Jason Celebrates 20 Years Of Car Reviews — Carmudgeon w/ Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep 229
The Carmudgeon Show
Jason Celebrates 20 Years Of Car Reviews — Carmudgeon w/ Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep 229
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Concept
press cars
Press cars are cars that car reviewers get to drive for a short time to test and talk about them. They help people learn about new cars.
Concept
Amelia Concours
The Amelia Concours is a big fancy car show where people show off very rare and special cars. It's a popular event for car lovers.
Concept
Pebble Beach Concours
Pebble Beach Concours is a very fancy car show in California where people bring rare and old cars to display.
Car
Buick GNX
Term
OBD2
OBD2 is a system in cars that checks how the engine is doing and if there are any problems. Mechanics use a scanner to read this information and find out if something needs fixing.
Term
smog
Smog testing is a check to make sure a car doesn't pollute the air too much. Cars have to pass this test to be allowed on the road.
Car
Volkswagen VR6
The Volkswagen VR6 is a type of engine with six cylinders arranged in a special way to make it smaller and work smoothly. It's different from regular V6 engines.
Term
engine computer
The engine computer is like the car's brain that controls how the engine works. When putting a new engine in a car, you need the right computer so everything runs smoothly.
Term
part number
A part number is like a name tag for car parts. It helps make sure you get the right piece when fixing or changing parts in a car.
Term
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a part of the car that cleans the exhaust to make it less harmful to the environment. It helps keep the air cleaner.
Term
evap
The evap system stops gas fumes from leaking out of your car and polluting the air. If there's a leak, your car might show a warning or error code.
Concept
drag racing
Drag racing is a race where two cars go straight ahead as fast as they can for a short distance to see which one wins.
Concept
quarter mile
A quarter mile is a short distance used in races where cars try to go as fast as possible in a straight line.
Concept
eighth mile
An eighth mile is a shorter race distance than a quarter mile, where cars race straight for half as far.
Car
Porsche Carrera GT
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very fast and special sports car made by Porsche. It has a powerful engine and is built with strong, light materials to make it go really fast and handle well.
Concept
risk exposure
Risk exposure means how much money an insurance company might lose if something bad happens to a car. For very expensive cars, the possible loss is very big.
Term
insurance policy
An insurance policy is a deal you make so that if your car gets damaged or stolen, the insurance company helps pay for it. For very expensive cars, this deal can cost a lot.
Term
Hagerty
Hagerty is a company that sells insurance specifically for old and valuable cars. They help protect these cars because they are special and often worth a lot of money.
Term
dyno
A dyno is a machine that tests how strong a car's engine is by running it while the car stays still. It helps people see how much power the engine makes.
Term
crate motors
A crate motor is a complete engine you can buy that’s ready to put into a car without building it yourself. It makes fixing or upgrading your car’s engine easier.
Term
four bolts main bearing caps
This means the part of the engine holding the crankshaft is held in place by four bolts, making it stronger and better for powerful engines.
Term
cross bolted
This means the bolts holding the engine parts are placed in a way that makes the engine stronger and less likely to break under pressure.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower tells you how strong a car's engine is and how much power it can make. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster or accelerate quicker.
Concept
engine tuning
Engine tuning means changing how the car's engine works so it can be stronger or work better with new parts.
Term
chip
A chip is a small computer program that helps the car's engine run better or work with new parts. It controls things like fuel and timing.
Concept
modern fuel injectors
Modern fuel injectors are parts that spray the right amount of gas into the engine so it runs smoothly and cleanly.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a famous American sports car that is fast and looks cool. The 2008 version is from the sixth generation, which made the car better to drive and more powerful.
Term
ABS
ABS is a system in cars that stops the wheels from freezing when you brake hard, so you can still steer safely.
Term
virtual cockpit
A virtual cockpit is a fancy digital screen in front of the driver that shows speed, maps, and other info instead of regular dials.
Car
Rolls-Royce Wraith
The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a very fancy and powerful car that is super comfortable and made with lots of luxury materials.
LIVE
Welcome to another episode of The Carimagine Show.
Right now, we've just finished,
we've just completed recording this episode.
Now we're doing the intro
and Perlman, our producer is over there
shaking his head, smiling and bright red.
Yeah, so he's maybe concerned
that we may not be able to publish this one.
So I guess we'll see what's after the jump,
but possibly there's an episode or possibly
it's just a continuous beep.
It's just one long 45 minute beep followed by a-
A censorship.
Followed by this was our last episode ever
of The Carimagine Show.
No, it wasn't that bad, I hope.
No, probably not.
So you are Jason Camisa.
You have been doing this for just about 20 years.
And we are going to take a dive into the spreadsheet
for with some sentiment analysis of various words
and impressions that Jason has from the decades.
And also just a general update on various cars
and Amelia Island and I think-
And the VR6 swap, Cabrio and the Rover.
And I think that's about it.
All right, there's a lot going on.
So Derek's gonna clap and we'll come back
and catch you guys up on what's going on and what happens-
Your discretion is advised.
When you've spent 300,000 miles
and 3000 press cars over 20 years, you say some shit.
Yeah, like I said, viewer discretion is advised.
