The Volkswagen Transporter is a popular van used for work and everyday driving. Here, they’re talking about the newest version and how it looks like it was styled to resemble a Ford Transit.
Car
AMG GT four door
This is Mercedes-AMG’s four-door take on the AMG GT name. The hosts are talking about a new version and whether it’s heading toward an electric powertrain.
“Aero” means aerodynamics—how the car’s shape moves through the air. The host is saying Mercedes may be good at the airflow part, even if they don’t like how the car looks.
Gordon Wagner is a key person in Mercedes-Benz’s design leadership. The hosts think his departure could explain (or fix) why they feel Mercedes designs have been going in the wrong direction.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is the brand’s compact executive sedan/wagon line. Here, the host uses a recently seen C-Class as a real-world example of what they perceive as Mercedes design direction—describing it as “terribly soft looking.”
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the brand’s midsize luxury sedan, and the host argues the newest one also lacks the right “feel.” They describe it as “too soft,” suggesting the car’s visual proportions and road presence don’t communicate confidence.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the top-of-the-line Mercedes. The speaker thinks it still feels more important and composed than the newer C-Class and E-Class.
Wheel spacers are parts that push the wheel outward a little. People use them to change how the car looks (stance) or to help with clearance and fitment.
The Mercedes-Benz SLK is a small two-seat convertible roadster. The podcast is talking about wheel fitment—specifically whether you need spacers so the wheels sit correctly and don’t rub. It’s a practical question for anyone changing wheels or tires.
It’s basically the idea that a company should make fewer things, but make them better. The host is saying car brands should focus on their best models instead of trying to do everything.
They’re using “krill sifting” as a picture of filtering. The idea is that the front openings are shaped so bigger bits get blocked while smaller bits can get through.
Car
AMG GT four mouth
They’re talking about the Mercedes-AMG GT’s front grille, which has a distinctive “four mouth” look. The host compares it to a filter that only lets smaller stuff through, just to make the design easier to picture.
Term
soap bar
“Soap bar” is a slang design description meaning the car’s shape looks rounded and bland, like a bar of soap. In this context it’s used to criticize a Mercedes design shift toward softer, less distinctive styling.
The Mercedes-Benz CLS is a luxury car with a coupe-like look, even though it has four doors. The podcast is saying that in an older version (not the current one), the CLS didn’t feel like it was going in the right direction anymore. It’s about how the car’s style or purpose changed.
This is a Mercedes-Benz CLS version that looks like a coupe but has the back end of a wagon. The host likes it because it’s a fun-looking car that still feels more useful than a normal coupe.
Car
AMG GT
The AMG GT is a sporty Mercedes-AMG with a strong, performance-oriented personality. The host’s point is that it can feel a bit too wide for tight roads, which changes how comfortable it is to drive.
Car
AMG GT R
The AMG GT R is a high-performance Mercedes-AMG version of the AMG GT. It’s the more serious, more driver-focused one, and that’s why the host keeps saying it’s the favorite.
The BMW i8 is a hybrid sports car with a very distinctive look. The hosts mention it to show that you can spend similar money, but you end up with a completely different kind of car.
A heat pump is a home heating system that transfers heat instead of burning fuel to make heat. They’re using it as an analogy in the conversation, not as a car topic.
A gas or oil boiler is the traditional way of heating a home by burning fuel. In this segment it’s just part of a comparison, not the main topic.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is a famous Italian supercar maker. In this segment, they’re talking about a new (electric) Ferrari and saying it doesn’t look like what you’d expect from the brand.
The Dodge Charger is a famous American car name. Here they’re talking about the newer electric Charger and how its shape looks similar to the four-door Ferrari they’re discussing.
They’re talking about the space between the tire and the fender. If that gap is too big, the car can look like it’s not lowered enough for its sporty look.
They’re describing a setting that changes the car’s height/attitude—especially the front-to-rear balance. If it’s left on, the car can look uneven, like the front is raised compared to the back.
The Ferrari F12 is a high-end Ferrari supercar with a big V12 engine. The hosts are talking about how the car’s stance—how high it sits and how the wheels look—can make it seem off, even if it’s a famous car.
Aftermarket alloys are non-factory wheels. They’re saying the wheels on that Ferrari look like they were changed, and that the new wheels don’t suit the car’s look.
The Ford Fiesta is a small car. The podcast is saying it looks like it could be related to rally racing, and that it seems strong and purposeful. They’re mainly commenting on the look and vibe of the car.
“Arch gap” is the gap you can see between the tire and the fender. They’re saying that gap looks off, which makes the whole car look like it’s trying to be something it isn’t.
They’re saying the rear lights and shape remind them of a 1990s Chevrolet Impala. Their point is that the proportions feel like they belong to that older design, not the newer car.
A concept car is a one-off or limited show vehicle used to show off ideas. They’re saying the design feels like it’s trying to be a “concept” version of an older car.
The Porsche 911 is a sports car made by Porsche. The podcast is talking about someone choosing a particular high-performance “GT” version of the 911 after buying other Porsches. It’s mentioned because different 911 versions feel and perform differently.
“800 volt architecture” means the car’s electrical system runs at a higher voltage than many EVs. That can make fast charging easier and improve how efficiently the car handles high power.
Adaptive suspension is a suspension setup that can adjust how stiff the shocks feel while you drive. It helps the car stay comfortable on rough roads but feel more controlled when you drive hard.
The Type 00 is a Jaguar concept car, meaning it was shown to preview ideas rather than being a normal car you could buy. The podcast says people criticized how it looked a lot. Concept cars are usually talked about because they hint at what a company wants to do next.
The Type 01 is a Jaguar production car, meaning it’s the real version that came after a concept. The podcast says it looks very similar to the concept that came before it. They’re basically comparing the final car to the earlier design idea.
Topic
car and classics auctions
They’re talking about finding cars through an auction website. The point is how they locate specific models they want to buy or recommend.
Bentley was owned by Volkswagen for a while, and that ownership affected how the cars were built and designed. The host is saying the car he wants is from the early part of that era.
This is a Bentley Arnage from 1999. It’s a big, old-school luxury car, and “Red Label” is a nicer version of that model. The host also mentions it has a very large 6.75-liter V8 engine.
That phrase describes the engine: it’s a V8 (eight cylinders) and it’s very large at 6.75 liters. Bigger engines like this are typically smooth and make strong pulling power.
A head gasket is a seal inside the engine that helps keep fluids where they belong. If it goes bad, the engine can run poorly or overheat, so replacing it is a big deal.
John McGuinness is a famous racer associated with the Isle of Man TT. The host mentions him to show he’s talking from experience and connections in the car world.
Place
TT
“TT” here means the Isle of Man TT, a very famous motorcycle race held on real roads. The host is saying the car got damaged during that kind of hard-use trip.
