A “tribute” build is like building a modern version of an older car to honor it. They’re recreating the original Baja Bug’s idea after the original got destroyed.
Amelia Island is a place in Florida where car enthusiasts go for classic-car events. The speaker likes it because it’s easier to enjoy than places with heavy traffic.
Pebble Beach is a well-known California destination where people go for major classic-car events. The host is saying they also go there, but it can be more stressful because of traffic.
A vintage car rally is an organized driving event for older cars, usually with a route, scheduled stops, and a focus on enjoying the vehicles rather than racing. It’s a common format for early cars like the 1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash.
Lago de Como refers to Lake Como in Italy, a well-known scenic driving area. The host uses it as context for where they drove the car on the tires being discussed.
The sidewall is the part of the tire on the outside edge, not the tread. It’s also where you often see the tire’s look and markings, and the host says that’s what they love here.
An “outlaw” car is a custom classic that’s not trying to be exactly like it left the factory. It’s usually built to drive better or feel more exciting, while still keeping a cool vintage vibe.
A “donor car” is a car you buy to use as the source for parts or the base for a project. “Patina” means the natural wear-and-age look, so it sounds like the car already looked cool in an old-school way.
“Pre-A” here is an era/variant label used to distinguish earlier versions of the car from later updates. In enthusiast circles, these labels matter because early cars often have different exterior details and sometimes different baseline engineering before later improvements.
“Body bumpers” means bumpers that are shaped to look like they belong to the car’s body, instead of standing out. It’s mostly about the look of the car’s front and rear.
Rear suspension is the system that connects the rear wheels to the car and controls how they move over bumps and during cornering. The segment ties it to the 911-based conversion, implying the builder chose a known, capable suspension layout to improve stability and drivability.
Rack-and-pinion steering is a steering system where a gear (“pinion”) moves along a straight bar (“rack”) to turn the wheels. It’s commonly praised for providing direct, precise steering feel compared with older steering designs, which is especially noticeable in a car built for stability and driving enjoyment.
Disc brakes are the common braking system where pads squeeze a metal rotor to slow the car down. “Big” brakes generally mean stronger stopping power and better resistance to fade when braking hard.
Brewster Green is a specific named paint color. They’re saying the newer version of that color can look a bit dull, so they added extra sparkle (pearl) to make it pop.
Pearl is a type of paint pigment that makes the color shimmer and look deeper. It helps the paint look more interesting as you move around and as the light changes.
Term
flop in the paint
“Flop” is how paint changes color depending on the angle you’re looking at it. Good paint flop makes the color look richer and more dimensional.
Basket weave is a seat fabric pattern that looks like a woven crisscross. It’s mostly about the look and feel, and it can also be more forgiving as the material ages.
“Speedster seats” means a sportier seat design used in Porsche speedster-style interiors. They’re usually shaped to hold you better during spirited driving, not just for everyday comfort.
They’re talking about the steering wheel’s diameter in millimeters. A 400 mm wheel is slightly larger, which can make steering feel a bit slower or require different effort than a smaller wheel.
Term
385
“385” is the wheel diameter in millimeters. A smaller wheel usually makes steering feel more responsive because you move your hands less to get the same steering change.
A “reproduction” part is a remake of the original design. In this case, they’re saying the remake is built stronger and doesn’t flex as much as the original.
“Basket weave” is a patterned upholstery look—like the way a basket is woven. Car seats can use this pattern to add style, but too many colors or patterns can start to look cluttered.
Here, “interior” means the inside of the car—things like the seats and upholstery. If someone wants a specific look, it usually shows up in the interior first.
Concept
build this
Here, “build this” means the shop deciding not to make a specific customer-requested version of the car. They’re saying the brand has to stay consistent, because one wrong choice can hurt trust.
A sand car is a vehicle built for driving on sand dunes. The idea is that what works well for sand driving doesn’t necessarily work well for a classic street car like a Porsche 356.
Throttle bodies control how much air the engine can breathe. “Gen-V” just means a newer design/version that’s usually better calibrated for smooth driving.
The alternator charges the battery and powers electrical systems while the engine runs. A higher-amp alternator can support bigger electrical loads, like running air conditioning.
Electric air conditioning is A/C that runs using electricity. It lets you have modern climate comfort even when the rest of the car is set up differently than a stock factory system.
A shroud is a cover around part of the engine area. Here it’s described as amber fiberglass, and the host is saying it’s a styling detail inspired by Porsche race cars.
The Porsche 911R is a famous, track-oriented 911 from Porsche’s racing past. The host mentions it because it’s tied to the development of the 911-style engine used in later race cars.
The Porsche 910 is an older Porsche race car from the 1960s. The host brings it up because it’s part of the same racing history that inspired the engine-bay styling.
The Porsche 917 is a famous old Porsche race car from the 1960s. The host mentions it because they wanted a design detail that reminds you of that racing era.
Here, “freeway” means a high-speed highway. The point is that a small, low-power car can feel strained when you need quick acceleration and steady speed.
Term
three and a quarter inch wide wheels
Wheel width determines how wide the tire can be. Narrow tires usually have less grip and can feel less confident when you’re trying to accelerate on a fast road like a freeway.
The Peterson Auto Museum is a well-known automotive museum in Los Angeles. The segment uses it as the event location where the car was debuted to a Porsche 356 club.
This segment centers on the car’s debut to the Porsche 356 SoCal Club (or a related local organization). It’s a narrative “where/when” moment that explains why local enthusiasts recognized the car’s history.
Chick Iverson is referenced as a dealership figure connected to the early ownership history of the car. The segment frames it as the place where the 356 was bought from, and later where the speaker’s family member worked.
Volkswagen is the German automaker mentioned in the dealership location context (“Chick Iverson, Volkswagen, Porsche”). It indicates the dealership’s multi-brand footprint rather than a specific performance or technical topic.
A paint-to-sample program is when a car company can make a custom paint color to match a specific sample. The speaker is saying Porsche didn’t offer this kind of official custom-color option back then, so special requests were handled differently.
Paint swatches are little sample pieces of paint used to check that the color is exactly right. The shop makes samples, then sends them to Porsche so the final car paint matches the customer’s chosen color.
The Porsche 356 was Porsche’s early classic model from the 1950s and early 1960s. It’s a big deal because it’s the predecessor to the 911, and this episode says the car is from the very last part of the 356’s production.
An open barge is a ship-like carrier that doesn’t fully enclose the cargo. The speaker is saying that because cars were shipped this way back then, they arrived with protective stuff that had to be dealt with on arrival.
This means Porsche parts that are no longer made. The shop was selling leftover “new old stock” parts that were still in inventory even though Porsche had stopped producing them.
Porsche Parts Obsolete is the name of the speaker’s dad’s shop, described as a partnership. The business specialized in selling discontinued Porsche parts as new-old-stock inventory.
“New old stock” parts are items that were made in the past but never got sold. They’re still unused, so they can be a way to get original-style parts for older cars.
A VW Beetle is the famous old Volkswagen “bug.” Here, they’re describing a weird custom version where the body was made from wrought iron, but it still ran like a real car.
A “sill” is the metal part along the bottom of the car by the doors. If it’s described as “machine steel,” it likely means a custom or non-factory steel piece was used there, so people can tell it’s not original.
A parts manager is the person in a dealership who handles the parts department—what parts are stocked and sold. In this story, that role also involved encouraging customers to buy extra parts.
Upsell means trying to get the customer to spend more by buying extra or a better option. Here, it’s about encouraging the owner to add things like steering wheels.
