July 14, 2025 • 38 mins
Do you love to get wrenchin, road rally racing, storytelling and general Maker Shop Talk?
If so, join Tamara Robertson (Mythbusters, Seekers of Science) as she revs up the fun in this all new mini-season dedicated to the Hemming's Great Race and the amazing team of Trailblazing Creators assembled by Riley's Rebuilds!
As a shout-out to Race Sponsor Peak, this episode kicks off with a Tech Talk about Windshield Wipers before Tamara sits down with Vintage Car Restorer, Trailblazer and Maker Extraordinaire Caroline ( @reelCaroline ) of HHWheels!
Topics they cover include (but are surely not limited to):
- Windshield Wipers
- Peak Automotive
- Vintage Cars
- Commercial Fishing
- HH Wheels
- 1969 Fairlane
- Old Dragsters
- Riley's Rebuilds
- Jessi Combs Foundation
- Never Say Die
- SEMA
- VW Beetle
.. and so much more
As we dig into Season 3's 33rd episode of Tinkering Belles you're surely not going to want to miss it!
So join in on Tamara's adventure as a Maker as she works to amplify the BAMF Females Behind the Builds one interview at a time!
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If you enjoyed the show join in on the Maker adventure with Tamara and her guests on the Tinkering Belles Instagram page.
You can follow Caroline's adventures here, here, and here:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/reelcaroline/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@HHWheels
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@reelcaroline
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hhwheels
Music for this Episode was provided by Bill Trowell Music. Visit BillTrowellMusic.com to hear more and to subscribe to Bill's Patreon, where he covers favorite showtunes, movie themes, classic rock and jazz, as well as requests from Patron's.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tamara Robertson (00:00):
Greetings, shopmates, and welcome to
Tinkering Belles, a show aboutDIY, design, and all things
hands-on.
The sky's the limit as we talkprops, metalwork, cosplay,
woodwork, leather, electronics,and so much more.
I'm Tamara Robertson, yourhost, so strap on your tool
belts because we're about to getinto some skill sharing, y'all.
(00:21):
Today, I'm going to be joined bya maker who's teamed up with
her dad to bring you all thingsdrenching.
I don't want to give away toomuch, but this maker is giving
new life to old cars.
So if that doesn't make youwant to stick around and hear
more, then you might be at thewrong podcast.
(00:43):
But first, let's go ahead andhave our tech talk of the day.
So we're going to be talkingall about the Hemming Great race
and all of the brands thathelped us survive whatever
weather we hit on the road.
Brands like Peak, who donatetons of great gear for the fair
lane, including new windshieldwipers.
So let's back it up.
Where did windshield wipers gettheir start?
(01:12):
The first manually operatedwindshield wiper was patented by
Mary Anderson in 1903, afterobserving a streetcar driver
struggling to see through arain-covered windshield.
Early wipers were operated byhand levers inside the car.
Motorized versions didn'tappear until 1917, when the
(01:33):
Tri-Continental Corporationdeveloped the first automatic
system.
In the 1940s, vacuum-poweredwipers were common but could
slow or stop entirely whendrivers accelerated, a challenge
that led to electric wipersbecoming standard by the 1960s.
Modern wipers use highdurability blades, aerodynamic
arms, and even rain-sensingsmart tech, especially in
(01:56):
performance or endurancevehicles.
Peaks wiper blades are builtfor all weather visibility and
long-lasting performance, whichis crucial when racing a vintage
car cross-country througheverything from desert dust to
summer storms.
Well, that's it for your TechTalk.
As always, you can join in onthe conversation with my maker
friends and me on the TinkeringBells Instagram and X pages.
(02:18):
Just search for BellsTinkering, hit follow, and share
your DIY adventures togetherwith us.
Have a tool you want to learnabout?
Let me know, and it may befeatured in a future episode.
Tell us what you liked, whatyou hated, or possibly even what
we missed.
So now we're going to be gettinginto the main event, and I'm so
excited to introduce you to ournext maker.
(02:40):
So drum roll, please.
Presenting Caroline.
Caroline, thanks for joiningme.
How are you?
Caroline (02:46):
I am wonderful.
Thanks for having me.
Tamara Robertson (02:48):
Yeah.
So I like to start by askingwhere people can find you,
follow you, and give them alittle bit of a glimpse of what
they can see when they go there.
Caroline (02:58):
Cool, yeah.
Well, I am very fortunate to beable to work with one of the
most incredible people I've evermet in my life, which is
conveniently also my father.
We have a YouTube channeltogether called HH Wheels
Productions, and that's That'sour main passion project.
That's where you can find allof our shenanigans of
rebuilding, restoring, rescuingclassic cars.
(03:21):
And then we're also over onInstagram.
He's at HHWheels underscoreHHWheels.
And then I'm at ReelCaroline.
But primarily you can find uson YouTube.
That's where most of the funensues.
Tamara Robertson (03:34):
I love it.
I love it.
And we are definitely going toget into that.
But first, I'm a superheroscientist and all superheroes
have origins.
So we had not met before therace.
We have had the joy of gettingto spend the race together.
And I found out lots of fundetails about you.
But can you share with theaudience your gearhead origin
(03:55):
story?
And I might ask you to rewind alittle bit further and start on
water just because of things Iknow.
Caroline (04:03):
Yeah, well, guilty as charged.
I've been pretty fortunate toalways work in a male dominated
industry.
It's kind of, kind of been mything.
I've always had good guyfriends.
So in high school, I really gotheavily into charter boat
fishing.
That's where I think some of mymechanical eagerness is what I
would call it kind of came from.
(04:24):
We'd work on stuff as a firstmate all the time.
So it was kind of like fixthis, fix that.
So it was kind of in my name.
And then eventually, I hadbought my first brand new
vehicle and it turned into thiswonderful thing until one day I
wrecked it, which was kind of ablessing in disguise because out
(04:47):
of necessity, I obviouslyneeded something to daily drive
to get to and from work.
So at the time, I didn't havemuch money to my name.
So I bought a 1969 FordFairlane Fastback, which
conveniently was probably theworst car I think I've ever
owned to this day.
Yeah.
But, you know, for a wholeyear, year and a half, I was
fixing it every single daybefore I got to work.
(05:09):
Like that was literally theonly way you would find me at
work is because I fixed whateverbroke.
So unfortunately, thatcraziness turned into something
really fortunate and my job, mypassion, and I found my love for
mechanical anything at thetime.
And what really got me into thewhole classic car side of it
(05:33):
was not just driving one, butreally talking to people
about...
their story.
Like people would come up to mein a parking lot or at the
grocery store.
Like I would just be so offguard.
I'm just like this Joe Schmowalking around doing my normal
thing.
And someone would talk to melike they knew me because they
saw I got out of this classiccar and they tell me about their
(05:54):
first kiss or whatever.
you know that's the kind of carthey drove in high school or
they just it had nothing to dowith my particular vehicle it
was just something that was likethe ultimate icebreaker is what
I took it as and eventually Iwas just like this is really
cool like the automotivecommunity is really neat and
conveniently at the same time Iwas kind of helping my dad turn
a wrench here and there on hishobby projects and then we're
(06:17):
like why aren't we documentingthis why aren't we making this a
thing and it was kind of likewell you know one day when I
have grandkids and I was likeyeah you know I have a
background in graphic So, yeah.
It kind of worked too becausehe had this really awesome
(06:40):
vision for everything we did.
And then one thing led toanother.
Here we are five years later.
It's a full-fledged business.
We've had a lot of ups anddowns.
And I got to say, it's probablybeen the most epic ride of my
life.
I can't speak for him on that,but I think he agrees too.
And we get to do cool thingslike the Great Race, like we
(07:00):
just finished up.
And now we're back in the shop,working on another car and
potentially buying another onein another week or so.
Tamara Robertson (07:06):
That was actually going to be my
next question - was vintage carsand working with your dad.
So you shared a little bitabout how it got started and how
it's going.
I feel like just being aroundyour dad during the great race,
there's been so many hilariousmoments, everything from, you
know, the bet that led to dadand you're not having eyebrows
(07:28):
to just all of the moments.
Like, What are some of yourfavorite, you know, vintage car
meets dad meets YouTube in thisprocess story?
Caroline (07:37):
The cool thing about what we do is, yeah, okay, we do
it on such a public platformthat sometimes it's hard to
ground yourself a little bitbecause you're like trying to
make the best story and reallyput out a good image so that
these people who are viewingyour content really understand
what you're trying to say.
