How Long Will Electric Cars Survive? Best Ferrari Under $100K? The Next Popemobile? THISCARPOD! EP72

How Long Will Electric Cars Survive? Best Ferrari Under $100K? The Next Popemobile? THISCARPOD! EP72

Kenan. I’m Fippo. There’s a lot to discuss today. Let’s start with the news. Can we first say welcome back, Ken? Thank you. It’s very good to be back. I’ve been gone for a long time. I was in Europe. I’m really happy to be home and we’re going to discuss all that. Kenan has done some some gallivanting and it’s a lot of automotive related stuff and that will be coming up in the talk car segment where we talk about cars. But first, we have to talk about cars. Go ahead. Good call. All right. Riven, uh, which makes SUVs and pickup trucks, uh, said this week that they lost $1.1 billion in Q2 of this year. Now on about $1.3 billion of revenues. Now, their revenues are up and they lost less this year than they lost in Q2 of last year. So, they are improving, still down. Uh, revenue was up 13% from this Q2 of last year. Uh last year they also lost about $ 1.5 billion dollars. So really they’re they’re doing better. But uh RJ Scaring, the CEO of Rivian did say on their earnings call that there’s a few big factors that are impacting this. Uh one is they can’t really sell uh like EV credits anymore. Like that they they and Tesla and others used to sell regulatory credits because they don’t sell any gas powered cars and other companies explain that. So car companies that car companies that need to meet some sort of mandate in terms of emissions capability or whatever uh output can buy credits from electric car companies or could in the past but that’s gone away right yeah the a lot of the requirements I think it still exists a little bit but a lot of the requirements around that for other companies have gone away so they no longer need to purchase those credits that Rivian Lucid Tesla whatever Can I ask you a question Filipo my Italian friend y is is is an electric car company re a sustainable business model anymore. Maybe I mean they’re losing less money than before. Uh also I I want to announce to all of our listeners next week the podcast we will we will be having this podcast the three of us we will also have a fourth guest which is R.J. Scourage the CEO of Rivian exactly what we should ask. Yes, we could ask him about this. Like I I it’s an interesting question, right? Because like it was hard before. Rivian was losing money before. They’ve taken away some of the things that have made it easier to be an EV company. Um and obviously Rivian you’d think would have their biggest success when the products are brand new, just being rolled out. Very exciting. They’re starting to get old now. They have some new stuff coming, but presumably at lower profit margins because it’s cheaper. uh and and might potentially cannibalize the sales of of the bigger, more expensive, more profitable stuff. I mean, it’s it’s an position to be in. I mean, we we talked last week about how pretty much every European auto maker was complaining heavily. They weren’t saying it explicitly, but they were fundamentally saying our earnings will be and profits will be way lower this year because of tariffs, because of the because of our investments in EV that have or have not paid off. Uh Honda had a large uh had to declare a large loss due to that as well uh in Q2. Um it’s a tough regulatory environment to work in. It’s a tough market to work in. And also then there’s other impacts. They’ve said that uh tariffs. So by the way, Rivian makes all their cars in the US. They’ve said that tariffs are expected to cost about a couple thousand dollars per vehicle that they build. So just cost. Rivian builds this car in Illinois. They’re still have to deal with all these tariffs. Um Kenan, what’s your favorite car to ever come out of the factory where they build the Rivian? Wasn’t Oh, didn’t they? Isn’t that the old Viper? Tell him, Filipo, what was what was made there? You know what mine is? The Rivian R1S. Nice. Nice. Well said. Well done. But but my second favorite was the Plymouth Plymouth Laser RS Turbo. Oh, good answer. Well, the factory the factory is DSM. You know, back in the day that meant something. DSM. You’d say that. Now it’s just Now it’s just a medical people use it, right? But it back in the day when I was a kid, you said DSM and you knew you were talking about Hot important nights. You knew you were talking about going to the to the to the warehouse area late at night to do drag racing. Anybody who dropped that that those three letters, you knew what they were about. You understand, Filipo? Yeah, I I very very much do. I do want to say on on Rivian, I mean, we’re excited to talk to R.J. and and to like ask him some of these questions. I suspect that they view this as a little bit of a win though. I mean, revenue rose 13% year-over-year. They’ve kept their sale projections the same uh for the rest of the the year. Uh the market didn’t really react that favorably. Stock price fell about 5% after uh earnings were were announced. But it’s not a horrible spot to be in as long as you’re comfortable burning about four to five billion dollars a year. Where it’s tough to to lose that kind of money though. Yeah. Where does um what do you think RJ’s favorite DSM car was? the equip that the laser. Yeah. Um question. When does the R2 go on sale? Looks like R2 goes on sale in 26. At least first half of 26. That’ll have a big impact. Yeah. On on whatever. I mean, like I’m not really sure. I’m not sure in terms of revenue profitability. I don’t know. But uh it’ll be interesting to see. That’ll probably be the Rivian, right? One’s an R1, but they’re big money. But the R2 looks like an R1, but it’s cheaper. Like that’ll be the Rivia. That’s the one Philippo’s going to get. Well, the R3 is the one I’m most excited about, but I think marketwise it’s more the R2 is going to be the one that is criticality. The R3 is also further away. I agree. I’m more excited about the R3, but I think the R3 doesn’t go on sale. It’s for another year, a year after the R. So, so we’re still we’re still 6 months away from R2. We’re a year and six months away from the R3. Yep. I will say Riven confirmed on the on this earnings call that that they’re still targeting the same base price for the R2 around $45,000. Uh which is notable because it’s no longer eligible for a tax credit that they were planning on. So they they know they need to sell units and keep the price low. Do you think here’s a one to ponder. Do you think the R4 will fly? Oh, it’s another question for R.J. It’s another question for R.J. What’s your favorite DSM car? Will the R4 fly? Is an electric car company a sustainable business model? This is gonna be our podcast next week. It’s gonna be a whopper, folks. It will be quite something. I think that asking are there features from other cars that they’re considering like floating or flying or jumping? That’s a good question. Chinese cars jump. RJ, the Chinese will ri I’m just looking forward to the email that we get from R.J. like you know, I really just just thought about it again. I don’t know that I want to do this podcast. That’s not going to happen. RJ’s legit. Let me tell you something. Rivian is like a fun young if if we if this if we were having this conversation about Audi, they would never talk to us again, right? Flying Audi’s. You were in that commercial that they just was a little bit of fun throwing some water balloons and the Germans like no is not supposed to happen. We made a big mistake. We made a mistake with an Audi commercial. I was in an Audi commercial and we had fun. And the Germans, what they do when you have fun is they put a stop to it instantly. No. No. Take it to V. And the real They actually do. They have fun, but it’s specified hours. And we had had fun outside the specified hours. Big mistake. Yeah. Yeah. Classic. It was unpun. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, okay. What other car What other news do we have here? All right. This gentleman uh is named Adrian Mardell. This is crazy. This is crazy. Tell us the story. I’m going to give you my take, which is I don’t know. Jaguar will never have us on. All right. Adrien Mardell was and actually still is till till November the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover. Jaguar Land Rover of course makes zero Jaguars and some amount of Land Rovers. They they they do still make Land Rovers. He announced last week that he was retiring after 3 years as a CEO of Jaguar Land Rover and after 35 years with the company. Uh the a gentleman will be taking his place uh uh PP Balagi who is currently the CFO of Tata Motors which owns Jagur. I can’t believe you didn’t have a you didn’t pull up a picture of PB Balagi. Okay, I’m going to describe PB Balagi for you. Oh god. You see the You see the guy here? Yeah. A lot like that. Now, it’s interesting because he’s Indian, but it’s the same old it’s it the reason I bring this up as surprising is because Jaguar is doing this rebrand where they’re trying to appeal to like you remember the video Filippo? Of course. Oh yeah, it was like people. It was like a woman dressed in a yellow box and then a man who looked like a tiger and then like and then there was like went across the screen and and who did they hire as the CEO to carry out the vision of this uh 62year-old businessman. Yeah. I mean, look, I get your point, but at the same time, credit to uh to Mr. Mardell, Jaguar aside, if we forget about Jaguar, which again sells zero cars currently. Yes. Uh he in the three years of CEO took Jaguar Landover as a whole from heavily bleeding money to being an actually profitable company and making the best profits ever. All driven by Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are they profitable because they’re currently not spending money since they’re not in production, but they are still selling off excess? Land Rover is part of Jaguar Land Rover and Land Land Rover to their credit does actually make money. What do you mean in three years? The Defender came out six years ago. What do you got? I mean, maybe they stopped investing in new products. I don’t know. But they they they had some some strong financial growth over that. In his view, like Steve Jobs said about Apple back in the day is that Jaguar was a ship