Volvo EX40, the Largest Car Collections, and the Land Rover Defender...

Automotive enthusiasts, buckle up for a three-course journey through the cutting edge of electric vehicles, the rarified world of elite car collections, and the rugged charm of an off-road icon reborn.

We start by examining Volvo's latest electric offering—the 2025 EX40 Twin Motor Ultra AWD. Built in Belgium on the framework of last year's XC40, this all-electric crossover brings 402 horsepower and advanced pixel headlight technology to the premium EV segment. However, not everything about modern technology improves the driving experience. The EX40's touchscreen-centric control system requires four separate taps just to power down the vehicle—an unnecessarily complex solution to a problem that never existed. Despite these interface frustrations, the EX40 delivers competitive performance against rivals from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Genesis, though at a premium price point starting at $62,045 for the Ultra trim.

We then explore automotive passion at its most extreme with a tour of the world's most impressive car collections. From Dmitry Lomakov's Soviet-era treasures in Moscow to Ken Lingenfelter's performance-focused American muscle cars, these collections represent deep dedication to automotive preservation. The Sheikh of Abu Dhabi specializes in off-road vehicles including a massive Mercedes monster truck, while the Sultan of Brunei reigns supreme with approximately 7,000 vehicles valued at $5 billion—including 600 Rolls-Royces, 450 Ferraris, and numerous one-off custom creations that exist nowhere else.

Finally, we take the wheel of the 2024 Land Rover Defender, Slovakia's boxy tribute to off-road capability. With its distinctive silhouette and doors that "shut like an old Norge refrigerator," the Defender combines rugged charm with modern luxuries. The mild-hybrid powertrain delivers 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, propelling this 5,000-pound fortress with surprising efficiency. While the $81,923 as-tested price positions it against premium competitors like the Lexus GX and Jeep Wagoneer, current import tariffs present challenges for Land Rover's supply chain.

Whether you're fascinated by electric innovation, dream car collections, or capable off-roaders, join us for these automotive explorations that showcase the breadth and depth of today's automotive landscape. What would you choose: cutting-edge technology, historical preservation, or go-anywhere capability?

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Transcript

2025 Volvo EX40 Review

Speaker 1 0:04

Okay, mr Morris, we're going to do it first. We're doing Michael Wooding. I haven't got him yet. He's on his way. He said.

Speaker 2 0:12

Oh God, okay. So then you're going to do your car review, let's do the car review 2025 Volvo EX40 Twin Motor, ultra, all-wheel drive.

Speaker 1 0:28

Now this vehicle, the final assembly point, is in Ghent, g-h-e-n-t, belgium, which kind of surprised me. And the reality of it is this is new for 2025, but it's all based on the last year's XC40. So they took the XC40, they kind of rebuilt it and turned it into the EX40. Now it's got parts we're not even going into that. So it's got available trim levels. There's actually three trims, but you could kind of look at it six, because there's the core, the plus and the ultra, but each one can have a single motor or a twin motor. So you can actually get six different variants of this vehicle. Seats. It's got a new battery so it charges a little faster and and I read something on edmunds that it actually charges um 10 faster. So it's kind of it's a few minutes. It was kind of weird to me that they would even talk about it being that, but anyway, would you like to?

Speaker 1 1:22

start this car review. No, I'm just. I'm trying to stick to the facts and not what I'm thinking. So it's got a lot of things on the outside of it. It's got pixel headlight technology, which, if you're not familiar with that, they actually have little cameras in the headlights that reads what the lighting is on the outside cars coming at you, and things like that, and it adjusts the brightness of your headlights accordingly. Where there's no headlights or anything out there, it gets brighter. Yeah, mine does that. Does it Well? Does it have? Is it called pixel technology?

Speaker 3 1:50

That's the first.

Speaker 1 1:50

I'd heard of it, but anyway, Headlights, that's what we call them. It's got the LED fog lights. It's got the power side mirrors. It's got a power sunroof, power liftgate Rolls on the optional well, they're actually standard on the ultra-trim level. The 20-inch alloy wheels Now the get into the interior of this thing.

