TMCP #646: Ask Rick – Memorial Day Muscle, Summer Flip Strategy, and Parade-Ready Classics
The MuscleCar Place
The MuscleCar PlaceMay 1, 2026
TMCP #646: Ask Rick – Memorial Day Muscle, Summer Flip Strategy, and Parade-Ready Classics
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Concept
parades
“Parades” in this context suggests the cars are being selected not just for driving, but for show use—meaning appearance, reliability, and ease of operation matter. It’s part of the “summer strategy” the hosts are discussing.
The Chevrolet Chevelle is an older muscle car that many enthusiasts like to restore or upgrade. The podcast mentions wanting to improve parts of the car, like gearing, which can change how it feels when you drive. It’s basically about making a classic car perform the way the owner wants.
“Pull the engine” means taking the engine out of the car so the mechanic can get to parts that are hard to reach. It usually signals a more involved repair job.
Rebuilding an engine means taking it apart and replacing worn parts so it runs like new again. It’s a bigger, more expensive fix than just repairing one broken component.
Concept
Chevelle 2.0 plan
“Chevelle 2.0 plan” is the host’s way of saying he wants to upgrade his Chevelle in a bigger, more serious way over time. It’s like making the car a “new version” with more capability.
Drag racing is when cars race side-by-side in a straight line to see who’s fastest. It’s usually over a short distance, and it’s a big part of what people go to watch.
“Loose is fast” is a common racing saying that means a car that feels a bit more “slippery” can be quicker. But it also warns that if you go too far, the car can get out of control.
SEMA is a big auto-industry event where companies show off products. The hosts met the TurboTires team there.
Topic
Inex Spring Nationals
The “Inex Spring Nationals” refers to a specific racing event within the INEX national schedule. The host is describing how Dallas progressed through the series’ major events during the year.
This is the race track/venue in Nashville where the final event happened. Different tracks can feel very different, so learning one can help you race better.
Topic
Highland Rim Track
This is another track the host is comparing to Nashville. The point is that some tracks are easier to understand or suit a driver’s style more than others.
These are the tires the race organizers give you or require you to use. Everyone runs the same type, so it’s more about how well the car is set up and how you drive.
A “fast line” is the route you take through a turn that keeps you moving quickest. It’s about where you enter, where you aim for the middle, and how you exit so you don’t slow down.
“Points” are the scoring units used in many racing series to rank drivers over an entire season or event. Even if you don’t win every race, consistent high finishes can put you in the top positions for the overall standings.
A “win” just means finishing first in the race. The host is saying it’s really hard to do, even if you’re a strong driver, because the competition is tough.
When they say “national level,” they mean the race series is bigger than just local events. It usually has more top drivers competing, so it’s harder to win.
Topic
Charlotte shootout
This is a racing event in the Charlotte area. The host is saying the driver plans to race there repeatedly for a long stretch.
NPD is a company that deals with aftermarket parts for classic cars. In this interview, Rick Schmidt is connected to them, so he likely knows what parts people are buying and what’s trending.
Pro touring is when someone takes an older muscle car and upgrades it to drive and handle more like a modern performance car. “High-end” just means the upgrades are more serious and expensive.
National Parts Depot is a parts store that sells aftermarket upgrades and restoration parts. They sponsor the podcast and want you to check their website link for parts.
“442” is an Oldsmobile muscle-car name people recognize from the classic era. In the conversation, they’re saying it wouldn’t be the same as owning the actual “442” model, even if a different car was marketed using that label.
They bought a Ford Mustang GT. “6-speed” means it has six gears, which usually makes it more engaging to drive. The point is that it was a brand-new Mustang GT meant to be used every day.
A “daily driver” is the car you use most days for normal stuff like commuting and errands. It’s meant to be practical for everyday life, not just for occasional fun. Here, they’re saying he drives it regularly when conditions are good.
Car
1937 Buick
They’re talking about a classic car from Buick, specifically a 1937 model. It was bought because it was in good enough shape to be a “clean driver” and then given to the grandfather.
“Clean driver quality” usually means the car is nice enough to actually drive and enjoy. It’s not necessarily a flawless museum/show car, but it’s in good condition overall.
The clutch helps you smoothly connect and disconnect the engine from the gearbox when you shift. The pressure plate is the part that squeezes the clutch so the car can move.
If a car sits unused, rust can build up and make parts stick. Here, the clutch-related parts were stuck together, so it was hard to get the car moving again.
“In gear” means the transmission is engaged, so when you start the engine the car can start rolling right away. If the clutch isn’t working normally, people may do this carefully to get it moving.
RS is a Camaro trim/appearance package. The “split bumper” part means the front bumper is shaped in two sections, which helps identify the car’s classic look.
They’re talking about making or selling classic-looking Chevrolet pickup trucks from the late ’60s to early ’70s. The point is that there are a lot of buyers paying big money for trucks like that.
They mention the Chevrolet Corvette as another possible project, but say it’s already very popular. In other words, there may be too many similar cars competing for buyers.
They’re talking about whether there are enough buyers and whether people are actively looking for that kind of car. That’s important for flipping because it affects how fast you can sell and what prices you can get.
The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car made by Dodge that’s designed for strong performance. The podcast is talking about how often certain special versions or builds show up for Challengers compared with other muscle cars. So the Challenger is part of a discussion about popularity and availability of those builds.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car that’s known for its unusual look, including doors that open upward. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as an example of a company trying to build something in a similar kind of space. The point is about ambitious car projects and how they get started.
When a company spends a lot of money designing a car, it doesn’t want that cost to hit just one vehicle. So it spreads the cost across many cars it expects to sell.
A platform is like the car’s main “foundation.” If a company uses the same foundation for different versions, it can build them more efficiently and cheaper.
Pedestrian safety is about making the front of the car less likely to seriously hurt someone if there’s a collision. Different countries may require different design choices.
Some countries drive on the right side of the road, others on the left, so the steering wheel location changes. Building both versions costs more because the car has to be set up differently.
“Amortize the costs” means the company tries to spread the big upfront development spending across lots of cars. If they build more cars, each one effectively “pays back” less cost.
The Ford Mustang is Ford’s famous sports car. Here it’s mentioned because NASCAR uses the Mustang name/identity for the race car, similar to how other brands use their own models.