And It's kind of crazy when youcome across people who have no
(08:03):
idea what social media is, andyou still come across those
people, especially in theclassic car world.
There's this one guy inparticular who, this whole
adventure we went on has stuckwith me since we did it.
So it was about, I think almostthree or four years ago now, my
dad was looking at afront-engine nostalgia-style
(08:27):
dragster.
This thing will probablynever...
ever pass tech but it was justsuch a cool thing and my dad's
like well y'all take the motorout of it and um you know hang
the thing on the wall like allthese ideas and i'm like you're
insane why are we buying adragster that we can't even race
you know so i was like you knowscrew it whatever and it's
(08:47):
about four or five hours awayfrom here we hop in the car we
go and we pull up to this youknow, unsuspecting kind of barn
in the small neighborhood.
And this older guy walks outand his name's Fred.
And we were having such a hardtime getting ahold of him
because he literally still hadlike a 1990s flip phone.
(09:08):
There's nothing wrong with flipphones, but this guy literally,
he will never use social mediaif he can help it.
But we were walking around ourshop and just like looking at
all these things.
And it was like, it's likeopening a history book.
And what was really cool ishe's done so many different
things.
I mean, we started from GroundZero, which was when he went
(09:28):
into the military.
I can't exactly remember thespecific name for it, but he was
stationed, I believe, somewherein Florida at the time.
He was Air Force, and he wasresponsible for flying the
airplanes that had basicallylike a receiver that would send
(09:50):
information from the Apollospace missions from space to
that airplane back to theground.
So he was involved in, I think,four Apollo missions, I
believe.
He even has the patches thatthey would get from...
military like every time theycomplete an omission and i just
thought it was the coolest thingever like yes the cars are
(10:11):
magnificent don't get me wrongbut the lineage and the history
behind these people before theyeven got into classic cars and
then conveniently he met thelove of his life not too long
after that and they've beentogether for probably 50 plus
years which is adorable And theygot into racing sprint cars and
(10:33):
she got into racing sprint carsand they got so competitive.
So he ended up building carsfor her to compete.
And he would just kind of likepiddle around.
And, you know, now this guy'sprobably 85 and he's still out
there turning a wrench.
There's no AC in his shop.
It's like he knows everything.
If he doesn't have it, he makesit.
And it's just meeting peoplelike that.
(10:55):
That's just one story of manythat just...
makes what we do so much betterand so much more rewarding
because yes, it is cool toconnect with people online, but
really what we're trying to dois not only spread our knowledge
and spread information onclassic cars to hopefully not
(11:16):
have the hobby die on the vine,but also bring these people's
knowledge and information backto a relevant state because
these guys are Didn't haveGoogle.
These guys had books.
They had word of mouth.
They had the figure it outschool of hard knocks kind of
thing, which I don't know.
(11:37):
I love.
And sometimes it is nice todisconnect from social media
like that and really groundyourself.
And then the cool thing is, isat the time, I think We could
have been better on ourproduction, but the great thing
is I still talk to him to thisday and he's always like, well,
if you guys want to come backand shoot more content, like
he's all about it now.
It's really cool.
And we can kind of introducewhat we do are like new age
(12:01):
style of things to his oldfashioned ways.
And it's just, I don't know.
That's just such a cool partabout classic cars is you meet
people like that all the time,even just at car shows.
Tamara Robertson (12:12):
This has been really valuable and you're
right.
That advice that you get fromthat older generation and that
you're able to then give to theyounger generation is so
valuable.
Is there any lessons thatyou've learned along the way
coming into either, you know,vintage road, motorsport or
working on YouTube or juststaying authentic to yourself
(12:35):
that you want the nextgeneration to, to kind of hear?
Caroline (12:40):
I mean, I'm going to sound really generic when I say
this, but trust the process andtrust your gut, especially when
it comes to social media.
Because if you feel likesomething's wrong, it's probably
wrong.
Or if you feel like somethingyou said didn't come across well
or however you put yourself outthere just doesn't feel right
for you, it's your platform.
(13:01):
So you can choose anything.
what you want to be on there.
And it's okay to like deletesomething because you think, I
could have done this better.
But I also think trusting theprocess because social media is
upside down, backwards,sideways.
It's everything other than alinear experience.
And especially when it comes toclassic cars, you know, I've
(13:22):
found so many cars and I'm like,oh, I want this car so bad.
And I'm like hoping and prayingand I've got the cash ready.
I'm ready to go.
And you're waiting on somebodyto reply to you.
And the excitement of that isbut at the same time if it's
meant to be it's meant to be andi think that can carry across
both social media and buyingrestoring whatever classic cars
(13:43):
is um you got to have theconfidence too because
confidence and even faking yourconfidence is what will get you
to better places because it'sall intimidating every every bit
of it's intimidating even tothis day for me like Sure, I can
go in and swap a motor now, nobig deal.
But before I got into this, Iwas like, wait, you can do what
(14:06):
with what?
And you can take it out thisfast and all these things.
And it's really easy to kind ofoverthink it.
So trusting yourself, trustingthe process and having the
confidence, even though you'venever done it before.
You just have to be confidentthat you're gonna figure it out
because you will.
And I think it's cool becausewith social media, It's such a
(14:28):
new thing.
And then classic cars is suchan old thing.
So it's kind of...
It's kind of weird.
It's kind of backwards, but youcan kind of have fun with it
and truly make it your own oneway or another.
Tamara Robertson (14:39):
Speaking ofputting the past and the
present together, we all justgot to experience the great race
as the creator race team, wherewe were bringing social media
and all forms, everything fromInstagram to YouTube and beyond
into this like vintage era.
So it's, I'm assuming thatbecause you're in that vintage
(15:01):
world, the Great Race wassomething you had heard of
before.
Was it something you hadconsidered racing in before?
And what were your initialthoughts when the bat signal
went out for all of us to comeand join?
Caroline (15:15):
Yeah, that was something that both my dad and I
had on our bucket list ofthings.
It was just a matter of waitingfor the right time.
Because as I'm sure you canunderstand this too, you can
prepare for it and you can alsonot prepare for it.
So the beauty of it for us waslike, if the opportunity
(15:36):
strikes, we'll take it.
And that's kind of whathappened when Riley and Dane
reached out talking about thegreat race.
I was like, wait, how, youknow, like at the time we really
thought it was kind of likethis whole taboo kind of thing.
Cause there is a lot ofprestige behind it.
There are a lot of people whotake it very seriously and, I
(15:57):
mean, Coker, Hemings, everybody.
I mean, they spend so much timepreparing for this.
It's something you really can'tnecessarily take lightly.
So we're just kind of like,hey, if it happens and again, it
happened and it just turnedinto this like.
perfectly planned and unplannedkind of thing.
Um, and it was a lot of work,especially on our end, but I'm
(16:21):
really happy that we pulledthrough.
And the fact that we did it wassuch a great team.
There are a lot of things thatI know we would have done a
little differently in terms oftiming and scheduling, but you
know, that's the joy of it.
You just have to figure it out.
And the great thing about thegreat race is everybody's in
something pre 1974, 75.
And, um, It's kind of humblingwhen you're broken down on the
(16:44):
side of the road.
It really shows the characterof classic cars.
So I thought it was really funthat all of you guys got to
experience that because that'swhat we get to do on a daily
basis.
And that is part of what ourmission is, is to bring that
essence of classic cars toeverybody.
Tamara Robertson (17:02):
Yeah.
And so you kicked off thisepisode by talking about having
prior owned a fair lane that youhad to work on every single day
to get it to run.
And so we definitely got thatexperience on the race.
So do you want to tell theaudience a little bit about how
we went from one fair lane tothe other and how basically AJ
(17:23):
drills became a sponsor becauseof it?
Caroline (17:26):
Yeah, I can't speak too much to what happened to the
first one, but unfortunately,it was no bueno.
Five, six days before RileyDane and my father were supposed
to take off on the Great Racewith the first Fairlane, didn't
really work out because thatFairlane decided to just...
I think something went wronginternally with the motor.
(17:48):
I can't speak too much to that.
So we got a phone call fromRiley and Dane ahead of time.
And they're like, Hey, youknow, we found this car.
Mind you, we're probably eightdays out from leaving.
