Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
50:19
Car
Subaru Uncharted
The Subaru Uncharted is a Subaru made with an adventure-themed style and added features. It’s meant for drivers who want their car to look and feel more ready for trips and outdoor activities. It may be mentioned when the podcast talks about exploring new places.
Brand
Willwood
Willwood makes aftermarket brake parts for performance cars. The hosts are saying someone adapted Willwood brakes to fit a Skyline using custom brackets and mounting parts.
Part
caliper
Brake calipers are the parts that squeeze the brake pads against the rotor. Here they’re talking about using Willwood calipers and mounting them with an adapter.
Part
rotors
Brake rotors are the discs that your brake pads squeeze to slow the car down. In this segment, they’re using Willwood rotors as part of the upgraded brake system.
Car
Nissan Skyline R32
The Nissan Skyline R32 is an older Skyline generation that’s very popular with car builders. In this story, the brakes are upgraded on an R32 using Willwood parts and special mounting hardware.
Term
wheels
When people say “wheel” horsepower, they mean the power the car actually delivers to the wheels. It’s measured on a dyno, and it’s usually lower than the engine’s rated horsepower.
Term
breaking power
“Breaking power” means how strong the brakes feel—how well the car can slow down. Better brake parts can improve this, especially during repeated hard stops.
Term
brake kits
A brake kit is a set of upgraded brake parts you install together. It usually includes things like rotors and calipers, and it’s meant to make the brakes work better, especially when you drive hard.
Brand
Wilwood
Wilwood is a company that makes upgraded brake parts for performance cars. Here, they’re involved in providing a brake kit and supporting an event installation for an R34.
Topic
Formula Drift
Formula Drift is a drifting competition series. Cars are pushed hard and brakes get very hot, so upgraded brake parts are a big deal.
Term
roller
Rollers are a dyno setup where the car’s wheels sit on a platform while sensors measure what the car is doing. It’s commonly used to check results after installing parts.
Term
Japanese car space
“Japanese car space” means the market for performance parts for Japanese cars. The speaker is saying it’s interesting when a brake company known for other cars starts selling into that Japanese-car crowd.
Term
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber is a strong, lightweight material used in some car parts. It’s used to save weight and sometimes make parts stiffer, which can improve how the car feels and performs.
Car
s-chassis s-15
This sounds like a Nissan Silvia S15, a well-known Japanese sports car. The host is saying they’ve gathered parts to build it, so it’s a big project car they’re working on.
Term
outer respray
An “outer respray” is when you repaint the outside of the car’s body panels. Even though it’s not a full repaint, it can still cost a lot because the shop has to prep the surfaces and do careful paint work.
Concept
body work paint job
This means fixing up the car’s body (like dents or panel issues) and then repainting it. The host is saying that even if you already have all the mechanical parts, the body and paint work is still a major expense.
Car
RX 7
The RX-7 is a Mazda sports car. It’s known for a unique engine design (rotary), and the host is saying their “bad Apple” RX-7 project is coming back soon.
Person
Nioh Shahara
Nioh Shahara is the person who owned the Skyline R33 the host is talking about. The host is using that example to show the kind of cars that come into their shop.
Term
Canyon driven hard
“Canyon driving” means taking a car on twisty mountain roads. “Driven hard” means the car is being pushed pretty aggressively, so it may need extra maintenance to stay reliable.
Term
engine bay
The engine bay is the space under the hood where the engine and other parts are. “Putting your touch” there usually means working on or customizing that area.
Term
downpipe thing
A downpipe is part of the exhaust system that carries exhaust gases from the turbo area to the rest of the exhaust. Upgrading it can change how freely the engine can push exhaust out and can affect sound and performance.
Term
intake kit
An intake kit is an aftermarket upgrade that changes the air path into the engine. People install them to help the engine breathe better, especially on performance builds.
Brand
UP Garage
UP garage is a company that makes aftermarket parts for a specific Nissan “R chassis” group of cars. The host is saying they’re known for making useful upgrades, especially carbon-fiber pieces.
Term
R chassis community
“R chassis” is a Nissan car platform that a lot of tuners and drifters build. “Community” just means the group of people who work on and share upgrades for those cars.
Term
coil pack cover
A coil pack cover is a protective/covering piece over the ignition coil packs—components that generate high voltage for the spark plugs. In the segment, it’s used as an example of the kind of “small” aftermarket part that the host doesn’t want to just copy.
Term
dry carbon inlets
Dry carbon inlets are carbon-fiber intake parts made with a manufacturing method that uses fiber laid up in a “dry” way before resin is handled. The host is saying these kinds of parts are both stylish and actually useful.
Car
r34
“R34” is a nickname for a Nissan Skyline GT-R from the 1990s. It’s a turbo sports car that a lot of car fans love because it’s great for upgrades and has a big racing reputation.
Term
fuel system
The fuel system is everything that gets gas from the tank to the engine. “Plumbing” it means installing the lines and connections so the engine can get fuel correctly.
Term
motor
“Motor” is just another word for the engine. In this moment, they’re describing working on the car’s engine and fuel setup at the same time.
Brand
round cat
“Round Cat” is the name of their project/business. They’re saying it’s something they’re deeply invested in, and it’s built from multiple parts and income sources.
