Podcast Summary: THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends!

Episode: Calling Out Porsche People! The Cars to Import in 2026! Next Doug Car Already?
Date: December 26, 2025
Host: Doug DeMuro
Guests: Kenan & Nick

Episode Overview

This festive, pre-recorded "Christmas edition" skips recent news and focuses on answering a backlog of audience questions. Doug, Kenan, and Nick deliver a candid, often hilarious conversation on car ownership sentimentality, favorite cars, Porsche "Paint to Sample" culture, dream future imports, their shifting views on automatics, the realities of "YouTuber car collections," and more. The show closes with a revealing car wish-list segment and some playful unboxing of fan gifts.

Key Segments and Highlights

1. Festive Opener & Episode Structure

• [01:05] Doug explains the holiday special format: “All we’re doing is answering previous questions that you’ve asked us before that we didn’t get to, because...we can’t do the news.”
• [01:46] Nick gives his annual auto industry predictions (Jaguar’s “New Year’s resolution,” more Stellantis recalls, “another EV will get killed, another V8 will come back”).

2. Favorite Cars Ever Owned ([03:15–11:37])

Question: "Out of all the vehicles you've owned, what was your favorite and why?"

Kenan

• [03:28] "Yes, it was." (referring to his E39 M5)
  • 2002 Titanium Silver, black sport interior, V8.
  • Loves it for the emotional experience, not just specs.

Nick

• Struggles to pick—has owned many, but:
• [04:20] "If I think about which one I loved the most... it's gotta be a B7 Audi. So the RS4 was the best one, but like, B7s are what got me just overboard on cars. So probably the S4 that I had."
• Nostalgic, "seminal" part of his own car journey. (“I was Mr. B7. I lived it and breathed it.” [08:17])
• Open to getting another B7, especially an Avant or rare color.

Doug

• [09:20] "I think my favorite is probably the Countach, which I currently own and just love dearly."
• [09:45] Also, deep appreciation for his old 2001 Mercedes E55, which was "super reliable, pretty fast, also roomy and comfortable."
• [10:54] Reveals next obsessions: “I really want an E30 M3 Sport Evo. And I really want a 21055 wagon.”

3. Car Sentimentality & Attachment ([12:44–21:44])

Question: "How sentimental about previous cars are you?"

Kenan

• Extremely sentimental: keeps mementos, window stickers, photos. "[14:16] I have momentos from them...I really love that car [first 525i], really, really loved it."
• Sentimentality drives car keeping choices.

Nick

• More pragmatic and unsentimental. "[17:44] Once I get the itch to sell a car, it's time...Now I've like, totally let go."
• Admits brief pangs with certain cars (e.g., B7 S4), but moves on quickly.

Doug

• "[17:59] My answer is literally zero."
• Enjoys memories, sometimes runs Carfax on old cars, but feels no desire for reunions or “yearning.” "[18:32] I look up some people from high school just to make sure that I'm living better than them. You know what I'm saying?"

4. Porsche Paint-to-Sample & Car Spec Culture ([22:36–29:36])

Question: Have you heard of the Rare Shades Festival? How much would they pay you to go as a non-Porsche guy?

Doug

• Unrepentant: “Under absolutely no circumstances ever. But how much to pay me? I'd probably do it for 100 grand post tax.” [23:15]
• Skewers PTS-obsessed owners: "[24:11] There is a large contingent of Porsche enthusiasts who care more about their spec than the driving experience ... the single most pathetic thing that goes on in the automotive industry today."
• Rants that these owners don’t drive the cars, just “celebrate the way it’s optioned.”

Nick & Kenan

• Amused but critical: enjoy rare colors but think it’s taken “a little too far” ([24:28]) — "At least those folks are off at their own event!"
• Nick jokes: "I would pay 100 grand to attend Suzuka Gray [B7 RS4] festival" ([28:09]), but it’s “different.”

Standout Quote

Doug ([26:10]):

"Nice spec. Every oh my God, the spec is so nice. And I just think that is so far from the intent...I just would prefer they not come to my events or talk to me."

5. Best & Worst Cross-Country Drives ([31:09–34:35])

Question: When driving to Nantucket, which states are the best and worst scenery-wise?

• General consensus: Best – I-70 through Colorado, east Tennessee, Arkansas.
  Doug: "I-70 through Colorado is the most beautiful section of interstate in the country." ([31:50])
• Worst – Northern Texas ("I-40 through North Texas is the worst part of the world" [34:35]), also Nebraska gets a mention by Kenan.

6. Dream Imports: Audi A1 Club Sport Quattro ([35:04–37:29])

Question: Have you heard of the Audi A1 Club Sport Quattro?

• Doug: “There is no car that I want to import more than this car. None.” [35:12]
• Nick: "I mean, what's not to like? It's such a good size, tons of power." [35:23]
• Only made 333, dual clutch, turbo, all-wheel-drive, white wheels—"one of the coolest cars on the planet." [37:16]

7. Automatics vs Manuals – The Hypocrisy Exposed ([37:29–40:42])

Question from Tennessee Cool Cat: “Is no one going to talk about the hypocrisy of Kenan buying a Tip?”

