January 7, 2024 • 10 mins
The Auto History Podcast - Why This Podcast Exists:
The history of cars is long. The amount of detail available to those interested in all-things vehicular is always growing but wow. Where can someone start to get a grip inside of something outside-the-box when it comes to automotive history?
It's time to listen to The Auto History Podcast.
In this inaugural audio-first episode of the Auto History Podcast, your hosts Mike Dell and Mike Wilkerson, introduce themselves as veteran podcasters with a shared passion for automotive history.
Both Mike's share details about their podcasting journeys, with Mike Dell starting in April 2005 and Mike Wilkerson following shortly thereafter in June 2005.
This initial episode gives you a taste of their interests and details the upcoming discussions exploring the amazing datapoints in automotive history. Topics that will be included feature not only classic cars like the Ford Model A, but will also delve into the malaise era of American cars in the 70s and 80s.
Mike Dell has a prominent interest in Ford models from 1928 to 1931 and Mike Wilkerson recount his experiences with vehicles that range from Volkswagen Beetles to MOPAR and modern day Dodge Chargers.
The overall intention with The Auto History Podcast is to uncover and share lesser-known aspects of automotive history.
Are YOU ready to learn something about automotive history and how it all impacts culture?
Connect with the Hosts of The Auto History Podcast:
Connect with Mike Dell: On X - On the Web
Connect with Mike Wilkerson: On the Web - On X - On Facebook - On LinkedIn - The 2GuysTalking Podcast Network
Links from This Episode of The Auto History Podcast:
-- The Auto History Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AutoHistorypodcast
-- Learn All About Lake Ann, Michigan: https://lakeann-mi.com/about/
-- Learn All About Lake Saint Louis, Missouri: https://www.lakesaintlouis.com/1250/About-Lake-Saint-Louis
-- The Podcast Insider from Blubrry.Com: https://blubrry.com/podcast-insider/
=== Host Your Podcast at Blubrry.Com
-- What Does It Mean to Be Podcasting 2.0-Enabled? https://www.creativityfound.co.uk/blog/it-s-not-just-apple-and-spotify-explore-podcasting-2-0-and-find-innovative-listening-apps-and-features-that-can-benefit-both-podcasters-and-listeners
-- What is the Ford Model A? https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/the-1928-ford-model-a.html
-- What is a Concept Car? https://www.hankookandcompany.com/en/innovation/innovation-137.do
-- What is the Malaise-Era of Cars? https://fuelcurve.com/malaise-era-hoopties-small-cars/
-- Learn All About the Imperial LeBaron: https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658498_1658026,00.html
-- Learn All About The Imperial Division of Chrysler: https://www.makesthatdidntmakeit.com/imperial
-- What is a 440 Big-Block? https://www.drivingline.com/articles/the-440-big-block-v8-was-more-than-just-chryslers-muscle-car-engine/
-- What is MOPAR? https://www.motortrend.com/features/what-is-mopar/
-- Learn All About the History of The Dodge Charger: https://www.motortrend.com/features/dodge-charger-history/
-- Where has the Dodge Charger Appeared in Entertainment? https://www.topspeed.com/best-dodge-chargers-in-movies/
-- Tips on Keeping a Schedule: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/create-a-daily-schedule
-- What is an Accountability Partner? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-accountability-partner-brian-a-hall/
-- Be Sure to Connect with The Auto History Podcast online: https://autohistorypodcast.com/
The Auto History Podcast is also Podcasting 2.0 enabled so be sure to boost or stream sats on Modern Podcast apps - PodcastApps.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
- And welcome tothe, uh, auto History Podcast.
This is gonna be kind of our soft launch.
One-on-one episode is my partner in crime.
Over here is, is saying.
So, uh, anyway, I'm Mike d
and with me I've got Mike Wilkerson.
So Mike, what a pleasure.And Mike on the mics.
- Yeah, what a, what apleasure to be with you here
(00:21):
inside this program, Mike.
I, I, I can't wait.
I I am, I am absolutelya car history buff,
and I, I can't wait to dig in with you.
