December 10, 2024 • 33 mins
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Chris, an automotive enthusiast on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, discusses car culture and Porsche history with Christian and Doug. He takes us behind the Berlin Wall to his East German roots, where a Wartburg 353 from his grandmother ignited his automotive adventures. From mustard-yellow Wartburg restoration stories to the driving experience of a Ford Probe GT on Germany’s autobahn, this episode delivers car memories, classic cars nostalgia, and vehicle restoration insights. Plus, discover how this road trip through automotive history and automotive technology shaped his automotive lifestyle. Tune in for a journey of automotive culture, car stories, and vintage-era thrills that fuel your love for cars.
Chris loved the episode, "Aiden & Tom – VW Super Beetle Dream Car & First Car Memories" https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/65d1ba7f2f932d7716fc4ef4582e71b3
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
and allow me to yank the lozenge out of my mouth.
This is christian with to allthe cars I've loved before your
podcast where we talk we, wefind interesting people with
interesting cars because everycar tells a story and, uh, this
is what we do.
Welcome back.
It's been a little while.
Uh, I was diagnosed with strep.
It's a good thing I'm not inthe same room with my co-host or
(00:25):
guest today.
It's kind of funny.
When you go to the doctor todayit can be anything under the
sun.
There's an eastern equineencephalitis in the news, but
born by mosquitoes.
There's the West Nile virus Ithink closer to my neck of the
woods here in Pensacola, to myneck of the woods here in
(00:46):
Pensacola, but your humblenarrator here went to the doctor
and have a just an everyday,lowly case of strep, thank
goodness.
So I'm healing with antibiotics, but I will be sucking on
lozenges throughout theinterview on the mend.
Thank you.
And how are you doing, partner?
What?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
you been up to.
I'm doing great.
Great to be back here with you.
I'm glad you're on the mend andyou're here for the listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Always here Taking one for the team.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Always taking it for the team, taking one for the
podcast here.
So, as usual, we watch thestats spiral upwards and we have
some news for a poll that's out, because the way it works is
through all of our differentplatforms and vectors, by
reaching people.
It's interesting to see whichepisodes are watched the most,
(01:33):
where they're downloaded allover the world, and Doug is
about to launch a new productfor us here, kind of a survey to
see what people think aboutwhat they're hearing, what they
want to listen to.
So very interesting.
So what you got, partner?
What's happening with that?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, so that'll be live by the time people hear
this.
Initially, we're just going toask for feedback on the favorite
episodes, right, we can look atall the numbers.
But really, like a personaltouch of feedback from people
and um, probably have a fill inthe blank there, like, let us
know what you'd like to hearmore of, right, whether it's um,
(02:14):
you know, we've had someinternational folks, um kind of
a preview of what we have today.
Absolutely our guest todaywe've had a couple which was
really fantastic.
There were such a lovely lovelycouple People who just great
referrals, and you know it's allbeen about cars.
(02:35):
We've had a couple what I wouldcall car celebrities and we
hope to have some more.
If somebody knows one, let usknow.
We always like to round out theseason with that special gift
back from somebody you'd see onYouTube or read about in the
news but you wouldn't get tohear talking about cars, Indeed,
(02:59):
Especially the personal pieceof it.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, Additionally that's a good segue, perfect
dovetail to email us.
I love reading the email andinteracting with folks Christian
at carslovecom, he's Doug atcarslovecom, so feel free to
reach out.
Check us out on the website,carslovecom or any of the
streaming platforms Choice,Spotify, Apple, et cetera.
(03:24):
Email reach out be part of it.
There's no, as I tell peoplethat I I was at a happy hour the
other day and handing out cardsto everybody.
Hey, check us out.
People say how do I get on theshow?
There's no magic.
There's no magic, Just emailtext.
Call me.
If you know me, if you're afriend of mine, it's easy to get
on the show, and If you're afriend of mine, it's easy to get
on the show.
And people who say, oh well, I'mnot much of a car person are
(03:48):
typically some of the mostinteresting interviews, because
it's about family, growing up,road tripping, parents,
livelihood, what you do, whatyou want to do, and so that's
led us to this point.
So today's guest is a friend ofone of my favorite guests.
I mean, we interviewed mysister.
But, to be honest with you,this guy, James McRae, was a
(04:08):
real trip and we found him in agarage surrounded by vintage
cars.
This guy needs his own show.
He's got the look, he's got thevoice.
His hands were black and grittyfrom some sort of grease.
I hope it was automotive.
But that has led us to today'sguest.
And Doug, could you tell us alittle bit about how Chris came
(04:31):
into our world?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, so the short of it, you gave part of it away.
He's a friend of James McRae's,lives on the Eastern shore of
Maryland, probably not far fromJames, and the story James told
me initially he said you shouldinterview Chris, given where
he's from but also the fact thatJames bought his 911.
(04:56):
And as we learned from Chrisand we're going to share, that
Chris met James because he wastrying to buy a 911, that James
ended up jumping ahead of theline.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And yeah, and you would think there would be some
contention, but if you knowJames McRae you can't be mad at
him.
He's such a teddy bear.
But I'm sure Chris wanted to.
Sorry, anyway, didn't mean tointerrupt.
Please continue, doug.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know we've got.
Really I don't want to give itall away because I want Chris to
talk about it, but we're goingto hear about a car I've never
heard of.
And it was built behind theiron curtain of all places where
Chris our guest grew up.
(05:44):
Of all places where Chris ourguest grew up.
Chris Kalinske and he grew upin East Germany and lived there
from birth approximately till2001 when he came over to the US
.
I think I have that right, but,chris, please introduce
yourself.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, nice to meet you guys.
Yeah, chris, as you said, uh,yeah, met, uh, met your, your
character witness, james, Iguess, uh, through cars, uh, and
we've been, we've been friendsfor for a while, actually, um,
always around cars.
(06:21):
He does a lot of work on workon my cars and we just hang out.
He's opted to participate inthe ride of our company, so
that's really exciting.
Yeah, he's just a great, greatperson, and he's also
(06:42):
fascinating about this Vartbergthat I have, and that's what
kind of we were neighbors, shopneighbors for a while.
I just stored my stuff and heworks on it, and so that's how
we kind of got to know eachother.
And then, yeah, like I said, Igrew up in East Germany until
the wall fell and theneventually moved over here, and
(07:03):
so here we are until the wallfell and then eventually moved
over here and uh.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So here we are, but should?
