That Car Show Oct 23, 2025

Milking it

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Car

Volkswagen Touareg

The Volkswagen Touareg is a luxury SUV that can handle rough terrains and is comfortable for everyday driving. It's known for being reliable and has been popular in many countries.

Term

Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally is a famous race where vehicles compete in tough off-road conditions. It's known for being very challenging and takes place in different countries each year.

Car

Volkswagen Bus

The Volkswagen Bus is a famous van known for its unique design and spacious interior. The '21 window' means it has 21 windows, which makes it a sought-after version among collectors.

Car

Volkswagen convertible

The 1960 Volkswagen convertible is a classic car that has a roof that can be opened. It's known for its round shape and is a beloved model among car enthusiasts.

Term

throttle cable

The throttle cable helps control how fast your car goes by connecting the gas pedal to the engine. If it gets loose or breaks, you might not be able to speed up properly.

Concept

drag racing

Drag racing is a sport where cars race each other in a straight line to see who can go the fastest. It's all about how quickly they can speed up from a stop to the finish line.

Concept

SEMA show

The SEMA show is a big car event in Las Vegas where companies show off custom cars and parts. It's a place for people in the car industry to meet and see the latest trends and products.

Term

drifting

Drifting is when a car slides sideways while turning, which looks really cool and takes a lot of skill. It's popular in car racing and shows.

Car

Lamborghini Diablo

The Lamborghini Diablo is a really cool and fast sports car that people dream about. It has a unique look and a powerful engine, making it one of the most famous supercars.

Part

Brake calipers are parts of the brakes that squeeze the brake pads against the wheels to help stop the car. Porsche makes special brake calipers that are designed for high performance, which can make them tricky to clean.

Term

PPF

PPF is a special film that you put on a car's paint to keep it safe from scratches and damage. It helps the car look good for a longer time.

Term

ceramic coating

Ceramic coating is a special liquid you put on a car's paint to protect it. It makes the car shiny and helps keep it clean by preventing dirt and water from sticking.

Car

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is a fast sports car that is great for driving on tracks or winding roads. It's known for being fun to drive and has a powerful engine that makes it exciting.

Company

BaT

BaT is a website where people can buy and sell special cars, often classic or unique ones. It's a popular place for car enthusiasts to find interesting vehicles.

Car

Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 is a fully electric car made by Polestar, which is a brand that focuses on electric vehicles. It's known for its stylish look and modern technology.

Car

Porsche Macan

The Porsche Macan is a smaller SUV made by Porsche. It's designed to be fun to drive while still being practical for everyday use.

Car

Porsche 911S

The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fast and stylish, and many people love it for its performance and unique look.

Term

991

The 991 refers to a specific generation of the Porsche 911 sports car that was made from 2011 to 2019. It includes various improvements and new features compared to older models.

Car

Volkswagen Tiguan

The Volkswagen Tiguan is a small SUV that's great for families because it has a lot of space inside. It's comfortable to drive and has some cool tech features.

Car

Porsche Cayenne

The Porsche Cayenne is a luxury SUV that first came out in 2002. It's known for being fast and having a lot of luxury features, making it a favorite among people who want an upscale vehicle.

Car

Volkswagen Eurovan

The Volkswagen Eurovan is a big van that can fit a lot of people and gear. It's great for road trips and camping, and many people remember it fondly from the past.

Car

Volkswagen New Beetle

The Volkswagen New Beetle is a newer version of the classic Beetle car, which was popular in the 2000s. It had a unique round shape and was marketed to younger drivers.

Car

You can, you know, you can bulk anything.

Right.

This week on That Car Show, we talk about what goes on in Vegas,

could be talked about in Vegas when Lindsay and Tori head out

for a VW show with a difference.

We talk about Ryan's ever-ending quest

to drive the Diablo, which is always just one step ahead of him.

Maybe this week will be the week.

A paradigm of reliability of the Diablo.

A paradigm of reliability.

We also talk about coffee in Malibu and how

LA racing for coffee vouchers could be.

We talk about the end of an era when it comes to the VW

Torag, even though the car may not

have been available in the US for a little while.

It's now been retired worldwide.

This is a car that won three Dakar's, had a diesel V10.

We're going to a little bit of detail around that.

We also talk about up-and-coming articles

that Ryan is going to be writing for, for Autoblog.

Look out for some very interesting articles

just around the corner.

And we close off the show with some thoughts

around a competition.

How could you win the next Sheffield Watch?

Well, you've got to listen to the show.

You'll find out how.

And it's pretty easy.

So give us a lesson on that car show.

That car show is brought to you by Sheffield Watches.

Sheffield is the storied watchmaking brand that

was revived a couple of years back

by our good friend Jay Turkbus.

And it's seen wild success in both the car and watch

enthusiast communities.

Sheffield offers a wide selection of watches,

many inspired by the iconic designs of its 1960s dive

models, most notably the one that Jay's parents gave him

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Sheffield watches are high quality, reasonably priced,

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Sheffield has truly become the car guy and car gals

watch of choice.

Order your Sheffield watch at SheffieldWatches.com.

Give them a follow on the gram at Sheffield

underscore allspork underscore watches.

And tell them that car show sent you.

Welcome to this week's That Car Show.

It's another cruise show.

The gang are back together.

We've just been comparing notes on who are the board game

champions.

And it sounds like for Boggly's Lindsay and for Scrabble,

it is Ryan.

I think I'm more of a Pictionary or Charades person.

Yeah.

OK.

Oh.

Yes.

Unless you get to say it the way that's fun for us, Charades.

That's right.

Before we get started, I wanted to give a big shout out

to our listeners in South Africa.

So we are currently sat at 37 in the South African podcast

Charts for Automotive.

So how's it brood?

Let's have a bri, open up a dot,

and we'll be around really shortly.

So thanks, everyone, in South Africa.

We appreciate you listening.

Thank you for joining us.

It's awesome.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So anyway, let's start with what goes on in Vegas.

Actually, you can be told about in Vegas.

Lindsay needs to come back from Vegas for a specific show.

That's right.

What are you doing?

This was one instance of what happens in Vegas

doesn't stay in Vegas.

So it was a show called One Crazy Weekend,

and it celebrates Volkswagen's in all their various forms

and their enthusiasts.

And the show has grown, I think,

this year, doubled in size.

I believe it's about five years old.

And this year, they had almost 400 cars.

So it was a big turnout and totally new for me

because I've been in a different area of the car world.

So it was fun to explore a different corner

of the car community.

And one of the fun things about this show

is that it's at a hotel in Vegas

and they take over the parking lot.

And so the cars are staged in the parking lot.

A lot of people get in Thursday.

The event starts Friday.

And one of the things that we were most looking forward

to is you get to hang out with the cars

and just kind of catch up with your friends.

And there's a little place you can go grab some adult

refreshments should you feel so inclined

and just kind of relax with the cars and catch up.

So Lindsay, is this a Caesar's Palace type gathering?

Is this like a Circus Circus type gathering?

Or is this like, where is this called?

Off the strip at a hotel called the Orleans.

And yeah, I mean, it was Volkswagen's of all forms.

They had an amazing, and I think it was a 21 window,

light pink and white bus that of course,

was in my immediate favorite outside of the family car,

which was Tori built with Steve Kinect,

who was a legend in the 80s building Volkswagen's.

They took a 1960 factory convertible

and turned it into an 80s style roadster

with actually kind of a Guntherworks style top

over the back.

