Monterey Car Week 2025 Recap

You are listening to the analog and grit podcast.

I'm your host, Victor Troyer.

We are live.

What?

I was about to say I'm the fake co-host, but I didn't realize you were...

Let me finish.

I thought you were going to comment on how he spells my last name.

No, that's later.

Okay.

I have a story behind that, too.

I'm scared.

Yeah.

We are live from Monterey Car Week here in the beautiful Northern California area of Monterey

Peninsula, sort of nearby.

Upper Central Coast.

Upper Central Coast of California.

Who do we have on today's episode?

Well, we got the fake co-host back for another episode.

Justin.

We got Dylan here, returning guest.

Jayce, the flying aces.

Jason.

Jayce, the flying aces.

Also a returning guest.

Also a returning guest, but first time on the analog and grit podcast.

Correct.

Yes.

So we are here at Monterey Car Week, so we're going to talk about it.

Let's do it.

So Monterey Car Week, once a year, every middle to end of August.

This is my second time.

This is all your guys' first time.

Yes.

What did you think?

Do you have a minute of this before?

What?

With the analog and grit podcast?

No.

To Monterey Car Week.

Oh, this is my first time.

Oh, that's cool.

You're too far.

Yeah, I know.

I'm around.

Yeah, this is my first time.

I always wanted to go.

So what did you guys think?

I thought it was cool.

I mean, it's crazy to see just the scale of how many people are here.

I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of people from around the Bay Area, but we've talked

to and come across people who are here from the other side of the country and even

people who have flown here from around the world to come to Car Week.

What better place than California where a lot of our car culture lives here in the U.S.?

Yeah.

What did you think?

I mean, I thought it was amazing seeing multi-million dollar cars street parked while the owners

were at a restaurant, getting a bite to eat in Carmel or wherever, all over Monterey

area.

Yeah.

Just crazy.

Like the F40 that was parked outside that Spanish Inn, like just right by the curb.

Two of them.

Right.

I'm not tripping on that curve.

What are F40s worth?

Oh, man.

Like, they're about four million?

It's hard to keep up.

I mean, three to four.

Yeah.

They've definitely gone up lately.

We saw a F40 today, like driving over the Bixby Bridge.

I try to get a quick video, but it's like sensory overload because like you never know what's

going to come next.

Yeah.

And here we are, you know, day three, where you're already starting to become desensitized

to all these super and hypercars because you see them literally everywhere, right?

But there's something magical about an F40 or even an F50 because you know you're

not going to ever see that in San Diego, in LA, wherever you are.

Like you're just not, you're not going to just come across it.

And today or yesterday and the day before, we've come across a good handful of them, right?

We have.

In fact, right now I'm looking at, it looks like the same one we saw outside of the RM

Sotheby's auction, the blue one.

And it's saying, it's showing us some past sales and it looks like it's not uncommon

for them to sell for like four to five million dollars even.

Yeah.

And this one, obviously, I would imagine it went up for auction yesterday.

It says call for price.

So I mean, we're looking at it literally the day after.

So I'm not sure if it sold or what happened, but yeah, it's not uncommon for them to go

up to five million dollars.

Yep.

So Justin, what did you think first time at Monterey Car Week?

I mean, it was fantastic and kind of to add to Dylan's point, I actually view it

from a little bit different perspective where I'm more surprised to just be driving around

and just see these cars out in the wild.

I mean, same thing with the Mazda Raceway event where watching these cars that like you

just saw in video games or just know of through history, like actually racing around in circuit,

obviously not like full racing, like trying to get a podium, but like just having some

fun and driving spiritedly was really cool.

Just watching them in actions, my favorite part, because these cars you don't imagine

to be driven ever.

And then you just see them actually be driven and not just driven, but like

driven hard a little bit.

Yeah.

Because there's one thing to see them in a museum, there's one thing to see it like parked

at a car show or in your local convention center car show that they do once a year.

But to see them in action, driving over to Bixby Bridge or just driving down some random

street that you're on that maybe you're sitting at a red light or sitting at a restaurant.

Like yesterday sitting at a restaurant, all the cars that just kept coming by, it's

just insane.

It's only one place on earth where I feel like you can get all this.

Maybe in Europe, there's a few places like Monaco comes to mind and you know, some things

like that.

But for the most part, like this is this is the pinnacle car show in the United States.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

It's like the Ferrari 250 GT California Spider that is all in the paddock.

Just sitting there parked.

Only 106 produced.

Or the first car I noticed when we pulled up to Laguna Seca was a Mercedes CLK GTR.

Oh, right.

Yeah.

That was funny.

So we pull into Laguna Seca first night, you say, oh my God, my dream car is right

there.

That's my dream car too.

And it's a Mercedes CLK GTR, right?

Yes.

And you were like, what?

You don't even like Mercedes.

And like I could tell you were a little like, really?

And then I thought he was talking about the Lancia 037, the Lancia Martini livery,

you know, the rally car.

Park next to it.

Yeah, I remember.

So it was just so cool that one of the first cars we see are like our legit like cars that

we idolize, you know, in the racing world, two different racing, you know, competitions.

But yeah, but not only that, like I mentioned earlier the sensory overload.

So like here we are day three, right?

Or technically day four, but let's just say day three because of the fact that

we actually had all day to, you know, observe cars.

We've seen how many 9-Elevens, Ferraris, I mean, just Lamborghinis, McLarens,

well toes, like the amount of well toes you've seen is just like a Camry.

Two Q-tashes parked one block away from each other on the street.

So you get to the point where it's like not special to even mention a Ferrari,

mention a Lamborghini or McLaren, unless it's like one of the halo cars,

like one of the V12s or an F40, let's say, you know, where you never,

like, you know that that's like they've made limited production of those.

But yeah, I've been pleasantly surprised by how many Ferraris we've seen.

Like I expected to see like a lot more Lamborghinis than Ferraris.

And maybe I'm just not like, you know, looking and trying to figure out

which I'm seeing more of.

But since Ferraris are more like exclusive, I expected to see less.

So I think that kind of like tells you like what kind of event this is.

Like a really exclusive event.

You know, like today it was so cool driving around when you guys

were going to the Bixby Bridge.

Josh and I saw this Porsche built van again.

Do you know about that?

I know what you're talking about.

It was parked on the street and just half a block up was a 599 GTB

gated six speed manual, which is somewhat rare.

I'm not.

That's a V12 too.

Yeah.

No, what I was trying to say is like we got so like

desensitized to like the V8s, you know, the the Huracans and, you know,

the McLaren, what was probably the most common McLaren?

We like the seven or six, seven.

I can never tell them apart.

They're all at the same.

Yeah.

But like my point is they're all like the entry level ones.

And there were so many of them, right?

Like it got to the point where if it wasn't like super limited, we

didn't turn our heads, you know, or even call it out.

You know, I will say I'm surprised.

I didn't see more Huracans though.

Like because it's the entry entry level supercar, I didn't see that many.

Well, you saw Rivalto's and you saw a lot more Rivalto's, but isn't

that like one of the higher models right now?

Or is that what it's more current?

Yeah, I don't follow that super closely.

I mean, my point I'm trying to make is there's just so many supercars.

Yeah.

Right.

Now, when you see a hypercar, like a Koenig or something like a

Pagani, something that's like up there, you know, in the millions or a

Chiron, we did see a Chiron, right?

That's like notable.

Oh, we got to, we got to point out the Chiron, right?

Like you did today.

You got excited.

I do.

Well, it's crazy.

I saw a Veyron and like I expected that, but like I, for

some reason I just did not expect to see a Chiron.

So I want to ask you guys being that we've, you know, experienced

car week now all together, what would be now that you've seen what's

out there, now you see what's like people are bringing to these events?

What would be the exotic car that you would want to buy if money was no object?

And then I'm going to ask you a follow up question.

So when money's no object, is it just the purchase price of the vehicle?

Or is it also maintaining it?

Everything.

I mean, money's no object, all right.

A Veyron still, I think that will always be like my attainable

hypercar slash supercar.

I don't know where that sits nowadays, but.

Yeah, that's a good one because yeah, you're right.

