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Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey Eddie here, before we get started, I wanted

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Speaker 1: you to know that you can listen to Car Show

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Speaker 1: ad free by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. You'll also

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Speaker 1: get access to detours, bonus episodes of Car Show where

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Speaker 1: we go for extended drives, play outtakes, and more fine

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Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on the Car Show page, in Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or at Pushkin dot Fm. So all I have right

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Speaker 1: now is a twenty fourteen BMW X one. And now

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Speaker 1: most people would say that's perfectly sufficient. But I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: say that. You would, no, you would not say that.

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Speaker 1: I have tried it on a airport run for a

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Speaker 1: holiday with my you know, with my new plus one,

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Speaker 1: so three of us, and it was, you know, the

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Speaker 1: amount of I had totally underestimated the amount of stuff

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Speaker 1: that now, I mean, this is not in the last

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Speaker 1: ten years. The amount of stuff must have doubled that

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Speaker 1: you're required to carry with you. And the seats, car

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Speaker 1: seats are just ginormous. They're huge, Yeah, they're they're fortress

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Speaker 1: like we're just like so yeah, So I clearly what

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Speaker 1: I have right now is insufficient. That's me and Malcolm Gladwell,

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Speaker 1: a couple of months ago, talking shop, just like we

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Speaker 1: always seemed to do. Talking shop is actually how we met.

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Speaker 1: I still remember when I got that first call from

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Speaker 1: him a few years ago. I was sitting at my

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Speaker 1: desk in ann Arbor as editor in chief of Current Driver.

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Speaker 1: When my phone rang. I heard the dulcet tones. Malcolm

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Speaker 1: introduced himself as a reader, which I could hardly believe

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Speaker 1: because I was at that very moment breaking apart in

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Speaker 1: Oreo with my teeth. There was no way this mental,

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Speaker 1: giant red car magazine's. I was also prejudiced to believe

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Speaker 1: that all intellectuals hated driving and thought all cars were

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Speaker 1: yellow with a light on top. But this Canadian kid

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Speaker 1: impressed me. He was talking torqu curs and limited slip deferentials.

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Speaker 1: He said he was doing a show on unintended acceleration

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Speaker 1: for the first season of his podcast, Revisionist History. Did

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Speaker 1: we at carn Driver want to be featured on it?

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Speaker 1: We sure did. Altaman hits the brakes firmly, smoothly, easily,

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Speaker 1: we come to a halt. But now it was my

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Speaker 1: chance to return the favor. Malcolm needed my guidance. He

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Speaker 1: needed to know how do I effectively move around a

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Speaker 1: young family and all the stuff that comes with it.

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Speaker 1: Malcolm had just become a father and couldn't decide what

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Speaker 1: kind of car to get for his family. His small

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Speaker 1: first generation BMW X one SUV may have been perfect

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Speaker 1: ideal even for a bachelor. But if you're hauling kids

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Speaker 1: in their tackle, a glorified hot hatchback like the X

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Speaker 1: one isn't going to cut it. So I had to

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Speaker 1: parachute in there. And by parachute, I mean pack my

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Speaker 1: stuff into a minivan in Detroit and drive six hundred

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Speaker 1: miles east to meet Malcolm and Hudson, New York, home

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Speaker 1: to the Pushkin offices, and together we would go on

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Speaker 1: a quest to find Malcolm a car for the pastoral

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Speaker 1: life with a child, maybe even two. Eventually there's a

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Speaker 1: great pg arooric mine. He says. Having one kid is

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Speaker 1: like having a dog. Having two kids is like having

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Speaker 1: a zoo. That, yeah, everything's exponentially greater. You have to

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Speaker 1: have way more stuff. And yeah, if you're flying and

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Speaker 1: getting the whole family packed up to go on an airplane,

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Speaker 1: you need your car seat for the plan and for

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Speaker 1: the cab and all that, and you need your stroller

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Speaker 1: and there's just so much stuff. It's like packing a

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Speaker 1: small army. Here's my worry. My worries are as well.

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Speaker 1: I'm totally spoiled by I love this car to death,

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Speaker 1: my X one. Yeah, it has that beautiful creamy in

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Speaker 1: line six, and it has the hydraulic steering. It's got

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Speaker 1: like right old school. The steering on this car is

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Speaker 1: so beautiful. Every time I give into any other car,

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Speaker 1: regardless of the price, I don't think it steers as

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Speaker 1: well as my as my X one. So I'm resigned

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Speaker 1: to the fact I'm surrendering. So that's a hard thing

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Speaker 1: to give up for sure. But you know, designing which

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Speaker 1: way to go for a people mover, for a family car,

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Speaker 1: for you know, something that has a lot of space,

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Speaker 1: it's really sort of a deep psychological question. It is.

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Speaker 1: I'm now I'm a child of as well as I'm

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Speaker 1: sure all every member of my generation is. I'm a

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Speaker 1: child of the station wagon. Yeah, as I'm sure you were.

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Speaker 1: I was what was what we your family wagons, h

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Speaker 1: Ultomobile custom Cruiser. That was the biggie with the slide

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Speaker 1: out tailgate and the you know, the rear facing third

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Speaker 1: row where you could put the window down and inhale

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Speaker 1: the exhaust and you could, you know, make faces at

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Speaker 1: the serial killers behind you. It's so unsafe. And U

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Speaker 1: and my mom never got a minivan. Our car growing up,

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Speaker 1: our family wagon was up in the beginning was a

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Speaker 1: Pugo four O four. So yeah, I mean our moms

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Speaker 1: drove wagons, our parents drove wagons. But then the minivan

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Speaker 1: revolution came and sort of reordered the family car universe. Now,

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Speaker 1: in one fell swoop, the Chrysler minivan destroyed the station

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Speaker 1: wagon market, but then the station mark then the minivan

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Speaker 1: market itself got destroyed by the suv. And so that's

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Speaker 1: what we're going to look at today. We're going to

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Speaker 1: look at these three formats, like the evolution of the

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Speaker 1: family car from the station wagon to the minivan to

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Speaker 1: the suv. Which one is best for you? For me?

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Speaker 1: So we have what we have a representative of each class.

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Speaker 1: Yes we have a No, I'm not committing to these

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Speaker 1: particular cars. We're just trying to choose the class. That's right.

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Speaker 1: We're just towing into the frigid waters of automotive responsibility here.

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Speaker 1: It's a tough adjustment for a guy who has an

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Speaker 1: addiction to performance cars and the speeding tickets to prove it.

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Speaker 1: So I used a categorical approach, positioning his options not

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Speaker 1: as specific cars that might be too depressing, but in

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Speaker 1: the abstract the question is cautiously broad. Where on the

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Speaker 1: family car evolutionary ladder will our test subject, Malcolm Land

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Speaker 1: will he go retro and choose a wagon like his

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Speaker 1: parents did, or will he partake of the other options

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Speaker 1: in the marketplace, the minivan or the suv. We have

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Speaker 1: three vehicles for you to check out. Okay, okay. The

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Speaker 1: first is the Kia Carnival. Oh do you know what

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Speaker 1: that is? Yes, I do, I have. I have been

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Speaker 1: looking at them online really furtively or furtively. Well, I

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Speaker 1: like the idea that it doesn't it's a minivan that

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Speaker 1: doesn't look like a minivan, which is you know, but

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Speaker 1: it's all minivan. I mean, you're gonna see. I can't

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Speaker 1: wait for your experience with it or in your reaction.

