In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show

Exploring Car Paint: The Art and Journey with Randy Borchiding

• In Wheel Time Podcast | Automotive talk with Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, and Jeff Dziekan • Season 2025 • Episode 286

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Randy Borchiding's colorful journey from model car enthusiast to custom paint specialist unfolds with charm and practical wisdom. What started with Testors spray cans and a childhood model contest victory evolved into a full-fledged career creating custom colors for show-stopping vehicles. 

Randy pulls back the curtain on his early days, revealing how he built his first professional paint booth using nothing more than PVC pipes, plastic sheeting, and box fans with air conditioning filters. "Don't feel like you can't accomplish something just literally in your garage because you don't have a $50,000 box," he encourages, sharing how cars painted in this humble setup went on to compete at prestigious shows like the Grand National Roaster Show.

The science behind the art proves fascinating as Randy explains the critical role of temperature in modern urethane painting. Working in environments below 50 degrees can leave paint jobs permanently sticky or mushy – a costly lesson he learned firsthand. His process for creating custom colors evolved organically from customer requests to modify OEM shades, resulting in approximately 50 signature colors that he can reproduce consistently.

Currently preparing a hot pink 1968 Roadrunner (aptly named "Ransberry") for the upcoming SEMA show, Randy shares the pressure and timeline of readying show cars for major events. His other project, a 1968 Oldsmobile convertible, demonstrates his versatility – maintaining period-correct aesthetics while incorporating modern performance with an LS3 engine disguised to look like an original Oldsmobile powerplant.

The episode also features Jeff's Motor Minute discussing NASCAR's potential horsepower increase to 750 for the 2026 season, followed by Don's enthusiastic review of the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata Anniversary Edition. Despite having just 181 horsepower, the Miata's exceptional power-to-weight ratio delivers thrilling performance with remarkable efficiency.

Subscribe to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show for more automotive insights, expert interviews, and honest reviews every Saturday from 10-noon Central Time on inwheeltime.com, YouTube, and Facebook.

Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!

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SPEAKER_04:

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30 minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Carter's live every Saturday morning to 11 a.m. Central. Put that a little item away if you remember correctly.

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe you didn't need it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Well, we need to I made a big mistake, didn't I? Okay. Again. I'm always reminded of these mistakes that I make, but whatever. Uh hello and good morning, everybody, and welcome to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Shut up. Just shut up, Mars. Uh In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. It is Saturday, September 27th, 2025. Glad you could join us today. And uh we welcome you. Coming up, uh Paint House's Randy Borchiting, talking about his journey to become a successful paint engineer and mixologist. And those are my words that I kind of gave him a new tip. Sure. Uh Jeff has this week's Motor Minute. I'll also give you my thoughts on driving the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata. All of that more coming up in this segment of the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Howdy, along with Mike out of this world Mars, who if you're watching on video, you can see him over there on the right hand side of the screen. Is he frozen again? Yeah. Yeah, he is. And then over on the left hand side, live and in living color, it's me and my partner Jeff. And then there at the bottom of the screen, here he is, ladies and gentlemen, our man of the hour, Randy Borchiding. Paint House. And uh good to see you, Randy. Thanks for joining us today. And I'm not going to get sidetracked today.

unknown:

Why?

SPEAKER_04:

Because the only reason that we had you back so soon is because I, I, Don Armstrong, forgot that we really originally wanted to talk to you about your history, your story, how you got into the paint business. How did that come about?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh it sounds cliche and kind of silly, but starting building models as a kid, you know, I since seven or eight, nine years old, I don't know, but I always enjoyed painting them and coming up with interesting colors out of the old testers' spray cans to uh to make them look interesting. And entered a model contest in Colorado Springs when I was probably I don't know, eight or nine years old, got a first place, and maybe that's where it happened. I don't know, but it's just been an evolution of that beginning. Now school of hard knocks, if you will.

SPEAKER_04:

So let me ask you this while while Mr. Mars fiddles with our picture quality here. Um I wanted to know when you started painting cars, at least for me when I was painting cars, they had little bitty spray cans that you could use to paint the car with. Is that what you used?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. Aerosols.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Back then they even had a little uh little add-on thing you could buy that was kind of a pistol grip. Yes. So you kind of felt like you were spraying with a spray. It was just it was silly and plastic, but when you're nine years old, it felt cool.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, and uh you made sure that you didn't have, you know, you didn't do it in a dirty garage floor or something like that to get stuff in the paint. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04:

So let's bring it up to kind of the present day when you actually got into a real honest to God paint booth.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh well, certainly a different in environment. And my my first booth was homemade. Uh it actually did pretty good work. We took cars to the Grand National Roaster Show that were painted in a homemade paint booth. So don't feel like you can't accomplish something just literally in your garage or your backyard because you don't have a$50,000 or$100,000 box to put things in. Yeah, now they're absolutely possible.

