Feb. 28, 2024

Corvettes, Community, and the Road Ahead: A High-Octane Journey with the Space City Corvette Club

Corvettes, Community, and the Road Ahead: A High-Octane Journey with the Space City Corvette Club
Corvettes, Community, and the Road Ahead: A High-Octane Journey with the Space City Corvette Club
In Wheel Time Podcast
Corvettes, Community, and the Road Ahead: A High-Octane Journey with the Space City Corvette Club

Rev your engines and buckle up as AJ Loupe, President of the Space City Corvette Club, takes us for a spin through the heart of Corvette culture at the HEMI Hideout in Brookshire, Texas. This episode isn't just about the roar of engines and the shine of chrome; it's a celebration of community, with a look at the impact of our Good Grub & Gears Fall Car Show and its staggering $100,000 donation to Texas Air Research. Don Armstrong shares a personal update on his own Corvette journey—tinkering with enhancements and tackling a steering wheel challenge that's as stubborn as a rusted bolt.

Shift into storytelling gear and ride shotgun with "Big Tuna," a legend in the Corvette community, who brings us tales of his prized Corvettes and a hint at a big event revving up on the horizon.

Then, we take a detour through automotive history with This Week In Auto History, reminiscing about Hudson automobiles and the Thunderbird's rivalry with the Corvette.

Join us for this high-octane episode where every turn brings another thrilling story from the world of sports cars and hot rods.

Lupe Tortilla, sponsor Tailpipes & Tacos
Lupe Tortilla in Katy, Texas, is host to the quarterly Saturday morning cruise-in!

Sponsored by Gulf Coast Auto Shield
Paint protection and more!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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00:01 - Corvette Club Gathering at Hemmy Hideout

14:20 - Corvette and Hot Rod Enthusiasts Meet

26:42 - Auto History and Future SUV Talk

Corvette Club Gathering at Hemmy Hideout

Speaker 1

Welcome to another In Wheel Time Podcast , a 30 minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11am central . This is your favorite go to spot and car podcasting and live streaming . It's the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show today , coming to you from the fabulous Hemmy Hideout in Brookshire , texas . Thanks to Headboard Guests for today's gathering of car folks . Plus , we'll also have Mr Mars and the event calendar . Look at you , caught up on the stories making auto headlines this week too . Howdy , along with Mike out of this world , mars , who cannot sit down , and we always need more . Jeff Zeekin , our Chief Engineer . David Ainsley I'm Don Armstrong , glad you could join us today from the Hemmy . Joining us today down at the guest hotspot would be AJ Loop . He's the President of the Space City Corvette Club and since this is really kind of a Corvette takeover , we thought it would be appropriate that we talk to another Corvette Club , don't you think ?

Speaker 2

I agree .

Speaker 1

Yeah , move that microphone a little bit closer to your mouth , sir .

Speaker 2

Thank you very much . How's that ?

Speaker 1

You know , I think , that the last time I saw you was a car show . Was it in the ?

Speaker 2

fall down in Friendswood . Yes , sir , and you finally made good on your promise when coming out , and it met the world just to see you out there .

Speaker 1

Thank you very much . Well , thank you , I remember that I don't know , but I remembered your face Right .

Speaker 2

Well , that's probably a good and a bad thing . Well , so what was the name of that event ? That was the 11th annual Good Grubbing Gears Fall Car Show , and we ended up raising $100,000 for Texas .

Speaker 4

Air Research .

Speaker 2

Day last year . Wow , that's awesome .

Speaker 1

Well , mars is like that bad classmate that you had that passes your notes and you get caught . Yeah , well , that's it . So there's that . Oh , okay , very good , tony , we're going to get to you . Are you going by the nickname of Big Tuna ? Okay , okay , all right . So , tony , we're going to get to Tony in just a minute , but right now we're going to talk to AJ , president of Space City Corvette Club , and I have to tell you , I think when I spoke to you down there at that cruise in well , actually it was a car show in the park which I thought was an absolutely fabulous setting- Thank you .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I'll agree with you on that .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I mean that is a really a cool setting and the collection of cars that showed up for that thing , that's something . How long has that thing been going on down there ?

