1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with a heart radio 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And we are back 5 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: with more of the worst cars of all times. So 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: in our last episode, we talked about cars like the 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: s V one and the DeLorean d m C twelve. 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: I like to think of those as like steps cousins 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: or something. We talked about the Trabant, we talked about 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: the Ugo, and now we're going to talk about a 11 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: lot of other cars that fall onto worst Cars lists. 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: And just as a reminder in case you haven't listened 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: to the last episode, I did not pick these cars 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: out of thin air. These are not the cars that 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: Jonathan thinks are the worst of all time. Instead, I 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: looked at a bunch of different lists that had, you know, 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: a title similar to the worst Cars of all Time, 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: and then I curated a few of those for y'all. Now, 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: some of these cars were noted for their atrocious performance 20 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: on the road, like they were just terrible to drive. 21 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: Others were just the wrong design at the wrong time. 22 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily that was a you know, a bad car, 23 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: but that it either missed its window or it came 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: out at just the wrong era. A few of these 25 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: cars were such a bad idea that they would end 26 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: up bringing down an entire company. And I should add 27 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: that nearly all of them have their own fans. Like 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: there are people who will swear that one of these 29 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: cars is the worst of all time, and other people 30 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: who will say, you're full of it. So there are 31 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: people who love these cars because the cars are bad. 32 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: So there's some people who love them because they're not 33 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: good cars. There are also people who genuinely love these 34 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: cars and who will defend to the end of time 35 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: that they are actually good cars. And the best thing 36 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: to do when you encounter one of those people is 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: you smile, you nod, and find the closest exit. All right, 38 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: here we go. Now, first off, we're gonna talk about 39 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: an eccentric engineer. This is gonna be kind of tied 40 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: into our last cars on this list, because I'm starting 41 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: and ending with a really weird one. The engineer was 42 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,799 Speaker 1: Milton Othello Reeves. He and his brother Marshall had done 43 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: a lot of pioneering work in the field of variable 44 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: speed transmissions and early motor vehicles at the end of 45 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Uh So 46 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: they were making things that would become instrumental in uh 47 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: in automotives as well as other types of engines. In fact, 48 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: I think the first variable transmission that Milton worked on 49 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: was for a a saw, not even a car. But yeah, 50 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: they did some genuinely important work in the field of 51 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: automotive engineering. But then Milton made a car in nineteen 52 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: eleven that was a real head scratcher. I guess he 53 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: was looking at the common wisdom of the day, which 54 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: is that four wheels for a car is a pretty 55 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: good idea, and Reeves decided that if four wheels is 56 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: a good idea, then more wheels is probably a great idea. 57 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: So he would go a totally different route than Reliant. 58 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: If you remember from her last episode, Reliant made the 59 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: three wheeled Robin. Well, Reeves would go the opposite direction. 60 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: He didn't want dick wheels away, you wanted to add 61 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: more of them. Specifically, Reeves took an existing nineteen ten 62 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: car from the Overland Automobile Company, So he took a 63 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: car that had four wheels, just a normal vehicle. This 64 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: was back when very few people actually owned cars. Most 65 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: drivers were you know, the wealthy folks who belonged to 66 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,119 Speaker 1: pretty exclusive driving clubs, and they would spend their days 67 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: racing each other in wrecking cars. Well, everybody else was 68 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: getting around, you know, on their feet or on horse 69 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: or whatever. Well, Reeves then decided to take this Overland 70 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: Automobile Company car and perform a real Dr. Frankenstein job 71 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: on it. And he added two additional axles to the vehicle, 72 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: and that increased the number of wheels to eight, so 73 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: you had four on each side. You had four wheels 74 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: in the front and four wheels in the back. So, 75 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: in other words, just imagine a normal car and then 76 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: imagine putting you know, an axle with two wheels in 77 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: front of the front wheels and an axle with two 78 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: wheels behind the rear wheels and calling it a new car. 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: And he called his the Octo Auto. And he brought 80 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: it to the Indianapolis five hundred to show it off. 81 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: This sucker was more than twenty feet long. That was 82 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: a long, long car for the time. And let me 83 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 1: be fair, some of the things that Milton was trying 84 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: to solve, we're pretty tricky in the early twentieth century. 85 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: For one thing, early automobiles didn't have a very smooth 86 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: ride at all. It was pretty jarring, like you know, 87 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: you would hear people call them things like tooth rattlers 88 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: and stuff, because you would be shaken up so much, 89 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: and roads were often unpaved, and the suspension that most 90 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: cars used, plus the hard tires that they were using 91 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: before we got to pneumatic tires, all that meant that 92 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: you really felt every single bump in the road. So 93 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: Milton's design distributed shock more effectively than four wheeled cars could, 94 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: and thus it would provide you with a more comfortable 95 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,720 Speaker 1: ride as you went down the road. It's just this 96 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: was a more comfortable ride in a car that looked 97 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: really weird and was much longer than other vehicles at 98 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: that same time, So you know, there was a trade 99 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: off there. Well. The design what really was odd. The 100 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: front four wells were steerable, and so were the rear 101 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: most set of wheels, So the four wheels in the 102 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: front and the last two wheels in the back, we're 103 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: all steerable. The other set of rear wheels, you know, 104 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: the ones that are a little further up the first 105 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: set of rear wheels. They're the ones that received power 106 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: from the car's drive train. So this was a rear 107 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: wheel drive car, just not the rear most wheels. So 108 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: it's also what you can call an eight by two 109 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: drive system, I guess, but reeves design meant that the 110 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: vehicle was pretty complicated to operate, and it would also 111 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: be incredibly expensive to manufacture. In fact, the Octo Auto 112 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: would end up costing twice as much as the overland 113 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: that served as the core of the vehicle. I saw 114 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: one resource that suggested the car would come in and 115 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: around a hundred thousand dollars if you adjusted for inflation, 116 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: which is a big old yew za. Understandably, Reeves didn't 117 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: get in the orders for his car, though at least 118 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: one journalist reported that a ride in the Octo Auto 119 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: was pretty smooth. Actually like it. It worked, it just 120 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: wasn't practical and it was really expensive. Reeves did go 121 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: back to the drawing board, and he returned later with 122 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: a car that only had six wheels, but that one 123 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: also failed to gain traction. And he also built a 124 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,119 Speaker 1: motorcycle called the Big seven because that's how many people 125 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: could ride the motorcycle at the same time seven people. Yeah, 126 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: Reeves had a thing for the weird. I guess now. 127 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: While the Octo Auto and the sex to Auto ended 128 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: up being nothing more than curiosities with insanely high price tags, 129 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: Reeves did make several legit important contributions and automotive engineering. 