UTI is a technical school that teaches hands-on skills for jobs like automotive repair. The speaker went there to learn the trade before getting a job in car parts and service.
Ferrari Luce is a new Ferrari that people have been talking about online and in the news. The discussion is basically: does it live up to what Ferrari is known for, or is it disappointing?
In this context, “eligible to purchase” refers to an allocation/eligibility requirement used by some luxury brands. The host is describing a system where you must buy a specific car to qualify for another, rarer model.
The Ferrari California is one of Ferrari’s more approachable models—still a Ferrari, but less extreme than the rarest supercars. The host is saying Ferrari has used similar tactics before to get customers into the brand.
“Entry level” just means the most accessible Ferrari in their lineup—usually the one that costs less than the ultra-rare cars. It doesn’t mean it’s ordinary; it’s still a Ferrari.
Aston Martin is a famous British car brand that makes stylish luxury sports cars. Here, the host is comparing the look of another car to Aston Martin’s design style.
A V12 is a type of engine with 12 cylinders. The host is saying some versions even used a big V12 engine, which is a surprising twist in a conversation otherwise about EV design.
Ergonomics is how comfortable and usable the car’s interior is—like where the seats and controls land for your body. The host is saying the interior setup wasn’t totally off.
A platform is the car’s basic “foundation”—the main layout it’s built on. The host is saying the underlying design choices didn’t match what you’d expect from that brand’s usual direction.
Design language means the overall style cues that make cars look like they belong to a certain brand or trend. The host thinks EVs could look more different from each other instead of all following the same template.
Lucid Air is an all-electric car (an EV) made by Lucid. The host is saying that if you hide the brand badges, the Lucid Air can look a lot like other EVs—so EV design language may be converging.
Lincoln Continental is a famous old luxury car model from Lincoln. The host is saying that its long convertible design made the car’s structure less rigid, and that’s part of why EVs might be able to do different body styles.
A convertible is a car with a roof that can open up so you can drive with the top down. The host is saying that making a car convertible can make the frame less stiff, which matters for how the car is built.
The chassis is the car’s main frame/structure that everything is attached to. The host is saying some designs—like very long convertibles—can make that structure less stiff, while EVs can be built differently.
A transmission tunnel is a hump or channel in the floor where the car’s drivetrain components sit. The host is saying EVs don’t need that same setup, so the car can be built with a different, potentially stiffer layout.
Term
coupes
A coupe is a car with a fixed roof and usually a sportier, sleeker shape than a typical sedan. The host is wondering why EVs don’t seem to offer as many attractive coupe designs.
EV trucks are electric versions of pickup-truck-style vehicles. The host thinks a lot of them have become huge, and he wants to see more variety in how they look.
A combustion engine layout is how a gas or diesel engine is placed inside a car. The host is saying EVs don’t need the same arrangement, so designers aren’t stuck with the same constraints.
Propulsion just means what makes the car move. The host is saying EVs still do the job, but they don’t make the same engine sounds people associate with driving.
Coach building is when a specialist company designs and builds the car’s body, sometimes in a more custom way. The host is saying people hoped EVs would bring back that more “handcrafted” approach to car design.
Brand
Pennefrina
“Pennefrina” sounds like Pininfarina, a well-known Italian design company. The host is talking about how Ferrari’s relationship with that design firm changed.
The Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car Tesla talked about as a big, exciting EV. The host is saying people expected it to arrive, but it didn’t happen the way they thought.
The BMW M3 is a sporty BMW that’s known for driving feel. The host is saying BMW hasn’t made an M3 convertible (or an equivalent EV option) that would be an easy, enjoyable alternative.
Horsepower is a way to describe how strong a car’s engine or motor is. The host is saying today’s cars all have huge numbers, so it doesn’t make them feel special anymore.
The host is using “jelly bean” to mean modern cars can look kind of the same—plain and rounded. They’re saying older cars had more distinctive styling and colors.
The Ferrari Roma is a Ferrari road car meant for comfortable, fast cruising. Here, the host is joking about making an electric version of it instead of trying to push a controversial new design.
The Bentley Continental is a luxury grand tourer—more about comfort and big power than track-focused driving. The host is using it as another example of a car someone could buy instead of a smaller Ferrari.
A hybrid uses two kinds of power—usually a gas engine plus an electric motor. The car can switch between them or use both together depending on driving conditions.
“Lineage” here means the brand’s overall identity over time—what Ferrari is “supposed” to be. The host is saying a certain car doesn’t fit the Ferrari image they expect.
Porsche is a German performance car brand with a big racing history. In this part, it’s brought up to compare how Porsche fans and Ferrari fans show their support.
Le Mans is a very famous long-distance race in France. If a brand wins it, that’s a big deal because it proves the cars can last and perform under tough conditions.
“Shitification” is slang for making something more about hype and status than about the original passion or quality. The point is that when more people chase the image, prices can go up.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is a famous Italian brand that makes high-end supercars. The speaker is saying that a lot of people spend years saving specifically to buy a Ferrari.
An EV conversion is when someone takes an older gas car and swaps in an electric power system. The speaker’s saying it can be the only way to keep some classic cars running if parts are too rare or too costly.
The Ferrari F40 is one of the most famous old-school Ferraris—an extreme, loud, fast supercar. The speaker remembers seeing one drift or slide around a corner, which is why it stuck in their head.
They’re talking about a 1966 Ford Mustang coupe, which is one of the most famous classic American cars. They describe driving it around their grandmother’s ranch, which is exactly the kind of childhood car story that makes people fall in love with cars.
Autocross is a timed driving event on a course made with cones. You drive through the course as fast as you can, focusing on control and turning rather than racing on a highway.
LMP means Le Mans Prototype—special race cars made for endurance racing. They’re designed to be very fast and efficient over long stints, not just for short sprints.
“F one” is Formula 1, the top-level open-wheel racing series. The host is basically saying they don’t think it’s the most advanced racing anymore.
Concept
pinnacle of motorsports
The phrase “pinnacle of motorsports” means the very top of racing. Here, the speaker is saying they think another series is now more impressive than Formula 1.
WEC is the World Endurance Championship—races that last a long time. Cars of different types can compete together, and strategy and durability are a huge part of winning.
GT4 is a class of race cars based on production models. It’s usually a step below the more expensive GT3 category, but it’s still real racing with purpose-built setups.
These were official rally rules that decided what race cars were allowed. Group B in particular is remembered for being extremely powerful and dangerous, so it became legendary—and controversial.
Aerodynamics is how the car cuts through the air. Better aerodynamics can help the car feel more stable and efficient, especially when you’re going fast.
A 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R is a legendary turbocharged Japanese sports car. The host is saying that when you drive it often, it can start to feel like a normal car—even though it’s a big deal to enthusiasts.
Concept
Grand Tourismo dream car
“Grand Tourismo” is a type of car meant for long drives where you can go fast and still enjoy the ride. The host is saying the Skyline GT-R was his dream car for that kind of driving.
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. It’s made for regular driving, not just racing or special trips. The podcast mentions it while talking about which Tesla models they like.
“Canyon roads” are twisty public roads in hilly areas. They can feel fun like a track, but they’re not built for racing and don’t have the same safety protections.
When you turn, the “apex” is the closest point to the inside of the corner. Drivers use it to make the turn smoother and set up for better acceleration when they straighten out.
Late braking means you wait longer before slowing down for a turn. On a race track, that can help you keep more speed, but it only works if you have enough grip and stopping power.
When tires “talk” loudly, it usually means they’re reaching the limit of grip and generating audible squeal or chatter. That’s a sign you’re pushing traction hard—on public roads, it’s a warning that the situation may be unsafe or beyond what the tires can reliably handle.
A “higher compound” tire usually means a tire made with softer rubber for more grip. More grip can help you go faster safely on a track, but it can also wear out sooner.
A Corvette is a famous sports car from Chevrolet. People who love cars often argue about whether a Corvette is the best choice compared to other brands like Porsche.
