HOT ROD Podcast: Steve Pazmany of Fully Torqued Talks the Aftermarket World

MotorTrend

NHRA's Brian Lohnes & HOT ROD Magazine's John McGann take the podcast to Irwindale Speedway for HOT ROD Power Tour West to chat with Steve Pazmany of Fully Torqued! Steve tells us where it all began for him

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Welcome to this episode of the Hot Rod Pod.

00:09 Brian Lone's here with John McGann.

00:10 We are on the Power Tour West 2023, the first ever.

00:14 We have a young guest, a guy who's

00:15 motivated in the world of the aftermarket, Steve Pismani.

00:18 And Steve's coming to us from a production background.

00:23 He's got a show on History Channel, so a competitor.

00:25 But we don't discriminate here.

00:28 We do not.

00:29 We talked to him about starting a business, what it's

00:32 like building customer cars.

00:33 He was telling us about '80 Corvettes, 1980 Corvettes.

00:36 He has all kinds of stories to tell.

00:37 He's a young guy.

00:38 He's motivated.

00:39 Fully Torqued Industries is his business.

00:41 But right now, his business is answering our questions

00:43 on the Hot Rod Pod.

00:45 Hey, everybody.

00:45 Welcome to this episode of the Hot Rod Pod, where it all began.

00:48 I'm Brian Lone's lead broadcaster for the NHRA.

00:50 He is John McGann, who is the editor-in-chief of Hot Rod

00:53 Magazine.

00:53 He is Steve Pismanti.

00:54 And you know him from Fully Torqued Industries

00:56 and from Fully Torqued on the History Channel.

00:58 And we are here today to not only find out

01:00 where it all began for Steve, we're

01:02 going to talk about his business,

01:03 going to talk about building hot rods,

01:04 dealing with customers, and the interesting personalities

01:07 that he has dealt with over the course of his career.

01:08 But John, I think we have to start

01:10 by talking about the fact that we're here at Irwindale

01:12 Speedway, day one of the Power Tour West.

01:13 Right, Power Tour West.

01:14 This is a kind of historic thing.

01:16 We've had two versions of Power Tour

01:18 happening in the same year in the past, around '98, '99,

01:21 and 2000.

01:23 But the main Power Tour was still

01:25 kind of a cross-country track.

01:26 And then they did a smaller version

01:28 that was either East Coast or whatever.

01:30 So people, when we were planning this thing,

01:33 were like, well, this isn't the first time Power Tour West.

01:36 And it's, yeah, but it's officially,

01:39 since this is a smaller thing, this

01:41 is the first Power Tour West.

01:43 And it's exciting.

01:44 So we're going to be at Irwindale today,

01:46 be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway tomorrow,

01:48 and then at Pomona on Sunday.

01:49 And that's going to be a great trip.

01:51 It's like, it's kind of drag week with less pressure.

01:53 We got three drag strips in three days.

01:55 And Steve, this is your first experience with Power Tour,

01:57 right?

01:58 It is.

01:58 And I'm excited to be here.

02:00 We built a few cars, brought them out.

02:02 And driving out here this morning, we're caravaning.

02:04 It's already-- you kind of get that Christmas morning.

02:07 Yeah.

02:08 Yeah.

02:08 It's definitely that.

02:09 It's like a fun trip where, like, last night, I was up to 11.

02:12 I'm like checking the tire pressures,

02:13 getting everything going.

02:14 I'm like, all right, let's make sure we're ready.

02:16 Fire trucks up, cars up this morning.

02:18 Drive out here.

02:19 And one of the coolest things about getting here

02:22 is you see all the amazing cars.

02:23 But then when you see the amazing cars that just

02:25 don't have the pretty paint jobs, right,

02:27 that have been driven, that's what

02:29 excites me because it shows that this isn't just

02:32 these quarter million dollar builds and up.

02:34 These are everyday drivers.

02:35 This is for car enthusiasts.

02:36 And that's what's so cool about this tour.

02:38 Yeah, I mean, we have everything from some of the stuff

02:41 that Steve's talking about.

02:42 We get some really nice patina, like era muscle cars.

02:44 We get a diesel drag truck here.

02:46 I don't know if you saw that thing.

02:48 It's like a '53 Kenworth with a giant, like,

02:50 1,000 cubic inch Cummins in it.

02:51 Smokes like a coal locomotive, but in the staging lanes.

02:54 The thing had a column of soot coming out of it.

02:58 And then I saw you, and I'm like, wait a second.

03:00 Is that thing going to smoke the tires?

03:01 He's like, oh, it'll beat most of the cars here.

03:02 Yeah.

03:03 I mean, the thing makes 1,000 plus horsepower.

03:05 It's ridiculous.

03:05 Yeah.

03:06 We've heard diesel, so that probably means it's, like,

03:07 3,000 pound feet of torque.

03:10 And so the coolest thing, I think, the great tie-in here,

03:13 Steve, between you and this event,

03:14 as we get into talking about what Fully Torqued Industries

03:17 is about and what you deliver for your customers,

03:19 is the stuff you build, you build cars to be driven.

03:21 And I think that's one of the things I

03:22 respect about your business.

03:24 You build a lot of really nice stuff,

03:25 but it is meant to actually go down the road.

03:26 Yes.

03:27 And that's the thing is, I want to be attainable, right?

03:30 So we do builds from everything that you

03:32 could do with your dad and brothers,

03:34 or whoever may be at your house, all the way up

03:36 to the crazy custom jobs.

03:38 And that way, we don't alienate any type of clientele.

03:41 But the thing is, I want to drive these cars.

03:43 It's fun to look at them, and they're pretty,

03:45 and they're cool in the garage.

03:46 And I like that.

03:48 But then I like the lay down power.

03:50 I like to see the burnout.

03:51 I'm not a momentum car driver.

03:53 I like those just raw power, the sound, the smell, everything.

03:58 If I was blind, I could know exactly what type of car

04:00 was around me real quickly, because I just

04:02 know those things.

04:03 And that's the cool part is meeting

04:05 so many interesting people, working

04:06 with so many great partners, and then

04:08 getting to see people's reactions.

04:10 To me, that's what it's about.

04:12 One of the themes, I guess, of our first 12 episodes

04:14 of the series has been builders.

04:15 Like we've talked to some of the most notable kind

04:17 of high-end builders, whether it was the Ring Brothers, Bill

04:20 Ganahl, those type of guys.

04:21 And I think I like the idea that there is a spectrum

04:24 to this whole industry.

04:25 There is.

04:25 And not everyone can afford to have a $750,000 car built

04:31 for them.

04:32 And maybe if you could afford it,

04:34 but you don't want to pay that, because you don't want to--

04:36 you'd be afraid to drive it anywhere.

04:38 And maybe you don't want to have a museum piece.

04:40 You want something that's either a family heirloom,

04:42 or something that you've always wanted,

04:44 you could never afford before.

04:45 So that's your role then, right, is to kind of step in

04:48 and fill that spot.

04:49 And you know what the cool thing is,

04:51 is some of the most notable builds

04:53 that I've done over the years have been family-oriented.

04:56 Right.

04:57 Right, you know?

04:58 So it was like I built a really cool C10, a '71 C10,

05:02 and it was for a good friend's son for his 21st birthday.

05:04 You know, seeing his kid, who's a big tough guy,

05:07 and then break down in tears.

05:08 Nice.

05:08 Or my friend Ali, who's 6' 8", big old guy, and I build him.

05:12 You know, his mom, the first car she ever had

05:14 was a '65 Impala when she came to the States.

05:16 He kept the car.

05:18 Wow, he kept the car.

05:19 He kept the car.

05:20 That's cool.

05:20 Never touched it.

05:21 And then one year, he's like, I want to do it.

05:24 OK, let's do it.

05:25 So we took the 283, we stroked it to 383.

05:28 I do that with a lot of the small blocks,

05:29 because you get terrific power.

05:31 It doesn't overheat.

05:32 You know, we did a 700 R4 in it, you know,

05:34 full drivetrain undercarriage paint.

05:36 And you know, here's a big tough guy, comes in,

05:38 and says, my eyes are sweating.

05:41 Or are you crying?

05:44 But that's the cool part is, you know,

05:46 to a lot of people who don't know cars,

05:49 it gets you from point A to point B.

05:51 But for people who love cars, I like

05:53 to say car lovers are much like dog lovers.

05:56 You understand they have a personality.

05:57 Absolutely.

05:58 And that's the thing with these cars

05:59 is it showcases your personality,

06:02 the car's personality.

06:03 And that's what's so unique and custom about them.

06:06 So I want to take it back to this kind of where

06:08 it all began era for you.

06:09 And I know your first car was an L82 Corvette.

06:11 Yes.

06:12 So that means--

06:13 C3.

06:14 Yeah, and that means it came from somewhere.

06:16 Like this-- we've talked to so many different people

06:19 on the show.

06:20 And sometimes their passion is born from their mom and dad.

06:23 They grew up in the backseat of a race car.

06:25 They grew up in the backseat of a truck going to the dragstrip.

06:27 Some people have found it because they're artists.

06:30 And they like the craftsmanship they're able to inject in it.

06:32 So I want to know kind of your origin story.

06:34 How does a 16-year-old kid end up with a C3 Corvette?

06:37 Because that sounds like a good parenting.

06:38 That sounds like the parenting I can get behind.

06:40 So, you know, I have two older brothers and a younger sister.

06:43 We all started riding dirt bikes at six years old.

06:45 So it was actually my brother--

06:47 oldest brother was nine.

06:48 My other brother was eight.

06:48 I was six.

06:49 My sister was five.

06:50 So, you know, strategically got younger.

06:52 You know, once we had dumped the car for-- sorry,

06:54 the bike for the first time, it was get back up.

06:57 Get on it, you know?

06:58 And I just got that itch to go fast at a young age.

07:01 And I always played sports.

07:02 And then, you know--

07:03 Are you kidding?

