Beyond the Beaten Path: Car Culture, Getaway Destinations and the Alpha Romeo Tonale

Ready to hit the road for Labor Day weekend? We've got you covered with unforgettable Texas destinations that promise adventure, relaxation, and everything in between. From the Victorian charm of Jefferson in the piney woods to the artistic desert oasis of Marfa, we're exploring getaways that take you off the beaten path. Looking for coastal vibes? Discover Palacios, the "Shrimp Capital of Texas" where fishing, kayaking, and seafood create the perfect holiday escape. For cooler temperatures, we recommend the mountain scenery of Fort Davis or the crystal-clear waters of the Frio River at Garner State Park.

The conversation shifts gears as we explore six legendary American car names that left their mark on automotive history. We unpack the stories behind iconic nameplates like the Mercury Marauder, Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, and Plymouth Barracuda – vehicles whose names became as powerful as their engines. From muscle cars that dominated drag strips to controversial designs like the Plymouth Prowler, we examine how these memorable monikers helped define American car culture across generations.

Wrapping up our automotive journey, we take the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale for a spin and share our unfiltered thoughts. This Italian-crafted subcompact SUV delivers impressive performance with its 268-horsepower turbo engine, sporty handling, and distinctive European styling that stands out in a sea of look-alike competitors. Priced at $39,930 for our test model, the Tonale offers surprising value against luxury competitors from BMW, Audi, and Mercedes. Discover why this newcomer might be the perfect blend of practical utility and driving excitement for those who want something beyond the ordinary. Ready to explore new destinations or find your next dream ride? Tune in now!

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Tags: In Wheel Time, automotive car talk show, car talk, Live car talk show, In Wheel Time Car Talk

Chapters

• 0:00 Labor Day Texas Getaway Destinations
• 3:53 Six Cool American Car Names
• 11:10 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale Review

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

All right, it's Mr Marr's turn for Driving Destinations, and let's talk about Labor Day getaways.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Yep, labor Day is coming up. It's going to be a little bit more time off. People are going to have three-day weekends, so you might want to go a little bit further maybe. Look at a few different things, such as Jefferson, texas. Now this is tucked away in the east texas piney woods. It's got a victorian charm and it's got a lot of history that goes with it, with antique shops. There's a scenic boat tour of caddo lakes, mysterious bios, which I didn't even know it was close to caddo lake. Uh, the jefferson historical museum has ghost tours and the whole labor day a weekend. They bring a lot of peaceful atmosphere from big crowds. It's perfect for a slow-paced holiday that you want to get away. If you want to go a little bit further west to get a little more adventurous.

Speaker 2: 0:54

Marfa Marfa Texas blends Marfa Lights Exactly Marfa. That's a minimalist art in West Texas, desert Beauty and really, if you look at it they've got world-famous art installations that it's amazing that it's out there like the Prada Marfa store. They've got scenic drives through the Davis Mountains you can do. They've got hot springs, they've got the Marfa lights and there's a lot of quirky character there and it's out in the middle of no place. So a great Labor Day weekend if you're looking for something a little different. Palacios down south is known as the shrimp capital of Texas. Otherwise it's a quiet coastal town, a matagorda bay. You can go fishing, kayaking, bird watching along the waterfront.

Speaker 1: 1:36

You can also go to Amsterdam.

Speaker 2: 1:38

Amsterdam.

Speaker 1: 1:39

Yeah, see, it's right on that boat.

Speaker 2: 1:42

Oh, that's true, I didn't pay attention to that.

Speaker 1: 1:44

You get a knock on the door it says Amsterdam on it.

Speaker 3: 1:46

You got shrimp down there. You got boiled shrimp. You got corn shrimp. You got fried shrimp. You got baked shrimp, you got. And.

Speaker 2: 1:54

Bubba Bubba shrimp, lieutenant Dan. Well, we're going to go back out west, out to Fort Davis, and I out to Fort Davis. I've actually been to Fort Davis. It's way out west. Mountain scenery, got lots of cool nights, a lot of old west history. Again, this is out in the middle of no place and it was a real fort that they used in the early days. You can go hiking in the Davis Mountains scenic drives. The McDonald Observatory is around there. But if you really want to go there and do stargazing.