Where the convertible top.

That's what it is.

I was trying to place it.

That was the inspiration was the green speedster

with the two kind of cargo areas behind the seats.

That was the inspiration for the top on the roadster.

So it was a car that had been started in the 80s

and stalled out as a project.

And they found it.

They were talking about it at the event last year

and found it just after last year's event

and transformed it.

And now it is just the coolest little,

Tori described it as if a trapper keeper was a car.

I mean, and obviously I'm dating myself with that reference,

but a certain group of people will immediately know

what I'm saying.

It's a lot of neon and like tube design

and just bright, really unique stuff.

And it's a lavender car and Steve Hand airbrushed

the neon tube design and the grid pattern,

which was his signature.

And it was really interesting

having been a kid in the 80s,

but not attended these shows to see the 80s style display,

which was color matched, you know, tennis balls and the engine,

which is what they would do for display.

So you wouldn't pull in particles

because the cars are sitting there with the tubes open

in the engine.

Otherwise you, a bunch of stuff could land in there

and color matched carpet and mirrors underneath to display

because they put as much thought into the pan

as they do to the visible stuff on top.

So it was amazing.

Her awards, the categories and awards.

Yes, there were.

So there were like, they had the heavy hitters category

and that was a wide variety of cars that were selected

and it was all different kinds.

Like there was one that had amazing patina,

one beetle that had amazing patina

and I think they won something.

And then there was a bus that won

and the awards were these amazing medallions

with the logo of the show.

And they are so heavy.

Do you have one handy?

You sent me a picture.

I could go grab.

Yeah, play the Jeopardy theme and I'll go grab it.

Lindsay, was it Flavor Flav?

Yeah, it was along those lines.

I mean, I think it was, you know, done and fun.

Yeah.

But it's a hell of a thing to behold, you know.

So if you don't know the name Tori,

Tori is Lindsay's fiance and I am slowly peeling back

the onion that is Tori.

Look at this thing.

Wow.

I mean, come on, that's epic.

Yeah.

And it's heavy.

That's what's so crazy.

It's made from a VW.

It is.

That's salvage.

Yes, it's got this beautiful Timu chain

to compliment the medallion.

So yes, obviously that's not why they did the car

but it was fun to have it be recognized.

And yeah, I mean it was Blazing Hot in Vegas

which was a nice change from the Pacific Northwest.

And it's cool.

They set up, it's a weekend long event

and so they set up a bunch of different activities.

And one of the highlights for us

was they do a cruise along the Vegas Strip.

So all of the cars that are drivable

and the people that wanna participate

leave kind of en masse and go drive the Strip

all together.

And my inaugural experience this year

was more memorable than we had anticipated

because right after we left the hotel,

Tori goes, oh the throttle just broke.

And so the barrel nut had come out of the throttle cable

like the throttle cable came loose,

barrel nut came off.

So that is somewhere on the Boulevard

that we had pulled off onto.

So we were able to pull over, walk back

because we were just a couple blocks from the hotel,

walk back and take one off of a friend's car

walk back to our car, put it on, fix it,

go do the cruise and then come back.

Wow.

So if anyone finds Tori's barrel nut,

could you please send it to Lindsay?

Right.

I can give you my mailing, my P.O. box.

But it was like such a quintessential VW experience

of like, eh, it's gonna be exciting.

And I know a lot of cars are like this

but sort of the interchangeability of like,

we know exactly what we need,

we just can borrow one and then go do our activity

and then bring it back.

Couple of comments, questions.

So as I was saying when you were grabbing

that giant, giant, you know, medallion.

Medallion to end all medallion.

Yeah, yeah.

Tori is really a figure, right?

In the Volkswagen scene.

I mean, like, you know, every time I turn around,

like I find out some new achievement or whatever.

And this car really was one of them

because he put this thing together,

I'm sure with your help and, you know, all that,

but very, very quickly.

No, it was with, it was all Steve and Tori.

I cannot take any credit for.

Weeks, it was a matter of weeks.

And my big takeaway about Tori is,

so I'm from Chicago and Daniel Burnham from Chicago,

you know this phrase, make no small plans.

And that's Tori.

Like, you know, most of us would have like,

not seen that through, you know?

And damn it, he did it.

I don't know where he finds the,

you know, the time and the day,

but in it, the car looked great.

And it's interesting because it's,

I think it photographs really well,

not all cars do.

And you sort of lose a little bit in the pictures.

Even as well as this car photographs,

seeing it in person and especially knowing,

you know, kind of being along for the ride

the last few months and just seeing

like a fraction of the work they put in,

getting to see it in person was really cool

because there's an element of like,

yeah, you've seen it in person

or I've seen it in pieces and pictures and whatever.

And to see it all put together,

you kind of go like, wow, it's really real.

And it actually does live up to what it looks like

in the pictures and it's super cool.

And then on top of that,

he owns a car that was involved

in the drag racing scene in LA called Bad Temper 2.

And that was the one that we actually drove.

So it was cool to get to experience that

because it's such a piece of history

from that period in time.

So what's the status or the state of Vegas in 2025?

You know, you hear about, you know,

people were talking about that

because there's a lot of talk about Vegas is dead.

It was packed.

Like it was absolutely packed.

Don't believe what you read.

Several, like I can't even count how many times

the light would turn green for us to go.

And there were like pedestrian obstacles,

you know, presenting themselves.

You sorry about that?

Certainly.

I mean, no.

In fact, I know someone that was there recently

and they said the rooms were like crazy expensive.

Yeah.

Well, and I had a friend who goes there for work,

probably the last six months

and she ended up staying like well outside of Las Vegas.

She said, I've never run into this before.

Las Vegas as a whole was sold out.

Wow. Wow.

Like, I don't know how you do that.

I never thought that could happen.

I'll be there in just over a week for the SEMA show.

Oh, nice.

Oh, the SEMA show.

Yeah.

It's been a couple of years for me, but that's a scene.

I've never done it.

So I haven't either.

It's just, it's mind bogglingly just huge, right?

Like it's every, it's every hall at the conference center

and then some, and I think I've told you this,

but we went a couple of years ago

and we thought we'd be smart and not stay in a casino

and in fact, stay at the Marriott Courtyard

right across from the conference center.

What we didn't realize is they have drifting demonstrations

from about 8 a.m. to midnight every day.

So be careful where you stay, Dan.

Related to SEMA.

To SEMA, yeah, basically just, you know,

maybe it makes sense, but after a while

that stops being so cool.

Yeah, yeah.

Five minutes.

Right, it loses its charm a little bit.

Yeah, yeah, well, Dan, where are you staying?

Do you know?

And the, it's the hotel connected to the conference, so.

It's like a Marriott.

I might have to buy some new airplugs.

And I see a lot of drifting in your future.

Yeah, I wouldn't be drifting asleep.

I know that.

No.

It's, so Ryan, have you been?

I wish you good luck.

Yeah, thanks.

I'll call you guys.

You can listen to it.

Have you been doing anything as exciting, Ryan?

I know you've had a couple of false starts this week.

Yeah.

But what have you been up to?

God, I was supposed to drive that Diablo.

So if you follow me on Autoblog,

I was supposed to drive a Lamborghini Diablo

like three months ago.

And we get around like that.

If you know Denver, if you know Golden Gate Canyon,

Great Road, we get to about the third turn

and the thing just breaks, right?

Fortunately, I hadn't taken the helm yet.

In the end, it was just some sort of shift linkage

or something.

