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I'm Matt Miller and.
I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Hot Pursuit.
Okay, we had a chance to record this from the same studio in the same city today, but I screwed that.
No, you didn't it all. You didn't it all. And honestly, I'm not at all surprised that you are not here, and I really don't think you should be. I thought it was really ambitious and possibly crazy that you were going to be here, but I wasn't going to say anything.
So you are in New York City? Yeah, First of all, what are you doing in New York City?
So I'm in New York because every year, for a few days at the beginning of the year, we have a Pursuits Editorial Planning meeting and we just spend a few days like setting goals and planning our editorial coverages much as we can, and venting and bonding. And we had a big dinner last night with the team. Shout
out to Chris Rouser, who's the editor. We have some new editors that we got to meet, and so it's just sort of an annual confab of all of our Pursuits coverage, which includes of course watches and art and food and travel all the fun things and cars of course, so it's fun.
I love pursuits, by the way, and I follow now so many of you. I realize on Instagram that I see these things happen. Obviously I follow you, and I follow Chris, and I have ever since I've known you too. But Sarah Rappaport used to work with me in TV Pursuits.
Yes, and she's killing it. She Sarah is based in London, as you know, and she's killing it, especially with these really high dollar real estate listings that she goes to see and then she gets all of this very great I don't want to say gossipy because that sounds like it's trivializing it, but really insidery information about these really
cool spots. So yeah, she's doing great. And of course Kate Crater does our food coverage and like every every seems to just be in love with her, so she's great. And then James Tarmi of course does our real real other real estate, but also a lot of art and sales, so he's great. And of course Nikki Extine the travels are yes.
And I used some of her tips over the last couple of weeks Nikki stuff, and I had an insane.
I want to trip, tell me everything.
So first of all, I went to a very remote spot in Indonesia and West Papua actually for a couple of weeks of scuba diving. And it's my fourth time at this one resort. It's called Missoul and it is my one of my favorite places on Earth, if not mine.
You had been there before and I've.
Been there for it. Yeah, it's it's the best diving that I've ever seen. And I've dived in a lot of different locations and the Caribbean, in Europe and the US, but nothing compares to Raja Ampat, which is where the seool is. So that was amazing. But the thing is, it takes forever to get there.
How did you get back? Walk us through your return itinerary.
So the place is five hours away by boat from any airport and from any land. So we had to take a five hour speedboat to Sarong, which is like.
This is going back, this is coming back to the States.
Yeah, coming back to the States. Okay, I did the same thing in reverse. So then in Sarong, you've got to sleep there. There's only like one flight in and out of sarm to Jakarta, so you've got to sleep in Soong. You fly to Jakarta the next morning, and then from Jakarta you can go any number of ways. We've gone through Tokyo, We've gone through Istanbul, We've gone through Doha, and this time we chose to go through Singapore, okay,
which is very cool. And on the way there we actually stopped and spent a couple of days in Singapore. That's where I used some of Nikki's tips. Cool because they have amazing architecture and hotels and it's such a cool, like cool trading spot that was set up by like Raffles, some British you know, colonialist a couple hundred years ago. So it was really fun for me. But the flight from Singapore back to New York is eighteen hours.
So I've never been on a flight that long. That's really really long.
It's insane. It's just so so nuts.
Yeah, I mean, what did you do on the flight.
On the way there, I watched like six movies. Yeah, And on the way back I tried to sleep as much as I could because I was getting back at six and I wanted to get six am, Yeah, six am, and I wanted to get to work. Yeah yeah. But by the time we landed and got through customs and stuff, I realized I would be no good to anybody in the office.
Yeah, yeah, that seems right. What were the travel tips that you used in Singapore? I'm curious did any in particular stand out?
Well, just the hotels there are amazing. I mean, some of them obviously are not and some of them are. But because it's such a new city, you know, in the late eighteen hundreds, nobody lived there, or only a few Malaysians kind of lived there, and the British found this area, and some Chinese had emigrated there. But there were literally a few hundred people living in Singapore, right
and now there are millions. So because it's so new, they've been able to completely build it, you know, planet with modern engineering, and they've developed a marina and around the trading port that is just spectacular to see. And you know, they the one of the hotels, the Marina Bay Hotel where we stayed, has a few different skyscrapers and then on top there's this giant what looks like a huge cucumber or a bag get that goes across all of the skyscrapers and it's just amazing. There's an
infinity pool, it's a pool. There're some trendy restaurants up there. There's a lot of shopping. That was one thing that disappointed me is the shopping.