Speaker 2

So this year would be our 12th annual , that's kind of hard to do . Where in the hell have I been ? I don't know . You know you kept promising me for years that you were going to come out .

Speaker 1

Well , I did .

Speaker 2

You finally made good on your promise and we appreciate that .

Speaker 1

Well , and you know , and again , I was impressed and , as a matter of fact , I came back , talked about it on the show here , how impressed I was , and I think that this year I'm going to try , try that I'm going to try and bring my Corvette down . Now , this is not a show car , right , this is a street running car . Looks okay , it's passable , you won't be embarrassed , but well .

Speaker 2

I may be , we can put you in a daily driver class . How about that ?

Speaker 1

It's not a daily driver , I will do that ?

Speaker 4

No , definitely not .

Speaker 1

But it's , it's , it's driven . There you go . Yeah , Just had some more Corvo seats put in it , okay , yeah , from a Pro-Am auto accessory . So we got her shifter , you got new wheels , you got new tires .

Speaker 4

Yeah .

Speaker 1

So I've been , you know , slowly but surely trying to . You know it's trying to keep up with the failing electronics Right . The last , the last thing is the tilt . Not the tilt , but the telescoping steering Right . The telescoping has failed . I am not digging into the airbag to get the steering wheel off . That ain't happening . No , I wouldn't want to do that either . Yeah , so I know that you're going to find me somebody that is really attuned to that .

Speaker 2

We can we can take care of that , I'm sure , I'm sure you can .

Speaker 1

So anyway , let's talk about Space City Corvette Club . How long has that been going ?

Speaker 2

on Since see . It was established in 2007 and right now we have 263 members .

Speaker 1

You know that's that 250 seems to be a good number . It's like a sweet spot . Yeah , because the Alamo . Have you met the Alamo guy that came in ? They were here a little bit ago .

Speaker 3

He's around here somewhere . He's around here somewhere .

Speaker 1

But anyway , the Alamo guys are here . They got about 250 . Seems to be a good number for a club and you know , having been a member of a couple of clubs in my day , I will tell you that 250 is probably manageable , but it's right on the cusp of not being that chaos . Yeah , and , as you know , being the president of the car club , it's like Wranglin' Cats .

Speaker 2

Like Herd and Cats . Yeah , it's a lot like work , but it's also a lot of fun . Oh , I know .

Speaker 1

Because you all have that one common thing going on and that's cars , and particularly the Corvettes . But there are lots of car clubs around and I'm sure , well , as you have put on a car show down there , that everybody's invited . You work with lots of car clubs . That's correct . Yeah , I understand that you helped wrangle all well , not all , but a lot of the people here .

Speaker 2

Well , so this gentleman is sitting to the left of me . Big Tuna who's ?

Speaker 1

coming on here in a few minutes .

Speaker 2

About seven years ago , we put together all the Corvettes coming out and you know we had a pretty decent showing . But in 2022 , we had 115 Corvettes out here and today we had 170 . So it continues to grow and I think there's some vibrers out there , that I think there's about 18 vibrers or so .

Speaker 4

The .

Speaker 2

Corvette wannabes Exactly .

Speaker 4

Yeah , sorry .

Speaker 2

I better be careful . I'm gonna make it out of the parking lot you didn't have to walk him to his car this evening .

Speaker 1

Yeah , Listen , I'll never forget . I drive press cars all the time . Well , when the Viper came out , they said we're sending you a Viper , great , I get in . This thing you need is a wild beast that has no traction control . I mean , if they put a fiberglass body on it by , they might as well just had a frame and this ginormous 10 cylinder motor in it that have a 2,000 horsepower . And I was a six speed had to be a six speed transmission . That thing was all over the road . I mean , it was like trying to drive a funny car . Right , it's crazy , and but I can certainly understand the attraction . I would imagine that if I were a little bit younger man I'd have probably had that thing on its top in a ditch somewhere in a New York minute .

Speaker 4

But I tried , had to control myself . Didn't that happen in your press fleet ? Somebody called you yes .

Speaker 1

Yes , I know that person and he's still alive and he has that to brag about . Yeah , he spun it out into an open ditch , put it on its lid . They took it back to Detroit and crushed the car Yikes .