130 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: In fact, the Patent Office granted him more than one 131 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: patents in his lifetime. He died in nineteen five at 132 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: the age of sixty. Next, let's talk about a vehicle 133 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: that shows up on tons of worst cars lists. I 134 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: give you, dear listeners, the Pontiac as Tech. That's spelled 135 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: a z t e K, so it's not spelled the 136 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: same way as the colonist term for the you know, 137 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: the cool wa meka people that different spelling. Years before 138 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: the tragic character of Walter White, would you know, putter 139 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: around in a Pontiac as Tech on breaking bad? This 140 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: vehicle would become something of a punchline in the automotive world. 141 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: Pontiac used to be a brand under General Motors, and 142 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: it was a companion make that complemented another GM brand 143 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: of cars called Oakland. If you listen to my history 144 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: of General Motors, you heard me talk about this. General 145 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: Motors had different lines of cars, and each line of 146 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: cars was marketed towards a different section of the population. Generally, 147 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: we're talking about you know, different uh wealth levels, right, Like, 148 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: some of the cars were just more expensive and they 149 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: all belong to one brand. Well, Pontiac was kind of 150 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: a companion brand to Oakland, so it was meant to 151 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: be adjacent to it to sort of fill in the gap. However, 152 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: Pontiac would prove to be more successful than Oakland, and 153 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: GM would ultimately sunset the Oakland line but keep Pontiac 154 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: around for a while. However, Pontiac itself would later face 155 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: extinction by UH. And again you can tune into my 156 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: episodes about General Motors to hear more about that story. 157 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: But the Aztec, as it turns out, would play a 158 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: part in Pontiac's receiving a bad rep and and kind 159 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: of fading away. So in the ninet nineties, the sports 160 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: utility vehicle or SUV had really exploded in America. It 161 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: really gained in popularity. So the classic SUV combines elements 162 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: of passenger cars which typic These stick to stuff like 163 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: you know, roads and highways, and they combine that with 164 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: off road vehicles, you know, like four wheel drive trucks. 165 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: As such, your typical suv has a truck chassis as 166 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: sort of the skeleton, and usually a truck style engine, 167 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: something that has a lot of power to it, and 168 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: it also includes stuff like greater ground clearance, you know, 169 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: stuff that you would typically see with the truck. I'm 170 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: sure you all know this, but it helps to define terms, 171 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: and inside you would have a few more comforts that 172 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 1: you would expect in a car. Well, GM saw a 173 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,439 Speaker 1: potential market emerge, one that would model itself after the suv, 174 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: but would rely on something more akin to a passenger 175 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,079 Speaker 1: car chassis, So you could have elements of suv in 176 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: the design, but you would also have even more of 177 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: the comforts of a passenger car in the vehicle. Later, 178 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: we would use the term crossover vehicle to describe this 179 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: kind of car slash suv. So SUVs are the truck 180 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: version of this sort of thing, crossovers are the car version. 181 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: So if we were to think of this as a 182 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: as a spectrum, you would say car crossover, suv truck. 183 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: The Aztec was sort of a forerunner of crossover vehicles, 184 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: so it was a hint of what was to come later. 185 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: By most accounts, folks liked the concept art for the Aztec, 186 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: which gave it a very suv kind of look. GM 187 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: showed off the concept in n had a pretty good reception. Unfortunately, 188 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: behind the scenes at the company things were a little 189 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: bit different from that concept because there were a lot 190 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: of cooks in the Aztec kitchen. Too many cooks, you 191 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: might say, it takes a lot to make a stew. Anyway, 192 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: Tom Peters led the design of the Aztec, and he 193 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: gave it a look that was simultaneously a little bit 194 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: boxing in places and weirdly aggressive in others, and the 195 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:04,439 Speaker 1: style received a lot of, well, let's call it constructive criticism. Apparently, 196 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: part of the reason for the design was that GM 197 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,599 Speaker 1: management decided the Aztec should use the same basic platform 198 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: elements as the company's lines of mini vans, which meant 199 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: the shape of the vehicle was going to be very 200 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: different from what Peters had originally envisioned. It was going 201 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: to be taller, for one thing, and more boxy, so 202 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: that constrained Peters in his attempts to make an attractive 203 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: suv style vehicle. As carrent drivers Daniel Pund puts it, 204 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: quote the production Aztec, powered by the corporate three point 205 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: four leader V six and with a decidedly on road 206 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: focused optional all wheel drive system combined the performance, excitement, 207 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: and off road capability of a minivan with the lesser 208 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:55,839 Speaker 1: practicality of a chopped minivan end quote sick burn. Supposedly, 209 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: when GM unveiled the two thousand one Aztec at an 210 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:04,320 Speaker 1: auto and made the audience gasp, not out of admiration, 211 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: I might add, and GM had hired a bunch of 212 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: people to make a quote unquote mosh pit in front 213 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: of the stage to hype up the unveiling. I cannot 214 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: bring myself to look for a video of this because 215 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: it sounds like I would cringe myself out of existence. 