Welcome to the Avant's podcast. I'm Dan. I'm Nick. How's it going, man?
It's a birthday weekend. It was a wild, wild weekend of all of us starting at five, so we could be home at nine. Yeah, you bet. Yeah.
I want to rant about Ford a little bit because they're doing the same thing that makes me mad. Obviously, you know,
we talk about my Ranger Raptor and Ranger. We've talked about it for a long time ever since you went over there for your birthday over to
where'd you go for your birthday? Thailand? No. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What about Thailand?
Thailand and Australia get all the cool stuff. There's now a package for the Ranger Raptor called the
Desert Pack, which is like it's it's purpose-built ARB, sport bars, lights, everything, and it's from the factory.
We will not be seeing it here. Of course not. Of course not. Oh, wait. There's all weather floor mats, too.
So that makes you. Ooh. Yeah. Now you're talking. They're $100,000 in Australian dollars, whatever that is.
What is $100,000? It's like 60, I think. Okay. So it's not. But I'm just saying
that's a that's an expensive ute as they would say. It is an expensive ute. Expensive ute. So I just I wish I know it's like
I know they do this stuff. And by the way, it's not the most attractive pack that they've ever done.
But like, I mean, I like the lights on top. I mean, I have lights, but
it's just I wish they would open stuff up like this. I do like to it comes with a desert graphics pack.
I do like the desert graphics pack. Yeah, that's my feel like that can be copied. But still, I just why?
Yeah, I wish we had better stuff. Yeah, I wish I do wish we had better factory options here for stuff like that.
I mean, Toyota's doing it pretty well with the forerunner. Oh, the trail hunter stuff. I mean, you get a lot of
factor options on that. And if you go through the dealer add on options, like you can add basically
anything to a Lexus GX or a forerunner or Tacoma. I mean, refrigerators, air compressors all just from the factory.
Well, it's funny you say that because when I was we're I was looking at a bunch of teens before we we
interviewed the girls for the rebel rally. Those guys from Bozeman X overland is that what it's called?
Exposition overland? Exposition overland. Yeah, I think it's his wife is on the rally this year. And
they took a stock trail hunter forerunner. And they had everything obviously because it's stock but
from Toyota, they changed the tires. But I mean, on board air, everything, it was pretty impressive.
Yeah, that snorkel comes out handy in the desert there too. Yeah. Yeah, big time. So since it's actually
facing the right way, which is backwards. So no dust.
Is that I don't understand why that's controversial? Like, I've had people talk to me about that. It's
like you can face forward. I'm like, you can but you're literally sucking in everything that you
don't want to I mean,
Yeah, like it'd be one thing if you were tracking your vehicle and you wanted every spare piece of
horsepower, but that's not the point of a snorkel. Yeah, it's not a horsepower device.
Be economical and have the snorkel pull the air from inside the car like a real man. Also make
sure the seals on your door work really well. True, true. What oxygens? Yeah, how you been? Oh,
pretty good. Yeah, work's been absolutely crazy. So I haven't really done much beyond that
many your birthday was like the only time I pretty much left the house. So
well, we got another project. Yeah, we do. I I know we can do it. I I'm a little worried. I'm not
I'm, I'm worried. I don't know what I'm worried about. It's just a lot of tiny pieces and things like
I mean, if you remember taking apart the front end of the Bronco, yeah, there's a billion pieces
up there. Yeah, and if we're gonna do that to the Ranger Raptor, I don't expect there to
be any less. Well, I'm taking off the bumper or anything, but still no. So if you don't
know, I want to change the, okay, so the Ranger Raptor did not come with the DRLs that are orange
like every other Raptor out there. Yeah. And it's a it's a it's something you can do. And Brian
Dallas and I were both going to do it are to our trucks. And I was doing mine. And literally,
there's six bolts that have to come out for to make this happen. And the six bolt
stripped stripped. And it's not a little tiny screw. It's not like a big bolt. It's a
little tiny screw. It's a T 15 torque. So really tiny that even the Ford dealership doesn't have a
part number like if I needed to replace it. Yes. So the goal is to take it out and then
probably, probably just slot it like a T like a string. We're gonna have to because if we if we
tap it and destroy the bolt, then I don't have a bolt, right? So yeah, so we'll just turn it
into a flathead. Yeah, but the what we're not saying is the fact that the whole the headlight
has to come out of the truck. Yeah, and because it's an LED headlight, it's not like they
made this thing to be serviceable and have replacement bulbs. No, they want you to buy
a new one. Yeah. Yeah, $1,500 a pop per side. Yeah, and it requires pulling off basically loosening
the fender loosening the what do you call that the the outer fender fender flares flares flares
flares grill under underpinning of grill is like a lower fascia lower fascia. Yeah,
everything the bumper doesn't have to come off. Thank God, but bumper is a separate
piece. Everything up from the bumpers and the fenders have to come loose. So
it's not it's involved. It's not like a simple man. I miss I miss the days of three
bolts headlights come out. The good news is there's a there's a raptor obsessed guy on
the East Coast who has was doing this was and he did it and tons of people have done
it and it's gone really great. I think my problem was I didn't have a flexible
enough driver bit to get in there and it stripped it out. I should just blame
Brian Dallas like I'll tell you it's got his fault. I mean, the drill was in my
hand, but I mean, he definitely pulled the trigger. But yeah, and they've done
it. So and he's the but he he OCD he's a he's an AFI guy did this and pulled the
headlight on the truck, which he does not suggest doing by the way. So we'll have
to see. And then there will be a story within the next few weeks where Dan and
I talk about if and how we succeeded. Yeah, like so we just go slow, take our
time step by step. We'll get it done. Yeah, it'll be a pain in the butt
pulling everything apart, but it's not like we're in a rush. No, we'll
just figure it out. Take a day. Red Bull. It's just by rocking back and forth.