LIVE
Hey, and welcome back to the next episode of the right-hand drive guys podcast the podcast for guys who like right-hand drives
I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. Yeah, yo, and we are back with Mickey. What's up, dude?
Bobby Aaron, it's a pleasure to be back on the show for the second time. Thank you so much and Bobby
I can't help but notice that amazing-looking t-shirt you're wearing there, brother
Yeah, absolutely, and this is what we're actually here to talk about today
And that is your newest venture to anybody living under the rock. It is round cat garage
Yeah, so round cat garage. I mean to go kind of back to the first episode
I was just kind of getting this off the ground at the time
You know round cats been around since 24
But until I left throttle, I couldn't really
Kick it off so to speak. So I sort of built a garage as a place to store my cars and then once I left
My day job at throttle
It became full-time here and it's turned into something really magical
so
You know when you first kind of announced it, you know, I wasn't sure
What what the deal was gonna be right because you kind of you you said you were doing it
And then you came out with the merch and I was like, okay
What you know, how's this all gonna flow and then all of a sudden you started doing?
Projects like I guess your usual thing but on skyline, you know doing the whole thing and I was like, whoa
Is this gonna be like
Legit and it seems like that's where what it's turned into
Yeah
You know, I think if you ask anyone that's ever started their own business and the two of you may be able to
Speak to this as well as like you kind of
You start out with an idea of what it's gonna be and then as you get into it
You sort of start to pivot and sort of lean into the things that are working and sort of let the stuff
That's not as compelling fall to the wayside
And that's obviously happened here at roundcat as well
You know, I really thought that this was gonna be a place where I would just work on skylines and
The reality is is I'm actually getting hit up to do
Different types of builds, which is really cool
And all mainly right-hand drive, which is even cooler. That is cool
So, yeah, I mean obviously my I
Love skylines and I'm gonna continue to do the work in that space that I can but I'm currently working on a SEMA project
that's really exciting for a really good friend of mine and
It is not a skyline it is right-hand drive and it's it's a really core 90s car for me
So I'm really excited about
That's gonna end up and sort of the waves. It's gonna make here in a few months
And I've got another really big project. That's also not a skyline
Coming in the wings as well. That'll be all over YouTube on some larger channels
So a lot of really cool things happening here. Yeah, and just super exciting
The merch line has been
Doing really well. I've already filled over 500 merch orders, which is super Mollie Mollie
Amazing and you know, if any of you guys watching this have purchased anything from the round-cat.com site
Thank you so much for the support Bobby, including you
It means the world to me and it's allowing me to create this this dream shop here
And do what I love to do every day. So kudos to everyone that has put forth support for me there
so
Rewind a little bit the seam the Seaman car thing. So is this your first?
I don't think it is but is this your first time working on a Seaman car? No
No, I've been attending SEMA since 1999
and I've probably built
at this point probably
12 to 20 Seaman cars at this point and a part of all right got a lost track understood
Yeah, and that's just part of too many concussions from ice hockey and being old but I
I
I've worked on quite a few in fact. I built the WD-40 for GT last year with the boys over at throttle
Yeah, that's right. I was basically a project that was spearheaded by me
But you know a few people in the building laid hands on it
And in the past we had built many others like this fast and furious super the fast furious eclipse
Just to name a couple and then I was doing I see for that as well. So
You know SEMA cars are one of those things where it's kind of like
Every year you do one you say you're never gonna do another one because it always turns into 3 a.m.
Mornings and last-minute prep and no matter how far out you start it almost always seems to turn out to be some last-minute
buffoonery so
Now that I've done so many I've kind of learned
How to plan and to do it better and I think we'll be in good shape this year, which is great
But yeah, what what we're gonna kick out of here is not what you're expecting and I'm excited about that. It's cool
That's cool. Yeah, we'll definitely be looking forward to that. Yeah, absolutely
I mean dude that that's funny you say that about the SEMA builds that it that seems like a going trend with those that they last
For so long and that you you come down to the wire and you know
It's the last week before and you're you know doing the last nuts and bolts like why is that such a thing?
You know because you know, it's the same time every year. Yeah, literally
It just comes down to like, you know in this one for instance like, you know
We got a pretty good jump on the cars already off at the paint shop, but it's like
You take on other projects
It's like not the only thing you're working on and you know things just slide a schedule slide parts turn up late
There's just a lot of things that can happen and you know
You're always trying to bring something special to the SEMA shows something that's different or unique
A lot of times when you do that you and enter uncharted territories or water
You start using products that maybe you've never used before or something new to the market and it just causes delays and a lot of times
That's that's the case
But you know, sometimes it's on the builder too, you know, just procrastinate or whatever, but
Yeah
SEMA builds yay
Yeah, right
Dude, so I recently saw and I think I reposted it. Are you the first guy to put will woods on a skyline?
You know, it's funny because I'm not
Stewart least has been using will woods on at least the 32 chassis's for a while
He made his own bracket and everything to use sort of existing willwood parts like their rotors their calipers
He made the adapter to go to a radial mount caliper from willwood, which is really bitching and I use that on my r32
We went out and set a record in Vegas in that car with its first run ever and
I a lot of that came down to breaking power
The car was making I think 675 wheel at the time
But it really shined in the corners and when it when we needed to break is we were able to and
After that, I was like, you know what I wouldn't mind having these on all my cars because they're really nice and
There's something different for the market
You know, most guys will you know lean into the endless project mu
You know the JDM break brands and even go back into like the greck stuff from Gretti and stuff like that
just as throwbacks because
The reality is is the brambos and the endless is of the world are sometimes tens of thousands of dollars for a brake kit
Which is insane?
