Cyberattack Shakes Auto Industry, Massive Recalls, and the Worst Cars Ever Made?
Jul 05, 2024Season 2024Episode 242
In Wheel Time Car Talk
Can a single cyberattack bring an entire industry to its knees? Discover how the recent breach at CDK Global impacted over 15,000 car dealerships across the U.S., forcing many to revert to old-school manual processes. We also bring you an exciting scoop about Toyota's innovative move to build a Japanese-style hotel in Plano, Texas, aimed at making Japanese executives feel right at home. And for a touch of humor, we share some lighthearted family stories about preparing for hurricane season.
Shocking recalls have hit the automotive world—Ford's massive recall of half a million F-150s due to dangerous powertrain issues, and Tesla's dual recalls of the 2024 Cybertruck over defects in the windshield wiper motor and trunk body trim. Mercedes-Benz and Toyota aren't off the hook either, facing their own sets of safety concerns. We also reflect on how vehicles like the Honda Ridgeline have grown in size and cost, sharing our personal takes on these evolving trends in the auto market.
Houston's auto enthusiasts, this one's for you! Learn about ProAm Auto Accessories and their long-standing commitment to providing exclusive parts and services since 1984. We also discuss the uplifting work of God's Garage, a charity that donates vehicles to single mothers, widows, and military wives. Plus, we ponder the future of auto shows, especially the Detroit Auto Show, in this rapidly changing automotive landscape. To wrap it all up, we take a fun detour into the world of automotive disasters, spotlighting some of the worst cars ever made like the Ford Pinto and Pontiac Aztek. Join us for a mix of serious insights and hearty laughs!
ProAm Auto Accessories ProAm Auto Accessories: "THE" place to go to find exclusive and hard to find parts and accessories!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Can a single cyberattack bring an entire industry to its knees? Discover how the recent breach at CDK Global impacted over 15,000 car dealerships across the U.S., forcing many to revert to old-school manual processes. We also bring you an exciting scoop about Toyota's innovative move to build a Japanese-style hotel in Plano, Texas, aimed at making Japanese executives feel right at home. And for a touch of humor, we share some lighthearted family stories about preparing for hurricane season.
Shocking recalls have hit the automotive world—Ford's massive recall of half a million F-150s due to dangerous powertrain issues, and Tesla's dual recalls of the 2024 Cybertruck over defects in the windshield wiper motor and trunk body trim. Mercedes-Benz and Toyota aren't off the hook either, facing their own sets of safety concerns. We also reflect on how vehicles like the Honda Ridgeline have grown in size and cost, sharing our personal takes on these evolving trends in the auto market.
Houston's auto enthusiasts, this one's for you! Learn about ProAm Auto Accessories and their long-standing commitment to providing exclusive parts and services since 1984. We also discuss the uplifting work of God's Garage, a charity that donates vehicles to single mothers, widows, and military wives. Plus, we ponder the future of auto shows, especially the Detroit Auto Show, in this rapidly changing automotive landscape. To wrap it all up, we take a fun detour into the world of automotive disasters, spotlighting some of the worst cars ever made like the Ford Pinto and Pontiac Aztek. Join us for a mix of serious insights and hearty laughs!
ProAm Auto Accessories ProAm Auto Accessories: "THE" place to go to find exclusive and hard to find parts and accessories!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
---- ----- Want more In Wheel Time Car Talk any time?
In Wheel Time Car Talk is now available on iHeartRadio!
Just go to iheartradio.com/InWheelTimeCarTalk where ever you are. ----- ----- Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast provider for the next episode of In Wheel Time Car Talk and check out our live broadcast every Saturday, 10a - 12noonCT simulcasting on iHeartRadio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and InWheelTime.com.
In Wheel Time Car Talk podcast can be heard on you mobile device from providers such as:
Apple Podcasts, Pandora Podcast, Amazon Music Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio podcast, TuneIn + Alexa, Podcast Addict, Castro, Castbox and more on your mobile device.