with a hole in the bottom and it was sinking dramatically. And his job was to get the ship pointed in the right direction. Still sinking. Look, I think he decided that it’s better if the s the that sh I mean Land Rover must be a fun brand to run. Like ultimately he like there that’s a real brand that has real interest in from people and sells real cars. No. Yeah. A lot of the articles have already basically said like he turned around the business around for for JR generally. Uh it it had three consecutive excuse me 10 consecutive profitable quarters under leadership after being quite unprofitable. But probably we’ll all remember him for this Jaguar rebrand situation with the pink rock and also for the new Range Rover logo. Oh yes, don’t forget about that. What a legacy. And you remember the like the woman in a yellow box. And I do. And I remember the the guy uh with no hair uh the was wearing like a trash bag. I remember that guy with no hair wearing a trash bag. Then and then later in the video there was a squirrel wearing a smok. Well, that might have actually saved them, but it didn’t. You know, I thought the podcast would be less unhinged without Nick. I was wrong. I’m not wrong about any of this stuff. Move on to the next story. No, that’s that’s the thing that’s crazy. All right. Uh, Mercedes-Benz a chart. Yeah, it’s a chart. We’re doing a PowerPoint here on the third quarter. The numbers are going to be uh we have courtesy of Motor One some leaked MercedesBenz product planning plans. So, this is basically their product road map uh for 2026 2027 for new models that are coming out. This is a really notable product offensive is how every newspaper is is describing it. Now, some of them, is it going to be as good as their last product offensive where they gave us the EQC SUV which sold one unit? You have to hope it’s better. But that is the CLA shooting brake. And that’s the electric global. This is a global. Yeah. Am I getting Am I getting Hey, am I getting an an E-class station wagon electric or what? I can’t see this, but I’m I’m I I’m Maybe it turns out they’re all shrouded in mystery still. Some of them What does it look like? Like tell me tell me if the car shapes are all identical. Uh okay, fine. But like but like just extrapolate extrapolate like assume I’ll take B I’ll take battery electric or plugin. But you got to assume like if it in the mid let me explain Mercedes they got the midsize that’s E-Class. If there’s like several products there and they’re electric, one of them is probably an E-Class station safety. You know what I’m saying? It’s a good bet. Uh it is broken up with the top end where they’re clearly investing a lot of resources core where eh at entry level or eh um CLA isn’t one of them. We believe that there’s a new GLC facelift. A bunch of these, if we’re being honest, are going to be facelifts of existing models, but we do know that they’ve paused sales in the US of their EQ lineup. Uh and even though they haven’t paused sales of the G580 with the U technology, well they’ve paused they’ve paused imports. Sales will continue because there are decades of them stacked up. They got two and a half years day supply of taken. You know what they should do? This is thought for me. You know what they should do? Kenon, chime in if you agree. If you don’t agree, don’t chime in. They should make an off-road GLS. It bounces already. It exists. I’m good. I’m not going to chime in on that one. It exists. Now, that one’s all technically exist. I want a GLS with meaty tires and some flared fenders and some attitude and a bullbar, which probably is no longer legal because of regulations, but I want like kind of GLS. You know what I’m saying? You sound like a prince making demands. And I want a bullbar on my Make it. Put on Put on giant lights on the roof. make it make it so hello. This is all to say that they’re clearly investing very heavily and recognizing that their product lineup is either not very successful at the moment or outdated, which is some of their products really are at this point. Uh, and they’re coming out with a lot. The top end is quite heavy outdated. What do you think’s outdated? A lot of their products are still doing okay, but the the E-Class is new. The C-Class is a couple years old and due for a facelift. The new brand new GLC is newish. The GLE has been around for a hot minute as has the GLS at this point. That the GLS that generation came out in 2018. Yeah, but it feels new. Yeah, but it came out in 2018. When I see one, I still think, damn. What about the the what are the the GB? Do you think damn about a GB? The GB is that still around? I haven’t seen one since I got here. I haven’t seen one in three months. It’s been nice. I believe it is. And I will say I do think it still has a third row, so that’s something. Uh point is Mercedes making a lot of products. Some of them are going to be electric. Mhm. About a little bit under half. Yeah. Do you think I mean the previous electric incarnation of Mercedes-Benz was not a heavy hitter? No. So, you have to hope for them that this one will be. Did any of the electric Mercedes do well? They could. They could. They electrified a G Wagon, the most desired hot selling weightless vehicle in the entire car market. And even that didn’t sell. Yeah. They also chose to not really electrify in a way anybody wanted any of their core products. I totally disagree. I would have first off I would have an EQS, but second I want an EQG or whatever it’s called now. Like I would take one now. I wouldn’t pay I’d pay 883. I think you’re like if if you meet halfway, the dealer’s in. I I will only meet at the 883 figure. Uh might take a few years. Uh I bet it will take about 18 months based on how I’m already seeing used ones selling for. Not wrong. Not wrong. No one really teaches you about credit. I I have all the good news stories. I’m so thrilled. All right. Porsche currently sells a Macan and a Macan EV, right? The Macan EV new. The Macan, not EV, not new. That came out in 20 2015. Thank you. Explain. Explain it to me like you would a child. I I felt like I had to. The Macan came out in 2015. It’s a 10-year-old product at this point. It’s also their like bestselling product. The thought was that the EV Macan would replace it fully, but they’ve kept it around. an Porsche Macan classic, if you will. Yes. Um, okay. There will apparently, based on news this week, be a successor to the gas powered Macan coming out in 2028. This is basically Porsche saying, “Yeah, we didn’t plan on making another one, but now we know that we really, really, really, really, really need to.” I I will I do want to stick up for Porsche here. I They had never said this would replace the the gas one. They they were going to sell them in tandem. I think they were hoping it would replace the gas one. Now, and obviously that’s not going to happen now, thank God. We What the big question though, at least for the purposes of this podcast, is what about the mid-enine cars? The the Cayman and the Boxster are gas now. They’ve out of production. They’re going to be replaced. It’s it’s the ton of talk about they’re going to be replaced by electric. The demand for electric has fallen off. The tariff situation has happened. The electric vehicle incentives have have decreased. Are they really still going to commit to creating electric versions of the Boxster and Cayman instead of gas versions? I wouldn’t count on it. I mean, Porsche is in a really tough spot. They’ve had an incredibly incredibly tough 2025. Chinese sales are way down. US sales are down, and they’ve had to raise prices really notably on the 911. I I view this as a oh, we need to make sure we have products that we can actually sell and make some profit on uh in the the US. I do know that there’s a EV uh Cayenne coming out cuz they’ve been showing that everywhere. It’s a tough market to invest really heavily in a whole new product line where there isn’t that much interest in EV anything right now. Yeah, they they might be so late in it that like they will still choose, hey, may as well build it and defay our our R&D costs, but I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. I tough market. It is a tough market. I don’t know. And the market has kind of spoken clearly of what they want from Porsche and manufacturers in general. So, they’re just in a really hard position. I will say I don’t know that I agree with the thank god they’re making a new Macan gasp powered car. I mean, good for Porsche sales, but like Well, the GTI exists. Wait, wait. What do you mean? It’s their most It’s their most popular car. Of course, they’re going to make that. Yeah. What’s the problem with that? Don’t you No. No. You You sounded excited by it and I I I view it as You don’t like the Macan? That’s fine, dude. Used ones are 16 and they’re fast and they’re fun. Yeah, but as I said, the GTI exists and it’s the same engine. The GTI exist. It’s the same engine in the base Macan. Dude, me and Ken me and me and Ken pull up the site. Pull up the site. Pull up the site. Type in Macan Turbo up there. No, no. I I’m familiar with what Macan Turbos sell for. Look at that. What What are they selling? Answer is $13,700. Go back to that. What do they What kind of power these have? 4 420 450 something like that. That’s right. 420 400 400 400 more than 50 more. Let’s let’s let’s go split these. Well, well, I don’t think horse buy one. Exactly. Precisely. That is remarkable. It’s got 50 more horses than an SQ5. It’s got a dual clutch and it’s quicker around corners. That is a cool car. And you’re going to be over here tell I don’t really care if they make one or not. Mel Fippo, you wanted to make one. Plus, carsandbids.com, which by the way is the creator of this podcast. I think it might be me, but it might be them. We made a lot of money on macans. Dude, you need a new Macan. You got to feed the beast. So true. So true. The sound effect really such a good point. Give us our next news story there. Uh, yes. So, Corvette has So, Chevy has released some very interesting stuff about the C8. Really, it’s lap times and the new price of the ZR1X. The big talking point is that the ZR1 set a time of 65763 around the Nurburg Ring. So fast. Yes. And the 01X did a 649 275 which is I mean blisteringly fast. Anything in and around the 7minute mark is crazy. I was just there and experienced it myself. Not a 7 minute or sub 7 minute. Not a 7inut quite far off in an E46 touring which I’ll talk about later. But this was the current production car record is the Black Series at 648. What did that do? 649. 