
A CyberTruck technicality; the tragic life of his Rover SD1; why insurance is important; when small cars REALLY matter; the unsung Corvette King; cars are too fast; and more! > Patreon questions include: > Would Jason get a Golf R or R32? > Why did he create his famous Excel file? > What new car are we excited about? > Ever drive an Audi A2? Which "performance" cars couldn't keep up with Jason's Pacifica camera car? > Rather work with Top Gear or Parts Unknown? > Is there another Ferdinand Piech video coming? > F/M/K each other's garages > Which cars drive similar but look nothing alike > And more! Recorded July 11, 2025 https://www.instagram.com/jasoncammisa/ https://www.youtube.com/hagerty Show Notes: DeleteMe Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for DeleteMe. Now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/TIRE and use promo code TIRE at checkout. FitBod Join Fi...
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Matt Farah
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Smoking Tire podcast. This episode is brought to you as always by off the Record. If you get pulled over and ticketed, don't plead guilty, get off the record. Go to offtherecord.com TST that's offtherecord.com Tst and we will get you 10% off all legal services booked through off the Record. See, they've got lawyers all over the country and wherever you got that ticket on off the Record's got a lawyer for someone who can help you fight it effectively. And if you don't get those points off your record, you don't pay. So again, offtherecord.com TST offtherecord.com TSt that's for 10% off all legal services booked through off the Record. All right, guys, big show today. Jason Camisa is in studio. Of course, we're going to talk a little bit about the cybertruck. We're also talking about the Alpine A110 that I'm handling handing off to him. He's telling a story about what happens when you crash your car on the way to featuring it and Jay Leno's garage. We're getting a fleet update from Mr. Kamisa as well as a look inside what's happening in his hagerty show. And somehow he sneaks in like a 20 minute commercial for insurance. Jason Camisa is on today's episode of the Smoking Tire podcast. I had.
Jason Camisa
What is Hannah doing to you?
Matt Farah
I swear to God. I swear to God. I was injured from snuggling big spoon. What count my left arm from being big spoon with Hannah for, you know, overnight, whatever it was, six hours. I ended up with like an rotator cuff.
Zach Klapman
I actually hurt my rotator cuff from trying to spoon my wife for like months on end on the left side.
Jason Camisa
And it just slowly eroded it.
Matt Farah
Well, Hannah and I, people talk about sides of the bed. You can't do that. I have to. I have to. I get injured if I'm only on one side of the bed.
Jason Camisa
You have to like rotisserie.
Matt Farah
We change, we rotate.
Jason Camisa
Can I just point out that I'm a lot older than both of you guys, but you look fabulous. Oh, just, just. Yeah, right.
Matt Farah
I looked your eyes than you. If people stood the two of us next to each other and said, you.
Jason Camisa
Can do a vote online. See, you know, like Zach and I.
Matt Farah
Are the same age. That's what people don't believe.
Jason Camisa
People think he was younger than you.
Matt Farah
People think he could be my child. Someone thought that Someone did things. No, I mean, look, someone. One time. Okay, right. There's someone. I could spin that. But, like, of all the people we met, that's the stupidest one. You know what I mean? Like, someone's gotta be the dumbest one. It's that guy.
Jason Camisa
We're the one with the worst vision. That's my.
Matt Farah
You look great.
Jason Camisa
And I'm like, you need an ophthalmologist.
Matt Farah
Don't attribute to stupidity that which you can attribute to blindness.
Jason Camisa
Bad vision and stupidity. And, yeah, you look so great.
Matt Farah
That's the next level of, like, you know. Don't attribute to malice what could really be stupidity. It's like, well, don't attribute to stupidity.
Jason Camisa
What could be blindness.
Matt Farah
Let's take that one to its logical conclusion. Don't attribute to blindness to what could be obliviousness. There you go.
Jason Camisa
Which is purposeful.
Matt Farah
And what could be oblivious could be attributed to the fact that it's actually a cat.
Jason Camisa
You're talking. You're just.
Matt Farah
You're no longer talking to a cat.
Jason Camisa
You're living in Californian at that point. You live in your own little world, and you're shocked that there are other people in your bubble. Obliviousness, it's inadvertent. Oh, fuck. There's a term that I always use, you know, look, we're New Yorkers, so we can make fun of we're New.
Matt Farah
Yorkers living in California, which makes us better than everybody.
Jason Camisa
Exactly. It's our job to make fun of all these people and hate them all.
Matt Farah
Have you ever found that being a New Yorker and living and working in California is like having a Game Genie on the back of your NES video game? A New York work ethic in California is a cheat code.
Jason Camisa
It is a cheat code.
Matt Farah
It is a very straightforward cheat code.
Jason Camisa
Because it's being broadcast.
Matt Farah
Yes.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, I've been saying it for years. You're totally right.
Matt Farah
Of course it is.
Jason Camisa
And the thing is, I go back, I always think I'm such an asshole. Like, there's so many times throughout the course of every, like, week that I'm like, oh, Jason, you're such a dick. And then I go, I was just in New York, and I realized it's just not me.
Matt Farah
No, you have standards.
Jason Camisa
Why operate at the same speed with the same standards as a whole culture of people? 16 million of them in New York. And I come back here, and I'm like, it's not me. They're the enemy.
Matt Farah
A person I know well just got a new job at a company that's a very Midwest Company, I work for one of those. And they were literally told to slow down.
Jason Camisa
I was told. Jean Jennings told me to tone down the toilet water, was the quote. Because I walked in, you know, I'm like, you know, fucking Italian shower. Oh my God, Drakkar or whatever the hell I was wearing. And she was like, tone down the toilet water, kid. You're not in Brooklyn anymore.
Matt Farah
And I was waiting line though.
Jason Camisa
Funny.
Matt Farah
Really good.
Jason Camisa
She was good with the lines.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
But yeah, no, I worked. I mean, I moved to Ann Arbor and was there and I was like, what? And I had lived in Pittsburgh before that, so like I had a soft landing into. Into the actual Midwest. They did not know what to make of me and vice versa.
Matt Farah
In Ann Arbor.
Jason Camisa
Ann Arbor, it's pronounced.
Matt Farah
How did anybody end up in Ann. I mean, I guess to be honest.
Jason Camisa
David Davis, editor in chief of Car and Driver, was in New York. Car and Driver's in Manhattan, which is actually the stupidest place on earth to put a car magazine, because you don't.
Matt Farah
It is. I mean, I did for two years. Me and Tom Morningstar and Gene Sanchez did a car YouTube channel from 419 Park Avenue.
Jason Camisa
You don't want to do that. Right. So he got sick of the. Everyone was getting sick of like the homeless people sleeping on the stoop of the office and whatever else. And his this is crazy story. True story. David E's mother was in an old age home in Toledo, Ohio. And he was like, well, the halfway point between Toledo and Detroit, the car companies was Ann Arbor. And so. And he was like. And of course he was a stuck up twat anyway, so he was like, well, and it's also a bougie college town. I'll move car driver there. And that's how it wound up there. And then Gene, Gene was a taxi driver in Ann Arbor, slash crash test dummy, basically at Chrysler proving grounds. And then she was. She joined car driver and then left for automobile.
Matt Farah
Wow. And. And Ann Arbor never got any more interesting because of it. I mean, live.
Jason Camisa
It was terrible. I was there for a year and a half straight and then I left, moved to California and then spent the next six years going back.
Matt Farah
Dude, writing about, look, maybe in the. When did they move there? In the 80s, right? It must have been the 80s.
Jason Camisa
No, it was earlier than that. Earlier than that. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Okay. So at that time communication a little slower and you know, I suppose the, the focus on domestic automobiles a little heavier. So there's a, there's a rational argument aside from that, that, that being close to Detroit maybe made some sense.
Jason Camisa
Or maybe in and not like not an hour away, which, by the way, turns into a seven hour drive from snows, which he does for six months straight.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah. You could have just as easily been.
Jason Camisa
In Detroit, but his mom was in Toledo. Sure.
Matt Farah
But having to do automotive journalism in Michigan is as dumb as having to do automotive journalism in New York City.
Jason Camisa
And let's call this for people who don't work in the industry. One of the most important things is photography with a magazine. And we would have to drive 4, 5, 6, 10 hours just to get somewhere where you could take a single fucking picture once. Also weather, because that would screw everything up. Also roads. How do you evaluate a car?
Matt Farah
There are no corners or hills.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
It's crazy.
Jason Camisa
It was funny. There's a woman that worked for automobile.
Matt Farah
People building cars who have never left Detroit for people reviewing cars that can only review them in Detroit. You have this ouroboros of shit of shit products.
Jason Camisa
It was. So I moved to Ann Arbor and I was like, where is there not a single hill? And this Ann Arborite who worked for.
Matt Farah
Us, who hated where's the Hill?
Jason Camisa
She was like, oh, my God, you gotta go out to this road. And there's a big hill. Total elevation change four feet. And I'm like, I just moved from Pittsburgh. I'm like, no, no, no. Hill is like. At least. We'll call a hill at least. Maybe 40, if not 400.
Matt Farah
Sure, yeah. Hill.
Jason Camisa
Four feet. Four. Oh, and there's a curve. No, there's a 90 degree curve. That's a mound because everything's on a grid. So you get a 90 degree curve.
Matt Farah
No, it was flat. But then Jim. Jim buried a real big cow there. Now it's a hill.
Jason Camisa
And it acted as fertilizer and fertilized the bacteria, which pushed the ground up by a whole inch.
Matt Farah
God, that's just terrible.
Jason Camisa
Not my. So anyway, so back to New Yorkers. And that's why we think we're better than ever. We are.
Matt Farah
I mean. Sorry, sorry. We had things like hills and sunshine to drive cars in.
Jason Camisa
Let's be real about this. We have my whole family, which is enough to ruin most of New York. But also rats. Yeah, yeah. For example, filth.
Matt Farah
There's a flip side. That piss smell is real.
Jason Camisa
It is real. We have mta.
Matt Farah
I wasn't a New York City person, though. I couldn't. Huh? Oh, you mean I was a West.
Jason Camisa
You're a Westchester.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Westchester person. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Brooklyn originally. And then from five on five and a half. Years old. On. I was in Hastings on Hudson, which.
Matt Farah
That's Westchester.
Jason Camisa
Westchester, Upstate. What, are you going upstairs? Are going to be fucking cows over there?
Matt Farah
No, that's how mad up the word upstate. I lived 12 miles north of Manhattan. You could leave my house and drive for eight hours north and still be in New York. Yeah, yeah. And I lived upstate. Yeah, imagine. Because imagine living in Encinitas and people are like, oh, yeah, upstate. Fuck.
Jason Camisa
The second you leave Manhattan, you're upstate Bronx, upstate Riverdale.
Matt Farah
That's how important New York City is to itself.
Jason Camisa
None of your listeners have.
Matt Farah
I told you the fucking. My. My favorite New York story occurred in Los Angeles. There's a place in Santa Monica called New York Bagel and Deli.
Jason Camisa
Oh, no.
Matt Farah
I. And I. And I went. And I walked in and I.
Jason Camisa
It.
Matt Farah
I was instantly taken to New York. It wasn't. It wasn't an LA version of a New York bagel Deli. It was an actual New York bagel deli.
Jason Camisa
Right?
Matt Farah
And I was like, holy shit. And the guy in the back is wearing a Yankee hat. And I go. I go, this is awesome, man. I'm super stoked. I'm from New York, too. He goes, oh, yeah, Where? I go, Westchester.
Jason Camisa
And he goes, oh.
Matt Farah
And he rolled his eyes at me. So you knew he was real in Santa Monica. I wasn't New York enough for this guy.
Jason Camisa
I think we might have discussed this, like 10 years ago when I didn't your podcast for the first time, but I moved to San Francisco and I found West Brooklyn pizza. So I walk in and I'm like, excuse me, could you explain to me what west Brooklyn pizza means? And he's like, what do you mean? And I'm like, is this West Coast Brooklyn pizza or is this like western.
Matt Farah
Brooklyn Western part of Brooklyn, Bay Ridge.
Jason Camisa
Or even worse, Staten Island? Cause this is the Staten island pizza.
Matt Farah
Then maybe west Brooklyn is the river.
Jason Camisa
Kind of Verrazano Bridge.
Matt Farah
That's like born and raised in south Detroit. Like, oh, so that's in Canada.
Jason Camisa
That's also true. So the guy's looking at me and I'm like. He's like, what's the difference? And I'm like, well, the difference is if I'm expecting west Brooklyn Bay Ridge pizza and you give me west coast pizza, I'm gonna fucking throw it at you. He goes, I'll break your fucking legs. And I was like, you are from Brooklyn. And he was like, yeah, I'm from Brooklyn. Pizza's amazing.
Matt Farah
Oh, good.
Jason Camisa
Oh, good.
Matt Farah
For the today, he could have just answered the question with. Yeah, Bay Ridge.
Jason Camisa
No, he was a sarcastic Brooklyn asshole, which is exactly what I deserved. Yeah, look right there. Fort Hamilton. Bay Ridge. Fort Hamilton. Right at the base of Arizona Bridge.
Matt Farah
That is west Brooklyn. Yeah, exactly. I mean, respect to that guy for defining it so specifically, so far from Brooklyn.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, but there's only so many people that he had a genuine asshole in front of him, torturing him over.
Matt Farah
Right. So we're both assholes. Okay. Cool cars to that. Hello.
Jason Camisa
Hi.
Matt Farah
Welcome back.
Jason Camisa
Thanks for having me back.
Matt Farah
I had to fucking lure you here with a French car.
Jason Camisa
Listen, I think everyone's gonna be surprised that I'm in the same room with you because the last time we were all on a podcast together, we were not nice to each other.
Zach Klapman
It was super fun.
Jason Camisa
I mean, we were. But it was fun. It was fun. And for it. Can I just state podcast theater. I have always hated that fucking cybertruck. It had nothing to do with. It is such a double wheel.
Matt Farah
Zach can check that off. When I saw you when we had coffee two weeks ago and you said that, and I said, I was like, lol. Jason hates the cybertruck and regrets the video. Zack says. Will he say that on camera?
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Ok. It's such a double whammy kick in the dick that I'm still getting so much shit about this because.
Matt Farah
Okay, they gave you a journalism award.
Jason Camisa
It's true. They did. I did win an award for it. They gave you a journalist award. And I fucking deserved. Doesn't.
Matt Farah
You should. Gallagher.
Jason Camisa
Let me just make this very professional for a second. It doesn't matter whether I like a car or hate a car, right?
Matt Farah
No.
Jason Camisa
It's my job as a bit player. You are a journalist also. You're a journalist also. You're a bit player. Who is the intended audience? What is this car's intended purpose and does it. Does it reach that?
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Whether I like the car or hate the car doesn't factor in at all.
Matt Farah
You did say you don't like the car. You just didn't say it loudly and clearly enough.
Jason Camisa
I also apparently didn't say loudly and clear enough that this is not a full product review. I only drove the goddamn thing on location at Sonoma Raceway. Other than driving it once on the road. This was an engineering story. And this. They gave me access to the engineers and I was telling the. The amazing part of the cybertruck is all the engineering that went into it. The not amazing part of it is, A, the dick bags who buy it, B, the truck the way it looks. But that wasn't the scope of that video. I think it was just pretty much.
Matt Farah
I think it was presented as a review and received as a review by pretty much everybody.
Jason Camisa
It was.
Matt Farah
You could find print that it's an engineering study or something, but I think.
Jason Camisa
The message was barely delivered and definitely not received.
Matt Farah
I would agree on both of those.
Jason Camisa
And look as a product like what?
Matt Farah
Oh, it's a shit pile. It's a straight shit. And let me say we made a salad with one.
Zach Klapman
Can I.
Matt Farah
No other tools.