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Speaker 1: The second is the wagon, the thing that a minivan killed.

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Speaker 1: The wagon that we have is a Volvo V ninety

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Speaker 1: cross Country. Ah, so this is the jacked up one. Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: they're all sort of jacked up. They all want to

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Speaker 1: be SUVs. Now they all have kind of exaggerated fenders,

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Speaker 1: higher ride heights. You know, it's interesting because the way

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Speaker 1: that the cargo area is packaged in wagons is usually

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Speaker 1: pretty good for getting kids stuff in there, because it's

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Speaker 1: it's longer, it's generally wider, and it's it's more horizontal

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Speaker 1: than vertical. And then we come to the suv. The

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Speaker 1: vehicle once used for rock crawling and mud bogging has

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Speaker 1: been brought to heal. The modern day suv is the

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Speaker 1: de facto family car for many, but the one we're

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Speaker 1: going to drive today blurs the line between family car

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Speaker 1: and granite bowl eyed. It's the Mercedes MG GL fifty three,

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Speaker 1: and it is very red, very fast, and very very expensive.

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Speaker 1: I'll give you my pre ranking of what I believe

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Speaker 1: a priori what I believe my preferences will be. The

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Speaker 1: one of the most dubious of is the overpowered suv.

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Speaker 1: It's mostly for kind of like symbolic sociological reasons. Perfect

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Speaker 1: I don't want to be the jackass in the AMG

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Speaker 1: the glamg. Right. I briefly had a Boxter, which was

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Speaker 1: the most beautiful drive I've ever had, and I got

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Speaker 1: rid of it because I was the jackass in the boxter.

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to go the jackass in the boxter.

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Speaker 1: I understand that, so I worry that jackass factor high. Also,

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Speaker 1: I've run a foul of the police so many times

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Speaker 1: up here, and the temptation to speed in this thing

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Speaker 1: is going to be, I'm guessing overwhelming. Second, I think

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Speaker 1: I'm quite drawn to Station Megan's. They have great symbolic

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Speaker 1: meaningful for me. I think they're immensely practical. I'm a

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Speaker 1: little dubious of these new fangled Volvos. I wouldn't mind

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Speaker 1: something that was just a proper psix orve eight in it.

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Speaker 1: And then I think I'm probably most enthusiastic about the

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Speaker 1: project of a minivan. Interesting because the sort of underlying

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Speaker 1: thing here is that we're going from the emotional to

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Speaker 1: the rational. We're going from it, you know, this crazy

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Speaker 1: steroidal Mercedes, it's all jacked up and it's got like,

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Speaker 1: you know, nightclub lighting and everything, and it's read through

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Speaker 1: the more rational station wagon, where the cargo package is

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Speaker 1: a little bit more sane and makes a little bit

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Speaker 1: more sense. It's lower to the ground, but it's still

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Speaker 1: fun to drive to the completely rational, which is the

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Speaker 1: one box minivan, not fun. I have no kind of

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Speaker 1: status anxiety about driving a minivan. Well, here's a really

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Speaker 1: interesting point, and Dan Neil from The Wall Street Journal

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Speaker 1: makes it all the time. He says, minivans are symbols

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Speaker 1: of virility. Sports cars are not minivans. Mean you've had kids,

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Speaker 1: you've reproduced? Yes, yes they do. So that's our baseline.

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Speaker 1: That's those are your your pre existing biases. And you

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Speaker 1: think you're a minivan man, to come by be a

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Speaker 1: minivan man. Yeah. I'm Eddie Alterman, and this is Car Show,

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Speaker 1: my podcast about why we drive what we drive. On

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Speaker 1: today's season finale, we asked a question. When it's time

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Speaker 1: to trade in the fast car for a family car,

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Speaker 1: which do you choose? SUV, minivan or station wagon? Papa Bear,

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Speaker 1: Mama Bear or baby Bear. After the break, Malcolm and

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Speaker 1: I hit the road with a ship ton of baby

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Speaker 1: stuff in the backseat. So here we are Me and Malcolm,

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Speaker 1: two performance card guys evaluating family cars. Wintertime in Hudson,

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Speaker 1: New York is perhaps the perfect gran environment to prepare

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Speaker 1: for the coming fatherly depressions ahead. The dead trees and

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Speaker 1: the slick roads set in appropriately somber tone. Still, some

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Speaker 1: fun must be forgiven. Oh there it is, there, it is.

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Speaker 1: They are kind of rad looking. We give you the keys, Malcolm.

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Speaker 1: First up is the Mercedes mg GL fifty three list

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Speaker 1: price seventy seven thousand dollars, which sounds outlandish when you

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Speaker 1: say it out loud, But this thing is loaded to

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Speaker 1: the gunnals with leather, chrome and technology. Forget heated or

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Speaker 1: even cooled seats, the chairs, and this bends administer massages.

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Speaker 1: That's right, massages. Sounds over the top, and it is,

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Speaker 1: but it is also fairly representative of the new species

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Speaker 1: of European suv. I'll take a look. Probably enough room

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Speaker 1: for the stroller and all the baby well. The Mercedes

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Speaker 1: trunk is lavishly trimmed in something that feels like wombat fur.

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Speaker 1: There's a little chrome pull to access the spare tire

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Speaker 1: well and little chrome tie downs for the rear netting.

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Speaker 1: If you were to put a closet like this in

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Speaker 1: your house, it would easily cost seventy seven grand, given

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Speaker 1: the richness of the materials. But it's no walk in

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Speaker 1: closet in here. The cargo volume is compromised by the

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Speaker 1: forward raking rear window. The whole car is rakish. It

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Speaker 1: looks mean, it sits squat on huge twenty one inch wheels,

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Speaker 1: and every surface seems to glint like a gee. They're

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Speaker 1: definitely sacrificing practicality for that, you know, a certain eagerness,

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Speaker 1: esthetic eagerness forward rake, I don't, I don't, I don't.

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Speaker 1: I think they're thinking more about the horse powers than

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Speaker 1: they are about the number of children in the backseat.

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Speaker 1: I think. So yeah, there's no Eddie. There's nothing about this.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't even if I arrived at home with this

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Speaker 1: and I said to my partner, here's the here's our

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Speaker 1: family car. What is it? What's family about this car?

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Speaker 1: I don't know it. Actually, now that I'm looking at

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Speaker 1: with this red paint job and the black interior, it's

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Speaker 1: very kind of Marquis decide, you know it is not.