What were you shopping for? In particular?
I just when I go to someplace unusual. For example, when I go to Tokyo, I like to go to the real McCoy's or check out you know, some local leather shops.
I was waiting for the leather jacket.
Yes, exactly, these things that you can only get in Tokyo. You know, Clinch boots in Singapore, all the stuff, all the shopping stuff with stuff I could get on Fifth Avenue, like the same store, same brand, Bomber.
Right, yeah, yeah. How was the diving?
On another note, the diving was amazing.
It was good. What animals did you see?
I mean, there are so many fish there. This place in Raja on pot is one of the few spots on the globe where the biodiversity of fish is growing rather than declining. Because of the work that that Missoul has done, they created this huge twelve hundred square kilometer no no take zone, so they've there's no fishing there anymore. They started it about thirty years ago because they found a shark finning camp and all of the different species were being desid.
I remember you said that.
So now it's flourishing and the corals alive and colorful and beautiful, and.
That's so cool.
Yeah, it's amazing.
You don't look too sunburned.
I mean, you look like you got some but I'm underwater. I was diving like four times a day, right, amazing, But it was pretty cool. I did see some I was looking around for some strange cars when I was in Indonesia. When I was in Singapore, I saw a lot of Chinese cars.
Again, I gotta get to China.
Stuff that I'd never seen. Like I was riding around in this MG, the British brand van. It's not a British Wow electric electric like a mini van, although a little larger than you'd think a minivan would be.
Was that an uber or some sort of like yeah, interesting, okay, a grab which is like that's funny. Was it good? I mean, what was it like?
It was?
Uh?
Yeah, it was pretty great for utilitarian you know, purpose vehicle. I saw a lot of hot cars when we pulled up to the Conrad Hotel, which is like a Hilton. I guess that was like Paris's grandfather or whatever. I saw revuel to an orange Revoel toe okay, parked next to McLaren seven point fifty, and there was uh, what's the rolls Royce suv I always forget the name culling in Yeah, and a Ferrari. I think there's a for eighty eight. So there were a bunch of these cars
and I asked the guy at the counter. I was like, yo, are these hotel cars? Like? Can I take one of these? At first spin? He says, no, These are just local businessmen because there's a bar here. They come after to have drinks with their colleagues.
Oh okay, cool, did you see anything?
It was four o'clock.
Old cars, well you know old cars.
No, not really nothing. No. In Indonesia it's mostly you know, beat up plate model Japanese and uh, Korean and Chinese mini vans for taxis and then scooters. But everybody loves Moto GP, which made me feel really home. Even our dive guides were all you know, had chosen either Yamaha or Handa or Dukati, and a lot of these brands, like Honda has their motto is Satuhati, which means one heart, and Yamaha's motto is also in Indonesian. I think it's semicon d depen which means never behind.
And they choose these great information yeah.
Mottos because so many Indonesian people watch Moto GP.
Wow. So if you disappear ever, we should look for you in Indonesia.
Yeah, look for me in Indonesia.
Yeah, we won't look for you in Indonesia. Perfect. I mean it sounds like you sort of dropped right in and felt really comfortable and at home. That's cool.
Yeah, I've already made reservations again for twenty twenty seven. You're a kidding me twenty nine.
Wow, So it's like in every other year type of thing.
Yeah.
Cool.
And they're sold out a lot too, so you can have a fewer servas and then cool. By the way, speaking of racing, not Motor GP but Formula one, I was reading a story that you did on a Mercedes that went over the block for a lot of money. But in the story deeper down, uh, you reported on a couple of other more recent Formula One cars that have gone for big money. Yeah, I thought it was interesting that I didn't know. I'm you know, people who
follow this stuff do. But Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes Formula one Mercedes went for basically twice the price of Mikhael Schumacher's Ferrari. Yeah, and it stuns me.
Yes.
Yeah, the sales were like this year, right or recent?
Yeah? So Hamilton Hamilton sold Is in twenty twenty three for Yeah, I mean almost twenty million, eighteen point eight million. But were you saying that you'd rather have Shoemachers.
Yes, and I'm not. It's not an argument of about who's better better. I know that Hamilton, you know, is could be the greatest of all time and he is still in the midst of making his right his legend. Right, got Ferrari now, but it's not a Ferrari right. So, and Schumacher also for people, I feel like, for people who are buying eight nine million dollar cars, right went I think it went for nine million dollars.
Seven point five, well seven point five probably before premium.
