The Mazda MX-3 is a small car that was made in the early '90s. It had a sporty look and some versions had a V6 engine, which is a type of engine with six cylinders.
Equal length headers are parts of the exhaust system that help the engine run better and sound nicer. They make sure that the exhaust from each cylinder leaves the engine at the same time, which can improve performance.
The Toyota Century is a high-end car made by Toyota, mostly sold in Japan. It's very luxurious and is often used by important people like government officials.
A V12 engine is a powerful engine that has twelve cylinders. It's known for being very smooth and strong, which is why it's often used in fancy or fast cars.
The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta is a super fancy sports car with a really powerful engine. It's designed for speed and luxury, and it's one of the coolest cars made by Ferrari.
Car
Lexus LS400
The Lexus LS400 is a fancy car made by Lexus, which is Toyota's luxury brand. It was popular for being very comfortable and well-made when it first came out in the late 1980s.
Car
Triumph Speed Triple
The Triumph Speed Triple is a type of motorcycle that is designed for sporty riding. It has a unique look and a strong engine that makes it fun to ride.
Car
Triumph Rocket 3
The Triumph Rocket 3 is a very strong motorcycle with a big engine. It's famous for being one of the most powerful bikes you can buy.
A flat six engine is a kind of engine where six cylinders are laid out flat instead of standing up. This helps the car handle better and run more smoothly.
The Toyota Aygo is a small car that's easy to drive around the city. It has a small engine that helps it be fuel-efficient and fun to drive.
Car
Honda Fireblade
The Honda Fireblade is a fast and powerful motorcycle that's designed for sport riding. It's well-known for being lightweight and easy to handle, which makes it popular with experienced riders.
Car
Suzuki GSX-R1000
The Suzuki GSX-R1000 is a very fast motorcycle that's built for racing and sport riding. It's known for being powerful and responsive, making it a top choice for serious riders.
The Ferrari F40 is a famous sports car made by Ferrari that was really fast when it came out. It had a strong engine and was designed to be very light, making it one of the top cars of its time.
Concept cars are special vehicles made to show off new ideas and designs. They are not usually for sale and are often used at car shows to get people excited about future cars.
Michelin is a famous tire company that makes tires for cars, trucks, and other vehicles. They are well-known for their quality and have been around for a long time.
The Audi S6 is a fancy car that is faster and sportier than the regular Audi A6. It's designed for people who want a luxurious ride that can also go really fast.
The BMW 2 Series is a small, sporty car that is fun to drive and comfortable. The 2015 version has a diesel engine that helps it save on fuel while still being enjoyable to drive.
The Hyundai Coupe, or Tiburon, is a small, sporty car that was made for a few years and is known for being affordable and stylish. It's a good choice for someone looking for a fun car without spending too much money.
The Nissan 350Z is a sporty car made in the early 2000s that is known for being fast and fun to drive. It's designed for people who enjoy a thrilling driving experience.
The Mazda RX-8 is a sporty car that has a special kind of engine called a rotary engine, which makes it different from most cars. It's known for being really fun to drive, but you have to take good care of it to keep it running well.
A salvage title means the car was in a bad accident and the insurance company decided it was too damaged to fix. You can buy these cars cheap, but they might need a lot of work to be safe and legal to drive.
The Ford Mustang is a classic American sports car that first came out in the 1960s. It's famous for being fast and stylish, and many people love it for its fun driving experience.
The Datsun 240Z is an old sports car from the late 1960s that many people love for its cool looks and good performance. It's considered a classic and is often talked about by car fans.
The Honda S600 is a tiny sports car from the 1960s that is known for being light and having a very fast engine. It's one of Honda's older models and is now quite rare and special.
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I'm Richard Porter.
I'm Johnny Smith.
And this is On the Other Side of Things, the Smith & Sniff spin-off in which we answer your questions.
Hello again. Welcome to our spin-off show, which we answer listeners' questions.
Hi.
Hi. If I may, I'm going to kick off with this one, which comes in from Australia.
It says, hello, you pair of highly polished strumpets.
Interesting.
Regarding your ZDoS6 and Welsh rock, he's put rock in inverted commas.
This seems to have become a thing now when referring to the band FEDA.
You have to put rock in inverted.
I don't know why.
Anyway, this listener's called Matt, by the way, sorry.
Hi, Matt. Matt says, I was reminded of an MX-3 that lives in my parts.
