Home » The World’s Richest Car Collectors Are In The Middle Of A Big Fight This Weekend

The World’s Richest Car Collectors Are In The Middle Of A Big Fight This Weekend

Tmd Moda
ADVERTISEMENT

This weekend is the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, a fancy car event for fancy car people (and also for us last year). It’s also ModaMiami, a new fancy car event that was started specifically out of spite toward Hagerty and the now-Hagerty-owned Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Oh boy.

The car world you see on Instagram reels and YouTube videos isn’t real, or at least it’s not entirely reel. There are grudges and discontent. It’s not something we talk about often because mostly it doesn’t amount to much and isn’t ultimately that interesting, but every now and then it bubbles to the surface like it is right now.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

Also coming to the surface is a move by new leadership at Stellantis to basically abandon the Wagoneer sub-brand, a move that makes obvious sense to, I assume, everyone.

Rounding out The Morning Dump we’ve got new IIHS safety test results and a Toyota recall that I’m going to be keeping my eye on this year.

‘I Started ModaMiami to fuck around with Hagerty’

Opera House
Screenshot: The Gilded Age

I guess you can’t swear in Bloomberg articles? It’s not something I noticed before, mostly because there isn’t much swearing in financial news, even though there’s a lot of swearing amongst financial people in my experience (I worked in the MBS market out of college, which is a whole other thing).

ADVERTISEMENT

I mention this because our old pal Hannah Elliott has a whopper of a story in Bloomberg Businessweek with the headline “A Florida Grudge Match Splits the World’s Richest Car Collectors.”

Here’s the money quote:

The overlap is no accident. In 2021 car insurance giant Hagerty Inc. bought the Amelia concours for an estimated $6.5 million as part of a bold growth plan to own more segments of the vintage car market. Hagerty promptly installed Broad Arrow Auctions, a business it had recently started, as the only auctioneer on-site. That meant booting RM Sotheby’s, which had long occupied the prime spot.

To add insult to injury, key members of the RM Sotheby’s team had left to launch Broad Arrow, including President Kenneth Ahn, a surprise defection that Rob Myers, its chairman, took personally. “I started ModaMiami to f— around with Hagerty,” Myers freely admits. “When they did that s— with Broad Arrow … it was, ‘OK, let’s compete.’  ”

His choice to host a car show on the same weekend as Amelia Island is calculated to force the country’s wealthiest collectors to choose between them. Their decisions on where to show and consign their vehicular assets will determine which company gets the hefty payouts (premiums usually add up to about 20%) when these exquisite vehicles trade hands.

Bolding mine. What isn’t mentioned in the Bloomberg piece is why the RM senior folks left to form Broad Arrow.

Was any of this inevitable? Hagerty has been on a buying spree the last decade and has worked its way into most of the automotive world, including media, events, driver’s clubs, auctions, et cetera. Have there been grumbles? There have been some grumbles.

Part of Hagerty’s strategy has been to bring a lot of the disparate parts of the automotive world under one umbrella. Is that ultimately good for the car world? In the short term, it probably is. The larger Hagerty organization does a pretty fantastic job of running events, promoting them, and executing them.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the long run, it really depends. If the people in charge of Hagerty lose interest, change their minds, or give in to financial pressure then we’ve now got these treasured automotive eggs in one basket, which is not ideal. But what’s the other option? Private Equity? Hagerty might be the best-case scenario for a lot of these operations and Amelia seems to be thriving.

Plus, for the moment there’s no sign that Hagerty CEO McKeel Hagerty is any less interested in car culture than he was ten years ago. Hagerty’s stated mission is to save driving and car culture, which is also our mission, and I’ve seen little to imply that will change. Oh, I guess we should give him a chance to respond via the article:

“I don’t think about Rob or his grudge match,” CEO McKeel Hagerty wrote in an email. “I think about ways to bring the car community together, not compete against one another. It’s a shame he is thinking about that, versus how to best create a great experience for car collectors.”