Zach Klapman
Can I just say that the video title. The video title is exclusive. 2024 Tesla Cybertruck full review and drag race. It is not.
Jason Camisa
Hey, fair enough. I don't look it's been so long now and I will not watch that video. It did cut the shit out of me. Like I did actually slice my.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I believe you. Just like we did with multiple vegetables.
Jason Camisa
I give me a Rivian. Actually give me a Raptor R because I'm that much of a. Oh, you.
Matt Farah
Really are a dick bag. Yeah, that's a dick bag vehicle.
Jason Camisa
I mean if I wanted an electric truck. Lightning is wonderful. A Raptor.
Matt Farah
The lightning is the best electric work truck.
Jason Camisa
Yes.
Matt Farah
The Rivian's the best electric recreational truck.
Jason Camisa
And the Cybertruck is the best. What? I'm gonna let you do this. Cause I'm gonna shut the best.
Matt Farah
It's the best rolling. Sieg heil.
Zach Klapman
It's the best demonstration.
Matt Farah
It's the Swastikar.
Jason Camisa
Listen, I don't get political.
Matt Farah
It's the best tool for running over protesters if that's want to do well.
Jason Camisa
Just slice them into pieces.
Matt Farah
Yes.
Jason Camisa
It would be like almost intentionally processed wood. Anyway, it's more like a. I would.
Matt Farah
Say it's more like a mandolin. A rolling mandolin.
Jason Camisa
When you see the chefs and the shit's just flying, some chef somewhere will.
Matt Farah
Will tell me what. What tool would most similarly do to a vegetable that a cyber truck would.
Jason Camisa
Cuz it's half.
Matt Farah
You know, it'd be awesome if someone actually made like a scale little cyber truck with important, you know, razor blade like front edges on like some kind of a mini crash test dummy track. And they just sent it at vegetables. I would watch that TikTok channel all day.
Jason Camisa
All day.
Zach Klapman
You need an rc. An RC Cybertruck can just, you know.
Jason Camisa
Drive it towards pumpkins, man.
Matt Farah
Yeah, perfect for Halloween. That would be fun.
Zach Klapman
Do you think it's a question for you, Jason? Because when I drove the Cybertruck I was impressed by this steer by wire and I just thought okay, that is a cool technology. But I think the truck is so bad at being a vehicle in so many ways. Like there's the headlights, accessing the bed, seeing behind you, stuff like that. If they had put that tech in a Model S, would that have leveled up the Model S in a way that would have reinvigorated that? Or do you think it would have not gotten the attention of having a whole new model?
Jason Camisa
I think it wouldn't have gotten the attention. I mean, Model S is, let's face it, 700 years old at the. Yeah, let me also say. But I, I'm a firm believer that Model 3 is the best car on planet Earth. The, The Highland Model 3 is near perfect. And this is journalist Jason speaking.
Matt Farah
Like, yeah, I drove, I drove it. It's actually quite lovely. I thought it would. The Model 3 Performance, I thought was really, really nice. It's.
Jason Camisa
It was great talkingly better than the last car. Like.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it is. So on a racetrack, it's a good time.
Jason Camisa
Really good. Yeah, it genuinely did beat the M3 in that comparo. So I did a comparative BMW M3 and we set out. We were. I'm like, I got so much shit before between the cybertruck and then I did a drag race video where the M, the M3 beat the Tesla and all the fucking Tesla people wanted me dead. And so on that one I'm like, you know what we're going to do? We're not even going to call this an icons. We're going to call this a tread to tread. Which was making fun of the old head to head. And I just. And I started the episode. But I'm like, I'm not going to get you to convert between ice and. And ev. That'd be like getting you to try to change your religion using logic. So here's the deal. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna ask five questions and I'm gonna answer them in order to say which one should you buy? And of course I write this in the script. And then Randy Popes in the background unscripted is like, well, it depends on whether you're a right wing nutjob or a libtard. And we all fucking burst out laughing. So we left that in the episode. We re recorded that.
Matt Farah
I bet that went over well in the comments.
Jason Camisa
It actually did. Did it? It shut everyone up because it's Randy. Randy could do any. Randy could actually kill a pedestrian. And people were like, but Serenity Popes did it. I'd be glad to die by the hands of Randy. So I really don't like, I don't subscribe to the. You like a car company or you don't like a car company you like, whatever. I just, I leave that out of it. Like I can say with some degree of certainty Audi has never built a car that drives well. But it doesn't mean it doesn't matter whether I like it or don't like it. Right? I will evaluate every new Audi as a new car.
Matt Farah
We could debate that.
Jason Camisa
I've had.
Matt Farah
I've liked a couple of Audis.
Jason Camisa
I've liked them.
Matt Farah
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Jason Camisa
Show B7RS4 I like, I thought particularly.
Matt Farah
Well, I thought it, I thought it, it wasn't a universally like, it probably wasn't very good on a racetrack, but it would be lovely on a road trip or you know, up to six or seven tenths or whatever.
Jason Camisa
Exactly.
Matt Farah
I mean the R8s.
Jason Camisa
No, no.
Matt Farah
You don't think the R8s, not any of the R8s drives.
Jason Camisa
Well, the original stick shift V8.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Was the best of the bunch. The V10s were too assy and uncontrollable. The V8 was nice. A Little bit understeery, you could back into a corner.
Matt Farah
And I say this, meanwhile, I've. The only press car I've ever crashed is an 8V10.
Jason Camisa
They were. They were unbelievable. They really were.
Matt Farah
I think my crash was my fault and not the car's fault.
Jason Camisa
What kind of a journalist are you?
Matt Farah
Immediately? But I've driven other R8s on track. I would not call them uncontrollable. They were predictable.
Jason Camisa
Maybe not uncontrollable like a C7ZR1 is, but unpredictable. They were just on it. They were not.
Matt Farah
They weren't the best track cars, but again, as road cars, they're so nice, it's amazing. Like, hurricanes are better.
Jason Camisa
Like, unbelievable. Right?
Matt Farah
Huracans are better on racetracks. Audis are great on the road, though. The R8s are really good on the road.
Jason Camisa
Right. I would take a manual stick shift to R8 and I. The. The engine's charismatic enough and the car looks good enough that I'd forgive the totally dead steering and some of the other stuff.
Matt Farah
Yeah, they're not like, again, not my favorite, but. But how about this? The 2015 16S8 was a fine automobile. 580 horsepower. The thing was like low 3 second to 60. It had a lot of tech, but still had some real buttons. It was before it went full spaceship. First Audi to have the fucking LED interior, but before they went overboard with it. That is an excellent Audi.
Jason Camisa
I'd have to go back to my notes if.
Matt Farah
You know, I mean, I'm sure there's something not to like about it, but that is a superior automobile.
Jason Camisa
Final chassis tuning is something that Audi has almost never gotten right. So steering calibration, brake pedal calibration, programming the transmission and throttle to work together. It's that level of stuff that they don't get right interior wise. Yes, but I think that was. That was before the generation of cars that had the electric door latches.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that one.
Jason Camisa
Like the door latches on the next gen that wouldn't open.
Matt Farah
Oh, I don't know.
Jason Camisa
So you park one of those cars on. When you pull the door latch, it sends a solenoid a half a second command to unlock. That's it. And if you don't push the door open hard when you're on a hill, the door won't open. So you pull it and you pull it and you pull it. It's that level shit that fucking irritates me. But my point in saying that was that I will judge a new Audi based on a standard with a clean slate When a new car comes in and I judge the cybertruck in that way and it was the engineering that I was looking at. Right. Again, I don't think I've still driven a cybertruck on the road more than a couple miles. I don't need.
Matt Farah
You don't need to.
Jason Camisa
I don't need to at this point.
Matt Farah
Right.
Jason Camisa
I knew, I understood the tech that went into it and I did that. It's. It's.
Matt Farah
You can tell how a car steers, rides and handles in five minutes. You don't need to.
Jason Camisa
And I did drive it for five minutes on the road, so that's.
Matt Farah
And you drove it on a racetrack.
Jason Camisa
So like, you also totally not relevant to what that car does.
Matt Farah
No, it's not. But like, but it was. Go from that back to the road is easy.
Jason Camisa
That's right. That is true.
Matt Farah
It's easier than saying, I've driven it for five minutes on the road. Now let me assume what it's like on a racetrack because you can't go the other way.
Jason Camisa
Right. That is a good point.
Matt Farah
And by the way, when I had a racetrack, because I did the testing for Performance Electric Vehicle of the Year for road and track last year, I liked the Ioniq 5N better on the racetrack. It was faster. But I did like some things about the Model 3 better. The locale, the ability to put the steering wheel wherever the fuck you want and not block anything. That, that like chassis slider thing that you could switch the power and brake bias to make it like real time dynamic changes. Like. Right.
Jason Camisa
To me, what the Model 3 does best is just living with it. Right. It's the, the way the infotainment system works, the way your phone works as a key, the app that's on the phone, just the little. The supercharging network. I mean, once you live with a Tesla, you can't none of the other EVs compare. And that's the problem. That is to me as a human being, frustrating as fuck. Because there are a lot of things about Tesla and its image and whatever else that I don't really like. And I don't like cars that are rolling political statements one way or another. That irritates me because I have to say to people, people ask me like, what car should I have? And I'll look, I'll ask them what their needs are and ask them what their budgets are and what their drive cycles are and what it looks like. And I'll say to them without question, the best car for you right now is a Model 3. And then I know exactly what's coming next. I'm like not saying you're gonna have one, I'm saying that is the match. And if you don't want that, here are the alternatives.
Matt Farah
CPMWI, 4, there's whatever.
Jason Camisa
None of them come close in terms of the actual ownership.
Matt Farah
I think if people really need to use public charging all the time.
Jason Camisa
They mostly don't.
Matt Farah
They mostly don't. I mean, I made a whole fucking thing about public charging and my Taycan and blah blah, blah, which by the way, I drove across the country with no plan and was totally fine.
Jason Camisa
Totally fine.
Matt Farah
Totally fine. It's been totally fine the whole time. Every time I've needed you. But it's rare. And 95% of the time I'm charging once a week at my own house.
Jason Camisa
I drive an Eagle for the 100 miles of range and I charge that once every couple of days. I don't even think about. I think I've decent fast charge that car three times in seven years.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, I wonder what the percentage of Tesla owners is that don't own a home with a charger versus other EVs.
Matt Farah
Probably higher.
Jason Camisa
A lot of people, especially in the.
Matt Farah
Bay Area, probably higher for sure.
Jason Camisa
But I mean you just go to Target, like there's a, there's a supercharger, huge supercharger bank at one of the targets. Two of them actually just go grocery shopping. By the time you're done, your car's at 100.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, yeah, that's what I figured. Because I mean your average Lyft and Uber driver, not to be disrespectful, but it's California. Like probably doesn't own their home that has a charger.
Matt Farah
But by the way, for the record, if there's a EA at a Target, by the way, and you have another EV and there's enough chargers to satisfy the population, you can do exactly the same thing.
Jason Camisa
The problem is just the uptime for EA stuff was really bad.
Matt Farah
Dude, it's the second it's. Well, here's why. I mean not, you know, why. Here's one reason why Tesla made their own hardware to work with their cars.
Jason Camisa
It's like having a MacBook.
Matt Farah
It's Apple, right? And EA is the PC and the other ones are the PC. Everything has to work with everything. That's a much harder problem. Then there's third party hardware manufacturers. The second and third. I think we're. Now probably Kyle Connor would kill me if I don't get this right, but I think we're on the third. Third generation of the EA Fast Charger. Now, when you go to a major, they're all 350s. Those 350s work, work. And they finally have hired enough people where. When you. When you go to charging stations, you actually see people there servicing them, cleaning more. And I've not. Every once in a while, I'll see one that's down. But I never. It's never like it was in 2021. It was 2022, truly.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
It was horrible. It was horrible.
Jason Camisa
I mean, now it's hundreds of times I've seen supercharged. I've literally never had a single supercharger not work immediately.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And it's just boom.
Matt Farah
And it just happened recently was and probably still is better, excluding higher peak speeds that I can get with an 800 volt.
Jason Camisa
I pulled up to an EVGO DC fast charge in my E Golf next to a friend and a supercharger. And by the time this thing connected to my car, charged my credit card and started charging, he had already been charging for three and a half minutes and had, like, had already gotten 100 miles of range. It was something like, well, that's a.
Matt Farah
Pretty shit charger, I think, as I have Plug and Charge, right?
Jason Camisa
Which.
Matt Farah
Plug and Charge, which is where my credit card is. My billing is done through my car, just like Tesla, right. So the ea, ea, evgo and Charge Point, all of them. If I plug in, it recognizes your car. I would say the process takes. I mean, realistically, I want to say it takes 30 seconds before power actually starts flowing.
Jason Camisa
That's not horrendous.
Matt Farah
It's roughly the same amount of time it takes to run a credit card. But I don't do anything but plug the card in.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
And I would say that that works 95% of the time. And when that doesn't, the credit card thing works now. So, like, that's good.
Jason Camisa
That's good.
Matt Farah
I don't. I don't have a reason to defend something that doesn't work. As I was. As I told people in. In the original video, I think when I drove cross country, the only charger that I found that literally didn't work was owned by Shell.
Jason Camisa
That's funny.
Matt Farah
It was Shell, Shell's new ev. And I think it's like a. Not like a. It's like a scop. That's just. They put broken chargers all over. Like, see? See, you need a gas car. Stupid.
Jason Camisa
Don't believe those.
Matt Farah
Just to strand people.
Jason Camisa
That's very funny. I mean, I kind of doubt it. But it's.
Matt Farah
No, it's a coincidence. That isn't data. But like it is a funny motivation to do that.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Matt Farah
If you were Shell, would you want to have like a great electric network that encouraged people to buy evs?
Jason Camisa
Of course. Of course not.
Matt Farah
Oh, boy. So, yeah. Anyway, I agree with you. The new Model 3 is a really nice car.
Jason Camisa
I know. Angry.
Matt Farah
I did just drive a client's. I had to pick up a client's new Model Y. The suspension still fucking crashy.
Jason Camisa
Is it really? Yeah. That's the one thing they fixed big time on the race.
Matt Farah
Yeah, they did. This was still crashy now. It had whatever the biggest wheels are now. Maybe you have to get the little wheels or something. But like I was like, oh man, that's a big. Because the model Y is really nice, but it rides like dog.
Jason Camisa
Not good.
Matt Farah
No, the three was good.
Jason Camisa
Three is really.
Matt Farah
The three was good. Yeah. The brakes didn't last as long on the track as the. The Ionic 5N has real brakes. Yeah. That thing is. Have you driven a 6N yet?
Jason Camisa
No.
Matt Farah
It's the same, right? It's going to be exactly the same. It's the same underneath.
Jason Camisa
Same underneath.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Who knows that? You haven't. You've seen car companies up.
Matt Farah
I'll tell you what, I, you, you have a racetrack and a 5N. That is a good time. It really is.
Jason Camisa
But here's my thing, guys.
Matt Farah
We got to take one more quick break for delete me. You've been hearing me talk about delete me for a while now. They're still here, still kicking it. And I can say for certain, I use delete me. My wife did not use Delete me. And the amount of spam, texts, phone calls, fake phone calls, emails and stuff that she get compared to me is a noticeable difference. Her data is clearly more out there on the data broker websites than mine does. So, like what happens is we are full of data brokers, right? When you sign up for anything, buy anything, use the Internet in a way that people do your data, your personal data is then sold to data brokers who then use that data to spam you with stuff, right? So delete me is a service that you sign up for and you tell them all the information that you want deleted. Seems ironic that you do that, but that's how it works. And then they scrape the entire Internet looking for it and forcefully deleting it. And it's not just a one time service. You sign up for delete me, you fill up their questionnaire. And then a couple days later they have a report from you about for you about what they found, what they deleted and things you might need to personally approve or intervene to have deleted. But then for me it's about every month they continue sending up reports, finding new stuff, new information, things that didn't quite get deleted last time. And over a period of a couple months, a couple cycles, your online life gets drastically better. I really like it. And in my own house at least, it absolutely does work. So you can do it too. Take control of your data. Keep your private life private. By signing up for Deleteme now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com Tire and use promo code tire at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com tire. Enter code tire at checkout. One more time join DeleteMe.com tire and then code tire. And now back to the show.
