The Tesla Semi is a big electric truck that Tesla is making for transporting goods. It's designed to be very efficient and safe, which could change how trucks are used on the roads.
The Lucid Gravity is a new electric SUV that will be made by a company called Lucid Motors, which is known for making fancy electric cars. This SUV is designed to be fast and have a lot of space inside, making it a strong option for people looking for electric vehicles.
The Dodge Charger is a large car that looks sporty and powerful. It's popular for its strong engines and modern features, making it a good choice for people who want a fun car to drive.
The Honda Prelude is a two-door car that was known for being fun to drive and stylish. It was popular in the past but is no longer being made, making it a classic choice for car lovers.
The Nissan Sentra is a small car that is easy to drive and usually costs less than many other cars. It's a good option for people looking for a reliable and affordable vehicle.
Mazda is a car company from Japan that makes cars known for being fun to drive and looking good. The Mazda 3 is a small car that many people like, and it's often compared to other popular small cars like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.
An electric vehicle is a type of car that uses electricity to run instead of gasoline. They are often better for the environment and can save money on fuel.
The Ford Maverick is a smaller pickup truck that is easier to drive in the city. It's good for people who need a truck but don't want something too big.
The Ram 1500 is a big truck that people use for work and everyday driving. It's known for being powerful and comfortable, with lots of features that make it easy to use, especially if you need to haul things.
A V8 engine is a type of engine that has eight cylinders. It helps the vehicle go faster and pull heavier loads, making it popular in trucks and sports cars.
The Ford Lobo is just the name for the Ford F-150 truck in Mexico. It's a big truck that people use for many things, like work and fun, and it has similar features to the F-150 sold in the United States.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a small truck that looks like a mix between a car and a traditional pickup. It has a comfortable interior and can carry things in its truck bed, making it useful for different tasks.
The Hyundai Palisade is a type of family vehicle called an SUV, which is larger than a regular car and has more space for passengers and cargo. It's known for being comfortable and having many features that families appreciate.
The Nissan Leaf is a small electric car that is popular for city driving. It doesn't use gasoline, making it environmentally friendly and cheaper to run.
The Gilmore Car Museum is a big place where you can see many different cars from different times in history. It's located in Michigan and has cars that are very old as well as some that are more modern.
Brass era cars are very old cars made between the late 1800s and early 1900s. They often have shiny brass parts and were some of the first cars ever made.
Classic American iron means older American cars that are really popular and loved, usually made from the 1920s to the 1970s. They are known for their cool designs and powerful engines.
Automotive design engineering is about creating cars and making them look good while also being safe and functional. It combines art and engineering to build vehicles that people want to drive.
Concept vehicles are special cars made to show new ideas and designs that car companies are thinking about. They are not usually for sale but help people see what might come in the future.
The Ford Model T is a famous car made by Ford from 1908 to 1927. It was the first car that many people could afford, changing how people traveled and worked.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a famous racetrack in Indiana where many important car races happen, including the Indianapolis 500. It's a popular place for fans of racing to visit.
The Indy 500 is a famous car race that happens every year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's one of the biggest and most important races in the world.
Gulf Coast Auto Shield is a place where you can take your car to get special treatments that help protect its paint and windows. They help keep your car looking new and safe from damage.
Ceramic coating is a special liquid that you put on your car's paint to protect it. It helps keep the car clean and shiny by making water and dirt slide off easily.
Paint protection film is a clear cover you can put on your car's paint to keep it safe from scratches and damage. It helps your car look good for longer.
Nano ceramic window tint is a special film you can put on your car windows to keep the heat and harmful sun rays out. It helps keep the inside of your car cooler and protects your skin.
Curbed wheels are wheels that got scratched or damaged when hitting a curb. It can make your wheels look bad and might cause problems when driving.