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Speaker 1: It's dark. I would worry about the values if any

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Speaker 1: child raised in this car, right, they're going to grow

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Speaker 1: up to be psychopaths. No, these are I think this

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Speaker 1: is what I was saying before. I object to these

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Speaker 1: overpowered They're just they're just jackass cars. You say that

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Speaker 1: now I haven't driven it. We shoved producer Sam and

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Speaker 1: Jacob in the back. They are not Baylor Linemen. It

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Speaker 1: was surprisingly tight back there. Well that's interesting. We don't

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Speaker 1: even have space for our we're maxed out at four yeah,

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Speaker 1: for in some microphones and that's it. It's pretty tightly coupled.

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Speaker 1: As I said, there's nothing family about this car. That's nice.

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Speaker 1: How do you like that from your one steering wheel,

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Speaker 1: you feel like it's hideous. You feel like Lewis Hamilton,

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Speaker 1: I feel I think it looks like it looks like

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Speaker 1: a video game control box. Yeah, I think we should

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Speaker 1: go full drive. Yeah, it so even this steering from

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Speaker 1: my like for my liking, it's too light, right, I

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Speaker 1: just don't. I'm just thinking to my little battered you know,

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Speaker 1: eight year old X one, and it's just so much

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Speaker 1: more of a pleasure to drive. Well, there's a connection there,

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Speaker 1: I mean to the road surface. You get some feel

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Speaker 1: coming through the steering wheel into your hands. It's really

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Speaker 1: really important. And I point out that we are that's

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Speaker 1: the prison. Oh that's where they're going to send me

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Speaker 1: one day when I get my next speeding tickets. So good,

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Speaker 1: It comes alive a little bit, right, comes alive. It

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Speaker 1: just wants to be a sports car, right, It doesn't

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Speaker 1: want to be a family car. And if I would

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Speaker 1: to drive this way with my daughter in the back,

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Speaker 1: I would, I would. It would be like a criminal act.

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Speaker 1: You know. I just think this card's a certain so

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Speaker 1: with fully optioned and creeping towards one hundred grand for

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Speaker 1: a car that it cannot be driven the way it

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Speaker 1: wants to be driven right for for I mean that's

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Speaker 1: the rational argument. I mean, isn't there something we're celebrating here?

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Speaker 1: I think it's only usable if you have a pre

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Speaker 1: adolescent son, and then that's the kind of person for

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Speaker 1: whom this car is ideal. Yeah, listen there, Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: mean it's crazy. And that's the six cylinder. Let's find

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Speaker 1: the massaging seats here? Does like to go fast? Yes,

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Speaker 1: it does. I do like the seats, Eddy, They're exceptional.

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Speaker 1: They are good, aren't they? These are some of the

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Speaker 1: best seats i've i've i've Saturday. Let's do the activated massage. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: give me a hold the sage, Kay, Paul sating we

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Speaker 1: have any last night. We don't want to go too

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Speaker 1: far deep into this man, You'll never know what you'll

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Speaker 1: find in the massage section. I will say this about

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Speaker 1: the tear finishes is actually this is beautiful right, you

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Speaker 1: have this cool carbon fiber we've here going across the

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Speaker 1: whole instrument panel. You have this kind of Super Bowl

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Speaker 1: style screen that goes from the digital gauges to the

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Speaker 1: control kind of message center. Yeah, you know it's it's

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Speaker 1: totally over the top. But you know, if you're paying

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Speaker 1: this much money, it is very bank faulty. I will

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Speaker 1: say doubt about it. It's crazy how well made it is.

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Speaker 1: I think that that's really where Mercedes beats everyone. But

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Speaker 1: there is much to be said about the Mercedes handling too.

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Speaker 1: For a big, heavy car, it sure likes to boogie.

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Speaker 1: You can do some serious donuts to end all donuts failing,

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Speaker 1: did you rans they probably get You're probably have four

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Speaker 1: kinds of doughnuts you could do in this car. You

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Speaker 1: could do a Crueler. You could do a Boston cream cream. Well, no,

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be a boss of You'd be like a Heidelberg. Right,

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Speaker 1: it's some kind of Bavarian nice right exactly. So what

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Speaker 1: we have here in the Mercedes AMG is something that's

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Speaker 1: excessive for kid duty. It's too nice. You don't want

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Speaker 1: apple sauce getting smeared on the leather. You don't want

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Speaker 1: goldfish dust ground into the carpets. As much as this

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Speaker 1: bends is a thing to covet, it is not the

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Speaker 1: rational choice. And I'm trying to appeal to Malcolm's higher

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Speaker 1: instincts here. My initial impression that it is a jackass

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Speaker 1: mobile is confirmed. It is. It has nothing to do

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Speaker 1: with children. You wouldn't put a child in it. The

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Speaker 1: child would would would the minute it got dirty. You'd

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Speaker 1: be horrified because it's so gorgeous. You're you would drive

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Speaker 1: away too fast. You're partner would be screaming at every

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Speaker 1: time you took a corner, like at an appropriate speed.

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Speaker 1: Just everything about it is like it's just wrong. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean but I'm not even sure that compromise back

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Speaker 1: rear areas also bothering, not just not convinced. I and

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Speaker 1: fifth so much stuff in it. Well yeah, it's it's

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Speaker 1: really about the driver first rather than the kid in

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Speaker 1: the bank, right, yeah, not for the kind of parent

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Speaker 1: you want to be, Not for the kind of parent

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Speaker 1: I want to be. The Mercedes AMG G L E

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Speaker 1: fifty three failed to seduce Malcolm. He saw right through it.

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Speaker 1: Parenthood one high buck euro SUV zero. Next up is

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Speaker 1: our minivan and the newest entry to the segment, the

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Speaker 1: Kia Carnival. There are only five minivan models on sale

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Speaker 1: in the US right now, so this Kia Carnival is

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Speaker 1: a great representative of the current state of the minivan

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Speaker 1: circa twenty twenty two. All right, let's take a look. Okay,

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Speaker 1: is gorgeous. Now we're in Kya country, and it is gorgeous,

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Speaker 1: not only for a minivan, but by any measure. It's

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Speaker 1: just a very well resolved piece of industrial design. The

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Speaker 1: front grill is seductively concave. You want to reach out

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Speaker 1: and touch it. The overall boxingess is diminished by some

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Speaker 1: very careful surfacing. There's a huge L shaped spear of

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Speaker 1: textured metal flanking the rear glass. It has the effect

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Speaker 1: of making the Kia look long and low, more suv

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Speaker 1: than minivan. And that's just the outside. The inside is

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Speaker 1: where the real action is, because minivans are about the passengering,

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Speaker 1: not the driving. We started Malcolm off in the second row.

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Speaker 1: Oh we've got the captain's chairs. Okay, make yourself comfortable. Now.

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Speaker 1: It has been yours since I sat at a minivan,

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Speaker 1: and I must say that I the first delightful thing

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Speaker 1: is just how kind of airy and bright and the

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Speaker 1: greenhouse as you as you guys like to say, right, Yes,

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Speaker 1: I feel like in c I feel I have I

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Speaker 1: can surveil my kids in the backseat. Yes, And there's

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Speaker 1: an intercom system in this vehicle, so you can yell

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Speaker 1: at them and they can yell at you. Wait, there's

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Speaker 1: an there's an intercom system. So during the third row

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Speaker 1: I can keep them in line. Yeah, they can bark orders.

