bids for a 1,600 mile,
02 360 spider six speed.
So it's Rosso of Corso because of course it is.
Do you think the George Foreman factor?
Well, I don't know.
It's a six speed that certainly helps.
I'm going to come up with a value of,
okay, I have a value written down.
I do too.
And that value is $169,690.
Derrick's is 185,000.
So percentage wise, we're pretty close.
It is about to write something down.
So do you think the George Foreman factor
would have helped or as a round?
Probably would have made much difference.
But what helps is that it's a six speed,
what hurts it is that it's a spider, right?
Spiders are less valuable.
In the current market, the spiders are pretty valuable.
People are okay with spiders now.
That has changed recently.
They're no longer a Ferrari arachnophobic.
Has changed.
188 30, what was your number?
185, I think.
You bastard.
I mean, I was only 10,000.
Is this with fees or this is not?
This must be with fees
because that number, no one's gonna bid 100.
They're not gonna take a,
I guess it might have been an online sale.
So someone could have bid that.
I was thinking it was in a live auction.
This looks like Haggerty Marketplace, not Broad Arrow.
Okay, is the next one?
Yes.
Okay, so this is a 1995 Mercedes-Benz E300D.
This is a one year only car with the OM61.
606.
606.
It's 24 valve straight six,
as opposed to the other 300s earlier,
300s to five cylinders.
10,000 miles on the car.
White, unfortunately.
Okay, selling by Dean Lombach in New Jersey
is a prolific seller.
You've already written your number,
so I can say it anyway.
Everything Dean touches sells for huge money.
10,000 miles shown,
four speed automatic as they all were.
Clean car facts.
Wish it wasn't in New Jersey,
but we don't know where it came from.
That is a really-
White's not great either, but very difficult to find.
A friend of ours just sold a green one
that was just a ratted out roach for a huge money.
So I'm gonna say.
Okay.
And this was sale was in 2023.
Oh, 2023?
Hmm, whatever.
I've been wrong so many times anyway.
I'm gonna say $41,444.
Derek says $156,000.
What do you know?
Derek, what do you know?
You look guilty.
You know this car.
You're fucking 124 whore.
Jesus Christ.
I can tell already, Mike is smiling.
Derek's got the shitting grin on his face.
You know, fuck all of you guys since I'm baseball.
I don't look at the market.
10,000 miles though, unrepeatable.
I mean, now at this point,
a 70,000 mile car would be 40 or 50,000 bucks.
152,607.
Wow.
Six cylinder naturally aspirated.
They're slow as shit.
They are slow as shit.
Charming.
This was an insane result.
It still is.
Yeah, but I mean, find another one.
All it takes is two people.
I mean, how many, we don't say how many bids
were on this one, right?
No.
A lot.
I'm sure that went on for a very long time.
And there's a lot of people being like, I just,
so cars and bids, that's the thing which they call overtime,
which is a great way of characterizing it.
I mean, obviously bring a trailer does it too,
but they call it overtime and they list the number of minutes
that it went into overtime on cars and bids.
I think it's clever.
It's cool to show the sort of how dramatic the end,
cause we've definitely had ones that have gone on
for 30 or 40 minutes.
I'm pretty sure my, when I sold my 129,
my 300 SL stick shift, I'm pretty sure it was two hours
that it went on.
It was a bringing trailer and years ago.
And it was just, it wouldn't end.
I'm like, I just need to get back to work.
But it was, you know, every two minutes.
Like something we sold recently did this,
I forget what it was,
but it was also what happens is,
cause the timer resets two minutes every time someone bids.
And so if you want to knock out someone,
or you want to show that you're not going away,
then you immediately bid.
But there was this one that we had where the guy would wait
until the very last second bid again.
And so each bid had like two minutes between it.
And so it really drew things out,
but there was something we sold recently where it did that.
And it went for very, very long time
because he kept doing that.
There were two or three guys on my car
that it was every two minutes.
And it would be like, you know, one minute and 58 seconds,
you're like, okay, finally we're done.
And it's checking for last second bids and boop, boop.
You got the sound, oh no, not again.
Yeah, hey, sold the car for a bit of money.
Anyway, is that all of them?
That's all of them.
Jason may have won because of the,
there's one that I grossly, oh, the M3.
I think you probably still won anyway.
I mean, you won eight of 10.
It's my job to do this though.
It's like, if we were asking you to do something
where it was your-
Quarter mile times of all modern supercars, for example,
that I've actually tested and been there.
Yeah, I think I'd win.
Or horsepower numbers or, you know,
number of shitty buttons on a steering wheel.
Oh, I counted Temerario.
And I don't remember how many buttons I,
I feel like it was 31 buttons on the steering wheel.
It was something like that.
This is like that Pontiac,
this is gonna need an insert of the Pontiac 6000.
The Pontiac that has like just,
like it looks like a fucking calculator
on the middle of the steering wheel
because there's no airbag.
I'm pretty sure Temerario was.
So on the back of three and six spoke were five each.
So that's 10 right there, right off the back.
Five?
Five.
So up, down, left, right, and a center button.
On the back.
On the back at that three and six spoke.
And then I didn't count shift paddles.
Three and nine, yeah.
Not three and six.
Three and nine, yeah.
The, I didn't count the shift paddles
because they're on the steering column as Jesus intended.
But then on the front was 123456
That's 6789 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
That's, so we're already at 24.
And I think there were another, yeah, probably 30 or 31.
Jesus.
Yeah, crazy.
I hate all that.
Oh yeah, I didn't like it too.
There's a icons episode coming on that car.
Yeah, we talked about that.
And it's still, it's not even in Eddie yet
because we have so much other stuff backlogged.
And I can't wait to see this episode.
