Most Popular Wheels of 2026! & More
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Company
Martini Works
Martini Works is a business that sells car parts and accessories. They focus on helping car lovers find the best products for their vehicles.
Company
Airlift Performance
Airlift Performance makes special systems for car suspensions that let drivers change how high or low their car sits. This helps improve how the car handles and looks.
Company
Koenig Forged
Koenig Forged makes special wheels for cars that are both strong and light. Car enthusiasts often choose these wheels to improve their vehicle's performance and look.
Company
Work Wheels
Work Wheels is a brand that makes high-quality wheels for cars. Many car enthusiasts like to use their wheels because they are strong and can be customized.
Car
Mazda MX-5
The Mazda MX-5, often called the Miata, is a small sports car that is very fun to drive. It's light and has great handling, making it popular among driving enthusiasts.
Brand
Nissan
Nissan is a car company from Japan that makes many different types of cars, like sedans and SUVs.
Car
Nissan Altima
The Nissan Altima is a popular car that is comfortable to drive and good on gas. It's a midsize sedan, which means it's bigger than a compact car but smaller than a full-size car.
Concept
collectors event
A collectors event is a special gathering where people who love cars come together to show off and look at rare and valuable cars.
Concept
Cavalino Classic
The Cavalino Classic is a yearly event in Palm Beach where Ferrari fans come together to see and celebrate Ferraris. It's a big deal for car lovers.
Car
Ferrari 166
The Ferrari 166 is one of the first cars made by Ferrari, a famous Italian car manufacturer. It was built in 1947 and is important because it helped establish Ferrari's reputation in racing.
Car
BMW 550S
The BMW 5 Series is a fancy car that many people love because it's comfortable and fun to drive. It's known for having a lot of cool features and a stylish design.
Car
Ferrari 430 GT
The Ferrari 430 GT is a racing version of the Ferrari F430, made for competitions. It's built to be faster and more aerodynamic than the regular F430.
Term
ALMS
ALMS is a racing series in the United States where different types of sports cars compete against each other. It's known for exciting races and high-performance vehicles.
Term
Formula One
Formula One is a top-level racing series where specially designed cars race on tracks around the world. It's known for high speeds and advanced technology.
Car
Ferrari Testarossa
The Ferrari Testarossa is a famous sports car from the 1980s. It has a unique look and a very powerful engine, making it a symbol of luxury and performance.
Car
Ferrari 360
The Ferrari 360 is a sports car made by Ferrari that was built between 1999 and 2005. It's famous for being fast and stylish, making it a favorite among car lovers.
Term
RPM
RPM means how fast the engine is spinning. When you hear a number like 3700 RPM, it tells you how many times the engine's parts are moving in a minute, which affects how powerful the engine is.
Term
compressor
A compressor is a part of the car's air conditioning system. It helps cool the air that comes into the car, so if it's not working, you won't get cold air when you turn on the AC.
Term
fan
The fan in a car helps keep everything cool. It blows air to cool the engine and can also help cool the air inside the car when you use the air conditioning.
Term
valving system
A valving system helps control how exhaust gases leave the engine, which can improve performance and reduce pollution. It's an important part of how cars run efficiently.
Car
Ferrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a famous sports car from the 1960s that is very rare and expensive. It's considered one of the best classic cars ever made, and many collectors want to own one.
Concept
car auction
A car auction is a place where people can buy cars by bidding money, and the highest bidder wins the car.
Car
Ferrari 550
The Ferrari 550 is a luxury sports car made by Ferrari, famous for its speed and elegant design. It has a powerful engine and is considered a collector's item.
Concept
parting out a car
When someone parts out a car, they take it apart and sell the different pieces instead of selling the whole car. This can help them make more money if the car is broken or old.
Term
steal
When someone says they got a 'steal' on a car, it means they bought it for much less than what it's worth. It's like getting a really good deal.
Term
DWS-06 Plus
The DWS-06 Plus is a type of tire made by Continental that works well in different weather, like rain and snow. It's a good choice if you want a tire that can handle many conditions.
Term
Pirelli
Pirelli is a brand that makes tires, especially for fast and fancy cars. They are known for making high-quality tires that perform well.
Company
Continental
Continental is a company that makes tires for cars. They are known for creating safe and high-quality tires that work well in different conditions.
Term
wet performance
Wet performance is how good a tire is when the road is wet, like when it's raining. It tells you how well the tire can grip the road and stop safely.
Car
Ford F150
The Ford F-150 is a big truck that many people use for work or towing things. It's popular because it's tough and can handle a lot of different jobs, making it a favorite for both families and workers.
Car
G-Class Gwagon
The G-Class is a luxury SUV that looks very tough and can go off-road. It's popular among wealthy people because it has a unique style and lots of fancy features inside.
Car
Ford Flex
The Ford Flex is a big SUV that looks different from most cars because it's boxy. It's great for families because it has a lot of room inside for people and their things.
Car
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is a sporty car that looks like the classic muscle cars from the past. It's known for being fast and powerful, making it a fun choice for people who love driving.
Brand
Porsche
Porsche is a famous car brand from Germany that makes fast and luxury sports cars, like the 911.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous sports car that many people love because it's fast and stylish. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a symbol of American car culture.
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
The Chrysler Pacifica is a family minivan that has a lot of space for kids and their stuff. It's designed to be comfortable and safe, making it a great choice for parents.
Car
Renault Wind
The Renault Wind is a small car that you can take the roof off, making it fun to drive in nice weather. It's not very common, but it's designed for people who enjoy driving with the wind in their hair.
Car
Lexus Lc500
The Lexus LC is a beautiful luxury car that looks really stylish and is fun to drive. It's made for people who want a fancy car with lots of nice features.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast and stylish sports car that many people admire. It's known for being powerful and is often used in racing, making it a dream car for many enthusiasts.
Car
Lexus LFA
The Lexus LFA is a very special and expensive sports car that is known for being super fast and having a unique look. It's made in limited numbers, making it a rare find for car lovers.
Car
Dodge Viper
The Dodge Viper is a fast sports car that many people think of as a real thrill to drive. It's known for its powerful engine and bold design, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a cool sports car that many people love for its speed and how well it handles. It's popular among car fans because it can be customized to go even faster.
LIVE
Welcome to Martini Works podcast. I am a special guest Alex Martini
I'm so happy to be here, and I'm here with our current residents of the Venetian Dakota and Gels
Yeah, Venetian. Hi. Good morning. Casino in Las Vegas. Oh kind of cool. Very expensive
And we hope you are having an excellent February as we film this right now just to kind of give you guys a lay of the
Geographically and obviously from a weather perspective because we only have three things to talk about in Wisconsin
One being cars to being beer and three being weather
We just hit our all-time high 50 degrees and a picker. Yeah, the 50 degrees and we've got the the sunroofs open
You know I did I did I popped mine yesterday. That's right. That's right
We got the we got the summer cars out for just a day
They're gonna go back in though at the end of the week
Give them good wash and yeah, yeah, be a great day to go to Lambo watch the Packers, but yeah
No, just not in season yet. You know what I'm saying. Yeah. No. Yeah, you got a there's
There's gonna be some snow coming down for the rest of the week
But let me tell you when I came back from Florida this past weekend
I saw I saw color back in the faces of our two favorite co-hosts Dakota and Gels
It's mostly red because it's the first time I've been out in the Sun in like three months
Yeah, seasonal depression is real but before we talk about seasonal depression and going outside to feel better about yourself
There's another thing you can do and it's through the output of capitalism if you haven't had a chance yet to build your car and
Car show season is coming now is the time to do so ladies and gentlemen
I'm gonna be really honest with you
We stocked up on a bunch of stuff from Japan tires like continental and general in our warehouse
And if you guys are looking for the best deals from the homies that give a shit go my jacar martini works dot-com
And we actually just launched something super special that you can only do at martini works
Or if you check out with catapult right now, we'll actually give you 2% back on your cart up to 70 bucks
It's not a ton of cash
But it's a way for us to give back because we recognize how expensive everything has gotten
And it's just our way of kind of making the build happen
So if you need a reason to pull the trigger we try to make it a little easier on the finance side
And of course we got a bunch of new parts on the website that were super super stoked to be talking about we added more stuff from Koenig forged
We added more stuff from airlift performance. We've got more wheels from work
The list just goes on and on and all of it is thanks to you listening and to all the incredible people who support martini works every single day
So thank you so much for doing that absolutely as we start off with the first segment
I think we're gonna spend a little bit of time of talking about where I was where the heck did you go?