So, you know after I found out how good the willwoods were on my 32
I reached out to willwood because I've been working with them for years
And I said, hey, would you guys be interested in doing?
You know applications for the all the our chassis platforms and they said well, we would love to but we don't have access to any cars
I said, we'll send your trailer now. I got all of them
so
They literally brought a four-car trailer down and grabbed the 32 the 33 and the 34
Went back up to their headquarters in Camarillo, California and went to work and that's sweet dude
Yeah, man six months later production kit was available. They called me up and said hey
We've got formula drift coming up in a few weeks. We'd love to have your R34 in the booth
Why don't you bring it up to Camarillo and we'll install the brake kit at our facility
Professionally and you can be a part of you can make content do whatever you want to do
Drive back down with our team. We'll do rollers
We'll do you know beauty shots so we can have some stuff for for marketing
And then park the car in our booth for the weekend and enjoy the event
So we ended up doing that and man, I I knew it was the first kit from Wilwood on an R34
But I didn't realize that it was I
Don't know kind of unusual or earth shattering that it was
Those are their posts and they're creating that that
Wave of excitement, but I also saw some pretty negative feedback, too
Which I was really shocked that anyone would be negative about
Industry standard player like Wilwood entering the Japanese car space. I mean I get they cut their teeth in automotive or American automotive, but
to scoff at a brand bringing a an A plus quality product to market in a space that they don't particularly own is
I think commendable and
Exciting. Yeah, they're taking a risk for sure. And I mean, you know in that sense, right?
Like it's you know, these cars are 25 whatever years old and they're willing to jump in now
You know what? I mean, and and yeah, they're proven. It's not like you're you're talking about some middle-of-the-mall stuff, right?
Like this it's Wilwood like, you know, so yeah, I did see a few people that were negative about that
But I was just like do whatever like pretty shocking and I'll be honest man
Like if something sucks, I'll be the first one to tell you it sucks
like I I'm actually one of the things that round cat has turned into which was not expected was
Testing products for manufacturers and Wilwood was one of the first that actually signed me up
And I've now got some products from a carbon fiber
Manufacturing here that aren't on the market yet that I have three or four of their brand new products that they're about to release
Were sent to me for test fitting purposes on one of my chassis, so I'm doing a lot more of that stuff
which is really cool and
Honestly, it's flattering that I'm being trusted to sort of
Test these products and give my feedback to the manufacturer before they go to market with it
It's like I said, it's very humbling and and cool to have those opportunities, so I'm looking for
Like what, you know 20 years in the game. I mean, I guess you earned it
That's the thing like I've built a lot of cars that showed up at SEMA. I'm not an award-winning hot rod builder or anything like that
I'm no chip foos or
Anything like that, but at the end of the day, like I do know these cars pretty well
I I'd like to think I have a pretty decent eye for style and
I'm very picky about stuff so
It's neat to again be given these opportunities and to allow my feedback to have a play in what what makes the market and what doesn't is pretty cool
So have you I mean, I know you did a few at the beginning, but
So you're still doing skylines though, but it's like whatever come, you know
You're not saying no to a SEMA car or maybe you are but you know what I mean, no
You know look I'll get into this a little bit. I don't want to go too deep
But looking back like the SEMA build I was excited because it's a great opportunity for my brand for round cat
To be presented at SEMA in a high-end booth with a nice vehicle, right?
What I didn't anticipate was how much
Time it was gonna take me as an individual and the only person that works at round cat to build this vehicle
And how it was gonna handicap me from making money each week because my time is tied up in this long-term project. So
Yes, it's an expensive build. Yes, I'm building for it bi-weekly
But I'm leaving a lot on the table from a business standpoint that if I could go back and do it over again
I probably would wait to do a SEMA project till I was a couple years in on business
So that could really launch this thing properly
I definitely think this thing's got tons of momentum and it's launching
But could I do it better if I didn't have this project in front of me? I think so. Yeah
Yeah, that makes sense
Yeah, so it's you know, I think a little bit of that is just
Teething issues, you know, this is my first time
Doing something for myself when we started throttle
it was you know four of us as a team and
We had each other to fall back on with this one if I screw up
I'm the only one to blame and I only got me to fall back on and
It's a lot of pressure. Yeah, I lose a lot of sleep at night thinking about that stuff. So
Yeah, and that is part of you know, cuz looking at it from the outside, right?
It's like, oh, it's Mickey from throttle dude. He's doing round cat. He's you know, like it's it's easy from the outside to
Not see those type of struggles, right?
Like late nights the early mornings the pack schedules, you know, all of those type of things
Yeah, so having done it at throttle and being part of that team that has been so successful over the last 15 years
Sorry last 10 years
You don't I can tell you looking back
You don't see what gets done on a daily basis and how much sleep is
forfitted or how many date nights are forfitted to try to build something special like that and
I'm not young. I'm 49 years old and I'm doing it over again. So I hit the reset button at 49
so now I'm right back in the trenches and
Pull on the late nights pull on the long weekends like doing it all over again, and I'll tell you it's it's tiring man like
but I
Would do it over again in another five years because working for myself is so rewarding
Not having to clock in and clock out somewhere is so rewarding
So I'm gonna take every opportunity I can to to try to make this as successful as I can
Yeah, I mean makes sense, right and you know Gary V would say you're still just a baby do 49 years old
You're still just a baby, you know what I mean?