For more information about In Wheel Time Car Talk, email us at
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Tags: In Wheel Time, automotive car talk show, car talk, Live car talk show, In Wheel Time Car Talk
Speaker 1:
Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am, central. Turn the page. Welcome to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Reading your teleprompter? Yeah, we've been here for over an hour and guess who's not ready Me? Me Well, coming up, we're going to have a discussion about CDK, which is the software management company that was hacked and has pretty much shut down 15,000 dealers across the United States, although things are starting to come back online, but I think the damage has been done.
Speaker 1:
Jeff has this week's racing calendar. Mr Mars offers the five worst cars ever made. Perfect, howdy Along with Mike out of this world, mars. We always need more. Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong. Glad you could join us on this Saturday for our live show, if this is a podcast that you're listening to. Well, thank you very much for joining in. We appreciate you tuning in to us. This morning. Our first guest bailed out, and so we've got kind of an open segment here. Actually, I kind of like these at least one per show Every now and then. Yeah, it's good. So I did want to, and since I went inside and got the story out. I thought this would be a good time to do this.
Speaker 1:
A week after two cyber attacks forced CDK Global to shut down its software for thousands of dealerships in North America, the dealership management system company has made progress getting operations back up. Cdk said June 28th it was continuing to use a phased approach to gradually and safely reboot its DMS dealer management software system for the more than 15,000 customers affected by the shutdown. More than 15,000 customers affected by the shutdown. So it's a major, major thorn for everybody that subscribes to the CDK platform. Dealer management system includes things like inventory management, sales, making contracts and getting you all set up for financing, if that's what you want. Parts service, the maid that scrubs the toilets. It takes all of that into consideration and it kind of helps dealerships do business Right.
Speaker 3:
So when you say 15,000 customers, you're talking about 15,000 dealerships, which, literally, you're talking a minimum of 100 people at a dealership. So you're talking what 150,000 people impacted immediately.
Speaker 2:
But there's also breakdowns. After that, you said inventory. What kind of inventory? There's inventory of the floor plan of the cars themselves. There's inventory of the parts. There's inventory of tires.
Speaker 1:
All of that is part of that system so it's not only systems invoicing the dms is just the umbrella and then there's subsidiaries down below that, yeah are affected, and I I can only imagine, over the whatever 30, 40 years of development of this software system and it, you know, offers more and more and more and more as the years go by that dealers. Does a dealer even know how to do a manual written contract anymore? That's what they started to do. Where you take the big thick pad of paper. That's that long Five copies press hard.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's it, that's what they were doing. So imagine that trying to buy a car. Matter of fact, when this first came out, I heard that there were some dealerships that said, look, we'll sell you a car, but you can't take it because we don't have a contract and we can't just let the car walk off the showroom floor.
Speaker 2:
They could bail them. They put them on a bailment.
Speaker 1:
But whatever the case may be, it's a huge, huge problem and I think that slowly but surely, they're bringing dealerships. Basically, they're starting with these big groups like Auto One, auto.
Speaker 2:
Nation, auto Nation, all that stuff.
Speaker 1:
Yep. So there is that. That's the big story in the automotive world today. That's the big thing. Oh, there's a new automotive world today. That's the big thing. Oh, it's a new story out today. Automotive news. I just thought this was really interesting.
Speaker 1:
Of course, you know, toyota moved from their headquarters from Torrance, california, to Texas, kind of like Elon has done, but they did it before Elon. Well, finally, now that they've announced some billion-dollar expansion of the plant, outside San Antonio, a hotel blending Japanese style and sophistication with Texas hospitality is slated to rise near Toyota North America's headquarters in suburban Dallas. The 217-room Miyako Hotel is designed in part to give Japanese executives visiting Toyota's campus in Plano and nearby suppliers a comfortable oasis reminiscent of home. The project was announced in 2019 but but delayed by COVID-19 pandemic. Construction now is underway. They expect it to begin Actually, it's started to take place in 2025.
