The Minds Behind Nicole Johnson's Detour
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Car
Renault 5 Turbo 2
The Renault 5 Turbo 2 is a sporty version of a small car made by Renault. It has a powerful turbo engine and was built for racing, which makes it special among car enthusiasts.
Car
10 Questions with ABikePeddler
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Term
Widow Maker
'Widow Maker' is a nickname for cars that can be hard to control, especially if they have a lot of power and take time to respond when you press the gas pedal. It suggests that these cars can be risky to drive for some people.
Term
turbo lag
Turbo lag is the time it takes for a turbocharger to start working after you press the gas pedal. When there's a delay, it can feel like the car isn't responding right away, which can be frustrating.
Brand
Audi
Audi is a luxury car brand from Germany that makes high-quality vehicles. They are known for their stylish designs and advanced technology in their cars.
Car
Porsche 924
The Porsche 924 is a type of sports car made by Porsche. It was made from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and is known for being more affordable than other Porsche models.
Car
Porsche
Porsche is a famous car brand from Germany that makes fast and stylish cars. Many people admire them for their performance and design.
Concept
King of the Hammers
King of the Hammers is a tough off-road race in California where drivers tackle both rocky paths and fast desert roads. It's famous for being really hard and exciting to watch.
Concept
rock crawling
Rock crawling is when drivers take their vehicles over big rocks and tough obstacles slowly. It needs special cars and a lot of skill to do it well.
Concept
short course racing
Short course racing is a fun type of racing that happens on a track with dirt and sometimes pavement. It has jumps and sharp turns, making it thrilling to watch.
Car
The Many Porsches of Magnus Walker
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Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for its unique shape and powerful performance, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Term
G50 gearbox
The G50 gearbox is a manual transmission found in certain Porsche cars that makes it easier to change gears smoothly. It's known for being reliable and fun to use.
Term
air-cooled cars
Air-cooled cars cool their engines using air instead of water. This makes them lighter and gives them a different sound when they run.
Term
twin plug
Twin plug means there are two spark plugs in each cylinder of the engine. This helps the engine run better and produce more power.
Part
fuel lines
Fuel lines are the pipes that carry gasoline or diesel from the fuel tank to the engine. If they are damaged, the car won't get the fuel it needs to run properly.
Part
fuel pump
The fuel pump is what pushes gasoline from the tank to the engine so it can run. If the pump fails, the car won't be able to get fuel and won't start.
Part
close ratio gears
Close ratio gears are special gears that help the car accelerate faster and respond better when you change speeds. They make driving more fun, especially in sporty cars.
Part
synchros
Synchros are parts inside the gearbox that help the car change gears smoothly. If they are worn out, it can be hard to shift gears without making a grinding noise.
Company
Bill Raider Motorsports
Bill Raider Motorsports is a business that specializes in fixing and enhancing car gearboxes, which help cars change gears smoothly.
Part
head stud
A head stud is a metal piece that holds the top part of the engine in place. If it breaks, it can cause serious engine problems.
Car
Ford Pinto
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Toyota Sequoia
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Dodge 3500
The Dodge 3500 is a large truck designed to carry heavy loads and tow trailers. It's popular for work and can handle tough jobs thanks to its strong engine and build.
Part
serpentine belt
The serpentine belt is a rubber belt in your car that helps power things like the air conditioning and the battery. If it breaks, those parts won't work, and your car could have problems.
Car
Smart car
A Smart car is a tiny car designed for city driving. It's very small and easy to park, and some versions run on electricity, making them better for the environment.
Car
Smart Electric Smart
The Smart Electric Drive is a tiny electric car that’s perfect for driving around the city. It’s easy to park and helps reduce pollution, making it a good choice for city dwellers.
Term
electric motor
An electric motor is a part that helps cars run using electricity instead of gas. It makes the car move by turning electrical energy into motion.
Car
Toyota Tacoma
The Toyota Tacoma is a tough truck that can handle rough roads and is often used for outdoor activities like camping and off-roading.
Term
grenade
When someone says a car is going to 'grenade,' they mean it's likely to break down badly or even explode due to problems with the engine or parts.
Car
Supercharged LT1-Powered Widebody 1966 MG MGB Roadster
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MG Mgb
The MGB is a small, sporty car made by MG, a British company. It was popular in the 1960s and 70s and is loved for its fun driving experience.
Company
BaT
BaT is a website where people can buy and sell classic cars. It's known for featuring interesting and rare vehicles that car lovers want.
Company
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand that makes energy drinks and sponsors many sports events, including car racing and rock climbing competitions. They are well-known for their involvement in extreme sports.
Term
big block
A big block engine is a powerful type of car engine that is larger than most others. It's designed to produce a lot of horsepower, making it great for fast cars and trucks.
Car
Dodge Nitro
The Dodge Nitro is a medium-sized SUV that looks tough and can handle rough roads. It has a lot of space inside, making it a good choice for families or trips.
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Acura NSX
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Tesla Semi
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Nissan Rogue
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Chevrolet C10
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Toyota Land Cruiser
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BMW E36
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Shelby Cobra
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Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a classic American car known for being fast and stylish. It’s been around for a long time and is loved by many for its powerful engines and cool design.
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Mercedes-Benz SL
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LIVE
the bring a trailer
podcast well uh so excited to be here
with you guys at bring a trailer
headquarters today uh we're excited to
have Mike and Nicole on from uh Nicole
Johnson's dour um bring a trailer
headquarters is getting re-roofed so
huge apologies to you guys for any of
the Hammers uh that might come in during
the episode but thank you guys so much
for coming out dude we're so excited to
be here I flew in this morning from Las
Vegas
Mike our producer director flew in from
San Diego so that we could be here
because I was never going to turn down
an opportunity to see the cars I walk in
they're all under plastic and the first
thing I see is that R5 Turbo 2 sitting
there well and you've driven one of
those before uh from a regular bat user
there's a lot of bat Nicole Johnson
crossover you guys have driven a lot of
cars that either been on the site or
that are owned by power bat users but
talk a little bit about driving that was
Bike Peddler shout out to a bike peddler
who we love uh who's been a big champion
and fan of the site for a long time and
who I've met many times in person talk
to us a little bit about driving that R5
that was cool so Eric is his name he is
so call Everyone by their username
because we're to see I know to you guys
it's it's username you know it's at a
bike peddler yeah uh Eric cholm he is so
enthusiastic and he's a nerd he's a
total nerd he knows everything there is
to know about the history yeah you know
and and even when we were shooting with
him it was like good creef this guy
talks forever right but it was all
really good stuff his enthusiasm so
shines on it's infectious his enthusiasm
it is it really is he knows everything
so we drive that car and it's got this
Widow Maker you know reput reputation
because it has such epic turbo lag and
where we shot the uh walk around and
then where we took off to go drive
they're two different places but I had
driven around the property where we were
walking around and talking technical
stuff and there's some hills and and a
little turn and you got to go up a steep
driveway there is absolutely no power in
first gear yeah you're like you cannot
get up this little driveway and then you
wait and then you wait and then it
builds up enough that spool going oh yes
and then you go up the hill and I was
like we were just moving the car around
uh we should over two days usually and
the next day we were actually going to
go drive the car so that first day I'm
maneuvering the car on that property and
I'm like oh this is going to be
different and fun and terrifying yeah it
was all those things it was great how do
you come across is are you Mike is it a
Mike Nicole like joint together how you
yeah how do you Scout him how do you
figure him out he Scouts a lot we both
do I mean some of them he's come up with
and he'll throw to me and I'll come you
know throw things to him what's funny is
you know Mike is never on this side of
the k camera and I'm like be on this
podcast it'll be a lot of fun and well
you guys need to educate us on how to do
things like pros so I appreciate it Mike
but he wasn't on you know he's got this
private not on Instagram or anything I'm
like you got to be on Instagram dude in
what it's like I don't want do I don't
want to be on social media I'm like no
you don't get it like you can find so
much good stuff yeah so so that's where
you're scouting the cars for the most
well we can find about events we can
find out about Cars and Coffee and
there's news really that comes out of
social media which is no wonder that you
know 18-year-olds don't watch
traditional news getting the show has
changed like from three years ago when
we first started you know we were out
begging but we please let us do this you
know and now we have a little bit more
notoriety so now it's a little bit
easier to knock down those doors are
people reaching out to you guys yeah we
get that more now too so we're getting
like so it's been more it's been a lot
easier to get get into places you know
we got with Magnus which was incredible
totally and dri the iconic car talk
about getting turned on to Porscha right
like book right there it's in frame or
not I I I have that book he gave me one
too yeah yeah totally tell about tell
about no see you got yeah okay I got so
we're cut mik off okay Mike what about
my dad you know tell them about how you
just how Porsches kind of came into was
part of your DNA and then you wa to
Magnus and like everything sort of I
mean growing up my stepdad was a Porsche
Audi dealer down in Ventura okay A a
manager the name of the dealership my
family from Santa Barbara it was
Masterson Porsche Audi sure and that was
uh Ralph Masterson owned it my dad was
the general manager they eventually went
into business as uh caral franchises
together so I was always around cars my
my that was my stepdad my my other dad
biological dad real dad I say real but I
called them both dad both my real dad my
real dad was a diesel mechanic so I was
always around cars oh you're you it's in
your blood yeah and uh you know but but
my stepdad was more of a businessman
except he would bring Porsches home
every night and this is like just like
off the lot is that the like he was
driving what was what was for sale kind
of yeah interesting so he would just I
don't even remember if he owned a car my
mom went in to buy a car I think she
bought a a