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Speaker 1: What kind of So the third row is really a

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Speaker 1: kid a kid row. It's a kid row and it's

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Speaker 1: not well, these are the kind of deluxe business class chairs. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I handed Malcolm E laminated placard. It described how to

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Speaker 1: operate the business class style recliners in the Kia's second row,

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Speaker 1: this particular model, which is the top of the line Carnival.

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Speaker 1: It's really about the second row seat. And a funny

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Speaker 1: thing about the second row seat. It's kind of a

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Speaker 1: Korean cultural thing. That one next to you, that captain's chair.

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Speaker 1: That's where the chairman sits and he can stretch out.

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Speaker 1: And this is where the interpreter sits or the secretary sits,

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Speaker 1: so he or she has to sit all the way up.

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Speaker 1: But the front passenger seat sacrifices their foot room for

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Speaker 1: the chairman in that Yeah, exactly, Oh it's nice. Yeah

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Speaker 1: you can. I think recline this one too. The chairman's

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Speaker 1: chair has got a foot rest. I think both of

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Speaker 1: them do. And are you gonna take Are you gonna

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Speaker 1: take me for a driving? Let's do it? Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: you have to be reclined. Do you have to be

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Speaker 1: in the I would like to be called chairman Malcolm

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Speaker 1: for the duration of this draw because I'm in the

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Speaker 1: chairman seat. I put my daughter in the third room

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Speaker 1: and the car seat back there, sure, or the second

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Speaker 1: round next to you, she can monitor. I don't understand

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Speaker 1: the as a new parent, the obsession with monitoring the

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Speaker 1: child at all times. I mean if once they're strapped

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Speaker 1: in or in a crib. I understand if they're free ranging,

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Speaker 1: but like, why do I need to have round the

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Speaker 1: clock surveillance of this kid if they're already in what

355
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Speaker 1: is essentially a prison cell, which is what a crib is,

356
00:24:31,436 --> 00:24:34,036
Speaker 1: right as prisoners. Yeah, and we really have to keep

357
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Speaker 1: our eyes on our kids for some reason. I know

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Speaker 1: this massive nanny state. Okay, hold on, um, do I

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Speaker 1: want my daughter to be in a car that has

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Speaker 1: a chairman's chair, Like, what message am I sending her?

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Speaker 1: I think you're preparing her for the real world. That's

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Speaker 1: the reality of her life where she what is gonna be?

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Speaker 1: She always be at the bottom of the hierarchy, and

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Speaker 1: like there's always going to be a chairman lording over there.

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Speaker 1: I think she could be the chairman. She could be

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Speaker 1: the chairman. I'm telling my daughter you could. You two

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Speaker 1: can grow up to be a chairman. Can get used

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Speaker 1: to what it feels like. Yeah, I'm gonna make a

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Speaker 1: series of ill advised corporate decisions. Okay, we'll roll it up.

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Speaker 1: Tell you I want your professional perspective on. Remember how

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Speaker 1: I drove some six hundred miles from Detroit to Hudson

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Speaker 1: to meet Malcolm. I did it in this minivan. Ten

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Speaker 1: and a half hours in this thing. Plenty of time

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Speaker 1: for me to mentally catalog it's pros and cons. The

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Speaker 1: pros the comfort, the space, the calm, and the straightforward

376
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Speaker 1: nature of the infotainment system. The cons well, not many.

377
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Speaker 1: The one thing that I did notice on the highway

378
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Speaker 1: was getting blown around quite a bit. It was a

379
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Speaker 1: little a little bit like a spinnaker on the highway.

380
00:26:04,676 --> 00:26:09,636
Speaker 1: But that's because it just has a very broad broadside. Yeah,

381
00:26:09,676 --> 00:26:13,036
Speaker 1: so it acts sort of like a sock because you're

382
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Speaker 1: also cutting across the winds who have planes. That's right.

383
00:26:17,076 --> 00:26:19,196
Speaker 1: Little here in the Northeast, we don't have an issue.

384
00:26:19,436 --> 00:26:24,756
Speaker 1: That's true, those big open prairies. So I was but

385
00:26:25,076 --> 00:26:27,836
Speaker 1: you know, I felt very kind of in control the

386
00:26:27,876 --> 00:26:29,476
Speaker 1: whole time. There was a there were a couple of

387
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Speaker 1: moments where I felt like the steering was a little laggy,

388
00:26:34,156 --> 00:26:38,276
Speaker 1: that the body control, you know, wasn't that great. But

389
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Speaker 1: it's encouraging you to drive at a stately pace exactly.

390
00:26:42,876 --> 00:26:46,076
Speaker 1: You know, it was very happy at eighty miles an hour.

391
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Speaker 1: It's not the quietest thing, but it's pretty darn nice.

392
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Speaker 1: And look, Malcolm, it's got the super Bowl screen. It's

393
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Speaker 1: got the same thing as the Mercedes already does add

394
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Speaker 1: that big vast I do like them. How great the

395
00:27:03,436 --> 00:27:09,876
Speaker 1: U pits abilities? Yeah, it's good. And you know, the

396
00:27:10,036 --> 00:27:15,476
Speaker 1: engine's a little course, it's no Mercedes six cylinder, but

397
00:27:15,556 --> 00:27:18,356
Speaker 1: you know it's fine for what it is, and it

398
00:27:18,476 --> 00:27:21,676
Speaker 1: got out of its own way pretty quickly. You know,

399
00:27:21,716 --> 00:27:24,396
Speaker 1: when you're driving, you'll see it's it's it drives pretty

400
00:27:24,396 --> 00:27:28,796
Speaker 1: small it doesn't feel like a big honking minivan. There's

401
00:27:28,836 --> 00:27:33,276
Speaker 1: your friend. He's always sitting there. Although I would think

402
00:27:33,276 --> 00:27:35,956
Speaker 1: you're pretty uh, aren't you pretty caught proof in this car?

403
00:27:37,396 --> 00:27:40,116
Speaker 1: Such a great point, Such a great point. They do

404
00:27:40,196 --> 00:27:43,396
Speaker 1: not pull over minivans, yeah, you know, especially ones that

405
00:27:43,516 --> 00:27:46,916
Speaker 1: are sort of road colored and just blend into the background.

406
00:27:47,356 --> 00:27:50,596
Speaker 1: It's not an arrest me kind of car. It's like,

407
00:27:50,956 --> 00:27:55,356
Speaker 1: unlike every other car that I well, that's maybe the issue.

