To All The Cars I’ve Loved Before | First Cars
Christian and Doug explore automotive nostalgia & personal car memories on our podcast— featuring true automotive stories and childhood car memories from everyday enthusiasts.
To All the Cars I’ve Loved Before shines a light on everyday enthusiasts, from father‑daughter/father-son duos and automotive brand launch managers to the restoration students and expert-level instructors at McPherson and Weber State Colleges. Real stories, real people, real passion—thats why our car podcast stands out from others.
Available on all of your favorite platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or https://linktr.ee/carsloved
To All The Cars I’ve Loved Before | First Cars
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme to JDM Kei Van Dreams | Deputy Dave's Law Enforcement Car Collection Journey
Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
Join automotive enthusiasts Christian and Doug as Deputy Dave—paramedic-turned-sheriff, actor, and Volkswagen superfan—shares his diverse car culture journey spanning American classics to Japanese imports. From his landau-top 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme first car to his passion for VW Beetles and fascination with JDM Kei vans, Dave's automotive stories showcase the evolution from muscle car era to import tuning culture.
Discover how emergency service professionals develop unique perspectives on automotive reliability, performance, and character. Dave reveals the intersection of law enforcement work and car enthusiasm, practical vehicle needs versus passion projects, and why Volkswagen's engineering philosophy captured his heart after years of American iron.
Dave's favorite episode with Mohammad and his experience as a JDM importer - https://buzzsprout.com/2316026/episodes/17376238-how-to-import-supra-skyline-integra-jdm-business-secrets-with-mohammad-azeem
Perfect for car enthusiasts interested in classic American automobiles, German engineering appreciation, Japanese import culture, and the automotive stories that shape our professional and personal lives. Whether you love muscle cars, air-cooled VWs, or exotic JDM imports, this episode celebrates automotive diversity.
If you love classic cars, JDM, collector cars, cars & coffee, and real-world car community vibes—this is your episode! Want to learn more about the JDM world, check out Dave's YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/WEhR-6ml2F4
Learn more about Dave CPR Training here -
Facebook (CPR page): https://www.facebook.com/share/1G12outS6C/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d.hall_paramedic?igsh=MTFzd2I1czFzY21sYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paramedicdave87?_t=ZT-8ylqVTIIAwg&_r=1
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Don't Forget to Rate & Review to keep the engines of automotive storytelling—and personal restoration—running strong.
Welcome back listener land. You have found the best car podcast. It's creating a lot of buzz out there. You have found to all the cars I've loved before Carslovecom. I am Christian, at carslovecom, he is Doug.
Speaker 1:At carslovecom, you know, it's just great to be back in the saddle. We record these sessions every few days. Seemingly there's a little bit of a. You know, sometimes we try and schedule these things. They don't work out. Sometimes we can go for days without doing one or several in a week and it's really I'm not going to say it's an addiction, but it's really sort of a high Meeting great people, fun people who are passionate about what they drive, most importantly, passionate about life.
Speaker 1:And we've got somebody on the hook today. But before we introduce him, let's pivot, as we always like to do, to new listeners Neat today, because we have two new international listeners and two new domestic listeners, I believe one is in India and another is in Germany, and we seem to be big in the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic. Am I tracking? Am I on the right course? Partner? Good morning Welcome, thank you. You are, you are indeed. So who do we got? Who do we got? First off, I love saying the names of these places. Okay, what do we got? Okay, hang on, let me check the stats. Oh, we just hired a bunch of geographers. We hired 10 geographers the other day and they're really coming in handy here. Just got handed a note Bengaluru Karnataka, bengaluru Karnataka. You said that's in India.
Speaker 3:Karnataka is a state in the southwest region of India to be more specific.
Speaker 1:And then Frankfurt am Main in Hess. I believe that's the same in Germany, correct, yeah? And so, as we were saying, let's see, oh, north Liberty, welcome ashburn. Virginia, welcome ashburn. I would say, is an excerpt, uh of washington dc on the virginia side of the potomac. You're correct, maybe it's grown to be a suburb in itself. So, welcome to these four listeners. And hey, um, if I knew exactly who you were, I'd call you, welcome you and send you an email. But hey, let us know what you think. Please feel free to write a review on the show or, again, just reach out by email. Love to hear from international listeners Still waiting for somebody to Ireland to call me, because I had the wildest time driving in Ireland over the summer. We definitely want to get somebody on to chat about the rock walls they're in. And also Sweden, welcome to everybody who's listening in Sweden. Doug, what you got? You were going to say something, or maybe not.