I believe using a variance of the same K-series V6.
I think it is, isn't it?
It's all the same family, because they were about two liters in the ZDoS, 1.8 in the MX-3.
He says, he's the body owner in MX-3 in the UK.
Well, oh yeah, I used to see them around.
I feel like they were always red, and you did see them around.
I guess they're probably rotted, haven't they?
Have they got quite small eyes?
They have got small eyes, yes.
Someone that's got a large head, and they haven't slept so well.
Yes, and they've been out on the lash the night before.
He's like, oh my God, is your MX-3 been out?
Yeah, it has, yeah, it didn't go much sleep last night.
Yeah.
So Matt says, I regularly see this guy spanking the little coupe away from lights,
and it sounds glorious.
The kind of noise pollution my wife complains about, but I secretly admire.
I think he's got equal length headers on it.
So like a Mercedes V12 given the same treatment to sound like an Elesi-era Ferrari,
this little Mazda sounds the business.
Well, Matt's question is, what's the best?
Take off the glasses and let down the hair,
transformation with aftermarket pipes on a car.
I love that analogy, that's brilliant.
Well, there's an immediate answer for me on this one.
And it is, perhaps unexpectedly, Toyota Century, because there's a guy,
I think he's in New Zealand, who's taken a V12 Century.
And I don't know what he's done, but I think it is equal length headers,
and he might have put throttle bodies on it,
like individual throttle bodies and some banana stuff like that.
OK.
Because I've seen a video of him driving it, and he's got the bonnet off,
so you can see the engine going.
It's so ridiculous, because obviously the Century V12 as it comes is incredibly
quiet, and he's just perversely made it incredibly loud.
But it sounds, well, it sounds actually Matt nailed it perfectly,
sounds like an Elesi-era Ferrari F1 car, but sort of incongruous and I like it.
So that would be my vote.
Yeah, gosh, I mean, I don't know how I'm going to be able to better that,
I'm just trying to think.
I did see not that long ago a fairly rude boy, Lexus LS400,
a V8 so quiet, nobody knows it's really a V8.
And that was throaty AF.
But it was, should we say, stunts.
Yes.
So going back to the question, I'm trying to think all the derivatives of engine.
I would probably throw in there a three cylinder.
A high revving three, because I think that they just,
we've always admired the three, the triple.
But I'm wondering which three revs the highest that would probably give you the most.
Well, I've been a bike engine, some kind of bike engine.
Oh, there's a Triumph.
Triumph Triples.
The Speed Triple is a really lovely engine.
Aren't they like 2.3-litre or something?
That's the Rocket 3.
Oh, right.
Okay, sorry not, yes.
It's the Rocket 3.
They're huge, aren't they?
Yeah, is that a flat six or a four?
No, I think that's a three.
That's a big three.
That's a freaking giant three.
Yeah, maybe it is.
Hence the term, the Rocket 3.
Yeah.
Oh, I thought it was just because it was the Mark 3, but it probably is.
Yeah.
I just remember walking down the street in London,
once when I heard this unholy noise behind me,
and I turned around and it was a Rocket 3,
and it's like, you don't see them around much, do you?
No, you're right.
You hear them coming.
I think the Rocket 3 is, if that is a 2.3.
I think it's a 2.3 triple, which is quite, so that's, what's that?
700 and a bit CCs per cylinder.
Yeah, that's a lot of displacement.
Well, I suppose it's only the same as, or nearly the same as,
like, remember when the Porsche 944 had a 3.0-litre four-cylinder in it?
Yeah, that was a big, big four-cylinder.
Yeah, that's like, you know, proper,
you could plant a tree in each bore if you wanted to.
Yeah, they are.
Yeah, so you're completely right.
The Rocket 3 is, it's famous for being the world's largest
production motorcycle engine, and it's actually 2.5-litre.
Oh, my God.
It's 2,458 CC in line three, powerhouse, with around 182 PS as standard.
Because not to get too technical on main about this,
a lot of road car 3s seem to have quite heavy flywheels on them
to try and smooth them out,
and it sort of compromises their reviveness a little bit.
Yeah, it makes them very easy to drive.
Yes, I, but then I always feel like the little three-cylinder in the old Toyota
Igo and 107 and all that, that sort of felt quite zingy, didn't it?
It was a lovely engine.
The thing that slightly compromised that car was that it was quite tall geared.
Yeah, it was.
You could do like sort of 50 in first or something.