Yeah, you're always gone out and about where we always running away to warmer places
I'm gonna be honest this winter has gone by pretty quick for yeah
Sturgeon's beer and I'm not trying to win a bagel
Yeah, I don't want to brag their bud
But the winter weather and the winter accent went away when I went down to Florida
No, I went to Fort Lauderdale
And I went to and I had to Google this because I needed to make sure I said it right
I went to Boca Raton for the very first time which is fancy. It is fancy
I didn't know it was something I'd order at a restaurant
Yeah, it's like the Boca Raton sounds like a type of drink. I would get in an airport. I'll take a Boca Raton
Yeah, you know what I'm saying a seltzer water. Yeah, it's it was really cool though
It's it's a very very nice place. Okay quite
Expansion we're doing down there check out some like Nissan or some yeah some some some some ultimas some MX-5s
No, I went to an event called the Palm Beach Cavalino classic which is a Porsche. I'm sorry
It's a Ferrari only
Collectors event that's been going on for 35 years
Which is no small feat and it's literally nothing but just dope Ferraris from across the years
Which this year was really insane because
They had not the first
But the second ever made Ferrari on display. Wow, that's really cool. Yeah, so it was a it was a
1947
166 and that being like Italy or something it probably was
But money is just made up to the people that own these cars
Yeah, that's true and so they had it was originally I think in 1946
But then they shipped it back to Italy to get a bigger engine and when they shipped it back
They ultimately read like they rebadged it as a 1947 because it came back
And then next to it was the very first
Ferrari in America
That was ever introduced which I think was called a
166 Berlinetta and then the car next to it was the first Ferrari to ever race in America
Which just so happened to be called a Ferrari America
So there's some really cool cars there some stuff that I had never seen before
And then there's obviously some things that I had seen before that I really really loved like they had a racing
like the racing Ferrari section so it had like
550s it had lm's it had a 430 GT which was from like the 2006 2007
ALMS like racing series the GT2 racing series, which was really cool
They had stuff from their WEC era they had stuff. I mean pretty much everything
I think the only cars they didn't have there where for our reformula one cars interesting
So is it like what's the vibe there? Is it quiet or is like music bumping and people are lively or is it like very posh?
Keep that down, please. No, it was it's kind of weird the the demographic is obviously very different than what I am used to
You know, we went to a night event
Where we got to see the 849 Testerosa unveiled. There's a very cool gorgeous expensive car
With tactile buttons, which I'm gonna get into because this is really fun. This was like this was hilarious
They're doing this unveil right and there's this Italian up there and and dude
They all are just like these handsome
Incredibly-looking dudes like they got the perfect hair the glasses the whole minor and they're talking up there with the accent
You know on the thing I can't do the Italian accent. Can you do the Italian accent?
Can you can you do the Italian accent? Get me started and I'll try to do it. Weegee. There's too many damn goombas
Yeah, it's pretty good. No, that's not good. I need you. No, that was actually no, you know, I can't do it better than that. I
Can't even fathom what the accent is. You can't do any accent. There's none
You just do the same voice for all accent. We are so we're so happy for you
It's amazing because you know you recognize that you're not doing it still just okay, so anyway, so
There's events that we're having like the the people are obviously a little bit older
I cannot I can imagine they're they're all old
And and then it's also in Florida and if anybody's ever been to Florida or lives in Florida if you're listening
Oh, you know either a lot of the old people not just that but like it's like an hour away from Miami
Oh, and Miami people are are just different. Yeah, they're just
Way different than what you see and so
No, like they were all good. The music was was was decent
It was kind of weird is like this kind of old-school techno style vibe, but it worked
I would say that everybody everybody you'd have a good time
But then again, everybody was like kind of
Kind of
Kind of like too open, you know, there's a little open about okay a little bit of you know
It kind of just seemed like they were just open about a little bit too much
But that's besides the point was let that sleeping dog lie. That's right. I can't go. I just are asking for money. Yeah
Yeah, okay 50 bucks. I feel like they'd be like, yeah
You want five grand? I guess, you know
Box what's that gonna get in the center console?
Just go grab it. I will say it was pretty funny because I saw that they we had
We had drinks in there like doing tips and like one of the guys just like casually dropped a hundred dollars
For a drink
Yeah, I'm about to go get my bartender license see you guys
Yeah, going to Fort Lauderdale, but it was really cool
We had a great time the cars were incredible the people were different, but not not necessarily just in a bad way
It's just different, you know, yeah different things to talk about different things to complain about
I will say if you think it's hard to
Get a bunch of people to agree on something
In any group of people take that magnify it by like a hundred and that's what it's like to get a hundred rich people to agree on
Anything because everybody thinks they know everything about everything all the time periods like that's all so we just down there hanging out
Or did you bring your Ferrari? No, I went down there because I'm a collector
Is your Ferrari not allowed where your fur was your Ferrari in the show?
Get arrested if you brought your my Ferrari 100% would not be allowed in that show
Why is an owner no because the the show only allows original cars
There's no modification modifications at all none zero, which is really wrong spot
Which is pretty crazy when you think about it because so the the event was gorgeous
It was really cool. It was held at the Boca Raton, which is a very cool hundred year old like resort now
But the thing that was so wild to me was how they judge those cars because I couldn't quite understand how it worked
because I went to the table after they did the ribbon-cutting and
You know, I met the team that ran the organization that ran the the not-profit. I we met
Literally Enzo Ferrari the nephew of Enzo Ferrari there. Oh shit. His name is
Enzo Ferrari
And he's got that swagger to him
Like you know if you saw, you know like a hundred Italians in a room
And they weren't arguing with each other and you put Enzo Ferrari in there
You'd be able to tell it was him. He just kind of had that that he knew who he was, you know what I'm saying
How could you not? Yeah, it was pretty cool. Anyway, that's crazy. What was I talking about?
Oh, yeah, so I'm trying to figure out how they rank these cars like how do they win trophies?
Because there's a lot of trophies at this table
I'm like how many classes they have and I asked Corey and they were maybe like less than a dozen
I'm like, well, then why they have so many trophies?
So I had to go out and I did my little Google and and I learned that at an event like this the cars aren't scored
In comparison to other cars in their class
They're only scored to themselves and there's two categories that you can essentially
Rank for as these people are going through and judging your car
So you might think like oh, so the racers have a certain class of cars and these other people have a certain class of cars
And that's not really true. They will rate things off of originality
authenticity and then
Like heritage so they'll they'll rank a car higher like you can have a
360 right a Ferrari 360 and it can have like sticky buttons and some wear on the seats and
Maybe just like a little bit of like sun fade, you know, like over time that can still rank
highly because the the car has not been disturbed from its
Original state from the factory
Then there's another class that takes into account restoration
Right and restoring a vehicle because sometimes you need to restore stuff
But it was pretty crazy to learn that they have this like huge manual that these judges go through where they like check everything and I watched one
they were doing a
GTB and I was I was watching them like score this car and it's like nothing had ever seen before like they're like
Turn on the engine so they turn on the engine, right?
