A Budget Built Miata Earns A Fast 15 Spot in the Race to the Sky!
The road to the top of Pikes Peak looks beautiful right up until you imagine missing a corner. We call Richard Tomlin from the mountain to get a real-time look at what it takes to compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb when the sun is brutal, the air is thin, and even cell service feels like it’s fighting you.
Richard walks us through a huge milestone for Apex Auto Works: the ApexOSET Miata based build qualifying in the Fast 15, plus the very different challenge of keeping “Big Bird” a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner, happy with carburetor tuning across massive elevation changes. We also dig into the heart of this year’s story, a Plymouth Road Runner with deep family history that gets transformed for the mountain with NASCAR-derived hardware underneath, while still carrying the little details that make it a true legacy car.
From there we talk race day reality: staging cars, camping, beating the crowds on the one road in and out, and why so many drivers use onboard oxygen to stay sharp at 14,000 feet. We also share where to watch the live coverage on Racer TV, then shift gears into our racing calendar, quick hits from automotive history, and a can’t-believe-it story about a thief using a Waymo robotaxi as a getaway while police come up empty.
If you love hill climb racing, grassroots engineering, classic muscle cars with modern race tech, and the weird edges of self-driving car privacy, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a car friend, and leave us a review.
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00:00 - Show Open And What’s Ahead
01:19 - Checking In From Pikes Peak
06:07 - The Roadrunner’s Family History
08:18 - NASCAR Parts Under A Classic Body
10:58 - Race Day Schedule And Streaming
12:58 - Oxygen, Altitude, And Staying Sharp
14:28 - Viewing Areas, Tickets, And Camping
16:40 - Sponsor Break And 15 Years Thanks
18:34 - Racing Calendar Quick Hits
20:38 - Local Tracks And Growth Pressure
21:28 - This Week In Automotive History
26:38 - The Waymo Robotaxi Getaway
28:31 - Email Us And Where To Listen
Show Open And What’s Ahead
Don ArmstrongIt's the in-wheel time car talk show just ahead. We head to that scary place outside of Denver, Colorado called Pike's Peak. I I guess there was a man named Pike. We're not going to get into the history of that, but we are going to talk to Richard Tomlin about the scary hill climb. Even if you're in a regular car. Not too long ago, I white-knuckled it all the way up. Why did they call it a hill climb? Friends, this is a mountain climb any way you look at it. Anyway, we're going to talk to Richard. Mountain climbers has already taken that. How about auto mountain climbers? Jeff has the racing calendar, Mr. Mars has this week in auto history, and I'll have the stories making automotive news this week. Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, Mars, in our other studio. We always need more Jeff Zeken in this studio. My name is Don Armstrong. Glad you could join us. And David Ainsley, our chief engineer and bottle washer, he too uh is listening and watching today and complaining about the audio levels. And we're trying to get there, David. Just be patient. Or not. So, anyway, that's beside the point. All right.
Checking In From Pikes Peak
Don ArmstrongLet's go up to the hill, if you want to call it that. There he is, ladies and gentlemen. It's Richard Tomlin, Apex Auto Works. Richard, is that a tan or is that a burn on your face?
SPEAKER_00This is burns. This is uh we're closer to the sun here. And uh very white.
Don ArmstrongYeah, it listen, listen, buddy, it it's not closer to the sun, it's closer to the outside universe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a rough uh been here seven days now and every day in the sun for you know five, six hours at a time.
Don ArmstrongYou know, they they do make some uh sunblock, and uh yeah, I would suggest maybe have send somebody down the mountain and get you some sunblock.
SPEAKER_00Too late for all that.
Don ArmstrongYeah, all right. So let's talk about automobiles that you've got up there on the peak. Where do you want to start?