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, but it's been kind of a quiet automotive news. Like
October is kind of that way. Like there's not a lot going on out there.
Everybody's kind of coming into the holidays. Obviously, you know, the
car companies are trying to sell. Everybody's bitching about the
tariffs or lack thereof or, you know, buying, you know, by American or
whatever they're saying. Yeah. All the new models are basically out now.
So it's not like we're suddenly surprised by anything. No, I know
some people are not there shopping. That's good. I'm not the best time to
buy a car with interest rates, but the prices are sure still high. I was
talking to Garib actually about an SUV and he was looking at the GX550. And
those are still like, you're gonna pay what you're gonna pay if you can
even get one. Good luck. Everywhere. Like nationwide, they're just
70s or 70s or 80s, I think. Yeah. Well, you option them all out.
Like you get everything you want. You're still you're into the 90s
for a fully loaded luxury SUV. I was looking at I was part price out
the Land Cruiser just out of curiosity. And we're 65 or 70. Like
for nothing.
Yeah, I would go back to the trail hunter with the forerunner for
that. Yeah, I really I really do like that trail hunter. I think
it's a good looking vehicle. And it performs really well on all
the tests for the Tacoma or the forerunner, the forerunner.
Yeah, if I was going to go for an SUV, and I wanted an off
road variant, I would go that over pretty much anything that
I think the GX is cool. And I love the way it looks modded. But
to make it what I want, rude require 30,000 in mods for
bumpers and lift and all that. And the trail hunter pretty much
just does everything good to go. Besides, I mean, you'd need
yeah, you'd need 35s. And then that would turn into suspension
even though it's great suspension that yeah, I know how
this goes. It's like, Oh, yeah. So you go to Lexus 90. So
you're another to your 100 out the door, if not more. Plus
probably another 20 to 25.
Yeah, you know what's interesting is nobody makes a
ultra functional four wheel drive. That's a luxury vehicle. Now,
yeah, like from the factory, that's the Bronco Raptor all the
way across the board. The best you can possibly get
luxury if you're sitting in the front. Well, even that is a
lot. It's really loud. You know, it's still I just meant
comfort. Yeah, comfort. Yeah. And obviously not the Jeep. So
but you would think like there is a market, there's
absolutely a market for somebody to make, you know, a GX 550 on
35s with locked front and rear. People would buy it all day long.
I would about it. Yeah. I mean, Doug Perry for sure.
Drivers would have two of them. Sure. I mean, I can the
drivers club chat would be filled with them. They would
replace probably replace the Raptors in the parking lots.
Because it's not like it's not myself included. It's not
like we're out there jumping these things as much as we
want. That's what the Broncos for that's what the Ranger
Raptors for. But the F 150 is a it's a big truck. If you need a
truck, great. But you know, I would spend 105. It's a wide
truck. Yeah, I would spend 105 110 on a on a GX 550 with all
that nice leather and luxury options. And on 35s, just
giving it you know, add another 15 grand of the bill.
And I bet you that people would be lining up at the
doors, be included.
I was noticing are well, I was gonna say friends, we don't
from Light Bright Nation, she was talking about the fact that
America's most wanted is now working with Jeep. And you can go
in and finance with an American's most Wow, through a Jeep
dealership verbatim. Not only that, but they're doing a gladiator
with a bobbed bed. So it's a shorter bed. Hey, the truck
they always should have produced everybody obviously
wanted. So basically, you could go in finance this get the
bigger get the elephant engine. Obviously, it's gonna
cost you more. But then you can get a factory warranty
from Jeep and from America's most wanted. Wow. But you're
still I mean, again, and the Jeep, the 392 interiors are nice.
It's but it's a Jeep. Yeah, this is saying it still drives
like a Jeep. So rattles like a Jeep. I think you're right.
The Lexus is the way to go. It's still really loud like a
Jeep same thing. Same. The Bronco Raptors, the same
options. Yeah, they're same problems. Excuse me. So yeah,
I think, you know, a luxury true off road SUV, especially
given the like in the sales of sprinters that are
outfitted things like that, there's a huge market for
that. Instead, we get these Compro SUVs where it's you're
always compromising. It's like a trim package with textured
fender flares, maybe some 33s like the Expedition Tremor, yeah,
or the Explorer Tremor, which are both nice vehicles. But you
know, they're not really off road vehicles when you've got
vehicles like the Broncos going through the Connecticut
wilderness with you know, on a dirt road and gravel road
vehicles. Yeah, yeah, great. Yeah, I mean, if you're
doing nothing but BDRs, and the really well traveled
ones, sure. But, you know, you're not going to take it to Moab,
let's put it that way.
No, so even some of those vehicles like that, what's that
section where we came out of along the lake and we went up
and it was like where I like, I wouldn't take a big vehicle
through there. No, like that's, you're talking BDR,
like I know there was the other track you could go up
that the ram went up, but there's a lot of those
sections that are pretty, I don't know if I would do
that.
I wouldn't the Broncos, I wouldn't that I mean, well, I've
done the F 150. Same price point.