Speaker 1:
It's already on the blueprint drawing boards, With the 14-story hotel opening by mid-2027. Here you go, jeff. Planned amenities include a rooftop teppanyaki bar with panoramic views of the Texas prairie, outdoor steam rooms and a bakery serving artistic Japanese pastries. A garden will mix cherry blossom trees and Japanese maples with native North Texas plants Cactus Desert While exterior lighting will resemble paper lanterns, rooms will have traditional japanese teapots and tatami mats whatever that is, oh. While the decor will incorporate shoji screens and wallpaper with japanese motifs. That's home. Book me a room today, would you?
Speaker 1:
It's not just for the executives from.
Speaker 2:
Japan and the fridge in the room. You got little bottles of sake in there.
Speaker 3:
Yes, little signs that say sake to me, and then you go, there, you go.
Speaker 2:
Just popped into my mind. It did.
Speaker 1:
That's all that brown water you've been drinking this week. Morris, we had a long discussion before we went on the air this morning about, you know, what are we going to do for a hurricane with his 95-year-old mother and that sort of thing, and the thing that you left out you know plans to evacuate Neiderville over there, and the thing that you left out is cases of brown water, cases upon cases, and I'm thinking that if you do it the right way, you can time it just right for the opening of the Miyako Hotel. Ooh, there you go.
Speaker 3:
Just saying yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Okay, you get to wear one of those saris. Who's sorry, who's saris, who's sorry, who's sorry now, who's sorry?
Speaker 1:
now let's see what else do we have in the news that I wanted to bring to you this morning. Sorry, I really wasn't too prepared to be able to fill 30 minutes with nothing.
Speaker 3:
Well, we've got stuff to do. I know we've got plenty of stuff. I've got a whole stack of stuff here.
Speaker 1:
I did want to do the recalls this week. Okay, because I want to get them in? Because there's some interesting ones that popped up Rearview camera image may not display Interesting ones that popped up Rearview camera image may not display. This is an ongoing problem across multiple brands of cars, including Stellantis, chrysler, jeep, ram, dodge, basically from 21 to 2023 model years, all of those being recalled.
Speaker 2:
This sounds like that's a vendor issue it is.
Speaker 1:
It's a problem with whoever made the software or the camera itself. All the manufacturers with the same product. Ford Motor Company is recalling a half a million F-150s in the US because of an issue with the powertrain control module that could unintentionally downshift the vehicle into first gear. Now imagine this here you go, you're running down the highway at 75 miles an hour and then all of a sudden it decides that it wants to downshift to first. So you go from sixth or eighth gear or tenth gear to first gear. Well, you know what that's going to do. It's going to hurt something. It's going to hurt something, including yourself possibly, because if it goes that far, it's going to break the transmission and it's also going to lock up the rear wheels or all four wheels or whatever it's connected to, and you will lose control. You will do that. So that's for the F-150s. That's not good, and you know Ford has really had a major problem with recalls.
Speaker 1:
I think that they lead the industry in the number of recalls right now. Oh, mercedes is close behind Tesla. Two recalls of its 2024 ugly Cybertruck because of defects in the front windshield wiper and the trunk body trim. Front windshield motor may stop functioning in 11,688.2 affected vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash. They'll replace the windshield wiper motor and then also they're recalling about the same number about 12,000, because of a detachment risk in the trunk bed trim. Axiom Plastics is the part supplier. According to the report, tesla will replace or rework the applique. Okay, an applique to me is a sticker.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I don't understand that. It's probably something instructional?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:
I know you're working on brown water thoughts, but would you? Like me to do some more now.
Speaker 3:
No, no, yeah, yeah, I just got confused on the sticker blowing off why that was such a big deal.
Speaker 1:
Multiple camera images may not display in the Toyota Crown.
Speaker 2:
Oh yeah, that's the new model, the new scene. Yeah, we looked at the one of those, uh, when kathy was looking at uh, her lexus. She was looking at the the uh, camry, and the crown was out there and then she switched over to the lexus. But yeah, she, uh, she looked at it?
Speaker 1:
does it take the place of the Avalon? Maybe?
