July 8, 2025 • 44 mins
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Join To All the Cars I’ve Loved Before as Timothy Kearns—architect, racer, and son of Dr. Robert Kearns, the genius behind the intermittent windshield wiper—revisits the 1963 “blink” moment that revolutionized driving safety and sparked a David-vs-Goliath patent battle with Ford later dramatized in the 2009 movie Flash of Genius starring Greg Kinnear. From Detroit’s storied Woodward Avenue to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Tim reveals how a wedding-night eye injury inspired a pioneering transistor circuit, why all six Kearns siblings left their careers to fight for inventor rights, and how their victory reshaped U.S. patent law for future innovators. Along the ride we dive into his gas-guzzling 1971 Mustang Mach 1 during the oil crisis, his modern Porsche racing obsession, and the design parallels between classic-car preservation and award-winning architecture. If you’ve ever fiddled for that perfect wiper speed or wondered what it takes to defend a big idea, this episode delivers the untold story behind a feature millions rely on every rainy drive—and the family legacy that proves persistence can move an industry. Listen now, leave a review
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christian (00:07):
Welcome back to All the Cars I've Loved Before, your
authoritative podcast onautomotive nostalgia, where our
guests are unique, each auto hasan era and every car tells a
story.
So you know it's time to plugin, get a little grease under
the fingernails maybe even yourtoenails, depending upon how you
(00:29):
change your oil and slip ontothat favorite T-shirt,
car-themed T-shirt, hat orjacket.
How you doing, partner?
What's going on over there inthese mid-Atlantic United States
?
Doug (00:43):
Doing great.
My daughter just graduated highschool.
That was a big deal.
Another weekend had some familyin town Fantastic.
Congratulations.
Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Christian (00:52):
So family was in town .
Doug (00:54):
Yeah.
Christian (00:55):
Hijinks and meals ensued yeah.
Doug (00:58):
Overeating and yes, yeah, good to have my sister and my
niece in town and mybrother-in-law.
My mom was very happy to havetwo-thirds of her grandchildren
and two-thirds of her kids.
Christian (01:13):
You had the whole crew.
That's a good showing.
Doug (01:16):
Sorry, three-fourths of her grandchildren and two-thirds
of her children.
Christian (01:20):
Three-quarters of them showed up.
Nobody was cutting halves orquartered right.
You're just sayingfractionallyally entire family
being one over one, I seeBeautiful, wonderful, well
represented, beautiful.
Ok, and so there were no.
Were there any car projects,any, any, any garage related,
garage related fun, or was itall about family?
Doug (01:48):
garage related fun?
Or was it all about family?
Uh, mostly family.
I snuck in a little work um.
I was waiting for a delivery,of course for some parts and I
did over the weekend order a uh,I think it's by a company
called quick jack um because Ihave a low.
My garage roof is not as highas I would like, because I
wanted to hold an apartmentabove it, as you know.
So QuickJack will raise my carsabout two to three feet off the
(02:15):
ground.
There you go, which?
is a lot better than what I'mdoing right now, which is
crawling underneath of them orriding up a little ramp.
Christian (02:24):
So I think it's going gonna only improve my
mechanical abilities yeah, Ithink you should stop buying
cars that are so low to theground.
If you would just buy monstertrucks, you could just walk
around underneath them.
I think you might have theproblem solved.
What do you think?
Doug (02:37):
well, maybe we could talk to nicole johnson about what
monster truck to drive maybelet's do aigger is available.
Christian (02:44):
Yeah, absolutely, I could totally see you in that.
It's a great, great family car.
From what I hear it isGeographically speaking over the
past week.
I want to welcome back ourlisteners around the world.
Yes, we are heard around theworld.
Welcome back to our listenersin Israel, germany, canada and,
more closely in these UnitedStates, portland Oregon at the
(03:05):
top of the list.
Why are we so popular inPortland Oregon?
Any ideas?
Doug (03:11):
I know why.
Why, because it's somewherenear Nigel Tunnicliffe lives.
Christian (03:17):
Oh bang, there you go .
I think he's in.
Doug (03:19):
Washington State, but pretty close right.
Christian (03:21):
Fantastic Coastline Academy Driving School, yes,
yeah yeah, yeah, I love how youcan see the big bump in in in
membership, in the numbers andin these blips are fun to watch.
The magic of reporting andanalytics, okay, so we said
portland, oregon, tuckerton, newjersey, philadelphia,
pennsylvania, washington, dc,chicago, det.
(03:41):
Big cities, the capitals arewell represented.
A lot of times some weeks, it'sjust small towns all over the
country, but big cities as well,mixed in here Detroit, how
about Markham, ontario, andMontreal, quebec, for our
friends north of the border,welcome, you're always welcome
(04:02):
here, yeah.
So one other thing is that wecontinue to get pictures for our
the new feature on the website.
Really, one of my most favoriteparts about the website is
let's see.
I said hey, doug, how about theMemory Mary go-round or the
carousel of cars?
This is where you go to thewebsite and you have pictures of
(04:24):
the cars.
Scroll by and in websiteparlance that's called a
carousel because they go around.
Remember, like slides on theold carousel that we had as kids
, your folks had little slidesand you'd project the image onto
the wall.
So I said you know, it's calledthe memory merry-go-round or
the carousel of cars.
But then Doug took the cake bycalling it the carousel of cars.
But then Doug took the cake bycalling it the carousel no
(04:46):
car-o-cell the Cars.
Loved carousel.
I love it.
Cars Loved carousel yeah,carslovedcom.
Carslovedcom.
Slash photos.
Slash photos will get you there.
Please join us.
Visit If you like what you hear.
Review you can write a reviewon the website or on your
podcast streaming platform ofchoice.
(05:08):
Other than that, anything newwith the website or our outreach
?
Anything worth mentioning?
Doug, or should we press on totoday's guest, who is really
exciting because we have afantastic guest today?
Doug (05:21):
What do you think?
Let's press on.
This is a very special andunique guest.
Christian (05:25):
Let's make it happen.
So I have to ask you, doug, theworld-famous prompt, how did
today's guest find his way toyour virtual garage?
Doug (05:36):
Yeah.
So today's guest was brought tous by the gift that keeps
giving indirectly.
So our wonderful guest, jamesMcRae from Eastern Shore of
Maryland, who I went to highschool with, referred me to a
gentleman named Dirk Decker awonderful person we have his
(05:56):
podcast out there who was ahelicopter pilot, as you know,
and very big in the Porschecommunity, and Dirk.
We had a great time with Dirkand he did a referral to Mr
Timothy Kearns, who we have, whois also a Porsche fanatic but
has a very unique tie to theautomotive industry.
Christian (06:19):
Tim, welcome to the show.
How are you this fine afternoon?
Wonderful fellas, nice to talkto you.
Hey, thanks for making sometime in your schedule today and
you have a unique.
You're an interesting guy inyour own but some very storied
family history around theautomotive industry arena.
So can you tell us yourfamilial tie to the automotive
(06:41):
industry, us your familial tieto the automotive industry?
Tim (06:44):
well, I was a little kid growing up in the city of
detroit and my dad being uh partof the automotive uh culture
there, um heard that they weretrying to improve the mileage on
cars.
This was way back in 1963.
(07:06):
And they were having a hardtime with vacuum carburation.
So they wanted to make someelectronic components and he
developed the intermittentwindshield wiper, electronic
control.
Christian (07:24):
So interesting, and it's one of these things that's
so brilliantly integrated intoeveryone's life.
Right now.
You can't think of a machinewithout that.
But you know, 50, 60, 70 yearsago things didn't work that way,
and so how did this flash ofinspiration come to him?
Tim (07:54):
Well, um, he on his wedding night.
Uh, he was opening theobligatory bottle of champagne
and it whacked him in the eyewhen it popped open.
And uh, my mom says she knew itwas all downhill from there.
But he got blinded in his lefteye and as part of the
(08:15):
recuperation he would blink andit would hurt when he blinked.
And then he began to wonder howcome windshield wipers can't
blink the the way my eyes blinkbecause we're he's looking
through the windshield, you knowthat that okay.
Christian (08:30):
So that's such an interesting.
So did he ever regain sight inthat eye?
Was it temporary blindness,permanent blind?
Was he all the way blind or?
Tim (08:40):
he was um.
It was permanent, but he hadperipheral vision, got it out of
the side so he wasn't fullylegally blind.
Christian (08:50):
He could drive okay, and so it struck.
It struck him that, hey, sothis is, this is, if we could it
cause it to go more slowly.
It's so much less wear and tearon the mechanicals, on the, on
the blade itself, and a betterexperience all the way around.
So how quickly?
(09:11):
From when that happened, did hehave some sort of prototype to
show?
I would assume there's a lot ofuh, a lot of testing well, it
took him.
Tim (09:21):
it took him really just a couple of days to create a
circuit Fantastic.
Because, he was one of the fewpeople at the time who was
working with transistors.