924 and went in and met him and this was
like 1980 that they got married I'm now
you guys know how old I am no no I am 75
I look really good great for 75 totally
up great when they got so that's the
Vintage of car he was selling sc's you
know what I mean like that's the car
that was did you like at the time were
they interested to you at the time or
not really I just it was just part of
you know how your past is just part of
your past was normal things are normal
when you're six years old things are
normal like I don't it's just a Porche
whatever I remember getting pulled over
by you know a cop and he didn't get a
ticket cuz the car was so cool the cop
to talk about the car for sure so anyway
um
yeah like I met Magnus and of course
everyone everybody knows you kind of
lost interest in porsa since before you
met I let me moved into trucks and
everything we've got to then go into
what the name of the show is and why
then you'll understand where I'm at when
I meet B Magnus yeah it's called Nicole
Johnson's detour because I'm I've done
all kinds of things in off road monster
trucks King of the Hammers rock crawling
a little bit of short course racing I've
done all kinds of stuff that's where I
ate drank slept breathed off-road and
when you're in off-road you think your
universe is this big it's everything
until you really look at like a a pie
chart of the automotive world and you
realize it's this tiny sliver and you
had no idea so for many many years we
had no idea that all of these things
that we're exploring were out there yeah
and it's like I'm really late to the
game so we're calling it Nicole
Johnson's detour cuz I'm detouring from
my past experiences and trying new
things yeah that's not to say I don't
like off-road anymore but like my
interest changed the tagine we do do
stuff Offroad too yeah yeah totally my
my interest so by the time I meet Magnus
I'm like yeah you're like into Porsches
he's pretty into porous what an
understatement of the decade right
you're kind of into Porscha when I
interviewed he was like rattling off
vins he's like and that was you know
0075 and this one's 0 62 and I'm like oh
man I can't the guy's an
encyclopedia he's like unbelievably you
know he's got such a cool presence but
you don't realize or you do realize very
quickly this guy
encyclopedia but he does he like I was e
eating drinking sleeping breathing
off-road that's what he's doing with
Porsches absolutely so when you're
around him you're like oh my gosh you
leave looking
on bat and then going oh I can't afford
one of
those so then I you could afford 924
maybe I don't know if you've Revisited
924 so I turned to Craigslist I said to
my husband I was like oh man your score
the decade the decade this is a true
story this isn't to take away from the
event of
911 but the first 911 I ever drove on
the street was magnus's on 911 wait are
you kidding me oh wow interesting the
277 car the iconic one the first 911 I
ever 911 on yeah on the street oh man
now I we had done an we had done an
episode with a 911 that was more of a
safari style an off-road one that was a
great car and that was the year earlier
but everybody had been asking me to that
point what's what's the favorite car
that you'd ever driven and up until that
point I I kept going back to Scot's car
saying that's the safari car yeah it was
uh it had a G50 gear box what did you
guys like about it so much I've never
the sound of it okay I didn't know when
we were when I was interviewing him I
was like you know um I guess air cooled
cars kind of have a cult following he's
like uh yeah and I'm like okay and then
I got it I drove that car and I was like
oh the way it breathes and sounds is so
different and so then fast forward to
magnus's car and it's twin plug I mean
my gosh anyway I leave the presence of
Whirlwind Tasmanian Devil Magnus porsa
pora pora yeah going I got to buy a
Porsche I can never afford a Porsche and
so I'm nerding out and I'm looking for
months just daydreaming not getting any
real work done like everybody on bat
absolutely like everybody on bat Y and I
said to my husband only way I'm ever
going to get a we never going to AFF a
Porche unless somebody's d have to put
it on Craigslist a Porche one well
because we all know you're going to
fetch more for your car on B because of
the great photos and the way the ads are
written and all the engagement you're
just not going to get that on Craigslist
so therefore that was unfortunately
where I was able to find a broken one I
found a broken one locally project and I
picked it up 13 months ago it just
needed
a it's a 78 SC Coupe great hard top like
like no no sunroof and beautiful it's in
petrol blue metallic oh great color love
that color and it was filthy and the
photos were atrocious which is why I
knew it had to be a scam to be scam and
it didn't run it had to be a scam I send
I send it to my husband and he's like
this a scam the first picture was like
the odometer this is the way people used
to sell cars before by the way and it
just didn't have any
information and I seen it a couple weeks
earlier and blew it off and I was like
let's just go look scored this car it
everything was legit it was real and it
even had a certificate of
authenticity and it was a California car
so it only ever lived in California or
Nevada no rust no rust anywhere but it
didn't run yeah scary so we got it
running it needed you know fuel lines we
did all of the work ourselves we built
our own fuel lines amazing and um fuel
you know pump and F filters and anyway
we got it running and now it's just fun
car we just rebuilt the gearbox yeah
great new synchros close ratio gears 2
three and four weo shifter everyone puts
a no I don't have a short shifter yet
that's great so Bill Raider Motorsports
he's like the guy who builds these
Porsche gear boxes he rebuilt my gear
boox and we put a wave track limited
slip oh great good stuff so I'm just
just barely getting that in the last car
week is you said oh yeah in August we
went up to Monteray I have no air
conditioning no and uh my husband
couldn't take the time off work so I
soloed from Vegas to Monteray amazing in
August well done cuz I with a roof rack
you feel like you've accomplished
something when you do that yeah I have r
on line roof rack and I threw like bags
that are for like kaying on the roof no
problems with the car along the way no
didn't have any issues with a broken
going into that trip it was just and you
didn't tell me that I didn't tell
anybody why don't you have Mike there
documenting at this because he is the
biggest Waring board in the world tell
him what happened imagine you're being
me imagine you're me tell what happened
oh like 36 hours before I'm supposed to
leave and I'm going to have it in the
billstein display at Works reunion I've
you You Ren line was generous enough to
give me the roof rack this is important
I had an octune I think I saw that we
were at works I saw the car so I had an
octune craft like active Muffler I have
all these sponsor Parts everything is
writing on me getting to to he's not on
camera and I'm looking at him because he
he's enjoying the hell
out the camera so a lot of pressure
there's all this pressure for me to be
there and but this feels like an epic
Road video to I am not going decep I
didn't want to wimp out and trailer it I
have a trailer I got an aluminum trailer
I could e driving you made the right
call I was like we discovered a broken
head stud about I don't know less than a
day and a half before I was going to
leave and we're like What do we do
option A call the call your part your
partner and tell him if I told you no my
husband was like so I called a friend
who is look at him listen listen I can't
say his name because his reputation
would be on the line but let's just say
I called a friend who has has has worked
in Porsches for 40 years y he has a shop
and I said what do we do we just found
this broken head stud goes my
professional opinion is you need to stop
and rebuild this motor oh let's call
Mike and tell him what's going on this
is why I don't tell him because he's no
he's like my mom he's so my mom so
anyway we're like golly you cannot be we
have worked so hard producer director
mom uh two security
guard mom we talk too much so my husband
Frank and I are on the phone with
uh our mechanic friend he says uh you
need to rebuild the motor cuz you got to
pull that broken stud out and now you're
you're pulling things out that you might
as well do this and you might as well do
that you got new seals and you got it's
this while yeah totally yep it's what
you want to hear and he goes this is
like totally yeah this is what he said
go homes cars he goes but you didn't
hear it from me I'd run the snot out of
it just drive it I was like all right if
he thinks if he would personally just
drive this car that's what I'm going to
do I won't name names but I've heard
people running you know tens of
thousands of miles you didn't hear from
me but it we it had probably been broken
for a long time because the just by the
way it looked and stuff I'm glad you
didn't tell me I would have flipped out
that's why I don't tell him cuz he was
flying in so that we had you know we had
business things to do there during the
week I would have said let's bring a
helicopter and drop it in there with a
helicopter
totally option was well I could
obviously we've been driving around on
this thing but would a road trip in
August be too much stress coming from
the desert and the Heat and everything
else would it be too much stress it's
yeah I 1,200 miles round trip that solo
during that whole event you know and it
I could trailer it that was just going
to be super poser mode yeah I was like
no I'm I represented to my sponsors that
I'm going to drive this car yeah so so
you did my it was great it made it all
the way there back my husband you one
stayed one day the whole way from
all the way there and back it was hot it
was hot so I I um this is my husband the
difference the opposite this is my mom
and let me tell you about my husband so
my husband is like well call me if you
break down y have fun that's all he said
totally love I didn't even have he
framed us on the last shoe he framed us
what do you mean on the the last shoe we
did with the with the pinto he framed us
oh dude he framed his own wife you guys
don't even know this because we haven't
released the episode yeah I was going to
say I didn't see a pinto on there
that'll be our next episode we shot a
pinto Pinto are rad it's got to be
modified right a hot rod something it's
a beautiful I'm saying that a little
shocked by that it's modified within
it's like those Motors the 2.3 l Pinto
motor which a lot of people stock motor
200,000 miles on it and wow a gorgeous
little car I can't believe I'm sitting
here in this place saying that yeah they
used to be a joke we drove down to um we
saw them on bat we we drove down to um
Orange County to shoot that and and my
Toyota seoa has 303,000 mil I like an
old car I don't want the new
connectivity of the new stuff right I
like my old car I like my cars I like my
cars car I can tow with it I can do some
damage at Costco with it it's paid for
like I like my car we don't want smart
cars we want dumb cars I I have a dumb
car I kind of have a screen cut off for
most of my cars right like I want
pre-screen that's that's like an era
where it like yeah 2008 is like there's
not even Bluetooth right
it's just right on the edge of that
anyway what what what even broke down I
forget what broke down it was the it
remember Kai was like oh I think this is
like no not on the Dodge my SEO was
busted and I had to take it to the local
dealer get to the part about so I have
to take my husband's 2006 with 300,000
mil he has a Dodge [ __ ] 3500 diesel great
truck the four-door long bed this thing
is huge love those trucks it's a big
truck trck they're great truck and um so
I'm going to take that onto the shoot so
I drive it down to Orange County and
three shs three shoots what does it do
uh the serpentine belt goes out in the
like I pull up to the guy's house we're
going to shoot the pinto and he he's
already there and he goes what is that
noise and we're like getting out and um
we pop the hood we look underneath and
there's like shreds of something picked
