To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
The ultimate automotive history and classic car restoration podcast exploring the motoring memories behind iconic vehicles. Hosted by Doug and Dave, we trade technical specs for the unfiltered stories and family car history that reveal the soul of car culture. Join us every #TorqueTuesday for a deep dive into automotive nostalgia with restoration junkies and vintage vehicle enthusiasts. 🏎️🛠️
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
10 Mazda RX-7s, The Twilight Volvo C30 & Life as a Mazda Exec
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What happens when you spend 6 years studying architecture, only to realize your true calling is parked in the driveway?
In this episode, we sit down with Jon Leverett, Project Manager of Strategic Planning & Implementation at Mazda USA. Jon’s path to the automotive industry wasn't a straight line—it took a detour through an architecture firm and a stint as a car salesman in Nashville before landing at Mazda corporate.
We discuss his deep-rooted rotary obsession, growing up in a family that at one point had between 7 and 10 Mazda RX-7s parked outside—including his brother's legendary "Red Dragon" Turbo II. Jon also shares the pain of owning a college BMW 525i that broke every other month and his love affair with the Volvo C30 (even if it was the car Edward drove in Twilight).
In this episode, we cover:
- 🏎️ The Rotary Dynasty: Growing up with a barn full of RX-7s and his first car, an '88 GXL.
- 📐 The Career Pivot: Why he left a promising architecture career to follow his passion for cars.
- 🧛♂️ The "Twilight" Car: Owning a Volvo C30 R-Design and dealing with the pop-culture stigma.
- 🇯🇵 Inside Mazda: What it's really like to test drive the 2024 MX-5 updates and manage vehicle launches.
- 🔧 The Dream Garage: From the Lotus Emira to a Porsche 993 Widebody.
Don't miss one of Jon's favorite episodes, "Skyline GT-R, Supra, RX-7: JDM Import Secrets from Japanese Auctions" https://buzzsprout.com/2316026/episodes/17376238
🔗 Links & Resources:
- Check out our content and 60+ episodes on LinkTree 🔗🌲https://linktr.ee/carsloved
- Check out our Guest-inspired Road Trip Playlist on Spotify: 🎧🚗 https://carsloved.com/playlist
📢 Join the Conversation: How many times did you pivot in your career? Let us know on Instagram @toallthecarsivelovedbefore
Connect with Us: Got a great car story? Email us at stories@carsloved.com. Find all our content and social links here: linktr.ee/carsloved.
Podcast News:
- Our co-host, Doug was a guest on the Driven Radio Show Podcast to share the origin story of our podcast and connecting with his late father through his DeLorean project.
- Check out the amazing article about the podcast by Elevate Society and Tal Gur, author of "The Art of Fully Living"
- Feedspot selected To All The Cars I've Loved Before in their list of Top 100 Car Podcasts and 31 Best Road Trip Podcasts For Your Drive
- Our co-host, Doug was featured in this magazine article along with his DeLore...
Podcast Introduction & Housekeeping
Speaker 1Welcome back to ListenerLand . You have found to all the cars I've loved before your authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia , where every car tells a story , every car has a culture , and so it's time to plug in DustDoll , get a little grease under the nails and slip on the favorite car-themed T-shirt with my co-pilot shotgun ride or cry , doug , look at that T-shirt , what is that ? You like it ?
Speaker 2Yes , and I do believe in foreshadowing in the entertainment industry Monster Horror 7 .
Speaker 1Look at that shirt . The legendary automobile ? Yeah , indeed , and we're going to find that that's important because today's guest , who we're going to introduce in a few minutes here , very involved with the brand , very involved with the brand as his family was growing up . But before that , again housekeeping here I want to welcome new listeners all over the world and you know , the past 10 days we've had a bunch of international activity , Doug To wit , Sydney , New South Wales , is where Doug Test the geography . Where's that ? Australia , you got it . Welcome back , Australian listeners . Sweden , Stockholm we have some listenership there . Thank you for returning .
Speaker 1We've been downloaded again over the past 10 days in Ukraine , Thank you to our returning listeners there . Japan , France , Switzerland I think is a new industry as well as Indonesia , Louisiana , a little closer to home to me , and congratulations to our listeners . And this just popped up in Philadelphia Congratulations on your recent Super Bowl victory and everybody's . I guess you know we're sitting in that little little hole of time between football and baseball , so if you're not enjoying Grapefruit League and waiting for Major League Baseball to come back around , hey , you found us . Welcome back . So let's see . All right , I am wearing oh , let's not go any further before you mention my shirt here , oh yes , yes Tell me about your shirt , right , so Doug sent me this shirt .
Speaker 1One of our guests here was Tom Young , just one of the most interesting people out there . Who did what did he do ? Production design or something for the Dave Letterman show ?
Speaker 2I think he did audio for Dave oh yeah , that's right , he was an audio or video , I forget , but he has a master's in fine arts arts .
Speaker 1yes , and he uh worked on the letterman show and then just did this complete 180 , decided he wanted to tinker with ferraris and is now , uh , one of the authoritative ferrari uh restorers in the world and such an interesting guy and he sent us a couple of t-shirts . Check out his episode , you will love it . What do you say ? What else ?
