Our thoughts on the Jason Plato episode and flying a Spitfire #283

Welcome back to the Intercooler podcast

everybody. The podcast powered by car

finance specialist JBR Capital uh with

Dan Prosa and Andrew Frankle. We're a

bit tired this morning. Andrew,

>> long day yesterday.

>> It was a very good day, but it was a

long day up at Bistotion for the latest

Sunday scramble.

>> Yeah.

>> Um lots and lots of you were there. Many

of you came over to say hello. Um so,

thanks to everyone who took the time to

come and come and see us.

>> And all our 911s. and all our 911s. Yes.

So, we we always try to get together a

decent assembly of cars for these

scrambles, don't we? That's that's sort

of what we're there for,

>> I think. Bring some cool cars along.

>> Absolutely.

>> That's why they have us.

>> Yeah. Let people see cars they wouldn't

normally see.

>> Yeah.

>> And so, we just decided to do the 911.

>> Um and the point of the display was to

sort of show off the the breadth of the

911, the road cars, the race cars, the

old cars, the new cars.

>> Exactly.

>> Um and you're now going to reel off off

the top of your head

eight cars that we had there,

>> right? So, we had brand new cars. We had

a new Carrera T and a new GT3 Touring.

Uh, slightly older. We had possibly my

favorite car in the whole wide world.

Uh, a 997 GT3 RS, which it was my

inestimable privilege to drive to Bista.

I was there before 7 in the morning. So,

I left home

>> at about Yeah. just before 5 on a Sunday

morning in a GT3 RS with

>> England to myself.

>> Presumably, you didn't go all the way

along the M4 and then up the A34,

>> funnily enough. No,

>> no, I didn't. Uh, and that was that was

amazing. Uh, so that was very, very

cool. Uh, we also had Pro Drive very

kindly produced an incredibly rare 911

SCS.

>> Can I just jump in?

>> Yeah. So, this is a a 1980s

[clears throat]

um actually group B era rally car that

ProJive built. Um it was their first

car.

>> That was that's where it all started.

And as I as we were on our stand, I saw

David Lapworth walk past. Wow.

>> So, I just grabbed and said, "David,

we've got your car." Um and David

Lapworth has been David Richards, the

>> Pro Drive founders rightand man for 40

plus years. He's the technical guru

really behind all of Pro Drive. Um, and

you could just see him, he clocked it.

He, you know, peering over a couple of

other cars and just went, gosh, that was

41 and a half years ago or something.

>> Wow.

>> Must seem extraordinary to him.

>> Yeah. Goodness. Um, what else? So, we

had, oh, this is quite interesting. Uh,

we had a brand new Carrera Cup racing

car, a 992 Carrera Cup racing car. And

parked next to it,

>> we had a 964 Carrera Cup car, which was

the very first Cup car.

>> So, we had the very first and the most

recent Cup cars side by side. And the

evolution from one to the other is

actually greater than it is in the road

cars because what you're looking at with

the 964 is essentially a road car with a

bit of suspension and some slicks and

that sort of thing. If you took the

stickers off and you couldn't see

through the windows, you'd think road

car.

>> Think road car. Whereas the 992,

the new car. Wow. Proper racing car.

>> It looks like much more than just a sort

of single make thing, doesn't it? It

looks like a ser Well, it is a serious

racing car.

>> It is. Yeah, it's it's Britain's

fastest. It is the fastest one make

series.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah,

>> it looks like a GT3 racing car from a

few years ago.

>> Exactly. Right. Uh, I haven't driven

well apart from um a few hundred yards

yesterday to get it in and out of the

hanger um and without ever leaving first

gear, I haven't driven a 992 Cup car,

but I've driven a 99

um so obviously the previous car uh

which is actually um not that different.

Uh and I' I've driven one of those in

anger on a track and wow because the

thing about those cars is certainly the

991 I think 992 if you're an AM driver

you are allowed something like ABS. Are

you

>> Yeah. The 991 has gone soft.

>> 911. You're on your own. Yeah.

>> It's literally And and to me that

actually makes more sense because

there's nothing interfering with the

drive.

>> Well, I was talking to somebody about

this yesterday and he looked at it and

he he sort of assumed that the Carrera

Cup was a sort of entry almost entry

level series or the cars wouldn't be

particularly challenging or they'd have

they'd have all sorts of aids. And I was

explaining to him actually, as far as I

understand it, these things are tricky

tricky to drive. I mean, the car I

drove, I'm absolutely not going to

mention names, but

>> Yeah.

>> Um, it got rolled into a ball by the

next person in it who was, you know, an

experienced race car driver.

>> Yeah.

>> Uh, and you have to be

>> Yeah. You have to manage the tires. Um,

and you do get little lights telling you

if a brake is locking.

>> It doesn't stop the brake locking, and

you got different color lights telling

you whether it's locking at the front or

the back, but other than that, you're on

your own. Um, sorry, I've completely off

topic, haven't I? Uh, so we have the two

top cars.

>> Just on the Just want to mention that

964 Cup car because it was supplied by

our friends at Sports Purpose.

>> Yeah.

>> And their base is 100 meters away from

our spot at Vista.

>> Yeah.

>> So, thank you to everyone at Sports

Purpose for making that car available.

>> They wheeled it out to us at not much

notice and we're Yeah. Seriously

grateful, guys. Um,

>> what else was there? Oh, you another

racing car. Uh, the uh

>> Here's here's a hint.

>> Yeah, here's a hint. Yes, the colors if

not the car. Um Porsche GB quite a few

years ago um created its own what what I

call an FIA short wheelbase car. So this

is a pre66 car which um complies to the

FIA regulations of that time. And pre66

in historic racing is really important

because there are all sorts of series

you can go and do if you've got a pre66

car which you can't do if you've got a

66 or 67 or Goodwood for one thing.

Goodwood for one thing. Yeah. But also

spar six hours and that sort of thing.

Um, and yeah, and there's now a

dedicated series for these 2 L short

wheelbase 911s. Um, and I raced one at

the Lore Classic in 2010, I think. And

they are absolutely mega things and

Porsche had one of these things and it's

been raced by Max Chilton and Richard

Atwood and, you know, it's had some very

senior drivers behind the wheel.

>> Um, and so we were very lucky to be able

to get that on the stand. How many is

that? Seven.

>> Yeah, one more.

>> And one more. Oh, most valuable car.

