The Renault Twingo is a small car made for city driving. People bring it up because it’s compact and practical, not because it’s a high-performance machine.
Concept
smuggled out of Japan
They’re talking about a real-life story where someone left Japan in a hidden or unusual way. It’s not about how a car works—more about the background behind the person they’re joking about.
Yamaha is a Japanese brand most people associate with motorcycles and instruments. In this segment it’s just part of a weird story detail, not a car they’re talking about.
Instead of the classic speedometer/tach with needles, some cars use screens to show all the gauges. Screens can look awesome at first, but they can get outdated or start acting up as the years go by.
A 5-liter V8 is a big gas engine with eight cylinders. Bigger engines like this often make strong power, but the exact feel depends on how the car is tuned.
They’re complaining about a touchpad used to control the car’s functions. Some people prefer real buttons because they’re easier to use quickly while driving.
An infotainment system is the car’s screen and controls for things like music, navigation, and phone. If it’s annoying or hard to use, it can make the whole car feel worse.
The ML-Class is a midsize luxury SUV made by Mercedes-Benz. It’s the kind of vehicle people buy for comfort and space. In the podcast, it’s being criticized mainly for its infotainment (the screen and controls for media and settings).
The Pontiac Fiero is an older sports car made by Pontiac. Its engine sits behind the driver, which helps it feel sporty. People bring it up because it’s a distinctive-looking, older car that can still be fun to drive.
The Pontiac Trans Sport is a minivan made by Pontiac. It was built to carry people comfortably, usually for family trips and daily driving. In the podcast, it’s brought up as another Pontiac option from a different type of vehicle than a sports car.
LIVE
Yeah, um, what's next? Um, bup-bup-bup-bup-bup. Jason Marker asks, what's your favorite automotive quote, weird little guy?
Twingo? I think it's twingo, right?
I think that's probably fair. I also, you know, if you're gonna, like, take this as a, um, you know, I was reading it from, like, the Molly Konger perspective.
Molly Konger does the podcast called Weird Little Guys about, like, right-wingers, I think.
Uh-huh.
Uh, like, just strange assholes from America's history. Um, I was gonna say, uh, Henryk Fisker.
Oh.
Because I think it's very funny to keep starting car companies and have yourself an immediately forward one.
Yeah, yeah, if you're going this way, uh, my version of this is, uh, fucking, uh, Carlos Gown.
Yeah, yeah, there we go.
Just getting smuggled out of Japan. Oh my god. No, we gotta, uh...
We gotta do a special episode on Carlos. We should get Carlos Gown on the pod.
Vicki, we might need a burner name to try to, like...
We might need a burner, like...
Please come out our reputable automotive podcast.
The name's really good.
Normal cars for normal people.
The, uh, yeah, the...
Welcome to car talk. Uh, like, we might, we might need to do some, uh...
Some clever email name obfuscation.
Uh, but yeah, I think Carlos Gown...
For those of you who don't know, Carlos Gown was the niece on X-Act.
He got smuggled out of Japan in a Yamaha instrument suitcase.
Sure did.
Uh, when they were going, they, because he was arraigned on, like, really serious federal charges for...
Which were probably not real.
Well, they might have been, it's, it's so hard to say.
The Japanese...
It's one of those situations, it's one of those situations where it's like,
yeah, when the Japanese government wants to railroad you for a crime, they can do so pretty easily,
because that's the way they're just...
99% conviction rate.
99% could, they don't bring a case unless they're sure.
And, yeah, they also, like, can torture you to a certain extent to extract confession.
Uh, which, again, I say, does this sound familiar at all?
Since the US has, like, a 97% conviction rate.
Anyway.
Um...
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
But he fled to Lebanon, which is where he's from.
And then, like, has been on, like, a very aggrieved, sort of like, they did me dirty,
kind of kick for a long time.
He's quite funny.
He's really funny.
He's very bombastic.
He's incredible.
I genuinely...
Yes.
And in their moment of darkness, they probably need him again, but they're not gonna do it.
But, um...
No.
No, I do think he'd be really fun to talk to.
Oh, absolutely.
Um, we should also get Henrique Fiskaran.
We could get Henrique on.
He might call us slurs, unsure what Henrique's vibe is these days.
Um...
Uh...
Oh, God, you know who I want to get on.
I want to get on the transgender as, like, Ferrari guy.
Do you think he'd love us?
Do you think we're his favorite?
Maybe.
Maybe he's already a listener.
If you're that guy, Tran Gurlizbo at gmail.com.
Um...
Uh, you wanna grab the next one?
Uh, yeah, Josh J asks, what are some cars that you think were one small bad decision
away from greatness?
Any modern car that had touchscreens and, uh, digital gauges instead of analog gauges.
Everything that has digital gauges in a digital cluster is going to age like milk.
Yeah.
I was gonna say, uh, the whole F line of, like, the actual true Fs from Lexus.
Because the...
Was it, like, 3URGSE or whatever?
The big 5-liter V8.
Um, kicks, unbelievable ass, and the stupid little, like, touchpad thing kind of sucks.
And it turned everybody off the car, and, uh, I think that they would be considered, like,
an M-class competitor if it had not been for the hateful infotainment system.
Uh, Mercedes AMG going hybrid, the way they explained it, probably undid it.
Uh...
Especially over the last couple of years have led to, like, just baffling choices.
Uh, yeah.
Uh, I really like the second part of this question.
Oh, yeah.
The second part of Josh's question is, what car would each of your cats drive?
This is why I allowed two questions, because I wanted to answer this one.
Uh, Beep Beep would drive a beat-to-shit Pontiac Fero.
I tried to, I tried to picture her in much nicer, fancier things.
Uh, Stella was just like, uh, she'd drive, like, some sort of shitty Pontiac, and I'd like,
yeah, that's probably, like, she'd at least drive a Fiero or something cool, but yeah.
Uh, that cat's a disaster and probably drives a dead car.
Uh, Bert is named for Bert Reynolds.
So, I think naturally he would drive a 1977 Pontiac Trans AM.
Pontiac cat's incredible.
Pontiac cat's, yeah.
Um, Pontiac, sponsor our podcast.
It'd be, I was thinking, uh, just, you know, we're an hour and a half into the bonus episodes, so I can say whatever now.
About this episode
The hosts field reader questions with a mix of automotive trivia, dark humor, and “normal cars” banter. They trade favorite automotive quotes and riff on oddball figures like Carlos Gown, the X-Act niece who fled Japan after serious charges, debating how governments can pressure confessions. Then they tackle “one bad decision away from greatness,” blaming aging digital gauge clusters and touchscreen-heavy interiors—citing Lexus F models and Mercedes AMG’s hybrid pivot. The episode ends with playful cat-car picks: a beat-up Pontiac Fiero, a dead car, and a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am.
Hello! Welcome to another bonus episode of Tran Girlismo. Once again, we're here to answer your questions for basically two hours. Thank you immensely to our subscribers for supporting us!!!