649. Pretty amazing. So, it makes it beat the the Mustang GTD, which held the American record at $652.072. The big thing is that they also released the MSRP of the ZR1X, which is 207,000, which is a lot of money, but it’s a heck of a lot less than the GTD, or 217 if you want a convertible. Or 217 if you want a convertible, which of course you do. No. Why would you? What are you going to try to do? Put down 664. So, though that’s it’s a lot of money, but these cars are so legit. That’s one of the fastest cars ever around this 207 is not that much money for one of the fastest record holding. Now I will tell you I will tell you I I erred a second ago when I said the Black Series has the record. The actual record is the AMG1 which did a 629. However, that doesn’t count because it cost $5 million. But I will say though, it says over here that the record was certified by a notary which is so German. Like it’s like we we’re gonna we don’t we’re not gonna believe you unless you have like a woman there with a stamp. So that’s the German way to take something incredibly exciting and make it very boring. Okay. So I think well there a couple couple more things. One is it was driven by Drew Kantel who is their uh development engineer. Wasn’t a I mean obviously to this kind of time you do need to be very a good driver but it wasn’t a professional known racing driver who did this which makes him the fastest nonpro driver to go around. It’s pretty crazy. Um, but I think this I mean the C8 we know is a wonderful platform. This just underscores like American manufacturers are making some cool stuff right now and that is an incredible time and the engineers at GM should be very proud of that. Is 7-Eleven a base C8? No, that’s the Z06. That’s the Z6. That’s the Z06 which is also a 7-Eleven is a pretty impressive time. And you say the Courier GT the most recent one it did with the new tires and suspension and a Pro driver did right around that time as well. Wait, just with new tires? They won’t do it with suspension. I wish they would, but they won’t. But 712, it did 712. Um, 712. So, the greatest car ever made does 712 and they do 7-Eleven. Something to think about. Something for you to think about. I will also say it’s been very fun to watch uh how Ford has reacted to this because obviously the Mustang GTD is slower andund something thousand more expensive, right? Uh, and made in Canada. So, take that as you will. Uh, ask a question about Yeah, of course. How did this happen? the Mustang GCD or them being slower than a Corvette ZR1. First off, first off, I want to talk about the name, which we’ve discussed before, but not on the pot. The GTD is a diesel. Okay. In they make a Golf. No, it it is a diesel Golf. They make a Golf GTI and then there’s like a sporty diesel one and it’s called the GTD. So, to me, that’s what a GTD is. Like me and a bunch of Europeans think that’s what the GTD is, right? Okay. But then also, how did this happen? Like why did they create this m I I I think I was busy when it was announced and I’ve been kind of I haven’t paid enough attention to it and then I found all these people on Instagram are like getting one or not getting one and it’s like this big deal but like it’s like a half million dollar Mustang that like is a crazy track car. What where was the precedent? How did this Please go ahead. Well, we got to see the car at IMS Ford has invested a lot of money into going racing and the GTD it was effectively a roadgoing version of the race car. So they race this car as a race car. Yeah. And it’s made by Multimatic, partially built and developed by Multimatic, which also makes a lot of race car tracks. I got to see the car when it was announced at Quail. And it was and it is impressive. What else does Multimatic make, Fippo? Oh, you know, a few other cars back in time. Well, they’re known for this. Yeah, the 42. The new the new 42 is built in Detroit. American steel cannon just like the R1S and the and the Plymouth Laser. Okay. But the new 4GT is built in Canada. And the VIN of every new Ford GT starts with words that I can’t say on this podcast. Interesting. I will also Okay, I want to go back. Look that up later, aren’t you? I want to go back to how Ford has reacted to this which has been basically to say uh Jim and Farley commented on like Chevrolet’s Instagram post about this and basically like congratulations and then the implication from other comments is that they’re going to bring the GTD back out and think that it can do notably better instead of bringing the GTD back out to like try again like it’s like like like like you know you you lose and it’s like all right let’s let’s do the World Series over again and see if we can just win this time. Why don’t you just come out with a different car? Oh, like like like like the Raptor R but lower it and like add more power so you can go faster. No, I’m thinking like mid engine. Like they got the mid engine thing. What is the for new Ford GT do lap Nurburg Ring in? You know what I mean? The regular Ford GT. Nope. That’s a good question. All right. Regardless, it’s fun to see a Ford GM battle for Nurburg Ring times. Like they’re both so invested in performance, right? There’s not one on wiki. My Ford GT does it in 752, which is the same time as an as an M4. Man, that’s it’s actually slower than a Stelvio Quadrifoglio. It’s a fast SUV. Serious car to be honest. Such is the rate of progress. But no, to your point, like when I was a kid, I never in a million years thought that Ford with the Mustang basically. Chevy with Yes. And Chevy with the Corvette will be duking it out on the Nurburg Ring in deep sub seven. It’s wild. It’s wild. It’s totally wild. And if you look at this list of the very best Nurburg Ring lap times, those cars are in the top like very highest echelon top of the top. Like there’s only maybe five cars in that area. Porsche, a couple Porsches, a couple Lambos, the Mercedes, AMGs, and then these guys. And and not in that order like that. These guys are at the very It’s crazy. Yeah. This makes me very again very proud of of like GM doing this. I mean, what a tremendous value and like that’s a that’s a very serious achievement that people can actually go and buy. So that’s Ford comes out with a street car version of its Mustang GT3 car, $500,000. Chevy comes out with successive rockin Corvettes that are setting Nurburgring lap times. And Chrysler, don’t forget this. Chrysler comes out with an electric version of the Dodge Charger that plays engine noises from its from its bumper. Yes, I’m saying every American manufacturer is doing it right, but it seems that GM and Ford as a potential future Corvette owner. I’m excited by this. Got it. You’ve been a potential future Corvette owner for 20 years, dude. All right, let’s move on to the next news story. I hope you enjoy your meetings at the future potential Corvette owner club. That’s an exciting one. That’s the end of the news. Today’s show this segment, we talk about cars. It’s brought to you by cars and bids. You go to cars andbs.com. You you buy cars or sell cars or you just bid on cars or you look at I don’t know. Anyway, all right. The the most important thing that has happened this week in the talk cars segment is you guys went to a trackside cars and coffee at an IMSA race somewhere in Wisconsin. No. No. Not only did we go, we ran. We put on as cars and bits the first ever trackside cars and coffee. Uh it was a road America in beautiful Elcar Lake, Wisconsin. And I say beautiful because I I miss Wisconsin. It was gorgeous. And I miss Wisconsin greatly. It’s a beautiful truck. It’s known as the American Sp. You can easily see why when you’re there. Lots of elevation change, beautiful woods that it runs through. But it was it was wonderful. So there’s Fippo right there in that picture. But that’s Fippo. And you know what? That’s Fippo. Filippo on there somewhere. That’s Filippo going back to Wisconsin in the summer. You remember that kid rock song all summer long? Of course that that’s was written about Filippo’s boyhood. What kind of car showed up to this thing? Everything. Is that a vegan sa Monte Carlo yellow? Yes, it is. There’s a cornflour uh golf r there. Sure is. That’s a target of some variety. What else you got? Yep. A 992 target 4S. A couple uh a NSX all carbon and an old NSX all carbon GTS. an S2000 that was currently on the site, an E61 M5 build. Oh yeah, that that E61 M5 was there. So cool. Oh, yes. And I got to talk to the owner of that car. So cool. That he really went to excruciating detail to get every detail on that thing correct. Like he he told me there’s a styrofoam tray that sits in the back for the Mobility kit in case you get a flat tire. Impossible to find and knowing from BMW. It took him 3 months to track one down, but he said it was quote keeping me up at night that I didn’t have that for the car. That’s the level he went to. He is like me. He’s But he’s into better versions. Well, all right. Let’s Let’s not There was a Doomite brown E63 AMG wagon that we sold on the site. There was a gentleman that brought his red Cadillac ATSV. There’s also an A12 GTS. There was a GS, but who cares? Uh the guy that brought the ATS the ATSV Blackwing had previously bought a BMW 340i from Cars and Bids, then sold it uh Cars and Bids. Uh, it’s just generally so so so so like there were so many cool people who were so into cars and bids into each other’s cars. Hey Filippo, if you could have bought any car there at the cars the side man 3. Okay, Fippo thought about it. I made I I told the dude to let me know. Ken, what about you there? Uh, it was hard there. There were I really thought about that. There was a gorgeous 997 um.1 turbo in blue manual coupe. I mean that’s the answer. Carbon. Yeah, that I mean it is the answer. That was great. The A12 was spectacular, too. Uh, actually, and there was a really clean C4 ZR1, which I was endored with. There were two, but there was one that was really clean. Both one was a 92, one was a 94. Yeah. Then the white one, the white one with the white interior, I believe, was a 