Maybe not actually with the SCRS. Most

valuable road car

>> there. Definitely. Um DK Engineering

very kindly um provided

a 2.7 Carrera RS. And I think most

people listening to this will know

exactly what that is. But this wasn't

just any old

>> No. Car a so far as I could see it was

perfect despite the fact they'd driven

it up the

>> up the M40.

>> It didn't come on the back back of the

trailer.

>> It did not. No, it was driven there and

back. Um, this is one of the original

lightweights. So, you know, they made

them in lightweight and touring

specifications and I I can't remember

exactly, but I think touring outnumbered

lightweights by about 10 to one. As a

result, many cars that started life as

tourings have been lightweighted and

they present as lightweights, but

they're not. This one is, and I think

it's a million pounds.

>> Is it a million quid?

>> Yeah.

>> I think that's what they'd like for it.

>> I'm sure.

>> Uh, and it would it's just so beautiful.

Mhm.

>> It [clears throat] was blue over white,

which to me is my favorite uh livery for

those sorts of things. And and I looked

around and because I owned a really bad

replica of one of those ones, um which I

adored and it was wonderful and I got it

from uh I bought it from Richard Tutill.

I say it's bad. It had just done a lot

of miles and it was somebody's project

um which he'd not been able to complete.

Um, but it was an it was an SC base. Uh,

and it was g which meant it had a

galvanized shell which means it would be

much more rot resistant which was

important to me. Uh, and it had that

that 3 liter engine which somebody had

put onto Weber carbs and it had those

sort of SSI peashooter exhausts on it.

So, it sounded unbelievable.

But when you saw the DK car yesterday, I

was just reminded about just how much

nicer the real thing is.

>> Then again, mine was probably 20 grand.

>> Yeah. Not a million quid.

>> Yeah. So, like 2%

of of the real deal. So, I still think

mine's probably the better value. But

anyway, uh thank you very much also to

our friends at DK Engineering for

stumping that up for us as well.

>> Yeah, those guys were really helpful and

um they they just seem delighted to be

able to bring a handful of cars along to

show at different points around the

show. Um so, for those watching on

YouTube, you will have seen me earlier

just point to this model that's in front

of us, a 917 in this red and white

livery,

>> Saltsburg colors.

>> Saltsburg colors. Yeah. And the the

little early 911 the race car that we

had on our stand yesterday was in the

same colors.

>> It was. Wasn't it great?

>> Lovely.

>> It looked wonderful.

>> Yeah, it did.

>> Um, is this a good time also to and I

think we've mentioned it already, but to

say again that uh our presence at Bista

is thanks to uh our also our great

friends at Bista Motion um with whom we

now have a commercial relationship. We

are media partners of theirs. Um and if

you've never been to a scramble, I know

that we said this every time we've come

back from a scramble. We come back from

scrambles and it's not just the great

time that we have. I mean, one of the

problems with actually exhibiting there

is you don't really get much time to

look around.

>> Not a lot.

>> Um, you know, when we're both there,

>> you know, we can sort of one of us one

at a time can dive off for 20 minutes

and go have a quick stoge about. Um, but

almost all the rest of your time you're

on the stand talking to friends. the

amount of people who just came up and

you always ask them what they've seen or

what they've liked and what they think

of it and so many people who'd never

been to a scramble before and had just

sort of I know got decided to go or

they've been given a ticket by a mate or

whatever. They were just so wideeyed

>> a by what they saw but also the venue

which is just such a beautiful place.

You think of those cold sterile halls

that you know you go and get modern car

shows in

>> and then you go to um to B Motion. Can't

call it Mr. Heritage anymore, can we?

Let's change its name.

>> Um and it's just it's just a great way

for enthusiasts to gather and share the

passion for what we all love.

>> Yeah, they're they're really good

things. They've been so smart in doing

it. There are three a year, aren't

there? And so it's been going on for I

don't know several years now. But

because it's not just annually, it's

become a a fixture on the the automotive

calendar and people look forward to it

and it's really well established and it

attracts great stuff and people

>> and a really good point to make now

particularly today is but I say this

because it always sells out really

really quickly.

>> Yeah.

>> If you want to go to the next one which

is in January

um just I think you'll probably get a

ticket if you go on to the website now.

If you go onto the Vista Motion website,

um you but if you try in a week's time,

there's a very good chance you won't.

>> Yeah.

>> Um so if you like what if you always

been meaning to go to a scramble um and

you want to sort of beat the sort of

post Christmas blues and just go and

hang out with a bunch of, you know,

brilliant car people and see some

amazing stuff, get on the website now,

book yourself a ticket, and we'll see

you there.

>> Um yeah, well said. So while we were

there, the Singapore Grand Prix was

happening, um

>> which we're not going to dwell on. It's

It started at 1:00 and so we sort of had

it on our phones and we're we're peering

at our phones periodically, weren't we,

just to see what was going on.

>> Yeah. So,

>> not very much.

>> Not very Well, that's the problem, isn't

it? That is the problem. Um, even we

could tell just sort of dipping in and

out, we could tell that it wasn't a

particularly interesting race. There was

very little overtaking going on.

>> You can't overtake there. [sighs]

I mean, I would get, you know, I mean, I

know it's all about the commercials and

I'm sure that

>> whoever runs Formula 1 makes an enormous

amount of money out of that contract,

but

you know, you know, you and I feel

differently about Monaco. I'd get rid of

the Monaco Grand Prix. I just would. You

know, if you have a Grand Prix weekend

when Saturday's more interesting than

Sunday, something's gone badly wrong.

>> I do agree. Do you know what? There was

after this year's race, there was a a

proposal from I think it was the race um

the website and podcast

looking at how the track could be

adapted to create at least one

overtaking opportunity. And there are a

few there are three spots I think that

they identified and in in one case

they'd have to reclaim a bit of land

from the harbor but that they're doing

that anyway just around the corner.

>> Yeah.

>> So why isn't that being taken seriously?

because they've already they they've got

the money. I guess they sell it. I don't

know whether they sell it out or not. Um

it's hard to conclude it's for any

reason other than they just don't care

enough about

>> I know

>> the spectacle

>> about about the show, the show that

they're putting on for the fans who

ultimately are the people who make the

whole thing possible.

>> I I'd get rid of Hungary, too.

>> Um yeah, any circuit where there is one

or fewer legitimate overtaking players,

get rid of it. It'll be interesting to

see what next year's cars are like with

the movable arrow. I think there's some

sort of push to pass system, isn't

there? So,

>> but you don't want to make it too

artificial, do you?