Ownership maintenance, all that.

It's, oh, that's a car to own.

That's worse than the Chiron.

The Chiron's like that new car.

But they made it $80,000 break changes or yeah, but I remember

like researching this and the Chiron's like less expensive to

maintain than the Veyron.

Just do the simplities they've made in the product.

Okay.

What do you got?

I would say, uh, probably, and I feel dumb because I'm

forgetting the exact name, but the Alfa Romeo version of the Viper.

Oh, yeah.

The Zagato, it's the TZ three, I believe is the name of it.

The TZ three stradale.

Yeah, they made, I don't know, eight of them.

So it's extremely nine exclusive one of nine.

The guy just bought it on bring a trailer.

He had it at Laguna Seca on Thursday.

I think it's beautiful and extremely unique.

The way that the trunk opens on it is fascinating.

And I like the circle lights in the rear and it still kind of has

that same aggressive stance as the Viper.

And it's still like with the grill, it's universally

recognizable as an Alfa Romeo.

Um, it's TZ three.

Am I right?

TZ three stradales.

Yep.

That's crazy.

Yeah.

So if money's no object, I think, I think that car because I

love the Viper.

I had the chance to drive one shout out to Steve.

And, um, I just think that like this is a car that not very

many people know about.

Yeah, of course.

I mean, it's nine built.

Like it's insane.

And apparently the guy told me I was talking to him about it.

You know, Alfa Romeo is behind it.

It wasn't just like some rest of mod company, you know, that

just chopped up a Viper and, you know, put it, put a

Zagato body on it.

So, and it kind of has like some shooting break design

language almost, even though it doesn't have back seats, it

kind of has that sport back.

And then the trunk, it opens like a, like a tailgate.

Yeah.

Um, so just very unique take on the Viper.

Okay.

That's a good one.

I appreciate Alfa Romeo representing the brand.

Uh, what do you got, Chase?

Money, no object.

Money's no object on this one.

F 40.

Yeah.

So the F 40 for you was that when you grew up, was

that the halo car for Ferrari?

Cause for me it was the F 50 that I still have the little

Barago, you know, die cast model car cause the F 50 was

95, right?

Cause we're celebrating 50 year.

No.

50 years.

No, I'm gonna trip in 30 years.

Right.

When did the, no, the F 50, when did it come out?

Was it 95?

Yeah.

The 50 at 50.

And he says it was mid 90s.

Right.

So whatever, let's just say somewhat like 30 years, but

the F 40 was in the 80s.

Right.

So what is it about the F 40 for you?

It's the 80s design for sure.

Um, the wing, how it's integrated with the, the rear

end and it just, it looks so raw.

The interior is so simple.

Yeah.

Super analog.

Yeah.

It almost looks like a kit car in the coolest way possible.

I mean, can you, can you imagine the visceral

experience of driving that vehicle?

When I've also heard it's incredibly unpredictable cause

it's, it's fun about it.

It's super hard.

I don't think has any traction control or anything like that.

Yeah.

The analog and spicy.

And it was a V eight twin turbo V eight.

Yeah.

2.9 liters.

Small.

It's the smallest place for motor to create how much

power I did back in the day.

Yeah.

Revolutionary turbo's baby.

Those F 40s are back in the 80s.

We talked, we talked about what four to five.

You said they usually go around the F 40 or 50s.

Yeah.

Like three to five, three to five.

Yeah.

And not that long ago, there were 1.2 to 1.5 million.

Yeah.

There's skyrocketing right now.

Six years ago, five years ago.

Yeah.

For me, I didn't get a chance to see this car.

It was at the motorlux on the first day.

We were here so we didn't have a chance to go, but it

was the 33 Shradale Alfa Romeo.

So that car to me, it only made 33 of them.

If I had, you know, all the money in the world,

because it's, I think it's an MC 20 engine, but

essentially that body is so beautiful.

And that's like what Alfa Romeo does.

They create these like extraordinary like cars that are

so strikingly beautiful.

Like to me, I would have, you know, some identity

towards that car, you know, wouldn't just be like

another super car on the street.

So I would pick that even though I didn't get a

chance to see it, you know, even though it's here,

I know it's somewhere that would be mine.

And I don't know what they're selling for because

obviously there's only 33.

So who knows what they just started production.

So whoever is or started deliveries.

So I imagine if you have one of those and you resell

it, there's not enough data points yet because

I haven't seen one for sale yet.

Yeah, I'm seeing car and driver is saying they're

expected to, when they were released, they were

expected to start around a million dollars.

And with only 33 made, I can only imagine, like

you said, there's no data points, but what

those will go for down the road.

Yeah, so we'll see.

But beautiful car.

Just that's typical Alfa Romeo.

It's going to be beautiful.

It's going to be something that when you see it,

like you're going to turn your head.

And that brings me to a point because today I saw

a coin to yesterday.

We saw a coin is a guy at the, it was a blue

one, right?

And it was like some kid driving it.

He was like in his twenties, like the other

kids recognize him.

So he might be a YouTuber.

I don't know who he is.

Regardless, he's driving his coin is sick.

And I was like, Oh, what's that?

Right?

Cause you first thing you see is the front end

headlights and it's different.

It was convertible, right?

No, it wasn't a convertible.

Well, maybe a target top, but it was it was closed.

So my first thought was like, Oh, what is that?

Right?

That's not something we've seen yet.

But like that's a hypercar.

Like that car is way more expensive than the

other cars we've been seeing.

But like, I couldn't tell.

Like it was nothing distinctive or like a

discernible feature about that car that

told me like, Oh my God, that's, that's

different.

Oh, that's it?

Yeah, it was literally a convertible.

So it sounds like you're saying it just didn't

make as much of an impact.

Yeah, but it was a coin is like, like to me, I

like, I was shocked because it was like

something different, but then I was thinking

like, but it's not that different.

Like it doesn't look strikingly beautiful.

Like the other, it's a reshara like, like

the one you mentioned, the Zagato and, and

for me, the 33 stradale, you know, what

you say is a reshara.

It was a reshara.

Yeah.

So anyway, my point, I'm just trying to

say, I forgot.

I never looked that up yesterday.

It, it, it wasn't like, Oh my God, like I

have, because everyone wants to like stand

out, right?

Like they want to bring something to the

table.

It's different.

And I feel like, how do you stand out in a,

you know, you're in a sea full of exotics.

Even the guy in the F 40 had another one

pull up right next to him.

Yeah, right.

So yeah.

Yeah, the cool thing when I was at the

Sotheby's auction event, uh, I stood

behind a BMW M one as it was started up

and moved and, um, you know, it basically

has the same engine as my E 28 M five.

And to hear the same sound of my M

fives engine coming out from the rear,

it was like really weird.

And that was the first time I've ever

seen one, uh, not in person, but heard

one actually, you know, started up

and move and then to see that thing

parked next to an F 40.

It was just sensory overload.

Right.

Yeah.

We saw them one at Radwa too.

And out first ever in person.

You know, there's a red park right next

to the DJ booth.

No, it was, uh, this one was black.

Wow.

Yeah.

So my follow up question is what

would be your exotic car that you

would purchase if it was attainable?

Something you can actually really

strive to purchase, you know,

sometime in your life.

And it has to be a super car.

It has to be an exotic.

Hmm.

So like, these are walls wouldn't

really count because those are kind

of luxury ask, not super standard.

I would have, what about an 80s

Ferrari, like a three 28?

I mean, I've always wanted one of

the girls.

No, can we say no to luxury cars

because like we're primarily here

looking at like exotics.

Yeah.

Let's do exotics.

I agree to that.

So you tell them, I would do the

Asimart and V8 Vantage or the Audi

R8 with the four point two.

No, I like the V8.

Okay.

Interesting.

Those, those we've seen a good

chunk of them.

They're both beautifully styled

cars that will continue to be

beautiful and not a lot of cars

do that super well.

Like those are cars that are just

kind of timeless looking cars.

Like the R8 still looks like a

pretty new car.

Even the first gens, same thing

with the Asimart, they're just

kind of gorgeous.

That's fair.

Yeah.

And decently reliable.

All right.