He worked with Bendix, so heknew what they were and that's
what is the on-off switch thatcreated the delay.
(09:43):
So it's a very simple circuit,so simple that it began to haunt
.
The simplicity haunted himlater in his life.
Christian (09:55):
Interesting, interesting.
And so he comes up with aprototype.
Now, how did the patent part ofthis work?
So not to skip ahead too far,but someone took his idea.
So what was his flag in thedirt or flag in the sand?
Was there a patent, that sortof predated, when other people
(10:19):
began to come and take this ideathat you?
Were visited in the future.
Tim (10:23):
How did that work?
He had an initial patent.
With that, he began to look foran initial manufacturer to
offer this product to, andeventually he ended up with
30-some patents.
Eventually he ended up with 30some patents.
But it also got into a lot oflitigation because, yes, the
(10:49):
automotives in Detroit heardabout it.
As a matter of fact, hisbrother was a vice president of
one of the divisions of Ford andhe he managed to present it to
Ford through communicationsoffered by his brother.
Christian (11:12):
Gotcha, gotcha.
So, guessing, I'm sure Dougwants to hop in here, being the
being the car nut that he is.
So his idea was presented andthey said oh no, no, no, we have
no interest in that.
But then they now that theyhave the idea.
Right, he?
He wasn't aware that it hadeven been integrated until later
on, and then he came back andsaid hey, wait a minute, this
(11:32):
was my idea.
Tim (11:34):
Well, yeah, it was a sort of sort of like that when you
try to distill it down into afew sentences, you're taking a
lot of uh, events that happenreally indeed, sure you know.
But but basically, yeah, hepresented it to to ford.
Ford said, hey, come on in andshow us how it works.
(11:54):
And then they were alwaystrying to see the circuit itself
.
And he always had that verywell hidden, smart, yeah.
And then they, they tried totrick him into showing him what
the circuit was.
Eventually you have to watchthe movie and then you'll, uh,
you'll end up seeing all thedetails that we're talking about
now, yeah, gotcha gotcha.
Christian (12:15):
And the movie doug was called flash of genius, yeah
, and.
And his father was portrayed by, was it it?
Greg Kinnear?
Greg Kinnear, so interesting,and I know Doug wants to get in
here.
But the thing I find sointeresting is to find an
audience with the executives ofa company.
Whether your idea is good orbad is really quite an amazing
(12:37):
and striking thing.
That in itself was anincredible stroke of luck.
You know, everything thathappened afterwards was a bit of
a bit of a domino effect, butjust to be in front of them, I
don't know, maybe it happens allthe time.
I haven't worked in theautomotive industry, but that
struck me.
What do you think, doug?
Doug (12:54):
Uh, you know, I uh, I had watched parts of the movie and
then I watched it last night,just preparation.
And uh, of course, one of myquestions for Tim was how how
accurate.
Tim (13:07):
Um, yeah, yeah oh yeah, well, uh, the you're not
supposed to watch your lifeflash before your eyes maybe
just once good point, yeah, goodpoint.
(13:27):
But that that's what it feltlike when I saw it for the first
time.
It was wow, it was uh moving,to say the least and, and the
movie came out in 2008, correct?
Doug (13:39):
yeah, and um, when, when did they approach your family
about it?
Tim (13:44):
I I think it was timed with the patent lawsuits which or
some some win, in 1990 perhapsyeah, it was 90, I think 90 for
ford, um, then chrysler followedthat, and then there was a
third case that was going to becalled the world class or world
(14:05):
case.
Right, and it was everybodyelse beyond that.
But yeah, there was, we wereapproached for rights to the
story and to make a movie, evenwhile we were just beginning
(14:27):
movie, um, even while we werejust beginning, um, so every
year they would send us thislittle teeny check and, uh, they
kept the rights going, but thenfinally they came across, and
they came across big in myopinion yeah, yeah, yeah, for
all our listeners if you haven'tseen the movie or it's been a
while, watch it.
Doug (14:42):
It is really good.
It was good to see the youngTim portrayed in there.
Timmy, oh yeah.
But he taught me to solder.
And why did he do it?
I watched him soldering.
I saw the smoke.
(15:03):
I thought it was cool.
I burned my hand trying to doit behind his back and he's like
no, I'm going to teach you.
He gave me my first solderingiron and I still use it on.
Well, not that one, but I stillsolder for my car projects.
Tim (15:17):
Yeah, and it teaches you all kinds of life lessons like
patience Yep, absolutely.
And.
Doug (15:25):
I've gotten better over the years, actually since I
started using it.
But, yeah, just seeing yourfamily come together with your
dad including, I think, you andyour older brother, at least as
portrayed in the movie,soldering some parts while your
dad was getting the concepttogether, oh yeah, it was great.
Yep, it really was, andinspiring, and we could go on
(15:49):
and on about the movie.
I think kind of real quick,it's one of the.
Correct me or help me get thisright In terms of patent law or
patent lawsuits right, it was avery long and well documented
(16:09):
lawsuit or set of lawsuits, orjust maybe some reform in patent
law as a result.
Tim, I said a lot there.
Tim (16:21):
Oh yeah, no, is it's uh, it's uh seminal to modern, um
patent law?
Yeah, and he, he truly did uhchange the, the, the patent law
for all the inventors that arecoming in the future.
And you know, they theyminimized maybe not so much
minimized, but they certainlyhad representation of the
(16:48):
inventors in the movie too, andhe did it for the inventors, he
didn't do it for the money.
That was always yeah.
Christian (17:15):
And really it seems to me and I know Doug wants to
get to your origin story ofthese cars, but the arc years of
you know his sticking to hisguns, knowing that he's right,
holding feet to the fire.
I can't think of anything moredaunting than entering the legal
system, which is Byzantine tobegin with, and then going up
(17:35):
against just the big three yeah,yeah, just phalanxes of
corporate lawyers Can you thinkof anything more stacked against
you.
Yet he was right.
Yet he persisted, he won in theend, blazed a trail for
inventors and changed the systemthat we know today and that's
really so beautiful and profound.
(17:56):
Do you ever reflect on that,tim?
Tim (18:01):
Yeah, every day.
Yeah, I love it.
It was 30 years, but it changedthe world, so it didn't seem
that way at the time.
It was a real pain, but wealways had the dream that and he
would instill it in us that no,no, no, you got to pay
(18:23):
attention to this because it'sgoing to make a difference.
And he got us all toparticipate a hundred percent,
even after we all had careers.
We left our careers to toassist him, um, during the Ford
case and the Chrysler case.
Wow, Wow.
Yeah, and each of those wasfive-year, golly.
Christian (18:46):
Yeah, yeah, sure, and it would have been so easy to
give up, it would have been soeasy to throw in the towel, but
you didn't, you didn't, andthat's such a victory, or take
the settlement right, and hisdad wouldn't do it, correct.
Tim (19:02):
We had a lot of discussions around the family table.
Christian (19:05):
I bet you did, I bet, you did.
Doug (19:08):
And Tim, you are one of six children, right that Dr
Kearns had?
Tim (19:12):
Yes, there are six of us.
And he had us because he neededa corporation to do exactly
what we did, which is toundeniably help him.
Yep, yep, fantastic.
Doug (19:24):
Irreverently spoken of as the Kearns Corporation, and you
were all the board of directors,as he spoke in the movie.
He did indeed, yeah.
Tim (19:33):
And that's true, yeah.
Doug (19:35):
And I'll throw this in, hopefully Christian won't mind.
Christian won't mind.
Tim (19:46):
Did any of your siblings become lawyers, maybe as a
result, or it led them in thatdirection, of course.
Well, it's funny.
Each one of us is sort of apiece of a lawyer.
Christian (19:54):
Yeah, as is your father.
Doug (19:56):
As is him?
Tim (19:57):
Yeah, because we were all sitting there when my dad was
learning from the real lawprofessors that he hired to help
him learn how to be a lawyer.
Doug (20:08):
Yep.
Tim (20:08):
And there's a whole long story of why that had to happen.
But yeah, so Dennis is actuallya private detective, which is
close to being a lawyer.
You learn about what it is youneed to defend and where does
the evidence come from.
Doug (20:26):
Yeah and yeah.
I was encouraging Christian andChristian hopefully you won't
mind me saying it as we recordedthis Christian's son, middle
son.
It was his first day of aninternship at a law firm.
Tim (20:41):
Today.
Doug (20:42):
Yeah, just today.
Christian (20:43):
A paid internship at that.
So as soon as we're donerecording this interview, I
can't wait to go.
Yeah, yeah, he's a junior inhigh school, but on his mock
trial team Great guy Did verywell at that, enjoyed it, and he
.
So as soon as it's done, ourconversation here is done we're
going to go have dinner and chatabout his first day.
(21:04):
So, yeah, at this point I thinkit would be proper to hop in the
time machine go 88 miles anhour go back in history and, as
Doug was saying, there's aninteresting tie in between the
car scene with intermittentwipers and his first car.
