00:07
I'm Richard Porter, I'm Johnny Smith, and this is on the other side of things, the Smith
00:12
and Sniff spinoff in which we answer your questions.
00:19
Welcome once again, and we have questions, many questions in fact.
00:24
So, I'm going to dive straight in.
00:26
What people have sent us questions?
00:29
So, let's kick off with this one, which is from a listener called Rhys, who says, good
00:36
Another spur of imagination has gripped me this evening, so I wanted to pitch a question
00:40
YouTubers seem to get in a fluster about certain cars.
00:44
You can see the trend spreading channel to channel, with each of them eventually owning
00:48
this choice, examples being L322 Range Rovers, Gen 1 KNs, V10 M5s and so on.
00:57
I wanted to know your thoughts.
00:58
What do you think the next must-have, enormously expensive money pit will be?
01:05
He's written must-have in that funny internet way, when people use a random mix of capitals
01:09
and lowcase to look deranged, which awesome use is made.
01:15
Rhys predicts Gen 1 Porsche Panamera or BMW X5M.
01:22
Okay, I don't want either of those cars to ever be collectible, so as long as my heart
01:28
is still beating, I'm going to say they're both of absolutely no interest to me, and
01:33
I don't think anyone who calls themselves a true car enthusiast, and I'm looking at
01:40
you people who go on and on and on to me about liking electric cars, think that those sorts
01:47
of cars are of interest, because they're not.
01:49
Why would you buy an X5M when you could spend the same money on a car with the same kind
01:55
of power engine that goes around corners better, that goes faster, that costs less in tyres?
02:02
What if one was bought by the acclaimed new YouTube channel, Get In The Sea Cars, in which
02:08
the host uses some kind of trebuchet to fire whatever he's just bought deep into the North
02:14
Oh, no, you drive out the sea and measure how far you can get, like those team building
02:20
things you have at office parties where you attach yourself to a bungee and you have to
02:26
run as far as you can before it yanks you back.
02:31
Actually, physically getting in the sea with those cars.
02:36
I know that's a bit of a moan thing to say, I have got a better answer.
02:41
Well, you see, I've mentioned before that I've always thought one that is in a way ripe
02:46
for the picking is the third gen MR2, because they are very affordable now, they're good,
02:53
but they have known problems, we've talked about them before, how overstated perhaps
02:58
these problems are, but there's definitely issues there.
03:01
But I think they are possibly too cheap for a lot of YouTubers and ultimately too reliable
03:10
despite the supposedly known problems, because let's be honest here, the reason YouTubers
03:16
are light on a certain car is because it is clickable, because there is peril involved.
03:23
So you don't want to go, I mean, I suppose some channels would, but ultimately I think
03:28
that sort of the big dogs who want to have plenty of peril wouldn't go, I've spent £1500
03:34
on this Toyota MR2, oh, I hope it's okay.
03:38
They want to be a chunkier sum, they want to be five grand at least, ideally 10 and upwards.
03:43
And it wants to be something that people immediately go, oh, brave, where a Toyota doesn't have
03:50
that sort of headline appeal.
03:53
So no, unless you're going to drive a significant distance, so I don't know, buy it in Lithuania
04:01
Yeah, that's a good point, actually.
04:02
If you're going to go, I've spent £1500 on this extremely algal Toyota MR2, there's
04:08
a massive rip down the center of the hood, so it's not airtight in any way of a shape
04:15
And I'm going to drive it the length of Africa.
04:18
That would be watchable.
04:20
But I think for people who just want to buy something and then go, oh, I hope it's okay.
04:24
Oh, no, my coil pack's back.
04:27
Then I reckon keep an eye on those Bangal 7 series.
04:32
And they've been cheap for a long time.
04:34
They've been cheap for a long time, but they were famously a little bit electrically flaky,
04:38
I think, when they were new.
04:40
Yeah, I know two people that bought second hand ones and had mixed lifestyles with them,
04:52
What an elegant way of putting it.
04:54
Mixed lifestyles and so those.