To translate:

Mad Men Meme
Screenshot: MadMen

It is kind of a bummer that two great events are happening at the same time, since one of the perks of Monterey Car Week, for instance, is that most people play nice enough to spread out the events during the week so people can attend most of them.

I asked someone going to one of the events with a big collector what he thought:

ADVERTISEMENT

“Some people are saying Amelia is dead, but I think it will still draw the purists” they told me. “Moda seems more geared towards the supercar/younger enthusiasts.”

Amelia for the purists and ModaMiami for more of the Supercar Blondie set, I guess?

If there’s a winner here it’s probably the collectors and car sellers themselves now that the different auction houses and events have to bend over backward to give the best experience.

Also, hilariously, this is exactly the plot of the second season of HBO’s The Gilded Age.

IIHS: Hyundai Motor Group Is Killing It Saving Lives

Hyundaimg
Source: Hyundai

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been slowly ratcheting up the requirements for vehicles to earn the organization’s various awards in the hopes of continuing to push cars to get safer.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to the IIHS, here are the big changes:

Last year’s biggest change was the replacement of the original side crash test with an updated version that uses a heavier barrier traveling at a higher speed. Initially, an acceptable or good rating was enough to garner the lower-tier TOP SAFETY PICK award. In 2024, a good rating is required for either TOP SAFETY PICK or TOP SAFETY PICK+.

In addition, vehicles now need an acceptable or good rating in a revised version of the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation to qualify for either award. The new version replaces the earlier daytime and nighttime tests with a single evaluation that includes some test runs in daylight and some in the dark. Last year, vehicles could earn the lower-tier award regardless of whether they could detect and avoid pedestrians in the dark.

In an even bigger change, the updated moderate front overlap test has replaced the original evaluation in the 2024 TOP SAFETY PICK+ requirements. Vehicles now need an acceptable or good rating in the updated evaluation, which adds a second dummy seated behind the driver and emphasizes back seat safety. A good rating in the original moderate overlap test is still needed for the base TOP SAFETY PICK award.

So how’d everyone do?

Overall, pretty well, though the standout so far is Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai + Kia + Genesis) with six Top Safety Pick+ awards and 10 Top Safety Pick awards.

Wagoneer Is Back To Being The Jeep Wagoneer

2024 Jeep Wagoneer 4
Source: Jeep

Not to get all John Proctor on you, but a name is important. The Jeep name is important. Arguably, Jeep is the best brand name any American automaker has.

So why did Jeep try to start a new sub-brand called Wagoneer for its big crossovers? I don’t really know, but the Jeep Wagoneer S electric SUV is going to be a Jeep again.

ADVERTISEMENT

From MotorTrend:

And it might be the last new vehicle to include Wagoneer in the name with Jeep’s decision to abandon its efforts to make Wagoneer a sub-brand under new Jeep Brand CEO Antonio Filosa. It was a strategy that was confusing to customers, was heavily criticized, and never really took off. Which is why the Wagoneer S now has “Jeep” written across the back instead of “Wagoneer.” And all members of the Wagoneer family will be branded as Jeeps going forward.

Well, that was a fun waste of time.

Toyotas Being Recalled For Unexpected Movement

2023 Toyota Tundra Sx Package Magnetic Gray Metallic 001
Photo credit: Toyota

I spent about a year at the old site tracking down various stories about Toyotas driving when they weren’t supposed to be, so it didn’t escape my notice that something similar is happening again.

Per Reuters:

A U.S. auto safety regulator said on Tuesday Toyota will recall 280,663 pickup trucks and SUVs and issue a software update to address concerns over unexpected movement caused when vehicles are in neutral and brakes are not applied.

Dealers will issue a free software update on impacted vehicles for the transmission control ECU (electronic control unit) software, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

This recall affects certain 2022-2024 Tundras, Tundra Hybrids, and Sequoias.

ADVERTISEMENT

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

I can’t believe it’s been 12 years since the first Best Coast album. Time moves fast. Enjoy your chill California rock and Volvo 240s.

The Big Question

Where would you go this weekend? ModaMiami or Amelia? Or would you just try to do both?

