September 23, 2025 • 35 mins
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At 14 years old, Jeremy and his father tackled a project most mechanics wouldn't touch: a complete 1974 Ford Mustang II rebuild.
What started as grease under fingernails and late nights in the garage became an ASE certification, an IT career, and eventually entrepreneurial ventures that would surprise anyone who knew him as "the Mustang kid."
Most people remember the Mustang II as Ford's controversial answer to the fuel crisis. Jeremy remembers it as the car that taught him he could build anything—even if his relationship with his father didn't always make it easy.
Here's what Jeremy reveals:
- What it's really like learning mechanics from your father (spoiler: not always smooth)
- The specific moment he knew he could tackle any mechanical challenge
- Why he walked away from being an ASE-certified mechanic—and what he learned from that choice
- His controversial business idea about Jeep Wranglers that could actually work
- How that teenage Mustang project still influences his approach to problem-solving today
- The one modification he wishes he hadn't made
But there's one detail about that first Mustang that Jeremy kept from his father for years. You'll want to hear this confession—and what happened when he finally came clean.
🎧 Related episodes you'll love:
https://buzzsprout.com/2316026/episodes/15991065-vw-super-beetle-first-car-aiden-and-tom-father-son-dream-car-story
🔗 Connect: https://linktr.ee/carsloved
⭐ Enjoying these stories? Rate us on Apple Podcasts!
Don't miss Jeremy's favorite episode with Rob Walko featuring a few more Mustangs: https://buzzsprout.com/2316026/episodes/17645503-mustang-memories-sema-show-adventures-automotive-photographer-rob-s-first-cars-to-car-culture-journey
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to All the Cars I've Loved Before.
You know what?
It's a little bit of a staleopening, doug, so I think we
have to try something new here.
How about Do it?
Do it?
How about?
It is time for anotherhigh-octane, four-wheel-aligned
burnout, fuel-injected,airbag-protected not Takata
(00:24):
episode of Do?
All the Cars I've Loved Before,your podcast, where every car
tells a story.
What do you think?
I think that's good.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I like how you slipped in the airbag and that
sore subject about Takata.
But don't?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yep?
How about this?
How about this?
A little bit of marketing here.
Let's go Madison Avenue on it,do it?
The only car enthusiast podcastthat runs on all eight
cylinders most of the time?
Bingo, okay.
The only car enthusiast podcastthat gives a $3,000 deal rebate
incentive every Labor Day?
No, not as good.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
No, we can't do that anymore.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We can't the only car enthusiast podcast that was
imported into baltimore harborbut was mostly assembled in
canada.
Are these getting better orworse?
Got got four more, let's okay.
Four more, let's, let's focus.
We might a few more.
Yeah, I know you hate them all.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Make sure you save these, because we'll put them
out for a vote.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Let's save these, because we need to delete them
as soon as I'm done.
The only car enthusiast podcastwhose vinyl top is sort of dry,
rotting and looks great from adistance but terrible up close.
And why were vinyl tops ever athing?
Huh, no, yes, keep going ormove on.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It was a fake convertible.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Right, right, yeah, I , I guess that was what they
were trying to impart.
That's what I?
Um, you know, and the onlything worse than the vinyl top
was the headliner on all the gmproducts from the 70s and 80s.
That would just kind of, youknow, it was like a curtain
coming down around your head atthe most inopportune times.
One more the only carenthusiast podcast that has to
talk to its manager about thelast lowball offer you made.
(02:09):
Have some coffee, I'll be rightback, how about?
No, did I freeze again?
No, no, no, no.
The only car enthusiast podcastthat was called by NHTSA for
being incredibly boring.
The only car enthusiast podcastwhose cassette deck will also
eat CDs and DVDs.
Last one I have the only carenthusiast podcast that leaks
(02:32):
green, orange and brown puddlesin the garage.
Well, all right, we'll put themto a poll.
Put it to a vote.
Well, welcome back.
Everybody Seems you have nothingbetter to do than to check out
To All the Cars I've LovedBefore a podcast.
Everybody seems you havenothing better to do than to
check out to all the cars I'veloved before podcasts where
every car tells a story.
We get into life lessonsthrough cars.
Talk about the first few carsthat you've owned, and get into
(02:53):
what's happening in your lifenow, what causes you espouse,
what brought you here?
Where'd you get that first car,mom, dad?
We've had a few guests, I'mgonna say recently.
Who, who, uh, had a car thatkind of made its rounds through
the family, which I think isfantastic.
That's actually as I reflect onit.
(03:14):
That's my.
I had a Rabbit VW, rabbit GTI.
There was a ton of fun and itwas my sister's the hot hatch.
Oh man, I want one now.
I've been thinking about thatcar a lot lately.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Well, Anyway, cars are good, we're going to find
one.
Bring a trailer.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Absolutely, absolutely.
We're going to check it out soas we move, real excited about
today's guest, so I'll be donewith the babbling in just a
moment.
Again here we're seeing thenumbers rise.
Thank you, please follow theshow.
So hit the little plus on theApple podcast, on let's see on
(03:54):
Spotify.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Those are my and on Amazon, all the major platforms.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, if you like it, please share.
Doug is incessantly wonderfullyposting on our social media.
He visited a garage and gotsome footage and that's moving
into post-production.
Now we're looking at starting aTikTok account maybe, and
possibly a YouTube show.
Tiktok account maybe, andpossibly a YouTube show.
(04:24):
So that's in the offing not totease, but we're trying to get
there as we move things forward.
So that's about it.
On the calls to action, what doyou think, doug?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Am I missing anything before you introduce this
week's guest?
No, I think you've covered itall.
(05:02):
I think this week's guest isgoing to be pretty cool because
we have, and probably withoutfurther ado, almost.
We have a guy who worked withhis dad to build the front end
or the clip or the bumper of hisfirst car, just to do something
different.
We have a guy whose lifeinvolves, his career involves
cars, and he's also an inventor,inventing a well-needed
accessory for cars.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And but the best part about this guy, he's coming to
you live.
Well, he's coming to us live.
He's coming to you on a delayfrom Hawaii, so, with no further
ado, it's a little late forthat.
Jeremy, how are you doing today?
I'm doing good.
It's good to be with you, Dougand Christian.
Good to have you.
(05:37):
What is the weather in?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Hawaii.
You know everybody asks me thatand this is the challenge with
that question the weather in.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Hawaii is pretty much perfect all the time.
It's like 80, whether it'snight or day.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And everybody says the exact same thing that you
just said.
Christian, they say I hate youfor that right.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, yeah.
As humidity, heat, hurricanes,storms and all sorts of awful
things barrel out of the Gulf ofMexico, I just I'm a little
jealous, but thank you forsharing that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, and to be fair, Jeremy, if I may, jeremy grew
up in South Dakota, so I thinkhe's earned some nice money.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Oh, I, didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Oh, this guy's earned .
Speaker 3 (06:18):
That's where that.
That's where that my first carwas built in South Dakota built,
born and bred right.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I take it back.
You've earned every sunny day,buddy.
I'm just going to be quiet andlet Doug take it from here.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
No, no.
So you mentioned that first carand I think we've had a few
Mustangs.
Mustangs are not uncommon onthis episode, but you had a
custom Mustang that you builtwith your dad.
Tell us about it.
I have here.
It's a 1974 Mustang II which,if memory serves, was based on
(06:54):
the Pinto, or vice versa.
It was.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
That's the way it is right, I mean we had.
It was the 70s right, I mean, itwas the 70s.
I was, I was I was actually 12and a half 13 years old when my
took me out and I would call itjunking.
Let's just be honest with it.
Right like we're out in themiddle of a field, in a tree,
right like a grove of trees.
There's a car back there and mydad finds this mustang, right,
(07:22):
the 74 mustang.
