Salt Flats Speed: One Man's Bonneville Journey

Hot rods, salt flats, and the sweet sound of engines revving—welcome to a special episode of the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show, broadcast live from the 50th anniversary of the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run in Granbury, Texas.

The centerpiece of our show features Don Grouleff and his remarkable Model A hot rod, emblazoned with the racing number 731. Don's story captivates as he recounts pushing this classic Ford to a breathtaking 196 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. With a twinkle in his eye, Don shares how he once spun backward through the timing lights at nearly 190 mph—and still set a speed record. His vintage hot rod, featuring kingpin suspension and an old-school Muncie M-22 four-speed transmission, represents the perfect marriage of traditional aesthetics and high-performance engineering.

Don's journey from crop duster pilot to speed enthusiast offers a fascinating glimpse into the mindset required for both professions. After 35 years flying dangerously close to power lines and terrain, he found similar thrills and focus requirements on the salt flats of Bonneville. Now settled in Texas after leaving his California almond farm behind, Don continues to cherish this Model A that holds multiple speed records, including one that still stands at Muroc Dry Lake on Edwards Air Force Base.

We also pay tribute to Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, who recently passed away at 82. Wilson's automotive-themed classics like "409," "Little Deuce Coupe," and "Fun, Fun, Fun" helped define American car culture and provided the soundtrack to generations of hot rodders. Between interviews, we discuss concerning automotive industry news, including potential tariff increases and predictions of significant financial challenges ahead for global automakers.

Whether you're a hot rod enthusiast, speed demon, or automotive history buff, this episode delivers the authentic stories and technical insights that make American car culture so enduring. Subscribe, share, and join our community of fellow car enthusiasts every Saturday from 10am to noon central time!

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Transcript

Welcome to In Wheel Time

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast. Join us From the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run in Granbury, texas. It's the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show Coming up. We've got Don Gruliff. He's got his Model A over here.

Speaker 1 0:18

He actually spent some time on the Bonneville Salt Flats. We're going to hear the story. It's going to be good, I know. Okay, we're also going to have some of our popular features and this week's automotive news headlines Howdy, along with Mike out of this world. Mars. We always need more. Jeff Zekin, Chief Engineer David Ainsley is over here.

Speaker 2 0:37

Lean in, David Say hello Lean in, david, let's see your hand, or something. There's, there you go. Look at that hand.

Speaker 1 0:42

Yeah, it just woke up. I'm Don Armstrong, glad you could join us. Hewlett Park is where we are located in Granbury, texas, right next to the lake. 50th anniversary, 50th anniversary of the Lone Star Street Rot Association. And you know, when we were out having dinner last night we thought, you know, it seems like it's a little light and people eating out. It's not light here in the park. No, everybody and his mother's here.

Speaker 2 1:09

they all went to bed early yeah, that's what it is uh, because, uh, I don't even see any open spaces anymore they're still coming in, they're filling up, even if there's a few yeah, they're, they're finding them our first guest wasn't able to get his car out to get over here, so he's trying to finagle that and see if we can wreck her.

Speaker 1 1:27

Well, I'm not sure how they're doing it Not my job.

Speaker 2 1:29

You can't see in front of us, but there's a playground park for the kiddos and on the other side of the park they're all lining up as well. Now, last year they weren't over there, that's correct. This year they're lining up over there.

Speaker 1 1:38

I'm going to remove my car, the one that I drove up here and thank you, Kimberly Schultz, by the way, for coming through, as she always does.

Speaker 2 1:46

Yes, she does.

Speaker 1 1:47

And so we're driving an Alfa Romeo.

Speaker 3 1:50

Yeah, it starts with an S Salvatore, salvatore, salvatore.

Speaker 2 2:00

It's a Veloce. Oh, is it no?

Speaker 1 2:03

It's a model. Yeah, it's a Veloce. Oh, that's is it? No, it's a model of the.

