This is a Jaguar XJ that’s tuned to be faster than a normal XJ. The host says it’s basically like the higher-performance XJR, but with a quieter, more subtle style.
The Jaguar XJR is the faster, sportier version of the XJ. Here, the host is saying their XJ Supersport is basically an XJR underneath, just with less flashy styling.
Turbo lag is the short hesitation you can feel before a turbo starts making strong power. It’s basically the time it takes for the turbo to “spool up” after you put your foot down.
The Lake District is a scenic area in England with lots of twisty roads. It’s the kind of place where driving feels fun because the roads keep curving and climbing.
Place
Aberfoil
Aberfoil is a location in Scotland that the speaker uses as a waypoint on a road trip. The point for listeners is that they’re describing a real driving route—moving from one favorite road to another across the UK.
Topic
top gear road trip
They’re describing the trip like it would be on Top Gear—driving around on great roads and chatting while doing it. It’s more about the vibe and format than a specific car tech thing.
Term
530 horsepower
Horsepower is a number that tells you how strong the engine is. A figure like 530 horsepower usually means the car has been modified to be much faster than stock.
The Subaru Impreza is a compact car that can be made into a fast, performance version. In the podcast, they’re talking about a very powerful example that can accelerate strongly. It’s mentioned because it’s impressive and fun to drive.
The Isle of Arran is an island off Scotland with a road that basically goes all the way around it. It’s great for driving because you can do a full loop and enjoy lots of fun roads in one trip.
The Highland Fault is a big geological feature in Scotland. The host mentions it to explain why parts of Arran look mountainous while other parts are flatter, which affects the kind of roads you get.
Place
Landau circuit
A “circuit” is a race track. They’re saying they were filming at Landau circuit, which is the track location that shapes how the cars can be driven and filmed.
Concept
amicable divorce
They’re using “amicable divorce” as a metaphor for a friendly split. The point is that the channels separated politely, not in a messy or hostile way.
Concept
proper conscious uncoupling
“Conscious uncoupling” is a phrase people use for a respectful breakup. Here it’s just describing how the two sides parted ways in a calm, intentional manner—nothing to do with cars.
Cylinders are the chambers inside an engine where fuel is burned to make power. If you take cylinders apart, you’re inspecting the parts that help the engine compress and seal properly.
Gaskets are thin sealing pieces that help keep fluids and gases from leaking between engine parts. If a gasket is worn or damaged, the engine can leak or not seal properly.
Concept
methodology
Here, “methodology” just means a consistent step-by-step way to take an engine apart. The host is saying there’s a repeatable order that helps viewers understand what they’re seeing.
A Formula One engine is a race engine designed for top performance in Formula One. The point here is that even though it’s special, it still has the same basic engine parts as other cars.
A piston ring is a ring on the piston that helps seal the engine so combustion gases don’t escape. It also helps control how much engine oil gets into the combustion area.
The “bottom end” is the lower part of the engine that includes the crankshaft and connecting rods. It’s important because problems there can affect how the engine runs and how long it lasts.
The Jaguar XK120 is an old-school British sports car. People still talk about it because it was one of Jaguar’s early famous performance cars and helped establish the brand’s reputation.
The Jaguar XKR is a faster, more performance-oriented Jaguar XK. It’s the kind of car enthusiasts look for because it’s built to feel quick and exciting, not just stylish.
Swallows is described as a major Jaguar specialist that the speaker uses as a filming base. The host says they film “half of my videos” there, with cars in the background, which makes it central to how the content is produced.
Scrapheap Challenge is a TV show idea where people build things using random scrap. The host is comparing the Jaguar yard to that—lots of interesting stuff everywhere in the background.
The Jaguar XJ-S is a sporty Jaguar designed for comfortable driving over longer distances. It’s the kind of car people recognize as a classic. The podcast brings it up as a nice Jaguar to have around or look at.
The Ford Fiesta is a small hatchback that’s common and easy to live with day to day. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because the speaker really liked their own Fiesta and the way it looked and drove. It’s part of the story about what other people were choosing at the time.
The head gasket is a seal inside the engine that keeps important fluids where they belong. If it goes bad, the engine can start overheating or mixing fluids, and the car may need repair.
The Fiat 500 is a small car made for city driving. It’s easy to park and maneuver because it’s compact. The podcast mentions it as something other people were leasing at the time.
A “nut and bolt restoration” means you basically take the car apart piece by piece and rebuild it properly. It’s a thorough, full repair—not just a quick cleanup.
The exhaust is the system that lets engine gases out of the car. Swapping it can change how loud or sporty the car sounds, which is what the speaker was going for.
Twin spark means the engine lights the fuel-air mixture using two spark plugs instead of one. It’s a design choice that can make the engine run more smoothly and sound a bit different.
The Mazda MX-5 is a small, lightweight roadster that’s known for being genuinely fun to drive. The speaker still has one and really rates it, and they mention it’s a common favorite among their guests too.
The Rover 600 is a mid-size car that was meant for everyday driving. The podcast mentions it because the speaker’s dad owned one, and the speaker later had a more powerful turbo version. It’s included as part of their car background.
The Rover 600 is a larger Rover family car. The speaker is pointing out that their dad’s one used a Honda-designed engine, which is a notable detail for that model.
The host mentions a company called Bevin International because they’re connected to the V10 engine idea for the MX-5. They’re basically the “source” of the engine parts/solution for this swap.
A V10 is an engine with 10 cylinders arranged in a V shape. The host is excited because it can fit in the MX-5 and it should sound and rev in a very special way.
Conot is the brand name the host associates with the V10 engine used for the MX-5 swap. They’re saying it has racing history, which is why it’s exciting for this project.
RPM is how fast the engine spins. 12,000 RPM means it’s designed to rev extremely high, which usually makes the engine sound more intense and “race-like.”
The Porsche Carrera RS is a high-performance version of the 911 made for faster, more track-like driving. It’s known for being more focused on performance than everyday comfort. The podcast mentions it as one of the cars that stands out as a top pick.