And I'm just a wide-eyed kidand the reason you say, well,
why is he so young?
Well, that's the beautifulthing about living in South
Dakota.
Like, you get your driver'slicense at 14.
You know, insurance companiesdon't know what to do with me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
They say when did you ?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
get your license.
I said I was 14 years old.
I can't even tell you how manytimes.
Well, our system won't evenaccept that.
I'm like well, that's when Igot my license.
I don't know what else to tellyou, but I'm this wide-eyed kid.
My dad gets this Mustang andI'm like what a dream.
Like it's a Mustang, and he hadan idea.
He said let's change kind ofthe again we've.
(07:58):
You know, we had kind of alittle bit of discussion about
what that's called, I don't know, but it's the front of the car,
right like he's like, let'sround it.
You know, mustangs arenotorious for being kind of boxy
in the front, that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And he's like let's round that yeah, even even as
you're saying that, you read mymind because I've called up
pictures and I'm looking at themand I said what this car
definitely needs is a little bitof some sort of more aggressive
nose cone or something.
(08:30):
I mean it looks very well, likeDoug was saying, it looks very
boxy.
That's probably what led youguys to say, led your pop to say
, hey, we got to fix this, let'sdo this.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I would love to say that I had any brainpower in
that.
Again, I was just that like kidright, excited to have your.
You know, I mean my son justgot his license at 16 and I and
I've been reminded recently inthe last couple of weeks, of
just the freedom of that.
That.
That thing, right, your car,your license and the freedom
(09:00):
that that brings is just such athrill and that's what it was
for me Like.
In the middle of this I'm likeDad, let's just finish this
thing.
I want it to be done.
You know, that was the car thatI did my first power slide in
with the e-brake.
It's the first donut, likeeverything that you think of
youth and freedom and all thatstuff.
That was the car that beganeverything.
(09:21):
Yeah, my daughter got herlicense recently the car that
began everything.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, my, uh.
My daughter got her licenserecently and, uh, yeah, she just
reminded me of when I was herage.
Any excuse I needed to go outin the car.
Oh, you need me to go get someeggs.
Oh, you need me to get fiveeggs.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You need some water, dad.
Um, dad, I think you need a newnewspaper, this one's kind of
ripped.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Off to the store.
Off to the store, I go Let meget out of the house.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, for sure, 30 minutes, even though it only
took five to get there.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Absolutely, it's the drive right, it's the journey of
everything, and so you know,that's the beauty.
Now I can say as a kid and I'msure some people who listen to
your podcast will understandthis like you know, the
beautiful thing was my dad wascreating something that I'll
never forget, right, like, causeit was unique, it was custom,
and it built me into kind of amode of wanting custom things,
(10:18):
like I didn't want just thenormal, like I.
I still I would say I still havesome of that element in me,
like I like if I get a hat, Istill I would say I still have
some of that element in me, likeI like if I get a hat, I take
the knob off the top, likebecause I want it to be just a
little bit different than whatthe next guy has, right and so,
but and the same token, thatthat's beautiful.
It was also challenging becauseit's like, okay, we got to fix
(10:39):
this car.
Well, that's month in the shop,that's that's, you know,
forming it, that's taking thefiberglass and rounding it and
painstakingly sanding.
And as a kid, you're just likeI just want my car, I just
wanted to run.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
But when?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
it was done right, exactly, painted it as, custom
painted.
The whole thing was just.
It was just, it was memorableand I think that's the thing I I
have enjoyed about your showsand different things like that.
I mean, you know, as I go back,one of the things I've loved
about your podcast is it bringsback memories of.
(11:16):
It brings back memories of I'veowned a lot of cars over the
years.
I've had a chevy cavalier liketom was on an episode with Jim
right, I had a Honda.
We can talk about that, danielletalked about it.
I had a buddy who had a Prelude, and so, like, there's all
these shows like, and so as I'mlistening and that's probably
one of the things I would sayhats off to you guys about that
(11:37):
has been really, really fun, asI've kind of discovered this
podcast and began to listen andit's it's been a flood of
memories of all the differentthings, all the times that I've
been with friends and doingthings that maybe we shouldn't
have been doing or we shouldhave been doing.
It was just a lot of fun, right, and so it brings back a flood
of memories, and so for that I'dsay great job on coming up with
(11:59):
an idea and creating somethingthat brings back this cool
memories.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Thank you, and creating something that that
brings back this cool memory.
That's such a warm and kindthing to say and that is what
it's amazing, what the brainlocks up back there in the small
, in the in the attic of yourmind.
Man, there's a trunk stuck inthe corner and in the smallest
thing that unlocks it and bringsout and just puts a smile on
your face smallest thing thatunlocks it and brings out and
(12:25):
just puts a smile on your face,Gosh you're talking about.
I just mentioned the GTI andhearing you talk was something I
forgot about.
I just remember one nightnothing spectacular about it of
just having all my buds in thecar driving around, listening to
music, laughing, having a goodtime and just the freedom, you
know, rolling down the windows,opening up the sunroom so that
sunroof um, it's funny.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You say that I had a rabbit, convertible, cabaret
thing, a duct tape.
It was a convertible that I hada hailstorm ripped through the
roof.
I had duct tape that had tapedup the holes.
That's the car that I wasdriving when I met my wife, like
like you know.
So it's memories right, likeit's memories of of going to
(13:11):
pick her up on dates, laughingabout duct tape.
Maybe it wasn't as funny to heras it was to me.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You know all of those things right, right, right, yep
, maybe it was the song on theradio.
And there's so manyintersections with cars right,
we've talked about it a littlebit in passing Cars and books,
cars and music, cars and musicvideos so many different things.
So at 14, you had this Mustang.
(13:39):
You were the envy.
You have this customizedMustang.
You were the envy of all theother 14 year olds.
And how long do you have thecar for?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
You know, I think at the end of that I probably had
it, for I think I was about 16.
And I don't that's a good onefor first car.
I really have memory Like Iwould love to be like, oh, this
is what happened, or thistranspired, but I think in the
reality of it is.
I just was a young kid whowanted to see what the next
(14:10):
thing was Right, what the nextthing was Right.
And so I would say and how manypeople and how many times have
you heard somebody say man, Iwish I would have held onto that
car, I wish I had done that.
Can I go back and fix it?
No, but I was this young kidand I was onto the next
exploration, and so we were atan auction.
My dad, you know, we found it ina grove of trees.
(14:31):
We're at an auction and I and Isee this, this Honda, you know
hatchback, you know ugly, brown,as ugly as you're going to get
Right.
And I and I'm just again wideeyed, hey dad, can we get this?
And so we start bidding and Iwatch him and his hands going up
and you know the auctioneer isdoing is, you know all this
(14:52):
stuff?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And the next thing, you know, we it.
I was like what the heck justhappened?
I didn't even know.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And then I had to get rid of my car right.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, wow, wow, that's the whole process.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
That's the whole process.
You can't have two cars.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Well, you can, but I couldn't at that age yep, yep,
but you, uh, you got a car outof the field and then you bought
a car at auction with your dadand then you sold a car right
and then we sold a car and I sawthat car drive for years after
that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
So the one thing I was appreciative of is.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
it was cool to know that that car was still out
there on the road, still going,like it didn't just, you know,
end up in a salvage yard orsomething like that.
Somebody else took it andappreciated it, right, yep.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And you know it's funny you say that.
So right, you recognize thatcar because of what you did on
the front end.
I had not quite the same thing.
I had a post high school uh 89Nissan 240 SX great car.
Sold it to get my firstconvertible, but I would see
that car for years around aroundtown and I totally recognized
(15:56):
it because I had done somethingunique about the letters or the
numbers and so I could pick itout out of the crowd.
Sometimes it would just driveright by me, so it was really
awesome.