Speaker 2 2:07

Yeah, it's a.

Speaker 1 2:08

Genovese, I don't know what it is.

Speaker 2 2:11

Go ahead, mark. It's a Stelvio, isn't it? It's a Stelvio, that's it. It's a.

Speaker 1 2:13

Stelvio Veloce.

Speaker 2 2:17

You ordered that for dinner last night.

Speaker 1 2:19

For us Texans it would be Veloce.

Speaker 2 2:21

Veloce, or if you're in East Texas, it's a green car, it's a green car, that's exactly what it is.

Speaker 1 2:29

But anyway, thank you, stellanus, thank you, kimberly Schultz. We appreciate it, it did good, and we still haven't put any gas in it. We did 300 miles all the way up here and it's still got at least a quarter of a tank.

Speaker 2 2:40

I got an Oklahoma credit card A siphon.

Speaker 1 2:45

Good for you. So our guest Don Groloff. He's the owner of this really nice Model A. Tell me the. It's great to have you here, Thanks, Thank you. Tell me about number 731. What does 731?

Speaker 3 3:00

mean, that was my number when I was racing at Bonneville.

Speaker 2 3:06

El Mirage, that was a SCTA designated number for me.

Speaker 1 3:07

Your registration number, yes, correct.

Speaker 3 3:08

What year was that? Oh, I started that in about 93, 94.

Speaker 2 3:14

Yeah, what made you do that? What possessed you to do that with this car?

Speaker 3 3:19

Well, I'd been drag racing probably 10 or 12 years prior to that and I just woke up one morning and something I'd always wanted to do thought about bonneville and I thought you know, our riders have done that forever, so I need to. If I don't do it now, I probably never will. Yeah, so I stripped the fenders off and put a cage in it and did all everything I had to do to make it legal.

Speaker 1 3:39

Wow, and apparently it worked. How fast did you get it up?

Speaker 3 3:43

to the fastest we ever ran. It wasn't a record, but 196.

Speaker 1 3:48

196 in that car. And it wasn't a record, I will assume that you've done some modifications to the suspension to do 196 miles an hour.

Speaker 3 3:59

Well, it's basically just typical hot rod suspension and stuff underneath you know, yeah, dropped axle.

Speaker 1 4:07

It's got a dropped axle, but it's also got kingpins in it, does it not? Yes, yes, it's old school. Yes, it's all old school. Yeah, so how did you get all of that balanced to do that kind of speed?

Speaker 3 4:20

To be honest with you, I don't know. Luck of the draw.

Speaker 1 4:23

Luck luck. Yeah, and did you have to buy any special tires for it?

Speaker 3 4:27

Oh yeah, yeah, we had some speed-rated tires for it, yeah.

Speaker 1 4:31

And what kind of motors it got in it.

Speaker 3 4:33

Now it's got a 350 small block Chevy.

Speaker 1 4:35

What did it have on it back then? A?

Speaker 3 4:36

259-cubic-inch small block Chevy. Oh wow, it was a mix match of a bunch of different parts In my class. I was allowed 260 cubic inches, so I kept it at 259.

Speaker 1 4:51

And I don't believe I've ever heard what was the basis for the 259? It wasn't a 283.

Speaker 3 4:57

No it was a 305 block and a D-stroke 283 crank. Ah, you got it in the crank. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 5:04

You can't see it on the show, but he's got a promotion board here with all of the accolades that this car has done, from El Mirage, dry Lake to Murrock, dry Lake, to the 6th Street, rotter Magazine Nostalgic Nationals bracket winner. So this car's been around.

Speaker 3 5:19

Yes.

Speaker 2 5:20

Yeah.

Speaker 3 5:20

It's been a fun ride. It really has.

Speaker 2 5:25

I bet it is, and it looks like you still got one speed record, that's still standing.