A Bentley Arnage T is a big, luxury Bentley from the older era. The story here is about someone buying one cheaply and then breaking something in the drivetrain after doing burnouts.
The diff (differential) is what allows the wheels to spin at different speeds when you turn. If someone “blows the diff,” it means that part broke, usually from very hard driving.
They’re talking about the Bentley Continental GT, a luxury touring car. The point here is that early versions look less impressive to them, while the later one looks more expensive and confident.
Term
mollycoddle
They mean “mollycoddle” as “baby it” or treat it very carefully. They’re saying older classics often need more gentle treatment than newer ones.
They’re talking about mileage as a clue for how the car has been used. In this case, they think 101,000 miles is actually fine—and maybe even good—because the car has been driven and kept moving.
The Range Rover is a big luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s designed to be comfortable on normal roads but still capable off the road. The podcast is basically saying people talk a lot about them.
Le Mans is a famous race that lasts 24 hours. They’re using it as a way to say the car needs to handle long, demanding driving—like sustained high-speed running.
The Suzuki SJ is a small, rugged off-road vehicle. The hosts are saying it might look too much like a basic off-road car, not the kind of thing you’d want if you want to blend in while still being able to handle rougher roads sometimes.
Ground clearance is the distance between the road and the lowest part of the car. Higher ground clearance helps prevent scraping on bumps, ruts, or uneven tracks—something the hosts connect to tire sidewall and rough-surface travel.
Newton-meters are a unit for measuring torque, basically how strong the engine’s twisting pull is. Higher numbers generally mean stronger low-speed pulling power.
These are windows that open by swinging on hinges. In the story, a hinge problem is what caused the rear window to come loose.
LIVE
I'm Jonny Smith. I'm its reporter. And this is Smith and Sniff, a podcast in which two
friends talk about cars and many other things. Remember the iron curtain. Yes, I think it's
still folded up in the loft, actually. We don't get much use out of it. It comes down
now and again, and we have a six. Yeah, it's just, it's always, oh shit, Lee and I'd brush
nefs coming round for a cup of tea. Get the old iron curtain out, make him feel at home.
So I do remember the iron curtain. And do you remember when certain products were stamped
with Made in West Germany or Made in East Germany? Yes. Yeah. Well, I always get a great
delight from a retro Made in West Germany sticker, for example, on an old Volkswagen
or something. Yes. Like an 80s Volkswagen, because it's almost like you see it and you
go, oh, wow, the people who put on that sticker knew what was coming. They would have blown
their minds. Yes. Soon there'd been more trabants on the road. And then Germany would have just
did if they could drop the West bit, it can just be Germany again. Safe time. Now, without
wanting to immediately break into winds of change off of the scorpions, the reason why
I've brought this up. There is a point to this, a car point. It's the fact that there's been a
couple of cars launched recently. And we'll talk about those in a second, i.e Ferrari and also
an AMG. But the other the other car that has made me think about the iron curtain is,
you know, the current Volkswagen transporter, the transit based one. Yeah. Is it T seven?
It's T seven, isn't it? I suppose it is. Yeah. T seven. Have you have you stared at it for a
little while? Not stared, but I've started seeing around and I always go, oh, could they have done
anything more? Because it's so obviously a transit. Well, okay. So guys, look, here's what I think.
It looks like East Germany tried to copy West Germany and go, we can make a really good
Volkswagen transporter and no one will know that it's an East German version that's a bit
cheap and coppy. And perhaps the build quality is not there. And they go, there, West Germany's
got the T six, we've got the T seven. There it is. It's just as good. And everyone goes,
doesn't look right. But it's not. Doesn't look right. I'm afraid. And, and I really dislike
the face of it. It just looks like a shit fight, fight mask to me. Like a, I don't know, a terrible
war mask. But the, the AMG, what's the name of that? That new, I don't, the new AMG that was
released. I think officially it is the AMG GT four door. It's the new four door has already
existed. But this is like, it's probably cut as some combination of AMG GT four door EV.
Yes. Something like that. So I'd like your opinion on it, Rich, please. Shall we?
I think it's disgusting. an appalling piece of car design. I think it is
sloppy and amateurish and deeply unattractive. I think like from the fundamentals, the proportions
look off to me. Yes. And then it's got that goppingly awful deep sea fish face. You don't
know one of those things that sort of lives like in a trench somewhere and it was only discovered
like in the nineties. Yes. It's got that sort of face. Yeah, it does. But then the back is
amateur out at the back end of it with those round lights and things in that black panel,
but all just like, everything's at the wrong scale. It's, I just think it's absolutely piss
poor and it boggles my mind that they went, yep, that's it guys. That's the one. Do you know what
the back of it reminds me of? It reminds me of when people with a small head buy really huge
sunglasses and it doesn't quite work on their head and you just look at it. Yes. Yes. But they're too
big for your face. So they don't really have any. So that, that, that light mask, that black rear
light mask, that's like oversized shades, which maybe on some people's faces, it works. But on
work on your face. Sorry. So that, I think you're right about the disc. I've looked at it a lot
and I think we are now at peak Mercedes confused design house. Mercedes does not know what to do.
It's tried some stuff and it's clearly good at Aero, but it just doesn't know. It's lost.
I'm hoping we'll see a change now because after many years, Gordon Wagner, the head of designer
Mercedes is stepping down. Yeah. And you know, he was the boss. The blame must lie with him for
I think years. I was thinking about it because I've been doing a bit of motorway work in the
last few days and I saw a new C-Class that was in some traffic in the next lane to us. And I
just went, Oh, it's a terribly soft looking car. Like almost like the nineties about, you know,
everything went very soft, but kind of flabby. And I think Merck's have been flabby for a few years.
It's just not enough tension in the metalwork. And the new C-Class is sort of melty and flabby.
And then I saw a new E-Class and that's not quite right either. No, it's just too soft. It's like
the clay model melted. And yeah, you're right. Well, the S-Class I think has still got a little bit
more kind of the necessary gravitas. But, but you know, that is the thing. It's always like,
I think the last E-Class and the last C-Class were not bad. They were sort of quite handsome cars
and they looked like shrunken S-Classes, but they did it well. And now they've just gone really
like, they just look like they've taken the old models. But like, they made an exquisite model
of the old ones out of soap and then ran it under a hot tap for a couple of minutes. And then went,
that'll do. And it's just not good enough. No, I don't think I could put it better.
With my, it's trying to be as much a motoring journalist as possible. I think what they're
trying to do is they need to be aerodynamically efficient and they're doing that. But it's come,
it's come at the cost of the car doesn't feel confident. It doesn't look confident on the road.
The wheel and tyre and arch and something, the combination doesn't look strong. It's like they
have brought out a whole swathe of designs and they're not really believing in themselves.