“Restoring” a car means working on it so it’s in good shape again, like it used to be. It’s more than a quick repair—people often take their time to fix a lot of things so the car runs and looks right.
“Vintage cars” are older cars that people keep and enjoy because they’re interesting and have character. Many owners work on them themselves and try to preserve what makes them special.
The Acura Integra is a smaller car from Acura that’s meant to be fun to drive. In the podcast, they mention the A-spec trim and that it can be had with a manual transmission. That means the driver shifts gears themselves instead of the car doing it automatically.
The Honda Integra is a small Honda that’s meant to feel fun and connected to driving. Here, the host talks about the manual version (A-spec) and says the shifter and controls feel really smooth and easy to use.
A manual transmission is the kind of car where you change gears yourself. You use a clutch pedal and the gear stick, and it can feel more engaging than an automatic.
This is a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a super track-oriented version of the 911. The “RS” is the more extreme, performance-first trim. The “991.2” part tells you which generation it is.
The Honda Prelude is an older Honda model that many enthusiasts remember as fun to drive. The host brings it up to show that the Integra reminds them of the Hondas they liked growing up—especially the ones that felt engaging.
The Honda Accord is a popular Honda model that also came in versions that were fun to drive. The host mentions it to connect the modern Integra to the kind of Hondas they grew up liking—especially the ones you could drive with a manual.
The Civic Type R is Honda’s high-performance version of the Civic. The host is saying the Integra’s stronger version is very similar in spirit to the Type R, so you don’t necessarily need that top power level to get the experience you want.
“A-spec” is a name Honda uses for a particular trim level—basically a specific version of the car with a certain set of features. Here, it matters because it’s the around-200-horsepower Integra version the host recommends.
The Nissan GT-R is a very fast sports car made by Nissan. People consider it when they want strong performance and quick acceleration. The podcast mentions it because the speaker is comparing it to other cars while thinking about what to buy next.
The Acura Integra Type S is a sportier, faster version of the Integra. The host is saying that if they were choosing between Integra performance models, they’d pick the Type S.
The Cadillac CT5 Blackwing is a powerful performance sedan. In this segment, the host says it’s the best car they think you can buy and that it’s especially fun to drive, even with the automatic.
“10 speed auto” refers to an automatic transmission with 10 forward gears. More gears can help keep the engine in its best power/efficiency range, which can make the car feel smoother and quicker than a lower-gear-count automatic.
Super Cruise is a feature that helps the car drive more on its own. On certain roads, it can steer and control speed so you don’t have to constantly hold the wheel.
The Ford Bronco is an SUV made for off-road driving. It’s designed to handle rough roads and outdoor adventures better than many regular cars. The podcast mentions it briefly, likely as a model name in the conversation.
This is a special, more performance-focused Mustang from Ford’s Shelby lineup. People love it partly because it sounds really good even when it’s stock, not modified.
They’re saying one way to raise a good driver is to teach someone to drive a stick shift when they’re young. It helps you learn how to control the car smoothly.
LIVE
It is the fastest I've ever been up, Angela's Crest.
It is a 10 out of 10 to this day.
I still drink about this car.
I would donate certain anatomy to give one of these things.
Today on that car show, everybody's car pal,
Steve Ellis sits in for Dan, who's out this week.
Controversial topics, we've got him.
Revelatory cars, we've got those two.
Accurus Cadillacs Porsches, of course.
And even our friends, the Amish,
pop their heads up over the proverbial fence.
We're fired up, we've got opinions, and we ride at dawn.
This was a really fun one with a lot of laughs,
and hey, even a little violence too.
It's Steve Ellis, and it's that car show.
Welcome back to that car show.
I'm Lindsay, and I'm here with Ryan.
And this week, we have my good friend Steve Ellis with us,
and I'm so excited to catch up with him.
Steve and I met when we were both working for Hagerty
a few years ago, and he was running the garage and social
in Culver City when we first met,
and that was my unofficial office.
So we got to hang out a lot and work together
on a few things, and he's just an amazing person.
I'm so excited to get this time with him
and share you with our audience.
We have a very funny running joke
because when you were on late night play set with Jay Ryan,
somehow there was the miscommunication
of all miscommunications,
and Jay thought you were saying that I was your mother.
So I'm really excited.
This is a very special Mother's Day episode of that car show,
and I'm so excited to have my son Steve with us today.
Hey, everybody.
I think we did the math, and I would have been seven,
so just for anybody wondering.
Yeah.
It's not, the math does the math, so.
I love that.
I love that.
And that's where I met you too.
Years ago, we recorded some podcast episodes there,
and you were very gracious to allow us to record it with you.
It was Justin Bell and Tommy Kendall, if I recall.
And that was a great facility.
An amazing show.
Yeah, man, that was an awesome show.
Awesome group of guys.
Huge Justin Bell fan, obviously.
Yeah, absolutely.
Tommy Kendall's a giant in the industry as well.
Yeah, they're both such good guys
and such good senses of humor
and such a positive addition to any event,
just like you, Steve.
So really excited to have you with us.
And so we obviously have a lot of topics to get into,
and we're here to create some controversy tonight.
But can you briefly sort of tell people,
I think one of the most interesting things
that you shared with me was that your mom
was actually your introduction to the car hobby
or being a car person, and I love that.
So can you give us the rundown of how you got into cars
and what you've done because you do so many different things
and what you're up to now,
and then we'll get into it.
Oh, man, you know, it's funny as we get older and age
and we look back on the timeline of things,
we kind of go, wow, did all that happen and has that happened?
But yeah, initially my mother,
I had a piston and skull sticker on my bass guitar.
And I remember I was practicing one day
and she came in and she was like,
what's on your bass guitar?
And I was like, well, I thought it was cool.
It was like car parts, you know,
plus kind of a rock look and she was like, absolutely not.
And so we had this whole thing and I was like,
mom, is this like cars?
I don't know, it's like edgy, but she's like, no.
So then a couple of days later, she walks in the house
and she's like, give me your bass.
And she takes the sticker off my bass and I was like,
wow, really?
And she's like, then she pulls out a PlayStation
with Gran Turismo.
And she's like, if you like cars, you can play this game.
Somebody at my office told me that this was
like the best car game ever.
Sure.
Okay, PlayStation.
I could sacrifice.
If you insist.
What she didn't know was that video game
was gonna create 30 some years of addiction to automobiles
and lead me down a path that, you know,
I don't think they had planned for me,
nor did I have planned for myself.
But what I learned about the automotive industry
was I grew up in that little gap
where it was kind of like I was the young kid
learning from the old school guys.
And back in the day, and I think you could ask
a lot of the old school guys this,
like you can only be taught so much stuff
and you have to really kind of get into the nitty gritty
and understand that you got to bust some knuckles.
You got to turn some wrenches.
You really, you got to get behind the wheel.
You got to race the car.
So fresh out of high school, I moved to Houston,
attended Automotive Tech School, UTI.
And I connived my way into being in the parts
and service department for Lamborghini Houston
when they opened.
Oh, wow. Oh my gosh.
And I showed up and I knew how to detail cars
and I knew like car anatomy and stuff.
And they were like, okay, like, you know,
we need a parts hand, we need a service hand.
And so I came in and I worked there was my first job.
The Mercilago had just launched.
So that was, that was pretty wild to me.
Yeah.
Which is crazy because if you go back, it wasn't me.
But if you look up, there was an accident
that happened at that dealership
where the employees they hired after I left,
the two employees they hired replaced me, the one employee.
We're racing cars and crashed them outside the dealership.
So, yeah, that's pretty crazy stuff.
We not have happened under your watch.
Right about under your watch, no.
And then obviously cars was a huge thing.
Unfortunately, when I was in college,
I had a friend get into a really bad accident
and it projected me on the journey of pursuing acting.
And, you know, you kind of go through some things,
you get out of your comfort zone.
So a small Texas boy moving to Los Angeles was pretty crazy.
But the one thing I didn't know was cars.
And if there was anything that's in Los Angeles,
it's car culture.
So you tend 1000 cars and coffees.
You start to learn and meet people and shake hands.