Did you do that road in that?
I've done the F 150 above McCall all over. Oh, yeah, I get
that. I'm talking like, I'm specifically talking above Lake
Shalane there that what's that? What's that? Oh, the
jungle, the jungle section for for I wouldn't take.
Yeah, that's a tight squeeze. Yeah, we were monkeys and I
was hitting. Well, that's the thing though. It's not the
trail is hard. It's that the the brush is really. Yeah, but
I'm yeah, I'm talking about like going to Moab places that
are open that you can go crawl around and do you just
know those vehicles will do it. I will go down and somebody
wants to take an expedition tremor. I will gladly follow
them through Hell's Revenge. It could do it. It would
just be destroyed. Probably screw up and turtle it or
something. That'd be that'd be embarrassing. I'd be so
embarrassing. You measure there's video or pictures of
that, right? Yeah. Hey, last week, let's jump into our
Carter out of my group tip. Last week, we talked about
catch cans. I did no research. I followed our friend, my
friend over at engineering explained who if you want
anything really explained, that's probably got to go to
turn the name. Yeah, exactly. He lives up to the
height. Yeah, pretty simple stuff. So if you've got a
direct injection engine, so not port injection direct
injection, you're naturally going to get build up on
your valves. It's just the nature of it because the
the fuel isn't going through there and rinsing off those
valves every time. You're just going to get carbon
build up. This will not eliminate it. It will greatly
reduce it though. And so there isn't clear clearly an
advantage of basically a catch can connects between your
intake and your valve cover, your PCV positive crankcase
ventilation system is what PCV stands for. Do it on
purpose, right? Yeah, yeah, you have that you have natural
blow by across top of the pistons. And so this is
just you all motors have PCV zers. I'm like, boy, forever.
I don't know when like first year, but it's been
you know, ever since I was a little kid, you know,
everybody came in for a PCV is like usually like two to
$10 part. And you replace them as a maintenance item on
older Chevy's all the time and any V8 or anything. They're
just a very common maintenance item. You do oil filter
plugs, PCV, like that's just part of the deal. Got it. But
direct injection engines, especially create all this
carbon buildup, especially Volkswagen started notorious
for it, Volkswagen Audi. But I mean, our Raptors,
things like that. This is something that builds up
over time down the road. And if you empty one of these empty
one of the catch cans, the catch cans, yeah, the catch can
you're gonna find a bunch of contaminants in there, water,
oil, fuel, that stuff is all just in the blow by. What this
is, it's really just a secondary filter to catch all of
that before it goes back into your engine and back in
through your valves. If I mean, most of us speaking
specifically of myself, but I mean the the modern car
consumer usually does not even hold a vehicle long enough for
this to become a problem. And newer vehicles burn a lot
cleaner with direction, direction, direct injection than
older vehicles. But there's still an advantage to it. There's
no downside. If you're going to hold onto your vehicle for
100,000 plus miles, it's probably a really good idea
to do it from the beginning. It will there's clear, clear
data that proves these work.
So my question is, is if it's a warranty issue, because
if a company like Ford builds it into our trucks, okay, where
they know that's going to happen, it's going to blow back into
the intake, it's in there. And I start catching it and that
engine doesn't have, because from my perspective, that's a
little bit of extra lubrication coming in through the
intake. Doesn't need it. It doesn't need it. But I'm
saying is taking that out of there a bad thing? Is Ford
or Chevy going to look at you and go you installed that?
No, I think even for performance actually offers
one. I'll do that. Okay. Yeah. So no, not a bad
thing at all. There's no downside to running a catch
can period. And a lot of motors, you don't need them. If you
have port injection, you don't if you don't have direct
injection, there's zero reason to have one that I can think of,
you might if unless you have an engine that's getting
excessive blow by due to excessive wear, then you
might see it. So an older engine might benefit from it as
well. And blow by you're talking about oil from inside
the pan coming up oil fuel moisture, all these things
that blow by back into the intake system. It's mostly
oil and fuel that's coming through there stuff that
doesn't get basically whatever doesn't get burnt off. And
it turns into a gaseous form, but it doesn't completely burn
off the engine or go out the exhaust comes back through the
system. That's when the fat one that when the intake valve
opens, it goes back through. Okay. And that might be a good
topic for the in the future too is, is, you know, direct
injection and things like that. So
Ford injection, throttle body injection, all sorts of
injection systems. But yeah, everything I found. And, you
know, I did check more than engineering explained, but
everybody was basically showing, you know, yes, there's no
downside. And they're correct. Everything can find
empirical data, actual data, not just people's opinions, but
actually showing data. It's pretty clear they do work. What
you're paying for, there's some that are 50 bucks, there's
some that are hundreds of dollars, even up to 1000, which
seems like a waste. But they all pretty much work. What
you're paying for mostly is the capacity, how they drain
some of them have like an actual drain on the bottom,
and you don't have to remove the thing you can know to
just flush it out. It's not like hard, thick contaminants
in there. It's almost it's all liquid. Yeah. And it's
usually thinner than your it's not just oil either
because it's mixed with fuel and a little bit of moisture,
it's going to drip out pretty quick. And so there's remote
drain systems, there's literally just unscrewing the
can dumping it out every now and then. And then the
baffling system inside them to stop that stuff from
coming back up and through because it is a pressurized
unit lightly. I mean, it's not not going to return a
pressure like an air compressor, but there's some
pressure in there. So if it's not a good baffling
system, they can suck it back up and put it back
into the engine. Yeah. Not more than it's
already doing. But just keep that in mind, you do
need to drain them. But yeah, if you have a direct
injection vehicle, especially an Volkswagen product
where that carbon buildup is notorious, you will
see some advantages for it. It's not a bad
investment. I think most drivers probably don't
need them. But it's not who you think it's usually
those of you who are not getting into the
throttle better seeing the most carbon buildup on
your valves and the most come back on your
engine. Yeah, the harder you are in your
engine, I don't mean like abusive, but I'm
going to burn it off. Yeah, you can burn
that stuff off a little bit over time. So race
cars actually probably aren't seeing a big
advantage from these. They're getting a lot
more burning through their system because
they're burning through a lot more fuel. But
they if their temps are high enough, they're
probably burning off more than the average
driver just sitting in traffic. Yeah. But again,
no downside for them. Vehicle specific
ones, I think are worth it. I did look for a
few. And there's generic oil catch cans,
which they all work pretty much the same
way. But if you can find a vehicle
specific one, what you're paying for is how
well it's designed to be mounted and
changed that with like convenience and like
anything, the more convenient it is to
service, the more you will service it.