>> I I know. I know. But honestly, I've

just had enough of Formula 1 cars

sitting one behind another and the

drivers can't do anything. Imagine

you're imagine you're a driver and you

know you're quicker than you know I mean

for most of the race yesterday Lando was

sitting there you know in Max's

slipstream and I have no doubt at all

that if he could have got past

>> Oh he he would have been quicker. Yeah.

Not only would he have been quicker, but

you know, and I think they said it um on

Sky Commentary, I think Martin said, you

know, said that

>> um you know, Max uh did George Russell

in a huge favor because I think that if

um and what he actually I think meant

was that the track did George Russell a

huge favor because if Lando could have

got past Max, I think he would have

>> been out there absolutely angling for a

win, but then he wouldn't have been able

to get past George anyway. It just it

just cheeses me off. um that were

treated to not shows like that

>> because it doesn't need to be like that.

And there must be any number of other

circuits that have been former F1

circuits or could be brought up to that

specification

um where you could have a really really

good

show and we don't get it. We go to

places like that and to Hungary and

Monaco.

>> Let's go to Kyle Army.

>> Let's go. [laughter] Wouldn't that be

>> I'd love there to be a Formula 1 race in

Africa.

>> Yeah, it's astonishing that there isn't

one.

>> Well, there hasn't been for goodness

know more than 30 years.

>> Yeah.

>> I think they had some at the former Kyle

Army which was so the original Kyle Army

was unbelievable.

>> Um but very very senior and there's no

way in the world you could ever raise

Formula 1 girls around that even if it

still existed which it doesn't. Um, but

actually

I'm just trying to think, it wasn't one

of those circuits where loads of people

died. I mean, Peter Revson died there,

but that was a car breakage. Tom Price

very sadly died there, but that was a

freak occurrence which had nothing to do

with the layout of the circuit. Um,

and it was wonderful, but that went away

and they sort of cobbled together a

Mickey Mouse version of it, which was

terrible. But they have since rebuilt it

and I've been to it and I've been around

it and it is amazing. But it is

whatever. They grade these circuits,

don't they?

>> Yeah. It's not graded.

>> And it's a grade two. I think I think

you could do wet there. You could

certainly do GT3 there,

>> but you couldn't do Formula One there.

>> No.

>> Um,

and actually it was so bizarre the

previous race, Baku. What everyone knows

about Baku is that there's that very,

very long straight and with DRS you can

overtake.

>> Yes.

>> Except this time you just couldn't. It

was really odd.

It was really odd and that just made it

a pretty unexciting race.

>> Well, let's see what next. But the

problem with next year's cars are yes,

they they are moving in the right

direction because they are a bit smaller

>> and a bit lighter.

>> A tiny bit. Yeah.

>> But yeah, exactly. You need a

transformation. M

>> you know if you go and if you went and

parked a

1962 Lotus 25 next to a modern Formula 1

car I mean your your eyes would fall

out. Yeah

>> because one's about three times the size

the other. Now I'm not suggesting for a

moment we go back to the spindle things

which were so unbelievably dangerous.

But there has to be

>> there simply has to be some sensible

middle ground where the cars are still

safe and they can actually put on a show

worth watching. And at some circuits

today they do. But that says far more

about the circuits than the cars.

>> Um and but at too many circuits, as we

saw yesterday, as we've seen too often

this season, they just don't. And you

end up regretting even investing the

time taken to watch the bloody thing.

>> Yeah, you do.

>> Anyway,

>> um

>> should we move on?

>> I think we probably should move on. Uh

so couple of weeks ago, we published our

podcast with Jason Plato.

>> That was something, wasn't it? Lots of

people came up to us yesterday and um

spoke about how much they enjoyed the

that hour and a half, hour 45, whatever

it was with

>> Jason. Yeah, it was quite a long one.

>> Um but it was surprising to a lot of

people, wasn't it? It was because, you

know, I think that, you know, lots of

people think they know Jason because

he's, you know, he is just one of those

larger than life characters and has

been, you know, he's been in the he's

been in and around racing cars for well

over, I think he won his first title in

1991 or something. Uh, that was that

sort of European Formula Renault thing.

>> Um, and he's been, you know, part of the

BTC furniture for such a long time. And

then obviously he uh he retired from

racing and as you will listen if you

listen if you haven't heard the podcast

do go and listen to it. I'm not going to

go into all the details now but

basically and he won't mind me saying

this at all his life fell apart and for

the last 3 years he's been trying to

recover is not is not too strong a word

um from you know from a very very deep

dark hole in which he found himself. uh

and yeah he said to us uh because I

asked him the question you know how does

your recovery rank alongside all you've

achieved in motorsport and he said that

was nothing you know the recovery is far

and away it's you he regards as the

greatest achievement so I think he is in

a I suspect he would describe himself

still very much as work in progress um

but he's in a massively better place now

than he has been and you may know that

he has announced that Jason Plato

Motorsport will be on the grid for the

BTCC at the beginning of next year so

he's going to come team owner, so he's

he's not going anywhere. Um, but it was

just the most

um it was most a remarkable podcast

because so much of it was, you know, the

fantastic stories and, you know, and and

the great laughs and everything, and

then suddenly it just sort of turned and

it became so thoughtful and honest,

sometimes painfully so. Um, and and I

don't know about you, Dan, but I just

felt this sense of sort of I was just

proud that he felt that he could open up

like that on the TI podcast. Um, so

yeah, it was it was an amazing

recording and I'm proud that we've done

that we've done it.

>> I think there's a a slightly curious

thing going on with Jason because he is

such a gregarious,

you know, outgoing character. um he's

very familiar to us from his TV work.

>> And so

that stuff when you hear Jason Plato

almost becomes more prominent in the

mind than his driving ability. But

actually his driving ability even now,

but certainly when he was right at the

peak of his powers was remarkable. He

was a hell of a racing driver.

>> Yeah. I mean he went toe-to-toe with,

you know, people who'd been in Formula

1, Formula 1 test drivers

>> um and got the drive.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. He absolutely should. He deserved

a shot at a proper single-seater career.

He was very very good in single seaters

in his early days. But we know and he he

gave a few examples of other people.

There is so many fantastic drivers out

there who had the talent, absolutely had

the ability to go and have a really good

professional career,

>> but just never the opportunity. And we

know the opportunity is the bigger part

of it, isn't it?