As I call it, shake hands with his babies.
And the doors start to open.
And, you know, it was, you know,
hey, you know how to do this, you know this,
so, you know, you can do commercial work,
you can do photography.
I started writing automotive articles,
ready for a CF 200 members magazine
for the Peterson Museum, Driven World,
contributed to Hagerty's media, Road and Track,
lots of publications that for a long time,
I thought, I don't really know how I got here.
And it really all started with not being afraid
to walk up to people and say,
hey, I like your stuff or hey, I follow your stuff or hey,
like you seem like a cool person, like how, you know,
how do we work together?
And, you know, I learned that the answer is always no,
if you don't ask it.
And you'd be amazed at how many yeses you get
when you do ask.
So I've just learned to ask and ask and ask.
And then when I don't get what I want, I keep asking.
That's the trick though,
I think that's the secret of success, right?
Yeah, I mean, it's especially in today's day and age
where everything's digital.
I think the in-person approach means
that much more to be me.
It does make people more vulnerable,
makes people more engaging.
And then of course, obviously, you know,
at my time in Hagerty, I was curating events
for the local automotive car culture.
So you had to kind of be the host who was also like,
hey, you haven't met Lindsay yet?
Hey, Lindsay, have you met Sonzo yet?
And so on and on.
And the next thing you know, it's like,
it all creates a big, you know, kind of world
that you kind of get to enjoy.
You get to work and be around the people
that you'd like to be around.
And then the common interest is that we all like cars.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, and you're such a good connector.
I mean, you really are,
you have a good sense for who would benefit
from knowing each other.
You know, like I said, behind the wheel started as a car,
an outlet for me to show car media and what I was doing.
And then I realized that it was actually,
like I said, the people behind the wheel
that were making things really cool.
You've got a way about you too.
You're just really easy to get along with.
You've got a nice warm smile and, you know, right away
that, you know, you're someone that can be trusted
and someone who knows his stuff is there.
That's the Texan in me, I think.
That's the pseudo Carol Shelby, the soul of it.
I think is in me.
I remember when I was doing research for a project
and Carol Shelby was a person and I forgot what book I read,
but I think it's common in any Carol Shelby description.
He was a big Texan chicken farmer.
Right, right.
And, you know, you just relate to that
because it's like, you can write your name on a piece
of paper, but when you shake somebody's hand
or where we're from, it just means a whole different kind
of thing.
Sure, sure, sure.
Do you own a pair of overalls?
I actually do.
I actually have a blue pair and a black pair of overalls.
Fantastic.
Well, the next time we do a show with it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right, are we ready to stir the pot a little bit?
Let's stir it.
Okay, all right.
So you are a man of opinions.
In fact, the whole reason we connected on this
is you were pretty vocal about a certain car
that's been in the news.
So I'm gonna throw out a few controversial automotive topics
and I want your take and we'll go from there.
I think you can guess the very first one.
That's the Ferrari Luce.
You mean the Ferrari iPhone only?
And there we go, you heard it here first.
I'm gonna be blunt, man.
What WTF?
I mean, and I only say that because it's Ferrari,
if this had been, honestly, it could have been
any other manufacturer, I think we would have just gone,
okay, the latest and greatest, but it's Ferrari.
Ferrari has been, since its conception,
the pinnacle of the plans in horse and motor sports,
refinement, design, elegance, performance.
And none of that is in that vehicle.
I have listened and reviewed every review
and I think the astonishing fact that I take away from it
is that there's not any honest criticism about the car
from a single outlet that I've seen.
And I get it, not that I'm saying you bite the hand
that feeds you, but I, again, grew up with the old school
guys, it was say what needed to be said.
And I think if you look at the comments on any post
about that vehicle, that's what needs to be said.
And it's appalling to me that there's not a single
automotive professional that is voicing their opinion
on that fact.
I mean, the car is atrocious.
It does not represent the brand in any way.
Do we hate EVs?
Absolutely not.
I mean, I'm driving them driven some EVs
that have actually made me rethink the automobile
and how to enjoy the automobile.
But from Ferrari, that was a huge disappointment.
Well, and it, yeah.
So yeah, I guess I could keep beating a dead horse,
but I just, well, I guess that's it right there.
As we said, a dead prancing horse.
Yeah.
You know.
You say we did.
It's, I think it's, we've talked about this a bit before,
but if, and you alluded to this,
if there was any brand that was sacred, right,
it's Ferrari, you know, we can,
we can give a little with BMW or whatever, you know,
but Ferrari's always stayed the course, right?
In a way that's, I think, unique.
And into your point, there's no heritage baked in.
You know, there's no soul.
There's nothing, you know, we asked the question,
what is Ferrari?
I don't know what the answer is,
but there's none of that in this thing.
Like, I mean, to be honest, they could have made the,
was the STV the per song way or whatever it is?
Yeah, yeah.
That could have been easy.
And I wouldn't have known it would have been better not
because that's still a stylish looking vehicle.
Right.
You know?
It's not like they could not have made
an attractive vehicle.
No, no.
What's shocking here is that they chose to do this.
And that they believe that this was the direction, I guess.
And, you know, if there's anything you know about Ferrari
and you get to that very niche high end market,
you end up having to buy a certain vehicle to make you
eligible to purchase a second other vehicle.
And I can only imagine that's going to get force fed down
people's throats and it's going to be, you know,
oh, how do you buy your body?
Well, I had to get one because I wanted the SFXX plus plus
and it's like, right.
So is that what Ferrari wants?
Like, I would imagine that's not what they want.
The follow up answer or like the next line to be,
yeah, I bought one because I had to.
Like that's not what that's not the slogan.
Any, you know, maybe they used to say that about the California.
That's right.
You know, again, to buy the California, you know,
but those are great cars.
And even still, the California being the entry level
Ferrari is still a beautiful car in comparison to this thing.
The same way, too.
You might be a Ferrari outback, but it still looks like a Ferrari.
Yeah, it's still.
This thing looks like nothing.
Alpha, not Alpha male Aston Martin several years ago,
faced a similar dilemma.
They came out with a Cignette, which was Cignette, rather,
which was say that again, Cignette, which was based on what was it?
The Decayon?
I thought it was a smart.
No, you're right.
It was a Toyota, right?
Or Simon, you know, the Toyota I.A.
Something or something like that.
Yes, like a car that's perfectly square from above, right?
Yeah, perfectly square stance, kind of.
But they did a good job with it.
In fact, I think they even stuffed the V12 in a couple of them for good measure,
right? And yeah, it looked like an Aston Martin, you know, grill tacked on,
but at least it looked like an Aston Martin.
And they were very, I think, transparent with why they did it.
And, you know, nobody's knocking the EV part of it.
I think whatever I'm shocked is that they thought that was an acceptable design.
They thought that the ergonomics of the interior were acceptable.
They thought that this platform was acceptable when nothing on the lineage
of Ferrari would lead or even point to that direction.
And it's not like this, again, did they need an EV?
There's every brand need an EV.
You can argue regulations and we can get deep into the weeds on that.
Sure. But again, the Roma could have been an EV.
The Puswongway could have been an EV.
I'm probably ruining that name, but there are several options
that could not have been what they did.
Right. And it's just appalling that they thought that was acceptable.
And what's crazy is that this follows what Mercedes released,
which was also a very human design car.
Yeah, that was something.
No, I thought we had a bad, you know, then I thought that was the litmus test
for automotive journalists everywhere.
But, you know, all we had to do was was wait a week.
Yeah, it's like hold my beer.
Yeah, or hold my Peroni, as we said on the show.
But you know, it's one of those like you go, how is this?
What was that meeting like where they went?
Yes, this is the final answer.
Like you said, yeah, how did you?
How did you understand this platform and make it your EV platform?
Why create this thing?
And again, when you make a good point about like there is so much
discussion and controversy and like engagement if you want about EVs
and like people have very strong feelings.
And I think it is a commentary on like sort of the, let's say,
the shock factor of the design that nobody's even talking about the fact
that it's an EV, really, like, yeah, you know, and in my argument
that I still intend to is on with EVs is why are we limiting the design language?