Speaker 3 5:27

Yeah, it is that out of edwards air force base muroc, where they used to run before the war. Yeah and uh, they let us run, I think three years out there. And then an individual got hurt bad and uh, they stopped that's usually the way it happens.

Speaker 1 5:41

So I still have that one record, yeah, well that's good.

Speaker 2 5:43

It looks like it's gonna go away it happens.

Speaker 1 5:44

Yeah, so I still have that one record, yeah, well, well, that's good, it doesn't look like it's going to go away anytime soon.

Speaker 2 5:47

Yeah.

Speaker 1 5:49

Is that place still there?

Speaker 3 5:51

Yes, bear Rock is. Oh yeah, they land the space shuttle and stuff out there.

Speaker 1 5:54

Oh, is that where it is? That's where we got to run was on that.

Speaker 3 5:57

Oh, okay, long, yeah, yeah, wow, that's nice it was dirt yes, yes, no, it's almost as hard as this asphalt though you know, yeah, pretty thick stuff.

Speaker 1 6:11

Where is it is? Is it out by the mojave desert?

Speaker 3 6:13

it is in mojave, it's in the mojave desert out uh east of lancaster, palmdale area southeast. Yeah, yeah, wow yeah, where are you from? Originally California, fresno, california. Well, I say Fresno, but a little farm community out west of Fresno, sure, sure, yeah.

Speaker 1 6:31

And then you moved to Texas, I assume About four years ago. Yeah, uh-huh, there's a young lady videoing.

Speaker 3 6:36

You're going to love it.

Speaker 2 6:37

She belong to you out here.

Speaker 3 6:38

Yes, yes, sir no, we're not going back, maybe to visit a friend or two, but other than that.

Speaker 1 6:44

I think that right now would probably not be the best time to go back.

Speaker 3 6:47

Yeah, yeah, that's just crazy stuff. California's not what it used to be when I was growing up.

Speaker 2 6:54

Yeah, so what are the plans for it now? New paint job, bigger wheels.

Speaker 3 6:57

No, no, tub it out, no, just drive it. That's absolutely right on.

Speaker 1 7:02

We were just talking to our last guest about that very thing. Yeah, I want to put a paint job on it. It's good. Is it a show car? Is it a drive car?

Speaker 2 7:12

I want the drive car. He's got bugs in the grill. I like it. He's got his initials on the bumper.

Speaker 3 7:19

It's been in the rain a few times over the years. Nothing wrong with that. What?

Speaker 1 7:23

do you do for windshield wipers?

Speaker 3 7:25

I don't you don't.

Speaker 2 7:26

Yeah, you do things like rain Going so fast, the rain can't catch up. There you go.

Speaker 1 7:33

So all right, and what kind of transmission does it have in it? It's got a Muncie 4-speed A Muncie 4-speed.

Speaker 2 7:38

Old aluminum housing.

Speaker 3 7:39

Muncie M&M 22.

Speaker 2 7:41

I should have opened the hood on this one Talk about old school.

Speaker 1 7:44

I'm telling you, yeah, I love that. It's great because you know as hot rodders do and it's kind of in the DNA. Well, yeah, the last guy had it did it this way. I want to change it and do it this way Because you don't see too many like that. You know, with a basic, it's a late model V8 block in it, right?

Speaker 3 8:06

Yes.

Speaker 1 8:07

Because they're more dependable and they'll last forever.

Speaker 2 8:11

But the four-speed. Look at this, look at that Holy smokes.

Speaker 1 8:16

Jeff's a big station wagon. Oh yeah, Nothing wrong with that, oh man.

Speaker 2 8:20

Leave it right there, you're good. Yeah, we like your station wagon a lot. Just park it right there, you're good.

Speaker 1 8:27

Yeah, we like your station wagon a lot. Just park it right there, you're fine.

Speaker 2 8:29

Yeah, so real quick what was it like to be on Bonneville on the Salt.

Speaker 3 8:32

Lake racing, oh man.

