May 2, 2024 • 42 mins
Sung and Emelia sit down with the President and CEO of SEMA, Mike Spagnola. Mike talks about the car community's future and SEMA's role in supporting an evolving industry, they express views on both sides of the EV argument and discuss keys to a successful marriage. Sung and Emelia also share their best ghost stories.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to another episode of car Stories with Kay
and Amelia Hartford. Do you believe in ghosts?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Do you?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I do?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
That was a very confident Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yes, I didn't until I spent time in Hawaii.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hawaii. Yeah, did you see a ghost?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I didn't see, I felt. So I was up in
North Shore working on this film and Turtle Bay Hotel.
The story or the rumor is that it's built on top.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Of a cemetery.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, cemetery, right, so there are these ghosts like walking
around the property and I was like I heard that,
and I'm like, yeah, whatever, ghost come on coasts. Yeah, okay, whatever.
So I go to sleep. We were shooting at Turtle Bay,
so we were staying there and I was on the
I think that it was like the third floor, the
top floor of the hotel, right, so like there's either
(01:00):
two or three stories, so at the top of the
hotel and the view is like of the water, and
you know, like when you wake up and you're just
kind of still laying there so you're not asleep. Like
I woke up and I'm under the covers because I
heard these footsteps of like a little kid running across
the room and the carpet was like you know this
(01:22):
kind of compact carpet where you could hear It's like
you could the thumb being right, yeah, the pitter patter right,
And I hear this, and all of a sudden, whoever's
running in the room, it hits the foot of the
bed right bumps into it. And I was like, oh,
this is probably one of the cast mates like playing
(01:42):
a practical joke on me or something, or they maybe
they snuck into the room. But I remember I locked
the door and I was like, maybe they snuck into
the balcony or something. I'm just like going through like
all these scenarios in my head and I hear the
pitter patter like three times, right, and then I'm like,
all right, one to three nights.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Wah.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Like I was like a scare whoever's in the room right,
and it's empty room, and I'm like, nah, this is
that's so strange because I felt the bump on the
bed and then I look at the balcony door was
still closed, and I'm like that's odd and there's no
real way that you're gonna like, you know, climb into
the balcony and like get into you know, my room,
(02:23):
and I check the door. It's like completely locked. And
I was like, and I remember I was awake under
the blankets, right, so it wasn't like I was dreaming, right,
And I was like freaking out. Now, I'm like this
is that was so strange. And then I went down
to the front desk and I was like, hey, are
there like rodent problems and they get through like the
air conditioner men or something like, because I heard the
(02:46):
sound of like footsteps and the and the guy behind
the counter was just very nonchalant. It's like, yeah, I
might be the ghosts. And I was like, yeah, like
this guy whatever. So then I go to get ready.
I was like in the makeup chair and our makeup artist,
the head makeup artist was a witch. And a witch
(03:07):
in Hawaii is not like bad witch that puts courses
and stuff. It's like person that is able to speak to,
you know, the deceased. And it's like it's more it's
more of like a positive like person yeah medium, I
guess in the community, right. And then I was telling her.
I was like, hey, you know, you know, this is
just so weird. It's like I've never experienced thing like this.
(03:29):
And I told her the story of the footsteps and
the bump, and she's like, oh, yeah, that's probably the
mischievous ghost. It's like so nonchalant. It was in like
what wow, wow, that's crazy, or questions like were you
drunk or something. Right, it was just like, oh, that's
the mischievous ghost. And I was like what does that mean.
It's like, oh, you know, this is this hotel is
built on top of a cemetery. And I'm like, uh huh,
(03:51):
so there are these spirits like running around and that's
probably a mischievous ghost that is in your room, and
it's kind of messing with you, right, and so what
you need to do? And she pulls out.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Uh it never I could never keep going.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
This is like yeah. So she pulls out red sea
salt Hawaiian Sea salt, and she's like, okay, you need
to take the salt. You put it into the corners
of the room. And then you say, hey, mischievous ghosts,
I'm going to be here for this amount of time,
like you know, please don't bother me anymore. I'm not
gonna like play with you because the mischievous ghost wants
(04:26):
to come and play.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
But then I went to the room and I put
the you know, the sea salt in the corners and
I was like, yo, mischievous ghosts, I'm sung, and I'm
going to be here for like three weeks, so you know,
I don't think I want to be playing with you anymore,
So don't bother me anymore. And then it never happened again.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I would be so scared to stay in that hotel
again after that.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But she, but the witch said that this ghost is
not going to come in.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
But I'd be worried about the other souls.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
But she was like, you, you're not here to do
anything bad, right, Like if you were here doing something
bad whatever, that and these other ghosts might come and
like mess with in. She did tell me, do not
take any sand or rocks from this area. Don't take
it back to La with you.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Don't if something gets like stuck in your shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but you know, like like people put
it in a bottle, they take rocks and they go
it's assuming there. She's like, don't do that. Yeah, how
about you.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I've I've had a lot, I've had a lot of
creepy experiences that I fullheartedly believe in spirits and ghosts
and all that. A lot of people think this is
bs when I told them the story, but on my
life it is not. When we were younger, we lived
by an abandoned hospital, and what we would do for fun,
you know, before phones and stuff like that, was we'd
(05:48):
crawl into one of the windows in the very back
of this abandoned hospital and we'd walk around with our
flashlights because like spooky stuff would happen all the time,
so we're like, oh, we're going like ghost hunting. And
one time I very vividly remember we were in the
the NICICU I think it's called, where you know babies
who are born too early, like they have all.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Of the incubator yes, thank.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
You that they stand. It was like one of those rooms,
and there was a box of spoons, of metal spoons
in like a box, a cardboard box that was sitting
on the table. And we'd walk by and like you
hear like a little giggling in the background or the
something that's We're like, oh, we're kids, Well this is
like this is crazy. We walked by the spoons and
(06:33):
right as we're turning around the corner, we heard like
a thud. The spoons fell ever around the floor, and
I swear to God, every single one of those spoons
had been bent in half, so they were all full,
they were straight in this box before hit the ground.
Every single one of them was bent in half. And
it was the most it was the weirdest thing that
(06:53):
I'd ever experienced. And that was the last time we
went back to that hospital, and they ended up tearing
it down a few years later. But that after that,
I was like, yeah, weird stuff like that. I can't
say I've ever visually seen a ghost, but I've had
moments that have spooked to me so badly that the
(07:13):
slightest like I feel energy. That sounds so like cheesy
to say, but when I walk in a room, you
can feel the energy. And if I get a negative energy,
it'll it'll it'll creep me out. Because I've had these
weird experiences that have happened.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I'd like to like be possessed by a ghost. I
would not no, because then at least that would it
would be like confirm that they're real.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I think it's an energy. I don't think it's so
much a being or a thing, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I would like to be possessed and then like live
in this possessed state and have the ghost powers, like
ghost powers.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That's something like exorcist shit.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I think, like you, I could, I could pick out
like the powerball numbers. I don't think it works. No,
what are these ghost rules? I mean, I want to
like sit down and meet a ghost or an alien.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Well, they say ghosts or spirits that haven't passed on
to the afterlife and they're stuck. So yeah, I can't
imagine it'd be like a very positive excep.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Do you believe in aliens?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I would feel dumb to not believe that there's some
other living form.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Out there we'll never see yet to see one.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Maybe they've been here the entire time.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, well I feel like an alien sometimes. Well, speaking
of aliens, okay, and the way he you know, just
so next to Guy's Mike Spagnola, right, Sege, Yeah, he's kind
of like an alien. He's like anomaly. Sure, I so
much enthusiasm for life and people and cars.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
He's the CEO of Sema show talks about having a
great work life balance and also some of the incredible
things that Seema's doing for this world.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Quite frankly, it's something that you can really be inspired by.
And today we get a seeing kind of insight on
the ev argument is that the future is that the
solution right, definitely, all right. Further, Ado might spec Nola
for the viewers out there and the listeners. Mike is
(09:17):
an old friend of mine. He currently is the CEO
of SEMA. For you guys that don't know Sema Seema,
I guess for the layman, it would be like the
mecca for all car related things every year in Vegas and.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
The largest trade show of the world in the US
for sure in the US when it comes to automotive.
And you guys are also a nonprofit too, right, so
you give a lot back to the community.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, So we really anything we make on the show,
we just reinvest in the industry, into this culture of ours,
into this hobby of ours, and then help our manufacturers
and resellers retailers grow and prospers. Kind of what we do.