Speaker 1 2:09

It's got the floor tunnel. Most EVs don't have a floor tunnel on them because it's still based on that XC40 from the previous year. So it's still got the tunnel in it. So it kind of takes up some of the feeding foot area room that you would expect to have in an EV. It's got a 12.3 inch digital driver display. You've got a nice nine inch touchscreen center stack, which is very important and we'll get to that in a moment.

Speaker 1 2:32

Got suede microtech interior First row is seated. They're heated and they're cool. The second row is heated. It is only a two row vehicle, which is a very good thing in this size of vehicle. Got's got the sound surround view camera. It's got connections with Google and Apple and all these other things and it has a digital owner's manual. I thought was rather interesting. Forget looking anything else up. Got the folding second row seat. Got a Harman Kardon premium audio system with 13 speakers, 600 watt subwoofer that is air vented, which is rather unusual. Unusual. But switching back up to that nine inch screen, that center stack, it's very important and I'm surprised it's only that nine inches and I think it could be a little bit bigger to help out because everything is there.

Speaker 1 3:16

Hold that right there jeff, everybody wants it bigger well, I know, but there's across the bottom there's very it's minimal buttons, but everything is in that touch screen. So, for example, you get into it like a lot of EVs, you put your foot on the brake, put it in gear, it starts and off you go. Great, love it, that's fine. But now you want to stop, you pull in your driveway and you want to get out. Now you can put it in there and you can sit there and say get out. Well, it's going to still be running.

Speaker 1 3:46

Or you can go over to the touch screen and you hit home and you go to the control panel. And you go into the control panel, that's two touches. Then you've got to scroll to the bottom because it's not all on the same screen, and you touch again the third time. It says I want to turn this vehicle off. Great, you can get out of your car. But when you do, it's still on and it's very distressing, whatever you get out, and the radio is still playing as you walk away. So what you have to do once you push the again, it says I want to turn this vehicle off. It's going to come up and ask you are you sure you want to turn this vehicle off and you have to tell it yes. So you've got to touch four times to be able to turn the vehicle off before you get out of it. I find that silly. Whenever everybody else, you could push it one time and say, stop, I stopped.

Speaker 2 4:32

Well, the new GM EVs. You don't have to do any of that. You get in with the key in your pocket, put your foot on the brake and it starts.

Speaker 1 4:40

I will say the other thing. The Volvo is known for their safety. They have this reputation for being a safe vehicle and perhaps that's why they did it. Just like sometimes you jump in the car, you put it in gear and you're gone and you want to call somebody, but you didn't pair your phone, so normally you've got to wait until you're stopped, not in this car here. 60 miles an hour is when I did it. I'm sure you could probably do it a little faster, but you compare your phone going down the highway at 60 miles an hour, not that it's distracting or anything while you're driving, but you can do that in this Volvo, so you can do all these good things to kind of make your life a little bit better.

Speaker 1 5:17

So again, twin electric motors on this vehicle that we had, 402 horsepower. Equivalent Transmission is a direct drive. Basically it's one speed Will be rated for towing 2,000 pounds. Gross weight on this vehicle is 5,840 pounds. Amazingly Now the MPG it says it's rated for 103 in the city, 85 on the highway, combined 94. I still haven't figured out how to convert all that stuff. So I did it different way. I drove this vehicle 270 miles. I had to charge it twice. Total cost was 33.59 cents to go 270 miles.

Speaker 1 5:54

now I took that same 33.59 cents and figured gasoline at 2.60 cents in my truck. That gets 18 miles to the gallon, if not better, and I could go 232 miles versus the 270 that I went in the EV without spending two hours sitting at the Subaru dealer at six o'clock in the morning before he opens charging it. It's pretty easy to get into and again you can get in it and go as you need to. Turning it off is not so much. It rides and drives. It's heavy enough that it's absolutely going to ride and drive better. There's no engine noise. Got a little bit of road noise on it, but I mean it's not anything that's not unacceptable. Turn that Harman Kardon stereo up and you override that.