Speaker 4

The rest of the way , yeah , the rest of the way , that's right .

Speaker 1

So who does everybody have 2018 and 2022 and 2024 Corvette's ?

Speaker 2

this . So yeah , the C8 obviously is becoming very popular . Just acquired one in January .

Speaker 1

Oh , so you're one of those .

Speaker 2

Yep , yep , I'm one of those . Had to sell a few to make room for it , but I got to tell you Chevy nailed it on that C8 .

Speaker 4

Yeah , I know I really did . I'm jealous actually . Well , how many do you have now ?

Speaker 2

So I had to sell three . So I'm still . I'm down to the 2024 , the 96 and a 72 . What is the oldest year in your club ? It's a 1953 production , number 32 . It's been on American Sports Car Magazine Used . The previous owner was the owner of the San Diego Padres . It's been signed by Zora Arcus Duntoff under the hood . Last year at Tri City it won Best of Paint by Ryan Evans of Counting Car Count Counts Customs and if I remember right , I think you guys were out there in Beaumont , if I remember correctly . Maybe not , but it was quite an honor . I think you're asking me to remember something .

Speaker 4

Yeah , I know right yeah forget that yeah , forgive me .

Speaker 2

Sorry .

Speaker 4

That's cool .

Speaker 1

It's interesting . I saw Corvette number three and it only seen it once and it was at Corvette Expo at the George R Brown no , sorry , at the Albert Thomas Convention Center in downtown Houston . Not too many people remember that because it goes back to about the turn of the century , but at any rate it was there and it was number three and I had no clue . It was fiberglass car , clearly , but I had no clue how bad the paint job on was , because you can see the fiberglass .

Speaker 4

Yeah , yeah . And to be able to paint a car and keep .

Speaker 1

Now , this was the original , all original . To keep a car that you could still see the fiberglass underneath the paint is truly amazing .

Speaker 2

That that's what Ryan Evans with with Counts , customs or Count , had mentioned . He said that the paint job on that car was not necessarily the best paint job there . But the paint job that was on that car was unbelievable because the way they laid the fiberglass it was cloth fiberglass . It was very difficult to get a decent finish and this car it is . It's just the texture of the fiberglass coming out .

Speaker 1

Well , I don't think that they gel , coated them back then and so you could see thank you so much . Is this the vodka that you promised I ordered ?

Speaker 2

a martini . Is that coming down there ?

Speaker 1

That's , yeah , it's headed your way after I get done with my share of it , but it's truly amazing to see that car and to see that car . And you know , you look at that first production run . 300 would have been in that first production run , correct ? And I believe that that car was built in Flint , michigan , if I'm not mistaken . That's correct . That was before they opened the Corvette factory in St Louis , and very primitive and nothing fit it was . It was of course at the time . Put your mind back to 1953 . I don't think I even had a mind in 1953 .

Speaker 1

I was building a spine , yeah , building a spine , but that was really cutting edge and they were trying to compete against European cars of the time . And to see that car in person you go Wow for an American car from 1953 , built out of fiberglass , that had a , you know , a two-speed transmission in it and it was primitive .

Speaker 1

Oh yeah , but it was also cutting edge . You nobody'd ever seen anything like it before and it's truly amazing to see the technology and all the brain power that went behind that . I also saw a C1 Corvette that was owned by Ken Lingenfelter and his brother , john , who I did the interview with , and John Lingenfelter had a C1 and it was a 19 . I Want to say it was a 55 model that a Supplier to Corvette , chevrolet , wanted to turbocharge Sorry , supercharge the 235 blue flame 6 that was in it , as opposed to putting the V8 motor in it , which they ultimately did . But this was a one-off and it was a car that went down the assembly line , the difference being that they put a supercharger on it . And to see all that fit under the hood of that blue flame 6 was truly amazing , wow .

Speaker 1

And I asked him . I said how did it run ? He says runs really well and it would would have beaten the V8 Corvette because of the torque right and that in line six cylinder . But I've seen a lot of Corvettes in my day and those are a couple . Those C1s are truly amazing . If you ever get a chance to go through one , look at it , put your head in the window , look under the hood , see how that the suspension is built . You're gonna go , wow , this is so primitive . Back in 53 that was cutting it .