So it's like it's like, you know to hear you and especially some of the listeners to hear you say like hey
It's not easy. It is tough. You know, we are getting old, right?
It's like to hear that to a lot of people is motivating because it's like oh, okay
So it isn't it isn't easy up at the top so to speak right like it's not easy
Somebody's always chomping at your heels and you know, you got to stay relevant
That's the thing at the end of the day like you can build the coolest business in the world
But if it becomes irrelevant a few years down the road, you're starting over
So it's one thing to get to the top
But then once you get to the top you've just got started with the work now
It's how do you stay relevant? You ask anyone that's made it to the top and I haven't even got there yet
I can tell you once I do get to a point where I feel like I'm at the peak of this business or whatever
I'm working on there's this whole other avenue where you have to stay there
And so you got to be creating something bigger better
And I think a lot of people that's where they sort of fall off and that's where the new beginning starts
It's almost like maintenance, right like a lot of people forget about maintenance, you know like yeah
It's cool. You got the car, but you have to maintain it to keep it the car that you bought if you just ignore the maintenance
The car falls off breaks, right? It's a thing. I can see what you're saying, you know being at the top
It's like you're constantly and you see some you see it
It's more obvious than some guys and others you have to constantly be like at it or else it just starts getting away from you
Yeah, yep. Yep. It's really relevant in the space
It's really relevant in the YouTube space
I mean you see a lot of content creators that you know get massive followings and
They do it for a number of years and they disappear because they just
Burn out can't do it anymore can't one up themselves again because it's just not possible or it's too difficult
I
Don't know there's a lot to it. It's it's not easy and even once you get there. It's it's not easy, so
Yeah, so all right, so I
Know last time we talked you had the 33 34 and you had had your you know whole situation at Fuji and
You know everything like that
Try not to like you know not trying not to like you know drag it through the mud on that one, but
you know
What what's the deal because I know you got the stage you you got the the Autek 33 like
You've got the lineup, you know, like
But what else what else could you do there? Oh, man?
So yeah, I mean look
I don't know if you guys have watched my last YouTube video that I did
But I basically pulled all the cars out into the alley and went through each one
One of the things I did before I left throttle was I set myself up for what I thought was success
But I set myself up for spending a lot of money is what I did
I
Picked up the s-chassis s-15
Oh, yeah, or the
Spec car and it's a hundred-pence stock car
I've sort of been sitting on that and I think I might have said in the first one
I have every part here to build it which I do
Also have the R33 Autek version four-door which again, I've collected all the parts to build this
One thing you don't realize is no matter if you have all the parts for your build or not a lot of times
It still involves body work paint job
All the really expensive stuff. Yeah, I mean even if you got a homey hookup on a paint job
You're even if it's just an outer respray you're looking at five to seven grand and the low-end probably
And if you need to do an engine bay and a few other things around the car
It can get to the 10s 12s and maybe more depending on how crazy you want to get
So I have all these projects that are sort of in the queue and I have got two dilemmas
I'm trying to figure out what one what the audience wants to see so that was a main question
I asked in my video and resoundingly I got the most
Response about the s-15 project in the R33 project
So I'm gonna lead into those but I also have an RX 7
The bad Apple that I built on the throttle channel. That's also gonna make it come back soon
And I just recently filmed a YouTube video
About that where the cars been for the last four or five years and why I haven't shown it and it's a really sad story
But actually a really neat story at the same time and it will be making a comeback on my YouTube channel
So I'm very excited about that. So that's cool
Skylines are first and foremost in my heart and in my mind like that is what I want to be working on
I've already had a couple of client cars come in and out of here. I've had some really high profile
Skylines come through here of the the Gretti built R33 that was on display at SEMA a couple years ago
That was owned by Nioh Shahara
Service and maintenance on that car because it's now getting driven and Canyon driven hard
So went through that car and and beautied up a little few things and then fixed a couple of mechanical things that were wrong with it
I recently had an inspector in here for some for some updates
a 34 and obviously and
So that must be nice when you like can kind of say like okay
I'm put like the frustration of the SEMA car aside and I'm gonna do this whatever maintenance on dies car. I mean
Yeah, to me it's again flattering that people trust me with their with their babies to to bring it in and just say here man
Go through it. I noticed this I noticed that let me know what you think and then hey put your touch on the engine bay or you know
Whatever it that's what's been happening and it's
it's super humbling and
It's exactly what I want to be doing like I absolutely love doing it
I'm gonna be launching some products that will help that process for people who can't bring their car to San Diego to me
So you can order those products direct to your house and do that sort of swap or conversion yourself
Which I'm excited that will be available on the round dash cat.com website pretty soon
I'm sort of building out a catalog of specific products for the R&S chassis platforms that I want to
Put my stamp of approval on and offer them to the world to buy
So that is probably one of the things I'm most excited about honestly
Yeah, that that I mean to a lot of car guys, right like designing or
Improving or you know these products that is like such a dream, right?