You know when other people get dressed by specialists? Oh, when people go for a makeover,
yes. So they've gone from, I've gone, I've taken you for a makeover and you're wearing a combination
of very designary clothes, but also some high streetsy stuff. But you haven't assembled it.
But you're being told to just go with it. You trust this person who's dressed you.
It could be Gokwam. Okay. And Gok's going, yeah, go on, just do it. And you've walked out and a few
people have immediately clocked. Richard shouldn't be dressed like that. That's not him. That's not
how he should roll. It's not my taste. So I can't, I just don't feel comfortable. No. I don't feel
myself. No. So I'm sort of, I'm just constantly slightly on edge. Yeah, I know what you mean.
And I'm trying not to be too down on Mercedes because everyone needs to reinvent and everyone
needs to evolve and all of those things and boldness and daringness should be applauded.
But I think they've done a lot of iterations of cars which don't, which look more Chinese than
German. Yes, this is a common sort of perception, isn't it? The Mercedes are one of the car makers
who just sort of went, Oh, China's a big market. Now we better to sort of do what Chinese customers
want. But I mean, it's not that only market. They sell a lot of cars in North America. They
sell a lot of cars in Europe. It's like, I don't know that they would go. It seems, it seems odd.
But I'm sad for them. I think that, you know, that thing where the front wheels on a lot of
Mercedes for the last, I'm going to say 20 years have been slightly too inboard. Look at a second
generation ML or a third generation SLK, the front wheels, do they need spaces? And the factory
decided no. And I don't know whether it was some, how it happened like that, because obviously big
car companies have lots of internal sort of parameters for things like snow chain clearance.
Yeah, there's things that most customers never have to consider.
Yeah. Well, there's loads of stuff in Bob Lutz's book, his bean counters versus the car guys or
the way around about this kind of stuff. And GM's internal standards were so strict, they were
actually ridiculous. And a lot of them were sort of like, they set them up in the 1930s or 50s
and never changed them. And one of his jobs was to go in and go, I don't think you need to, you
know, just make sure that it's perfectly capable of driving on an unpaved road through Nebraska,
because Nebraska now has paved all of its roads that cars use. They just hadn't bothered to change
their standards. And it meant that they couldn't put low profile tires on cars, because the same
way that, you know, say BMW could, because that wouldn't meet their unpaved road standards or
something. So then the cars just didn't look quite as cool and sporty when they should have done.
But I don't know what's going on with Mercedes. I just think it's just, I know, bad leadership.
But the other thing is the AMG GT four door wasn't a high selling car anyway. So why don't
you stop, stop, stop making lots, do less things better. Just please do. And this is a cry out for
so many car manufacturers at the moment, do less, better, please, because I don't want to sound too
jaded, but I'm quite jaded about the car market. So in the front of it, you, there's something
mustachioed going on there. But it's, you know, large whales have those almost like piano grill
mouths, which sift the krill. We've talked about krill sifting. Yes. Yeah, yeah. It's got a krill
sifting mouth. So large, large sediment won't go through. Small sediment will go through.
That's what the AMG GT four mouth is. It's krill mouth, but car krill mouth, not driver.
Yeah. And not done well. I don't know. I'll go have another look at it, but it just boggled
my mind that I thought it was just, just awful. But it's as if the Eastern block went for sure,
we're going to bring out a sports car for the Western market and everyone looked at it and went,
there's some elements there that would work, but you've stretched them or compressed them
or done some or made them out of Cadbury's cream egg and they left it under a hot light.
Something. It is. We just go, I always come out of Czechoslovakia. It's a company you've never
really heard of before because their main business is making cannons or something. Yeah, that's
exactly what it is. We've had a go at a sports car. Yeah. I bless them. They're trying well,
but unfortunately, because this is the Cold War, their only access to pictures of Western sports
cars was through a Telex machine and they were coming through a bit smeary and fuzzy and in
black and white and so they've done their best, but they just, they don't really know what a
proper sports car looks like. So they've tried, but no, this is the Mercedes Corporation of Germany
and they have a long history of making cars, actually probably the longest and so they should
know what they're doing by now. All of the history of making cars. All of the history.
You'd forgive them if it was a, like you say, Peruvian company that was the best in the world
at making goat shavers and they just went, let's do it. Sports car. Yeah. I, yeah. I set up this
company in the 70s and we've become preeminent in our field, but I've always dreamt of making a
sports car for sure. Is that wise? I'm doing it anyway. So yeah. And I was trying to think when
I saw these sort of flabby dad bods C class and E class the other day, I was suddenly thinking,
right, what was the last properly good looking Mercedes? And I think the E class coupé was not
bad. Is that when it, do you mean, is that when it went quite soap bar? That was the beginning of
the soap bar. It's soap bar, but no, the sort of the last one, I think it's still around actually,
but it, that I think is, is, is not bad. And obviously the CLS, not the current one, I think
it's lost its way a little bit, but the previous CLS, I found very pleasing and the, of course,
the shooting break as well. A delightful car. I had one. It was great. I saw one the other day.
Really lovely car to drive and to look at. What about the AMG GT? I still think is a great looking
car. Oh, yes. Man, I keep looking at those on classifieds. I keep looking at AMG GTs. The R
is my favorite, but that is more money. Yes. But you can get an AMG GT around the same money as a
BMW I8. Very different beasts. Very different beasts, but, but you can, both those cars are
hovering around 35 grand. Yikes. I mean, that's a lot. That's a lot of interesting motor for the money.
The only thing I didn't like about the AMG GT is I thought it felt very wide. So on a lot of
British roads, you're a little bit tense that the car is too wide for the road if it's a narrow
road at a country road. But the R, which we mentioned, I had one of the drives of my life in
one of those cars. Did you? I did too. Across Luxembourg and Belgium to the Belgian Grand Prix.
And the road was really early. We got up absolutely crack of dawn to get to the
circuit before it got busy. And it was a beautiful morning and the road was just deserted.
And I had a fabulous drive in that car. My goodness. What a thing. I know. Well,
look, I'm willing to sell a shitload of pictures of my toes if someone will buy me an AMG GTR.
But it has to be the R for the toes. I won't. Not the normal GT. I thought you were going to say
you'd go a bit more spicy for the R. Normal GT toes. Well, look, I haven't specified what I do
with the toes, but if the specs right and it feels right, I'll do it. Am I right in thinking that
people who have a very sort of particular interest will pay for money of people like treading on jelly
and or blemange or something. Oh, well, like grape, grape squashing. I don't mean that euphemistically.
