This is america on the road named best
radio show by the international automotive Media conference.
And now when its 30 first year on
the air. Thanks for being with us as
we bring you the latest
automotive information from around the world. I'm Jack
N ed with me is... C host Chris
Ti. Chris, great to see you I hope
you had a terrific fourth of July. Great
to see you as well. We did a
little bit cloudy, but nice and warm for
the fireworks. How about you? Yeah. Terrific in
in Texas,
fireworks in Texas are just wild or fourth
of July, so that's pretty cool.
A lot of news this week, even given
the fact it's holiday week. In the news,
a global car maker has delayed the launch
of a new affordable E.
In the wake of the Biden administration's tariff,
new tariff on Chinese built electric vehicles. We'll
tell you the car maker, the model, and
why the decision was made to delay the
launch coming up. So interesting stuff there.
There's also tons of volkswagen news that... This
week, not only is the brand unveiled new
Jet and Gulf bar, but it has also
made a major investment in electric truck maker
meridian this I bet you have some thoughts
on that, Chris. I love to hear them
coming up. Mh. And, finally,
you,
We're talking about every listener out there might
have a time bomb ticking right in their
steering wheel. Right in front of them. And
you probably don't realize it or you might
not realize it so we have the details
on that coming up it's something to pay
attention to. Chris, there's almost too much news
this week isn't there. Yeah. At least, it
doesn't all sound bad though this time. It's
usually... It sometimes it's very dramatic. Yeah. Well,
it's a lot of drama here, pluses is
and minuses is. Kind of drama. America on
the road is brought to you by driving
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As you longtime, listeners know, Chris lives at
1 end of the country. I live at
the other. Each week we get together to
talk about cars, the car industry, how you
can save some money on your cars. And
of course, we also
road test a couple of vehicles, and, Chris,
I think you have a fun vehicle to
talk about this week. Don't you? I did.
It's kind of a pseudo hot hatch. It's
the Mazda Cx... 30 a 20 24 model
year. I can't wait to tell you all
about it. Right. And I had a vehicle.
I think you probably are jealous about the
the fact that I drove it for a
week. It is the 20 24 volvo X
90
recharged, the plug in hybrid version of the
X 90. So interesting vehicle. We're very well
done. And this week, our special guest is
Lauren Fix.
She is the car coach very knowledgeable about
cars a North American car. Jury, and we're
gonna be talking about Paul Brian, who is
another jury member who passed away this past
week, a, kind of a larger than life
guy. We don't have a discussion about Paul
and other things certainly. But we have tons
of show for you this week, so stay
with us.
So Welcome back everybody to Marathon on the
road with 15 Jackie red bag with you
for our news segment and the news this
week.
Well, there's tons of it.
In fact, a a story that we were
among the first to to learn about. This
is the story about the...
Delay,
maybe a lengthy delay of a very affordable
e that was set to come to the
united states actually was set to come the
United States over a year ago, and then
it was put off. And now it's put
off again. Based largely on the fact that
the by administration has,
imposed a hundred percent tariffs
on Chinese built electric vehicles, and the vehicle
we're talking about is the Volvo Ex 30,
we've talked about it here on the show.
Volvo has said they are putting this off
until they can begin to build these vehicles
in Belgium.
As opposed to China where they were going
to come from. Probably,
delivery will be put off for a significant
period of time, And I also have to
wonder about price thing given the fact that
this is gonna be built in Western Europe,
not exactly a low low cost place to
build cars versus China. Yeah. They'd had already
said Volvo Already said that they were gonna
have to contend the 25 percent tariff, which
was the previous, measure and that the pricing
had accounted for that. Already So,
I don't know. I mean, it depends on
at the pricing or if their cost to
produce it in Belgium, are gonna be comparable
with that, the original price plus tariff. Volvo
didn't make a big announcement about this. In
fact, they sent individuals my myself included,
an email message, letting
Us individually know that this was going to
happen. I don't think they wanted to
create a giant stir over this at the
same time. They wanted to let us on
the jury, for example, in the North American
car your jury. Know that this vehicle is
going to be postponed yet again. So they
are still committed to bringing in the Ex
x 30. It's a pretty cool vehicle,
but it's gonna be a while. And, again,
we're not gonna get that affordable E that
everybody's hoping that we we get. Yeah. You
know, I've I've written this so many times
now that it feels like I I could
just, you know, spit it out with my
eyes closed, but
we've been promised so many times and nobody
has yet delivered it. I mean, I think
the Chevy bolt and maybe some versions of
the model 3 have come closest, but,
yeah. It's a shame. We have to wait
a little bit longer. Yeah. Well, other E
news concerns Volkswagen and their deal with R,
the electric truck maker.