Because it's just, you know, sometimes
it's just as simple as hit this little
lever and then walk away and you're done
and just, you know, spills out into
your when you're doing your oil. Yeah,
you know, it's just right. You have the
drain empty right by your drain pan. You're
like, one more thing to click done, put
a little Fumoto valve on the bottom or
something and you're good to go.
I think all the ones for like your
truck in mine and like the buckle up
off road ones are their screw on.
Yeah. And they're up top. So they're
not. Yeah, so. Yeah, it's all that's
yeah. The main differences, though, that
I found, if you can get a vehicle
specific one, they do seem to have a
little better routing. The hoses are
a little cleaner. Just makes your engine
feel like it's meant for the car.
Exactly. Yeah. But if you don't, you
can get a generic one. It'll still do
the same job. So sure. But yeah, it
was a good little, a very short but
good rabbit holding it down. I'm
like, yeah, okay, I know about this
now. A little break from your monotony.
Yes. Oh, dude. Yeah, it's been
Yeah. I mean, it's fall, but
there's already like blew it past
already got closed by snow.
Yeah. I mean, it's starting to
become winter. Very quickly. You guys
are doing a drive. I don't really
want to go. I don't know if I can,
but it would be really cool to be
in the snow. Brian said there's a
foot of snow. Oh, okay. So I don't
know if that would be there on
Saturday. This obviously come out
afterwards. So if you're reading
the newspaper and we didn't make it
back, well, you know, we shouldn't
have gone. Then we died in the
mountains. Yeah. That's gonna
happen eventually. Let's be honest.
My life insurance is good. If you and
I and Brian are going to die in the
mountains, it's going to be a
deliverance kind of situation. So
and I don't play guitar. So you
got to look at it that way. So
yeah, that's funny. Sports car
news. Cool. The cool, the cool
news of the week, at least for me
because I've always been a fan is
that Spiker is technically actually
back from the dead and may
actually make cars again. They
went through some stuff. Mueller,
the company president basically was
trying to do some insider trading
stuff, had a huge fine, whittled it
down to about nothing, which is
kind of funny. He's probably able
to pay it with all the money he
made from the stocks he didn't
trade. Right. Well, they went
bankrupt, but he only ended up
being charged like $16,000 no jail
time because you know, you got
enough money, you know, if people
you don't have to go to jail,
that's only for poor people. Oh,
good to know. Yeah, you should
write that down. Yeah. Okay. So
but yeah, so he's basically back
not as the president, but he is
chief of chief of design, which is
good because the Spiker was a cool
looking car for the time and has
aged pretty well, has one of the
best shifters that you've ever
seen. And one of the coolest
dashes you've ever seen. So and
they had Audi, Audi 4.2 V8, 4.2
V8. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
the most infamous one is the
black one that missy all it
owns. And then I think what's
the name from Vin Wickey bought it
and it's been all over the place.
But I mean, we we had a dealership
here. Shannon Lowe was a part of it
when it was with Park Place and
things like that, which is kind
of rare. That's the first time I
ever saw one. God had had it been
a long time ago. Yeah. Like, but
they were neat cars. I mean, and
they were they had somewhat of
the they were somewhat reliable
because they were kind of Audi
backed. Yeah. Not necessarily built
by Audi, but I'm saying Audi
engines. So I'll be interested
to see like, we've seen this
D Tommaso and Pantera came back.
That's a different a different
looking car. Well, I guess it's
just D Tommaso now. And that and
that is a totally different I
mean, high end hypercar kind of
thing. So I'll be interested to
see what kind of what they come
back with with design, if they
will take, you know, modernize
what what the what the old
spikers were. Yeah, I'm sure
I'm sure they will do some of
the same, you know, propeller
plane, you know, plane inspired
designs and touches, which is
what made spiker cool. Yeah.
So I'm hoping to see more of
that. I think the nice thing
about cars or companies like
spiker coming back is they
offer something truly unique.
And I don't mean, yes, it had
the Audi engine. But I mean, as
far as design goes, like there
wasn't really anything like
spiker at the time. It really
stood out as something that you
knew was special. And a lot of
cars don't anymore. I always
described it like it was like
a manual pre R8. Yeah, like
you know, we're a mid
engine, rear wheel drive, and
then that beautiful interior
work. Yeah, they did have some
of the best interiors ever. They
hold up to that interior is
still stunning to look at.
