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

Stay Alert: Summer Brings New Drivers and Highway Challenges

• In Wheel Time • Season 2025 • Episode 195

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The summer driving season is upon us, and with it comes unique challenges on Texas roads. Texas Department of Public Safety, Sergeant Steve Woodard joins us from the Bolivar Peninsula ferry to share critical insights about what motorists should watch for, especially as driver's license offices prepare for an influx of teen drivers seeking their first licenses.

Calling in from his patrol vehicle, Sgt. Woodard delivers sobering statistics from a recent beach weekend enforcement operation that resulted in 87 arrests, 91 misdemeanor citations, and approximately 15 felonies in a single night. The conversation reveals how what once began as community gatherings have unfortunately evolved into problematic events requiring significant law enforcement presence. The hosts reflect on their own experiences witnessing this transformation over the years, having participated in these gatherings before they became problematic.

As summer approaches, parents of new drivers will want to heed Trooper Woodard's advice on navigating driver's license offices efficiently. He emphasizes the importance of bringing proper documentation and offers his personal contact information for listeners needing assistance with license transactions. In a touching segment, hosts share their own experiences teaching their children to drive, with the universal truth that despite all the preparation, most teens still call Dad when they need to change a tire.

Vehicle owners should take note of rising theft rates across the Houston region. Sgt. Woodard recommends additional security measures beyond simply locking vehicles, such as kill switches for high-risk models. He also reminds listeners that May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, with Houston consistently leading Texas in motorcycle fatalities.

The episode wraps with Jeff's Car Culture segment, exploring iconic muscle cars that disappointed enthusiasts when they strayed from their performance heritage. From the anemic 84-horsepower Dodge Charger to the front-wheel-drive Impala SS, these automotive letdowns serve as cautionary tales about respecting legendary nameplates.

Whether you're a car enthusiast, a parent of a new driver, or simply looking to stay safe on summer roads, this episode delivers valuable information with the In Wheel Time team's signature blend of expertise and humor. Subscribe now and tune in every Saturday for more automotive insights!

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

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Show Introduction and Racing Talk

Speaker 1

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast. You've got the In Wheel Time. I'm sorry, did you say something?

Speaker 2

Oh, I said there, he is Great way to start off the show.

Speaker 1

We'll fix that real quick. You've got the award-winning In Wheel Time car talk show just ahead. Summer driving season is beginning, so we check in with Trooper Steve Woodard About what to look for on Texas roads, including new drivers. Hello, jeff will bring us some car culture and Mr Mars reviews the new Ford Mustang. Howdy, along with Mike. Out of this world, mars. We always need more Jeff Seacon and Chief Engineer David Ainsley. I'm Don Armstrong. Glad you could join us on this Saturday. Gentlemen, how's everybody Good?

Speaker 1

Mike's all wound up this morning, apparently, so you just kind of you know, it's one of those guys that class starts, the bell rings, the teacher says, okay, students, let's start, and Mars is over in the corner talking to himself.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, nobody else will listen.

Speaker 1

He's just all wound up. That's why Becky doesn't want to be with you, and she's proud to get rid of you on Saturday mornings to drive all the way from Neiderville, texas, to Houston, texas. And how many troopers did you run into this morning on the way here?

Speaker 2

Between Winnie and the Beltway there were three on the eastbound side.

Speaker 1

Oh, the eastbound side. Well, that's good.

Speaker 2

And they were busy.

Speaker 1

I bet they were. Did they have the lights flashing? Oh yeah, what my pilot, who's a former sheriff's deputy, calls those wee-woo lights Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo, speaking of wee-woo.

Speaker 2

So did you get an escort?

Speaker 1

Here he is. Ladies and gentlemen, live from the. Are you in the confines of your office, steve Woodard, or are you in your car? Us, steve Woodard, or you in your car? Oh good, oh man, he must be in his car.

Speaker 2

He was fixing to say something important. I know he was.