Kenan

• Owns up: "[37:51] ... Yes, I've always wanted an SL65...the auto suits the nature of it...As a lot of AMG cars...I agree that generally, most fun cars should be manual, but nonetheless, you wanted the experience..."
• Still sentimentally attached to manuals through his M5.

Doug

• Playfully rails against the group’s “manuals only!” stance devolving into more automatics: "Everybody on this pod has always been like only manuals...then they all end up with automatics. Filippo...has an automatic. I'm the only one for my fun cars who's never deviated.”

Nick

• Next cars he wants are all automatics ("I'm being productive. I'm doing deals at the stoplight." [39:54])

8. Is It The Car, Or This Exact Car? Attached to Your M5 ([41:08–42:51])

Question: "Do you love your current M5, or the E39 M5 in general?"

Kenan: It's this car specifically. "Honestly, it is my M5 that I love specifically." ([41:17]) Even if better ones became available, he’d stick with what he has.

9. YouTuber Car Financing: What If You Went Full Send? ([47:37–51:32])

Question: If you took the “YouTuber” approach and financed everything irresponsibly, what would your collections look like?

• Doug: “I know what’s going on behind the scenes...some of these YouTubers, everybody’s always like ‘you’re a rich YouTuber’, I want to chime in and be like, you have no idea how close that dude is to personal dynamics.” ([47:37])
• Dream cars: Doug would get an F40, F50.
• Kenan: “I probably would stretch back into that $100k ($100,000) range. For me, probably a 575 or something.” ([48:24])
• Nick: “I feel like I’m dangerously close to what he’s describing.” Would go for “punishingly expensive” stuff: “XJ220 or S7...something beyond ridiculous.” ([49:47])

10. Car Wish Lists: What’s Left? ([63:01–69:41])

Doug

• Realizes his list is shrinking: “I don’t have that many more cars left that I actually want, which is a scary thought.” ([63:41])
• “Either a C55, C43, or E55 Mercedes wagon...an Evo VI LHD...996 GT2...Magnum Sega Cruiser...R34 GTR, that’s kind of it.” ([64:10])

Kenan

• Z4 Roadster, Z8, V12 Vanquish, CT5V Blackwing, Viper, and a handful of others.
• “Only one, only two [left].” ([65:14])

Nick

• List is long, ranging from rare Mercedes and Jaguar models to Ford Ranger Splash and Funkmaster Flex Expeditions.
• "It's hard to take back steps [downmarket]...when I have an SLR and a P38 and all these amazing vehicles, it's hard to choose the Multipla." ([66:27])

Standout Reflection

Doug:

“You know, it would almost be sad though, because don’t you think that we would eventually get to the same place with infinite money that we’ve gotten to without infinite money?” ([67:52])

11. Memorable Gift Exchange – Listener Presents ([72:09–78:48])

• Hilariously offbeat: Nissan Armada cologne, Kinder Egg smart cars, a custom F40 LM made of cardboard, a Countach bath mat, and more.
• Doug: “This is the greatest gift I’ve ever seen.” ([75:01])
• Good-natured banter about automotive gifting (“Full circle, friends are the best gift” etc.)

12. Final Rapid-Fire Q&A & Holiday Wrap ([80:00–end])

• Banter about how hard it is to buy each other gifts, referencing past group gifts—Parker Nirenstein cameos, G Wagon parts from WhistlinDiesel, etc.
• Doug’s meta-rant: Why is “Happy Holidays” so controversial? ([81:09])
• Final sendoff, joyful, rambunctious holiday energy.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Porsche Spec People:
  Doug: "I think it's probably the single most pathetic thing that goes on in the automotive industry today." ([24:11])
• On Getting Sentimental:
  Kenan: "Love is not rational." ([15:05])
• On YouTuber Car Spending:
  Doug: "You're not thinking about any sort of long-term saving... next thing you know, you're earning $150k a month, but your spend is $146k a month." ([50:58])
• On Shrinking Wish Lists:
  Doug: "I'm out. This is it." ([66:06])

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:46] Annual industry predictions
• [03:15] Favorite car ever owned
• [12:44] Sentimentality about past cars
• [22:36] Porsche Paint-to-Sample & Rare Shades
• [31:09] Cross-country drive routes
• [35:04] Audi A1 Club Sport Quattro dream
• [37:29] Manuals vs. Automatics “hypocrisy”
• [41:08] "Is it this car or the model?"
• [47:37] The “YouTuber car financing” scenario
• [63:01] What’s left on the car wish list?
• [72:09] Listener gift unboxing
• [80:00] Holiday close-out & wrapping thoughts

Final Tone

Candid, irreverent, and car-geeky—this episode blends nostalgia and brutal honesty, exposing how passion can blur reason in car collecting, skewering obsessive Porsche culture, and meditating (with trademark Doug humor) about how desires evolve as wish lists get shorter and one’s car dream garage takes shape.

Perfect for: Listeners who love authentic talk about car ownership, car culture quirks, and want to hear car-obsessed hosts confront their own sentimentality, irrationality, and collector goals—with plenty of laughs and insider trivia along the way.