The Toyota Camry is a common Toyota sedan. The speaker mentions it to show how NASCAR often matches the race car’s name to the real car model people recognize.
A “waiver” is permission to not follow a rule for a specific time or situation. The speaker is implying NASCAR allowed Chevrolet a temporary exception before switching to a more production-like setup.
NASCAR is a popular U.S. race series. The cars are supposed to be based on regular cars, but modern race cars are often very different from what you’d buy at a dealership.
This is the cost of designing and engineering a car before it can be built. Automakers try to make that money back by selling the same design for a long time.
“Tooling” is the expensive equipment factories use to build cars. If a car design stays in production longer, the factory can spread those setup costs over more vehicles.
The Challenger is a muscle car model from Dodge. The podcast is talking about the Hellcat version, which is a high-performance trim, and whether it’s available now or will return soon. The focus is on getting that specific performance option.
Tariffs are extra taxes on imported items. If car parts are coming from overseas, tariffs can make them cost more, which can affect prices for restorations.
Restoration parts are the pieces people buy to bring an older car back—like making it look right and work right again. The discussion here is about whether people are spending on those parts.
COVID is the pandemic that changed everyday life and schedules. The host is saying it led to more people working on car restorations because they had more time at home.
“Parade cars” are cars used for public events where they drive slowly and look good for people watching. The goal is usually to be dependable and presentable, not to race.
A 1964 Ford Thunderbird is a classic Ford from the 1960s. “Convertible” means the roof can open, which makes it popular for parades because people can enjoy the ride and the car looks great in motion.
Brand
Earl Scheidt
They’re saying the paint job looks like it was done by Earl Scheidt. That implies the color/finish style is recognizable to people who follow custom car work.
A crate engine is a new engine you buy ready to install, like a “turnkey” package. People use them to swap engines without having to hunt down lots of individual parts.
The BMW Z4 is a sports car that’s made for driving enjoyment, usually as a roadster. The podcast mentions a “Z4 crate engine,” which means an engine sold as a packaged unit for installation. The conversation is likely about using that engine in a custom build.
Instead of a take-it-or-leave-it price, the seller invites you to send your own offer. That usually means you can try negotiating rather than bidding like an auction.
They’re reviewing a classic 1969 Dodge Coronet convertible. It’s being considered as a car you can actually drive and enjoy, not just a show-only collectible.
“Numbers matching” means the car’s key parts (like the engine) appear to be the original ones that came with the car. Collectors like it because it suggests the car hasn’t been heavily swapped or rebuilt with different parts.
This is a rubber hose that moves engine coolant to the radiator. If it’s worn or cracked, it’s usually a simple, inexpensive fix compared to bigger mechanical problems.
Hemmings is a classic-car website and marketplace. The speaker is saying these listings aren’t being sold through an auction format—just as regular cars with a price tag where you can make an offer.
“Driver quality” means the car is nice enough to drive and enjoy, not a perfect showpiece. It may have some flaws, but it’s still the kind of car you can take out without worrying too much.
“Under 50 all in” means the total cost stays under $50,000, not just the sticker price. It includes the extra stuff you have to pay to get the car ready.
“Hold its value” means the car doesn’t lose much money over time. In classic cars, that usually happens when the car is in demand—like certain body styles collectors want.
ROI is a way to measure how good an investment is using a percentage. Here, the speaker is saying they care more about the actual dollars you make than the ROI math.
“Original miles” just means the car’s mileage is the real, recorded mileage from when it was driven. Collectors usually prefer very low mileage because it suggests the car has been well kept.
They’re talking about the CR1 as something people buy hoping it will be worth more later. It’s about collector demand and rarity, not about improving how the car drives.
“Triple white” means the car is dressed in white in three places—usually the outside paint, the interior, and (if it’s a convertible) the top too. The speaker thinks that look is especially classy.
A convertible is a car where the roof can be opened up so you can drive with the top down. The speaker is pointing out their CR1 isn’t a convertible, even though some other Corvettes they see are.
A supercharger is a device that helps the engine breathe more air, which usually makes it faster. If a car is “supercharged,” it’s typically a more special performance version.
SN95 is Mustang-speak for a specific generation of the car, roughly the mid-1990s through early 2000s. They’re saying those Mustangs are still a good deal compared to what they’ll be worth later.
Term
351
“351” is the engine size—about 351 cubic inches. Bigger displacement often means the engine can make strong power, especially with performance upgrades.
A “sleeper” is a car that doesn’t look like it’s anything special, but it’s secretly fast or impressive. The host is saying these Mustangs fit that idea.
A “502 big block” is a big V8 engine (about 502 cubic inches) known for making strong power. It’s the kind of engine people choose when they want a classic muscle-car feel.
“Bring a Trailer” is a website where car enthusiasts bid on cars online. The bidding often gets more intense near the very end of the auction.
LIVE
The Muscle Car Place, online podcast, episode number 646.
This week, Rick Schmidt is here for the first show of the month and we will cover the landscape
of the automotive industry yet again, plus shop for some cars to use for the summer at
parades, flip and make a little money on.
Now we're going to talk about all sorts of things, like is the Dodge Durango sales thing
really making money or is that just smoke?
Seems real.
And is GM really bringing back the Camaro yet again with all of the EV models going
away?
Or is it just battery smoke?
And with Rick's take on the Rivology Mustang, is there any other model Muscle Car he thinks
could have legs doing the same thing?
I think that he could do a killer job in doing either a first generation or an early
72nd generation Camaro if it's done the Rivology way, just really, really be slick.
A 1970 and a RS split bumper Camaro, done the Rivology way, that'd be a hell of a car.
Plus some big news here, a brand new sponsor is joining the network and I can't wait to
tell you about it.
This is the Muscle Car Place online podcast brought to you by National Parts Depot.
This is the weekly show dedicated to people worldwide who love American muscle cars.
If you're buying, selling, restoring, even racing them, this is the place for you.
Now, here's your host, Rob Kibbey.
Yes, indeed, I am Rob Kibbey and welcome to the Muscle Car Place podcast.
Well, happy May, everybody.
I don't know if you do Mayday where you are, but we do here in the Midwest or really we
did it when our kids were little and I did it as a little kid.
So you take a solo cup, you know, like those red cups, you get like a party and don't fill
it with beer.
You decorate it, you fill it with homemade popcorn and candy and then you drive your
kids to a friend's house, you leave it on the doorstep without a name on it so they
don't know who it's from.