“Durant mirror” is the host’s shorthand for a more typical mirror style associated with a different expected setup. In the segment, it’s used as a reference point so listeners can understand why the car’s mirror choice looks “wrong” at first glance but may actually be correct for that specific build.
A Talbot mirror is a particular type of side mirror. The host is saying this car has the Talbot version instead of the more common mirror people expect, which helps explain what’s original versus what was added later.
A horn toggle is a switch that changes the horn sound. The host learns it lets you pick between two different tones, like a deeper sound versus a higher “euro” style tone.
“Factory installed” means the car left the manufacturer with that feature already fitted on the production line. The hosts contrast this with dealer-installed work, which can affect how original the car’s configuration is and how enthusiasts judge its authenticity.
“Dealer installed” refers to modifications or options added by the dealership after the car was built. In collector-car circles, this can be a positive story (because it was done through the dealer) or a negative one (because it’s not as original as factory fitment).
A horn ring is the part on the steering wheel you press to honk. On older cars it can be wired in a way that works with other horn controls to make different sounds.
Cosmoline is a sticky, greasy coating used to keep metal from rusting while a car is stored or shipped. If you still see it, it usually means the car hasn’t been cleaned much yet.
In enthusiast usage, “unmolested” means the car has not been modified or tampered with from its original condition. It’s often used to emphasize originality and preservation, especially for older cars with valuable period-correct details.
Concept
machine turned pieces
“Machine turned pieces” are components finished with a lathe-like process to create precise, decorative circular patterns. On classic cars, these details are often part of the trim and can signal higher-end fitment or careful restoration/preservation.
“993” is a specific Porsche 911 generation. When people say “993 component,” they mean a part made for that exact 911 generation, not just any 911 part.
The Porsche 935 is a race-focused version of a Porsche 911. It was made to compete in motorsport events, not just for everyday driving. People bring it up because it’s one of the more famous and intense Porsche race cars.
Impact zones are parts of the car’s front and rear that are designed to crumple in a controlled way during a crash. New safety requirements can force those zones to be built differently than on classic cars.
Bumper heights are how high the bumpers are from the ground. Safety rules can require bumpers to be set at certain heights, which can change the shape of a car—especially an older design.
A pillars are the main metal posts at the front of the car that hold up the roof and support the windshield area. They’re important in crashes, so safety rules can force changes to them.
Nick Shorsh is the person the host says he’s built several cars for. He’s also connected to the Audrain project mentioned right before the 914 discussion.
Audrain is the organization the host mentions as being involved in the project. It’s basically the group commissioning or coordinating these custom builds.
Person
Mike
Mike is mentioned as Nick Shorsh’s partner. The host says he’s built a car for Mike too, in the context of the same project work.
The Porsche 914 is a small sports car with the engine mounted in the middle of the car. Here, they’re saying the 914 is a bit awkward to work on because the wiring is crowded, so they want to make it simpler for their custom build.
A wiring harness is basically the car’s electrical “wire bundle” that connects all the electronics. They’re saying the 914’s wiring is packed in tightly, which makes it feel cluttered to work on.
“Outlaw” in Porsche circles usually refers to a restomod-style build philosophy: taking a classic Porsche and modifying it for modern usability and driving feel while keeping the character of the original. Here, they’re comparing treating the 914 more like their “Outlaw” builds to make it simpler and more driver-focused.
“GT silver” is a particular shade of silver paint associated with Porsche’s GT cars. They like it because it looks especially good and hides small scratches and chips better than some other silvers.
The Porsche 550 is a famous old Porsche race car from the 1950s. They’re talking about their own “55 coupe” and how they like silver because it reminds them of early Porsche racing cars.
Horsepower is a number that tells you how strong the engine is. “425 horsepower” means the car’s engine is making a pretty high amount of power for its class.
Ed Pink is a well-known Porsche engine builder and tuner in the classic Porsche community, associated with high-output air-cooled performance builds. In this segment, he’s credited with building a 425-horsepower engine for the speaker’s car.
Topic
Porsche literature swap meet at the Hilton
They’re talking about a regular Porsche fan event where people trade Porsche-related items like books and memorabilia. The speaker says they’ve been going for years and met other enthusiasts there.
Blueprint cabinets are old-style storage drawers for big paper plans. Here, the speaker uses them like a display case because the drawers fit toy cars well.
They talk about how they used to go to events and vendor booths to hunt for rare toy car models. It was a fun way to discover unusual cars and build a collection.
The Volkswagen Bus is a type of van made by Volkswagen. It’s known for having lots of room and a recognizable look. People talk about it because it’s an unusual, memorable vehicle that can be used for everyday trips or trips with friends and family.
The Porsche 904 is an old Porsche race car from the 1960s. Here, the host is using it as a visual reference—like a “look at this” example—for how they want the front end of their project to be designed.
A bead blaster is a machine that shoots tiny abrasive beads at a surface. People use it to clean metal and remove old paint or buildup before doing the next step of the work.
This is a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS, which is a track-oriented version of the Cayman. It’s meant to be fun and precise, but the host says they like their other Porsches more.
LIVE
Rod, good to see you again, man.
Good to see you.
It's fine.
When we were on the show, like maybe in September or last year?
It was.
It was September.
And you, if I'm not mistaken, were moving the whole operation over to Kentucky.
Where are we?
We're getting there.
No, we aren't actually moving the workshop until about this time next year.
Oh, okay.
So, but we were just in the process of getting our permits when we talked.
We've got all of our permits finalized.
And since then, we've been moving, we moved about 90,000 cubic yards of dirt.
So, you know, that's a lot of dirt.
And you know, it looks like the site of like a new Amazon building right now.
You know, I mean, you drive by those sites that are getting ready to clear that.
So, is it pro-tip, they think it's a data center or something?
No, we're doing okay.
But yeah, so it's right outside of the town of Wrightwood.
So it's up in the mountains.
Oh, nice.
The Angeles Crest Highway in between Wrightwood and Big Bear.
And yeah, right now we're pouring foundations and doing retaining walls.
And we'll start doing the main big building in about September.
And then we'll start moving May, June of next year.
Well, I've got a lot to talk about.
I've got a ton of questions from your fans.
But why don't you tell us what's going on at the shop first?
What is summer like for Rod Emery?
Does it ever stop for you?
Do you get to take a break?
It never stops.
Well, since I was here last, I became a grandfather, which is the coolest.
It's the greatest.
I have to start there because the greatest, you know, as as, you know,
I lost my father in August of last year.
And that was a trying time for me.
You know, I mean, I built even though I didn't take over my dad's business.
My grandfather built a foundation that I was able to start my business on.
And and I've spent my life, you know, honoring the work that they've done.
And, you know, my grandfather passed away 20 years ago.
And my dad, you know, last summer and and it just it kind of forced me
into a bit of a reset, you know, both health, you know, mindset, everything.
And what did you change about your health?
What did I change about my health?
Yeah, you've only struck me as very kind of in shape.
Yeah, but I'm down.
I'm about 15 pounds lighter.
Lighter than I was.
And my blood pressure is lower.
And of course, you know, I'm very physical in the shop.
I'm working all day long.
But, you know, if you put the wrong stuff in your body, it in a shop.
Like if I came over to I'd want to be eating sloppy joes all day.
Wrenching and eating sloppy joes.
Yeah, that sounds romantic, right?
It is. And it gets kind of hard to order salad around a bunch of guys
who got grease on their face and what is he what's Rod doing?
But you know, reward yourself and you can you can have a great time.
Well, that's good.
