Why I Drove Mercedes Diesels for Decades—Then Switched to Tesla
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
Why I Drove Mercedes Diesels for Decades—Then Switched to Tesla
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Car
Chevy V8
The Chevy V8 is a type of engine made by Chevrolet that has eight cylinders and is known for being powerful, often used in sports cars and trucks.
Car
Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S is a high-end electric car that can go fast and has many modern features, like self-driving capabilities.
Car
Tesla Model
Term
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine is a type of engine that makes cars go by burning fuel inside it, like gasoline or diesel.
Concept
buying a car online
Buying a car online means looking for cars on websites instead of going to a dealership. You can see pictures and details about the car before deciding to buy it.
Term
exotic car
Exotic cars are fancy and expensive cars that are not commonly seen. They often have special features and are built for speed and luxury.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car that many people love for its speed and design. It's been around for a long time and has many different versions.
Car
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 is a type of sports car made by Porsche. It was built for a long time and is known for being stylish and having a strong engine.
Car
Audi S4
The Audi S4 is a sportier version of the Audi 80, first made in 1987. It has a more powerful engine and better handling, making it a fun car to drive.
Car
Audi GTS
The Audi GTS is a sportier version of Audi cars, designed for better performance and features compared to regular models.
Car
Audi GT
The Audi GT is a sporty car from Audi that was known for its good looks and performance. It was part of a series of models that included the GTS variant.
Car
Honda Prologue
The Honda Prologue is a new electric SUV from Honda, which means it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. This car is important because it shows that Honda is moving towards making more environmentally friendly vehicles that help reduce pollution.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 240D
The Mercedes-Benz 240D is a reliable car that runs on diesel fuel. It's known for being tough and lasting a long time, which is why many people liked it back in the day.
Car
Delorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a car that looks very different from most cars because it has a shiny stainless steel body and doors that open upwards. It's famous for being in the 'Back to the Future' movies.
Car
Nissan 300
The Nissan 300 ZX is a sporty car that many people loved for its speed and looks. The 1990 version is part of a newer style compared to older models.
Term
Z32
Z32 is a name for a type of Nissan sports car that was made in the late 80s and early 90s. It was known for being fast and having cool features.
Term
Z31
Z31 is the name for an older version of the Nissan sports car that had headlights that popped up when you turned them on. It was made in the 80s.
Car
Nissan 240 SX
The Nissan 240 SX is a smaller sports car that many people liked because it was fun to drive and not too expensive. The 1989 version is one of the earlier models.
Brand
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is another well-known car company from Italy that makes very fast and stylish cars. They are famous for their unique designs and powerful engines.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is another famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast sports cars. They are known for their success in racing and their stylish designs.
Term
glow plugs
Glow plugs help diesel engines start more easily in cold weather by warming up the engine before you start it. They are like little heaters that make the engine ready to run.
Term
plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid is a car that can run on both gasoline and electricity. You can charge it by plugging it into an outlet, which helps save fuel and reduce emissions.
Car
Mercedes-Benz W123
The W123 is a model of car made by Mercedes-Benz that was built to last. People often call it the 'battle wagon' because it's very tough and can keep running for a long time.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 300 D Turbo Diesel
The Mercedes-Benz 300 D Turbo Diesel is a model known for being reliable and efficient, especially with its turbocharged diesel engine that helps it accelerate better than non-turbo versions.
Term
inline five
An inline five engine has five cylinders lined up in a row. This design helps the engine run smoothly and provides good power.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 300 Turbo Diesel
The Mercedes-Benz 300 Turbo Diesel is a car that has a turbocharged diesel engine, making it more powerful than regular diesel engines. It's known for being comfortable and lasting a long time.
Car
Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car that's popular for being affordable and having a lot of high-tech features. It's known for its long battery life and ability to update its software automatically.
Term
software defined car
A software defined car is a car that uses a lot of computer software to control its features. This means that the car can be updated and improved without needing to change any physical parts.
Term
spark plug
A spark plug is a small part in a car's engine that helps start the engine by creating a spark. Changing it regularly helps the car run better.
Brand
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a famous car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars. They are known for their high-quality vehicles and advanced technology.
LIVE
Welcome back, Listener Land.
You have found or re-found whichever it is to all the cars I've loved before your
authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia where every car tells a story, every car has
a culture.
It is time to plug in, dust off, and get a little grease under the nails and if you
have one of those error code for readers that you can just kind of stick in the port, that's
always kind of wonderful.
I wish we had that for humans, you know, where you could just kind of stick in your ear this
device that said, hey, code 1234, yes, strep, strep throat and is an idiot.
