Yellow Dreams: A Lifetime of Automotive Passion

What happens when you love a car so much you keep it for half a century? Steve Larsen knows. As our special guest this week, he shares the incredible journey chronicled in his book "My Heart Has Been In It From the Start," featuring what he calls his "Yellow Trilogy" - three iconic yellow vehicles that paralleled major chapters in his life.

Steve's story begins with a 1969 Lotus Elan he purchased at 21 and kept for 50 years. The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Steve reveals how life's compartments rarely intersect - his motorcycle journalism readers know nothing of his business career, while his business associates have no clue about his three open-heart surgeries. This reflection strikes a chord with all of us on the show, recognizing how our automotive passions often exist in their own separate universes from other parts of our identities.

The episode shifts gears with Don's detailed review of the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor. From its impressive 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost engine pumping out 405 horsepower to its Fox shocks providing exceptional off-road capability, Don examines what makes this midsize truck special. With a starting price of $57,065 for the Raptor trim and $32,670 for the base model, it competes directly with the Toyota Tacoma TRD, Jeep Gladiator, and Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison.

Jeff lightens the mood with his Motor Minute segment, reporting on the inaugural "Wiener 500" race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where all six regional Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles competed in a two-lap spectacle, reaching speeds of up to 65 mph. Between the puns and laughter, there's a genuine appreciation for automotive culture in all its forms.

Whether you're fascinated by life-long car relationships, considering a new midsize truck, or just enjoy our automotive adventures, this episode connects the vehicles we drive to the people we become. Check out our website at inwheeltime.com and join us for our upcoming remote broadcast at the Lone Star Street Rod Association's 50th anniversary celebration in Granbury, Texas!

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Transcript

Welcome to In Wheel Time

Don Armstrong 0:00

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast. You've got the award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show just ahead. The writer with a book out called the Yellow Trilogy All right, we'll explain 50-year love story with automotive excellence. Also, I'll give you my thoughts on driving the 2025 Ford Ranger Raptor. And Jeff has the Motor Minute. Oh yeah, in this segment of the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show, howdy and a good Memorial Day weekend to you, along with Mike out of this world, mars. We always need more. Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong. David Ainsley has the morning off. He's sunning by the beach with somebody. I'm sure that's.

Speaker 2 0:43

David Ainsley, how are you?

Don Armstrong 0:46

boys doing Are we ready for the big weekend? Yeah, let's go down to Crystal Beach and see if it's open or closed.

Speaker 2 0:52

Well, I think it's supposed to be open and, based on what happened last week, there won't be a lot of people there.

Don Armstrong 0:57

Yeah, what happened last week, mike?

Speaker 2 1:00

Oh, it was the big go-topless weekend that's been going on for years and somehow or another Crystal Beach over the last few years has kind of gotten out of hand.

Speaker 3 1:09

Well, when he says Go Topless, that means drop the top on the Jeep On the Jeep. Yeah, that's the official name of it. Clear that up.

Speaker 2 1:16

Started out Jeep clubs and everything. But it's a worldwide thing, on the same day, same weekend.

Don Armstrong 1:21

But Crystal Beach, they just need to go find some other place in the world to have their party, as opposed to Crystal. You know, back in my day we pretty much behaved ourselves. I mean, we didn't do anything crazy. I never knew anybody that got arrested and stuff like that my mother would have whipped butt. There's no way.

Speaker 2 1:40

No, no, there's no way. I mean it started out, you know, and I'm not going to say there's no Jeeps there, but the Jeep clubs that we used to talk to all the time they've moved someplace else because it got so crazy.

Speaker 3 1:50

Yeah, because it's not a club event. It was just created and invented to have everybody go there and party.

Don Armstrong 1:56

And have a good time safely. Yeah, oh, no. But it turned into murders and drugs and all sorts of yeah, Murders and drugs and all sorts of yeah, Bikes and big trucks and side-by-sides.