But, you know, I watched my dad's, you know, health decline real quick.
Yes. And and it just kind of shook me up a bit.
And as it does, so did a reset and bringing
this amazing little guy back, my grandson into my life.
Just immediately brought that spark back in me.
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah.
So now the, you know, the future is bright.
The next another generation of, you know,
Emory is has has been born.
It is. And you know, for those who don't know, and many do,
it starts with Neil Emory, correct?
Very custom shop in Burbank in the 40s.
In the 40s. Right.
He gives birth to your dad, Gary, and in the 60s.
And he has a parts obsolete business.
That's for China, my entry point.
Portion parts obsolete.
What are these guys doing?
Collecting these parts and selling is that a real business?
Apparently it is.
And then Gary has this guy.
I mean, is Zane feeling pressure?
Your son to then carry on, carry the torch?
Are you putting pressure on?
I'm not putting pressure on either of my kids.
So, you know, as you may recall, both kids,
my daughter, Jade, who's 23 and my son, Zane, 28,
they both are full time working in the business with me.
It's this is like the automotive equivalent to succession.
Yeah, there you go. What is building right now?
Well, it's all fine now because you look like you're 10 years old still.
But later on, it's going to there's going to be a battle.
No, yeah, for the Emery estate.
I don't think so.
I think that I think the way that we've we've kind of established it,
you know, we've always do we've always been a family business,
you know, or at least in the same industry and kind of working together.
And you know, when you were on the show last time,
we were talking about your other daughter, Sydney Sweeney.
Yep. And then I saw as I was doing research for you this morning,
that that story was in the sun in the tabloids.
And it said, it said, Rod Emery is my surrogate dad.
Where does she figure into the succession?
Do you see what a show we have going on here?
We got Sydney Sweeney. We've got we've got all Zane.
We've got this other guy, Drew. We've got Beck.
We don't even know what Beck wants. Oh, I can tell you.
Yeah. How old is Beck? Beck, six months old, six months.
Yeah, he weighs about 19 pounds and he's a he's a little tank.
You were with Jay Leno.
I asked to come on the show about three weeks ago.
And as always, I hear this a lot.
I'm shooting with Jay right now.
We're always a second string to Mr. Jay Leno.
But what were you doing with Jay?
So Jay Jay has me on there every couple of years,
some new car that we've got or something special
that he wants to showcase and show the world.
And I appreciate that.
You know, Jay knew my dad pretty well,
because my dad would go whenever I was shooting on site there,
he would, you know, my dad would go and kind of hang out there.
And Jay knew that my dad was the creator of the Baja Bug.
That's right. And so after my dad passed away, you know,
we finished building a technically a tribute to the original Baja Bug.
It's parts and pieces from it,
but the original one was totaled back in the 80s.
And so we finished building the tribute to the original Baja Bug.
And Jay asked if we'd bring it on his show
and help tell the story of the original Baja Bug and my dad
and how that whole concept came together.
And so you shot a little bit in the studio
and now you're going to take it out into the desert and do some driving.
We are. Yeah.
So, you know, there was a little, you know, his buddy, Donald,
was doing something back with the Audrey and guys some time ago
in a Baja Bug and trying to do donuts. Oh.
And so Jay said, hey, Donald Osborne, Donald Osborne.
So he's doing donuts in a Baja Bug. He was trying.
And so Jay says, you know, we need to get this original Baja Bug out.
We'll go find some dirt and I'll do some real donuts, you know.
So we're going to take it out in the desert and do a little bit of ripping
around and add that to the episode. So. Wow. Jay's the best.
He's unbelievable at this point.
I mean, every time I'm working with him or we're at an event together,
he's working 10 times harder than me.
He just never stops. Yeah. I mean, I'll see. Never stops.
You know, I go back and support the Audrey Museum and do a lot of stuff back.
Are you coming this year? Yes.
Yeah, good. I'm going to be there too. Oh, cool.
Oh, wait, wait, you were going to be you're you were going to be a guest
on an episode with me, I think.
But you're doing something right before that on Saturday with Jay.
It's such a mess. He stole me again.
It's totally fine, because then I'm going from that stage to Jay, too.
I'm like, well, who's how many shows again?
This proves proves my point.
There's like three shows in a row and Jay's in all of them.
I'm in two of them. You're probably in three of them.
But that event is fantastic. Oh, I love it. I absolutely love it.
You know, we used to go to to Amelia Island.
I mean, obviously we all go to Pebble Beach.
And but, you know, I get kind of burned out on all the traffic.
Yeah, yeah. And then we went to Amelia Island for a number of years
and really enjoyed that.
But then about, well, for the first odd rain one in 2019, Amy and I went back there
and and we fell in love with it. We fell in love with the area.
We fell in love with the tours they do.
In fact, Zane Drew and I just did the vintage car rally back there
in May and drove 1904 Osmobile Curved Ashes.
First time I'd ever been in something that old and that was awesome.
Yeah, it's just very laid back.
It's easy to walk to if the weather cooperates, you cannot beat it.
You can't beat it.
Well, that's cool. Yeah, we're going to have fun.
We're doing a show at the Gathering, I think, which is Friday.
OK, and then we're doing a show at the next day at that free show at Fort Adams.
Do I have that right? Is it? Yes.
It's a free cars and copy.
Massive in scope.
It's massive in scope.
And I guess we're doing a two shows ahead of that with Jay and any number of people.
Yeah. And we're doing.
Yeah, so I'm doing a couple of like seminars over at the tennis hall of fame.
See, he's in all of them. Yeah.
Oh, the tennis hall of fame. Yeah, that that's another thing.
Yeah, that's what really floored me about it.
It was like seeing the tennis hall of fame and they'd take the nets down
and put beautiful cars there.
And for me personally, that was just like, fuck, that's good drugs.
Yeah, two years ago, they featured my cars there.
So we had 25 of my cars, my grandfather's cars and my dad's cars all on the lawn.
So we had we had 25 cars at the hall.
Our cars were the featured ones.
Amazing. Well, let's look at this car you brought.
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These gentlemen slaved away making tires so that we could read about them.
Look, even the ice racing tires right there that are glowing red.
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Oh, God.
That was a Ferrari driving through Italian streets.
That just brought me back to my little vacation anyway.
All right, Rod, let's get back into it.
Show me this car you brought.
What do you have here?
Well, I thought I'd bring a car and rub it in Zuckerman's face.
Because the truth is, you know, here's he's the guy that just doesn't know
how to pull the trigger for eight to 10 years.
He's been telling me, Rod, I want one of your cars.
And, you know, he's kind of a pre-A guy.
He is.
So I thought I'd bring the 1953 little body bumper pre-A
that we just finished for Vivian Campbell.
He's the guitar player for Def Leppard.
That's so cool.
Vivian's an amazing guy, has a whole garage full of Porsches.
But Vivian wanted one of our little outlaw cars that, you know,
was very early period vintage looking.
And so we started with a 53 coupe that I actually bought off of.
Only time I've ever bought anything from RM and they had a really great
little car and it was a dope, like a full patina donor car.
Which, which RM auction?
Where was it, Amelia?
Or is it Pebble?
I forget.
It was, I did it online.
Okay.
So, yeah, found a great little car.
I think we, you know, we paid 90 grand for it or something
because it's a pre-A, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And, and then we converted it to body bumpers.
So, you know, because a 50 53 technically would have regular bumpers,
but he wanted that early look with body bumpers.
But underneath the cars got, you know, big disc brakes and 9-11 rear
suspension and rack and pinion steering, electric air conditioning.