04:58
And also, I reckon any many cylinder sporty Audi larger ones, so like V10S8s and things
05:06
like that, I reckon.
05:09
Audi should take note, because I didn't know until fairly recently when I did that RS2
05:14
barn find that Audi heritage kind of doesn't exist.
05:21
And unlike BMW and Mercedes and Porsche and a lot of the others, Audi has no seemingly
05:29
no commercial enthusiasm for feeding these amazing S and RS cars from the past.
05:35
And yet there's never been more interest in fast Audi's for a lot of especially younger
05:42
They are like one of the halo cars.
05:45
So why on earth would you not be selling early mid 2000s RS4 and RS6 parts?
05:52
I just don't understand.
05:53
Funny enough, in a very car geeky WhatsApp group that I'm in, someone made this point
06:00
the other day that apparently now you might struggle sometimes to get parts for early
06:09
Those are bona fide collector cars now, like an early V8 manual R8 is the kind of car
06:18
where people go, oh yeah, you know, it's a connoisseur's choice and you hang on to
06:21
that and you're probably not going to lose on it.
06:22
But apparently there are some bits that are difficult to source and you just go, yeah,
06:27
and they're not old.
06:29
Yeah, but what are Audi doing?
06:31
Because this could be, you can see that other manufacturers do it with commercial success.
06:36
You know, I'm convinced that Chevrolet makes more money licensing out all of its old stuff
06:41
and create V8 engines than it does selling whatever new toss they're currently selling.
06:46
So I would say Audi needs to tap into that.
06:51
I mean, I love a lot of our older Audi's because we won't go off on too much of a detour.
06:56
But mid 2000s, let's say 2002, 2004, just post millennium up to 2010, I think that the
07:07
Audi RS's of that generation were by far the best looking.
07:12
Just for context, there is the cheapest V10 powered S8.
07:18
I can find for sale at the moment is seven and a half thousand pounds.
07:22
It has been, I'm going to say, unsympathetically black-packed as in the current or previous
07:29
time it was blacked in the wheels and all the exterior trim in a way that I find slightly
07:35
But, you know, seven and a half grand for well, constant peril, or for just under 10,000
07:42
There is an absolutely spanky looking one.
07:45
It's black, but it has not been messed with.
07:47
It has silver wheels.
07:48
It still has the silver mirrors as well, which they could be had with.
07:54
It's a private sale.
07:56
The description does say I've owned this car for a little over a year, and in that time
08:00
it just has every tiny complaint addressed.
08:05
So, yeah, they've spent four grand on it in the last year, and it's had over 30,000
08:11
pounds spent on it in the last 50,000 to 60,000 miles by a previous owner.
08:15
Now, that to me is a red flag as much as anything, but that's fine.
08:19
It's had all the timing chains and tensioners and la-dee-la-dee-la.
08:22
It's got a mil-tech exhaust on it as well, so I bet it sounds really good, but, I mean,
08:27
that is, hmm, I still smell traffic.
08:30
OK, so I'm going to say that the good thing about YouTube is it's a big enough space for
08:36
lots of people to do lots of things.
08:38
I think early, I'm convinced that so many SUVs will just come and go and no one will
08:46
want to have an old-fashioned one.
08:49
There is an exception.
08:51
There's people who chase the three-pedal thing, but I think the three-pedal thing doesn't
08:54
just apply to SUVs.
08:56
If it's a very rare optioned version of a thing, like a manual KN, that is interesting
09:03
because of that gearbox.
09:05
I wouldn't want to own it still, but it is interesting, but you could apply that.
09:09
I think you can apply that to things like MPVs of a certain era, because I think people
09:14
are gravitating towards mad-patterned seats, and perhaps like a V6 petrol, a spass, with
09:21
mad-patterned seats, a mini-disc player, a certain personal goat, that is so cool for
09:27
And the difference between MPVs and SUVs is SUVs are always trying to be cool, whereas
09:33
MPVs were never trying to be cool.