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Welcome to another in-wheel time podcast
Welcome to the in-wheel time car talk show coming up from america on the roads talk show
jack me rad and
Nat toy award winners. That's north american car and truck of the year award big deal later in jeff's car culture
Five of the longest drivable tunnels. Is it only in the united states? Yeah
There's tunnels all over the world, but we talked about long roads. We talked about route 66
We talked about bridges now. It's time to go underground. I I couldn't agree more on a day like today
Absolutely. Yeah, um, howdy along with mike out of this world mars over there in meterville, texas
We always need more jeff zekin sitting next to me chief engineer david ainsley just got out of the shower from what i'm told
That's the david cam that we've been kind of monitoring, but not really i'm don armstrong
I'm glad you could join us on this saturday morning and joining us now from the left coast
Ladies and gentlemen, here he is
The man of the hour jack knee rad. Good morning jack. Good morning. The man of the early hour
Early hour for me less so for you. Yes, it is eight o'clock on a saturday morning getting back and as always
We always appreciate you joining us out there because we know there's a two-hour time difference
There's lots of other differences too that we won't we won't go into those
Right i can't take a creditor blame for those i don't think no you cannot and we wouldn't place them on you anyway
so, um
First of all before we get into all of this would you explain to everybody?
What is nap toy how it came about?
And uh the awards process
Yeah, i'd be happy to you north american car of the year started i i think about 35 years ago
I was not involved in it at its inception
but the goal was to bring a bunch of uh
independent journalists together
Uh to decide on a first car of the year then it was expanded to truck of the year and now there's utility of the year too
Which is arguably the the most important of the three awards depending on how you look at it
but
I had been editor motor trend and ran the motor train car of the year awards back in the day
So, you know it was a process that was
fairly clear to me
But I I think the idea of having a bunch of independent journalists from different outlets
Is the big separator between north american car of the year and some of the others including motor trend car of the year
Which of course is one publication
so
We have 50 jurors
With probably 50 different ways of testing cars and evaluating vehicles, but I think that results in some really
Good good results
basically
In in what we get in terms of naming the proper car the proper utility and the proper truck of the year
As an important vehicle. So do you guys all sit down together or you do it over the internet or
Do you share information? How do you?
There's a it's a a lengthy procedure. You can say it's a year-long procedure
Uh, we're testing independently all the all the time, of course
I I test the car every week on my radio show America on the road and
I think most of the jurors are testing cars on that kind of frequent basis. We're going on automotive events
then in and we
First identify all the cars that are brand new all the cars trucks and utilities that are essentially new
For a particular model year. That's kind of our basic field from which we can choose the car the year and the others
Um, and then we winnow that down with a vote. We take a vote fairly early on
I think it takes place in either late august or september where we bring it down to a more manageable number
Then we get together in october to drive these vehicles. Most of us get together for that
outside detroit nann arbor
I'm typically there for four or five days. Most of our
Jurors are there for that period of time
Then there's another couple series of votes one
semi finalists choose semi finalists three in each category. Those are announced typically at the los angeles auto show
um in late november
Then we have a final round of voting and we we um name the car truck and utility of the year in january at the detroit auto show
Now jack you mentioned that these are through the manufacturers. There's a lot of
People companies that are building cars that are not well known as the you know the detroit three. Are they included in in this?
Yeah, any vehicle that's available in the united states in any kind of reasonable number
I think if it were um such an exotic car that was super expensive
It's not likely to qualify and again we cut down some of the vehicles, but uh, for example, we had the lucid gravity as one of our
utility vehicle finalists
This year, uh, that's a pretty exotic vehicle actually probably a hundred thousand dollars or so
so, um, you know and from a very small manufacturer comparatively so
We're looking at everything out there that's available to the consumer
cool, so
Do we start now and?
Drill down into this
Are you ready? I'm ready
I'm seriously ready. Yeah jack is always he's always ready
So let's start with the car finalists. Shall we you had three of them?
um, and the
Finalists were the dodge charger now. Are you talking about the new dodge charger?