Speaker 2 8:36

I hear good stories. I hear bad stories.

Speaker 3 8:38

Oh, I loved it. The last record I set was through the lights backwards. What it is my parachute handle was down by the gear shift and just as I'm getting into the lights, I forget how fast 180 or 90, whatever it was but you know how it is. If you're driving down the road and you reach over to get something out of that seat, you'll move that wheel just a little, just a hair.

Speaker 2 8:59

Your body tilts so.

Speaker 3 9:00

I reach down to pull the chute and that thing went around about I don't know a dozen times.

Speaker 1 9:04

Wow.

Speaker 3 9:05

Threw the lights backwards, but it was a record.

Speaker 1 9:08

Very nice. Yeah, it was fun. Now, is this your only hot rod? Yes, now it is. It is because you've owned several with it, along with others, in the past. Yeah, yeah, Is this your favorite?

Speaker 3 9:21

Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1 9:22

Yeah.

Speaker 3 9:22

It's a keeper.

Speaker 2 9:31

Eventually, I'm going to probably look for something with roll-up windows and air conditioner, but but I'd like, if you live, in, which part of texas you live in we're down by cleburne, okay, okay.

Speaker 1 9:35

So south of here, yeah, no, no, yeah, yeah. Well, this is a hop skip and a jump for you.

Speaker 3 9:37

Oh yeah, hour it was about an hour in about 45 minutes. Yeah, we came through, we came up here, oh, okay, actually we're out south of town, out in in the country, on 12 acres.

Speaker 2 9:46

We went right by your house. We did. We hollered at the horn. You did, you were there.

Speaker 3 9:51

I thought I heard something, but I didn't have my hearing aids in.

Speaker 2 9:54

That was me screaming because he was driving.

Speaker 1 9:57

What do you do, or what did you do for a living?

Speaker 3 10:00

When I got out of the service in the 70s, I flew crop dusters for about 35 years. Wow, and then some health issues.

Speaker 1 10:08

I had to quit.

Speaker 2 10:10

And then.

Speaker 3 10:10

so I went farming. The wife and I started farming almond trees, oh very nice. And I did that for about another 10 years.

Speaker 2 10:16

And that was in.

Brian Wilson's Automotive Legacy

Speaker 3 10:17

California. Yes sir, yeah, so, and then I wanted to leave then, but I couldn't leave my elderly father, so anyway, when he passed away, that was our green light to leave then. But I couldn't leave my elderly father, so anyway, when he passed away, that was our green light to leave and we did.

Speaker 1 10:34

Yeah, that's been about four years ago.

Speaker 3 10:35

Any regrets? No, no, not, not. Not one. Good for you. Yeah, people are so nice out here yeah, that's true that is very true.

Speaker 2 10:42

you come on in real time when you get to te. That's right, you find us and everything.

Speaker 1 10:47

Yeah, well, it's great talking to you, don. Thank you, yeah, Pleasure. Yeah and hopefully we'll run into you again and not literally. Yeah, but yeah, do you have mufflers on that thing?

Speaker 3 11:00

Yes, you got some cherry bombs on it or anything. Yeah, are glass packs some old?

Speaker 1 11:08

glass packs, glass packs. We talked about that. We tell you, jeff and I were talking about glass packs and cherry bombs last night some little cargo.

Speaker 2 11:13

She was louder than what it should have been like he's got cherry cherry bombs on it.

Speaker 1 11:18

Where do you buy your hot rod parts I have. Do you buy any anymore?

Speaker 3 11:23

well, very little yeah I mean, I'm pretty much done with the car other than just trying to maintain it.

Speaker 1 11:30

Well, obviously you know, your PF35 oil filter is still hanging in there. Yeah, you can buy those at Walmart anywhere.

Speaker 2 11:39

So what triggered me on this is that you did crop dusting for 30, 35 years, so the speed and the thrill of that is that like driving this on the Bonneville.

