The Ford Bronco is a large SUV made to handle rough roads and off-road trails. People talk about it a lot because it’s designed for adventure but can still be used like a normal daily car. The podcast is just referencing one they have or had.
They mean taking old classic cars on a rally-style drive—usually a planned route with rules. The “gamble” part is that older cars can break down or need more help than newer ones.
They’re describing how old cars can make a trip more unpredictable—like getting problems on the road. With a newer car, you usually don’t have to deal with that as often.
A towing package is coverage that helps pay for a tow truck if your car can’t be driven. It’s especially useful for older cars that might break down and need help getting to a shop.
Hagerty is a company that focuses on classic-car owners. In this segment, they’re providing towing coverage so the car can be moved if it breaks down far from home.
The Mazda RX-8 is a special kind of sports car because it uses a rotary engine instead of the usual piston engine. The host is impressed because the car is running normally, not just sitting in a garage.
An LS swap is when someone removes the original engine and installs a GM LS V8 instead. People do it because the LS engines are powerful, reliable, and there are lots of parts and know-how for them.
“Number two” is the regular diesel most people see at the pump. It works great in normal temperatures, but in deep cold it can thicken and cause starting problems. Colder regions may use different diesel grades.
A block heater is a plug-in heater that warms the engine before you start it. In cold weather, it makes starting easier and helps the diesel run instead of refusing to start. People use it a lot where winters are harsh.
“Gel” here means the diesel fuel gets thick and waxy in cold temperatures. If it gels, it can block fuel from reaching the engine, making starting harder or impossible.
Term
B20
B20 is a mix of biodiesel and regular diesel—about 20% biodiesel. In cold weather, blends with more biodiesel can be more likely to thicken or gel.
DEF is a special fluid used on many diesel trucks. It’s added to the exhaust to help the engine meet emissions rules. Using the wrong kind of fluid (or mixing additives into it) can cause problems because the system expects the correct DEF.
Here, “warranty” means the manufacturer’s promise to fix certain problems for free. The host is saying that changing the engine (like swapping in a Cummins) could cause the warranty to not apply.
The Ford Ranger is a pickup truck that’s smaller than a full-size truck but still meant for hauling and everyday driving. Some versions are built to be more performance-focused and tougher off-road. The podcast mention sounds like a comparison involving a Ranger Raptor.
The Ford F-150 is a large pickup truck used for everyday driving and hauling. The podcast mention sounds like it’s part of a group of vehicles they were talking about, not a detailed technical discussion. It’s being referenced because it’s a common, practical truck.
Car
71 long wheelbase Rolls Royce Shadow
This is a 1971 Rolls-Royce Shadow, and the “long wheelbase” means more space between the front and rear seats for a smoother, more comfortable ride. The big point here is that the host uses it like a real road-trip car, not just a show car.
They’re saying the car’s air conditioning actually works. For an older car, that matters a lot on hot trips because you don’t want to be stuck without cooling.
Nitrile rubber (often used in seals, hoses, and fuel-system components) and other rubber parts harden and crack as they age. Heat, fuel exposure, and time accelerate this “rot,” so long-stored cars often need rubber refresh work.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV designed for long-term ownership and rough terrain. It’s known for being dependable and is often kept for many years. The podcast is referencing a 1999 example with low miles.
Well-rings are small seals that help keep fuel from leaking around the injector area. If the rubber ages, they can fail, so they often get replaced during injector service.
Fuel injectors are the parts that deliver fuel to the engine. On older cars, the small rubber seals around them can wear out, so the injectors may need seal replacements to prevent leaks and keep running right.
Rust is when metal starts corroding. On an older car, it can be a big problem because it can damage the body and spread even if it looks small at first.
Here, “veneer” means a thin decorative wood finish used inside the car. The host liked the look of the wood trim.
Car
1969 Rolls Royce coupé
This is a 1969 Rolls-Royce two-door coupe. It’s a very old-school luxury car, and the point here is that it’s a cool classic that someone offered as a gift or hand-me-down.
The Aston Martin DB9 is a luxury sports car meant for smooth, fast driving. The podcast is talking about a version that can be driven with a manual transmission. They’re mentioning it because they’ve driven one and know about how rare that setup is.
The alternator is what keeps the car’s battery charged while you’re driving. If it fails, the car can lose power or refuse to restart, which is why it matters in this story.
The Dodge Charger is a sporty car that’s built for performance. The podcast mention suggests they had trouble with the battery and used a charger and battery swaps to keep it running. That’s a practical maintenance or troubleshooting topic.
“Hot start issues” means the car is hard to start after it has been running and then sits briefly. Heat can make certain parts act up, so it won’t crank or fire as easily.
The Buick Skylark is a car model made by Buick. In the podcast, the speaker is talking about an older Skylark they had in high school and calling it unreliable or not very good. It’s mentioned as part of a personal history.
A fuel pump is the part that sends gas from the tank to the engine. If it goes bad, the engine may not get enough fuel and can start acting up or even stop running.
“Lock solid” means something that should rotate gets stuck and can’t move. In a car, that can happen when a part like a bearing fails, and the vehicle may stop suddenly.
The differential is part of the drivetrain that lets the two driven wheels turn at different speeds, like when you go around a corner. If it breaks, the car can make bad noises and may not move normally.
A bearing helps moving parts spin smoothly. If it seizes, it can basically jam and lock things up, which can cause loud crunching and the vehicle to stop abruptly.
A “parts depot” is basically a place that stores car parts and can sell or ship them. If you’re fixing a car and need a specific part, that’s the kind of place you’d look for it.
A “box van” is a fully enclosed truck for hauling items. It keeps cargo protected while it’s being transported.
Term
car ship
A “car ship” means paying someone to transport the car for you. They’re saying it might cost about the same as renting a truck/trailer, but takes more time.
A “V12” means the engine has 12 cylinders arranged in two groups that form a V shape. It’s a big, high-end engine layout that often sounds great and pulls strongly.
Torque is the engine’s pulling strength—the force that gets the car moving. More torque usually means easier acceleration without needing to rev as high.
Term
AC
“AC” means the car’s air conditioning. They’re talking about whether it was working and whether the car could idle normally with it running.
Belts are like power-transmission straps that spin important parts. If the belts are very small or narrow, they can be easier to damage if they’re not in perfect condition.
Cars have computers that watch sensors and systems. If something goes wrong, the car can save an error message (a code); “no code” means it didn’t detect any problems.
An Alpina Z8 is a special version of the Z8 that’s been modified by Alpina. Alpina is known for tuning cars to feel better and perform differently than stock. The podcast is mentioning it as part of a story, not as a basic introduction.
The Jaguar XKR is a faster, sportier Jaguar than the regular XK, known for strong acceleration and a more “serious” driving feel. They’re using it as the other car in their trip story.
The BMW M4 is BMW’s high-performance version of the 4 Series. They’re talking about it as Ben’s modern car that they didn’t want to make him go back for.
An override button is a control that lets you bypass or change the normal behavior of a system. Here, the host says there’s an override to turn the AC off, likely to reduce load on the engine for more power or throttle response.
Term
passing button
A passing button is a button you press when you want extra push to overtake. In this story, it’s treated like a quick way to get more power right when you need it.
This sounds like an older Mercedes-Benz wagon with a diesel engine. The host is saying it has a lot of miles but still works well enough to drive often.
The G-Class is a luxury SUV made by Mercedes-Benz. It’s designed to handle rough roads and is known for being built tough. The podcast is mentioning an older diesel Mercedes they had with high mileage, as an example of long-term ownership.
“W123” is a Mercedes-Benz model generation. The host is basically saying it’s one of those older Mercedes cars that’s hard to kill and tends to last a long time.
“Specced” means you picked the exact options and configuration for the car when you ordered it. The host is saying Sherry chose everything the way she wanted.
The 2011 Jaguar XJL is a bigger, longer version of the Jaguar XJ. It’s meant to be a comfortable cruiser. In this segment, the key point is that the host chose it because it shares the same main mechanical setup as his XKR, which helps him feel confident about reliability.