07:03 Don't strike me as an athlete.

07:05 I'm playing with this one.

07:06 That's a workout.

07:08 But, you know, then it was fun working in the garage

07:10 with my dad and brother.

07:11 So, you know, it'd be sports on Saturday.

07:12 I'd come home, rock and roll on in the garage,

07:15 get the car up on the lift.

07:16 And I didn't know what I was doing at that age,

07:19 but I knew I loved it.

07:20 You know, and then my brothers get their license.

07:22 OK, let's do burnouts.

07:23 And all of our first cars were muscle cars.

07:26 So my oldest brother Pete's '64 and a half Mustang.

07:28 My brother Joe's '65 Mustang.

07:29 My little sister's '68 Mustang.

07:31 And I had the L82 high performance 350.

07:33 So what the hell happened to you?

07:34 Yeah, yeah.

07:34 You fixed three Mustangs and a Corvette.

07:35 I got dropped on my head a few times.

07:37 And an '80 Corvette, nonetheless, too.

07:39 I mean--

07:39 But, you know, it was still that classic style.

07:41 Yeah.

07:42 [LAUGHTER]

07:42 The jerked through the shop.

07:44 Yeah, yeah.

07:45 Boogie nights, baby.

07:46 Yeah.

07:47 But you know what it was is I had access to those other cars.

07:50 And I saw this one.

07:52 It came up.

07:52 We were at this dealer.

07:53 I'm like, I want it.

07:55 So we got it.

07:56 All black, mirror T-tops.

07:57 You know, I put racing seats in it,

07:58 did the full sound system, everything

08:00 you would do at that age.

08:01 And I just loved it.

08:02 And I loved going fast.

08:04 And my passion has always just been behind cars.

08:07 So, you know, I'd wake up as a young kid

08:10 and watch Power Block.

08:13 Oh, yeah.

08:13 You know, Spike TV, TNN, you know,

08:15 was doing all those switches.

08:16 And that was my Saturday morning.

08:18 Most kids were watching cartoons.

08:19 I was watching, you know, Stacey David or Courtney Hanson

08:22 or whoever it was.

08:23 And that's-- it's influential stuff.

08:25 I mean, we all kind of come from that generation.

08:27 And you're 100% right.

08:28 I mean, I think those are formative things for all of us.

08:31 Yeah, Joe Elmore.

08:32 Joe Elmore.

08:32 And Chuck.

08:33 The golden voice, too.

08:34 Yeah, and Chuck Hanson.

08:35 Chuck, yeah.

08:36 I know.

08:36 I mean, those are the names.

08:37 I've watched those shows, too.

08:39 It's awesome.

08:39 And it was fun, you know, understanding and learning.

08:42 And then, you know, when something broke,

08:44 you know, some people's parents are,

08:45 I'll take it to the dealer.

08:46 It was put on the lift.

08:48 Let's pop the hood.

08:49 And then you start to learn.

08:50 And you start to-- you might mess stuff up on your own.

08:52 And that's OK.

08:53 That's fine.

08:53 You know, been there, done that.

08:55 But then my passion just continued to grow.

08:58 And, you know, went to college.

08:59 You know, my second car I ever bought,

09:01 I have a '77 GMC Stepside.

09:03 Nice.

09:03 So lifted, completely gone through the car.

09:05 And that was my daily driver all the way from 19 to 22.

09:10 So I went to college down in Orange County.

09:12 I'm from Northern California.

09:13 I would drive it up and back.

09:15 Got dual tanks on it.

09:15 You know, did the run.

09:16 And I just loved it.

09:18 And then, you know, graduated.

09:20 And I got into the reverse logistics world.

09:22 So what that is is it's a little bit of a sidestep from cars.

09:26 But I deal directly with all the major e-tailers and retailers

09:29 and get all their overstock and so forth.

09:31 And I developed this channel, started working for a guy.

09:34 So now I have 12 physical brick and mortar stores

09:36 in six states where we sell everything 48% off retail.

09:39 Well, that allowed me to start chasing my passion of cars.

09:42 OK.

09:43 So that's how that ties in.

09:44 And--

09:45 Reverse logistics, Brian.

09:46 I'm going to remember that.

09:47 I'm going to piss this magazine thing.

09:48 Does it work out for me?

09:49 I was going to get into that.

09:50 But, oh, yeah, it's not for me.

09:52 Yeah.

09:52 [LAUGHTER]

09:53 And you know, it's something that people have never

09:55 heard of it.

09:55 You know, in logistics, how it gets there

09:57 versus how it comes back.

09:58 So it's the whole return market and everything.

10:00 And you know, so I built this brand up.

10:02 And then I started getting more into the cars.

10:03 So then the next car I bought was an SRT-10, the Viper truck.

10:06 Yeah.

10:07 Bought it from my cousin, double cab.

10:08 Kept it.

10:09 And then I started getting into the AMGs, E63, CLS63, S63,

10:13 AMG T63S.

10:14 So I just-- my itch for going fast

10:16 continued to just get more and more aggressive.

10:18 But I kept building out my car collection.

10:21 And you know, growing up, I always

10:22 watched an Overhaul and whatever it was.

10:24 It's all Chip Foose.

10:25 I got to work with Chip Foose on the first two seasons

10:28 he was doing all my renderings.

10:29 And I was like--

10:29 Oh, cool.

10:30 --this is just so cool.

10:31 Yeah, that's a neat loop to close in your life, right?

10:34 Yeah.

10:34 It was awesome.

10:35 And he's such a nice guy, very talented.

10:37 And so I was like, you know what?

10:39 Prior to meeting Chip and doing the show,

10:41 I was like, if I'm going to do something,

10:42 I want to own the content.

10:43 I want to do this right.

10:44 So what my sponsors don't give me,

10:46 I actually personally fork out the negative.

10:48 So that way, I own all the content.

10:49 And then I formed a strategic partnership

10:51 with History Channel, where I have a deal with them.

10:54 So we're on their-- it was Drive.

10:56 Now it's actually called Torque.

10:58 So I'm fully torqued on Torque.

11:00 There you go.

11:01 Tongues twisted.

11:01 The Torque.

11:02 Yeah, lots of Torque.

11:03 And it was like, you know what?

11:04 I really want to build my own shop.

11:07 And I just want to customize.

11:09 I want to make people happy.

11:10 I love seeing people's reactions and smiles.

11:12 But more or less, I get to chase my passion.

11:14 And so that's what's kind of gotten me here today.

11:16 And along the way, I've been very fortunate to network

11:20 and meet all different types of people and different walks

11:22 of life.

11:23 And started being in LA, started making friends

11:26 with all these people who are here and there.

11:28 And then next thing you know, it's like, I got Herb Dean.

11:31 I'm building a Bronco for him, one of the biggest UFC refs.

11:33 I just did a charity car with Rob Kardashian this past year.

11:37 We started--

11:37 Pontiac, right?

11:38 Yep.

11:39 Nice.

11:39 The Grand Prix.

11:41 So it started just building.

11:42 And it's like, OK, now this thing's really going.

11:46 And now it's almost like sky's the limit.

11:48 I want to continue to do these crazy builds,

11:51 but yet make it attainable.

11:53 And that's with one of the cars we brought out here,

11:55 the Scottsdale.

11:56 You guys saw it's all bedlined, undercarriage, engine bay,

11:59 3D3 stroker.

12:00 It was, what can we do to make something that someone could go,

12:04 that's cool.

12:05 I want to do it at my house with my family.

12:06 And that's why we built that truck for here.

12:09 What I was curious too, because you said attainable,

12:12 what are some of the things that make a build unattainable?

12:16 And I'm guessing paint job, just because paint

12:18 is so expensive, right?

12:20 Paint, roadster shop chassis, stuff like that,

12:22 where when you're actually removing the body from the frame,

12:27 now you're getting to a whole other level.

12:29 Lots of labor.

12:30 Right.

12:30 And when you're pulling the drive train out,

12:32 I mean, you could do stuff like that at your house.

12:34 It's not bad.

12:35 I remember my dad as a kid putting a new transmission

12:38 in one of the Mustangs in line six, and he's underneath.

12:40 Oh, trying to press it up like--

12:42 Yeah.

12:43 Yeah.

12:44 I've all lived that life every once in a while.

12:45 The last thing you think is like, man,

12:46 if this thing comes down to my chest,

12:48 this movie may not end well.

12:50 Let me tell you, you don't know working on cars

12:52 till you've been yelled at for holding a flashlight

12:55 in the wrong place.

12:55 Yeah.

12:56 Yeah.

12:56 What are you doing?

12:57 I'm like, I don't know.

12:58 I'm trying to find what you're doing, man.

13:01 Broad daylight, you're yelling at me for a freaking flashlight.

13:04 As your entrepreneurial history and background, I think,

13:08 is an interesting part of this story as well.

13:10 So I want to know, when you first

13:12 got your feet on the ground and get the shop moving,

13:16 what was one of the biggest mistakes you made early on?

13:18 Because everybody's made them.

13:19 So I want to know what one of the biggest

13:21 kind of wrong turns you took was.

13:22 Hands down, biggest mistake is people

13:26 want their cars yesterday.

13:28 They're always, hey, when's my car?

13:29 When's my car?

13:30 When's my car?

13:30 Then it's ready, right?

13:32 But it's never really not ready until you've

13:34 put a few hundred miles on it.

13:35 And that was the first thing I noticed,

13:37 was allowing people to take their cars

13:39 and kind of peer pressuring me and so forth,

13:41 to like, all right, fine, take it.

13:43 Then them calling me, hey, well, it's leaking right here.

13:45 I'm like, you didn't let me put miles on it.

13:47 So now I don't let people take their cars

13:50 until we've put mileage on it.

13:51 And that's one of the most important things

13:53 is you've got to reseal everything.

13:55 You've got to make sure you don't have leaks.

13:56 Maybe your rotary assembly is not perfectly tight.