And they're like, please raise the RPM to 3700 RPM
Is that Russian sounds Russian and so they do and they like they're like have a clock, right?
And they're timing it and they'll be like it's been 30 seconds
We do not hear a compressor and be like what like we don't hear a compressor is your compressor on
Let me check and they'll be like, okay
You have you know two minutes or three minutes to like try to get the compressor turned on or to try and get the the fan for the
AC to turn on because they check like everything everything that like should work
They're checking to make sure works
So like the valving system in a 430 because it runs a vacuum system for the exhaust
Like they were testing to see if that worked in some of the cars and they have all of these manuals for all of these different models of
Like race cars, which is just absolutely or just not race cars, but just different cars
Which is just insane. So they started judging at 8 a.m
And there's like a fleet of them, right and they didn't really finish I think until two
Wow, and they had like multiple groups of people doing that all at the same time
Weird fucking event. I like to imagine a judge comes up like pulls out the dipstick and like taste
Yeah, yeah, so not good the Platinum award is based off two classes authenticity and condition and then originality
So the originality allows cars that may not be in a perfect state to still win
Qualifying win. Yeah, but then the goal is it was just like the paper, too
Is like the the document for how they judge and like the the regulations are all online and you can read them
Dude, the freaking thing is like they they made it 24 years ago because they wanted a fairer way to judge
Original Ferraris without requiring people to have to go and restore a Ferrari to win because a lot of times that's what happens, right?
Like you have like this really old fifties Ferrari and you spend millions upon millions upon millions of dollars to restore it
Right to win an award which most people do when they go to like the Pebble Beach concor, right?
So they wanted to introduce a way for people that might have a car that is still original to itself still has heritage
But maybe is not a fully restored example of you know, like a literally a 70 million dollar
250 gto
So it's neat interesting. Yeah, lots of different stuff. I will say is
Not my world
It's another world that yeah, really it really is like the there are things that are about it that are so crazy
Different because the Ferrari is much more of like a status thing, right to them
But just like somebody who in the car show scene
Would go by the trendy car of the year to then modify and like put in a car show and win
There are other people who have
Just the love of the game in it, right?
That are just like people that have had these cars for decades, right now
Like there's one guy I met and he's like
From Florida, you know, he's older really nice guy. He's like he's well off
But he's not he's not millionaire millionaire millionaire
He's just he's had this car because his mom bought the car sure in like
1964 and he's like it's just been in the family and I've just taken care of it
And he goes I go to these shows because you know, it's kind of my way of
Remembering my mom and that's why I come to these like that. That's cool. Yeah, like there are there and they're out there
You obviously have to find them
But what was crazy the last thing I'll say and then we can obviously move on to something else
But it was like there's no cost to enter the car. Okay, so that was kind of interesting
Obviously, there's experiences around the event weekend. I guess your cost was buying a Ferrari
Yeah, and all the other stuff like the tickets are expensive and blah blah blah like that's all you know
But it was pretty cool to see some different stuff. It was nice to see
We met a lot of people that were from Wisconsin. What? Yeah, a lot of people from Wisconsin motion products was there
That makes sense. So that was really cool. There's some people from some other dealerships that were there that brought their cars down
Overall, I would say
Everyone was very nice. It is a different world
There is more of like a social
Status thing to it all
But we kind of cut through all of that because Becca came with and like Becca doesn't really give a shit whether you are a
Bartender or like the owner of IHG. She just wants to be friends with everybody
So we were really able to like cut through some of that like ego noise
Yeah, it was like really easy to cut through that noise to figure out who was fun to talk to and who wasn't you know
And so we met a lot of really great people
The Cavalinos hosted like your organizers are fantastic. The food was great
You have to see my first car auction a Ferrari car auction for the first time RM Sotheby's did it bid on something just for the heck of it
And I can I say you did can I tell you one story? Yeah, and I'm done. So we're having dinner
It's me Becca
Gales garage. She's an influencer car content creator
And then the team that we were with and then some representatives from Cavalino classic Alessandro
Who is super nice great guy and we're there and they're like where they're gonna do this auction and
The guy comes over and he's like just so you guys know
I'm your representative for this area if you would like to bid on anything that you see for the evening
Simply raise your hand. I'll come to you
We can discuss what you'd like to bid and then I will work with you to make sure that we get the piece that you want
And I was like I can't afford this conversation
I
Make sure I don't bid on accident five million and one penny
so we we get into this and
The first thing is like a signed book
And it goes for thousands of dollars. Okay
Next up is this model formula one car from 2000s the Ferrari
Model car and it looked to Becca and I was like I'm I said this is the thing that I think I can bid on and
Lose, but I think I can at least start the bid and it'd be really fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah
Participated in a Ferrari auction. Yeah, and so she goes well, what would you what are you gonna bid and I was like
I was like, I mean the thing's gonna start it like I don't know to grand
I say I'll bid 25 and I bet you it'll go right away, right? Oh, no, and she goes okay
Oh, no, and so the he goes the guy explains it and he literally goes and can we start off the bidding at ten thousand?
dollars
Fucking model and you you're like
It went for like 50 G
So then we started playing this game of like what did we think it was gonna go for right every car was we were wrong
Every car we were higher. Yeah, because like like this is like calculated gambling, you know like these guys they
Auctions are prices of auctions are insane. They're so and they're they inflate everything. So we saw a a
550
Go what I thought was gonna be
Maybe 220 because right now all of them online are going for like 220 to 25 went for 300,000 almost
$300,000 is a gated six-speed really cool. Then it was a
430 16m so spider version of my car low miles dark blue
Super cool, right?
thinking he would go for maybe like
400,000 it went for
$800,000
Bro, I was about to I'm about to part out my goddamn car. Oh, yeah
So are you kidding me and all of these cars every so even like the ugly ones like there was this dart spider
Ferrari fiat thing and I'm like there is not a chance. It looks like a goddamn shitty load
There's no way people are gonna spend a lot of money on that one of the guys that we met from Wisconsin spent
$550,000 and bought it because he said and I quote on the internet
I saw these things are going for like 1.2 1.4. I honestly think I got a steal for this car
And I was like well at least you know, I'm like at least you know, you're only in it 500,000
I told him I was like well at least you know if it doesn't work out you can just like sell it
I guess he's like, oh, yeah, I won't lose any money and I'm like well good for you
No, it was really cool
I mean, I think one of the toughest things as we like explore different car cultures is sometimes feeling comfortable in those places where you're very much
Not
You're not the same
But the good news like I said before going with Becca and going with the team like we bring a lot of approach ability to it
Met some great people saw some great cars got a sunburn
And there were some some really neat stories hiding in there and it makes me
happy
That even though obviously there's a lot of people for a lot of different reasons that on those cars
There are still a lot of individuals that are in it for the love of the game, you know, they just love cars
They just happen to have a Ferrari
There's so many people in this like in who we met this weekend that literally only were there because they've had the car
For two three four
Five decades and they were just a family heirloom. That's been that's really cool. I think that's really neat
So with that being said we are going to take a small break
But not before talking about our partner of the Martini works podcast gels is questionably looking at his microphone
So Dakota go ahead
Continental
Thanks, Conti for sponsoring the pod say it right of you. Nope. You don't get it today
It's only in special occasions. Otherwise it gets burnt out. You know what I mean. Yeah, I get it
You know, it doesn't get burnt out though. Conti's they go forever. They got a they got a great
mileage rating on them check them out over at martiniworks.com
Dws-06 plus fantastic all-season for you not driving Ferraris if you don't have one
They'd be you know what, you know what throw the dws-06 plus on a Ferrari. I don't care. It's that good
I'm not going to win any originality awards. Oh, you're modifying it. What tires they come with we can't rally
Well, hey fun fact fun fact. No, that was perfect segue
We went to the driving school at Continental and we got to try Pirelli's and
The ECS-02 Continental ECS-02 back-to-back in wet performance
I will say we spun on one of the tires and it was
Yeah, it was cool to do them back-to-back. It was really fun to do that at the
Where was the California part or thermal thermal? Yeah. Yeah, that was sick
So if you guys are interested go check out the extreme contact sport-o2 wet performance is next to none
They are absolutely phenomenal in the wet, but they do
Fantastic in the dry as well and they're the perfect summer performance tire
So check those out over at martiniworks.com and thank you to Conti for sponsoring the podcast
So it was super fun, I think that's what I'm trying to say it was it was a great event
And I'm very thankful that the car culture is booming on
That side of the world because whether we want to admit or not a lot of times that money goes into racing and when it goes into racing
Who watches racing?