I wonder where that car is now,but that's for another episode
it's in car heaven.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Car heaven Right saw all the cars we've lost before.
Yeah, I, I sold the, the rabbitgti to a guy, was I felt like it
was on, it was on its last lay,and I sold it to some fella who
said, man, I need this car, I'mgoing to cross country to
california, and said, oh boy, doI have the car for you.
(16:36):
You know, if you just want tomake it two States, but this was
in Louisiana, so he had where Igrew up, so he had to go a long
ways, so sold it to him.
You know, go about my life.
About a year later I'm in arecord store and you know, you
know what I'm talking about.
If you're of a certain age, andif you're, if you're younger,
you know, you see, to get musicyou used to have to go to a
(16:59):
store and get it.
Now I don't know what the, whatthe record store was, but I see
this guy on the other end ofthe store walking up to me and I
thought, oh man, this guy iseither going to punch me in the
face or shake my hand.
And and it was a ladder he cameup, he shook my hand.
He said man, I just want tothank you.
That car got me there and backcalifornia.
No sweat, no problem.
(17:20):
So I never saw the car again,but it took care of this guy I
was.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
I was slightly amazed I have a very similar story.
So we were driving, I took mycabaret rabbit with a buddy.
Uh, we were on a summer roadtrip and we took it from arizona
to palm springs across thedesert to vegas up over the
mountain.
This is a whole journey ended upin south dakota doug, you were
talking about music.
(17:44):
My dad installed a stereo.
We didn't have any music.
I got some crazy stories onthat trip.
I could tell you guys aboutanother day.
But I was driving home and wewere in new mexico and I popped
the off the hood to test, or to.
You know, we're checking theoil and doing normal things
Right, and I realized that thebracket so the way that that
rabbit had the alternator onthere is, you know, a bolt to
(18:06):
the bottom and there's a bracketthat kept it twisted up to keep
the tension on the belt.
Well, the bracket had brokenand it slipped down, so just
pure miracle that we'd opened it.
At that time I had not no wayto fix it, so I took some.
I had some zip ties in thetrunk and I was able to zip tie
that thing back tight.
(18:27):
When I drove it all the wayhome like that and I sold it
like that, the guy never fixedit and he drove it for another
50, 60 000 miles like it was thecraziest thing man, this is
something else.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I think we doug.
I think we need to contact vwabout some sort of sponsorship.
We're spreading some love.
I think we're on.
I think we're on to something.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You know there's the hail right.
There's the GTIs that justwon't die.
The cabriolets, that zip tieskeep them going.
You know they used to say theVolkswagen Bugs had hamsters
going in them to keep them going.
I think we're on to something.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Between duct tape and zip ties.
I think we got it covered, butI want to move on, if we can, to
uh something Jeremy's into here, and Doug alluded to it at the
top of the show.
Uh, he has a product in theworks and can you, can you tell
us about that, jeremy?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So.
About probably eight years agoI had this idea because I at the
time I didn't own a Jeep, I wasrenting it and it drove me
crazy.
It was a hard top and on thefour-door hard tops, the top two
panels which most people don'teven know this, but they're
called freedom tops and thepanels would come off but we'd
(19:48):
have our luggage, I'd havegroceries or whatever it is that
I was doing, we'd be at a storeor something.
And I'm like the whole point ofthese things is to have freedom
to take the top off, toexperience like that you know
that convertible, like feeling,but no one ever does.
Like you drive around and yousee Jeeps I see Jeeps all the
(20:08):
time and I never see those topsoff of there.
And I realized, like there'snowhere to store them.
I'm not gonna leave them in mygarage because what if I'm out
and weather's out or whatever?
There has to be a way to storethese things.
And so I came up with this ideaand we talked about it,
christian, but like I literallyI mean it wasn't napkin and pen,
but it was my ipad and Ithought I'm just gonna sketch
(20:30):
this thing.
So I sketched this thing out,just saw it on like a note, like
an Apple note with an Applepencil, like it was super random
.
You know I'm not an immaculatedrawer, but I still have all the
images from that initialdrawing and it was this idea and
I thought, oh, somebody's goingto build it, somebody's going
to build it, right.
I just kept thinking, okay,they'll take care of it.
(20:51):
Somebody's going to have thisDoesn't come, it doesn't come,
it doesn't come.
And finally, one day I wassitting around and I was like
this is ridiculous, I just needto make this thing and I can't
say that it tied back.
But what I've loved about eventhis process with you guys and
finding your podcast and gettingconnected to you guys has been
(21:12):
the memories, right.
So my dad and brother I broughtthem in on this G products.
We call it Freedom Top Vault.
So we've done it.
We built it together.
We, you know, from the initialidea we're down to production.
We're about to go intoprototype mode.
We'll run our first 10 to testthe heck out of it before we
start selling these things, andI'm really excited about it.
(21:34):
The heck out of it before westart selling these things, and
I'm really excited about it.
But it'll allow you to have anentire trunk full of stuff,
whether it's gear or luggage orwhatever.
It'll hold over 350 pounds andliterally you can pop those tops
off and it's a place right inthe back.
The storms they don't getscratched, they're all separated
.
I got the patent submitted,everything is good.
So we're rolling in all thatway, um, and then, if you need
(21:57):
to get them back out, take youless than five minutes to throw
those tops back on, and and itgives you a place to always have
them with you and and allowsthat.
But it.
It ties me back to that firststory, right to that first
mustang and my dad having thecreative idea changing the nose,
giving, giving me that and andum.
I'm really excited to be doingthis with those guys as we kind
(22:19):
of build this new productBuilding something new together.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I love the callback.
So how long did it take you,did it take this idea to sort of
germinate or gestate?
Was this sorry if you?
You said it before, but are wetalking two years ago, five
years ago, and did it kind ofhit you all in a flash?
You seem like a creative guyfrom a creative family, so could
(22:44):
you talk a little bit about theprocess or the iterations to
this is the challenge with thatChristian.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yes, I think there is a lot of creativity in there,
but, just like anything, youthink, okay, is this really a
good idea?
Will people really use this,right?
And so when I have that idea,if I'm honest, I probably sat on
it for way too long.
I probably sat on it for eightyears just thinking, yeah,
Thinking somebody's going tocome out with this, Should I do
this, Should I do that?
(23:13):
Somebody's going to come outwith this.
Should I do this?
Should I do that?
I'm literally literally iPadsketch to like where I'm like,
okay, now it's time to move.
Like what have I been doing?
Like why am I sitting on myhands?
Like let's take this thing.
You know, I don't know whatyour guys' journey in the
podcast was like from the timeyou you guys are probably faster
(23:37):
than me.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
You probably like we had this idea, idea.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
It wasn't eight years , jeremy.
No, I know that's horrible, butwell, we're pulling for you,
pal, in that, it's, it's, it's.
You know the?
I think the the beautiful thingabout sometimes having some I
some time to sit on that idea is, I would say, it's gone through
multiple revisions, even in myhead, right, yes, yes, and I
can't say that I was the fastestto creating something or do
something, but I can tell youthis it's been well thought
(23:59):
through, like the idea where itis, what it's going to be is
well thought through, and forthat I'm excited because I think
it solves okay, right?
Here's the thing Freedom Topsare created to provide freedom.
Well, you're not free from thetops.
The whole point of this productis to give you freedom from
(24:21):
those tops so you can engagethem, use them whatever you want
to do with them, right?
And it's going to work onBroncos, it's going to work on
Gladiators.
Literally, the whole thing iscovered for all those.
The pack covers all of it andwe've got the designs and the
work for all of that stuff.
But we're going to release itfor this you know this most
recent series of Jeeps becausewe're excited to see I'm excited
(24:43):
to see people driving withtheir freedom tops off Right,
like I want to see people outenjoying them.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah, okay, before we get to, where can people get it
?