R seem
comparatively
versus some of the other startups ups it'd
be doing fairly well. I see a lot
of r around.
They're selling reasonably well at least in some
areas of the country. They're super expensive, and
they're truck Suv,
Vw apparently as bought into R in to
secure some of their technology, something you've been
talking about on the show over and over
again. Something I have to scratch my head
over the fact that a a startup up
E maker not exactly a backyard startup, but
is certainly certainly a startup has more expertise
in building these kind of vehicles than a
global car maker like volkswagen does, but that's
obviously case. That's why they have made this
big investment pretty interesting, I think that they're
admitting. Hey. We... Need help, and we're gonna
spend some money to get it. Yeah. It's
a great move for both companies. Really, R
needs the money the capital to build its
next generation r 2 and r 3 vehicles
in Volkswagen
has just... Has struggled with their technology as
they move to electric vehicles. The the Porsche
Mac con,
E was delayed because they couldn't figure out
the software in Volkswagen has a whole division
dedicated to this stuff. So
it it looks like it'll be mutually beneficial.
And I I hope it is. Well, this
a new software, the r software is going
to certainly go into the RR2
as you mentioned, that's coming up. It's also
gonna go in... Audi, Porsche,
Lamborghini, Bentley, v... Beyond Volkswagen and it's gonna
go across the
the,
all the model lineup ups, That Volkswagen owns.
This is 1 of the things I found
interesting too in the reporting.
R is doing fairly well compared to Wilson
certainly as compared to F, for example,
which has just declared bankruptcy,
chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection but they are,
reportedly losing 40000
dollars for every vehicle they deliver.
I mean, I don't know about you, chris.
I'm a business major. I guess, so I
understand this deep finance, But
this is
unsustainable, isn't it? It is. And if you
compare them to like a large automaker like
ford, You know, they have gas vehicles to
offset some of the losses they have from
their electric vehicle business, but R and Tesla,
some of the others don't have that. So,
I'm sure this infusion of of cash is
gonna be welcome. I do think though, that
they have enough reserves to run. I think
through 20 25, but that hasn't stopped them.
R had,
a couple layoffs offs in recent months. So
hopefully this helps them right the ship. Well,
volkswagen and buying their expertise. And obviously, they
have expertise The volkswagen felt they
didn't have. So I find that. Interesting. The
investment is substantial,
3000000000 dollars,
apparently,
giving them a 25 percent stake in Caribbean
And, this is something I didn't know. You
probably did, Chris, That the current... The previous
largest shareholder of R,
was Amazon. I thought it was ford, but
I might have had that backwards Well, I
think Ford had a big investment and then
sold off a lot of their investment, which
made people think, oh, 0, or R might
be headed for the dumpster,
but that didn't happen. I guess there's happier
news. There's pretty cool cars to talk about,
and we're always excited about that.
Volkswagen has announced
a new Golf r and Golf r variant.
Talk and a lot of horsepower, pretty cool
stuff. It's not quite ready to come United
States in fact folks, so I could sent
us a translation of the German release,
that
they were recently put out, But 328 horsepower
from the golf r and a golf bar
variant. I gotta believe that variant is something
that you and I would
love and we'll never see in the United
States probably, but
because it is station wagon like. Yeah. Well,
as we discussed a little earlier, off the
air, Jack, You know, I owned a 20
23 golf r, the twentieth anniversary model,
had to have a lemon law buy back
because of some of the technology and safety
equipment issues.
But, man, it was such a fun car
to drive. It doesn't feel quite as
lively as my Toyota G r Corolla, but
I'm happy to see it's got more power.
It's down to almost just over 4 seconds,
0 to 60. I mean, that is blazing
quick for a hatchback. Yeah. And a top
speed a hundred and 6 7 miles an
hour. I mean, that is mind blowing. I
remember doing top speed tests and motor trend
magazine,
and trying to push corvette vets and
Lamborghini and those kind of things up to
that speed.
Your Ns and those kind of things. The
fact that a hatchback will the 167
miles an hour is, kind of a mind
blower when you think about it. Yeah. And
you get torque vector all wheel drive. You
get a bunch of cool arrow to aerodynamic
body work. And so... The you know, I
mean, it's a great all around car. Quite
expensive though. Very, very expensive, and not not
gonna come to us immediately. I mean, do
you have any sense of when when we're
going to see it, chris.
