New BMW 3-Series Revealed! Honda Quits EVs, a Toyota "Raptor" Truck?

Summary

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THIS CAR POD! with Doug DeMuro & Friends!

Episode: "New BMW 3-Series Revealed! Honda Quits EVs, a Toyota 'Raptor' Truck?"

Date: March 20, 2026

Hosts: Doug DeMuro, Filippo, Nick

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🚗 Episode Overview

This week's episode dives into the seismic shifts rocking the automotive landscape: the reveal of the new BMW 3-Series (i3), Honda's abrupt retreat from the EV market, Toyota's possible entry into the high-performance off-road truck segment, and more. The team offers their characteristic blend of news, hot takes, car market chatter, and audience Q&A—with lots of humor and insider knowledge.

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🏁 Main Topics & Key Insights

1. BMW Reveals the New "i3" — the Next-Gen 3 Series (00:40–08:30)

• New BMW i3 Launch: The electric i3 is unveiled, signifying BMW’s transition strategy—using the "i" prefix across its lineup to designate EVs.
  • "BMW is just putting the letter I in front of all of their kind of existing model ranges in order to signify electric, which I don’t think is the worst strategy..." – Doug (01:12)
• Significance: BMW is shifting the iconic 3 Series onto this new electric-centric architecture and design language.
  • All-wheel drive, 465hp, expected range up to 440 miles.
  • 800-volt architecture and fast charging.
  • Huge screens: 43.3” iDrive + 17.9” center touchscreen.
  • "Heart of Joy" electronic platform.
  • Possible gas variants for select markets.
  • Distinct, sleeker design language—wider grille, flared fenders.
  • “I love the design language. Instead of making the grille taller, they made it wider.” – Nick (02:59)
• Market Position: Seen as a legitimate Tesla Model 3 competitor, especially appealing for Europe/Asia; chance for revival in the US tied to future politics/tax incentives.
  • “This is a real car. You know, more and more of these EVs are actually becoming kind of desirable.” – Doug (04:57)
• Critique & Prediction: The hosts note the risk of i3 suffering from the general trend of EVs stalling in the US, with hope that international demand will anchor its success.

2. Hyundai Palisade/Telluride Recall Tragedy & Power Features Rant (08:27–13:54)

• Recall: Hyundai Palisade (and Telluride) recalled for lack of obstacle detection on power folding second row seats, which tragically resulted in a child’s death.
  • “Power folding seats are the worst thing that have ever existed in the history of the automobile.” – Doug (08:38)
• Discussion: Extended criticism of power folding seats, power hatches, and power doors—hosts advocate for manual controls for safety, speed, and reliability.
  • “Just give us manual seats. Even at this price point. That’s what we want.” – Doug (13:13)

3. Honda Quits the EV Game? (15:46–22:32)

• Massive Retreat: Honda cancels US production plans for multiple EVs, writes down $16 billion, and the highly-touted Sony joint venture (Afila) is now uncertain.
  • "Honda was working with Sony to produce an electric sedan called the Afila. It looked incredibly undesirable from every picture we ever saw." – Doug (17:03)
  • "They literally told me that was why [the Prologue] was called that. And now the Prologue is also...the ending, the whole story and the end." – Doug (17:46)
• Rationale: Blames poor product appeal, lack of US demand, tariffs, and the sunk cost fallacy.
• Broader Problem: Honda’s struggle to innovate beyond core staples (Accord, Civic, CR-V); possible risk of losing ground as the market pivots again in the future.
• Anecdote: Doug shares a story about fading Acura sedan sales to illustrate Honda’s wider malaise.

4. Possible Toyota "Raptor" Truck — TRD Hammer (22:50–25:56)

• Leaks/Survey: Rumors and trademarks suggest Toyota plans a Raptor-fighting Tundra variant, possibly titled "TRD Hammer."
  • 37” tires, long-travel suspension, survey sent to owners about features/names.
  • Other names considered: TRD Baja, Iron, Pro S, Berserk, Quake.
  • “I like Hammer. TRD Hammer. Dude, I want a TRD Hammer Sequoia so bad.” – Doug (25:36)
• Engine Speculation: Dream of a V8, but more likely hybrid V6.
• Market: Hosts geek out about its appeal among off-road truck enthusiasts (and as suburban flex machines).

5. Ram Truck Design Pivot: Less "Angry Boy" Era? (27:00–32:44)

• Design Interview: Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles signals Ram is abandoning hyper-aggressive truck faces.
  • "He doesn’t think that the angry and super exaggerated faces that other pickup trucks have...is really resonating with buyers." – Filippo (27:41)
• Hosts Debate: Some skepticism remains—will Ram buyers want a “futuristic” truck?
• Wider Discussion: Includes Toyota’s aggressive grill size, Ford and Chevy’s corporate design arms race.

6. Ferrari Abandons Haptic Steering Wheels (36:54–39:43)

• Retrofitting Buttons: Ferrari will retrofit recent models with physical steering wheel buttons, abandoning hated haptic controls.
  • "Imagine if your GTI’s [haptic buttons] didn’t do anything…but only if you tapped it at exactly the right spot for the right amount of time." – Doug (37:19)
• Tone: Amused relief; calls for Ferrari to take similarly bold steps (manuals!) in the future.

7. Jaguar’s Bold (or Baffling) Rebranding & Project 00 (39:56–43:01)

• Design Overdrive: Jaguar’s wild, gender-fluid “Project 00” EV concept is polarizing/confusing—Jaguar is drawing on heritage to justify wild new design direction.
  • "This has been a huge flop. Everyone’s made fun of it... But no, they're doubling down." – Nick (40:28)
• Hosts Skeptical: Doubt if bold design will save the brand; riff on Jaguar’s lost opportunity and reboot delays.

8. Lucid’s “Cosmos,” “Earth,” and...“Stay Tuned”? (43:40–46:56)

• Lucid's Investor Day: Three new models teased, each marketed to tiny, absurdly specific lifestyle demographics ("upscale nurturers," "trendsetting achievers," "active explorers").
  • "All three of these: rich moms is upscale nurturers; trendsetting achievers is men who think they are entrepreneurs, but actually work a corporate job..." – Doug (44:22)
• Branding Critique: Hosts roast Lucid’s marketing speak and urge the company to focus on compelling, practical EVs (with a call for a strong, non-apologetic SUV).

9. Ford F-150 + Timberland Boot Collaboration (48:26–49:25)

• Novelty News: New F-150 boot—front styled like the truck’s grille, with a lifted sole (the “Timberline”).
  • "The boot also has a lift…so that when you think with your F-150 boot, you can stand a little taller than you think..." – Doug (48:55)
• Joking: Hosts riff on product naming and lifestyle tie-ins.

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💡 Memorable Quotes & Fun Banter

• "This is the problem with Filippo. He’s never willing to show us skin." – Doug teasing Filippo’s fashion choices (62:22)
• "I'm desert running all the time." – Doug justifying TRD Hammer dreams (24:58)
• On Lucid’s buyer profiles: “No vehicle that is being aimed at upscale nurturers is going to sell in a world where Trump is the president." – Doug (46:39)
• On Honda’s EV retreat: "I actually support Honda's decision not to continue with this. Don't throw bad money after bad." – Doug (21:52)
• On power seats: "Power folding seats are the worst thing ever existed in the history of the automobile." – Doug (08:38)

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⏱️ Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:40: BMW i3/3-Series reveal and speculation
• 08:27: Hyundai Palisade/Telluride recall discussion
• 15:46: Honda abandons US EVs; Sony Afila uncertainty
• 22:50: Toyota’s “TRD Hammer”/off-road truck rumors
• 27:00: Ram trucks' design philosophy shift
• 36:54: Ferrari ditches haptics for real buttons
• 39:56: Jaguar's Project 00 and branding woes
• 43:40: Lucid's new model names & branding roast
• 48:26: Ford F-150 Timberland boot collaboration

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🔥 Audience Q&A & Market Report Highlights

Hot Hatch Death & Who Killed It (64:00–68:08)

• Causes: Crossover popularity, consumer indifference, profitability issues.
• Surviving models: Corolla GR, GTI, Golf R, Civic Type R, Integra Type S—but acknowledged overall decline.

Market Chatter (55:02–61:38)

• Grenadier off-roader: Market stabilizing at $60K, potentially compelling at lower prices.
  • "High 30s is where this car becomes, like, really compelling." – Doug (58:50)
• C8 Z06 Corvette: Sold for $101K, 670hp—hosts marvel at performance value vs. European cars.

Car Scene Anecdotes (73:47–78:08)

• Hosts reminisce about their own high school parking lots—old Volvos, Priuses, modded Explorer, Audi B5s—contrasting middle-class and luxury car environments.

Why No SUVs with Sliding Doors? (78:23–81:48)

• Van conversions aside (e.g., lifted Sienna, Quigley vans), no major SUV features sliding doors—weight, perception, and consumer reluctance cited as reasons.

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😂 Running Jokes & Tone

• In true THIS CAR POD fashion, the show is lively, quick-witted, and lightly self-mocking—a balance of insightful car talk and offbeat hilarity.
• Regular needling of industry marketing ("trendsetting achievers"), Doug’s aversion to power seats, Filippo’s company-man hustle, and good-natured teasing about personal car preferences.
• Recurring plugs for Cars & Bids, often delivered with tongue-in-cheek apathy (“Buy one of these shirts or don’t. I don’t care.” – Doug).

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📢 Notable News Briefs

• Ferrari offers retrofit to replace haptic steering wheel controls with real buttons.
• Toyota rumored to be developing a "TRD Hammer" to go up against the Ford Raptor R.
• Acura RSX, Honda Prologue, and more EVs canceled; Sony's Afila project in limbo.
• RAM design chief calls for less “angry” truck faces in next-gen models.
• Quirky F-150 x Timberland fashion crossover launched.

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📬 Listener Participation: Upcoming Producer Sean Special

• The show teases a major upcoming episode featuring their elusive producer, Sean—inviting listener questions for an exclusive Q&A.

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📚 Conclusion

The hosts close out with their signature sarcasm and camaraderie, reminding listeners to submit questions—especially for the special Sean episode. They riff on Filippo’s “how low will he go” hustle for Cars & Bids, tease their own market report accuracy, and deliver more inside jokes about car culture, both old and new.

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TL;DR:
Major car news, irreverent banter, powerful opinions—THIS CAR POD puts a smart, hilarious twist on the week’s automotive headlines. This episode is a must for anyone who wants to nerd out on new releases, market moves, and all the weird (and wonderful) ways cars intersect with culture.

Transcript

[Filippo]

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[Doug]

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[Filippo]

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[Doug]

Hello and welcome to this car pod.

[Filippo]

I'm Filippo.

[Nick]

I'm Nick.

[Doug]

I'm Doug. Let's start with the news boom. The biggest news story of the week is the new BMW i3.

[Filippo]

That's right. We've been talking about the new class BMW, literally new generation BMW.

[Doug]

Yep.

[Filippo]

And it is now out. It has been revealed in full. The electric version at least.

[Doug]

This is an important news story for a lot of reasons. Not because they're reusing the i3 name, which used to be important. Carbon fiber.

[Nick]

Love that thing.

[Doug]

Gondola with wheels. But now it is a carbon fiber.

[Filippo]

Never thought about it that way.

[Doug]

But now it's on what's basically going to position itself as the three series kind of vehicle in its lineup. BMW is just putting the letter I in front of all of their kind of existing model ranges in order to signify electric, which I don't think is the worst strategy, especially considering that Mercedes Benz is still to this day calling the electric G wagon the G Class G580 with EQ technology. They are still.

[Filippo]

And by the way, the new COA, it's also with EQ technology.

[Doug]

Needless to say that the i3 is a lot more of a reasonable name. But more than just that, it's going to launch as a fully electric, all wheel drive, 465 horsepower. That is a real car. And I think they said they're going to do gas versions as well.

[Filippo]

There will be gas versions and based on the i7 and the i5 they will and the iX3, etc. They will all look like this.

[Doug]

Now this is interesting because in a, in the i5 and the i7 used the existing 5 and 7 series but were electric cars. And the i4 essentially does that with the 4 Grand Coupe. This is an unusual one because this is a completely different car from the existing 3 Series. Are we to assume that this is the redesigned Next Generation 3 series and then it replaces the 3 series completely absolutely. You assume that.

[Filippo]

Yes.

[Doug]

Even after the Makani V debacle?

[Filippo]

Yes, absolutely. Without a doubt.

[Doug]

This is it, folks. This is the new BMW 3 series.

[Filippo]

Isn't that what we all.

[Doug]

Maybe they haven't said that, but the

[Filippo]

5 Series, the i5 and the regular 5 Series look identical.

[Doug]

Yeah. But when they were launched, they launched the 5 series and the i5. They haven't yet said that this is a 3 series replacement, that this is the new 3 series. Nonetheless. It probably is.

[Filippo]

Yeah. Yeah. It will look the same. It looks great.

[Doug]

The IX3 is the new X3 and

[Filippo]

it looks the same.