No, anyway, we're getting there, you know, just hanging there could be tomorrow.
That's wonderful.
Absolutely to today's guest before we have before we cue him in here, I want to welcome
whether you have found us or we found us refund, refund.
We have listeners.
Let's see.
So we're growing.
Doug got good news.
We are growing in Japan, France, Ukraine, in Australia, if you can believe that we seem
to be stuck in Germany.
This over the analytics over the past five weeks, we've been at downloads only.
So I don't know what is going on over there in Germany.
I am sure they're not preoccupied with Oktoberfest's wrong time of year, but we need y'all to shift
into gear.
Welcome back to everyone, Japan, France, Ukraine, Australia, welcome, Germany.
Welcome back to let's pick it up.
So new listeners, glad to have you.
And as we say at the top of the show here, it's time to get a little grease under the
nails and slip on the favorite car themed shirt before we pivot to Doug, who always has
something interesting to share with his automotive themed wardrobe.
I'm wearing my, my team did not play in the Super Bowl last night.
If you're an Eagles fan, congratulations.
If you're not, hey, there are 31 other teams crying in their beer.
It's okay.
So if you were an Eagles fan, congratulations.
And my team, the Saints, you know, we just kind of went to a couple of games this season.
Superdome had a great time.
Super Bowl was in New Orleans and just hope your team is going to do better next year
than this year.
Again, 31 others wondering what went wrong.
All right.
Oh, listen.
Oh, so your shirt, let's let's see what you got.
What you got? All right.
Can you see it?
Where? Let's see who is shouting out and giving some love to you.
So we're giving a shout out to Rich rebuilds.
Rich is located up in Massachusetts.
His YouTube channel is without doubt amazing, rich rebuilds.
He he was definitely the first, I don't know if he was the only one.
He took a destroyed Tesla Model S and put a Chevy V8 in it.
So he took a car that was designed only as an electric car
and turned it into a internal combustion engine car.
Man, that's clever.
Very clever.
He he does some amazing builds.
Love the guy.
I hope hope to have him on the podcast soon.
So are you in?
Have you spoken with him or converse with him or he's not caught up yet,
but there's an email coming his way.
He's super busy.
So I hear you.
Yeah, eBay is wild because you can go on on eBay
and find these high end sports cars and they'll show you one picture
and you'll say, why does he want four grand for this exotic, amazing car?
And you get a picture from the other angle and, you know,
a quarter panel is mission missing and it's, you know, it was rolled
like it was a spare car on the Dukes of Hazard.
And but I mean, you can have these for a song.
You really know, they're salvage, they're salvage lots.
Absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
People know what they're doing.
They it's a challenge for them, right?
And then they get viewers, right?
Yeah, yeah, I think that's great.
And another word on the on all the presences on YouTube,
the people that we've had on this little this little podcast that could.
Who have we had that had great YouTube shows?
YouTube channel, YouTube show, Nicole Johnson, right?
Speedy cop, H.H.
Wheels, wheels.
We've had so many wonderful people who've been gracious with their time
that just had these knockout shows on YouTube production values like you'd see
on TV, if not better.
So check them out, oh, oh, and you can get the full list on our website.
The next thing I wanted to talk about, we have a completely revamped website.
All props to the technical guru, Mr.
Doug, I can't believe how good it looks.
It's it's leaps beyond and where it was.
So good job, partner.
Congrats. And you can see a bunch of photos of cars.
You can see our full episode list.
So you don't have to, you know, scroll through.
I thought that was so clever the way you made that work,
as well as the intake form.
What else is on there?
It just it just really looks.
We have a blog we which we always have, but now it looks much better.
We have a reviews page that auto scrolls and let's see what other thing.
We have an events page.
So that might be an event you're going to.
It could be a car event.
It could be if you look at tonight, you'll see that we're recording with our guest.
There's more info on there.
We'll do an introduction to him in a few.
Yeah, and I like the way that you've done that.
And I'll say, I wanted to mention something else.
It was in my head and flew right out when you called on me.
Oh, now we don't have reviews on the website for that.
You have to go to the specific.
We are. Oh, no, we do.
We do now.
He didn't do the API to kind of port them back and forth,
but they're just kind of it's a it's a manual Doug process at the moment.
Well, we love that.
That's that's what built the end or that the manual Doug process.
So do speaking of speaking of.
Can I share one?
Yes, this is from Apple podcasts from January 24th.
So recently not too long ago of this year.
And it's by T. R. Holloway, Jr.
Right.
Super cool five stars.
Thank you.
Love the five stars.
And it says this podcast is a must listen for any car enthusiast.