So we make money on the show, we you know,
we have a due structure and all of that, but
literally we pour it all back into a lot of
things every year, you know, everything from rege leg you know,
(10:02):
the government stuff that we have to be involved in
in education and training. And you've been to our Seema garages,
you know, where we help manufacturers develop products and take
them to market, and just a lot of those sort
of things, scholarship programs and anything that gives back to
the automotive community to help it grow and prosper and
to protect this culture, this lifestyle that we all love. Yeah,
(10:25):
you know, that's that's all part of it.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
How long have you been with CEMA for?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
In twenty thirteen, I sold my shares in my last
company and came to Seema on a three year contract
to build the SEMA Garage and this product development center
because I'd spent so much of my life doing product development,
working with the OEES, working with Ford, NNGM and all
the others on when new vehicles come out, having all
those successories ready to go for them. And so I'm
(10:51):
eleven years into my three year contract now sitting us
the president's CEO. So just to be part of this
industry and it's pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
We didn't grow up with a ton and my dad
was a bartender and my mom was an opera singer.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Opera singer, which is super cool.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love the opera, but I can
remember my mom, you know, sitting on the kitchen table
in the morning, counting tips that my dad would get
quarters and dimes and nickels, and that's what we used
to go to the grocery store, you know, buy stuff with.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
So and you were really into which was super cool.
I think that's where we really connected dots and early on,
I mean you were racing five tents. Yeah, there's like
these cool pictures in his office racing like five tens.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
I always wanted a five tens. That's one of my
I love hearing that you used to race, so.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They Yeah, I was probably you know, first off, you know,
I wasn't great in sports and in high school, and I,
you know, wasn't the popular kid around town and all that.
So I was a car guy and we were kind
of the you know, the dumb model shop guys. But
then on top of that, I was an import guy.
Whenever else was muscle car. You know, growing up in
the sixties you had to love Chabelle's and Camaros and
(12:05):
Mustangs and Corvettes. And I don't know what it was.
I just loved import cars. I had a brother in
law that raced sports cars, and so that was probably
part of it. We'd go out to the Riverside Raceway. But
I fell in love with five tens and you know,
back in Pete brock days and you know that sort
of thing. So I was still even though I was
(12:26):
an auto shop, I was still the odd guy out
because I was an import cars, not the muscle car scene.
But it was just part of me, you know, it
was just it was just in my soul. I think
from the beginning, what did you like about those cars?
What drew you to those I think just it was
something new and different in you know, at that point
again Brock Racing and Pete Brock and John Morton and
(12:47):
those guys watching them race.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
For people who don't know Pete brock Ford versus for
our Pete brock actually worked on the Shelby cars, right right,
and then he eventually started building dots and five tens
and two forties and built for like Paul Newman.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Paul Newman yet right, yeah, yeah, and so so right
when I was thirteen fourteen, the two forties he came out,
you know, so nineteen seventy, it was just you fell
in love with it, you know, just the shape and
what it was. And then a buddy of mine in
high school got one. He got a brand new one,
and so we would ride around on that. And then
after high school, I went to work for a Dawson
(13:22):
dealership and just as a delivery driver and sweeping floors
and working in behind the counter, that sort of thing,
just because I wanted to be around that and I
wanted to build a race car. When I was thirteen,
I had a fifty five Mercury that my grandparents gave me,
and then I wasn't running. I got it running, and
when I was about fourteen and a half, my dad
(13:44):
came home early and I was driving it down the street.
So that was the last time I saw it. But yeah,
after high school, it was just I was just in
love with Dodson's. It was just one of those things.
I couldn't get enough of it.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
So you got to build one. You need to get.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, you need to It's okay, sound a little ridiculous
because it's a bit non conventional, but my dream five
to ten has always been a rotary swap five to ten.
And I know that's acting, yeah, yeah, I know it's
asking for headaches and problems and unreliability. But I always
had the dream that that's when I did a five
to ten. I would do a rotary swap on one.
But I just I love those cars so much, and
(14:18):
they're kind of like the old.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Two thousand and two BMW a little bit, you know,
that's kind of but they were just so well handling
and just just cool. I don't, I can't.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, there's something about them, which is something about them.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, And actually I think before that I had a
dots And roadster and then kind of thought, well, this
is kind of stupid. I don't have a roof of
my head trying to race these things.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
And the roadster is still a big part of your
life and your family's life. Like when I have a
template for the perfect like movie Dad, I always would
think of Mike Speknolae because he has three kids. He
has two sons, and he has a daughter daughter. Yeah,
and the Dotson roadster is this connective tissue with him
(15:04):
and his boys, right, because both his sons.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
They built roadsters.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They like, they buy them, they flip them, they do
resto mods like basically a resurrect any roadster and then
they can flip it and make good money, right, and.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
The problems we hang on to them, Yeah, it's my problem.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, I think I've sold one car in my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And it's first world problems. But I've got cars that
should be in the garage that are sitting in the
driveway because there's no room for him. Right. But I've
been blessed. I got three amazing kids, and my daughters
will stay at home mom, school teacher. But all the
kids are into the car scene. Both my boys are
as you know, they're both in the industry and so
and it's kept us all closed. It's kept us out
(15:46):
of trouble.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We do a lot of off road racing together and
track days together. And now I've got four grandkids a
fifth one on the way, and they're into it. So
we're you know, we were out at Johnson Valley a
couple of weeks ago, King of the Hammers and took
some side by sites out and dirt bikes and quads
and the whole family is just we went camping for
(16:08):
a few days and just tore it up out in
the desert.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I see why you admire him. I see it. How
do you find that work life balance?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know what I remind myself all of the time.
You know, I'm at a stage in my life where again,
this job's it can be twelve hours a day if
you let it be, it can be five, six, seven
days a week. But I remind myself to spend time
with the family. Got a really good team at work.
We've been building that team up to a point where
you know, there's still fifty hour weeks, but they're not
(16:39):
sixty hour weeks.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Is there something you would tell yourself younger, you looking
back knowing that this was obviously a career path, but
also the time and energy that goes into a work first.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, I guess, you know, if you want to reach
for things, you got to work at it, you know.
And yeah, I missed a few baseball games, which you know,
like you know that haunts be probably still a little bit.
But we still had a great time. We still love
each other and have a good time. And you know,
we're Italian, so we get together for big family dinners and.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
He makes the mean sauce. He has this like family sauces,
like your sauce. Yeah, and he gives it out. It's
like a present, It's like real Italian stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So yeah, so I try to you know, I think
that's it. I think you just continue to work at
it and continue to find that balance and find time
to laugh and have a good time and you know
those sort of things.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Be present in the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, be present in the moment for sure. And again
I've been working on even at the office now, working
on the team to you know, finding that balance between
honoring the Hall of Fame guys, but also being relevant
to the next generation and understanding what what the next
generation likes in cars, right. It's not your dad's alsmail, right.
So that's what we're really working hard on right now,
(17:56):
so that this industry and this again, this passion, this
thing that we all love continues on.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
What do you feel like has been the drastic change
from that generation the Chip fous Is and the Attle
Bronx today.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Well, you know, again, I think it's the you know,
obviously the tuner market is hot and great right now,
and understanding how they go to market. They don't go
in the traditional distribution market. The old market was manufacturer
sell it to a warehouse. Warehouse sells at the parts stores,
part sales sell it to retail. A lot of that
chain's been moved out and it's direct to consumer, social media,
(18:46):
it's it's different ways of branding and advertising, and not
necessarily branding and advertising and magazines now it's it's a
whole different way of going to market and making sure
that they understand that well, a lot of the stuff
is cool. There are laws that we have to kind
of play by. You there's submissions laws, and you know,
the government would just assume a lot of times not
(19:07):
to get again too political, but the government, you know,
would rather we're all driving you know, plain white vanilla evs,
and so protecting that part of the industry is really
really critical.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
And that's a big push for SEMO. I mean, I
think that's something that people don't really understand. SEMA is
like heavily like part of legislation, yeah, and lobbying for like,
you know, resisting certain type of changes and stuff with
the EPA. Right, can we speak on that, like you
were sharing out in the hallway about this push to
(19:39):
make everything EV and maybe that's not necessarily that great,
you know.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, you know, we we're saying is EV should be
part of our future, but it shouldn't be the only answer.
I mean, there is a lot of work being done
in hydrogen and synthetic fuels and biofuels. You know, the
internal combustion engine and ice engine is not bad. It's
what you put in it. You know, they could be bad.
So we're all for cleaner air, we're all for making
sure that the environment is safe. But for the government
(20:06):
to put their thumb on the scale and say it's
ev and ev only. We're resisting that the infrastructure for
charging stations and recycle and all that stuff is going
to take some time. And so we're big proponents in
the direction of saying, hey, government, let all technology continue
to evolve. Let's not pick one winner. Let's make sure
(20:28):
that we're looking at all the future technologies and fuels
and all those sort of things. Let alone what it
can do to the economy. I mean, if we were
to just shut off gas parwred vehicles, you know twenty
twenty six, thirty three percent of the vehicles in California.
They want to make evs that we've done some research
on that. It would cost our industry about sixty seven
(20:48):
billion dollars a year. Sixty seven seven billion, yeah, billion.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And what's the response been When you have these conversations, you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Know, typically they get it. I mean, we work with
both sides of the aisle, and some are kind of
hell bent on saying, you know, we're you know, we're
marching forward and we're doing this EV deal. But you're
now starting to see some pushback even from consumers. EV's
were selling like crazy. Now there's about one hundred and
twenty days of inventory on the floors of these dealerships,
(21:14):
and now you're seeing you know, BMW has come out
now and said they're working on hydrogen. Toyota's been hybrid
for a while. They were the first guys to step up,
and they really got criticized for that. But you can
build ten hybrids for every EV just with the minerals
and the batteries it takes. And hybrids are getting fifty
sixty miles to the gallon. I mean, that's not a
bad deal, right, and let alone the price of it.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
So do you think it is inevitable that cars, new
cars eventually will all end up as EV.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Do you feel that? Gut? No, no, no, And again
I think, I mean, we're running internal combustion engines on
hydrogen now, so you know, I think that's one of
the answers. Let alone, you know, for what we love, right,
the noise in the yeah, the driveability and the you know,
all of that. So I think it's a long run.
