The Savoy Museum blends automobile history with artistic presentation while Lincoln delivers luxury with the 2025 Nautilus.

Show Introduction and Weather Update

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast . This is the In Wheel Time car talk show . Just ahead , we visit with Mary Agruza with the Savoy Auto Museum . Also , I'll give you my thoughts on driving the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus and Jeff has the Motor Minute in this segment of the In Real Time Car Talk Show . Howdy , along with Mike out of this world , Mars . We always need more Jeff Zekin , Chief Engineer David Ainsley sleeping in this morning , but he's with us in thought and spirit . I'm Don Armstrong , Glad you could join us and we appreciate you . It's a beautiful Saturday here in the Houston Texas area where we come to you from around the world . So if you're wondering , what in the world is he talking about ? Because the weather is miserable here . It's not miserable here . Yesterday was pretty miserable with thunderstorms here , but we don't have that today . Lots of sunshine , high temperature this afternoon in the mid 80s Doesn't get much better than that . My friends , All right , let's go over to Georgia , Cartersville , Georgia , as a matter of fact

Interview with Mary Agrusa from Savoy Museum

Speaker 1 1:11

. Mary Agrusa with the Savoy Museum . Mary , good morning .

Speaker 3 1:16

Good morning . How are you guys doing ?

Speaker 1 1:17

Well , we're doing just fine . Thank you very much , and we certainly do appreciate you joining us today .

Speaker 3 1:23

You know you talked about having lousy weather yesterday . I think you sent it to us because we got the thunderstorms and it's pouring rain here now . It may be beautiful in Houston , it's not so nice in Carter's .

Speaker 1 1:34

But I will say this , that it certainly is beautiful at the Savoy Museum .

Speaker 3 1:39

Oh , have you had a chance to take a sneak peek at who we are ?

Speaker 1 1:43

Yes , I did as a matter of fact , a very unique kind of museum . I was telling the boys earlier on when we started the show this morning that I thought you know a lot of us from here in the Houston area head east , from here right down I-10 , head over to the southeast , we go through Mississippi , alabama and then we hit georgia before we hit the east coast . And you know the south is a wonderful place to visit and especially for houston families , friends , car lovers and all and uh . What a great idea to take a little left-hand turn and head north and got up there to cartersville , georg , and stop at the Savoy Museum .

Speaker 3 2:25

And the best part about that , it's not just that we have the Savoy , which in my opinion is probably the best museum ever . In the city of Cartersville we have three other museums , and so Cartersville has sort of been designated museum city for Georgia . We have the Booth Western Art Museum that has the largest permanent collection of Western art in the United States . We have the Telescience Museum and also the Bartow History Museum . So for people that want to come up and see the cars and I would highly recommend that you come up to the Savoy there's also plenty of other things to come and do and see while you're in Cartersville .

Speaker 3 3:02

Mary , tell me the history about the Savoy Museum in cartersville , mary , tell , tell me , tell me the history about the savoy museum . Okay , uh well , the this was founded by a business , a family , that was in business in cartersville , and while they were in business they collected cars and western art . When they retired out , they started pouring their resources into the community . The first was the booth Booth excuse me , yeah , the Booth Western Art Museum . They took over the Wine and Mineral Museum , made that into the Telus , they took over the local courthouse , made that the Bartow History Museum , and then they built the Savoy . And so , while this was being built it was , this was originally on a piece of farmland and it's about 30-some acres , and so when it was being built , there were no signs outside in terms of what was going up , and they did a lot of ground prep for about a year . We were all scratching our heads what is it ? And then the back building that I refer to as the shed , which is now where we store all of our cars , went up , and it was silver and red and we all thought we're getting a costco . Finally , that was , that was the popular rumor . Of course , when everything started coming up out of the ground , they put the sign up , and that's when we knew it was going to be the car museum .