Speaker 2:
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1:
It's a good-looking car, f-150, here we go for 2021. Ota BCM software update may disable reverse lights. Mercedes-benz, you mentioned them. Misrouted harness may corrode.
Speaker 2:
In short, circus Short circus, that's for them, circus animals, you put the harness on. They're your mother-in-law.
Speaker 1:
Mercedes-Benz AMG, cls 53, e 53, gt 43, and GT 53. 2019 through 2023 models and the C 300 from Mercedes-Benz. 22-23. Wire connected to the pre-fuse box could be loose. Ooh, hate those loose wires. Vw recalling a quarter of a million vehicles in the US over concerns that the front passenger airbags may not deploy when the seat is activated. 21-24 Atlas and 20 to 24 Atlas Cross Sport. Toyota let's not leave them out. Don't leave them out. Recalling 145,000 new crossovers in the US due to an issue with airbag deployment. Recalls cover the 2024 Lexus TX which I was supposed to get Thursday. They won't deliver it to me because it's under recall. The Lexus TX, lexus TX Hybrid and Toyota Grand Highlander and Grand Highlander Hybrid being recalled. Notification letters will be sent out August the 5th.
Speaker 2:
I guess you have a special purpose for a Highlander. I'm not into the big boxiness.
Speaker 1:
The Highlander used to actually was the original Lexus RX when it was small and tiny. There's nothing small and tiny available anymore.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, this is too big Matter of fact. Speaking of that, I want you to know that I took delivery of that car that I have sitting out there right now, the Ridgeline, and the jury's still out on that. Oh boy, $56,000. Wow, and so they've grown it. As all vehicles, it never fails. Why? Why do they keep making it bigger and bigger and bigger? That's not the model that I know and I've grown to love. Oh, you're going to make it bigger and bigger and bigger. That's not the model that I know and I've grown to love. Oh, you're going to make it bigger. I'll have another one of those. How many people actually do that when they go to buy a car? Okay, so I had my original, whatever it was Lexus 1999, I think the RX that I had and then the next model comes out, and the next model comes out.
Speaker 1:
What's wrong, mars? Why are you over here doing this? He's touching stuff. What did you say? I'm not hearing it. Why not? I don't know. It looks like it's on. It may be me. He always likes to do these sorts of things and have us all worried that we're not getting out on the Internet, and I don't quite understand he's checking?
Speaker 2:
No, it's what he does. He checks and, you know, dials in.
Speaker 1:
So they keep growing them and making them bigger and, of course, charging more money. So the Honda Ridgeline that I have out there, which is a basically it is a cord with a truck body on it, it's kind of like the old well name one, the Ford Ranchero or the Chevy El Camino. Well, this is the new version of that.
Speaker 2:
It's a small version of like an Avalanche on the GM side to me, the Ridgeline, yeah, yeah, the pickup truck, yeah, that out there with it's a smaller version of what an avalanche would be.
Speaker 1:
I don't know about that, but I can tell you, I can tell you that it's just a design, it is a, it is a big, what they call a mid-sized truck. And in fact somebody said to me the other day he says, oh, you know, um, I sure did like that, uh, that you were driving, I guess, with the Colorado or the Maverick or something. And I said, well, that's about the only truck now that will fit inside your garage, because a half-ton pickup truck will not fit. Do you remember the one that I had out there, that I stood in front of? Yeah, and the top of the hood was at my shoulder? Yeah, I am six foot one. That thing is huge, got the big lift, big tires big off-road package.
Speaker 1:
It just is like holy cow. Why do you keep making it so big? Can't get it in the garage.
Speaker 3:
I miss all of them now. I had an uncle call me this week and he was asking me about he wants to downsize to a midsize so that he can get something in the garage.
Speaker 1:
The midsize is about the size of the old full-size 1500.
Speaker 3:
That's what I told him. He's got a 2002 one-ton Ram that he drives for his RV. I said you need to go get him one of of these because it's really going to be about the size of your regular cab 2002 truck. Yeah, I said you're going to be surprised that it's not the mid-size, just really aren't that small.