So interesting. And did they
say where they're going to
build them or what what the
plan is? No, nothing yet.
Just that, you know, the
company that refuses to
die, even though going
through bankruptcy and lawsuits
and everything else.
So that's I mean, you look
at like the revival of all
the brands. I'm highly
against it with what they did,
but with scout, like scout
coming back and being all
electric, I guess there's a
little bit of a gas. And I
was somebody told me there
was there was there was going
to be a hybrid version of
that. But it's sort of
hybrid. They have a gas
specific engine for
recharging the battery.
That's what it is. It
doesn't. It's not part of the
drive system. Yeah. You
know, everything comes
around. I mean, those those
that are old like us, I
guess I'm older than you
right now. So so you know,
seeing everything from the 80s
come back. Everything
you're watching on TV now, we
already watched right like
the neutron that bombed
because people keep casting
Jared Leto that dude's
spin off. Oh, look at that.
You got on that Apple
back squat quick. Well,
Tron came out and I, you
know, I was excited to
see it until I heard Jared
Leto was in it because
like that guy's agent must
have like the entire
Epstein list with photos
because how he still gets
cast in anything like that
guy is a death curse to
every franchise ever. Oh,
that sucks. Oh, that's
right. He killed he killed
the choker Morbius. Oh,
Morbius. Yeah, we forgot
about that one. And he and
he and now Tron, which
bombed it looked visually
stunning. It had a great
soundtrack apparently. And
it, you know, but nobody
went saw it, which, which
I as a huge Tron fan as a
kid and even actually
really liking the second
one. As soon as I saw
Jared Leto was in, I was
like, I'm not going to
waste my time with that.
The second one was the
reboot from the original
right? It wasn't where the
kid goes back into the game
to find his dad. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And that was really
good. I want to see it
just because in my mind, I
want to know how the
people come out of the
video game. I know, I
know it's a I base, but
still. And obviously, if
you're a kid of the 80s
or Southern, I mean, to
make an automotive
connection here, the
light cycle bikes were
Oh man, absolutely. So
cool. Especially as a
kid. Yeah. The whole
idea of Tron as a kid
was amazing. And if you
if you were anyway into
cars or motorcycles as a
kid, like you're saying
the light bikes were such a
cool thing. And they did
justice in the second
one. So interesting. Anyway.
And what's his name? Well, I
will always love the main
character that. Oh, yeah, the
dude. I'm the dude. Yeah.
Jeff. Jeff Bridges. Yeah.
Jeff Bridges, right? Yeah.
Jeff Bridges. Yeah, love
him. Yeah, absolutely love
him. Yeah. I mean, I
keep looking back. I need
to start. I want to
go back and start rewatching
a lot of the original
car movies that got me into
being an automotive fan, like
you know, bullet. Bandit.
Smoking the bandit. Cannonball
run. Dixie hazard. I know
that's controversial, but I
don't care. Smoking. I mean,
smoking the bandit would be
Yeah. And of course, the
Knight Rider series. Knight
Rider series. I feel like
some of that stuff could
come back. Yeah, they
tried to reboot Knight
Rider. It didn't work.
Like Knight Rider 2000 or
3000 or whatever it was.
I think there's another one
coming out too. They don't
have any ideas anymore. You
don't have the original guy
that did the voice for Kit. It
doesn't work. He's alive. I
know. Barely. Yeah. Like 96
right? Yeah. He was just
doing a yeah, Mr. Phoenix
Du Bois needs world reunion.
Yeah. Yeah. Timeless. Oh,
don't act. Don't act like
you didn't see him with he
was on dancing with the
stars. Don't don't act like
I didn't actually know how
much you like. No, I don't
think it's I don't think
it's that I just didn't see
it. It amazes me the
amount of stuff that I
take in that I don't do
like when I'm researching
for this show or and then
stuff. He did. He was one
of the people from Boy Meets
World was on. Oh, Topanga.
What's your name? Yeah, she's
on there and then apparently
he made it a cameo. So
that's just random. That's
nice. But that was part that
came up today. I like how
quickly you like I don't
watch that. I was like,
okay, just calm down. Oh,
no, I'm excited against it.
I just didn't watch it. Yeah.
Yeah, I there. It would
be cool. There are some
things they could reboot
like I mean. Spaceballs
2 is coming out. I don't
I don't have I don't have I
don't have a lot of faith in
that. No rugs. Well, but I
don't have a lot of faith in
it and the fact that that you
can't make and you couldn't
make spaceballs today. Oh,
God, no. But and so but John
Candy's son is in it. I
understand the nostalgia of
it. I mean, I really hope
they get the the guy that
come with the comb. We
ain't found he's in it.
Okay, good. Yeah. I just
don't. It's not what it's
going to be. It's not what
it used to be. It's not
going to be the
derogatory jokes that
people took as jokes. So I
guess it's the way to put
through it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, a few people had the
ability to laugh at
themselves as much as that
yeah, he just did not take
things seriously. I mean, I
think they could if the all
the people that could get
away from Fast and the
Furious and make a serious
car movie, I think they
could go back to gone in
60 seconds again. I think
that would be a reboot
there. I mean, the last
one was great. Bullet
would be an excellent movie
to make with some modern
cars, especially with the
modern charger. Like you
wouldn't hear it coming
because it's electric.