Speaker 2: 2:22

You've got to make reservations about a year, year and a half in advance. Really, it's really high elevation so it's a lot cooler during Labor Day weekend Also out there. If you're looking for something a little more active outside Garner State Park in the Hill Country, You've got crystal-flowing Frio River Swimming. Now this is a real popular place to go tubing and canoeing. You can hike limestone trails, camp out on the starry skies. The park actually has jukebox dances during the summer at night and it's a great place to go off-grid.

Speaker 2: 2:57

And of course, you can't go without saying something about Granbury. We go to Granbury and a small town Got a lake, Got places on Granbury and a small town Got a lake, Got places on the lake, Got a lot of history there, Opera house, Labor Day weekend A lot of things to do there. And I want to finish up with Terralingua. Now this is a former mining ghost town. I've been there down in the Big Bend A lot of rugged beauty and stuff down in there and of course course, the famous Terlingua chili cook-off. I think it's called Terlingua Terlingua.

Speaker 1: 3:25

Not Terlingua.

Speaker 2: 3:27

It depends on how much you've been drinking tequila.

Speaker 1: 3:29

But they've got a lot of.

Speaker 2: 3:30

There's a mansion down there that's been restored and turned into a hotel. They've got a lot of unique places that you can sleep and go to places to eat. It's a really cool place to drive to, but it's way out there. West Texas.

Speaker 1: 3:44

All right, Thank you, sir. In real time Car Talk continues after this quick break. Car culture Always look forward to this. Six cool American car names. The names exist, but the cars certainly don't Right.

Speaker 3: 4:02

Well, this is what we got, these American car names. A pivotal part of any vehicle is, of course, its name names. It can make or break a model. Go ahead, mike. It carry as much weight as the engine, the drivetrain configuration and also the looks. The first one we have here is a mercury marauder, first introduced in 1963, the sinister one of the of these combined muscle cars menace from the ford motor company, the Mercury Marauder. Originally intended as a sub-model in the three-sized Mercury model align, it became a standalone model in 1966 and acquired its name from a series of V8 engines that the company first unveiled in 1958. A Marauder is essentially a pirate, an unsavory individual who steals and plunders, sort of like us. It was a perfect name a performance model aimed to dominate the drag strip. So there you go, that's a good-looking car there. The next one we have here is a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, introduced in 1969.

Speaker 1: 4:57

The Trans Am is named— Breaker 1.9.

Speaker 3: 4:59

There you go. Its name came to define the performance icon one loved over generations for its styling and performance. Like many of the models on this list, it's conceived during the pony and muscle car glory years of the 60s, before coming into its own in the 70s. The name literally comes from a mythological bird, bright orange in color, commonly seen on fire in the media and in folklore. So that's where that name comes from.

Speaker 3: 5:26

Next one is a plymouth barracuda mike. In 1969 it was introduced. Watch your vehicle to be a winner. Name it after one of the ocean's most iconic predators, the barracuda. When it was an open secret that ford was designing the car, the wood this would become the mustang, plymouth decided to get in the action and created a sporty car based on the Valiant and its compact dubbed the Barracuda. The first two of a sporty car based on the Valiant. The generations were fine. I'm sorry. They were fine cars, but the third that showed the Barracuda could do when it was bare as teeth. Sharing the e-body platform of the Dodge Challenger, the Barracuda was a smidgen smaller but featured a unique styling to separate it. Next one, Michael, is a Mercury Cougar. I like this car. I wish I had one back in the day when I had my Nova. This was introduced in 69. A friend of mine had one of these.

Speaker 1: 6:16

You know, everybody thinks that that is an absolute remake of the Ford Mustang. It is not.

Speaker 3: 6:23

No, it's not. No, it was actually designed similar to it, but it wasn't. It actually wasn't as many enthusiasts, many enthusiasts, what their favorite car name was all time the Mercury Cougar Eliminator. Everything about the name is awesome, starting with the Mercury brand name, which is a great starting point. Adding the Cougar to the lineup was a great choice because it gave the brand an attractive cousin to the Ford Mustang. It was only a cousin. Then, of course, tracking the Eliminator in 1969 to donate the high-performance variant Really took it over the edge. It's Cougar, eliminate the Competition. So there you go.

