Mustang GTD Triumphs at Daytona

Music. It's time to buckle up for this week's let's talk wheels with mike herzing and jeremy bierenbaum, auto shop is now in session folks we tell you you know the latest car company to backtrack on evs we're going to tell you that there have been another batch of big recalls two or three manufacturers we're going to talk about that and we're going to talk about the results from the 2025, 24 hours of Daytona race.

That was just a few things last weekend. It was going to be great. We talked about the Ford folks, and guess what? They really did it. The Mustang did so well. We'll talk about that. So welcome to your favorite auto show, Let's Talk Wheels. I'm Mike Herzing, and every week we give you the automotive and power sports news, interviews, car reviews, and of course, classic car information from my co-host, Jeremy Berenbaum, based right there in smoky Southern California.

Let's bring him in right now. How you doing, buddy? Hey, hey, hey, I'm doing well. And speaking of Daytona, I'm gearing up for my own track day tomorrow. I won't be going quite as fast or as furious, but I'm headed to the famous Willow Springs out in Palmdale or Lancaster. What have you called it? Wow, that's kind of fun. How are things in your neighborhood? The fires are all out, I guess. You know, the fires are out. My neighborhood's good. We had crazy rains last week.

Rained over two inches in a day, which is pretty good for us, especially after all those fires. So we had a couple mudslides. We had a couple cars get stuck, which made for some entertaining videos. One of them was like a Mercedes-Benz S-Class trying to get through the mud. But, you know, things are starting to hit reality and people are starting to figure it out and get to work. Are the canyons still closed? Go about it. The canyons are still closed. That's sport bike heaven up there, you know?

You know what? If you know them well enough, you know how to get around and where to go. But for the most part, they're closed. Oh, bummer, bummer. All right. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's just start on the news and notes segment and the talk about Daytona. Let's start about that one. Because that's Porsche. Of course, they win the overall. But that's not the whole story, is it?

No, definitely not. And this is in Daytona Beach, Florida. This is a 24-hour race, and there are multiple different cars and classes. And as we said, Porsche took the win, but I think the big story was the Mustang GTD won its class. Well, there you go. They were at first and third, something like that. And they went up against C8 Corvettes that have always won. Yeah, the C8 has kind of dominated this series for a while now.

And I think it's kind of cool because as the GTD has been rolling out, Corvette dropped their new ZR1, 1,000 horsepower deal, and people are going, oh, that's going to be faster than the GTD. And it's like, yeah, it may be, but one is a track-proven race car for the streets, and it's going to be that. And the ZR1, as fast as it is, you can't put that on the track and expect to achieve even what these Z06 GT3s are running right now. This is a 24-hour race.

This is basically like Le Mans, but in the U.S. And, you know, the fastest car doesn't always win. The most reliable car that's fast is what wins, right? Yeah, it's such a team effort at this point for this type of racing. You don't put it on any one person, but that is very correct. You know, any one small thing can take these cars out of the race in 24 hours. And the fact that they even finish is such a testament to how well they're built. You're exactly right.

And it used to be you would have a special car for an endurance race. But now this is like that GTD. They're just going to sell it. The C8 is not, none of these cars are modified all that much. You know what I mean? So, I mean, we're talking, we're living in the best times for powerful cars. You know, they really are. You know, I really, yeah. And I love a car that, you know, there are a lot of amazing cars out there, but they don't race. They don't compete.

They put up amazing numbers and whatnot. I love a car that is proven on the racetrack. And then they go, we're going to sell this to the public. I think that's the coolest thing. All the way back to the days of, you know, the 69 Boss 29. And they're just like, this is a race car. And we're just going to say, hey, you have the money to afford it.

You can have one. Isn't that great? you know and i know with all these emission things coming up and and stuff people don't understand why cars kind of leave and some white cars don't leave and sometimes why didn't they keep that car it's sold well emissions why do they keep why didn't dodge keep the hemi emissions you know and it's just so many it's just it's crazy but all right let's talk about some quick recalls ford has got a big recall what are they what are they bringing them back for.

This is a battery recall, but it's not for the EV battery. Instead, it's for 272,000 copies of an internally combustion, excuse me, 21 to 23 Bronco Sport and 22 to 23 Maverick, which are on their hook for a 12-volt battery, which the affected vehicles may experience internal weld failure or similar problems, which could lead to rapid battery degeneration while driving. Destroy the electrical system. I mean, these computers, you don't want any voltage surges or anything like that.

They're so fragile. And here we are, and that the battery fails, and it's got bad welds, and you hit a bump, and something's going to disconnect to the battery. And it's going to really, it could damage a lot of electrical components. So this is something that you're going to have to replace. And what they'll do is, and you know, the bad thing is when your battery fails, your hazard lights don't work or anything like that.