Speaker 1

Why does this always happen to us? Great lead in and nope it all goes away. He's probably under some bridge running radar while he's talking to us Under a bridge. Under a bridge, yeah, oh, overpass.

Speaker 2

Overpass bridge, whatever. When I say bridge, I think of, like, trolls and hermits and things under the bridge.

Speaker 1

Well, it could be, but in this case he stole a uniform and there's that. So earlier in our tease we were talking about the Indy 500 practice.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1

And that's going on, I guess right now. Oh yeah, and that's going on, I guess right now. And we were talking about well, I was talking about Kyle Larson, who is controversial character over in NASCAR, who switched over to do Indy 500 racing this weekend and he's got a controversial background because he was let go from the team for racist comments and things years ago.

Speaker 2

They brought him back and he's doing quite well, but he's got challenges. They all have challenges. He's one of, I think, four drivers.

Speaker 1

I have challenges.

Speaker 2

It was the Bush guy, it was him Tony Stewart guy, it was him Tony Stewart. And I think there was another one that ran the double, the Indy and the race for something.

Speaker 1

If you're a race car driver, why would you punish yourself like that?

Speaker 2

It's in your blood. It's not punishment, it's not punishment to them. For you yeah.

Speaker 1

No, but I mean, even if I were a young man, that'd be punishment. Well you, gotta be in shape and you gotta want it, I guess. Yeah, you know, get up at 3 o'clock on a Sunday morning to go racing at the Indy 500. Finish that if you don't crash out Right, and then get on a private jet and then fly to where is it the next race?

Speaker 2

Well, is it.

Speaker 1

You know, I don't know, do you Charlotte or something? Probably Some idiotic. You know 3,000-mile race or something? Yeah, yeah, no, I'm good. One race is enough, and especially when you're talking about 500 miles, doing 235, 40 miles an hour Nah.

Speaker 2

I'm good. I prefer watching the Indy race than the NASCAR race because NASCAR's got some stuff going on internally. They're in deep kimchi.

Speaker 1

Have you seen the stands?

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, there's nobody there. Nobody goes the same. Eight people. They bus to each track so they can fill the stands.

Speaker 1

I don't understand.

Speaker 2

There's infighting, there's lawsuits, there's. You know that's not fair. I need a trophy, da-da-da-da-da. Well, it's all part of the modern racing days, but it's different.

Speaker 1

It's changed quite a bit, so you know how, when you're on Facebook and you hit something that you're looking at and then, all of a sudden, your inbox gets filled with all the same things.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, 500 of the same things.

Speaker 1

So you know, I'm a big sprint car guy. Wing sprint cars, that's my thing, that's my passion. I like to see them doing, you know, a million miles an hour sideways. Sideways in the dirt In the dirt and man, when those things flip, hang on. Yeah, and I've been watching a bunch of those this week. I was hoping that we could get Rodney Rodriguez who does all that stuff play-by-play.

Speaker 2

He'll be here next week. We had to move him to next week why he had a conflict, so he'll be here with us next week.

Speaker 1

Okay, all right, but at any rate. So you get all of these, and I've been getting a lot of them. You know, winged or non-winged sprint cars, they're going to flip. Short wheelbase, high horsepower, it's nothing. But a motor is what it is and you got that things spinning around in there, going really fast, and boy, one little false move and there you go over the fence I know, speaking of rodney rodriguez, you know he's commentates, he's the announcer and things, which does a great job because we've been there with him.

Speaker 2

but nowadays, like on the nascar, nascar, they talk to their audience like they're nine years old. Well, this is a tire, and the tire goes round, and then, at the last line, you've got two to go, four to go, all this other stuff. Maybe they're running for president, I don't know. And then, indy, why do they have all these? You've got American drivers, you've got American drivers. You've got American teams it's the Indianapolis 500.

Speaker 2

You've got Danica Patrick. Danica Patrick, she's not a gosh. If she's on, I'm not watching she's on. Well, I haven't seen it and don't ruin it for me, but you've got a lot of these guys that are from you know, catch the radio broadcast Australia and they know how to drive in the outback and they're commentating on Indy.