SPEAKER_02:

Now they have those you can buy and set them up in your backyard, they're inflatable and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

I've thought about that. Becoming this have gun slash booth will travel setup with one of those temporary inflatable booths. They're they're pretty fascinating.

SPEAKER_04:

Um when you started the the whole paint booth stuff, what did you use for your first paint booth to call it a booth?

SPEAKER_00:

It was PVC pipe and plastic sheeting and uh a couple of those little cheap box fans to pull air through the structure.

SPEAKER_04:

Did you use a filter with the fans or no?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh well I figured that out that I needed air going in because otherwise you just suck the thing closed. Yeah, right. So yes, air conditioning filters. It was it was truly a homemade thing, and you know, with some trial and error, it it worked.

SPEAKER_04:

I I find all of that uh fascinating. I see some of that on television today where I can't remember what was it, the garage show that um uh uh you there's several out there, yeah. Yeah, there's several of them, where they don't really have a real paint booth and they can't get the car into a paint booth, so they build one, and it's not really that big a deal with today's technology, like you said, uh plastic pipes and um some cellophane, if you will. Yeah, high wraps, all that, yeah. Right, right. It's yeah, it's not that big of a deal. What's the importance of that? Why can't you just paint it out underneath the tree?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, uh I would say two reasons. Number one is you don't want all the overspray going everywhere. It's your neighbors probably aren't gonna like it. Uh, and it tends to land on things and not want to come off. And number two would be cleanliness of the paint job. You don't want you want to keep as many things out of the film as you can bugs, dirt, leaves, pterodactyls, whatever. Um it's keeping the paint job clean. A lot of these finishes are very sensitive to that. Metallics and pearls, anytime you get something that lands in the paint, they tend to amplify themselves, and you see them bigger than they actually are. So the cleaner the paint job, the better.

SPEAKER_02:

There's also temperature regulation when you do that too. You can't paint it too cold or paint it too hot. It's got to be like a the Goldilocks type.

SPEAKER_00:

In the world of urethane paints, which is what I live in, it's a 50 degrees to however hot it is, window, but you get under 55 or 50 degrees, and a lot of these, and actually all of them, as far as I know, these catalyzed products, the clear coats, the primers, yeah, and now even the base coats, they won't dry.

SPEAKER_04:

They won't catalyze, they won't do their voodoo and witchcraft to what do you wind up with a sticky paint job after it's allegedly dry?

SPEAKER_00:

You you or you end up with a half-dried film that never hardens fully and it's just kind of mushy. And it and in theory, it doesn't continue drying later, it just stays locked in that state, and now you got a problem. Wow.

SPEAKER_04:

That's yeah, that that's a major problem. I guess the only way to clear that is to remove all of that and start all over.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, uh, yeah, I've had to. I've learned that lesson among others.

SPEAKER_04:

So let's talk about color because obviously you have somehow perfected the art, and that it is, of coming up with your own unique colors, not only for the cars that you paint, but for other people to use in their paint booths. Um, how did that come about?

SPEAKER_00:

It was truly uh through a customer that had a color on an OEM vehicle. He said, I like it, but I want to change this about it. So you add and you subtract, you take this thing out, maybe you put a different thing in, and next thing you know, you've got a custom color. The important part is to document what you did so it's repeatable down the road. And it started with one blue pearl and has evolved into now. We probably have, I don't know, 50 or so repeatable colors that but for the most part, I'd say 80% of what colors we sell are probably four of our mixes, reds and blues. That there's some reason those are the most popular.

SPEAKER_04:

I'll be there. That's interesting. Did do you find that guys that uh are looking for a custom color, do they ever use new style factory colors? Randy, I really like this silver that they've come out with this on the Corvette. But can you start there and let's customize it a little bit? Do you do that?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh I have, yes, sir. We're doing one for 34 Plymouth right now where the the art that was drawn, the rendering, features two either Honda or Toyota colors, kind of a sage green and a darker green, very pretty two-tone. But there were things he wanted me to change in those two colors, which I did, and he gets his own personal color, but they were based off of an OEM starting point.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Do you name it after the customer that's requesting it, or you just come up with a name like a it depends.