What was that?
Get your wife, get your kids.
Yeah, grab your kids, grab your wives.
Yeah, okay.
Put your headphones in.
Happy anniversary to you.
Okay, so there's so much to talk about this episode.
So much.
So much.
So much random shit.
1,000 cars worth?
Almost.
We're gonna talk about all of them?
We're gonna talk about all of them.
No, no, so, okay.
So many things going on.
I just got back from the Amelia Concours.
That was fun.
Florida had amazing weather.
So the Amelia had amazing weather
and the one in Miami full of all the influencer douchebags
had terrible weather
and I think that's proof that there is a God.
Okay, last year-
That's unkind.
I don't wanna-
How was the weather last year?
Did you go to with the Amelia last year?
Yeah, that was fun.
They moved it on to-
Yeah, they moved it and there was not a hurt.
Yeah, terrible.
Actually, what happened in Miami was
once cars got damaged.
I mean, there was-
I mean, I've seen the videos.
People with Dixie cups pouring water out of the floors of the car.
Yeah, always unfortunate when cars get damaged.
When people get wet, I think there should be a steady rain
at the beginning of the Pebble Beach Concours
because I wanna see people slipping down the hill
and in their $1,000 dresses
because I'm a horrible human being.
1,000?
I don't know.
10,000, of course.
But yeah, the Amelia was amazing.
What I love about it is there's a Radwood
that happens at the same time.
So you can go back and forth
and you can smell the money and then smell the pour
and I am so much on the pour side.
But there was some pretty cool cars.
There was a GNX swapped El Camino.
So full GNX front end.
Interior was GNX and I think the sign on it said
it made 480 wheel horsepower
and you know, no weight in the back.
So you know, it's just a burnout machine.
That looked-
That's quite exciting.
Yeah, it was beautifully done.
There was also a double-sided dildo,
as I call it, a double-ended Volkswagen Mark 1 Cabriolet.
It has two front ends or two back ends?
Two front ends.
Okay.
And that was actually really, really well done also.
Was it designed to have the rear one have five reverse gears?
Or-
I don't know.
I would love to know.
Yeah, I tried to find the owner of that one.
Matt Quick had a 6.2 swapped S124 wagon with a manual.
Yes, that's like the ideal dog hauler for me.
That's the car my car wishes it would be
when it grew up.
You could just buy it for Matt.
Yeah, but it'll probably be considerably more
than $3,500, which is what I paid for mine.
There was a Venturi there, Venturi 400 GT.
The French F40 for small monies
is always how people characterize those.
I've never driven one, but I'm very interested.
So a very good friend of ours who has driven,
the guys who actually imported that particular one
said it, quote, shits on an F40 in every metric.
It's faster, it sounds better, it handles better,
it's more fun, it's cooler, it's a better experience.
And I was like, how much is it?
But I can't have it.
Yeah, but that's a race car.
And it was a race car.
So it's just all experience and all noise and-
Right, and assault.
And assault, it's pepper too.
There's a, yeah, it's a PRV,
a turbocharged PRV, three liter V6
in the back of this thing sounded angry as shit.
The PRV is not really generally regarded
as one of the finest engines ever made.
It's not regarded in that way at all,
much less generally, you know.
But it sounded, hold on, I'll play a sound clip.
You're not gonna hear it, but they will.
Yeah, it sounded completely batched, angry, pissed off.
And that engine was also used in the Renault GTA.
The I-Pine.
Yes, this is a car that interests me
because they're pretty cool looking
and they sound good and quite rare.
I would have that venturi.
Like I just, I would stare at it, it's great to look at.
It's gotta be a riot to drive
because it's a race car for the street.
I wonder what the uptime is like.
I worry about that.
It's a pretty obscure car.
Yeah, it'd be difficult to find parts.
They made 60 of them, 70 of them, something like that.
Are you videoing me?
No, I am readying myself to pose questions to you.
So I have two other updates
that have nothing to do with the Emilia.
One is I have new badges for my VR6 swapped Cabrio.
And I'm very happy about this.
Thank God for Alibaba.
This, these just arrived in.
So I will put VR6 badges on it.
I have begun the process of going through
the California state ref to get this
to be a smog legal engine swap on that car.
And it passed smog.
I brought it in, it passed.
They will not, however, let me proceed
until the last monitor is set on the emissions,
which is evap, which is a notorious sleigh.
So you're allowed to pass a smog test
with evap not set.
You can't pass a motor swap smog test.
What would happen if you didn't tell them anything
and you just took the car in there?
Because it doesn't have the right labels.
What are they scanning?
Oh, they scan the OBD2.
So what they'll do as far as my understanding
is they will spend three hours looking at the car, 96.
But what if you just smogged it
and didn't tell them you had swaps the motor?
Would that work?
Your smog I would fail you.
Why?
Because it's not, because you don't want to see a V6.
Well, how does he know that it's not supposed to be V6?
Sorry, VR6.
It looks like a Volkswagen engine.
It's literally says VR6 2.8 when it's supposed to be.
So the stickers for the exhaust routing,
it's their job to know what's supposed to be in the car.