Speaker 2

No, no, stay in your own lane. This is an American event, in my opinion. I'll announce it if I have to. You'd be good at it Well, particularly if you've got a couple of guys backing you up, handing you pieces of paper with notes on it, like you do with me on this show. Kind of like that. Here's our foul language. Hey look you blankety-blankety-hands.

Speaker 1

Either that or one of these, where I just kind of show the sign.

Speaker 2

You used to do that. Beat on the drum or the trash can or hand gestures. Speaking of signs. Speaking of signs?

Interview with Trooper Steve Woodard

Speaker 1

Oh, my God, let's try again. Ladies and gentlemen, steve Woodard, can you speak, and are you unmuted? It's kind of like going to third grade. Third grade. Do we have all the little pieces in order so we can talk to Steve this morning? I know he got his hair cut for this. Yeah, he did, Steve.

Speaker 3

Right there, right there, what's up, fellas? Now I hear that, ben, I'll tell you what. Don you have a voice that can do three things. It can haunt the dead. It can either put a man to sleep. Yes, I won't continue Permanently.

Speaker 1

How you fellas doing. We're good. How are you?

Speaker 3

So far, so good. I am on the ferry heading on over to Bolivar. Oh God, you know I'll meet you down there. Why are you calling the Lord's name?

Speaker 1

Mars. You know Mars has a beach house down there. Did you know that? Okay, yeah, so he's going to go there right after the show today. He, he's going to go there right after the show today. He's going to give you the address off the air. You're more than welcome to stay down there.

Speaker 3

Got an extra bedroom.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and it's all yours.

Speaker 3

All right, all right, all right, I tell you what. Just a quick report and let me pull the stats. Do you guys mind if I go over some stats? No we love stats and I did not plan on going over this. We love stats and I did not plan on going over this, but so last night this is just last night 87 arrests, uh-huh. Excuse me, 91 misdemeanor citations. We had out of those arrests about 15 felonies, a lot of drugs seized, some guns and that was an accumulative of the Galveston County Sheriff's.

Speaker 2

Office D time and that they don't tear other people's property up. Just come, have a good time and go back to the house.

Speaker 3

Well, if Texas City only had two. They'd need to try harder. Yeah Well, they only sent down one officer. I think League City sent one down, one from Paraland. It's people from all over that came down to help with this event. Because I'll tell you something, morris, this is a very, very violent and unfortunate event, basically what it's turned to, right, but last night was a ghost town, so I guess whatever we're doing, it's working.

Speaker 1

Well, I have to tell you that when they first started the event, of course we were sponsored by Jeep. At the time, we went down there for the very first one. It was great. We had a great time. It's a little chaotic because it wasn't as organized as a big event like that would be Well, because it's not an official event, but it wasn't that big of a deal and I think we broadcast from a bar down there, if I'm not mistaken yeah, Tiki Bar.

Speaker 1

The Tiki Bar and it was great. We had a good time and did our thing. Then we got invited back the second year and it kind of went south for us. They put us on some stage in the middle of some parking lot and there was supposed to be crowds of people and no, they were interested in parking. They weren't interested in anything that we had to say and it kind of started going downhill. I told Mars, I said you know I'm getting some really bad vibes about this. Let's not do this next year. And we did not. And it was the next year that there was gunfire and everything else. Thank God we didn't go. They were sacrificing radio hosts.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, Dude, it's just not and I will tell you it gives Jeep a bad name. It does, Because we know Jeep people. They are not like that.

Speaker 3

I 100% agree with you. Well, not only that, I will say this Don you know, the majority of the people that we dealt with yesterday were not in Jeeps.

Speaker 1

Okay yeah. You know what?

Speaker 2

I mean, oh yeah, I do. The instigators.

Speaker 1

Yeah, the big jacked-up trucks with the wheels outside the fenders. No, I know exactly what you're talking about. Were you there? Yeah?