I don't mean to jump anybody'strain here, but should we start
with grandmother doug, or wasthere another?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
no, I think, I think um, I think, grandmother right,
that would be how chris uhacquired his first car and tell
us a little about her.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
She's awesome.
My grandmother spent a ton oftime with her when I grew up.
It was a really really closerelationship.
When it was time to get a car,she bought me this Wartburg um,
(07:45):
and it was actually east germany, as you can imagine.
We didn't have a whole lot ofselection of cars.
So my, my uncle, had a wartburg, which then got purchased by my
father and, uh, when I got mine, I happen to have the newest
(08:05):
one in the family, uh, and howdoes that?
happen.
Yeah, I know it was, uh, it wasinteresting, um, but you know,
I mean, there are great carswere they reliable?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
did they leave you on the side of the road?
They're not reliable at all.
It just wasn't a big town, sono big deal.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you know they were light so you can always
jump start them.
So that's funny.
That's what I was thinking,yeah, but uh, no, mine had this
um really uh weird habit of uhaccumulating water in the fuel
lines and every winter it wouldleave me stranded on every
intersection it found.
So I had to, like, heat up thefuel filter with uh, you know,
(08:51):
with with some open fire to getit going again but uh, yeah, so
I I ended up.
The one that my grandmotherbought me was white and I ended
up selling that because you knowyou're young and you go through
cars.
That's right.
But eventually my uncle and myfather had a mustard yellow one
(09:19):
with brown interior.
That was like the thing to have.
So when I found the one I havenow, it's obviously mustard
yellow with brown interior andalmost new conditions.
So it's like a super flashback.
Every time I sit in the carit's like I'm five years old and
the smell, the feeling, it'sjust cool.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Was it hard to get that car?
Was it hard to achieve andobtain that car, or easier than
you would think, given themodern convenience of the
internet, etc.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You know, as every car guy does, I guess, we're
hanging out back then on eBay orFacebook Market these days and
shopping cars.
And I just found this one inFlorida of all places, florida.
So I imported it and I'm likeshit, I'm buying it.
So I bought it sight unseen.
I was like just put it on truckand ship it up here and then
I'll figure it out from here.
(10:11):
And then, um, yeah, it's.
It took a little bit of work toget it back to, to the driving
conditions.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
We had to like manufacture parts for it,
because, sure, that was my nextquestion.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, like the, the gear linkage we had to make from
scratch, so so things like thatit's kind of fun.
But yeah, another friend thatalso James, knows really well
did all the restoration work onmy car and now it's like it
essentially has 40,000 miles onit or something like that, so
(10:45):
it's in essentially newcondition because it just kind
of, you know, quite frankly, itjust sits around and does
nothing except, you know, warmmy heart when I look at it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
But other than that, now, how often do you drive it?
Never.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Okay, I had all redone.
It's like it's the perfectcondition.
I drove it once.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Gotcha be done.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
it's like it's the perfect condition I drove it
once, so gotcha okay.
Well, I'm I'm hoping to comeover to the eastern shore and
see it someday, james james gaveus a open invitation.
I just with school andeverything at kid school and
everything.
I just haven't had a chance toget over there, but it's not far
from me, so yeah, I'd love tosee you.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You should, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, it sits with my other eclectic course, yeah
yeah, so straight you know,straight back you know 30, 30
years later, right, you went andfound the same car.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, and the one I got is a is an 85, 1985, okay,
nice, yeah, and it's uh.
We didn't have many versions ofit, obviously, but I found the
deluxe edition which has a towhitch on it, which was not
(11:58):
normal.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Sorry, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
And it had like the headrestthings on the seats, which is
also which was new, I see.
It had a radio, so that's cool.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And it doesn't look like I haven't called up on my
monitor here it doesn't looklike they could tow very much,
maybe a small trailer.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
They just don't look like they're very so funny
enough, I don't know if you'veever seen the motor of the car,
but it's a reverse-mountedthree-cylinder two-stroke with
40 or 53 horsepower I think 47or 53, something like that.
But that motor was used foreverything, these Germans.
(12:45):
We put it in trucks, in utilitywagons, in everything, and it
was the motor to have rightGotcha.
They're super simple.
You can fix them on the side ofthe road, no big deal.
(13:05):
But it's like it's actuallyremarkably, remarkably reliable
if you don't have fuel issuesfor for towing and for running
all over the place.
So I mean, you know it's.
It was, yeah, east Germansdrove that thing all over the
road.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
My, my understanding one is it was a volkswagen
engine no that was originallythe one, the one that I got.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
The white one had the volkswagen engine.
Ah, okay, the old version hadan abort.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Berg barker, okay, it was actually a work bird and um
did uh the company thatmanufactured the workburg, did
they?
How far back did they go frommanufacturing cars like before
world war ii, or yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
it was?
It was bmw, I see, and it wasall like one one, one big
company, um, and that got thensplit up and, funny enough, they
called it EMW in Germany forEisenacher Motorenwerke instead
of Bayerische Motorenwerke.
(14:14):
So you know, instead ofBavarian Motorworks it was
Eisenach Motorworks where theplant was located.
But yeah, that's yeah, theydidn't make much progress.
The design was but yeah, theydidn't make much progress.
The design was it looks very,very boxy like a 60s Volvo.
Yes, very much, but it's gotits charm.
(14:37):
It certainly stands out?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yep, for sure, that's something you're not going to
see on the roads.
No, you're not going to see ata car show, not in this country,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I took it to one car show when I had it just done and
I parked it next to a brand-newFerrari.
Everybody was looking at my carAbsolutely what is that.
I was not too happy.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, so you sold that car and, thanks to the fall
of the Berlin Wall and all thethings that were going on, it
enabled you to buy your next carright, which you wouldn't have
been able to get access to onlya few years later right, and
(15:34):
that was a tell us, that was aFord Probe GT, which is, of
course, the vast opposite of theWartburg.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It goes about 60 miles an hour and then you don't
really want to go any faster.
So you know, the Probe wasawesome, especially as a
19-year-old in Germany on theAutobahn.
You know, having a turbo carthat can hold its own with any
911 or any Ferrari on the roadis fun.
Yeah, and yeah, I love that car, absolutely love that.
(16:01):
I'm actually, you know, don'ttell my wife, but I'm hunting
for one.