Rookie question how do yousubmit?
Okay, so you sketched it.
How do you get to the patentpending part?
Do you email it to the patentoffice?
Are there a ton of forms youfill out?
Did you make a call?
Did you visit DC?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Awesome question and that is part of the journey for
me was to understand thatprocess right.
And in the end I had to find.
There's a great book called who, not how, and in it it talks
about finding the people whoknow how to do the things that
you need.
It's probably the same way aslike a car person, right?
(25:29):
Like, like, if I'm rebuilding acar and I don't know how to do
it, where do I go?
I go to YouTube, I go tosomebody who, a mechanic, who
knows what they're doing, sothat I can find the answers that
I need so I can accomplish this.
I didn't know how to, how to geta patent.
If I'm honest person, I had noidea what to do, and so I had to
find a guy who knew and it wasactually through a friend of a
(25:55):
friend, as crazy as that is andthis guy was able to help me
through that process.
And now I've learned a newskill on my tool belt, right
Like.
I've learned how to handle that, and so everything's submitted.
We had to take some drawingsand create better drawings,
obviously, so there was anengineer that was involved in
that and a bunch of differentsteps.
Anybody who's been through thisprocess understands it, but I
(26:16):
think that was a fun thing andanother tie back to what I love
about your guys's show is carsoften push us to try things that
we've never, never done right,like doug you.
You said you modified that car.
Right, you modified the lettersand the numbering and stuff
like that I would say you've hadthat same thing.
I, yep, I I can't tell you howmany variations and things that
(26:39):
we've done on cars andmodifications and changes and
all that stuff, and so I wouldsay, even in that there's steps
that I learned from cars thathave helped me at this point,
absolutely.
What was the book?
Again, who, not?
How is the name of that book?
Okay?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Who, not how.
I love it Yep.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
And okay, you said the patent was pending.
Is that like a two-monthprocess, a two-year process, or
you don't know yet.
I'm still learning.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I think it's going to be a year to 18 months, but
we're into this process like, oh, right now, and so at this
point, once it's submitted, um,everything that I've been told
is then the date is locked right, like so we submitted it, it's
locked in.
You know, if somebody was totry and take our idea and create
it at this point, like they're,as soon as I get the patent,
(27:32):
they're going to done, and so wegot it kind of locked down,
which is cool.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I dig that.
Now, where are people going tobe able to buy it, or is that
premature?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
They are going to know.
Well, it's coming quick.
We'll have the first 200probably in the next three
months.
So I don't know, I don't knowrelease schedules and stuff like
that, but but we're going to.
It's going to be onfreedomtopvaultcom and that's
where we're going to start, andthere's going to be some
distributors, because I've shownthat once we got the patent
submitted, we took a very, verypreliminary prototype into a
(28:07):
cheap dealer.
And you know, I have no idea.
I just wanted to see, like,like you know, what do people
think about this?
What do you think about theidea?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
right, like where does this great?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
idea and, um, those guys were so excited.
They were like, please bring itback when you have it created.
It's going to go into everyjeep that we sell, and so I have
no idea where this thing isgoing, but I think they realize
that this is something that theneed that people will will
benefit from right I love it,man.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
What do you think about that now, doug?
Okay, I have not thought aboutthis in years, but what you got?
I got a picture of you.
Doug is owned, I think, 40 carsin his short life probably
under 30, probably more than 40,but one of those.
I have a picture of you in thishilarious in in one of our
(29:00):
kayak adventure afternoonstogether.
There's, you're in a jeep withthe american flag on the side
and it's got a kayak tied to thetop and, um, hey, I think you
should go find, I think youshould buy that jeep back, just
so that you would give jeremycustomer number one, or
something yeah, you know, thatwas a limited edition for the
1994 olympics oh 96 I think 96olympics, or 94 I think it was a
(29:29):
94 job, so I'm gonna go now.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, I was gonna say you better look that up.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I don't know, I don't remember that.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Doing it right now.
I'm pretty sure it was a 94.
But yeah, that was one of mypresents for moving back from
New Jersey after two years, justmoved up there for work.
It was fine, but I wanted tobuy myself a little gift.
It was not my first Jeep and Idon't know if it was my last one
I guess we'll have to see.
But yeah, it was a lot of fun.
(29:55):
I actually had somebody, someyoung kid, come up to me at a
gas station and say, excuse me,were you in the Olympics?
No joke, I was quite honored.
I was quite honored Yep, and Ithink I had that Jeep post 9-11,
and it got a lot of thumbs upbecause of the kind of waving
(30:17):
American flag.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
We'll have to put that picture up online, okay so
let's, yeah, just a littlefact-checking, which I know is
not huge in American society.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Oh, you said you weren't going to fact-check me.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I only fact-check you when I'm right and you're wrong
.
Seldom happens.
1994, winter Olympicsno-transcript.
So probably yeah.
So Lillehammer was the 1994Winter Olympics.
The 1996 Olympic Olympics wereheld in Atlanta.
(30:50):
So there you go.
Sorry, we were both right.
No, I think I was right and youwere wrong.
But as we wind down ourdiscussion with Jeremy, okay,
freedomtopvaultcom,freedomtopvaultcom, that is his,
that's his nascent company inthis project that's going to
(31:12):
take over the world.
Did you have?
As we decelerate the show, Ilike to say, jeremy, are there
any causes that you would liketo espouse?
Anything you want to talk about?
Speaker 3 (31:26):
You know, this is the thing I've realized about
causes.
There's so many.
I have a ton of friends who areoverseas doing missions and
different things like that I'veknown over the years.
Um, I think the thing aboutmissions is and causes, it's
just finding something that youcare about, right At the end of
the day something that meanssomething to you becomes the
(31:48):
cause, and so for.
For right now, most of our, mostof our support goes to to
friends that are doing coolthings around the world helping
people, serving people, doingawesome things.
So most of my causes are aroundme, but there's amazing causes
with cars, there's amazingcauses with other things.
So you know, as you're goingout and one of the things I like
(32:09):
that you guys care about causesI've just encouraged people who
listen to this find somethingthat matters to you, and that's
a great cause.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And you're inspiring me, as I'm sure you will our
audience and listener land todon't sit on a great idea.
I see you as this invention ofsomebody who had an idea and
then, finally, this is going tobe life-changing for you.
This is going to be huge.
This is going to change thegame and it's just inspiring to
(32:44):
have this idea in your head, tosee it through, send it to the
patent office, start visitingdealerships and make a
difference.
I just think that's the neateststory, man.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I appreciate it.
It's been, it's been.
I wish I could say it wasfaster in the journey, but it's
been a really fun journeynonetheless.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, and doing it with your family.
Like who better your dad andyour brother.
So awesome.
Going back to that's what makesit.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah, that's what makes it special, right, I mean,
it's just like you guys doingit as friends, like doing the
podcast as friends, the factthat I get to do this with my
dad and brother I couldn't askfor anything more Hopefully
inspiring our kids, right, mynieces and nephews and my kids,
the goal is, hopefully, thatwe're inspiring them to not I
hope I can inspire them not towait, right, that's, it Would be
(33:33):
the thing, like if you got anidea, go for it.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, the idea of immediacy.
Well, look, mark us down asamong your biggest fans
FreedomTopVaultcom,freedomtopvaultcom.
Go ask your Jeep dealershipabout it.
Go in there hey you know, ifyou're in the market for a Jeep,
go to the dealership and, uh,you know, write it down and say,
hey guys, freedom, top Vault,do you guys carry this?
(33:57):
You guys carry this.
I need this for my car.
So we're going to watch you,jeremy, and hey, if you need
anything, we're going to promoteyour product.
Uh, I'd like to have him back.