And there's a sticker that says engine family 2.0
and there's clearly not.
And there's vacuum holes.
You didn't swap the stickers over with the engine?
I didn't have any stickers.
No, you can't do that.
And wouldn't it be nice?
I'm doing it the right way.
Oh, hold on.
I'm trying to do this the right way, which is,
I mean, I did the swap the correct way.
So it's just now a matter of,
they're going through all the photos
and the documentation.
So I provided titles for both cars,
documentation for both cars.
You wanted engine, computer, part number.
I had to go have it verified by a dealership
or an independent mechanic saying,
this is the correct part number
for the 1998 Jetta GLX donor car.
And then I had to show it in the car
and scan it in the car and show the part number
for the engine compartment, the engine computer.
He wanted to see part number for the catalytic converter.
It's all factory VW Jetta stuff.
So it worked, but kicked it back and said,
let me know when your last monitor is set.
We can't do anything before then.
So that'll be the next trouble.
Drive cycle party.
Right, I just, but I've done the process.
And so there are codes.
It will throw a code for a small leak
or a large leak in the evap.
And it has neither, no pending, no nothing.
So it's just, it's just-
How long, you just need to drive it more.
Yeah.
Which I told him, I asked the guy for help actually.
I said, I've already put more miles on this car
just trying to get the monitor to set
and just shaking it down
than I probably will any year.
It's a third 250 miles I've put on the car already.
Like, come on, give me some help here.
I try to, you know, let's try to-
Guidance.
Guidance, he didn't.
But I did take a drag racing.
Did you win or whatever happens at drag races?
I won.
Unfortunately, there was a puddle this big
at the end of Sonoma's quarter mile
and they didn't tell anyone.
And they took our money, didn't say a word
and we got there and on the first run,
they're like, oh, we're only running an eighth.
Because I'm not kidding.
On the left lane, there was a puddle
that was probably eight inches in diameter
in exactly the center of the left lane.
Probably an eighth of a mile
past the end of the quarter mile.
Like, I, but anyway, it, I did a whole compilation.
So you ran really fast times
because it was only an eighth of a mile.
But you know what's crazy is when I looked it up
the previous times of the cars that I've driven there,
it's still the slowest of all my cars.
It was slower than the cabbie 16 valve.
What?
And the Scirocco and the 308
and to almost tied the e-golf.
What about Vangina?
I have not run Vangina on the quarter mile yet.
I should do that.
Why?
I'd have gone there yet.
Okay, all right.
Well, get to it.
So yeah, the VR6 is underway.
I did have a very successful,
Haggerty suggested that I do an autograph
and selfie session at the, at the Amelia.
And I was like, no one will care.
And to my surprise, people didn't care,
but they did line up and ask to take selfies.
And the one question that popped up more
than anything else is where's the rover?
You didn't, did you attend any of the auctions
while you were there?
Oh yeah.
How was that?
Nuts.
Yeah.
I mean, I know how it went,
but I'd be curious to know how your experience was.
I mean, I was there for the latter half
of the first day at the Broad Arrow auction.
Oh yes.
That was a remarkable set of cars that went through.
That was when that super car collection
that we were talking about happened.
I mean, the bidding increments for these cars
were more than I've ever spent on a car.
Mostly.
I mean, the number.
No, I think it's funny when they try
and bid a $2,500 increment on a car
that's like $800,000.
Oh no.
And they're like, I won't take your $2,500 increment.
Come back to me with something real.
So these were 50 or $100,000 increments on it.
Yeah, but sometimes a bidder will try and do five grand
and they'll be like, come back to me with a real number.
Lydia is the auctioneer, is that her?
Yes.
Is the title?
Yeah.
I want to be her when she, I want to grow up.
She's just the coolest, like absolutely unflappable.
She did get cross when someone whistled at her,
which is fair.
That's totally inappropriate.
That's disgusting.
Yes.
No, she is fucking amazing.
And to watch her command of that room is something,
if you never get a chance to go to see one of these auctions
or you never want to buy a car there, fine,
but just watch an expert at them.
She just walks up on stage and she's like, hi everyone.
Okay, so the first thing we're going to do
is we're going to bid on this
and I don't want any of your bullshit.
Like she just has this, she doesn't say that obviously,
but she has this.
Sometimes they do.
I move it along.
Yeah, no.
I don't want to be here till 4 a.m.
There's just a command that she has of the audience
where you know this is her show.
And even if you're there to spend millions of dollars,
she will respect you and she will treat you professionally,
but she's in fucking charge.
I am in awe of her ability to stand there.
Make a joke if need be sort of self-deprecate.
She made one, one of the cars sold
and she was like sold for $16 and a half thousand dollars
or something instead of $16 and a half million dollars.
It was, I think it was the black ends up.
13. 13, whatever it was.
It was some huge number on a number
and she realized what she said and she was like,
well, that would have been the deal of the day.
Well, that would have been the deal of the century.
And she just sort of self-deprecated in the bed.
She was, she's amazing.
The process to watch is fascinating.
But, and I mean, it was just one world record
after the next, after the next.
That is the state of the market for contemporary supercars
that are at the high end of the market.