Jason Camisa
I don't think anyone is going to. I think it's going to be a long time before people are. Are tracking EVs. Look, there are Teslas of course at track days.
Matt Farah
Yeah, there's that like. Is that Tesla Corsa thing still going on?
Jason Camisa
I don't know.
Matt Farah
It was it Button Willow. It was a time attack series because they put superchargers there so you could.
Jason Camisa
But I just think for daily transfer. This is part of my big problem with the whole EV adoption thing. If. If it's not a better solution, we shouldn't have it.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Jason Camisa
Right. And on a radio.
Matt Farah
That's the problem with EV motorcycles.
Jason Camisa
Fair point. If on a racetrack an EV is just not a better solution. Now for the people who don't give a shit about driving. Get all these assholes out of their fucking CVT Subarus that are plugging up every goddamn fast lane in California doing 38 miles an hour. Get them out of these fucking ice cars and put them in an EV where they. I'm sorry, I just hit the camera my. My time. Yeah, just get flail away some miserable shit box.
Matt Farah
Read the sign.
Jason Camisa
It says don't bring the. What did you think you were doing?
Matt Farah
You can flail, but don't bang the audience when they're listening on their like kef. Like eight. Yeah, like rad. They're sitting in their one chair with sunglasses like zoned in on Kamisa at.
Jason Camisa
No.
Matt Farah
Yes they are. And they comment then I'm sorry for.
Jason Camisa
Everything I've said and especially everything They've said yeah, no, just get these miserable shit boxes off the, off the road. Put them in EVs. I don't think we need to replace 9 11s with electric.
Matt Farah
No, we certainly. And dude, I'm telling you, when you. Nothing will make you say that ev sports cars are not necessary. You're going to text me, you're going to get in this Alpine to drive back to San Francisco. I guarantee fucking to you, you don't get 10 minutes before you text me something to the effect of oh my God.
Jason Camisa
Well see, I have a very high bar. Look at the shit boxes I own. I know, listen, car dude. I know. And I sold my lease because what if.
Matt Farah
A lease but comfortable.
Jason Camisa
Well, I sold my lease because it wasn't experience enough.
Matt Farah
Well this is, I mean look, this isn't, this isn't an experience that you wouldn't. Don't position this as your super special weekend car. Position this as the, the best daily of all time. It's not super special weekend car. It's best daily of all time.
Jason Camisa
Best daily of all time. Yeah, okay, I get it.
Matt Farah
Because it's, it's fun and speed and pace with seemingly no compromise.
Jason Camisa
Looks great. First time I've seen one in person. Was downstairs.
Matt Farah
Looks great. And then I just, I just drove it back from our other store to here this morning. My last drive. And as I'm driving I'm like. It makes me so mad. And we, we've learned, we've. We've got extremely in depth detail about why that car can't be sold here. And it's not just because Nissan and, and Renault suck. It's because of the unbelted occupant test. It would not pass. The shape of the roof would have to be changed for the US market.
Jason Camisa
To stop them from smashing.
Matt Farah
Because three states in the US don't have seatbelt laws and all cars have to accommodate their fucking needs.
Jason Camisa
And I just leave right now?
Matt Farah
Isn't that crazy? Even though the technology 100% exists to make it so the car will not start or run without a belt. Yeah. You could easily put that interlock in and have an exception or a waiver and sell it.
Jason Camisa
Otherwise it's like totally safety obsessed. This country is. Meanwhile, every F150 is basically a six foot tall blunt object mass murderer. Oh, and no one has amber turn signals.
Matt Farah
Yeah, right.
Jason Camisa
Oh and we can't have good headlights.
Matt Farah
Oh but, but God forbid we can't have convex mirrors that cover our blind spots. However, my mandatory mod for all modern Porsches A hundred is Euro mirrors. You go to Suncoast, shout out to them, and you get the European version of your car's mirrors.
Jason Camisa
Okay, so I have a story to tell and actually it's mirror related and it's going to seem self serving now.
Matt Farah
Count me in.
Jason Camisa
Well, I crashed my car.
Matt Farah
Oh.
Jason Camisa
I crashed my Rover.
Matt Farah
Oh, so.
Jason Camisa
So, all right.
Matt Farah
And you crashed. Not you. Not you were crashed into. Oh, that's sad.
Jason Camisa
And it's because of them.
Matt Farah
You're supposed to be a professional Jason picture.
Zach Klapman
This is the good one.
Jason Camisa
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Zach Klapman
But I'm showing him before.
Jason Camisa
No, that's not before.
Zach Klapman
This is the one you sent me.
Jason Camisa
That's not before.
Matt Farah
It doesn't look. It doesn't look like a before Jason car. That looks like a middle one. Yeah, that looks like a somewhere in the middle car.
Jason Camisa
Show that. Show the other one.
Zach Klapman
That one's worse.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, no, that's. That's the one. Okay, hold on. This is. That's what I did.
Matt Farah
Oh, front corner. That fender is real crunched in it, actually. It doesn't look horrible, right? Is it horrible? It looks like the hood can be fixed.
Jason Camisa
The hood was. So the other picture that Zach showed first is actually the car last week.
Matt Farah
Okay, cool. That fender's probably hard to get to.
Jason Camisa
Leno calls it. It's fucking new. Old stock for sale in the UK, $200, $700 in shipping.
Matt Farah
But 200 bucks.
Jason Camisa
And they basically. Do you remember the opening scene from Ace Ventura where he's got the package and it's like he's just kicking it and doing whatever that happened. That guy delivered it to the body shop.
Matt Farah
So.
Jason Camisa
So Leno calls me. Leno's people call me, and they're like. Actually, I think it was Jay himself. He's like, what else do you got? And I'm like, that. I've done four episodes, three episodes of Leno. So he did the Shirok, my Shirok with 16 valve, which he seemed moderately interested in. Yeah, a little bit.
Matt Farah
It's not really a J car, is it?
Jason Camisa
No, he did my E30 because he'd never been in any 30. He'd never been in a Mark 1 Volkswagen. He'd never been in an E30. So he drives my E30 wagon. And he was like, okay, engine smooth, whatever, blah, blah, blah. Moderately interested in that. Yeah, Jay's a great guy. I wish he would say, I fucking hate this car.
Matt Farah
Like, yeah, no, he can't do it. He can't do it. I wish he would say to people, I fucking Hate you. And he can't do it.
Jason Camisa
I wish he would do that. No, off camera. He is a fully rounded human being. He is.
Matt Farah
But he will listen. He's the patience of a saint. He will sit there and smile while people spit the dumbest on earth at him for 25 minutes. You can't believe.
Jason Camisa
My favorite is Jay in the studio after we're done recording. When you get real, actual human being Jay. Oh my God. He's so.
Matt Farah
He came in here on our thousandth episode fully eating a sandwich and sat down in front of the mic eating a sandwich.
Jason Camisa
Gave.
Matt Farah
No. That was awesome. I proceeded to say something that had to be cut from the show.
Jason Camisa
He has said some to me that I won't repeat to anyone because he has that Hollywood image. And he's. That's all well and good, like great that he needed to do that, but that's why I say he's a fully formed human being.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But he was interested in the Rover episode.
Jason Camisa
He did my 850csi.
Matt Farah
Are you driving these things down to him?
Jason Camisa
Yeah, drive them all down. So he loved that car.
Matt Farah
Yeah, of course. That is a very J car.
Jason Camisa
So then he's like, what else you got? And I'm like, well, let me bring. Have you ever been in a Rover SD1? Absolutely not. That's the Sterling thing. No, Sterling was a Honda. This is a Rover. This is actually a British Leyland product. It was done by Rover. Triumph, whatever, blah, blah, blah. Bring it down. Three and a half liter V8. Bring it down. Okay. So I leave my house at like 4:00 in the morning.
Matt Farah
This thing's gotta be like SEO Death J.
Jason Camisa
It's gonna get seven views. So he. But he wants to drive it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I want him to have this experience.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Jason Camisa
And I know he's gonna hate it. Don't care.
Matt Farah
Right.
Jason Camisa
So get in the car. Four o' clock in the morning. And they're, they're. The producer had told me they had a pool going on how I would break down just getting here. Not if. Not if. The theory being, I think it might have been day that realized this. Those cars wouldn't have made a 400 mile drive when they were new. Here it is now, 45 years old. Like no chance this is gonna make it. So I get up in the morning and I leave at like crack of dawn before in the middle of the night. And I make a deal with myself. No bullshit. None of my normal fuckery, no top Speed runs on i5 in the middle of the night. None of my passing shit, whatever. So I'm just right lane, 79 in a 70, puttering along at 2200 rpm. And the deal that I made myself included no downshifts up the grapevine. So the Grapevine is a 4,000 foot climb.
Matt Farah
Why is that included in the deal?
Jason Camisa
Because it's a 1960s era American V8. And I know what I normally do up that hill, which is a lot of revs, a lot of low gear and a lot of through five because everyone's a fucking idiot and they slow down to like 55 miles an hour.
Matt Farah
Your car can go uphill and your.
Jason Camisa
Car can do 100. You're 35, 45 year old car will do 100 miles an hour up this hill. And I'm about to show you. Okay, so I'm like none of my normal bullshit, Jason. Right lane, fifth gear. So as I'm driving along, I'm like, I'm just going through like all the things I'm going to say to Jay on camera. The thing is an incredible road trip car. It's like it had the longest fifth gear of any car in production at the time. So it was like 2,000 RPMs, 80 miles an hour.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's the Corvette move.
Jason Camisa
Comfortable, it's smooth, it's doing everything great. Except you can't see a fucking thing out of the mirror. Out of the mirror.
Matt Farah
Because if you look at the photos here, it doesn't.
Jason Camisa
You wouldn't guess that. So we drove to Edmonton. I bought this car with two friends who then I bought out. As soon as we got home, first thing we do, we land in Edmonton. We get in the car and I'm like, oh, this fucking mirror. I can't see anything. We stopped at a Canadian tire and bought the little 1 inch sticky convex mirrors and threw them on. And the whole way down, the whole way down from Edmonton back to San Francisco, we had whoever was in the back seat was doing like blind spot model check.
Matt Farah
Like.
Jason Camisa
Cause you can't see a fucking thing.
Matt Farah
Weird.
Zach Klapman
The mirrors are not small.
Jason Camisa
They're not small, but they're in the wrong spot. Really. Something about the geometry between you, the mirror and all the cars that you're about to hit is you cannot see a fucking thing. Plus they love to fall and droop while you're driving. So you're constantly adjusting it. And the adjustment wheel is a wheel that goes in, out, up, down, and so you can. It just sucks. All the original road tests called it the worst. The mirrors were useless and whatever so what I'm realizing is as the sun is coming up, I can no longer see where the fuck anyone else is. And so my. In my head, I'm like, the worst part about this car. Everyone talks about the British Leyland, build.
Matt Farah
Quality, whatever, no, no mirrors, right?
Jason Camisa
Mental note, make that fucking. Make that comment to Jay. So I'm going up the grapevine and there's this. Who knows, he may sue me one day because I actually. In a dick bag in a fucking Silverado. And he's now directly. I'm all the way in the right lane, and he's one lane over, two lanes over from me sitting there, and I'm now foot on the floor. Just started out the hill at like 68 miles an hour, and I'm down to like 64. And just up the hill and no matter who comes between us, no matter what's going on, he's sitting there next to me. So I gotta move one lane over now because we're passing trucks who are doing like 30 up this hill.
Matt Farah
So now trucks are in lane number one. You're in lane number two. They're in lane, he's in three.
Jason Camisa
I can't see the guy because the truck is so much higher than I am, but he's directly next to me. You see door, I see rocker, like, you know, big Silverado. And. And I'm like, what this motherfucker? And usually when this happens, I can get their attention and I realize they're trying to take a picture. And people taking pictures of this car the whole way down, right? It just looks like a spaceship. No one's ever seen one before. So I'm like, this motherfucker's taking a picture. And I finally get back over into lane one and I see him and I realize he's not taking a picture of me. He's just not awake yet. It's like 8, 40 in the morning, and he's just like, you know one of these people.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Camisa
George Carlin used to say, you know, just look at them and you realize there's a negative force field around them, around. And so I'm like, you.
Zach Klapman
So wait, are you so bothered that he's just pacing me?
Jason Camisa
He's pacing me, right? Same speed. I have nowhere to go if I need to get away from him, right? If like. So finally, six miles of this. He's right to my left. And finally there are. I see up ahead there are two trucks passing each other. And so I need to get in his lane.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And I'm like, if I Downshift. If I slow down, I'm going to have to downshift. I'm never going to get back up to 60 miles an hour. The thing only has 133 horsepower to begin with. So now I'm going to have to go into third. I'm going to have to rev this thing to five grand. I'm going to pop the motor, and Jay's going to be right, and this is not going to happen.
Matt Farah
Let me ask you something. Is it better? You were in fifth.
Jason Camisa
Fifth at like 2000 RPM.
Matt Farah
Is it better to lug the engine?
Jason Camisa
I wasn't lugging it. Yes.
Matt Farah
Okay, you weren't lugging it yet. But it was just.
Jason Camisa
If I slowed down anymore, I was going to have to die. Okay, Right. Sure.
Zach Klapman
You are on the border.
Matt Farah
But it's pretty low rpm, pretty high throttle load.
Jason Camisa
Oh, yeah. I'm like, is that better or worse.
Matt Farah
For an old car than just going down a gear? And being a 3,000 or 35 liter.
Jason Camisa
Would have been fine.
Matt Farah
But why didn't you just go to.
Jason Camisa
I would have to go two floored it, revved the thing to six grand, bent a push rod. I like how you, like, couldn't do.
Matt Farah
You can't do the thing in the middle.
Jason Camisa
You know, you can't just, like, you've seen the way I drive, right?
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Professional driver, closed course.
Matt Farah
But also, here you are with your foot on the floor going 59 and 5th.
Jason Camisa
Right.
Matt Farah
There's something.
Jason Camisa
Well, I realize now I don't have a choice. Right.
Zach Klapman
I love how analytical you are and almost like a perfectionist about, like, the things you write and the things you say and all these things. And then it's like, all right, just go down one gear and drive like a normal human. And the most accurate.
Jason Camisa
But I made a rule.
Matt Farah
Like, it would be okay if you said, jay, I had to go to fourth for 30 seconds and then back.
Jason Camisa
It would have been totally fine. Would have been fine. All right. But. And I did. So I had to lift. So trucks are coming. They're like half mile in the distance, and we're approaching them relatively quickly, despite the fact that we're going walking speed. Yeah. Because this guy's like. And so I lift off and I duck in behind him, get back on the. On the. On the floor. And I'm like, oh, okay. So at 3/4 throttle, I'm pacing him.
Matt Farah
We're totally good.