I'd like to have him back onceseason, just see where he is in
his journey.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (34:13):
about that.
I love it.
I love it, and we'll link toyour page, jeremy, as well.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
Yeah, you know what?
I will link to your guys'podcast.
How does that sound?
We'll be mutually beneficial,yep.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I love it.
I love it, thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Pollinate.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Love it.
Yeah Well, Jeremy, it was greatto meet you.
Thank you for your time, yourstories, your enthusiasm and
your inspiration, man, it was ablast.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
It was great to meet you guys.
Thanks, Doug and Christian, formaking a cool podcast and
letting me be a part of it foran episode.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Thank, you.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
It was an honor that was to all the cars I've loved
before.
This week is in the books andwe will see you next time coming
to a podcast streaming platformof choice.
See you next time, y'all, Takecare.
Welcome back to All the Cars I've Loved Before.
You know what?
It's a little bit of a staleopening, doug, so I think we
have to try something new here.
How about Do it?
Do it?
How about?
It is time for anotherhigh-octane, four-wheel-aligned
burnout, fuel-injected,airbag-protected not Takata
(00:24):
episode of Do?
All the Cars I've Loved Before,your podcast, where every car
tells a story.
What do you think?
I think that's good.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I like how you slipped in the airbag and that
sore subject about Takata.
But don't?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yep?
How about this?
How about this?
A little bit of marketing here.
Let's go Madison Avenue on it,do it?
The only car enthusiast podcastthat runs on all eight
cylinders most of the time?
Bingo, okay.
The only car enthusiast podcastthat gives a $3,000 deal rebate
incentive every Labor Day?
No, not as good.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
No, we can't do that anymore.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We can't the only car enthusiast podcast that was
imported into baltimore harborbut was mostly assembled in
canada.
Are these getting better orworse?
Got got four more, let's okay.
Four more, let's, let's focus.
We might a few more.
Yeah, I know you hate them all.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Make sure you save these, because we'll put them
out for a vote.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Let's save these, because we need to delete them
as soon as I'm done.
The only car enthusiast podcastwhose vinyl top is sort of dry,
rotting and looks great from adistance but terrible up close.
And why were vinyl tops ever athing?
Huh, no, yes, keep going ormove on.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It was a fake convertible.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Right, right, yeah, I , I guess that was what they
were trying to impart.
That's what I?
Um, you know, and the onlything worse than the vinyl top
was the headliner on all the gmproducts from the 70s and 80s.
That would just kind of, youknow, it was like a curtain
coming down around your head atthe most inopportune times.
One more the only carenthusiast podcast that has to
talk to its manager about thelast lowball offer you made.
(02:09):
Have some coffee, I'll be rightback, how about?
No, did I freeze again?
No, no, no, no.
The only car enthusiast podcastthat was called by NHTSA for
being incredibly boring.
The only car enthusiast podcastwhose cassette deck will also
eat CDs and DVDs.
Last one I have the only carenthusiast podcast that leaks
(02:32):
green, orange and brown puddlesin the garage.
Well, all right, we'll put themto a poll.
Put it to a vote.
Well, welcome back.
Everybody Seems you have nothingbetter to do than to check out
To All the Cars I've LovedBefore a podcast.
Everybody seems you havenothing better to do than to
check out to all the cars I'veloved before podcasts where
every car tells a story.
We get into life lessonsthrough cars.
Talk about the first few carsthat you've owned, and get into
(02:53):
what's happening in your lifenow, what causes you espouse,
what brought you here?
Where'd you get that first car,mom, dad?
We've had a few guests, I'mgonna say recently.
Who, who, uh, had a car thatkind of made its rounds through
the family, which I think isfantastic.
That's actually as I reflect onit.
(03:14):
That's my.
I had a Rabbit VW, rabbit GTI.
There was a ton of fun and itwas my sister's the hot hatch.
Oh man, I want one now.
I've been thinking about thatcar a lot lately.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Well, Anyway, cars are good, we're going to find
one.
Bring a trailer.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Absolutely, absolutely.
We're going to check it out soas we move, real excited about
today's guest, so I'll be donewith the babbling in just a
moment.
Again here we're seeing thenumbers rise.
Thank you, please follow theshow.
So hit the little plus on theApple podcast, on let's see on
(03:54):
Spotify.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Those are my and on Amazon, all the major platforms.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, if you like it, please share.
Doug is incessantly wonderfullyposting on our social media.
He visited a garage and gotsome footage and that's moving
into post-production.
Now we're looking at starting aTikTok account maybe, and
possibly a YouTube show.
Tiktok account maybe, andpossibly a YouTube show.
(04:24):
So that's in the offing not totease, but we're trying to get
there as we move things forward.
So that's about it.
On the calls to action, what doyou think, doug?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Am I missing anything before you introduce this
week's guest?
No, I think you've covered itall.
(05:02):
I think this week's guest isgoing to be pretty cool because
we have, and probably withoutfurther ado, almost.
We have a guy who worked withhis dad to build the front end
or the clip or the bumper of hisfirst car, just to do something
different.
We have a guy whose lifeinvolves, his career involves
cars, and he's also an inventor,inventing a well-needed
accessory for cars.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And but the best part about this guy, he's coming to
you live.
Well, he's coming to us live.
He's coming to you on a delayfrom Hawaii, so, with no further
ado, it's a little late forthat.
Jeremy, how are you doing today?
I'm doing good.
It's good to be with you, Dougand Christian.
Good to have you.
(05:37):
What is the weather in?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Hawaii.
You know everybody asks me thatand this is the challenge with
that question the weather in.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Hawaii is pretty much perfect all the time.
It's like 80, whether it'snight or day.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And everybody says the exact same thing that you
just said.
Christian, they say I hate youfor that right.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, yeah.
As humidity, heat, hurricanes,storms and all sorts of awful
things barrel out of the Gulf ofMexico, I just I'm a little
jealous, but thank you forsharing that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, and to be fair, Jeremy, if I may, jeremy grew
up in South Dakota, so I thinkhe's earned some nice money.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Oh, I, didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Oh, this guy's earned .
Speaker 3 (06:18):
That's where that.
That's where that my first carwas built in South Dakota built,
born and bred right.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I take it back.
You've earned every sunny day,buddy.
I'm just going to be quiet andlet Doug take it from here.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
No, no.
So you mentioned that first carand I think we've had a few
Mustangs.
Mustangs are not uncommon onthis episode, but you had a
custom Mustang that you builtwith your dad.
Tell us about it.
I have here.
It's a 1974 Mustang II which,if memory serves, was based on
(06:54):
the Pinto, or vice versa.
It was.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
That's the way it is right, I mean we had.
It was the 70s right, I mean, itwas the 70s.
I was, I was I was actually 12and a half 13 years old when my
took me out and I would call itjunking.
Let's just be honest with it.
Right like we're out in themiddle of a field, in a tree,
right like a grove of trees.
There's a car back there and mydad finds this mustang, right,
(07:22):
the 74 mustang.
And I'm just a wide-eyed kidand the reason you say, well,
why is he so young?
Well, that's the beautifulthing about living in South
Dakota.
Like, you get your driver'slicense at 14.
You know, insurance companiesdon't know what to do with me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
They say when did you ?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
get your license.
I said I was 14 years old.
I can't even tell you how manytimes.
Well, our system won't evenaccept that.
I'm like well, that's when Igot my license.
I don't know what else to tellyou, but I'm this wide-eyed kid.
My dad gets this Mustang andI'm like what a dream.
Like it's a Mustang, and he hadan idea.
He said let's change kind ofthe again we've.
(07:58):
You know, we had kind of alittle bit of discussion about
what that's called, I don't know, but it's the front of the car,
right like he's like, let'sround it.
