Monster Jam Driver Nicole Johnson: When Your Job IS Destroying Cars
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Oct 15, 2024
Monster Jam Driver Nicole Johnson: When Your Job IS Destroying Cars
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Car
Jeep YJ
The Jeep YJ is a type of Jeep that is built for off-roading. It was made in the early 1990s and is known for being tough and able to handle rough terrain.
Concept
rock crawling
Rock crawling is when vehicles drive over big rocks and rough ground. It needs special cars and skills to do it safely without breaking anything.
Concept
King of the Hammers
King of the Hammers is a big off-road race in California where drivers compete on rocky and fast desert trails. It's famous for being really tough and exciting.
Term
four wheeling
Four wheeling means driving a car that can use all four wheels to help it move better on rough ground. It's great for going off-road where the roads aren't smooth.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster and handle tougher terrains better.
Concept
monster trucks
Monster trucks are big vehicles with huge tires that can drive over cars and do tricks. They are often seen in shows where they perform exciting stunts.
Term
suspension
The suspension is the system in a car that connects the body to the wheels. It helps make the ride smoother by absorbing bumps in the road.
Term
sprung weight
Sprung weight is the weight of the parts of a car that the suspension holds up, like the body and engine. It affects how smooth the ride is when driving over bumps.
Term
trophy trucks
Trophy trucks are special racing trucks made for driving fast over rough ground, like deserts. They have strong suspensions to help them bounce over bumps smoothly.
Car
Renault 5
The Renault 5 is a small car made by the French company Renault. It was popular in Europe and had sporty versions that were used in racing.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is a famous car from the 1950s known for its unique doors that open upwards. It's a powerful and beautiful sports car that many people admire.
Car
De Tomaso Pantera
The De Tomaso Pantera is a sports car that was made in Italy and is famous for its speed and unique look. It has a powerful engine and is loved by car fans.
Car
Pontiac Solstice
The Pontiac Solstice is a small sports car made by the Pontiac brand. It was produced for a few years and is known for its unique design and fun driving experience.
Car
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche 987 Boxster is a model of Porsche's two-seat convertible sports car made from 2005 to 2012. It has a mid-engine design, which helps it handle well on the road.
Term
rear-engine
A rear-engine car has its engine placed at the back, which can change how the car drives and handles. It's a setup that can make sports cars feel different and exciting to drive.
Term
mid-engine
A mid-engine car has its engine located in the middle of the car, which helps it handle better when turning. It's a popular design for sports cars because it makes them feel more balanced and responsive.
Term
RPM
RPM means how many times the engine spins around in a minute. Higher RPMs usually mean the engine is working harder and can produce more power.
Term
torque
Torque is how strong an engine is when it pulls. More torque means the car can start moving faster and carry heavier loads, especially when the engine is running at lower speeds.
Car
Mercury Monterey
The Mercury Monterey is a big car that was made for families, known for being comfortable and having a lot of space inside. It was popular in the past, especially in the 1950s and 60s, and people talk about it because it reminds them of older American cars. It has a classic look that many car lovers appreciate.
Car
Austin Healey Sprite
The Austin Healey Sprite is a small sports car from the 1950s and 60s, famous for its cute, bug-like appearance. It's popular among classic car enthusiasts.
Term
Hemi
Hemi is short for hemispherical engine, which means the shape of the engine's combustion chamber is round like a half-sphere. This design helps the engine run better and produce more power.
Car
Dodge Colt
The Dodge Colt is a small car that was made by Dodge. The 1988 version was simple and cheap, making it a common choice for first-time drivers.
Car
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a small car that many people like because it's dependable and gets good gas mileage. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a cool car.
Term
blowing up the motor
When someone says they 'blew up the motor,' it means their car's engine broke down completely, usually because it didn't have enough oil or got too hot.
Term
oil
Oil is a liquid that helps keep a car's engine running smoothly. If there's no oil, the engine can get damaged and stop working.
Car
Ferrari 348
The Ferrari 308 GTS is a stylish sports car made by Ferrari in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It's known for being very fast and fun to drive, and it was featured in a popular TV show called 'Magnum, P.I.' People talk about it because it's a classic car that many fans of sports cars admire.
Car
Ferrari 348 Spider
The Ferrari 348 Spider is a type of sports car made by Ferrari. It's a convertible, which means the roof can be opened, and it's known for being fast and stylish.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time, starting in the 1960s. It's known for being really fun to drive and has a unique shape that many people recognize. People talk about it because it's considered one of the best sports cars ever made.
Car
Model A
The Model A is an old car made by Ford that was popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was known for being a good car for regular people to buy.
Car
Porsche 924
The Porsche 924 is a type of sports car made by Porsche. It was built to be more affordable and has a design that helps it handle well on the road.
Brand
Jeep
Jeep is a car brand famous for making tough vehicles that can go off-road. They started making cars during World War II, and now they are known for their SUVs and trucks.
Car
Deloreans
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a unique car known for its shiny metal body and doors that open upwards. It became really popular because it was featured in the 'Back to the Future' movies. People often talk about it because of its cool look and the interesting story behind the company that made it.
LIVE
Welcome back, Planet Earth, to all the cars I've loved before, your podcast, where every
car tells a story, your past, your future, your parents, the people you grew up with, you know,
you weren't riding around in wagons or sleighs, it was cars, so life lessons through cars.
And it's been a while since we've recorded.