They must they must be, you know, want the Ferrari more, I would think, and Also, the Ferrari is from the golden era of Formula One, before it was sort of dumbed down to like turbocharged two liter four cylinders.
You know, this real use. Now, this is really interesting because you bring up a really good point that, Okay, the number one most expensive car that's ever been sold is Uhlin aut Coupe, which is a Mercedes which sold for one hundred and forty two million dollars in twenty twenty two. And then this.
Very old one and that's it, that's all right.
Yeah, that's an old one from the fifties. And then this nineteen fifty four also Mercedes Streamliner that sold for almost fifty million this week last Saturday, is the second highest price ever taken in public at auction. So both of those top sales are Mercedes vehicles, which is interesting because generally Ferraris are considered, you know, the top the blue chip vehicles.
Although Fanngio drove the Streamliner that you wrote about last week.
Yeah but it but he didn't win any Formula races. Like the thing about this car, and once we get into such weird high rare air, I mean, it's all just sort of theoretical anyway. But The thing about this this Streamliner is yes, Fangio drove it, and so did Sterling Moss, but it didn't actually win any significant races. You know. They Sterling Moss had a couple of fast laps in it, and Fangio won sort of an exhibition style race in Buenos Aires that I'm sure was really cool,
and he did it. You know. The race was actually two different days of racing that they like averaged the time, so it was little. It wasn't actually a Formula one race. So when you talk to people who know these cars really well, they're like, well, of course it's a very special car, but it's not the most special And part of the reason why it's not is because it hadn't won any real significant Formula one races. I mean again, for so those.
Two Mercedes, right the the Streamliner which is the WA ninety six R and the three hundred SLR uln Hoowe to Coop, which is like obviously, you know, one of the most famous Mercedes of all time. Those are from the mid fifties. Yeah, so they're not going to be many of those left, right, the Formula one cars that Hamilton, the Hamilton car and even the shoe meee car was I think from two thousand ish, So you know those there are other are others out there.
Right, That's the other thing. The Uhlin hought is considered a one of a two car, one of two. This Streamliner, there were fourteen of them made. This is you know, one of four in the same body style that are remaining. But one in four is twice as many as one and two. And you know, again these are like we're splitting hairs here, but one of two is a lot more rare than one of four. And the idea that you could potentially buy a Streamliner again in the next
decade or two, you know, makes it considered less rare. Yeah.
The other thing, so I like the Streamliner better than the ul and hout why at least I like one version that the Streamliner has been because I like the open wheel, you know, the big mouth on the front Formula race cars. But I've seen a few different bodies on that car, because as you poured out in your story, a lot of the pieces have changed, like even the chassis plate may be gone.
Well, that's the other thing, you know. Do you know that paradox called the ship of theseus paradox.
I didn't know it before I read your story.
So this is basically a thing where you know, the idea is, if you're constantly replacing a board on a ship, so much so that the ship is basically being replaced by new wood all the time, at what point does a ship not become the same ship as it was? And it's kind of a vanishing horizon. And the same applies to these cars, where you know, race cars are sometimes modified during the race. You know, no good race
car that has one significant races has escaped racing incidents. Rubbing, you know, rubbing is racing, a little nudge here there, possibly an accident, possibly a rollover, who knows what. And obviously components and even engines are changed pretty consistently on race cars. So the idea that you would get a sort of quote unquote original or untouched car, which we think really would lend to a higher price tech it doesn't really apply to these race cars. So you're right
to your point. This Streamliner was made to be able to be in different body styles. There was an open wheel body type and then of course the streamliner body type that was better suited toward long, broad super fast racetracks. I think the streamliner look is really cool, the sculptural part of it, I mean, the open the open wheel to me looks more old school like old Yeah, the Streamliner looks actually kind of futuristic, which I think is really cool.
The old school like formula open wheel racer is what I would love to have, But nobody makes anything like that now except for in kit car form.
Yeah. I mean. The other thing that is really interesting as we're talking about Ferrari versus Mercedes, is there was another car that is part of this series of sales. We should say that this Streamliner, this nineteen fifty four Mercedes Streamliner, is part of a three series sale of cars that the Indie Museum is auctioning off to raise
money for their endowment. And the second car in that sale was a nineteen sixty four Ferrari two to fifty LM with actually a better racing history than this Mercedes. This Ferrari, this nineteen sixty four number one, it's a Ferrari number two had actually one Lamont outright, so it has a significant race when under its belt. But that car sold for just under thirty two million. You know, it's not as rare as the Mercedes. So it's I
don't know, it's interesting. Some of these Mercedes just really seem to pop and turn terms of the value in a way that the Ferraris haven't lately. But you could argue they're more rare.