Just normal everyday people that like to watch race cars and guess what those guys do they buy
Normal everyday cars then what do they do they modify them and they usually modify them with parts from our teen works because they have a
But we need to talk about some of the things that we think are gonna be taken the world by storm in
2026 in terms of car
Community products right you want to spend a little bit of time talking about you know what wheels are gonna slap in 2026
What do we expect to be popular? Which is I'm gonna start it off if I may go for it
I've been hitting this for a long time
but I think
We've heard the term K curve on pop like talking about economics for like the last six months, right?
Like it's either going up or it's going down
People are either going up in the it's the same thing
It's called like the barbell theory where in economics when the marketplace squeezes sorry if you're sleeping when the marketplace squeezes
Right people either go up the totem pole of price and and buy things that are more expensive
Or they go down to get the most affordable thing sure
But the things in the middle always suffer the most they get squeezed the most because people have a really hard distinction of
Deciding whether something that could be mid-tier price point is better than something that is slightly cheaper or slightly more expensive than that
So people either buy expensive things they get the name-brand thing or they get the most great value basic version of that thing
Because they don't even want to deal with it. So I think that's happening in the automotive world right now
And I think you're seeing it a lot with some of the things that you see on the internet like counterfeit parts, right?
They're going for the cheapest possible thing that they can and then they're justifying it by saying that it's no different than the
So I've kind of taken the stand to say I appreciate and I am starting to get more vocal about the appreciation of
Prestige or like give back to the community and I think two brands that do that super super well number one are work wheels
I I think they're fantastic. I think their quality is incredible. I think their finishes are insane
They have an attention to detail that nobody else has and
Then number two
I think Koenig has gotten like locked in in their market for what they do because they've they've decided who they're going to be and they
service it so well and
It's a great brand with great products and affordable price point
And I think those are two brands that I think both do really well naturally
But I think in 26 they're gonna do even better because I think people and I hope people
Going into 26 want to have a brand on their car that they're actually
Proud of and I think those are two brands that you can be really proud of
Yeah, I agree too. I Koenig's I love Koenig
But like kind of what you just explained though, like I put them and kind of like the middle ground, right?
Like they're not like super expensive, but they're not like really cheap either
You know so that it kind of interesting to see what what happens there
I hope that's from that. They're coming out with some new designs. I think they just expanded their forge lineup
Which is really cool. I really like their forge lineup is actually like when you're talking about monoblock forge stuff
It's like a really good price. Yeah price and they look sick. Yeah good. They're like I
Don't want to say this in a bad way. They're simple designs, but in the best way possible kind of like how a TE 37 is a simple design
You know, it's just not super busy and that makes me think it's gonna look good on a ton of different platforms
Yeah, I think it does I think Koenig does a really good job with it and I think work has obviously like
Done an incredible job with it
And I think if I were to throw like a third one into the mix
I'm really excited to see what Motegi is doing with their stuff
I know we talked about them before
But like that the tri spoke wheel design the cool colors the battle six the colors are what got my attention
I know we've unboxings and stuff in it
I don't know how much of these you can see that you're watching
But we do have like the red battle six that is like that color showed up and we're literally talking to the guys and like
Yeah, we were just gonna do three colors because that's the fourth color finish for the battle six
They have the gloss white the like blackbird metallic, which is a wild name and then the gun Zilla
Yeah, like gray and they're like
We got the red it as a sample and we've really really liked it and we couldn't choose three
So we just did a fourth one. Yeah red. It looks really good
You don't have to like everything that they're making
But I love that they're one of the few brands in
2026 that are at least trying to be fresh and different and in introduce new things and like take risk
I kind of made a joke us doing something with Brent earlier, but it was like I'm so sick of the millennial gray
Of everything, you know, it's like cars these days. Everything is like great white black and it's like, oh, you want wheels
You get gray or or darker gray
I mean, yeah, you take a look at our wall here
Literally the only thing that isn't like earth tone is Motegi as I wear earth tongue clothing everywhere
But yeah, your cars are I all in all my cars are
Actually, it's like I enjoy it. I like it. I think it's cool
And I think the risk is worth, you know some sort of reward. So that those are those are who I would say
Yeah, I think that's a good call out. I had the Motegi battle as one of mine that I'm expecting
I've seen people comment about it and it's just a good design and it comes in really affordable
So I see this becoming popular this year for sure, especially with the fish like this blue finish is freakin nuts
But on the other side of that
People that are playing it safe, I would say but they're doing it well is work
And I'll say the new work vs kf sharp. I already see it hitting the streets
It's getting really popular really quick and it was a little surprising because it's like it came out and it's like
Oh, it's not that different
But just kind of some edges on it. Yeah, and I think too it's that we've actually had
And we had an order for a set of those companies, which is really cool parker order. Yeah, and um
And it's like, oh, I haven't really been seeing them. It's like then I forget. It's like well, it takes like
Six months to get them
We've seen we've seen a few those orders come through now too where it's like we kind of
We're like we're like you where we do the order and then we wait we kind of forget
You know and then like a few months go by and it's like hey, by the way, they're they're coming here. Here they are
And it's like oh, it's like oh man that wheel came out a year ago
Didn't really see that much must not have hit that hard
And it's like well the people that ordered them are you know, they've just got them a few months ago
Yeah, I'm starting to roll out and uh, it looks good like we had in the build threads. There's a guy 350z
They have them. They look really damn good. There are some
I think uh good good
Quality wheel designs coming out of japan that are iterations on previous designs and I love it
I know people are like wishing there was something more new
But there already is a lot that's new from those catalogs that need more time to breathe
Like even the the shigoku like the iteration on the kawami. Yeah, I like it. That's gonna be a little different
That's gonna be another banger a little different. That's not completely. I would that one's gonna be it's great for
Someone who loved to see our kawami and wanted to get that wheel
I think it's a great like alternative to that
Like like oh, yeah, I'm gonna like I'm gonna get that
Like it might be the thing to like push them to get that I can't see people like
Switching from their kawamis to no. No, it's not it's not that different
I also think the I think the specs of of the new one also are like meant to expand on load rating
To be more encompassing of some of the ev stuff that's coming and the suv stuff that's coming
I will say the I've seen especially from some orders that are coming in like the rotiform bpu is getting some some love
Which is kind of interesting. Um, I see more people snag that recently
But yeah, I would say if I were to put all my money on one wheel model for 2026. Yeah, can I be biased? Yeah, 100%
Can I say that one?