SPEAKER_00Um been a hell of a year. Uh we got the Apex O set, which you all know well, the Miata that you claim is not a Miata, but it is. Um qualified in the Fast 15, which basically tells you you're in the top 20% off cars from running up the mountain. We got 74 parts this year. Um never thought we would get there. Um we'd hoped it's been dreamed, but we made it. And then uh we've also got Big Bird up here, which is qualified at the back of the pack, having some carburetor tuning issues on top of the mountain. Surprise. Um, this is the challenge of running a carburetor motor at 8,000 all the way up to 14,000 feet of elevation. And uh we're learning every day. So both cars are ready to race up the hill. We'll go stage both today. Um they'll be parked up there. We'll camp out overnight, get up in the morning, and uh all the festivities start about 7 30 in the morning, and follow along on Racer T TV, which is where everything comes to life.
Don ArmstrongUh well, as usual, uh, I think that cell phone service up there is sketchy. Uh at what elevation are you currently?
SPEAKER_00We start about 8,000 feet.
Don ArmstrongSo you're are you down at 8,000?
SPEAKER_00No, this year I will be at the top. I'm over protest this year, so I'll be at the summit house for the full day. Take care of protests.
Don ArmstrongRichard, you know, uh, we all we all of us look at you and go, is this a real human being? He climbs mountains, he fixes cars, he races cars, and and not just regular cars. He goes all out about anything to do with a car. You know, you have this reputation now, you got to live up to it every day.
SPEAKER_00I will say, yesterday was very humbling setting in what we call the Fast 15, and knowing that we have the lowest dollar car of the entire group. And being able to run toe-to-toe with these guys or in class with these guys is amazing. I run in front of them, I mean we're in front of, you know, literally a couple of things.
Don ArmstrongWell, Richard, yeah, I want to tell you that your signal is so bad. Yeah, you're breaking out. We can't even understand what you're saying.
Mike MarrsSo can you maybe lean closer to your microphone?
Don ArmstrongOr either that or maybe perhaps reconnect with Mr. Mars. We're gonna we're gonna exit away from you for just a second here. Now that made no difference. If you if you'll reconnect with Mr. Mars, that'd be great. You know, this is what happens when you get close to the sun. We'll we're gonna call it solar interference. That's what it that's what we're gonna call it. Duck, it might be a satellite coming through. Sure. Yeah, exactly. So Mr. Mars, if you'd be so kind as to reconnect with him, that would be greatly appreciated. You know, um like I said, a couple years ago my daughter lives in Denver suburb of Denver. And hey dad, why don't why don't you go up to Pike's Peak? I went up there with my parents back in the day when the road was still dirt, so you couldn't go real fast. And we were in a passenger car, I think it was the Buick Skylark or something. No, you couldn't go, but they were still using racing at the time. Well, that that that's a whole nother story. This is regular people, you know. And I didn't think anything of it. It was okay, okay. No, now that I'm older, I white knuckled it at about five miles an hour all the way up. I was thinking I'm gonna fall off. I wouldn't even have chanced it. I wouldn't even have done it. No, you would yeah, I'm telling you. Um there there was uh I needed to take some medicine when I got down off of the off of the pipe. Here we go with martinis again. No, not that kind of medicine. No, no, it was uh it was something that you'd buy at uh CVS. But anyway. Um is he back, Mike?
Mike MarrsYeah, I I think we got him back. He's he's moved. So uh inside.
Don ArmstrongRichard, let's hear you, Richard. Talk to us. Go for it.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Is that any better?
Don ArmstrongIt is it's it's it's good for it's good for much better. Yeah, the audio is much better, and we and we see your your your beautiful sunburnt face.
SPEAKER_00Didn't you just go like that? You turn the mic off, turn the video off, it's fine.