Speaker 2 2:04

Anyway, the new sheriff came to town and said I'm going to clean this up for y'all. And he did, and he did. And how did he do it? He brought in. There was over 400 police officers on a 17-mile stretch of the peninsula and they had traffic stops for driver's license checks, which is where I think they made most of their arrests. They found drugs warrants, whatever, whatever, and they gave signs traffic stop ahead, license check ahead, and silly people still went through there and got arrested, Got arrested. It's like that's the kind of mentality they were trying to get away from and get out of there.

Don Armstrong 2:39

Well, good, I'm glad that the new sheriff in town has done clean that up. Well, he has, I think there was a new sheriff in town in Blazing Saddles too.

Speaker 2 2:47

Yes, there was.

Speaker 4 2:48

That's another story for another day, wasn't that?

Don Armstrong 2:50

Bart, something All right. Well, let's get on with it. The guy's name is Steve Larson, he's a gearhead, he's a car freak and he's also an author, entrepreneur and interesting do-a-lot-of-stuff guy. There you go. I wrote a book called the Yellow Trilogy A 50-Year Love Story with Automotive Excellence. And good morning to you, steve. Steve Frozen.

Speaker 2 3:14

Yeah, Steve, Frozen Steve you're frozen.

Don Armstrong 3:16

We don't know why. Why did he do that? I don't know. But we'll let Mars fiddle with that Big yeah. At any rate, I have a lot of news stories that I want to get to and I could do one now that may spark some interest while we're waiting for Mr Morris to reestablish contact with Steve Larson and that's not the one that I wanted Nope, that's not it. Here we go. There it is. Use that one.

Don Armstrong 3:47

You interested in tax deductions? Sure, unlike some other tax deductions on the books, most people will be able to claim HR 1's auto loan tax break, should it pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Trump, who has championed the broader bill and said he supports such an auto interest policy. Specifically, the auto loan interest deduction in the bill is structured as an above-the-line deduction to gross income. Such adjustments are made earlier in the tax calculation process than the point where the taxpayer would choose between taking the standard deduction or itemizing a series of specific qualified deductions. Limiting a tax deduction on an auto loan interest to itemized returns, as the deduction used to be handled before the Tax Reform Act of 86 eliminated that tax break altogether, could have significantly curtailed the number of Americans able to take advantage of it. Now, with this, I believe that the price is like 10 grand right off the top. Wow.

Speaker 2 4:50

So there's that All right, pardon me, sorry, I thought you were through my bad. Go ahead, I'm done. I was going to say Steve's back as soon as I can get him unmuted. He just suddenly went to mute there, he is All right.

Don Armstrong 5:02

Steve. Hi, you got some sort of a tin cup and string going on down there.

Speaker 4 5:09

I must be. I don't know what happened. All of a sudden, you guys just disappeared.

Don Armstrong 5:13

It's like where are you speaking to?

Speaker 2 5:16

us from.

Speaker 4 5:17

I'm in Phoenix Arizona.

Speaker 2 5:18

That's what it is there it is, it's the heat.

Speaker 4 5:20

It's the sun it's the heat it's, the sun, it's hot 105 today, guys.

Don Armstrong 5:26

Well, I've already done the introduction and then you weren't there, so screw the introduction. I'm really sorry about that. No, that's perfectly okay.

Speaker 4 5:33

I love your show, mr Don, jeff and Michael, thank you. I've been listening to it for a few hours this week and what a ball.

Steve Larson's Yellow Trilogy

Don Armstrong 5:41

Well, we try to have a good time with this. We're a bunch of car geeks and we put together this little show 11 years ago.

Speaker 3 5:49

Sometimes we go off the road.

Don Armstrong 5:51

Yeah, there's a lot of off-roading on this show A lot of off-roading. And I'm not talking about cars and trucks no, no, no, no so. Steve's written the book the Yellow Trilogy, a 50-year love story with automotive Excellence. So you're a car geek like us.