So it's even more dangerous. So what Ford's going to do is going to put new batteries in them just to make sure. That's good for them. And then, yeah. And you talk about the havoc that gets wreaked on these cars with the battery issues. Like some of these cars have electric door openers and whatnot. And I know there are fail-safes and whatnot, but it's just kind of crazy how much we rely on it on these cars today. Oh, no kidding.

All right, folks, Mike Erzing and Jeremy Berenbaum, this is Let's Talk Wheels. We're talking about our new set. Like, Kia's got a quick recall. That's one about that are airbags, right? The seats are rubbing up against the wiring beneath the front passenger seat. Every time you adjust the seat, it's going to rub up against the wiring. It messes up the wiring, and that's the airbag and the seatbelt pre-tensioner, those little wires. So they're going to have to fix that, right?

Yeah, and it's not a lot of cars. It's 82,000 Kias in the 23 to 25 Niro, Niro EV, and Niro plug-in. Yeah, the Niro's not the most popular car. So that's 82,000. It's probably most of them, you know, because it's a new model, you know, and it's not something everybody's going to buy. It's an EV. And then one's a hybrid and plug-in hybrid. I see a good amount on the road out here in LA because I think it's a great LA-sized car. It really is, you know, and you got places to charge it.

At least you did before all the infrastructure got destroyed. This is going to be tough for some people. I mean, you're going to have nightmares going on for a couple of years. And that's all right. You guys are tough. You guys can handle it, you know, and besides that, your governor has good hair. That's even better. All right. Another Ford recall, 149,000 Broncos for shock absorbers? Yeah, this is 21 to 24 Badlands and Sasquatch trim.

So sounding like the ones with the bigger rims and tire package. It's basically an external shock reservoir mounting footage. A damper body, causing the external reservoir to separate from the vehicle and become a road hazard. Yeah, you know, it's real funny.

Ford had a recall the other day or last year or a year before last on some explorers where a little piece of plastic that covers the A pillar, which is the pillar where the windshield is mounted it's on the side on each side where the driver and passenger side it's a little plastic trim and it peels off and hits the people behind you okay as you're driving i saw one do it last weekend as i'm driving the road i said i told my wife i said honey look that's a

recalled item on that on that explorer right there and it's and it's about and it's flapping and it goes it's gone and i'm like you know there's a there's so much wind pressure on those windshields right there it's the trim for the apet on the outside and so uh and the customer that the lady driving it never even noticed it she didn't how she didn't notice it was flapping and everything else i guess it got quiet and then and she was she was happy with that but uh it's nuts well

we got a fun show we got brian johnson i can't quartered him uh the other day a couple days ago at the houston auto boative show and we're going to talk about we got some classic car questions and everything, and we're gonna do a thing about station wagons.

Got a lot of stuff in a busy day, so hang on, more Let's Talk Wheels with Mike Herzing and Jeremy Bierenbaum is coming up right up. Music.

Welcome back to let's talk wheels everybody i'm mike herzing and he's jeremy bierenbaum from southern california at los angeles uh he is there talking to us and we're going to talk about this nissan that i drove it's a 2025 nissan frontier it's the sl which is one of the mid trim levels and it's the crew cab which is what they sell that's one of the most popular or so, and it's a long wheelbase crew pad. It had a big bed. 4x4, automatic, V6, which is how they sell it.

Great vehicle. They redesigned this a few years ago and they keep tweaking it just a little bit. It's a midsize pickup truck, kind of competes with the Tacoma or the Ford Ranger or let's see, the Toyota Tacoma, the Ford Ranger. What else would it be? Chevy Colorado or the GMC Canyon. And coming up, it's going to compete with the Dodge Dakota coming back in another year or so, year and a half. Great vehicle. You know, this is a four-door crew cab.

You know, Nissan builds this thing. You can buy this in 17 different configurations. It's five different trim levels. Then you can decide whether you want extended cab or crew cab. Then you can get, for this year, they came out for 2025, a long bed version, which is a six foot bed. So it makes it a pretty long truck.

And it's as long as a as a full-size truck really got a 310 horsepower 3.8 v6 with a nine-speed transmission shifts good runs good fuel economy yeah it's average it's not as good as it could be i think you get 21 highway and 17 city and average about 19 i think i averaged about 18 and i drove it like i stole it it's a nice truck. One of the, you know, it's got a bunch of little cool features.

You know, Nissan's got all the Safety Shield 360 stuff, and they have a lot of goodies that are with this, but it's not overdone. I mean, I've gotten it in trucks that you look at the screen in the center, and it's like 14-inch screen. This is a mid-sized truck. It's not a giant truck. That screen overwhelms you. You know, this one is not that way. It's just a good size.