I've been hearing rumors of early next year,
so, like, early spring maybe, but we'll have
to see. I I don't have a crystal
ball. Right. Well, we are talk about affordable
vehicles, and
this is kind of good news I think,
for affordability,
affordability, and that is the new Volkswagen and
Jet kind of renewed. This is a refresh
rather than an all new jet, But, they've
also lowered some pricing. In fact, you can
get it a a Jet,
with a starting price of under 22000
dollars. Is a pretty darn good good value,
I think in In this day and age
when everything is over 30 get 30 grand.
It is the jet is comfortable, it drives
nicely. It's got nice tech inside and it's
got a good
list of standard safety equipment. So I mean,
this is a... This could be a value
winner for them, assuming people still buy cars.
Yeah. Well, that's interesting. I they note that
the the Jet is the best selling Volkswagen
car
in the United States, Of course, in North
America, They're not selling the ton of cars.
They're selling more Suvs than cars these days
because that's what people are buying. There's also
a new
Gl
version kind of the Gt
version of this sedan.
I think that should be a fun cartoon
too. Yeah. I like the Gl is it's
not quite as hot as the Gt, but
you know, you get 228 horsepower, and you
can get a 6 speed manual transmission. So
it's definitely a driver's score. Right. Well, we
alluded to the fact that you might have
a ticking time bomb. Right? In your steering
wheel or right in inside your vehicle and
what we're talking about are airbags the tu
kinda airbags that have been recalled years and
years ago, but there's plenty of vehicles out
there. There's according to Car, 6200000.0
vehicles
that still have airbags that need to be
replaced, and then there's some issues even with
the the replacements. Right, Chris? Yeah. It's amazing
that we're almost 10 years out from the
original recall. Now. And we're still seeing new
new vehicles being wrapped in and people being
encouraged to do this. But, there's also been
an issue with counterfeit airbags. And as more
of these ta avocados are replaced, there's
increased worry that, you know, some of these
counterfeit units could make their way into cars
and they're just as dangerous as the airbags.
So,
hopefully, if you get your car fixed, you
get it done in a dealer who who
knows what they're doing. Right. And I would
say, do some research. If you bought a
a used car suddenly, you might wanna do
some research and see whether that... Or that
used car was part of a recall, whether
the car you've been driving for years. It's
been part of a recall for this, and
you maybe just put it off and never
had it replaced, and it could be deadly.
So look for that. We'd like to keep
you around in our audience for America on
the road.
We like you. And when we come back,
we will be talking about 2 vehicles that
we probably like a lot. We'll we'll find
out when we road test 2 vehicles. So
Stay with us for that, we'll be right
back right here on America on the road.
Look back to America on the road with
for
back. With you. It is a road test
time, but before we get to the road
test vehicles, we would like to thank you
for listening to America on the road, we
do appreciate it like America on the road,
please pass it on. Pass on a, a
podcast version of the show, tell people where
you listen to America on the road on
which radio station and and when that would
be very, very helpful to us. And maybe
give them something that they'd like to listen
to for an hour week. Or something like
that. We we hope,
would appreciate that.
And your road test vehicle is a fun
vehicle. I driving it not too far not
too long ago and really enjoyed it, but
tell us about it.
Yeah. I spent the week behind the wheel
of the 20 24 Mazda cx 30.
This is their smallest crossover at the moment.
I'm calling it a crossover, but as I
hinted at earlier in the show. I think
it's more of a, like, a pseudo hot
hatch, you know, it's
very close to the Mazda 3 in terms
of size and looks and everything. So
just a fun vehicle to drive jack. Just
give me a little rehash of your opinion
that we heard a few weeks ago. Well,
I like the vehicle. I love the way
Mazda handle.
This certainly handles really, really well,
a small vehicle like that compact vehicle doesn't
have
it immense
acc
capabilities, but it's just fun to push. It's
fun to fun to drive hard.
Yeah. I agree it. It is very lively
and it's fun to drive, But taking a
step back. This vehicle starts at just over
26400
dollars for the base model.
I tested the Turbo premium plus, which is
the range topping model. It came out at
just under 40000 dollars with a couple of
options. And as we've talked about, Jack a
couple times in the past, Mazda offers a
staggering number of configurations for this vehicle, including
2 power trains in something like 7 or
8 trim levels, so
there's certainly no shortage of options if you're
looking to get exactly what you want with
this vehicle. There's likely a model for you.
The base engine's, a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder,
makes a hundred and 91 horsepower, a hundred
and 86 pound feet of torque.
The Turbo premiums or the turbo model that
I drove, 4 comes with a Turbo charged
2.5 liter engines, 227
horsepower, 310 pound feet of torque, which increases
the 250 horsepower and 3 2320
pound feet of work when you're on premium
fuel, which I've always found interesting about mazda
vehicles.