It wasn't a big deal.

But Lamborghini Diablo texts are few and far between.

And so it took a while to get the car looked at

and then once it was, it was an easy fix.

So I was supposed to drive it yesterday,

didn't work out, going to drive it Friday.

So I'm excited about that.

I have never driven.

That's one, I'm trying to check off

the poster cars of my youth.

And the Diablo is one of them.

It's trying to come up with a good headline.

And I think it's going to be something

along the lines of making waves

in the cigarette boat of supercars

because that's kind of the vibe when you get in that thing.

It's a lot of fiberglass and like, you know,

rough edges and tons of power.

You could, you could do something

about the devils in the detail.

That, that's, well, let me.

I'll be right.

The headline right now is the devils in the details.

And I'm in a Diablo.

And then the deck, what they call it,

sort of the subhead is something along the lines

of this is the, you know, the cigarette boat of,

apparently they don't call them cigarette boats anymore.

You know, this idea of a cigarette boat.

It's a super powerful, like Miami vice type, you know.

Now they call them something else.

And, and I don't know where chat GPT is right now.

I'm sorry, our, our.

Research development.

Yes, our assistant.

Right.

But I think they call them go fast boats right now,

which isn't nearly as cool.

The name is cigarette.

Cigarette.

No, I reject that immediately.

Yeah.

I, anyway, so yeah,

I get to finally drive the thing.

Well, um,

and you washed a car last weekend.

This shouldn't be a news item, but Dan, you know,

and Lindsay, you know,

because we all have basically the same car that, um, you know,

we'd rather drive the thing than wash the thing.

Right.

And I had so much brake dust on my,

thankfully they're black.

You've been driving it.

We take the hose and it's just like this metallic like pool

that just like goes down into the earth or whatever.

Right.

Like without any scrubbing the wheels instantly.

Yeah.

It was as dirty as it had ever, ever been.

Um, but, uh, you know,

I think it's a healthy thing to sit and,

and commune with your car once in a while and to really,

you know, watch it and take your time and get down on your knees

and, you know, get into the wheels and the best you can.

Those Porsche brake calipers are impossible.

There are lots of nooks and crannies.

They're like English muffins, but, uh, you know, it's,

I did it and it was good.

And now I'm afraid to drive the thing again because it is so clean.

It's so clean.

Yeah.

Give it a dare too.

Have you got protection on that car or is it like a ceramic or?

Yeah.

I have almost full PPF.

Of course it's now five years old,

but I was told PPF, good PPF goes,

you know, nine or 10 years now.

So that's not a huge deal to,

and that's a good thing because I don't know

that I could afford to wrap it again anytime soon.

It's like a five or $6,000 proposition, right?

Yeah.

But well worth it.

I, you know, and in this car,

I think everything is covered basic for the,

maybe the doors, um, you know,

you got to, you got to save money somewhere.

And then the wheels I think had a ceramic coating

and that helps a great deal in just being able to wash,

you know, wash the thing.

The whole car does as well.

And you know, that's, that's super helpful.

But did you opt for a PPF on your new 4.0?

I didn't.

I had a ceramic coated, um, yeah,

I kind of broke the bank buying it.

So, um, yeah, the ceramic was just one step too far.

Yeah, yeah.

Ceramic coat, you know, helps,

obviously it doesn't protect as much.

No, no, no.

It's makes a big difference.

Lindsey, have you guys done anything with your GT4?

It had PPF on it when we got it,

and it's starting to fail in a couple areas,

but we haven't had it that long.

So, yeah.

Yours is a 16, so it was probably done when it was new,

I'm guessing, and see probably a couple years yet.

I'm not sure because I know it was wrapped several times

under previous ownership.

And so I don't know how that works with PPF too.

So it may, I think it's,

I think the PPF is actually relatively new.

And so it, yeah, I think just whatever,

for whatever reason, there's a couple areas

where it's lifting.

So it will need to be addressed before long.

Put it on BAT when that time comes,

then it's not a problem.

I have to say, I saw, speaking of wraps,

I saw my first wrapped Polestar 2 today, guys.

Just not, just tonight on the way home from Target.

You know, Polestar 2's are generally driven by kind of,

you know, I don't want to call them uppity folks,

but you know, you're your middle class,

you're your professors, and you're,

you know, your office workers, and that kind of thing.

Well, sure enough, I'm coming down the road

and coming the other direction I see.

Do you know Porsche has this great color?

I think it's called black gray.

It's this, they did some of the, like the 997.2 GT3 RS's

in this color, or gray black, maybe this.

It's this very, very dark gray.

It's this great gray.

Anyway, I see this Polestar coming.

It's wrapped in this, this color.

And I know it's wrapped because it also has a racing

stripe and a giant number two and a gumball on there.

It didn't quite work.

You're probably like, okay, tell me everything.

Right.

And there was like a young man driving it.

Like it was a, you know, a slammed Civic or,

you know, BMW or whatever.

And I, yeah, the jury's still out.

But I had never seen that.

Now I have seen it.

Maybe it'll become a thing as prices come down,

as leases, you know, lease cars are returned.

I don't know.

But I feel like credit for trying.

Yeah.

We appreciate the enthusiasm.

It's what, what was it?

Is it meet the parents or whatever where, you know,

you can, you know, you can bulk anything.

Right.

Like, hey, doesn't necessarily mean that you should,

but anyway.

So, okay.

So this gray black, is it like a metallic like?

No, it's a flat color.

Right.

So think of like mirrorblow, right?

Like that really, really dark.

It's, it's Jeff's words, favorite color and mine.

Think about like the gray equivalent where it's a

very, very dark, not metallic.

You know, not, you know, it's not quite black,

but just bring it back.

Right there.

Yeah.

It's such a, such a good color.

Yeah.

I think it's gray black or black gray,

John Dicey, Justin Underwood.

If you're listening, you can, you can clear the air here.

But I don't know.

I think maybe my, my Polestar needs a gumball then.

There we go.

One number.

This is number two, which you should get number one.

It's your own joke there.

Just get number one.

And then he's like, every time you see him,

you just give him the lose with so much.

That's right.

Yeah.

I don't want to drive number two.

Or even more, you just, you just do the wave and let him be like,

That's the thing.

I thought it was like when you see another Porsche and you,

nine times out of 10, maybe not in a,

you know, Lease Macan or something,

but if you're in a Porsche sports car,

nine times out of 10, 99 times out of 100,

you're going to get a wave,

you're going to get a flash of the lights,

you're going to get something.

So I looked over like ready to be like, what's up?

You know, and the guy with his head on,

you know, uh, to the side, uh,

he didn't even look my direction.

Oh, it sounds like a missed opportunity to me.

I was down in Malibu last Sunday.

Yeah.

How was it?

Good.

It was good to get a morning to just go for a drive.

And in the Porsche,

in the Porsche,

nice,

decided to go down and I had given some like voucher

for a coffee shop I'd never been to before.

So I thought I'll go get free coffee.

So I pulled into the car.

Out your coffee.

Yeah.

I bought into the car park

and I knew I was in good company straight away

because there were two Hot Rod,

60s or 70s, 9-11s,

one of which belongs to friend of the show,

Bill Wolfson.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I got to see him at Car Week this year.

To your name, Heather.

Yeah.

So I literally pulled up and there were GT3s,

there were two speedsters,

modern speedsters, 991s.

Oh, nice.

So I pulled up, not awake, needing coffee.

And the first thing I hear is, hey, Danny.