[Doug]

It looks like an electric crossover, but this is a totally fully redesigned thing.

[Filippo]

Yeah. And it is a new design language. It's very clearly BMW, but it is a new design language.

[Nick]

I love the design language. Instead of making the grille taller, they made it wider.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Nick]

But it just looks so sleek. It kind of gives me that old Trans Am vibe a little bit on first glance.

[Doug]

Yeah, it kind of does.

[Nick]

Overall, I think it's sculpted. Really? Really?

[Doug]

I totally agree. Kind of. Kind of narrow doors, but then flared fenders and. I mean, they haven't shown an M version yet, but even the regular car looks. Looks pretty good.

[Nick]

I hope that they take Mercedes cue. So when they. If this is going to be the i3, the gas one should be the i3 with ice technology or something like that.

[Filippo]

I like that plan.

[Doug]

I am curious. Like, again, it hasn't fully been revealed, but if this is the new three series, that's obviously a really big deal, too. They're saying end of the year, this goes on sale.

[Nick]

Wow. Yep.

[Filippo]

The interior, by the way, is pretty cool. The screen in the middle is like a little, like offset parallelogram situation.

[Doug]

Offset parallelogram. How exciting for.

[Filippo]

It looks pretty cool. It's not actually a parallelogram technically, but close enough. It's like a slanted rectangle. Ish. Yeah. With cut corners. It looks really cool.

[Nick]

It does seem like a great Model 3 competitor. Right. Like, much more stylish, more appealing to a broader swath of people.

[Doug]

Yeah. And they're saying a range of up to 440 miles, which is a really astonishing figure in a car this size. Only really lucid has been able to go to that direction with a car that presumably costs three times what this one will. I imagine this is going to be in the 60s. Yep.

[Filippo]

To be clear, Lucid is not 180, but.

[Doug]

Yeah, the Lucids that do 400 miles of range, at least for they have like 130 sticker prices and then the transaction price is 75. Yeah. And then two years later they're worth 36. 5.

[Filippo]

Yeah, pretty much. It is on 800 volt architecture. It should be pretty 400 megawatt charging. Pretty fast charging. Should be able to recharge to like 70% really quickly. Like it is truly advanced and like it is a modern day EV in the truest sense with all the latest technology. Huge screens, 43.3-inch iDrive screen plus a 17.9-inch center touchscreen and 3D display.

[Doug]

You got to assume, I mean this is a real car. You know, more and more of these EVs are actually becoming kind of desirable. This one, to me this one looks desirable too. I haven't read. I'm sure the Internet thinks it looks like some other car and is ugly and terrible, but I think it's going to be in the world of EVs sedans. I think that this is, this is like a pretty good next step.

[Filippo]

Plus it has the heart of joy electronic architecture.

[Doug]

Oh, it's got heart of joy. So we're all set.

[Nick]

When you heard there's a new i3, you just sort of said who cares? Next story. And then when you actually look at this and think of the implications, this is actually kind of a big deal.

[Doug]

Yeah, I mean I knew that the i3 was going to be the next three series or the next that size of a car because they had teased the new class and all that. But yes, the original i3 left us below my line.

[Filippo]

No, we don't say that. We love the original i3.

[Doug]

We like the original i3 especially now that it sells for nine.

[Filippo]

But these are so cool.

[Doug]

It really is a gondola car.

[Filippo]

It really is a gona car. But this is all like doors, like incredibly green material. You ever drive one?

[Nick]

It's got like a 5 inch wide wheel on it. I think something really, really skinny.

[Doug]

All four tires combined are the same width as a countach's rears.

[Nick]

Wow.

[Doug]

That's not true. But it might be really close.

[Nick]

It's so cool though.

[Doug]

You never drove one?

[Filippo]

No.

[Doug]

You ever drove one?

[Nick]

No.

[Doug]

Oh, I loved it. I love to drive.

[Filippo]

So cool. I should have one.

[Doug]

There was a Rex, of course. Anyway, new i3, absolutely huge deal. Potentially the new BMW 3 Series, which is always a huge deal and seems like a pretty cool car.

[Filippo]

We should talk about it more. But we've also seen like leak after leak after leak after press conference after press conference. I feel like we've covered it a lot, but it is Huge news.

[Doug]

Well, I honestly, I think the production car looks a little bit better than the concept. I think the concept was like a little too. Not realistic maybe. Yeah, I think they actually did a good job. And because they weren't entirely constrained by 3 Series design philosophy, I think it actually took it to kind of a sort of a cool but almost different, better place than where the next three probably would have gone. I'm into it. The three series never ended up getting that huge grille then, only the M3.

[Filippo]

That's a good point. Do we also like the IX3? We do, right?

[Doug]

Yeah. And BMW this week, it's not on our thing, but BMW this Week announced that iX3 order book has been absolutely slammed and they're like adding production shifts to make more of these cars. Only in America are EVs not successful vehicles.

[Filippo]

Some people are going to be so cool they're going to be able to say that they had Every generation of i3.

[Doug]

Every generation of i3. Had the first, had the second. Anyway, i3. Any other. Any other i3 related thoughts?

[Nick]

No, it'll be interesting. Most of our stories are usually about EVs getting canceled. Yeah, it'll be interesting in three years if this joins that graveyard or if like an actually well designed, purpose built 3 Series flagship car could actually do well in America.

[Filippo]

I think they need it for the European markets, they need it for the Asian markets. Even though Demand in the US will be really low for the i3, it's going to be the basis for the full 3 series. I do think that had we asked BMW five years ago, this would have been just i3. I don't think there would have been a gas version.

[Doug]

I don't think they should plug it in there. That's true.

[Filippo]

But also there is now, I agree

[Doug]

they need it for Europe and Asia. Although I would also make the point that this car coming out in the US probably a year from now, its life cycle will extend beyond the current political administration and possibly the next one comes in, EVs go back in vogue. And so there's a possibility that this car take some of that success if EV tax credits do return, which someday you presume they have to, regardless of who's in power.

[Nick]

And I think the BMW buyer base is also more inclined to adopt something like a city dweller that's going short. You know, an EV is more practical there versus like trying to make your Dodge Charger, an ev, like that's the wrong audience for that type of car.

[Doug]

Totally, Very much agreed. Our next news story is A sad one. The, the new Hyundai Palisade has been recalled. The top trims in the new Hyundai Palisade have been recalled. Did you see this news story, Nick?

[Nick]

Yeah, it's really hard to read.

[Doug]

Yeah. Apparently the folding second row, power folding second row didn't have an obstacle detection system and actually killed a two year old child in Ohio. Power folding seats are the worst thing that have ever existed in the history of the automobile. My power folding seats in my Sequoia do have obstacle detection. And so what happens is when you press the button, you wait 28 seconds for the seat to slowly and right when it gets to the very bottom, there is a strap in the way and it goes beep, beep and then it goes all the way back up. And it's actually funny because the Telluride, even the top models of the Telluride, the third row, they kept manual folding seats. And I was talking with the product planner for that car and he told me that he fought to make that decision and to keep those power folding. The manual folding third row, because it's so easy, you pull a strap, you push the seat, it's down, it takes a quarter of a second. Whereas the power folding seats take forever and apparently they kill people.

[Filippo]

It is tragic.

[Doug]

It is very.

[Filippo]

Also, I'm glad they're recalling it and presumably I think they were supposed to be obstacle detection. It just didn't work as intended.

[Doug]

Regardless, they are. Interestingly, it does also affect the Telluride because we're talking about power folding second row seats. Only the very highest end trim levels of Palisade and Telluride have the power folding second row, which is this. The trick feature is that the seat lies almost flat. Like if you're, you wouldn't do it while you're driving, but if you're like, you know, waiting for your brothers to get out of soccer practice, you want to take a little nap or whatever, you can lie in the second row kind of fold flat, but also it folds forward that way. It has to because it now becomes a power seat. And so both the second and third row in the Palisade do that. And it seems to me like they were calling it and trying to fix both of those. Whereas Telluride also apparently has this problem in the second row. Telluride just went on sale this last couple weeks. The embargoes went up the day this was announced. It was a dark day obviously for Hyundai Kia Sat. You know, these, these consumer products like this. It's a reality when you're designing A vehicle, it will kill. There will be people who die in it. And it's just kind of something that you end up having to think about. And it's sad when it results from a design flaw, but hopefully this is fixed.

[Filippo]

Yep.

[Doug]

Do you agree with me about powerful accidents?

[Nick]

I'll take it a step further. I don't like power folding or power closing rear gates, hatches. Our Cayenne has it. You have to push the button. You can't just slam it. Way easier to just shut the door with your.

[Doug]

For you it is. But if you're like an old woman,

[Nick]

well, then they can option that. Our Focus has a nice gas strut. It's easy to replace. It doesn't break.

[Doug]

But the Focus tailgate is light and low. And what's happened with SUVs more and more is the tailgate now includes all this other crap. Sensors and things like that.

[Nick]

Yeah, but.

[Doug]

And they're tall. They've got tall.

[Filippo]

It's also like use from your key fob. You can open it when you're walking. Yeah.

[Doug]

Push up. It's like so easy.

[Nick]

Okay. But they're solving a problem I never had, which is you may not. You move the door.

[Filippo]

You're telling me that your old explored. You don't need to use like a wooden pole to keep up the.

[Nick]

Well, that's. That's different. Same with minivans. The power sliding doors just let me tug on the door.

[Doug]

You can do that.

[Nick]

Every Uber gets super mad at me. Then they like give me the death glare because I dared pull on their door handles.

[Filippo]

Every modern. If you're getting to a modern minivan, just expect that you press it once.

[Doug]

Also, for little kids, those doors are heavy, heavy, heavy.

[Nick]

But then they shouldn't be operating them. Also the buttons for these.

[Doug]

Then you have to get out. That's the whole point. If you're. Here's how it worked back in the day.

[Nick]

They're going to be on their car seats. They won't be able to get out without humans.

[Doug]

There's seven. They're not in car seats. Here's how it worked back in the day. I know that in your world you probably always had power sliding minivans because you were a wealthy person. But in my world, single door.

[Nick]

I don't think our Voyager did.

[Doug]

We had single door. I didn't have one, but my friend Dan had one. His mom had one. Daniel. And you would go to that car and you would tug on the door and it wouldn't work. And what would happen is then mom would have to put the car in park, get out, walk all the way around just to open the door for you.

[Filippo]

Just for clarity. They still need to be in park to operate.

[Doug]

And now you can just press the button.

[Nick]

You can enjoy all your buttons and technology. I'm good with sliding doors.

[Doug]

Consumers seem to want this feature. I truly question whether consumers want all these power folding seats in cars. I do it every time and it's like, oh, the seat power folds the third row. But it is invariably incredibly annoying.

[Filippo]

Meanwhile, you get into a minivan. None of which offer that. I don't think right now you just

[Doug]

like the power folding third row.

[Filippo]

Yeah. Would you just pull one strap the

[Doug]

top and it doesn't.

[Nick]

Same with convertibles that have a back seat. When you have to power push it forward to get into the back seat versus just pulling a tab and it goes forward like again, I don't think this technology actually improves the experience.

[Doug]

It does not improve the experience. And this one certainly doesn't. And I will tell you with my Sequoia, one thing that does improve the would improve the experience is if it didn't have obstacle detection because then a strap wouldn't cause it to go back up. But now you see what happens when you don't have obstacle detection. Which just goes to show, simply give us manual seats. Even at this price point. That's what we want. I don't even think we're being like, I want a brown station wagon, manual transmission. He is. I don't even want power tailgate.

[Nick]

That's not realistic.

[Filippo]

I should want my weapons steering to be manual.

[Doug]

And I truly think that power folding seats are annoying and time consuming. Apparently a safety hazard and clearly now a safety hazard. I still think this is a great vehicle and hopefully they fix this and product launch goes better. Yeah, yeah.

[Nick]

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[Doug]

Toogood and Co Coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk, and contain 3 grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the 5 grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich, delicious experience. Whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold or frothy, two good coffee creamers

[Filippo]

make every sip a good one.

[Doug]

Two good coffee creamers, real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local Kroger in the creamer aisle. Okay, next news story please. We have. Okay.

[Filippo]

All right, so here's kind of a wild news story. Honda is just out of the EV business pretty much. That's not fully factually accurate, but it's close. They've canceled three electric. Last week they canceled three electric vehicles that were planned for US production.

[Nick]

Yep.

[Filippo]

They've basically written down almost $16 billion in losses because basically they don't think that there's EV demand in the U.S. there's not product appeal for these specific EVs in Asia, and the U.S. tariffs are making it really expensive. What's crazy is they were in the process of retooling a US factory to produce the Zero series and the Acura RSX and some other EVs, and so they've kind of paused.

[Doug]

Is the RSX done?

[Filippo]

The RSX is dead.

[Doug]

No way.