94. Are we doing another trackside cars and coffee? It just so happens that yes, we are. Crazy. We’re going to be doing one in October. What’s the date, Philly, please? Uh, I honestly don’t remember. October 13th. October 12th, October 13 at the IMSA race in Rhode Atlanta, which is actually an hour outside of Atlanta in a town called Brazleton. It’s where they make the Panama Espirante, which is Kennon’s favorite car. Fun fact, Kenan’s third favorite car. Now, it’s very exciting. How many cars are we going to be able to take at that one? We’re still working on cuz the reaction to this trackside cars and coffee was honestly so much stronger than we expected. So, we currently have space for 50. Well, we we’re going to try to increase that. What will be a little bit different is at Road America we were trackside like literally next to the track which was very cool and also very loud every minute and a half. Road America long circuit minute and a half got you time to chat. At Road Atlanta we will be in the paddic uh which will be incredibly cool but it means we still have to do some logistics. A lot more information coming out about this soon. Can I ask you a question please? Of course. What do you do with like do you did you give a speech? I’ll tell I’ll tell you what he did. He he went and talked to a lot of people who wanted to talk to Filippo and it also then wanted to talk to me but he also went and he just went walked through and as you can see here guys come up and talk to him talk I talked to I think every single person I think most tell me tell I want to know Fippo deep down do you what what do you do you like did you when you started did you like stand up there with a microphone and say hey everybody it’s me Filippo honestly people started arriving and then they just kept arriving and so it was a quick conversation with each person and then I luckily got the chance to talk to a lot of the people more in depth and also a lot of people came that were watching the race unrelated to cars and bids or that weren’t bringing a car but came to check to to check out the Cars &Bids paddic and and talk to us. It was incredibly special. You convinced anybody to sell an automobile on carsbids.com the website that is sponsoring this podcast? Yes. Okay. Also, I want to say way more information coming about the Atlanta event, including how you can sign up to bring your car, uh what else will be going on there. Also, people came from all over the place. A dude drove his R33 Skyline from Texas to see us. Somebody brought their McLaren 675LT from Maryland to see us. Trailered it. I producer lied to me, but they trailered it. Uh, somebody brought their Ferrari FF from Chicago, trailered uh, a little different. Uh, but people came from truly all over the place. How far does the Toyota Sarah fellow come from? I see a Toyota Sarah right there. It’s either that or I have a suspicion it’s a Toyota that is a Sarah. It’s a Minnesota plate. So probably a few hours away. I I I have to say on behalf of FIFA and I it was also it was very humbling everybody who came up and said hello and wanted to talk. It everybody was so kind and I I think we speak for us both and the entire cars and bits team that was there. We were so grateful the response that we had and it was it was a wonderful time. Truly wonderful. So great. How long were you on the ground in Wisconsin? Uh 48 hours I think. Enough to have cheese curds which were Did you What What’s the What’s the airport like there in Milwaukee? We flew out through Chicago. I drove up direct flight. You drove from Chicago. You didn’t you didn’t enjoy you didn’t enjoy the excitement of Milwaukee airport. Hey, Fippo made me. He said it was cheap. First of all, General Mitchell airport. Good airport. Good airport. Uh that is indeed what the Chicago airport is called. Don’t don’t doubt me. Also, I drove a uh Sierra 1500 about 800 miles. I drove a Subaru Legacy. Yeah. What? How did you rent these cars at the airport? You didn’t rent them from You didn’t rent something cool from Turo. Are you out of your mind? There is nothing that would have stopped me if I was flying into Chicago. There was nothing that would have stopped me from running a GW a ratty G Wagon on Turo. I would have found the rattiest one intentionally and baldled it up when I was driving up like just just like windows down, music up like yoyo. People, you got to understand the level of jet lag I was operating with. You’re to be there for this. No, I know. He just wanted a reliable Japanese automobile. Like the 2-hour time difference. Tough. It’s tough. All right. What’s our What is our next landed. Well, that ties back to me, I believe. Yeah. So, I have been in Europe for a long time. I was there for a friend’s wedding. Uh, it was the main event. Um, and I tacked on a bunch of car related and fun stuff to do. I’ve visited nine countries while I was there. Did a lot of very cool stuff. Yes, Doug. What is Europe like? You know very well having been there. And we have a number of European listeners, I suspect. But it was it was lovely. I did go the car related stuff. I went to Monaco 599. So So yeah, but this picture kind of sums it up. That’s a Chiron. That’s an SP2. That’s a Dodichi Chenry. 599 GTO. I’m going to just skip past the Model 3. Yes. 599 GTO. Uh that is an A12 Competition. A Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series. Behind that, an F12 TDF. And behind that, another Chiron and a Colonin. Yes. I saw Monaco was one of the most egregious displays of wealth I have ever seen. Uh, and it if you’re into ultra high-end performance cars, you must go. Like, it was incredible. Just walking around, I saw some stuff. And then I saw some weird normal stuff like this C3 Corvette that was just parked right out front right out in front of the casino. Crazy. Got a huge reaction. People were taking pictures of this car like crazy. And I took this picture specifically for you, Felipe. An Audi Q8. But then I went down in the garages as well because we parked down by the casino and I saw Z8 that had been abandoned and was there for a really long time. Chiron just next to, you know, Alexis. Uh, a a world record edition Veyron is always there. SVJ next to a Fiat. That just reminded me again of you, Filipo. Thank you. Uh, a La Ferrari. This is the one that got clipped its uh its nose famously. Uh, Aston Martin Valkyrie. I mean, which we also saw at him, which we next to an05 Fanny. Yeah, pretty. I mean, the stuff that’s down there is remarkable. And then I took this picture for Fippo. Thank you. Smart car on steelies that I didn’t even know that was a thing. The smart car could be on bassies base steelies. Did you know that? Yeah. No, I didn’t know that either. But that’s been out for a while now. So, maybe he’s on winters. Yeah, maybe it is a after all July. Austrian plate, but I don’t know. We We’re now back to the 599. Uh, no, it’s a German plate. I can’t see it. Yeah, it’s German. Oh, wow. That’s where it That’s where it That’s where they have the snow. So there you go. It’s July. He hasn’t taken his winters off yet. He’s not a true German. Can’t can’t be bothered. Um but yeah, that so Monaco incredible experience like just to walk around and see the cars. If you’re into cars, it’s the place where all these things are. I got passed by La Ferrari just driving around. It just is a normal thing. And also as someone who’s into Formula 1 to walk around the actual circuit itself and go to the hairpin and walk through the tunnel. I mean pretty amazing. It gives you perspective on like how fast those cars drive through the remarkable. I remember that. I drove it myself in a Ford Fiesta. Did you see a 92 Diablo? No, you know, you know, not a lot of old Lamborghinis. Did see a 350 GT though, so there is that. Um, but no, not like Diablo Countach. I was talking to my friend Ryan who I was with. I was like, I can’t imagine driving one of those old cars like around there. It would be so difficult. Awful. The thing about Monaco is the thing about Monaco is that it is cool to see all the cars. However, they are not going more than 11 miles an hour ever. Really? I mean, yes, but still. I mean, yeah, it’s the same thing with cars and coffee. The difference is this and car week to be honest. The the thing with this is it’s like it’s like car week on a Tuesday a random Tuesday afternoon. You just never know what you’re going to see. So, like I think that’s really appealing and if you’ve never done it, it is worth doing it for the sheer novelty. I agree. You go around a corner, you might see a 92 Diablo. You go around another corner, you might see a 92 Diablo. Now, um you saw no 92 Diablo, but you saw uh some sort of fake California. I did see a 250 California rep that was parked there next to a 300 SL, which is another thing. You just The stuff you see is is off. If there’s anywhere I don’t think it’s a rep, though, it’s No, it was it. The aura was something was wrong. The wheels were wrong. It had those rep wheels that the the Ferris Buer reps had. Um, but it wasn’t a Modina. It was something different. Monaco’s great. Monaco was great. But you did other fun things. What What was What else did you do? So, I initially when we flew in, we flew into Germany. I had a BMW X3 M5. Sorry. Was I Don’t Sorry. I tried so hard to get Kenan to rent a Fiat Panda or similar. No, you you were wrong. You know why? because I was on the Autobon for a long time. You can still max out the speed of Autobon. No, I will get to the Autobon in a second. Um, but no, I I was very happy that I had my X3M50i. I was with two other people. It was nice to be able to throw the stuff in there. Admittedly, there were times when I wish I had something smaller, mainly driving up driving up the uh the Kubler Pass, which you have done uh from Italy into Switzerland. Very tight. Splugan. Splugan. Thank you. It’s very tight. Uh, and it I did scrape a little bit of the X3 on one of the posts that were there, but you kind of have no choice if you want to avoid cars coming the other direction. I don’t know. But beautiful. But no, the thing I do want to talk about the autobond. I ran into some issues with the autobond. So, famously, the autobond is d-restricted in certain portions. Not the whole thing, but there are sections of it where you you see, you know, four slashes on