You got one, Jase.

Oh, you already said it.

Well, I mean, either 328 or

360 gated shifter.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's funny.

Nick said his is a 430.

Yeah.

430 430.

Yeah.

360 for me.

I think I just think they're

a little bit more analog, which

is kind of what I like, you

know, okay, more raw.

What do you got?

I would probably say, and this

is a little more expensive than

the ones that you guys have been

saying, but I feel like owning, I

feel like buying it is more

prohibitive, but owning it might

not be is the Spiker C8 with

the Audi 4.2 liter V8.

You know, it's not, I think

it's a very like bespoke, like

special car.

They focused on making the

interior like no other.

I kind of like the analog,

kind of like aviation theme

they've gone for throughout the

materials look very quality and

it's an Audi V8 and those sound

incredible.

And I didn't get to hear one of

those cars fire up this weekend,

but I would imagine with the

engine in the rear and the

exhaust with it, I bet it would

sound even better than what

I've heard in the past and

other cars that have that

engine.

Those had the exposed

internals of the shift shifting

mechanism.

Yeah, yeah, you can see all of

those really cool.

Yeah, all of the linkage is

visible.

Weren't they all chrome too?

Yeah, it's a very bespoke

car. It's a really neat car.

Even in the new one that has

that same linkage.

Wow.

That's like, you know, what

they're known for.

Yeah.

Kind of like how Pekani has

the side view mirrors that

kind of come out like that.

I think it has the doors that

like open funky.

Right.

So I'm going to say that car

because it's it's a little bit

higher purchase price than all

of the cars that you guys had

mentioned.

But I think it's like

ownable.

Well, what is what are we

looked those up before?

Right.

What were they at like around

200,000 anywhere from three

to six depending on how they're

spent?

Yeah, they're expensive.

Yeah.

When I saw that spiker, I

immediately thought like I

have big dreams.

True.

Yeah.

Attainability is only as

far as you can dream.

I immediately thought like

the interior was so striking

like that car reminded me of

like a Pekani like like every

like everything was done with

like intricate detail.

Right.

Like just the gauges, the

materials and no big screens.

Right.

It's still analog, you know.

That's a big plus.

Yep.

And what years were those

C8s?

Right.

Spiker C8.

Oh, six.

Right.

Yeah, they weren't.

They're not that old, but

they're not that new.

So they're like, oh, four to

oh, six to eight.

Actually, quite a looks like

pretty long run.

First generation.

It says 2000 to 2012.

OK, well, yeah.

2000.

So we saw how many at the

paddock.

We saw several and they all

had some like they all had

some differences.

They all were different.

Yeah, we saw nine.

Nine.

I counted nine.

Nine.

Spiker C8s in one spot.

Yeah.

And that was the first time

seeing any.

And I got to see nine.

A bunch of them.

I saw a white one, which I

didn't even know.

I've never seen a white one

even in pictures.

I was surprised to see one

that pink one or was it

a different color that had

the Louis Vuitton interior.

Yeah, that was the pink one

with the Louis interior.

Unbelievable.

So that's a great one

because even though, yeah,

attainable, I don't know

what job you think

you're going to end up working

and hopefully you make good

money because that that

because what are you saying

he's going to.

It's not like if it's a win.

Yeah, no, I'm glad.

I'm glad he's he's still very

good.

He's still very good.

The third gen

Spiker C8 has like

Aston Martin vibes

the front end.

Yeah, it's really cool.

I had like

Henrik Fisker designer vibes

with it or thoughts

because it kind of looked like

and he designed a vantage

or one of the Aston Martin's.

I don't like super cars

that are super like

angular and sharp.

I've always like I've always

like the ones that are

like more rounded.

Right.

Kind of like this

or like the Jack like the Jaguar

super cars or like British cars

like the vantage there.

They all kind of have like

very rounded design language

and I've always been a fan of

that more than like for instance

like an Aventador or like that

kind of super cars

with that styling.

Yeah, just overly angry.

That looked like the stealth

bomber.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

Those iterations.

Yeah, these have always spoke

to me a lot more than those

designs.

So could you guess mine?

It's your attainable dream car.

It's it's not that attainable.

It's probably oh no.

It's over 200 grand like his bike.

It's over 200 grand.

I mean, no, like it's

technically attainable

in the sense that yes,

I can, you know,

save my money and eventually get

one down the road.

You know, maybe when I'm 60,

I'm retired, take out,

you know, my 401k.

A Ferrari.

No, it's actually not a Ferrari.

It is the Diablo VT.

Oh, yeah, we saw one or a couple

maybe.

Yeah, street parked.

Yes.

So I have to like for me,

I got to have some kind of identity

towards it, like some kind of affinity

towards it.

Like like like it has to speak

to me.

So the VT is, you know,

for Victor Troyer, T.

R. O. I. A.

And actually, it's for

viscous traction, right?

So it's the all wheel drive version

of the Diablo gated shifter,

right? And that car to me,

like the F 50 was in the 90s

was my poster wall car.

Like that was it.

I had the car model.

It was over my bedroom.

Like that was the car for me,

you know.

So when we saw it at Radwood,

I like geek out on him every

time.

And it's not like, oh my God, like

it's like it's like it's not

like you're meeting your hero,

you know,

because sometimes you don't want

to meet your heroes because then

it doesn't live up to the height

like the per hero ego.

But this one, like it's always

going to be quick aside.

It's going to always be that car

for me.

Like, like, yeah, the VT,

it sounds silly, but there's not

that many things in my life with

my initials.

So but viscous

traction, four wheel drive Diablo

about 200 to 300,000.

We'll see if I'll save up the

money for it.

Yeah, can't wait to see it.

Can't wait to imagine you and

your spiker and me in the

Diablo, like our week,

like, but let me ask you

this. And if you with your

Ferrari, would you like be a

pig in shit when you bought that

thing forever or just like the

first six months and then you

get over it?

I don't know.

You have to ask me after.

Yeah, that's a hard one for me

because like we're talking about

supercars. It's kind of like

one of my first questions like,

well, does luxury cars count?

OK, I mean, I because that's

just like not my specific vehicle.

There's only a few vehicles I

feel like I can buy and just

be like, oh, my fucking God,

I'm complete for at least a

year.

I thought of a good way to

answer that question that you

asked, which is like,

I don't think that I would be

like conceited about it, but

because of my car enthusiasm,

like I would very I'd be very

excited to like share it with

my friends and all the people

I know, but not out of

like selfishness or

like trying to like show off

but just like I'm so excited

about it that I just like can't

contain my excitement.

That that could happen if I

bought it. Yeah, that's why

I saw a glimpse of that yesterday.

Yeah, we did.

Were you going to say, Jayce?

That's why I like to let people

drive some of my cars, like

the 28 M5 or

my Civic Si, which is

surprisingly, you know, you

yeah, you drove it, Dylan.

Like really fun to drive.

Is it rewarding?

Like if they enjoy it, it's

rewarding for you. It's rewarding

for me. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, I agree.

Like when he drove my Milano,

even you, like when you didn't

drive it, but you drove in it,

when he was like that, that car

is intoxicating, man.

Like he looked back at it like

as we were walking to my

apartment. And I remember

thinking like I'll remember

that image, you know, like he

him saying that made me feel

good because it's like, wow,

like other people appreciate

it too. You know, and I think

that's what's important. That's

what's going to make you

always feel good driving it,

right? Yeah, you get behind

the wheel and you know that

you're driving something that

even like your friends think

is cool. Like it's kind of

it's affirmation, right?

It's confirming that there's

a reason why you love it.

Yeah, you know, and it's not

just because your friends

think it's cool, but it

does play a part of it.

It helps seal the deal.

Like I was talking to Jayce

earlier today about his.

So Jayce, by the way, brought

an M five E 20

E 28 E 28 M five.

How many total production in

U.S. 1,238.

So super rare, right?

We talked about this last

week how bold you are driving

here. But to be honest,

you're not bold as bold as

like, you know, look at all

the other people with really

old cars, really old cars.