This is a Porsche supercar the host mentions as another dream they’d like to own or experience. It’s the kind of car people usually talk about as a rare, special goal.
The Audi R8 is a supercar, and the host wants it with a manual transmission. They’re saying this exact setup is the one they’ve been chasing as a dream car.
A press car is a car a manufacturer gives to journalists or reviewers. The host is saying Audi keeps those cars for media use and won’t sell them to customers.
An engine swap means replacing the engine in a car with a different one. People do it to make the car faster, more fun, or to match what they want from the driving experience.
The Dodge Charger Hellcat is a very powerful version of the Charger. It’s known for big horsepower, and the host is comparing it to their other car’s power and daily use.
The Dodge Challenger is a big, powerful car designed for fast acceleration. The podcast talks about it because it has very large engines and similar performance to other high-power cars they drove. It’s mentioned as part of their drive-day comparisons.
A “cat’s eye” is a little reflective bump on the road. It helps drivers see the lane line at night or in bad weather, and when you drive over it, it can actually clean itself.
“Self-cleaning” means the road marker has a built-in mechanism that wipes its own reflective surface as cars drive over it. So it stays bright without someone having to clean it manually.
The rubber plunger is the squishy part inside the road marker. When a tire hits it, it moves down and helps wipe/clean the reflective surface, then it returns back up.
A reservoir is a small internal pocket that holds water. In a cat’s eye, it’s part of how the marker handles rain so the reflective part stays effective.
Wheel nuts are the bolts/nuts that hold a wheel onto the car or truck. The hosts describe a trick where there are small arrow marks so you can quickly look and tell if a nut has moved or loosened. It’s a fast safety check, especially for fleets.
They mean the topic is specialized—so it attracts a particular kind of viewer instead of the general audience. Rare cars can stand out because not many people make content about them.
Aerodynamics is how the shape of the car interacts with the air as it moves. At race speeds, that can change how firmly the tires stay planted on the road.
“Instabilities” here means the car didn’t stay stable at speed—it started behaving in an unpredictable way. That can happen when airflow or traction changes suddenly.
Brodick is a town on the Isle of Arran. The speaker is using it as a starting point for the drive he wants to do. It helps you picture the route he’s describing.
Corrie is a location on the Isle of Arran. The speaker mentions it to describe the route he’d take while driving. It’s mainly there to help you follow the plan.
Loughranza is a place on the Isle of Arran that the speaker uses as a destination/turning point. He’s saying the drive has hills and changes in elevation, and that’s part of why his chosen car would feel great there. It’s about the route, not a car feature.
The Lancia Delta Integrale Evo II is a famous Lancia rally car that’s also a very exciting road car. It has a turbo engine and a reputation for being quick and fun on twisty roads. Here, the host picks it because it sounds perfect for the route and for fitting the group.
Left-hand drive just means the driver is in the left seat. That matters because it affects where the car sits in the lane and how you line up for corners and road edges. He’s saying it would help on that specific road layout.
Third gear is one of the car’s gear settings that changes how the engine pulls. He’s saying that gear might feel a bit stiff or not super smooth to shift, which he thinks would be okay for that kind of road. It’s about how the car feels while driving.
LIVE
I just wanted it to go fast in sound goods so I put a silly exhaust on it.
I currently daily something called a Jaguar XJ Supersport which is essentially an XJR
but like not with all the crass badging on it. It's like really stealth but still five meter
supercharged, 5000000 horsepower, absolute beast of a thing. And then I've still got my
Mark II MX-5 which I've been trying to put a V10 engine in for about six years now.
Yes, long story. I want to fuel the turbo lag. I think it'll just be insane.
I want Audi's press manual V8 because that's the one Clarkson draw on Tokyo.
Hello and welcome to Fueling Around. I'm Vicki Butler Henderson.
And I'm Dave Vitti bringing you the very best in mototainment every single week.
Fueling Around is powered by Adrien Flux as the UK's largest specialist insurance broker.
Adrien Flux will tailor a quote to your exact needs and help save you money on your car,
your bike or even your home insurance. Now please don't forget to press subscribe
on YouTube so that you never miss an episode or press follow on Spotify or Apple or wherever
you get your podcasts from. Now then our special guest this week is a man who has been responsible
for some of the most watched online car content. He has been a key player on Drive Tribe and he
is now plowing his own motoring furrow. He is Mike Fanny. Hello. Thank you for having me.
That's a pleasure. Thank you very much for joining us. Great to meet you. Big fans of the stuff
obviously from Drive Tribe as Vicki said and now onwards. We often describe people in your
sort of situation as living the dream I think because you're essentially getting paid to do
what most people who are into cars would like to do. You were living the dream at Drive Tribe
for many years. You're now obviously doing your own thing. Does it feel like you're still living
the dream or is it a lot more scary when it's your own name above the door? It definitely goes
both ways but I'd say the majority of the time I'm definitely living the dream. There's been some
stressful situations where it's suddenly all on you but also it kind of goes the other way where
all of the success is also like down to you and my small little team. So yeah, it's been quite a
stressful time. It needed to be quite brave to take the jump but I'm very happy I've done it.
It's always such a worrying time isn't it when you lead the security and safety of something that
you've had a salary from and then you go into the like the big scary freelance world.
Yeah absolutely and I was like very well paid at Drive Tribe. It wasn't like a lot of motoring
journalism jobs where it's really scrumping the pennies. Like it was a start-up, nice big salary
but I knew there was more out there for me so I thought let's take a leap.
Yeah now your backstory is quite interesting because you weren't sort of born a motoring
journalist so you first studied mechanical engineering at University in Edinburgh which
must have been lovely. Yes I liked physics and maths at school and thought right what we're
going to do so mechanical engineering I want to be in cars somehow and that seemed like the way to
go. But then you decided uh-uh the grass is green on the other side I would like to drive cars and
review them and you were on the brink of going to auto express magazine which is a magazine that I
was a road tester at so I know it well. That wasn't the reason he didn't go there. No no.