You ring the doorbell and then you run like hell to not get caught.
Now, if you haven't heard of that Google, it's called Mayday.
I don't even know why we do it, but it's really fun with little kids.
Anyway, happy May.
Rich Schmidt is here to kick things off as he does for the first show of every month.
We're going to cover a lot here.
One thing that we tried to do starting this month that we had to bail out on was do
Rick's interviews on video.
That's something we want to do and have wanted to do because I really think that
Rick's take on video shorts will be very fun because he has some lines and some
zingers that will have a lot of punch.
But for whatever reason, there's going to need to be some gear upgrade over there.
So Rick's IT person is handling that.
They might get a new computer.
They're definitely getting a new camera should be here by June.
But what we talk about this month here is in the interview and Rick's good at
dissecting what's real and what's not.
So like right now, Dodge Durango's are selling really well relative to like last year.
But in the grand scheme of things, they're not really selling a lot, but they are
making money, he'll share why.
And then we're going to talk really, we'll talk thoroughly is the Camaro coming back.
I mean, for real, is it coming back?
And he'll tell you about that.
And then I really did say, Rick, is there any other car that you could see doing
the same level of customer acceptance as a Ravology Mustang?
Because Rick was really impressed with the Ravology Mustang.
Now, he was honest.
He said, it's impressive.
It's amazing.
He said, I don't think it's still for me, but it is very impressive what it is.
I said, is there any other muscle car out there that you could see doing it?
And he does have an answer for that.
First gen or early second gen Camaro, that's his take.
I also asked him about doing other making models, including Dodges.
He answered that you'll have to hear the interview to know what he said.
Well, anyway, so since this is the first show of May, a little fun, entertaining
sidetrack May is the kickoff of summer blockbuster movies.
So Bernie kickoff the blockbuster music here.
Let's go through the list of summer blockbuster movies that are supposed to come out.
So starting here in May.
Oh, first up, the devil wears Prada too.
Definitely going to be on a Bernie's list.
It's probably going to be on one of my kids list.
We got Animal Farm.
Let's see.
I'm trying to get to ones that I would go to.
No, no, Mortal Kombat, too.
Maybe I could be good.
That's in May also in May.
What else is big in May?
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Ghost War.
And it's the Amazon Prime thing.
Oh, here we go.
The Mandalorian and Grogu, that should be good.
Yeah, that'll be good.
That's a big screen adaption of the series that's been on Disney Plus.
Then we get to the breadwinner with Nate Bargazzi.
So I definitely will see that.
We, Nate Bargazzi came to Des Moines last week.
That was my wife's Christmas present was going to see Nate Bargazzi.
We went last week thoroughly awesome, totally loved it.
If you get the chance to see him while he's still doing these things, definitely do it.
Then let's see, then we get into June.
Then we have Masters of the Universe, you know, like He-Man and Skeletor.
That could be good.
What else do we have in June here?
Oh, my Toy Story 5.
Now, I was skeptical about even Toy Story 3.
I thought they couldn't and shouldn't be adding to the lore of Toy Story,
but they did with three and they did with four and they were both great.
And now they're making a five.
So I'm up for them.
Then on June 26th, we have the release of Supergirl.
Should be good.
That's part of the Superman franchise.
July 1st, Minions and Monsters.
If you like Minions, then I'll bet you do.
Here's the summary.
This time, the Yellow Creatures are making a monster movie in 1920s Hollywood
as sound starts to enter the picture.
Think singing in the rain, but with Minions.
Okay.
Then on July 10th, looks like we have the live production of Moana.
We do.
And it really does start Dwayne Johnson.
It wasn't either voice in the cartoon one, never saw the cartoon one.
July 17th, we have the Odyssey.
It is a Christopher Nolan movie.
So it's probably excellent.
It's like a lot of thinking now.
Now on July 31st, we have Spider-Man brand new day with Tom Holland.
I'll see it because Tom Holland's in it.
And then in August, we have Super Troopers 3.
And I will 100% go see that.
That is a J Channel of Hascar and the entire what is the lizard gang or something like that.
They've done all the super troopers.
They're the ones that did the Dukes of Hazard movie in 2005.
It's lots of car stuff.
It's lots of stupid.
It is 100% up my alley.
And then the final one here is a maybe it's called Coyote versus Acme.
It's the very end of August.
The title is this three years after it was unceremoniously shelved by one of brothers,
the Looney Tunes movie about Wiley Coyote's lawsuit against the Acme corporation is finally
making its way to the theaters.
It's half cartoon, half live production.
So I'm interested in that.
So several fun things coming out.
And then coming back to Apple TV is Ted Lasso season four.
Looks like he comes back to coach a women's soccer team in London,
which I guess would be a women's football team in London.
The preview is out.
It's mostly music, but here's one little clip.
And it's kind of on point.
FYI, the ETA is ASAP PP.
As soon as possible, pretty please.
There you go, Ted Lasso being Ted Lasso.
So, okay.
Well, changing gears here, since it's the first month of May,
that means we are one third of the way through the year.
And do you ever go back and look at the goals that you set in January
and just see how am I doing here and have a bit of a panic?
That's where I am right now because I'm realizing I'm making a lot of progress in some areas
and I'm making little to none in other areas.
And I wanted to make progress in them all.
The ones that are kind of, I mean, they're business related,
but they're definitely the most selfish is I really want to upgrade
my Chevelle, my General and my gear.
Now, my gears, it's just leaking oil everywhere.
It's fixable, but I got to pull the engine and at least repair it.
But I really want to rebuild the engine.
On the General, I just wanted more motor.
And on the Chevelle, I wanted a lot more of everything.
I've kind of started cooking up a Chevelle 2.0 plan
that I think is the right long-term call.
That's the bad news.
I'm not really anywhere with those projects.
I want them all to go somewhere.
I've had good conversations with partners and stuff I want to buy
and even bought a few things, but I am where I am.
You can't be delusional, right?
You got to say out loud, here's where we really are.
The good news though is that all three of those cars run and drive
and are enjoyable and I'm happy about that.
The reality of my situation here is that in the Dallas Kibbe racing world,
I am realizing that's where all my effort for projects is going.
It just is.
I'm okay with that, but it is a very, very huge endeavor.