Speaker 3am I forgetting here I ?
Speaker 1know we chatted about a few other things earlier . Doug , what do we got ? Reviews , reviews , that's it All right . So it is my off and my oh , we have a bunch of . We got a bunch of new reviews here .
Speaker 1Now that I'm looking and let's see , tim C left a podcast , but I don't think that's Tim Cook . I'm sorry , the head of Apple , that's one of our other ones . Should I read that one ? Sure , tim C . I love this podcast to hear others like myself fawning over some old car that uncorks memory songs and smells from the past . Whether it was design , what you did , what you did with it , you felt attached to it like few other possessions in your life , almost like a good dog , and you're excited to tell others of these fond memories . Maybe it was Tim Cook . Would we remember Tim Cook if he were on the show ? I think we would , I think we would , I think we would . All right , well , let's not bury the lead . We have a very special guest here today . Yes , the T-shirt was foreshadowing and , doug , how did today's guest come into your life ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so great question . So , just with some popularity to the show , we were contacted by and I'm going to do my best to get it right but a public relations person from Mazda USA about having our guest , who we'll introduce in a moment on the show , who we'll introduce in a moment on the show and Doug is .
Speaker 1I gotta squeeze in here . Doug is so good at this stuff .
Meeting John Leverett from Mazda USA
Speaker 1It's amazing all the people that just wind up on the show or in our lives in circuitous ways . We make friends , we keep up these relationships . So you reached out to them , doug . Somebody got back to you and how did it go ? From . There .
Speaker 2Well , we coordinated , coordinated . We found uh an rx7 lover by chance who's going to share some of his early stories about uh , his family of rx7s in his family . His family had a family of rx7s I think that's safe to say and uh , we're going to learn about uh his job , hear a little bit about his job at Mazda USA and what he's done and really interesting career path . That makes me think a bit about our episodes with Weber State University and their career paths to automotive , which is different than the path John took , but John took a very circuitous path as well .
Speaker 1Been a theme recently and I just can't wait . Let's get him in here . John Leverett with Mazda USA . Pleasure to meet you . Thank you for coming on our show , and what did you think when you first got this invite ? Who are these two knuckleheads , or what ?
Speaker 3Well , good to meet you both . Glad to be on the show . Yeah , I mean , I'd heard about the show before and I'd heard snippets of it before , so I was excited about it . I knew who you guys were when I was approached with the opportunity . So excited to be here .
Speaker 1All right , and yeah , that's what Now ? Can you tell us , without killing us , what you do for Mazda , or are you some super secret ?
Speaker 3And your title ?
Speaker 1Yeah , and please don't melt
John's Role in Launch Strategy at Mazda
Speaker 1our brains . It doesn't take much for me , yeah .
Speaker 3Yeah , the title of the project manager of strategic planning and implementation , if you really want to get into it , but launch strategy is the shortened way to say it . But yeah , so I worked for Mazda , essentially coordinating all the departments to make sure we launch a vehicle well , whether typically that's a new vehicle , whether it's CX-50 , hybrid or MX-5 or whatever it is , and then kind of in the midst of that that means obviously coordinating with departments but also making sure the vehicle is aimed at the right person and has the right content things like that to be successful .
Speaker 1Yeah , good point and I remember reading not long . You look at this phenomenally complicated and amazing thing in your driveway and it takes , you know it only takes what a week or two to make one as it kind of slides through the assembly line . But a new launch , a new automobile or even derivations of something existing takes years and years to bring to market . And if you think about maybe the North American auto industry , the way things kind of move back across the border to be finished , unfinished and plugged into here or there . Bob , I read a book recently by Bob Lutz and he was saying it can take the better part of a decade from something from blueprint to thinking about , to sourcing . Where does it fit in the product line ? So I would assume you touch some part of that right . Can you speak to your experience with that ?
Speaker 3I do , I would assume you touch some part of that , right ? Can you speak to your experience with that ? Yeah , I mean we have probably two other teams as well that are focused at different points throughout the vehicle's life . I am kind of in between those two teams . I guess Just depends .
Speaker 3I mean , there's so many things vary with launching and creating a new car , but we do have a team focused on five , ten years out , um , whereas I'm more so focused on the more two , three year outlook , um , with what's coming down the pipe . And then , um , another team that's more so negotiating , uh , the , the next model year and things like that , um . But yeah , you're right , especially when it comes to something like a BEV and you don't have an electric vehicle and you don't have an electric vehicle . So a whole new platform . You got to source batteries . That's going to take , you know , a lot more time than the typical cycle of 10 years ago , where you've got an engine lineup that you can kind of refresh and put into a new model and that certainly doesn't take as long . But yeah , there's a lot of variability with the timeline on coming out with a new model .
Speaker 1Interesting stuff . So if something is ramping
John's First Car: The Family RX-7 Legacy
Speaker 1up and this might be too simplistic if something is ramping up , does something else kind of have to ramp down . Are you kind of thinking how they interweave ? Well , we're going to discontinue this one model and try something else over here , but we got to replace it with something on the same chassis or platform . Is that a hard thing to do ?