So tell us a little about thatif you can.
Tim (21:26):
Well, the first car was actually a 67 Cougar that my dad
bought.
There's a whole long storyabout where that came from, but
the first car that I felt was mycar that I paid for was a 71,
was a 71 Mach 1.
Oh wow, um, I bought it from aguy down the street.
My grandfather lent me twothousand dollars to buy it.
(21:49):
Uh, this was probablytwo-year-old car at the time
sure 351, cleveland, uh.
T10 four-speed hearse shifter,all the drag package.
I didn't know it had a dragpackage until after I got it.
It was an amazing car.
Christian (22:09):
Just a beast of a car .
I mean just big and beefy andwide and angular, just a
menacing looking thing.
Yeah, how long did you havethat car for?
Tim (22:21):
I had it for about uh three , three, four years um, and it
got 10 miles a gallon, 780, 780,uh.
Dual pumper, vacuum secondariesyeah, it was um.
Vacuum secondaries yeah, it wasum.
(22:47):
Suck it down yeah.
And even a jet engine yeah,yeah, at 35 cents a gallon it
was still a lot of gas.
Christian (22:50):
And a lot of money, yeah, so now that's very
interesting.
You mentioned that last partbecause something happened in
the 70s that made it very disaddisadvantageous to say the least
to own a car like that.
What happened in the 70s tocause you to move into your next
car?
Tim (23:11):
Oh well, that was the I don't know what.
Was it a shortage?
You got it?
Yeah, I forget exactly whatcaused it, but the end result
was you couldn't get any gas.
Doug (23:21):
yeah, exactly so the gas crisis right yeah yeah and what
year was that about 75?
Tim (23:33):
yeah, 75, 67.
Yeah, yeah, I think they wereactually.
Christian (23:38):
Well, it's opec opec just tightening right because
although there's so muchrefining, we have all the
refining capacity we'll everneed in this country.
At the time we didn't have thecrude oil.
So all OPEC had to doOrganization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries.
All they had to do was kind ofrein in and tighten in, just
supplying them in 101.
When they do that, what happensto the price of oil?
(23:59):
Boom.
So all the oil came here wasjust so expensive so we could
refine it.
It's just the feedstock was soexpensive.
And yeah, and we were chattingabout this before the show and
we've had all of these, we'vehad several guests on and I just
find this fascinating that whenI go to a gasoline station now
I don't think anything of it.
(24:20):
In fact, oil, gasoline is soplentiful here.
Well, oil in this country now,due to fracking technological
advantages, is also in refiningtoo that you can find gasoline
anywhere.
I mean it's 10 cents, it's 2cents over here, cheaper you go,
do that, you know it's soplentiful, but to have I just
can't wrap my head around whatit must have been like in the
(24:42):
70s.
I've seen, even heard of carsrunning dry and had to be pushed
into the gasoline station, longlines, like you were saying
even in odd numbers on thelicense plate or on the day,
that's just incredible.
So that had a big impact on you.
Because the Mach 1 wasn't, youdecided to trade that in, get
(25:03):
something more economical.
Oh yeah, I had like 25 miles todrive to the University of get
something more economical.
Tim (25:05):
Oh yeah, I had like 25 miles to drive to the University
of Maryland to go to school andI needed something that was a
little more efficient.
So it became a Pinto.
Doug (25:19):
Yeah, before we, and there's obviously lots of good
stories about Pintos in the news, right, and the gas crisis and
that's yeah, the Pinto was kindof ready to go.
That's a success story for themost part.
You did tell us thinking aboutthe Mustang and I love this song
(25:41):
that you picked out, thinkingback what was a favorite song of
yours that makes you, if youhear it on the radio, you think
about the mustang.
If you think about the mustang,you probably think about this
song.
Tim (25:53):
Oh, yeah, I think that was uh.
Was it steppenwolf?
I think yes, yes, sir, born tobe wild, born to be wild.
Doug (26:00):
Yeah, and I, I can just imagine you in the mustang mach
one just burying the needlewatching the gas gauge literally
move to the left and listeningto that song.
Tim (26:14):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Doug (26:15):
Yeah, no, what a wonderful story.
And obviously you became a carguy at some point.
Maybe it was because of yourfather, maybe it was because
growing up in Detroit, forhowever long you lived there,
but certainly the Mustang waskey, probably.
Tim (26:35):
Oh, yeah, well, Dad had a lot of interaction with Ford.
Yes, and, of course, growing upin Detroit, uh, woodward avenue
was not far away, so we wouldhit, we would hitchhike three or
four miles away to on a fridayor a saturday to watch what was
happening on woodward avenue, um, and that was just uh, seminal
(27:00):
to becoming the car guy, yeah,every every kid was yep, yep,
yeah, if you're a detroit guy,detroit kid, right, how right
you're not right.
Doug (27:10):
Yeah, it's uh, my, uh.
My niece, who is visiting,actually goes to university of
michigan.
So we were talking about I'mtrying to get my daughter to go
out there, but I selfishly tovisit her, selfishly, I want to
go and see all the car museumswhile I'm out there.
So oh, yeah, and uh, even visitJohn DeLorean's grave.
So there you go, which has areally wonderful tombstone of
(27:33):
the DeLorean with the doors open.
So it'd be great to see that.
Tim (27:37):
Nice.
Doug (27:37):
Yeah, so um, back to the Pinto.
So tell us, tell us about thePinto.
And for people who don't know,the Pinto was infamous for
somewhat cost-cutting that endedup making a very dangerous car,
but at the time it got, whatwas the gas mileage, tim, if you
remember.
Tim (27:58):
Oh, I think it had to be in the low 20s, which was pretty
good.
It was a four-cylinder, foursmall, three-speed floor shifter
.
Yep yeah.
I mean it's a cool shape.
Doug (28:13):
Yeah, yeah.
And there were many right.
There was the hatchback, therewas a two-door, there was a
four-door, there was a four-doorhatchback.
There were many differentmodels right and a wagon.
Tim (28:28):
Yep Wagon door hatchback.
There were many differentmodels right and a wagon, yep
wagon, full wagon.
Yeah, and it's always still funto see the tubbed out pinto
with the mnh race masters in theback and just this little ball
of a differential left betweenthem.
Doug (28:39):
Yeah, it's cool yep, yep, yeah they.
They get used for quarter miledrag cars, right.
Tim (28:45):
Yeah.
Doug (28:46):
For some reason they caught on as popular.
I don't know.
Maybe they're just easy tomodify Right, yep, cool.
And so after the Pinto, andmaybe when gas prices got better
, you moved on to a import car.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that car?
Tim (29:08):
import car.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that car?
Well, it was a.
Yeah, import cars were cool and, being a young architect, you
know everybody had their, uh,their import in mind and mine
just happened to turn into afaster version of um, an import
car.
It was was a BMW 2002.
Doug (29:25):
Yeah, and that was really like the first BM first kind of.
Wasn't the first BMW in the U S, was it?
But it was the first, like itwas the car that made BMW in the
U S.
Tim (29:38):
I think it was.
Yeah, I would say so.
Doug (29:40):
Yeah, and they're, and they're still prized after Right
.
Tim (29:44):
Oh, very much yeah.
Doug (29:46):
Yeah, and they're, and they're still prized after Right
.
Oh very much, yeah, yeah.
And then the three seriesfollowed Right, which really is
the one everybody else remembers.
Tim (29:52):
But right, yeah, this was a precursor to the three.
Doug (29:56):
So you went from like super fast not maybe the best
brakes, not the best handling toslow brakes, not the best
handling to slow, and none ofthose things.
A BMW, which maybe wasn't fast,but it was a whole different
experience, Right, Tim?
Tim (30:13):
Oh yeah, I did hot rod it.
I put a Weber 40 on it.
Christian (30:16):
That helped.
Tim (30:17):
You know that was kind of cool, nice, yeah, it was a nice
car yeah.
Doug (30:23):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, certainly not one of your, not
the last of your German cars,right Because and this is our
connection with Dirk and maybehow you met Dirk, right yeah?
Tim (30:38):
very much.
Doug (30:39):
You were very involved with Porsche.
Tim (30:42):
Yeah.
So after the BMW started torust out, I needed to find a
dependable car.
And this was at the time whenFord was just coming out with
the Probe.
And I thought, well, I'll buy aProbe.
You know modern technology, allthose things.
And I went to get it and it was$25,000 or something like that.
(31:09):
And one of my friends said well,if you're going to spend that
kind of money, why don't you geta Porsche?
I said what's a Porsche?
And they reminded me.
So I went and, sure enough, Isaw at the local dealership a
944, normally aspirated.
I didn't know that at the time,but I drove it and I thought,
well, this is a nice car, I likethe way it is.
(31:29):
And I ended up buying it thenext day.
And then, as I'm driving thatcar around Eastern Maryland,
where I am, there was another944.