Speaker 3 4:16

Now , the name itself came from a 1954 plinth Savoy . It was actually found on the grounds while they were doing the site prep . It belonged to the family that owned the grounds and , interestingly enough , we had a high school principal from Cartersville who came in to visit and this was her grandparents' property . When she was a young girl she rode out with her grandmother out to Colorado in that car , so she knew that car when it was brand new . So that's how we wound up with the name , and I like to say that we're a little bit different than a lot of car museums and I visit a lot of car museums .

Speaker 3 4:55

We consider this really more an art museum that is dedicated to the automobile , and so , as I give you some little snapshots of what we look like inside , you'll see that the way that we display our cars is very differently . In fact , I'll switch modes . I'm going to walk over to the Savoy gallery , but you can walk 360 around all of the cars if you have . If a car happens to have stanchions , that's because the owner the museum has requested that we do it . Otherwise , we have it set up that you can get up close to the cars . We don't cram them in here . The lighting in the building is designed to make the cars look the best , especially if you're into photography , and so we really try to highlight cars as art .

Speaker 3 5:44

Another thing I'm in charge of writing all the research for the car , so when I do the reader boards on our left-hand side , we will talk about all the technical information about the car the engine , the transmission , things of that nature but I have about 150 words that I have to describe the vehicle , and so a lot of times what I really try to look for is is there something interesting in the back story of the car ?

Speaker 3 6:08

Is there something historical that is important to this car ? Where was there a reason why it was brought out and if it succeeded or if it failed , maybe that maybe the owner , maybe there's a back story in the car , so that I'd like to . When people come if you're not a car fan and a lot of the people who come who aren't , they're coming with people who are they can sit there and read the reader boards , and a lot of them told me you know , this is something that I didn't expect . I've learned so much because we try to pull in the history of what is going on , really trying to make it something that anyone who's coming in can learn , not just about cars , but also about the history of them and the history of , you know , the automobile in general .

Speaker 1 6:50

Mary , you sound very , very well schooled in museum stuff , a curator perhaps in the past . Is that why you brought your skills here ?

Speaker 3 7:02

No , actually my background . What I'm going to show you right now is this is the savoy gallery , and these , the cars that you'll be seeing right now . These are all cars that we own . No , my background actually was in graphic design for a number of years .

Speaker 3 7:15

When I retired out of that , I messed around a little bit with day trading , found out that is not my skill , and my husband said well , why don't you go back to school ? Because , because here in the state of Georgia , if you're a resident , you can go back basically for free you don't pay tuition . And so I found a school that actually offered a degree in English with an emphasis on writing . That was something that I was interested in learning about and did that . And then the Savoy opened up and there was a call for volunteers , and so I , my husband and I both put our names in the hat for that , and when we finally got asked to come , it was , they needed people who would do the tour guides , and so I was all over that and , as it turns out , the right now I'm a part-time employee here . I'm also a docent .

Speaker 3 8:03

The person who was doing my part of the job became ill and she had to retire out , and so they were asking the different docents if we could write about the cars , if we could do the reader boards , and I was like , well , yeah , I can do that .

Speaker 3 8:18

And so I started doing that and the curator liked my style and the fact that I could write them out , write them , research them and write them fairly quickly uh , something that that he and the curator liked my style and the fact that I could write them out , write them , research them and write them fairly quickly , something that he and the other graphic artists wouldn't have to do any longer . And so they said do you want to come and work here ? And I said , yeah , as long as I can still be a part-time guide , because one of the things that I find in terms of being a docent with interacting with the public , I find out what really resonates with them . And one of the things I've found out is that , yeah , they really like the history of the cars , and not just the gearhead part of it , but also , you know , the background stories of the cars .

Speaker 1 8:56

Well , I congratulate you . You do an excellent job . Is that the Savoy ? Am I looking at the Savoy right there ?