216 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 1: I'm told there was even a point where the executive 217 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: crowd served I can't The Aztec was reviled. It was 218 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: also pretty expensive, and so it did not sell well. 219 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: GM would pull the plug on the Aztec production in 220 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: two thousand five, and Pontiac itself would shuffle off a 221 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: few years later. In our last episode, I talked about 222 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: the emergence of the subcompact classification of cars here in 223 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: the United States that was going on in the early 224 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, and it was partly in response to rising 225 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: oil prices, though those would really hit a little bit 226 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: later after the subcompacts that already started to show up. 227 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: It was also partly due to the fact that American 228 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: car prices were on the rise and Americans were turning 229 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: to cheaper imported cars, and that was scary to American 230 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: car manufacturers. I mentioned that the Ford Pinto, one of 231 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: the most ridiculed cars of all time, came out during 232 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: this era. Well so did our next car, the A 233 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: m C Gremlin. The A m C part refers to 234 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: the American Motor Company, sometimes shortened just down to American Motors, 235 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 1: and I should probably do a full episode about that 236 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: company at some point, because it did play an interesting 237 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: role in the history of the American automotive industry. But 238 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: you know, just to give y'all a spoiler, AMC no 239 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: longer exists as an independent company, as it was absorbed 240 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: into other companies in the seventies and eighties. But before 241 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: all that happened, AMC produced the Gremlin, and just the 242 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: whole process is kind of the stuff of legend. Supposedly, 243 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: Dick Tigue, who is the chief designer at AMC sketched 244 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: out the first design for the Gremlin on a barf 245 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: bag while flying on Northwest Orient airlines. I don't know 246 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: if that's true. That's what I've seen. Also, the company 247 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: unveiled the Gremlin on April one, a k a. April 248 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: Fool's Day. That part is true. But then there's also 249 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: the obvious that we have to address, you know, the 250 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: elephant in the room, because the word gremlin refers to 251 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: these mythical creatures who would be said to be responsible 252 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: for mechanical failures, particularly in military equipment during wartime. So 253 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: if a jeep were to break down, it was the 254 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: fault of gremlins. And then we have a car company 255 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: that decides to use that word as a name for 256 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: a car. The Gremlin was actually a modified version of 257 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: a compact car that AMC had made for the nineteen 258 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: seventy model year. That car was called the Hornet. And 259 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: here's the scoop. AMC was facing big competition from much 260 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: larger car companies like GM and Ford. They were dominating 261 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: the the market, and those companies had already announced that 262 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: they were starting to make subcompact cars, so a m 263 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: C wasn't really positioned to take on the challenge of 264 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: designing an all new type of vehicle, So instead, the 265 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: executives made the decision to take the compact Hornet and 266 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: to make some changes to create a new subcompact car. 267 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: So the Hornet had a wheelbase of inches, the Gremlin 268 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: would have a shorter one at nineties six inches. The 269 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: Hornet tapered off in the back with your standard trunk design, 270 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: the Gremlin would be slashed back into kind of a 271 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: hatchback appearance, making it look stunted. In fact, a common 272 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: joke among Gremlin critics was, hey, what happened to the 273 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: rest of your car? The Gremlin didn't boast any interesting 274 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: technological advant instruments, which isn't a surprise because AMC was 275 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: really rushing to get into the subcompact market and they 276 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of money to spare on that 277 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: kind of thing. Heck, even the Hornet was relying on 278 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 1: an older chassis and other parts from an earlier a 279 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 1: MC vehicle called the Rambler American, So the Gremlin was 280 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,719 Speaker 1: inheriting hand me downs that were already hand me downs. 281 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 1: At this point, there were a couple of different versions 282 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: of the Gremlin. Some of them were two seater cars, 283 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,959 Speaker 1: and in those there wasn't even a hatchback because there 284 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: was no way to lift up the back windshield. It was, 285 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,719 Speaker 1: you know, a solid part of the car. So if 286 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: you had luggage, you would have to actually have to 287 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: open up one of the two side doors and slide 288 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: a seat up and then put your luggage in the 289 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: back that way, because there was no rear access to 290 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,479 Speaker 1: the vehicle. Now, the four seater Gremlins had a hinged 291 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: back windows, so you could lift that up to get 292 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: to the little storage space. The back seat, however, was 293 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: super close to the front seat. I mean, there wasn't 294 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: a whole lot of space, so you had to be 295 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: so you might be able to transport, you know, someone 296 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: who's four foot taller or shorter, but beyond that it 297 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: would probably be a little claustrophobic for someone to ride 298 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: in the back of a Gremlin. The launch on April 299 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: Fool's Day might have been an indicator that AMC was 300 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: aware of how awkward and you know, kind of ugly 301 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: the Gremlin was. But it also meant the Gremlin debut 302 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: a half year ahead of other subcompacts like the Pinto 303 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 1: and Vega. The Gremlin would still okay, Like it wasn't 304 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't necessarily a runaway success, but it 305 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: definitely wasn't a failure either. However, it does frequently show 306 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: up on worst car lists. When we come back, more 307 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,120 Speaker 1: of the worst cars of all time. But first, let's 308 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: take a quick break. All right, y'all, let's talk about 309 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: America for a second. Can The country has a pretty 310 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: wild reputation, both internally here in America and around the world. Like, 311 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: if I say, what do you think of when I 312 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: say America? Chances are at least some of the things 313 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: that will come to mind are over the top displays 314 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: of excess and perhaps even macho patriotism, you know, the 315 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: America kind of America. And that brings us to the 316 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,399 Speaker 1: Hummer H two. All right. To understand the story, we 317 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: actually have to back up a little bit. There was 318 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: this company, a m General, and it specializes in building 319 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: heavy duty vehicles, and they got a contract to begin 320 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: building out military transport vehicles called hum vs in the 321 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: mid nineteen eighties. And the hum vs purpose was essentially 322 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: to take on the same sort of role that the 323 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: jeep had done in the past, namely transporting equipment and 324 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: people behind the front lines. So, in other words, it 325 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: was not meant to be a combat vehicle necessary really, 326 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: but more of a you know, logistics vehicle. Anyway, one day, 327 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger sees some hum vs in a military convoy. 328 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: I think he was shooting kindergarten cop at the time, 329 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: and he says, I vought one of those, excepting doesn't 330 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: you know his way? I can't. I'm one of those people. 