The host's passion for car shines through every episode with detailed discussions,
fascinating stories and expert advice.
Thank you.
I like that.
Thank you, Mr. T. Holloway, Jr. 2007 or whatever it was.
That's great.
But this is not only for automotive enthusiasts.
That's a great review.
Thank you.
This is for anyone.
You know, this is for anyone who wants to be on the show, who has a love for cars
or simply a story to tell.
And yeah, so we appreciate the.
Speaking of which, another YouTuber and big podcaster we had on recently Crystal
Prophet.
Oh, yeah, you didn't think she had anything about cars to share.
But man, her first couple cars were great stories.
We're going to say that.
Yeah.
And that's the thing about when you talk about these machines, you start to talk about
family.
Well, where did the first car from came from my dad?
My dad owned a business.
Tell me about the business.
Tell me about grandma.
Tell me about grandpa.
And now, you know, everything.
And when we get to the end of the shows, it's interesting how people are parents now
and have their own kids.
Oh, I got my my like me, for example, I just got my my my kid, the Mustang, and he loves
it.
So, yeah, I think there's a video.
I think there's a video of you in the Mustang introducing the new website.
Yeah.
And that just dropped today.
That just dropped today.
Do we have a lot?
Has that gotten a lot of traffic yet?
Well, the audience is doing great.
The audience really.
No, it's a great video.
Actually, in that car.
I mean, you got such a great deal on that car.
And that car looks brand new for 2000.
Yeah.
And my son.
Yeah.
And we're on the way to a Super Bowl party.
So I got pick up my son and I said, Hey, before we go to this party, we've got to do some
we got to make some content.
We got to do a trailer.
And so, hey, you know, it was it was my middle son and I chat and talking and laughing and
making some videos.
So again, it was good.
All about.
Yeah.
Now, before we pivot to today's guest, you saw a rare super car, a 928 recently in a
curious color.
And did the car look like it ran in your humble opinion?
The car was running.
It was on route 50.
And I mean, it looked brand new.
Yikes.
The color was Moonstone, which is kind of a pinkish purplish.
But Maroon is much lighter.
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Yeah.
I mean, that it was probably 91 is my guess.
So it was the second generation, if you will.
Yeah.
Wow.
What a beautiful car.
And that was near the wind down of that car.
Right.
They only made them to 94 96.
I want to say something like that.
Something like that.
Yep.
Was it?
Was it an S4 purchase?
77 78.
What's that?
It wasn't an S4.
Was it?
It didn't, didn't say on the bumper.
Gotcha.
So it wasn't neat car.
Yeah.
The 87 was the first year of the S4.
And then they came out with GT and GTS.
It was hard to tell what it was, but the other distance, but it
looked great.
It was going down the road.
No problem.
At least for as far as you were tailed like a little rocket ship.
And man, I wish I had taken a picture for you because I know
it's your one of your favorite childhood car.
Yeah.
And I'm happy because drive an Ivan, we're going to have him
on in a few weeks.
And in at least on his YouTube channel, he owned one for quite
a time.
So I can't wait to talk to an owner.
Yeah.
Looking forward to that in a few weeks.
So excellent.
Thank you on to, I think we've gotten, we were done with the
prologue and we've, we've gotten all the community announcements
out on to today's guest.
So Doug, please introduce the newest friend of the show.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we have a friend of the show.
His name is that crew Lawrence.
I met him by way of he was my neighbor.
He still lives in the area, but not, not right around the corner.
So he moved away from you as soon as he met you is basically
interesting.
I think we kicked him out of the neighborhood.
One of the two beautiful.
I've been here longer.
Yeah.
And yeah, Kroom turns out Kroom's got some great car stories.
We reconnected just recently over some venture that we're going
to chat with him about where he's trying to help diagnose mild
cognitive impairment in people using AI.
So we're going to chat about that.
But Kroom, why don't you introduce yourself if there's anything
I left out, which is probably a lot.
Well, it is just so fun to be with you guys.
I'm really thrilled.
And it was just going down memory lane was just so fun thinking
about all the different cars I've had over the years from the
70s, the 80s, the 90s, each with its own sort of, you know, each
era was a big time in my life where the, where the car really
was maybe emblematic of what I was going through or what I was
trying to accomplish or what I was trying to stand for.
But, but having grown up on a farm, you know, with, you know,
with Ford 1000 tractors that had this incredible energy and
power in the motor.
When I got to my first car, which we're going to talk about
the Mercedes Benz, the 240D, that sort of rhythmic thrum of
that engine has always been near and dear to my heart.
And so I hope we can talk a little bit about that as well
in the next couple of minutes.
All right.