this up I'm like oh that's the belt yeah
yeah crap and and he kind of knew what
was going on was like and then and know
his reaction was well get it fixed he
had said to me talking to the pinto
owner at the same time you're like of
his house we go to his mechanic he's
calling his mechanic he he saved the day
he's calling his mechanic and we were
able to get it fixed that day and cash
the pinto guy saved the Dodge 3500 long
bed love that but that must happened
other time I mean you guys are driving
modified cars you're driving like oh
there's so many episodes that you'll
never see because the have broken broke
down or had we filmed probably five
things that'll never get released cu the
cars have broken or things that we just
didn't get done the folks react to that
I mean are they embarrassed about it or
like some of these cars is kind of
inevitable if they're so modified dude
one time we had a alternator fall out of
a car like yeah but it was a custom
bracket you're not replacing the you're
not just going to AutoZone it's like ah
we're done yeah we were through the walk
around and halfway through the drive but
hadn't shot the thumbnail hadn't shot
you know
there was all this stuff that was
missing that you couldn't just Cobble
the episode together and we drove all
the way up to Northern California to do
it oh well is what it is sometimes
sometimes you get blanked like that but
you know honestly we've had an equal or
greater number of episodes where
something hiccups on the car and the
owner gets out and fixes it on the Spot
while we're shooting and we keep going
and it's great so there's a lot more of
those than there are you know things
just taking a crap and kind of leaving
own essentially always the Builder when
you guys are not
necessarily bought a bike peddler he
just bought his car yeah yeah so we'
we've had guys that that are less
mechanical that just have great
collections and we're going to
experience that you know obviously if
the guy built the car he's the only guy
that really knows car are you like
evaluating the safety of it and the
person as you're walking around gosh oh
my gosh you sound like my mother sound
like my mother don't go there we're all
worried about you hear it totally so
listen that looks like a sketchy weld
here's another episode you'll never see
can I at least say what kind of car it
was which one are you talking about
smart car yeah you could just say about
the the car we won't name names yeah
well generally it was a it was a smart
car this this is an electric smart car
that also it still had electric motor
yeah and a and a Suzuki Jer motorcycle
super cool car so he the passenger seat
uh no all the way up in the front it was
chain driven and um and so you could be
quietly zooming around in electric and
then fire up the motorcycle
engine take off we saw this guy we were
like we got to film this guy this is
great cool car super cool idea so idea
we did all of the walk around and then
the next day we go to drive this car and
there were all these weird controls like
you would control the throttle for the
motorcycle engine on a little Beany
dial how terrifying something on the
steering wheel gas pedals hooked up to
the electric oh my gosh all these weird
things that could go very wrong so I
said listen you drive it first right
show me because I don't know how to
drive this car and all my safety radar
things are going bing bing bing bing in
my head and he drives the car we get to
the point where we're going to swap and
and he's in his truck you'll often see a
dark gray the chase truck Chase truck a
toyot Tacoma with a camper shell in the
back and that's his truck and he's
chasing so we pull up to go swap and I
go Mike oh my gosh I'm not driving this
car yeah this car's going to grenade so
every time he would like you know get
into the throttle the entire like like
shift like the whole dash was wobbling
and I said that chain I could hear all
the rattle from the chain is going to
grenade come through this Dash murder us
or flip the hood up and we'll crash into
the car something horrific is going to
happen totally wait I'm not driving this
car and we sent the guy home he actually
this one he drove from Arizona to San
Diego he brought it out and trailered it
to shoot the episode and we turned him
around and sent him home but a but a
great a great car a great guy we might
end up actually doing that at some point
I hate to say it if he sees this or
hears this I'm so sorry dude yeah but I
ultimately have to put my foot down
because everybody's livelihood is at
stake totally so I'm not afraid to speak
up yeah if it's a piece of crap I'll let
you know yeah I mean in a very very tful
way
before we started recording you were
talking about like safety and you know
not wanting to push things and I think
that's really wise and that must come at
least in part from your competition
background right you're so comfortable
with or aware of and knowledgeable of
vehicles that are really kind of
overbuilt for their job right like rock
crawlers and monster trucks are like
yeah I mean I drove monster trucks for a
monster jam and I I you know did rock
crawling competition but that's like
everything's safe there's I mean there's
not chains running open through or No
Maybe not maybe I'm wrong about that so
I'm just I'm curious where you honed
your your instincts on what's safe and
what's not always the Driver's
Responsibility to communicate to the
crew what was happening so if you could
sense something was wrong and didn't say
anything how are they going to know so
as the driver you always have like the
buck stops with you sure they could tell
me to do something but it was ultimately
my decision to drive up that obstacle or
you to put or to stop the car and turn
it off
and I feel like uh you
know go back to when you were 16 and
your friends were pressuring you to do
things right you you think that you have
to do what everybody's telling you no no
no please know that as the driver you're
the one that's ultimately in control of
whether or not you do whatever with the
car so you have to be very in tune with
if something's wrong or not and you
spend years like owning that ability to
say no this isn't right or whatever flip
side is if you know everything's gone
through you can trust your equipment if
you know that thing was built to to you
know I don't know launch in the air 30
ft do go launch in the air who are some
of the who are some of the uh Builders
or folks that you've driven their cars
where you were like oh this person is
dialed or this person like a lot of one
of the cars is the MGB that got sawed in
half that was on bat that car seemed at
least from our perspective really well
built you guys posted that video thank
you for doing that yeah of course happy
day on the because I suggested he put
interesting oh thanks to you when we met
him he said was going toell the car so
that he he was done with it and he was
retired and he bored he wants to build
something El he wanted build right that
was the impression we got from he wanted
to do the build like it that was the
thing that was exciting for him years to
do that it's interesting some people
years or something that's what they want
to do they just want to build the car
and then well and he built every tool to
build the car which is also like are you
kidding me buil you built your own
English
Wheeling wow amazing guy he was Jim stab
awesome guy huge supporter of the show
he's one of the guys that to us okay
he's an older gentleman who isn't on
social media how who's going to know
about his car unless you're just his
neighbor or something right so he
watched the show reached out to us we're
like oh my gosh this guy literally took
a sawall and cut this thing in half
widened it 11 in who does that I mean he
Liv 10 miles from my house i' never
heard of him 10 miles from his house
never seen him hiding in the garage
there's so many Treasures hiding in
garages that's probably a lesson you
guys have learned so when I'm driving
that car I was like good grief it's
solid it's straight it's solid this guy
did a phenomenal job yeah drove pretty
well absolutely and we love it when
they've been driving it for a year or
two because believe it or not if you
don't sort at least 2,000 miles on your
car a th000 2,000 miles it's not dialed
yeah and sometimes something is just so
hot we want to get in there before
anybody else gets word of it totally and
film it and so we're yeah know takes
some risks but again back to me to call
the shots on if it's not going to be
yeah safe uh huh 100% 100% and Mike's
there worrying about all oh he's my mom
I swear that's my job between him and my
actual mom my my mom is 80 she's a widow
and she lives with us moved her in a
couple of years ago I have a lot of
people worrying about me yeah that's
shout out right now to Georgia Crandle
the mom who does a ton of work on our
social media a lot of work on the show
there's a lot of
that you mentioned yep my son helps us
too on the boom Unfortunately today yep
he'll hold the moon mic he flies the
Drone he's great on our shoots he's
great on great he he helps me when I
need something hey edit that real for me
you know I'll just shoot the content and
he'll help me sometimes too so he's
great and um but it's a small we're
small everybody thinks we're huge we're
not we're we have no bosses it's fun
watching you guys operate it's fun
watching can you believe how long we've
been doing this no so so we've been
doing this
our our first episode was four years ago
next month talk talk about how did you
guys are you have a background in cars
mik what's the connection Story how did
you um I was doing I was in the music
business for a long time and I used to
come up here a lot actually to Frisco to
see bands stuff you ever go to the
bottom of the hill right acoss I went
there a billion times yeah okay and
apparently there are some Legendary
Shows there back in the day you know I I
would probably be able to tell you I
don't remember about half of it so yeah
maybe in about 15 minutes I'll Circle
back to that but so um I got that
business and started a video production
company and did a lot of client work for
about 10 years and one of those clients
things that we did was we we did
off-road we shot best in the desert we
did a lot of score stuff and shot for
Trophy Truck teams tsco and did a lot of
neat stuff in that universe so I was in
the
off-road scene is that like helicopters
and stuff like oh yeah okay yeah we shot
the second and third King of the Hammers
movies in 2009 2010 it was crazy we had
no idea what we were doing there was no
such the GoPros hadn't even been
invented yet I'm biting my tongue not
asking about King of the hamers whole
timeo there were no GoPros yet yeah
totally so it was helicopters and you
know we had 20 people ac across the
desert like I got people like missing
overnight like where are they they're
Canyon 30 miles away with no no you know
so it was that but I met you before that
so we were doing desert racing stuff and
we got a call from a guy named Jeff null
who was one of the co-creators of the
king of the hammer it's the best guy he
said and starting this race where we
combine open desert racing and rock
crawling and so I saw I had met Nicole
about a year before that first King of
the Hammers movie she was doing uh she
was with the Red Bull rock crawling team
we got hired to shoot the Red Bull rock
crawling team and I go to this event at
cougar butes and about a thousand yards
away I see this squirrel and I'm like
who's that squirrel am I the squirrel I
had just gotten out me a squirrel I had
just gotten out of the music business I
didn't want to do
just started this great this is awesome
and I didn't want to do I didn't want to
get back into um I devel have you been
into cars before or is this all yeah
yeah I had a car in music the Hammers is
kind of a crazy thing to drop in on if
you're not well he grew up in elone area
Offroad he grew up what next door to
Ivan Stewart yeah like when I grew up it
was all the it was the beginning of all
the desert racing kind of stuff it was
aloh that where a lot of you know Chen
withth came out of there and Jackman
Wheels andac you the r came out of there
you know I played soccer with Ian