Why is that biased? Oh, wait, you know why it's biased. I know. Yeah
the
There's hosion. Oh the hosion. Yeah. Oh the three spoke over here. Okay. I thought you were talking about the other ones that were sitting on a car over there
No, no, those are secrets. Yeah sauce secret car. Yeah, I like the idea that that one's been out for I think a little over a year now
um, but three spokes I think still
Growing a bit in popularity like they had a really big spike a couple years ago
Um, but I think they're continuing to grow in popularity. The reason I love what motegi did with the hosion
specifically for
One of the cars that we're still working on releasing and kind of getting all that stuff put together
Is when we were looking at wheel sizes
We didn't think we were able to find anything close to a zero offset what we needed
Um, I needed like a really negative. We needed a super negative offset
But we knew that wasn't going to happen in a in a one piece like that unless we went with like a 21a
Or some crazy vulk or ssr wheel
um
And we went out there and I just started searching on the website just searching on martini works at zero offset
And the kosher popped up and I was like wait a minute you can get these in a nine and a half zero offset zero offset, which is
Awesome. I think it just has like a big backpack on it
Yeah, but still like I love that because then you don't have to run a massive spacer if you're doing something crazy with your fenders
But that's my pick dakota. Uh, I have one it's been out since like 2016, but I wanted to
Excuse me. I wanted to pick one that was like had a little fax behind it
So I went through and looked at all of our like recently added build threads
And I couldn't stop getting hit with gram lights
57s
The cr the 57 cr super popular wheel and again another simplistic design
And it seems like people are eating those things up again not a new wheel by any means been out for a decade
But people are still picking them up and I am seeing it on all kinds of different platforms a lot of them on the gr
86. Yes. Yeah, it's huge for that plan. I remember when I first got my frs
I wanted like those gun blue 57 cr so bad because I thought it would have looked really good with it
It would have it would um on that too
I I did pick the gram lights 57 dr because I literally went through the build threads
I'm like, dude, everyone's throwing gram lights on their stuff. I love that. Yeah, so I think those are going to continue to be huge
Uh, kind of sticking with the older designs really coming through here. I also notice it's like
The five spoke has come back swinging. Mm-hmm hard
Uh
Specifically the workmeister s1. Oh
I think I've been seeing a lot of really good builds. Good man
Throw those on lately and I I'm loving it
If you own that wheel if you're listening to this and you own s1s, we are
Best friends. Yeah, and then uh, I'll throw my third one out right away too. And I think it's specifically
Because this wheel is celebrating its 30th birthday. Oh
Is the te 37 they ain't going anywhere. That's gonna be massive. Um, I think the 30th anniversary edition is pretty cool
I think that if you have the opportunity to pick up a set of those like
Yeah, we get to see them in person at tokyo
That's a set of wheels that I feel like you hang on to yeah and and like 10 years or so
They're gonna be worth a good chunk of change. It's the 30th pokemon anniversary and the 30th anniversary of t 37
That year they were just coming out with fucking heat. It's also the 30th anniversary of gels this year. So look at that
They are just coming out with timeless stuff
Yes, we're gonna take this thing and milk it till the end of time quite literally until they die
No, wait milk
Careful
Here they do with pokemon they're doing it with the t 37. I was listening. I'm not getting over there
Someone's gonna clip that's gross and I don't like that was a poor phrase
Poor freezing that was my bad. It was your bad. Anyway, Alex you got another wheel or
Uh
Not really. I mean, I think like there's a lot of good wheels
That are coming out. I think the the moteggies and what they're doing is is a lot of
An easy way for people to get involved in the brand
Uh, get something different get something with a really cool finish get some tech and get the availability
I think grandma lights is a really great brand from japan
Cost is really really good a little bit tougher to get getting the ray's name
And you're not they're they're a flow form wheel. Yeah, what about mid?
What about mid wheels? I don't I still need to understand that brand. I don't see mid wheels
Going going off this year. You don't think it'll be successful. Not that I don't think it'll be successful
I just don't think our our
nation
Under god is going to uh indivisible
With liberty do you think even japan will I do because I think
Based on dude, you went to japan now. You went to tokyo out of the mid booth
I saw the booth. I didn't see them on a single vehicle everyone
But you saw the brand like loyalty loyalty. Yes, brand loyalty is huge. It's massive over there
Um, and so I do think that you know, I think mid will will find it's I mean shit if they're
Cheaper than gram lights even and there's still a technically raised engineering wheel. Are they cheaper than gram?
I don't know
I feel like it's similar, but I just I would love I would absolutely love to have it like an interview with them and just
Like why what are you doing? What is the goal here? What are we? I feel like that's so fed up
That like reps were being made of their wheels. Yeah, and just did it flooded the market. They're like, we're doing it
We're making reps of our own wheels
And as a slap in the face for everybody, we're gonna call mid as they're mid
Like I don't I that's the only thing I could think of that even slightly makes sense in what they're doing with that
They they also released a bunch of off-road wheels too
That's because every japanese company is trying to figure out how to sell
Truck wheels to the united states and no one they got the coda. No one has figured it out. No because he doesn't have a truck
He's got a suv. Yeah, but here's the thing
Here's what here's a volk needs to do if they want to sell to the truck really you got the you got the I know
What volk needs to do you want this million dollar idea? Yeah. All right. Here's what you're gonna do
You're gonna take the te 37 right on it. You're gonna make it
24 inches in diameter. Okay wide though. Okay
Shut up in those in this
14 inches wide 24 by 14 t 37 then
Negative 76 right okay negative 76 offset
You guys following me. I know where you're going. Now. You know how it's got that those really cool finishes
They different colors and stuff like that. Fuck all of that black and mild. Yep
put
Put that bitch put that bitch on your f 150
And I guarantee you make it out of cast save money on the forging make it out of cast
And call it the the the te 37 t
And you'll make millions because
truck guys want
Very simple wheel designs. They want black and mild. What's a t 37 or they want
chrome most of them can't afford polished, but they'll buy the polished
But it's usually pv like the pcd. They don't want to keep up with the polish. Yep, and then they want it to look like
A super fancy wheel, but it's not a super fancy wheel because the center caps are all plastic
So evolk makes a plastic center cap flat te 37 24 14 negative 76 and black and mild
They've officially cracked the american market
Yeah, I don't know truck guys are hard to get a read on because it's like I feel like majority of truck
I really don't care about the name. No, not even a little exactly. So it's like
How do you sell that because that fucker is going to be
$20,000
The ones that were at seamal s your were I think a $30,000 set of volks because it was a fully
It was a single forged blank on a g-wagon
That was um shahns was a shahns g-wagon
That was like the 22 tens and those were a single blank te 37, which is insane
Yeah, it's absolutely nuts and that's more just a flex. I think yeah, but if you if you don't want to spend $20,000
What could you do instead?
like what would you
Sort of suspension you maybe breaking news. I can't spend $20,000
Yeah
Can I tell you one more story about the trip? Yeah, that I think is really important for this for no context whatsoever
So before we we had this event we went to one of the sponsor activations
Um, and it was at the it was at a place called ferretti
Which makes me think of rob ferretti from super speeders rob
But anyway, we're as ready as we think of gife yet. It's it's a it's a yacht
Just wait, it's a yacht building company. Like they
They make boats. We got one of them up in dora county. Yeah, this is slightly different
And one of the boats there was a boat called the riva
Which I've never been on before
and the riva
Is 88 feet long. Okay, and it has two
2700 horsepower engines
Ways 171
thousand pounds
And can go 43 miles an hour like 40 knots. Oh, yeah, right?