Don ArmstrongWell, yeah, I guess we could do that, but uh yeah, I know that everybody wants to see
The Roadrunner’s Family History
Don Armstrongyou. So let's talk about the let's talk about the road runner and uh a little bit of the history because uh I know that we've got people watching us today that really don't know the history. This is your family car.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, family car. Um parents drove it to the hospital when I was born. Um stayed in the family forever, it was a drag race car. Uh father was killed in '95. I did a bunch of body work on it, restoring it over the years, and then parked it. Man, probably almost 30 years, and it set. And uh then we had a guy last year that was talking about commissioning us to help build him a car. And uh what he wanted to build, I didn't think was wise financially for what he was doing. And uh told me he need to build something old and something cool. What would you build? And he threw out Roadrunner, and I said, Well, nobody would build a roadrunner to race Pike's Peak. That's dumb. Um it's made to go in a straight line very fast. And uh dumb to find out, he's got a background much like mine. Learn to drive manual in a roadrunner, learn to race in a roadrunner, wrenched on a roadrunner as a kid, so it became a legacy project for the two of us to get this car up the mountain. And then we had some friends at Pike's Peak that helped us throw in a uh R5 P7 NASCAR engine chassis suspension underneath. Um, so greatly violated my father's roadrunner, cutting out the belly of it and putting a NASCAR underneath, but it is a Dodge NASCAR, um, so that makes it somewhat acceptable.
Don ArmstrongWell, that and the fact that there's still a lot of uh parts and pieces, uh especially of the body of the car that continues to roll on, so to speak.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's exactly the same on the inside. There's stickers on the dash that I put there at seven years old. There's stickers on the outside. I remember 13, 14 watching dad put them on the car. So it's uh very close to home.
Don ArmstrongYeah. Well, uh uh did you did you send it up there in an enclosed trailer or open trailer?
SPEAKER_00It was an enclosed trailer. Um, but man, I'll tell you what, just the uh three weeks that they've had it up here and testing and on the mountain, I think every panel has got dings and dents and chips on it now. Already it is nothing like what it was, so it's gonna need some attention and some TLC very soon.
Don ArmstrongWell, but you know, that after the event. So tell us tell us about the event,
NASCAR Parts Under A Classic Body
Don Armstrongif you will. Uh has it already it obviously is qualifying and stuff and you've gotten classifications. When is the real event?
SPEAKER_00Event starts tomorrow morning about 8 30. First car off the line.
Don ArmstrongYeah. And where are you scheduled in that?
SPEAKER_00Um first car will start 17th overall. Um, the other car starts third from last, so I think it's like 72nd qualifier overall. Um, so we will be there all day. Um running. Hopefully, the racing is done by two. So if you're gonna tune in for the whole thing, consider from 8:30 mountain time, so 9:30 your time on Racer until 3:30 in the afternoon. Six hours, seven hours.
Jeff DziekanRacer TV.
SPEAKER_00Racer TV is the number one, and then mobile one oil will live stream it as well. But Racer TV is the main one this year. They've got TV crews, uh media teams doing interviews, uh, radio and video coverage.
Don ArmstrongWow, that's exciting. And I guess you have to have a subscription, right?
SPEAKER_00No, they've got a free one. It's it's a free one on their app. So and it's on TV TV too. So yeah.
Don ArmstrongWow, that that's uh that that's that's pretty darn exciting. So, how big is your crew for these two cars?
SPEAKER_00Um, we've got seven on a PEXO set, and they've got six on Big Bird, but then we've got another four, five media team as well. Those are the ones cranking out the pictures and videos for us.
Don ArmstrongYeah, it's like a NASCAR team. Yeah, Mike's got a question.
Mike MarrsYeah, what's the question, Mike? Yeah, Richard. Um my question was you're part of the officiating crew.
SPEAKER_00I do that, yes.
Mike MarrsSo you don't really get to deal with the cars during the race.
SPEAKER_00Right. So I come up here and basically hand them off uh to our crew, and then I go away and do my technical duties and then watch my cars operate. And as we're going through qualifying stages and sessions that they run, I move to different sessions so there's no conflict of interest for anybody to scream and yell about.
Mike MarrsYeah, so you get to stand at the top of the hill waiting on your car to come up over that last rise.
Don ArmstrongAbsolutely. So, what what is up? You know, I know that there's a visitor center up there at the top of that mountain, which by the way, I walked into and then crawled back out to the car. And uh, I know, laugh if you will, but that was just that was it. And I stayed in the car while everybody else had a nice time up there, and uh I was talking to God the entire time. Lack of oxygen up there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, there's that it's a challenge for a lot of people, it really is.