Stewart's kid like it was just kind of
part of totally like the scene you know
we we didn't really realize that it
would become what it did yeah so we're
doing um so I I saw Nicole at this thing
at this cgar be I said she's great so
what year was this
2007 yeah it's been about 2007 and I
really did not want to get back into
like managing someone or helping someone
get there I did a lot of that in music
developing artists that would go on and
you know hopefully do well yeah and um
so I really did not want to do that and
so I was like oh she's such a star but I
can't you know I can't I gotta I'm
really I want to just move to the
mountains and I don't want to talk about
too much entertainment stuff anymore you
know and then I shot King of the Hammers
two years she was there both years and I
couldn't believe it we had to pick there
were so many racers we had to
pick 12 or 20 that we were going to sort
of kind of teer and follow him along the
way in the movie and kind of see how
they were doing along the way so we
couldn't shoot how we going to shoot 80
Racers I think at that time and so
Nicole was one of them because there
weren't that many females running it was
you it was cotton Rod it was I mean
there wasn't like it was like maybe five
of you there wasn't a lot five and none
of them finished and she finished I'm
like who so every time I turn around I'm
in the middle of night I'm at the Finish
Line I'm like holy crap Here Comes
Nicole Johnson finishing that race I
couldn't believe believe it I said no
but that's more than half of the people
don't even finish yeah I know we shot up
if you watch those movies now there's
guys crying oh yeah I mean there guys
big tough guys you wouldn't believe it
reduced to tears dude yeah Tears like
real tears yeah and there's Nicole
coming
out there she is comes across headlight
it got all the energy in the world act
like she just went to 7-Eleven I think
we our headlights were out no headlights
we didn't have a a rear drive shaft so
we were on front wheeel drive only it
was night and we had no headlights and I
know that until I was Ed no lights were
driving with no lights I didn't know
that until I was editing it I'm editing
this movie I'm like who's this going
down this Canyon with no effing lights
and there it is John by Braille and we
had to get through oh it was insane so
that's how we met head and we just kept
talking and talking no kept kind of
calling me for advy stuff and manager
consigli kind of stuff and then she got
monstered around I used to pester him
because I knew he had done this with in
the music industry so as something would
come across a sponsor contract oh my
gosh I have this opportunity who are you
going to ask I'm going to call Mike
badamy and run this past him so for many
many years I would just introduce him as
my manager be and and he helped guide my
career and I never got locked into a
crappy contract because of it yes I
never ever signed CRA contract because
he had the ability to read all of that
legal stuff and I'm not stupid but he
you know and align me with Lisa and we
together had a lot of you know yeah we
were able to navigate those Waters
pretty well so in 2010 I was at SEMA
show he had put a press kit together for
me when I was doing rock crawling and
King of the Hammers I got a lot of media
it's dominated by men yeah and so
they're naturally gravitated to
photographing a female driver which is
great I'm not going to not take the
marketing if the opportunities are there
and so he helped put all this is before
social media he helped put all of that
together you know uh magazine covers or
whatever and I had a DVD and I had a
printed press kit that was pretty thick
you remember I had a Sizzle reel on a
DVD my DVD Sizzle reel on the D have a
DVD SZ real that was and I'm walking
around SEMA but at this time rock
crawling was like
not getting enough Warm Bodies there and
so sponsors couldn't get an Roi because
there wasn't enough eyeballs and media
that would come out of it and he knew I
had to move into short course racing
Lucas Oil was hosting a series called
the Lucas Oil you know short course
series and a dabbled in a that a little
trophy trucks or Stadium trucks what's
the v d buggies it's like well no you
would take something like that but rear
it shorter for a closed track but body
work or no body work on it oh yeah yeah
I mean fiberglass everything's tube
frame so you'd have bleachers think of
Super Cross but with trucks and Buggies
and they're jumping and they're going
around a course right okay and it's
televised so I knew that I had to move
into something that was going to give a
return on investment to sponsors so
that's a expensive I had a a little
1,600 you know type one VW motor
whatever like a traditional like sand
rail type thing with the a little single
buggy we called it single buggy because
it was a single seat little itty bitty
buggy and that was um a very competitive
class because there was just no
horsepower at all so these guys got
really good was that fun to drive that
that car yeah the ergonomics of that car
really beat you up and I wanted more
power is cool to watch though it's fun
but even my rock buggy had 350
horsepower in a Ecotech in a turbo
EOTech so it it was different but it was
an inexpensive way to get some
experience in that sure and I wanted to
move into the not all the classes were
televised I'm going to have to find A4
million dollars I don't have the money
so I'm walking around SEMA carrying his
the press kit he had made for me in my
and that's when I met Dennis Anderson
who was the guy who started and created
Gravedigger yeah and so when buom rushed
him I totally BM I was going to ask how
that happened you he recognized you or
you you came up holding he was with his
son Ryan Ryan Anderson is today a
phenomenal driver I don't think he had
even I don't even think he was old
enough to compete at the time I don't
know he was I don't think he was
technically competing at the time I
think he he just start gotten into his
truck which was a badass truck yeah I
can't quite remember remember that
little truck anyway um I saw Dennis
because he's wearing his Gravedigger
shirt he's just like the Mario Andreia
monster trucks right and he's like I
don't know 10 ft in front of me and I'm
on the phone with my mom it's the end of
the day and everybody's leaving SEMA at
5 you know an hour earlier he has a line
an hour long at the MagnaFlow booth
because he's Dennis Anderson yeah sure
if I'm ever going to say hello he's
right in front of me and there's no
crowds yeah Mom I got go oh my gosh hi
you're Dennis Anderson and I stuck my
hand out and said I'm Nicole Johnson and
his son goes you're that route crawler
chick oh man amazing one in a trillion
right I was like how do you even know
that right
like something like that I mean he at
that point it's on pirate for 4.com we
were using you know bulletin boards to
like share our content it was I competed
in the 20000s yeah there wasn't social
media yet a little bit of Facebook right
but there was like a I remember the like
King of the Hammers like that was no no
no no that was 2010 yes yes yes I had
red I had raced it three years by then
track like people got real excited about
it for a little no i' already raced it
three years by then but it was like you
would see on YouTube somebody would
would post their own cell phone video of
something or you would see something on
a bulletin board it maybe on Facebook um
this was when like Myspace was tanking
totally right I'm so old so anyway um I
don't know he I just said you don't know
I didn't know who he was he hadn't
really been a name he wasn't um known to
everybody at at that time but he goes I
follow that Sport and I'm like dude this
is just a little grassroot sport anyway
long story short is within um 2 weeks of
meeting them I was in North
Carolina at Dennis's property test
driving in a Gravedigger truck Whoa
because they introduced me to the bosses
and I had a DVD yeah and I had have
Sizzle reel Mike I was able to give the
next day Ryan introduced me at SEMA to
the bosses I gave him this the DVD and
they called me Monday which is you know
right after as soon as SEMA ended you
know like sema's Tuesday through Friday
by Monday I'm getting a call can you
come to North Carolina to test drive a
monster truck you know what I'm thinking
sweet free trip to North Carolina to
driv truck I'm not thinking career path
right I'm just like yeah but uh I've
never even been like been around one are
you going to show me how to operate it
no problem we'll show you how to operate
it so uh they just run you through a
series of drills and tests for like two
days and then they offered me a job you
know we go i' we go from I've never
driven a truck to by the end of the
second day going diagonal off the big
jump man that's wild and they just and
these trucks are no joke man they're
1500 horsepower they've got a Merlin 540
big block is it like a Nitro it's like a
Nitro funny car motor kind of methanol
or it's methanol okay it's methanol it's
a right right dragster motor right I
mean it's it it it it it it's got a big
blower on it and it's just a beast and
so but they weigh you know people go oh
1,500 horsepower let's put in
perspective it weighs 10,000 lb totally
so it's not, 1500 horsepower in like an
NSX or something but you're still
throwing around 10,000 lb is my point
and it's as tall as this building and
the tires are 66 in tall by 43 in wide
by 20 maybe 22in wheel I'm trying to
remember how big the wheels were first
20 I can't remember the wheel size I'm
so sorry but yeah 66x 43 it's pretty big
first time I went backstage at one of
these Monster Jams I went one of these
things one of security guys walks up to
me and he goes see those tires that are
over there standing right there don't
walk around the tires because if it
falls over it'll kill you yeah there's
700
lb a wheel tire combo is 700 lb
unbelievable and that's light there some
of the guys who were the independent
guys that were running at the time were
using I mean these are just these are
Farm like Equipment Tires and they'll be
a th000 lb combination because the lugs
are huge like deep lugs like this
the scale is just like and if what they
would do is they turn them on a lathe to
shave them down and reduce weight so oh
I didn't know that yeah yeah yeah you
that's for the big the big money people
before they had their bkt Tire
sponsorship which was then a a spec tire
and those were the lighter ones so 700
lb on a wheel on tire was the light
version you should see what a mechanic
looks like pushing that in a parking lot
he looks like a dung beetle I can only
imagine and you got to use some kind of
a crane or a li to put him on right d
beetle
you just feel like you're in a clown
world big ball of dung that's what the
mechanic it just feels like a clown
World it feels like a a fake like a
cartoon they're that big they had a
little uh little their floor jacks were
hydraulic and they kind of were just you
know not Jimmy rigged but like that was
like what they had created to do the
work but we would put them in a semi and
they'd have skinny transport tires you
could store two you could put two trucks
in a semi with all the huge wheel tire
combos up in the of the semi and then
have these skinny little transport tires
they look so ridiculous on transport
it's hilarious how quickly did you get
comfortable in something like that did
that take quite a bit of learning I mean
you said that you had a job within two
days I mean I that's a really
interesting question I don't think
anybody's ever asked me that so I don't
I don't know if you're ever like oh yeah
yeah yeah I'm totally comfortable you're
always just out of control you're you
can't see anything you're just taking
window in the bottom so when you're up
on well there's lexan right down here so
you sit in the center of the chassis no
you're not in a motorcycle standup
condition that is one guy named Frank
scattini there's one guy he never ran
Monster Jam but I get this all the time
do you stand up like you're driving a
motorcycle no that's one guy okay I know
him he's nuts we would sit and who does
that you're singular no so you sit in
the center of the chassis you have a
rigal
at NASCAR and it'sust molded to your