This is Christian with my esteemed partner, Doug.
How you doing over there?
Doing great.
Good to be back with you.
Indeed indeed.
Yeah, I had a big month of June.
We're not really going to get into it much, because we have such a fascinating guest this
week, but took several trips to the Mid-Atlantic for work, and then went to Ireland for a week
for pleasure.
They drive on the left-hand side of the road, which is, if you've never done it before,
you've got to be careful, the roads in Ireland are very skinny, they're scribed by rock
walls on either side, sometimes you go down the side road, it's only one car at
a time.
Almost died twice, but here to tell the tale.
Let's get on to today's interview.
You've heard of the expression Renaissance man, well, I'm going to coin a new one, Renaissance
woman, because our guest has really been around the world, done it all, done so many different
things.
Nicole Johnson, a died in the wool.
How you doing today, Nicole?
I'm well.
Thank you so much for having me on, I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for being part of our world, and just a couple of highlights that I really
don't know where to start or where to stop, and walking through the resume a little bit.
Your website is nicolejohnsendetour, because it's like plural, but you can't put little
apostrophe.
It's nicolejohnsendetour.com.
You're going on my detour vicariously with me.
You can find it on YouTube.
Nicole started with driving monster trucks and being very successful in that realm.
I'm going to say what, from the early aughts to 2016, do I have that date range?
Well, that's not where I started.
That's how I got into monster trucks because of where I started, because you don't just
show up.
You don't just walk in and say, hey, I want to be on monster truck driver.
You know the number one question I was constantly asked, how do I become a monster
truck driver?
Or what's it like being a woman driving a monster truck?
And I'd be like, oh, probably the same as being a guy driving a monster truck.
I mean, I don't know.
You just push the gas, steer it.
But anyhow, the number one question I was constantly asked was, how do I become a
monster truck driver?
So I'm going to ask you, what do you think the answer to that is?
Well, like any other overnight success, years and years of prep, you become a rock
crawl.
Yeah, be it first.
And maybe you started off with a Jeep, something like that.
So you do have to start in another discipline, or you can just pony up, go build yourself
a quarter million dollar monster truck and show up.
But that's not usually how people get started.
If you want to.
So like I was a fly in driver, velled motorsports, monster jam owned the truck and all of the
rights to it.
I would just show up, which isn't a bad gig at all because I didn't have to
rent, I didn't have to find sponsorship.
It was pretty easy.
But you have to start with something else, or they're not going to even let you
test drive.
So I was fortunate that I was in the right place at the right time when I got that
opportunity to go test drive.
And yeah, so rock crawling, you know, driving on big gnarly rocks and I have rolled
and crashed and done all kinds of crazy things, which was a really good, as it
turns out, a really good resume for getting into monster tracks.
You can roll and crash and still live through it.
You're great.
And what sort of cars would you?
OK, Jeeps would be an obvious, but but any other far on the rock crawling
activity circuit?
It was all custom tube chassis.
Well, I shouldn't say all of it was custom tube chassis because I started
in a vehicle that was a ninety one Y Jane.
It still had its Jeep frame rails on it.
And then everything else was that was pretty much the only thing that was still
stock on that vehicle.
And then it was just a buggy.
We would just call him a rock buggy.
And when you live out in the Western United States, we've got really dry terrain,
lots of rocks crawling.
We're going slow.
You think of Moab or if you've heard of King of the Hammers, that came along
later. But anyway, it's more rocks and rock crawling as a competition is
very precise and it's about precision.
It's not about speed.
And if you're now four wheeling in like the east somewhere,
it's rainier and wetter and muddier in trees.
And it's faster like big axles, lots of horsepower, because you've got to
fling yourself up these mountains and rocks.
And it's not as there's no precision involved.
So there's kind of two different sports under the same category as rock
crawling, really. But yeah, I started out doing rock crawling competition.
With my husband and he was my spotter.
And I drove on some of the hardest rocks that there are and learned to,
I guess, get over your fear of, you know, driving off a cliff and stuff,
or driving up to you, you know.
And so that that you thank you for explaining that because we had
questions about that in looking over your past.
And so, yeah, so that led to the very successful and groundbreaking
career in monster trucks, which if you are listening to this podcast
and have never been to one, the one word I can use to describe it is operatic.
The sights, the sounds, the brightness, the loudness of the trucks,
they kick up onto the crowd.
I think in the ones that I went to the first 10 or 20 rows are even
roped off. You can't go there for the insane amount of dirt that gets
kicked up. It's loud. You smell the exhaust.
You smell the fuel. You feel the rumble in your bones.
It's really something else.
And if you're listening to this in the United States and have never been one,
check it out. If you're somewhere in the world and you're saying,
what are these crazy Americans doing, bringing these huge trucks over here?
You've got to give it a try. It is not to be believed.
Anything to add to that, either Nicole or.
Yeah. You know, I described it as being in a cartoon.
So like people would be like, well, what's the life being in that truck?
I'm like, well, it's like you're in a cartoon because for me,
I was driving a dog. I was driving Scooby-Doo.
I had, you know, there was a big collar with a dog tag, the Scooby-Doo dog tag.
Yeah. Yeah.
Tail that was on a swing.
And so you're, you're just flying through the air with wild colors.
And like you said, really loud noises and you need to wear hearing
protection if you're in the audience, because they're 1500 horsepower.
It's a lot. It's really loud, you know, and that's all part of the show,
though. Even the way the suspension is set up is part of the show.