So no, go ahead.
No, no.
I'm, I'm, I'm agreeing.
I was just before, before we start talking about the cars
here, you just kind of gloss over that you grew up on a farm.
And I find that so interesting.
If you could a minute or two on where it was, what that was
like, what did you grow?
Was it, was it successful?
What were your memories of it?
Did you pitch in at all?
That's wonderful.
And yeah, so I grew up on a small farm out in Virginia where
we had cows and pigs and 30.
Where in Virginia?
Where in Virginia?
Out in the plains, Virginia.
So if you go.
Oh yeah, beautiful.
Horse country.
Granddaddy was a, was essentially a cattle farmer.
And you know, dad is a small town lawyer.
So we had a, it was a little bit like the all creatures great
and small show on the BBC, you know, where we're out in the
middle of a blizzard with sheep and they're giving birth to
lambs and we're sort of covered in sort of muck trying to
like help sheep, you know, give, you know, give birth to their
lambs.
Lots of exciting moments, but a little bit different, Doug,
from our wonderful life in Annapolis, Maryland, where we
are and where we met just, you know, a couple of years back.
And so yeah, Doug and I, you know, we met in town and then
I've moved out a little bit closer to the babe.
It was great to reconnect Doug, especially to bring back
memories of the wonderful car in your garage.
And I hope we touch on that a little bit.
Sure.
I think it comes up often.
Happy to, happy to chat about it anytime.
I actually had it out yesterday.
He's got a couple of cars in the garage crew.
So which one are you referring to?
The one that runs, the one that doesn't?
I think the silver one.
Okay.
All right.
We'll let Doug take it from here.
That would be the 1981 DeLorean.
Okay.
That's amazing.
Fantastic.
Oh, right.
It's a great car.
It inspired this podcast.
Thanks to Christian, actually.
Yay.
He doesn't like to take credit, but he should.
Yeah.
Let me, let me pound on my nose here a little bit.
Get ready for my close up.
So what's the status of the Z in the garage too?
Or should we not talk about that?
Oh no.
I forget it's there sometimes.
The smile turned to a frown.
What happened with that?
A little close to home?
So quickly, um, in high school, one of my best friends had a 1990 Nissan 300 ZX when
they first changed, uh, body styles.
Z 32, um, not pop up headlights.
That was the Z 31.
I actually had a friend in high school at a Z 31 also.
And I always liked that car.
I had the, as I've talked about on other podcasts, I had a 89 240 SX, which was kind of the poor
man's version of that car.
I always liked that car.
Um, keeping the story short, that car, wanting to buy the 300 ZX got me partially into my
field, looking in the want ads, thinking in 1991, 92.
What am I going to do for a job as a career and Hey, here's a job as a network administrator.
It will pay $31,000 a year.
And, uh, so fast forward 30 plus years.
I forgot about the car.
I never bought it.
And, uh, one day I just went and got one and, uh, what it was a impulse purchase.
If it got a few times on my very narrow street in Annapolis, it's about five different colors
and it's in my garage.
And I hope that resurrected.
Amen.
And that is beautiful.
And you know, that's the thing about getting these items on the bucket list.
At some point in your life, you got to start checking them off.
And so I, I think that is, um, that is commendable.
That you checked it off and we're moving on, speaking of moving on.
So crew, would it be fair to say that your first car was a tractor or was your first
car a Ben's first car was a tractor.
So I would sit on my dad's lap.
He would teach me how to, you know, use it safely.
And then by probably the age of probably 10 or 11, I would, I would go out and bush
hog in fields, you know, just buy myself on the, on the tractor and they can be extremely
dangerous.
Very powerful.
They could turn over.
They can be lethal.
But, um, but we still have them today.
In fact, we have two of them and they run beautifully.
They're, they were from 1965.
So all these years later, these tractors start up.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
You're saying the tractor that you drove as a child still on your folks farm.
Yep.
What, what kind of tractor?
You know, did it 1000?
It's a, it's like a, it's a classic sort of blue.
Um, yeah, I know it's nice.
You've seen them around.
Um, we have one that it's called highlight.
One, another we have called low light.
They're in, they're in continuous states of, of fixing up and repair.
Sure.
But when they run, they are incredibly, you know, comfortable and powerful can do
everything you need to do.
Right.
So, so for the people out there, don't think big combine.
This is about the size of a small car, no cab, no air conditioning.
Um, yeah.
Okay.
So kind of a one-seater for you to do your thing.
And was it a diesel?
Was it a diesel?
They're gas.
They're gas.
Okay.
Oh.
Massey Ferguson, that is diesel.