a on a white circle. You can go as fast as you like. this is reasonable given the if it permits you do it at your own risk and so I did get to max the car several times however in cities or closer to cities I don’t know what it is but people with German plates on who should know better stay in the left lane and they just sit there they camp there in d-restricted zones next to other slower traffic which my understanding was that the German people understood that you overtake and then you get over the Italians understood did this on the auto but I was harder to do that just generally I mean you know no it wasn’t not not in the situations I ran into it was very easy in fact it but it was so not even it was just like people were just camped there and I was very frustrated by this only the towns do it right yes so if you have if your engine displacement begins with a one two or is powered by a diesel get over um but I did Wait a sec a sec a sec a sec what if it’s a Cayenne what if it’s a Audi Q7 V12 TDI Okay. Um, the Italians do do it right, but part of that is because you have to pay to ride on the Autorada and so they’re really it’s never crowded because Italians don’t want to pay for that is not my Autorada experience, but people are respectful. And also, I think there’s an element that people in Italy recognize that their cars can fit in tight places and so will move to the right lane even where you don’t think there’s room for them to move to the right lane. So, they get over quickly. I found that No, if there’s room in the right lane, they they did get out of the way. I was able to go very fast. That’s what I’m saying. Like they feel comfortable moving over. Canon, how fast do you get up? I maxed it many times, which is 155 mph, which I couldn’t do. Are you feeling Fippo’s never been over 90? I am feeling quite fine with that. There’s something special about getting to 90 mph after 27 seconds of flooring it through every single gear in a panda. Well, I value my time in Europe and I wanted to get there. I do, too. That’s why I want to shift gears as many times as possible. I still think the Autobon is the most fun driving I’ve ever done. It’s just it’s really cool. When at one point do a guy like Fippo at one point I was be there was they were all SUVs and I can’t remember exactly what they were but there it was a Mercedes myself and the BMW an Audi and a Porsche all it was a kind and a Pontiac and a Yeah, we were but we were all Yeah, except we were all doing 200 km over 200 km an hour in the left lane just cruising which was awesome. Uh and it was a lot of fun. But I used the Ottabon to get around Germany on a couple of occasions when I got there and then a little bit later in the trip. And later in the trip, I did what was the wedding was the big thing. But the second thing I went to do was to go to Spa. One of the smartest apps you can have on your Oh, sure. What do we got here? What do we got here? Okay, we got a rain. Here comes a wiring around a GLC in the background. Wiring around. Just disastrous. What was that? Ferrari over there. Yep. It was a Ferrari over there. What’s in front of you? A ve a she. What is that? A That’s a TDF. That’s I mean that’s a a that’s a a class A35 maybe AMG. Yep. It was just but but going to spa was the highlight for sure. I got to be there. I sat right at the base of Urouge and Radon and watched the cars just rip past which was the absolute coolest thing I think I’ve ever done in terms of Formula 1. This is my fa is my favorite track. Um and to be there in person with all of the history uh was incredible. I got through a lot of things. No, show that clip again. You want me to show that clip again? You know what’s weird about this, Filipo? Pay attention closely. You know, all the cars are driving in the same place. Well, they’re taking the racing line through a place where you can’t overtake. Look at that. Why doesn’t somebody pop out a little? You know, these cars handle real well. Just take it a little outside. See what’s going on. Somebody did cut it a little bit in by like a foot. I bet he picked up time. Yeah, they’re that’s 200 mph up a damp U. I love the bike path next to the road. That’s so nice. Uh, joking, but it looks like it looks like a bike path. Hey, hey, Ken, what what happened there at the at the race? Did anybody know you? Uh, yes. So, I had put out on Instagram that I was going to be at the race. And a number of about a hundred people reached out to me and said, “Hey, I’m here too. We’d love to meet you.” And a number of people came up and said hello who are also some Americans, a bunch of people from all over. Some people are sitting close or ask the obvious question. Why do we not do a trackside FIPO’s mad at me? Why do we not do a trackside cars and coffee at the Formula 1 race at Spa? That’s a great question. It’s a little more difficult and we don’t sell cars in Europe. Problem here’s Let me posit a different option. I bet Spa is expensive because the F1 is big in Europe and the Europeans all go there. They’re all they go they go to Belgium. They’re willing to put up with Belgium just to watch this race. But what if we we win a trackside cars and coffee at the race in Kazakhstan? Because I bet you that the sponsorship isn’t as expensive in Kazakhstan and we could probably and I bet the cars and coffee would be amazing. You’d have like Priuses and Prius V’s and uh Monontto Sports. I I think something to think about, Filipo. I know you you do this kind of stuff. Uh thank you for these ideas. They’re wonderful. They’re great. He’ll tuck he’ll he’ll put that one in the circular folder there and just get rid of There’s a race in Kazakhstan, dude. It’s in Kazakhstan. I for right now, we’re loving being partners with IMSA for their races. It’s a good US version. Um but I loved it. I also got to change I got to do the Formula 1 pit stop challenge where I got to change the tire with this German couple who could maybe do with a little bit better coordination. Um but it was and especially you know aim. Oh. Uh the German guy couldn’t quite get it right. Uh but nonetheless, that was fun to like six seconds though. Yeah. But yeah, but yeah, that’s incredibly slow. Um but that that was a lot of fun, too. And then there are a lot of people in the comments who’ve objected to our ad that I did with the brunt boots. Oh, sure. However, I wore my pair with pride to spa. Here is evidence of walking. People object. What do they think that you don’t wear? There’s the That is the single worst video I’ve ever seen. It’s so disconcerting. That is actually I think that is actually the worst video I’ve ever seen. But why did people object like that? And I’m sitting still. And why did people object? Because because I’m not the kind of person who normally wears boots, which is true, but I did wear them here. I was also wore them in the Bljoka cuz I went to where the 100 airborne was stationed outside of Beststone. They were wonderful and they kept my feet very dry and warm and they were really comfortable. I was like genuinely happy to wear them. I will take them with me on my future travels. And and unfortunately, we did not get paid by Brunt for the Zad. But hey, no, but I got a couple of Belgium for you. Oh god. They got the German flag, but it’s switched. But did you notice all the personalized license plates? I I didn’t notice a whole lot of of Belgium has allowed people to personalize license plates like America. This brand of freedom has finally made its way to Europe. And so in Belgium you you can get the license plate like Kenan right now. Unlike you, I was focused on experiencing the culture as opposed to just looking at license plates. The culture has become obsessed. If you go to Belgium right now and and go to a dinner party in Gent, go to a dinner party in Bruge. All right. You you you spend some time at a park in Brussels. You know what they’re talking about? They’re talking about their red license plates and the fact that you can get them to say Kenan. Oh, well that’s wonderful. I had a great time at Spa. That was my reason for going to Belgium. An incredible trip. It It was an amazing trip, I have to say, of the whole thing, I think. I mean, Spa was without question one of the I mean, my friend getting married, of course, is the crown, but second to that, Spa was amazing. Um, well, it was an a I love both my friends, so I’m very happy. You went to Monaco and saw La Ferraris and Chirons, and then you went to Spa and saw Formula 1 like and you drove on that. I also went I also went I also went to Lake Ko to Veste like I want to be happy for people but like you did better things in the wedding. You killed it out there. You I did have a great time. There are two thanks I want to give. One is my friend Sutton from M539 Restorations who unfortunately I couldn’t borrow his M5 although I’m glad that I didn’t because of the sheer mileage I covered and like just being afraid of damaging it. I’m really happy he felt very bad that I didn’t give him a shot. You didn’t borrow his car if he had given you because we he we if you’d let me speak. We then went to uh the you took me to the Nurburg Ring in his E46 touring and we went around the first day I was there which was fantastic. Uh he was he’s an amazing brought up earlier. This is insane. That’s you you rode around the Nurburg Ring. Yes, I rode in Yes, we got we got there went out for a lap, a dry lap, and it started raining immediately when we finished. Um auto Alex was there. A bunch of British YouTubers were there as well. I’m actually in the back of one of the video because we set threaten’s car up with cameras and then I just made a cameo on the back of the car which is What was it like? Did you run a 712 like that Corvette? We did not. The E46 as mighty as it is really is not equipped to do a 712 but as a Corvette but it was amazing. Like I also I got I walked away with two things from it. One is that if you want to drive it, you need to spend time in a simulator really learning all the corners before you go so that you know what to expect. you won’t be adept to like the like the changes in the terrain and the sheer elevation change, but it’ll help a lot because there are a lot of corners. Um, but the other thing I learned is that like it I can see why people get addicted to it. It’s so much fun and it