You know, here we have a platform that is unprecedented.
The automotive industry could be designed in so many different
variant ways if they all seem to come out looking like jelly beans.
It's I mean, if I had to pick one and we lined them all up and we took the
badges off, you would argue that the lucid air looks just like Tesla.
Which looks like, you know, this and that.
And I'm sitting here going like, I remember watching those documentary on,
I want to say Lincoln or something.
It was like the Lincoln Continental and they were talking about how
the Lincoln Continental was it's anomaly of a design exercise because it was
so long and it was a convertible and it made the chassis so weak
because of the length and rigidity and whatnot.
And I'm like, well, an EV doesn't have a transmission tunnel or anything.
And so it has a really strong solid bottom.
So why haven't we seen any beautiful EV convertibles?
Why haven't we seen any beautiful EV coupes?
Why have, you know what I'm saying?
It's like, why are the EV trucks gargantuan?
You know, there's so much, I feel like ways to explore design that would
have been limited to by the traditional combustion engine layout of a vehicle.
And everybody's afraid to do it.
They just keep drawing circles.
That's it.
So it's like, I like, you know, Cadillac, the Celestique came out with a beautiful
EV design and they have this beautiful convertible.
It was a yellow or whatever. Beautiful car.
Yeah. The head of the pebble.
Yeah. Where was that? Where are our, you know,
can EV Mustangs, EV, you know, the cool stuff, man.
And it's like, and it's like, I'm not knocking the EV
because at the end of the day, it's just propulsion.
But it's but it's now, if you're going to take away my sound
and the rumble in the field and give me a jaw breaking look, you know what I'm saying?
Yeah. Yeah.
I remember that when, you know, the dawn of EVs, it was going to be this
skateboard chassis and we're going to be, it's going to be the return of coach building.
Do you remember that? Yeah.
The return of coach building.
And then Ferrari goes and fires Pennefrina, right?
And look, look at them now.
And then I hired a guy who's been making the same device for 22 generations.
That's that. Yeah.
Even the iPhone isn't isn't quite so cutting edge anymore.
Right. Yeah.
Basically looks like the same damn thing. Square.
Square screens with circles on the back of it.
You know, I again, it's it's not to knock it.
I really hope that my harsh words are more encouraging than they are things
because I want to see the cool cars.
I want to see an EV.
You know, we were promised the Tesla Roadster.
We never got that.
We've yet to get an affordable, cool EV.
I mean, let's be honest.
The what's the the Rimac Rivera dumb gorgeous car.
But it's 3000000 dollars.
You know, it's like BMW hasn't even made a M3 convertible or EV like comparison car.
You know, there's there's just nothing that's enjoyable.
And I've been down that road because I literally told myself
if I sold the fun car, what would be the modern day car to drive?
Because everything's fast as hell. Now it doesn't matter.
Everything's got a thousand horsepower or at least 500 horsepower now.
So speed isn't the question.
It's if you sit in traffic and you're looking at everything beside you,
it's gray, it's white, it's black and it looks like a jelly bean.
If you were in the 90s, if you were even the 2000s, even the 80s, 70s,
there was color, there was flares, there were fender, you know, it was design.
There was uniqueness in the automobile.
And it's kind of like I saw a meme recently where it was like McDonald's
in the 90s or something.
It was colorful and shit.
And then it showed McDonald's today where it's like a drab, you know,
all the colors are like that's happened to cars.
And I think that's because unpassionate automotive people have become designers
or they become marketing specialists or they become these product people.
They go, this is what people want.
And then clearly that's not what people want, because then your product
gets dragged through the trenches like the Ferrari did. Right.
Is this a turning point?
I mean, is this where we sort of reject this and, you know,
things start to get good again?
And does Ferrari just table this design and start fresh?
Do you think they're going to keep trying to push it through?
Where do you think we go from here?
If I was Ferrari, I would just make EV versions of the production vehicles I have.
I make a EV Roma, I make a EV, because if you're going to make me buy
those entry level Ferraris anywhere and just make them keep them electric,
you know, I can buy a Corvette or a Bentley Continental,
you know, or hybrid, whatever you want to call it.
That's what I'd have done.
I don't think that vehicle
should have a place in the Ferrari lineage.
I would like to think that if I drank enough tomorrow that I would black out
and forget that that ever existed is what I would like to do with any luck.
Right. With any luck and people bring it up.
But I just like spasm and pass out.
I don't know. We are like a bad dream.
Like this can possibly be true.
It felt like a first joke.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And and, you know, the number of people that were like, please tell me this is AI.
It's AI, right?
And that's a whole other book of worms.
AI and the automotive industry doing.
Had you asked AI to do that car, it would have been better.
And that's the sad part.
Actually, I've seen renderings.
There have been renderings where people have done, you know, an aftermarket,
maybe elongated the body or say.
Sure, like a body kit.
The renderings look so good.
And you can you have to ask yourself, here I am, Ferrari,
with a probably multi-million dollar team designers.
And chat to the rescue.
That's what you did.
Also, also 60700000 I think, to start in this car.
Yeah. What in that thing?
And I was up to anywhere near that price.
Yeah, that pricing is just to keep it in Ferrari.
It's as a Gucci bag, really a 5000 dollar leather hide
that's probably made in a little sweatshop somewhere, not Italian.
Is it? But it's the facade of you bought something very nice.
You bought it. There's no.
It's crazy. So the price is a hand built V12 in there, right?
That's that's pumping that price up.
It's, you know, Luigi didn't touch that thing.
And it's very obviously.
I mean, for me, with Ferrari as the brand, if you let's say you put
Porsche and Ferrari side by side, both have, you know, long running history
in motor sports, but we make fun of the guy wearing the Ferrari hat,
the Ferrari socks, the Ferrari pants, the Ferrari shirt, the Ferrari.
Because he's got all of that on at once.
You know, for the Porsche guys, like we won Le Mans again,
and we just have Porsche on a T-shirt.
I think the reason it's just, you know, it's caught on like it has the discussion
and it's, I think, transcended just car people is it's it's this whole concept
of the and shitification, right, of everything.
And I think this feeds into it.
And I'm always at the and shitification.
They want more, more for it.
It's just, it's, you know, to add insult to injury.
And it's just it's time to rise up.
I'm sick of this.
Well, you know, the counter argument, right?
I don't want to say that.
Oh, well, you're just not, you're not the buyer.
And it's like, right?
Well, that's for sure.
But anybody, and I mean, old, young, we know people who have worked
their entire lives to save up their diamonds to buy a Ferrari.
And do you think that that's what they're dreaming to buy?
You're out of your freaking mind.
Yeah. Well, it's the only one they'll sell them, though.
That's the that's the even.
But I mean, but even still, then it's like, you know, a E.V.
Roma, a hybrid California, you know, there were several different
ways that they could have gone about that.
Yeah, my deal has never looked so good.
So it does, you know, and I'm that's a huge thing that I'm actually a huge,
you know, supporter of when it comes to E.V.
Are the conversions for the classic cars?
Right. I was actually having a conversation with Bissy from Bissy Modo.
Velocity. And, you know, he's made a huge wave of converting the 9-11s.
You know, I hate to say it, but it's like you get to the you get
faced with the opportunity of like, do I continue to operate and drive this vehicle?
Or do I not?
Because either parts are unattainable or parts are inaccessible
or they're just so expensive.
And, you know, I think the thing that I one of the most memories
that I still recall is being in New York and an F40 went sliding around a corner.
And I remember telling my dad, I was like, wow, who was that?
My dad, that's Ferrari.
And it's moments like that that I think of where I'm going,
how the fuck are we here with this?
How did we get here?
Like, I saw F40 is sliding around a corner and I was square.
It's just the sound of wrecking off the way.
And then you come out with the jelly bean of Gal Ghilliebein.
Yeah. And you'd like me to accept this?
Yeah. Yeah.
That F40 was at the moment that did it for you as a young person?
That is one of them.