But that's when the Drive Tribe social medias or platform pounced and said we've seen some of the
stuff that you've done we'd love to have you. What was it like that first day when you were
employed by Clarkson, Hammond and May in the early days of Drive Tribe? Yeah it was pretty nice. It
was a massive start-up office in Kings Cross like literally in the station and the room was full of
like sort of 50 odd people which seemed absolutely mad at the time. You know I went in there looking
for Clarkson Hammond and May they weren't there but the journalists that were in there were still
some of my all-time favourites guys like Henry Catchpole, Jethro Bovingdon, you know Drive Tribe
had done a frankly amazing job of just going out there and hiring some of the best in the business
to come in. I was very much junior and they'd hired me because they saw this platform called
Carthrottle which is where Alex and all of his ecosystem has come from. Auto Alex that we've had
on the pod car before. And I was part of that. While I was at uni I was writing for Carthrottle
and Drive Tribe came along and as far as I'm aware offered everyone at Carthrottle a job.
They just wanted to wipe the whole place and bring them over but fair play to them no one went
apart from me because I thought wait a minute that's Clarkson Hammond and May like that's
a serious opportunity let's go. So I went for it and yeah I started off as a junior writer
and then worked my way up the demand for video went up while I was there YouTube was just getting
bigger and so I went from writing to video. And you were there for nine years so
what was the best bit and the worst bit? Best bit probably had it's tough this too. Both of them
One of them was Richard and I going to our favorite roads in the UK so he took me to his
place in the Lake District he's got a little cottage there. Went on his road which was like
quite emotional for him and then we drove from there up to a place called Aberfoil in the in the
sort of right in the middle of Scotland which is where my favorite road was so it's quite nice us
sampling each other's roads and it was it was very top gear road trip it was driving in super
charged v8 cars over the radios chatting away that was surreal to go through that and then the other
highlight was taking Richard Subaru from the Grand Tour we'd sort of done it up made it
530 horsepower absolutely beast of an impreza and then I took it to my favorite place in the world
which is the Isle of Arran just off the west coast of Scotland it's got a perfect ring road
all the way around the island so it's very well it's a lap immediately and how how many miles in
it's not much I don't know how many miles two I I've got a time for it oh yes which I will not
say because people will quickly be able to figure out an average speed but yeah it's I mean it's
for me it's Scotland's Isle of Man understood and the roads are cracking on it so if anyone
wants a road trip you've probably never been on before Isle of Arran is the place to go
what's really cool is the Highland Fault comes down from Loch Ness and just keeps going diagonally
through Scotland and the final bit of it goes through Arran so the top of the island is very
mountainous the bottom of the island is very lowland so it's it's called Scotland and miniature
because it's like got everything going yeah yeah yeah I mean the whole but the whole situation
of being at Dry Tribe for so long as Vicky says must have been so surreal as a kid who grew up
watching Top Gear as we all did you know this is just this is the one program every week on a
Sunday night that you have to see then you're in a situation where you are you look to one side
and you've got Clarkson and and and main you look to the other side and you've got Hammond and it
must have been a proper pinch yourself moment to kind of think I'm actually working with these guys
now you know I mean how bunkers did that feel it was nuts and like yeah I was that kid that
got home from school watched all the reruns on day fifth year as well and just I would be encyclopedic
I'd know I'd know the scripts off by heart for some of the episodes so yeah when those people
walked in the room they were never together but there's I can think of every single the individual
days when that voice came from the door behind me I was like oh my god that that's Jeremy Clarkson
or Richard or James so yeah to have those moments and then like that then stretches to the first
shoot with them and then the first time on camera with them and yeah it's great having that evidence
on YouTube somewhere I it's always nasty to look back at older content you just cringe inside of
what you're doing but it's it's pretty cool having a video with Jeremy James and Richard some of the
numerous just sitting there it's very cool absolutely you know and I know that obviously
they weren't all there at the point at which you decided to to exit drive trying but still
having been there for so long and been such a such a significant part of your career
well the mainstay of your career at that point certainly is that not a huge risk then is that
something that causes you sleepless nights in terms of am I going to turn my back on this
am I going to set up on my own is it the right thing to do I mean that can't be an easy decision
that was the toughest bit like actively moving out from under Richard because by that time he'd
take it over drive he was the boss this what 2021 that sort of time wasn't it yes yeah yeah so that
in terms of the worst moment at drive try but it was probably then November 2021 the whole thing
was shutting down the the experiment had not worked creating a social media platform for cars
and we were told right sorry doors are closing but then Richard himself was shown a spreadsheet
there was a green line in it the only green line and it was the youtube channel and the social
media channels so it kind of sprung back from there but Richard took overdrive try became the
boss and we cracked on from there I'd essentially spent my entire career either yeah an employee
of all three or Richard himself and then when it narrowed down to just Richard and the small team
you then got closer and closer with him and you know he's a very busy man but he was very generous
with his time we'd create a whole bunch of content but that must make it all the more
difficult then when you have had that conversation to leave so how did that conversation go
what did you start with we were at Landau circuit we were filming mg versus my mg versus his mg
yeah on track and I you know we we did really have a relationship that was like super deep
having chats with each other and that sort of thing but at the start of the day I just said
during the lunch break I just grab you for a chat and you could just see his face because he was like
oh no that can't be good because we don't do this that's not a thing and yeah it started off like
he I think he was upset and a bit gutted that I was leaving but what was great was almost immediately
it was really positive and it's like right how are we going to do this I think he was aware that
there'd been quite a lot of quite messy youtube breakups in the industry and he's like right
how do we do this so that it's good for you and good for drive tribe and it just it keeps it all
happy and I'd like to think we've become we could be seen as a bit of a template of how to do it
because it has gone really well I'm still very pally with the guys at drive tribe I'm actually
seeing Richard on Saturday I'll be at event on stage with him which should be really cool
