The Rimac Nevera is the fastest-accelerating car in the world, according to its manufacturer. When asked to verify that claim, automotive journalist Jason Cammisa responded with, "holy sh...excuse me." Derek Tam-Scott uttered similarly unsuitable words not fit for YouTube descriptions, though they were far more colorful. Rimac's 4-motor, torque-vectoring, carbon-tubbed masterpiece is capable of unleashing 1.4 megawatts (that's 1400 kW, 1877 SAE hp, 1914 metric HP, and the exact number doesn't ma...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 89
Derek Tam(Hyphen)Scott has waited for years for the chance to school Jason Cammisa on the importance of Lancia. Now reduced to little more than a badge-job, Italian-market joke, Lancia was once an automotive powerhouse. Derek speaks with interest and precision about Lancia's storied history — as if he was there, personally. It's a fascinating story that demonstrates just how incredible this Italian Automaker once was — and how resilient its spirit was. Once a champion of front-wheel drive rally ...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 88
In this episode, Jason digs into his storied spreadsheet of reviews of every car he's ever driven. And we learn that Derek has a spreadsheet, too. With the help of a Random Number Generator that calls up cells in their spreadsheet, Jason and Derek take a trip down memory lane, reading aloud their sometimes embarrassing commentary on cars they've driven in the past. One entry of Jason's was so... NSFW... that he initially couldn't read it out loud. When he finally did, Derek was so shocked he sho...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 87
This episode is all about the Lotus Carlton and Lotus Omega. Lotus has only ever made one 4-door sedan, and this episode of the Carmudgeon show dovetails with Jason Cammisa's "Revelations" episode on the Lotus Carlton. A dream car of both hosts, the Carlt-Omega was based on the Opel Omega A, badged Vauxhall Carlton in the U.K.'s right-hand-drive market. It held the title of the fastest sedan in the world for a decade, achieving more than 177 mph, right as the German automakers agreed to limit th...
Feb 27, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 86
This week the Carmudgeons address the 48 billion market cap prancing horse in the room: do the younger generations actually care about Ferrari? Cars like the 296 GTB are absolutely gorgeous (and they mark the start of the mid-engine V8 to V6 transition in Maranello), but, if you're sourcing the vehicles from Ferrari themselves, are unable to be compared to any other vehicles that people may want to see them compete with. But, they're also vietato (forbidden) to have instrumented testing done on ...
Feb 20, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 85
In this podcast, Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott ("Hyphen") cover everything you didn't realize you wanted to know about the R129-chassis Mercedes-Benz SL. The R129 comes in many forms: 300SL, 300SL-24, 500SL, 600SL, and then the renamed SL320, SL500, and SL600. It had three different body styles and two interiors thanks to two facelifts, three different transmissions in the U.S. — a 4-speed automatic, a 5-speed automatic, and a 5-speed dogleg manual transmission. And the 500SL/SL500 had 3 dif...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Now that the Bring-a-Trailer crowd have made 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s cars unaffordable, what happens to pre-1980s cars? Do they just fall out of favor like today's pre-war and brass-era cars? Or is the solution to get younger generations of car enthusiasts interested in pre 1980s cars? And then, how do you best preserve the cars of true interest from those periods so that younger generations can continue to have the option to be interested in them in the first place? Good questions! Tough questi...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 83
You don't need to be rich to be a car hoarder, but storing your cars is a challenge no matter how much or little money you have. On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek discuss a crucial piece of being an enthusiast/having a car collection (of any size or value): vehicle storage! How to take something drab and make it fab, both of their personal vehicle storage solutions and even some *very* exclusive collection setups as well. Cars are meant to be driven — so how do you protect ...