Yeah, you really could, didn't you?
Fluttering away, but and it's sort of like,
you know, kind of this was shorter geared,
I see they did it for economy,
but if it was shorter geared, it'd be really zingy.
So let's go with the Triumph Rocket 3,
and it has a peak torque of 221 Newton meters.
That's on a motorbike.
On a motorbike.
Does he notice every time you set off it,
just some just immediately does a huge wheelie and flips onto its back.
Yeah.
That's nuts.
I haven't ridden a motorbike on the road for some time.
I don't think I should start with trying a Rocket 3.
No, no.
Not like they sort of, I don't know if this still happens,
but it was in our time when sort of middle-aged blokes who maybe
had had a bike in their youth or had never in fact ridden a motorbike,
would go straight from like a one to five learner bike to a fireblade.
Yeah, GSXR 1000.
Because they've got the money to do it and they just be like, yeah.
And bikes used to be not so much right now,
but they used to be incredibly cheap for the performance.
Yeah.
So like less than 10 grand, you'd get a 200 mile an hour bike that will do that.
Yes.
That was the problem, wasn't it?
It's like you could go, oh, right.
So I could outrun an F40 for eight grand.
Yeah.
All right then.
And fit it in a cheap shed.
Yes.
Well, exactly.
That's it.
Yeah, you can just, it's easy to stash away, isn't it?
Yeah.
Or try and hide from your family.
Exactly.
All right.
Well, I think we've answered that one.
Yeah.
After a fashion.
Just do a really quick one here because I don't know if you are aware of this,
but listener called Richard, Richard Major, Halle Richard,
he says, I was just watching Johnny's Brussels Motor Show videos.
And I noticed that a lot of the concept cars seem to have unique tires,
often with almost cross ply spec tread patterns.
What's up with that?
Are they made in-house for shows?
Are they made by actual tire manufacturers?
I think they are made by most of the time made by tire manufacturers.
And I don't know this for a fact because you've got me on the spot.
But I think it's because like car manufacturers,
tire manufacturers are just trying to peacock a bit.
Yeah.
And it's a chance to collaborate.
Let's say if you're Citroen and you have got a long-standing relationship with Michelin,
and you say, well, whatever this car becomes,
you're going to be our partner for it.
Yeah.
So let's play.
And that's why you've seen a massive renaissance of white letter tires.
Oh, yeah.
You noticed that in the last five years or so?
There's definitely been a bit.
It's come back.
Especially in the drift scene and the performance scene.
And even on supercars, you get white letter tires.
But of course, our generation think of white letter tires as being like the A-team van.
And blokes that breed snakes in your local car.
No, no, no, no.
They have got the ex-firebase in their backyard.
Snake enthusiast tires.
Yeah.
Yes, they are.
I mean, my understanding is that, yes, they are from tire manufacturers.
For exactly the reason you say it's like,
well, we've got a relationship with Michelin.
Actually, there's going to be a production car version of this.
Yeah.
And it's going to have Michelin tires because we've already done the deal.
Cool.
So, you know, yeah, but here's the chance.
Because I think that even road car tires,
like high performance road car tires,
obviously there's a functional element to them.
But they do have a sort of design element.
They want them to look cool as well.
If the functionalness can be combined with something that looks really groovy and different,
so you can immediately go as new Pirelli's.
Yeah.
That's so, you know, tires are perhaps more styled than we might think.
And I think with those show car ones, they go, well,
this doesn't have to actually have, you know,
perhaps all the where the braking tests.
Yeah.
So it's properly designed.
And then are they not?
Well, they used to be hand cut, I think.
There's one off.
So now they think they just they lasered them, don't they?
They do.
That's how they got all the intricate sidewall art,
you know, like the sort of checkered flag effect and one kind of thing.
That's all lasered.
Yes.
And it is beautiful.
Yeah, yeah.
I feel sorry for tire manufacturers in so much as
you can have a really amazing piece of engineering
and that's a breakthrough in its field.
But from more than six feet away, it looks the same as everything else.
Yes.
Absolutely the same as everything else.
So it's hard to have sex appeal in the tire world.
I think tires are the sort of the forgotten part of the car in a way,
aren't they?
Because they're so important.
So important.
And they're so complicated, like tire engineering is really,
really brainy stuff to do well.
John Barker Evo is a very clever man and an engineer by training before he became a
journal once told me that I don't know if it's still true,
but he told me years ago that Michelin famously make the most round tires.