So bold to us, I guess,

because we're and I took a new

car. But anyway, when you

were talking to me about that

car, like, you know, every

little detail, you know about

how much each little piece

costs. Like he's like, Oh, you

see that BMW little

plate on the front bumper?

Yeah, that costs 300 bucks.

Those BMW center caps for the

BBS wheels, about 30 bucks

a piece for three, about

300, 300 or four,

300 for four. Yeah, it is zero to

that. But like, you know those

things because like you know

your car, like you know how

special it is, you know, you

know the production number, you

know, so I could tell when you

were talking to me about it,

that's the type of car you

want to keep. You know, I

don't know if you plan on

keeping that forever. But my

point is, is you know that

like it's more than just a

rare car to you, you know,

it speaks to you. Yeah.

So that's, you know, I

would say what keeps

everyone like keeping their

car instead of moving on to

something newer, you know,

because it's more than just a

point A to point B type of

thing. Yeah, I mean, it was

incredibly comfy driving it

here because I fixed the

air conditioning. Shout out to

AC Solutions, my friend

Austin Cacavo, who started

that company, he owns a

400,000 plus mile E28M5

and he drives that thing

all over the country. So

but going up the one on one

when it was I have a photo

of the outside air

temperature, it was 100

degrees Fahrenheit. And we

were pretty comfy inside.

Yeah. So does that make

you feel even more attached

to the car because it got

you here in a comfortable

fashion? Yeah, it really does.

Yeah. I mean, it's a

car from 1988. Right.

And it has now after

driving it for for so much

to get here, 198,000

miles. Wow. Yeah.

And it runs like a time.

I mean, it's a 38 motor.

Yeah. That's awesome.

It's surprisingly a lot

more reliable than you

would think it would be.

Yeah. It was a race car

engine. Nice. I want to

talk about some things we've

done during this trip.

So Laguna Seca, first

thing we did on Thursday,

right? For Thursday morning,

we mentioned the ready.

We go out and we see some

cars like the Lancia,

the Mercedes, what was it?

The CLK GTR.

And we end up going into

Corkscrew. We're hanging out.

We're watching all these

races literally every 30 to

40 minutes. Another race

comes on different class,

different groups of cars

from Transam to F1

to like IMSA, IMSA

or what was the one Iraq?

Iraq. What was the ones with

the the last race we saw that

was all the like the Mazda

Rotaries and forget the name

of like the 767B?

Yeah. Oh, that was the last

one like where there was like

NSX is going up against 911s

and E46M3s and F90 or E90.

And what was the name

of that one?

The E92 and the GTR.

Yeah. Yeah.

So it was pretty much like newer

cars and older cars.

Anyway, my point is, is we were

watching race after race,

all these different types of cars.

And I just saw everyone's

excitement because like

this is my second time.

You know, I've been there

last year at the Corkscrew

seeing the Rotary, the Mazda

hearing that sound like.

Yeah. Like and it was just so cool

seeing you guys like just

like this is what we love,

like seeing these vehicles.

Well, vehicles, race cars

just fly around a track.

Yeah. They're like seeing the Mazda 767B

exiting the Corkscrew full throttle

down that partial straightaway

until the the next turn to the left.

You know, I'm going to say it's an instant rush.

Yeah. A huge rush.

Yeah. For a rotor.

Just oh my God, screaming.

Yeah. And not only that,

there was the Nissan.

There was the pink Porsche.

There was the F1 cars.

There was like all these.

And then we're the Jaguar, the Jaguar.

There was all these like moments.

If you guys remember, we were walking

and like from every time, like,

let's say we're down at the bottom of the hill.

It's a different turn, you know,

like you're walking around

because you've been walking around the paddock

and seeing all the different manufacturers

and all the different groups of people racing.

And they're so inviting.

You can literally watch them wrench

on their cars before they go on track.

You know, it's crazy how you can actually walk through

and be up up close and personal

with all the people wrenching on the car.

Just with general admission.

Exactly. Just crazy.

I mean, this is it's incredible.

It's still allowed today in this era.

You know, that's like something

that would have happened in the 70s.

Right. Right. That's true.

That's a good point. Yeah.

And like, I just love the fact that we can just

from wherever we are, we can watch the race.

And if we don't want to watch the race,

we want to go look at a paddock.

We want to go look at like we had a buddy

that that was racing.

He you weren't with us.

Ryle. Ryle.

He's showing us his 2002

and he's literally opening up the trunk.

He was showing us like where everything runs through,

how it used to have a gas tank in the rear

because it needed to be in the rear

because it needed to be able to reach from both sides.

Because I think Laguna Seca, you pit from the left.

The filler cap.

He was saying for shout out to Ryle,

he was saying for those B-sidans

that for the 2002s,

they have to have the fuel filler cap in the back.

Yeah.

And I know that there's a lot of rules surrounding

fuel systems and racing

because I'm working on putting one together for my own car.

So that's something I've looked into a little.

So he said that and I was just kind of like,

it's one of those little interesting, like technical things

that you have to have dialed in order to race.

Yeah. To me, Laguna Seca,

tell me if you guys disagree or agree

was my favorite part of the trip.

I agree.

Yeah. I agree.

Yeah. I mean, it was basically

also a car show, just walking through the paddock.

No, I know my trip.

We're going to get to it. We're going to get to it.

All right. Hold your horses.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So you just want to yell.

There's so many parts.

What about the like pre-1920 cars that went out?

Yeah. The Rack Time Racers.

Yeah. The what? Winkadinga cars.

That's what they are.

Yeah. Like look up Rack Time Racers.

They have a website that's just so cool.

Seeing like 1910s, 20s cars racing.

Yeah. And what's so crazy is the variety.

Like, like there was remember, remember,

Pitner, you were like, I can't believe what's here.

Like the variety of cars. It's insane.

And like, and sometimes they go up against each other.

So you'll see like a a Trans Am Pontiac with like a, you know,

what was it? Like a Bonneville Oldsmobile, like 98 or something.

Beretta Chevy Beretta, you know, Mustang, like that made sense

because it's same era, right?

But then there was things that didn't make sense,

like Alfa Romeo GTVs with Bugatti.

What was that Bugatti Type 51, like with the baby blue?

Type 31, like it was insane.

The variety of cars that were next to each other,

because that was the epitome of sensory overload.

They're all just chilling.

The same audible, what's that?

Visual audible sensory overload.

Right, both. Yeah.

And but I was never like smell all the race fuel.

I'm just a car.

All your sense is cool.

All your senses.

Even your body, like shit's vibrating around you

because cars are on by like, holy fuck.

Honda Acti K truck used to tow.

What was it towing?

It was towing like a.

Oh, was it the red?

Are you talking about the fucking Volkswagen flatbed bus?

No, no, no, not that was the loaders.

There was a K truck with a tow strap towing a race car to move it.

I didn't see that.

Yeah, it was like.

No, we saw the VW with the it was like a red Lotus.

Lotus Elon getting put onto the back of the VW bus.

But then we saw the VW bus with that getting on a trailer.

So it was a trailer with the Elon on top.

With the Elon on top.

That was crazy.

But the variety is insane, man.

Like there was nine elevens everywhere.

Like all the GTV alpha males with the little,

you know, the X tapes on the headlights, you know, so they don't shatter or whatever.

Even like Dotson's and stuff like that, like a little bit of it all.

Five 10s, I saw a 240Z that had the mast off headlight covers

in a natural light library, like a little bit of a good mix.

Well, not only that, like going back to nine elevens a little bit, like it's

not just nine elevens everywhere.

It's GT threes everywhere.

GT threes are, I says everywhere, everywhere, every generation.

Oh, and all the older air cooled porches, too.

Like less regular nine elevens, more of the all the super special ones,

which is crazy in the nine five nine.

Yeah.

Just so many cool cars just cruising around in like the cool versions

of the cool cars, which is wild.

Yeah, exactly.

It's not just your base model.

What did you see?

Pontiac Bonneville.

You're so excited about it.

No, barracuda.

Oh, dude, yeah, that's the base model barracuda.

So weird.

He was so excited about that today.

Well, because you don't see the like basic model.

So that's that's a flip around where it's like we saw the cool

versions of the cool supercars.

That was also really cool.