Speaker 4 6:03

Yeah Well, I've been lucky enough to own three really iconic cars a 1969 Lotus Elan, which I bought when I was 21 years old, and I kept it for 50 years.

Don Armstrong 6:18

Damn. What did you do when you were 18 to 21? You just saved every nickel and dime that you had.

Speaker 4 6:26

Well, pretty much I kept, uh, I had, uh, some, uh, what we would call disposable cars in that time period. Um, like we all go through that are that cost us between three and four hundred dollars. Yes, and finally got this lotus and I just it was so much different than any other car that I'd ever driven.

Don Armstrong 6:44

What made it different?

Speaker 4 6:46

Well, the handling mostly, it just was. It was just so precise and so quick, it was so light. You know, colin Chapman, who designed the car, said horsepower helps you in the straight and makes you fast in the straight, but light weight makes you fast in the straight but lightweight makes you fast everywhere. And that sort of philosophy of lightweight and good handling went to the Acura which I bought when I had a little bit more money and I owned the Acura for 12 years and then in 2014, when I thought I was going to die and I got a pretty bad health diagnosis, I decided I didn't want to die trip for a supercar which I ended up buying in Dallas, texas, and driving home which I don't recommend as your first drive in a supercar, but I drove it across Texas to Phoenix and I've had that car. Now, at 2014, mclaren owned a little over 10 years.

Don Armstrong 8:06

Nice, so it was relatively new when you bought it.

Speaker 4 8:10

Yeah, it was new, it was a dealer demo. It had about 2,500 miles.

Don Armstrong 8:15

I didn't even know you could get a demo from a McLaren dealership Don't take a loaner. Obviously you found it.

Speaker 4 8:23

Yeah, I found it. Yeah, I found it. They had a little anomaly in the market that allowed you to get about a third off on a supercar, which normally you pay above list or whatever. But yeah, so anyway. Hey, I have to tell you before we go any further. I was listening to. You had Sergeant Steve Woodward on your show. I love this guy and I got to tell you if I had lived in your neighborhood no doubt he would have given me a good number of Velocity Awards. I'm not particularly proud of that, but I have had more than my share of interactions with people who think I'm driving too fast.

Don Armstrong 9:05

What a great term to use for speeding tickets.

Speaker 2 9:08

Yeah, we have to use that.

Don Armstrong 9:09

Velocity Awards. I think that they should rename it.

Speaker 3 9:13

They should, and I'm sure the sergeant's listening when he can.

Don Armstrong 9:18

Steve's a great guy, a good friend of ours.

Speaker 3 9:21

Well-loved.

Don Armstrong 9:22

Yeah, well-loved, we love the guy and he's part of our family. So, anyway, we have him on two, three times a year.

Speaker 2 9:28

So I want to know he was go ahead.

Don Armstrong 9:31

Go ahead what you were gonna ask. I was gonna ask you about the book, okay and uh, so you wrote a book about your yellow trilogy and, uh, I assume that there's chapters for each of the cars that you mentioned.

Speaker 4 9:44

Well, actually not quite right. I sent you guys the chapter on the Yellow Trilogy. The book is actually if I don't know if you can see that the book title is my Heart has Been In it From the Start and it has a car section in it which is a good substance of the group, because I started driving on my dad's lap when I was eight years old on going to the dump and there hasn't been a. You know, I got my driver's license about four hours after I turned 16 years old. There hasn't been a day in my life when I haven't noticed interesting cars and appreciating anything automotive. I spend at least once a week with Mel Martin, who has an auto museum here in Phoenix, and cars have just been a part of my life since I was a kid.

Don Armstrong 10:38

Have you always lived in Phoenix?

Speaker 4 10:40

No, I've lived all around the country. I've lived in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis and then Phoenix, Gotcha.