- Yeah, well, we're definitelygonna be digging in a little
deeper than, than I'veseen on other podcasts
and other YouTube channelsand that kind of thing.
Mm-Hmm.,of course. I want you
to know right up front, thisis an audio first podcast.
(00:44):
You may be watching it on YouTube,
but this is an audio first podcast.
Mike and I are both OG podcasters. Agreed.
I started back in April of 2005.
- I was shortly behind youin June, so yeah, absolutely.
og that's great. I also, I, I love the,
I love the audio first push.
There's nothing wrong with video.
(01:05):
It's definitely a great augment,
but there's something aboutaudio that's just super special
that continues to light fires
and allows you to do so manymore things and having to sit
and watch a piece of video.
- Yeah. You know, you cando this while you're driving
or while you are mowing the lawn,
washing the dishes and all that stuff.
You can listen, not car if you happen
- To be not car. Absolutely. Yeah.
- Mm-Hmm.. Andif you happen to be hanging
(01:27):
around, you know, at the house
and you wanna put it upon your big screen tv,
you can do that as well.
won't be us twofaces on here all the time.
A lot of, a lot of B rollin the, in the video.
So, you know, if you wanna see pictures of
what we're talking about, orvideos of what we're talking,
be over on YouTube, butagain, audio first.
(01:49):
- Yeah. I think what you'realso gonna get too is, uh, Mike,
if I'm not mistaken, I thinkyou're a little bit older than
I am, so you're gonna get a, i I,
I think people are gonnaget a, a little bit of a,
a good solid scooch
and generational scope inside the program.
- Okay. Yeah.
Again, this is gonna be anaudio first production here.
Uh, we will be on YouTube,
(02:09):
but we'll also be on audio podcast.
And I just added in, in my head.
I'm gonna do a video podcast too.
So yeah, it'll actually bea video on Apple Podcasts
and a few other places thatvideo delivered via RSS.
I know this is not ashow about podcasting,
but, I gotta get this out.
(02:30):
You know, we're both geeks
and OG podcasters, so, youknow, it happens. Yeah.
- Og. Absolutely. Now I understandthat you, you came in in,
in April of 2005, right?
- Correct. Yeah, I was sittingon my back porch in Lake Ann,
Michigan when I lived out there and,
and had a little stickmicrophone plugged into a laptop
and did the first OID report.
(02:52):
That was the first podcast we were
- On.
Yeah. We were, we were June, 2005
and we were on El Crapo $11
gaming headsets. How about that
-?
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't do it with a co-host.
In fact, this is, I guessthis would be my second epi
or second show that hada, you know, a co-host.
(03:14):
Hmm. You know, I do thepodcast Insider for Blueberry,
which is my employer. Yeah.
- Yeah. I know. And it's agreat show too. Lots of insight.
- Yeah. And this, this podcast, of course,
will be hosted on blueberry podcasting,
so go check themout@blueblueberry.com spelled
with no s 'cause we couldn't afford 'em.
(03:34):
- We,- We'll, we'll, and still Cat, it's,
the guy wants a half a million bucks for
that domain with the ease in it.,
- We, we will put thelinks in the show notes too
for everything you hear about inside this
podcast and the future ones.
- Yeah. So anyway, let'sget onto the car stuff.
- Absolutely. Let's- Begin, you know, just to, you know,
what we're gonna cover,
and, you know, we're open forsuggestions, so definitely
(03:55):
we will have some sort ofcontact information over on the
website@autohistorypodcast.com.
So if you wanna throw us a comment
or whatever, we're also gonnabe podcasting 2.0 enabled.
So if you wanna send us aboosto gram or anything,
and one of the modern podcastapps over@podcastapps.com,
(04:17):
you can do that as well.
But as far as the carstuff, you know, the,
the first episode we gotlined up coming up the,
in the next episode is the Ford Model A,
but it's not what you think.
And we're, we're gonna cover, you know,
maybe not just these older cars,
but maybe we will, uh, you know,go back more recent history
or maybe some concepts of cars.
(04:40):
You know, like one of them Iwanna do is the malaise era
of American cars, you know,when they, you know, in the
seventies and eighties wherethey were all kind of the same
and they're all pretty crappy.