body so your hips your your ribs your
shoulders all of these custom
measurements or you'll be dead so um how
so you had no experience and the
question was how many how until I got
comfortable right so how many races did
you win in in the beginning oh jeez oh
jeez he just wants to
talk say St he's asking let me just tell
you I I test drove for two days uh if
you think you got that figured out
you're wrong yeah you drive it for
years at with with 3 minute increments
in a weekend and you're going to you're
never going to get comfortable in that
car you're just going to do the best you
can you're just going to hop in and
adapt that that's what I'm doing with
this show hop in and adapt as quick as
you can and I that's probably why I got
the job cuz with with no experience at
all they just said to do something they
said okay uh you know just just just
when I drop my arm we're just going to
do a whole shot you're going to stand on
the brake come up on the torque
converter pretend I'm a green light I'm
a drop my arm and you go and stop and 20
ft just just go 20 ft ready go and
that's it well you know how many guys
lift lift off the throttle because it
scares the crap out of you to do that
with 1500 horsepower and there's a lot
of torque squat so you could see right
away if they they can't progress to step
two which is now there's a there a
little dirt Mound do the same thing you
need that moment you need that weight
transfer to do some of the it's just GNA
do that I mean it's just torque squat
everything is going to those
re huge it's a big dragster so anyway
you could tell by watching someone if
they would lift off yeah Oh no you're
not you can't do it so anyway not they
hesitating yeah yeah you hesitate you
got to commit to that throttle so anyway
made that pass and they're like oh now
we're going to have a little dirt Mound
about this big and and and do the exact
same thing but that dirt's like maybe 10
feet in front of the car I drop my arm
you you go so what do you think happens
I mean I floored in 10 feet in front of
you's a bump of dirt you're you're just
Airborne totally immediately Airborne
okay anyway that was your that was your
second time you that was on day one of
test driving so the by the end of two
days they're testing your instincts to
see if you can by the end of two days
again we were going diagonal off of a
big jump yeah diagonal is different than
straight because you're all four tires
you're Landing like this so they said
hey do you want the job I said yes and
then 6 weeks later was my very first
show and I had no driving in between
then and then what happen ask how often
you get to practice maybe not that often
when am I going to get a practice again
you practice at the they said oh no uh
the your first show is the next time
you're going to drive this truck oh man
cool guys we're in a huge field in North
Carolina with no barriers yeah there and
so there's a bunch I was was telling you
before we started recording I I watched
an indoor Monster Jam here just right
across the way in the basketball arena
so is there explain to listeners and
everyone a little bit about the
different it's kind of a different
course a different format almost every
time let me fast forward to the driver's
meeting for that very first show right
and this is open that's the first
question I had that's the first question
I had I six weeks ago I drove something
for two days in a field with no barriers
what is in my mind about like the risk
level drive all over the place right now
we're in Trenton New Jersey and the
world's tiniest Arena and then when you
go into an arena that that plays hockey
they have hockey the Dashers it's like
this big which are expensive
electronic um boards that have
advertisements on them and so here we
are in the you know sometimes they would
get rid of those it just depending on
what the building had as an agenda we
didn't always you're kind of the victim
of your Venue right yeah it's the venue
that would make those calls so we would
sit in our driver meeting and be told
whether or not the Dashers were going to
be gone or if they which would give us
more space or if we were within the
confines and that's the very smallest
configuration we drive in and it's
Nicole's first
show previously only two days in a field
so they say hey the Dashers are
expensive um they're like five grand if
you just tap it with your tire so don't
hit a Dasher what do you think Nicole
did on our first show right into it oh
I I had a what did you expect totally
sure but I also W racing W there you go
there you go so um I don't know we had
just single elimination and in an arena
it's just straight line drag racing
basically cut a good light which is that
whole same thing when I drop my arm go
come up on the torque converter there's
just a red light green light and there's
two trucks and at the time we had crush
cars something from a junkyard painted
all vibrant colors right and it just
maybe a van in between them it'd be like
a car van car we call it a you know a
van stack car van car or whatever and
the idea is uh there's a start line and
and then the finish line is like like
like maybe just right afterwards you
might even be in the air just right
afterwards you're going 30 feet I don't
know and when the green light goes it's
just drag race each other so I I beat
everybody that night it was single
elimination I just you know so you
didn't get round I beat Gravedigger the
it wasn't dentist driving we had
multiple drivers of multiple truck care
about the but he was my teammate and I
beat him that's great and then I uh
wasn't supposed to be great apparently
that's not cool because oh interesting
listen little kids like to buy the
gravedigger merch absolutely and he's a
loser now but then okay but then let me
fast forward a little bit but then the
game is to try to get out of the small
hockey ring and get into the big giant
Arena listen you didn't have any control
over where you were going to be we got
your schedule and uh my first year I
only did the Arenas um I did Win Racing
nine times in that roughly are you
driving in a year like that dozens or is
it doz at the time it was the first
quarter of the year we go on right after
New Year's okay until the end of March
no no you had 12 weekends 11 12 weekends
and if you're doing Ara you're doing a
Friday night two Saturday shows if it
was a 3-day weekend like MLK then we
would also do a Sunday show so typically
three shows in a weekend times 12 maybe
36 shows whatever so I I won racing nine
times in that 12 week window which was
the most amount of wins by a rookie or a
female in a single season albe it
straight line drag racing so I got a
good light I guess I don't know I just
have you done any actual drag racing
seems like maybe you have good re a sand
drag race one time when a guy was like
Hey drive my car was a friend of my
dad's hey drive my car okay and I just I
I placed third at the Dan chittendon
Nationals totally out of nowhere just
showed up and placed
third well maybe my super projective i'
would I don't know the detour show come
on we'll see I don't know just look at
the light and come just go the light is
hard I I don't know I want to do ly's
dragster if you ever do dragster I want
to do I don't know so anyway I enough
about all that stuff yeah know I I've
had I for 17 hours we talk completely
your retention will go down no talking
but at the end of the six years you end
up in the Scooby-Doo truck Warner
Brother scoobydoo TR I guess back I've
seen you go upside down I've seen all
kinds of clips of he is you know then I
was given an opportunity to drive in
stadiums and now you have a little bit
more freedom to do bigger tricks and
things though our driver meetings were
again Hey listen you know who you are if
if you've been given the green light to
do a backflip if you're not somebody
who's been given a green light we will
use the ri which is the remote ignition
interruptor they go [ __ ] and shut you
off cut you for safety reasons we had to
run you're not ready to do it corre well
it they're just the cars would run away
and kill somebody so foram was fantastic
a big monster truck's too big to have
like a easy no the whole reason why you
couldn't do it was because it it
devalued the entertainment quality of
the three back flips they were already
going to see oh right
you did a back flip ywn right right
right you can't go Rogue where's the
double back flip where's the front flip
which is a thing I think they do now I
mean the tricks are so amazing everybody
who's doing it now all the girls females
who are doing it now oh my gosh
everybody's so good at it kids today
these kids today you still plugged into
the world at all you know those folks I
have a couple friends that I keep up
with but it's easier for me to put my
blinders on cuz I'm not much of a
spectator totally I'm not a spectator
but the one of the things about monster
trucks and Monster Jam is like so like I
took all my I have three kids and I took
them and they freak they don't even like
cars that much they freaking loved it
and all the other fans there were like
going nuts so you must have started
doing pressing stuff right in fact I've
seen interviews of you now you're in
front of cameras great amount Monster
Jam yeah Mike is doing his job you come
out of it with with press training media
training right and I was on a lot of I
did all the morning media in we would
get a sign little local stations what go
to the local news channel go to the
radio station sometimes they would come
to us so I have a lot of experience um
being in the media did you enjoy it or
were you like this right to be in with
or did you always been like like this is
who I am you were born to do this it was
great yeah overall it was great that's
what you were thinking way back at King
of the hamb remember I had a press kit
so even before that like I have been on
in front of the camera for 20 years and
it's just I'm not afraid of it I I'm
it's comfortable for me I've never even
been afraid of public speaking I've been
be through all of this I've also been
able to address a crowd of 60,000 people
on a
microphone you know talking to them like
if you won I don't know racing or Donuts
or whatever right you get out of your
truck and talk to the crowd
none of it has ever intimidated me so I
don't know very comfortable it doesn't
scare me so is that where the impetus or
the idea comes for the YouTube show or
like how how does that transition let me
you got to talk about how they were just
not letting us do it well we didn't want
to let us do it well Monster Jam was a
great like first of all you got like
Monster Jam was a great opportunity like
that six years what occurred in that six
years for Nicole Johnson's you know sort
of stock and trade was like incredible I
mean there's a lot of thing I didn't
grow up watching like monster trucks I
mean I'm so old for me the was the
original Bigfoot truck absolutely like
to me that was a I remember that was
more like a real pickup truck yeah that
was kind and it blew up and became you
know gig B Chandler I met that guy so I
mean you know just to to
like when from the first time I met
Nicole you know to to do a show like
this like it's a huge commitment like
you know we didn't think we did four
episodes and thought we're going to
shoot four of these and see if anybody
cares because the the odds are with
everything on YouTube the answer will
probably be no um but there was also
a go back though to the Monster Jam days
and we thought of in the original
Monster Jam so Nicole is getting to a
point where she could like carry a show
originally I was thinking and we were
thinking oh maybe she needs to be with
someone else a co-hosting show the two
of them together but this always
supposed to be a YouTube show
that the process of my thinking the
process let me tell the beginning and
I'll throw it to you we're like almost
like a married couple here you are I've
been watching your snorted back this is
great so we knew we wanted to do a show
inside of monsters yeah we knew we had
the opportunity there to really do
something special take Nicole put her in
a show this was when everything was
still very terrestrial TV it was Motor
Trend there wasn't a lot of like a
reality show there wasn't a lot on