Race Day Schedule And Streaming
Don ArmstrongSo well, it used to not be, but now uh it is for me.
SPEAKER_00Probably ninety I would say ninety-nine-five percent of drivers actually run oxygen in their cars, yeah. Um, just with a nose hose and regulator, and um, it helps them stay clear and focused, and you'll see them throughout the day going back to the car, putting oxygen on for 10-15 minutes, then walk away from the car.
Jeff DziekanSo, are there any uh uh motorcycles or anything unique going up, like some home-built garage vehicle that's like a snow sled or something gonna make it? No, not the melt, not the Miata Nam Miata, not that one.
SPEAKER_00The uh this year they've got the uh Ultra Fours, uh, which are a couple of those from Texas, but they brought four Ultra Fours up here to compete this year as an exhibition. Um, we always run the military up before us, but they'll have a couple Humvees and fast response vehicles that are pretty awesome. But yeah, no more motorcycles. Uh those got closed out a few years ago when uh Carlin Dunn lost his life. Um that was the final one, and we just don't do bikes anymore on the mountain. There's no recovering from that when you go off at this pace, you know?
Don ArmstrongPace and altitude. Right. Yeah, let me tell you something. You know, there's some roads up there that I happen to peek out the window just to see how much fright I could put into myself. Oh Lord. And it goes like straight down. Yeah, there's no you know, ledge or cliff or something you can fall on that all the way down.
SPEAKER_00There's some very steep spots for sure. Very yeah, very steep.
Don ArmstrongSo uh uh what is the closest city to Pike's Peak?
SPEAKER_00Uh they would tell you Cascade at the bottom, but it's a very small town. So Colorado Springs is a real place where most of us stay.
Jeff DziekanI I think it's heaven. That's the closest city.
Don ArmstrongThat's awesome, which I which I will spend eternity in, hopefully. Hopefully. Well, maybe not. I'm doing this show, so that's not gonna get me there, that's for sure. Well, um, so what are you going to do the rest of the day?
SPEAKER_00Um well, today is a trip to Walmart to grab supplies to live out of my truck
Oxygen, Altitude, And Staying Sharp
SPEAKER_00for the next 30 hours. Um, because you've got to be there before all the fans, because there's one way in, one way out, and about 18 to 19,000 people coming in this two-lane road. So we get there early and camp out, and then that way the next morning we can jump up at 1 30 and head up to the top of the mountain.
Don ArmstrongObviously, there are viewing areas. I mean, it's not all the way around the course. Tons of things. You can't stand in certain parts of the course, they won't let you do that. Correct.
SPEAKER_00I think there's six or seven viewing areas now. Yeah. Doubles playground being the number one, which has 10,000 tickets itself for that one viewing area. Wow. And it is packed with people. It's awesome to watch. So devil's playground, you can see the start line. So it's it's a really good spot to watch the race.
Jeff DziekanWhat is the ticket price for someone to get in?
SPEAKER_00I honestly don't know. I know originally they opened up at 25 bucks, but somebody was told me the other day that they're 70, so I don't know for sure. And depending on which area you're in, it affects pricing and how high up the mountain. Like the more premiere viewing Devil's Playground, of course, costs more than some of the smaller spots where you get to just watch a car go by.
Jeff DziekanYeah, it makes sense. Makes sense.
Don ArmstrongWell, listen, man, we we wish you the best of luck. Godspeed, John Glenn, as they say. And uh, because you're blasting out into outer space. Um uh we're going to follow you. We're gonna uh watch you on TV and do all the things that we need to do to keep up. And uh, what are the car numbers? How how do how do we find you
Viewing Areas, Tickets, And Camping
Don Armstrongon the TV?
SPEAKER_00Look for what super simple this year. Car 6869. 68 for the 68 Roadrunner and 69 for the lunar lander, being a 50th year anniversary of the lunar lander. Okay, which is the Miata, yeah.