Speaker 3It is . Yeah , I mean a lot of that is tied to when do you announce a new model , because you don't want to announce a model and then sales of your current model to tank Right . But it depends on the model too . You know we have seen success with some models where we announce the replacement and that boost sales for the current model , that being the example being CX3 when we announced CX30 . It actually helped CX3 sales . So it kind of varies . But generally , you know , once you announce a new model , theoretically that tanks the appeal of the current model . But you know we're we've got current models right now that we are kind of looking at where we we need to maintain the momentum of them right up until the replacement and that that's a hard thing to balance . But that is a big part of the job and a lot of that relates to PR , like how do you communicate to the public while maintaining your current pace ?
Speaker 1Yeah , ok , doug . Okay , doug , once I hop in the conversation here . But but one thing that popped in my head as you were speaking was how complex a process that has to be , because everything's a competition and other makers are looking at you , you're looking at other makers and so you know how do we service internally the vision , what we want to do with respect to what everybody else is . So you're kind of looking for kind of a lane to jockey into . But let's bring Doug into the conversation . Oh , john wanted to say something . Then let's get Doug in Please .
Speaker 3No , no . Oh yeah , I was just going to say that's exactly right .
Speaker 3You do want to pay attention to what your competitors are doing , while also still finding something that's unique editors are doing , while also still finding something that's unique , like you don't want to always have to respond because you want to have your own space where you know the value like in my case , mazda brings automatically is unique on its own , so we don't necessarily always have to respond , but that's the balance of how do we make our product unique yet still have the things that people are always shopping .
Speaker 1Oh , I like the way you put that . That's brilliant . And speaking of unique , I'm looking at Doug , who wants to hop in the conversation here , and that t-shirt he's wearing , that RX-7 , was such a unique car back in the day . But let's get Doug in here .
Speaker 2Doug , yeah yeah , no , that's very interesting . And obviously a big follower of car companies and I've actually owned four Mazdas , two Miatas , one MX-6 , and what was the other one , sorry ? Oh , my first Mazda , 1986 RX-7 , which was the second generation RX-7 , first year of that car , and that was my first stick shift car actually . So I learned to drive stick shift on that car . I had an automatic car and then I had friends in high school who had stick shifts .
Speaker 1I'm like , yeah , this is more interesting and it just took off from there uh , go ahead , I gotta squeeze in . I know you want to keep going , but I just I've known Doug a real long time and I forgot about that silver MX-6 you had , which was a gorgeous automobile , it was head turning . I remember when you hang out with Doug a lot of it's car related and you said , let's go hang out , let's go grab lunch . And Doug says , oh , I want to go test drive something . Let's go hang out , let's go grab lunch . And Doug says , oh , I want to go test drive something . So I remember we drove to the to some dealer in his car in that that silver MX six , and I remember pulling up oh no , maybe I was in the showroom and you pulled up in that car and and all the heads turned . I mean , it was just a gorgeous , it was literally a head-turning automobile .
Speaker 2Go ahead . Doug , I know you wanted to continue with something . It was a I mean , it really was . So yeah , I have to ask John . I have so many questions about Mazda . But , john , the question all our viewers want to hear listeners is when will there be another RX-7 ? We ?
Speaker 1can't this guy ? Guy's not gonna tell us trades he doesn't have trouble john .
Speaker 2Don't get yourself in trouble over us , man , but you can slip to know will there be another one , maybe , maybe he's okay yeah , maybe .
Speaker 3Hey , I appreciate the pressure because the more you know , the more we get asked it , the the more we've got to do something at some point . I think but yeah , I don't know though . Uh , it is always , it's always the plan , but I know we kind of talked about it earlier . But yeah , being an independent automaker and then with all the regulatory pressure which might be going away we'll see .
Speaker 3But you know , it's just been hard to . We've got to build up the volume and build up the profit with our SUV so we can afford a car like that , afford to build that car , because obviously us as car people we might buy one . But unfortunately it seems like most people aren't buying sports cars these days . But I don't know , surely at some point this crossover craze has to die down and maybe the sports car segment can come back in . Who knows ?
Speaker 2That would be great . I know some of the other companies are trying to do it , but yeah , it's a tough market for sure .
Speaker 1Yeah , what you need to invent , john , is a sports car with storage . Once you've got that figured out , a zillion dollar idea . Okay , now John has a very interesting path to how he came to work for Mazda USA . But before we get there yes , this is a cliffhanger we're going to put him back in time . We're going to go 88 miles an hour and let's go back to where it began , john , what was your first car , how did you get it , and is your older brother a legend ?
Speaker 3Yeah , my first car was a 1988 Mazda RX-7 GXL . So that was the top trim , non-turbocharged rotary . So you know , top trim back then had air conditioning , power windows , leather seats . It actually had the adjustable suspension normal and sport suspension though that didn't work . By the time I got the car , um , yeah , that was , that was my first car .
Speaker 3And uh , I got it from my my brother . I bought it from my brother , um , he , it was his first car , um , and that was the first rx7 my family ever owned . And after that one probably came somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 plus rx7s . Um , and my brother was already on a turbo 2 , 1988 turbo 2 rx7 . We called it the red dragon . That was his car , uh , and so I bought that , that 88 g GXL from him and , uh , by the time I had gotten it it had been sitting out . The paint was a little bit faded , Um , so we kind of did like a light restoration .