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on reddit
Reddit
Subscribe
Notify of
92 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Fuzzyweis
Fuzzyweis
8 months ago

Hagerty runs Radwood now too, went last year, was pretty awesome, but didn’t have any auction stuff or anything. I think their business is insuring enthusiast cars, they are gathering up the platforms where enthusiasts gather with their cars, so this seems like a good fit.

It’s not like they’re a cable tv or car company and suddenly decided to buy a concert arena, making everyone say “let’s go to the Xfinity theater”, “Which was that now? Is that the Oakdale?” “No, that’s Toyota, Xfinity was the Meadows, well it was Comcast before”. At which point we say screw it let’s just listen to the cd in the car.

Cerberus
Cerberus
8 months ago

I don’t involve myself with shows or car culture at all anymore, but even if it’s the same kind of detestable snob-fest that Pebble is, I’d pick Amelia as at least there will be interesting cars to look at rather than a sea of the same bland late model shitty exotics in ugly wraps (one of the reasons I stopped going to shows years ago was that the wide range of vintage stuff owned by enthusiastic and friendly people at the Italian Concours disappeared to be replaced by ugly Ferrari 360/430s—almost all in the same predictable color—and Gallardos driven by flexing douchebags).

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago
Reply to  Cerberus

This is why it’s either great to have shows that curate super selectively in the true vintage range, or just open stuff like Carlisle. The middle of the road ones are just bland late model supercars that in the end aren’t that interesting. Carlisle, meanwhile, you can find the Citroën people and their section and hear about people driving 2CV’s from Michigan to PA for the show, stumble into the SAAB tent, find the weird corner with Bricklins and Opels. It’s just far more interesting.

Cerberus
Cerberus
8 months ago
Reply to  Protodite

There used to be a great concours like that at Lars Anderson that got too big and moved to the Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA. It had a wide variety of cars from lower end oddballs to Duesenberg-level and the people were pretty friendly and tended to be real car people, not just billionaires showing off part of their investment portfolio—one guy I talked even drove a Vanderbilt Cup Stanley down from Maine. I’m not a celebrity person, but I spotted a few minor ones there (like, the guy with the goofy laugh from Revenge of the Nerds), which added to the entertainment a little (I’m sure there were ones I missed) and the grounds are gorgeous as it’s an old mansion with the back green of rolling hills leading to the ocean (been in some movies). That show ended probably 20 years ago of more now. There’s stuff in CT, but I don’t even feel like driving 40 minutes to Brookline for a car show anymore, never mind a few hours.

I’d really love to see a transportation show with bicycles, motorcycles, and cars, maybe boats, but the logistics and space would be a problem.

ExAutoJourno
ExAutoJourno
8 months ago

I spent some 25 years attending high-zoot car shows. Even judged at a few (still have my blue blazer). Saw the fanciest cars arrive in their enclosed trailers, watched and talked with many of the Big Money Collector-types.

But it wasn’t until I moved to the area I live in now and attended a few local shows that I began to really enjoy car shows. People who drive their cars to events, whether Ferraris or stock Fords or street rods and are sincerely interested in automobiles are much more fun to be with. In ten years, I may have seen a half-dozen six-figure cars.

For reasons that escape me, Facebook seems to think I’m interested in Supercar Blondie, “Hoovie” and the occasional JDM-car “influencers.” I’m not. If the guy who drove his Heinkel to a nearby show made a video, I’d watch that.

No Kids, Just Bikes
No Kids, Just Bikes
8 months ago
Reply to  ExAutoJourno

I used to watch Hoovie occasionally, but now I can’t stand him. I remain subscribed to revel in the schadenfreude of his declining view numbers.

Austin Vail
Austin Vail
8 months ago

Hoovie has a knack for finding interesting cars with interesting issues, but then all of his videos follow a formula that leads nowhere.

It’s just “I bought this thing!” “This thing is cheap and broken!” “I took it to the Car Wizard who confirmed, yep, it’s broken alright! But he can fix it!” “Yaaaaay he fixed it and OH WOW it costs a lot to fix these things!”