Speaker 1 11:48

No.

Speaker 2 11:49

No, no, it's probably.

Speaker 3 11:51

Yeah, I guess the excitement is basically the same.

Speaker 1 11:56

It's a rush, yeah, the thrill of speed and the victory of defeat.

Speaker 2 12:01

Agony of defeat.

Speaker 1 12:02

No, no, victory of defeat.

Speaker 2 12:03

Okay, I don't know what show you were watching.

Speaker 3 12:06

But Bonneville for me was the same as basically like when I was flying. It's just you've got to keep your head in it the whole minute, every minute of what you're doing there. You know, Especially like on the fly and going under wires and doing all the things we did, you know you can't be thinking about anything else.

Speaker 2 12:24

You can't be thinking about going to Bonneville, no although I did, yeah, very cool.

Speaker 1 12:31

Did you?

Speaker 3 12:31

own your own plane. Yes, it was my father's business. I was part of the business. My father started it in 47 when he got out of the service. And when did you take your first flight to do that? Actually, I started flying for a Wint in the service in about 65 66. He was teaching me and then so you're a teenager yeah. So when I got out I knew that's what I wanted what kind of plane was it? Then we had the old by stearman, by stearman.

Speaker 2 12:56

I was thinking, stearman, yeah yeah, we had when I came home because they could go low and slow. Oh yeah, they maneuverable.

Speaker 3 13:01

Yeah, yes when I came home in 70 he had 14 of them out there oh, wow, wow, he had a little Air Force.

Speaker 1 13:08

Pardon, he had a whole fleet of them out there.

Speaker 3 13:11

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 13:13

Yeah, I'm surprised that he didn't roll in an aircraft carrier or something to land them on.

Speaker 3 13:17

Yeah, we switched over to these modern airplanes air tractors. They came out in the early 70s.

Speaker 1 13:27

Low wings, and how many gallons of juice does it hold? This particular model was 500 gallons. That's a lot, and it's a lot of weight.

Speaker 3 13:33

Yes.

Speaker 1 13:34

Yeah, and what kind of engine did it have in it? I'm just curious, pratt Whitney gas turbine PT6.

Speaker 3 13:39

Okay, it was a gas turbine engine, 750 horse that's your next project, put one of those in something like this Don't think, I didn't think about it, just extend those front rails a little bit.

Speaker 1 13:51

Yeah.

Speaker 3 13:51

Because you know it's such a neat little engine. You know you could almost put it under your arm and carry it Right. Yeah, they don't take up a lot of space, yeah.

Speaker 1 13:58

Yeah, it's all about really exhaust. Intake doesn't take much, but they all exhaust.

Speaker 2 14:03

You've got to get that hot air out of there.

Speaker 1 14:05

Yes, exactly Well, Don, thanks so much for stopping by yes, sir.

Speaker 3 14:08

Thank you A real pleasure.

Speaker 1 14:08

We really appreciate you and appreciate what you've got going.

Speaker 3 14:11

Thank you.

Speaker 2 14:12

I appreciate you. Enjoy the rest of the show.

Speaker 1 14:14

Hey the award-winning In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show is available 24-7 through the Odyssey Radio app. Look for video, stream our live weekly show on Facebook, youtube and InWheelTimecom, and podcasts from your favorite podcast provider. I wanted to tell you that today we're doing a bonus hour here. That's why we're on at 9. We'll also continue on through 12 noon today. Our typical show airs from 10 am to 12 noon on Saturdays, central time and it's a two-hour show and we bust that show up into 30-minute segments for podcasts and you can get those throughout the week on all of your favorite podcast providers. The Unwilled Time Car Talk Show continues right after this quick break.

Speaker 1 14:59

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Speaker 1 15:55

The In Well 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 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. 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, thanks for joining us today. Yes, we are at the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run in Granbury, texas. Hewlett Park is where we're located and this is the 50th anniversary for the Lone Star Street Rod Association, so congratulations to them and thank them for allowing us to barge and elbow our way in here.