This one was from 2021. It was slightly used and I want you this was a this was a serious conversation
The boat was currently going for 7.5 million dollars. Okay, and a person that looked like
The fiera guy that talks about food on put some respect on his name. What's his name guy fieri guy fieri
There was a guy there that looked just like him with the glasses in everything. Are you sure it wasn't him?
No, it wasn't him. All right, literally the moment he goes seven and a half million the guy goes that's not that bad
Holy shit, I looked back and I immediately goes that's not that bad
If it was guy fieri be like that's gangster. Yeah
Kind of food. Can I cook on that seven and a half milli for that boat?
And then I took a picture on it and I said that I was driving a dodge because that was the only thing I could relate to it
Dude, I'm not joking if there is anything that felt like a boat while driving it the a fucking dodge challenger is the most
The closest thing I've ever had to just they just decided that like I also drove in paula and weight distribution
It doesn't matter in those no hell no that thing. I felt like going 30. I could roll it if I really tried
There there are a few cars out in the world where I think I've driven them hard and I've been like
I just don't quite trust that this wouldn't flip over
Like I know that that would really just
Not agree with the laws of physics, but I just don't think it seems like there's a big crowd around challengers and stuff
So it's like I feel bad. I don't literally there's a big crowd around them
Usually at night and they're good at doing turns they do them all one direction a bunch of them
In a circle and anyways
I just had the worst ever experience with that vehicle and it's stuck with me
I hate I need one to change my mind like back in the day. I wanted an srta. I thought an srta
It would be sick. I remember elvis from stance nation has like a slammed one
I was like that's bad ass and now i'm like that's bad ass. That's a big car
Doesn't drive good. I hate it. I just don't know
I think one time I got in the car because I've driven them before and the speed was was kind of fun
um, but
The interior was just really not not it for me
Dodge because it's still fiat and it's like out of all the brands that are going through their own like trauma right now
We got certain brands trying to like
Unfuck it, you know
And Porsche is like, oh my god
We got to figure out how to sell scvs in america right now because otherwise we're gonna die
You have Ferrari making a fully electric vehicle
You have Lamborghini just pumping out uruses as fast as they possibly can you have bmw
Just dominating their segment because Audi doesn't know how to make a car anymore and Mercedes won't make a v8 even though their entire
Market group is telling them to just bring back a supercharged v80
What happened to brands listening to their customer base?
They just don't because I don't understand scared of where the emission stuff is going and then on top of all of that
Cars that's literally everything it's it is it is kind of crazy when you think about the fact that like you watch season five of stranger things
And you're like, what the fuck were you doing?
Sorry not to make it about the show, but I am still slightly upset
That I watched season four and thought the whole world was gonna end and we were going to start season five with this incredible
masterpiece of like global scale like this is it the world knows that the upside down exists the world knows
That the mind flare is really this is old news for everybody
You're way behind I know but still and then they started off and they're like sliding down the fucking
Panels that they put on the ground screw you. I'm not that stupid. Do you guys remember when
Honda and Nissan had to merge for like two days. Yeah, that was like a fever dream. Then they're like, no
But that's that's so weird. That's another great example of like putting time out or something
It doesn't make sometimes it just doesn't make sense what
They're doing. Oh to go back to that. You almost made me lose my train of thought. Oh, well, you were kind of rambling
Yeah, that's fair. I'm sorry
When we were at the unveil of the Ferrari eight four nine testarosa, okay, the ceo
Uh went up there and he was talking about the car and he was talking about the design language
And he was talking about this he goes and on the interior. We have brought back a very important piece. Just don't just that's russian
We've brought back
Okay, I'm going back to english
They see he goes
We brought back a very important piece of the interior that we think everyone's going to love
We've brought back tactile buttons and goes to continue to talk about like the thousand horsepower engine
And every single person that had an annual salary above everyone else
I possibly know started screaming shouting and hollering that it was the best news that they had ever heard for tactile for tactile
old people but also
Um, I know I agree with them. I'm I'm for that. I do enjoy tactile buttons
Yeah, they're like and we brought back the tactile buttons and they're going up to the top
I think I was like
Yeah
And that was it
They were all sold because so what the fuck did that have to do with stranger things?
That's what I interrupted. Where were you connecting the Ferrari listened to their customer feedback about tactile buttons
Manufacturers are not listening to their consumer base for tactile buttons
Stranger things should have listened to their audience and everything they wanted season five to be
But they didn't and they made some grotesque
Garbo season eight game of thrones season five finale. I don't I don't think it was quite that bad. I don't think it was
Really? There's really no, I don't just throwing balloons at at the mind flare and starting it on fire
And that's how they're going to take down fight was way too quick
But they got we got the dude duking it out in a 1v1 halo three map on the inside
We've got l it could have been a finger airing the other dude. It could have been better. I agree, but it wasn't like horrendous. It wasn't
Parable let's just let's just scale this mountaintop
very quickly
To throw things at this mind flare has that's been in hibernation
And is like the scariest thing and god knows what and then
Somehow we've got nancy turning into rambo and doesn't I just we've all we've all had a couple months to go through this
He's just he's just i'm still adapting to the to the to the I hate when shows or car manufacturers think i'm dumb
Yeah, I just don't like it. You're telling me out of everything. It's billy billy was a better antagonist
Than the mind flare in season five. Yes beckman general. Um, yeah, yeah, I can run at you
But i'm just gonna walk
The whole time it's it's across the board. It's it's with games. It's with cars. It's with movies. It's with shows
Dude, everything just went downhill after cova. Everyone did everyone realized how cheap they could do everything
And they're like that's how we're gonna do it for the rest of time
Cheap is the way to do and that's what I mean about like people need to give a shit again about the brands that they run like
Care because that stuff does matter and and I think there are brands that do care about what they make and people don't give it attention
So god damn it. Fair enough. Duffer brothers fix your shit. That's too late. Yeah season or episode nine when
So seeing theories about episode nine
It's not happening. It's not fucking it's not
Nancy and what's his name should have died in the goop
Yeah, the mind flare should have actually chased vekna through their world into the upside down
And the only way the mind flare could have died is by closing the wormhole because you cannot have such a
Dangerous insane being that can fucking end life die to a water balloon
But what you can do is you can suck it out into the proverbial space and time that is a black hole and have l die with it
And that's the ending. That's the cost. That's the consequence the sacrifice
Sure, and then at the end he gets the feeling in the back of his neck
That's so it's never over stranger things seasons
That's uh, anyway, sorry. Uh, with that being said just talk about her next partner
Thank you for our camera starts on fire
That of course is fortune auto fortune auto is another sponsor martini works podcast been with us since the very beginning
One of the oh geez and we can't thank them enough because they make some fantastic coilovers as well
You guys know if you've been listening to the podcast
We got to go down see how the sausage is made when it comes to fortune auto coilovers and uh, honestly really blew my mind
It is really incredible what they do to build every single set of coilovers that comes out of that facility
Uh, if it does not meet the exact specifications that they sought out to build those coilovers
They get torn down and rebuilt until they do and sometimes that's multiple times
Uh, but it's really cool. They do all like the in-house testing and stuff
They have like the shock dinos all that sort of stuff there on hand. They're building them by hand
It's super cool to see and they're constantly expanding their
Catalog even into some of the off-road like overland stuff right now, which is uh, really awesome
We've all ran fortune auto in many different instances whether that be for the street track use drifting
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All right next up breaking news there's breaking news
Stuff actually going on there is what do we got jails? Uh, I've got some stuff. Oh, I took a look through so
Uh, as we know the grand tour with our three favorite british gentlemen
Came to an end right or starting it back up again. We got three brand new house this time
Oh boy, uh, two members of throttle house. We got james and thomas
From throttle house being the two
Uh, I guess members of the new grand tour
But the third one and I thought this was super freaking cool. Uh, we got francis bourgeois