So like a not cool version of a cool 60s.

That was after we parked to Concordi Lemons.

Yes, a base model barracuda.

So Concordi Lemons was today.

Clearly a different type of event, but it's it's refreshing.

Right on day three to go see something like that that's different

because you're not seeing like hyper like I didn't care to go to

Exotics on Broadway because of the simple fact we saw so many exotics.

Like if Koen is eggs aren't doing it for me anymore, like what is, you know?

So the fucking pinto wagon dog.

So we actually met up

when I when we drove back here, oh, he's choking over here.

We saw we met up with that pinto wagon again.

And they were at Monterey, downtown.

Yeah, they were blue one, right?

Yeah, the blue one.

But like we later saw them like 35 minutes north where we were.

And I was driving, you know, my E28M5 and Josh and and and.

Rubin were, you know, on the right side and we were giving them

like, you know, thumbs ups and it was just really cool.

And in that pinto had the windows up.

So I think the AC was working.

It's been pretty hot.

Like his windows are up, Josh.

It means his AC.

Holy fuck, that shit box has air con.

So that thing is it might be really well sorted.

Yeah, but I think the highlight of that like show was that

was it Nash Metropolitan?

Was it the Woody?

No, the one that had the flaming like, oh, yes, the red one.

Barbecue.

It was a Nash Metropolitan.

Yes, it was a Nash Metropolitan.

Yeah, I was like cooking the fish.

It was cooking the fish like it had like maybe a propane tank.

Is that that thing?

It was cooking the fish.

It was cooking a fish on above its spare tire.

Yeah, like all integrated.

You need to cook a fish.

Our viewers are having a hard time picturing this right now.

I have a video of it.

Just exactly what you're thinking.

That's it.

Like it's like a it's like a flamethrower.

That was coming out of the trunk.

Just like cooking a fish.

One of those exhaust tips that point up.

Yeah, like on a like a rod with a fish dangling and it's like blackened.

Dude, so weird.

It was so weird.

I like looked at that.

I'm like, I don't even know how you come up with this.

That's kind of what concourse to lemons is about.

Like making your cars stand out in like the weird ways like that

that just kind of make you think like, what the hell?

Yeah, you're right.

Yeah.

Yeah, there it is.

It's like a flamethrower coming out of the trunk.

Look at the fish.

It's all black and overcooked.

So weird.

What about that car that had all that shag on it

and then it had a horse that you can like ride on at the top

and a little girl with a cowboy hat is up there for you.

And then it had a slide.

It had a slide coming down.

It was like it was like a Lincoln Continental or something.

Yeah.

Yeah, like fur.

Yeah.

It reminded me of the fucking car from Dumb and Dumber.

Yeah.

Fucking the big van with the dog.

Fuck.

Totally.

Yeah.

And then the guy that well, there's an AMC Pacer there too,

which was surprisingly pretty clean.

Always fun to see.

Show the Corvair.

Yeah.

This one.

Yeah, that one.

Yeah.

The guy that won with Wayne's World, right?

Yep.

Yeah.

He got blasted with Silly String.

So great way to celebrate.

No champagne here.

Silly String.

So that was an awesome event.

I mean, it's a silly event.

Yeah.

So some do's and don'ts.

So we were talking about like, you know, now we know for next time, right?

So accommodations, it's very expensive in Monterey, right?

We know that.

We've looked.

You've looked.

So I feel like and we did all this last minute.

Exactly.

It's incredibly difficult.

Book early.

If you know you're going, book it the next, as soon as Monterey car week's over, right?

Yeah.

As soon as you can book it for the following year, because, you know, traffic builds up

and the more traffic you're in, the more time is wasted, right?

All you're waking up earlier for these events so you can get there on time.

So I would recommend, you don't have to stay in Monterey.

You can stay in Seaside or what is it?

Marina.

Carmel.

There's so many different areas around it.

You can stay at.

It's not just Monterey Peninsula, but definitely next time somewhere

closer, but not too crazy.

Yeah.

And hopefully next year, highway one by Big Sur will be opened up again.

Yeah.

Cause you can't come from southbound.

Correct.

Yeah.

True.

Another thing.

The landslide.

Yeah.

The landslides.

Yeah.

Another thing I was thinking of do's and don'ts wise is definitely like get your

tickets early, like plan ahead like what you're going to do because like today

like there's always going to be days where you're like, oh, let's just have

a day where we'll just car spot and we'll see where the wind takes us.

But you look at tickets.

Oh, well, I want to do this.

And then you look at tickets and they're like $175 and it's like

really for just a car.

Like you're not going to go to a car show and spend $175 when there's

a free car show all around you right now.

So if you buy tickets early, maybe they're cheaper, right?

Like Radwood, we saw ticket prices went up the same day substantially.

So that's definitely something you want to think about.

But definitely do it.

Definitely go to car show events because it's not just like a cars

and coffee.

It's a whole like vibe DJ people dress up like at Radwood people would

dress up with the 80s and 90s like, you know, like track suits and stuff.

So that's even the 17 mile drive.

Like all the outlets for, you know, sightseeing and those little like

vista points.

Yeah.

Vista points, you know, there's like 80% of the cars there were like

worth stopping to see.

So, yeah.

So definitely do the 17 mile drive.

So speaking of Radwood, that event, I know it's not just car week.

Right.

They do one in LA, I think in San Pedro somewhere by the docks there.

But my first Radwood experience to me, I don't know what it is that

event speaks to me the most and I want to give you guys just thoughts

because you know, you've been to multiple events already now.

What do you guys think?

Do you think like 80s and 90s cars because you guys are younger?

Obviously you're your gender, your time period.

Like when you were like in high school, when you were at that

impressionable age, you 80s and 90s cars might not have been it.

It might have been like 2000s, maybe even 2010s.

So what do you guys think?

Do those cars also hold like a close place or a large place in your

heart because of the analog and go ahead.

I have some thoughts on this.

I think people are starting to get into those 80s and 90s cars a

little bit more because a lot of the older stuff is, well,

there's a couple of factors.

A lot of the older cars are harder to get into just because

they've been like a lot more of them have been lost to time.

More rust, more miles, less parts available, more of the less of

them on the road just because of time and age and if it's the

kind of car that was just like used up, whereas there's

still like a good amount of 80s cars that are still available.

Everything's a little bit newer on them.

They're just in general, I think a little bit easier to

own than some of the other cars.

And so people are younger people are getting into those

because they're not terribly prohibitive.

And another thing too is I just don't think that 60s muscle

cars and those kind of cars, that's what I was into when

I was a kid.

Like that's kind of what I grew up around.

I don't think that a lot of people younger than me are

into those like they don't do it for them as much like

they would rather have like a JDM or they would rather

have like another cool 80s euro or like that sort of thing

rather than some of those other cars.

So I think the Radwood cars, they do speak to me and I

think they speak to a lot of other people for those

reasons.

I just stated.

Yeah.

What do you think?

Well, kind of going, I don't know.

It's kind of a tough one.

Like I thought that event was really cool because you

kind of ask two questions in that.

Well, like, oh, it was one of my favorite events because

the 90s and 80 cars was the one I was most excited for.

I'm way more excited to see cars actually be driven.

So like I personally just Mazda Raceway was absolutely

like peak.

But if it just came to like cars, the raceway, you

said, we're going to say that you mean?

Yeah.

Mazda Raceway.

Well, it used to be.

It's whether it's not Mazda Raceway.

Weather tech reason.

That's right.

A format company bottom or not bottom but sponsored.

No, they're not saying like because I said that was the

best event of the trip.

I'm just saying like as 80s and 90s cars, do they speak

to you the same way they speak to me?

Because that was my generation.

It's not necessarily yours.

So am I being biased?

Because, you know, Jason, I kind of are the same age.

So you're not.

You're like closer to his age.

Yeah, it's tough.

I don't know.

Like yes and no, like because it's so cool.

Like one of my favorite cars to see are cars that

are kind of like not super special, but being very good

shape and carrot for.

So that does speak to like a Dodge Omni.

Yeah, those are like the Radwood car.

Yeah, exactly.

So I love that.