“Okay I’m selling the car now.”

Watching Hoovie’s Garage is like watching a ton of pilot episodes for potentially interesting shows that never made it past the pilot episode. Lots of interesting cars, which it would be interesting to see an interesting person do interesting things with, but that never happens. He buys things, pays through the nose to have them fixed, then sells them and buys more things. Rinse and repeat.

The best part of Hoovie’s Garage is the Car Wizard, but the Car Wizard has his own channel now which is leagues more interesting because he gets to actually talk about and do mechanic stuff and be interesting, without any of the emptiness of Hoovie talking to the camera by himself.

No Kids, Just Bikes
No Kids, Just Bikes
8 months ago
Reply to  Austin Vail

I totally agree. Now there’s the added bonus of watching him spend on a monster garage/warehouse to store all his rich-guy toys. Barf.

I haven’t watched the wizard’s channel yet, but I might.

Austin Vail
Austin Vail
8 months ago

I definitely recommend the Car Wizard’s channel, it’s fun to hear insights from someone with a lot of experience fixing a wide variety of things.

Rabob Rabob
Rabob Rabob
8 months ago
Reply to  ExAutoJourno

I started going on Facebook again recently due to owning an older car – forums were kind of dead and its the only active source for info right now. I get the same lame braindead wealth-flexer supercar meme content or antagonistic boomer truck brand vs truck brand garbage force fed to me. It’s so surface level and stupid.

Youtube search is almost completely corrupted. Nice little DIY videos are buried by the same “Mexican Race League” vaguely mean content.

ExAutoJourno
ExAutoJourno
8 months ago
Reply to  Rabob Rabob

The “grassroots”-type Facebook groups are far easier to take than the videos in which supposed exotic-car owners (“Do you like my Gallardo better than my 550 Maranello?”) strut and preen. There is some genuinely useful information shared when someone has an issue. I’ve joined a couple on the off-chance that one day I can afford to get back into one or more of my favorite rides.

Rabob Rabob
Rabob Rabob
8 months ago
Reply to  ExAutoJourno

Yup, there’s definitely some good stuff but you have to specifically visit the group every time. My feed gets bloated with surface level garbage no matter how many times I click “not interested”. They never actually show me anything from the groups I’m subscribed to.

I subscribe to a golf group too and there’s people giving advice, booking courses, organizing leagues but it gets overshadowed by lame repost meme content with 10,000 bots selling T-shirts in the comments.

Austin Vail
Austin Vail
8 months ago
Reply to  ExAutoJourno

One of my favorite youtube channels is called 2stroketurbo. It’s a guy who specializes in repairing microcars and other obscure Euro weirdness, has a pretty good collection of such cars in varying conditions, and gets no shortage of projects from people with obscure cars that are difficult to find mechanics capable of fixing. He’s the type of guy to drive a Heinkel not just to a show, but to the dog park, the store, or nowhere in particular just for fun. One of my favorite videos of his was him meeting a local scooter club at a cafe while out driving a BMW Isetta, which looked appropriately at home among the scooters so he joined them in their activities for the day and they all loved the little bubble car.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago
Reply to  ExAutoJourno

Heinkels! <3 That guy sounds like my hero.

ExAutoJourno
ExAutoJourno
8 months ago
Reply to  Stef Schrader

Heinkel Guy brought his puppy to at least one show. Dog seemed to love sitting in the bubble staring out at the people staring in.

Too bad we can’t post photos….

The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
8 months ago

I am going to Amelia this Sunday. As someone with redneck tendencies I find the show a bit awkward at times, but the cars are interesting enough to make up for the lack of conversation.

I didn’t know about the ModaMiami show, but I don’t want to go to a show that was created out of spite. It doesn’t sound too appealing to me anyway. That show sounds like it is geared toward tiktac influencer types, so it might be even more awkward for me than a show geared toward the monocled old money set.

Jesus Chrysler drives a Dodge
Jesus Chrysler drives a Dodge
8 months ago

o <- that contains the number of fucks I could give about billionaires having a hissy for about where to show off their cars.