And as I sit here looking at the schedule for the next three months
of summer, May, June, July, and I guess four months, August,
I'm realizing that all three of my kids really won't be together much this summer.
My oldest daughter, Emily, is headed on a mission trip right after school.
My youngest daughter, Noelle, is headed to a ballet camp in Oklahoma.
That's a thing.
That's a real thing.
Think of it like a month of good guy shows, but you work out every day.
You build cars at night and you do the car shows on the weekends.
Maybe you can relate to that.
And then I got the high performance Expo in Charlotte next month in June coming up.
That's the first week in June.
By the way, you should go.
I got a code today for you to use.
There is no discount here, but it is a registration code that they used to track,
frankly, the performance of how we've sponsored and partnered with them so far.
They just made this code though.
I don't think you could have used it until today, mcp26.
And the website is thehbx.com.
So for me, I think the big value in that show will be the business lessons,
specifically marketing, introduction to manufacturers.
I would tell you, I've talked to a handful of you out there
who are just on the fence about coming.
It is a blend of the aftermarket and the racing industry.
I can tell you last year I got more than I bargained for.
On a first year show, you expect what they tell you it's going to be.
It was better.
It was, frankly, better.
If you're into racing and need a job,
you could have left that show last year with an interview,
a real interview with the Cadillac F1 program.
That's not a joke.
They were just standing there ready to take resumes.
I'll be doing the product competition again this year.
That's on Wednesday evening.
I look forward to that.
I'm taking Dallas along there.
He's going to go with me to a lot of the educational sessions throughout the day.
Marketing, sponsorship, how to use AI in your business,
how to run a performance business.
Performance in this case is shops and racing.
I think the real value out of any trade show,
those are the connections you're going to make.
There's happy hours at all of them.
And I would tell you, if you're having trouble meeting people,
just go to the happy hour.
You'll meet people at the happy hour.
They do have the real street, what is it called?
The real street takeover?
Real car street takeover.
It's the drag races out there.
That comes right off the event.
If the worst thing that happens is you go up there,
you learned one thing and you went to see drag racing and hung out the cars,
that's pretty good.
I would tell you to give it at least a day.
It's a convenient place to go to.
It's not an expensive trade show to attend.
And I think you'll get a lot more out of it than you thought.
When you register, use MCP26 on the code.
TheHPX.com is the website.
And with that, let's get to the Dallas Kibbe Racing Update
and burn a little fanfare here.
Some music, some horns, some fireworks, cheers.
You know those streamer things?
Burn, the Dallas Kibbe Racing Update is officially now presented to you by Lexani Tyres,
Lionheart Tyres, and Rolling Big Power Tyres,
all available for purchase easily online at simpletire.com.
Burn, cue the intro.
The Rurian's loose, car's fast.
Loose is fast and on the edge, you're out of control.
Okay, the big announcement here for the Dallas Kibbe Racing Update
is we have a new sponsor on the network.
The parent company is actually called TurboTires,
but you don't even need to remember that.
TurboTires owns three tire brands,
Lexani, Lionheart, and Rolling Big Power.
They're all for different market segments.
They're all very affordable tires for performance,
daily use, and for off-road truck and on-road truck.
You can buy them at simpletire.com.
You're going to learn more about this as things go.
simpletire.com is an e-commerce website.
It really is click, click, click, and ship.
That's pretty simple.
We met the TurboTires team at SEMA MPMC in January,
hit it off, and over three months we've come up with a really creative plan.
They listened to the show.
The product director there has become a friend.
She cares, and she also has worked in the tire industry
big brands in corporate for a long time,
and she knows how the game is played,
and she knows how the world works,
and she knows a lot about what tires are and what tires aren't.
So I've invited her to come on.
She's going to come on in a couple of weeks.
You're going to enjoy her a lot.
Her name is Bridney.
Bridney Jordan, and she grew up in Detroit.
And a young African-American lady selling tires in Nebraska
is a story you definitely want to hear.
So that's coming on.
But they, on this show at least,
they're sponsoring the Dallas Kidby Racing Update.
They're going to be sponsoring all sorts of things throughout the network,
including Bernie on the weather and the Kidby and Friends show.
It's crazy.
But all right.
So for Dallas, during my last show,
he was halfway through the Inex Spring Nationals.
There's three national events of the year.
He was on number two, the last event of the year.
He finished the finale at the Nashville Fairgrounds
a lot better than the first track, the Highland Rim Track.
He was still on race-issued tires, and they have to be.
And it's ironic that I have a sponsor tire now here for him.
But what we learned at the Nashville Fairgrounds,
A, is Dallas just likes that track better.
He just understood it better.
But B, we also figured out a way to help him learn fast lines better.
And what's interesting, what we used to do to teach him
kind of stopped working.
And what didn't used to work now does.
Isn't that interesting?
Aren't we all like that?
Or the more experience you get,
sometimes you need to change the way you can learn,
because now you've learned the old ways
and they don't help you anymore.
You know the old phrase, don't tell me, show me.
That's where we are right now with Dallas.
It's interesting.
Didn't work before, now it does.
Anyway, of the three races he was in,
he was in the top five in all of them, like all the time.
But he only finished one, just like the other place.
Wreckfest, Wreck City.
But the one race he finished, he did get a third place.
So he actually left with a trophy.
He was happy about that.
Of the seven races he ran last week,
and it was six races in the national event
and one warm-up race, he finished three.
He started them all, and he got credit
for finishing them all,
but he actually drove the car off the track
on three of them.
And even with all that, he almost goes
in the top 10 of points for the whole event anyway.
And it just kind of tells you, these events are hard.
I know he wanted a win.
I know that.
And I want that for him too.
It would justify for him probably a lot.
This is the national level of Inex Legends car racing.
He's good enough to earn it, but he does have to earn it.
And racing is hard to earn when.
Just look at Carson Hosevar getting his first one,
or look at Clay Millican.
You know, getting his umpteenth one now.
They're hard to get, and they mean so much
because they justify, you are good enough.
You can do this.
I'm hoping for that for him.
It's coming.
It'll happen.
Next up here is the month of May.
May is a toughie for me to figure out.
There's a lot of possible options.
I really just need to keep his blood flowing
and in the car because the big stuff starts in June
and goes through July.
In June and July, he's running all the Charlotte shootout
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
That's eight weeks in a row for 10 races.