408
00:27:55,756 --> 00:27:57,676
Speaker 1: Maybe we have to get you into something that's a

409
00:27:57,676 --> 00:28:04,116
Speaker 1: little bit more low key, understated and cop invisible. The

410
00:28:04,956 --> 00:28:07,076
Speaker 1: thing is, you know, it's like, this isn't a fun

411
00:28:07,116 --> 00:28:09,996
Speaker 1: car to drive. This is a boring car. This is

412
00:28:10,036 --> 00:28:13,716
Speaker 1: a you know, it's comfortable, but it's boring. It's like

413
00:28:13,796 --> 00:28:17,356
Speaker 1: a government job, and it's a vehicle that a public

414
00:28:17,396 --> 00:28:22,596
Speaker 1: servant might be able to afford. Unlike the Mercedes, this Kia,

415
00:28:22,916 --> 00:28:27,316
Speaker 1: all optioned up, is about forty six thousand dollars. It's

416
00:28:27,356 --> 00:28:30,676
Speaker 1: a little more than half what the Mercedes costs. But

417
00:28:30,796 --> 00:28:34,236
Speaker 1: we're not comparing apples to oranges here. We're trying to

418
00:28:34,276 --> 00:28:37,916
Speaker 1: find a lifestyle. I'm actually kind of loving it, though

419
00:28:38,196 --> 00:28:42,076
Speaker 1: I'm reveling in the vastness of the interior. The seeing

420
00:28:42,236 --> 00:28:43,756
Speaker 1: is larger than the living room I had in my

421
00:28:43,796 --> 00:28:48,436
Speaker 1: first department in Army r Right. Look, I can look

422
00:28:48,476 --> 00:28:52,876
Speaker 1: back at you. I've got the passenger view. Most minivans

423
00:28:52,956 --> 00:28:55,156
Speaker 1: have video screens and the back of the front seat

424
00:28:55,196 --> 00:28:58,516
Speaker 1: headrest to keep the kids occupied with movies or shows,

425
00:28:59,516 --> 00:29:06,156
Speaker 1: you know, Talletubbies, Baby Shark, Reservoir Dogs. The Kia goes

426
00:29:06,196 --> 00:29:10,716
Speaker 1: one screen further the central screen and the keys dashboard

427
00:29:10,716 --> 00:29:13,876
Speaker 1: converts to a kiddie monitor and displays the goings on

428
00:29:13,996 --> 00:29:16,836
Speaker 1: in the rear. See that, that's kind of freaky. That

429
00:29:16,996 --> 00:29:20,556
Speaker 1: is great kids surveillance right there. Look at that. You

430
00:29:20,636 --> 00:29:22,956
Speaker 1: got that like the fish eye view of your kid.

431
00:29:23,076 --> 00:29:25,556
Speaker 1: You can see into their lab. Is a surveillance state

432
00:29:25,636 --> 00:29:30,356
Speaker 1: comes to the minivan. Chairman Malcolm emerged from the private

433
00:29:30,356 --> 00:29:33,756
Speaker 1: plane comfort of the rear seating area and took the wheel.

434
00:29:35,076 --> 00:29:38,156
Speaker 1: I don't know you were saying, it's I like the

435
00:29:38,556 --> 00:29:42,236
Speaker 1: I love the seating posits, the driving position. It's kind

436
00:29:42,276 --> 00:29:45,756
Speaker 1: of the lord of the matter. Yeah, it's I think

437
00:29:45,796 --> 00:29:48,516
Speaker 1: you if you drive drive it in a leisurely manner,

438
00:29:48,556 --> 00:29:51,076
Speaker 1: you'll never hear the engine to sort of the engine

439
00:29:51,076 --> 00:29:56,036
Speaker 1: harshness and right, you just keep it under under wraps.

440
00:29:56,716 --> 00:30:00,436
Speaker 1: That's the funny thing that the Glee goes you into

441
00:30:00,516 --> 00:30:03,956
Speaker 1: using all of its performance, whereas this sort of says,

442
00:30:03,996 --> 00:30:06,716
Speaker 1: you know, maybe maybe don't just says take your time

443
00:30:08,036 --> 00:30:11,196
Speaker 1: Anny the morning I drive the I like it. Yeah,

444
00:30:11,516 --> 00:30:13,996
Speaker 1: what is it about it? If you think I m

445
00:30:14,316 --> 00:30:19,876
Speaker 1: because all the Greenhouse is spectacular, you can see everything.

446
00:30:21,356 --> 00:30:26,876
Speaker 1: I like this sort of captain's chair driving position. I

447
00:30:26,956 --> 00:30:30,516
Speaker 1: like how it encourages me to drive in a modest,

448
00:30:30,916 --> 00:30:35,556
Speaker 1: unassuming manner. I don't know, I like it's kind of

449
00:30:36,556 --> 00:30:43,316
Speaker 1: insane practicality it is. It's like, that's the insanity of it.

450
00:30:43,316 --> 00:30:47,316
Speaker 1: It's it's weird in its own Like it's super committed

451
00:30:47,356 --> 00:30:53,596
Speaker 1: to just being a place where people are comfortable. Yeah. Yeah,

452
00:30:53,756 --> 00:30:56,196
Speaker 1: it's a living room on wheels. That's all it wants

453
00:30:56,236 --> 00:30:59,036
Speaker 1: to be. And I have no problem with that. It

454
00:30:59,076 --> 00:31:01,636
Speaker 1: knows what it wants to be. It's honest about it. Yeah,

455
00:31:01,756 --> 00:31:05,676
Speaker 1: it's fully committed to like being boring and kind of static.

456
00:31:05,876 --> 00:31:08,756
Speaker 1: I don't even know if it's it's boring. I felt like,

457
00:31:08,796 --> 00:31:11,316
Speaker 1: I you know, it encourages me to think of myself

458
00:31:11,356 --> 00:31:16,676
Speaker 1: as a kind of the male protector, you know, it's

459
00:31:16,716 --> 00:31:21,956
Speaker 1: so um, it's very grown up and at the advanced

460
00:31:22,036 --> 00:31:23,876
Speaker 1: age of fifteen, maybe it's time I got a grown

461
00:31:23,916 --> 00:31:28,076
Speaker 1: up automobile. I've never had one before. Yeah, it forces

462
00:31:28,116 --> 00:31:30,036
Speaker 1: you to think about yourself more differently. I mean, do

463
00:31:30,036 --> 00:31:33,636
Speaker 1: you fear more or v rile in it? I feel

464
00:31:33,636 --> 00:31:36,436
Speaker 1: like I could have seven or eight children this automobile.

465
00:31:37,676 --> 00:31:41,356
Speaker 1: In our running family car tally, the minivan scores a

466
00:31:41,476 --> 00:31:46,996
Speaker 1: needed point. So where now at parenthood? One minivan, one dead?