So I have, you know, you have to have a little bit of a love of the smell of
diesel when you're going on a farm or something.
Well, a little piece of trivia, uh, both Porsche and Lamborghini started
making tractors.
Really?
That is great trivia.
Great nugget.
Yeah.
And then there are all these legends like they were angry.
What, what, what was one guy went into the Ferrari dealership and was,
and was disrespected.
That's not a true story.
That was Ruchio Lamborghini.
Lamborghini.
He wasn't happy with the clutches and he was making tractors at the time.
So he's like, he got disrespected by, um, by, uh, Mr. Ferrari and so,
and, uh, he's like, yeah, I'll build something.
I'll build a competitor.
No, that's not true.
Is there you have it?
It is.
That story's a part of, no, it's true.
It's true.
Amen.
Let's go with it.
So speaking of diesel, crew was so taken with the tractor that his first car
was, tell us about it, crew.
The 240 D.
So this was a classic, you know, from, uh, the early 80s.
This was a 1984, uh, 2.4 line, an inline for, uh, that probably had about 250,000
miles on it.
So it was probably about a quarter of what it was supposed to do.
These things were supposed to go a million miles.
And they're enormous for being, you know, incredibly slow, but incredibly powerful
and just a lot of momentum and a lot of steel.
And just, you know, kind of a, kind of a funny ride.
You know, you stomp on the gas, a huge cloud of black smoke comes out the back.
You know, in the winter time, you'd have to, you know, turn on the glow lights.
They have a little weird glow bulbs.
And then it was actually the first plug-in, right?
So back in the day, and I plug in this element.
Yeah.
So we're really ahead of our time, you know, with this thing.
It was a plug-in diesel.
That's right.
Yeah.
You know, we had seen them as taxi cabs, you know, in Germany.
They're sort of everywhere.
They're not a luxury car at all.
So we had, we had called ours the Lime Lemo.
The Lime Lemo.
We now know the color.
That's right.
It was green.
I'll just say one more little tidbit, which is sort of funny and maybe gets back to my
country roots a little bit.
Is it the green color was starting to fade?
You know, the thing was so old, you know, and it had been, you know, several times
several hundred thousand miles.
So we then had it camouflaged because it would, you know, and so we were like,
let's just roll this thing out into the duct blind.
And we'll just stand up out of the roof and, you know, blast away at the geese or
something like that.
Are you serious?
Yeah.
We literally had the thing camouflaged, you know, at its last sort of end of life
stage.
Anyway, there it was in the driveway.
It was camouflaged 240D.
Anyway, the thing, you couldn't kill it.
Indestructible.
Yeah, I kept going.
You'll see these things on the road now.
You will.
And gosh, I was, I was going through the Craigslist one ads once.
The guy had one of these for sales and he said, man, this is it.
This is the original battle wagon.
And I always thought that that was interesting because as you say, Indestructible,
just keep going and going and going.
Yep.
The model code is W123.
Correct.
Known as the greatest car ever made.
Yep.
It's only debate that, but at least back in the 80s, you know, this thing is
domitable.
Yep.
I was, I think I told you before we started, I, or maybe it was over a text.
I was watching a show called the Car Wizard on YouTube that I really like.
And he happened to have a 240D on last night.
I'm like, perfect timing.
Awesome.
Got to learn about it.
And yeah, they're, they're very prized.
I mean, especially once from the West coast, people will pay third upwards at 30 grand
or more.
If you've ever had one, you know, there's a distinctive leather smell.
That's what they were talking about.
Really do text.
Yeah.
I don't know what it is, but it's very distinctive.
Yes.
And then you mixed out with a little diesel.
Even have like a, like a, you know, to go cut maybe a little light beer.
You know, you might be cruising down the country roads in there.
Anyway, it's a whole lifestyle.
Yep.
It is.
It is.
And everybody's got a, at least from our generation, everybody's got a Mercedes diesel
story.
Right.
Right.
Christian, you helped out your girlfriend.
You had a Mercedes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was, God, Lee, this podcast, it dredges up so many memories.
Good and bad.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was dating this girl for a short time and she drove one of these.
Like this exact one.
It was this big, it was just jet black.
It was like, it was like, uh, roll, rolling around, you know, having first dates at a
hearse or something, but this, this thing was something else.
I mean, I'll never forget.
I haven't thought about this in decades.
We went, we were going to Arlington National Cemetery and, uh, we park and she can't roll
up the windows and she flips out.
What are we going to do?
What are we for?
I don't think it, you know, nobody's going to break in your car.
We're Arlington National Cemetery.
Give me a break.
But I said, you know, it's probably just a fuse, honey.
