March 25, 2024

Preserving Automotive Heritage in the Face of Progress

Preserving Automotive Heritage in the Face of Progress
Preserving Automotive Heritage in the Face of Progress
In Wheel Time Podcast
Preserving Automotive Heritage in the Face of Progress
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Discover the heartache and urgency behind the disappearing landmarks of racing culture as we sit down with Richard Tomlin from Apex Auto Works. We unpack the closure of iconic racetracks and how it's not just about losing a strip of pavement, but a slice of heritage that fuels our community. From the Auto Club Speedway to Laguna Seca, join us in reflecting on the importance of these hallowed grounds and learn why their preservation is critical amidst the relentless wave of development. We'll also share the warm nostalgia of the Corvette Chevy Expo and the anticipation surrounding the Mecum Auction Houston showstoppers, underscoring the vibrancy of the car enthusiast world.

Feel the adrenaline of road racing and the innovation sparking new life into spectator experiences as Richard lends his expertise on the subject. In this heartfelt exchange, we journey from the meticulous preparations for the Chihuahua open road race to discussing the challenges the auto industry faces with the advent of electric vehicles. We're revving up our engines and peeling back the curtain on the transformations at his shop, from a Cushman three wheel scooter turned floral display to fine-tuning a Black C5 Corvette. Tune in for a ride that promises to not only fuel your passion but also ignite a drive to protect the legacy of the racing community.

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00:01 - Loss of Racetracks Threatens Racing Culture

10:10 - Passing on the Love of Racing

17:06 - Car Enthusiast Chat on Auto Industry

Loss of Racetracks Threatens Racing Culture

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 in podcasting and live streaming . It's the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show Special feature on race tracks , coming up along with Richard Tomlin from Apex Auto Works and CCA and a racer himself , mr Mars has this week in Auto History and we'll get you caught up on stories making automotive news headlines . Today's program is sponsored by Meekum Auctions Houston , april 4th through the 6th at NRG Center Howdy , along with Mike out of this World . Mars , we always need more Jeff Zekin . Our Chief Engineer , david Ainsley , is taking a break today .

Speaker 1

I'm Don Armstrong glad that you could make it along with us on this Saturday . Live version of our show by the way , if you're listening in , a podcast or a live version airs , generally speaking , every Saturday 8 to 11 . Last weekend we postponed it by an hour so we could grab hold of the entire people , peoples that were coming into the Corvette Chevy Expo down in Galveston . We walked the show after the program we stumbled the show afterwards because we had a little cocktail .

Speaker 2

Well , we did , but we ran into some very interesting hot rodders and builders and owners and families and husband and wife teams and all that good stuff . Yeah , it was good it was .

Speaker 1

Yeah , enjoyed it . So I ran across a story that I wanted to read . It's a little lengthy but I think that you'll appreciate it . This is off of Haggertycom slash media , written by Aaron Robinson , and the title of the story is when we Lose a Racetrack , everyone Loses .

Speaker 1

It starts off with Los Angeles is a town with a well earned reputation for a short attention span . You're only as good as you last 90 minutes , goes the old saying in the movie business , and the hook is always waiting to yank off stage anything or anyone who isn't killing it . That rule applies to racetracks too . Los Angeles Motor Dome , a board track erected in 1910 , lasted just three years , and Beverly Hills Speedway , which opened in 1920 , only four years until the real estate developers got it . The other side raceway that we all remember managed an unforgettable 32 year run before it was plowed under to make way for a shopping mall . Perhaps the ghost of Ken Miles still haunts the place . After years of decline , the mall boasts hundreds of thousands of vacant square feet .

Speaker 1

Today , long odds Auto Club Speedway , aka California Speedway , did pretty well . 26 years from the day , the two mile D shaped banked oval open to host 240 mile an hour Indy car laps to the day the wrecking ball arrived . Drone video surfaced in November of chomping excavators tearing away grandstands . Kind of reminds you of the racetrack here in Texas Yep , not too far from here . Drone video surfaced , as I mentioned , chomping excavators . In posteriority it joins the Indianapolis of the West , the short lived Ontario Speedway 10 years and in 1980 , which was just up the freeway . Its land now hosts a car max of Benihana and an El Torrito among its other pearls of suburban banality .