Oh, my God.

What?

Who's he talking to?

And it was Bill.

Oh, my gosh.

Nice.

Hey, nice.

And he'd obviously recommended me

from Instagram and stuff.

So, but there was also a famous racing driver there.

I didn't really know who he was,

but Court Wagner.

Court Wagner.

Yeah.

He's raced for ours.

He's a six-time champ

and of course I'm blanking on the series,

but yeah.

Yeah.

And he's done some work with Galpin,

and yeah, he's in the mix.

Yeah.

So you guys go for drive after anything?

Or...

I unfortunately...

Because you know what?

Court leads.

You just let Court lead.

Otherwise he's going to lead.

I don't know the man,

but he leads, yeah.

Yeah.

I know I had to meet up with the guys

who do the dream drives for kids.

So...

Oh, nice.

And Eric and the...

Yeah.

So I literally didn't have time

to go for a drive this time around,

but it was a nice drive down the coast

to get down there and back.

Excellent.

Yeah.

So...

And so do you want to share where you were

or are we keeping it quiet,

keeping it to yourself for a little bit?

Sounds like the next big thing,

I'm gonna be honest here.

Which bit?

I'll wait for the name of the coffee shop.

I want a voucher, yeah.

Yeah, I think it's good.

I can't remember the name of it.

I think it's Luxe.

Cafe Luxe.

That's what I was gonna guess.

Ah, okay, okay.

Is it?

So you know it?

Yeah, Cafe Luxe.

Yeah, I see the shopping center there, right?

Yeah.

Like in a little strip mall thing.

Yeah.

Cafe Luxe.

Shout out to Cafe Luxe.

And the coffee was really nice.

How does one get one of these vouchers, Dan?

You have to go to a top secret singer evening event.

Because it sounds very curated.

I'm gonna be...

It's a cute place and the baristas are always really friendly

and the coffee's good and it's...

Pastries are really good.

Say that again.

Pastries are really good.

Yes.

And I don't know if you forgot that,

but that was the singer event?

Is this okay with the NDA you signed, Dan?

Yeah, I think so.

The goodie bag is up for discussion, I think.

Go on.

Singer coffee.

Oh, that's fun.

Yeah.

Have you tried it yet?

I gave it to someone.

It's just gift.

Not like, hey, I bought this for you.

Like, here, have a free coffee.

I got this for free.

Would you like it?

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't have a grounding machine or anything.

That's gonna be worth like a thousand dollars

under that bag of Singer coffee.

Yeah.

Be careful.

Well, I mean, everything's important, right?

Yeah.

Especially Singer coffee.

Nicely done.

Yeah.

But we got hats.

We got baseball caps with Singer and Willow Springs written on it.

I think it was a lovely book of the photographer.

They had a photographer out of the track a few months prior.

A really famous photographer whose name escapes me,

but a lovely book of his work,

which I've given away to another friend.

So, lesson here is just...

Like Donnie.

I was going to say, the lesson here is be your friend

and just hang around for the right times.

Yeah.

Oh, Lizzie, don't worry.

When I helped Dan move,

I walked away with all kinds of goodies.

What did you get?

I think...

It's like I have party favors for you.

Get excited.

Let's show you what I got.

Well, one of the things was a Porsche key chain.

Which I didn't know.

I need that now.

Well, it's literally got my alley padlock key on.

So, you know, I'm happy to give it back.

Mois Manx Pulaiva.

That's here on the shelf, like a piece of art.

Oh, nice.

It was a little tight on me, to be honest.

I almost wore mine tonight and I was like,

what if Ryan wears his and then we're to it?

Did you notice when I wore that on the show,

it was from about here up?

It's a reason.

I look like a sausage.

That's amazing.

We probably have the same size because when I put it on,

I look very 80s.

It's very like oversized, you know, flash dance-ish.

So, I think they were one size fits all or their balance.

I have no doubt it looks better on you.

Yeah, so it's a really good coffee shop.

I would highly recommend it.

I think there's a few of them in California.

Yeah, there's a few different locations.

Yeah, on a Sunday morning.

And I think it was there pretty early.

I think it opened to eights and I was there for opening.

Living the dream, man.

There was another place up in the hills that they go to

in a drive afterwards, I can't remember the name of it.

Like the old place or the old farm or something.

Old place.

Yeah, that's another destination in Malibu

because I think it's back in the canyon.

I haven't been there but I've heard of it.

Yes, so that's on the list.

The next time it'll be starting at that coffee shop

and then going up to the old place.

Oh, nice.

So, when I'm in LA for the auto show,

we have some driving to do.

We do.

There you go.

Vibes that needs to be done as well, right?

Absolutely.

So, shall we break into some news?

Let's do it.

So, the first one I was looking at today is,

can you believe that the Tourag, the BW Tourag,

has just been retired but it went on for 24 years?

Dan, I had to look that up to make sure that was right.

Yeah, it's 24 years.

That seems like a very long time, especially because

I can't remember the last time I saw a new one on the road.

Well, we never got the third gen in the U.S., right?

We only got the first two gens,

which were basically, I think, was a facelift.

But that was a hell of a thing.

That would be why we haven't seen them for a while.

Yeah, that explains it.

Yeah, that third gen wasn't so good looking.

Yeah, they did a V10 diesel in that car.

Yeah, that's very European.

Yeah, that's a hot item if you can find one.

I'm guessing it was part of the PIAC.

When the PIAC was in charge,

he had all these different cars commissioned, didn't he?

So that in the U.S. came out in 02, right?

The Tourag?

Yeah.

Okay.

And I think we've discussed this before.

It was named after a band of, I don't know,

Mary Travelers or something in the Saharan Desert.

Like a tribe, wasn't it?

Yeah, a tribe.

Right.

And plus, Volkswagen has this T thing that they do.

And don't be confused with the Tiguan,

because the Tourag was really something special.

Tiguan, fine car, own one, as you know,

listened to me and listened to the show for a while.

Had one up until a couple years ago, fine thing,

but the Tourag really was something special.

They shared a platform with the Cayenne.

They also shared the Cayenne's locking differentials, right?

To your point, Dan, there was a whole spectrum of powertrains.

And this was 2002.

And think back to 2002 Volkswagen, right?

The Volkswagen lineup of 2002.

And like, what was in that?

I mean, that was like peak Volkswagen,

because you could still buy the Eurovan in the United States in 2002.

Oh, wow.

You know, the new Beetle was still new, right?

Yeah.

We still think of that as new that's 25 years old too.

I think they just called that what, last year or something?

The Jetta, that was like peak Jetta, right?

R32, was it the Golf R32?

Yeah, yeah, and it still had a manual.

I mean, you know, the Passat, you could get the Passat with the W8.

Yeah.

The next year in 2003, you could get the Fayton, right?

Oh my God.

With either a V8 or a W12.

This was, those were magic times for Volkswagen.

I know how the mighty have fallen.

Yeah, yeah.

So Dan, I think Ryan and I, and maybe you were with Ryan,

we've both seen that same Fayton at the Peterson.

I don't know if it's still lurking around or if it's part of

the word, but I love that thing.

I think it got sold.

I don't know, but I think it got sold.

Yeah.

You don't see them anymore, do you?

No, no.

No, I mean, it was such a rare sighting even in the moment.

And then, so to see one within the last couple of years was like,

wait, I've got to be imagining this.

Yeah, it was an excellent example, if I recall.