How much do you know about sprung versus unsprung weight?
Do you know what sprung weight is?
Not as much as you. Please, please share.
Please continue.
OK. So when you have, let's say we've got this 10,000 pound truck
and when you're at, you've seen trophy trucks and they go through the whoops.
Really, really smooth.
You can see their their axles are articulating really, really fast
at a rapid pace, but the truck stays very level, real smooth, like a Cadillac.
So what's happening is above the suspension is all the weight.
That is called sprung weight below the suspension, very light wheels and tires,
right, lightweight wheels and tires and axles and allows it to really articulate
quickly, smoothly and keep the truck super, super level.
It's exactly opposite in a monster truck because it's a lot more entertaining.
So we have in a 10,000 pound truck, we have 7,500 pounds of unsprung weight.
75 percent of that truck is the weight comes from the axles,
the wheels, the tires, each tire and wheel is 700 pounds.
So what happens is this dramatic bobble effect, it boing.
Yes, all that's a technical word boing, it boings all over the place.
And it is super entertaining, but it's also
fractures your body because you're inside of that thing boinging.
I see, I see.
Oh, it's super dramatic being in it, especially when you do a back flip.
Yeah, yeah, right.
And I can testify, the couple of shows I went to, the trucks will break.
They will break, they push these trucks to the limit.
Yeah, for sure.
You can't you can't see it over there.
The listener can only hear us, but I'm going to show you guys.
You see in the background over here, this shiny, big, giant trophy right here.
That is called the crash.
That is a 2013 crash madness of the year award because I wanted up a truck real bad.
And they give you a big booby prize.
That big old trophy right there.
Did you say crash madness?
Is that what crash crash madness?
I had the most spectacular crash of the entire year, but it totaled the trunk.
It was I never found out how much money it cost to put it together.
But it was a miracle, miracle and all the resources to get it back together
so I could be competing the next week.
It was I love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
It is real deal, right?
It is on the bookshelf with what looks like many more awards.
Israel is really I have other deposit.
Those are just too big for the box.
So I but yeah.
So so Nicole has now moved on to a new phase in her professional life.
And it is a show on YouTube called I'm going to get this wrong.
Nicole Johnson's detour.
You got it right.
It's exactly right.
Johnson's detour.com.
It's a really fun website.
Check it out in the show on YouTube is so entertaining.
Block off an hour or two because you will binge it and you've got.
I think there are three full seasons, something like over 30 episodes,
35 episodes, yeah, 35 episodes.
And there are, you know, 20, 25, 30.
We got one that's 39 minutes long.
So yeah, they're the perfect link.
They're all around 20, 25 minutes.
And I don't know how you find these people or these these automobiles.
But I was checking out the episode today.
One gentleman had a Renault and I saw a bunch of those in Ireland,
but a bunch of those in Europe never see him over here.
But the Renault are five.
The rally car that you tore up on a dirt track,
as well as the gentleman who had handcrafted.
I believe it's that yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
And then he takes you in the garage and you're taking the aluminum
between an English wheel and you're working the curves.
It was just so.
There's nothing quite like this show.
And if if you're listening to this, as soon as you're done,
you really do have to check it out and you watch it with your kids
because it's so interesting and so kinetic and colorful,
much like the guest yourself.
So Doug, which episodes have you seen?
Let's see.
So I'll save my favorite for last.
I've seen probably too many to remember.
But Dave List, I watched this morning.
That's a good one.
The Pantera, really great episode.
The Mercedes Galwing, the that's next on my list.
That's next to be with the Bandito.
Yeah. Yeah. Very, very good.
Three fifty six. Yeah.
Yeah. Three fifty six.
Yeah. Let me squeeze in here real quick.
Daedalus reminded me I had a Pontiac Solstice.
If you know what that is, it's a little green.
It was a Pontiac sports car.
And it looked just like the Daedalus, obviously.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. It was all around for a few years until J.M.
went into receivership belly up in Pontiac
and Saturday discontinued.
Sorry, partner. Go ahead.
No, no, no. It's OK.
So the Magnus Walker episode was my favorite.
Just I like Porsches.
I owned a nine nine six briefly and actually when the prices were low
and my buddies who are Porsche guys, they're like, yeah,
you know, Magnus Walker gets on and says, you know,
nine nine six is really not that bad.
And then the prices start going up again.
Right. He's so influential.
I have a nine eight seven Boxster and a nine eleven SC.
So I have to give Magnus the credit for turning me on to the air
cooled. Yeah, he's he's so passionate about it.
Once I drove his his his number two, seven, seven was the very first air
cooled nine eleven or any nine eleven I'd ever driven on a street.
So and my first one was on the dirt.
But anyway, I really got bit by that bug and only got my,
you know, nine eleven in probably December, I think he was the influence.
Yeah, there's something so great about having the engine behind you,
whether it's mid engine or rear engine and even, you know,
my plug to my Dorian, not the same, but the engine's behind me.
And I just I just like hearing it.
It's not air cooled, but yeah, air cooled is so so interesting.
See, it's just iconic, if you will.
Yeah, it's miss for all two.
I mean, just has this it's it and my car is not a fast car.
It only has, I don't know, one hundred and eighty horsepower.
It's not high powered car.
It loves to be between four and fifty five hundred RPM.
It loves that range because it's real torquey in there.