Don Armstrong 10:49

That's a wide variety. So this is just a chapter in the book. What the hell is the rest of the book about you?

Speaker 4 10:58

Yeah, it's sort of an autobiography.

Speaker 4 11:03

When you get to be in your 70s and you look back at your life and you realize that you want to leave your kids a message and they don't have time to hear you, you decide I better write it all down.

Speaker 4 11:14

And then, as I started writing the book last year, it occurred to me that there were different constituencies, different people in my life. I had my motorcycle buddies, because I wrote for motorcycle magazines for over 25 years. So I have all these people that think of me as Steve Larson, that motorcycle journalist. And then there's my business people who think of me as that guy who used to work for big companies and then he started these tech companies, but they don't know anything about the motorcycle people. And those two guys don't know anything about my car life. And then I'm also the guy that has had three open-heart surgeries, which has given me sort of a little bit of a medical story as well. You add it all up and I have all these different constituents, groups that have no idea that I reside in these others. And it dawned on me I'm not the only one like this that's correct.

Don Armstrong 12:09

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 4 12:10

Yeah, I think if you Don and Jeff and Michael, I think the three of you guys there are people in your life that have no idea that you do this car show. That's correct yeah, and so that's where it comes from.

Speaker 3 12:23

Don't tell anybody, yeah, we don't want anybody to know, but I will tell you this.

Don Armstrong 12:30

You know, jeff has open heart surgery as well and that's how Jeff and I kind of buddied up. He was a guest on this show. He was our tire expert. He would come on a few times and then I learned that he'd had a heart attack and went and had his open heart surgery. And I was truly concerned about him because he also worked for car manufacturers in Detroit, where he is originally from. So we have that northern connection going. I moved from Wisconsin when I was 11 years old down here to Houston, mars. I don't know anything about Mars. I think that he is from the planet Mars, but whatever the case may be, I'm here. That's all I can tell you.

Don Armstrong 13:09

But you're spot on and nobody really ever talks about that. But there are also segments of your life not necessarily related to any of the things that you spoke about. You know your journalism degree or your writing books and writing magazines, and then your car stuff and your motorcycle stuff and your heart attack. Nobody knows about a person's life unless you write it down.

Speaker 3 13:32

But also in that individual. You've got these different silos that you talked about. How did you get to that silo? What made you motivated to do what you did? For that particular reason? That's the story.

Speaker 4 13:46

Yeah, and I think that's personality right For people like us, and I'll put all three of you in it. We're not one subject kind of people. We have these interests that it's cars one day and then all of a sudden it's posted stamps the next day.

Speaker 3 14:05

Yeah, exactly yeah.

Speaker 4 14:06

Yeah, yeah, there's a psychologist. Have a name for it. I think it's called multiple personality disorders. Yeah, yeah Well psychologists have a name for everything.

Don Armstrong 14:18

Yeah, yeah, I have a daughter that, uh, I think that she names things like that she's in the psychology business. Um, I I find it rather interesting that the conversation has gone to this, because, you know, we really don't know about each other right as people for the most part. If you're married for any length of time, you got a pretty good idea about your partner that you're married to, but you still don't really know them because you haven't lived their lives, you haven't had the experience that they've had. And it's very interesting.

Don Armstrong 14:51

I have some very close friends of mine that I'm still in touch with Bill and Sharon Seitz that I met when I got my first Corvette in 1977. And that's when I met them. We are still friends today. I in 1977. And that's when I met them. We are still friends today. I see them occasionally at a place called the Hemi Hideout there's something for you to look up, thehemihideoutcom and Bill and Sharon are dear, dear friends of mine. These are the people that you would call if you had anything going on in your life that you needed support. It's non-judgmental, which is hard to find these days, and, uh, somebody that you know is there that got your back. That'd be bill and sharon. I know I could go to them for anything not that I ever have, but it's.