[Filippo]

But they were going to start delivery this year of vehicles built in that factory. And now they've just said, no, we're done. We're not going to do that. The Honda Prologue, also dead, despite the fact that that's built by GM in Mexico. Dead. They're just. What they're signaling is we did not have the right EV strategy. Even the models that haven't come out yet were not the right EV strategy. We're just going to say, you know

[Doug]

what the right EV strategy is? None.

[Filippo]

Am I right?

[Nick]

Guess so. I mean, that's what they're saying.

[Doug]

But what you didn't mention yet is this, which is the most important part.

[Filippo]

This is the Sony Afila.

[Doug]

Honda was working with Sony to produce an electric sedan called the Afila. It looked incredibly undesirable from every picture we ever saw.

[Filippo]

Correct.

[Doug]

And then they announced it officially and it looked even more undesirable than that. Yep. What is the status of.

[Filippo]

Sony has said that they have no information on the fate of the Fila project.

[Doug]

Sony has said they don't know. They don't know. We're not sure.

[Filippo]

We have heard from commercials for it for forever.

[Doug]

Honda's not answering the phones.

[Nick]

I do like that. Instead of saying I don't know, say I have no information. It sounds less incompetent.

[Doug]

Yeah, but it also sounds in a way more incompetent. Like you're working with them on this. Shouldn't you have some information? Remember when Honda came out with all those crazy looking ev?

[Filippo]

Yeah. That was a series here they were going to build in Ohio.

[Doug]

The prologue was supposed to be. I remember I talked to Honda about this. The prologue was supposed to be. It wasn't like a true Honda. It was built by gm. It was kind of rushed to market. But the theory was that was the prologue. That's why they called it that. The prologue to like a real EV game. They literally told me that was why it was called that. And now the prologue is also the ending, the whole story and the end.

[Filippo]

I want to read you the actual quote from the Sony Honda Mobility PR person.

[Doug]

Oh boy. Who's by the way, out of a job.

[Nick]

Tough job.

[Filippo]

Sony Honda Mobility is aware of Honda Motors decision to pause its EV business in North America. Our parent company, Sony Group Corporation Honda will hold discussions on how this event affects Sony Honda Mobility. Therefore, we have no information.

[Doug]

Every day. Every day. I'm glad I don't work in a big company.

[Filippo]

We are operating as usual.

[Doug]

Yeah, well, I'm not actually all that surprised. We've done a lot of stories in this podcast about ev, EV slowing and cancellation. We've also been very critical on this podcast of Honda and how conservative they in this case. I think it's probably the right move. There is a sunk cost. That theory. Oh, we've done. We've gone this far. Let's bring the car to market. There's no point bringing the car to market and dumping even more money into a product launch and marketing the car when in the end you're just going to have to put so many incentives on it that you are never going to make a profitable car.

[Filippo]

They were already building them at the East Liberty Auto plan, Ohio.

[Nick]

Yeah, you say in some ways it's actually a bold move to cancel that far along because you are that sunk cost and like so close to getting real data on if it'll work or not.

[Doug]

But I mean they're looking at the market, they're looking at what numbers are for competitive vehicles and they're seeing at those levels. We simply cannot justify creating this car. Why do you think that it's not a good idea?

[Filippo]

I think your point about the i3, it's going to survive through the cycle will change.

[Doug]

The i3 is a global car. These were being made in the United

[Filippo]

States, but they're also going to be made in the US for the Asian market maybe.

[Doug]

I mean my recollection, the Acura RSX is not going to sell.

[Filippo]

Yeah, you're right. Just it's, it is a late decision, you're writing down a ton of losses and then you will probably be massively behind once the tides turn. Unless they're working behind the scenes on what should this have been.

[Doug]

That's the story of Honda. The Civic, the Accord, the HR V, the crv, the Audi.

[Filippo]

Remember when they were first with the Insight?

[Doug]

Yeah. But it was too early. But it was poorly done. Now they tried the Insight several times, it was poorly done each time and

[Filippo]

it never was good.

[Doug]

They have never. It wasn't though. It wasn't a success. Honda, Honda's got this beautiful core and they just don't know how to get beyond it. And maybe they'll never have to. Maybe we're just going to buy Accords until the cows come home. Can I tell you an Acura story? I reviewed that TL. Yeah, here's a story for you.

[Filippo]

It's a first gen Acura TL or second gen Acura TL.

[Doug]

No, it's actually a fourth gen Acura TL.

[Filippo]

I'm so sorry, I don't agree with that.

[Doug]

Third, there was the 95 to 98, there was the 99 to 03 and then there was that one. The third gen is the 04 to 2009 TL0408. Nick. In 04 the TL Acura sold 205,000 cars. Oh, 405. Two hundred and five, two hundred and ten. Guess how many they sold last year.

[Nick]

I'm gonna go with a tenth of that 20.

[Doug]

No, that's not 20. 135,000. They've dropped 40%. 35% that was pretty desirable.

[Nick]

I mean I remember back in the day the Type S version I was trying to find takeoff wheels to put in my TSX and up badge it because it was such a desirable and nice looking car. No one thinks twice about the TL now.

[Doug]

Well it's gone. Yeah, they don't make any sedans except for the Integra which isn't a big seller. Acura and Honda just. They're just still struggling to figure this all out.

[Filippo]

The RDX is dead. Like it.

[Doug]

The RDX is dead.

[Filippo]

Honda's in a tough spot. I mean I remember when a year ago we were talking about Nissan and how Honda might come to Nissan's be Nissan's savior. Turns out maybe that's a good thing that didn't happen because they're wedding.

[Doug]

I don't know that Honda's in a tough spot.

[Filippo]

They like they're in a tough.

[Doug]

They're still selling in the United States. They're still selling 1.3 million cars a year which is down from maybe their peak.

[Filippo]

But they're still an operating loss for this year.

[Doug]

Well yeah, because they just wrote down however many billions of dollars.

[Filippo]

That's tough.

[Nick]

Seems like everyone's in an operating loss. Writing down their EV losses like this is just.

[Doug]

You got to write it down in

[Nick]

some year the industry you know that's

[Doug]

just the reality and the market changed and so that's that. And by the way, I actually support Honda's decision not to continue with this. Don't throw bad money after bad.

[Filippo]

Every quarter has up till 2024. The autos industry part of Honda was had operating profits starting in Q1 of 2025. They've been notably.

[Doug]

Dude, I told them make a forerunner. I told them to make a forerunner. They didn't listen to me.

[Filippo]

The passport's doing okay though. The passport's doing okay.

[Doug]

It's okay for now, but it's not gonna.

[Nick]

The last thing I'll add is Honda. If you're listening, please schedule a status call with the folks at Sony and just let them know their future. They've been working hard and they deserve a status report.

[Doug]

This person who's the for for electric vehicles for Sony is thinking am I going to be working tomorrow or know the answer? Am I going to have to go back to DreamWorks and be 18th on the PR totem pole for God's sake?

[Nick]

Maybe just an emoji on Slack, just like thumbs up, thumbs down. Let them know I don't want to

[Doug]

get David Geffen coffee again. Okay, next news story. Oh, yeah. Folks, this is a big deal. You hear about this?

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

No, you don't.

[Filippo]

I mean I know what it is because I pay attention, but. All right.

[Doug]

Toyota has announced that they are going to come out with. They haven't announced but it's like there's been reports that they're gonna come out with a off road Tundra. They already have the TRD Pro Tundra, but there's talk that they're gonna call something the TRD Hammer, which will have 37 inch tires, long travel suspension and even more power.

[Nick]

So it's the Raptor R for Toyota.

[Doug]

Raptor R for Toyota. Will it have a V8? That's the big question. The Raptor R has a V8.

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

The TRX has a V8. Does Toyota show up with a V8? Do they take that five liter Lexus engine?

[Nick]

That would be so cool.

[Filippo]

They're not buying a new engine in this. They're going to use their existing thing and make it look cool.

[Doug]

They got a 5 liter V8 from Lexus.

[Filippo]

They're not going to re engineer the Tundra to accept an engine.

[Doug]

What do you mean re engineer? The engine bay on this thing is 4 million zillion. That's what my son describes things that

[Nick]

are large cubic millimeters.

[Doug]

There's no re engineering. That five liter V8's already been in a bunch of four wheel drive vehicles. Well done, VLC.

[Nick]

Prove you can charge deep six figures for a truck with a special engine. People will go after it much like a fancy sports car.

[Doug]

What are you talking about? The Raptor r is like 125.

[Filippo]

It's early six figures.

[Nick]

Well, it's well past 100k shallow.

[Filippo]

This by the way, is not necessarily it. This is a desert chase concept from 2021, dude. But I bet it will look.

[Nick]

It does look like a SEMA car in this picture.

[Doug]

I am so pumped for this as. As a TRD Pro owner, the only one here I really.

[Nick]

That's not the flex you think it is.

[Doug]

It is. Man, I love TRD Pro. You do?

[Nick]

Wonder if you could retrofit some of this onto your Sequoia.

[Doug]

No, dude, I'll buy a TRD Hammer Sequoia.

[Filippo]

Okay. If it comes, can I say you

[Doug]

give me a TRD Hammer Sequoia? If you're going to do it for the Tundra Toyota, give it to me for the Sequoia. You know it's been selling.

[Filippo]

You're not going to buy it?

[Doug]

Why wouldn't I buy it? Long travel. I need long travel. Dude, what do you mean?

[Nick]

What?

[Doug]

I'm desert running all the time. All right.

[Filippo]

Regardless, I want to explain where this came from. So apparently Toyota Motor Company has trademarked or is working trademark TRD Hammer. They also sent a survey to owners asking about some names and kind of laying out what we just said about this truck.

[Doug]

Yeah, like the survey to owners was like, what would you think of a truck that had 37 inch tires and what should we call it? A truck that has long travel suspension.

[Nick]

What would you think of more power?

[Filippo]

Can I tell? That power was on it. Can I tell what. Can I. Can I tell you the other names that we're considering? TRD Baja, TRD Iron, TRD Pro, S, TRD Berserk, and TRD Quake.

[Doug]

I like Hammer.

[Filippo]

Hammer's the best of these.

[Doug]

I like Hammer. TRD Hammer. Dude, I want a TRD Hammer Sequoia so bad. I would run circles around your little cul de sac like you would be nothing.

[Filippo]

Lean in like this because the long travel suspension.

[Doug]

Yeah, we're on 37s. Are you kidding? This would be in. In Nick's hardcore Republican. This would be the. The dream of everybody in Nick's developer.

[Filippo]

You could run over an SLR McLaren.

[Doug]

Oh, my God, I could. That'd be a video. That'd be a whistling video.

[Nick]

It does seem like this will do really well selling to rich dudes that never get their cars off road.

[Doug]

You know, I see more Raptor Rs than I. Than I thought I would. Yeah, I agree with that.

[Filippo]

Imagine for the Hybrid V6. That'd be cooler.

[Doug]

Yeah, I mean, I would Raptor Artists. I would want a V8. It won't be in this car. It won't be. Why do you say that?

[Filippo]

Because they're not gonna. They already have two different engines. They have a regular V6 and a hybrid V6. They're gonna just take the hybrid V6. That's already the TRD Pro.

[Doug]

Why hurt? Why ruin our dreams? Me and the viewers are sitting here. We want, you know what they should do is take the V10 from the LF.

[Nick]

It's really cheap.

[Doug]

What about that sports car that they came out with a couple of months ago that we talked about? That crazy sports car?

[Filippo]

There is a V8 in there.

[Doug]

The GR GT. What's the powertrain in that?

[Filippo]

Nobody knows.

[Doug]

What do you mean nobody knows? 4 liter, twin turbo V8.

[Filippo]

They should put that in.

[Doug]

Ready dad, put that in the long.

[Filippo]

I will be so impressed with Toyota if they do that.

[Doug]

I'll tell you what it ain't going to have is this bumper. There is not a regulation on the planet that that one is accepted.

[Filippo]

They can sell their parts catalog.

[Doug]

Yeah. Okay. TRD Hammer, next news story.

[Filippo]

On the other hand.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

Our friends at Ram have said that. Okay, when you think of a Dodge Ram, what do you think?

[Doug]

Muscle. Grr.

[Filippo]

Think of that like 1995 or whatever year. Ram that looked like a semi truck.

[Doug]

You know what?

[Filippo]

That changed everything, changed the world.

[Doug]

Don't you think of that? Walker, Texas Ranger. I don't think of that, but I wish I did.

[Nick]

You don't think of that?

[Doug]

That is probably my favorite looking truck of all time.

[Nick]

I think of the movie Twister when I see this.

[Doug]

Twister. Yeah. This was Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. They were driving this in Twister.

[Filippo]

Rolf Gilles. Rolf Giles. I actually don't remember it.

[Doug]

Gilles.

[Filippo]

Gilles. I apologize. Ralph, who's the kind of head of design for all of Stellantis.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

Has said that the next Ram is going to take a new approach.

[Doug]

New approach.

[Filippo]

And he said that he doesn't think that the angry and super exaggerated faces that other pickup trucks have. He called out GM and the cybertruck, but also every single Ram GM is wild. He doesn't think that that's really resonating with buyers. And so he wants it to be in a different direction and a lot less. Much more futuristic and less angry.