331 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: I cannot do an Arnold Schwartzenegger impression. I don't know 332 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: why I'm saying this to you. You clearly know I 333 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: can't based upon what happened just mere seconds ago. Anyway, 334 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: you get it. Military operations like Desert Shield and Desert 335 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: Storm in the early to mid nineties meant that a 336 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: lot of folks had seen tons of footage of military 337 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: action and this kind of had a groundswell of support 338 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: for a civilian version of the hum Vy, and am 339 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: General was already considering doing that before this, but then decided, Okay, yeah, 340 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: it's time for us to get into the consumer space 341 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: and to make a consumer vehicle version of the hum Vy. 342 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: This would be known as the Hummer. Now, these would 343 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: have a few more comforts installed in them, you know, 344 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: stuff like air conditioning that wouldn't be in the bare 345 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: bones version of the vehicle that AM General sold to 346 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: the military, and this was the Hummer that would later 347 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: become known as the Hummer H one. General Motors purchased 348 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: the brand from a M General in however, a M 349 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: General would continue to actually make the vehicles. GM began 350 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: working on the follow up to the H one design, 351 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: and that would be our ostentatious H two. The Hummer 352 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: H two was a large SUV that took its design 353 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: cues from some of the chunky military aspects of the 354 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: hum Vy. So while the H one was a military 355 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: vehicle that had been adapted to become a civilian car, 356 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: the H two was an SUV that was designed to 357 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: look kind of like a military vehicle. GM used modified 358 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: frame is that it produced for some of its heavy 359 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: truck lines to serve as the base for the H two. 360 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: And you know, the H two was a monster of 361 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: a vehicle. It weighed in at around six thousand, four 362 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,400 Speaker 1: hundred pounds or more than two thousand nine at the time. 363 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: That meant that the E p A actually didn't have 364 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: fuel economy standards for a vehicle. The size of the 365 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: H two because there weren't any other ones. So like 366 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: the E p A had not created regulations for that 367 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: kind of vehicle, which meant that, you know, there weren't 368 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: any rules for it, so it wasn't breaking rules because 369 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 1: there were no rules to break. Uh. And it felt 370 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: to various publishers to test the H two and check 371 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: on its fuel economy and um, it was not economical. 372 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: Depending on the publisher, the outcome was that the H 373 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: two appeared to make around ten miles to the gallon 374 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: of fuel. Uh. Some of them had it as low 375 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: as nine, some of them had it almost eleven, but 376 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,920 Speaker 1: right in that area, which is pretty atroci. Just This 377 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: was at the same time when America was involved in 378 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: more conflicts in the Middle East, and of course that 379 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: was frequently tied up with America's need for oil. And 380 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: here we have this vehicle that would be one of 381 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 1: the biggest gas guzzlers on the road being promoted as 382 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: something we should embrace. Uh. There was also a lot 383 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,159 Speaker 1: of opposition coming up to the military operations that were 384 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: going on in the Middle East. So a vehicle that 385 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: hearkens back to military design and guzzles a lot of 386 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: fuel was not the best pr move GM could have done. 387 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,640 Speaker 1: On top of that, the size of the vehicle meant 388 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: it was just an obnoxious car. I mean, it didn't 389 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: fit well on narrow roads or in parking spaces. I 390 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: can't tell you how many times I saw one of 391 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: these things spanning more than one parking space. Anyway, the 392 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: public reaction to the H two was generally negative and 393 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,159 Speaker 1: really hurt GMS. Reppyteo Aian uh that is outside of 394 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: the H two's fan base. And there were fans of 395 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: the H two, folks who, you know, felt their freedom 396 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: to choose an inefficient, obnoxious car was more important than 397 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: making choices that benefit the common good. But hey, we're 398 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: all living through another age. That really nails home the 399 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:20,919 Speaker 1: fact that there are plenty of folks out there who 400 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: just don't care for anyone beyond themselves. But that's me 401 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,959 Speaker 1: getting off track. Let's let's move on with more cars. 402 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: In fact, let's talk about another vehicle that GM made. 403 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: This one kind of dovetails with the H two. This 404 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: one precedes the H two. In fact, a lot of 405 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: the story of this car plus the H two makes 406 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,640 Speaker 1: for quite the double whammy for GM. And I'm talking 407 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: about GMS E V one that was an electric car 408 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: that came out in nine seven. It would be the 409 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: first mass manufactured electric vehicle from a modern manufacturer in America, 410 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: which I know that's a lot of qualifiers, but you know, 411 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 1: you sit there and think about it that way and 412 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: you're like, wow, that's actually really progressive and on that No, 413 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: my hat is off to General Motors for pushing to 414 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: get back into electric cars. I mean, you gotta have 415 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: to remember that this was. First of all, this was 416 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: not the first attempt for a late twentieth century manufacturer 417 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: to make an electric vehicle, and of course electric cars 418 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: predate cars that run on internal combustion engines. But electric 419 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: vehicles had failed to get a lot of support, and 420 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: GM was hoping to change that. Maybe they certainly would 421 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: fall short. I'm not even sure how sincere their hope 422 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: was so. General Motors had shown off an electric concept 423 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: car in the early nineties and that concept got a 424 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: lot of attention. So the company went ahead and started 425 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,959 Speaker 1: to design and then manufacture the V one, but they 426 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: chose not to sell the EV one. Instead, they would 427 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: only lease the e V one. You could not purchase it. 428 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: You couldn't even purchase it. At the end of your lease, 429 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: you could try to renew your lease, but that's all 430 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: you could do. Further, they limited the markets in which 431 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: customers could actually lease the cars. I'm pretty sure it 432 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: was California and maybe Arizona and that was it, and 433 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: the rest of the states you could not get one 434 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: of these. The original batch of e V one vehicles 435 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: had lead acid batteries, which, while approven technology, were not 436 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: able to supply much of a driving range. In fact, 437 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: the e V one could travel approximately sixty miles before 438 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: it needed to recharge. The second generation of e v 439 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: ones also used lead acid batteries, then an increased range 440 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: of one d miles on a single charge, and a 441 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: later upgrade to nickel metal hydride batteries bumped that up 442 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: again to a hundred sixty mile driving range, though those 443 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: types of batteries actually took longer to recharge as well. 444 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: The battery technology was one of the big limiting factors. 