It's gonna be fun.
But I think I bitched, and if I remember correctly
about the, yeah, about the, the camps.
That's a lot of fun.
Okay, so people complain when there's no buttons.
People complain when there's too many buttons.
So it's a Goldilocks thing,
neither too many nor too few buttons.
You know, I think we,
Or is it the replacement on the steering wheel?
I think we peaked in the world when we had,
in a world where we had a turn signal stalk
and a wiper stalk, right?
So that worked really well,
even when you had shift pedals,
because the shift pedals, you know,
can be behind it, large Ferrari style.
A horn on the steering wheel.
Yeah, I think that's the way to do it,
rather than the sort of French style
meet, meet on the turn signal in British.
What else do you really want on your steering wheel?
I'm gonna say volume up, down, and song next track.
I think cruise control should be a stalk,
but JD Power disagrees with me.
What about if you want to control
all the little menus on the center screen?
How about you touch the fucking center screen?
No, no, no, between the gauges.
Yes, possibly, sure.
I'm gonna say controversial statement I know,
Mark 7 Volkswagen Golf, got it right.
Because it has cruise control on the steering wheel.
Right, so on the left side, you have, got it.
On the left side, you have-
Menu and cruise control.
Well, it's cruise control on the left,
menu on the right, right?
And then-
I thought the stereo was all on one side.
No, the volume control is,
up, down is on your left thumb and the,
and next track and previous track are on the right thumb.
And then it's just right above it is
you can control the screen on one side
and you can cruise control on the other and that's it.
There's no, nothing else you need.
And I think, you know, like E39 effectively
had the same thing where the center screen
was just a press of the,
like it would be a British French horn,
a press of the turn signal
because you're just cycling through simple stuff.
But I don't, I don't think we need wipers, high beams.
So it was wipers, headlights and turn signals,
plus cruise control.
No, cruise on the temporary, it was on the stock.
But plus drift mode, traction control mode,
powertrain mode and hybrid mode are all, by the way,
a button plus like a dimmer switch.
It was insane.
That's excessive.
So on that, I give a $2 value,
that temporary steering wheel $2.
Okay.
Well, I'm sure the dealer will disagree
if you have to replace one.
I suspect you're right.
That was a fun experience.
Thank you for putting that together.
That was different.
Thanks, Mike.
I enjoy it.
Never doing that again.
No.
No, I'm not gonna embarrass myself.
I mean, look, I wonder if, you know,
anyone who's not a professional in this world.
Yeah, but I like, there's an app that does this daily
and I am routinely off.
Like sometimes the market is not rational.
Like that's the take away from this
is that weird shit happens when in an auction contest.
And I never pay attention to values.
I don't, I mean, I'm not,
my problem is I don't shop in greater life.
I don't shop, I buy.
So if I'm in them, if I want something, I go get it.
If I don't want, I don't want to look
because let's think about how many times
we've accidentally found cars we didn't want or need.
Like the Rover, for example.
Why do you think I've owned so many cars?
Yeah, I would be, this would be like
if I worked in an ice cream shop, I'd be 700 pounds.
If I worked in the car industry, I would have 2,000 cars
because I can't sell things.
I suck at it.
And then you start asking the unrepeatability question.
Like, well, I'm gonna find another one of these.
That's the Rover problem, right?
I mean, well, I have to buy it.
Yeah, have to buy it.
Oh, and now, oh, everything has blown up and I crashed it.
Nope, it will be fixed.
I'm never getting rid of this car.
What am I gonna do?
This thing, I have 3 million hours in labor in the VR6.
Now, how am I gonna find another one with 70,000 miles on it?
I'm stupid.
You're smart.
I just don't get attached.
Or I find something else I want more
and I have to sell something.
It forces my hand.
It forces your hand, yeah.
Maybe that's what I should do.
Buy more cars.
Yes, then you'll sell some.
Great, I'll be right back.
I'm gonna go buy more cars.
All right, how many marketplace, get ready.
Please, no, no, no.
You can sell all my cars on Haggerty Marketplace.
It's what you do.
All right, thank you for joining us
for this episode of the Carmanian Show.
About this episode
Jason Cammisa and Derek “Hyphen” Tam-Scott dig into the real-world headaches of California emissions rules while prepping a Volkswagen VR6 Cabrio with an engine swap. They compare Mark III vs Mark IV Golf-era build quality, joke about their shared red, open-top daily drivers, and discuss how “referee” inspections can turn a straightforward swap into a bureaucratic ordeal—especially when dyno-based smog checks and fees derail your day. The show also includes a collector-car auction guessing game tied to their guest/collector perspectives.
On today’s episode of The Carmudgeon Show - Jason and Derek compete against each other in a Price Is Right-style game show! Rather than going over the price, the objective is to get as close as possible whether being under or over the result. The winner does not, in fact, get a new car - but is instead continuously ridden with car problems of many sorts, which of course means more opportunities for Carmudgeoning.
Our discussion points include:
2003 Bentley Arnage R
1989 Volkswagen Best Seller Wolfsburg Limited Edition Cabriolet
1988 BMW M3
2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Sahara 4x4
2007 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster 6-Speed Conversion
1984 Rover Vitesse SD1 TWR Group A Spec
1977 Fiat Bertone 850 T Visitors Bus
1990 Porsche 911 Targa
2002 Ferrari 360 Spider 6-Speed
1995 Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel
Jason also gives us an update on his Rover SD1 and his Volkswagen Cabrio VR6 swap - including the good, the bad, but not the ugly! The Rover returns to California after more than 15 months of being away, but alas - it’s not quite finished. The Cabrio, while also not quite finished, is finally CARB legal!
All that and more on that process in this episode of The Carmudgeon Show.
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