>> But I think he would also be the first

to say, in fact, he did say it. um you

know he would be uh he wouldn't be

necessarily high up anybody's list from

the point of view of someone who's going

to be prepared to tow the corporate line

>> um and do all the tedious you know on

message stuff scripted stuff that you

have to get out and say and all the

people yeah I mean you can just see

Jason not surviving in that

>> well and also he he doesn't take a

racing driver's approach a modern racing

driver's approach to racing does he

>> not that familiar with the inside of a

gym I understand no

>> he's not all about his healthy diet and

staying off the booze and everything He

just he loves it. He's you know he's you

know he

if he'd been born well if he'd been

racing in the 1960s.

>> Yeah.

>> Um with all the other you know hell

raising funloving 50s actually even more

so with the Peter Collins and Mike

Hawthors as well.

>> I mean he missed his era.

>> Yeah he did.

>> But he would have absolutely loved that.

>> On the other hand he did find the form

of motorsport that suited his lifestyle

didn't he?

>> Yeah absolutely. Absolutely. until it it

all went there was one comment uh on the

podcast which of all the things that he

said I don't know it's the one that I

sort of dwelt on because I thought it

was such a an insight into a state of

mind when it did go wrong. He remember

he said he went home and took down all

the mirrors.

>> Yeah.

>> He didn't have a single mirror in the

house. He didn't say any more than that

as to why but I don't think it takes an

awful lot of interpretation to

understand what

>> to understand that. Um, and it was Yeah.

I mean, it was it was in equal parts,

you know, sad and fascinating and

poignant and ultimately uplifting

because he's because he's on the men.

>> Yeah.

>> Well done, Jason. Thank you for being so

open and honest with everyone. Um, and

then the week after we recorded with

Jason, we did it all over again, didn't

we? Um,

>> yeah, that wasn't a rubbish evening

either, was it?

>> No. No. So we um thanks to our friends

at JBR Capital, our car finance partner,

um we did it all over again a week later

with Dario Frankiti. Um so JBR held an

event in a glitzy venue in in London.

>> Um and they invited us along to to

record a live podcast. Dario was the

guest. Um

>> and it wasn't exactly a podcast evening,

was it? It was it was their own event.

It was a networking event for them.

Exactly. And we did a couple of a couple

of sessions on stage recording with

Dario.

>> Exactly.

>> Um, but Dario's a great guest. He, well,

A, he's had a phenomenal career and he

continues to do really interesting stuff

in the car, the road car world, but B,

he's also a pro and he knows exactly

what we're looking for, doesn't he?

>> But C, he loves cars.

>> He really does. I mean, you know that

you can't fake that enthusiasm. You

could be the best actor in the world and

you couldn't because it's the knowledge

and and you just look at, you know, the

cars that he's owned and the stuff that

he's done.

Um he's just he's one of us.

>> Oh god. Is he

>> with a bit more talent [laughter]

>> and a few more means?

>> Yeah. Well indeed.

>> Um but you I mean he talks in the the

podcast will go out in the next couple

of weeks um on this channel, the YouTube

channel and the usual podcast channel.

Um so you'll be able to listen to it

very soon. But he of course talks about

the highlights of his racing career that

some of the lowlights as well. He he's

very honest about the accident that he

had

>> which did end his professional career.

>> Well, I said to him because we'd already

recorded the Jason Plato podcast at the

time and I said to him, you know, Jason

Plato career ended out of choice

>> and he struggled with not being a racing

driver anymore. And I said to Dario, but

yours, you had no choice over it at all.

You didn't want that to happen. You

didn't choose that to happen. you in a

terrible accident and suddenly you woke

up in hospital and you weren't a racing

driver anymore and said you know how

difficult was that for you to deal with

and he I can't remember the exact words

but he said something was I was so busy

being grateful still to be alive I was

completely fine with it

>> yeah yeah

>> um

>> he was also I suppose it helps that he

was right towards the end of his his

professional career wasn't it he he knew

he wasn't going to be doing it forever

he had achieved everything

>> three Indy500s

>> four Indie Car championships

>> he'd done it

over that side.

>> I still think he would have wanted to go

and do

>> Le of course it's different if you're a

22y old. You're a promising young racer

and your career gets snatched away from

you before you

>> but Jason was in his 50s when he

stopped.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. So Oh yeah. I mean Yeah. Awful.

Awful. If you're

>> you know if you're a sort of Billy Mer

type person

>> um you never hot shot who everybody's

going watch this guy and then suddenly

it all just comes to a

>> you know horrible end. So, that episode

will go out in a week or two. Um, it's

it's worth listening to. We also go we

talk a lot about road cars because a

Dario is involved with Gordon Murray

Automotive. He's

>> he's got a a very professional job

title, but ultimately he's

>> chief pedler.

>> Chief peddler, chief test driver really.

They I mean Gordon Murray Automotive has

full-time test drivers, a team of them,

but Dario sort of oversees them.

>> Yeah.

>> Um he he points them in the right

direction. Um, and of course Dario just

loves road cars. He's he owns a lot

right now and he's [clears throat] owned

many in the past and he's he's got great

stories and he he talks about

>> going up to Scotland 25 odd years ago

with his F40 so that Colin McCrae could

have a go in it. [laughter]

>> Only imagine. Um

>> maybe he'd come drive to Wales so I

could have a go in it.

>> Oh, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?

>> Wouldn't it just

>> Dario, you listening? Um, a few other

things that I want to talk about um in

the second part of this podcast, but I'm

going to remind you all that you can

subscribe to the Intercooler, our

multi-awwardwinning adfree online car

magazine. Um, and if you choose an

annual sub and use coupon code pod 20,

you'll get 20% off for the first year.

There'll be a link in the description.

Click that um, and you can go and

subscribe. Use Pod 20 to get a 20%

discount on your first year. Um,

you don't just get the magazine, the the

daily articles that are written by the

world's best team of automotive writers,

not just us.

>> Um, but you can also listen to this

podcast completely adree. You can get

audio versions of our daily articles, ad

free. There's a midweek podcast just for

subscribers called Ask the Intercooler

Adree. So, the amount of audio output

we're sticking out there these days, it

is a lot and if you subscribe, it's

totally adree. Um and just on the uh the

audio versions of the stories that we

write uh and just approp

yesterday the number of subscribers who

came up to us and said um a couple were

dyslexic and they found stories

physically very difficult to read

>> um on the website app or indeed other

people's uh paper magazines.

Um, but most, you know, just from a just

from a sort of convenience point of view

and they were saying it's just made such

a difference because there's an awful

lot of output. You know, every day

there's a new story and they take, you

know, if you think of them as a mini

podcast

>> all by themselves every single day. They

they tend to last about sort of 10 to 15

minutes if it's a decent size story. Um,

which for you a lot of people is a walk

of the dog or a quick drive of the car

or whatever. And every single day you

can listen to something new just from

us. Um, did you tot up the amount of

audio that we put out per month or

something?