Speaker 3 9:05

Well , this is not the one that we found out in the yard . This is Beatrice and she is a 59-foot Savoy . Last summer she was part of the Great Race . Unfortunately , beatrice got to the fourth day in the mountains of West Virginia and dropped two cylinders , and so that was the end of her stint in the great race . We are now doing a fundraising campaign . We want to have her ready for 2006 .

Speaker 3 9:31

But the better part of that was , even though she failed , we brought a couple of the students in to talk about their .

Speaker 3 9:37

You know what the experience was like , and we have a local college and career center here that is tied in with one of our technical colleges , and their principal and the head of that class came to the presentation on the great race and now they are looking at this for for the next school year , which they're going to be putting a corvette together .

Speaker 3 10:01

They are talking about entering that in the great race as in the student division . So , even though beatrice didn't , you know , do all that well when she was up and running , she has inspired another school to pick up the challenge and do it also , and my hope is that we , since this is a county school that is doing it , that one of the city schools will also want to get into doing this , and I think it would be fun to have you know , in between the city and the county let's have a little bit of competition , which school does better at the great race , because it's not about speed , it's all about precision and being , you know , being there right on time , and so I think it would be great for us to to be able to have a little fun competition going between the two schools . I don't know , we'll have to wait and see what happens . So right now , what we're in this is what we call our great hall and this is one of the exhibit areas that will change .

Speaker 3 10:56

We , of the five exhibit areas that we have , the savoy museum that gallery doesn't change , or it does a little bit , but not that much . Of the other four halls , one of these changes every 30 days , and so this is what's called locally owned . The cars that are here are owned by either members of the museum or friends that live within a pretty close geographic area , and we did this two years ago . We found that people really liked it . The owners of the car really liked being able to bring their vehicles in and sit here for four months and have people ooh and ah over them and also visitors coming in to find out . Boy , there's a lot out in those garages around Cartersville that we never would have expected .

Speaker 1 11:40

Mary , you just showed us a 409 there . I guess you probably already know about that .

Speaker 3 11:46

Well , my favorite part of this is the Beach Boys . Yeah 409 , and this car has it all . But this is one of the anniversary cars that came out in 1962 , which the funny thing was , there was no anniversary edition . I mean nothing for GM . The anniversary was 1955 , and they did a gold-plated Bel Air to celebrate that , but they just put out this car , for no one really knows why .

Speaker 1 12:15

It sounds like our car show . We just make up awards and just put them on there ourselves , just like that . You know we're award-winning . When somebody says well , what award did you win ? We got a long list of them . Yeah , we'll get back with you . Yeah , that's right , we don't know what it is , so that there is a model t .

Speaker 3 12:33

This is a model t 1925 . Uh , the backstory on this is when jay found the car he found this actually in a general store up in tenn and he collects Model Ts and in order to buy it there were two stipulations First , he had to prove that he could drive the car and second , he had to agree that he would never restore it .

Speaker 3 12:55

So , this is , to a degree , not necessarily pristine condition , but if you want to see an untouched Model T , that's what we have , and this car will actually celebrate its 100th birthday this month . What we're not sure is whether or not it was built in Atlanta or not . We think that it may have been , but we're not sure about that . But it will turn 100 sometime this month , are ?

Speaker 1 13:17

you going to have a birthday party ?

Speaker 3 13:20

I sure hope so . I'm sort of pushing for it . I've asked for it , but I don't always get what I want . But again now this car perfect way of talking about history . We ask people why do you think the roof of the car is so high ? Well , the answer is because men wore hats , especially top hats , and they had to accommodate that . In 1955 , that was the first year that Dodge actually got rid of their guideline that the roof of the car had to be high enough to accommodate a man wearing a hat , and we also let people know that . If you like , back in the day now you can probably relate to this when we get our own Weber grill out and we would throw charcoal in there to have a barbecue . Well , kingsford charcoal is right out of Henry Ford that originally was called Ford charcoal and then it became Kingsford and that was the offshoot of . He had to find a way to get rid of all the sawdust and the odds and ends of wood and they invented , you know , charcoal briquettes .