Speaker 1

Been there, done that, I know exactly the crowd that you're talking about. It's some of the same people that go to an event that we used to be involved in and we're no longer involved in it because of the mayhem. And it seems like every time we just kind of get the vibe. Then the following year it goes south and the police get involved. It's a big ugly mess. We don't want to have anything to do with that. I mean, we're car guys. We follow the law for the most part.

Speaker 1

I mean, you know every once in a while if there's a wide, open highway with no intersecting anything. Yeah, I'll go over the speed limit, I'll admit that. But I mean, I think that most of us do, but we do it in a safe way. We're not drunk, we're not doing drugs. Most of us do, but we do it in a safe way. We're not drunk, we're not doing drugs, we're not doing any of that sort of stuff. We're enjoying our cars and it's a real shame that there's a few that go in and try to. I don't think that they go there to ruin it. They bring their level of entertainment to an event and ruin it for everybody.

Speaker 2

Theirs is different than the rest, yeah.

Speaker 3

Well, I'll tell you, summertime is coming up. This is a period here in a few weeks, where our driver's license offices I mean they started getting booked up because kiddos are starting to get into the realm of becoming new drivers.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 3

So I just want folks to be mindful of this. Typically, a lot of folks are turned around because they don't have the proper information, meaning a secondary identification, the proof of residency, an address or a bill. Just make sure you have all of those items. All of that's listed on the website and if you find yourself in a situation to where your kiddo or you find yourself in a situation to where it's kind of difficult to get a driver's license transaction, I mean I'm not only a friend of the show but I consider myself family.

Speaker 3

Give me a call 832-266-8239. 832-266-8239. And I'll make sure your driver's license transaction goes smoothly. Fellas, what do you think about the new license plate that's getting ready to come out in July?

Speaker 1

You're talking about the paper plate or the tip tag yeah. Yeah Well, I haven't seen anything. Does it look different than a regular plate?

Speaker 3

Yes, actually, I will have a sample for you next time I come on.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 3

Actually I have two plates for you. I'll have a sample of that and I want to give you guys. I have a custom plate being made for you guys to put on the wall, but it'll be a DPS plate plate and it'll say in real time so next time you guys have me on. That's got to be an in-studio deal.

Speaker 1

Okay, yeah, we can't wait for all that. Let me ask you something when did you get your driver's license? You know, one of those restricted ones where you got to have, you know, a parent in the front seat with you.

Speaker 3

How old were you when you got that? I'll be honest with you, Mr Don. When I turned of age, before I went off to the military, I never went to a driving school, I always drove I'm going to be honest with you my grandmother when Dad would drop us off to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Texas City.

Speaker 1

They'd let you drive.

Speaker 3

Yes, I was 14. She would tell me to go buy her cigarettes and the guy would sell them to me.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and the Galaxy. Was it the Galaxy?

Speaker 3

I didn't go through a driving school. Daddy took me up there and I passed the driver's test as soon as I turned 18.

Speaker 1

Grandma's car. Was it a Galaxy 500 or something?

Speaker 3

No, it was some old Regal.

Speaker 2

Hey, hey, hey.

Speaker 3

Don't be dissing Regals. It was a top notch.

Speaker 2

See, there you go.

Speaker 3

I remember it was an old Regal, but at any rate she wanted her smokes. And guess what?

Speaker 1

You got them 25 cents a pack. Here you go, honey. Go up there and give me a pack of Tarritons New ports.

Speaker 2

I've got her Cools. I got a request. When you come in, I need my own official dps ticket book. I want to start issuing. Yeah, I could do. I could make you a lot of money. I see stuff all the time.

Speaker 3

I don't know if we didn't give you a ticket yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1

Well, it's good, okay. So here's the story I was 15 and I had my restricted okay, okay. And so I had my restricted license and I was just about to turn 16, right, and it's time for me to go get my driver's license. And there used to be a driver's license office. This is way back before you were even born in Bel Air. I went over there, as I was all nerved up, you know, went in there and took the test, passed it with flying colors, I got my driver's license and I think somewhere in all the junk that I've saved from my childhood, I have that driver's license somewhere he does, yeah, but yeah.