Because you know, you've always had whatever it was whether it was this intake kid or this downpipe thing
You're like if that was a little larger if that bend was a little, you know
And to be able to actually have the resources to do that dude
That's gonna be dope because I mean UP garage as you know, you know
It has has done a really great job with it and so I can't imagine what you're gonna do with it
That's gonna be sweet UP garage there. Those guys are doing great things for for the R chassis community
I'm a big fan of what they do and I've already I've been buying stuff from them
recently quite a bit and
What I for me, it's like yes
There's more products that can be thrown into the marketplace, right for these cars
But for me, I don't want to copy anybody's stuff like I want to if I'm gonna make something fresh to the market
It it can already exist, but I need to make it a better prove it improve it in some way shape or form
It can't just be another
Another thing. Yeah, whatever coil pack cover
Whatever, you know, it could be anything, but I don't want to just regurgitate that idea back into the market
I want to come up with my idea of this is sick
But man, it would be really rad if it did this and do that
So you're bringing something fresh to the market versus just a another one
Yeah, that gets lost in the sauce and is
Yeah, exactly. So
The things I'm
The things that I'm creating are not
Right now are not earth shattering things
They're just detail things and stuff that makes life easier on someone that wants to tinker in their garage or have something unique
The UP garage guys in my opinion are leading the way leading the charge right now on all the dry carbon
Inlets and all the little things they're just doing it right functional stuff. Yeah, it's it's really cool
It's logical and it just goes to show that there's room in this marketplace for for new stuff and cool stuff
That doesn't exist or or can be done better and they're doing it
So like you know, I'll take their lead and I never want to step on their toes
I want to I want them to continue doing what they're doing. I don't want to take anything away from what they're doing
If anything, I want to support it. I think you know, even in the future, maybe we can collaborate on some stuff
I don't know but that would be cool a UP X roundcat collab
They're putting their money where their mouth is and I appreciate that
Yeah, for sure and and it does take and you know, they were on the show and and you know, they're
Yeah, they were on the show. We flew out to Washington
They gave us a car to drive around for the day and then we did the podcast and it was you know
What's really cool is that they are just two guys, right that love that have the passion for the car, you know, they're not
Charging what they could be charging for these, you know, dry carbon intakes and these different parts
They want to get them out to the community
They just want to make sure they can pay their bills and and they're cool, you know
So I think that's really crazy in a world full of money-hungry people that just want to take advantage of others
There's the two guys in Washington that are just like hey, let's just do the right thing. Yeah, you know
I
You know, I will prop them up as much as I can I'm gonna go back and watch that episode because I don't know them
It's only them on DM on Instagram. Honestly. Yeah
So yeah, I would like to get to know those guys
So
So okay, so round cat starts out doing some skylines taking on some other stuff then product testing
That's sick, dude. That's like next level because not just anybody gets to do that
Right, but what what do you see beyond for it, right? Like the long-term, you know, if somebody said hey, Mickey, dude
Round cat in five years. What does that look like? What would you say that in in your mind?
For me the most important thing is to be having fun. So
At this stage of my life if I'm not having fun, it's not worth doing and so in five years
Hopefully I'm out in the workshop
Working on my own cars creating content
Hopefully my merch line is is doing well and
you know
Popular I guess I guess the ultimate goal is to to have the merch line to where it can
self-sustain and
Be a good driver for income for the business
And I've got man, I really want to tip in and give you guys some heads up on some things coming
But there's a few things in the works that are
Pretty epic. I can't talk about it today
but they're gonna shape the business going forward and
Round cat to be here for a long time, bro
That's sweet. I'm glad to hear that dude. That's legit. I mean, yeah, I get it
It must be tough for you due because you got to always be like
Yeah, like I want to tell you but like I can't tell you because everything I do is so awesome. That's top-secret dude, like
No, I do just more so I gotta I gotta protect myself and make sure that things I'm working on
You know when they come out it's it's a
Well thought out and
intentional
Yeah, and I mean there you can't spoil or reveal, you know, and so they the anticipation like of course
But you know that that would be tough having to keep these type of secrets man. That's all I'm saying
It is for sure
You know during my time at throttle though in the last 10 years
I've pretty much lived in that sort of bubble where it was like we're constantly working on something that doesn't come out for a month
And that's still the model right so like
I'm sort of used to it at this point
But yeah, it does suck because you like you want to be excited about stuff and tell people
When asked but it's really difficult because you can't ruin the surprise you can't ruin the launch or whatever so it is tough
but I think on the the socials a lot of stuff I kind of
Hinted a lot of stuff. Okay. Yeah, all right. Yeah, I like a good puzzle, dude
I'll put it together in the lines like I posted a picture of a steering wheel last week and
Literally not a only one person
Who's in the industry like caught on and was like oh dang and he made a comment and he understood what I was posting
The other hundred and 30000 people that saw it had no clue
I really just looked like a steering wheel to them, but at any rate
Wow, that's crazy a pretty special project coming to the channel and I kind of leaked it with the steering wheel
and
Nobody really got it and that's okay. I think I did see like
It's it it was it's not like you're you know
It's it's a steering wheel from a car that is not just the everyday car, right?