Speaker 1 14:24

So we can thank Henry Ford for the backyard barbecue . Also , mary , how many displays do you have in the Savoy ?

Speaker 3 14:29

We run five at a time . We have the regular Savoy Gallery , as I said , that stays relatively stable , and then we have the four other galleries . One of those changes every 30 days . So this is locally owned and this is in what's called the Great Hall . This is probably the biggest of all the display spaces that we have . Then we will have four other galleries that come off of it . So , for example , we're going to walk into Gallery A and this is called Splendid Studebakers and with the exception of the first two decades that Studebaker was in existence , we have one car that goes through every decade of studebaker's uh existence as a car company .

Speaker 3 15:09

Uh , this is the oldest one . This is from the studebaker factory excuse me , the museum and this is the 1927 limousine with actually a curved glass partition which , when you consider you know , glass , glass manufacturing at that time that was a very rare thing to have . But this has a glass partition in between the driver and the passenger . You could get a telephone for the chauffeur . This car is not equipped with that . And then we come all the way to the very end of Studebaker's run , which is the Avante . Very beautiful car , but you know why do you put out a car that's for a Corvette market when you're sort of on the brink of bankruptcy . But they did Beautiful car by Raymond Lowy . But just sometimes I look at what Studebaker's management and I go , what were you thinking ? And they did some great things . But then they really did some things that were a little bit on the weird side .

Speaker 1 16:02

Mary , tell us where the Savoy Museum is located ? I know it's Cartersville . Where is that ?

Speaker 3 16:08

We are between Chattanooga and Atlanta , right on I-75 . We're about midway between those two places . We're right off the highway , we're about two miles west once you jump off of 75 . And again , there's a lot to do here in the Cartersville area Besides the museum . We have a really nice downtown area with plenty of places to eat and to shop . We have the Etowah River close by for people who want to do some kayaking , hiking trails . There's just a lot going on in this area and of course , it's all the museums that we have here .

Speaker 1 16:48

Well , Mary , we could talk to you for days on end , I am sure , but it really is very appreciated for you to take the time to join the In Wheel Time Car Family this morning and fill us in about the Savoy Museum . So is there a website we could go to ?

Speaker 3 17:04

Yes , if you go to SavoyMuseumorg , okay , that will tell you everything about us . It will tell you everything that is on the floor , including what cars are in the exhibits . It will tell you all the upcoming events , because we do a monthly movie , we have programs that are tied to every exhibit that we do , and then on September , the 6th , we have our car show and that is all out on the lawn . We'll probably have over 300 cars in the show and it's just a great time to come down . And if you need an excuse to come to Georgia , we can give you plenty of them .

Speaker 1 17:38

I'll bring the Corvette and put it on display .

Speaker 3 17:42

We'll have it for you .

Speaker 1 17:43

All right , thank you , mary Agusta . Thank you so much .

Speaker 3 17:47

Hey , have a great day , guys .

Speaker 1 17:48

You do the same . Thanks again , what ?

Speaker 4 17:51

a great venue . They've got some displays coming up , like there's one for all fiberglass and it's much more than Corvettes , and we talked about that event that Ken Gross brought to Houston at the museum , that fine art museum with all the Delahays and stuff . So we're going to pay another visit to her in a

Museum Layout and Unique Car Displays

Speaker 4 18:07

month or so when they get some other things set up , I might just drive over there , I think .

Speaker 1 18:12

I don't . I think the In World Time Car Talk Show should pay me to drive over there and I could do reports from there .

Speaker 4 18:16

Well , if we're going to do that , we're just going to take the whole show and go .

Speaker 1 18:19

Okay , Okay , I tell you what . You take the show and I'll go and have fun . Thank you for that .