Your drivetrain is the “power path” that takes engine power and sends it to the wheels. If two cars share the same drivetrain, they often feel similar to drive and can have overlapping parts and repair knowledge.
“HP DE” is basically a track day—an event where you drive your own car on a race track for fun and practice. It’s not a race like NASCAR; it’s more about learning and enjoying the car safely.
Term
T H four hundreds
This is the host talking about the car’s transmission type. He’s saying that, in his experience, that transmission is generally dependable if you drive and maintain it the right way.
The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car, meaning it’s designed to be fast and have a strong engine. The podcast is describing a bright green one that stood out at a gas station. It’s being mentioned because it caught attention and led to a fun moment.
A convertible is a car with a roof that can be lowered or removed to let you drive with open-air exposure. In classic American cars, convertibles were often a major part of the “show” and lifestyle appeal, not just a performance feature.
Front-wheel drive means the front wheels do the work of both steering and moving the car. It’s different from cars where the back wheels are the ones that push you along.
The Porsche 928 is a Porsche grand touring car—meant for cruising. It’s known for its V8 sound and for having pop-up headlights, and the host is saying it’s fun and easy to drive for everyday errands.
Pop-up headlights are headlights that slide up from the front of the car when you turn them on, instead of staying fixed in place. The host is pointing out that this is a cool, recognizable feature on the car.
“Lower 48” just means the main part of the U.S. that’s connected by land. It’s not Alaska or Hawaii, and it matters because you’re usually not as far from help as you might think.
An “overlander” is a traveler who drives far into remote areas, usually on rough roads. They typically plan ahead so they can handle problems far from towns.
The pilot bearing is a small part that helps the transmission input shaft spin smoothly where it meets the engine. If it goes bad, the car can start making noise or feel rough when you drive.
Monterey is a California area that’s famous for car events. Enthusiasts often plan trips there because there are lots of automotive activities.
LIVE
Welcome to the Ebonz Podcast. I'm Dan. I'm Nick. How's it going, man?
Well, the Border Patrol hasn't come for me, so... That's good.
We have a driveway full of Raptors right now. We do.
There are five. Oh, good God, there are five Raptors out there.
Yeah. And our guest isn't driving one. I know. What?
So that's saying a lot. You hear that? Todd, you're not a guest.
That's fine. Yeah, those little Raptors, they're cute.
Yeah. We have two full-size, two babies, and the weird Bronco.
The weird Bronco, yeah. Yeah, no, doing good.
Just been hell weak.
Yeah, no. Today was my first day back at work after the ordeal
with Sean at the hospital and stuff, and so it's been...
Oh, okay. I didn't know you had taken...
It's smart. That's nice of you. That's the right decision.
Well, yeah, I needed to. But yeah.
Yeah, and now I'm regretting it.
I love you lots, but I shouldn't have left work. It's more painful.
It kind of is. Yeah. Anyway, we have a guest today.
We're going to talk... A while ago, we brought up a topic about
it's really cool to rally older vintage cars that are kind of a gamble,
and there's always an adventure when you're taking an older car on a rally.
We're just going for a long drive. I mean, even a cross-country road trip.
It's a cool, different experience, and we have a guest that's very, very familiar with that.
He's got some great stories. I'm like...
Goes wrong. You're on the side of the road. I can be there in a new car, too.
Right, yeah, exactly. It's not just limited to vintage cars,
but the problems are more interesting when... Where's the nearest service station?
1800 miles that way.
That's why I have great towing package with through Hagerty on the Triumph.
That's right.
Yeah.
They'll tow it across the country, if I ask.
Speaking of which, I saw... I was impressed today.
I saw an RX-8 on the road, and it was running.
No. No.
It was just running. There's no longer the condition is not what impresses me.
It's not the condition. It's not what it looks like.
It's not the mods. I'm like, oh, it's running.
Oh, okay.
That's an impressive feat.
Fair enough.
So it obviously had a Chevy engine in it.
Probably.
Oh, okay.
It's an LS swap.
Yeah, I was going to say.
No way.
Yeah.
Carter, I'm going to give you a tip of the week.
We talked about diesel before, and we talked about farm diesel, off-road diesel, agricultural diesel,
red diesel, what we want to call it.
But there's also what I want to talk about is there's actually several other types of diesel
that most people just don't ever see, especially if you're in one of our advanced regions.
Maybe in Denver.
I guess, yeah, they would in Denver, but almost all we have here is the most commonest diesel
number two.
That's your standard, just everything diesel.
It's got some paraffin wax in it, which is why it has better lubrication.
And it's got some decent energy density, but it can gel really bad.
About 10 degrees Fahrenheit is about where diesel starts to gel, and that will break your
vehicle.
It just won't run.
Luckily, it doesn't break diesels usually, but they just won't start, won't go.
It's why you have heaters and some diesels.
Block heaters.
Yeah.
But there is another diesel for that diesel, number one.
That's actually, which is uncommon, number one.
You're going to find that in Alaska, cold weather climates that are made for it.
That's what you're looking for Midwest, like I said, maybe Denver for that.
Is this an additive?
No, diesel number one.
You have different types of diesel at the pump.
And then, but there are others in that there.
There's number four diesel, which is really, really heavy diesel.
That's for like industrial grade, low RPM.
It's for boats, generators, things like that.
Then, of course, you've got a winterized diesel, not the same as number one diesel.
That's a blend of number one and number two.
So there's three.
Right.
I don't know where number three is.
Like you had 21 and two together.
You get 12 and four.
Yeah.
And then we've got ultra low sulfur diesel, which is reduced emissions and runs like crap
and nobody wants it.
Biodiesel, which if you have an older diesel works fine.
Older diesels will run just about anything that'll burn, which is really nice.
And it's also really great in diesel heaters, like those cheap Chinese diesel heaters that
you buy all the time.
Great use for biofuel.
Old vegetable.
Use them outside.
Do not use them.
Yeah.
Make sure they exhaust outside.
But those things are particularly great at running biodiesel.
And so that is more the case for biodiesel than cars, honestly, if you have diesel heaters
that work great on biodiesel and they can burn it off.
And then you can just add a little regular diesel in them, like one to 10, and it'll
burn totally clean.
And then of course we talked about the red diesel.
But anyway, there's other types of diesels out there.
Just people are aware of it.
I thought it was kind of interesting.
I was reading.
Doesn't biodiesel also gel?
Like biodiesel will gel much higher temperatures than number two or diesel.
Yeah.
Once you get close to freezing, you got to be careful with bio, especially if it's higher
than like B20.
Yes.
Exactly.
I got to have my first experience with death.
Oh, isn't that fun?
No, it's not.
No, it's not.
It's not.
And I had to explain it over the phone because it happened.
My parents took the van out for a trip and my dad's like, there's a light that came on
the dash and we had spoken about it.
But apparently he had another 700 miles, but then he had to navigate that.
But that stuff stinks.
It does.
Yeah.
That's because it's mainly pig urine.
I understand that.
Yeah.
I hate to be that guy.
Don't get it on your hands.
Yeah.
It's not the smell of my finger trick you want.
The van's all clipped out for it, but it ran out a lot quicker than I thought.
Yeah, it depends on the vehicle.
It depends on the load.
Well, and I don't know if it was fully full from the factory.
Oh, yeah, probably not.
Yeah.
I always just carry it a gallon.
Costco's the best place to buy it.
You want the cheap stuff.
Yeah.
The Costco stuff.
Put the cheap stuff in it.
No, it does.
Like the platinum stuff.
Put that cheap Chinese pig urine.
Yeah.
That's the...
Well, it's sort of like salt for a well if you have it.
It's not...
Most diesel systems with DEF are not designed for the additives that are in them.
Oddly enough, there's even warnings about it when I had my GMC, which specific DEF to
get, and they were like nothing with additives.
And yeah, it'll burn cleaner and not run your truck well.
That's interesting.
I don't want to burn clear.
No.
Exactly.
Yeah.
In your storyteller van.
You can.
You can.
So if anything's locked down, it's going to be a European diesel at this point.
Yep.
Put a Cummins in it.
Problem solved.
There's room.
No, I know.
There's room.
That's what they should have.