I think the most iconic moments when it comes to cars
and stand on my mind is that particular moment
when I was 13, my grandmother had we had a 66 coupe, Mustang coupe.
And I used to drive around.
She had a huge ranch and I would drive the Mustang around the land
on the ranch, couldn't see over the dash.
Amazing.
And I but I would drive that car so much that I'd run out of gas
like way out of the field and have to come back to gas and everything.
That's awesome.
And and that's like the ultimate childhood for a car enthusiast.
Yeah, like I was doing donuts, couldn't see over the dash.
You know, I'm just I just knew explaining to hold the steering wheel
or push the gas pedal in the car.
And the third would be the first time I did an autocross,
which was my first step in a motor sports.
I tell people when it comes to sports, I love football, the best of all.
There's something about motor sports that I cannot find anywhere else.
And I think that's because there's that life and death risk factor.
No team wants another driver to die,
but they will fight you to the nail across the finish line first.
You know, we've seen people, teams, cars blow up in struggles
and other teams jump in and they push.
You don't see that, you know, you might see like a football player
falls down and one guy helps him up.
Sure. But like when there's competitors like in the mall,
you know, you see people like jump the fence to push cars
and and drivers pushing cars, they collapse.
There's just something different about people who race.
And I and I that's just always my focus of motor sports
because you can have that camaraderie, you have that drive,
you have that tooth and nail to fight each other
and bash each other into a wall or something like that.
But, you know, it's like that scene and, you know,
where what's the nickname of the autocross?
And it's like people stop, you know, the other drivers are like, is he OK?
They're going to help them.
Yeah. Well, well, it's like Derek Bell and Jackie Eeks.
They are, you know, they were fierce competitors,
but they're also very close friends.
And I think a lot of it, too, is like they're the only people
and the people they were racing with.
But a lot of those guys didn't survive.
Like nobody else knows what that feels like.
So they have this tremendous thing in common
that they can talk about really just with each other.
But I think it really shows 20 guys play.
Twenty guys are 99 percent along with the court.
You know what I'm saying?
And, you know, I couldn't even imagine where you'd what they were.
What they say is like in one season, it wasn't it was not uncommon
that I think five or more people would die in a season,
which and it's a crazy hell of an attrition like chasing speed.
You're you're trying to, you know, ink your name on a wall or a plaque.
And then this risk of life of them.
And I mean, it's a different kind of people.
But also the racing was never better.
And that's got the sick part of it, right?
Yeah. And when you think about what they
had in the 50s, 60s, 70s, like because you look at all the technology
we have now and then you look at, OK, they were doing
like what they were doing at Le Mans in the 60s with the cars
they had at the time is just stunning.
I mean, like, you know, Dan Gurney and Ken Miles and all that.
I mean, it's like you can't put it into words.
Really, you're going to open up something that every opportunity I get.
I always bring this up.
Let's hear it.
Do you feel that there should be a racing league
where literally they say the car can be this wide, this long,
whatever you want to do in between.
But if you want to be 12, if you want to be a you want a four cylinder,
you want to turbo two cylinder, you want all drive, you want hybrid,
whatever you want, I would love to see an FIA like speed racer like league.
Yeah. And everybody laughs.
But I sit there and I go, are we not almost there?
Because if you look at LMP cars, like an LMP car
destroyed the Nurburgring lap time and ran like a five minute
some lap time, which was.
Unheard of, still a nerd.
So if the technology and the cars are there and that's that good,
why aren't we doing more with the cars?
Like, I don't feel that F one is the pinnacle of motorsports anymore.
I feel like, honestly, like WEC is kind of kind of that move
because you've got LMP racing GT four racing, you know,
different classes at the same time.
Meanwhile, F one, it's like if you get past the first lap,
it's kind of a parade lap and then we're here.
So it's like the technology is there.
We're going to spend the money anyway.
Why not go for genuinely broke and and and push the envelope?
Like, because like you said, the technology they had back in the
MCD days and the group A and B and see whatever it's like.
What does that look like now?
Well, what would that look like now?
The drivers are faster, the technology is faster,
tire technology is faster.
Safety equipment is is more safety.
More safety is safer.
So it's like, so yeah.
So, you know, I just I would love to see it recently
where they kind of say like, hey, this is this will be these are the parameters
and you as long as you meet these safety regulations.
One with your brunt.
Steve, they have the steroids Olympics now, right?
Where anything goes, you know, they're just pumping.
This is the automatic version of minutes before the competition.
Like this is this is that for cars.
Right.
I asked that because look, we have all of these amazing vehicles
that have been recently created, but they're not race.
They're just rich boy play toys.
Yes.
Well, in your racing league, that's a lead.
Find me a racing league for the McLaren soulless.
Find me a racing league for the Zonda R.
You know, that's the kind of Zenbo.
I mean, yeah, the Zenbo like the car is so many so many way cool cars
now than there used to be.
Right. So why aren't we doing more than?
Well, and especially when you look at all of the engineering
and intention that goes into making it as aerodynamic as possible.
You know, all of all of the everything.
And unfortunately, and you and I talked about this a lot.
And Brian, we've talked, we've all talked about it a lot, sort of in pairs
is they get parked and their expensive art, which is there's nothing wrong with that.
You know, like Jay Leno says, he's like, these are rolling works of art
that if you need them to, they can drive, which is great.
But we all are also like, we love to see them driven.
That's what they were made to do.
Yeah. And that, you know, that F40 seeing that come around the corner
as a kid. And then, you know, one thing that I really like about
like I daily drive 95 Nissan Skyline GTR.
And that was because it was like, that was my F40, you know,
that was my Grand Tourismo dream car.
And the best thing everybody's like, what's your favorite thing about the car?
And it's when I'm zoned out and I'm just behind the wheel and I'm like
at a light and I'm just like, it's a normal car.
I'm in traffic and I look over and there's some kid losing his shit
because he's less. Oh, my God.
And he's like, I got my kids run out in the traffic to take photos.
I've had to like pull over in gas stations because like kids are like, oh, my God.
And it's like, we're 50 year old man.
Well, it's it's the excitement that the car brings, you know,
because then it's like, art is great, but I can't, I can't.
Well, that's, you know, I can't drive my mom at least.
Like I can drive. That's it.
That's it. If you don't drive it, it's conceptual.
Yeah. And you know, even Jay Leno, when you bring him up, Jay and I
have some weird run-ins in my time in LA and every one of them, you know,
a kid's like, oh, my God, because obviously he's driving something bananas.
And the first thing he's like is, yeah, jump in, open the door.
And it's so funny to me when guys are like, oh, my God, don't touch my car.
Oh, my God, fingerprints. Oh, my God.
It's like, bro, a bird's going to shit on it anyway.
Actually, it was not enough, you know, drive it and join.
Yeah, I mean, that's what I love about Jay is that he does drive everything.
Absolutely. Like gatekeeping to me,
especially in the car world is so ridiculous because you could literally
spark or change the trajectory of somebody's life by letting them sit and see.
That is exactly that is it. Steve, that's actually one of the,
it's not one of my controversial topics. It was a question for later.
But can we chat about gatekeeping and not only the car community,
but the car journalism community, the car content creator community,
because we've talked about this with others, but it's a thing.
And I think we do need to talk about it because God damn people are proprietary
sometimes. Some people are wonderful. Don't get me wrong.
There are some wonderful people that we all know out there,
but there's some other people that need to loosen up a little bit.
Man, I personally enjoy running into those people because then
I try to make the point to like
get around their hurdle.
And then when I do, and then they're sitting there baffled,
I'm like, let me show you how, you know, because it's like, you know,
man, just the LA experience that comes in my mind is something as an actor
that always stung out in my mind is, is lonely at the top.
And I was always baffled by that statement because I'm like, well,
if I'm such a celebrity or you're so well liked or everybody wants to work
with you, the line is so lonely at the top.
And I realize this because it's like a self preservation thing.
It's like people will not off their own arm if they think it's going to save them.
Not realizing that that arm is going to extend and retract and help you do things
and do all this stuff. And so they see it in a short time.