Speaker 2 16:45

Oh yeah, we did.

Speaker 1 16:46

So there's that. Um, I wanted to do a feature, uh, because you know the, the inventor of the beach boys passed away this past week and, um, and you know the, the effect that he had on all of us that are living and breathing today, from the 1960s, early 60s, actually was quite profound. And somebody asked me, uh, the other day, well, why the beach by the beach boys, such a weenie group, the beatles? Well, england had the beatles and we had the beach boys and I was always drawn to the Beach Boys, always. I love the Beatles, but they were our Beatles, if you will.

Speaker 1 17:31

So there were car songs before Brian Wilson, of course, but few entertainers in the rock and roll era did more to promote Southern California car culture than the Beach Boys founder, who died June 11th at the age of 82. It wasn't just 1932 Fords, little deuce coupe, or powerful Chevrolet engines. She's real fine. My 409, that Wilson and the Beach Boys wrote and sang about. It was Jaguar XKEs. Remember that song, corvettes in the Jan and Dean classic Dead Man's Curve, and you know Wilson wrote that. I didn't know that they gave that to Jan and Dean In the summer of 64, wilson's song about a 50cc motor scooter had Americans singing the name of a little-known Japanese company when Little Honda debuted on the Beach Boys' all-summer-long album. The song was covered the same summer by one hit group called the Hondelles and hit number nine on the pop charts.

Speaker 1 18:26

They only had one, but it was car songs that put the Beach Boys in the fast lane. The Beach Boys harmonized about a Ford Thunderbird and Fun, Fun, Fun, Tell your daddy takes the T-Bird away. Drag races, cruising, just hanging out. Featured in songs including Shut Down, I Get Around, and All Summer Long, that became summer radio staples. Wilson's first car was a 1957 Chevy Impala. A 79 Cadillac Coupe, DeVille, Rolls-Royce Phantom, a 1990 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and Ferrari 488 GTB were among the avid collector's cars. Tributes from Wilson's contemporaries lit up social media. This week Wilson lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music. Some of the best singles in the world wrote Randy Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Speaker 2 19:21

Now the album Pet Sounds. That influenced the Beatles. Yes, so it was not like the Beatles were, oh, they're the greatest. Well, they were taking cues from other bands, like all bands do, but the Pet Sounds was the one that was most influential with McCartney.

Speaker 1 19:36

So the first one on this. This was actually a story from Haggerty Little Deuce Coop. There's one, and I've already mentioned the 409. Here's one, uh, and I've already mentioned the 409.

Speaker 2 19:50

409 was uh from the album 409 surfing safari and when we were setting up this morning before the uh the event started, they were playing beach boy songs on the pa system here, so that Yep Beach Boys, fun, fun, fun.

Speaker 1 20:08

60s teenage rebellion Back before that meant long hair and LSD. Oh, I wasn't rebellious in my youth. No, not you, jeff.

Speaker 2 20:18

I was, he was, this guy was.

Speaker 1 20:21

How about shutdown? Passing through, there's one called Our Club. Yeah, I remember that one that was from the early 60s, ballad of Old Betsy, I don't remember that song.

Speaker 2 20:35

I don't remember that one.

Speaker 1 20:37

Spirit of America, you can do that one In my Car. I think it was a postscript to In my Room.

Speaker 2 20:44

I just read that the other day, yeah.

Speaker 1 20:48

I wasted a lot of ink on this because I put down all the pictures. You're all excited, yeah, my red ink is just going out the window here, of course, the last one, kokomo, part of the Tom Cruise bartending movie.

Speaker 2 21:01

But Kokomo, they covered that for somebody else, I believe Is that what it was? I think so, spirit of America.

Speaker 1 21:06

Maybe wrong.