and yeah it's all been hunky dory whenever I need a bit of footage in my videos that hanks
back to an old drive trip video that's all good it's a really nice place and that's great isn't
it the fact that it's an adult situation and it is a you know like as you say like an amicable
divorce or an amicable separation and we did that on camera there's a leaving video where Richard
and I shake hands wish each other well and yeah it's great it's not none of these you know people
online wondering what's going on it's all there proper conscious uncoupling yeah exactly yeah
and I think you know it's good for both channels as well isn't it because you know what's the point
in being at war with somebody and being petty and kind of almost you know it doesn't really achieve
anything does it sometimes but often actually people have said when you're on top gear and when
you're in fifth gear you know oh you know there's lots of rivalry it's like actually no because
this whole industry is so small yeah when you get into it that everybody just has to help
everybody else to help really well yeah and also I think you all benefit from the success that you
you all have you know in many ways you know you're talking before about auto alex for example and
you know other people who who are your very much your contemporaries but
you've all got a vested interest in this whole world and this whole market being as
healthy and successful as you can because people watch alex's videos and then they'll be suggested
ones of yours and then vice versa and you know so actually it's not really competition is it I
don't think and I think also you you're all you're all quite different you know you all sort of have
your own little I know it's all car content but you have your own sort of niches and specialisms
and alex's content is different to your content which is different to to other people yeah absolutely
I think there's areas of media that are quite cutthroat um but I think with YouTube what's great
is something I've realized there's there's so much space for us all and it's not there's not a huge
amount of direct competition going on the audience is there for each channel the sponsors are there
for each channel it's not oh he's got that there for a piece of Nick different me it's just not a
thing I think YouTube honestly is only getting started I think that the next 510 years are
just going to see YouTube almost take over the entire streaming it's already I think last year at
Surpass Netflix is the biggest streaming platform people are sitting down for their dinner and putting
on YouTube yeah um which is just nuts so it I'm I quite like my timing in regards to that because
I think that's only going to go up now the onus is on us to create hour-long content because
that's what the new demand is it's to replace Netflix and Amazon Prime there's no point in
putting out a 15 minute car review anymore it needs to be an hour-long epic that people just lock into
yeah absolutely so I mean talking about your channel then Mike Ferney is what it's called
obviously same name as you that's not easy to remember I tried a few but everything
just sounded really it's a difficult one isn't it you know and then you sort of think well I just
call it me you know yeah um so anyway so I mean early figures you've been going for six months or so
now um which is still very much in in its infancy I mean the figures are huge I mean you're into six
figures for for your films already which I don't know whether that's whether that's what you expected
whether it's exceeded your expectations or not but I think even more so and with the greatest respect
it's pretty niche stuff it's not you know we're not talking about Ferraris going sideways in slow
mode we're talking we're talking about taking cylinders apart and whatever and you know sort
of you know the construction of gaskets and things I mean this is tapping into your engineering
background exactly I like what I love is how much of an audience there clearly is for that yeah I
think YouTube is that's what it's so good for it's you can almost can't go too niche on YouTube
um people will search for exactly what they want and the content will be there for it so
although doing engine stuff that's like the majority of it I do some other car stuff around it
but engines are the main thing and that could be seen as too niche but yeah people seem to lock
into it people will happily watch an hour of just dismantling an engine putting all the parts on
the carpet and having a look at damage or what's good about them people love that stuff there's
there's like a methodology yeah to stripping down an engine like it doesn't matter what engine it is
it could be a formula one engine or it can be your mum's nissan micro engine yeah this is the formula
to do it they've all got the same bits in them some they're just more special than others yeah yeah
so it's don't do this before you've done that exactly so it's almost like the audience already
knows what's coming but they watch it exactly because of that yeah they're like oh I can't wait
till he gets to the bottom end and you flip it around you start doing the bottom end and there's
a piston ring yeah exactly I think it's also people like also their their own knowledge being
backed up yeah so I think I don't think too many people are learning like directly from my videos
quite a lot of them they know about engines they just like that being solidified through my video
so they almost like telling their girlfriend or partner oh he's gonna move on to this next and
then I do and they're like see told you so I think there's something about backing up
yeah brace yourself love he's gonna he's gonna take my casket off him exactly
he's gonna come in corn rocks yeah yeah exactly that but I love it I'm loving it
having built such a good base with drive tribe how then did you tempt a proportion of them to
come over with you um I think that one of the downsides with the drive tribe channel while I
was there we built it to 3000000 subscribers and a huge proportion of them were there for the
trio um so we would still you know Clarkson hadn't been on the channel for something like three or
four years and there'd be comments on the video saying where's Clarkson so a drive
tribe was so solidified around that trio but what I was there to do was create content that the car
the proper car audience would still click on so the car or the engine or whatever road trip we're
doing make that interesting enough that it doesn't need to be one of the trio and that meant
sponsor could come in and you know they probably wouldn't be able to afford the about Richard
we'd charge but little old me would we'd be able to hoover up the rest so I guess I had my own little
area of drive tribe where a certain amount of subscribers were sitting and the question was
when I left how much of that would come across no one I chatted to so many youtubers fellow
youtubers about it and no one could tell me roughly the magic formula there wasn't necessarily
a template for it anyway though Mike is there because you know this is this is still a new
a new world and what not and your situation isn't necessarily one that's been replicated by people
for years and decades so you're still learning aren't you yeah absolutely um I wanted a certain
amount of subscribers by a certain time and what I've learned from guys like Alex and others that
have left a big channel is you always underestimate it I tried to be like no no I'm not gonna make
that mistake it's gonna be this amount by this amount of time but it just totally massively