Life's Different Chapters

Speaker 4 15:32

It's interesting because you you probably have somebody like that in your life too yes, a number of people like that, and you bring up a good point of the book of how these things happen and the family section of the book. I had a son that passed away when he was two years old God I'm sorry. And then, when she was 39, a woman reached out to me from my past who said she was my daughter. And it turns out she was right and I had never known she even existed. Her mother had passed away when she was a little girl and never told anybody who the father was, and through DNA testing she found my name and then eventually located me. And so all of a sudden, on the one end of my life I have a lost child and on the other end, I have a found child that, by the way, came with a bonus, with two grandchildren and a halfway decent son-in-law.

Don Armstrong 16:42

That's beautiful.

Speaker 3 16:44

I want to know, but is he a car guy?

Don Armstrong 16:47

Mr Mars puts together a cheat sheet for me, but I don't see the name of the book on there. Again, tell me again.

Speaker 4 16:52

My heart has been in it from the start. Okay, and it's available. Amazon, barnes, noble independent booksellers online. You can go to SteveLarsonnet. If you spell Larson with an E-N that's the Danish spelling. You'd find more about me than you'd ever want to know.

Don Armstrong 17:15

So, in other words, you at one point had blonde hair and you had hair and and yeah there was all that.

Don Armstrong 17:23

Yeah, listen, steve it, it is. Uh, it is a true pleasure and an honor, uh to talk to you. What a great interview. This has been a surprise interview. You know we we have lots of interviews, lots of authors, but this one has taken a turn that, I think, is connects with most of our listeners and, uh, certainly with me, and it's a pleasure to have you on today and we look forward to hearing from you again. Hey, let's just chat about stuff that's going on.

Speaker 2 17:48

Yeah, I was just thinking. I've got your email. Now we may reach out to find some more things that we can talk about. It's really, really enjoyable talking to you. We could do a remote from your house. Thank you very much, mr Don, and the rest of you guys, thank you very much, mr Don and the rest of you guys.

Speaker 4 18:02

I've had a ball listening to your show in preparation from this. It's now on my favorites list and I'll be sticking in as a regular listener. We appreciate it. God bless you. Appreciate it.

Don Armstrong 18:12

Thank you, steve take care of yourself. Thank you, sir. Bye-bye, steve Larson. Have fun, I know Very much. So Just ahead, a review of the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeff's Motor Minute, you bet?

Don Armstrong 18:26

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2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Review

Don Armstrong 19:29

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.

Don Armstrong 19:55

It's been a 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, our last stop on the In Wheel Time Spring Tour, as we call it, happens June the 12th in Granbury, texas, at the Lone Star Street Rod Association's state run. It's their 50th anniversary. It's going to be a great celebration in Granbury, texas. If you get the chance, it may be worth the drive up there. Oh, it is Not only to experience the car show but also to experience Granbury, and we're going to have the president of Lone Star Street Rod coming up at the top of the next hour.

Speaker 3 20:28

I've said it before, I'll say it again it's the journey, not just the destination. It's the journey, Getting up there and coming back. That's part of it all too.

Don Armstrong 20:35

You're exactly right. It is All right Time now for the Motor Minute, Jeffrey.

Speaker 3 20:39

Hey, guess what Indies this weekend Love Indy, love Open Wheel. And do you know? There was a race yesterday after Carburation Day. Yesterday was Carb Day. No, yes, it waser. Wienermobiles compete in the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Start your engines in honor of the season. Oscar Mayer is throwing their hat into the game on Carb Day, which they did yesterday. The famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles will compete in a race. There's six of them from across the country. This happened yesterday. This happened yesterday. We already know the winners and people have been posting.

Don Armstrong 21:09

That would be the Wieners, the Wieners, the Wieners. We know the Wieners, the.