[Doug]

I, I, I completely agree with his point.

[Nick]

I do too general, certainly with the cybertruck for Ram.

[Doug]

Though, when I think of a Ram

[Filippo]

that is the Ram brand and what

[Doug]

I think of what Ram customers want, it's that I think more brawny and yeah, I think if anything they want it to be even more brawny and

[Filippo]

aggressive and muscular and definitely not futuristic.

[Doug]

And definitely not futuristic, like ever. If you came out with this again, it would probably sell. Yeah, it should.

[Nick]

A Singer version of that. Just like new underpinnings.

[Doug]

Put a TRX motor in this, but otherwise give us this exact truck.

[Nick]

Ralph Gilles is one of my favorite designers. He's smart, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. But like, I do agree the design trend has gone too far. Right. It was like each truck became like more exaggerated, more in your face to the point where like eventually it does reach a tipping point where it's too much and it's getting kind of tacky. Yeah, but, but at the same time, truck owners know what they like, they don't really like change. They buy the car in part because of how it makes them feel. And how it makes them feel is like big, macho, muscular.

[Doug]

Having the TRX at the top of the lineup, even if you weren't buying one, sort of gave you some of that cred, which was a reason you bought the truck.

[Nick]

And the TRX looks sick and they exaggerate the grill and the front end to be even more in your face than the regular car.

[Doug]

I think what he's talking about, by the way, is the Silverado front end. I know, which is obviously TRX is a part of this trend, but I think it's wild to try to eliminate that from Ram.

[Nick]

I actually think the worst offender is your, your favorite Toyota over there. The front end of the Toyotas and the, especially the TRDs where the grill is just ginormous. Like they're just, they're just every iteration, they're just like stretching in Photoshop to make it bigger.

[Doug]

Nick, let me tell you something.

[Nick]

Look at that, look at that.

[Doug]

As a TRD pro, man, let me explain something to you. We need our big grills because we have big motors. We got to cool it.

[Nick]

They're not even a V8 anymore.

[Doug]

Excuse me. I have 450 horsepower and 550 pound feet of torque. Do you have any cars in that range?

[Filippo]

Is that factually accurate?

[Doug]

Something like that. It's wild. I pulled a Silverado, a heavy duty Silverado stuck in sand.

[Filippo]

That's the biggest grill known to man.

[Doug]

Yes, but that's a serious truck. And I strapped a ratchet strap to my sequoia and I was like, let's do this.

[Filippo]

And one time a Tundra pulled a

[Doug]

747 or something like that, it was the V8. It pulled the space shuttle, which is honestly cool.

[Filippo]

It was a great PR stunt.

[Doug]

It was a great PR stunt. Go to the pictures of that Tundra Pull space shuttle.

[Nick]

Can you think of any happy looking pickups?

[Doug]

Yeah, the Ridgeline. Yeah, Ridgeline. You look at a ridgeline and you think this is nice and friendly.

[Nick]

It's not good company.

[Doug]

Probably incredibly uncapable. Folks, this was one of the great PR moments in the history of time. The space shuttle. I'll tell you the story. You know the space shuttle? Do you remember the story? Of course. The space shuttle was retired or decommissioned or something. There were like five of them. They all went to museums around the country. And Toyota discovered, I think this was in la. Toyota discovered, hey, wait a minute, they're taking it from this place to the museum. Can we drive it for a mile?

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

And so they got whichever company is doing this to agree to let them drive the space shuttle for one mile in the Toyota.

[Nick]

Whoever had that idea deserved a race.

[Doug]

So they drive it down whatever street and they had to pull like they had to take out light poles and stop lights. And so they did it in the middle of the night. That's why it's dark, because they had to take out traffic lights and all this stuff to do it. But it was great and it worked great. I bet you Sean was there. I bet you Sean has a documentary in his pocket about this.

[Filippo]

You think Toyota then sold it?

[Doug]

Yeah, sold it.

[Filippo]

No.

[Doug]

Former company demo.

[Filippo]

Exactly.

[Doug]

No.

[Nick]

It's owned by the executive only driven one mile.

[Doug]

One nice easy mile. That was the Toyota Tundra situation. And I have confidence to see what happens with ram.

[Nick]

I think if anyone can pull it off, they've got it. But odd move to choose Ram to do to walk back this design language.

[Filippo]

Ralph Gillis, by the way, has an incredibly hard job because as he's. This is all part of a large interview where he needs to figure out what each of their 14 brands. 14 brands?

[Doug]

Well, yeah, but most are just models. I mean, what is, what does Chrysler feel like? Right?

[Filippo]

Yeah, apparently it's going to be a complete pivot for Maserati. Apparently Alfa Romeo is going to be a little bit more like tech forward is what they're thinking. They're going to do some cleanup to the brand. It's going to be a tough situation.

[Doug]

Well, regardless, there is, there's. I'm very curious with RAM specifically to see how they do this. The next gen RAM must be on its way pretty soon. They just did like a little facelift. But it was, it was.

[Filippo]

But now it's got a hurricane.

[Doug]

Mine are. Yeah, we're ready. We're ready for a new ram. I think can. I think I want it to be

[Nick]

complete pivot on Maserati, though. I think that's a bad idea. Stay the course. In 10 years, update the Gran Turismo, just so subtle that we can't tell the difference and call it a new model of Church double.

[Doug]

So far that was.

[Nick]

Oh, God, yes.

[Doug]

Maserati is such a lost brand.

[Nick]

It's a lost cause. The pivot is just to give up, like team up with Sony on the Ophelia and just call it a day.

[Filippo]

The next generation Tritomo as a cauldron of experimentation moving towards a tech heavy, futuristic statement, don't you think?

[Nick]

AI has made all this worse. The PR people already sounded ridiculous and now they have AI he said in a cauldron.

[Filippo]

This is what Ralph Go said in interview. Also, apparently Alfa Romeo is a head scratcher for designers as performance means different things to the next generation. Nevermind that Alfa Romeo's only thing has ever been that they look pretty right?

[Doug]

That is literally their only thing.

[Nick]

Today's pod is sponsored by Harry's. Harry's reminds me of Harry's Speed Shop in Fast and the Furious one and Harry's the razor company and Harry's the Speed Shop got a lot in common in that they both upgraded and up leveled an old antiquated experience like shaving or getting bottles of NOS and turned it up to 11. I've been using Harry's for over 10 years and the first time I used it the biggest thing I noticed was control. It's got this weighted metal handle, the heaviest one ever and it just feels solid. It's not plasticky, it's not cheap, it's something well built. And the shave itself is super smooth like Brian when he's hitting on Mia getting a hot tuna sandwich. The blades are engineered to reduce tug and pull and there's this pivot system that actually follows your face properly so you're not fighting the razor the whole time. In fact, I'm told in good insider information that Dom Toretto uses it on his bald head. Plus one small thing, but it matters. You don't have to go to the drugstore to buy them and that saves you a lot of time so that you can spend that time street racing for pinks. Honestly, it just feels like a smarter way to shave. And for a limited time our listeners can get the Harry's plus trial set for only $10 at Harry's.com cars. This set includes the all new Harry's plus razor, one refined five blade cartridge, a two ounce foaming shave gel and a travel cover to protect your blades on the go. Just head to harry's.comcars to claim this offer and after your purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you.

[Doug]

Okay, move on to the next news story. Ah, the Audi A2 is back.

[Nick]

All right, next news.

[Doug]

Yep.

[Filippo]

Also it's probably electric only. Probably Europe only folks.

[Doug]

They've teased me too. We only put this news story in because we all we owned here in the office. We collectively owned an Audi A2. It was titled in Montana. We're going to announce that now.

[Filippo]

It wasn't not Obvious from the Montana we saved, though.

[Doug]

By doing that, we saved a company $81 in sales tax. And so California don't come for us anyway. We have it in petty cash here in the office if they come by. Meanwhile, we're in trouble with the fire marshal for our cords.

[Filippo]

We're not actually.

[Doug]

For the record, they're coming for us anyway. The A2 is coming back, but it's Europe only. And Philippe Ev only. It looks cool.

[Filippo]

Maybe it could. We don't know yet.

[Nick]

It does have the rear duck bill, like you're saying for all this.

[Doug]

Audi A2, A4, A6, A8, A7, Q3, Q5, Q7, Q4. They've only ever had one A2.

[Filippo]

That's right.

[Doug]

And it was the OG.

[Nick]

I was walking with my wife the other night on a date and trying to explain to her why the Q8 and the Q7 are in the numbers. They are. And she goes, isn't the Q8 bigger if it comes after the Q7? I go, that's a good question. No, because. Well, is the Q5 smaller than the Q7?

[Doug]

Yes. Well, but.

[Nick]

So it goes Q4, 5, 8, 7,

[Doug]

based on the position and the model range. So the Q8 is more expensive.

[Nick]

Explain that to a non car person in a way that will make sense.

[Doug]

Here's how I'd explain it, honey. The Q8 is more expensive, but can

[Filippo]

you explain the Q5 and the Q6?

[Doug]

Well, the Q6 is electric. You know, I love the Q6.

[Nick]

The naming is ridiculous.

[Doug]

The Q6 is larger than the Q. What do you mean?

[Filippo]

Can you explain the A6?

[Doug]

The A6? No, dude, I don't do sedans anymore. I'm out. I'm crossovers only because you may remember

[Filippo]

There is an A5 which is gas.

[Doug]

No one knows.

[Filippo]

There's an A6, which is gas and electric. They look different.

[Doug]

The only thing I know is if they don't give us the RS5 station wagon, I am going to personally attack every Q4E Tron IC in retaliation. Gotta have to go take a big trip to the rental car fleet. All right, next news story, please.

[Filippo]

Luckily, the retaliation won't make them look worse.

[Doug]

No, they'll be thrilled. They'll be like, oh, thank God, someone attacked my Q4E Tron. I could total it out. It's worth $11. This is the biggest news story of the week. Ferrari has announced. Okay, for the last 10 years, since eight years, Ferrari has had in some of their models haptic, not even buttons, but like button screens, basically on Their steering wheels, and they're not particularly easy to use. I know you.

[Filippo]

I have them in my gti.

[Doug]

No, it's so much worse in a Ferrari. It is. Imagine if your GTIs didn't do anything but, like. But, like, announce that they did something. Like, there's a switch on there. There's a diagram on there showing what it could if only you tapped it at exactly the right spot for the right amount of time. Yeah. Pull up the Roma. The Roma has it. That's like the car that it debuted in. And so. Yeah, pull up. Just an interior shot of the Roma. It's hard to see, actually, because they don't light up unless they're, like, necessary. But even the engine start stop button has been a haptic in modern Ferraris. And they are very difficult to use. This little wheel. It's a great idea, but in practice, it is a tremendously difficult thing. Yeah, there you go. To actually control. These all are haptics. Everything that you see here, and it just doesn't work all that well. Ferrari has announced that they are going to offer a retrofit for all of the haptic cars that you can go and get a steering wheel that has actual physical buttons for the parts of the steering wheel that were formerly haptic. And. And by the way, in new Ferraris, they've gone away from the haptics as well.

[Filippo]

So this is.

[Doug]

They reversed course for their new models, and they're actually going to offer this as a. As Like a retrofit for the old model.

[Filippo]

Is this the same steering wheel as their new models?

[Doug]

Like, are they re.

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

And it's the same basic steering wheel as the haptic cars. It just doesn't have. Now, the. The irony is, of course, that one thing Ferrari won't retrofit is manual transmissions.

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

Which they could, but they'll retrofit your steering wheel. I would argue that they both significantly would enhance the experience.

[Filippo]

Do we have pricing?

[Doug]

No, I don't think we do have pricing.

[Nick]

I have to imagine. I mean, I've swapped steering wheels on B7s, Audis, and it was, you know, like $500 wheel, a couple bolts. So you got to imagine. Yeah, it's going to be a lot.

[Doug]

I mean, it's an expensive wheel. Like, the B7 wheel probably had a volume control. This steering. The Ferrari steering wheel has every single.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

Vehicle control down to the turn signals.

[Nick]

The headlights must be terrifying to take apart from personal experience.

[Doug]

Remember to remove the back first. It'll be an interesting thing to see. I'm Glad that they're doing. It's a, it's a really good idea because I really do think it was the weak point in these modern Ferraris, which are otherwise amazing cars, technologically even. They're amazing cars. But it's an interesting thing that they're doing this and it's even more interesting to me that they're doing this and that they still stubbornly are like, no manuals. We're not doing manuals. We want to make some money. We just don't want to make all the money. We're going to let Porsche have that crowd.

[Nick]

Well, this is a lot easier to swap out for them, I'm sure.

[Doug]

Maybe Ferrari just doesn't want Porsche people in their showrooms.

[Nick]

Oh, that would imply though that the Ferrari clientele is somehow better or more tolerable.

[Filippo]

Good point.

[Doug]

Store.

[Filippo]

Good point.

[Doug]

What's this?