On June 6th at Orange County Speedway, North of Raleigh,
he's going to do his late model debut
in the Carolina Pro Series.
So the month of May here, I'm just looking for some options
to keep him steady, Eddie.
But it's also the end of school.
You know, we have lots of family friends,
lots of kids that we know and love
who are graduating high school.
We just have a lot.
May is hard.
May is a hard month to really be gone.
But working our way through that
and I'll announce what he's doing here as it comes.
As of this show, there are five races I'm looking at for May
and I think he can probably realistically do one or two.
So I'll come back with that.
Anyway, that concludes the Dallas Kibby Legends car racing
update as presented by Lexani tires, Lionheart tires,
and RBP tires.
Study them all up on the websites
and buy them at simpletire.com.
I think you'll like the sizes and I think you'll like the prices.
Alrighty, with that, let's go ahead
and get to our feature interview
with Mr. Rick Schmidt from NPD.
Now, we are going to talk all the things we talk.
It took us 15 years though, but so help me,
I think we now have Rick interested
in high-end pro touring cars.
You'll see.
Plus, we're going to buy some cars for summer parades
and flip them for fun.
Enjoy.
The Muscle Car Place weekly podcast interview
is brought to you by our good friends
at National Parts Depot.
See them through the link at themusclecarplace.com.
Up next on the National Parts Depot hotline
is Mr. Rick Schmidt from NPD.
Rick, happy Memorial Day.
Yeah, happy Memorial Day.
I don't think it's too early.
My mouth hasn't warmed up yet.
Yeah, no one will ever know the great efforts we went to.
We are adding video to the Ask Rick segment next month
because this month was too taxing.
Yeah, this month my gear all of a sudden decided
that it was going to be wonky.
So my IT director suggested, looked at all of them and said,
we're going to set you up with all new stuff for this
anyhow if you're going to be doing your ongoing stuff.
We started a little earlier this time than we normally do,
but nonetheless, I appreciate the accommodation.
And for listeners that like the shorts,
it occurred to me that Ask Rick on video shorts
would be pretty damn fun.
So let's add that in.
But for Memorial Day, obviously, we try to do something
timely for the month, and your show always releases
the first Friday of the month.
Well, the May, the Memorial Day, and that's a solemn day,
day to memorialize those who served and died in line at duty.
For many, it's the kickoff to summer.
Some towns have celebrations.
We have a little parade here.
Unfortunately, it really isn't much more than that,
other than maybe a local service at the cemetery by the VFW.
Do you do anything with Memorial Day specifically?
Myself, no, not necessarily.
There's some small parades in and around the area
and smaller towns that do nice little parades.
But Memorial Day for me has always been more introspective.
It's not where I pack up a family and go do something.
Yeah, I know that my mom was a real patriot.
And we drove around the state of Iowa
finding those little old country cemeteries.
We would actually put flags in Forgotten Veterans Graves.
Go around and try to find World War II, World War I,
even found some Civil War ones.
That was always fun, but our town does have a little parade.
There are a few cars in it.
So when we get to the cars review,
we're kicking off the parade segment of the summer.
Got some parade cars for you.
Here's something else in May for me,
and I'm going somewhere with this.
This May is my 25th wedding anniversary.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
So I did something I rarely do.
You know those dream car giveaways?
I'm sure you do.
I entered one, and I hope I win the car
because I'd like to give it to my wife for our 25th anniversary.
It is a red 70-olds 442 W-30, white stripes, white interior.
It's my favorite color combo on that car.
When I met her, her dad, and it's a stretch,
had just given her an 88-olds Calais quad 4.
Do you remember back then,
when they tried to brand that as the 442?
I always thought, wouldn't it be cool
if I got her a real 442?
So I hope that happens.
Rick, have you ever given someone a car as a gift?
And if so, was it a good idea?
I have, and it was a great idea.
And it wasn't that long ago.
It was two and a half years ago
when our Ford project manager, Scott Halsef,
featured his 40th anniversary at the company.
Oh, that's cool.
So I thought for 40 years,
you should get something more than a pad on the back
or a gold watch.
So I bought him a brand-new Mustang GT 6-speed e-drives
during the non-winter months up in Detroit.
Thornton flight are building when the roads are nasty,
and then when things clear up, it's his daily driver.
I remember that video.
I assume it meant the world to him.
Yeah, he loves the car.
Absolutely.
How many miles has he put on it?
I don't know.
I haven't asked him.
No, I don't think he takes it on long trips
or anything like that.
It's just too inform work when the weather's good.
So I would imagine, I would guess,
he's probably got somewhere between 7 and 15,000 miles on it.
Cool.
Have you ever done a car for a family member?
And it doesn't have to be to go buy a car, I suppose,
but surprise them with...
My dad and I bought a 1937 Buick for my grandfather,
simply because it was a clean driver quality car
that was rolling across an auction block.
And my dad mentions to me,
your grandfather's first car was exactly that model.
We should buy that, zoom it up, get a road,
you know, and give it to him.
So we did.
And it wound up being kind of a pain in the...
That one didn't work out all that great
because my grandfather didn't have any indoor garage.
So it got parked with all of his other cars
and his pole barn kind of lived out in the country,
north of here.
And the clutch and pressure plate had a propensity
to constantly want to...
He'd drive it and then he'd put it away for a month
and he'd get to drive it again.
And they'd be rusted together
and you had to start the car up in gear
and then get it out on the dirt roads that he lived down
and try to break that clutch and pressure plate loose.
And it was a frequent hassle.
But it was a neat little gift
and it was kind of in the last few years
of my grandfather's life.
And then he couldn't drive, he finally succumbed to cancer.
So...
I assume he was pretty touched to get the car though.
And...
Oh, yeah.
I've heard a few positives
from people receiving cars as gifts.
I've heard a few horror stories.
There's no chance I give this car to my wife if I win
and that she says,
we're getting into horrors.
I mean, that's not happening, but...
But I also don't know if she wants it.
I want it for her.
It's more that.
You know, in the end I would get to drive it too, I suppose.
But I genuinely have always thought,
if she ever got a car, it would be this.
So I guess we'll see.
Different topic.
I've had some interesting feedback from your visit to revology.
It's not that people didn't think you'd dig it, but you did.
You know, I wanted your thoughts on something.
The business model of what revology is doing
is not unique to them.