YouTube yet there was no Rumble like
there was nobody doing things really on
their own I was being contacted all the
time by
producers they wanted to do a monster
truck driving mom show they wanted to
have a they wanted to come and watch me
flipping pancakes taking my kids to
school and
then making cookies where are they by
the
way so so we couldn't getair eating them
all so we couldn't get traction with
with moner Jam we couldn't get him to
work with us to to to motivate and get
that show on the air there was just a
lot of complications you would have
needed their this was people approaching
me to be honest it wasn't it was that I
was was getting emailed by people that
was that you oh excuse me I was getting
emailed by real producers in Hollywood
who were producing was that you was that
you well we and we did a deal with the
you know a company that that had
developed Wayne Kini show we did a first
look with them and they did a shopping
deal with using deal so like we were
doing that kind of circulating around
trying to do it then we went and and so
we just could never do the Monster Jam
show that we wanted to do it just too
logistically hard with with them to get
for a lot of the right and wrong reasons
on both sides and um so then we went to
France actually Nicole got invited to do
the 70th right the 70th anniversary of
the Jeep which was in
2011 she calls me up she Normandy like
uh World War II liberating I got an off
an opportunity from a French um group
that was putting on an annual event it
just so happened to also coincide with
the 70th anniversary of the Jeep they
wanted me to come as a guest of honor it
was all these guys from all over Europe
were bringing their Jeeps to this event
and they were like wanted a promotional
video so I know a dude Mike so Mike and
I went to France drove Jeeps did you
offer a World War II era Jeep as part of
that uh no I drove like a I drove like a
rock crawler and we were Expos like a
there was rock crawling it was like a
big like I have a second Channel which
is old and then sometimes I dump things
on there anyway it's on that other
channel it's on there called weand in
France or something like that anyway
love to see Nicole up over the dunes at
Normandy in a 1944 G it was the event
and and sort of the vibing out this
event and so when we were there shooting
that I don't know that Nicole knew this
at the time maybe you did but I was
really thinking like okay I think she
could she could do a show I think we
could do a show and she'd be a great
producer and she's great on camera as
long as we don't let it be scripted it's
going to be a great show
and so that was kind of the test we shot
that video she did it all by herself so
she carried that whole video all by
herself and I was like oh my gosh this
this is like a 10 out of 10 she's really
really really good spent a little bit of
time having some more meetings about
having it be a co-hosted show with a
good friend of hers um we want to say
who that is yeah it was Jesse Jesse
Colmes do you know who Jessie Coles is
she was a dear friend and at the time we
chatted about her co-hosting some sort
of an adventure with us two of together
while where we chatted so we met with we
actually met with Roger Norman who owned
score at that time about that we had a
really weird meeting with him and that
didn't happen but I had been in music
for a long time and I was used to
shopping things for years before when
nobody cares and then they do and then
you sell six million records right so I
was used to patience patience you cuz
you know you just know and she was great
so we we shot I don't know we did that
was it and then we just said So Co hit
that's what it was right yeah so years
went by I retired at the end of 2016 my
last year was December of 201 and I
retired from Monster gy so fast forward
to Co in that time frame I'm just like
raising my kids and and doing mom things
out remodeling the house and was doing
no Motorsports at all out of the car
world out of the car world and he in the
meantime was filming in hospitals up
until covid right that's yeah we had a
big client in San Diego we were doing
all these real world documentaries
shooting surgeries and people with their
heads falling off and all this I saw
some crazy stuff and so 10 years of that
Co hit everything shuts down for me
there's all these complications and
problems with Co for me and you also
don't want to be in hospitals at that
time um well I didn't mind we actually
were one of the only crews in the
country that would go in and shoot we
shot inside those Wards right in
February of 2020 yeah my crew went in
there and we shot everything that's a
whole podcast in of itself wild yeah we
weren't afraid we went in there crazy
yep and uh so we did all that and then
that so that ended and I was sitting
there with my thumb at my ass sorry and
and um I'm like what am I going to do I
got to do something I'm like God you
know I'm a squirrel I gota I can't just
sit
around and um I called Nicole and we
started the show and here we are so
October of 2020 if you actually go on
our YouTube channel and when you click
on the little weird about area it'll say
when the channel was created joined
it'll say October 20th of 2020 that was
about a week after he called me and said
you know that show we'd always talked
about doing way back in the day did you
have a blueprint for what you wanted to
do about this years ago two shows we
were going to do the the the reality is
Monster Jam didn't want to do the
monster truck show that some of the
Hollywood producers that were reaching
out to me had
suggested for whatever re they they just
didn't want to have anything to do with
it which would have not been we created
in our own mind
what could we do on our own that's when
we were like hey maybe it's involving
Jesse comes like maybe you know we
created this show years earlier shelv
the idea life goes on Co hits hey but
was it question Drive everything was
that always the idea it was a lot of
off-road stuff and then it morphed into
wait a minute we could just do this with
everything totally because I said to him
one day I asked you I've always wanted
to drive everything I asked you who I am
I asked you I said that day I said what
were you like when you were a kid what
did you what was in your heart when you
were a little kid and you said I want to
drive everything when I was a kid I said
that's the show I had a go-kart um um my
my sister had a pinto at 6 years old I
drove a pinto connection y full circle
so I had a go-kart when I was five my
sister had a pinto and she let me drive
it down a back alley when I was six I
was probably sitting on her lap I don't
remember yeah and then my my my dad my
real dad had a um a Chevy
C10 I don't know what year it was late
70s granny low I mean I'm 12 had a C1
you never told me that yeah he did and I
I was driving that thing around the
neighborhood I was 12 years old granny
low you can't not you can't stall it
right so and we would still drive the
go-karts and somebody would call the
cops and we'd quickly put them away at
natural like they would we're not the
ones driving the
and when I was in high school uh I was
always like let me drive your car drive
your car I had a friend with you're one
of those I know those people oh I dated
this boy who had whose parents had you
know an Alpha Romeo and I just thought
that was really cool and I was just
constantly pestering all my friends to
let me drive you had broad interest you
were like any like almost anything I
always wanted to drive everything but I
never knew until he was asking me and I
I said I always wanted I always wanted
to drive everything and then oh oh and
then my husband you can't tell the story
without Frank this whole show this show
doesn't go without Frank I mean so I was
19 when I got married I've been married
31 years he's also a car guy right oh
yeah he had right he was a lifeguard
with a tan in Ventura with big curly
hair and a 72 Toyota fj40 with a Chevy
350 in it and a m the same exact Rock
Crusher in the Nova was in the Land
Cruiser you still have that gear box no
we sold it I like the sound of a mon
though yeah totally straight cut gears
so he had a freight train horn on that
thing so I was 19 years old oh you
pushed the button and five horns toal
Central California lifeguard Life Style
love exactly so I grew up in St Louis
viso just a little north of there my
family is from S I love that part of the
state
so he that was his daily driver it was
only a 20-year-old car at the time right
it wasn't even that old and I thought he
was so cute he didn't have a dime to his
name but he had a Land Cruiser and curly
hair yeah so I asked him can can I drive
it that's what I asked him if I could
drive it and he's like the only girl
that's ever driven my car is my mom
ironic that's what the show is this day
totally the only girl who's ever driven
his car to this day is his mom and me
how many people have said that in the
show to you that's incredible yeah
almost everybody we get be they like
they've never sat in the passenger seat
ever oh yeah that's disconcerting that's
probably half of our episodes at least
half the people freaking out about their
passenger seat more they never they'
never been and then people want to give
them a hard time that they look nervous
yeah totally they're sitting in their
own passenger seat for the first time
because you're also seeing it in real
time we don't fake any of the show the
show is all 98% first place yes if I
mess up you see it yeah so so when she
gets in the car for the first time she's
really getting in the car for the first
time a fake first time it's a real first
time so you know the nice thing about it
being everything is there's thegu the
limit you have I moved a car a you can
drive all kinds of Stu move the car
around and oh okay get it you know yeah
sometimes we'll do pre- drives on
something that's absolutely so bat ass
crazy that like no human would would
ever you know but that's pretty rare I
mean the the what Scotty's was Scotty
like that I mean some of these things
are so intergalactically bizarre Nicole
yeah I mean Duke's Car was crazy
remember I was like arguing about oh I
don't want to do the drag I'm totally
scared it's going to blow up like my mom
in the safety like concerned worry world
yes and so 100% all the time he's
constantly like freaking out on well you
are driving a lot of builds you another
guy who's been on is is uh Mano is that
his name the guy mono it's mono like
modifi like he he calls his company
modified because it's like modified he
sold some cars on Chris do you remember
him we' we've encountered him down at
the SoCal van eyes BMW show in fact he
had some cars I think that were live on
bat and he was next to our tent uh but
you drove a really wild one five or 600
horsepower two of them guy he's a guy
two of them um that was a square
extraordinary was4 Square tail light and
he lot an E36 in it he moved the
firewall 7 in back big oiless two uh
turbo and uh he he could dial it of
course you have to dial down the Boost
so that the motor doesn't grenade um so
it was dialed down but it had the
potential to get up to 600 horsepower
yeah it was beautiful to drive amazing
oh yeah I also drove a Roundy you know
what that is round light was out a 72
I'm trying to remember now and l0 30 in
it for Banger right uh E3 it was out of
an E30 it was a there's
and Cy now now don't quiz me I know like
s46 and m52 I don't I get them all
confused so anyway um little four
cylinder with a turbo still hoot to
drive so I drove them and they were just
wild he does put six cylinders in 2002's
though I'm pretty sure one of the ones
that that was the second one I drove y
that was one the big be that was a six
cylinder that's it just needed so much
more space which is bigger and smoother
and we oh everything was smoo it was
like the it was like the
right you think it's going to be one way
but it's the other yeah you know a 427
and a 289 are very very different by the
way in the Cobra World totally but I
would have thought the 427 would be like
you know but I found the 289 way the 289
better why small block it revs now yeah
that's what all the all the early comp
cars were 289 I mean I those are the