Strangek
Strangek
8 months ago

LOL. I had no idea “Wagoneer” was it’s own “brand.” What a dumb idea! I’d go to Amelia. I think it would be more fun to observe the snooty, old money crowd than the young supercar crowd. They probably have better cars too as I don’t care at all about supercars. As a middle aged white man, if I put on a blazer, some chinos, and maybe some loafers with no socks, I can move incognito through the old money rich people events and they never suspect I’m actually a poor (relatively speaking)!

Fix It Again Tony
Fix It Again Tony
8 months ago

unexpected movement caused when vehicles are in neutral and brakes are not applied.

WAT

VanGuy
VanGuy
8 months ago

Yeah, that seems….normal? Like, unless you go in neutral on a hill and start moving up the hill…

Ben
Ben
8 months ago

I can only assume that the transmission is engaging, despite being in neutral. I had the exact same reaction though. 🙂

Crimedog
Crimedog
8 months ago
Reply to  Ben

Hadn’t considered that. It makes more sense to look at it like that.

NotanEngineer
NotanEngineer
8 months ago

God I haven’t listened to Best Coast in a minute. Truly a good vibe also the other band was Wavves that I would listen to. The singers of those two bands were dating from what I remember. I also can’t forget Snacks the cat.

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago
Reply to  NotanEngineer

Yeah Early Best Coast was pretty fun, but I think they fell off in a way that Wavves hasn’t. Saw Wavves with Cloud Nothings last year and man it was just so good

Mark Tucker
Mark Tucker
8 months ago

I honestly had no idea Wagoneer was considered a separate marque. Now, I guess I don’t have to care.

And as a Hagerty customer (they insure my MGB), I have been consistently impressed by their service, and by their mission. Yeah, they’re becoming the 800-pound gorilla of the classic car world, but they get it, and that means a lot.

Last edited 8 months ago by Mark Tucker
Matthew Lange
Matthew Lange
8 months ago

Looking at the online auction catalogues the Broad Arrow Amelia auction has a more varied and interesting collection of cars than RM’s Miami sale. If I was going and had to choose it would be the former.

BunkyTheMelon
BunkyTheMelon
8 months ago

ModaMiami for more of the Supercar Blondie set”

Ewww…. That’s not a thing I wish to be involved with

Rabob Rabob
Rabob Rabob
8 months ago
Reply to  BunkyTheMelon

Sounds like PGA vs LIV playing out in the golf world. It’s hilarious watching wealthy people moaning about ultra-wealthy people bullying them out with money.

Last edited 8 months ago by Rabob Rabob
JaredTheGeek
JaredTheGeek
8 months ago

Corporations buying and taking control of the shows and clubs is the continued enshitification of it.

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago
Reply to  JaredTheGeek

I believe it was Jack Baruth who described the scene as “Celebrations of generic wealth”

Michael Beranek
Michael Beranek
8 months ago

Trust the mustache. Whichever of those two competing events Wayne Carimi is at, that’s the right answer.

Torque
Torque
8 months ago
Reply to  Matt Hardigree

Ditto I’d expect to (continue) to see Wayne to be at Amelia

Last edited 8 months ago by Torque
Boulevard_Yachtsman
Boulevard_Yachtsman
8 months ago

Naming is important, and that’s why the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance likely has little to worry about. Even my dad, who couldn’t give one whiff of a floater about the cars at that event, recognizes the name.

And speaking of recognizable names, I think an official Wagoneer: Queen Family Truckster edition would be the best way to sunset the brand.

DialMforMiata
DialMforMiata
8 months ago

Jeeves, pack my Nantucket Reds and my J.Press blazer, I’m going to Amelia!