>> It's 10 to 12 hours per month,

>> which is an enormous amount. Um, and you

know, the thing is is that nobody else

is doing it in anything like the way

that we are. Um, and our subscribers

absolutely love it because I think they

do just think of it as being, you know,

not just one normal podcast a week and

one ask the intercooler per week, but

also every single day of the working

week. Um there are these, you know,

shorter um but voiced articles which are

effectively mini podcasts in their own

right coming out every single day.

>> Yeah, there are lots of people out there

who just, as you say, just don't have

the time to read or perhaps the

inclination. Um

>> I also think a lot of people just just

enjoy listening.

>> Yeah, it does require less effort than

reading sometimes, doesn't it?

>> That is the way media is moving towards

audio because you can just do it while

you're doing all sorts of other things.

Um, and so it's really important to us

that we make everything that we do

available in audio form. Um, and people

really like it. Here's one more reason

to subscribe. Uh, every month we give

away a Supernatural car care kit to

either a new subscriber or an existing

subscriber. That kit's worth 125 quid or

something. It's a really good kit from

Supernatural, which is a top top quality

car care company. They they strip away

all the dyes and the fragrances and you

know all the stuff that makes other car

cleaning kits bright green and bubble

>> stuff that cleans your car.

>> It's the stuff that cleans your car.

It's the stuff that you really need. Um

and if you aren't one of the lucky

winners, you can still benefit from our

partnership with Supernatural Care by

going to supernaturalcarcare.com,

filling up your basket with lots of

lovely products, and using coupon code

TI10 to get a 10% discount. Um, I want

to stay at Bot Motion just a bit longer.

>> Okay.

>> Because last week,

>> uh, I spent a very very happy half hour.

>> I'm, you know, I'm so cheesed off. I I

had a not insignificant birthday last

week.

>> You did.

>> Um, which, you know, I'm very happy

about. I'm still glad to be here, but it

meant I missed this.

>> Yeah. and having knowing what you were

going to do and now knowing what you

went and did and having spoken to the

sort of the main man who made it all

possible yesterday at Bista. I'm really

cheesed off I wasn't there.

>> It was brilliant. So the Hedley Studios,

formerly the little car company. Yeah.

>> Founded by Ben Hedley who came on the

podcast a few months ago.

>> Um

>> can you just sort of remind everyone

what they do?

What they do is they make

well little cars but they are so they're

electric cars uh which can be driven by

children or adults. They make them in

different sizes. The cars they made so

far are type 35 Bugatti um an Aston

Martin DB5 a Ferrari Tesster Rossa and

most recently a blower Bentley. Um the

Bentley is so big it's 3/4 the size of a

real one. It's about the size of a

Volkswagen Golf. Yeah.

>> And you can drive that on the road.

>> I did. Yeah.

>> And you did. Um and it's like a sort of

tandem two-seater. But the thing about

these cars is they're not toys.

>> These are very serious, beautifully

engineered. So much so that these cars

come with the full approval and support

and assistance of the factories that

made them originally.

>> Yeah.

>> Um I think you can go on most of them.

You know, these cars are on their

configurator. I think you can go on the

Ferrari configurator

>> and find it there.

>> And find it there. And I think they come

with proper Ferrari chassis numbers. I

mean, they are really really pucker

authentic things. They look beautiful.

Um I think you were a bit surprised by

just how well they drove as well.

>> I was I'll come to that. But in the case

of the Ferrari in particular, um so the

the space frame chassis,

apart from the fact that it doesn't have

opening doors, so they that part of the

the the frame, um you know, is is fixed.

It's solid to make it a bit stronger.

But otherwise, the angles of all the

pipe, the tubes, the the shape of

everything is exactly the same as the

the original thing. They scanned a a

testoster

um to to get it just right. And the the

the bodies, I mean, what would be the

easier thing to do? Make them out of

glass fiber or something? It' be so

straightforward.

>> Yeah, absolutely. Dole.

>> These things have proper handbeaten

aluminium bodies. They're beautiful.

>> Proper space frame chassis. I mean, they

are

>> well, they're they're the sort of

products that you would expect the

manufacturers of the originals to want

to shout about. And you [clears throat]

can imagine if you made a cheap glass

fiber

>> electric tessteros I mean you know

Ferrari's re you probably end up in

court.

>> You would.

>> Yeah.

>> You would. You don't get the blessing of

Marinella if you don't do it properly.

>> No absolutely not.

>> Um but yeah I mean so there's the the

handling track at Bista which is

actually ideal for these things.

>> Exactly.

>> Um and hoofing those cars around that

track was such a blast. Particularly the

Ferrari and another one that I'll come

to in a minute. But that Ferrari, I was

blown away because it actually handles.

It really handles.

>> It's properly set up.

>> It's amazing. It steers beautifully for

one thing.

>> Um, for another, the chassis balance is

just sublime and it's full of feel,

right? Because it's such a tiny, light

little thing. Of course, it is. And so

you'll chuck it into a corner, you'll

feel the front end push a little bit and

you'll just lift off the throttle or

you'll give it a dab of brakes and you

can adjust your line and the back end

will come around

>> and it's just so beautifully balanced.

You

>> you just I was left at breaking in it

because it's it's it's like a go-kart

really. It's easy to do. And what you

find when you're using both feet not

just to make it stop and go, but to

adjust the balance of the car

>> and you're using the steering to steer

the car. So you've got all four limbs

going at the same time, adjusting the

balance of the car.

>> And I've heard it described as flying a

car. It's which is it's just a wonderful

sensation.

>> And all your four limbs are working in

perfect harmony with each other. And

you're almost not sort of thinking about

it because actually and we're so far

removed from that these days, aren't we?

with these days of sort of one pedal

drive

>> and cars that steer themselves

>> and you kind of forget that actually as

human beings we're quite good at

coordinating all of our limbs. Our limbs

are designed to work together.

>> And when you get into that moment when

you sort of looked around and you see

your arms and your legs all doing these

things without you really telling them

where to do it because it's so natural

and in and instinctive to you. That's

driving.

>> It was great.

>> That is driving

>> and that's what it should be about and

that's what it's too rarely about. these

days.

>> Um, so

>> you've had a go in the same car, haven't

you? At the same place.