We are yeah, these are all new cars. So okay, okay, they're brand new cars
And the new design and the Honda prelude
And the Nissan centra
so obviously
Obviously
I assume that there's really no
Comparison really between the price of the vehicle apples oranges and rutabagas, right? I mean
You know very very different kind of things there and that's one of the challenges of naming the car the year
But the way I look at it and I think the way a lot of archers look at it is
Number one the vehicle has to be essentially the best in its class
Uh to really qualify as a car of the year
um, and so you look at that and
To me, that's where the centra
You know didn't really measure up to be car of the year because as good as the new century is and it's very good
I don't think it's as good as or better than the
Behind a civic or the Mazda 3 or the Toyota Corolla. I think those vehicles are the equal of the centra
Um, whereas I think uh for larger sedans
You're hard-pressed to find something better than the Dodge charger available as a two-door a four-door
in all electric or with a really interesting
Turbocharged six-cylinder engine of immense horsepower
um
So that was my choice and it was also the choice of the the whole jury that was the car of the year
Right. So the Dodge charger and it was the six-cylinder gasoline engine
Well, it was all all of the Dodge chargers. So I think there were
The proponents of the fact that you could get the electric or you could get the gasoline engine
Did that play a part in it?
Yeah, that played a big part
I think it played a big part in because there is I think at least an element of the jury that really likes electric cars
So the fact that you could get that as an electric vehicle
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, or what their political affiliations?
But all I could think of is is you know, here we are in texas the maker of gasoline
The importer and driller of oil
I think that we're probably going to edge toward the gasoline vehicles here
Although I will say this that there are some people here in texas that are very
passionate about their electrics the problem as you well know here in texas anyway is charging and
you know public charging is
At least here in texas or more specifically here in houston
Can be and is for me personally a real pain in the
Rump and look what's going on with the weather this week
You know most people are going to probably suffer a little bit more than of an ice engine owner. Yeah
all right, so let's
In the commercial chargers, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean even here in california in the hotbed of electrics
You know public charging is an issue and it's gonna remain an issue. So
truck finalists and I find this very interesting
So you've got the ford maverick logo. It's a some reason they call it a compact pickup
Did you have one of those I had one yeah a ram 1500 and a ram 2500
So you got two rams on there granted one is the heavy duty and one is the light duty pickup truck
and they're competing against the
I hate to say a car based
Because it is and it isn't maverick subcompact comes so yeah our compact. I wouldn't call it a subcompact
But what give us your take on all that
Well truck is a bit of a challenge in terms of finding all new vehicles, right?
Because trucks don't turn over number one there aren't that as many trucks as there are cars and sport utilities
And number two they don't change that much from year to year to year
What what the the big changes were the addition of the heavy duty ram this year
Very good vehicle
Again, is it the best heavy duty vehicle? I'm not sure about that
So that was kind of one of the one of my takes on what I named
You know what I voted for most most strongly
the ram 1500 was essentially the ram of before that had
gotten rid of the v8 engine and then the v8 engine came back
So that was the rationale for including the the ram 1500. I mean, it's a great vehicle
I think all of us are who drive pickup trucks and certainly I drive a lot of them
I think the ram 1500 as a personal use vehicle is a terrific vehicle and especially with the hemi v8 engine
Although that same six-cylinder engine that I was talking about with the charger is also available in the ram
So that's cool, too
How is it part of the price comparison jack is is the the price comparison between the v8 ram 1500 and the six cylinder 1500
How much did that figure into
Did it did it play a part? It would play some part. Yeah, I think it would play some part
Certainly value plays a part in all of this, you know, we're trying to find the best values out there. Yes
So you get the balance. Yeah, exactly
And what I found was with the maverick lobo, which is a different version of the maverick
It doesn't even really have a completely new powertrain. It has
Some differences in the all-wheel drive system and that kind of thing
But it seemed like a new take on
A very popular segment and I it struck me as the newest of those and probably
Certainly the best of the compact pickup trucks
Right now
You know, arguably the hunday santa cruz is right there with it in turbo form
But you know, there aren't a lot of choices there
But that was that was the choice of the of the jury. It was also my choice
And
The utility finalists and winner. Oh my god. What did you have about a thousand of them that you have to judge?