And my wife now saw it.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and she goes walking up to
(31:50):
the guy and says, uh, myboyfriend has a 944 and he has a
beard just like yours.
And that's was the first timeshe met Dirk and she introduced
me to.
Dirk, and that's how thatrelationship.
Doug (32:06):
Oh, oh wow.
You've been friends with dirkfor yeah, 30 plus years then
yeah, it's, yeah, yeah.
Tim (32:13):
So the two of us went off and took our 944s to the porsche
club okay, yeah, nice and uh.
Doug (32:22):
nowadays you have a 9 uh 93, 911 which is a 964 model
which is air-cooled.
Tim (32:32):
Very much Do you race that at Porsche events At the DEs
yeah, with Potomac Region I'mthe DE steward We've been doing
that.
We grew up through it.
Doug (32:51):
Yeah, yep, yep, and we're going to have we're going to
have Vu Vu Nguyen, who I metmany years ago when I had a 996.
Very briefly, but it'll be goodto reconnect with him and Dirk.
Help with that introductionreintroduction, if you will.
Him and Dirk helped with thatintroduction reintroduction, if
you will.
So, yeah, so you're veryinvolved in the weekend events
(33:12):
and I guess you're considered ait's a high-performance driving
event instructor.
Would that be accurate?
Tim (33:20):
Yeah, yeah, I'm a nationally rated instructor um,
but I I choose not to instruct,I do the um.
I'm the steward, I'm theessentially the policeman that
puts uh cars on and off thetrack and and keeps track of
them all yep and uh.
Doug (33:41):
yeah, I think you said you're in the hot pit, is that
the term?
Oh yeah, yeah yeah, and we havea reference back to the
carousel.
We have a picture of Timwearing a cone, like a cone
costume in the hot pit.
Tim (33:58):
Because there's a lot of fast-moving cars in the pit and
the one thing every driver knowsis never hit a cone.
So that's why I became the cone.
Doug (34:09):
Yep, smart, smart, and it hasn't failed you yet.
Tim (34:14):
No.
Doug (34:16):
So, portia, now we do like to ask I know we're running a
little bit out of time here, butif you don't mind what was the
most dangerous?
And I know you have a greatstory with this and for some of
our listeners they won't knowwhat the car is but what was the
most dangerous car you were in,and why?
Tim (34:36):
The most dangerous car was my brother Dennis's, serial
number 13, bricklin.
Serial number 13, bricklin, andhe asked me to help him
renovate it.
So we were driving.
(35:01):
I was driving it on an off-rampnear Gaithersburg.
Maybe I was experiencing it alittle too much, but all four
tires blew dry, rotted, and I'mcounter-steering not to hit the
guardrail.
Doug (35:12):
Oh man, yeah, but you didn't hit the guardrail right.
Tim (35:17):
No, no, not a bit, it was close.
Doug (35:20):
Yep, and the irony right, the Goldwing, or sorry, the
Bricklin Goldwing vehicle wasdesigned as a safety vehicle.
I think it was called the.
Tim (35:32):
SV1.
Doug (35:33):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and built with different materials,
I think fiberglass and someother things, and real impact
bumpers.
And yeah, it was reallydesigned to be a safety vehicle.
Yeah, but it wasn't safe withdry, rotted tires.
Tim (35:55):
No, not a bit.
Christian (35:56):
So I don't know if you guys can hear me, but my
Zoom glitched for about two orthree minutes and y'all got into
the Bricklin.
So if you've already coveredthis, don't cover to get back.
How did he come across aBricklin, Was it?
You've already covered this.
Don't cover to get back.
How did he come across aBricklin?
Was it a difficult vehicle toget?
Tim (36:12):
He got it in Detroit somewhere.
I'll have to ask him.
But yeah, he lives still inDetroit, the suburbs of Detroit,
so he picked it up there.
Doug (36:27):
And does he still have it by chance?
Tim (36:32):
I think he passed it on to somebody.
Okay, gotcha yeah.
Doug (36:35):
And you know, James had a Bricklin at his shop.
I don't know if it belonged tosomebody else.
It was not your brother's,though, apparently.
Tim (36:45):
No, no, no.
Doug (36:49):
Yeah, man, there's so many , there's so many things I did
want to ask.
So you, you live on the Easternshore in Maryland, you're an
architect and for for a lot ofpeople who also love movies
besides watching flash of genius, you did some work on a home or
homes.
(37:09):
Uh, that was featured in themovie wedding crashers, which a
lot of people don't realize.
Uh, was taken in the easternshore.
I think it was on an islandnear oxford, is that correct?
Tim (37:22):
um, yeah, there's.
Uh, the house is calledEllenborough and it's on the
Tredavon River.
It was a state home from the20s and it's undergone a number
of renovations.
So I got involved on an earlyrenovation to do a kitchen redo
(37:51):
and of course those types ofhouses flip owners very often,
so I ended up doing a fullrenovation of the caretaker's
house on that same property fora different owner.
It got subdivided off, sothat's the way it goes here okay
(38:12):
, gotcha.
Doug (38:12):
Yeah, a lot of people don't know where that was filmed
and I I just remember seeingthe annapolis harbor I live in
annapolis, of course and I sawthe woodwind where they went on
a on the.
I guess it was after thewedding post wedding yeah yeah
they.
They went on a cruise on thewood wind to that island, to
that home that you rebuilt, ohyeah yeah, so really all ties it
(38:37):
together.
Tim (38:38):
And, of course, uh, you lived in maryland for 35 years
1974 to 1970 to present, but onthe eastern shore since 89
certainly Oxford's got some goodhistory Harriet Tubman, the
(38:59):
Underground Railroad yesbeautiful place.
Robert Morris was the signer ofthe Declaration of Independence
.
The original Naval Academy washere in Oxford and then it
suffered a burn, and that's whenit moved to Annapolis.
Doug (39:21):
Oh wow, I didn't know that piece.
Yep Wonderful.
Tim (39:25):
Wow, yep wonderful wow, and of course we still have the
oldest, uh, continually runningcar ferry is in easton.
I'm sorry, oxford, and it goes.
Doug (39:36):
It goes to bellevue, which is on the saint michael's neck
okay, yeah, gotcha and there,and there's some great car shows
in the Eastern Shore, east End,oxford area, correct?
Tim (39:50):
And a wonderful museum in St.
Doug (39:52):
Michael's yes.
Tim (39:53):
And I've been lucky enough to do a few car garages for some
of the bigger collectors here.
Doug (40:03):
Yeah, okay, oh yeah, that's awesome.
I know the museum just boughtan old gas station.
I don't know if you're involvedin that renovation.
Tim (40:15):
I got a Bob Kern story about that gas station.
Awesome, yep, he rebuilt themotor of one of my dad's cars.
Doug (40:29):
Okay, wow, yeah.
What a tie-in, and it justmakes me happy.
I live in Maryland and try andget over the bridge whenever I
can, except during summer.
Tim (40:44):
Except on.
Doug (40:44):
Thursday and Fridays.
Tim (40:45):
That's right.
Doug (40:46):
Yep, don't go anywhere.
So, with all that, christian ishaving some technical problems,
but he asked me to thank you,of course, and you know we're
hoping to have you back and Ijust wanted to kind of close out
the show with you know he wasTimothy Kearns, wonderful man,
(41:11):
architect, car aficionado, carindustry veteran, via his father
, featured in the movie Flash ofGenius with Greg Kinnear.
Wonderful movie really.
Some great family values,family times, like growing up in
a family of six children anddoing all that, just incredible.
(41:33):
And the things your dad did forinventors, to your point right,
really changed the laws and,you know, helped keep companies
honest.
Right, it's probably the simplething to say yes, yeah, there's
probably better terms, but yeah, we'd love to have you back.
(41:56):
So this is Tim Kearns and youhave just heard the high revving
, low mileage, late model heardaround the world authoritative
podcast on automotive nostalgia.
I'm Doug.
You can reach me at Doug atCars carslovecom.
He is christian.
You can meet him at christianat carslovecom.
And tim, if people want to findyou, what would be a good way
(42:20):
for them to find you?
Because I assume you may dosome projects still from time to
time?
Tim (42:25):
oh, oh, I'm still working.
Okay, Excellent, let's seetbkernsdesigncom.
Okay, and yeah, tbkerns atiCloudcom.
Doug (42:38):
Okay, yep, and we will put all that in the show notes when
we post this episode.
Wait a minute, I'm back.
Christian (42:44):
He's back.
All right, we're going to endthis show the right way.
You've just heard the high rev,low, minus late model heard
around the world.
Third favorite podcast onautomotive nostalgia he's doug.
Reach my doug at cars laptop.
God, I'm christian.
Reach me at christian at carslovecom he's tim.
You know how to get a hold ofhim.
Please follow and tell a friend.
If you like what you hear, goto your podcast streaming
platform of choice and leave areview.