There's like an intimidation of, well, if I bring you along,
you're going to take the jobs for me.
Well, I'm not doing the same job as you.
I might do a different job.
And then there might be an opportunity to say, oh, hey, guess what?
I can I could bring so and so along for this job.
And then it's kind of like the sling effect, you know, you throw me into you.
I'm going to reach back and I'm going to throw you ahead of me and keep going
until we get to where we want to be.
And I feel like if more people thought like that,
you know, you just get a lot more done.
You don't you don't kind of one person can, you know, yes, you're the race car driver,
but you're going to have the guy change your tires and the guy checking your brakes
and making sure you know, stuff does what it does.
It's not a one person job.
And you got to think about life kind of like a race team.
You know, it's like you can't see the weather when you're doing 100 miles
an hour down the Los Angeles Strait.
And that's why the guy on the radio comes around.
He goes, Hey, guess what?
You're about to cover the rain.
And, you know, and then you're like, Oh, shit, you pulled the pit lane.
Now you got to get rain tires.
It's not a one man show.
And in life is also not a one man show.
Incidentally, I think the one woman show, no, no.
But it's funny that the Venn diagram of the people, the gatekeepers,
and then the people sucking Ferrari's toes right now are, are, you know,
there's a lot of crossover there, isn't there?
I mean, listen, you know, I've as a writer for something.
Um, and I, you know, I've had people say, Oh, you can't really say that.
And I'm like, my word isn't law.
It's not definition.
Right.
What you vast for me is an opinion.
And a lot of people have seemed to lose their opinions because they're afraid
of losing the next opportunity.
But I'm like, but the opportunity comes from the honesty.
Like, you know, I can say I'm a motorsports fan.
I like EVs.
Now, do I like the Tesla model three?
No, it's like, okay.
But, you know, that fricking, um, what's that dang thing called?
Remark, you know, really, really, really sick, you know, and, and you just
kind of like tell people at a time it's like, you know, I use, I'm, I'm, I
consider myself a professional amateur photographer.
I have photographer friends who have literally shot some things that, in my
opinion, are the most amazing photography, same, you know, and, and they
don't have the following or they don't have the thing.
And so it's like, if you give an opportunity to say, you know, I've
had companies will say, man, we wish we would have had a photographer.
I'm like, I can have you the best photographer for the next hour.
And they show up, they shoot, they're like, where's this guy?
And I'm like, he's been at home in his pajamas playing PlayStation.
But, you know, he's a great photographer.
And, and it's giving that person an opportunity.
And, you know, they succeed, they see their work and their, and what
they're capable of, and that encourages them to do the next thing.
And then all I tell people is send the elevator back down, you know, create
an opportunity.
If you're in a position where you can create opportunities, do so.
You know, there's, there's, the world gets easier to navigate with
the whole bunch of support, you know.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Rising tide lifts all ships.
Say this very same thing.
Again, like mines, right?
Yeah, like that was a big, the big thing for me at my time in
garage and social, you know, when I took the job, they were adamant
about someone creating and curating car culture in the LA.
And, you know, given that there's such a vast demographic of people here
in the city and anywhere, you, you do have to make space for each
people, but you make space and then you make those spaces mix.
And that's a very hard dance to do.
Um, but it's something that I've, I very much enjoy, you know, cause
like I said, my mother was a huge component for me in motor sports.
Um, one of my favorite pictures, uh, there's a picture of her holding
me up while we're playing outrun and she would do the steering wheel.
And, um, so, you know, women in motor sports brings a different
level of competition than what just the normal guys to guys can batter.
And I always, I always tell guys, like, if you're intimidated by a
woman behind the wheel, the nut up and man up, you know, like faster,
if you're better than go show it, you know, and it's a beautiful thing.
Right.
It comes down to, you know, can you do it or can you not?
Yeah, can you not?
And I, and I think all forms of competition, especially motor sports,
equal to playing field, um, because at the end of the day, it's like
you're fighting the physics of, you know, tire, tire strength, engine
durability and human strength and mental capacity.
And there's so many things in motor sports that lay into it.
Um, and so many different moving pieces that make it such a unique, uh, sport in my mind.
Yeah.
You want to move on to another controversial topic?
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay.
Uh, controversial automotive topic, uh, number two, uh, is it ever
okay to cut the mustard?
Speaking of rich guys and fancy cars and cars.
All right.
All right.
All right.
I'm gonna run into a mustard is hot.
So I think last week, our show was Dan doing his darned us to stay on for
our his invitation list.
I think this week we've decided to go in the opposite direction and just
Oh, I know.
I'm not herself's office.
I know I'm not.
Listen, my saving grace is I'm hoping that Lewis Hamilton's like, Hey,
I'm not gonna, you can come from.
Oh, you're like, at the very least, I'm going to be here at least Lewis Lewis.
So man.
First of how do you look in a cape, Steve?
Man.
Wait, ask the, ask the question one more time.
Let me just, let me just think about this real sure, because, you know,
there's a lot of baggage with this question at the moment, but I think it
must be said, and I have my opinion on it.
Lindsay has hers, lots of people voice their opinion.
Uh, but you, you have got this GTR.
I mean, you are a performance driver.
You drive the roads and, and you know, Southern California that have, let's
say been in the news lately.
Uh, you know, is it ever okay to cut the mustard?
I feel like this is one of those moments where they're like, Hey,
that's how I'm going to answer this question as unfiltered and honest as
possible, please.
On a public road and on a public road, the whole purpose of not cutting the
mustard is that in Angela's Crest or any of these Canyon roads, you cannot
see in certain parts in those moments.
I definitely say do not cross the muscle.
You need to drive as far as your eyes can see and not as fast as you know, but
as far as your eyes can see, um, have I cut the mustard before?
I'm not gonna lie to you, I have, but that's been in the site where it's
like I can see miles down the road.
I'm not trying to cut the mustard on a blind corner.
I'm not cutting the mustard on a section of blind corners.
I need to fully and clearly see if I'm going to use the different apexer
on the relations of the road.
I have been in the lane where I've come around a corner.
There's been a car in my lane and by the grace of God and goodness, we have
not collided and whatever went on.
It is a heart stopping and gut wrenching moment because your life
really flashes before your eyes.
Yeah, there's no margin.
You don't know.
Yeah, you don't know what's going on like that person.
They don't know what's going on with you.
You're up here for a Sunday drive.
You're thinking you're going to go home, have dinner, move on about your day.
And somebody's poor decision can change that.
So in that point, I 95% say absolutely should you never cut the yellow.
Now, in the event that you can see clearly ahead of you and you know that
okay, that this is deemably safe.
Sure.
But, you know, regardless, the public roads are not a race track.
If you feel that strongly that you're trying to set a race time, take your
ass to the racetrack.
Half these dudes that I find on the Canyon roads talk about how bad
of a driver they are and they can't tell you what a proper apex of a corner is
or what late braking means or any of that shit.
That's it.
And so it's like, take your ass to a racetrack and anybody who I know who is
driven on a racetrack and I'm not going to call out a particular quote unquote
self-proclaimed race car driver on Instagram.
But if you are a genuine race car driver, you would set the example and you know
that driving like that on public roads is not acceptable.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I'll fight everybody.
I don't really care.
It's just my thing is, I think what should be first and foremost is safety.
Second should be, you know, being able to go for a drive and also get home safe.
And, you know, if that means you have to stay in your lane and you can't go as
fast as you can, then so be it.
I tell people if you're in the canyons and your tires are talking too loud,
you're going too fast.
And if you have a, if you need a higher compound tire, get a higher compound
tire, but, you know, it's not a race track.
It should be, you go up there, you enjoy it, you drive maybe five or six
tents and you go home, you know, because you don't want to make somebody
a orphan, you don't want to make somebody, you know, miss, I don't call a parent
if he was a parent, but, you know, you just don't ruin someone's life like that.
That's the thing.
That's because you can't shit.
You can't undo that.
Yeah, that's done.
If you impact someone's life and family in that way, like that's it.