There are other companies that are doing that,
but they're doing it in a very unique way.
Yeah.
When I interviewed Tom Scarpello maybe a couple of years ago now,
I asked him what I'm going to ask you.
I said, is there any other car,
you know, make model car that you are going to do or could do this with?
And his answer was probably.
He said, but when I was starting this business,
I knew just based on the market, the niche and the volume of things
that if you can't do what I'm trying to do with a Mustang,
you just can't do it.
So his goal was more to prove that the business itself could work.
Yes.
What do you think?
Is there another niche car out there that you could do a couple,
300 a year of at this new engineered level
that you truly think as a business could work?
Yeah.
And it's kind of hard, but I'm an expert at it
because we've been doing it for over 40 years now
is playing on both sides of the sense of selling Mustang parts
while also concurrently selling Camaro parts.
But I think that he could do a killer job
in doing either a first generation
or an early 72nd generation Camaro,
I think done the revology way would just really, really be slick.
A 1970 in a RS split bumper Camaro,
done the revology way, that'd be a hell of a car.
Are you saying that because you think that it's a mass market enough,
appeal car, the volume could be there to support all the oddity and engineering
in the collectors market, they've really gotten desirable.
It's just one of those unmistakably great looking cars.
I think you can say the same thing about a 1967, eight or nine Camaro,
probably the 69 Camaro would be the one that you would choose
if you went first generation, do something like that.
And also when I was down there, we also had a chat about the potential
of possibly doing 67 to 72 style Chevy pickup trucks.
Think about that.
Yeah, for sure.
It's a modern.
The truck market, there's lots of people paying six figures
for modified trucks out there and for low mile stock trucks.
It's another very, very strong high volume market
that I think would support that type of effort.
Both my answers are in the Chevrolet zone of things.
What about a Corvette?
No, that's being so overdone by so many different.
You can't swing a Cadet, make him or a Bear Jackson option
and not hit some three or $400,000 C2 build or C1 build.
I think that's a saturated market.
I don't think he would want to,
not that he couldn't do a fantastic job of it.
I just don't think that would be a wise business move
diving into an arena that's already overpopulated.
You seem to know off the top of your head what you would choose.
He also said they'd both be Chevrolets.
You'd know for a fact you wouldn't go a Dodge or a Moparker.
Again, we're talking about volume and market demand
and the Dodge, not the new stuff,
but the classic Dodges and the Mopark Electros.
It's a very enthusiastic and a very strong high energy market.
But just as a population, I think you'd sell three or four
Revology Camaros for every one Revology Challenger.
I could see that.
And I mean, there are parallel businesses out there,
DeLorean, that is trying to do something kind of like this
right now, the new DeLorean.
There are other Mustang producers as well.
Revologies is, it's a very OEM approach
that I think we were on the same page there.
Okay, cool.
Next topic from the Detroit headlines.
Tell me if you buy this.
The Camaro is probably definitely maybe slated to return in 2028.
Do you believe it?
I saw that on social media and just like many things
are that pop up on social media,
especially automotive related anymore.
I kind of sidelined it and suspected that it was AI nonsense.
Give it the old beer goggles.
I don't think so maybe, but I hope it's true.
Right.
Maybe it's not.
Yeah.
And if it was true, it's like, good Lord, G,
I make up your mind how many times have they
ditched it only to rise it back up out of the ashes again?
There's something.
I would be pleased to see it happen,
but they let it die the last time
because it was there only selling 60 or 70,000 units a year,
which sounds like a lot.
But in today's world in that hundreds of millions
that go into R&D for a modern car with all the technology
and engineering that goes into a modern vehicle these days,
amortizing those costs over 50, 60, 70,000 sold a year.
And then sometimes you're selling 10 or 20% of that
to rental car companies just to keep the assembly line running
so you're not making any profit on those units.
How do you justify it?
So Ford's more recent swings with the Mustang
was that they built it on a platform and they designed
the platform that they could go global with it.
And when people were like, oh, I can do that.
But different countries have,
they all have their own regulations as far as safety,
approach angles, pedestrian safety, and all this other stuff.
And then you've got all of the extra expense
of being able to produce a car either left-hand or right-hand
drive, that's no small deal.
But when Ford went global, I think that was first done
with the S550 platform.
They went global with the platform.
That opened up the opportunity to increase sales
and be able to amortize the costs over a larger production number.
If Chevy brings the Camaro back,
I would have to imagine it would also be on a global platform.
And market it all around the world, not just here in Canada.
Here's why I asked you about it.
I have the same skepticism when I see these articles
and I don't like it when the image that's presented
is an AI-generated future saying.
However, there is something truthfully happening
that Chevrolet dealers are in the loop on.
They have been presented what the NASCAR car is going to be
in a few years.
They seem to know that.
And right now, if you just look at NASCAR,
Chevrolet's offering is a Camaro-shaped vehicle,
but it's just called a Chevrolet.
Like where Ford is racing the Ford Mustang
and Toyota is racing the Toyota Camry,
the Chevrolet is just the Chevrolet.
I have a feeling that NASCAR has made some waiver here
to buy a couple of years for a real production model
because that's there, it's all fake race.
Race cars, production cars, I know that.
But it's just, you know, further down the rabbit hole
of absurdity that NASCAR has become in my mind, you know,
you can't call a stock car racing.
But it's all just Brent.
They're supposed to have an actual model name on them somewhere.
And right now, you cannot walk into a Chevy dealer
and say, I want one of those because it's not a thing.
So I don't know what to believe here.
I've done a little reading usually in Detroit News
and that's usually where I get kind of the best insight.
It does look like a car is coming.
It might be a Camaro and it will be on a international platform.
It will be shared with a Cadillac platform.
Whatever the next gen Cadillac is, I'm assuming this is off.
Same source, Detroit News.
The Dodge Durango last designed in 2011 is selling like crazy.
Now, you just said, you know,
we got to sell lots and lots and lots of things.
Here's what selling crazy sounds like to them.
Last year, they sold 81,000 Durangos,
but they haven't revamped this car since 2011.
So that's where because all of that tooling
and all that development and engineering cost is paid off.
Yeah, it's making money.
They hit break even years ago.
So now the rolling 80,000 out the factory door every year is pure gravy.
And really good profit.
They'll milk that as long as they can milk it.
The article goes on.
You know, I still think they're kind of good looking.