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
8 months ago
Reply to  DialMforMiata

Jeeves (almost perceptibly wincing) : “The Nantucket Reds, sir? Perhaps something more…calming?”
Bertie (trying to be firm): “The Reds, Jeeves—they’re all the rage!”
Jeeves (icily-presaging Serious Difficulties for the Young Master) “Very well, sir”

Nsane In The MembraNe
Nsane In The MembraNe
8 months ago

That would be a tough call. On one hand I really hate the snooty, elitist, old money vibes that events like Amelia bring in spades. I think Hagerty’s mission is mostly an honorable one and that they do support a lot of different aspects of car culture, but in some ways you can’t really avoid the the WASP-ness with some of these activities. As someone who grew up surrounded by that shit, it’s a hard pass from me.

On the other hand I truly and profoundly loathe car influencer culture and influencer/social media nonsense in general. I really do not give a shit about the Super Car Blondies, Vehicle Virgins, etc. of the world or what trust fund kids are buying to measure their dicks with these days.

I think that crowd misses the plot so profoundly that it’s sad because they reduce cars into nothing more than vessels for attention and conspicuous consumption. I doubt most of them could even tell you what type of oil their cars take or refill their own damn washer fluid if they had to. To them cars are disposable and to be used to get as much attention as they can then cast off when the next viral supercar comes out.

I’m also consistently concerned with the amount of reckless driving the car influencer crowd does. Their videos are littered with takeover bullshit, using launch control in traffic, hitting triple digit speeds on busy roads, etc. That shit sucks ass and gives all of us a bad name. I get wanting to explore the limits of your car but if you want to do that go to a damn track day or find some deserted country roads in the middle of no where.

All in all I guess I probably hate the car influencer crowd a little bit more because I think they’re doing more harm to car enthusiasm than some old money asshole mothballing Porsches, but I’m not too keen on either. I’d rather go find a track attack day or cars and coffee and yap it up with all the folks who brought That Weird Shit out than participate in Amelia or Influencer Fest.

I definitely jive with Radwood vibes as well, although I haven’t been to any events. I do watch Mr. Regular and Roman chronicle them though and they seem like a, well, totally rad time.

Last edited 8 months ago by Nsane In The MembraNe
Mgb2
Mgb2
8 months ago

I concur with most of what you’d said. C&C is probably the best route to see a variety of fun cars. But I’ve seen some sketchy shit from the supercar types there as well. Someone brought cones and blocked off a bunch of spaces for their supercar friends so they could all be together and have maximum visibility from the road. After a brief chat with the organizer, I moved the cones and we poors parked there.

Nsane In The MembraNe
Nsane In The MembraNe
8 months ago
Reply to  Mgb2

I don’t even think I’d buy a super car if I could afford one. It takes a certain level of narcissism to want to be that visible and get that much attention. I’ve seen a few at the local C&C I go to sometimes but the people who bring them usually seem to keep to themselves as far as I can tell.

Granted, if it’s a truly unique and special one I definitely see the appeal. Someone brought a Ford GT once and I definitely stopped to look at it. The guy was being really nice about it too and letting people sit in it. Some other examples would be a Carrera GT, F40, McLaren F1 (as if any of us will ever see on in the wild), things like that.

Those are truly brilliant analog cars that take skill to drive well, and anyone who owns them and is willing to drive them in public is probably a genuine enthusiast. But Huracans, R8s, assorted modern McLarens, Aventadors, shit like that?

I couldn’t care less. They’re over engineered conspicuous consumption vessels that any idiot could get in and drive at 10/10ths without breaking a sweat. I at least know that the person who rolled up in the Ford GT or Viper knows what they’re doing, if that makes sense. They can probably turn a wrench and tell you what a racing line is.

If I were to somehow wake up a multimillionaire tomorrow I’d probably get a GT3 Touring in a relatively sedate spec and call it a day.

Ben
Ben
8 months ago

I don’t even think I’d buy a super car if I could afford one. It takes a certain level of narcissism to want to be that visible and get that much attention.

I drive a yellow Corvette on the weekend, and while I’m sure it doesn’t get as much attention as a supercar, it does get a lot of looks and I’ve had several people strike up conversations because of it. The thing is I’m pretty introverted so that sort of thing does not appeal to me. However, I love the car so I put up with the attention it draws.