Jason Camisa
And he starts slowing down and slowing down and slowing down and slowing down. And I'm like, might have been driving a little Bit closer than I should have.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And I'm like, I. I fucking had it. I'm going a third. I'm just getting around this guy. So I go to look over, and I see in the sticky mirror, there's a white Sentra. And I can't see the white Sentra any other way than in the sticky mirror. And I'm like, where the Is that goddamn Sentra? I'm, like, doing the Linda Blair thing. My head's spinning. I cannot see the motherfucker. And this goes on for probably another half a mile. And I'm like, I gotta get out of here. And now you start to get that, like, claustrophobia, like, give me the fuck out of here. I'm trapped. So I'm like, you know what? Fourth gear, totally fine. Just putting my signal on. And I'm going. Everyone else is gonna figure this shit out, right? So I'm looking over and I'm looking over and I'm looking. And eventually I figure the Sentra is gonna come into the regular mirror, or I'll see him, or I'll honk or I'll flash a light and I'll figure out where the fuck he is, right? That's what's going through my head. And I'm looking over and I just start to go, like, going. I'm going. I'm going. And I'm looking over, looking over, looking back, looking over it. And one of the times I look over, bam. And all I see is brake lights in front of me. The don't make me.
Matt Farah
The truck came into your lane.
Jason Camisa
Fucking hit the brakes. Because we were just about to hit the two other trucks passing each other at this point.
Matt Farah
We were not even in your lane. Two lanes over. And he hit the brakes before.
Jason Camisa
Lane one and two are trucks.
Matt Farah
You're Silverado's three. And he breaks before passing two trucks up a hill.
Zach Klapman
Was there someone in front of him?
Jason Camisa
No, there was no one for fucking miles in any direction. I was fucking bizarre. So it was just one of these, like, bonk. Fuck it. Are you fucking kidding me? Right? So I'm like, all right, I scratched the bumper. Because it's. The bumpers are, like, 6ft long.
Matt Farah
They're rubber.
Jason Camisa
And I'm like, there'll be a scuff on the bumper. I'll ask Jay's team to film. Gaffer, Gaffer, Gaffer. Just tape it. Just film it from a different angle, whatever. And so I immediately. So I go around him. Because now we're going so fucking slow that, like, I'm we're doing 35 probably, I don't even know. And I third gear, full throttle, right over. There's just a pad. I pull over and he stops behind me. And I'm like, I'm not going near this guy because I will actually throttle him.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And I walk over and I look at the front of the car and I genuinely expect to see a scuff.
Matt Farah
And you saw that.
Jason Camisa
I saw that.
Matt Farah
And I was like, the headlight is punched in, the corner of the hood is bent down. The front quarter panel has an actual imprint of a Silverado's bumper.
Zach Klapman
You could mount the headlight in the.
Matt Farah
Front fender like you took a fucking dental implant print of a fucking Silverado bumper in your quarter panel.
Jason Camisa
The last Ford Focus had the headlight that wrapped all the way back to the A pillar. I did that to the Rover.
Matt Farah
Yeah. You turned a flat front Rover headlight into a Jaguar E type headlight. That's crazy.
Jason Camisa
I was very upset. So I saw that and I was like, oh, shit. So then I walked back to the back of his car and the bumper's got this beautiful streak of turquoise. Persian aqua, technically, is the name of the paint on. It's pushed in a little bit. I'm like, okay, fine. So I walk over to his mirror of his window and he's holding the wheel, staring straight in front like this. And the guy is still not conscious. He took a fucking hit to the rear and it still didn't wake the asshole up. And so he rolls down the window and I'm like, like, do I kill him? And I'm just like, you okay? And he was like, huh? And I'm like, are you awake? Uh huh. That's all he said. I'm like, okay, give me a license. And he was like, what? I'm like, license and insurance now. Sorry, I hate you. He just looks at me like I'm crazy. Take a picture of the license. Take a picture of the insurance company. He's like, and yours. I'm like, here you go, take a picture. Have a nice day. And I just left. And he looked at me and he was like, whoa, wait. I'm like, call my insurance. You have it now. And I got in the car and took off. I was so mad at him that I was like, it's look. Yeah, it's my fault you hit somebody.
Matt Farah
If you could guess an age, what age would you guess?
Jason Camisa
62.
Matt Farah
Okay, so old, but not that old. Not old.
Jason Camisa
Not old enough to be doing. He was just not either. I hate to say this because this is like. Although I'm not revealing his identity. Yeah, I think he was either drunk or still on sleeping pills or just checked out. But even getting hit.
Matt Farah
What time of the morning was this? Oh, so not that early either.
Jason Camisa
Okay. But he was clearly commuting to work.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Jason Camisa
So anyway, so I just. I immediately get on the car. Drive's fine. So I get on the phone and I call Leno's producer. I'm like, hey. And he's like, oh, my God, you're almost here. Because I had like, 10 o' clock was call time. I had to be there at 10. And I'm like, I'm going to make it. And I'm like, okay. So the good news is I'm on time.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
He's like, the Rover's still running. I'm like, rover's great, except I crashed it. And he was like, what do you mean? And I'm like, well, I just punted a pickup truck and I don't know what to do. And he's like, well. Well, we had a bet and so I guess you're not going to make it. I'm like, no. And he was like, really? You're gonna come here? I'm like, well, you tell me. Like, I can. I can turn around and just drive right home. It's only four hours or I'll come in. And he's like, well, how bad is it? I'm like, crunch the corner. We're not gonna be able to film around it. And he was like, just bring it in and we'll see what we can do. So now I have another hour and a bit to think about what I've done. And I'm like, I'm just.
Matt Farah
I think you may be potentially, possibly legally culpable, but maybe not also. But definitely not morally culpable. I mean, was there ever a white Sentra?
Jason Camisa
There was always. There was no. 100%, yeah. 100%, no.
Matt Farah
I was waiting for him to fuck. For the part of this story where we find out the white Sentra wasn't real.
Jason Camisa
I never saw a Sentra. I'm waiting.
Matt Farah
I'm waiting for Fight Club.
Jason Camisa
So I haven't publicized this yet, right? So I'm waiting for somebody to be like, I was in the white Sentra.
Matt Farah
Oh, man.
Jason Camisa
And I saw the whole thing. Either way, look it, at the end of the day, I'm a grown up. I have to pretend. I pretend to be a fucking grown up. If you're going to be a grown up, you have to admit when you've Done wrong. I hit another car and it's 100% my fault. There's no. It doesn't matter whether he hit the brakes or not. He hit the brakes while I was looking to the side. It's my fault. It's just. Shit happens.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
So now I'm like, what do I do on this fucking show? Like, I. And I made the decision, like, I could get there. I sort of initially decided I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna say, guys, I'm really sorry. I found out they had a backup car because they didn't think I was gonna make it. So they're like, oh, we have a backup car. He tells me on the phone, we have backup. Don't worry about it. I'm like, But I'm so. I'm like, I'm just gonna ask to leave the car there and I'm gonna get in a plane because Leno's shop is at Burbank Airport.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I'm just gonna get in a plane. I'm gonna fly home and just pretend this never happens. Happen. I thought about it. I'm like, I work for an insurance company. Like, let me just. So call my boss.
Matt Farah
My lawyers are better than this person.
Jason Camisa
Than. No. I call my boss and I'm like, hey, listen, this is pretty embarrassing. I crashed the car. And he's like, oh, no. And I'm like, do you want to turn this into something or do I just go home? And he's like, it's entirely up to you. He's. We don't work. For the record, we don't work. You know, my boss. We don't work with the insurance side. It's just. It's two different orgs. Like, we have nothing to do with each other. But I've had two claims in the last 20 years with Hagerty, and they've been amazing.
Matt Farah
They are quite a good insurance company. Yeah, I had. We had a claim when Hannah got hit in the delica and they paid me within six hours.
Jason Camisa
Oh, wait. Oh, wait, this gets.
Matt Farah
I mean, it was unbelievable how fast they were.
Jason Camisa
I wasn't even home, so. So I get to the Lenos and they're like, oh, fuck. What do you want to do? I'm like, do me a favor and just let me talk about the insurance for one second. So Lenno, we recorded the episode, hasn't aired yet. I think it's scheduled.
Matt Farah
Did he drive it?
Jason Camisa
He did.
Matt Farah
He drove it. Fucking broke like a fucking lunatic. Really?
Jason Camisa
To the point where I'm like, in the car. I can't wait to see this. Because in the car I'm like, jay, so you clearly like the way this car drives. And he's like, why do you say that? I'm like, you're going really fast. And he's like, no, I always go this fast. And then what you definitely will not see in the final edit is the guys in the camera car who are listening to us are like, jay, we can't keep up with you in the EcoBoost Explorer. Slow the fuck down. He was. He drove. He hated this car and I think wanted it to die. He tried everything to kill it.
Matt Farah
And both of us really funny.
Jason Camisa
You know what?
Matt Farah
Back in the day when me and Rob Ferretti did the first To Get a Ticket challenge, which the clip circulates on fucking Instagram like every four months and racks up millions of views, but nobody ever watched the full 20 minute video, which they should because it's hilarious. But I got to. I had to pick a car from the Gotham Dream Cars fleet to go out and compete with Rob Ferretti to see who could intentionally get a ticket first. Because the thing you should never do, never do. You shouldn't have done it in 07, you certainly shouldn't do it now. And Rob had his C5 Corvette with like straight pipes, a turbo, and like a giant GT wing. And I picked the Mercedes SLR McLaren because I hated it so much. I wanted an excuse to just be. Just beat the out of it in front of cops. No, I didn't. But my. The clip of me became much more iconic of the clip of him because.
Jason Camisa
I feel like a dick bag driving maneuver in a Charger or an Altima will get you a ticket far faster than like a rich dick bag.
Matt Farah
Well, but this was in 07 and we had a warehouse full of exotic rental cars. So it was kind of like pretty. It was before pre rich Dick bag influencer. This was a fence. This was effectively like upscale, you know, like what was those videos that. What's the guy. No, not Eat the Rich. The Gun. He was doing gumball and Mischief videos.
Jason Camisa
Oh, yeah, the Mischief three.
Matt Farah
It was. This was like up. This was like upscale versions of Mischief 3000 videos. Yeah. Wait, but when you. I'm so sorry, but I'm glad Jay hated the car and beat the balls off.
Jason Camisa
Well, he's. He did not say this, but now four videos in with him. I know when he likes a car.
Matt Farah
Not.
Jason Camisa
He did not.
Matt Farah
Is it a manual?
Jason Camisa
It's manual.
Matt Farah
Oh, it is. I didn't put it together. That it was a manual.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. So it's a manual.
Matt Farah
It is.
Jason Camisa
It's a three and a half liter V8, rear drive, manual transmission. What does it weigh? 3210.
Matt Farah
That's probably, probably delightful actually.
Jason Camisa
It is a really. This car won the British touring car championship in 1979, 1980. I mean there it's, it's actually.
Matt Farah
Have you considered doing like a touring car build aesthetic with it? Okay, now that it's broken, it's a good time to.
Jason Camisa
A week before I'm talking to the guys at Hagerty's Redline rebuild team. Different video team. They do the, those stop motion videos that are very cool, very cool stuff. And we were talking. He's like. And said, what's next? We were talking about doing a VR6. I was trying to get them to do a VR6 because I want to see what that engine looks like apart and I think that'd be really cool. And he's like, well, I'm thinking about a Buick 215 because we haven't done an aluminum V8. And I'm like, wait a second, what's a Buick 250? That. It's the 215cc Buick V8 that was all aluminum. America's first ever all aluminum V8.
Matt Farah
What did it go in?
Jason Camisa
It was two years only. I don't remember which cars it. Electra. I remember which cars it went in.
Matt Farah
They ditched it.
Jason Camisa
Rover bought it from them after seeing one on the ground at Mercury Marine and it turned it into the Rover V8. Just 35 of 215 is 3.5.
Matt Farah
Oh, it became the Mercury Marine.
Jason Camisa
No, it never did.
Matt Farah
It didn't.
Jason Camisa
It became the Rover 3.5 which became the 3 9, the 43 and the 46 which are in the Range Rovers.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Camisa
All the Range Rover every. Range Rovers use a Buick 1950.
Matt Farah
I'm going to make sure to remind every Range Rover owner I see of that fact.
Jason Camisa
It's a Buick motor.
Matt Farah
They got a Buick motor.
Jason Camisa
It was a Buick motor that they couldn't stop from leaking because they fucked up a bunch of engineering on it. And they fucked the casting up because it was aluminum. They didn't have enough experience with it. So Rover actually British Leyland re engineered the engine for, for the Rover P6 3500 and the range Rover. This is the original Range Rover. So they wanted to do this motor.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Camisa
And I said, oh well that's what's in the Rover. And they're like, well send us the Rover And I'm like, okay, so let me go to do Leno and then I'll put it on a truck and you guys, I'll fly out, I'll pull the motor with you and then we'll build me something. So this happened.
Matt Farah
What can you do with it?
Jason Camisa
You can do a lot with it, really. But my deal was I dynoed it put 108 to the wheels.
Matt Farah
Nice.
Jason Camisa
In fourth gear, spinning 155 miles an hour. So it actually showed the gearing.
Matt Farah
The gearing.
Jason Camisa
Stupid.
Matt Farah
Stupid.
Jason Camisa
It hits fucking top speed in like third gear.
Matt Farah
I swear that was hilarious gear. So stupid.
Jason Camisa
So I think it was 150, whatever it was. But when I realized this, I'm screaming at the dyno operator. I'm like, those are Fredestein Sprint classics on it. They were. None of this thing should have ever spun that fast.
Matt Farah
Yeah, they're like 120 mile an hour tires at best.
Jason Camisa
So we pull the motor and the deal is it's got to make twice the power. So the goal is 216 to the wheels.
Matt Farah
So you just. Is it just old hot rod shit?
Jason Camisa
You're doing your heads.
Matt Farah
When your heads. You're not putting like a chopper cam.
Jason Camisa
In it, are you? A little bit. I want it to sound. What I, what I ask for is.
Matt Farah
Can you have him make a flat plane crank?
Jason Camisa
No, no. I want the. I want that dignified, elegant looking Daytona copy. Because it's a copy of the Ferrari Daytona.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Right. To, to sound like a freaking nascar.
Matt Farah
Okay.
Jason Camisa
And so I want.
Matt Farah
Can you make it. Have it make twice the power and. And not drive like.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, yeah. So we're doing a mild cam on it. So from the factory at 8.1, 8.13 to 1 compression. Oh, so now I have 10 to 1 or 9, 8 to 1.
Matt Farah
Oh my God.
Jason Camisa
Ask for it to be a 3.
Matt Farah
Compression combined with that gearing.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Talk about the 10 seconds. Laziest 9, 8 to 6. And a 7,000 pound flywheel. So here it is. This is now fixed. This is the after photo. It's at a body shop in Michigan. I did Euro lights, Euro grill, Euro bumpers, Euro corners. So that is now a full European spec series. One front end on it.
Matt Farah
Cool.
Jason Camisa
And a rear bumper on it.
Matt Farah
Were all the parts like $85 and $8,000 to ship.
Jason Camisa
There's a guy named Johan on Facebook.
Matt Farah
Of course there is.
Jason Camisa
Who sent me all of the parts for free. Oh really? Because he loves the content, love the video. I didn't love the car.
Matt Farah
Oh, that's a. I bought.
Jason Camisa
So I had to buy the front grill. There's a company in the.
Matt Farah
Not what the invoice says.
Jason Camisa
No, I can't. I cannot commit insurance fraud working for the fender I got from. And the grill I got from a company called Rimmer Brothers, which you'll have a lovely time with in the uk that just does Rover and British Leyland parts. It was a lot of shipping. Stop it. Stop it, children.
Matt Farah
That's all the POTS division does. We have other divisions.
Jason Camisa
Anyway, so we decided it looks really.
Matt Farah
Wait. But. But you have. You have a chance.
Jason Camisa
You.
Matt Farah
Now is your chance.
Jason Camisa
Okay. So do you see the shirt? You didn't even comment on it.
Matt Farah
Jason sent me dot com.
Jason Camisa
Jason sent me dot com.
Matt Farah
I figured you would at some point.
Jason Camisa
I set up. I bought the.