Speaker 4

Here's a little fun fact for you . This month , february 12th , what happened in Bowling Green Collapsed of the Corvette the sinkhole was up .

Speaker 3

Yeah , cold .

Speaker 4

February 12th . It happened early morning . In eight vehicles were Virtually destroyed , which are still on display . Yeah , have you been up to the ?

Speaker 2

Bowling Green . I did . I Took a group of our club members . I did eight trips in 2023 . Most recent was in January 26th where we did a dual delivery from our Corvette Club myself and Paul Lopez , our membership director , we did a museum delivery and that was only 26 and we had about 13 of us that went up there for that . Are they still doing the museum deliveries ? Oh yeah , they do about probably 16 a day , didn't ?

Speaker 4

they . I thought they stopped that for the tour .

Speaker 2

Well , they stopped the tour that they still doing the museum deliveries , but February 5th they stopped the plant tours . That's what it is . And you also can't order the baby book if you bought a new one and you wanted to order the baby book , where they Take pictures of the car when it's going through the assembly line . They're not doing that anymore and I they never speculated what it is . I mean , I got some ideas , some guesses what I think it might be , but that's just my personal opinion . Espionage Well , I think it's because they're probably doing something with that new ZR1 is going to come out . That's what . Yeah , yeah , and that's kind of the just changes , right .

Speaker 4

Well , they built that museum on top of a cave because in that part of Kentucky there's a lot of caves to go for miles and miles right , and when they hit bedrock they should have gone a little bit further , because it was just a false bedrock reading and then it went through and Right rest his history .

Speaker 2

That the way they put it back together . I mean it's gonna be here on , gabriel toots his whistle , so it's it's thought it was a horn . Well , yeah , yeah , toots is horn , you're correct whistles , horns , yeah . This is a silly city .

Speaker 1

Yeah , tony , akado , is it ? Can you turn the microphone on so known ?

Speaker 3

as turn a microphone on there you go .

Speaker 1

Okay , so okay , yeah , tuna , yeah , tuna , yeah , so why did you get that ?

Speaker 3

name . It's a long story , but I'll give you the short version .

Speaker 1

Is it clean ? Yes , it's clear . We

Corvette and Hot Rod Enthusiasts Meet

Speaker 1

don't want to hear about it .

Speaker 3

The mafia boss . The mafia boss of Chicago for a very long time was Tony Akado and His nickname was the big tuna . He also had another nickname called Joe batters , and the reason he had Joe batters was because that was his weapon of choice Was a bat , baseball bat . So he was best friends with Al Capone and one night they were in a restaurant and a guy came in with a machine gun and sort of mowed , mowed down the place and Tony jumped on top of Al Capone and Gave him the nickname of the the big tuna and then out . When I went to jail , al turned Las Vegas over to Tony Akado , so that's how I got the nickname is your last name .

Speaker 1

a car , though ? A car though , yes , well , naturally Mars would misspell it here .

Speaker 3

He gives a CC , a RDO . Hey , uh-huh , right here . I'm also a veteran there you go .

Speaker 1

Thank you for your service , thank you , thank you . Yeah , so what kind of car do you have , tony ?

Speaker 3

I have a , I have two , I have a 1972 blue coupe I 454 big block .

Speaker 4

Of course you're there yeah .

Speaker 3

That's that . That was my first Corvette . I got that in 99 in a divorce sale and I got a real good bargain on that .

Speaker 4

I'm sure you did , and what did she get ?

Speaker 3

And then I talked my wife and let me buy a 2015 c7 . Same color , same blue color . It's called Laguna blue . Yeah , yeah , and it's a coupe . I turned 40,000 miles today on that car , so I drive it a lot . I love it and you're here , locally or no ? No , we're Northwest Houston , we're in Cyprus . He's , he's down in Clearlake opposite side .

Speaker 1

So what ?

Speaker 3

what car club is , are you ? It's called Northwest Houston vet rods and , unlike other Corvette clubs , we're very unique we allow hot rods into our club . I call it 80 80 20 club because 80% of our cars are Corvettes and 20% of hot rods , and the reason we do that is because many of our members own more than one Type of car right .