445 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: GM also never went into wider mass production of the 446 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 1: vehicles on a truly large scale, and the company said 447 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: the reason they did that is because there weren't enough 448 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: people to purchase the vehicles to do it. Proponents of 449 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: Electric Cars said they were on waiting lists trying to 450 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: get a lease for one of these, but they were 451 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,639 Speaker 1: told that there was very little chance of them actually 452 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: getting an e V one, And you know, that kind 453 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: of starts to seem like GMS story and the fans 454 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: stories contradict each other. The company says there's not enough 455 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,399 Speaker 1: demand and the people are saying there's not enough supply. Now, 456 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: I don't know if there really was a limit in 457 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: customer demand, like it may be that the people who 458 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,199 Speaker 1: are demanding were few. They're just noisy, uh. And there 459 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: have also been tons of conspiracy theory suggesting that GM 460 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 1: was worried about, you know, electric vehicles cannibalizing the sale 461 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: of spare parts for internal combustion vehicles, that it would 462 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 1: hurt GM's business if they went from internal combustion to electric. 463 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: There was also the perception that the profit margin on 464 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: the e V one wouldn't be nearly as good as 465 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: the profit mark GIN for internal combustion engine vehicles. So, 466 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 1: in other words, GM would make less money on our 467 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: per sale basis, and so from a business perspective, it 468 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: made little sense for GM to continue supporting the initiative, 469 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: so GM stopped the program, and they recalled ev ones 470 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: once all the leases were up, and they reportedly destroyed 471 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: all the vehicles. And that's the double whammy that I 472 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier. GM was destroying electric vehicles and simultaneously getting 473 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: into the business of marketing a gas guzzling monstrosity in 474 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: the Age two. So it was, as the kids say, 475 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: a bad look and it didn't do GM's reputation any favors. 476 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: By the way, based on what I could find out 477 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: about the e V one, it sounds like the folks 478 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 1: who leased one really liked the car. This wasn't the 479 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: case of a vehicle performing poorly or breaking down, but 480 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: rather a car that has a bad rap because of 481 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: the business circumstances around the car, namely that GM went 482 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,479 Speaker 1: into the e V one a little half hearted, limiting 483 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: it to leases and such, and the company then went 484 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: on to push the H two. Next, rather than talk 485 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: about a specific vehicle, I want to talk about a 486 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: car company in the decision to try and cheat the system, 487 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: which meant a bunch of vehicles would end up being 488 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: a huge problem. And we're talking Volkswagen here, folks. So 489 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,959 Speaker 1: it's the twenty tens and among the cars that Volkswagen 490 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: produced at that time were several models that ran on 491 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: diesel fuel rather than gasoline. Diesel engines are generally speaking, 492 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: more efficient than gasoline powered engines, and as a consequence 493 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: of that, diesel engines generate fewer carbon dox side emissions 494 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: than a gasoline engine will, assuming both engines are similarly 495 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: powerful and handling similar loads. Right, Like, if you're talking 496 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: about a really efficient small gasoline engine and you compare 497 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: it to a inefficient large diesel engine, your mileage varies, right, 498 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: But they do put out less carbon dioxide. However, they 499 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: also put out more nitrogen oxide, and that's a contributing 500 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: factor to stuff like smog and acid rating. So it 501 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: is a pollutant. But the world was adopting tougher emission 502 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: standards and Volkswagen vehicles appeared to perform really well, and 503 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: we're well under the limits set by those standards, like 504 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: Volkswagen cars did astonishingly well. Diesel seemed to be a 505 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: good alternative to gasoline because of that, and Volkswagen was 506 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: championing the idea, really talking it up. And then the 507 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: International Council on Clean Transportation comes along and the organization 508 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: and received reports on discrepancies and emissions from Volkswagen diesel vehicles, 509 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: so this would be around two thousand fourteen. The i 510 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: c CT decided to test some Volkswagen vehicles in the 511 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: United States, largely because the US standards were more strict 512 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: than most other places, and yet volkswagons seemed to pass 513 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: with flying colors. So the i c c T discovered 514 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: that their data, which was collected in on road testing situations, 515 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: wasn't matching up with the data that was found in 516 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: the California Air Resources Board during lab tests. The field 517 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: tests that the i c c T conducted showed that 518 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: the Volkswagen vehicles generated as much as thirty five times 519 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: the limit set by the emissions standard of nitrogen oxide. 520 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: So that happened on the road, but in the lab 521 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: there didn't seem to be a problem. The cars were 522 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: under the limit. The investigators first thought they had screwed 523 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: up in the testing, like someone forgot to carry a 524 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: one or something, or that they had misinterpreted the readings 525 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: on the field equipment, because the discrepancy that huge is 526 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: hard to explain, But after multiple tests, the teams realized 527 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: that their data reflected what they were seeing in reality. 528 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: The cars were emitting way more nitrogen oxide when they 529 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 1: were on the road versus then when they were in 530 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: the lab, and it took more investigations to figure out 531 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 1: what was happening, and it came down to what ended 532 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: up being called a quote defeat device end quote, meaning 533 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: it was meant to defeat testing equipment. Now this was 534 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 1: not a physical device. Instead, it was some software that 535 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: would make some changes in vehicle operation during a test 536 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: environment compared to when it would be used on the road. So, 537 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,160 Speaker 1: from a very high level, here's what was going on. 538 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: When a Diesel Volkswagen vehicle detected that it was being 539 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: run in test mode, it would essentially shut down some 540 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: of the engine output. It would reduce it dramatically so 541 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: that way it would produce fewer nitrogen oxide emissions. And 542 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: since an emissions test doesn't actually involve driving the vehicle around, 543 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: the car could operate and essentially feed misleading data to 544 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: the person who was administering the test. When the test 545 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,720 Speaker 1: was over and you were ready to drive your car 546 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: off and hit the road, it would switch back into 547 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: normal operation. So you might wonder, well, why wouldn't you 548 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: just keep it at the lower output settings in the 549 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: first place well, the cars would have less oof to them, 550 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: they would handle and perform less well under you know, 551 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,960 Speaker 1: those conditions. So Volkswagen said, let's just, you know, cheat 552 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: on the test. And apparently the company had been doing 553 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: that since as far back as two thousand nine, with 554 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: around half a million cars in the United States operating 555 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: with that particular system in place, and millions more in 556 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 1: other parts of the world. Actually, I think of this 557 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: whole scenario as being kind of a fun analogy to 558 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: one really weird aspect of quantum physics. See, when the 559 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: Volkswagens were under test conditions, you get one set of outcomes, 560 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: but then when you're out of test conditions, you get 561 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: a