You can get a V8 in them.
Oh, yeah.
They're kind of doing with what they did
with the Chargers and Challenges.
There's a million variants on them.
You know, they're cool.
The Hellcat is either available now or coming back.
I mean, it's amazing.
You know, it's all.
I see the RT versions and the 392 versions.
Yeah.
To your point, the headlines,
you can never really trust them
because it says it's selling like crazy.
And what selling like crazy means is 81,000 units,
which, as you point out here,
is for a car that the tooling's 17 years old.
Come on.
All right, Rick, I had one more question for you
about the economic update from SEMA.
I'm going to save you their summary.
They've released numerous topics about first quarter stats.
Things are up, things are down.
Tariffs are here, tariffs are there.
Rick, are things better, worse, or staying the same
as of the first quarter?
Are things worse, better, or the same for the first quarter?
Yeah, since last year.
Are we just talking about restoration?
Yes.
In the past year?
Yeah, restoration parts specifically.
I'd say it's just kind of sladdish, the same.
There's a lot of things going on this first quarter
with war in Iran and the hangover and pricing
still being adjusted in response to all that tariff negotiations
and back and forth that went on last summer.
Just a lot of moving pieces that has kind of held back
the market from leaping out of its skin, so to speak.
That and COVID.
I mean, COVID is way in the rear view mirror now,
but that was a huge spike in restoration activity
when people were using their time at home to get the work
on projects that had long been put off and procrastinated on.
And a lot of those cars are finished now.
Finished and maybe sold and onto new ownership or whatever.
We knew that a correction was coming and it did.
And now it's just kind of like the boats on plane
and it's just cruising across the lake,
but it's not speeding up.
It's not slowing down.
Okay.
When these economic updates come out,
they're so laced with minute stats.
You don't even want to throw it in chat GPT
and get a summary of it because all it's going to do is spit out the same crap.
It's better to get it.
Okay.
It's basically flat right now.
Okay.
Yeah.
As a proprietor of a business,
a lot of people get really, really caught up
in generating all of those statistics and everything.
In some ways I just think in the back of my mind.
And for what?
Because what are you going to do about it?
What is the car enthusiast industry?
What power do we have over moving major economic indicators one way or the other?
We're a tic-tac to the whale in the big picture.
You want to know where the economy is and where it's heading,
but really you got to sit back and deal with reality and adapt as you need to adapt.
You're not going to fight your way out of it.
You're not going to spend your way out of it.
When things are a little bit slow or flat in the world economy,
cranking up on your marketing spend,
you can't buy your way out of that kind of stuff.
You can't spend your way out of that kind of stuff.
You just have to know how to flow through it as efficiently as possible.
It's interesting you say that part because a lot of people will try to spend their way out of it.
Rarely does that work. Rarely.
Let's get to our car review here.
I know that your time is limited here.
You've got a tour coming in.
It's supposed to be a get this T-Bucket Club, a model T-Bucket Club.
All right.
The last time you saw a T-Bucket,
oh my, and they're already starting to load into the parking lot out there.
Are you serious?
Yeah, we've got close to a dozen T-Buckets out in the parking lot right now.
We'll do the lightning edition here.
So two segments.
I just looked at my window and they're actually driving them.
Crap ton of T-Buckets out there.
I do a lot of clubs here, but usually they drive the normal cars here and not the fun cars.
I think it's awesome that they did that.
We're going to kick off a more real day.
We need some parade cars.
And in the first segment, your goal is less than 50K all in.
You got to buy the car, get it.
If there's any fees, less than 50K, you got to use it all summer in as many or as few parades
as you want.
Let it go at the end of summer.
You do not need to make a dime, but you can't lose any money here.
What do we got for car number one?
And you want a nice parade car.
You want this thing to be quality for the parade,
be good for the people and the people riding it when you got there.
First one is a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible.
Red with red interior, kind of a fully documented numbers matching.
That's a kind of silly headline for a Thunderbird.
People don't fake Thunderbirds and numbers matching isn't necessarily a Ford Thunderbird thing.
And oh my gosh, the description goes on and on and on and on, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
They're asking $28,000 for it.
It's on Hemmings.
Are you spiting senses up here a little bit?
Ooh, look at that driver.
This looks like an Earl Scheidt paint job on a very tired old car.
And you know what I don't like?
Risking in a parade is being in a tired old car.
A tired old car is over eight or something breaks on it in the middle of the parade.
You have to be embarrassment of pushing yourself off to the side.
Okay.
It kind of is what it is.
It is what it is.
I'm not feeling terribly enthusiastic about what I see there.
Okay.
What do we have for number two?
Number two, a bright yellow 69 Camaro.
Got a Z4 crate engine in it.
Now they...
I like the house too, it's interior.
I think you know that bright yellow is not my bag.
Not a yellow car guy.
Would it stand out in a parade?
Yes, it would stand out in a parade.
It would stand out everywhere you go.
But I've made the joke before, you know,
I can bolt a stuffed goat to the roof of my car and drive around town and I'll stand out.
Sometimes getting attention and standing out,
people don't realize that it's not necessarily in a positive manner.
I'm going to confess, I chose three cars.
I didn't think you're going to like a single one of them, but you have to pick one.
The hood fits weird.
It is a color you don't like.
The price, the man of yellow, I just don't like it on anything.
Except on a school bus, that's what it's meant for.
The price is a problem.
It's $49.5 and by the time you get it to you, you're going to break out of that.
But they do have the make offer thing.
So you'd have to make an offer under there.
Well, let's come back to it.
How about car number three?
Do you like this one better?
The 69 Dodge.
Coronet convertible.
Yeah, I do like it better.
Coronet's a handsome looking car, makes a great convertible.
Comes red with white interior, 383, that's nice.
Big car.
It says that it's in the, and for a Dodge numbers matching it means something.
So it's an original 383 car.
Under the hood looks fairly original and honest.
Got a flex radiator hose, but that's easy stuff to pick up.
This is just a driver car.
I blew right past with that.
Asking 39 grand, that's pretty strong.
But Hemings always has that make offer number because these aren't auctions.
These are asking prices.
It's different than bringing a trend.
While Hemings does have an auction, none of these are.
These are all just cars for sale for a price and you can make an offer.
So of these three, let's just say you choose one to make an offer on.
Which one would you choose?