Amazing.
It's really true about those cars.
Like they look beautiful, but, you know, when they're preserved, they're very slow.
Oh, they are.
And they're pokey and they're not great to drive.
Well, and yeah, the concept here, obviously, is a great look and then a fast car
and a stable car.
See, this is exactly what I'd built for Zuckerman if he didn't drag his feet.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I sent this to him because he's, he's got, you know, but, but I'm not
building one for him.
I'm over him.
So he flipped out.
You're over what?
I'm building the car for, for Paul.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's why I thought I would bring, I'd bring the car that I could have
built for him because, you know, yeah, anyways, but, but no, so this is a car
that really, you know, you can just cruise and it just looks so curious.
What is that 260 horsepower fuel injected, you know, big disc brakes.
What color green did you say?
So it's Brewster green.
But if you get up close, we added some pearl to it because, you know, the,
the factory, the new Brewster green that's on, on the new cars is a little bit
too flat.
Yeah, it just doesn't have that sparkle.
And the problem is when you, you know, if these cars are, you know, don't have
a little bit of flop in the paint, they can tend to look a little bit flat.
So we added a little bit of a pearl to it.
And yeah, the car is just amazing.
It's glossy.
Yeah.
Let's look inside.
Take us inside and tell us what we did.
Yeah, we did, we did kind of a dark red, like Bordeaux color interior.
Wow.
You know, with basket weave seats, speedster seats.
That's beautiful.
Tan German square weave carpet.
You know, that pre-aid dash is just something special, right?
And, and, you know, Vivian being a music guy, we wanted to still retain that early
radio in the center, which works and it's all, you know, 12 volts when it works.
But we also hid a sound stream, like a stealth amplifier and stereo underneath.
Oh my God.
He can stream from his phone.
So what do they call that steering wheel?
Derringer is Darrington.
Darrington.
Yep.
Yeah.
And, you know, the original steering wheels in these cars were 400 millimeters.
So a little bigger.
This is 385, so it's just a little smaller.
Is it an original one or a repro?
No, this is one of the reproduction ones.
That's good.
You know why they're stronger.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They don't do this.
Exactly.
I had one of those.
Yeah, I love the original Darrington wheels, but they just flex too much.
Yeah, they do.
And especially on our cars where, you know, the brakes are so good and, and, you know,
the steering is so precise, you want to make sure all that's strong.
So I have these made so that it's gorgeous and nice and stout.
Is that a cup holder?
I can't quite tell.
Oh, no, that's underneath on the left.
That's the air conditioning vents.
So they're tucked underneath the dash.
So that's my cup sitting there in my water bottle.
You know, I had to drive down here in traffic.
So there you go.
That's the proof he's healthy right there.
He's right.
He's hydrating this.
The seat color is amazing.
The colors on this car are spectacular.
Well, thank you.
I love the oatmeal and the burgundy and the green together with the wood.
And is this decision making it kind of leads me to a question I had for you.
It's like, did you do you help guide people like Segato helped guide
Zuckerman and I into the right color?
Yep. Oh, we do the same thing without a doubt.
You know, first, I like to kind of get to know who it is that I'm building a car
for it, right? Right.
You know, for Vivian, I've known him for 10, 12 years.
So it was a fun conversation because I already knew the other cars he had.
And it was, you know, but, you know, he had some ideas.
This is a dark green.
And then we started throwing greens around.
And I said, you know, why don't we add a little bit to the color?
You know, and then I start throwing out, you know, it's as well,
maybe red or a dark red.
And then I present colors that I think would be complimentary.
I see. And so it becomes a collaborative, you know, design.
But at the end of the day, you know, I want them to have the car they want.
But I also want something that fits our brand.
And, you know, I don't want to have 15 colors of basket weave in the seat.
No, that's a that's a tricky dance.
It is. That's a delicate maneuver, isn't it?
Oh, it is, you know, because because everybody has their ideas
and you just have to have to understand
that most of these people that I'm dealing with are type A decision makers
and in every aspect of their life.
And so I don't want to disrespect them.
But I also have to make sure that when the car delivers, I'm proud of it.
What have you ever been in this situation where, like, say, a Rodney Dangerfield
comes in and goes, I want to do golf pants interior.
Yeah, we've had to fire some clients.
So we've had to you had to.
Yeah, we've had to tell people that it's just not a good fit.
That's so amazing, because some people get aggressive, you know, when when you,
you know, no, I totally agree with you 100 percent.
You've got a brand and you've got to defend it.
And you don't want that out there because just one mistake.
I mean, that's why you're Rod Emery. I mean, well, I just that you.
So you just say, no, thank you, we're not going to build this.
Can you say at least what the what the thing was that made you go?
You know, no, the color. Oh, well, I mean, was it?
Sometimes I get people that, well, there was a specific situation that, you know,
but no, sometimes I get people that are like, oh, you know, I, you know,
I want one of your cars, but, you know, I really want like a Subaru engine or I want this.
It's just like, it's like, you know, and that's when you know real quick that, you know, I mean.
Look, I love Subaru, but I get what you're saying.
I've got a Subaru in my sand car that I take out the sand dunes, but it doesn't belong in my 356.
They are a great engine, but just not for this application.
Great. And you just say, no, because look, that's right.
You know, I'm with you. These, these cars will stand the test of time and move forward in
automotive history and you want them to look right and be right. And 200 years from now,
be something that you can be proud of, right? Yeah. I just toured the Vatican.
Yeah. They had one design concept. It's like, we're gonna, we're gonna paint with these goddamn
colors, red, sorry, God, red, gold and the rest of it. And they just do everything like that.
But there's a consistency to it. My son just came back from Paris and he was like, you know
what I noticed about the architecture is everything's kind of the same architecture there.
Right. Then you come back to LA, it's all over the place. Rod Emery cars are going to be like
Paris architecture. They're consistent. There's a consistent theme and like Vatican art.
Yeah. I mean, we build a number of different types of cars, but, but when you see one of our
cars, you can usually tell it's, it's, you know, it's tremendous. Show us the engine.
Yeah. Yeah. So this car has our newest version of our 2.6 liter fuel injected engine. So it
looks carbureted, but it's, it's got Gen-V throttle bodies and, you know, MoTeC ECU. So it runs just
as good here as it does at 11,500 feet, you know, in Colorado. So yeah. So lots of power,
lots of drivability, super smooth. And the fact that it's 911 based, we can run the big
155 amp alternator, which means we can run electric air conditioning, which, you know,
some people will say, oh, you know, you don't need air conditioning in these cars. But at the end of
the day, I want these cars to get driven. Like no matter what I want, when you go out to the garage
and it's a hot day and you're like, oh, I got to go to my meeting. I don't want to show up sweaty.
Right. You can jump in one of our cars and still show up, you know, without a sweat ring.
This fan shroud color, is that custom or is that just what they all look like?
So if you look, if you go back in Porsche's motorsport history, you know, once they developed
the 911 type engine for cars like the 911R and then the 910 race car 906's, you know,
917's, 910's, they all ran that amber fiberglass shroud. They did. And so when I developed my
engine, the one thing I wanted to do was, you know, just kind of pay tribute to the motorsport
heritage of Porsche. And I love that amber fiberglass. It's the first thing I thought of was
the 917 when you opened it up in a positive way, in an emotional connection. And that's for me,
you know, I mean, I, you know, first fell in love with Porsches as a kid, but I really fell in love
with them when I started driving them and racing them. Yeah. So a way to, a way to kind of, wow.