Hey, storyteller, put Cummins diesels in your van.
I think that might ruin my warranty.
Anyway, we have a guest today.
We have two guests, actually.
We have three...
No, three guests.
We have three guests on mics.
Yeah.
And we have another one who just dropped in, which we love.
It's just what we encourage our friends to do.
Just drop by there.
Come over.
Hang out.
He's showing up with Dodger equipment, though.
Oh, yeah.
I'm going to baseball.
Brian Dallas doesn't have a headset on.
Yeah.
But Nick is apparently offended.
I'm always offended by Brian.
I bought...
There's birds in this shop.
We'll go into it another time, but I got somebody else in a van spot a ranger raptor.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
They're infectious.
Yeah.
And...
Yeah.
Todd Sanders also in the audience.
But then our guest today is Brian McLean.
And we...
Todd actually messaged me.
He's like, oh, you can talk to Brian about this when he's listening to the show.
He's like, oh, yes, we absolutely do.
Because Brian, you have been on some serious adventures with some interesting cars.
I do like to drive old cars much further than probably people think they should be driven.
Which is the best part?
It is the best part.
I mean, at the end of the day, it's still a car.
Exactly.
We'll run, mostly.
Let's get a baseline.
What are the old cars that...
I mean, people in Avans know you for a couple of cars.
Yes.
I know.
I had to...
Need my hands?
Yeah.
I can help you count.
Yeah.
I do need another set of hands for that.
But, you know, the one that I've put the most mileage on that I've had probably the longest
is a 71 long wheelbase Rolls Royce Shadow.
Nice.
So we've had that car 12, 13 years now.
We just drove it down to Palm Springs last month and back.
So about 3,000 miles we put on it.
And my wife insisted we take that one because that's the one with the operational air conditioning
and we need it in Palm Springs.
Yep.
That's exactly right.
But we've put about 35,000 miles on that car.
We've driven that car most of the way down Route 66.
We've done trips around Vancouver Island.
We've been down to California in that car three times now.
So, yeah, we figured some stuff out.
Yeah.
And you can make them reliable if you understand what it is about them that breaks or needs
attention or, you know, and a lot of times people...
People conflate, hey, that's an old car.
It's unreliable with that car has had deferred maintenance and it's unreliable versus, you
know, can you use it?
If you stay on top of things, I mean, other things will pop up, but then you just stay
on top of those things.
Yeah.
I mean, there's tons of stuff that goes wrong with age and, you know, I...
There's a lot of people that aim for a low mileage vehicle, especially when they start
looking for older stuff because they feel like that's a vehicle in better shape.
And that's...
I mean, you might get the aesthetic portion correct.
Right.
But then it's just been...
It's just been sitting.
It's been sitting.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So things that are made out of rubbers or nitrile bits or...
All of those things that are artificial pieces, they all rot over time.
And so in order to make them safe, you have to replace those anyway, whether it's got
20,000 or 120,000 miles on it.
So...
And in a lot of other cases, things don't like to sit a long time, right?
The engine doesn't like to sit without moving.
So you move it, you use it, and you have the records to prove that it's been taken care
of.
And I mean, I'll take a 100,000-mile Rolls-Royce over a 25,000-mile one if the 100,000 one's
been used and maintained correctly because you got a better starting point.
Yeah, my Land Cruiser had relatively low miles at a 99, I think about it with like 165.
For a Land Cruiser and a 99, that was relatively low miles.
All the injectors needed new well-rings, basically anything, like you said, anything
that was rubber needed to be replaced, anything, anything that was rubber needed to be replaced.
And it had dealer maintenance for oil changes, like it had that, that was it, it was all
they did.
Yeah, and that's not quite enough to do it, you know, you got to get someone that cares
a little more about that, although Toyota does a good job of letting you forget a lot
of that stuff pretty easily.
Let's be honest.
Yeah, no, they have a lot of, that's the word, mechanical sympathy kind of built into their
design maybe.
They do.
Well, and I think that, you know, Toyota and actually a lot of the Japanese marks themselves,
they do a good job at taking an idea and perfecting it.
Yes.
Right.
Not necessarily innovative, but evolutionarily, iteratively, maybe that's a better word.
Yeah, it's kind of an Apple approach.
Yeah.
Look at Android, they're light years ahead of Apple as far as features, if you want them
to work well though, it's going to typically work better every time when it's introduced
on Apple.
Yeah.
You need time to perfect it and it works well.
So explain the thought process to me where you sat down one day and said, this is the
Rolls Royce I want.
What drew you to that car?
Yeah.
Like when you go, you know, it would be fun, we get a car from early 70s.
I, my whole family on my mom's side is British, and so when I was a kid, you know, we'd watch
movies and my granddad would say, oh, Brian, there's a proper motor car.
So that concept of a shadow is what kind of always, that was kind of a cool car to me.
Did I ever really think I wanted to start buying old cars and doing some stuff with
it?
No.
Actually, I had a friend, I have a friend, his name's Rob.
He might actually listen to this, especially if I tell him I mentioned his name.
But anyway.
Hi, Rob.
He, he gets a burn his bonnet and he decides he's going to pick up a 76300D Mercedes on
eBay down in Sacramento.
And so he says to me, he goes, hey, do you want to fly down with me and drive this car
back?
I'm like, have you had it checked out?
He goes, no.
He's like, but it's a Mercedes diesel.
What could go wrong?
Just so we're clear, everybody in this room would go, I'm going like, it's going to be
an adventure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we bought one way tickets down the sack.
So we flew in and this dude picked us up with the heaviest Russian accent I've heard
this side of like a James Bond flick.
And we go to the AMPM just off property and he's like, OK, I show you how to work hard
to this.
So he's showing him all the little features and he pulls out the title and he goes, oh,
title is in life's name.
No worry, sign for her.
Signs the title, gives it to us and we head off.
And so this is a, this is, this is a normally aspirated diesel.
So on a good day, it might have had like 65 horsepower.
Right.
And we take this up 101 to go home.
And first off, end of the story, we made it.
We got passed by a Type 2 bus going up a hill.
Those things can go up hill?
Yeah.
So we're up on this thing and we're talking about old cars and we're having a grand old
time, you know, just kind of the buddy trip sort of thing and he's like, you should buy
an old car.
And I'm like, I don't need that kind of attitude in my life.
So at this time, you didn't have any?
No.
I mean, well, I mean, I had, what did I have at the time?
I would have had, had my XKR and I had my 350Z.
So I had fun cars, but I didn't have old fun cars.
Right.
And he's like, well, what was, you know, if you pictured a classic car, what would you
buy?
And I go, well, either like an early 70s, 442 or Rolls Royce Shadow, then he finds one
down in Portland and it's not very much.
It was a good part of the story.
He probably already found it.
And he just talked him in.
He's like, I found this.
Right.
It would have been a couple of weeks later.
Anyway, so we, I, it was, it was like 7,000 bucks.
And I looked at Sherry and I was like, what do you think?
And she's like, if it's a terrible thing, it's 7,000 and just throw it away.
Right.
Yeah.
There's worse gambles.
No, little did she know what she, well, and even more than that.
So we went down and we bought this car.
It was, it was guys name was Christopher.
It was his dad's car and he had recently passed and he didn't want the car because
he wanted an older Rolls Royce.
Fair.
So he sold me his dad's car.
He took the money I gave him and he went two weeks later and bought himself a
1960 cloud turns out this guy turns into one of my best friends.
Nice.
So we do a lot of stuff together.
I ended up buying a 1960 Rolls Royce that was built 25 chassis later.
So I have a twin to his car, but we made all these friends along the way.
Right.
And after I got it and I realized, man, his car was kind of a, it was not a good
shape, his dad kind of neglected it.
It had rust, but I had fun.
And I'm like, you know, I think I just want a better version.
So we went out and we found the best version we could.
It was the long wheelbase one.
It was in colors.
I absolutely fell for the veneers in it.
We're just spectacular.
Uh, and so we got it and then started doing stuff with it.
And here we are.
And I've added a lot.
I mean, I cost to keep Rolls Royce on the road.
That's really well.
I mean, yes and no.