- Yeah. I, I I think
what we're also gonna getfrom this program is something
really special, Mike, if I'm not mistaken,
I think you're a little, justa wee bit older than I am.
And I, I think that's gonnagive people a really great scope
(05:03):
of what we're talking aboutinside of automotive history.
- Yeah. I'm, I'm pushing 58here next month or so, you know.
- Yeah. And I've, I've just,I've just scraped onto 53,
so there's the, there's thatweird little window between us.
Yeah. And then of courseyou're also the Ford man,
if I'm not mistaken, correct?
- Well, I'm interested inthem, you know, mainly the 28
(05:23):
to 31 model A I am
kind of half looking for one, so
- Sure,- Sure.
What, and of course, I've alsohad some other weird cars.
I had a 1970 Imperial LeBaron. Oh, wow.
Notice I didn't say Chrysler Imperial.
This was the Imperial division
of Chrysler Corporation.,
(05:44):
- Uh, that, that will bea spectacular episode.
I I can't wait to dig into that one.
- Yeah. Big old boats.
I think it was 19 and a half feet long
and weighed 5,000 pounds empty
and, it was quite the beast.
I had a four 40 a big block,
and you'd never know it was that big
'cause it, it handled good,but it handled like a boat.
(06:05):
Yeah. You know, you turn the wheel
and sort of hope. Yeah.
-. I, I've, I've hada, a bunch of different cars,
everything from my first Volkswagen Beetle
to a Beetle I still have today,which is the podcast bug.
The podcast bug is a1974 custom super beetle
with a recording studio built into it.
- Yeah, I've seen that. It'squite the thing.,
(06:25):
- It's definitely a,it's definitely a next
snapper, there's no question.
And then everything to thatI've dug into recently is led me
to my, or rather to my family
and I to Mopar, whichis, we, we've dug in deep
with chargers over thecourse of the last four,
almost five years now.
Nice. And I, uh, I,again, I I can't wait to
to dig into some of that history
(06:45):
because not only does itstretch into automotive history,
it also stretches intoentertainment history deeply for me.
- Yes. Yes. And- I, I, I can't wait for those,
the splash damage of allof this history onto,
onto automotive to hit other
people. I think it's gonna be great.
- Yeah. And you know, like I said, a lot
of culture is driven by cars.
You know, you just, there'sall kinds of different things,
(07:07):
you know, you, you don't haveto be a complete car nut to,
to be into this kind of stuff.
Right. You know, and I'mwouldn't call myself a car nut,
but I really love digging intothe history of these things.
When I was doing researchfor the next episode,
I was learning stufflike, wow, really cool.
And I, we hope we can bring that to you.
You know, we will learn itand then we'll pass it on
(07:29):
to you and you can dig deeper.
And if you've got, uh,anything you want to
have us talk about
or research, we'll be more thanhappy to take a look at it.
- Yeah. I, I, I love your zealfor the, the question marks
inside of what's gonnahappen with car history.
I always tell people when,when they are running
around a room and they'll saywhat they do for a living,
(07:49):
I always say that I'm a, iI hunt light bulb moments
for a living,
and I always get kind of the,the, the dog head turn when,
whenever I say that, because they
don't really understand what I'm saying.
And it's exactly what we'regonna be doing here inside
of this podcast is we are gonna be
hunting for light bulb moments.
Yes. And that's what I doas a professional podcaster.
I, I help people share,
we discover the light bulbmoments and then we convey them.
(08:11):
So this, this again, isjust gonna be another piece
of a, a really grand legacy.
I know I've grown andI'm, I'm, I'm super proud
and honored to be here with you doing it.
- Yeah. Well, I'm glad to have you.
You know, the, the conceptI had about two years ago
and was gonna do it as a solo show
and, I got to thinking, you know,
I am not good at keeping aschedule and, and all that stuff.
(08:33):
And, you know, it just beingable to bounce ideas off of,
you know, of a co-host,
it makes it more interestingfor the audience.