Speaker 1 6:37

As to the cost of it, now the base trim price on this vehicle would be $53,795. Now the base trim price on this vehicle would be $53,795. Now the base model price is $62,045, and we had the base Ultra, I guess you would call it. The $62,045 was the MSRP as tested. Mercedes-benz equivalent is an EQB, which used to be a GLB, for $53,050. Audi QE Tron for $49,800. And the Genesis GV60 at $52,050. Audi QE Tron for $49,800. And the Genesis GV60 at $52,350. So it's in the same price as all these other guys. But again, you need to kind of be prepared to deal with the controls and the infotainment system. That I think is a little too much needy. Too much involvement yes, it does Too much involvement. Yes, it does Absolutely too much involvement. But otherwise, if you're looking for something like that, you might look at it. It's a nice looking car.

Speaker 2 7:39

Thanks for being with us today. Time now for Jeff's Car Culture, five biggest car collections in the world. Ready set go.

Speaker 3 7:46

Well, there's more than five, but these are my five and they're at the top of the list. So here we go. If you're into classic or rare cars, you've probably heard of the massive car collections of folks like Jay Leno. But do you know the sheer scope of some of these collections? Well, here we go. This is Dmitry Lomakov, a historical treasures that's what he calls this total value of this collection to be determined they're still trying to put the pencil to it. With over 120 vintage and classic and motorcycles, lomakov has spent 40 years amassing a collection to celebrate the rich history of the automobile. He's motivated by a deep desire to preserve these historical treasures to the best of his ability and pay tribute to the automotive heritage with his impressive collection. This rare collection is on display in the Museum of Old-Timer Cars and Motorcycles in Moscow. The notables include a 1930s bike called Red October and a Leningrad 8. A lot of these are Soviet-era military vehicles. Well, that's what I want to go see. Yep, there you go, but they're also pretty rare. Okay, michael, the next one, and it's someone that we all know Ken Lingenfelter's performance-driven collection. Total value, again to be determined. Oops, sorry, mike, that blurred out. Sorry, buddy. It's a testament for his love of performance and speed.

Speaker 3 9:05

Housing over 200 vehicles and a 40,000-square-foot building, lingenfelter's collection is one of the biggest car collections in the US. Particularly fascinated by the General Motors vehicles, his first car being a 69 396 375 Camaro, he kept his passion alive by adding a daily driver of a ZR1 Corvette. One of his most cherished possessions, don, is a pristine, all-original 1980 Chevrolet. What A Chevette. A Chevrolet Chevette with less than 10,000 miles on the odometer. The next one we have, mike, we probably messed it up, but it's Gary Duncan's private collection, with a total value of $10 million. Is that it? Gary's private collection stands out as a focus of Japanese cars. His passion is driven by a love of unique and rare vehicles that never made it to the American market. His collections include 100 Nissan Fiegos as well as other exceptional models like the Toyota Century and the Nissan. President Duncan has over 4,000 vehicles in his collection, including a Japanese fire truck. There you go. I think he's got a couple of Aston Martins in there too.

Speaker 2 10:08

I want to go back to the Lingenfelter collection.

Speaker 3 10:10

Yeah, go for it.

Speaker 2 10:11

Because I had a chance. Did you ever go out there? Did you ever see his collection?

Speaker 2 10:14

I didn't buy it so you know his cousin John, who was killed in a car crash. He started Lingenfelter and then Ken, after his death, took it over and has done quite well with the company. Amazing Nice guy Sat down with him in his office, very small office, there at the facility in Wixom, wixom In Wixom, michigan, yeah, and it's kind of in a neighborhood, to be honest with you, and he had he just finished doing this, he had a Pontiac Solstice, remember those things.

Speaker 1 10:48

Yeah, like the Fiero Two-seater.

Pricing and Competitor Comparison

Speaker 2 10:49

Yeah, a little two-seater. He put an LS1 motor in it but it was all hopped up. You know, probably a thousand horsepower. He said, yeah, I took my daughter to school and the problem was is that I couldn't even let off the brake because it would burn rubber all the time, and he said it really wasn't practical. It wasn't. Yeah, well, the school called him and said you cannot burn rubber here, I won't bring the car again. So that was one of the stories, but a beautiful collection.