different set of outcomes. That's kind of similar to 562 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: the fact of observation and quantum mechanics. If you allow 563 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: a quantum effect to occur without observing it or measuring it, 564 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 1: it might behave one way, but then you observe it 565 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,879 Speaker 1: and it behaves a totally different way because the act 566 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: of observing affects the observed. So maybe Volkswagen was just 567 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: trying to give us a lesson in quantum The whole 568 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,399 Speaker 1: thing got the name of diesel gait and to this day, 569 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,320 Speaker 1: Volkswagen is still kind of dealing with the consequences of 570 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,279 Speaker 1: that scandal. When we come back, we'll talk about a 571 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: few oddball vehicles that sometimes also make these lists. But 572 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 1: first another break. At the beginning of this episode, I 573 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,799 Speaker 1: talked about the Octo Auto, that strange eight wheeled car. 574 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: But there are a few other weird vehicles that Merritt 575 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,799 Speaker 1: mentioned in an episode about worst cars of All time. 576 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 1: After all, there's the story about Waldo Waterman and the 577 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:03,439 Speaker 1: Aerobile for example. Okay, so or aerobile if you prefer, 578 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: because it supposed to be like automobile. Um, this one 579 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: is kind of cheating a little bit because the Aerobile 580 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: was more of a roadworthy airplane rather than a car 581 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 1: that could also fly. But the whole pitch was that 582 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: the Aerobile would be a personal flying machine, and Waldo 583 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: built it way back in the nineteen thirties. In the air, 584 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: it looked like a plane with a pretty small, you know, 585 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: body and very wide wings. The wingspan was nearly forty 586 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:35,279 Speaker 1: ft wide, and it had a rear mounted propeller at 587 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: the back of the car. But clearly that would not 588 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: be suitable for driving on the roadways. Your your wingspan 589 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: would be way too much, so you would have to 590 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: detach the wings and then you could drive the base 591 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,439 Speaker 1: of this vehicle around. The idea being that you could 592 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,279 Speaker 1: keep the wings and say a hangar at an airstrip, 593 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: and you could you know, use this as your vehicle 594 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,160 Speaker 1: to dry of you to and from the airstrip, you know, 595 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: between your airstrip and your home, and then once you 596 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: got to the airstrip, you would attach the wings. They 597 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: connected onto the car with a little pen that you 598 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 1: would insert into some to the wings and the car 599 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: to hold it all together like a single pin. If 600 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,279 Speaker 1: that fell out, your wings fall off. Um, but they 601 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: were designed not to fall out. It was just one 602 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: of those things where it's like, wow, that's a single, 603 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: little tiny point of failure. And I thought it was 604 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: kind of crazy. Here's the thing. It actually could fly. 605 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,759 Speaker 1: I mean, it flew on the same principle as an 606 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,360 Speaker 1: airplane really, and you couldn't just you know, drive it 607 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,320 Speaker 1: around and then take off like it wasn't like a 608 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: vt O L vehicle or something. You needed those wings 609 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: and you needed a really long, you know, airstrip in 610 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: order to get up speed and take off. But it 611 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 1: would work. Waldo wasn't able to find any buyers, however, 612 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:54,440 Speaker 1: and he only made about a half dozen of them 613 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,239 Speaker 1: before he ultimately gave up. It seems a shame to 614 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: have it on a list of worst cars because it 615 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,359 Speaker 1: actually did work, it just wasn't practical and no one 616 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,759 Speaker 1: bought one. Then again, if people had bought them, this 617 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,359 Speaker 1: would be a very different podcast episode today. I would 618 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: probably talking about the worst ideas in tech history and 619 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: why there's wreckage everywhere. Let's go from flying cars to 620 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,279 Speaker 1: a car that looked like a little tiny spaceship, and 621 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 1: I'm talking about the Peel Trident. That's p E E 622 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: L Trident. Peel Manufacturing is a company that's on the 623 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,720 Speaker 1: Isle of Man and it was best known for making 624 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:37,800 Speaker 1: fiberglass and like fiberglass bodies for things like motorcycles and boats, 625 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: but it also made a couple of land vehicles when 626 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: it decided to kind of try and get into the 627 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 1: car business. One of those was called the Peel P fifty, 628 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 1: sometimes listed as the smallest car to ever go into 629 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,800 Speaker 1: full production as a truly truly tiny car. But I 630 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,080 Speaker 1: want to talk about the Trident. See, the P fifty 631 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: was so tiny it only had one seat in it, 632 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,879 Speaker 1: but the Trident, which was only slightly less tiny than 633 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,320 Speaker 1: the P fifty, was technically a two seater, assuming you 634 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 1: and your passenger didn't mind getting a real up close 635 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: and personal on your car ride. And it's another three 636 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:19,360 Speaker 1: wheeled car like the Robin Reliant, except this time the 637 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 1: single wheel is in the back of the vehicle and 638 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,920 Speaker 1: the the two wheels are in the front, so you 639 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 1: would steer with the two wheels in the front. And 640 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:30,640 Speaker 1: it's a rear wheel drive vehicle, so that single wheel 641 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,920 Speaker 1: in the back would be getting the power from the 642 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,720 Speaker 1: drive train and providing the automotive force to move forward. 643 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 1: And like I said, the Trident looked a little bit 644 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,880 Speaker 1: like a tiny flying saucer. If you've never seen one, 645 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,800 Speaker 1: you should definitely look up pictures because it's adorable. It 646 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 1: kind of looks like the sort of toy cars you 647 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: could buy for a very privileged kid, the kind that 648 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,600 Speaker 1: I always wanted when I was growing up, but my 649 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: family couldn't afford it, so I never got one of those. 650 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: It's fine, It's totally fine. I mean I don't drive 651 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 1: to this day, and maybe that's why it's totally fine. No, seriously, 652 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: it's fine, but it looks a bit like it's a 653 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 1: little go cart that has a clear plastic bubble for 654 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: a roof. Uh. There are no doors on the tritent, Like. 655 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: You don't open a door to get in and out. 656 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: You actually have to lift the top of the car up. 657 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 1: It's hinged at the front of the vehicle, so toward 658 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: the front bumper, and you can lift up on the 659 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,319 Speaker 1: big plastic bubble and the whole front, you know, top 660 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,480 Speaker 1: half of the car folds up, and you do that 661 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,600 Speaker 1: to get in and out. Uh. And then when you 662 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,759 Speaker 1: get in, you just lower the cockpit back down around you. 663 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 1: There's a little kind of window type hole on the 664 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,480 Speaker 1: side of the cockpit. I think it's on both sides, 665 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,879 Speaker 1: but I've only seen videos from the driver's side. It's 666 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 1: definitely on that side. But this is what allows some 667 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:52,080 Speaker 1: air circulation, so that you don't you know, drive around 668 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 1: inside a sealed plastic bubble and slowly lose out of air. 669 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: But then you also have to