But it's a very different experience, like the steering wheel is slightly
offset and, you know, you just like it's strange ergonomics and it's just little
and you feel like you're going to get run over by people.
And it's great car.
Yeah, it's it's neat.
What year is it for the fans? Seventy eight.
Oh, I have a seventy eight.
Yeah. So my S C is a seventy eight.
Yep. In petrol, blue, metallic night.
It's a coupe and I'm actually going to be at Works Reunion at Monterey
car week next in August.
So I will and I have a little roof rack on it, which is really cool.
I got ran line, gave me a little roof rack so I can put all my shoes,
my pillows and go travel.
So I also really like the episode.
I didn't finish it admittedly about the bug-eye sprite.
And I really like the fail.
Yeah. And this is a family show.
We had Christian's sister on.
We talk about, you know, and that that gentleman, I forget his name.
He his name's Dave.
Dave grew up with that car.
Yeah. He said how long people ask,
how long did it take your dad to get this car together?
He's like, oh, about 50 years.
Yeah. I mean, his the first date with his mom was to go pick up
that body of that car and they, you know, he and his brother
both grew up with it.
It has a four seventy eight hemi in it, which that doesn't go together
in the sentence of bug-eye sprite four seventy eight hemi.
And his dad was an engineer and his dad is still alive.
Actually, you know, Dave Marion, very, very well.
We've it's funny.
I get to become friends with everybody after we film everything.
You know, we all we stay in contact.
But his dad is still alive and he was a really brilliant engineer
and completely rebuilt all of that car.
It was an incredible car.
And we did a little burnout and it was just so funny.
I was like, does your dad know we're going to do a burnout?
He'll watch the video like, let's go do a burnout.
And it pulled straight, you know, a tiny little wheelbase.
And it just pulled straight.
It didn't go squirrely on us. It was great.
Handled wonderful, cool car.
No, it was a really neat car.
And so that was probably his first car that he fell in love with.
And so that brings us to what was your first car?
So my stepdad was a thrifty car rental franchisee
when I was in high school.
We had we lived in California.
And so all of us kids kind of eventually worked at the car rental business.
And when the cars were about two years old, then they would just be sold.
So my very first car was a 1988 Dodge Colt sedan
four doors with vinyl interior that was like kind of like hard plastic.
It was a horrible little car.
Like sitting on a football helmet.
Yeah, it was just like it had bare bones.
Nothing fancy, totally stripped down, but my birthday is in January.
And so if you back it up, Christmas comes three weeks before my birthday.
And so they surprised me because they figured that I kind of figured
that I'm going to get a car for my 16th birthday.
Right. And so to surprise me, they gave it to me for Christmas.
And of course, I didn't know my license yet.
But when they weren't looking, I would sneak it out and like, you know,
when they weren't home, I would like guide to my friend's house and stuff.
I didn't have my license yet. I would sneak the car.
And I eventually totaled that car.
I got in a wreck.
My high school was in the middle of strawberry fields in California.
And we were the strawberry capital.
Oxnard, California, in Ventura County grows, has amazing soil
and we grow the best strawberries, right?
My high school, to get to it, you had to go down this really long,
straight farm road, and then there was this four-way stop.
And then the road kept going until it got to the freeway.
And then I had to take the freeway to get to get home, right?
Well, I had a car full of kids and normally my best friend
who was sitting in the passenger seat, trolling the radio.
Well, for whatever reason that day, everybody mixed it up.
She hops in the backseat.
Somebody else is in the front.
I got three other kids in the car with me.
So there's five of us were coming home from school
and somebody wants to change the radio station.
Well, I'm driving.
So that was her job, which meant I had to go do it.
I had to reach over and change the radio station.
And then I look up and this road is a, you know, a 50, 60 mile an hour
one way farm road, like just long and straight.
I look up and there is an F 250 truck in stopped
right in front of me at that four-way intersection, that four-way stop.
And I just slammed right into the back of him and my we totaled the car.
You know, nobody was severely injured.
I found out later, like, oh, yeah, everybody had whiplash
and all their parents like sued the insurance.
They probably got a few bucks.
And I never knew any of that until I was an adult.
My parents tried to probably keep that from me
so that I wouldn't feel different about my friends.
But it was, you know, it sucked.
I totaled my car.
It was a foot shorter.
It was literally a foot shorter.
Nothing wrong with the pickup truck.
Absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Not a scratch on his bumper.
That's the way. Yeah. Yeah.
So, OK, my next car was an 89 Dodge Colt.
I had an 88 Dodge Colt and then I got an 89 Dodge Colt.
We've never had that before, but that is that is very symmetrical of you.
Luckily, I actually liked the 89 because it was a hatchback.
And if you remember the Honda Civic hatchbacks of that same era,
we're kind of cool cars.
Like I was hoping if you blurred your eyes,
you thought my little red hatchback Dodge Colt was actually on the Civic
because it kind of had that vibe.
And so it was a little like I thought it was a little cooler.
And then I blew up the motor.
I didn't put any oil in it.
So I learned the hard way.
What happens if you let it go bone dry?
So I I there were these call boxes on the freeway.
Because this is before cell phones for an emergency.
Every mile there was a call box and I was on the freeway.
And this is my second Dodge Colt.
And all of a sudden it goes
and I'm all over and I don't even know what's going on, right?
It's blowing up.
I call I walk over to the call box and I called my dad and I said,
I don't know what this is the noise is making.