You know, mustangs arenotorious for being kind of boxy
in the front, that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And he's like let's round that yeah, even even as
you're saying that, you read mymind because I've called up
pictures and I'm looking at themand I said what this car
definitely needs is a little bitof some sort of more aggressive
nose cone or something.
(08:30):
I mean it looks very well, likeDoug was saying, it looks very
boxy.
That's probably what led youguys to say, led your pop to say
, hey, we got to fix this, let'sdo this.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I would love to say that I had any brainpower in
that.
Again, I was just that like kidright, excited to have your.
You know, I mean my son justgot his license at 16 and I and
I've been reminded recently inthe last couple of weeks, of
just the freedom of that.
That.
That thing, right, your car,your license and the freedom
(09:00):
that that brings is just such athrill and that's what it was
for me Like.
In the middle of this I'm likeDad, let's just finish this
thing.
I want it to be done.
You know, that was the car thatI did my first power slide in
with the e-brake.
It's the first donut, likeeverything that you think of
youth and freedom and all thatstuff.
That was the car that beganeverything.
(09:21):
Yeah, my daughter got herlicense recently the car that
began everything.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, my, uh.
My daughter got her licenserecently and, uh, yeah, she just
reminded me of when I was herage.
Any excuse I needed to go outin the car.
Oh, you need me to go get someeggs.
Oh, you need me to get fiveeggs.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You need some water, dad.
Um, dad, I think you need a newnewspaper, this one's kind of
ripped.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Off to the store.
Off to the store, I go Let meget out of the house.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, for sure, 30 minutes, even though it only
took five to get there.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Absolutely, it's the drive right, it's the journey of
everything, and so you know,that's the beauty.
Now I can say as a kid and I'msure some people who listen to
your podcast will understandthis like you know, the
beautiful thing was my dad wascreating something that I'll
never forget, right, like, causeit was unique, it was custom,
and it built me into kind of amode of wanting custom things,
(10:18):
like I didn't want just thenormal, like I.
I still I would say I still havesome of that element in me,
like I like if I get a hat, Istill I would say I still have
some of that element in me, likeI like if I get a hat, I take
the knob off the top, likebecause I want it to be just a
little bit different than whatthe next guy has, right and so,
but and the same token, thatthat's beautiful.
It was also challenging becauseit's like, okay, we got to fix
(10:39):
this car.
Well, that's month in the shop,that's that's, you know,
forming it, that's taking thefiberglass and rounding it and
painstakingly sanding.
And as a kid, you're just likeI just want my car, I just
wanted to run.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
But when?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
it was done right, exactly, painted it as, custom
painted.
The whole thing was just.
It was just, it was memorableand I think that's the thing I I
have enjoyed about your showsand different things like that.
I mean, you know, as I go back,one of the things I've loved
about your podcast is it bringsback memories of.
(11:16):
It brings back memories of I'veowned a lot of cars over the
years.
I've had a chevy cavalier liketom was on an episode with Jim
right, I had a Honda.
We can talk about that, danielletalked about it.
I had a buddy who had a Prelude, and so, like, there's all
these shows like, and so as I'mlistening and that's probably
one of the things I would sayhats off to you guys about that
(11:37):
has been really, really fun, asI've kind of discovered this
podcast and began to listen andit's it's been a flood of
memories of all the differentthings, all the times that I've
been with friends and doingthings that maybe we shouldn't
have been doing or we shouldhave been doing.
It was just a lot of fun, right, and so it brings back a flood
of memories, and so for that I'dsay great job on coming up with
(11:59):
an idea and creating somethingthat brings back this cool
memories.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Thank you, and creating something that that
brings back this cool memory.
That's such a warm and kindthing to say and that is what
it's amazing, what the brainlocks up back there in the small
, in the in the attic of yourmind.
Man, there's a trunk stuck inthe corner and in the smallest
thing that unlocks it and bringsout and just puts a smile on
your face smallest thing thatunlocks it and brings out and
(12:25):
just puts a smile on your face,Gosh you're talking about.
I just mentioned the GTI andhearing you talk was something I
forgot about.
I just remember one nightnothing spectacular about it of
just having all my buds in thecar driving around, listening to
music, laughing, having a goodtime and just the freedom, you
know, rolling down the windows,opening up the sunroom so that
sunroof um, it's funny.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You say that I had a rabbit, convertible, cabaret
thing, a duct tape.
It was a convertible that I hada hailstorm ripped through the
roof.
I had duct tape that had tapedup the holes.
That's the car that I wasdriving when I met my wife, like
like you know.
So it's memories right, likeit's memories of of going to
(13:11):
pick her up on dates, laughingabout duct tape.
Maybe it wasn't as funny to heras it was to me.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You know all of those things right, right, right, yep
, maybe it was the song on theradio.
And there's so manyintersections with cars right,
we've talked about it a littlebit in passing Cars and books,
cars and music, cars and musicvideos so many different things.
So at 14, you had this Mustang.
(13:39):
You were the envy.
You have this customizedMustang.
You were the envy of all theother 14 year olds.
And how long do you have thecar for?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
You know, I think at the end of that I probably had
it, for I think I was about 16.
And I don't that's a good onefor first car.
I really have memory Like Iwould love to be like, oh, this
is what happened, or thistranspired, but I think in the
reality of it is.
I just was a young kid whowanted to see what the next
(14:10):
thing was Right, what the nextthing was Right.
And so I would say and how manypeople and how many times have
you heard somebody say man, Iwish I would have held onto that
car, I wish I had done that.
Can I go back and fix it?
No, but I was this young kidand I was onto the next
exploration, and so we were atan auction.
My dad, you know, we found it ina grove of trees.
(14:31):
We're at an auction and I and Isee this, this Honda, you know
hatchback, you know ugly, brown,as ugly as you're going to get
Right.
And I and I'm just again wideeyed, hey dad, can we get this?
And so we start bidding and Iwatch him and his hands going up
and you know the auctioneer isdoing is, you know all this
(14:52):
stuff?
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And the next thing, you know, we it.
I was like what the heck justhappened?
I didn't even know.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And then I had to get rid of my car right.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, wow, wow, that's the whole process.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
That's the whole process.
You can't have two cars.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Well, you can, but I couldn't at that age yep, yep,
but you, uh, you got a car outof the field and then you bought
a car at auction with your dadand then you sold a car right
and then we sold a car and I sawthat car drive for years after
that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
So the one thing I was appreciative of is.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
it was cool to know that that car was still out
there on the road, still going,like it didn't just, you know,
end up in a salvage yard orsomething like that.
Somebody else took it andappreciated it, right, yep.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And you know it's funny you say that.
So right, you recognize thatcar because of what you did on
the front end.
I had not quite the same thing.
I had a post high school uh 89Nissan 240 SX great car.
Sold it to get my firstconvertible, but I would see
that car for years around aroundtown and I totally recognized
(15:56):
it because I had done somethingunique about the letters or the
numbers and so I could pick itout out of the crowd.
Sometimes it would just driveright by me, so it was really
awesome.
I wonder where that car is now,but that's for another episode
it's in car heaven.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Car heaven Right saw all the cars we've lost before.
Yeah, I, I sold the, the rabbitgti to a guy, was I felt like it
was on, it was on its last lay,and I sold it to some fella who
said, man, I need this car, I'mgoing to cross country to
california, and said, oh boy, doI have the car for you.
(16:36):
You know, if you just want tomake it two States, but this was
in Louisiana, so he had where Igrew up, so he had to go a long
ways, so sold it to him.
You know, go about my life.
About a year later I'm in arecord store and you know, you
know what I'm talking about.
If you're of a certain age, andif you're, if you're younger,
you know, you see, to get musicyou used to have to go to a
(16:59):
store and get it.