I mean, I also tend to take over more maintenance as I learned the car better.
You know, and now I own, I own three shadows now.
I have the long wheelbase car.
I have a 1971 wagon.
Oh, cool.
Which is good for Christmas time.
It's not common.
It's even green.
It's, that's so cool.
I've seen it.
I like green over cream.
And then, and then a couple of months ago, a friend offered me.
He had a two door coupé, a 1969 Rolls Royce coupé.
And he's like, I'm done.
I'm out.
It's time for me to fade into the sunset.
Do you want my car?
Yes.
Yes, I do.
Well, and what's worse is I put all this stuff to share.
I'm like, yo, Ron's offering us the coupé.
She goes, silver one.
Okay.
Nice.
You married well.
Yeah, I did.
Yeah.
So one of the reasons we brought you here is you guys have rallied big time.
And did you, there's a room, did you rally your Ferrari?
I did.
Tell me a little bit about that car and how it ended up.
Oh, how did you get the Ferrari?
How did I get the Ferrari?
So Ferrari, what is it?
A is a 1981 400 I 400.
Manuale.
Not a common car.
That's Spanish.
Even for a Ferrari.
Not a common car.
Spanish.
Exactly.
No, well, if you wind that back, I decided I needed a V12 and I wanted a V12 manual
because as one should.
Yeah, right?
That doesn't seem like a weird request.
It doesn't seem, you know, and so I'm, you know, there's not a lot of choices in
the V12 world, especially if you want to compare it or if you want to pair it with
a manual.
And so I knew they made a few Aston DB9s and manuals.
I driven one.
I liked those, right?
They're great.
And Sherry looks at it.
She's like, looks exactly like the Jag XKR.
And she's not necessarily wrong.
It's very, she's very similar shapes.
You've already got that car.
I'm like, yeah, but V8 auto versus, you know, 12 man.
And she's like, look harder.
Yeah.
Try again.
I like it.
You know, and I'm like, well, you know, Daytona wouldn't be terrible.
And she's like, yeah, but that price tags a little bit.
Yeah, right.
Would have been a good investment.
So anyway, another friend, also named Brian, there's so many
Brian's, I think most of us were born within about five years of each other.
Like Brian had a very brief popularity spike, you know, but still, you know,
and so I'm most surprised some of you are still alive.
Yeah, but anyway, 400 I there aren't very many of them.
They were never legal to sell in the States.
There were a great market imports up front for a few of them for a few years.
But there was one for sale down in Oregon.
We went to look at it.
It was a terrible experience.
The car would run for 15 seconds before dying.
It was this whole rigmarole car was on bat at the same time too.
So that was an adventure.
But while it did run for that brief 30 seconds where we had one of the sales
guys in the in the driver or in the passenger seat, Sherry was sitting in
the back seat because it's big enough to fit someone in the back seat.
She's like, this is really cool.
It does sound cool.
All right.
So I went looking for another one.
I found one in Italy.
Oh, somewhere close.
Yeah, because well, you can't look for them in the States because there's like
they weren't here.
Yeah, there's two dozen of them.
So I started looking internationally and figured we just have it shipped or
something and I found this one.
It's sitting in Modena and price was reasonable.
I started talking to dude.
They were super like just knowledgeable.
They were friendly.
They made videos.
They sent them back.
And this was like over two days were clear.
Todd sitting here knowing the story and shaking his head going, we're coming.
We're getting to the good parts.
Yeah.
So I, I actually went out to the front room and Sherry's playing on her phone
video game, something like that.
And I'm like, Hey, you like this car?
It's light blue.
She likes, she likes the light blues.
That's a good car.
I'm like, what if we went to Italy to drive that car?
She's like, what?
The car is in Italy.
She's like, to go test drive it.
I'm like, well, buy it, test drive it.
She's like, it's kind of expensive.
I'm like, I already checked roundtrip tickets.
I can get us roundtrip tickets under 1500 bucks for both of us combined.
She's like, okay.
Yeah.
You have to go in the piece of luggage.
But I would have gone to 1500 bucks.
So I'm like, look, worst case scenario, we go out there, we look at it.
It's, it sucks.
We still get a trip to Italy.
We will rent a car.
We'll do the things.
So Sherry planned a whole route for this car.
So we start working on it.
We're at like T minus six weeks to going over there.
Like we're trying to fit it in when we have the ability to.
And the dealership, because it was actually a little dealership, they start
working with us to take care of things.
I have a guy go out, do some inspections.
We fly over and we were prepared to walk away kind of, but yeah, that as soon as
they pulled the cover off the car, because they did a whole fancy thing.
They put the Ferrari cover on it and you know, I'm like, damn it.
I'm buying this car and then you started it.
And you're like, yeah.
So, you know, and so we did it.
We bought it.
We drove to the bank to go get some, um, some currency and the car wouldn't
restart. So I call the dude and I kid you not this little dude and a 500 who's
the mechanic, he screeches up like seven minutes later, because we hadn't gone far.
Yeah.
And he starts looking at it and the guy that sold it to me, he tosses me the
keys to his BMW says, why don't you go do all your tours today?
Cause we were going to go to the Lamborghini and the Pagani and all the things.
Right.
And he's like, we'll have it ready for you tomorrow.
Cause they had another 400 that they were going to steal parts from to make mine.
Okay.
Long as you're not buying the other one, it doesn't matter.
So they did, they got it working and, you know, we had one alternator fail
because there's two of them.
So we couldn't use the air conditioning, which did work, but you have to have
power to run the air conditioning.
And so I would drain the battery.
So we had bought another battery and a charger and we'd swap batteries every
night to make it through the day, driving through the Alps.
In an 81 Ferrari.
That sounds done that drive up there.
That's a great drive.
And that would be very difficult.
And 81 for that air conditioning.
Well, well, it's also August.
So it's like 95.
Yeah, it's there in August during a heat wave.
It was, yeah, that's, it was, it was warm.
Well, the Alps were cooler.
It was much more pleasant in the mountains, but, uh, you know, one of the times
it was broke down by the road because it had hot start issues and other stuff.
And she's sitting there.
She's doing her little knitting thing.
And I'm like, I'm beginning to think maybe I've made a mistake.
And she looks at me and she's like, I'm in Italy.
I'm knitting.
She goes, big deal.
Yeah.
Like, okay.
Well, so I don't have to get out of the car.
So no, yeah, but, you know, we, we did the whole trip.
She had planned the whole route out.
We avoided almost all the big cities.
We just arrived in the little towns and, you know, you, you, people are
out drinking their coffee at all times of days in these little towns.
And then you would just hear cause the windows are done.
Cause they would do that little gesture with their head.
Yeah.
Did I, I'm like, you got to capture that on a video.
Yeah.
No, we tried, but it was very universal.
Like, excuse me, could you say that again?
I did not have that experience in my rental Pujo.
I don't know why.
Was it more like, Asshole, American?
Pretty much the whole time in a Pujo.
Yeah.
Okay.
But, you know, we, we did that trip.
They, they actually finished fixing it up and then sent it over to us.
And then we drove it down to California for car week last week, last year.
And, um, heck of a run down there.
When did you get the car?
So we got it.
I, we did the trip to Italy in August to 24.
Oh, okay.
So that wasn't that long ago.
I thought you had that car longer.
No, that's, that's a relatively new decision making foible.
Fair enough.
But, uh, no, we had that.
And I mean, it took months to get it.
We didn't even see it until January of 25.
And then, uh, did a few things and decided it was ready to rally down there and
had a grand old time doing that.
Managed, we, we did manage to get it all the way back.
We broke a couple of things on the trip, which are currently being repaired, but
that's better than my car.
Well, you guys basically did our, well, you did the C-Mot rally, not the C-Mot
here, but you guys went from here to Monterey for car week and then came home.
Wait, which, which route should you take?
Remind me again.
We talked about it.
It was C-Mot.
Davis was with us.
Oh, okay.
C-Mot route and then, uh, Brian split off and I think you went up 101.
Yeah.
We came the slow way back.
So these guys were going to high tail at home on the freeway.
And I thought that was boring.
So allegedly I had another friend meet up with me in San Jose and then we took
about five days to come home.