I mean because you know, essentially the de facto car quote unquote car or a vehicle that people have is a sport utility
There are more sport utility new sport utilities than anything and I think
Uh, even after we'd winnowed down the field a little bit. I think we went down to something like 13
Uh, was the number that we had on hand in an arbor to drive. So that was a lot of vehicles, obviously
Um, and you know, I mentioned the lucid gravity
Um, the hunday palisade was was the winner. Um, and again, I think the the hunday palisade
Is available now with a hybrid. It's a midside, you know, it is in the middle of being
um
a
Um
A useful family vehicle
You know, the nissan leaf was the other vehicle. It's arguably not even an suv
I think it's kind of you know nissan portrays it as an suv
But it's an all electric very small vehicle
You know kind of suv shaped
So to me that was a non-starter in the in the segment for others. It was a big deal. You know, there are 50 of us 50 opinions
um, so
You know, I think the palisade is uh, you know, the best value
out there, it's uh
Certainly arguably one of the best values if not the best value in the midsize suv segment
Which is a big important segment and it added important things like a hybrid powertrain
Well, it and also the largest seller of those. Oh, yeah, absolutely
Yeah, and to me that would that would say something about it, you know, it obviously
Resonates with buyers of suvs of that size and uh, that means something to me
Whether it's the the look of the thing or the actual utility of it the interior the engine all of that
You know, all I assume all of those factors and more would go into your judgments
Well and sales kind of indicates significance, right significant in the marketplace. It's a really important thing to me
What I'm a worry about is just picking the most fun to drive vehicle in each of these three segments and and you know
Letting it go with that. I mean, that's not the way I look at it
I think it's not the way most of the jurors look at it, but I think maybe there are some jurors
Yeah, that would be easy to do. Yeah, right. So jack, how do you become a judge in that toy?
You have to be nominated by other
judges
Uh, we keep the jury pool to 50, which is a manageable number, you know, it helps the manufacturers frankly
Allow us to drive vehicles get vehicles to us that kind of thing. We don't want to go larger than 50
When somebody resigns retires
You know changes jobs that precludes them from being a part of it and it
Nobody can take money from a car company or be working for a car company or be working for an agency of a car company
Uh to be on the jury
Um, again, it sounds to me like it's the supreme court. Yeah. Yeah
You know, we're kind of appointed for life. There's the more than nine of us and we don't have to wear robes
But otherwise it's similar. I whose palm do I have to grace with uh, you know what? Yeah
Yeah, yeah
I find it interesting and I did not know
About once you're in you're in. Yeah, so I would imagine that you probably don't have too many
Influencers on your jury, right? I mean once you're in you're in as long as you
um
maintain
Uh, as long as you're still in the business of testing vehicles regularly for you know major outlets
Yeah, uh, as long as you have some influence from that point of view
That's a big part of it because you don't get a chance to like you say you meet for
Five days to do the finals
And if you're not participating all year long then it makes it a little more difficult for you to contribute
Absolutely, right
I mean this is a year-long process and you have to be plugged into the to the industry and plugged into
testing cars on a regular basis to
um
Be to qualify to be a juror. So are there any other organizations out there like that toy?
I mean just jd powers considered one of those or are there any I would start one
I would say there is the world car of the year
Um, there is the european car of the year organization. I think there's a japan car of the year
North american car of the year was really patterned after european car of the year
um, which again
identified
X number of journalists
from the various countries in typically in western european and um
They have a jury that decides on the european car of the year
And and you do you that they kind of
Adhere to your kind of rules where there's a limited number of journalists, but it's not too small
That it skews the vote one way or the other
I think there's a limited number. I you know, I'm not certain exactly how they
How they determine who's in the jury and and how they maintain the numbers and what those numbers are
um
So
It's hard to it's hard to say exactly. I mean, uh, certainly, uh, I think uh, if you looked at the way the voting goes
I mean because there's 50 of us it would be hard for one juror to
You know sway the boat sway the boat very much
I think it's it's not a consensus, but it is. I think uh, you know at least a strong
Plurality if not majority of the votes go to the the winners or just apples and rutabagas
rutabagas, yes
I'm sure they're all sold out at the local grocery store here this week because of our frosted store
paper and rutabagas
That's all it really needs right right jack. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. We thank you so much for getting up this morning
Joining us you look great and
Little sleepy I'm a little sleepy, but I'm going to be driving out to the desert. So wish me luck
All right, best of luck take some lotion with you. There you go
Always great to talk to you guys. I look forward to doing it again real soon. Thank you so much jack knee rag
Yes, and uh, he is the man about time we talked to him
Usually about once a month or so get his take on things and so car and truck of the year award
Not to the desert. You have a real just ahead jeff's car culture. Are you claustrophobic?
How about five of the longest drivable tunnels?