Of these three, these are all driver quality cars.
Under 50 all in.
The first two kind of frighten me.
The last one looks like it might be a good honest car.
And I like the body style and a core net convertible is always going to hold its value.
I think I'm safest and I think I'm most willing to cruise around town in the Dodge.
Okay.
What would you offer them?
I think that's a strong asking price.
I would like cut 10 grand off of that and offer them 29,000.
29,000.
Okay.
Segment two, it's the same thing.
But where the $50,000 price thing is gone and you do want to make money here.
The goal is to make money.
Now, what do we have for the first car on that set?
I mean cash money, not ROI and percent, just money, money.
You want to make the most money you can at the end of the summer.
What do we have for car number one here?
Our number one is a white 1992 Corvette CR1 with only 87 original miles on it.
I own a white 1992 CR1.
Oh, okay.
It's got a different color.
It's got red interior though.
And it's got a lot more miles on it than this one did.
I've got a few CR1s because for a while there, you could pick up a claim CR1 for relatively
little money, especially if you adjust for inflation compared to what they sold for new.
CR1s have been an absolute steal over the last 10 to 20 years because they are
immensely special cars.
They were expensive as hell when they were new.
And when you look what people are paying for late 80s and 90s performance Mustangs
and performance Camaros and performance Firebirds, and then you compare those values
to what you can pick up a CR1 for, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
It doesn't make any sense, which I have always been and that's why I've got a few CR1s.
Those are actually investments because at some point the car collecting community as a whole
has to wake up from their somber on these cars and they're going to go strongly up in value.
It's starting to happen already and start to see values on CR1s pick up.
But this one was having only 87 miles on it.
I like the triple white.
I think super elegant.
That's a good color combination for a CR1.
Something funky is going on with the leather in there though.
Maybe the storage is weird.
I know it's not a convertible and the other two are, but I see Corvette's in parades all the time.
I mean all the time.
It's a target.
Yeah, take the roof section out of it.
So I like the CR1.
I think there's nothing but upward potential on it because these are under-appreciated cars
that will eventually get appreciated for what they are.
How about the next one?
2000 Celine Mustang, S281 Supercharged Speedster, 6,000 original miles.
This is another pretty blue-chip car.
And it's two days to go.
It's at $17,000.
The dynamite look in great color and salines in general for the SN95 are also, I think,
undervalued right now.
Under-appreciated, undervalued.
And this is a really top notch version.
I've got a 97S 351 Supercharged that I special ordered and I've done since new.
And that's a really special car.
And that's another totally sleeper car right now because they're just so damn special.
This is a strong one too, man.
I think I might even like this one better than the CR1.
Okay.
I'm on a roll here.
You're not going to lose money on either of these two.
These are good choices.
Okay.
How about car number three?
The last one, a well-sorted 71 Chevrolet Chevelle SS convertible with a 502 big block in it.
So it's got a crate motor in it.
It is not a numbers...
It's just a really neat car, but it's not numbers...
It most likely was not born as an SS, but it's got buckets, console, red, black interior.
This is just a driver car.
The other cars are much more modern than this one.
So the other cars have yet to settle into their permanent future.
They're still climbing and growing in value.
This Chevelle does not have the pedigree of a real documented numbers matching LS6 car
or LS5 car.
This is probably just a put together car.
And this is a for fun car.
It would probably be a lousy investment.
Okay. Between the first two then, the VET and the Celine,
which one do you think you could buy and make more money on at the end of the summer?
For reference, they're both two days to go.
The Corvette's at $46,000 today.
And as we know, bring a trailer is usually tick up right at the end.
Do I sell it in a year or do I hold onto it for as long as I want to?
End of the summer time.
End of the summer?
Yeah. It may be such a short window.
It doesn't work.
I don't know.
Since I've already got kind of the twin to the ZR1, I would tend to save my money.
And I think I would go after the Celine personally.
The ZR1, those are kind of on the uptick right now.
I might be able to flip that at the end of the summer and actually make more money on that car.
That's a tough one.
Okay.
If it was me doing it for my own personal reasons, I'd buy the Celine.
If I was doing it from just a cold calculated investor standpoint that I'd do the ZR1.
Okay. I don't make the rules.
I just thought, no, I do make the rules.
That's what's so fun about them.
All right, Rick, as always, I appreciate it.
Thank you for making this work.
I know the tour is waiting.
We'll be back in June.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day.
You too, Rob.
Thank you, Rick.
Excellent as always.
And that is it for this week.
I'll be back next week.
But between now and then, you can hit me up on Facebook or Instagram anytime.
Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
And you can always find every show plus all the merch at the homepage of themusclecarplace.com website.
And as always, don't forget to keep chasing your dreams.
Like you've let me chase mine.
Thanks for listening, everybody.
Bye-bye.
All possible.
See you soon at the Muscle Car Place.
About this episode
Rick Schmidt covers a wide-ranging mix of Memorial Day reflections, summer car plans, and market talk. The conversation moves from the possibility of a Camaro comeback and which classic platforms could support a Revology-style build, to why the restoration-parts market feels flat after the post-COVID boom. It also gets practical with parade-car shopping and a summer flip strategy, where Rick weighs a low-mile ZR1, a Saleen Mustang, and a Chevelle convertible as different kinds of buys.
In this episode of The MuscleCar Place, Rob Kibbe and Rick Schmidt kick off May with a thoughtful look at Memorial Day—balancing its deeper meaning with the traditions that bring car enthusiasts together, from local parades to community gatherings. The conversation then shifts into the latest Dallas Kibbe Racing update, where steady progress on the track is matched by a big off-track milestone: a new presenting sponsor stepping in behind the program. From there, Rick delivers his signature straight talk on topics ranging from whether giving a car as a gift is a great idea or a logistical gamble, to the future of continuation builds like Revology and whether the Camaro comeback rumors hold any real weight.
The episode wraps with two fun but strategic car-buying segments. First, the guys pick parade-ready classics under $50K that can be enjoyed all summer without losing money. Then, with the budget removed, the focus turns to real profit—analyzing a ’92 Corvette ZR-1 as an undervalued opportunity, a 2000 Saleen Mustang as a niche play, and a ’71 Chevelle as the safest bet for consistent return. As always, Rick cuts through the noise with practical insight, making this episode equal parts car culture, market reality, and smart enthusiast thinking.