[Nick]

The E Type, along with other famous Jaguars, is now in their most latest attempt to make this Project 00 take off. So basically the Project 00 flopped. There was rumors that not only the ad agency but the designer themselves was canned.

[Doug]

Pull up that Project Zero.

[Nick]

Of course, this hyper gender fluid EV concept they released, what does that mean? Well, like, is it a boy or a girl? It's pink. We don't know.

[Filippo]

We're not going to get into this.

[Nick]

It's a very progressive design and I don't mean that in a positive way, regardless of how you want to interpret it. So this has been a huge flop. Everyone's made fun of it. Everyone sort of assumed Jaguar would walk this back and say, oops, we need a do over. But no, they're doubling down. They released a bunch of campaigns now saying, look at how beautiful the xkooo, the xjs, all these beautiful. The E type, all of our heritage than this. And they're saying, oh, because we were bold and adventurous in the past, we're going to be bold and adventurous now. And that's how they're justifying it.

[Doug]

Well, I think about Jaguar sometimes. They were going to take. Did you?

[Filippo]

Nobody else is.

[Doug]

They were going to take a year off of car manufacturing. It feels like it's been longer. It has, I don't know. We still haven't seen a production car.

[Filippo]

There have been a few, like first drives where they take journalists under the COVID of Cars.

[Doug]

I'm going to tell you right now, this ain't going on sale. So the question is, does this turn into a production car? And if so, how? And I haven't seen any, anything.

[Filippo]

I have seen some like first rides where they were still like where specific journalists were able to see it but not take photos or describe it.

[Nick]

They had one at the Quail last

[Doug]

year, one of them. These, I'm saying, like production car.

[Filippo]

They're happening, theoretically.

[Doug]

Oh, I'd like to see it.

[Nick]

The only parallel I can think of is the Celestiq, which is like this sort of design language, very over the top, very bespoke, in small numbers.

[Doug]

I think that if they literally came out with this car, it'd be cool. I think this car is cool as hell.

[Nick]

It wouldn't sell many. It would be like a very rare toy.

[Doug]

Ultimately, this is a limited production thing, but if this was sitting at the top of the Jaguar lineup in their storms, literally, this car with 30 inch wheels and no mirrors and no door handles, that would be cool to sell

[Nick]

to Coeladaville Timothy Chalamet and like, maybe who's the guy? The Black Eyed Peas guy that has crazy cars.

[Doug]

Will, I am.

[Nick]

Will, I am. Like, you've got a couple people that would buy it.

[Doug]

Would buy it. I think it'd be cool as hell. But this is not a brand, this is not a revival of an automaker. So I'm not sure what the plan is, but I'm sitting here waiting to see it. And they're trying to tie the E type.

[Nick]

They need a hard pivot here. And I don't think, like dragging your beautiful past designs into it is really a good idea.

[Doug]

No, but we'll see how it all shapes.

[Filippo]

It's all they've got.

[Doug]

It's all they've got.

[Nick]

I am legitimately rooting for them. As hard as I am, I still love the brand. I think there's a future for them. But they're way off course here.

[Doug]

Yeah, they're definitely not in great shape. And especially because you'd think that all this time they would have. Okay, now we're going to launch with an suv, with a this, with a that. And we haven't seen any of these cars. They also chose the worst possible time to retool for as an EV brand. You know, everybody else is getting out

[Filippo]

of it in the middle of that. They also had a huge cyber attack that shut off all production from driver Land Rover.

[Doug]

Land Rover. Here's an interesting. I saw the other day on the road a Velar with a brand new paper temporary plate. Did you know the Velar is still in production?

[Filippo]

No, but I guess I never heard about it.

[Doug]

The Valar is the best Land Rover, but. Well, it was when it came out. Yes, if they had continued to Invest. Unfortunately. Unfortunately. 20, 18, 18.

[Nick]

And that could have been a JAG product.

[Doug]

It was, it was the F Pace. And maybe that's why they haven't revitalized the Villar yet because they can't justify the cost without both cars.

[Filippo]

But other than that on E Pace just saw it doesn't surprise enough.

[Doug]

Okay, that's great.

[Nick]

Breaking news.

[Doug]

Okay, we gotta now move on to the top cars. Oh boy.

[Filippo]

We're gonna go quick. Lucid had a like investor day recently.

[Doug]

Lucid is coming out with. I'm gonna tell the new story. They're coming out with three new products. The Cosmos, the Earth and the Stay tuned.

[Filippo]

And the Cosmos is for upscale nurturers. The Earth is for trend setting achievers. Not overachievers, just achievers. And the Stay Tuned is for active Explorers.

[Nick]

What do you identify as? Filippo?

[Doug]

I'm telling you, every single day I come into this office, I am thrilled. I don't work for a big company. We may not have a 401k. We do. Oh great. We do. We have a 401k.

[Nick]

You should look into that.

[Filippo]

They're.

[Nick]

They're pretty good idea.

[Doug]

But. But at least we don't have to say that our products are for trend setting achievers.

[Filippo]

Can I also.

[Nick]

What is an upscale nurturer? I know upscale. What is a nurturer?

[Doug]

I'm going to translate what that means. Translate what? All three of these rich moms is upscale nurturers. Okay, okay. Trend setting achievers is men who think they are men who think they are entrepreneurs but actually work a corporate job achievers. And active Explorers is just people. Honestly, I'll bet you that the Cosmos and the Earth come out. I'll bet you by the time the Stay Tuned comes out, the Saudis are so mad at the success or failure of this brand that they're like, you know what? We ain't staying tuned any longer. If this brand wants to continue, they got to start getting money from the Qatari investment fund spot there.

[Filippo]

Bit of tough spot.

[Doug]

By the way.

[Filippo]

The Cosmos is for urban on road performance inspired.

[Doug]

Urban on road performance focused. Suburban, any road adventure focused. Yeah.

[Filippo]

So somebody, some marketing person had fun with this.

[Nick]

They had a lot of fun.

[Filippo]

Lack of fun. Lucid needs more cars. They need cars that are in a niche that's not $120,000 family SUV.

[Doug]

Every time I see a gravity, it looks more like a mini van.

[Filippo]

Yeah, but it's a great, it's like incredibly efficient for the, for size. It's incredibly powerful. It's a great car. The Lucid Air is a great car too. Reliability concerns aside, they need more midsize vehicles.

[Doug]

Lucid. I know. You watch. I'm going to tell you what you need to make a midsize luxury SUV the size of a BMW ix.

[Filippo]

That's the Cosmos.

[Doug]

That doesn't look like a weenie car. That's the Earth Lucid has.

[Nick]

No, we don't know what those look like.

[Doug]

Look under the sheet that the Cosmo is another minivan van that's not going to sell loose. I'm going to tell you right now. Do a Honda and get out of that market. Okay. The Earth looks a little bit boxy. Get out of that market.

[Filippo]

The only market there is abandoned.

[Nick]

Just focus on your gas models.

[Doug]

Here's something that nobody's done. A BMW IX that doesn't look like you have to apologize for buying it.

[Filippo]

Everybody else would say that that's every other mid size.

[Doug]

No, the Macan GTS looks like a Macan. But like, like, like asking for permission. Like oh really open. A Polestar 4 is like a, a, A real car doesn't have a rear window. Squatting down with no rear window. Make a midsize luxury electric SUV that looks like something with some muscle. That looks. The R2 is doing this.

[Filippo]

Yeah, the R2 is doing it.

[Doug]

And, and Lucid is over here making cars for trend setting achievers.

[Filippo]

But the Active Explorers would probably look like it.

[Doug]

Nothing. I'm going to tell you something right now. No vehicle that is being aimed at upscale nurturers is going to sell in a world where Trump is the president. Every tech founder has like muscled up and moved to Florida and EVs are dead. It isn't going to occur, period.

[Nick]

I think they should just lean in though and call it the Hot Moms or the Rich moms or whatever you want here. Just tell it how it is.

[Doug]

Just make it look. I know that their design language is like soft and curvy. That is not what we want anymore. We want bulky. Look at the Telluride. Look at the Raptor. Look at Sean's bad color G Wagon, right?

[Nick]

Oh nice.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Nick]

Weaved it in.

[Doug]

Weave it in.

[Filippo]

The floor.

[Doug]

40 minutes.

[Nick]

I just.

[Doug]

Okay, do what you want.

[Nick]

Everyone in the car enthusiast community is chasing gold. Gold wheels, gold livery, gold brake calipers, gold shift knobs, you name it. In my favorite car franchise, the Fast and the Furious, the famous Mark 4 supra was orange in the first one, but gold in the second one. Because everyone knows if you want value, you Chase Gold. Slapjack took that Mark 4 supra, jumped it over a bridge, and the rest is history. So if you like gold, then you're really going to like today's sponsor, Acre Gold. They let you invest in 24 karat gold bars for just a few bucks a day. And unlike that Mark 4 supra, or maybe just like it, it'll never rust. The value of gold is up over 70% year over year, and experts predict continued momentum. You don't need a finance degree here. Just listen to Slapjack. Gold is a good investment. Subscriptions start at only 30 bucks a month. Go to getacortogold.com to protect your money and keep it golden. That's getacregold.com getacregold.com now back to car talk.

[Doug]

Okay, next final news story.

[Filippo]

Please won't let me talk about alpine.

[Doug]

Okay. Ford F150 boot. Ford and Timberland, which, by the way, is different from the Timberland that you're thinking of. Yeah, they're coming out with a boot and it's hard to see in this image, but we'll have it on the screen. The front of the boot is a grill of the F150.

[Nick]

And it kind of reminds me a little bit more of the F150 Lightning, which I don't think they're going for. But this boot is so cool.

[Doug]

Yeah, the boot also. The boot also has a lift. It's. I'm trying to find the exact size of the lift, but this will be for Filippos. It's got a little lift. So that when you think with your F150 boot, you can stand a little

[Filippo]

taller than you think, they'll call it the Timberline.

[Doug]

Interesting, no? Yeah. Timber Land. Timberline.

[Filippo]

That's a little joke. Yeah. You have to know that Ford's off road trip right now. It's called Timberline.

[Doug]

And so which is only on one model.

[Nick]

The Explorer, right?

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

No, it's on the Expedition too.

[Filippo]

You're right.

[Doug]

It's on two models and both are mediocre. Okay. By the way, by the way, the Expedition and the Explorer are great vehicles. The Timber Lines. If I see you in one of those and you didn't get a Sequoia TRD off road, what have you done with your life? Really? What did you want? A car with some interior space.

[Filippo]

Sit on the bottom floor.

[Doug]

I want to move on to the top car segment, which is brought to you by these shirts that we're wearing. Here's a difference deal. We got these shirts on. They said, cars and bids. I have one. Nick has one. Filippo said, he said, no. He said, today I'm wearing my vertical striped shirt. I will not put on a cars and bids shirt.

[Filippo]

I will go to merch.carsandbits.com and buy

[Doug]

one though merch carsandbids.com youm can also get one of these stupid little stickers

[Filippo]

there that may or may not be.

[Doug]

Maybe you can't. Maybe Filippo has the only one. But anyway, buy one of these shirts or don't. I don't care. All right, Ryan Lopez.

[Filippo]

Excellent marketing as usual.

[Doug]

Ryan Lopez made me put this shirt on right before the podcast. He said, you're gonna wear this shirt. And I said, all right, fine. Ryan Lopez.

[Filippo]

All right, Nick, you have an AMG wagon that you're keeping from us?

[Nick]

Yes, the E55. I bought it on the site. Check. Engine light. 205,000 miles. Bit of a risky purchase. Paid 17. 5 for it, which was a pretty good deal, I think. Shipped it out. It is getting manual swapped and as of right now, it is done. It is driving on its own, power shifting through all six gears. Doug famously told me I would not get this car back before he left for the summer. And it looks like I'll get this car back in about a week or two.

[Doug]

Yeah, but you're shipping. Here's something I'm gonna even more famously tell you. This car won't be here when I get back from the summer. You're gonna drive this car nine times and then you're gonna be like, well, that was.

[Filippo]

It's fine. What transmission is in it? What, like shift?

[Nick]

It's got a manual transmission and a. Now it had an automatic before. It'll shift with a clutch pedal and a shift knob.

[Doug]

You messed that answer up.

[Nick]

Nope. Everything is OEM from an E class, so it takes it from like the E. I think it's the E230 diesel, something like that. A newer one. We did upgrade the clutch and a couple things. There are a couple other. I've learned since originally positing. This was the only EMG wagon that's been manually converted. There's an E63 that's been done. There's another E55, but it'll still be one of the first. Yeah, I'm so excited to have it. I love swapping my Murcielago. So it'll be cool to put this on a 500 horsepower wagon.

[Filippo]

It will be truly cool. Next, the transmission handle.

[Nick]

We're doing a ceramic clutch on it to handle the extra Power. But I'm told it still shifts very factory like, which apparently.

[Doug]

Yeah. Poorly in plasticky.