Speaker 2 21:10

Send Mike your complaints. If I'm wrong, send it to Don at InWheelTimecom and I'll get them. Spirit of.

Speaker 1 21:14

America rounds out the list. Tale of the Bonneville Salt Flats Land speed records, one of the quickest cars ever to test the salt flats. Wilson and Christian Tagg themed this two-minute tribute to the Spirit of America, and it was really all about Craig Breedlove in the early 1960s.

Speaker 2 21:34

Jet without wings. Yeah, breedlove was a Bonneville guy, bonneville Salt-driving guy.

Speaker 1 21:38

Motivated by the J47, a jet for his power car, yep, yep. So that's our little tribute, thanks to Automotive News and Hagerty from Brian Wilson, who passed away this week.

Speaker 2 21:50

You know, the in-wheel time vehicle needs a jet engine on it, I think.

Speaker 1 21:55

Could have used it yesterday coming up here, for sure. Well, I think that that would pretty much do away with the exhaust leak from the exhaust header that you've got on there and there's a small airport not far from here.

Speaker 2 22:06

We should have all just flown in. That would have been nice. What was it? It was a little airport not far. We saw airplanes landing coming through here.

Speaker 1 22:14

Oh yeah, we did. The Granbury International, the airplane's landing, oh yeah, coming through here we did. The.

Speaker 2 22:15

Granbury International, intergalactic, intergalactic. Okay, it's the intergalactic airport Granbury, intergalactic, okay.

Speaker 1 22:24

Cool, I'm trying to keep up with time here and not get too deep into all of this. Because we don't want to interview our guest and then be short. Well, no, we want to save some news headlines here and please feel free to Chime in, chime in A lot of world news this week. One of them is a thing called Rare Earth, rare Earth magnets.

Speaker 2 22:52

I actually. You have one in the studio, not the band. Oh, I actually do, and I paid a fortuneVita.

Speaker 1 22:56

You have one in the studio, not the band. Oh, I actually do and I paid a fortune for it. That little round magnet yeah, that little round magnet was like $35.

Speaker 2 23:04

I remember it stuck to the plate in your head and we couldn't get it off. There was that. I've still got that dent. That was so funny.

Speaker 1 23:09

I've still got that dent back there that rare earth magnet I used, because in my car anyway, if you want to reset the tire pressure monitoring system, for it to recognize the left front, the right front, left rear, you have to use a magnet to reset and tell the car this is the left front. It's a series of things that you go through steps, kind of like program it yes, correct.

Speaker 1 23:36

But uh, to do that you put the magnet on the tpms sensor, actually the valve stem right, and then you go in the car and you press the button and it goes. You got it. And you move over to the next one and the little computer says now do right front, same thing. So all four, and when you get done it's all programmed. So if I have a low tire in the left rear, I know I got a low tire in the left rear.

Speaker 3 23:59

I know I got a low tire in the left rear. Well, that's cool.

Speaker 1 24:00

So that was my use of remember back in the day we didn't really pay too much attention.

Speaker 3 24:06

Stick gauge. No but magnets.

Speaker 1 24:09

Rare earth stuff, yeah, and apparently China's got that it's mainly on the refrigerator.

Speaker 1 24:14

Exactly Same, mainly on the refrigerator. Exactly Same thing. It's all rare earth stuff. Anyway, president Trump said a trade framework from China has been completed, with Beijing supplying rare earth and magnets up front and the US allowing Chinese students into colleges and universities. That's quite a trade. The US and China will maintain tariffs at their current rate lower levels following negotiations between the two nations in London. S and China will maintain tariffs at their current rate lower levels following negotiations between the two nations in London.