And he goes, you walk over there right now.
You pop the hood, pull the dipstick,
and I want you to tell me what the reading is.
OK, so I walk back to my car.
He waits, he waits.
I walk back to my car.
I come back and I say, it's dry.
He was really mad at me, real mad,
because now I just killed my second car.
And he, you know, wasn't going to let me get off that easy.
He told me when I crashed my car.
Listen, I had full coverage on that car
because I knew you were 16 and I knew you were going to be dumb.
And odds were, you were going to wreck that car.
So in this next car, you know, I'm not.
I don't even think he carried full coverage the next time around.
He was just like, look, you got your one accident out of the way.
Well, then I blew up the motor and he goes, OK,
you're going to pay for that motor.
You're going to work it off.
So I had to work, I mean, work it off.
My dad, you know, front of getting a new motor put in it.
But I had to work it off at the car rental business,
washing cars and driving customers back and picking them up
and working the counter and everything else.
So yeah, even even though I knew,
I knew the trick was if I just pulled into a gas station,
I could bat my eyelashes and the guy would check the oil.
I didn't do it. I was so dumb.
I didn't do it.
I should have batted my eyelashes
and I should have just let some guy check my oil.
And I didn't. I blew up my car.
And so the third car was a 1990 Dodge Colt.
Actually, no more Dodge Colts for you.
We know I drove it all through the rest of high school,
all through college.
And when I was in college, I commuted
because my husband had a job.
I got married at 19.
We were really young when we got married.
And I was like, I'm still going to finish school.
So we lived in Bountiful, Utah,
and I went to BYU in Pro-O, Utah.
And that was 110 miles round trip every day.
So I drove fall, winter, spring and summer
in all the bad weather in the winter.
And I took all summer classes
so I could get through my degree in four years.
And I drove for three of my four year degree
from, you know, all the way from Bountiful and back every every day.
And so when I graduated from college,
I had 150,000 miles on that car.
And then I got a job in Vegas and I kept driving that car.
And of course, I think it was a couple of years later.
And I moved to Vegas and the AC went out.
And so I drove it for an entire summer with no AC.
It was hot. It was very, it was very hot.
It was hot.
I should put it out.
And I sold it for 750 bucks and bought a dining table with it.
So I remember that the whole life it became a dining table.
And it had, I don't know, everything wrong with it by then.
But I drove the snot out of it.
So I don't know what I got after that.
I think I can I can appreciate the heat in Vegas.
And this is a quick story of Christian and I's youth.
So Christian knew I like cars, you like cars.
So we rented a for his bachelor party.
He got married in Vegas.
I was there. So we rented a Ferrari 348 spider
94 and it, you know, those fancy rentals.
They get pretty beaten up.
Air conditioning didn't work.
Let's just say we had a few drinks the night before.
We were a little star for fluids.
I could not wait to return that car.
Well, I will tell you in August in Vegas,
yeah, driving out to the Hoover Dam with the top down in the morning.
Delightful cruising the strip, you know, in bumper to bumper traffic
at noon, when it's about 112, 118 degrees.
That's what it is right down here.
That's how I write down here.
We're in the team.
Blushing.
Last week, I took my 9-11 and I drove across town
and it was in about 11 in the morning.
It was, I don't know, 105 or six degrees.
And it was about a half an hour drive each way that I went.
I needed to take it somewhere for somebody to look at the car.
And I was dripping sweat by the time I got back,
because I don't have any AC in it either.
It's hard to drive that thing in the summer.
Can imagine. Can imagine.
Yeah, no, yeah.
But and I think it's totally different how home
ACs work out there.
You have like a pad that gets so something like that.
Somebody told me about that out west.
Your home AC systems are different.
You know, if there's water involved, it's probably a swamp cooler,
but we are warm for swamp coolers.
They don't work well.
We just have regular air conditioners, you know, with the condenser and all that.
Yeah, OK, and you would die with that one.
You would really die.
Yeah, we're having a heatwave.
It's literally in the it was 120 on Sunday.
It was really hot.
But it's a dry heat.
They all say that, but it's a dry heat.
And I swear, there is a difference, at least it's human from Florida.
Like, you guys have like bugs that fly and like big cockroaches that fly.
Yeah, I was passing a cockroach on the street the other day.
And it looks up and it says, can you believe this humidity?
It was pretty awful, you know, but that's all summer.
That's for a couple of months.
And then I went out to, you know,
I've been out West, Vegas, Amarillo, Texas, where my aunt lives.
And they say it's a dry heat, true.
But it just presses down on you like nothing else, you know, that extra.
I don't know, like I sweat like crazy.
I'm originally from Louisiana, I sweat at the drop of a hat
so your body can kind of cool itself.
So the moment the humidity kicks in, I just start sweating and sweating
and cool yourself to some degree.
But something about that heat, I don't know, it's another level.
I guess it's a pick your poison kind of thing.
And to be even weirder, what I choose to do for workouts
is infrared sauna workouts.
So like this morning, I was in 130 degrees sauna.
Oh, you like to sweat, too? Yeah.
Yeah, doing doing a yoga workout.
So yeah, yeah, I think I'm conditioned for heat, though.
Yeah, I mean, I'd rather have a summer than winter.
I don't like winter. Yeah, I hear you.
Yeah. So, you know, before the show, we talked about your dad and the car.
But before the show, we were talking about I talked about my dad
and the DeLorean, which he wasn't around for.