Speaker 3It already had a new engine . Um , my brother had rebuilt the engine . That was the first engine he ever rebuilt , first rotary he'd ever or I guess I should say first rotary he ever rebuilt . And uh , and that I I never had issues with that engine . He actually became pretty well known , um for rebuilding rotary engines , um , and I don't know if I mentioned this , but I was so much younger than my brother , so I'm getting this first car at 14 .
Speaker 3My brother's was already at that point , 23 , um , so so he was already in college and , uh , pre me getting a new car , he was started racing , got his racing license when I , when he was in high school . So my very formative years were me growing up around him , racing , going to the racetrack , having these rx7s around . I think at one point they were probably at one at one time we had seven , somewhere between seven to 10 RX sevens around the house , uh , or back . We had a .
From RX-7 to BMW: Car Transitions
Speaker 3We had a barn and a front garage , um , so between those two spots and that's that's what I grew up around , so , uh , in the blood , in the DNA , in the family ledger .
Speaker 1So you said that one car you never had any issues with . But I mean you had a population of cars . So with that engine , unique in its way , did you ever have any issues , or were there problem spots that you guys would have to tear apart and fix ?
Speaker 3Well , I remember I probably went through three transmissions on that park seven my transmission was bad when I got , it was never really yeah somebody beat it up yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3Well , I think that the transmission I got with the car you know , I think that was the one that my brother drove on , that's the one I'd learned to drive stick on . So it started whining really bad in first gear and then , it wasn't too long after that , it dropped . Also , I don't think that that car had synchros between first and reverse , so you had to come to a complete stop in order to shift from , and I , you know , wasn't doing that . Um , and then , uh , the second one . Have no idea why that one went . And the third one is what I sold the car with . But aside from that , I mean , the only issues I had were just your old car issues where plastic became brittle or maybe a hose would fail because it's old and brittle or something like that , but I never had issues with the engine itself , wow . So , yeah , and honestly , you know , you just learn how to drive them . You learn how to drive them , you learn how to maintain them , and they're pretty bulletproof if , if you do all that , you know well .
Speaker 2Yep , and you know Christian Christian and I were talking about earlier . He's like why is a rotary engine ? What's ? What are the benefits ? Right , and it's really from my standpoint . It's really from my standpoint . It's simplicity , the lack of moving parts versus a conventional engine yeah , I completely agree , and you know that was it was .
Speaker 3It was my first car , so that's the first car , you know . The foreign thing to me was when I went to just a piston engine car after my rx7 because then there were more . I actually went to a bmw after the r-7 and I that car was breaking all the time I felt out of my depth . I understood a rotary and I'm not near as mechanically minded as my brother is , um , but I that I just felt out of my depth a little bit on that BMW .
Speaker 1So did you ? Did you foresee a career with Mazda USA from the moment you put a your foot on the clutch in that first car , or no ? Was this a dream fulfilled ? Or you said , wow , neat first car , great company , we'll see .
Speaker 3Yeah , I don't think so , Although I would joke as a high schooler like I'm going to be the CEO of BMW or something like that , which was so stupid and I was just cause I was a car person and I liked cars and at the time I liked BMW . But maybe you wouldn't say that right now , but I would just joke about that . But otherwise , you know I , there are many other things in my life that were pretty influential . Otherwise , you know I , there are many other things in my life that were pretty influential , One of the things being probably the house I grew up in , which was this really old home that my dad was constantly working on and restoring and I kind of lived in this old neighborhood with a lot of quaint homes and my close with our neighbor he had a really this old kind of cottage , shingle style cottage , and he was a big Volvo guy .
Speaker 3I remember he had this , he had several Volvos and he had the 740 turbo wagon . I guess it would have been a late eighties turbo wagon , had this this houndstooth or plaid black and white interior , and I remember my mom getting it , borrowing it one day , because the minivan that she had was in the shop and I fell in love with Volvos . I just truly fell in love with that car .
Speaker 1I thought it was so cool . Same same yeah .
Speaker 3And my friend , my other , my best friend , his mom drove a Volvo wagon . You know the rear-facing seats and anyways . All that to say , I'm getting off track , but that's the point of the whole show , keep .
Speaker 1Anyways , all that to say , I'm getting off track , but that's the point of the whole show .
Speaker 3Keep going . Yeah , the main thing that really probably came into my mind was architecture . I wanted to do something with design . At points I thought , you know , I want to be a car designer . Later that turned into architecture , just as a little bit of a more practical route , because I wasn't sure how to get into car design Right , but working for an auto manufacturer really was not like a side . Yeah , I don't know , that just didn't seem possible maybe , or realistic , I don't know . So , yeah , I think architecture really became more of my focus .
Speaker 3But I will say also in the back of my mind was like well , architecture is a design field and I know that there's some car designers with architecture backgrounds and you know , architecture is kind of the founding design principle , so this will , this will translate , you know , scale , proportion , that kind of thing that would translate into industrial design or car design , if I do want to do that later . So , uh , that was kind of in the back of my mind , um , and then yeah , that's what I did . So
The Volvo C30 Chapter
Speaker 3that is a uh , yeah , a really crazy path .