Matt Farah
That's. Turn that screw. It's going to droop. Hold the. Hold the mic where you want it and then tighten.
Jason Camisa
They're all fine. They're all tight.
Matt Farah
No, it's you. It was just drooping. You moved it and then it was soft after.
Jason Camisa
You're talking about Rimmer, bro.
Matt Farah
Yes, I know. It's clearly my microphone likes that a little more than yours.
Jason Camisa
The. Yeah, my thoughts mirrors. So I got the jason.com domain and I told the guys on. On the insurance side of the business, I'm like, you don't have any say in this. I've just set up a thing where we'll just track how many quotes I can get off of this incident. And the reason why is I would have much preferred to just ship the fucking car home, fix it, and never say a word to anyone about this. But if I'm going to publicly humiliate myself by admitting that I punted a fucking pickup truck, I am going to get at least internal credit for this. So if you go to jasonsemi.com, go get an insurance quote, and here's why. You said you've had a claim. I had a fucking. I had a wire transfer notification one hour and ten minutes after the appraiser came up with a dollar amount.
Matt Farah
No, to me, the measure of an insurance company isn't what they charge, it's how fast they pay you when you need them and how little fucking bullshit they put up to getting paid when you need the money.
Jason Camisa
This is the way it worked. I'm at Leno's garage and on speakerphone, I call claims because they're micing me up to go on camera. And I'm like. And the girl's like, thank you for Calling Hagerty whatever. And I'm like, hi. I have to make fun of the Midwest area accent. And I'm like, hi. Just wrecked my car. I have 20 minutes to make a decision right now. I need to get home. How far are you? Okay, so we go through the list. You have this amount of coverage to get you home. You have this amount of coverage. That's trip interruption coverage, right? To get the car home, you have this amount of coverage to get the car back to whatever shop you want. You have this amount. She just goes through the whole thing. And I'm like, okay, can I just buy a ticket? She's like, just get home. Like, whatever. And I'm like, dude, what about Ubers? Jason, just go home. It's fine. So the next day, I call a.
Matt Farah
Guy with that Traverse City accent.
Jason Camisa
It's really Jason. Oh, my God, Jason, just get home. Get on a plane. Just. Okay, you've had a bad day. I'm not kidding. I book a ticket on Untied Airlines or whatever. It was Delta. I. We filmed the segment. I leave the car at Jay's that night. My normal guy that does that, we ship cars all the time for filming. He's like, yeah, I have an empty truck. We'll pick it up. I'm like, just send me an invoice, whatever it is. That that night, my car is home and I have a stack of receipts. I text the adjuster in the morning. I'm like, here's the flight, here's the Uber. Here's the Uber home. On the other side of it, here's dinner that I had at the airport. Because she kept telling me, just get home. And here's the whatever it was to ship the car. And I had one hour later and a message from her, hey, fill out this form for your bank information. And we'll just send it one hour after that wire transfer. And I was like, okay, that's fucking wild.
Matt Farah
That's solid.
Jason Camisa
Then we ship the car to Michigan. While it's being shipped, I get a call from the adjuster. Oh. I upload pictures of it on this little app. This guy calls me. He's like, hi, it's Tony. And I'm surrounded by Anthony's. I'm like, of course you're a fucking there, Anthony. And he's like, okay. I spent a whole day trying to figure out just exactly what a Rover ST1 is. Cool car, like your video. Because that was the source of half of my research.
Matt Farah
Oh, that's funny.
Jason Camisa
So I found a bunch of parts and I went through the whole thing.
Matt Farah
Good thing you made a video.
Jason Camisa
No shit, right? He's like, I'm gonna send you a PDF of my appraisal and I need you to know one thing. I have no idea where we're going to get these parts. I'm looking at ebay, I'm looking at whatever, blah blah, blah. Don't get mad. If you see something you don't like, just call me. Like, okay. He writes, we have a conversation, we get off the phone, I get a PDF, it's X amount of dollars. And one hour later the wire transfer came in minus my deductible. And I'm like, you have got to be kidding me. Car goes to Michigan, I buy all the parts. Voom. I just last week sent, sent all of the updated invoices. It's a lot more than they expected. This car would have been totaled. Yeah, this is the key point here. Forget about how fast they paid. That's wonderful. This car would have totaled been totaled 63.7 times if I had it insured with anyone else. But I had an agreed value thing. So you discuss with them what you think the car's worth and you're talking about replacement cost, not market value. And this is the nicest Rover SD1 in the US it's a North American spec car. They only made a couple hundred of them. Twelve hundred. Twelve hundred of them. They're all gone.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And so we came up with a number of what we thought it would cost to replace it with a Eurocar and whatever because we'll never find another one. And thank God I did because it is now paid for and it doesn't have an engine in it unrelated to the crash. But if you care about your car, you go get a guaranteed value.
Matt Farah
So when Hannah got hit in the Delica, which is on in on Hagerty, first of all, the funniest thing about the Delica is that it was the fourth car in my, my policy and it kicked in a multi vehicle discount. So it cost and it's so much cheaper than all the other cars I have on this policy that my premium was negative $85 a year. So Hagerty pays me $85 a year to drive this car, to keep it insured. So it's actually not even worth selling.
Jason Camisa
It's just hit, trust me, hit the 10 car mark. Well, when I added the car, I got another discount like a punch card at Subway. Well, the Ferrari actually saved me money. I got a refund when I added the Ferrari because that I think was car six. And then when I got to 10, it was such a big discount that they wrote me a check.
Matt Farah
Get out of here.
Jason Camisa
I'm at 8, go for 10.
Matt Farah
Oh, dude. Okay. You're. People call me an expensive Jason, so. No. But when Hannah got hit, it was during COVID and she got hit in a. In a, In a. In her delicate. All that was damaged was the sliding door. She got hit right in the sliding door, which still opened, but was just dented. So new door, two grand.
Jason Camisa
You could get one.
Matt Farah
In Canada. Oh, closest one.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
Shipping from Japan if I want a Japanese one. $6,000 to get the door. Shipping from Canada.
Jason Camisa
I.
Matt Farah
Have Covid. This was like May of 2020. I had to send one of my employees from here. Shipping was not possible from Canada. Things weren't going across. I had to send one of my employees from here in a rented Chrysler minivan to drive to the Canadian border and meet a guy to get a door.
Jason Camisa
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Matt Farah
Drive home. And Hagerty paid for it.
Jason Camisa
Paid for it.
Matt Farah
They paid me. It costs more in bullshit to get this van fixed than I paid for the whole van. And they paid for it.
Jason Camisa
This thing, this repair costs 2 1/2 times what I paid for.
Matt Farah
What you paid for the car.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, I bought the car cheap, but it doesn't matter. That's the difference. I have fought with State Farm, I've fought with Progressive. We've all fought with different insurance companies. But when you can agree on the value of the car on the outset before the fucking thing is crashed, which is why I'm doing all these commercials.
Matt Farah
If you're buying investment grade shit and the value goes up, you adjust it every year.
Jason Camisa
I bought this car from some kid whose grandfather left it to him and he had no idea what it was worth, who it. What. He didn't know anything about it. So we stole it. And that doesn't mean that would have been State Farm. Would have like, I use State Farm as an example because they're my regular insurance company, any regular insurance company for my daily. But they. They would have been like, okay, we'll give you $1,600 and send you on your way. And I would have had to mount the world's biggest bitch fit. There would have been lawyers involved. I was putting that car back on the road if it cost me five figures out of my own pocket. Because I want the car.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Period.
Jason Camisa
So this is like this. This is why I felt passionate enough to make a T shirt and whatever.
Matt Farah
Like, got it you know, agreed value insurance, whether it's Hagerty or someone else is a good idea if your car is special.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Make sure you have special insurance on a special car. If it's a daily.
Matt Farah
Well they won't and they Hagerty. I've tried. Hagerty won't insure daily.
Jason Camisa
For good reason. I normally.
Matt Farah
And they make you have a daily.
Jason Camisa
Of course.
Matt Farah
Like if you. Oh even if you, even if you only drive old cars you have to prove you have a daily.
Jason Camisa
Right. And I really can be an old car too. But you're not.
Matt Farah
You can but it can't be insured with them. I.
Jason Camisa
And the reason why is. Listen, I would have never. I don't subject my cars to rush hour traffic for. And you see why Dippy Doo in in his Silverado.
Matt Farah
That's why you're going five in the morning. Yeah, that sucks balls. Well, it'll be fun when it's done. That'll be a good little hot rod. That's cool.
Jason Camisa
I'm hoping for headers. I'm hoping, hoping for head work. I'm hoping for a cam. Definitely 10 to 1 compression.
Matt Farah
You know what it should. Your goal should be to make it sound like an Alpha Montreal. You know the 2.8 liter V8. One of the best sounding.
Jason Camisa
You hear videos on like videos on YouTube if you play them. Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Do Rover Vitess Sound or SD1 Vitesse. So Vitess was the homologation car that they made.
Matt Farah
Okay.
Jason Camisa
It was 190 horse for three and a half liters.
Matt Farah
I also would like to see what the race car looked like. Was it.
Jason Camisa
Race cars were hot looking.
Matt Farah
Were they cool looking? Can you do some race car body work on yours? Like is it probably. Do they want. Do they widen it?
Jason Camisa
It's the only nice one in the country. There's a guy coming around. It's not a short, it's a regular one coming around a roundabout.
Matt Farah
Oh the. Yeah, the Vitesse has like the deep chin splitter. The deep chin splitter and yeah, it looks good. All right, let's see.
Jason Camisa
This is what I want.
Matt Farah
The nine second long video. Those guys drifts out of the roundabout too. Like a boss, right? Oh yeah.
Zach Klapman
Open diff I think.
Matt Farah
Wow. But that was, that was so much noise. The car didn't go anywhere. It was so slow. That is what open headers on 190 horsepower.
Zach Klapman
Looks like a NASCAR.
Matt Farah
It did sound like a NASCAR though.
Jason Camisa
I that's. I, I just want that noise.
Matt Farah
You don't want it Quite that much.
Jason Camisa
Oh, yeah.
Matt Farah
You don't want it?
Jason Camisa
I want to cut out.
Matt Farah
Don't you want the car? Oh, you want cut out.
Jason Camisa
So I want to make it like, you know, normal and then setting off car alarms.
Matt Farah
It is actually, especially with this, with the.
Jason Camisa
The.
Matt Farah
That chin splitter for that. That one like that looks good.
Jason Camisa
It's a pretty.
Matt Farah
That's a good looking car.
Jason Camisa
It's a good looking car. And the US car looked so terrible that no one really knows what they look like. Yeah, but I don't actually like that.
Matt Farah
Oh, and there's. Dude. The Jamie. The Goodwood road and racing on the right, Jamie Chadwick makes historic debut in V8 Rover SD1. That's the race car.
Zach Klapman
I just love the body lean that snaps back at.
Jason Camisa
I mean, it's a live rear axle, real tight front end on that with struts up front.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I just want to see what. I want to see what the race car looks like.
Jason Camisa
It's a TR8 underneath, effectively. It's a Triumph TR7 with a V8. Okay. So fastest steering of any car in production at the time. Longest fifth year.
Matt Farah
Oh, it's Marlboro livery.
Jason Camisa
Right?
Matt Farah
Oh, dude.
Jason Camisa
Right.
Matt Farah
And that looks good as a race car, doesn't it? Cigarette livery is so cool.
Jason Camisa
Because you want to have a smoke. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yeah. That's a good looking race car. I like that very much.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. So I will now have a.
Matt Farah
A hot rod.
Jason Camisa
Brand new engine, brand new form.
Matt Farah
Pretty cool. Is the gearbox American in that car also?
Jason Camisa
No, it's Triumph, actually. No, hold on. It was tier 8. It was developed for. Specifically for this car. Okay.
Matt Farah
So it's a British Leyland gearbox.
Jason Camisa
British Leyland gearbox.
Matt Farah
All right. Can it handle double the horsepower? Probably, yeah.
Jason Camisa
Because it won't get any more torque. Okay, so it'll be. I mean, it was. They use them.
Matt Farah
Oh, look, the race cars are. They actually don't have different bodies. They just have cool liveries. That looks like an early car.
Jason Camisa
It should have a test. That was. Was probably too early. So the test, there were two front spoilers. That's the rounded one you just saw on that car on that roundabout, which I don't like. The earlier one was more angular and I'm looking for one of them. Then they had a spoiler and probably don't exist. They don't. They don't. And it's just I did the Euro bumpers because the US Bumpers were egregious. Yeah. US headlights were the most hideous thing you've ever seen.
Matt Farah
US Bumpers are Always bad. Pick a car.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Is there any, is there any USA spec?
Matt Farah
Any car that had a good US bumper?
Jason Camisa
Better than Euro? No, no.
Matt Farah
What was the worst? The worst offenders? I mean Countach's 16 valve was pretty terrible. Worse than a Countach one? No. Kuntas. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Look at that.
Matt Farah
Wow, that is a tripsis.
Jason Camisa
I'm gonna make vomit.
Matt Farah
That's what the. The one. How about the one downstairs on that Espada?
Jason Camisa
They're pretty.
Matt Farah
The US bumper on that Espada is really bad.
Jason Camisa
Oh, I just saw another car that the bumper was like two and a half feet long and I did just couldn't stop laughing. What the hell was it? But Shiraku, 16 valves, one of the worst we have.
Matt Farah
Okay, I want to hear before we.
Jason Camisa
We have.
Matt Farah
We can pick one of two topics before we go to the. The people.
Jason Camisa
Sure.
Matt Farah
Do you want to tell me about filming in Chuck Walla because you really had a story about that that you wanted to talk about or do you want to talk about the manual swapped CLK black series? Because Zach and I are going to go drive A manual swapped SL55 next week and I have a theory that if it can be done more affordably than with the Ferraris manual swapped 2000s era Mercedes could be an untapped area of fun for enthusiasts.
Jason Camisa
Oh my God. I want to talk about both of them.
Matt Farah
Pick one.
Jason Camisa
The Black series.
Matt Farah
Black series.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
They'll learn about Chuck Walla later.
Jason Camisa
I drove them.
Matt Farah
You drove A manual swapped CLK Black series like an 08 or something, right?
Jason Camisa
Yeah, it was 07. I've driven a lot of manual swap cars, most of them suck. You have throttle calibration issues, you know a lot of. And Mercedes especially does very strange throttle calibration where you have kind of nothing, nothing, nothing and very linear build. And I expected this car to be a basket case. The guy who did it is a guy named Matt Kwik. K W I E K and he's in like Kentucky Tucky or something. Tennessee Tucky. And he used all factory Mercedes parts on this. So everything is a Mercedes part. Except for the drive shaft I think was the only one he had to modify. Other than the fact that it was telling you it had no ESP because it was looking at the stability controls, looking for a signal from the transmission. It felt 100%. I'm sorry. The only non factory part on that car was the clutch disc.
Matt Farah
Oh sure.
Jason Camisa
Which you got from someone and wouldn't tell me who it was and whatever, whatever. It's a clutch disc car. Felt like it could have come from the factory. Looked and felt and drove. Like it could have come from the factory. And all I can say is we didn't know that. That 6.2 liter has throttle response to rival an S65, meaning the BMW E98 throttle body V8. Its throttle response is amazing. That car is brilliant to drive with a stick. I want one.
Matt Farah
I drove back in the day, a CLK430 sport that had a manual swap.
Jason Camisa
What the fuck would do that?
Matt Farah
I mean, I mean, I don't know, it was whatever. I was shocked at how much, how like sporty it actually was and how much the gearbox like really just sucked the life right out of it. So we're driving this SL50 and I.
Jason Camisa
Expect the SL55 or 55K. So it's supercharged or naturally aspirated, I think.
Matt Farah
No, it's a supercharged. There never was a naturally aspirated SL55. Right.