And I was like, what?
And he went, yeah, because tires are never perfectly round that,
you know, that's impossible.
They're near enough that they work and you don't feel it.
But he said, he said, yeah, generally, I think he's acknowledged in car engineering
that Michelin are the best at getting the closest to a perfect circle for a tire.
Wow.
And I was like, but when someone goes, Michelin make the most round tires,
and I was like, what the?
Yeah, you sound like a moron on the phone.
What are you talking about?
Yeah.
But it's true.
Yeah, it's, it's, and they, is it Michelin because they make aircraft tires?
Yeah.
Do, there's sort of crossover in terms of, because obviously aircraft tires have
incredible stresses on them, but only very briefly at one point.
Yes, it's exactly that.
So they go from like being incredibly cold.
Yes.
To suddenly creating so much friction that most tires would give.
I made an airplane tire for documentary on Discovery Channel years ago,
and it was for an A380 Airbus after Michelin factory.
And that factory was one of the coolest places I've ever been.
Did it smell of rubber?
It very much smelled of rubber, especially in the room where the raw rubber substances come in.
Big lumps of actual rubber combined with synthetic materials,
which they couldn't talk about.
Because obviously it's very.
How is it proprietary?
You should have seen stuff interesting.
Was Bebendum there?
Yeah, Bebendum was there.
I first saw him when we first turned up.
He was hanging around the bins having a cigarette.
And he got scoffed for absolutely bollocks for that.
You smells of burning rubber.
He got really bollocks for that.
So he ran, ran, ran around the corner and continued the production line.
Because, all right.
He's a funny one, Bebendum.
Yeah, they have to sort of keep pulling him out of the vats of rubber
because he's just trying to eat all of the rubber balls and things.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, weirdo.
He's trying to belt sand his bottom.
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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
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Where should we go next?
Let's go to a question from a listener called Jack.
Jack, I like there's a lot of people who write in seem to do this.
They'll give us a little extra info.
In this case, Jack has signed off Jack from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
Oh, so it just places him in the country.
That was good.
Jack says, hello, you pair of rusty camshafts.
Some quick background before my question.
I'm 19 years old currently on my second car.
The first car I owned outright was a gorgeous mark on Ford Puma 1.7,
which I paid 950 pounds for in a dodgy end of Basildon without telling my parents.
Nice.
This resulted in me having to phone my friend's dad
to put him on the insurance as I couldn't afford it by myself
and didn't want to have to phone my own dad and tell him I'd bought a knack at Ford from S6.
This is so secretive.
You're friends, dads. What an SSG he must be.
Jack says, I had a lovely time with the little Puma.
He even took it on my mage and voyage to the Festival with the Unexceptional.
Last year, we met up with some fellow Puma enthusiasts.
Pumist?
Pumist. Pum-poom-poom-poom-thusias.
A couple of months ago, I decided it was time to move on and got a proper car,
inverted commas.
The rest request of my parents.
I eventually settled on a 2015 2-litre diesel BMW 2-series, which I love.
It's fun, comfortable, sporty enough,
rear-wheel drive coupe, which has received plenty of praise from similarly aged friends.
There's just one issue with it. It works too well.
Yes.
Part of the fun of owning my Puma was having to source and fit parts myself,
as I couldn't afford to have them done by a garage.
I learned how to change brakes, replace control arms, fix headlights,
and repair interiors all from my driveway.
Sadly, the Beamer, as wonderful as it is, doesn't have the same thrill factor.
I got from not knowing if I could make it down to Oxford without the CV joint
that had been making a noise for the last few weeks finally giving up.
I've since decided I need to have a midlife crisis at the age of 19
and buy myself a project car.
This opens up the question.
I have two to 3,000 pounds to spend on an enjoyable project slash track car
that'll keep me busy over winter nights.
Ideally, it should be between 1990 and 2005.
Brackets not too old or modern.
Parts should be fairly easy to come by,
and most importantly, it should be fun.
The obvious choice is MX-5,
but chronic rust issues at my price point and the sheer volume of them you see everywhere
have put me off slightly.
To give you an idea of the vibe I was going for,
I've been looking for a few Hyundai Coupes and first gen Megans.
I'd love to get your take on this
and hear about any fun project cars either of you can recommend.
That's cool.
I mean, that sounds like the sort of thing I did.
That's my path really.
Apart from the fact I didn't have a good BMW to use every day.