467
00:31:47,116 --> 00:31:51,476
Speaker 1: Even so, how does the station wagon fair? We'll find

468
00:31:51,516 --> 00:31:55,676
Speaker 1: out after the break. I'm Eddie Alterman, and this is

469
00:31:55,716 --> 00:32:11,036
Speaker 1: Car Show. The last car on our journey is the

470
00:32:11,076 --> 00:32:14,756
Speaker 1: station Wagon. I'm thinking maybe it'll be the sweet spot

471
00:32:14,756 --> 00:32:18,916
Speaker 1: we're looking for. Like our minivans segment, the station wagon

472
00:32:18,956 --> 00:32:22,996
Speaker 1: lineup is small. By my reckoning. There are only nine

473
00:32:22,996 --> 00:32:25,676
Speaker 1: wagons on sale in the US, and I'm counting the

474
00:32:25,756 --> 00:32:29,316
Speaker 1: Porsche's sport Arrismo models with their little hatches grafted onto

475
00:32:29,356 --> 00:32:34,356
Speaker 1: the backs of the taykon Ev and Panamyra sedans. So

476
00:32:34,396 --> 00:32:36,956
Speaker 1: the Vovo really does stand in for the market as

477
00:32:36,956 --> 00:32:41,316
Speaker 1: a whole. But I chose the Vovo because it is sensible, beautiful,

478
00:32:41,676 --> 00:32:45,956
Speaker 1: and not ostentatious. It is not a sports car replacement

479
00:32:46,036 --> 00:32:49,916
Speaker 1: like the Porsche's, but it sure isn't the refrigerator box

480
00:32:49,916 --> 00:32:53,956
Speaker 1: on wheels the Fovo wagons used to be. It comes

481
00:32:53,956 --> 00:32:59,156
Speaker 1: across as both seductive and responsible, the thinking person's utility vehicle,

482
00:33:02,036 --> 00:33:04,236
Speaker 1: but it does try to draft in the SUV's wake

483
00:33:04,516 --> 00:33:08,916
Speaker 1: a little bit like the vast majority of today's station wagons.

484
00:33:09,396 --> 00:33:13,716
Speaker 1: The Volvo V ninety cross Country has been ruggedized, a

485
00:33:13,756 --> 00:33:16,916
Speaker 1: little jacked up like an SUV with plastic fender cladding

486
00:33:17,076 --> 00:33:22,676
Speaker 1: and all wheel drive. Still, its sleekness and subtle curvaciousness

487
00:33:22,716 --> 00:33:26,956
Speaker 1: cannot be denied. It has glossy brown paint and big

488
00:33:27,036 --> 00:33:32,276
Speaker 1: silvery wheels. Everything flows from one contour to another, both

489
00:33:32,316 --> 00:33:37,316
Speaker 1: outside and inside. It's more calming than crunchy, more design

490
00:33:37,396 --> 00:33:41,116
Speaker 1: within reach than our EI, and it is our last

491
00:33:41,156 --> 00:33:46,836
Speaker 1: vehicle under consideration. I feel like this vehicle matches your

492
00:33:47,676 --> 00:33:55,356
Speaker 1: esthetic sensibility well. The interior is lovely. It would be

493
00:33:55,356 --> 00:34:01,236
Speaker 1: destroyed by a child in you one week. The seats

494
00:34:01,236 --> 00:34:05,276
Speaker 1: are swaddled in soft brown leather with white stitching. A

495
00:34:05,396 --> 00:34:08,276
Speaker 1: band of open poor walnut wraps around the dash and

496
00:34:08,356 --> 00:34:12,716
Speaker 1: down the center console. A thin spear of brushed aluminum

497
00:34:12,796 --> 00:34:20,236
Speaker 1: follows it high Scandinavian sophistication. The ride on this car

498
00:34:20,396 --> 00:34:24,636
Speaker 1: is quite nice. It's like soaking off the bumps, long wheelbase,

499
00:34:25,156 --> 00:34:32,676
Speaker 1: you know, pretty stable ride, it feels planted. I've always

500
00:34:32,676 --> 00:34:35,436
Speaker 1: felt these things drove a little big. They felt like

501
00:34:35,436 --> 00:34:37,556
Speaker 1: they're a little bit bigger than they are. I don't

502
00:34:37,836 --> 00:34:41,676
Speaker 1: sure your take is on that. It doesn't quite have

503
00:34:41,796 --> 00:34:47,236
Speaker 1: the grandeur of the of the Kia Carnival. My initial

504
00:34:50,436 --> 00:34:54,676
Speaker 1: thought is, if I'm gonna go family haller, I should

505
00:34:54,676 --> 00:34:58,316
Speaker 1: go all in. This seems to be a tweeter. I mean,

506
00:34:58,956 --> 00:35:02,036
Speaker 1: the lack of the third seed. So I can't have

507
00:35:02,076 --> 00:35:06,516
Speaker 1: two children have this car? No, no, so right away,

508
00:35:06,596 --> 00:35:09,076
Speaker 1: I mean, like, so, why don't I just get an

509
00:35:09,636 --> 00:35:12,316
Speaker 1: Why don't I just get a nice sit in? Pretty

510
00:35:12,396 --> 00:35:15,316
Speaker 1: much does this offer me? I mean, I have my

511
00:35:15,676 --> 00:35:21,476
Speaker 1: Catalax T five f right man, he loves that thing. Anyway.

512
00:35:21,916 --> 00:35:24,116
Speaker 1: We stop briefly to examine the cargo hold in the

513
00:35:24,196 --> 00:35:28,756
Speaker 1: Volvo and found it surprisingly small. Yeah, I don't, I mean,

514
00:35:28,796 --> 00:35:31,316
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have a problem with this car,

515
00:35:31,396 --> 00:35:35,116
Speaker 1: but I don't understand. I don't see how it It

516
00:35:35,156 --> 00:35:38,396
Speaker 1: does not solve the question I'm trying to answer right,

517
00:35:38,516 --> 00:35:41,436
Speaker 1: doesn't answer my question. My question is how do I

518
00:35:41,476 --> 00:35:45,596
Speaker 1: effectively move around a young family and all the stuff

519
00:35:45,596 --> 00:35:50,756
Speaker 1: that comes with it. This is a beautiful automobile. That

520
00:35:50,796 --> 00:35:55,356
Speaker 1: doesn't resolve that it for me, this is a style statement. Yeah,

521
00:35:55,396 --> 00:35:57,956
Speaker 1: think about the Volvos that you know, you grew up wherever,

522
00:35:58,716 --> 00:36:03,756
Speaker 1: and compare them to this. How would you characterize that? Well,

523
00:36:04,036 --> 00:36:09,516
Speaker 1: the ones I grew up with had that pleasing obvious liddy.

524
00:36:09,596 --> 00:36:13,716
Speaker 1: They were tanks in the best sense of the word. Um.

525
00:36:14,356 --> 00:36:16,236
Speaker 1: I mean, if we drove them today we would think

526
00:36:16,276 --> 00:36:19,476
Speaker 1: they were ludicrously underpower, but they didn't seem that way

527
00:36:19,516 --> 00:36:24,116
Speaker 1: at the time. They were very They were self consciously utilitarian.

528
00:36:24,596 --> 00:36:28,916
Speaker 1: They were about Swedish socialism. This is a capitalist card, right,

529
00:36:29,396 --> 00:36:31,916
Speaker 1: It's like this is about the transformation of Sweden as

530
00:36:31,956 --> 00:36:36,236
Speaker 1: much as anything, though this V ninety wagon seems impossibly

531
00:36:36,316 --> 00:36:40,156
Speaker 1: Swedish inside and out. Volvo is now a Chinese own

532
00:36:40,276 --> 00:36:45,236
Speaker 1: brand Geelie out of Hanzo bought Volvo from Ford back

533
00:36:45,276 --> 00:36:48,756
Speaker 1: in twenty ten. This is a Chinese But I mean

534
00:36:48,796 --> 00:36:51,156
Speaker 1: it would only even been you know, this is Sweden

535
00:36:51,156 --> 00:36:55,556
Speaker 1: of the seventies, is the most kind of ostentatiously egalitarian

536
00:36:55,676 --> 00:36:58,116
Speaker 1: society on Earth, So there was not an ounce of

537
00:36:58,996 --> 00:37:03,516
Speaker 1: frippery in any of those old follows. This thing is like,

538
00:37:05,076 --> 00:37:06,876
Speaker 1: I feel like they've been like one of those exquisite

539
00:37:06,916 --> 00:37:10,316
Speaker 1: modernist hotels. Yeah, this is sort of the son of

540
00:37:10,316 --> 00:37:14,876
Speaker 1: that bla the st edsel Ford to the Henry Ford.