09:38
I was going to buy a Ferrari this week, but no, sod it.
09:40
I've decided to get this.
09:41
It's a very early Previa.
09:45
But also, the big end, we've always loved big engine Luxo barges for little money.
09:51
So the Bang and Omics thing for stuff like Fate and W12s, Spurs, early Bentley Spurs
09:58
And even, I mean, up on the neck, I've started looking at Bentley Arnages, and you can get
10:03
those really cheaply.
10:05
I look at those all the time.
10:06
So I think the future is interesting for those.
10:10
The future is interesting for the Tesla S and X with free supercharging because they're...
10:17
Well, yes, but this is Reese's question, so I think you've done the Tesla S with free
10:24
I don't think another YouTuber would go there because it just...
10:32
That looks copycat.
10:34
I think Reese is asking about the L322 Range Rover is a great example.
10:38
It felt like every YouTuber bought one because of the peril aspect.
10:43
They hit that sweet spot of affordable on a sort of YouTube channel, successful YouTube
10:49
channel budget anyway, but with a necessary amount of peril, but there wouldn't be totally
10:54
ruinous just to sort of sort out some bits while getting content because it's all about
11:00
the content, isn't it?
11:01
It is all about content, and I'm in this world, so I do understand why you would buy those
11:06
sorts of cars and talk about them.
11:07
And I love the fact that you're thrusting a car like a W12 Faton or whatever under the
11:16
nose of a younger audience who won't have thought about it.
11:21
And a lot of those cars, once you're 21, you can actually ensure them.
11:24
I would like to see, they've mentioned it, not on arches, but I do think 80s, Bentley's
11:33
or Rolls Royce's, so Silver Spirit or something, might be quite good YouTube fodder.
11:43
Go and get an ex-wedding duty Silver Spirit that smells and see how nightmarish it is
11:54
to run when you decide to take it on track day.
11:58
I'm giving away content here.
11:59
This is ridiculous.
12:00
You see, before YouTube even existed, I was doing that sort of thing with, I had a pair
12:05
of XJ44 litre Sov Jags when I was, what, 24?
12:15
I had a pair because one was mechanically fantastic and bodily, and the other one was
12:22
bodily chef's kiss and a little bit mechanically slack, and the money was, they were for sale
12:28
so cheaply that I thought, yeah, I'll have another one.
12:31
And I just, I just stuck an MOT on it and I used to rotate, I used to Jag rotate.
12:38
So yeah, it's a really interesting question.
12:40
And I know it's a continuing debate.
12:43
So bring it on and all that BMW I8, I'm going to throw that in there.
12:47
I've said it before, I just cannot see those getting much cheaper for much longer before
12:52
people wake up and go, hang on, that's an amazing car for the money.
12:56
You can get them for like, 28 grand, something like that.
13:04
What are the insurances like?
13:06
Cause I think they have quite expensive to mend, are they not?
13:09
Well, probably full carbon car, plug-in hybrid, but what a thing.
13:16
I mean, I know the car I would like to buy for full peril effect, but I'm not going to
13:22
tell you because I might try and do it on my channel.
13:26
And I'm going, and it just happens to be a car that I would buy a long way away and
13:31
immediately get in it and drive a very long way home.
13:34
So, and it's also quite expensive.
13:37
So really, it just, it's a shocking idea in reality, but in YouTube land, it could be great.
13:43
OK, OK, let's move on.
13:47
Got a question from a chap called Richard, not you, Richard.
13:52
Dismissed as if I'm currently engaged in some everyday consumer
13:55
motoring in a Fiesta ST3.
13:59
I've put 10,000 miles on it recently and absolutely love it.
14:03
I've got a Revo Lee map and some high spec pads for when I fancy doing some progress.
14:08
And I recently took it to the Thruxton skid pan to spin around like a dropped pie.
14:14
When will you make those pies, by the way, guys?
14:17
I might even take it for an evening of track work this summer.
14:19
But for proper track work, I've got a K-trum 1.6 Sigma,
14:23
585 kgs of scaffolding and fiberglass.