Was that the right and it's a very unique steering wheel. So if you know
What it is you're like, oh damn where you're doing it. Yeah, yeah, exactly
Great, I'm gonna be up all night trying to decipher Mickey's code
Yeah, I should tell you off camera, but I'm not gonna
It's gonna be up all night. Yeah
So so right now the the socials are popping you're on YouTube you're on Instagram, right?
What what else are you on with round cat and if you remember I was not planning to do YouTube?
Yeah, I think I think you're pretty much like I'm I'm ready to not do YouTube
Yeah, I
Was pretty I was pretty set on not doing YouTube going forward
I got a lot of requests to continue doing YouTube, but I just kind of was like, yeah
It's not not really
What my future holds for me. I don't think
and then I
Put up the video of like just the placeholder on the YouTube channel just to let people know that it's here
It may come back, but I wanted to just kind of earmark that space and I
Got so many DMs and
People asking me to create content
That I kind of buckled I was like, you know what I can't not listen to these people. So let me make one video
We'll just see how it does and so we literally I was working on my r34. I got a cool art tech piece for it
From the boys over in Australia and I threw it on with my friends who just happened to be hanging out at the shop
Those couple days I was working on it and we filmed it
Literally just threw it up really raw and fun and
It it literally doubled my the viewership of that video doubled my subscriber count and maybe
And it was like crazy a good a good measuring tool in the YouTube space if you're
If your video gets more views than your
Subscribership that's pretty good sign that you should probably be doing YouTube
Okay, so at that point I knew I was you know, it was RIP to my to me
Video which was the collection video and if you haven't seen that one
I kind of just pull out all the cars from the shop out of the alley and I walk through each one and that's cool
we chopped a lot out of it because I talked too much and
So there's a lot of little you know little tidbits in there of what the future holds for for the YouTube content, but
Yeah, I mean look I found my enjoyment in it again, and I think I was burned out from doing it
Just I mean another 10 years straight of doing YouTube in the last couple years. I was at throttle
I I really was sort of disgruntled to the camera. I did it because I had to it was you know, something I was
it was part of my job role and
But I think people now see me in YouTube videos like I was in TJ hunts video
Earlier today where he bought an RX 7 and since I helped him build his first RX 7. Well, I kind of built his first RX 7
He asked me to come back and be a part of this one
And so I went there and helped him and a lot of the comments were like, oh my god
It's so good to see Mickey working with you again on this RX 7 and runs me the old days
But one guy I made a comment that said
It was so cool to see the gleam in Mickey's eye again
Dang that is all right out. Yeah, that one really choked me up. I'll be honest
Because I don't think I realized that I
Was somewhat dead inside like when I was doing these last year or two worth of videos at throttle
I was just doing it because I had to
And I didn't realize unhappy how unhappy I was doing it and now that I'm actually doing what I want to do
Again, it's fun and I can now see what that guy saw in my eye like I went back and watched it
I was like, holy shit. He's right
That that's cool though because it's kind of solidifying in your decision, right?
Like you're like, you know what like even though obviously there's more stress and more, you know, of course
We all know that but right you actually got some of Mickey back by leaving and that's legit
and it's fun again and
What's really neat is like since I've
Realized that this is gonna be a thing like I've reached out to
The original editor from throttle the guy that basically started the video at well after Evan
Who was a founder of the business handed off the editing and filming to this guy?
He worked there for a bunch of years and sort of was part of the growth of the brand and then he decided to leave
during one of the after acquisitions and
I've reunited with him
And he's been helping me and he and I have a good relationship and sort of see eye-to-eye on a lot of the stuff
So it's been fun getting back out in the shop with him and talking a little shit and you know, that's cool
Yeah, I'm making cool stuff again. So
Also, I've got an ex another ex throttle employee will who did all the e-conversion stuff just across the street as well
So he he pops in pretty much every day and we shoot the shit and hang out and he ends up being on the videos too
So it's kind of fun, man. It's like it's just like throwbacks, you know super right
It's kind of full circle where like, you know, you started and you had that excitement like you said
And then you get into like the the more nitty-gritty almost corporate style and like it all goes away
And then boom it somehow comes back together when you're back to doing your thing. That's pretty pretty
I think it all just comes down to having fun, man. If you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it. I
Think that's it. That's a good. Yeah. I mean, that's a good good saying to live by right
I mean, if you find yourself miserable, should you be doing what you're doing, right?
Probably not something better that you're more passionate about and that's the other side of this is like
We were very passionate about throttle and that's why it became successful
so I'm putting that same passion into round cat and
If I can duplicate what we did there because I'm passionate then you better believe I'm gonna do that and I'm gonna push this thing
till it's successful
Dang man, I know I'm looking forward to seeing it because I mean you yeah, it's cool
It's right here. Even though we're all the way across the country
It's right there for us to see and follow and you know support so
You guys are well, you know finally we come out to Cali
Yeah, we get to get out to Cali. That's a lot. That's a long flight man. I'm gonna tell you right now
I said, yeah, go that's down there. Yeah, like dang, but would definitely be well worth it
Here's what I want to know dude. What's up? I think it's been a little while
Got any Japan plans, man?