(43:05):
Yes, my phone completely took adump.
I went to sos mode in themiddle of an interview, but I am
back.
Doug (43:11):
I'm sure doug did great and troutcarslovecom or our link
tree at linktree slash carsloved, which is our digital
switchboard, as christian callsit I love it and if I got
nothing out of this, you getsome big laughs from Doug.
Christian (43:29):
Thank you so much, Tim.
Sorry about what just happened,but I'm sure we will see you at
the next local car show,showroom, race show or concourse
.
We appreciate you taking a lapwith us.
We will see you next time.
Welcome back to All the Cars I've Loved Before, your
authoritative podcast onautomotive nostalgia, where our
guests are unique, each auto hasan era and every car tells a
story.
So you know it's time to plugin, get a little grease under
the fingernails maybe even yourtoenails, depending upon how you
(00:29):
change your oil and slip ontothat favorite T-shirt,
car-themed T-shirt, hat orjacket.
How you doing, partner?
What's going on over there inthese mid-Atlantic United States
?
Doug (00:43):
Doing great.
My daughter just graduated highschool.
That was a big deal.
Another weekend had some familyin town Fantastic.
Congratulations.
Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Christian (00:52):
So family was in town .
Doug (00:54):
Yeah.
Christian (00:55):
Hijinks and meals ensued yeah.
Doug (00:58):
Overeating and yes, yeah, good to have my sister and my
niece in town and mybrother-in-law.
My mom was very happy to havetwo-thirds of her grandchildren
and two-thirds of her kids.
Christian (01:13):
You had the whole crew.
That's a good showing.
Doug (01:16):
Sorry, three-fourths of her grandchildren and two-thirds
of her children.
Christian (01:20):
Three-quarters of them showed up.
Nobody was cutting halves orquartered right.
You're just sayingfractionallyally entire family
being one over one, I seeBeautiful, wonderful, well
represented, beautiful.
Ok, and so there were no.
Were there any car projects,any, any, any garage related,
garage related fun, or was itall about family?
Doug (01:48):
garage related fun?
Or was it all about family?
Uh, mostly family.
I snuck in a little work um.
I was waiting for a delivery,of course for some parts and I
did over the weekend order a uh,I think it's by a company
called quick jack um because Ihave a low.
My garage roof is not as highas I would like, because I
wanted to hold an apartmentabove it, as you know.
So QuickJack will raise my carsabout two to three feet off the
(02:15):
ground.
There you go, which?
is a lot better than what I'mdoing right now, which is
crawling underneath of them orriding up a little ramp.
Christian (02:24):
So I think it's going gonna only improve my
mechanical abilities yeah, Ithink you should stop buying
cars that are so low to theground.
If you would just buy monstertrucks, you could just walk
around underneath them.
I think you might have theproblem solved.
What do you think?
Doug (02:37):
well, maybe we could talk to nicole johnson about what
monster truck to drive maybelet's do aigger is available.
Christian (02:44):
Yeah, absolutely, I could totally see you in that.
It's a great, great family car.
From what I hear it isGeographically speaking over the
past week.
I want to welcome back ourlisteners around the world.
Yes, we are heard around theworld.
Welcome back to our listenersin Israel, germany, canada and,
more closely in these UnitedStates, portland Oregon at the
(03:05):
top of the list.
Why are we so popular inPortland Oregon?
Any ideas?
Doug (03:11):
I know why.
Why, because it's somewherenear Nigel Tunnicliffe lives.
Christian (03:17):
Oh bang, there you go .
I think he's in.
Doug (03:19):
Washington State, but pretty close right.
Christian (03:21):
Fantastic Coastline Academy Driving School, yes,
yeah yeah, yeah, I love how youcan see the big bump in in in
membership, in the numbers andin these blips are fun to watch.
The magic of reporting andanalytics, okay, so we said
portland, oregon, tuckerton, newjersey, philadelphia,
pennsylvania, washington, dc,chicago, det.
(03:41):
Big cities, the capitals arewell represented.
A lot of times some weeks, it'sjust small towns all over the
country, but big cities as well,mixed in here Detroit, how
about Markham, ontario, andMontreal, quebec, for our
friends north of the border,welcome, you're always welcome
(04:02):
here, yeah.
So one other thing is that wecontinue to get pictures for our
the new feature on the website.
Really, one of my most favoriteparts about the website is
let's see.
I said hey, doug, how about theMemory Mary go-round or the
carousel of cars?
This is where you go to thewebsite and you have pictures of
(04:24):
the cars.
Scroll by and in websiteparlance that's called a
carousel because they go around.
Remember, like slides on theold carousel that we had as kids
, your folks had little slidesand you'd project the image onto
the wall.
So I said you know, it's calledthe memory merry-go-round or
the carousel of cars.
But then Doug took the cake bycalling it the carousel of cars.
But then Doug took the cake bycalling it the carousel no
(04:46):
car-o-cell the Cars.
Loved carousel.
I love it.
Cars Loved carousel yeah,carslovedcom.
Carslovedcom.
Slash photos.
Slash photos will get you there.
Please join us.
Visit If you like what you hear.
Review you can write a reviewon the website or on your
podcast streaming platform ofchoice.
(05:08):
Other than that, anything newwith the website or our outreach
?
Anything worth mentioning?
Doug, or should we press on totoday's guest, who is really
exciting because we have afantastic guest today?
Doug (05:21):
What do you think?
Let's press on.
This is a very special andunique guest.
Christian (05:25):
Let's make it happen.
So I have to ask you, doug, theworld-famous prompt, how did
today's guest find his way toyour virtual garage?
Doug (05:36):
Yeah.
So today's guest was brought tous by the gift that keeps
giving indirectly.
So our wonderful guest, jamesMcRae from Eastern Shore of
Maryland, who I went to highschool with, referred me to a
gentleman named Dirk Decker awonderful person we have his
(05:56):
podcast out there who was ahelicopter pilot, as you know,
and very big in the Porschecommunity, and Dirk.
We had a great time with Dirkand he did a referral to Mr
Timothy Kearns, who we have, whois also a Porsche fanatic but
has a very unique tie to theautomotive industry.
Christian (06:19):
Tim, welcome to the show.
How are you this fine afternoon?
Wonderful fellas, nice to talkto you.
Hey, thanks for making sometime in your schedule today and
you have a unique.
You're an interesting guy inyour own but some very storied
family history around theautomotive industry arena.
So can you tell us yourfamilial tie to the automotive
(06:41):
industry, us your familial tieto the automotive industry?
Tim (06:44):
well, I was a little kid growing up in the city of
detroit and my dad being uh partof the automotive uh culture
there, um heard that they weretrying to improve the mileage on
cars.
This was way back in 1963.
(07:06):
And they were having a hardtime with vacuum carburation.
So they wanted to make someelectronic components and he
developed the intermittentwindshield wiper, electronic
control.
Christian (07:24):
So interesting, and it's one of these things that's
so brilliantly integrated intoeveryone's life.
Right now.
You can't think of a machinewithout that.
But you know, 50, 60, 70 yearsago things didn't work that way,
and so how did this flash ofinspiration come to him?
Tim (07:54):
Well, um, he on his wedding night.
Uh, he was opening theobligatory bottle of champagne
and it whacked him in the eyewhen it popped open.
And uh, my mom says she knew itwas all downhill from there.
But he got blinded in his lefteye and as part of the
(08:15):
recuperation he would blink andit would hurt when he blinked.
And then he began to wonder howcome windshield wipers can't
blink the the way my eyes blinkbecause we're he's looking
through the windshield, you knowthat that okay.
Christian (08:30):
So that's such an interesting.
So did he ever regain sight inthat eye?
Was it temporary blindness,permanent blind?
Was he all the way blind or?
Tim (08:40):
he was um.
It was permanent, but he hadperipheral vision, got it out of
the side so he wasn't fullylegally blind.
Christian (08:50):
He could drive okay, and so it struck.
It struck him that, hey, sothis is, this is, if we could it
cause it to go more slowly.
It's so much less wear and tearon the mechanicals, on the, on
the blade itself, and a betterexperience all the way around.
So how quickly?
(09:11):
From when that happened, did hehave some sort of prototype to
show?
I would assume there's a lot ofuh, a lot of testing well, it
took him.
Tim (09:21):
it took him really just a couple of days to create a
circuit Fantastic.
Because, he was one of the fewpeople at the time who was
working with transistors.
He worked with Bendix, so heknew what they were and that's
what is the on-off switch thatcreated the delay.
(09:43):
So it's a very simple circuit,so simple that it began to haunt
.
The simplicity haunted himlater in his life.
Christian (09:55):
Interesting, interesting.
And so he comes up with aprototype.
Now, how did the patent part ofthis work?
So not to skip ahead too far,but someone took his idea.
So what was his flag in thedirt or flag in the sand?
Was there a patent, that sortof predated, when other people
(10:19):
began to come and take this ideathat you?