Speaker 1All right , yeah . So before we get into that , let's slip into neutral for one moment here . So themw 525i that you had , you mentioned it before . Let's talk about it before we move on to the volvo . You're kind of yeah , you're kind of interweaving all of it , so um , so what ? What did you think of the bmw ? How did it compare to the first ? I was reading your notes loved . Obviously much bigger and much quieter uh , so was that the car ? That saw you through college well , no .
Speaker 3So I had the rx7 in college and you know I would still have that to this day . But I got rear-ended um going to class one day by a girl who I'm pretty sure was texting in her mustang and she rear-ended me , launched me into another mustang um , which launched that car into a condo accord and honestly it was pretty devastating . I loved that rx7 but it's family yeah , it bent the frame slightly .
Speaker 3Um , when that whole thing happened and it was so frustrating too , you know , I , I feel like you say I tell this story with like a that involves a couple mustangs and an rx7 . It's like , oh , you're racing . It's like no , I wasn't just in stop and go traffic on the way to class , like nothing , nothing crazy , I you know . And uh , so after that , the spare tire on that rx7 really took , took a lot of the impact . It actually didn't look as bad as you'd think , yeah , but the frame got bent .
Speaker 3So when that happened , um , I'd I'd actually already bought the BMW , maybe about a less , maybe nine months before um , as a little bit of a project . Um actually ended up rebuilding the heads , getting the heads remachined had a burnt valve when I bought it , um and then transmission , but , like I said , I'm not mechanically minded , so a lot of that ended up to my dad and my brother , uh , which is probably a little bit of a sore point , um , but by the time the RX seven that got totaled , I ended up in that BMW , um , so that finished my probably two years of college , was was last two years of college , was in that Um , and uh , yeah , I I really enjoyed that car a lot . Um , you know it had had a little more power than how well it had more torque , for sure , than the rx7 inline six yeah yeah , yeah , and you know the the engine was was also really smooth .
Speaker 3Um , you know , I kind of felt , you know , that's kind of a ridiculous car for a college student to have , so it was , uh , not at all . It was . Uh , I kind of felt , you know , that's kind of a ridiculous car for a college student to have , so it was not at all it was . You kind of felt like a baller rolling around campus in this five season .
Speaker 1It was it was an .
Speaker 3M Sport . It had the BBS deep dish polished , you know alloy wheels . It looked good , it was black .
Speaker 1Well , well , well , you know man on campus .
Speaker 3It had . You know , it had a power adjusting steering column and the power adjustable headrests , All those things that are just so ridiculous for some college kid to have .
Speaker 3But yeah , that was fun , but it broke every other month probably um , and never cheap to fix , yeah never cheap to fix I could that driver's side window . I replaced the regulator every other month maybe or something had to realign it every other month . It just would not . You know , it was just constant . The cables are constantly snapping in that window . Transmission went out again , which is what led me to my car after that um and uh , but man , when it was running it was a fun . It was a fun car yeah , gotcha , yeah , go ahead .
Speaker 2The ultimate driving machine , I think yeah , definitely these bmws . Uh , yeah , I mean yeah , it was definitely go ahead , yeah , well it was definitely like .
Speaker 3You know , I come from the rx7 , which was like this light and fleet and possible fun car . And then I go to this like very like sturdy , serious like German sedan , you know , and you can still have fun in it . But it wasn't fun in the way that the RX seven , like the RX seven , it was like you could . You could toss it into any curve or turn and you knew you were going to be okay . The the BMW was like it just would . It just flattened out every , every turn . I don't know it just so . It was so much heavier or something it was fun , it was just serious right , yeah all right , we spoke a little bit about the volvo .
Speaker 1Let's chat about that , because I owned a volvo . Now I didn't have the cool 740 , uh , turbocharged wagon , but , um , what did I have doug ?
Speaker 2740 gle gle yeah white with red interior .
Speaker 1The red interior was nice . Yeah , you know , what we volvo owners say is you can't spell glee without GLE . But tell us a little bit about your .
Speaker 3Volvo , yeah , yeah . So once the transmission went out in that BMW , um , again , I , you know . Basically it came down to okay , this is my . This was after after college , I was in architecture , had my my first you know , big job , um , even though you know , when you started out as an architect , you don't really make much money at all . Um , but , um , so I was like , okay , I'm going to actually spend a little bit of money .
Speaker 3Uh , so , um , my requirements were I wanted a manual again and , um , I just kept thinking about the way the inline five sounded in a Volvo . I just really wanted that . So that's where the C30 came along and I ended up getting a was it 2011 C30R design ? With a six speed manual , you know , the turbocharged inline five , black , with the black and , and I think , the new buck or suede interior , whatever they called it and I , and it was a fully loaded one too .
Speaker 3It had the dine audio , um , sound system in it , had the little flip navigation screen , like I felt , right , so cool in that car , um , but it was funny because it was like , you know , not maybe a week or two after I got it , um , one of my friends , or or maybe it was a girl that I can't remember , but um was like , isn't that um , the twilight guy's car ? And I was like , wait , is it what ? Cause ? I didn't , I didn't watch twilight , I didn't know . But anyways turns out I think , yeah , edward Cullen in twilight drove a C 30 and that deflated my , my ego there for a while . But I still love that car , um , and uh , yeah . So that was my first , that was my first car purchase that I really bought all on my own , um , and then , uh , yeah , I really I really loved that car . You know , it was a , the manual , the transmission was not like that engaging um , but it was still fun because it was a manual , um , and I met my wife in that car , that's the car I took to nashville .