Speaker 2 11:22

One of the things that he also had in the collection was a Corvette and it was a 54 Corvette. Wow, okay, looked completely stock, except On the front of it, instead of the Corvette moniker, the script it had supercharged. And there was a suit. Paxton Superchargers was trying to sell them the technology and the part to do a supercharger on the Blue Flame 6. Because they knew that they were about to go to the V8 engine in 55 in the Corvette and he had the only one that GM actually made and the supercharger was on it. It was all completely stock. So one of the many things in his collection. It's truly amazing. And what he does is he offers General Motors if they want to have any kind of group meeting or anything like that, some sort of evening event. He will arrange that part of the shop, if you will, and rearrange the cars so there's room for people to move around and have dinner and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 12:33

Yeah, kind of like the Hemi Hideout. You can be in there around all the cars.

Speaker 2 12:37

That's pretty cool.

Five Biggest Car Collections Worldwide

Speaker 3 12:38

Anyway, I'm sorry, that's pretty cool. Anyway, I'm sorry, that's all right. The next one we've got is Sheikh Hamid bin Hamadan, the off-road kingdom. Total valuation, michael, $2.3 billion. Jeez. The Sheikh, affectionately known as the Rainbow Sheikh, takes a different approach to his car collection. Where some of the sultans in the area collect luxury vehicles and sports cars, he's the sultan of what? Sultan of rainbows? This sheikh's passion lies in off-road vehicles. His unique vehicle collection is housed in a custom-built pyramid and is a dedicated museum in Dabi, abu Dabi. This is Dabi, making it a true automotive wonderland.

Speaker 2 13:16

Wait a minute. Wasn't he in the Star Wars series? Dabi, dabi, dolby, whatever? Automotive Wonderland Wait a minute. Wasn't he in the Star Wars series? Dobby, dobby, dobby, whatever? No, it was a Flintstone Obby, dobby.

Speaker 3 13:24

Doo, I think Could have been a Flintstone. The Sheikh's diverse array of vehicles is open to the public Proud displays of head turners like a massive Mercedes-Benz W16 monster truck. The collection also contains a Porsche 986, a Rainbow Fiat 500, and the world's largest running Jeep, a 1950s Power Wagon. That one, right there is a doge. Yeah, that's the Power Wagon there.

Speaker 3 13:46

The next one, michael, the one the granddaddy of it all, is the Sultan of Brunei. Biggest car collection in the world of $5 billion Rarest cars, a special edition Ferrari F50, baldy B-O-L-I Boldi, but it's an F50. We know that when it comes to the world's largest private collection, the Sultan of Brunei reigns supreme Over 7,000 vehicles valued at approximately $5 billion. The Sultan's collection is nothing short of legendary. His car collection includes more than 600 Rolls Royces, 450 Ferraris, 20 Cosingans what is that, michael? It's a very fast car, that guy and six David Porsches. So, moving on from that, he's got a lot of McLarens among the prestigious brands. However, what truly sets his collection apart are the rare custom-built vehicles like the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II, which is modified to be a wedding limousine. How about that? The Salton's collection also contains more than a dozen Bentley Javas concept cars from the 1994 Geneva show. So how about that?

Speaker 2 14:54

Well, you know I was going to say Mars. You know we've been looking forward to this review so much that we're going to postpone it.

Speaker 3 15:04

The next half hour.

Speaker 2 15:05

Yeah, we're going to put it to the next half hour because, well, I kind of gab myself today. That's what we do here, we gab, we do that.

Speaker 1 15:12

I can save it Okay.

2024 Land Rover Defender Review

Speaker 2 15:17

Time now for this hour's car review. I had a chance to drive the 2024 Land Rover Defender, final assembly location in Nitra, slovakia. All right, okay. Available trim levels too many to mention. The thing starts at $56,400 and runs all the way up to $118,000. Wowzer, the reviewed term level is the 110X Dynamic SE.

Speaker 2 15:49

By the way, there are two-door and four-door versions of this thing. It's considered a standard SUV. I had the four-door version of it. Seats including the driver five. They do have a third-row version of it. If you've got a truck that has four doors on it, that's not that big. I would say that if you're looking for a third row, then find something bigger, Because this is, in what I I would estimate, a mid-size suv, wouldn't you? You saw it, yeah, uh, it's all new in 2020. Uh, here we are in 2025, and this particular one that we reviewed is the 2024 version.