Bourgeois, I think is how you pronounce it
You know this guy you've been on tech doc. You know this guy because he is the like train spotter guy
He always has like he had like the camera like on his 360 cam and he's like dude's hyped about train
And he goes like train spotting, but
He's secretly he's kind of a car guy too. He's got a
K swapped pink honda jazz
I don't know if you've uh, he did like a little series on it too and it was really cool
And he's super hyped. Uh, he's he's got like an engineering background and stuff like that too
Um, and he's going to be joining as the third member
Of the new grand tour and I think that is really cool because I think it's going to bring a really unique
Perspective from that especially with like an engineering background and and just like the stuff that he knows
I think it's going to be really cool. That's cool
I'm excited to see it because I always I think those shows work best when the trio has
Zaza, yes, you know, you gotta smoking weed
Yes, is that what that is? Yep. Oh, well, maybe that too, but like
You thought about you thought about the original three
They always had that they always had that sauce and they always said I mean I think for our generation
You don't need that level of edginess anymore, but I do think you need to have a level
Of humor that works and has to work for everyone
And I think what always happened is is like if you didn't find james may funny
You always found richard ham and funny if you didn't find richard ham and funny you found clarkson funny
You always found one of the three so as long as like
Their personalities fill those three. I think it'd be pretty cool. Did you just
Listen to what you said though as long as their personalities fill those that's
Such big shoes to fill and I commend them. Good luck. That is such a hard thing to continue forward with
It's such a it's so tricky and no disrespect that I'm excited for him. I hope it's awesome. It's just like
Those are three legends. Those guys have been around doing that for so long
It's not only they were such good personalities and they vibed off each other so well
Like it's insane how that that show worked and how they got those guys. It just was amazing. Absolutely
So I think it'll be cool to watch. I'm excited for it. I think it'll be refreshing
Uh, I was kind of reading through like the the reactions like the announcement stuff like that and seemed really positive
Seemed really open-minded, which I thought was really cool. Someone left a comment like rushing like hey
Any new automotive content? That's right form like this is new automotive content on a platform like this and I'm willing to give it a shot
So absolutely. Oh, yeah, I think that's super cool
Other breaking news ford
Remember a couple years ago. They're like, we're not making any more sedans
Or anything like that anymore focusing on trucks. Yeah, apparently the Mustang
SUVs um, they're apparently going back on that
Heard rumblings that ford might be getting back into making sedans in mini vans like a near future isn't
Ford just report that they've had
Four consecutive years of like less than target earnings back up though
And I might be having the biggest brain fart of all time or like why can I not think of a ford van besides like a transit van
Ford used to hat was at the
shit
I think a dodgecare van. I think Chrysler pacifica. I'm gonna say a name. I'm probably wrong. Was it like the
Something star the trans star or something like that ford
Oh the ford
The wind
Windstar, that's what it is. Thank you, ambi. I'm a ford windstar
I can't think of ford having a like a it is like the most stereotypical like mini van you would ever think of
I'm trying to think um, I'll put a picture. It's weird that they've just avoided that market though
That thing looks like fucking shit
Five days ago ford reports
Five days ago ford reports worst quarterly earnings miss in four years. It's for better for you
I was gonna read you the top five titles ford van. I literally commented or just typed in ford here the top like six article titles
I hate ford ceo says china's ev progress is the most humbling thing he's ever seen
Basically saying that china is shitting on their ev product. Uh, ford sales are tanking in europe and here's why
Europe it's all the coolest. Yeah, what the hell uh farley says ford couldn't compete with toyota and hunday
So it stopped trying
Ford ceo's want americans to get back in love with the small cars ford gave up on like
I don't understand jim farley's angle on all this because he drives vintage race cars
We see him at imson. I think that that's very cool. But every time I see his name pop up in an article of some kind
It's always him like shit talking him there them and like praising
Someone else people don't like him
And i'm like and like as it when it started I remember people like I love how like open he's being and I love how transparent
He's being about trying new things
But like every time I see him mention something or like somebody comments about him doing something he it's like all worked up about it
And it's like bro, you run
One of the largest automotive companies in the world again
Fucking focus on you. Listen to the fucking people that you're selling the shit to they will tell you what they want
It's crazy. Not that hard of a fucking concept
Anyway, anyway, yeah, so uh, we might be getting
New focus or something who know if they make a new van they need to fucking figure that shit out because the old one
I understand why they stop. I want the wind star too. No
What if we just did what if we just named cars like like video games
The wind start too. Yeah, actually just in star three the same. What about nissan? Uh, 350z 350z 350z
Yeah, nissan tried that actually
Uh in other news
Uh, I got a bit of a sad one for you. This is sad to me. Anyway, well, I'm sad all the time. So it's fine. Oh, Jesus
Uh, the LC 500 is coming to an end. Oh
And that's a little that's a little sad
Uh production apparently uh, going to be ending this august
Giving the car an official nine-year run. It kind of makes sense honestly because who the fuck is that car for like that car?
I like it. I love it. I think it's a gorgeous car, but like it doesn't do anything really like amazing
It's just good all around. Yeah, and not amazing at one category. I think yeah, I think I think it's for
like it was targeted for
Someone who wanted a luxury style car, but had like that
Super car kind of style
Um, I think the convertibles sold way more, but then it's like it's a tour. It's a great. Yeah. It's a great tour
It's not sporty. It's not like it is
It is not almost like it's almost like the lexus corvette in a way. No, I don't even know
it's like it's it to me to me it's like a
Like a cts without the v. I don't know. There's just something weird about it
I know there are guys that like dead on alex modified his looks absolutely sick
Yeah, they love it. Gorgeous. That looks super cool
But like that is what they're good at is like looking really good. I've seen the interior of them
Didn't really fall in love with it. I've seen the performance of them didn't really fall in love with it
like they're
It makes sense because toyota has the grg t and the lfa that they're starting the entry
So I'm assuming we'll see a new version of that chassis with a lexus name plate on it in some way shape or form
But like yeah, I never understood and they're fucking expensive. Yeah
Yeah, they are not a really 90 some thousand dollar car. It was just in a odd spot. Yeah, I didn't know
I really liked the car. I really appreciated it. I've I love seeing them. You know, you can get for 90
I know you can get a lot of other cars two dodge vipers
Really like the lc 500
But it is crazy to think that that car has been out for nine years
Yeah, it's kind of wild. Yeah. Um, I'm kind of surprised it went for nine years. Yeah
Almost a decade. Fuck. We almost had people born in 2002 or 23 years old
I need some good news to close this up. Bless you
That was from a bath a closed bathroom
Just so you guys know
You heard about a bear yelling in the microphone like 20 seconds
That is that is schnell sneezing in the bathroom
He either exploded that toilet
Or he needs to go to the hospital. That is insane to be that loud
Hey, you got big lungs a lot of air moving
The quietest gentlest soul and then when he sneezes it's just all of it. He lets it out. Yeah, that's the demons out
Oh my that's why we say bless you
Someone gotta bless that we need the priest
Oh, someone give me some good news so we can end this on a good note. Um good news. Yeah
Dakota got a new bumper. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's good news
Um, shout out johnny too. He uh helped put it on there and install it for me
But yeah, I got a c4 fab low pro bumper with the high rise bull bar on it
And then a 30 inch baha designs light bar that lights up the neighborhood dude. Yeah
That was so funny last night
Like it started the sun went down. I was like, oh, I really I haven't seen the light bar at night yet
Like I'm curious. So I had it backed into my garage and I have neighbors straight directly across from me
And so it's a really old guy. He's really nice really kind
Now he's blind and he opened up his garage and he's walking around doing doing whatever he do
And uh, I went and pushed the button
Dude, I could see what religion that guy was
Fucking lit up so bright his whole girl. I've never seen that house that way before
I hope he didn't look back because he would have been black. I could not I was like, holy shit
And I like turned it off right away. It just illuminated the entire inside of the house. I felt horrible
It's like christmas vacation when she like falls down the stairs
That's exactly what it was like
Exactly. Yeah, I I felt horrible. I was like, man, they were probably so happy
I got rid of the supra and no gotta worry about cold starts anymore. Oh, god. Shit. Now I got fucking the sun shining at their house
I love light bars. Yeah, honey. What time is it?