Jason Camisa
So I've also driven. Matt swapped a. He did a 55 swap on a 126 coupe that I drove and that was. That car itself was a little bit rough around the edges. It was pretty fun. And then I just drove a 55k swapped pagoda that he drove.
Matt Farah
Oh, that's like what Mechatronic is doing shit like that. That was.
Jason Camisa
Was nuts. I bet that was just absolute stupidity.
Matt Farah
Could you steer it?
Jason Camisa
No.
Matt Farah
Okay.
Jason Camisa
Couldn't control the goddamn thing. There were trees everywhere.
Matt Farah
Seems really shady.
Jason Camisa
I mean it, it worked. But the, the Black series, I immediately called a friend who's got a friend who has a Black series for sale and I asked him if it would sell to me and the guy's like, Hammond Han. I would. That could be.
Matt Farah
What would, what would a swap cost?
Jason Camisa
I don't know. I think 20.
Matt Farah
Yeah. A Ferrari is like 25.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
I was thinking to be something that could be mass adopted, it would probably have to cost like 10 to 15, not 20.
Jason Camisa
You can do it yourself. I mean. So that car, the manual swap car that I drove, sold on.
Matt Farah
It was the black car.
Jason Camisa
Black one.
Matt Farah
What did it go for?
Jason Camisa
I don't know. Can, you know, I want a mile, I want a driver. It was. Oh, there, there we go. That it was.
Matt Farah
So what was the shifter out of?
Jason Camisa
If it was a Mercedes, probably an slk.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Or a Chrysler crossover.
Matt Farah
Was the gearbox an SLK gearbox?
Jason Camisa
I remember what. Because I've driven a bunch of his swapped cars and I don't remember which one was which. They're all Mercedes parts. So it's got to Be either like a diesel to be able to handle the torque.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
One of the diesel six speeds or crossfire six speed. I. E. That's okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
But I know this is what, six months ago, Four months ago.
Zach Klapman
I'll find it.
Matt Farah
How. I mean it. It kind of makes you disappointed that they never offered the car like that. Because they probably could have.
Jason Camisa
They should have.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I mean if. If he's using nothing but. If Matt's using nothing but Mercedes parts on it except for a clutch disc. It was all Lego and they could have done it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I would. I would.
Matt Farah
I wonder if it'll hold. If it would hold. I mean, I. Devil's advocate. I wonder if it would hold up to Mercedes durability cycle.
Jason Camisa
It's not that much torque compared to the diesels that you know. And also the SLK32.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Which I think was available as a manual. Yes.
Matt Farah
In Europe. Maybe in the crossfire. Not in the right crossfire. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Didn't have that much more. Less torque.
Matt Farah
100. It got 138 grand. Which honestly you said it had no miles on it.
Jason Camisa
28,000. Yeah. Which I consider no on a car like this.
Matt Farah
That's moderate, that's mild to medium for one of these. That's actually like.
Jason Camisa
I think that car did.
Matt Farah
I think that's what it would have gotten with. If it was stock. I think. I think. I think the gearbox didn't really add much value, but it also didn't.
Jason Camisa
I don't track the price.
Zach Klapman
Same year, same color, same mileage. Basically auto. And it went for 92. Condition could be different.
Matt Farah
But a quick glance went for 92.
Zach Klapman
92.
Matt Farah
Holy shit. You can get a fucking black series for under 100k still with like.
Jason Camisa
God. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Really?
Jason Camisa
That's why I want one. Oh, there's the one that I'm looking at is92,000 miles on it.
Matt Farah
And I don't know. And it's like. That's got to be cheap. 92,000 miles. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
That's got results.
Matt Farah
Okay, wait. Oh. Oh, wow.
Jason Camisa
Oh.
Matt Farah
Most of these are a lot cheaper than I thought.
Jason Camisa
They're not bad. You want to talk about a special. They made what, 150 for the US market.
Matt Farah
They're rare. Yeah. 28 Kyle. A 12k mile for a buck and a quarter. Absolutely. The best silver one. A bid to. I want. I want to see. Sold. Wait, I want to see. Sold for 79. That one. What is 79 grand?
Jason Camisa
Get you on a best driving Mercedes Benz of all time without question.
Matt Farah
Silver. It is 75, 000 miles head bolts replaced.
Jason Camisa
Which is the only thing you really need to do on them.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Well if you were doing the. If you were doing a manual swap, that would be the kind of thing that could be done in a while you're in there, you know, you probably.
Jason Camisa
I. I assume he drops the powertrain out, drops the front subframe out.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I don't know.
Zach Klapman
Does he reprogram the throttle response and everything to better do it?
Jason Camisa
That's the crazy part is from the factory. The throttle. Throttle calibration was perfect for manual. Perfect rev match heel and toe. The only thing that was non. Non op was esp.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And a car with that much power, you know, I wouldn't mind having it. But I'll.
Matt Farah
You and I. You and I would be just fine without it. I'd be totally okay without it. When I was. When I drove a couple of the manual swapped ferraris, getting the ABs to work was the hardest.
Jason Camisa
And the Ferrari stuff I gotta. So. So I've driven a bunch of f430s that were swapped. This is one of those things that are really hard to admit. It's. They're not great because they're the engine, that flat plane crank, V8 they. For the Formula 1, the F1 car. Paddleship cars, they put no flywheel.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And so your absolute fastest shift, let's say you do a 3, 4, which is a really fast shift. Right. You still can't catch the revs on the shift.
Matt Farah
You have to feather the throttle.
Jason Camisa
Throttle on the shift.
Matt Farah
But you.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
And you kind of. You kind of didn't. On the. On the real. The real ones, they were better, but.
Jason Camisa
They were not good enough.
Matt Farah
I really liked the manual 430 that I drove. I liked the original one I drove and I thought like them, the swapped one I drove was fun.
Jason Camisa
The one that was one that I liked the best actually was the one that was chopped up into that M18 Nostrados.
Matt Farah
Oh.
Jason Camisa
Oh my God.
Matt Farah
Why do you think?
Jason Camisa
Oh, just because the body of the car.
Matt Farah
Oh.
Jason Camisa
Oh. It was like driving in a lease. But.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
But it was such a chore to shift fat. You get used to it. You can drive around it. But this was a better manual than the Ferrari.
Matt Farah
Yeah. When you have a super light flywheel and a gated shifter that becomes hard. Like when you've got like your 308 or my 328 or even a 360. A 360 is about the limit where you don't have to do the Feathery bits.
Jason Camisa
And even the 308, I tend to double clutch even upshifts. You do. Here's why that all of the Ferrari dogleg gearboxes are when they're cold.
Matt Farah
When they're cold, I skip second. Yeah. I skip shifts second when they're cold.
Jason Camisa
And just because I know second is not even going to happen.
Matt Farah
Right. I mean first and second ratio is so close together in the 328 also that you can skip shift and people won't even notice.
Jason Camisa
I start out in second when it's cold because once I've covered a half and half a mile in second gear, then second gear is warm enough.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah. For, for my car it was like half a mile to a mile.
Jason Camisa
You could use second and then. But driving normally. But if you're inside. So I live on a hill and I start out in second. So by the bottom of the hill I know second is warm enough that I can go into. But second is a 51 mile an hour gear in that car anyway. So it's, it's super stupid short. But I tend to blip. I double clutch on an upshift shift anytime the engine. Oh, the transmission's cold. Which is sure the time you're driving anyway.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
You know, especially in all cars. And so it slows that down.
Matt Farah
I did, I did the skip shift. My car never required double. Double clutching. But. And, and Donnie always told me that he, for all the rebuilds he did, he said he's never had to rebuild a 328 gearbox. He said it's basically indestructible.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. They're miserable but indestructible.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah. When they're warm, they're wonderful.
Jason Camisa
Great.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
I love my 308. I adore that car.
Matt Farah
I, I had a really good time in my 328. I don't miss it per se. But I will definitely be buying another transition era Ferrari at some point.
Jason Camisa
You should probably drive a 308 GT4.
Matt Farah
I know they're really light and fun. Everybody likes them.
Jason Camisa
I mean it shits on every other mid engine I've driven them because it's on.
Matt Farah
It's a Dino underneath, not a 308 underneath.
Jason Camisa
And I just drove a 348. We actually in the ZR1, we did icons on ZR1 and we had all the, all the Corvettes and then a bunch of the Ferraris.
Matt Farah
C4ZR1s are a pretty good time. They're a good time. That 25 grand for one of those is money.
Jason Camisa
Really. Well like dick eggplant purple. It was gorgeous. The fucking car was gorgeous.
Matt Farah
It's aubergine.
Jason Camisa
It's whatever the fuck you want to call it. It was amazing looking. And then we had a 348 zeri speciale. So we had special there. I. I could. Couldn't contain the drool looking at that thing. But to drive.
Matt Farah
What year was that? The serious Speciale. The only. The only decent year for the 348 was 94. The rest of them.
Jason Camisa
The rest of like the. The Spachale lost the grill on the rear tail lights. And it doesn't. It's not as pretty as 348s are.
Matt Farah
A great 610 car if you want to go for a nice cruise. They're cool actually.
Jason Camisa
They look great. I slid that car around this. I didn't mean to. It wouldn't understeer. It was all ass all the time. Which is probably why Montezemolo hated it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Because on the road maybe that's scary. On the track that was predictable. I got out of it. Randy Popes is like what are you doing in that old car? Be nice to it. I'm like here's the keys dick bag. And he immediately split it around. He was like this thing is magic. But the ZR1ZR1 just shocked the shit out of all of us. Who knew Zoom C401s another one will not understeer. And it's just the most progressive slides.
Matt Farah
And what a car those cars. They don't look like much but God damn are they. They are exceptionally good to drive. Yeah they're fun. I had. This is gonna sound very white. I had a tennis instructor when I was in high school that drove one of those. And has he fucking been exactly like who's fucking. And actually this guy went from a Lumina Z34 Euro the 4 cam Lumina to the ZR1. So he was clearly had a fetish for American 4 cam engines but was clearly kept by some Greenwich woman. Yeah but he let me drive that in high school. It was like a 95ZR one that. That left a mark that car. I couldn't. Could not believe it.
Jason Camisa
I can't believe the amount of. Of noise and just great driving experience you get per dollar.
Matt Farah
Yeah yeah.
Jason Camisa
Like that.
Matt Farah
They're 2530 grand.
Jason Camisa
I will say that the purple one drove nothing like the so handling 11 out of 10. One of the best handling cars I've ever driven in my life. The red one that I did the Revelations video On it sounded twice as good. So I called the guy who owned that and he's like, were they different years? Yeah. The red one was a first year. So 90.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
This one was a 94. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
Which did you like better?
Jason Camisa
The 90.
Matt Farah
You did?
Jason Camisa
Yes. Except it had the full power light on. Which kind of.
Matt Farah
The 90 is the square nose. The 94 is the round nose. The 90s. Weird, because it has a square nose but a round rear. That was the first Corvette to do that. And then it went to a round nose for the 94. 95.
Jason Camisa
You know what? I never even noticed the face.
Matt Farah
Seriously. You have to notice it because in one of the best car flub scenes in film of all time, Wesley Snipes leaves a restaurant in passenger 57 driving a square nose Corvette and arrives at his meeting in a round nose Corvette. His car changes generations.
Jason Camisa
Episode is sponsored by the autism awareness.
Matt Farah
One cut. Nothing happens in between. Departure, arrival, different generation of car. Nothing. It is one cut and nothing happens in between.
Jason Camisa
Okay. It's insanity because that late car, I started to think maybe so. You know, they have 11 throttles in them, so they have the regular throttle body and then they have another. Let me do this correctly. There are eight ITBs, so there's 16 runners.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jason Camisa
Then there's a. The main throttle and then two others.
Matt Farah
Okay.
Jason Camisa
Right at when you start the car, it's in regular power mode. You need the key to turn to like full power mode.
Matt Farah
Right.
Jason Camisa
Regular power mode fires eight injectors, the biggest injectors that they can put in that would, could fuel it at idle smoothly. Right. So eight runners and on the low lift cam lobes. This is fucking crazy. This is pre VTEC shit. So 8 of the intake valves were on low lift and they had eight injectors on them. And that's all the car ran on unless you were in full power mode. Full power mode at 4000 or 3800 or whatever it was under full throttle would flip open. The butterflies breathe through the second set of intake runners and the second set of intake valves that rode on cams that were longer duration and higher lift and then fired eight other injectors to fuel those. And so you get a VTEC like changeover. And the 94 never sounded like it opened up. Now it pulled all the way to to seven grand in full power mode and ran out of steam at 5500 and regular. So it was doing something, but it felt slow and it didn't sound violent.
Matt Farah
I wonder if it's one of those Things that like, even though it was better, customers complained about it and they said, all right, let's like smooth this transition out. Because people don't like the off cam. On cam.
Jason Camisa
It wasn't. You didn't feel a nudge like you did in VTech, but you definitely heard something. And I think the same. This car just might have not been either. It was a change that they made between 90 and 94, but whatever that 90. I have an iPhone video of it accelerating towards me that I could probably.
Matt Farah
They're drop it.
Jason Camisa
I can.
Matt Farah
They're very underrated and they don't. They don't drive like they look. They look like they won't drive great. But the steering is like crazy sharp.
Jason Camisa
Steering's good.
Matt Farah
The ride is really nice and they're a. To get in and out of, but they're actually pretty comfortable when you're sitting in there.
Jason Camisa
Side sale is so stupid. Interior is.
Matt Farah
Oh, it's janky. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
But like you want to go fast for. For 25,000, 30,000 bucks. That's a hell of a car. They're fun.
Jason Camisa
Do that revelations episode because I have this video is the noise. So we weren't really gonna. I didn't think anything of it. No one's ever talked about that. That like changeover. And then I started doing research on this engine and it's like, wait a second. This is basically VTEC without the vtec.
Matt Farah
Mercury Marine, Mercury.
Jason Camisa
Well, hold on. Mercury Marine cast the block and assembled the engines. Lotus did.
Matt Farah
I know Lotus did all the top end work on it, right?
Jason Camisa
No whole engine.
Matt Farah
They did the whole engineering work. Entire engine finish.
Jason Camisa
No one knows this. Everyone thinks it's a Mercury Marine. It's 100% Lotus. That LT5 was 100% Lotus. The only thing they shared with any GM product was the bore spacing because GM said a small block must have. Yeah, whatever the.
Matt Farah
No, it's a kick ass engine.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
I'm hoping I do like a C4ZR1. Let's go to the people because otherwise we'll be here all goddamn day and you got to drive a French car. Seven hours home.
Jason Camisa
It's not. It won't be seven hours this time. I'm not locking it in and you're.
Matt Farah
The problem is you're going to want to take the 101. You're not going to want to take.
Jason Camisa
I want it home. I just. We just shot for five days, 121 degrees, actual ambient air temperatures. Do you know what that felt like?
Matt Farah
Yes. I've been to Fucking the Arabian desert.
Jason Camisa
We got yelled at by the emt when we were done filming, he walked in, he goes, thanks for not needing me. Don't do this again. Like, that's. We paid you to be here.
Matt Farah
Speaking of paid you to be here. So have our patrons@patreon.com the Smoking Tire Podcast.
Jason Camisa
Am I getting a cut of this?
Matt Farah
And no. And speaking of paying to be here, the Smoking Tire is coming to Texas. We are going to be doing live shows in Houston on July 24 and Dallas on July 25 with Christian James Hand. Dallas, dude, they're filling up quick. We have a big time fan base in Texas, so come on down, have a fucking cocktail with the boys. We are. And I mean, honestly, you get to listen to us bitch at each other for a couple hours, but really you get to see Christian James Hand perform, which is a privilege for all of us. Can we. Can we say that he's gonna be doing what he's gonna be doing? Do you think he'd want us to share?