Speaker 1:
When they first came out with them, we all thought of them as our old mini trucks the ford, the original ford ranger, or the S10 or whatever it is. No, it's not that.
Speaker 3:
Not anymore. No, they've all got steroids on them, oh boy.
Speaker 1:
Well, the other problem is the fact that the price of them that Ridgeline that I just took delivery of out there, the sticker on it is $56,000. What For a unibody.
Speaker 3:
Truck, truck and.
Speaker 1:
For a unibody Truck Truck. And then I had the discussion Okay, so who actually uses a truck these days?
Speaker 2:
for what a truck is built for Towing and hauling the ordinary family, not necessarily daily basis or weekly basis. It's more for a commercial guy, because you don't see a family down the road hauling bales of hay.
Speaker 1:
I actually don't see a family in pickup trucks.
Speaker 2:
It's usually one guy yeah.
Speaker 1:
And I just don't understand. I mean, if you're going to use the truck to haul your camper, okay, I get it, got it. Yeah, if you've got loads of mulch every week that you're delivering, pulling a great big lawn trailer or something, I get it.
Speaker 2:
What are you doing? I'm pointing at that.
Speaker 3:
He's watching the clock.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I'm watching the clock. I'm going to take that clock down you just put it up.
Speaker 1:
I did, I just put it up. All right, we shall take a break. Oh my gosh, because Jeff is getting nervous and anxious.
Speaker 2:
Over here Is your middle name Nelly Nelly, nelly, nervous, nelly Nelly.
Speaker 1:
All right, there you go, like good leftovers in the fridge. You can get the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show 24-7 through the iHeartRadio app. Just look for In Wheel Time Car Talk, and podcasts are available from your favorite podcast provider.
Speaker 2:
We're like the.
Speaker 1:
McDonald's drive-thru window. Oh boy, we also video stream our live three-hour weekly show on Facebook, youtube and InWheelTimecom. The InWheelTime Car Talk Show continues after this. Pro-am Auto Accessories has been serving Houston's auto enthusiasts since 1984, providing world-class products for sports cars, european sedans and American muscle. Pro-am is known as the place to go to find exclusive and hard-to-find parts and accessories. Pro-am is known as the place to go to find exclusive and hard-to-find parts and accessories. Pro-am is one of the very first distributors in the USA for brands such as Recaro, redline, momo Corbo and Simpson. Located in the heart of Houston's premier retail and service corridor, the Galleria area, pro-am's walk-in storefront includes an 8,000-square-foot warehouse, showroom and installation bays. Pro-am not only sells parts and accessories, but also offers installation and service. Pro-am is now reaching a worldwide audience through Pro-Amcom, taking its local reputation to the rest of the world. At Pro-Am Auto, you'll be dealing with a small group of professionals who truly want to help you with your automotive needs. If you don't see what you're looking for on the website, call and Pro-Am will lend you a hand. Pro-am Auto, 6125 Richmond at Greenridge in Houston's Galleria area. Call them at 713-781-7755.
Speaker 1:
Want to feel good about something special you did for someone special In Real Time and the original Loopy Tortilla group of Tex-Mex restaurants have joined together to help a very worthy cause God's Garage, a Christian-based 501c3 charity.
Speaker 1:
We know there are lots of places and organizations out there where you can donate a car, truck or SUV, but we're asking you, our car enthusiast family, to consider donating to God's Garage. Visit godsgarageorg and learn about its mission, the women that have been helped, how each one is screened and about their Restore you program. A car donation is an easy way to make a difference in the lives of others. God's Garage needs good operating vehicles but will take all types in working and non-working condition. Make your heart and soul feel good by donating your gently used vehicle and help support single mothers, widows and wives of deployed military at godsgarageorg. Welcome back to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Our live version here on Saturday is 8 to 11 am and we always invite you to join our live program program and, if you're listening, on a podcast from all of the umpteen thousand podcast distributors across America and beyond.