you just you’re constantly trying to make it better and you’re always like you’re not supposed to time yourself, but some people do and you just can get upset with it and Yeah, we did. It’s not a but yeah, you know what? It was amazing. It was incredible and like and he’s a very good driver. That car is very nicely sorted. So, it drove beautifully. And that was my first exposure. I didn’t want to drive for two reasons. One, he offered let me drive a Z60 M5. You didn’t drive. You could have, you should have, dude. The Nur the Nurburg Fippo even more. The level of jet lag I was experiencing. It was unwise cuz then we also had to drive the hour and a half back. Frank, you don’t want to drive in a high pressure, high-risisk. No. And I’ve never driven it. And also, he was going to use that car to bring his recently newborn son home from the hospital, which he did. Um, and I didn’t want to risk damaging it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let’s go back, Filipo. I think we need to cuz we got to move on to the SLR, but I I want to talk really quick about this. So, he had a son that has not yet come home from the hospital. No, he brought his son home from the hospital in the E60M5. This would have happened prior to that. I didn’t want to risk damaging it, taking that away from him. Time works in this way where there’s like a time and and Ken had this experience some time ago. Yes, but now it’s telling us about it now. And other events have happened between some time ago and now. Yeah. One of those events was one of those events was Kenan went to spa and took a picture of this fella. This this this blue Yeah. who who is a par jumper. Uh there’s two other topics. No, no, no, no. Two other topics. Two other topics. No, we have to move on. Two other topics. First of all, we a bunch of us will be at car week next week. Two things I want to say related to that. One is the podcast will actually come out on Sunday instead of Friday, which is sad for all those that like listening on Sunday, excuse me, on Friday. It’s a one time thing. One time thing. One time thing, but I want everybody to know so they can mentally prepare. They can steal themselves for Friday. Um, if you see us around cuz we’ll be going to some events. I’ll be going to some events. Ken and might. Who knows? I don’t know life. Uh, come say hi cuz we would like to see you. I had no idea was going. I I I’m thrilled he is. I had no idea he was going until this moment, but now if I see him around, I will say hi. I I would hope that you do. Yeah, because we’re friends. It’d be It’d be kind of rude not to. Okay, our next topic is uh the market report. And I only want to talk about one thing because we got to move on to questions. And the questions were great, but uh I only want to talk about one thing in the market report is the SLR. And I want to tell you guys something. I’m gonna give you a little backstory here. I come here, I live in the the East Coast in the summer. I come here and I don’t spend a lot of time doing car things. Nobody here knows anything about cars. I got a neighbor with a Ford Ranger. But uh uh but for some reason, but so so as a result of that, sometimes I text my friends here, Filipo, Kenan, and various other people, Nick, Sam. There’s a lot of people, some of them come on our pod and various things about cars. And one of the things that I’ve been talk texting about pretty much every couple weeks all summer was Mercedes SLR values. And when I get on an SLR value tangent, nobody is willing to talk to me about it. Uh I it’s probably happened four times over the summer. It’s late at night here and they’re like having dinner and I’m like going to bed and I’m like, “Oh, I got to SLRs are worth this, but I don’t know about this.” So anyway, no one’s been willing to talk to me about it. So, uh that’s been sad for me. And I, by the way, this hasn’t had it happen to other cars. It’s just been the SLR this summer. I’m not really sure why. Um, but now you two have to talk to me about it because we have an SLR live on the site. It’s somewhere in Connecticut or Massachusetts or God. And it uh it’s on the site. Now, I want to tell you something very special about this SLR. I spend an inordinate amount of time looking up SLR values. By the way, no personal interest in the car. I spend an enormous amount of time looking up SLR values. And you know what is interesting? None of them have miles. None of them. One of them has miles. Well, they never been driven. They they list and they always have 4,000 6,000 miles. And maybe that’s because a brake job costs $150,000. I don’t know. I’m not saying that’s why, but I’m saying it’s a possibility, right? This particular slur has 36,000 miles. And that is cool as hell because this this this one was actually driven and used. And that’s pretty baller. It is very baller. I we Ken and I were were talking about this because we have a weekly show where we talk about the cars that are alive now and this was one of them. So we talked about it. Uh it’s incredible how this was very much a competitor or maybe not a competitor but out at the same time and kind of talked about in the same conversation Enzo and Acura GT the market does not recognize it as on par with us anymore. Well, well, that’s interesting. Various things have happened, but production numbers ended up being Yeah. a big significant. I mean, 2157 is a lot of Well, that and it’s 5-speed torque converter automatic. Um, but wait, 2157 does not include the 722 or the Sterling Moss. It includes the Sterling Moss. No, 2157 was just the regular slur. I’m going to look this up because I think I’m right because I got really into SLRs. Uh 2157 total. Remember when Mercedes said they were gonna make 3500? Well, they remember that. I don’t remember that. No. Anyway, what do we think about this uh this car there, Felippo? You’ve been following the market on slurs. If you’ve been reading my text, you’d know. Look, we have to pick and choose our battles. You just go on tangents and sometimes we just let you go talk in a corner by ourselves. This is one of the things I don’t know, man. The SLR I think offers a tremendous value in that it is instantly recognizable as one of the cars of those era. It is insanely powerful. 617 horsepower is no joke. Um and you know it’s this weird collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. These cars were built in woking by McLaren. Uh and they were designed by Gordon Murray. Like there’s a lot of interest there a lot of interesting aspects of the car. I do think that they are undervalued given how cool and special they are. That said, is it worth as will it be ever as worth as much as Angelo Curt? Maybe I don’t know driving experience and production numbers alone. If you add up Enzo and Cur GT production, add them together, you still don’t have as many cars as worth that much. But I do wonder when whether they’re primed to at some point actually appreciate in a real meaningful way. May maybe people have been saying that for years. You know, it’s funny. We talk about how hated cars cars that were hated in their eventually rise, right? And and I was thinking about it the other day. That’s not always true. the LFA rose, which I think is actually quite a similar car to the SLR if you really think about it. Like bad automatic, not the most attractive, um, hated in its time, couldn’t sell them, and then it kind of took off later. But for some reason, the SL the LFA took off, but the SLR didn’t. I I don’t really understand that. When I see an SLR, I freak. I absolutely freak. Like, it’s just so insane looking and so ridiculous. that long hood, the front thing that looked like Formula 1, those wheels, the side exit exhaust, like I see one of those and I’m like Canon when he sees an E39 M5, you know, or 540 Sport. I want to be clear, but um the M3 MX. Yeah. So, what do we think about this? Where’s this headed, Philipper? You got any guesses? Huh? Huh? I don’t. But I interest should be high on a high mile one cuz like who knows, right? Not a lot of comp. If you want one to drive, this is a good one. It’s also got a red interior, right? Yep. Three silver arrow 300 I sell red. I who knows the market. I certainly don’t pay attention to the SLR market, but uh uh you should you should people have delivered that information to you. I don’t know the last time I saw an SLR for the fact that they made 2,200 of them. I see one less r less regularly than I see a career GT. I saw one in Monaco. I’ll take a picture of it some What was it? What was it? A 722? A roadster? A coupe? A It was a normie. It was a normie coupe, dude. A silver coupe. Sometimes when it’s a quiet night, the kids are asleep and I got nothing going on, I’ll think about getting a silver coupe. You dream about flipping open that cover on the center on the shifter and hitting that button and hearing it go and then flipping over the open the cover on the center stack and turn on the radio. That’s right. Important. Important. Give us the 308. Give us the 308 Ken. And then we have to move on to questions. So recently we sold a Ferrari 308 GTSi which is the second series of the 308 when they went to the fuel injected engine the two valve fuel injected engine before they went to the quattro. These cars I drove one uh this 82 which sold for a ton of money had no miles on it. But I think you know based on their values which are kind of in the 50s60s this has gone back to being the a great entry level Ferrari. 