It makes it more interesting for me
because, you know, you'll say something
and I'll go, oh, wow, really,and I'll write that down
and expand on it, or go researchit or something like that.
So initially we're gonnastart out kind of slow.
(08:55):
We're gonna do a coupleepisodes a month, uh, just
to get in the groove of things.
And we may increase that.
And as we build, we mighteven do some lives, you know,
on various platforms.
So, you know, that'll be coming.
But this is gonna be kind ofa slow roll start, I think,
just, just to get back in theswing of a regular production.
(09:17):
- Yeah. And I, I, what,what I can emphasize more is
that those of you listeningto the program, you have
to understand that theway that this will work
is when you guys chimein, Mike, Mike
and I can have conversationsall day long about the
questions he and I have about vehicles.
But when you guys chimein, we actually have kind
of a guiding light to know whatyou guys want to hear about.
(09:37):
And that's why you wannamake sure that you go over
to auto history podcast.com, fill out
that little contact form that's there
and follow us in the, inthe social media rule rules
as well, because Mm-Hmm,, again, the,
the little peppered comments
that come outta my both micbrains will not only illuminate
you, but probably give you an idea
to context us about somefuture programs as well.
- Right, right. And yeah, we've got,
(09:59):
I've got a few interviews
that are potentially gonnahappen here this early this year,
and I think those willbe interesting as well.
So we may be throwing insome, some interviews.
It's just gonna be everythingaround automotive, you know,
that, you know, we'renot the be all end all,
but we'll, we'll definitelymake you think about stuff
(10:20):
and maybe hear about something
you've never heard about before.
- Guaranteed. Again, the, the, the hunt
for light bulb moments isthick inside of my, my want
to do justice for this program.
Mm-Hmm. And again, Mike,
I can't wait to deliver it with you.
- Alright, well, I supposewe, this is good enough
for the intro episode.
Stay tuned here in a coupleof weeks we'll have the first
(10:42):
of the actual topics.
So until then, catch you later.
-
This is gonna be kind of our soft launch.
One-on-one episode is my partner in crime.
Over here is, is saying.
So, uh, anyway, I'm Mike d
and with me I've got Mike Wilkerson.
So Mike, what a pleasure.And Mike on the mics.
- Yeah, what a, what apleasure to be with you here
(00:21):
inside this program, Mike.
I, I, I can't wait.
I I am, I am absolutelya car history buff,
and I, I can't wait to dig in with you.
- Yeah, well, we're definitelygonna be digging in a little
deeper than, than I'veseen on other podcasts
and other YouTube channelsand that kind of thing.
Mm-Hmm.
to know right up front, thisis an audio first podcast.
(00:44):
You may be watching it on YouTube
but this is an audio first podcast.
Mike and I are both OG podcasters. Agreed.
I started back in April of 2005.
- I was shortly behind youin June, so yeah, absolutely.
og that's great. I also, I, I love the,
I love the audio first push.
There's nothing wrong with video.
(01:05):
It's definitely a great augment,
but there's something aboutaudio that's just super special
that continues to light fires
and allows you to do so manymore things and having to sit
and watch a piece of video.
- Yeah. You know, you cando this while you're driving
or while you are mowing the lawn,
washing the dishes and all that stuff.
You can listen, not car if you happen
- To be not car. Absolutely. Yeah.
- Mm-Hmm.
(01:27):
around, you know, at the house
and you wanna put it upon your big screen tv,
you can do that as well.
A lot of, a lot of B rollin the, in the video.
So, you know, if you wanna see pictures of
what we're talking about, orvideos of what we're talking,
be over on YouTube, butagain, audio first
(01:49):
- Yeah. I think what you'realso gonna get too is, uh, Mike,
if I'm not mistaken, I thinkyou're a little bit older than
I am, so you're gonna get a, i I,
I think people are gonnaget a, a little bit of a,
a good solid scooch
and generational scope inside the program.
- Okay. Yeah.
Again, this is gonna be anaudio first production here.
Uh, we will be on YouTube,
(02:09):
but we'll also be on audio podcast.
And I just added in, in my head.
I'm gonna do a video podcast too.