13:58 Everything's breaking in.

13:59 And that's one of the most important aspects

14:01 of building a car and making sure it's right.

14:03 You know, it could even be something interior-wise,

14:06 vibrations, making bolts come loose.

14:08 Got to check everything over.

14:09 Otherwise, you're liable for that.

14:11 And that's not fun.

14:13 About how many miles do you put on a car,

14:14 just to check all that stuff out?

14:15 You know what?

14:16 Right now, I'm probably doing at least 100.

14:19 And I feel like that's pretty good.

14:22 And what I like-- the first thing I

14:24 do when I do the drive train on a car,

14:26 everything's hooked up, I fire it up,

14:28 I let it idle for 45 minutes.

14:30 Because right then and there, it needs

14:31 to be able to sit in traffic, hold idle.

14:33 And if it's overheating within 5, 10 minutes or at 45 minutes,

14:37 and it's not a big block, we have some serious problems.

14:40 So four-row radiator, dual electric fans

14:43 are some of my best friends.

14:45 Sure, especially here.

14:46 Your shop is here in Southern California.

14:48 So you will sit in traffic for an hour.

14:51 Did it this morning.

14:53 Boy, what I think is cool, and it

14:55 speaks to what the Power Tour event is

14:57 and speaks to the thrash that you're constantly

14:59 under at the business, is that truck you got here,

15:02 you put those miles on the way here.

15:04 You couldn't even follow your own advice on that.

15:06 No, no, no.

15:08 And it was funny.

15:09 So we built this truck for the show.

15:11 We worked with a couple partners of ours, one of them

15:12 being Durlast.

15:13 And we put every component you could

15:15 imagine on the suspension, engine, whatever it was.

15:19 We took that thing, and we shot a whole extraction scene

15:21 with Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, and we did this whole thing.

15:24 I actually took eight shots in a bulletproof armor car.

15:28 Four at the side window, four at the windshield,

15:30 jacked out, me sitting.

15:31 I'll show you guys the video.

15:32 It's pretty gnarly.

15:33 We cut that part out of airing.

15:35 It just showed the impact of the bullet in the window,

15:37 and it was like, go, go, go.

15:39 And so we'd finished the truck the night before.

15:41 We had it towed up to this B lot up in Malibu,

15:44 where there's a bunch of airstreams, about 15 acres.

15:47 So I had access to it.

15:48 And I'm like, it comes off the truck.

15:50 How many miles did we put on this?

15:51 Like, dude, they finished it last night.

15:52 I'm like, all right, well, we're going to stress test it.

15:54 So I did not take my own advice, but it ran.

15:57 No issues, nothing like that.

15:59 And then the first issue I had was getting it

16:01 on the freeway on Wednesday, where I found out

16:03 it was running super lean.

16:04 And then once I got the solenoid to pop for the dual tanks,

16:08 driving out here today, sitting at idle,

16:10 700 RPM, nice and choppy, no issues, cold, hot.

16:14 And then jumping on it, we're cruising 80.

16:16 I'm like, you know what?

16:17 I'm not mad at this right now.

16:19 We're OK.

16:20 What's the drive train combination in that truck?

16:22 So we got a 383 stroker, and then it's

16:25 hooked up to the original-- well, we rebuilt it,

16:27 but the Turbo 400.

16:28 So--

16:29 Stout.

16:30 Yeah.

16:30 Unbreakable stuff.

16:32 I typically like to switch out and put a 700 R4.

16:35 I like that four speed.

16:36 But on this truck, the previous guy who had it,

16:39 he actually re-geared the rear end.

16:41 It's got a little bit higher gearing, which for start off,

16:44 it's not the best.

16:46 But when you're on the freeway, you're not humming.

16:48 Yeah, the thing's not singing.

16:49 It's cruising.

16:50 And it's got 35s on it.

16:51 It's got KM3 mutters.

16:54 So typically, that would be an issue.

16:56 But on this truck, it's just smooth sailing.

16:58 And we rolled out here.

16:59 I have my dad's '66 Fastback that we

17:01 had built for him the year before,

17:03 and threw a 347 stroker in it.

17:06 And then another buddy of mine, Tim,

17:07 he brought his Ford business coupe.

17:10 Nice.

17:10 So rolled out the three of us this morning.

17:13 We were all cruising like 75, 80,

17:14 until the Prius would cut in between us and break the line.

17:18 That happens.

17:19 That's OK.

17:19 That's why I got a truck, man.

17:20 Run them off the road.

17:22 You're kind of a non-denominational guy,

17:24 and I like that in terms of the cars.

17:27 I've heard you say in other interviews that you're never

17:29 going to tell a customer, well, I don't want to build that.

17:32 No.

17:33 And that's the thing is, I love all cars.

17:36 Not EV, but most other cars.

17:39 Fair enough.

17:40 I can respect technology.

17:42 I'm not trying to pick fights, but I

17:43 don't think this is the place where everyone

17:44 wants to fight me about EV.

17:45 No.

17:47 But you know what?

17:48 I love supercars.

17:49 I love fast cars.

17:50 But my heart's with muscle cars.

17:52 And when someone comes to me with something, I don't say no.

17:55 I say, let me get some more info.

17:56 So we did a car show at Toy Drive this past Saturday.

18:05 And I had a friend who I just met out there.

18:08 He comes up.

18:08 He sees a '32 Ford.

18:09 He goes, you ever built one of these?

18:11 I said, no.

18:12 He goes, you want to build me one?

18:13 OK.

18:14 He goes, all right, cool.

18:15 And it was from the Peterson.

18:16 So you know that car is probably a quarter million bucks.

18:18 I tell him.

18:19 He goes, OK, build it.

18:20 And then we're walking around.

18:21 He goes, you ever built a Zephyr?

18:23 '37 Zephyr?

18:24 Oh, wow.

18:24 Dude, I've heard of that.

18:25 I couldn't even picture in my head.

18:27 I look it up.

18:28 I'm like, no?

18:29 He's like, how much do you think it'd be to do all custom?

18:32 Just this whole thing.

18:33 I'm like, for those two builds, you're probably looking $450.

18:36 He goes, OK, build them.

18:37 I'm like, OK.

18:38 Let's go.

18:39 And we had dinner the next night.

18:41 And I basically went home, found brand new chassis

18:45 for the '32 Ford, coilover suspense.

18:47 I went through it all so I could price it out for him.

18:49 What kind of drive train do you want?

18:51 And then from there, you just start building.

18:52 And that's how you learn.

18:54 That's how I've always learned in life is jumping in,

18:56 but having some level of information.

18:59 When you look at where you are now,

19:01 kind of where you want to take the business, where you want

19:04 to take the brand, what is that five-year plan?

19:06 Because obviously, you're a guy that

19:07 has stuff like that in place.

19:09 Your business background would not allow you--

19:10 as much as you jump into the builds, which is fine.

19:13 But my just experience in this conversation

19:16 says to me you have a pretty good long-range vision

19:17 for this.

19:18 Yeah.

19:18 I mean, my whole thing is--

19:21 and I don't want to sound crazy, OK?

19:23 But to me, to make a million bucks off this,

19:26 it's not why I'm doing it.

19:27 I want to build a multibillion-dollar brand.

19:30 That's where my head goes.

19:31 And I'm 32.

19:33 So one of the cool aspects of this

19:35 is I want to keep hot-rodding alive.

19:38 I'm the youngest person on History Channel

19:40 and possibly arguably on TV with a car show that's

19:44 independently produced.

19:46 And I'm doing that because I want

19:48 to keep the hot-rodding culture alive.

19:49 And the more they push EV and all this new crap,

19:52 there's that whole pushback.

19:54 And that's what I like, is the pushback on it, which is--

19:57 it's almost a rebellious factor.

19:59 Like, oh, you get 100 miles to the gallon?

20:01 I get 5 miles to the gallon, but I got 1,000 horsepower.

20:04 And that's what starts to make it fun.

20:06 So for me, it's building out a brand,

20:07 building out the brand fully torqued.

20:09 And that's why I was actually out in Miami last week

20:11 was we're looking to do car concierge storage out there.

20:14 And then I got some customers out there who

20:15 want me to build them cars.

20:16 So I'm like, you know what?

20:17 I'll do a car concierge storage facility out there,

20:19 which is high-end.

20:20 And then that'll fund me bringing my business out there.

20:23 So we're planning on shooting half of season four, actually,

20:25 out in Miami, building cars in California,

20:27 shipping them out there, and working with the higher-end

20:30 people out there to really bring more muscle car awareness.

20:33 And that's where my head goes, is I just

20:35 want to make more people aware of how badass and cool

20:38 these cars are.

20:39 It makes sense to me.

20:40 And it's just a personal theory.

20:43 But as all these new cars basically look the same,

20:46 they're all the same silhouette, the same--

20:49 you can't tell a Camry from an Accord.

20:51 And I think people really want something,

20:54 they look at something old, and they're like, well,

20:55 that's got some style and some character.

20:57 And you don't need to do a whole lot of stuff to an older car

21:02 to make it as nicely drivable as a lot of newer cars.

21:06 And I think that's going to be appealing for a lot of people.

21:08 It certainly is appealing to me, and I think our audience.

21:11 And like the Restomods, right?

21:13 Of course.

21:13 I think Restomods are one of the most amazing--

21:16 I call it a hybrid, right?

21:17 Because it's--

21:18 Yeah, it really is kind of generational hybrid, right?

21:20 Modern technology, classic wrapper, yeah.

21:22 See, and that's what I like.

21:23 And I think it's really cool.

21:24 I have a '71 Challenger.

21:27 So roadster shop chassis.

21:28 It's got a 392 in it.

21:30 Everything's done on it, but it looks nice and old school.

21:33 But then you start looking at it,

21:34 it's got all the new school flair and the new school

21:37 technology.

21:37 And I like that type of stuff, because now you're

21:40 kind of getting the best of both worlds.