This was part of what I didn't want to talk about
Be super broad dude like insanely broad
I'm trying to plan a project over there. I'm gonna leave it at that. Okay more of a longer term
Oh
Residency not just flying in for a week type of thing. I had such a great time doing that that I
I
Really want to do it again, and I want to go deeper. I want to
continue to
Cultivate and nurture the relationship I have with Sato from top rank. Oh, yeah
We had such a great time building that engine and
Going to dinner and just live in like a motorsports life
in the countryside of Japan it really just
It's emotional dude like for me, it's like
Everything I've ever wanted as a as a car guy and I want to do it on a grander scale
so I'm trying to put together sort of a
Build over there. That's gonna allow me to be there for a while and build this with a goal in mind
So I'll kind of leave it at that. Yeah
And also there's quite a few really great events happening in October
In Japan, so I'm thinking about maybe going over there for
Maybe two weeks or so maybe a little bit longer just to attend sort of back to events and sort of
Live the life for a few days in between the events. So I don't know that that's not solidified yet, but
Definitely something I'm interested in it has been a while since I've been there. I haven't been since January. So I
Would like to get back over there to see my friends
Dude, I can I mean, yeah, first of all, yeah, Sato is the man like for sure such a
soft-spoken
Intelligent like yeah for sure and when I saw you posting about you guy you actually working with Sata
I think we actually like it. I we were together and I was like dude Mickey's working with Sata
Are you kidding me dude? Like and that is like that car guy dream like you said, right like
Those things that you can't even really recreate if you try yeah, I mean experiences can't you can't buy that experience like it's um
I'm fortunate that the top-ranked guys are like cool enough to allow me to be like hey, I want to do this
Can we make it happen and they?
Sort of you know, they just sort of push you along. Yeah, yeah, we'll you know, we'll provide a translator will
We'll you know, we'll get your car ready
Have it ready for you to drive while you're over there like they make it easy to do stuff like that if you have the
Ability to create something cool with the content though
I'm fortunate in that I've built that platform
We built it was a throttle and I'm continuing to build it now
So that rapport is there so then when I want to go do stuff like that. We've already done it now
It's easier to sort of get that permission to say hey
I'm gonna I want to go do this you guys in and they look at it right they can say no and they have
But I'm hoping to put something fun together that
Yeah, come on top rank
Yeah, I mean dude, that's cool, man
I hope you reach that goal of being able to you know, create what you want to create over there because
It really is super special dude from you know, all of the different experiences. We've had you know
It's just like yeah, it is that dream that it's like that
Never ending yearn to go back, right? It's like, okay. How can I get back there? Hmm October? There's three events
I haven't looked at flights for anywhere else
We go somewhere besides Japan for once
Playing with cars the whole time I
totally totally get it but as you guys know, it's it's addictive like it's
Once you get a taste of that sort of lifestyle if you're in the cars to the point that we are like I
Don't know that anything can top it
There's something to be said about a tropical vacation sitting on the beach drinking of my time, but
Nothing compares to plumbing a fuel system in an R34 while Satos cranking away on your motor next to you
Yeah, dude, I can't I can't imagine that actually is pretty peak right there
Damn, what do I do now really, you know, yeah, well, that's what now. It's like, okay. How do I top that?
Yeah
Once you get there you got to keep doing it like right and it applies to a lot of things, right? I mean
But dude props to you for not kind of
Giving up on that right giving up on that dream that like site that you have that these type of things can happen
Yeah, just got to figure out ways to get it done man
Where there's a will there's a way
Dude mickey, is there anything about round cat? You know before before we get to the end of this
Is there anything at all about round cat that like you would want everyone to know
Man that's a tough one bro
Um
I
Want everyone to know that round cat is a passion project for me like this is literally my heart and soul that I'm putting into this business
It's gonna be multifaceted as we spoke about in the beginning like multiple revenue streams
It's gonna be many pieces parts that put together. What is round cat?
And I know a lot of people look at the name and they're like, what does that even mean?
What does it have to do with cars?
The name is from my heart it's it belonged to it stems from my fat cat essentially that
He was 30 pounds and he was
very special to me and
When I lost them that's kind of when I came up with the name, right? So
But I want people to know that this is a
very organic business and it's
Essentially just me at the moment
So everything you're seeing out there with the brand is my work like me putting in that work to sort of
Bring the brand to the top to the forefront of social medias and stuff like that. That's one person doing all this
So I hope that just speaks to everyone like how much time and effort I'm putting into it and how much I believe in it and
How I want it to be around for a really long time and something that's near and dear to my heart and it's it's my passion
So that's I guess that's the long and the short of it
What what was the cat's name?
His name was Bagheera
Bagheera he was named after the
Jungle Book the black panther. I like that. He was all black big cat
Dang well that you know, that's sad that you lost Bagheera, but it's cool that his spirit turned into what is now, you know
Round cat. Yeah, that's pretty legit. Yeah, and this this guy right here. This was a different cat. I know we just I had to
Unfortunately, he he left this earth about three weeks ago. Oh
he was the last man standing and
That's why this this version of the round cat is the most popular one because he
Bagheera passed away probably about a year and a half ago now
two years and
This was his this guy's name was Crosby. He's named after my favorite hockey player
Unfortunately, he was 16 and just old and you know, he lived a good life. Yeah, he lived it man for sure
And now he's on the back of all my shirts and and your shirt and all
Long live Crosby. It's one good way to
You know memorialize them and keep them close to me on all the stickers and all the stuff. So it's fun
And one thing I definitely liked about like the round cat branding because you know, a lot of people will try to use
Like, you know, Japanese symbols and styling, you know what?