Like I do love the fact that you see these cars that maybe

aren't like as special as all the shit you see running

around here.

Not objectively special.

Exactly, but are special because of the uniqueness

and specialty.

The fact that like, wow, you're still around and then

that kind of shape.

Somebody loves you.

Like we saw two Citroen DS's and then the E.

I can't remember the other one, the newer one.

Yeah.

No, I think you're right.

There are people are leaning into those cars that are like

the ones that are like the weird economy cars that got

left to time or that people are starting to appreciate

those cars that are special because they still exist.

Yeah, like we saw the convertible Geo Metro.

Yeah, love that thing.

Yeah, that was so cool.

I have another opinion on why that's happening too.

I don't think it's just because of the analogness

or like nostalgia necessarily.

I also think it's affordability.

Some of those cars are so affordable.

You can't go buy a 2004 Camry for that's like a low mileage

for under six grand.

Like cars all cars.

There's no more 2000 like my first truck was like 600 bucks

and a lot of my friends first cars were like 2000.

Unless their parents own a construction company or something

like realistically like the tooth, the $3,000 car doesn't

exist anymore.

And so until you turn to those cars, you find like

the random dawg domini that some grandmother had the Shelby

you know, some kids had it.

Maybe not that one.

That was probably worth money.

But my point is like the car, like those are still only

like a two grand because there's such a little market

and nobody's looking for that.

And like those cars are going to start coming up.

I feel like that's because of that.

That's really cool.

But also I think it's affordability.

Yeah, that's a good point because it has like extremely

good cool factor.

These cars, but at an affordable price like under

10 grand type of affordable.

I think it's only cool fact.

It's just that they're more affordable than like a reliable

decent car.

Yeah, but okay, like a Pontiac Fiero, right?

Like a GT maybe, but like a regular cool.

Yeah, like like to us, that's cool.

Maybe because we remember them in high school, like

that was the car to get.

But for you who doesn't remember them in high school,

what makes those cars cool?

Yeah, they're affordable that you don't see them often

because like you said, attrition kicks in.

These are rare because they're not, there's on left.

So they're cool because they're rare.

They're cool because they were most were preserved.

Right.

But they come from an era where things were different.

Things were analog, right?

The seats, like remember when we peeked inside that car

that had like those like 90s.

Velover.

Yeah.

The best with the stripes.

Yeah.

Like the bus seats, you know, like with like saved by

the bell font in there, you know, like to us, that's

like cool.

Like that.

You don't see that anymore.

The colors, you know what I mean?

So like the RAV4, the graphics we saw on the first gen

RAV4 today, the two door one, you know, you don't see

those.

I love those.

I want a two door convertible RAV4 in manual

transmission with OZ rally wheels.

All wheel drive.

Yeah.

Yes.

Isn't that crazy that you want that?

Yeah.

Like 10 years ago, would you have wanted that?

Of course.

I think also it's cuts.

That's all I like to add to that.

Who would have been way cheaper?

Obscure stuff.

Yeah.

Also, they just don't make cars have personality

like that anymore.

Like everything has to fit a certain mold as far as

like a physics.

Like everything has to be as efficient as possible.

So everything is kind of getting a similar shape

with similar angles.

And then B, there just isn't how much fun left

in like the new car market, like of any cars.

You don't see all crossover versions of any cars.

There's also like a weird funky version of a car.

Of a new car.

Yeah.

I think tying in to kind of what you said about those

cars being affordable.

I think a lot of those cars also have a good use case

as a daily driver.

So that might be another yet another reason.

My takeaway was when we went to the Spanish Inn

and Pebble Beach during that 17 mile drive.

We went to that really bougie area right where

it was like along the water and we saw I think

a Senna, we saw a Wyra and we were so astonished

by the F 40, right?

Because that was that vintage Ferrari and then another

F 40 showed up and we were and then they were like,

Oh, let's go check the parking lot.

Let's see if we could see anything cool in there.

And it was like, you know, Bentaygas and Cullinans

and more McLarens and more Lamborghini.

And we didn't like we just did a 360 and went

right back to the F 40.

Yeah, if there were a first gen MR2 supercharged,

I'd be like going nuts.

Yeah.

So I just think like analog does have a big part of it.

We we like urine for that analog experience because

these cars are no longer analog, but also affordability.

Right?

Like, are we ever going to really own one of these cars?

Probably not.

But I could I could afford an MR2 spider or not a

spider, you know, supercharged, supercharged or a second gen

MR2 turbo and have the same, you know, pleasure of driving

it right as a hypercar.

And I think that's what defines us as enthusiasts because

yeah, we can get excited over the exotics because one day

those exotics will become old and it will become like the

car that money pits.

But there's a kid today that has one of those cars

maybe on their poster or maybe not a poster, maybe

like as a wallpaper on their iPhone, right?

Yeah, but it'll eventually be the car that they like geek

out over in 20 years.

So yeah.

And I mean, the whole like Radwood vibe, like the break

dancing, the BMX stuff, the, you know, freestyle BMX.

It's the whole vibe.

It's so cool.

It's more than just cars.

Right.

Culture, the music.

Yeah.

And you know, I electro funk being played.

Yeah.

On the PA speakers.

I tend to ask people like music today compared to music

in the night, like for example, someone in their mid 20s.

I'll ask them, like, is the music today similar to the

music you like from the 90s?

Because I noticed a lot of people like 90s music

that are that are Gen Z.

And it's pretty astonishing that they say, yeah, the

music today is not the same.

You know, and it kind of makes me think like, damn,

I really grew up in like peak.

Oh, we did.

Culture.

You and I did.

So it's crazy because we were listening to hip hop

today, right?

The hip hop came on.

And what do we say?

Like, like what the fuck?

Yeah, it's like autotune.

Yeah.

It's like rap with mobile rap.

Yeah.

What was it?

Twerk music.

Nissan Altima music.

He's like, he's like, bro, like fucking chicks that

drive it.

Nissan Altima is listening to this shit.

So, all right, let's move on to Dylan's

experience with the test drive.

So real quick, just kind of give context.

We're driving along a 17 mile drive, which is one of

the most scenic drives here in Monterey.

And we saw one of 25 Cadillac Celestics.

Apparently it's not Celestique.

It's Celestique, right?

Celestique.

I like saying Celestique or Celery because I

kind of say it with like an accent and have a

little fun with it.

Yeah.

Cool.

Like a French.

Yeah, a little bit like a very sophisticated

just kind of rolls off the tongue that way.

Yeah.

So we saw one and we were like, like you spotted

it first.

Oh my God, look at that Cadillac Celestique, right?

Which there was a lot of that this weekend.

Oh my God, check that, right?

But this was a car that is new.

It's fresh, right?

So like seeing it for the first time is obviously

exciting.

And then you said, wow, I would love to drive

one of those.

And then I responded and said, yeah, I would love

to sit in the backseat of that thing because

it's a boat, right?

How did you describe it?

Great Gatsby?

Yeah, it's like a modern take on like a Gatsby car,

like just like a big, long and I don't know.

I just love it so much because it reminds me of

and I've in the past, I've written a lot about

American cars of the late 70s, like the Malaise era,

like Cadillac and Lincoln.

And it reminds me of a modern take on that.

Like it's big.

It's bold.

It's ostentatious in many ways.

It's impractical.

It's just kind of absurd and it makes a statement like

it makes a strong statement.

And it's so cool because I think that it's a car

that's kind of going back to like what Cadillac did best

and like it's going back to like what people used

to love about American luxury cars in a modern way.

Yeah.

So you got the chance to live out your weekend dream

of driving it.

I got to sit in the backseat.

What was it like?

It was cool.

I when we first got in it and I put it in Drive.

Well, first we I signed up for the test drive

and there was, you know, a line of people at

the Mercedes booth, but not for Cadillac.

I think a lot of people didn't even think

they would be able to drive the Celestix.

So they just kept walking.

Maybe looked at it and took a couple of pictures,

but we signed up, drove it and I got into the car,

put it in Drive and I immediately noticed that

it wasn't that it was in Coast mode.

It's an electric car.