I think it's a really long run. And I think
(22:05):
you're going to see a lot of technologies evolve. Porsche
and Shell Oil and some of these others are putting
you know, tens of millions of dollars into synthetic fuels,
in renewable fuels, and I think that's I think that's
really where it's going to end.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Up, renewable fuels. Interesting. You don't have a ev at.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Do you. I don't. I'd be happy to have one.
I feel I believe in balance, and I feel like
there's you know, times when an EVY absolutely makes sense,
and I'm pro ev don't get me wrong, But I
also think you have to keep the passion alive in
whatever that looks like. For me, I love working on cars,
and you know, I love tearing apart of motor and
(22:46):
I hope I have the opportunity to do that forever.
And I wish people at home, I hope everyone gets
a chance to experience that, because it really is something special.
But for those who you know, really just need something
for a to B, needs a commuter and really doesn't
care about the visual feeling of maybe in ice engine
(23:08):
that was redundant. Sorry, but I then think an EV
makes makes perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, no again, I agree. It's part of the solution,
it's not the only solution.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Right, that's a great answer.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
What do you think? What's your thoughts on EV?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You know, I was so against EV all EV's I
was like, I don't like any of it. There's nothing,
you know, like I can't connect with the cars. And
then I drove thish N series Hyundai. Yeah, right in Korea.
I drove it for like a week and then I
(23:46):
took it on the track and then I got in
there drift version of it, and it has fake sound.
It's like six hundred plus horsepower, and everything in the
car is what a car enthusiast like, we'll freak out about,
Like from the seats to the steering wall to the
cup holder was like the coolest couple holder everything. Because
(24:10):
they were like the engineers were like designers were like,
is there a criticism you have of the car? Go, yeah,
you know there's no cup holders in this thing. And
they're like, oh, we know you like cup holders. They're like,
press this button. All of a sudden, it's like they
got a star Trek. It's like they're like wow, They're like,
what about the rest of them? I go, no, this
cup holder is like the cool couple in my life.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I forgot about this.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
But and then has the sound. It's like from what
from what they was saying, it's like there's these subwiffers
in the backseat and there's like you know, natural aspirated
mode and it just start. The car starts to rumble. Wow,
and then it's like backfires because you know, you can
put it in manual mode and you downship and it's
like and then.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
People outside they're like, wait, hey, whoa, this is the
EV this is noise all And then you can turn
it off and it's quiet.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
It's just the EV car. You can just be like invisible.
But then we're like, you know rolling by, like you know,
this museum and these like you know, older folks were
out there and I was like, that's down shifting.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
It was so cool and you can drift this car.
And I was like, well this and then in Seriah
is like an F one, Like it's like I got
an F one like race car. The whole thing is
it's just it's the most like it's just Evie or not.
I go, this is just an amazing looking car driving car.
(25:37):
It sounds amazing, right, and then like the price point
is like awesome, and I was like this is all
ev I was like shocked, and so it was like converted,
like it was like I crossed the line and even
you know, and my character is notorious for poo pooing
on Hyundai's right like in Tokyo Drift. I'm like, you
think I'm gonna drive it day? And I give you
(25:58):
keys to.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Right, and I converted. I was like, no, honey, makes
some good stuff. I mean, come on, like the N series,
that's right. I drove that N seventy four like concept car. Right,
that's all the hydrogen car, and that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
It's awesome. But you know a lot of parts are
like three D printed and it's like it's a concept car, right,
But this Ionic five and Looknay pays me nothing, like
I have no relationship with them. But if ev cars
become this like oh my god, where because as a
car enthusier, go, this is giving me everything I want? Right,
(26:34):
and that couple them.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
But again, it is going to evolve you know, Borlers
come out with a Borler who makes great exhaust systems,
has come out with a software package for all those
sounds that you can plug into an EV and it's
got F one, it's got all those different sounds. It's
got a v E.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Sound and it's fascinating. I didn't even think about an
exhaust company how they would adapt in the future when
it comes to a vehicle that does not have an
exhaust system. What a way to adapt?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, and you'll see, you know again, the industry's going
to continue to move and transform. The speech I did yesterday,
I quoted an article and the article said, does the
aftermarket have five more years? And it talked about government
intervention and what they allow us to continue to do
the things we do. It talked about the complexity of
(27:21):
vehicles and you're going to be able to continue to
modify them because of all the computer systems and all
the things in these vehicles. And it talked about next
gen maybe not being interested in cars and looking at
other things. And then I held up the article. It
was from nineteen seventy one. So our industry continues to
find ways to be relevant to that here.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Right, because my fault question was going to be from
your level, how do you see the younger generation's involvement
in modern automotive.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So you know a few things. If you think about
let's just take even the new forward lightning truck, It's
still a truck, so you can still lift it. Your
can still be bigger, entires, wheels, you can still put
all the bid accessories, you can still go over landing
and camping. So we'll adapt, I mean, there'll be things
that will we adapt to. The other kind of niche
market that's starting to happen, of course, is the conversion. Right,
(28:13):
so guy's taking a sixty nine Camaro in Porsche, Yeah, Porsche,
any of those sort of things where and then you
know that's evolving. It was that you had to find
a wreck Tesla and pull all the guts out of
it and put it into whatever your rest a modding.
But now we had it seene of the share over
fifty manufacturers of battery packs and motors and controllers and
(28:35):
all those sorts of things. So that market is going
to continue to evolve. So I think the younger tech
generation is going to convert older vehicles into ev and
just all that conversion. I mean, you and I worked
on a maverick. Yeah, and I thought he was crazy.
He was like, I was like, we're you know, we're
going to put a V eight, We're going to put
a five to zero in it. And You're like, no,
(28:55):
we're not. And you know, we said we're going to
put an EcoBoost mode two point three ecoboos ecaboos mode yeah,
into a into a seventy one to two Maverick. But
but that was a you know, we did that vehicle.
We pulled the it was a six cylinder. It was
we put it on the dino. I think it was
seventy six horse power at the rear wheels and seventy six.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
You guys built this for SEMA Garage, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
We built it with some student Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
It was it was like an auction car to be
able to include young high school students on a build. Yeah,
right at the right.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
And we had put it on the dinal and we
put it in our missions lab at the Seema Garage
and then we pulled that motor. We put the Yukaboost
motor in it and uh, it was about two eighty
two ninety at the rear wheels and it was seventy
times cleaner.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I was going to say better emotions.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, than the original motor. And then that car went
to SEEMA and actually won the Ford Design Award and
edsel Ford presented the kids with the awards. I mean,
that was.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Probably my That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
That was probably one of the highlights of it was Career.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
He came up to us and he's like, we love
the Maverick. Are you the Maverick?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
He's a guy.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It's still underdog, underappreciated for it, I've been saying.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
And you know, one of the cool things also we
did with the kids. It was these students. We used
to see a machine, a scanner, so we scanned all
the engine bay and then we scanned the engine, and
then we showed them in CAD how the engine would
fit into the engine bay. And then we even three
D printed the motor. But we did it all on
(30:29):
CAD and it fit to a t when it was
all done. So it's amazing where technology's gone. You know,
we used to break our knuckles and try fitting things
that didn't fit, and cut and shave, and when you
just think it can't get any better, it continues to
just get better. I mean, the builds that happened today
are just incredible. I mean, the ingenuity and the engineering
(30:53):
and the and it's fun to just watch, you know,
a younger generation light up and talk about the sorts
of things fashion.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
I had the pleasure of judging one of the young
guns a few years ago, and it was to see
these builds. It's absolutely mind blowing and so fascinating of
what people are able to do at such a young age.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I mean, because this argument that you know, car culture
is dying, it's dwindling away, but then you go to Sema, right,
and every year it's like, you know, pop seats itself. Right,
It's like because for car folks it's like the Mecca.
Like people from you know, the Middle East and you know,
like you know, from Dubai. They're like, you know, one day,
(31:36):
my friend, my dream is to go to the Sema.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Over one hundred countries show up.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I always thought it was the biggest in the world,
and to me it forever will be.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
So we're growing. The industry still grows a few billion
dollars every single year. Obviously the fast and furiy s
fastized kind of fueled some of that.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
You know, well, speaking of we have a we have
a connection with Fast and Feary.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
So, prior to Team Mike had a bodykit company that
supplied the body kits.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
To the the other very first one fun Yea, which
of course we did the Supra, we did the Mitsubishi
so and at that time, the running storyline was that it
was called Redline. I think was going to be it's
going to be the name of the movie. I actually
remember this, and we we gave out some of these
bodykits and I kind of forgot about the whole thing.