Dodge has got big plans.
Apparently, they are
launching a new Hellcat.
Good. Yeah, gas powered,
of course. Yeah. Yeah. Which
actually credit where it's
due the new gas powered
charger or guess, I know
it is a charger actually
looks pretty good. I think
it's a challenger and
charger. Yeah, challenger
and charger. They both
actually look good in the
internal combustion
trim. Yeah, I like it. Really
good. It's just it was
electric. Yeah. Yeah. So
goodness to them. I hope
they make it because
Stalantis needs to come back.
But you know, what would
be a great movie to remake?
And I hope they do at some
point is Vanishing Point
with the challenger, the
white challenger. Oh, yes.
Yes. So because the
original and I say that
because the original one
wasn't that good. If
you rewatch it now, like
if you watch if you
rewatch Smokey and the
Bandit and you rewatch
Cannibal Run, they're
still pretty good movies.
They're fun. But Vanishing
Point really wasn't. If you
go back and watch it, you're
like, it's kind of lame.
And so there's a good
opportunity to remake a
movie like that, especially
with the new challenger
coming out. You know, yeah,
it's it's more than enough
horsepower. Okay, they'll
be pushing a thousand
horsepower in a car. If
people just weren't so
uptight because you know
some Karen's gonna be like,
this is gonna encourage
street racing. I'm like,
no, it's not. Yeah. No,
it's not. No, it's not.
Street racing is dead and
it should be. Yeah, it
really is like, it's, you
know, everybody thinks take
anybody who goes to a take
over takes part of a take
over. Everybody thinks it's a
total joke anyway. Like nobody
in the car community
respects them and nobody
respects street racers.
Yeah, well, we all just
think they're jokes with,
you know, small thing
complexes, small thing. I
mean, they are. Yeah, it's
what I mean. But it's
like, we sort of joke
about it, but nobody in
the car community
actually thinks street
racers are cool. There
was a time racers think
street racers, that's
what I mean, like they
do. But the vast majority
of people in public like
that's just stupid. Like if
you want to prove you're
good at driving, you don't
go street race.
That's a good point. I mean,
I think I've been to like
truly one night of street
racing. I wasn't racing. It
was when I first moved over
here in like 2008, and I
was down in Kent before
they really cracked down
on it. And I went to
watch the debauchery and
somebody crashed, which
he crashed in the guy
who was racing. Yeah. Then
they hit a tree, which
was more entertaining than
the racing. Right? Like
you don't go. It's
exact. I think you can be
arrested for watching it
now too. Yeah. So yeah, but
I did the exact same thing. I
went down there a couple
of times and it was very
quick. Even at that young
stupid age that I was, I
was like, this is stupid.
Yeah. I mean, like you
looked like you wanted to
see the cars, but like
that whole fast and furious
time, like the original
fast and furious time is
when all that was really
kind of, you know, on
fire. And even then you
looked at it and you're
like, okay, the cars
were cool, but the street
racing itself was pretty
lame because it wasn't
really competitive.
Do you remember when fast
and furious used to be
about street racing? Oh, yeah.
I don't. I lost it when
they went to space.
Oh, yeah. But I mean, I
had my FD at the time.
Well, I mean, and I got
it to run long enough to
get to the theater and
back, which was like
amazing in itself. So
I had a when the first
fast and furious came out,
I had a 92 or 2000 or 92
Subaru Legacy wagon. And the
place that spoke to him, we
went to see it had one of
those garages where you had
to go to the end of it and
then it circled down. Oh,
yeah. And I was watching
people just like, you
know, get a match. Yeah.
Try to run up, run into the
wall as they were, you
know, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
That's kind of funny. I
think what I what would
really revital the film
industry and cars is if
they get rid of all of
all of Hollywood, I
kind of pretty much. Um,
well, just kind of stepping
up and actually not putting
so much real life.
Scared, like they're so
afraid of doing anything
that people might recreate or
people like you think of
something like it'd be
really cool to see a
live action initial D.
But there's this whole
segment, oh, people are
going to street race,
they're going to make
people bad, like, no,
they're not people play
video games all day, shooting
each other all the time.
We've proven that is not
true. Like if you're stupid
enough to do that, nobody
likes, nobody thinks you're
cool. And so you watch
smoking the bandit, did you
go out and jump your car
all the time? Totally not
being sarcastic. Of course
not. That's my point. Yeah.
You went, oh, that's fun
to watch. I can't do that
because I'm not burnt
Reynolds. Yeah. And because
my car would fold in half.
I could never pull that
off. He's such good bone
structure. Yeah, like it
would be fun to watch though,
you know, but that's I
think you're right. They're
bringing common sense back
to the world of like, Hey,
don't do this. Coffee's hot.
Yeah. Hey, this is a movie.
Anyway, moving on. Yeah.
It's like clearly you can't
jump a bridge with your
charger and expect it not
to just destroy it into a
million pieces. That's why
it's a movie. You also can't
drive through a plane on a
what a like a 42 mile
runway. Right. Yeah.
So yeah. So but like I
remember even the remake
have gone in 60 seconds,
which lover hate had some
amazing car scenes like
when he jumps the Mustang
basically destroys it.
Yeah. And that was a great
part of the movie because
like, yeah, that's what
would happen. Yeah.
I think it's barely
surviving.