Yeah.
And, you know, just, it's one of those things where social media nowadays has
given people a platform, how you use the platform is important.
You know, I, I try to be mindful about what I post and encourage because
obviously some people can take it a certain way.
Like, do I, do I think street takeovers are a great thing?
No.
When I was a kid, was I doing donuts in a parking lot somewhere behind a
Lowe's?
But I think the difference of a culture is like nowadays, these kids are,
they're doing it for the clout or the Instagram fame where they're trying to get
famous off of likes and shares.
And so they're willing to do more extreme things, unfortunately.
I mean, like, there's no difference.
We were doing burnouts in the street.
We were doing donuts.
We were egging houses.
We were doing all that.
It's just now everybody's got a camera and everybody's got some kind of,
you know, desire to get notoriety.
When I think back at our day, we were just doing it for the sake of fun.
Right.
Like for the love of the donuts and the car, I mean, even street racing, you know,
we weren't street racing in the middle of, you know, the daylight in the middle
of a busy street.
We were like in an industrial area far away from everybody.
You know, I think that's the difference.
Like you said, like, if you're doing donuts in a parking lot, that's a hell
of a lot different than taking over an intersection where, again, people are
just trying to go about their day and get home.
Yeah.
And there's, I think there's a different man.
I'll be honest with you.
I think it's when we stopped whipping kids.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What is it?
Bring back like corporate punishment and public shame.
I would argue, I would argue every one of us up here is not in the whip at
every once in a while, ladies and gentlemen.
He's from Texas, right?
Listen, but that whip taught us how to conduct ourselves.
And I think I think one of the goofiest things I heard was somebody was like,
I don't want to hit my kid in his identity.
And I was like, uh, okay, I'm a dead ass.
I truly think those things, like I'm not saying like beat your kid to death,
but I think there was a definite, better understanding of, uh, respect and
authority.
And I would never in a, even to this day, would it ever cross my mind to throw
things at a police officer or be disrespectful in a sense of I was doing
something wrong, I got pulled over, take the L, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I mean, it's just, uh, like we talked about in the last show, what's
up is down, what's down is up, what's right is wrong.
You know, I mean, it's, it's like, this is what they, they see.
And, and anything goes.
And it's, uh, it's, uh, I don't think there's ever been a tougher time to
raise a child, I think we're all like, we have all experienced like the
current generation and I mean, you know, seeing like seeing what I see in the
schools today, I mean, it's, my heart goes out to the teachers because it
is wild.
But like you said, Steve, where it's like, when did we decide that there
weren't any standards of behavior anymore?
And there wasn't any expectation of how you behave in public and JIT, like what
I consider to be like basic decency and respect.
It's yeah, everything is upside down.
Yeah.
I feel like such an anomaly sometimes because it's like, I'm a black
dude who was raised in Texas, who's lived in California.
And that's, I see both sides of whatever, you know, political
fence you want to say, but also like the people themselves and the experiences.
And it's like, I've been around the world.
I've met people all different colors and ethnicities and nationalities.
We're all the same.
It's like, and it's, it's crazy.
The stuff that separates us, which is why it's awesome that cars, you know,
it's like, we can argue about which cars, the better car, what brands, the better
brand, you know, the Corvette's the best thing.
The Porsche is the best thing, whatever.
But, you know, we're not beating each other across the head.
You know, at the end of the day, we're not bombing each other.
We're not, you know, being disrespectful about all these things.
It's because we disagree about it.
And I wish we could have that kind of agreement and platform as we discuss
more serious topics and still, you know, have the decency to realize that
regardless of where you come, or what border or what flag you're from, I
think the same creations of some, something bigger than us, you know, right?
We're all still at the end of the day, people.
Yeah.
And I tell people, you know, I think the biggest thing that we have, or that
we should focus on about being human is the humanity.
You know, and I think, you know, that, that needs to be a lot more of that.
And I think the younger generation just needs a little bit more guidance.
Because I think, you know, I think about like, yeah.
And I mean, it's like, because all they have is what they see on their phones.
Like what, what's popular.
They look to their phones.
What's hot?
They look to your phones.
Yeah.
You know, it's like, I see a big increase of, you know, vocational work and vocational
school, because now these kids are so bored with technology that they're trying
to get back to like the physical.
Totally.
You know, they're like trying to learn how to have a tangible feedback.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it's like they're trying to learn how to like make cabinets.
And you know, it's like everybody in COVID became a baker.
It's like the Amish people had it figured out this whole time.
Yeah, they're just sitting back with their non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic
everything, all right.
The child beatings, the cabinet making, the clothes, the butter and the Amish
furniture comes out pretty good.
Have you ever tasted a better cinnamon roll?
Come on, you know, it's, I mean, like, I mean, like that's, it's like, that's
what's kind of wild is that, you know, like I said, the tech is getting so
overwhelming that people are going back to, you know, physical attainability.
And I think we're seeing that too in cars because now, you know, younger
kids are starting to not be concerned about what's the newest and latest.
They go by, they're starting to be like, what can I fix up now?
What, you know, grandpa passed away.
He had this really weird car.
Let me restore it.
You know, I'm seeing a lot of cool social media posts about like, hey,
inherited this car or hey, I bought this car or hey, you know, randomly
decided to pick up this car and now I'm having to deal with its issues.
And this generation, you know, mine was kind of like the internet forums
and we had like some YouTube stuff, but now it's like they're all tech is
like, how do you do this?
You know, chadging to pee.
How do I change the air filter on a 1960s realms?
They have the technology.
And so it's cool.
They're kind of getting back to some of that physical grass root stuff
and motorsports and cars.
That's it.
And I say before technology to support like an interest in the vintage cars.
That's really cool.
Yeah.
And, you know, I always bring up that point too, where the reason I like to
encourage design and competition and cars is that what hasn't been thought
of yet or what hasn't been seen could be just one person's idea.
You know, I mean, I mean, trying to find an exact example in the moment,
but it's like there's such opportunities where someone could step in and say,
hey, let's make this better or hey, let's do something different.
And it starts a revelation.
You know, it starts a whole different aspect of the car community.
Speaking of revelation and speaking of sort of going back to the basics
and manual and all that, I did the participated in the Rocky Mountain
Automotive Press Spring Press Drive, I guess is what it's called today.
Where we got to drive about 25 different cars, right?
And spent about 30 minutes in each one.
Didn't get to drive them all, of course, but I drove a car today.
So much fun.
That was a revelation.
Oh.
And now a lot of these cars are daily drivers and stuff, right?
You know, you've got the Subaru Forester, fine car, that kind of thing.
You know, Kia's and the Nutella ride and the Honda pilot and, you know,
some other cars. But I drove the new Integra.
It's the A-spec with a manual transmission.
I don't know if either of you have driven this car, but you need to go drive it.
This car is everything that I didn't know that they made cars like this still,
right? 200 horsepower.
I think one of the world's best manual transmission interfaces.
Everything is light and to the touch, it's like a sewing machine.
The car is built like a like a vault.
44000 dollars, which, you know, I think is cheaper than the
average car right now.
And 200 horsepower doesn't sound like much compared to, you know,
the electric cars and all this other stuff.
But I drove my first GT3 RS yesterday, 991.2.
It's a car that I've always liked.
I've driven a lot of the standard GT3s. Great.
I really enjoyed it, but I didn't talk a 10th as much about that GT3 RS as I did
about this Integra today, because it is everything, Steve and Lindsey,
the stuff we grew up with, like the Hondas of Yor, right?
Yeah, Preludes and the Accords, the manual stuff, right?
They still sell that car. It's this accurate Integra.
And you don't even need the 300 horsepower one, the one that's basically
the clone of the of the Civic Type R. You get this.
I think it's the A-spec. It's the 200 horsepower car.
It's the best car I've driven in years.
He's speechless, Steve.
Speechless. I'm without speech.
So Steve looks like he had thoughts, too.
So I have driven that car.
You have in my long search of if I were to sell the GTR, what would I get?