Speaker 3:I was agreeing with you. No, what?
Speaker 3:I was going to say was, more specifically, if you like the show, please do a review on, ideally, apple Podcasts, but whatever your preferred platform is, as Christian said, we are on YouTube, instagram, facebook and then, of course, all the platforms, as well as our website, carslovecom. And, christian, you've been working on a newsletter and that's what I was going to say. For any folks that want to be included on that, just drop us a line. It's going to be great, hopefully coming out by the time you hear this, maybe before, depending on when this awesome episode comes out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I forgot to tell you I hired a bunch of reporters this morning. Um, we're gonna have international reporting bureau desks. It's gonna be fantastic so we'll have.
Speaker 3:Well, that's ramp up the revenue, that's your department indeed.
Speaker 1:Yep, we're hiring like crazy. So if you need a job, let me know. Yeah, I uh talked to a few people in my family to give me a review and they gave us reviews that sucked. So that's what you get when you ask family for something yeah, you don't have family or friends, you have listeners we need our lovely listeners to give us some real deal reviews.
Speaker 1:what else was I gonna say? Oh, I want to throw out there the link tree which is doug's done a lot of work. It's looks so good. It looks better and better. He just keeps tweaking it. It looks better and better. It's fun. L-i-n-k-t-r dot E-E slash carsloved C-A-R-S-L-O-V-E-D. And that will get you to all of our social media presences. Yeah, our social media presences. Everything we're up to on YouTube Podcast platforms, exactly.
Speaker 3:Our website. It's a great index.
Speaker 1:Oh hey, I just had a thought Could we have some kind of way for anyone who goes there to plop in an email address for?
Speaker 3:the newsletter. There is a subscribe button. I believe it's in the upper right.
Speaker 1:Awesome, perfect, yeah. Subscribe button I believe it's in the upper right. Awesome, perfect, yeah. So the newsletter I'm shooting for next monday, which means I will start doing it, uh, sunday night at about 11 46. So, yeah, looking forward to that late night, make it happen. What else do we have? Reviews. We don't have any new domains to throw out there. We talked, talked about that last time. Other than that, I think we should dig into today's show theme. Yes, sir, let's do it All right. When is enough enough? Or how do you know? Too much is too much, okay, how many careers are too many? How much is enough? How many cars are too much? How many VWs are enough? How many JDMs are enough? How many hobbies are enough? Because today's guest is a true polymath and I don't think that we're going to be able to shoehorn all of his life experiences and fun, and just his zest for living, into one 30-minute episode. But without any further ado, let's cue him in.
Speaker 2:Deputy Dave how are you? I'm doing well, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Man, we are thrilled to have you and, as I look, we're on a Zoom setup here and hopefully we'll get this. Oh, so we just launched our YouTube channel set up here and hopefully we'll get this. Uh, oh, so we just launched our youtube channel and so dave deputy dave, said it would be fine for us to throw a lot of the uh content that way. There he is a lot, um a lot of our content onto youtube. But look at that vw shrine. The dude is broadcasting from a vw shrine and it's, it's just all over. He's got he even has and this drives his wife crazy but he's even got the original toys and cars inside of their packaging. And you know, I can relate because I've got three boys. They're teenagers now, but every so often I will do this all by a toy and it will blow their minds. Well, dad, aren't you going to open the toy? Well, no, we keep it, not exactly it's hermetically sealed.
Speaker 2:Once you break the seal it can't be redone. It's there, you know it's, it's, you can't do it all.
Speaker 1:The value is gone in my mind at least, it is that's what matters tell us about that shrine behind you, because I dig it and pan, if you can, like you did earlier, so we can get it.