It's so clean, fresh and new. Yeah. So clean, fresh and new. Yeah. So a fun car. So Vivian will
get this probably two or three weeks from now. Wow. Yeah. And what is that delivery process
like for him? So it just depends, you know, he's been out a couple of times while we're building it.
You know, he's, I think on tour right now. So depending on how his schedule is, we'll probably
ship it to him. You know, our new facility that we're building, we've got a guest house that
we're building and we'll be bringing our clients in and we're going to force them. You have to come,
you have to take delivery here. We won't force them, but we want to, everybody's
going to want to do that. Right. On Angeles crest, you know, give them a place to stay and go and
drive. So, but how does it work? Like, do you come in in the afternoon, you have dinner and then
the next morning the car's presented or do you present the car first and have dinner around it?
They're going to be pretty eager to get, get the car. So maybe we have the car next to the dining
room table. That's right. In the middle of the shop. Yeah. We see it and then we go drive in the
hills. The next morning you wake up and you drive it. There's lots of different options. You've got
to, you've got to, well, what are you going to do? It's going to be part of that whole delivery
experience. That's right. Wow. This is amazing. It's making me crazy. Yeah. The car Zuckerman
never will have. Oh, just kidding. Zuckerman is really easy to sell a car to. And I'll tell
you how to do it. He's an instant gratification guy. So he wants it right now. So it would have
to be sitting here. And that's the, that's, but there's also, there's also days of the week
that you have to consider. This is really just one. You pick up the phone on a Thursday afternoon
and you go, I've got something and you'll sell a car. That's it. And it's got to be done for me.
It's right. For me, I don't sell the cars. Yeah. I let the car sell themselves. And, and, but he,
he's disconnected from everything, including this show. You have to go show up down. He's
in the middle of a war in that firm constantly, which is how he makes the money. No, I do miss
having him here, uh, you know, bantering and harassing me the whole time. But looking at his
phone, what? You're not going to believe what just happened. I just, somebody slipped on a hot dog
at Costco and that's right. What am I? I'm on camera. No, that's exactly what he does.
But I'm going to take over this Rod Emery project and we're going to sell a car together. We're
going to come up with an idea because he did look at this car when I sent it to him last night at
around nine o'clock and he went, Oh God, he, he would really love that. And I think he's selling
his heat. Well, I saw that he was selling it and, uh, which, you know, that's partly because it
doesn't, you know, do this. Well, I mean, we all love the 356 for what it is and, and, you know,
they're charming little cars, but especially down here in LA and around this area, you don't want,
you don't want to get on the freeway in a 45, 50 horsepower 356 on three and a quarter inch wide
wheels, you know, rims and little tiny tires. It's just, it's, and the cars have so much value
that you need that horsepower to kind of get yourself out of the way. And, and so that's,
that's why our cars have become very attractive to people in, you know, areas like this.
It's the greatest. I love it. It's beautiful. Thank you. Let's keep the cameras moving past
this orange car over here. We were all at the Peterson Auto Museum, maybe what, 34
months ago when Zuckerman and I debuted this car to the 356 SoCal Club, or some organization down
there, figuring there'd be a lot of folks down there that knew about it. And there were, but most
notably you who said, I have intimate knowledge of this car. I've known this car since I was a child
and you told us so many wonderful stories about it. I just sense you're here and the car's here.
Maybe share it with the audience, you know, what you knew of this car before we knew it,
because, you know, our entry point is when Seinfeld bought it from Chick Iverson. And that's about,
you know, that's the first time I heard the phrase Chick Iverson or even knew there was a Chick
Iverson. I know there were Carmen guillas, there were two of them. There was a coupe and a cab.
I think Jerry bought one of the other cars and sold that car soon after. But these were cars that
sat on the dealership floor, new and unregistered. Yes. But tell us what you know. So my grandfather
that you mentioned earlier, Neil Emory, that had Valley Customs shop in 1960, he and his
brother-in-law Clayton Jensen closed down the shop and my grandfather went to work for Porsche.
So he went to work for Chick Iverson. Wow. So left Burbank, went to Newport Beach,
where Chick Iverson, Volkswagen, Porsche was. Yeah, yeah. So that's when my family kind of left
the Valley and went to, or went to Orange County. That same year, my dad graduated from Pauley here
in the Valley, went to high school and then graduated and he moved, he spent an extra year here and
then moved to, to Orange County. My dad was the detailed guy, cleaning cars, doing all that stuff,
and my grandfather ran the body shop. Oh, no way. So my whole family was kind of just entrenched in
Chick Iverson's Porsche Volkswagen place. And, you know, Newport Beach, back in those days,
you know, a lot of interesting characters down there and a lot of fun, you know, people that
loved fun colors and, and Porsche didn't really have a paint to sample program back then. You could
order a special color, but it was a little bit different. But Chick, you know, had these customers
that wanted something very unique. So Chick or the salesman would come back into the,
into the body shop and have my grandfather start mixing colors and come up with paint swatches,
and then they would send them to Germany. And this is one of those cars. And so,
because this wasn't a normal or, you know, a stock color at the time. And what was the idea
for the car? This was for his son. So Chick wanted, he, this isn't, you know, a late C car. This is
the very end of the 356 model. And the 911s were now being introduced. And Chick just wanted one
car that could be, you know, kind of untouched, all original, but special. And so he ordered,
he had my grandfather mix up this orange. They sent the color back to Germany. They painted the car
that color. And when it arrived at the dealership, my, my dad's job was to put the car up on a hoist
and wash off all the, the wax, cause that was on the cars, because back then the cars were
transported on an open barge that came over on a kind of on a ship. And my dad, first thing he
would do when a new car showed up is he'd put it up on the lift and he would take buckets with rags
and kerosene because kerosene would dissolve the cause, which was on the cars. And so my dad's
first job right out of high school was washing down these cars. And Chick, when this car landed
in Newport Beach, Chick told my dad, do not wash the cosmoline off of it. Leave it absolutely
untouched. And then he told my dad, he says, I want you to help me take care of this car.
We're not going to drive it. We're just going to keep it detailed because my dad was a detailed
guy at that point. We're going to keep it clean. We're going to start it up every once in a while.
We're going to drive it around the dealership here, but we're not going to, we're not ever
going to sell it. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was the car that was just at the dealership and it was,
I was on display for, oh man, a decade and a half, you know, right there in the dealership
and Chick never had any intention in selling it. Then in the early 80s, Chick sold the dealership
and started selling some of the cars. And for a period of time, this car was then
taken from the dealers, because he didn't sell the car with the dealership. He kept
the car. And then he moved it over to my dad's shop, which was Porsche Parts Obsolete,
which was a partnership between my dad and Chick. I see. And they were selling
like new old stock obsolete Porsche Parts. And we had a warehouse in the back and the car would
be stored in there. And so as a kid, you know, I remember that car both at the dealership when I
would go there and then also when it was over at my dad's shop. Oh my God. And then Chick decided
to sell it along with a collection of other stuff. You know, I mean, he was, you know,
at the tail end of his life and had sold the dealership and he had this. He had a, you know,
a limousine Volkswagen or a four door VW Beetle. He had a VW Beetle that was made out of like
wrought iron, you know, so it was a running, driving VW Beetle, but it was all wrought iron
and some buses and a bunch of stuff. And so an ex-employee that had a really great business
West Coast metrics out of Harbor City actually bought the whole collection initially.
Lauren Pearson, who's since passed away. Lauren was a, you know, great guy here in the Southern
California car scene. But and then Jerry, I believe Jerry bought it from Lauren Lorenzo.