Speaker 1

Auto Club's demise leaves a metro area of nearly 13 million people with only one circular track within its environs . I Irwindale Speedway , a strictly amateur venue which somehow has dodged decade old plans to convert it into a mall , likely because the mall business , thanks to Amazon etc . Is in worse shape than the racing business . Bows by NASCAR to eventually replace Auto Club with a half mile oval and what remains of acreage that has mostly been sold off to a developer intent on building logistics warehouses for Amazon etc have no firm timetable , kind of like our Baytown drag strip . It's a sad fact that in places racing struggles to pay the bills for the increasingly expensive land that it occupies and the forces of redevelopment never sleep . To the north Monterey County . The deed holder of Laguna Seca was in December sued by locals aiming to curtail or eliminate the famed track . You can shout until you're blue in the face that the circuit opened in 1957 predates all the surrounding McMansions , but those people don't care who is first , they really don't . They have money and lawyers and they are game to try their luck in court .

Speaker 1

It's a challenge that racetrack share with local municipal airports . The airport where this brighter kept his Cessna is a former US Army Air Corps training base in 1939 is , when it was built , now under attack from a small but vocal click of residents who wish it gone . They've already tasted blood in nearby Santa Monica , where an airfield and opened in 1923 and supplied thousands of Douglas aircraft during World War II , is set to close in 2028 , so the developers can dine on its bones . Once upon a lifetime , a bolder America accepted and even celebrated these facilities as proof that the world's greatest economy produced vital and thrilling pursuits that enriched our lives and supplied a creative outlet to our energy and industry . Now , a more flaccid nation that prefers to sit at home streaming and shopping for and made junk online sees nothing in these venues but noise , pollution and risk . They are unwittingly being stoked by gimlet-eyed developers who are salivating over the land and willing to fund legal teams and sympathetic council candidates .

Speaker 1

Replacing a track or an airport with warehouses where 20 to 30 high density housing units per acre will line the pockets of developers , but it won't do much for noise and pollution in the community . Everyone is bound to be disappointed , except the developers , of course , but the relentless demand for more housing drives cities to flatten anything in their path . That appeals only to a minority and , like it or not , we are a minority . Unless we fight , unless we write letters and go to council meetings and support candidates who believe there should be recreational room for everyone will end up like the misfits in medieval times hounded out the city gates and banished to the countryside so that we can continue enjoying activities that were once popular in an earlier , more energetic age , at least until the city inevitably sprawls in our direction . Thought that was a pretty good article . Article again when we lose a racetrack , everyone loses . By Aaron Robinson and Hagerty .

Speaker 2

And it seems that we're losing more and more . There are more frequent losses .

Speaker 1

Well , we've had conversations with Rodney Rodriguez about it and you know . As far as circle tracks are concerned , very few . The three-eighths mile Houston Motorsports Park is one that's somehow clinging on . It's an asphalt facility . There's the other one , the 105 Speedway , is a dirt facility , but it's basically for the racers and not for the public , although it's open to the public and tickets are cheap and it's fun to go on a Saturday night . That's where I grew up , at Myers Speedway here in Houston , long gone .

Speaker 2

Dale Earnhardt Jr did a segment where he actually bought an old track , I think in near here , greek North Carolina , and there was a segment , I think , through one of the NASCAR channels that they go and look at these features . I mean there's grass growing up in the cracks of the track and everything and the old hot dog stand is there and signs are dilapidated . But it is , it's a concern .

Speaker 1

Well , I mean for those of us that are automotive people . I mean what a great Saturday night . Go and take your hot rod to the racetrack show it have a section there . I know that Gina Shal Knowles did it when she was running the races on Saturday night at Houston Motorsports Park . It's fun for everybody . Everybody likes to go to the races . It's fun to have a cheering section for your particular driver and I got to meet some of those drivers when I was doing the interviews out there . Really great kids and kids , so fun . I met a . How old was he ? 13 years old and he won the particular race . Didn't have a driver's license yet but he was out there .

Speaker 2

Well , he was qualified to run and that's just it too . The young kids can get their new mentors and get their autographs and get the people that they want to look up to in the future and maybe guide them into that , be it a race like that or a NHRA type Event , yeah , Well , you know , Richard Tomlin is our local guy with SCCA .

Speaker 1

He's on the line with us now . Apex Auto Works . Richard , good morning to you .