But that's the thing.
It opens up your options if you've got a backup.
So if you actually need to get somewhere like work, you can rely on a car.
You can walk away from your partially dismantled car and not panic.
Yes.
Whereas I used to always have to put it back together again for Monday morning,
which is quite stressful.
It's a project car, but it doesn't actually necessarily have to be purely for the track.
No.
Now, I get what Jack's saying about MX-5s.
It sounds, Jack, like you actually really like rolling up your sleeves
and working on things, mending things.
So you want a car that's going to require that.
So I'm going to say three things and don't laugh.
MGF.
Oh.
Like an MX-5, but will definitely need more work on it.
Yeah.
But they're actually quite nice to drive.
Mid-engine, my friend.
Mid-engine.
What have you got?
I've got a mid-engine sports car.
Oh, is it a Ferrari?
Not quite.
They make good track work vehicles on a budget.
Well, they do because you can monkey around with the hydrogas and lower it.
And lighten it.
And yeah, you can lighten it as well.
You strip it out.
That's a good shout, you know.
They are dirt cheap.
Yeah.
So you could buy one for a grand and spend two grand on bits.
Exactly.
Like tasty bits.
You know, there's all sorts of things because they did, you know,
there was a cup race series for them.
What was it called?
Trophy or whatever.
And so there's all sorts of things you can do to them.
But if you don't do anything to them, they're still quite amusing.
I mean, I think you'd make an early MGF immeasurably nicely just by dropping the seat a little bit
because it was that too high.
Yeah.
But if you put, you know, dropped it to the floor with a sort of racy bucket of some sort,
then that would immediately feel better.
And then you can start playing around with it to your heart's content.
That's a good shout.
I don't know whether or not, Jack, you like welding.
Because the thing is, you know, like this car, from what you've told, shown us,
you like messing around with cars but predominantly engine wise and, you know, interior trim.
Well, he said, no, he said, you know, he's thinking about how it seems like on the
Puma, he did control arms and the brakes and things.
So I think he's sort of learned to be an all rounder.
Well, if you want something that's going to be interesting for as a driving, a spirited drive car,
and you're not afraid of things going wrong, I must thrust under thy nose the names Alfa and Romeo.
Oh.
Because there's a lot of fast Alfa Romeo's out there that are known to be a little temperamental.
Yeah.
And thus not that desirable financially.
You're thinking like a 146 or something?
I'm thinking or a 156 that you could almost touring car rep.
Oh, interesting.
Or you don't have to touring car rep whatsoever.
I don't know if you'd get, I don't think you'd get a GTA.
No, but if you could find a 155, a late model 155 with the with the flat front things,
and then just touring car it massive camber on the front wheels.
Yeah.
And yeah, that would be.
Yeah.
I mean, those bloody Alphas of that generation always seem to sort of scrape their sumps on
speed bumps.
So you'd really be doubling down on that if you dropped it at the front of the camera.
But that's an interesting thought though.
An Alfa, there's lots of Alphas.
You can go even older than the ones we've just mentioned if you wanted to.
But the good thing about Alphas is they've often got interesting, good performance engines.
You know, the heart is good.
However, if we're perhaps overestimating how much Jack wants to actually have to mend his car,
perhaps constantly.
We said the other week about how there's certain sort of Hall of Fame cars that we have
that we always seem to come back to a mention.
Yeah.
It's been a few weeks since we've mentioned the Nissan 350Z.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
But how about one of those?
I don't know. Oh, two, three grand though.
Are they down that far?
I don't know.
Hmm, that might be pushing it.
Yeah, you might not get one that kind of cheap.
But it's a good shout.
I mean, I think it would cross the threshold no matter how good you are amending stuff to
recommend an RX-8 because I don't think you want to be doing your rotor tips on the drive.
What about one that's got a different body on it?
No, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
Like a glass fiber made somewhere in England.
Bring up the spectre of that bloody thing again.
The Dutton RX.
I hope that's some food for thought for Jack.
There's loads of good stuff.
Let us know where you end up.
Get yourself also, Jack, remember salvage.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because if you're going to be building something that is a track type car that could be road
legal as well, you can get yourself a salvage damage car that's possibly newer than you were
expecting.
And if you're going to want to change certain panels for lightened ones for race type purposes,
salvage cars are perfect for that.
They make perfect race cars because it's going to get into a race tussle anyway.
Yes, exactly.