It's all yellow too. Yeah, dude. Yeah, there was multiple neighbors. It was just like I can't believe how bright that fucker is
I think I think you said does a video if I can if I can export it all throw it up for reference because it was wild
Yeah, it's really bright. But yeah, I just want to I'm still modifying the forerunner having fun with it
Got some more stuff. I'm doing looks really good
Yeah, throw a sherpa rack up on it because I don't like the mullet rack that the trd pro comes with
It's okay, but I don't want to party all the way across not just a party in the back. Fair enough. Yeah fair enough
Fair enough. Yeah fair enough
well
Alex, we're gonna reveal that car so we can talk about it. I know it's been a while
Because I want to talk about that and what you're doing with that
But you just you want to keep it a secret for eight months before you talk about it
Well, to be honest, I also need to like register it in the country. What else is new? Yeah, that's not anything out of the ordinary
You guys suck
Hopefully in the next like week or two. All right. Oh, okay. All right. So you're that you're that podcast or week or two
Yeah, it'll be really fun. I'm trying the I suffer. I suffer from this terrible disease where
I
Announced a car and I work on it and there are four other cars. I need to work on and finish
I'm really trying to make sure that our other stuff is taken care of first before we talk about that car
So I can talk about that car more. Good news is this one don't need much. This is a good car. It's solid. Yeah, don't need much
Um, yeah, it's honestly this thing's sick. I wish you guys could see right now
It's hot
But uh besides that no man, I'm just uh, I'm excited to get out there
I'm excited to to get some laps behind the pfm been driving it on iRacing a lot. So that's been really fun
I'm excited times excited for you guys actually get out and drive that this year. It's scary as hell in iRacing
So it should be fucking blisteringly quick in real life. So really excited for that and uh, yeah, that's what I got going on
man
Oh, yeah
Well that being said, we hope you guys enjoyed the podcast and if you want to hear us talk about anything drop us a comment below
And if you haven't yet be sure to go follow us out on instagram
And uh, if you're looking for car parts magic car and martini works dot com
We got a bunch of different stuff going on right now
We've got ways that we're giving back with the 2% back through catapult
And we've got new product being added to the website every single day if you're shopping for car parts
And you're like, you know what I just I found this somewhere else
And I just want to see if you guys can get it feel free to reach out to us
We're happy to price match we can try to figure it out and if we can't we'll let you know
We just want to be helping people modify their car the right way
And we might be able to give you a tip or two so that you don't accidentally buy
The wrong thing which does happen quite a bit from other places. So we hope you enjoyed the podcast
Thank you so much for listening and we will see you next week. Have a great weekend
I think you have another sponsor to talk about their bud. Well, I'm old and I forgot
Damn old ass motegi
Yeah, oh, yeah, shit. Well, I haven't been on the podcast in a month. I'm the special guest
That's true. Yeah
You want to I can take it I can take it. Oh
Ladies and gentlemen me me me me
Ladies and gentlemen, there was a time where I've had people be like on red. Well, it was only one time. So I was like
they uh
They're they're sponsored by companies. So don't trust what they say
We are always very honest when companies sponsor us because we tell you that when they're they're sponsored
Because when we say motegi is a sponsor the martini works podcast that thereby implies
That they're sponsoring us
But I what I will say is that we don't take money unless we believe in the brands that we love
And this we can say no and we pick them. You know and we and I say no a lot
Otherwise you'd be hearing some goddamn four and one fucking
Yes, I feel like that's whatever a lot of AI things. Yeah
Um, we ain't doing that. Motegi's a good brand. I like them. Yes. I I'm really excited to to get them on some cars here
This year
Great brand that one cool finishes
Absolutely sick stuff and I like the designs and I think it's fun that they're doing something fresh
And I think they're doing something different and I think if you're trying to feel a little bit fresh this year
It's really a great brand to grow with and and do stuff different with
They've got different kind cavity profiles for their designs. The stuff is is well made the finishes are cool
And honestly, I think it's just worth trying something different
And so if you're if you're on the fence you want to get something you want to mix it up a little bit
Motegi wheels is an absolutely great option
The finishes are sick and the inventory is very nice so that you don't have to wait
You can just buy it and they'll get packaged shipped with tires right to your door good to go
Um, and so I would say yeah great wheel brand to pick up
Thank you. Motegi wheels for sponsoring the martini works podcast if you need help with your fitment
Just reach out to us at martiniworks.com. We'd be happy to help you out. Yeah, we're good at that
Okay, now. Goodbye. Okay now. Bye. Bye. Bye
About this episode
Join Alex Martini and co-hosts Dakota and Gels as they dive into the most popular wheels of 2026 and share their experiences from the Palm Beach Cavalino Classic, a prestigious Ferrari-only event. They discuss the unique atmosphere of the show, featuring rare Ferraris, including the second-ever made model. The hosts also explore the intricacies of car judging, originality, and restoration, all while sharing humorous anecdotes from their trip to Florida. With a mix of automotive insights and lighthearted banter, this episode offers a fun glimpse into the world of luxury car culture.
Airlift Performance
ALMS
car auction
Cavalino Classic
collectors event
compressor
Continental
DWS 06 Plus
fan
Formula One
BMW 5 Series
Chevrolet Corvette
Chrysler Pacifica
Dodge Challenger
Dodge Viper
Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta
Ferrari 250 GTO
Ferrari 360
Ferrari 430 Scuderia
Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina
Ferrari Testarossa
Ford F-150
Ford Flex
Ford Mustang
Lexus LC
Lexus LFA
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Nissan Altima
Renault Wind
Toyota Supra
Original notes
What are some of the most popular wheels of 2026? Today the boys gather round to discuss some wheels they expect to be on the come up. From new releases, to classics that have been out for years, here is the lineup we expect to come to the scene. #wheels #cars #podcast Pick up our Coffee here! https://martiniworks.com/products/other/show-merchA HUGE thank you to Continental, Motegi, and Fortune Auto for being the official tire, wheel, and suspension of the MartiniWorks Podcast! Let us know if you need a set of tires or coilovers. Shop Continental tires here https://martiniworks.com/products/wheels-tires/tires?brands=continentalShop Motegi wheels here https://martiniworks.com/aftermarket-car-parts-brands/wheels/motegiShop Fortune Auto suspension here https://martiniworks.com/products/suspension/coilovers?brands=fortune-auto🏎️Check out the main channel!🏎️: @MartiniWorksOfficial 📦We also have an unboxing channel 📦: @MartiniWorksUnboxed Follow Alex @alexmartini__Follow Dakota @dakotastoneeFollow Gels @akagels
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