So we just, you know, do 250 miles a day.
We'd stop at all the things and see all the things and just basically enjoy the drive.
Yeah.
Don't you?
So.
Yup.
Well, I mean, it's on the wall.
There's a sign on the wall to enjoy the drive.
That's the fun thing about cars is that they're, I mean, they can be, well, I'm
going to use the word of work of art, but they're functional art because they'll
take you places and I like things that are different or that spark a conversation.
Like there is something intensely gratifying about just seeing someone
bust out in a grin that they saw something weird or unusual or that they'd
never seen on the road or that they don't expect to see.
You know, spent much time on Aurora Avenue.
But yeah, that that's, that's patently true.
Yeah.
That is very true.
Oh my God, that's sort of the fun about all of our rallies is we take really odd
routes that aren't main thoroughfares.
So we end up in these small towns and people are like, all the spaceships just
arrived and they come out and drove some people are generally extremely
friendly and happy to see you.
Usually when we're eating or at the car washes, yeah, yeah, big time.
Oh no, I mean, like happened, happened over this last weekend, you know,
we went to this little old drive-in in the middle of nowhere, Wilbur,
Washington and Wilbur.
Yep.
And we're sitting there in the parking lot and this kid screeches to a
halt near and hops out and he's about to graduate high school next week.
He and his girlfriend are there and we're literally just getting our food.
And this dude comes up ultimate and he's like, I hate to ask this, but I really
have to. He's like, is there any way I could get a ride in some of your cars?
And, you know, of course, us being.
No, get away.
Like, well, which ones?
The first one, Viper.
I was going to say the Viper had to be high on the list.
The Viper is super high on the list and the Viper owner, Alex,
is just the nicest dude on the planet, right?
But you also convince Clark to take him for a quick spin in the RSA.
So, you know, it's you're building future generations there, right?
I mean, it wasn't until in the last 10 years of my life that I managed to get
most of my fun stuff, right?
It was a long time to get there.
And, you know, coming from a 75 piece of junk Skylark in high school, right?
Right.
You get there eventually, but, you know, we need that next generation or the hobby dies.
Yeah.
Somebody did that up for all of us.
I mean, we all had that experience.
Absolutely.
And we've also had the experience where somebody's a dick and it's like,
that doesn't put a good, yeah, Todd, he won't let me get in his bus.
So, you know, I mean, my brother was the first one, of course, growing up,
but it was also a Butch Bachmeyer.
Yeah.
Bachmeyer is a park place who were really like cool with me going in
because they knew I wouldn't screw stuff up.
So they let me go into park place and look at cars for as long as I wanted.
Because I wasn't that kid that was going to like put my hands all over
everything.
They were just like, yeah, tell me all about the cars.
It was a really cool experience.
And that's not, you do it because you want to pass on the generation.
We had a great story.
We've talked about a hundred times about this car wash and the lady actually
found us and wrote us a really long letter about how her kid just
absolutely enjoyed that.
And because he got to hold the Boreog first and was looking at Boreog's
Audi and was just enthralled with it.
And then it went on to like, you know, Davis's Porsche and things like that.
So that was in California.
I think it was in Oregon.
Oh, you have with the one in Bend?
Yeah.
Oh, I was thinking Quincy, California.
Yeah, that was sweet.
Another it does happen a lot.
Yeah, it happened on our trip down to Palm Springs.
It was she grandma and she came up and she goes, I've never seen
one of these with my grandson is so enamored.
I'm like, well, have you ever sat in one?
Get in the trunk.
What is a car?
So we took pictures of her, you know, and she's waving out the window and
all to send to her grandkids.
And she, you know, I just, yeah, it's, I don't know, a goodwill mission.
An officer.
That's when the old lady started the car with my Rolls Royce.
I don't know.
Well, I guess kicks you in the balls, takes your keys.
Jokes on you.
I'm only 57.
But yeah, so you, I mean, you, you have somewhat of a passion for this, these
old cars and pushing them, not necessarily because you're doing the maintenance
and you're, and you're keeping up on it.
So they are somewhat reliable.
Any car can break down.
We've had brand new cars on the side of the road.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So, but this is sort of your niche.
Well, it's, it's not without learning experiences.
You know, that, uh, the, the 71 long wheel based car on its way out to get some
major work done a few years ago, I was convinced it would make it to Kansas City.
Just fine Friday night, seven o'clock, we just crossed the border from Wyoming
into Nebraska on, what is that 80?
Yeah, that's how it was.
Yeah.
Yep.
And, you know, got the cruise control because it has cruise control.
Oh, cruise control set at 80.
Will you hold your foot at a certain angle?
No, actually, that's a whole nother conversation in itself, but you push
the button and it holds the speed.
It's wild.
Modern tech.
It's a clockwork orange underneath it, but, um, it starts jerking a couple of
times.
I'm like, Oh, is it coughing?
Did we have a fuel problem?
Is the fuel pump bad?
And then it really makes a violent jarring.
I'm like, huh, I think I better pull off.
And just as I'm about to slowing down where there's an overpass I'm aiming to
just get underneath the rear right wheel, just lock solid.
We left, we left a stripe like 40 feet long as it came to a halt.
I'm like, I think we're going to stop here.
Seems good.
So I'm like, what was that?
And I try to back it up and you can hear it go crunch, crunch.
I'm like, well, we either just lost a bearing or a differential or I'm going to
call it tow truck.
So, you know, and we were, we were on the way to Kansas city sitting in Nebraska,
but I had to go through Oklahoma city because I was dropping sherry off at her
mom's place.
And this is 2021.
So it's high COVID ish.
Not there.
I was going to say, not in the middle of the country, it wasn't me.
No, it isn't.
It wasn't.
So it, and it ultimately, it did, it did have a seized failed bearing.
I took some effort.
They, the tow truck, they sent a tow truck from
Cheyenne.
Oh, dude took an hour and a half to get there.
He took us to the nearest town, how to hotel.
And he's like, I feel bad dropping you off.
I'm like, what else are you going to do, man?
Yeah, like there's not a parts depot is going to have what I need.
And I called you hall.
We found nearby they put a trailer and little, one of those little box vans
together and we loaded the rolls up to it.
And then we drove another 1400 miles with the rolls on a trailer.
Okay.
Because what else was I going to drive it yourself?
Or you've, you've, you've got that car ship somewhere.
It's going to cost you just as much as the U-Haul.
Well, it kind of was, it would take the more time.
And yeah, just, you know, we couldn't figure out a way to get out of it anyway.
So it all worked out.
And, you know, Sherry's pretty mellow about the whole stuff.
We still went and saw the world's largest.
I don't know if it was a ball of twine or rubber ball or something like that.
So we, she found all these skillet.
Yeah, you know, I love the negative review for that skillet.
But why was it on stick?
Not a skillet.
Oh, no, it's plywood wrapped in fiberglass with black spray paint on it.
If you're going to call the world's largest skillet, it better be a damn skillet.
That's in Long Beach, by the way.
I lost him.
No, I just have this image of you getting out of there and going, boy,
that looks like plot.
What the fuck?
I got there.
I was like, this is bullshit.
This is not a skillet.
You know, no, we can add the Long Beach, Washington to the weird hills
that people are willing to die on.
Skillet taught a skillet.
If it's going to be a large ball of twine, it better be a bunch of twine.
If it's going to be a skillet, it will be a giant piece of cast iron.
It's an argument, no argument, but don't go to the bunny ranch.
There are no, there are no.
But, you know, I will not pay you for that.
Where are the bunnies?
I don't know how to follow that.
I don't know what's the segue to the next.
Where do you go?
So why, why, why choose the Ferrari on the rally?
What was the, I mean, the Ferrari for the rally?
Well, number one, I had bought the car to drive the car.
And actually it was a relatively low mileage car.
It was coming out of the estate of the original owner.
Oh, by the way, I can't think of a better car than a vintage Ferrari
to take the Monterey for car.
Oh, dude, yeah, it was cool.
Yeah, it, it, it definitely had its moments.
People recognize the car down there.
Yeah.