I mean, actual grape squashing. I don't know. I just think they're sort of, you know, people
treading on soft things. So they kind of squeeze through the toes. I think it's the
probably and it's the continuation of the obsession with ASMR of the microphone being too close to
stuff. Yes, it's definitely in that sort of which just sounds like an old person with a dry mouth
trying to do a seminar. Yeah, clacky, clacky mouth. So I'm afraid I just find that new AMG GT
just I think an awful bit of car design. I can't I can't enjoy it at all. I've looked at it a bit
and it's like, there's loads of debate at the moment about whether to switch to a heat pump
or stick with a traditional gas or oil boiler. And actually, I've been looking into it myself.
Do you have any crisps? What's that got to do with it? Sorry, I missed lunch. I'm struggling to
concentrate. But please do go on. As I was saying, I was thinking of replacing my combi boiler. And
I got a quote from heatable because guess what? A lasagna. I wanted to see if a heat pump would
work for me. And they gave me honest advice based upon my actual house and my setup. But they're
not just pushing everyone towards a heat pump if it's not right for them because guess what
else they sell casserole boilers and they also can supply air conditioning, solar panels, batteries
and loads of renewable stuff. They can look after you whatever you need cottage pie apart from that.
Click the link in the description to visit heatable.co.uk and get an online quote and Smith
listeners can use the code SSG150 or SSG300 to get up to £300 off. This podcast is sponsored
by heatable on toast. It's just heatable. Sorry. Someone we know who is a very senior car journalisty
person was one of the lucky few who went to a preview of the new or electric Ferrari Lucy Goosey
which was announced last week. And so he got to see it a few days early. Yeah. And I said,
how is it? And he said he didn't like it. And I said, it can't be worse than that new AMG GT.
And he said it is. Oh, and having now seen the Ferrari, I disagree with him. Yeah. I think the
Ferrari is I have thoughts about the Ferrari, but I don't think it is fundamentally as disgusting as
the AMG. No, it's just a ball dropped because you go, I know that is a Mercedes slash AMG.
I could sort of tell that, but it's just a bad one. Yes. I think the Ferrari's issue for me is that
it doesn't look anything like a Ferrari. Yeah. If we had seen that and it would be like, oh,
this is I don't know, Tesla's new design direction. Yeah. Or this is a new company from China
that's coming in. You'd go, all right, that's kind of, it's not just totally predictable,
is it? I mean, it's got some fairly sort of mad things on it, not least the wipers and the way
that then the screen just drops down through the bonnet effectively with a black panel. Yeah. You
go, I don't hate it. It's got some interesting details. Yeah. No, I don't hate it. I hate the
AMG, I would say. I think when you said it was disgusting, I thought to myself, that's
precisely what I was thinking. The Ferrari, see, what's amusing about the Ferrari is as soon as I
saw some, the profile of it, because it's four doors, it's a slippery four door, it reminded me
of the new electric Dodge Charger, which I think the new electric Dodge Chargers is a really
interesting looking car. But there's one thing about the Dodge Charger, which I haven't seen it in
the flesh. We don't get it in the UK. So I haven't actually seen it yet. And I think it suffers from
the same thing, the loose, I keep calling it loose. You know, when like girls on a stag do,
they're shouting at one another across the bar. Loose. Yeah. Loose over here, we got the drinks,
got drinks in loose. Come on, put a skirt on. Back in the room.
Do you know what they both suffer with? Offensive. Offensive
gap between top of tyre and arch for a sporty car. Offensive. Yes. You cannot sell a sporty car
when there's a big arch gap because it looks like someone's either left the speed ramp mode up,
which I'm not going to call them out. But someone did the school run the other day,
a dad in a Ferrari F12, pulled up at the drop, strictly pick up and drop off very quickly area,
sat there for 20 minutes with the car running with the windows up over and the hot and that
made that ground my gears. But the worst thing was because he obviously wanted to show the world
that he had this car was he'd left it in speed ramp mode. So the front of the car was much higher
than the back of the car and it looked stance was all wrong. Yeah. How do you say it looked shit?
This Ferrari loose looks like it's got aftermarket alloys on straight away and they don't work.
Yes. And the car sits too high and I could see that the minute I mean look I'm not the I'm not
a taste maker for for design but it just doesn't look right. That's the worst part of it at the
moment. The rims don't work with the car. You're right the stance seems a little off. The stance
doesn't seem right doesn't sit comfortably on its own axles as it were. There's a five spoke isn't
there's a five spoke wheel obviously very trad Ferrari. Yeah. But the spokes look a little too
thin and weak. Yes. Right they look aftermarket they look like they've been bought from Halfords
because they were the cheapest. And then there's another wheel which was on the yellow car in
the official photos and that looks like something that you'd fit to like a fiesta rally car because
it's very strong. Oh yes I know the one. But it's aftermarket. Yeah and I sort of like the design
but not on that car and again I think it's also partly because you're right the arch gap is just
a bit off. It's like you're trying to say this is an SUV. Yeah. But it's not is it? No. So why
don't you just get it down on the deck. Get it down on the deck and make it bloody look sleek.