Speaker 3When I , when I moved to nashville after architecture that's the car I took to nashville I kind of did like my single , my single life in my dating life , in that that volvo good job which , yeah , it was so much fun and you know , I always sorry christian , I always think about the c30 .
Speaker 2I call it like the shooting break right and I always think about what was30 . I call it like the shooting break Right and I always think about what was it ? A P 1800 was like the old Volvo and that's like the modern interpretation of it and I I know it got associated with that .
Speaker 3Yeah , definitely . That's what I loved about it . I it was , you know it was perfect . I mean you could fit a lot in there .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , it was just a two-door .
Speaker 3Yeah , and that glass hatch that scoops all the way down to the bumper . I just thought that was so . That was definitely like a love it or hate it thing , but I don't know .
Speaker 1I like design that makes you have an opinion on it A little daring , a little daring , beautiful , and we started talking about this a little bit more . You're going to school to study architecture . So let's , let's pick that thread up again and , if you could continue that story and let us know ,
Architecture to Automotive Career Path
Speaker 1tell us what happened in school and in how that walked you through to the eventual job you have now .
Speaker 3Yeah . So , yeah , I did an undergrad degree in architecture and I'd actually done two years . Yeah , I did an undergrad degree in architecture and I'd actually done two years . I was in undergrad for six years because I transferred two years after being at a private , like liberal arts school that didn't have architecture , I transferred from there to a public university that that had the program , because that's when I fully decided that's what I wanted to do and I loved it .
Speaker 3I like , I like am not , you know , uh , I'm not the best like test taker , and architecture was perfect because so much of it is what you're at , what you do , um , what you make , what you draw , what you um , and then you have to defend what you do , you know you're , you're standing up in front of professors and architects talking about your design , what you've created , defending it in a way , and I just really did well with that , um , more so than just having to , you know , take a test and and learn things . Like you know , I do not have a mind to be a doctor or to be in the science field at all . I just can't . I can't do it and I'm so , so thankful other people can , but I had the mind for this , um , so then , yeah , after that I was working . I worked at a firm for a little bit in school and then worked for a firm after school for about two years and uh , you know , that's when , like , the car bug really got me .
Speaker 3Um , because I was working at a firm and , uh , it was back where I grew up and I think , you know , you go to school and you get a design degree . You have visions of working at some fancy firm doing these massive , cool buildings . There's everyone's got the money to spend on the designs you want to do , and that's not the reality . And so I I did get to do some cool things , but you know , generally I started to get a little bit like is this it like ? Is this , this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life ? I'm already doing it . Um , and then I just remember , with some of the architects around me , just being so kind of flabbergasted that I thought cars were cool , um , or thought that appreciated the design of cars . You know , I remember one architect in particular being like yeah , I guess cars are designed , aren't they ? And I was like , what ? Like what do you mean are ? Of course they're designed they are .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly like you have to think of how every piece fits , provides function , provides style , it's I mean , it's the very definition of of packing a lot into a small bag and the type of people that are gonna buy it right , right it in it because it's an extension of you . You drive down the street and you say , well , I'm gonna make an assumption about that person it is a very public personal display of you know how you feel about design wealth , yeah yeah , definitely .
Speaker 3So you know that all was kind of brewing in my mind and I finally got to the point I had been applying for jobs mostly with mazda or volvo , I would say , um , I was still pretty picky , I wasn't just like carte blanche , whoever will take me , I was . I was being , you know , specific with these oems I wanted to hopefully work for and I just never heard anything . And I get it because , like , my resume at the time was just all architecture , yeah , just didn't make sense . So I , um was like all right , I just got to do something . Um , I got to get something car related on my on my resume . So that's when I decided , all right , I'm going to move to Nashville . I had this friend that kept nagging me like , hey , we need a roommate , we need a roommate , you got to come to Nashville . Like , move to Nashville , be our roommate . I was like , okay , so I finally did and , um , I didn't have a job .
Speaker 3But within a month , um got a job at the Mazda dealership in Nashville , which it was between Mazda and Volvo . I actually was offered the Volvo spot too , um , but the Volvo spot too . But I , I , just I , it was the dumbest position , it was the dumbest thing . I don't know why . I said no to Volvo because I hadn't gotten Mazda yet . But then , um , cause my driving record wasn't great at the time . So Mazda , the Mazda dealership was like we can't insure you . Um , and the , the owner of that dealership , really took a chance on me . He was like well , let me see what I can do . Um , and in between that time of them being like we can't insure you , volvo had offered me a job at their dealership . The volvo dealership had offered me a job and I said no to that . And then , a few days later , mazda , the mazda dealership had given me a job .
Speaker 1So that was pretty crazy , yeah , so what were you doing at the dealership ? What , what did ?
Speaker 3I was just a sales . Yeah , I was a sales person , you , you completely did a 180 yeah , what you've been doing .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know it was .