Frequently recognized the car, which most, I mean, I've, I've had people
come up to me and go, nice and Paula, dude.
I'm not, I'm not kidding you not.
I've come from the back.
They looked at it and they saw the quad headlights, but they didn't know
how to put a square, you know, they, they're like, this is a square back in
Paul, what is this?
I don't remember the back end of that car.
And I've had people say, is this a Riviera when looking at it from the front?
Okay, I can see that.
I guess not a Riviera, Rietta.
Rietta, yeah, I actually understood what you meant.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
So that's funny.
Some people, they don't understand what that is, but man, I just, it was,
we bought the car to do tours on it, right?
Car stuff, yeah.
And when I went to buy it, I'm like, look, I'm going to put mileage on this car.
I mean, kilometerage.
Kilometerage.
Cause that car is all in, you know, metric, not, not, not freedom.
U.S.
European freedom, not in freedom units.
It's kind of, you have to figure out what those things mean.
But, you know, it has a trunk, it holds stuff.
It sounds great.
It's moderately sporty.
And, you know, even going over CA one, I'm kind of impressed at how well the
car did.
And it's a V12 Ferrari.
It's got torque.
It's got torque all day long, right?
Like shifting is optional half the time in that car.
You just want to hold on for as long as you can, because it sounds better the
higher the rest go.
But it was happy to do it all too.
You know, the work I'd finished doing some work on it, we managed to fix, you
know, AC was functional.
I got new alternators, all those things.
So we could, we get idle with all the cooling fans and the AC on.
Was the AC functional?
Was it?
Weren't you in your own car?
It hinted at cold air.
I was.
I just remember Sherry's hair at the window.
Well, but Sherry likes the window stand.
Was it a cool breath of Italian air conditioning?
We used that air conditioning the entire front stay when it was like 95 degrees.
But I also felt bad for it because I'd only replaced one of the alternators and
they have like eight millimeter belts.
And I was afraid of shredding one.
And eventually I did shred that belt.
So I bought a second high average alternator.
So now there's two of them and they share the load with their two tiny
little millimeter belts.
Yeah, Todd, be nice.
Not very good at it.
I know.
I didn't try it.
You know what?
That car did not throw a code the whole trip.
Nope.
Just arcana.
Yeah.
The Porsche's through codes.
Did the Ferrari throw a code?
No, absolutely not.
And it's zero yellow.
Does it have the ability?
No, no, no, that's not an important question.
Yeah, you look past.
That's what I'm saying.
No, but how did Lincoln feel about it?
That's true.
So the car, the car runs a little bit rich, especially on the right bank.
And that's only a problem for the guy behind you.
Exactly.
Like Boriag refused to be behind me.
He said, because he was suffocating and dying.
Well, Lincoln did in the Z8 and then we got to the drive through tree,
the Chandler tree, and we got out to look and the entire front of this
gate is like splatted with soot marks because every time you
lay into the throttle on the Ferrari, it would just blot out.
Yeah, so it so ostensibly repaired now.
So we think we've got that dialed down.
It was like three and a half percent.
If you ask me, it sounds like Lincoln was driving too close.
Too close.
Yeah, that's Lincoln's fault.
Yeah, yeah, his father and mother taught him that.
Well, he just wanted to hear it.
I agree.
Yeah, so that's why I hear it.
Yeah, after spending, after spending a day behind Alex's Viper with
because I took the XKR on this trip last weekend.
Yeah.
And I had the top down for a lot of it.
So it's just the glorious sound of that Viper snaking through sneak,
snake, snake, snake.
Yeah, that's a great metaphor.
Yeah, yeah, all right, you two knock it off.
Now all I can see is that stupid kid with that head on.
What else have you taken on drives?
You've got you've got a lot of cars.
So well, I mean, we sent the 79 SLC.
So I have a very nice SLC.
We forced Ben into it because we didn't want to really take him back to pick up
his M4, but didn't even put a foot wrong the whole weekend.
I mean, and that one's even charged with our 12.
So he had air conditioning for when he wanted it.
And it he had air conditioning or power.
He had a choice.
No, that is that is also true.
I'm like, there's an override button to turn the AC off.
And that one I'm like, if you need more power, it's the passing button.
Push the off button first.
But so funny.
We've done, I have an 85 Mercedes wagon diesel that was relatively
long mileage when I picked it up.
It was only 90 something thousand when I picked it up.
And we take that frequently everywhere.
That, you know, when you talk about the opposite
spectrums of, you know, what's reliable and what's not reliable,
those those W123s are the cockroaches of the car world.
Like you can try to kill them and you have trouble.
Yeah. That's kind of the, oh, I haven't done any prep.
Do you want to do a trip?
Yep. All right.
We'll get the wagon.
Yeah, a little oil, a little do everything else, but I'll just keep going.
It does leak a little bit of what, but even then it's not very much.
That car is really, do you own modern cars?
I mean, you showed up with 928, 928, which by the way, sounds amazing.
Yeah, a great car.
Yeah. The 928, that was, I almost took that on the rally this past weekend.
And then after looking at the roster and wanting to be a little more aggressive,
I took some the most, well, I have a 2010 XKR.
That's almost the newest one I personally own, because I don't count
the car that Sherry owns as a new car.
Sherry has a 21 GTS Boxster, a GTS 4.
Yeah. She specced that out exactly the way she wants it.
You can tell it if it's in her name, just just write it down.
Yeah, it's actually, yeah, I could, you know, be like the Russian gangster.
It's OK. We just did 30 years of marriage.
It's OK. She not care.
She dead. Great.
But that's, you know, the XKR is really the most modern.
I have a 2011 XJL as well, but that's kind of the that's that's the winner
beater car picked it up off of auction really cheap felt pretty confident
because the XKR has the same drivetrain.
Yeah. And for the most part, it's been a pretty damn reliable car.
That's awesome.
So and then it all just gets older from there, right?
I have a 2003 350 Z I bought new.
It's kind of my HP DE fun day car.
And it kind of jumps all the way back to the 85 928.
And then everything there goes older after that.
Yeah. I mean, you know, like you said, if you care for the cars and you work on them,
I mean, sounds like it's a full time job to keep your garage going with the amount of you would.
You would think it was, but it's really not as bad as it seems.
But you drive all your cars, too, which you have to rotate through them.
You do, you do. And, you know, the, you know, the Rolls Royces,
the motors themselves are great. The transmissions are T H four hundreds.
I mean, yeah, there's not a lot to go wrong with them.
As long as you treat them well.
And then it's the braking system that's weird.
But now that I understand what that is and what it entails,
you just do the service every few years and call it good.
You don't let it fail.
If it if it fails, it's expensive to repair because it got water.
It rusts like they stopped themselves.
That one wheel just locked itself up and brought that one.
That one, no, this self break is cruise control and self breaking.
Yeah, that one.
Oh, yeah, that was an unpleasant experience.
That one was not my favorite.
What, what, what, why'd you guys do the rally this weekend?
What made you go want to do that?
Just for a drive, time to go for a drive.
Yep. OK.
Down 800 miles northeast Washington.
Yeah. How many miles you guys do?
And about 800.
Yeah, just over 800.
I think you don't realize while living here that there are so many roads,
especially north of I 90, and it's a great time.
And the roads are good on that side of the road.
Yes, they are. They're fantastic.
We live in a great place for lots of different biomes and a relatively short drive.
Yeah.
There are a lot of great roads all over the place.
And honestly, I just like road trips.
It's kind of what Sherri and I did.
You know, our honeymoon was a road trip across the country.
So we kind of started that way.
But being able to go out, you see things.
You know, it's it's what I like doing.
She likes doing being a passenger and doing whatever she's up to anyway.
And honestly, it's great social time.
Yeah, it's it's the drive.
It's the time with all the people and it's all the kids at the stops.
It's a lot of. Yeah.
Everybody, everybody.
I mean, we we picked up a completely slash rando dude.
He was kind of he was a different dude.
But just this bright green challenger pops up at a gas station
and say, can I follow you?
Well, he did.
Yeah, for the whole rest of the day.
He's in all our pictures that first day.
That's so random.
It was very weird.
He was having a great time.
But he had a great time.