It's the 12 12.3 inch color touchscreen and that's kind of nice nissan connect and it has all the round view cameras and all that good stuff it's got all the the lane divergence and help you drive and and all these driver assistance features you know it bugs you if you if you do anything wrong and that's kind of cool automatic headlights and all that good stuff but it's just got all this intelligent driver awareness which is cool you can set it up to where if

you're not paying attention that tells you to go get a cup of coffee or something lane departure warnings and all the blind spots spot safety stuff and the rear cross traffic alert and rear sonar systems and automatic braking and all this intelligent cruise control which is really handy you know that's that's the thing but but it's just a nice vehicle a fender audio system which is really good 10 speakers and it's got all keys all kinds of usb connectors it's still got

a 12 volt cigarette lighter plug for all the radar detector people and everything like me but it's really a nice nice vehicle that drives well may not be as fancy as some of them but it's it's priced very very well the one i had was one of the nicer ones and it's based on it was 45 000 a little over 45 000 and with a couple of extras on its premium paint and special carpeted floor mats and all that. And then the destination charges, it comes down to $47,750.

But it is the least expensive V6 truck on the market. Don't forget a lot of its competitors put in a little bitty old four-cylinders in them. At least this one's got a V6 that'll tow 7,150 pounds. That's where this car stands out the most to me is the engine package. While everyone is downsizing displacement, especially on the mid-sized trucks. This one still has a really nice sized motor and a V6.

The other thing I really like on the inside is everyone's going so, so electronic digital with the big screen and everything's in the screen. This still has a lot of analog buttons. The majority of the buttons are analog and it's really nicely designed. If you're one of those people that really liked the last gen Tacoma and you don't like what Toyota did. There are people out there whining about that. Yeah, you'll get in this car and it'll feel better.

It'll feel more like a Tacoma than the new Tacoma. A lot more. And I think it'll really surprise a lot of Toyota fanboys how well it drives. And they also have, you know, the X, what is it, the 4X? Pro 4X, yes. Package you can get. Pro 4X, which is, you know, equivalent to the TRD Pro or the Raptor lineup.

And it adds some really nice features to the car. The only thing it would probably need is it gets a little bit better, maybe two miles per gallon better is what it would really do to be more competitive. But it's a great vehicle and it's priced really well. I mean, some of these things are $65,000. If you got the most decked out Toyota, it's going to be around $65,000.

And a couple of them are going to be close. but the frontier barely get even the every every single thing they have the pro 4x that loaded and everything it could kind of maybe go over 50 but not much you know and you know what i that's a 15 000 delta i don't think that there's a 15 000 difference between that and its competitors i think it's a well-built car it drives good it's it's mid-size it's easy to drive But like I said, it's got a lot of buttons.

You don't do every single thing on the screen, which I really, really like that. I am so tired of hunting on a screen for something that I may never find. You know, I'm just so frustrated. This one, it's like, I'm going, where's the trip meter? I realize it's on the dash. Push a button. Oh, okay. It's on the left side of the dash. You know, the other day I had a car that I had to go into the screen and the entertainment just to figure out

what the fuel economy was and how many miles I've gone. It's terrible. But either way, all right, if you get a chance and you're buying a midsize truck, go to the Nissan dealer, at least drive one of these things because you're going to go. This is great. And it's got a big wireless charger that works really well right there in the center console. Little things like that. You put air in the tires and it honks the horn. There's just so many when you get up to the right pressure.

Nissan's been doing that for years. They've got so many things. It's a great company. It's a well-built truck. You can't kill these suckers. This is what you need if you're a truck person. All right.

Quick car questions. You know, by the way, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Berenbaum, Let's Talk Wheels, if you just tuned in, I just reviewed the 2025 Nissan Frontier pickup truck. You know, what's our car question today? Do you think early Miatas will become classics along the lines of English sports cars like Triumphs, MGs, and Austin Heelys? What do you think?

I definitely think so. The hard thing is going to be, and this is going to blow your mind, the Miata is the best-selling sports car in the U.S. They've sold more sports cars than any other brand. And so there are a lot of them. You've got to pick and choose the right one. They're not, you know, built for eternity, especially the 80s ones. You've got to worry about cracked ashes and whatnot. Fortunately, there's a lot of parts and pieces.

I think in the collectible world, you want to have something that's very stock or very tastefully modified. But if you go too crazy, I think you lose any type of value. You know, Mazda's the most raced vehicle, Mazda Miata, or Mazda's the most raced brand on the planet. And they have all these Miata series. But you can go to Mazda and buy a handling kit. You know, and I forgot what it costs, that other five grand or something.

But it has all the shocks and suspension and everything. And you could build it into an SCCA racer because the engines are all stock on those. And that's so much fun. Coming up, we're going to have Brian Johnson, my buddy from Demantron RV. He's going to talk to us about some of the trends that are coming up.

So hang on. More Let's Talk Wheels, Humphoolery after this quick break. Be right back. Music. Hey, guys, welcome back. Let's Talk Wheels, Mike Kersing and Jeremy Berenbaum. Today, or tonight, actually, we're at the Houston Auto Show, the Autobotive Show, and I ran across Brian Johnson. You know, he's one of the favorites of everybody here. I always get a great lot of emails when we have Brian on the show. Brian, what do you think about auto shows? Are they kind of losing their shine?