Speaker 4

Good morning guys . Great article . A lot of truth in that .

Speaker 1

Yeah , a lot of truth . Yeah , the truly is . And you know , I think , that even if you're not into auto racing , I think that you owe it to your son or daughter to take them by the hand and take them to a race track and let it see it for the real , for the real deal , and go out there and meet some of the drivers , get a date with Richard and have him show you the pits and the cars and the drivers and the sport itself .

Speaker 2

Well , it's the noise and the atmosphere and the smells of , you know , the fuel and the rubber burning and the hot dogs and the hot dogs Gotta go . Hot dogs , absolutely .

Speaker 4

Yeah , it also was the evolution of where we're at right Like . This is what's led us to where we are now , in cars and technology . You were just talking about the Toyota , the Hyundai , the N . I mean , all these cars came from a racing background . This is where they were developed . This is where we cut our teeth .

Speaker 1

It's so funny . When I guess it was was it formula one that was at circuit of the Americas here recently , and you know , the stands were filled with all of these people that have no clue about racing . They didn't know what they were looking at , but they were there for all the glitz of the glamour and their sweets and all of that sort of stuff . But I mean , don't get me wrong , I appreciate all of that . But I also like to get down in the pits . I like to sit in the stands . I like to wave my checkered flag that I've got with me , that I bought at the souvenir stand and see who wins the race .

Speaker 2

Or you've got that Jersey that you just had that driver autograph . Yeah , you know , and you're wearing that . You're strutting around yeah , you bet .

Passing on the Love of Racing

Speaker 1

It's . It's a fun day . I know that we had Indy car here , whether it was either in the streets of downtown Houston or the built up circuit that they had out there by the dome and energy podium . That was a fun time and I really enjoyed it and I took my daughters there . I I've drug them to every race that I could imagine , so they have an appreciation for it , and I'm sure that you grew up the same way , richard . I mean you know somebody that you knew was into auto racing and took you by the hand and said here come , look at this .

Speaker 4

I can remember seven , eight years old checking tire pressures in in the staging lanes . I mean , that's just it's . It's how it was you . You were part of the team . That's what you did . Yeah , showed up , did your work . That's where it starts . That's where it's where you learn .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 4

And I've had the pleasure of teaching a young man last week about tire pressures , like how'd you learn all this ? It's like it's just years of doing the same thing over and over and over .

Speaker 5

Learn from somebody else , just like you're trying to teach him . Yeah .

Speaker 4

Yeah , got to pass it on . Nobody else is going to , it seems .

Speaker 1

So what's going on down there at apex auto works , my friend .

Speaker 4

For me it's a lot of meekum prep .

Speaker 2

We just finished up a big crash . Meekum prep right .

Speaker 4

Oh prep .

Speaker 2

I thought you said the other word , yeah .

Speaker 4

Now Meekum . The gold cutlass will be at Meekum on Thursday . It's a 63 cutlass , F 85 . Oh my .

Speaker 2

So little bit of the aluminum .

Speaker 5

Yeah , it's a 215 aluminum engine .

Speaker 4

There you go . Yeah , the aluminum block weighs 60 pounds . The aluminum block , aluminum head , four lug Chevrolet .

Speaker 5

Oh , I burned one of them up , did you ? Yeah , when I was at 16 , I went through one of them like crazy .

Speaker 4

Yeah , it's a super , super clean car . I want to say it's got 60,000 miles on it , been storing the guy's garage for a while , so now we're just getting all put back together and it's going to go away . He's decided he's not doing anything with it , so we'll have that one there Thursday . And then we've got a 64 Nova we're working on , waiting on some wheels and a little bit of paint correction on that , and it will be at the auction on Saturday . Oh wow , so yeah , and this weekend , of course , for us is just a ton of racing . We uh lemon's going on in NOLA right now , so New Orleans has got a 24 hour lemons race .

Speaker 5

Are you going down there Nine hours to ?

Speaker 4

say eight hours tomorrow .

Speaker 5

Do what ? Oh , I get this weekend Okay .

Speaker 4

He would have been already .

Speaker 5

Yeah , yeah , my bad .

Speaker 4

Yeah , this weekend now we've we've got about 30 cars , I would say , that are there that we know or have built here , um . And then you've got SCCA going on this weekend up at Eagles Canyon in Denton and top that off with NASCAR running at Kota , yeah . And then we've got the Texas mile going right now . So we had four places to be this weekend and decided you know what , we're not going to any of them . We're going to stay here and man the phones , cause somebody will be unhappy driving to get all of them .