Speaker 1

But you know I took driver's ed in junior high school. Albert Sidney Johnston Junior High School. I took driver's ed. Yeah, thank you very much. Wow, yeah, can. I took driver's ed yeah thank you very much.

Speaker 3

Wow, yeah, can you find that driver's license so we can see that antique artifact?

Speaker 2

Well no, it's actually in a chariot.

Speaker 1

A chariot. You know what man how do you deal with those guys. I love these guys. We have a good time. We used to call them Spartacus, spartacus. So yeah, so I wanted to say this about, just to add on to the thing with the kids. I've already seen them. They're out there. Give them lots of room. Be patient. No horn honking or shooting the finger or none of that stuff. You were there once. Just remember that.

Speaker 3

Yeah, you better believe it and you know, better believe it and you know, and again, you know I gotta touch on this. Um, at the end of the day, we gotta set these kids up. So what we're starting to do dps, we're going out to schools and we're showing these kiddos I know this is gonna be crazy, you guys gonna say really but we're actually showing them how to change a tire. We have a program that we've put together called Vehicle Safety and we talk about how you should inspect your vehicle every so often, make sure the turn signals are working, et cetera. But we also go into how to change a tire.

Speaker 3

You would not believe how many people that actually come to our academy, the DPS Academy, don't know how to change a tire. You would not believe how many people that actually come to our academy, the DPS Academy, don't know how to change a tire. You know that's part of the curriculum. As a trooper, you got to know how to change a tire, because when you turn that driver's license on the back and dial 1-800-525-5555, guess what? It goes to DPS and if we come out there and you need a tire change, we'll help you do it.

Beach Weekend Enforcement Stats

Speaker 3

So, you know, it's just a broader spectrum than just driving Just simple stuff of changing a tire, checking your oil et cetera. That stuff's important.

Speaker 1

Well, you know, as a dad, I have two girls and I will tell you that as soon as they reached age enough where they could understand things like that, I taught them how to do it and made them do it in front of me so I could kind of guide them. So when they got their driver's license, they were set to go. Did they ever change a tire? No, who did they call? Dad, daddy, daddy, absolutely, absolutely, and I remember it all very well.

Speaker 2

I'm sorry, wait a minute, but you taught them how to do it well enough that they knew not to do it. They called dad.

Speaker 1

That's right. That's exactly right. Triple A, steve, it's always great to talk to you. Any closing words?

Speaker 3

I will tell you, if folks don't mind, please make sure you lock your vehicles up. Unfortunately, mind, please make sure you lock your vehicles up. Unfortunately, within our region, and I'll say Houston and abroad, vehicle theft is going up. So if you have to put an extra system on your my son just got that Dodge XRT or whatever and we put a kill switch on it. I mean, whatever you need to do to protect your valuable asset, please do it. Also, let's not forget that this month is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. San Antonio, dallas and Houston always lead the state of Texas in motorcycle fatalities, with Houston being number one. So please share the road, watch out for those guys and gals. And again, if we do that, we'll make a safer Texas.

Speaker 1

We love you Steve.

Speaker 2

Take care.

Speaker 3

We love you too.

Speaker 2

Thank you so much Be safe down there and if you run, into. Mike, If you see me wave.

Speaker 3

I will, I will. Which color light do you want?

Speaker 2

The blue what do?

Speaker 3

you want.

Speaker 2

The blue works well up against the white truck.

Speaker 1

Well, we just call them the wee-woo lights and just put them all on, because he can't see that good anymore. Anyway, god bless Steve. Take care, brother, be safe.

Speaker 3

Thank you, my friend, thank you.