14:27
I'll happily commute in it over summer when it isn't raining horizontally.
14:31
And I feel like being a colosser of raw motoring.
14:34
But because of this, I generally prefer cars that are small and chuckable.
14:39
However, I sometimes look at the Fiesta and wonder if I've got this all wrong.
14:43
For the money tied up in the foe, where does I could be
14:46
captaining a massive slab of depreciation Coventry beef like a Jag XFR
14:52
or locking myself into something aggressive on the monthly payments
14:56
like a Julio Quad Froglio-lio-lio.
14:59
So my question for Otisot is this, would a heavy 500 horse super saloon
15:03
actually make me feel like I've succeeded in life?
15:07
Or would I just miss the Festa and spend my whole life
15:10
feeling like I'm bored and frustrated because of the size of the weight?
15:14
CMTMB, Richard. Good question, Rich.
15:18
Here's a good question now, but I would I crave more info.
15:21
And the first bit of information I'd like to know is how old is Richard?
15:25
He didn't say, did he?
15:26
I reckon he's younger than I originally thought.
15:29
Yeah, I think he might be quite young relatively because
15:33
I think hefty auto cars are something that perhaps you ease into as you get older.
15:42
Well, also, they seem more novel when you're younger.
15:45
Going back to what I just said about my the big Jags I had in my 20s
15:49
and I see a lot of other car enthusiasts shows and stuff.
15:53
It appreciated this, the value for Monday.
15:55
And you're almost driving around in dad or granddad's car
15:59
for a third of the money of what your mates are driving around in.
16:04
So it's a more novel.
16:06
There's a more of a novelty effect for it.
16:07
But I think that's cool.
16:10
In fact, Lewis Freeman from Bigfoot Transportation, we know him well,
16:14
who's a nonstop car buyer.
16:16
He's just bought a second Maserati Quattroporte.
16:19
And I think he's about 12 years old.
16:22
So, yeah, you know, he's living the big, the big saloon roulette wheel.
16:26
He's doing it well, very well.
16:28
Just try this on for size.
16:31
Don't go for a big, heavy car that is trying to be sporty.
16:38
Now, the XFR is wonderful, but I take your point.
16:40
I think coming out of a Fiesta ST and with a catering at home as well,
16:45
it may frustrate you that, you know, it's trying to make a bare ballet dance.
16:51
It's big and it's hefty.
16:52
It is an impressive car.
16:53
And I love the XFR, but relative to what you're used to,
16:57
you may feel a bit like you are wrestling sheer mass around
17:02
and it'll frustrate you or just disappoint you.
17:05
Just lean into the auto-ness and the fat boy-ness and get something
17:12
like a regular XF, I suppose, if you could find.
17:16
I mean, there was the SV8 in the early XF, which is the V8 still.
17:21
They're cheap, really cheap.
17:22
Less. Yeah, they are.
17:24
They had those quite nice wheels on them, bit like the Golf GTI 5th gen.
17:28
Oh, yes. Yes. I know the ones.
17:31
But they are less tightly wound than an XFR.
17:35
Still get a clip on.
17:37
I mean, likewise, you could, you know, try and find a V8 powered XJ
17:41
of any generation, really, but not an XJR.
17:47
And that might give you because then it's
17:50
it's removing the temptation to try and drive it like you're very, very late for everything.
17:55
Just enjoy the ride. Just just take it easy.
17:58
Get something really easy listening.
18:01
And then you've got a perfect contrast to the catering and something very different
18:04
to the Fiesta, rather than something that's sort of trying to be the Fiesta.
18:08
But isn't this thing a really sporty big car after the Fiesta?
18:12
It might feel like, you know, that's a good someone of my age
18:16
trying to dress like an 18 year old.
18:18
It would just be embarrassing.
18:19
But if you just embrace the sort of aged lazy boy car,
18:23
that I think may be the solution.
18:25
That's not a bad shout with regards to not going for the big, heavy breathing one.