Let's, uh, let's go crack the hood and get under there.
Fuse bot on.
There's a spare one right here and we plop one in and five minutes later.
Windows are working.
She thought I had split the atom.
It was unbelievable on and on about, boy, I got free dinner that night.
Let me tell you, but yeah, they just kind of kept going and I, you know, I drove a rust bucket.
Um, didn't have the best luck with cars back in the day.
I made her drive everywhere and it was just like being chauffeured.
That, that was a great car, man.
And like you say, had this very upscale interior.
Obviously it was luxury for the time that it was made.
Yeah.
Uh, just beautiful.
So well appointed on the inside.
Absolutely a beautiful machine.
Did she mind you, uh, sitting in the back seat while she was driving?
Oh no, I guess, I guess I was sitting in the front.
It wasn't the line limo is the black limo.
Right.
Yeah.
This, yeah, this thing was a trip and this thing was a trip anyway.
Yeah.
Okay.
So this was the, this was the greatest car ever until Chrome until he liked the product
line so much.
His next car was a.
Well, a 300 D turbo diesel.
So it was the same thing, but a little bit longer.
It had the turbo and so it, so it really then had some good acceleration,
but still the same weight and just the diesel odor and all the,
all the things that go with that, the crazy box and stuff.
Yeah.
It had an inline five.
Is that correct?
I think so.
Yes.
Inline five.
This one was also sort of indestructible.
It's funny when you were talking about your girlfriend, I was,
I was on this incredible, you know, this wonderful romantic date with a wonderful
girlfriend of mine back in the day and we're driving around and these,
you know, I don't know, we're driving through this parking lot and somehow I,
I was, I was focused on this conversation with my girlfriend and I drove the car
off this five foot retaining wall in between these two parking lots and
probably the sort of this mall went right off this five foot wall.
The thing just, just absolutely landed like a big hunk of steel and it was totally fine.
Didn't, it was zero damage to the chassis.
Nothing was bent.
The thing drove beautifully.
It was, it was a funny memory, you know, thinking about that coming on today.
Fantastic.
I can't believe that story that you're here to tell the tale.
The moral of the story is you got to pay attention when you're driving.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah, right.
I mean, you know, can't, can't be distracted when driving.
Can't be, it's a bad look on your first date to, you know, run your,
run your companion off an embankment or something.
Yes.
Just think that would be a problem.
Words of wisdom.
Doug, what do you think about all that?
Well, I think if the Mercedes is indestructible,
Kroom's going to find a way to see if that's true.
I guess so.
And yeah, three nuggets.
We got to squeeze in here before we go any further in writing.
So, so Kroom let us know that.
Okay.
So the first car, the 240d, his dad got him for his 18th birthday.
Phenomenal.
Fantastic.
Love that.
And in describing his first car, he says it was slow and smelled like diesel,
but was unstoppable, which I love.
And the next car he describes as a little, this is the 300 turbo diesel,
a little faster, but still smelled like diesel.
So it obviously made a big impression on you, man,
there must be diesel running through your veins.
I think you're right.
And that, you know, the smell of weather and the diesel, it's all,
it all comes back.
All these great memories have grown up.
I do remember, I think it was $3,600 used.
So we, I think we got it with 100,000 or 120,000 miles on it.
So very, you know, not, you know, seemed economical at the time and just needed,
you know, probably a couple of thousand dollars a year to kind of keep it going.
You know, you know, the repairs weren't necessarily cheap,
you know, going to the car and auto place.
But anyway, it was a lot of fun.
And I took that down to college and was able to drive people around and all
that kind of thing.
So I bet good, good stories there.
I can't remember where it ended up.
Unfortunately, I was trying to think what was the ultimate to my car.
That one's not it.
I bet you they're still driving it somewhere.
Oh, you know, I forgot to ask you, and this was going to be a new segment.
Living out in Virginia, I live in the DC area.
You were a little farther out, but were there any radio stations you liked when
you were driving this Mercedes and any particular songs when you were thinking
back to the 84 and 90 Benzes?
Well, you know, I do.
You know, we used to love DC 101.
We love DC 101.
Yeah.
I remember that.
I grew up listening to that for a long, long time.
Some of the, you know, they played a lot of the classic rock stuff, you know,
probably a little AC DC and probably a little Grateful Dead and little Eagles
and some doors and all that stuff.
I remember we did go to an AC DC concert.
We were teenagers and, you know, just total nincompoops.
We got these bean jackets.
We cut off the sleeves, put on, you know, t-shirts and you were trying to look all
cool and stuff, you know, rolling up in this and this old Benz.
It didn't make any sense, but, you know, what are you going to do?