Speaker 2:We start with this wonderful wall that I have behind me that actually goes higher too, um, as you can see up there, yeah, so herbie on the upper right those are all the one uh, 124 and 118 um models, and then we have a boatload of the 164s, including one of the 10 signs. Down here, right over my shoulder, is my little shrine to my current career, which is the sheriff's office. My wife made me a bobble head that looks like me, along with some of the patrol cars and some awards that I've won over the years. And then we're going to pan slowly. We have more, you know, one 64 sizes and some of the weirder stuff, like the monster trucks that happened to be a beetle in a van down on that bottom shelf, and then, if we keep scrolling or it keeps, ban. Uh yeah, what is a panning? There's the word you got it.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, so we have even more, uh, volkswagen memorabilia on the wall up there and down, even down here in that shelf, uh, including I'm sorry about my water bottle. Um, I have a decanter that was made by jim that's in the shape of a Volkswagen Beetle that I found at auction and had to have, and it's actually still sealed with alcohol in it, which is fantastic to me.
Speaker 3:Why not?
Speaker 2:And I don't drink.
Speaker 3:Enough is never enough.
Speaker 2:You never have enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, that might be the last word. Enough is never enough. I dig that Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, that might be the last word. Enough is never enough. I dig that. The other thing that drives my wife a little bit crazy is we'll be out in a store in like Walmart or you know the, you know like the little side shops like Marshall's or Big Lots, and we'll see another Volkswagen and she'll look at me and go, do you have that? And I'll be able to say yeah or no and she's, she thinks it's crazy, because she'll tell me something 14 times and I'll be like you never told me that. But then you bring up a Volkswagen. I'm like, oh yeah, I have that one and it's sitting on this shelf by this one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, top of mind, top of mind yeah too good shrine so you would.
Speaker 1:You had alluded to your current line of work. Yes, if you can briefly tell us when we say in. So, in sticking with today's show theme, what are a couple of other things that you've done in the past, and you can mix in hobbies as well as careers.
Speaker 2:I just can't get enough of all the stuff that you've been into acting paramedic sheriff these days, um death investigator voice, acting voice acting uh, person acting, physical acting uh two tv shows um, I was in a training video for the american red cross where I portrayed a paramedic and we did a bunch of like mock scenes for them for a training video. Um, I was a flower delivery boy. I delivered newspapers. I was a watch sales. Um, I was a flower delivery boy. I delivered newspapers. I was a watch salesman. I uh, I was a sandwich artist at subway for years. Um, I've been a personal assistant. I've been a lift driver. Um a door dasher. Uh a courier, just an, uh, just a roundabout courier. I actually delivered racing pigeons for a couple months.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, like random stuff. So the racing pigeons is actually kind of funny because everybody goes. Well, what do you mean by that? So, if you think about it, the pigeons have a roost and they have a home and that's where they come back, right, but you hate them, right. You have to take them somewhere to release them, to fly home, and that was my job.
Speaker 2:I would drive a trailer full of racing pigeons and it was a legit race. Um, they it was very technical. I had to give the exact coordinates, the weather, the time, and I would release all the birds at the same time and they would like mark at home. And these, all these birds would fly to their roosts and they had little trackers on their legs and when they crossed the, the pathway into their roost, they would mark that they made it home. And it was a race and there was, there was like big money in this. I didn't see any of it because I was just a delivery guy, um, but yeah, so it was a big time thing and I had a lot of fun with that, you don't?
Speaker 1:look old enough to have these many notches on the resume, but let's leave it there. So that addresses one of today's show themes. So what do you think, doug? Are we ready to take this gentleman, this deputy, back in time to see where it all started for him? Because you guys are going to love this.
Speaker 3:Well, he touched on the acting and I heard there was a car connection there.
Speaker 1:Oh, good catch, Good catch.
Speaker 3:David, if you wouldn't mind tell us about the show the car.
Speaker 2:Well, I think your car wasn't in it, but there's a good story there. So I'm a part of a car club and there was word from the production company that was filming this show that they wanted 60s models cars. Because it was a 60s era show that they were filming and having a 67 Beetle, I said, oh, I can get my car on this show, it's going to be great. And so I followed the links of all the things that they sent out and I tried to make a profile for the car for the production company and they were, like, you know, time out. You need to make a profile for the person before you can make a garage for the person. So I made a profile for myself and then I made a profile for the car, 100% expecting the car to make it on the show. And so then I started getting emails for availability for the shoots and I thought, awesome, you know, alice is going to make it on this show. I'm so excited. And and then it got closer to the day and they started sending more information and it turns out they didn't want the car, they wanted me. So I I showed up and I was just a guy sitting at a table during a party.