I mean so the back end doesn't quite work but I like parts of it in isolation. So it has you
know these are the old racing helmets which have the oval cutout and the racing drivers used to have
all their sponsors around it like Elf and you know Parmalat cheese or whatever it was. It looks like
it's a race fire and maybe this is what the designer was thinking. It's got a race visor
and then it's got eyes four eyes poking up from behind it because it's got the face
the face of the Ferraris behind this helmet. I like making any sense or am I just drinking too
much coffee and being a bit jittery. Well for people who haven't seen it it's got a black panel
so when it's off same as the AMG if she's got a black panel but then when it is powered up yeah
four lamps rings of red trad ferrari look except this is one of my issues with that
I think they're at the wrong scale they're too big yeah and they look like a 90s Chevrolet in
America. Yes they do oh my it's a 90s Impala when the Impala all went to shit. It's a 90s Impala
exactly oh my gosh it is. The scale is wrong but also the whole of the rear is too big and high
and blocky somehow yeah again just looks like a 90s sort of like a reinvention like a concept car
where Chevy have gone hey you know what people used to like 90s Impalas and before anyone could go
no I don't they've done a concept car because the 90s are back everyone hey we'll look back at
our heritage and we'll go yeah well let's do a concept car of a 2026 take on a 90s Impala
and it just that's yeah the back it absolutely does not work no the middle is sort of fine the
front I find interesting I want to spend more time looking at the front because the other thing and
this is a very modern problem across a lot of car companies the official picks I assume are for the
most part renders that is not they didn't take a real car to a studio as far as I can work out yeah
which is sad and it flattens everything down a bit yeah well it yeah and you just lose all the
details I suppose the thing is the renders though exist within the box are such high quality now
and so realistic that they it's just like why not why not use them instead of spending the
money on a studio and a photographer except that a studio and a photographer who is good at lighting
would be able to highlight and find the more subtle details because I then watched the video
that Top Gear made with our friend Jason Barlow walking around the car and he's there with an
actual car and you do notice there is more going on and it is a bit more interesting and better it
just looked it looked sort of almost like a car from a game to me in those photos it is it is like
a video like a like a you weren't allowed this is the AMG's got this it's it looks like something
from Grand Theft Auto where you go oh they're not allowed to call it an AMG or whatever yes
and it takes aspects of a familiar design but it's not a lexical it's a bit misproportioned
it's like a Chinese knockoff of a Hot Wheels toy yeah of one enough money I can get the ANJ
yes oh I see what they've done that yeah the ANJ the Moosudys ANJ it's the ANJ and Loose
together they've both come out they're both new this might be the first Ferrari which you
depending on how it goes down with with buyers might be the first Ferrari which is like half a
million quid isn't it that um yes you don't have to buy a handful of other Ferraris that you don't
really want before you go oh I don't think they're going to force you to do that I think this is the
one they force you to buy if you want to get on the list for the specials I mean that's it's it's
the new Pura Sangray there's a fever pitch of well it's another subject but there's a fever pitch
of supercar buying at the moment and prices of supercars that are not that old spiralling in
value yeah and it's because I think yeah investors are panicking that there's going to be no more
interesting engines which I do understand and yeah maybe you're going to see oh I've not seen one
pure Wang have you seen any pure wangs I know it's not electric but have you seen a I I think
I've seen like one on a street in London but no you don't see around I see more Ferrari sports cars
just around and about you know on the motorway whatever yeah not not those no I know but I
think I was so thinking that when I saw this the the old Lucy from peanuts being announced I was like
oh there's a lot of really minted guys who are desperate to get on the list for the F90 or whatever's
coming next yeah it had run cars going for area the arranged marriage makers of car companies
aren't they because if you really want to get in their good graces absolutely marry their daughters
and it's like there's a lot of people going oh there's one that is coming on my drive whether
I like it or not I'm so glad you said that because it's been my unpopular opinion for ages and I
think if you buy cars that you don't want in order to buy the ones that you do want
irrespective of your wealth this is going to be really unpopular I think you're a mug
you are nothing more than a mug yes you might make a million quid in 12 years time you might
make a million quid in 12 years time because you've bought that Ferrari after buying or you've bought
six Porsches that are cack to buy the one GT Porsche that you want the Porsche macaque but
you're a mug yeah it's the same with them it's the same with Rolex watches isn't it because there's
a friend of mine Salunas who did that he basically had to marry the Rolex dealer's daughter to get
a James Cameron deep sea and then it was too valuable to wear so fair like where does this end
well it's it's um do you know what it is it's that scene from Team America where they get where
he gets into the limo that's what it is yeah I'm not going to go any further than that anyway
no I I was just going to wrap this up by saying this sectioned up by say that if I people haven't
seen it a Ferrari lit shade it's there's a lot of interesting detailed papers you've got just
over a thousand horsepower I think 1000 and 35 looks 62 and a half seconds
190 mile an hour top speed 330 miles range fully charged officially um 800 volt architecture so
they can do lots of wizzy stuff it's got adaptive suspension like on the um pure eight sandwich so
um it's uh you know it's all technically I'm sure it'll be good because Ferraris always are but
and the interior as we've said before is spectacular the interior is great actually yes I forgot to
say the interior because it's sort of shown us elements of it but when you see it all together
with the seats in situ and the back seats and those rear hinges back doors it's brilliant I mean
genuinely I do think that is really really good I love it yeah but the exterior I I cannot wait to
see one in real life whereas the AMG I'm pretty certain I don't want to see one in real life
because I'll gag slightly so um yeah also I think the people at Jaguar at the moment who've had so
much heat for the way that their type 00 concept car looked and the reinvention of Jaguar
yeah and you know having seen what's now called the type 01 um production car is very similar
to the concept in many ways yeah I think Jagger quietly going oh no that Ferraris a bit disappointing
of that AMG is revolting oops and that when they reveal their car later this year I think it'll
show it in a great light because it's a really interesting looking thing and I think it's a
much more um I'm gonna say almost professional design job yeah because there's something about the
Ferrari that it's just a bit sort of you go I see what they were trying for but maybe it's
because they weren't car designers they just couldn't get it right and the AMG is just like
it's just amateur hour and I think the Jag is a very slick bit of very professional design and
it is very good so not everyone will like it but I think it's it's just got more going for it and
when you put it in the context of those other two cars it is by far the best looking in my book
completely I think we've I mean look if you disagree with us or you agree with us um why don't
you either write to us or comment if you're watching this on YouTube just put a comment saying
Johnny's talking bobbins Richard Rawls um please go back to Bulldog Services and film from there
whatever yeah hello at smith and sniff.com is our email address if you want to get in such
uh dear smith and sniff you pricks your sincerely Johnny Ive would be uh a sample message if you
think you're writing it uh and you two could have an argument about whether Johnny needs two ends in
it's got to be a journey that is isn't it it's there's no I've been sold no really I know someone
who um who encountered him recently and said he was really nice so yeah I've heard I've heard he's
just could be an SSG we just don't know yet I think he might be yeah yeah I mean he certainly is
he is the king of the quite tight white t-shirt isn't he which um yeah is is like I said look I
wish I could pull off but I can't so I well I can't I I haven't got the um I haven't got the
wide enough track for a very tight t-shirt that's it isn't it it's partly a track with this it's a
track with itchy for me and anyway but look um guys yes share your thoughts in the comments and