But you mentioned a model A.
Yeah, so I had two dads because my parents divorced when I was four.
My mom remarried when I was six.
So my dad with the car rental business, who was also
prior to the car rental business was a manager of a Porsche Audi dealership.
So that's where I.
Yeah, that's how I got my mom because she went in to go buy a 924.
And so so I had a Porsche dad.
But then my my biological dad lived in Hawaii, was born and raised in Hawaii.
And he was a diesel mechanic, hot rodder,
into Panteras, and he had a model A.
And when he died, so he, you know, in probably 2003,
when my kids were little, he sold everything in Hawaii
and came to Vegas to be papa so he could be near his grandkids.
And then he died in 2010, cancer.
And we held a little memorial for him at my house
because we were going to end up burying him in Hawaii.
And I brought his model A over.
He had this green model A, the license plates that rivet like a frog.
The interior was terrible.
The interior was not done at all.
So from 50 feet away, it looked like a cute green, you know, totally.
He was all done.
Yeah, it just had a paint job on it.
He had bought it off of a friend like that.
And he never had a chance to restore it.
But in fact, the interior would catch you on fire.
Like the passenger seat frame was literally sitting on the battery
and arcing on the battery one day.
And we might like it caught fire while we were driving it one time.
Anyway, so the story with this model A is when my dad died,
I was like, it would be a cool thing to bring his model A over
and just have it in the driveway, like, like just bring his car over,
you know, and have it in the driveway.
Well, it sat in our driveway for a couple of weeks after the most
this little memorial that we had at my house.
And I needed to move it because it was blocking access to my gate.
I had to get my trailer out behind the gate.
Frank, my husband was at work.
I had never driven the model A.
I knew there was some weird procedures to starting it.
But my dad had never actually taught me what to do, how to do it.
You know, he bought it, then got sick and died.
And so there wasn't a lot of experience that we had together with this car.
And I was standing there in a pickle.
I had to get this trailer out.
There was something pressing that I had to do and I had no idea how to start this car.
So I sit there and I just, you know, I just said, dad,
just tell me tell me how to do this.
I need to know right now how to start this car.
And it was very clear in my head.
OK, a walk over to this engine compartment, you know, and had this side
lifting like I don't even know, like it didn't wasn't like a hood, right?
It lifted from the side and he told me to lift that up.
OK. And then he told me to do this and do that.
And and there were like five or six things that I had never done
or watched him do.
And I fired up that car and I moved it.
Now, I don't care, you know, this isn't supposed to be, you know,
getting into like religion or anything.
But, you know, I they are around us, they are around us.
And and I have felt very connected to my dad even, you know, he died in 2010.
And so all these years, what's weird is almost every single day at some point,
you know, every we have 24 hours in a day.
And so every single minute only comes around two times on the clock, right?
Twice in that day.
And I am in a PM 842.
My dad was born in August of 42.
And he was obsessed with that number 842, 842, almost daily.
Since my dad has died, I will just casually glance.
And oh, my gosh, is it 842?
Now, I don't know if my body is just like sat on an alarm to look at the clock.
But my dad is constantly saying hello.
It is when I see 842 on a clock, it's literally where I have to look at it.
And I go, hey, dad.
And I usually sit there and stare at it until it turns to 843.
And then I move on with my day.
And it's really weird.
I feel like my dad is like, won't leave me alone, man.
He is just like, like pestering me all the time to like hang out.
He really likes cars, too.
He loves what I'm doing right now.
So if you, you know, I feel like I feel like they never really leave us.
And they're everywhere.
You know, people who our family
have passed on before us are really still here around us.
If you allow them to maybe access you.
Yeah, actually Christian, late mother,
his sister inherited his late mother's car.
So they were having such a great conversation on the on the episode that just came out.
Just I remember the car and it still has the burn marks.
And is your niece, Christian, was asking your your sister to open the sunroof
so she could see the sun.
And it's in granny's car or grandma's car that your niece is after is really
such a touching, beautiful story.
And just, you know, siblings, family, everybody connects through cars.
And, you know, you not to belabor things,
but you told us so many great stories even before we started.
But I loved your story about doing the Jeep thing in in France.
Oh, if you could share a little bit of that for the listeners.
Sure. In 2011, I was invited to go to France.
It was the 70th anniversary of the Jeep that year.
And there was this big event in Europe called
and I'm going to butcher it because I'm not.
I don't speak French, right?
Chambon sur Jeep.
And it was held at Chambon sur Lac, which is the name of the lake.
Chambon sur Lac was the name of the lake.
And they held this event and they called it Chambon sur Jeep.
And people from all over Europe would bring their Jeeps.
They had a lot of, you know, like military style Jeeps,
all kinds of Jeeps, newer ones.
And they asked me to be a guest at this event.
And that was kind of the first time.
Well, first of all, that was the first time that I had ever been to France.
But I also it was also the first time
that I realized that anybody in France even knew who I was.
I got what you're buying me to come over to some Jeep of it.
That's really super cool.
And I had only ever known what I had kind of typically heard as an American,
like, oh, the Jeep or the French don't like America.
There was this, there's this stereotype that and I don't even know
if other people believe that or not, but I grew up thinking
the French don't like Americans.
You would sometimes hear jokes and whatever about
the French looking down their nose at Americans.
So I didn't know what to expect when I went over there.
And what I found was that even though
some of the culture was different, the Jeep was what united us.