Speaker 2:I was a background actor and I really kind of digged it, like it was so different than what I was used to. I was like, wow, you know it was a big production. It was. It was an Apple TV plus show. It's a show called Lady in the Lake. It stars Natalie Portman and I hate to say this on camera and recording. I can't think of the secondary actress's name, great actress though the show is great. And so I went to that first shoot and I really liked it. And then they were like hey, you know you want to come back and I was like, absolutely so. I shot a total of about seven or eight scenes. After the second, after the first day, actually, I got typecast as a cop, um, and so the last.
Speaker 2:The last six or seven scenes that I shot were all, um, I was a cop in the scenes. Um, I never actually found myself on the show. I watched the whole season. Uh, actually take that back. I saw my face once during one of the parties that we shot on the first day, um, sitting in the background because I was a background actor and uh.
Speaker 2:But I made a lot of friends and the show the car never made it on the show, uh, but I did, and through that process I I made a lot of friends and talked to a lot of people through that and uh talked to them about how they, you know, got into acting and because I'm a talker if you hadn't figured that out or by the end of the show um, and so I found out which production companies they dealt with and then I started making more profiles and then I ended up getting uh asked by another production company to star in a show, um on lifetime called meet mary murder uh, where I portrayed the killer in the reenactment segments, and so I knew there was something sinister about it.
Speaker 1:I knew it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it went. It went just like my, my real life. It went from one side to the other. I went from being a cop in a show to being a killer in a show and so just like in my real life of going from a delivery boy to a sandwich artist, to a paramedic, to a cop. But, yeah, so like, I had great time with that. And now there's currently nothing shooting where I live, so there's nothing really to work on for acting. But I will 100% go back and do as soon as production companies come around. I'm going to put my name in the hat to be on shows, because being on a set and watching things happen, you know, like the, the filming of things is amazing to me.
Speaker 1:I just had a great time with it's amazing period, but that's that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's an interesting observation, but yeah so, um, we do want to talk about alice, but alice was not your first car. We will get back to alice alice.
Speaker 2:Alice has been in my life for a very long time, but she wasn't the first, sadly. I wish that the romance was that strong. My first car was an 86 Oldsmobile Cutlass that had been previously stolen. It had been recovered. It wasn't hot, if you know the lingo right, it wasn't stolen by you. No, I didn't steal it right?
Speaker 1:Of course not, yes add thief to his list of professions.
Speaker 2:So the funny thing about that car was because it had been previously stolen and the thieves had broken the steering column, you had to start it with a screwdriver. So we had a towel laying across the steering column to hide that. So if you were just driving down the road you couldn't see that the gear shift and everything was all kind of broken apart, um, and it didn't have a key anymore. But yeah, I was, um, I bought that car when I was 14. Um, I got an itch because I love cars I always have and I was. I had a little money in my pocket from all my side jobs that I was doing when I was. I got my first job when I was 12. Um, as a, uh, as a yard boy, I just went out and did yards. Um, you know, typical American bring up, yeah Right. So I had some money and I I saw this car and it was kind of a family friend that um that it was from and he had recovered it. But by the time that they recovered it he had bought a new car and he didn't want a second car and I bought it for $800. And I then started driving around illegally. I hate to say this on camera again, but the police department knows. So I started driving around and the one day one of the town cops kind of gave me the side eye and the little like you don't quite look old enough to drive and it freaked me out and so I turned around and I sold the same car for 800 bucks and it was slow and it was ugly Kind of, if we're being honest. It was ugly, but that was my first car. It was ugly kind of, if we're being honest. It was ugly, but that was my first car.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I was carless up until I was 15, which I know that sounds like a crazy amount of time and I was gifted a car by my grandmother, who left it to me in her will. She passed away when I was 11, uh, but she had a car that I absolutely loved back in the day when we would drive around, and it was a 94 crown vic. I don't know if I mentioned this one before yet, but, um, yeah, so she. She had told everybody in the family that when she died the crown vic went to me and when I turned 16 my grandfather handed me the keys and said she always wanted you to have it. So here's your car. And it was all beat up and ragged out by then because my grandfather was using it as a daily driver at the time. But I absolutely loved that Crown Vic and that sparked my Crown Vic obsession. We'll get back to that in a second.