>> I absolutely Yeah, it was a while ago I

had an absolute baller. There's a

ridiculous photograph of me sideways on

three wheels in this thing.

>> Um, just

>> yeah, just loving every second of it

because, okay, they're EVs so they don't

sound um, you know, like the originals

at all. They don't try to do that. Um,

but it's like a Kum, you know, it's

light, it's properly engineered.

um you know their sensors of gravity are

very low and as long as you you know do

that and you do it properly the car will

be fun to drive and on top of that it

looks amazing and you can spend

>> you know just a huge amount of time not

even sat in the car just pouring over

the details and seeing how carefully and

cleverly engineered it is and how the

lengths that they went to

>> to make sure that these things are you

know properly authentic

>> down to the smallest possible detail. I

mean, they don't have, you know, the

Ferrari doesn't have a 3 liter V12

Colombo motor in it. Um, but yeah, where

it can be authentic, albeit slightly

scaled down, it is. And they are they're

wonderful things.

>> We should point out they are

astonishingly expensive,

>> of course.

>> You know, they're I'm not about to go

out and buy one. I don't have the money.

Um, they're not cheap cars, but it's

sort of to be expected the quality of

them and the fact that they're properly

licensed from the manufacturers. I don't

there's no other way. But I did drive

another car, another Headley Studios car

that

>> maybe we have to talk about this.

>> Yeah, I mean it's it's not it's not

quite as um enormously expensive. I

think actually when the Tamilia Wild 1

Max does eventually become available to

customers. Do you know I might get this

wrong, but I think it's sort of Golf GTI

kind of money, something like that.

Maybe a bit less. Um, forgive me Ben if

I've if I've got that wrong.

>> But we're not talking

>> high five figures or six figures. Yeah.

>> Um, so you you've probably seen this

Tamilia Wild One Max. It's a a scaled up

Tamilia. It looks exactly like one of

the original Tamilia.

>> Sort of making models of real cars.

Yeah.

>> This is a real car made from using the

model as its inspiration.

>> Yeah. It goes the other way, doesn't it?

Um, and this is because Heedley Studios,

Headley Studios will take care of the

sort of recreations of iconic real cars.

And there's another division, um, I

don't know if they've actually launched

it yet, so I won't give away the name,

but there will be another division of

Headley that produces

these

sort of one-off really fun, really

exciting, creative, innovative other

products. The the Tamilia is one of

those.

>> But so when you say oneoff, they're not

going to make just

>> No, no, no, no. They're okay fine. No,

not oneoff, but they're they're sort of

standalone models and they're

>> exactly

>> they don't sit alongside the other stuff

um in the Headley lineup. Um and

I mean I was curious and actually really

intrigued by the Wild One Max when it

was first announced good few years ago

now. Um but it's evolved a lot. So the

first one that they built um was to L7E

regulations. That makes it road legal,

>> but it massively limits the amount of

power it can have. Yeah.

>> And so Ben was telling me that they

built

>> like a Citroen Amy.

>> It's a Citroen Amy. It's a Renault

Twizzy. And those things max out at 33

mph, whatever it is,

>> 28

>> probably. They are slow.

>> Yeah.

>> Um and so Ben was saying that lots of

people drove the L70, the early spec

Wild One Max, you know, and I'm sure

>> I drove it.

>> Oh, did you?

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> Did you? I didn't know that.

>> Completely off the record,

>> right? Okay.

>> At the time. Didn't say anything about

it. Wasn't allowed to. Um, but I'm sure

I said what everybody else said, you

know, great concept, not fast enough,

>> just needs more power. Everyone said it

needs more power. So, they tore it all

up. Um, almost started again and now

it's built to I can't remember what the

regulation maybe maybe it's M1 or

something, but it's it means it's a full

fully homologated road car. M

>> um and so it's a massive headache for

the engineers at Headley Studios um

because it's a massively more

complicated thing, but it means the car

can have a load more power

>> and a load more power it's going to

have.

>> So the one that I drove was sort of in

between it's a prototype, right? So it's

sort of in between the homologated road

car model and the L7E. So it had

>> I think it was 40 or 50 horsepower. The

real thing will have a good chunk more

than that. And

>> he told me how much more yesterday, but

I'm not I can't remember whether he told

me in confidence.

>> He did. Yeah, we're not allowed to say.

So,

>> so, but when you say a good chunk, you

do mean a good chunk.

>> I do mean a good chunk, but then there's

also they're looking at doing another

version that has way more power.

>> Yeah.

>> Um I can't say how much, but honestly,

even the the one with a good chunk more

power is going to be rapid. The one I

drove was quick.

>> It felt brisk. Um, and so goodness me,

the the one with a chunk more power is

going to be mega and the one with a load

more power is going to be wild max

>> good.

>> Um, but the what really stood out even

with the the sort of limited power of

the one that I drove,

>> the chassis is just brilliant. It's just

brilliant.

>> Um, I want to drive it on dirt on the

loose because that's what it's built for

really. But even on the the handling

track, the test track at Vista,

it's I mean, it's what you want from a

buggy. It, you know, there's a load of

wheel travel. There's quite a lot of

body movement. It doesn't feel sort of

sloppy and weward, but it it does roll

and lean and pitch and dive.

>> Is it quite nomadic?

>> Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is that sort of

thing. I think probably more so cuz it's

a lighter car. Yeah.

>> Um, so they don't have to tie it down so

much. Um, but what the the sort of

defining trait was that you would hurl

it at a corner quite quickly and it

would on roll it would roll a bit and

then just over steer and it through

certain corners if you got it right you

just turn it in and then you'd be

neutral on the steering and the thing

would just steer itself all the way

through just sort of sliding all the way

through the exit through the entry.

>> Sounds like a properly set up historic

race car. Oh,

>> it was it was brilliant fun. This one

didn't have the power to break traction

on exit and slide that way.

>> Yeah,

>> maybe the other ones will. Um, but even

so, launching a at a corner, neutral

steering, just feeling it turn itself

around the entry of the bend. Brilliant,

brilliant thing.

>> You had a good day out. And so the the

reason I was doing this was to do some

filming for um to launch a competition

that we're holding with Bistotion

>> where three winners plus a guest will be

able to go along to Bistotion,

meet Ben, have a look around the Hedley

Studios factory and drive the cars on

the track.

>> Yeah.

>> And the Bentley on the road as well.

>> I don't know. I don't know if they

>> we have discussed it.

>> Okay. But, you know, these are not

finalized, but it's whatever it's going

to be, it's going to be a hell of a

competition. And the point is, this is

not something you can go out and buy.