Like Porsche Carrera GT 6.7 million dollars.
That black Enzo was less than the previous
16 and a half million dollar record, but with 13.
Yes, I mean it, but the car had a lot more miles.
It had 400 miles instead of 80 miles
or something absurd like that.
Honestly, that black, that the black red interior
is stunning on the car.
The Carrera GT was golf blue, which was beautiful.
Those were actually both one of two.
Yeah, but the only one, apparently one of the,
the only one of the CGTs left in that color,
the other one was wrecked in totally immediately, apparently.
Just, I mean, I just, when the CGT went through, I said,
okay, well, I guess I'll never drive
another one of those again.
Yep, that's the feeling.
Yeah, a lot of crazy money and it's honestly sad a bit
because these are now out of the hands of you and me.
Maybe not you, but me.
It becomes, look, even though I work for an insurance company
that ensures classic cars, we have to be realistic
about our risk exposure and I can't get an insurance policy
to go do the things I wanna do with $10 million cars.
It would cost so much that we wouldn't be able to insure it.
And it's not something we can ask the owner and say,
hey, can you just insure this?
Because ultimately, Hagerty usually insures these cars.
And so it could really materially impact
the company's financials.
And we have to do really, I have to really think about,
before I even ask for a cost-benefit analysis,
and all right, if we're gonna potentially cost
the company $20 million, if something goes wrong,
if these two $10 million cars hit each other
on a quarter-mile track, is it worth that
for the exposure that I'll get on the video side?
Often it's not.
So it just becomes more difficult for me to do my job.
Speaking of which, last week,
Zero One X video Drag Race launched.
And that, we don't have to insure that
because that's a new car and we just called GM
and be like, hey, give us a Zero One X and they did.
And oh my God, you guys go watch it.
You haven't seen it, all right.
I have not.
We had a Corvette Zero One X, the ZTK pack,
which we talked about a couple of weeks ago,
which is the track pack, which will slow it down
because it's got the big spoiler,
but it has the grippy tires.
It's got the cup two Rs on it.
So it'll actually be quicker through the quarter-mile.
Next to it, we had the Luchidae Saphire
with the Trofeo RS optional tires on it.
So that should be the fastest of them all.
Remember, the regular Lucid air sapphire
was already our number one most fast accelerating car,
9.1 at 156 through the quarter-mile,
or 9.1 or 9.2 because we tested it twice.
And then we brought along two really fast cars
for comparison, Volkswagen Golf R,
which is the fastest hot hatch you can buy.
I got a 4.1 to 60 out of this thing with no wheel spin.
I mean, it just goes.
And then the latest M2 CS,
which is the fast 523 horsepower rear-wheel drive M2.
And we set up the race so that the Golf started
a football field before the other cars.
And so it got full launch control,
got to gather as many miles an hour as it possibly could
in the length of a football field.
So it was 300 feet.
And then as it crosses the start line
where the other two cars were,
the 1,250 horsepower cars since they were one of the air,
that was the effect of gunshot to start those two cars
and the M2 CS, which was a football field further
down the line.
So it had to run the quarter-mile minus a football field,
which is basically half of a quarter-mile, basically.
Head start and the Golf had the head start
of however many miles an hour it could gather
in a football field.
It was nuts.
It was so cool.
It was so awesome.
So it's pretty creative.
It was us thinking about,
we were still crunching the numbers
and we're like, this actually could work.
The cars could all just cross right at the line
at the same time.
One of them, I got the math one, wrong on one of them.
I think it just, you know,
I kind of forgot when we were putting it together
that whatever, you'll see it.
It's still fine.
It was still hell of a competition.
It was a hell of a race,
but we thought there was going to be one more pass
in there than there actually was.
So anyway, so there's a lot going on.
So yes, back to the Emilia,
the number one question that everyone's asking me
is where is the Rover?
And it's now been here.
It's not at the Emilia?
It was not at the Emilia.
It's been over a year since I hit the pickup truck
and then sent the car to Michigan to have the bodywork.
So the status update is the bodywork has long been finished.
There's a couple of videos from the Redline rebuild team
at Hagerty on the car, on the engine rebuild,
including the last one that is published
was the engine running.
I was there for that.
I flew in to get the car started
because I wanted to be there
for the birth of my new Rover baby.
And the video ends with the car losing oil pressure.
Cliffhanger.
Yeah, it's been a couple of months since that happened.
So the Cliffhanger really happened in December
when the motor went back together.
All it was was a oil galley plug that had popped out.
Rover uses a different size plug than everyone else
and the team who rebuilt the motor didn't know that
and they used a standard size one.
And even though it had staked it,
it popped out and was draining oil pressure.
The goal was to get the car back to me for Christmas
and I couldn't wait and I was super excited,
but they did the right thing by saying,
hey listen, we've just had this whole thing apart.
Let's go put it on a dyno and break it in
and make sure everything is fine.
Make sure there's no leaks, make sure everyone's happy.
The driveline's happy, everything's sitting properly.
And then we can put it on a truck and go to Jason,
which was great.
And the last-
We didn't exactly get a power number out of it.
If we did, it would be zero.
Zero.
The engine locked up on the dyno.