Speaker 2:So I had that car and it started breaking down and I found a 1975 ford f100 single cab, long bed, two-wheel drive, camper special that I bought when I was I was still 15 at that point, I think, because I bought it before I turned 16, but but it didn't run, yeah, so that one was parked. So by the time I turned 16, I had two cars. I had a 94 Vic and a 75 Ford F100. Her name was Penny the Ford, and so I was working on the truck while I was driving the Crown Vic and then the Crown Vic broke down to the point where it was unrepairable, so I had to get rid of it. Then the Crown Vic broke down to the point where it was unrepairable, so I had to get rid of it. Then I only had the 75 Ford, which got and I'm not exaggerating nine miles to the gallon on a good day.
Speaker 2:I was traveling for work at the time and I needed something more reliable and something more economical. So I turned around and bought a 67 Beetle. Yes, so yeah, alice came into my life. So I had Penny, had pennies, and for years those were my, my vehicles, my dailies. If it was a nice day and you know like was worth driving the truck, I'd drive the truck, penny. And when, uh, you know like the weather was kind of bad or I needed to drive a distance, I would drive the beetle. And, uh, there was multiple times in the Beetle's early life with me that the only thing that would keep it running was a penny and a piece of duct tape, because one of the vacuum ports on the carburetor had blown out. And if you had to tape the penny, just right that when you hit the gas the penny would suck itself to the vacuum port, but if it didn't have slack when you let off the gas it would backfire and blow the penny off.
Speaker 3:Hence her name, very nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah right. So there was multiple times where I'd be driving and you'd hear a backfire and then the car would die and I know that the penny had blown off, so I'd had to get out and put the penny back on the carburetor and then we'd go about our day and then finally I got a new carburetor that didn't, that had a port, that hadn't blown out, and she's been driving with me now and then ever since. Sadly, she sat for a couple of years. I you know our, our romance was reunited um a couple years okay.
Speaker 1:So I know doug wants to get in here, but that to me is so interesting. So when did you get? When did you get the beetle? When did you get?
Speaker 2:I was I was 17, when I was, when I when I first bought penny, I bought her from a friend of a friend. Um, he was moving, he had wait, okay, okay, go ahead sorry.
Speaker 2:Uh, no, it's fine. Um, he was moving and he didn't want to take the beetle with him. Uh, and me being me, I had talked to him multiple, multiple times about this car because I loved it, um, and he, so he came to me and was like, hey, look, I'm moving, I don't want to take this beetle. Um, you know, do you want it? And I was like, well, depends on what the price tag is. Honestly, because I was 17, like yeah, I didn't have a lot of money and, um, I think, if I'm not mistaken, I think I bought her for 1800 dollars at the time which she was a running driving car. It had a crate motor in it, um, that had like less than 500 miles on it that the the previous owner had put in, and he didn't drive it much because he was driving around and I don't know why. I remember this, he had a, a subaru baja that was his daily.
Speaker 1:Oh, so cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, love those and uh, so like that was his daily and he would take the beetle now and then, but overall the beetle was just kind of a, a lawn ornament. That got driven a couple of times and when he was like, yeah, I'll take, I'll do eighteen hundred, I was like sold and I bought Penny or Alice Sorry, alice is the Beetle because I knew Penny was bad on gas, but yeah, so it was one of those.
Speaker 1:Like I bought her and I started driving and I love, I fell in love with that car when I was younger, but you kept it. That's the thing. You kept it. Yeah, you kept it. From that, that's what I can't get over. And yes, it sat. She sat idle for a time, but you kept it. And so lo, these decades later, you and I wish I would have done that with my gti, because I had mine about the same time you had yours killing me that I didn't keep it. Um, that is such a feather in your cap that you kept it. Sorry, doug. I interrupted.
Speaker 3:No, no no, it's a it's a great story and keeping keeping a car like that. I mean I'm guessing it's going to be with him another 15, 20 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would need to get rid of it now. I was to say i's going to be with him another 15, 20 years. Yeah, I will.
Speaker 2:I need to get rid of it now. I was going to say I'm going to keep fixing her until I can't find parts. That's the thing. Like I have a lot of other things that I want to do that are minor, because she doesn't have a lot of body rust. The frame is good. We've already reinforced the floors, the normal areas that rust out on the beetles.
Speaker 1:We've already fixed a lot of those areas and a lot of it is just the mechanicals that are that fail over time and um well, I mean, coming from a guy who started his first car with a screwdriver, I'm gonna say that car is gonna be on the road for a long time. Partner.