SPEAKER_00:

There's times when I personalize it for the customer, other times it's my quirky sense of humor. Um, most times it's probably that. Yeah. I I don't know. I find it. Well, we know you have a sense of humor.

SPEAKER_04:

Very quickly, you have a sense of humor because you keep appearing on this show.

SPEAKER_00:

Or I'm a cutting for punishment, one or the other.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So these model cars that you built growing up, did any of you take any of those to SEMA?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh the big model cars? The big one. The the big cars, yes, we take them to SEMA all the time. We got one that we're about to pick up from upholstery later today, actually. MTI up in College Station has done a beautiful job on a 68 Roadrunner. It's a uh, I'm gonna just call it a hot pink. The name for it is Ransberry. Um, you know, because you can get away with that with a Mopar that had pinks and greens and bright colors, purples that uh no other manufacturer seemed to get away with. So I came up with a a very loud color and put it on this roadrunner and hopefully it gets people's attention. We'll see.

SPEAKER_04:

Cool. Now, the SEMA that I am familiar with happens in October, and this is you're talking about taking it coming up next month. Correct. And you're just now gathering it up from the upholsterer.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. But what's your timeline? In this case, the upholsterer was about the last thing. Okay, there's a few items that still need to go in the car, front and rear bumpers, um, some lower trim panels, a general just overall cleanup of the paint. Um, but for the most part, I'd say right now, after upholstery, it's 95% done. Cool. Now that doesn't mean we won't have challenges, and this last three and a half weeks won't be stressful, but I feel like I'm I don't even want to say it outside. I am not ahead of the curve, I'm not saying it. There, I did not say it. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, yes, and and we totally I get that. I know um uh my dear friend Bill Seitz helped me with my first car show after a custom paint job in the 77 Corvette. And I had the thing uh disassembled as far as I could get it, and uh Bill helped me put it back together, and of course, you know, two nights before we were going to do the move in, it was still on jack stands.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, and uh I know that you're familiar with that, and it was I am yeah, it was a rush, it was nervous nelly. Um, and I somehow, Bill and I somehow got that car ready. I had uh completely redone the interior in it, and um and I I did get the first place on it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's called youth and caffeine.

SPEAKER_04:

Pretty much, yeah, that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh and late nights, and I got the caffeine, I've run out of the youth.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, well, haven't we all? Did you have to go there? Yeah, you did. But um, so uh you have are you gonna take it out there yourself with your truck and and and and hauler? Now the hauler is only a one-car hauler.

SPEAKER_00:

Correct. It's 40 feet long, hauls holds one car, but it gives me some extra room. We've got a bathroom in it, it's an ATC trailer. And uh I've had smaller trailers, yeah, they're a little easier to maneuver, but I like having some room to move around. If I need to haul some extra stuff, it's not so cramped.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, got it. Um, let's talk briefly here about uh what you got in the shop. Obviously, that's a good-looking Oldsmobile behind you. Convertible, it looks like what year is that?

SPEAKER_00:

68. It's on a Art Morrison chassis, has a retro decorated LS3, but it looks like an Oldsmobile engine. Um it's shot wheels, it's about to go to upholstery next week, but it's gonna get a more actually an original upholstery that they did not want to go the full custom route. So this car will have a much more traditional look and feel about it, but still drive like a modern hot rod. That's the best.

SPEAKER_04:

Now, when you do this, you don't you don't go out uh outside, uh, an outside source to do like you know remanufactured uh door cards and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00:

We do. In this case, there are good uh you know, repop or remanufactured kits out there, particularly in the GM and and Ford world, um where you can get uh a very nice reproduction of the original and it's quality stuff.

SPEAKER_04:

And you can find the actual upholstery that goes on the seats and the other trim in there that matches that color.

SPEAKER_00:

They've got matches for the original. It's it's a it's a pretty well uh fleshed out industry in that there's some good products out there if you want to stock interior.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And there's some junk too, you just gotta know which is which.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. Do the Chinese make that?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think so. I think it's actually made here, thank God.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm a big fan of that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so when will the old be done?

SPEAKER_00:

I'd say late this year. You know, we'll have it up and running. We we just got it uh under its own power last week. So we're in the test driving and and working out the bugs phases right now.

SPEAKER_04:

Did you do the engine yourself?

SPEAKER_00:

We didn't build the engine, we installed it, and we did all did wiring via a friend of mine. Uh he's a mobile electronics guy, and he's just a wizard with this stuff. Uh Mike Swan, he's phenomenal. Does a beautiful job. Looks like an aircraft mechanic laid it all out, and it makes it easy to service, which is one of the things I'm a stickler on.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I'm I'm curious uh as to the look that you achieved, the stock look under the hood with an LS engine. Um, I I assume that there are parts out there that you can get that.