All wheel drive is standard and it comes
with a 6 speed automatic transmission instead of
it can torque variable unit, which I'm very
thankful for. So, as we mentioned, it's not
the quickest vehicle and a straight line, but,
you know, the Turbo charge engine does have
good torque and 320 pound feet on premium
fuel. Is a pretty stout number for a
vehicle of this size,
and it gives it a good amount of
pop off the line. It feels like, you
know, you can start in and out of
traffic without any trouble at all making this
a an excellent computer commuter. I think it's
it's great
from a size and and acceleration standpoint.
The handling, as you mentioned earlier, it's fantastic
for a crossover. It's sharp. It's responsive. There's
good steering feel.
On the flip side of that jack, I
will point out that there the ride can
be a little bit rough at times,
I think that, you know, if you're not
expecting it, then, you know, you might be
surprised by a a couple of bumps and
banks.
Cloth upholstery comes standard inside. You can get
synthetic leather. My range topping trim came with
genuine leather.
It was a dark brown leather. It's a
really interesting
combination of black and dark brown on the
inside of this vehicle. It's got Mazda soul
red paint on the outside. Just a really
visually,
stimulating, looking interior.
So I I think Mo is did a
good job there.
It comes standard with an 8.8 inch touch
screen. Mine came with a 10.25 inch unit,
you get wireless Apple carplay and Android auto.
Touchscreen is only available with those 2 features,
so you're gonna have to use the dial
and we've talked about this until we're blue
in the face. But it just is not
my cup of tea to navigate
long lists of things with a dial.
And then the top trim, as I mentioned,
you can't... You get a full list of
safety features here. So things like automatic emergency
breaking, ford collision alerts
those are standard, but then the top trim
adds blind spot monitoring with rear across traffic
alerts, parking sensors, pedestrian detection.
And a head up this display which I
really enjoy. So, you know, I think, Jack,
the price here is is right. I mean,
you can pick almost any any price level
you want, and you'll get a great list
of features. The cargo space is a little
small for me, you know, a family of
4 with a dog. But if you like
driving and you need a little bit of
cargo space and over a hatchback or Sedan
This is a great pick. Yeah. Absolutely. Terrific
vehicle love to drive it,
so much fun. Not sure it's really a
crossover,
Suv in a lot of ways. But Yeah.
I like it no matter what it what
it is What how you classify it. Agree.
Yeah. Well, I was driving a vehicle? I
think you're probably jealous of my, driving at
this week. I I think the T Family
drives of Volvo x 90. I was driving
the plug in hybrid version of the 20
24 X 90 recharge all wheel drive in
ultimate trim,
so that's the top of the line.
Number 1,
what jumped out at me was how pretty
this interior is. It's just got a gorgeous
interior. I mean, I've liked to evolve interiors
before, and I think mostly they're understated and
I and, you know, very well designed, very
handsome looking is is 1 of the ways
I would describe them. This... Even beyond that.
I mean, this really kind of stuck out
to me as being just a nice place
to spend a lot of time. So
getting that out of the way a little
bit, and I can... I go back and
talk about infotainment system and some of the
stuff, I I didn't like quite as much,
a little later in the in the review,
but
Of course, this is built on the X
c 90
conventional gasoline powered platform.
It has a plug in hybrid system
that adds an electric motor gives it an
and a big battery, fairly big battery. Gives
it 36 miles of E only range, which
system is reasonable, I guess, and I have
to admit during
my week with this thing. I wasn't necessarily
meticulous about plugging it in.
Which I think makes me very similar to
everybody else who's got plug in hybrid vehicle.
Maybe if you plugged it in all the
time,
you would realize
much more benefit out of that,
a lot a lot more money that you
pay for it, but it does get better
fuel economy. And it also is the most
powerful,
of the X nineties by quite a bit.
I mean, this t 8 powertrain
offers
455
horsepower. This makes this... If not quite a
hot rod. It's it's certainly performance oriented.
Let me walk you through the XXE
90
lineup. And the recharge lineup up a little
bit. It starts with the core model. There
is a plus model and then the ultimate.
They're available in 6 or 7 pastor
configuration, The the core model starts at about
74000
dollars, 73000
dollars or so. And has a lot of
good stuff. Heated did front seats leather upholstery
Led headlights,
navigation. It does have this 9 inch touch
screen
Google based
infotainment system,
that,
was was presented to us as... Wow, this
is gonna be a big step forward. I'm
not sure it is such a big step
forward from what
Volvo had before,
and it's it's getting very mixed reviews and
and my review about it is mixed too,
and I think this is a a pretty
small screen in the overall scheme of things
these days, especially in the luxury manufacturer. What
you take on this whole infotainment system, Chris?
It is the screen quality itself is fantastic.