And it was the W12, because you could also get them the V8,

you know, and if you're not familiar with the car,

it was like this Passat extra, right?

It was basically a Bentley, right?

Well, yeah, it was their attempt at a luxury car,

and it was equivalent, like at least to the consumer,

it was equivalent to an A8, but it also had an A8 price tag.

And I remember multiple people saying like, well,

if I'm paying this, and unfortunately, if I'm getting,

I'm not getting the cache of the Audi label,

but I'm paying an Audi price,

like why wouldn't I just go buy the A8?

And so it was a great car.

I actually got to see them when they debuted,

speaking of our most recent episode with Andy,

or our most recent non-bonus episode with Andy Steinhauser,

I got to see it at the LA Auto Show when they debuted.

When it was new, yeah.

Yeah, when it first came out, and it was striking.

Like it was a beautiful car.

But yeah, the comment was like, okay, but it's not an Audi.

So I think that was a tough thing for it to overcome.

Yeah, we talk about when OEMs have just sort of like

the perfect lineup, right?

Like when all the stars align,

we talk about early 90s Nissan, right?

And the maximum of the four-door sports car,

the introduction of the Altima, the 300ZX, the 240SX,

that OG Pathfinder with a little triangle window.

Like, you know, I mean, it was just, that was it, right?

Like 1990 Nissan dealership, right?

You know, Honda, right?

Maybe a couple of years before that,

when you'd walk in or when they introduced

the new Accord in 1990.

And I feel like Volkswagen in the,

that really the mid-2000s was about as good

as Volkswagen ever got.

And it's just, unfortunately,

it's not quite the same anymore for a number of reasons.

But that Tuareg, to come back to that,

was overbuilt, like you wouldn't believe.

I don't know if either one of you have ever driven one,

but when we were shopping for our Tiguan,

when the Tiguan was still a relatively new thing,

I wanted a Tuareg.

I wanted like a two-year-old Tuareg,

but you know, we then wanted the warranty

and everything else, got the Tiguan.

But even though they kind of looked the same,

it was not this, you know, that Tuareg was a rig.

You know, that was something you could off-road.

You know, it was just,

it was a special overbuilt thing,

much like the Fayton or the Passat W8 or what have you.

And I don't know, pour one out, I guess, huh?

Yeah.

It's gone.

As I was reading today or yesterday,

the ID buzz is on hold.

Yes, I saw that.

Is this a tariffs thing?

What is this?

It's a demand.

Sales, yeah.

Yeah.

Demand.

You're just not selling?

They're just not selling.

To the real shame, because I liked it when I drove it.

Yeah.

So is it a price?

You got to drive one when we were at the Seattle Auto Show

last year.

Which was probably this time last year, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was coming up.

I think it was early November.

But they, you know, they had that stop sale

on them with no explanation.

And the rumors were that it was because

they just weren't selling

and that they were trying to mitigate it

by just saying like, oh, well, we're going to pause sales.

And so I wonder if this is kind of they've

accepted like it's just not happening.

And so they're like, yeah, we're just going to pause sales

or we're going to pause the manufacturing

because they're not selling.

So obviously at the end of September,

the credits ended in lots of states.

And I wonder if that was the nail on the coffin

for the moment.

It's a good theory.

I'm going to say once they started slapping

the vinyl wood on the side, a lot of PT Cruiser,

I started questioning maybe the state of things.

It's a real shame because I've still only seen a handful

out and about and the whole family makes a point.

Oh, yeah, there's, you know, the new Volkswagen bus

or whatever, right?

They mean they're they they make a statement

and they're cool and I've not driven one.

But I think they're neat.

And what a shame, you know, because we, you know,

we sit and we whine about, you know,

we're all have all the interesting cars gone, right?

Well, then we have to buy them when they show up.

Yeah.

But aren't they like 80 grand?

Yeah, they're not cheap.

Yeah, that's an easy car to love.

That wasn't it?

Like just to look at it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you can't hate on that, right?

You have to look at that and smile.

But I got to say, other than when it was first introduced

and they did that, it was the Californians parody

on the Volkswagen, you know, commercial.

I don't think I've seen a bit of advertising

for that thing since.

Nice.

I may have seen a train at her too.

But yeah, like don't quote me on it.

And I actually saw one on one of my road trips

over the summer.

I saw a solid black one, which was really unique

and striking, especially because most of them

are the white with a color on the bottom.

Right, right.

One that was all one color and then black

was the only one I've ever seen like that.

And it was it was very stealth.

It's like, oh, wait, I think I could like really get into that.

I like that.

And I'll make a prediction that it will come back

with with an internal combustion engine

and can't call it the buzz anymore.

It was called the bus, but it'll come back.

They've put too much investment in the thing.

It's too good.

I think they just they swung and missed with it

just being only electric.

Yeah, I think I would follow with a lot of,

I mean, Porsche has retracted like that's

they're not the only ones that might be pivoting on that.

Yeah.

I think it will come back.

But I don't think it'll have an ice engine.

I think it will come back with much more range

because I think that's what it needs.

I think if you can get something that's got 500 miles out of them

for a similar price, and I guess the timing there is just battery tech.

Yeah.

I think it then becomes more appealing.

But I think it was like less than 300 mile range,

if I remember rightly.

You've got the room.

It's not like it's some subcompact, right?

I mean, you've got like, that's the thing you've got room for batteries in, right?

Four and all that.

So interesting.

Well, and like you said, if it's not a cheap car

and if the range feels a lot more limited, that's a harder sell

than if you've got something where you're like, yeah, like it's electric

and it's a little bit pricier, but it's a really cool thing.

And I know I can take it and go on these trips.

I'm not worried about it.

That's it.

It's not a Nissan Leaf.

It's a road trip car.

It's got to be able to make road trips, right?

It has to actually be able to take the trips.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, watch this space.

I feel like we're saying that a lot with a lot of OEMs.

It's kind of, we're going to look back on this time period as the sort of like,

okay, we'll check back and see which direction they decided to go.

Yeah.

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Going right.

So would you like my Derritam Scott collection?

I was going to say, I like this evening.

Yeah, I like your vest.

I'm very listening.

Do you want to explain what you're wearing?

Oh sure, I've got a Colorado Grand vest.

It's not a John Dicey knock off to you.

No, but I would take one of those two preferably very large and on a t-shirt,

maybe something sleeveless.

Yeah.

So yeah, Colorado Grand, the famous Colorado Grand Aero.

And we of course had Derritam Scott and Tattoo Otis on a few weeks ago.

And then the following week, there they were on the Carmudgeon show as they should be

and resplendent in their grand gear.

So I'm just.

He's your fashion muse now?

That's right.

I think it's my lifestyle muse.

I think those guys haven't all figured out so those guys when they came to the grand,

right, the rest of us from the grand gear, they had their own OTS OTS as their business.

They had their own branded OTS gear on.

They had, well, the rest of us were in these, you know, I don't know,

vests and coats and things.

They cut quite a profile in matching white.

Let's call them Italian valet jackets, right, for lack of a better, you know,

and like that cut.

Yeah, very elegant and right.

Yeah.

And so anyway, I should be following that show jackets.

Yeah.

I don't think the tailored fit is.

I don't think Italian valet is.

I think they're young.

Workshop chic is the look.

There you go.

That's right.

Yeah.

Did you guys see that Leah Block has a new project car?

No, what is it?

So you need to get a blockhouse racing to check it out.

But car of the moment, maybe, I guess when you sell a car,

it becomes car of the moment is a GR Corolla.