Don ArmstrongYep, maybe maybe you'll get to see the lunar, but uh we hope hopefully we don't get to be the lander.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep. Yeah, we'll we'll be in touch, we'll be back in town next week, and uh we'll post up our results and stuff as soon as it happens on uh Facebook and Instagram. So follow along, it'll be great.
Don ArmstrongWe look forward to it, my friend. Be safe and take care.
SPEAKER_00All right, see you soon.
Don ArmstrongThanks, Richard.
SPEAKER_00Bye.
Jeff DziekanWow, interesting stuff. I would never do it.
Don ArmstrongI I have I will I will never ever ever go back up there.
Mike MarrsYou know, he's his wife won't let him do any of the drivers.
Don ArmstrongHave you ever been there?
Mike MarrsNo, I have not. It's it's on the list.
Don ArmstrongOh, really?
Mike MarrsDidn't Richard used to drive, didn't he go up once or twice in the beginning? I think that he did. But well, I mean he he drives up and down, you know, to get out of the room. Right, right, but but to compete. He doesn't drive the race cars.
Don ArmstrongOkay. Let me tell you something. I will I will gladly be standing at the bottom of the mountain and I will wave the granny wave as you as you take off and head up toward the first little check-in point. And uh that that that's all I'm gonna do. You know when they take the player off the field in the stretcher and goes like this?
Jeff DziekanThat would be me. I'd be like, Yeah, I would not. I wouldn't go back.
Don ArmstrongAnd the next time I get anywhere close there, I will be under I will propofol will be my friend. Propofol. What is that? That's the stuff that they use to put you to sleep when you go into surgery. Oh you wake up the next day and you go, Where am I? Am I on this planet still? No, you're not. You're on Pike's Peak. I thought that was Cuervo when they put that. Well, there's that. All right. Well, that was fun. Just ahead, Jeff has the racing calendar and Mr. Mars has this week in auto history. And I'll bring you some of the stories making automotive news headlines this week. The In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this quick break.
Sponsor Break And 15 Years Thanks
Don ArmstrongThe Tex Max dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, Loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Loopy Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in Houston. Visit any of the Loopy tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail at each and every location. Start your loopy experience with queso flamingato and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita. Dine on famous loopy beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette, or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert. Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-tested. The ingredients always fresh. Loopy tortilla. Eat pretty good. The N-Wheel Time Car Talk Show thanks you for 15 wonderful years. Yep, our first show aired May 7th, 2011 on the 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 broadcast, too, 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. And we thank you for joining us. In Wheel Time will bring you another all-new show next Saturday, 10 to noon central. Listen and watch on InWheeltime.com, Facebook, and YouTube. If you miss it, you'll be able to connect through a podcast from your favorite podcast channel anytime. Pronto. Pronto. All right.
Racing Calendar Quick Hits
Don ArmstrongTime now for the racing calendar, sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge. Mr. Jeffrey Zeke has.
Jeff DziekanThank you for that. We've got Lawnmower Racing. It's in uh Gun Barrel, Texas today. It is the Lawnmower Racing Association. It's the regular season, in case you are wondering about that. Have you ever watched it? Just on a YouTube thing. Yeah.
Don ArmstrongYeah, I know, because it's not on live ABC wide world of sports.
Jeff DziekanFS1 or anything. Yeah. Then you got NASCAR. They're at San Diego. They're at a naval base down there. I saw a little bit of the trucks run yesterday evening. I didn't really watch the whole thing. It's like a road course? Yeah. Road course on the on a naval naval base down there. There's several down there in San Diego and they're on a particular island that they're running. It actually looks pretty cool. I didn't see a lot of it, but it's on CW today at five o'clock, and then tomorrow the big boys are running on the Prime Uh Pay Network or whatever that is. Then you got any IndyCar, Indie Racing League. They're at Road America. And that will be tomorrow. So that's going to be fun to watch. NHRA is off this week. They will be in uh where are they going to be next week? They're going to be in Norwalk next week. Norwalk, Ohio. Formula One's going on. They're going to be in uh Australia. It's the Australian Grand Prix. That's going to go uh today, actually. I think it might have already run. And then for you, Don, I got USAC. We talked about USAC. I love USAC. USAC's going to be in Pennsylvania. You've got all the series running in Pennsylvania. It's the Port Royal Speedway out there. So Winged and Unwinged, Midgets and Tall, whatever they call that. So there you go. USAC. And where'd you say they're going to be at Pennsylvania? They're going to be in Royal Port Speed. No, I looked uh the other day when I pulled this up. There's some in Michigan. It's all kind of the Midwest stuff. Kansas is probably going to be.