And I feel he was very actually.
So that was important.
He was respectful.
He was very polite at all the stops.
He got in back every time.
And he followed at a great.
I mean, he followed at a distance.
He wasn't tailgating.
I'm like, you know, whatever.
He's bold enough to actually say, hey, can I be your friend for a day?
And he respected and he followed us.
Oh, yeah. And he's not as long as he's not shown off and being that guy,
then who cares? Yeah. Yeah, that's cool.
He was behind us for not all challenger people are like that.
Dan, I know it's rare.
But that is we talked about that before we started.
That's important.
And we've had really good luck on it and all the stuff we've done
is finding the right people and knowing it's not that you're vetting people,
but you know that somebody else is not going to get you in trouble.
This is a good group.
We do drives local.
We had 10 cars.
It's getting up there, right?
It's one of the things that's hard to manage today was we're going to cap this.
Or we're going to have to split in double run groups.
Yeah. 10 gets a little challenging.
Yeah, especially if you're doing any passing and things like that.
It worked out really well.
But I think more part of that is we all knew each other from driving local.
Yeah. Well, and in this particular case, too, people were happy to trade
positions, move around and just be wherever they were and took care
of the people in front and behind.
Nice. So there was, I don't want to say there wasn't any ego as such in it,
but it was everybody was out to have a good time and make sure
everybody around them also had a good time.
Yeah, it's about having a good time and I have something to prove.
And that's where things go bad.
So as long as we're just having fun, it's going to be fun the whole day.
And if everybody wants to prove something, that's fine.
We've been there, too.
True. Yeah, none of that.
It was a good trip.
We wanted to avoid any imperial entanglements.
That's a good way to put that.
Yeah. Yes.
The dark side comes after you pretty quickly.
So, you know, it's it's about being responsible as well.
You know, I you talk about how people perceive you when you pull into
a gas station or a park or a town, you know, a small town in particular, right?
And you're an ambassador for the hobby.
And whether you like it or not, whether you care or not, you really are.
And being respectful of where you are helps breed a new set of another
generation that's going to come up and keep the hobby going.
And that that encourages all the mechanics to learn to learn the trade,
to have parts manufacturers continue their thing, to
it's everything all the way across the board.
And I kind of take pride in that.
I like that our group really kind of I think that they
I don't think that we would be unwelcome any place we had been.
We could go back and same. Yeah. Yeah.
And you're unwelcome for different reasons, Todd.
Obviously. Yeah.
And some of them can't be around schools.
I agree. Yeah. Well, we're fans more often.
So, you know, that's it's warm.
That's a you issue.
What are you laughing about?
So I thought.
But, you know, that and whether it's a new car, old car,
you know, obscure car, whatever, it almost almost doesn't matter.
But, you know, the the vintage part for me has always been about
it's things that I like when I was a kid.
I thought that's awesome.
You know, my my my garage in 1981 would have been bonkers.
You know, but it's just I don't know.
Like the 928, I feel cool in the 928.
It is quite like bought it for myself.
But I said, I'm like, I got pop up headlights.
And I don't really like I really don't like gray cars as much.
I like cars that have color on them.
But this particular car was in such good shape
and had the records on it was being picky.
So I'm like, I have to take whatever color it's in.
But I'm like, you know, I haven't had a car with racing stripes yet.
And the martini.
Yeah. Well, and Ben's not a good influence on putting vinyl on a car.
So he's like, just do it.
Yeah, I'm going to put stripes on my car.
You should. I mean, have fun with it.
So what's horsepower?
I did. Yeah, at least five at least at least five.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
I didn't even count how many now I explained why it's so fast.
Yeah, Brian, your truck should have a thousand horsepower
right now with the topographical map on it.
But it's just I always bought what I liked and enjoyed.
And I don't know.
Other people are coming into their own of seeing some of the stuff
that really was esoteric redheaded stepchildren that, yeah.
Oh, my gosh, that's actually out and about someone's
because even with the vintage cars and the new cars,
like if you even if you don't know cars, when those pull in,
you know that's something different than the truck that's across the street.
No, exactly. Exactly.
You know, and, you know, if you compare,
so I also have a 73 El Dorado.
OK, so it's it's convertible.
It's orange over white with a white top.
So it's it's like 70. It's like that's awesome.
Very pimp spec.
800 pound doors with doors.
Yeah. Massive long doors.
It's almost as long as my old three quarter ton diesel, too.
It's just a big car.
But that car has an appeal that transcends lots of different things.
Yeah. People recognize that that wouldn't recognize a lot of other stuff.
The Dukes of Hazard.
No, it's a little bit later than that. Later than that. OK.
Boss Hogs was like a mid sixties.
Oh, OK. I love that car.
But close enough for jazz.
I mean, it's it's a 500 cubic inch front wheel drive.
Be a myth.
But you can show up to places like that.
We were sitting at the beach having a coffee and a donut one morning
while we were on a weekend away.
And this gal, probably 80 years old, if a day, she came up to us
and she said, hey, I just want you to know that seeing this car
reminded me of all these adventures I had when I had a friend that had one.
And we would go to the beach and we'd get into all kinds of trouble.
And it brought a smile to my face and thank you for the morning.
Oh, right.
And then she just kind of meandered back to her little car and off she went.
But like, I kind of feel good.
You know, it justifies all the shenanigans of it's a little different
than the 80 year old that came up to me with the bus saying she lost her virginity.
That's actually where I thought his story was going.
Yeah, it may have. I think that was an offer.
I'm like, not this one.
I think she was looking to lose her virginity.
It was weird.
She grew up in the group as a nun.
OK, I know I shouldn't go down this road.
Was that at the beginning of the conversation?
Or did she talk to you for a while and then get to know just that was it?
And she walked away.
Oh, she said, hey, I lost my virginity in one of those and then walked away.
OK, OK, cool.
I thought I was hoping it was like a camper at least.
Otherwise there's no contortionist.
She pulled the top back.
She told her this was.
Well, I wasn't by myself, too.
You know, Sherry was sitting there.
So true, you know, that would have been a different kind of offer, I suppose.
But that's actually where I thought it was going to be like,
I had one of those when I was in high school and the back seat is so big.
You and five of your friends can get in this convertible.
You know, I'm more interesting if you had a type two transporter.
Oh, is that why you want the transporter?
I was wondering why you kept looking at the water.
Those are so cool.
You got to get one, Todd.
I want one.
And a monkey.
A monkey.
We'll talk.
I don't get into that.
How many years?
I'm off the monkey thing with him.
He's never going to buy a monkey.
I'm never off the monkey thing.
No, no, get off it because he'll never do it.
He doesn't have the money.
He can't afford the monkey.
I did retire.
It's reverse psychology.
You can't have that.
OK.
Speaking of taking things in places, you shouldn't.
That's a monkeys and grums on the BDR and off road.
That's probably the most fun I think I've had the longest.
I miss it.
Yeah, life.
I need to retire, but I just can't afford to.
Yeah, for the next 50 years.
Right. Yes, because I keep buying monkeys.
It's not a hard monkey to get off your back.
It is. It is a hard monkey to get off your back.
He's had it on his back.
I have. Down a hill.
Down a hill? Yeah, it rode me down a hill in Moab.
Coming into the parking lot and held revenge.
It rode me down the hill.
Not my best moment.
So, yeah, because in Utah, monkeys ride you.
Yeah, yes, they do.
That'd be a good moment.
It's a Mormon thing.
Yeah, it's a good Lord.
This is taking a turn.
What is next on your list of vehicles?
Oh, Lord, we're still out there for you
because I know like guys like you have always got like,
oh, something like that popped up, you know, it's funny
because a lot of these just are accidental, right?
The 928 was the 928 was somewhat whimsical
because I wanted a Porsche and I was on a waiting list
to get a GTS and a PTS color and which didn't turn out.
But like, well, the 928 is cheap enough
and it's kind of the redneck, you know, thing to take to a PCA event.
So I did.
And then I fell in love with it because I'm like, oh, damn.
Yeah. Oh, you did it out of spite
and then fell in love with the spite.
It kind of did.
And honest, it's actually one of my favorite cars to drive.