(32:27):
You know. It was a year later the movie came out.
It was like, Hey, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It's amazing, Like the six degrees of separation.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
People have with that friend continues on.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
H When you hang out in the car community, you
realize like, oh, they are very successful people that never
went to college and the like appreciation to work with
your hands right and today I wonder if you know
(33:08):
that skill set is something that this current generation they
don't value.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
You know. Yeah, I'm a big proponent of trade schools,
I really am. And four year college isn't for everybody,
and in fact, it really frustrates me to see young
kids go through college and be in debt for over
one hundred thousand dollars, one hundred and twenty hundred and thirty
thousand dollars and come out with a degree that they
really can't use towards, you know, towards their life, towards
(33:35):
their skills. And you know, I run into it all
the time, where they're in just debt forever, paying back
five six hundred and seven hundred dollars a month for
fifteen years, twenty years. It's really a shame. And you know, Sung,
you and I have gone to high schools and talked
about this because really it's not even the students, it's
the parents. The parents are so focused on my kid
(33:57):
is going to go to a four year college, but
they don't always come out with skills that they can
use that they're going to move forward with in a
trade And so I'm a big proponent of you know,
if you can get through a four year college, great,
and if you can use those skills to better your career, great.
But trade schools are alive and well. In the automotive industry.
(34:18):
We're always going to need carpenters, we're always going to
need plumber, We're always going to need electricians. We're always
going to need auto technicians, and especially as this thing
does move towards eve great great need. I was talking
to Roger Penske a couple of years ago, and between
all this car dealerships and all the other things, they
were looking for twenty thousand technicians over the next few years.
(34:39):
And so I mean, you can come out of Uti
or some of these schools now and you're starting at
a eighty thousand, ninety thousand a year.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
So people don't know this, right, So you get a
job at BMW or you know, Porsche, it's like sixty
five to eighty five thousand starting, yeah, with benefits.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Right, that's not bad, No, it's not bad. Yeah, But
you know, like anything in life, you have to hustle. Right.
If people think they're going to come into anything and
be eight to five and do other things, you can
make a career, but you're not going to excel at it.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
What characteristics about these individuals stand out?
Speaker 2 (35:16):
I think it's anything in business, right, having tenacity, having
to put in the time and the effort, failing, getting up,
picking yourself back up, doing it again, failing picking yourself
back up, doing it again, doing what you have to
do to make it, you know, whether that's living at
home and putting the time and the effort in and
understanding the car culture and understand the products needed. It's
(35:38):
the you know, mother and invention. Right, It's anything you
see something break and you think you can build it better.
That's what keeps our industry going, just being unique and different.
And I don't want to be the same as the
other guy. I want to I want to have something
different on my mod that you know makes me stand out.
It's it's expression to who you are, right, It's it's
really a canvas that shows who you are are in
(36:00):
what makes you so yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Yeah, And here's here's a question for myself. The thing
that really is always really stood out with you is
your relationship with your wife, Like how do you keep
marriage and the friendship like it's always fresh. I never
feel like you know when you when you too, like
are still like the energy is like high school sweetheart,
(36:24):
smiling as you talk, like it's it's like, you know,
you made some couples and you're like, yo, man, they're
like you know, they're they're on their last thread, right,
They're like they're just tolerating each other. Where I never
feel that with you two, and for people that are
going through this right, like the relationship kind of stalemate.
(36:45):
I guess like, you know, what, how do you keep
refresh yet?
Speaker 1 (36:48):
And how long have you guys been together for.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Forty one years?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
What do you want?
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, right, you know, look at you have to work
at it, right, you have to continue to work at it.
You have to have good communication. We take time to
go out, we still date. You know, we are Christian people,
so I think that plays into it as well, that
we have that commitment to each other. And so I
try to include her a little more in even my
business travels. And you got to work at it, you know,
(37:14):
you have to just continue to work at it and
remind each other as to you know, what we're doing
and while we're here and all that.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
So when she gets she gets on you for like
working too much and everything at home, what's your response?
Speaker 2 (37:29):
You know, confession, This is part of that work life balance.
I've never taken two full weeks off of vacation, Like
I'll take a week at a time or three days
at a time. Forty So we're going to Europe. We're
going to go to Italy. This summer and I'm taking
two full weeks off so you'll enjoy this. We were
at the dinner table with the kids and grandkids and
we total, we're going to Italy this summer. You know.
(37:50):
The kids said, well, what dates? And I said, well,
I end up August to second week September. And Andrews
stands up, my oldest son and goes, huh, dad, when's
Manza the Formula wonder is? Isn't that the first? Because
I stirred at him, like the Depth store, I'm like,
I'm going to kill you right now, you know. And
that was a big deal because wait, we're going to
Italy because you want to go to the Formula one race.
I said, no, no, no, no, no, you know we
(38:11):
might show up there. The fire factory might be on
our way. So we've had kind of this running joke.
So probably, like you guys, anywhere you go, you end
up finding car people, right, you end up finding that deal.
And so many times in my life we'll go to
something that has nothing to do with cars and we
(38:34):
find the car guys and like Dianad just shake her head.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Do you share like everything with her? Like work stressed?
Do you bring that home?
Speaker 1 (38:43):
I imagine if you guys have been together for forty
one years, you tell each other at everything. Am I right?
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Yeah, except if I buy a car that I didn't
tell her about her.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
No, really, he has a lot of there's a lot
of those.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
No I did. I did have one that I was
actually on a trailer and I was looking at an.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Aston Martin and your thumb slipped.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
She knew I kind of wanted one, but I didn't
tell her. I was looking for one, and and I
was kind of bidding on it, and I thought I'll
throw in one last bid because it was it was
below market, and all of a sudden I bought it.
And I was like, oh crap. I got to go
home and tell her.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
But you told her you didn't wait for the car
to show.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, no, no, no, But I told her. She was
fine with it. She was like, you always wanted that car,
Go for it. You know, you deserve it. You know
those sort of things.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
So, uh, that's a communication where she knew you you
love the car, she knew you always wanted one, you
were honest and open with her about having purchased it.
So there still is that communication that you guys are
constantly having amongst one another, which is so important. I think.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, you and I saw the when the Z was
at Sema show a couple of years ago, and I
went over to look at it, and I was like,
I gotta have I got to have this new, the
new Z. And she was good with it. I mean,
she understood the heritage with me with thoughts and and
nissans and and of course you know, she likes her
shopping as well, so we try to make sure that
balance happens.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Yeah, you go shopping with her?
Speaker 2 (40:08):
I do you do? I do? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (40:10):
All go sound so surprised.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
That's pretty for forty one years, Like that's something that
I it's hard for me to do now. I used
to try to do that, like you know, go and
just carry the bags, right, But then, God, I hate shopping.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
I don't get out like you.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
If I need clothes, yeah, I'll walk in. I'm in
there ten minutes. I don't even look at the price.
I buy what I need them out right.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
When you travel, do you do the laundry at the hotel?
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I do? I spend the money?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
You spend the money?
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Wow, Because now you're a baller you're the CEO. I
got that kind of money. But don't you feel guilty
spending the urn of money?
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Right? I went to the Super Bowl and everything was ridiculous.
We went downstairs to the hotel to have bread and
it was sold out. The lady said, well, there's a
you can do a buffet across the other side of
the hotel. So we walked over to the other side
of the hotel. One hundred and fifteen dollars a person
for breakfast a buffet a buffet. Wow, well, even be
proud of me. We got our jackets and we walked
(41:14):
over to Denny's, got nine ninety five breakfast.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
Right, I can't spend that kind of line.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It was ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Yeah, that's too much. Yeah, I mean Denny's is good food.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, it's good food. Why you're still full at the
end of the yeah?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Right, I think that. I think Denny's has one of
the best chicken fried sticks in the world. Yeah, you
know what that is?
Speaker 1 (41:32):
A chicken fried stick? An idea you had that never
eaten one.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Now, there's no chicken in it.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
It's just a fried stick.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Right, It's a hamburger meat.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Right. You can tell you's from the South. Yeah, gravy.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
Maybe it's just the humble beginnings or like not growing
up with like money, even if it's expense or I
could like write it off. I can't spend that kind
of money on dry cleaning underwear. I just can't do it.
I can't.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
That's where I draw the line. I'm okay, Yeah, you're okay.
There's something you gotta have good toilet paper. Yeah, you
gotta have clean underwear. Yeah, you gotta have good syrup, syrup,
syrup for your pancakes cakes. Yeah, okay. So there's a
few things I'll splurgeh.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
On, but those are Yeah, that's that's fair.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yeah, yeah, the syrup. I like the syrup. The syrup.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
You gotta have principles in life, That's right.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
There's some things that's just you know, you spend the
dollars on. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
Well, thanks Mike, Yeah, thank you. This was just wonderful
to sit down with you and you.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Guys as well. Honored to be here and honored to
be a guest.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
And we should give credit and credits due. You jumped
straight from a flight from lax Rove straight here and
now you're onto another job, and we really appreciate you
taking the time well, thank you and
Speaker 2 (42:38):
Again thanks for the invite anytime
Welcome back to another episode of car Stories with Kay
and Amelia Hartford. Do you believe in ghosts?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Do you?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I do?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
That was a very confident Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yes, I didn't until I spent time in Hawaii.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hawaii. Yeah, did you see a ghost?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I didn't see, I felt. So I was up in
North Shore working on this film and Turtle Bay Hotel.