So I know Ryan, you've got in a couple of weeks.

Leah Block is starting a project to modify one.

Nice.

I think it needs that.

I think it needs a little injection, right, of something.

Drive it first.

Once you've driven it, then comment.

Okay, okay.

Yeah.

I just feel like they were like the next big thing there for a minute.

Just don't hear the talk anymore.

I'll go on record.

I've been a passenger in one.

I've never spent any time as a driver.

And I wanted to get one of the last 2025s before they were

replaced with the 26 in the press fleets.

Because I understand for 26 there are some changes.

And Danny may know more than I.

You owned a GR Corolla.

You no longer own a GR Corolla.

Right.

Now it's cool.

Your timing is impeccable, Dan.

I mean, you liked it, but did you love it?

Because if you loved it, would you still have it?

There was a logistics challenge.

There was a, like if I had loads of space for different cars

and loads of money, then I'd have another one.

Like it's as simple as that, but I don't.

So, you know, two car solutions and three cars doesn't work, right?

And I'm excited to drive it in Colorado,

because I think it's such a great Colorado car, right?

It's like a WRX, but with, you know, more guts.

And you know, this one's a manual.

So I'm excited for that.

And yeah, I'll get to spend the week with it, you know?

I don't know.

I'm going to take it up in the mountains.

We've got some snow.

I, you know, probably has P4Ss or something.

I'm retired.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to beating on it a little.

I'm looking forward to driving it responsibly.

Yeah.

I'd like to go on record as saying

I will be fully respectful of the car at the end.

Absolutely.

You know I am.

Yeah.

I could never hurt a car.

No.

Yeah.

I'm excited to see what you think of it.

Yeah, I am too.

So that's why I'm bringing up the rear blocks, pick one.

She's working on one and you know.

That's really cool.

What's she going to do with it?

Like is it a, is it a powertrain thing?

Is it a styling exercise, a little bit of everything?

Like what's?

I think if you look at the history of the cars that

she's had, like, you know, she had an Audi

short wheelbase for example, you know, they go to town

and they do everything.

So.

Excellent.

Yeah.

But I mean, Johnny's already done that, hasn't he?

On his car.

Yeah, that's right.

Have you been in his car, Lindsey?

I haven't.

No.

No, but I love the blue.

Yeah, this is Johnny Lieberman who was on the show

and he has customized his GR Corolla.

There's nothing left untouched, I think, right?

Pure and.

Sounds like it.

Some things have been done three or four times.

Yeah, because he was getting, what was it?

They were sending him, I think, like the USB

and they were flashing it daily and then looking

at the ratings and then adjusting and yeah.

That sounded like they were having a lot of fun with that.

Yeah.

That's good.

Definitely report back.

Yeah.

I don't know if it's true or not, but this story appeared

in Top Gear Philippines and.

That's like no, it's true.

We're big there too for the record.

That's right.

That's where we're at number 68 in that chart.

But they they shared a story about a couple

in the UK, actually who are very near to where

I went to university.

Oh, really?

And what do you do when you celebrate 70 years of marriage?

Go buy a 9-11.

You go buy a 9-11, but you go buy a GT3.

There you go.

So if this story is true, it's probably the story

that has broken the internet this week in terms of.

Just a heartwarming story about how, you know,

you celebrate 70 years together by buying

one of the best sports cars you can buy.

Yeah.

I wondered if this was true.

I think it was my dad who first sent this to me,

like I get all my best, you know, news items.

You really do have your own research assistant.

It's just your dad.

He's a real live boy.

But this couple in the picture, like, you know,

like when you see an AI-generated image,

you just can't quite put your finger on it

on Canny Valley or whatever.

And, you know, just these two were just too perfect.

And I think it is legit.

I think this is a real couple.

But now it's been picked up and, you know,

and kind of like a copy of a copy.

And people have added new, you know,

new twists to the story.

They're embellishing the story.

New jokes because it's like the cutest-looking couple, right?

Right.

And then the article you sent me, Dan, said that,

but this is nothing new for them because in 2015,

they picked up a new TTS or something, or TTRS,

and they drove to Norway and back.

So.

But then, no, they're new.

I know.

I mean, put on them, you know.

And if they are fake, you know,

people are having relationships with chatbots now.

I mean, this can be my chatbot-spirit animal, these two.

You know, it's-

Yeah, that's sad.

We wish them the best, whether they exist or not.

It was funny because it prompted me this morning to text

our friend at Porsche Colorado Springs,

and I asked him, what is the oldest person you've sold a car to?

And he said, well, I once sold a car to a guy who was half blind.

And the next day, his kids brought the car back.

To me, it was anonymous, but we know who you are, John.

Well, you hear stories like this, and I'm not-

This would never happen with John or at Porsche Colorado Springs,

of course.

But you hear stories about, you know,

some guy walks in and, you know, walks out with, like,

you know, three different undercoding packages,

this kind of thing.

But these two people seemed like legit.

They seemed, if real, seemed like the real deal.

And I mean, why not, you know?

I mean, I saw it, and I just, I think I,

like, I just loved it so much.

It was like, what a perfect way to celebrate.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Good on them.

Good on them, that's what I'd say.

But is it a stick?

Don't know.

In the picture, I'm looking at the picture now,

there is a stick, but it's one to walk with, I think.

You gotta refine your question, Ryan.

If you look in the back corner,

there is a walking stick.

Okay, well, this is a guy.

This is a couple.

I'll give them a pass if they go PDK.

I think they look like PDK drivers.

At this point, they may have been manual drivers in the past.

Nobody's going to be there.

Yeah, exactly.

If we're so lucky, right?

They'll do the same thing.

So good on them.

Yeah, that's it.

Maybe we get them on the show.

Have you seen them on Spikes Car Radio yet?

Because I haven't.

I mean, let's lock this in.

Yeah.

Yeah, Dan, they're from your town.

They are from my universe.

Yeah, make it happen.

Make it happen.

Let's go find them.

They come back and be like, so they don't exist, but it's fine.

I really hope they do exist.

It's the best story ever.

It's the best story.

It's the story you want to exist, isn't it?

It's the story that you want to have.

Especially as car people.

And it's like the intersection of car people

and hopeless romantics.

And you're just like, yes, I love all of it.

Yeah, I want to say mic drop.

But when you're 92, maybe that's not the phrase to use.

Yeah, just drop.

Oh, no.

Oh, man.

I know.

I hope it's real.

And I hope they're enjoying the hell out of that car.

Should we make it competition time?

Yes, let's do it.

Yeah.

So in the latest round of winning a Sheffield watch,

and just to be clear, this is a watch of your choosing.

It's not like we're going to make you have one

that's not selling or anything like that.

It's just like you can go onto the website.

You can say, I want that watch.

And if you win the competition, we will get that watch sent to you.

So what we thought we would do this week

is something slightly different.

So these are high value, really good watches.

We all wear them.

We all have them.

We all take them out.

So we want to make your work a little bit harder

and a little bit differently this time to win the watch.

And what we would love you to do

is please drop us a comment on either Spotify.

I nearly said Shopify for some reason.

But Spotify.

The ads are working.

That's right.

Teemu.

Teemu, drop us a comment on Shopify on the show.

Not my just personal playlist.

But on the show and just give us some feedback.

Maybe it's a guest that you want to see on the show.

Maybe it's a show you really enjoyed

and you're just commenting about that specific episode.