The resolution great. It's very clear and bright.
But as you mentioned, it's a little small
and, adding Google built in,
added features, but it didn't simple by the
the process I, there's a lot of swiping
and searching.
So, you know, I think I have mixed
reviews as well, even that comes from a
volvo fan and owner. So by Yeah. Well,
the vehicle I had, as I said was
an ultimate vehicle, the ultimate starts at about
80000 dollars. The vehicle I had had a
price as tested of 9 underneath a little
over 90000 dollars. It it had things like
the Bowers and Wilkins
premium audio system. You can get a couple
of premium audio systems. Actually
the ultimate comes with a Harm and carbon
sound system,
which is also up level from what is
base and and a very good system,
but then you can get this
more premium system,
which is kind of a mind blower has
1400
watts of power among other things. I mean
you can literally shake the windows out of
out of door frames with them I think.
And what a beautiful luxurious cabin I've mentioned
that, but 1 of the things I should,
point out more specifically are the seats? I
mean, Volvo those have always been known for
really high quality
c seating and very supportive,
very ergonomic designed seating.
And
certainly, this this version of,
this x 90 delivers on that, and you
probably experienced that to, Chris. Yeah. Actually drove
a recharge, not too long ago and the
seats are are every bit is excellent as
you described. Even the ones in my 3
year old regular X 90 gas.
Our fantastic great adjust, great positioning. So, yeah,
no complaints. Yeah. Fun to drive vehicle, of
course, with 455
horsepower. It has tons of torque. Of course,
the electric motor could
contributes a lot of torque. It is an
all wheel drive vehicle can tow up to
5000 pounds, so that's
pretty good.
0 to 60 and 5 seconds. Pretty pretty
darn quick,
3 row Suv.
It doesn't have a ton of storage space
behind the third row of seats... In the
third row seats is, I think pretty much
for children only.
11.2 cubic feet behind the third row isn't
a whole bunch. It's kinda like the a
mia trunk. Back there something that order.
You put kids in the the third row,
what you take on that. I have ridden
in a third road myself, and I tell
you it's best reserved for children because getting
in and out is difficult for anyone over
4 feet tall. Yeah. Well, I... A lot
to like about this vehicle.
I think maybe the bowers and Wilkins setup
up is
overkill at 19 speakers, but man, it sounds
so great. It's it just is awesome.
And like I say, this has a
a really superior
interior. III just was was bold away from.
There's also 1 thing that was on our
test car that, my wife didn't like very
much and wanted me to mention, and that
is the running boards.
I don't know why these were added. It's
pretty easy to get and out of this
thing. She's not particularly tall. She's about 56I
think,
which is, I guess, average woman size or
something like that. Easy to get an in
and out of thing and then bangs her
chin on the middle of the of the
running board, you know, trying to get in.
So that's kind of a negative view where
you could just not buy those.
And you'd be just fine. I think though
we got a couple of vehicles
really positive vehicles this time around. The Cx
30 from Mazda,
what a fun vehicle this is and
the X 90,
in this form in particular with all the
horsepower with them all that kind of fun
with this luxury and certainly 90000 bucks a
lot of money, but this is a very
full featured vehicle. So I certainly a player,
I think, among the others, the Europeans and
even the the Korean and and Japanese luxury
brands.
Agree. And when we come back, we will
have a very special guest talking about a
special person actually. Our special guest is learned.
Fix.
She is a member of North American car
that your jury. She is known
worldwide as the car coach. She probably seen
her on Tv. I certainly have. And we're
going to be talking about a a friend
of ours who passed away recently, Paul Brian,
he's another member of the jury and kind
of a larger than life guy, both literally
and figuratively.
So we'll be talking about him and and
other things when we come back with Lauren
F. So Stay with us for that and
we'll be right back right here on America
on the road.
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Look back to America on Road tempe b
read back with whom we have a terrific
guess for you. An old friend, Lauren Fix
is... The car coach among other things she's
been on the show before. And
it's always wonderful to have her on the
show. Although,
today, we're gonna talk about something with a,
ting of sadness to us, but number 1,
Lauren, thanks so much for being with us
We appreciate it. It's always a pleasure, Jack.
Thanks for having me back. Great to have
you on the show. The ting of sadness
comes because
we've kind both lost a friend,
very great recently.
You've lost a partner as well, Paul Brian,
real lu in the industry for years and
years and years
recently a radio voice that many people recognize
recognized across the country left us a couple
weeks ago or so now. And
you were very close with M course. You
partnered with him in many, many projects,
talk about him a little bit. Well, it's
was funny
My husband's paul too. I always say I'm
appalled. My husband, my son, my son love,
my trainer, my agent
and my c
was, I'm I'm all appalled.