Were visited in the future.
Tim (10:23):
How did that work?
He had an initial patent.
With that, he began to look foran initial manufacturer to
offer this product to, andeventually he ended up with
30-some patents.
Eventually he ended up with 30some patents.
But it also got into a lot oflitigation because, yes, the
(10:49):
automotives in Detroit heardabout it.
As a matter of fact, hisbrother was a vice president of
one of the divisions of Ford andhe he managed to present it to
Ford through communicationsoffered by his brother.
Christian (11:12):
Gotcha, gotcha.
So, guessing, I'm sure Dougwants to hop in here, being the
being the car nut that he is.
So his idea was presented andthey said oh no, no, no, we have
no interest in that.
But then they now that theyhave the idea.
Right, he?
He wasn't aware that it hadeven been integrated until later
on, and then he came back andsaid hey, wait a minute, this
(11:32):
was my idea.
Tim (11:34):
Well, yeah, it was a sort of sort of like that when you
try to distill it down into afew sentences, you're taking a
lot of uh, events that happenreally indeed, sure you know.
But but basically, yeah, hepresented it to to ford.
Ford said, hey, come on in andshow us how it works.
(11:54):
And then they were alwaystrying to see the circuit itself
.
And he always had that verywell hidden, smart, yeah.
And then they, they tried totrick him into showing him what
the circuit was.
Eventually you have to watchthe movie and then you'll, uh,
you'll end up seeing all thedetails that we're talking about
now, yeah, gotcha gotcha.
Christian (12:15):
And the movie doug was called flash of genius, yeah
, and.
And his father was portrayed by, was it it?
Greg Kinnear?
Greg Kinnear, so interesting,and I know Doug wants to get in
here.
But the thing I find sointeresting is to find an
audience with the executives ofa company.
Whether your idea is good orbad is really quite an amazing
(12:37):
and striking thing.
That in itself was anincredible stroke of luck.
You know, everything thathappened afterwards was a bit of
a bit of a domino effect, butjust to be in front of them, I
don't know, maybe it happens allthe time.
I haven't worked in theautomotive industry, but that
struck me.
What do you think, doug?
Doug (12:54):
Uh, you know, I uh, I had watched parts of the movie and
then I watched it last night,just preparation.
And uh, of course, one of myquestions for Tim was how how
accurate.
Tim (13:07):
Um, yeah, yeah oh yeah, well, uh, the you're not
supposed to watch your lifeflash before your eyes maybe
just once good point, yeah, goodpoint.
(13:27):
But that that's what it feltlike when I saw it for the first
time.
It was wow, it was uh moving,to say the least and, and the
movie came out in 2008, correct?
Doug (13:39):
yeah, and um, when, when did they approach your family
about it?
Tim (13:44):
I I think it was timed with the patent lawsuits which or
some some win, in 1990 perhapsyeah, it was 90, I think 90 for
ford, um, then chrysler followedthat, and then there was a
third case that was going to becalled the world class or world
(14:05):
case.
Right, and it was everybodyelse beyond that.
But yeah, there was, we wereapproached for rights to the
story and to make a movie, evenwhile we were just beginning
(14:27):
movie, um, even while we werejust beginning, um, so every
year they would send us thislittle teeny check and, uh, they
kept the rights going, but thenfinally they came across, and
they came across big in myopinion yeah, yeah, yeah, for
all our listeners if you haven'tseen the movie or it's been a
while, watch it.
Doug (14:42):
It is really good.
It was good to see the youngTim portrayed in there.
Timmy, oh yeah.
But he taught me to solder.
And why did he do it?
I watched him soldering.
I saw the smoke.
(15:03):
I thought it was cool.
I burned my hand trying to doit behind his back and he's like
no, I'm going to teach you.
He gave me my first solderingiron and I still use it on.
Well, not that one, but I stillsolder for my car projects.
Tim (15:17):
Yeah, and it teaches you all kinds of life lessons like
patience Yep, absolutely.
And.
Doug (15:25):
I've gotten better over the years, actually since I
started using it.
But, yeah, just seeing yourfamily come together with your
dad including, I think, you andyour older brother, at least as
portrayed in the movie,soldering some parts while your
dad was getting the concepttogether, oh yeah, it was great.
Yep, it really was, andinspiring, and we could go on
(15:49):
and on about the movie.
I think kind of real quick,it's one of the.
Correct me or help me get thisright In terms of patent law or
patent lawsuits right, it was avery long and well documented
(16:09):
lawsuit or set of lawsuits, orjust maybe some reform in patent
law as a result.
Tim, I said a lot there.
Tim (16:21):
Oh yeah, no, is it's uh, it's uh seminal to modern, um
patent law?
Yeah, and he, he truly did uhchange the, the, the patent law
for all the inventors that arecoming in the future.
And you know, they theyminimized maybe not so much
minimized, but they certainlyhad representation of the
(16:48):
inventors in the movie too, andhe did it for the inventors, he
didn't do it for the money.
That was always yeah.
Christian (17:15):
And really it seems to me and I know Doug wants to
get to your origin story ofthese cars, but the arc years of
you know his sticking to hisguns, knowing that he's right,
holding feet to the fire.
I can't think of anything moredaunting than entering the legal
system, which is Byzantine tobegin with, and then going up
(17:35):
against just the big three yeah,yeah, just phalanxes of
corporate lawyers Can you thinkof anything more stacked against
you.
Yet he was right.
Yet he persisted, he won in theend, blazed a trail for
inventors and changed the systemthat we know today and that's
really so beautiful and profound.
(17:56):
Do you ever reflect on that,tim?
Tim (18:01):
Yeah, every day.
Yeah, I love it.
It was 30 years, but it changedthe world, so it didn't seem
that way at the time.
It was a real pain, but wealways had the dream that and he
would instill it in us that no,no, no, you got to pay
(18:23):
attention to this because it'sgoing to make a difference.
And he got us all toparticipate a hundred percent,
even after we all had careers.
We left our careers to toassist him, um, during the Ford
case and the Chrysler case.
Wow, Wow.
Yeah, and each of those wasfive-year, golly.
Christian (18:46):
Yeah, yeah, sure, and it would have been so easy to
give up, it would have been soeasy to throw in the towel, but
you didn't, you didn't, andthat's such a victory, or take
the settlement right, and hisdad wouldn't do it, correct.
Tim (19:02):
We had a lot of discussions around the family table.
Christian (19:05):
I bet you did, I bet, you did.
Doug (19:08):
And Tim, you are one of six children, right that Dr
Kearns had?
Tim (19:12):
Yes, there are six of us.
And he had us because he neededa corporation to do exactly
what we did, which is toundeniably help him.
Yep, yep, fantastic.
Doug (19:24):
Irreverently spoken of as the Kearns Corporation, and you
were all the board of directors,as he spoke in the movie.
He did indeed, yeah.
Tim (19:33):
And that's true, yeah.
Doug (19:35):
And I'll throw this in, hopefully Christian won't mind.
Christian won't mind.
Tim (19:46):
Did any of your siblings become lawyers, maybe as a
result, or it led them in thatdirection, of course.
Well, it's funny.
Each one of us is sort of apiece of a lawyer.
Christian (19:54):
Yeah, as is your father.
Doug (19:56):
As is him?
Tim (19:57):
Yeah, because we were all sitting there when my dad was
learning from the real lawprofessors that he hired to help
him learn how to be a lawyer.
Doug (20:08):
Yep.
Tim (20:08):
And there's a whole long story of why that had to happen.
But yeah, so Dennis is actuallya private detective, which is
close to being a lawyer.
You learn about what it is youneed to defend and where does
the evidence come from.
Doug (20:26):
Yeah and yeah.
I was encouraging Christian andChristian hopefully you won't
mind me saying it as we recordedthis Christian's son, middle
son.
It was his first day of aninternship at a law firm.
Tim (20:41):
Today.
Doug (20:42):
Yeah, just today.
Christian (20:43):
A paid internship at that.
So as soon as we're donerecording this interview, I
can't wait to go.
Yeah, yeah, he's a junior inhigh school, but on his mock
trial team Great guy Did verywell at that, enjoyed it, and he
.
So as soon as it's done, ourconversation here is done we're
going to go have dinner and chatabout his first day.
(21:04):
So, yeah, at this point I thinkit would be proper to hop in the
time machine go 88 miles anhour go back in history and, as
Doug was saying, there's aninteresting tie in between the
car scene with intermittentwipers and his first car.
So tell us a little about thatif you can.
Tim (21:26):
Well, the first car was actually a 67 Cougar that my dad
bought.
There's a whole long storyabout where that came from, but
the first car that I felt was mycar that I paid for was a 71,
was a 71 Mach 1.
Oh wow, um, I bought it from aguy down the street.
My grandfather lent me twothousand dollars to buy it.
(21:49):
Uh, this was probablytwo-year-old car at the time
sure 351, cleveland, uh.