21:42 And I could go buy any old car I want.

21:45 If I go buy a new car, it's going

21:46 to be so much more expensive to go trick out that new car,

21:49 pass rims and tires.

21:50 And even rims and tires on that new car

21:52 are going to cost substantially more.

21:54 And so it's like there's just more length

21:57 with these muscle cars.

21:58 And that's what I really like, is

22:00 there's-- you can build whatever you want.

22:02 And as we've seen already this morning,

22:04 we kind of talked about it at the top of the show,

22:06 but the variety of stuff that rolls in.

22:08 And one of the things that's changed, in my opinion,

22:11 over the last 20 years--

22:12 and really, I think events like Power Tour have helped

22:15 drive this-- but there was always a lot of divisions,

22:18 even in car shows.

22:20 The Street Rod Nationals don't show up if it's '48 or newer.

22:23 Or you had all these very, very brand-specific

22:26 and age-specific shows.

22:28 And even style-specific stuff.

22:31 As many patina-style cars as we see pulling here,

22:35 that was an embarrassment 20 years ago.

22:36 That was a rebellious thing to show up with.

22:38 And now it's like--

22:39 I think, to your point, the pressures

22:41 that we feel on the car culture, on the aftermarket culture,

22:45 I think are making these events more cohesive

22:48 and kind of showing us all the strength in numbers.

22:50 Yeah, it's almost like we are here together

22:54 to fight against this.

22:55 Yeah, to fight the band.

22:56 Right.

22:57 Stronger together than apart.

22:58 That's right.

22:59 And it's funny, because exactly what you guys are saying--

23:03 and this is actually where I think it's hilarious-- is

23:05 the muscle car community is very open.

23:08 Come on in.

23:09 But then you get these supercar clubs.

23:11 Oh, you're not in a Ferrari.

23:12 Get out.

23:12 But then you've got supercars here around the quarter mile.

23:15 And no one's mad.

23:16 Everyone's like, hey, cool, dude.

23:17 Rock on.

23:17 Yeah.

23:18 Yeah, some guy in a McLaren lined up next to a dude

23:20 in a '74 Eldorado convertible.

23:22 I love it.

23:23 What's better than that?

23:25 Nothing.

23:25 Yeah, no, absolutely nothing.

23:26 That's cool.

23:27 But that's the cool aspect about it.

23:28 I just think it's so welcoming.

23:30 And in a time where there's so much division in this world,

23:34 when people can come together and it doesn't matter

23:37 where you are, who you are, and it's just cars.

23:39 We like cars.

23:41 I mean, that's awesome.

23:42 It's just-- it's fun.

23:43 It's a great environment.

23:44 I haven't seen one person with a frown on their face out there.

23:46 Everyone's just lit up, talking.

23:48 And you see the guys, the old guys,

23:50 with their chairs at their car.

23:51 All you have to say is, I like your car.

23:52 It turns into a 40-minute conversation.

23:54 You're like, come on, man.

23:55 I was just trying to be nice.

23:57 I need to move along.

23:58 I have places to be.

23:59 Yeah, exactly.

24:00 And then they grab your hand, break eye contact.

24:02 I'm like, oh my god.

24:02 It's going to be an hour and a half conversation, man.

24:05 I love it.

24:05 What are the things--

24:06 what are the things that not necessarily keep you up at night,

24:09 but when you look at down the road, what are the things

24:12 that you are concerned about and/or keyed up

24:15 on as far as the industry and your business specifically?

24:18 You know, I think there's always a little bit of stress

24:21 around change.

24:22 And with so many of these EPA laws and everything,

24:25 they're trying to push and change.

24:26 And then you got Newsom going, oh, we're

24:28 not going to sell gas cars in here by 2030.

24:30 It starts to spin you up a little bit.

24:32 But then you go, you know what?

24:33 My take is, I go day by day.

24:35 I will drive myself insane if I try and look 10 years

24:38 down the road.

24:39 Two weeks down the road, even two days.

24:41 So for me, it's how do we get these cars to stay on the road?

24:45 How do we make everyone happy?

24:47 And that's kind of what keeps me up a little bit is,

24:50 what happens if we're all driving electric vehicles?

24:53 There's no character.

24:54 There's nothing.

24:56 I saw a meet up, and it was all Teslas.

24:58 I'm like, it's not like someone's--

25:01 maybe they have a faster electric motor?

25:03 I don't-- I mean, what's the--

25:05 Different wheels.

25:05 Yeah.

25:06 Yeah.

25:06 Ooh, yeah.

25:07 I like your gentleman thing.

25:07 Oh, I like yours too.

25:08 Well, I guess we can go home now.

25:10 Yeah.

25:11 It's over now.

25:11 Yeah.

25:12 You know, I'm sorry.

25:13 I'm low in charge.

25:14 Let me go plug up to a diesel generator.

25:16 Yeah.

25:17 And look, I think, coming from the drag racing world that I do,

25:22 our sport has always been inclusive of everything.

25:24 If you want to come race, we'll find a place for it.

25:26 And listen, I respect the enthusiasts.

25:29 If you own an electric car, if you're an electric car

25:32 enthusiast, I'm in.

25:34 Because you got the same basic interest.

25:36 You want to make the thing go fast,

25:37 you want to do something creative with it,

25:38 I'm down.

25:39 Right.

25:39 If it is of someone who's going to stand there

25:42 in the street corner and beat me over the head with it,

25:44 I'm out.

25:45 Yeah.

25:45 And that's what it is, is at the end of the day,

25:47 everyone should be able to do what they want to do and not

25:49 be judged.

25:50 And that's why I feel like being here on this tour,

25:53 there's no judgment.

25:54 It's just everyone's out here to have a good time.

25:56 People are already talking, hey, what time

25:57 are you leaving tomorrow morning?

25:59 You know, trying to get their pack set up for the run to Vegas.

26:01 Hey, if you need anything, let me know.

26:03 And with our Durlass Difference Truck that we built,

26:06 we're actually set up with three different size car batteries,

26:10 radiator hoses, clamps, all the fluids you can imagine,

26:13 jacks, jack stands, the 256 piece tool set.

26:17 So I mean, you name it, if someone breaks down,

26:19 we're there to help out.

26:20 That's pretty cool.

26:21 Yeah, that was the whole thing is

26:22 because one of the biggest words that comes to my mind

26:24 when you're at an event like this is camaraderie.

26:26 And everyone's just together.

26:28 So it's like if someone's broken down, let's help them out.

26:31 And that's part of the experience of it.

26:33 Now look, you're still really legitimately

26:36 breaking that truck in.

26:37 But we need a public statement right now

26:41 that that will make at least one run down the drag strip

26:43 of Pomona on Sunday.

26:44 Yeah, I'll blow it up.

26:45 See, here you go.

26:46 I like it.

26:47 I'm curious, too.

26:48 Like, I've always heard Rhino liner.

26:50 Is that what you used on it?

26:51 Or Bedliner?

26:52 Technically Bedliner.

26:54 So we actually went through Summit Racing.

26:55 And we bought it.

26:56 And we sprayed it all ourselves.

26:58 How heavy is that?

26:59 It's not as heavy as you'd think.

27:02 So it's not too bad.

27:03 It's actually-- you can adjust the nozzle for the amount

27:06 of like how tight you want it, how large you want it.

27:09 And we wanted to do it so it wasn't like blotchy.

27:13 But I could imagine it probably adds a little bit of weight.

27:15 Maybe not the most aerodynamic friendly.

27:17 But then again, I'm driving a brick in the wind.

27:19 Right.

27:20 So what are you doing anyway?

27:21 Yeah.

27:22 I mean, there's not-- for me, it was build something

27:25 that is on and off road capable.

27:27 What happens if someone goes in one of these trucks

27:29 and we're driving and he tries to go off road

27:31 and he gets stuck?

27:32 Well, I can pull you.

27:32 Right.

27:33 You know?

27:33 And that was-- we got four by four.

27:35 We can make it happen.

27:36 We got more enough power.

27:37 And so it's just making it so it can accommodate everyone.

27:41 It's a really cool thing.

27:43 Do you still have your Corvette?

27:44 I do not have the Corvette.

27:46 Sad story.

27:47 I won't get into that one.

27:49 OK.

27:50 Hold on.

27:50 Racing seats, 16 years old, stereo.

27:55 There's a telephone pole that is still--

27:56 In the fiberglass.

27:57 There's a telephone pole that is still

27:58 pissed off about what happened.

28:00 There's fiberglass parts in there.

28:02 Who'd you call, man?

28:03 I'm just doing some math here.

28:05 I'm like Matlock.

28:05 I'm putting the pieces together.

28:08 Yeah.

28:09 And then I got the Stepside.

28:10 So I've had that one ever since.

28:12 So you've kept the Stepside.

28:13 Yeah.

28:14 You know what's funny?

28:15 I've built up the car collection quite a bit.

28:17 And that's still one of my favorite cars that I own,

28:20 is my Stepside.

28:20 I absolutely love it.

28:22 It's that original brown metallic color.

28:24 Perfect.

28:25 And then when I redid it all, I tried

28:28 to do everything as clean as I could do it.

28:30 And then we had rebuilt the motor.

28:32 When I rebuilt the motor, did the original 350.

28:34 So it's got the original drivetrain in.

28:35 All numbers matching.

28:36 I didn't stroke that one at the time,

28:38 but put a little bit better compression in it.

28:40 It's probably making about 400 horse, which it's a manual.

28:42 So it's got the granny low.

28:43 Nice.

28:44 Oh, yeah.

28:44 Yeah.

28:45 NPT35.

28:46 Yes.

28:46 Yeah.

28:47 That's fun.

28:47 Which is fun.

28:48 So your granny low, I've maybe used it once, ever.

28:50 I didn't even need to use it.

28:52 Then your first is so low.

28:53 Your second is your fun gear.

28:55 And then your third, if you're doing about 70, it's fun.