And I came down to two vehicles, two which are similar in the fact
that both are four doors, both manual or and or auto,
but completely different cars.
And as I scoured everything that was currently available,
it came to my personal conclusion that these are the two best cars in the market.
I the Type S was cool, but I do have to say if I was just kind of got to go that route,
I would have to go ahead and get the Type S.
I think it was the clone, not the Type R, but the Acura Integra Type S.
It's the Type S, yeah, the three diverse car one.
And then I'll tell you, I'm just going to say this.
Yeah, I drove this car, I got one as a press car.
It is the fastest I've ever been up,
Angeles Crest is a 10 out of 10 to this day.
I still drink about this car.
I would donate certain anatomy to get one of these things.
And when I say this, Cadillac CT5E Blackwing is the best car.
OK, I have driven.
Well, now I've got a drive one probably in the last decade.
OK, I still dream about that car.
Every time I think about something that's better than that car, it's it.
No, Cadillac CT5E Blackwing, OK, is the best thing I think you can buy.
It has everything you want.
It is an exciting thing to drive.
A 600 horsepower, 600 or 650 horsepower, 650 put down the torque.
Yeah, I'll be here's another shocker.
I didn't even want the manual.
Oh, interesting.
I drove the 10 speed auto and it was so good.
It was stupid how good it was.
And just a fun little joke, we went up Crest and went for a drive
and there was a particular person in a Ferrari who was like, oh, Cadillac.
Oh, that's cute.
And on the way down, said Ferrari caught fire, said Cadillac did not.
Oh, wow.
So I think I remember that day.
Yeah, I mean, and proceeded to drive to Long Beach.
The car drove itself from all the way down to Long Beach, pretty much.
The supercruise in the Chevy was 10 out of 10.
Like I could not find anything bad about that car, except for
they don't make it in a wagon and I told the Cadillac corporate team.
I said, they're like, what do you think of the car?
I was like, it's a 10 out of 10.
It's a it's a nine out of 10.
They were like, oh, it was a 10 out of 10.
I was like, because you don't make it in the wagon.
And there a guy was like, well, you know, we made a wagon, nobody.
But I was like, you're an unprecedented territory at the time.
When Cadillac made the CTV wagon.
Yeah, I think aside from the Volvo and maybe a BMW five series wagon,
there was a wagon option to get.
Yeah, you know, the performance wagon is a thing.
You know, Sandy's has one BMW has one Audi has one.
And yet Cadillac, the originator of the performance wagon or, you know,
you know, I just, yeah, actually they made one.
That would be the perfect car.
Yeah. You know, and unlike the RS six, it probably would.
Word, state, I say this one because I have multiple friends who had issues
with their dream. Yeah, I had a client who bought one, drove it off the dealership
and then while in traffic on the way home, it just turned off.
Well, I love that they still make these cars.
And and obviously the black wings in a completely different league than the
yeah, yeah, but it's also, you know, twice or whatever the price.
They have three times Lindsay.
Is there anything like that that just you thought you just had
to stop and just sort of think about it?
Like, damn, this is good.
I mean, I always please don't say Bronco.
No, no, you know, it's funny.
Why? Right.
I'm like, no, shockingly, no, postport.
I just that's where the brafter.
Well, that brought us.
I don't sweet spot.
I swear to God, it is Broncos.
Sport is the car which shall not be named.
No, you guys tried the Bronco, too.
Why are we doing this again?
That's right.
Ghost of Broncos.
So I will say that I
my daughter and I were at the park the other day and I could hear this car
like circling around town and it was like a dog, you know, smelling bacon or something.
It's like I popped up and I'm like, I know what that is.
And it's if you've talked to me before, you have probably heard me mention this
because I had a one of the GT 350 R Mustangs, the 2017s.
And it was the most intoxicating, like exhaust from the factory
and just the whole driving experience.
So that is the one that still has me in a chokehold.
And it turned out because we were in the park.
It was prom over the weekend for one of the high schools.
And it's this beautiful park.
You can see the lake and there were probably a hundred kids there
taking pictures before the dance.
And this one kid pulled into the park and he was in.
I think it was a GT.
It was a GT 350, not an R, but still fantastic.
And I was like, man, if you are cruising to prom in that car, you are just loving life.
But yeah, he's in for a good.
So not a not a current car, but that's the one that just like, man, I miss that.
I've thought about getting a Mustang just because I feel like it's
it's one of those like staple cars that you kind of have to have.
Oh, I had a Mustang at one point, you know, you have to check the box.
And then sometimes they're so good that you're like, I checked that box.
And at some point I will be rechecking the box because they're so good.
Yeah, I honestly like I would love a bullet Mustang.
I've been really good.
I like that like a bullet, just green, subtle as the wheels.
That's that's why I want it and if you know, you know, because they're very
like you said, they're under the radar, unless you know what it is.
And then it's exciting.
Like I got to drive the it was the early 90s when they first brought
the bullet package back.
I got to drive one of the press cars and I was like, this is so much fun.
Yeah, man, I thought they were just a great, you know, the new dark course
is really awesome to I have heard good things.
Yeah, yeah, I we're almost at an hour.
I know you've got a hard stop.
We got two of our controversial topics.
I had five or six year.
OK, that's OK.
Yeah, that's OK.
We had a great conversation and, you know, I, you know, you talked about
growing up on this ranch, driving, you know, your grandma's Mustang.
I think in look how you turned out, I learned how to drive a manual.
Lindsay, you too.
I think we all turned out OK.
I think the secret to a good kid is teaching them to drive a stick young.
Yeah.
And, you know, and they'll something about that most real damage
from your parent yelling at you and burning up the quits.
That doesn't work.
The shit out of it.
I was going to say, like, so there's three, there's three tenets to raise
a well rounded, well adjusted child who thinks critically is learn
how to drive a manual when they're young, possible corporal punishment
and some public training just thrown in for you're absolutely right.
Because when I was learning to drive a stick, there was one time
I stalled it four times at a right turn.
And I remember just the the anxiety of ramp ramping up and there's a car
behind me and eventually they're honking and my dad's going like,
you got this, just do this and me trying and it not working.
And then you're building on like, well, I blew it the first time.
And then you're agitated.
Yeah.
The the formative experience of that, you know, you build on it, right?
We all went through that.
Yeah, it's makes a man or makes a woman out of it.
It does.
If you wrap this up, this is a good show.
This is well, well, yeah, this is great.
We'll get some more questions.
Two, well, I'm sorry, three and four on the next.
Yeah, we'll just keep a running list of controversial topics.
We'll be like, is it time to roll things up again?
We need to have Steve come back.
These are timeless, Lindsay.
Don't worry.
I'm like, so we're going to say that we got to come back.
You got to come down.
You guys know when and we'll be back.
This is fun.
Well, thank you for joining us, Steve.
And thank you to our audience for joining us this week on that car show.
We appreciate everyone being here and sharing the show with your
enthusiast friends.
Please consider liking, subscribing and of course leaving a five star rating.
We will always be grateful for that.
Remember to always be driving and we'll see you back here next week.
Awesome guys.
About this episode
Steve Ellis fills in for Dan and shares how his mom sparked his car obsession—starting with a piston-and-skull sticker and a Gran Turismo PlayStation moment. He traces his path from UTI and Lamborghini Houston to automotive journalism, event curation, and building community through car culture. The hosts then debate Ferrari’s controversial direction and EV design expectations, before pivoting to real-world driving ethics on canyon roads—“it’s not a race track”—and practical enthusiast takeaways from manual-transmission and press-drive experiences.
Today, on That Car Show, everybody’s car pal Steve Ellis sits in for Dan, who's out this week. Controversial topics, we’ve got ‘em. Revelatory cars, we’ve got those, too. Acuras, Cadillacs, Porsches—of course—and even the our friends the Amish pop their heads up over the proverbial fence. We’re fired up, we’ve got opinions, and we ride at dawn. This was a really fun one, with a lot of laughs, and, even a little violence. It’s Steve Ellis… And It’s That Car Show. @e470tollwaye470.com