I mean, but haven't actually been there and like seen the lights in person and like
Experienced, I don't know the I feel like the branding really speaks to me like as almost genuine
Japanese branding, you know, the way that you styled everything
That was the goal
the artists that I work with
That I gave all my ideas and concepts to
Really understands the Japanese
Art styling and fonts and stuff like that
so, you know, this this actually spawned from sort of like the
The drift teams used to have like a box DL back in the late 90s
they'd always have their crew on the back of the window and
So that's kind of where this design came from
it was sort of a drift team styling and
I just love the simplicity of it and the fact that the name is so ambiguous that it could, you know
It doesn't need to be correlated. It could be anything and so
Super important and then obviously the garage is named the round cat garage
So you can pretty much do anything with it and it's a fun whimsical thing
That I love it's near and dear to my heart because of the the cats obviously so
Dude, that's cool. So you're you've really fully embodied like what you want at this point
You know, that's how from everything that we've talked about. That's what I've gotten from it
Like you're you're tired of being the clocking in Mickey
You want to be the I'm living my life Mickey and that's that's what you're doing in every sense of the word
Exactly. This wasn't something that came about overnight
Like I I had been planning this for a number of years before I ever departed throttle as far as like
If I were to go off on my own
what would
Inspire me to create something really really cool and something that I want for a really really long time and
My cats because they're so special to me. I needed that to be a part of it
And obviously cats are very
They're like gods in Japan
Mm-hmm the cats there so it just all kind of lined up dude like I and so I just leaned into it as hard as I could and
The all the new merch that's coming out and stuff that's about to hit is just so dope like I can't wait to you guys see this stuff
There's a whole other would this be like version to like set to kind of are you I'm planning to have merch drops multiple times a year
So, okay, that's where you're wearing gets old and starts coming apart whatever
You know check the site and oh sick. They just dropped three new shirts. Like I like that one. I'm gonna pick that up
Time to retire this whatever so yeah, I've there's a lot to this business. It's gonna be happening
What you're seeing right now is just literally the tip of the iceberg
There's so much going on in the background that I can't even talk about yet that is gonna take off
and it's really gonna cement this brand as a
Real mainstay and automotive scene
Dude, we're looking forward to the evolution for sure
You know, we're gonna keep an eye and everybody else should to actually
Spit the socials in the website one more time if everybody hasn't gotten it
Yeah, the website's round dash cat calm
And that's constantly being updated the YouTube videos are there too
So if you go there and I look at merch you
I'm gonna click on the YouTube video take you to YouTube and great to repeat
The YouTube is round cat garage
Instagram is
round cat garage as well or Mickey andrade for my personal and
We're on all the socials as basically round cat garage
elsewhere
Oh, yeah, dude, if you guys haven't checked him out definitely go check him out
I mean that this guy is is a legend at this point in my eyes for sure
Oh, dude, please I see what you're doing over there, dude. It's only a matter of time, dude
Keep my head down and keep cranking really
Alright, hey Mickey. So we're gonna look for you. Let's see. What's it been 16 months in another 16 months, dude
We got to get you back on we want we're gonna be able to talk about the Seema bill at that time
We're gonna be able to talk about how much progress you've made dude
Yep, and I want to say massive. Thank you to you guys for having me on again for round two
I'm honored and humbled to be doing this a second time around and I'm just glad I have some relevant things to talk about
Dude, yeah, I think it dude it'd be hard to get you on on a call and not have something relevant to talk about
Again, I appreciate you Bobby and Aaron for taking the time to chat with me and hopefully this was fun to listen to
Yeah, for this episode of the right-hand drive guys podcast. I'm Bobby. This is Aaron and Mickey. See ya peace. Thanks guys
About this episode
Round Cat Garage takes center stage as the hosts and guest map how the shop evolved from a place to store cars into a full-time, right-hand-drive-focused operation. The conversation swings between SEMA build realities—often turning into “3 a.m. Mornings”—and hands-on technical work like custom Willwood brake setups for Skyline R32/R34s. Along the way, they share product-testing and early-access parts, talk motivation and business tradeoffs, and explain the “Round Cat” name and branding inspiration.
Original notes
In this episode of the Right Hand Drive Guys Podcast, we're joined once again by Mickey Andrade for a look at the next chapter of his automotive journey. Since his first appearance on the show, Mickey has officially launched Roundcat Garage—a passion-driven business focused on building, restoring, and refining right-hand-drive legends while creating products and content for enthusiasts around the world.
We dive into what it's really like to leave behind a successful career and start over from scratch, the challenges of running a one-man shop, and why building cars for yourself can be both the most rewarding and most demanding path. Mickey also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming SEMA build, his growing lineup of Skyline and JDM projects, new product development, and the vision for Roundcat Garage over the next several years.
The conversation also explores the creative process behind launching a brand, why staying passionate is the key to longevity, and Mickey's plans to return to Japan for even bigger projects. If you've followed his work over the years, this episode is an honest look at what it takes to reinvent yourself while staying true to the passion that started it all.
🎙️ From rebuilding Skylines to rebuilding a career, Mickey proves that the best projects begin when you bet on yourself.
Right Hand Drive Guys
RHDGUYS
0:00
50:19