28:58 Otherwise, your throw from, I don't know,

29:00 about 35 miles an hour all the way up to as fast as you can go,

29:03 that's your third gear.

29:04 And so it's a ton of fun.

29:06 I love the character, but I feel like it's a piece of me.

29:09 Because I've had it for so long.

29:10 It's been with me and just seeing

29:12 me go through all these changes with cars.

29:14 And that's my baby.

29:15 I love her.

29:16 Good.

29:16 That's cool.

29:17 Ultimately, I think, and you've talked about it,

29:19 but it's like, if you're an enthusiast of cars,

29:22 really what you are is a person who

29:23 assigns value to them, right?

29:25 And so the cars we love the most in our lives

29:27 are the ones that have carried us, literally, physically

29:29 carried us through something.

29:30 This one carried you back and forth to college.

29:32 My dad restored a '64 GTO when I was a baby,

29:35 that we rode around and went to every cruise,

29:37 dine, and car show known to man.

29:39 So I look at that thing as just a very special part

29:41 of my life.

29:42 And everybody at this event kind of

29:45 looks at their stuff the same way.

29:46 Even though we can look at it and go, whoa,

29:49 what is this guy doing with these wheels?

29:51 I want to own that.

29:52 But to that guy, it is the most beautiful, important thing

29:55 he's ever come across.

29:56 I saw them in a wheel ad in a magazine,

29:59 and I want those for my Mustang.

30:00 One day I'll have it.

30:01 Exactly.

30:01 And he finally did it.

30:03 I have a saying for you.

30:04 And you guys are going to like this.

30:06 Sentimental stupidity.

30:08 And that's--

30:08 That is pretty good.

30:09 That is pretty good.

30:10 Because you get these cars that might only be worth X,

30:13 but you're going to put Y into it,

30:15 because you don't care what it's worth.

30:16 To you, it means more.

30:17 And that's kind of where that kicks in.

30:19 There's plenty of cars that I own that I am, for sure,

30:21 upside down in.

30:22 But I don't care, because I don't want to sell it.

30:24 I love it.

30:25 And it's part of me.

30:26 And that's kind of what it is.

30:28 But fun fact on the GTO.

30:29 I learned this.

30:30 Do you know who designed the GTO?

30:33 The '64?

30:35 I actually-- oh, DeLorean.

30:36 I know DeLorean was-- yeah, John DeLorean was a big--

30:37 Yeah.

30:38 Yeah.

30:38 John DeLorean.

30:39 And that was technically the first muscle car.

30:41 And then I learned that GTO--

30:42 I would have never guessed this-- is Gran Turismo Amigato.

30:44 Yes.

30:45 And I was like, this is--

30:46 And Ferrari got incensed.

30:48 So Ferrari got very mad that Pontiac would--

30:51 because Ferrari built the GTOs in the early '60s.

30:53 These are cars now that are worth tens of millions

30:55 of dollars.

30:55 Exactly.

30:56 I think one sold for $50-something million.

30:58 And so they were super mad at Pontiac.

31:00 But do you know the famous car and driver story?

31:03 So David E. Davis at the time was the editor of Car

31:05 and Driver.

31:05 And there's a very famous cover where it was GTO versus GTO.

31:09 And so they ran this test where they raced a '64 Pontiac GTO

31:13 against a Ferrari 250 GTO.

31:16 Except they did not have a Ferrari 250 GTO.

31:19 And they basically made the whole thing up.

31:22 And the car that they got from Pontiac

31:24 had a 421 in it with a McKellar cam and all the stuff in it.

31:28 So they had-- yeah.

31:28 So they had this ringer Pontiac that they

31:30 put frickin' Dan Gurney in.

31:33 And so Dan Gurney's making laps--

31:34 I think it was at Riverside or something.

31:36 And they're like, oh, man, this thing's--

31:38 and they wrote the story as if the Ferrari was

31:40 on the racetrack with it.

31:41 And so, of course, they come out to the end and say,

31:43 well, Pontiac's better.

31:45 And the whole thing was a frickin' sham.

31:47 It's unbelievable.

31:48 Yeah.

31:49 Awesome.

31:49 Oh, yeah.

31:50 Awesome.

31:50 What'd they do for imagery?

31:51 I don't-- I wasn't--

31:53 The cover is an illustration.

31:55 And then it was like-- it's basically

31:56 like a split-screen TV show where

31:57 you think the two guys are in the same room,

31:59 but they're not.

32:01 And then they claim that the GTO went 0 to 111 in 11 seconds.

32:04 Oh.

32:05 Yeah.

32:06 It's faster than most new cars.

32:07 Exactly.

32:07 Yeah.

32:08 That was the claim on a bias--

32:10 on a bias-applied tire that's this wide.

32:12 Yeah.

32:13 I'm taking some editorial notes here mentally

32:15 for some upcoming issues of Hot Rod Magazine.

32:19 So for you, you own all this different stuff

32:21 and have done all this different stuff.

32:23 What do you want to do next, like for your next car?

32:25 What is that?

32:26 Or is there a halo car for you that you don't have yet--

32:29 '80 Corvette.

32:29 --that you want?

32:30 [LAUGHTER]

32:31 I get another-- you know what?

32:32 I love the Corvettes.

32:34 One of my oldest brothers, he loves the Corvettes right now.

32:37 And we've been looking at some different ones.

32:40 But my dream car--

32:41 I have one in my warehouse, but it's not all original.

32:43 It's a friend's 1967 Shelby GT500.

32:46 Sweet.

32:46 So everyone's got that generational movie

32:49 that really they love.

32:50 And I know my dad was like, "Bullet," right?

32:53 But then for me, it was watching Nicolas Cage in Gone

32:55 in 60 Seconds.

32:56 It's one of those movies I've probably seen.

32:58 I couldn't even tell you how many times.

32:59 And I just watched that movie over and over.

33:02 And the whole scene, everything, it's just so crazy.

33:05 And I've always loved that car.

33:06 So a good friend of mine, Alan, he

33:08 had bought a '67 Mustang that they made look like a GT500.

33:12 And they had 351 block, stroke to 427,

33:17 was it pro-charged with liquid methanol injection.

33:19 Oh, wow.

33:19 OK.

33:19 So it's putting out close to 900 horsepower with liquid meth.

33:22 And that thing rips.

33:24 It is one of those cars where if you don't not

33:26 know how to drive that car, it will drive you into a wall.

33:28 Yeah, sure.

33:29 It is so much fun.

33:30 It's just-- it's rad.

33:32 It's crazy.

33:33 It's loud.

33:34 And that is probably my dream car, that.

33:37 And I really love the Shelby Daytonas.

33:39 Oh, yeah.

33:40 A lot of car you see all the time.

33:41 Daytona Coupe.

33:42 Yes.

33:43 I love it.

33:43 Those are beautiful.

33:44 Such a unique car.

33:45 That's the thing is, I've always kind of loved Ford.

33:49 But I find that I have more GM than Ford, just because they

33:53 kind of produce more cars.

33:54 Yeah.

33:55 Sure.

33:55 But it's-- yeah, I just--

33:57 I love it all.

33:58 So you're probably familiar with this story.

33:59 But the Daytona Coupe, they designed that thing

34:02 because the Cobras aerodynamically were bad.

34:04 And they would go race these cars,

34:06 and endurance race them, and sports car races.

34:08 And they just could not make, like on the Mulsanne Straight,

34:11 160 some miles an hour that the show-- the Cobra itself

34:13 did not have the aerodynamics to go faster.

34:15 So Shelby hires Peter Brock, young designer,

34:19 one of the guys that worked with Bill Mitchell designing

34:21 the early C2 and C3 Corvettes.

34:24 And so they say, hey, we want to build this coupe.

34:26 And he comes up with this shape.

34:28 And they all hate it.

34:30 To the point where the other guys basically

34:32 refused to work on the car.

34:33 So like the very first one of those coupes,

34:35 it was like Peter Brock and like the janitor

34:36 like built this thing.

34:37 Like Phil Remington wouldn't work on it.

34:39 None of those guys would touch it.

34:41 And then they get it on the racetrack.

34:42 And they figure, OK, now the thing will go 210.

34:45 So to me, the Daytona coupe is one of my favorite cars

34:49 of all time.

34:49 Shape-wise, it's very beautiful.

34:51 It's so sexy.

34:52 And look, you've got Superformance and Factory 5.

34:54 They make really nice bodies that they make.

34:56 And to your point, these are things

34:58 that now a guy that has a couple of bucks, not over the top

35:01 money, can attain one of those cars.

35:03 And you can.

35:04 I mean, look, I found one that was online for sale.

35:06 And I think it was probably on the lower end when it was about

35:08 '89 or something like that, which

35:10 is going to be a cheaper build for one of those.

35:12 But you have people who are doing crazy ones.

35:14 I think even the crazy ones, you're

35:15 maybe into a quarter million.

35:16 Yeah.

35:17 Which, in retrospect, to compare that to a complete frame-off

35:20 custom build, which might be up to a million--

35:22 look at the Ring Brothers, right?

35:23 Yeah.

35:24 Or Kendigit, any of these guys, Chip,

35:26 they're doing their entry level 700.

35:28 And those cars are absolutely insane.

35:30 Everything is custom to the T. But on those Daytonas,

35:33 I've just--

35:33 I love it.

35:34 And what I also like is the reverse hood.

35:36 Oh, yeah.

35:36 Yeah.

35:37 And then when I learned about the hood

35:38 and the whole clamshell effect of it

35:40 and why they were doing that on European cars,

35:41 because if your hood were to come up on American,

35:44 you pop.

35:45 But otherwise, the wind's going to hold your hood down.

35:47 So it's technically never going to block your vision.

35:50 And it's just you continue to learn more and more.

35:53 And you dive into some of these older GM cars,

35:57 where they have this spray nozzle for snow.

36:00 Yeah, the liquid tire chains and the Camaro.

36:03 That was a very short-lived option.