If I were going to buy a supercar it would have to be the same – buy it because I like it, not because it gets attention.

Nsane In The MembraNe
Nsane In The MembraNe
8 months ago
Reply to  Ben

The funny thing is my Kona N draws more attention than anything I’ve ever had, which was not my intention. I’m also an introvert and I like having sleepers for various reasons. But as soon as people see it rip away from a stoplight or hear the exhaust rumble they have a lot of questions.

I had a bunch of folks come up to me after the last track day I did and ask me what the hell it was and why they couldn’t keep up with it. More people wanted to know what the innocuous crossover was then the BMW M8 and C8 that were parked across from me. I even witnessed some dude’s SO walk up to it at a Cars and Coffee and essentially say SEE?! You CAN get cool PRACTICAL cars!!

That one really tickled me. But I agree, drive what you love because you love it, not because of the clout.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago
Reply to  Ben

I really appreciate when high-end car owners use their vehicles for more than just showing off or hoarding. I think the highly visible show-off dorks tend to give everybody else in that category a bad name when most of the folks I’ve met with pricey metal just seem to like the car or its engineering, or they’re fulfilling a dream.

tl;dr—buy what you like, use it and enjoy it, and be a damn adult about it. That’s all I ask.

Rabob Rabob
Rabob Rabob
8 months ago
Reply to  Mgb2

I personally don’t like Regular Car Reviews – some funny bits years ago but I just realized it’s constant negative sarcastic punching down of stereotypes and I unsubscribed.

Nsane In The MembraNe
Nsane In The MembraNe
8 months ago
Reply to  Rabob Rabob

I find RCR to primarily be self deprecating if anything. Most of the jokes are Brian punching himself rather than punching down. They’ve had a couple old school RCR bangers as of late too. Maybe give em another try.

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago

With you there! I’ve had 2 cars on it and while it’s wild to get roasted online in a fairly large audience, it still is fun and I can laugh at it happily

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago

Your take on the horrid car influencer – and face it modern super cars are just generic boring auto box things that cost a lot of money, will never see track use, and there are so many I can no longer care or tell them apart – is something that makes me want to buy a Brass Era car real bad

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago
Reply to  Protodite

Every now and then, I think the 411 isn’t hard enough to deal with and CRAVE PRE-WAR MECHANICAL SUFFERING.

Protodite
Protodite
8 months ago
Reply to  Stef Schrader

“If I didn’t come home covered in oil I didn’t even drive!”

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago

I’m also consistently concerned with the amount of reckless driving the car influencer crowd does. Their videos are littered with takeover bullshit, using launch control in traffic, hitting triple digit speeds on busy roads, etc. That shit sucks ass and gives all of us a bad name. I get wanting to explore the limits of your car but if you want to do that go to a damn track day or find some deserted country roads in the middle of no where.

This is the absolute worst. This right here.

Torque
Torque
8 months ago
Reply to  Stef Schrader

If you’re going to use country roads remember, you’ll likely be in farm or ranch country.

That beautiful long sweeping blind curve you’re taking at a rapid clip may find you discovering the rear end of a giant ass tractor or the pointy end of a combine (or tiller attachment) taking up nearly all the space in a two lane highway…

A perfect scene for driving an old low power sports car that is still fun to drive around the speed limit like an old English roadster (Triumph 3/4/6, MG A/B/Midget, small Healey) or more modern Miata NA, RX7 gen I or II. Or relatively slow Italian or German… Alfa Romeo Spyder, Fiat I/X, 924, 944, 968, 914, 912…

Last edited 8 months ago by Torque
Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago
Reply to  Torque

That’s why I like track days, man. Dramatically lower chance of cops and cows. Also, it’s just the appropriate venue for that kind of thing.

Torque
Torque
8 months ago
Reply to  Stef Schrader

100%
Ha at “cops and cows” that’s good!

Professor Chorls
Professor Chorls
8 months ago

I’m personally more excited for the Radwood show next door this weekend. Too bad Radwoods tend to be half-days – it’s just barely out of my “Do I want to drive there the night before or pretend I can wake up early” range.