So you can get yourself a hot three series or a hot one series or a 140.
Oh, you wouldn't for three grand.
But you get one series with a good size engine and an M62, budget M62 fire breather.
I was going to say it depends how ambitious Jack wants to get.
But again, we go back to he's got a car he can rely on every day.
So he can do an engine swap if he's feeling brave.
Well, what the hell?
Just get just go and get another Puma.
It's all I was going to say.
Are there any spouty folds that he might?
I mean, it's not an old focus.
Maybe if you can find one that's not gone all crusty and ST170 or something,
he wouldn't get an RS.
But one of those five cylinder are ST.
Yes.
Because nobody can afford to run them because they don't take the cost as much as a ship to run.
Medium sized ship.
Yeah.
All right.
Good question, Jack.
Yeah.
Let us know how you get on with that.
I'm pleased to say that unusually for us, that question only just came in last week.
So, you know, this is we won't sort of suddenly discover that actually.
Jack bought something two years ago.
If he did, I would have been.
I mean, I might look up a couple of 2023 questions now that you're okay.
Can I just do a really quick one here?
It's not a quick question is quick while you're looking up questions from the last decade.
In fact, he starts off by saying it's highly unlikely you'll get round to reading this until,
I don't know, 2028.
But on the off chance, you do maybe don't say anything until next week.
So this came in.
Oh, shit.
No, actually, this only came in two days ago.
Can't read that one.
All right.
We'll come back to that one because I've just I've done a year and not read down properly.
It's a good question.
It's an amazing bit of information pre that.
But anyway, instead, I will just quickly do this from a listener called Mike,
who's in Winnipeg in Canada.
Yeah, Mike, my cousin lives in Winnipeg.
Really?
Yeah, he moved there from from Stevenage.
Oh, yeah.
Hi, Adam.
Well, so maybe Mike knows Adam, I don't know.
Big shout out to Adam Matheson.
The youngest of the three Mathesons.
So Mike in Winnipeg says, when Johnny began to talk about Grew and his surprise automotive
reference of the Opel logo in the Spickle Me movie, I had to ask a question which arose
when watching Bad Guys 2 with my boys.
In the opening sequence, the bad guys crew are completing a caper,
which culminates in the theft of a car.
To my eyes, it looks like a cross between a 60s Mustang
and an early Datsun 240Z.
It does, doesn't it?
It's funny.
It's a sort of pastiche kind of muscle car sports car.
It's a good combo of to pastiche, pastiche eyes.
So Mike says, anyway, after launching out of a skyscraper where the car is kept and in the ensuing
chase scene, there's a point in which the wolf executes an exquisite heel and toe down shift.
It seemed very much like someone was very deliberately showing the driver's actions,
bringing to mind the Top Gear episode where Jeremy and Richard orchestrated a car chase
for the Sweeney.
And Jeremy was adamant they show how long the traction control button must be held down for.
Yes, there's also a point later in the movie when a van is being driven and there's a deliberate
H-Pattern movement to select first gear before setting off.
And this is in an animated kids movie.
So are there any other films or shows where you are suddenly very surprised by some tip
bit of accurate car culture?
It's right about Bad Brides 2.
I noticed that I took my kids to see that film at the cinema.
Did you?
Yeah, I was a bit like, it's good, it's very fun.
But yes, it does seem like someone's put extra effort into just making sure the details are
right in a way they're often not.
I mean, basically they've got changing gear in an animated film about talking animals more
accurately than the Fast and Furious movies.
Which are probably the opposite of this in some ways.
I can't think of other things.
I'll tell you one that just came to mind though is have you seen that John Hamm show
on, I think it's on Apple TV, Friends and Neighbours?
No, I've seen it advertised, I haven't watched.
There's just a funny detail in that in which John Hamm's character has a Maserati
grand churismo, so a big coupé.
And there's this running gag where every time he sets off the boot pops open and he has to stop
and slam it shut again.
Which is kind of interesting to me.
It's like, so they've made that choice to do that.
So they haven't borrowed a car off Maserati because surely they would never allow.
They've had to source separately a Maserati.
So rather than take product placement, they've gone for the gag, which I admire.
Because it's slightly damp, broken and...
Because it is kind of necessary to illustrate that the character was cock of the walk.
The day he brought that new Maserati, he'd have been like, you know,
peak of his powers as a city boy in New York.
But this illustrates beautifully that his powers are fading and things are not going his way.