And Jerry had it. You know, I saw it a few times over at, you know, his place where he
stores some of his cars and, but you know, the car is very unique. There's, if you open the door,
it's got the machine turn. Well, I was going to ask you about two things in it. Yeah, that's fun.
Go ahead, Jack, open up the driver's side door there and look at this, the machine
steel sill. Is that what you call that stuff? That's the first thing everyone sees and goes,
that's not original. Well, exactly. But but it came from the dealership. So my dad's job,
when the cars, my dad became parts manager after he was the detail guy. Okay. And one of the jobs,
the parts of the parts manager was to upsell the, the owner on a number of things, steering wheels,
mirrors, okay, machine turn stuff. If you notice this car doesn't have like the typical Durant
mirror that would normally be on a three foot six, right? So people, if people see this car,
they're probably like, Oh, wait, it's got a, you know, it's got a Talbot mirror and it's got this
other thing. It's not original. Yeah. Bullshit. It's original. Because because these cars came
on the boat with no mirrors on them. I see. Okay. And and then they didn't have and they
typically had the stock steering wheel. Right. So my dad's job is that as soon as the car salesman
would sell the car, they'd send them over to see my dad in the parts department and my dad would
upsell them on everything he could. So he would upsell them on mirrors. So instead of the, you
Talbot mirror, yeah, and then they would install the mirrors at the dealer. They didn't install,
they didn't send the cars over at that point with mirrors because they didn't want them knocking
them off on the boat. Also, I'm sure you've bought a car and the mirror is not in the right spot.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. If the mirror was on the fender and not on the door and you didn't
like it there, you'd have to repaint the whole fender. Yeah, the whole car. So Porsche would
send the cars over with no mirrors. And so this car came to the dealership and then Chick says,
well, Gary, why don't you upsell me on some stuff? Because now my dad's also working,
you know, working in parts. So they put, they upgraded to the Carrera 2 Wood type steering
wheel. Yep. Right. They put the machine turned thresholds on it because Chick didn't want to
have anybody scuffing the carpet coming in and out. Right. As they come in. And then they put
the Talbot mirrors on it instead. There's another weirdo thing on it that we just discovered the
other day. Jack, behind the steering wheel, I think if you look under the dash, there's a switch.
So I see that switch and I'm like, what, what the hell is that? I'm driving the car,
I'm switching it back and forth. It's not a kill switch. And then I send a text to Sam's son,
Gianni, who takes care of Jerry's cars. And he goes, I believe that's a horn toggle.
Ah, and he was right. There's two different tones. Like you switch it to the right,
you hear a deeper tone and you switch it to the left and you hear a high pitched euro tone.
What's that? I don't know. To be honest, I never even noticed that. Yeah, me neither.
So the whole time I've seen this car, I've never noticed it. I can't, I don't know if that was
something that was factory installed or if it was something that was dealer installed.
I've never seen that option, but that seems like dealer. I would say it's probably something that
Chick, you know, said, Hey, you know, somebody in the parts or the service department, you know,
at a, at a, you know, it's cool. But you know, in my brain, I'm like, well, I just want to know
how to use these different toggles, like these different horns, like what situation do I have
low and what situation do I have high? And then very quickly use those horns. See the horns on
a 356, there's a high horn or high tone and low tone. So they must have wired one to the horn
button for the horn ring and then wired the other one to that. And there is a situation where you
want to make a polite beep like a beep, beep, beep, beep. Hey. Get the fuck out of my way.
Yeah. So it's a really neat car. And when you were talking about it, I was like, God,
I really wish I owned a car like this. So and I believe, oh wait, we do own this. I believe that
the majority of the cosmoline has been washed off of it. I don't know if that was, you know,
Jerry and his team detailing it that did it or what. But in the early days, it was,
all of that grease was still on everything. Yeah. I remember Sam telling us about this car when
he found it for Jerry or was looking at it for Jerry. And he gets, you know how Sam gets,
Sam, if you don't know, is Jerry's kind of car a consigliere. He gets very, like when he sees
something like this, he gets very low and his voice goes, Jerry, the cosmoline is still there.
Yeah. He's talking about a woman. She was, oh, if you get underneath the haunches of this car,
you'll see if you've run through it. You feel the cosmoline. And you're like, what are you talking
about, bro? This car is as unmolested as any car out there. It's the greatest. You know, and sure,
somebody could say, oh, but it's got those, you know, machine turned pieces, you know,
but that's what makes the car even more special because the story behind it, and it was all
done at the dealer and it wasn't, Chick never registered it, which is just so awesome.
It's the coolest, you know, and Jerry's ownership and Chick Iverson, you know, just the whole thing.
I mean, it's really a testament to Chick Iverson and what he did back then and that dealership.
And it's a fun story. You can read about it. He was also a good friend of John Wayne's.
And he kind of looked, he lucked into that dealership, you know, he didn't know what,
what brand to bring in, bring down there and just kind of looked into it.
Yeah. Yeah. Chick was a neat guy. I mean, he was,
he was a pretty strong businessman, but he was a really neat guy. You know, I mean,
he had his big ranch up in Oregon and his place out in Palm Springs. And, you know,
I think I learned how to swim in his pool out in Palm Springs because, you know, he'd like,
Gary, send Rod and the family out, you know, out to Palm Springs. It was, he was a neat,
he was a neat old guy. Oh, wow. Just amazing. Just amazing. Yeah. Well,
Zuckerman's driving the hell out of this thing and putting lots of miles.
Well, you know what? It needs to be driven. Yeah. But it is one of the nicest driving.
It is great. It just takes you back in time. Yeah. I had it for a week and drove it and
I was just calling him every day going, can you believe this thing? It actually made me a little
nervous, which is rare, but I got to drive it again. Yeah. But I brought it back and it was
just like, maybe I'll drive the new stuff for a little while. But yeah, it's a special car.
It's a special car, right? And again, we're just the caretakers. All right. Bring it back, Jack
first. And before we do questions, I got one more ad to read here. It's a no-brainer to do
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go check it out and start protecting yourself today. Alright, let's do some listener questions.
Here, let me ask some of my questions. Okay, these are just random questions. We'll do
we'll do a couple quick. Alright, if you could secretly replace one famous Porsche
in the Porsche Museum with one of your outlaws, what would that be? What
Emory outlaw would you put in the Porsche Museum? Do you have one that you've made?
Yeah, just for a little while, I'd take one of the 935s out and put that crazy wacky
thrift to six RSR that I put in there. Okay, here's something I want.
A little shocking off for everybody. You know, I've been talking about it on the show that
they should reboot the 356 Porsche, you know, instead of making cars that are out of reach
for everyone, let's why don't we make something for the people that's a little more affordable
and smaller and nice. What would you do with 356 program, a modern 356? Have you ever considered
that? You know, I mean, obviously, people always say, Oh, man, I wish they'd bring the 356 back.
But unfortunately, I don't think they could do the 356 justice bringing it back, right?
Because the 356 is a small car, you know, something that we all love the analog feel.
And, and I think that if they, if they try to apply all the new rules and regulations that
they would have to, to be able to get the thing legal, it would ruin everything that you love
about a 356, you know, bumper heights and impact zones and, you know, safety. Well,
no, but I mean, you know, like, like the A pillars and, you know, some of that, that stuff that they
have to know, I get it. But, you know, just as a counterpoint, when I drive that seven 18
spider RS, I think of five fifties, weirdly, I think of 356 speedsters, you know, and they're
not exactly the same. But I appreciate where they started and how far they've come with a modern car.