Don ArmstrongWell, this time of the year, yeah.
Jeff DziekanYou got sprints, you got midgets, uh, you've got nothing, nothing, uh, nothing close. A lot of California stuff going on. That's a real shame.
Don ArmstrongUh uh and uh you know World of Outlaws, that's another one that I like. That's kind of in the sprint car thing.
Jeff DziekanThis is the USAC USAC championship, like NASCAR is a NASCAR. But uh check out your local tracks. There's stuff going on all the time in your local area.
Local Tracks And Growth Pressure
Don ArmstrongAnd I'm here to tell you uh Houston Motorsports Park. That's the uh three-eighths mile uh asphalt track up uh near Lake Houston. And they have a drag strip associated with it. The days I think of that track, along with a uh motorcycle track next to it, are numbered. I flew over it the other day. And there's some really nice neighborhoods real close to it. Yeah, and you know, that usually spells doom.
Jeff DziekanYeah, the demise is coming.
Don ArmstrongUh because uh that area up there, it's easily accessible by the uh Grand Parkway and transit.
Jeff DziekanWell, that's kind of why they built the Grand Parkway to develop all that area out there, and it's happening. It's happening, yeah. Yeah, so it won't be long.
Don ArmstrongUh I'd imagine the next couple of years it'll be gone. Okay.
This Week In Automotive History
Don ArmstrongAll right, let's look at the auto history notebook. Mr. Mars has that.
Mike MarrsYeah, we've got a couple of things coming up in this week uh in automotive history, such as June the 22nd, 1909. Now Alice Ramsey arrived in San Francisco after leaving New York 59 days earlier. She was in a Maxwell. I bet there weren't no Motel 6s nearby, were there? Nope, nope, nope. She was in a Maxwell touring car with three female passengers.
Jeff DziekanThere you go.
Mike MarrsSo she uh, of course, they had to go across primitive roads, 1909, uh, mud, river crossings, and mechanical breakdowns. They handled it all. And so this made her the first woman to drive across the United States and demonstrated the uh reliability of automobiles and can take the role of women in the development of our society, and uh is really one of the most remarkable endurance drives in a automotive.
Don ArmstrongI wonder if she ever got out and changed a tire, too. That's why she had the other three ladies with her.
Mike MarrsIn the history, I think they had to change two of them. But anyway, moving on to June the 23rd, the first Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island's new circuit happened. Uh this was uh June the 23rd. So thousands of spectators gathered along island to watch the leading American European manufacturers compete on a newly designed course. Now, this again, the event was to showcase automotive technology, including more powerful engines, and uh the improved vehicles. Now, this was because at this time, racing directly influenced production car development. Things that worked out on the racetrack, and they would go in and build them. The old uh saying that uh win on Sunday, sell on Monday kind of thing. This is where all that good stuff started. Now then moving on to June the 25th, Malcolm Campbell sets a new land speed record. Now, this is really impressive because the British driver pushed his sunbeam-powered racer to a land speed record at 109 stands in Wales. He got over 150 miles an hour in 1925. And and it absolutely caught international attention. And he continued to set more records as he went on, but this was the first one, and this really highlighted the rapid technology technology advances occurring in the automotive industry during the formative days. Then on June the 26th, the last Ford Model T rolled out. Now, this was uh a big deal. It was the 15 millionth uh Model T that was built. And in reality, of course, the Model A followed this, but the reality of the Model A was basically a Model T on steroids. It was a little bit wider, a little bit longer, but it looked almost the same other than the dimensions on it. Then coming up on June the 27th, 1950, the first production Saab 92 rolls out. Now, this was important because this was the company's first passenger car. They've been developing aircraft engines and developing airplanes, and and so the Streamline 92 featured uh some really innovative engineering and aerodynamics. It was powered by a two-cylinder two-stroke engine, but it got a reputation for reliability and durability because of the engineering that had gone into the aircraft experience that the company had. Sob reliable? Well, the two-cylinder two-stroke engine in 1950 is what we're talking about.