[Filippo]

Yeah. But I'm excited because the concept is incredibly cool.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Nick]

And I am retrofitting a third row into it so I have the top part of the seat and the seat belts. I just need the bottom bench in black.

[Filippo]

Just need the bottom bench.

[Doug]

You also need the anchor for the belts. You have the buckle?

[Nick]

Yeah, got the buckle.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Nick]

So we're most of the way there.

[Filippo]

Did you sit in a third row? Installed by Crazy Nick.

[Doug]

By Nick. I begged Nick. The guys who are doing the swap, the manual swap, what is their.

[Nick]

DC Motorworks.

[Doug]

DC Motorworks. They're outside Atlanta, right?

[Nick]

Yep. Alpharetta.

[Doug]

They're in the 3.

[Nick]

0.

[Doug]

Nick could have just had them put in a third row, right. But he's like, I'm.

[Filippo]

Well, he's looking for the parts. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

[Doug]

He's like, well, they would have to find the parts. I'm like, well, they're a shop. How do you think they got the manual transmission? They didn't make them. They found them. Just like they would do for the third. Like, no, I'm going to do the third row. Meanwhile, for days he's been like, I can only find a. I can only find a beige bottom but a black upper. So maybe I'll just do a two tone. I'm like, man, Nick, you really should have let DC Motor Works.

[Filippo]

The C43 had those Panda seats.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

This just like that.

[Doug]

Yeah, but black. The Pandas were like the middle half. This is like the black upper. Brown lower. I'm not really sure.

[Nick]

You can always get it reupholstered regardless. We will figure that out. I will be right. You will be wrong.

[Doug]

Once again.

[Nick]

It will be so cool.

[Filippo]

I'm excited.

[Doug]

What do you mean I'll be wrong? I never said you couldn't do it.

[Nick]

You doubted the timeline. You doubted the viability. You're gonna drive this thing and be floored.

[Doug]

I will never drive it. The one thing I doubt, I don't doubt any of the timeline of the viability. The folks over at the DC Motor Works out there in the Atlanta, they

[Nick]

seem like Cameron's killing it out there.

[Doug]

They seem like they're very successful. The thing I doubt is that it will be enjoyable. I own one of these.

[Filippo]

You got a 63, right?

[Doug]

And I never at any moment thought to myself, I wish this had a manual instead. I thought to my, oh, boy, this was too much money for what it is.

[Filippo]

No, but Everybody hates the 5 speed

[Doug]

in this yeah, but it's durable and it fits with the car's ethos, which is kind of a big. It's not really a toss it around kind of thing.

[Nick]

It's a. This car came in a manual. I'm just making the manual available on this trim level. It only came on the base trim. You're gonna love it. I am so excited. I have a video on my YouTube channel going through the entire process. For those interested, all the parts that went into it, so on.

[Doug]

But are you telling me there are people who watch this pod who aren't subscribed to The Nick Roshan YouTube channel?

[Filippo]

They're missing out.

[Nick]

Based on my sub counts, I suspect. Yes.

[Doug]

Just a pull up the Nick Roshan YouTube channel, which is, in my opinion, the greatest YouTube channel on YouTube.

[Nick]

Speaking of which, Kenan and I recently did a video comparing the SLR and the SL65 on his channel, which is also great and worth checking out. It was a pretty fun episode.

[Filippo]

What is happening?

[Doug]

All these ladies? Are we sure we're not signed into Nick Roshan's YouTube subscription?

[Nick]

No, we're signed into yours.

[Doug]

Look at the logo.

[Nick]

Go.

[Doug]

This must be the cars and bids 1.

[Filippo]

Nick Roshan.

[Doug]

Okay, so this is the Nick Roshan YouTube channel. If you're not on the Nick Roshan YouTube channel, what are you doing? You're not a real enthusiast. Okay, we have to move on to the market report.

[Filippo]

We do.

[Doug]

The market report is brought to you. Do I have to do cars and Bids?

[Filippo]

I would like that.

[Doug]

The market report is brought to you by Cars and bids, same as our shirts. Cars and bids is the best place to buy sellers. Your vehicle, your enthusiast vehicle. Cars and bids. It's [e-mail] well done. Thank you so much. There's a lot to talk about, but I want to start with the 500, Joel, which isn't even a market report because this car is a market of one.

[Nick]

I follow that market closely.

[Doug]

Everybody who's out here being like, I want a nice little golf cart for my little resort community. And you hear that sometimes you do. They live in Florida. They live in wherever some island. They want a golf cart, man up. This is it. This is it. You're sitting here being like, oh, no, no. What a golf cart. What a cool golf cart. This is it. This is a Fiat 500 converted into a Fiat Jolly converted into a limo, electric, and it's like the length of a Sequoia.

[Filippo]

It's short.

[Doug]

If you don't have this, if you. I'm going to tell you right now, if you're driving around South Abroad in Charleston and you're not driving in this, this. Who are you really? Who are you really?

[Filippo]

Nobody.

[Doug]

If you're driving around Key west in a car and it isn't this.

[Filippo]

Agreed.

[Doug]

What?

[Filippo]

What are you doing?

[Doug]

Just. Just go back to Harrisburg, you know what I'm saying?

[Nick]

Where you came from, this could be good for Nantucket. Something for you to consider.

[Doug]

In Nantucket, you kind of need off road capability. And. And I think the breakover angle here is not great. But I suspect, I suspect though, in Key west, if you're in bridgehampton and you're Dr. And you're not driving this or an LMO2, you're a loser.

[Nick]

Right.

[Filippo]

Those are your two options. You have the two next parked next to each other.

[Doug]

You're a complete loser. Otherwise.

[Filippo]

What a car.

[Doug]

Yeah. What's this? Looks like a hot tub in the back.

[Filippo]

I think that's the batters.

[Doug]

You could convert it to a hot tub.

[Filippo]

Yeah, you could.

[Doug]

What is our. Where is it titled?

[Filippo]

It's in Georgia. It's on Georgia. St. Simon's Island.

[Doug]

Okay, Nick, tell us some market results that you're interested in today. Grenadiers.

[Nick]

The Grenadier is really so. I've always loved that car since it came out because it reminds me of my P38. Just slightly more reliable, slightly more modern. Yeah, most people say it reminds them of the Defender they're getting out. So you sold one for 60. I've seen them in the high 50s and I've also seen them like bid too. High 50s, which means the market thinks it's worth 60k plus or minus.

[Doug]

Yeah, it.

[Nick]

It is a rich guy go off road car at retail price. But as you start to get into the 50s, these get pretty interesting. Interesting.

[Doug]

I still think that.

[Nick]

And it'll go lower.

[Doug]

The problem with Grenadier still is that it looks like the rich guy who wants a cool off roader but is just afraid to like. I don't know it's going to be unreliable.

[Filippo]

I don't know.

[Doug]

I'm not really sure.

[Filippo]

Right.

[Doug]

I don't know what I think about cars. So I'm gonna buy a granite ear.

[Nick]

But just, just play this forward. Right. In like five years they're gonna be five, ten grand.

[Doug]

Well.

[Filippo]

And they gotta be fifty.

[Doug]

Off roaders never get that cheap because there's like this inherent capability.

[Nick]

My P38 was less than 10.

[Doug]

Okay. Bad off road. The occasional bad off roader gets that. That is a good point. Good off roaders like Land Cruisers, G Wagons, they never really go that, that shape. I bet you that happens to this car too, because it's just so this

[Nick]

is a 2024 with, like, no miles. What is it, 9,000 or something?

[Doug]

12,000. If you, if these are in the 40s, they do start to become, like, incredibly. You could put bigger tires on them. You could start thinking about, like, real lift kits. Like, you could make this into a pretty cool car.

[Filippo]

The engine's a durable one, the B58. It's a good motor engine.

[Nick]

It's also now at price parity with an NAS defender. Yeah, like,'60s gets you a decent one.

[Doug]

Yeah, that's, it's actually an interesting point because that's who, they're the type of person, it's like the type, the guy who, who's afraid of, like, taking any sort of Defender risk with some sort of import. He wants something that he knows he can register and, like, can take to a dealer and all that. Yeah, that's interesting.

[Nick]

I, I, I think they're getting really compelling.

[Doug]

High 30s, I think, is where this car becomes, like, really compelling. That's where I, that's where I, I wouldn't buy half price. No, not half.

[Filippo]

Well, no, they started at 80ish.

[Doug]

Oh, half price of original sticker. Yeah, a little less, but. How long does it take? Two more years.

[Filippo]

Yeah, one, yeah.

[Nick]

This one was also a really nice one. Like, I love the spec. It was pretty nice.

[Filippo]

Why do you not have one?

[Nick]

I'm waiting for them to fall just a teeny, tiny bit more, but level

[Doug]

of depreciation, plus Nick's a P38 man. He's like, too sophisticated. This car, like, he, he, he can do a repair.

[Nick]

Got all switches. It's a BMW motor. I can, and this is, I, I love this car. It'd be perfect.

[Doug]

No, I, I, but I think, like, in today's, in today's market price at 60, you're like, too, you, you're, you got a little too much grip for one of these. Yeah, the, the people who come to me and ask about this car are interesting people. They're always people who, like, want to kind of cosplay as like a, a guy who's like, off road.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

You know, it's like sometimes we talk

[Filippo]

about, there's a new law in California that if you're caught speeding over 100 miles an hour, you're referred to the DMV.

[Doug]

In addition to your criminal case, you lose your license.

[Filippo]

This car is limited, submitted, not electronically, just by 299. So you're good.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

I do want to talk about C8Z06, which is another very interesting thing. You saw that result yesterday.

[Filippo]

I did not.

[Doug]

We sold a C8Z06 yesterday for 101.

[Filippo]

To be fair, with a lot of mods.

[Doug]

Mods. But honestly, I think it looks pretty good. It does look good. Yeah.

[Nick]

And 12,000 miles.

[Doug]

Not that many miles. Oh, really?

[Filippo]

Just wheels.

[Doug]

100 grand. This car is 670 horsepower.

[Filippo]

Yeah.

[Doug]

I mean, these are. This is like. Like this will run circles around anything that Nick's ever even considered buying.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

Even in his mind.

[Nick]

We've got friends paying that much for like a996 with 216 horsepower.

[Filippo]

Just about.

[Doug]

That's not wrong. We have a friend who. A friend of a friend who bought a 996 for $90,000 or something. Ridiculous. I think it was more 4,000 miles or something.

[Filippo]

This is better.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah. Way cooler.

[Nick]

There we go.

[Doug]

For this performance level for $100,000 is really interesting.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Doug]

This car suddenly is $75,000. This car. I mean, this is.

[Nick]

Will be.

[Filippo]

Right? Like, it just will be.

[Doug]

You're not stepping into one of these.

[Nick]

It should so be a lot. I mean, if you compare this to the SLR or something else that I've bought in the past, like, it's going to this car.

[Filippo]

Corvettes depreciate. C7 Z06 is 60. Corvettes depreciate.

[Doug]

New Z06s are very easy to find. You go on AutoTrader. There's 10 billion new Z06s. They're at dealers. Not over sticker.

[Filippo]

To be fair. As we've said, the regular C8 is maintaining value better than any.

[Doug]

This has maintained value better than. It's 137 sticker two years ago. Three years ago. Not so bad. Especially compared to other Z06s. But you got to assume this will continue to fall and at the performance level that this car is like all these people with McLarens are going to look at because those are value supercar buyers. They're going to look at this and say, wait a second. This thing looks just as crazy as a McLaren. Especially if you put on these wheels and I can get it for 100 and it's just as fast, if not faster. Why am I not on that road?

[Nick]

Probably more dependable.

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah. Right. Then you don't have to roll the dice on having a McLaren. And it's not like the McLaren brand is like incredibly strong anyway. The Corvette brand in my mind has had A mass massive resurgence in excitement. Total change from where it was because of the C8 specifically. You see athletes in them. You see, like, legit people. Young people driving these cars. For the first time in my lifetime.

[Nick]

100K.

[Doug]

100K for 670 horsepower.

[Nick]

Not sure.

[Filippo]

Pretty good.

[Doug]

Okay, we gotta move on to questions. The questions. The questions, of course, are brought to you by Filippo's vertical striped shirt.

[Filippo]

Thank you.

[Doug]

Filippo's vertical striped shirt. It's better than Cars and Bids merch.

[Nick]

You know, he's unbuttoned it a little too.

[Doug]

He's showing a little chest.

[Filippo]

Rebutton it up.

[Doug]

He's an Italian. Come on, drop a couple for Nah.

[Filippo]

God.

[Doug]

This is the problem with Filippo. He's never willing to show us skin.

[Nick]

You know, one of the podcast sponsors today that I'll be doing an ad read for is Harry's. They encourage product demos, I think, you know, give you a little smooth chest here. Anyway, good questions.

[Doug]

Now I want to make a very important point about the question.

[Nick]

Are they good?

[Doug]

Next week we have a regular podcast. Yep. The Week after is the biggest podcast we've ever done because it includes producer Sean. It's gonna be me, Filippo, and producer Sean. Now, producer Sean. I've known producer Sean for, like, 15 years. Sean has never. He's never been willing to go on camera before.