Oh
Plus marz has driving destinations big five car museums in the us after this break on the inwheel time car talk show
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all right
Hey, we want to
Get to jeff's
Carv culture, okay the five longest tunnels in the united states of america
Yeah, do I really want to know this when you're outside the longest tunnel in the u.s
You can't help but wonder how did they build it or you know, what did it cost how many people is it really?
Oh an engineering marvel. Well, yes to all of that
Uh, some of this stuff you got to be a real good engineer to figure all that stuff out
So here we go michael Lincoln tunnel is another
Tunnel under the fame hudson river connects new jersey forget about it to new york
It's a massive 1.5 miles in length. It's the third largest traffic tunnel in that area
It's created off of the route
495 and this is one of new york's most iconic traffic destinations
So what really makes the linkin tunnel unique is the three separate tunnels that are involved one was built in 1937
One was built in 1945 and the last one was built in 1957
The linkin tunnel averages over a hundred thousand vehicles daily and it's one of the most driven tunnels in the u.s
So the next one we have is the ted williams tunnel and it's a renowned tunnel located in the fame boston
City of boston with a length of 1.6 miles. It's one of the longest tunnels in the united states established in 1995
So when you're there and you're in the car park or you know, all that stuff, you gotta take the tunnel
Established in 1995 ted williams extension of i-90 which is the longest interstate highway in the country
The tunnel is owned by the commonwealth of massachusetts and consists of six lanes
The tunnel has speed limit of 40 miles an hour
And it's a toll tunnel that you could pay anywhere from 20 cents to two dollars depending on where you live
What yeah, I guess these different accesses to different neighborhoods to have at the pace certain things to get on the road
And get in the top
So that's what that's what they're all about the next one mic is
Situated under the hudson river and is called the holland tunnel. This is the second longest tunnel in new york city
And it connects new york to new jersey again. You should miss it. Forget about it
The tunnel is a four lane tunnel that carries traffic from both i-78 to i-39
And it's about 1.62 miles in length
Clearly it's the longest tunnel in the us and the holland tunnel was first opened in 1927 making it the oldest
road tunnel in the history of the country
And this was pretty unique
Don you may know this one of your problem being dead on it. It's in the colorado rockies
It's the eisenhower tunnel
It's 60 miles east of denver on interstate 70
And that's where the tunnel's at in the highest tunnel in the world with an average of 11 112 feet
So it's up there. It's up high in the in the mountains
It runs through terrain and the average annual snowfall from that terrain from november to april is 26 feet
So you've got a lot of snow around a lot of mountains two tunnels measuring just a hair under 10 500 feet
Each direction and it was finished in 1973 it spans two watersheds and the continental divide
The federal government purchased it
A long time ago and they paid 90 of the cost and the city or the state picked up the 10 percent
Average is about 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles. So it's a lot. It's pretty high up there. So if you get
Thing to do with altitude or tunnels. I wouldn't do it
baltimore harbour michael this one is
Prior to the baltimore prior to the baltimore harbour is being built in place in a list of the longest tunnels in the u.s
baltimore's narrow streets were the only direct roads between the city
City the south side of that of baltimore and philadelphia. So this was built in 1940
And it was because of the terrible roads and everything that's just pretty crazy right there
Construction the tunnel began in 1955 and by that time it was it was pretty well built and over budget
As 21 twin tube sections about as long as a football field. So
If you're into you taking those tunnels
Good luck
That's all i gotta say. You don't have to worry about me taking those now
There's a tunnel from detroit to winter and that's a little under a mile
Well, we've got one here called the washburn tunnel that goes underneath the houston ship channel and I just assumed I'd go on that
They look yeah, well, I don't know about that, but you know
I'm
All right, mr. Morris has our biggest car museums mr. Morris
I guess he does I can't hear you might
No, we can't hear him. Is he even on with us? No
We can't hear you. Yeah, okay. My bad. It was a communicate with david. Sorry. All right. So, um, it's time now for um, as I mentioned
your
Biggest car museums. Yeah, I just thought that with all this weather impacting the whole country some people
Let's go somewhere. Yeah, do it. Yeah
Get out and get about
so, um
The gilmore car museum in hickory corners, michigan
Now this is one of the largest museums in north america. It's set on a 90 acre campus
It's got over 400 vehicles that run from the brass era cars up through the classic american iron and even into post war icons