Yeah, and I guess the rarity is part of it. And even though the race cars have been you know, have had almost every single piece replaced, they still have that, you know, the idea that Sterling Moss drove it, or that totally Angio drove it, or that Shoe Me drove it.
If you were going to buy one of these cars, would that really make a difference for you personally knowing that somebody really famous.
So I don't have obviously those kind of funds, but yeah, I think it would interesting to have something in my garage that Sterling Moss drove, Yeah, yeah, or that Fungio drove. Then I think it makes a big difference.
I mean, I know, intellectually it does. I don't on a personal level, I don't really care, you know, so some old guy sat in it for a for a few laps around a racetrack. To me, it's like, I don't I care if the car looks cool, and I mean that.
Kind of this point, but you know, I would have so much and it had been changed, like if when Fangio drove it, if it was an open wheel race car, and since then, you know, everything from the axles to the body, to the seats, the steering wheel, like everything is different and the only thing is the same as the is the you.
Know, the chassing, the number, the number that's printed on the chesting.
Then it would mean a lot less to me.
I had I say, yeah, yeah, I guess I can see that. I mean, do you care that you know that portion nine seventeen at the Mekam auction recently. Do you do care that it had been driven by Steve McQueen. Would that make any kind of difference to you?
Yes, I hate to say it would it would, but it would make a huge Like Triumph sells this Bonneville the Scrambler twelve hundred, you know, that was in the most recent Games Bond movie, and they do a Steve McQueen version in Dark Green, and I hate I'm not a Steve McQueen fanboy, like I have seen a couple of his movies, but still still like that version of that scrambler.
Okay, Well that's fair. I wonder how relevant Steve McQueen is these days.
Yeah, you're right for the kids, now.
Yeah, there are plenty of people who don't even know who he is.
There are plenty of people that don't think Bullet was a very good movie.
Well yeah, and there are plenty of people who think Steve McQueen was a bit of a jerk. You know, you can go down that road too.
Yeah, but anyway, anyway, I loved Bullet, and I haven't gone down the Steve McQueen is a jerk road, although obviously I've heard so much about it. Yeah. Yeah, I sent you an auction car this morning. A buddy of a buddy of mine, Yes, selling his SL six hundred. And this is a different kind of thing. You wrote about the W one twenty nine. Yes, and I prefer the previous generation. But this thing is a beast.
It's got Now why is he selling it? Do you know? So?
I know that he has had one in the past. This is a two thousand and one SL six hundred and it's got the six lider V twelve And he had that car exact car previously, that was a driver for him and he put like fifty thousand miles on it, but this particular one he picked up with just like dealer delivery miles.
I was gonna say, I that to me is such a red flag. One hundred and eighty seven one hundred and eighty seven miles.
Yes, only one hundred eighty seven miles. That's because he bought it that I.
Mean, okay, so that's fair. There's an explanation.
And the guy who bought it from the dealer and so dealer, it's been driven. It's never been driven, and he had it.
Has shakedown miles for sure.
He is Philip Richter, by the way. He runs the Turtle Garage. We've had him on the show for yep, and he's he had this car sort of on display at the Turtle Garage. So and he has this car show every couple of years. So he had it on display. It was like a display model, you know.
Yeah, and I see it's got Montana plates.
It's so mint like.
It's definitely meant because it's never been driven. We got to wear this thing in a bit.
It hasn't just never been driven and stayed there like he keeps trailering it back and forth to the dealer, you know, every year for whatever it needs. So what they take very good care.
Oh god, I'm my eyes are rolling when I hear trailering it back and forth to the dealer. And okay, you don't know, you don't know that he's trailer. I mean maybe one hundred and eighty seven miles came from driving it back and forth to the dealer.
I just know that it's been back and forth to the same dealer that sold it. So it's like, yeah, for people who want, you know, like the Han Solo action figure in unopened in the box, you know, that's what this is.
That's what this is. And it's currently at one hundred and eighty five thousand dollars. We've got four days left on the sale. So jumping on.
Four days left on the saale. Yes, somebody was like, I think I'll bid one hundred and eighty five grand with four days left.
Don't you want no reserve? No reserve?
True. I asked him about no reserve because I thought that's pretty dangerous. At least if it was my stuff, I would feel worried about it. Yeah, but he said, you know, contrary to what you might think, no reserve auctions drive more people to bid higher and wait to keep paid.