T10 four-speed hearse shifter,all the drag package.
I didn't know it had a dragpackage until after I got it.
It was an amazing car.
Christian (22:09):
Just a beast of a car .
I mean just big and beefy andwide and angular, just a
menacing looking thing.
Yeah, how long did you havethat car for?
Tim (22:21):
I had it for about uh three , three, four years um, and it
got 10 miles a gallon, 780, 780,uh.
Dual pumper, vacuum secondariesyeah, it was um.
Vacuum secondaries yeah, it wasum.
(22:47):
Suck it down yeah.
And even a jet engine yeah,yeah, at 35 cents a gallon it
was still a lot of gas.
Christian (22:50):
And a lot of money, yeah, so now that's very
interesting.
You mentioned that last partbecause something happened in
the 70s that made it very disaddisadvantageous to say the least
to own a car like that.
What happened in the 70s tocause you to move into your next
car?
Tim (23:11):
Oh well, that was the I don't know what.
Was it a shortage?
You got it?
Yeah, I forget exactly whatcaused it, but the end result
was you couldn't get any gas.
Doug (23:21):
yeah, exactly so the gas crisis right yeah yeah and what
year was that about 75?
Tim (23:33):
yeah, 75, 67.
Yeah, yeah, I think they wereactually.
Christian (23:38):
Well, it's opec opec just tightening right because
although there's so muchrefining, we have all the
refining capacity we'll everneed in this country.
At the time we didn't have thecrude oil.
So all OPEC had to doOrganization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries.
All they had to do was kind ofrein in and tighten in, just
supplying them in 101.
When they do that, what happensto the price of oil?
(23:59):
Boom.
So all the oil came here wasjust so expensive so we could
refine it.
It's just the feedstock was soexpensive.
And yeah, and we were chattingabout this before the show and
we've had all of these, we'vehad several guests on and I just
find this fascinating that whenI go to a gasoline station now
I don't think anything of it.
(24:20):
In fact, oil, gasoline is soplentiful here.
Well, oil in this country now,due to fracking technological
advantages, is also in refiningtoo that you can find gasoline
anywhere.
I mean it's 10 cents, it's 2cents over here, cheaper you go,
do that, you know it's soplentiful, but to have I just
can't wrap my head around whatit must have been like in the
(24:42):
70s.
I've seen, even heard of carsrunning dry and had to be pushed
into the gasoline station, longlines, like you were saying
even in odd numbers on thelicense plate or on the day,
that's just incredible.
So that had a big impact on you.
Because the Mach 1 wasn't, youdecided to trade that in, get
(25:03):
something more economical.
Oh yeah, I had like 25 miles todrive to the University of get
something more economical.
Tim (25:05):
Oh yeah, I had like 25 miles to drive to the University
of Maryland to go to school andI needed something that was a
little more efficient.
So it became a Pinto.
Doug (25:19):
Yeah, before we, and there's obviously lots of good
stories about Pintos in the news, right, and the gas crisis and
that's yeah, the Pinto was kindof ready to go.
That's a success story for themost part.
You did tell us thinking aboutthe Mustang and I love this song
(25:41):
that you picked out, thinkingback what was a favorite song of
yours that makes you, if youhear it on the radio, you think
about the mustang.
If you think about the mustang,you probably think about this
song.
Tim (25:53):
Oh, yeah, I think that was uh.
Was it steppenwolf?
I think yes, yes, sir, born tobe wild, born to be wild.
Doug (26:00):
Yeah, and I, I can just imagine you in the mustang mach
one just burying the needlewatching the gas gauge literally
move to the left and listeningto that song.
Tim (26:14):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Doug (26:15):
Yeah, no, what a wonderful story.
And obviously you became a carguy at some point.
Maybe it was because of yourfather, maybe it was because
growing up in Detroit, forhowever long you lived there,
but certainly the Mustang waskey, probably.
Tim (26:35):
Oh, yeah, well, Dad had a lot of interaction with Ford.
Yes, and, of course, growing upin Detroit, uh, woodward avenue
was not far away, so we wouldhit, we would hitchhike three or
four miles away to on a fridayor a saturday to watch what was
happening on woodward avenue, um, and that was just uh, seminal
(27:00):
to becoming the car guy, yeah,every every kid was yep, yep,
yeah, if you're a detroit guy,detroit kid, right, how right
you're not right.
Doug (27:10):
Yeah, it's uh, my, uh.
My niece, who is visiting,actually goes to university of
michigan.
So we were talking about I'mtrying to get my daughter to go
out there, but I selfishly tovisit her, selfishly, I want to
go and see all the car museumswhile I'm out there.
So oh, yeah, and uh, even visitJohn DeLorean's grave.
So there you go, which has areally wonderful tombstone of
(27:33):
the DeLorean with the doors open.
So it'd be great to see that.
Tim (27:37):
Nice.
Doug (27:37):
Yeah, so um, back to the Pinto.
So tell us, tell us about thePinto.
And for people who don't know,the Pinto was infamous for
somewhat cost-cutting that endedup making a very dangerous car,
but at the time it got, whatwas the gas mileage, tim, if you
remember.
Tim (27:58):
Oh, I think it had to be in the low 20s, which was pretty
good.
It was a four-cylinder, foursmall, three-speed floor shifter
.
Yep yeah.
I mean it's a cool shape.
Doug (28:13):
Yeah, yeah.
And there were many right.
There was the hatchback, therewas a two-door, there was a
four-door, there was a four-doorhatchback.
There were many differentmodels right and a wagon.
Tim (28:28):
Yep Wagon door hatchback.
There were many differentmodels right and a wagon, yep
wagon, full wagon.
Yeah, and it's always still funto see the tubbed out pinto
with the mnh race masters in theback and just this little ball
of a differential left betweenthem.
Doug (28:39):
Yeah, it's cool yep, yep, yeah they.
They get used for quarter miledrag cars, right.
Tim (28:45):
Yeah.
Doug (28:46):
For some reason they caught on as popular.
I don't know.
Maybe they're just easy tomodify Right, yep, cool.
And so after the Pinto, andmaybe when gas prices got better
, you moved on to a import car.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that car?
Tim (29:08):
import car.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that car?
Well, it was a.
Yeah, import cars were cool and, being a young architect, you
know everybody had their, uh,their import in mind and mine
just happened to turn into afaster version of um, an import
car.
It was was a BMW 2002.
Doug (29:25):
Yeah, and that was really like the first BM first kind of.
Wasn't the first BMW in the U S, was it?
But it was the first, like itwas the car that made BMW in the
U S.
Tim (29:38):
I think it was.
Yeah, I would say so.
Doug (29:40):
Yeah, and they're, and they're still prized after Right
.
Tim (29:44):
Oh, very much yeah.
Doug (29:46):
Yeah, and they're, and they're still prized after Right
.
Oh very much, yeah, yeah.
And then the three seriesfollowed Right, which really is
the one everybody else remembers.
Tim (29:52):
But right, yeah, this was a precursor to the three.
Doug (29:56):
So you went from like super fast not maybe the best
brakes, not the best handling toslow brakes, not the best
handling to slow, and none ofthose things.
A BMW, which maybe wasn't fast,but it was a whole different
experience, Right, Tim?
Tim (30:13):
Oh yeah, I did hot rod it.
I put a Weber 40 on it.
Christian (30:16):
That helped.
Tim (30:17):
You know that was kind of cool, nice, yeah, it was a nice
car yeah.
Doug (30:23):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, certainly not one of your, not
the last of your German cars,right Because and this is our
connection with Dirk and maybehow you met Dirk, right yeah?
Tim (30:38):
very much.
Doug (30:39):
You were very involved with Porsche.
Tim (30:42):
Yeah.
So after the BMW started torust out, I needed to find a
dependable car.
And this was at the time whenFord was just coming out with
the Probe.
And I thought, well, I'll buy aProbe.
You know modern technology, allthose things.
And I went to get it and it was$25,000 or something like that.
(31:09):
And one of my friends said well,if you're going to spend that
kind of money, why don't you geta Porsche?
I said what's a Porsche?
And they reminded me.
So I went and, sure enough, Isaw at the local dealership a
944, normally aspirated.
I didn't know that at the time,but I drove it and I thought,
well, this is a nice car, I likethe way it is.
(31:29):
And I ended up buying it thenext day.
And then, as I'm driving thatcar around Eastern Maryland,
where I am, there was another944.
And my wife now saw it.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and she goes walking up to
(31:50):
the guy and says, uh, myboyfriend has a 944 and he has a
beard just like yours.
And that's was the first timeshe met Dirk and she introduced
me to.
Dirk, and that's how thatrelationship.
Doug (32:06):
Oh, oh wow.
You've been friends with dirkfor yeah, 30 plus years then
yeah, it's, yeah, yeah.
Tim (32:13):
So the two of us went off and took our 944s to the porsche
club okay, yeah, nice and uh.