Hmm. Yeah. Well, I don't
know. I mean, I think I
like I would like some
comments on this and the
fact of like, what was your
first favorite? First,
first and favorite automotive
movie, what got you
like hooked. We always talk
about this. And I've said
100 times, I guess, like,
what was your Hot Wheels
moment? But like, what was
the car was like, what was
the car that got you into
it? Obviously, it will
always be the Dukes of
Hazard to me. And I
understand how dangerous
that car is in today's
environment. But
the fall guy, which the
crappy remake with one of
the Ryan's, it was funny
though. It was funny, though.
It was really funny. Yeah.
But I mean, like the tons
of great car scenes in
that. Yeah. I'm trying to
think what else.
Boy, you know, it's a
great car show and
unexpectedly is Archer.
Oh, yeah. There's so
many great cars in there.
Yeah. It's a great show
for that. It's not hard
to get cars for that.
He's drawn right. Yeah.
A team. Obviously, the cars
movie for the younger
just because it's
fun. Oh, yeah. I mean,
there are actually some
great driving techniques in
there. You do realize that
Maders is serial killer,
right? Yes. OK, guys.
Make it sure. Yeah. If you
don't, if you're listening
to this and you don't
understand what I am, go
look up the fact of why
Mader would be a serial
killer. It's going to
ruin cars for you, but
just so we're clear, he
lives in a yard full of
body parts.
Yeah. Yeah. Sally
never does drive through
that puddle. It's a
little weird. Oh, I just
learned that. That was in
the chat. I was like, yeah.
OK, fair enough. Yeah.
That's not mud. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Plains, trains
and automobiles. That car.
That's a classic car.
I remember what it was.
It was a convertible like
Chrysler. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. There are so
many great cars were
such a great part of
movies. I mean, even
even if they weren't a
car movie like the
Portion 928 in weird
science or 16 candles,
the Red Portion 944, the
Portion in Dirty Viz or in
Risky Business. Yeah, like
they're not car movies, but
they always had this really
important part of these
movies that us car guys
really gravitated toward.
And I missed that. Well,
they were characters. Yeah,
they were characters. Yeah.
Yeah. And now like, you
saw a little bit like an
Iron Man with the NSX and
the R8. I know
everybody's screaming at
the radio, the Ferrari
and Ferris Bueller. Oh,
yeah, of course. Exactly.
Things like that. Yeah.
We need more of that back
if we want car culture in
movies. I just don't think
I think part of it now I
think the difference then
and now is like, yes, cars
car manufacturers paid to be
in movies, but it didn't
really feel like it at the
time. Like it wasn't a
commercial for the car.
It was by proxy, but it
wasn't shoved down your
throat like every message is
now. It was. I mean, you
go back and watch those
movies. It's very obvious
that Dodge gave them all
their cars. You know,
there were signs everywhere,
but yeah, like, we'll
look at Cannonball Run,
though. Oh God, like
that's the epitome of just
throw every cool car we can
find at it. And they were
all different and they were
all fun. What was the one
that Jackie Chan was in
buddy? Because we had the
whole computer system. Was
it a Supra? No, I think
it was a Mitsubishi
Starian. That's what it
was. Yes, you're correct.
Yep. Classic. Such a
great part. I mean,
there's no better start
than the start of Cannonball
Run when they spray off
the 55. No, they make it
155, but then they go and
they turn it from red to
white or white to red.
Let's come run to that too.
Sorry. The first one is
the black one. Oh, that's
right. The best sounding
car ever was that front
wing with the hella lights
embedded underneath. And
they had to slow down as
the car kept lifting off
the ground or trying to
because of all that front
lift on the wing. Still
one of the coolest things
ever bolted on there. Yeah,
that's what it is. It
still exists. Well, yeah,
I already just did a
thing about it. Yeah, it
has 12 exhaust tips back
there. Car sound so good.
And what's your name? Bach
from the Dukes of Hazzard?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
I mean, bring me real car
movies. I think that's
something. Oh, James Bond,
of course. Oh, how could
you forget that? Even when
he went BMW? Yeah, even
then it was good. I didn't
ever really like the Z three,
but the seven series, they
made it very clear that BMW
sponsored that movie. Yeah,
that one was both of them.
Yeah, I mean, because you
had the Z eight, you had
the Z three, you had the
seven series that he crashed
off the top and right into
the budget. I mean, then
they went back to Aston, but
which is fine. Yeah. No
Aston runs that long. Lotus
as well in that too. Oh, I
forgot about the submarines.
Yeah. Mm hmm. Anyway, tell
us about your early car
movie experiences, which do
any of you have your car
movie or your movie car? Yeah,
the car. Yeah. Back to
the future, of course, not
the door in the truck. I
actually know somebody who
has an exact replica of
that truck, the black one,
the Toyota. Yeah. She's
a box member as well. Oh,
yeah. Oh, I know that car.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to
think of I mean, I you can't
get him now because everybody
wants him but building like
the original ecto one ecto one
out of the Cadillac. Yeah.
Obviously, 69 charger.
I mean, and the funny
thing is, is like smoking
the bandit that car wasn't
that. Oh, it's terribly
slow, terribly, terribly
slow. Yeah. 170 horsepower
something. Barely. Yeah. And
they had to modify the hell
out of it. I think I think one
of them even had a bunch of
nitrous in it because it was
so slow. Well, that bridge
jump that one bridge. Yeah,
because they couldn't make
the bridge jump because the
car was too slow and waited
time. Yeah. Yeah. And it was
totally unbalanced. So the
jump car is completely not
straight. Yeah. It was
completely gutted. It had
weight added to the trunk
and then everything else
lightened like they'd move
all the way around. It's
pretty funny. Sally Fields
fault. Yeah. All 105
pounds of her. But a fan.