Speaker 4

So we might your bragging , yeah , well , show off .

Speaker 3

So what ? One of our members has 35 cars , okay , so I'll give you that'll give you an idea what we're talking about . So those guys and not all of them are Corvettes .

Speaker 1

There's one over there and we and we want to be them .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , it was a 35 car , so we're out of Cyprus spring area , yeah , and we've been in business since 2004 . Very nice .

Speaker 1

So , yeah , let me tell you my 454 72 coupe story . Uh-huh , I was . I was working at a Chevrolet dealership called Richardson . Chevrolet used to be at the intersection of Hillcroft and 59 and I was working in new car make ready . And so every night they take the Corvettes off the showroom display outside along the side of the showroom and they pull them in service department . Prevent theft well . And the morning somebody had to drive him and put them back on display course they did Saturday mornings , yeah .

Speaker 1

I'm strong and Ross Putnam , take those cars out . Not a problem , start those cars up . And our favorite one was the blue 454 . Yep , oh my god . It might not have had a whole lot of horsepower for cubic inches , yeah , but by God it had lots of torque . Oh , you know , it would boil the black tire off the back of the car , oh yeah , so when he sold the car they had to change the back tires on it .

Speaker 4

Yeah , you listen , say Ross is on the rubber off right .

Speaker 3

It was great stuff .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , we , and we thoroughly enjoyed that car . You know the one thing that stands out . This is gonna be stupid , I know , but they had Some fiber optic that went from the back tail lights up to the center console .

Speaker 3

I had that in my work . No , no , no I don't work in my Nova .

Speaker 4

No work in the back of a Cadillac . If you look in the rear view mirror , there would be two little eyes or two little red lights . When you hit it , the fiber optic would show that your lights are working Right or left , or blinkers . It would do the same thing . I installed it in my Nova Course . You did because my dad was a Cadillac guy , so I had a ability .

Speaker 1

Well , this was on the Corvette and it came up right there in the center console . Need to get those working for me .

Speaker 3

I have the roll-up windows in my seventy . Yeah , they see that you go .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I bought my daughter a 2007 Ford Focus . It's got roll-up windows and a five-speed manual transmission . She's lucky it's got an AM radio .

Speaker 4

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Those are the days . So how do we get a hold of you guys ? How about you ?

Speaker 3

Well , we have , you know , in the In the city , we have seven Corvette clubs Wow , and he and I represent two of them , and if you count the Corvette Club that came in from San Antonio , we actually have five presidents that are here today . Today . Today , and what we've done last year , we decided to get together as a group , so we have a committee , or we have a presidential committee , of all the Corvette Club Presidents and we're planning a big , big event on June 30th in Friendswood , his neighborhood . So we'd like you guys to be there to to do exactly what y'all doing here today , and we're expecting anywhere from 200 to 300 Corvettes to show up for that .

Speaker 4

So you know very , very special event . So the five presidents are here today .

Speaker 3

There's five presidents here , including , including , including Tim , including Tim Kirch Kirchner from San Antonio .

Speaker 4

Here's my suggestion . I'd like to do this get it all , five of you , on stage here .

Speaker 2

We'll take a picture If we can track them down , tony , don't break If we can track them down .

Speaker 3

Bill bills here , bill Hoffman's here . From coach AJ's here . I'm here . Who else is here ?

Speaker 2

I haven't seen anybody .

Speaker 4

Nevertheless , there's five . Yeah , we'll round them up somehow .

Speaker 2

Yeah , exactly , well , I'm gonna get a hold of us through space city Corvette Club comm . I'll leave you my card , okay , I ?

Speaker 3

do and what I'd like to tell everyone , all the Corvette owners out there . Unlike the other Corvette clubs , we meet every Sunday morning On the corner of spring , cypress and champions forest and on a good day like today , we'll average anywhere from 60 to 70 cars show up , and that would be vet rods . So we might have , like I said , 80% Corvettes and 20% Beautiful hot rods . We got we got some of the most beautiful hot rods in the city , in our , in our club . Y'all do any hot rod runs . We , we do runs . Yeah , we try to do a run every every month . This is , this is considered a run .