SPEAKER_00:

If you want, I'll I'll uh lift the hood here real quick and show you.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I'd love to see that. If I can't the reliability of an LS engine, but also have the have the stock look of the original. Yeah. Don't scratch the paint.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. All right, here we go. I'm gonna grab the camera. Trying to look at it while I'm showing you, but oh my gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

So it's got the original Oldsmobile Gold Paint crossover intake. Um it's got headers on it, and now were the those those valve covers, they they look like uh the old Corvette valve covers that I used to have. They're a little stout, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh they are the they're Offenhauser brand. So it's a you know traditional hot rod valve cover that uh I don't know, it just looked kind of cool, a little decorated, but not not too fancy. It's not all chromed out. It looks it looks like Oldsmobile might have put that there.

SPEAKER_04:

Does it have Offenhauser on it?

SPEAKER_00:

On the valve cover, yes, it does.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. See, not a lot of not a lot of overdone billet because a lot of folks put a lot of all that billet on there and it looks like trash.

SPEAKER_00:

Being that they were sticking with uh a more traditional, certainly interior. Um, I didn't want to go off the reservation on this one, so we kept it very OEM stock looking. The only thing that's missing is a distributor, and if you're not looking for that, you'll never know.

SPEAKER_04:

Now, did this car actually have uh a hood blanket underneath there?

SPEAKER_00:

It would have, but we just we just paint it and get this under there. Just a matte finish, just clean it up.

SPEAKER_04:

Ah, matte finish. So it is a little bit different, but it's clean.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. We didn't smooth it, we didn't make a bunch of panels to hide something. It is what it is. You just try and you know go a level up if that's the right way to put it in.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm real attracted to that look. That that's my kind of stuff right there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, how how much yeah, very cool. Uh, we're we're very impressed. And uh best of luck to you at SEMA this year. I know you don't want to hear from us before uh you uh take that trek out there.

SPEAKER_00:

Well thanks, fellas.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, thank you very much, and it's always a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks for the history, the story, and um we love you, man, and take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_00:

Take care, guys. Thanks for being back. Thanks for letting me once be back. Yep, thank you. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, Mr. Mars is going to say goodbye to Randy, I think. Yeah, he just did. He just did, and he's gonna uh hopefully put himself back up in the I think maybe he's still working on some technical issues.

SPEAKER_02:

I think so. Okay, well that's what I was I'm about to say.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, if that's the case, then uh that are we going to be able to play the commercials?

SPEAKER_02:

If he's at his end, he can do that. I know. Well, we can't. Okay. I don't have any control over that. Do you want to pod me down and I'll go get that device?

SPEAKER_04:

Um, yeah, that'd be great. Okay, do that. Okay. Wanted to remind you that just ahead, we're gonna have a review of Toyota's new Mazda MX5 Miata Anniversary Edition, and we'll also have Jeff's Motor Minute when the in-wheel time car talk show continues after this break. Stay with us. The TexBecks dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, Lupi Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Lupi Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston. Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location. Start your loopy experience with queso flammiato and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita. Dine on famous loopy beef and chicken fajitas, or pepper shrimp brochette, or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert. Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-testing. The ingredients always fresh. Loopy tortilla, the speedy booth.

SPEAKER_01:

Time to fire up those engines and pay tribute to the folks who make freedom possible. Friday night, downtown cruise, Saturday, 400 of the coolest rods in Texas. Sponsored by Craig's jewelry. November steps of the day.

SPEAKER_03:

How about you, live and direct there, not frozen?

SPEAKER_04:

Mr. Morrison, did you finally figure out why you were freezing up there?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, no, but I did contact Mr. Ainsley and uh he he pointed me in a direction and we went that way and we're gonna find out what happened.

SPEAKER_02:

And you still showed up. I'll be darned.

SPEAKER_04:

Uh-huh. There is that. Still made it. Hey, we'd like to invite everybody to join us for the live In Wheel Time car talk show every Saturday, 10 to noon Central Time on inwheeltime.com, YouTube, and Facebook. Get one today. It's free.

SPEAKER_02:

And you get your um in wheel time, what do they call that? The device, the never mind. Moving on.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. Well, whatever. I don't I don't know where you're talking about. But I'm sure it was good, whatever it was. Uh well, I'm I'm trying to um get some other stuff working here.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, for instance, the show open, it's in that computer. Uh but I need to get that.