ones I like too cuz they're they're
narrower and I like them aesthetically
look I'm not driving it like a
professional 427 race car driver
D that's not what I'm I'm just going to
experience it on the road and be
respectful of his car and and he let me
you know the Cobra Lynn Park let me take
a one of five FIA Cobra to Willow
Springs and driving on the track amazing
and that was a 289 and it's just like as
you're downshifting and you're blipping
the
throttle it's just it does it so quick
it sounds like a fighter plane it sounds
like a like a it just sounds like a f
ating there's a reason that those cars
are so beloved and you
gotting but I I have now driven six of
his Originals amazing two uh we did an
we did two episodes with the guy but
privately I've also had an opportunity
to drive some of his cars so you've also
driven a lot of EVS you were talking
about that just one don't ever say don't
ever make thought you driven quite a few
ni how do you feel about electrics oh
yeah totally if oh my gosh she's fine
with it as long as there's a hausa motor
or a
like goes with listen that didn't count
because it had a it if you ever in the
same sentence says say Nicole Johnson's
driven a lot of EVS I'm just pulling my
eyeballs out and I'm but wait there
there are certainly at least there's at
least one driven one on the show but it
was like a mod of people Chris ashon
Ruffian cars it was Chris Ashton
1977 or eight N I can't remember um it
was a wide bodied race car Porsche 911
and he couldn't get it registered in the
state it had gone through a Mudslide it
was too too new too new to be have a
race engine what a story God plus it had
been through a horrific mudslide and
he's like you know what I'm just going
to throw any in it they threw it through
T Electric GT they threw a Tesla motor
in there and it's great yeah I was like
okay listen if I'm going to do an
electric I mean that's a really cool car
kind of like a hot rod a little bit
right was like driving an RC car totally
and Chris pointed that out to me he's
like listen we were kids it was Super
Rad nobody got upset that you had to
drive your electric RC car now you're in
it totally plus it's a badass car the
history of that car particularly is like
looks awesome that car had a history for
sure but I was like I'm going to do this
yeah it was fun what's on The Hit List
if you can drive everything does that
mean you can drive boats you can drive
tanks like what you going to drive gosh
my good friend Aaron Hagar he we did a
pinsar episode with Aaron oh yes I saw
that one Sammy Hagar's son he's such a
dear sweet friend he said he he we were
talking the other day and he's like uh
the guy with the shop next door to me
has this cool fighter plane you should
go you should do that and he's sending
me pictures and I'm like maybe I mean
maybe I you can drive all kinds of stuff
that's for sure the sky is you know the
cool concept of this show is we have no
ceiling totally we will never run out of
content it's impossible that I will
exhaust every car that there is on the
planet we would really like to travel we
envision the show being Anthony Bourdain
No reservation meets UK Top Gear yeah
but we got to go around the world we
could find culture totally and that was
what our France event there's different
kinds of car cultures in different
places right we went to in Australia
have like these really active like
modifying scene they do different stuff
right our huge audience ating our
scouting list now for Europe is
incredible the cars we want to hit over
there top secret but things that we want
to get to can you speak broadly about
the kind of stuff you guys are
interested in in in chasing down yeah I
mean we're always looking at like you
I'm sitting here now for everybody
watching this for anybody watching this
podcast we're sitting here now in The
Amazing headquarters and right on the
other side of this is a Porsche an
amazing 5 Series
BMW we never know what it's going to be
and when it hits us we both will hit
each other right away and say oh my God
yes there's ones that she brings to the
table that I don't like there's ones I
bring to the table that she doesn't like
and if it doesn't pass the test we don't
do it yeah sure um we don't care what if
there's a sponsorship or some political
reason we don't care that's what the
good thing about being around bosses now
yeah I bet so we really as far as The
Hit List really got to get out to the
Eastern Seaboard of the United States
there's some really crazy amazing stuff
we want to do there we have there a lot
of things in Austin and
Texas longer and longer right think this
year we're gonna we're going to do I
think this year what you can look
forward to for fans is we're going to
try to do a run to the Northwest and try
to do a run to Texas Oklahoma oh where
you do like a couple at the
same eony reasons you have to yeah so we
want to do like you know I want to I'd
love to see Nicole like in a Formula 1
car i' love to see her and all kinds of
things my job is to put her in the most
yes I
safe but interesting Len I'm not going
to tell you who it is but two times now
an individual who has a vintage Formula
1 has said to me you're welcome to drive
my vintage Formula 1 I mean how do you
say no to that right now I don't want to
jinx myself yeah right totally but if
that ever happens he's going to die he's
going to just die I won't have a
producer director anymore he's going to
just Keel over and die because yeah he
call
four years ago he's like if you ever get
in a Formula 1 a vintage formula go yeah
yeah he goes you'll get in one I'm like
nah so we'll see I don't know you
mentioned a tank like we've actually
talked love to drive a tank let me ask
czy let me ask the both of you something
crazy okay but this is a focus group
okay I've talked to you a little bit
about this but I we haven't talked about
this a lot yet I mentioned it to you so
I got a call like right before Christmas
from a guy I who will REM who will
remain anonymous for right now this guy
calls me sends me an email initially
before he called me sends me an email
that's like I don't know four pages long
the the gist of it is do you want to
drive a nuclear
submarine heck yes heck yes is your
answer those they have I think they have
a little steering wheel so now I'm
trying to explore I'm wear a love boow
outfit and everything I'm trying to
explore the the the possibility you know
and this is like a 6mon process to even
get vetted to walk on to the absolutely
okay like to you know like you think
your TSA pre-check means something it
doesn't I I will tell you if if you want
focus group I was I was doing submarine
content a week or two ago with my kids
where I wish I could remember his name
he's a big science YouTuber he flew in a
helicopter out to the to the polar ice
cap and a sub came up through the ice
and he got on it and went down and the
video that I that we watched was just
about cooking oh that's like red October
that's like H for Red October when drops
them off out the middle of nowhere on
the sub oh my God anyway my my
four-year-old and my 14-year-old loved
it so yes thumbs up on submarine content
I I don't know do you think that like I
don't know like would anybody would
anybody watch it this is these are the
things like I would watch that that we
have to sit here as producers and
discuss
creatively we're always going to just do
whatever we want
and we don't care what anybody else Rad
do it if it's rad we'll go do it right
we rad is a word from the 80s it's back
again yeah we
are very much like you know you you try
to have this philosophy that we don't
care if anybody's going to ever watch it
he's classic every time we're 30 minutes
from releasing an episode we've seen it
nobody else has seen it he's like I
don't give I don't care five people see
this episode this is the best one we've
ever done I don't care five see I well
we ultimately don't care five people see
it because it's really hard to carry on
I would say but that's the problem we
creatively are trying to pick things
that we like and we are trying not to be
influenced by what somebody tells us to
like totally we want to do what we like
because if you're creating art that you
like maybe people people cometic
authenticity Chris and I know a thing or
two about building a successful brand
and uh we've always stuck to our like
core beliefs and tenants and this is the
way we do it this is the way it feels
right if you're passionate about it
maybe that enthusiasm will bring people
Along on your bandwagon team whatever
however the realities are you're facing
algorithms I know it's
YouTube it's wonderful you can post it
for free but listen do you know how
important a thumbnail is oh it's vital
it is there are only two things two bits
of data that that viewer gets to decide
before they've clicked the title and the
thumbnail you could have the best video
on the planet if you don't have a great
title and thumbnail nobody's going to
click on it the algorithm is going to
assume it's a terrible video and it
won't put it in front of new eyeballs or
even your existing
eyeballs I realized that sounded like my
own eyeballs no but I me but you see
what I'm saying it's like a magazine
rack if you're in a grocery store old
school and there's magazines that cover
has got to get your attention or the
best article in the world isn't going to
be read yeah so we do have to think
about that too creatively and sometimes
our thumbnails Rock sometimes they're
you know I wish they were better but
that is a huge key of course that is a
huge key that's a magic that's so magic
but as you're so I know you guys and I
totally understand it do do what you
want do what excites you and and trust
that that will then get folks excited
but I know Nicole to some extent you are
thinking about your audience we were
talking about it before right yeah and
you were talking about how exciting it
is when folks recognize you or come up
to you or you were talking about telling
me an anecdote about SEMA and somebody
coming up and saying how meaningful it
is for you when you hear from
fans uh about how they've been inspired
to I don't want to blow up your spot but
you were telling a story about a guy
who's doing a build with his daughter
because inspired by your two SE ago we
met a gentleman and he came over and was
excited to meet me and and he said your
show is the reason why my 14-year-old
daughter and I are building her a car oh
my gosh I started getting like watery
eyes and before you know it Mike's like
what's going on over there cuz he could
see that I was crying so he wasn't sure
if this guy was like offending me or
something and Mike comes over I'm like
oh his daughter they're building a car
together I'm going this gu like yo bro
what's up so yeah he's coming over like
a bodyguard like be this guy up 5 fo six
of me I'm like hey D he's thinking that
this guy has said something offensive to
me to make me cry I'm just emotional
hearing it like are you kidding me we
impacted like your lives that much that
you're now building a car together so I
feel Mike in and before you know all
three of us are crying yeah I'm not
crying you're crying andco that's not
and that's that's not a oneoff like
we've had bizarre a lot of those like we
were out at the
audrain uh uh in no I don't know when
that was October October that's Newport
Road Island we did a we did a bat alumni
event the two years ago at that same
thing in October a
out what a great place I was a Concord
judge this year awesome it was so great
event great people you're going to
Concord that's the place to be I'm not
trying to Hype these guys they're good
friends of ours yeah it's a good scene
over there man it's it's it's everything
you want to Concord but it's not stiff
and uptight and and Ne some of the
negative stuff that goes with the free
free Sho nature when our R out they
people were driving their duesenbergs
and stuff in the rain through the rain
like it was like
real they just go like we're like oh you
know it's kind ofing I'm staying inside
they don't yeah no it was real deal
they're cool where were you going with
that I forgot what I was saying we were
talking about well I was I was asking
this was my I was asking you guys about
how inspirational it must be fans and