Who's your friend said that?
Yeah, Philip.
Oh.
I mean he's thought about this obviously. He works very closely with a lot of car collectors, and he is himself a car collector. See, he gives these things a lot of thought. Whether you do reserve or no reserve. I still would be too scared, soistic, because what if the people who want the SL six hundred like are diving in Indonesia that week?
Completely? I mean the other thing is if you really need the cash.
I mean, there you go. I doubt that's the case, you know, because it's on his the turtle garage is on his horse.
Farm, so oh oh, you know.
Yeah, but I guess.
I'm going to be watching that. I mean I have been watching a lot of Rolls Royce sales lately. I think I've sent you a few half Yes.
Yeah, they're going for a pretty penny.
They're going for a pretty I mean there are deals to be had, There are deals to be had. I saw corniche go for a forty thousand, which I thought was a good deal. Actually the other day that's a good deal for a corniche.
Yeah, that does sound like a good deal if it. By the way, I know not to say if it has low miles now because I keep I keep flusting after your nine to nine to one turbo with one hundred and ninety thousand mind.
Yeah, I was going to say, by the way that just crossed over, we're probably we're probably rounding down one hundred ninety one thousand miles, to be honest, because that was last week.
By the way, your experience with that car and your kind of philosophy has changed the way I, you know, window shop for cars on Bring a Trailer, but also on Auto Trader or whatever platform I used to I used to limit it like I only want a car that has less than fifteen or thirty thousand miles. And now I'm thinking if it's one owner, yeah, happy to have and you want to check that on or was responsible. But I'm happy to have something that has high miles.
Yeah. I think it's a case of read the room, like, understand the context of the car. You can't just make a blanket statement about that kind of thing. It depends on the car, It depends on the make, it depends on where and how the car was kept, It depends on who owned it. And how they used it. All of those things are important, and just the idea that you would just say flat out it has to be this way, I don't think is using all of the information available, I guess I would say.
I wouldn't have any concerns about much on a high mileage car like the motor Obviously, if it's been driven a lot, it's been serviced.
A lot, and potentially yeah, I.
Guess the seats are maybe a little squishier than they were before, but I don't care about that. It's the suspension that would bother me. And I guess you get fair. You know, of these expensive cars have air suspension that's very expensive to replace.
That's that's totally fair. I guess it just also kind of depends on how you want to use it and what you're looking for. I admit that I am not too too fussy about everything being perfect because I don't actually think anything is perfect, and I you know, I'm far more interested in using something for fun. If you're going to invest in a car, and they are investments, no matter what you what, you know you're you're putting money toward it, you might as well get some fun out of it.
Last two weeks. I spent the I spent my downtime on my diving vacation rereading Zen and the Art of Motorcycles.
Oh, I need to reread that. It didn't stand up. It was good. Yeah, I need to read it million years ago.
It's still so good. I mean, the author clearly was had one screw loose.
I feel like most motorcycle people do, to be honest.
Yeah, but I loved it as kind of a rebuttal to what's the name of the guy who used to be the editor in chief of Wired and for some reason Bloomberg had him write like a guest essay on motorcycling. Oh uh, Gideon Litchfield. He had taken it like a cross country trip and he was just like, hates motorcycling. So I have no idea why he did it in the first place. But yeah, he was complaining about the
Blue Ridge Highway, like of how dangerous it was. The maximum speed limit is thirty five and there are no other cars on it.
You know, I will say, that's it's funny you bring that up, because we've discussed that story at length recently in these past few days. As we're talking about the year going forward with pursuits. And that story was part of this new thing we have at Bloomberg called the Weekend Edition. And the whole point of the weekend edition is sort of to take a step back and widen the aperture. And you know, during the week we're talking
about very focused things and focused pursuits. But during the weekend, you know, we want to take a step back and breathe. And but I'm glad you read it, and I'm glad we're talking about it. And that story did very well for the weekend edition.
Well you know why it did well. Why because so many people were angry about it.
It got hate reads, yes.
And I'm not glad I read it because it still makes me feel a little bit sick, like my chest is a little bit tight when I think about why would someone do something like that, Like a guy who just doesn't clearly doesn't understand motorcycling, doesn't enjoy motorcycling. He's riding a great bike on one of the best roads in the country and he's and he's not and he's not enjoying it. He said he couldn't wait to get
back to a traffic packed highway. That's the last person you want to ask to write a story about motorcycling, why.
Don't you ride a Rebuttal honestly because because that's.