36:04 Yeah, did you ever hear about that one?

36:05 So rad.

36:06 I remember seeing the ads, actually,

36:07 in the old issues of Hot Rod.

36:08 Yeah, the liquid tire chain.

36:09 And it was a very short-time factory option.

36:11 And for those of you that don't live in a cold climate,

36:14 basically what they did was they put these two almost windshield

36:17 washer pumps in the trunk.

36:18 And there was two bottles of basically

36:20 like ammonia solution, right?

36:22 And so if you got the thing stuck,

36:24 you would fire these pumps up, and it

36:26 would shoot this ammonia that would then melt the snow.

36:28 Well, what guys figured out was you could put bleach in there

36:30 and do these hellacious frickin' burnouts.

36:33 All of a sudden, you could fire the bleach on the tires,

36:35 and you looked like Don Perdomo in a funnel car.

36:38 That's awesome.

36:38 And so that, yeah, if you actually-- if you find a--

36:41 like, I believe it was 69-year model year option only,

36:43 and it was only available for like six months.

36:45 OK.

36:45 But yeah, they did.

36:47 There's so many of those great stories,

36:48 like the GTO with the active exhaust on it.

36:51 They have factory exhaust cutouts.

36:53 Oh.

36:54 So 1970, they put an option on these cars.

36:57 And they don't-- this is, again, when

36:59 DeLorean was still at Pontiac.

37:00 And DeLorean was kind of famously

37:02 one of these outlaw executive guys

37:04 that would just do things to make people mad.

37:05 So they came up with what they called an active exhaust.

37:09 And so you had factory exhaust cutouts.

37:11 And if you look under, there is a switch.

37:14 And it was actually a cable deal.

37:15 So there would be a little handle under the dash pulling

37:17 you to open it up.

37:18 So you could go back and watch a commercial.

37:20 Super Bowl, they bought a Super--

37:22 they didn't tell anybody they were doing this.

37:23 They bought a Super Bowl commercial in 1970, right?

37:26 And the commercial was effing awesome.

37:28 So this dude's sitting there, Ram Air GTO,

37:30 he comes rumbling into a drive.

37:31 And all of a sudden, he pulls the thing off.

37:34 Cool.

37:34 They ran the commercial once.

37:36 They ran it once during the Super Bowl.

37:38 GM canceled it because they said it was promoting basically

37:40 street racing.

37:41 Wow.

37:41 But to your point, there's all these cool little side stories

37:45 in all these old cars.

37:46 And the fun part about it, when you say the cutouts,

37:48 is once I really learned about cutouts,

37:51 now probably like 60% of the cars I do, we put cutouts on.

37:55 Right, because it's just a little flange.

37:56 And then you hit the button.

37:57 What I use is the little remotes,

38:00 like you would for an alarm, a lock lock.

38:02 And I have them on the key chain.

38:03 I pop it.

38:03 I usually do full piping all the way out the back,

38:06 dumped, so you can't even see it.

38:07 Then I'll do a side exhaust on it, depending on what car.

38:10 And then my side exhaust is going to be my straight pipe.

38:11 So like on my dad's '66 Mustang, his Fastback

38:14 that we brought out here, we did that option on it.

38:16 So this morning when we were firing up the cars,

38:19 my poor neighbors, at like 7 AM, I get in my truck.

38:23 It's nice and choppy.

38:25 And all of a sudden, his thing fires up.

38:27 He goes, yeah.

38:28 And then he hits the button.

38:29 And I'm like, oh my god, you're just going to hit me?

38:31 And then my other buddy rolls up.

38:33 We start going down the street.

38:34 I'm like, well, yeah, probably just got some angry neighbors

38:37 on that one.

38:38 But you know what?

38:39 That's the fun part about it.

38:41 And it's cool to see that there's these tasteful things

38:44 they did decades ago that we're still replicating,

38:48 or that we haven't made better because they did it right.

38:52 That's true.

38:52 And that's the amazing aspect of it is, to me,

38:55 I think that muscle cars and pre-war cars--

38:57 some of the pre-war cars are some of the most gorgeous cars

39:00 I've ever seen, right?

39:01 Those super sleek and clean styles and all that.

39:05 We'll never make cars like that again.

39:07 It's gone.

39:08 You couldn't because of the safety regulations and stuff.

39:10 Well, right.

39:10 But even all the way down to the way they're actually made,

39:13 they'll just never look like that.

39:16 I see a muscle car, and you always

39:18 see the old guy in a C10 or something, super clean.

39:22 Then you've got a guy in a Ferrari, right?

39:23 And you're in LA.

39:24 I look at the guy in the Ferrari.

39:25 He's windows down.

39:26 Look at me.

39:27 Look at me.

39:27 Then I look at the old guy.

39:28 He's got his windows up.

39:29 And he's just driving.

39:30 I look at him and be like, thumbs up, man.

39:33 Because that's what they love.

39:34 I love it when I take out my muscle cars, and people see me,

39:36 and they're like, love it, love it.

39:38 And they'll go like this.

39:39 I'm like, oh, you shouldn't have done that.

39:41 I'll just lay it down.

39:43 Yeah, I'm very easy to instigate.

39:46 I think we all are to some degree, even you.

39:47 Even mild-mannered John.

39:49 I'll light him up a little occasionally.

39:52 That's the fun part about it, is you

39:54 don't got to take off traction control.

39:56 You don't have it.

39:57 Yeah.

39:58 You do what's called, it's your foot, right?

39:59 Yeah.

40:00 That's the traction control.

40:02 So I guess, when you come to an event like this,

40:06 and you look around, I'm guessing

40:08 you're the type of guy that's going to leave here.

40:09 By the time you leave on Sunday, there's

40:11 probably going to be some notes in your phone,

40:12 some notes on your notepad somewhere,

40:14 of just stuff that you can take back.

40:15 And when a customer comes in looking for something,

40:17 you now have a little bit of a palette that you can say,

40:20 oh, what if we try this?

40:21 What if we do this?

40:21 And that's exactly it.

40:23 I love-- it's like an artist, right?

40:25 They go to an art show, and they look, wow,

40:27 look at this inspiration.

40:28 Look at this.

40:28 Look at that.

40:29 And that's how I feel being here.

40:30 I'm looking at all these different cars,

40:32 seeing their different setups, going, OK, that's really cool.

40:35 That looks tasteful.

40:36 OK, that's time period correct.

40:37 And you start to get a different spectrum.

40:39 And things I was never thinking before

40:41 start populating in my head.

40:43 So exactly what you're saying is, it just--

40:45 it makes me excited.

40:46 And I've already been walking around today.

40:48 I'm like, that's really cool.

40:49 One of the things I love--

40:50 I think it was SEMA 2021.

40:53 I saw a lot of the C10s, and they

40:55 were doing-- where they're cutting holes

40:56 in the bed of the truck, where it's popping up

40:58 so you can work on the rear axle brakes and all that,

41:01 drive-throwing.

41:01 And I saw the guys parked next to me over there today.

41:04 And I saw that.

41:05 I'm like, I absolutely love that on those trucks.

41:08 And I think on one of the next C10s I build, I got to do that.

41:11 That's a top.

41:12 John actually has that function in his truck.

41:14 But it's just that the wood in the bed is rotted away.

41:16 Oh.

41:17 He's done it in a very environmentally friendly

41:20 fashion.

41:21 There's toothpicks from here to the Pacific Ocean.

41:27 Yeah, I can't put anything that's not as wide as this,

41:31 because it'll fall right through the floor.

41:33 Well, at least you can fit your hands in.

41:34 He gets out of helping everybody move,

41:36 because there'll be a lamp, occasionally a lamp,

41:39 or a dresser just fall out the bottom.

41:40 It's good.

41:41 It's totally strategic.

41:43 It sounds dumb, but I actually like that,

41:45 because it's kind of cool to look out the window

41:48 and watch the suspension going down.

41:49 So I kind of--

41:50 and I was like, ah, that's really cool.

41:53 When Lucky first put his C10 together,

41:55 he didn't have any floor in the bed.

41:57 And I was just like, oh my god, he'd do these burnouts.

42:00 And just like this smoke would just rise up,

42:02 like the nuclear--

42:04 Like a cooling tower.

42:05 Yeah, yeah, it was like that.

42:07 But you just see, you've got the drive shaft, the nine inch,

42:10 and then you had these big tires in the back.

42:12 And all of a sudden, it just vaporizes smoke,

42:14 and the whole thing fills up.

42:15 I was like, that is just cool.

42:17 We'd be driving somewhere, and I'd

42:18 be looking out the window, watching the rear suspension

42:20 move, and the U-joints, and all that.

42:22 Just cool stuff.

42:24 So yeah, I should--

42:26 I could very easily put a new bed in mine.

42:28 It's super cool.

42:29 It looks proper, man.

42:30 It looks proper.

42:31 Time period correct.

42:32 Yeah, if you look back there, and it

42:33 looks like Norm Abrams was out there putting

42:35 a nice walnut in there.

42:36 Like, we don't need the new Yankee workshop.

42:39 I kind of like what we got going on.

42:41 With a dado cutter.

42:43 We used to watch that on PBS.

42:45 Oh yeah, the guy with the greatest flannel collection

42:47 in American history.

42:48 I love the flannel, yes.

42:49 It was untouchable.

42:50 If I do replace a bed, I will wear flannel shorts.

42:52 I like it.

42:54 One of the things I often think about hot rod builders

42:56 and car builders is like, you're almost, in a way,

42:59 like a barber to a degree.

43:00 Because I think you get a lot of customers that walk in and--

43:03 I'm always amazed.

43:04 I've had the same haircuts since I was nine years old.

43:06 I get the same damn thing.

43:08 High and tight, boom.

43:09 But a lot of people walk into a barber shop,

43:11 and the guy says, what do you want to do?