308’s had a huge spike for a time and QVs are still more expensive. But for 50 to 60 grand, you get beautiful styling, like instantly recognizable Ferrari styling. You get gated manual transmission. You get the small go-kart analog feel. You get the Ferrari experience, and 308s are pretty easy to service relative to the cars that came later. The engine can the belts can be done with the engine in the car. They’re known for their relative reliability comparatively to uh it’s like 355 and 348 and stuff, but they are really compelling as hell, too. Cool as hell. I mean, it’s a the wedge shape. And I just think in this price range, granted, this one’s an Outlier cuz it had 1900 miles on it, but in this price range, they are pretty appealing. And I realize this one is a QV. It had lots and lots of miles on it and that sort of thing, but I really when I was driving, I did a video on one. It’s one of those, I think. Um, it’s this one here on the end. I did a What did that sell for? The one I did the video on? 60 60 GS. Great upgrades. So cool for 60. Like the Countach is cooler, but it’s 10 times more expensive. Like these cars are really cool for what they sell for. They turn everybody’s head. They have the cool wedge shape. They look exotic. Like they are legit cool cars. Um, and they are and they’re actually fun to use. It’s like it’s the Countachsh if is is a difficult experience and that’s kind of what you want with it. But this is actually like comparatively is is very ergonomic and like it’s fun and I I think that they I think you know I’m not saying that these cars will become superviable. Again, Ferrari made a ton of these. It was a very successful car for them at the time, but I think that it you know for the longest time this was a very inexpensive Ferrari. They went very high and I was like oh maybe the days of getting a cheap 38 are over. No, I think 38s have settled into a very comfortable spot. And um I think by the way, I don’t think they will ever shoot up. The market has just proven time and time again they’re not that interest. But it doesn’t matter. Also, I didn’t find it that slow. I I found that the 308 I thought it was zippy. Like it’s not fast, but it’s not slow. It’s It’s fun to throw. It’s like a Miata. Like it’s fun to kind of toss around and kind of push and get into corners. It has good feel, good feedback. It’s about It’s about the experience, and it gives you the Ferrari experience. And the lights go up and the horn is ridiculous. And like you you have all of that magic to it and and and or you could say it in Italian experienc uh yeah he keeps the Italian language and just anything if you do anything you can try to do Italian accent he just like his maybe people shouldn’t try to do an Italian accent we got to move on to qu I don’t want to do this right now we can’t have this fight in front of people we’ll do it at Pebble Beach because apparently we’ll do it live there I will um okay I want to move on to questions uh and I have questions from people first question from Eve vs and clutch pedals. What’s the best car from the worst brand? An excellent automobile with a badge mostly found on crap with the best car from the worst brand. Filipo, what do you got for us? Okay, I legitimately think that the Maserati Levante Trofeo, yeah, is a legitimately good car. The I said Trofeo, but the Moderna S is also probably the same. They both have that like real Ferrari derived twin turbo V8 in an SUV. It’s a surprisingly good sports SUV. Yeah, I would have gone MC12 on Maserati, but like yeah, like of a virtual I mean I I of the like actual like Maseratis that are current era. Of all the cars you could have said, I would never have guessed that’s in all honesty, I agree with that. I I actually like that car. It performs really well. It was way too expensive new, but I bet they’ve depreciated. Let me tell you, it’s not way too expensive used. Yeah, that car is not so bad. It really isn’t. Uh I agree with you. I was going to cut a little deeper. Um, I I was thinking a little further back. I I honestly I think I I thought the Saturn Sky was a very good car from a not very good brand. No, no, no. You’re so wrong cuz every Saturn is good. The the Saturn I knew he would say that. I knew that’s exactly the Saturn SC the coup version Saturn S good. I’m sorry to Saturn for that. Saturn view those years that had the the Honda 3.5 L V6. Good. The Sky Red line was cool. Okay, I got a couple uh options for you here, Filippo. You pick one that you like. Buick Grand National baby boy. Yeah, sure. That’s a good one, right? Uh, great one. Uh, Akira NSX NA2 or NA1, honestly. Yeah, but they had so many good cars. The TL Type S was such a good car at that same moment. Yeah. Yeah. But the NSX is like a is like an alltime automotive icon, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But the brand made good the brand didn’t make crap. They made good cars. Okay, I got another one. Jaguar XJ220. Kia Stinger GT. Kia makes a lot of exceptional automobile Prowler. Plymouth Prowler. All right. The Town and Country invented the minivan. Scion F FRS. Wait, the Town and Country wasn’t a That one’s hard for you to argue. That doesn’t That one’s hard for you to argue. I’m trying. Even you can’t do that. The F FRS. Yeah, the XB was especially the first generation XB was an an icon and I my driver’s ed I used to do driver’s ed in Wisconsin was in was a second gen XB so I I look fondly about it correctly. No, no, I meant icon the way it meant. Another one you’re not going to agree with but is right. Geot tracker. How you feeling? Well, no, I agree with that. I I didn’t mind the geot tracker. But how come you didn’t say um how come you didn’t say Suzuki? Uh what was it called at the Kazashi? Oo, that’s an interesting question. All right, we got to move on. The Grandara was competitive. What’s that? The Grand Vitara was competitive. Uh not with the the small SUVs of the day. All right, we got to move on. Next question from future Mercy owner to Filippo and Kennan. Is there any car that you think Doug unfairly is hard on or unfairly hates? Yep. LFA. Easy trash. Motorola. What else you got? That Thank you. Point made. Thank you very much. Bad kit, ugly LC looks better. Way too expensive. Looks good. Greatest sounding engine ever. You don’t are going to stand up for the LFA. A Japanese car with an auto with a bad automatic that’s ugly. You are going to stand up for musical V10 and reliability. I never said it doesn’t sound good, dudette. I said it’s bad. Yeah, bad. You’re saying the whole car comprehensively is bad and that is not accurate. Yeah, you’re right. You’re right. Here’s what it Here’s what it sounds like. No, it is. It’s been a while since you’ve driven one. I think you need to drive one again. No, I’m good. Uh uh. What else? Is there any other car that I unfair? Every other car that I slander is fair. The problem is that Doug likes cars that are bad, not that he doesn’t like cars that are good. The Gran Turismo, you call it ugly, which is incorrect, uh, based on the general populace’s feeling toward the car. Yeah. No, I but I concede that I I don’t like how the I think the Gran Turismo is one of the ugliest cars ever, honestly, the Maserati Gran Turismo. But I concede that most people really think it looks good and that I have a incorrect I there’s something I don’t like about big fendered long coups cuz the I think the RX8 is also one of the ugliest things I have ever experienced. And when you really think about those two cars, they have a very similar profile. They have a long wheelbase. The wheels are pulled way out and they have a big long center section and then they have this sort of sloping big fender in front. And I just don’t like that. It makes me uncomfortable. H what other I mean so there are two right there uh that Well, there’s one I can see that I’m wrong about the first one. Like I said, usually it’s cars that he likes that he’s wrong about, not the cars that he hates that he’s wrong about. Yeah, Doug and I don’t hate because we have similar automotive opinions. The moment someone comes up to me, the moment someone comes up to me and says, “I got four 356s.” I don’t I never talk to them again. They’re gone either. No, I agree with you on the 3568. But the other day I was having a conversation with somebody here. I I just I can’t I can’t do I can’t do the bathtub car. Okay, next question. Oh my god, this is a great question from Saab 95. Oh, I’ve wanted to know the answer to this question for years. I should have brought it up on the talk cars segment, but here we are on the question segment, which by the way is sponsored by Cars and Bids. Why are enthusiasts so down on minis? Until recently, it seemed like they offered everything enthusiasts clamor about, yet I see little love for the brand. That is so true. It’s hard to explain to young people, but when the Mini came out, enthusiasts thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Car enthusiasts. It was like it was like the Miata, honestly. It had that level of love, not just from like like older women in in in cities, but like car enthusiasts loved the Mini. What happened? Like people hate it now. They’re like, “Oh, it’s too big.” Well, it’s still smaller than everything else. Why do people hate it now? I have an answer. Your answer is cuz we all bought them and they broke and now everybody hates them. No, because there’s a lot of cars that people still love despite the fact that they’re unreliable. Um, my car has been very reliable. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, there’s it has been I think it’s an expectations problem. So the same way that when you’re like when when you look at a really successful company and they say we’re going to grow a ton and then they grow instead of 20% they grow 19% for the 20th year in a row people are unhappy about that despite growth right despite it doing really well people aren’t happy because they expected more people expected many to be this like super focused on sportiness super small the way mini was at a certain point and now it’s not that it’s still smaller than others but like they’ve grown a bit and I think people feel betrayed or like it wasn’t meeting expectations and therefore they don’t like it even though it still is that it’s not that to the extent that they were promised that. I don’t. Okay. But can I can I make a counter point? 20 years ago BMW, Kennon’s beloved brand was making manual transmission four-doors and manual transmission twodoors and the Z8 and all this stuff that everybody loved. Now BMW makes seven SUVs and they got all this automatic transmission. They don’t make any of the stuff that Canon used to used to love 20 years later. Mini 20 years ago made a little hatchback with a manual transmission. 