The story or the rumor is that it's built on top.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Of a cemetery.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, cemetery, right, so there are these ghosts like walking
around the property and I was like I heard that,
and I'm like, yeah, whatever, ghost come on coasts. Yeah, okay, whatever.
So I go to sleep. We were shooting at Turtle Bay,
so we were staying there and I was on the
I think that it was like the third floor, the
top floor of the hotel, right, so like there's either
(01:00):
two or three stories, so at the top of the
hotel and the view is like of the water, and
you know, like when you wake up and you're just
kind of still laying there so you're not asleep. Like
I woke up and I'm under the covers because I
heard these footsteps of like a little kid running across
the room and the carpet was like you know this
(01:22):
kind of compact carpet where you could hear It's like
you could the thumb being right, yeah, the pitter patter right,
And I hear this, and all of a sudden, whoever's
running in the room, it hits the foot of the
bed right bumps into it. And I was like, oh,
this is probably one of the cast mates like playing
(01:42):
a practical joke on me or something, or they maybe
they snuck into the room. But I remember I locked
the door and I was like, maybe they snuck into
the balcony or something. I'm just like going through like
all these scenarios in my head and I hear the
pitter patter like three times, right, and then I'm like,
all right, one to three nights.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Wah.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Like I was like a scare whoever's in the room right,
and it's empty room, and I'm like, nah, this is
that's so strange because I felt the bump on the
bed and then I look at the balcony door was
still closed, and I'm like that's odd and there's no
real way that you're gonna like, you know, climb into
the balcony and like get into you know, my room,
(02:23):
and I check the door. It's like completely locked. And
I was like, and I remember I was awake under
the blankets, right, so it wasn't like I was dreaming, right,
And I was like freaking out. Now, I'm like this
is that was so strange. And then I went down
to the front desk and I was like, hey, are
there like rodent problems and they get through like the
air conditioner men or something like, because I heard the
(02:46):
sound of like footsteps and the and the guy behind
the counter was just very nonchalant. It's like, yeah, I
might be the ghosts. And I was like, yeah, like
this guy whatever. So then I go to get ready.
I was like in the makeup chair and our makeup artist,
the head makeup artist was a witch. And a witch
(03:07):
in Hawaii is not like bad witch that puts courses
and stuff. It's like person that is able to speak to,
you know, the deceased. And it's like it's more it's
more of like a positive like person yeah medium, I
guess in the community, right. And then I was telling her.
I was like, hey, you know, you know, this is
just so weird. It's like I've never experienced thing like this.
(03:29):
And I told her the story of the footsteps and
the bump, and she's like, oh, yeah, that's probably the
mischievous ghost. It's like so nonchalant. It was in like
what wow, wow, that's crazy, or questions like were you
drunk or something. Right, it was just like, oh, that's
the mischievous ghost. And I was like what does that mean.
It's like, oh, you know, this is this hotel is
built on top of a cemetery. And I'm like, uh huh,
(03:51):
so there are these spirits like running around and that's
probably a mischievous ghost that is in your room, and
it's kind of messing with you, right, and so what
you need to do? And she pulls out.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Uh it never I could never keep going.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
This is like yeah. So she pulls out red sea
salt Hawaiian Sea salt, and she's like, okay, you need
to take the salt. You put it into the corners
of the room. And then you say, hey, mischievous ghosts,
I'm going to be here for this amount of time,
like you know, please don't bother me anymore. I'm not
gonna like play with you because the mischievous ghost wants
(04:26):
to come and play.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
But then I went to the room and I put
the you know, the sea salt in the corners and
I was like, yo, mischievous ghosts, I'm sung, and I'm
going to be here for like three weeks, so you know,
I don't think I want to be playing with you anymore,
So don't bother me anymore. And then it never happened again.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I would be so scared to stay in that hotel
again after that.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But she, but the witch said that this ghost is
not going to come in.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
But I'd be worried about the other souls.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
But she was like, you, you're not here to do
anything bad, right, Like if you were here doing something
bad whatever, that and these other ghosts might come and
like mess with in. She did tell me, do not
take any sand or rocks from this area. Don't take
it back to La with you.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Don't if something gets like stuck in your shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but you know, like like people put
it in a bottle, they take rocks and they go
it's assuming there. She's like, don't do that. Yeah, how
about you.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I've I've had a lot, I've had a lot of
creepy experiences that I fullheartedly believe in spirits and ghosts
and all that. A lot of people think this is
bs when I told them the story, but on my
life it is not. When we were younger, we lived
by an abandoned hospital, and what we would do for fun,
you know, before phones and stuff like that, was we'd
(05:48):
crawl into one of the windows in the very back
of this abandoned hospital and we'd walk around with our
flashlights because like spooky stuff would happen all the time,
so we're like, oh, we're going like ghost hunting. And
one time I very vividly remember we were in the
the NICICU I think it's called, where you know babies
who are born too early, like they have all.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Of the incubator yes, thank.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
You that they stand. It was like one of those rooms,
and there was a box of spoons, of metal spoons
in like a box, a cardboard box that was sitting
on the table. And we'd walk by and like you
hear like a little giggling in the background or the
something that's We're like, oh, we're kids, Well this is
like this is crazy. We walked by the spoons and
(06:33):
right as we're turning around the corner, we heard like
a thud. The spoons fell ever around the floor, and
I swear to God, every single one of those spoons
had been bent in half, so they were all full,
they were straight in this box before hit the ground.
Every single one of them was bent in half. And
it was the most it was the weirdest thing that
(06:53):
I'd ever experienced. And that was the last time we
went back to that hospital, and they ended up tearing
it down a few years later. But that after that,
I was like, yeah, weird stuff like that. I can't
say I've ever visually seen a ghost, but I've had
moments that have spooked to me so badly that the
(07:13):
slightest like I feel energy. That sounds so like cheesy
to say, but when I walk in a room, you
can feel the energy. And if I get a negative energy,
it'll it'll it'll creep me out. Because I've had these
weird experiences that have happened.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I'd like to like be possessed by a ghost. I
would not no, because then at least that would it
would be like confirm that they're real.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I think it's an energy. I don't think it's so
much a being or a thing, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I would like to be possessed and then like live
in this possessed state and have the ghost powers, like
ghost powers.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
That's something like exorcist shit.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I think, like you, I could, I could pick out
like the powerball numbers. I don't think it works. No,
what are these ghost rules? I mean, I want to
like sit down and meet a ghost or an alien.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Well, they say ghosts or spirits that haven't passed on
to the afterlife and they're stuck. So yeah, I can't
imagine it'd be like a very positive excep.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Do you believe in aliens?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I would feel dumb to not believe that there's some
other living form.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Out there we'll never see yet to see one.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Maybe they've been here the entire time.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, well I feel like an alien sometimes. Well, speaking
of aliens, okay, and the way he you know, just
so next to Guy's Mike Spagnola, right, Sege, Yeah, he's kind
of like an alien. He's like anomaly. Sure, I so
much enthusiasm for life and people and cars.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
He's the CEO of Sema show talks about having a
great work life balance and also some of the incredible
things that Seema's doing for this world.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Quite frankly, it's something that you can really be inspired by.
And today we get a seeing kind of insight on
the ev argument is that the future is that the
solution right, definitely, all right. Further, Ado might spec Nola
for the viewers out there and the listeners. Mike is
(09:17):
an old friend of mine. He currently is the CEO
of SEMA. For you guys that don't know Sema Seema,
I guess for the layman, it would be like the
mecca for all car related things every year in Vegas and.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
The largest trade show of the world in the US
for sure in the US when it comes to automotive.
And you guys are also a nonprofit too, right, so
you give a lot back to the community.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, So we really anything we make on the show,
we just reinvest in the industry, into this culture of ours,
into this hobby of ours, and then help our manufacturers
and resellers retailers grow and prospers. Kind of what we do.
So we make money on the show, we you know,
we have a due structure and all of that, but
literally we pour it all back into a lot of
things every year, you know, everything from rege leg you know,
(10:02):
the government stuff that we have to be involved in
in education and training. And you've been to our Seema garages,
you know, where we help manufacturers develop products and take
them to market, and just a lot of those sort
of things, scholarship programs and anything that gives back to
the automotive community to help it grow and prosper and
to protect this culture, this lifestyle that we all love. Yeah,
(10:25):
you know, that's that's all part of it.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
How long have you been with CEMA for?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
In twenty thirteen, I sold my shares in my last
company and came to Seema on a three year contract
to build the SEMA Garage and this product development center
because I'd spent so much of my life doing product development,
working with the OEES, working with Ford, NNGM and all
the others on when new vehicles come out, having all
those successories ready to go for them. And so I'm
(10:51):
eleven years into my three year contract now sitting us
the president's CEO. So just to be part of this
industry and it's pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
We didn't grow up with a ton and my dad
was a bartender and my mom was an opera singer.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Opera singer, which is super cool.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love the opera, but I can
remember my mom, you know, sitting on the kitchen table
in the morning, counting tips that my dad would get
quarters and dimes and nickels, and that's what we used
to go to the grocery store, you know, buy stuff with.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
So and you were really into which was super cool.