Or you can do the same on Apple Podcasts.

So the two main platforms.

And then we will take all those comments.

We will pick one at random

and notify you that you've won a Sheffield watch.

And if you want to have a look at what watches you could win,

go on to SheffieldWatches.com.

I'm really enjoying the rally,

which is one I received about three weeks ago.

I've got the Spikes Ky radio one on today,

but I'm really enjoying the rally.

I think it's very unique.

Lindsay, you got a pink one recently.

Is that right?

I did.

And I have been reaching for that more than anything,

which won't surprise anybody that's watching us

because I'm wearing a sweater that's bright pink too.

And all of the Sheffield Watches make me smile.

That one in particular, because it's so bright,

especially in the Pacific Northwest,

where it has now gotten gray for the duration.

So it's nice to have some bright pops of color.

But I've also been reaching for my Spikes Car Radio

because it's just so classic and goes with blue.

Really well.

So I really love all of them.

Roy, I wear the yellow QL1.

I wear more than probably any other watch.

And one could say it's just because

it's a quartz watch with a battery

and I don't have to set the time,

you know, but it's super low profile.

It doesn't snag and stuff.

It looks good.

I get more comments on that thing.

You know, what is that?

Because it's got the dial that's, you know,

what are we calling that dial?

Oh, it's a pilot's dial.

Yeah, it's the yeah.

It's just we're so it's kind of an angle.

And yeah, I don't know.

Designs to be worn on the inside of your wrist, right?

Which I do not do, but part of it.

So when you're driving instead of having to turn your wrist,

you can just look up.

I'm going to try that the next time I'm driving.

I'm going to just see what that's all about.

And then flash it to number two in the Polestar.

Do the wave with the hand that has the watch on the inside.

There you go.

So just in summary, if you want to win a watch,

we're going to pick it random, but you've got to put a comment

on either Spotify or Apple podcasts.

And it's specific to our shows.

So put a comment about either future guests

or something you would like feedback wise

or something that you've really enjoyed.

So that's how you could win.

Yeah.

And best of luck to everyone.

Yeah, indeed, indeed.

If you win, Dan will show up at your door with a giant check.

And yeah, Sheffield.

Did you have that in the UK?

That was like such a part of our television landscape

in the U.S. growing up, right?

We do like Publishers Clearinghouse.

No, we didn't.

We used to get the TV commercials where the dude

would turn up and promise to do,

to turn people's whites even whiter with detergent.

We had that too.

Yeah.

That and we had the woman that would show up

and talk to you about dish soap.

Yeah, there we go.

So if you don't comment.

If you don't comment on either of those two platforms,

we'll send someone around to talk to you about dish soap.

Really, everyone wins is the way it works.

Yes, yes.

What have we got coming up?

Anything exciting coming up, folks?

Part of the Diablo, which he's milking till.

He's just going to sit there with the devil horn.

It's like, I don't know if you know.

Lindsay, what have you got coming up?

I'm going to try.

This weekend is not looking promising.

It's looking like it's going to be very

a lot of precipitation up here,

but I'm going to try and get out for another drive

as soon as it's sunny and I have the time

because it's not below freezing yet.

And I feel like I want to ring the driving season

for as much as I can, at least.

Nice.

And the thing above, I've been above that.

The downhill is going to be the highlight, right?

But what else have you got?

I'm going to do the same.

I mean, the driving season here in Denver is,

it seems like a bit of an extended summer,

but eventually we're going to see some snow.

It's getting down to freezing at night.

If you live in Denver, chances are,

you have a sprinkler system,

and then there's this ritual in the fall

of blowing out the sprinkler system.

So that has happened.

So that's kind of the telltale sign,

the beating heart of winter.

So yeah, I know it's around the coast.

So yeah, I want to go out and drive as well.

Big fuel fed, if you live in the Denver area,

I'll give a plug to fuel fed.

Fuel fed has the final boulder.

I'll never remember what they call the thing.

It's not cars and coffee.

Cars and caffeine or caffeine in cars or whatever.

It's on Pearl Street and boulder.

That's this Sunday.

And I'm going to try to make it to that.

Always fun.

And yeah, last one of the season, right?

I mean, yeah.

I think, yeah, you guys are having a longer season.

I think all the cars and coffees here

have pretty much topped up.

Really?

Yeah.

Well, I might go down on Sunday to Malibu

and the coffee shop.

Maybe I'll get enough courage to challenge

caught to pink slips.

Who knows?

We will see.

So tune in next week to see who won.

Yeah, where Dan's car is gone.

Or at least coffee vouchers.

Yes, race for coffee vouchers.

I like that.

That's less risk, isn't it?

That's so Malibu.

Right.

That's a bit safer.

I feel way more comfortable racing for coffee vouchers

than racing for pinks, right?

Yeah.

It's good coffee.

Could that be a title for our show?

Racing for coffee vouchers.

Yeah.

Coffee vouchers.

Good boy.

It's good to be.

That's how Southern California is that.

Like, talk about tying up cars,

like tying together cars and coffee in the best way.

Yeah.

Would there anything else people wanted to talk about this week?

I thought it was really interesting that you brought up

the Toyota bringing the century,

or turning the century as a brand here in the States.

You know, it's been a car in Japan.

And at least one of the articles I was reading about it,

I was really intrigued by the way they were talking about

what they are hoping to do with the century brand,

and particularly in relation to the Lexus brand.

That's the question.

Because the way, at least the interview that I read,

they were talking about the intent is for century

to be thought of as kind of the premier luxury brand.

So that Lexus can be quote freer.

And what struck me is, you know,

Lexus has built up this kind of loyal following

over the years.

And they've been known as, to me,

the way they were describing the century

as kind of this peak luxury brand.

And that's what they stand for.

And it's quality and people know they're dependable,

but also really nice cars.

And so I'm curious, like I'd love to know

kind of the backstory on that because

with century being a new brand,

I was reading it going, well, wait a minute.

So you're going to try and seemingly

give the market share of Lexus to century

and then have Lexus go off and be, who knows what?

So I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

Yeah, don't you think that Lexus has progressively gotten

sportier and sort of gotten further away from its luxury roots?

So I think that's where century comes in.

That said, it's a weird, like if you've been to Japan,

if you're a JDM person, you know about century,

but 99% of Americans don't, that doesn't mean anything to them.

Right.

So century almost sounds like, I mean,

there was a Buick century, right?

Like, I don't know if that name is necessarily

hitting for me, at least as an American, but...

No, I think it's evoking the Buick.

Yeah.

I don't know, like...

If you're going in above Lexus, right?

I mean, famously when Lexus first came out,

people like Porsche took in Lexuses to test,

and they would use them for noise testing specifically.

So they said benchmarks were really early on.

Right.

So why do you do away with all that hard work that's gone in?

And I can only think that Lexus then becomes more of a lifestyle brand.

So it becomes the brand for golfers or the brand for people that like to go off-roading

or the brand that people who, I don't know, play tennis,

they are sporty, but they still don't have, I guess,

what I would call really sporty cars.

They're luxury cars.

They're like GT cars.

Yes, yes.

I had a...

Is it the LC or the LS500, the convertible V8?

LC, right.

Yeah, LC, luxury coupe.

There we go.

But they're not sporty sporty.

Like, they're not Porsche sporty,

or they're not.

So, but I think if they go lifestyle, but I think, you know,

establishing a new brand that's luxury and probably going up against Mercedes-Benz,

it's like, tough gig.