18:30
Try mid 2000s S class.
18:34
Yeah. And if you do longer journey work,
18:37
the I think it's the 350 diesel CDI is not only fast, if you want it to be,
18:43
but it's also economical.
18:45
And they are really, really good cars, especially for the money now.
18:50
The other thing I was just wondering,
18:51
how long is Richard's commute?
18:54
Also, does he have children?
18:57
I'm sort of guessing no.
18:59
So your future proof thing is family work.
19:02
Well, I'm just thinking again, why not?
19:05
Don't go for sportiness.
19:06
Just get a normal second gen Jag XK8, not an R, just an eight.
19:12
But if you really want to get summers coming, get a cabrio and just cruise,
19:17
get a cruiser or an SL.
19:21
And just go in on the audio so you could listen to some fantastic like.
19:24
Yeah. And just that's it.
19:26
Also, it's it's absolutely calm and cruisy.
19:32
That's the thing. It's slow and stylish.
19:34
Then those those SLs or those XKs, they they drive very nicely
19:39
and they do handle all right.
19:40
You can get a clip on, but then equally you can just sit back and relax.
19:44
There's just consumer information that we're delivering here.
19:46
I know. It's a bit worrying, isn't it?
19:48
We shouldn't. Yeah.
19:49
Sorry, guys, to to to that.
19:54
I think an interesting question here from a listener called Phil, who's.
20:01
Well, his opening line is explained by his second line,
20:06
which is I work in a fancy residential part of Hamburg.
20:08
So Phil is in Germany, which explains why he opens his message with.
20:12
Hi, you two flesh floating, which I presume skin flesh.
20:17
Flute, I guess. Yes, yes, skin.
20:19
Flute. Yes. Thanks, Phil.
20:21
I work in a fancy residential part of Hamburg.
20:24
That means I often see interesting cars on my way to and from work.
20:27
Today, a 9-Eleven suddenly emerged from a driveway while I was walking along.
20:31
A very common sight around here, in addition to the ubiquitous, yet horrendous
20:35
AMG G-Vargin visually, this 9-Eleven threw me off.
20:39
And it was only when it drove past, I realized it was a 9-Eleven Dakar,
20:43
but in plain white and without any decals.
20:46
Oh, instead of leaning into the fact this is a fun and silly machine
20:50
that celebrates adventure in the glory days of rallying,
20:53
it just looked like a jacked up turbo that's slightly easier to get into.
20:57
So here's my question.
20:59
Which cars do you think don't work in sleeper spec?
21:03
And what's the most boring, uninspired spec you have seen on a special car?
21:09
This is a funny one because, you know, you play the configurator game.
21:13
We're just, you know, a bit bored and you go onto someone's configurator
21:15
and start just specking up.
21:17
Either specking up the car you would actually want or trying to be stupid
21:21
and like specking in a bright orange DB-Eleven with purple leather seats.
21:26
And I found myself a while ago on the McLaren configurator.
21:31
And of course, they do lots of zingy, bright colors like yellow and orange
21:34
and stuff like that. And I was going, oh, yeah, you see, of course, you know,
21:36
McLaren, you'd really have to have a McLaren in orange, wouldn't you?
21:39
But then I started doing the spec as I'd actually want it.
21:41
And I found myself like just doing a black one.
21:45
And I sort of stopped and I was like, I feel like I'm missing the point here.
21:48
Like there's no such thing as a low key supercar, even in black.
21:53
And McLaren is still an attention grabbing machine, as is a Ferrari or a Lamborghini.
21:58
And it's sort of, it's your duty to the world to get a really wedgy, low supercar
22:04
in a very bright, exciting color, because otherwise, you know,
22:07
you're not keeping a low profile in it.
22:08
So why pretend you are by having a gray or a black one?
22:12
It's true, isn't it? It's like people who order the hottest version of a saloon
22:17
or a coupe and then go for like OAP wooden lays in the dash.
22:22
Yes. And like a really like a doom blue leather inside.