also if you're on YouTube do the liking and the subscribing and all that stuff please we're supposed
to ask for this now so liking and the subscribing so uh this podcast
is proudly sponsored by our friends at carinclassic.com and as we've said before it should be called
Cars and Catnip because it's a deeply addictive platform for not just classics but also newer
stuff and they do the auctions but I've found a car for you Rich um that I won't buy you so spoiler
alert you're not actually getting it but if I was feeling flush and say I decided that buying
3k ends today that I didn't want to get a GT car was an idiotic idea I thought no yes I'm gonna
buy my friend Rich is something so on the strength of recently visiting Bientler and their amazing
heritage collection I've got the taste of Bentley in my mouth and um there's a specific era of Bentley
which I have got the taste for and it's the just at the start of Volkswagen ownership so
right at the end of the 90s 99 2000 so millennium era yeah yeah the Arnage
so I've hooked into car and classics um auctions and I've found this there's a few of them about
and these are I think amazing value at the moment they're really good looking yes um
they're kind of some of the old in terms of design but some of the Volkswagen influence before they
ripped up the design and started again kind of thing yes you so you're getting for 18950 quid
okay 1999 Arnage red label with 101 000 miles on the clock 6.75 litre v8 I'm gonna forward it to
you now so you can have a little dribble let me see this so have a gander at this so yes that's
got it all going on I will do it in a oh don't you think delightful um yeah I remember these as
well I mean they're just they were just magnificent in every way and I love the
fact this one is silver but it has what's described as dark sage I was just about to say green
leather interior which suits it very well doesn't it that is the car has a very comprehensive
that is ruddy super it's a so so this particular version here 19 thou
comprehensive service history with 101 000 miles it's just had the benefit of having
its head gaskets replaced in the the company's own workshop who was selling it and
I just look at that and I go do you know what it is these this is the era of executive I think
executive cars that don't feel if you were to drive it now it doesn't feel too wanky maybe maybe
that's an unpopular opinion it doesn't feel yes like I said no I'm down with it people who know
would know that you know they are very good value but also they're just magnificent yeah and
probably would wish they had the courage to go for it because I find myself looking at these quite
regularly and going what is the worst that could happen well and I just don't know you know it could
be absolutely reliable it won't be cheap to run but but I suppose my worry is is the engine going
to shit itself spectacular at any point no and cost the price of the car to fix or replace and
I feel like that's no because those engines are well proven no the engine won't it'll be things
like it'll be an actuator or a regulator in the window or just I mean they're obviously
specialist independent specialist for these things but I feel like I've said this before but
John McGuinness isle of man TT hero John McGuinness yeah a friend of mine he phoned me once from a
train and said hey Johnny I won't do his voice because I can't do it he said you know about these
things because we'd had various chats about older cars he said I'm on my way to look at a Bentley
Arnage T it's 25 grand this was a few years back now it was it's 25 grand cheapest one in country
I'm gonna go and get it I went oh okay uh they're great um might want to tread carefully though
with because obviously parts and stuff and he went he phoned me an hour later I said oh do you want
me to do you want to talk me around it he went no I've bought it I'm driving it back I'm calling
you from it oh and he's still got that car I believe and he's a lot of fun in it I know that
he blew the diff up doing burnouts at the TT in it
knowing what I know about him there is no way that there hadn't been a shenanigans related problem
yeah but that's not the car's fault is it that's that's the user error but um anyway so that era
that I think that's a really strong era and probably the best value Bentley right now
apart from I mean you can get very cheap continental GTs but I'm I don't like the early
cars looks wise because they look a bit cheap whereas I think these have got a majesty to them
which oh yes they are absolutely they've got majesty and and note note to Ferrari and other
manufacturers bringing out new product right now look at the profile of this arnage red label
look at the profile of the tires that where it sits within the arch the wheels within the arch
it looks confident it looks like it's an immovable object it looks strong yes it's it's it's a
someone that has put a suit on and it and it actually fits them yes do you know what I mean
yes no they are they're just I'm down with it just there's nothing quite like them no and I think
that makes them a a lovely addition to any garage because you won't you won't go oh well this feels
just like other cars like I own it feels like nothing it is its own thing also buying a car
around the millennium is yes it's a classic now but it's a it's not a classic you have to
mollycoddle on a level of a car from the 60s or the 50s so you could genuinely
I would tax that for six months of the year and I would use it for six months of the year
because why not well I was going to say the fact that this particular one for sale has
101,000 miles on it I actually think is a plus point because you do see this around where there
were obviously a sort of high days and holidays car and they've got you know 18,000 miles on and
they're 20 years old whatever I'd be scared you think oh yeah that hasn't been used enough I think
this one has been used a good amount and it probably enjoys that and that's kept everything
limber yeah so I wouldn't be frightened off by the mileage at all in many ways it seems like a
positive so because actually not high mileage is that's what it's a 27 year old car yeah that's
right and it's and it's done 101,000 miles so it's not mega mileage but yeah oh that's lovely
that's I'm gonna I'm gonna oh bum not so I've just found another one I've just
found another red label on our year 2000 for 12 grand oh is that getting into the god that's
cheap goodness gracious me wow well hey you know for for with a bit of haggling for under 30,000
pounds you could have two arnages and one could be your parts car or whatever that would be nice
I think that's yeah you have a commuting arnage and you have a weekend work arnage and they're
fundamentally the same yes well it's good to have a it's good to have a backup I mean
gosh I'm gonna be browsing arnages again now well as usual with these temptations
head to the car and classic website there's auctions there's classifieds and we're not
responsible for any purchases so if you go and start you know if you have a mad evening of wine
and and and you download the app and you buy something great but it's not our fault
no is that right is that okay given given or implied it's just a sort of a half endorsement
like yeah go and do this but you know you're an adult if you buy 12 grand arnage it what what yeah
I don't know we hardly encourage you to buy a 12 grand arnage and then let us know how it's going
because if you go I've had not a lick of trouble in it in a couple of years then that's a salutary
lesson that we should have jumped in there but for being too chicken so it's yeah it's I think yeah
all the fever around Range Rovers l3 2 2s and all that for jazz or I'm thinking no
let's let's turn that into arnage so all the money you'd spend on a Range Rover just just buy an
arnage instead with Barley Connolly and French Navy Wilton piping in carpet French Navy Wilton
hi French Navy Wilton Barley Connolly I was talking to someone yesterday that we know and he is
for various reasons he needs a car that can do long distances comfortably is his name w o Bentley
and does it have to minimum of 100 miles an hour I don't say long distances I mean of course the
Le Mans 24 hours oh he's just by realize he also he kind of he would like some off-road capability
just to go you know up kind of tracks and across fields occasionally which is he's sometimes required
to do that way the Bentley would fall down there because but he also he wants something that you
know is smart enough that you can go anywhere and people won't kind of go oh look so so he
doesn't want like a I don't know a guy Suzuki SJ or something yes obviously because that wouldn't
do the long distances no and he's a lighted on an old Porsche Cayenne is what he needs yeah maybe
the answer because the only other answer for his very particular set of requirements is in fact
probably a Range Rover mm-hmm but if he could forego the driving up a track he should just get
an arnage long distances tick looks posh tick no just put some Pirelli scorpions on on a on an