So I'm kind of old school, so I'm really stuck on the fact that they should be great, and I still love going to them, which is why I'm here. Yeah. But I'm an old car guy. But I don't think the younger generation is embracing it the way that we used to embrace it 10 years ago. You know, most auto shows are coming at the time of the year when it's cold. In Texas, it's cold and rainy and crappy. And you don't even do, hey, let's go to the car show.

What a great idea. But somehow or other, it lost its luster, especially after COVID. Which doesn't make sense because a car show, you actually go check out the cars. You can deal with some of the manufacturers. You learn about the actual cars. They're not trying to sell you one. So it's relaxing. No kidding. You go to the boat show or the RV show? Oh, they want to contract you right now. They don't want you to walk away from them, do they? You know, but it makes a big difference. It really does.

All right. So what do you think about? What's some of the things that catch your eye here? You know, besides the Hummer that you want. The EVs, you know, the Volkswagen bus, I mean, my first vehicle was a 76 Volkswagen bus. There you go. I mean, no wonder you have so many kids. Yeah, I finally figured that out. Yeah. But no, the matte finish on some of these Kias and just the whole setup, it's amazing. Yeah, I mean, that's one thing I have to notice. Everybody's got matte paint

troughs. Now, I thought that was impossible to do. You couldn't clean them. You couldn't maintain them. And so what happened? So actually, a funny thing that you brought that up. My wife went to paint school to learn how to paint cars. And what she learned is the Lamborghinis are actually flown over, not shipped, when they have a matte finish because the covers were rubbing the finish to a polish. Oh, yeah. So they're making them shiny. Oh, heaven forbid.

Yeah. I don't know. The way we grew up. We actually had shiny cars and chrome wheels. Imagine that. Imagine that. Folks, my curating, Jeremy Barrow, we're talking to Brian Johnson right here at the Houston Auto Show. We're at the preview night, and it's great. The public's not here yet, but it's really fun. and all the dealers are here looking to see all the new stuff. You know, auto shows are great because everybody's there to help you, and they're not trying to sell you something.

Like you said, unlike the boat shows and some of the other stuff, they can't sell a car here, but they can show you all about it, right? Exactly. So you can learn everything you want about every single car that's available. And see how you fit in it. And you can test drive them now, right? Yeah, you can test drive them. I mean, BMW, as soon as we walked in, asked if we wanted to test drive. Jeep's got a program. Yeah, but they make you bring them back,

Brian. They do. I hate that. They're kind of rude about that. Or if you keep them, they want you to pay for them. I hate that too. You know, you're right. I bet, Mitch, it only hurts once a month. It only hurts once a month. You know, I know. But it's terrible. But, you know, the shows are great. Like I said, the manufacturers, I see more of it. It's become more of a dealer show.

The dealers have got together, put these cars in here, rather than the manufacturers, which is the opposite of what it's always been. But the OEMs are trying to save money, right? So during COVID, they kind of switched to the dealer market. And with, you know, we participated with Mitsubishi in, I think, 01 or 02. But, yeah, it's weird to see a dealer's license plate frame on the cars at the RV. I mean, it's coming at the car show.

Yeah. I mean, to the point here in the Houston, the show got to be small enough to where they decided to put the boats with it just because the market. You know what I mean? They combined it, which is kind of shocking because the RV segment has the entire show. Right. And they're down. Autos are pretty steady. I mean, boats are way down. Yeah. So it makes sense for boats. But I'm not 100% sure why they split the car show with boats. I agree. I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's really straight,

but it's a great show. Oh, I think we're sitting there in the Kia booth, looking at this Kia Sportage Hybrid, and it's got the matte finish. All these vehicles have the matte finish. Oh, the band's starting to play again. I tell you what, there's some impressive stuff. And the Hummer and all the GM EVs. The other day I had an Equinox EV. I was so impressed with it. I really was. I mean, I was like, man, if this is the future, that's not so bad.

No, the first EV you ever drove, I was shocked at how responsive it was. Right. I mean, it was a spark. It was a Chevy spark. I was in a casino. A midget little car. Yeah. I mean, I'm in this tiny little car, but that thing could move. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, they've gotten better and better and better.

Of course, now with the government and some of the backing off on some of the incentives and maybe not paying everybody to build, you know, they're not throwing tons of money at all this electric car stuff like they were. So maybe it's going to make a difference. It should slow down a little bit, and I'm hopeful that it does. Yeah, then we can catch up. Because the infrastructure that we have for electricity cannot keep up with 100% EV.

You know, you're right. Mike Herzing, Jeremy Beer Mom, folks, and we're talking to Brian Johnson from Demantron RV and also Automotive. They have, guys, how many stores you guys have? So I think we have 16 franchises, probably eight locations. And how about the RV that was included in the RV? Oh, okay, here we go. So you didn't include the franchises in RV.