Or even Bentley.

Especially because they've invested so much in Lexus,

which I think up to this point does hold its own with kind of the big name,

you know, longer running luxury brands.

So like, you know, I'm really curious to see how this plays out,

because I went, yeah, you've done all this work to establish Lexus,

and it has this market share and this loyal following.

And yeah, it's fascinating.

Will they do a V12, which they're known for in Japan, right?

Really?

They do a V12 century sedan or something, at least for a short time.

Yeah, it's an interest.

You know, they're still one of the V8 holdouts, right?

I mean, if you want a V8 in a car, right, you know,

Lexus is really one of the few brands, you can get something like that.

It's interesting.

Back in the day, Dan, I don't know in the UK, but Lindsay,

you remember when Infinity and Lexus were new,

and you know, Infinity very famously had their naturalistic sort of like,

if a haiku or a car, right, it would have been Infinity.

And at about the same time that Lexus was a thing,

and they totally ate the S-class, you know,

down to the headlights and everything else.

You know, were you Camp Infinity or Camp Lexus back in the day?

Did you have a favorite?

I was more Camp Skeptic, because like you said,

I remember when those brands came into being,

and it was very like up to that point,

luxury cars had been really Mercedes and BMW.

And Audi was there, but didn't have, you know,

nearly the market share.

No, no, no.

You know, so I remember just kind of going like, well,

what is this?

And in a lot of ways, they were just rebadged Toyotas,

or you know, Nissan's, and then Honda had Acura, obviously.

And it was like, well, is this really a thing?

Like, is this going to be a going concern?

And obviously the cars became more differentiated,

the luxury brands versus the sort of standard models.

But yeah, initially it was like,

you're paying a lot of money for a name, like a different badge.

So yeah, that's my, I was Team Skeptic.

Did you have the two options in the UK,

and were they called Infinity and Lexus or?

Not early on, early on there was just Lexus.

So Infinity came much later, I think,

because they were part of also part of the Renault group.

And we do, I don't even know if we had Acura.

I think we had Acura, but not, it was all Honda.

Like for us, the NSX was branded Honda,

whereas there was an Acura over here.

Well, I think back then too, you know,

that Infinity really styled themselves after BMW.

Look at the Q45, that was a seven series, right?

I mean, that I think was the distinction

that Infinity was always the sporty brand.

I mean, was last year heard anything about Infinity really?

And Acura, like Acura is not on my radar anymore,

but yet I've driven a couple new Acuras, and they're fantastic.

They're like the Honda of your, right?

Like they still have that inherent goodness.

But I feel like, I guess what I'm getting at is

Lexus is really the only of the three

that really is kind of relevant currently, right?

So it's strange to me that they would roll the dice with it, you know?

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's what it felt like reading,

you know, what they're hoping for.

Like, is this really the way we need to be going?

That's right, send us some Century Press cars when they're out.

I know, yeah, yeah.

V12s, the good news is with Toyota is, you know,

they're the number one, aren't they?

They're the highest performing automotive company in the world.

So, you know, they can afford to try some things,

take some risks.

Yeah, well, I wonder how much of that,

like bringing the Century here as a brand,

how much of that is, because it's been this very established,

luxurious model in Japan as a singular model.

So maybe this is the way to sort of mitigate

like the intersection of like it was one brand,

you know, one model, but we didn't have it here.

So like you said, Ryan, like we don't know

the only Century reference we have is the Buick.

They're making them anyway, right?

Might as well try to sell them other places.

Yeah.

So there's that.

Yeah.

Why not?

Watch out for the press car and the article online.

Autoblog.com.

If only they would follow me back on Instagram.

That's, that's what really burns me.

And so you need to,

you need to put that in as jokes every time.

Like at the end of your article,

just, you know, love note to them following them.

Absolutely.

Yeah, and see if they pick up the hints.

But you've got a few articles coming out, haven't you?

Autoblog, can you talk about them or is it too early?

So, well, I'll tell you about another one.

I'll tell you about one more.

So I definitely want to write about our pal,

Tom's GT3 RS40, but more, I guess,

more forthcoming in the pipeline.

Actually, we're talking about Jay and Sheffield watches.

Jay Turkbuss.

Nice.

So I sat down with him last week in a nice discussion

about sort of the genesis, if you will,

of Sheffield and his story.

Nicely done.

And he sent over some pictures today

because I need some pictures for the article.

And so there's some great shots and stuff.

I really, really wanted, you know,

there's this legend of him getting this,

you know, Sheffield watch when he was 15 or 12 or whatever it was, right?

And I was hoping, hoping, hoping that there was a picture of him

like standing proudly with this.

Ironically, I do not have a Sheffield watch if you're watching this.

Don't look too closely, but anyway, moving on.

I will tomorrow.

You know, so I'm really actually very excited about that

because he's got a great story.

Jay's a great guy.

And, you know, you know,

Autoball's got like 2.3 million sets of eyeballs every day or something.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to sharing Jay's story.

So that'll be the next one, you know.

Right.

And eventually I'll get this Diablo article out, I swear.

Yes.

Yeah.

Third time.

The Diablo article is just the perpetual tease.

He's like, by the way, I already know I'm never going to drive it,

but I'm just going to keep teasing.

Yeah.

Next week.

I'll read all the other ones in between.

I got to get, so enough plugs for me.

How about a plug for Tori who had an article in the Autopian this week?

That's right.

He did.

When you talk about that, like that hit me out of, you know,

that was on the left field.

You know, I mean, again, make no small plans.

It was great.

He, he wrote about.

Right.

About the car that he built and more,

he more so focused on the actual VW scene in the 80s in Southern California.

Yeah.

That was great.

And yeah, he's written for the Autopian like over the years.

He'll write about when there's, when there's something for him to write about.

So yeah, it's really fun.

What a talented bunch.

But I know these people, you know, I know this is.

Well, he's because he knows Jason.

He got to know Jason Torchinsky in Pennsylvania

because they both had you goes.

I think there you go.

See, now you know.

That's that.

Yeah, we do.

Yes.

Be a fun guy.

Yeah.

I said they would come on.

So that's another first rule of you go club though.

You don't talk about you go.

For very different reasons.

No, then fight club.

Right.

Good point.

Yeah.

Right on.

Yes.

You can tell I'm a, you can tell I'm not really a member of the you go club

because I didn't know that.

There we go.

And that's a proud thing.

You should be, you should be glad about that.

I nearly bought one and I'm lucky I didn't.

But yeah.

How long ago was that?

When I was, well, yeah.

When I was 17.

Okay.

All right.

Well, then you forget.

Let's strip this last one.

That was nearly my first car where I was talked out of it.

So it had like a body kit on it and wings.

And it was cheap and it looked good.

Just to keep it like, you know, stuck to the road at high speeds.

Right.

Yeah.

Active downforce.

It looks good.

And it was a car, but I didn't buy it.

Amazing.

It's all good.

It's amazing.

Are we at a show?

That's a show.

It's a good show.

Yeah.

We covered a lot of ground tonight.

Yeah.

Next week's guests, this is hot off the press.

We have Danica Patrick and Jensen Button.

So don't forget to tune in for that one.

Both of them together.

That is going to be a corker.

But I guess we've got the phrase that pays.

And remember, always be driving.

Thanks so much for joining us.

And we'll see you next week.

Until next week.

0:00

64:44

Milking it

Volkswagen convertible

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

Volkswagen New Beetle

About this episode

Original notes