541
00:37:15,236 --> 00:37:20,156
Speaker 1: This is the you know, this is the kid who

542
00:37:20,156 --> 00:37:24,556
Speaker 1: grew up rich and has really exquisite taste. And it's

543
00:37:24,556 --> 00:37:27,476
Speaker 1: a little more loose. No, there's no question. It's the

544
00:37:27,516 --> 00:37:30,996
Speaker 1: handsomest of the three interiors that we've seen, right, Like,

545
00:37:31,116 --> 00:37:36,716
Speaker 1: who would buy this? This is for a couple with

546
00:37:36,756 --> 00:37:43,036
Speaker 1: no kids, who loves the ski, who you know, has

547
00:37:43,596 --> 00:37:47,716
Speaker 1: you know, really exquisite taste. He's a retired eant specialist

548
00:37:48,316 --> 00:37:51,596
Speaker 1: from Boston who now lives in Great Barrington and Western Massachusetts.

549
00:37:52,476 --> 00:37:57,116
Speaker 1: She is a curator in an art gallery and they

550
00:37:57,116 --> 00:38:01,956
Speaker 1: have one grown daughter who works for Goldman. They don't

551
00:38:01,956 --> 00:38:05,636
Speaker 1: really talk to her. And I think they take this

552
00:38:05,756 --> 00:38:08,756
Speaker 1: car from their home in Beacon Hill, Act to Great

553
00:38:08,756 --> 00:38:11,756
Speaker 1: Barrington every weekend. The Berkshires. Yeah, and they go to

554
00:38:12,556 --> 00:38:15,836
Speaker 1: not the Canyon Ranch, that's too sort of No, they

555
00:38:15,876 --> 00:38:19,116
Speaker 1: go to like that, you know, the Lennox what's it

556
00:38:19,156 --> 00:38:23,156
Speaker 1: called the does a classical music festival. Right, they go

557
00:38:23,236 --> 00:38:26,716
Speaker 1: to UM. I think that's what this car's for, and

558
00:38:26,796 --> 00:38:29,316
Speaker 1: they try to do some antiquing, but are frustrated with

559
00:38:29,356 --> 00:38:33,036
Speaker 1: the size and shape of the cargo area. No, Eddie,

560
00:38:33,036 --> 00:38:36,276
Speaker 1: they're not they're going. They're not taking the piece home.

561
00:38:36,396 --> 00:38:40,276
Speaker 1: Someone's delivering it. You don't. They don't even know that

562
00:38:40,316 --> 00:38:42,476
Speaker 1: it was possible to take to pick it up yourself.

563
00:38:43,396 --> 00:38:47,556
Speaker 1: How basic of me? Yeah, yeah, they're so. I don't

564
00:38:47,556 --> 00:38:52,036
Speaker 1: think I think the I think the cargo area here

565
00:38:52,156 --> 00:38:57,276
Speaker 1: is uh is symbolic. I mean it's good, but it's

566
00:38:57,396 --> 00:39:00,156
Speaker 1: you don't actually you're not hauling firewood in the back

567
00:39:00,196 --> 00:39:04,476
Speaker 1: of this car. It's vestigial, right, It's like one of

568
00:39:04,516 --> 00:39:09,436
Speaker 1: those prehensible tails. It's just there to signify something. Favorite

569
00:39:09,476 --> 00:39:13,076
Speaker 1: quote ever S J. Popel, father of Ron Popel, who

570
00:39:13,196 --> 00:39:16,356
Speaker 1: is the man who invented the pocket fisherman. Someone once

571
00:39:16,516 --> 00:39:19,076
Speaker 1: explained to him that the pocket fisherman, which is a

572
00:39:19,076 --> 00:39:21,796
Speaker 1: fishing rod that you could put in your pocket, didn't

573
00:39:21,796 --> 00:39:26,916
Speaker 1: actually work, and he said, it's not for using, it's forgiving.

574
00:39:30,116 --> 00:39:35,676
Speaker 1: I feel like that describes a lot about this car.

575
00:39:37,996 --> 00:39:40,836
Speaker 1: It's a pocket fisherman on wheels. It's a pocket Fisherman.

576
00:39:52,596 --> 00:39:57,836
Speaker 1: So we've driven all three. One's too overpowered, one's too

577
00:39:57,916 --> 00:40:03,316
Speaker 1: mock functional, but one's just right. Looks like we have

578
00:40:03,356 --> 00:40:06,636
Speaker 1: our verdict. As someone who's obsessed with cars, I think

579
00:40:06,996 --> 00:40:09,636
Speaker 1: you know that your choice of a car is a

580
00:40:09,676 --> 00:40:12,236
Speaker 1: You're making a statement about yourself, the way that the

581
00:40:12,356 --> 00:40:15,116
Speaker 1: music you listen to in the seventies and eighties was

582
00:40:15,156 --> 00:40:17,636
Speaker 1: a statement about who you were. It isn't anymore, weirdly,

583
00:40:17,676 --> 00:40:20,676
Speaker 1: but it was back then. So I'm very self conscious

584
00:40:20,676 --> 00:40:23,396
Speaker 1: about my car choices. It's why I've gotten rid of

585
00:40:23,396 --> 00:40:25,836
Speaker 1: cars that I loved, because I didn't like what they

586
00:40:25,836 --> 00:40:30,636
Speaker 1: said about me. I don't. I'm not a Devolvo is

587
00:40:30,716 --> 00:40:33,596
Speaker 1: first is for someone whose kids have grown and gone

588
00:40:33,796 --> 00:40:37,196
Speaker 1: yeah and who's retired. Neither those are true of me.

589
00:40:38,596 --> 00:40:41,356
Speaker 1: And the Mercedes is I am not a hedge, fun

590
00:40:41,436 --> 00:40:44,276
Speaker 1: guy with the weekend house. That's what that is. That's

591
00:40:44,356 --> 00:40:47,036
Speaker 1: what the car is, right right. It's a jackass car.

592
00:40:47,076 --> 00:40:50,076
Speaker 1: It's it's just just it makes a statement. I mean,

593
00:40:50,116 --> 00:40:53,316
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful automobile, but it's just not the Glee.

594
00:40:53,636 --> 00:40:56,596
Speaker 1: And I think this is true of all performance SUVs.

595
00:40:57,316 --> 00:41:00,116
Speaker 1: There's something inherently dishonest about it. You don't make a

596
00:41:00,116 --> 00:41:03,756
Speaker 1: performance car ride that high or have that much weight.