22:26
You're like, what? Yeah. Come on.
22:28
I mean, I'm not expecting you to go kind of like
22:32
ultraviolet color with yellow stitching or anything mad.
22:37
But I'm trying to think of the cars that don't,
22:40
what cars do you don't think work in sleepers back?
22:45
Because there's not many. I think a lot of them do, personally.
22:49
Yes, it does. I'm trying to think of something, but that's the thing.
22:52
I say supercars, you can't do sleepers back in supercars.
22:55
So it's pointless to try.
22:57
I know it's slightly off topic, but it really irritates me when there's a video
23:03
or a written piece about cars and them saying, this is the ultimate sleeper.
23:09
And for me, who I feel like I'm a bit of a sleeper purist,
23:13
I immediately look at it and you go, it's got quite wide offset,
23:17
definitely aftermarket alloy wheels. That's not a fucking sleeper, is it?
23:22
I mean, immediately. Steelys.
23:24
And you see straight through the aftermarket alloy wheel to a caliper that's the size of
23:30
jumbo pasty. So you're like, there are denominations of sleeper.
23:35
You can say it's slightly understated or you can be full purist sleeper.
23:41
And purist sleeper is hard to do, really hard to do.
23:45
You know, those people, he'll do something really brilliantly.
23:48
There's a silly, fun, like a Focus RS engine into a Transit Connect.
23:58
But if they put Focus RS wheels on it, I think you've missed a trick.
24:04
Whereas if you, I mean, I think I've seen cars not in a specifically that sort of mod,
24:09
but things like that, where they want to put the original steelies on,
24:12
but they won't fit over the uprated brakes.
24:15
So they find similar looking steels from something else and put those on to maintain the look.
24:22
Yeah, which that I think is.
24:25
Yeah, well, that's that's the painful world I've been in with the Allegro.
24:28
But you have a word with yourself and you go, you are going to the, I mean,
24:33
I've got four different sets of brand new from the dealer steel wheels for my Allegro that I bought.
24:40
Yeah, I've just wasted loads of money on steel wheels.
24:42
In fact, anyone who wants any brand new Volkswagen Polo Mark 4,
24:47
14 inch steel wheels, I've got some.
24:49
I bought them from Volkswagen about 10 years ago.
24:51
Why aren't you using them?
24:52
Because we kept changing the spec of the brakes and the stud pattern and we're just being idiots,
25:01
really, just being absolute flutes.
25:05
Flyslips, first question.
25:07
I still, it's boring, uninspired spec on a special car.
25:10
I can't think of anything, but what it does remind me of,
25:12
and I wonder if Phil's seen this, if it's still a thing in Germany.
25:15
But I remember, like, if you went certainly a few years ago to many European countries,
25:23
you would see, I don't know, a brand new looking five series, but it'd be in flat blue, dark,
25:32
on steelies with trims, and it would possibly be deep badged.
25:36
And it'd just look like the most plain ordinary car.
25:39
Then you'd look inside and it's got like optional buffalo leather.
25:42
There was a definite sort of Euro contingent of spec-ing cars,
25:47
spending the options money on the inside, which was totally converse to what happens here,
25:51
where all the money goes on the bigger wheels and making sure you've got the spoilers or whatever.
25:57
And then just have cloth and no radio on the inside, if it was the 80s.
26:03
But yeah, I quite admire that mentality because those were sort of like special,
26:09
special cars, they were just kind of nice cars.
26:12
That's a car that's being bought for you and for your appreciation and no one else's,
26:16
isn't it? It's sort of the way the Japanese do things.
26:19
Yeah, I mean, the five series that I can picture, which was like dark, flat blue with steelies on,
26:25
was specific as one I saw in Luxembourg, because I remember, and it definitely had like a really
26:31
nicely done interior, but I remember thinking it's like whoever's bought this has gone,
26:34
it is none of your business how much money I have. I have some money, yes, I can afford a B&W.
26:41
The leather is for me and not for you.