Jeff's counting, I'm counting, count on that Well, yeah, so thank you very much. We appreciate you. We normally have a guest in this segment, but we didn't today, because they bailed on us at the last minute and Mars was deep into his brown water cocktails when it was time to find somebody else.
Speaker 1:
There's some interesting news out of Detroit and the fact that I'm not sure about new car shows anymore. More people have bailed on the Detroit Auto Show, even though they're moving it back to its original January, january or February whenever it is deep in the wintertime in Detroit.
Speaker 2:
It kicked off the automotive season in Detroit. Yeah, kicked it off for everybody. Yeah, I used to go.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, well, we all used to go to the new car shows.
Speaker 2:
Well, specifically, the one in Detroit. Yeah, cobo Hall, yeah, well, we all used to go to the new car shows.
Speaker 1:
Well, specifically, the one in.
Speaker 2:
Detroit yeah, cobo Hall, all that, yeah, growing up as a kid. Is Cobo Hall still there? Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
But that thing was built.
Speaker 2:
What back in the 40s or 50s, something like that. It's old, old very old.
Speaker 3:
Well, I did see a date for the Houston Auto Show, so they're still planning on it in January.
Speaker 1:
We'll see how that goes, because you know the manufacturers are going. We've got better ways to reach our potential purchasers of our vehicles.
Speaker 3:
They think there is anyway, yeah, I'm not so sure.
Speaker 1:
Well, at any rate, all right. Well, let's do the racing calendar, shall we? Yep, jeff has that sponsored by texas muscle car club challenge yeah, and what we've got?
Speaker 2:
uh, you racing is a couple, couple of events. The imsa and the indie guys are off until the middle of july, coming up very soon. Uh, you've got nhra at the summit racing equipment, nhra Nationals in Norwalk and, of course, last week we all know the crash of John Force. They put him in the hospital and I believe he's still in the hospital. John was checking the report this morning. Severity of injuries are for us, we're speculating, but he does have, I'm sure, a concussion and some other bodily.
Speaker 1:
I think it's more serious than that, because they moved him from intensive care general uh over to the neurological intensive care right. So, and his, his, he's being watched by his family. As a matter of fact, uh, ashley, or britney, is one. One of the daughters is with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, uh, very serious injury for john forrest and we wish them the best of luck, yep.
Speaker 2:
And then you've got NASCAR. Nascar is in Nashville Speedway. The race is on NBC.
Speaker 1:
Mic tickets are still available if you want to go NBC, you mean the Nobody Cares television network, yeah, nobody cares.
Speaker 2:
And then you've got the Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix practice.
Speaker 1:
They're racing in the mountains.
Speaker 2:
Racing in the snow capped mountains and all that good stuff, and that's being put on by the Red Bull Ring and, like I said, indy is off and so is IMSA, and I think that'll cover that for just a segment.
Speaker 1:
There we go. Mr Mars has put together something special for all of us. Because, I bet everybody has their own story about one of the five worst cars ever made. I don't know why you just narrowed it down to five.
Speaker 3:
Well, because of time I just figured out time because it's so subjective as to what's good, what's bad and what's the worst and what's the best. So this is just five of the ones that you might can put a little data behind to say that this is one of the worst vehicles and, for example, one that comes to mind real quick and easy is the Ford Pinto. It was manufactured from 1971 to 1980.
Speaker 3:
It was a very popular car and they sold a bajillion of them. They really did, they sold. In fact, the first year they sold 220,000.
Speaker 1:
Is that rust on that and they recalled every one of them. I think they used to call them exploders. I think they did. Yeah, they did.
Speaker 3:
But before that the gas fumes got into the cab or the passenger compartment and so that was the reason they had to recall all of them. But it came in three models and it blew up a lot and it was only if you hit it True, and it had a lot of recalls and it was a big problem for Ford, so they quit manufacturing that.
Speaker 1:
There's mine, the Vega Ladies and gentlemen, I had two of them, did you, I did, I had a 72, and then I went all into a 74 you know, I really always liked the way those look like like a baby camaro or something, yeah and uh.