So we used to always laugh about that,
But,
Paul was a very different guy. Many people
in our industry met him when he was
in charge of the Chicago auto show for
20 years. And you had to go to
the guy and the chair in the in
the media lounge and and deal with him
sort of, and you go in and ask
through a passes for the lunch or the
the breakfast, and you couldn't get them without
clearing them with Paul Bryan.
And,
He he certain... That's how I first kinda
met him, and he was a big guy
at the time. He literally kind of sat
in a throne. Right? I mean, he was
on an elevated chair above the. Press room.
I I always loved that. I mean, it
was really king Paul. Yes. He was king
Paul for sure. And... And he loved the
whole...
The image it created was, like, don't play
with me. I'm in charge.
And and I remember going up there to
ask for tickets the first time. First time
I was ever there. I got invited by
1 of the brands they hosted us, and
and it was my first time in the
Chicago auto show. And I had to... They
said, oh, go ask the Skype, Paul Brian
for tickets. I, Don't even know this guy.
And I remember going this big 400 pound
guy was sitting in a chair, you know,
elevated above the newsroom and Of, like, oh,
boy. Tickets Oh, you know, and you have
to kind of play the game, you know?
I just need 1 ticket for breakfast and
1 for lunch. You, it'll and he would
always give you, like, a little a little
dig, a little pawn stab just to see
where you were if you were... If you
had a good sense of humor month, if
you were really a player who were you,
And he kinda wanna get to know everyone.
But he always had a a different approach
thinks because you never knew where he was
coming from.
And
So years later, Paul had lost a lot
of weight. He decided to do that bypass
surgery, and he'd lost a whole person of
200 pounds.
And I just kinda knew he was kinda
stayed away from Asked him when I needed
to. And we were sitting at an event
in Las Vegas. We were Man aid bay.
I think it was a ford event.
It I don't know why it was there,
but it was. And
we set it me, but I'm lust about
bed, but we sat next to each other,
why they were getting ready to do, like,
an evening
presentation. And he looked over at me and
you said hi. And I'm, like, hello. Like,
I had no idea who he was. We
started talking,
He said you have a dry partner. Now
back in the day when I first joined
as a as a journalist,
you would go to events and there was
circles. There was the old guys, which you
could not break into that group. I don't
if you remember that 2 chad. Like, those
are the guys. You can't... They wrote for
car driver road and track,
automobiles, auto week. You could not approach them
and have a car conversation. They would allow
you into the conversation. And you kinda felt
it more so than it was spoken.
And I was the newbie. So I thought,
okay. You wanna ride together. Sure.
We hit it off as fast friends,
had a lot in common.
And in years going on, we did a
his turn and her. And that was the
first 1.
And we shop for over 10 years, his
turn her segments, and then I found that
Paul a massive foodie.
So hence the fact that used to be
before in pounds. And we did what the
heck is polly. He would eat some of
the worst foods that
there's no way, Jack, You would even eat
gas station. Sushi? No. No.
Probably wise. This why I've lived to be
as lie as old as I am. Right?
Oh, that's true. But know, we we were
an erie pennsylvania doing a drive for Nissan.
We were driving from Chicago to New York
for the auto show. It was the Nissan
Rogue. It was called the Rogue trip. You
know and it was put together by our
friend Wendy Worth, and,
we stopped in Erie Pennsylvania need to get
gas. It's about an hour and a half
from my house because I live in Buffalo,
New York. And he he comes out of
the gas station with this tree of. I'm
like,
I wouldn't need anything out of, like, Erie
or lake Ontario for that matter. Probably glows
in the dark, you know, they used to
dump in those in those lakes. And even
though they may have cleaned it up personally,
I'm not eating out of those lakes. He
says, oh, no. It's fresh. I'm, like, all
there's no salmon
anywhere with me. Right. Yeah. No
in lake erie. Yeah. No. Nor nor anywhere
near that there it would have to be
blown in and I'm, like, I don't know.
So he ate. He tried to get me
a piece and I'm like, no way. But
at that time, my daughter was riding with
us. It was like A33 of us got
to arrive together. And it it was fun,
he became Uncle Paul to my kids.
My son, Paul who rode with him when
I couldn't would do it His turn his
turn would we thought that this is hysterical.
And then I would do it... If I
couldn't go my daughter Shelby named after the
cars, she would go. And and we had
a great time
we've been all over the world. We've been
to Iceland together, Spain, Germany, Italy,
Cor,
you name it great all over the world.