Now I don't know what the, whatthe record store was, but I see
this guy on the other end ofthe store walking up to me and I
thought, oh man, this guy iseither going to punch me in the
face or shake my hand.
And and it was a ladder he cameup, he shook my hand.
He said man, I just want tothank you.
That car got me there and backcalifornia.
No sweat, no problem.
(17:20):
So I never saw the car again,but it took care of this guy I
was.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
I was slightly amazed I have a very similar story.
So we were driving, I took mycabaret rabbit with a buddy.
Uh, we were on a summer roadtrip and we took it from arizona
to palm springs across thedesert to vegas up over the
mountain.
This is a whole journey ended upin south dakota doug, you were
talking about music.
(17:44):
My dad installed a stereo.
We didn't have any music.
I got some crazy stories onthat trip.
I could tell you guys aboutanother day.
But I was driving home and wewere in new mexico and I popped
the off the hood to test, or to.
You know, we're checking theoil and doing normal things
Right, and I realized that thebracket so the way that that
rabbit had the alternator onthere is, you know, a bolt to
(18:06):
the bottom and there's a bracketthat kept it twisted up to keep
the tension on the belt.
Well, the bracket had brokenand it slipped down, so just
pure miracle that we'd opened it.
At that time I had not no wayto fix it, so I took some.
I had some zip ties in thetrunk and I was able to zip tie
that thing back tight.
(18:27):
When I drove it all the wayhome like that and I sold it
like that, the guy never fixedit and he drove it for another
50, 60 000 miles like it was thecraziest thing man, this is
something else.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I think we doug.
I think we need to contact vwabout some sort of sponsorship.
We're spreading some love.
I think we're on.
I think we're on to something.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You know there's the hail right.
There's the GTIs that justwon't die.
The cabriolets, that zip tieskeep them going.
You know they used to say theVolkswagen Bugs had hamsters
going in them to keep them going.
I think we're on to something.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Between duct tape and zip ties.
I think we got it covered, butI want to move on, if we can, to
uh something Jeremy's into here, and Doug alluded to it at the
top of the show.
Uh, he has a product in theworks and can you, can you tell
us about that, jeremy?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So.
About probably eight years agoI had this idea because I at the
time I didn't own a Jeep, I wasrenting it and it drove me
crazy.
It was a hard top and on thefour-door hard tops, the top two
panels which most people don'teven know this, but they're
called freedom tops and thepanels would come off but we'd
(19:48):
have our luggage, I'd havegroceries or whatever it is that
I was doing, we'd be at a storeor something.
And I'm like the whole point ofthese things is to have freedom
to take the top off, toexperience like that you know
that convertible, like feeling,but no one ever does.
Like you drive around and yousee Jeeps I see Jeeps all the
(20:08):
time and I never see those topsoff of there.
And I realized, like there'snowhere to store them.
I'm not gonna leave them in mygarage because what if I'm out
and weather's out or whatever?
There has to be a way to storethese things.
And so I came up with this ideaand we talked about it,
christian, but like I literallyI mean it wasn't napkin and pen,
but it was my ipad and Ithought I'm just gonna sketch
(20:30):
this thing.
So I sketched this thing out,just saw it on like a note, like
an Apple note with an Applepencil, like it was super random
.
You know I'm not an immaculatedrawer, but I still have all the
images from that initialdrawing and it was this idea and
I thought, oh, somebody's goingto build it, somebody's going
to build it, right.
I just kept thinking, okay,they'll take care of it.
(20:51):
Somebody's going to have thisDoesn't come, it doesn't come,
it doesn't come.
And finally, one day I wassitting around and I was like
this is ridiculous, I just needto make this thing and I can't
say that it tied back.
But what I've loved about eventhis process with you guys and
finding your podcast and gettingconnected to you guys has been
(21:12):
the memories, right.
So my dad and brother I broughtthem in on this G products.
We call it Freedom Top Vault.
So we've done it.
We built it together.
We, you know, from the initialidea we're down to production.
We're about to go intoprototype mode.
We'll run our first 10 to testthe heck out of it before we
start selling these things, andI'm really excited about it.
(21:34):
The heck out of it before westart selling these things, and
I'm really excited about it.
But it'll allow you to have anentire trunk full of stuff,
whether it's gear or luggage orwhatever.
It'll hold over 350 pounds andliterally you can pop those tops
off and it's a place right inthe back.
The storms they don't getscratched, they're all separated
.
I got the patent submitted,everything is good.
So we're rolling in all thatway, um, and then, if you need
(21:57):
to get them back out, take youless than five minutes to throw
those tops back on, and and itgives you a place to always have
them with you and and allowsthat.
But it.
It ties me back to that firststory, right to that first
mustang and my dad having thecreative idea changing the nose,
giving, giving me that and andum.
I'm really excited to be doingthis with those guys as we kind
(22:19):
of build this new productBuilding something new together.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I love the callback.
So how long did it take you,did it take this idea to sort of
germinate or gestate?
Was this sorry if you?
You said it before, but are wetalking two years ago, five
years ago, and did it kind ofhit you all in a flash?
You seem like a creative guyfrom a creative family, so could
(22:44):
you talk a little bit about theprocess or the iterations to
this is the challenge with thatChristian.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yes, I think there is a lot of creativity in there,
but, just like anything, youthink, okay, is this really a
good idea?
Will people really use this,right?
And so when I have that idea,if I'm honest, I probably sat on
it for way too long.
I probably sat on it for eightyears just thinking, yeah,
Thinking somebody's going tocome out with this, Should I do
this, Should I do that?
(23:13):
Somebody's going to come outwith this.
Should I do this?
Should I do that?
I'm literally literally iPadsketch to like where I'm like,
okay, now it's time to move.
Like what have I been doing?
Like why am I sitting on myhands?
Like let's take this thing.
You know, I don't know whatyour guys' journey in the
podcast was like from the timeyou you guys are probably faster
(23:37):
than me.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
You probably like we had this idea, idea.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
It wasn't eight years , jeremy.
No, I know that's horrible, butwell, we're pulling for you,
pal, in that, it's, it's, it's.
You know the?
I think the the beautiful thingabout sometimes having some I
some time to sit on that idea is, I would say, it's gone through
multiple revisions, even in myhead, right, yes, yes, and I
can't say that I was the fastestto creating something or do
something, but I can tell youthis it's been well thought
(23:59):
through, like the idea where itis, what it's going to be is
well thought through, and forthat I'm excited because I think
it solves okay, right?
Here's the thing Freedom Topsare created to provide freedom.
Well, you're not free from thetops.
The whole point of this productis to give you freedom from
(24:21):
those tops so you can engagethem, use them whatever you want
to do with them, right?
And it's going to work onBroncos, it's going to work on
Gladiators.
Literally, the whole thing iscovered for all those.
The pack covers all of it andwe've got the designs and the
work for all of that stuff.
But we're going to release itfor this you know this most
recent series of Jeeps becausewe're excited to see I'm excited
(24:43):
to see people driving withtheir freedom tops off Right,
like I want to see people outenjoying them.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah, okay, before we get to, where can people get it
?
Rookie question how do yousubmit?
Okay, so you sketched it.
How do you get to the patentpending part?
Do you email it to the patentoffice?
Are there a ton of forms youfill out?
Did you make a call?
Did you visit DC?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Awesome question and that is part of the journey for
me was to understand thatprocess right.
And in the end I had to find.
There's a great book called who, not how, and in it it talks
about finding the people whoknow how to do the things that
you need.
It's probably the same way aslike a car person, right?
(25:29):
Like, like, if I'm rebuilding acar and I don't know how to do
it, where do I go?
I go to YouTube, I go tosomebody who, a mechanic, who
knows what they're doing, sothat I can find the answers that
I need so I can accomplish this.
I didn't know how to, how to geta patent.