arnage yes done I bet it'd be fine it would be absolutely fine I've probably got really good
ground clearance yeah I think they have actually and of course lots of sidewall so yes oh my gosh
oh there we are imagine that and you just tickle it using all that torque it's 400 horsepower those
things was like yeah 900 newton meters just tickle it up a farm track oh yeah rocking up to a clay
pigeon shoot in a Bentley our nose I know guys guys I know good well that's we've
solved another problem of some sort or other but which is which is nice I'm really pleased with that
we've we've properly yeah we've bought one another arnages in in an imaginary world
world can I just move on to a slight correction that I last week we were talking for some reason
about when my mum bought us chewing gum in Leicester to repair her chivette
yes and I said it was the exhaust that was blowing and we plugged the hole in the exhaust
chewing gum it's only afterwards I was like because that didn't sound right to me I was like that
would just melt and make a right mess that's no good at all and I realized it wasn't it came back
to me what happened is it was a three-door chivette with and the back windows you know your classic
hinged opening windows pop out pop outs pop outs yeah exactly so they got the catch at the
trailing edge and you just pop them out yeah lover pop and the hinge one of the hinges at the front
edge somehow failed I think maybe they were just glued they were sort of glued either side of the
glass you know it's a 70s car yeah and it was a hot day and yeah the rear window started
falling out basically it was I remember it was all coming away it's a top hinge I think and then
the glass was sort of because the the rear catch thing allowed it to move in different planes
than it was meant to because it wasn't very strong and so the glass was sort of dropping down
and then we couldn't get it sorted out again and it was yeah my mum rang
my dad and my dad went go and chew some gum and just use that to gum it like dumb dumb it in yeah
and that's what we did and it works and we got home without the glass falling out and smashing on
the road so you know job done but yeah so I I just wanted to offer a correction to my late
father in cases he was looking down going come on Richard I never suggested fencing an exhaust
with chewing go now we'll make a right mess and smell all weird and minty so yeah it was in fact the
window uh that's a sanitary tip for anyone making a journey in a chevette with a failing rear window
at the moment I think that's really good tips because Britain's in a heatwave right now we've
just had the hottest day in May ever recorded um and on that note I've been doing a little bit
of river work over the last few days um obviously I'm a boat owner don't know if I told you
been out with the family in the very very stickily it's it the pet it's that type of
the paint which never quite goes off and if you sit down in liked clothes for a long time
it leaves you with a paint on your arse anyway we're going to remedy that soon okay however
I saw a lesser spotted species on the river yesterday it was very busy on the river yesterday
lots of paddle boarding people and that kind of stuff yeah I can imagine yeah do you know who I
saw is this a gentleman who might normally be found on a mountain bike
I saw no name of course no suspension full camo painted guy on river with a bungee net of
four cans on the deck not deck of course yeah and a bluetooth speaker he was he was topless
the canoe had definitely been painted by hand by himself in camo right yeah so you can imagine
it dark dark green black gray sort of like weird weird kidney bean shapes all over it
he was listening to some quite quite quite bad um distorted music from the bluetooth speaker
which was ruining the ambience of the river and but he was grinning and he overtook us in our
electric motorboat which admittedly is not very fast because the river has a speed restriction
but he went pounding past us with a big grin on his face possibly a tongue out a bit
and he was any kind of hat bucket hat perhaps in a camo pattern annoyingly no hat but
camo uh what what's the the shorts which are too long they're not trousers they almost
look like half mass trousers those ones the very long shorts so shin shorts shinny shorts
shinny shorts okay so not board shorts these were like full kind of almost half mass trousers
they're definitely army surplus because there were loads of pockets loads yes oh there's got
to be yes for for you know tobacco and marijuana and stuff generally he was he would have smurched
this gentleman but you know no he was very fit he was powering i'm sure i think
he was looking somewhere to safe dock so he could consume his four cans before the so he
didn't have a can on the go because i suppose if you're paddling you might risk knocking it over
no because he's paddling with the double bladed canoe pedal this was more of
like a wave ski you know where you sit on the top and there's a bum divot and there's
heel divots oh and it's just a hard plastic thing so you don't sit in it like a kayak or a canoe
and um yeah all camo'd up bluetooth speaker on with distortion can a reward can this will be
i've gone up and down the river i'm off my face uh i'm gonna reward myself for the big chugging a
big can that's what it could you catch what the music was no i didn't because it came up behind us
and i was i was i'd already done a very bad job of tillering uh the river the the boat with my
family on board because i was using my non-dominant arm and it took me at least 10 minutes to work
out why i couldn't do it very well i was doing it with my right hand going this doesn't feel right
but i can't put my finger on why i'm not able to do this very well and then my brother just
looked at me and he went johnny why you do why are we zigzagging so badly up the river and i was
like oh i'm using my right arm you idiot and i shimmied across and used my left arm and then
it all clicked into place and it felt great i think i'm a bit thick well i didn't yeah but i know
you think because we're both left-handed aren't we and and i one of the things where i one of the
reasons i think i'm not very good at tennis is that i can never quite decide if i play tennis
left or right-handed oh really because i'm so bad that naturally you go well i'm left-handed so
i'll play my left hand and i saw okay this doesn't this isn't right i might give it a go with my right
so i am a sort of ambidextrous tennis player but i'm terrible at with both so it doesn't really
matter and that's why i can't decide it's sort of the same with guitar playing i've never really
played the guitar but i have tried at intermittent points and i can't ever quite decide if i'm a
left or right-handed guitarist so i'm just neither it's it's bizarre i think because us lefties we
have a naturally sort of we are required to be more ambidextrous than righties because a lot of
things in the world are set up for right-handed people like you know grips on cameras and some
appliances and things like that i think the average left-handed person is better at using
their right hand for stuff than the average right-hand person is using their left because
yeah we've just had scissors would be another obvious example yeah scissors so
i'd like to get a pair of left-handed scissors which do exist and give them to a righty and go go
and cut something out with left hand they would make a right hash of it yeah but did you learn to
scissor right-handed right well no when i was in primary school there were some left-handed scissors
in my first year at primary which would have been like you know the start of the 80s and all of the
normal scissors not normal i've got to stop saying that all the right-handed scissors the
conventional scissors yeah were like from 1842 or something they were rusty and terrible and they
just bought the school had just bought because someone had gone hmm a little ledic from the
department of education we've got to stop beating left-handed children until they use their right
hands we we're going to actually just allow them to do it so we've bought some left-handed scissors
yeah and they were brand new and they were brilliant and so my early years in primary school i was
fucking great at cutting out stuff just because i had sharpness on my side and these poor kids with
the right-handed scissors they like kind of cut with a spoon it's just ridiculous how bad they were
i can't cut out with my left hand i've tried so hard but i never was introduced to left-handed
scissors and i both my parents are right-hand drive yeah i was like they just showed me how
they did it and monkey see monkey do so now and i flip in love cutting out it was a i said this to
someone the other day and i realized it's very partridge i went i'm an extremely i'm extremely
accomplished at cutting out neat things i take real pride in it i find it quite zen quite happily do
some ornamental cutting out at some point scissor work when we used to have tax discs yeah it was
a known fact one of the most casually perilous things that a human being could do was try and
tear out a new tax disc without tearing the disc itself yeah with the perforations there was