Speaker 1 18:25

Just ahead a review of the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus plus Jeff's Motor Minute . After this quick break here on In Real Time . The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla , your destination for Texas' 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 at Loopy Tortilla , all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston . Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location . Start your Loopy experience with queso flammeado and guacamole , along with a classic frozen margarita . Dine on famous Lupe beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette or a fish or vegetarian entree , and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert . Find Lupe 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 he's pretty

Motor Minute: Formula One Updates

Speaker 1 19:31

good .

Speaker 1 19:33

The Emerald Time Car Talk Show thanks you for 14 wonderful years . Yep , our first show aired May 7th 2011 on a 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 broadcasts 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 Real Time Car Talk Show . Right here on the In Real Time Car Talk Show . All right , thank you very much . And let's see . I did want to remind you that our last stop on the In Real Time Spring Tour happens June 12th up in Granbury , texas , south of Fort Worth , the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run . That live broadcast will air at a special time , 9 to noon that Saturday morning . We hope you'll join us then . Time now for the Motor Minute . Motor Minute .

Speaker 2 20:28

We haven't talked about F1 Cadillac lately or the Andretti family , but the Miami Grand Prix coming up , I believe next weekend will have the debut of the Formula One Cadillac race car . They're going to debut it . It's going to be a static , obviously it's not racing until 2026 . But it will be there . What if it runs ? I'm sure it does the Formula 1 team , a final approval and everything that's moving forward . The journey of Cadillac to Formula 1 has been an interesting one and the Andretti Formula racing team has been all outgoing . They've got four drivers that they're considering Sergio Perez , zihu , ganyo Valtteri .

Speaker 3 21:09

Valtteri Bocas . Zihu , ganyo Zihu . Let me try that , or is that ?

Speaker 2 21:14

Zhu , no , zihu Zihu . It's spelled Z-H-O-U .

Speaker 1 21:18

You just go sit over there .

Speaker 2 21:19

Colton Hurta is the other one and I want Colton Hurta to take the wheel . There you go . That's a lot easier to pronounce . There you go . So that's a little bit going on in the Motor Minute for Formula 1 , the unveiling of the Cadillac race car . That was too short .

Speaker 1 21:33

It's a minute , I know , but I wanted to jive you a little bit , don't be jiving . Sergio Perez Zhu Guan .

Speaker 2 21:44

Yu , it sounds like some sort of disease . Larry Jones , that's how they pronounce it . Valtteri Botas and .

Speaker 1 21:50

Colton Herta . That's what I said Valtteri Botas .

Speaker 2 21:52

Botas , it's a medical term .

Speaker 4 21:55

Yeah .

Speaker 1 21:57

Remember you used to have somebody down at the medical clinic . Look at that for you remember .

Speaker 2 22:02

I got an ointment on it , an ointment .

Speaker 1 22:14

Time now for this hour's car

2025 Lincoln Nautilus Review

Speaker 1 22:17

review . I got to drive a 2025 , not 24 but a 25 lincoln nautilus .

Speaker 2 22:20

This was assembled in hangzhou china ?

Speaker 1 22:21

no , no way . Hangzhou china . Here put your glasses on and you China . What ? No , no way . Hang Zhu China . No , zhu . Who here Put your glasses on and you tell me Hang Zhu China ?

Speaker 2 22:28

Hang Zhu . It's even written in Chinese . Look at that .

Speaker 1 22:32

Hang Zhu , china Hang Zhu . It comes in these trim levels Trim upside down , premier Reserve and Black Label . I had the all-wheel drive Reserve . 3 . This is a mid-sized SUV . Seats . 5 . Exterior changes from last model year . Well , this is the second generation . It was redesigned in 2024 . So this one is pretty much brand stinking . New Exterior features One of the best looking rides in the market in my opinion Symmetrical wheel openings with nice elegant body sculpting . Beautiful rear lighting with a sunshade over the hatch glass . Sleek roof line . What I liked about it ? The black label grill has a very elegant look . Looks like little dots up there in the grill area . They've just seen the little chrome dots Like little stars .