You were the height of cool, my friend with cut off Jean Jackets going to an AC DC
show in your Benz.
The height of cool, man.
That was a good years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you're moving forward.
What's your current car?
Right.
So I ended up with, I was getting in, I was interested in AI, right?
And I did end up reading the Elon Musk biography, which I thought was very interesting.
And I ended up getting a, I got a series three, the little baby Tesla white on white.
So I bought that now and I drive it to death.
And that thing is an incredible workhorse.
Very happy with that car because there's just a lot of cool stuff going on.
You know, it updates every two weeks and it's, you know, just the software and the
functionality and the capability just keeps getting better and better and better.
It's just fascinating to watch the evolution of that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I'm on my second Tesla.
My first was model three and yeah, it was amazing from the day I bought it to the day
I sold it.
It got better.
It got faster.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
It was more responsive.
The features, it just kind of unbelievable, right?
For sure.
They call that the software defined car, some people have said.
That's fascinating.
And I think you were telling us about some interesting features and there was in the
new Model Y, but also available in some other cars outside of Tesla.
And we were talking about that and the tie-in to your company.
Well, yeah.
So the, you know, sky is the limit on imagination.
If you have an iPad on wheels and a battery, you know, and different sensors, you can do
a lot.
And one of the fascinating things, you know, that Elon did was really to streamline and
strip out as many sensors as he could just to save costs, reduce weight, but he really
had a minimalist approach to the series three that I thought was interesting.
But now in the healthcare context, you can add back different sensors that, you know,
in some instances can measure your heart rate, you know, look at your breathing rate, look
at different, you know, aspects of mood or other capabilities that could have sort of
a more real-time healthcare capability.
So if you are, if you're having, if you're feeling anxious or stressed, it could automate
into a more relaxing mode.
If you're having some sort of visible, you know, health or cardiovascular event, you
know, the car could detect that potentially in the future and it's automatically reroute
you and take you to the ER.
There are just some interesting use cases that I'm trying to follow and understand,
you know, that are, I think are very inspiring and I think practical and frankly don't cost
anything.
It's just simply code and capability, you know, it's just marvelous to see.
If you can, if you can dream it, it's, it's there, right, the future, the future is there,
right?
That's, I think that's right.
How, so interesting that you mentioned that the nexus of healthcare in the car, the car
being able to take you somewhere where you need to go and at this point in the show,
we'd like to pivot to what it is you do for a living, your passion, what do you do during
the day and, and, and how does that interweave with, with what we're just talking about?
Well, thank you.
And so I am interested, I've been in the healthcare commercialization space for my career ever
since in the late nineties, really more coming out of biopharma.
And then I've gotten into diagnostics and digital and AI powered care.
AI stuff on the diagnostic side, they're usually in the bioinformatics, AI on the commercial
side is more automating content marketing, automating digital experiences.
But I, so I'm thinking all the time about bringing medical breakthroughs to market.
So I will work with scientific founders to, they might have discovered something that is
that's absolutely game-changing, it's on the shelf, they need help to get it to market.
And so, you know, I just loved, and I think you have to be a hands-on keyboard person
this day and age.
So even being in the Tesla, just experiencing the software, the language, the, the data
privacy elements, the opt-ins, the updates, the personality that comes from the Tesla,
that you can kind of get a sense of, you know, Elon's sort of potty humor, if you will, you know,
but it injects some personality.
But all those things, I think, equals sort of the kind of a brand experience that's unique
and, and ownable and exciting.
And I, I frankly try to bring that inspiration back to some of the work that I do in the healthcare
setting, you know.
So to me, it's all kind of one integrated experience, everybody else.
Yeah, I like that, I like that.
And as we ramp down the podcast and, and move to conclusion here, one last thing I'd like
to discuss with you is your, you have this outlook and about how the body can kind of,
I can't really put it into words the way you can, but how the body sort of is a great analogy
for a car and vice versa with holistic machines working.
And Doug and I were talking about this some time ago.
So, yeah, could you, could you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah, well, there's some fascinating philosophical dimensions and that are very practical.
So in the human body, you know, my work at Alzheimer's and mild cognitive impairment,
if the, if the body is unhealthy, your brain is going to be unhealthy.
And so we're taught that there are a lot of different functional systems in the body.
Really, there's one system, it's super interdependent.
And so when we look at cognitive health and body health, it really is just having
like a 30 point checklist.
And so that, I think the car is the same way, right?
I mean, you know, it's a bunch of independent parts,
but it really has to function as one independent or one integrated system.
Like my Mercedes, like if there's one little tiny plug that's out,
you know, your toast, right?