We put it in Drive and I started coasting and

you know, I could see how for a test drive demo

that would be how they would set it for most people,

right?

Maybe if they're not used to an electric car.

But I had him put it in the region mode

because I do have a little bit of seat time

with the Tesla Model 3.

But the first thing I noticed when we got in

and drove it was how silent it was.

I couldn't believe that as soon as we got in

and we closed all the doors, it was just like pitch silent.

We couldn't hear any of the people talking,

laughing, yelling at passing cars outside.

We were just completely removed.

So that was the first thing I noticed

when I got in and drove it.

Yeah.

When we saw it, I was like, oh, that's the

Rolls Royce Spectre competitor.

But it's cheaper, right?

Obviously it's American.

So it's it's a domestic car.

That is what three hundred and forty thousand dollars.

Yeah, three forty starting.

So it's cheaper.

But in the end, are you comfortable by paying

that much for a Cadillac?

I have thoughts on this.

I think that this car and it's weird because Cadillac

is trying to get away from the stigma of them being

like an old person car brand.

Yeah.

But I feel like the person who buys the Celestic

is the old money person who already had the Rolls Royce.

Like they already had the Phantom.

They already had the Bentley Molesane, whatever.

Like they already had the flagship cars that had the badge

and they love the looks of the Celestic.

They see themselves driving it and they don't care.

They're not trying to show off with the badge.

Like they don't need the they still want

an impactful car, but they don't need to be seen driving

a Rolls Royce.

Yeah.

It's kind of like a low key flex, like a humble flex, right?

Yeah.

I was in the back seat playing around with the massage

and the YouTube screen and the all the different options

for massage had like seven different options, right?

Because that's like one of those seats like a maybe like

a my back, right?

Where you want to sit in the back and be like driven.

Kind of that's the vibe I was getting with the amount

of space and leg room I had.

But I would never pay $340,000 for a car because think

about it in like a year.

That's your depreciation.

It'll be worth less than a hundred.

Unless they keep it highly exclusive, which it is currently

yes, 25 have been built in 2025.

So maybe 26 next year.

We'll see if they followed a trend of the year.

Did you find it odd that like when we mentioned like,

oh, there's only 25 of them built.

They're like, oh, yeah, we're kind of keeping that like not

super public.

Yeah.

He was shocked that I knew that one.

I'm also like, why would you want to keep it public?

And this is exclusive.

I don't.

Isn't that the whole fucking point?

No, I don't think they want people because I think

here's my guess because that's a good point.

They probably can't produce more than 25.

No one's ordering them.

So they don't want people to think like, oh my God,

no one's buying up.

Yeah.

Mm hmm.

They're his response.

That's exactly what that said.

I have a follow up on that.

So the E 28 and five, there were only supposed to be 500 sent

to America and there was a class action lawsuit amongst E 28

and five owners regarding the exclusivity of it, you know,

like it was supposed to be like 500 and that's it.

And yeah, like look it up.

It's the same thing happened with the Durango Hellcat

because they said it was only going to be around for one year.

And then they did several more years.

One thousand two hundred and thirty eight of them.

Yeah, it's a thing where it's like people bought it and like

ran to buy it because they almost thought it was going to be

an investment or just like a smart vehicle to buy.

And then they found out like, oh, it's not as special as I

thought it was.

Still special.

No, it is, but like that's how people think though.

They got bamboozled.

Yeah, they feel like they're bamboozled.

Like, well, I thought only five like it's but even though

that doesn't actually mean anything, like you should buy

the car because you want it.

But that's just how people are.

Sounds like me when I was eight years old buying beanie babies.

So anything left on the Celestique experience?

Um, yeah, I mean driving it was it was comfortable.

It was very ergonomic, like where everything was placed

except for the wireless charger seat was.

Yeah, except for the wireless charger, you kind of had

to reach to set your phone in the wireless charger,

but it didn't really feel big.

Like it felt it felt big when we were passing on like narrow

roads, but when we were maneuvering it on some narrow

twisty roads, like when they're when we weren't passing

other cars, like it felt like you could steer it like a

smaller car and it felt like it, you know, handled.

I mean, better than you would expect for something that

probably is as long as like a F 250 crew cab.

Yeah, my only worry with cars like that is like when

I was fiddling around with the controls because it has

a big screen to your left, right?

Where you can configure everything.

It was getting so hot like, like hot to the touch.

Like I didn't want to even touch the screen.

That's how hot it was getting.

So imagine in 10 years from now, are these electronics

going to fail?

Because there's no button.

There's no actual button to move your seat forward

and back.

Everything is done like with a little.

I don't like that.

Like even like to like tangible buttons.

Right.

So what's going to happen when all this stuff overheats

or just stops functioning?

I mean, it's a General Motors product.

You know, really nice paperweight.

Right.

So I don't know.

Beautiful looking paperweight.

Yeah.

Another reason looks so cool.

I love to sit in.

I wish I could drive it kind of like your Buick.

It's another General Motors product that is sitting

as a paperweight normally runs.

So yeah, anyway, I'm one parked.

It's still a beautiful car.

I honestly think it's I like it.

Like I know when we saw it, it's pretty striking.

Like it's noticeable.

It's definitely like you mentioned earlier, like kind of

harkens back to like the Great Gatsby era where like

people drove do's and burgs and these like big opulent

like American, you know, like we show our like muscle

through our size, you know, like when it comes to

automobiles because no one in the world, you know,

makes big cars other than the United States, you

know, so that's kind of what I what I thought when

I saw it like, wow, we're going back to that.

We are.

Yeah.

I think it's so cool.

It's a modern who makes big cars Mercedes BMW for

the US market.

Those are still big cut.

The S class is like one of the largest cars you can buy.

Okay.

Let's let's look at the 760 IL.

The W126, the thing's huge.

Let any G-Wagon ever.

G-Wagon's not big.

Range Rover's long wheelbase Range Rover.

They are.

Those are big cars.

Those are all big cars.

But go to Europe.

Who's going on and cruiser?

Go to Europe.

Let's clarify something here.

Let's clarify something here that's important.

All of those cars are big, but we're talking about a car

that's big and the way that it's styled like just

ostentatious and in your face.

Yeah.

Okay.

Rolls Royce is one, but I'm comparing the new car.

I'm comparing the new car more to cars of like the

Malae's era or American cars like the 40s or the

Art Deco styling.

Yes.

Yeah.

Big styling.

Like long and flowy.

And the, what is it?

The space, space styling like all the.

Oh yeah.

Like the fins.

Yeah.

Like yeah.

50s.

60s.

Space era.

Yeah.

The art, even like the Cadillac art in science

designs, like with the sharp edges, right?

I mean, look, design is always changing and

evolving, but I just feel like Americans.

We, we do everything bigger when it comes to the

auto industry.

Yeah.

I know there's other companies that make large cars,

but like most cars in Europe, they're not built for

those small little cobblestone roads.

You know, I feel like those Chinkachento.

I think we're, I think we used to do bigger.

I think we used to do bigger.

I don't think we do as much anymore.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree.

No, I like, I think I would love to see American

car companies actually come back swinging someday.

I don't think it will, but I want to see some crazy

shit like the Hummer fucking the EV Hummer was huge.

It was like 14,000 pounds.

Yeah, it's huge.

But it's like, it's an EV huge.

So I want to ask one last question before we wrap

up and it's going to be around our regarding the

car market.

So think about right now.

What is an attainable and I mean attainable

not like a hundred thousand to a hundred thousand

like something that's like, let's just say

sub 50, right?

So I'm going to use an example.

The Acura NSX at one point was sub $50,000 not too

long ago.

And now I mean, you see how many Acura NSX's have

we seen this weekend?

Like at least five to 10.

Yeah, maybe more.

Yeah, 20.

Okay.

So my point is, is that car is not a cheap car

anymore, but they've gone up in value.

So I don't know if they bought them recently

of those people, if they bought them earlier

and now they obviously have a car that's worth

double triple what they paid for it.

What is a car today like an exotic car that you can

buy for under 50,000 that you are pretty confident

will be worth more.

Maybe double an exotic car for under 50.

Yeah.

All the exotic is the word we can use.