remember that that little 670 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: pocket of air it's coming in from very close to 671 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,279 Speaker 1: the ground outside on the road, so you're probably gonna 672 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,040 Speaker 1: get a lot of fumes that way too. The engine 673 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 1: is a humble one. It was fifty c C actually 674 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 1: I think a forty nine c C engine with four 675 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: point two horsepower when it first came out. But then 676 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: the car is so tiny and so light, I mean 677 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: it weighs around like pounds that even though the engine 678 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,600 Speaker 1: is pretty weak, it's usually more than enough to coax 679 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: the little car up to speed. And I've seen different 680 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,880 Speaker 1: claims as to what the top speed of these vehicles 681 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: happened to be, and to be fair, there are a 682 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:35,759 Speaker 1: couple of different models. There was one that was a 683 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,239 Speaker 1: little bit more sporty um, but the ranges I've seen 684 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,800 Speaker 1: have been everywhere from around thirty miles per hour to 685 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: sixty miles per hour. And yeah, sixty miles per hour 686 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,440 Speaker 1: to be a top speed, that's very slow compared to 687 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:51,200 Speaker 1: most cars. But you also have to keep in mind 688 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:53,880 Speaker 1: this thing is very low to the ground, it is 689 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:58,360 Speaker 1: very small, and you are typically surrounded by much larger vehicles, 690 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:01,439 Speaker 1: so going sixty would be realty terrifying. I would think 691 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 1: the bubble top also means that on a sunny day, 692 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:09,160 Speaker 1: it gets to be pretty toasty in the trident. It's like, 693 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: you know, being in a clear plastic tent in a 694 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,520 Speaker 1: sunny day. But if you're puttering around on an island 695 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,600 Speaker 1: that's off the coast of England, You've probably got cloud 696 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,959 Speaker 1: cover most of the year, and the trident might suit 697 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,040 Speaker 1: your basic needs to just you know, get some simple 698 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:27,400 Speaker 1: shopping done or something. But as a practical car it 699 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,719 Speaker 1: kind of falls short. It is still cute as heck, though, 700 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,520 Speaker 1: all right, how about a car that doesn't have a 701 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:38,120 Speaker 1: top at all or sides. Back in nineteen there was 702 00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: the Briggs and Stratton buckboard Flyer, and this thing was 703 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,880 Speaker 1: terrifying on a whole new level. It looks a bit 704 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:47,120 Speaker 1: like a wooden sled, like if you think of those 705 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,560 Speaker 1: wooden sleds have the two skis underneath them, and you know, 706 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 1: the sled self is made up of a frame that 707 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,719 Speaker 1: has slats of wood next to each other, and you 708 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,520 Speaker 1: sit on the slats of wood you go rushing down 709 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:03,120 Speaker 1: the hill. It looked kind of like that, except instead 710 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: of the skis, it had you know, four wheels, a 711 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,320 Speaker 1: steering wheel and a couple of like bucket style seats 712 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,800 Speaker 1: on it. Uh, And then there was a fifth wheel, 713 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:16,560 Speaker 1: so technically this was a five wheel vehicle. The four 714 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,279 Speaker 1: of the wheels were in the normal position you would 715 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:20,239 Speaker 1: expect on the car, you know, two in the front too. 716 00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:24,800 Speaker 1: In the back, the fifth wheel was in the center 717 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:27,120 Speaker 1: of the back of the car and it was lifted 718 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 1: off the ground when the car was not in motion. 719 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 1: So uh, it was the fifth wheel that actually attached 720 00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: to the buckboard flyers two horsepower motor, and that could 721 00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:42,520 Speaker 1: get you up to twenty five per hour, which you know, 722 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:44,520 Speaker 1: when your bottom is just a couple inches off the 723 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,880 Speaker 1: pavement is plenty fast, trust me. And here's how it 724 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,960 Speaker 1: would work. The drive wheel and motor were mounted on 725 00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,400 Speaker 1: a lever essentially, so you would begin with the wheel 726 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,040 Speaker 1: and motor elevated above the ground. They would not be 727 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,280 Speaker 1: making contact with the ground. You would start the motor 728 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: and that would immediately cause the wheel to turn. Uh. 729 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,880 Speaker 1: There was no throttle, so once the motor started, that 730 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,120 Speaker 1: wheel would start spinning. There was no way to control 731 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,440 Speaker 1: your speed, you know. You you just went at the 732 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:17,160 Speaker 1: speed the motor was going and you would get into 733 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,279 Speaker 1: the seat of the flyer. So this wheels spinning, but 734 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,640 Speaker 1: again it's not making contact with the ground, so you're 735 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:24,920 Speaker 1: not going anywhere yet. So you get into the the 736 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:28,080 Speaker 1: driver's seat and then you had this lever right next 737 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,879 Speaker 1: to the driver's seat that you would use, and by 738 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:35,520 Speaker 1: pushing on the lever you would lower the engine and 739 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,880 Speaker 1: wheel the drive wheel until the drive wheel made contact 740 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,319 Speaker 1: with the ground, and then off you would go. If 741 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 1: you wanted to stop, you would need to maneuver the 742 00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:50,120 Speaker 1: lever to lift the drive wheel off the ground and 743 00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,879 Speaker 1: then you could apply the brakes such as they were. 744 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,560 Speaker 1: The wheels on the flyer had these little fenders over them, 745 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:01,719 Speaker 1: like partial fenders on top of the wheels, and when 746 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,400 Speaker 1: you applied the brake, it was essentially pull the fenders 747 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 1: in towards the wheels and that was your brake. And 748 00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:09,840 Speaker 1: again you had to make sure the drive wheel was 749 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:11,600 Speaker 1: off the ground or else, you know, it would just 750 00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:14,440 Speaker 1: keep on going. Uh. That also means there was no 751 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: reverse on the flyer, so you better be comfortable with 752 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:21,080 Speaker 1: where you're going. There was, however, a control on the 753 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,839 Speaker 1: steering pole like the steering wheel was on. You could 754 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:26,680 Speaker 1: call it a column, but that would be a bit 755 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: grandiose for what it was. But there was a little 756 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,480 Speaker 1: control there, a little hand lever, and if you flip 757 00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,800 Speaker 1: that then you would kill the fuel going to the 758 00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:38,319 Speaker 1: engine and it would sputter out. So you could turn 759 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,920 Speaker 1: the engine off from the driver's seat. Um, and you 760 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:46,839 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to, uh, you know, lift the wheel up 761 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:48,800 Speaker 1: and come to a stop that way. You could do 762 00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,120 Speaker 1: it the other way too. It wouldn't mean that if 763 00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:53,759 Speaker 1: you wanted to start back up, you'd have to lift 764 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: the wheel up off the ground and go back there 765 00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:00,640 Speaker 1: and and hand start the motor. However, the motor was 766 00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:03,160 Speaker 1: the same type that had been used for motorized bicycles 767 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,440 Speaker 1: around the time, and it could, accordint to the company, 768 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,239 Speaker 1: travel up to eighty miles per gallon of fuel. The 769 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,480 Speaker 1: thing that made me the most surprised by it is 770 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,239 Speaker 1: this darn thing was street legal, Like you could drive 771 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,000 Speaker 1: this on the roads and it wasn't against the law. 772 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:21,759 Speaker 1: And that's terrifying to me. It would be against the 773 00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:25,480 