Oh boy, here we go again.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I get it left a I'm, I'm actually, uh, you know,
don't tell my wife, but I'mhunting for one oh boy I get it.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I man.
I remember when those probescame out and and they are such
cool cars and futuristic lookingyeah, a lot of people don't
know they were actually supposedto replace the mustang.
But mustang people went crazyand ford.
Okay, we'll just call it a Fordand sell it alongside.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
It was actually a Mazda 626 turbo duck with an
adjustable right height, whichwas like totally new in 91.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yep Digital dash, your version?
I think yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
And they sold it with an artificial horsepower number
or insurance reasons.
So they said it was 147horsepower, which was nowhere
true.
It had over 200.
And it was so funny, thespeedometer just kept going.
It would just go around theclock because it would stop at
(17:04):
220 kilometers an hour.
It would just keep going.
But you're like, yeah, I'mprobably going like 240, 250,
something like that in thatrange kilometers an hour.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Just tell the when you get pulled over.
Just tell the cop I wasextrapolating, I was going
roughly this fast, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Well, but he was doing that on the Autobahn,
probably right.
But he was doing that on theAutobahn, probably right, and in
the parts that don't have aspeed limit, right Certainly.
And yeah, I know Christian'senamored.
I've actually been on theAutobahn, not driving, but I've
been to Germany a couple timesfor work, but maybe you can tell
(17:44):
our listeners and Christianwhat it was like, what the
Autobahn's like, right,everybody in the US thinks, oh,
there's no speed limit.
That's not true.
I know about the left lane isfor passing.
Only People will flash you andyou get out of the way as
quickly as possible.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Yep, yep, yep, absolutely.
So there's a certain percentageof the Autobahn that's no speed
limit, and it's way more fun,of course, at night when there's
nobody on it.
So Autobahns in Germany arenotoriously congested, which
makes it less fun.
But yeah, there's a certainorder, right?
So if you're not passing,you're not in the left lane
(18:26):
period, you actually getticketed for that.
So you get ticketed for hangingout in the left lane, which is
very fruitful, I think.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
They should do that over here.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They should, totally should.
It's frustrating, but on theflip side of that, you're not
allowed to pass on the righteither, which you know
introduces certain behaviorwhich is helpful.
So, um, but yeah, no, I meanthe wildest, the wildest
experience.
I'm going 160, 170 kilometersan hour, which is about 100
miles an hour, 110, somethinglike that on the autobahn, just
(18:58):
cruising along and look in therearview mirror and I see a
little tiny yellow dot, likereally tiny in the mirror and
not three seconds later my wholecar goes like shakes over.
I'm in the middle lane and uh,this I think it was a diablo or
something just blew 300kilometers an hour, just just
(19:20):
ending.
Still, so you can't hang out inthe left lane because they're
going to crash into you, rightso, but so, yeah, that's it's.
It's nice to drive.
Actually it's really uh, it'ssome certain discipline on the
road.
Is is very fun and the cars aremade for it.
The cars are made for it.
(19:42):
The other thing that's reallyimpressive about the aut
Autobahn is that if there's nospeed limit and it's all curves,
there's no straight piece ofAutobahn, because after five
kilometers of straight piece ofAutobahn you tend to pay less
attention.
So they by default designintroduced curvy roads.
Oh wow, attention span high.
Oh wow, your attention spanhigh.
(20:03):
But you can book into a curveat a no speed limit autobahn
with 200, 250 kilometers an hourand you know that the road can
handle it if your car can.
So it's not like you know whereyou have to be afraid of that
the road is going to give youissues.
You can rely on the road beingable to handle the speed limit.
(20:27):
That's, that's there or notthere.
So if you drive a proper car,it's, it's, it's a lot of fun.
I mean, you can, you can bankthrough and and have a very
entertaining drive and it goesquick.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
That's interesting, that's really interesting.
And so the road is a stupidquestion.
But the road itself isn't, isin pretty good shape.
Where I, where I live down herein the southeast united states,
you kind of change from stateto state to state very quickly,
especially along the gulf coast.
Here in florida, roads aredifferent from alabama roads
which are different from baldwincounty roads which are
(21:04):
different from in in in theamount of upkeep.
Right, it is very different,very different.
So is the whole thing concreteor any word on that?
Oh, it's over-engineered.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I mean, they're notoriously like curved, so
there's no standing water.
Oh, so the water just kind ofruns off and it's.
I mean, the Autobahn ismaintained not by the counties
but by the state, so thedownside of that is you have a
constant construction going onall over the place, which is
(21:37):
kind of frustrating, but whenit's done it lasts a long time
and it's also super thick inmany layers of road, super thick
in many layers of road.
So not like here, where we'rejust putting a new little layer
of asphalt on it and call it aday for a couple of years.
It's like, I mean, the weatherconditions are tougher.
(22:00):
Right, we have a lot of snow.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's true Especially where you are, yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So you know they hold up really well.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Yeah, but the downside is it's a constant
construction zone everywhere.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Gotcha.
So what happened to the probe?
I know you got it up to somehigh speeds on the Autobahn, but
we don't know what happened toit.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, I went and bought new tires and was on my
way to buy new tires with notbought new tires.
I was on my way to buy newtires with not so new tires.
I overcooked it in the corner.
Oh no.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
In the rain.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I fully crashed it into the side barrier.
That was very unfortunate, Veryunfortunate, but you know it
was.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So you have a fleet of cars, as it were, right now.
I was kind of curious aboutmaybe your favorite car.
We know what car elicits themost, um, the most fond memories
of your past.
But what are you?
What are the other couple youdon't have to name during the
cards, you can't if you want,but what are some other notable
(23:19):
ones that mean something to you,that either evoke some sort of
family response or something youwant to do with the car?
Speaker 3 (23:30):
um, I I have a weird collection of cars.
They're not like for value oranything like that.
I'm more interested in drivingsome cars or just having other
cars, just because I want tohave them like.
I have have a 1929 Model A thatI just sit around.
(23:51):
It's in mint, perfect picture,perfect condition.
And you know, it's one of thosethings you walk through an
estate sale and you know you'rejust talking to the realtor and
we're like, oh, that's a coolcar and you make a lowball offer
and then somehow they accept itand your wife's upset and it
(24:11):
ends up in your warehouse soit's, the thing sits around and
it's really cool with a rumbleseat and everything.