Speaker 5

Yeah , cause it's a long way up the Eagle Canyon or NOLA .

Speaker 4

Yeah , that's a drive there , new Orleans . There's just no good way to get there . As we all know , um Kota and Texas mile pretty , pretty simple and close together . But it was going to be a three day trip and I decided we weren't doing it , so got all the cars done , sent them off on their way . Um , drivers are happy , teams are happy . Uh , at this moment everybody is still running , so we're in a good spot .

Speaker 5

Good , richard , let me ask you , going back to the article we were talking about , with the race tracks , most of your racing , but where you take your cars , they're more like road races , aren't they ?

Speaker 4

Correct A lot of road racing Um we go and attend the oval track , but most of ours is road racing which goes through the same stuff . That's what Texas world speedway went through with a growing you know Brian college station area . There was just no land left and the land was worth more than what the race track was generating .

Speaker 1

What that was ? A . What was that ? A mile and a half track .

Speaker 4

Uh no , it was 2.9 on the actual road course .

Speaker 1

No , no , no , not the road course , I'm talking the oval , oval .

Speaker 4

Yeah , I don't know the old specs .

Speaker 2

It was one point . One point five .

Speaker 4

The only day I never ran the oval spec I would know , yeah , wikipedia .

Speaker 1

The only problem for a spectator at road courses , generally speaking , and particularly out there at Brian college station , was that the road course went out of the infield and into an area that you couldn't even begin to see over on the back stretch over there , and that's where all the action was . They had bad wrecks over there and stuff . You couldn't see it .

Speaker 4

Yeah , great drivers , bad for the spectators , and that's a . That's a thing that road racing is often faced is , you know , being able to actually watch it . But the technology of cameras , the GPS , telemetry , the tracking of the cars , as you're seeing in F1 and M cell Le Mans , I'll have it now . It's come a long ways . Even a pike speak this year will have telemetry of all the cars as they're going up the mountain . That will be shown to spectators so you will to keep up real time with what's going on , what people's corner speeds are , what their top speeds are , what section of the course that they're in . And this technology , to me , has the opportunity to bring back life to what we're seeing . We're so overloaded with information . We got to watch a race and people just want more . It sucks that they'll be setting or looking at their phone , but it gives them the opportunity to keep them involved in this sport that we love so much .

Speaker 5

Yeah , at least they're looking , even if it's at their phone .

Speaker 4

Yep , They'll be there at the sites doing fun things . I want to say that Kota event for F1 , you were talking about it was October of last year . 455,000 fans is what showed up and a lot of people attribute that to the Netflix show Drive to Survive , which I think is season six , season seven now . But F1 is seeing 100% growth year over year with viewership . Like you were saying , a lot of people who didn't know what it was until the fanfare showed up with a couple cameras to record some of the stuff that goes on , and now people are getting involved again . So it's a trickle down theory for us in road race . If F1 is growing , then the motorsports section of road racing will grow . Give it a little time .

Speaker 1

Well , I have to tell you that I , passively , am a fan of Formula One . I'm more of a fan of IndyCar and I know that . I have been to Indianapolis a couple of times and that is a week long event in Indianapolis and I would encourage anybody if you've never been , even if you like , you know IndyCar or not , that is an event of a lifetime to go to the Indy 500 and all of the events that lead up to it .

Speaker 4

Yeah , there's a reason . It's been around 100 years , right . I mean just like Pike Speak same thing . The races have been around the longest . They know how to put on a show . They get everybody involved . Everybody gets up close , gets to touch and feel things and you're a part of it . When you're involved , you enjoy it . When you're sitting back just spectating , it's not the

Car Enthusiast Chat on Auto Industry

Speaker 4

same .

Speaker 1

What's going on in your shop out there , besides getting ready for Meekam ? You say that you've already got all those cars finished . I mean , do you have any big long hot rod projects you're working on ?

Speaker 4

We've got a three-wheeled Cushman going back to the Satterfield .

Speaker 1

Wait a minute , wait a minute . Hold it right there , buster , when you said Cushman , I'm in .