Doug (32:22):
nowadays you have a 9 uh 93, 911 which is a 964 model
which is air-cooled.
Tim (32:32):
Very much Do you race that at Porsche events At the DEs
yeah, with Potomac Region I'mthe DE steward We've been doing
that.
We grew up through it.
Doug (32:51):
Yeah, yep, yep, and we're going to have we're going to
have Vu Vu Nguyen, who I metmany years ago when I had a 996.
Very briefly, but it'll be goodto reconnect with him and Dirk.
Help with that introductionreintroduction, if you will.
Him and Dirk helped with thatintroduction reintroduction, if
you will.
So, yeah, so you're veryinvolved in the weekend events
(33:12):
and I guess you're considered ait's a high-performance driving
event instructor.
Would that be accurate?
Tim (33:20):
Yeah, yeah, I'm a nationally rated instructor um,
but I I choose not to instruct,I do the um.
I'm the steward, I'm theessentially the policeman that
puts uh cars on and off thetrack and and keeps track of
them all yep and uh.
Doug (33:41):
yeah, I think you said you're in the hot pit, is that
the term?
Oh yeah, yeah yeah, and we havea reference back to the
carousel.
We have a picture of Timwearing a cone, like a cone
costume in the hot pit.
Tim (33:58):
Because there's a lot of fast-moving cars in the pit and
the one thing every driver knowsis never hit a cone.
So that's why I became the cone.
Doug (34:09):
Yep, smart, smart, and it hasn't failed you yet.
Tim (34:14):
No.
Doug (34:16):
So, portia, now we do like to ask I know we're running a
little bit out of time here, butif you don't mind what was the
most dangerous?
And I know you have a greatstory with this and for some of
our listeners they won't knowwhat the car is but what was the
most dangerous car you were in,and why?
Tim (34:36):
The most dangerous car was my brother Dennis's, serial
number 13, bricklin.
Serial number 13, bricklin, andhe asked me to help him
renovate it.
So we were driving.
(35:01):
I was driving it on an off-rampnear Gaithersburg.
Maybe I was experiencing it alittle too much, but all four
tires blew dry, rotted, and I'mcounter-steering not to hit the
guardrail.
Doug (35:12):
Oh man, yeah, but you didn't hit the guardrail right.
Tim (35:17):
No, no, not a bit, it was close.
Doug (35:20):
Yep, and the irony right, the Goldwing, or sorry, the
Bricklin Goldwing vehicle wasdesigned as a safety vehicle.
I think it was called the.
Tim (35:32):
SV1.
Doug (35:33):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and built with different materials,
I think fiberglass and someother things, and real impact
bumpers.
And yeah, it was reallydesigned to be a safety vehicle.
Yeah, but it wasn't safe withdry, rotted tires.
Tim (35:55):
No, not a bit.
Christian (35:56):
So I don't know if you guys can hear me, but my
Zoom glitched for about two orthree minutes and y'all got into
the Bricklin.
So if you've already coveredthis, don't cover to get back.
How did he come across aBricklin, Was it?
You've already covered this.
Don't cover to get back.
How did he come across aBricklin?
Was it a difficult vehicle toget?
Tim (36:12):
He got it in Detroit somewhere.
I'll have to ask him.
But yeah, he lives still inDetroit, the suburbs of Detroit,
so he picked it up there.
Doug (36:27):
And does he still have it by chance?
Tim (36:32):
I think he passed it on to somebody.
Okay, gotcha yeah.
Doug (36:35):
And you know, James had a Bricklin at his shop.
I don't know if it belonged tosomebody else.
It was not your brother's,though, apparently.
Tim (36:45):
No, no, no.
Doug (36:49):
Yeah, man, there's so many , there's so many things I did
want to ask.
So you, you live on the Easternshore in Maryland, you're an
architect and for for a lot ofpeople who also love movies
besides watching flash of genius, you did some work on a home or
homes.
(37:09):
Uh, that was featured in themovie wedding crashers, which a
lot of people don't realize.
Uh, was taken in the easternshore.
I think it was on an islandnear oxford, is that correct?
Tim (37:22):
um, yeah, there's.
Uh, the house is calledEllenborough and it's on the
Tredavon River.
It was a state home from the20s and it's undergone a number
of renovations.
So I got involved on an earlyrenovation to do a kitchen redo
(37:51):
and of course those types ofhouses flip owners very often,
so I ended up doing a fullrenovation of the caretaker's
house on that same property fora different owner.
It got subdivided off, sothat's the way it goes here okay
(38:12):
, gotcha.
Doug (38:12):
Yeah, a lot of people don't know where that was filmed
and I I just remember seeingthe annapolis harbor I live in
annapolis, of course and I sawthe woodwind where they went on
a on the.
I guess it was after thewedding post wedding yeah yeah
they.
They went on a cruise on thewood wind to that island, to
that home that you rebuilt, ohyeah yeah, so really all ties it
(38:37):
together.
Tim (38:38):
And, of course, uh, you lived in maryland for 35 years
1974 to 1970 to present, but onthe eastern shore since 89
certainly Oxford's got some goodhistory Harriet Tubman, the
(38:59):
Underground Railroad yesbeautiful place.
Robert Morris was the signer ofthe Declaration of Independence
.
The original Naval Academy washere in Oxford and then it
suffered a burn, and that's whenit moved to Annapolis.
Doug (39:21):
Oh wow, I didn't know that piece.
Yep Wonderful.
Tim (39:25):
Wow, yep wonderful wow, and of course we still have the
oldest, uh, continually runningcar ferry is in easton.
I'm sorry, oxford, and it goes.
Doug (39:36):
It goes to bellevue, which is on the saint michael's neck
okay, yeah, gotcha and there,and there's some great car shows
in the Eastern Shore, east End,oxford area, correct?
Tim (39:50):
And a wonderful museum in St.
Doug (39:52):
Michael's yes.
Tim (39:53):
And I've been lucky enough to do a few car garages for some
of the bigger collectors here.
Doug (40:03):
Yeah, okay, oh yeah, that's awesome.
I know the museum just boughtan old gas station.
I don't know if you're involvedin that renovation.
Tim (40:15):
I got a Bob Kern story about that gas station.
Awesome, yep, he rebuilt themotor of one of my dad's cars.
Doug (40:29):
Okay, wow, yeah.
What a tie-in, and it justmakes me happy.
I live in Maryland and try andget over the bridge whenever I
can, except during summer.
Tim (40:44):
Except on.
Doug (40:44):
Thursday and Fridays.
Tim (40:45):
That's right.
Doug (40:46):
Yep, don't go anywhere.
So, with all that, christian ishaving some technical problems,
but he asked me to thank you,of course, and you know we're
hoping to have you back and Ijust wanted to kind of close out
the show with you know he wasTimothy Kearns, wonderful man,
(41:11):
architect, car aficionado, carindustry veteran, via his father
, featured in the movie Flash ofGenius with Greg Kinnear.
Wonderful movie really.
Some great family values,family times, like growing up in
a family of six children anddoing all that, just incredible.
(41:33):
And the things your dad did forinventors, to your point right,
really changed the laws and,you know, helped keep companies
honest.
Right, it's probably the simplething to say yes, yeah, there's
probably better terms, but yeah, we'd love to have you back.
(41:56):
So this is Tim Kearns and youhave just heard the high revving
, low mileage, late model heardaround the world authoritative
podcast on automotive nostalgia.
I'm Doug.
You can reach me at Doug atCars carslovecom.
He is christian.
You can meet him at christianat carslovecom.
And tim, if people want to findyou, what would be a good way
(42:20):
for them to find you?
Because I assume you may dosome projects still from time to
time?
Tim (42:25):
oh, oh, I'm still working.
Okay, Excellent, let's seetbkernsdesigncom.
Okay, and yeah, tbkerns atiCloudcom.
Doug (42:38):
Okay, yep, and we will put all that in the show notes when
we post this episode.
Wait a minute, I'm back.
Christian (42:44):
He's back.
All right, we're going to endthis show the right way.
You've just heard the high rev,low, minus late model heard
around the world.
Third favorite podcast onautomotive nostalgia he's doug.
Reach my doug at cars laptop.
God, I'm christian.
Reach me at christian at carslovecom he's tim.
You know how to get a hold ofhim.
Please follow and tell a friend.
If you like what you hear, goto your podcast streaming
platform of choice and leave areview.
(43:05):
Yes, my phone completely took adump.
I went to sos mode in themiddle of an interview, but I am
back.
Doug (43:11):
I'm sure doug did great and troutcarslovecom or our link
tree at linktree slash carsloved, which is our digital
switchboard, as christian callsit I love it and if I got
nothing out of this, you getsome big laughs from Doug.
Christian (43:29):
Thank you so much, Tim.
Sorry about what just happened,but I'm sure we will see you at
the next local car show,showroom, race show or concourse
.
We appreciate you taking a lapwith us.
We will see you next time.
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