I haven't driven it um you knowan inch yet, so it's, uh, it's,
it's, it's a cool car.
I don't know what I'm doingwith it.
I don't know, I just wanted tohave it.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
You're going to keep it, or is that really irrelevant
?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
You'll keep it as long as it pleases you, kind of,
yeah, I got you.
Yeah, my favorite car was a 911that I sold to Mr McRae,
unfortunately.
911 that I sold to to, uh, mrmccray, unfortunately he is, uh,
he's a very sweet talker and,uh, he talked me into selling it
to him.
A weak moment.
I did, and then I didn't makeit, two days before buying
(25:01):
another 911.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
So and right, well, that's what he enabled you to
buy that car right.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Not really, because he made me buy a new one.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Your wife was like no more 911s unless you sell the
one you have.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
That's correct.
Okay, that's unfortunatelycorrect.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
But I did sell it to him with the deal that I get
first right of refusal when heever wants to get rid of it, and
unfortunately he doesn't wantsto get rid of it and
unfortunately he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So I'm kind of waiting.
Yeah, it's a beautiful car.
What model 911 did you replaceit with?
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I bought a 2018 C2.
Okay, nice, which is a.
You know they call it base, butit's a monster.
Yeah, it's a total jackal andhide car, you know.
So it's wild.
It's wild.
It gets you in trouble all overthe place.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Is it a convertible as well?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
No, no, I went for the coupe on purpose.
Yeah, I've had enoughconvertibles.
And then my wife hatesconvertibles, so okay, she's
like, if you want me to go inthe car or drive it, and it's
got to be a coupe.
So okay, yeah, yeah managementhas spoken.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Management is open 100, 100%.
Smart man, smart man.
So yeah, we wind down here.
Doug, did you have anythingbefore we got into the rewilding
site in Finland that I'd liketo talk to Chris about?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Well, I think I can't help, because Chris mentioned
it, asking him about the Singer911.
Absolutely, and I'll share aquick story.
Of course I'm a car guy, soI've seen a lot of.
I've learned a lot aboutsingers.
I went to the PetersonAutomobile Museum.
They have a singer out there inCalifornia.
(27:02):
It is an awesome place.
If you haven't been, it's worthit.
I was there four hours.
I could have used a couple more, but my girlfriend was with me.
She was getting tired of it,but my kids and I a separate
time.
We went to LA and we went on abus tour.
My daughter wanted to see allthe stars' homes and man.
(27:25):
What goes around us but a greenSinger 911.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
And man that's a beautiful car.
They are beautiful, aren't they?
Yes, but not gorgeous.
Yeah, yeah, yeah a couplemillion dollars.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's a great car, right?
Yeah, I know, right, I don'tliterally you have a.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You have a fairly substantial waiting list before
you can get one yep, so yeahsomething yeah, something to
look forward to.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Are you on the list, Chris?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Not yet.
Not yet Okay, maybe after I'mdone with this venture,
hopefully.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Okay, fantastic, yeah , right.
So as we close out here, I justwanted to ask Chris a little
bit about something I foundinteresting when we were
chatting with him before comingon air here.
His business supports arewilding site in finland, and I
just love this.
Could you talk about that alittle bit more, chris?
What, what that does and whatit means to you?
Speaker 3 (28:20):
yeah, it's, uh, it's essentially rewilding means
reintroduction of wildlife andfauna into an abused area,
essentially so.
This one, uh is is a dedicateduh rewilding site to us, uh,
it's.
It's sizable 16 hectares, no,16 acres, eight hectares, um.
(28:44):
So it's um, and what it does itit takes.
It used to be a peat mossfarming plant, which is
notoriously bad for CO2 releaseand reintroduces wildlife
plantations et cetera, et cetera, so to keep the CO2 in the
ground and not prevent it fromreleasing it.
(29:06):
So for us we're in logisticsand insurance and high
transaction volume business itwas really important to have a
meaningful kind of participationeffort that makes sense,
instead of just buying CO2certificates or whatever.
(29:27):
That's not interesting to me.
I want to have a meaningful,tangible impact.
Uh, so we, we started there andso we're donating, donating
money for every transaction thatwe see through our, through our
system, um, and we're kind ofexpanding it from there.
So that's really um, that's,that's kind of the, the, the
goal to make something.
That's you know giving back.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, giving back, that's lovely.
Thank you for sharing that.
Thank you for sharing that, wasit.
Is there anything else you'dlike to share?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Tell us about you before we, before we let you
drive along your merry way toone of your nine cars.
Which car will he take today,hey?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
some of them just hey , hey, they don't, they don't go
anywhere.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
He's got them bolted to the floor.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Can't steal, so don't drop, yeah exactly, exactly,
exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
No, I actually just broke out my wrangler again and,
uh, after not driving it fortwo years and I had the greatest
time.
It was like it was awesome.
You know, yes, simple pleasures, right, it's like driving with
with doors off and and the roofoff and everything.
It's like why don't I?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
do this more often, and in your neck of the woods,
the weather is about to bespectacular.
Here in the next few months,the leaves are about to change,
the snap in the air, so it wasgreat.
Well, thank you for your timeand thank you for joining us,
chris.
It was just a delight meetingyou.
Likewise.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Likewise, I enjoyed it.
Yeah, no, I can see Chris hasmore stories.
Man, I would love to dig intothe Model A and, you know,
hopefully when I make it out tothe Eastern Shore, that'll
prompt some more stories andthen we'll have Chris back if
he's available.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Yeah, we'll just just go visit him and and maybe do a
video interview that therecould be some component of a
video show on youtube as as wemature and as uh, as as the show
sort of sort of moves into itsnext phase.
So thank you again again, chris.
Again a delight.
This was another wonderfulconversation.
(31:32):
And to all the cars I've lovedbefore where your podcast or
it's so easy to be involved I'mat Christian at cars lovecom,
doug is at Doug at cars lovecom.
So drop us a line If you knowus.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You know how to get ahold of us, say hi to Chris if
you know him and anything fromyou and Doug, yeah no, I would
say, even if you're not asChristian alluded to, even if
you don't think you're a carperson, you might actually have
a great story to share.
But you may have a friend who,hey, let's interview him.
(32:07):
Such a good point, just likehow James referred us to Chris.
Tell us, we'll talk to him.
We'd love to have him on him orher.