Oh, yeah, you're right. That's a whole bunch. But, I mean, you've seen the RV sales with all these, you know, big giant disasters that are going on around the country. I would think we see some RV sales. I would rather buy an RV and live in it rather than an apartment or a tent. So we were actually selling RVs to the East Coast after the huge floods. Sure. That was pretty active.

During the snowstorm, I actually took an RV on just in case because then—, They have a generator on them and they can, they're all self-contained. A hundred percent. Then I've got heat, I've got water, I've got bathroom. So it's, it's a house on wheels. It is. I tell you what, it's really great. By the way, what's the website to look up stuff on your stores? So you can either go demontron.com, D-E-M-O-N-T-R-O-N-D.com.

Or demontronrv.com. Ooh, that's pretty different. We would have never thought of that. I don't know which one of you guys, that's a miracle. you thought of that? I'm just kidding. We're creative. If I don't bust his chops, folks, I tell you what, it's not fun. Brian is awesome. You know, his wife, Melissa, is even more awesome. I don't know how you got that one, but do you want, do you want the lottery on that one? I'm a hell of a closer.

You're a hell of a closer. Yeah, I like that. I like that. Brian, we got about two minutes left. What do you, what do you see? I mean, what do you think this year with all this political stuff going on and, and all these things, changes and stuff, what do you think? Is the market going to be, come back for RVs? At the end of the day, half the public is happy regardless of the outcome. No, you're right. And it's done. So just the fact that it's done settles the market and kind of resets it.

And RVs is normally the first to go down and the first to come back. So I really think that 25 is going to be a level year we're going to get by. I think 26 is going to be a growth year. I think, you know, you're right. And it could get ready and everybody gets ready and starts their marketing and puts it in front of everybody in their mind. And then come next year when their portfolios are better, the 401k is not down the toilet and all of the other stuff.

You don't want to take any distributions while it's down like this. So as soon as it gets up, I think people are going to spend some RV money. You know, the funny thing is the RV side of the world, the high-end coaches, they didn't take a hit. It's the big motor coaches didn't lose sales. The diesel pushers, those people, you know, I mean, they got the money anyway. They buy it regardless. And a lot of times they just pay for it. A lot of people are selling their house,

downsizing. The kids are gone. They're downsized. We're going to travel the country. What a great idea. It's actually amazing. I mean, could you imagine just going wherever you want? Hey, let's go here for a couple of weeks. You wake up every morning in a different state, except for when you drive through Texas, because that takes two days. It takes two days. You know, you're right. But, you know, it's great. I tell you what, the RVs, new RVs, they've got, you know, it's like batteries

with them. They've got all kinds of stuff. They're just, it's just a home. I had RVs for years. I've had just about every type of RVs, diesel pushers, class A, class Bs. I've had all this stuff and I just really enjoyed them all. But it sure is nice to have driving on the road and make lunch. No, exactly. And, you know, the technology, it's just only been 10 years since the last time I took an RV to go travel.

And I had to get a whole new class on how to operate this RV because it's all touchpad. Yeah, it's amazing. Folks, Brian Johnson. Brian, thanks for helping us today. Absolutely enjoyed it. We love to pick his brain with a little left of it.

We're doing great. I have no brain left, so it's okay. Come on. We got more. We got more. Music. Welcome back to Let's Talk Wheels. Here's Mike Herzing and Jeremy Bierenbaum. Welcome back to Let's Talk Wheels. I'm Mike Herzing and he's Jeremy Bierenbaum. We're having fun today. All right, classic car. You ready? Got your classic car thinking cap on? Somebody asked. Yeah, definitely. Jennifer asked, station wagons, are they making a comeback in the classic car?

She has a classic station wagon that she has gotten from one of her family members and Ford Country Squire kind of thing. And you know, I've been at some car shows and there are some awesome station wagons. Classic, I mean, it's a different kind of person that wants, that's the kind of person that wants a checker cab. You know what I mean? You know, a checker or something like that. I said, a guy asked me the other

day about a checker. Can you get those? I'm like, yeah, that's a good classic car. It really is. Hey, I know one. I know someone that has one for sale so we can talk offline. But I mean, those are a great thing, But station wagons, I've read two or three articles. There was something on Hagerty's the other day about station wagons coming back. And I was like, holy crap, are that true? Yes and no. It's kind of true.

There's two things, I think, going against it. One is even a modern day problem right now. We only have three brands that actually make station wagons. So there's not a ton of them. When you go to a car show and you see one, you're pretty surprised because you don't really see very many of them. And that kind of goes, yeah, you see some Volvo's here and there. And most of the time, which goes into the second point, is station wagons are used as family cars and they get treated as such.

They typically have a lot of miles on them. And so they kind of lose that classic status when you're looking for something to collect. But just like you, I see a lot of really cool ones. The other day I saw a car that was never even produced, but this guy said he wanted to have one. He dreamt of having one. And what he made was a Buick 442 station wagon with a W30 package, which had all the parts and pieces what a real 442 W30 would have.