>> You absolutely can't.

>> It really is a money cannot buy this

price.

>> Whoever wins is going to have a blast.

It's going to be a very memorable day.

Um, we're not launching the competition

right now, but over the next few days,

we are going to launch it on social

media. So, you're just going to have to

check out

>> Stay tuned at the Intercooler on

Instagram. You'll find us on Twitter,

The Intercooler X. It's called X, isn't

it? Um, and we will launch the

competition very soon and we'll explain

how to enter. But goodness me, you want

to enter because it's it's a hell of a

lot of fun.

>> Whoever wins it is gonna have an

absolute bl and actually they they're

plus ones will have a hugely amusing

time just watching you

>> Yeah.

>> barrel around the test track on these

things. Having the time of your life.

>> Yeah. Brilliant. Well, talking of time

of your life.

>> Yeah.

>> Spitfire.

>> Oh, yes.

There's a wonderful story which I

believe to be true. Um years ago there

was a track day happening in Goodwood.

Um and there were a couple of people

having a chat in the in the paddock and

one turned to the other and go um what

did you come in today? And the person

said oh I I came in a Spitfire and the

bloke went triumphed which he replied no

supermarine. [laughter]

>> And I so hope that's true. I so I know

people who swear that they were there.

And I just think that no supermarine is

one of the [laughter] alltime great

replies. Um, yes. Uh, if you subscribe

to the website and an app, you will know

this already. Um, [sighs and gasps] I

flown a Spitfire,

>> which means no Supermarine, [laughter]

>> but I didn't just fly in a Spitfire. I

flew a Spitfire.

>> I didn't just fly a Spitfire. I flew a

proper combat veteran Spitfire. um you

know which had shot at the bad guys um

during World War II. It was

so the background is when I was the

editor of motorsport in 2000.

Um there was this plan that because I

used to do lots of track test racing

cars. Um but on the 60th anniversary of

the battle of Britain, there was this

plan that I would go and fly a Spitfire

uh instead and just sort of like track

fly one of these things. And for reason

for reasons I won't bother going into

now, but I think probably is in the

story uh it didn't happen. And so for

the last 25 years, I mean, I went to a

prep school that was in Eastborne, um,

which is, you know, basically below the

skies in which the Battle of Britain was

fought. And as a kid, I used to go and

play literally in the bomb holes that

were left by the German bombers as they

abandoned their

>> their loads and fled for home. Um, so

it's been part of me. Uh, and if you

freeze, there's a certain point in the

Battle of Britain film that if you know

where to freeze from, you can actually

see the school that I spent six of my

years of my life in. And I just always

wanted to do And then after this event

in 2000, I've I've just been so

wanting to find a way. Um, and one of

the joys of doing this job, uh, if I

can, you know, be incredibly sort of

smug about the whole thing is that now

there is a way because so long as, you

know, you can justify editorially,

um, and and and we kind of call the the

shots on that. And you know, as you as

people who subscribe will know, we don't

just do cars on the website and app.

It's overwhelmingly cars, but we have

this tab called Universe where we might

talk about mountaineering or speedboats

or aircraft or whatever motorcycles. And

so there was a place for it and there's

this amazing company called

Spitfires.com.

>> Uh they've actually got 10 locations all

over the UK from um up in Scotland to

down in the Channel Islands. Um, but

I've only ever known them from Goodwood

where I think their sort of like head

office is. Um, and I put it to them and

they went, "Come and have a go." So, I

turned up to spitfires.com. Uh, and they

are unbelievably professional.

>> U, you know, they are licensed by the

CIA to maintain and service Spitfires to

teach people how to fly Spitfires. Not

just idiots like me, but people who want

to buy their own Spitfire and fly it

around on their own. So they you they

will train proper pilots to fly

Spitfires. Um and the briefings that you

go through, you know, you've got to

watch about 45 minutes of videos before

you even leave home. Um you get

rigorously tested when you're there and

quite right too and asked again and

again and again. You know what happens

if something goes wrong and the chances

of something going you learn two things.

One is the chances of something going

wrong are microscopically small.

>> And secondly,

almost whatever goes wrong, however bad,

you're almost certainly going to have

options which don't involve

>> really some kind of cortees.

>> Yeah.

>> Um you can get out

>> and um and you need to know this because

when you're in the aircraft, it feels

like you're on your own because you're

not sat next to anyone. You sit in a

separate cockpit. M you can't see the

pilot. Um if the engine's not going, you

know, at sort of, you know, maximum

bananas, uh you can hear the pilot a bit

in your ears, um but that's quite hard.

And so the point being is if something

did go wrong, and it it absolutely

won't. But were it to, you

have to know what you're doing.

>> So you have to know what to do. And

actually the funny thing is is having

been told all of this and watched all

the videos and everything, I became much

more reassured than it didn't scare me

off at all.

>> Not that I would ever have not done it

anyway, but um if I could have been more

eager to do it than I was, I would have

been after having been told the truth

about the risk you're taking, which are

negligible. Um and so I climbed into

this thing. It's called thing called a

Spitfire Mark 9. It was the first

Spitfire with a two stage supercharged

uh Merlin engine about 1500 horsepower

flat out about 400 and something miles

an hour. Um and I had this amazing bloke

called Charlie Huke who was my pilot.

He's flown over 250 different sorts of

aircraft and he's you know spitfires to

him are [snorts] you know what you know

any kind of normal car that you and I

drive to do. It's just something you can

just get in and go and do.

[clears throat] He doesn't find that

difficult at all. Um, and what can I

say? It's one of those weird things. I

can remember this. Anybody watching this

on YouTube will see uh we mentioned it

earlier that Porsche 917 in Saltsburg

colors on the table in front of us. When

I first drove that car, um, I was nervy

about it because all my life it was the

car I wanted to drive. Um, and you built

up this massive weight of expectations

and your fear is that the experience

itself isn't going to live up to your

rather childish expectations of it. And

it did. And the Spitfire was exactly the

same. Whatever, however good I thought

flying a Spitfire was going to be,

>> it was better.

>> It was mesmerizing. It the sense of it's

so unlike being in a normal airplane

where you're sat there in the seat with,

you know, someone's seat back in front

of you, someone you don't know to one

side and a small little port hole. You

Spitfire, you've got this massive bubble

that you sit in. You can see everything.

You've got all the controls, all the

dials, all the gauges, all the switches.

You look out to your left, to your

right, and you see that extraordinary

elliptical wing that Reginald Mitchell

designed in the mid 1930s. Um that was

so key to the Spitfire's performance.