And people who were into Jeeps felt like, oh, no, no,
we see the Jeep as liberating us from the war.
It freed us from Germany.
So we're we are grateful for the Jeep and we we love Americans.
And but for the Americans, we might not have, you know,
this Jeep is what saved us.
So they felt totally different.
And then I realized that cars are uniting, you know,
we we might have different cultures and grow up in different areas
and in different beliefs, but like a car could like bring us all together.
And I I got a chance to eat frog legs,
which everybody says tastes like chicken.
And they do just very, very, very small chickens.
You know, you're just eating like really eating
a little small chickens and it does taste like chicken.
But I ended up coming home from that trip.
And I wrote an article for an off road magazine.
And the article was called It Tastes Like Chicken,
because not only did the frog legs taste like chicken,
the experience in France of being around other Jeepers
felt like what I was used to.
And it was so cool to see that they celebrated the Jeep like we did.
And the bigger difference was if you go to like some off road event,
you know, in the States, everybody's redneck drinking their beer
and they're hooping and hollering.
They're like, yeah.
And they're just really rowdy, right?
And they're just they're echoing
and they're doing all kinds of stuff.
That's the biggest difference.
You go to France and they go, oh, but it's good, but it's good.
And they, you know, my French says not a very good French.
But they would clap very lightly and small
and and they would have wine in a red solo.
Oh, wow.
A red solo of wine, gentle, gentle golf clap
when you were on the rocks.
That was the other thing that was different.
Did they do the Jeep wave over there like we have it here?
We see another Jeep.
That's a great question.
I didn't really drive on the streets enough to.
Yes. The only people I was with were a bunch of Jeeps.
And so we were all in a big group together.
I don't know.
But I the Jeep wave is definitely a thing.
I found out the Porsche wave is also a thing.
I got a couple of people who were like giving me the little nod
when I'm driving around town.
I thought, oh, cool, they're acknowledging me.
So, Magnus, we thank Magnus for getting you into the 9-11.
Yeah. So, Magnus Walker, if you don't know who Magnus Walker is,
check out the episode on my show called Iconic 9-11
because he is a man who I love Magnus.
But if you've never seen him,
I'll just describe him as a six foot tall garden gnome
because he he's that's what he looks like.
Very good. Wow.
Yeah. He he wears a big often has a hat
and is a very long kind of dready beer.
And gentlemen, he's very yes.
And he he has a very distinguished look about him.
And he has a killer Porsche collection.
You might if you didn't know who he was,
you might see him because he lives in downtown or,
you know, his his garages in downtown L.A.
And he often walks his dog, you know, around the streets there.
And you would think maybe he's I mean, let's just call it a homeless man,
you know, because this is to dress a certain way.
But don't let that fool you.
He is incredible and he has an incredible collection.
And he has a very artistic side about him.
And he was a fashion designer, which is how he kind of got his start.
And he's from England.
He's a really unique guy.
So his Porsche.
It is a nineteen seventy two is a seventy two nine eleven T.
And he calls it two seven seven because that's the number on it.
Right. It's famous.
There are Hot Wheels cars patterned after his little is the nine eleven.
And and he's got Nike shoes.
And he has it's incredible how this guy has built an entire brand image
around this car.
And so calling this episode iconic
my eleven was the only thing I can think of calling it.
You know, his car is very iconic, but he's so passionate.
Does not ever talk about anything but Porsche's.
So you leave his presence going, I have to find a Porsche.
Oh, my gosh, I need one of these.
He's the best salesman there is.
And he's a great dude.
He makes the Porsche market move.
Yeah, he really does.
And if you go and bring a trailer and you see one that was an ex
Magnus Walker car, it usually goes for more than it should, you know,
because of his influence.
So he's a neat dude.
Yeah, very very interesting guy.
Yeah. And that's one of the cool things about your your show is just
meeting all these amazing people from different walks of life.
Right. Yeah. And the travels.
Yeah. Today we talked to a young gentleman that will probably film
something in the fall.
He's got some things he's going to be doing to his car.
So we've decided to hold off until he's got these other upgrades done.
But there, you know, we talked to a kid that just turned 26 years old
and he's built himself a really neat car and he's had it since he was 17.
And this guy's story is really cool because there are.
Yeah, there's a lot of old white dudes on the show
because that's just who happens to have the cars we're looking for.
It's not like we're we're we're seeking out like old white dudes.
But like this kid is really interesting.
He's of immigrant parents and he I swear he's like like a 40 year old.
He for only being 26.
He's really cool.
So I can't wait to like show his story.
His story and his car are going to be pretty unique.
So we love meeting people, hearing their story.
That's a massive determination.
It's not just the car.
We have found great cars and didn't do an episode on someone
because maybe the story wasn't there.
You know, or the person wasn't all that interesting.
So the story is everything.
Every every car tells the story, right?
That's one of our tag lines, actually.
Yeah, well, potentially unless they're just sitting there.
I think cars that that people just speculate on and and don't use
our sad our sad little cars.
We you know, I I saw something recently about like, I don't know,
some pickup truck that was like from the 80s and only had three miles on it.
Really?
That poor truck never lived its life as a truck, you know.
Yeah, exactly.
Dad should be driven for sure.
Well, thank you so much for spending some time with us today, Nicole.
Again, she the next chapter in her professional life is Nicole Johnson's
detour dot com, which is a serial show on YouTube.