Speaker 3:
You know, they never did really come with a lot of big power or anything and it was just kind of stylish, but they had a tendency to break down a lot. They had overheating problems the aluminum engine was the part of the problem, it just would get too hot didn't they have a Copo version of that? They had a Cosworth version. It was a little bit of a hot rod. They sold 2 million over 2 million of these vehicles.
Speaker 1:
That was one of the morons that bought them but I never had a problem with mine.
Speaker 3:
I thought they were really cool, the ones that did the V8 conversion and particularly the little wagon. It just looked really cool. But another one that was out there that really didn't do so well was the AMC Gremlin. It had kind of a quirky design to it, kind of boxy, but it also had reliability issues and it didn't really run very fast. It didn't even sell very good. Actually, it was made from 1970 to 1978.
Speaker 3:
They only sold 671 000 of those vehicles total so it just uh, you know, it just didn't turn out to be very popular although they make some pretty good hot rods right now they do then you know the, the one your favorite, probably don, is the corvair. Oh god, you know, this is not the first model.
Speaker 1:
No, not the first model.
Speaker 3:
No, not the first model. I mean they were built from 1960 to 1969. So the first ones came out with a flat six at 80 horsepower. It was under $2,400 to buy this thing. Hold me back.
Speaker 1:
That was to compete with the Volkswagen Beetle.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely, and of course they sold 1.8 million of them during that whole time. And of course they sold 1.8 million of them during that whole time. But really, what really hurt it was the Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed, where he went into why it would lose control. The rear engine, the swing axle, a lot of these things that even though they fixed some of them, the car just kind of faded away. And then, whenever you get down to this one, I think this one really died because it was just so ugly. The Pontiac Aston.
Speaker 3:
Built from 2001 to 2005. It was actually the first mid-size SUV CUV that came to market. It had a V6 with a 4-speed automatic and they marketed it as a sport recreational vehicle, and some of the advertisements had tents and had places you could put your bikes and your canoes and snowboards. It even had a two-piece tailgate that had cup holders on it for tailgating part of that whole get it the family and get out and get busy type thing, and basically, though, it was just plain ugly and there's some more out there, but I thought that was a good place to start, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:
That's a good one. All right, hey. If you'd like to get in touch with us, please do Shoot us an email. The address is info at inwheeltimecom. Be sure to follow us on Facebook.
Speaker 1:
Back after these brief messages, the original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipe means when it comes to the best fajitas in Southeast Texas. Founder Stan Holt invites you to visit the first Loopy Tortilla near I-10 and Highway 6. Here is the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make Loopy Tortilla the go-to destination for Houston Tex-Mex. Nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade. That everyone will agree makes Loopy Tortilla award-winning beef fajitas the best anywhere. Loopy Tortilla Katie's another location that gives you the same quality and service Houstonians have come to expect at Loopy's. It's located on 99th and Grand Parkway at Kingsland Boulevard in Katie. Find yourself in Aggieland Head to the Loopy Tortilla in College Station, located just around the corner from Kyle Field, it's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game. Going to Louisiana, the Loopy Tortilla in Beaumont is on I-10, so you can't miss it. The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants, has the best Tex-Mex anywhere and you're invited anytime.
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Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy, dull appearance. Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your save-the-paint company. John Gray and his team of detailing experts can help your cars finish without a full repaint. Searching for the real experts in window tint or windshield protection? Gulf Coast Auto Shield.
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Dash cams, radar detectors Gulf Coast Auto Shield Got a new car. Get that thing protected as soon as you take delivery. If you don't know which of the multitude of protection products to go with, john Gray will give you an honest opinion and won't sell you something you don't need or can't afford. John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot. He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too. See the state-of-the-art shop yourself. Free tours anytime. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway. Gulf Coast Auto Shield full service luxury car care today. That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show. I'm Don Armstrong inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am. Central on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify Stitcher, iheart Podcast, podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music. Keep listening and we'll see you soon.