surpassed that so you know if you told me the numbers now um back then back in sort of November
I would have absolutely grabbed your hand um so yes it's been really good it's it it is it's
own numbers isn't it really I mean it's the channel your channel every channel does it live and die
on the numbers essentially yeah I mean to be fair that it live and dies very much on sponsorships
these days that's kind of the way YouTube works ad revenue has gone way down from its heyday sort
of 10 years ago so you now need to have the ad revenue plus some sponsors supporting the channel
and they are very much looking at how the numbers on your videos and how many people are watching
that ads integration so you do need to keep up YouTube is a beast that just it needs that momentum
to keep it going if you don't it can start fluctuating and the algorithm can can really
start to hurt you so it's something you need to keep on top on but what is really nice is fresh
channels um YouTube thinks okay you're new to the platform let's help you out let's get you going so
I think that's showing I think also something compared to the drive drive channel kind of
like I was mentioning so much the audience were there for the trio so there would be a portion
of the audience that very much wouldn't watch my content and that would lead to these fluctuations
and views well now I've got my own channel people won't have subscribed to my channel unless they
like me specifically yeah so the consistency on the views is really nice compared to what it was
like at drive tribe that there's a thing after your videos come out for half an hour YouTube
will give you a ranking of how it was doing versus the other videos one to 101 being good ten
being rubbish um and at drive tribe you'd just be panicking at the 29th minute waiting to refresh
for 30 to see the ranking come out if it was good fantastic dope I mean flooding your brain
if it wasn't ruins your evening you're going into work with someone saying that's all very great
how are you gonna sort that out well now it's all on me and as I say the consistency is there
because when my face appears on a thumbnail now my audience wants to click it rather than
it's not a richer video it's not an easy video it's not a James May video I'll leave it um back
to the beginning I think um what were your earliest memories of cars um do you know what
I thought you asked me that so I've brought a prop oh oh god we like a prop oh it's intriguing
a little tiny cow this is my corgi jaguar xk120 yeah sorry for the audio viewers only it's a
it's a corgi black and white jaguar xk120 this was in my the box of toys at my grandma and grandad's
house and it belonged to my dad and uncle that exact car yeah so this is from I think the mid 60s
it's a bit it needs a full restoration uh but you're the man to do it my this is the car that I've
kept with me the whole time when I saw this in the in the toy box I thought that is nice what is that
and I've been obsessed with jaguar ever since um so yes that's one of those isn't it I mean like a real
one it wouldn't surprise me I think he has because he's he's he's on the dream car list he won't admit
it but he's a jagman he's a proper jagman in fact when we need to talk about jags as well with you in
a little bit because I think I thought about bringing my jag here it's you less exempt but yeah I know
isn't that mad that you can have the most exotic old wonderful big engine things and they're you
less five liter of e8 yeah and you can get bring them into London without having to pay do you know
what well we're we're just on that subject because I did notice in the there was a video that you
put out which essentially was um why you left drive tribe yes in fact that's what it was called
yep and it's 20 odd minutes or whatever of explaining you know why that decision process
has happened and I don't know where you filmed it but you're in and surrounded you're really you're
in a yard right and I start watching this film have you seen it right and I'm a bit like oh there's
a there's an xkr and there's a and then and I'm like they're all jags like every one of them is jags
I mean it's like a whole graveyard of different jacks and then so it made me think that obviously
they must be your your car of choice yes that that was a swallow's jaguar they're down summer set
down my way big jaguar specialist and yeah they very kindly allowed me to kind of use their
place as a base for my videos so say half of my videos are just to kind of sit down and talking
videos with stuff going on beside me they're all filmed at swallows and yeah it's it's the best set
it's almost like you know it's definitely not a scrappy like there are there's a lots of nice
jags there but I kind of think of it almost like the the set of scrapheap challenge there's just
there's so much stuff in the background that it just looks cool no matter where you are so I can
just plonk down anywhere and start presenting and they'll probably be a nice xjs or a xkr in the
background so yeah that's awesome but yeah I've always been a jagman since three years old since
97 and I currently daily a five litre supercharged jag so it's still going still going strong
absolutely so dare I ask if your first car was a jaguar and what were those early days
like were you a neat freak car or did you just not really care much and run it on fumes each day
I've always been an old British fan so my first ever car I wanted it to be an MG ZR but I couldn't
afford the insurance because the ZR was like the boy racer version so I had to get the granny
Rover 25 and then put all the ZR bits on it to make me look like a boy racer but I absolutely
loved that car and you know everyone else was getting minis and fiesta's and leasing
fiat 500s and stuff and there was me with my 900 pounds Rover 25 head gasket blue because of course
it did of course I absolutely loved that thing and what was a really nice everyone what's their
first car back and I drove that car for a bit but then sold it and then went to an mx-5 as by
second car actually no sorry I went alpha gtv first wrote that off and then got an mx-5 but
yes this this Rover absolutely loved it and I was driving home one day and it was a Lotus press car
from London up to Edinburgh I was driving past a barracks just outside Edinburgh and there was a
red MG ZR in the in the car park of the barracks I thought oh I used to have one of them it's red
as well that's really cool and I get closer to it and the redge on it is SG 51 HEU the moss had
come up all around it the grass was all up it was rusting away the tires were all down so I my first
car was sitting abandoned in the car park of this barracks and I thought I have to save that yeah
like how many people get that opportunity like so many people's first cars get
scrapped and so I phoned up the base and it was some Lance Corporal that was currently in Afghanistan
at the time and he'd driven it about as his local car but then he was away on active duty so the car
was just left abandoned and you just happened to drive past it so I phoned up he allowed me to have
the car for free very nice of him we dragged it down fully restored it like proper nut and bolt
restoration um and then everyone was like okay and then you kept it you've still got your first car
no I felt like I kind of had my time with it so we sold it off for a military charity um and it
was it was 300 pounds off being a world record for over 25 so what was the price I think it sold
for 7800 and I think 81 was the the world record for like but that that car had like 30 miles on it