But the Centurion needs its first long-range trip…

Parsko
Parsko
8 months ago

Sorry, I’m busy changing the oil in my car this weekend. Priorities, ya know.

Spikedlemon
Spikedlemon
8 months ago

Well, maybe if Wagoneer made a Luxury Pickup truck, instead. Profits to be made there, I’m sure.

I genuinely didn’t even register that Wagoneer was intended to be separated from Jeep. Looks like a Jeep, waddles like a Jeep, sold at Jeep – must be a Jeep.

Lockleaf
Lockleaf
8 months ago

WHAT?!? The Wagoneer sub-brand didn’t get any traction? Who could have seen that coming?

My favorite part of that whole fiasco is the original launch video for Wagoneer. It was basically Sergio Marchionne saying “Jeep has history. Jeep is outdoors. Jeep is rugged. Today we introduce Wagoneer. It is none of those things. Its a Jeep for rich people who aren’t Jeep people. In fact, we don’t really want it associated with Jeep people. Jeep people, don’t buy this. This is for Land Rover people. So we are not even going to call it a Jeep.”

It was a ridiculous video and seemed to dump on everything that made Jeep a Jeep and have a low opinion of their entire fanbase. They alienated their most likely buyer pool right from the get go.

Farty McSprinkles
Farty McSprinkles
8 months ago

You completely left out the crème de la crème at Amelia Island – The Concours d Lemons Amelia Island 2024.

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
8 months ago

That’s where I’d want to be. Assuming I could find my tuxedo t-shirt.

Mike Harrell
Mike Harrell
8 months ago

That’s how we know Amelia, unlike ModaMiami, has now hit the big time.

Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
8 months ago

Now THAT’S the show I might want to attend.

Mr. Asa
Mr. Asa
8 months ago

to address concerns over unexpected movement caused when vehicles are in neutral and brakes are not applied.

So… exactly when they are supposed to be able to move?
Am I missing something?

Trust Doesn't Rust
Trust Doesn't Rust
8 months ago
Reply to  Mr. Asa

They’re making the simple request for Toyota to control gravity.

Uninformed Fucknugget
Uninformed Fucknugget
8 months ago
Reply to  Mr. Asa

My thoughts exactly.
I expect them to roll downhill, does this mean they roll up hill?

Goose
Goose
8 months ago
Reply to  Mr. Asa

They aren’t going into a “true” neutral apparently. So even though they are in neutral, they still creep forward under very low power; it’s similar to taking your foot off the brakes when idling in drive.

Last edited 8 months ago by Goose
AssMatt
AssMatt
8 months ago
Reply to  Goose

I’m glad you looked into it! Could you link to your source?

Chronometric
Chronometric
8 months ago

Amelia continues to be the East Coast gold standard. It is in a great place, at a great time, and is serious but fun at the same time. Nobody cares if they are having a Lambo Love-in in Lower Lauderdale.

Drew
Drew
8 months ago

Where would you go this weekend? ModaMiami or Amelia? Or would you just try to do both?

Not that I’m going to either, but the established show is likely to do better in the collector world, so I’d pick Amelia. I don’t know enough about this beef to pick sides. I don’t tend to like consolidation of wealth and services and it makes me nervous in most instances, but I also see the benefit of a group of services under one umbrella for a niche market, as well as the benefit of a centralized group through which resources can be found. Since I am not part of that niche market, it’s hard to say whether the monopoly risk outweighs the benefits and convenience.

Last edited 8 months ago by Drew
Arch Duke Maxyenko
Arch Duke Maxyenko
8 months ago

Hmmm, this weekend I’ll watch the F1 race then probably go to the Cincinnati Cyclones game. I think my net worth is a few decimal places short of being able to attend either Amelia Island or Moda

My Goat Ate My Homework
My Goat Ate My Homework
8 months ago

Don’t fret, you still have the Ault Park Concours d’Elegance. You can move that decimal point back over.

92
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x