Just every time he sets off, it's kind of...
And it's not a comedy really, it's a serious show, but it just does this little sort of point of going,
oh no.
And you can sort of feel his frustration because sometimes they do it beautifully
because you'll see the castle's roar off and then you just hear the bink and it pops open.
In the distance, it screeches to a halt and he jumps out and it's...
I was doing that last week on the school run.
Well, yeah.
You had it in your test, and I said the other week about how I had a Lexus press car that
did it years ago.
And it's a sort of casually irritating fall.
Oh, so irritating.
It was off the back of it.
It was at the Bristol Live Show, wasn't it?
Because someone in the audience had had that problem with the say out they were trying to sell.
And I think that it's just...
Because it's plausible.
If you've ever experienced it, you go, oh, that is a thing that cars with electric boot releases do.
And it's just so neatly said something about what was going on with the character.
So that's my answer.
I can't think of anything else.
I've got a final question from just under a year ago.
Oh, wow.
So March 2025.
Yeah.
Hello, you pair of dump valves.
In an old late break show video about Johnny's Honda S600.
S600 from the 60s.
Johnny comments on how short the gear lever is and mentions that the car was imported from South
Africa, the home of Jody Schecter.
When discussing Jody shifters, should that particular car be considered the perfect
example of the Jody Mark?
Cheers mate.
Thanks mate.
Bye, Sammy.
It is Jody.
We've discussed other Jody shifters in the past.
And I think the one that seems to be universally accepted as the smallest little toggle
is that is it the CLK?
A GTR.
Yeah, Mercedes.
We still get the scent that in fact, I think we were sent it only the other day.
Someone will alight on it.
Do you know what it looks like?
It looks like when a child loses a tooth and it gets put under a pillow for the
tooth fairy to collect.
It's like it's just lots of pillow fabric and then just a tooth sticking out the top.
It just looks really tiny, doesn't it?
Look, we have in fact just two days ago, a listener who, oh gosh, he even says P.S.
Try and pronounce that name correctly.
His name now.
Go on, try it, try it.
Okay, it's S.J. O.R.S.
S.J. O.R.S.
Now, I'm going to go for Sears.
Shores.
Shores.
I was going to put a little bit of a, you know, Sears.
Well, his surname as well is S-I-E-M-E-S.
So Sears seems, no, I'm so sorry.
Sears seems from Scandinavia or what?
I'm going to guess, but don't know for sure.
But anyway, he was officially the last person at the time we're recording this to have sent us
a picture of what is definitely the chodiest of all the shifters.
CLKGTR, he says, it's so bad, I kind of feel bad for the GTR, but they always feeling the
need to cover up in public places.
I hope this image didn't shock you guys too much, as it could have been categorized not safe for work.
I mean, it looks broken, doesn't it?
It's like it's sunk into the recess where it lives.
It's so changing.
Is it like gearshift quicksand where it just keeps going down and down and down?
Yeah, you're getting one there.
That wins the award.
It's completely gone.
Yeah, it does.
It definitely does.
So, yes, absolutely without question that we've had nothing better, at least nothing that's not broken.
I have thought we should maybe do a top 20 or like the equivalent of the top gear cool wall,
but for the chodiest of shifters.
Well, yeah, one day when we get around to doing the Smithersniff Christmas annual,
we can, that can be a page in there, the top 10 or 20 chodiest shifters.
But yeah, I think for now that is the reigning champion, unless you know better.
If you've got anything like that you want to share with us, hello at Smithersniff.com.
If you've got a question, stick Ottersot in the subject line.
Just makes it easier for us to find them because we are basically incompetent.
Back on Monday with a normal show and more questions answered next Friday.
Until then, goodbye.
Bye.
Cheers, mate.
Thanks, mate.
Bye.
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About this episode
Listeners dive into a lively discussion about project cars, aftermarket modifications, and the joys of car ownership. They share personal anecdotes, including a listener's quest for a fun project car under £3,000, exploring options like the MGF and Alfa Romeo. The hosts also touch on unique automotive details in films and the intricacies of tire design, all while maintaining a humorous and engaging tone. The episode is packed with insights and recommendations for those looking to tinker with their vehicles.
In their usual Friday spin-off show, Jonny and Richard answer listeners’ questions about best aftermarket pipes sound, concept car tyres, track car project suggestions, good car details in films and TV shows, and the choady shifter champion.