Anyway, never been a fan.
Really? Yeah. That movie.
Yes. After Forrest Gump.
No. So, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Well, not even then.
It's just like she's all right.
Cares about your education.
Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, this
hopefully will be a good
thread on the Vaughn. So if
you guys aren't into Vaughns
member in the Facebook group,
I think we'll get some
good answers here. I'm sure
some of the Vaughns
California members probably
have a lot of these cars.
A lot of those cars are
still out in Hollywood. Show
us the pictures. Show us
the whole point of this
podcast is to create a
community and we and it has
done that throughout the
years. But let's see some
stuff like, you know, we'll
post them up. It's fun.
Yeah. Yeah. Cool.
I was just thinking about
motorcycle movies, besides
torque. Oh, God, that was
terrible. Biker boys.
Hero movie. Biker boys.
Also terrible. Any good
motorcycle movies besides
Easy Rider?
Is the rider a good
motorcycle movie? No.
Yeah. Good question.
Peter Fonda. I don't I
I can't. I mean, Mad Max, the
only other time that a
motorcycle appeared in a
movie and really got my
attention was in the
Matrix with the Ducati's
the 999s or whatever they
were. What was the movie with
Stephen Baldwin and
Lawrence Fishburne fled with
the matching Ducati 916s.
Oh, okay. And then I'm
trying to think.
The dirt bike. Yeah.
That was yeah, that was
sort of a motocross movie as
a kid. I'm sure there's some
people out there that have
the bikes from Rad.
It's a yellow one. You know,
it's fun story about Rad.
Same director as Smoky and
the Bandit, actually, or
yeah, Smoky and the Bandit, I
believe. Okay. And the
stunts on that there's a
great for those I know a
ton of our listeners are
writers or just grew up in
the movie Rad and loved it
like we did. There's a
great documentary about the
movie Rad. And it's just a
fun watch. And yes, every
guy on that set crush on
Lori Lofton on Lori
Loftlin. I still do.
She'll do anything to get her
kids into school.
But yeah, apparently she was
just the sweetest thing
ever when everybody had to
crush on her. And like
everybody just had a
hilarious time making that
movie. And no budget. All the
stunts were like, uh, yeah,
try that. Fall into these
boxes, I guess it was the
most.
There was some there was
some YouTuber that has all
like originally they're not
the original bikes, but like
the three like the blue
one, the yellow one, black
one or red one, something
like that. And so I
forget the guy's name, the
blonde guy, he's in Karate
Kid as well. Oh yeah. So he's
a gym nat and not he's not
in Karate Kid. I think he
is an extra in Karate Kid,
but he is a gymnastics
instructor and he owns a gym
like like Olympic medal,
like gymnastics. And he was
not a not a bicycle rider.
And it's funny because he
still owns this gym because
that's his passion, but
people come into his gym,
he said, every week,
somebody comes in and
goes, you're the dude
from Rad. Sure, sign up.
Yeah, one week free for
recognition. He seemed like
it was fun watching the
interviews. A lot of those
guys were just really down
to earth and having a good
time on the movie.
It's a fun memory. Anyway,
yeah, I mean, I'm you're
not old yet. Well, it's
kind of like music. The
older you get, the more
movies you have to look
back on and enjoy them.
You more music you have
to enjoy. Yeah, I
agree. I still want to
see Tron, even if Jared
Little runs it. So yeah.
Well, I mean every now and
maybe the I mean, the
audience reviews on it seem
okay. It tanked the box
office, but every now and
then he gets one right.
Lord of war. He was
fantastic in. Oh, that's
right. He was the brother
of Nicholas Cage's brother.
That's right. Every now and
then he does okay. It's like
one out of 50. He does
something okay. I'm going
to be honest with you. I
don't blame him for the
suicide thing because he
was the next Joker after
Heath Ledger. So that
Yeah, nobody was going to
live up to that. I know
he's going to live up to
that. So yeah. Sorry, I
didn't mean to turn this
into a movie review, but
cars are on my mind and
move and I want to go back
and watch all this stuff.
So yeah, yeah, cool.
All right. Well, for this
episode of the advanced
podcast as always, I'm
Nick and I'm Dan and don't
just get there. Enjoy the
drive.
About this episode
Dan and Nick dive into the lack of cool, functional factory off-road vehicles in the US compared to other markets, sharing their frustrations with Ford's limited Ranger Raptor options and praising Toyota's Trail Hunter. They discuss their challenging project of modifying their Raptors' headlights, the benefits of catch cans for direct injection engines, and the resurgence of unique car brands like Spiker. The conversation shifts to nostalgic car movies and TV shows, lamenting the decline of authentic automotive culture in media and debating the potential for reboots and new car-centric films.
What was your favorite car movie? Do any of you have your movie car?! We're talking about movie cars, tv cars, and what we think is missing from movies that needs to come back to reignite car culture a little.
It sounds like Spyker is going to be making a comeback in spite of their seemingly endless legal battles. Spyker holds a special place in our hearts as being a truly unique automobile and we're hoping their comeback stays true to the soul of the brand.
We also follow up on previous conversation about oil catch cans and why you might actually want one and talk about what movie and tv car shows actually should come back.