Speaker 4

So he found a very , very distraught Cushman . We basically pulled sadly pulled the motor transmission out of it . It was all locked up but put all that stuff out of it . We've made it into a prop that will be going to the Stella Hotel in Brian at the Legends Golf Course there . So Stella Hotel will be parked in the front there and be a floral display , I guess some LED lights underneath the globe . But complete redo interior thing .

Speaker 1

Wait a minute . You're turning the , turning the Cushman into a floral display A flower pot . That is the perfect end for a Cushman , the only thing that would be any better than that would take the Cushman out to the cemetery and put plants in it . What kind of plants are you putting in there ?

Speaker 2

Pansies .

Speaker 4

Yeah , exactly 21 years of service for the US mail , postal mail , and the guy that actually drove it those years was the one who actually bought it back and he'd had it until Satterfield got it . So really cool story behind it , but what a piece of metal . You got to tub it out .

Speaker 2

You got to tub it out , a piece of metal Plants and pansies .

Speaker 1

I haven't heard that , but that's a good one . I like it .

Speaker 2

Nice .

Speaker 1

All right .

Speaker 4

So , and then we're thrashing for Chihuahua coming up too . So that's early April .

Speaker 1

What's Wawa ? Wait a minute , what's Wawa ?

Speaker 4

Chihuahua is our open road race in Chihuahua , Mexico , Chihuahua That'll be the 1300 miles over three days taking the Black Sea Five lot like yours down there to go play this year , so it should be a good time .

Speaker 1

So is that a road course on the highway ?

Speaker 4

That is actually like the old La Carrera race . They actually closed down public roads and we raced down the public roads and as soon as we raced through they're closed . About 30 to 45 minutes we raced through . They opened the roads back up , closed the next section . We raced that section . Move on through the community , we'll see . I think it's four different counties slash we would call them counties here that we actually travel through . One day we'll do 600 miles of driving .

Speaker 1

Wow , well , apparently you're clipping right along there . How fast is that for a vet , what is the top speed on that C5 that you've got ?

Speaker 4

That one's been 178 in Mexico , the other one we had had a 192 in Mexico , and that's two people in the car race tires , race brakes . I mean you're fully set up cage and all it's . When you're doing that on a public road , it is pretty crazy . My fastest is 155 . And of course that was in the V8 Miata , but it's still moving along on a public road . You don't realize how much that road moves till you're doing 150 , 190 .

Speaker 1

I can only imagine what kind of engine work on the C5 did you do ?

Speaker 4

This one's just Headscam , nothing crazy . Bottom end is still stock Improved oil cooling system . Other than that , just send it , It'll be fine . Gm does a good job . Don't try and reinvent the wheel . Gm's spent a bunch of money engineering those motors and even though it's got 70,000 miles on it , it's just fine even alone .

Speaker 2

I think the name of the road is ay-ya-ya-yi .

Speaker 1

Ay-ya-ya-yi highway . Yeah , you know , I heard that the LS1 motor which I have in mind does just fine without any kind of a power booster , power adder . But I've always been attracted to putting a blower on it . But then I heard that if you bump it up too much , that it has the spring failures in the valve train I'm going , you know that'll probably cause a death knell bell to ring on the motor . Did you hear ?

Speaker 4

the same thing . Oh , it's absolutely true . What you do is , when you actually buy it , there's a full set that will sell you with new valve springs to swap them out . It's not a major thing . You pick up an easy 100 , 200 horse , depending on how much you want to crank it up , but I don't think you're out there running around beating on your car like that . So Toyota might be a better choice for going faster right now . The Toyota Might be a better choice for going fast right now . What ?

Speaker 1

Toyota .

Speaker 5

The GR , the GR .

Speaker 2

Oh , the GR do you know about the GR , the Gazoo .

Speaker 4

Oh yeah , amazing . Toyota's done a lot of stuff on that . Be sure , and watch Pike Speak this year with the Hyundai's that are bringing it up . Hyundai's got four vehicles that are bringing a Pike Speak this year .

Speaker 2

The Elantra and Hyundai's going to have .

Speaker 4

There's an N and there's a couple electric cars that are coming as well .

Speaker 1

We don't care about the electric cars , we care more about the gasoline cars , the more stories that .