Speaker 1

Just ahead Jeff's Car Culture and a review of the 2024 Ford Mustang GT. In Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues after this. The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla your destination for Texas' best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Loopy Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston. Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location. Start your Loopy experience with queso flammeado and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita. Dine on famous Loopy beef and chicken fajitas, or pepper shrimp brochette, or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert. Find Loopy Tortilla in Houston, college Station, beaumont, austin, san Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-tested, the ingredients always fresh. Loopy Tortilla it's pretty good.

Speaker 1

The In Real Time Car Talk Show thanks you for 14 wonderful years. Yep, our first show aired May 7, 2011 on a local radio station. Then it was a move to the digital world and social media and you followed, thank you. We continue to build and grow our fan base, and it's all because of you and your auto enthusiast friends. We appreciate your support. It's always great to see you at our remote broadcasts and we hope you'll continue to stop by and say hello.

New Driver Safety and Summer Advice

Speaker 1

It's been a to see you at our remote broadcasts and we hope you'll continue to stop by and say hello. It's been a great ride and we hope to bring you more fun and adventure right here on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Hey, I want to remind you, the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show hits the road again. Our next stop is in Granbury, texas, for the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run. Join our live broadcast on June 14th from 9 to noon. Thanks for being with us today. We appreciate you. And time now for Jeff's Car Culture. Here we go Classic cars that didn't live up to expectations. I bet you there's a ton of those.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Well, what doesn't and doesn't qualify as a failed ugly muscle car should be pretty straightforward. Do they lack engine power or they look like they've just been replaced? It's enough to sway opinions negatively on its own. Do they shove gas zipper engines into what should be a sports car? More to the point, does it take a classic muscle car nameplate and turn it into something as a bad economy car? Well, we're about to find out. So here's one Fifth generation Dodge Charger with only 84 horsepower. What, yeah? That's why I paused.

Speaker 2

Offered by the time of the early 80s, dodge at least attempted to lend some sporting credentials to this generation charger With an optional turbocharger for its engine. Shelby even put a unique performance touch on a handful during his brief exodus from Ford. Still, this was nothing more like the chargers that we know and love, and its reputation just went downhill. Next one we have is a Ford Mustang II King Cobra. In fairness, people really do like the look of this and they're fond of it for this generation of Mustang. Never mind the newly minted emissions restrictions that laid waste to the engine power, the Mustang II King Cobra did at least look the part to the engine power. The Mustang II King Cobra did at least look the part. Still, 139 horsepower from a 302 cubic inch V8 was underwhelming in the mid-late to mid-late 70s. Add the blob-like styling and the Mustang II King Cobra cemented its status as a pariah, one that'll never be held in the same regard as before.

Speaker 2

Let me ask is that a bird on the hood? That is a bird. What do they call it? A screaming chicken from Pontiac.

Speaker 1

No, but they stole it from Pontiac.

Speaker 2

No, that looks really more like the screaming chicken, not a thunderbird.

Speaker 1

Whatever, maybe it's a dragonfly or something. I think that's a snake right there at the front.

Speaker 3

Oh, it's a king cobra, there you go, yeah. Yeah, there's a snake, mike got it. Ding, ding ding.

Speaker 2

Well, the next one we got is. Snake with wings. Sixth generation Olds 442. Many of the much beloved second generation Olds 442s left the factory with a mighty 455. I had a 455 in my 71. What's that? One got 4.5? No, it was little left for the original Flair.

Speaker 3

It was kind of laughable.

Speaker 2

There's no DNA shared with the older cars in this visual department whatsoever. It's just a mid-'80s Cutlass Calais with a 2.3-liter Quad 4 output of 180 horsepower. But that depends on whether you have the W40 or the W41 designation.

Speaker 2

At least that's the number GM claimed back in the day. The next one Don will love this one is a C-3 Corvette after 1973. That's important to know. I had one. Take this with a grain of salt, don, because vets from the C-3 era are starkly divided between pre-'73 gas crisis models and the ones built afterwards. I had the one afterwards. It goes along with my personality doesn't it.

Speaker 2

Big V8s that once cranked 350 horses or more, suddenly found themselves making a fraction of that, making a fraction of that, the most, I should say the worst of the worst was the 1980 California spec Corvette with a 305 V8, 180 horses. That's what mine had.