Speaker 1

Yeah , of course . Yeah . So next weekend , next Sunday morning , right nine to noon , there's chrome and coffee . Craig beer man that owns speed and sport , chrome plating puts it on at the Avalon diner Down at the fountains , which is right there by highway 90 a and 59 , the south , and so easy to get down the belt way , it was to say . And , and every weekend is more and more and more and more cars . And yes , there there's some later model cars but there's a lot of older hot rods that come in . Lots of fun , lots of good guys to you have breakfast at the diner to breakfast at the diner .

Speaker 3

Yeah , we have a . We have a breakfast place , so we call it the big tree . It's a big oak tree and that's where , to remember , the nifty fifties used to be at the .

Speaker 3

Kroger Center . Yeah well , that's where we meet and we've been meeting there for the last 17 years and it's been successful , and we meet every Sunday , rain or shine , cold weather , hot weather , and if it's too rainy or too cold , we go inside and we have a good time . That's sleek cafe . There's a place called sleek cafe , so very nice , and that's how we , that's how we get our membership . It's cool , perfect , very nice , and we're up to about 250 . Can you believe that ? Wow , 250 members . What do you estimate vehicles here today ? Okay so , I think AJ mentioned it , but the previous record in 2022 was 115 Corvette , not just yours , all the clubs , all the clubs . Okay , so we had 170 Corvettes outside . And what ? 13 Vipers ?

Speaker 3

yep that's right , I'm right today , today , today and plus in the back 40 , we even had three or four hot hot rods from my club back there as a 57 Chevy back there . If that belongs to my club , nice , yeah , yeah it . Doug brought three cars today . One guy brought three cars , one's driven by his granddaughter , that big , wide body , see C3 outside , that yellow one which is very unique , and then he brought he brought his Corvette , and his Granddaughter and his wife drove another , the 57 Chevy , wow so good .

Speaker 1

Well , gentlemen , thank you so much for stopping by today .

Speaker 2

Well , as they almost say thank you , thank you very much . We appreciate it , guys . Thank y'all , you bet .

Speaker 1

Appreciate you . All right , is mr Mars here ? Yeah , mr Mars , do you have auto history , or do we need to postpone that Auto history ? You said that you had auto history .

Speaker 3

I made a note right here .

Speaker 1

We're gonna do a break , we're gonna do a break , but I need to find out whether he's gonna do his thing or not .

Speaker 4

Okay because if not okay , we're gonna do sure Okay .

Speaker 1

No , do we ? Are we all set up to do the break this ?

Speaker 4

time we're gonna do the right one , which is number three .

Speaker 1

Correct All right yeah , whatever you say , whatever .

Speaker 4

All right .

Speaker 1

The in-wheel time car talk show continues right after this . Pro am Accessories has been serving Houston's auto enthusiasts since 1984 , providing world-class products for sports cars , european sedans and American muscle . Pro am is known as the place to go to find Exclusive and hard to find parts of accessories . Pro am is one of the very first distributors in the USA for brands such as rickero , red line , momo Corbo and Simpson . Located in the heart of Houston's premier retail and service corridor , the Galleria area , pro am's walk-in storefront includes an 8,000 square foot warehouse , showroom and installation bays . Pro am not only sells parts and accessories but also offers installation in service . Pro am is now reaching a worldwide audience through pro am comm , taking its local reputation to the rest of the world . At pro am auto , you'll be dealing with a small group of professionals who truly want to help you with your automotive needs . If you don't see what you're looking for on the website , call and pro am will lend you a hand . Pro am auto , 6125 Richmond at Green Ridge and Houston's Galleria area . Call them at 713 78177 55 .

Speaker 1

Want to feel good about something special . You did for some one special . In-wheel time and the original loopy tortilla group of Tex-Mex restaurants have joined together to help a very worthy cause God's Garage , a Christian based 501 C3 charity . We know there are lots of places and organizations out there where you can donate a car , truck or SUV , but we're asking you , our car enthusiast family , to consider donating to God's Garage . Visit gods garage org and learn about its mission , the women that have been helped , how each one is screened and about their restore you program . A Car donation is an easy way to make a difference in the lives of others . God's Garage needs good operating vehicles , but we'll take all types in working and non-working condition . Make your heart and soul feel good by donating your gently used vehicle and help support single mothers , widows and wives of deployed military at God's Garage org . Hey , you're on the in-wheel time car talk show . Thanks for riding with us today . Time now for this week in auto history , mr Mars .