SPEAKER_02:

You want me to do this while you're doing it? I do. That's what I was talking about. I'm gonna talk about my motor minute here uh with the grandioso introduction. NASCAR is rumored to increase horsepower to 750 in the next gen cars in 2026. Check this out. NASCAR introduced a next generation car in 2022 season, and the horsepower changed comparatively to the Gen 6 vehicle instead of 550 horsepower and 750 horsepower, depending on the package and the track. The next gen car is going to have 670 horsepower every week. Standard. NASCAR drivers have pushed for more horsepower, and it seems they might just get their wish come true. According to Brad Keselowski, evidently he's a spokesman, he was on a uh podcast with Corey LaJoy. NASCAR intends to increase the horsepower in the next gen to roughly 740 to 750 for the 26th season. That's a lot. Wish I had it. It looks like NASCAR is going to change the rules next year, where they likely the 740 to 750 horsepower, because you know right now, technically they're at 670, but realistically they're about 685 to 690. So there's a little tweaking, there's a little cheating going on. Haslowski also said he thinks NASCAR will increase the size of the spacer, which is good. That's we get a lot of horsepower too. And the next gen cars.

SPEAKER_04:

Size of the spacer, you mean underneath the carburetor? Right. But I didn't I thought that they were fuel injected. Uh is it still a carburetor looking?

SPEAKER_02:

No, it's a it's a fuel injected, but it there's there's still spacer uh elements involved in that carburetor, how they have that brought in. So we'll see. I don't know either. But it's one of the most controversial topics of NASCAR over the last few years is on-track product has fallen short compared to its debut season back in 2022. So they're tweaking it, they're always trying to do something. It's it's they're always checking. But there's nobody in the stands. No, no, so there's a problem there. There is, and it's how they market themselves.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, it's how they market themselves, and I will tell you that I think that the majority of the fans have gotten older, they don't want to go to the racetrack, and I don't think that they really like the new formatting.

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, all of that, all of what you said is true, and a lot of respects to a lot of fans.

SPEAKER_04:

I know that absolutely at least I heard rumors that uh Dodge is coming back. That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that's hopefully that'll bring more uh seats, you know, to be filled.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

You never know. I yeah, I I I don't know. But they've got other issues besides horsepower.

SPEAKER_04:

They do, yeah, and that's getting butts in the stands. Would you go if you you had free tickets to go to Texas Motor Speedway up in Fort Worth, would you go? I probably would if I had free tickets, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Because you know, the tickets nowadays are like anywhere from fifty to several hundred dollars depending where you go, but it's not just the ticket price, it is getting there. You got lodging, you got a lot of walk-in, you got a lot of you know stuff going on. So uh yeah, I would go. I mean, I've been to Texas Motor Speedway dozen times, been to Kansas, they're racing in Kansas, uh, been there several times.

SPEAKER_04:

I've been to Talladega.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, love Talladega, went to the final in uh Homestead, Florida, the the grand finale for NASCAR a few years ago, Captain.

SPEAKER_04:

I've been to Texas and I've been to Charlotte. I've actually been to Daytona, but there wasn't a race there. I took a tour. Yeah, because uh Amy was going to school right there across across the track at uh Ember. The other side of the tracks. On the other side of the tracks, uh that's it. All right, so let's do this hour's car review, shall we? Had a chance to drive the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata uh final assembly location, Hiroshima, Japan. Yes, home of the atomic bomb. Uh available trim levels come in sport, club, grand touring, and 35th anniversary edition. If you're watching, what you're seeing there is the 35th anniversary edition. This is a two-seater, um, it's classified as a two-seater. And uh exterior changes from last model year. Well, it is part of the fourth generation that was originally introduced in 2016. This is the best looking Mazda MX5 Miata that has ever been in existence, as far as I'm concerned. I love the peaks on the fender wells up front. Notice how it's almost a Corvette-like look up there. Long hood short deck, classic sports car shape. Crisp top of the front fender, low to the ground grille, uh bulging rear fenders to carry the rubber back there. Unique taillights fit its unique overall design. What I liked about it everything. Uh I love the fact that the shape of it, including the grill, all proportionate. Nothing is overdone, but what is there is really outstanding, I think. Interior highlights. Uh love your passenger because it's very tight confines on the inside and six footers, beware. Oh boy. Modern infotainment system and instrument cluster. Um clean look dash design with no passenger side glove box. The tiny storage area is behind and between the two seats. Okay. It's interesting. You can't actually look in there if you're driving. You just got to kind of feel around in there and hopefully you've remembered where you put whatever it is that you put in. Surprise. Trunk room is tiny, one overnight bag, and that is all. What I liked about it, the easy to use top, uh, it's a one-click thing for the top, and you put it down manually right behind you. Yeah, and the same thing to put it up. There's no electric top or nothing like that. It's manual, but it works so well, it's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice.