this thing I'd like 70 000 you know and when you have that car first of all were you a neat freak
or um I don't know I I just wanted it to go fast and sound good so I put a silly exhaust on it
as I say I got the MGZR wing and front grille and the big wheels on it which scraped in the arches
but I didn't really care um so yeah I was just all about um feeling like a motoring journalist
to be honest I just wanted to feel like I was driving something quickly um but no great car
I thoroughly recommend a Rover 25 there's not many left but uh if you can great first car
absolutely right more about that in a second before we do that quick bit of misshow housekeeping
if you haven't already please press subscribe on youtube so that you never miss an episode or you
can press the follow button on apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast from so what followed
what followed the first car then where what sort of route or lineage are you going down
in your early motoring days so again I just wanted something cool um I wanted to be seen in
and we drive well so I went alpha I went gtv 2 litre twin spark and then I went after that straight
to mx5 which I still have um because yeah it's one of the best cars I've ever made well it's
it's funny actually there's two things here a have you noticed that pretty much every one of our
guests has had an mx5 at some point which I think is is is significant but it links
us beautifully onto the fact that you still got the mx5 what else is in the phony fleet if you like
at the time of recording yeah so I've I've got this thing I should probably go to a therapist
about it but it's I look for cars that my people in my past have had and then I sort of one up them
so my granddad had a 2 litre mondale mark 2 I've got the st200 yeah my dad had a rover 600 the
honda engine one I've got a 620ti the turbo one so I'm like trying to one up people for my
password for whatever reason um I think that could be quite a deep dive psychologically yeah I mean
just the way they were sat in these comfy chairs I almost feel like we could be some kind of like
some a therapist but I've even done it myself so first car rover 25 by currently on my driveway
I've got an mg zr 160 which was the the sort of lotus vc engine k series um so that's my
little track rally car uh and then I currently daily something called a jaguar xj supersport
which is essentially an xjr but like not with all the crass badging on it it's like really stealth
but still five meter supercharged 500 horsepower sounds great beast of a thing yeah and then I've
still got my mark 2 mx5 which I've been trying to put a v10 engine in for about six years now yes
long story but uh for the last like five or six years I know I know people have put v8s in them
before but so there's this amazing little company in uh Norfolk called uh well they're called Bevin
international but they own a brand called conot who were uh in formula one back in the 1950s
and in the 90s they made a two liter v10 which is about this size and it fits perfectly
into a mx5 because it's it's not that much longer than a four cylinder so this thing's
like 12 000 rpm two liter only like 250 horsepower but my god the sound it'll create yeah it's not
and it's probably still a while away but I'm not giving up on it they have my mx5
it will come back one day and it'll be quite unique let's just hope though that the upgrade
the brakes at the same time yeah yeah I'll throw the kitchen sink what's the engine is done absolutely
like all the budget will be thrown at it mega mega go power to weight ratio and that'll be
phenomenal um what is the poster that is still pinned up on the wall that you have yet to achieve
xj 220 okay I I just right now I just want to drive one and have a go in one um but yeah
they're just going up and in quite in price but what money are they on at the minute
well I really dodgy one will be about early 300s okay but a nice one will probably about
a half million quid now yeah wow um so I'd say that or the Porsche Carrera GT there are the two
that will be like okay done like my attainable dream car is an Audi r8 manual in fact you've
done a video with Henry catchpool driving the exact car I want I want Audi's press car manual v8
because that's the one Clarkson drove on top gear yeah and I've offered them far too much
money for it and they've said no no we don't do that we don't sell our press cars they need to be on
exactly they they need to keep hold of their heritage themselves but oh my god like you can
have a drive in it though I have I've filmed it since seeing it in your video I thought they
have that car but they are like straight on the emails um but yes that's that's my sort of attainable
but xj 220 is is the gene that teardrop shape over 200 miles an hour have you had a go up 220
yeah any good it's unbelievably awkward to look out of reverse park c but boy oh boy you feel
like you're in a spaceship nice yeah yeah yeah I want to fuel the terrible lag I think it'll just
be it's it's not one for waitrose multi-story car no it's not my pal ben colin's
bought one about three months ago yeah so I think that's my way in yes do a little try before you
buy I think he's very precious about it rightfully yeah we'll see listen if you don't ask you don't
ask the question the question of favourites often comes up when it comes to cars and obviously
people that have more than one car such as yourself I'm going to phrase it this way
if the hypothetical repo man was to come knocking right and was taking away everything but to leave
you with one car and one car only from what you currently have in your fernie fleet which one is
it and why I could think about it too much but I think just straight the one that's come to my
mind is my monday ost 200 okay I was very attached to my granddad when I was a kid and I play the
bagpipes because of him I meant to like military stuff because of him yeah I was our runner at
uni because of him yeah um so you had a huge influence and so I think that car whenever I get
into it just the seats the ash tray the steering wheel it just immediately reminds me of him
um so yes I think I think that would be the one I'd keep it's currently getting an engine swap
so that should be ten no half though five cylinder lovely lovely turbo um so yeah that
should be exciting but yeah I think that would be the one it'd be very sad to get rid of my ng
rovers because I'm very attached to them but uh yeah I think the monday oh and when you go to
the supermarket which car do you take for that uh the test goes trip other supermarkets are available
currently it's the xj it's my big comfy jag xj uh with a massage seats and nice big boot what
mpg do you get to that do you know what for 500 horsepower not bad I get 27 do you and you know
I daily dud them five during the drive drive days I have charger hellcat similar horsepower
similar size of engines those things were in the teens so 27 that's that's pretty that that jlr
superchars v8 is surprisingly for you frugal that's good back to the channel um how far in
advance because as I say this stuff isn't just thrown together it isn't just randomly released
as and when there is a there's a structure to all of this as there is with anybody that does
this professionally how far in advance do you plan the films and in fact and what is the criteria
in terms of choosing what the subject matter should be good question um I the thing that I always
write down when I'm just have it I've got a spare half a day and I think right let's come up some
ideas the thing I'd like to write down is niche but mainstream so something that it's niche enough