43:13 And they go, I don't know, like, a little something here,

43:15 a little something--

43:16 I mean, this isn't something John Deals would--

43:18 I can't relate, man.

43:19 I can't relate to that.

43:21 But no, but in your situation, I think you guys all

43:24 seem to get a lot of that, where a guy walks in,

43:26 and he knows he wants a car.

43:28 And he knows he sees what he wants here,

43:30 but it's not necessarily going to come out of his mouth.

43:31 And you need to make it so when he finally sees it,

43:34 he likes it.

43:35 That's the thing that kind of is mystifying to me.

43:37 How do you translate when somebody comes in and says,

43:39 well, I kind of want to do something, but I don't know?

43:42 So perfect example, right?

43:44 I get dealing with some of these professional athletes

43:48 or these business tycoon guys or these A-lists.

43:51 They just see something, and they go, it sounds cool.

43:53 It looks fast.

43:54 I don't know.

43:55 I'm like, so descriptive.

43:58 This is fantastic.

43:59 And then I have to extract what they want.

44:02 Is that where you were saying you use an illustrator

44:04 or a renderer?

44:05 So I used Chip on the first two seasons.

44:06 And it was funny.

44:07 So first episode we ever shoot, I

44:10 had bought in this T-Bird with my older brother.

44:12 And total pile.

44:14 My oldest brother has a knack for just finding these cars.

44:17 I'm not going to go into.

44:19 It's not a mental stupidity.

44:21 But so meet Chip for the first time.

44:24 He's like, OK.

44:25 And I was like, I want to make it a hot rod.

44:28 Or no, I said beach cruiser.

44:29 He's like, so what colors do you want?

44:31 I said, red and black.

44:32 He goes, does that sound like a beach cruiser?

44:33 I'm like, no.

44:34 He goes, maybe white.

44:36 I said, I like that.

44:36 He goes, maybe that.

44:37 He starts extracting these things out of my head.

44:40 And then when you work with someone

44:41 like that and some of these other builders,

44:43 you start to learn there's a method to the madness.

44:46 And then I started learning how to extract information out

44:48 of people without them necessarily

44:50 knowing that information was being extracted.

44:53 Because then it's a natural conversation.

44:54 They're not thinking hard.

44:55 They're just thinking easy.

44:57 Yeah, and you're not sitting there with a checklist,

44:58 like color, wheels.

45:00 Like you're trying to get it from them in a natural state.

45:02 Right.

45:02 And that's one of the things.

45:04 So like this gentleman I was with this past Saturday

45:07 who goes with the 32, he looks at me and he goes,

45:10 I think I want that.

45:11 OK, so what do you want about it, though?

45:13 Well, I want to have coilover suspension.

45:16 He starts giving me a list.

45:17 I'm like, so why don't we just change out the entire chassis?

45:21 OK.

45:22 Yeah, well, what kind of power do you want in it?

45:24 Well, I want to be reliable, but I want some good power.

45:27 OK, that's really descriptive.

45:28 I'm like, so how about we do a small block, maybe

45:31 like a 347 stroker, do a nice transmission

45:33 so you have overdrive.

45:34 How much horsepower do you want?

45:35 I want to be able to burn the tires.

45:36 OK, so do you want a blower on it?

45:39 No, no, no, I don't want to hear a whine.

45:40 OK, so maybe we want like 450 horse in a car like that.

45:43 Yeah.

45:44 OK, is it important to stop?

45:45 Oh, I need to be able to stop.

45:47 OK, so then disc brakes.

45:48 And so it's like you're having this conversation,

45:50 but you're hitting these mental checkpoints, right?

45:53 OK, he wants this.

45:54 He wants this.

45:54 All right, and then you start to get down to the color.

45:57 To me, color is kind of one of the last things.

46:01 You have a general idea, but when the car comes in,

46:04 it's figure out what we need to order.

46:07 Let's break it down.

46:07 Let's strip it.

46:08 Let's start sending stuff off.

46:10 And then once we've done the initial work,

46:12 depending on how crazy we are on going with the build,

46:15 it's got to go paint and body, because then it's

46:16 going to be there for a minute to be done right.

46:19 And that's the toughest part, in my opinion, is paint and body.

46:22 Sure.

46:23 Takes the longest.

46:24 It's very labor intensive.

46:26 Yeah.

46:26 Expensive.

46:26 And it's awesome when you think it's perfect,

46:28 then you put in the sunlight.

46:29 You're like, oh, that's terrific.

46:31 What color sanded again?

46:34 What is the highest horsepower car you guys have done so far?

46:38 And I'm not putting you on the spot.

46:39 I'm just-- because to me, it's interesting.

46:41 You are, to me, very sensible in these ideas

46:43 where you're not saying to some guy, oh, yeah,

46:46 you should put 900 horse motor in this thing.

46:48 I don't know.

46:49 I've done a lot of mid fives.

46:51 550.

46:52 But good, solid, fast, drivable cars.

46:55 Right.

46:55 And with the faster stuff, I mean,

46:57 one of my daily drivers, I have a Trackhawk that's--

46:59 I have tuned to 840 horse, which, I mean, that's different.

47:02 Yeah.

47:03 It's muscle-esque.

47:05 It's got a Hellcat drivetrain.

47:06 But I'd probably say that-- actually,

47:08 that Challenger, the rest of the mod,

47:10 is putting out about 650 all motor.

47:12 Got big ol' intake on it.

47:13 And I'd probably say, for the muscle cars,

47:16 that's it, unless I were to count that GT500, which

47:18 is about 900.

47:20 And that thing is just so wicked.

47:22 If I could do anything else on it,

47:23 I'd put some fatter back tires on it,

47:25 just because you don't have enough grip

47:27 with that much power.

47:28 It feels like you want to spin the rims.

47:30 I believe it.

47:31 So you went to-- recently went to Thermal Club.

47:33 Oh, yeah.

47:34 And so--

47:35 So much fun.

47:35 I think all three of us can maybe say the same thing.

47:38 It may be you're the difference at this table.

47:40 But there is no way-- there is no more humbling thing

47:42 when you think you're reasonably fast in a car,

47:45 and then you are with a professional race car driver.

47:47 You realize that I might as well be in a shopping cart.

47:49 Oh, so I got the best story for you about Thermal Club.

47:52 Yeah, for sure.

47:52 Let me tell you.

47:53 So went down to Thermal Club back in August.

47:56 Buddy of mine, Don Cusick, from Cusick Motorsports,

47:58 he said, hey, come on down.

48:01 We'll have you drive the track and all that stuff.

48:03 So I got to drive GT3 RS, Emotion Y-Sec package,

48:07 everything trick on it, runs off race fuel.

48:09 I got to race that thing.

48:10 Ton of fun.

48:11 So you're talking about 150 on straights and everything,

48:13 and downshifting aggressive this way, that way.

48:16 Ton of fun.

48:16 Then they bring out the track attack car,

48:18 which are the Hendrix Motorsports--

48:19 The stock car, basically.

48:21 Oh, nice.

48:21 Right.

48:21 So what they do is they take it from the season before.

48:23 They go back to Hendrix.

48:25 The new ones have 427s and paddle shifters.

48:27 The gen 1s were the dog box with 454s.

48:30 So that's what I drove.

48:31 And those things are so sensitive.

48:33 If you have your hand on it, it doesn't know what to do.

48:34 It clicks in and out of gear.

48:36 So it's like boom, boom, or bang, bang,

48:37 and then you're holding.

48:39 So I drove those.

48:40 Ton of fun.

48:40 We go back down, and this was about a month and a half ago.

48:43 We're filming down there with them,

48:45 because we're working on something with Thermal Club.

48:47 And they have a big track car day.

48:48 So there's about nine of those Hendrix Motorsports track attack

48:52 cars that get delivered.

48:54 So people are running all day.

48:55 You got people that race those cars out there on that track.

48:59 They hammer on them.

49:00 Oh, yeah.

49:01 So we're like, hey, we're going to do a parade lap.

49:03 So Don goes, jump in the other track attack car,

49:05 pull it out from the garage.

49:06 And everyone's already rode up in the pit.

49:08 I'm like, man, I'd hate to be in the front of this.

49:11 Well, so I get in the car.

49:13 Lo and behold.

49:14 Yeah.

49:15 And Ruben, the lead pick guy, goes, you're out.

49:19 You're out.

49:19 I'm like, no.

49:20 He goes, yes.

49:21 And I'm like, no.

49:22 And he goes, dude, get out.

49:24 So I pull out.

49:25 Next thing I know, I'm like, this is awful.

49:27 So I get out there, and I'm pretty calm under pressure.

49:30 But now I'm like, I got these guys.

49:31 I have thousands of hours in these cars on me.

49:33 I'm like, all right.

49:35 So I pull out, and I start trying to get away from it.

49:37 I look in the rear view mirror, and all of a sudden,

49:38 I see cars go like this.

49:39 Fwoomp, split.

49:40 I'm like, oh, god.

49:41 So I come in.

49:42 It was supposed to be a parade lap.

49:44 I start trying to run it.

49:45 And then they're right up on me running it.

49:47 And I'm like, oh, great.

49:48 So it was supposed to be like three laps.

49:50 Fourth lap.

49:51 Fifth lap.

49:52 So I come on the back straight, come down.

49:54 I downshift too high.

49:56 All of a sudden, I feel the back end start.

49:57 I'm like, nope, it's going.

49:59 Clutch brake.

49:59 Fwoomp, 180.

50:01 And then right off into the dirt, held it in.

50:04 So we're fine.

50:05 It's still in gear.

50:06 I watch them go vroom, vroom, vroom all past me

50:08 and put it right back on the track.

50:10 I get over the pit.

50:11 Everyone starts giving this guy Don Kraft.

50:13 They're like, hey, Don, we saw you spin.

50:15 He goes, no, that was Steve.

50:16 I'm like, yeah, that was me and Don's car.

50:19 And everyone, there's so much camaraderie there.

50:21 And they look at me.