Speaker 1 24:42

Okay, figure that out. I don't understand that. But whatever, automotive industry is the most vulnerable sector globally to financial distress, given supply chain instability, margin pressure and trade tensions. According to a survey by consulting firm Alex Partners, alex Partners' turnaround and transformation survey that polled 371 industry experts found that 66% of respondents said the automotive industry is the most likely to face significant distress in 2025. That rises to more than 80% of respondents from Europe. The Middle East and Africa Survey also found that more than 70% of global restructuring executives expect economic growth to decline in the coming year and a similar percentage predict that the number of out-of-court restructurings will increase over the next 12 months. In other words, they're in some deep stuff. Yeah, what?

Speaker 3 25:45

do you call it Kimchi, kimchi, deep kimchi.

Speaker 2 25:49

What is kimchi? Kimchi is a cabbage that they bury to ferment. You smoke it or something. No, you eat it. It's from Vietnam, like the vietnam uh, cambodia korean area. I think it's a, it's a staple, it's I mean some cases.

Speaker 1 26:04

Can I go to the vietnam store and where I get my noodle soup and order some kimchi?

Speaker 2 26:08

I don't know, I've never been to one, but you can give it a try. Where are your bulletproof vests when you go, just in case, because then you'd be in a deep kimchi if you didn't. Yeah.

Speaker 1 26:20

No, it's the food. President Trump said he may raise US auto tariffs in order to boost domestic auto manufacturing, A move that could further ratchet up tensions with trading partners. Trump spoke Thursday at a signing ceremony for legislation terminating California regulations that would have banned the sale of gasoline-powered cars in 2035. You knew that that was in place until last week. Well, it's a long-sought victory from carmakers and oil companies that attack the rules as unachievable. Let's see 2035, that would be 10 years from now. I don't know.

Speaker 1 26:57

The president said raising auto tariffs from their current 25% level could offer further protection for the domestic auto industry, citing General Motors' plan to invest $4 billion in US plants over the next two years. Thank you, Mary Barra. He said I might go up with that tariff in the not too distant future. The higher you go, the more likely it is they'll build a plant here in the united states when he wants. Trump's latest threat comes more than a week after he doubled steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 and he faces negotiations with dozens of trading partners before his july 9th deadline for higher duties to take effect. So there's that.

Speaker 2 27:43

Got a date.

Speaker 1 27:44

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:44

No, yeah, with a commercial, but it's coming up in a few minutes. You worried about it, I was, that's why you looked at your watch. That's exactly right. Isn't that a smart watch? Mm-hmm, it won't remind you. No, I'm the smart guy I got to look at it.

Speaker 1 28:03

They're wearing the white shirts, I'm wearing the red shirt. What's the sesame? One of these things is not like the other.

Speaker 2 28:11

The show's stylist indicated that white was going to be the color of the day At the last moment.

Speaker 1 28:16

Well, you know from past shows that we have had. We have learned. Well, no, I knew some of us haven't learned that when you have got a lighter than the foreground background, that white tends to mess with the camera so you can see us. Otherwise we would be in such a shadow. It wouldn't be a good thing.

Speaker 2 28:40

You know the things that they see on TV where they blur out your face and stuff, uh-huh. Well, we're going to do that. It's going to be a blur Like you're naked or something.

Speaker 1 28:50

I am a blur, you're a blur. If you haven't learned that yet, I am a blur In many people's minds, isn't that right, david, you were naked, I thought.

Speaker 2 28:57

What did you say, David?

Speaker 1 28:59

You were naked. I thought, well, you don't have your headset on, david, I can't hear you.

Speaker 2 29:01

He's intentionally saying it without his headset, I know. And what did he say? Just something about me being naked. He's being ugly.

Speaker 1 29:08

That's not happening. All right, we're not. Yeah, the children down there. That's the children's table down there. No, you're not putting that all on me, buster, that ain't happening.

Auto Tariffs and Trade Tensions

Speaker 2 29:23

Ooh, he's Buster-ward on you.

Speaker 1 29:25

Quick break. Now we're right back here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. Stay with us. 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.

Speaker 1 30:28

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 InWheelTime 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.