Pardon me, and you know, ifthere's a dynamic duo couple
like Amy and John out there, I'msure there are more.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Wonderful people.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
They're pleading each other's sentences about cars.
We'd love to hear that too.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Excellent, so you know how to get ahold of us,
carslovecom, or reach out onyour podcast streaming platform
of choice.
Take care, we'll see you soon.
Next episode Goodbye, happydriving.
and allow me to yank the lozenge out of my mouth.
This is christian with to allthe cars I've loved before your
podcast where we talk we, wefind interesting people with
interesting cars because everycar tells a story and, uh, this
is what we do.
Welcome back.
It's been a little while.
Uh, I was diagnosed with strep.
It's a good thing I'm not inthe same room with my co-host or
(00:25):
guest today.
It's kind of funny.
When you go to the doctor todayit can be anything under the
sun.
There's an eastern equineencephalitis in the news, but
born by mosquitoes.
There's the West Nile virus Ithink closer to my neck of the
woods here in Pensacola, to myneck of the woods here in
(00:46):
Pensacola, but your humblenarrator here went to the doctor
and have a just an everyday,lowly case of strep, thank
goodness.
So I'm healing with antibiotics, but I will be sucking on
lozenges throughout theinterview on the mend.
Thank you.
And how are you doing, partner?
What?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
you been up to.
I'm doing great.
Great to be back here with you.
I'm glad you're on the mend andyou're here for the listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Always here Taking one for the team.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Always taking it for the team, taking one for the
podcast here.
So, as usual, we watch thestats spiral upwards and we have
some news for a poll that's out, because the way it works is
through all of our differentplatforms and vectors, by
reaching people.
It's interesting to see whichepisodes are watched the most,
(01:33):
where they're downloaded allover the world, and Doug is
about to launch a new productfor us here, kind of a survey to
see what people think aboutwhat they're hearing, what they
want to listen to.
So very interesting.
So what you got, partner?
What's happening with that?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, so that'll be live by the time people hear
this.
Initially, we're just going toask for feedback on the favorite
episodes, right, we can look atall the numbers.
But really, like a personaltouch of feedback from people
and um, probably have a fill inthe blank there, like, let us
know what you'd like to hearmore of, right, whether it's um,
(02:14):
you know, we've had someinternational folks, um kind of
a preview of what we have today.
Absolutely our guest todaywe've had a couple which was
really fantastic.
There were such a lovely lovelycouple People who just great
referrals, and you know it's allbeen about cars.
(02:35):
We've had a couple what I wouldcall car celebrities and we
hope to have some more.
If somebody knows one, let usknow.
We always like to round out theseason with that special gift
back from somebody you'd see onYouTube or read about in the
news but you wouldn't get tohear talking about cars, Indeed,
(02:59):
Especially the personal pieceof it.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, Additionally that's a good segue, perfect
dovetail to email us.
I love reading the email andinteracting with folks Christian
at carslovecom, he's Doug atcarslovecom, so feel free to
reach out.
Check us out on the website,carslovecom or any of the
streaming platforms Choice,Spotify, Apple, et cetera.
(03:24):
Email reach out be part of it.
There's no, as I tell peoplethat I I was at a happy hour the
other day and handing out cardsto everybody.
Hey, check us out.
People say how do I get on theshow?
There's no magic.
There's no magic, Just emailtext.
Call me.
If you know me, if you're afriend of mine, it's easy to get
on the show, and If you're afriend of mine, it's easy to get
on the show.
And people who say, oh well, I'mnot much of a car person are
(03:48):
typically some of the mostinteresting interviews, because
it's about family, growing up,road tripping, parents,
livelihood, what you do, whatyou want to do, and so that's
led us to this point.
So today's guest is a friend ofone of my favorite guests.
I mean, we interviewed mysister.
But, to be honest with you,this guy, James McRae, was a
(04:08):
real trip and we found him in agarage surrounded by vintage
cars.
This guy needs his own show.
He's got the look, he's got thevoice.
His hands were black and grittyfrom some sort of grease.
I hope it was automotive.
But that has led us to today'sguest.
And Doug, could you tell us alittle bit about how Chris came
(04:31):
into our world?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, so the short of it, you gave part of it away.
He's a friend of James McRae's,lives on the Eastern shore of
Maryland, probably not far fromJames, and the story James told
me initially he said you shouldinterview Chris, given where
he's from but also the fact thatJames bought his 911.
(04:56):
And as we learned from Chrisand we're going to share, that
Chris met James because he wastrying to buy a 911, that James
ended up jumping ahead of theline.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And yeah, and you would think there would be some
contention, but if you knowJames McRae you can't be mad at
him.
He's such a teddy bear.
But I'm sure Chris wanted to.
Sorry, anyway, didn't mean tointerrupt.
Please continue, doug.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So you know we've got.
Really I don't want to give itall away because I want Chris to
talk about it, but we're goingto hear about a car I've never
heard of.
And it was built behind theiron curtain of all places where
Chris our guest grew up.
(05:44):
Of all places where Chris ourguest grew up.
Chris Kalinske and he grew upin East Germany and lived there
from birth approximately till2001 when he came over to the US
.
I think I have that right, but,chris, please introduce
yourself.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, nice to meet you guys.
Yeah, chris, as you said, uh,yeah, met, uh, met your, your
character witness, james, Iguess, uh, through cars, uh, and
we've been, we've been friendsfor for a while, actually, um,
always around cars.
(06:21):
He does a lot of work on workon my cars and we just hang out.
He's opted to participate inthe ride of our company, so
that's really exciting.
Yeah, he's just a great, greatperson, and he's also
(06:42):
fascinating about this Vartbergthat I have, and that's what
kind of we were neighbors, shopneighbors for a while.
I just stored my stuff and heworks on it, and so that's how
we kind of got to know eachother.
And then, yeah, like I said, Igrew up in East Germany until
the wall fell and theneventually moved over here, and
(07:03):
so here we are until the wallfell and then eventually moved
over here and uh.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So here we are, but should?
I don't mean to jump anybody'strain here, but should we start
with grandmother doug, or wasthere another?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
no, I think, I think um, I think, grandmother right,
that would be how chris uhacquired his first car and tell
us a little about her.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
She's awesome.
My grandmother spent a ton oftime with her when I grew up.
It was a really really closerelationship.