It looked beautiful, but it was based on a Vista Cruiser platform. I remember the old Vista Cruiser.

And and vmgm i mean chevrolet had the version of it the caprice and the capri and you every once in a while i'll see a capri impala wagon and uh you know ss and they do all the the cool stuff to it and whatnot i think you got to do something to it to make it a cool wagon like there's a guy in my town that has a volvo wagon that's ls swap with a big turbo and it's got you know a full drag set up, cage and everything, but it's street legal.

And I think that's what draws our attention to these wagons is they're not the stock thing, but they look like it. There's some BMW and there were some Mercedes wagons. And then there's also, don't forget the Dodge Magnum. I am so surprised. I don't ever see any custom Magnums. That was such a cool car in a head of its time when it when it was designed and came out and was so forward thinking and I, I shame on Dodge for not, you know, bringing something like that.

You're exactly right. And I just, I don't know, but you know, I remember the Ford Vista, you know, the Ford country squire wagons and had the, that had the little sticker on the side that looks like all of the, it looks like, you know, the wood grain and everything on the side. Yeah. The wood paneling and the seats that face backwards. Like everyone has a childhood memory of sitting in those seats.

I remember my mom and dad had a Rambler wagon that, you know, I had, I was, you know, I was just out of high school or right in high school and I had motorcycles, but I didn't have a car. So my mom, my mom and dad would say, Hey, take the, take the station wagon. I'm like, Oh, that's always good. Pick up and pick up a date. But then I've realized going to a drive-in movie in a station wagon, it really is a good time. If you got a date anyway. Yeah, definitely. But here's the thing.

Your mom says, here's the keys to the station wagon. You go, oh, I could pick up one friend or I could pick up six friends now, right? Because they all pack in the back and then these cars kind of get beat up in that respect. And so, you know, for collector status, it's hard to find a good one. I remember going to pick up a date, you know, and I showed up in the Rambler station wagon and the dad was like, where are you going? Well, we're going to go out and have a burger and everything.

And then we're going to the drive-in movie in a station wagon. You might be a windowless van would be better, but, you know, I'm just going, yeah, well, I ended up buying vans. But, you know, I mean, that was tough. I figured picking up a girl on a motorcycle was one thing. Their parents wouldn't let you. But your station wagon, they didn't want to let you for another reason, you know.

You say, you just be really nice and say, sir, it's either my motorcycle, my mom's station wagon, or you toss me the keys to your car. There we go. That would be really awesome. You know, you're exactly right. But it's fun. And like I said, I've seen more and more of these station wagons are showing up. You know what I mean? But also, you got to figure back then, you know, there weren't really SUVs. The only SUV was maybe a Suburban in the early Suburban.

And they rode like a truck. It was terrible. Fuel economy, terrible. They developed from big wagons, you know, from the 56. Right, they were panel trucks. They were trucks, you know, and they just, that's back when truck rode like a truck. It was so uncomfortable. It didn't have room for everybody. I mean, I remember when Jeep came out with, you know, with their version of it, of their Suburban, you know, and the Wagoneer, it was so popular because it had power steering.

You know it had it had all the cruise control it had all the air conditioning and automatic and all and it drove like a maybe like a car but not much but it was unbelievably capable it was four wheel drive and all that stuff but i mean those were the days some people say well why would they drive station wagons well trucks didn't ride like they do now i mean yeah you know i just i think owning a wagon you kind of have to have a thing you have to you know

when you're gonna go to a car show Are you going to put a surfboard on the roof or something? You know, you got to have a little thing. I keep trying to convince my dad to get a wagon. But the only reason I'm trying to do that is because he has a 1970 Chevelle and a 1970 El Camino. And I says to, you know, finish the series, he needs to get the old Vista Cruiser. Man, they had all those, you know, 10 windows or whatever.

I mean, it was like, you know, it was their version of a 21 window, you know, micro bus. But I mean, Volkswagen had a wagon. And what was it, was it the type one is the bug, right? What was the Type 2? Yeah, it was, basically, it's what they called the squareback, right? Yep. Type 2 is a bus. And those are really popular. Exactly. And those were really popular in the LA surf community, as long as all the other Volkswagens. But the squareback's more because of- I would really like a Carmagea.

I would really enjoy a Carmagea, I think. They're not very fast, but they were pretty cool little cars. Yeah, I got a sweet spot for the theme right now. I don't know why. It's so ugly, but they're so slow. Can they even go on the freeway? Hey, there's solutions. Yeah, you know, you're right. You're right. You know, one thing that a lot of people are doing with the Volkswagen things are they do the Subaru swap because that is a boxer engine. So it's a Porsche engine.