Speaker 3:I hope so A long time. I hope so, yeah, so kind of moving forward, because you've had so many cars, I think at last count I was at 17 or 18 cars in the last 22 years. I might have you beat, but not by many.
Speaker 2:No, but I'm older too. But I'm older too.
Speaker 3:You have to get to that K car, right, but I'm older too, but I'm older too.
Speaker 2:You have to get to that K car right.
Speaker 3:But I'm older too, yeah, so we wanted to talk about the Japanese K car, which is a class of cars K-E-I and I'm interested in one. Every week it's a different one. Of course, we were talking about the Nissan POW. A couple weeks ago it was the AutoZam AZ1. I think pow um a couple weeks ago was auto zam az1. Um, I think christian was interested in a honda b. But tell, tell us about the the k car and your specific one maybe it has.
Speaker 2:So I have, uh, I have a 1996 honda acty street, which is the technical name. It's actually a street v as in v as in victor. Um, it's a van. If you're not familiar with what these these actees look like, they come in two, uh, two configurations. They come in a pickup and a van. I have the van. It is a three cylinder, 660 cc, which is the normal k variety. Um, it's a five speed, right hand drive.
Speaker 3:Ooh, five speed. Yep, it's a five speed.
Speaker 2:Um, I, I was looking at pickups because I love small and quirky I think Alice kind of started that with me Um, and so anything small and quirky I love. And so I was looking at these micro trucks that are out and about and I thought, wow, those are really cool, I would love to have one of those. And I found out they're pretty budget friendly. And so I started looking at trucks and one of my other side jobs I don't think I mentioned this, I'm a CPR instructor Kind of goes along with the job of being a paramedic and whatnot.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. So I have a little side business where I teach CPR and I have a bunch of CPR mannequins and equipment that I need to haul around. So I was looking at these pickups, thinking, hey, that could be my go-around car, and then I found this van. This van in particular Because and this is a side note for people who don't know me Aliceice is army green, has been since the day I bought her and I was looking at these, these vans online and I found an army green honda active van and I said that's the one that's got to be the one right.
Speaker 2:And it turned out this van had all the amenities that are add-ons that you you know there there are kind of hard to find. It has the air condition, it has the tachometer, it has the cloth seats, not the vinyl seats, it's got the split rear bench instead of the full rear bench. All these different amenities, the power brakes, the power steering, the five speed um, not automatic, yeah, so these are all things that are different in different K cars and this one had all and it was in my budget and so it was still in Japan when I found it. I found it through a company called B Ford and I, I took a $5,000 gamble and sent them, sent them PayPal for five grand and I thought to myself oh God, I hope this isn't a scam and uh and yeah. So they, they, you know, they were like okay, you, you bought it and um, and then it took about seven months for it to come over from Japan and finally did you track it at all?
Speaker 1:Was there any way to?
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, so there's probably daily tracking every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well, before it shipped you, there was no tracking. It was just that like yep, you bought it, it'll ship at some point, right?
Speaker 1:and they got to put it in a container. They got to somehow well, that's the thing.
Speaker 2:I thought it was going to be in a container, and this one never went in a container. It actually went on one of the, the car carrier ships, so the, you know, like the ones that are like a, a floating parking garage. Oh, wow, uh, it came over in one of those and, um, so it, I, I think that's actually what delayed the, the um, the shipping a little bit, because when they put in a container, they can put it in same day and they put the container on the ship and it moves its way through the, the track, um, you know the path, uh, yeah, so this one sat for a long time and I kept getting freaked out and I would check in on them, like when is it supposed to ship, when is it supposed to ship? And they would get back and like, oh, soon, soon, soon. And there's a mobile app I can't think of it, something marine, something that you can track ships. And I found out the name of the ship it was, it was shipped on and every day I tracked the ship to see where it was, and it made so many stops before it made it to the East coast of the United States that I started thinking it wasn't coming.
Speaker 2:And but yeah, and it showed up and thankfully the B forward company that I bought the van from has United States counterparts and one of those is right here in Baltimore where it's shipped to. So they went and got the ship out of the port and took it to their garage, gave it a once-over through the B-Forward company and then they called me and said, hey, your van's ready. And I went over and picked it up and other than pictures, I had never actually seen the van in person. And I got there and I was so pleasantly surprised because there was no rips in the seats. This is going to sound weird to some people, but if you've been around old cars or bought a lot of cars, it didn't have a weird smell, um, which was, you know, grandiose for me.