Like if I'm running errands, I'm going to get in that car every time.
I think it's just cool.
It is. It sounds great.
And it's easy to drive and and it's just pop up headlights.
Yeah, it's pop up headlighting.
Well, the 400s pop up headlighting.
So some of them were, you know, trying check boxes, right?
The Ferrari was V12 manual.
There we go.
We had an adventure in Italy and and now that car can never leave.
Like I can't sell that car.
No, that's not allowed. It's not allowed to go.
I still want I need to expand the wagon collection.
So we we did one.
Andy and I did one earlier in the year when we decided to try and buy cars
for 50 percent off by sharing a car, because technically,
I only paid 50 percent of the car.
Yeah. And then we promptly had an axle seal blow.
So we haven't been able to use it since we got it.
But, you know, that was that was an 1800.
Yes, that was in your half of the car.
So you have to replace that.
That was a buy in Arizona.
Fly down, drive.
Oh, that was that was another rally.
So oh, that was that was multiple times.
It was a yeah, it was a teal 1800.
Yes, it was down in Arizona and Andy and I like we it was February.
So the mountains were still kind of dangerous for untested cars.
Yeah. But the weather turned nice for like a four day window.
I'm like, Andy, let's go, go.
So we did. We bought our one way tickets.
We went down there. We bought it.
We got halfway through Nevada before we realized the fuel smell in the car
wasn't just because it had, you know, saturated fuel lines.
The fuel tank had holes in it.
Oh, geez. On the top of it.
OK. That leaked into it.
So every time we went up bump fuel was.
Yeah. And we're in the middle of nowhere
and because we went from Vegas north.
Straight to the sideway. Boise.
Yeah. So we're in the gas station.
Like, you guys don't have any like JB Weld or anything.
She goes, no, you got to go to the next town.
How far is that 120 miles?
Yeah, home wire jackpot.
Yeah. So we found we found a so Napa and we fixed it
in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant while we had fajitas.
And we know that I think I know that restaurant stopping the gas while
taking gas on dry.
So many times, but that's that's another one of just like, oh, you know,
I I had actually checked and I had a place we could tow it
within 150 miles of everywhere in the in the right.
So I had friends in Vegas.
I had a friend in Boise and I just like, eh,
where push comes to shove, we'll just get it towed within the triple A
and then we'll figure it out from there.
Well, we'll call for a rescue from someone back in Seattle and lots of resources.
We had lots of resources and I left the I'd left my car hauler hooked up to the truck.
So we just con someone and getting my truck and coming and getting us that sort of thing.
So yeah, that's one thing I've learned from driving a lot of cars across
countries in the most back remote ways possible is in the lower 48 of US.
You're never that far from somebody ever.
It is just not possible anymore.
The population is too big.
I've been in the middle of like dirt roads in the forest.
And like two hours later, there's some like a convoy of overlanders comes by
and I'm like, I'm 100 miles from anything.
Yeah, that's kind of where I've lost the fear of really, you know,
being stranded. I make sure we have some water and we have some food.
So if push comes to shove and you have to spend an overnight, you're not going to die.
No, you're like, this is uncomfortable.
It's uncomfortable, you know, but we've got battery, we've got phone.
We'll figure it out. Well, you know, yeah, now we've got Starlink.
So I'm like, I'm going to go watch a Netflix movie while I wait for my toe.
Yeah, it's just not inconvenient like it was scary in the past.
And it turns out most of the time, if you've done a modicum of maintenance on them,
they do pretty well. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, amazing adventures, amazing cars.
I look forward to hearing more about the future.
I look forward to more rallies from you guys. Yeah.
Yeah, well, seeing your trips, the Ferrari, the Ferrari seized its pilot,
its main, what was it called, the pilot bearing in the club in the transmission
on that trip down to Monterey last year.
OK, well, of all things, considering that's not the worst thing to go wrong.
Don't want it. I mean, it limped all the way home.
And so it's taken me this long to figure out we didn't.
I didn't know what the problem was until recently, but figured it all out.
And that'll be back on the road for most likely our September trip.
That's probably what I'll do then, because.
That car is just a lot of fun to rally in.
What's the September trip?
You guys think I'm working on it to flavor of the endurance rally.
Oh, nice. Yeah.
That's a secret.
That's not done yet. I'm still working on it.
It's cooking. I got it.
It'll be, you know, we'll go see all of our friends and Whitebird
in the bar at 9 a.m.
I wouldn't where they will be.
Yeah, kind of all places I wanted to drink.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, in the morning and Whitebird.
Yeah, I had a Idaho.
There's a pretty packed bar, full bar.
I hope to get out and do the road we had to turn around on because the fires.
Such a good road.
We'll see. Oh, we're still Eastern Oregon.
Yeah, there's there's very limited routes over there that are
I should say having done like all there's like four sections
that go north to south there and there's really like the other ones
tend to be kind of OK, they're fine.
But if you want the elevation gain in the turns, there's only a couple.
Yeah, my concern is fires this year.
Oh, it's always fires.
It's going to be bad with how no snow, no snowpack.
So we'll play those by ear.
And, you know, at the end of the day, I mean, if I could,
if I retired today, that's really how I would spend my time anyway.
Oh, yes, I'm here.
It would just be like, OK, get in the car.
It's adventure time.
Yeah, I can do that anyway, even though we're not retired, which is
that's what you're getting the back of a bus.
It really is the car. It's adventure time.
Well, I'll tell you what, I got a great plan B for you.
Those fires get you and drive a little farther out.
But the rocks don't burn very well in Utah.
And some of the best driving roads you can have are not in September, October.
It's like it's like November, January, where because there's nobody in the parks.
Oh, you're going down towards Zions and Knapp and whatnot.
I have not both.
Yes, both.
I would have everyone.
I have time.
So you got to do Highway 12 in Utah in the winter,
because that pass, like it'll be snowing, but there's nothing on the road.
It's dry as a bone.
And there's nobody there.
One car, 200 miles a whole day.
You're just like, and they're just like, go around, whatever.
It's not like here.
People are like, yeah, I'll get it your way. Cool.
Sounds good to me.
Well, I appreciate you guys coming in and talking to us.
And sharing your adventures.
And we look forward to hearing more about them when more adventures happen
and things are more public.
Yeah, you mean afterwards?
Yeah, they mean afterwards.
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
Well, for this episode of the Avans podcast is always I'm Nick and I'm Dan.
And don't just get there.
Enjoy the drive.
About this episode
Rallying older vintage cars is framed as “a gamble,” but the hosts and guest Brian McLean keep coming back to why long-distance use works: deferred maintenance, not age, is often the real culprit. The conversation ranges from towing coverage and roadside breakdown stories to cold-weather diesel gelling, DEF cautions, and even fuel/fluids improvisation. Along the way, they share classic-car shopping and rare Ferrari/Rolls-Royce adventures, plus practical rally/road-trip logistics and group-driving etiquette.
What happens when you buy a vintage Ferrari in Italy, drive it through the Alps in August with failing alternators, and then rally it to Monterey Car Week? Naturally… you plan on doing it again.
This week on the Avants Podcast, Dan and Nick sit down with Brian McLean — a man who believes old cars are meant to be driven, not hidden away in climate-controlled garages. From a long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Shadow to a manual V12 Ferrari 400i, Brian shares stories of cross-country breakdowns, roadside repairs, sketchy one-way flights, questionable financial choices, and why the best automotive adventures usually begin with, “This is probably a bad idea.”
The crew dives into:
Driving vintage cars thousands of miles on rallies and road trips
Buying a Ferrari sight unseen in Italy
Why old cars aren’t unreliable — deferred maintenance is
Rally culture, road-trip philosophy, and building the next generation of enthusiasts
Fuel leaks in Nevada, seized bearings in Nebraska, and why every adventure needs a backup plan
Pop-up headlights, oddball wagons, V12 obsessions, and the joy of weird cars
It’s equal parts automotive therapy session, comedy show, and reminder that the destination is never the point — the drive is.
As always: Don’t just get there… enjoy the drive.
Our question of the week: What old car do you want to take on a rally adventure?
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
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