[Filippo]

Well, ever.

[Doug]

He's like, behind the camera. You guy. Okay. And he is going to come on the pod in two weeks. And so we are going to post in addition to the usual questions for next week's pod, we are going to post for two weeks from now's pod, Sean's specific questions. If there is anything that you have ever wanted to ask producer Sean. He's the father of the podcast. He has a bad color G wagon. He created everything that we hold dear in the cars and bids ecosystem. This will be your chance to ask producer Sean. You go to thecarsandbids.com, you click on the community tab, There will be a post for next week questions. And there will be a post for producer Sean questions. Do you have good producer Sean questions that you're gonna submit?

[Nick]

I'll think of some. Yeah, yeah.

[Filippo]

There's some things we've all wondered.

[Doug]

Do you. Oh, yeah, folks, if you knew producer Sean, you'd have even more questions. Believe me, knowing him does not answer your questions. It only brings up more.

[Nick]

So true.

[Doug]

Okay.

[Filippo]

So true.

[Nick]

Our.

[Doug]

All right, time for the questions. They were great questions this week. And we're gonna start right from the start from Texas Subaru. Texas Subaru says dear Filippo and side characters.

[Filippo]

Wait, does that mean that I'm not a side. Have I become a main character?

[Doug]

Except he spelled your name wrong like everyone does. It's F I, L, I, P, P O. Yep.

[Nick]

Do you know how I get this straight is I look him up on LinkedIn every time before I text him.

[Filippo]

That's Give it up.

[Doug]

F I clicks to my link. Then L I, it's Filipapo. That's where people have the biggest problems that you do.

[Filippo]

One P. Filipo.

[Doug]

Filipapo.

[Filippo]

But that last sound is two P's.

[Doug]

Obviously to you it is, but to the untrained ear, filipapo, Felipo. And side characters. When did the hot hatch die in the US and who killed it? We lost the WRX hatch, MazdaSpeed3, Focus RS and St. Volvo C30. We don't have to. We don't get the GRS, the RS3, Etc. When did it die and who killed it? I would postulate that it didn't die. We have a lot of cool hot hatches.

[Filippo]

We have the Corolla gr, we have the gti, we have the Golf R.

[Doug]

Yeah, no, there is also. Give me a moment here.

[Filippo]

I made a K4 hatchback. We have the new Kia, like a 180 horsepower version.

[Doug]

We have the new Kia K4. Filippo has sabotaged my computer, but I made a list.

[Filippo]

Did you really?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

You prepared a list. That's so nice.

[Doug]

We have the new Kia K4.

[Filippo]

Are you counting that? Because was joking.

[Doug]

We have the Ionic 5N.

[Filippo]

Yep.

[Doug]

We got Minis.

[Filippo]

It's sort of.

[Doug]

What was the one that.

[Nick]

I think you're making the guy's point.

[Doug]

Oh, we have the. The. What do you mean I'm making the guy's point?

[Nick]

None of those are terribly hot or exciting.

[Doug]

Well, the answer to what killed it is the crossover.

[Filippo]

Yeah. Consumers killed it.

[Doug]

Yeah. People didn't buy them.

[Nick]

I would say the Focus RS every. When that launched, everyone was so excited. Americans finally get hot hatches after the whole head gasket issue. Like they just kind of fizzled.

[Doug]

We bought them though. That car sold.

[Nick]

They got bought. But then it. They didn't get renewed like the data showed. Like, okay, this is not.

[Doug]

But it wasn't because of the rs. In all honesty, the Focus RS and Focus ST and Fiesta ST all sold really well. But they all did.

[Nick]

But that's my point is that was a really compelling product. And if Ford said this, this good of a product can't make it in America, then No one's going to.

[Doug]

The problem wasn't the performance ones. What happened with that car was ultimately they couldn't justify selling the regular one more.

[Filippo]

Which product? Branding mistake.

[Doug]

Well, that's a decision that you've come up with. Every other company has made the same decision.

[Filippo]

Ford is backtracked. So Ford.

[Doug]

Ford is backtracked, but they haven't come out with a car yet. Part of that fit is gone. The Toyota Yaris is gone. Like all these little cars are. Oh, in the U.S. yeah, all these in the U.S. because they can't sell these cars in the U.S. the next gen Focus was sold globally. They just didn't think they could make money selling in the US And I don't think that they're wrong. And I think that ultimately that had a big impact on some of the cars that are mentioned mentioned here.

[Filippo]

Part of that same Ralph Gillis interview was basically saying that SUVs certainly are popular, but there is a little bit of a counterflow to that as they've gone more expensive, bulkier, heavier and especially Stellantis. Looking back at is there a hashback version, is there a slightly lower SUV version because they can make that more cost efficiently? Maybe, but I think that will help

[Doug]

us return to that Americans, by the way, Civic Type R and Integra Type S. That's what I was going to say.

[Filippo]

The Integra is like a in between. It's like the same way the Panamera, the hashtag.

[Doug]

But it's not.

[Filippo]

Also in Europe, hatchbacks are kind of dead too. Yeah, consumers killed it.

[Doug]

Consumers killed it.

[Nick]

I agree.

[Filippo]

And in the as the owner of

[Doug]

a hot hatchback, I'm trying these cars specifically. They just couldn't justify creating this whole new body style even if the performance version sold. And honestly, the WRX hatch, there were some of these cars that did that. It's just tough to justify creating a vehicle just to bring the hatchback, which now Volkswagen actually does do that with the gti. They don't install the Golf here in anymore.

[Filippo]

I will say a lot of it is also companies make product plan decisions based on what they think consumers are most interested in. But their question is not could we sell this car? The question is if we don't sell this car, will that same consumer still come to our showroom and buy something else? And the answer is yes, they'll buy an X3 instead of a.

[Doug]

Or if we lose those consumers, how many will we lose?

[Nick]

Right. And do we care? Because it's the cheapest product in our

[Doug]

lineup in a Lot of cases, that is. All right, next question from Six Speed Taco for the crew. Do any of you own individual car company stocks? Which ones? Do you see that as a conflict of interest? Are there CNB policies related to this? No. Listen, I'm the most ethical one of all these people. All right? It's right here. I'll never forget. Should I tell the Patrick George story?

[Filippo]

I mean, go for it.

[Doug]

You know the story, right?

[Filippo]

I try to think where this is going.

[Doug]

All right.

[Filippo]

You reporter of the Wall Street Journal now?

[Doug]

Yeah. Patrick George. Shaq. Years ago, I worked for Jalopnik. I'll never forget one time I did a Jeep Wrangler review. And in the review, I disclosed that Jeep had paid to fly me to the event. And all the comments were like, you're on their payroll now. Like a coach, middle seat to Tucson was gonna get me to review the JL any differently. So as a result of that, because of that furor, I don't take automaker money to go to reviews. As result, I don't go to them. I don't go to the things. When there's a product launch, I am the only journalist who stays in a hotel. Paid for by it was myself. Now, it would be cars and bids, but not the automaker. I am literally the only one. The whole automotive press corps will be staying at the Ritz Carlton, and I'm at the Ramada next door. And that is an actual thing that actually happened once. And so I'm very ethical about that stuff. I do not own any individual car company stocks. I do see that as a conflict of interest, and I would not do it. It. We don't take money. As for from automotive advertisers, we have brands that sponsor us who are in the automotive realm. But I drew a hard line when we started doing sponsorships that I would not do automotive sponsorships. And we get offers, and we have always stuck to that. And I think it's really important when you are doing product reviews as I am, that you don't do that kind of stuff.

[Filippo]

Yep.

[Doug]

Filippo, you're in agreement?

[Filippo]

I am in agreement. We don't have a specific Cars and Mids policy one, because, Frank, frankly, most of our employees don't. And I don't know that you have an impact on an automaker stock. But certainly the rest of our team supporting stocks.

[Doug]

Yeah, the rest of the team can do what they want. Also, if they're not in the content, I don't really care what they do. They're not really related to that. But for me personally, as a person who is in content and who does, I don't know if you could say I have an effect. But like, you review the Rivian R2, you even have some inside information as to pricing that kind of stuff. I don't mess with any of that stuff. Also, I would say bad things. Even if I did on this time. I don't care. But I don't. Next question from Walt Strad later. Not Wall street trader, but Walt Strad later.

[Nick]

Nice.

[Doug]

Do you think that being in SoCal is ruining your ability to think about or recommending cars for parts of the country that spend three to four months every year dealing with ice salt and

[Filippo]

yeah, Doug's a coastal elite now.

[Doug]

No, dude, I mean, all of us spend the vast majority of our lives in car cold.

[Filippo]

I still would if I could.

[Doug]

It's still very much in our minds. Filippo lived in Wisconsin and in New Hampshire.

[Filippo]

My family's in Buffalo. In New Hampshire.

[Doug]

Yep.

[Nick]

Ohio.

[Doug]

Nick grew up in Ohio. Born and raised, lives in Ohio. I lived in Denver. I was born and raised in Denver through high school. And then I spent four long grueling years in Philadelphia. I obviously still have a place on the east coast that gets pummeled with snow. We don't go to it in the winter anymore, but snow is like my

[Filippo]

think about it constantly.

[Doug]

Constantly. It's one of the reasons we all live here. But it definitely does factor into our thoughts and reviews, etc. In fact, I had someone yesterday, someone, you know, who asked me if he should get a rear wheel drive X5. He sent me a link to one and I said, s drive. S drive. I said, well, it's a rear wheel drive. He said, ah, maybe I won't get that.

[Nick]

Yeah, my sister, you know, who lives in Ohio still said, you know, having a third kid on the way. What car should I get that six comfortably. And I said, a 1971 Fiat 500 EV. Limo conversion, the weight of that, I've completely stayed in touch.

[Doug]

I don't understand why you can't have this in Ohio. What's the problem? It's got a roof, honey, it's perfect. No, we're four wheel drive people. Filippo.

[Filippo]

I have an all wheel drive car right there.

[Doug]

Filippo's got two all wheel drive cars.

[Nick]

I do, yeah.

[Doug]

Is your station wagon 4matic?

[Filippo]

Of course.

[Nick]

Did you video? He did last week on the Cars and Bids channel arguing what a sports car was. It went way off the rails. And he said that a Dodge Ram counts as a sports car. An RS4 counts as a sports car. Then he equated it all to the Supreme Court ruling not understanding what is what one it is just by looking at it. It was. It was wild.

[Filippo]

I'm so sorry. Ryan Lopez, he known for the AC incident said that a sports car is rear wheel drive, manual, two door and a Ram SRT10 is all of those things.

[Doug]

But it's also got to be a car.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

That was not a rule he made.

[Doug]

It's also got.

[Nick]

If you want to see someone talk for 10 minutes in circles, try to justify their logic, check that video out.

[Filippo]

BMW would not agree. The XM is certainly a sports car.

[Doug]

BMW says a sports car. Ryan Lopez is completely correct like he always is. Go watch that rear wheel drive. Now the problem with going rear wheel drive only is there are some modern day all wheel drive cars. Like you wouldn't say a 911 Carrera 4 is a sports car. Okay. Okay.

[Filippo]

So all wheel drive. Yeah.

[Doug]

All wheel drive is acceptable.

[Filippo]

The RX8 three doors. Is that a sports car?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Filippo]

Three doors, not two.

[Doug]

I'll tell you this. I think that's every two seat, rear wheel drive, open top car. Two door car is a sports car. I think that some cars in addition

[Filippo]

to that the base evoke cabriolet cars car. I literally said car cars broadly definition cars and bids has some.

[Nick]

This is what that video is about. It's not rear wheel drive.

[Filippo]

Wasn't it offered no such.

[Doug]

I think that every car in addition. I think that there are some cars in addition to that that can be sports cars. We're not. This isn't even one of the questions.

[Nick]

GT4 is a nucleus. So then everything related to it. GT4 is nuclear strays further the sports car.

[Doug]

This is a great question from Molly. Man823 Hey Doug and buddies. I'm a senior at George Washington High School in Denver which happens to be where Doug went to high school.

[Filippo]

Dude. You have any textbooks that say Doug demuro in them?

[Doug]

Probably Monaco Parkway, ladies and gentlemen. I was there as a scared child.

[Nick]

What was your mascot?

[Doug]

The Patriots. Which fits pretty well into your lifestyle. I was wondering what the cards featured. No, he's just a hardcore Republican. I was wondering what the car scene.

[Nick]

I thought I was a football fan.

[Doug]

I was wondering.

[Nick]

I like Bill Brady the car.

[Doug]

Bill Brady. I was wondering what the car scene was like when you attended high school. That's a great question. We'll start with me since he's asking about George Washington. When I went to high school at George Washington High School I had a 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo sedan. That's 222 horsepower, four speed auto. They were only sold as automatics in the states. That was the fastest car at my high school which was pretty. This is a. For those who don't know where, George Washington High School. This is an in town high school that. Let's just say there were fights pretty much every day. There were some knives, there were maybe a gun or two. And not like a school shooter gun. I mean like someone's dealing drugs, you know what I'm talking about.