Jan 30, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 82
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason tells Derek the sad tale of how Jason's Honda Beat got beat from behind a few weeks ago. Which then segues nicely into how while Jason ended up being ok, the Beat will also end up being ok due to the type of collector auto insurance Jason has on it... and you'll *never* guess which company he uses! All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 81
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek talk about the Hagerty Bull Market list for 2023 and the companion video piece that Jason and his team created for it. (the tl:dr on Bull Market: Hagerty has a team of folks who nerd out on tracking vehicle values based on an assortment of data that only Hagerty can access. They then make a list of vehicles that they feel are a great value in terms of being an entry point into car collecting and that have the potential to, at a minimum, hol...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Put on a beret and grab a baguette because on this week's episode of the Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek are talking about the French (in name and origin story at least) monster that is the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport. As well as the Lucid Air Sapphire and the Tesla Plaid. Why? Because all of them were featured in Jason's most recent episode of "Cammisa's Ultimate Drag Race Replay," last week where Jason had the world-exclusive with the Sapphire and happened to set a production car 1/4 mile record...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 79
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek riff on a question that came up during a previous Q&A episode: do cars reflect where they come from? Does the country of origin impact how they're designed and engineered? Sweden, Germany, America, Japan, etc. how do these locations influence the end product that you end up driving? As always, Jason and Derek have their thoughts and they're ready to share. All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. Learn more abou...
Dec 12, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 78
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek discuss the future of Jaguar--the iconic automotive brand struggling to survive in today's market. All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 77
On today’s episode, Jason and Derek are accompanied by a large pile of snacks to discuss the greatest Ferrari driving experiences of all time. Needless to say, all prancing horses have been FAR from created equal. Discussion revolves mostly around the F50, which surprises Derek in its accessibility after some recent seat time with reserved expectations. Jason follows up with his experience in the 288 GTO, which was nearly perfect- high praise, given Jason’s general disinterest in turbocharged po...
Nov 28, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Keep your fire extinguisher nearby, for today’s episode of the Carmudgeon Show covers the beginning and end of GM’s first mid-engine blaze of glory- none other than the Pontiac Fiero. Covered in depth in the latest Revelations video, the Fiero was a troubled car from the start, tasked with delivering sports car performance and exceptional fuel economy but having major challenges achieving either or. Jason reviews the timeline of the Fiero’s promises and ultimate demise for GM. In a continued dis...
Nov 21, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Back by popular demand, Jason and Derek return to answer more viewer/listener questions this week. Amongst many similar discussions from last week, topics of interest include: how to make electric cars fun, what generally hated cars are actually great, why the Ferrari F355 is actually terrible, Z3 vs Miata, and why even the best new analog cars will never match the sensation of old analog. And on the subject of old analog- have you always dreamed of owning a 1994 Hyundai Excel? If you resemble t...
Nov 14, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 74
On this week’s episode of The Carmudgeon Show, your questions become answers! Jason and Derek take a deep dive into last week’s audience questions and cover an array of mostly automotive topics, including but not limited to: driving nirvana in an attainable car, the pronunciation of coupe vs. coupé, cars that belong to the wrong manufacture, drum brakes on EVs, and you heard it here first- the new VW Phaeton V12 TDI. Many of this week’s questions will become the topics of future episodes, so if ...
Nov 07, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 73
The front-wheel-drive platform is one that has been historically not taken seriously by many driving enthusiasts. After all, given all of the responsibility of moving AND steering the vehicle while stuffing the weight of an engine over the front wheels, who wouldn’t agree that FWD is always the inferior choice to RWD? Today’s episode of The Carmudgeon Show is all about the unspoken glory of front-wheel-drive and its general tendency to be misunderstood by enthusiasts across the board. Despite ha...
Oct 31, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Carmudgeon returns! After a short break, Jason and Derek have returned to discuss the past, present, and future of Maserati- and at the end of the day, should they even exist at all in the current car market? There’s no doubt that the legacy Italian brand has taken a new shape molded by mass-market modern consumer tastes, influencing the birth of the Ghibli, Levante, and MC20. With V6 powertrains across the board, Jason and Derek, Maserati may have lost its’ way, lacking the character of even th...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 71
On this episode of the Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek discuss the world’s best sounding cars, embracing the cacophony of cylinder count and alignment, valves per cylinder, and other factors that make each engine a musical instrument of sorts. Following a discussion that begins with the Audi RS3 and a breakdown of five cylinder aural theory, Jason and Derek land on the V10-powered Porsche Carrera GT and Lexus LFA as the best sounding cars in the world. Despite having the same cylinder count and...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 70
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason and Derek (and their traveling circus) venture to Europe to make memories of a lifetime taking two old German cars on an incredible 2,000 mile journey through Germany, Italy, and Switzerland via the wonderfully twisty roads of the Alps…or so they thought. Derek’s journey begins with the purchase of a W201 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 in Italy, a car whose brakes, in fact, break very quickly after taking delivery. Continuing along, the trip becomes decor...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 69
On today’s tale of two Toyotas, Jason and Derek discuss their parallel experiences driving two angry and estranged hot-hatch siblings: the GR Yaris and the GR Corolla. Jason unpacks a recent drive in the US-bound Corolla variant, while Derek discusses his go in the rest-of-world Yaris while in Europe. Despite its menacing looks, Jason highlights that the GR Corolla is overall more tame, forgiving, and subsequently competent than expected. It’s difficult to slide in the dry and less shouty and on...