20 years later, you know what they make more or less? A little hatchback with a manual. Like people are always like, “This company changed and they ruined everything.” Mini hasn’t changed. They tried and all of their tries failed and so they just went back to what they’re good at which is little hatchback. What’s the problem? They they they I there’s also an element of like consumer desires change and what people also say they want is often not what they actually want. Yeah. But they said they I mean consumer desire hasn’t changed that. I mean am I wrong like Mini? It’s a BMW with a manual. It’s a hot hatch BMW. Where are you? Well, the reliability of the at this point it’s the same as every other. Well, and and yes, and the girl I’m dating currently is looking at getting a new car and she was thinking about getting a Mini, but she too is afraid because of the car’s reputation that it has for unreliability. I asked someone here asked me this like last week, what do you think of the Mini? And I’m Mini. Exactly. It’s like what’ you say? I was like absolutely not. Absolutely not. Exactly. So, everybody I know who’s had a Mini has has All right. So, maybe reliability is the answer. Maybe reliability is the sole answer despite the Countryman being a great car. Well, I mean, look at Fiat also is another I mean, like, you know, generally speaking, has reliability attached to it. It’s it’s not true. In the case of your 500, 500 has been incredibly reliable. It it has been. I mean, it it’s, you know, has 52,000 miles, but there’s a little more, but it’s reliable. Yeah. So, I think that’s the the issue, but I don’t know. I mean, I’ve they make some great cars. The John Cooper works. Like, I’ve I’ve driven a number of their cars and loved them all. They’re really fun to drive, but I don’t know. And it also is not the I don’t know. I think certain like super macho guys. I think it’s not the most masculine looking car. And that’s probably not untrue. Nobody cared when it was the R53, though. Nobody really I don’t know. There was something about that that nobody cared. Yeah. It’s just I don’t know. I like the cars they make. I don’t know if I’d buy one myself cuz again, I am afraid of that. I there’s also some element of like I think that it’s a novelty brand just like the the F500 when it came out was a novelty because of how it was styled, of how it looked, of how like it made you feel and then that novelty wears off. That’s true. These cars do drive really well. So like I drive fine. Um okay, I want to move on to two more questions. Two more questions. Two more questions. Do it. These are very good ones. Number one, someone has posted Telmmeister 62 has posted a picture of Costco advertising 2,000 off MSRP on the Inos Grenadier. And he says, sort of jokingly, I presume, will any of you buy an Inos now? The answer to that is no, because used they’re selling for $37,000 off MSRP. Inos really failed, didn’t it? like like it’s cool and and and I and I I think that it’s it’s it’s it’s very helpful for the like rich guys to cosplay being being cool. Don’t you think that’s like what it is as like a brand like but look it’s a vehicle that’s limited speed limit it’s like 97 miles per hour or something that the issue has been that once the crop of people who wanted them bought them they have had a hard time finding buyers and I noticed at every Inos dealer you got 60 of them stacked the trucks are stacked they got tons of incentives they got tons of cash in the trunk or the cargo area as it were and I’ll tell you something this French German British car is not finding a huge audience. At the same time, you see a lot of them. Like I I don’t think there’s I wouldn’t call them a failure yet. Yeah, you do see a lot of them. But at what point am I interested in what two grand off? No, I still think price. Like I I I actually think it’s cool. I like it, but I like it at like 40, which what is what are these selling for on the site? 60s. High 60s, high to mid60s. I’m like a 70 to 80 sticker. Give it two years. Give it two years. I mean, it’s longevity will be tough. It’s not a bad product. Kenan Kenan will be interested. Kenan will be interested. Kenon won’t be interested. I think they’re cool, but no, not for me. Kenan will be interested in a $10,000 Cayen Turbo. That’s okay. Next question. Final question. The question is directed to me, but Felippo’s uh going to answer it. Actually, there’s two more very quick from Jason Buck Holtz. Doug, you always say you are waiting for Mercedes to make a fully electric E-class wagon or a plugin. I put electric car chargers at my home. I want to plug something in. I want to plug Uh the question is my question and Fippo this is really to you the next two are both for you. My question is does the Porsche TYON cross Turismo wagon not appeal to you as they have become such bargains on the used market? Fippo answer the question. Three pieces. Does it appeal to me? Sure. Do I want one? No, because I like practical wagons and the the TYON is not a practical wagon. Let me show you with the Paname Pameo. And thirdly, they’re not cheap enough yet. I buy cars out of sub 20s. I want you to answer as if you’re me and that wouldn’t be my you. The second thing was right threat of the money. It’s not quite practical enough. A TYON Cross Turismo is cool, but you’re right. It doesn’t have the cargo area. It doesn’t It’s not quite practical enough. What’s the primary reason I don’t purchase this car for? What’s the primary? Oh, of course, despite the fact that you own a Porsche and deeply want another Porsche, you’re not a Porsche person. It’s not that I’m not a Porsche person. I just don’t want to like have a I’m not driving my kids around a Porsche. It’s just not going to occur. This will not occur. No, just a Mercedes. One of the two. The rare $200,000 convertible car. I It’s a weird hang up, but like I would It’s just not It’s not in my blood. Do you The guy with the Countach can’t be seen as go. I agree with you. Well, I’m not taking any My kids have never been in that car and they never will be. That that that’s sequestered. I parked this stuff in front of my house like I don’t want a Porsche. I agree with you. It’s just it’s just not it’s not how I was raised. It’s not who I am. It’s not who I am at my heart. Do you agree? No. No. I agree. Thank you. Legitimately. I get it. Just a Mercedes and a and a Toyota with camo fenders. Yeah. I got a Toyota, dude. I’m a Toyota guy. I got a used I got a used Mercedes wagon that I bought from the Mercedes-Benz dealership there in Tulsa. And I got a camo sequoia. Yep. You got a camo sequ with a bumper sticker on it that says, “Come and take it.” Come and take it. I got Trump’s face on my personal checks. Okay, next question. Final question. This is a good one. Jury 388 for Filippo, our resident Italian American now. Italian. Excuse me. I I refusing to make you an American. Do you not American? You don’t want to be an American anymore? Well, then you can go. You can leave. You here. We’re going to call ICE right now. If you don’t want to be an American anymore, Street Speed 717 will personally kick you out of the country. He’ll kick you out of himself. I I I’ve I’ve met Street Speed. I sat in the back of his Challenger. I drove his Challenger Hellcat. Hopefully, he remembers me. And we’ll say that. No, dude. He doesn’t. He He only remembers Americans. Proud Americans. All right. For Filippo, a resident Italian who has become a naturalized American citizen. Correct. He should have said that. Uh now, I did have to sing I’m proud to be an American when I was naturalized. as is the song they play. I don’t think that’s true. Uh, now that we have the first American Pope, what American car would you pick to be the Pope mobile? Yeah, great question. I think that an Explorer Sport Track is perfectly suited for this. It already has the bed to add a platform, like a glass platform onto. True. Not true. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Was that built in the States? You got to assume. Well, I don’t assume anymore because because the Ford GT, which is America’s god, is built in Canada and then it’s terrible. So, let’s see. Uh, explore sport track where built. No one’s ever asked this question on Google. Oh, Louisville, Kentucky. You’re all set. Oh, we’re good. We’re good. You’re all set. Um, okay. That’s our that’s our podcast for today. Filippo has chosen the Pope mobile. Um, it’s going to be the title. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Uh, thank you so much for watching. We will see you what is it? Sunday of next next Sunday. Is are we gonna do this same pod like with R.J.? Like are we gonna take questions and talk about dumb stuff? Yeah. If if if you have questions for R.J., put them in the community post. Uh, we will do our best to ask some of the best ones. Do you agree that I can’t act like this around R.J.? He’s like he’s like too legit. Oh boy, do I. I know you won’t, but you should. Like he’s he’s he’s too he went to MIT and RPI. Like I I can’t Oh my god. He’s proud. I can’t behave in this way. What are we going to do? You have a career GT. I’m driving a Rivian to Monterey Car Week, by the way. Oh, wow. If you see a Rivian at Monterey Car Week, it might be Filippo. It may also be a Monterey resident who is upset that their city has been overtaken by the people. Could be one or the other. Filippo’s got an Illinois license plate on his and that’s because he dreams of the Midwest. Uh, and because Diamond Star Motors, the original topic, made this car just like they made the Plymouth Laser RS, the original RS built there. I apologize for this podcast, ladies and gentlemen. Our finest ever. Boy, do I have anything? Do you have anything? No, just just I’m so sorry. Byebye, everyone. It’s good to be back. Goodbye. [Music]

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CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 THIS CAR POD!
00:00:31 Rivian Lost $1.1 Billion
00:07:22 Jaguar’s New CEO
00:10:52 Mercedes-Benz Product Plans Leaked
00:16:40 Porsche’s New Mecan
00:20:45 Corvette Sets A New Record
00:28:00 Talk Cars
00:29:18 Cars & Bids At IMSA
00:36:18 Kennan Returns From Galavanting
00:53:58 THIS CAR POD! At Monterey Car Week
00:54:42 Market Report
00:55:20 2006 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Coupe
01:00:54 Ferrari 308 Values
01:03:57 Community Questions
01:04:00 What’s The Best Car From The Worst Brand?
01:07:15 What Cars Does Doug Unfairly Hate?
01:09:34 Why Don’t Enthusiats LIke Minis?
01:13:38 Would You Buy An Ineos?
01:15:20 Would You Buy A Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo?
01:17:32 What Should The New Popemobile Be?

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