Can you, you know, our car'sbroken.
Can you go get this car?
Like they had all these ideas.
Okay.
And this car was about twohours from us in South Carolina.
They're down in Florida.
So it's probably eight to 10hours.
(18:10):
We're like, you know what?
We can go get it and, you know,we can figure it out.
And Riley and Dane, I thinksprung a few things on us that
we didn't fully think we wereprepared for or were prepared
for, but we made the most of it.
We went and picked up thisother 66 Fairlane, which is a
fastback, which was my personalpreference.
But anyways, this...
(18:31):
Okay.
Running and driving car.
It was finished for the mostpart interiors there.
Um, it ran and drove.
Okay.
Um, I figured, you know, wecould, we could get this
rolling.
No problem.
And my dad was 50, 50 on boardin a perfect world.
We may have taken somethingelse, but you know, Riley and
(18:52):
Dane spent so much time reallyplanning this and making sure
that, you know, the car lookedlike this and it was
representing the Jessi CombsFoundation.
So I understood the continuityof putting another 66 Fairlane
together.
It was just wild that this onehappened to be on Marketplace
and conveniently the guy webought it from was leaving a day
(19:15):
before to move out of thestate.
So it kind of worked out likein kind of a serendipity Um, we
brought it home and we'retalking to Dane on the way home.
He's like, yeah, we want topaint it.
And we're just like, we have toleave in four days.
Like, why do you want to painta car?
Like, that's kind of unheard ofjust because if you want to do
(19:36):
it right, you really got to prepit.
You really had to spend sometime on it, but.
We're like, all right,whatever.
So the moment we get back inthe shop, start taping all the
trim off, scrape it, or notscraping, but sanding the whole
thing down and just got it readyfor paint.
And then by the time that wasdone, we rolled it down to our
buddy's shop down the street,got it in paint.
(19:58):
And then that was when the heatwas really on because, okay,
now we have a car that looks thepart, but it will not run and
drive under its own power.
And there were a lot ofmechanical things that were just
so wrong with the car to beginwith that...
You really couldn't tell we'rewrong with it until you dug into
it.
So we spent, I think we endedup pushing the trip.
(20:19):
So I think we spent almost sixdays tussling with that thing,
getting it to run and driveright.
And first it was brakes andthen it was carburetor and then
it was intake.
It was just all these differentthings.
And you know, As much as Iwould have liked to change some
of the things that we would havedone in the shop, perhaps maybe
dialed it back a little bit, itdid make for a good story and a
(20:43):
great adventure for everybodybecause I swear we worked on
that car, what, six of the ninedays?
Tamara Robertson (20:49):
Yeah. I learned a lot.
Caroline (20:54):
But that's the great thing about classic cars is...
I've always learned by doing, Ihave no background in classic
cars other than just working asan apprentice, like sweeping the
floors and shops, like doingthat and then just doing it.
And I think that's kind of thespirit of classic cars too,
because yeah, there's manualsand there's classes and stuff
(21:15):
like that, but it's reallysomething you kind of just have
to figure out on your own andbuild the confidence to do,
which I thought was really funto watch all the girls.
Yes, We all did struggle and weall did want to send that thing
down the road a few times, buteverybody made the most of it
and everybody probably learnedthat they don't want to own a
(21:35):
fair lane, but we had a goodtime.
And again, it made for somegood memories.
I mean, the girls pushingacross the finish line one day,
the day I first got there, thehood made it over the finish
line, but the car didn't.
I mean, it was a uniqueadventure.
I think it's really cool thoughthat we've done it that way
(21:56):
because i mean where's the funenough perfectly good running
and driving car you know i meangreat we could be a little more
competitive and it would be funbut like i don't know this is
just way more fun in my opinionregardless of the struggles that
we through
Tamara Robertson (22:12):
absolutely .
we definitely earned that neversay die award for sure so we've
been talking a little bit aboutyou know Riley and Dane, the
Dad-anger.
I love to ask everyone on therace, like, how did you first
meet Riley?
And, you know, what's kept youguys bonded since
Caroline (22:36):
Oh, well, the funny thing is, is the only times
we've ever, like, physicallycome in contact has been at SEMA
for, I think...
almost, it's got to be on threeyears now, something like that.
But I've caught up with her andDane many, many times at SEMA
and so with my dad as well.
And we've gone to parties,we've had conversations and
(22:57):
like, we've kind of talked aboutdifferent ideas or concepts on
what we could do in acollaborative sense.
And this kind of happened byaccident.
Really The whole concept herewas just, hey, why don't you
drive your truck trailer in thecar up here?
And they were looking to havean RV and conveniently we have
(23:19):
one.
So it was like, we'll hook upyour trailer and the car and
we'll take the RV and we'll justgo up north and it'll be a
support vehicle.
And then it kind of grew intothat whole really deep
collaborative thing that kind ofhappened on accident um we've
just communicated though oversocial media over the years and
(23:39):
um talked about differentpartnerships and stuff like that
so it's been like a goodrelationship but kind of more of
a working relationship and alittle less personal i think
also being a father-daughter andthen another father-daughter
that's also been kind of aconnection that we've just
instinctually had where it wasjust kind of like It's nice to
(24:02):
see somebody else doing it atthis capacity because a lot of
the people who are in theautomotive industry are more
independent or they work withtheir husband or just a
significant other in general oranother kid, but not really on
the father level.
daughter side of things.
And it's something that, youknow, Riley's passionate about,
(24:22):
I'm passionate about, which isbringing more women into this
industry.
So it kind of just was thisvery natural, like ebb and flow
kind of relationship that justkind of happened.
Tamara Robertson (24:35):
I love that.
And so Girl Dads is somethingthat, you know, the Jessi Combs
Foundation, big supporters of,you know, Jessi's dad was always
at his raises along with hermom.
But we we actually got on thegreat race to follow in the
tread marks.
So you were talking abouthaving to very quickly paint a
(24:55):
car.
And that is because of thecharity partner that we had,
which was the Jessi CombsFoundation.
Jessi, the audience has learnedwith the Grand Marshal in 2016,
and is all about empowering,inspiring and educating that
next generation of trailblazer.
And so that term trailblazer isone that the foundation doesn't
(25:16):
throw around lightly, butdefinitely felt every young
woman on this creator race andbody.
So before you went into this,did you feel like you were a
trailblazer and what does thatmean to you to be carrying the
torch and the vintage automotivespace for women?
Caroline (25:33):
The thing is with that is I have two different schools
of thought because, you know,when you're in your own place,
you know, you're in your shop,you're doing your thing.
You're kind of just like, Andlike I said earlier, I'm just a
Joe Schmo.
I'm just like working on mythings.
I'm making it happen.
I'm doing what I love.
And then I have the superpowerof being able to share that with
(25:56):
a lot of people.
So Trailblazer is...
is a term that I like to thinkI carry, but at the same time, I
will always think I need toearn in a way because I never
want to get too comfortable inone place.
For instance, like, yes, I wantto be myself on social media
(26:17):
and I want to share that topeople because when they meet me
at car shows, like I don't wantto be a completely different
person, but I also want to makesure that I'm understanding that
I always need to keep betteringmyself.
And yeah, I don't know, when Iput a specific title on myself
like that, I don't take thatlightly, I guess is what I'm
trying to say.
When I got to meet all theother women, like I have kind of
(26:40):
in a way felt like I've alwaysknown these ladies because
social media, but at the sametime, like really talking to
y'all in person and getting toknow everybody and like people
talking to me about, you know,wanting to get more to know more
about YouTube and stuff likethat.
Like to me, again, I'm just,I'm here, I'm making it happen.
Like to me, I'm not thatspecial, but it is really cool
(27:03):
to have other women who areeither in the same age bracket
or doing the same thing as me Ina sense, look at me as someone
of a role model.
That is really neat to mebecause when I go to car shows,
I'm very fortunate to be able toconnect with a lot of people, a
lot of fathers and daughters, alot of young girls who come up
(27:24):
to me and talk to me.
And that...
Both of those things to meembody Trailblazer.
So I'd like to say I think Iam.
But again, I don't ever want toget too comfortable with that.
Does that make sense?
Tamara Robertson (27:37):
That does make sense.
So and you're talking aboutgetting to meet these these
women at these races.
And so we had such a healthymixture of both very young and
young.
a much older generation ofwomen that we were able to
interface on the race.