Speaker 5

Okay as soon as I turn it on , it is you need to stop .

Speaker 1

You need , you need , you need to take that . Take that away from him . We got a microphone switch over there and he turns it off .

Speaker 5

You forget to turn it on . I thought you wanted it off . That was the that's . When he wants it off , he wants it off . All right , mars go ahead , yeah , yeah , yeah . So this week in auto history found five things that I thought were very interesting . This week in auto history 1917 , glenn Curtis designed an aluminum auto plane at three wings spanning 40 feet . The car's engine actually drove a propeller at the rear of the car and while it didn't actually fly fly it did a bunch of hops , but it's considered the first flying car .

Speaker 1

Oh yeah , I could see you in that thing 1909 , hudson Motor Car Company was founded

Auto History and Future SUV Talk

Speaker 1

.

Speaker 5

in 1910 , a total of 4,500 Hudson automobiles left the assembly line , which was a record for all automakers that year . The Hudson name saw its last name , last car come off the assembly line in 1957 . When Chevrolet rolled out the Corvette prototype in January 1953 , less than a month later Ford suddenly came up with a Thunderbird prototype . In its first year it sold 16,155 units , which outsold the Corvette that year , and the Thunderbird lasted through 11 generations , ended production in 2005 . Its main claim to fame was it made the Corvette get better . February 1959 , the High Bank 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway hosts the first Daytona 500 . 41,000 fans attended the inaugural event and the winner was not decided until 61 hours after the race ended because they had a it was the photo finish .

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They had to develop the film so that they could look at it and see who won To get the photo met . And lastly , the aerodynamic Plymouth Superbird . While we're at the Daytona 500 , ran in February of 1970 . The number 40 car , driven by Pete Hamilton for Petty Enterprises , crossed the finish line of full three car lengths ahead of the number two car , which immediately got people looking at how to disqualify it and keep it from running anymore .

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Yeah , they did , and they did , and they did .

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And that's this week in Auto History .

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Thank you , sir . We'd love to hear from you . Just shoot us an email . The address here info at in wheel time dot com .

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As Scout motors barrels toward revealing its initial electric SUV and pickup this summer , An overly retro design overtly retro design does not seem likely , according to the startup brand's chief . While the company is embracing fully the heritage of international harvesters Scout vehicles , CEO Scott Keough said he doesn't want to be trapped in the 1970s when it comes to styling . Who do you think you are ? International harvesters , First Scott . One of the industry's initial SUVs rolled off the line at the company's Fort Wayne , Indiana plant in November 1960 . International built its last SUV wearing the scout to name plate in October 1980 . The name then went dormant outside of enthusiast communities , collectors and off-roaders . Keough said Scout intends to show the two vehicles at the same time . Both will ride on a new body on frame platform that executives insist is unique to the brand . Oh boy , we got us another SUV coming that looks like all the rest . Put a bit , Put more seats in it . Time now for a quick break . You're on the Inwheel Time car talk show streaming and podcasting around the planet . We'll be back with more stories on your favorite podcast provider .

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Speaking of original , nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade . That everyone will agree makes Loopy Tortilla award-winning beef fajitas the best anywhere . Loopy Tortilla Katie is another location that gives you the same quality and service Historians have come to expect at Loopy's . It's located just off I-10 in the Grand Parkway . At Kingsland Boulevard in Katie , Find yourself an Aggie Land . Head to the Loopy Tortilla College Station , located just around the corner from Kyle Field . It's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game . Head to the East , to Louisiana . Stop in at the Loopy Tortilla in Beaumont . It too is on I-10 , but can't miss it . The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants invites you in for the best Tex-Max .

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Anywhere 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 , nanoceramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield , Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go .

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Curved 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 . Stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tullway , 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 . 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 8 to 11 am Central on Facebook , YouTube , Twitch and our InWheelTimecom website . Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts , Spotify Stitcher , iHeart Podcast , Podcast Addict Tune in Pandora and Amazon Music . Keep listening and we'll see you soon .