When it was time to get a car,she bought me this Wartburg um,
(07:45):
and it was actually east germany, as you can imagine.
We didn't have a whole lot ofselection of cars.
So my, my uncle, had a wartburg, which then got purchased by my
father and, uh, when I got mine, I happen to have the newest
(08:05):
one in the family, uh, and howdoes that?
happen.
Yeah, I know it was, uh, it wasinteresting, um, but you know,
I mean, there are great carswere they reliable?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
did they leave you on the side of the road?
They're not reliable at all.
It just wasn't a big town, sono big deal.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you know they were light so you can always
jump start them.
So that's funny.
That's what I was thinking,yeah, but uh, no, mine had this
um really uh weird habit of uhaccumulating water in the fuel
lines and every winter it wouldleave me stranded on every
intersection it found.
So I had to, like, heat up thefuel filter with uh, you know,
(08:51):
with with some open fire to getit going again but uh, yeah, so
I I ended up.
The one that my grandmotherbought me was white and I ended
up selling that because you knowyou're young and you go through
cars.
That's right.
But eventually my uncle and myfather had a mustard yellow one
(09:19):
with brown interior.
That was like the thing to have.
So when I found the one I havenow, it's obviously mustard
yellow with brown interior andalmost new conditions.
So it's like a super flashback.
Every time I sit in the carit's like I'm five years old and
the smell, the feeling, it'sjust cool.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Was it hard to get that car?
Was it hard to achieve andobtain that car, or easier than
you would think, given themodern convenience of the
internet, etc.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You know, as every car guy does, I guess, we're
hanging out back then on eBay orFacebook Market these days and
shopping cars.
And I just found this one inFlorida of all places, florida.
So I imported it and I'm likeshit, I'm buying it.
So I bought it sight unseen.
I was like just put it on truckand ship it up here and then
I'll figure it out from here.
(10:11):
And then, um, yeah, it's.
It took a little bit of work toget it back to, to the driving
conditions.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
We had to like manufacture parts for it,
because, sure, that was my nextquestion.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, like the, the gear linkage we had to make from
scratch, so so things like thatit's kind of fun.
But yeah, another friend thatalso James, knows really well
did all the restoration work onmy car and now it's like it
essentially has 40,000 miles onit or something like that, so
(10:45):
it's in essentially newcondition because it just kind
of, you know, quite frankly, itjust sits around and does
nothing except, you know, warmmy heart when I look at it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
But other than that, now, how often do you drive it?
Never.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Okay, I had all redone.
It's like it's the perfectcondition.
I drove it once.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Gotcha be done.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
it's like it's the perfect condition I drove it
once, so gotcha okay.
Well, I'm I'm hoping to comeover to the eastern shore and
see it someday, james james gaveus a open invitation.
I just with school andeverything at kid school and
everything.
I just haven't had a chance toget over there, but it's not far
from me, so yeah, I'd love tosee you.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
You should, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, it sits with my other eclectic course, yeah
yeah, so straight you know,straight back you know 30, 30
years later, right, you went andfound the same car.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, and the one I got is a is an 85, 1985, okay,
nice, yeah, and it's uh.
We didn't have many versions ofit, obviously, but I found the
deluxe edition which has a towhitch on it, which was not
(11:58):
normal.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Sorry, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
And it had like the headrestthings on the seats, which is
also which was new, I see.
It had a radio, so that's cool.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And it doesn't look like I haven't called up on my
monitor here it doesn't looklike they could tow very much,
maybe a small trailer.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
They just don't look like they're very so funny
enough, I don't know if you'veever seen the motor of the car,
but it's a reverse-mountedthree-cylinder two-stroke with
40 or 53 horsepower I think 47or 53, something like that.
But that motor was used foreverything, these Germans.
(12:45):
We put it in trucks, in utilitywagons, in everything, and it
was the motor to have rightGotcha.
They're super simple.
You can fix them on the side ofthe road, no big deal.
(13:05):
But it's like it's actuallyremarkably, remarkably reliable
if you don't have fuel issuesfor for towing and for running
all over the place.
So I mean, you know it's.
It was, yeah, east Germansdrove that thing all over the
road.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
My, my understanding one is it was a volkswagen
engine no that was originallythe one, the one that I got.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
The white one had the volkswagen engine.
Ah, okay, the old version hadan abort.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Berg barker, okay, it was actually a work bird and um
did uh the company thatmanufactured the workburg, did
they?
How far back did they go frommanufacturing cars like before
world war ii, or yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
it was?
It was bmw, I see, and it wasall like one one, one big
company, um, and that got thensplit up and, funny enough, they
called it EMW in Germany forEisenacher Motorenwerke instead
of Bayerische Motorenwerke.
(14:14):
So you know, instead ofBavarian Motorworks it was
Eisenach Motorworks where theplant was located.
But yeah, that's yeah, theydidn't make much progress.
The design was but yeah, theydidn't make much progress.
The design was it looks very,very boxy like a 60s Volvo.
Yes, very much, but it's gotits charm.
(14:37):
It certainly stands out?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yep, for sure, that's something you're not going to
see on the roads.
No, you're not going to see ata car show, not in this country,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I took it to one car show when I had it just done and
I parked it next to a brand-newFerrari.
Everybody was looking at my carAbsolutely what is that.
I was not too happy.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, so you sold that car and, thanks to the fall
of the Berlin Wall and all thethings that were going on, it
enabled you to buy your next carright, which you wouldn't have
been able to get access to onlya few years later right, and
(15:34):
that was a tell us, that was aFord Probe GT, which is, of
course, the vast opposite of theWartburg.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It goes about 60 miles an hour and then you don't
really want to go any faster.
So you know, the Probe wasawesome, especially as a
19-year-old in Germany on theAutobahn.
You know, having a turbo carthat can hold its own with any
911 or any Ferrari on the roadis fun.
Yeah, and yeah, I love that car, absolutely love that.
(16:01):
I'm actually, you know, don'ttell my wife, but I'm hunting
for one.
Oh boy, here we go again.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I get it left a I'm, I'm actually, uh, you know,
don't tell my wife, but I'mhunting for one oh boy I get it.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I man.
I remember when those probescame out and and they are such
cool cars and futuristic lookingyeah, a lot of people don't
know they were actually supposedto replace the mustang.
But mustang people went crazyand ford.