Speaker 3 21:11

Wiener 500 will mark the first meetup of all six Wienermobiles in a decade, officials said. According to the IMS, each Wienermobile will represent a different region of dog Mike, including the Chili Dog for the Midwest, new York Dog for the East, slaw Dog for the Southeast, sonoran Dog for the Southwest, chili Dog South and Seattle Dog for the Northwest. Dog for the Southwest, chili Dog South and Seattle Dog for the Northwest. Now each driver will have a custom hot dogger racing suit and the winner will be presented with a trophy and a hot dog in the wiener circle. The Indy 500 marks the unofficial kickoff of summer and start hot dog season. Kelsey Rice, the brand communications director at Oscar Mayer, said that the Oscar Mayer brand is sparking smiles. It's disarmingly delightful ways. It's fitting that the race in epic proportions to the Speedway celebrated timeless tradition. Now, it was a two-lap race, there were six of them, and the Wieners have been around since 1936 as a promotional vehicle for Oscar.

Speaker 2 22:10

Mayer.

Speaker 3 22:12

Now the folks that run their names are Oney and Wolf jumped into the lead when the green flag flew the historic yard of bricks. The six Wienermobiles slowly picked up speed until they reached about 65 miles an hour. That's their top speed, and they were right in each other's grills. I like that one, so check it out. In each other's buns In each other's buns In each other's buns, each other's tails.

Speaker 2 22:34

It was a wiener take all.

Speaker 3 22:36

None of them could catch up. They had a half a bun lead and someone pulled their wiener into the lead.

Don Armstrong 22:42

Yes, they did At the last minute Slaw dog won it. Slaw dog yeah, really yeah. Slaw dog won it. Slipped right in, right in there and you know instead of the champagne at the end of a race.

Speaker 3 22:52

they were doing mustard Mustard shots.

Speaker 2 22:54

Yeah.

Speaker 3 22:55

Mustard all over his grave. I love mustard. I want you to know.

Don Armstrong 22:57

several years ago I went to visit Katie in Denver and it just so happened that particular week that I was there. They had the Colorado State Fair there in Denver. What was the first thing we saw when we entered the fair? Oscar Mayer the Wienermobile. It was there. We sat and we talked with the kids that ran it, because that's what it is college kids that drive it and run it in the whole nine yards.

Speaker 2 23:21

They don't have a life.

Speaker 3 23:22

No, it's a one-year opportunity for them.

Speaker 2 23:24

I would take it if I could get it.

Don Armstrong 23:26

Yeah, exactly, I mean they don't make a ton PR thing, especially if you're into journalism and you're into marketing, pay my expenses. So they said would you like to see the inside? Yes, oh yeah, baby. So we got an interior shot and right on the middle of the wiener, down on the floor, the linoleum is a mustard squirt, all the way through it in linoleum.

Don Armstrong 23:49

It is so cool, the dashboard. It's got the hot dog. If you ever get a chance to see it, stop and see it. I saw it also again at the Corvette Invasion, in wherever that was.

The Wiener 500 Race

Speaker 3 24:01

Well, don't forget the regional, so that the Wienermobile that you saw was for that region and the one in the southwest is for their region, and they don't cross unless there's an event like this.

Speaker 2 24:10

Yeah, you never want to cross your Wieners.

Speaker 3 24:11

This is the first inaugural, first annual, first inaugural, you would. What did you say?

Don Armstrong 24:16

I'd say nothing. Okay, he said you never want to cross your wieners. No, you don't want to cross your wieners. Yeah, we don't want to have that. All right time now for this hour's car review.

Don Armstrong 24:24

I had the opportunity to drive the 2024 Ford Ranger. You say, well, wait a minute, it's not a 25. Well, it's a brand new one. The Ranger has been completely redesigned for 24, and they didn't make any changes really for 25. So take that for what you will. Final assembly location Wayne, michigan, at Michigan Assembly. I've been there.