Speaker 2:Uh, like I turned the key and it started right up and like it's just been perfect ever since. Um. But yeah, and they handed me the paperwork and I took the paperwork to our Maryland version of the DMV and they handed me a title and some license plates and I slapped them on and she's road legal and I drive that van probably more than I drive anything else, because it's just really so fun, and it doesn't matter if it's zero degrees or 100 degrees. You go out there and you turn the key and she starts right up because it's a honda like you can't kill it. It's. It's wonderful. Does it have heat? Car has heat. Yeah, it's so heat air condition you said air conditioning, yeah um, both the so because it's.
Speaker 2:it's got dual size sliding doors so you can enter it from both the passenger side or the driver's side, or you know if you're American driver's side or passenger side, because they're on flip sides, because it's right-hand drive, but yeah, you can enter both sides. The seats fold flat. It makes a wonderful platform. I can fit all of my CPR equipment in it. It makes a wonderful platform. I can fit all of my CPR equipment in it.
Speaker 1:I used it as a tax write-off for transportation for my side business. Oh, this is God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, and I do use it for my CPR business, even though it's technically not illegal because it has historic tags. But anyway, coming around to that. So, yeah, I love that van, everybody loves the van, my, I put it in a bunch of Christmas parades I always dress up one of my CPR mannequins, uh, and put them in the passenger seat. In the in spooky season I have skeletons that I put in the passenger seat cause it freaks people out, cause they always look at that seat thinking that's where the driver is and they see a skeleton in. In the winter or in the Christmas season I have one of my cpr mannequins dressed up as santa and they sit there. And I love that van. I drive it all the time. I've replaced all the lights on the outside with leds so they're super bright and it's noticeable and it gets a lot of smiles, it gets a lot of laughs and some of them are good-hearted and some of them are probably not very good-hearted, but I don't care. I really can't care that people that's a neat little car.
Speaker 1:Bud, that's a neat little car. Oh, did that price include shipping? I wanted to ask yeah.
Speaker 2:So all in all, I, I, I started, um, I started looking online and I found the b ford company because they included shipping in the purchase price and so, as it sits right now outside of my house, that's road legal. I'm about 6,500 in completely after the import fees and stuff like that, because those can't be included, because you never know what the government's going to charge you.
Speaker 1:That's right, but you love it. Oh yeah, it's functional and you drive it all the time. That's a steal.
Speaker 2:That's a steal. People pay way more to have something just sit in the garage. Oh, absolutely, and that's the thing. Like it was super budget friendly because, like, here's a six thousand dollar vehicle that I can literally drive anytime I want, for any reason, and it doesn't have to be fair weather, it's four. Oh, that's another thing that I did. It's four-wheel drive, so even if it snows, it's not going to get stuck, like you know.
Speaker 2:Granted, it only sits really 12 inches off the ground, um, but yeah, it's four-wheel drive, so, like I'm, I'm blessed.
Speaker 3:I, I'm, I'm on that site and I already put in nissan pow and uh oh boy, three showed up. Why do I feel?
Speaker 1:like frankenstein, and we've created a monster.
Speaker 3:You guys.
Speaker 1:All we need to do is get him to lay down on a table and have lightning strike him. One last question yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Go ahead, doug. No, go ahead. No, no. I was going to say well, earlier today I'm looking at a Cybertruck and now I'm looking at a Nissan PAL.
Speaker 2:You'll be happier with the Nissan than the Cybertruck, I guarantee you.
Speaker 1:Probably. I think his Acty would fit in the back of your Cybertruck. But look, doug wants to try it with me. It probably would. One last question it's been a while since I've driven a right-hand drive car. It's a standard, correct? Yeah? And you don't get hand confusion, foot confusion, do you have?
Speaker 2:to think no. So the gear configuration, the gear shift, is in the same, the same gear configuration as if it would be if you were an american side.
Speaker 2:So right first is up and over away from you on the right hand drive, but it's up and towards you for, uh, american right. So you know, if you ever were driving in the passenger seat with a friend with a manual and they was like, hey, put it in fourth for me and you put it in fourth with your left hand, same concept. And then the gear or the pedals are also same configuration clutches all the way to the left, brakes in the middle, that's on the right.