But there's something about the simplicity of a 356 that we all love so much. Yeah. And if they
brought a car out that was that was a new car, they would be loading it with so much gadgetry.
No, it's true. And, you know, piano black dashes and all this other crap and screens.
Well, honestly, that's what it would be. And, and it would, so you don't think it's possible.
They couldn't do it without really hurting the brand. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's a good answer.
I appreciate that. All right. Our Patreon question askers are up first. Hazy wants to know, hey,
Rod, 914 Outlaw coming ever? Actually, yes. Really? Yeah. We we are in the middle of a project for
the Audrain guys. You know, when you say the Audrain guys, what does it mean? Well, so Nick
Shorsh that is involved with Audrain. I've built four cars for him already, and one for one of
his partners, Mike. And I built, you know, 353, 356s and, and a 911. And the next ask was if I
would do a 914 for him. So that'd be the shit. So we're building a, and it was actually the cool
part is Nick hit me up to do a 914, you know, years ago. And I was like, okay, you know, I'll,
I'll, you know, I'll look for one. I'll, I'll try to find one. And I found a couple. So I had,
you know, I got one as a donor a couple of years ago. And then when my dad passed away,
his last project was a green 914 that he was starting to tinker with. So I switched and I'm
using the donor car that was my dad's last, my dad's last car. So mid engine. Yeah. Perfectly
balanced. That's right. With our little 260 horsepower four cylinder 911 and weight distribution.
It's going to be amazing. It'll be, it'll, it'll be a really neat car. We're going to, we're going to,
you know, simplify some of the things that make 914 a little clunky. They're, you know,
if you look under the dash and you pull out the wiring harness on a 914, it takes up a trash can.
It's, it's, it's got so many relays and so much crap. And the cars are very small, simple cars.
Yeah, they are. So we're just going to treat it a little bit more like one of our little
Outlaws. That's really exciting. I love 914s. I've owned a couple and they, you know,
so whenever I've been in the canyons racing around with folks, they can't keep up.
So Audrey, not this year, but Audrey next year, we'll have that 914 there. All right,
I'll come back to Audrey next. Cool. Chappy wants to know what would be his own personal,
mechanical, or and color spec if he could just have one of his cars. So what would you design
just for yourself? What's your favorite color? Silver. Silver. Silver is my favorite color.
You and Pruny. Andrew, Andreas, Pruniger. I mean, I love silver too.
Yeah. Don't get me wrong. And silver never gets old. It, it, it reminds me of the early
Porsche race cars. It's, it's, it's, it, it looks clean even when it's filthy dirty.
You get scratches in it. You don't even see them. You know, I, I get chip,
rock chips in the front. You don't see them. And if you use the right silver, it, it, you know,
like I love the, the GT silver from 07 because it has a lot of pitch in it. So it really,
you know, makes the lines look great. So what about inside?
Could I interest you in a navy blue? Navy blue looks really good. Yeah. Blue, blue is a great
color. My, my personal little 55 coupe is silver with kind of a dark red kind of Bordeaux like,
like Vivian too. So yeah. So that's, that is my, you know, my go-to for my personal stuff is silver.
Adam Spear wants to know, will he do any G body cars, G body cars? Have you ever considered G body
cars? So I have an 84 Carrera. I love it. Drive the heck out of it. I did a, I just finished a
G body car with a little bit of a back to date twist, but not, not crazy for Mike
wheeled at Audrey. That was the car I delivered to him. And it's, you know, got, got nines and
11s on it. Ed Pink built a 425 horsepower, you know, fire breathing monster for it. So,
you know, we build nine 11s and nine 12s for clients that we've already built 356s for. So
just like we're doing this nine 14 for somebody we already built a 356 for. So if you came to me
today and said, Rob, you know, Paul and I are ready to pull the trigger. We want a nine 11. I'd say
see you. I would get buzzed. Right away. No, we, so we do, we do those types of cars, but only for
people that we've already built a 364. How many 356 mafia wants to know how many Emory builds are
out there right now? And do you have relationships with the owners? I do. I have relationships
with all of them. I know where all the cars are at. So I built, and when I say I, you know, since
building my first car in high school, we've built 250 cars, but about 150 of those were vintage
race cars and, and restorations that I did in the first like 20 years, because my business was very
heavily, you know, focused on, on 356 vintage race cars, early nine 11 vintage race cars.
But we've built a hundred, actually about 98 cars that are of the style that you see out there
right now. There you go. Porsche one dash 64 wants to know, could we just hear a little bit
about his die cast collection in the shop? You have an impressive collection of die cast cars
here. I've seen it. It's unbelievable. I do. So has it grown since I saw it? It's grown. It's
it hasn't grown as fast as it did for decades because we ran out of space. The new workshop,
everything will get moved to the new workshop. But so the die cast collection started, you know,
when I was a kid, I always had a couple little hot wheels and some little cars. You know, my dad
would get promotional stuff. And so, you know, there was always a few little cars, and I always
loved them, but just never really collected them. When Zane was born, you know, we, we've always
attended the Porsche literature swap meet at the Hilton every year. And, you know, and I know you
do. I first met Jerry there in 97, I think it was. Yeah. And Zane started going with me when he was
in the little backpack carrier. And so I would walk up to, you know, one of the vendors like
Michael Letterman, who always had a booth of stuff and, you know, and, and I'd buy a little,
you know, car for him and choke on the wheel or whatever. Yeah, I did the same thing. And so
I started collecting him with Zane when he was little. And then Zane got to know guys like
Bill Walters and Michael Letterman and all these vendors that were selling that stuff. So by the
time Zane was about three years old, I just like leave him there. And the next thing you know,
you have this box of hot wheels and little die cast cars. And Zane and I just always started
collecting them. And then, you know, about, I don't know, 10 years ago, I came across these
old blueprint cabinets, right? Because people don't have like blue, you know, back in the day,
you know, architects and builders had all their blueprint prints in these cabinets. Now it's all
on their phone. But the blueprint cabinets are perfect because hot wheels fit in them. Absolutely
perfect. And so I found some of these blueprint cabinets and Zane and I started loading all of
our hot wheels in there and our matchbox and our shukos and all the other little stuff. And then
we started building shelves on the walls for all of our, you know, all 118th and 13th and 148th. So
yeah, I don't know. I've got, I think Zane and I have probably 6,000, you know, cars.
I mean, it's madness. It's madness. That lit show, you know, when my boys were young, it was,
I would always say to them, they've got stuff here that you'll never see again. Just the,
just the type of die cast that comes over from Europe of the most obscure cars or the weirdest
VW bus or, you know, I would always come out of that thing with, let's look at this. And that
shows fun because it's everybody, you know, they only get a four, a two by four table or, you know,
that they rent and they bring out their best stuff, you know, and those were good days hunting for
those cars was a lot of fun. It kind of scratched the itch, you know, and then you're only like,
what, it's $8 or 28. Actually, there it was a little more expensive to be 40 and 60 bucks. But
it was so fun. But they're right there. The majority of them are on these shelves right as
you walk into our workshop on the left hand side. And I still to this day use them for design
inspiration because it's always great to have something three dimensional that you can look
at. Like if I'm building a car that's going to be inspired by an RSK or by a 904, then I can
take one of those. I threw it in my apron pocket, go out in the shop. And if I'm showing one of
the employees like, Hey, on this car, we're going to do the nose like an RSK. There it is.