Something rare.

Let me exactly rare.

So I wouldn't say exotic.

So for example, like one that comes to mind,

maybe like a Dodge Viper RT 10, right?

That's not a super car, but it's exotic in a sense

that you don't see him that often pretty rare.

So what do you think?

Can you guys think of a car that you think?

Damn, that would be a like an awesome car to

take the Monterey car week.

How much are what do you see seven ZR ones go for?

Above us though, they're in the 60s.

Okay, but we're getting closer.

So like you can look at the E34 M5.

Those are like 18 to 22, 28,000 all day.

And it has like literally the same S38 motor,

although it's a better motor.

But the car is like heavier than the E28.

So E34 M5, I think will go way up in value.

What years of that?

That would be 91 to 91 to 95.

Okay.

Yeah.

I still think so.

The E34 platform was 89 to 95, but 91 to 95 was the E34 M5.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's going to go up.

What are you sure hit?

I still think this is something I brought up on the very

like one of the very first episodes of when we were going

to call the car exchange podcast, the CTSV, any CTSV

with a manual transmission.

Any CTSV with a manual transmission is going to go up.

The wagons are like over 50 though.

Yep.

I said any CTSV.

I didn't say wagons.

I'm not going to, I'm not going to specify that because

So an automatic CTSV sedan.

Not said any manual CTSV.

Oh, manual.

My bad.

Okay.

Automatic or go up too, but I think the manual is going to be,

I think it's going to be a stretch because right now

you can get the V coupes and sedans, especially if it has

like a few miles for that like 30 ish grand range.

I could see at some point a manual CTSV especially has to

be dwindle and dwindle and overall amount of them that

are okay miles or good condition.

They're going to go up.

That's a good one.

I'm going to say Mercedes, the naturally aspirated 6-2 V8s.

So like the Mercedes C63 AMG coupes from like the late

2000s and early 2010s.

That's a car you can get right now.

I mean, they're good money, but like it's a hell of a car

for the money and they're definitely I think going to go

up in value because when they came out, they were the

highest horsepower naturally aspirated V8 produced at the

time and as we get into turbos and hybrids and smaller

displacement stuff, I think the Euro guys who have loved

Mercedes V8s are going to want to have the highest horsepower

most aggressive NA V8 that Mercedes ever offered.

Plus reliable.

So I think though, so I think all of those cars that have

that engine will appreciate, but I think the one that

people are really going to want like the unicorn is like

the C63 coupe.

Not the R63.

Right.

Yeah, the car nerds like us, the car nerds like us are

going to want those, but like more people are going to want

more people are going to want the C class.

I think.

Yeah.

The R63 is like, damn, they made that like it's kind of

that wow factor.

Kind of like an ML 63.

Yeah, they make an ML 63.

Oh, yeah.

But like, okay, but they make SUV.

This is like almost like a minivan.

It is.

It's an AMG minivan.

Yeah, because it doesn't have a sliding.

Yeah, they had the diesel version.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

320 CDI.

Is that what it would have been?

I think it was 350 CDI.

Yeah.

Timing chain guide issues on those.

I heard.

Yeah.

I think when you consider a car that's going to be like,

oh, the next, you know, exotic car that's going to

be over 100,000, that is now at the bottom of its depreciation

curve, because sub 50, you know, that's not bad.

Like that's something that like is, you know, you can go

out tomorrow and put that on a loan, you know, and buy it

and pay payments.

But as an investment, right, we never know.

We don't have a crystal ball.

But when you think about it, I think one of the most

important factors is reliability.

You know, I said the NSX because that's a car

that is now, you know, we always knew it was a

super car or Ferrari competitor, but like we never

knew if it would because it's a Honda.

We never knew it would go to the levels.

It's gone, you know, even the Toyota Supra, you know,

like the Mark IV.

Senna owned one.

So yeah, yeah.

So yeah, to kind of go back to back a step, the R320

was also a thing.

R320 CDI.

I remember that.

I remember that nomenclature.

So I was like, wait, he said no, but I remember

that being a thing.

It's not R350.

There's an R320 CDI and an R350 Blue Tech.

Okay.

That clears it up.

So the R320, I think is the more reliable one.

I think I don't know.

Oh, the Blue Tech motor is not.

I thought the Blue Tech is what you have in your E250.

Yeah, the OM651 motor.

Yeah, that one's reliable, but the 350 is not as reliable.

Yeah, the V6.

The R320 is the older one because Mercedes hasn't had

the middle ground numbers in a while.

The R320 I think is the straight six diesel.

Yes.

I think.

You're correct.

Which is reliable.

Both utilizing a three liter V6 diesel.

Oh man, okay.

So, so much info.

Yeah, we could, it's funny because Ruben, the other

analog and grit member here, he's like, well, you guys

just say the model name, stop talking about the chassis

code because we were saying GMT 800 and all this.

And it was just funny because he's right.

Like we talk in this like code.

You know, look at that, you know, W124 GMT 800 with

the 4.0 banger slash GDI CDI.

But yeah, if Mercedes made an R class again with the

OM651 engine, I'd buy it.

Because it's like a practical minivan.

You're trying to like make it like 45 miles to the island.

You know, come on, Mercedes, build this.

I'll buy it.

Build the fucking R class again.

And make it a manual.

They'll sell like that's a tough ass.

They'll sell like hotcakes.

One of me being one of the three people that buy it.

Yeah, give you an EQR.

You're getting an electric R class and you're going to like it.

After visiting car week, who now wants a 911?

Raise your hand.

Well, I've always wanted a 911.

I mean, like if it's I want the only one I want as long as

it's a stick shift.

I'd be cool, but it's not like I don't want it any more

than I did before.

I don't want a 911.

I was just raising my hand as a, you know, just like, you

know, as a visual cue.

Yeah, as a visual cue.

I don't want a 911.

My point is I don't ever want a 911.

I'll probably buy one.

If one comes across me like for a good deal, cause I

want to like experience it.

Have you ever driven one?

I've driven it, but like not spiritedly.

So I can't.

You have to.

Yeah, you're right.

You'll change your mind.

But the reason why I'm raising my hand right now is

because are you all right, bro?

Yeah, I'm good.

Dude in the face.

He was making it was not.

I was like, what the fuck?

What are you doing with that?

I've never seen anyone do that.

I just pinched it in.

I've never seen anyone do that.

He's only just left our table for a second there.

Cause he looked at his face.

He was just like.

I didn't realize it was that dramatic.

I just thought I was picking up the mic.

No, your mic was making so much noise.

I didn't want to talk about you.

What the fuck?

I'm sorry listeners.

Let me just get back to my point real quick.

What were you talking about?

9-Elevens.

They are the Honda Civics of Monterey Car Week.

They're just everywhere.

They're everywhere.

I'm not the type of person.

I had to have the most rarest shoes.

Lancia and Tegral.

Yes.

That's what I'm talking about.

That was cool to see.

Yes.

That's what I would love to have.

But like, I just, that's who I am.

I can't have what other people have.

And 9-Elevens are just everywhere, man.

Everywhere.

GT3 RS.

Not a 964 turbo.

Or a 9146.

Which we saw today at.

Oh, God.

What's that place?

Works.

Ditos or Dinos?

Oh, yeah.

It was like a little dealer.

Yeah.

The little dealer that's like here in town.

That's cool.

I saw you guys post that.

Yeah.

Gosh.

It's a little dealership that sells only 9-Elevens.

Right.

Or 9146s.

Yeah.

He had he had a 9146 there.

All right.

Well, thank you guys for joining the Monterey Car Week

recap episode of the analog and grit podcast.

As always, Dylan,

thank you for being as consistent as you are.

Thanks for having me.

Justin, we'll see you.

See you when I say yes.

Maybe next week.

By the way, we're making the trek back to San Diego tomorrow.

Oof.

And tomorrow is Sunday for whenever who listens to this.

Justin, maybe next time you'll wear some sunscreen.

You know, maybe.

All right, guys.

Until next week on the analog and grit podcast, we'll see you

soon.

Monterey Car Week 2025 Recap

About this episode

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from Analog and Grit Podcast