something off but the perforations were a bit off they always seemed to suddenly you go i've got
this if you did it too fast or too carelessly yes you would tear into the disc itself so would you
go and get the scissors and just do it like override style i i i did do that um uh and a friend of mine
is just reminding me used to do it with his mouth like a gerbil he'd turn and turn a nibble turn
a nibble turn to fashion the the the tax disc to fit in the the little sleeve
young people now listening to this might be like what what do you mean so we had to display the
tax disc in the window and the the the taxes holder was circular blah blah blah that was only phased
out what the 10 years 12 years ago something like that i think it probably isn't the 2010s wasn't it so
well let's this is a relatively recent thing like yeah when was it phased out the last tax disc in
the window of my honda is 2014 oh there you go i think it was that year i'm going to say it was
yeah because i've kept it in the window because i'm a nostalgic prat well you could buy repro ones
now can't you with a year of your choosing so yeah if i wanted to have one in the window of my metro
that said 1984 that's fine because it's it's not a legally required thing anymore so yeah yeah yeah
it was 2014 for listeners overseas this is a thing that we used to have to do that
you pay your well they call it road fund license yeah your right to drive on the road every year
and to prove you've paid it used to get this little paper circle that you would put into a
holder on the windscreen yeah um but it came in a rectangle of paper didn't it with perforations
around the circle very hard to tear out neatly if you were rushing it because the perforations are
a bit off the perforations were circles weren't they it was a ring of dots actually around the
disc itself i think the tax disc was abolished on my birthday in 2014 just check that there we go
that's a completely useless thing for you um huh well um is that interesting right i just don't
know anymore i just don't know um well anyway look uh i i think we're probably sort of
bring this into land apart from the else um i'm here in my shed and it's really hot and i'm wearing
a hat because because of complicated reasons evolving not washing my hair this morning oh really
well it's not complicated at all i just got up very early and uh didn't have time for a shower
before we started recording so here we are i've put on a a smith and sniff 2.2 hat oh believe
in my store so there we go anyway well let's let's wrap this up uh in good time um before we go
of course we should mention that johnny has a youtube channel called the late break show
what's on there at the moment couldn't tell you um i've got a genuinely can't remember but what i
would like i'm sorry for surprising you like this i would like to plug another podcast which
i've been a guest on which came out maybe just under a week ago the uh the guys from top dead
center edwin and will their podcast cream cars rule everything around me i was a guest on that
they came over and um were very patient because they'd wanted me to be on there for about half a
year and i'm a disorganized mess had a really good chat spoke for over two hours what about i
can't remember there was some mention of max power and nudity yeah and some other stuff yeah so go and
have a look at that and the late break show is really i think quite an interesting um youtube
channel i would visit that and just have a peruse there'll be a new video that that i can't remember
what it it was is i'm great at promoting myself i've heard good things have
you heard good things about it i've heard good things yeah on the grapevine i've heard a few
rumors it's not for me but i've heard it's good did you see my heritage um guided tour of the
bientler heritage um center i'd be honest i i haven't i i do watch your videos but i haven't
watched that one you've been on holiday i have been on holiday a little bit so yeah um anyway
next thing i was going to tell you is uh well first of all i have books out one of them for
example is called steel flies it's a spoof cold war thriller by the faker car journalist roi
lanchester uh it's uh idiotic but some people have read it seems to like it so why not give it
a go make it your summer read i love it uh but also i wanted to say that uh don't forget we are at
the london concourse doing live shows on the 9th and the 10th of june that's a Tuesday or a wednesday
the ticket is uh entitled you to go into the concourse in the afternoon
look at lovely cars arranged on the cricket pitch at the honorable artillery company right in the
middle of London and um it's very delightful it's a lovely sort of chilled afternoon of
enjoying really interesting cars and then at five o'clock come indoors and see us on stage chatting
some rubbish for an hour and a half and then you can go and have a curry or something or if it's hot
just a cold drink it's a stunning car show it's very much quality over quantity and we will be the
weakest part of the event but uh the show is really beautifully curated it feels special
feels like you've been like yeah allowed into something which you shouldn't have been allowed
into the all that's how i get a little bit of imposter syndrome when i'm there i love it yeah
yeah yeah and of course you know also you might you might well see some some better quality
youtubers slash podcasters harry metcalf probably is there and other people as well but and we
might mention before we don't record our live shows for transmission anymore so we can say
things in the room we wouldn't normally say on the podcast sometimes and we'll answer questions
from the audience of course so come on down night till 10th of june go to smithansniff.com
we've got a live shows page there we'll just go straight to london concourse website
there are smithansniff tickets on their ticket page what do you treat a friend
why not treat a friend bring a friend yeah just go look go down to london for the day
we're going to do this and that and the other yeah it's true um and the third thing i was going to
say is we talked about swans last week and what dickheads they can be yeah uh i didn't know this
though did you know that a male swan is called a cob oh i think i did but that's what northern has
referred to as bread rolls which i've never understood that yeah that's why it threw me off
a little bit because cob is definitely a word for for bread roll yeah um a female swan is is called a
pen which again i have no idea what pen and cob yeah we overtook a swan in the boat the other
yesterday and my brother again just he was doing like a design breakdown on it and go
look at showing talking about the profile and the honestly my brother's got an obsession with swans
it's quite weird we'll come back to this because it's still just baffles me it baffles me but in a
good way in a wonderful way where i long to know more without scaring him off by asking too many
questions am i getting to record a brief review on the swan a short the greg the greg smith lectures
this week why i like swans it's good it's a good insert for the podcast you should ask him to do
that definitely okay all right well anyway look uh we should finish now but um uh well thank you
for much ever so much for listening or watching if you're looking at on youtube as you can do now
and we'll be back on friday with another sort show uh rain the main show on uh monday as usual
until then goodbye bye guys
goodbye our merchandise we've mugs and hats but still no ties one day we will make those pies
but in the meantime guys hey guys like and subscribe and maybe leave a nice review like and subscribe
we know you know just what to do
you
do you know something else about swans no
they can live into their thirties. Can they? Horty bastards are also long-lived.
Swan can weigh 22 kilos as well. That is bloody heavy. My brother will be even
more impressed at what they're capable of. I imagine he already knows all this stuff.
He will do, yeah. It's probably why he thinks of them as being like a Bentley,
you know, they're very heavy and substantial but extremely robust.
Super high quality birds, yeah. And can just run at maximum velocity for hours.
About this episode
Cold War-style jabs kick things off as the hosts say the current Volkswagen Transporter looks like it’s copying another van’s design language—“It’s so obviously a transit.” The conversation then turns to Mercedes-AMG, where they call the new AMG GT four-door “an appalling piece of car design,” criticize Mercedes’ aero-first softness, and nitpick wheel placement and grille “krill mouth” styling. After more styling rants, they pivot to used Bentley Arnage buying logic, including service history and a parts-car strategy.
Jonny and Richard have some thoughts about the new Ferrari Luce and the AMG GT 4-door. Also in this episode, the nostalgia of made in West Germany stickers, what’s wrong with the latest VW Transporter, a Vauxhall Chevette correction, spotting the water version of No Name Full Suspension Mountain Bike Guy, being left handed and another cracking pick from Car & Classic.