And so. Yeah, so it's a Porsche engine, but it's a lot more expensive. Yeah, but as long as you can do that. All right, folks, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Birnbaum, we're talking about classics and stuff. But there are, I think this is going to be where some of these classes have gotten so expensive. You got to, you can get a nice wagon. You could get a car like that for not that much, really. I mean, for less than $10,000, you know?

Yeah, I think what it has going against it, though, is most people that want to get a classic car, they want to get something that's fun to drive on the weekend. And I would not say the wagon is all that fun to drive. Wait, do you start having kids and dogs and all that stuff? You have dogs, but you don't have kids yet. You will.

It'll that actually the station wagon doesn't look too bad you know but i'll tell you what it's all better than a minivan or or a prius there you go i mean you don't want to have i mean shoot i just i the prius between the prius and the honda minivans they are my the bane of my existence there was always somebody in a honda minivan on the odyssey or a prius that's always going to be in the left lane and they're always going to be going 15 mile you know 15 miles slower than everybody else.

You know what? In L.A., they're not a discriminatory on cars. Anyone's going to sit in the left lane. It's quite frustrating. It really, really is. But it's been a great show. I mean, I've enjoyed this, but I just I just think the classic car market, we need to look at it. Because I think with with all these things coming back and all these people with the market coming back and some other stuff, I have a feeling. Well, right now, right now, this period of time is is unfortunately the time

where you're able to get cars from the original. professors. Which is still kind of cool. And, you know, to get that story and some of these cars that aren't messed with by three, four or five owners, you got a treasure. We need more treasures in our life. I tell you what, folks, if you enjoyed our show, please tune in the same station next week for the following episode of Let's Talk Wheels.

And if you missed part of this show, you can always catch it, the podcast on all major podcast platforms. Just search for Let's Talk Wheels. The podcast contains this show in a bonus segment with an extra car review, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out. And if you have any topics you want us to cover or questions you need us to answer, email mike at letstalkwheels.com. We'll always respond, and we love to hear your car questions.

As always, folks, on behalf of Jeremy Berenbaum, Matt Peralta, and myself, I want to thank you for joining us today on the Talk Media Radio Network. I'm Mike Herzing, and he's Jeremy Berenbaum. Have a great week, and thank you so much for listening. Hope you listen again. Stay tuned for a car review from reporter Matt Perrault. Have a great week. Thanks for joining us on another edition of Let's Talk Wheels. We'll see you next week.

Hey Mike, okay this week I was driving a vehicle in a different model that I drove a couple of weeks ago So a couple of weeks ago We told you about the new tundra and the fact that I had gotten into a tundra that was really nice It had been brand new redone redesigned and this vehicle was more on the luxurious side This vehicle was a was a was a boss truck platinum crew max if you remember it That's what we had a couple of weeks ago this week I was driving

the hv 4x4 now this thing has a little bit of, a, well, the price point is probably very similar, 65,000, 66,000 compared to the two. But this thing was built more for me. This thing was built more for what I like to do and what I like to enjoy with the truck is going off road. For starters, I like loud, I like loud paint color. I don't like gray, black, white. It's boring. This thing was orange. And I mean orange, they call it solar octane with a black trim.

You see this thing coming from a mile away. I'm driving this thing in the fall here in Vegas. It looks like a big pumpkin in a really good way. It's unbelievable. I mean, you're not going to be, you know, people are going to know you're coming, right? When you're driving this thing, they know exactly where, you know, there he's, there's Matt. Here he goes. This thing was so much fun. The TRD Pro looks nice, does what you want.

And it has some features that I really did enjoy. The iForce Max 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid engine generates 437 horsepower and 583 pounds of torque. Yes, please. 10-speed automatic transmission. Beautiful vehicle to drive. Smooth. Gets through the gears very quickly. I loved driving this vehicle. The Fox shocks, they do their job. Man, this thing is smooth. This thing is fun. But in the interior, this is where this vehicle just blows me away.

14-inch audio multimedia system with a 12-speaker JBL premium audio with a subwoofer that will rattle your teeth. I mean, this is one of the greatest. This is the best stereo I have ever had in a truck in my life. I loved this vehicle for the interior. I loved it for the 12.3 inch digital meter. I loved it for the 14 inch telematics. I loved it for the stereo. I loved it for everything with the eight way power adjustable seats, which are really, really nice.

Your power tilt and slide panoramic sunroof was huge, huge sunroof in a truck, which I absolutely loved. On the outside, you get the 18 inch alloy wheels, forged steel, aluminum wheels. They look awesome. The bed. Great. I love the LED lights in the bed, which is something that, you know, I don't always think about when I have a truck. But if you're doing anything in the fall, you've got the orange pumpkin color, so you're in the fall.

The LED lights in the bed are super helpful, really, really helpful if you're doing anything to see if you're going to go camping on it, which is awesome. The aluminum skid plate underneath it, which is nice. The Toyota grille with the LED light bar, which is very, it stands out at night. It looks really, really sharp and looks nice. I mean, this thing just was a ton of fun. Easy to get in and out of the bed also. Found that to be very nice. This V8 does exactly what you want it to do.