Obviously in vintage, youprobably have that experience a
(27:57):
lot.
Do you find that the oldergeneration of women share the
different perspective than theyounger ones that are looking up
to you?
Caroline (28:09):
Yeah there's a good 50-50 blend of kind of great and
weirdness with it.
I try to look at things,especially different generations
kind of, and I, this may soundlike a bad term, but like in the
Jessi way, like she just alwayshad this very open mind.
(28:29):
And when I talk to the oldergenerations, I like to be more
open-minded because I have tothink about how different the
time was for them.
I have to think about theirperspective in general.
So yeah.
I kind of just like to listenmore with them rather than when
I'm talking to younger girls.
(28:49):
They want to listen to me, butI want to listen to them.
And I've been very fortunate totalk to a lot of really
influential and very strongwomen, like Shirley Muldowney is
a prime example.
But even women who are just outthere doing it.
I've had the spectrum of justthe older lady who...
(29:10):
would work on her car out ofnecessity.
And then I've had the ones whowere like, I'm doing it because
I'm doing it.
And there was this really coolone I actually got to meet on
the gradient race too, who cameand picked us up the first day
we were broken down.
And conveniently with Audrey,Audrey was kind of like a little
afraid of her.
She was this very sweet Germanlady.
(29:30):
And you might've met her.
Tamara Robertson (29:32):
Yeah, I did in the bathroom
Caroline (29:34):
Yeah. She was great.
You know, I was like, okay,fine.
I'll sit in the front seat.
Y'all can sit in the back.
I'm like, this is a hard shellto crack.
I'm going to crack it, youknow?
So I started talking to her andshe's just very like German
nature, very blunt.
And I'm like, kind of loving itbecause she's very matter of
fact, which made talking to herreally interesting.
(29:55):
And she started telling meabout her classic cars and she
lives in Seattle, but she hassomebody in Detroit who stores
the car and she loves drivingit.
cross-country by herself shehas a husband that she loves but
she's like it's way more fun bymyself um and then she was
telling me about her volkswagenbeetle because conveniently i
own one and she's like yeah ilove to drive it topless like
(30:19):
she's just like very carefreeand then she's very much the
artist type but i didn't reallywant to ask her what her
occupation was and she's likeI'm an artist.
And she was talking about howpeople give her so much flack
about how artists don't makemoney, you know, starving artist
theory.
And she's like, do I make aliving?
(30:42):
No, I am living like herperspective on that.
I was like, you know, hellyeah, this is what I needed to
hear today.
And I don't know.
It's just, it's cool becauseagain, you do get to see both
sides of it.
I've had a little negativity, Ithink, more from the older
generations.
I think it's more out of ajealous side of things rather
(31:05):
than actually some sort ofmalicious take on it.
So I don't really let it botherme too much.
I think that kind of comes withanything generational related.
You're always going to have oneof those.
But it is really cool.
I do find...
I find a need or more of a wantto impress the older generation
more because I'm like, I wantto carry this torch, but in an
(31:27):
admirable way.
And I want to speak well.
I want to come across well.
And I want to make sure thatI'm not doing this in vain and
also have a little bit ofrecognition for being good.
able to carry that torch if youknow what i mean like really
have them in a way be proud ofme even though i just met these
people like 10 minutes prior soit's cool but i think the great
(31:51):
race was a really great place tomeet a lot of women women like
that because there were a lot ofthem
Tamara Robertson (31:57):
there were a lot of them i was actually very
surprised because i think inwatching the list episode with
jesse you didn't see as many aswe actually saw on the race
which was really incredible Andso you talked about the Jessi
viewpoint and you rocked themustache, which I can't wait for
you to get the actual tattooof.
(32:18):
Having been to Sina a fewtimes, was it something, were
you ever able to actuallyinteract with Jessi or meet
Jessi before her passing?
Or what was yourJessi story?
Caroline (32:27):
Unfortunately, no.
My dad...
And I think this was rightbefore we really got started
with the YouTube channel.
My dad was just at SEMA afterhours with a friend of ours who
had like after hour privilegesat SEMA.
And he's like looking at thiscar, I can't remember what it
was, like upside down andsideways and like really, you
know, crawling under it.
(32:47):
And the guy he's with has nocare in the world about cars.
He's there for networking.
And my dad starts asking aquestion and this female voice
starts answering.
And he's just like, you know,asking these questions, not
really paying attention.
to who's talking to him and helooks up and it's Jessi at SEMA
talking to him and I can't speakto that story as well as he can
(33:08):
the way he tells it almostmakes me cry every time he says
it and he starts crying when hetells the story but when my dad
and I who's not my biologicalfather but when my dad and I
started working together he kindof told me about this story and
just kind of talked about herin it almost seemed like a very
simple way but it kind of cameacross as she had so much grace
(33:32):
and charisma.
And I was just like reallycurious, like who in the Sam
heck is this person?
Right.
So I spend a little timelooking into her and
unfortunately at this time she'dalready passed away.
I just am like sitting here.
I'm like beside myself thinkingthis is how, this is how I want
to be portrayed to people.
I want to come across with thismuch grace, this much
(33:53):
integrity, but also have theexperience to go behind it.
And I, The thing is, and I'msure you can understand this as
well, when you're in such apublic space, unfortunately, not
everybody's like that.
They portray themselves asthat, but they aren't.
And I was kind of suspicious.
I was like, I really feelattracted to her somehow in kind
(34:16):
of like an almost spiritualway.
But I was like, I'm not goingto look too far into it.
I was very reserved.
And just over time, I justwatched more movies.
Like, All Girls Garage, she wason the list.
Like, all these differentthings you can find Jessi on.
And I'm just like, this...
is how I hope I can be.
This is how I hope I can leavemy mark on the world and bring
(34:42):
more women into something thatis so amazing.
And it doesn't have to beclassic cars.
It can be working on diesels.
Heck, it doesn't even have tobe working on cars.
You can be a welder, afabricator.
I mean, anything, refinisher,it doesn't matter.
But it's really this...
amazing and kind of crazy wildthing working with your hands
(35:04):
and the way it connects you withpeople and what you're doing
and I've also never really beenthat girly of a girl so when I
saw Jessi I'm like oh hell yeahlike she gets down and dirty you
don't have to look pretty allthe time you can be a badass and
still look like there were justso many things to her that just
like made sense to me andthat's when i really felt like i
(35:29):
could be myself and i could beokay with learning who i am and
doing this because growing up iwas not exposed to any of this
so that's kind of my originstory with jesse uh i guess it
is partially my dad's fault butum he feels so strongly about
women being in the industry tooso that's really aided in my
(35:52):
whole jesse journey i guess youcan call it
Tamara Robertson (35:55):
so i have one question i ask everyone that
comes on the podcast and that isif you could have a superpower
what would it be and why
Caroline (36:05):
oh goodness that's a question
Tamara Robertson (36:07):
it tells a lot about a person what what power
they say I'm just saying
Caroline (36:15):
yeah oh my goodness I don't I don't know the thing is
I'm so happy and pleased witheverything I've achieved and
there's something I heard theother day that's like Thank God
for all the no's and the closeddoors, because sure, it'd be
great to have heard a millionyeses, but without those, I
(36:36):
wouldn't be where I am now.
And I wouldn't have theknowledge that I have now.
If it comes to like asuperpower, it's probably going
to be something really remedialbecause I don't think I want to
like, improve upon anythingcrazy I'm sure when I was a kid
I was like being invisible wouldbe cool but I think now it'd be
like remembering wire diagramsthat's such a nerd thing to say
(36:58):
but my superpower probably belike expert at wiring or
something like that because alot of times that's my main job
so if I could be better at it orlike I even thought about
getting a wire diagram tattooedon my arm um yeah i know that
sounds so nerdy but just likethe power of like remembering
(37:20):
things like having a legitimatephotographic memory would would
be pretty cool
Tamara Robertson (37:26):
that would be extremely valuable i feel like
especially like you're sayinglike when you're actually on the
floor like working on yourmachinery being able to not have
to like then go greasy handsoil covered flipping through
books or trying to like get yourphone to work you know just
Yeah,
Caroline (37:45):
imagine taking something apart and remembering
how it all goes back togetherlike that three days later and
not having any extra hardwareleft over.
Tamara Robertson (37:55):
I love it.
Well, this has been so amazing.