audience with all the tattoos so we're
out of the AUD there's one guy that that
comes up you know we have the fans that
come up and say oh my gosh I'm totally
into you oh my and and but then you
forget the other guy there's another guy
walks up and he's walks up to Nicole
he says hey I need to say
something and we're like oh maybe he's
going to say I hate this freaking show
you're the worst thing ever but he goes
and he's he's standing with another guy
the other guy is the nuclear submarine
guy oh that's howle that's how he found
me okay okay okay um so this so this guy
said I have to tell you something and he
start this like a tall guy like in the
middle of the day and he starts crying
and I'm like what's going on man and
he's like it's hard for me to even tell
this story but he goes
um he says um you remind me so much of
my mom when I watched the show and my
mom is the one who turned me on to cars
and when I watch you I feel like I'm
watching my mom amazing and he starts
balling you know and I'm like oh my God
so I like I hug we hug these guys you
know and so there's like an emotional
like tendon that runs through this sh
show that I I don't understand or can't
you guys were hoping for you talked
about mentioned Anthony Bourdain before
right that's what you're hoping for
right like this like there's a
authenticity and I know he just turns
the camera on yeah I don't know we don't
I don't know what it is we just he just
points and shoots and we talk and we're
not scripted and we're just having a
conversation and then we go drive it
yeah and that's it that's the show I
think the minute I think the minute we
start doing a show it's over yeah like
we're not really doing a show right
we're just yeah we're we're uh you know
for me I was desperately
missing a lot of the shows that I
thought were incredible you know a lot
of these shows were going away or they
were becoming syndicated and getting
mashed out and kind of vanilla eyes and
ruined in syndication like I loved all
the original [ __ ] you know I grew up
watching Barry McGuire and Dennis Gage
and all those first round of shows I
mean derer was just very kind of very
close to what Dennis Gage was doing you
know he was going on location and
talking to people about their stories
then we saw all the American shows come
through American Hot Rod American
Chopper we all went through all that
then velocity Network became huge and we
got to see all those shows you take UK
Top you know Wheeler Dealers was coming
through the original one before it got
split apart and everybody now is one
where said but all those shows were kind
of gone or they've been syndicated it
seemed like there was just something
missing and there sure as hell wasn't a
lot of strong powerful females who could
like rule the camera Dwayne does like
Jesus a natural yeah you know I don't we
don't have to like do a whole lot in
these episodes and there's no scripting
we tell the people when we show up you
know people when we're going to shoot
with
them they say what should I think about
what should I be thinking about saying
and stuff just don't think about any of
it forget all of it don't think about
anything and when we show up you're just
going to talk to this human about your
creation mhm you know yeah I don't know
it just works and and by the way but I
also like he's really good on the
production value is so good on the
production side of things like he never
tootes his own horn like seven emys from
his prior work with clients he's never
going to sit here and tell you but I
will because I'm I'm proud of his
accomplishments and that I'm teamed with
somebody that's this darn smart and
experienced it would not be what it is
without this guy it it is such a a team
effort mhm it is such a team effort the
show could not exist without me the show
could not exist without him it is that
like tight and and Frank and your mom
and no no no see there he goes there he
goes there he goes see how I do it I
love watching your
guys really good and he will never toot
his own horn but I'm telling you that
we're always like dang Mike did really
good on this you know he's the guy that
makes it look so good well that's an
important part of it there have been
several people we're trying who have
asked hey I'm I'm doing videos too but
what do you do to your audio like how
come your cars sound good so good I'm
like it's all AI secret no it's not
watch out they're going to try to hire
him no no no it's because this guy knows
what he's doing yeah it's tough stuff
and we we do an audio mix and color
grading it's not it's very over
engineered for YouTube well it looks
fantastic you know when they when they
were making he's trying to wrap it up I
can tell that's the key when when they
were making when they were making Star
Trek as on the on the flight here
actually I was reading this book on the
making of Star Trek right the original
series and all the stuff they went
through to try to get to convince the
studios and they rejected the first
pilot nobody liked it and they hated
Spock and all these things that happened
you know so there's just an element of
like being able
to um and they you know they they they
said you have they just had to keep
going like you know and honestly you
guys bring a
trailer it's pretty crazy the ride
you've been on oh and it's all it's the
same kind of thing it's always always
moving forward right like it's the same
kind of thing right you like can't stop
Chris and I it's like you know there's
thousand auctions live 24/7 sometimes it
keeps you up at night so it is a similar
kind of thing right but the ride to
where you are now uh right now I think
there's only about 800 but last year our
Peak was around a thousand yeah I know
that's comments and people saying things
24 but that's true
but the space you occupy now there is no
other I mean I tell people all the time
to check you guys out like like I know a
couple of guys in Vegas with some cool
cars you know I got a friend who's got a
I don't know a 65
Mustang um we sell those yeah you know
with 50,000 miles on it which isn't a
lot Y and he's wondering where to sell
it bring a trailer man we're bring
trailer.com yep Nicole cons send I was
trying to wrap up which is true that's
good that's a media trained person uh
but before I do that I actually do want
to give you guys an opportunity like
what else should people know what do
they need to know about about you guys
individually about producer co-producers
SL hosts or uh the man behind the camera
or just about the channel in general oh
jeez my least favorite food is mushrooms
oh gosh my most favorite is chocolate
that's what you need your cookie recipe
is secret I do have cookies upstairs
it's my signature move hey if all this
fails I'm I'm open you got back cookie
store in the mall absolutely what else
should folks know M other than it was
hard to drag you in front of the camera
but I'm glad we did it I think follow
your heart
and don't compromise and do everything
you can to maintain your vision
and make your sponsors your
partners
and do the best you can for for them
because they're taking a chance on you
as a Creator so if you can do justice
for everybody and be nice be nice is or
that's words to I me one of the things
it was hard for me to learn along the
way you know I've always been nice but
sometimes I don't know just be nice in
production there's a lot of things that
go wrong I mean you know talking about
Star Trek they you know no money and you
know until they really had a budget and
everybody has to do 10 jobs and there's
a lot of stress you know when you watch
these episodes you got to remember
what's going on this is somebody who's
never been in a car before a lot of
these cars now are getting to be very
very expensive they're very fast and
they can be very dangerous also doing an
interview she's driving a car she's
never been in I'm not trying to prop you
up on a road I'm usually not on a road
she hasn't been on so there's just a lot
going on for people to kind of just sit
there and watch and go oh cool you know
there's and I think people sense that
with Nicole when they're watching an
episode you kind of get inside of it
it's Show's produced very much that way
the walk around is very um matter of
fact you know it's very matter of fact
once she gets in the car it becomes very
Alice and Wonderland and very
overproduced and there's a lot going on
with this soundtrack and everything kind
of goes into a crazy dreamlike state so
just don't compromise and when people
tell you oh you can't do it or no he's
going to watch it or doesn't care I've
been hearing that my whole life I will
tell you that years ago in probably 2007
a dear friend of mine
said I I I after hearing that I said I
want to make a living in Motorsports he
said it can't be done well I am still on
this quest to prove it can be done I
have done it in the past with you know
my motor my off-road stuff but if
somebody tells you you can't do it just
turn that into fuel to go do it if
that's what you want to do yeah every
time we ran into that I'm sure you guys
went through that with wants to wrap the
show this business every time somebody
tells you no you double down yeah we I
just double down yeah CU they're telling
you no there's re there a lot of reasons
why you guys have been on a great ride
should be very proud of what you done
yeah I say the same thing right back to
you guys thank you really appreciate you
coming out so awesome to have you here
in person I'm just nerding out just
we're staring at a 912 well let's go
keep talking about cars like we can keep
doing that for a little bit we thank you
you guys for doing this I appreciate you
[Music]
About this episode
Nicole Johnson and Mike share their journey in the automotive world, discussing their experiences with various cars, including the iconic R5 Turbo 2. They delve into the challenges of scouting cars, the evolution of their show, and the impact of their work on fans. The episode highlights their passion for driving, the importance of authenticity in their content, and the emotional connections they build with their audience. With anecdotes about monster trucks and personal stories, this conversation captures the essence of their automotive adventures.
Original notes
Amidst the noise and dust of a reroofing job at BaT HQ, Nicole Johnson and Mike Badami, the (old married couple) (mother and daughter) (Statler and Waldorf) production partners responsible for Nicole Johnson's Detour on YouTube, talk with Alex about enthusiastic enthusiasts; questionable trips in Porsches; a preference for dumb cars; the perils of one's livelihood depending on the safety and reliability of old, modified, or even home-built vehicles; their mutual involvement with King of the Hammers; Nicole's trial-by-fire entrée into 2010s monster truck competition; big balls of dung; the trip to France that precipitated Detour; a Land Cruiser and curly hair; 2002s versus Cobras; counting on passion; and much more.
Follow along! Links for the topics discussed in this episode:
1:12 10 Questions with ABikePeddler BaT
1:24 FRENCH FURY: Ferocious Mid-Engine 1983 Renault R5 Turbo 2 Homologated Rally Champ YouTube
3:58 ICONIC OUTLAW: Magnus Walker's "277" Urban Outlaw Porsche 911 & The Unconventional CollectionYouTube
8:50 OVERLAND PORSCHE: Rally-Modded 320 HP 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera YouTube
7:20 The Many Porsches of Magnus Walker BaT Podcast
16:48 Ford Pinto Model Page BaT
24:42 Supercharged LT1-Powered Widebody 1966 MGB Roadster 6-Speed BaT
56:47 Four Wheeling in France | Chambon Sur Jeep 2011 YouTube
57:40 Jessi Combs (RIP) Wikipedia
1:05:17 MANOFIED BMW: 600 HP Oil-Less-Turbo 1974 BMW 2002 with Modern E36 M3 Powertrain YouTube
1:07:34 ORIGINAL COBRAS Part 2: 1 of 5 FIA Original 1964 289 Shelby Cobra at Willow Springs YouTube
1:08:41 ELECTRIC DEVIL: Mudslide-Surviving 1976 Porsche 911 Turned Tesla-Powered Ruffian Beast YouTube
1:09:57 PESKY PINZGAUER: Cranky Vintage 4x4 Military Truck at Aaron Hagar's Rat Runners Garage YouTube
1:25:40 710 Search Results for 1965 Mustang BaT
Got suggestions for our next guest from the BaT community or One Year Garage episode? Let us know at [email protected]!
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