Speaker 1: 7:00

Was it the XLR? Yes, was that one of them? Cougar XLR.

Speaker 3: 7:05

That was the fancy, high-end version of it. Right, the Eagle Talon. You wouldn't figure this one would be one, but in 1990.

Speaker 1: 7:11

I remember going to the car show. I remember going to the car show and that was the first time I saw that we went. Wow, that really looks cool.

Speaker 3: 7:19

The first couple of generations of the Mitsubishi Eclipse put the car on the tuner map, but not everyone knows it was also sold under a joint Chrysler-Mitsubishi partnership under the Eagle and Plymouth brands. While the Plymouth Laser name is also pretty sweet, the Eagle Talon just fits too well. It's the perfect description of a car with performance. Though two generations. The car looked and sounded awesome when it optioned for the TSI trim with optional all-wheel drive. That's great stuff. The last one, not my favorite, but here you go. It's introduced in 1997 as the Plymouth Prowler. I think you drove one, didn't you?

Speaker 1: 7:55

Don I did when it first came out. My dad loved that car.

Speaker 3: 7:58

This Prowler is easily one of the most controversial American cars ever made a hot rod for then modern age. It had styling inspired by classic hot rods of the 30s and when the concept car was unveiled in 1993, the world immediately fell in love with it. However, as we all likely know, the result was a vehicle that left a lot to be desired. The design was tamed, ugly bumpers were added and the hope of real performance was squashed when they put an automatic V6 in the vehicle.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Just awful. And you know, the funny thing about that was the car looked so good. The interior even was really cool. The problem was with the out of top on it, the body flex on that thing. It would just take off from a stop sign, not even fast, yeah, and you could feel the twisting body. Yeah, and that V6 engine. It was so lame and all I could think of is the Chevrolet SSR Remember that thing.

Speaker 3: 8:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah, looked really cool.

Speaker 2: 8:59

What a weak, limp piece of yeah and there wasn't, and there wasn't even enough bones there to to hop up like the v6 on this. It really wasn't.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Don't forget the top and that bizarre top that did all this manipulation and folding and everything, and they went back behind the back seats and you couldn't open the back trunk well, which would have been the bed, because the lid on it wouldn't open far enough. What was the purpose of that?

Speaker 2: 9:23

There was just a lot of things.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Who said, yeah, let's build that. No.

Speaker 2: 9:29

Sometimes it looks like the car comes from the engineers without any input from the marketing guys that really are going to sell it.

Speaker 3: 9:36

I think they're in a meeting and said, said we need something different, we need something over the top, off the edge, and that's what they came up with.

Speaker 1: 9:41

My opinion, you know I talked to a chevrolet guy about that and he said you know, we spent a lot of money on stamping those fenders because we hadn't used that technology since the 1950s. If remember, the fenders were very round. Yeah, big bulbous fenders, almost like the rear fender of a motorcycle yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:01

Yeah, and you know, we were talking about the Firebird a minute ago. Mm-hmm, I was talking to Bill Seitz this week and Bill Seitz, longtime friend of mine, and we were talking about old school cars longtime friend of mine and we were talking about old school cars and Bill Seitz, ashamedly had a. Sunbird. Do you remember the Pontiac Sunbird oh?

Speaker 3: 10:29

Was it his or his wife?

Speaker 1: 10:30

Well, both of them Either way, because they had two Corvettes and they needed the daily drivers, so they bought the Sunbird, sort of similarly shaped kind of. No, no, it was not, it was what we like to refer to in the business as a turd. Oh.

Speaker 2: 10:46

An opus.

Speaker 1: 10:48

And it had a four-speed manual transmission and a not weak but a watery four-cylinder engine in it. I don't even know how it got up to 60 miles an hour. Oh, wow, yeah, Honey X Sunbird. All right Time now for this hour's car review. I had a chance to drive the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale all-wheel drive. Now the final assembly location is Pamigliano d'Arco, Naples, Italy. Wow, how did I do? Can you spell that?

Speaker 2: 11:28

Terribly.