Speaker 1

I read and I've got enough of them this week that the whole electric thing is sending the entire automotive industry to its knees , to the tailspin , because companies are laying off workers , they can't sell electric cars . They're selling them , but at a lot slower pace than they first imagined and they've got problems with them , et cetera , et cetera . I read a story on Fisker and that's an ugly mess there That'll probably go out of business . So anybody that buys one , I guess you're either lucky or sad . One or the other just lost a bunch of money . Roll them through the auction . Yeah , I guess so .

Speaker 4

Anyway , I just read an article about Hertz having the same situation too them buying a bunch of electric cars and realizing they weren't what they were promised .

Speaker 2

So Hertz , actually I heard was losing a CEO over it .

Speaker 4

That's what they did .

Speaker 2

They got it for a while yeah , they absolutely did , richard .

Speaker 1

it's always great to talk to you , my friend . Thank you so much for joining us today . We appreciate you .

Speaker 4

We'll see you . I appreciate your time . Thanks , Richard .

Speaker 1

Thank you , richard Talman . Apex Auto Works SCCA . The In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show is available 24-7 . Through the iHeart radio app just look for In-Wheel Time Car Talk . We also video stream on Facebook , youtube and In-WheelTimecom and podcasts . They're at your favorite podcast provider . You bet the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this Quick break .

Speaker 1

Pro-am Auto 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 Rekaro , redline , 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 base . Pro-am not only sells parts and accessories , but also offers installation and service . Pro-am is now reaching a worldwide audience through Pro-Amcom , 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 .

Speaker 1

Pro-am Auto 6125 Richmond at Green Ridge and Houston's Galleria area . Call them at 713-781-7755 . Not feel good about something special . You did for some one . Special In-wheel time and the original Loupi Tortilla Group of Tex-Mex restaurants have joined together to help a very worthy cause God's Garage , a Christian-based 501C3 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 At God's Garageorg 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 will 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 Garageorg .

Speaker 3

Meek am auctions , the world's largest collector car auction company , returns to Houston , texas , april 4th through the 6th at NRG Center , featuring 1,000 muscle cars , corvettes , trucks , customs and more . Broadcast on Motor Trend TV and streaming live on Max From Avid Collectors to those new to the Meek am .

Speaker 1

Experience . We welcome everyone . Register to build now at Meekamcom . Okay , very good .

Speaker 5

Time now on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show for this week in auto history . Mr Mars , yes sir , the Pontiac Fiero . It's a sports car built in the United States . It was launched in 1983 . It built a total of 370,168 Fieros . Five years after it launched , on March the 20th 1988 , the last Fiero rolled off the showroom floor .

Speaker 5

Oh boy , there's a March 1999 Ford . We talked about this before . Ford Motor Company created their premier auto group , which was that was in 1999 . It was aimed to extend the European reach . They wanted to get into Europe , so they bought Aston Martin , they bought Jaguar , they bought Lincoln and eventually they also bought Volvo and Land Rover . But by 2007 , ford figured out they needed to restructure their operations for focus on their core brand and it did away with that premier automotive group . And then the mini paceman introduced the US market in March 16 , 2013 . It was released in March of 2013 . It garnered a lot of positive reviews . People loved the car , the consumers liked it , they bought it . But executives come to believe that the car was so similar to their top of the line country man because it was made in the same assembly that it was taking sales away from that vehicle . So they did away with the pace band just three years after it hit the market . Wow , there's another one of those automotive things that oops , we goofed .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I think the next one they make should be moron the moron . I know they've got more meaning .

Speaker 2

Hey , we'd love to hear from you . Just shoot us an email .

Speaker 1

The address is info at InWheelTimecom Time . Now for another quick break . You're on the InWheelTime car talk show streaming and podcasting around the planet . Look for us on your favorite podcast provider . The original group of loopy tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipes mean .

Speaker 1

When it comes to the best fajitas in southeast Texas For a standhold , I invite you to visit the original loopy tortilla near I-10 at Highway 6 . Here's the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make loopy tortilla the go-to destination for Houston Tex-Mex . 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 loopies . 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 East , to Louisiana . Stop in at the loopy tortilla in Beaumont . It too is on I-10 . You can't miss it . The original group of loopy tortilla restaurants invites you in for the best Tex-Mex .

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Curb your wheels Instead of buying new one . I'd have them repaired . How about a professionally installed radar detector ? Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too . Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshieldcom . Better yet , stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston 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 .