I think that's where we really connected dots and early on,
I mean you were racing five tents. Yeah, there's like
these cool pictures in his office racing like five tens.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
I always wanted a five tens. That's one of my
I love hearing that you used to race, so.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They Yeah, I was probably you know, first off, you know,
I wasn't great in sports and in high school, and I,
you know, wasn't the popular kid around town and all that.
So I was a car guy and we were kind
of the you know, the dumb model shop guys. But
then on top of that, I was an import guy.
Whenever else was muscle car. You know, growing up in
the sixties you had to love Chabelle's and Camaros and
(12:05):
Mustangs and Corvettes. And I don't know what it was.
I just loved import cars. I had a brother in
law that raced sports cars, and so that was probably
part of it. We'd go out to the Riverside Raceway. But
I fell in love with five tens and you know,
back in Pete brock days and you know that sort
of thing. So I was still even though I was
(12:26):
an auto shop, I was still the odd guy out
because I was an import cars, not the muscle car scene.
But it was just part of me, you know, it
was just it was just in my soul. I think
from the beginning, what did you like about those cars?
What drew you to those I think just it was
something new and different in you know, at that point
again Brock Racing and Pete Brock and John Morton and
(12:47):
those guys watching them race.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
For people who don't know Pete brock Ford versus for
our Pete brock actually worked on the Shelby cars, right right,
and then he eventually started building dots and five tens
and two forties and built for like Paul Newman.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Paul Newman yet right, yeah, yeah, and so so right
when I was thirteen fourteen, the two forties he came out,
you know, so nineteen seventy, it was just you fell
in love with it, you know, just the shape and
what it was. And then a buddy of mine in
high school got one. He got a brand new one,
and so we would ride around on that. And then
after high school, I went to work for a Dawson
(13:22):
dealership and just as a delivery driver and sweeping floors
and working in behind the counter, that sort of thing,
just because I wanted to be around that and I
wanted to build a race car. When I was thirteen,
I had a fifty five Mercury that my grandparents gave me,
and then I wasn't running. I got it running, and
when I was about fourteen and a half, my dad
(13:44):
came home early and I was driving it down the street.
So that was the last time I saw it. But yeah,
after high school, it was just I was just in
love with Dodson's. It was just one of those things.
I couldn't get enough of it.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
So you got to build one. You need to get.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, you need to It's okay, sound a little ridiculous
because it's a bit non conventional, but my dream five
to ten has always been a rotary swap five to ten.
And I know that's acting, yeah, yeah, I know it's
asking for headaches and problems and unreliability. But I always
had the dream that that's when I did a five
to ten. I would do a rotary swap on one.
But I just I love those cars so much, and
(14:18):
they're kind of like the old.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Two thousand and two BMW a little bit, you know,
that's kind of but they were just so well handling
and just just cool. I don't, I can't.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, there's something about them, which is something about them.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, And actually I think before that I had a
dots And roadster and then kind of thought, well, this
is kind of stupid. I don't have a roof of
my head trying to race these things.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
And the roadster is still a big part of your
life and your family's life. Like when I have a
template for the perfect like movie Dad, I always would
think of Mike Speknolae because he has three kids. He
has two sons, and he has a daughter daughter. Yeah,
and the Dotson roadster is this connective tissue with him
(15:04):
and his boys, right, because both his sons.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
They built roadsters.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They like, they buy them, they flip them, they do
resto mods like basically a resurrect any roadster and then
they can flip it and make good money, right, and.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
The problems we hang on to them, Yeah, it's my problem.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, I think I've sold one car in my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And it's first world problems. But I've got cars that
should be in the garage that are sitting in the
driveway because there's no room for him. Right. But I've
been blessed. I got three amazing kids, and my daughters
will stay at home mom, school teacher. But all the
kids are into the car scene. Both my boys are
as you know, they're both in the industry and so
and it's kept us all closed. It's kept us out
(15:46):
of trouble.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We do a lot of off road racing together and
track days together. And now I've got four grandkids a
fifth one on the way, and they're into it. So
we're you know, we were out at Johnson Valley a
couple of weeks ago, King of the Hammers and took
some side by sites out and dirt bikes and quads
and the whole family is just we went camping for
(16:08):
a few days and just tore it up out in
the desert.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I see why you admire him. I see it. How
do you find that work life balance?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You know what I remind myself all of the time.
You know, I'm at a stage in my life where again,
this job's it can be twelve hours a day if
you let it be, it can be five, six, seven
days a week. But I remind myself to spend time
with the family. Got a really good team at work.
We've been building that team up to a point where
you know, there's still fifty hour weeks, but they're not
(16:39):
sixty hour weeks.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Is there something you would tell yourself younger, you looking
back knowing that this was obviously a career path, but
also the time and energy that goes into a work first.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, I guess, you know, if you want to reach
for things, you got to work at it, you know.
And yeah, I missed a few baseball games, which you know,
like you know that haunts be probably still a little bit.
But we still had a great time. We still love
each other and have a good time. And you know,
we're Italian, so we get together for big family dinners and.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
He makes the mean sauce. He has this like family sauces,
like your sauce. Yeah, and he gives it out. It's
like a present, It's like real Italian stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So yeah, so I try to you know, I think
that's it. I think you just continue to work at
it and continue to find that balance and find time
to laugh and have a good time and you know
those sort of things.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Be present in the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, be present in the moment for sure. And again
I've been working on even at the office now, working
on the team to you know, finding that balance between
honoring the Hall of Fame guys, but also being relevant
to the next generation and understanding what what the next
generation likes in cars, right. It's not your dad's alsmail, right.
So that's what we're really working hard on right now,
(17:56):
so that this industry and this again, this passion, this
thing that we all love continues on.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
What do you feel like has been the drastic change
from that generation the Chip fous Is and the Attle
Bronx today.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Well, you know, again, I think it's the you know,
obviously the tuner market is hot and great right now,
and understanding how they go to market. They don't go
in the traditional distribution market. The old market was manufacturer
sell it to a warehouse. Warehouse sells at the parts stores,
part sales sell it to retail. A lot of that
chain's been moved out and it's direct to consumer, social media,
(18:46):
it's it's different ways of branding and advertising, and not
necessarily branding and advertising and magazines now it's it's a
whole different way of going to market and making sure
that they understand that well, a lot of the stuff
is cool. There are laws that we have to kind
of play by. You there's submissions laws, and you know,
the government would just assume a lot of times not
(19:07):
to get again too political, but the government, you know,
would rather we're all driving you know, plain white vanilla evs,
and so protecting that part of the industry is really
really critical.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
And that's a big push for SEMO. I mean, I
think that's something that people don't really understand. SEMA is
like heavily like part of legislation, yeah, and lobbying for like,
you know, resisting certain type of changes and stuff with
the EPA. Right, can we speak on that, like you
were sharing out in the hallway about this push to
(19:39):
make everything EV and maybe that's not necessarily that great,
you know.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, you know, we we're saying is EV should be
part of our future, but it shouldn't be the only answer.
I mean, there is a lot of work being done
in hydrogen and synthetic fuels and biofuels. You know, the
internal combustion engine and ice engine is not bad. It's
what you put in it. You know, they could be bad.
So we're all for cleaner air, we're all for making
sure that the environment is safe. But for the government
(20:06):
to put their thumb on the scale and say it's
ev and ev only. We're resisting that the infrastructure for
charging stations and recycle and all that stuff is going
to take some time. And so we're big proponents in
the direction of saying, hey, government, let all technology continue
to evolve. Let's not pick one winner. Let's make sure
(20:28):
that we're looking at all the future technologies and fuels
and all those sort of things. Let alone what it
can do to the economy. I mean, if we were
to just shut off gas parwred vehicles, you know twenty
twenty six, thirty three percent of the vehicles in California.
They want to make evs that we've done some research
on that. It would cost our industry about sixty seven
(20:48):
billion dollars a year. Sixty seven seven billion, yeah, billion.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And what's the response been When you have these conversations, you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Know, typically they get it. I mean, we work with
both sides of the aisle, and some are kind of
hell bent on saying, you know, we're you know, we're
marching forward and we're doing this EV deal. But you're
now starting to see some pushback even from consumers. EV's
were selling like crazy. Now there's about one hundred and
twenty days of inventory on the floors of these dealerships,
(21:14):
and now you're seeing you know, BMW has come out
now and said they're working on hydrogen. Toyota's been hybrid
for a while. They were the first guys to step up,
and they really got criticized for that. But you can
build ten hybrids for every EV just with the minerals
and the batteries it takes. And hybrids are getting fifty
sixty miles to the gallon. I mean, that's not a
bad deal, right, and let alone the price of it.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
So do you think it is inevitable that cars, new
cars eventually will all end up as EV.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Do you feel that? Gut? No, no, no, And again
I think, I mean, we're running internal combustion engines on
hydrogen now, so you know, I think that's one of
the answers. Let alone, you know, for what we love, right,
the noise in the yeah, the driveability and the you know,
all of that. So I think it's a long run.