26:43
They've made some investments and they've paid off.
26:46
So that would be, but I can't think of a boring, uninspired spec on a special car.
26:50
Yeah, I don't know. I've always thought this about 9-11 Dakar, which I really like,
26:54
but I thought if I was buying one of those, would I go stickers or not? Or would at the
26:57
last minute I'd be a bit embarrassed and just go...
27:00
Do you know what I do? I don't know.
27:02
I would ask for the decals to be left in a bag and be delivered in the boot of the car.
27:07
And so I'd be one of those saddos that when I eventually came to sell it some years later,
27:12
I'd be like, I did order it with the stickers, but then I thought,
27:14
when I get bored of the stickers and when I fill like a bit of a tart, so I'll order it.
27:19
I would actually drive a Dakar like the spec that the Phil has seen in Germany.
27:26
Yeah, well, I like that kind of sage green that they had a lot of publicity photos that
27:30
didn't have stickers on it, but it was an interesting color. I think that would be my
27:34
Dakar choice. Even if it was just that with a roof rack or a...
27:38
You know, I know we're talking about Dakar. We're going down a bit of a Dakar-y road,
27:43
but... Strawberry Dakar. Exactly, strawberry colored Dakar.
27:47
Well, I sort of answered that. Shall we do one more question?
27:51
Yeah, I was going to say things I don't like. Boring, uninspiring spec. I'm going to say any
27:56
grey sporty car right now. I'm totally over Nardo Grey. I'm totally over Crayon.
28:03
I think it's going to date horribly. And people are still just ordering them. And I'm so bored of
28:10
looking around an overcast day in Britain and seeing all of these cars that could have been
28:16
ordered in interesting colors. It's just, it's sad. Okay, good evening. You find examples of the
28:23
Mark. This is from Duncan Hamilton. I've just checked and I think he's allowed me to write,
28:28
read his name out. Yes. I have two things for you to ponder out loud if you'll indulge me.
28:34
Over the last 30 years of motoring, I've developed a taste for what you might call
28:38
B-side estates, erring on the side of subtle slash sleeper. Lengthy spells have been had with the
28:46
Volvo V70R all wheel drive, the Passat R36, oof, the E39 Alpinus, B10 3.3 touring, and the V60
28:56
Polestar, or Polestar as you say, Rich. The molester of Poles, all financially ruinous in their own
29:05
way, but perfect for the very occasionally taking things to the tip once I've covered the spotless
29:12
boot in numerous dust sheets. The question is, are we ever likely to see the return of the subtle
29:18
if-you-know-you-know hotter state or has rampant SUVism and ludicrous EV performance effectively
29:24
ended this subgenre for us? And secondly, much mileage is had on the podcast about the cores,
29:31
Lexus, and Chardes Rx8, et cetera, et cetera. Whilst stuck in traffic last night, I began to ponder
29:36
what would be the worst celebrity car out there. I have some contenders.
29:40
X-Rick Stein, Volvo 850. It's spent its entire life on the Cornish coast,
29:45
and it has a reek of old haddock. X-Tony Hart, Daimler Double 6, now sporting some gentle
29:52
pastel and watercolour work externally, an orange plaster scene in all the nooks and crevices on
29:58
the inside. Cheers mate, thanks mate. Bye, Duncan. So there, well.
30:06
There's two questions. Hot estates. I mean, I think you'd argue that they still exist. You have the
30:14
M3 Touring and the M5 Touring at the moment, and there's that new RS5 from Audi. So it's not
30:22
completely dead, and you can still get sort of AMG flavoured estates from Mercedes, can't you? So
30:27
you can. It's not. I mean, Volvo's given up, but there's a few out there.
30:35
There's a couple of American motoring journalists that we like who are always trying to campaign for
30:40
the wagon, you know, the fast and capable and handsome wagon to keep returning. But you have to
30:47
change public perception, and that involves people actually buying the cars that come up for sale.