The Hemmings Great Race kickedoff June 21st in St.
Paul, Minnesota.
and ran all the way until wehit the finish line June 29th in
Irmo, South Carolina.
So follow our Instagrams tolive the full adventure and all
things creator race as we recaptackling this iconic vintage
rally road race one mile at atime.
That's it for the TinkeringBelles.
(38:16):
This episode is assembled andready for delivery.
Caroline, this has beenamazing.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
I want to thank you for choosingTinkering Belles as your user's
manual for all things maker ona bi-weekly basis.
If you want to continue to hearmore, don't forget to rate and
review this show on yourpodcasting app of choice as well
as sharing it with your friendsI look forward to seeing you
(38:37):
next time until then don'tforget to keep making
Caroline (38:48):
whoa that was weird I didn't know you could do that
Tamara Robertson (38:51):
that is a lot of fun
Greetings, shopmates, and welcome to
Tinkering Belles, a show aboutDIY, design, and all things
hands-on.
The sky's the limit as we talkprops, metalwork, cosplay,
woodwork, leather, electronics,and so much more.
I'm Tamara Robertson, yourhost, so strap on your tool
belts because we're about to getinto some skill sharing, y'all.
(00:21):
Today, I'm going to be joined bya maker who's teamed up with
her dad to bring you all thingsdrenching.
I don't want to give away toomuch, but this maker is giving
new life to old cars.
So if that doesn't make youwant to stick around and hear
more, then you might be at thewrong podcast.
(00:43):
But first, let's go ahead andhave our tech talk of the day.
So we're going to be talkingall about the Hemming Great race
and all of the brands thathelped us survive whatever
weather we hit on the road.
Brands like Peak, who donatetons of great gear for the fair
lane, including new windshieldwipers.
So let's back it up.
Where did windshield wipers gettheir start?
(01:12):
The first manually operatedwindshield wiper was patented by
Mary Anderson in 1903, afterobserving a streetcar driver
struggling to see through arain-covered windshield.
Early wipers were operated byhand levers inside the car.
Motorized versions didn'tappear until 1917, when the
(01:33):
Tri-Continental Corporationdeveloped the first automatic
system.
In the 1940s, vacuum-poweredwipers were common but could
slow or stop entirely whendrivers accelerated, a challenge
that led to electric wipersbecoming standard by the 1960s.
Modern wipers use highdurability blades, aerodynamic
arms, and even rain-sensingsmart tech, especially in
(01:56):
performance or endurancevehicles.
Peaks wiper blades are builtfor all weather visibility and
long-lasting performance, whichis crucial when racing a vintage
car cross-country througheverything from desert dust to
summer storms.
Well, that's it for your TechTalk.
As always, you can join in onthe conversation with my maker
friends and me on the TinkeringBells Instagram and X pages.
(02:18):
Just search for BellsTinkering, hit follow, and share
your DIY adventures togetherwith us.
Have a tool you want to learnabout?
Let me know, and it may befeatured in a future episode.
Tell us what you liked, whatyou hated, or possibly even what
we missed.
So now we're going to be gettinginto the main event, and I'm so
excited to introduce you to ournext maker.
(02:40):
So drum roll, please.
Presenting Caroline.
Caroline, thanks for joiningme.
How are you?
Caroline (02:46):
I am wonderful.
Thanks for having me.
Tamara Robertson (02:48):
Yeah.
So I like to start by askingwhere people can find you,
follow you, and give them alittle bit of a glimpse of what
they can see when they go there.
Caroline (02:58):
Cool, yeah.
Well, I am very fortunate to beable to work with one of the
most incredible people I've evermet in my life, which is
conveniently also my father.
We have a YouTube channeltogether called HH Wheels
Productions, and that's That'sour main passion project.
That's where you can find allof our shenanigans of
rebuilding, restoring, rescuingclassic cars.
(03:21):
And then we're also over onInstagram.
He's at HHWheels underscoreHHWheels.
And then I'm at ReelCaroline.
But primarily you can find uson YouTube.
That's where most of the funensues.
Tamara Robertson (03:34):
I love it.
I love it.
And we are definitely going toget into that.
But first, I'm a superheroscientist and all superheroes
have origins.
So we had not met before therace.
We have had the joy of gettingto spend the race together.
And I found out lots of fundetails about you.
But can you share with theaudience your gearhead origin
(03:55):
story?
And I might ask you to rewind alittle bit further and start on
water just because of things Iknow.
Caroline (04:03):
Yeah, well, guilty as charged.
I've been pretty fortunate toalways work in a male dominated
industry.
It's kind of, kind of been mything.
I've always had good guyfriends.
So in high school, I really gotheavily into charter boat
fishing.
That's where I think some of mymechanical eagerness is what I
would call it kind of came from.
(04:24):
We'd work on stuff as a firstmate all the time.
So it was kind of like fixthis, fix that.
So it was kind of in my name.
And then eventually, I hadbought my first brand new
vehicle and it turned into thiswonderful thing until one day I
wrecked it, which was kind of ablessing in disguise because out
(04:47):
of necessity, I obviouslyneeded something to daily drive
to get to and from work.
So at the time, I didn't havemuch money to my name.
So I bought a 1969 FordFairlane Fastback, which
conveniently was probably theworst car I think I've ever
owned to this day.
Yeah.
But, you know, for a wholeyear, year and a half, I was
fixing it every single daybefore I got to work.
(05:09):
Like that was literally theonly way you would find me at
work is because I fixed whateverbroke.
So unfortunately, thatcraziness turned into something
really fortunate and my job, mypassion, and I found my love for
mechanical anything at thetime.
And what really got me into thewhole classic car side of it
(05:33):
was not just driving one, butreally talking to people
about...
their story.
Like people would come up to mein a parking lot or at the
grocery store.
Like I would just be so offguard.
I'm just like this Joe Schmowalking around doing my normal
thing.
And someone would talk to melike they knew me because they
saw I got out of this classiccar and they tell me about their
(05:54):
first kiss or whatever.
you know that's the kind of carthey drove in high school or
they just it had nothing to dowith my particular vehicle it
was just something that was likethe ultimate icebreaker is what
I took it as and eventually Iwas just like this is really
cool like the automotivecommunity is really neat and
conveniently at the same time Iwas kind of helping my dad turn
a wrench here and there on hishobby projects and then we're
(06:17):
like why aren't we documentingthis why aren't we making this a
thing and it was kind of likewell you know one day when I
have grandkids and I was likeyeah you know I have a
background in graphic So, yeah.
It kind of worked too becausehe had this really awesome
(06:40):
vision for everything we did.
And then one thing led toanother.
Here we are five years later.
It's a full-fledged business.
We've had a lot of ups anddowns.
And I got to say, it's probablybeen the most epic ride of my
life.
I can't speak for him on that,but I think he agrees too.
And we get to do cool thingslike the Great Race, like we
(07:00):
just finished up.
And now we're back in the shop,working on another car and
potentially buying another onein another week or so.
Tamara Robertson (07:06):
That was actually going to be my
next question - was vintage carsand working with your dad.
So you shared a little bitabout how it got started and how
it's going.
I feel like just being aroundyour dad during the great race,
there's been so many hilariousmoments, everything from, you
know, the bet that led to dadand you're not having eyebrows
(07:28):
to just all of the moments.
Like, What are some of yourfavorite, you know, vintage car
meets dad meets YouTube in thisprocess story?
Caroline (07:37):
The cool thing about what we do is, yeah, okay, we do
it on such a public platformthat sometimes it's hard to
ground yourself a little bitbecause you're like trying to
make the best story and reallyput out a good image so that
these people who are viewingyour content really understand
what you're trying to say.
And It's kind of crazy when youcome across people who have no
(08:03):
idea what social media is, andyou still come across those
people, especially in theclassic car world.
There's this one guy inparticular who, this whole
adventure we went on has stuckwith me since we did it.
So it was about, I think almostthree or four years ago now, my
dad was looking at afront-engine nostalgia-style
(08:27):
dragster.
This thing will probablynever...
ever pass tech but it was justsuch a cool thing and my dad's
like well y'all take the motorout of it and um you know hang
the thing on the wall like allthese ideas and i'm like you're
insane why are we buying adragster that we can't even race
you know so i was like you knowscrew it whatever and it's
(08:47):
about four or five hours awayfrom here we hop in the car we
go and we pull up to this youknow, unsuspecting kind of barn
in the small neighborhood.