Speaker 1: 11:29

I can spell it, but it won't do any good because it doesn't make any difference. I can spell Tonio Pomigliano. Available trim levels Base, intensa, tributo and Italiano. There you go. I had the base model. It is considered a subcompact suv, but in our language it's a small suv. Still seats five people, all new in 2024, so this is a relatively new vehicle. It's got a great shape. Love the distinct sporty shape with menacing headlights and Alfa's Scudetto grille. Bet, you didn't even know that, did you?

Speaker 2: 12:15

No.

Speaker 1: 12:16

It's called a Scudetto grille. Unique wheels with round spokes. Rear taillights emulate the headlight design, big dual exhaust tips with a rear sunshade over the rear glass what I liked? The Tonale gets high marks for its killer design. In my opinion, what could use improvement? Nothing Don't jack with it. Here's why. Because so many SUVs look the same the taillights. If you took the name of the vehicle off of it, I hear you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between no offense, yeah, a buick, right, or you know an audi any of those yeah, I agree exactly.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Interior highlights start stop button is on the steering wheel, right there, see it. I loved it. Uh. Unique, uh wheels. I told you about that with the round spokes. We're doing the interior now, don Good, nice dash layout. Huge paddle shifters Huge. If you're into paddle shifting, this is the bomb. Mike's into paddling. Spanking Seat material Attractive and cool Dash and footwell, accent lights. Sweet Cargo room. Small, but this is a small SUV. What I liked about it most everything. We like the wetsuit-style fabric on the seats Cool, I don't know how else to describe it. We could use improvement. Small infotainment screen that was a little slow to react to touch inputs. A 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder with 268 horsepower, which is a lot Torque. 295, 9-speed automatic transmission so that's how they could get away with a little bit less horsepower in, basically, a sport SUV. Miles per gallon 21 city city, 29, highway for combined to 24, believe it or not, I got 29.7 miles per gallon over 461.5 miles.

Speaker 1: 14:18

Wow, that's pretty darn good, that's really good, but I like plenty of power to throw it around corners. And I say that in a sincere way, because you want to what? Because you?

Speaker 2: 14:27

want to. And Well, because you want to and it can, Because it can.

Speaker 1: 14:30

Because it can, and that's the one cool thing about it that most SUVs don't have in this category. What could use improvement? Start-stop was annoying and couldn't turn it off oh wow, maybe I just couldn't figure out a way to turn it off. Well, that's true. Parking brake automatically engages when you put it in park. Turbolag in some situations. Ride and handling the sportiness is what I really liked about it. What could use improvement? If you don't like a sporty ride and handling, then buy something else. Don't buy a sports car. Yeah, because that's what this is it's a sports car SUV. The base model price is $36,495. The base trim price wait a minute, I've got that. The base trim price is $36,495 on this because it is the base model. Total price with a couple of options, including the destination charge $39,930. Really, I know $39,930. Really, I know I was impressed not only by the price but the hot rod ride, the hot rod handling. I'm all in.

Speaker 3: 15:37

Two things I'm noticing in that is that you don't see or you don't hear of the Alfa Romero Romero very often getting recalled for anything. No, you don't. That I remember.

Speaker 2: 15:47

I hadn't thought of that and the other thing is, you keep saying toenail.

Speaker 1: 15:51

I'm going to have to make a pedicure appointment. I didn't have to say toenail, you said toenail. I didn't say that. Keep saying it.

Speaker 3: 15:55

I'm going to have to have my toes done.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Actual competitors are the BMW X1, the Audi Q3, and the Mercedes-Benz GLA, and all of those are more expensive.

Speaker 3: 16:06

Well, I was going to say those are, so this is the better bargain out of all of those.

Speaker 1: 16:10

I think so, and if you're into a small SUV and you want to have kind of a hot rod thing going on and something different that doesn't look like all the rest of them, go check it out.

Speaker 3: 16:21

And you're in the Euro phase, the European vehicle, you know.

Speaker 1: 16:25

Italian, and I bet you you'll find one at an Alfa store that's already beat the tariffs. Yeah, just saying so, the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonali all-wheel drive, perfect, yeah.

Speaker 3: 16:39

Nice car.

Speaker 1: 16:39

All right.