that people haven't really bothered creating content around it but it's mainstream enough that
everyone knows what it is within the car space yeah so my biggest ever video until recently on
my channel was about the engineering of a cat's eye so I bought a cat's eye of ebay for 20 quid
sort of what someone had hacked out of the road somewhere and they're selling on ebay
and I they're actually amazing things did you know they're self-cleaning no that yeah I did know
that which blows your mind it's mental but but in in how for example so it's without ruining your
video no that's fine that's fine no it's a little cat and a little mouse comes up
I should have bought it with me I wish I'd hiked to here's bloody heavy but tell us it's basically
it's made of cast iron and then there's a rubber plunger in the middle and then the rubber plunger
is where the reflective beads are so that's why a cat's eye it kind of looks like cast iron it's
got that white bit poking up yeah that's the rubber bit and then within the cast iron there's a reservoir
so rain water goes in and under the rubber and pools in this reservoir so that when you drive
over it the rubber plunges downwards into the reservoir and the beads get a little wash
there's a wiper I wish I'd brought it there's a wiper as part of the rubber
but the wiper is really stiff pull the the bit that plunges and nice and soft so when the car
goes over it it plunges down and wipes its eyes against the wiper and comes back up so if you
drive over an old school cat's eye you are doing community service you're actually cleaning it
it's amazing I never knew that I didn't know how it did it that's incredible next time I'll bring it
yeah I do I mean I just assumed that when you said it was self-cleaning I just kind of thought well
when it rains there'll be rain water goes on the thing and then that will clean it but I didn't
realize it was quite as well as sophisticated and complex as that I'm going to go and drive over
every single cat's eye on the way home exactly yeah yeah so that to me that was the perfect
example of great everyone knows what a cat's eye is it says mainstream as a guest like anyone that
drives but who's ever thought about the engineering of it that's like the leach side of it but even
without the engineering it's just one of those brilliant inventions isn't it you know I mean
it's an absolute necessity but what a genius invention you know who did made it who made it
Percy Shaw Percy in the 1930s it's just when you think about those sort of things I mean
this is this actually by comparison this is nowhere near as clever I don't think but I think
it's still a brilliant idea I met someone recently whose grandfather was the person behind you know
on the wheel nuts on trucks and buses and things you know you've got the little the little arrows
arrows yes yeah so you know what they're for I don't so so let's keep you by next week honestly
this will be your next video so I'd seen these all the time and never thought about it so on
on the wheel nuts on you know sort of heavy vehicles trucks buses etc you've got those
little plastic arrows right so the idea is that when you tighten the nuts up you then
line the arrows up like that which means that if one of the nuts is loosened it goes like that
so you can visually see from a distance the weather one of those is loosened so as long as
they're all pointing that way the way that they were set then you know that those nuts are all
fast quick check absolutely and if you've got if you if you've got a haulage company and you've
got a dozen trucks with 18 wheels each you save so much time you can just instantly see but what
a genius invention and the grandfather of somebody that you met invented that yeah that's cool that's
very cool and I kind of like that I'm going to be inspected be like me you're absolutely absolutely
yeah or or you could just go and move them just out of badness couldn't you
that that would be perfect yeah really really good another like my second best video currently
as you know it's now it's surpassed cat's eye and there's that amazing footage in Le Mans 99 of
that Mercedes that takes off yes takes flight yeah so again that bit of footage where it just
leaves the track and goes off into the woods that's like ingrained in people's minds with social
media it pops up on instagram every other day that bit of that that clip of that car so I went to
Germany Mercedes has kept that car hidden for well ever since they basically closed the door on it
and some private collector somewhere has somehow managed to buy the car from Mercedes and has put
it in this collection in the museum so the first thing I saw that I was like oh my god I've been
looking to film that car for years let's go do that and yeah I think that's over 600,000 now
because it's a car that no one's filmed with so it's immediately niche in the content space
but it's a car that everyone immediately recognizes second you have a thumbnail of this car inverting
on track people like oh yeah I know that one let's give that a watch so that's what I aim for
did you work out the aerodynamics of how it happened then did you use your engineering
yes I actually did a project at uni my mechanical engineering degree I did a whole project on why
that car took off before you'd even seen the car years before I had the script ready to go
I just dug out some old folders and genius but yes I went through all the instabilities and it's
pretty cool yeah what does the future hold then for you and the channel are you hoping to get
millions of viewers and then cashing out what's the plan who knows I think you know what I think
there is a world where tv companies or streaming platforms do start to offer youtube channels
just to buy them out and just take their content from youtube and put it elsewhere in the same way
that a tv program can just get bought out by itv or bbc or whoever um I can see that happening
whether youtubers will actually say yes to it like you know the potential earnings if they're
well enough that they're getting looked at might surpass anything that could be offered and also
having that autonomy as well it would be huge um but yeah it'll be interesting to see where youtube
goes in terms of my own my own stuff right now um I'm just keeping going making content
that is performing as well as it does like the numbers don't lie like if you if if you put a
good video that's got a good title and a good thumbnail on youtube it will perform um so I
quite like that kind of youtube theory being vindicated video to video so if I can just
keep that up keep that momentum going um that also allows from a commercial standpoint um some
other gigs happening like some live events some stage stuff um other people just see the
presenting I do and think oh that guy might be quite good for this so um hopefully I can work
with some other brands as well I've got a few already in my emails right now that could be
really cool people that you know they've seen me look at certain engines and they've said right
well can you please come and look at our engine because it's really cool and here's why so I
think more and more of that will be really great and yeah if I can make a living and keep the
auto autonomy I've got just now I'll be I'll be very happy that's brilliant just keep on keep on
doing what you're doing and keep sort of um raising those figures because it's a numbers game isn't
it at the end of the day ultimately yeah yeah it's it's it is quite scientific at the end of it um
as I say like people can complain about a video not doing very well but you can break it down to