A great road. I've ridden that run on my two thousand and seven Ducatti Monster S fourrs. And it was an absolute joy. Took that road down to North Carolina where Olans has like its American office, and I got the suspension redone and it's like the least dangerous place you could ride a motorcycle there. Yeah, isn't anyone else around. If you fall off, you're just gonna skid to the corner slowly because you know, unless you're doing double the speed limit, I don't know.
I would love for you to ride a Rebuttal. And I have to say even I'll take the hate reads. I'm glad it got people talking. I'm glad it got you thinking and reading something that would cleanse your mind from all of the anks that you felt when you read it. At least it's sparking some sort of reaction.
That's a good point. By the way, the move to video would be a fantastic I know one, not only because we could show you know, the uhlen Hout or the Streamliner, but I would like to be able to show the new Aston Martin Vanquish, which you wrote a story about. And I not only did I love the story, I love the pictures as well. I love the color.
I know the color is super nova red and it does cost quite a pretty penny to get it. It's a hand painted color. And if I'm remembering right, the price tag just on the paint chab job alone was the thirteen thousand dollars.
Yeah, a little more. I think it was thirteen and a half.
Was it thirteen and a half? Yeah, thirteen six. I just found it, Yeah, thirteen six. It's such a gorgeous car. And really the takeaway the headline on that is and this is true. This is the first Aston Martin that I've been in that I felt it was as special as a Ferrari. Amazing, and I'll and you know what, I actually I said that to somebody and they texted it back to me and I was like, wow, it's I just said it. I hadn't. It just came out.
I was talking about the car and I said, you know, I felt like it was a special and she texted it back to me and I'm like, oh, wow, did I say that, and I was like, oh, I did say that, and that's actually I stand by that. That's the truth. They did it good gosh. It's expensive, you know. The one that I drove starts at four hundred and twenty nine thousand dollars, starts there, and then with options like that thirteen thousand dollars amazing paint job went to
five hundred and sixty thousand dollars. But it's a great car. I think it's the best one we've seen from them so to date.
So the Vanquish was it's only occasionally been available, right and has it not been available since like twenty eighteen?
That's that's correct. They've used that name plate a couple of times, first, you know, from two thousand and one to two thousand and seven, and then again from twenty twelve to twenty eighteen. I believe that it's always been a V twelve. It's a two seat only coop. One of the new things this year is it's they're only offering two seats. I think previous iterations did offer a back seat. But yeah, I think it's obviously it's a great name for an Aston Martin. I'm glad they brought
the name plate back. I'm glad they're staying with the V twelve. I'm sure you are too. Yeah, this is this is using two turbos. Before it was in it was naturally aspirated. So that's a bit of a change.
Doesn't bother me though, Okay, I.
Was gonna ask about that. Why doesn't that bother you?
Because it's a GT car and I know I'm not getting it with a stick, although they have they have the ability clearly to do it, because they've offered a few special editions of that mode which they claim are sold out with a stick.
But okay, the Velora and the Valiant.
But it's it's not like that kind of.
It's not that kind of car car, and it doesn't need.
It's very big. This is one thing about really big cars. I don't need them to be a stick. I like a stick in a sports car.
Yes, okay, so that's that seems sensible of you. And yeah, I think the high notes on this are it does feel very special. It is big, you know. Of course, we had a park next to a twenty fourteen Turbo and it really sort of dwarfs the nine to eleven. It makes a nine to eleven look small, and it does. It's a little bit heavier, but it's really the ride is great. It's it's you know, on Mulholland. Now they've put in speed bumps, which is really annoying, but it is.
It's comfortable on uneven roads. It's not just completely jarring, you know, like GT. Three for instance. It's very nice to drive. To your point, I thought the interior was so much better than previous aston Martin's happened. They're just sort of continually improving there, which has been really a challenge for them. But I do feel like they're kind of nosing no pun intended in the right direction. Now. Yeah, and I like that. I like, yes, I like it.
I think they can definitely lean into sort of that signature look.
I love the look. I saw it at the at their sort of sales studio here Q. I think it's called on fifty seventh in Park And I mean they just had one in a room with a designer and I think the engineer with whom you spoke also for your story with I'm in Newton exactly. And yeah, so I just got to, you know, look at it for like a twenty minutes or a half hour, and it's gorgeous. All Aston Martins are gorgeous, but it's very special. And I wonder what you think about the plate on the back you.
I was just going to ask you about that.
I would rather have it in a color that's closer to the color of the car, or i'd rather the car in the color closer. I don't like that too much contrast, but I think it's cool. Yeah you think.