There it is. They can look at it. And so I mean, I use them. At least that's how I justify to my
wife why I need 6000 die class in our shop. She's given up. I'm sure. All right. Two more quick
questions. Mario Speedwagon 007. What skills does he look for in new hires? You want to know the
truth? No, lie. No, I'm not big noses. I'm not looking at a pension for wigs. I'm not look I'm
not necessarily looking for skill. I'm looking for work ethic. Okay. Attitude. And I want them to
be humble, like teachable. That's really that's that those are the primary things that I'm looking
for because the skills is, you know, you might find somebody that says they've got, you know,
all this background and all these skills, but if they've got a bad attitude,
nobody's going to want to work with them. No, I'm not going to be able to relay what I want done
to them. And so I'd much rather have somebody that I can build the skill with or help develop their
skill. And so, you know, recently, we've just hired three new really great guys. And, you know,
I hired on, on, you know, will they show up at five a.m. because that's when we start will,
are they teachable? Are they, you know, are they willing to, you know, to, to put in the work to,
to learn what they need to. And that's, that's, and it's great. Really smart. Really smart.
That's how I got where I am today. Yeah, there were, I started bringing cheese burgers and
beers to a guy because you got a problem with that. I'm like, no, this is an easy job. Yeah.
That's all I got to do is pick up the burgers. Sure. Let's do it. Because in our shop, I mean,
the skills, you know, a welder, somebody that can sew, run a bead blaster,
somebody that can sand, sweep, somebody that will clean the bathroom. I've got
a lot of different jobs that can be done. Right. And so if I hire somebody and they just don't
quite make it in the discipline that they were hoping for, they're going to figure that out
real quick. Right. And then we'll figure out if there's somewhere else, if they've got a good
attitude and there's somebody that, that I want to keep on the team, then we'll find somewhere
else for them that we can apply their skill. That's really good information for the kids out there
watching Spike's car radio before we go. Let's just talk about the new cars.
There's a lot of weird new stuff out there. What are you, what are you looking in the Porsche lineup
like the GT3 SC? What do you like? What have you seen that you're going, wow, that's pretty neat.
It's, it's tough because I do like the new cars. I love the way they drive. I love the way that
they feel and handle. They're getting a little bigger than I like. Yeah. Yeah. But what have
you driven lately that you like? It can be a car from a few years. Well, I mean, what I personally
have, I've got a 991.1 GT3 RS. Love that car. Love everything about that car. Yeah. Yeah. I think
that it's, it still feels a little smaller than the 992, but it's just, it's brilliant. I've got a
GT4 RS, which I love certain aspects about it, but there's certain things that, you know, I like my,
my three much better. You know, I don't know that there's, that there's any new 992 that I would
run out and buy right now that would give me anything that I don't get out of my other two
newer cars. My wife did just get a new Cayenne GTS. Freaking love that thing. Yeah. Love it.
She had a Macan GTS 2017 that she kept for 10 years, 160, 170,000 miles, an amazing car. And
when it was time to get her something, she went for the Cayenne a little bigger, you know, a little
more room for the grand baby. But I've been putting some miles on that thing and driving back and
forth on all the roads, going back and forth to rightward. This works. I love it. Yeah. It really
works. Yeah. I mean, I, I haven't been in the, you know, I didn't, I haven't driven an ST. I
haven't driven the new SC. So I, you know, I haven't driven those cars. So I can't, I can't
comment on them, but I'm sure I would like them. I'm sure I would like them. To like. Yeah. Maybe
that's why I don't want to drive them because if you're happy, don't drive them. I'm happy
where I'm at right now. It's one of the, you know, yeah, people ask me all the time,
should I get this, that this one? And I go, you know, there's so many places to win
in the Porsche lineup right now. Do you have something you like already? You kind of already
won. You're not, it's not going to be better for you if you get the ST or the SC. If you have this
thing that you love, you're done. Just drive it and enjoy it. Yeah. It's like that. You can have
another great car that you'll love for different reasons, but you know, you don't have to keep
making lateral moves. Just be, just enjoy what you have. I mean, I've got a, I've got an 01
996 twin turbo and I love that car. Yeah. Love that car. There you go. Still analog and yeah,
yeah, gobs of power. Yeah, I don't shifter. I mean, I'll probably, I'll probably wait
a bit before I get a, you know, a 992 base car. There you go. Take your time. Yeah.
What's the rush? I mean, I've got almost, I've got 55,000 miles on my three RS and
that's great. And I love it. There you go. Yeah. Rod Emery. Thanks for stopping by again. Hey,
thank you. I appreciate it. Southern California's biggest Porsche builder. The original Outlaw,
we call him, this is the summary of our interview. You've said so much and we still haven't sold
document a car. So we've got to work on that. We'll get that done. Anyway, that's our show.
You can see the both of us at the Audrain Concours. Are you going to be at Pebble?
I'm going to be at the Works Reunion, but I won't be at Pebble this year. I'll be there too.
Cool. You'll see us there. We also have a show at the Pebble Beach Concours Saturday morning.
Tickets are on sale and time to drive in Miami, November 7th and 8th. Our first Spikes car radio
in Miami and then more tour dates after that. Maybe I can get you to come to this car and watch
Sting. Keep me posted. All right. We'll see you next week on Spikes Car Radio.
About this episode
Rod Emory and the hosts trade shop updates and personal resets, then dive into how his team builds “outlaw” early-Porsche style cars with modern underpinnings. They cover a Def Leppard guitarist’s Baja Bug tribute, a Vivian Campbell Porsche project, and a 914 Outlaw in progress—plus the details that keep builds faithful (and what they refuse). The conversation also swings through classic-car event logistics, RaceDeck and Vettestine sponsorships, and practical collector-car buying advice.
Rod Emory is back on the show to walk Spike through the Porsche 356 Outlaw built for Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell, a stunning Brewster Green Porsche Pre-A coupe with 260 horsepower and a story that would make Zuckerman feel car envy.
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The Porsche 356 Outlaw built for Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard is the centerpiece of this episode, finished in modified Brewster Green Porsche paint with pearl undertones, bordeaux basket-weave interior, 911 rear suspension, disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, and a fuel-injected 260hp engine. Rod also explains how he handles (and occasionally fires) high-profile clients who don't mesh with the Emory Motorsports brand.
Spike and Rod then dig into the history of Paul Zuckerman's orange 1965 Porsche 356C, once owned by Jerry Seinfeld, and Rod's firsthand connection to it. His grandfather Neil Emery worked for Newport Beach dealer Chick Iverson, and Rod's father Gary was the one detailing and maintaining that exact car.
The Gary Emory Baja Bug comes up during a discussion about Rod's upcoming Jay Leno's Garage shoot, where Rod built a tribute to the original concept his dad created. Rod and Jay plan to take it into the desert for donuts.
Listener Q&A covers why a modern 356 reboot would fail for Porsche, a coming 914 Outlaw build using Gary's final donor car, Rod's personal spec preferences, his hiring philosophy (work ethic over raw skill), and his collection of over 6,000 die-cast model cars he still uses for design inspiration. The episode closes with Rod's take on the modern Porsche lineup: good, but BIG.
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introducing Rod Emory
05:05 - Driving Baja Bugs with Jay Leno
11:53 - Rod's 1953 Porsche 356 Outlaw
23:46 - The secret history of the untouched orange 356
39:03 - A modern-day Porsche 356 program?
41:00 - A Porsche 914 Outlaw?
42:50 - Rod's project cars
45:55 - Rod's die-cast car collection
49:37 - How to get hired at Emory Motorsports
51:38 - Rod's modern Porsches
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