I mean, it's got that power. It's got that, it's got what you want. It's not like a speed truck, like a Raptor, but it did everything I wanted it to do. I mean, it's, it's a vehicle that I absolutely loved. 20 miles per gallon, pretty good. Eat the dirt, spits it out. You can off-road, you can on-road, you can tow about 11,000 pounds with this thing, which is nice. If you get the four by four, and it gets it down just a little bit less than that.

But I mean, that's pretty good with a four by four wireless Apple CarPlay. Awesome. And again, man, the way Tundra is are now designed. I love it. I love the 12.3 inch digital gauge. That's really cool. It's right front and center. You turned it on, comes on. You see a little Tundra right in the middle of it. Little video demonstration when you turn the vehicle on, which I loved to have. It's a nice truck, man. This is a really, really nice truck. It's stickers at about $69,000.

It's worth it. If you're going to afford it, it's absolutely worth it. The new Tundra, both times, both vehicles that I've reviewed, I have absolutely loved. This one, a little more of my speed. Give me a great stereo. Give me some LEDs in the bed. Give me a V8 engine. Give me some power. Give me a sunroof. And I'm a happy camper. Check it out. 2022 Tundra HV 4x4. Really fun truck. Hey guys, this week I was driving a 2023 Lexus LX 600, the ultra luxury trim model. Now this is a big boy vehicle.

Sticker price coming in with a grand total of over $132,000. This is the top of the line. This is the big daddy of SUVs from Lexus. And boy, when I say big, yes, it is really, really big. The grille is enormous. This is a top-of-the-line luxury trim model that you really, I mean, it's not as big as you would think, okay? The vehicle really is great for four adults. Not great for five or six because the rear, the third row really isn't all that great, to be quite honest.

It's not that big. But this is a 3.4 liter twin-turbo V6 with 409 horsepower. power. It is a 10-speed automatic transmission, full-time four-wheel drive. It can tow up to 8,000 pounds. This is great for your boat, your trailer, whatever you might be pulling behind it. It has a lot of really great luxury features that you would expect for a vehicle of this size, but the ultra-luxury upgraded, this is where this vehicle really does shine.

The four-passenger diamond stitch leather seating with embossed headrests. Gorgeous. The second row massage and reclining captain's chairs. My daughter didn't want to get out of the car. She thought it was the greatest thing ever. She's like, can we just stay here? Incredibly comfortable seats. Your right rear power reclining with sliding ottoman, which is really nice in the center for the console in between heated and ventilated front and rear seats.

I can't tell you how great that is living in Las Vegas, having rear seats being ventilated. Awesome. Dual screen, rear seat entertainment systems. I didn't play around with that all that much, but definitely on long drives, I could totally see how that would be cool. They had HDMI inputs. So you could like take your, your iPad, or you could take, you know, instead of having one person watch something, you both can watch something together in the back, which I thought that's kind of cool.

You have an HDMI cord coming out of your laptop or coming out of your, your tablet. So I thought that was pretty cool to have that. You've got a cool box, which is awesome. Heated wood and leather trim steering wheel. Very comfortable on your hands. Rear seat manual sunshade, which is really great for here in the desert. The sound system was awesome. I mean, just absolutely awesome. Pumping. Second row wireless charger. That is unique. That is different. You do not see that very often.

See in the front. You don't see in the rear. Very cool for that to have that second row wireless charger. And then you've got this 12.3 inch touchscreen display. Awesome. Easy to use. Lexus is getting away from the touchpad, which I really think is a smart move to get away from that. It's clunky and difficult to use. Much easier to have the touchscreen. Let people just do it, you know, manually touching and, you know, to navigate where you're going.

Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto capability, which is so important to have the wireless angle on it, which I do like it a lot. It does have SiriusXM capability for this vehicle. But I really found this thing to be, if you want to be big and high up, I mean, this is great. I mean, the heads up display with sign recognition is awesome to have to see what's going on around you. So you're not having to look down at your dashboard, which I really did like that a lot.

I really think this vehicle has, it's almost too advanced. You know, it's got so much going in that you could spend a day or two just going through everything that it can do. But if you're in the market for a high-end, top-of-the-line SUV. I would absolutely recommend getting behind the wheel and driving this thing and comparing it up against other vehicles. Again, if you want that third row, okay, maybe you want a different vehicle because the third row is not that big.

But if you are comfortable just with having four adults and four very comfortable adults being in this vehicle, it's so fun. It really is fun. It really is great. So I know a lot of buyers now want that third row. They're looking for that third row. And when a vehicle doesn't have the third row or if it's a tight in the back third row, not always something that it could be kind of a deal breaker for some, but I would not say it should be for this vehicle.

I would absolutely recommend getting behind the wheel and driving it and seeing it for yourself. The 2023 Lexus LX 600, the ultra luxury trim model was a ton of fun to drive.