Speaker 2 16:31

Unique box on wheels, rectangle, very boxy looking, let me put it that way. Think high-class Wrangler, if you want to look at this thing that way. The bumper between the headlights protrudes from the overall design up front, making the overall look of this thing very different. Rear, gate-mounted spare with a door that opens to the side. This is a new version of the old Defender. That was a big success for Land Rover. I found out back in the day. Now I'm not a Land Rover file, I don't really know that much about them. I've had to do quite a bit of research to be able to do this review.

Speaker 2 17:17

What I liked about it? Serious and attractive and unique off-road look. Gobs of accessories. This is, you know. It includes a tent. You can get a tent and mount it to the roof if you want to spend the night and not worry about lions coming after you. There you go Just giraffes. Maybe Just giraffes You'd have to worry about that. Interior highlights Unique design and materials throughout the cabin Smallish stand-alone infotainment screen.

Speaker 2 17:55

Dash-mounted shifter, uniquely out of the way. I really did like that. Four-wheel drive controls are unobtrusive. Cargo room is adequate, like you would imagine a two-row SUV to be. What I liked.

Speaker 2 18:12

The shelf that runs underneath the entire dash. The shelf that runs underneath the entire dash. Man, if you are a hoarder, you could find all sorts of stuff and stick it in there and lose it for the rest of your ownership of the defense. Found a Lindbergh baby in there, probably. What could use improvement? There's a pass-through hole. I don't know whether you can see it in that picture or not, but there's a pass-through hole on the front of the center console. It's very odd. Now you can pass through from the side, but this is from the top down too. See that little space right there. That's a hole. Go right straight down. I don't know what it would be good for A small clutch or something. You would be more familiar with that than I would.

Speaker 2 19:03

Infotainment operating system that doesn't slide. I'm going to interrupt you. That doesn't slide. That does this, does not. This whole thing doesn't go like that. No, it does not. That thing, right, there is a hole. Alright, infotainment operating system makes you think differently and it can be confusing at times. This is a British-designed SUV and you know they have a different sense of humor over there. I like it, I can, you know, relate to it, but you have to relearn kind of your vocabulary when you're talking about navigating the infotainment system.

Land Rover's Tariff Challenges

Speaker 2 19:40

On this deal Okay, it is an M-E-M-H-E-V mild hybrid electric vehicle. Okay, a three-liter inline six-cylinder engine. That turns out a total 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. That's a lot. Transmission 8-speed automatic, toe rating up to 7,716 pounds. Gas mileage 17 in the city, 20 on the highway for a combined 18. I got 22.3 miles per gallon over 369.8 miles. What I liked about it plenty of smooth, inline six power. You can get a four-cylinder, a six-cylinder and also a V8 is offered. What I liked about it? I like the air suspension. It is a $1,600 option and, yes, my vehicle had it. This thing feels heavy, it is. It weighs 5,000 pounds. This thing feels heavy, it is. It weighs 5,000 pounds. It looks heavy. Yeah. Yeah, the doors on it shut like an old Norge refrigerator, did you? Yeah?

Speaker 3 20:48

We talked about that, yeah.

Speaker 2 20:49

Yeah, it's a solid piece of metal, is what that is? All right. Base trim price $72,000. Prices tested $81,. All right Base trim price $72,000. Price is tested $81,923. Base model price $56,900. It competes against the Lexus GX for $64,735. The Jeep Wagoneer for $59,945. And the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Don't ask me why I put this in there, but it goes for $148,250. The G-Wagon, g G, exactly. Jesus, yep and a follow-up story. Jaguar Land Rover will cut up to 500 management jobs after the automaker warned of lower margins due to headwinds, including a weaker dollar. Jlr said that the jobs would be cut through voluntary layoffs. British Automaker has since restarted shipments after the US agreed to lower tariffs on cars imported into the US from the UK to 10%. But JLR is facing 27.5% tariffs on the Defender, its best-selling model. The Defender is built in the European Union nation, slovakia, and it is still subject to the 27.5% tariff rate. It's a bit confusing. Just hold on, it's all going to be ironed out sooner or later. Buy one from inventory or buy one from inventory if they have them?

Speaker 3 22:12

Yeah, because they're very popular On your floor plan.

Speaker 2 22:14

All right Time now, because they're very far-flung On the floor plan. All right Time now.