So yeah, it'll actually bea video on Apple Podcasts
and a few other places thatvideo delivered via RSS.
I know this is not ashow about podcasting,
but
(02:30):
You know, we're both geeks
and OG podcasters, so, youknow, it happens. Yeah.
- Og. Absolutely. Now I understandthat you, you came in in,
in April of 2005, right?
- Correct. Yeah, I was sittingon my back porch in Lake Ann,
Michigan when I lived out there and,
and had a little stickmicrophone plugged into a laptop
and did the first OID report.
(02:52):
That was the first podcast we were
- On.
Yeah. We were, we were June, 2005
and we were on El Crapo $11
gaming headsets. How about that
-
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't do it with a co-host.
In fact, this is, I guessthis would be my second epi
or second show that hada, you know, a co-host.
(03:14):
Hmm. You know, I do thepodcast Insider for Blueberry,
which is my employer. Yeah.
- Yeah. I know. And it's agreat show too. Lots of insight.
- Yeah. And this, this podcast, of course,
will be hosted on blueberry podcasting,
so go check themout@blueblueberry.com spelled
with no s 'cause we couldn't afford 'em.
(03:34):
- We,- We'll, we'll, and still Cat, it's,
the guy wants a half a million bucks for
that domain with the ease in it.
- We, we will put thelinks in the show notes too
for everything you hear about inside this
podcast and the future ones.
- Yeah. So anyway, let'sget onto the car stuff.
- Absolutely. Let's- Begin, you know, just to, you know,
what we're gonna cover,
and, you know, we're open forsuggestions, so definitely
(03:55):
we will have some sort ofcontact information over on the
website@autohistorypodcast.com.
So if you wanna throw us a comment
or whatever, we're also gonnabe podcasting 2.0 enabled.
So if you wanna send us aboosto gram or anything,
and one of the modern podcastapps over@podcastapps.com,
(04:17):
you can do that as well.
But as far as the carstuff, you know, the,
the first episode we gotlined up coming up the,
in the next episode is the Ford Model A,
but it's not what you think.
And we're, we're gonna cover, you know,
maybe not just these older cars,
but maybe we will, uh, you know,go back more recent history
or maybe some concepts of cars.
(04:40):
You know, like one of them Iwanna do is the malaise era
of American cars, you know,when they, you know, in the
seventies and eighties wherethey were all kind of the same
and they're all pretty crappy
- Yeah. I, I I think
what we're also gonna getfrom this program is something
really special, Mike, if I'm not mistaken,
I think you're a little, justa wee bit older than I am.
And I, I think that's gonnagive people a really great scope
(05:03):
of what we're talking aboutinside of automotive history.
- Yeah. I'm, I'm pushing 58here next month or so, you know.
- Yeah. And I've, I've just,I've just scraped onto 53,
so there's the, there's thatweird little window between us.
Yeah. And then of courseyou're also the Ford man,
if I'm not mistaken, correct?
- Well, I'm interested inthem, you know, mainly the 28
(05:23):
to 31 model A I am
kind of half looking for one, so
- Sure,- Sure.
What, and of course, I've alsohad some other weird cars.
I had a 1970 Imperial LeBaron. Oh, wow.
Notice I didn't say Chrysler Imperial.
This was the Imperial division
of Chrysler Corporation.
(05:44):
- Uh, that, that will bea spectacular episode.
I I can't wait to dig into that one.
- Yeah. Big old boats.
I think it was 19 and a half feet long
and weighed 5,000 pounds empty
and
I had a four 40 a big block,
and you'd never know it was that big
'cause it, it handled good,but it handled like a boat.
(06:05):
Yeah. You know, you turn the wheel
and sort of hope
-
everything from my first Volkswagen Beetle
to a Beetle I still have today,which is the podcast bug.
The podcast bug is a1974 custom super beetle
with a recording studio built into it.
- Yeah, I've seen that. It'squite the thing.
(06:25):
- It's definitely a,it's definitely a next
snapper, there's no question.