Speaker 3

Yep, that's all you got from that motor.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it was a disgrace. So two were the looks altered by years and years of design Body lines became softer, curb weights rose and the C3 Corvette became a large, less aggressive-looking vehicle. And the last one I have on my list is a ninth-generation Chevrolet Impala SS. Credit to it. The ninth-generation Impala SS supported a 5.3-liter.

Speaker 1

LSV8. No pipsqueak of an engine.

Speaker 2

On that alone, any coupe or sedan could have the foundations of a great muscle car, but the Impala SS simply fell flat in that regard. Trim-specific alloy wheels and a small spoiler that you could just easily find on a Honda and some SS badging well, which wasn't that great. But there's a difference in the Impala SS from one of its lower, less powerful trims. It's just a normal-looking mid-size-ish sedan by most expectations. Did we mention that it's front-wheel drive? I don't think we did, but that's part of it as well as an affront to historic nameplate that people know and love. The Impala is by far the worst offender of the disrespecting of its ancestors. Two thoughts here. Did you see?

Speaker 1

Cletus McFarlane's post this week. No, I didn't.

Speaker 2

I don't follow him.

Speaker 1

Where he had an Altima race. There must have been 75 Altimas at his racetrack down in Florida, all racing at the same time on the same track. It was absolutely hysterical. All front-wheel drive cars. They were doing donuts with front-wheel drive cars out there in the middle of the field. It was absolutely hysterical. And the other thought going back to this whole stuff with the SS badging, it's kind of like having a Cadillac and putting the V emblem that you bought from the Cadillac store into a regular Cadillac.

Speaker 2

Yeah, or an SRX, that'd be great, or get one that's like three sizes too big to make sure it really stands out.

Classic Cars That Failed Expectations

Speaker 2

Stands out. Yeah, no, you have to be proportionate. If you're going to do it, if you're going to try to fool people and be a clone, be proportionate. Mine was an actual, honest dealing, even though it wasn't. It was. That's all I'm going to say. So why don't you tell that story?

Speaker 2

When I was on the road for American Tire, I'd drive to San Antonio, I'd drive to Dallas and the local Corpus Christi's and stuff. Anything beyond that, I would fly. So I'm a Cadillac guy. I had a lot of Cadillac friends and dealerships and things and I used to get my car washed quite often, sometimes twice a day. Hey, you know what do you charge for? Car wash? Well, that'll be your keys. We'll have it done by the time our meeting's done. So you have an hour and a half meeting, your car's all spick and span. It didn't cost you nothing. It didn't cost me nothing.

Speaker 2

So there's one time I took it in and they said we got a little issue. The 3.6 emblem, the 3, cracked off because it was a brush machine that they were washing a new one on. We don't have one. It's going to be several weeks. We've got to get it from Detroit. They've got a guy with a smelting factory in Europe or wherever he's got to make one. So I said, all right, what do you got? Well, we've got a V, put it on. So they did.

Speaker 1

There's the story of the V6. Yeah, there you go, v6.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Michael. He just verified my whole conversation. Yeah, and it stayed on it to the day I traded it in. In fact, I think I got more money because they thought it was a V.

Speaker 1

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Disappointing Muscle Cars Continued

Speaker 1

The award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show now reaches 5.3 million folks each year. Check us out on inwheeltimecom, the Odyssey Radio app, youtube, facebook and just about every other entertainment source out there, including our live broadcast every Saturday 10 to noon Central Time. The In Wheel Time Car Talk Show has informative automotive guest interviews, new car reviews, along with popular features including Jeff's Car Culture, the latest new cars, cruise ins and racing dates. It's inwheeltimecom. Join us. That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show. I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify, stitcher, iheart Podcast, podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music. Keep listening and we'll see you soon.

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Don Armstrong

Host
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Jeff Dziekan

Co-host
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Michael Marrs

Co-host