I think it's a really long run. And I think
(22:05):
you're going to see a lot of technologies evolve. Porsche
and Shell Oil and some of these others are putting
you know, tens of millions of dollars into synthetic fuels,
in renewable fuels, and I think that's I think that's
really where it's going to end.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Up, renewable fuels. Interesting. You don't have a ev at.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Do you. I don't. I'd be happy to have one.
I feel I believe in balance, and I feel like
there's you know, times when an EVY absolutely makes sense,
and I'm pro ev don't get me wrong, But I
also think you have to keep the passion alive in
whatever that looks like. For me, I love working on cars,
and you know, I love tearing apart of motor and
(22:46):
I hope I have the opportunity to do that forever.
And I wish people at home, I hope everyone gets
a chance to experience that, because it really is something special.
But for those who you know, really just need something
for a to B, needs a commuter and really doesn't
care about the visual feeling of maybe in ice engine
(23:08):
that was redundant. Sorry, but I then think an EV
makes makes perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, no again, I agree. It's part of the solution,
it's not the only solution.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Right, that's a great answer.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
What do you think? What's your thoughts on EV?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You know, I was so against EV all EV's I
was like, I don't like any of it. There's nothing,
you know, like I can't connect with the cars. And
then I drove thish N series Hyundai. Yeah, right in Korea.
I drove it for like a week and then I
(23:46):
took it on the track and then I got in
there drift version of it, and it has fake sound.
It's like six hundred plus horsepower, and everything in the
car is what a car enthusiast like, we'll freak out about,
Like from the seats to the steering wall to the
cup holder was like the coolest couple holder everything. Because
(24:10):
they were like the engineers were like designers were like,
is there a criticism you have of the car? Go, yeah,
you know there's no cup holders in this thing. And
they're like, oh, we know you like cup holders. They're like,
press this button. All of a sudden, it's like they
got a star Trek. It's like they're like wow, They're like,
what about the rest of them? I go, no, this
cup holder is like the cool couple in my life.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I forgot about this.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
But and then has the sound. It's like from what
from what they was saying, it's like there's these subwiffers
in the backseat and there's like you know, natural aspirated
mode and it just start. The car starts to rumble. Wow,
and then it's like backfires because you know, you can
put it in manual mode and you downship and it's
like and then.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
People outside they're like, wait, hey, whoa, this is the
EV this is noise all And then you can turn
it off and it's quiet.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
It's just the EV car. You can just be like invisible.
But then we're like, you know rolling by, like you know,
this museum and these like you know, older folks were
out there and I was like, that's down shifting.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
It was so cool and you can drift this car.
And I was like, well this and then in Seriah
is like an F one, Like it's like I got
an F one like race car. The whole thing is
it's just it's the most like it's just Evie or not.
I go, this is just an amazing looking car driving car.
(25:37):
It sounds amazing, right, and then like the price point
is like awesome, and I was like this is all
ev I was like shocked, and so it was like converted,
like it was like I crossed the line and even
you know, and my character is notorious for poo pooing
on Hyundai's right like in Tokyo Drift. I'm like, you
think I'm gonna drive it day? And I give you
(25:58):
keys to.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Right, and I converted. I was like, no, honey, makes
some good stuff. I mean, come on, like the N series,
that's right. I drove that N seventy four like concept car. Right,
that's all the hydrogen car, and that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
It's awesome. But you know a lot of parts are
like three D printed and it's like it's a concept car, right,
But this Ionic five and Looknay pays me nothing, like
I have no relationship with them. But if ev cars
become this like oh my god, where because as a
car enthusier, go, this is giving me everything I want? Right,
(26:34):
and that couple them.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
But again, it is going to evolve you know, Borlers
come out with a Borler who makes great exhaust systems,
has come out with a software package for all those
sounds that you can plug into an EV and it's
got F one, it's got all those different sounds. It's
got a v E.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Sound and it's fascinating. I didn't even think about an
exhaust company how they would adapt in the future when
it comes to a vehicle that does not have an
exhaust system. What a way to adapt?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yeah, and you'll see, you know again, the industry's going
to continue to move and transform. The speech I did yesterday,
I quoted an article and the article said, does the
aftermarket have five more years? And it talked about government
intervention and what they allow us to continue to do
the things we do. It talked about the complexity of
(27:21):
vehicles and you're going to be able to continue to
modify them because of all the computer systems and all
the things in these vehicles. And it talked about next
gen maybe not being interested in cars and looking at
other things. And then I held up the article. It
was from nineteen seventy one. So our industry continues to
find ways to be relevant to that here.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Right, because my fault question was going to be from
your level, how do you see the younger generation's involvement
in modern automotive.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So you know a few things. If you think about
let's just take even the new forward lightning truck, It's
still a truck, so you can still lift it. Your
can still be bigger, entires, wheels, you can still put
all the bid accessories, you can still go over landing
and camping. So we'll adapt, I mean, there'll be things
that will we adapt to. The other kind of niche
market that's starting to happen, of course, is the conversion. Right,
(28:13):
so guy's taking a sixty nine Camaro in Porsche, Yeah, Porsche,
any of those sort of things where and then you
know that's evolving. It was that you had to find
a wreck Tesla and pull all the guts out of
it and put it into whatever your rest a modding.
But now we had it seene of the share over
fifty manufacturers of battery packs and motors and controllers and
(28:35):
all those sorts of things. So that market is going
to continue to evolve. So I think the younger tech
generation is going to convert older vehicles into ev and
just all that conversion. I mean, you and I worked
on a maverick. Yeah, and I thought he was crazy.
He was like, I was like, we're you know, we're
going to put a V eight, We're going to put
a five to zero in it. And You're like, no,
(28:55):
we're not. And you know, we said we're going to
put an EcoBoost mode two point three ecoboos ecaboos mode yeah,
into a into a seventy one to two Maverick. But
but that was a you know, we did that vehicle.
We pulled the it was a six cylinder. It was
we put it on the dino. I think it was
seventy six horse power at the rear wheels and seventy six.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
You guys built this for SEMA Garage, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
We built it with some student Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
It was it was like an auction car to be
able to include young high school students on a build. Yeah,
right at the right.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
And we had put it on the dinal and we
put it in our missions lab at the Seema Garage
and then we pulled that motor. We put the Yukaboost
motor in it and uh, it was about two eighty
two ninety at the rear wheels and it was seventy
times cleaner.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, I was going to say better emotions.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, than the original motor. And then that car went
to SEEMA and actually won the Ford Design Award and
edsel Ford presented the kids with the awards. I mean,
that was.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Probably my That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
That was probably one of the highlights of it was Career.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
He came up to us and he's like, we love
the Maverick. Are you the Maverick?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
He's a guy.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It's still underdog, underappreciated for it, I've been saying.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
And you know, one of the cool things also we
did with the kids. It was these students. We used
to see a machine, a scanner, so we scanned all
the engine bay and then we scanned the engine, and
then we showed them in CAD how the engine would
fit into the engine bay. And then we even three
D printed the motor. But we did it all on
(30:29):
CAD and it fit to a t when it was
all done. So it's amazing where technology's gone. You know,
we used to break our knuckles and try fitting things
that didn't fit, and cut and shave, and when you
just think it can't get any better, it continues to
just get better. I mean, the builds that happened today
are just incredible. I mean, the ingenuity and the engineering
(30:53):
and the and it's fun to just watch, you know,
a younger generation light up and talk about the sorts
of things fashion.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
I had the pleasure of judging one of the young
guns a few years ago, and it was to see
these builds. It's absolutely mind blowing and so fascinating of
what people are able to do at such a young age.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I mean, because this argument that you know, car culture
is dying, it's dwindling away, but then you go to Sema, right,
and every year it's like, you know, pop seats itself. Right,
It's like because for car folks it's like the Mecca.
Like people from you know, the Middle East and you know,
like you know, from Dubai. They're like, you know, one day,
(31:36):
my friend, my dream is to go to the Sema.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Over one hundred countries show up.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I always thought it was the biggest in the world,
and to me it forever will be.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
So we're growing. The industry still grows a few billion
dollars every single year. Obviously the fast and furiy s
fastized kind of fueled some of that.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
You know, well, speaking of we have a we have
a connection with Fast and Feary.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
So, prior to Team Mike had a bodykit company that
supplied the body kits.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
To the the other very first one fun Yea, which
of course we did the Supra, we did the Mitsubishi
so and at that time, the running storyline was that it
was called Redline. I think was going to be it's
going to be the name of the movie. I actually
remember this, and we we gave out some of these
bodykits and I kind of forgot about the whole thing.