I actually I agree with you on that. It doesn't bother me to see it, and it's sort of I don't want to say two tone, because it's certainly not that, but in a high contrast color ways. But I would be very very curious to see the car in a dark slate gray or something, maybe even a midnight and have that black carbon shield across the back. That would probably look real mean and cool. I do also love what they did with the rear, the rear tail lights,
the how they stacked them vertically. They're like notches kind of stacked. I thought that's cool. I like a signature tail light in general, for for cars, because you're assuming everyone's behind you anyway, So I like that. I thought that was cool. I don't know, it just it just felt I'll tell you one thing, I was very I was a lot less likely to just whip it around with, you know, sort of erratically like you may do on
Sunset Boulevard, because it felt more like a Ferrari. I didn't you know, in a nine to eleven you can whip things around. It's great. This felt more like, oh, I need to be careful, you know. I didn't want to scratch any splitter. It doesn't have a lift, it doesn't need a lift for the front at all. But you know, I was just way more aware that, ooh, this is this is a big car. It's got a
long nose, it's got that front splitter. I saw this bright red Camark parked opposite me on Sunset and I was like, ah, I needed the photo photo, and you know, did not flip around, though in a different car we might have. But it was just like, I can't whip this around. It's too much of a precious thing. It's just it's sort of that feeling that you definitely feel seen in it. I don't think it's outrageous though, it's it's cool.
I mean, it's gorgeous. I'm looking at now the pictures in your story, and I kind of wanted to make one of screensaver it's so good.
Which one is it?
Just the one where it's parked on the brick driveway? Oh yeah, the front, Yes, it's where I'm looking at. And I know this, you know what I mean. Twenty grand the carbon like the car starts at four thirty. This one was five sixty. The carbon packages alone, I think added like forty grand for sure. Price.
Oh well, the interior carbon package was like over twenty one thousand dollars. And that's just the interior and not all of the interior that's like doors and dash So yeah, it's definitely priced up there. And all of this is part of Aston's strategy to increase profits and get some cash in their coffers. Although I have to say, our good friend Steve Sario did point out to me that
Aston Martin's in the nineties. When you compare their pricing, we're really about the same if you're talking exchange rates, you know, I think he I'm trying to remember which he told me.
I will say that the so I'm looking at the carbon fiber roof was like five grand. And then as you mentioned, the interior package is twenty two, basically twenty seven. The upper body carbon fiber is another seventeen, so you're at forty four, and then the lower body is another seventeen, so you're at sixty one, and then another exterior carbon fiber package was twelve, So seventy three seventy three grand in carbon fiber. That's insane.
You know what's crazy. It doesn't even look that like it's that much on the car. You know, it's not like the car is you know, nose to tail carbon fiber. It's like it looks actually like, oh, pretty classy. There's a touch there, there's a touch there, you know. But but yeah, it's a lot of carbon fiber, but it's not like full carbon fiber hood.
It's you know, they really contrive. They what they want to do is get the kind of margins.
That Ferrari has. Everyone wants to be Ferrari and.
That Porsche was aiming for it. By the way, portion missed big on margins.
Do you want to talk about that.
Because we don't have to talk about it. But it's another example of a manufacturer that is going to take a huge loss, I think an eight hundred million dollar right down this year because of their because of their exploration of evs, right, And I don't hate all EV's.
No, and this is a great segue. I know where you're going with this.
I would, I would. I love the Kia EV nine for example.
I love the EV nine and I love the five hundred. The Fiat five hundred.
E me too great.
And I actually also loved the Rolls Royce Specter. I had another that well, you'd love it. You would love it, I'm sure, yeah. And I also didn't hate the Dodge Charger EV.
So and I'm excited to see some like of the new E Rev. Speaking of Dodge, you know they're they're coming out with one. But all this to say, I don't hate all EV's. M hmm, there are some that I like. And because we got an email from someone who said I'm biased against you.
Now, okay, fair, I want to discuss that. But I want to put a pin on this Portia. We've seen this unfolding for nearly a year now and it's fascinating and I do have quite a large story that we've been working on about it. So watch this space because by the way, I.
Keep thinking that, I keep thinking, now's the time to buy Portia shares. I would never give investment advice. The only time I ever have it was wrong, horribly wrong. And I'm not allowed to buy shares in companies that I report on, so I won't be sure really allowed to. Yeah, just like all the other things that I want to buy. But I keep thinking, Okay, they can't get any worse. They're down thirty percent over the last twelve months. They're
down half since the IPO. If you bought P nine to eleven shares of the IPO, you've lost half of your money.