Okay, we'll just call it a Fordand sell it alongside.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
It was actually a Mazda 626 turbo duck with an
adjustable right height, whichwas like totally new in 91.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yep Digital dash, your version?
I think yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
And they sold it with an artificial horsepower number
or insurance reasons.
So they said it was 147horsepower, which was nowhere
true.
It had over 200.
And it was so funny, thespeedometer just kept going.
It would just go around theclock because it would stop at
(17:04):
220 kilometers an hour.
It would just keep going.
But you're like, yeah, I'mprobably going like 240, 250,
something like that in thatrange kilometers an hour.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Just tell the when you get pulled over.
Just tell the cop I wasextrapolating, I was going
roughly this fast, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Well, but he was doing that on the Autobahn,
probably right.
But he was doing that on theAutobahn, probably right, and in
the parts that don't have aspeed limit, right Certainly.
And yeah, I know Christian'senamored.
I've actually been on theAutobahn, not driving, but I've
been to Germany a couple timesfor work, but maybe you can tell
(17:44):
our listeners and Christianwhat it was like, what the
Autobahn's like, right,everybody in the US thinks, oh,
there's no speed limit.
That's not true.
I know about the left lane isfor passing.
Only People will flash you andyou get out of the way as
quickly as possible.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Yep, yep, yep, absolutely.
So there's a certain percentageof the Autobahn that's no speed
limit, and it's way more fun,of course, at night when there's
nobody on it.
So Autobahns in Germany arenotoriously congested, which
makes it less fun.
But yeah, there's a certainorder, right?
So if you're not passing,you're not in the left lane
(18:26):
period, you actually getticketed for that.
So you get ticketed for hangingout in the left lane, which is
very fruitful, I think.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
They should do that over here.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They should, totally should.
It's frustrating, but on theflip side of that, you're not
allowed to pass on the righteither, which you know
introduces certain behaviorwhich is helpful.
So, um, but yeah, no, I meanthe wildest, the wildest
experience.
I'm going 160, 170 kilometersan hour, which is about 100
miles an hour, 110, somethinglike that on the autobahn, just
(18:58):
cruising along and look in therearview mirror and I see a
little tiny yellow dot, likereally tiny in the mirror and
not three seconds later my wholecar goes like shakes over.
I'm in the middle lane and uh,this I think it was a diablo or
something just blew 300kilometers an hour, just just
(19:20):
ending.
Still, so you can't hang out inthe left lane because they're
going to crash into you, rightso, but so, yeah, that's it's.
It's nice to drive.
Actually it's really uh, it'ssome certain discipline on the
road.
Is is very fun and the cars aremade for it.
The cars are made for it.
(19:42):
The other thing that's reallyimpressive about the aut
Autobahn is that if there's nospeed limit and it's all curves,
there's no straight piece ofAutobahn, because after five
kilometers of straight piece ofAutobahn you tend to pay less
attention.
So they by default designintroduced curvy roads.
Oh wow, attention span high.
Oh wow, your attention spanhigh.
(20:03):
But you can book into a curveat a no speed limit autobahn
with 200, 250 kilometers an hourand you know that the road can
handle it if your car can.
So it's not like you know whereyou have to be afraid of that
the road is going to give youissues.
You can rely on the road beingable to handle the speed limit.
(20:27):
That's, that's there or notthere.
So if you drive a proper car,it's, it's, it's a lot of fun.
I mean, you can, you can bankthrough and and have a very
entertaining drive and it goesquick.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
That's interesting, that's really interesting.
And so the road is a stupidquestion.
But the road itself isn't, isin pretty good shape.
Where I, where I live down herein the southeast united states,
you kind of change from stateto state to state very quickly,
especially along the gulf coast.
Here in florida, roads aredifferent from alabama roads
which are different from baldwincounty roads which are
(21:04):
different from in in in theamount of upkeep.
Right, it is very different,very different.
So is the whole thing concreteor any word on that?
Oh, it's over-engineered.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I mean, they're notoriously like curved, so
there's no standing water.
Oh, so the water just kind ofruns off and it's.
I mean, the Autobahn ismaintained not by the counties
but by the state, so thedownside of that is you have a
constant construction going onall over the place, which is
(21:37):
kind of frustrating, but whenit's done it lasts a long time
and it's also super thick inmany layers of road, super thick
in many layers of road.
So not like here, where we'rejust putting a new little layer
of asphalt on it and call it aday for a couple of years.
It's like, I mean, the weatherconditions are tougher.
(22:00):
Right, we have a lot of snow.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's true Especially where you are, yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So you know they hold up really well.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Yeah, but the downside is it's a constant
construction zone everywhere.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Gotcha.
So what happened to the probe?
I know you got it up to somehigh speeds on the Autobahn, but
we don't know what happened toit.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, I went and bought new tires and was on my
way to buy new tires with notbought new tires.
I was on my way to buy newtires with not so new tires.
I overcooked it in the corner.
Oh no.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
In the rain.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I fully crashed it into the side barrier.
That was very unfortunate, Veryunfortunate, but you know it
was.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So you have a fleet of cars, as it were, right now.
I was kind of curious aboutmaybe your favorite car.
We know what car elicits themost, um, the most fond memories
of your past.
But what are you?
What are the other couple youdon't have to name during the
cards, you can't if you want,but what are some other notable
(23:19):
ones that mean something to you,that either evoke some sort of
family response or something youwant to do with the car?
Speaker 3 (23:30):
um, I I have a weird collection of cars.
They're not like for value oranything like that.
I'm more interested in drivingsome cars or just having other
cars, just because I want tohave them like.
I have have a 1929 Model A thatI just sit around.
(23:51):
It's in mint, perfect picture,perfect condition.
And you know, it's one of thosethings you walk through an
estate sale and you know you'rejust talking to the realtor and
we're like, oh, that's a coolcar and you make a lowball offer
and then somehow they accept itand your wife's upset and it
(24:11):
ends up in your warehouse soit's, the thing sits around and
it's really cool with a rumbleseat and everything.
I haven't driven it um you knowan inch yet, so it's, uh, it's,
it's, it's a cool car.
I don't know what I'm doingwith it.
I don't know, I just wanted tohave it.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
You're going to keep it, or is that really irrelevant
?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
You'll keep it as long as it pleases you, kind of,
yeah, I got you.
Yeah, my favorite car was a 911that I sold to Mr McRae,
unfortunately.