That's not conducive to horsepower.
No, not at all.
And let me say one thing,
David, who was the mechanic who built the whole engine,
the reason that I allowed this whole process to happen,
so I crashed the car at the same time,
I think I explained a while ago
that the red line team was looking for their next project
and they casually mentioned,
we're looking for a Buick 215 and I'm like, wait a second,
that's what's in the rover.
You wanna do the rover and I'll send the car
and we'll have the body work done in Michigan.
That worked out really well.
The reason that I was allowing them to pull this engine out
when the car didn't need a new engine
was because I trust David completely
and I've seen all the engines he's built
and I've seen the results of the seven seconds
or eight second drag race cars that he builds
and full trust there.
Something went wrong, things happen.
The bigger issue is that that team has been disbanded
and there will be no final episode of that show.
And so because of a whole number of factors,
the rover was just sitting there seized up
and we tried to have,
we tried to get Ivan was close touch with David
who spent the entire Christmas break going,
I wanna know what happened,
I wanna know what happened, I wanna know what happened.
Of course, you spent seven months working on an engine
and it locks up with no notice.
It didn't explode, it just was running
and then it died and that was the end of that
and it wouldn't restart.
So he really wants to know, I really wanna know,
I really want him to fix it, but unfortunately it just can't.
So while I was in Florida at the Amelia reliable,
picked up the rover and dropped it off in Massachusetts
at a shop called the Wedge Shop.
Used to be called the Wedge Shop,
it's now called TWS Motors.
And this is a shop that's been around for 30 something years.
They specialize in Rover V8s,
the Wedge Shop name having come from Triumph TR-8.
Which is the sports car.
The V8 powered, confusingly the TR-6 is six cylinders
and the TR-8 is eight cylinders
but the TR-7 is not seven cylinders.
It's four, right?
The TR-4 is four cylinders, but so is the TR-3 anyway.
Four and three is seven, which is how they got to the,
no, anyway, whatever.
So this is a company that specializes in crate engines
for Rover V8s.
So that is, by the way, that Rover V8 is not just
in the TR-7, TR-8 and the Rover ST-1.
It's in every Range Rover ever sold.
Until 2002.
And Land Rovers and...
Defenders and Discoveries and Morgan plus eights
and MGB, GT V8s and Rover P5s and P6s.
Oh, and don't also forget a TVR.
Camara and Griffith.
Griffith is one of them, yeah, yeah.
And...
Anyway, a lot of other places.
So they have a crate motor that we're just gonna shove in,
do a little bit of a post mortem on this.
We know it was an oiling issue, I think it just happened.
It was not the initial one.
I think there was a separate oiling issue.
So they're gonna put it apart and put it back together
and fingers crossed that we hit our initial target of...
Christmas.
No, of doubling the horsepower.
Cause if you remember what I said to David
is you can have the motor, you can have the Rover
and you can take the motor out,
but don't give it back to me unless it makes twice the power.
Which given it made 108 horsepower at the wheels
on the dyno is not that tall of an order.
And you're leaving the displacement as three and a half.
It is still going to be a three and a half liter.
TWS, so I flew there and met with the guys after the...
Cause I just wanted to like get a sense of who's got my car.
Like this is weird to drop something off
at a shop you've never met.
The coolest guys.
I had so much fun.
Woody is the dad who started this shop
years and years and years ago.
Absolute made me realize that if you are going to be
in the automotive industry,
especially on the service and repair side,
concentrate on one thing,
because the amount of knowledge that he has
just from building this one engine over and over.
And I think they said they've sold 1700 crate motors
for these cars.
They know how to make them work.
And the details like, oh, well,
that this happened and this is whatever bubble.
And his son, Clint, who's total car guy
also has a 400 horsepower turbocharged 3.5
in one of his cars.
And just the way that he got to that point,
you're using the later blocks.
Do not sneeze like that.
It's so rude.
So sorry, I'll put it back in.
You know, the later cars had four bolts main bearing caps
which are cross bolted and cool stuff.
So you can make some pretty cool stuff.
Mix and match.
If you know how to mix and match the limits.
Yes, this is the thing that Porsche people do,
Matt Quick does it with Mercedes Benz whole cars.
But yeah, it's,
once you know your subject matter well enough
and develop the domain expertise,
then you can start to get creative.
And they have all the tricks.
So their motors are rated at,
I think it's 260 horse for the 3.5.
That's on a carburetor.
Mine will retain its original fuel injection.
They're writing me a chip for the car.
I think they already did.
We bought some parts.
So David purchased a lot of parts
and got some advice from them
when he was building the motor in the first place.
So they're writing a custom chip to run the whole thing
to make sure it's fine with modern injectors
and some other stuff, like really cool smart upgrades.
And so I think we might actually double the horsepower
and yeah, so they're working on it now.
So there's the Rover.
It's not back yet, but we'll be back for the summer.
So I can't wait.
And Christmas.
And it better still be here for Christmas.
But the other thing I don't know if I ever mentioned
is while we were, I have this policy
that when you're mixing paint is,
if something happens and you need to fix something,
now is when you upgrade.
So I think I mentioned this on that.