And let's see, deep into season three or season three in the books, would you say?
No, no, no, we've got thirty five episodes.
So we're like, you know, we we roughly say twelve is a season.
So we're we're sort of taking some summer break right now.
But you know, yeah, it's a trip.
Check it out.
Watch it with your kids.
It's a really fun time spent with family and sharing is we often talk about
your life lessons through cars and parts of the generations and how we are
connected backward, forward, up and down.
So yeah, and in every episode, I get to drive the car
because that is my requirement, but I want to drive everything.
And I'm on this quest to find all the weirdest and craziest
and neatest and unique things I can.
If you haven't driven a DeLorean and you're on the East Coast, let me know.
Yeah, I think that would be really cool, actually.
Some people work comparing the Pantera to a DeLorean.
Yes, not really.
No, it's just so weird, you know, that that particular car was a little
had a lot of different things done to it.
It was very unique.
But yeah, that's cool.
Yeah. And I also have a couple of friends with DeLoreans, with LS V8s
and so if I know you like a little more power, so that.
Well, what's in their stock?
What what what are they called?
Pugio Renaud Volvo V6.
What? I would never guess that.
I had no idea.
And with all the emissions controls, had 130 horsepower from the facts.
Zero to 60, eventually, I think.
So 88 miles an hour was really ambitious.
It is. I was I was driving.
It was off to the shop for nine months.
My my friend does work on it.
You really need somebody specialised who knows what they're doing.
And I was driving at home and I'm like, yeah, fortunately, AC,
by the way, I added electric power steering made such a difference in my life.
And it's very bullsist, so it's really nice.
Yeah. Yeah. Just driving home and I'm like going 75.
I've slowed down a lot, just in general, no matter what car I'm in.
And probably because I daily drive a Tesla and, you know,
I can pass anybody if I need to, so I actually don't bother.
Yeah, I was going 75 and I'm like, wow, 88, 88 in a parking lot.
Obviously, we know that didn't really happen.
But 88 in a parking lot would be pushing it.
Right. 50 in a parking lot.
Maybe. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, if you ever get pulled over, you can tell the man that you are honoured
like like for speeding. Oh, what if I'm so flattered?
I'm so flattered.
I got you made my day.
Thank you. Yes. Yes.
Thank you. My eighty five, my eighty five
mile per hour speed limiter, speed limit, speedometer, speedometer.
Thank you, Richard Nixon.
There's a sticker you can get to go over if you want to.
Oh, that's pretty funny.
But yeah, we'll leave it at the eighty five for classic value.
Well, thank you guys for having me.
Thank you.
Anytime you want me back, I have nine hundred more stories.
So yeah, well, well.
Nicole Johnson's detour.com.
Check her out on YouTube.
And for us, just hit us up.
I'm Christian at carslove.com.
He's Doug at carslove.com.
Carslove.com.
You can find out about us, see photos, summaries of episodes,
as well as links to the podcasting platforms where we exist in the ether.
And feel free to join.
It's easy to be on this show.
We're just what you're one email away from infamy is how I like to put it.
And hey, we'll see you next week.
Thanks for making time.
Thank you, Nicole.
Take care.
About this episode
Nicole Johnson, a trailblazing monster truck driver, shares her unique journey from rock crawling to dominating the monster truck scene. She discusses the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated sport and the thrilling experiences of driving iconic trucks like Scooby-Doo. The conversation dives into her YouTube show, 'Nicole Johnson's Detour,' where she explores fascinating cars and their stories. With anecdotes about her first cars and heartfelt connections to family through vehicles, this episode offers a blend of humor, nostalgia, and automotive passion.
Original notes
Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
Nicole Johnson – famed Monster Jam driver and off-road champion – joins us to share captivating stories from her one-of-a-kind career in automotive entertainment. With infectious enthusiasm, Nicole reveals how her childhood car memories (from tinkering on 4x4s to cruising in a humble sedan) set her on a path to motorsports fame. She takes listeners behind the scenes of Monster Truck Jam, describing the adrenaline rush of piloting her “Scooby-Doo” monster truck in front of roaring crowds, and the meticulous preparation that goes into each high-flying jump. But Nicole’s journey wasn’t overnight; she talks about her early days in competitive rock crawling – imagine conquering impossible boulders in a custom Jeep – and how those experiences gave her the skills and grit to succeed in Monster Jam.
Nicole loved the episode with Jim, "Back to the ’80s and Beyond – Jim’s Camaro Comebacks and DeLorean Dreams" https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/d78c119b929d9b5eff72a2f67fec3157
Throughout the episode, Nicole’s passion shines as she discusses the importance of chasing dreams (even the kind that crush cars for a living!) and the lessons of teamwork and perseverance learned in the arena.
Whether you’re an avid motorsports fan or just love a good inspiring story, Nicole’s tale of turning her automotive passions into an extraordinary career will rev your engine. She proves that with drive and determination, you can carve out your own lane in the automotive world.
*** Your Favorite Automotive Podcast - Now Arriving Weekly!!! ***
Listen on your favorite platform and visit https://carsloved.com for full episodes, our automotive blog, Guest Road Trip Playlist and our new CAR-ousel of Memories photo archive.
Don't Forget to Rate & Review to keep the engines of automotive storytelling—and personal restoration—running strong.
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Carly, Doug & Dave: Classic Car Experts, Motorsports Enthusiasts and Automotive Storytellers
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