Don Armstrong 24:47

Available trim levels the XL, the XLT, the Lariat and the Raptor. I had the SuperCrew 4x4 Raptor. This is a mid-sized pickup truck. That's what we're going to call it anyway. Seats five a little tight in the back seat because it's not a full-size pickup truck. Now it's all new for 24,.

Don Armstrong 25:07

As I mentioned, it has a Raptor-specific grille and you would think that it has wider fenders like they have on the Raptor 150. It does not. It's the same. It has fender extensions on it to gobble up all of that big rubber, and I'll tell you about that in a minute. Front skid plate on it. Optional bedlock-capable wheels with 33-inch all-terrain tires, which, by the way, is a $1,500 option. There it is right there Exterior. I told you about that, what I liked about it. We like the F-150 Raptor look applied to its little brother, the Raptor Ranger. Now, what could use improvement? Not a big fan of the Raptor graphics, but that's just me. I like the more conservative look so you can get it without the graphics on it, and I think that may be one of those things where they send the graphics down to the dealer and the dealer applies them. I don't know, but I'm not a big fan of the graphics, or they stick them in the glove box and put them on.

Don Armstrong 26:06

Well, not the glove box but yes.

Don Armstrong 26:08

Why not offer a multi-purpose tailgate? That would be just a little suggestion to Ford. Make themselves a little bit more money and I like that multi-purpose tailgate. Interior highlights Eye-popping, contrasting color highlights throughout the cabin of the Raptor, which you can't get on the regular Ranger Dash well laid out, easy to find controls, awesome. Sync 4 operating system, changeable instrument display, cargo and trunk room. Well, there's not a lot of room in the back seat and you can flip the back of it up, down, whatever, and make a little bit more room, but it's just not a whole lot Back there. It is a midsize. If you want to get something bigger, get the F-150.

Don Armstrong 26:55

What I liked I liked the materials. I liked the fit and finish Awesome throughout. What could use improvement? Fuel and other essential gauges are a little bit too small on the dashboard instrument cluster. That's just for me.

Don Armstrong 27:10

3.0 liter twin turbo EcoBoost, that turns out 405 horsepower, 430 pound-feet of torque, 10-speed automatic transmission tows, 5,500 pounds. Haul rating 1,375. 16 miles per gallon, city 18, highway for combined to 17, and, believe it or not, I got 17.2 over 281.9 miles. What I liked about it? The power. What could use improvement? Hey, if you can think of something good for you, I can't Ride and handling Wheel travel makes for a softer ride.

Don Armstrong 27:44

Wheel travel is for off-roading and let me tell you something this thing doesn't ride like any kind of specific truck. Is it a softer shock? It's got Fox shocks on it. Fox shocks for one, but the wheel travel is much more than a regular Ranger Pricing. Base trim price Now we're talking about the Raptor version of this Ranger Base trim $57,065. As tested $60,050. If you want to just get into the Ranger base model price $32,670. Competitors again, these are base model prices. Toyota Tacoma TRD 33.7, right there with it. Jeep Gladiator is a little bit more expensive 37,895. And then Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison, which is brand new for this year. It's Chevy's version of an off-roader. $29,500 is where it starts. Nice, and that is my review of the 2024 Ranger.

Speaker 2 28:47

Raptor, you know you mentioned that multi-purpose, multi-use tailgate On a truck that's lifted like that one is that would be even better than on a regular truck, because not only do you have to deal with something up in there, but now you've got to deal with the height because it is raised for the off-road thing. Thank you, that would be a great add.

Show Closing & Contact Info

Don Armstrong 29:06

Yeah, hey. If you'd like to get in touch with us, you can always shoot us an email. The address here is info at inwheeltimecom. We're back after this. You own a car you love. Why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it? Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts. We promise you'll be impressed. Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like-new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano-ceramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield, gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go. Curbed your wheels. Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired? How about a professionally installed radar detector? Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too. Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshieldcom. Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior. Call them today 832-930-5655, or gcautoshieldcom.

Don Armstrong 30:17

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.