It's been so long that I converted the entire front end
to a full series one front end.
Yep, with European bumpers.
Euro bumpers front and back.
So it looks amazing.
It looks so good.
You need the test wheels.
I, yeah, sure.
I mean, I have the test brakes ready to go in,
which it probably will need with twice the horsepower.
So they're four piston, two, four.
Maybe the stock ones are two and they're four.
I think they're four piston calipers.
With vented rotors.
And so, and I already did the Vitesse suspension.
So maybe I'll get Vitesse wheels.
If someone out there has a set of...
I found a set of them when I was in England
and I sent you a photo of them.
I know, but how are you gonna get them home?
You're at a flea market.
One trip at a time.
In the overhead bin.
In the overhead bin.
One under the seat in front of you, one.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, we'll see.
So anyway, that's the update on the Rover.
Not exactly the way any of us want to turn out,
but David is involved in,
he and I are constantly messaging back and forth.
So I can tell the the wedge up guys,
what is in there if need be.
If there's any question, he did me a great bill sheet.
So yeah, strange set of circumstances
when you have a sort of corporate overlord.
I mean, I guess we're working for a company
doing some of the stuff.
So things changed and not finished
the way any of us would have hoped,
but we'll turn out just fine.
And I can't with you.
The joys of old car ownership.
Yeah, exactly.
Unending.
Unending.
Right.
So that's the schizophrenic update.
Okay.
And the crux of this episode is happy birthday.
No, happy anniversary.
Merry Christmas.
No, what is it?
Happy holidays.
So June of this year will be 20 years
since I got my first press car.
So I got my, I started work at automobile in June of 2006.
That was my intro into this industry.
You know that we all know that I have a spreadsheet
to keep track of the cars.
And I'm very close to 3000 press cars.
And these are press and sort of rental cars,
other people's cars that I've driven.
Your owner are on there too, right?
No, no.
My own are on their own separate list.
This is just OP's cars, basically other people's cars.
So this, if I rent a car and I have impressions on it,
I'll throw it in there.
If I drive a car like for a video, it goes on there.
And I think I'm only 30 cars short of 3000.
But not miles.
Not miles.
So the precipitating event here was the fact
that you figured out that you had crossed 300,000 OPC miles,
other people's car miles.
Yeah, so in car 2,961,
which was a really, really beautiful dark blue
Chrysler Pacifica rental car that I put 86 miles on,
I crossed the 3000 mile mark, a 300,000 mile mark.
Okay.
And that's pretty nuts.
300,000 miles in 3000 cars in 20 years.
That means you're putting 300 miles per car,
100 miles per car. 100 miles per car.
Yeah, it's pretty, I think it was 103 miles per car on average.
Count is, so average 300,085 miles
with 86 miles on the Pacifica.
So one mile out of Boston Logan airport, I hit 300,000.
Average of 101.6 miles per car.
It's pretty, pretty.
So how do we reckon with that quantity of cars?
I mean, this spreadsheet is so huge at this point
that like, it's Excel can't deal,
Google Sheets deal can't deal.
I mean, there's just so much.
I actually pasted it in to see if Microsoft Word
would tell me how many words.
Oh yes, okay.
So my comments alone,
338,000 words.
That's obscene.
That's absolutely nuts.
So yeah.
That means you're writing a hundred words per car.
And you know, the, the commissive verdicts
that I publish on Instagram are usually around 300.
So, you know, figure 500 words per page
on Car Magazine for like a review.
So what's that, what does that turn out to be?
How many pages of that?
337 divided by 500.
You're good at math.
Not this kind.
That'd be about 674 pages of car reviews.
Which is pretty nuts.
So this is going to be a long episode.
No, I just thought, let's have some fun with this, right?
And so I figured you can come up with some ways.
I think the best way is control F.
Okay.
So let me see, where do we start?
What would be some good words?
Have you ever, how many times have you used the word fuck?
Oh, I mean, how many times an hour do I use word fuck?
I mean, I behave myself on camera here.
So you've got 329 times.
Okay, that's too many.
Fucking would, for example, would only be 165.
Fuck wit.
Never used.
Never used.
Well, something to aspire to.
What about shit?
Oh God.
441.
Shitty would be 26.
Oh, that's the lesson I thought.
And the first one that comes up is 2700 long tracks.
Give me piece of shit.
Piece, shit.
Seven.
Okay. That's manageable.
2008 Corvette.
I'm not going to tell you the contract.
Sob, 2006, nine, 2006.
Sob, 93 arrow convertible.
It was a piece of shit.
2007 Mini Cooper S, 2010 Z4 S drive 30i.
2009 Nissan GTR, 2007 Ford Expedition EB,
and 07 Mustang Shelby GT350.
So hold on, the Sob was the one that,
who knows what I said.
I wanted to love this car,
partially because it's so incredibly gorgeous,
partially because it's the only turbo motor
I've liked recently.
It's V6 is magnificent, plain and simple,
but I don't love the car
because it's a vile piece of shit.
Oh, vile.
Calling it cowl shake would be like saying
a grand mall seizure was a twitch.
Everything you touch feels like shit.
Suspension's horrible.