Speaker 1 23:28

I don't know what they did , but they did it right . It looks good . Absolutely nothing needs changing on this . It gets an A-plus for attractiveness , in my opinion . If you're in the market for a midsize , whew , this is good looking . Interior highlights In the cabin , in the dash , a door-to-door changeable display , seriously all the way across underneath the glass . It's all A display . It's stunning . Why didn't I think of that ? And then , if you want to get into changing the stuff , there are changeable little pads on the steering wheel or you can get into it by the center screen above the center stack Mars . I hope you get the chance to drive this .

Speaker 1 24:21

I do too , You're going to agree with me that it is . Everybody that got in this car went Wow , look at that , that's nice . Adjustable seating with massage . Awesome quality materials throughout the cabin , classy Lincoln grill for the standard folks like I had . Cargo trunk room , adequate , competitive , plentiful storage space back there what I liked . It makes you want to put on an armani suit with an open collared shirt and drive around with your chest hairs poking out .

Speaker 2 24:55

That's too miami vice , is it yeah ?

Speaker 1 24:59

I know , but don't I ?

Speaker 4 25:00

I kind of fulfill that role , the miami vice role so you vice part , yeah , yeah , so I can get a little hat and I could be you need a hat anyway .

Speaker 1 25:10

um , let's see what could use improvement . On the interior , nothing . It's brilliant in design and execution . I'm telling you , man , don't count america out comes to this sort of stuff . It might be built in zhang zhu , china , but it is really a good-looking vehicle .

Speaker 1 25:29

Two-liter , turbocharged , four-cylinder , 250 horsepower , 280 pound-feet of torque . It's not a rocket ship , but it has plenty of power for us regular folks . Tow rating 1750 , so you can put your little jet ski back there with your open-collared shirt . 21 miles per gallon city , 29 on the highway . For combined to 24 , I got 25.5 miles per gallon over 390.5 miles . What I liked about it ? The smooth pull of that little four banger engine . You can't tell that they're four bangers anymore unless there's just a base . You know go-kart lawnmower entry level and this is not that Nice . Power-to-weight ratio handling , comfortable , american-style luxury ride . It is sweet baby . I was in it . I liked it .

Speaker 1 26:24

What could use improvement ? Adjustable ride control . But why Just let it do its American luxury by itself ? It's fine . I had to come up with something Pricing . Here we go . The base trim price on this is $61,000 . Okay , price is tested . With $70 , hundred ten dollars you can get in one of these for 51 790 competitors mercedes-benz glc 49 , 250 , genesis gv 70 46 , 2 or the acura rdx for 44 7 . Those are the competitors and that my is my review of this scrumptious 2025 Lincoln Nautilus . Scrumptious , I don't get too many Lincolns , scrumptious vehicles it is , and they don't have a lot of vehicles in the choices that you have . But I'll tell you what that is one fine automobile , I think . Anyway , when's the last time you drove a Nautilus ?

Speaker 4 27:29

I was trying to . I don't know that I have ever been a Navigator , but I don't know about the Nautilus .

Speaker 1 27:35

Well , you know , they need to bring it over there to Neaterville and let you drive it for a while .

Speaker 4 27:41

Yeah .

Speaker 1 27:41

Yeah , all right . If you'd like to get in touch with us , we invite you to shoot us an email . Our address here is info at inwheeltimecom , and we will return with the last half of our show . After this quick break , we invite you to stay with us . 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 .

Speaker 1 28:12

Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like-new appearance , apply a ceramic coating , install a paint protection film , nano-ceramic window tint or a new windshield protection called ExoShield , gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go . Curbed your wheels Instead , 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 . Better yet , stop by their facility at 11 275 south sam houston tollway , just south of the southwest freeway , and get a personal tour . Gulf coast auto shield is your place to go .