SPEAKER_04:

Uh the manual shifter that you see there, it is butter. It works like butter. I have never driven a car with a shifter like that. It's so smooth, unbelievable. Um, could use improvement? Well, it is what it is, it's tiny. I remember when they came out with this car and they sent all the press out there to debut the car, and um everything about it, there is a name that they used, and it's a Japanese name. I can't remember what it is. For instance, like the steering wheel, where the steering wheel is placed in the car, it's dead center up in front of the driver. If you will notice your car offsets, they're offset the the steering wheel is a little bit offset one way or the other to accommodate the mechanics underneath the hood. Anyway, just a bit of trivia cool two-liter four-cylinder engine turns out 181 horsepower, 151 pound feet of torque. But let me tell you this that is all about the fact power to weight ratio. It car weighs nothing, and at 181 horsepower, it feels like it's got a great big block, Chevy, 400 horsepower motoring. Well, because you're in a small environment and you're low to the ground. And the car doesn't weigh anything, yeah. Till rating, no, there's none. Hall rating, it hauls butt. How about that? Uh, manufacturers set up as far as uh miles per gallon is concerned, 26 city, 34 highway for combined 29. I got 34.5 miles per gallon over 453.1 miles. What I liked about it, power to weight ratio is awesome. What could use improvement? This is a purpose-built sports car that can cut a rug around a road course racetrack. And if you want to go and have some real fun, get yourself one of these. What I liked about it, handling on this thing is awesome. What could use improvement maybe a bit too stiff for those looking for a highway cruiser because that it is not. It will cruise the highway, there's no doubt about it. But the ride, well, it's a sport car ride. Here's the pricing. Base trim price is$37,485. Price is tested,$37,435. Now, I don't know what happened to the$50 there. Just by looking at it, I guess they want you to say, I like the car. Base model price. You can get in one of these for$29,530. Yeah. So here are the competitors. The Toyota GR86 starts at$30,400. Its cousin, the Subaru BRZ, starts at$33,210. Wow. The other competitor, if you want to call it that, the Mini Cooper, is$28,950. That's my review of the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata. Love the car.

SPEAKER_02:

As far as a six-footer person is concerned, it's a little tight. I was gonna say, so when you go to an amusement park, you have to be uh taller than this line to get into that car. Yeah. If you're and with the car, if you're taller than this line, you can't drive it. Yeah, well, I will tell you this.

SPEAKER_04:

So I had my my buddy that I work with, um Matt. Matt got in it. Matt um is a little heavier set than I am. Okay. By golly, he could fit. Now his knees did touch the dashboard, but he could make it work. So I'm telling you, if you really want to, for no other reason, go out, take a look at it. I think that you'll really have a good time looking at the car if you don't want to buy it.

SPEAKER_02:

And a step up from that would be what the Mazda 3 to be a little bit larger vehicle, yes, kinda. I guess.

SPEAKER_03:

But you lose the whole two wheel thing, though, when you do that.

SPEAKER_04:

You lose the performance. Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email. The address here is in We are back after this quick break. Stay with us. You own a car you love. Well, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it? Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts. We promise you'll be impressed. Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano ceramic window tent, or new windshield protection called Exoshield, Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go. Curbed your wheels? Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired? How about a professionally installed radar detector? Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too. Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to GCAutoShield.com. Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway and get a personal tour. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior. Call them today, 832-930-5655 or GCAutoShield.com. Rev up your engines. It's time to roll back in style at the Back to the Pass Car Show. Join the Spring Branch Senior High School Foundation Saturday, October 18th at Cornerstone Academy, 916 Westview Drive in Houston. Classic cars, trucks, and motorcycles, family fun, food, music, and memories. There's something for everyone. Proceeds benefit local students and programs. Don't miss the shine, the chrome, and the nostalgia. 10-2, Saturday, October 18th, back to the Past Car Show. Springbranch Bears.com slash Car Show for more information. In Wheel Time will be there too. 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 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheeltime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.

People on this episode

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Don Armstrong

Host
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Jeff Dziekan

Co-host
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Michael Marrs

Co-host