its there's always a science behind it as to why it hasn't done well with it and if you fix those
things it can pick back up um so I do aside from my channel I do consultancy for some of my other
sort of friendly channels guys like James May and Ben Collins those guys um so I quite enjoy
taking that YouTube theory and applying it to stuff that I'm not even doing and just
seeing how things work trying to get those view graphs to go like this and that that's quite
fulfilling as well so yeah there's there's a few aspects to what's going on well talking of numbers
games we've got our own numbers game haven't we before we get into final question territory
because we need you to take part in our quick fire round please mr Mike Fernie he's called
an auto 60 cleverly because you'll have almost exactly 60 seconds on the clock to answer as
many quick five questions as you can we were going to be 60 questions no absolutely no because I
would be a slow question 39 otherwise I'd have to write 60 questions every week you know and it's
I don't have time for that when I say it's almost exactly 60 seconds that's because my stopwatch
isn't really behaving itself at the moment so we might need your your your old school your old
school thing is this general knowledge or is this just the answer there's no wrong there's no
well what there might be you can pass if you're not sure but you know it's essentially you've
got to answer as many as you can in the time we will touch up the score at the end fine and then
you will be the envy of your engineering friends fine in the automotive world is there a current
record has someone got the rules it fluctuates it fluctuates I can't tell you that that's
classified information at the moment but I mean just do as well as you possibly can I will I think
that you'll be fine if you're not sure say pass I think you're a competitive man Mike Fernie and
I think that I think you that you'll give this you're already locked in I know can tell
you are alert in that I can see that you're primed yeah for this okay so Vicky Butler Henderson
if you can prepare the stopwatch please preparing I will make sure we're ready to launch our first
question okay okay and so what you what we'll do as well is that when you hear this noise
that'll be the time up okay you're okay okay I will honk so if you're ready Vicky I'm ready
first question after you goes like this v8 v10 or v12 v10 Jaguar or Mercedes Jag who would play you
in a drive tribe movie Mark Ruffalo true or false Richard Hammond is taller than an emperor penguin
true Ferrari or Lamborghini Ferrari what's your favorite sandwich filling peanut butter
top gear or fifth gear top gear sorry what's your favorite both your favorite rover 75 what's your
favorite river fourth name the coolest TV car of all time um oh geez um
it's a movie car they're the super from faster furious on a bacon sandwich red sauce or brown
none I like it plain spice girls are all saints all saints american muscle or italian flare italian
flare oh how are we doing on time vicky keep going do you like formula one yes for the voxel
forward did it right okay the car what was that when listen it's it's difficult
and you know like they always say with quizzes they say it's easy when you're watching at home
and when you're watching at home it's easy when you're in that hot seat it's nerve-wracking I've
been on pointless right tiff nadella and I were on pointless and first of all the the guy allister
who says to me he says and so tell us who you are and where you're from and he looked at me
and I just couldn't even remember my name it was quite pathetic I'm going to give you 15
it's a very good score is it the best it's a very good score no it's a very good score okay I can't
say whether it's the best or not because I think somebody else got very close to that and I can't
remember who they were but it's a very good score Mike Fernie and you should be proud of that you
will be the engineering envy of all of your contemporaries thank you thank you um time for
the final question now so this is going to be your dream drive so we need you to paint the picture
for us where are you who are you with what are you listening to but most importantly what are you
driving okay um that is okay I'll I'll get to the car last any time to think on that but I know
it will be the ring road of the Isle of Arran um going from Brodick past Corrie up to Loughranza
in the north it is they've just relayed it it is a stunning piece of road smooth tarmac and the
bikers all use it but us car guys haven't woken up to it so visit Arran hit me up we need to get
more people to the Isle of Arran to experience that um in the car with me would be my dad and my
grandad um so that immediately means it can't be a two-seater I think it would be a Lancia Delta
Integrale Evo II oh nice um so that we can get us all in but left hand drive on that road means
you can take it right up to the edge of the road use all the roads and probably has a crunchy
third gear but it'll be fine and it's got just enough power it's you're kind of up the hill and
down to Loughranza it would it would absolutely fly down that road not too big not too small ideal
so yeah I think that'll be it it sounds perfect isn't it can I come let's make it happen there's
another seat there's another seat in there isn't there squeeze me you know I don't know you can
squeeze it to a five but I reckon we could squeeze you in and make it a four I mean it just sounds
perfect Delta Integrale it was one of the first like properly legendary cars I ever drove had a
very nice friend of the family that lent me the Evo II and it was just like oh this is what a good
car feels like this is awesome how do I do this more yeah um yeah I tell you what what you can
you can take the extra seat I will meet you at the pub at the end uh for G&T's distillery
Loughranza has a very nice distillery I mean listen beautiful and we'll all go home with a
jumper made by the sheep from Aaron absolutely absolutely it sounds almost perfect and just
about wraps up this this episode of fueling around brought to you by Adrian Flux as the UK's
largest specialist insurance broker Adrian Flux will tailor a quote to exact needs helping save
you money on your car your bike or even your home insurance and don't forget if you haven't already
to check out the youtube channel called Mike Ferney and a very very big thank you to our
special guest today Mike Ferney thank you so much thank you for having me it's been awesome
no it's been really really good thank you very much indeed it's been great having you here make
sure that you press the follow button on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast from
thank you so much for joining us and we will see you again very soon until then bye bye
About this episode
Mike Fernie opens up about his long-running MX-5 V10 swap and what he’s chasing with turbo lag, then shifts into how he moved from mechanical engineering into car journalism via CarThrottle/DriveTribe. He shares road-trip highlights with Richard Hammond, including a ~530 hp Subaru Impreza and an Isle of Arran loop. The conversation also covers the surreal reality of working with Clarkson, Hammond and May on Top Gear, plus why DriveTribe’s car-social experiment shut down in 2021.
It's the final episode in the current series, and Vicki and Dave's guest is YouTuber Mike Fernie! Best known for his work on Drivetribe, Mike has now set up on his own, and considering the channel is only just over 6 months old, it's so far going very well indeed!