Speaker 1: law now, but back then they're like, yeah, sure, go 774 00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:29,680 Speaker 1: for it. It's you know, the Roaring twenties. Let's let's 775 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:32,959 Speaker 1: roar in a sled on wheels with a bicycle motor 776 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:36,440 Speaker 1: attached to it. Okay, in the last episode, I bad 777 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:41,000 Speaker 1: mouthed the East German trabant. Now it's West Germany's time 778 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,880 Speaker 1: to shine or sink, as it may be our final 779 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:47,000 Speaker 1: vehicle in this list. Is the Ampha Car model seven 780 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:51,800 Speaker 1: seven zero the seven seventy. This car was one of 781 00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:57,719 Speaker 1: several boat cars. Now, I don't mean a boat car 782 00:45:57,760 --> 00:45:59,919 Speaker 1: in the sense of a car that handled like a boat, 783 00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:03,560 Speaker 1: but rather a car that could also be a boat. 784 00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,200 Speaker 1: So the Ampha Car was meant to travel by land 785 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,799 Speaker 1: or by water. It was the first amphibious vehicle made 786 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 1: for private customers, and it launched figuratively and literally in 787 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:19,319 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one. An engineer named Hans Triple was responsible 788 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,440 Speaker 1: for the Ampa Car, having previously modified a personal vehicle 789 00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,400 Speaker 1: to serve as an amphibious car with limited success. The 790 00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:30,160 Speaker 1: car looks like a classic vehicle from the late fifties era. 791 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:32,759 Speaker 1: It's kind of similar to like a nineteen fifty nine 792 00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:36,200 Speaker 1: Cadillac because it actually has those fins in the back, 793 00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:39,560 Speaker 1: but it's much shorter than a Cadillac would be. The 794 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:42,080 Speaker 1: car sits a little higher than most cars do, like 795 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:45,879 Speaker 1: there's more ground clearance with this type of car. That's 796 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,040 Speaker 1: good because there are a set of two propellers that 797 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:52,720 Speaker 1: are tucked in back below the rear bumper of the vehicle. 798 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:58,920 Speaker 1: Um Triple worked with a company called Quant Manufacturing UH, 799 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:02,360 Speaker 1: and they marketed the of a car for the American market. 800 00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:05,640 Speaker 1: The Model seven seventy was meant to indicate the speeds 801 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:07,799 Speaker 1: at which the car could travel. It can move up 802 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,800 Speaker 1: to seven miles per hour in the water or seventy 803 00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: miles per hour on land. Going from land to water 804 00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:17,200 Speaker 1: meant having to put the engine in neutral and then 805 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,840 Speaker 1: use a separate control to engage the propellers and direct 806 00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:24,200 Speaker 1: the drive power toward the propellers rather than towards the wheels. 807 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:27,640 Speaker 1: The front wheels would still act as kind of rudimentary rudders, 808 00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,920 Speaker 1: so that's how you would steer. You would continue to 809 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 1: use the regular steering wheel in the water. When you 810 00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:34,840 Speaker 1: were coming out of the water, you would have to 811 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:38,799 Speaker 1: switch the propellers off before they fully emerged from the water, 812 00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:42,120 Speaker 1: because without the resistance of water, the propellers would spend 813 00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:45,640 Speaker 1: so quickly they could damage the transmission. The plan was 814 00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:49,120 Speaker 1: originally to produce twenty five thousand of the amph car 815 00:47:49,239 --> 00:47:53,320 Speaker 1: Model seven seventy, but the public reception wasn't super positive. 816 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:56,520 Speaker 1: Critics said the car handled like a mediocre car on 817 00:47:56,680 --> 00:48:00,479 Speaker 1: land and a mediocrec boat in the water. Some people 818 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:02,520 Speaker 1: said that it handled like a boat on land and 819 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,680 Speaker 1: a car in the water hardy heart hertor. They also 820 00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:08,520 Speaker 1: pointed out that a few hours of water use would 821 00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,840 Speaker 1: mean that you would have to apply grease to multiple 822 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,479 Speaker 1: areas in the vehicle. You'd have to grease different parts 823 00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:19,840 Speaker 1: of it in order to just have routine maintenance. So 824 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,160 Speaker 1: if you were to go out for a day on 825 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,800 Speaker 1: the lake, for example, the next day would probably be 826 00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:29,759 Speaker 1: spent in your garage greasing up a car. It's also 827 00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:32,520 Speaker 1: a rear wheel drive vehicle, so getting out of the 828 00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:34,840 Speaker 1: water it can be tricky. If it's a steep incline, 829 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:37,560 Speaker 1: it would be really hard to get there because until 830 00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:40,600 Speaker 1: your rear wheels have traction, you're not getting any you know, 831 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:43,960 Speaker 1: any any force there right, Like the front wheels do 832 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:46,960 Speaker 1: nothing other than steer, so they can't help you go 833 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,279 Speaker 1: up a steep incline. So that made it kind of 834 00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:54,560 Speaker 1: tricky and just limited the the use case for these vehicles. 835 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:56,920 Speaker 1: So while the company had planned to make twenty five 836 00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,400 Speaker 1: thousand of them, the actual numbers were less than four thousand. 837 00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:04,000 Speaker 1: By the way, if you visit Walt Disney World's Disney 838 00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:06,279 Speaker 1: Springs area, you can actually take a ride in an 839 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:09,359 Speaker 1: Ampha car. You can even go out on the water 840 00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:11,239 Speaker 1: in fact, that's what it's all about. You can take 841 00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:15,080 Speaker 1: a tour, a twenty minute tour of the water on 842 00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:18,840 Speaker 1: an Ampha car. The tours leave from the Boathouse restaurant, 843 00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:23,000 Speaker 1: and like pretty much everything at Disney World, it is expensive. 844 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:27,400 Speaker 1: A twenty minute trip will cost you one dollars. However, 845 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:29,880 Speaker 1: that's per a car, so you can have up to 846 00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:32,719 Speaker 1: four people ride on a tour. If you split it 847 00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:35,200 Speaker 1: between the four of you, maybe you think, oh, well, 848 00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,600 Speaker 1: this is this is worth the experience of going out 849 00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:40,319 Speaker 1: on the water in a car. I've seen them while 850 00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:42,239 Speaker 1: I've been hanging out at Disney, but I have never 851 00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:44,480 Speaker 1: actually written in one, so I don't know what the 852 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:47,480 Speaker 1: experience is like from a personal level. And there we go. 853 00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:51,439 Speaker 1: There's some more cars that often appear on Worst Cars list. 854 00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,719 Speaker 1: There are tons more. Some of them I feel are 855 00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:59,040 Speaker 1: just like the journalist grinding an axe because they personally 856 00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:02,200 Speaker 1: found a particular vehicle to look ugly or something. But 857 00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:05,759 Speaker 1: others like have legit issues with them. So you know, 858 00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:08,560 Speaker 1: I didn't cover like the Ford Mustang too, for example, 859 00:50:09,040 --> 00:50:13,280 Speaker 1: which was severely underpowered compared to the original Mustang, largely 860 00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:15,680 Speaker 1: because we were in an oil crisis in the seventies 861 00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:18,320 Speaker 1: and it would have been political suicide to have a 862 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,240 Speaker 1: car that would perform at the level of the Mustang. 863 00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:24,840 Speaker 1: But anyway, that'll have to wait for some other future episode. 864 00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:27,600 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for topics I should cover in 865 00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:29,480 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, please reach out to me and let me know. 866 00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:31,800 Speaker 1: The best way to do that is to use Twitter 867 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:34,640 Speaker 1: to handle for the show is text stuff H s 868 00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:43,759 Speaker 1: W and I'll Talk to You Again released it. Tech 869 00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:47,239 Speaker 1: Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts 870 00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:50,080 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 871 00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:53,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.