Trans is so lazy.
It's hard to believe it's even hooked up.
Brakes feel like shit.
Controls are delayed.
Five seconds.
Shit, shit, shit.
Okay.
Well, so I guess that was a piece of shit.
At least I sure could go.
Thanks.
Okay. Well, you used the word vile.
Let's find out about the word vile.
Only that one time.
Really? Yeah.
I'm surprised that you've only used it that once.
What about cry?
Once.
Really? Only once.
You cry with a space
because cry without a space was nine times.
So cry, meaning crying.
Okay.
This would be on October 24, 2016,
2017 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2.
Amazing proportions, good looks,
and a great green paint job.
Seats are easily the most uncomfortable I've ever sat in.
Shaped like a teacup,
just not the right form for humans and rock hard too.
Ghetto LCD panel has an insert of last gen Audi MMI,
which is way too small for even me to read.
Hold on, this is long enough that I have to, oh God.
Of course it broke itself.
And this is the car that I almost died in.
I almost had a big crash in it
because it had an oscillation.
We were a club motorsport in New Hampshire,
and it underpowered at high speeds,
it would start to do this wiggle at the back,
and I lifted and it just,
and I'm in a straight line, I'm in the straightaway,
lifted with stability control
and it looped itself at 130 miles an hour.
And I wound up sending a video to Lamborghini.
I'm like, there's something really wrong with this car.
This is the two-wheel drive LP580.
And they're like, no, everything's fine.
Did it make you want to cry?
It probably made me want to cry.
I'm looking, sorry for that.
Later in the day, things got bad.
Severe lateral oscillation at the back axle under load.
Over 60 miles an hour, even in fourth,
had to back off for fear of spinning in the straight,
which I did at the end of the straight
when I dialed in some turn and trail break while in ABS.
Massive spin.
Car was just untrustworthy and spooky as hell.
This was for a motor trend video
that we started out with Skittles all over the road
and Skittles shooting out of the exhaust pipes
for some stupid reason.
I don't know.
It won't let me, on how do I?
Too many words.
It's too many words, but I can paste it
into a word doc, control V, cry.
Oh, a far cry from Audi's virtual cockpit.
Oh, that's underwhelming.
It's a let down.
Very much like the car.
Okay, what other words can we search for?
What about heap?
Heap.
118 times.
Really?
How is that possible?
Rolls Royce, Wraith.
There's a lot right, but a lot wrong.
What, where is, how is there, that a heap?
What about heap space instead of heaping?
That is, or heaps.
118.
Okay.
What heap of shit?
Okay.
Let's get right to the point.
Zero.
Really?
That needs to be a lot right.
Let's enter your lexicon apparently.
Heap of shit.
Yeah.
Shit pile.
One word?
Once.
9-11 turbo cabriolet PDK-2010.
Of course.
Oh, much better than the last turbo,
both in terms of handling,
and that tired, old shit pile of a motor.
That's horrible.
Yes, this is why we like you.
Speaking of which, how about murder?
Once.
Really?
Yeah.
2016 Jaguar XE S 3.0 prototype.
New performance sedan segment leader without question,
murders the three series.
Eeks out the IS 350 F-Sport.
That didn't play out.
Hope they don't fuck it up in production.
There it is.
Which they did.
Oh, hold on.
No, no, no.
It's now five of five.
Hold on, there are five.
2016 McLaren 570 S.
Oh God, this is another long one.
Some of them I'm looking for a short one.
Okay, Dodge Charger V6 2012.
What a pile of shit.
So pile of shit.
Oh pile of shit is maybe used more often.
Gorgeous pile of shit.
Interior materials are awful.
1970s turn signals, dangerous ZF shifter
with spotlight LED indicator that doesn't dim,
but blinds, lots of head toss and choppy ride.
Longest gears ever, 41, 67 and 100 miles an hour
with no low and torque.
Slow and confused downshifts.
Where the fuck did I?
Appropriately murdered out black on black
with black wheels for Detroit.
Have you ever, is there ever a time where you say
I was wrong?
Can we search was wrong, for example?
Six times.
Six times.
Jason was wrong six times in 3000.
Aston DBX.
Oh no.
No, no, no, this could be, they were wrong.
I mean, let me see.
Something was wrong.
Hold on.
Five times.
Five times, Jason was wrong.
Aston DBX 707, Escalade Hybrid.
Hold on.
Everyone was rude to me in this thing.
I think all the Prius assholes thought
the stickers were fake
because this was the two mode hybrid
that had hybrid stickers all over it.
And people got out,
these guys got out at an intersection
and wants to like start a fight.
Seriously, the most hated car I've ever driven.
Quite fast when pushed, I feel like,
and I like that this has attack.
I was wrong.
Integration and transfunctions are the same.
Okay.
Were you wrong about anything else?
I mean, let me see.
I was wrong about Infinity G37.
I was wrong.
It's hot as hell and looks less bubbly.
Oh, hold on.
And whatever softer look I thought it had,
I was wrong.
It's hot as hell and looks less bubbly than the last one.
That's the, when the G37 came out
and replaced that beautiful G35,
which was also hate for shit.
Dangerous.