There's a lot of different buildings and they're all dedicated got some of them dedicated to the cadillacs
Pierce arrow the model a ford and even some others that you can kind of walk around between them and see how the different history blends in
There's another one up in tocomo, washington, and I've actually been to this one
It's the lame America's car museum. It's uh, again, these are one of the largest automotive museums
They've got 350 vehicles and it's really a very modern looking
Architecture and it's all designed and drawn from the herald lame's collection
Now this is his personal collection over the years and that's how he built this museum
They have different displays that rotate in and out and they do a lot of educational things for people including
uh industry and personal freedom that
Shows how the american have dealt with the uh automotive through the years
Then you get into what probably is the most famous one the peterson
Automotive museum in los angeles california now i went to this one once and it was under construction
So i got to go into the basement and i got to see about what's on the screen and that's about it
But uh, it's a big place they have a over 100 vehicles on display all the time
They specify or they they look a lot at the automotive design engineering and motorsports
So they kind of bring a lot of stuff in and out
Hollywood cars are very easy to get to a lot of concept vehicles here
It's really one of the more famous museums in the country
But one of the ones that i'm most impressed with was the henry four museum of american
Innovation
And it really goes into a lot of things. It's really america and but the automobile sections of it
It just goes from beginning to end. I mean and it just got everything from the model t's historic
Historic race cars presidential vehicles. I mean there is just so much there that
Uh, you just can't see it all in a day
I think don and i were there for for less than a day and it was just amazing the amount of stuff that's in there
regarding transportation and manufacturing
Then uh, the indianapolis motor speedway museum. Now, this is of course in speedway indiana
It's inside the indianapolis motor speedway
And it's all about motorsports and it's got a collection over the indy 500 winners
Got some legendary race cars some paced cars a lot of the trophies a lot of a lot of things about the race itself
But it's also got more than that as it considers the automotive
Motorsports across the country. So if you're a race car fan, this is the museum that you really want to go see
So that'd be like five museums across the country that you might be able to get out to if you
Get tired of all this rot and weather we're having. Yep. There's that
Okay time now for a break the in-wheel time car talk show continues right after this
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About this episode
Exploring the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, the episode features guest Jack Nerad, who shares insights on the selection process and criteria for evaluating vehicles. The discussion highlights finalists like the Dodge Charger, Ford Maverick, and Hyundai Palisade, emphasizing their unique qualities and market significance. Additionally, the hosts delve into the fascinating world of drivable tunnels and notable car museums across the U.S., making for an engaging blend of automotive culture and industry analysis.
Awards shape buyer decisions more than most of us realize, so we sat down with veteran juror and radio host Jack Nerad to peel back how North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year actually get chosen. Fifty independent journalists, a year of testing, multiple voting rounds, and a marathon drive event near Detroit all lead to three names everyone talks about. We walk through the process, the politics (or lack thereof), and the real criteria that separate buzz from substance: class leadership, value, significance, innovation, and everyday usability.
The car finalists tell a story of contrast—Nissan Sentra updates, a reborn Honda Prelude, and a radically flexible Dodge Charger that spans two and four doors, a potent turbo six, and an all-electric variant. Hear why the jury rallied behind the Charger’s breadth and execution. On the truck side, the Ford Maverick Lobo edged out Ram 1500 and Ram 2500 by pushing the compact pickup idea further, balancing capability with size, price, and clever packaging for daily life. And in the most crowded arena of all, the Hyundai Palisade claimed Utility of the Year by delivering family comfort, available hybrid efficiency, and true bang for the buck in a segment where buyers vote with their wallets.
We also tackle EV realities. Charging gaps remain a friction point—even in California’s backyard and especially across Texas—so vehicles that offer both electric and gasoline paths are resonating. Jack explains how the jury weighs those infrastructure challenges against performance and innovation without drifting into tech cheerleading. To round things out, we shift gears with Jeff’s Car Culture—five of the longest drivable tunnels in the U.S.—and Mike’s Driving Destinations, highlighting five standout car museums from the Petersen to the Henry Ford.
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