Speaker 3It was crazy too because , um , you know , I'm I'm leaving the degree , I'm leaving the field , I got my degree right , but most of my family and friends were like , yeah , no , that makes sense , you should . That makes sense . Like you going to work for at a car dealership or working with cars , that makes sense . Like I really didn't get much pushback in terms of leaving architecture , even though that's what my life had been for so long .
Speaker 3That was pretty cool . And then I really loved working at . You know , I didn't like that . I'm not . I didn't like working on commission and I didn't like .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 3I don't like sales , but it was a great dealership to work at . Um and I really like being around cars . I was like I became the go-to car guy . Um , you know when , even on used cars , you know , uh , if , if one of the other people was showing a car and they didn't know how something worked , they'd come grab me . Um , and I , you know , I remember showing , you know how to put an FJ in four-wheel drive that we were selling and how , to , you know , do different things with the FJ . And I had never done any of that before . It just made sense to me . So I just , you know , was showing how to do that . I'd never driven an FJ but , yeah , I really liked it .
Speaker 3I mean , you know we would have to test cars , do emissions testing in Tennessee , and if they didn't pass , you know , usually sometimes they wouldn't pass that they had been sitting for so long . So you start a car up and run it through emissions . It's not going to pass , so you'd have to drive it overnight . Um , so I would . I got , you know , drive a Range Rover . Uh , take it home . You don't want to use a lot . Uh , you take a Range Rover home , you know , drive it .
Speaker 1Clear it out a little bit I can just see these senior architects watching you drive past the firm in a different car every day . Yeah , he really did belong in a dealership .
Speaker 3This guy thinks about one thing .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , so yeah , go ahead . No , no , yeah , I was there for seven months and or maybe I was there for eight months , but I started that job in January , late January , and then by September I had moved to Jacksonville , florida , to work for Mazda North America . So I was there just enough time to get that on my resume and then also meet my now wife . So it was kind of a whirlwind period of time , but it was super significant for me . It kind of really brought me to where I am now .
Speaker 1So did you the job that you moved to Jacksonville to get with Mazda . Is that roughly what you're doing now , or did you ? Did you kind of work your way up ?
Speaker 3Yeah , I , definitely I . This is my fourth position with Mazda . That starting position was , um , I was a specialist , um , so I was an analyst , um for whatever , and I was out of a region office , not not the main corporate office out of California , which is where I'm based now . Um , but , uh , yeah , I just did anything to help support the dealers in the Southeast and to support the reps and the managers out in the field , um , in that in the Southeast region , which was , I think , virginia , florida , over to like maybe , maybe , alabama or something like that . Um , so , yeah , and then after that I I became a rep and that's what brought me up to Virginia , which is where I live now , and then I became a service rep and I was over at the DC Metro and then I became launched the strategy manager three-ish plus years ago or so , gotcha .
Speaker 1So how long have you been with mazda on the whole , from jacksonville to up in virginia , where you're at , and uh , I think .
Speaker 3I think just over seven years , maybe eight years or so , I think congratulations , that's a lot .
Speaker 1Thanks . That's .
Speaker 3That's a lot to pack in it is a lot to pack in . And it's kind of funny too , because I , I feel like you know , our , our generation , my , my generation , gets the rep of not staying anywhere very long and uh , I , but I'm like man , I've really been , I've really been , so I've actually stuck it out , you know , for a while , there being architecture for two years and the dealership for a few months . I was like , oh gosh , I'm a stereotype . But now I've , uh , I've been with mazda , yeah , for for quite a while , feels like at least .
Speaker 1Good deal
Working at Mazda Dealership to Corporate
Speaker 1, let's bring Doug in .
Speaker 2So what ? Before we ramp down , I did want to ask so what's the most exciting project that you've led since you've been at Mazda ?
Speaker 3Yeah , probably MX-5 . I mean , anything MX-5 related is just automatically the most exciting to me , um . So when we did , you know we had we had the significant updates for 2024 , um , where you know , new headlights , taillights , refresh design wheels , and I remember driving um the old against the new um , old being the 23 model against the new 24 before I think before we had announced it , um , but there was some steering feel improvements . There was a new differential um in the 24 , uh that we were driving so that we could understand the changes and really see the changes , and that was just so fun . I mean it's like moments like that for me as a car guy . Then I'm like , ah , this is just the best .
Speaker 3Um , just getting to drive cars . They just dropped it off at your house and said , here , drive . At that time I was actually in .
Speaker 2I lived in California .
Speaker 3Um , so I I I've been back and forth to Virginia a few times but , um , I was in California . So , yeah , I just went into the to the R and D office and that was , you know , half the day was driving those cars and , um , that's , that was probably the most exciting . And that followed by the 35th anniversary mx5 that's right , that's this year , that was this year , yeah . So , um , just any , you know , not only is that exciting for me , but that's , you know , the pillar of our brand . You know , that's the , it's kind of our halo car and that's kind of the car that's that really embodies all of Mazda's values , you know . So it's just really fun to to do anything and to have that specific line to work on .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , no , that's exciting . And yeah , I remember , my first Miata is a red 1990 .
Speaker 3Oh nice .