911 that I sold to to, uh, mrmccray, unfortunately he is, uh,
he's a very sweet talker and,uh, he talked me into selling it
to him.
A weak moment.
I did, and then I didn't makeit, two days before buying
(25:01):
another 911.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
So and right, well, that's what he enabled you to
buy that car right.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Not really, because he made me buy a new one.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Your wife was like no more 911s unless you sell the
one you have.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
That's correct.
Okay, that's unfortunatelycorrect.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
But I did sell it to him with the deal that I get
first right of refusal when heever wants to get rid of it, and
unfortunately he doesn't wantsto get rid of it and
unfortunately he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So I'm kind of waiting.
Yeah, it's a beautiful car.
What model 911 did you replaceit with?
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I bought a 2018 C2.
Okay, nice, which is a.
You know they call it base, butit's a monster.
Yeah, it's a total jackal andhide car, you know.
So it's wild.
It's wild.
It gets you in trouble all overthe place.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Is it a convertible as well?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
No, no, I went for the coupe on purpose.
Yeah, I've had enoughconvertibles.
And then my wife hatesconvertibles, so okay, she's
like, if you want me to go inthe car or drive it, and it's
got to be a coupe.
So okay, yeah, yeah managementhas spoken.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Management is open 100, 100%.
Smart man, smart man.
So yeah, we wind down here.
Doug, did you have anythingbefore we got into the rewilding
site in Finland that I'd liketo talk to Chris about?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Well, I think I can't help, because Chris mentioned
it, asking him about the Singer911.
Absolutely, and I'll share aquick story.
Of course I'm a car guy, soI've seen a lot of.
I've learned a lot aboutsingers.
I went to the PetersonAutomobile Museum.
They have a singer out there inCalifornia.
(27:02):
It is an awesome place.
If you haven't been, it's worthit.
I was there four hours.
I could have used a couple more, but my girlfriend was with me.
She was getting tired of it,but my kids and I a separate
time.
We went to LA and we went on abus tour.
My daughter wanted to see allthe stars' homes and man.
(27:25):
What goes around us but a greenSinger 911.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
And man that's a beautiful car.
They are beautiful, aren't they?
Yes, but not gorgeous.
Yeah, yeah, yeah a couplemillion dollars.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's a great car, right?
Yeah, I know, right, I don'tliterally you have a.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You have a fairly substantial waiting list before
you can get one yep, so yeahsomething yeah, something to
look forward to.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Are you on the list, Chris?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Not yet.
Not yet Okay, maybe after I'mdone with this venture,
hopefully.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Okay, fantastic, yeah , right.
So as we close out here, I justwanted to ask Chris a little
bit about something I foundinteresting when we were
chatting with him before comingon air here.
His business supports arewilding site in finland, and I
just love this.
Could you talk about that alittle bit more, chris?
What, what that does and whatit means to you?
Speaker 3 (28:20):
yeah, it's, uh, it's essentially rewilding means
reintroduction of wildlife andfauna into an abused area,
essentially so.
This one, uh is is a dedicateduh rewilding site to us, uh,
it's.
It's sizable 16 hectares, no,16 acres, eight hectares, um.
(28:44):
So it's um, and what it does itit takes.
It used to be a peat mossfarming plant, which is
notoriously bad for CO2 releaseand reintroduces wildlife
plantations et cetera, et cetera, so to keep the CO2 in the
ground and not prevent it fromreleasing it.
(29:06):
So for us we're in logisticsand insurance and high
transaction volume business itwas really important to have a
meaningful kind of participationeffort that makes sense,
instead of just buying CO2certificates or whatever.
(29:27):
That's not interesting to me.
I want to have a meaningful,tangible impact.
Uh, so we, we started there andso we're donating, donating
money for every transaction thatwe see through our, through our
system, um, and we're kind ofexpanding it from there.
So that's really um, that's,that's kind of the, the, the
goal to make something.
That's you know giving back.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, giving back, that's lovely.
Thank you for sharing that.
Thank you for sharing that, wasit.
Is there anything else you'dlike to share?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Tell us about you before we, before we let you
drive along your merry way toone of your nine cars.
Which car will he take today,hey?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
some of them just hey , hey, they don't, they don't go
anywhere.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
He's got them bolted to the floor.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Can't steal, so don't drop, yeah exactly, exactly,
exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
No, I actually just broke out my wrangler again and,
uh, after not driving it fortwo years and I had the greatest
time.
It was like it was awesome.
You know, yes, simple pleasures, right, it's like driving with
with doors off and and the roofoff and everything.
It's like why don't I?
Speaker 1 (30:34):
do this more often, and in your neck of the woods,
the weather is about to bespectacular.
Here in the next few months,the leaves are about to change,
the snap in the air, so it wasgreat.
Well, thank you for your timeand thank you for joining us,
chris.
It was just a delight meetingyou.
Likewise.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Likewise, I enjoyed it.
Yeah, no, I can see Chris hasmore stories.
Man, I would love to dig intothe Model A and, you know,
hopefully when I make it out tothe Eastern Shore, that'll
prompt some more stories andthen we'll have Chris back if
he's available.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Yeah, we'll just just go visit him and and maybe do a
video interview that therecould be some component of a
video show on youtube as as wemature and as uh, as as the show
sort of sort of moves into itsnext phase.
So thank you again again, chris.
Again a delight.
This was another wonderfulconversation.
(31:32):
And to all the cars I've lovedbefore where your podcast or
it's so easy to be involved I'mat Christian at cars lovecom,
doug is at Doug at cars lovecom.
So drop us a line If you knowus.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You know how to get ahold of us, say hi to Chris if
you know him and anything fromyou and Doug, yeah no, I would
say, even if you're not asChristian alluded to, even if
you don't think you're a carperson, you might actually have
a great story to share.
But you may have a friend who,hey, let's interview him.
(32:07):
Such a good point, just likehow James referred us to Chris.
Tell us, we'll talk to him.
We'd love to have him on him orher.
Pardon me, and you know, ifthere's a dynamic duo couple
like Amy and John out there, I'msure there are more.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Wonderful people.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
They're pleading each other's sentences about cars.
We'd love to hear that too.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Excellent, so you know how to get ahold of us,
carslovecom, or reach out onyour podcast streaming platform
of choice.
Take care, we'll see you soon.
Next episode Goodbye, happydriving.
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