Zach Klapman
I think he likes it when it's a surprise.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
We're not. I mean, he's gonna be doing his show, but I don't wanna say what's up.
Jason Camisa
What it is he's doing will be the most amazing experience of your life.
Matt Farah
He's gonna. He's doing songs that are sort of car people themed. Yeah, it'll be good. It'll be a lot of fun. Yeah. Getting to see him do his show is great.
Jason Camisa
I found the video.
Matt Farah
Oh, okay, cool.
Jason Camisa
I'm sorry. Sorry.
Matt Farah
No, let's hear. Let's Listen to a ZR1.
Jason Camisa
This is just an iPhone record recording. Okay.
Matt Farah
IPhone3. Listen. Oh yeah, you can hear it. Switch cams and you.
Jason Camisa
That. It's nuts. Yeah, yeah, love. I sent that to the owner and he's like. He gave. He had a Borla on it and he didn't real. He didn't tell me, look, I'm putting the boiler back on. I had to put it in stock because he brought it to Bowling Green and they give you like some. Like some 100 point rating. And he got like. He had to put the original exhaust back on to get his 100. Yeah. And I'm like, dude, get that. Anyway, they wouldn't let me park it in Corvette roads. It had the wrong brand of battery or some. And they docked him upon whatever weirdo concourse people.
Matt Farah
Concord. Are you going to pebble, by the way?
Jason Camisa
Of course I'll be there. I'll be there for the week. I don't Know if I'll be there for the Concorde on Sunday.
Matt Farah
Are you going to Quail?
Jason Camisa
I don't know. I'm showing my Manx.
Matt Farah
You have to come. But you're gonna be a Motorlux.
Jason Camisa
I will be a Motorlux.
Matt Farah
So do you know what I'm doing at Motorlux? I'm towing my Manx to Pebble with a Bentayga. I have the only. I have the only tow package equipped Bentayga press car in the country they got for me.
Jason Camisa
And you're towing a radial engine Manx.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And I'm showing the whole rig at Motorlux, driving it right in together.
Jason Camisa
I am apparently going to have two of my cars at Motorlux. Cool E30 wagon and the Cosworth 190.
Matt Farah
Oh, fun. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Which I'm looking forward to. But I haven't, you know, Quail yet. I'll be a legend because I'm a German car whore.
Matt Farah
They're putting my car is going to be in the Manx booth at Quail and Road and track is a Quail sponsor.
Jason Camisa
Anyone listening to this who works for the Quail motorsport gathering, please give me a ticket.
Matt Farah
Yeah, we could probably. You can get a press pass to Quail. Yes.
Jason Camisa
When did that happen?
Matt Farah
Now.
Zach Klapman
Submit your application.
Jason Camisa
Hey, Siri, remember to get a.
Matt Farah
We will connect later. But you 100% could get a press quail.
Jason Camisa
That is. It's become a press event.
Matt Farah
No, you can and you will. You will. Just make sure you first heard it here first. You're the right person. It would be insane if you didn't get a press pass.
Jason Camisa
I've been kicked out of far worse places. McDonald's, right?
Matt Farah
Wait, hang on. The Patriots.
Jason Camisa
We got these people deserve to be here, right? Not me. You heard it here.
Matt Farah
I'm not getting a patreon.com. the Smoking Tire podcast. Ask your questions, get them answered on the show. Watch the live stream. Get the show before everybody else. Get an ad. Free listening experience. Get exclusive access to TST merch and collabs and a whole lot more extra podcast.
Jason Camisa
Also, you get extra so good at this upsell bullshit. I just bought a T shirt that said Jason sent me dot com. That's right.
Matt Farah
You just convinced me to do 20 minutes on why Hagerty is a good insurance company. So I would say. I'd say you fucking scammed me.
Jason Camisa
Kill I want to raise.
Matt Farah
I'd say you scammed me, Mr. Hagerty. You scammed the out of me.
Jason Camisa
Listen, I want people to be protected like I. The amount of people that come over to me, like, progress throwing in my car. Well, you're an.
Matt Farah
You already did your goddamn plug.
Jason Camisa
Sorry, it wasn't even a plug.
Matt Farah
My dog's man servant says, since you're a VW head, would you ever add a Golf, Golf R or R32 to your collection?
Jason Camisa
No, because I'm not a fan of all wheel drive, especially front wheel drive based all wheel drive systems. Because if I'm going to have front wheel drive, I want to be able to do burnouts. With that said, a Mark 4R32 sounds amazing. I love it.
Matt Farah
Mark 4R32 is nice car. It's a great looking car.
Jason Camisa
Sounds, looks, feels, smells.
Matt Farah
Best looking modern. Volkswagen, definitely.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, Yeah, I agree with that.
Matt Farah
Gin and Taconic State Parkway. Absolutely love it. What made you start the Excel file.
Jason Camisa
Of everything I've ever driven? I had previously kept a sort of a log of all the cars that I'd driven. But when I started in the business, I very quickly realized I would ask people like, what did you think of this? And they'd be like, I don't remember. And so it was actually even right before I started at automobile. And I sort of made the decision, let me keep my thoughts organized, because at some point these will become unmanageable. And that has happened twice. We're 19 years, so it helps.
Matt Farah
Makes sense. Joe says if Jason could engine swap anything in your garage, what would you choose?
Jason Camisa
I would have engine swapped the Lotus Elise. I would have case.
Matt Farah
Honda.
Jason Camisa
Honda. Yeah. And then I would have kept it.
Matt Farah
M3 Seashells says. What new car model is everyone most looking forward to?
Jason Camisa
New Rivian R3.
Matt Farah
The R3. Yes. I mean, it looks very nice. Have you noticed that nobody's been Talking about the Ionic 5N with the knobby tires? That already kind of looks like that a little bit, though.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, but it doesn't.
Matt Farah
It kind of is.
Jason Camisa
It kind of. Yeah, it does, but not good. You know, it's not as the thing might. If the Ionic 5n or the Ionic 5 was the size, it looks right, right, right. If it was Golf size.
Matt Farah
That's true.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. I like little cars. I do, too.
Matt Farah
I love a little car. I don't have to compensize. Says, okay, whoa.
Jason Camisa
That was a slip of the tongue that I made.
Matt Farah
All right, wait, hang on a minute. There's a lot of, like, hypothetical stuff, but I do want to focus first on things that are like actual Jason knowledge. So, like, okay, Fridolin Cox says, did any of you ever drive an Audi A2? That would be in A European. I've seen them in Europe. The little hatchbacks.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Never drove them.
Matt Farah
They're kind of cute. But I think it's just a two door version of an A3, right?
Jason Camisa
No. Isn't it one size smaller?
Matt Farah
Is it one size smaller?
Jason Camisa
I think it is.
Matt Farah
I think all of those little cars are like, nice to see and putter and, you know, putter around in. In Europe. But I think they might not make so much sense.
Jason Camisa
I mean, I want a Polo GTI.
Matt Farah
Like, do you?
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Or any of the little GTIs. Because I want something the size of my Mark 1. My Mark VII Golf is too big. And that's a weird thing to say, but when you live in the Bay Area.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Isn't like I found that in America though. Like, granted, a car can be too big, obviously. Right. But I found that, like, in a country with like more or less standardized parking spaces, that a car that's smaller than a certain size, like, stops being.
Jason Camisa
Beneficial in America because you don't live in San Francisco. I felt I agreed that way in the Bay Area you have no standardized parking spots.
Matt Farah
I guess New York City sometimes is.
Jason Camisa
New York City, but a parking spot's a parking spot in New York. Doesn't matter whether there's an F100.
Matt Farah
Well, there's some parking spaces that aren't metered where they're free. And it actually does.
Jason Camisa
And that's almost all of San Francisco. Plus the roads are tiny and they're just really narrow. And like all my friends have like a dinghy. They have an i3 because it'll fit on their driveway between the garage door and the sidewalk. Little cars make sense in very few.
Matt Farah
Places in the U.S. barbecuesauce on matitties says. Are there any semi modern performance cars that you or Randy have driven on the track that were slower than the grippy Pacifica camera car?
Jason Camisa
It's actually a Grand Caravan. Even worse.
Matt Farah
Oh, yeah.
Jason Camisa
And it was.
Matt Farah
Well, not necessarily. When we did performance camera van of the year three years ago, we had a Sienna. We had a short wheelbase Grand Caravan and the Pacifica. And the Grand Caravan did win.
Jason Camisa
Did win.
Matt Farah
It was. It was the fastest.
Jason Camisa
If he's talking about my vangina. So my. Our camera van has a license plate on it. China. Because her name is China and she's my fan. So my vagina. If that's. That's barbecue sauce, I think that's probably about. Yeah, it happens all the time.
Matt Farah
Did you put sticky tires on it?
Jason Camisa
We did. We had all season fours. Yeah.
Matt Farah
As four. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Just the all seasons which now have 21,000 miles of like track and horrible events and finally gave out this week at chuckwalla in 120 degree roasted half of the old cars that we, we shoot. Can't even come close to keeping up with it. Like the 348 couldn't keep up with it. The Sea 4 Corvette couldn't even, I mean not at all.
Matt Farah
Like the ZR1, ZR1 couldn't keep up with it.
Jason Camisa
Not around corners. And so I always have Anthony Esposito screaming at me on the radio like, come on Jason, up, up, up, up, up. That's like, you know.
Matt Farah
Do those cars have good tires on them when you're driving them?
Jason Camisa
Sometimes, yeah, sometimes, sometimes not, but yeah.
Matt Farah
Basically there's no way a C4ZR1 with good tires on it isn't out handling a minivan.
Jason Camisa
It's. It can probably. That van pulls. Stupid grip. Like genuinely stupid grip. It happens a lot. It's funny when it happens. It makes us all laugh.
Matt Farah
But we've had, I mean we've, we've had similar things happen when we, you know, film, film, you know, whatever classic cars, front wheel drive, NSX says. In what world can we expect actual driver's cars to make a return? Or are we just doomed to SUV hell?
Jason Camisa
Hell, we are doomed to SUV hell. Except that you can always buy old cars.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Or if you're like really rich, you can buy amazingly analog cars.
Jason Camisa
This is the problem, right? You have to be really like, okay.
Matt Farah
Manual transmissions, analog gauge clusters and cars without screens cost fucking seven figures.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, yeah, you're totally right. Yeah. I think we're doomed to hell. And unfortunately it's gonna say that way, but old cars.
Matt Farah
Elon's musk. Would you rather tag along on a peak era Top Gear special or a parts unknown shoot Peak era Top Gear special?
Jason Camisa
Because I could learn more.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I'd learn more about how to, how to make television, I suppose.
Jason Camisa
And Tony Bourdain, like I never watched Anthony Bourdain. Stuff like that was just not my kind of thing. He. The traveling and drinking and you know, getting hammered and far play. That's not my.
Matt Farah
Well, that was more no reservations once it, once he became parts unknown on cnn. It was much more of like a cultural exploration kind of thing set against the backdrop of food. I've watched a lot of Anthony Bourdain and the way that they construct episodes because he's like really heavily influenced by certain directors or, or whatever, certain musicians and so they got pretty artsy And I think you could probably learn a lot from one of those episodes as well. It wouldn't apply necessarily to what you do, but really studying it, it made me learn how much of Anthony Bourdain's genius was in writing and then being able to read his own voiceover so well, as opposed to. He almost never said anything of real consequence in the moment.
Jason Camisa
Neither did Clarkson.
Matt Farah
Right. Also correct. Also true.
Jason Camisa
Like, that's the trick. You look at, you know, he's driving straight on a Runway, get all of his reaction shots.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And then all the information is delivered in voiceover, which of course, I've studied. And there.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Which isn't. It's not like. Like wrong or bad. But when I. Before he died, maybe a year before he died, I saw Anthony Bourdain do a talk at the Pantages Theater. And it was awful. Really awful.
Jason Camisa
I thought it was totally. Thought you were gonna say the opposite awful.
Matt Farah
Because he was just sort of pandering to a really low bar crowd and he was like. And this is when I got diarrhea in wherever.
Jason Camisa
And this was.
Matt Farah
It was not some. It was not like, you know, here's what I know about the world from years of traveling. And then that's when I was like, wait a minute, how does this dude turned into that show? And I went, oh, it's all. It's all in diarying and voiceover audience right now.
Jason Camisa
It's like Kamisa's so put together on his show. And look at this. Hard on.
Matt Farah
Turns out.
Jason Camisa
Turns out writer's good at writing.
Matt Farah
Let's see Zach clapping cheeks. Jason, thoughts on doing a PX style video following another person that changed the industry?
Jason Camisa
Yeah, absolutely. We've thought about. I thought about doing Gordon Murray and also recently Akio Toyota, but it's tough to get the biography stuff right. And that's a lot of work. And I would absolutely do either one of them, but they're both alive.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
So I have to get it right.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And that's just a time sink that I would. I don't have right now where I would do.
Matt Farah
Okay. Lian Ku says, marry, kill from each other's garage. All right, So I.
Jason Camisa
Okay. Do you know, I don't even know your full garage.
Matt Farah
That's sound like a real bag. If I list them all off, won't I the problem? I will. I will. But. Okay, I will. I'll marry your Ferrari.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
I will. The basket, everyone. Real hard.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, everyone, red line. It's great.
Matt Farah
Yeah, real hard. And I would.
Jason Camisa
Good Thing you didn't say you'd. My vagina.
Matt Farah
I would kill. I'd kill the. I'd kill the Rover just because I have to pick something and I'm not particularly interested in rovers.
Jason Camisa
Okay.
Matt Farah
Okay, I'll list them off. The pink spider nsx. The Vanquish with the manual. I mean the man exists although it's in parts until a couple weeks. The Lamborghini Countach exists although it's in parts for like another year. Taycan Hannah's Delica. Hannah's Nissan Pow. Or a scooter.
Jason Camisa
Okay, definitely kill the NSX because I hate msx.
Matt Farah
Okay.
Jason Camisa
I'd probably fuck the Countach. Okay. Because everyone would.
Matt Farah
Everyone would.
Jason Camisa
And marry the pink or.
Matt Farah
Okay, yeah, that's. I think that's a reasoned and reasonable.
Jason Camisa
Choice on brand for.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jason Camisa
Fucking idiots.
Matt Farah
Pink car still has some warranty. Let's see. Bush did 997. Jason, what's the ultimate icons episode you haven't been able to make yet?
Jason Camisa
There was one episode I wanted to do with 911st plus roof scr plus singer because I think. And we may still do it. I really think the 911 story is like a choose your own ending. Right. 911 happened and then. Then we had to make a decision between we. The company had to make a decision. Do we do like ultra high tech and really expensive or do we do more mass market? And they've chosen more mass market and perfected it like current911st is the best sports car in the world maybe potentially without T50 roof.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Let's say best sports car for less than a million bucks or something.
Jason Camisa
Best mass market sports car. Yeah, nothing is. Is even closer.
Matt Farah
Yeah, they're rad.
Jason Camisa
And then roof that ser is like holy.
Matt Farah
Have you driven a CTR also?
Jason Camisa
No.
Matt Farah
Imagine.
Jason Camisa
But I want. I don't. I want naturally aspirated.
Matt Farah
All right, well just imagine that but with 50% more power.
Jason Camisa
But that thing like all carbon like it looks like a Porsche but it's not like that's a different. Choose your own adventure in the way of like let's take something the size and the shape of a 911 and make it bespoke and expensive and modern materials and equipment, a new engine, whatever. And then you have Singer which is. Let's take the old thing and do it. And I want to get those three cars together.
Matt Farah
I think that is a real logistical challenge possible.
Jason Camisa
The problem is.
Matt Farah
Well, I guess with Hagerty you could have owners. You're more, much more likely to just get Owner cars.
Jason Camisa
I've talked to all of the companies about this. Singer's singer tends to be a little bit.