[Nick]

There was, that was they wore timberland boots with F150 girls on them.

[Doug]

Nah, nah. And anyway and so it was a little bit of a rough place. And so as a result the Volvo 850 was like most of the kids didn't have cars at that high school school but the kids who did. I had my Volvo 850 and the car scene was like I mean whatever kids could afford. It wasn't like yeah, people I've met later in life are like oh there were so many BMWs at my high school. Which I'm sure was the case with Nick's rich high school. But I'm. We didn't have like any luxury that wasn't like the teachers weren't driving. Like no one was driving anything branded by a luxury automaker under any circumstances.

[Nick]

Well, the nicest car in your parking lot. High school.

[Filippo]

We, we were also in town. Madison West High School. I walked to school every day as did most of my friends. There was a really small staff parking lot. There was no student parking lot. People would, would park up Speedway road like about a half mile to find a parking spot. Yeah, it wasn't a thing you did

[Doug]

what, what, what did kids drive like their parents car.

[Filippo]

Priuses, Priuses, Matrixes, Vibes. I. A lot of manual cars because it was a college town. They're like hand me down outback manual or Corolla manuals.

[Doug]

From thinking people.

[Filippo]

Somebody had a Civic SI hatch. That's the best I can think of though. One teacher had an Acura rl but she was married to a rich person.

[Doug]

I remember my buddy David Schneider, he bought a Chevy C1500. So like a 90s Silverado. He bought it off a construction company. It was bright orange and it had no air conditioning.

[Filippo]

Sounds incredible.

[Doug]

No anti lock brakes. It was like the basest of base bench seat. You know he was living and he also, he refused to even pay for a parking pass which was like nominal. They didn't even Fill the parking lot. It was like $20 for the school year. Wow. And so he paid. He parked on the street with his orange. Well, space in Denver is not hard to come by. There's fields everywhere.

[Filippo]

Right.

[Doug]

Nick, what was life like there? BMWs and Lexuses, I assume.

[Nick]

No, you've got it wrong. Although Explorer Sports, trying to tout their blue collar credentials here is a bit ridiculous.

[Filippo]

We were very much in a college town. People that didn't drive to school.

[Nick]

It was a Mechs, the coolest car. A guy named Josh Parshauer had a B5, a 4 that had a body kit on it.

[Filippo]

Nice.

[Nick]

And then his dad had the matching B5S4, I believe. They were both blue.

[Filippo]

Damn.

[Nick]

And you know, it was like nicely modded in, period. He replaced his Audi 90 with that. So those were like the coolest cars in the.

[Filippo]

Well, we didn't have BMWs.

[Doug]

Is he driving an RS2?

[Nick]

I bet he's driving something cool.

[Doug]

Damn. Legit.

[Nick]

And then that Dodge Ram we showed earlier, a kid named J.D. had the black one with the red and then subwoofers in the back.

[Doug]

Damn.

[Nick]

And like his senior photos, he was like sitting on the hood like looking tough. Bone thugs and Harmony had just come out and like I can still hear the crossroads on his subwoofers, like shaking the building. So I had a 95 Explorer Sport that I modded and got really excited after seeing Fast in the first Furious.

[Filippo]

I heard the wheel fell off once.

[Nick]

It did. Loose, loose lugs, Loose lugs.

[Doug]

Okay, next question, next question, next question. Oh, from Shotgun SAM911. Why doesn't any brand offer an SUV with sliding doors like a minivan? My wife wants an off road capable SUV with some towing capacity, but really the convenience of sliding doors for the kids.

[Filippo]

I have a solution.

[Doug]

Pull up the 1007.

[Filippo]

Start there. Okay, let's start there. I. I have an actual solution, but okay, 1007.

[Doug]

So this was tried not in an SUV, but as a compact car. Peugeot came up with the idea. Hey, sliding doors are really useful. So let's make a. It's like a normal European hatchback. But instead of doors, we'll put on sliding doors.

[Filippo]

Power operated, by the way.

[Doug]

And what did people think?

[Filippo]

Well, that it added a ton of weight and was very slow to open and. But that's so practical.

[Doug]

And that it looked like they didn't want to drive a minivan.

[Filippo]

You see these in Italy all the time.

[Doug]

You still see them.

[Filippo]

You still see them. And did you know about this?

[Doug]

No.

[Nick]

And this is blowing my Mind sometimes

[Filippo]

you would pull up, you would see one and like somebody pulled into a tight spot open the doors. They didn't need to clear it.

[Doug]

Totally.

[Filippo]

It was smart.

[Nick]

It actually makes sense.

[Filippo]

There are two obvious solutions by the way.

[Doug]

Okay.

[Filippo]

One is model X. No. Well, it's not sliding well.

[Doug]

Okay. But it does open in a tight space.

[Filippo]

We have sold a car like this which is a lightly lifted all wheel drive Sienna.

[Doug]

Okay. So if you want a 2004 Sienna and pull up you can do a kit KO2s. That is one option. What's another option?

[Filippo]

Option.

[Doug]

Quigley Vans.

[Filippo]

Quigley Vans.

[Doug]

Quigley Vans.

[Filippo]

Which is not technically a sliding door.

[Doug]

The door like so if your wife wants to drive a church van that not only. Not only is a church van horrible to dynamically but now we've got a. A foot lift kit on it and 37. But it looks so cool. Yeah. Yes it does.

[Nick]

It does. How is this? It doesn't have sliding doors either. House related. I forgot that sliding doors.

[Filippo]

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. Just a van.

[Doug]

That's all it is. Get in the game with the college branded Venmo debit card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit [e-mail] collegecard the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Vancorp Bank NA Select Schools available Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo me stashterms max $100 cash back per month.

[Nick]

A bad ban at that.

[Filippo]

I. I will say my Sienna lifted Sienna situation was the right solution.

[Doug]

Was the right solution. Pull up that. Pull up that Sprinter. No, pull up that. Spend $133,000 and your wife can drive around in a p. Pull up the rear of this and your wife can drive around. That picture right there. Your wife can drive around a camper conversion. What's wrong with this? Huh?

[Filippo]

It turns out that nobody wants sliding doors even though they should.

[Doug]

Why is wife complaining? I agree they should should. And I think that sliding doors should legitimately truly I believe they should be on more vehicles.

[Filippo]

The gravity should have sliding doors.

[Doug]

Well yeah, cuz it's a minivan. Do you see those on the road? There is no minivan or looking car than that. Even the actual.

[Filippo]

We have one live right now.

[Doug]

Oh. Go buy this great SUV on cars and bids.

[Nick]

It's perfect for a hot nurturer in your family.

[Filippo]

But my Sienna idea is the right idea. You can lift. There's a couple w drive minivans, the Sienna's one the void, the Chrysler products over another. You can lift them.

[Doug]

You know what the problem is with the lucid hot nerve and they can tow Rivian has this personality. Like they have like the gear guard guy and the off roady and they're like friendly off roaders and there's like a personality and like a cult following to it. You will never get a personality or a cult following doing brand speak like hot nurturers or whatever. Actually if they did hot nurture they would probably succeed. But instead, whatever that, that was like, like unexpected nurture or whatever.

[Filippo]

Stupid.

[Nick]

There was a moment where Portia Pilates mom was like a. A meme, you know, and I, I think of that Persona a lot.

[Doug]

Y.

[Nick]

That's kind of, I think what they meant.

[Doug]

I'm going to do two more very quick questions. One is from Jaguar man. Can you go to the. Can you go to the community and pull up this qu. You might not be able to find it. This was an unbelievable question. The question is question for Filippo. I saw on LinkedIn he is commenting on people's posts advertising cars for sale that they should sell on cars and bids.

[Filippo]

Why not man?

[Doug]

And the question is, is how it

[Nick]

was on a roof.

[Doug]

How low will Filippo go to get a customer?

[Filippo]

Folks, Filippo, we haven't even started to scrape the low bar.

[Doug]

Every time we do a podcast. At the end of it Filippo goes, you couldn't mention the app. You couldn't mention. Here's Filippo. Here's Filippo trying to get people, solicit people to use cars and bids on his personal LinkedIn Arun, which I think

[Filippo]

has like a car care like franchise. He has three W8s right now and a mercy. But he's three W8s vectors. He's not selling.

[Doug]

Yeah, no, and I'd love you but. But Filippo, I mean I've never met a more. More dedicated company.

[Filippo]

A real part of my day. Just I happen to see that post and want to see a bunch of M3s and Wa Passat on the, on the site.

[Doug]

I've never seen a more dedicated company man. That's.

[Filippo]

Thanks.

[Nick]

But he won't wear the shirt. Good dedicated man. But he's wearing a vertical striped shirt.

[Doug]

Well, I think he feels that us wearing the shirts was enough and I think he doesn't want to be in his company man abilities. And with that in mind, time for A break from our sponsor Cars and Bids. This is what I'm supposed to do.

[Filippo]

Keep going.

[Doug]

Cars and Bids is a great place to sell automobiles.

[Filippo]

The best place to buy or sell your car.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. The best place.

[Filippo]

Yep.

[Doug]

Better than all those other crappy places.

[Filippo]

That's right.

[Doug]

Cars.com or like cars. Who. What is the answer to the question how low will Filippo go? The there's no end to what you would do.

[Filippo]

We don't know yet. I don't consider that to be stupid low. I mean, to be honest, if I

[Nick]

think if you use an AI bot, the cold DM people.

[Filippo]

Yeah, no, no, I'm not.

[Doug]

I'm not open.

[Nick]

But like, you need to just randomly dm.

[Filippo]

I. I don't open claw and then use open claw to dm.

[Doug]

You know what? You know what you would do? Yes. Oh, by the way, I totally think you would do that.

[Filippo]

I don't personally. It needs to be my voice when

[Doug]

the day you start leaving. Not windshields. If you're thinking about selling this car.

[Filippo]

Should we do that? By the way, let us know in the comments.

[Nick]

I had a friend that did that on Mark 4 Supras and was highly successful.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah.

[Nick]

Before they got really big. And he was just hoping it was like some widow or person who couldn't get in and out of it.

[Doug]

Yeah. Okay, final question. Final question. Final question from Sturd Burger co host and main character. Nick, you're the main character because this question's devoted to you. Why do you think that Whistland hasn't done the Bugatti durability test that he promised everyone at 10 million subs? What happened?

[Filippo]

It takes a long time to film content.

[Doug]

It takes a lot. You think whistling can just snap his fingers and get content done? Folks, give the man time. He is busy. He's getting arrested every couple weeks. You give him time.

[Filippo]

Also, he may or may not be in Dubai.

[Nick]

Is his last video a month ago.

[Doug]

The fact that he's in Dubai doesn't give him any less credit. That's where you find Bugattis to run over.

[Nick]

But someone did wrong him. Like a dealership, a used car dealership out of. And he's threatening revenge. So I can't wait for that series.

[Doug]

He's even threatening revenge on people in Dubai. That's how legit whistling is.

[Nick]

That's him at his best. When someone has done a minor grievance towards him and he goes to the edge of the earth to right that wrong.

[Doug]

That's my favorite whistling.

[Nick]

Look.

[Doug]

Whistling's gonna do it. Whistlin has never not done anything. He said he's always delivered the content that we wanted.

[Filippo]

He did sadly delete the subscriber durability test that it was up for a while.

[Doug]

Oh, that was such a great video. You mean where he talks about his girlfriend and all that?

[Nick]

Well, I think he wanted to get people to unsubscribe so he get below the Bugatti count.

[Doug]

So whistling the answer is it takes a while. I'm sure he's got it cooking in his mind and I'm ready for it.

[Nick]

Maybe he'll do the Alex FG Bugatti when Matt Armstrong is done rebuilding it.

[Filippo]

Sure.

[Nick]

Just destroy it again.

[Doug]

Just destroy.

[Nick]

Let them start all over.

[Doug]

Let Matt Armstrong do it again. If he was smart, he'd do some collab and probably a car that's already.

[Nick]

Maybe that's what he's trying to do.

[Doug]

Little messed up. Yeah. Oh, Filippo. Cars and bids promoter extraordinary pulls up a nice car on cars and bids.

[Filippo]

Sold by our buddy Vin.

[Doug]

Okay, I want to move on to the conclusion of the podcast.

[Filippo]

Oh, man, that's a conclusion, folks.

[Doug]

It's been 100 great years. Sean will be on the podcast in two episodes. This is, I'm telling you, this is going to be the most important thing that you ever do is ask Sean questions.

[Filippo]

And if you're able to go back and maybe find some videos that Sean may or may not have done and posted on YouTube. Oh, yeah, you can ask questions about that by going to cars.

[Nick]

Ask him what his first car was.

[Doug]

Sean, go check out Sean's Cayenne review that he did in his parents drive one. Anyway, absolute pleasure. Thank you for watching our finest podcast ever. Nick, any. Any final, final thoughts? Okay, goodbye, everyone. Sam.