And then everything to thatI've dug into recently is led me
to my, or rather to my family
and I to Mopar, whichis, we, we've dug in deep
with chargers over thecourse of the last four,
almost five years now.
Nice. And I, uh, I,again, I I can't wait to
to dig into some of that history
(06:45):
because not only does itstretch into automotive history,
it also stretches intoentertainment history deeply for me.
- Yes. Yes. And- I, I, I can't wait for those,
the splash damage of allof this history onto,
onto automotive to hit other
people. I think it's gonna be great.
- Yeah. And you know, like I said, a lot
of culture is driven by cars.
You know, you just, there'sall kinds of different things,
(07:07):
you know, you, you don't haveto be a complete car nut to,
to be into this kind of stuff.
Right. You know, and I'mwouldn't call myself a car nut,
but I really love digging intothe history of these things.
When I was doing researchfor the next episode,
I was learning stufflike, wow, really cool.
And I, we hope we can bring that to you.
You know, we will learn itand then we'll pass it on
(07:29):
to you and you can dig deeper.
And if you've got, uh,anything you want to
have us talk about
or research, we'll be more thanhappy to take a look at it.
- Yeah. I, I, I love your zealfor the, the question marks
inside of what's gonnahappen with car history.
I always tell people when,when they are running
around a room and they'll saywhat they do for a living,
(07:49):
I always say that I'm a, iI hunt light bulb moments
for a living
and I always get kind of the,the, the dog head turn when,
whenever I say that, because they
don't really understand what I'm saying.
And it's exactly what we'regonna be doing here inside
of this podcast is we are gonna be
hunting for light bulb moments.
Yes. And that's what I doas a professional podcaster.
I, I help people share,
we discover the light bulbmoments and then we convey them.
(08:11):
So this, this again, isjust gonna be another piece
of a, a really grand legacy.
I know I've grown andI'm, I'm, I'm super proud
and honored to be here with you doing it.
- Yeah. Well, I'm glad to have you.
You know, the, the conceptI had about two years ago
and was gonna do it as a solo show
and
I am not good at keeping aschedule and, and all that stuff.
(08:33):
And, you know, it just beingable to bounce ideas off of,
you know, of a co-host,
it makes it more interestingfor the audience.
It makes it more interesting for me
because, you know, you'll say something
and I'll go, oh, wow, really,and I'll write that down
and expand on it, or go researchit or something like that.
So initially we're gonnastart out kind of slow.
(08:55):
We're gonna do a coupleepisodes a month, uh, just
to get in the groove of things.
And we may increase that.
And as we build, we mighteven do some lives, you know,
on various platforms.
So, you know, that'll be coming.
But this is gonna be kind ofa slow roll start, I think,
just, just to get back in theswing of a regular production.
(09:17):
- Yeah. And I, I, what,what I can emphasize more is
that those of you listeningto the program, you have
to understand that theway that this will work
is when you guys chimein
and I can have conversationsall day long about the
questions he and I have about vehicles.
But when you guys chimein, we actually have kind
of a guiding light to know whatyou guys want to hear about.
(09:37):
And that's why you wannamake sure that you go over
to auto history podcast.com, fill out
that little contact form that's there
and follow us in the, inthe social media rule rules
as well, because Mm-Hmm,
the little peppered comments
that come outta my both micbrains will not only illuminate
you, but probably give you an idea
to context us about somefuture programs as well.
- Right, right. And yeah, we've got,
(09:59):
I've got a few interviews
that are potentially gonnahappen here this early this year,
and I think those willbe interesting as well.
So we may be throwing insome, some interviews.
It's just gonna be everythingaround automotive, you know,
that, you know, we'renot the be all end all,
but we'll, we'll definitelymake you think about stuff
(10:20):
and maybe hear about something
you've never heard about before.
- Guaranteed. Again, the, the, the hunt
for light bulb moments isthick inside of my, my want
to do justice for this program.
Mm-Hmm. And again, Mike,
I can't wait to deliver it with you.
- Alright, well, I supposewe, this is good enough
for the intro episode.
Stay tuned here in a coupleof weeks we'll have the first
(10:42):
of the actual topics
So until then, catch you later.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.