(32:27):
You know. It was a year later the movie came out.
It was like, Hey, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It's amazing, Like the six degrees of separation.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
People have with that friend continues on.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
H When you hang out in the car community, you
realize like, oh, they are very successful people that never
went to college and the like appreciation to work with
your hands right and today I wonder if you know
(33:08):
that skill set is something that this current generation they
don't value.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
You know. Yeah, I'm a big proponent of trade schools,
I really am. And four year college isn't for everybody,
and in fact, it really frustrates me to see young
kids go through college and be in debt for over
one hundred thousand dollars, one hundred and twenty hundred and thirty
thousand dollars and come out with a degree that they
really can't use towards, you know, towards their life, towards
(33:35):
their skills. And you know, I run into it all
the time, where they're in just debt forever, paying back
five six hundred and seven hundred dollars a month for
fifteen years, twenty years. It's really a shame. And you know, Sung,
you and I have gone to high schools and talked
about this because really it's not even the students, it's
the parents. The parents are so focused on my kid
(33:57):
is going to go to a four year college, but
they don't always come out with skills that they can
use that they're going to move forward with in a
trade And so I'm a big proponent of you know,
if you can get through a four year college, great,
and if you can use those skills to better your career, great.
But trade schools are alive and well. In the automotive industry.
(34:18):
We're always going to need carpenters, we're always going to
need plumber, We're always going to need electricians. We're always
going to need auto technicians, and especially as this thing
does move towards eve great great need. I was talking
to Roger Penske a couple of years ago, and between
all this car dealerships and all the other things, they
were looking for twenty thousand technicians over the next few years.
(34:39):
And so I mean, you can come out of Uti
or some of these schools now and you're starting at
a eighty thousand, ninety thousand a year.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
So people don't know this, right, So you get a
job at BMW or you know, Porsche, it's like sixty
five to eighty five thousand starting, yeah, with benefits.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Right, that's not bad, No, it's not bad. Yeah, But
you know, like anything in life, you have to hustle. Right.
If people think they're going to come into anything and
be eight to five and do other things, you can
make a career, but you're not going to excel at it.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
What characteristics about these individuals stand out?
Speaker 2 (35:16):
I think it's anything in business, right, having tenacity, having
to put in the time and the effort, failing, getting up,
picking yourself back up, doing it again, failing picking yourself
back up, doing it again, doing what you have to
do to make it, you know, whether that's living at
home and putting the time and the effort in and
understanding the car culture and understand the products needed. It's
(35:38):
the you know, mother and invention. Right, It's anything you
see something break and you think you can build it better.
That's what keeps our industry going, just being unique and different.
And I don't want to be the same as the
other guy. I want to I want to have something
different on my mod that you know makes me stand out.
It's it's expression to who you are, right, It's it's
really a canvas that shows who you are are in
(36:00):
what makes you so yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Yeah, And here's here's a question for myself. The thing
that really is always really stood out with you is
your relationship with your wife, Like how do you keep
marriage and the friendship like it's always fresh. I never
feel like you know when you when you too, like
are still like the energy is like high school sweetheart,
(36:24):
smiling as you talk, like it's it's like, you know,
you made some couples and you're like, yo, man, they're
like you know, they're they're on their last thread, right,
They're like they're just tolerating each other. Where I never
feel that with you two, and for people that are
going through this right, like the relationship kind of stalemate.
(36:45):
I guess like, you know, what, how do you keep
refresh yet?
Speaker 1 (36:48):
And how long have you guys been together for.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Forty one years?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
What do you want?
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, right, you know, look at you have to work
at it, right, you have to continue to work at it.
You have to have good communication. We take time to
go out, we still date. You know, we are Christian people,
so I think that plays into it as well, that
we have that commitment to each other. And so I
try to include her a little more in even my
business travels. And you got to work at it, you know,
(37:14):
you have to just continue to work at it and
remind each other as to you know, what we're doing
and while we're here and all that.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
So when she gets she gets on you for like
working too much and everything at home, what's your response?
Speaker 2 (37:29):
You know, confession, This is part of that work life balance.
I've never taken two full weeks off of vacation, Like
I'll take a week at a time or three days
at a time. Forty So we're going to Europe. We're
going to go to Italy. This summer and I'm taking
two full weeks off so you'll enjoy this. We were
at the dinner table with the kids and grandkids and
we total, we're going to Italy this summer. You know.
(37:50):
The kids said, well, what dates? And I said, well,
I end up August to second week September. And Andrews
stands up, my oldest son and goes, huh, dad, when's
Manza the Formula wonder is? Isn't that the first? Because
I stirred at him, like the Depth store, I'm like,
I'm going to kill you right now, you know. And
that was a big deal because wait, we're going to
Italy because you want to go to the Formula one race.
I said, no, no, no, no, no, you know we
(38:11):
might show up there. The fire factory might be on
our way. So we've had kind of this running joke.
So probably, like you guys, anywhere you go, you end
up finding car people, right, you end up finding that deal.
And so many times in my life we'll go to
something that has nothing to do with cars and we
(38:34):
find the car guys and like Dianad just shake her head.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Do you share like everything with her? Like work stressed?
Do you bring that home?
Speaker 1 (38:43):
I imagine if you guys have been together for forty
one years, you tell each other at everything. Am I right?
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Yeah, except if I buy a car that I didn't
tell her about her.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
No, really, he has a lot of there's a lot
of those.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
No I did. I did have one that I was
actually on a trailer and I was looking at an.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Aston Martin and your thumb slipped.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
She knew I kind of wanted one, but I didn't
tell her. I was looking for one, and and I
was kind of bidding on it, and I thought I'll
throw in one last bid because it was it was
below market, and all of a sudden I bought it.
And I was like, oh crap. I got to go
home and tell her.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
But you told her you didn't wait for the car
to show.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, no, no, no, But I told her. She was
fine with it. She was like, you always wanted that car,
Go for it. You know, you deserve it. You know
those sort of things.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
So, uh, that's a communication where she knew you you
love the car, she knew you always wanted one, you
were honest and open with her about having purchased it.
So there still is that communication that you guys are
constantly having amongst one another, which is so important. I think.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, you and I saw the when the Z was
at Sema show a couple of years ago, and I
went over to look at it, and I was like,
I gotta have I got to have this new, the
new Z. And she was good with it. I mean,
she understood the heritage with me with thoughts and and
nissans and and of course you know, she likes her
shopping as well, so we try to make sure that
balance happens.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Yeah, you go shopping with her?
Speaker 2 (40:08):
I do you do? I do? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (40:10):
All go sound so surprised.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
That's pretty for forty one years, Like that's something that
I it's hard for me to do now. I used
to try to do that, like you know, go and
just carry the bags, right, But then, God, I hate shopping.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
I don't get out like you.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
If I need clothes, yeah, I'll walk in. I'm in
there ten minutes. I don't even look at the price.
I buy what I need them out right.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
When you travel, do you do the laundry at the hotel?
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I do? I spend the money?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
You spend the money?
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Wow, Because now you're a baller you're the CEO. I
got that kind of money. But don't you feel guilty
spending the urn of money?
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Right? I went to the Super Bowl and everything was ridiculous.
We went downstairs to the hotel to have bread and
it was sold out. The lady said, well, there's a
you can do a buffet across the other side of
the hotel. So we walked over to the other side
of the hotel. One hundred and fifteen dollars a person
for breakfast a buffet a buffet. Wow, well, even be
proud of me. We got our jackets and we walked
(41:14):
over to Denny's, got nine ninety five breakfast.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
Right, I can't spend that kind of line.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
It was ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Yeah, that's too much. Yeah, I mean Denny's is good food.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, it's good food. Why you're still full at the
end of the yeah?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Right, I think that. I think Denny's has one of
the best chicken fried sticks in the world. Yeah, you
know what that is?
Speaker 1 (41:32):
A chicken fried stick? An idea you had that never
eaten one.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Now, there's no chicken in it.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
It's just a fried stick.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Right, It's a hamburger meat.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Right. You can tell you's from the South. Yeah, gravy.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
Maybe it's just the humble beginnings or like not growing
up with like money, even if it's expense or I
could like write it off. I can't spend that kind
of money on dry cleaning underwear. I just can't do it.
I can't.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
That's where I draw the line. I'm okay, Yeah, you're okay.
There's something you gotta have good toilet paper. Yeah, you
gotta have clean underwear. Yeah, you gotta have good syrup, syrup,
syrup for your pancakes cakes. Yeah, okay. So there's a
few things I'll splurgeh.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
On, but those are Yeah, that's that's fair.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yeah, yeah, the syrup. I like the syrup. The syrup.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
You gotta have principles in life, That's right.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
There's some things that's just you know, you spend the
dollars on. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
Well, thanks Mike, Yeah, thank you. This was just wonderful
to sit down with you and you.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Guys as well. Honored to be here and honored to
be a guest.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
And we should give credit and credits due. You jumped
straight from a flight from lax Rove straight here and
now you're onto another job, and we really appreciate you
taking the time well, thank you and
Speaker 2 (42:38):
Again thanks for the invite anytime
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