44 times.
Dangerous.
I actually would have expected it to be higher.
I mean, Porsche Cayenne diesel.
Oh.
Turning on inside light at night is just dangerous,
trying to find the button.
Controls are very confusing with the way too many groups are,
many buttons are grouped illogically.
So, I mean, it wasn't that bad.
What about fucking dangerous?
Three times.
Okay.
Kettle lack escalate again.
Sorry to see that the miserable fit and finish
wasn't due to the pre-pro car.
Man is this interior.
Wow, I'm not nice in these.
Am I?
That's why they're entertaining.
Latter frame does vibrate, this isn't a long one.
Rear wiper integration deserves a Nobel prize,
no seriously.
I mean, come on, I'm such a nice guy.
Did you describe anything ever as hideous?
87 times.
Okay, what about unacceptable?
Oh.
50 times.
50.
Okay.
But one is a GTI, hold on, what's this?
A 2007 GTI, two liter DSG four door.
Lovely ride, lovely car,
would like better seats and stereo.
Fuel mileage is better.
Fuel mileage is better, 28 indicated,
but still unacceptable.
Okay.
I criticize the whole story.
You're talking about fuel economy.
Were you ever infuriated or apoplectic?
Actually, let's do apoplectic.
I don't think that's a word.
Ap-P-P?
A-P-O.
A-P-O-P-L, no.
Okay, what about infuriating or infuriating?
Sure, try that.
I-N-F-U-R-I-A-T, 16 times.
First time, the first, oh,
this is the Range Rover Sport SVR.
The first time the road curved, I called bullshit
about this thing's Nurburgring time
of eight minutes and 14 seconds.
It definitely wasn't on these tires, which have no grip.
That's a nasty surprise after accelerating
because it's batched fast.
The bucket look seats are gorgeous as the whole interior
and the ride is very comfortable.
Ride quality port is amazing with perfect quality.
What is the word, infury?
It's got to be the infotainment system.
Trying to get this thing to expand.
Yeah, that usually does the trick.
That's it.
I found it, now I lost it.
Oh, touch screen is infuriating.
There it is.
Of course.
Do we have metrics about types of cars
you have driven in quantities, like by make?
But by the way, I will do this
and then maybe you can come back
and give me a nice word like beautiful or elegant or-
Oh.
Or love.
Perfect.
I bet you use perfect with some regularity.
359 times.
Yeah.
What was the other one you just gave me?
Love. Love.
Or adore.
Love, 775.
See what an adore, 22.
Okay, Jason has adored something.
If I do ADOR without the E,
which could be adorable or something, that's 54 times.
I am a nice fucking guy.
Okay, so interestingly, the mark
of which I've driven the most cars, you wanna guess?
You could guess the top three.
BMW.
Yup, 325 BMWs.
Mercedes.
That's in second place at 230.
Volkswagen.
Volkswagen, 181.
But then Ford 171, Audi 156, Porsche 144, Chevy 112,
Nissan 104, Mazda 104, Toyota 103.
So Nissan and Mazda the same, interesting.
I mean, part of it is happenstance, right?
I mean, but then you go to Subaru 76, Jag 74, Hyundai 68.
Can you search also I would buy or I would own?
I wanna see if you ever said that.
But here, let's do, I'll do that,
and then we'll go back to this
because this image that I would own.
Zero.
I would buy two.
Three, 2009 BMW 335D.
The two pedal three series that I would buy myself.
Yeah, I had one of those, I really enjoyed it.
And then, oh, shocker, 2015 Volkswagen GTI, Mark 7.
Without a second's hesitation,
this is the car in this group
that I would buy with my own money.
That was a performance car of the year test
at Rotentrack 2015.
Yeah, Peacody's Rotentrack.
Okay, coming back though,
cars that I've only ever driven one of, Alpine,
which would have been the A110, actually.
I know, you drove the new A110 and the old A110.
So that's clearly bad data.
AMC, it was a Pacer, I did a collectible classic on that.
I have never driven an AMC product.
AMC.
About this episode
Jason Cammisa reflects on 20 years of car reviewing, sharing stories from thousands of press cars and over 300,000 miles. Highlights include his recent trip to the Amelia Concours with unique cars like a GNX El Camino and a rare Venturi 400 GT, plus updates on his VR6 swapped Cabrio's smog certification journey. The episode also covers the excitement and high stakes of a Broad Arrow auction, showcasing expert auctioneering and multi-million dollar bids. Jason and Derek mix humor and insight, discussing car culture, project challenges, and memorable automotive experiences.
Original notes
Sometimes, the milestones hit all at once! On this episode, Jason celebrates 300,000 miles in “OP” (other people’s) cars - 3,000 to be exact - and 20 years doing so!
===
Visit http://JasonSentMe.com to get a Hagerty Guaranteed Value (TM) collector-car insurance quote!
===
Rather than random number generator reviews, Derek hits Jason with a barrage of key words and phrases to jog his memory and keep him on his toes. Also covered on this episode are the results of the Amelia Island auctions, updates on Jasons’ Rover SD1 and Volkswagen Cabrio VR6 swap, and much more.
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The Carmudgeon Show
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