Driving cars. And the last time we drove
together was in Spain. We drove the volvo
Ex x 30. I think you were on
that 30 Was. I had lunch with with
Paul at that event and III remember it
Fondly. Yes. He was always a great
conversational us. And you never knew 1. Subject
would be. And sometimes, he would make a
subject that he knew
would get you back on your heels because
he wanted to hear what you had to
say and he it was like just a
conversation starter, but he would always, like, take
the polar opposite intentionally. I just to see
how you would react.
He was... He was a great guy. III
miss and dearly because we would always have
great conversations. Almost in a daily via text
or, you know, what are we working on
where we're going? You know, what wave are
you on and so forth.
He actually married my daughter her first time.
He was if fishy... The issue.
He was at the second way. We'd didn't
let him do it we figured it after
the first time, You didn't have good looks.
Yeah. Yeah. It didn't take so let's try
some the else. Right. Yeah. So she got
rem remarried after my son... The second wedding.
And they're very happy then On may have
a daughter named Sen,
after Art sent of the Famous 1 driver,
the but Paul's history is is quite different
than most of us. He worked for the
Indy car team for El Romeo.
So he lived in Milan.
And he got a great opportunity, which I
think most of us would jump on. If
someone called me and said he listen. Do
you wanna do P for a race team
for Indy car and in live in Milan,
Yeah. Where am I going? I'd tell my
husband, you you know where to find me.
And he did that for quite a while.
You think the team lasted for 3 or
4 years.
But he would say the team was not
so great, but the food was fabulous. Yeah.
Exactly. But
but he learned how to cook Italian, and
so we went to me milan for for
me a museum. He took me to some
of his old places including, he said let
me show you where my old office used
to be. There was a museum there. It
was all new, And he shows me he
goes, oh, my office isn't here anymore. I
said, oh, he goes it's the men's room.
Accent, I guess that's
It tells you something. Right? That's how they
treat. Did something about your thoughts of your
work there. Yeah.
But, you know, he he ran the drive
Chicago if for listening and you're in the
Chicago area you've heard Paul on Drive Chicago.
He was a very proud veteran in the
Us Army. He was first cab.
He was the director of armed forces radio
and television network in Panama in the Panama
canal. So he would always have interesting stories
and stories that I would let him tell
it was Vietnam. I don't ever I ask
I let him offer.
Just out of respect and he also was
a big supporter of the Lng Lynch medal
of honor
foundation where he was helping other veterans with
Ptsd,
getting jobs coming back even today,
they they were having with a transition back
to regular life, they would, help them financially,
whether it be for a car or home
or education,
just to get them back on and that
was a big part of what he loved
to do. And, you know, he doesn't want
flowers or he doesn't want cards. And in
much Paul fashion, he wants a donation to
the Ellen Lynch Medal
Foundation,
and were both a member of the North
American current truck of the year jury, and
they did give a very nice donation and
his honor. We appreciate that. Yeah. Terrific Terrific.
I don't know whether you knew this or
not Lauren, but, he and I went to
high school together.
And really. Well, maybe we were buds. We
weren't exactly. He was a year older than
I was. And our high school was gigantic...
Am I graduating class, with 1400 kids. So
Wow. That's a lot of folks. Right? So
what I can do it 300. I thought
that was a lot. Yeah. It was we
didn't run. We probably ran into each other
a few times during high school, but I
don't know that we we hung together, but
Then, you know, years later when we met
as as car journalists, we realized we had
this in common and then we grew up
essentially in the same town and all that
kind of stuff. So We shared a lot,
you know, a lot of similar experiences, similar
views, all of that kind of stuff. And
what it... It kind of exe exemplified I
think is stuff the cam
that auto journalists have,
kind of unseen by a lot of people,
it isn't necessarily advertised necessarily, but we travel
together. We spend a lot of time together.
We see each other frequently. And mostly we
get along.
Sometimes we don't. See. Yeah. There's a few
things. The stories in come around. But I
I have to say it's 1 thing about
the auto industry in general, whether you're working
at a dealership level or you're working as
a journalist or you're working on the a
manufacturer side. Come that it is a family,
and you're accepted into the family, and we
know some people are really different. Some people
aren't, but
all my friends.
You know, Javier or in ale.
They're Latinos. They're, like, my best buds.
I'm might gonna be traveling to Korea with
Brian Arms instead. I mean, the all the
jury has been come a big family as
well. And it comes along with family issues
as well. But Right. I think, you know,
you've worked in the industry longer than I
haven't... You know that... People you've worked with
and all the different outlets that you work
for now or in the past, but you
still talk to these people. You still not
just Facebook Instagram and all, but you you
see them, you give them a hug. It's
like, we're friends. And it... It's... We're like
the traveling circus. That's what my husband says.