Matt Farah
No, they keep that close to the vest, dude.
Jason Camisa
That. That. That would be the owner.
Matt Farah
Have I told you the best way to get a Singer press car? It's really easy. No, the best way to get a Singer press car is to very publicly drive an owner's car. Oh, you'll have. They'll be calling you.
Jason Camisa
Okay, fair point, Mike. The question that I have for you and you and the audience is, does anyone give a shit about these 911s?
Matt Farah
Our singer Turbo video did not do very well, whereas our 911st video did do very well. So you could chalk that up to one is a new car. And it's a. And our business is a. Should you or shouldn't you buy this thing? And people who are looking for singers already know if that's what they want or not. They don't need to know something about it from. From us.
Jason Camisa
I feel like even 911, like any 911, everyone already knows it's the best. And so, you know, I don't. That roof is so good. Yeah.
Matt Farah
They're nuts.
Jason Camisa
Could really unseat the ST in a lot of ways. And I don't know until I've driven the price. But it's also actual carbon.
Matt Farah
No, it's crazy. No, no. I'm just. But like, it's so.
Jason Camisa
I don't know.
Matt Farah
There's scales of rich, and that's one scale up.
Jason Camisa
And you know what I like better? Like our $35,000 challenge. Cooter Cooter's Kameesis Ultimate Drag Race replay the $35,000 challenge. Like, that was a lot of fun. Like, oh, we forgot about the mini. We forgot about this. I sort of live in ghetto land, and I feel like I'm just kind of sick about hearing rich people land.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Jason Camisa
So I don't know if the audience would resonate with it. And therefore, is it worth the time for me to do that? Icons. I don't know.
Matt Farah
I think it would be a fun thing to do, you know, to get. To drive those cars back to back, I think would be a good time.
Zach Klapman
I think the challenge is finding the angle that a larger audience would understand.
Jason Camisa
It's not like I don't. The view count is not the be all and end all. But at the end of the day, I am paid by Hagerty to get eyeballs on what we do. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
And I don't want to shortchange anyone I don't want to say I'm going to take all this budget and do this, you know, and icons, icons are expensive and they're a lot of work and I don't want to do that to just have it, have no one care about it. Look, I did that with ID Buzz. Well, the. I. Yeah, like you could probably do.
Matt Farah
A roof if you position it better because.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, they're a name that everyone knows.
Jason Camisa
And do the whole history and otherwise it's like the coolest.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that. I think that's, that's probably your angle.
Jason Camisa
God damn it. Germany.
Matt Farah
And then maybe, you know, if you're doing that, you, you kind of. You could wild card it with an st, you know, sort of comparison at the end. That could be fun. I would bring in the ST as the. And look what we have here.
Jason Camisa
Here's what Porsche alternative ending.
Matt Farah
Here's what Porsche considers light, you know, and it's. Oh, by the way, it's 600 pounds heavier.
Jason Camisa
You should do this for a living. That's a good idea.
Matt Farah
I should, yeah. Someone just give me a budget.
Jason Camisa
That'd be great.
Matt Farah
Maybe after I just did a 20 minute Hagerty commercial, they'll give me a budget. Bullshit.
Jason Camisa
They're not going to give you. I will have you do a cameo on that video.
Matt Farah
All right, two more and then we're calling the fucking game because Jason's gotta go home. I like this one. Scandinavian booger flick. What are some cars that share similar driving characteristics despite looking nothing alike? We just sort of talked about the inverse of this, which is the roof, which looks like a 911 but drives very much not like a 911 and only looks like a 911, as Katt Williams say, till a 911 pull up.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
So what are some cars that drive similar but look very different? Wait, was that the question? Drive similar, look different or drive different, look similar, drive similar, look different, drive similar, look different?
Jason Camisa
You know what? Just about every modern car, because there's one formula, you're gonna have strut suspension up front and a multi link in the rear. You can have a 500cc per cylinder, turbocharged four cylinder with a dual clutch or a ZF88 everything. Yeah, that's a really great question, but I'd have to really go through my.
Matt Farah
Yeah, every $42,000 crossover drives, basically exactly the same.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, yeah, every. I mean, it's all electric, power steering. Yeah. They all tune, they're all benchmarking each other, they're all sniffing each other's Asses and running in circles.
Matt Farah
All right, let's flip it. What are some cars that look similar but drive totally different? Like I would say, like Huracan and McLaren Sports Series.
Jason Camisa
Yeah. Drives like nothing else.
Matt Farah
McLaren's drive very unique.
Jason Camisa
That looks similar. I.
Matt Farah
A Toyota Mr.2 and a Fiat X19.
Jason Camisa
I'm thinking like Alpha 8.4C versus an aluminum.
Matt Farah
Oh, yeah.
Jason Camisa
Yeah.
Matt Farah
One drives good and one drives bad.
Jason Camisa
Badish. Not as good.
Matt Farah
I fucking hate four seasons.
Jason Camisa
They suck. And they're so pretty.
Matt Farah
They're so pretty. Time will be very kind to them because if it's pretty and characterful, that's all that matters. And hand built in a collectible. It doesn't matter that they actually understeer like fucking pigs.
Jason Camisa
Doesn't matter. No one's gonna ever track those cars. Who?
Matt Farah
Tell me, Jason, who is the person that insists on manual steering paired with a flappy paddle gearbox?
Jason Camisa
Who is that? Who is that client with someone who couldn't afford. Couldn't afford, by the way, a dry dual clutch from the Dodge Dart. I actually love the 4C. I think it's. I love how Italian it is.
Matt Farah
Agree to disagree. All right. This is a good one to end on, actually. Jerry was a steak F1 team kick Sauber driver. I bet combining Formula 1 and Primus, I think is really the peak.
Jason Camisa
So many references. I'm lost. It's fine.
Matt Farah
Let me just say chat GPT couldn't fucking do that. Okay. A human F1 satirist that also loves Primus needs to do that. Seeing the release of the Corvette ZR1X has me wondering, are we reaching the human limit of car performance with these numbers? That seems like a lot more car than the average person can physically handle. Where does it go from here?
Jason Camisa
I feel like people have been saying that for a long time.
Matt Farah
Long time. However, people find a way.
Jason Camisa
People find a way. But what we are, we're definitely. We have reached and surpassed the limits of what we can use on the road. And we are actually reaching a limit in that after a certain amount of G force, you can no longer see around a corner. Yeah, you can't see. Your sight lines are now compromised because if you're at max lad around a corner, you will not be able to stop before you hit something. So we're reaching a limit. We've reached the limit of sanity and surpassed it by twofold.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I watched Chris Harris's F80 video yesterday. He's pretty much some of your icons. And Chris Harris sometimes is the only YouTube content I consume. Automotive content I consume at all. And he said that Ferrari has said that the 1200 horsepower combined that that thing makes is. That's it. There's no need to make more power.
Jason Camisa
There'll be never a need. Right, right.
Matt Farah
But this is what Ferrari is saying. So they're saying that this is.
Jason Camisa
I mean, we've reached the limits of grip. Right. So for a road tire lucid Sapphire is not going to accelerate any faster, no matter basically what tire you put on.
Matt Farah
I think the new Nevera R just ran a seven second quarter mile. I mean, so basically we'll have to get Miro back.
Jason Camisa
He rules. So, I mean. Yes, but the truth is we've reached the limit of grip. The only question is at what speed. Right. And so now if you're at the limit of grip from all the way to 0 to 60, you're at a 1.9 or 2 seconds. Yay. But then you're reaching the limit of grip from 60 to 120 and then 120 to 180 and whatever. And it just becomes stupid. That fucking lucid. I just did drag race the Sapphire. No, not even the Sapphire. The Gravity.
Matt Farah
Gravity. Yeah.
Jason Camisa
Dream Edition scared the out of me while I was testing it. That thing pulls so hard from 70 to 130. I mean 130. 110, five at 139 in a minivan. That's.
Matt Farah
Is that what you did 10, 10.
Jason Camisa
Five with, by the way, secret back behind the story, 80 something percent state of charge because we did not have time to fully charge it. It might even be fast. 139 miles an hour through the quarter mile.
Matt Farah
Zach and I in the satellite Sapphire at sonoma ran an 89 at 1:56.
Jason Camisa
Unprepped on a fucking. I have to test wrong direction at Willow going into turn nine and stop a minivan at 140 miles an hour. 146 by the time I was I got the notification on the fucking gps. No, no, no, no. Just no, no, no, no, no. The answer is yes. We've beyond the level of capability. And also it hurts. You go floor.
Matt Farah
It is physically uncomfortable.
Jason Camisa
It's just not pleasurable.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Jason Camisa
So we're just in stupid land.
Matt Farah
My slow taycan. I have the slowest taycan.
Jason Camisa
Literally.
Matt Farah
I I'm not sure it's faster than the rear wheel drive one. I think it's the slowest taycan. I am on the floorboard once, once a month for two seconds.
Jason Camisa
Meanwhile my egolf. Yeah, I'm foot on the floor all the time. My beat foot on the floor.
Matt Farah
All the time.
Jason Camisa
Yeah, I. Yeah, we're past that.
Matt Farah
Oh, dude, this was fun. Thanks for doing it. I was always good to see you. I look forward to your text in 10 or 15 minutes of like, wow, this Alpine is something. It's cool.
Jason Camisa
Provided I make it at the gas station because you told me it's on empty.
Matt Farah
No, no, it's not empty. It has a quarter tank.
Jason Camisa
Oh, there's a quarter tank. It's French. I'll make it halfway to San Francisco.
Matt Farah
It gets like 38 miles a gallon on the highway. Little car, little engine, very aerodynamic car, little engine, seven gears. It's going to be very fun. Our video review is up of that Alpine, if you care. We got our video of the man about the 50% build point of my Manx. And so that's going up on the channel. Please check out our Instagram bio for links to the tickets for Houston. Also, wait, this is going up Tuesday. Okay. Yeah. So we're this weekend. No, next week. Two weeks. The 24th, 25th. Houston, Dallas. Come see us live with Christian James Hand. That's going to be fucking awesome. And love you all. See you later.
Jason Camisa
Bye. Thanks, guys.
Episode Summary: "Jason Cammisa Returns!" | The Smoking Tire Podcast
Release Date: July 15, 2025
In this engaging episode of The Smoking Tire, hosts Zack Klapman and Matt Farah welcome back automotive journalist and enthusiast Jason Cammisa for an in-depth discussion covering a range of topics from electric trucks to personal car experiences. The conversation seamlessly weaves through car reviews, personal anecdotes, and industry insights, offering listeners both entertainment and valuable information.
The episode kicks off with Matt introducing Jason to the audience, highlighting the day's agenda which includes discussions about the Tesla Cybertruck, an Alpine A110 handoff story, fleet updates, and insights into Jason's involvement with Hagerty. The hosts engage in light-hearted banter about the physical strains of sleeping positions, setting a relaxed tone for the episode.
Notable Quote:
A significant portion of the conversation centers around Jason's controversial review of the Tesla Cybertruck. Jason expresses his dissatisfaction with the vehicle, particularly criticizing its design and steering capabilities. He discusses how his approach was intended to focus on the engineering aspects rather than a full product review, a nuance he feels was lost in public reception.
Notable Quotes:
Jason Cammisa (12:02): "I have always hated that fucking Cybertruck."
(12:02)
Matt Farah (13:14): "You did say you don't like the car. You just didn't say it loudly and clearly enough."
(13:14)
Jason elaborates on how the Cybertruck's double-wheeler design and aesthetic did not appeal to him, despite acknowledging the engineering efforts behind it. The hosts debate the effectiveness of Tesla's approach to electric trucks and compare it to other EV offerings in the market.
The discussion shifts to personal anecdotes, with Jason recounting a harrowing experience where he crashed his own Rover SD1 into a white Nissan Sentra. He details the incident, including the challenges of visibility due to inadequate mirrors and the subsequent interactions with Jay Leno's production team. This story underscores the importance of having reliable insurance, leading to a deeper conversation about Hagerty's exceptional service compared to traditional insurers like State Farm and Progressive.
Notable Quotes:
Jason Cammisa (39:22): "I crashed my Rover."
(39:22)
Matt Farah (55:00): "So when Hannah got hit in the Delica... we had a claim, and they were amazing."
(55:00)
Jason emphasizes the value of "agreed value" insurance, advocating for policies that accurately reflect a vehicle's worth, especially for classic and collectible cars. Both hosts share their positive experiences with Hagerty, highlighting quick claim settlements and comprehensive coverage.
Delving into the technical side of automotive customization, Matt and Jason discuss various engine swaps and the complexities of integrating manual transmissions into modern vehicles. They share experiences with different models, including Mercedes and Ferrari, debating the merits and challenges of such modifications. The conversation touches on the balance between performance enhancements and maintaining vehicle reliability.
Notable Quotes:
Jason Cammisa (78:42): "The Black series, I immediately called a friend... It felt 100%."
(78:42)
Matt Farah (85:04): "I had to pick a car from the Gotham Dream Cars fleet... it was the Mercedes SLR McLaren."
(85:04)
The hosts explore the intricacies of manual swaps, the importance of using authentic parts, and the impact on a car's driving dynamics. They also discuss the feasibility and costs associated with such projects, providing listeners with insights into the world of car customization.
As the episode progresses, Matt and Jason announce upcoming live shows in Texas, featuring performances by Christian James Hand. They invite listeners to attend these events, emphasizing the unique blend of automotive discussions and live entertainment. Additionally, they engage with listener questions, covering topics like the Audi A2, favorite car models, and performance comparisons.
Notable Quotes:
Matt Farah (94:23): "The Smoking Tire is coming to Texas. We are going to be doing live shows in Houston on July 24 and Dallas on July 25 with Christian James Hand."
(94:23)
Jason Cammisa (99:39): "I would have engine swapped the Lotus Elise."
(99:39)
The interaction with listeners enhances the episode's interactive feel, allowing the hosts to address specific interests and curiosities from their audience.
Towards the end of the episode, the conversation turns reflective, with both hosts contemplating the current state and future of car performance. They discuss whether the automotive industry has reached its peak in terms of speed and handling, pondering the sustainability and practicality of continuously pushing performance boundaries.
Notable Quotes:
Jason Cammisa (116:09): "We've reached the limit of grip... we're reaching a limit in that after a certain amount of G force, you can no longer see around a corner."
(116:09)
Matt Farah (118:56): "I have the slowest Taycan. I have to get a Manx."
(118:56)
These reflections highlight concerns about the balance between extreme performance and everyday drivability, questioning the direction in which automotive innovation is headed.
In the final moments, Matt and Jason share light-hearted comments about their cars and upcoming projects. They reiterate their excitement for future episodes and live events, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for more adventures and discussions in the automotive world.
Notable Quotes:
Jason Cammisa (119:38): "So I've got two of my cars at Motorlux."
(119:38)
Matt Farah (120:20): "See you later."
(120:20)
The episode concludes on a high note, leaving listeners eager for the next installment and the continued camaraderie between the hosts and their guests.
Key Takeaways:
Critical Review of the Tesla Cybertruck: Jason shares his honest critique, emphasizing the importance of clear communication in vehicle reviews to manage public expectations.
Importance of Specialized Insurance: Insights into why tailored insurance policies like Hagerty's are crucial for classic and collectible car owners.
Challenges of Car Customization: Discussions on engine swaps and manual transmissions highlight the technical and financial considerations involved.
Community Engagement: Announcements of live shows and addressing listener questions foster a strong connection with the audience.
Reflection on Automotive Limits: The hosts ponder the sustainability of current performance trends, advocating for a balance between innovation and practicality.
This episode of The Smoking Tire offers a blend of technical discussions, personal stories, and industry insights, making it a must-listen for automotive enthusiasts seeking both depth and entertainment.