Speaker 2:So other than using your left hand that's what I was gonna ask.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, it took five.
Speaker 2:It took a good five minutes to. You know be the only person doing everything, but if you're used to a manual transmission car, yeah it's so easy and roger this one shifts so smooth that it doesn't.
Speaker 2:You know, like you, I, I, most of my time I'm driving from, I go second four or five, because the you know. Of course it's only a three cylinder motor and it doesn't have a lot of top top end, but it also has a lot of really low torque, which is surprising that you can start in second gear all the time. It doesn't, it doesn't mind, sure, and uh, it's like a motorcycle engine. Yeah, exactly, um, and it's, it's for being, for being as small as it is. She cruises at 55 miles an hour on the highway, perfect.
Speaker 2:And now, granted, it sounds like it's screaming because it's around 45 to 5,000 RPM, but it redlines at 7,500. So five grand sitting there for a while doesn't bother it at all. It's got it's liquid cooled, so you don't have to worry about the air cooled. Um, and so it doesn't. It doesn't run hot on me and she, I've taken it. Um, uh, probably, if I had to range mileage, I've probably driven it well over 250 miles in a day, and she took it like a champ, no complaints. By the way, the van her full name is Midori, which is green in Japanese, because it's Japanese Nice.
Speaker 2:But I call her Dory for short.
Speaker 1:Even nicer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my van's name is Dory and, yes, I'm one of those weird people that name their vehicles. Not every vehicle's had a name, but the special ones, the ones that really have a place in my heart.
Speaker 1:They will always have a name we're finding that we've had a lot of people on the show that have named their cars, so not a rare thing at all. In fact, I named my current MDX.
Speaker 3:Maddox.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in honor of all the people that do that. So I tell you what, as we guide the podcast gently towards the off ramp and we wind down here. Deputy Dave, I got a question for you and you can only give me one. Let's have a dream car. You spouted off several in our pre-chat.
Speaker 2:That's the hardest question for a gearhead. I'm asking you to dream, buddy, yeah.
Speaker 3:You can dream small.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, um, you can dream small. Yeah, I know, um, I'm gonna have to go with the. The car that would probably make me the happiest for the longest amount of time, without being a fad, would probably be the 68 to 72 vw t2 transporter double catch pickup yep yeah, because I know it would be functional. It would be fun and it would also be eye-catching, but also, like I said, functional um plus, it's a rare and and rare right.
Speaker 2:So it kind of checks all the boxes for me where I could drive it anytime and it would, you know it'd get looks.
Speaker 2:I drive things that gets looks of which I don't care, um, but yeah, it would be, it would be fun, it would be functional, but it would also be rare and fun and all of the things. It would check all the boxes for me, plus I it's something about the bay window, front end, volkswagen's that I love the vans, I love the trucks. Uh, that I love the vans, I love the trucks, but yeah, the T2 Transporter Double.
Speaker 1:K Good choice. Yep Good choice. Well, this has been a distinct pleasure, Dave. It was fantastic meeting you. We're going to keep the conversation going. I appreciate you taking the time. If my mouth would work, this would go a little easier. Thanks again, Dave. We really had a great time.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. Thanks again, dave. We really had a great time. Thank you for having me. Thank you, dave. Thank you, dave, yep, we can't thank you enough and Andrew, your good friend, who referred you to the show. So looking forward to having his out very soon.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to listen to it myself.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You had just heard the high revving, low mileage, late model. Heard around the world. Yes, true, around the world. Just today, new listeners from across the globe heard around the world Authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia. He is Doug at CarsLovecom. I am Christian at CarsLovecom and he was Dave. Please follow the show. Tell a friend, check us out on YouTube, give us a review and if you want to be on the show.
Speaker 1:go ahead. Say again Subscribe, Subscribe people. Subscribe to the madness. The man said subscribe. You only have to remember one thing, if you remember anything from this show Not that Christian talks too much or needs to lay off the caffeine. L-i-n-k-t-r dot. E-e slash Cars Love. You can get to all of our presences online. L-i-n-k-t-r dot. E-e slash Cars Love. It's our switchboard. It'll get you to our social media pages, our site, as well as all the podcasting platforms where we exist in the ether. I'm sure we'll see you at the next car show. Thank you for listening. Keep the rubber side down and we will see you next week.