If I'm honest person, I had noidea what to do, and so I had to
find a guy who knew and it wasactually through a friend of a
(25:55):
friend, as crazy as that is andthis guy was able to help me
through that process.
And now I've learned a newskill on my tool belt, right
Like.
I've learned how to handle that, and so everything's submitted.
We had to take some drawingsand create better drawings,
obviously, so there was anengineer that was involved in
that and a bunch of differentsteps.
Anybody who's been through thisprocess understands it, but I
(26:16):
think that was a fun thing andanother tie back to what I love
about your guys's show is carsoften push us to try things that
we've never, never done right,like doug you.
You said you modified that car.
Right, you modified the lettersand the numbering and stuff
like that I would say you've hadthat same thing.
I, yep, I I can't tell you howmany variations and things that
(26:39):
we've done on cars andmodifications and changes and
all that stuff, and so I wouldsay, even in that there's steps
that I learned from cars thathave helped me at this point,
absolutely.
What was the book?
Again, who, not?
How is the name of that book?
Okay?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Who, not how.
I love it Yep.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
And okay, you said the patent was pending.
Is that like a two-monthprocess, a two-year process, or
you don't know yet.
I'm still learning.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I think it's going to be a year to 18 months, but
we're into this process like, oh, right now, and so at this
point, once it's submitted, um,everything that I've been told
is then the date is locked right, like so we submitted it, it's
locked in.
You know, if somebody was totry and take our idea and create
it at this point, like they're,as soon as I get the patent,
(27:32):
they're going to done, and so wegot it kind of locked down,
which is cool.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
I dig that.
Now, where are people going tobe able to buy it, or is that
premature?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
They are going to know.
Well, it's coming quick.
We'll have the first 200probably in the next three
months.
So I don't know, I don't knowrelease schedules and stuff like
that, but but we're going to.
It's going to be onfreedomtopvaultcom and that's
where we're going to start, andthere's going to be some
distributors, because I've shownthat once we got the patent
submitted, we took a very, verypreliminary prototype into a
(28:07):
cheap dealer.
And you know, I have no idea.
I just wanted to see, like,like you know, what do people
think about this?
What do you think about theidea?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
right, like where does this great?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
idea and, um, those guys were so excited.
They were like, please bring itback when you have it created.
It's going to go into everyjeep that we sell, and so I have
no idea where this thing isgoing, but I think they realize
that this is something that theneed that people will will
benefit from right I love it,man.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
What do you think about that now, doug?
Okay, I have not thought aboutthis in years, but what you got?
I got a picture of you.
Doug is owned, I think, 40 carsin his short life probably
under 30, probably more than 40,but one of those.
I have a picture of you in thishilarious in in one of our
(29:00):
kayak adventure afternoonstogether.
There's, you're in a jeep withthe american flag on the side
and it's got a kayak tied to thetop and, um, hey, I think you
should go find, I think youshould buy that jeep back, just
so that you would give jeremycustomer number one, or
something yeah, you know, thatwas a limited edition for the
1994 olympics oh 96 I think 96olympics, or 94 I think it was a
(29:29):
94 job, so I'm gonna go now.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, I was gonna say you better look that up.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I don't know, I don't remember that.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Doing it right now.
I'm pretty sure it was a 94.
But yeah, that was one of mypresents for moving back from
New Jersey after two years, justmoved up there for work.
It was fine, but I wanted tobuy myself a little gift.
It was not my first Jeep and Idon't know if it was my last one
I guess we'll have to see.
But yeah, it was a lot of fun.
(29:55):
I actually had somebody, someyoung kid, come up to me at a
gas station and say, excuse me,were you in the Olympics?
No joke, I was quite honored.
I was quite honored Yep, and Ithink I had that Jeep post 9-11,
and it got a lot of thumbs upbecause of the kind of waving
(30:17):
American flag.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
We'll have to put that picture up online, okay so
let's, yeah, just a littlefact-checking, which I know is
not huge in American society.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Oh, you said you weren't going to fact-check me.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I only fact-check you when I'm right and you're wrong
.
Seldom happens.
1994, winter Olympicsno-transcript.
So probably yeah.
So Lillehammer was the 1994Winter Olympics.
The 1996 Olympic Olympics wereheld in Atlanta.
(30:50):
So there you go.
Sorry, we were both right.
No, I think I was right and youwere wrong.
But as we wind down ourdiscussion with Jeremy, okay,
freedomtopvaultcom,freedomtopvaultcom, that is his,
that's his nascent company inthis project that's going to
(31:12):
take over the world.
Did you have?
As we decelerate the show, Ilike to say, jeremy, are there
any causes that you would liketo espouse?
Anything you want to talk about?
Speaker 3 (31:26):
You know, this is the thing I've realized about
causes.
There's so many.
I have a ton of friends who areoverseas doing missions and
different things like that I'veknown over the years.
Um, I think the thing aboutmissions is and causes, it's
just finding something that youcare about, right At the end of
the day something that meanssomething to you becomes the
(31:48):
cause, and so for.
For right now, most of our, mostof our support goes to to
friends that are doing coolthings around the world helping
people, serving people, doingawesome things.
So most of my causes are aroundme, but there's amazing causes
with cars, there's amazingcauses with other things.
So you know, as you're goingout and one of the things I like
(32:09):
that you guys care about causesI've just encouraged people who
listen to this find somethingthat matters to you, and that's
a great cause.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
And you're inspiring me, as I'm sure you will our
audience and listener land todon't sit on a great idea.
I see you as this invention ofsomebody who had an idea and
then, finally, this is going tobe life-changing for you.
This is going to be huge.
This is going to change thegame and it's just inspiring to
(32:44):
have this idea in your head, tosee it through, send it to the
patent office, start visitingdealerships and make a
difference.
I just think that's the neateststory, man.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I appreciate it.
It's been, it's been.
I wish I could say it wasfaster in the journey, but it's
been a really fun journeynonetheless.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, and doing it with your family.
Like who better your dad andyour brother.
So awesome.
Going back to that's what makesit.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah, that's what makes it special, right, I mean,
it's just like you guys doingit as friends, like doing the
podcast as friends, the factthat I get to do this with my
dad and brother I couldn't askfor anything more Hopefully
inspiring our kids, right, mynieces and nephews and my kids,
the goal is, hopefully, thatwe're inspiring them to not I
hope I can inspire them not towait, right, that's, it Would be
(33:33):
the thing, like if you got anidea, go for it.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, the idea of immediacy.
Well, look, mark us down asamong your biggest fans
FreedomTopVaultcom,freedomtopvaultcom.
Go ask your Jeep dealershipabout it.
Go in there hey you know, ifyou're in the market for a Jeep,
go to the dealership and, uh,you know, write it down and say,
hey guys, freedom, top Vault,do you guys carry this?
(33:57):
You guys carry this.
I need this for my car.
So we're going to watch you,jeremy, and hey, if you need
anything, we're going to promoteyour product.
Uh, I'd like to have him back.
I'd like to have him back onceseason, just see where he is in
his journey.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (34:13):
about that.
I love it.
I love it, and we'll link toyour page, jeremy, as well.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
Yeah, you know what?
I will link to your guys'podcast.
How does that sound?
We'll be mutually beneficial,yep.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I love it.
I love it, thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Pollinate.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Love it.
Yeah Well, Jeremy, it was greatto meet you.
Thank you for your time, yourstories, your enthusiasm and
your inspiration, man, it was ablast.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
It was great to meet you guys.
Thanks, Doug and Christian, formaking a cool podcast and
letting me be a part of it foran episode.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Thank, you.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
It was an honor that was to all the cars I've loved
before.
This week is in the books andwe will see you next time coming
to a podcast streaming platformof choice.
See you next time, y'all, Takecare.
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