And this older guy walks outand his name's Fred.
And we were having such a hardtime getting ahold of him
because he literally still hadlike a 1990s flip phone.
(09:08):
There's nothing wrong with flipphones, but this guy literally,
he will never use social mediaif he can help it.
But we were walking around ourshop and just like looking at
all these things.
And it was like, it's likeopening a history book.
And what was really cool ishe's done so many different
things.
I mean, we started from GroundZero, which was when he went
(09:28):
into the military.
I can't exactly remember thespecific name for it, but he was
stationed, I believe, somewherein Florida at the time.
He was Air Force, and he wasresponsible for flying the
airplanes that had basicallylike a receiver that would send
(09:50):
information from the Apollospace missions from space to
that airplane back to theground.
So he was involved in, I think,four Apollo missions, I
believe.
He even has the patches thatthey would get from...
military like every time theycomplete an omission and i just
thought it was the coolest thingever like yes the cars are
(10:11):
magnificent don't get me wrongbut the lineage and the history
behind these people before theyeven got into classic cars and
then conveniently he met thelove of his life not too long
after that and they've beentogether for probably 50 plus
years which is adorable And theygot into racing sprint cars and
(10:33):
she got into racing sprint carsand they got so competitive.
So he ended up building carsfor her to compete.
And he would just kind of likepiddle around.
And, you know, now this guy'sprobably 85 and he's still out
there turning a wrench.
There's no AC in his shop.
It's like he knows everything.
If he doesn't have it, he makesit.
And it's just meeting peoplelike that.
(10:55):
That's just one story of manythat just...
makes what we do so much betterand so much more rewarding
because yes, it is cool toconnect with people online, but
really what we're trying to dois not only spread our knowledge
and spread information onclassic cars to hopefully not
(11:16):
have the hobby die on the vine,but also bring these people's
knowledge and information backto a relevant state because
these guys are Didn't haveGoogle.
These guys had books.
They had word of mouth.
They had the figure it outschool of hard knocks kind of
thing, which I don't know.
(11:37):
I love.
And sometimes it is nice todisconnect from social media
like that and really groundyourself.
And then the cool thing is, isat the time, I think We could
have been better on ourproduction, but the great thing
is I still talk to him to thisday and he's always like, well,
if you guys want to come backand shoot more content, like
he's all about it now.
It's really cool.
And we can kind of introducewhat we do are like new age
(12:01):
style of things to his oldfashioned ways.
And it's just, I don't know.
That's just such a cool partabout classic cars is you meet
people like that all the time,even just at car shows.
Tamara Robertson (12:12):
This has been really valuable and you're
right.
That advice that you get fromthat older generation and that
you're able to then give to theyounger generation is so
valuable.
Is there any lessons thatyou've learned along the way
coming into either, you know,vintage road, motorsport or
working on YouTube or juststaying authentic to yourself
(12:35):
that you want the nextgeneration to, to kind of hear?
Caroline (12:40):
I mean, I'm going to sound really generic when I say
this, but trust the process andtrust your gut, especially when
it comes to social media.
Because if you feel likesomething's wrong, it's probably
wrong.
Or if you feel like somethingyou said didn't come across well
or however you put yourself outthere just doesn't feel right
for you, it's your platform.
(13:01):
So you can choose anything.
what you want to be on there.
And it's okay to like deletesomething because you think, I
could have done this better.
But I also think trusting theprocess because social media is
upside down, backwards,sideways.
It's everything other than alinear experience.
And especially when it comes toclassic cars, you know, I've
(13:22):
found so many cars and I'm like,oh, I want this car so bad.
And I'm like hoping and prayingand I've got the cash ready.
I'm ready to go.
And you're waiting on somebodyto reply to you.
And the excitement of that isbut at the same time if it's
meant to be it's meant to be andi think that can carry across
both social media and buyingrestoring whatever classic cars
(13:43):
is um you got to have theconfidence too because
confidence and even faking yourconfidence is what will get you
to better places because it'sall intimidating every every bit
of it's intimidating even tothis day for me like Sure, I can
go in and swap a motor now, nobig deal.
But before I got into this, Iwas like, wait, you can do what
(14:06):
with what?
And you can take it out thisfast and all these things.
And it's really easy to kind ofoverthink it.
So trusting yourself, trustingthe process and having the
confidence, even though you'venever done it before.
You just have to be confidentthat you're gonna figure it out
because you will.
And I think it's cool becausewith social media, It's such a
(14:28):
new thing.
And then classic cars is suchan old thing.
So it's kind of...
It's kind of weird.
It's kind of backwards, but youcan kind of have fun with it
and truly make it your own oneway or another.
Tamara Robertson (14:39):
Speaking ofputting the past and the
present together, we all justgot to experience the great race
as the creator race team, wherewe were bringing social media
and all forms, everything fromInstagram to YouTube and beyond
into this like vintage era.
So it's, I'm assuming thatbecause you're in that vintage
(15:01):
world, the Great Race wassomething you had heard of
before.
Was it something you hadconsidered racing in before?
And what were your initialthoughts when the bat signal
went out for all of us to comeand join?
Caroline (15:15):
Yeah, that was something that both my dad and I
had on our bucket list ofthings.
It was just a matter of waitingfor the right time.
Because as I'm sure you canunderstand this too, you can
prepare for it and you can alsonot prepare for it.
So the beauty of it for us waslike, if the opportunity
(15:36):
strikes, we'll take it.
And that's kind of whathappened when Riley and Dane
reached out talking about thegreat race.
I was like, wait, how, youknow, like at the time we really
thought it was kind of likethis whole taboo kind of thing.
Cause there is a lot ofprestige behind it.
There are a lot of people whotake it very seriously and, I
(15:57):
mean, Coker, Hemings, everybody.
I mean, they spend so much timepreparing for this.
It's something you really can'tnecessarily take lightly.
So we're just kind of like,hey, if it happens and again, it
happened and it just turnedinto this like.
perfectly planned and unplannedkind of thing.
Um, and it was a lot of work,especially on our end, but I'm
(16:21):
really happy that we pulledthrough.
And the fact that we did it wassuch a great team.
There are a lot of things thatI know we would have done a
little differently in terms oftiming and scheduling, but you
know, that's the joy of it.
You just have to figure it out.
And the great thing about thegreat race is everybody's in
something pre 1974, 75.
And, um, It's kind of humblingwhen you're broken down on the
(16:44):
side of the road.
It really shows the characterof classic cars.
So I thought it was really funthat all of you guys got to
experience that because that'swhat we get to do on a daily
basis.
And that is part of what ourmission is, is to bring that
essence of classic cars toeverybody.
Tamara Robertson (17:02):
Yeah.
And so you kicked off thisepisode by talking about having
prior owned a fair lane that youhad to work on every single day
to get it to run.
And so we definitely got thatexperience on the race.
So do you want to tell theaudience a little bit about how
we went from one fair lane tothe other and how basically AJ
(17:23):
drills became a sponsor becauseof it?
Caroline (17:26):
Yeah, I can't speak too much to what happened to the
first one, but unfortunately,it was no bueno.
Five, six days before RileyDane and my father were supposed
to take off on the Great Racewith the first Fairlane, didn't
really work out because thatFairlane decided to just...
I think something went wronginternally with the motor.
(17:48):
I can't speak too much to that.
So we got a phone call fromRiley and Dane ahead of time.
And they're like, Hey, youknow, we found this car.
Mind you, we're probably eightdays out from leaving.
Can you, you know, our car'sbroken.
Can you go get this car?
Like they had all these ideas.
Okay.
And this car was about twohours from us in South Carolina.
They're down in Florida.
So it's probably eight to 10hours.
(18:10):
We're like, you know what?
We can go get it and, you know,we can figure it out.
And Riley and Dane, I thinksprung a few things on us that
we didn't fully think we wereprepared for or were prepared
for, but we made the most of it.
We went and picked up thisother 66 Fairlane, which is a
fastback, which was my personalpreference.
But anyways, this...
(18:31):
Okay.
Running and driving car.
It was finished for the mostpart interiors there.
Um, it ran and drove.
Okay.
Um, I figured, you know, wecould, we could get this
rolling.
No problem.
And my dad was 50, 50 on boardin a perfect world.