50:22 They go, hey, Steve, did you work out today?

50:25 I was like, no, not yet.

50:26 They're like, no, you did.

50:27 How was spin class?

50:29 Look at that.

50:30 Really, really clever.

50:31 Really clever.

50:32 Yeah.

50:32 And everyone's just giving me a ton of crap about it.

50:35 But it was hilarious.

50:36 And being down at Thermal Club, I mean,

50:38 the collections that are there.

50:39 Yeah, it's an amazing place.

50:40 You know, the IndyCar Series is going

50:43 to have a race at Thermal Club in March, kind

50:46 of a neat, unique experience.

50:47 And Don Cusick is a huge IndyCar supporter.

50:50 He runs cars at the Indy 500 every year.

50:52 So it's really neat.

50:54 I just know-- and Randy Popes is a guy

50:57 I've sat in the passenger seat with and some of these guys.

50:59 And it's astonishing.

51:01 When you're in a race car, in a very high performance car,

51:04 with somebody who actually knows what the hell they're doing,

51:07 it is amazing.

51:07 Yeah.

51:08 It's a blast.

51:09 I have a quick story.

51:10 It's not very fun.

51:11 But my Subaru, if you remember--

51:14 Yeah.

51:14 I had a 1999 Subaru wagon, like a C wagon,

51:18 that I took for a couple track days for NASA.

51:21 And the instructor got in.

51:24 And he was driving past this Porsche 911

51:27 in my Subaru station wagon.

51:29 And I was like, OK, that right there

51:31 is the difference between me as a driver,

51:34 this guy who had the Porsche as a driver.

51:36 And then he's getting--

51:38 I was just like, god, at least I'm not the guy in the Porsche

51:40 getting passed by the Subaru.

51:42 You'd have to wear a paper bag on your head for a month.

51:44 Really?

51:44 That's tough.

51:45 I mean, my god.

51:45 For sure.

51:46 So that was-- even just as a passenger, I'm like,

51:49 oh, my car is passing a Porsche.

51:52 Go, baby, go.

51:53 I know.

51:53 That was a blast.

51:55 Yeah, it's a humbling experience, for sure.

51:57 It is.

51:57 And my first time when I was at Thermal, I got taken on a--

52:01 usually it's a hot lap.

52:02 It turned into plural, laps.

52:05 And I don't like being a passenger in a car like that.

52:08 And so this guy, Anders Krohn, he's a professional driver.

52:11 So he goes, here, jump in the Porsche.

52:13 I'm going to take you on a couple of discovery laps.

52:15 And he's just yanks up the seat belt and everything.

52:17 I'm like, dude, might not turn my stomach.

52:19 He's like, no, trust me.

52:20 You're going to want this.

52:21 You need this.

52:21 You do need this.

52:22 I'm like, all right, well, I have it.

52:24 So I have about four inches in place.

52:25 I go forward.

52:25 He just looks at me and goes, you're going to hate this.

52:27 I'm like, that was really encouraging.

52:29 So then we start going.

52:31 And in the first lap, OK, OK.

52:32 Then next thing you know, he's feeling it.

52:34 He's just slamming on the brake.

52:35 I'm going forward and back, forward and back.

52:37 And that one lap turns into 10.

52:39 So I get out of the car.

52:40 I'm pale white.

52:42 And I'm not doing too good.

52:44 You would have thought I was just in Vegas for a week.

52:46 I'm laying there.

52:47 I'm like, oh, this is fun.

52:49 And then I got to get in the track attack car, which

52:51 actually allowed me to kind of get my equilibrium back.

52:54 But oh, man, you think you're a bad, bad-ass driver.

52:57 And then you get in there with someone else.

52:59 There's always someone bigger and badder.

53:01 And not to be the one-up guy here,

53:02 but I'm going to be for a second.

53:04 I'm like, I got to ride shotgun with the late Ken

53:07 Block at the Team O'Neill rally.

53:09 And it was his North American spec rally car.

53:12 And that was absolutely terrifying.

53:16 And he was so calm.

53:18 We are ripping through the woods.

53:20 I mean, ripping through the woods.

53:21 And we go up this one part, and the course kind of turns around.

53:23 So we go up this huge hill.

53:24 He's like, hey, man, just let-- and again,

53:25 [MIMICS RAPID GUNFIRE]

53:26 He's like, hey, man, just so you know, when we come back,

53:27 that's a jump.

53:28 I'm like, oh, OK, whatever.

53:29 And so again, we go up there, go through the woods.

53:31 We're coming back.

53:32 And he's like, you ready?

53:33 I'm like, I guess.

53:34 And man, we hit this thing.

53:36 And it was probably a second and a half.

53:38 But it was enough air time.

53:39 It was enough hang time to get multiple swear words out

53:42 before we touched earth again.

53:44 Out of your mouth.

53:44 And dude, he was just the coolest.

53:45 I mean, that was--

53:46 I don't claim to know the man, but having spent a little bit

53:48 of time with him and being able to get in a race

53:51 car with somebody who just understood its complete dynamic

53:53 was absolutely unreal.

53:55 It's funny.

53:56 You see that video.

53:57 You see the one where he took that all electric, that $12

53:58 million Audi on the Las Vegas Strip?

54:01 And there's this one part of the video that I've watched probably

54:04 15 times.

54:04 And it's right as he's about to yank the handbrake,

54:06 you just see this look on his face.

54:08 And he's like, I'm going--

54:09 it's just like--

54:10 Knows exactly what he's about to do.

54:11 He knows what he's about to do.

54:12 And there's almost this look of nervousness,

54:14 but this sense of, I'm going for it.

54:17 And it's just-- I kept watching it over and over.

54:20 I'm like, he's fearless.

54:22 Either he has fear and he's conquering his fears,

54:24 or he's fearless.

54:25 I was like, either or.

54:26 I'm like, this guy is just nuts.

54:28 Next level.

54:29 Yeah, and those rally cars, I think

54:30 those might be some of the most skilled drivers in the world.

54:32 Oh, absolutely.

54:33 It is.

54:33 I was just going to say that.

54:35 They are-- I would hate to be the driver's guy next.

54:39 The co-driver.

54:40 Yeah, the co-driver.

54:40 The navigator.

54:41 Oh my god, looking--

54:42 dude, I can't even read text messages

54:44 and drive without getting motion sickness.

54:45 This guy is right turn, down brake, this.

54:47 I'm like, no, sir.

54:48 You've probably seen those videos where the car crashes.

54:51 And the co-driver's just like, oh, OK, you OK?

54:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

54:53 The car's upside down.

54:54 The windshield's yanked and the guy

54:56 pulls his notes up and puts them on the dash.

54:58 It's like, what the hell is wrong with you guys?

55:00 It's like another day.

55:01 Sips his coffee.

55:02 Yeah, yeah.

55:02 It's like, all right, well, I guess

55:03 we're going home early this weekend.

55:04 That is an entirely different level.

55:06 World Rally.

55:07 It's gnarly.

55:08 And then you look at one of the biggest sports right now,

55:12 which is F1.

55:13 And ever since that Drive to Survive show came out,

55:15 which I'm sure you guys have seen on Netflix,

55:17 the sport has gotten bigger than ever

55:19 because it's like people realize these aren't grown men.

55:21 These are kids.

55:22 These are like--

55:23 Young guys.

55:23 Yes.

55:24 --they're keen to like-- if you're 28, you're an old man.

55:26 Yeah.

55:27 Then you look at Fernando Alonso,

55:28 who I absolutely love right now.

55:29 Because he's old man.

55:30 He's crushing people in the Aston Martin.

55:32 But you look at these kids, and they're doing what?

55:34 220, 230?

55:35 Then downshifting and hitting the turn at 70 miles an hour

55:38 seconds later.

55:39 I mean, it is just fantastic to watch.

55:41 It's so adrenaline rushing.

55:43 And then when you see the on-cam car, and all of a sudden,

55:47 you just see the vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,

55:49 but you're on there.

55:49 It's almost like I get chills watching that,

55:51 because I'm just thinking, I'm in the race seat.

55:53 They do a really spectacular job there with the on-cars

55:57 to put you in the cockpit.

55:59 And it's amazing just seeing what

56:02 racing and cars have evolved to.

56:04 It is just-- it's like, where do we go from here?

56:08 And I guess it's these hybrids now

56:10 with electric motors and the combustion engines

56:13 with the bi-turbo or whatever it is.

56:15 I mean, that's where we're at now.

56:17 It's like a hyper hyper car.

56:19 Well, Steve, thank you, man.

56:20 It's been a really fun chat to have you come in here.

56:23 And certainly, congratulations on the success.

56:25 And it's cool what you're doing here.

56:27 Even just what you're doing this weekend is cool.

56:29 Bringing the pickup out here, having the parts,

56:31 having the tools, having the stuff to help people out,

56:33 and being your first time.

56:34 I think it's a great way for them to kick off

56:35 this power tour experience.

56:36 Yeah, absolutely.

56:37 Thank you.

56:37 I appreciate your perspective on building drivers' cars

56:41 and fulfilling people's dreams.

56:42 It's really cool.

56:43 And I just want to thank both you guys for having me on here.

56:45 And it's just-- it's so cool to be able to talk

56:48 with like-minded people and then have

56:51 this whole level of camaraderie.

56:52 And I'm excited for a fun weekend.

56:54 Hopefully no breakdowns.

56:55 But if there are, you know who to call.

56:57 He's the guy.

56:58 That's right.

56:58 He's got everything to rely on.

56:59 Ghostbusters, baby.

57:00 Yeah, they got you handled.

57:01 Yeah.

57:02 Thank you to Steve and John, as always.

57:03 Great conversation here at the Hot Rod Pod,

57:06 where it all began.

57:07 We'll be back soon with more great guests

57:09 and probably another guy that builds cars somewhere

57:11 down the line.

57:11 We can't seem to get away from these builders.

57:13 We'll be back soon.

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