And that was the largest none, that was the largest IPO in Germany in like two decades. I mean it was. It was considered a wild success.
And by the way, you know, Barry Ritholts always says when you want to buy a product, think about buying the stock instead, Like if you want to buy an Apple MacBook, right, you should just money stock and you'd be doing much better off of Portie, right, because if you wanted to buy the stock and instead you just ordered a.
GT three, at least you can drive it.
You're in the money too.
Yeah, or I mean, just hang on in the line. I would never ever ever count Porsia out those guys have this German Schwabian grit and determination, and yeah they are down right now, but they are definitely not out. You know, I think if you can hold on and be patient, we will, Like you say, I guess if you could buy stock.
Right, Yeah, I'm well, I'm not saying you're.
Not get you know, you're not saying that.
No, No stock is getting so crushed today because the margins are only like twelve percent, and most carmakers dream of margins like that, right, but they're not the seventeen or nineteen percent that you would have hoped at the IPO. But so the email, let's talk about it. I'm pretty stoked on it.
Actually, Yeah, so this is from Dean. I guess we could say first names. That's safe, right, Dean.
Thank you for writing on his substack.
So yeah, what's the substack called Portico.
Darwin Portico Darwin dot substack dot com.
Yes, thanks for writing to us. Dean in San Francisco. Dean said he loved our podcast, but he doesn't like the anti EV bias.
Which is a fair criticism.
Actually, do you think it? Do you think we we are a little anti EV?
Yes, we are, and maybe more than we should be.
I would I would say I was surprised to hear that, because I'm all about the right tool for the job, and I do not care really what's under the hood. Matt cares. Matt cares about his v especially, I truly don't care. I I just want good things, and my criticism of EV's has just been that there. I just haven't seen some good ones. But I have seen a few, a few that are good. But it's fair, it's fair, it's interesting. I found it more interesting that that's what he's getting.
Yeah, I mean, look, I just for me, I like what I you know, I have my preferences just like everyone else. But that doesn't mean I don't think there are some.
Really good EV cars completely.
Including Tesla. You loved the cyber truck, by the way, I yeah, I thought it was.
I thought honestly, I thought it was. I have no problem with it, you know, I I thought it was. It was a lot better than I anticipated. And I loved how and I've said this before, how kids especially got so excited about it. And I am a thousand percent behind vehicles that evoke an emotional emotional reaction, because most of them don't.
I also love I drove the gm SE Sierra EV and I absolutely adored driving it. The Hummer EV.
As, Oh yeah, that was fine.
Yes, kind of it makes a statement that I don't necessarily want to make, but I really enjoyed. I like to drive big heavy vehicles in the massive battery two hundred killot battery packs. So you and I also like, you know, like you mentioned, the Fiat five hundred EV is such a great little get around.
Her honestly perfect, perfect thing. Yeah, perfect thing. I thought it was just very well executed, priced fairly. I love the heritage, of course. I just thought, yeah, it was great. I but I do I will say I don't actually think, and I've said this before, if you want to do the best thing for the world right now, I would just not buy anything. Don't consume, yes to me. And I don't like the idea that we have to consume
and buy something else that is not actually green. There's way too much stuff in the world in general, and I just don't like being force fed the idea that you've got to buy something else and consume this other product in order to be somehow quote unquote good. That just is not inaccurate.
Totally agree with blossophy, and I also agree with Dean that I'm too biased again and I will try to be less.
Yeah, it's good to be aware of that. Thanks. Thanks, we loved your letter, Dan, Thank you.
We have we got another. By the way, our email address.
Is hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net.
I just wanted to remind our listeners to shoot us emails because we do read them and we find them fascinating. We got one from another guy, Declan, who is looking for Goodwood Revival tips. And I think what we're gonna do is I think what we should do is study a little bit and then report back, report back next week.
It's a great question.
Yeah, I think it's a great question. And I would I just imagine mister enthusiasts at Goodwood Revival in a jumpsuit.
You know, oh my goodness, he'll be so happy to hear his name mentioned. And you know he will be in a jumpsuit, yeah, underneath his raccoon for a coat.
If it's a little chilli, he'll be wearing a raccoon for a coat.
Which with a watch on each wrist.
I'm very much for the raccoon for a coat.
Look, you need one, Matt. Why can't we all get one Team Raccoon for a coats.
I would definitely wear one for sure.
I'd like to see that. I'm Matt Miller, and I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Bloomberg