We may have taken somethingelse, but you know, Riley and
(18:52):
Dane spent so much time reallyplanning this and making sure
that, you know, the car lookedlike this and it was
representing the Jessi CombsFoundation.
So I understood the continuityof putting another 66 Fairlane
together.
It was just wild that this onehappened to be on Marketplace
and conveniently the guy webought it from was leaving a day
(19:15):
before to move out of thestate.
So it kind of worked out likein kind of a serendipity Um, we
brought it home and we'retalking to Dane on the way home.
He's like, yeah, we want topaint it.
And we're just like, we have toleave in four days.
Like, why do you want to painta car?
Like, that's kind of unheard ofjust because if you want to do
(19:36):
it right, you really got to prepit.
You really had to spend sometime on it, but.
We're like, all right,whatever.
So the moment we get back inthe shop, start taping all the
trim off, scrape it, or notscraping, but sanding the whole
thing down and just got it readyfor paint.
And then by the time that wasdone, we rolled it down to our
buddy's shop down the street,got it in paint.
(19:58):
And then that was when the heatwas really on because, okay,
now we have a car that looks thepart, but it will not run and
drive under its own power.
And there were a lot ofmechanical things that were just
so wrong with the car to beginwith that...
You really couldn't tell we'rewrong with it until you dug into
it.
So we spent, I think we endedup pushing the trip.
(20:19):
So I think we spent almost sixdays tussling with that thing,
getting it to run and driveright.
And first it was brakes andthen it was carburetor and then
it was intake.
It was just all these differentthings.
And you know, As much as Iwould have liked to change some
of the things that we would havedone in the shop, perhaps maybe
dialed it back a little bit, itdid make for a good story and a
(20:43):
great adventure for everybodybecause I swear we worked on
that car, what, six of the ninedays?
Tamara Robertson (20:49):
Yeah. I learned a lot.
Caroline (20:54):
But that's the great thing about classic cars is...
I've always learned by doing, Ihave no background in classic
cars other than just working asan apprentice, like sweeping the
floors and shops, like doingthat and then just doing it.
And I think that's kind of thespirit of classic cars too,
because yeah, there's manualsand there's classes and stuff
(21:15):
like that, but it's reallysomething you kind of just have
to figure out on your own andbuild the confidence to do,
which I thought was really funto watch all the girls.
Yes, We all did struggle and weall did want to send that thing
down the road a few times, buteverybody made the most of it
and everybody probably learnedthat they don't want to own a
(21:35):
fair lane, but we had a goodtime.
And again, it made for somegood memories.
I mean, the girls pushingacross the finish line one day,
the day I first got there, thehood made it over the finish
line, but the car didn't.
I mean, it was a uniqueadventure.
I think it's really cool thoughthat we've done it that way
(21:56):
because i mean where's the funenough perfectly good running
and driving car you know i meangreat we could be a little more
competitive and it would be funbut like i don't know this is
just way more fun in my opinionregardless of the struggles that
we through
Tamara Robertson (22:12):
absolutely .
we definitely earned that neversay die award for sure so we've
been talking a little bit aboutyou know Riley and Dane, the
Dad-anger.
I love to ask everyone on therace, like, how did you first
meet Riley?
And, you know, what's kept youguys bonded since
Caroline (22:36):
Oh, well, the funny thing is, is the only times
we've ever, like, physicallycome in contact has been at SEMA
for, I think...
almost, it's got to be on threeyears now, something like that.
But I've caught up with her andDane many, many times at SEMA
and so with my dad as well.
And we've gone to parties,we've had conversations and
(22:57):
like, we've kind of talked aboutdifferent ideas or concepts on
what we could do in acollaborative sense.
And this kind of happened byaccident.
Really The whole concept herewas just, hey, why don't you
drive your truck trailer in thecar up here?
And they were looking to havean RV and conveniently we have
(23:19):
one.
So it was like, we'll hook upyour trailer and the car and
we'll take the RV and we'll justgo up north and it'll be a
support vehicle.
And then it kind of grew intothat whole really deep
collaborative thing that kind ofhappened on accident um we've
just communicated though oversocial media over the years and
(23:39):
um talked about differentpartnerships and stuff like that
so it's been like a goodrelationship but kind of more of
a working relationship and alittle less personal i think
also being a father-daughter andthen another father-daughter
that's also been kind of aconnection that we've just
instinctually had where it wasjust kind of like It's nice to
(24:02):
see somebody else doing it atthis capacity because a lot of
the people who are in theautomotive industry are more
independent or they work withtheir husband or just a
significant other in general oranother kid, but not really on
the father level.
daughter side of things.
And it's something that, youknow, Riley's passionate about,
(24:22):
I'm passionate about, which isbringing more women into this
industry.
So it kind of just was thisvery natural, like ebb and flow
kind of relationship that justkind of happened.
Tamara Robertson (24:35):
I love that.
And so Girl Dads is somethingthat, you know, the Jessi Combs
Foundation, big supporters of,you know, Jessi's dad was always
at his raises along with hermom.
But we we actually got on thegreat race to follow in the
tread marks.
So you were talking abouthaving to very quickly paint a
(24:55):
car.
And that is because of thecharity partner that we had,
which was the Jessi CombsFoundation.
Jessi, the audience has learnedwith the Grand Marshal in 2016,
and is all about empowering,inspiring and educating that
next generation of trailblazer.
And so that term trailblazer isone that the foundation doesn't
(25:16):
throw around lightly, butdefinitely felt every young
woman on this creator race andbody.
So before you went into this,did you feel like you were a
trailblazer and what does thatmean to you to be carrying the
torch and the vintage automotivespace for women?
Caroline (25:33):
The thing is with that is I have two different schools
of thought because, you know,when you're in your own place,
you know, you're in your shop,you're doing your thing.
You're kind of just like, Andlike I said earlier, I'm just a
Joe Schmo.
I'm just like working on mythings.
I'm making it happen.
I'm doing what I love.
And then I have the superpowerof being able to share that with
(25:56):
a lot of people.
So Trailblazer is...
is a term that I like to thinkI carry, but at the same time, I
will always think I need toearn in a way because I never
want to get too comfortable inone place.
For instance, like, yes, I wantto be myself on social media
(26:17):
and I want to share that topeople because when they meet me
at car shows, like I don't wantto be a completely different
person, but I also want to makesure that I'm understanding that
I always need to keep betteringmyself.
And yeah, I don't know, when Iput a specific title on myself
like that, I don't take thatlightly, I guess is what I'm
trying to say.
When I got to meet all theother women, like I have kind of
(26:40):
in a way felt like I've alwaysknown these ladies because
social media, but at the sametime, like really talking to
y'all in person and getting toknow everybody and like people
talking to me about, you know,wanting to get more to know more
about YouTube and stuff likethat.
Like to me, again, I'm just,I'm here, I'm making it happen.
Like to me, I'm not thatspecial, but it is really cool
(27:03):
to have other women who areeither in the same age bracket
or doing the same thing as me Ina sense, look at me as someone
of a role model.
That is really neat to mebecause when I go to car shows,
I'm very fortunate to be able toconnect with a lot of people, a
lot of fathers and daughters, alot of young girls who come up
(27:24):
to me and talk to me.
And that...
Both of those things to meembody Trailblazer.
So I'd like to say I think Iam.
But again, I don't ever want toget too comfortable with that.
Does that make sense?
Tamara Robertson (27:37):
That does make sense.
So and you're talking aboutgetting to meet these these
women at these races.
And so we had such a healthymixture of both very young and
young.
a much older generation ofwomen that we were able to
interface on the race.
Obviously in vintage, youprobably have that experience a
(27:57):
lot.
Do you find that the oldergeneration of women share the
different perspective than theyounger ones that are looking up
to you?
Caroline (28:09):
Yeah there's a good 50-50 blend of kind of great and
weirdness with it.
I try to look at things,especially different generations
kind of, and I, this may soundlike a bad term, but like in the
Jessi way, like she just alwayshad this very open mind.
(28:29):
And when I talk to the oldergenerations, I like to be more
open-minded because I have tothink about how different the
time was for them.
I have to think about theirperspective in general.
So yeah.
I kind of just like to listenmore with them rather than when
I'm talking to younger girls.
(28:49):
They want to listen to me, butI want to listen to them.
And I've been very fortunate totalk to a lot of really
influential and very strongwomen, like Shirley Muldowney is
a prime example.