597
00:41:04,156 --> 00:41:07,436
Speaker 1: You know, a performance car should be something else. And likewise,

598
00:41:09,196 --> 00:41:15,476
Speaker 1: wagon that doesn't have a really useful cargo hold, what's

599
00:41:15,476 --> 00:41:17,556
Speaker 1: the point? Get us an out? Like you were saying. Yeah,

600
00:41:17,636 --> 00:41:22,276
Speaker 1: I'm reminded driving the Murk in my out of favorite magazine,

601
00:41:22,796 --> 00:41:25,076
Speaker 1: car magazine. I well, car magazine. They used to have

602
00:41:25,116 --> 00:41:30,356
Speaker 1: those little capsule reviews of each car sold and written

603
00:41:30,396 --> 00:41:32,716
Speaker 1: in the back. I've always remembered the one they had

604
00:41:32,756 --> 00:41:35,956
Speaker 1: for them, the really big Rolls Royce, which was out

605
00:41:35,996 --> 00:41:43,356
Speaker 1: of my way, a little man, and the Murk is

606
00:41:43,516 --> 00:41:46,596
Speaker 1: very out of my way, little man. It's like it's

607
00:41:46,636 --> 00:41:49,836
Speaker 1: really you know it. I feel like it's out of

608
00:41:49,876 --> 00:41:53,396
Speaker 1: step with the with the particuar or maybe or maybe

609
00:41:53,436 --> 00:41:55,596
Speaker 1: perfectly in step with the moment we're in right now

610
00:41:55,636 --> 00:41:57,436
Speaker 1: as a society, and as it's all I want to

611
00:41:57,476 --> 00:41:59,476
Speaker 1: run as far as as fast as I can from it.

612
00:41:59,476 --> 00:42:02,916
Speaker 1: It's sort of what Jay Gatsby would drive now, So

613
00:42:02,956 --> 00:42:06,996
Speaker 1: I can't. I can't do that one. I really, I

614
00:42:07,036 --> 00:42:09,636
Speaker 1: don't know if I've ever driven a minivan before, really,

615
00:42:11,036 --> 00:42:14,596
Speaker 1: no one will looking my first ever minivan drive, and

616
00:42:14,676 --> 00:42:17,236
Speaker 1: I'm this is a great moment. This was an important,

617
00:42:17,276 --> 00:42:20,796
Speaker 1: important moment for me. What I didn't understand is although

618
00:42:20,836 --> 00:42:24,276
Speaker 1: they're big, they drive small. Yeah. So yeah, it was

619
00:42:24,276 --> 00:42:27,796
Speaker 1: that was the revelation, is there these things are I

620
00:42:27,796 --> 00:42:29,596
Speaker 1: feel I can park it? I mean maybe it's just

621
00:42:29,676 --> 00:42:32,236
Speaker 1: again a perception, but I feel I can park it anywhere.

622
00:42:32,436 --> 00:42:34,956
Speaker 1: But the minivan is that's that's who I am right now.

623
00:42:35,556 --> 00:42:37,996
Speaker 1: And I love that you're honest about it. The minivan

624
00:42:38,116 --> 00:42:40,996
Speaker 1: is honest. It's not trying to be something it's not.

625
00:42:41,196 --> 00:42:43,596
Speaker 1: It's trying to be a great family holler. It's trying

626
00:42:43,636 --> 00:42:48,356
Speaker 1: to be a box on wheels, a utilitarian solution instead

627
00:42:48,396 --> 00:42:53,596
Speaker 1: of cosplay. It made me want to drive all the

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00:42:53,636 --> 00:42:57,756
Speaker 1: other mini van's out there, and I'm gonna try my luck. Well, yeah,

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00:42:57,796 --> 00:43:00,076
Speaker 1: I think now we feel like we're pointed in the

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00:43:00,156 --> 00:43:02,956
Speaker 1: right direction and we can find the right minivan. Yeah,

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00:43:03,396 --> 00:43:06,156
Speaker 1: it's the right kind of vehicle at the right time

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00:43:06,276 --> 00:43:10,636
Speaker 1: in this new father's life. Not to mention the right place.

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00:43:11,396 --> 00:43:14,236
Speaker 1: We're in upstate New York. We are not in Bavaria.

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00:43:14,836 --> 00:43:17,796
Speaker 1: We do not have ananto bon, we do not have

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00:43:18,116 --> 00:43:21,996
Speaker 1: compliant police officers, and we're not stowing all of our

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00:43:22,076 --> 00:43:25,476
Speaker 1: kids stuff at the chalet. Right right, We're taking it

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00:43:25,516 --> 00:43:41,236
Speaker 1: with us. We're in America, We're driving minivans. Car Show

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00:43:41,316 --> 00:43:45,796
Speaker 1: is written and hosted by me Eddie Alterman. It's produced

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00:43:45,836 --> 00:43:50,796
Speaker 1: by Sam Dingman, Jacob Smith, and Amy Gaines. Our editor

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00:43:50,956 --> 00:43:56,716
Speaker 1: is Jan Guera. Original music and mastering by Benaliday. Our

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00:43:56,756 --> 00:44:01,156
Speaker 1: executive producer is Mia Lobell. Our show art was designed

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00:44:01,196 --> 00:44:05,356
Speaker 1: by Sean Karney and airbrushed by Greg la Fever. Our

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00:44:05,396 --> 00:44:09,796
Speaker 1: patron saints are Lee, Tom Malad and Justine Lange. Special

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00:44:09,836 --> 00:44:15,556
Speaker 1: thanks to Heather Faine, John Schnars, Carrie Brody, Carl Migliori,

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00:44:16,036 --> 00:44:23,556
Speaker 1: Christina Sullivan, Jason Gambrel, Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Morgan Rattner,

646
00:44:24,196 --> 00:44:31,876
Speaker 1: Nicole Morano, Mary Beth Smith, Jordan McMillan, Isabella Narvaez, Maya Kanik,

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00:44:32,476 --> 00:44:37,636
Speaker 1: Daniella Lakhan, Jake Flanagan, and extra special thanks to Malcolm

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00:44:37,676 --> 00:44:42,516
Speaker 1: Gladwell and el Hefe Jacob Weisberg. Car Show is a

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00:44:42,556 --> 00:44:45,916
Speaker 1: production of Pushkin Industries. If you love this show in

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00:44:46,036 --> 00:44:50,996
Speaker 1: others from Pushkin Industries, consider subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin

651
00:44:51,036 --> 00:44:54,396
Speaker 1: Plus is a podcast subscription that offers bonus content and

652
00:44:54,596 --> 00:44:58,756
Speaker 1: uninterrupted listening for just four ninety nine a month. Look

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00:44:58,796 --> 00:45:02,956
Speaker 1: for Pushkin Plus on Apple podcast subscriptions. To find more

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00:45:02,996 --> 00:45:08,036
Speaker 1: Pushkin podcasts, Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or

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00:45:08,076 --> 00:45:24,476
Speaker 1: wherever you listen. Podcast m