Sep 19, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 68
On today’s episode, Jason and Derek discuss the YouTube algorithm and how the mere suggestion of the death of gasoline performance cars can send traditional automotive enthusiasts to grab their pitchforks and smash the dislike button. Surely, it’s hard to imagine a world where we’ll say goodbye to the ICE-powered, character-filled machines we have known and loved since the beginning of the car’s existence. But will we ever celebrate what we’re losing and look forward to what we’re gaining? Only ...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 67
This week, special guest James Engelsman of Throttle House joins the show to unpack the many happenings of this year’s Monterey Car Week, the center of all things automotive once a year. It’s James’ first car week experience, one which included multiple manufacture reveals, seas of interesting cars from pre-war to Pagani, and the occasional high five between Christian Von Koenigsegg and Gordon Murray. In a discussion beginning with pre-war cars, Jason, Derek, and James discuss various driving ex...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 66
On today’s episode, Jason and Derek uncover the fruitful history of Kei cars, the limitations they possess, and the various misconceptions that most enthusiasts have taken as truth. Jason and Derek discuss the differences in character between Honda Beat, Autozam AZ-1, Suzuki Cappuccino, and the other sub-700cc pocket rockets that have become popular 25 year rule imports into the US in recent years. Today’s topic also explores how different world governments create (and destroy) the existence of ...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 65
On this episode of The Carmudgeon Show- Jason and Derek each acquire new vehicles, both on very different ends of the spectrum… In a quest not to be #1 soccer dad, Jason discusses his recent experience in car dealer hell with a purchase of his very first American vehicle- an ex-rental spec Dodge Caravan SXT that will serve as his new camera and crew vehicle. Added dealer markup (ADM), paint protection, and other miscellaneous retail magic tricks are discussed, at what could ultimately be the doo...
Aug 15, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Ever wonder how to get your father arrested in 1990s Germany? 18-year-old Jason can probably answer that for you. Upon taking the keys to his father’s Vauxhall Calibra, Jason tells an adolescent story of getting a speeding ticket 100 mph over the posted limit. Going to Monterey Car Week without your car? Buy or rent an old car, no matter how much oil it leaks! Jason and Derek discuss which car in their respective collections they’ll bring to this year’s car week and complain about the soul-sucki...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 63
Today’s episode begins with cars shoehorned with engines they were never supposed to possess, such as the W124 Mercedes-Benz 500E and R129 SL600. On the opposite end of the engine-size spectrum, Jason also discusses his recent findings in the newest Cammisa Ultimate Drag Race series, featuring new front-wheel drive manual transmission offerings such as the Hyundai Elantra N, Volkswagen Jetta GLI, and Acura Integra (and special guest Ford Bronco Raptor). On the subject of super sedans, Derek disc...
Aug 01, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 62
What happens in a theoretical world where electric cars are banned? In this alternate simulation, Jason and Derek imagine a world where electric cars make another disappearance into the depths of history and the consequences that might follow. They also travel down the rabbit hole of alternative fuels and reveal their current disdain of hydrogen fuel cell technology and government handling of alternative fuel distribution. In this current simulation, however, it seems fairly predictable that aut...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 61
In this episode, Burnout Specialist Jason begins today’s episode with a guided presentation on vehicles that do the easiest burnouts- a discussion that starts and ends with V6 front-wheel-drive. It turns out that in his findings, Jason has also determined a way to pull off a smokey burnout *even* in a vehicle with an electronic parking brake- an answer that we don’t recommend trying at home, or in a press car… The term of the day is automotive archeology- in other words, the art of uncovering th...
Jul 18, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 60