He says, where's the traveling circus going now
because, literally, we all go there. We set
up We haven't event that we all tear
down and we all get back.
We all go several ways and then we
recon.
So it... That's... It is unspoken, but it...
It's... It is something that you don't see
in other industries. I mean, you don't see
that in, you know, Home and garden. You
don't see that in other industries, automotive is
very specific. Right. Right. 1 of the things
too that we share is we've lost a
partner now. You've lost a partner recently. I
lost a partner and Mike Hanson, I did
America on the road with Mike for
about 20 years, 25 years before he passed.
And,
I'll tell you it was tough to get
by, and I I probably don't talk about
Mike enough. On America on the road. He
was instrumental in bringing me aboard,
America on the road in the nineties,
very early nineties.
So technology has changed. Yeah. I what's what's
your sense of all that? Or what what's
your sense of working with a partner to
tell us about that? I knew like as
well, a really great guy. And But I
think when you find a partner, you you
find, like, a best friend.
Paul was the brother. I always wanted. I
I don't have a brother. I don't have
a sister, so it was, like, it was
nice to have someone who you could bounce
ideas off of when I said, hey. I
wanna run for president of North American car
and truck of the year awards, and he
said,
Okay? Let's do it. And that's what a
brother would do. You know, you become
family.
His family is really good friends of my
family. Today, we I talked to his daughter
and he's... He's got an only child a
daughter and a granddaughter. And so
I still talk to them as well. My
kids talked to them. And And you start
extending the family and when you ride with
someone you get in Mac car, it's like,
you restart your conversation from the last time
you rode together. I'm sure you in... And
mike did the same thing. You... You just
start... Okay. What do you think of this
car? You banter a little bit. You may
be bark at each other a little bit,
they're ties paul park. At me and I
parked at him where, you know we're having
a bad day. But that's true with with
people that you work with too, and I
I think that what makes it special, Paula
and Were able to put it on tape.
So on my car coach reports channel. There
is his turn her turn,
car reviews, There's also... If you go to
the website, history and her turn, which I
will leave up in his honor. There is
what is Paul eating if you need a
laugh. You're like, I had enough. The things
he would do and say, I don't know
where is just like v bill. I don't
know where... K. Was always clean, but it
was... I can't believe you're eating that and
just things... Then 1 time he made me
right. Something? Because usually, I was the filming
person. I'm, like, what are you eating? And
that's how I'll start like, what are you
eating? Like, he need to sleeve up oreos
in the car I'm like, what I can't
film if you're are you're crunching, and you
would always find the wack food around the
world, like, something in hawaii was spam on
a piece of rice. I'm, like,
He said it was. Like this spam over
in Hawaii. It's good stuff God.
But and when we come back we'll have
more with Lauren Fix, the car coach as
we talk about our friend Paul Brian, so
stay with us.
I
Welcome back to America on the road with
C Chris Tit with Jack red with you.
And with us is our special guest this
week Lauren Fix, the car code
We're talking about our our friend Paul Brian,
who passed away recently.
Lauren,
Paul was just something wasn't he. It became
interesting because as a partner.
In driving as a friend,
it's things that I would do he would
come to the races when my husband and
I were racing at Road America, which Paul
was the voice of Road America he announced
there for many years.
Or car show, he would show up.
He was at We have a 4 Gt.
He was here for the delivery of that.
So it was like the delivery of a
baby.
I'm I'm a judge for the Chicken wing
Festival Yes because I live in Buffalo. I've
been doing it for years. 1 year he
came here, and he got to try the
wings that was, like, heaven for him. I
when you have a partner and you do
so much get together it, it's just it's
a big loss. It's like losing a family
member because they kind of have. Yeah. And
this thing came suddenly, at least it was
sudden to me. I I had no inclination
that he was ill or that anything was
wrong. I wasn't allowed to say anything. Yeah.
It But when you saw him in September
in Spain, he was struggling. He had had
some,
back pain and he had a across... A
procedure done so that he could travel, and
that was his last
road trip shall we say?
What ill? What a great partner to you,
Lauren, and Lauren F. Thanks so much for
being with us. We really appreciate it for
sharing these stories about our friend, Paul, Paul
Brian. So... Anytime. Thanks so much. Rest and
peace, Paul. Yeah. Through Thank you. And that
was our interview with Lauren Fix, the car
coach as we remember our good friend and
fellow North American car that your jury member,
Paul Bryant. And that basically wraps up our
show for this week before we go, I'd
like to mention my newest book Dance in
the dark. It's a crime thriller inspired by
true crime. So look for that. Available in
Amazon, on Amazon in both ebook and paper
back form.
If you like our show, please pass it
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another addition of a Erica on the road.
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