>> Do do you understand the theory behind

that wing?

>> I'd like to say that I do,

>> but no.

>> Okay. But it somehow it makes the the

plane hyper agile.

>> Hyper agile. And that was the thing it

could So, you know, [clears throat] the

measure smmiths were up against, you

know, they had cannons and the Spitfires

only had uh machine guns. the Measure

Smiths were better. Um,

uh, I think I don't know whether they

were quicker. They might have climbed

faster, but there were many areas in

which, um, the Measure Smith was a

superior aircraft, but it could never

outturn

>> a Spitfire. And so if you had a Spitfire

and you were and and there was a Measure

Smmith trying to get away from you, um,

yeah, you had you had far and away the

easy job because whatever it did, it did

you could do more.

>> Wow. Um, and anyway, so, um, I went up

in this thing. Um, and

we did some we did some tracking shots.

Um, and down, you know, you and I do

tracking shots all the time. When

there's a third dimension involved and

you're doing nearly 200 miles an hour,

it is a bit different. Uh, and it was

very blowy that day. I couldn't believe

[clears throat] how close to this camera

plane, which I think called the Cessna

Caravan. Uh, Charlie was prepared to

park this Spitfire. Really,

>> the real problem was that the Cessna was

going absolutely as fast as it could and

the Spitfire was going absolutely as

slowly as it could. Um, and we were told

that we had 5 minutes because the

Spitfire can't fly that slow for very

long. I mean, the Spitfire really

doesn't want to do a lot less than 200,

>> right?

>> Um, so as we're doing this and then as

soon as we done that, he went, "Well,

off you go. Your airplane."

>> And I was just, you know, I have flown

I'm not a pilot. I've never um even

attempted to become a pilot, but I've

flown you a couple of things and I've

been up on a glider and so on. Um so I I

I understand the basics, you know, I

know what the big stick in front of you

for and I know what the what what the

pedals do and I know what most of the

dials do, but I'm not much further on

than that. And then suddenly and I can

remember I I sort of rather

um hesitantly took the stick in my hand

and put my feet on the rudder bars and

then I sort of looked in front and the

only time I ever saw him at all was I

just saw the tips of his fingers. He

stuck his fing his his hands in the air

just to prove to me that he wasn't

flying it anymore. And there I was

flying a Spitfire. And I sort of said to

him, um, well, what can I do? And he was

going, "Well, what do you want to do?" I

said, "Well, could I try a turn?" He

went, "Your airplane." [laughter]

I couldn't believe it. So I I turned

left, I turned right, I went up, I went

down, I flew out to sea, I turned

around, I came back. [laughter] It was

amazing.

>> Wow.

>> I mean, wow. What a thing to do. What a

thing to do. It's really expensive.

>> Yeah.

>> It's about 100 quid a minute.

>> Yeah. But you know, if you can possibly

think of being able to afford it, what I

absolutely promise you is that the

memory of the bill will fade and pass

and the memory of flying that will be

with you for the rest of your days. And

if you can afford, it's about 500 quid

to have a Cessna up with you.

>> Yeah. Oh, you should.

>> A, you can fill you can fill it up with

your mates. Um, but the pictures that

you can get, the memory that gives you.

I mean, there is a camera in the in the

plane which was one of these weird 360

degree cameras which lets you see

everything.

>> Um, and there's some amazing footage.

When when I handed control back to

Charlie, he just did a

>> what people call an a victory roll. It's

actually a simple aileron roll, but it's

just, you know, it's a roll. And so,

you're upside down in a Spitfire. Um,

and so you can see that you simply see

your face with the ground apparently

above you, which is which is quite fun.

Um, but it's nothing like the pictures

that you get from the Cessna,

particularly someone who's got a half

decent camera and knows how to point it

and squirt it. Um, so yeah, so that was

it. And you can fly it for as little as

I think 25 minutes or as much as 75

minutes. Even if you do the shortest

flight possible, that get you out over

the White Valley.

>> You've done it. Yeah. Um, if you take

the long one, you can go to Bristol, you

can go to do, you can you can, you know,

but even with the shortest one, which I

think is about three and a bit thousand

pounds, you've flown a Spitfire. And you

they didn't say to me, do you want to

fly because I was doing it for a story

or because I'm me or in any way special.

If you want to fly a Spitfire, you can

go and fly a Spitfire. You never need to

have flown anything before in your life.

Um, and all you have to do is go on

Spitfires.com

and, you know, they will do everything

else. And there was such a professional

organization.

Um, as I said, I felt really reassured

by it. And for a long time after you go

into that sort of phase of really not

quite being able to believe that you did

it.

>> Anyway, the story is on the website now.

It's in two parts. I really tortured

people because I wrote I wrote the first

half of it. We weren't even off the

ground by the end of it.

>> Um, which was all about the buildup to

it and what you have to do and what you

need to do and the the training and what

it's like to sit in and then taxi out.

And then the second half is all about

flying the thing. Um,

and it's one of the best things I've

ever done in my life.

>> Yeah. I mean, the two-part story is

fantastically written, as you'd imagine.

And it's quite rightly been received

brilliantly. Everyone who read it really

enjoyed it. So, you must go and check it

out if you haven't already. There will

actually be a video coming in the next

week or two.

>> Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah.

Yes. We shot a video as well.

>> Yeah.

>> So, that'll be up quite shortly on the

Intercooler YouTube channel.

>> You can see me upside down on a

Spitfire.

>> Super cool thing to do.

>> Nuts.

>> Really, really cool.

>> Very lucky. Um [clears throat]

well listen, let's wrap this one up. Um

I will remind you all that you can

subscribe to the intercooler and get

this podcast ad free. The midweek ask

the intercooler show ad free audio

articles full access to our magazine and

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read all of them if you want to. Um and

you can subscribe for 20% off for the

first year if you choose an annual sub

and use coupon code pod 20. Um

>> go and do it. It's brilliant.

>> You really should. Um, if you're

watching this on you, if you're watching

this on YouTube, excuse me, please just

subscribe to our channel. Um, if you're

listening as

>> if you're watching on YouTube, can you

tell us what you think of the 917?

>> Yeah,

>> I think it's fabulous.

>> How good does it look? Brilliant, I

would say. Um, and if you are just

listening to this as an audio podcast,

please please follow the show on

whichever app you use. Um, and we'll be

back with another episode next week. See

you then.

Our thoughts on the Jason Plato episode and flying a Spitfire #283

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Bentley Blower

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