But even women who are just outthere doing it.
I've had the spectrum of justthe older lady who...
(29:10):
would work on her car out ofnecessity.
And then I've had the ones whowere like, I'm doing it because
I'm doing it.
And there was this really coolone I actually got to meet on
the gradient race too, who cameand picked us up the first day
we were broken down.
And conveniently with Audrey,Audrey was kind of like a little
afraid of her.
She was this very sweet Germanlady.
(29:30):
And you might've met her.
Tamara Robertson (29:32):
Yeah, I did in the bathroom
Caroline (29:34):
Yeah. She was great.
You know, I was like, okay,fine.
I'll sit in the front seat.
Y'all can sit in the back.
I'm like, this is a hard shellto crack.
I'm going to crack it, youknow?
So I started talking to her andshe's just very like German
nature, very blunt.
And I'm like, kind of loving itbecause she's very matter of
fact, which made talking to herreally interesting.
(29:55):
And she started telling meabout her classic cars and she
lives in Seattle, but she hassomebody in Detroit who stores
the car and she loves drivingit.
cross-country by herself shehas a husband that she loves but
she's like it's way more fun bymyself um and then she was
telling me about her volkswagenbeetle because conveniently i
own one and she's like yeah ilove to drive it topless like
(30:19):
she's just like very carefreeand then she's very much the
artist type but i didn't reallywant to ask her what her
occupation was and she's likeI'm an artist.
And she was talking about howpeople give her so much flack
about how artists don't makemoney, you know, starving artist
theory.
And she's like, do I make aliving?
(30:42):
No, I am living like herperspective on that.
I was like, you know, hellyeah, this is what I needed to
hear today.
And I don't know.
It's just, it's cool becauseagain, you do get to see both
sides of it.
I've had a little negativity, Ithink, more from the older
generations.
I think it's more out of ajealous side of things rather
(31:05):
than actually some sort ofmalicious take on it.
So I don't really let it botherme too much.
I think that kind of comes withanything generational related.
You're always going to have oneof those.
But it is really cool.
I do find...
I find a need or more of a wantto impress the older generation
more because I'm like, I wantto carry this torch, but in an
(31:27):
admirable way.
And I want to speak well.
I want to come across well.
And I want to make sure thatI'm not doing this in vain and
also have a little bit ofrecognition for being good.
able to carry that torch if youknow what i mean like really
have them in a way be proud ofme even though i just met these
people like 10 minutes prior soit's cool but i think the great
(31:51):
race was a really great place tomeet a lot of women women like
that because there were a lot ofthem
Tamara Robertson (31:57):
there were a lot of them i was actually very
surprised because i think inwatching the list episode with
jesse you didn't see as many aswe actually saw on the race
which was really incredible Andso you talked about the Jessi
viewpoint and you rocked themustache, which I can't wait for
you to get the actual tattooof.
(32:18):
Having been to Sina a fewtimes, was it something, were
you ever able to actuallyinteract with Jessi or meet
Jessi before her passing?
Or what was yourJessi story?
Caroline (32:27):
Unfortunately, no.
My dad...
And I think this was rightbefore we really got started
with the YouTube channel.
My dad was just at SEMA afterhours with a friend of ours who
had like after hour privilegesat SEMA.
And he's like looking at thiscar, I can't remember what it
was, like upside down andsideways and like really, you
know, crawling under it.
(32:47):
And the guy he's with has nocare in the world about cars.
He's there for networking.
And my dad starts asking aquestion and this female voice
starts answering.
And he's just like, you know,asking these questions, not
really paying attention.
to who's talking to him and helooks up and it's Jessi at SEMA
talking to him and I can't speakto that story as well as he can
(33:08):
the way he tells it almostmakes me cry every time he says
it and he starts crying when hetells the story but when my dad
and I who's not my biologicalfather but when my dad and I
started working together he kindof told me about this story and
just kind of talked about herin it almost seemed like a very
simple way but it kind of cameacross as she had so much grace
(33:32):
and charisma.
And I was just like reallycurious, like who in the Sam
heck is this person?
Right.
So I spend a little timelooking into her and
unfortunately at this time she'dalready passed away.
I just am like sitting here.
I'm like beside myself thinkingthis is how, this is how I want
to be portrayed to people.
I want to come across with thismuch grace, this much
(33:53):
integrity, but also have theexperience to go behind it.
And I, The thing is, and I'msure you can understand this as
well, when you're in such apublic space, unfortunately, not
everybody's like that.
They portray themselves asthat, but they aren't.
And I was kind of suspicious.
I was like, I really feelattracted to her somehow in kind
(34:16):
of like an almost spiritualway.
But I was like, I'm not goingto look too far into it.
I was very reserved.
And just over time, I justwatched more movies.
Like, All Girls Garage, she wason the list.
Like, all these differentthings you can find Jessi on.
And I'm just like, this...
is how I hope I can be.
This is how I hope I can leavemy mark on the world and bring
(34:42):
more women into something thatis so amazing.
And it doesn't have to beclassic cars.
It can be working on diesels.
Heck, it doesn't even have tobe working on cars.
You can be a welder, afabricator.
I mean, anything, refinisher,it doesn't matter.
But it's really this...
amazing and kind of crazy wildthing working with your hands
(35:04):
and the way it connects you withpeople and what you're doing
and I've also never really beenthat girly of a girl so when I
saw Jessi I'm like oh hell yeahlike she gets down and dirty you
don't have to look pretty allthe time you can be a badass and
still look like there were justso many things to her that just
like made sense to me andthat's when i really felt like i
(35:29):
could be myself and i could beokay with learning who i am and
doing this because growing up iwas not exposed to any of this
so that's kind of my originstory with jesse uh i guess it
is partially my dad's fault butum he feels so strongly about
women being in the industry tooso that's really aided in my
(35:52):
whole jesse journey i guess youcan call it
Tamara Robertson (35:55):
so i have one question i ask everyone that
comes on the podcast and that isif you could have a superpower
what would it be and why
Caroline (36:05):
oh goodness that's a question
Tamara Robertson (36:07):
it tells a lot about a person what what power
they say I'm just saying
Caroline (36:15):
yeah oh my goodness I don't I don't know the thing is
I'm so happy and pleased witheverything I've achieved and
there's something I heard theother day that's like Thank God
for all the no's and the closeddoors, because sure, it'd be
great to have heard a millionyeses, but without those, I
(36:36):
wouldn't be where I am now.
And I wouldn't have theknowledge that I have now.
If it comes to like asuperpower, it's probably going
to be something really remedialbecause I don't think I want to
like, improve upon anythingcrazy I'm sure when I was a kid
I was like being invisible wouldbe cool but I think now it'd be
like remembering wire diagramsthat's such a nerd thing to say
(36:58):
but my superpower probably belike expert at wiring or
something like that because alot of times that's my main job
so if I could be better at it orlike I even thought about
getting a wire diagram tattooedon my arm um yeah i know that
sounds so nerdy but just likethe power of like remembering
(37:20):
things like having a legitimatephotographic memory would would
be pretty cool
Tamara Robertson (37:26):
that would be extremely valuable i feel like
especially like you're sayinglike when you're actually on the
floor like working on yourmachinery being able to not have
to like then go greasy handsoil covered flipping through
books or trying to like get yourphone to work you know just
Yeah,
Caroline (37:45):
imagine taking something apart and remembering
how it all goes back togetherlike that three days later and
not having any extra hardwareleft over.
Tamara Robertson (37:55):
I love it.
Well, this has been so amazing.
The Hemmings Great Race kickedoff June 21st in St.
Paul, Minnesota.
and ran all the way until wehit the finish line June 29th in
Irmo, South Carolina.
So follow our Instagrams tolive the full adventure and all
things creator race as we recaptackling this iconic vintage
rally road race one mile at atime.
That's it for the TinkeringBelles.
(38:16):
This episode is assembled andready for delivery.
Caroline, this has beenamazing.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
I want to thank you for choosingTinkering Belles as your user's
manual for all things maker ona bi-weekly basis.
If you want to continue to hearmore, don't forget to rate and
review this show on yourpodcasting app of choice as well
as sharing it with your friendsI look forward to seeing you
(38:37):
next time until then don'tforget to keep making
Caroline (38:48):
whoa that was weird I didn't know you could do that
Tamara Robertson (38:51):
that is a lot of fun
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