30:53
So yes, public perception is a strange and illogical thing, because it's like my wife, when we had our
31:01
first child, and she was dead against getting an estate car, which I wanted, and we did end up
31:08
getting that CLS shooting break, but she didn't want to really try the estate car because she
31:14
was like, oh, they're mum wagons. Yeah. But she was happy to have an SUV, and I was like,
31:19
what do you think your mum wagon of the day is? It's not an estate car anymore, but it's a weird
31:26
kind of perception thing based on, I think, childhood, because when she was a kid, that was
31:32
your sort of school running type car. Yeah, it's old prejudice, isn't it? Did you think she was
31:37
going to be a wagon mama? Which is lovely hot. That was my best joke of the day. Sorry, it's
31:45
just gone. So I don't know. I mean, the problem is it's just it's it's it's sort of simple economics,
31:50
as in, if people had been buying them, or they would still make them, but they don't, you know,
31:57
the demand has moved elsewhere. But there are still a few out there. It's just that I don't know
32:02
how well they do and how long they will they will live for. But and I would say, you know,
32:07
the Passat R36 is a bit of an anomaly. I don't think VW was not a sort of serial fast estate
32:13
supplier. They still do a Golf R estate, don't they? But it's, you know, it's just it's just
32:19
what people want. And unfortunately, they are a bit niche, unless you're people like us,
32:23
they're car nerd cars, aren't they? But they're not. There's loads coming in from Japan right now,
32:27
loads. Oh, like a Stigia or something. Yeah. Well, and all the cars like the Passat R36 so well
32:35
in in in Japan. And now they're not that desirable. So over here, you can bring them over for not a
32:41
lot of cash. Worst celebrity car to buy. I like Rick Steins. Anything by Rick Steins that's just
32:48
lived by the sea is going to be. Yeah, I mean, you could go pretty hard on these sorts of things.
32:55
You could say someone who was a killer. Have you ever seen stuff with Pete Dockety? And
33:01
I've definitely seen things where he's been driving an old Jag XJ. Oh, yeah, yeah. 90s or 90s one.
33:08
Yeah, I wouldn't buy a car of Pete Dockety. I feel like he's not scrupulous on oil changes
33:12
and things like that. Don't think he's scrupulous. I think if the if the engine turns over and it drives,
33:19
he's in. That's it. Yeah. So no, he feels like the kind of person who just misplaces a car. So he
33:25
just goes out and buys another one. That's what that's what the legend was. I remember reading it
33:30
in one of the. Yeah, that's what he used to do. Because they were so cheap, those Jags,
33:34
they were 500 quid a pop. He would just drive on around for a month and either lose it or he would
33:40
get it, you know, like you get his parking ticket on it or a clamp and he couldn't be asked. So he
33:45
just go and get another. Seriously, that's, oh God. Yeah, really? That's like that story.
33:51
I think I've told all the podcasts before about was it, I can't remember which DJ was it Sasha,
33:56
I think, at the height of his powers, his record company bought him a Rover 200 coupe
34:02
and he he drove it to a gig parked it up, got absolutely battered afterwards, woke up at home
34:09
again and was like, oh, shit, where'd I leave that car? And it was never found again. He never
34:14
found it. Never found it brand new Rover 200 coupe. So I wouldn't buy a car of Sasha, although
34:21
maybe I wouldn't because he'd just give it you for free because he thought I'm going to lose that
34:24
later. Do you know who I wouldn't buy a car from someone like Connor McGregor? Oh, yeah. Or I wouldn't
34:32
buy a supercar off an influencer, probably. No, I know that sounds bad. But it's just that
34:39
there's an awful lot of peacocking and unsympathetic rinsing going on. A lot of these sorts of people
34:46
don't have any kind of mechanical understanding. So no, well, on that lovely lovely note. Yeah,
34:52
I thought yes, it's time to stop this. But if you've got a question for us, hello at smithandsniff.com
34:57
put Artisart in the subject line, if you can, because it helps to find the questions as opposed
35:02
to all the other emails that we get. And we'll do this all again next week. Until then, goodbye.