Speaker 2That was my first convertible man . It was the best car .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , my uncle had an early 90s Miata in the midst of all those RX-7s , so yeah , I got the bug that way too .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , that way too . Yeah , no , that's awesome . Yeah , and 30 years later , right , it's still very sought after . There's always the thing what's the saying about a Miata ? I forget .
Speaker 3Miata is always the answer .
Speaker 2Miata is always the answer . Whoever coined that and I don't think it was Mazda it was brilliant , yeah , yeah , it is brilliant , for sure . Yeah and um . So we , I do want to ask and we've talked a lot about mazda cars and bmws and rx7s , volvo , um what would be your dream car or what car are you looking forward to at some point in the future ?
Speaker 1yeah , um interesting and you can't say rx7 , because your whole family . Okay , so go ahead .
Speaker 3Yeah , no , I I mean I feel like I I have my , I have a dream car for every use case , um , if that makes sense , like that . Uh so , and I still kind of have this
Exciting Mazda Projects & Dream Cars
Speaker 3a little bit of this goal of owning a car from every country that makes one . So you know , I've got Germany and Sweden and Japan down , but overall I think I've really been pretty taken by the Lotus Amira of late With the supercharged V6 and the manual transmission . I just really like the idea of being able to buy a car like that new and keeping it for forever , um , and passing it down . But I also really love , like the 96 Porsche 911 wide body career S . I just that is like peak nine 11 styling for me Yep , yep , nine , nine , three , yep , that's the one .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , it's the . It is the one and everyone knows it . So I don't know if I'll ever get to that . But , um , on a more on a more practical note , I'd really just love to find a , uh , mid 2000s mazda b4000 , four by four with the manual . Nice , um , I'd love to just have a little work truck , but those are impossible to find with the manual . But that's what I'm currently keeping my eye out on , trying to get something for house projects and things like that .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , I like it . I always tend to think in cars that cars for different use cases and in fact I'm currently looking for a JDM Japanese domestic market . Suzuki Cappuccino . Oh nice , the right-hand drive just a micro Miata , if you will , from the 90s .
Speaker 3Do you know about Dunkin' Imports ?
Speaker 2Yep , I do . Okay , Christian , I've actually been there , I've actually been there .
Speaker 1Have you ever been .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , oh , it's not far , far from you . It's 30 minutes down the road . Yeah , yeah it's about five hours for me , which is probably a good thing yeah , yeah , yeah , my dad was looking at mini trucks a year or two ago , so we went there and yeah and they're all the rage yeah , yeah , they are . Yeah , that's fun that'll be a cool car to have .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , It'd be fun , fun and different and uh , you know cars and coffee and other events . Like I bring my DeLorean , but I'm uh it's like almost too careful with that car , so something a little smaller and and uh , and it's a stick shift , but man , I just miss flinging a car in the corners . That's not the car to do it in , yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , and like a different dream car for each use case , because the car that you know , your dream car cruising the beach may not be the dream car to drive to Alaska tomorrow . So you know , know the requirements . So , yeah , as as we uh , as we guide the podcast toward the the off ramp here , uh , I got one last question for you , john . I can't leave you with Doug . He will talk to you all night about cars and I know you want to eat dinner , so I just uh . On the way out here , I got to ask you just look so happy . I cannot remember a guest smiling as much as you did . So I have to ask you what is your favorite thing about working for Mazda ?
Speaker 3Oh man , what's my favorite thing working about Mazda ? I think I do . Really . I really enjoy how much I touch in my current position . Um , I like that I kind of get to see all the different um sides of what's going on , whether it's marketing or whether it's , you know , on the spec product , spec side of the business , or even incentives or whatever . I I really enjoy kind of having a full picture of what it takes um and what's needed , even if I'm not necessarily I'm not the one doing all those things , but I'm . I get to see all those things and that's just really cool . Um I I really enjoy uh being involved and kind of having the the insight to all those different uh parts of the car company .
Speaker 1great answer , answer , what a great answer . What do you think about that answer , doug ?
Speaker 2I think only at Mazda could somebody do that One person be able to do that at a company has to be a company like Mazda .
Speaker 1Well , I think that might be , yeah , one of our best on the way out answers we've ever had . Well , john , it was an extreme pleasure meeting you , chatting with you , getting to know you and hearing a little bit about your past , your family and your world today .
Speaker 3We appreciate your making the time yeah it was great to talk to you both . It was a lot of fun .
Speaker 1Absolutely . Well , you have just heard the high-revving , low-mileage late-model heard around the world . Well , you have just heard the high-revving , low-mileage late model heard around the world . Yes , even in Sweden , in Indonesia . Authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia . He's Doug . Get him at Doug at CarsLovecom . I am Christian . Reach me at Christian at CarsLovecom . He was John Leverett with Mazda USA . If you like the show , please follow and tell a friend . If you don't like the show , do the same thing . Check us out at carslovecom . The website is newly revamped . You're
Closing Thoughts & Final Questions
Speaker 1going to love it , especially the reviews . Write one for us . I'm sure we'll see you at the next local car show , showroom , race strip or concourse .
Speaker 1So we appreciate you listening , we'll see you next time . Thank you , Listenerland .