So you got to make sure all the parts work.
And we had a little chuckle earlier thinking back to a Saturday Night Live skit, you know,
I can't remember who it was, but, you know, it's something the notion of
it's better to look good than to feel good.
But I think with the car, it's both.
And I think with the human body, it's both.
You need to look good.
You need to feel good, you know, because sometimes the exterior of the car
is sort of emblematic of what's happening on the inside.
You can use of how to kind of keep this integrated system going,
you know, at its best performance.
And yeah, you raise a good point in one of the most.
So the body is this incredibly complex machine, the brain even more so, so mysterious even now.
And people say, well, how can I ward off these these bad things that you were talking about
happen to me later in life?
And it's as simple as being active and what you put in your body.
There's there's no magic.
There's no real magic rest genetics to to a degree,
but overwhelmingly being active, moving, very simple to do.
Put a pull up bar on your parlor and then just eating.
Look, more salads, less carbs, that sort of thing.
Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful.
So and could you could you talk a little bit or as much as you would care to
about your company, maybe its name, its website, if you care to?
Well, sure, sure.
So predictive health care is the company.
The URL is predictcare.ai.
And that's a that's a fractional chief marketing officer consultancy.
My favorite company, though, which is adjacent to it is called Accurist AI.
And that's a teleservices company where we have a compound pharmacy.
We have OTC retail.
To build holistic solutions really outside of the health care system.
So health care is such a thorny mess.
And it's so daunting.
You wait months and months to get an appointment.
You get a couple of minutes with the doctor.
You may not have access.
So we're really trying to build care for consumers, for people,
really in the longevity space.
And so if you can have a million mile Tesla, we want to have a million mile body.
And so we're focused a lot on what you're talking about, a healthy mind,
healthy, healthy body.
And it can be really simple.
I mean, changing out a spark plug or changing out one of those.
Those weird Mercedes Benz things.
It's a lot like eating your salad.
You know, and if you procrastinate with your car, same thing as procrastinating with your body,
you got to get out in front of it and sort of lean into the prevention thing.
Such a good point.
Such a good point.
Well, Kroom, it's been such a pleasure meeting you, getting to know you, hearing about your past.
Thank you for being willing to be on the show and for stepping into our world tonight.
We had a blast.
Thanks, guys.
Me too.
Great to be on.
Yeah, did it.
Yeah.
You are welcome back anytime.
So Doug, what do you think?
We're going to guide this to the off ramp.
Did you have anything further?
Can we talk us out?
I think you've talked us out.
Amen.
And it was great reconnecting with Kroom.
And you and I are going to catch up some more about some other adjacent work.
Yep.
Yeah, Kroom, we've been talking about you for some time.
So this was such a pleasure.
We appreciate you again.
Thank you.
So fun.
Thank you.
All right.
He is Doug at CarsLove.com.
I'm Christian at CarsLove.com.
He was Kroom.
And this was a great episode.
Thanks for spending some time with us.
Please follow and tell a friend, write a review if you like what you hear.
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We appreciate you listening and we'll see you next time.
About this episode
A nostalgic journey through the automotive experiences of Kroom Lawrence, who shares his decades-long love affair with Mercedes diesels before transitioning to Tesla. Kroom recounts his first car, a 1984 Mercedes 240D, and its indestructible nature, along with amusing stories from his youth, including a memorable date gone awry. The conversation also touches on the evolution of cars, the integration of AI in healthcare, and how Kroom's background in farming influenced his appreciation for powerful machines. This episode blends personal anecdotes with insights into the automotive world.
Original notes
Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
Croom's first "car" was a Ford 1000 Tractor. His second was a 1984 Mercedes 240D diesel that he drove into the ground—and kept driving.
Most people see a Mercedes diesel from the '80s as just another old car. Croom saw it as a philosophy: build something right once, maintain it properly, and it'll outlast everything around it. That same thinking would eventually guide him from farm life to the cutting edge of healthcare AI.
The million-mile Mercedes isn't just about durability—it's about the mindset that comes from trusting something enough to keep investing in it long after others would have quit.
In this episode, Croom shares:
- What driving a farm tractor first teaches you about vehicles (it's not what you think)
- Why he chose a Mercedes 240D when he could have bought something newer
- The actual cost of maintaining a "million-mile" diesel vs. buying new cars every few years
- How diesel engine philosophy translates to healthcare AI development
- The specific moment he realized the car had taught him more than transportation
- What farm life and healthcare technology have in common (this is fascinating)
There's one story about the Mercedes breaking down at the worst possible moment that Croom says changed how he thinks about reliability itself. You'll want to hear what happened next.
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