Don ArmstrongDid it sound anything like this? Whenever it popped.
Mike MarrsYeah. I don't know. I'll have to see if we can find a video from that. Now in June 27, 1963, Lamborghini is officially established. Now I missed a picture. This car here, uh, there were several pictures of it, but I love the way this car looks. Now, this is uh that already Lamborghini, of course, started in the tractor business. They set out to build grand touring cars to challenge Ferrari. It's kind of a personal thing between the families. And uh so they introduced the 350 GT, and it's that's really where what founded Lamborghini and created one of the world's most famous rivalries between them and Ferrari, whether it's in racing, on the show floor, design, they're just they're after each other all the time. But I love the way this car looks, and uh that's just some of the things we found in automotive history this week.
Don ArmstrongI like the way that the green sobed. It's kind of fitting. It was different. I don't even know how what would you say about that car? You know, it kind of looked like a little baby elephant.
unknownUh-oh.
Mike MarrsYeah, you could say it kind of looked like a baby elephant. It was more to me like uh uh uh like a little beetle or a little ladybug type thing. It just it was green, you know.
unknownYeah.
Don ArmstrongWell, green cars that no, they just don't work for me, but whatever. Different day, different
The Waymo Robotaxi Getaway
Don Armstrongtime. Police in San Francisco have spent five months searching the cities, first known thief to flee the scene in a self-driving car. In January, someone stole clothing from a yoga studio, loaded the loot into the trunk of a Waymo robotaxi, and rode off, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Even though Waymo cars are outfitted with more than two dozen cameras, police were unable to obtain any footage that helped point to a suspect. Waymo already had deleted the interior footage by the time a search warrant came through, and the company blurs faces of privacy for privacy in the exterior views it captures. The writer's account information also didn't lead to anyone. Quote, I would think it would be easier to solve in a Waymo, Sergeant Tim Fay, the detective handling the case, told the Chronicle for a story this month, it was disappointing that the internal video was not able to lead to the recognition of a suspect. Waymo told the publication it couldn't comment on the case because that in general it considers public safety and privacy when responding to requests from law enforcement. The company doesn't use technology that can identify riders through facial recognition or other biometrics. That's not to say robotaxis offer a guaranteed getaway. LA police in January arrested a man they said robbed a supermarket before getting into a Waymo car. Officers were able to pursue the car and persuade it to pull over by activating their lights and sirens, which Waymo has instructed its vehicles to recognize and obey. Direct from California, ladies and gentlemen, you just can't make that.
Jeff DziekanSo if you're in a regular cab with a driver, because they have cameras, and you do the same thing but don't tip off the driver, well, can they go back and look at that video? Is there some law against that? This is crazy. It
Email Us And Where To Listen
Jeff Dziekanis.
Don ArmstrongHey, we'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email. The address here is info at nwheeltime.com, and we're back right after this. The Tex Max dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, Loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Loopy Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in Houston. Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you will see the same attention to detail at each and every location. Start your loopy experience with queso flamingato and guacamole, along with the classic frozen margarita. Dine on famous loopy beef and chicken to it is or pepper shrimp brochette, or a finisher vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert. Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-tested. The ingredients always fresh. Loopy tortilla. Eat pretty good. Apple or Android InWheel Time Podcast can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads. Whether you're on the road or at home and searching for a fun car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try. Honest new car reviews, fun informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture, mics driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time. Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music. InWheeltime.com has a list, so check us out. 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 InWheelTime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.










